October 31, 1991: It was thirty years ago today…

It was thirty years ago today—October 31, 1991—that I celebrated my 30th birthday.  My mom and 3 sisters Shawn, Donda-Lin & Courtney drove to Pittsburgh to visit me at my first apartment in the city, and Mom brought cafe curtains for my kitchen window and a chocolate fudge cake with a jack o’lantern hiding in its center. 

We went to dinner at Damons, a prime rib restaurant at the nearby Waterworks Mall and it was just a great day.  Towards the end of their visit, while we were enjoying Mom’s cake, my sister Shawn asked if I had any plans on getting married soon, because if I wanted a kid of my own I wasn’t getting any younger.  Mom told her to stop pushing and I laughed and said Shawn made a good point. 

But I already had what I pretty much wanted.  After dropping out of college in 1981 and floundering thru most of the Eighties, I returned to school in ‘87, graduated in ‘89 and began my career (in IT, as a software developer) on January 2, 1990.  I finally had my own place, a job I loved, and some money in the bank. 

The Nineties would turn out to be my favorite decade.  (Heck, with 3 Star Trek series on TV, and shows like X-Files, Seinfeld & Frasier it was even my favorite decade for TV!)

Anyway, here I am thirty years later, sitting in my robe, in disbelief that today I am a 60 year old man.  I have some blogging friends who are several years older, who say 60 is still whippersnapper territory.  All I know is I’m retired, have a head of mostly white hair and 3 prescriptions I take daily for high blood pressure & urine flow that remind me I’m not a kid anymore, either.

Geez, am I even considered middle aged?  According to Britannica.com, “middle age is the years in adulthood between 40 & 60.”  Well between you & me, in my head I still think like a 15 year old.  Well, a 15 year old from 1976. 

Here’s some awesome birthday cards I got this week, and one (from my friend Susie) even had a $10 bill inside.  What the—!  When’s the last time you got a birthday card with real dough inside? 

Thanks so much Erin, Susie, Pam, Courtney, Shawn, Donda-Lin and Canadian Chuck & Robin.  And Happy Halloween to anyone else out there reading my 60 year old drivel!

 

 

Day 6 of my “No Sofa” therapy: bah, I’m still in a slump

Here’s my favorite spot in my apartment, this area on my couch beside the lamp.  When I sit down here, I have my laptop computer under my left hand and my phone, tv remote or cup of coffee in my right. 

With the tv seven feet dead ahead, this is the ideal spot for my base of operations.

I’ve never been fond of the expression “couch potato”, but it certainly fits me very well, I’m afraid.  (I’m just being honest here, and I very much hope no one gets the bright idea of schooling me on the dangers of being one, because I’m fully aware, thank you.)

Well, I haven’t been a couch potato for the last 6 days anyway.  Since I started those heavy-duty hypertension meds the first week of September (that my doctor is inisisting I stick with for at least 3 months as they seem to be the only ones really working), and developing severe edema in my left leg and foot as a result, I began to notice that prolonged couch-sitting really seems to make the leg worse; even when my club-foot is propped up on a pouf. 

On the other hand, my leg & foot are at their best when I climb out of bed in the morning.  They’re still swollen, but only half as much.  It’s only after I sit down on my couch, get on my laptop for an hour or so to answer emails or read blogs, watch tv for a couple hours, doze off…  by lunchtime the leg & foot are fully swollen again.

Here’s how things look at 7am, right after getting out of bed.  The left (bottom) leg & foot are stiff as heck, but the swelling is reduced by half until noon

So several days ago, I thought “What if I could stay off my couch for a week or so and see if it will keep that swelling down longer?” 

And for the last week, that’s just what I’ve been doing.

I decided to make that my only rule.  What I mean is, if I want to lie on my bed and eat bon-bons, or stand on my head in front of my tv or park my posterior on the toilet seat lid for the afternoon, whatever it takes to STAY AWAY FROM THE COUCH FOR 10 DAYS. 

As of this writing, it’s been six days and I think it’s helping reduce the swelling some… I dunno.

I can’t say it’s helping my backside, it’s been pretty achy from spending my nights sitting bowlegged on the floor in front of my tv.

My stomach muscles are sore too,  I’m typing this while laying on my belly on the living room floor and let’s just say the term “roly poly” comes to mind.  Remember those round bottomed toys “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”?  That’s me on my stomach.

(I tried typing at my dining table, but I have to reach up to the keyboard and it hurts my wrists.)  Anyway, hanging out on the floor sure was easier when we were kids!

I’m sorry, I know this was a goofy-ass read.  I’m just not in the mood to write or do much of anything else for that matter.  In a couple hours I have appointments for my covid booster, haircut & flu shot, all in that order. 

At least it will get me off of the floor and out of the apartment.

My brother Steve & sister Shawn on the couch, with me on the floor holding our family cat Mimi, my sister Donda & brother Duke in front of the tv set, circa 1972

ApacheDug goes Hawaiian—well, with pizza I mean

Did you know Hawaiian pizza is a Canadian invention?  It was created by a Greek immigrant in southern Ontario in 1962.  (He was curious what pineapple would taste like on a pizza crust.)  Hold it, says Germany!  We’ve been enjoying ham, pineapple & cheese on toast and calling it Toast Hawaii since 1955.  Australia doesn’t care who came up with it, in 1999 it was their most popular pizza on the menu.

I’ve only eaten Hawaiian Pizza once, at my 17 year old niece Sophia’s 4th birthday party.  I remember liking it, so why have I waited this long to try it again?

I decided I’d make one myself, googled Hawaiian pizza, and came up with 50 versions of the recipe.  I read the ingredients of half of them, then came up with my own game plan.

1.  Preheat the oven to 400F, line a 9 x 13 baking pan with aluminum foil.  I rubbed the foil down with 2 tablespoons olive oil, this will give the crust a nice sizzle.

  

2.  Break open a can of Pillsbury Pizza Crust, shape it out to fit the pan.  Yikes, this dough was ice cold!  After I finished, I covered the pan with a dishtowel and let it warm to room temperature for 20 minutes. This also allowed the dough to rise some.

  

3.  I spread 1/2 cup pizza sauce blended with 1/4 cup barbecue sauce.  That doesn’t sound copacetic, but turned out to be very tasty.  I think this would also make a perfect sauce for barbecue chicken pizza.

  

4.  Sprinkled on 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, and 3 slices of precooked breakfast ham (aka canadian bacon), chopped.

  

5.  Next I added half a red pepper, and 3 pineapple rings, both chopped.

6.  Finally, I fried and crumbled 2 strips of bacon, and sprinkled on top with a small handful of shredded cheddar cheese.  I’ll bake this in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes.

    

     7.  The pizza is ready.  Boi does this smell good! 

 

  

       

I enjoyed the first slice at my kitchen window, watching the rustle of fall leaves outside; I had my second slice in front of the tv, while watching the 1940 classic “Doctor Cyclops”.  This sweet n’ savory combo turned out much better than I expected.  Yep, life is good!