RANT: 2014

[Fat_Bulldog]

This year hasn't started out as I'd have hoped or even could have anticipated.

1. My grandmother passed away last Thursday (she was 86 with very bad alzheimers and had a stroke). I am relieved she's no longer in pain. She was one of the funniest people I ever knew. If by chance, she called you a horses ass while playing cards, you knew you were playing the right way (we always played Hearts). She called me a horeses ass quite a bit growing up.

2. My wife has kidney problems. She develops calcium stones at a rapid pace. She never drinks soda or much milk at all. Only tea and water. She's had surgery twice in the last 10 days. She's in quite a bit of pain and gets kidney infections often.

3. My sister went into the hospital yesterday suffering from severe abdominal pain. She's been in pain and sick for a while but it finally came to a head yesterday. Her blood tests came back bad and her CT Scan showed enlarged lymph nodes all over her chest and abdomen that have grown quite a bit since her last CT Scan in December. The doctors are concerned that she has some type of life threatening infection or lymphoma (cancer). They will most likely do a biopsy on one of the lymph nodes within the next day or two.

4. I've had pneumonia and flu really bad.

5. Damn child abductors. We had a talk with our 7 year old daughter about this and what to look out for. They have been talking about it at school as well. When I was her age, I was all over town with my friends on our bikes, etc. Now, I won't let her leave our fenced yard. Sad.

6. My oldest bulldog "Lulu" is 14 and probably in her final months of life. I've had her almost half of my life and can't imagine it without her. She still does bad things and gets in trouble and has fun, but she's about done.

[Freed Roger]

Crazy how bad things in life seem to run in cycles. Sorry . Good luck Bulldog.

And enjoyed the story about your grandma calling you a horses ass while playing cards. That generation knew how to have fun.

[Jocephus]

yes good luck in navigating that. and i agree, hopefully after this bad patch you'll run into a good one.

hopefully the boys at busch can help cheer ya up

[Fat_Bulldog]

Thanks. I am ready for spring and baseball.

[Freed Roger]

We forgive you for running out of beer. The hard part is forgiving yourself.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I haven't ran out of beer since.

My go to lately is Miller Lite bottles. I can get an 18 pack of bottles for $11.99. So, I have that going for me.

I also have a new grill waiting for me at Lowe's to pick up on Saturday. It's one of those half gas / half charcoal. I'm pretty stoked about that and will be grilling burgers, brats and wings on Saturday.

[jim]

That's a load of crap, sorry to hear that. Really hope things turn out ok with your sister.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Thanks jim.

It could be worse, I could be dealing with all of this [expletive] in Chicago.

[heyzeus]

Sorry to hear that, FB. I'm sure you'll be there for everyone in your family, which is the best thing on earth during bad times like this.

Sounds like your grandma was a lot like mine. As a kid, we'd play a lot of cards (our favorite was a game called Scrooged, which is like multiplayer solitaire), and she'd teach me how to curse in Yiddish. The best phrase she taught me was how to say "Go [expletive] in the ocean."

[Molly]

Good luck with the rest of 2014 FB. Last year was our year from hell.

Sorry about your grandmother and you are right about that generation knowing how to have fun. My mom is 88 and loves her bingo and the casino!