Back on the grid- for another swing

Don't think I was tempting fate a few weeks back when I thumbed my nose at the "confickr" virus (1 April)- but whatever maladies were slowing down the operations of my computer the past few months finally caught all the way up to it last week and took me off the information superhighway for a few days last week

Hence, at least one of the reasons why I've been so lax in updating this blog lately- I've had other pursuits/ time-consumers on the internet- when my computer's been working- the instant-message function with certain members of of the other social site has been a particular focus lately- I've also been leading kind of an all-or-nothing work schedule- where I'll work about 40-50 hours in 4 days' time- then not work for about 5 days at a time has led to stretches where I literally do nothing but work and sleep or sit around and sleep- not much grist for interesting writing

Anyhow- I'll try to get in a quick entry before I return to New Jersey for a visit the next few days - before things pick up and I'm back to working something of a normal schedule for the remainder of the spring- and I'll have more of my regular out-and-about encounters to write about (or not)

-To return to one of the oldest themes of this blog- The Dunkin Donuts across the street from my usual work spot in Waltham- apparently had some sort of management change during one of the recent fallow periods for me there- The woman who'd been the manager there finally got a store closer to her residence in New Hampshire- so there's new management there for the first time in a couple years or so

Learned this the hard way one morning last week- when the new go-getter assistant manager (I assume) came out from behind the counter and addressed me as "Boss" with a business card in hand- asking me what the business levels were at the hotel I (usually) work at were- I told him it was very early (about 6:50 AM or so) to be asking me that and I'd been away for awhile- He wanted me to go back and sell hotel-function customers on the coffee there for a discount- I didn't have the energy, patience, wherewithall, whatever- to tell this guy that overpriced coffee is one of the ways the place makes money on groups- and just nodded and took the card- which I tossed pretty quickly once outside the store and forgot about it- for 2 hours or so

Until I went back for another coffee- and recieved the same treatment- same guy coming out from behind the counter with the "Boss..." opening line- until I pointed at him and said "You already asked me today"- He stopped and stammered "Well, I thought..."- "You already asked me" was my second response- Like I should have gone back to where I work and undercut the salespeople there for 10% or whatever on my coffee

-Speaking earlier of the other social site (for the MySpace readers) or Facebook- as its known- for the 2 or so Blogger readers I have - I like to think the random public listings for some groups has become kind of like the modern-day version of the 1970's game show "The Joker's Wild"- particularly if you end up joining any school/ alumni-type group and may end up next to people you'd least likely want to be associated with after a number of years- the closest I've seen for myself was when I had it happen on my public listing where both "Magnum P.I." groups I was in turned up as my public listing there

Country Time and chopper pads

Not sure I should be writing about this- but not many read this stuff anyhow- in either of its venues- so, I figure I'm relatively safe in this admission: Tonight, I actually bought a hair re-growth product for the first time

I never thought it would come to this- years of making fun of the prematurely bald- particularly the kid in high school that drew the nickname "Country Time" for going bald at about 16 and looking like the old man from the old Country Time lemonade ads of the late 1970's- years of now-dumb-looking mullets for me and no real cares about losing my hair- until a couple years ago when someone at work was looking to make fun of me and claimed a mere lapse in getting my hair cut/ semi-consciously growing it out a bit was an attempt at a comb-over

Since then- I've been kind of self-conscious about my retreating front and burgeoning chopper pad on top- I didn't really care all that much when I started to show signs I was going gray years ago- my mother regaled me with tales of her discovering bits of gray as early as when she was 16- and I really didn't begin to show any of that until I was at least 30 or so- until parts of my beard went all-gray/ white awhile after

I had not really noticed any diminishing returns up top until about 3 years ago or so- particularly when my hair was wet or it was windy out or something- But, in recent months- I've actually become somewhat obsessed with whatever's been going on up on top at pretty much all times- to the point I'd thought about obtaining some type of product to counter that

Tonight- was at the still-remodeling Target store in Watertown- looks done from outside- but not nearly done inside- went to makeshift 'Hair Care' aisle- like I usually do on most visits- of course time I look for Rogaine or whatever- there's 2 workers and 2 other customers in aisle- pretty much like first time I ever bought underage booze, condoms or pornography- want as few people to see me when I actually scope out and buy that shit for first time- I'm sure the next adult frontier for me will be if I ever need adult incontinence products when I'm really old- or something similarly embarrassing- there will be at least 5 people around that aisle/ area when I go looking for it

Anyhow- looked at the name-branded Rogaine stuff- none of it under $50- see the Target store brand 1990-era knockoff of it for under $20- decide I'd rather piss away under $20 if I abandon the course of treatment rather than the $50- of course the store brand will probably turn my scalp red, burn off the rest of my hair or get in my eyes and make my blind or something like that- But I guess I'll have to take those odds for now- We shall see

-Wrote of the usual Red Sox media lovefest last week- was watching the rain-delayed-to-Tuesday Opening Day for the Olde Towne Team- Thought it was incredibly dumb they had the players come out of the stands to make their entrances on Opening Day- Always thought that was kind a cheesy populism ever since the "Larry Sanders" episode where the network talked him into running through the crowd at the end of his how (like Jimmy Fallon does now)

Saw most players high-fiving crowd on way down- with exception of Dustin Pedroia- but was waiting for likes of either injury-prone J.D. Drew or David Ortiz to slip on beer-soaked steps and injure selves- Did not come to pass- but still thought was dumb

-Cannot believe Tuesday was one-year anniversary of Kathie Lee Gifford on the ancillary 4th hour of the "Today" show- saw they even brought Frank back out for the occasion- I'll never compliment a woman's breasts to her again without thinking he shouldn't get a royalty for his talk to one-time stewardess Suzanne Johnson many years ago

-All the preceding makes the pairing of classic college basketball coaches in their underwear for the "Guitar Hero" ads with what's left of Metallica's credibility almost fathomable- can't see Bob Knight or Coach K getting down to even the post-"..and Justice for All" catalog