January 01

Still round the corner there may wait,

a new road or a secret gate. 

J.R.R. Tolkien

Week 1-Week 2-Week 3-Week 4-Week 5

1/1/1

(I think I may have used that quote before... too tired (lazy)  to go back and check) 

It's a sobering date to write for some reason January 1^st, 2001, a new beginning... in an arbitrary sort of way. Purely psychological... today was no more significant than any other day in the 'great scheme of things' but with all the hype it does give cause to reflect on things metaphysical... I have always liked the feeling I get on New Years Eve, it's as though I have this moment to forgive the slovenly old me for botching up so much of the last year and I can encourage the newly forgiven new Me to do better, I give myself permission to strive to be a better person... one with the resolve to exercise, make (and keep) dental appointments, take my cholesterol medicine religiously, be more tolerant of myself and others... blah blah blah... it's a good feeling... never been much good at sustaining it though... 

I woke up late... the kids watched the Rose Parade... I have been there once... About '87, Mom came over here and spent a couple days... we went to Santa Barbara to see the Mission... wandered around Solvang, and woke up early and went to the Rose Parade... it was quite a show... about the only vivid memories I have of it are of taking pictures of the back of some ladies head... it got to be hilarious,,, every time I was about to take a picture she would stand up and I would get a picture of the back of her head... Mom and Christy laughed themselves silly... the other memory is of Iron Eyes Cody, he must have been about 80, there was a long pause between floats, one had broken down I guess... there wasn't anything on Colorado Boulevard in either direction... then along came Iron Eyes Cody just as fast as his old Pinto could run he looked very determined... like he had to get to a bathroom or something... it was so strange... boring and irrelevant as hell to talk about but it strikes me as amusing that with the millions of dollars and man-hours invested in that fabulous fandango the only thing I can remember is laughing and an old man on the back of a racing horse.

Calie did mom's hair... she likes braids... she said she made mom look like Eliza Thornberry (a cartoon character)

Christian Quote: "I tore a hamster in my elbow."  "Say what" I asked "The hamster in my elbow is broken!... and it hurts!" We had been watching football some poor fella tore his ham-string muscle... Lumpy makes my day....

Well, for the first day of the new millennium I sat on my butt till noon and then I took the kids to the park and bought them hotdogs... it was sort of nice to have all seven kids together again... Lumpy, "B" and Calie are sick though... it was probably irresponsible of me to take them out and subject others to their colds but I couldn't just leave them cooped up in the house all day... I got back in time to see the end of the Rose Bowl game and provisioned myself with a beer and some chips and salsa to watch what I thought would be a good game... Fighting Irish of Notre Dame V The Beavers of Oregon State it was 41 to 3 when I turned it off... Notre Dame couldn't do a damn thing against Oregon... and it couldn't stop them either... by the end of the third quarter the Beavers were playing a third string freshman at Quarterback and had played everyone but the Tuba Section from the marching band... another game tomorrow...and one on Wednesday.

Stress is when you wake up screaming, and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet.

Tuesday    January 2, 2001

I watched most of the ATT Whatever Bowl... pretty good game... at least it wasn't a rout. Justin from up the hill is spending the night... Christian is still real sick... he has an 'almost high enough to take him to the doctor' fever... when that little guy gets sick he gets hit hard... he gets high fever and is totally wiped out... he slept damn near all day...

I will get the brakes on the van fixed tomorrow and go down to get the cell phones replaced... these Erickson phones are terrible...

Wednesday    January 3, 2001

I ran out of Zantac on New Years Day... I said to myself... Hell, Zantac is one of those fou-foo medicines that they had to invent a disease for... I don't need it... well... I need it... I had a real bad time this morning... I have felt like Cheese Whiz (what does that mean... queasy, sore, achy... yuch) all day... still do. I got Autumn to therapy and had a breakfast at IHOP, against my better judgment... but I kept it down. Autumn and I went to Kaiser and got our medicine (she was almost out of Phenobarbital too) and went to McDonalds and picked her up some McNuggets... her favorite repast. 

I went to Best Buy to get new phones and when the "Associate" saw me she said "Oh!... You're back... good! I didn't know how to get hold of you!"  She told me some long story about another customer with the same trouble and how through talking to Erickson and ATT Tech Support he figured out how to take care of the problem... When the battery is new it has a small charge on it... you have to run it down to nothing and then recharge it and repeat the process 2 more times... sounds like hooey to me but I'll give it a try... she gave me two new batteries and sent me on my way...

Watched the OU v FSU game... very good defensive battle... FSU's Coach Bobby Bowden is a classy fella... his interview after the game was as gracious as I have ever heard...

I found out from Karen Eddy that Thomas Daggett of Marshfield Massachusetts was a neighbor of John Alden... apparently John Alden learned to speak for himself because he was praised by Thomas Daggett for adjudicating a boundary dispute. Now all I have to do is find out how I tie into Thomas of Marshfield... Thomas just seemed to materialize in America in 1637... disappeared for 5 years and bought some land in 1642... there is no record of his birth in England and he signed on as an indentured servant as John Doged... all references to him after reaching America are as Doggett... as though he was trying to escape... Many were disallowed passage by the English Authorities and one way to get out of England was to become indentured to a wealthy person who already had permission to go... so... this will be a fun search.

When there's more sick ones than well ones, by golly the sick ones will lock the well ones up. 

Eric F. Goldman [Crucial Decade]

Thursday    January 4, 2001

Well, the damn plague that has been taking down my family one at a time has finally attacked me... I feel ... sick. My skin hurts... ick. Autumn... AKA Typhoid Mary is fine, Mike felt a little tired last week for an entire afternoon but has so far escaped this damn thing... Aches, cough, fever, tired, nausea, and every other sort of symptom... you don't want it. Christy and I are both feeling pretty bad, Christy is getting better... I'm getting worse... 

Mike Quote " I hate my life, I never get anything I want." It's so rewarding being a parent... apparently I picked him up too early (for him) at his buddy Austin's house. I think it is a teenage machismo thing. If a kid can smart off to his parents in front of his buddies he gets to "count coup" in their eyes... the separation process begins in earnest... 

Friday    January 5, 2001

I am still sick, so is everyone but Mike and Autumn... I think Monica is OK. I took Autumn to her therapy and Calie and Monica came along... after we dropped Autumn off we went to McDonalds then, after stopping at a thrift store to piuck up a jacket for Autumn (I had forgotten to bring one) we went to the park near Autumn's therapy... I let the girls ride their scooters to the school where Autumn's where CCS is located... they thought this was a very big deal... it's about a block and a half... it made them feel very independent. We took Autumn back to the park so she could play on the swings and slides. I picked up some foof for Autumn and we went home... as soon as I got home Christy left for her appointment at Kaiser... she had a bout of dizzy spells a while back so they are testing her hearing, vision and have even scheduled an MRI... 

I have been sitting her at the PC or laying down in bed since noon...this cold is a real pain in the neck... literally.

Christy is taking "B" back to Devereux tomorrow. I will be watching the Playoffs... if I can stay awake. 

Saturday    January 6, 2001

After turning off the PC to go to bed last night and was stricken with chills so bad I couldn't walk... it was awful... I have never experienced anything like that before... I was so tired today I could barely function. I couldn't even stay awake for the Playoff games... now that's pretty bad...luckily they were routs and I didn't miss anything momentous. 

Christy got "B" to Devereux OK... He seemed to enjoy his stay here a little more but he was not like a real family member... he seemed sort of detached and unwilling to participate... He was sick with a variation of this damn thing I have now and spent a lot of time on the couch or in bed... 

I am heading off to bed early tonight... not much to write about today...

Angels have to sleep sometime

...Sunday January 7, 2001

Well I stayed awake for the games but I still feel pretty sick... can't seem to shake the cough... Christy went shopping with Cindy... she was gone most of the day... Autumn slept most of the day... What a Sunday... back in the good old days Sundays were for relaxing and socializing... well I certainly have the relaxing part perfected...

(A "Snickers Cake" from Albertson's, looks deceptively delicious)

Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. 

Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)

author and clergyman 

Monday    January 8, 2001  (BACK TO TOP)

(Christian Allan Daggett's 11th Birthday)

The sewer pipe to the septic is clogged again... hell of a way to start the day... Christy is teaching so there was no one else to watch Autumn... it made the whole operation a pain... to top it off it started to rain... it was not a good day for me...I guess I am still.feeling a little sick. 

Christy had to stop and shop for Christian's presents and party so she got home a little late...Christian got what he wanted for dinner, pizza. We had a party here and he liked his presents.

Tuesday        January 9, 2001

Mike and I had emptied the "small" shed on Friday, this morning I heard it was going to snow Wednesday afternoon... so I put all the stuff back into it... the shed still has to be moved but it will have to wait... it started to rain again as we were finishing loading the shed... Christian and Calie helped me tie a tarp to the roof of the shed to keep the water out.

I listened to a show on the radio talking to a Government researcher who managed a study that took place over the past 3 years to determine why SUV's roll over more often than passenger vehicles... after computing all the variances they determined that since SUV's are top heavy(er) than Sedans so they tip over more often. Duh... My government is truely scary. 

Wednesday    January 10, 2001 (Monica Leigh Daggett's 8th Birthday)

Christy took Mike and Monica to school, she is teaching till 13:20 all week. 

I dropped the other kids off and was running a minute or two ahead of schedule when I noticed that I was almost out of gas... I was going to get Autumn a breakfast at McD's but I bought her a donut and orange juice at the ARCO Station instead... I dropped Autumn off and went to I-HOP again, I was seated and looked at the menu and I waited... and waited... waitresses looked at me, ignored me like I had stiffed them for a tip or something... after 10 minutes I just got up and left and went next door to McD's... I went back to pick up Autie and the girls at CCS told me that she did very well today...

I stopped at Burger King. and got her some Chicken... she needed a brunch... then I went to Target and bought her a nightgown to wear for "Pajama Day" at Meadowlark... then I went to Albertson's and picked up some cupcakes to take to Monica's class so that they could have a little party.

Autumn to school I got Autumn to school with 5 minutes to spare

 I needed to go to the Post office for 1¢ stamps to put on the bills that had to be mailed... picked up mail... forgot the damn stamps...

I got a newsletter from the Bowman's (My sisters family outside Boston) it was made to look like a many times forwarded e-mail/chain letter sort of things... cute... but my Cyberphobic sister, Leigh, wrote her segment with a pen... 

We Celebrated Monica's Birthday... she is eight today... 

Scary News:

Grand-ma (Christy's Mom) just called and said Uncle Pete, Delmar David Rodgers, (the fella on the left) (how anyone got "Pete" out of that I will never understand) had a bad heart attack... yesterday... she was called by Aunt Betty from Carolina? Uncle Pete and Aunt Connie (The diminutive lady in the middle) live in Anaheim Hills.

The Rodgers Clan is not real good at keeping each other in the loop... Uncle Pete and I were working on that with an e-mail list but that doesn't work if one of us is taken down...

"He was playing golf with  a friend who  happens to be a doctor. 

The Dr's at the hospital say he has a 10% chance of surviving...massive damage to the heart... kidneys are failing... family has been called to the "Western Medical" hospital. 1 714 835-3555.

I like Uncle Pete a lot, I helped him set up his first PC, he drove me crazy with hard questions... he is a retired engineer... engineers are less concerned about how to work things than they are about how things work... I understand software pretty well and can fake it with hardware if I am dealing with a novice but Uncle Pete was only a novice at PC's he knows hardware, and electronics theory... damn he asked hard questions. We have been to their house for Family Reunion type get-togethers two or three times... he is very nice fella... not much more to say... we will all pray for him.

Thursday        January 11, 2001

The rain and melting snow tore up the roads a lot but they are still passable, but you have to pay attention because there are some 3' deep ruts down but the Edison Sub-Station.

I went to Best Buy and exchanged the crappy Erickson Cell-Phones for Nokia's... It took me a while to convince the "Associates" that they wore going to exchange the damn things for something that worked or I was going to shove them up their ... noses. 

I met Darlene Mikus for lunch today... it's so nice to talk to an adult that isn't a Doctor or a Therapist or a Teacher. She's Telecommuting today, the weather is a little ominous... 

The College that Christy was teaching at shut down to conserve power and to save themselves a $10,000 an hour fine for excessive power consumption...most of the "State Colleges" shut down... this power shortage emergency is a crock... they deregulated in order to lower energy costs to the subscribers and someone left a loop-hole somewhere because the power producers are charging so much the power sellers can't afford the juice so our bills are going to go up... I sure would like to hear this explained without "spin"... nothing but finger pointing going on now. Our Governor is going to "Get to the bottom of this!" ...sure he will...I will hold my breath. 

Christy called about Uncle Pete, he has improved but far from recovery, he has some color, his heart is starting to beat on it's own, they have lowered dosages on some of his medication... 

I went to the ROF tonight, I picked up Tony Natoli on the way and we each ended up as 50% of the attendees. People sick, weather was ugly, whatever. It was nice to just sit and talk... Twice in the same day!... What a deal...we bailed out at about 19:15 and went home... it's late... I'm tired...

Friday            January 12, 2001

Autumn's Therapy today, I will take Autie and Christy will go to Autumn's IEP... Christy read the CCS report on Autumn. it's an evaluation, from Jeanie... Christy came unglued. Jeanie said:

1. We are concerned about her falling... we are not... Janie is concerned about her falling.
2. She said Autumn "finger feeds"... Autumn uses a spoon and a fork
3. She said that I said, Autumn is obstinate and aggressive and uncooperative at school, What I said was that Twice, she had refused to color when instructed to do so and had to "pull a tag".
4. She spent a lot of time alone and wasn't socializing at school. .

Christy got out her yellow hi-lighter and marked the whole thing up... then she called the boss of Lancaster CCS and read her the riot act... we will have a meeting on the 23rd and get this report re-written. These reports stay with Autumn for as long as she is getting services from the state and it is imperative that she show progress and that her progress is accurately recorded... damn...

Autumn did well in therapy today and she did well in school too... I attended the last half of the IEP and it seemed to go well... we are still agonizing over the "ACD" (Augmentative Communication Device). We need to examine this step carefully, what ever we get has to last her for three years minimum, it has to suit her needs, I am starting to back-peddle a little, I don't think she's ready yet. I think she needs to demonstrate some cognition as to what the device is all about. I think she needs to work with the Speech Therapist and learn to understand that she can use the pictures to communicate and she has to learn that being able to communicate is a big deal... we'll see... she needs a little time. I think we need to put the ACD on a back burner and work on her skills a bit more. Christy disagrees, I think we are too close to the situation and that we ought to rely on the Speech Therapist and the School Psychiatrist to tell us when she's ready and help determine which device will work best...

If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.

Francis Bacon, (1561-1626)

essayist, philosopher, and statesman 

Saturday        January 13, 2001

I felt an earthquake at around 1800, I was the only one in the house, Christy was at the car, I was the only one who felt it, about 20 minutes later while only the girls and I were home I felt another a little more intense... the girls felt it to this time, but I had to tell them what it was. Earthquakes can be very subtle, thisone was like a sonic boom, it felt like someone had hit the house with a car, one thud and that was it, both quakes felt the same... 

Jeff called at about 1900, he said his mother-in-law died of a massive heart attack she had the heart attack at home, our daughter in law Debbie called 911, she was pronounced dead at the hospital... we don't know much about the circumstances, Jeff was pretty upset. Her name was Cindy Carpenter, she was only 47 years old... the new year is shaping up to be a real pisser.

Christy called the Hospital in Yorba Linda. Uncle Pete improving 

Sunday             January 14, 2001

I predict that the Super Bowl will be a great game because all the pundits say it will be a big thud... they have been wrong across the board...

I had a long talk with my sister about what's going on in her world... she was sounding a little down so I started an argument about politics and she leapt to GW's defense like he was her son... perked her right up... I hope... either that or she won't ever talk to me again...I don't like him on an instinctive gut level and she contends that that is unfair... I suppose it is. GW earned a right to take a shot at the presidency... I wish him luck, my opinion has no affect on him at all, the concept of him actually giving a damn about what I think is ludicrous. I hope my sister is right about him, she says he's smart and competent... we'll see.

Uncle Pete is even better today... The Cardiologist told the family "He's not out of the woods but he can see the edge from where he's at. Amazing... people aren't supposed to survive the kind of heart attack he had... it happened in an inoperable part of the heart and these sort of attacks are called Widow-makers"

"The opposite of love is not hate, 

it's indifference.

The opposite of art is not ugliness, 

it's indifference.

The opposite of faith is not heresy, 

it's indifference.

And the opposite of life is not death, 

it's indifference."

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel 

(Thanks Jeri)

Monday            January 15, 2001    (BACK TO TOP)

Got a bit of snow today... I sent an E-Mail to a friend in Maine saying "We got a 1/4 of an inch of SNOW today!!! Maybe Less!!!" 

She was only mildly amused....

No school today... MLK B'day... quite a fella, I heard some of his speeches today... he was a dynamo... when you think about the heroes of the last couple decades it is interesting to note that most are Black or Hispanic, I am hard pressed to think of a white male...of Mandela, Jackie Robinson, Mohammad Ali, Roberto Clemente, Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, Christa McAlluf ... interesting. 

Uncle Pete is moving out of ICU tomorrow... I don't think he has a clue how lucky he was yet... he is still on medication. The Doctor said during rounds.."... and this is Mr Rodgers, he is a F-ing miracle." Christy and I are planning to go down and see him tomorrow... I was actually trying to formulate some sort of epitaph for this rag... silly me. 

My eyelid is infected, it has been driving me nuts for three days, I finally went in and saw the Doc, I have some salve and some antibiotics... I went and got my blood work done for cardiology too, I actually saw my cardiologist, Dr. Teggat... he ignored me... he's a busy guy I guess...

Tuesday            January 16, 2001

I got the read-out on my blood test today... my Triglycerides are through the roof... Christy is very upset with me... 

I don't recollect what else I did... I am typing this on the 19th it is about 1800... I am wracking my brain trying to remember what we did today... they say your memory is the second thing to go...

Wednesday        January 17, 2001 

Today went pretty smooth... Autumn had therapy... Christy had some stuff to do in town... I changed my E-Mail address over to to the new name... Netport was bought out a few months back by Radix Global and they are selling the Netport Domain name so my new e-mail is padagge@potc.net now.  

Last night as I had just sent out notices of my new E-Mail Address, I got 4 e-mails in rather rapid succession. one was:

Let me tell ya... that is scary... I have never met this guy but I consider him a good friend. He lives in England near Nottingham. I tried to call but the number I found on the net isn't any good or (which is more likely) I am not dialing correctly... the call wouldn't complete. I wrote e-mails to everyone I knew who might know him and surrendered to the clock at about 01:30... 

Thursday           January 18, 2001

I received two e-mails this morning from friends of John who had talked to his wife and she assured them that he was going to be fine, he will spend a few days in the hospital for tests...

Mike had a fight at school, we were called by the Mr. Watkins, the Principal of "High Desert Middle School", he is pretty exasperated, apparently Mike's behavior has been deteriorating, we have received indications that things were not as they could be but we didn't expect this... I know the kid he hit, he is a very good kid, an athlete and straight A student, well liked by everyone... His Mom was Mikes soccer coach two years ago, Mike has been to her house several times and ridden the "Quad's" and horses, even spent the night... I like his mom. She is really disappointed in Mike... so am I. His medication is obviously not adequate  but he is the only one who can tell us when things aren't right. I am beginning to think he doesn't know... he is pretty clueless about his role in the world... he has his own value system... not a very satisfactory one in my estimation. He seems to have no control over what comes out of his mouth, he has a hair trigger temper, he has diminishing respect for everyone in his wake.

Friday                January 19, 2001

Hotmail is blocking SPAM... It struck me as amusing that they find this to be such a betrayal... so I wrote a RANT... 

I went to school with Mike... We had a meeting with Mr. Watkins... Mike is suspended for 5 days. Apparently they are going to go by the word of David... that is logical, David has credibility and Mike does not... Mikes version is the truth and unfortunately the truth is not good... It looks like an unprovoked attack by Mike on David... there is some history of animosity between them apparently... at least one incident from 2 weeks ago... looks pretty harsh on paper but it is a fair accounting I guess... I wish it had been a 3 day suspension. Mike is showing quite a bit of remorse... he was visibly shaken by the news David needed to have stitches inside his lip... Mike really didn't expect to start a fight.

Saturday            January 20, 2001

The funeral for Cindy Carpenter, our son Jeff's Mother-in-law, was at a Roman Catholic church in Granada Hills. We decided that we needed to take the kids.. no babysitters available. The were pretty good for about a minute and a half. Mike was a jerk, Calie was so curious about what was going on she was about to burst, so was Mokie, they were driving Christy crazy, Autumn was climbing all over the place and waving and saying Hi to all the people walking by,  The Church is huge, sort of like a huge marble barn with Jesus nailed to a cross on the wall... really blew the kids away.. The altar was a gigantic granite table, Christian asked me "What do they use the big table for?"  The altar at the church he goes to is more like a podium. I said it is an Altar, "What do they do there?" It is where they make offerings to God and prepare the "Body & Blood of Christ for communion... he says with big eyes "They kill people!?" I tried to explain but I'm not sure I was successful... he never took his eyes off the Priest.

The ceremony was less ritualized than the last couple I went to. The Priest was pretty on top of the situation and addressed all the pertinent areas of concern... then Debbie got up and read a eulogy she had prepared... it was, by far, the most moving part of the ceremony, I have no idea how she got through it. It was the most eloquent testimonial I have heard... I wish I had a copy of it to put here.

I took off from the funeral and went to the Ritz Carton Hotel in Pasadena... Smith Barney was holding their "Client University". I went last year and it was really quite good, I hated to have to miss the first half of it but we the funeral took precedence. There were about 4 people there I used to work with... should have been more but...

I arrived there in time for the first "break-out" but I missed the introductory speaker. He was pretty good from what I heard. The consensus is that we are going to get a second bite of the technology apple but the craziness' from 1999 and 2000 will make the process more rational. The Internet is still the driving force in the stock market... any bricks and mortar business without Internet presence is going to lose. One lady was talking about watching the car manufacturers to see which one can come closest to the "Dell Model" get on the internet, order your car, have it delivered in a week with everything you want... minimum inventory suppliers at Dell are sent the order for a PC at the same time, so if Dell uses a DVD drove the supplier knows too and if the stock of DVD drives is diminishing at Dell the supplier sends more... Del is not in the warehousing business, they are mot concerned with "Stock on Hand" that's the suppliers problem, then UPS is informed and the product is shipped. Dell doesn't do anything but build PCs... The  lady from "Lazard" someday cars will be built like that too... interesting.

Sunday             January 21, 2001

I took the kids to the park and to get hotdogs... I don't know how much longer they will be appeased by such mundane entertainment...we did get to see the Fire Department burn down a house... that was exciting... there are several derelict houses in that area and I guess that every once and  they burn one down... gust for the practice...    

Christy has been gone since about 0900, she had a "Deaconess" meeting at her church and was going to meet with Peggy Mountsatsun (sp) at noon to start developing a Love & Logic course... she got back at about 1730. We got a call from Grandma... she went to visit Uncle Pete... he is doing fine. So is John in England.

Mike has been fine so far today, but it's only1300. I am tired... don't know why... I just discovered my WebPage is all screwed up...

It is now 2100, I think it's fixed... something happens when I modify the navigation bar properties... 

Monday            January 22, 2001    (BACK TO TOP)

Date is wrong in my camera... 

took this on my walk this morning... it's from about 1/2 way between Home and Sierra Highway

Christy and I walked this morning... it went OK... I walked from the house to the Freeway... bout a mile & 3/4 she parked the car at the freeway and walked into town, about the same distance... I picked up the car and went to the Post Office to wait for her and Mike... Mike, Oh yeah... lest you have forgotten Mike is suspended from school. 

I worked on this site almost all day... I really enjoyed it.

I should have spent some time cleaning... the house is a mess... 

I added some Genealogy stuff to my website... FrontPage allowed me to import a whole Ancestry WebPage that I created with PAF (personal Ancestry File). PAF is a program you can get free from the LDS site...Free... try this link -  PERSONAL ANCESTRAL FILE  Near the top, under the "tabs" is a hot spot that "ORDER/DOWNLOAD PRODUCTS" it will take you to a page where you will click on "Software Downloads - FREE" ... you will most likely select:

unless you have an operating system other than Windows PC ... for some reason I cant put a hot link that will take you directly there... follow directions... it is a big download, over 9 meg so plan on waiting a while for it.... Just remember it's free. It's a great program, as good as any commercial Genealogy Program.

The son of a classmate of Christy, John Lewis, called to inform us that Jeff (Christy's son) had just had an Appendectomy. It was sort of a sureal conversation. I had no idea who he was or who he was talking about... Apparently he had the operation in the morning... too bad someone didn't call earlier... would have been nice to know... 

Tuesday            January 23, 2001

Christy went to see Jeff in Simi Valley Hospital... He's doing fine, his appendix was inflamed... appendicitis. Mike and I got Autumn ready and took her to school. Christy came back home for about three minutes and went to Acton School to get Cindy, she is scheduled for a Psyche. Eval. at California Children's Services.  Christy left Cindy at CCS and went to Kaiser for her Mammogram... Cindy was still in with the Psychiatrist when she got back. 

There is some sort of software problem with my Modem... I can't do a FAX, the program says that the Modem is missing something or rather says there is no no connection, can't do voice, missing DLL.. I was futzing around with it and my PC was off so I didn't get the alarm to go get the kids... I was 15 minutes late getting Calie and Christian and a half hour late getting Mokie and Autumn... Mokie and Calie were really mad at me... I think they were frightened... I have never been late to pick them up... I felt real bad. That's what happens when you depend on technology...

I wrote a couple rants today... or maybe it's just an inane observation  

I talked to Ed today, he owns some horses down about a half mile from here... he is a retired Edison Executive, I asked him about the "Energy Crisis". According to him it's just another con game... Politicians and Big Business banging heads... the little guys will take it in the shorts... sad. I feel sort of sorry for Gray Davis our Al Gore Wannabe Governor... he's trying to figure out a way out of this mess without upsetting anyone... ain't gonna happen, it's a damned if he does and damned if he doesn't situation... he can't win...at least I don't see how. I don't see how anyone in their right mind could not forsee this problem... if you deregulate the power producers and regulate the power resellers the power producers are going to raise their rates and the power resellers have no way to increase revenue so they are going broke paying the inflated costs from the brokers. 

Wednesday        January 24, 2001 

Christy went to see Jeff in the Hospital... he was supposed to be released and she was going to take him home but when she left he was still hooked to IV's. Debbie was at the cemetery because her mother was being interred today. Rain, Hail, Snow today... pretty exciting weather... we are not used to "Exciting" weather around here, the phrase "Just another shitty day in Paradise" comes to mind... the weather was only worth commenting on for about an hour... the hail on the freeway caused a messy accident in front of Christy when she was coming home from Simi. 

Thursday           January 25, 2001

When I took Autumn to school I parked the van and walked to the Post Office and back... it's about 2 miles round trip... that's twice this week... not a record but pretty good for me... If I can get it up to 3 or 4 times a week I will be happy... 

 Microsoft was attacked yesterday, once by an error made by an employee and once by a Disruption In Service attack, the servers were blitzed by a massive demand for service... I am totally mystified by the mentality of someone who would do that. Someday it will be tantamount to bombing a telephone building or blowing up an electrical power station... but not yet... folks giggle and shake their heads, pranksters... Kids... Boys will be boys... they aren't any of those things, they are anarchists, they are Sociopaths, they are insensitive Thug/nerds (Thurds?, oooo I coined another word). Like a drunk throwing a brick through a window...ha ha... big joke. As people depend more and more on the Internet this sort of vandalism will be looked upon by more people as a crime. It is a crime now, ranks right up there with Tagging (graffiti). No one can't see the victim so it's hard to empathize, as far as anyone is concerned only Microsoft got hurt they don't see the folks who can't do business as any big deal to complain about... the Internet,,, c'mon... If someone cut the cable to their telephone they would be really pissed.

Friday                January 26, 2001

Autumn's therapists were not going to make it to Lancaster from Santa Clarita... the road is blocked...Snow Day!!!... Kids are thrilled... I am not so... On a regular day we need whips and threats to get them out the door and off to school, today they were dressed, their chores were done and they were making snowmen by 0730... amazing isn't it?

I am looking out the window at about 10 snowmen... they worked hard, They did a pretty good job considering they are Californians.

The snow, between 3 and 4 inches, was gone by noon... or almost gone... the hills are still pretty and the mountains behind Acton (South) are white, not exactly the Alps but pretty none the less. 

Saturday            January 27, 2001

Today started off with a mess... Yesterday I had tried to level the Washer by putting a couple 2X4s under it ... it didn't work, I found out in the process that one of the adjustable legs had worked loose so I fixed that turned it on and it seemed to work OK... This morning I went to put in a load and the load from last night was still there and the washer was full of water... The drain didn't work... something I did yesterday screwed it up. I had to remove the clothes and siphon the water out of the tub, remove the water hoses, the hot water tap leaks, I had to attach a garden hose to the tap, I tipped it over, sure as hell yesterday I had knocked off the belt that drives the pump... took me 45 minutes... I am not a happy camper as I type this.

I am  going to take Autumn to the Doc in a bit... she has an infected eye (lid) exactly what I had a week and a half ago... it is very contagious I probably gave it to her... bad Daddy. 

I took the boys with me to Kaiser... we had lunch at Arbys and mike spent his allowance on a game at Best Buy... Christy got home about 1800 with the girls... they had gone to the park and done some shopping...

MSN is still in trouble... my friend in Kansas can get on the net but she can only see text... very odd... My nephew Wayne was only able to get online today... he has been shut sown for three days... I hope people don't leave MSN... I'd hate to see the hackers win... damn. 

Sunday               January 28, 2001

The girls built a tent with blankets and chairs in the Living room last night... , they are so cute... I had a hell of a time getting them to take it down in the morning, It just dawned on me I  needed a picture of that ... darn. 

The Super Bowl was not very Super... The Ravens were awesome on defense, like they were in the huddle with the Giants... The poor Giants are a lot better team than they demonstrated on the field today... too bad... I was really hoping to see a good game... 

Got some fun/interesting emails today and had an interesting chat or two... pretty laid back day... 

Monday            January 29, 2001     (BACK TO TOP)

Christy took off for Santa Barbara to attend an IEP on "B"... I delivered Monica to school and went and sat in the lobby/office at High Desert Middle School to wait for a meeting with Mr. Watkins, a part of the ordeal we had to go through to get him readmitted to school... the meeting went well and Mike went back to class, first he apologized to the boy he hit, apparently the rest of the day went well for him... he is on probation there... one more incident and he is expelled... 

Christy's meeting went well, Devereux is trying to get him into a Golita School, finally... he will attend an SDC for at least part of the day. When the meeting was over she went with "B"'s counselor to visit with "B" for a few minutes... when she got there there were three kids having a fight and another counselor was trying to pull them apart... "B" was not only in the middle of it he was the instigator... bad timing. "B", Christy and the counselor talked for a long time but "B" was still pissed... apparently last week he had earned a special privilege and gone with one of the counselors to get a Big Mac, the whole class had earned a right to get something special this week and "B" thought that was unfair that they should get something special when he had to work so hard last week... he wanted to be the only one to go again. It's odd but that's how "B" thinks... he thought he was being good enough to get another one on one treat with the counselor, he didn't want to share. 

We want him back here... but he needs a bit more maturity before he can cope with this place...

I dropped off Autumn and went into Palmdale to pay some bills... I went to Don Cuco's for lunch and then I picked up Autumn... my day was shot. I helped Cindy, Mokie, Calie and Autumn to clean their rooms... what a mess... girls (my girls) are pretty messy, Calie likes to have a clean room and she will work hard to keep it clean if it isn't too messed up, if it is beyond her capacity she will shove stuff under the bed.

Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, only necessary words, a paragraph shouldn't have any unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. 

William Strunk, Jr., professor and author (1869-1946)

Tuesday            January 30, 2001

Christian to Kaiser at 0900

I picked up Mike at High Desert to take him to see Dr. Simmons, the lady at the desk sort of tweaked me a bit. She is a nice looking woman, but she is a bureaucrat...I had called her to ask to have Mike in the office at 1015, she said she would, I got there at 1017 and no Mike, she said; "Are you here for Mike?", I said; "Yes", she said; "Ok I will call for him." When she talked to me on the phone she had no intention of calling Mike out of class until I got there   why couldn't she have told me that on the phone and let me know the straight story. She had to be cute... typical "I don't have to be considerate, or truthful, or straightforward, or even polite, I have rules, they protect me, I don't have to think, she can just smile and say "It's School Policy"

Well I got him there on time at 1100, it was a pretty good interview, Mike was in a snit because he was going to miss a special pizza lunch, apparently the whole class did well on a test and they were being rewarded... I felt bad... Mike really behaved badly and rudely at the Dr's... surly is a good word. 

I took Christy a change of clothing she forgot that she had to go to Lake Los Angeles for an IEP as an advocate...

I took Mike back to school but it was too late to take the other kids, Autumn would have only had about an hour and Christian was all jazzed up and would not be able to function, so I took them to McDonalds and then home.  Christy is about to go to war with Christian's teacher... I am not thrilled with her either, she is not very professional and she seems to be clueless about how to handle an ADHD/FAS kid... Christian is totally frustrated and performing poorly as a result... he tests well, he was getting mostly A's but she is giving him straight F's she wants to hold him back... Christy will have something to say about that. The neat thing is I get to be there when Christy tells them what is what. 

Christy picked up Mokie, Calie, Cindy and Mike on her way back from Lake LA..

Christy and I worked till 2200 sorting folding and putting the kids cloths away... very tiresome. Still not done, we haven't done Autumn's cloths... lots need to be chucked.

Wednesday        January 31, 2001 

Christy had a meeting at DCFS downtown (LA) today... she took Mike to school and I took the rest... I stopped to get Autumn a breakfast at McD's, I drove up to the window and discovered I didn't have my wallet... I told them to cancel the order and stormed up the hill to find my cache... about half way up I remembered that I was supposed to be on my way to Lancaster for Autumns Therapy... I sped up the hill and ran into the house to get my wallet, I tore the place apart for about 5 minutes, wracking my brain to try to remember when I had it last... McDonalds... It had to be in the truck... I ran back out and sure as hell, there it was under the middle seat. I jumped in the truck and took off for CCS, it was 0855, I was supposed to be there at 0900... I called CCS when I hit the freeway and told them I would be late. I got there at 0916... Myra and Jane worked with her and I went back to McDonalds and picked up a breakfast for Autumn... I took it back to CCS and Myra used the breakfast as Occupational Therapy for the day... , I got home at about 1130 and tried to catch up on my e-mail... did pretty good...

I picked up the kids and they were pretty good, Christy got home about 1700... I didn't look at the clock. She took off at 1830 for a "Prayer Meeting" at her church she took Calie, Cindy and DaMoke. The heater still doesn't work in the truck... I forgot to remind her... she froze on the way back...

I had a long chat with a friend from my working days she is a lot of fun to chat with... she has passions that are quite diverse from mine... it was an interesting conversation, fraught with trapdoors and minefields that neither one of us wanted to venture too close to... friendships are fragile things, especially when they are new and untested. 

I heard from John McLinden again today... he seems to be resigned to a regimen to get back into shape... I gave him my Theory of:

 Couch Potato’s vs. Health fanatics...or ... relative longevity?

(Just in case: A Couch Potato is a fella who slouches on the couch all day watching TV, has a tantrum if he looses the remote control.) 

I am sort of a Couch Potato Wannabe… I aspire to become a Couch Potato… When I had my Heart Attack the onset felt like I had eaten too much pizza and beer the night before… queasy… by the time I felt pain and was writhing on the floor trying to breath the Para-Medics were coming through the door… I had two friends that had massive heart attacks, one died one almost did…  both of them were in great shape, one was a tennis fanatic the other was an avid hiker… I was in such lousy shape that when my heart was stressed just a tiny bit I knew it instantly and got to the hospital in time to get the Strepticinace (SP) I believe that medication saved me from having more heart muscle damage… My friends were in such good shape that it took a massive heart attack to get their attention they never knew what hit them. 

I have seen it may times, health fanatics drop dead from exercising… sedate college professors suffer mild heart attacks.

 No facts whatever to back this up but … for what it’s worth… time to warm up the Telly.