hullabelew

@TKthunder2 bringing it. That tape measure is killing me. Out-fucking-standing.

This bit right here is the very basis of everything for me right now. I was trying to explain it to someone recently and you nailed it right here. Thanks.

Baboso and I loaded up our bitches and boats for some yurt life in NW GA and a 12 mile paddle on the TN River thru Chattanooga.-

Good Lord. Wanna hear what it would sound like if Jason and Amanda put out a rock album? Silvia Rose Novak's new one, "Bad Luck". LOVE "Flowers For The Fortunate" https://sylviarosenovak.bandcamp.com/album/bad-luck

Another dude from my rehab stint passed away. That is 7: 5 ODs, 1 gun shot and now this one. Those are just the ones I know of...I'm sure there are more. What makes this one more bizarre is he worked there, in the financial aid office. Just about the jolliest, nicest dude I've met. ALWAYS had a smile on his face. Just another sign that this shit is more powerful than just about anything. Dude sees people on their worst days as they crawl or are dragged in the door. And he saw us as we left...with a glint of hope in our eyes. Yet still, he succumbed.

So…after in-patient, I enrolled in an IOP run by a different company. It was perfect for me and I met several people who I talk to on a daily basis. Dan is one guy in particular. We got along great, right off the bat. He has helped me immensely and I like to think I haven’t hampered him. Our families get along great…he and his wife are younger than us and they have a 5 yr old boy. We kayak and play guitars together…hang out, go out to eat….good clean fun. I helped his wife find a new job when she decided to go back to work after taking time off when they had the baby. Dan had really helped me get into meditation. He even runs several meditation groups for the IOP now…just on his own, and has started a podcast that he and another patient hope to develop into something much more. Little background. He did 6 years on a fed drug charge (about 12-15 years ago) when he got caught up in a sting that resulted in stupid mandatory minimum jail term. The judge apologized to him. He did his time…..then did well for a while, then relapsed once….back on local probation in metro about 3-4 years ago. Did well, relapse…car wreck that should have killed him, new drug charge in a different (remote) part of the state. This is what caused him to be at the IOP when I met him a year ago. This case apparently had its own legal issue (drugs at the scene of the crash/in his system) but would also likely trigger a probation violation of the metro case from 3-4 years ago. He has been hoping that the new case would end up in something less than a year…said he would be happy with that…and whatever happened with the outstanding probation, he was good with that. He was completely at ease with whatever was coming his way. Fucking mandatory terms are bullshit. He supports his mother who lives next door to him, pays for both houses that he completely remodeled. After the new charge, he stepped down from his position on the board of the company he works for and has been installing tile and on work jobs. He has some other income from a residential rental. Just got off the phone with him. New case, prosecutor isn’t budging….10 years, 3 to serve. I am completely devastated, and I can’t imagine what he and his wife and mother are going through. He is about the nicest, most laid back, thoughtful person I know, and a lot of my recovery is due to his presence in my life. Incredible song writer and singer, talented and creative construction guy…EVERYONE he meets is instantly drawn to him. Thanks for letting me babble and ramble.

Daughter wanted a dog. I got her a set of these and told her once she would operate it, we would get a dog. https://www.chewy.com/four-paws-spade-set/dp/50262?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Four Paws&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjw5vz2BRAtEiwAbcVIL32VYsXTvII0IeCZANDLsAqkgVmKi_2r1bWKw4VhcAVtkA-j-aOS1BoCt1wQAvD_BwE

They brought in these 4 prints to hang in the bathroom. The Bosnian handyman didn't want to hang them so they brought in some 'professional picture hanger' to do the job. I purposely stayed the fuck out of everything associated with the entire project in the bathroom. So when shit went wrong and more money was spent, I could plead plausible deniability. Oh....only thing I did do was have my drinking buddy, who works for a large plumbing supply company price out all of the fixtures. I got them all at cost...pissed off the designer since she wasn't getting her cut from her guy. Bosnian got confused by the depth of the counter and threw up his hands....designer into a tizzy.....wife crying. I had the adapter delivered to the house (actually the bar) withing an hour. I grinned, gleefully.

This one happens at our house. We had a dude remodel a kitchen and build a portico on the front (I call it a shed roof) and another one on the basement door. He had done work on 3-4 other houses in our hood, and has done a ton of work since, on our recommendations. He was under budget, ahead of schedule, not ONE problem. Few years roll around. Time to remodel master bath. "Let's use Matt", Hulla says. "I want to try someone new" replies the spouse. Her inane justifications go on and on, so I fold. In comes a crazy ass 'designer' and her Bosnian handyman. I was keeping a list of all of the fucking trouble we had but I got disgusted and burned the book in a ceremonial pyre in the backyard once the nightmare was over. I casually bring this up when we start looking at adding a screened in porch on the back of the house...as she wants to 'try someone new' for that project. Hulla's foot came down, my shit-fit worked and the kitchen dude (Matt) was hired. Again, under-budget, ahead of schedule, and even added about half a dozen things, at no charge, that he thought of during the process. Now, she is wanting some more work done upstairs and I see her perusing a local contractor book and that cesspool, Nextdoor. "What da fuck ya doin', I axe her? Just looking at contractors. Fuckity, fuck, fuck. Another tick on the wall of "Women just aren't meant to be happy or content unless they are stressing the fuck out about something. Carry on.

We have been rolling as of late here at Casa de Hulla. Wife is painting the bedroom. I BEGGED her to just pay someone to it. FUCK HGTV. She asked me for help calculating much paint will be needed. Her numbers weren't coming out in the online calculator. Her: I have these measurements. This stupid thing isn't working. I input the numbers. The room is 12'5" by 18'31". Me: 18 feet, 31 inches? Her: Yes. Me: Why 31 inches? Was the tape measure only 18 ft long? Her: Yep. How did you know?

Outstanding @Bash Riprock

In pondering life this morning...then opening up my normal threads on here....this thread, the guitar and the dog threads are about the only places where people are civil to each other. It makes me feel content and proud to be a guitar playing, dog owning, alcoholic.

Stop harshing his mellow, man. We are in this together!

Damn @Foggy Notion That is a stunner.

If it doesn't fit, I'll buy it from you.

My compost pile has to be one of the most expensive things I own. Right now, a jicama is on the counter...day 13. No idea what it was purchased for, but I imagine it will end up in the compost pile shortly.

Bravo Brother @deadshank When this thread was initially created, this kind of bullshit is EXACTLY what I was imagining.

Whenever we remodeled the kitchen, she bought some blue Flour/Sugar/Tea canisters for the counter. The lids don't fit or seal, so they are empty. Is that where we keep the flour/sugar/tea? No you fucking idiot. We keep that in the canisters in the center island. Why don't we just keep those canisters on the counter where they are easy to get to and you don't have to put new tape on the door? Because the blue ones are so pretty.

Yep @tbone_ Scotch Fucking Tape. And DDD. Nope. I just throw all of that other shit in the laundry room. It is all hers anyway. That container with all of the spatulas and shit in it? Had to get that because both of those drawers are full of that shit. I throw stuff away all of the time. Don't make a fucking dent. She has a stack of books in the bedroom.....all the same category. Subject? How to declutter. I shit you not.

Dude, I'm the one who reversed searched the pic and called her out on it. Then got blocked. Unless you are referring to the healed in two days part of course. Yep. I couldn't remember who did the reverse look up. Didn't mean to imply me. I'm too fucking lazy. Brilliant on your part.

She had actually lived that scene many times. Now, for today's adventure. My wife has slowly turned in to a hoarder. Not Mitch C. level, but our garage and basement if a fucking hazard area. She won't throw shit away.....and has even dug out stuff from the trash that I've thrown away...old tshirts, a beat-up old cowboy hat that didn't fit me anymore, old shoes... (we can use it for rags, I'll wear that in the garden, we can take them to Goodwill). Anyway, we have a TON of cookie sheets, flat pans, broiler pans...WAY too many, but she won't get rid of them. They are housed in this old table we made into a center island. The doors have these cool things called locks. They help keep the doors shut....unless the fucking thing is so full, the doors won't stay shut. How do we deal with that? Throw stuff away? Move it around? Fuck that noise. She has the solution. Oh.. "We CAN'T have shoes in the house. You will bring in the virus." I guess the little virus bastards just stick to my shoes/boots.

He checked himself in to rehab 8 months after this was shot.

On first glance of the Marc Bolan picture.....I thought it was someone else....and I'm ashamed to say, i laughed.

I have enough fucking trouble avoiding mirrors than to worry about that.

Nicolette was recording an album when she died. Two friends of mine had written a song for her to record. It was called "How You Gonna Wear Your Hat". I'm still not sure I'm over her death. What an amazing talent. And over the years, she was married to an allstar band in Hank DeVito and Russ Kunkel and engaged to Andrew Gold.