February's Inktober52, 2023

#Inktober52 (The 2023 edition) continues!

February's prompts: Mighty, Skull, Odd, Pup.  (I committed a play on words for that last one.)

Two months down ...

 

 

........ Ruprecht ( STOP )

(Almost) Bleeding Out

No ... not an actual picture of my pooling blood

 
You know how water forms that little tension curve at its surface?  That's because their like molecules want to stick to each other until they're forced apart by gravity or some other means.

Well, the same goes for blood.  Only larger.

But I'm getting ahead of myself ...

I was using a scraping knife to get a label peeled off a book.  I ended up slipping and gouging my finger just below the knuckle of my left index finger, gouging it deeply enough that blood started flowing from it and pooling on the counter where I was working.  And man, did it ever flow.  I don't think I've ever cut myself so deeply with a scraper.   I didn't have anything to staunch the bleeding so I just stood there looking at it, thinking for a minute how I was going to get out of this predicament.  Paper towels were underneath the sink behind me which was a good 10 feet away from where I was standing so I couldn't reach them without dripping blood all over the place and there was nothing but dish towels in one of the drawers just below me.  I didn't want to bloody up any of them so I decided to stand there and think a minute.

Now, earlier, I had given a printer cartridge to Missy for the out-of-ink printer we had in another room.  She mentioned she didn't know how to install the cartridge and I playfully told her to figure it out.  After a minute or two I went to see what she was up to and realized she had locked the door into the room where the printer was.  I told her to open the door so I could install the cartridge but she resisted my help.  "Nope ... you told me to figure it out and that's what I'm gonna do" she said matter of factly.  I told her not to be stubborn and just open the door but she refused.  I pointed at the printer through the window in the door and explained she needed to flip open the printer because that's where the cartridge was, buried in its innards but she just ignored me.  So I just walked away.

And, on my return into the kitchen, was when I started fooling with the book, trying to get the label off.

So standing there dripping blood on the counter I began pounding against the granite countertop in an effort to try and attract her attention while yelling her name.  I graduated to slapping the wall thinking the sound of thudding would be even more of an earful but she was obviously ignoring me.  I knew she could hear me pounding away and yelling, at least distantly, but she was calling my bluff, ignoring my effort to help her install that printer cartridge.  Little did she know I was injured and bleeding.

Meanwhile, the blood pooling in front of me was growing ever larger with a pretty hefty meniscus forming at its surface.  (I wish I'd had my phone handy so I could have snapped a photo of that pooling blood ... but that would have been rather garish.)  At some point if I didn't do something about it it would threaten to drip over the edge of the counter.

A good 30 seconds of pounding and yelling yielded nothing from Missy.  Meanwhile, the pool of blood beneath my finger was growing exponentially.  I didn't think there was any chance of myself bleeding out but, still, the amount of blood coming out my finger was somewhat alarming.  That's when I realized I had rubber gloves in one of the drawers right where I was standing, so I opened a drawer with my free hand, pulled out a glove and jammed my bleeding hand into one so I wouldn't mess up any other surface other than the countertop.  Finally, I headed into the bathroom.  There, I started a water flush to get all the blood off my hand and begin cleaning it.  I applied hydrogen peroxide and just waited for the bleeding to slow down.  But the cut was pretty damned deep and it didn't seem as if it was going to stop anytime soon.

I washed it as best I could to clean it and applied additional hydrogen peroxide.  Finally Missy came in, curious what I was doing, and I told her I needed a little help, to please get me the Band Aids.  I asked her if she'd seen the pool of blood on the counter when she passed by on our way to the restroom.  She had not.  She mentioned she'd heard me pounding and yelling her name but she thought I was just trying to gain her attention to come out of the room.  I did but, instead, it was under the pretext I was injured and in need of assistance, not to coax her into letting me fix the printer.

Obviously, not the best time to get caught in the middle of a (possibly) life-threatening injury.

Which, really, it wasn't ... but it made for a bit more drama ... right?

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Update: Then, there's this accurate little drawing I put together that went with Week #7's #inktober52 prompt and appropriate here ...

 

So, Yeah ... Sometimes I'm Grumpy

 

Look ... I know I'm a little grumpy sometimes.  But that doesn't necessarily nor automatically denote I'm dead wrong about things and simply emoting off-the-cuff grumpiness.

Grumpiness can be a good thing.  It can be cathartic.  It can be a good way to let off steam of the moment.

So here's the prelude to the situation where I got grumpy:  The front tires on my truck are in need to replacement, threatening to go bald. In other words, it's time for some new ones.  In many instances that requires purchasing a set of four tires because there are businesses out there who won't sell you just two tires.  (Or, simply, a single one for that matter.)  And I understand that in certain cases.

But when the rear tires on my truck are perfectly fine, there's no need to purchase 4 tires.  So I ran down to Walmart, just down the street, to see what I could see.  I took a picture of my tire size so I'd have it readily available and I talked to one of the service technicians down there.  I gave him the size of tire I needed, he looked it up and gave me half a dozen options to choose from.  I asked if it would behoove me to purchase a set of four tires - would there be a benefit to doing so price-wise?  He said it didn't make any difference, I could buy one if I wanted to.  Which I appreciated.  And I thanked him.  I asked if it was a good idea to make an appointment  for later or if there was a best time to show up when I was ready to pull the trigger ... and then I was on my merry way.

Fast forward to a couple days later.  I mentioned to Missy I had gotten a price on tires from Wal-Mart and she suggested I look up America's Tires (one of her preferred tire shops), Costco and Sam's Club among one or two others.  So right then and there I jumped on my phone and looked up Sam's Club.  

Once I navigated to the maintenance shop, I was asked to input my vehicle make, model, year and tire size before I could get any information.  Well, I already had tire size so I tried to input that information alone but it wouldn't let me access it without jumping through all the hoops of putting in complete information.  Which kind of ticked me off.  

In the meantime, Missy was looking up Costco tires and it was taking a long time for her to access that information in as well.  But she finally got where she wanted to be while offering up quite a bit less information than I had to with Sam's Club.

And that's when I got grumpy.  

Because I don't need to perform like a caged monkey just to get tire prices when I know exactly what I want.  I don't need to surrender an inordinate amount of information.  I'm reasonably intelligent and aware of what I need without requiring the "Purchasing Tires For Dummies" manual the Sam's Club website was asking for.  

I've got what I need, I know what I need, so fulfill my request already.  But it's just not that easy, is it?

And that's when I got grumpy.  I ranted and raved that I didn't want to have to input 12 million things when all I needed to do was provide ONE! THING! PERIOD!  How much simpler could it be?!?  GAAAAAAAAHHH ... !!!

So, looking back ... yeah I guess I might have gotten a bit emotional about the situation.  And maybe I did spit out a little vitriol along with a hefty dose of grumpiness.

But, you know ... with good reason ...

 

 

........ Ruprecht ( STOP )

Inktober52, The 2023 Edition

Well ... it's that time of year again.  Time to get the creative juices flowing and the beginning of the year off to an inky start, so to speak.

#Inktober52 (The 2023 edition) has launched once again, the challenge asking participants to output something ink-related 52 times based on a provided weekly prompt.

The first four for January are in the books below:  Build, Puppet, Shadow and Angel.

One month down, 48 more images to go.

 

  

 

 

 

 

........ Ruprecht ( STOP )

Covidlessness

Since the initial break of cases beginning in December of 2019 and continuing on for 3 years right on into January of 2023, I haven't contracted a lick of Covid-19.

I personally know and have been around friends and family and associates and passers by and more, more, more, more, more who have contracted the illness, so the likelihood of having, too, "caught the bug" seems pretty high.  Still, it's not like I work in a medical industry that caters to the general public like a hospital or in industries necessarily conducive or more apt to the prevalence of transmission.  It's just that when you look at that stretch of time it appears an unusually long period without having contracted anything.

From the initial outbreak, then into the isolations and the obligatory staying away from work, into the mask wearing when the needs necessitated venturing out to grocery shop, etc., right on into the thick of the pandemic when just about everything social was shut down, with a year going by where hospitalizations blossomed and serious illnesses leading oft times to Covid deaths and more, with news reports saturated in the whys and wherefores of the illness culminating in industry shutdowns and supply chain stoppages and into the series of inoculations ... well, you really have to wonder (or at least I did): With all this going on around us, am I in fact immune to Covid-19?  Because that exact thought really did cross my mind several times.

How come virtually everyone I know and commune with, near, far or virtual, has been plagued with some form of coronavirus - be it a mild case or otherwise - and I've gotten off Scot-free to this point?  Luck of the draw?  Am I breathing upwind of anyone who may have symptoms and I've simply been that fortunate? 

 

 Or ... is there the possibility I'm actually immune, unlikely as that may be?

Let's face it:  Entering three+ years of Covidlessness is a tidy little feather in one's cap if I do say so myself.  A seeming damned fine achievement in the grand scheme of things, so to speak.

But it truly is a small world.  A very small world, indeed.  7.8+ billion (BILLION!) people in the world and I have yet to catch a whiff of coronavirus.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

That is ... until this past weekend ...

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

 

The NorCal6: Misadventures In Monthly Get-Togethers

We've been getting together in the neighborhood of 7 years running, the lot of us.  

We call ourselves The NorCal6.

Three couples, 6 friends, who decided instead of planting our asses on the couch in front of the television on a Saturday night, we were going to damned well get out into the world and do something.

It started out simply: We picked out a restaurant to explore, some new, different place none of us had been previously.  Converse.  Eat.  Solve a few world problems.  

And we agreed we'd do this monthly. Make it "a thing."

After a year, it morphed into hitting up events (i.e. The Asparagus Festival) and destinations (i.e. Mendicino), but the basis of the idea was still intact: To get off our asses and socialize instead of being lumps, if only for a couple hours.

More than half a decade and we're still at it.  

Hey ... who are The NorCal6 anyway? Why don't we take a moment to get to know them ...

• Grant - Big dude, relatively quiet.  Loves his beers.  Usually the first one to ask the question where our next month's outing will be
  
• Kelly - Grant's wife, The Designated Driver of the couple and lover of charcuterie and anything on the coast (her happy place, she says)
• Laurie - The infamous question asker: "How much is that?"  "Is it good?"  "How big is the portion?" ad nauseum ...
• Pete - Laurie's husband.  Along for the ride and pretty much happy no matter what we do
• Melissa - Michael's better half, "the picky eater" and often the DD in her own right (which I greatly appreciate)
• Michael - I'm the loud one, usually game for anything.  Instigator.  Non-conformist.  I'll talk to anyone anywhere we go.  Oh ... I'm loud, too.  I may have forgotten to mention that.

Funny thing: In all the years we've been doing this, I don't know why we've never properly documented our little get-togethers.  Oh, we've bantered about it, that we should put together some kind photo album of our outings or some such.  But we've rarely shot photos (of us or the locales we've visited) at our soirees, we've barely kept track of the different restaurants we've been to ... blah, blah, blah.  And at this last meeting it was suggested - for the umpteenth time - we get our shit together and document our comings and goings somehow.

This time?  I took it to heart.

So ... here goes. 

 

Saturday, the 14th, we ventured out into the rainy late, late afternoon to Out Of Bounds Brewery in Folsom, a locale one of our group had been to previously for a company-hosted event.  An early dinner was in order (along with brews we hadn't tried for the beer drinkers of the clan).  Needless to say a bevy of selections was commandeered.

Hangry Chicken Wings, Buffalo Cauliflower, onion rings and fried pickle spears were the appetizers shared all around. All were great ... but the "Ring Of Fire" sauce for the wings had a funky tang to it, the only real downside to the lot.

Beers? Yes! A delicious Milk Stout and a Blood Orange Wheat (2 of these, as a matter of fact) were quaffed.

Drunken and Craft Burgers, Smoked Mac & Cheese, Tri-Tip Arugula Salads and a Margherita Flatbread were on tap for the main courses.

My Drunken Burger was a huge, terrific mess and even came with a fried jalapeno speared garnish-like through the top of the bun, which I added to the innards of the burger.  The fries accompanying the thing were the kind you couldn't stop popping into your mouth ... and there appeared to be better than a double serving of them. Half came home with us. The wives assured us that the Smoked Mac & Cheese was top notch.

Of course, the dinner wasn't the only thing.  

The conversation flowed.  It was catch up time with everyone, what new things came up or were noteworthy since the last day of the old year, the last time all 6 of us were together.  I spilled Kelly's water moving dishes and almost tagged her with a wet lap.  And I dripped sauces from the appetizers and my burger all down the front of me.  (You can't take me anywhere sometimes.)  Plus, our waitress was top notch, noting and accommodating all our trivial (probably annoying) little requests.  (Yes, she was tipped well.)

 

So messy ...

Dessert?  Nope.  We were all too full to hit up one last course.

By the time we left Out Of Bounds Brewery, the rain had stopped and it was clear driving all the way home.  Another successful congregation.

Next up:  Soriano's Restaurant in Diamond Springs for Salvadoran / Mexican food come February ...

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )

Where The Undead Genre Really Started: George Romero's Night Of The Living Dead

 

In more ways than you can imagine, George Romero's Night Of The Living Dead continues to be shocking, more than 53 years after its initial 1968 release.
 

And no, it wasn't the first appearance of the living dead. That privilege goes to the 1932 release of White Zombie starring none other than Bela Lugosi. But the zombie genre, in and of itself, really came into its own with Night Of The Living Dead.

But before we get things rolling, two things need to be stated from the get-go.

First, a warning: If you’ve never seen NotLD (and, if you haven’t, you’re either terrified of it and don’t want to watch it alone or you’ve been living under a rock all your life) let it be said that no good comes from this film. No good whatsoever.

The other thing: BIG FAT SPOILER ALERT! If indeed you have not seen the film and don’t want your experience ruined, read no further than the exclamation point at the end of this sentence!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hokay, then … here’s the spoiler: EVERYBODY DIES ... !!! 

Yep, you read right … every one of the main cast in the film dies a pretty gruesome death.

Following is the actual death count (undead ghouls not included):

 

• Death #1: Barbra’s brother Johnny (Russel Streiner) is killed by the first ghoul encountered in the film, a mysterious, gaunt and frightening stranger meandering about the cemetery they visit. Johnny struggles with the man who eventually tosses him to the ground, causing him to slam his head on a tombstone.
• Deaths #2 & 3: Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley) are killed in an explosion when Tom attempts to get a flame-engulfed truck away from a gas pump.
• Death #4: Barbra (Judith O’Dea) is swarmed and pulled from the house she and the others are sheltered in by an attack of undead ghouls ironically led by her dead, reanimated brother Johnny.
• Death #5: Karen, Harry and Helen’s daughter who was bitten earlier in the film by the undead we learn, ends up becoming one of the reanimated dead.
• Death #6: While Harry (Karl Hardman) is shot by Ben during a struggle well into the film, it’s actually Harry’s daughter, Karen (Kyra Schon), who finishes him off once and for all. Shortly thereafter, Harry’s wife Helen (Marilyn Eastman) finds reanimated Karen munching away at her husband when she retreats to the basement in the midst of an undead siege.
• Death #7: Helen gets a trowel buried in her torso by Karen for interrupting her late daddy snack.
  
• Death #8, The Final Death: In the waning moments of the film, lone survivor Ben (Duane Jones) hears noises coming from above his basement sanctuary. As he ventures upstairs to see if it is the living or the dead, he is killed by a shot to the head, mistakenly believed to be one of the many reanimated ghouls.

Man… what a way to go. Chased, terrorized and eventually done in by resuscitated corpses who either indirectly cause your demise or take care of you face to face.

 

This particularly gruesome piece of celluloid was my introduction to Zombiedom. It’s a film standard and has, over the years, become a classic. I honestly cannot think of a better film to have started off my love affair with the genre. NotLD, to me, is my A Christmas Carol as December 25th approaches. It’s lighting sparklers during the 4th of July, ringing in the New Year with champagne. It’s The Ten Commandments around Easter and it’s attending the Dodgers’ Opening Day.

In other words: It’s tradition.

It never gets old. (Yes… I used “never.”) It still brings gasps and frights. You cannot help but get caught up in the stock musical tracks which accent the panic and dread being played out on the screen. You can feel the fire flare in the face of Ben as the truck Tom drives away from the gas pump explodes with he and Judy inside. You can feel your revulsion as you watch that one particular ghoul snatch an insect off a tree, put it to its lips and crunch into it. You spew loathing at Harry and all his faux-bravado time and again when he blusters. The urgency Ben emotes as he boards up the house in an effort to ward off the undead from outside? You can actually feel it unfolding.

If you’ve never seen George Romero’s masterpiece, you haven’t experienced the kind of fear a good black and white can inject into you. I guarantee you’ll be as overwhelmed as Barbra as she witnesses the undead horde led by her brother Johnny. You’ll be transfixed at the news reports which continually crop up throughout the film, detailing the horrors taking place in nearby towns and counties. You’ll even marvel at Sheriff McClelland uttering “Yeah, they’re dead … they’re all messed up.” (One of my favorite lines from the movie.)

 

This film is all that and a bag of your chips, let me tell you. (And, just in case you need proof, elements of NotLD were used as the basis for AMC’s popular The Walking Dead. So there.)

Look: Do yourself a favor. View this piece of genre history once again for the thirtieth time … or for the very first. It’s available in its entirety on YouTube for Pete’s sake, so you don’t even have to venture out and rent it. After all, free of charge is good. And free of charge from the comfort of your very own computer screen or television set … all the better.

The only thing I ask in return is that you enjoy it … and don’t forget the popcorn.

 

.......... Ruprecht ( STOP )