Mission Impossible

Greg Morris, Peter Lupus
MartinLandau, Peter Graves
Barbara Bain

 

I've been slow binge watching the TV series 'Mission Impossible' for about a year now.  The show began on CBS in 1966, ending in 1973.  The premise is that a group of government employees (Spies? Never 100% clear) who went from fictional country to country & here in US stopping evil plots against democracy. 

The first season, Steven Hill was Daniel Briggs, the leader of the team.  But he had issues with the shooting schedule because he was an Orthodox Jew & would not work on Saturdays.  IMDB says he was fired but would that be legal?

Martin Landau, a pretty established actor, was Rollin Hand.  He was a magician & master of desguises.  He spent a lot of time playing characters & pulling masks off his face at the end of the show.   He had odd billing, as a "special guest star" which was the first (& maybe last) time that has happened.  I guess it's an actor thing.

Barbara Bain, Laundau's wife, played ex-model Cinnamon Carter who was the femme fatale of the group.  She is still gorgeous & had a great wardrobe.

Greg Morris, played Barney Collier, the smartest guy on the planet who did all of the electronics,drugs & escapes. Nothing would have worked without Barney.

Peter Lupus,, played Willie Armatage.  The muscle.  He carried the heavy stuff & drove all the cool trucks. 

Every week they'd get an assignment from an annoymous voice who told them they could accept the job if they wanted but if they got caught they'd be hung out to dry.  So Dan would come up with the plan, Barney & Willie would do all the work & Rollin & Cinnamon would do sneaky things.  Then at the end of the show, they'd all just walk away together.  That was my favorite part.  The characters & there stories are outlandish but fun.

Then in season 2nd Peter Graves took over the team as Jim Phelps.  Everyone else stayed the same.  No one ever asked about Dan again.  But apparently Peter got top billing & top money & that made Martin mad.  The show refused to negotiate with him so he decided to walk away & Barbara went with him, maybe whether she wanted to or not.   

Rollin & Cinnamon were good but Peter's brother was Matt Dillon for goodness sake.  He deserved billing & money.

Later years had a few more stars--Lynda Day George, Lee Meriwether & Lesley Ann Warren as the beauties & Leonard Nimoy took over Rollin's role although I never cared for character. It was hard to see fuddy Dr Spock trying to be cool.  Sam Elliot was even there for awhile though my Sam-dar was not acute in those days.  I'm looking forward to seeing him later.

In 1988 they tried to revive the show with Jim still in charge & Barney's son but it didn't work out.  Apparently what we fell for & loved in the 60s didn't fly in 1988.  The 60s sets were pretty bad & some of the stories were pretty unbelievable but the writing & acting made us forget that.  I still love every show, hokey or now.

And then they had to ruin things with Hollywood movies with the famous pipsqueak deadbeat dad Tom Cruise.  I saw the first. Will never need to see him in a movie ever again.

I'm in the middle of season 2 now so the Landau-Bain people should be leaving soon.  Their leaving turned out to torpedo their careers.   Laundau even appeared in a Gilligan's Island movie.  He did have a power surge in 1994 when he won an Academy Award playing Bella Lugosi in a movie called Ed Wood.  In his acceptance speech he took a swipe at Mission Impossible.  Still bitter after all the years.  I've never seen it but I'd like to.  But mostly, his career & Bain's fizzled.  Then they got divorced after 36 years of marriage.

It'll probably take me a couple more years to get throught the rest of the seasons.

Piggy

Me

Since I retired in 2010, I have lost 70 pounds. I need to lose 20 more.  I say that alot.  I don't lose the pounds but I say that alot.

One of the things I have discovered 100% about myself is I eat what's put in front of me.  I'm good with a light, healthy lunch or a feast for 40.  

Today I ordered a baked potato from a restaruant around the corner & they laughed as I asked for the smallest one. It was way enough but if I got the biggest one I'd eat that too. And then I'd be miserable.  I'm the say with a candy bar.  A miniature bar would do the trick but I have to buy a bag of those & that's dangerous.  So I look for the smaller regular bar, as opposed to the king size option.  Even if the king size has 2 halves, I eat both.  It's not pretty but it's a fact.

And for the record, left to my own devices, I tend to eat odd & easy things.  I had biscuits & gravy for lunch one day this week & Rice a Roni another day.  And I'd have a salad every day if someone made it for me. 

Nothing sounds good & meat does not thrill me.  And my baked potato had bacon on it & I'd be ok if I didn't eat bacon again & I never thought I'd see that again.  I think I need to explore plant based ...maybe that'll help those 20 pounds. 

And bread does not thrill me either.  

I do eat too much sugar.  I'm going to try for no sugar September.  

Minor League Baseball

 I've decided if I were rich I'd travel from town to town to watch minor league baseball which are techncally more fun than major league because the parks are smaller & the fans more fun.  I do love major league but I don't get to Arlington very often to see my Rangers play & Bally Southwest, those greedy bastards, only let Direct TV subscribers see the games anymore.  I hate them.

But I digress.

Here are some of the names.  I'm not a t shirt person but I'd need something from each team.

1. Lubbock Crickets  Our team from 1995-1999.  They didn't fly...not sure why.  Enjoyed every game.  Named after Buddy Holly's band.

2. Sod Poodles, Amarillo,TX  Sod Poodles are prairie dogs. I remember thinking it's a dumb name but it really fits in. 

3. Rocket City Trash Pandas, Huntsville,AL

4.  Rock Hounds, Midland,TX

5.  Pit Spitters, Traverse City, Michigan

6.  Biscuits, Montgomery, AL

7. Tomateros, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico

8. Bananas, Savannah,GA

9.  51s, Las Vegas,NV  Named after "Area 51" alien landing area.

10.  Lugnuts, Lansing,MI

11.  Tin Caps, Fort Wayne, IN

12.  White Caps, Comstock Park, MI

13. Inland Empire 66ers, San Bernadino, CA

14.  Portland Pickles, Portland, OR

15. Bees, Salt Lake City, UT

16. Wind Surge, Wichita, KS

17. Express, Round Rock,TX

 

18. Roughriders, Frisco,TX

19.  Hooks, Corpus Christi,TX

20.   Storm Chasers, Omaha,NE 

21.   Isotopes, Albuquerque,NM

22.  Reserves, Wasco,CA

23.   Weirdos, Austin,TX

24.   Saguaros,Tuscon,AZ 

25.  Drillers, Tulsa, OK

26.   Bluecats, Waco,TX

27.   Black Bears, Granville, WV

    

28.   Redbirds, Memphis,TN

29.   Sounds, Nashville,TN

30.   Paddleheads, Missoula,MT

31. Rubber Ducks, Akron,OH 

32.  Bats, Louisville,KY

33.  Hot Rods, Bowling Green, KY

34.  Y'alls, Florence, KY

35. Grizzlies, Sauget, IL

36. Shockers, Biloxi,MS

37. Rocky Mountain Vibes, Colorado Springs,CO

Used to be:

And was once:

                

Stupid tomatoes

I planted my tomatoes in May & have faithfully watered the every day all summer & given them plant food every other week.  I've hit them with my yardstick to promote some pollination.  And they grew tall & had some early blooms but nothing took. And it was a dry, long hot summer, many days over 100 without a drop of rain.  Basically the plants baked. But finally, a month ago I got 2 little green tomatoes.  They were about 1/2" in diameter & never got any bigger.  They are supposed to be big boy tomatoes!  And then last week, they had the nerve to turn red.  Anyone want to split a BLT?

I think they are out of here tomorrow.

I do have 2 bell pepper plants & both have peppers on them that are actually growing.  They are supposed to be red so I'm keeping a close eye on them & still watering every day.

This may be my last year for tomatoes.  It's too excruciating. 

I'm not sure it's true

"You are not alone, and this will not last forever."

A couple of times a day some Twitter person posts something like this trying to be inspirational. Because they apparently think that a blurb on social media is going to make all the difference in the world to a person. And I don't know, maybe for someone it will make the big difference. As a person who does not believe in therapy or that any person can make life better, I am not one of those people. I believe the only person who can fix my life is me. Maybe that's because I don't trust anyone...I don't know. I do know that I have walls built up around me that very few people get through. I wish it wasn't that way but it is.

Sadly, although I don't believe anyone can make it better someone surely can do things that build the wall around me higher. People can do things that hurt my feelings & that pisses me off. I need a tougher skin.

My birthday was 2 weeks ago & my friend J sent me a happy birthday text. I made a small deal of hers...I took her to lunch & got her a Sonic gift card. A small deal. I didn't get a phone call. But she's working now & her sister is here. She sure doesn't need me. But when she needs something, she'll be back.

Everyone comes back when they need something.

My friend D who has been a friend for almost 40 years. She's a good person but very self centered. She lives in a different city & we used to talk every week or so. Her side of the conversation was about herself, her husband & their son & DIL & grands. And that's all the convo was about. She didn't care at all what was going on with me. Last year she had a knee replacement & I called a couple of times a week to check on her & after a couple of weeks she told me that I didn't need to call her anymore, if she wanted to talk to me she'd call me. So I stopped calling. That was about November. Then in February, I was going to Arlington & called to see if they wanted to meet for lunch. Along with another mutual friend, we had lunch. And D Facebook messaged one time after that to get a phone number & I have not heard from her since. So I guess she has not needed to talk to me. No birthday wish. And I should be a bigger person but I'm not. I'm just not. Because I see it's sadly a one way friendship & I don't have the spirit anymore for someone who doesn't want to be there for me. And for the record we don't agree politically but I've never cared. I just figure she's an idiot but just don't discuss politics with her & we are fine. I deleted Facebook, mostly because I think it's toxic, but mostly because I felt like she was stalking me by commenting on anything on my timeline. Why would I follow a brewery? (My cousin owns it, for the record). Who is this person? Don't be mean about Dr Fauci. Why did you say that? I'd done everything short of giving up the entire app to block her from seeing my timeline but nothing worked. I unfollowed her years ago because again, I avoided her political views in a passive-aggressive way. The toxic thing was the main reason for deleting but this situation with D was also a part of it.

So it sounds like I drive people away & it's true. For years I've had acquaintances that were friends when they needed something & were casual friends when they didn't need me. And I'll admit I'm hard on people. I just want more effort after what I give. And I'm not going to settle for people hurting me (even unintentially) anymore. Frankly, I can't handle too much more hurt. I'd rather be alone. And I get my wish. Day in & day out. I'm sounding a little pathetic tonight. I'm lonely. But I'd rather be lonely than hurt.

Birthday Cake

 

Zeppolis

I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago & my friend Deb & I went to lunch at Red Robin & then went to Olive Garden for zeppolis for dessert.  I love, love,love zeppolis.  I didn't have a birthday cake but I'm fine with that.  Zeppolis are better. 

But today on Twitter a lady posted a picture of her son holding his homemade birthday cake with a "16" & 16 candles. And I loved it.  I think fancy decorated cakes are very pretty although sometimes they don't taste great.  And they are expensive. But some don't have time or inclination to make a cake.  Or mostly it's for show for the big birthday party.  It's nothing these days to spend hundreds on a first birthday party.

I can remember one birthday party growing up.  I think I was 10.  Mom made a cake & we had kids over & I got presents & we played outside.  And it was fun.  My cake tasted good of course because everything my mom made was good.  She wasn't a decorator but she bought these at the grocery & put them on the cake.  They are made of some candy thing & are stuck to a page.  She had to wet the back of the page & pull them off.  And usually, at least 2 letters were broken so there was some creative ways to put them back together. 

I'm not complaining about lack of party.  Never been a huge fan to be honest.  Birthday dinner was always I wanted & there was always a German Chocolate Cake at the end of it which was way better than any other birtyday cake. 

The Twitter story just brought back a memory.  But zeppolis make memories too.  😊

The Ballad of Gussie & Clyde

A few weeks ago, I went to my hometown funeral home page to see if anyone I know had died.  It's a little morbid but I look once a month or so.  I'm from a small town so I'm ever curious about everyone's business.  There was an obituary of a man from Spur named Aaron Latham.

Aaron has some fame because he wrote a screenplay for a movie called 'Urban Cowboy' which was a love story between a man named Bud, from Spur,TX, played by John Travolta & Cissy who I don't remember much about, played by Debra Winger.  Not a great movie but it was mostly set in a honky tonk in Houston called Gilleys.  The muic was good.

So Aaron made his fortune & moved away & married a big TV journalist named Lesley Stahl.   They lived in a penthouse in New York City overlooking some museum. And when he died, they brought him home to be buried in Spur.  Odd.

He had written a few other books over the years but I was interested in one called 'The Ballad of Gussie & Clyde'.  It was a story of his dad--Clyde--who married Gussie while both were in their 80s.  They had known each other as children & met up again when both were widowed.  The book is "A True Story of True Love".

I'm from Spur.  I did not know Clyde or Gussie or Aaron but was interested in his story after Aaron's death.  So I found the book on Amazon & finished today.  There was a lot of family history, a lot of familiar locations & some familiar people.  It was a quick & fun read.

There was of course a little embelishment & some errors but I guess it's poetic license.  In spite of NYC snobbery, for instance, I don't know of one cowboy that would wear spurs to church.  And I grew up in a family of cowboys. 

The book was as much about Aaron being with sick & dying parents, doubting whether Gussie would stick around (she was born near Spur but had lived in California for years).  And for some reason he was interested in their sex life which I thought was a little TMI.  By the end of the book, published in 1997, Gussie & Clyde were still kicking.

After a stint in the hospital, for a few days Clyde had to go to the Spur nursing home, which Aaron prescribed as "hell".  He told Gussie that he'd pay for 24 hour care but he ended up in the hospital before that was set up.  I was offended by his description of the nursing home.  We sadly had to put my mom there in her later years because my dad could no longer care for her at home & I lived in a different city.  But I didn't have millions to make anything else happen.  It was not a fancy place.  It used to be the Spur Hospital. I was born there.  I'd bet Aaron was born there.  It was an old building but the care & food were adequate.  And in a nursing home sometimes that's all you can ask for.  My mom was cared for by people who'd known her forever & my dad saw here everyday.  There are more ideal place but it wasn't hell.

I have not read any other of Aaron's works.  I'm not sure if this was a typical book.   The book was a 175 page love letter to his dad.  And it was very sweet.  Not sure if was about any other place I'd care but it was a fun & familiar read.

The Potential Man Of My Dreams Is A Dud

 

Last Friday, on my birthday, I was at work & a guy was trying to avoid his car getting hit by a woman who kept backing out & he ended up hitting the side of my car.  It's not bad...a dent & some paint damage.  He came in the store, asked if we knew whose car it was, gave us his insurance info & apologized.  I talked to the insurance adjuster yesterday & got an estimate today.  There is about $2000 worth of damage.  Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon.

I was sitting in the waiting room at the body shop waiting for the guy to do the estimate & got into a conversation with a man sitting there.  He said he'd backed his new truck into a pole.  Oops. He was kinda flirty...not something I'm used to experiencing...and I might have been able to play along...not a skill I have much...   This is what I learned today about him:

1. He's 68

2. Retired in 2019

3. Was a special ed teacher in Levelland

4. Divorced

5. Lives with his brother.

6. Takes care of his 96 year old mom.

7. Has traveled some but wants to go more. He went on Amtrack up to NY last year & saw Niagra Falls.  That sounds fun. I told him we'd been to NYC in 2019 & to Vegas in April.  Asked who I traveled with.

8. Hates that his brother watches Fox news 24 hours a day. 

9. Can't imagine how anyone could spend 3 days in Vegas.   Doesn't like to spend money gambling.  *Any luster he had is fading fast*

10.  Thinks Joe Biden is doing a good job.  *Dead in the water*

Car BooBoo

For the record, not worst thing that has happened on my birthday.  2 years ago, I had to have a root canal.

Liars

 

A lady came into the store & she was very talkative.  She told us she'd moved from California after she lost her job & I felt bad for her.  Then as she kept talking, her story became more & more unbelievable.  I believe she lost her job.  The rest? Not so much.

I don't understand the point of lying.  Do people get a little rush when they get sympathy & are then unable to stop?

I have a couple of friends that lie.  One just exaggerates.  I believe she starts off with the truth but then just embelishes to the point of no return.  I just shake my head.

I had a woman I worked with that would stand in front of you & lie.  If the blue table she'd tell you it was red, even if it would benefit her more for the table to be blue.

Everyone wants to be heard.  I know I like to talk & be listened to. And maybe some think they are not interesting enough without the lies.  

But's it's kind of annoying. 

I have a job!!

I got the job at the kitchen store & so far--7 1/2 working hours in--I'm enjoying.  Not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be doing yet.  First day, we visited & I learned how to check out customers.  Yesterday we went through new boxes & put tags on things & put things in storage & on shelves.  I have 12 hours scheduled next week, which is fine with me, so hoping to figure out other ways to help.  

I do love the customer interaction & I like my boss.  She gave me a gift card for my birthday yesterday.  So sweet.