I usually avoid going to stores the day after Thanksgiving...what most people call Black Friday. That's when stores have these big sales and just mobs of people show up. I dislike crowds. But I might go tomorrow because I noticed a certain store chain is offering a Kodak 12 mega-pixel camera for $69. That seems like a pretty good price and my current digital camera is only a 4-MP camera. That means this new one would be better at having enlargements done and also it's compact enough to fit in a shirt pocket (at least I gather it is) which is something my current camera can't do even though it's not really a big camera itself. Of course, there's the chance that they'll already be out by the time I get to the store. If that happens...I guess I'll just wait until next year to think about getting another camera.

I was watching a DVD yesterday so I was a bit surprised when I put a disc in the machine today and the remote didn't do anything. It failed to do a single thing, no matter how hard I mashed that button...any button...in. I needed to go to th e drugstore anyway so I grabbed my cat Cindy and off we went. Cindy was not in a good mood...she howled all the way. She hates being in the car but she hadn't been in one in awhile so I thought I'd see how she liked it...and she didn't. When we got to the drugstore, I picked up some fresh batteries and a prescription I had dropped off early in the day. We then headed home.

When I got home, I put the new batteries in the remote...and it still refused to work. That'll teach me to take the advise of a Wal-Mart salesman who had recommended this unit to me. That sucker is going in the trash tomorrow. I had an older unit in another room so I hooked it up and it works fine so at least I won't have to shell out the money for another player for awhile.

On this date in 2001, I took a little trip to a small town in Ohio to pick up a young cat (about 6 months old at the time). It was two days after Thanksgiving that year which I guess was kind of appropriate. This kitten had been abandoned in a parking lot near a lake but she made a beeline for a home near there...how I found out about her is a long story which I don't think I'll repeat yet again. To make a long story short, I brought her home and decided to name her Cinderella...but she's been Cindy ever since. She's gotten outside a few times and disappeared for awhile each time but luckily has found her way home each time...luckily for the little stinker. Maybe if I keep her in toys, she'll decide to stay home from now on...yeah, I figure I'm fooling myself, too...

I bought a video game this week...I was thinking it was my first game purchase of the year but then I realized I had actually bought one way back in February. So here are the games I have bought in 2009...

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
Tomb Raider: Anniversary

These two games were both for the PS2. The pinball collection is the one I got back in February. It actually contains 8 different pinball tables. The tables are pretty realistic looking though the gameplay isn't quite as frantic as the pinball games I've played way back when in the days of the Super Nintendo. But it's fun enough. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a reworking, I think, of the veery first game in the saga of Lara Croft but with much better graphics than were possible in the days of the original Playstation when the first Tomb Raider game was originally released. I picked up a cheap used copy of this game this week.

I also received 3 other games this year, a gift from a fellow gamer who sent them to me after I got out of the hospital. He sent me Mega Man X4 for the original Playstation plus Unison and Mobile Light Force 2 for the PS2. I certainly appreciate that. Thus, I have acquired a grand total of 5 games this year. Now I need to go start exploring some tombs...

I have to leave for dialysis in about 15-20 minutes so this will be a quickie. I have this gymbag they gave me to bring whatever I feel I need. They gave me a blanket to take with me but it's kind of thin and it gets pretty cool in there so I've started taking a Pittsburgh Pirates boanket my sister-in-law Donna made me Christmas before last (I think). It's warmer. I'm taking a couple Garfield books...years ago I bought a mess of those and haven't looked at them in awhile so I'm now re-reading them, from the earliest strips on. I'm also taking a hardbound journal I handwrite in. I hadn't written in it in over 3 years until I started writing in it again this past Wednesday. I'm now writing about what's happened to me over the last few years. My handwriting's not real great but that's okay since I'm probably the only person who'll ever read this (or want to) anyway.

I don't watch a lot of network television but I've been watching certain comedy shows on two nights. I like the CBS sitcoms on Monday nights and I've been watching ABC's comedy lineup on Wednesday nights. But I quickly tired of Hank (which has been canceled now anyway) and for some reason never got into Modern Family despite the fact it has some good actors I like and it's highly regarded. That left me with The Middle and Cougar Town. I think now I may be quitting The Middle, too. I like Patricia Heaton as the mom but the kids are just too bizarre for my taste. I like shows where the people are comparatively normal. So that leaves me with Cougar Town...I like Courteney Cox and some of the other regulars. Besides, sometimes I am tired on Wednesday nights due to my dialysis so perhaps just one half-hour show might be all I want to commit to right now.

I need to come up with some new avatars. I should probably retire the two userpics I have where I posed with Shadow, since he is no longer with me. Or maybe not...I still remember him, of course, so I guess I can still keep him with me as he remains with me in spirit. My sister-in-law doesn't like the photo I'm using with this post...she says I look too scruffy in it. I actually kind of like this photo. But I would definitely like to add a few new ones. Of course, I can only use 6 different images without paying for the right to keep more so if I add some, I will have to delete others. I'm definitely going to start making new photo plans.

Before I became familiar with the term "blogging", I was keeping a handwritten journal. I started with a small blank book, but with my second volume I switched to a larger format, hardcover books that measured about 8x11. I kept it going pretty consistantly until I got to volume 10. I started to have some lengthy gaps but the last entry in this handwritten journal was dated February 16, 2006...meaning it was last updated about 3 and a half years ago. I doubt I'll ever write in it regularly again but perhaps I should add a decent update in it to reveal what's happened to me since then...leaving my place of work, open-heart surgery, kidney problems, losing my cat, etc. That'll take up several pages.

I also came across some pages I had typed up of blog entries I had at another blog...one which has since ceased to exist. I knew it was about to come to an end so I had time to print out many of the entries I wanted to save. In there I talked of my cats, of movies, of video games and lots of other stuff. That blog lasted just over a year. One of the earlier entries was writing about letter-writing. Back then, I still had 10 people writing to me. Now, they've all stopped. I guess people get bored easily with me.

Once upon a time I used to write...and receive...letters. I had a friend in San Francisco and we started off writing letters to each other...at one point we were writing handwritten letters that could be over 20 pages each. When I got online and made new friends via e-mail lists, I found other friends and at one point I was writing to no less than 15 people at one point. Unfortunately, my friend in San Francisco has since passed away and I lost touch with many of the others I wrote to. I still see some of the others on those e-mail lists (and an occasional personal e-mail) but I no longer get such letters from anybody. I'm not sure how that happened. I guess people just got tired of it. Maybe I'll work up some kind of letter to include with some of my Christmas cards? I'm not sure yet. I do miss getting those letters. I mentioned this at a message board once and someone said he would write me a letter. That was a couple of years ago...and I'm still waiting.

I have cut way back on my video game buying...in fact, I don't think I have bought a single video game all year. Could this be the first year since 1993 (the year I got back into gaming with the purchase of a Super Nintendo) that I go an entire year without buying a single game? It's possible. One reason I've not bought any games is that I don't own a Wii, an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3...but I do have a PS2 and Nintendo DS for which new games continue to be made (though I'm not sure how much longer that will be true for the PS2). There are a few games I wouldn't mind getting...for the PS2, I wouldn't mind getting Tomb Raider: Anniversary which I believe is a reworking of the very first Tomb Raider game but with updated improved graphics. I've just never come across it since I've become aware of it a year or so back. I also have other systems including the GameCube and original Xbox but I'm not planning on buying any other games for those systems.

Lately I've mostly been playing the PS2 and my portable Nintendo DS. I've been playing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS lately and am now down to the final "world" or level...once I finish it, I'll move onto another game...perhaps another Mario game. I have about 6 DS games that take place in the Mario universe...there's some Mario games I don't have and I would consider getting one or two but the ones I don't have yet are still up there in price. I think the only current Mario game I don't have is the one of him and Sonic in the Olympics. I'm not sure that would appeal to me, so I may have to check out a few reviews of it.

By the way, I actually have gotten a few games this year, but I didn't buy them. One of the many people I communicate with at a gaming site surprised me following a hospital stay by sending me 3 games...one for the original Playstation, Mega Man X4 (a series I always liked) and a pair of PS2 games, Mobile Light Force 2 and Unison. I need to hook my PS2 up again so I can try these out.

An online friend of mine said today that he's finally gotten digital cable...specifically, he has signed up with Verizon FIOS. He likes what he's seen so far, especially regarding some retro TV programming. I don't know what he's paying for that but I always got the impression that service was rather pricey. Obviously, I'm not planning on going that route myself.

Some TV series are already being canceled. Hank, a sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer, is one that has gotten axed. I think they tried to give him a character similar to his Frasier character, rather stuffy and all. My problem is in the one and a half episodes I managed to catch, I didn't get the impression he and his family really cared at all for each other and I felt it was a weak show so I won't miss it. Though not officially canceled yet, I read that they're not making anymore episodes of Eastwick. With movies The Witches of Eastwick and The Craft and the long-running series of Charmed, I think people have had more than enough stories involving groups of witches lately. One other show got canceled as well, but I forget which one it was right now...I didn't watch it or I'd have remembered.

Surprisingly enough, I find I'm really only watching network programming about two nights a week...some comedy on both Monday and Wednesday. And I'm watching less on Wednesday than what I started with...well, I planned to watch Hank originally (see above) but I quickly dropped it. I'm still watching The Middle and Cougar Town and I seem to be alternating between watching and not watching Modern Family. It's a funny show but for some reason I'm just not getting into it that much. But I'll keep watching more often than not and maybe it'll grow on me.

I have a black & white cat named Cindy...okay, her name is officially Cinderella but no one calls her that. We just call her Cindy. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I found that I couldn't find her. I checked all her favorite spots...on a big blue pillow, underneath the bed, ottomon, loveseat and couch...she was nowhere to be seen. It turns out that she somehow got outside without my seeing her...for a cat with a very healthy girth, she can move around pretty quietly and she must've scampered out the door as I was either coming in or going out. I looked last night but couldn't find her and did some more searching this morning...still no luck. I did have to go to dialysis and that killed a good part of the day. Once I got home, it became dark pretty quickly. I started watching a bit of TV, getting up once in awhile to shine a flashlight out the front door. Then, about 7:20, as I was watching Jeopardy!, I heard something at the door. It was Cindy...back after being gone for about 24 hours. I had lost one cat, Shadow, to cancer in August so if I had lost Cindy as well, I probably would've been ready for a padded cell or something. But Cindy's back...and she won't tell me anything about her little adventure. Cats!

I've mentioned before that there's a website I review movies on DVD at (along with several others) and the guys there like to do these big marathons. I'm not as marathon-minded as some of them but I'm making an attempt to do the latest, though I think I'm already falling behind. For November, everyone is trying to do an alphabetical marathon where they do one movie for each letter of the alphabet. Many of us are also doing one movie that starts with a number rather than a letter. I've managed to do 4 reviews so far and they have been...

#--100 Rifles (1968) starring Jim Brown, Raquel Welch and Burt Reynolds
A--Angel and the Badman (1947) starring John Wayne and Gail Russell
B--The Black Swan (1942) starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara
C--Captain Blood (1935) starring Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland

I hadn't planned it but it seems every movie I've done so far has been set in the past (two westerns and two swashbucklers) and though I expect my "D" movie will be another western, I imagine I'll have to eventually do a movie set in contemporary times. But I'm not sure what movie that might be just yet.

Yes, I'm still awake...I know, I can hardly believe it myself. I had dialysis today and it doesn't always put me to sleep but it seems to happen about 65% of the time. Of course, it could still happen. On Monday I managed to stay awake long enough to watch How I Met Your Mother (a TV comedy that airs on CBS Mondays at 8:00 pm) but I seemed to zonk out as soon as that was over and I completely missed the next hour or so. I woke up long enough to hear about two lines on The Big Bang Theory and then I was out again. Maybe I can stay awake long enough tonight to watch The Middle and Cougar Town. Maybe I can even catch a little of the World Series game.

It was cold at dialysis today. I'm not sure why but they always seem to have the treatment room cool. It's never really bothered me before but today, for the first time ever, I had to use the blanket they gave me on my first day. That still wasn't really warm enough so I may look around and try to find one of my own that's a bit warmer for next time. It was about 47 degrees outside today...I'm not sure what it was in the treatment room but I'd guess it was maybe around the low 60s. It felt even cooler but I'm not sure.

I had a visit with my family doctor today...it seems hardly a week goes by these days I'm not meeting with some doctor...I jokingly refer to my many doctors as my medical staff. But this visit went smoothly and my doctor says I'm back on track so he won't bother me and now doesn't need to see me (unless something unforeseen comes up) until January.

After that visit, I went to my brother's for dinner and my dad was there, too. He didn't care for a few zingers I gave him in which I was joking about his age. I liked the one where I asked him when he was young and wanted to mail a letter, did he have to hand it personally to the pony express rider himself? My family's talking about going off to the beach next summer to see a niece of mine get married and they want me to go with them. I don't know if they're going to tie me to the hood of the car or however else they may coerce me...so we'll just see what happens.

A friend of mine alerted me to the fact that Comcast (which I use) has an On Demand channel that shows nothing but horror movies. I glanced at some of the film titles but I doubt that any of that stuff would interest me. I don't care for horror stuff unless we're talking about the old Universal monster stuff...you know, those Frankenstein, Mummy and Wolfman kind of pictures. Speaking of Comcast, they moved some stuff around and switched some channels around to different digital tiers...it doesn't affect me but now I can't get Turner Classic Movies at the dialysis place I go to. A big thumbs down on Comcast!

I've recently started watching my DVDs of Everybody Loves Raymond...I'm watching it from the first season and watching every episode in order. I'm not trying to watch the entire run in record time, just watching it whenever I get in the mood. So far I've only come across a few episodes I remember seeing before and I've gone ahead and watched those again just to keep the proper viewing experience intact. I may eventually skip a few episodes. I'm not sure what season they take place in but I remember a multi-episode run in which Ray and his family visited Italy...those weren't my favorite episodes so I may skip those whenever I get to them on DVD. I notice some early episodes feature Kevin James as a friend of Ray's...he was playing a guy named Kevin (oooh, big stretch) and I'm guessing these were done before he got his own series, The King of Queens. Tonight, I also watched a western movie I have on DVD...100 Rifles which starred Jim Brown, Raquel Welch and Burt Reynolds. I didn't like how one of the lead characters died towards the end of the film because we never even saw anything happen to that character...there was just a big battle towards the end and a couple characters were talking and suddenly, oh by the way, this character's dead all of a sudden. What the heck? That pretty much ruined the movie for me.

I don't watch it all the time but I do get Turner Classic Movies (TCM) which shows classic movies uncut. They tend to have special salutes or marathons and today, of course, they're showing spooky movies. Looking at the schedule, I see they'll be showing Cat People next followed by The Curse of the Cat People and at least three different Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movies. I don't know why but this year they're not showing any of the classic Universal horror movies...no Frankenstein, no Dracula, no Mummy movies. Maybe they lost their license or maybe they're just taking a break from those? I like those old movies...lots of atmosphere, but not nearly as revolting as most of today's horror movies are. Sometimes I wonder about the people who get into those films. They're not for me.

Speaking of Dracula and Frankenstein, have you ever read any of those? I read Dracula by Bram Stoker several years ago. It was fairly long and was done in a unique way, in the form of letters and journal entries. I liked how in the novel, the guy after Dracula (Van Helsing) was using the original phonograph (with those tubular recordings) to keep his notes. I've never read Frankenstein, despite the fact that I think it's a pretty short novel...just over 200 pages as I recall. I'll read it one of these days...but not today.

There are a number of stray cats who live in the area and they're apporpriate for today as most of them are black cats...okay, a couple have just a touch of a white spot at their necks and one actually has some dark brown fur mixed in with the black...but they look all black at first glance. Some fellow cat lovers have expressed worry that some nutballs might try to harm these beautiful cats at this time of the year. Luckily, I don't think there's anyone like that around here. Most of the neighbors here enjoy having the cats around.

In case you're wondering, I'm not dressing up for Halloween. I'm also not giving out candy to trick or treaters...being diabetic, it's probably best for me that I don't have that sort of thing around tempting me. Maybe I'll just dim the lights and watch a few Frankenstein movies this evening...ooh, scary stuff, huh, kids?

At the beginning of this month, I said I was going to try to post an entry in this blog every day this month...but they feel by the wayside when I had to spend 4 days in the hospital due to arm surgery. However, I countered that by having more than one post on a few days...I had 3 posts one day, in fact. That means that this is my 30th post of the month...so if I can make one more post, I can still have 31 posts for the month or an average of a post a day.

I watched Around The Horn yesterday...that's a spsorts talk show with a panel of 4 sports reporters...and it was pretty funny. It was a special Halloween episode and the reporters dressed up as the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz (Woody was particularly funny in that role with help from women dressed up as other Oz characters), Kate Hudson, Kanye West...and female reporter Jackie McMullen dressed up as a box of Wheaties. I used to love that cereal.

Speaking of sports, I see that the Pittsburgh Steelers (the football team I follow) is off this weekend so I don't need to watch any football this weekend. Maybe I'll watch a few movies instead tomorrow afternoon and then maybe watch the World Series tomorrow night.

Not much of anything happened today. I went for my usual dialysis. I was glancing at the report the nutritionist did on me and I'm going to have to speak with her on Monday, which I think is the only day she's at the place I go to. The report I have says I need to take a renal vitamin daily...I had never even heard of renal vitamins before. I spoke about it with a pharmacist today and it's apparently something I need a prescription for. The nutritionist was also supposed to call my local drug store to get me an order of some kind of pill called a binder which is supposed to help cut down my high levels of phosphorous. Unfortunately, my drug store never got that call so she either forgot to call or she called the wrong place because they have no record of any phone call about it.

I'm still seeing my local black stray cats. I had mostly been seeing the two adults that I have come to call Tempest (the mother) and Moon Pie (the father) but all the younger black cats came by today as well as one of the few non-blacks I see, a tabby. I don't really worry about feeding them that much because I know a neighbor is taking good care of them and giving them food and water so I just put out a little dry for them...it probably gives them a little variety from what they normally eat.

One of my neighbors moved away recently...actually a couple, but I mainly talked with the woman, whose name was Barb. They lived in the same apartment building I was in (not a traditional apartment building, it basically looks like a house with an extra wing). They lived around back and below mine. Barb was also a fellow catlover, owning something like 5 of them from what I understand. About a month ago, she told me they were moving as they had gotten a house and now they are gone.

You may not realize it, but for several years now, a website has sponsored November as National Novel-Writing Month. People are invited to register and to write a novel during the month of November. I forget how many words you are asked to write...I'll have to look that up in the next day or two. I think last year I was tempted to try writing my own autobiography but then that wouldn't be a novel, would it? A novel is, after all, fiction. Perhaps I could still use some of my own experiences, liven them up with some fiction added to it and (maybe) come up with something interesting. I'd need to come up with a basic plotline first. Maybe I'll work on that Saturday. We'll see.