Westbound and down!

This is the weekend my truck goes on it's first real road trip. Pulling a 3,000 pound metal flatbed with a '67 Galaxy on it from Lawrence, KS. to Laramie, WY.. I've had "her" a year, and she barely turned over 8,000 miles this last week...

No real news at work; they are taking the "higher ups" in all the locals to Memphis this weekend to explain the contract to them, so they can come back and explain it to us this next week so we can vote sometime late in the week or on the weekend. I was told we won't see anything on paper 'til around Wednesday. Rumors abound...

So I'm going to figure that worrying won't change any of it, and that no matter what they throw at us I will be all right, somehow. My depression of a few days ago (that feeling of being relegated to the scrap heap) has given way to a resolution to survive.

Thank you all for the kind words and kind thoughts; they meant very much during some dark hours!

May your weekends be fantastic!

alan

Here we go...

At 3AM they say they have an agreement. The preliminary things I'm seeing look like GM got most everything they wanted...I'm almost afraid to speculate on exactly what at this point, hoping parts of what I'm reading are guesses instead of fact!

But as it stands, I'll be back to work this evening, for which I'm grateful! From there, we'll see what the "highlights" of the agreement are, which are what they give us to vote on.

Thank you all for the kind words and well wishes through this; they have meant more than you could ever know! My heart has been in my throat for most of these last few days, and the emotional swings have been extreme. You all have been very kind, and I appreciate it so very very much!

alan

When I grow to old to dream...

I might finally be there...

I just finished reading about the 11AM strike deadline the UAW has set. It seems that they've agreed to what GM wanted, but GM doesn't want to listen to what the union wanted in return. So by the time I wake up, I may be on strike for the first time in 29 years.

Though I'm dreading it, if not now, I don't know when. The media keeps printing numbers that are outrageous; they seem to think I make at least 1/3 more an hour than I do, and that my benefits are worth more than twice what the company is telling them I make. I've never known anyone in skilled trades to make an hourly rate like I've seen them printing, let alone a line worker!

I remember a few years ago they told us we needed to pay taxes for our parking lot because parking was a benefit we would have to pay for if we worked somewhere else. We do have to pay taxes on some of our other benefits...

They keep spouting off about the cost of labor; the cost of labor for my car from the time the first piece of metal goes on the line 'til it rolls off is about $600. Even if my benefits are worth as much as they say, that only amounts to $1300 for labor and benefits.

The CEO got a 3 million dollar bonus last year. I don't know what those below him got. I probably don't want to!

Oh well, off to bed and we'll see what "tomorrow" brings!

alan
__________________________________________________

4:00pm

I got up at 1 and found out they had walked; I've been reading the Detroit Free Press and Reuters since, channel checking CNN and now our local news, along with checking my local's homepage. I don't know what to think about all this, other than just hang on and ride it out. I have picket duty Friday morning if it goes that long; if it does go that long I expect them to be out of the car business in the U.S. before the next contract it up no matter what terms they get.

I got a phone call from someone we've had loans with through the years a little while ago; the Beneficial rep just wanted to know if we needed anything. Her Dad retired from GM in '74 and so when she saw the news she thought she would check in on us! I was a bit shocked...

Hope it doesn't come to that!

Thank you all for the kind words and thoughts!

alan

Weekend Rising!

As I write this, Talia is asleep on the couch and my clock is set for 10:30. That probably means a caffeine tab and up at 11, but that's what happens when you try and shift your hours for the weekend!

Tomorrow's plans include some errands, whatever she wants for dinner and I've been told "Dora the Explorer". I haven't met Dora yet...hopefully she's aDorable!

Meanwhile, I looked up another old friend on YouTube and thought I'd let her knock your socks off. I've seen "Jazz on a Summer's Day" before; Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan...everyone was there! If I had a time machine, Newport in '58 is of the many places I'd visit...(though if I go back much further I'm taking a kit with antibiotics in it, thank you!).

Anita O'Day first rose to fame with Gene Krupa's band, and throughout her life, she never forgot how to swing! She was still active last year, until right before she departed for a kinder place!



May each of your weekends be wonderful!

alan

Vacation day!

Tuesday off! A movie at the theatre early: "Shoot 'Em Up". Definitely better than you might think from the title; I'd of sat through it again immediately. I was one of those rooting for Clive Owen
to be the next Bond. They decided he was too old, and though Daniel Craig was good, I think they might have missed a sure bet!

We beat the rain home, and settled in for a 2nd movie, one Dottie didn't think she had seen until we were a bit into it. "Kelly's Heroes", from 1970. All star cast, led by Clint Eastwood. Dottie decided that might be one of her favorite WW2 movies. I hadn't seen it in years, and on DVD it was a treat.

Along with dinner we watched "Eureka", a Sci-Fi channel series we started watching last year. One we both look forward to each week...

We have a DVD recorder that my oldest and his wife gave us for Christmas and birthdays two years ago, and I two movies I had recorded for her skipped in the same place, so I put in one I had recorded for our 3rd movie of the night. She grumbled a bit when Leo the lion came on in black and white (she says that it reminds her of growing up poor with black and white TVs when everyone else had color). As we eased into "The Americanization of Emily" Paddy Chayefsky's writing along with James Garner and Julie Andrews won her over, and at 12:30 she went off to bed with a smile on her face. (No skips, either.)

I finished the last half our of a 3 hour documentary on Kansas City Jazz I had been working through this last week, recorded from PBS a year or so ago, then put in another movie I had bought last year. I don't know if any of you might remember Veronica Lake, but I fell madly in love with her back in my early teens. She walked away from Hollywood about the time I was born and only did two more movies after that, the last of which is called "Flesh Feast" from 1970. She died a few years after that much too young. Though it would be called a camp horror movie, a "B" or even "C" pic, it's better than you might think from the title and was worth watching just for her. I have a paperback copy of her autobiography I bought last year around here that I will get to at some point; it's so yellowed and the pages are so brittle I don't dare carry it to work, not that I have much reading time there anymore...

Meanwhile, the 5th load of laundry is in and I need to go move it. As I wander off, I ran across something very very special the other day. Many of you know my love of jazz. One of my idols was Gerry Mulligan, and I was fortunate enough to see him here in the early 90's before his untimely death (complications from knee surgery). He was an extraordinary talent; playing, writing and arranging some very fantastic things from the time he was in his teens.

One of the highlights of that concert was when he added singing to that list; though he might not be a Tony Bennett, give him a chance and then wait for him to pick up his horn...please?



May the rest of the week be kind to you each!

alan

I wish I were an ostrich...

and could just bury my head in the sand!

I've been avoiding writing a post for a couple of days now, hoping that by now our UAW contract would be settled and I could quit fearing a strike. No such luck at this point...rumors abounded all week at work and none of them were good. I remember my Dad telling me that while we got 4 pages of highlights to vote on that corporate lawyers had already vetted every detail in the "book" we won't see for 6 months while they have it printed...he said all that contract really does "is legally define how many ways they can f*** you". At the time I thought him very cynical; now at almost the age he was when I lost him, I know he wasn't...

He was meatcutter for years...I don't think his union even exists anymore!

When I hired in 29 years ago this month I believed that in return for my showing up every night and giving 100% to whatever task befell me that they would live up to their end of the bargain and provide me with the retirement and medical insurance they had promised. Others had walked picket lines and given up raises to get those benefits for us; now it seems that not only do they want to get out from under the obligations they agreed to, but they want to take money back as well. They keep referring to them as "legacy costs" etc..

How many shareholder dividends and executive bonuses did we pay for back when they were supposed to be putting money away for these costs? Had they put Roger B. Smith's "golden parachute" and the money they used to buy Ross Perot out to get him off the board when they didn't want to hear him tell them to "take care of the workers first" would that now cover this legacy? The money they used to buy EDS? The money they used to buy Hughes? The money they squandered on Fiat? (2.4 billion dollars when they bought in in 2000 and another $2 billion when they bought themselves back out last year!)

It's not like our medical is what it used to be, either! I used to have to pay the first few dollars of a prescription, and little else. Now it's all of the office visit, $10 to $15 a prescription, and any tests they don't feel like covering (including my wife's last pap smear)! Yes, I could go to an HMO and avoid some of that...I also would lose control over who I see, so I guess I shouldn't bitch about paying for the privilege of picking my own doctor off their list. That I was lucky enough to have one I trust be on it should be enough.

I know, it's still better than a lot of insurances, or none...

but somewhere along the way a promise has to mean something, someone's word has to mean something other than "until I can figure a way to get out of it"!
Just because you incorporate shouldn't make it mean less!

Beyond all of that and my little corner of it...

I heard a piece on NPR yesterday about the American Cancer Society changing the focus of it's next ad campaign. It seems that the biggest cause of cancer death is no longer cigarettes; it's a lack of access to medical care! Too many people have no insurance or not enough insurance to cover their illness.

So it's cheaper for them to die...

We claim to be a civilized nation; a caring nation; the "leader of the free world".

But don't get in the way of our profit structure!


Somehow we have to take the shareholders out of healthcare...

_____________________________________________________________

While I've been checking in here constantly to see if things have been settled, I've also been looking up old friends, musicians I admire, etc.. I ran across this clip and though most of you won't know Dizzy Gillespie you'll probably recognize the guy who comes in to join him. Some of you might know the host who comes in at the very end of the clip as well...



alan

My crew...

Caleb spent the night on Friday; Saturday afternoon Dillon and Talia came to spend the afternoon and stay overnight as well. Laura brought Bill's Neon in from Lawrence as I was worried about one of the brake pads that was very thin. While she worked on her homework, my crew changed the brake pads...

(Since they didn't come with clothes that could get really dirty, Dottie dug through the rag barrel to come up with stuff to keep them from ruining their clothes and shoes.)



Talia pulled all but the last lug on the driver's side by herself; Caleb had done 3 on the passenger side with my holding the body of the wrench and him pulling the trigger but Dottie (our photographer for the day) was still putting together clothes for Dillon at that point.



Caleb was off playing with pieces of rope he found in my garage while Dillon and Talia took turns tightening the caliper pins; then they learned about torque wrenches and got to tighten the pins until they felt the wrench click.



They were very proud of their dirty hands. The GoJo dispenser inside the garage door was an even bigger hit! When Talia first rubbed it on her hands she said "This is only good for smearing the dirt around, Grandpa". Then I gave her a rag and when she wiped her hands clean she really grinned. She was so impressed she went back out and picked up on of the old pads and rubbed it all over her hands just so she could use more of it! (I'm glad the pads aren't asbestos anymore!)



Everyone got to take a turn starting lug nuts by hand, learning what to feel for. Then they each got to take a turn spinning them down with a 4-way, learning how to tighten every other one in a star pattern so you don't warp a wheel or a disc rotor. I showed them the big torque wrench for tightening the lugs, but they've got a ways to go before they can generate 100 foot pounds, lol!

Dillon learned how to work the floor jack and he pulled one jack stand and Talia got the other as we let the car back down onto the ramps. (The Neons are so low in the front that my old Hein Warner floor jack won't clear the front of the car without it being up on ramps first.)

Then Dottie wanted everyone to gather in front of the garage for one last picture.



Yesterday was spent building models, watching "Care Bears" and "Stuart Little" and "Tom & Jerry" along with the IRL race. Dinner was leftover tacos and gorditas from Saturday's dinner. Their Mom and Dad came to pick them up as they were finishing, so they ate as well.

I don't think they ever realized yesterday was "Grandparent's Day", lol!

Quite a lovely weekend! I hope each of yours was as well!

Off to play carpenter for a bit before I go to work...

alan

Corners and curves...

Saturday slipped away without me getting much done. Dinner turned out well, though some of you would think I cheated...

One of my favorite "quick and easy" meals was always Italian Shake and Bake on boneless pork chops. I had been craving it for a while, and finally remembered to buy the Shake and Bake last week when I shopped. Either the Italian flavor has been discontinued or they were out; what I found was two new ones, a Parmesan and a Ranch.

So dinner after Dottie got home and showered was the Parmesan variety on boneless chops with fettucine alfredo and garlic toast; it was great! Dottie like it better than the Italian flavor, and I liked it as much.

She worked Sunday as well, and I rolled out early and rearranged the garage as things had been moved when I worked on John's brakes last week, so it took until noon to rearrange things and get to the carpentry tools and the wood. I had gotten the eave boards back up a few weeks back, and the soffets ripped, but needed to rebuild the ends of the eaves before I could put the soffets up. Of course, I cut the first one with the angle backwards; hopefully it will fit the other side. It took about 2 hours to cut the pieces and fit them to get the first one together. Now that the roof doesn't leak I had my little black and white TV uncovered for the first time in a year or so, and kept checking in on the IRL race, hoping to see Danica Patrick win her first. As it drew to an end I came in to make a glass of iced tea and cool off; the finish wasn't one I cared for, but at least everyone walked away!

Back outside and on to the back corner; of course, the one I cut reversed when I did the front came nowhere near to fitting the back. I measured it out and cut one; I reversed the top angle again...by the time I cut a 2nd one Dottie was backing into the driveway. She came in to shower while I put things together and then put everything away and locked up for the night just as the "vampire" mosquitoes decided I was their fix.

Dinner was leftovers from Saturday and just as good the 2nd day. Bill called as we finished and said his check engine light was on; I asked if the oil or temp lights were on and he said no, then I asked if it rattled or did anything funny. He had been complaining of a miss when he first started it, and I had told him some weekend when he had time he needed to put a set of spark plugs in it. He decided to take a night off work and come do them on Monday.

Dottie and I slipped out to see "Rush Hour 3" on Monday morning early as Bill wasn't going to be here before 2. If you've ever liked Jackie Chan in anything, go see this movie on the big screen! I don't want to give anything away, but it has some of his very best work ever, and the setting is absolutely fantastic!

Bill came about 2:30; I had already looked up part numbers and once we got the diagnostic code and looked it up (when Dottie had her Neon I bought the Dodge shop manual and Bill's is the same car a year newer) it said "number one plug misfiring". They were due at 30,000; he has 54,000 on it. We also changed the air filter, the oil, and rotated the tires. He has a brake pad getting thin, so he's supposed to get it back to me this next weekend for me to change them even though he has to work. I told him if he can get it here on Friday before he goes to work his Mom will take him back to Lawrence and I'll do the pads and return it Saturday evening...I'd rather do that than have him chew up a rotor in the next few weeks, or end up doing them after it starts getting colder outside! I had him headed back home by 5:30 so he could get some sleep before he went to work at 10.

So today it was back to work and if I get my tail in bed in the next half hour maybe I can get up in time to put another one of those corners back together tomorrow before I have to get ready for work. It's supposed to rain off and on the rest of the week, so if I get up and it's raining I'll take my truck in for it's oil change (the dealer is still doing them for free).

I had planned to blog hop tonight, but it's 4:37, so I'm not going to get too far before my eyes cross...hopefully tomorrow night I can "make the rounds".

I hope the week is being kind to each of you!

alan

3 days off!

This weekend has kind of snuck up on me...I knew it was coming but had my doubts about ever really getting here!

I slept later than I should have today, got up and paid bills and then went out to run errands; in a few minutes I'm going to go start dinner.

I thought of titling this "And Another One Bites the Dust", but don't want to seem to be gloating over someone else's misfortunes. Suffice it to say that were all the hypocrites out of office, DC would be a ghost town!

Tonight, a leisurely dinner and some TV with my wife; tomorrow back to work on the garage and possibly a grandchild to keep us company overnight. Dottie is off on Monday for the holiday (hooray).

I'm really looking forward to this!

On other fronts, I'm officially "old" now; after over a year of my nagging, my wife has consented and I just signed us up for AARP. Later this month I'm towing a car to Laramie, Wyoming for one of my nephews so the older nephew can put an interior in it as his final school project. Hoping that between AARP and AAA I could get a decent room rate, among other things, it seemed like it was time!

This will be a flying trip, though, leaving at noon on Saturday after I work the night before and driving back on Sunday. Dottie gave up two of her vacation days in November (one was her birthday) to co-pilot, for which I'm grateful, since she's the only other one going who's ever towed anything that big!

The fun part is going to be going back to get the car when Brett graduates in December...somehow I'm not sure the weather is going to cooperate! I'm looking at a set of Blizzaks for the back of the truck, just in case!

:o)

alan

5AM...

After I came home and read my e-mail I tried to blog-hop around and visit most of you. I should have been trying to put together a router table, but I'm sure it will still be waiting for me tomorrow, or tomorrow night!

I've been picking up some tools of late with building some furniture in mind. Dad had a radial arm saw he could make do most anything, but my brother-in-law got it when Dad died. In digging back through some of Dad's books I've figured out that there is a lot a guy can do with a router that Dad did with his Dewalt, and if I'm lucky I can get away with my new circular saw and a good rip guide for the major cuts I need to make, at least for a while.

This old house has some places you can put shelves and such for storage, but not in a size you are going to buy anywhere. Dottie wants some kind of doors on anything like that to keep dog hair and dust out; with the router I should be able to cut tracks for sliding doors.

I've also thought it might be nice to build some things that might still be around when I'm gone; I have cabinets and things that Dad made 40 years ago...

Dottie used to tell me it would be nice to build a grandfather clock for each boy's family; I went and priced the one that Dad bought back in the early 70's and got a real case of sticker shock!

Maybe a couple of wall clocks instead!

:o)

Humpday...sometime's I wonder whether I'm over it or it's over me, but I looked in the Union paper that just came out for the month and didn't find my name in the obits, so I guess I shouldn't complain!

Yes, I actually looked...

alan

watching the wheels go round and round...

Up a little bit ago to find out that Gonzales has deserted ship at the Justice Department...not that I really expect that to change much, just a new round of review and stalling on all those documents everyone keeps asking for.

Friday afternoon I ended up with a grandson I hadn't planned on, as Noel had a doctor's appointment and Caleb and I kept each other company while they were gone. It was a nice treat on a workday!

I got up Saturday and we took Dillon out to the park along with his bike and mine. When we started he was complaining about having to wear his helmet because it makes him sweat and no one else does. I pointed out to him that I always do...along with a pair of gloves as I'm allergic to "road rash". About a half hour later he managed to flip himself off his bike and to a face plant onto the asphalt at between 15 and 20 as he was trying to pedal away from me. He landed on the right side front of his helmet and it made a very sickening "thwock" sound as he hit, but the only damage was a skinned knee. Suddenly he's decided he likes that helmet a lot! On the way home I pointed out 3 couples on Harleys alongside us and asked him "who's smart and who isn't"? After he looked for a second he decided that the one couple that were wearing helmets were the smart ones.

Not that I used to in my motorcycle days, except when I had to!

After we ate lunch his parents came to pick him up, and John figured out that his Caravan had shelled the right front outside disc brake pad. He went home to price parts and see if they were in stock; Dottie and I went to shop and run the weekly errands as I hadn't done them on Friday, and Penney's had kids clothes on sale so it was a good time to shop for Caleb's birthday this next month.

By the time we were done it was 9:30 when we stuck some shrimp in the oven for dinner and sat down to watch a bit of TV.

Sunday we went to an early show of "Stardust". One we'll be buying the week it comes out on DVD. I pointed out how badly the critics were slamming it the other day, and how well it rated on the IMDB; I think the critics must not have stayed for the whole movie...I remember seeing some tapes on sale in the old days of VHS that were Siskel and Ebert's review tapes and they cut a 3 hour Tom Cruise movie down to 5 minutes.

Sunday afternoon before John came I rebuilt the dripping faucet in the bathroom, then at 4 when he arrived Dottie started dinner while he and I started on his brakes. At 6:30 the van was done and we were sitting down to eat; not bad for a set-up I hadn't seen before ("they're all the same, they're just a little bit different" I remember an old instructor telling me once 25 years ago).

After dinner while Noel and the kids finished watching "Escape from Witch Mountain" he and I took it out for a test drive and he got to feel the new pads seat in; perhaps when I'm gone he'll not be afraid to do his own or help his brother when the time comes. I had bought a new tool set for seating the piston back in the brake caliper, after having used a large "C" clamp for years; it worked well and with the brake jobs I have left to do in my lifetime and those that will follow, it was well worth the $20 I spent for it!

Off to gather the trash and get ready for the start of another work week. I hope the weekend was kind and Monday was as well!

alan

Wiped out...

when I drug myself in last night, so I didn't write the update I'd intended.

I burnt my first vacation day in quite a while on Tuesday. Dottie was off, but since she has been trying to get all of her "annual" doctor visits done, she had an 11 o'clock with the orthopedic practice that did her hip and knee joints; that let me sleep in 'til 1 and actually get 8 hours after my 10 hour shift the night before. I let my physicals go sometimes as the doctor bills ebb and flow, but since she lost her kidney 5 years ago, her bloodwork is critical, plus she needs refills on her blood pressure medication. When she had the hip and knee done they told her they needed to do annual follow ups on that as well; now 5 years out they said she's doing so well they'll make it 18 months. All she has left now is her mammogram and another year is comlete.

After we ate, we finally made it out to catch the "Transformers" movie we had been putting off because at 2:23 it was a bit long to catch before I went to work on her days off. Good movie! Never thought a robot movie would have me in tears...(I keep telling you I'm easy!)

We picked up some barbecue on the way home and settled in with one we missed in the theatre but had purchased; "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock. Somewhat what I expected, somewhat not; very good movie and the "extras" on the disc were really good. There is a long piece about people who have this gift/curse in real life...

After she went to bed I ran laundry and watched the 3rd "Ghose in the Shell" movie: "Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society". Every bit as good as the first two movies or any of the mangas!

My first "graphic novel" was "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman" and it's sequel, having been drawn in by the movie. I never thought at almost 50 I'd start reading them! Somewhere during that I saw a reference to the first "Ghost in the Shell" movie, and one of the cable networks was running the first TV series based on it. Even though I jumped in mid-series, I was hooked. The movies and books are written with so many layers of things I can see coming in the not so distant future, they make you think for weeks and months afterwards.

So here it is, late Thursday afternoon, I'm halfway through my first cup of coffee, and my week is pretty much gone! Tomorrow I run the errands and shop as we are trying to "borrow" one of the grandkids to spend the night tomorrow night, and Sunday we're going to try to make an early show of "Stardust". Despite some of the things that have been written about it, it's still ranking 8.2/10 with 6,267 votes on the IMDB so that's always a better indicator for me as to what's worthwhile or not!

As I've been clicking back and forth to link movies, I see Bill Murray got in trouble for DWI...in a golf cart! I'm here enough I tend to read their news page the five days a week it updates.

So, down to two hours before I go out the door; time to "get moving"! May Friday and the weekend be kind to you all, and hopefully I'll drift through to see you all Sunday night, late!

alan

A New Atti "Tude"

Someone I really admire has put together a news site; hopefully you will all think as highly of it as I do...

I wasn't going to post tonight, but when I saw this I just couldn't resist!



I borrowed this from YouTube after I found it on Hill's new place...funny how he had it right then!

So did he have a dumb implant, or???

Hope the weekend was kind, and that those of you in hurricane country are spared a visit from Dean! Since New Orleans hasn't been put back together yet, I don't want anyone else standing in line!

alan

August 15

72 years ago today one of our brightest minds was lost. He could change opinions using nothing but words and wit; he could have been President easily enough had he wanted to.



Always curious, he tagged along when another Oklahoman was exploring freight routes over the North Pole, and on August 15, 1935 they lost their lives at Barrow, Alaska.

I used these quotes in a post over a year ago, but they are timeless, perhaps even poignant given our present circumstances.

Thank you, Will Rogers!


"Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do."

"About all I can say for the United States Senate is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation."

"Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even."

"Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?"

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."

"On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does."

"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke."

"I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him "father."

"Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators."

"Things in our country run in spite of government, not by aid of it."

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer."

"Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth."


This last one I have to paraphrase, but the same gentleman once asked:

"If the opposite of pro is con, then the opposite of progress is...?"


All quotes from Will Rogers, Nov. 4, 1879 - Aug. 15, 1935

alan

The hours grow longer...

We finally hit 9.7 tonight. I left for work at 4:30PM; I got home at 3:30AM.

Little sister's 48th went well, thanks mostly to Dottie. Mom used to cook a birthday dinner for each of us; after her MS started getting worse, I started cooking for Cindy. Usually something of my choosing. What she's really wanted all these years is pot roast the way Mom used to burn it...

So Dottie volunteered to cook it for her; 4 chuck roasts and it still wasn't enough for everyone to have seconds, though there was enough for Cindy to have leftovers for herself and her family the next day. I got up and shopped on Friday on 6 hours sleep, then between getting Mom picked up at the nursing home and getting there early enough to start the 4th roast (Dottie cooked 3 the night before) I got 4 hours on Friday night before it was time to get up Saturday morning.

Cindy was truly shocked at her gifts; it seems she had completely forgotten her Amazon list, lol!

Sunday we went to see the 3rd Bourne movie (4 thumbs up) and shopped our way home. That night I cooked pork chops and fried mushrooms and we watched "Bubba Ho-tep". I picked it up at Borders on Friday while I was running errands, as I had wanted to see it (Ossie Davis is a favorite) and had never seen it at the rental store...very glad I picked it up! Dottie had some qualms about watching a movie set in a nursing home, since she works in one, but laughed enough that I was forgiven by the end.

Thank you all for your kind words and your encouragment as I try to work these new hours and still have some kind of life!

10 'til five...off to bed!

alan

Just to end the week with a smile...

one of the funniest things that's hit my inbox in a while! This came from a teacher friend; I'm not sure where she found it...I blanked the state name...

These are real excuse notes written by parents in a ********* school
district. Spelling and punctuation were left intact.

1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.

2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.

3. Dear school: please ecsc's john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse gloria from jim today. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.

7. Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.

8. Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

9. Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

10. Please excuse pedro from being absent yesterday. He had diahre dyrea direathe the sh**s.

11. Irving was absent yesterday because he missed his bust.

12. Please excuse jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.

13. I kept billie home because she had to go christmas shopping because i don't know what size she wear.

14. Please excuse jennifer for missing school yesterday. We forgot to get the sunday paper off the porch, and when we found it monday. We thought it was sunday.

15. Sally won't be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her
funeral.

16. My daughter was absent yesterday because she was tired. She spent a weekend with the marines.

17. Please excuse mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps.

18. Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.

19. Please excuse brenda. She has been sick and under the doctor.

20. Maryann was absent december 11-16, because she had a fever, sorethroat, headache and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever an sore throat, her brother had a low grade fever and ached all over. I wasn't the best either, sore throat and fever. There must be something going around, her father even got hot last night.



Little sister's birthday is Saturday, and hopefully Sunday Dottie and I are going to slip out early and see Jason Bourne; may the weekend be kind to each of you!

alan

May my grandchildren...

live to see a world where people talk instead of kill each other!

My words, posted here. Please click if you have a few minutes...

alan

And so it begins!

New schedule this week; 10 hour days, and start time for the line moves to 5pm. I slept a bit later today knowing I'll be driving a 16,000 pound machine through narrow aisles with people running out in front of me at 3am. Hopefully I can settle into a sleeping schedule that still allows me to get something done!

It's not that my wallet won't appreciate the hours, and it's not that I won't mind that they can only schedule a half dozen Saturdays a year while we're on this schedule, but when you come home at 4 in the morning and take a shower you don't even have time to watch some TV or something if you plan on getting up by even 1 in the afternoon with a decent night's sleep. I've never been one to function well on less than 8 hours, though I can do it for a few days, it rapidly catches up with me.

So up at 2 this afternoon; it's 98 outside and the heat index is 110. I should b piecing in some of the wood around the eaves of the garage to get it ready to paint, but the idea of going out there right now doesn't much enthuse me!

If I'm even more erratic than I have been of late visiting you all, please bear with me while I try and settle in to these hours!

alan

OK, that didn't work, lol!

My sister sent me a .gif of "Alfred E. Neuman" that morphed into "W." and I tried to post it, but it didn't morph anymore when I did...sorry, I tried!

So instead I'll just thank you all for the kind words on the photo post below, sip my cappucino and try and slip outside to work before the heat of the day rolls in!

alan

Monday blues...

A few weeks ago, while on "vacation" I had mentioned we took the older two grandkids to a Natural History Museum. Parts of it they enjoyed, parts they found boring; at almost 8 and almost 6 I can understand that...

One part they didn't like was when I asked what they thought of their cousins. There was a display of the entire human genome transposed with that of chimpanzees; it took up an "L" shaped wall that would probably be at least 6 feet by 12 feet. The differences were highlighted, and though it would have been easy to miscount with all the other distractions, I only found 10. I couldn't have missed more than a few...

So I took a photo of my cousins and I-



When I turned around Dottie was trying to help Talia look through the vertical scope on one of the displays-



so I went over and knelt on one leg so she could stand on it instead of Dottie trying to hold her.

For years now this museum has had a display that shows something of the real world in real time; the kids were impressed with this one!




We showed them that the bees are so smart that the ones that are carrying pollen back to the hive walk on the bottom and one side of the tube, and the ones going back out walk on the top and the other side. If only humans were as courteous on the road!



I should have probably tried for a better close-up of the hive, but keeping an eye on which child was doing what and where was about all the 2 of us could handle!

One of the floors displays snakes and some of the other "critters" native to our state. The kids are still talking about the snakes. By the time we finished that last floor, Dottie and I both were about walked out; Talia needed to "go", so I sat down on the steps while Dillon was looking over the rail at one of the fossils he found so boring earlier-




Little did I know when I tripped the shutter, lol! So I'm being a bit vague about the name of the museum, just in case, though I'm sure they must expect this to a certain extent!

We got Bill moved out of his (thank goodness) walkout basement apartment and into the 3rd story one they were moving into. We're very glad the fridge, washer and dryer came with it, as getting their treadmill and excercise bike, along with a full length sofa, queen size bed, and two computer desks were enough big things to deal with for us older folks! Her Dad came and helped, and I'll be forever grateful, as it was raining off and on, 90, and the humidity was terrible! They didn't have power until today, so the only A/C was in our trucks as we made trips back and forth, and in the old apartment as we were loading up. The staircase was narrow enough that the bed and the couch had to be passed over the rail at the top of each set of steps because it wouldn't make the corner. The treadmill we would get to the top and then lean it to shorten it enough to go around the rail, but it's a heavy commercial one. I thought it might kill us before we got it there!

We started at 8 and got the small chest freezer moved to my sisters so it could plug back in, then got their bed moved before the rain started or her Dad got there. Though it was a queen, it isn't a top dollar one so Bill, Laura and I could handle it before her Dad got there. Laura had worked the night before, so she was already exhausted, and after the last of the big things were moved her Dad took the things they weren't taking (dining room set and tables) with him and headed home. Laura went to my sisters to sleep, and Dottie, Bill and I made the last half dozen trips with clothes and smaller things.

By 8 when we made the last trips up the steps it was getting too dark to see in the apartment, Bill was exhausted and Dottie and I were pretty wiped out as well. We went and bought them some cleaning supplies and left them at the old place and they were going back to clean this morning; I spackled nail holes and then we ferried Bill and his car to my sister's house to sleep a few hours before Laura woke up and they went back to clean. She was planning on getting up at 3AM, as she also had class today and they were trying to catch the utiliities people at their new apartment as well.

We got home a bit after 9, got Dottie through the shower and started the laundry she needed for today, then I ran through before the washing machine hit the first rinse. By the time we ate it was 10; Dottie went to get up to put her plate in the sink and her replacement knee wasn't very happy...by the time she felt like moving again it was a bit after 12 and she went to bed. I kept our laundry running until 4:30AM.

She was up at 8 to go to work, I slept 'til a bit after 1 and have been running laundry since. Now it's time to start getting ready for my shift...hopefully less than 9.8 like they his us with last Monday!

Hope the weekend was kind to you all and that the photos bring a smile or two to lighten those "Monday blues"...

alan