I was up

until 4am this morning before going back to bed after the cbi thing. I didn’t sleep very well, worried about Budgie. Poor thing suffering out in the tree overnight, Not that it was terribly cold or anything. Poor bird was probably so scared, petrified to move. Chirpy is out in his cage now on the balcony most likely feeling some anxiety over his buddy missing. Budgie (unless he snuck in to the bird feeder between the cages overnight) hadn’t eaten anything since this time yesterday. I think we might fear the worse here. We’re going to keep the extra bird cage on the balcony for at lest a week. If Budgie doesn’t come back before then, we’ll assume the worst. If the netting was still up we would still have him. Chirpy has stopped calling Budgie as much as before. The only reason we still have him is because he’s so fat he can’t get off the ground. Is Budgie still in this tree?

I might have got 6 hours of sleep. Every time I had to get up to pee I checked on the bird cages out side for any sign of Budgie. I feel bad for poor Budgie. I hate this place for forcing us to take this netting down and the bird cage manufacturer for making such a cheap product. That’s the cage Chirpy is in now. My wife repaired the cage somewhat. Poor Chirp:

Anne is off today but I’m going in for my regular time at 4pm. Maybe when I come home after I check on my 6/49 numbers, I’ll win “the big one.” Yeah right. Lotto 6/49 was launched in 1982 and I largely ignored playing these games. It used to be $1/ticket and the prize was $1 Million until someone won. I’d get the urge to play maybe a couple of times/year. Sometimes, I’d play my own numbers and I’d never win. As of 2004 they increased the price of a ticket to offer larger jackpots and lately these jackpots have been in the 15-30 million dollar range. Twice/week. I just buy a couple of quick picks twice a week with the extra bonus number. Costs me $6/week. This Wednesday the draw is for $27 Million. It breaks down as well for the more numbers you have the more you win. Two weeks ago I had 3/6 numbers for $10 bucks. Usually I’d win a free ticket. Your chances of being hit by lightning would be greater then winning “the big one.” But for $3 bucks, it’s a chance right? Sure that’s $312/year but consider how many people smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and what benefits are their in that? For a $1 Million dollar prize, this wouldn’t motivate me enough to play 6/49 on a regular basis. Yet for $27 Million? If I did win “the big one” I’d certainly split it with my wife and give some to my family. But I’m not into the fancy homes or cars or even a philanthropist. I’d get us a nice condo and get all my toys and do some traveling and write. I’ve always had this thing about going off to visit every Masonic lodge in Canada and give a paper. I’d go to all the major SF conventions here in North America but I’d give it all up to have Budgie back.

Robert J Sawyer in his blog today mentioned about a speech Captain Kirk gave Dr. McCoy. RJS gave a YouTube link to the speech but not trying to one up-man-ship RJS, I still think Sam’s speech to Frodo in the LOTR movie out a few yeas ago was by far one of the most moving and relevant in our genre.
I mentioned it in a comment and gave the YouTube link.

I also mentioned in Keith Graham’s blog about the price of oil in another one of his Green fuel alternatives.

Last night to get my mind off of Budgie’s missing in action I got into some more piano practice and theory. I’m beginning to read some notes on a staff now. The only thing missing from my keyboard is a sustaining peddle and I need to pick up one of those next.

Come back Budgie is the mantra for today.

Anyway Bloggers, that‘s all for now

e. Jim