Once again, I have my Internet connection back at home. Turns out, of the cable that ran from the pole to the house, there was a little tiny piece still hanging on the pole, and another little tiny piece left hanging on the house. Everything in between? Well, it’s probably still hanging on whatever the hell took it down. I reckon that’s a valid reason for having no signal. Still, I need to get back to my bamboo strainer wifi antenna project so I can use the Panera network in case of the next emergency. I have the strainer and the USB adapter. Just need to get a really long USB extension cable so I can mount the sucker on the roof (otherwise I’ll have to climb up there every time I want to check my e-mail – kinda like Oliver Douglas making a phone call). Still, it was really nice to be able to pop a Lortab and drift off to my old time radio again last night.

Speaking of Lortabs, the old shoulder is much improved, if not totally pain free. I’m still keeping ice on it in the morning and when I get back home from work, and there’s a twinge now and again (some things outright hurt, like turning a door knob), but I can raise my arm above my head and can wash my hair with two hands (as long as I don’t get too vigorous with the right one). So hopefully things will continue to improve, and I’ll be “all better” soon. Not that I’ll know what all better is. I mean, I wasn’t exactly perfect to start with. At this point in my life, I’m just shottin’ for “good enough.” The hard part is that the Lortabs are narcotics combined with acetaminophen. Both are no-nos as far as combining with alcohol (one for the risk of liver failure, and one for potential of, like, respiratory failure). So, I haven’t had a beer since last Friday, and I must confess that my life feels very incomplete without it (though I’m saving quite a bit of money; so far, I’ve more than half-paid for the Kindle 3 I ordered the other day).

Good luck to Mr. Soupy and the cataracts today (good name for a band – Soupy and the Cataracts). My mother-in-law just finished getting the second one done, and she wishes she’d gotten it done sooner, because her eyes are working much better now. Personally, I hope to never have the experience, but it’s starting to become clear to me that my body appears to be going the way of my 1998 Chevy Astro Van. Neither gets used enough these days, and being sedentary is causing them both to fall apart, bit by bit.

Vernon, I hope you’re over you’re feeling better now. Remember, unless it’s St. Patrick’s Day, stay away from the green pepperoni.

I may have mentioned back on August 3rd or so that our brave NYS Legislature had finally passed a budget. Well, turns out, no they di-int. The NYS Assembly sent the wrong version of the bill to the Governor, who then promptly signed it. Oops. Somebody figured out the error, and yesterday everything got set straight. Supposedly.

Daniel Radcliffe (aka, Harry Potter) is on the cover of “Out” magazine. I’m not sure what that is, but I think it’s got something to do with camping.

Some July economic indicators are due out today. The employment numbers are projected to be terrible. Home foreclosures are up 6% over last year. Some 30,000 people turned out in Atlanta yesterday in hopes of getting low-income housing vouchers (13,000 applications were turned in).

I think the plan to make America suck so bad that Mexicans will no longer try to sneak in is really working out nicely.

Speaking of Mexicans, Chuck Schumer was in town yesterday to tout a $600 million ’emergency’ spending bill to “address illegal immigration along the Mexican border.” Because up here – some 1,500 miles away from Mexico – we really give a shit. No word on which direction of travel they’re trying to crack down on, but, assuming they want to keep the evil Mexicans out, all they’re gonna succeed in doing is wasting our tax dollars in order to maybe keep enough Mexicans out to raise the price of lettuce, apples, and grapes.

Hey, beats Universal Health Care.

Well, I guess it’s about time to get ready for work. It’s amazing how much faster the morning goes when you have an Internet connection. Too bad it looks like pretty soon the only sites we’ll be able to get to will be the ones that can afford to bribe Internet backbone providers to give them the fastest pipes. Get used to shopping at Wal-Mart online and getting your news from Fux.

Have a good one.