Olympic Thoughts

During the 2006 Winter Olympics we have had two athletes who have let down their respective teams by virtue of being typical American "hot dogs". Bode Miller was the favorite to win a gold medal in downhill skiing, and he finished out of the medals. He shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't care, and that it saved him a trip all the way down to Turin to attend the medal ceremony. He crashed in another event, and straddled a gate in the slalom. He's currently 0 - 4 which is fine, except we keep hearing rumors that he stays out late and parties before competing.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Jacobellis had the gold medal locked up in the women's snowboard cross, and by doing a special tricky method right at the end, fell and got the silver medal instead. She shrugged her shoulders and said the equivalent of "Oh well". They are both extremely cute, talented, athletic, cool, cocky, full of attitude and probably lots of fun at parties. You just have to love them. But they don't seem to be taking the Olympic Games all that seriously.

In addition to Lindsey and Bode, there are two other members of the USA Women's Ski Team who seem bent on expressing their individuality as they compete. Julie Mancuso skis wearing a tiara on her helmet. She says it's her "good luck charm". Resi Stiegler skis wearing a pearl necklace. Try that in the NCAA!

I guess I really like the attitude of other athletes from home and abroad who just seem somehow more "Olympian". Maybe it's a sign of my advancing age - I just have to go tsk tsk and shake my finger at everyone.

This author from the LA Times says it much better than I could:

X mars the sport
One spectator has had enough of those 'extreme' athletes at the Winter Olympics.
By Kevin Drum
KEVIN DRUM writes the blog Political Animal at www.washingtonmonthly.com.

February 22, 2006

AM I THE ONLY one who's finally had it with all the recent X Games additions to the Winter Olympics? You know the ones I'm talking about: the "sports" that seem to be more about demonstrating a politically correct hipster attitude than about antediluvian concepts such as competing to win. The current hall of shame includes aerials, moguls, halfpipe, parallel giant slalom and a ratings-friendly newcomer called snowboard cross.

I know it's probably bogus to be harshing on these sports — and vaguely unpatriotic as well — because without them the United States would be doing only slightly better than Estonia at Torino. But I can't bottle it up anymore. Call me stodgy, but it's not a sport if the competitors aren't serious about winning, and the X Games crowd just isn't serious about winning.

Don't believe me? Start with the outfits they wear. Serious athletes wear clothing that maximizes their freedom of movement and therefore their chances of winning. Say what you will about the full-body spandex suits worn by speed skaters, but they stuff themselves into those suits because the outfits help them shave tenths of a second off their time.

But the snowboarders are having none of it. Instead, they wear the same faux-urban-chic-meets-Nanook uniforms that they'd wear for a day of casual shredding at Mammoth. Can anyone pretend with a straight face that these uniforms are the best possible choice for athletes who are serious about winning a competition? Or for judges trying to decide whether a competitor deserves a 9.1 or a 9.2?

And then there's the iPod thing. Last Monday, when Hannah Teter won her gold medal in the halfpipe competition, I was gibbering at the TV set as usual when I suddenly noticed a couple of strings floating around Teter's head. "What's that?" I asked my wife. "Is a faux iPod look part of the uniform too?"

Nope. Nothing faux about it. Teter was wearing a real iPod. During competition. And the official NBC Olympics site informs me that this is common. I don't know if anyone has ever lost a competition because his iPod suddenly shuffled to a song he didn't like or because his earphones fell off during an inverted cab 900, but it wouldn't surprise me.

The final nail in the X sports coffin, though, was last Friday's travesty during women's snowboard cross, a latter-day mash-up of downhill skiing and roller derby. After the usual couple of wipeouts at the top of the course in the final run, American Lindsey Jacobellis was more than 100 feet ahead of the field and ready to coast to an easy gold medal.

But she didn't. In the world of X, demonstrating the proper I'm-just-here-to-party pose is more important than winning, and Jacobellis, who has apparently thoroughly absorbed this ethic, decided to demonstrate her mastery of ripper 'tude with a "method air" on the next-to-last jump. As all the world knows, she biffed the landing and then watched helplessly as Swiss snow-crosser Tanja Frieden passed her by.

And Jacobellis' explanation? "I was having fun," she told reporters afterward. "I messed up. Oh well, it happens."

In a real sport, "I was having fun" wouldn't cut it as an explanation. But then, in a real sport you'd dress to win, you'd ditch the iPod and you'd concentrate on the finish line instead of showboating for your homies. Bottom line: If they don't care about winning — or even if they're just pretending they don't care about winning — why should I care whether they win?

There. It felt good to get that off my chest. Please direct all hate mail to t.j.simerslatimes.com.


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Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

My English friend Mitchy is more understanding about this topic than I am. (see comments) Maybe my attitude and Kevin Drum's attitude stem from the Vince Lombardi influence: "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."

EXPO

Because we're thinking about putting new counter tops in the kitchen, we went to the Home Builders' Expo today to gather information and get free pens (!). It's a very popular event - it's held at East Junior High, and when we got there, the parking lot was totally full. Luckily for us, they have shuttle buses (school buses) over to the parking lot at nearby Cherry Knoll Elementary School. What a great idea! We enjoyed walking around and talking to all of the Corian/granite/quartz/engineered products people. Right now, we seem to be leaning toward one of the engineered products because of ease of maintenance.

The Expo is very well organized and it's arranged so that it's easy to visit all five of the areas and see all of the displays and pick up everybody's free pens! The Junior High is a beautiful venue - clean and shiny and well designed. We've enjoyed the Expo every time we've gone.

The sun is shining brightly today, with a beautiful bright blue sky. This morning at our house the temp was 4 below zero. As we were driving to the Expo, the temp had shot up all the way to 6F! When we left, we headed toward town, and East Bay was a gorgeous turquoise color - a nice change from the gray waters of January.

Downtown was jammed with people - and I had thought everybody was at the Expo! We went to the U&I for lunch, and it was packed too. Then we realized that after all it is Saturday, which probably accounts for the crowds everywhere we went. Note to self - go out to lunch during the week! The food was luscious, and we had a great time, even though we had to park over on the other side of the river! It was crowded downtown is what I'm telling you.

The University of Michigan men's basketball team is playing State in East Lansing this afternoon at 4 p.m. (shudder)
Update:

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team dropped a 90-71 decision at No. 16 Michigan State, Saturday (Feb. 18), at the Breslin Center to split the season series. The second match-up between these intrastate rivals was a shoot-out with the Wolverines (17-7, 7-6) edged slightly from the floor, shooting 51.9 percent (28-of-54) overall compared to the Spartans' (19-7, 7-5 Big Ten) 54.7 percent (35-of-64). While both teams shot in similar fashion, Michigan State's pressure inside and advantage on the glass helped them overtake the Wolverines.

Some Good News, Some Bad News

I finished the quilt this morning! I finished the quilt this morning! I finished the quilt this morning! Yippee!! It looks OK as long as you're not expecting perfection! All that's left is to cut off the stray threads, press it, and clean up the quilting area.

We've had winter storm after winter storm. We're buried. Dick has been out all morning with the snow blower and the tractor trying to dig us out. Snow is still coming down. More snow is predicted, and low, low temperatures. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day of the year. It seems as though winter came about two months late this year. This is not a complaint!

Dr. Lambert called Dick yesterday to say that the stress test shows some heart damage from a previous event, we don't know when. He says there's no evidence of a current problem, but the previous damage has decreased the output of the old pump. The Doctor is going to hook us up with a cardiologist for evaluation. (In my crystal ball I see testing in Dick's future.)

Mary Luanne McManus Peoples Van Avery reports the passing of another SLG husband. Cuyler Miller, husband of Sandy Youker died last Wednesday at his home in South Bend. So far we have lost Mary's husband Glenn (Digger) Peoples, Sandy N.'s husband Gene Neibaur, and Margo's husband Sherm Janke. So now there are four gone out of thirteen. Too many, too soon, too young. Mary emailed to remind me that Donna has also lost her beloved companion Bill.

Cuyler's obituary in the South Bend Tribune:

Article published Feb 17, 2006
Lloyd Cuyler Miller
July 8, 1934 - Feb. 15, 2006


Cuyler Miller, 71, of South Bend, passed away at 9:05 p.m. Wednesday, February 15, 2006, in his home.

Cuyler worked for the Bendix Corporation right out of high school and then after college he worked in the summers for the South Bend Parks Department while teaching school and coaching for Greene Township, Lakeville, and many of the South Bend schools. He retired in 1991 after spending his last 10 years of 34 at the original Nuner Elementary School in River Park.

Cuyler was born on July 8, 1934, in South Bend, to the late Lloyd “Gus” and Thelma (Nye) Miller, and had lived in this area most of his life.

On February 2, 1957, in Traverse City, MI, he married Sandra Youker, who survives. Also surviving are one daughter, Judy Lynn (Kelly) Low of Niles MI; one son, Michael (Laurie Jo) Miller of Warren, OH; five grandchildren, Andrew, Kyle and Emily Low, and Ryan and Christopher Miller; a brother-in-law, Alan “Bud” Schwalm of Mishawaka; a sister-in-law, Sharon Dean of Traverse City, MI; and several nieces and nephews.

Two sisters, Donna Schwalm and Betty Lou Miller, preceded him in death.

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in the Palmer Funeral Home, 2528 Mishawaka Ave., South Bend. Rev. Kathy Miller will officiate. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger, IN. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today in the funeral home.

Cuyler was a 1952 graduate from John Adams High School and attended Ventura Junior College in Ventura, CA. He earned his BA and master's from Western Michigan University where he played college basketball.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, 111 Sunnybrook Court, South Bend, IN 46637; to the Humane Society of St. Joseph County, 2506 Grape Road, Mishawaka, IN 46545; or to the charity of choice.


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Let It Snow

The world is a beautiful place when you get the kind of snow that covers every branch and twig. All day yesterday I felt like I was driving around in some kind of a snowy fairyland - like Narnia. I had a perm in the morning while Dick was at the Agency. We met for lunch at Bubba's, a most enjoyable experience. We brought home enough food for supper - and it was still delicious at supper time.

I went to visit Mother - we had a nice conversation about the residents and the helpers at Concord - it's really all she's interested in anymore, although she does love to hear the Dylan stories. She seems much improved since her bout with the flu.

Barb is also feeling better and has gone back to work part time. Such good news! And Laurie's biopsy was benign, so things are looking up in all directions.

We have more snow predicted for the next two days. There is a winter storm watch (warning?) for today and tomorrow - today all of the Traverse City schools are closed. Dick has prepared to be snowed in - we have all the ingredients for his patented veggie-beef soup which we call "Too Good to be Soup", and two wheelbarrows full of wood outside the back door. So bring it on - let it snow.

Deadeye Dick

Last weekend our esteemed and exalted (not) vice-president Dick Cheney shot his friend while quail hunting. This is such an unbelievable story...it will blow over quickly I think, especially now that Cheney has acknowledged that it happened (on the fourth day after the event). The humorists are having a field day - it just invites satire and irony. My favorite "report" about the shooting is this blog that Dick found in a newspaper on line. I especially love the first sentence! (And the last paragraph!)

Deadeye Dick Cheney

As you know, quail hunting is what passes for military service in the upper ranks of the Bush Administration. Dick Cheney knows what it is like to fire a weapon in anger, particularly when the birds flush from the bracken unexpectedly. George W. Bush has flown airplanes, many of them folded from his personal stationery. Donald Rumsfeld has piloted boats and submarines through seemingly impenetrable mounds of suds. And so on.

Now, as you have surely heard by now, the Vice President this weekend had a slight mishap while hunting , in that he committed the faux pas of pointing his shotgun in the direction of a friend of his. Also he pulled the trigger. Sort of, you know, shot the guy. In the face. "Peppered" him, in the quaint vernacular of the sport. The fellow is doing fine at the hospital. But right here's what's wrong with the mainstream media: The stories don't tell us whether Cheney managed, in the process, to bag the bird. Seems to me that our sense of the man's overall competence pivots on that crucial unreported factoid. Who cares about his friend, did he hit the target???

I find the story reassuring. Cheney is a man who doesn't just talk the talk. No, if he's going to send American soldiers into harm's way, where they might be shot at any moment by a deranged fanatic, he's also going to do the same thing to his close personal friends. He's giving his hunting buddies a taste of life in the Cheney Era, when you count yourself lucky just to get out alive.

Torino 2006

Dick and I worked on measuring and squaring up the quilt today - we only had one melt-down (me). I was a nervous wreck because it involved cutting...eeek! But the quilt is square. Hooray!

The winter olympics are in full swing. Thanks to TiVo, we can watch most of the coverage with no commercials - a real time-saver. I've enjoyed the skiing, the speed skating, ski-jumping, luge, and to a lesser extent the figure skating. I never expected to be so fascinated by the snow-boarding, but it was intriguing, and so much fun to watch.

The Opening Ceremonies were fantastic. I've heard critics say that the ceremonies were a bit over the top, and maybe some of it was, but it was so much fun to watch the flaming skaters, the alpenhorns, the acrobats on the rings, the 4th grade girl singing the Italian national anthem, the "living" ski jumper, and Luciano was the icing on the cake.

Dick and I both enjoyed watching the march of the athletes - in my opinion France won the good-looking uniforms award. The hats of the USA team are a little silly this year.

Happy Valentine's Day! We went out to dinner at La Senorita. Also, we got a darling valentine from Dylan - a big hug by mail.

Inscrutable Islam

Amazing trivia about the inscrutable religion of Islam:

Did you know that:

*in Islam it's OK to blow up ancient gigantic statues of Buddha in Afghanistan, but it's not OK to draw a picture of Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to behead living people on video but it's not OK to draw a cartoon of Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to bomb mosques filled with the faithful on holy days, but it's not OK to caricature Mohammed.
*in Islam it's OK to blow up buses filled with school children, but it's not OK to express an idea in pen and ink.
*in Islam it's OK to bomb public transportation such as subways and trains during rush hour, but it's not OK to put Mohammed in a cartoon.
*in Islam it's OK to fly commercial airliners into tall buildings filled with workers and kill 3000 people, but it's not OK to draw Mohammed, not even a stick figure.
*in Islam, it's OK to blow holes in navy ships in port, but it's not OK to imply that Mohammed is associated with terrorism.
*in Islam, it's OK to burn, loot, and destroy embassies of any country with whom you disagree, but it's not OK to draw a beard on Mohammed.

Does Islam seem like a stable, respectable religion based on centuries of civilization, culture, and reverence?
That's enough - my brain is ready to explode.

First Finder!

We drove out to Old Mission to search for three new geocaches which have just turned up. We found all three, and on the first one, we were first finders. When you're a first finder, you're obligated to do the first finder's dance! It was a creative hide and we had fun with it. After three successful finds, it was lunch time, and we were very near the Peninsula Grill. I remembered how yummy their mac and cheese was at the mac and chee bake-off earlier, so that's what I ordered. It is still extremely yummy. Dick had a salmon BLT.

Back in town we went to visit Mother. She's still a little shaky from being so sick, but she looked good, and we had a nice visit. We told her about Laurie's "birthday party" last night at Outback Steakhouse. Dylan had "co-co-nut shrimp" and his birthday treat was Thunder from Down Under for dessert.

Laurie's procedure was today - she's back home and feeling fine. I'm so glad she had that done. Now we wait for the report.

Speaking of waiting for the Doctor's report, we still haven't heard anything from Dick's Doctor regarding flunking the EKG on Tuesday. Heavy sigh. Well, we take that to mean that it's nothing super critical, so that's a good thing.

Laurie says that Dylan's class is talking about family trees, and so he's going to take the Kanitz Family Tree Project Book to school and share the pictures and some of the information - for instance, Dylan's great-great-great-grandfather came from Saxony (Sachsen) in Germany. Achtung! Makes me proud.

Unfortunately, we watched Michigan basketball tonight. Oh dear, oh dear - now they've lost two in a row - first time all season. Another heavy sigh. This from mgoblue.com:

A monster game by Courtney Sims went for naught Thursday, Feb. 9, as the No. 22-ranked Michigan men's basketball team dropped a 94-85 decision to No. 19 Ohio State in Crisler Arena. The Wolverines jumped out to a 21-8 lead before the Buckeyes' shooting heated up, leading to a 49-43 OSU edge at the break. The game was tied 70-70 when U-M's Dion Harris left with an ankle injury, and Ohio State embarked on a 14-5 run that proved to be the difference. Sims finished with 26 points on 13-of-16 shooting and added 16 rebounds.

Intermittent LBBB

We reported to Munson at 8 a.m. for what was supposed to be a three hour cardiolite stress test for Dick. In actuality, we didn't leave the hospital until 4 and one half hours later at 12:30! His doctor prescribed the test just as a precaution before sending Dick to physical therapy for conditioning. As it turned out, Dick never performed the treadmill part of the test because he flunked his EKG.

He had the nurse write down what was wrong with his EKG because he knew that I would ask a million questions. What they noticed was an Intermittent Left Bundle Branch Block (electrical pathway). He either has blown a fuse or he has a short circuit. (Just kidding.)


They continued the stress test minus the treadmill by using Persantine, which stresses the heart without exercise. So they were able to get the before and after pictures of his heart. We should get a report from Dr. Lambert sometime this week.

We ate lunch at the Omelette Shoppe.

More than you want to know about LBBB (see link above):

BBB occurs when one of the bundle branches becomes diseased or damaged, and stops conducting electrical impulses; that is, a bundle branch becomes “blocked.” The chief effect of a bundle branch block is to disrupt the normal, coordinated and simultaneous distribution of the electrical signal to the two ventricles.

In contrast, LBBB usually indicates underlying cardiac pathology. It is seen in dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, hypertension, aortic valve disease, coronary artery disease, and a variety of other cardiac conditions. While occasionally LBBB occurs in apparently healthy people, its appearance should trigger a thorough search (as opposed to a simple screening) for underlying cardiac problems.

It sounds to me as though Dick may be in for a series of tests to prove that he's healthy. I firmly believe that he's in good health, strong, and full of stamina. He will turn out to be one of those healthy people, especially because his block is intermittent. (Dr. Nancy)

Monday, Monday

Happy Birthday Roger!

Mother reports feeling very ill. We spoke on the phone - she was not totally coherent. She's up and dressed and has been attended to. I'm sure she'll be fine. Aunt Ruth is home from the hospital.

I'm working on the quilt. I'm at the point of stitching the long lines along the squares in the "quilt sandwich". It's a lot of fabric to work with. I'm working in Dylan's playroom, which is always a little chilly in the wintertime, but the quilt keeps me warm because a lot of it is on my lap while I'm sewing. I have finished the "north/south" lines on half of the quilt, and I'm almost finished with the "east/west" lines on the same half. So far I have gone through two machine needles, but I went on a search and found about a dozen more, so I have plenty of back-ups.

Dick was super busy today. He worked at the Agency for hours and hours. Came home and ran the snow blower for a couple of hours more. Then Tom B. came over to discuss the Boardman River dam closings. Tom is interested in having us attend the dam meetings, since we are riparian property owners. It's an issue we're all concerned about.

We introduced Tom to Bessie, and I showed him my Kanitz Family Tree Book since he was my inspiration!

Super Bowl

A veritable blizzard visited us this morning - very snowy and blowy. It's quite a novelty this winter - it's been very mild and snowless here since before Christmas.
McLenithans have gone to Florida for the month. Evidently he hired a snow plow person to plow out the main access road while he's gone. The snow plow hasn't showed up yet. There was a snowfall of 8 or 9 inches in our driveway, but when we got to town the snowfall was considerably less - maybe just 2 or 3 inches.

We went to the library because Dick was out of books - then we visited Mother - not much happening these days at Concord Place. She's fine. Up to the hospital to visit Aunt Ruth - she was drowsy and resting - she should go home tomorrow after a weekend of x-rays and tests.

We watched Super Bowl coverage from 4:00 until it was all over around 10 p.m. The Steelers did a fine job - the score was 21-10. My favorite commercial was "A Little Help" in which the baby Clydesdale pulls the Budweiser wagon with a little help from his parents.

Oh Well

Off to the grocery store to get treats for the Super Bowl tomorrow - oh yes, and something for supper. It's very easy to spend $98 at the grocery store even for 2 people - but now I have lots of supplies for the next 4 or 5 days.

The quilting is moving along slowly. Today I sewed 2 lines the complete length of the quilt BUT - that Michigan State Spartan fabric has kind of a rubbery texture (thanks, Kevin) and it broke the needle on the sewing machine. I don't need much of an excuse to stop sewing, and that was the perfect excuse. As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day".

Poor old sad Michigan played a poor sad old game tonight. We couldn't even watch most of the second half. It was dismal. The other shoe has dropped. This from mgoblue.com:

February 4, 2006

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
Score: #23 Iowa 94, #21 Michigan 66
Records: U-M (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten), Iowa (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten)
Attendance: 15,500
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 9 -- Ohio State (Crisler Arena), 7:00 p.m.

Michigan's Win Streak Ends With Loss at No. 23 Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (No. 21 AP, No. 20 ESPN/USA Today) was stunned with a 94-66 loss at Iowa, Saturday (Feb. 4), at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Wolverines (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten) seemingly had full control over the contest in the first half, but the Hawkeyes (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten), who have not surrendered a victory at home in 15 games, shot 65.3 percent (32-of-49) overall compared to the Wolverines' 41.5 percent (22-of-53) to cut off Michigan's winning streak at five games.

I hope the Super Bowl is a much more inspirational game, and I hope the Steelers WIN.
Go Steelers, right Chip?

Avoidance

In order to avoid quilting, I decided to go to the mall and take a walk. Dick was planning to spend most of the day at the Agency. I walked around the mall a little bit - not really much at all, but it was hard anyway. It was so hard that I arranged to go to Thirlby and have a hemoglobin count taken. I'm almost positive there's nothing wrong, but maybe they'll come up with something. Maybe I just have to try harder. Go Nancy, go Nancy.

I had a really nice visit with Mother - she sleeps most of the day, but when she's roused, she's focused and alert - just not for long periods. I did some "chores" for her (trim the amaryllis, enter the SS into the checkbook, etc), and we talked about Dick's volunteer work, Laurie's biopsy, Jana's cold, and how Dylan is the cutest boy that there ever was.

Consider the quilting totally avoided - avoidance is one of my strong suits. Before I begin, I have to check with someone about the invisible thread - does it go on the bobbin too, or do you put some other kind of thread on the bobbin. These are the eternal mysteries of the "sew sheen".

First Date

Fifty-four years ago today, on February 2, 1952, Dick and I had our first date. I went to the dance with Delores, and Hermie went with Dick. During the dance, Hermie asked Delores if he could take her home from the dance. She said, "Well, I came with Nancy..." and Hermie said, "Well I came with Dick so let's all go together." So that's what we did. We had burgers and fries at what is now Round's, and they took us home. And that was our first date.

I thought it would be fun to go out to dinner to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, but I didn't think of it until after 5 o'clock, and the first martini had already gone down the hatch, so I didn't mention it.

Today I pinned together one half of the family quilt - I decided to baste with pins instead of thread. Then I ran out of pins. So now I'm thinking I'll quilt the half that I have basted, remove those pins, pin the other half, and then finish the quilting. I'm too cheap to go spend big bucks for more quilting pins. I'm kind of avoiding beginning the quilting - I have no confidence, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I think I'll probably avoid it until later this weekend.

A Few Glitches

We're still getting used to our new computer set-up. Let's just say that not everything is running smoothly...some things are fine, but other things are very frustrating. Dick is having mega-trouble trying to hook up his Palm to the hot sync. That's crucial for geo-caching. The air in the computer room was very blue all morning.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to adjust to the new HP digital camera and software. It's not quite as nice as the Kodak EasyShare. For instance I haven't figured out how to brighten the pictures. Plus - instead of using ofoto.com, the HP system uses Walmart (oh dear). I'm seriously considering just reloading the EasyShare software and doing it the old way. It would involve moving pictures all the time, but it would most likely be worth it.

Computer glitches are so frustrating - we decided to take a break and go geo-caching in the afternoon. Drove over to the Manistee Bridge area and Dick found 3 caches - it was fun and relaxing.

Michigan's basketball team did it again tonight, beating Penn State. They are playing so well, it's almost unbelievable. (Dion Harris, Dion Harris) The Michigan basketball program has been so bad for so long....I'm still kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. This from mgoblue.com:

Another big game by Dion Harris and clutch shooting from Daniel Horton helped make the No. 21 Michigan men's basketball team's debut as a ranked team a success Wednesday, Feb. 1, with a 71-65 win over Penn State in State College, Pa. Harris connected on a career-high seven three-point field goals en route to a game-high 23 points, while Horton hit a triple with 58 seconds left to put U-M up six and made two clinching free throws with 0:13 to play. Horton added 12 assists to his 13 points, and Ron Coleman chipped in with 10 points.

We're Networked

Today the Nice Man came and installed Dick's new computer (a marvel of Western Technology), brought back my cleaned-up tower, hooked up printers, and just generally got us back in business. My computer works like a dream now - it had been very slow and sluggish. Dick's new computer has so many bells and whistles that he's only been able to toot on a couple of them so far. He has the new flat screen monitor, which gives him tons of extra desk space - it's really nice.

I went back to the quilt shop for more goodies to help me put the quilt together. I got a thinner batting, and some quilting pins (outrageously expensive), ready-made quilt binding, and invisible thread. It sounds like a joke, but I had a hard time seeing the invisible thread! The quilting lady at the first store said with her nose in the air, "We don't carry quilt binding - we always make our own." Well the last thing I want to try is making my own binding on the bias! So I went to JoAnn Fabrics - they have lots of ready-made items. Whew! I may just be postponing the inevitable with all these shopping trips - sooner or later I have to go try to pin this thing together! Wish me luck.

Mother needed more Tylenol and Kleenex, so I went to Tom's and picked up those items. At JoAnn's I found an attractive arrangement of fake roses that was reasonably priced - so that will be Mom's Valentine decoration. We had a nice visit, she liked everything - especially the Arthritis Tylenol which has a cap on it that even she can open with her arthritic fingers! She was thrilled. She now has 5 boxes of Kleenex in her cupboard - she's afraid of running out!

Picked up a computer cable at Office Max and headed for home.

Nanny McPhee

Talked to Dylan this morning - yesterday he went to see the movie Nanny McPhee. I told him that I had tried to see it, but that it was sold out. So he began telling me the story, but then he had to jump out of the car to get to school.

I went to the quilt shop and got batting and backing for our quilt. It remains to be seen whether or not I can actually put it all together. The quilt top is finished. Looks OK - not perfecto, but OK.

Then I went to the mall and finally saw the Nanny movie. I enjoyed it, mostly. It would have been more fun with Dylan. Emma Thompson was great, and a couple of the children were outstanding. I liked the boys better than the girls. Loved the donkey, hated the food fight. I wondered if the bizarre colors and costumes were aimed at amusing small children....or what. Of course it was a fairy tale, after all. See link above.

Dreary Day

Rainy, foggy, misty, damp, foggy, dismal foggy day.

I went to visit Mother - Dick gave it a pass this time. We had a nice visit - she's becoming so immobile that she didn't even want to stand up from her chair. I put name labels on her new chest of drawers, her walker, and her commode.

I planned to go see Nanny McPhee at the mall after visiting Mother. The line was very long, and filled with small children. By the time I got to the box office, the movie was sold out. There was nothing else playing that I particularly wanted to see, so I just came home.

Dick had a load of firewood delivered yesterday - he's already begun the stacking process. This wood will be for next year. Our last propane fill-up was $750, which makes the firewod look cheap.

Looking Forward to September 23, 2006

Kevin Washington's wedding will be Sept. 23, 2006 in San Diego. Sharon says
that Kevin and Amy intend to invite all the relatives to the wedding. If we
all want to attend, it looks like Tom is prepared to put us all up at his
home!
(Quote: We can all fit here, I think. Dylan & Co. in my room, you and Mom in
the guest room, I'll sleep on the futon in the office, and Jana can
sleep on the couch downstairs (it's very comfortable). Or you can get a
room ... whatever you want. Unquote)

It will be a great weekend for our branch of the family - Sept. 21 will be
Jana's 40th b-day, and Sept.22 will be Dick's 70th b-day - so it will be a
good time for us all to be together.

Barb is home from the hospital, and Jim is home from Texas. Her radiation
continues on Mon. She had 2 blood transfusions on Friday. The battle
continues.

The Michigan basketball team actually beat Wisconsin today. It was a really good game. Wisconsin only had one loss, so we really weren't expecting a victory. Hooray for those guys. (Daniel Horton, Daniel Horton) This from mgoblue.com:

On the strength of a 15-3 record and two wins over nationally ranked teams last week, the Michigan men's basketball team moved into the Top 25 of both national polls released Monday, Jan. 30. Coach Tommy Amaker's squad is ranked No. 21 in the Associate Press poll and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, marking the Wolverines' first appearance in the Top 25 since March 10, 1998. U-M, which is in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten at 5-2, will get its first test as a ranked team Wednesday at Penn State.

Dick and I are fine. Mother is fine. The weatherman is promising more
snow.

Dick's Version

Dick's version:

We are back and pretty much recovered. We got to the house about 9
Wed. night and crashed. I didn't wake up until Dylan called at 7:30.
Yesterday we spent visiting. Your grandmother got through the week in fine shape. Fritz visited or called every day so she had some company. Her bumps from her last fall are almost gone and we had a nice visit. She didn't need us to do anything but she is relieved to have us back in town.
We learned that Barb is in the hospital. When she went in for
radiation/chemo on Tues. her blood levels were not quite right and
they put her in for IV's and observation. We visited there for a
little while. She's hoping to come home today.
With Jim out of town, Shelly took a couple of days off and Mel was
going to come up yesterday for the weekend. Unfortunately, she slipped
on the ice and broke her arm. Sharon came up instead. She came out
here last evening for dinner and to bring us up to date. If Barb comes
home today she is on her way back to Lansing tomorrow. Otherwise she
might be out here for a night or two. Jim is coming home today and she
wants to give him his space.

The Sun is Always Up There

When you fly in a commercial airliner, you're always above the clouds - up there with the blue sky and the sunshine. On the ground sometimes the clouds are dark and the days are gloomy, but the sun is always up there just on the other side of the clouds.

J. H. has been in Texas since last Saturday because his 38 year old daughter Natalie has died suddenly. Her memorial service was Tuesday.

Meanwhile, here in T.C.Barb was put into the hospital Tuesday
to try to stabilize her system which has been affected by the
radiation and chemo that she's been undergoing. Shelly has taken the
week off work to be with her Mom.

Melissa was coming up from Kalamazoo, but she fell and broke her
arm... Sharon is here from Lansing for a few days to be with Barb.
Sharon is coming here for dinner tonight. Latest word is that Barb
may be able to come home tomorrow (Friday), and Jim may be flying
home tomorrow heavily medicated with anti-depressants.

I'm so glad that we had such an idyllic week in San Diego - we loved
every minute of it. Now we have returned to the Real World with a bang and a jolt.
We're fine - and there's not that much snow here.

Up in the Air

Today we flew home on the Hospital Ship - Flight 400 from San Diego to Chicago.

There was a man on board who coughed and sneezed incessantly for the entire flight. He was joined at times by another man who only coughed and sneezed intermittently. But the first man never stopped - he was even coughing and sneezing the whole time we were sitting at the gate waiting to taxi for take-off.

Two seats behind us, a woman developed a monster nose-bleed during the flight. The flight attendants brought her tissues, towels, large trashbags, and ice packs - and eventually they all said she was doing much better.

We sat at O'Hare for four hours waiting for the flight to T.C. We both had good books to read, and there was terrific people-watching. The people ranged from the Hassidic Jewish man with full hair and beard, dark hat and long coat to the Sikh with the red turban. I saw collegiate sweatshirts for Indiana, Iowa, Gonzaga, and the Maryland Terps. We must have seen 14,000 adorable toddlers - such cute little ones, and so well behaved. Air travel doesn't seem to be a problem for young families these days.

We got up at 4:30 a.m. Pacific time and we landed in T.C. at 8 p.m. EST. It was a long day. But the travel went exactly as planned - no hitches and no glitches. I really wasn't ready to leave San Diego, but all good things must come to an end.

Tonight Michigan beat MSU 72-67 at Crisler Arena. It was quite a nice surprise for us. The State fans are blaming the outcome on the officiating. We know how that is - we always blame the officiating too. Welcome to the club, State fans.

Last Day of Vacation

The Last Chapter, in Which We Geocache in Poway in Tom's Porsche.

Here is what Dick wrote:

Our final day of our San Diego visit. I read my email and learned about two deaths that have occurred since we left Traverse City. On Thursday, Jim Hardy’s daughter Natalie passed away unexpectedly in Texas and then on Sunday, the mother of a former colleague and close friend, Sam Vicchy had a heart attack and died in Pennsylvania.

Both Tom and Conni had to work so we were left to our own devices. Also, this is a “Ride Day”. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Tom and a crew of about 6 other nuts take a mountain bike ride during their “Lunch Hour”. Now that we have seen the “trails” that they ride there is no other conclusion than that they are certifiably NUTS! These “trails” were made by goats. No four wheel drive vehicle could navigate them. The parts that are not vertical cling to the side of what can only be described as a mountain. Yeah, I know, they call them mountain bikes, but they should come with shoulder straps, no sane individual would actually try to ride on or in something while trying to navigate those goat tracks.

Anyway, this was a day for it and unfortunately, only the Subaru has the bike rack. Oh well! We got stuck with the Porsche again. For our last day, Nancy decided to humor me and go geocaching. There are so many caches in this area that deciding where to go is somewhat akin to choosing a Medicare Drug plan. We decided to head for the nearest real “town” Poway. There are 130 caches within a three mile radius of the downtown. For the sake of comparison, we think we are cache rich because there are 50 caches within 3 miles of the Visitor Center in Traverse City.

All went well on our Porsche cachemobile expedition until I managed to toss a cup of iced tea into Nancy’s lap. I quick, ran inside and grabbed napkins to mop up the car, then I took Nan home to change clothes.

For the day we found 10 caches. We also drove around and did a bit of sight seeing. We ate lunch at Wong's Wok in Poway. It was authentic (we couldn’t communicate with the waitress or the cooks) and good. Dinner was Mexican at a place named Chevy's, the same place where we ate lunch the other day.

In reviewing our stay, Nancy felt the whale watch was #1. I, on the other hand, leaned toward the Porsche cruise and geocaching. Poor Tom, he was such a great host he’ll probably have to have us back.

Altogether, we found 10 geocaches today - all in one small area. Two of them were in really nice parks, one was another fountain cache, one was one of those light pole things, one on a bridge, and several in bushes. It was a glorious day for it. Actually, it was a glorious day for anything!

Another Perfect Day

We headed out early for San Diego Bay and the Hornblower Whale Watching Cruise. (See link above.) There were only 41 people on the ship, and so it was like having a private tour. One of the crew said that yesterday they had 200 people on both tours. The time passed so quickly because we saw numerous blows, and the ship steered right for them, so we were able to see a lot of the whales up close and personal. Perfect day, good sightings, good company - it was almost my favorite activity of this trip, although it's really hard to pick a favorite. I loved the whole thing. The docent on this trip recommended driving out to the Cabrillo National Monument in the afternoon.

We had lunch at the Top of the Market at Seaside Village.

Cabrillo has a breath-taking view of San Diego, Coronado, and the whole Bay. The view is really the main attraction. My family humored me by watching 2 short movies - one on grey whales, and the other on Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo - both very enjoyable.

We had a great drive home through all types of San Diego scenery - from the ocean shore to the lush green of Balboa Park to the flat plains of Miramar to the rocky hills near Tom's house.

Here's Dick's version of our perfect day:

Monday both Tom and Conni had the day off and we all went whale watching. In the winter, the California Gray whales migrate south to their calving grounds off the coast of Mexico and can be seen just off San Diego Bay. We joined about 40 other “watchers” on a large (150 ft) vessel and sailed out of the harbor in search of whales. It was chilly in the shade but warm if one chose to sit in the sun out of the wind. We saw 6 whales up close, one came within 50 feet of the boat.
One group of four were displaying what we were told was courting behavior. They were swimming in a close pod with a great deal of pushing and rolling. Unlike the other group of two or three that we had seen, these four stayed pretty tightly bunched and would breath nearly in unison.
This was our second whale cruise, the first was a number of years ago off Maui. Based upon our two experiences, we believe that it is required that the ship have a hyper enthusiastic young female guide on board. Today it was Leslie. She really enjoys her job and was very excited at the prospect that the whales might be mating. Someone asked her what the other one was doing.The cynical crewman answered for her “He’s taking pictures”.
The cruise lasted nearly four hours and we were hungry when we docked. Tom took us to the “Top of the Market” at Seaside Village for lunch. He and I had clam chowder and then a sea food linguini, Nan went for pasta capelli with bay scallops and Connie had a yummy looking salad.
Following lunch, we drove out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument, the most southwesterly point in the continental US. The drive takes you through multiple naval facilities and the remnants of coastal defense batteries left from WW II. The views of San Diego are spectacular and once again we had the perfect day.
We were back at the house fairly early, five or so but Tom’s offer to take Nan out to the movies was politely declined. The day out in the wind and the sun had taken its toll. We didn’t even worry about dinner. Cheese and crackers, a couple of episodes of Monk and the senior citizens were counting sheep.

Wild Animal "Peck"

Here's Dick again with his review of our day:

This morning while Tom joined a group of Europeans who work/worked at Cymer to go mountain biking, and Conni went to church, we hung out, read and used the internet.

Nancy and Conni packed a picnic lunch and we loaded the car and set out to the Wild Animal Park.

The major event in the huge park was the tram ride, our driver was Alex, a young man of Japanese descent with a great line of patter. He was both informative and entertaining. It is great to look off across the valley and view various herds of African and Asian antelope, deer, giraffes, etc.

After a picnic lunch we visited the Lorikeet aviary and had our only injury. One of the lorikeets became jealous when Nancy was feeding another and so it took a chunk out of her hide. The keepers assured Nan that all the birds were inspected and were disease free. [To see a lorikeet, see link above]

We also enjoyed the gorilla exhibit and the lion areas but got tired and were ready for our tour of Cymer and Tom's lab.

We discovered that a lab at Cymer looks just like a lab at MIT/UofM/U
Dub. We also got to see what the heck an excimer laser looks like. We now know where Tom is when he goes to work even if we still don't know what the devil he does.

Dinner was grilled steaks, beef and salmon, with sweet corn and Tom's Famous Margaritas.

We are happy for Chip that Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl.

Roppongi's

Dick has been really prompt in writing up our days in San Diego, so I'm just using his - no need for me to reinvent the wheel!

Dick wrote:

This morning, Tom and Nancy started the day learning how to download songs onto her laptop and thence into her new Ipod. Tom kicked me off his computer to finish the preparations for a “surprise” for us. A little after 10, when the Ipod lessons were complete, he ordered us to get our shoes on and report outside for our “surprise” In the street outside was his Porsche Boxster named “Raven”.

Although I haven’t driven a stick for 35 years or so, it came back pretty quick and soon we were rocketing down the road. I don’t remember ever driving a car in which you can actually feel the G forces all through the gears.

The route he sent us on was down winding twisting hairpin turns and the car clung to the road like it was on a track. On one hair pin, we met a semi hauling a bulldozer right in the middle of it. He was over the line but our car swung through the turn with no trouble. As we were flying through esses and over dips, Nancy was yelling “Yee Haa!”

We even took a brief side trip to find a geocache. Although it doesn’t have the best ground clearance for two tracks, a Porsche makes an acceptable fair weather cache mobile.

In the afternoon, after Conni arrived, we took the more conventional Subaru and found a half dozen more caches after a fun lunch at a Mexican restaurant. [Chevy's].

Dinner capped off a perfect day. We got dressed up and drove to downtown La Jolla where Tom slipped the valet a $20 to park the car. It is good that we had reservations because the place was packed. As with just about every other restaurant we have visited out here, there was a party in progress in which the guest of honor was a young guy in full dress Marine uniform.

For our dinner we all ordered three appetizers or tapas. Tom and I leaned toward the exotic and seafood, Nancy looked for more traditional fare and Conni was true to her vegetarian tastes. The wait staff was outstanding! They were attentive without being obsequious. The young woman who was our waitress was genuinely friendly but none of the “Hi, I’m Peggy and I’m going to be your waitress”. Glasses were filled and refilled and used plates and silver were replaced with clean in a completely unobtrusive and seamless manner.

Tom and I could not agree on our favorite dish but agreed that it was either the shrimp and crab pot stickers or the broiled sea scallops on potato pan cakes. We both placed the calamari steak with hazelnuts a very close third.

Nancy placed the egg rolls with sweet and sour sauce in her number 1 position closely followed by the duck quesadilla. She and Conni both liked the kefir cheese and flat bread combination and Conni maintained that the tofu was as good as any she’s ever had. I was glad to hear that because now I know that I’m not a fan of even great tofu.

Tom picked up the tab and was pleased that 12 tapas and wine came in under $200. It was certainly one of the most memorable dinners Nancy and I have ever enjoyed. It capped off a fantastic day.

[The restaurant in La Jolla was Roppongi's, a pan-Asian/Asian fusion restaurant. See the above link]

Old Town, Coronado, and PB

Breakfast at Denny's is pretty much the same nationwide. But once you step outside the door after breakfast, then you know that you're not in Michigan anymore.

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is filled with historic buildings and displays of the way life used to be in southern California. We saw the McCoy House Interpretive Center, the Wells Fargo Historic building (Colorado House), the first Anglo school in San Diego (the Mason Street School), and the Casa de Estudillo - a reconstruction of a "middle class" Spanish home. (See above link)

There were several groups of school children visiting the park this morning. They were all very well behaved, and seemed to be attentive to the presenters. I was impressed with their behavior. At the school building, it was fun for me to watch the "teacher" explain the history of the school to the visiting kids. She was very good at her job, and the children were fascinated. The school was extremely small even for a one-room schoolhouse. We were surprised at how narrow the building was.

My other favorite was the Wells Fargo stagecoach in Colorado House. It was a big, beautiful coach painted bright red and yellow with the Wells Fargo logo on it. It was said to have carried a grand total of 18 people - nine inside and nine outside - but it didn't look possible! I enjoyed the Hints for Travelers immensely (spit to leeward).

Tom took us on another great tour of San Diego - we took the scenic route from Old Town to Coronado, through La Jolla. It's a perfectly beautiful day, and the drive was most enjoyable, especially with such a good chauffeur! Coronado Beach was gorgeous - Dick and Tom walked the beach but only came up with a couple of shells to keep. The new (to us) Coronado Bay Bridge is quite an experience. It's one of those flying bridges sort of like the Zilwaukee Bridge, but twice as high and three times as long. The view of Coronado Bay was spectacular.

Then Tom drove us to PB (Pacific Beach to those in the know). We sat and watched the surf pounding the shore, and joggers enjoying the beautiful surroundings. We parked right by Joe's Crab Shack, and so it seemed logical to eat lunch there. It was upstairs, so there was a great view of the ocean, sun, sand, and surf. It had plenty of local color and good food, a great combination.

At lunch Tom and I decided to go see Memoirs of a Geisha this evening. I don't mind at all seeing it for a second time! So we came home to take a nap, because certain people in this family tend to nod off in the evening without a nap. (!)

A lovely day...

Museum of Man

It's a beautiful day in San Diego! Balboa Park was on the schedule for today, and it was the perfect day for it. We started out at the Visitor Center, which turned out to be just a gift shop - I was disappointed. The Japanese Friendship Garden is just behind the Visitor Center - the bonsai was especially interesting and attractive. We found the Cymer, Inc. donor plaque - they've donated over $100,000!

My special desire for today was the Museum of Man, and there was no disappointment there. San Diego should be really proud of this museum and its great displays. The Pleistocene Era, the Mayans, Evolution, Primates, and the Kuna of Panama. My favorites were: the gigantopithecus blacki (for picture, see above link), the Mayan stela, and the fabric work of the Kuna - (it was indescribably fantastic.)

We ate lunch in the sculpture garden of the San Diego Art Museum. I've never had lunch at a place where you can eat outside on the grass and have chilled wine at the table. We didn't have the wine, but the two tables on each side of us did - the server came and added ice to the ice bucket during lunch. A new experience! There was also a Mobile sculpture at the side of the garden - we sat and watched it and watched it and it was fascinating.

After lunch we went across to the Reuben Fleet Museum of Science to watch IMAX. Before the show started, we all had a good time with the hands-on science displays. The movie was Mystic India. Very mystic indeed.

Back to Tom's house - take my shoes off - big glass of diet Pepsi - put my feet up - feel great - I love San Diego, I love Tom's place, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

**********

And here's Dick's version of our day:

Our first day at the Tom Steiger residence and we were greeted this morning by Conni before she had to get back to work. She told us of her planned trip to the Galapagos Islands later this spring. Tom took the day to escort us to Balboa Park. He dropped us off at the Visitors Center, (A gift shop with a small help desk attached) while he parked. We toured the Japanese Garden which is supported in part by Cymer. It was fun but we had to do a fast shuffle to get ahead of the guided tour.

After the Garden we went to the Museum of Man. It is a great display which currently features an extensive exhibit of evolution through the Pleistocene as well as an excellent series of exhibits on primate evolution. We also enjoyed an exhibit on the art/clothing of Panamanian Indians.

My favorite display was a modern shop tool cabinet with human tools from various epoch's. The tools ranged from a hammer and screw driver in the top drawer to assorted stone scrapers and hand axes in the bottom.

My favorite overheard comment was from a boy of about 10 who was with his mom. He was looking at a series of models on childbirth. Looking at the next to last, he was saying in a shocked and disbelieving voice, "You mean they grab the baby by his head and pull him out?"

We had lunch in the sculpture gardens. It is set up so that you order and pay and reeive a large number to place on the stand at what ever table you select. The staff brings the food to you. I don't know how they did it, perhaps it was chance, but the server, a different person than the order taker, brought out three different plates and set them in front of the proper customers.

Folowing lunch, we scouted out the miniature train, (closed, it looks like what the TC train could become at a different venue) and then visited the Science center and Imax theate Mystic India was a "documentary" of a young yogi of the 19th century.

California, Here We Come!

Today's entry has been written by my favorite guest author, Richard B.
Here is what Dick wrote:

After a long travel day, Tom picked us up at the San Diego air port at about 6 Wednesday evening.

It was a fairly typical day for airline hitch hikers (stand by passengers). Our flight from TC to Chicago was scheduled for a 9:30 departure but when we had freezing rain followed by 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow the day before, we knew there might be delays. Our plane was coming in from Marquette as the first flight always does in the winter. Its arrival kept getting pushed back until eventually, the empty aircraft pulled up to the gate at 11.

The flight to Chicago was quick and uneventful but we missed our connection at O'Hare and had to be rebooked on the next flight. That gave us 4 1/2 hours of book reading and people watching in the terminal as we made our way from gate G 12 to K15.
For once we were not the last standbys called for the San Diego flight, our seats were an aisle and a middle, over the wing on a Super 80. After buckling our belts and observing the flight attendant, we settled back to "enjoy" our flight to the coast.

My seat mate on each flight was a young man in the 18 - 21 age group and each was headed for his great adventure. Each is embarking on a journey of three months duration which will, at it's culmination, find them both in San Diego.
On the flight from TC to Chicago, I sat next to a young white kid from Leelanau County who is a student at MSU. This semester he is enrolled in a program through Pitt. that is college on a cruise ship. He is joining 700 other students plus faculty and crew. They sail from the Bahamas down to Brazil, thence to Capetown, on to India, Thailand, Japan, and then across the Pacific to San Diego. There are a variety of classes offered, this young man will be taking 12 credits.

On the flight from Chicago to San Diego, I sat next to a black kid from Chicago. He was fresh out of High School, the oldest child in the family. He was going to Camp Pendleton for three months of boot camp followed by a five year hitch in the Marines. He told me he was going to be placed in the Presidential security detail and therefore would not have to go to Iraq "or nothing' like that".

**********
Me again:

Tom drove us downtown to the GasLamp District looking for a place to have dinner. There were many lovely looking places to choose from. We went to Wyatt Earp's, which turned out to be a very posh gourmet type of a restaurant. We all ordered sea scallops, and everything was yummy.

Then we went to Tom's lovely home on Tivoli Park Row, and hopped right in to bed. We can unpack in the morning. (yawn)

The Sixties

This is Martin Luther King Day. Thinking about Rev. King and his untimely ending brings back a whole flood of memories of that dramatic decade of the sixties. Wow - what an intense decade! Our three children were all born in the sixties - and it seemed at the time to be kind of a dangerous world to introduce them to. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, the three major assassinations - two Kennedys and a King, a couple of major race riots, the war in Viet Nam, Civil Rights, an end to segregation in the South, the Cold War, the Six Day War - it's an unending list of monumental events. The Manson Family, the space race, Woodstock - welcome to the world, kids! Things seem intense now in the 21st century but it will really have to go some to equal the sixties.

The race riot in Detroit seemed right next door to us - we lived in western Wayne County at the time. We heard rumors and innuendos, but there was a news blackout, and everyone was nervous. We saw dozens of State Police cars heading down the freeway towards Detroit, and couldn't imagine what was going on. I remember driving through downtown Ypsi and seeing large groups of people congregating on the corners, and it seemed so ominous because we were kept out of the loop.

See the link above for more about the sixties.

***************

We are both feeling better today. We actually got out of the house and did things, just like real people.

Dick went into the agency from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. to work at his volunteer position helping people with Medicare.

I went to visit Mom, and took in the new chest we bought to replace her chairside table. I lucked out and found a dolly waiting in the parking lot - it must have been predestined. So I borrowed it temporarily, and it made moving the thing upstairs unbelievably easy. Ah yes, homo sapiens, the tool user! Mother loves the chest - it fits right in with the decor, and it has drawers for extra storage.

At home, we are getting ready for our trip to San Diego on Wednesday. Our beds are changed, our laundry is totally done, and we are partially packed! I have lists of my lists - we'll only be gone for a week, but I don't want to forget anything! I'm taking my laptop and my new nano iPod - Tom is going to download more goodies into it.

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Thanks Mitchy

I came across this fascinating little device while reading Scribblings from the Mitchy Side, and I just stole it outright. Thanks, Mitchy - I've had a bunch of fun!
See the link above for Scribblings.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Nancy!

1. Europe is the only continent that lacks Nancy!
2. Some birds use Nancy to orientate themselves during migration.
3. Nancy will become gaseous if her temperature rises above -42°C!
4. Nancy can taste with her feet!
5. The state nickname of Iowa is 'The Nancy state'!
6. Contrary to popular belief, Nancy is not successful at sobering up a drunk person, and in many cases she may actually increase the adverse effects of alcohol.
7. Nancy kept at the window will keep vampires at bay.
8. While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their Nancy!
9. Snow White's coffin was made of Nancy.
10. The original nineteenth-century Coca-Cola formula contained Nancy.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Dick!

1. All shrimp are born as Dick, but gradually mature into females!
2. About one tenth of Dick is permanently covered in ice.
3. Dick kept at the window will keep vampires at bay.
4. Dick can't drink - he absorbs water from his surroundings by osmosis.
5. Dick is the sacred animal of Thailand.
6. In his entire life, Dick will produce only a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
7. Dick has three eyelids.
8. Dick is the smallest of Jupiter's many moons.
9. A thimbleful of Dick would weigh over 100 million tons!
10. Scientists believe that Dick began billions of years ago as an enormous ball of dust and gas.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Friday the 13th For Sure

Dick came home from the Agency reporting that Coord 2 has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She will not be able to do office work for some time. She's expecting a regimen of chemo followed by surgery. We are wishing her the best as her treatment goes forward. Dick told her not to give it a second thought - her health has to come first. She's very dedicated, and I know she feels horrid about walking out at this point, but she has no choice.

Coord 1 is in Florida, so the MMAP office is woefully understaffed.

Dick thinks he may be coming down with whatever bug I have which is still making me feel ill. I hope not!

See the above link for interesting information about Friday the 13th.

Better Things Ahead

Here is the letter we got from Tom about our trip to San Diego next week. Now that's something to look forward to!!

TOM'S LETTER

My plan is to go in early on the 18th and work til about 1:00 then
come and get you and take the rest of the day off. That way I won't
get charged a vacation day. I'll take Thurs, Fri, and Monday as
vacation and leave you to your own devices on Tues. The Wednesday
you leave I'll just be a little late to work ... no big deal.

So the plan is shaping up like this: the Wednesday you arrive we'll
play by ear, although I'll be hungry so maybe we'll grab some lunch
downtown before heading up to my place.

Thursday and Friday we'll cover Balboa Park, Coronado, and Old Town
in whatever order our mood and/or the weather suggests.

Saturday morning I'll send you off on your Porsche tour and Conni
will join us by about lunch time. Then we'll do the Wild Animal Park
in the afternoon. Saturday night we have reservations at my favorite
restaurant (http://www.roppongiusa.com/).

Sunday mornings Conni usually goes to church and I usually go
mountain biking, so I don't really know what to do with you. Sunday
afternoon I thought we could do a little geocaching to show Conni
what that's all about.

I thought we'd do the whale watching on Monday since Conni will be
able to go and it's liable to be less crowded than on the weekend.

Tuesday I'm going back to work so you're on your own. Maybe more
geocaching. Or there's always Legoland :-)

Still feeling quite sick with no appetite. Dick has gone into the Agency for more overtime with Part D.

Warmed Over

The worst is over, but I've lost my voice, and I feel like death warmed over. This morning we took the Subaru in for repairs, and then headed right back home to the recliner. Slept fitfully - not happy and not able to talk. Not hungry - can't even think about food, which for me is a symptom of something majorly wrong.

In the afternoon I went with Dick to the Eye Center for his eye exam and new glasses. I sat in the waiting room and kind of faded in and out - still feel terrible. There was an obnoxious man in the waiting room using his cell phone seated right next to the sign that said "No cell phone use in the building". He was loud. It's really not fair, when I can't even squeak at the moment.

Still no appetite - can't even listen to food ads on TV or radio. Had some toast and tea, and Dick made some scrambled eggs around 8 p.m.

Woof Woof

Sick as a dog. In bed all day. Nausea and related gastro distress. Not good. Darn little bugs anyway.

Get Well, Mother

Went to check out how mother is doing. I took her an armrest thing for the john which will hopefully give her some stability in the bathroom. (Thompson's calls it a "commode", which I think is an odd term for it.) We don't want any more falls! I brought her a rose, and I hope that brightened her day a bit.

Afterwards I went to the Riverside Resale furniture store and bought a small table - well it's really a small chest - for her to use as a chairside table. The one she has now is far too small.

Dick went in to the Agency; he's working overtime these days to try to get people set up with the proper Part D plan. It's on his mind a lot. There are so many people in serious trouble over this extra-complicated government program. I think he feels somehow responsible.

Double Header

Went to visit Mother this morning. We had a good visit. It was time for her 2006 financial update, so I had a spreadsheet all prepared. (Are you buying this?) Anyway, I put her mind to rest by pointing out that she has enough resources to stay at Concord Place for 15 more years, or her 112th birthday, whichever comes first. She's still commenting on how much she dislikes the food - there's really nothing to be done about that.

Dick was working at the Agency - he was super busy. He phoned 21 different people concerning their prescription coverage (Medicare Part D for Difficult). While he was doing that, 24 more calls came in to the front desk. The Agency is being swamped with phone calls from unhappy elders who are finding that their prescriptions are not covered. I'm afraid it's going to take the insurance companies/government quite a while to get everything up and running, and in the meantime, people are left with no help because their discount cards are defunct as of Jan. 1, and some insurances cut off then as well. It's a horrible situation.

After visiting Mom, I dropped in on Dick and convinced him to go out to lunch with me. We agreed to meet in an hour at the Hard Luck Cafe. (Appropriate name for a MMAP volunteer's restaurant!) I went downtown for an hour and we had a great lunch.

Just after arriving home, I got a call from Betsy at Concord Place. Mother had fallen in the bathroom, hit her head, broke her glasses, and cut her eye lid and eyebrow area. She's fine - I went right back up there - a nurse came from Bortz and said Mom didn't need stitches or anything. Mom refused to call the Doctor - she feels OK - just a little shaken.

I took the broken eyeglass frame to the Cedar Run Eye Center, and they were not busy, so Mom has new glasses already. Same lenses in a pretty new frame. She thought it was magic that she could get new glasses so quickly! Betty still works at the Eye Center, and she always asks about Lue's kids, so I told her about Barb. I think Betty's going to write Barb a note.

Filled up the Explorer - almost need to take out a second mortgage to fill 'er up these days. Went through the car wash, and to Jiffy Lube. The car looks terrific.

UPDATED @ 4 MINUTES AFTER MIDNIGHT:
Concord called at 9:15 p.m. to say that Mother had fallen again. The official opinion of the staff was to call 911 and go to Munson ER to get an XRay. I said I would meet them up there. Dick and I beat the ambulance to the hospital by about 15 minutes. Mother looks like a prizefighter after 15 rounds. The cuts around her eye are still bleeding, she has a cut on the side of her nose also (from the broken frames). She has bitten the tip of her tongue, and her tongue is bruised.

The XRay was negative - nothing is broken. She was given a tetanus shot. She stood with assistance to see if she could bear weight, and then she was discharged back to Concord. It was two hours and forty five minutes from start to finish. She claims to feel fine - "A little wobbly" but no pain. I'm sure she'll be very sore in the morning.

I'm a Quilter?

This afternoon we watched State lose to Wisconsin by 19 points. It's so hard to believe that either Wisconsin is that good or that State is that bad!

I've started working on the GenFest 2005 family quilt - it's really quite a joke, because I'm the furthest thing from a seamstress that you can imagine! I'm going to give it the old college try. I hate to think of ruining any of those quilt squares - some of them are really beautiful, and some people paid to have their squares embroidered, so I certainly don't want to damage any of those. Keep your fingers crossed.

I THINK I can sew it together OK, but I'm not so sure about the backing and the quilting part. Although I could do the quilting if I "stitch in the ditch" - I've seen it done on TV. (shrug) I'm not sure. Right now I'm just hoping that I don't ruin the quilt top. The top is 8 squares by 8 squares - so it's 64 squares altogether. (9 inch squares) We do have 3 or 4 blank squares.

Squeaker

Michigan Basketball has entered the Big Ten Season. (shudder) They lost to Illinois this week, and today at Crisler they just barely beat Purdue. Well at least is was a W. We enjoyed watching the game and were really happy at the outcome.

Even though the team did well in the pre-conference season, I still have low expectations for the Big Ten season. So I was especially happy. They've had a rough time for the past few years. The basketball scandal was deadly for our BB program. The students seem very supportive, and that's probably a big help for the team. Go Blue.

This from mgoblue.com:

Daniel Horton scored a game-high 24 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 2:39 left in the contest, to lead the Michigan men's basketball team to a 68-65 triumph over Purdue on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Crisler Arena. Horton tallied 16 points in the second half as the Wolverines (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) overcame a five-point halftime deficit in their conference home opener. Graham Brown added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, Sims had eight rebounds and three blocks, and Ron Coleman chipped in with eight points.

Let's Do Lunch

Tim and Susie were geo-caching in the area this morning, so we invited them to stop in for lunch. They can find 14,000 caches before noon on any day!

It was great fun having them here - we had a lot to catch up on...Christmas, elderly mothers, digital cameras, mannequins, etc. We always have a lot of teaching memories to relate to each other too. And need I mention all of the geo-caching memories and info. Such fun.

Dick went out with them in the late afternoon to do some caching by flashlight - I think they found three.

Update

Results of the ultrasound: The World's Best Doctor says that the thyroid nodules are there - that it's common - that it's a benign condition - that my thyroid function test was normal - and we'll do it again in 1 year to see if anything has changed. I did some research on the internet and it seems that anyone who lives to be 69 has thyroid nodules, so that's that. I'm still wondering why I have such a sore neck and swollen glands for the past 4.5 months. But I can't complain - I feel the Doc has done everything - MRI plus ultrasound - Cheesh!

The World's Best Dentist even got into the act by X-Raying my lower jaw to see if my lurking wisdom tooth was acting up - but everything looks normal there too. I think I must be becoming like Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, with all of her imaginary flutterings.

Missed lunch today with Mary, Shirley, and Shirley. Next time for sure!

Cookie

At our wedding in 1957, Bobbie was my maid of honor, and Cookie and Claire were my bridesmaids. The four of us were inseparable at Martha Cook Building at the U of M. We lived there from 1955-1957. I met Bobbie my very first day at the U of M - we met at the SRA Building waiting for the bus to take us to Freshman Rendezvous for a weekend of fun before moving into Betsy Barbour. That was September, 1953.

Bobbie was from Mason, and now lives in Arlington, VA. Claire was from Huntington Woods, and now lives in Naples, FL. Cookie was from Flint, and now lives in Houston, TX.

Cookie (Carol Cook) married Tom Boberg, a grad student in chemical engineering (which was shortened in the lingo to "chem engine"). He had done his undergraduate work in the East at William and Mary and MIT. Back in those days, computer print-outs were on the attached printer paper. I remember visiting them once when Tom had the entire house covered with these endless sheets of computer paper covered with his chem engine project. I've only seen Carol and Tom three times in the past 40 years, but we have always kept in touch. They visited Basswood Bend about ten years ago.

I got an email from Bobbie today saying that Tom died suddenly the day after Christmas. He had been in perfect health, no heart problems or anything - we figure that it must have been an aneurysm or something. Carol says she doesn't need to know the cause of death. She's just satisfied that he had a relatively long, healthy, happy life. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.

I found Tom's obituary in the Houston Chronicle on line:

THOMAS COX BOBERG, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 30, 1933 passed away on Monday, December 26, 2005.

He received a bachelor's degree in physics from William & Mary where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. As a Tau Beta Pi scholar, he received BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And he earned a Ph.D. in Chemical engineering from the University of Michigan.

During his 33 years with Exxon, he was one of the leaders of the effort to develop practical and economic thermal recovery processes. His research in 1961 led to Exxon's first test of cyclic steam stimulation, and in 1966, he was awarded a patent on this now widely used process. He was considered a leading worldwide authority on thermal recovery technology and is recognized for his book, Thermal Methods of Oil Recovery. He was a member of Sigma Xi, the scientific Research Society. In 1991 he was awarded the Society of Petroleum Engineers Lester C. Uren Award, which honors distinguished achievement in petroleum engineering technology made by a member before the age of 45.

Tom was a faithful member of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church serving on numerous committees and as Elder for several years. A devoted choir member, he sang with the Sanctuary Choir for 37 years. His music ministry extended to The Kings Men barbershop chorus, which he sang with for many years. He was a gifted musician whose singing and piano music was enjoyed by everyone and loved most by his family. He is predeceased by his mother, also a musician, Esther Cox Boberg and his father, Colonel Roy H. Boberg. He is survived by his wife, Carol Jean Boberg, his daughter Leslie Caren Boberg, his daughter Lynne Ann Boberg Sutter and husband Herman J. Sutter, and his three dear granddaughters, Lucia, Isabel, and Sophia. A memorial service will be held on Friday, December 30, 2005 at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. In lieu of flowers, memorial may be made to Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church.

New Year's Rockin' Chair Eve

Jana called from DTW this morning - she stayed at a Days Inn last night with a voucher from NWA, and she was at the airport when she called. She was booked in first class on a 9 a.m. flight to D.C. We haven't heard anything else from her, so we're assuming that she's home.

We each did our own end-of-the-year errands - mine was grocery shopping. We are both tired for some reason - maybe a combo of having Jana for a week and staying up too late watching Michigan lose the Alamo Bowl.

We had champagne and hors d'oeuvres early, and went to bed early too. Happy New Year. Slow down my rocking chair.

Bye Bye Jana

Our wonderful week is drawing to a close - Jana leaves tonight. Dick worked at the Visitor Center this morning.

Right after Dick left, we got a call from Florida - talked to Laurie for a bit, and then we talked to Dylan for 2 hours! We did a tag team thing - Jana would talk while I showered, I would talk while Jana packed, etc. Dylan was especially interested in demonstrating his new keyboard to me. It's amazing, and he obviously is entranced by it. He and Jana talked a lot about the Spiderman game she gave him. Since Christmas, he has already completed Tak and Tak2, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Jana and I packed school supplies for the classroom in Iraq, and then she logged on to Pogo.com with a guest pass, and we played Qwerty together. How much fun is that? We loved it.

Dick was stranded at the VC - nobody came to relieve him. So he shut the place down, turned out the lights, and came home. I went to have the ultrasound of my neck. Now that's the kind of test I like - no pain, no strain, no undressing.

Jana's plane was supposed to leave at 7 p.m., and we were at the airport early. It was delayed until 7:30, and then 8:00 - which meant that she would miss her connecting flight to D.C. After a talk with the ticket agent she got a promise of a room in Detroit and a flight out of Detroit tomorrow morning. I think she finally boarded her plane at 9 p.m.

What a Team

Dick and Jana went out geo-caching and I stayed home to vegetate and rusticate. The team of Basswood Bend and Bassdaught found 4 caches and had a marvelous time.

Memoirs of a Grandma

Jana and I went to visit Mother today - we had a perfectly splendid visit. We were discussing the Geib Family Tree when Mother began to reminisce about her childhood. It was just charming.

My favorite was a story about the funeral of her Grandmother Cadet Perry Rice. All of the children in the family (cousins) were seated on the stairway during the funeral, and they got the giggles for some unknown reason. Mother still feels really sorry about the whole thing - I'll bet her mother was fit to be tied! Cadet died in 1922, so Mother would have been 13 or 14 at the time.

Another memory was of the privy at the Geib family farm in Gaines Township. The privy was out in back and down a little hill, and it was completely surrounded by lilac bushes. Mother remembers how nice it was in the springtime when the lilacs were blooming. She says that she remembers the floor plan of that farmhouse. I asked her how many bedrooms it had and she said, "Oh, there were a raft of bedrooms."
Evidently the whole upstairs was bedrooms, but I still don't know how many.

Well, it was Alamo Bowl night tonight. The best part of the whole evening was the homemade pea soup made with the Christmas hambone. The game wasn't so bad except for the last 8 minutes. Bah Humbug. This from mgoblue.com:

The Michigan football team saw its fourth-quarter lead slip away and lost a 32-28 decision to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 28, in San Antonio. Quarterback Chad Henne was a factor in all four Wolverine scores, throwing touchdown passes to Tyler Ecker, Mike Massey and Mario Manningham, then scoring a rushing TD to put U-M up 28-17 with 11:40 left in the game. However, Nebraska scored on back-to-back possessions to lead 32-28 and withstood Michigan's lengthy series of laterals on the game's final play.

Memoirs of a Geisha

We've all read the book. It was one of the best books I've ever read. Laurie and Jana think so too. So of course Jana and I had to go see this movie. What a beautiful movie it was.

There were a couple of things we were disappointed in - for instance, in the book much was made of the kimonos - their value, beauty, and wonderful fabrics. The movie really never even came close to displaying or educating about the kimonos. Also, some of the most enjoyable parts of the book were the young girls at the geisha school learning movement, music, manners, etc. There was only one scene from the school days and it was fleeting. Another thing I didn't like was that it seemed always to be raining! This poor child was running around the city drenched to the bone most of the time. Also, the relationship between the child and the grandmotherly housekeeper person was non-existent. So now it sounds as though I didn't like the movie!

But I did! - It's a beautiful film - well cast, appealing, and interesting. I enjoyed the new "romantic" angle of the story. And I don't care if the lead actress is Chinese (Ziyi Zhang), I thought she was perfect for the role of Sayuri. She's very intense and beautiful, and simpatico. Ken Watanabe made a perfect Chairman - charismatic and yet remote.

This morning Jana and I went to the Munson Urgent Care at MCHC to have the lump on her neck evaluated. The advice was to see a surgeon in D.C. and have it removed. We had a great lunch at the Mall - China Wok.

Dr. Burke called to say that the MRI shows moderate arthritis in my cervical spine, which is pretty much what I expected. But then he added that the MRI shows nodules on the thyroid gland, and I'm scheduled to have an ultrasound on Friday. I did some research on the internet and it seems that everybody my age has nodules on the thyroid, so I'm not at all concerned. Thank you Dr. Burke.

Geo-Jana

Off to the Muncie Lakes area to find some geocaches. We only found three caches, but we had a lot of fun. My favorite was the one on the inside back of the outhouse door (no kidding). Dick found one by himself - the hill was too steep. And one of them we all searched and searched for, and couldn't find until Dick found it totally by accident. I love it when that happens!

In the afternoon we went to visit Uncle Fritz and Aunt Ruth to explain the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit thingy. Dick and Fritz decided which plans to sign up for, and Dick will enroll them via the computer. It's a relief for them to have that decided.

Christmas Day

Jana went to bed early last night, and so we were all up and ready for opening gifts before 9 a.m.
The most interesting (odd, unusual, unexpected) gift was a mannequin for Dick from all of the kids. This mannequin is taller than I am. It's soft and bendable, so it can sit. We bent it into a sitting position, dressed it in the clothes provided, put a hat on it, sat it in the recliner, gave it a book to hold, and named it Basswood Bessie. Last summer, Dick had casually mentioned that he thought it would be fun to put a mannequin on the swing at the riverside deck to startle passing canoers and kayakers. Be careful what you wish for! Now I'm startled everytime I go into the living room!

His other best gift was a new computer - a Dell with a flat screen monitor. After the holidays we're going to have a nice person come here and hook us all up so our two computers are still networked.

We got so many wonderful gifts that it's hard to pick just a few to mention. I especially loved the Gillespie family pictures in the beautiful case. I got a new digital camera and a printer dock that works! I feel like I'm back in business at last. It's a great feeling. Tom gave me a nano iPod - now I've entered the 21st century for sure - it is a marvel. Jana gave me stacks of great books, and there were so many other terrific things - warm socks, hand warmers and gloves from Dick - he knows how cold I get! It was a memorable Christmas.

In another non-traditional (for us) move, we had ham for dinner. It was an easy prep and an easy clean-up.

We talked to Florida - Dylan got a marvelous keyboard that makes hundreds of different noises besides being a piano. He's really been enjoying it. He also seems to like the nerf ball shooter game really well.

We all went to Mother's for a Christmas Day visit. She enjoyed hearing about the mannequin and our other gifts. She's still glowing from the shrimp and the champagne on Christmas Eve.

Jana and I went to see the Chronicles of Narnia. We enjoyed it so much. As always, my favorite is Lucy. I liked Mr. Tumnus too, but the Snow Queen was not a favorite of mine - until the battle scene - then she seemed to come alive and be a little more effective. Edmond was well cast - he could assume both the dark side and the good side easily - nice job. It's a beautiful movie, and it brought back such good memories of reading those books.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

Jana's plane was supposed to land at 10 a.m., but it was delayed for some weird alirline reason. She landed finally at around 1:30 p.m. Hooray!
We had a nice Christmas with Mother - took her gifts, some shrimp and champagne and did a non-traditional (for us) Christmas on Christmas Eve at Concord Place. It was a huge success!
Ho ho ho - Santa comes tonight.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Holy Moly - have you ever had an MRI? I did a little research on the internet beforehand so I would know what it involved. It mentioned that most patients comment on either the noise or the claustrophobia. Luckily, I don't have a problem with claustrophobia - buy hey! When they say noise, they mean NOISE !! Oh My God! You lay on your back for 25 minutes with your arms over your head, and it sounds like they're hitting the side of the thing with a bouncing wrecking ball...followed by a jackhammer...followed by other strange loudnesses. And then the whole series of sound effects is repeated four or five times. It was certainly a new experience -the technician said that the machine used to be even noisier. I simply cannot imagine how it could be any noisier. They put headphones on you and you get to pick the radio station - but it's useless, because you can't hear it 95% of the time anyway. The MRI was of the cervical spine to see if they can tell what's causing my continuous sore neck. I think it's probably arthritis of some sort, and I'm thinking I'll just have to live with a permanent sore neck. Should find out Monday or Tuesday.

Went to visit Mom - we had a nice visit.

Out to dinner tonight at Big Boy (WooWoo) - we met Mr. and Mrs. ABX Guy, Trashcan & CacheHound for dessert. Dick picked up the 2 beautiful new geocoins designed by ABX Guy and executed by Rusty in honor of the Traverse City Winter Convergence V. We're so happy to have them. Ray said that he's selling one on ebay and it's up to $51 with 22 people watching.

Barbie

First we went to Fifth/Third to straighten out the SS numbers on an account.

Then we slogged through Meijer, buying things for Jana's stocking and some extra grocery items. Meijer always seems to me to be an enormous undertaking. I think you should take walkie talkies, pack a lunch, and wear hiking boots to negotiate it. It's too huge, too crowded, and the parking lot is too full. OK, sure, it's Christmas time, but Meijer can manage to be unmanageable at any time of the year, day or night. Can you tell it's not my favorite place?

Off to Uncle Fritz's to deliver some Medicare Part D papers so Dick can recommend benefit plans for them. I hadn't been there before, and we couldn't figure out where to park. Dick waited by the front entrance in the car, and I went hiking down the corridor to find 206. It's amazing how far away it was from the front door. Maybe you're supposed to park in the rear or something.

Then we dropped in on Barb to see how she is faring. It was good to see her looking good, tired but still almost perky, and really willing to talk about her experiences, hopes, and dreams. She has a strong social network, which is a big aid to healing and recovery, so the experts say. We talked about all of it, and she has a great attitude. She's had some good results and seems upbeat. Adam dropped in while we were there - it's good to see him. There were 4 phone calls for Barb while we were there - it's that strong social network I was talking about! Go Barb.

Concord Christmas

This time, Dick wrote the blog for me - I can't do any better than this! We've been in stitches ever since we got home!
This is Dick's report:

Today was the eagerly awaited Concord Place Christmas Party scheduled
from 12:30 to 2:30. On the phone this morning, Marian told Nancy that
Julius (102 and counting) came from his room across the hall to
visit and vent. He told Marian that he was not planning on attending
because: they were going to have meatballs and he hates the meatballs;
the room is too crowded and he doesn't like crowds; the room is too
bright and the light hurts his eyes; and after visiting his wife in the
nursing home (on the "other side"), he was cold - her room is too cold.

Betsy, the director, insisted that he attend because there was to be a
special guest just for him. The guest turned out to be Ann -
an entertainer who knew him from the old days at the Traverse City Country Club.
She wanted to play the piano for him. We were the first folks down in the
community room and wound up at the table next to the piano. Joining us
at the table were Thelma and her niece (who was banging her head against
the wall of the elevator after the last party. She says that her aunt
drives her nuts.)

When Julius arrived, Ann went over and greeted him and he was very happy
to see her. She told him that she was going to play for him and came
back to the piano. As she began to play the Tennessee Waltz, she told us
that it was always his favorite and the one he always requested. As she
played, Julius seemed to be keeping time to the music. Everyone was
looking at him and asking his neighbor, "Can Julius hear OK?" to which
the response was "Oh sure, he's really enjoying it."
When she finished, everyone applauded and Julius was asked if he had a
request.
He said, "I'd like to hear The Tennessee Waltz."
Ann said, "What did he say?"
Julius said, "What did she say?"
Marian said, "What did he say?"
Nancy and I were close to dying.

When everyone had arrived (eight of the ten residents attended) the
luncheon was served buffet style. The menu was; Salad, rolls, cheesy
hashbrowns, baked beans, meatballs, (I sampled one, Julius is right, they
are bad) ham, cheese ball and ritz crackers, cake and assorted cookies.

After the meal, Ann played numerous Christmas carols and many oldies and
many of the folks sang along. When she played polkas, Julius got into a
groove and propelled his wheelchair around the room in an animated dance. He
was singing along to one of the tunes in what sounded like a foreign
tongue. One of the folks at his table asked, "What language is that?" He
stopped and replied, "I don't know."

This was the fifth or sixth Concord Place party that we have attended
including Marian's 97th birthday, and it is the first time that she has
been interested in staying more than 30 or 40 minutes. This time we
stayed for the full two hours and when we left there were only two other
residents still there. One of them was Julius.

Happy Birthday Dylan

Dylan called this morning at 8 a.m. to thank us for his birthday gifts. We gave him the Dread Pirate Game and some Christmas "crackers" that you pull and there are prizes inside. He especially enjoyed receiving the playstation games from Uncle Tom and Auntie Jana.
His party is going to be from 1-3 at the Hammock Creek Clubhouse, with special friends coming over afterwards for dinner (Kyle, Connor, Lainie et al). He sounded like he was prepared to have a great day.

Dear Old Dad

My father Tharel Thurman Kanitz was born on December 16, 1907 in Douglas County, Illinois. He died November 24, 1999 at the age of 91, just a couple of weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. Today would have been his 98th birthday, had he lived. Mother has outlived him by almost six years so far.

Tomorrow is Dylan's 8th birthday. Dylan was born on December 17th, 1997, the day after Dad turned 90 years old. If he had been born on Dad's birthday, Laurie would have named him Dylan Thurman in honor of Dad. Dylan was really smart to wait an extra day, and to become Dylan Patrick!

Family Day at Concord Place

The day begins with an appointment to see Dr. Burke (the world's best doctor). He listened agreeably to my list of complaints (he's such a good listener), and came up with two immediate solutions and one wait and see. I'm going for an MRI next Tuesday and I have one new temporary prescription. Thanks Dr. Burke. Even if I don't feel so well when I enter his office, I always feel a lot better when I leave.

Jim came up this morning to have lunch with Mother and to exchange Christmas gifts. We met at Mother's and exchanged the gifts. Ho Ho Ho! It was good to see him and we all had a good time talking about the grandchildren. He has me outnumbered two to one. Somehow, our family managed to get the cutest, most intelligent, and funniest grandchildren. We're so lucky! Mother seemed to be holding up well. Jim looks great.

O Tannenbaum

Time to decorate the Christmas tree. Thank goodness that last year we bought a new ornament storage system. It made it so much easier to select the ornaments - some ornaments come out year after year, and some only get selected occasionally. The tree is just the right size to hold all of my favorite ornaments without having to use a lot of "fillers". I'm happy with the way it looks, and so by lunch time, we are all decorated for Christmas. Dick was working at the Agency during the decorating. Luckily Jana called and so I had a family feeling talking to her and placing ornaments at the same time. What I really wanted was the whole family to be there, plus a glass of egg nog.

There's always a line at the Barlow Post Office. Even when it isn't the Christmas season, there's a line. Today I was only in line for 15 minutes, with my two packages and 10 DVD envelopes. People are pretty much in a holiday mood, so it wasn't an unpleasant line as it sometimes is. The amazing thing about the Post Office is how much the postage has gone up. One box for Florida was $12.00 and the other was $13.00. Shipping charges are actually cheaper on the internet, believe it or not!

Nice visit with Mother today - we gave out our little personalized angels to the staff, and everybody was happy to get them. Mother felt good about having something to give. The staff is getting smaller and smaller, but I hear that they are training a new person, so that will be a help. They never really run out of caretakers because of being attached to the nursing home - it's a 96 bed nursing home, so they have tons of staff. Mother and I had a good visit. She's adamant about not coming home for Christmas - she just wants to stay where she is. She also doesn't want us to bring her Christmas dinner. She's always afraid of being too much bother....as if.