December 99
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December 99
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Wednesday December 1, 1999
Friends are angels who lift
us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly. …
I stuck Christy with "B"’s Dr appointment at 0830, Cindy’s Dr Appointment at
11:00, Getting Autumn on the school at 11:30 because but the logistics for
being able to get there at all were pretty impressive I dropped the kid off at
school about 15 minutes early, drove up to get the car and managed to get to
Forest Lawn about ten minutes before the service ended. … Paul’s
Funeral was at 08:30 I got there about 09:15… the church was full…Paul would
have been pleased to see so many people, I wish I could have gotten to the
church at the beginning of the service. Everyone said the service was very well
done and a lot of nice things were said… Paul had a lot of friends, I have
known Paul a long time but I didn’t know him well, he was a lot of fun to be
around he seemed to have a knack for having a good time. He was a member of a
pretty tight group consisting of Paul, Jeff Beam, Paul Lopez, Rick Amberiz (sp)
they were pallbearers. There was a Military funeral Paul was in the Air Force,
two Airmen folded the flag with great deliberation and presented it to his
daughter. Thursday December 2,
1999 A
child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be
right but also to be wrong. -Thomas Szasz-
… Busy Day Pete 1200 go to bed 0630 wake 0800 Take kids to school 0820 Acton Market for Cookies (Calie is Star of
the Week) 0920 Pick up Mike drive to the Russian’s 0930 Stop for Gas… car was empty… damn 1050 pick up Mike and take him to school again 1130 drop of Mike investigate fire trucks and
helicopter at Meadowlark school Head on collision at entrance to school… need
stop sign 1145 Acton Market to buy lunch for Autumn 1245 leave for Therapy West, Appointment is at
1400 1450 leave for home 1610 Arrive home 1630
"B" to Dance Class 1730
Pick up "B" Football Christy 0600
wake to clean house 0700
wake feed dress kids 0800
bathe dress feed Autumn 0920
prepare for meeting 1030
Christy meeting at AV College 1200
leave meeting to pick up Christian 1230
pick up Christian 1300
arrive Lancaster for Dr Appt w/ Christian 1445
pick up Mokie 1500
pick up the rest of the kids 1800
Cook Dinner for 10 kids (Neighbor’s kids are here) 1930 Drive Neighbor kids home Today was a pain in the butt… not one spare minute till now (2100) The neighbor lady sent her kids over and went to the 76 Station to meet someone “for wood”. She called and said she would be back at 1800, at 1830 we fed the kids. At 1930 we took them home. I don’t know what’s going on over there… I probably don’t want to know… but I really worry about the kids. Autumn just fell and cut her lip, she was going from her bed to Calie’s bed and fell against the bed… she is fine, the bleeding stopped in a minute or two, damn. Chris had just put her to bed; we were just starting to relax. Autumn is such a tough little girl, and so fragile. She just doesn’t understand that there are things her little body can’t do yet. I age a year every time I hear her cry… all my kids are important to me, but Autumn is special… Friday December 3,
1999 You couldn't fool your mother
on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine. Homer J. Simpson … It was very windy today, I didn’t accomplish much. I managed to get all the kids to their appointed places at the appointed time. I hardly spent any time on the PC, the house was a mess when I woke up and it is a worse mess now. Tim went to his friends house and came back with an iguana about 2 ½ feet long… we don’t have a cage big enough for him… there goes another little wad of ‘dough’. I listened to a bit of the New Hampshire “debate” I am rooting for a Bradley vs. McCain election. At the debate I like what Keys had to say but I was really impressed with how cool McCain was. He gave good answers to the questions, and didn’t avoid any questions with boilerplate rhetoric like Bush and Forbes and the others, he also refused to nip at Bush’s… I got the mental image of a pack of beagle’s chasing a fox … and I sensed that McCain was just watching to see where Bush went to ground. Saturday December 4,
1999 If you carry pi out to a billion places you will
eventually reach a point in your calculations where you will just have to give
up and go to sleep. (Unscientific
American) …We
moved the family out the door on time for church. This
Saturday Sabbath, Church business is going to take some getting used to, In an
agrarian society in a home filled with religiously motivated people, setting
aside a day as “Sabbath” where you do nothing but contemplate your relationship
with God, or your navel or whatever was not as a great sacrifice as it is in
today’s society. Up till the Civil War Sunday and Church were the high point of
the week, it was a time to socialize, a time to relax and exchange pleasantries
and catch up on the news. Until relatively recent times Going to Church was a
vital and integral part of life. Even people who had no particular religious
conviction went to church. And
in our house, where there is only one person actively observing the day it is
particularly difficult…I suspect that the main reason the very elderly and the
very young preach honoring the Sabbath in the biblical sense is because it is
not a sacrifice for them, more a welcomed respite from the hubbub… there is no
way I can defend this argument other than to say it doesn’t work for me. Sunday December 5,
1999 A super-secret cabal of six people control the world's money markets and the weather. (http://www.paranoidschizophrenic.com) …Christy
took Cindy, Calie, Monica and Christian to church to clean up and get ready for
the holidays. Mike is at Scottie’s and I have "B" and Autumn… there are a
couple good games on today, I may get to see one…The neighbor kids, all four of
them came over at about 10:30, they take care of themselves pretty good, they
played on the trampoline and rod down the hill in the wagon, they also played with
Autumn… "B" was asleep, good thing too because "B" fights with them... he
bloodied Jordan’s nose yesterday, and was sent to the principal’s office for
tripping Sarah… Had a short conversation with Sister Sue… Ross has decided to run for Mayor of Scottsdale. That’s pretty big news Scottsdale, Arizona is not small potatoes, the only unfortunate thing is that he is a Republican with a capital “R”… of course Democrats are not allowed in Arizona, the last Democratic Arizonan was hung by Judge Roy Bean… If I lived in Arizona I would probably vote for him just like I will probably vote for McCain if I get the chance…
or a Happy Chanukah or Happy Kwanzaa or Bah HumBug What ever your religious
preference, or lack of religious preference I hope the holidays are happy for
you and that the Happy New Year
arrives anticlimactically. It’s the 17th and it just dawned on me that I am
probably not going to get this posted this week, I probably won’t get it posted
till the 20th… Christmas week. I am having a hard time trying to come up with a way to
sum up the year. It will be year 2000 in a short time, I have been around for
over half a century, you’d think I would have something poignant to say… I hate
to think that I have demonstrated the extent of my creative ability in one year
Sorry… I can’t look back and I can’t look ahead… the present is hard enough to
deal with… This year just flew by… Rereading the Journal/Diary, tells me it was a full year.
* * * * * * * We are going to have a good Christmas this year, I have been
assured by Santa that the kids are getting almost all of the of the things they
asked him for, Tim won’t get a motorcycle, Calie won’t get a horse and
Christian won’t get an elephant but I think they will survive the
disappointment. I bought cards again this year but they are still in their boxes, I still have a
couple days to get them out but I have a pretty full calendar… we’ll see,  …Flatter
me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me,
and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. -William Arthur
Ward, American newspaper editor, writer-
Autumn, Mokie, Cindy, Calie, Christian, "B", MikeMonday December 6, 1999…Any
day that starts with a visit to the dentist can only get better. I broke off a
piece of a tooth, about two weeks ago I actually thought I had lost a filling, …
I called the dentist office immediately and today was the first appointment
available. I dread any trip to the dentist, a holdover from my annual trip to
Dr. Blier, sometimes I can almost remember what he looked like, but not quite, all
I can really conjure up is a disembodied evil grin looking down at me. I
remember how frightened of him I was… a small part of me reverts to being seven
years old every time I sit in a dental chair… I
have often wondered about why people would choose Dentistry as a profession, it
seems like an unusual calling. Do people actually dream about becoming
dentists? When I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman and I had other friends who
wanted to be cowboys, policemen, and doctors, I even had an oddball friend
named Dennis who wanted to be a lawyer. I can’t recollect any of my friends, …or
ever even hearing about a friend of a friend, who dreamt about becoming a
dentist. Most dentists I have encountered over the years have been pretty nice
folks, considering that my relationship with them borders on masochistic… what
else would you call paying someone to hurt you. It’s all pretty irrational, I
have paid for my apprehension with a set of teeth that are in serious
disrepair. When the pain becomes unbearable I go to the dentist… Tuesday December
7, 1999 …
Today is Pearl Harbor Day, my parents and their friends remembered it like I
remember the day John Kennedy was murdered. Pearl harbor was a turning point in
their lives. Everyone that heard the radio broadcast knew instantly that life,
as they knew it was never going to be the same. Millions of people put their
plans, hopes and aspirations on hold, in practically every instance all those
lives were altered irrevocably, all those plans and hopes were forgotten by
1945, there was no going back. Christy
and I waited until the designated time for Christy to call the college, she
wanted to sign up for a Sign Language course… we called and the course was
full… we learned a lesson, ignore assigned time call-in schedules…We with went
Autumn down to Palmdale to get the cars lubed, had a good breakfast at Karen’s
Kitchen and did grocery shopping together, we haven’t done that in a long time,
we actually enjoyed it… Wednesday December 8,
1999 …The nails have worked their
way out of the facing on the eaves. I have to get up on a ladder and fix them
or they will warp beyond repair…but it’s too windy today. We have been having
real strong winds up here this year… Tomorrow is Mike to the Russian and Autumn
to Therapy West… the day will be shot traveling. Tomorrow is also the ROF… it
should be fun… Christy took "B" in to
Santa Clarita for an intake assessment, this is a prerequisite prior to
assigning services for him. We were about to start this process last year when
all the trouble started and we were directed to Devereaux Center. Christy and
"B" were down there for two and a half hours and the interviewing physician
said “ He needs to be in residential treatment I doubt that we will be able to
do anything for him here.” Well…duh. This is turning into a dark
comedy… I am getting pretty damn frustrated. Cindy has ballet tonight…
She looked cute in her Ballet togs. I hope she sticks with it this time, I
doubt that she will become a great dancer but it may give her some confidence
and poise… I can only hope for grace. I got an e-mail from the son
of a cousin this afternoon… he was pretty blunt about what he thought of this
Journal. Now, I figure quite a few people are about as interested in this as
they are in the price of yak milk in Tibet. One fella about 8 months ago wrote
to me and asked to be removed, he was a guy I knew vaguely from work. It didn’t
bother me. I get I get e-mail from people all the time that either doesn’t
interest me or that I have seen several times before I just delete it. It never
occurred to me to write back and say something like: …I
personally have not been able to achieve a sustainable interest in your
letters. Nor have my parents. I prefer to concentrate on those who are
touchable. Sobering, makes me wonder
why I keep doing this… it is a lot of work, and takes up time I could be using
more productively… but, after a year, it has become a habit… sorry folks, I
think I will continue to inflict the Internet with my inane musings… .Thursday December 9,
1999 …
Christy took Mike to see The Russian today, apparently Christy and the
therapist had talked and she wanted to see her and Mike together… this will be
the last time till March when Christy will be available… They had a nice visit
I guess. I kept Autumn home from school because this is therapy day and we get
to drive down to Therapy West. Beth, her therapist has a cold and Autumn had
been coughing… Today therapy started at 1400, next week she will be going at
1000, she will be home at noon so we can take her to school, and with the
therapy session at 1400 she misses a whole day. Do
not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with
ketchup. Friday December
10, 1999 …
Christy picked up Calie from school early and they went north to Kaiser and ran
some errands. Calie’s behavior has been a bit odd and we were concerned that she
may have to be on medication too. so part of the excursion included a visit to
the Doctor. Calie was checked out and the Doctor assured us that Calie’s
tantrum’s were just that… tantrums. She is fine… whew… I
headed south and made a visit to Smith Barney… I had an errand to run there and
had hoped to be able to say Merry Christmas to the people handling my
retirement money but they were all busy… I guess that’s a good thing… I
got Mike and Christian to their Break Dancing Class only 2 minutes late and
raced home to meet Dan The Bus Driving Man delivering Autumn… Autumn has a
fever and is very cranky. We gave her some liquid Motrin for the fever and put
her to bed early. She probably caught Beth’s cold… bummer Saturday December
11, 1999 …When
I went to bed last night Autumn had a fever 104o we gave her some
more Motrin and took her to bed with us… the fever was down in the morning but
still there, Chris took her to Kaiser after church… The Kaiser Dr. was Dr.
Bergman, we are not impressed with Dr. Bergman… he looked at her for about 30
seconds and said “She just has the flu, keep her fever down.” Sarah
and Chad, two of the kids from next door are staying over… Sunday December
12, 1999 …Autumn
is still sick, the fever finally went down in the late afternoon and she slept
practically all day. She is so helpless, she tries to communicate but we’re
still too stupid understand what her signs mean. Christy
is concerned about her being so lethargic and not eating. She is afraid she is
getting dehydrated. About 17:30 Christy decided to take her in… two days with a
fever for Autumn is scary. 19:00,
I just heard from Christy, the Doctor in Urgent Care at Kaiser ordered an
X-Ray. He said “I think her right lung sounds really gunky, could be pneumonia.”
Sure as hell, the X-Ray shows pneumonia.
doctor (Lower case intentional) Bergman is reprehensible. Christy
took Autumn to Save-On because Kaiser’s pharmacy is closed after 17:00 on the
weekend. The Doctor had told Christy to keep her dressed lightly because of her
fever so she was only dressed in a short dress. As she was leaving an elderly
gentleman came up to her and said “Lady, please don’t be offended, but would
you mind if buy your daughter some clothes” Christy laughed and explained the
situation. That has happened to me too, what a totally embarrassing, uncomfortable
feeling. There
are some things so serious you have to laugh at them. --Niels
Henrik David Bohr— (1885-1962), Danish chemist, physicist Monday December 13, 1999…Autumn
is still sick, she is a fragile little person. A cold can really lay her out, the prospect of pneumonia is a scary deal… Tuesday December
14, 1999 …
Autumn is still sick, I ran errands all day, Christy picked up the kids, I got
home soon after she did. I took Cindy and Calie to dance and when I got home
Christy took Autumn back to Kaiser, they X-Rayed her again, the pneumonia
seemed to have improved a little… Wednesday December 15,
1999 …Autumn seemed to perk up a little but she is still sick… Mike got in trouble at school today… his version and the principal’s version differ radically. Christy
took "B" to Therapy in Santa Clarita, it’s the same place I take Mike to
see the Russian. "B" wouldn’t get out of the car. Now, we are talking “Play
Therapy” here, paints, crayons, dolls, Leggos… the therapist even went out to
the car to try and coax him into the building and he just said “No, It’s
stupid, I want to go home”… he’s probably right about it being stupid, but
still… we are wondering if we will be able to wait out the Court, he is
virtually unmanageable now and I am concerned about what affect his behavior is
having on the other kids… Cindy
had ballet tonight, she came home and showed me her steps… Thursday December
16, 1999 …Autumn
is still sick but seems a little better… I just got a Big can of cashews from the
future mayor of Scottsdale. Now as a rule Ross is about as subtle as a steam
whistle but occasionally he will make an obtuse statement… I choose to deem that
the box of nuts indicate that he thinks I’m a worthy relative rather than it
being his evaluation of my political leanings. Cindy
got an award at school today, I went down record the ceremony for posterity on
Videotape. I was expecting them to call her up with her SDC teachers class but
she was called up by a Substituted teachers name… I didn’t get her teacher
calling her name on tape… damn. "B"
and Cindy got into a fight at school today. Apparently they had never seen
"B" in a rage before… I think it frightened them a little. "B" is
single-minded terror when he gets angry. I
fixed the eaves and hung the lights today I
finished excavating Cindy’s room… Friday December
17, 1999 …
Autumn perked up a little today but she is still weak, she slept quite a bit. Mike
received his a perfect attendance reward today. I was ready when they called
his name today… It was for perfect attendance too… better than nothing. By
rights, perfect attendance awards ought to go to the parents, I have yet to
hear of a kid dragging his parents out of bed to ensure that he got to school
on time… Monica’s
IEP was at 0930 Mike’s ceremony lasted till 0928… I got over to the other
school in time… this IEP was called by the Monica’s teacher, Mrs. Scott, he is
concerned about the sound of her voice, it is very husky and a little raspy, he
says breathy, but I don’t hear that.
She has always had a strange voice, like Mercedes McCambridge or
Tallulah Bankhead He said he would like us to get her throat and larynx checked
for “pathology” by an ENT (Otolaryngologist), It had never occurred to us that
she talked like she does because there was a problem… We made an appointment
the day we got the report. The other thing the teacher is concerned about is
the way she enunciates, She has a Baba Wawa way of talking “R”s sound like “O”s
(Air becomes ayoo Water become wattoo) and word endings are abbreviated (I
don’t want to, I’m playing. Becomes I done wan to I play’n) He says there is
nothing to worry about she still has till she’s seven or eight before they
become concerned about that… The teacher wants us to get her checked for
farsightedness, she puts her nose right up to the page when she is studying
something… I hope she doesn’t need glasses, she won’t wear them. I can’t even
get her to wear a coat when it’s freezing Saturday December
18, 1999 …Autumn
is definitely better today, she was all over the place being a pest while the
kids were getting ready for Church… today is their Christmas Pageant. Chris was
in charge of getting all the kids ready, she has been feeling pretty bad for a
few days and today was a chore for her… She said it went pretty good, Mike was
Joseph, Cindy was a Wise Man, they all had a part to play Danc’n
in Acton held their annual Christmas party today, I took the dancing kids, it
was a lot of fun for the kids. Mike and Christian wanted to stay home but after
they had been there for about five minutes they wanted to stay. They all had a turn on stage with their
classes Calie was first, she seems a little unsure of herself up there but she
has fun, Cindy went up three times with ballet twice and once with tap. She is
game for anything, what a change from last year… Mike and Christian were last
with their break dancing class, their instructors didn’t show up so they pretty
much just winged it, it was about what you would expect from a month of lessons
but they gave it everything they had, pretty impressive. Sunday December
19, 1999 …Football,
some good games today. Green Bay plays the Vikings tomorrow, always an
emotional game. Nothing momentous occurred… we got the tree up and decorated… kids did it all themselves and it looks great. The last Journal of the Year, Century & Millennium (Sorta’, the millennium won’t actually end until 1/1/2001)
Monday December 20, 1999…We
got Monica in to see the Optometrist today… she needs glasses for reading… and
her left eye won’t cross… if you take a pencil and have her focus on it as you
move it closer to the bridge of her nose her left eye veers off to her left and
down, it won’t cross, her right eye
tracks normally… we have to exercise her eyes 25 times in the morning and 25
times at night… Tuesday December 21,
1999 …Christy
took off at 0800 to get a perm’. The neighbor kids came over 0930… stayed all
day… Christy looks kind’a perky in her new ‘do. Wednesday December 22,
1999 …I
went to the Bone Doctor again today… Now he thinks it may be Arthur-Itis, but
he isn’t sure… He gave me another injection where the Scapula joins the
Clavicle… I never knew there was a joint there… he said there may be some
arthritis building up on the Clavicle side of that joint. The injection seemed
to help a little but not as much as the one he gave me in the shoulder last
month. It is a slow process to get it diagnosed properly. Thursday December 23,
1999 …
Cindy had her blood drawn today to ensure that the level of medication she is
on is within limits… she is well below the recommended dosage… which is
comforting. The
Optometrist’s office called Monica got
her reading glasses… she has been practicing with them all night. She has to do
eye exercises too, twice a day. She is very good about doing them but they give
her a head ache, she is adorable in her glasses. Autumn
got her new braces, they are to keep her feet flat on the ground when she
walks… We can’t keep them on her very long and we have to check her feet to be
sure that they are not applying too much pressure, her feet should be pink at
the pressure points but be back to normal in ten minutes or we have to take her
back for them to be adjusted… Got
out my Dad’s old slide projector out tonight and looked at some old pictures…
Leigh’s boyfriends, Leigh’s engagement, me going off to the Navy, there are
lots of pictures of Leigh’s friends and my folk’s friends … My grandfathers
pictures are really neat, lots of pictures of Rachel and her kids in the early
to late 60’s… There is a picture of my Aunt Rachel all made up like a 1959
Vogue model, smoking a cigarette… Calie looked up and said “Cruella DeVille!”.
And by golly, she did look like her. …I have to find one or two of Rachel’s
kids who are interested in being custodian of these pictures… it’s not right
that I have them… I
have the capability of scanning slides on my scanner and I need to scan a bunch
of them. I think subjects in these photo’s would like to see them. There are a
lot of pictures from the the 60’s. I left home in September of ’62 and only
went back for visits. I missed my sisters graduating, engagements I went to the
weddings but for the most part I was only a long distance bystander. I found a picture of Ruth and Jimmy Fuller…
My father’s sister… at least I think it’s them… I will have to check with Sue. Absurdity, n. a statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary (1906) Christmas Eve …
There was a break in the activity around the house at about 10:30 this morning…
Christy needed some Half & Half to finish making her fudge and I took the
opportunity to make a break for it. I needed to go into Palmdale anyway… I
Jumped into the LRC (Little Red Car) and headed off. I stopped at the Post
Office and got the mail… a package from Robert and Stephanie and a package from
Disney that Christy had ordered. I headed off for Palmdale, about a mile past
the Pearblossom exit I noticed that the cars ahead of me were beginning to slow
from 65 – 70 to about 50 and then all of a sudden the car in front of me locked
up his breaks. I did too… it became obvious almost instantly but in slow motion
that I wasn’t going to stop as fast as he was because he hit the car in front
of him who had hit the car in front of him…I slid into him and the fella behind
me slammed into me. This time I hit the car in front of me again real hard… All
I could see was the hood of the LRC obliterating my view… There was a lot of
noise and I got hit again as the guy behind me was hit… more screeching of
tires and thud, thud, thudding of more cars being hit… After the noise subsided
I got out of the car and took a look around… It looked like the road to Beirut.
I called 911…there were twelve cars in the accident one (approximately) 12 year
old girl was bruised up and taken away in an ambulance… I was assured by a
fireman that she will be fine. I called Christy and she came down to AV Towing
and picked me up. Calie said in a hushed tone to Christy “Poor Daddy, Aunt Sue
is going to be very mad at him”. Some how she got the impression that Sue gave
me her car… The LRC was my mother’s car, she had it for 7 years and there
wasn’t a scratch on it… I had it for 5 months and it’s a write off… damn… damn…
damn. Well,
enough of that it is now twenty to midnight… the kids are asleep I think…
Christy has gone to bed she has been cooking all day and just stopped about
fifteen minutes ago… Monica is asleep in our room, I have to try to get her to
her bed without waking her and everyone else… cookies and (gag) milk for Santa.
Christy will be teaching Sabbath School tomorrow at 0900 I suspect that we will
be opening the presents by 0600 and done not long after. Christy will be out of
here by 0830 I will have the residue of the mayhem cleaned up by 1030 and we
can be on our way to Riverside by 1130 or noon…well I can dream can’t I.. we’ll
see.
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