Beyond The Cheddar Curtain

Your Monday moment of Zen...

2011-09-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

Elephant vs. midgets. And people say reality TV isn't educational!

More Gloom & Doom

2011-09-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

So. One of my co-workers (same job title as me) went to the Reno Air Races last week, and was killed when the plane crashed into the crowd. He was with two other people, one of whom was unharmed by the crash, and the other who was seriously injured but is expected to make a full recovery. Evidently, right before the crash occurred, my co-worker had gone forward (in front of the stands) to take some pictures, and he was standing very close to where the plane impacted the ground.

At first, he was just considered missing - his family held out some hope that he might have been taken to a hospital without ID on him or something. However, his wife flew out there the next day and ruled that possibility out. Also, although no remains have been found yet, they did find some of his personal effects (wallet, etc.) at the crash site. Unfortunately, the crash was so bad that I don't think there is much left of him other than that.

I guess I'm still feeling a bit stunned by it. You don't think much about mortality when you're still in your forties. And, I have to admit that the guy who was killed was not a close friend of mine - we didn't get along that great, to be honest. I won't go into the particular reasons for that right now, but I guess it does make it harder to sort out how I feel. However, I do feel awful for his wife and kids. They had adopted two children (a boy and girl) who are elementary school age. My co-worker used to work the 6 AM to 2 PM shift, and I heard he would call them every morning while he was at work, before they went to school. He was very enthusiastic about aviation and seemed to be good at his job. So - he will be missed.

I think men are worse than women when it comes to grief and dealing with death. I know that after my father died, I did a horrible job with the grieving process and tried to carry on like nothing had happened. That worked - for a while - but after several months I had a few incidents involving anger and behavior that, quite honestly, is nothing I was proud of. I was able to eventually move past that but it took a while. To be totally honest, I think some of the problems I was having with my last job were related to this (although not all of them) and it was definitely time for me to move on when I did. Hell, even if I'd been having zero problems with my last job, I would have left there to go to a major in a heartbeat.

While I am not an extremely religious person, I also am not an atheist, and I have heard people at work asking what God was thinking with regards to this tragedy. I don't know that, but it does seem to me that when you have a man over 70 years old flying a heavily modified high performance aircraft at 50 feet above the ground, passing directly over a crowd of people watching - this is not safe behavior. And, I suppose the pilots involved know it's risky, as several of them have been killed over the years, and they accept that risk - but I hope in future, assuming that the race resumes, that more steps are taken to protect the crowd, even if it means they don't have quite as good a view.

I will definitely be attending my co-worker's funeral, if I can, and a bunch of us from work are getting together Tuesday night to have a few drinks in my fallen co-worker's honor. And I would advise those people reading to remember that life is precious, and to try not to take your daily existence for granted.

9/11, Ten Years Later

2011-09-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

I suppose this is as fitting a date as any to start posting again, and I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I've already posted before about what I was doing on the date of the 9/11 attacks, details can be found here if you are interested. I don't have that much else to say, except that time really does fly - but two airlines later, I'm still working in this crazy industry and mostly enjoying it. I will try to have a more substantive post up soon about what I've been doing since my last post many months ago, so stay tuned. Continuing a tradition, here are the names of the airline employees killed in the 9/11 attacks. May they rest in peace.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

Imitation, the sincerest form of flattery...

2011-04-23T23:49:00.001-04:00

As you may or may not know, I am a science fiction fan. Not to the extreme that I have an entire room devoted to sci-fi memorabilia or anything, but I do like it. Also, although I no longer read them often, I was a pretty big comic book fan as a kid, especially Marvel books. Thus, I really liked the following two commercials. The first one is a VW commercial that premiered in the Superbowl I like to call "Little Vader" (although its actual title is "The Force") which I'm sure that most people have seen already. Just in case you haven't, here it is:

The next commercial I just saw today. It's an ad for the upcoming Marvel movie, Thor, based on the comic book. Basically it's a shot-for-shot recreation of the first commercial, but with some added material, and I think it may be my favorite commercial of all time (and I say this as a guy who really likes funny commercials.) Hope you enjoy it also!

Spam Amusement

2011-04-20T19:49:00.001-04:00

I just got an email supposedly from someone who had seen my profile on a social networking site that I hadn't logged onto for so long, my account has been suspended there. Spam is often amusing but I really thought this was hilarious for some reason:

Hello my new friend:) My name's Anastasia.
I write to you because I want serious relations.
I saw your profile on dating site quechup.com.
Therefore I write to you now. I think, that you are good man and I hope,
that my heart does not deceive me. I search true relations for creation family.
I write to you and I hope, that you write to me also.
If you are interested, please write to me on my this e-mail.
I shall be glad, if you will answer me.
I shall wait your message with impatience.
your Anastasia:)

Of course, the requisite photo of an attractive female was attached. Also attached was the message "Email Marketing by iContact. Try it free!" Just as a tip for all those lonely Anastasias out there...probably a good idea to not include that last bit in your "marketing" email.

My reply, were I to send one:

Hello Anastasia my hot Russian babe that I have never seen before, I have known all my life we were destined to meet even though I did not know you existed until today. I know this because I seek professional nude jello wrestling partner for trade shows. Money is awesome but I have been out of work since my last partner dislocated her shoulder while performing the beautiful "Hiru-Kiru" body slam move in order to pin me. As I am large man I need partner with beefy arms to perform the more difficult moves and from your photo I know you will excel. Plus, I think you might be my soul mate or something. I look forward to our sparring sessions!

I kind of doubt I'd hear back from her if I were to send that reply though, so I guess she'll have to find some other ~~sucker~~ soul mate to fulfill her desires.

Site Maintenance and the state of blogging in 2011

2011-04-20T03:25:00.000-04:00

Greetings all, not a whole lot to report here. If anyone is looking for an update from my latest mini-series, I decided to take it down momentarily and unify it as a single post, so look for some sort of update to that in a week or so. Life continues on here in Texas with lots of hot, dry weather. We really could use some rain.

In other blogging news, Suldog has announced that he is ceasing active blogging. He was one of the most frequent commenters on this site, and I always enjoyed reading his blog. I'm sorry to see him go, but he is keeping his blog online, so I hope we see some more posts from him eventually.

I started this blog out after some encouragement from one of my favorite bloggers, Magazine Man. He's got a ton of great stuff to peruse in his archives, but he hasn't posted in a while either...and please understand, I am NOT criticizing anyone for not posting blog entries. Hell, I've been guilty of not posting for weeks at a time myself now and then. Real life is always more important than blogging, and I know MM (as his fans refer to him) has been extremely busy with starting a new job, selling his old house, and moving his family to their new house. It just seems that...I don't know, when all your friends are posting on THEIR blogs, it makes you more likely to want to post on YOUR blog, if you know what I mean.

Back when blogging was really popular (and I think it probably hit its peak in the 2004-2005 time frame) I saw many people would begin blogs, post a few entries, and then never update them again. While this blog has had its share of blank spots, I am proud I've never let it go completely "dark" like that. I think that Twitter and Facebook have replaced blogging as the "in" thing to do...because it honestly is more of a challenge to write an interesting blog post than it is to fire off a Twitter update or a Facebook update.

Anyhow, just some late night musings from yours truly...hope everyone is doing well, and look back soon (as Suldog was always fond of saying) for more better stuff.

Various Happenings

2011-02-24T23:57:00.010-05:00

My mother was just in the hospital (again) for a similar issue to the last time, but fortunately only had to stay for one day. They think they might have figured out the problem and have adjusted her medications accordingly...I hope they are right. The hospital that they sent her to was not the same one she went to last time and things were kind of a goat rope there...I had to spend the night with her last night because the hospital did not provide a sitter (which we really wanted, due to Mom's dementia.) However she is back at home now and appears to be doing well.

I am flying out of town tomorrow for a couple days to do may annual cockpit observation time. I'm flying to Trinidad and staying for a couple days (the hotel expense will be on my dime, but I figure why not have a little fun since I've got the time off?) If I take any good pictures I will share them here. I'm glad I don't have to worry about Mom while I'm gone. I would of course have delayed this trip if I had to, but since everything was already set up and she's back at her assisted living place and doing well, I'm going ahead with it.

Lastly, I would like to share a picture of a sign somebody posted in the men's at work, above the urinals. Yes, men are slobs. I thought it was funny though.

Car Stuff, With Bonus Video

2011-02-02T11:26:00.017-05:00

Not much going on here. I had my first post-operation hearing test yesterday, and the results were encouraging with significant improvement seen...but as my doctor said, it can take several months before the full effect is realized. I'm happy I had the surgery done, though, and glad the post-operative dizziness is over.

I do feel sorry for my ENT doctor...she is pregnant with twins, and being of fairly short stature, that's slowed her down a lot (part of why I got my surgery done when I did was that she's not doing surgery now until after she has her babies due to becoming rather huge.) Sometime after my surgery, while walking around her examining room one day, she tripped on a cable and broke her foot. Poor thing! I admire her for still soldiering on and seeing her patients with one foot in a cast...hope she is all recovered before her twins arrive in March, but I imagine she will be.

The new car is doing well. I took it on its first road trip to see my relative Rex last weekend, and it averaged over 38 mpg on my trip up there. Rex's sister was having her 85th birthday and he had arranged a surprise luncheon for her at one a nice restaurant, which was fun. She was just expecting to have lunch with him and a friend of hers, and got to the restaurant to find about 20 friends from her church there waiting for her.

I suppose I should write more about the whole car-buying experience but it was pretty low-key, for the most part. Ford has a program called X-plan pricing (which can be viewed at www.fordpartner.com) where they arrange for employees of certain large corporations they do business with to receive a new car at a very good price...the only way to get a better price is to work for Ford itself. So, there wasn't very much haggling, except on the trade-in, and when they offered me a price within $200 of what I originally asked for my old car, I was satisfied with that. I got a loan arranged through the dealer at a pretty good interest rate and everything was just about set. The salesman went to talk to his manager about something, so I wandered around the showroom while I was waiting.

I decided to sit in a new Fiesta that was in the showroom next to my salesman's cubicle. Unlike mine, it had an armrest/center console, which I really liked. The standard Fiesta does not include a front seat armrest, which I think is a mistake on Ford's part. I told the salesman that I was interested in having that armrest added on to my car, and he started going on about how that wasn't really a standard option, and that the car on the floor had been modified by the body shop to have the windows tinted, ground effects added, and so on. I really didn't care about the ground effects (which help make the car more aerodynamic, evidently) and I knew I could get the windows tinted myself (which I did about a week after I bought the car) but I really wanted the armrest. So I told the salesman, "Well, if I can't get that armrest added on, I don't think I'm going to be interested in buying the car." Suddenly, he was able to call the body shop and arrange for them to add it on that same day. I didn't get it for free...I think I paid about $300 or so extra for it...but it was funny how it went from being an unavailable option to easily available after I said that.

If you have a few minutes and are easily amused, check out this rather inspired mock commercial for the Ford Fiesta, which was one of the first places I saw it. My car is the same model as the one in this video, but with cloth seats, a manual transmission, and a more boring dark gray color (all of which I prefer.)

Quick Update

2011-01-15T14:01:00.002-05:00

OK, I know this is overdue, but wanted to get something out there. My operation went fine, I'm not quite 100% yet but I'm back at work. Of course, I managed to get some kind of minor stomach bug on my days off last week but I'm feeling better today so returning to work this afternoon. Hearing in the operated-on ear seems to be much improved but the sound is still a bit muffled...however that will clear up with time as the ear heals.

Also...I got a new car. I probably should have waited another year or so with my old car to justify the money I put into it last year, but I found one I liked quite well so I went ahead and took the plunge. My thinking was something like, well, this current car is 15 years old almost, so what if it breaks down badly this year and is worth nothing? As it was I got about what I expected on the trade-in, and I'm quite happy with the new ride. It's a lot smaller which makes for easier parking at work and gets much better gas mileage...but it's pretty versatile and fun to drive, as well as having a nice stereo system! I haven't taken any pictures of it yet but here is a photo of a similar one I found on the web. 2011 Ford Fiesta, if you were wondering which kind. And even though I'm fairly tall, I fit into it just fine...that being said, I don't think there's room for anyone to sit behind me much. However, it's rare for me to carry more than one or at the most two people in my car so I doubt it will be much of an issue. And, the rear seats fold down, making the cargo area big enough for me to carry my bike in...which for various reasons I couldn't do with either of my prior two cars.

OK time for me to get ready for work here. More later. Hope everyone is having a great 2011 so far!

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-24T13:37:00.010-05:00

Image courtesy of shirt.woot.com and yes, I did buy the t-shirt. :)

Sorry for the lack of a regular post this month, it's just been a rather busy one. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mother was admitted to the hospital. She had a similar period of unresponsiveness to the last time she was sent there about six months ago. However, after extensive tests they could find no evidence of stroke or TMI...but they did detect some heart arrhythmia so she's been put on medicine for that and seems to be doing all right now.

Rex, my godfather, came down for a visit mid-month and we went to a Christmas family dinner thing at my Mom's assisted living place, but she wasn't having a good day and seemed very disoriented that night so we didn't stay for the full event. However, she often does better earlier in the day, so I am hoping that tomorrow goes well, when I will take her to my sister's for gift exchanges, prior to leaving for work.
Mom is hard to shop for so I ended up getting a Snuggie, which I think she'll like.

Work has been busy as well, since I primarily work Europe flights and I'm sure everyone has heard how bad the weather was over there. This week I'm dealing with Latin America flights, though, although there have been some places with fog, you never have to worry about snow on that desk this time of year.

Finally, I decided to get my other ear fixed with the same procedure I had done a few years ago. I'm having that done soon after Christmas, on the 28th, so good thoughts will be appreciated. I'm taking some time off work for recovery after that so I will take the unusual step (for me) of PROMISING a good blog post within the next two weeks, since I'll be homebound for a week or more afterwards.

Hope everyone has an awesome Christmas/New Year's/Haunakah/Festivus/etc. and see you back here soon!

More fun with panhandlers

2010-11-27T12:39:00.004-05:00

As promised, here is a regular blog post, if somewhat later than I planned it.

Instead of trying to catch up all at once, I think a series of shorter posts will get things going more easily. Long time readers will recall my last encounter with someone asking for money. This time was a bit less amusing, but more satisfying. Let me explain.

Working in the airline industry, which is 24/7/365, I often have to work holidays. Such was the case on this Thanksgiving. It's not all bad as we do get extra vacation days to use throughout the year in lieu of regular holidays, and they always feed us at work. Normally I would take my mother to my sister's place, but she was out of town this year. I still wanted to do something with Mom for the holiday. Since I didn't have to be at work until the afternoon, I took her to lunch at Luby's.

As we walked in, there was a man sitting in the entryway. His clothes looked a little ragged. He said, "Sir, do you have any money, so I could buy some food?" I offered to buy him dinner. He was taken aback slightly. "Oh, I can't go in there..." he replied and then kind of trailed off.

I should add that while his clothes were slightly ragged, his personal appearance was fine and it didn't look like he hadn't showered for weeks or anything...he certainly COULD have gone in to the cafeteria if he'd wanted. However, I didn't press the issue. Perhaps I could get him a plate of food to go, I offered. "Never mind," he said, with a resigned look on his face, and we walked on in.

I know a lot of people ARE down on their luck these days, but I also don't want to enable someone's addiction by giving him money for beer or wine or whatever he wanted money for, that is probably the reason he is panhandling in the first place. Actually it was his loss, as the food was pretty good. The panhandler was gone by the time we left.

I took Mom back to her place after our meal and relayed the story to one of the employees there. She liked my story. "You called his bluff! Good job! I gave money to a man one time at Kroger and I saw him an hour later drinking beer and talking on a cell phone!" Oh well. I really was serious about my offer to buy the guy dinner...but I guess I've learned my technique for next time this happens.

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend, whether you have to work or not. I had to work Thursday and Friday but I'm off until Tuesday now, so I'm looking forward to having a lazy stretch of days off. I've been working a lot of overtime lately so it will be nice to just relax and not worry about going anywhere.

More soon.

Why Our Economy Is Screwed

2010-11-15T01:31:00.003-05:00

A brilliant video.

I know I'm overdue for a proper blog post, which will hopefully be forthcoming this week. It's been a busy month. But things are slowly getting back to normal here.

Boring Internet Stuff

2010-10-04T02:07:00.004-04:00

I've never really been a fan of this site's blogspot address. I mean, it WORKS, but...I chose the name made spontaneously, while searching for a name that hadn't been taken yet, back before I even knew I'd be actively blogging. Plus, the made-up word bacosaurus refers to my previous employer, and even if I still worked for them (which I don't, thank God) that particular aircraft isn't even flown by them anymore.

Anyhow, I am not abandoning Blogger and the old site address of bacosaurus.blogspot.com will continue to work. However, I did decide to splurge, spend ten bucks, and purchase a domain name. From now on, if you can't remember the blogspot address, just type in www.chuckmann.net or chuckmann.net and you'll be taken here directly. The domain name should come in handy if I ever decide to move the blog to a different service also (not that I have any plans of doing that, but who can tell what the future may bring?)

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging. Also, hope everyone had a great weekend.

More Car Stuff

2010-09-30T21:40:00.004-04:00

Nothing serious this time, thankfully. My car has a stereo with an antenna that automatically extends/retracts when you turn it on or off. While driving around yesterday, I noticed the antenna hadn't fully retracted. This has happened before and I've been able to get it working with some WD-40, but after 15 years this time it gave up the ghost...dead antenna.

I happened to be driving past an auto tint/car alarm/car stereo place later that same day and made note of their number. When I called, they told me they could replace the antenna and gave me an estimate. Since I'd been wanting to get the windows tinted for a while, I got an estimate for that as well, and went ahead and got both things done at once today. I left to go get some food while they did the work and came back a couple hours later. When I got back they were done, and the installer asked me if I'd just bought the car. I told him no, that I'd had it for a while. "Really?" he said. "Damn, man, that is one really nice ride you have. Clean as a whistle." The shop owner complimented me on the car as well. That makes me feel good, that all the money I've spent on the thing this year hasn't been spent in vain. And believe me, after all the money I've spent I have no intention of getting a new car any time soon.

Now I just have to remember not to lower my windows for three days due to the newly applied window tinting; I guess it's like a "cure" time for the newly applied tint. No fast food drive through food for me for the next couple days! It's something I should avoid anyhow.

Random Adventures

2010-09-29T13:15:00.003-04:00

Greetings everyone. Not a whole lot has been happening here other than, work, which isn't too exciting. Well, I did have another in-flight medical diversion and those are always fun, but for the most part things have been pretty quiet. However, some things happened this week I thought were were worth blogging about.

Adventure One: I was getting some gasoline after work and this guy walked up and asked if I could give him a ride about a mile north so he could catch a bus home. I initially said no, but then I changed my mind as he seemed kind of desperate, and he didn't seem too suspicious. He was trying to call his sponsor, etc. I suppose I did it because he seemed like he had been down on his luck, but was trying to get his life together, and also because I had no car when I first moved here and I remember how much it sucks. All that being said, I never begged for rides either. After I dropped him off, I thought, hmmm, you know, if he had just started walking to his destination rather than begging for rides, he probably would have gotten there almost as quickly. However, it was getting kind of late, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt in wanting to get there and make sure to catch the bus before it stopped running for the night...but all the same, I probably won't do that again. As a general rule, I never pick up hitchhikers.

Adventure Two: I had a couple of gift certificates for Best Buy, so I decided to buy some color ink for my printer since it's running out. My printer is a rather old HP Deskjet model, which used to belong to my mother...I want to say she bought it in 1999, perhaps? I don't do a lot of printing with it, but it still works like a champ. However, I didn't have the old cartridge with me when I went to the store, so I asked the clerk on duty there which cartridge I needed...he had to look it up online, and he had trouble looking it up because the printer is no longer made, but he finally told me it was a "78" type. I went ahead and bought the VERY PRICEY ink, then got home and tried to plug it in. It fit fine but I kept getting an error message...finally realized that although they are very similar in shape, I needed a "23" type and not a "78" type. Thanks, Best Buy! Fortunately I did save the receipt, so I'll be returning that incorrect cartridge today and using the credit to help buy a laptop backpack I saw there and liked. Also, I found a OEM ink cartridge (the RIGHT one) for sale online that cost about 1/3 what the HP brand did, and included free shipping so, lesson learned.

Adventure Three: I worked last night, volunteering for a graveyard overtime shift. That was probably a mistake. I believe they call those shifts "graveyard" because you feel like you belong in one when the shift is over...it's hard for me to believe I worked those exclusively for a year back when I started working on the international desks a few years ago. It didn't help that I didn't get a good nap in before work, or that the particular shift I was working had very little to do up until about an hour before shift's end, so I was definitely feeling like a zombie and I had a lot more caffeine than I normally do in an attempt to stay awake. I also had some trouble getting signed in, and one airport had low visibility right when I got there...but once I finally got signed in, the fog lifted enough for the one flight I was concerned about to land, and the shift was pretty uneventful after that.

I decided to reward myself with a Denny's breakfast after the shift was over, which I used to do quite often at the end of my workweek, back when I worked graveyard shifts all the time. I ordered something that was no longer on the menu, which the manager had told me when I visited previously wouldn't be a problem to order. The waitress didn't remember how much it cost, however, and seemed to be really confused about how much to charge me. I told her what it cost, and she thought it was more....so I told her, well, if you want to charge me the price of this similar item currently on the menu, that's fine, but I definitely want to get this particular item if I can. So, she ended up bringing me the similar item of food, and not what I ordered. I told her that what I got wasn't what I ordered and she got all flummoxed and started asking other employees what the item I wanted cost. I was waiting for her to take my plate back to the kitchen and she says to me, "You're sure you don't want this?" I probably normally would have been more polite, but I was rather grumpy after being up all night and tired of arguing about it so I just said, "Never mind! I'm leaving!" I got up and walked out (since all I'd had at that point was ice water, I didn't owe anything.) I hate it when someone I am ordering stuff from (be it food or some other kind of merchandise) starts arguing with me when they are the ones who made the mistake. Fortunately, my favorite bagel shop was open, so I just got a breakfast sandwich there instead (which was honestly probably all I really needed.)

Not a whole lot else going on here. After reading about them some on another blog, I have decided to order a GPS for my car as an early birthday present to myself (I turn 42 next month, so I'm thinking of having a Hitchiker's Guide themed day.) Also planning a trip up to see my relative Rex for a few days over my birthday weekend, so that should be a good chance to try out the GPS. Later on, in November, I'm attending Wurstfest in New Braunfels. I went last year and it was a really fun time.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I promise an update on how I like the GPS, once it arrives here.

9/11 Memoriam

2010-09-11T11:40:00.008-04:00

Instead of a post from me today, I'm publishing the names of the airline employees that died as a result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01. Thanks to Cranky Flier for the idea.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

At a loss...

2010-09-10T12:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I found out one of my co-workers had been terminated. I don't know all the details, but evidently the individual in question had been late or called in sick many, many times and progressed through all the warnings given with such behavior...and was finally fired. I'm really having trouble understanding what he was thinking.

I guess it would be one thing if you just had X number of incidents where you were late or called in sick, and then were let go without any warning. This is not the case at my company (or any other company that I'm aware of.) Since I'm a member of a union, we may have more protection than most employees, but I think we follow the same policy as the rest of the company, and it's pretty standard one, similar to other places I've worked...if you're late and/or call in sick a certain number of times, you get an informal warning. More incidents result in a more formal, written warning. More incidents STILL will result in a final written warning. After that, you're let go.

The section chair for my union is making sure that the company followed their written policy in this case, but I'm pretty sure that they did. It just leaves me scratching my head and wondering, what were they thinking?

Good jobs are not in abundant supply right now, as I'm sure everyone reading this knows. Getting on with a major airline in my profession is not easy to do either (if anyone doesn't believe me, feel free to try it yourself, but I'd allow about 5-10 years to get the necessary training and experience.) My employer still offers a company paid pension in addition to a 401K match, plus good benefits, travel benefits, etc...if you add up all the lost wages and benefits over the course of a career, I would say that the terminated individual could well have lost over a million dollars by being fired (I know that sounds like a lot, but when you add up the cost of wages plus benefits over a 20-30 year period, in addition to the lost pension, it does add up that high.)

I wish the best of luck to my former co-worker. And, if proper procedure was not followed in letting him go, I'm sure my union will appeal to get his job back. Otherwise...I hope he learned his lesson and finds a new job that he likes, and remembers that multiple little incidents at work can add up over time.

Vacation Recap

2010-09-05T12:21:00.008-04:00

Greetings everyone. Overdue for a post as usual, and I really have no excuses to give...other than the fact that I've been working a lot of overtime, to pay for my recent vacation as well as all the work I've had done on my car this past summer.

Let's see, where to start? Vacation was awesome and I had a really good time in both places I visited. I split up my week off into two trips...my first trip was to Albuquerque, my hometown, which I hadn't visited since shortly after my mother moved here. My cousin was getting married so I was very glad the timing worked out enabling me to be there for that event. The wedding was awesome as was the reception afterward. My cousin Tanya who got married is a few years older than me, so perhaps there is hope for me yet! But I'm not stressing on it, since I really do enjoy the single life most of the time.

Albuquerque had beautiful weather, and I do miss the climate there (specifically, the lack of humidity.) I was very busy all three days I was there, first attending a family get-together at my Uncle's house, then going out that night with an old friend from high school, then attending the wedding the next day. My final full day in Albuquerque I went for a hike near my parent's old house, which was one of Bentley's favorite places to go hiking...I still miss that dog. After he was put to sleep, we had him cremated, and I scattered his ashes on the trail, which I'd been wanting to do for a while. It felt like a good way to say goodbye. Later in the day, I drove up to Santa Fe and visited my father's grave, so I guess it could seem like this day was especially morbid, but to me it just felt like a good way to say goodbye. I had visited my father's grave before, but not by myself, and it seemed easier to "have a conversation" with him alone rather than with someone else standing next to me.

Anyhow, after that was done, I made a visit to Ten Thousand Waves to soak a while in their hot tub and recover from my hike earlier in the day, before meeting a friend for some drinks and karaoke at at a Western themed bar and restaurant that night. I flew back to Texas the following morning, but I managed to squeeze in a breakfast meet with another old friend of mine before dropping off my rental car. While the flights were pretty full both going there and coming back, I did get a decent seat both times without any problem.

I decided to use Wednesday as a non-travel day to catch up with errands and such here in Texas, and I went out for a meal with Mom that day as well. I was planning to catch a mid-morning flight the next day out to California for the second half of my vacation, but I set my alarm clock for PM than AM and ended up oversleeping for the flight. The afternoon flight was pretty heavily overbooked, but I was able to hitch a ride by sitting in the cockpit, a perk of my present profession. The crew was very friendly and I do always learn something new when I do that, so although I'd rather have been relaxing in the cabin, I was mainly just glad I was able to get to my vacation destination. Also, I was glad I'm single, since I'd never have been able to get a girlfriend or spouse on the flight I took out there.

My destination in California was Sacramento, a town which I really enjoy even if it isn't thought of as a traditional vacation spot. They also had beautiful weather the whole time I was there. I have some friends in the area, and I visited it a lot when I was thinking about working for the state of California. I stayed in town the first night at a rather seedy Motel 6, and the next day I went sightseeing around town before heading to a resort place south of town where I spent the rest of the weekend. In addition to seeing the state Capitol building, I managed to get in a visit to a museum by Folsom Prison, where I almost ended up working before deciding, fortunately, to stick with the airline business a little longer. (It was a good thing I did since I got an offer from the Rather Large Airline only a couple months after deciding that a corrections officer career wasn't for me.) The museum was really interesting, though, and I snagged a copy of the Johnny Cash Folsom CD as well as a T-shirt before proceeding on to my destination that evening.

I didn't do a lot of sightseeing the rest of the weekend, but I had a good time relaxing. I did a fair bit of walking around, as well, so I ended up not gaining any weight while I was gone, which was a pleasant surprise, as I don't really keep close tabs on my fast food or beer consumption when I'm on vacation. My trip back went much more smoothly than my trip out went, and I arrived home that night sort of tired from the trip but very relaxed.

I wish I had more news to report, but there hasn't really been anything exciting happening. There's lots of overtime available at my job this month, which is good since I need to pay for some of the car bills I racked up over the summer. I am working this weekend, but I do have off for Labor Day itself, as well as Tuesday. I always like having off the same day other people are going back to their traditional schedule jobs, and I sometimes make the effort to get up early and see people getting ready for work. If I'm in a particularly vindictive mood, I'll have a beer while I watch (not that I usually drink beer in the morning, you understand, but on special occasions like that, I feel it's justified.)

Speaking of beer drinking, football season is almost underway, and courtesy of the fine folks at The Onion, I thought I would share this hilarious video about Packer fans (and being a Packer fan myself who also lived in Wisconsin for over three years, I think I'm allowed to say that parts of this video are, unfortunately, scarily accurate. But it's still hilarious.)

The Summer of the Car

2010-08-07T07:37:00.004-04:00

Years from now, I think I will probably look back on this summer as the one with the most car issues of my lifetime. And yes, something has happened since my last post. Let's review, shall we?

I bought this car from my mother soon after I moved to Texas back in 2006. It had some minor issues, suffering from "benign neglect" as I like to call it, since Mom wasn't the best about regular maintenance, but it wasn't in bad shape either. Until this year, here's a quick summary of most of the work I had done: had all the fluids changed, changed one engine belt, got a new set of tires, a new battery, new starter, got an alignment, and a few oil changes. Pretty typical stuff, you might say. I also bought a used ABS pump on Ebay, as a brand new one was prohibitively expensive, and got that installed. Aside from the tires, that was probably the most expensive thing I had done, since they had to replace a master brake cylinder as well, but nothing I had done cost over $500 at any one time.

For our first incident, let's flash back a few months. This year, I finally had some money in the bank, so I decided to take it back to the place where I'd had the master cylinder replaced, since they had done a decent job before, to get a tune-up and fix the AC, which was not cooling off the car very well. Well, that didn't go nearly as well this time, as I discovered that in addition to the tune-up, I needed new front brakes, a couple new belts, and the AC work to get it fixed was very expensive. I also had to get new outer tire rods (which I was a bit suspicious about) and new bushings for the steering (which it actually did need.) Anyhow, by the time I was done there, the cost was well over $2000, quite a bit more than the $800 or so I was figuring on. The car was running well, but after spending that much cash it SHOULD have been. I got the tires aligned also, and actually discovered I didn't have to pay for that since I'd had it done about six months prior and they were still under warranty. So, I was poorer but satisfied.

Second incident...as recounted here recently, I blew out two tires on the right side of my car while driving to work. They were a total loss, and I also managed to blow out one of the rear struts in this incident. The place I got the tires replaced also found an engine seal that needed changing (I'm surprised the first place I went to hadn't told me about that, but maybe they figured I was getting tired of hearing new stuff that my car needed.) Anyhow after getting new tires, new struts, and the engine seal, I was out several hundred more dollars.

Third incident...driving home from work recently, I hit a large rock in the middle of the road, causing a flat. The tire is a loss as it happened on the sidewall. Hitting the rock also damaged the front suspension and I needed to get a CV joint replaced on the side where I hit it. At least it was not one of the tires I'd just had replaced, I suppose. I opted to get two new tires instead of just one so I'd have a matching set to go along with the other two I'd just bought. So, out a few hundred more dollars. They did throw in another alignment for free though. Shortly after this, I got a fancy detail on the car since I figured I was FINALLY done putting money into it.

Final incident...driving into work about two weeks ago, another car was coming into the garage at the same time that I was. I made a tight turn to avoid him, and it turned out to be TOO tight of a turn, as I scraped a concrete post on the left side of the car. I wasn't very happy. Fortunately, I do still carry full insurance on the car...but unfortunately, I have a $500 collision deductible. At least the rental car was covered by my insurance as well. I went to a body shop I've used previously for some minor things and they did a nice job, but I was glad I had insurance because the total cost was $1100 not including the price of the rental. They wanted initially to get the cash up front and have me wait for the insurance check, but due to all my other fun issues with the car, I didn't have the cash to give them up front, so we worked out a deal where I paid them the deductible and my insurance company will mail them the check directly. So, back in the driver's seat again, wallet somewhat thinner again.

I really do like this car, but I am hoping I have no more incidents with it this year, since I've already put in more money than it's worth just this year in keeping it roadworthy. Time will tell, I suppose. And of course, I'm going on vacation this coming week, so it was a great time for unexpected expenses to crop up. Through creative juggling, I am going to be able to go on my trip...but I did cancel on meeting some relatives in Europe this fall, I didn't think I could swing doing both things.

On the bright side, my cousin is getting married this weekend, and I'm looking forward to that, along with visiting Albuquerque for the first time since we sold my mother's house. I should be able to visit a couple friends while I'm there as well, and make a quick trip up to Santa Fe to visit my father's grave (which isn't really cheery, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to do it.) I'm going to California later in the week to relax for a few days. After all that's gone on with the car this year, I think I've earned a break.

Hope everyone is having a pleasant, maintenance-free summer, and I'll post again after my vacation.

All Shiny and Clean

2010-07-16T12:41:00.004-04:00

Just got called into work for an overtime shift, which is good in the sense that I can always use more cash, but bad in the sense that it doesn't leave me time to write a proper blog post. In the meantime, let me show off my car, which I just got detailed yesterday. It's not in PERFECT shape, but I think for a 1996 model I think it looks pretty darn good.

I guess I'm kind of attached to it because it's the last car my father owned before he passed away. At any rate, after getting all the work done on it that I have recently, I know I'm going to be driving it for a while, so I figured I might as well splurge a bit and make it look nice.

Back again soon with something more substantive.

Who I write like

2010-07-15T14:35:00.001-04:00

I know I'm due for a proper post, which I hope to have up in the next couple of days. In the meantime I thought I'd share this badge I just got, which I thought was cool.

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

See you with actual Stephen King-like writing soon!

Weekend Adventures

2010-06-18T10:00:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday during my shift I decided to make a run for some food. As I have mentioned before, while I don't do this nightly, it's not uncommon for someone at my job to make a food run while a fellow dispatcher watches their desk during said food run. I actually went to the same place where I encountered one of the crazy people mentioned in a recent post. However, this time, everything went smoothly at the restaurant. Then came the drive back to work.

The street I was driving on curves as it approaches my office building. I don't know if I misjudged the difference or didn't turn soon enough or whatever, but I ended up hitting the curb with the side of my tires, causing a flat. I was right next to a motel when this happened so I pulled into the parking lot to get out and check on the car. I called work to let them know I'd be a bit delayed returning due to the flat...then when I got out, I discovered I had managed to flatten BOTH the tires on the right side of the car. No other damage done, at least, but hey, that takes talent! (Interestingly enough, I got a flat near the same location about two years ago also caused by hitting a curb. I think I need to drive in the lane farther away from the curb from now on.)

Anyhow, I obviously couldn't make the car drivable even if I'd called roadside assistance, but I was at this point walking distance to work, which was less than half a mile away. I checked with the front desk that it was OK to leave my car there for a few hours and walked the rest of the way to work. The person watching my desk said that I made good time changing my flat tire and I explained that no, I'd had to park the car and walk.

I walked back to the motel after work. Since it was a Saturday night, I knew that no tire places would be open, so I decided to just rent a room at the motel rather than have the car towed to my place, and then towed again to a tire place. They gave me a decent room rate but unfortunately my airline didn't have any special price with them to get a really good rate. It was a nice room, though, and they did have a pretty good breakfast the next morning.

After the evening's events with my car I was in the mood for some refreshing malt beverages, so I asked if the bar next door was OK, not having ever been there. The clerk at the hotel said it wasn't dangerous or anything, but that it was an "alternative lifestyles" bar. Great. The motel was close to a nightlife area but the clerk advised taking a taxi if I went over there due to the surrounding neighborhood being a bit rough.

I really debated sharing this next bit or not but I decided it was too funny not to include: I'd never been to a gay bar, but I figured, hey, how bad can it be? If you're laughing reading that last remark, you are right!

I walked into a pretty crowded establishment...it was Saturday night, I guess. All of the bartenders were shirtless. One of them touched me on the shoulder and said, "Can I get you something, hon?" I ordered a Miller Lite, which I got overcharged for. Seriously, $4 for a bottle? Anyhow, I paid with a five dollar bill and didn't get any change back, which I found annoying...I would have left the dollar as a tip, most likely, but I don't like it being assumed either.

There was a drag queen doing some kind of standup act in the main bar area, and I decided to retreat to the patio. I found an empty table and drank my beer. Nobody bothered me or hit on me, but I decided I definitely wasn't going to be able to relax and drink my sorrows away at that place. As I was already paying for a motel room, and I knew I'd need to pay for two new tires the next day, I didn't feel like shelling out more money for a cab (or waiting for a cab at that bar, either) so I decided to risk getting mugged and walk over to the nightlife area I mentioned previously.

Actually, I'm familiar enough now with that neighborhood I knew which areas to avoid, and I didn't even see anyone until I got over to the area with all the restaurants and bars. The one person I saw that I was a bit suspicious of (looked like a possible panhandler) actually just said, "Hey, big guy, how ya doing?" when I walked by. I imagine if I'd got into a conversation with him he might have started his sales pitch but I just said "Fine" and kept on walking.

I found an uncrowded bar with a large tap selection and proceeded to enjoy a few Stella drafts (which were only slightly more expensive, and far superior, to the Miller Lite I'd had earlier.) I walked back to the motel about 2 AM and once again had no problems. When I told the clerk and security guard I'd walked back they were kind of surprised...the security guard said, "Damn, man, you OK?" But honestly, nothing scary happened at all.

I called roadside assistance in the morning when I woke up (at least that didn't cost me anything since I have a plan through Verizon) and they took my car to a tire place nearby that I had been to before and I knew was open on Sundays. I opted to get two new but not fancy tires and have the alignment checked. Of course, they discovered I needed new struts also, and a seal in my engine that needed replacing. I went ahead and got the work done, but after already dropping a lot of money on my car recently getting it tuned and the air conditioner fixed, this didn't improve my mood any. They did throw in a free alignment, at least. As my car wasn't going to be ready until the afternoon, I took the bus back to my apartment to change and shower since I had to be back at work before two P.M.

I took a cab to work so I could get there in time and got a REALLY rude cab driver but I got there on time at least. The tire place did call and verify my final price and that my car was ready...I told them I'd have to pick it up in the morning, and they said that was fine. I took the bus home, and then in the morning, I took the bus again back to the tire place, paid them lots of money, and drove home.

I do like my car but I've really had to spend a lot of money on it lately. Still, it's running well now. I got an oil change done on my days off and got it washed, and there really isn't anything I can think of that it needs mechanically at the moment...so I will just keep my fingers crossed for now. I decided to include a picture here (not created by me) of my general reaction to the flats, and then how I felt at the tire shop the next day. Hat tip to Dariush for the photo link.

Other than my car, things have been going pretty well as of late. My nephew came to town for a visit and stayed at my place for a couple days last week. We had a good time and hung out a lot with my Mom as well. Then this past week, an old friend from high school I'd reconnected with on Facebook came to town, and we went out for dinner on my days off. For all of its issues with privacy and so forth, Facebook is awesome for getting in touch with old friends.

I go back to work today, and I'm hoping for a less dramatic and expensive workweek this time. Time will tell!

Another Long-Overdue Update...

2010-05-25T21:33:00.004-04:00

Well, here we go again. I'm sorry not to have posted anything in so long. I definitely haven't lived up to my New Year's resolution to post more, but then, the year has many months remaining, so there is time for improvement. Anyhow...lets get back to the post here.

I haven't posted in a long time because of goings-on at work. Who I work for is not that hard to figure out for anyone that digs a little, but I don't like it to be blatantly obvious either, in part because I don't want anything I say or have an opinion on while writing this blog to be taken as the official position of my airline. So, I've been mulling about what to write. The events unfolding at my employer have the potential to affect my personal life in a big way, though, so I've decided to share what's happening here (without going into any specifics as far as company names.)

A merger in my industry is afoot, which if it occurs, will affect me and my co-workers in a major way. I'm not worried about keeping my job, you understand, but it appears likely that if the merger is approved, I'll have to move to a different city. This would not bother me too much except that the city in question is in a much colder climate than here (I thought I had ESCAPED cold winters, finally) and also, my mother is living here now, and I like being able to visit her on a regular basis.

This is hardly the end of the world or anything. I know that there are millions of people out there right now who would love having a job, period, no matter where it was located. But it has been bothering me. You see, since I've been working in the airline industry, I have moved to a different state six times in the last fifteen years. I'd likely have moved less if I had stayed in the military. So when I finally got hired by a major airline, one where people had been living in this city for DECADES, I thought, well, maybe now I can finally settle down. I even had looked at some townhomes with a realtor, although I'm very glad now that I didn't buy one.

It takes me quite a while to get settled when I move...I guess this is true for everyone. Aside from the move itself, there's all the getting familiar with the new city that goes along with the move. Finding a new gym, finding your way around, finding new doctors, places to shop, etc...the list goes on. I'm not looking forward to it, when and if it happens, but since I don't want to leave my employer, I'll probably move when and if I have to. I was considering a move to a larger apartment here locally, but with a move to a new city on the horizon, I've decided to keep on living where I'm at for now.

My sisters and I could always move my mother to a facility in the metro area where I'd be living, if we have to. That would be much simpler this time, since Mom no longer has a dog, and we wouldn't have to deal with selling her house like we did last time, but she's pretty happy where she is, and it's a good idea to not disrupt the routines of people suffering dementia if you can avoid it. One of my sisters actually already lives in the metro area where I might be moving to, although ironically her husband's company is going through a merger of its own, and they may have to move to Texas soon. I could also look for a new job here, but I really like what I'm currently doing, and I doubt I could find any similar work nearby. Time will tell, I suppose.

Part of the really annoying thing is that we were all happy at work because we recently got a new contract (and a pay raise.) However, we didn't even get to enjoy a single paycheck at our new salary before the merger talk started. So, people are understandably a bit disgruntled right now. But life goes on.

Other than that issue (which to me is a bit like saying, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?") life is going pretty well. I've been trying to exercise more and do a bit more socially. I haven't had any more run-ins with angry women, so that's a relief. One of Mom's knees seems to be bothering her slightly, but she's doing pretty well overall as well, and seems very content with things.

I did have a rather negative experience at my local brewpub tonight which I also wanted to share (the service sucked) but that's about it as far as negative non-work related events go. Little tip to the new bartender at the brewpub...when someone has their own mug hanging in your bar, it's a good sign that they are a regular, and that it might be a good idea to give them decent service. It also might be a sign that they know the manager and can go straight to him with a complaint if they want to. I rarely complain to restaurant managers...in fact, tonight was the first time I'd ever said anything negative to the manager in the four years I've been going there, but trust me, tonight it was warranted. I am probably making too much out of the bad service, since the food was quite good, but I'd had a very good day off from work so far (went to the gym, had a good workout, took care of some errands) and I was hoping to end the day with a pleasant meal, but the service I received made it decidedly unpleasant. Of course, wanting to write about the experience finally got me off my duff and posting something in my blog, so I guess it wasn't all bad.

I hope everyone is doing well, and thanks for reading my diatribe. For any new readers (or any old readers who missed an entry) I have updated the entries where I transcribed my grandmother's diary, so that if you start at the beginning, at the bottom of each entry there is a link taking you to the following entry. I'd been meaning to do that for a while, and with the recent conclusion of HBO's miniseries "The Pacific" I finally was inspired to get it taken care of. A link to the first diary entry can be found in the sidebar, under "Greatest Hits."

My Evening In Crazy

2010-04-21T01:19:00.004-04:00

I had originally intended to call this post "Ash Ash Baby" or something along those lines to discuss the recent turmoil created by the ash cloud that was hanging over Europe for the past five days or so. However, events tonight compelled me to use this blog as my creative outlet...namely, to vent about various happenings from my life today.

Crazy event number one started when I went to go grab some food tonight during my shift at work, since I hadn't brought any lunch with me. There is a Thai place not too far away from my office building that has really good spicy chicken fried rice for $4, so I ordered some to go. (Incidentally, people in my profession are not allowed to leave their desks unattended, but whenever someone does a food run, we do a thing where we "merge" our flights so that the desk next to us can monitor them while we're away. Needless to say, this isn't done without asking first.) Anyway, I got to the restaurant, and the parking space I chose was kind of narrow...both the cars in the adjacent spaces were fairly large, and I drive a full-sized car myself. However, parking is often in short supply at my workplace, and I'm an expert in fitting into spaces such as this well. Since I didn't have a lot of room to open the door on my side, I *carefully* opened it about halfway and climbed out. I picked up my food and returned to the car. The driver of the car on my left (a Mercedes SUV, actually) had evidently returned in the meantime, and during the process of carefully reopening my car door and climbing back into my car, my car's door evidently touched her vehicle.

I first became aware of the Mercedes driver being in her car when I looked up after getting into my car and saw a woman sitting in the driver's seat shouting loudly at me. I couldn't hear what she was saying, though, because her windows and mine were both rolled up. I presume she was upset at me for DARING to touch her car with my car door (and believe me, this was not intentional, nor did my door do more than possibly touch her car.) I started backing out and noticed she had gotten out of her car and was standing next to my car glaring at me. Since I don't speak to potentially crazy people if I can avoid it, I drove on out of the lot. I noticed her looking carefully at her car door to inspect it for damage. I thought about waving goodbye but decided against it. I was halfway expecting a call from the police later on, assuming she'd taken down my license plate number, but I presume she discovered that her Mercedes was in fact unblemished and decided to drop it.

The rest of my shift was quiet, and we'd had some good news today...today is the day our ballots were counted from our contract vote, and it passed, so we will be getting a lump sum back payment check at the start of next month. Several of my co-workers decided to go out after work to celebrate. I wanted to join them, but I had an errand to do first. Last night, I had gone to my local brewpub and inadvertently left my ATM credit card there when signing my check. I had verified they had the card, but I didn't have time to go pick it up before work, so I decided to go after work. I told some other people going to our meeting spot to save me a chair, but they didn't...so I ended up being squeezed into a spot next to a person who in my opinion, is the most annoying person in my entire office. I know there is at least one of my co-workers who reads this blog, so I don't want to go into any more detail, but let me just say he was (and is) ANNOYINGLY LOUD. I am a quiet person by nature, and I cannot fake being in a good mood when I'm not, so I didn't stay there too long. People invited me to have some of the food they had ordered before I arrived, but I wasn't that hungry since I'd eaten the chicken fried rice earlier, and I didn't want to have too many beers since I had to drive home, so I left after having just a couple. And, to top it off, the ATM at the bar wasn't working, so I could have just left my ATM credit card at the brewpub until tomorrow and gotten a good seat away from the ANNOYINGLY LOUD individual by arriving earlier. Fortunately, I did have enough cash with me to pay for the beers I had consumed, so I didn't feel like I was stiffing anyone. I was just as glad I didn't have any of the food though.

Thus, I wasn't in the greatest mood when I left the bar. I had a few things to pick up at the grocery store, plus I wanted to get some cash. I went through the store and picked up most of my items...of course, one of the things I wanted to get was out of stock so I had to find a substitute. Anyhow, while I was walking down one of the aisles at the store, a couple (I presume husband and wife) were approaching me rather quickly and not looking where they were walking very closely. I had one of those hand-carry baskets since I wasn't buying very much, and the lady's hand bumped into my basket. To be honest, I might ordinarily have stopped and said something like, "Oh, sorry" even though it wasn't my fault, but the mood I was in after putting up with ANNOYINGLY LOUD at the bar was not very good, so I continued on my way.

There was a line for the register, and the couple that had bumped into me happened to be right behind me in the checkout line (of course.) The lady (and I use the term loosely here) said to me in a very bitchy tone, "You know, if you bump into someone you really should say EXCUSE ME!" to which I replied, "Well, since YOU bumped into me, I didn't feel an apology was necessary." She didn't say anything else, just glared up at me. I think she was trying to be intimidating but considering I was about nine inches taller than her and probably weigh twice what she does, it wasn't very effective. Her husband (or boyfriend, I'm not sure) didn't say anything. It's just as well he didn't, since if he had demanded an apology, with the mood I was in I probably would have said something like, "Well, I'm sorry if you're married to this woman, because she seems like a total bitch!"

Anyhow, I am of course presenting both these incidents from my point of view...and of course, the first lady in the car had every right to see that her car wasn't damaged (although, when a car door just TOUCHES your car, it's really doubtful any harm will occur) and I can see how the second lady was annoyed, but she really wasn't looking where she was going. Nights like this one are times when I'm glad I'm still single, though. I apologize to any of my female readers if this post comes off as uncaring or insensitive, but I really felt the need to write this one down when I got home to help me cool off.

Incidentally, the ash cloud in Europe APPEARS to finally be dissipating somewhat...so hopefully, normal operations will resume soon. I have one co-worker who has been stranded in Ireland on his honeymoon, so I hope that he and his new wife make it back home quickly.

Various Happenings

2010-03-22T11:12:00.006-04:00

Well, I'm overdue for a post, but hey, I'm posting twice in over a month, so that's got to count for something. I do think I need to post more...since I get fewer comments if I post less, and I can't blame people too much for not checking in regularly if there's nothing here to read. Anyways, it's something to work on.

I had another computer meltdown, although this one was self-inflicted. I was trying to find something in my old computer's registry file, and I ended up corrupting my laptop's registry beyond my means to repair it. After looking at service options and being discouraged by the estimates I got, I decided to bite the bullet, wipe the hard drive, and install Windows 7. Windows 7 was not cheap, but it was only slightly more to buy it than the estimate I got to repair the computer at one place...and I'm planning on installing it on my inherited desktop, whenever I can manage to drive up and get it, so I figured it would be good experience. My other option, of just restoring the laptop to factory settings, was not an option since I had lost one of the restore CD's, and since it's over three years old I can't get a new copy. Windows 7 comes in DVD format, so it only requires one disk for the full install.

Anyhow, Windows 7 is pretty slick, and runs well even on this old laptop, which has the minimum memory required for Windows 7 and a very weak graphics engine. I had a bit of trouble getting some of my old peripherals to work with Windows 7, but after messing around for a while, updating drivers and system software and whatnot, I got everything working except for my old, old 2.0 megapixel camera which struggled to run even in XP. I didn't really ever use it for pictures any more (my phone is a 2.0 megapixel camera itself) but it did have a webcam option that I sometimes used. However, new webcams are pretty cheap if I ever get the urge to replace it. My biggest challenge was getting this one cordless handset I use for Skype calls to work, but eventually I succeeded.

So, now that I've bored everyone to tears with computer jargon, what have I been up to this month? Well, not a whole bunch. I've been trying to exercise more, with limited success. One good thing I've noticed, though, is that when you're out of shape, you don't have to do a long muscle workout to get your muscles tired. As for cardio, I've mainly been walking, since one of my knees doesn't like the pounding from jogging and I enjoy walking more anyhow. I need to get my bike tuned up as well and that might be another fun option for exercise.

In keeping with my newfound attempts to get in better shape, I decided to walk to a recent union meeting, held near where I work. I actually do live close enough to walk to work (about two miles and change) but it's not a realistic option to do on a regular basis, unless I want to allow an extra hour to stop sweating and change into work clothes at my health club (also located near where I work.) And in the summer, I'd probably need to allow 90 minutes to stop sweating (anyone who's lived through a humid Texas summer will understand this.) However, since I was just going to a union meeting on my days off, I figured nobody would care if I showed up in shorts and a t-shirt, and in fact there were some other people there in similar attire.

We got some good news at the union meeting about a new contract, and while I can't go into details, everyone was happy for the most part with what was negotiated. Pay raises tend to improve everyone's mood. We still have to vote on the proposed agreement but it seems certain to pass. So, after the meeting, and continuing in my attempted fitness regimen, I went to my gym and worked out, followed by lounging in the hot tub, steam room, and sauna, before finally showering and leaving. (Hey...the hot tub, steam room, and sauna are EXCELLENT reasons to go to the gym if you ask me. Those are my rewards for a good workout.)

Since I was kind of wiped after my workout/sauna/etc. I wasn't planning on walking home, but I did walk to an area nearby with several restaurants. One pub I've been to before was having a steak special that night, which I partook of, along with a couple pints of Stella Artois. I was DEFINITELY not in the mood for walking any further after that meal. Unfortunately, the bus I wanted to catch drove by right as I walked out of the pub, so I decided to walk one street over and catch an alternate bus.

Now, the area the pub was in is nice...there has been lots of new development there in recent years...but I soon discovered the neighborhood I was walking through near the pub was kind of a rough area, with lots of non-remodeled properties. I felt a bit out of place, but nobody bothered me any. I was glad not to be attempting to walk through there late at night, though. Anyhow, I caught the bus back with no fanfare after making it to the bus stop.

The bus stop near my apartment is next to a convenience store. I went in there to buy a soda, and when I walked out I saw a panhandler. Since I was in a really good mood after the union meeting, instead of just ignoring him which is my usual technique for dealing with panhandlers, I gave him $5. He then said he wanted to go eat at Boston Market, and the meal he wanted cost $7, and asked me if I had any MORE money. Well in fact I did, but I didn't want to give it to him, and I knew he could eat a meal at Jack In The Box just down the street for under $5, so I told him no. I then noticed he was drinking a beer in a small paper bag, most likely bought at the convenience store (they sell singles there.) I told him, hey now, you're going to use that money I gave you for food and not beer, right? He replied, very self-righteously, "Oh, I don't drink beer!" while holding a beer in his hand. Then he saw me looking at his hand and admitted that he might have ONE beer sometimes, but that was all. Honestly, that was so amusing to watch that it was worth five dollars right there. And I was in a good enough mood that I didn't care whether he bought more beer or not, really. However, I can see why cops get a jaded attitude about dealing with people after working the streets for a while. The panhandler did tell me thanks, but I won't feel guilty not giving one money next time.

All this drinking in bars, walking through rough neighborhoods, and giving money to panhandlers passed by with little fanfare. However, late that same night, I got up to use the restroom, and not wanting to blind myself, didn't turn the light on (I have a nightlight in there.) On my way out of the bathroom, I had left the door partly open, and, half-asleep, I walked right into the edge of the door, banging my nose, scratching it to the point where it started bleeding. I turned on the lights at this point and grabbed a washcloth. Like all head wounds it bled like crazy, even though it was just a small scratch. I had the wherewithal to remember to wash it and put on a band-aid, but I had forgotten about it until the next morning, when I walked in the bathroom to find a bunch of dried blood in the sink and looked at my reflection in the mirror. It's not a bad scratch, but it does look like a took a nice punch to the nose, possibly from someone wearing a ring.

I went into work later that day looking like an extra from Fight Club. Not many people have asked me about it, fortunately, although one of my friends said I should make up a story about how I got it by fighting off a biker gang. It should be better in a few days. In the meantime, I decided to skip going to church over the weekend, since I don't know many people there yet and I didn't want to have to explain myself to strangers. Especially since people saying "I walked into a door" is often the way people cover up domestic abuse. However, I'm single and live alone, and that's really what happened to me. (People who have known me for a long time and know how clumsy I can be will realize that "walked into a door" for me is the MOST likely explanation for what happened.)

More updates to follow soon, hopefully not involving personal injury.

February happenings

2010-03-02T20:11:00.006-05:00

I guess this blog has been turning into a monthly digest of sorts. I will try and update a bit more frequently this month...be nice to get up to weekly posts or at least bi-weekly, but we will see how things go.

February started off relatively uneventfully, but I got a cold (again) about halfway through the month. It was a pretty bad one, so I called in sick one day and went to see my doctor. The doctor suspected a possible return of bronchitis so I was placed on some stronger antibiotics than last time, along with a few other medicines. I have recovered from the cold although I still have a little bit of chest congestion. I'm glad I went to the doctor, though. Sometimes I'm stubborn about not using my sick leave unless it's a dire circumstance, but I definitely needed to this time. Everyone at work was glad I'd gone to see a doctor when I came back to work, so maybe I looked in even worse shape than I felt.

Another thing that happened is, my sisters and I decided that it was time to find a new home for my Mom's dog, Gus. She just wasn't able to take care of him anymore and seemed increasingly unaware of him. I placed a "Free To A Good Home" Craigslist ad for him, and I only got a few responses...probably because Gus is ten, and takes arthritis medicine (currently via a monthly shot.) However, one of the responses I got did work out, and I took Gus to his new home last week, where he seems to be settling in fine. I did consider keeping Gus myself, but as I have no yard, and I like to bring Mom by here once in a while if I've cooked something, I thought it was best just to find a new place for him. Also, he sheds like crazy.

The new owner has another older outdoors dog, and an old parrot...he says his kids sometimes call his place "the house of dysfunctional pets." It seemed like a nice situation for Gus, and I think things are working out well there so far. Mom hasn't even noticed Gus being gone, which one of my sisters was worried about, so I think that just goes to show it was definitely time for Gus to move on.

Gus was a nice dog, but honestly, Mom really never should have adopted him in the first place. I guess Mom was probably lonely, as my father had passed away in 2004, but she had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's when she got him in 2005, and part of the reason she got him was to prevent us from moving her out of her home. (She told me this herself.) He was very good company for her, I must admit, but she was never really able to properly care for him from the get-go...things like remembering to take him out regularly, making sure he got fed at the same time each day, keeping water out for him, things like that, she was never good at. Additionally, Gus really trashed the carpets in her old house, although I don't blame Gus for this; she just wasn't remembering to let him outside before she went to bed or at regular intervals throughout the day. Mom was also getting in the bad habit of feeding Gus while she was eating, giving him table scraps. One of the most frustrating things was if I ever brought up anything about his care, Mom would find some excuse for what she was forgetting to do...when I asked about giving him heartworm medicine every month, she'd say there weren't many mosquitoes in Albuquerque, and so forth. Anyhow, I am glad to not have to worry about Gus any more, and I hope he does have a nice rest of his life in his new home. Gus did help Mom get adjusted to living here but he was a lot of work also, and I'm glad to be able to just concentrate on Mom's care now.

I have a week off from work this week and I originally planned to use some of the time for a mini getaway somewhere, but I ended up staying in Texas. The hotel I wanted to stay at in Trinidad was booked full, and all the alternative hotels were very pricey. I still needed to get my cockpit observation time done for the year, though (I have to do five hours of it per year) so I flew to Cancun and back. I wanted to fly somewhere international since all the flights I'm working these days are international ones. Cancun was the easiest and quickest way to get things done. I could have stayed there also, I suppose, and next time I will, but I needed to get the flying done by the end of last month, so staying a few days wasn't an option this time since I flew down and back on the 28th.

The way it works for cockpit observation at The Rather Large Airline is, I call into work, and they list me as a must-ride for the cockpit jumpseat for whatever flights I'm going on. This often confuses the gate agents, since if there is room in the back of the plane, they want to give me a regular seat. I finally got everything worked out at the airport here and got on board in the cockpit jumpseat. The crew, both the flight attendants and pilots, were very friendly. I was staying with the same plane going back to Texas. Since I was only going to be in Mexico about 40 minutes, I didn't go through customs, and this threw the gate agent there for a loop...also, he said they had no record of me having listed on the flight, even though I had done so before my trip. They may have been looking in the wrong place or something, I'm not sure. They had to call my office to verify I was authorized to fly back, and I finally got on board the plane and in the jumpseat at the last minute. The flight out of Mexico was full, so the cockpit jumpseat was the only extra seat available coming back.

The flights themselves were pretty uneventful. Nice views of the beaches in Mexico while going in and leaving; I'll have to definitely stay longer next time. The cockpit jumpseat in a 737, while not the worst one I've ever been in, isn't very comfortable for long-haul flying, so I was definitely ready for the trip to be over, but the view for takeoff and landing can't be beat.

I was wearing my airline ID while on board the plane, so that any passengers who saw me entering or exiting the cockpit wouldn't think I was some random passenger riding up there. I should have asked the crew if I could go through customs with them, but I just went in the regular line. I kept my airline ID on (which is in a lanyard ID holder I keep around my neck) since I was going on the bus back to the airport employee parking lot once I got through customs, and I had to wear it for the shuttle bus.

The line in customs was very long, and slow. I finally got stamped and proceeded on, but evidently I was "red-flagged" somehow since I got pulled aside for extra screening before leaving the customs area. As it turns out, the customs people don't like airline employees wearing their employee IDs in customs for some reason...they said that they couldn't tell if I had been working a flight or not. (Well, technically I was working by observing the flight procedures from the cockpit, but I didn't argue, just put my ID in my pocket.)

The customs agent had to look me up on a computer in another room. He was gone for several minutes; then some people that were also in the "extra fun" line paid some more duty taxes that they owed to him over there. As they were finishing up, I wandered over to check on things and was told rather sternly to get back to where I had been standing.

I think I may have raised some kind of alert either because I flew to Mexico and back in one day, or perhaps because I never went through customs in Mexico. I had to explain what I was doing on the trip, and it's never easy explaining my job to someone outside of aviation. ("So, you're a dispatcher, and you do flight planning?" was one response I got from the customs guy as he was typing on his computer.) He then went through everything I had in my briefcase EXTREMELY carefully, inspecting a John Sandford novel I had in there and closely examining some photocopies of some back exercises my chiropractor had given me. Actually, after sitting in that uncomfortable jumpseat and standing around for an hour in customs, I'm glad I have a chiropractor appointment scheduled this week. (I felt like telling the customs guy that but I didn't want to delay my processing even further.)

The most annoying thing was that customs never did tell me why I'd been pulled aside for extra screening. I suppose they had their reasons, security and all that, but it was a rather disquieting experience. I guess if I do another international jumpseating trip, though, I'll stay over in wherever I'm headed for more than 30 minutes and hopefully avoid getting a long stop in customs before re-entering the United States. I understand the customs guy was just doing his job, but any event like that always makes you wonder what the hell is going on. Had I forgotten to pay some traffic ticket from last year and gotten flagged in the computer? Did I underpay my taxes? I was VERY glad to finally walk out of customs and ride back to my car once he was done with typing up his report, and believe me I slept well that night.

I go back to work at the end of this week, and while I do have another break of five days off later this month, instead of tempting fate again I think I'm just driving to my relative Rex's place and avoiding aviation completely for a few days. Pass travel is nice, but it's also nice to just completely take a break from airlines, airplanes, and airports on your days off once in a while.

A Blast from the Past

2010-02-06T10:28:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, my desktop died on me last month. So for now, I am using my mother's old laptop, which is performing better than I expected. Since it's her old laptop, it has a lot of her old files from when she was writing...I had transferred as many of those files as I could to this laptop when we purchased it. See, originally, we got the laptop when Mom was moving to a retirement place in Albuquerque. That didn't work out well at all, but her desktop was due for replacement anyhow, and she kept the laptop when she moved back home. Some of those files had been transferred from older computers when she had upgraded to her last desktop...I think the laptop was computer #3 or #4 for her. Anyhow, one of the files I transferred, which I just recently discovered, was a letter she had written me when I was attending school to get my aircraft dispatcher license, over fifteen years ago now. Here is an abridged version of what she wrote:

September 13, 1994

Dear Chuck,

I was happy to hear that you got to Fort Lauderdale and were in your apartment with your roomates. Did you have a good time in Panama City? It must have been fun getting with your old buddies. And now you have your head in the books, learning all that dispatching material.

Britt stopped by and mowed our lawn last week. It helped Charlie out because he was down in his back and of course he wouldn't dream of letting me mow the lawn, even though I offered to. That's a man's job, he thinks.

Bentley wants up in my lap; he's got his paws in my lap, so I will pick him up for a little while. Now's he down and going to get on your bed. I know you miss him. He misses you too, and I should take him for a walk this afternoon.

Bentley was my family's old Yorkie, he lived a long life but eventually had to be put to sleep in 2001. I still kind of miss him.

I've been right tired since that SWW Writer's Conference this past weekend. I didn't sell any of my articles or get any large book contracts, but I enjoyed being there and it was a huge success. Now Sherri has nominated me for vice-president of the organization. I feel that that will be easier than serving on the conference committee. At the end, we were writing letters, filling bags, running every-where and enjoying the mass confusion. Mrs. Mixon came to the conference from Durango where she lives now, and she said to tell you hello.

Mrs. Mixon was my 5th grade teacher.

Also, when I called to say that I would be at Pat's 60th birthday party at Kathleen and Greg's house, Kathleen asked if you were going to come. When I explained that you were in Florida, she said, "Oh, we'll miss Chuck, because he brings lots of life to the group." I was sorry to disappoint her.

We haven't talked to anyone in Denton since you were there, but we will and find out what you did. As you know, Kathy called to see when you were coming in. I take it you made the connections, even if their house was a bit on the torn up side. I know Lisa was glad to see you, and Kathy was looking forward to it too.

I'm getting lunch ready for your Dad--bacon and tomato and cheese open face. He told me this morning I should get this letter to you from State Farm. Also, a guy from Kelly called this morning to talk to you. I told him you'd be back the end of Oct., so he said to have you call if you were interested in working.

So long for now, dear Chuck. Please call before Sat. to catch us. If you miss us, we'll be back by Sun evening. I'm sure C. doesn't want to miss his studying for Bible Class or ANY football games.

Yes, my Great Books Monday night class did make and we met last night. I'm supposed to go to another one tonight, and I elected to stay home because I have not read King Lear and don't feel like it. I'm taking a nap.

Reading this letter is fun but also kind of makes me sad...since some of the individuals mentioned in it are no longer with us, like my father. Life goes on, though.

I did delete one or two paragraphs regarding relatives and made a couple of minor edits, but for the most part everything I quoted is verbatim.

I had worked at a rather dreary factory job the summer before I left, to save money for living expenses while I was in Florida, so I was looking forward to leaving Albuquerque and going to school. While that last job I had was not much fun, I enjoyed living in Albuquerque for the most part...but I was so anxious to move on with my life, that I don't think I appreciated how good things were at the time. Still, I suppose it's natural for kids to not want to live with their parents forever...and probably a good thing, for both the parents and the kids.

I had a good time in Florida, studied hard and made decent grades. It took me a while to find a job after class ended in late October and I got my license since I had no airline experience, but I persevered and started my first airline gig in February of 1995. With the exception of a two-month period in late 2002 when one of the airlines I worked for went out of business, I've been in the industry ever since, so I guess it's been a good career choice.

Hope everyone is having a good February!

Taco Soup

2010-02-02T13:36:00.005-05:00

There are lots of recipes for this soup on the internet (I like using RecipeZaar to look for new things to cook) but I couldn't find a recipe which quite matched mine, so I thought I'd blog it instead of continuing the hunt for my own variation. It's a very easy recipe...trust me, I am no master chef and I can get this put together in about 20 minutes before leaving it to cook in my crock pot.

To make it you will need:

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, or chicken all work)
1 medium to large onion

1 can ranch style pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies
1 can sweet corn

1 cup V-8 or tomato juice

1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet taco seasoning mix

Shredded cheese and tortilla chips (optional)

Coarsely chop the onion, and brown the ground meat and onion together in a large skillet. Cook until most of the liquid is gone. Drain. Add to large saucepan or crockpot.

Add canned beans, corn, and tomatoes to the meat and onions. Do not drain them before adding. Add the cup of V-8 or tomato juice also, as well as the taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix. Stir everything together well. If cooking on the stove, simmer this mixture for an hour, stirring occasionally. If cooking in a crock pot, cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve in bowls, top with grated cheese and tortilla chips if desired. Makes approximately eight good-sized bowls.

As I mentioned before, there are TONS of variations to this recipe that can be found on the internet and it's a very forgiving recipe...for instance, if you don't have black beans and want to substitute navy beans, go for it! I usually add some ground red pepper and hot sauce to mine while it's cooking but I like foods spicy...so let your individual tastes decide, or just let your dinner guests add their own spicy fixins when it's served.

If cooking in a saucepan, make sure it's a large pan as this recipe makes almost 2 1/2 quarts of soup. If cooking in a crock pot, the standard size works fine, and as with most any crock pot dish, it has the added advantage of making your apartment or house smell yummy while it's cooking. However, I have made it both ways and it turns out fine either way...and it tastes even better the next day.

Happy eating!

Thank God THAT'S over...

2010-01-31T21:58:00.003-05:00

Greetings all. Sorry that, once again, it's been too long since I posted. Those of you that I'm friends with on Facebook will know some of the reasons why, but suffice it to say that January 2010 is not a month I'll remember fondly. Everything is relative of course...I'm sure that millions of people in Haiti would love to swap places with me right now...but it still wasn't much fun. So, let's break it down here...

I had a pretty decent New Year's while on my road trip, even though the place I went to celebrate was full of people I didn't know. But it was an enjoyable party atmosphere, and I had a good time...my relative Rex's complex has a restaurant/bar called the "country club" that was having an event for residents, and I used his ID to get in there. Rex opted not to attend, which I can understand since if I make it into my early eighties, I doubt I'll be interested in going out to party either at that point. We did watch a good movie on DVD before I headed over to the party (Gran Torino.) I also met an old friend from my commuter airline days while I was up there and we had a good lunch, so you'd think things appeared to be starting off on a good note.

I discovered, though, that upon getting back home, I had no energy to do anything and my cold that I'd caught in Hawaii was still present...at least, the coughing was. So, I headed to my doctor about halfway through the month and got a course of antibiotics...he thought I might have gotten a case of bronchitis, and I guess he was right since the cough went away pretty fast after I started taken them.

About a week after I'd gotten rid of the cough, my desktop computer decided to die on me. I took it into a shop, and they said that some capacitors on the motherboard were bad and that it would cost $300 or so to get it replaced. Since the computer was five years old, I declined to repair it. I did take it home and take it apart to salvage all of the components, and I hope that the hard drive is OK in particular, since it had a fair amount of data on it I'd like to save...nothing really important, mainly music files and videos, stuff like that. So we will see when I get a new desktop if it's salvageable.

After my computer died, I called Rex to see if his sister was still interested in getting rid of her old machine, since she'd just gotten an Apple and her Dell was only about a year old. He said that she was fine with me having it, but warned me about my "internet addiction" (I guess Rex and her think I spend too much time on the computer these days. Who knows, they may have a point...more on this later.) So, I will be returning to his place to pick up that box as soon as my days off mesh with their schedule.

On a bright note, my Mom's old laptop is working like a champ, and I was able to get all of my various peripherals hooked up via a USB multiplier thingy and new printer cable that I got at Radio Shack. If I didn't have a computer coming my way for free, I'd have no problem just using this one until I could pay cash for a new desktop...and I'm surprised how well it's done, since this laptop is hardly brand new either, but it seems to run decently well since I added some extra memory to it once I inherited it from Mom.

Getting back to the internet...the next thing that happened, once my desktop died, is my discovery that some online people I thought were friends were talking about me behind my back, basically playing an extended practical joke on me, in this one chat room I'd been frequenting for a long time. To be fair, I did have some arguments with that room's "owner" not too long ago...but I despise being lied to also, and I've therefore decided not to return. This bothered me more than it should have...hell, it's just an online chat room...and made me think that perhaps Rex had a point about my internet usage, so not visiting there will give me more time away from the computer as well, which should be a good thing. But I'm not giving up my Facebook, Twitter, or blogging habit quite yet. At any rate, that was the most trivial thing to happen this month so, continuing on to the finale...

A week ago I took my mother to a symphony concert. After we attended the symphony in December, we got a call with an offer for some very good seats for a series of four concerts at a very good price. Since Mom had always loved the symphony prior to moving here, I went ahead and bought the tickets. (Actually, after discussing it with my sisters, we used Mom's money to buy the tickets, and agreed that one of us will take Mom to the concerts, and if we can't take Mom for some reason then we'll pay her back the cost of tickets for that particular show.) Anyhow, the concert was a performance of Holst's Planets and Mom really seemed to enjoy it. We went out to dinner afterwards (we'd gone to a Sunday afternoon concert) and she seemed to be doing fine when I left her back at her place that night.

I had to be at work mega-early Monday morning, since I'd signed up to do an overtime shift. It was my first time working this particular shift, which involved a series of international charter flights, but everything was going pretty well. About halfway through my shift, though, I got a call from my mother's living facility...she'd become unresponsive before breakfast and they were calling the paramedics. I called my sisters to let them know what was going on. The facility called back to ask which hospital we'd like Mom taken to...since we had no idea, they ended up using a hospital close to where Mom lives. I checked with Mom's insurance right after that and discovered that the hospital was on the list of approved facilities, so no worries there.

My supervisor told me I could leave if I wanted to. I delayed doing so for a little while, but as one of my sisters told me on the phone, since we didn't know what was going on it would be really good to visit Mom in person and talk to her doctors, etc. I'm glad that work was understanding about me needing to leave...anyhow, when I got to the hospital, Mom appeared to be doing fine. (Well, as fine as anyone with Alzheimer's can appear in an unfamiliar environment, anyhow.) I talked to the paramedics who brought her in as well as the nurse and ER doctor. The nurse apologized for not being able to give out more information on the phone but they are prohibited from doing so by law. Anyhow, I stayed with Mom for an hour or so, but she fell asleep and there was no sign of her doctor, and I was friggin' exhausted from the Adrenalin rush combined with getting up at 2:30 that morning for my overtime shift.

My sister Susan who lives in Chicago was flying in late in the afternoon (yay for sibling pass travel benefits!) and my place was a disaster area, so after getting home and napping for an hour or so, I got up and gave the place a quick once-over. It was mainly the bathroom and kitchen that needed cleaning...plus various stuff needed sorting out. As it turns out, I could have just waited until the next day, since Susan ended up spending her first two nights here with Mom in the hospital on a reclining chair...I don't think she slept too much there. After Susan got in we got some dinner at Luby's and then went to visit Mom. They had moved Mom from the ER to a temporary unit that was non-ER but also not open all night, and I stayed until Mom was moved to a regular hospital bed. We were also hoping to see Mom's doctor that night, but he never showed up.

I called in that afternoon and requested the next day off from work to be able to deal with things. Originally, when I saw that Mom was fine, I thought it was likely Mom would be getting out the next day, but her doctor was VERY cautious. (I think partly because he could never figure out what caused Mom's initial episode of unresponsiveness...they did rule out a stroke, however.) He had Mom stay two nights and was talking about sending her to a rehab facility for a few days...why, I don't know. My sisters and I all agreed that Mom would do best back at her place...and they are capable of doing rehab there, if any was needed. Mom eventually got out Wednesday of last week. I had decided to go back to work that day (I probably could have got another day off from work but I hate calling in at the last minute, so I took public transportation to work from the hospital) and my sister took her home in my car, and then came back to my place where she was SOUND asleep when I got home around 10:30 that night. After no sleep for two nights, I'm sure I would have been in a similar condition.

We went to see Mom the next day and Susan got a lot of stuff done with cleaning out my Mom's closet, buying her some new clothes, etc. However, along with severe exhaustion in the hospital, Susan also picked up some kind of a stomach bug there, and after a bad night Thursday, she decided to fly out Friday morning (instead of Saturday, which was the original plan.) The advantage of space-available travel is that it's very flexible, so she was able to get out Friday morning no problem. I seemed to have gotten that same bug as Susan, but only mildly, so I was able to keep working with the help of Pepto Bismol.

One bright note from this experience...we had just gotten Mom signed up with her Medicare supplemental insurance and it went into effect January 1st. We should have found a provider here right after she'd moved, but things were so crazy with selling her house, etc. that we missed the "window" we had to do that in. Mom still had Medicare coverage..but ONLY Medicare coverage, which would have left 20% of the costs uncovered. Since Mom went to the hospital in January, she was fully covered by her plan, and they should pay almost all of that 20% we would have been liable for...which with all the tests Mom had done, I'm sure will likely be thousands of dollars. So remember, if you have an elderly relative move, make sure they get their insurance changed right after they move!

I had Mom over for dinner at my place tonight (we had takeout from Pei Wei, so nothing too fancy) and Mom seemed fine, back to her old self as much as anyone with Alzheimer's can be. Her living facility kept an eye on Gus and let him out while she was in hospital so Gus is fine also...I actually had a vet appointment I took him too one day while Susan was here. He's getting older and arthritis can make him a bit cranky at times, but overall he is very content. However, we are looking for a new home for him, since Mom isn't able to really take care of him on her own any more...but for now, his situation is OK (with help on my end to make sure he's fed and watered.)

Only other thing going on is that I'm thinking of joining a church. Since it would be the first church I've joined as an adult, it's kind of a big decision for me, but I'm not rushing things. I've been visiting for a few months, though, and I like it pretty well so far, so I am leaning towards membership...but time will tell. That is definitely a more positive thing than most of what happened this month, and I thought I'd end on a positive note...I hope everyone's January was better than mine, and I will do my best to update this oft-neglected blog more quickly next time, hopefully with something more upbeat than listing all my troubles.

I am thankful that I have a job that I mostly enjoy, living in a place that has a lot of things to do, and that I can be near Mom since we still have fun hanging out together. Also, I'm glad I'm not living through winter in Wisconsin. Also I'm thankful to you, my readers of this blog, for giving me an audience, even though I don't write enough material for you. See you again soon!

My Year in Facebook Status Updates

2009-12-28T10:55:00.002-05:00

Sorry I have been kind of quiet on the blog this month. After doing the daily blog posting thing last month, I've found that I kind of go into blogger overload...but hopefully next year I will get back into a more regular posting pattern. Anyhow, I created the following picture using a Facebook application that samples your status updates throughout the year...and I thought I would share it here as well. Hope everyone enjoyed a great holiday season and has an awesome 2010.

An International Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-25T09:34:00.003-05:00

I can't take credit for this, as I stole it off the internets, but I hope everyone has a super awesome mega Christmas. I am working later but it should be a quiet day, and I am visiting with family before I go into work, so that will be nice. Anyhow, here you go:

ARMENIAN: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand.
AZERI-AZERBAIJAN: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun.
BASQUE: Zorionstsu Eguberri. Zoriontsu Berri Urte.
BULGARIAN: Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo. Tchestita
Nova Godina.
CHINESE-CANTONESE: Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun.
CHINESE-MANDARIN: Kung Ho Hsin Hsi. Ching Chi Shen Tan.
CZECH: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok.
DUTCH: Zalig Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieukjaar.
ESTONIAN: Roomsaid Joulu Phui ja Uut Aastat.
FINNISH: Hyvaa joula. Onnellista Uutta Voutta.
FRENCH: Joyeux Noel et heureuse Anne.
GAELIC-IRISH: Nolag mhaith Dhuit Agus Bliain Nua Fe Mhaise.
GAELIC-SCOT: Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur.
GERMAN: Frohliche Weihnachten und ein Glueckliches
Neues Jahr.
GREEK: Kala Khristougena kai Eftikhes to Neon Ethos.
HAWAIIAN: Mele Kalikimake me ka Hauloi Makahiki hou.
HEBREW: Mo'adim Lesimkha.
HUNGARIAN: Boldog Karacsonyl es Ujevl Unnepeket.
ICELANDIC: Gledlig jol og Nyar.
INDONESIAN: Selamah Tahun Baru.
IROQUOIS: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut.
Ojenyunyat osrasay.
ITALIAN: Buon Natalie e felice Capo d'Anno.
JAPANESE: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto.
KOREAN: Sung Tan Chuk Ha.
LATVIAN: Priecigus Ziemas Svetkus un Laimigu Jauno Gadu.
LITHUANIAN: linksmu sventu Kaledu ir Laimingu Nauju Metu.
MANX: Ollick Ghennal Erriu as Blein Feer Die. Seihil as
Slaynt Da'n Slane Loght Thie.
NORSE-DANISH: Gledlig jul og godt Nytt Aar.
POLISH: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia i szczesliwego
Nowego Roku.
PORTUGUESE: Feliz Natal e propero Ano Novo.
RAPA-NUI (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi.
Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua.
ROMANIAN: Sarbatori Fericite. La Multi Ani.
RUSSIAN: Pozdrevly ayu sprazdnikom Rozhdestva Khristova is
Novim Godom.
UKRANIAN: Veselykh Svyat i scaslivoho Novoho Roku.
SAMOAN: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou.
SLOVAK: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok.
SERB-CROATIAN: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina.
SINGHALESE (Ceylon/Sri Lanka): Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha
Aluth Awrudhak Vewa.
SLOVENE: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto.
SPANISH: Feliz Navidad y prospero Ano Nuevo.
SWEDISH: Glad jul och ett gott Nytt ar.
TAGALOG (Filipino): Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon.
TURKISH: Yeni Yilnizi Kutar, saadetler dilerim.
WELSH: Nadolic Llawen. Blwyddn Newdd Dda.
MERIDAY-BOYNTON: Hippo Gnu Ear! *:)

Home again, home again

2009-12-11T10:10:00.004-05:00

Greetings everyone. Sorry to take a long break after NABLOPOMO was over, but I've been busy traveling, as those of you who follow me on Twitter might have noticed.. I made a quick trip to Hawaii with my relative Rex when I had off five days, and while I did have the internet available there, who wants to blog on vacation?

I am back in the work grind now, working six days in a row to pay back someone I traded days with so that I could go to Hawaii. And of course, I got a cold while I was in Hawaii, probably picked up on the flight over. I didn't take Airborne before my trip, and I have nobody to blame but myself for that. I know there is little scientific research proving that it helps to prevent colds, but it's always done the trick for me when I take it before a flight...oh well.

So, I am now back at home, I have a cold, and I'm working...but I did have fun in Hawaii (other than getting a cold.) Drove around, saw lots of sights, went swimming in the ocean, hiked up Diamond Head (which was a lot more challenging in 2009 than it was the first time I did it back in 1992) and other touristy things. We also found the house which Rex rented when he was stationed in Hawaii back in 1963. He said it still looks very similar to how it did back then.

While in Hawaii, I also met Marvo, editor of The Impulsive Buy (which I have been reading for a long time) for dinner. After dinner we did a bit of shopping and he bought me a local treat made with spam. Good times!

Anyhow, I will close this post out with a picture I took on vacation...you can view the rest of the pictures I took here. I just used by cellphone camera on my Crackberry this trip but they turned out pretty decently, I thought.

Hope you are all having a great December.

Lola's Diary, Part XXXV

2009-11-30T11:06:00.009-05:00

Well, we have come to the final day of NABLOPOMO, and to the final entry in Lola's diary. This last entry may be a bit longer than normal but I thought it was only fitting to end the diary at the end of a month-long posting frenzy. Let's get started:

September 30, 1953

Rainee and Lisa have just left after a two week visit here. We had such a good time and did enjoy that blessed baby. She was so cute, sweet, and smart. Charlie was home four days while they were here - bought a new 1953 Chevrolet and is very proud of it. He drew $100 at the fair - lucky ticket - and went back very pleased with himself.

June 21, 1955

Mama fell and broke her hip May 11, 1954 and was in Flow Hospital until Thanksgiving. Took her home and she is still in a wheelchair - have a woman, Mrs. E. H. Christopher, who comes every day.

Charles - a 1st Lt. now - is stationed in Lincoln, Nebraska, and will get out of the USAF in December 1955. Little Wally, my third grandchild was born 6-26-54 and he is a darling. I flew to DC to see them in September 1954. Then Wallace came down here to see Mama in October. They are expecting a fourth child in September 1955. They are building a new home and expect to get in it next month.

Things are pretty rough here - Mama cries a lot. None of my relatives come to see her very often - Robbie has not been here in seven weeks - it just breaks her heart. (Mine too.) Charles was home in May and stayed two weeks - surely did enjoy him.

November 9, 1955

Went to Wallace's for seven weeks this summer - was there when their fourth child was born - Amil Charles - born September 1955. Little Wally was the cutest, sweetest thing I ever saw - I know the new one will be too.

Charles left for England 11-7-55 and will only be there a short time. He will be discharged 12/15/55 and we are going to Wallace's for Christmas, first time we have been together for the holidays in fourteen years.

September 3, 1957

Ida died suddenly August 22, 1957, in her sleep. Mrs. Buckingham and Jim will live on at the place. Feel so sorry for them.

Charles left USAF service 12/55 and is back with Westinghouse. He is in Dallas and comes home every weekend. So wonderful.

Martha married in June 1957 to John Rex Witcher, a Navy man. They are living in Milton, FL and seem very happy.

Wallace and little Wally are coming home for a visit next week. Charles will take the week off and I hope we have some joyous time.

Mama is pretty well. Complains a lot but is as well as could be expected. I think she looks fine.

Fred Harper died of a heart attack in December 1956.

OK, that is the last formal entry, on the last page of the book, but there are a few more lines she wrote down to record events and I will transcribe those as well:

Mama died December 24, 1962

Charles married Sue in May 1966 - Charles Jr. born 10-21-68

That's me!

Bill studied at University of Rochele, France, in Summer 1967

This is Lola's first grandhild, my cousin Bill. He eventually became a professor of French, I forget what university he teaches at.

Wallace and Rainee went to Europe in fall of 1967.

Lisa entered Goucher in September 1967.

Bill married 10-68 to Mary Lou in France.

Lola lived until 1986. She was 91 when she passed away, and if you've been reading these entries, I think you'll agree she had a very interesting life. She was a great grandmother.

Lola was doing quite well and living on her own (although she had sold her house and moved into a retirement apartment in 1982 or so) until the summer of 1986, when she had to go to the hospital, I forget what for exactly. However, while she was in the hospital, she broke her hip, and I think at that point she kind of decided she'd been around long enough. Dad and Wallace did get to go visit her in the hospital before she passed away. She is buried next to her husband in Denton.

I don't have any pictures handy of Lola from the time when she started writing this diary, but I do have one of her that was taken when she was in her 70's, I believe. Her appearance actually changed little over the years...Dad said that she'd been white-haired for as long as he can remember. Anyhow, here is what Lola looked like.

I apologize for the weird picture shape, but it was taken out of an oval picture frame to be scanned. She wrote Mom once when she and Dad were dating and said, "Well, Sue, I'm OLD and I'm FAT and I'm UGLY." I think she was being rather hard on herself...Lola had a quiet self-assurance about her that comes through in her pictures. When Lola first heard my father was getting married to my mother, a divorcee with two kids of her own, she was rather wary. But she and Mom got along great, as it turned out. I'm proud that she was my grandmother, and I hope you enjoyed reading her diary entries!

Lola's Diary, Part XXXIV

2009-11-29T08:54:00.008-05:00

This next entry is not a diary, but rather a news clipping Lola had saved from May, 1953:

The fellow who robbed Wallace Mann, Ben Chastain, and Eli P. Cox was a smooth operator. He took Chastain's billfold out of his pocket in his trousers, hanging in two feet of where he slept.

Wallace Mann and Charles were sleeping in the room when he took Wallace's billfold, driver's license, credit cards, ,his union card and about $160 in cash. After removing the cash, the robber threw the billfold under Charles' car parked nearby. So Wallace did not have to drive back to Washington without a driver's license after all. "He was nice not to disturb our slumber," said Wallace.

Wallace and his son, Bill, 6, left Tuesday morning after visiting Wallace's mother, Mrs. Lola Mann, 1111 Bolivar, for two weeks. He is a rather famous musician. He is flutist with the National Symphony, in Washington, D. C.

Mrs. Wallace Mann, and the little girl, 3, are with her parents in Clarksburg, W. Va. Her father had a heart attack recently.

Eli Cox's diamond-studded medal, presented to him by Southwestern life, when he completed his first million dollars of life insurance sold, was found in Fort Worth and returned to him. It has considerable intrinsic value, but the sentimental value is even greater.

I didn't change anything in that article, but I am surprised at how many grammar errors it contains for something that was written by a reporter and published in a newspaper.

I had a similar event happen to me once...when I was moving in 1996, a thief broke into my hotel room while I was asleep and took my cash. I was kind of freaked out about it, but I guess it's good my cash was all they took. Anyhow, let's get to the diary entry here:

August 4, 1953

Charles received his wings at Enid, Oklahoma, in December 1952 (also got a medal for making highest academic grades.) I went up for the ceremony. Visited with Nora and Bill Stagg in Oklahoma City on the way to Enid. Had such a nice visit. Am very proud of Chaarles - he is is a good boy.

He was home for a nice visit Christmas, then was stationed for two months at Sheppard Field, Wichita Fallas, and while there was able to come home often. He was next stationed in San Antonio for approximately five months and came home often from there - so we are really spoiled. He is now in Topeka, Kansas at Forbes AFB.

Wallace and bill came home for a two week visit in May 1953. Enjoyed them so much.

The next diary page the top half is missing for some reason...I don't know if it was torn out by Lola later, or if it was just damaged. It's the only missing part of the whole diary though. I'll pick up with the rest of the entry now:

Ida is in the hospital - Geneva and Jess have been in California for approximately 18 months and they are here on a visit. Mammy is living with Ida and they fuss and feud all the time. Haggard and Etta are supposed to come for a visit this week - Sue is now a mother - married, divorced and a baby in the space of 6-7 months. Have not seen the baby.

Jemmie Neel Wright is working now - part time - and is good help. A smart little girl.

I am no longer teaching. Am working on my yard too hard. Am feeling pretty good - better than in the past. My eyes are far from well - but are much better now.

I am now active in two service clubs - the Soroptomist Club and Business and Professional Womens Club. Am president of the latter club this year.

Our beloved Dr. Roger D. Hebard resigned and left our church in August 1952. We were without a pastor from that time until July 11, 1953 when Dr. L.B. Reams came to us. He and family seem fine in every way and I do hope the church responds to his leadership in fine fashion.

OK, that's all for today. See you tomorrow for another diary entry, and the last day of NABLOPOMO for 2009!

Next

Lola's Diary, Part XXXIII

2009-11-28T10:01:00.008-05:00

May 5, 1950

A whole year has passed and many changes. Mrs. Waefsohn died in August 1949 very suddenly and very mysteriously while visiting in California. She left everything to Jo except $3000 to the church and a few gifts to relatives. Our class is lost without her. I am trying to teach.

Wallace and Rainee have a darling little girl named Lisa. She was born March 31, 1950. I went up there on April 10 and have been home one week. They seem very happy - two darling children. The baby looks more like our family than Bill does.

Charles is graduating at Texas tech on 5-22-50, and on the 13th of June will go to Pittsburgh, PA to work for Westinghouse. I cannot realize my baby is grown.

My cousin Lisa had kind of a wild youth (life in the sixties, I guess) but she eventually settled down, got married, and had two kids of her own. However, she was tragically killed in a car accident in 1981...was in a coma for a week or so and never recovered.

My father got a degree in electrical engineering, and ended up working for Westinghouse until he retired, except for his period of service in the Air Force. He said only a couple of people in his graduating class had job offers...there were a lot of veterans getting their degrees in 1950 and the job market was very competitive.

Cora bought Mrs. Buckingham's old home, fixed it up and moved there. It looks nice and she is very proud of it. I had my house fixed up - spent $4000 and it looks very nice. Mama and I are very comfortable there. She is not well and I worry about her.

February 16, 1951

Charles graduated Texas Tech in May 1950 and has been with Westinghouse since that time, but he has enlisted in the Air Force and I am grieved to death.

Dad enlisted in the Air Force because he didn't want to be drafted with the promise that he could go to an officer training program and become a pilot as soon as a spot opened up. He did indeed attend that program later on and did get his wings, but being enlisted back then sure didn't sound like much fun from the way he described it. He was worried that if he got drafted it might be into a different branch of the service which is why he went ahead and enlisted.

Our little Lisa is bad sick, Wallace phoned last night. I am very worried.

April 9, 1951

The children are both coming home this month. Charles for a visit before joining the Air Force and Wallace and Rainee and children to be here too. I can hardly wait.

July 24, 1951

The children were all at home for two weeks in May and I did enjoy them so much. Lisa is a most adorable child and Bill is sweet as ever. Charles and Wallace played golf daily and it took Mama, Rainee, and I the full time to cook, watch the children and wash, etc. Such a busy, happy, full two weeks.

Charles went to the Air Force on May 29, was sent to San Antonio, Lackland Field, and has been there since. He is being sent to Lubbock to Reese AFB this week - he is glad to get back to Lubbock.

Mama had a bad sick spell the first of June and was in the hospital for three days. She is not at all well and I am uneasy about her. Robbie came up and stayed with me and helped out. I am having a lot of trouble with my eyes - worried about it too.

See you again tomorrow with more tales from the 1950s!

Next

Lola's Diary, Part XXXII

2009-11-27T09:39:00.004-05:00

May 22, 1948

Wallace and Rainee and the precious baby William are due to arrive for a visit today. Mama and I sat on the front porch last night until 10:00 looking for them. Maybe they will get here this morning - they were supposed to start from West Virginia Wednesday and we have had no words. They may have had car trouble.

They have an unfurnished apartment now, $60 per month, and have bought some furniture. I am so glad for now the baby has a yard.

December 8, 1948

Well things are still moving along. Charles is back at Texas Tech again this year. Staying in Doak Hall, works for room and board and is perfectly delighted with the school. He registered with the draft board on September 10 - has not had any word. We hare hoping he can finish his school work before being called for his period of service in the Army.

I have never really understood why the draft continued so long after the end of WWII. I mean, I know it was needed during Korea, and Vietnam...but some form of draft continued nonstop from when it began at the start of WWII until the early 1970's. Oh well. Anyhow, back to the entry:

Wallace and family had a nice visit here this summer but we want to see them again. He will not be here again this year. I hope to go up in the spring. William is talking now. Want to see him so bad.

Mama is fine - bless her heart. I do not know what on earth I'd do without her. Cora has had a sick spell - surely did miss her. She is invaluable to me.

Wilbur has quit Bennett Printing Company after 26 years and is training with Maverick-Clark Company. Seems to be delighted with work.

Martha graduated TSCW this summer with honors. She is working in Dallas for an insurance company. I am delighted.

Elsie is in Arizona for the winter - trying to recover from TB. She is much better.

January 28, 1949

I have celebrated my 54th birthday very quietly. It is extremely cold. Supposed to be three degrees below zero - snow and ice everywhere.

I went to see Wallace and family January 9th and stayed two weeks. The baby had scarlet fever but recovered very quickly. While in DC I attended two concerts and at one Wallace played a solo. Enjoyed it more than I can tell. We attended the inauguration of President Truman. Rainee is such a gracious hostess and made me so welcome. They are having to move - in process of buying a home.

Charles made good grades at Texas Tech. He is such a wonderful son. Mama is fine - what would I do without her.

See you tomorrow as we finish the 1940's and move into 1950!

Next

Lola's Diary, Part XXXI

2009-11-26T10:08:00.008-05:00

October 2, 1947

Dear Aunt Carrie died September 22, 1947. She was a sweet, dear thing - loved young people, life, and the church. Was active to the last week of her life. Had just returned from a trip to see King at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and to see Hattie in Amarillo.

Zelma has improved and has been sent home from the hospital. I am so glad for she was needed so badly at home. She was so critically ill for one month.

December 17, 1947

Charles has not been home since he left September 15 for Lubbock and we are eagerly anticipating his arrival home next Sunday for the Christmas holidays. Wallace cannot make it. Has not been home for Christmas since December 1941.

Aunt Sallie Witt died last week after a long illness. Blessed relief. Uncle Everett is coming to see us soon. Carolyn's baby, Barbara Jo, is darling. Laura Bea whose baby Roger is seventeen months old, and baby Ann is four months old, had an emergency appendectomy November 26 and is doing fine.

I'm feeling good - working hard.

April 17, 1948

Well spring is here again and already I am dreading the hot weather. Charles came home for the Easter holiday (last Sunday in March.) He likes Texas Tech very much and I am glad. He is a precious child and I do not see how I could live without him.

Wallace, Rainee, and the baby are planning to come next month and I can hardly wait to see them. Wallace has bought a secondhand car and I am sure was "trimmed" since he paid above price quoted here and has had to put in new rings already. I am afraid there is something wrong with the job setup there too but can't get any direct information. Wish I could help him more but I must help Charles until he is through school.

Mama is well except a bothersome rash on her hands. She is trying to garden some. Uncle Everett came last week and he looks very bad. He is living with Douglas and not too happy in Lubbock. Wish he could go back to Amarillo.

Martha will graduate in August. She is a precious girl and I love her to death. Robbie and Wilbur were up Sunday. Wilbur is unhappy with Benett P. Co. Wish he had a business of his own. Wish Wilbur did not worry so and wish to high heaven Robbie would relax and just take things easy and enjoy herself. I love her so - my only sister - but she will not listen. Guess she thinks I'm off the beam and maybe I am.

My Uncle Wallace, while he struggled for a few years, did end up making a good living as a flutist. However, he always had a bit of trouble living within his means. He was a good provider for his family though.

I never really knew my great-Aunt Robbie (she died when I was seven) but I do remember Wilbur pretty well. I have heard that Robbie was a bit high-strung and VERY particular about her house...like, she would dust her whole house every day. I am sure she was a nice lady though. Dad said he learned a lot from Wilbur about being a successful salesman when he was starting with Westinghouse, and I think he looked up to Wilbur some as a surrogate father figure after his Dad passed away. I still have an old Cross pen/pencil set that belonged to Wilbur that Martha, his daughter, gave me when I graduated high school.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and see you again tomorrow!

Next

Lola's Diary, Part XXX

2009-11-25T13:42:00.006-05:00

September 10, 1947

Well this has been a very hot and uncomfortable summer. It has been 100 degrees or more the first eight days in September. During August the temp ran to 108. Has turned cooler at last.

Wallace has been in Pineville, West Virginia for six weeks working for Mr. Rose. Rainee and the baby have been with Mrs. Rose in Clarksburg. The baby had pictures on his first birthday, just received and precious. They are all well.

Charles and I made a short trip to Lubbock on August 27 and he transferred all credits there from Teachers College to Texas Tech and will leave next Sunday for that place. he will stay with Elsie and eat at a cafeteria. We will miss him oh so much.

This past week he has painted four rooms, painted all linoleums, and washed windows and cleaned house for us. He is a good worker. He now weighs 205 - lost 55 pounds.

Zelma has been very ill and I am very uneasy about her. Poor darling; she has had such a hard time. Anita writes that she is better now.

Charles has lost so much that I had to make all his clothing over. His waist, formerly 46 inches, is now 37 inches. it has been a job. Mama and I are both pretty well - no sickness this summer.

Carolyn is expecting a baby in October. She is a sweet child. Iva Ruth's husband (the one she married this spring) had a nervous breakdown and is in Wichita. She and Dorothy Jean are at Hank's. Iva Ruth is planning to take a job October 1. I feel very sorry for the whole family.

Next

Lola's Diary, Part XXIX

2009-11-24T10:25:00.009-05:00

December 20, 1946

Moved office from J.C. Penney Building to McClurkan Building December 7. Office much nicer. New office furniture very nice and thrilled over change.

Mama has been sick three weeks. Just can't seem to get well.

William has a tooth, before 4 months old. Bless his baby heart. They will not get to come for Christmas.

February 13, 1946

Well William is six months old today and I'd give a lot to see him. Wallace says he laughs all the time. Wallace is on a southern tour through North Carolina and South Carolina this week.

Yesterday was Charles's 18th birthday, he is a junior in Teachers College and I am very proud of him. Made 2 A's and 1 B last semester. He will register this week but think perhaps will not have to have military training.

He had a big birthday. I gave him a leather notebook, Mama a Kodak, Wallace a check for $3 and Robbie a cake and $2, Ida a lovely white muffler and Cora a nice tie pin. We had a nice dinner and a good time. Cora and Jimmy ate with us.

July 15th, 1947

On June 4, 1947, Charles and I left Denton for a three weeks trip East. We went through Sulphur Springs to Tesxarkana on to Little Rock, Arkansas, then to Memphis, Tennessee. We stopped the first night in Humboldt, Tennessee. The next day we went through the western part of Tenessee up through Kentucky - stopping at Boling Green, Mammoth Cave, etc., then into Ohio, staying the second night there. The third day we went on to Clakrsburg, West Virginia, stopping with Mrs. Rose for a day and night - then on to Washington, D.C. for a two weeks visit with Rainee and Wallace and that precious baby.

We had a perfect visit - saw so many interesting things besides enjoying every minute with the children. Went sighseeing every day. Also got to attend two concerts and hear Wallace play. Saw all the interesting government buildings - Mt. Vernon, etc. Came home via Skyline drive, Natural Bridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson & Vicksburg, Mississippi; Shreveport, Louisiana; Dallas etc.

The most wonderful trip I ever took and every minute was fine. Charles had the time of his life. Mama stayed with Robbie and found her well on our return.

Cora did fine with the office. The Retail Credit Co. has a full time reporter now and I no longer have that source of income and miss it sorely, but I have a much easier time. Mrs. Knight now has a collection department in the office that will pay something eventually, and I will make out fine.

Charles is dieting. He got to where he weighed 260 pounds and went on a diet about two months ago and has lost 35 pounds. He has painted porches, chairs, etc. since we came home; starts back to school next Friday. I have dieted with Charles and now weigh 155 - having lost 12 pounds. I am feeling pretty good.

Martha is in school this summer and is the same sweet old girl. Carolyn is pregnant. She and her husband are living with Manny and seem perfectly contented. Homer and Mildred have moved back to Denton from Dallas. He now runs the little store for Jim - he is a partner there.

Dad didn't get really skinny until he went in the Air Force; after that he stayed pretty trim by dieting intermittently throughout the years until he was in his late sixties. Towards the end of his life eating was about his only pleasure so he stopped worrying about his weight too much. I wish he'd been able to quit smoking as well...had he managed that when the doctors told him to quit, he might still be around today...but that is another story for another post.

More tales from the 1940's tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXVIII

2009-11-23T16:39:00.005-05:00

June 19, 1946

Well it has come hot weather. Have had such a cool spring - no warm weather until June 15.

Had a place burned off my hand three weeks ago and have had the dickens with it. Still sore and going to the doctor. Mama has had an infected eye - we are a mess.

Cora and I both got our hair cut short and a permanent this week - I do mean short. It is wonderfully comfortable.

Wallace has had flu and is recovered.

July 27, 1946

Well I got my new car July 5, 1946. Paid $735 and my 1938 car for it - $1239 full price. Was offered $2000 cash for it but guess I'll not sell it for Charles would be so unhappy.

I think that immediately after WWII, cars were in very short supply because none had been produced during the war, and everyone wanted a new one. Sounds like Lola got a pretty good deal on hers. Of course, $1239 was a lot more money back then than it is now.

We are having a meeting. C. E. Matthews doing the preaching. He is a grand preacher but we are not having the response we wanted. Attendance is very poor.

August 14, 1946

Well yesterday was the big event in our lives since my first grandchild was born. Wallace called and the baby, a little boy, was born 8-13-1946 at 2 AM and weighed 8 lbs 2 oz. He was born on Rainee's birthday. She was 23. Wallace will be 24 Saturday. They said they would name the baby William Edward - same initials as Earl and son, however the name Edward is Rainee's father's name. Of course I can hardly wait to see him and they plan to come when he is one month old.

Today is fairly hot but not the excessive heat we have had. Has been 107 degrees several days - extremely uncomfortable.

Aunt Leta, Nathan, and Olivia were here yesterday. She looks grand.

I can't imagine living through a humid 107 degree day in Texas with no air conditioning, but of course people did just that for a long, long time.

More tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXVII

2009-11-22T23:36:00.006-05:00

May 18, 1946

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and Mama and I sat by the fire all day. Wallace and Rainee called long distance Saturday night. They sounded as if they were in Denton. They are well and oh so happy. Charles sent me one dozen beautiful roses. They are the sweetest, grandest boys in the world and I am certainly proud of them both. Rainee is a darling and so sweet to write to me.

Mr. Patterson has resigned here and is going to be International Harvester dealer at Whiteston. He has also bought interest in a private school at Lancaster, Texas. They have not moved.

I am working hard these days but am making a good salary and very happy for that. Cora is doing fine - like her very much.

Wallace is working for the Veteran's Administration now between symphony seasons. Only makes $160 per month but that helps. I am going to send them the money to come home this fall. I am crazy to see them and then there will be the baby.

June 3, 1946

Georgia had a major operation May 18 and is now at home and doing fine. Ida is walking on crutches; broke a bone in her foot about six weeks ago. She has had a time. I went to Dr. Hinkle for a check and he advises an operation but I am going to postpone it as long as possible. I am not well at all and know I should go on but can't see my way clear to go right now.

I have no idea what type of operation Lola is referring to here, but considering she lived another forty years after this entry was written I presume it wasn't anything too serious.

Carolyn made three A's and two B's this semester in college. I am very proud of her. Homer and family are here for his vacation. His wife is cute as she can be. Homer looks fine.

OK, that's all for today...more tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXVI

2009-11-21T23:30:00.005-05:00

March 12, 1946

Well the winter is gone and spring is really upon us. Wallace has finished his first season with the National Symphony and has gotten a small raise for next year but he has a hard time there for living expenses are so high. Rainee is getting along fine and I am so very glad.

Martha was one of the Red Bud Primroses and we were very proud of her. She was also selected president of her class for next year.

Zelma and Matt came up last Sunday and neither are well. Matt has an infected eye and it looks so bad. Zelma isn't well at all.

I let my car go in to try and get a new one and am walking these days. Sure wish I hadn't been so silly for heaven only knows when I'll get one. Cora is nice to take me home but I sure miss it.

We have a new mayor - J.L. Yarburgh. Mr. Breston had served for eight years but was badly defeated. It looks like Mr. Patterson is going to loose his job too. New school board has not met - nothing known definitely but it is generally nosied around. I would hate very much for him to loose out because I was so very fond of him.

Denton was still a fairly small city back then, and Lola lived close to downtown, where she worked...which is how she was able to get by with no car. She also knew most of the local politicians; I think this had to do with her office being located near the courthouse as well as doing credit bureau business with most all of the local businessmen. Of course, in a small town, it's a lot easier to know who everyone is...I'm afraid that living in a big city, that's not something I'll ever be able to claim.

Back tomorrow with more tales from the 1940s!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXV

2009-11-20T23:47:00.007-05:00

December 15, 1945

Mrs. Parmer is leaving today to take a position at the 1st Methodist Church as secretary. She has worked up here for 25 years and I hate to see her go. She is getting a better salary though and cannot blame her.

Cora Wilkinson is starting in and will be up here with me. She is trying hard and I know will be fine later on.

No word from Wallace for two weeks. He has been on tour - hope to get a letter soon. Sent his Christmas box last Monday. Mama sent check today.

February 23, 1946

Well time rolls on. Here it is up in 1946 and how the days fly by. Cora is doing fine and we do have a good time. She certainly does try to please and we get along fine.

The stupendous news is that I am to be a grandmother in August. The children are so happy and so am I. Wallace is on a southern tour and Rainee is in New York now. Will not likely see them before the baby arrives.

Due to Wallace getting married and having kids at a young age, and Dad getting married in his late thirties (as well as being about seven years younger than Wallace) my oldest cousin on Wallace's side of the family has children that are about my age, which I always thought was kind of funny. On both sides of my family, I'm the youngest of my generation...which could be annoying at times growing up, but doesn't bother me now.

Jess has returned from overseas and so has Ritchey. They both look grand.

I resigned my teaching position with the Eugelian class last month and am back in the T&L class now. Hated to give up the class as I had taught it for over five years but felt I did not have the time to devote to it. They gave me two beautiful wool blankets and I am very proud of them. They had intended getting me a watch and I bought one with the check Mama gave me for Christmas. They were very chagrined, bless their hearts.

I am not sure if I spelled "Eugelian" correctly since it was kind of hard to read, but I'm pretty sure that Lola is referring to Sunday school classes she participated in. She was very knowledgeable about the bible and was active in her church for many, many years.

On the first of the year I got a $50 raise that certainly helped out. I am getting along fine now. Can live nicely and comfortably on my income.

Martha and Charles are doing fine. Charles made average grades...Martha, super. She made seven "A"s. Very proud of her.

Well, that's all for today...hope everyone has a nice weekend and is looking forward to Thanksgiving!

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Forgot to post an entry today!

2009-11-19T23:50:00.004-05:00

Sorry. It was a long day; meeting before work, then work, then I got home and totally spaced transcribing an entry. However, to keep my NABLOPOMO pledge, I thought I'd post an explanation as to the lack of a diary entry by Lola. Back tomorrow with more historical stuff.

Lola's Diary, Part XXIV

2009-11-18T12:55:00.008-05:00

Due to a lack of time to transcribe this morning, today's entry will be a bit shorter than usual...only transcribing about a little more than one handwritten page. But don't worry...I should have the whole diary finished by month's end.

November 15, 1945

Well it has been four years since Earl died and I came to the office to work. Much has happened and it seems a long, long time. Time changes things so. I had a little boy four years ago; now he is 6 feet tall and weighs 235, and is in college.

Dad was overweight growing up, but he got in good shape when he went in the military and stayed reasonably trim until his late sixties. But he was also a fairly large man so it wasn't all fat at this point either. Dad said that Wallace was very concerned about his weight when he was growing up, which considering how Wallace ended up being way overweight for most of his adult life is kind of ironic. Anyhow, back to the entry:

Wallace, who was 19 then, is married, lives in Washington, D.C. and is thoroughly absorbed in his work as flutist for the symphony there. I am more alone than ever in my life and suppose it will grow worse. Mama is a great comfort to me. I don't know what I would do without her.

Mattibeth Wright is to be married November 22 to a Fort Worth fellow. They had a tea for her last Sunday announcing the approaching marriage.

Phil Wright and his wife have a baby. He is still in the army and they will be unable to attend the wedding.

More tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXIII

2009-11-17T10:27:00.007-05:00

September 4, 1945

September 2, 1945 was official V.J. Day. Charles, Mama, and I listened to the broadcast as the representative of Japan and of the United states joined in signing the papers. It was thrilling to know peace had come at last and that the United Nations had been victorious. God grant that there never be another war.

Japan officially surrendered on August 15, 1945. The announcement was made on August 14 in the United states due to time zone differences. The formal surrender did take place on September 2, however, on board the battleship U.S.S. Missouri. According to Wikipedia the VJ Day term has been applied to both August 15 and September 2. Of course, Lola's wish was not granted and wars have continued off and on since then...but there never has been a war on the scale of WWII again, so maybe her wish came partly true, at least.

My father told me an interesting tale from August 15, 1945: right after Japan announced they were surrendering, he was still working at the fire department. He was in a fire truck with the sirens going en route to a fire...but all of the cars on the road thought they were celebrating the end of the war, and didn't realize they actually were going to put out a fire, so nobody pulled over to let them drive by. They made it to the fire eventually, of course, but it took longer than it should have.

It's interesting for me to realize there has been no similarly huge, worldwide celebration of this scale in my lifetime...I was alive for the lunar landings, but I don't remember them. I guess the biggest historical event I have lived through was 9/11, but of course that was not a happy day at all. Lets get back to the diary entry:

Wallace and Rainee are in Biloxi, Miss. and are enjoying it immensely. Do not know yet just when he will be released. Mama, Charles and I went to Proper Sunday and enjoyed being with Leonard and Robert and all so much.

October 6, 1945

Wallace got his discharge from the Army September 28th up at Sheppard Field. He rushed home and he and Rainee left on the 4:30 PM train for Washington, D.C. where he will be 1st flutist in the National Symphony Orchestara this year. They will live in Washington. He is thrilled to death. The season starts October 2. He and Rainee are now in West Va. for a visit with her parents.

Wallace held that same position of 1st flutist in the National Symphony for many years. He was eventually forced to retire in the early 1980's due to a personality conflict with a new conductor. As I have mentioned a few times during my transcribing, Wallace gained a lot of weight after he quit smoking in the 1950's weighed around 300 lbs after that. Although Wallace's weight gain never affected his flute playing, this new conductor didn't like the fact that he was so overweight...there may have been other motivations as well; I'm not sure. Wallace probably would have retired within a few years anyhow since he was over 60 when that happened, but it's all water under the bridge now.

Aunt Carrie has been very ill. She went out to Albuquerque to visit kin. She became very ill on the train and they brought her home two weeks ago and she has been very ill since that time.

I have been very busy in the office. Courtesy cards have come back and oil companies are getting a large volume of reports about October 1.

Bob Allman has his discharge and he and Zova Nell are here. They will live with Mrs. Parmer.

I have mentioned that I have to guess sometimes on name spellings due to this being a handwritten diary...that last couple sentences is one of the times I guessed. Zova was what the name looked like to me but it could be something else entirely.

Back tomorrow as we journey into peacetime!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXII

2009-11-16T02:25:00.007-05:00

August 8, 1945

Well things move along - many sad things have happened this month. Dad (J.S.) Hammond died. He was a good man and dearly loved by his family. Earl thought him a good honest man - I am sorry about his death. Bill Wright - another good friend - died Friday 3rd of August - I thought so much of Bill. Cooter Hastings was killed in action in the Pacific - his mother is such a good friend and I grieve with her. Jack Fry, Bill Smith's son, was burned with his plane in Galveston. Leaves a wife and baby - so sad.

My boy is still in Sioux Falls. Rainee was with us three weeks but went up there July 28th. I am glad they can be together.

The greatest scientific discovery of late years - the atomic bomb - has been perfected and used for the first time in this warfare. One small bomb has wiped out a large Japanese city. I shudder to think of the possibilities of such a weapon. I only hope it is used to prevent wars.

Another cool observation of history as it happened that makes reading this diary so enjoyable to me. Let's continue with one more diary entry:

August 10, 1945

Russia joined England, China , and the U.S and declared war on Japan Wednesday, August 8. Early this morning Japan radioed surrender, agreeing to terms of Potsdam conference except that they retain the Emporor. If the leaders of the four nations agree to this - it means the end of this terrible war - God grant it.

Leonard came by to see me and he looks wonderful. Much better than when he was so fat. He only weighs 167 pounds. Just about the size of Wallace.

Leonard was not a skinny man when I knew him, but neither was he hugely fat...I would guess he probably weighed around 200 or so. Wallace, on the other hand, ended up weighing over 300 for many years after a big weight gain in the 1950's...quitting smoking was a real challenge for him, evidently. Funny how things change over time. More tales from the 1940's return tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XXI

2009-11-15T09:20:00.007-05:00

June 23, 1945

Well today Wallace called and they have been at the Adolphus hotel all week. Bless his heart he is simply walking on air. He asked me to meet him at his Datee's tomorrow - which happens to be Robbie and Wilbur's silver anniversary. I bought her a silver server today. Hope she doesn't have one. Wallace and Rainee will come home with us.

Robbie and Wilbur were my great-aunt and great-uncle. Dad was rather close to Uncle Wilbur, and said he learned a lot from them. I still have a pen set Wilbur owned that I got for graduation from high school. Datee was a nickname Robbie used; sorry if that is confusing.

The Adolphus hotel is still in business and is a very swanky place from what I hear. Queen Elizabeth stayed there once when she visited America, for example. It was featured briefly in the movie Borat for those of you who have seen it (I haven't) and I first heard about it when reading some commentary about the movie. (The clip featuring the hotel can be seen here if you're interested.) I have been wanting to check the hotel out; knowing that my uncle stayed there over 60 years ago now makes me want to even more. Should be good material for a future blog post.

July 9, 1945

Wallace and Lorraine were here one week and he left for Sioux Falls, S.D. Rainee went to Dallas to visit last Tuesday. Do not know when she is coming back. No word from Wallace and do not know where he will be stationed.

Charles took a job at the north side Fire Station and has moved up bag and baggage. I doubt if it is the right thing to do. He is very young and is getting to feel pretty important since he is going to Teacher's College.

It may seem odd that my father could get hired as a firefighter at the age of 16, but you also have to consider that this still being wartime, the majority of men who would fill those jobs and were able-bodied were all in the military. (Back then, it was a male only profession.) Also, Denton was a fairly small city at the time. I don't know how much formal training Dad received...I think it was mostly a "learn as you go" deal from the experienced firemen...but I do know he worked as a firefighter for several months there.

The Teacher's College that Lola is referring to is now known as the University of North Texas. It is a good school and Dad fulfilled a lot of his undergrad requirements there but he wanted to go into engineering, which they do not offer, so he eventually transferred to Texas Tech in Lubbock. That is discussed later in the diary, though, so I won't go into details right now.

Back tomorrow with more tales from the 1940's!

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Lola's Diary, Part XX

2009-11-14T08:57:00.006-05:00

June 4, 1945

Charles entered Teacher's College Monday and is taking English and Algebra. He thinks he will like it fine. He really needs to work for I am having tough sledding making both ends meet. My old car has gone to the shop and costs me so much.

Zelma, Anita, and Jerry came up yesterday and are paying us a little visit. Zelma looks perfectly wretched, and is certainly far from well. Her side drain s all the time. Jerry is sweet as can be but runs his mother ragged. Anita seems a grown young lady.

June 16, 1945

A telegram came from Wallace June 14, saying he and Rainee would be married Sunday June 17, in Oberlin. I could not go for the wedding and know no details. They will probably come home next week sometime. I am so anxious for them to come on for the thirty days is rapidly passing.

I believe that Wallace got thirty days of leave when he got back to the US from Europe and that is what Lola is referring to here.

She is a cute, sweet little girl and I will love her dearly but I hate for Wallace to get married until after the war, but he is of age and I cannot do a thing about it. I do hope he does not have to go to the Pacific and that they do not have too much trouble in their lives. Bless their hearts - I know that life will not all be a bed of roses.

As it turns out, Wallace did not have to go to the Pacific, and while Lola was correct in her observation that life was not always a bed of roses, he and Rainee were married for over fifty years.

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Lola's Diary, Part XIX

2009-11-13T06:32:00.009-05:00

May 21, 1945

The war in Europe ended Monday May 7. The forces there will be moved to the Pacific as rapidly as possible. I had a letter from Wallace written April 27 in which he stated that he was leaving Italy and could not tell where he was being sent but stated that it was good news. Of course good news could be but one thing and that would be his return to America. I do hope that we are not disappointed.

The official VE Day is May 8, 1945, but Germany surrendered on May 7...the day the surrender formally was accepted is May 8. Hitler committed suicide on April 30. This historical aside is brought to you by Wikipedia.

This is truly a spring of graduations in our family. Charles and Martha are in their last week at Denton High and Highland Park High. Lorraine is to graduate at Oberlin. I sent her a blouse today. Will give Martha $10 and have bought Charles a nice suit. Mama and Wallace gave him a watch.

June 7, 1945

Wallace landed at Newport News, Virginia May 24, 1945 after a nine day boat trip from Naples, Italy. He got home Wednesday May 30 and was here for Charlie's graduation. He left Monday June 4 to go to Oberlin Ohio for a visit with Rainee. They are to go to Clarksburg, West Virginia to visit her parents tomorrow. He looks marvelous and seems perfectly well.

Sorry about the short entry today, but I do want to pace things so that I have enough entries to last me through most of November. I am over halfway through the transcription already so things should be finished up within a couple of weeks.

It was nice that my uncle could be home for my father's graduation from high school...and, of course, VERY nice that he made it home from Europe safely. A lot of soldiers weren't so lucky. See you once again tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part XVIII

2009-11-12T01:32:00.009-05:00

May 4, 1945

We moved our office back across the hall today into the office we had before we moved in with Mr. Barton. We were glad to get home.

The war news all points to an early victory in Germany. Fighting has ceased in Italy - Berlin has fallen to the Russians and the German soldiers are giving up by the hundreds of thousands. No word from my precious solder in a week. I feel sure he is being or has been moved from Italy.

I finally got that old note of Earl's paid off and certainly feel relieved. Fred Harper has certainly proved himself a friend to me. He helped me get it settled and saved me $350 or more on the deal. Old W.C. Orr is a crooked so and so.

I presume Lola is talking about paying off the mortgage on her house there, but I'm not positive. I do know that last term she used sounds mild by today's standards, but Lola had to be furious with someone to call them a crooked so and so.

Fred Harper was Lola's cousin and a very nice guy. Very sharp, also, and a chess expert...he stayed active with that game well into his 80's. He had lost both his hands as a boy in a farm accident but never let it slow him down a bit. Anyhow, back to the entry:

Charles has helped me all day today and now has gone to help Mama get her yard in good condition. It has been such a mess - and she has been very unhappy about the deal.

Poor little old Zelma has been dreadfully sick. She went to the hospital six weeks ago, and was there over three weeks. She had surgery and was dreadfully ill. Her gall bladder ruptured four years ago and stones had formed and packed into her intestines. She is still sick and I am uneasy about her.

Anita had been working but is staying at home with her mother now. Jerry stayed two aor three weeks with his granddaddy and grandmother but is back home now.

Dad quite enjoyed yardwork, and I find that is something I inherited to an extent...not that I miss having to mow the yard every week, but it is satisfying when you have a nice, green, well-manicured yard to relax in and know that your hard work helped get it into shape. Still, I'm happy enough with apartment life for now.

Back tomorrow with more tales from the 1940's!

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Lola's Diary, Part XVII

2009-11-11T01:13:00.006-05:00

March 31, 1945

Tomorrow is Easter. Robbie, Wilbur, and Martha are coming up for dinner. Ida gave us a couple of fryers. They are so nice. I bought some strawberries and we will have shortcake, also new potatoes, new English peas, hot rolls, etc.

Do wish my boy was home from the terrible war and could be with us. He has gone on his second mission bombing Amstettin, Germany. The war news is very encouraging in the West. Do not see how Germany can last much longer. They are giving up by the thousands. Morning paper states Eisenhower took 60,000 prisoners in two days fighting.

April 23, 1945

Much has happened in the past month. Wallace has completed 10 missions and was safe one week ago for we had a letter today written last Monday. The Russians have entered Berlin and there is fierce fighting in the heart of the city. It is a huge enigma to the Allies that the German people will go on fighting, blindly following the orders laid down to them by the Nazi warlords who have fled and left them to their fate. The great conference will meet this week in San Francisco.

Last Thursday, April 12, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died suddenly. The whole nation went into mourning. I do not know what affect his sudden death will have on the world but the new President Truman seems to have taken hold of affairs in a most gratifying manner. I do hope that the people will stand behind him and uphold him. Earl, the boys and I were great admirers of President Roosevelt and the boys and I feel a personal loss in his going.

Charles is broken out with poison ivy and is a sight. It seems to me there is always something wrong with him.

These last couple of entries, discussing history as it was happening, are some of the most entertaining parts of Lola's diary to read, I think. I do like reading about what she thought of how things were going as well.

Dad was actually didn't get sick too much when I was growing up, so I think he may have just been having a bad run of luck in 1944-45...also, I'm sure that recovering from that bad infection he had did a number on his immune system for a while.

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Lola's Diary, Part XVI

2009-11-10T11:26:00.005-05:00

March 2, 1945

A letter from Wallace and he is in Italy and had a wonderfully interesting trip over. He was in Africa and other interesting places. He seems happy and that makes me feel much better about him.

Charles has had scarlet fever and has missed two weeks from school. He has not been extremely ill but we certainly hated for him to miss school.

A letter from Rainee this week. She is a sweet child and I think Wallace really loves her. If he loves her I do to and will be happy if they marry.

Mama and I are well.

March 23, 1945

Today is precious little Earl's birthday. He would have been 25 years old had he lived. Have been without him for 14 years.

For those of you who haven't read these from the beginning, Lola is referring to her eldest son, William Earl...you can see that earlier entry here.

Leonard is 40 years old today. He is a captain in the transportation division in the Air Forces in India.

A letter from Wallace dated March 17, 1945, and he has gone on his first mission - bombing Verona, Italy. It is a very uncomfortable feeling to know your child is in constant danger.

Zelma has had a very serious operation. Her gall bladder burst and she has been in a very critical condition. Has a tube in her side.

Robbie brought Martha and came up last week and bought her some lovely clothes. She has a very chic figure and wears her clothes beautifully.

This is interesting for me to read, since when I knew Martha, she was always quite overweight (along with my Uncle Wallace.) She was an awesome lady, though, and very fond of me when I was a kid.

Uncle Everet paid Mama a surprise visit Tuesday March 21. We were so happy to see him. He is a sweet old thing and I love him.

See you all tomorrow with more from 1945!

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Lola's Diary, Part XV

2009-11-09T22:02:00.007-05:00

February 10, 1945

No word from Wallace since he wrote and gave his A.P.O. numbers. We are, of course, very anxious to hear.

Yesterday your Sunday school class had a nice banquet at the T.S.C.W. Tea Room and everything was lovely. The tables were beautiful and the meal was good. I made a speech. Oh my. May Boyd was toastmistress and she was a honey.

I have heard that Lola was actually a very good speaker at events like that, but I'm sure it would make anyone nervous. She was quite a sharp lady.

Charles went to McKinney last night with George Hubbard to a ball game and they had a fine time. Didn't come in until 1:30 AM. Oh he is getting big and that is the truth.

February 20, 1945

We had a censored letter from Wallace Saturday February 17, and it was written February 9 at some island. Had another letter written February 12 from somewhere in Africa. Expecting to leave there for his destination soon. He is well and seeing lots of sights.

Charles is ill today, broken out all over. It appears to be measles but cannot tell. Have in a call for Dr. Hindle. A letter from Robbie and Wilbur is sick. Mama and I have rheumatism today. It is cold and has been raining four days. Bad on aching bones.

Sorry I haven't been adding more commentary to these recently, but I hope everyone is still enjoying them. Reading about everyone's various illnesses does make me realize just how far medicine has come since then in some ways...back then, everyone was just expected to get those childhood illnesses at some point, since there were no vaccines. Anyhow, see you all tomorrow, as my NABLOPOMO posting frenzy continues.

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Lola's Diary, Part XIV

2009-11-08T18:16:00.005-05:00

January 30, 1945

Wallace finished his training at Tuscon, Arizona on January 12, 1945 and had eight days to get to Topeka, Kansas. Charles and I met him in Dallas Saturday morning January 13. We went out to Robbie's and had breakfast with her, and Martha Lou came home with us. Wilbur and Robbie came up Sunday and we had a nice family reunion. Made some good Kodak pictures. Burt and Danie came over that afternoon and we were so happy to have them.

We had a nice visit with Wallace and found him the same sweet Wallace. He is stouter than I have ever seen him and looks grand. He had some good pictures made over at Doherty's while he was at home. He gave me a perfectly beautiful pin for my birthday. He paid $30 for it.

He was here until Friday January 19, when Charles and I took him to Ft. Worth where he had reservations on the 11:30 Santa Fe for Topeka. He returned all of his excess baggage the following week and on Saturday January 27, his letter came stating that his APO number was out of New York. I have no idea where he went. He sent his crew picture and a picture of the new plane they were given to fly over. Now we will sit and wait.

Yesterday was my 50th birthday. Wallace had given me my beautiful pin, Mama gave me a pretty table, the class a pretty birthday cake. Robbie gave me a flashy pair of house shoes and Charles gave me a pair of stockings. Mrs. Neali sent me a dressed hen, a dozen eggs, and a can of hominy. Mrs. Yeary had a little birthday party for Mrs. Harpool and I Saturday night and it was very nice. Everyone is so sweet to me - I do not deserve it.

Charles has finished the first semester of his senior year in high school. He made three A's and two B's. He is sweet, but feisty at times.

The class Lola was referring to was her Sunday school bible class, I believe...that class studied together for literally DECADES, and didn't disband until the early 1980's when there were only a few of them left that were able to attend.

My Dad was probably a very well-behaved teen, actually, but all teenagers go through a bit of pushing back to find their limits...and as I may have mentioned, a streak of stubbornness runs in the family, which Lola, my father, and I all had/have in ample measure.

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Lola's Diary, Part XIII

2009-11-07T01:48:00.005-05:00

November 25, 1944

Iva Ruth Hendrix's hustband Gale Kimball was killed in a car wreck (died from burns - ignited in wreck) Sunday November 19, 1944. Charles and I went to Mesquite to the funeral. Mrs. Hendrix and Clayton were there. I feel so sorry for Iva Ruth, it seems only yesterday that she was a little 14 year old high school girl living next door to us.

Last Thursday November 23rd was celebrated in a great many places as Thanksgiving, however we will have no holiday until November 30th. President Roosevelt has tried to change the dates on Thanksgiving but the old date of the last Thursday in November is still holding on in many cases. We will do what celebrating we do tomorrow. Robbie and Wilbur are coming up at that time.

The war seems stepped up in fury but the end is certainly not in sight. How I wish and pray it may be over soon. Charles McClary is reported missing and so many others.

Had a nice surprise today when Mark Waldrip sent a lovely basket of flowers to the office. I appreciated it so much.

Using that great if not 100% reliable research site, Wikipedia, I find that Thanksgiving was fixed as the fourth Thursday in September by federal law starting in 1941. It sounds like the old tradition of it being the last Thursday in November held on for a few years longer, based on this diary entry. I sampled some of Lola's food growing up, and I can tell you she definitely had the old style Southern cooking recipes down, so I'm sure that they had tasty food on the 30th that year.

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Lola's Diary, Part XII

2009-11-06T01:31:00.005-05:00

November 11, 1944

Worked all day today. Mrs. Parnier came late and left early. I only took 20 minutes for dinner and am already tired.

The election is over and FDR beat Dewey in every way. Electoral votes 3 to 1 and polled 3,000,000 more popular votes. I do hope that settles that for a while and people shut up their criticism.

The business houses did not close today. There was a program on the Court Square honoring those who gave their lives in this war but nothing else. They banked flowers honoring them on the sidewalk.

Charles took the car and went to Dallas to see Denton and Highland Park play ball last night. They got beaten 28-7 but seemed to put up a good fight. Charles took a crowd of boys with him.

Wallace is delighted with the climate at Tuscon. He is working hard. Will not get to come home Christmas.

Earl was buried three years ago today. It seems forever.

Jess did not get in the Navy, as he desired, but is a buck private and stationed in San Antonio. I hate it.

I presume that Lola was not happy with Jess being in the Army instead of the Navy because there was a higher chance of being in combat in the Army. However, I'm not sure of that...it's just my best guess.

It may seem odd for my grandmother to have let my father drive 30 miles to see a football game with a bunch of fellow students in the car, but Dad had quite a bit of experience driving at this point...he'd learned to drive when he was 12 or 13 after his father Earl died, and he did a lot of driving helping out with Lola's business. By the time he made that trip, he'd been driving for for a few years. I know it seems odd today, but back then there were few formal requirements for a driver's license (and of course, a lot fewer cars on the roads as well.)

Oh, and for anyone wondering how that is possible if he was a senior in high school at this point...Dad graduated high school when he was 16 for some reason. There was something to do with a switch to a different academic calendar, and his birthday, and he was also a pretty good student so he may have skipped a year at some point for that reason. Due to my birthday being in October, I was only 17 when I graduated high school myself.

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Lola's Diary, Part XI

2009-11-05T08:21:00.005-05:00

September 9, 1944

Mrs. Buckingham is out at Ida's and is slowly recuperating from the spider bite. Ida is not at all well and is really not able to take care of her but there seems no other way out.

Mary Frances Neal married last week and it was a beautiful wedding. Mrs. Neal had a lovely reception for her and it was nice as could be.

Elizabeth Provence is at home and I had a little party for her last Monday night. She is the same old sweet Lisbeth.

The twin babies who have cried all summer and nearly driven Mama crazy have moved to Ruthie's and we cannot hear them cry nearly so plain. Also it has turned cool and they do not cry like they did. Mama, who had feet terrible all summer, is now feeling some better.

Part of the reason the South has exploded in population in recent decades is because of air conditioning. I know that for a long time people managed without it, but the thought of living here all summer with no cooling other than fans is a scary one...but I guess people managed.

Wallace, who has been in Waco since August 22, has been transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska. He must be there by the 14th. He came by home and spent two days and went to Oberlin, Ohio to see Rainee. He has been training on B-24's.

Charles has been working out at T.C. for two weeks. He is painting. Makes 35 cents per hour but he does not have a Social Security card yet. He will quit Tuesday night and will start to school on Wednesday. He is a senior in high school this year. I can hardly realize that my baby is a baby no longer.

October 4, 1944

Ida is leaving this afternoon for Dallas to go to a clinic. She has been sick for over two months and does not know what is wrong that she cramps so. I've had a series of headaches that have given me a fit. Feel very punk today.

Mrs. Buckingham is at home nnow and is getting along very nicely. She is up all the time now.

Mr. Eli Cox, our neighbor, has been sick for two months but is recovering. He has been in Dallas in a sanatarium. Mr. Wright has also been sick and in a sanitarium.

Jack Williams, Ellen's youngest boy, who entered the Air Corps three years ago, was killed Sunday, September 17, 1944. He was a 1st Lieutenant and had served overseas for one year, returned to the US and had been flying big transports across. He started out with one for England and crashed at Bangor, Maine, only 200 feet off the ground. It is a tragic thing and grieves us all.

Wallace is still in Lincoln but is expecting to leave any time.

I didn't know the Williams family, but that would be a terrible thing, to have your child make it through what you thought was the most dangerous part of the war (combat in Europe) and then be back doing a relatively safe job in the U.S., only to be killed in a plane crash. Of course, aviation back in those days was not as safe as it is today, but crashes were still a rare occurrence.

See you all tomorrow with more tales from the 1940s!

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Lola's Diary, Part X

2009-11-04T00:58:00.007-05:00

Welcome back to my monthlong posting frenzy. Also, I wanted to clarify something for those of you who have been following my recent entries (specifically my last one): penicillin wasn't rare in 1944 because it was for military use only...it was rare because it was a brand new drug. (I know that it was discovered in 1929, but widespread use did not occur until the 1940's.) I'm glad that my father had a good doctor who knew about it and knew it could be of help, of course, and that he received it in time. Anyhow, let's get back to today's entry (actually, since the first entry is pretty short, I'm transcribing two diary entries today.)

July 12, 1944

I brought Charles home from the hospital June 27th, 1944. He has been fine and has gradually returned to normal life. I took him back to Dr. Jones Jun 9th for a final check and he said Charles was just fine. We had supper with Robbie and drove home that night.

Martha is doing volunteer nursing this summer at St. Paul's in Dallas. Charles has three very small scars, barely noticeable. His sight does not seem affected in the least. He has had a remarkable recovery.

A letter from Wallace says he hopes to get his wings August 4th.

August 21, 1944

Wallace got his wings at Pampa, Texas, on August 4th, 1944 and is now Lt. Wallace Mann and is 22 years old as of August 17. Charles, Carolyn, and I went to Pampa to see Wallace get his wings. We visited Howard Buckingham and had a nice time. We left there Friday August 4th at 10:30 P.M. and drove all night, getting in here at 2:30 A.M. on Saturday August 5th.

Wallace was with us 17 days and did we feed him up. He gained 15 pounds and his new lieutenant uniform was tight as the hide when he left. Lorraine Rose, Wallace's girl, came home from Clarksburg, West Virginia and stayed with us from Sunday August 6th until Wednesday August 9th. She is sweet and cute and we liked her.

Wallace did end up marrying Lorraine, or "Rainee" as she is known to all of her relatives and friends. They had four children together. However, I don't think my father ever completely trusted her since he always considered her a yankee.

Martha came from Dallas on Wednesday, August 16th and stayed until Sunday, August 20th. Wallace left this morning so Mama, Charles, and I feel rather lonesome. Wallace went to Waco, Texas, and I do hope he will be stationed there for a while.

Mrs. Buckingham was bitten by a spider last week and has been in a very serious condition, but seems somewhat better today. Mrs. Neal had an Announcement Tea for Mary Frances yesterday. She is to marry September 2nd to a Bill Arthur and will live in New Braunfels, Texas.

That's all for today. See you tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part IX

2009-11-03T01:24:00.006-05:00

NaBloPoMo day three, and more tales from 1944. This one is pretty powerful to me for reasons that will become obvious. Here we go:

Saturday, June 24, 1944

Well we have been through a lot of anxiety and suffering since I wrote May 29. On Monday June 6th Charles woke me in the night groaning with his head. We doctored him for headache and biliousness all day Tuesday and Tuesday night the pain centered in his left eye. I had Dr. Woodward and he pronounced it acute frontal sinus infection and said it was serious. He doctored him until Monday, June 12 when he sent him to Dallas to Dr. Guy Jones. Dr. Jones made x-rays and announced that he would operate Tuesday morning, June 13.

He made an incision, bored through the skull, and inserted a rubber tube for drainage. Charles came out fine and did well until Thursday, June 15, when his temperature shot up. On Friday, June 16, Dr. Jones said he was in a very critical condition. He made two more incisions, inserted two more tubes, and told me that Charles had osteomyelitis in that bone over his left eye.

At this time penicillin had just been released for civilian use and Dr. Jones made application to Baylor hospital for it to use on Charles. He sent a smear of the infection to Baylor. They made a culture of it and allowed the amount of penicillin needed. They began the injections, given hyperdermically every three hours, Friday at 3:00 P.M. They have been giving them ever since.

By Sunday Charles was much improved and he has been clear of fever since Tuesday. I feel so grateful, so thankful for his recovery. He has two places in his forehead, but the doctor says they will grow back, he thinks. His left eye has been swollen shut since he got sick but we have hopes that it will be all right too. He has two grand nurses, Miss Threit and Miss Ponder. Everyone there treats him grand. I came home Wednesday June 21, and left him there at Jones & Jones Clinic.

Robbie and Wilbur and Martha were grand to me and to him all the time I was in Dallas. Robbie sent all my meals and did our washing and is still doing his. Martha sits with him during the daytime now.

Fred took me down and did everything he could for us. He and Bob came back twice. Mrs. Provence came and stayed with us from Saturday until Tuesday night and helped. Homer sat up all one night. Ida and Geneva and Pauline did what they could. Everyone was lovely and considerate. People prayed and his life was spared.

Mama and I are going to Dallas tomorrow. It is beastly hot today; has been unusually hot since Charles has been there - his fan has run day and night. We sent Wallace a box of cookies today. He has been so worried about Charlie, bless his heart.

Word comes that Toby Roberts is a prisoner. I am so thankful that he was not killed.

As it turns out, my father did fully recover from his illness, and his eye that had been swollen shut for weeks was fine once the infection went away. The places in his head where the surgeons had drilled into his skull did heal, and while he had a small scar near his left eye, it wasn't very noticeable at all.

Before I read this diary, I knew that Dad had a serious infection when he was growing up and had received penicillin for it, but I hadn't realized just HOW serious it was. Osteomyelitis is an infection of the bone...that's how advanced things had gotten.

Dad did tell me that all the doctors couldn't believe how fast he got better once he started taking penicillin...and I can well understand after reading this how antibiotics were considered a "miracle drug" when they first were introduced. I'm very thankful it was made available for my father's use back then...since I'm pretty convinced that if he hadn't received it, he would have died from his infection, and I would never have come to exist.

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Lola's Diary, Part VIII

2009-11-02T13:00:00.009-05:00

OK, today's post will be a brief one, since the following entry is a lot longer (and kind of intense) and I don't have time to type it all out right now. However, as a bonus, I'm including a picture I found recently...not from 1944, but of me from 1989.

That skinny dark-haired guy on the left is me in Steamboat Springs, CO, about 20 years ago. I was in tech school for the Air Force and stationed in Denver (Lowry AFB, which has since closed) and some relatives of mine owned the inn in the picture, so I drove up there one weekend with a friend and fellow tech school attendee. We had a pretty good time and both managed to get served alcohol in some local establishments even though we weren't quite 21 yet.

Let's get back to today's diary entry:

Monday, May 29, 1944

A letter from Wallace tells us he has been sent to Pampa Army Air Base. Went there Wednesday, May 24. If nothing happens to prevent he will get his wings the first week in August. He hopes to be home on his birthday but I do not know about that.

Carolyn is graduating from high school this year. I took Mrs. Buckingham and went to the Baccalaureate Services that night. I believe it was the first time I ever went to services of that kind in my life that the church was not filled. Ida had a beautiful new dress and hat and looked nice.

Like I said, short post today. I would imagine that the graduation ceremony was not crowded because so many men were away from home, serving in the military.

See you tomorrow with a more from 1944.

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Lola's Diary, Part VII

2009-11-01T12:38:00.009-05:00

Today is the first day of November, which also means it's the first day of NaBloPoMo, which was created by a blogger to encourage people to post more regularly. It's a takeoff of the NaNoWriMo, for those of us who want to write more, but don't want to try writing an entire novel. This is my second year of participating in NaBloPoMo, so I imagine I'll probably finish transcribing Lola's diary by the end of the month...or be very close to it, at any rate. Incidentally, I do have a friend who has participated in NaNoWriMo for the past few years and has created an interesting series, the first novel of which is now available on Amazon.

Getting back to this post, let's take another trip back in time to 1944, as experienced by my grandmother:

May 24, 1944

Charles and I went to San Angelo Saturday, May 13, 1944 to see Wallace. We had a nice visit with him Saturday night and Sunday. We took picnic supper and Charles, Wallace and I ate in the backyard of the woman's home where we stayed. We enjoyed it so much.

Sunday we went to church and in the afternoon went out to Goodfellow Field and spent four hours. Inspected the planes, went to the PX and to the picture show. That evening went to see Mrs. Roberts and had dinner at Jim's steak house - a swanky and expensive place to eat.

Mrs. Roberts said she had not herd from Toby, who is in England, in three weeks. On Tuesday after we returned to Denton he was reported missing in action. His plane had been shot down on April 27th. He was a bombardier. I feel so sorry for Mrs. Roberts. Eunice was with her mother, her husband is just entering the service. I've had a letter from Wallace but he did not mention it.

Wallace is leaving San Angelo this week for advanced training somewhere. We had so hoped he would be sent to Lubbock. He made good averages in everything.

Carolyn is graduating from high school this week. She had gone to summer school several summers. Wallace sent five dollars and told me to get her an orchid. I have some pajamas for her.

We have a garden that is just coming in. We had peas and beans today for dinner and I ate entirely too much. We also had ice tea and some ice cream made from some whipped cream that Vel brought us yesterday. She also brought some country ham, some country butter, and home canned corn. She left the baby, Gerald Wallace, with Mama, and went to Dallas to see the doctor. The baby is so sweet.

We canned pineapple yesterday. Canned twelve and paid $4.25 for them. That is entirely too high; I only got 17 quarts which is twenty-five cents a quart. My fingers are so sore today I can hardly type, the acid hurts one's hands so.

Charles is finishing up his year's work at high school. He is in the 11th grade this year and has done good work but has the spring fever pretty bad and I will be glad when he gets out. He is getting to feel pretty big.

I am now reporting for Retail Credit Co. and have been since April 20. At first the reports came in fast and furious but they have dwindled down to where it is not much. We are having steady work at the office but no rush at all. I took a terrible cold when I went to San Angelo and have felt worse than Ned since I came back.

I am not sure who my grandmother is referring to there, or if it's just a phrase (like "land of Nod") that I'm not familiar with. As the diary is handwritten I'm having to make my best guesses when it comes to people's names at times. For the most part it isn't hard to read but it was a personal journal so she wasn't concentrating on penmanship either. Anyhow, back to the entry:

Uncle Clyde and Aunt Laura were here last Wednesday to have her feet worked on. Leonard is in India and is having a pretty tough time of it. He is seeing plenty of action. He is a Captain now.

Leonard was Lola's cousin and a pretty successful businessman. I knew he served in WWII but not many of the details. He and his wife loved kids but were unable to have any of their own and so they always got along very well with me and my siblings. Leonard gave me a knife that he'd gotten when he served in India and I've included a picture of it here below.

It's not in pristine shape but considering its age, it's held up pretty well.

Perry Cardwell (Lt. Col.) was here Sunday. He has served his period of time overseas and is back in the States. He says the situation in Italy is terrible. In the paper today, the reporters say the next 36 hours will tell the tale there. We are paying a terrible price for what small gains we have made there.

Sometimes when I read so much politics I get so disgusted I could die. Is it possible that this terrible war is a political move? Some people claim that it is. I will not - I can not - believe anything so base of our country.

Well, that's all for today. My grandmother didn't include many political observations in her writing but I do like reading how she viewed things as they happened back then...definitely gives you a different perspective, and an idea on the human cost of this war, which I think sometimes gets overlooked as time passes on. See you tomorrow!

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Lola's Diary, Part VI

2009-10-30T10:27:00.005-04:00

Here is today's entry. And here also am I, changing policies right again...this next entry is less than two handwritten pages, so it's not very long. According to what I said last time, I'd automatically be including the following post along with this one to make this post a decent length. However, the following entry is much longer, and I don't feel like transcribing them both right now. Also, I have signed up for NaBloPoMo for November again this year (see the nifty button towards the bottom of the sidebar on the right) and I want to have plenty of material to post starting Sunday, when I'll be putting up a new post every day for the whole month. Anyhow, without further ado, here is today's entry:

April 24, 1944

We had a nice day yesterday with Bert's family in Justin. It was Irma's birthday. She was 36. She has three beautiful children and is still beautiful.

While we were there they had a letter from Ricky. He is in New Hebrides and seems fine. Leo has a nice new home - he is working at Globe Aircraft. Dominic's husband is in the army - stationed in San Francisco.

Bernice has been appointed postmaster in his place while he is in the Army. Laura Bea's husband is also in San Francisco and Laura Bea is there wtih him. Bernice has two children and a beautiful home. Irma helps her in the post office.

OK, that's it for today...as I warned you, today was a short entry. But tune in on Sunday and you'll be treated to a much longer post.

I don't know the people my grandmother was talking about in this post; I imagine they were friends and neighbors of hers. I do think that WWII was an eye-opener for many people that women could do the work that previously, only men had done, and do it very well. (I'm remembering your Mom as I post these also, Merujo.)

I think it does sound like an exciting time, back then, and while along with Thimbelle I wouldn't want to live back then myself (and give up all the modern technology I'm addicted to) I think it would be fun to visit. Which in a way, is what these posts feel like to me...a fun visit to the past.

See you in November, when we will once again make another visit to 1944!

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Lola's Diary, Part V

2009-10-27T23:34:00.008-04:00

Glad everyone has been enjoying these! Let's jump right into today's entry:

April 8, 1944

Tomorrow is Easter. How I wish Wallace could be at home for the day. It has been four years since Wallace was at home on Easter - I wonder if he will ever be at home to live again - I doubt it. We (Mama, Charles, and I) are going to Dallas for the day with Robby and Wilbur and Martha. It looks very much like rain - I went home yesterday and gardened some. I'm afraid I won't have much garden this year.

Mrs. Buckingham is at home and her head is much better. She is so optimistic about everything - she reminds me of Earl. Charles is also very much like his Daddy and I am am glad.

OK, changing my own rules here: I have decided that I am going to transcribe a minimum of two pages in Lola's journal whenever I do one of these diary posts (since it was handwritten, a page in her journal becomes only a medium-sized paragraph online.) I was originally going to just do the entries as single entries like she wrote them, but I think some of my posts would be too short that way. Anyhow, here is the next entry from her journal (and the final one for this post.)

April 12, 1944

Sunday we went to Dallas and while we were there Charles got sick and has been in bed since that time. He has had fever, a cold, and sore throat, but is sitting up this morning. He will go to school this afternoon if he feels no worse.

The Sunday school conversion is in session in Dallas and Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Shannon, Mrs. Foreman, Mrs. Pitts and Mrs. Piort went from our class. I did not go for the car was full anyway and I did not really care to go.

Pearl Meade had a little party last night and I went. I played 42 and had a nice time. Bill and Marcille are home for a visit. They have a darling little boy.

A letter from Wallace yesterday. He has had the weekend with Mrs. Roberts. She has taken him under her wing. He was very fond of her even when he was a little boy. He seems happy in his work. He says he now has 100 hours to his credit and most of it is solo work.

My only observation for this entry is that I notice when Lola writes about someone being sick (this was before many modern medicines, of course) if people were feeling bad they went to bed and went back to school, work, or whatever when they were recovered. Today, with all our medicines for masking symptoms and so forth, it seems like that unless someone is REALLY sick, they are expected to show up to work as always; just take some aspirin or decongestants and keep on trucking.

I think it was a bit slower pace of life back then (although it definitely was not easy way of life at all, especially during the 1930's) and today everything is always seems rushed. Now I do have sick leave where I work (and I'm thankful that I do) but I know a lot of places (including a couple of airlines that I've worked for) that had none...and I know many employers frown on people calling in sick even if they do have sick leave. Anyway, I don't mean to run on about that, it's just something I thought of when transcribing this last entry. See you again next time, back in 1944!

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Lola's Diary, Part IV

2009-10-27T12:19:00.003-04:00

In a very rare event, today you are being treated to a DOUBLE POST DAY here on my blog. Actually, the diary entry from Lola's journal is pretty short today, and I had wanted to write about the weekend as well, so I just decided to break things into two parts. Without further ado, let's go back to 1944:

March 28th, 1944

Had a letter from Mrs. Buckingham and she is taking radium treatments for her head. Poor thing - I do hope they help her. Her treatments cost $150. Ida and Haggard paid for them.

Mama has been in bed sick with cold since Monday morning. It has turned cold today and I hope she stays there. She has taken some sulfa tablets and I hope will be OK soon.

I have been working in the yard and garden. We could not get anyone to plow the garden this year and Charles and I went in and chopped the weeds and planted the garden.

I got a permanent today. Went to Circle, we met with Mrs. W.H. Cox, and I led the devotional.

Just talked to Aunt Carrie and she has had a letter from Aunt Frances. Edward and Mary Earl have a little girl and have named her Mary Ellen. Edward has gone across - he graduated from medical school over a year ago, married and entered the Medical Corps of the Army. When I think of Ellen's family I always think of Charles - poor boy - has been dead two years this spring.

I think Lola may have been referring to my Dad's namesake, a Charles Buckingham that he (and I) share a common first and middle name with, but I'm not sure. Anyhow, that is all for this entry. Back again soon with more news from 1944!

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Weekend Adventures

2009-10-27T11:48:00.002-04:00

I traveled to see my relative Rex last weekend, right after my birthday. Since it had been a while since I'd done a road trip, and since sometimes I like having nothing to do with aviation on my days off, I opted to drive rather than fly. I got off to a late start but I figured I'd be there in plenty of time for dinner. WRONG! About halfway there I got caught up in a traffic jam and had to wait in stop and go traffic for about an hour. I kept Rex informed via cellphone of my progress, and he ended up waiting on me even though it was late, so we got to enjoy a nice meal at Applebee's around 9 P.M. (That traffic jam, along with some other delays I encountered earlier, slowed me down by about two hours.)

The weekend went pretty well after that. We had a Denny's breakfast Saturday; and I was on my own for lunch since Rex and his sister were entertaining some people there. I called an old friend of mine I worked with back when I lived in New Mexico and he was working, but wanted to meet after work around 2 P.M. for a late lunch. That was fine with me since I'd had a big breakfast, but I had some time to kill, so I headed over to Barnes & Noble with my laptop.

While driving through the parking lot, I noticed people pushing a small car over through the lot. I parked and got out to see if I could help...the car turned out to be a VERY old, beat up Honda Civic. The driver of the car was Hispanic and there were three kids in the back seat. (To his credit, the baby was in a car seat.) There was a teenage girl in the front seat, I hope it wasn't his wife since she looked like she was about 18 or younger but I didn't ask. Anyhow, he had a flat tire, and I looked in my trunk, but the wrench I had didn't fit his tire. He didn't speak the best English, either, although the teenage girl did (she was not Hispanic.) He had a socket that fit the tire but no wrench. I felt rather sorry for them (even though the car barely looked roadworthy) so I decided to call my roadside assistance program that I subscribe to through my cellphone carrier. This was technically a violation of the rules of that program, but I don't use it much either.

The roadside assistance guy showed up faster than they said he would (on the phone I was told it would be about an hour) so I left the B&N Cafe without ever sitting down to go meet him. He was able to fashion a tool to take off the bad tire with some things in his car. The spare tire looked fine, but the tire they replaced was in HORRIBLE shape...it wasn't just bald; on one side it was worn down to the point you could see metal. Also, we found out after the tire was changed that the starter on the car was shot and they needed a push to get started, which the roadside assistance guy did (I would have helped out but there was a slight downhill slope so he managed it by himself.) The driver of the old, beat-up car did thank me, as did some mall security guards who had been observing the goings on.

I told the roadside assistance guy that I didn't really know the people in the car, but that I had felt really sorry for them. He said that it was a technical violation of the rules, but he understood; he also said that if there hadn't been kids in the car, he probably wouldn't have changed the tire since the car was in such bad shape. I went ahead and signed the receipt after he got whatever claim number he needed to get compensated for coming out. All in all, it was a nice good Samaritan moment, although I hope the driver of that Civic doesn't keep driving his family around in it. I know one thing; there is no way his car would get an inspection sticker to be registered in the state it's in, and Texas requires one of those every year.

After that fiasco, it was after 1 P.M., so I decided to head on to the restaurant. Russ had picked the place, which I had never heard of...turns out it was a barbecue place called Bone Daddy's which was basically barbecue with a Hooter's flair. (The waitresses were all VERY nice looking and wore skimpy outfits.) I messed around with my laptop until Russ arrived, and we had a nice leisurely lunch and BS session. The barbecue was excellent.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet; sometimes it's just nice to talk and catch up on things. Rex and I may travel somewhere in December; not sure or not at this point but updates will be posted when/if the trip happens. My drive back home was less eventful than my drive out, which was fortunate since I had to work in the afternoon, but it did rain the whole way. There had been a lot of lightning the previous night, and that was all moved through, but the lingering rain kept up for my entire drive.

Also, I almost lost my phone as I was driving off, but I realized it was missing and turned around when I was only about 1/2 mile out. Someone had put the phone on a ledge, so it hadn't gotten wet either, which was a very good thing...and I will definitely be more careful with my phone in the future. It's funny how important mobile phones have become in recent years...I didn't even own one until 2001, and now it's the only phone I have, plus I use it for many other things (alarm clock, appointments, Google Maps for directions, etc.) I'm very glad the phone was safe.

Lola's Diary, Part III

2009-10-22T11:21:00.005-04:00

Greetings everyone. I know I said I'd probably be going on a road trip today, but we had torrential rain over night, and it's still drizzling here. Probably by late afternoon or early evening it will be clear, but I don't feel like starting a trip to the coast when it's cloudy and rainy...anyhow, I did have a nice, if fairly low-key birthday. Had dinner with Mom at Chuy's, and while I probably had too much to eat it was VERY tasty as always. It's the only place I've found here where I can get good New Mexico style Mexican food (and there is nothing wrong with traditional Mexican food either, it's just not my favorite.) Anyhow, road trip will start tomorrow...and I have off until Monday, so it's not like there's any huge rush. Also, happy International Caps Lock Day. (I have no clue what that is about but it sounded kind of cool.) And without further ado, here is today's entry from 1944:

March 23, 1944

Today is William Earl's birthday. He was born March 1920. I'll never forget the day Earl and I took him home from Mama's. We had no car and we carried him in his bassinet, made from a large laundry basket with a handle on each side. We were so proud of him. That night when I realized it was up to me to care for him - I felt so helpless - but we managed. He was a beautiful child and the pride of our life. I'll never get over the stark grief we experienced when he was killed January 21, 1931. If he had sickened and died I feel we would have been more reconciled but to be snatched from life by a stroke in the head by a cruel little boy seemed so needless. It has been thirteen years - but I still grieve for him and suppose I always shall.

I don't know exactly what happened, but I think William Earl got struck in the head by a rock that was launched in a slingshot by some other kid; and while Lola never forgave him I doubt the other kid meant to do any lasting harm. He may even not have been aiming at William Earl, for all I know. It was kind of a freaky accident since I think it struck him in the temple where the skull is very thin. A blood clot developed and they didn't see a doctor right away because there didn't immediately seem to be anything wrong with him...he even went to school the day after it happened although I think he was already having headaches. I'm not sure if, back in 1931, there would have been anything they could have done or not, even if they had gone to the hospital right away...but by the time he collapsed that day at school, it was too late.

I brought my lunch to the office today and am here alone. It is a beautiful day and I let Mrs. Parmer off to go home and do some needed work. Our office is now in the same office with Mr. Barton and Mr. Migell - and we help them out by taking messages, payments, etc. We moved in here January 1, 1943 and like it fine - it was so lonely by ourselves. Credit business is off now and we are not busy. The government has made merchants quit selling things on installment without as much as 1/3 down. They have also passed Regulation W which freezes an account if it is 60 days past due. All accounts bought in March must be paid by May 10 or the merchant cannot sell to the customer on credit until the account is paid. Of course there are some evasions but on the whole the merchants have been honest about it.

Lola was in charge of a credit bureau, which her husband had managed until he passed away. I don't know exactly how it worked but back then there was not the equivalent of a Visa/Mastercard system like there is today...I think credit was handled by each individual merchant, and Lola's business would verify whether people were creditworthy or not and as well as manage some of the payments. She was pretty successful with it, and continued running the business herself until she retired in the late 1960's and sold it off. She would have liked for my father to taken things over, but he ended up getting his degree in engineering and wanted to pursue that as a career instead.

Today Mrs. Buckingham, who is 76, went with Geneva to Dallas. She is going to a specialist about her head. There is a place on it that has given her quite a bit of trouble and we are worried about it - we fear cancer.

Tonight is Charles's night to work. He works part time at Brooks Drug Store and makes all his spending money. He is a sweet lamb and has never given me any trouble - nor has Wallace. They are the pride of my life and of course life would not be worth living without them. They mean everything to me and to Mama.

OK, that's the end of the entry and all for today. A lot of Lola's diary entries are not too long...but this means that I'll be able to update my blog more often, even if they are shorter posts, since they don't take very long to transcribe. Hope everyone is enjoying them so far, and I'll see you all...whenever I get back from my road trip.

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Lola's Diary, Part II

2009-10-21T02:01:00.004-04:00

Well, everyone seems to like my grandmother's diary so far...which I'm glad to hear, because I'm a fan of it myself. Also, skipping forward from 1944 to 2010, today is my birthday. I'm kind of meh about it since I'm not usually good at coming up with fun stuff to do on my birthdays, but I will try and have lunch with a friend and see Mom for dinner. Also, I have five days off from work starting today, so that's nice...probably will do a mini-road trip somewhere near here for a couple days.

Today's entry is a pretty short one; but I thought I'd go ahead and post it since I may be out of town (and away from the diary) later this week...but don't worry, I'll keep on transcribing until it's done.

March 22, 1944

This morning when we started out we had no brakes. Overnight something had gone wrong. I came on to town to the garage - when I started to stop - I couldn't - and ran into the corner of Mr. White's garage and did quite some damage both to the garage and my car.

I hurt my head but no serious damage was done and I felt lucky that I did nothing worse. Mama was sick and I went on home to stay the rest of the day. I ironed 15 shirts for Charles and am tired as can be.

See you again soon with more tales from the 1940's.

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Lola's Diary, Part I

2009-10-19T12:39:00.011-04:00

Thanks to everyone who read my last post and commented. To clarify, I wasn't trying to say I'd never write about my Mom again in my blog...I just don't want it to be what I mostly write about. I think if I write about it some it is good for me as far as helping me to reflect on things; but if I write about it TOO much it's not good because I can get depressed if I think about it all the time. I hope that makes sense.

Anyhow, we are now going to begin my new project, which I am kind of jazzed about, and skip back sixty-five years or so:

This is a scan of the cover of the journal my grandmother began writing in the middle of World War Two. My father never even knew she kept a journal; we found it after she passed away in the late l980's and to my knowledge it's never been seen by anyone other than her children and grandchildren.

Lola (or "Wowo" as she was nicknamed by us grandkids) was a great and very doting grandmother but she wasn't always what you'd consider the model of demurring Southern charm, either. She never had a problem saying what was on her mind. I am not trying to paint her in a negative light at all; just trying to give a complete picture. I think my father and I both inherited a streak of stubbornness from her...anyhow, she was a very smart lady.

In spite of the fact that neither of Lola's parents ever got more than a grade school education, they recognized the value of education for THEIR children, and Lola not only graduated high school (something that was not widely common back then in small-town Texas) but also went to Texas Women's University and graduated from there also (at the time I think it was known as Texas Women's College, and awarded diplomas rather than degrees.) I think she received the equivalent of an associate's degree, which was something pretty rare back in those days, especially for women. She lived near the college but not close enough to walk to, so she used to ride a horse to school side-saddle to attend classes (I believe this would have been just after 1910.)

Lola got married in 1915 when she was twenty years old. That's fairly young now, but I'm sure it was a common age for people to get married back then...I was doing a bit of research for this post, and I discovered that the average life expectancy for people in 1900 was only fifty years old. I suppose it's not a surprise that today, people are putting off getting married and starting families until they're older (especially since it's so expensive to raise a child today.) At any rate, Lola had three children, all boys, spread out over about 14 years after she got married; her youngest son was my father, born in 1929.

For the most part, I will just be transcribing what my grandmother wrote when I'm doing these posts. All of what she wrote I will publish in italics so you know it's her writing...if I need to expound upon anything, I will switch back to normal text. Also, I may occasionally intersperse her writing with regular posts of my own (for instance, I may be doing a road trip later this week, so I may post something about that if I have net access where I'm staying.) Finally, I probably won't scan further pages of the journal (although it might not be a bad idea to preserve it, long-term) since I think it will be much easier to read if I just transcribe it...plus the enjoyment of doing this, for me, is going back over what she wrote way back when.

As I mentioned, the journal starts in the 1940's, and continues intermittently through the late 1950's...she didn't write in it super often, and it's not a huge thick journal, but I'm sure it was a comfort to record things as they happened. Almost all the pages are intact. Starting in the 1960's, she started having some trouble with arthritis and it became harder to write longhand, so while she did continue composing letters and so forth, it was by typewriter and not in a journal. I'm glad that I have the writing I do, though, as it allows me to see a side of one of my ancestors I might otherwise not have known.

So, without further ado, here is the first entry:

March 21, 1944

Today I am starting a sort of record of things of importance that happen in my family. I will go back to Nov. 10, 1941 for the beginning for on that day the tenor of our lives was changed. Earl, my husband, to whom I was married on Oct. 27, 1915, died in the Denton Hospital. He was buried Nov. 11, 1941 at the Odd Fellows Cemetery here in Denton. At that time Wallace Harper, age 19, was in college in Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He flew home (his first trip by air) and got her on Saturday night (Fred Harper met him at the Dallas airport) and was with us until Earl died Monday. Earl recognized Wallace.

Wallace was my uncle, who was recognized at a very young age to be an extremely talented musician. He played flute in the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. for many decades after he finished school.

When Earl died, I did not know what to do. I was so desolate and despondent I was also sick for some time.

According to my father, Lola had a nervous breakdown after my grandfather's death. I don't know all the details of it, but she evidently recovered fairly quickly. I can't imagine how hard it must have been on my father, to lose his father when he was twelve and go through all this upheaval with his family. It does make me appreciate some where he was coming from when I think about it.

Wallace stayed at home a week and returned to school. Mama came down and stayed with Charles and me. Charles was only 12 at that time. Mama has remained with us since that time, later renting her own apartment. Earl left me $5000.00 insurance but I, of course, knew that would not last and felt I should find work.

According to an online inflation calculator I referenced, $5000 in 1941 is the equivalent of $72,349 today. So it wasn't a trivial amount of money, but neither was it a huge sum.

Against the advice of some of my friends I decided to try and manage the Retail Merchant's Office, keeping Earl's job. I am still doing that at this time and have had splendid cooperation from the merchants.

On Dec. 7, 1941, while Mama and I were listening to the radio in the back bedroom we heard the astonishing news flash that Pearl Harbor had been bombed by the Japanese. We were stunned and of course, our first thought was for Wallace who was the right age for a soldier. Several Denton boys were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor - our Navy was badly damaged and we were dealt a crippling blow. Our country declared war on Japan the next day and we entered a state of preparation for war unheard of in the U.S.

On Christmas 1941, I let Wallace come home even tho' it had been only one month since he had left. We were very sad, of course, and had a very quiet Christmas. Robbie and Wilbur and Martha came up from Dallas for the day. Wallace stayed ten days, and returned. He was very thin, he was working for his room and board for a Mrs. Hobbie, and she was too stingy to feed the child.

It's funny to read that last couple of lines now, since when I knew Uncle Wallace he was always very overweight, to the point that he couldn't tie his own shoes. I guess he had gained a lot of weight after he stopped smoking in the 1950's. This didn't stop him from playing some mean classical flute, though!

The spring and summer of 1942 camps for soldiers were constructed all over the U.S. A large camp was located at Gainsville and was Camp Howze. When Wallace came home from school in the summer of 1942, he got a job at Borden's retail ice cream store and worked hard all summer. He had to work until 1 and 2 AM and would come in exhaused. He saved $140 and returned to Eastman in the fall.

Just before his 20th birthday, he went to Dallas and joined the Air Force and returned to school until they called him. He played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under Iturbi and made enough money to pay most of his expenses. He came home Christmas of 1942, and that is the last time he has been home. In March 1943 he was inducted into the Army - was inducted in New York and sent to Keesler Field in Biloxi Miss. for one month. He was very miserable there but was sent to Toledo, Ohio May 1, 1943 and spent four months on the beautiful campus of the Toledo University. While he was there, Charles and I went to see him in June 1943. We had a grand 4 day visit with him. We had a hectic trip but enjoyed it on the whole.

In the spring of 1943, Mama, Charles, and I had a grand garden. We canned and canned and enjoyed all our vegetables, especially our tomatoes, beans, and corn. Charles worked for Jim Barns on weekends in the spring of 1943. That summer he mowed yards and made all his spending money. Charles is a good boy and is a joy to Mama and me.

In September 1943 Wallace was sent to San Antonio for training in San Antonio Aviatiion Cadet Center. While he was there Charles and I went to see him twice - once the last of September and on the 15th of December. In September we went with Mr. Oliver, Charles Oliver and his wife. We stayed in a lousy tourist station. In December we took food and stayed with Dorothy and Clayton Hendrey, and cooked Wallace two good home cooked meals. The only thing wrong with that trip was that we almost froze to death and I caught a dreadful cold. Christmas 1943, was our first Christmas without Wallace. Robbie, Wilbur, and Martha came up from Dallas and spent Christmas Day with us.

Wallace was sent to Bruce Field in Bollinger Texas in January 1944 and was there nine weeks in Primary training. While there he soloed and got 65 flying hours. His instructor was Manuel Abrams. Charles and I went there to visit him March 10, 1944, just as he was finishing his work there. We went to the field and saw the setup and were with Wallace that night until 10:00 P.M. Saturday he got off at 5:00 P.M. and spent the night at the hotel with us. Sunday we went to church at the Babtist Church there and hear Porter Bailes preach. After church we went over to San Angelo and went to see Mrs. Roberts. That afternoon we came back and Wallace listened to the symphony and we took him to his field. We went back to the hotel and that night I went to church again, but Charles went to the show. Monday, March 13, we came home - had a puncture at Brownwood. That day Wallace was sent to San Angelo where he is now in Goodfellow Field in Basic Training.

At this time shoes, sugar, meat, canned goods, gasoline, butter, lard, cheese and other things are rationed. All sales on refrigerators, tires, automobiles, radios, lumber, irons, typewriters and many other items are frozen and production stopped. Coffee was rationed for a while but its not now. Each car is allowed 2 gal./week of gas on pleasure driving - if you can prove need you can get additional coupons. Each person is allowed 2 pair of shoes per year and 1/2 lb. of sugar per week. The sugar situation hurts us the most for we do like desserts. None of it is a hardship - we are all too fat and eat too much. There is no fussing about it and everyone tries to do his part.

Wages have increased at an amazing rate. There are two plane production plants - one North American at Grand Prarie and Consolidated at Ft. Worth that employ many Denton people. They pay high wages and employ skilled laborers. People who before the war were glad to work for $2.00 per day are now drawing from $60 to $90 per week. They also use trained men - paying all an enormous salary. Pauline's husbind, A.W. James, who has a M.A. Degree, is employed there and has been there since before their marriage in June 1942. Geneva's husband, Jess Boydtron also works there. Many of the workers live in Denton and go back and forth. There are also many Camp Howze officers living in Denton. All this produces a crowded living condition, unheard of in Denton. Property has skyrocketed and lots of houses have sold for far more than they are worth. There are absolutely no rent houses in Denton and people are forced to buy if they find a place to live.

The prices of food have increased - for things not regulated by price ceiling by the government such as sugar, flour, canned food. On the other side meat and vegetables are VERY high - steak 55 cents per pound, roast 35 cents per pound. Stew meat 28 cents - butter 50 cents - box tomatoes 30 cents, etc.

All articles made of metal and rubber are off the market...tires, elastic, etc. Japan seized our rubber supply the first thing and plants for the manufacture of synthetic rubber have been built all over the U.S. but the supply in not adequate for civilian use and for the Army also, and of course the Army needs come first. I have had two of my tires re-capped but they are not very good.

Well, that's all for now. See you next time, once again back in 1944!

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Switching Gears

2009-10-16T20:25:00.003-04:00

Greetings everyone. I know it's been a while since I posted, and while this post won't be long, I figured I would at least explain things and give you an idea of what is happening next here.

I feel like this blog has been too much about my experiences with my Mom lately...and while those are a very important part of my life, I don't want them to become all this blog is about either. Right now, she is doing well, her dog is doing well, we got her a new radio, I still take her out to lunch at least once a week and everyone is making the best of a bad situation (the bad situation being her Alzheimer's.) Additionally, we sold her old house in Albuquerque fairly quickly and her finances are doing a lot better, which is also good. I'm sure I will talk about her again but I don't want this blog to become a "living with Alzheimer's" blog either since I feel like that would just be depressing as well as boring to read.

Anyhow, I have a new project I've had in mind for a while that I am going to start this weekend sometime...and I think you will find it interesting (I hope so, anyhow.) It's of great personal interest to me at any rate, and if you check back on Monday I'll have the first post up by then.

Also, since I know that there wasn't a whole lot of substantive comment to today's post, if you're looking for something interesting to read I advice you to check this blog out. It's written by a person who is doing the same job I do, but working for a foreign airline based in the United Arab Emirates. It's quite insightful and gives you some good information on what life is like for an expatriate living in the Middle East.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next week!

Late Night Ramblings

2009-09-19T01:33:00.006-04:00

Late at night after work and in the mood to type...things are going pretty well here, overall. I actually have a quasi-date next week with a gal who gave me her phone number last week when I went out one night. It's been a long time since I got a phone number, unasked for. She is a professional trainer and our first date is meeting at her gym to do a workout so I'm probably going to get my ass kicked. But it might be a good time in spite of that.

Having houseguests the last couple of weeks was very fun, but not very relaxing. My godfather Rex flew down a couple weeks ago, and then my sister flew down this past week (both of them using pass benefits.) I was worried about my sister making it back home but she ended up getting a seat on the flight she wanted. Once I found out she had gotten out of town safely, and after having kept my apartment very clean for almost two weeks straight, I treated myself to a massage at my health club late that same afternoon. I don't do that very often, but in this case I felt like I definitely deserved it.

Mom is doing pretty well, and enjoyed having visitors (my houseguests) over the last couple of weeks. We got a fair bit done on her behalf, especially while my sister was visiting, and we got her in to see a dentist at the same place I use. My dental clinic is good but not fancy and the clinic where we took Mom (same business, but a different branch than the one I go to) turned out to be in a rather sketchy area of town. I started joking about it being called "Ghetto Dental" to someone, but they didn't get the joke, which considering my sense of humor is not surprising. The office itself is fine, and the dental care there is fine...the area the office is in was not the greatest part of town, though.

In other Mom news, we discovered that her Bose radio/CD player is missing this week during my sister's visit (it was here last week when Rex visited.) We talked to the director of her facility about the issue (and this is not the first time we've had an issue, since I'm sure long term readers will remember my mother's rings going missing) and he did seem rather disturbed to find out about it. He said that if he doesn't find the stereo, he will ensure we will get a credit off of my mother's monthly bill equal to the charge of replacing it. I hope the person who took it gets caught. Actually, I would prefer to give the person who took it a 6'3", 250+ pound, personal "surprise" although I know that wouldn't be the safest legal course of action.

Closing out this rambling post, here is my original profile photo from Facebook. Several people seemed to find it rather creepy so I switched to a friendlier, cartoon-format Simpsonized self-portrait as featured on Suldog's blog. The Simpsonized portrait is the first computer-generated cartoon caricature I've seen that I thought came out actually resembling me in person.

Hope everyone is doing well and I promise a more coherent post next week at some point.

Remembering 9/11

2009-09-11T10:31:00.003-04:00

Switching to more of an aviation theme for this post, I thought I'd write about what I was doing on 9/11, which I don't think I've ever mentioned here before in any kind of detail. When 9/11 occurred, I was living in the Las Vegas area, working for a startup called National Airlines. The original National Airlines, based in Miami, had been bought out by PanAm in the 1970's...this version just bought the naming rights. It was a pretty good airline, but for a variety of factors it ended up going out of business in late 2002. However, the details about that are a story for another day.

I was not at work when the terrorist attacks and hijackings occurred. Curiously enough, National had suffered a hijacking attempt the previous year, and I was on duty for that one. I'll provide more details about that at some time in the future, but it was pretty nerve-wracking. In that case, though, the plane never pushed back from the gate, although the hijacker did make it into the cockpit with a gun. As the article I linked to indicates, it ended up being resolved peacefully.

On 9/10/2001, I had worked one of our weird shifts that started at 4 PM and ended at 2 AM on the 11th. I didn't mind the 10-hour shifts, though, since we had pretty generous days off there...4 days on, 4 days off. Anyhow, I went to bed around 3 AM or so, which was my usual habit when I was working that shift, and slept until 9 or 10. When I woke up, I had a message from my mother on my answering machine wanting to check in with me and make sure I was OK, but that she figured I was at work. That was pretty odd, I thought, so I went into my computer room/office (actually it was just a small bedroom but that's what I used it for) and first learned of the attacks that way, I believe on CNN.com.

The first article I saw didn't list flight numbers, but it did say that Boeing 757's were involved. Since that was all we flew at National, I went ahead and called in to make sure none of our planes were involved, and I was relieved to find out they weren't. One of my co-workers told me that everyone was safely on the ground, although all the planes enroute had had to land at airports we didn't normally serve.

I remember I had an appointment that day to do refinancing paperwork on my house. I'd just bought it in March of that year but interest rates had dropped about a point since then, so I went ahead and did the refinancing. As it turns out, I probably should have held off on it, but I ultimately did make out OK when I sold the house in 2004 (even though I had to rent it out for about a year after National went under and I moved to Wisconsin.) It was kind of a surreal experience signing forms at the title company while the news was on.

I went ahead and went into work that afternoon as I was scheduled to do. The way things normally worked, I would park at the corporate offices near the airport, and take a shuttle bus that National operated to the airport, where the dispatch office was located. However, since all flights had been canceled, the shuttle bus wasn't running. I talked to my boss's boss for a little while and he said everything was going as well as could be expected, considering. Our "emergency room" had been set up with representatives from all the airlines' divisions deciding what to do next. A flight attendant I knew who happened to be at the headquarters for some reason offered to give me a ride to the airport, which I accepted.

The airport itself was very surreal...it was almost completely deserted, although the trains that ran between terminals were still running. Planes were parked everywhere, including many airlines that didn't normally fly to Las Vegas. I wish I'd taken some pictures, but this was in the days before cellphone cameras existed, and I hadn't brought my regular camera with me. I took the train to our terminal with one of my co-workers. We were the only ones on the train, or in the security line...which I think did have one post still open, just to tell people the airport was closed. We got through security since we were going to work and had airport badges.

While it was deserted upstairs, our offices downstairs were quite busy. We had a TINY workspace with two desks for dispatchers, one for an operations manager, and one for a customer service coordinator. I was the only dispatcher on duty that night, and since all our planes were on the ground, I didn't really have anything to do other than to take phone calls from various people about how things were going. Our stranded pilots and flight attendants were fortunate enough to have all gotten hotel rooms, so nobody had to sleep on airplanes (although I heard at many other airlines, the crews were not so lucky.) The FAA representative for National was in the office the whole day and for several days afterward. He was a pretty nice guy, though, and mainly just sat back and watched us do our jobs.

Eventually, of course, our planes parked in odd locations all flew back to Las Vegas, and we resumed normal operations (or as normal as things ever get in the airline industry.) We were already in the midst of a Chapter 11 reorganization when 9/11 happened, and as you may have guessed, it's one we never emerged from (although things did look hopeful for a while.) I remember that on the first anniversary of 9/11, in 2002, we offered a promotion to offer flights for $1 not including fees...only the leg on 9/11/02 was covered, though, and the return ticket was full price. It got us some good publicity. I don't know if we would have made it an annual thing had the airline survived although I kind of doubt it.

National still has an annual reunion in Las Vegas in November, on the day we went out of business. I haven't been for a couple years and I'm not sure if my schedule will allow for me to attend this year or not, but I'm sure I'll make it back eventually. While National obviously did have its problems, it was a really fun place to work.

I have imitated a couple of aviation blogs that I read, and published below the names of all the airline employees killed in the terrorist attacks that day. Please keep them in your thoughts today, along with all the other victims of that terrible violence.

American 11 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
John Ogonowski, Dracut, Mass., Captain; Thomas McGuinness, Portsmouth, N.H., First Officer; Barbara Arestegui, flight attendant; Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant; Sara Low, flight attendant; Karen Martin, flight attendant; Kathleen Nicosia, flight attendant; Betty Ong, flight attendant; Jean Roger, flight attendant; Dianne Snyder, flight attendant; Madeline Sweeney, flight attendant

United 175 (Boston to Los Angeles)
Crashed into World Trade Center
Victor J. Saracini, Lower Makefield Township, Pa., Captain; Michael Horrocks, First Officer; Amy Jarret, flight attendant; Al Marchand, flight attendant; Amy King, flight attendant; Kathryn Laborie, flight attendant; Michael Tarrou, flight attendant; Alicia Titus, flight attendant

American 77 (Washington/Dulles to Los Angeles)
Crashed into the Pentagon
Charles Burlingame, Captain; David Charlebois, First Officer; Michele Heidenberger, flight attendant; Jennifer Lewis, flight attendant; Kenneth Lewis, flight attendant; and Renee May, flight attendant

United 93 (Newark to San Francisco)
Crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Jason Dahl, Colorado, Captain; Leroy Homer, Marlton, N.J., First Officer; Sandy Bradshaw, flight attendant; CeeCee Lyles, flight attendant; Lorraine Bay, flight attendant; Wanda Green, flight attendant; Deborah Welsh, flight attendant

Mardis Gras Adventures

2009-09-02T09:35:00.007-04:00

Right before I got out of the military at the end of February 1993, I took a trip to Mardis Gras with some other people I knew in an informal runner's club (which involved running, and also lots of drinking after the run.) Although my current physique bears no indication of this fact, I was into running for a couple of years, and even completed a marathon while I was stationed in Okinawa in late 1991. However, running has nothing to do with the rest of this story so let's get back to it.

The person I chose to take a ride with (let's call him Mr. X just so I have a name) was, to put it mildly, really strange. I didn't realize this much at the start of trip but he did seem to be acting kind of odd even on the drive over there. We were sharing a room in New Orleans with a lot of other people, including some runners from the local area that other people knew. One of them was black, and Mr. X didn't trust him at all when he showed up, thinking he was there to rob us. (We finally convinced Mr. X that his wallet was safe.) Anyway, stuff like that went on all weekend with this guy. I wasn't wild about driving back to Florida with him, but I figured I'd survived the trip over, so what was the worst that could happen driving home? I was about to find out.

There ended up being three of us driving back in Mr. X's pickup...with him driving, one passenger up front, and one in the back of the pickup, which had a camper shell and an air mattress in it. (There were still no mandatory seat belt laws back then.) At the time of our drive home, gambling was still illegal in New Orleans, but it was legal in Mississippi. Mr. X wanted to check out a couple of the casinos to see what the slot payout was. I've never really been into slots but he gave me and the other guy driving back with us (let's call him Joe) each $20 to play the slots with. I forget how I did...I think I ended up making a little money back and cashed it out. Mr. X opted to leave the casino with a big bucket of quarters because he was convinced casino security would follow us if they saw he'd won too much money by cashing it out for bills there.

We went to McDonald's next, and while we were having our food, he started accusing me of being more careful with my money than his money. I forget how the argument got started exactly. I'm not one to lose my temper quickly, but I was rather fed up after a weekend of dealing with this guy, so I pulled $20 out of my wallet and threw it at him. He put it in his wallet and we went back to his truck soon afterward.

For the next portion of the trip, we'd decided that I would ride in the back of the truck on the air mattress and Joe would ride up front. Before we left town, though, Mr. X somehow had become convinced that Joe was a gangster and decided to run call the cops from a pay phone at a local 7-11 (since cell phones were still uncommon back then) so that the cops could come and arrest Joe (for what, I don't know.)

Joe and I had no idea what was going on until the cops showed up at 7-11. Mr. X yelled that he wanted them to check Joe out and they were asking, Why? I couldn't hear the whole conversation since I was still in the back of the pickup lying on the air mattress. At some point Mr. X became convinced that the cops were in on the gangster conspiracy (perhaps when they didn't handcuff Joe right away) and tried to drive off (with me still in the back of the pickup.) The cops blocked the pickup since they now wanted to find out what the hell was up with this guy who'd called them for no apparent reason. I could feel the pickup turning sharply and then stopping, and when I looked up again, I saw a cop with his gun trained at the passenger compartment of the pickup...which I was right behind, so any gunfire could likely have hit me as well.

Well, I remember thinking, I always kind of wondered what it would feel like to have a gun pointed at me. While the other cops deflated the air in the pickup's tires, the cop who had stopped the pickup by pointing a gun at Mr. X finally realized someone was in the back of the pickup when I started yelling, "Let me out of here! This guy's crazy!" He had a key that opened the camper shell, and as soon as he did, I got out of there as fast as humanly possible. He then tried to see if he could get into the pickup through its back window, climbing in where I'd just been, but Mr. X sprayed pepper spray at him (which I didn't even know he was carrying.) As you can imagine, the officer wasn't too happy about that. He climbed back out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side, pointing at Mr. X and yelling, "Well, buddy, you've definitely pissed me off now!"

The next thirty minutes or so consisted of me and Joe watching the cops finally get Mr. X out of the pickup (I think they used a slim jim to open up one of the doors) and drag him off kicking and screaming. He really did seem to think the cops were going to kill him. They towed off the pickup truck after Joe and I got our stuff out of it. I remember quarters spilling all over the place as it was towed away. One of the cops gave us a ride to the local bus station. This all happened in Gulfport, Mississippi, and suffice it to say I will never forget that town. We caught a bus back to Pensacola and called some friends to come pick us up there and drive us back to Ft. Walton, which is where the journey to Mardis Gras had started.

I had taken the housekeys for Mr. X so that I could get my truck out of his garage. I'd parked it inside there for extra safety since I was gone for three or four days and didn't want to leave it parked outside. I forget what I did with the housekeys...I think I gave them to someone else in my club that worked with Mr. X since I really didn't want to see the guy again.

As a footnote to all of this, Mr. X hired a private detective to investigate what happened, still convinced that Joe was a gangster and that the cops were in on it. He'd evidently gotten some bruises from where the cops dragged him away and claimed he was the next Rodney King (even though he was white.) I wasn't wild about meeting this detective guy but he was actually quite rational. He said that Mr. X had hired him before and was often delusional about these kinds of events. I told him I thought the police officers in Gulfport had acted with incredible restraint.

I was leaving the area permanently in a few days since I was getting out of the military, so I don't know what ultimately became of Mr. X and his legal battle with the Gulfport P.D...but I really didn't care much, either. I hope the court mandated the guy get some therapy, anyhow, as he certainly could have used it.

In honor of Les Paul

2009-08-13T13:04:00.002-04:00

Les Paul, inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, just passed away at the age of 94. I don't play guitar myself, but I sure do like rock music, and there's no doubt it wouldn't be the same kind of music without electric guitars.

I've always loved this commercial Les Paul was in, so I thought I'd share it.

Lazy Blogger Syndrome and A Trip To The Past

2009-08-11T11:29:00.004-04:00

I appear to be suffering from LBS or Lazy Blogger Syndrome right now, and since I'm working an overtime shift today, I don't have time to write a decent sized post before leaving for work. However, I did find something to share with you.

Before my Mom began having issues with Alzheimer's, she often sold freelance writing articles. She had never finished college the first time she went, but she eventually re-enrolled when I was about 13 or so, and ended up getting a master's degree in English. She never made any sales to big national magazines, but she had a fair bit of success writing for the local New Mexico markets, and even taught a workshop on "Writing For The Local Market" a couple of times through UNM's continuing education department.

Anyhow, I did a quick Google search today and found a link to an article she'd written a bit over ten years ago...I really enjoyed reading it, and I hope you do as well. In my case, it reminds me of the person my mother was, who I dearly miss, before this horrible disease known as Alzheimer's raised its ugly head. I really hope they find a cure for it someday.

Anyhow, without further ado, here is a link to Mom's article.

Back From Vacation

2009-08-07T13:23:00.003-04:00

Greetings everyone, I'm back from my California adventure. Overall, I had a pretty good time out there, and Yosemite was rather cool although I didn't get to take quite as many pictures as I'd wished (more about that later.) It was a bit warm there, and the main touristy parts were VERY crowded, but I did go on a couple of nice hikes that got away from the crowds and got to the higher altitudes where it was a bit cooler. I stayed around in the Sacramento area for a couple days after I left Yosemite and that was nice also. Even though it was warm there, it was a lot less humid than Texas. I do think if I ever make it back there, I'll try and hit it in late September or early May to avoid both the big crowds and high temps.

One word of warning for mountain driving...if you're going down a hill and decide to switch into neutral to be fuel-efficient, make sure your car is not ALREADY in neutral. I managed to pull off this brilliant move at one point and stalled out the engine, which isn't a good thing to happen when going down a mountain road, since you lose power steering and power brakes. Fortunately, I wasn't going very fast and managed to pull over and stop with the emergency brake. Also fortunately, it didn't kill the transmission, which was a nice safety feature. So after my heart rate had slowed, I continued on my merry way.

More pictures, stories, and details to come soon.

Bloggin' from da Crackberry

2009-07-26T22:28:00.000-04:00

Trying out a test post from my little BlackBerry. It's a bit awkward, but doable. I doubt I'll do this often but it's nice to know the option is available.

Random Phone Events

2009-07-15T10:50:00.004-04:00

Where I work at (and this is true for almost any airline) we don't freely give out our phone numbers. While it's quite possible to look up a corporate contact phone number online, my department's numbers are not publicly accessible...and I think this is a good thing, since we have enough legitimate work-related calls to deal with. However, we do get the occasional wrong phone number...one of our desks evidently has a number very similar to the county jail, so whoever is working that desk occasionally gets a call asking about a particular inmate. At one of my previous airlines, one of our lines exclusively used for communicating with the cockpit via a radio link system turned out to be one digit off from a local radio station, so we were getting a lot of calls in for a while requesting we play a particular song until my boss got our number changed.

All this being said, sometimes people do give out the phone number where I work to someone that really shouldn't be calling on it...like, someone will put it on a form asking for contact information...and we get repeated calls over a period of days asking for that person. Car dealerships are particularly notorious for this. I wish people would realize when they are filling out an "information form" and not something formal like a loan application to NOT include their work number.

For the last couple of days I've been working a desk dealing with mainly European flights. And, for each of the past two days, I've been interrupted by calls for one of my co-workers...let's just call him James, even though he is not my ex-roomate. The calls all are from people speaking with an Indian accent. "Is James there?" I asked for the last name since we have more than one person who works here named James. They gave it to me, and I told them that he was not at work today after checking to see who was signed in to our computers. Usually that will end the call, but in this case it just seemed to confuse them. I hung up and got another call about an hour later asking for him again. I told them he STILL wasn't here, and they asked me to tell him he was eligible for some kind of rebate (I'm not sure what for.)

Yesterday was the most entertaining call yet. Once again, the representative from India asked for James, and once again, I said he wasn't working. I told him I'd check the schedule and see when he was due back (which is a stretch of the information we're supposed to give out, but I was tired of getting the calls.) He then asked if I was his assistant. I replied no, but that I worked in a big office. I could kind of hear the Indian call center representative light up over the phone when I said that.

"Big office? Really? Do you have any beautiful ladies working there?" I swear, that is what he said next. I started laughing. He explained further: "We are working on an ad campaign and we are looking for beautiful ladies." I told him to hold on for a minute, then put the call on hold for about sixty seconds and hung up. I considered randomly transferring the call over to one department on my floor that does have a lot of "ladies" working in it, but I decided that wouldn't be fair to them.

Looking back, I think I wasted a chance to totally freak out a call center representative. When he called and asked his "beautiful ladies" question, I should have told him, "Nope, sorry! We only hire really ugly people to work here. There's a preliminary test you have to pass, and if you're not In-Living-Color-Wanda ugly, you don't get hired." I think he got the message when I hung up, though, since I got no more calls from him last night. I'm working on a different desk (and phone number) today so hopefully I won't get any more odd calls. I do have to say, though, it made for a memorable shift.

Samurai Cowboy

2009-07-09T20:01:00.008-04:00

This story reminded me of a roommate of mine from my Air Force days. Scary as it is for me to realize, I first enlisted over 20 years ago. Yikes. Anyhow, when I was stationed in Okinawa, I was in one of the newer dorms. The positive thing about this was that our rooms were larger than the ones in the older dorms, and each room had its own bathroom. The negative thing was that we had to share the rooms with someone else if you were below a certain rank...and being a newly enlisted E-3, I definitely was below that rank.

The first roommate I had in Okinawa was sort of an odd guy named James. He was a former military brat, and when his father was in the military, he'd lived in Korea for a while. As a result of that, he was really into oriental culture...specifically, samurai culture. He was a sword nut. I know swords are still made in Japan, but they fortunately weren't for sale at any of the shops near base. (An interesting fact: after World War II, during the occupation of Japan, many samurai swords were confiscated to prevent them being used as weapons against the occupying soldiers. So, the United States actually has more antique samurai swords here than Japan does. Something to keep in mind when shopping at pawn shops...that crappy old oriental sword in the corner may actually be quite valuable. Also, there are countries in that part of the world where sharpenable knives and swords are readily available for sale...the Phillipines comes to mind. But I digress.)

Getting back to James...being the samurai aficionado he was, he had bought a replica sword set made of anodized aluminum. Those sets were pretty to look at, and fairly safe as well, since the blades were impossible to sharpen. (Aluminum is a soft metal.) He used to practice swordfighting moves with them in the room sometimes at night. This never really freaked me out or anything because I figured he was basically harmless.

James had several issues going on, as it turned out...there was some kind of trouble with his military job, among other things. I'm not sure exactly what the job trouble was, but I know he'd been counseled more than once about it. I think he also may have had an issue with alcohol abuse, or at least binge drinking, which is sadly all too common in the military. He wasn't 21 yet but in Okinawa, if you had a military ID you could buy liquor. I recall one time a gal I worked with told me he had written her a love letter and ended it saying, "If you decide you want me, I'll be passed out on the hill behind the dorm." I mean, what woman WOULDN'T want him after reading that line?

James was also a slob, which considering he made it through Air Force basic training is kind of amazing, since they are VERY big on cleanliness there (trust me on that.) Post-basic active duty inspections weren't usually hardcore or anything...we were in the Air Force, not the Marines...but they still expected you to have your room in order, dusted, vacuumed, etc. once a month or so. When I first moved in James told me he didn't do that much cleaning since the room basically "cleaned itself." Not sure where he got THAT from, but I got to the point where when I was getting ready for inspection, I'd just tell him to leave, since he was a bigger hindrance than a help in getting things ready.

Anyhow, I finally got fed up when James didn't change his sheets for several weeks (or months, possibly; I'm not really sure and I don't want to know) so I got moved to a different room. My new roommate was a black guy from New York City, and although we had very different personalities and interests, we got along a lot better. (Plus he wasn't a slob, and we worked opposite shifts.) My dorm manager there, an NCO, understood completely my reason for wanting to move, and I think James eventually was moved to a room with another person who had trouble with cleaning. I guess the theory was that if you put two slobs together, they'd be forced to improve. However, it didn't work out that way.

Eventually, James got in an argument with his new roommate (who was in the same job as me) over some issue. I think they may have failed another room inspection, although I'm not sure exactly what the argument was about. I do know that James decided the appropriate response was to attack his new roommate with his aluminum replica sword. This didn't work out too well for James, as his new roommate proceeded to grab the sword and bend it in half over his knee. I think a next-door neighbor called someone from the office at this point and the fight stopped before anyone got hurt. This incident was evidently the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of James's military career, and he was giving his walking papers from the Air Force. In a summary of disciplinary actions within our squadron that was posted a month or two later, we saw "ASSAULT WITH A SWORD" listed as one of the infractions. Everyone I worked with thought that was kind of funny.

I sometimes wonder what happened to James. I hope his dismissal from the military was a wake-up call for him, and that he cleaned up his act and went to college or something and is now doing well. But as we were never very close, I didn't get any contact information for him before he left. Maybe I'll look him up on Facebook sometime, but probably not.

4th of July fun and other excitement

2009-07-06T11:55:00.003-04:00

Greetings all. Since my last entry, I took a quick trip up to Chicago in late June to see my sister and my nephews for a couple days. I got delayed by weather in Chicago flying up there, and the flights were packed both ways so I had to ride in the cockpit, but I had a good time. I did manage to catch a cold on the trip back, which is the second time this year that's happened. I think I need to start taking Airborne or something before I travel. Summer colds are no fun (not that winter colds are either) but I'm just about over it now.

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. I had a pretty good one myself, since I had the day off from work. I wasn't super productive, but I did get a couple chores done, and I also took my Mom out for dinner. We had Mexican food, which is her favorite. I thought about taking Mom to see the fireworks, but they didn't start until well after she usually goes to bed, and I didn't want to mess up her routine.

I live near a park that was having a big fireworks display, so when it got dark I walked to it. I'm still not completely used to living in a big city, even though I've been here for a few years now, but any time there is an event like this, which included a free concert, it's insanely crowded. People were parking all over the place, and illegally. I was glad I could walk and avoid the post-event traffic nightmare. The fireworks show was great and lasted about 30 minutes...I was close enough that I could see where they were launching from, and they played some synchronized music through the speakers that had been used for the concert.

All the walking was a good test for my knee, which seems to have completely recovered from my twisting it in late May. So, since my knee is better and I'm over my cold, I really need to start hitting the gym again. We will see how I do this month. I'm going to Yosemite at the end of the month on vacation so it would be nice to be able to do some hiking without getting completely exhausted.

Anyhow, nothing too exciting happened on the 4th. Yesterday was a different story, though. I went back to work yesterday afternoon but I was trying to get some minor chores out of the way before I got ready; one of those was taking the trash out. I noticed when I took out the trash that part of the dumpster appeared to be smoking slightly. I thought that was odd but I didn't do anything about it at the time. However, when I went outside a few minutes later, I saw that the dumpster that had been smoking now had started burning. I grabbed an extinguisher next to my apartment and put out the flames and shut the dumpster lid, but there was still a lot of smoke going. I went to the office to let them know, but there was nobody there yet, since they don't open until noon on Sunday.

When I came back outside, the dumpster was smoking even worse, so I called 911 on my cellphone, the first time I've ever had to do that. They transferred me to the local fire department, which took my information down and said a truck would be there right away. One of my neighbors came outside and seemed relieved to hear I'd already called 911. Right after I called 911, my cellphone's battery died, so I was unable to take any pictures, but I'm very glad it lasted until I was finished with the phone call. The dumpster that caught on fire can be seen, pre-fire, in the left of this picture, beside the big crate my furniture from New Mexico was shipped here in.

My neighbor and I were waiting for the fire truck to show up when the lid to the dumpster collapsed in (made of plastic) and flames started shooting up. Having emptied the first extinguisher already, I went running to grab another one, but by the time I had it in hand, the fire department had showed up, along with my apartment manager. The firemen did a very professional job, donning full gear, including oxygen masks, before drowning out the fire with foam and water.

To the fire department, this probably was a very minor fire and a nice training exercise, but I was a bit freaked out. Adrenalin rush, I suppose. Anyhow, they moved the extinguished dumpster out away from the wall, hosed down the adjacent dumpster a little bit with water to make sure no sparks had jumped over to it, and I opened up the exit gate for them so they could leave.

My apartment manager asked around and soon discovered the fire was caused by someone who had been barbecueing outside by the pool...they had decided to dump the charcoal from their barbecue into the dumpster while it was still smoldering. Not a very smart move, but at least I noticed the fire right when it started, so it didn't spread to the other dumpster, or the adjacent wooden wall.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable and SAFE holiday weekend, and remember to be careful when you're grilling.

Various Stuff

2009-06-16T12:59:00.007-04:00

Greetings all. Sorry I've been a lazy blogger (again.) But hey, that's nothing new for me. Everything has been going pretty well here, for the most part.

I managed to twist me knee at the start of this month when I was visiting a relative of mine in Dallas. It turned out to be a mild sprain and is starting to feel better. What happened was, I was climbing over a short fence as a shortcut to get back to the apartment, and when I put my leg down on the other side I managed to twist it when I climbed off of the fence. Nothing like a sprained knee to remind you you're not getting younger, although considering my accident-heavy past it's really nothing new either (although it was a first for this PARTICULAR injury...I have had sprained fingers and toes before, but no knees or ankles.) I did see a doctor last week; the x-rays he ordered were normal and he gave me a prescription for a good anti-inflammatory medicine.

I also found a new dermatologist...after my last one didn't biopsy the area behind my left ear, and it ended up needing a skin graft, I just wasn't keen on going back to him any more. I was overdue for a skin "checkup" anyhow. The new doctor seems nice but looks like he is about 18 or so. He's probably around 35 or more, though. He did give me some new scar gel to try out for the area where the skin was grafted from on my arm. I don't really mind the scar but sometimes people's reactions to it are kind of annoying. (What HAPPENED to your ARM?) Here is a (low-quality) picture of it:

He said that I could consider laser treatment if I want to, but I'll try the new gel for a while first and see if that helps.

Mom has been doing all right, and I try to take her out for lunch at least once a week. I should visit more often but visiting her can be fairly time consuming, so I usually do it on my days off. We went to a barbecue place last week which she enjoyed. Funny but true story...the guy who took our order was very nice, so Mom said to him, "You know, I think we might be kinfolk!" He was a black guy (from Lousiana, he said) so that's rather unlikely. He seemed to take it in stride, though. Alzheimer's is not an easy disease to deal with, but sometimes, you just have to laugh.

I've been enjoying Facebook and have met some more people through it that I knew in high school. I was a geek in high school (shocking, I know...well, I guess I'm still a geek) so I played on the chess team, and the majority of people from that team are on Facebook. I told one former teammate I had most of our old chess team friended there and he said, "You remember who was on the chess team from 22 years ago?" My memory is weird like that sometimes. I have a pretty good memory for events and certain things stick with me, but sometimes I suck at remembering names of people I just met. Oh well.

I'm staying pretty busy with travel...this coming weekend I'm flying up to Chicago to see my sister and her family. I haven't seen one of my nephews for about two years, so that should be fun even though it's a quick trip. Later in the month, my relative from Dallas is coming here to visit for a couple days, and then at the end of July, I'm going to California for about a week to visit Yosemite on my vacation. So, I'm making good use of my travel benefits this summer, even if I'm not heading overseas. I'll definitely be taking a fair amount of pictures in Yosemite. I'm also going to stay a couple days in the Sacramento area, which is where I'm flying into...I have visited there many times before but never had enough time to do much tourist stuff. So that should be fun. This is where I'm staying in Yosemite...it looks like a nice affordable way to stay there. Hope the weather is good.

As a side note, I found that by renting a car off-airport at Enterprise I could do it for about 1/3 the price of renting at the airport location. I understand rental car places have high costs at the airport but that seems like a huge price differential. So, I'm taking a shuttle to the off-airport rental place and back. That will be a little inconvenient but well worth it.

That's all for now...more later (and sooner, I hope.) Hope everyone is having a nice summer.

LATE-BREAKING UPDATE: Forgot to mention...I had one of the pictures I took from my trip to London earlier this year get selected for use in an online travel guide. I don't make any royalties or anything but I still thought it was cool. The guide can be checked out here and the photo they used can be seen here.

Surnames

2009-05-14T11:45:00.002-04:00

I'm a Junior, and that has caused havoc with last name misspellings for as long as I can remember, especially since computers became popular. At my current employer, the Rather Large Airline, they originally entered my last name into the HR system as MANNJR (even though they do have an option for surnames!) It took complaints to the HR people multiple times to finally get the issue resolved, and there is still one system that shows my name as MANNJR there.

Any time I list for a flight on the Rather Large Airline, it pulls me up as CHARLES MANNJR in the reservations system. I have tried to get this corrected but the people I have spoken to about it told me that they have to leave it like that to distinguish between me and my father. I've tried explaining that he is deceased, and thus not likely to do much non-revenue flying, but it's been to no avail so far. Sometimes correcting this problem is like banging your head against a wall.

My favorite experience with the surname was when some phone solicitor reading from a script kept referring to me as "Mr. Mann Jr." on the phone. I hung up pretty quickly but it was kind of amusing. And of course, since my full name is Charles Mann, Jr. it allows me to make lots of "Charles Manson" jokes. (Well, to some people that's disturbing but I always get a kick out of it.)

While I appear to be a confirmed bachelor for now (although I never say never) if I do ever have a son of my own I can guarantee I will not continue the naming tradition, even though that's popular here in the South. Plus, I think having a full name of Charles Shelton Mann, III, would just sound too lawyer-ish. I suppose Trey would be a cool nickname, but I'd rather that whatever offspring I have has a name of their own.

Back in Texas

2009-05-09T12:56:00.008-04:00

Greetings. I've been back in Texas for a while now, actually...I've just been busy working, etc., and haven't written any since I got back. My trip back went amazingly smoothly...we had torrential rain here that lasted into the morning hours the night before my trip, but by the time I got here everything had cleared out, and I got an aisle seat for the flight back, which was nice.

I took my Mom's old (and very SLOW) laptop home with me. While it is slow, it does have WiFi capability, so I'm writing this post from my patio. I activated the wireless part of my home connection so now I can surf the net from anywhere within my wireless router's range. (I also just got a cool laptop mini desk thingy called the Lapinator so I can make sure the CPU stays cool and my legs don't get burned if I am, in fact, using it on my lap.) I don't think this computer needs to stay this slow so I am going to get some more RAM for it when I have the time. However, I've never worked on a laptop before, so I will need to proceed cautiously there.

I also returned my Samsunng Omnia once I got back here, which I decided wasn't so awesome after all...I got sick of its touch screen. I decided to get a Blackberry Pearl instead (and that was free with a contract extension, unlike the Omnia.) I'm pretty happy with the Blackberry so far, even if it's not a full HTML browser. I discovered with the Omnia that the internet doesn't look good on a tiny screen, and zooming in and out is a pain even when you have a touch screen. The Pearl can also act as a wireless modem if WiFi isn't available, a feature it shares with the Omnia. Anyhow, enough tech stuff for now. But my phone does tie into the rest of this story...

When I was in Albuquerque, I decided to have a few things shipped here from my Mom's house. Nothing major, I just wanted a couple of things to remember the old house by...and one of those things was a small desk that had been in my old family room since before I was born. I'm sure I could have found a new desk (or a gently used one) for cheaper than the total cost of shipping this desk and a few other things here, but I went ahead and splurged, and it arrived here yesterday. The shipping company packed it extremely securely...I thought it was just going to be wrapped on a pallet, but they crated it, probably because I was shipping a couple of framed pictures along with the desk.

I'd been playing with my Blackberry that morning, trying to get it to play video clips, which it is capable of doing but does not do very well. I only got one clip to play, and another one evidently freaked out the phone so it wouldn't send or receive calls or data. I didn't discover this for a couple hours, so when the freight guy showed up, he couldn't get through to me on my phone. He went by the apartment office, and ended up tracking me down in the laundry room (I'd put a note on my door that was where I was in case he came by.) He was not in the least bit upset, though, and was very helpful with the shipment...although perhaps not as helpful as I'd figured originally.

I had no crowbar, and I discovered that the freight guy didn't have any extra time to assist me with unpacking (originally, I'd thought I could just ask him to help me carry it up the stairs when it got here, but that's before I knew unpacking it would be a Major Job.) At this point, I discovered my phone was acting up when I tried to call a friend to come over and help me out, so I ended up deciding to carry the desk upstairs myself, since I needed to get everything into my apartment before I left for work.

It was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, and my muscles are definitely feeling it today, but I did manage to haul my new old desk up one flight of stairs without damaging it too badly. (I did scratch one of the legs a little but I covered it with scratch cover and it looks fine; since the desk is older than I am, I'm sure it had a couple dings on it already.) I think the crate was over half the weight of everything that got shipped. After everything was unloaded, I dragged it over to the dumpster.

Looking back, I should have scheduled the delivery for my day off, asked the freight company exactly what was included with the move (loading/unloading, etc.) and arranged for a friend to come over to help out and bribe them with beer and pizza for helping with the moving effort...but I did manage to accomplish everything myself. I was kind of proud of that, even if I was a rather exhausted, Motrin-popping fool later that afternoon at work. I'm not sure how much the desk weighed exactly, but I would estimate over seventy pounds. I know it's an easy carry for two people and a very awkward one for one person. I also know that old furniture was built SOLIDLY. It fortunately isn't too big, so once I got it into the apartment I was able to drag it across the carpet and get it into position in my bedroom fairly easily. One thing is for sure, I definitely got my workout in for the day.

Today I was taking the crate apart and putting it in the dumpster, and someone inquired about the pallet base...they thought they could use it for their upcoming move. I don't see how that would be a help (that base was heavy, a regular wood pallet covered with a sheet of particle board) but I told them I would leave it out for them if they wanted to take it. One man's trash is another man's treasure, I suppose. I don't think it would be very useful for moving unless you had a hydraulic pallet jack, though.

The carpet guy just finished cleaning my apartment carpet (after two years or so here, it was due for a shampoo) so I may not get this posted until tomorrow, when I can add on some pictures. He was suppose to come yesterday but after the debacle with the desk, I'm rather happy that he didn't show up until today.

I'm glad to have the desk where I can see it...it's in pretty good shape for its age, and will add some much needed drawer storage to my bedroom. So even though getting it here was not cheap, and getting inside my apartment was not easy, I think it was worth the end result.

Hope everyone is having a safe, non-furniture-moving weekend, and I'll talk to you all later.

Goodnight, Albuquerque

2009-04-27T18:57:00.004-04:00

I'm in Albuquerque, going through things at my mother's old house and trying to decide what to box up to be shipped to Houston. I'm using movers to also ship one piece of furniture from here. Tonight is probably the last night I'll spend here (assuming I get out of town tomorrow...the flights are rather full) and I'm feeling a lot of conflicting emotions right now.

My parents never moved any while I was growing up, so this house has always been a constant in my life...even when I moved away, I always knew it was here to come back to for visits and so forth. Anyhow, I should be getting back to going through old papers and packing boxes but I thought I'd take a break and update my blog, since I've been too busy to do that very much lately.

Oh, I also got a new phone so I could use it as a wireless modem while I was here. It's a Samsung Omnia, and it's pretty sweet. I'll have to see if I can do blog entries on it someday.

See you when I'm back in Texas.

This and That

2009-04-15T14:06:00.002-04:00

I know I didn't post anything over last weekend like I had promised to, and I really have no excuse, other than I was enjoying the nice weather. I had a pretty good Easter weekend. I went hiking on Saturday and saw a play that night, and also had my "Easter Meal" a day early by going to Luby's for their ham special. I took my mother out to dinner on Easter Sunday and we had a pretty good time. Monday I got some work done on my car and went to the gym. So all in all, a fairly productive weekend. I still need to clean up my apartment though.

Mom has acclimated about as well as can be expected at her new place. She kept packing all her clothes up in the clothes hamper in preparation to go home, so they had to remove that from her room and replace it with a laundry bag. Overall I've been happy with where she moved with a couple of exceptions. Mom's bathroom is designed to be handicapped accessible, which is good because it's big but bad because there are no cabinets at all in it. We've asked them to put a small table in the room a couple of times and they haven't yet. So that's a small gripe.

My big gripe (and one which I hesitated to blog about, but what the heck) is that her engagement ring (and my grandmother's engagement ring also) went missing after less than a week living there. In the facility's defense, they did warn us against bringing valuable jewelry...but Mom NEVER took those rings off. The director said "never say never" with dementia and I'm sure that's true, but the timing seemed very suspicious to me. As nice as the place is, I'm sure entry level workers don't make tons of money...and it only takes one bad seed. Of course, Mom may have taken the rings off herself and "packed" them somewhere, or another resident could have taken them somehow...but I doubt it. I wanted to file a police report but my sisters think we shouldn't in the interest of keeping peace with the management there. The thing is, if the rings have been pawned or sold, the only people who can check with nearby pawn stores are the police. However, I will probably defer to my sisters on this, and since it's been over a week since we noticed the rings missing, it's probably kind of late to get an investigation going anyhow.

Mom's mental decline is continuing, and we all kind of expected that, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch. I do enjoy the time I spend with her, going out to meals and so forth, but it's emotionally exhausting at the same time. At the Easter Sunday meal, Mom called me by her dog's name about four or five times...which is amusing in one sense but rather depressing in another. I finally corrected her after the third or fourth time. Just the nature of that illness, unfortunately.

The hiking and walking has been cool, and I've discovered several nice places to go not far from where I live...even though I'm near downtown, there are some nice large parks in the area, and downtown itself has a nice walking trail near the river there. However, I also managed to pick up a couple blisters, but I'm not letting that slow me down too much. I've also been trying to get to the gym more, which I got out of the habit of going to after developing a cold when I got home from England in late February. We'll see how that goes.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and I will post again soon! (The word "soon" being totally up to my definition of it, of course.) Seriously, I will try to update more often than I've been doing...that was one of my New Year's goals. So long for now.

Video Break

2009-04-10T12:52:00.004-04:00

Although I am not a Gamer, I did find this cartoon very well-done and enjoyable, so here it is, for your viewing enjoyment (and I found out about the cartoon through Wil Wheaton's blog, which is only natural since he did the voices for one of the two main characters.)

Actual posts to follow shortly. Sorry it's been so long, Mom's move here has kept me busy but I also found that cross-posting entries to my Facebook profile gave me performance anxiety. I mean, I have no problem writing for the whole INTERNET to see, but put up a note that seventy-something of my friends and co-workers will read? That was freaking me out. Even if it makes no sense. Of course, I have a link to this blog on my Facebook account, so a few more people from there may eventually start reading here directly...but that doesn't bother me as much.

Actual post with some original content should be coming up shortly...I have three days off starting tomorrow.

Test Post

2009-04-09T11:05:00.002-04:00

I decided to stop cross-posting to Facebook from Blogger...this is a test to see if I was successful. This post will self destruct in ten seconds.

What I've been doing

2009-03-16T11:07:00.004-04:00

As you may recall if you've been reading my blog for a while...my mother is suffering from Alzheimer's. She was briefly in a psychiatric hospital last year due to effects of the disease...but they managed to get her moods and delusions under control with some new medicine. She's been living at her home, the house I grew up in, since she got out.

We did have some issues with Mom's care agency before we found her current full-time caregiver. However, her current caregiver is awesome and we're very happy with the care she provides. It took some doing but we found a good weekend caregiver for Mom also through the same agency. And if money was no object, we'd be happy to keep Mom in her home as long as we could. Unfortunately...

I'm sure everyone reading this has experienced some effects from the current economic downturn. I am happy to still be employed, but my 401K has definitely taken a hit. Since Mom's Social Security benefit doesn't even come close to paying for her current care needs, she relies on the money my father had saved and invested over the years (some of this money came from a lump-sum retirement benefit.)

As you can imagine, even though these funds were conservatively invested, they've taken a huge hit over the last six months or so. I read one article stating the current downturn has wiped out 45% of the world's wealth...I think it's come close to doing that to my mother's account. So while we're happy with Mom living in her house and the care she's getting, it's not a viable long-term option. Even if the recession hadn't happened, it still wouldn't be something we could continue indefinitely. 24/7 home care is very expensive.

Shortly after my return from my vacation, my sisters and I had a conference call to discuss what to do next. Since my eldest sister has a master's degree in accounting, we let her run the numbers for Mom's account to compare various options. We'd like Mom's money to last as long as possible, because physically Mom is still in very good health. Our options were to have Mom continue living in Albuquerque at a care facility there, or to have her move to a care facility located where one of us is located, either here in Texas where me and one of my sisters lives, or to Chicago where my other sister lives.

I had looked at a care facility in Albuquerque on my last trip out there, and it seemed nice but it was pretty expensive. There was another one in Albuquerque that was an option but it sounded to me like it wouldn't be a good fit for Mom. Also, we were concerned about my Mom living in a place without one of us being nearby to deal with any issues that may occur. My sister in Chicago looked at several places near where she lives, and me and my sister here looked around this area. I was having some trouble getting my head around the idea that Mom had to move, but I finally went out looking about 10 days ago, and I found a place I liked, close to where my sister and I live. They also had immediate openings.

My sister who lives here toured it later and liked it also...plus it was quite a bit cheaper than the facility in Albuquerque. Additionally, unlike the facilities in Albuquerque, this place allows pets, so Mom will be able to take her dog with her. I don't know how long Mom will be able to care for him, but even if it's just for another year or so, having him there when she moves in will be huge in helping with the transition, I think. Anyhow I can't post a link directly to where Mom will be moving without giving away my city, but here is a link to a similar facility that my sister toured (different company, though.)

We have reserved a room for Mom and done the preliminary paperwork. Actually, we got a private room I like that also turned out to be their last opening, so I was happy to get that taken care of. My sisters are flying to Albuquerque later this week to pack up clothes and things and move Mom out here a week from tomorrow. We will probably move some of her own furniture later but the facility provides furniture of its own for residents that need it, so she can use that for now. Also, after she moves and we figure out what to do with all the furniture...we will need to sell her house. Much work lies ahead, for sure.

That being said, when I compare where we were with Mom ten days ago, before we'd even decided on a place to move her, to where we've come now, I think we've done a lot. I am confident that Mom will adjust to her new residence, even if she hates it at first, and I'm happy that there will be two of us to help with any issues that come up while she lives there. And I'd better cut this short now, because I have some more phone calls to make to relatives regarding Mom's upcoming move.

By the way, because we are starting to tell relatives and friends that Mom is moving soon, I'm comfortable posting this entry (since I know my mother never visits the internet these days.) But just on the off chance someone reading this knows my Mom (and since this blog is linked and the entries are cross-posted to my Facebook account I think there's a few of you who do) please don't tell her anything about the upcoming move if you happen to speak to her.

Tune in next week to see how the move went.

A Somewhat Rambling Update

2009-03-04T11:44:00.003-05:00

Well, as usual, it's been far too long since I posted. What can I say, I've been a lazy blogger. February was a pretty good month overall, in that I had some vacation time and I also got a chance to go visit my mother, which is the first time I'd been there in quite a while...if you've been reading this blog any, you probably remember my last trip out there, which was definitely not a Fun Time. My friend Melanie was on vacation in Albuquerque at the same time I visited, and we had fun hanging out together. We drove up to Santa Fe one day while I was there and had lunch.

Someone asked me to write about Santa Fe...I am kind of at a loss as to what I should write about, but I'll give it a shot. Santa Fe was founded in 1610, and Albuquerque in 1620. It used to be that both cities had about an equal cost of living, but starting in the late 1970's, Santa Fe began getting very popular and trendy as a "New Age" type of city, and real estate prices have really shot through the roof there since. (At least they had...I'm not sure what prices are like right now.) There is a lot of historical architecture and art galleries around there. I used to visit periodically when I was growing up for school trips and such. Santa Fe tends to have kept more of its original architecture than Albuquerque, which I think is a good thing. Traffic there is kind of a pain since many of the roads were built when cars were a lot less common.

Later in the month, I had a dedicated block of vacation days, but I ended up not doing quite as much as I planned...I was hoping to do a mini-road trip plus a regular trip of some kind, but due to finances, I had to choose one or the other. I ended up doing my a trip to London with a relative of mine, Rex. We were originally going to go to Honolulu but the flights were all looking very full going there. I had my annual jumpseating requirement to take care of, so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Flights to London were wide open so we ended up getting first class both ways (except for the time on the trip over when I did my required five hours of cockpit observation...on a 777, in this case.)

My airline allows single people to designate a person as their "travel companion" that enables them to enjoy the same pass benefits as a relative would have...and in my case, I chose Rex. His actual relation to me is something like third cousin once removed but we've always been pretty close...him and his wife were the people my parents had designated to raise me if anything had ever happened to them while I was growing up. I sometimes refer to him as my godfather although that's a term that tends to make people think of the mafia or something.

Anyhow, Rex is about the closest thing to a father I have in this world, so it was fun to travel with him. Although he is in his early eighties, he sure doesn't act like it! He is still active with his church, and often goes on mission trips with them. He also still regularly walks a couple miles each day, and he definitely had no trouble keeping up with me . He did usually go to bed a lot earlier than I did, but I didn't mind going out at night by myself.

We did go to a show there together on our first night, and that was a lot of fun. London shows, while not cheap, I think are cheaper than Broadway shows, although I'm not really positive since I haven't spent much time in New York City. It also helps that the dollar is doing well against the pound right now. Last year, when I went to Amsterdam, the dollar was doing not nearly as well (although in that case I was dealing with the Euro and not the pound) and prices seemed a lot higher.

I spent my junior year of high school in London, 1984-85 to be exact, and it seems like a LONG time ago. The show we ended up going to see, Billy Elliot, was based on events (the coal miner's strike) that happened while I was living there. While I was living near London and not in Northern England, where the strike was taking place, I do remember seeing tons of news about the strike over the course of my stay there. Anyhow, I suppose I liked the show in part for that reason. It was very well acted and directed.

I visited London a fair bit as a tourist when I was living there as a high school student, but with a city that size, there are always new things to see that you've missed. We went to the Churchill Museum (in his secret WWII headquarters located near Parliament), St. Paul's cathedral, and a few other spots. One of the few things I did that Rex opted not to do was climb up the stairs inside St. Paul's cathedral. They have three galleries you can see...the first one is a stairway that goes around the inside, about a third of the way up, and the second gallery is an outdoor walkway, about two thirds of the way up. The uppermost gallery, called the "Golden Gallery," is located inside near the very top of the dome...but it was closed when I visited. I still enjoyed seeing the cathedral though. We also did a bit of shopping at Harrod's and Fortnum and Mason's...although not TOO much, since their prices were sky-high.

A link to my London pictures can be found here. I may be adding some more soon...I think Rex is sending me some prints. He does have a digital camera and is not afraid to use his computer, but he still prefers doing some things the old fashioned way...in this case, ordering prints and emailing them to me rather than just uploading them to Flickr. I'm not being critical though...he's a lot better on computers than most people I've met over 65.

Our hotel in London, called the Wellington, was very reasonable but also very Not Fancy. We didn't have private bathrooms although there was a sink in the room. The room itself was pretty small also. However, it WAS very clean, and the beds were comfortable. They had a pretty decent (free) breakfast, and there was also had a computer available for rental to access the internet. I think the building was originally a college dormitory before becoming a hotel...as with most buildings in London, it was built quite a while ago. It was a pretty good location, near Victoria train station. Their website can be found here if anyone needs decent basic hotel acommodation in London. If you want your own bathroom, though, better seek elsewhere.

Of course, I managed to catch a cold on the flight back (the trip was fun, but travel is always a bit tiring, and planes are notorious places to catch a virus, with all the recirculated air.) Last week I had my annual recurrent training, so I was busy studying (and trying various cold remedies.) I'm finally getting over the cold, though (yay Mucinex!) and getting back into the swing of things at work. I do still have my annual "desk check" coming up later, but that should be no big deal. I really like working afternoons compared to the graveyard shift I had all last year. Some people love graveyards, but afternoons will always be my favorite shift. It's a lot easier to sleep when it's dark outside than during the day.

Hope everyone has been having a great 2009! Talk to you later with other rambling thoughts.

General Update

2009-01-31T13:17:00.003-05:00

Before I get started, ever wonder why a general update is less important than a major update, and in the military, a general outranks a major? Of course, they have major generals, but that's another story. Anyway, to get back to this update here...

Things have been going well here. The weather has been nice for the most part, and I'm enjoying seeing the high temperatures in Wisconsin where I used to live. (Especially when their high was three degrees Farenheit.) Work is going pretty well, and I'm getting an overdue pay raise soon (it's kind of a long story on that one.) More money is rarely a bad thing. I've been doing a little bit of training new people at work also, and that's kind of challenging but fun.

I also just renewed my apartment lease. The rent is going up some but not too much. After my apartment manager said he couldn't reduce the amount any at first, but we were able to come to a compromise. (The net price increase will be $15/month. I'm satisfied with that, especially since one of my co-worker's rent is supposed go up by over $200/month. He's planning on moving, and I would too.) I like my apartment pretty well, other than it lacking a washer/dryer, and I love the area and my commute, so I think staying here is a good decision for me. I may buy something someday, but I'm just a bit leery right now of jumping into any major financial commitments. So, maybe in another year or so...or longer, as I'm really not in a big rush. An overly long and probably dull video tour of my apartment can be seen here if you need to kill nine minutes or so.

I finally got my car's front license plate mounted. I should have done it a year ago, but better late than never. New Mexico, where the car was registered until I took possession, has no front license plate requirement (one of a minority of states that doesn't require them, it seems.) So, the car never had a front license plate mount installed. I bought the mount from the Chrysler dealer, which was a rather expensive piece of plastic in my opinion, but there were no holes drilled to put it on, so I had to get a drill to do that. I got a used from a friend at work, because he said the batteries on his cordless drill were shot. I figured that worst case I'd have to buy new batteries, but I got one of the batteries to take a charge, after some effort, and I finally got the holes drilled and the mount and plate put on today. I never did have a cop stop me for it and I doubt it's a big deal to them...but it's good to be fully in compliance with traffic laws.

I've been enjoying my new gym enough to try an exercise class. You know, when you haven't taken one of those for a couple years, you definitely feel it. The name of the class was "Pump, Define, and Align" but I thought a more appropriate name would have been "Pump, Define, and Die" by the time it ended 45 minutes later. Of course, the female instructor who was about half my size made it look effortless.

I was pretty sore the next day, and I had just gotten my tax rebate back since I did an early e-file, so I decided to splurge and get a massage at the club the following day. It helped, but my legs still were hurting, even after that. But I'm kind of jazzed to be exercising again and I'm planning on going to do a class tomorrow if I can stay awake after work. (I'm working afternoons, and that's going well, but I'm doing a trade with someone to come in and work a morning shift tomorrow after working an afternoon shift tonight.) Anyhow, if I can get a class in I won't feel guilty drinking beer during the Superbowl. I don't know if I'll become as much of an exercise fiend as Heather has been lately, but I'm trying to make the gym more of a habit, so we'll see. The class I want to take next is called "Strength and Sweat" so I'm sure I'll be sore after it also.

After tomorrow I have four days off, and I'm going to head out to Albuquerque and meet my friend Melanie there (she's taking a mini vacation.) It will be good to see Mom again since I haven't seen her since Thanksgiving. The last time I was in Albuquerque, Mom was in the hospital, so it will be good to be at home for a more fun trip. According to her main caregiver, Mom's doing quite well.

I then have some vacation later in the month, and I haven't decided for sure yet what I'm going to do. I'm leaning towards a road trip. I know that seems like a waste of my flight benefits, but sometimes I just don't want to deal with aviation at all, and my time off is around President's Day weekend, which is a rather busy travel time. But we'll see. Some of my friends say I should go to Europe or Latin America and that does have a certain appeal (especially Latin America) but I'm not sure yet. I will keep you posted and provide pictures of wherever I end up going.

I have a meme to work on from Facebook that I'm going to post here, but I don't have time to do it today, so maybe tomorrow afternoon or next week. Hope everyone is doing well and has a good Superbowl Sunday! (I'm rooting for the Cardinals, since I used to live in Phoenix and they're the underdog, but I have no strong feelings either way this year.)

Another Reason I don't miss Wisconsin

2009-01-13T12:23:00.002-05:00

Well, not this time of year at least.

Where I used to live the high temperature is forecast to be -1 tomorrow. Farenheit, not Celsius. Yikes! Of course, I lived through weather like that and survived just fine, but it's not something I'd volunteer to do again. If I ever visit, you can be assured it won't be anytime in January or February.

It's going to be cool where I live tomorrow (for us); only supposed to get up into the mid 50s. I might even have to wear a light jacket or something. Anyone living in a cold climate feel free to rub it in if I ever start complaining about the summer heat, but I'll take our hot over Wisconsin cold every time.

More Library Blogging

2009-01-12T12:44:00.008-05:00

Greetings everyone. I know it's been a fairly long break...in my defense, I can say I was taking a holiday break, followed by working my butt off. Anyhow, I'm back, and blogging to you live from the library once again, where I've gone today to hang out while my apartment receives a long-overdue professional cleaning.

Not a whole lot new to report here. I actually had Christmas night off from work, which was unusual, due to a shift swap. I had a good time at my sister's house for dinner in the afternoon when I woke up (where I made some more of my infamous rolls for dinner) and then I went by to drop off some gifts at the kids' house whose CPS case I was involved with last year through my volunteer job. (They're still in foster care.) I even had a couple days off after that, so I almost felt like a normal person who gets to take a few days off around Christmas.

HOWEVER, in finishing out my graveyard shifts, I worked overnight on the 29th-31st of December, then in the afternoons on the 1st-3rd of January, involving having only eight hours off from 6 AM on the first until 2 PM that afternoon. Not much partying going on for me that day for me, unfortunately...but I was so happy to be getting off graveyard shifts that I really didn't mind much. I'm now working a 5 on 2 off 5 on 3 off rotation now on afternoons, and it's MUCH easier for me to get a good night's sleep. For some reason, I also find it easier to eat healthy on this shift also, probably because I don't mind having cereal if I'm just waking up, but if I was getting off work before I'd usually get a fast food breakfast (which taste good but aren't healthy at all.)

I worked out with a trainer at my new gym yesterday. He seemed nice enough but of course, he is also trying to sell me more training sessions. (The first one is free, provided by the club.) I told him I'd see how I was doing in a couple of months. I think I'll have better luck with exercising regularly while I'm working on the afternoon shift as well, but we'll see how it goes.

I was very disappointed and surprised to hear that the Magazine Man (or MM for short) has been laid off. He's the first person I know (in real life or online) to have lost their job in this current economic downturn, although I know he's not alone by a long shot. His encouragement is actually the main reason I started writing this blog, and while my writing pales in comparison to his, I think I've managed to tell a few good stories, here and there. Anyhow, I hope he finds new employment (or gets a book contract) soon.

The thought of layoffs at my place of employment crossed my mind last year when fuel prices were spiking (and there indeed were some employees in another department who did get laid off) but paradoxically, the airlines are doing BETTER now than last summer, due to capacity reductions undertaken then and the drop in the price of oil since then. We'll see how things go in 2009, but we are hiring more people in my department right now, which I'm happy to see.

I've mentioned this before on my apartment tour video, but I don't think I've ever written about it here...I knew MM was a published author, but I didn't know his real name or what he'd written for a long time. When his "secret identity" finally became known, I discovered that I do in fact OWN one of the books he'd written...I've had it since 1998 or so, I believe. We both got a kick out of that.

Well, I think it's time for me to run on here and go home to pay the cleaning ladies...I'll try and write something more interesting in a day or two. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying a happy 2009 so far (and while I know that MM has had decidedly NOT had a pleasant year so far, I hope the rest of this year makes up for this month.)

Scary Christmas Eve Moment

2008-12-24T17:51:00.002-05:00

Greetings everyone. I don't have a lot of new stuff to write about but I thought I'd share an experience I just had. I had a notice that there was a package for me in the office today, and I went to the office to get it, but they'd already closed (this being Christmas Eve.) Anyhow, walking back from the office, I went past my old apartment. It was rented out after I moved into my new place by an older lady...I haven't ever really talked to her, but I've seen her walking to and from her car a couple of times. Anyhow, when I walked past her apartment, the door was open slightly. I got a bad feeling.

I am never sure what to do in those situations. I mean, the door COULD be open just because she wanted to air out her apartment. On the other hand, her windows were NOT open. I dillied and dallied for a moment but finally decided it was worth pushing the door open a bit more and asking if everything was OK.

I knocked on the door and got not response. I pushed the door open slightly and saw a pair of legs on the carpet. Oh Jesus, I thought. But I was yelling at the same time, "Ma'am? Is everything OK in here?"

It turned out the lady who lives there was just kneeling down next to a cabinet to put up some Christmas decorations or something, and everything was fine. I'm still not sure why she had the door open but I was rather embarrassed to be intruding, so I didn't bother asking. Actually, I kind of felt like an idiot for knocking on the door. But I'm still glad I checked, since I figure it's better to have a minor invasion of your privacy rather than be collapsed in your apartment having a heart attack or stroke with your door open, and have nobody stopping by to see if you're OK.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. I actually have tomorrow night off (although I'm working tonight) and I'm planning to have dinner at my sister's place in the afternoon. See you all again soon.

Persona non Bloggity

2008-12-16T00:28:00.002-05:00

Greetings everyone. Sorry I haven't posted since NaBloPoMo ended; I guess I just haven't been inspired. Or I've been too busy at work. Or suffering from inadequate Christmas spirit, or something.

Everything has been going fine. I have been working a lot, and I'm counting down the days until I have no more scheduled graveyard shifts. (I have eight remaining, if anyone cares.) Someone I work with hates afternoons even more than I hate graveyards, so I traded off a few shifts to him. He's even working Christmas night for me...which I was happy to trade off, but I also told him, wow, you really don't like afternoon shifts, do you?

Anyhow, as a result of all this trading, I worked last night, got off at 6 AM, then went back to work this afternoon at 2 PM, and just got home a little while ago (my shift ended at 10.) I'm kind of tired but perhaps the exhaustion gave me inspiration to post a blog entry.

The old soft-sided briefcase I bought right after I moved here has died so I just ordered a new one today made of leather. I got a good deal on it though at overstock.com (not screamingly good but still decent.) Also, I recently tried out some bacon jerky. It was different than regular jerky but still pretty tasty. Not as good as actual fried bacon, though, and rather pricey. But I couldn't resist trying it.

Not much other news to report...I am going to visit one of my relatives later this week for a couple of days, and that should be fun. It's become a December tradition for me since I moved to Texas. Also, my apartment is a mess...my housekeeping always seems to suffer while I'm working night shifts. Hopefully things will get better in that respect next year.

Back soon, with more exciting stuff.

Memories of a Good Dog

2008-11-30T19:56:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of Bentley, the last dog my parents got. I think I was about 18 when we picked him out, and I really considered him to be my dog also. He loved to go hiking, and this is a picture of him on a hike, which is why he looks so happy in the picture. He was not a big dog (only weighed about 11 or 12 pounds) but when he was young, I could take him on a strenuous 10+ mile hike in the mountains and he'd keep up the whole way with no problem.

He passed away several years ago. I was sorry I wasn't there when my parents had to make the decision to put him down, but he did have a good life, for a dog (almost 15 years) and he was quite active for most of it, although he did noticeably slow down the last year or so of his life. He was always good company, though, and very fond of his humans.

There was one time with Bentley where I came home and discovered him feeling bad, kind of out of sorts and not able to jump up on anything, and insisted on taking him to the vet. It was nothing serious...he had an inflamed gland or something minor that they were able to give him medicine for and treat right away. However, looking back at my life, that incident always sticks out to me as a turning point for me...I recognized something was wrong that my parents did not see, and took an appropriate, grown-up action.

I have thought about getting a dog of my own, and some people have encouraged me to do that, but others have said that I'm smart not to. With the hours I work it would be something of a challenge, since I live in an apartment with no yard, but I'm sure if I worked at it I could manage to have a small dog here. Time will tell.

And with this post, we come to the end of November NaBloPoMo. I'm proud of myself for making it through the whole month with a daily post (even if some of the posts were short ones.) Hopefully regular blog posting is now more of a habit for me than it was...time will tell, anyhow. I am probably going to take a break for a couple days from posting, but I'll be back at some point next week.

Thanksgiving Postbrief and Adventures In Facebook

2008-11-28T18:08:00.005-05:00

I did have to work last night, but everything went pretty well with Thanksgiving. Good dinner, the rolls I baked turned out OK, and it was good to see everyone. I hardly ever get a chance to see my niece, but she is doing well in school, in her senior undergraduate year at UT, and has just been accepted in to medical school. Mom was a bit disoriented but seemed to really enjoy dinner, and my sister is flying her home today.

We also had food at work...just what I needed, but it was tasty also. They had some dishes I like that weren't at my sisters...ham, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and pecan and pumpkin pie...so that made for a good post-midnight meal. I skipped breakfast. Also I had an extra tray of rolls that I baked, and everyone at work thought they were good. Yay for a successful first attempt at baking with yeast!

It was my Monday last night, so I had a bit of trouble not getting too sleepy, but there was plenty of coffee available as usual. As I mentioned yesterday, I just signed up for Facebook, and unlike MySpace, I can access Facebook at work. So anyhow, I decided to tweak my Facebook profile, since things were slow due to the reduced holiday schedule. I discovered that this is never a good thing to do if you're sleepy. When updating my profile, I put down, Single, Male, checked the appropriate boxes for "Looking For" and then intended to check "Women" for the "Interested In" box. Instead, I somehow checked "MEN."

Two hours later when I went back to look at my profile again, I was like, hmmm, that's weird, why am I seeing all these Facebook ads for gay travel and European men's underwear? (Please understand, I have nothing against that lifestyle, but it is so NOT my lifestyle.) I discovered my mistake fairly quickly, but damn, talk about embarrassing.

The good thing was, this profile change was only up between one and three AM, so it's likely nobody noticed it. I put a disclaimer comment up in case anyone did. This would have been especially bad if I hadn't noticed it right away, since I'd just friended both of my nephews and my niece yesterday evening. I can just imagine the conversations..."No guys, that is NOT why I'm still single..."

Anyhow, hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and enjoys their Black Friday. Personally, I'll probably delay shopping until the last minute as usual (or at least wait another week or two) but I'll get it all done before Christmas comes. I only buy for my niece, nephs, sisters, and mother, so that makes it a bit less of a chore. Happy holidays, everyone.

Bonus Thanksgiving Post

2008-11-27T15:07:00.001-05:00

Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the Macy's Day Parade. Here is my favorite part of this year's event.

Test Baking

2008-11-26T13:13:00.012-05:00

OK, as promised, here is my wild experience with baking rolls today. I swear, sometimes my life is so exciting, I don't know what to do with myself.

This was a test run for tomorrow, when I am baking rolls to take to my sister's place, and I did discover a couple things...slightly decrease the baking time, and DON'T FORGET TO GREASE THE PAN. Those things being said, the rolls still turned out pretty well. I ended up liveblogging it from Twitter for simplicity but here are the pictures.

First, I got part of the dough I made up yesterday and rolled it into balls before putting them in a baking pan:

Next, I put the future rolls on top of a pan filled with warm water and let the dough rise for an hour, covered:

The aluminum pan in the background of that photo is what I'm going to use tomorrow for baking so that I don't have to worry about bringing dishes home with me.

I should have taken a picture of the rolls before they went in the oven, but I didn't. However, here is the finished product:

They came out slightly brown, but not too much. I'll reduce the baking time by about 30-45 seconds tomorrow. And they did come out yummy tasting. I used this recipe which is easy and designed for beginners, if anyone needs it. One nice feature of the recipe is that you can mix the dough up to three days in advance before making the rolls. A caveat to mention: this is not a low-fat recipe, which is probably the reason the rolls have a nice buttery texture.

UPDATE: I took some of the rolls into work to try them out on some ~~unsuspecting victims~~ impartial observers, and everyone said they tasted good, so I'm hopeful the Thanksgiving batch turns out well also.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Holiday Week

2008-11-25T23:08:00.005-05:00

Last year, I was fortunate enough off to have several days off the week of Thanksgiving. This year, I am unfortunately working every day this week. However, I do have a mini break from Wednesday night until Thursday night...that is to say, I'm working swing shift (getting off at 10 P.M.) on Wednesday, and I don't have to be back at work until the graveyard shift begins on Thanksgiving (around 9:45 P.M.) So, while I will be working, I'll at least get to have dinner at my sister's place. This is good because my mother is visiting for the week.

As I mentioned yesterday, I hosted Mom here at my apartment last year. It went fairly well, overall, but dealing with Mom (or with any relative who has dementia, I suppose) is quite stressful. Still, we had a nice turkey dinner at my sister's, and I got her back to the airport safely on Saturday morning. Last year was also the last time she flew anywhere by herself. I was there to meet her plane, and we had someone meeting her in Albuquerque as well, but over the course of this year we've decided that it was no longer a good idea for her to travel alone, even on a relatively short flight such as that. Having a passenger on board a flight with dementia is an issue I have dealt with before in the course of my job (he had gotten confused, didn't know where his son was, and was wandering the aisle trying to get off the airplane) and I agreed with my sisters that it was no longer safe for Mom to travel by herself. My sister flew to Albuquerque yesterday to pick her up.

I was working last night when they got in, but I arranged to pick Mom up and take her to lunch today. Seeing Mom was kind of painful because she looks so NORMAL and well put together. Mom has always been a sharp dresser and she has so far kept this ability even in the midst of her illness, and she looked really good today. Seeing her at first glance, you'd never suspect there is a thing wrong with her, and it's painful for me to know that her mind isn't there like it used to be. She has real issues with making decisions, and can often repeat herself multiple times over the course of a meal or conversation. For a long time, I think she was covering (quite effectively) the fact that she was having any problems with her memory...but now, it becomes pretty evident after talking to her for a couple of minutes.

We did have a very good lunch, though. I took her to the club/spa I recently joined, and we were both very impressed with the lunch buffet. I thought the salad bar was especially good...instead of having to toss your own salad, you pick out the ingredients you want, and a chef chops them up, mixes them together, and adds your dressing of choice. They had a wide array of vegetables along with chicken, different types of cheese, and some cold cuts to choose from. Anyhow, it was the best salad I've ever had. Mom really enjoyed her lunch also, and I was glad to get a chance to spend time with her (as well as give my sister a break so she could go get some shopping and errands done.) We had a very good server...Mom forgot a sweater she had with her, and I didn't notice it myself, but the server followed us down the stairs and got it back to us before we left.

After I dropped Mom off back at my sister's, I had to run home and get ready for work. I'm sorry I won't get to spend more time with Mom this week. However, I'll make the most of what time I do have with her. I hope everyone reading this blog, whether you're working or have the day off, single or married, has a great Thanksgiving and can spend the day with one or many people they care about. Remember, as Sully likes to remind everyone, THANKSGIVING COMES FIRST!

Another "Lack Of Ideas" Day

2008-11-24T13:53:00.005-05:00

I'm pretty proud that I've stuck with NaBloPoMo this month, and I think I've gotten some good writing done so far...and the month is not yet over! However, there are some days where I have a limited amount of time, and I can't think of anything worth writing about. So you get to read about my WRITER'S BLOCK, isn't that EXCITING?

My mother is coming in from Albuquerque today...my sister flew out there to go pick her up...and I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her. Last year she stayed at my place, and while I love my mother, this year I am THANKFUL that she is staying at my sister's. Mom requires pretty constant attention any more, and I'm working all week. However, I do have off Thursday afternoon (although I go into work that night at 10 PM) so I will be able to enjoy a nice family dinner at my sister's place. The turkey I consume should enable me to fall asleep that afternoon before work pretty easily.

I just found a clip on YouTube of what German pilots do for fun at the airport. It is completely unrealistic, of course, but it's very funny, and the special effects are pretty well done. Enjoy.