Hey everybody! It's Tuesday, and that means I'll be taking a break from my regularly scheduled back pain to listen to our friend Marc Hurwitz @marchurboston.bsky.social replace my cortisol overload with adrenalin and dopamine. He's on markskinradio.com from 4-6 eastern time. Catch it if you can.

It turns out I do a pretty good imitation of Misty's gay BFF. She showed me a bunch of new clothes she bought, and we talked through each outfit in depth. She was deeply appreciative. She always said, "where's the toolbelt?" Dude, I do math for a living. Turns out that works for her. ;-)

Misty and I took a baked mac and cheese to our neighbour, whose husband recently passed. We had a wonderful visit, and the woman was clearly enjoying the company. Misty, knowing my limits better than I thought, says, "Michael, it's time for you to go. You have chores." I totally won the lottery.

Hey everybody! My wonderful @mistybrown.bsky.social immediately gained an interview for the job of her dreams at 2pm today. I've told her that she'll get any job she gets an interview for, but cross your fingers for her. I've never seen her this excited. This is a biggie.

@sixftjamie.bsky.social You may not know it, but I'll bet you love anoles (little green lizards). Misty caught this one posing in our courtyard. :)

You may not know it, but I'll bet you love anoles (little green lizards). This is a good one. (taken by Misty in our courtyard this morning). :)

A broken down army vet asked me if I could buy his groceries until he was paid on the first. I've always been a soft touch, and so I said 'sure, just put your stuff in my cart.' I ended up buying a thing of yogurt, a gallon of milk and two frozen dinners for him.

Dear #ChapelHill, first you revaluated my house to twice its actual worth. Then you raised my property tax rate, resulting in a 50% increase in my property taxes. Then, less than a month later, you stopped picking up leaves. My yard produces over 60 million leaves a year. How happy am I about this?

Hey everybody! After a day of full back spasm yesterday, Doc Weekend Warrior is back in the game today, so I'll be listening to our friend Marc Hurwitz @marchurboston.bsky.social today from 4-6 eastern as he works his magic with the best of alt rock and Boston on markskinradio.com It's good!

Bring back Kimmel and fire the bastard! There is nothing I despise more than a coward.

Hey @ericlars2.bsky.social! Misty and I turned away from our beloved Columbo reruns to watch Wisconsin/Maryland. We're fully committed to Wisconsin. Go badgers! :)

I had four cups of coffee this morning, and as it turns out, that is two too many cups of coffee. I'm going to spend the rest of the day working off unpleasant caffeine shakes.

The most American thing I've seen lately. I went to our local Chinese joint for hot and sour soup and wontons, and the Chinese owner slips out of fluent cantonese to give a homeless guy a full meal at pennies on the dollar. I quietly offer to cover the difference, and he says, "don't sweat it."

Man, I love the verve! See you there! :)

There are days, and this is one, when you think, 'Holy hell, what a mess,' and then you realize that your almost wife has absorbed 60% of the hassle, and then you realize how much your life has improved, and then you feel gratitude. And then you feel better. Have a great day, everyone! :)

Oy vey is mir. Our mechanic wanted $1200 to install brake parts that cost $21.44 on amazon. Every mathematician is a frustrated engineer, and every engineer is a frustrated mechanic. And I owned an English car, so I can do this job myself. Thanks, but no thanks.

Such is the chaos of today that I would likely forget if it wasn't important, but today from 4-6 eastern our friend Marc Hurwitz @marchurboston.bsky.social will be playing the best of alt-rock and reminding us all of why Boston is the centre of the universe on markskinradio.com. Catch it if you can!

I love strong women. If you don't, you are a weak man.

If the competition for the last seat in heaven involves a fried chicken contest, not only will I get in, Peter, Paul and Moses will ask me for my autograph. ;-)

It is Sunday, 14 September, 2025, 11:32 am. Number of times I've cursed this morning, mostly doing menial chores: 296,412. And I didn't even do the hardest job on the docket, which was taking my father to urgent care on zero seconds notice. Misty is truly my hero.

It is Saturday, 13 September, 2025. We are at exactly W minus 6 weeks. It. Is. On!

Project Self-Awareness, interim report: Misty can get me to jump through just about any hoop. Clean out the rat's nest of my office closet? Done. Get clothes that don't all look the same? Okay. But timely haircuts is apparently a deal breaker. I do not like strangers with scissors touching my head.

There is a curious sensation, I'm sure the Germans have a word for it, when you clean out a closet because your almost wife put her foot down, and you find some obviously expensive tech thingy, and you haven't got the slightest idea of what it is or what it does or why you bought it. ;-)

Hey Boston friends!

Misty is still busy creating order from chaos and found my first grade report card. I said, "oh shit." Then she read it to me, and I felt a bit better. ;-)

Life with Doc, Volume Chafing Dishes: I promised Misty I would assemble the chafing dishes yesterday, but forgot because I threw out my back. So at 3am Doc Insomnia remembers and assembles them. The senile dog growls at me, and curiosity damn near killed the cats. A simple job was made not simple.

@sixftjamie.bsky.social You may not know it, but I'll bet you love surprise lillys. They are curious plants. They leaf out in the spring, then die back to the ground, then suddenly in September they shoot up a stalk and give you this. Our yard is chockablock with them. :)

@marchurboston.bsky.social My favourite Clash album, and one of the best songs on the album! :)

@cesavage.bsky.social Misty finally forced the issue and measured my finger for the ring. Your pal Doc statistically average apparently really does have bear paws instead of hands. I'm either a size 14 or 15 on my ring finger.

I passed a major life milestone today. The number of times I've said, "I need a grease gun" is now greater than zero. :)

Hey everybody! I'll spend my day being my own rented mule, but from 4-6 eastern I'll take my break to listen to our friend Marc Hurwitz @marchurboston.bsky.social curate the best of old and new alt-rock on markskinradio.com. If you have the time, he has the music. It's a great listen.

Misty and I went to our local for burgers this evening and had a wonderful time. But it suddenly occurred to me while listening to Tom Petty's "Breakdown" that male songwriters apparently have really hard time getting through the night. WTF, male songwriters? ;-)

I'm not tall and I'm not small I'm not broad and I'm not thin I know damned well I'm a five out of ten But I will not deny There's a twinkle in my eye And that netted me the greatest partner in the history of partners. (You're welcome) ;-)

Life with Misty, Volume Columbo Reruns: Misty : If someone comes into your house without taking off their raincoat or their gloves, don't eat or drink anything they give to you. That should be a rule. Me: Got it.

My stoopid eyes keep leaking. Doc Quietly Rational apparently has emotions -- good ones, mind you, but once again I am not playing from strength here.

Misty and I met for two hours this morning with my friend Rachel, who is going to marry us in October. It was a great meeting, and it will be great to be married by someone I've been friends with for 20 years.

Oy. Today is the inevitable worst chore -- washing my dog, the Princess Lily (aka the walking dust bunny).

Doc Savage Maxims: Volume Self-Evaluation: No one gets to choose who they are, but they do get to choose what they do. Judge yourself (and others) not by who they are, but by what they do. I won't say I passed this test with flying colours, but in retrospect, I think I did pass.

@marchurboston.bsky.social Suicidal Tendencies! I $^%&$ing love this song! :)

Hey @ericlars2.bsky.social, do you have a recommendation for one of those USB guitar amp thingies that you jack straight into either garage band or pro tools? I have a good friend who is a producer, and I know what he uses, but I'm looking something simpler (and cheaper). ;-)

For those contemplating writing a murder mystery, I just stumbled across a new murder weapon. North American water hemlock. It's native to temperate wetlands, and is so toxic that as little as a half a leaf can be fatal. Throw two cut up leaves into your victim's salad, and mission = accomplished.

Hey everybody! I wasn't able to shill for our friend Marc Hurwitz @marchurboston.bsky.social last week because life intervened, but he'll be bringing us the best of alt-rock and Boston today from 4-6 eastern on markskinradio.com. It's appointment radio for me, and I hope you'll give it a try too. :)

@cpaone.bsky.social I can always tell it's a big deal when there are 3 news helicopters hovering over my front yard to film the mayhem. This is almost as bad as when we play Duke at basketball. The noise is (cough) annoying. Misty went up to campus to get pictures. I'm in the bunker hiding. ;-)

I never promised I would stop posting dumb stuff from the archive. Apparently, if you live in an iconic house in a small town, they put a photo of it on the cover of the phone book. Who knew?

As Misty continues to mine the archive, she found this picture of my mother from her college days. I'd never seen a picture of her from that era. Apparently, my mom is Ingrid Bergman's long lost sister.

Combing through the archive, Misty found this picture of my sister. The note on the back said, "Robin's first Christmas." My sister had a notably troubled life, and Misty said, "Well, I see it all now. She wasn't born evil -- it was that doll the whole time!" ;-)

Misty is going through all the Savage Family archives, and keeps digging up old pictures. She says I look like Volodomyr Zelenskyy in this one. All I see is the paralyzed lower lip.

🎶

For my friend the fit and fabulous @nubianqueenbee.bsky.social. It's a bank holiday in America today, and so I made a breakfast fit for my wonderful Misty. (And when I scramble an egg, it knows it's been scrambled by the best.) ;-)

Life with Misty, Volume scrambled eggs; Me: here's your eggs and bacon. I just need a second to rinse off the silicone spatula. Misty: I usually just let the dogs lick them and put it back in the drawer. Me: You too? (This conversation actually happened.)