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Ought-six: Surpluses, deficits Thursday, Dec 28, 2006 By John Brummett Ought-six was the year of living dangerously around our house, fiscally speaking. I did my part to stimulate the state's economy and compile that surplus that state legislators will start wasting in a few days. We got the upstairs floors redone in February. We got the house repainted in March. We went to Tuscany in April. Broke by May. Sounds like a Sinatra song. In honor of the federal government, I kept spending anyhow, including in midsummer for a new vehicle when the air conditioner went out on the 1990 BMW sedan with 230,000 miles. The mechanic's price was more than the Tuscany vacation. In hopes of getting appointed to the visitors and conventions bureau in Little Rock, I didn't seek other bids. The dogs are swell, except that they've so scratched the newly redone upstairs flooring that I'm probably going to take out a sixth mortgage and bring back carpet. Scooter, our rescue dog, a.k.a. Scooter Merle, in honor of Merle Haggard, or, as I sometimes call him, U.S. Sen. S. Merle Brummett, is getting more socially adapted all the time. Now he barks incessantly only for the first 15 minutes of a visitor's arrival. He remains literally bipolar. He'll growl at you while wagging his tail. He had early puppyhood issues. Lilly, the nearly 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever princess, aka Lilly Belle, also sometimes referred to as L. Belle Brummett, is a precious child. "Miss Priss," a friend calls her. But she is fully worthy of my other name for her, which is "Rascalette." If you leave her in the house for a mere 10 minutes while you run to the store, she will go through the curtain into the unused shower stall where we keep the recycling bins. She'll pull out assorted plastic items and strew them throughout the home. Clearly she calculates this mischief. Shalah says she's mad at us for leaving her alone. I say she's a spoiled brat. I can't imagine how it happened. You're wondering why I'd ever leave her in the house, considering. Lilly, I mean. It's because it might be nippy or raining and the precious princess might freeze or melt. I'm still playing tennis probably three times a week on average. The only thing I enjoy about it is walking off the court having not lost, which some people refer to as winning. I still retire from the sport after every defeat, but they always call again to ask me to play and I always decide I could use the exercise and ought to try to be less neurotic. I've lost 35 to 40 pounds, depending on the day, all in my face, chins and rear end, and none in the middle region. I bought a blood pressure machine at Wal-Mart and check myself four or five times a day. It varies wildly, from normal up, usually according to how the tennis game turned out. In the privacy of my home, I do yoga stretches that Shalah showed me. I've had fewer back problems. Here's one: You make yourself into a chair by putting your back flush against the wall and squatting until your thighs are extended at right angles from the wall to your bent knees. You bend your arms to point upward and hold them still over your knees. You maintain this pose for a count of 60 as your muscles tremble and burn. It's made me a much faster counter. ------- John Brummett is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is jbrummett@arkansasnews.com; his telephone number is (501) 374-0699. |
