January 99
|
January 99
|
|
 "...I filled in all the holes I had dug Saturday to fix the sewer, Mike and "B" helped, Christian couldn't be pried from his Nintendo game "Zelda". The boys are really hooked on it. They have been bugging me to find "Walkthroughs" and "Cheats" on the web. Christy and I have the foundation installed for the countertop. We laid out the tiles tonight and it will look nice. I have been tired all afternoon but I took off to run errands anyway. I had 4 things to do and I screwed them all up. I had to:
I put the house payment in the mail box and went to the bank with the car insurance, when I saw the stamp I wanted to say a lot of bad words but there were too many old ladies and children around. I made the House Payment anyway but the poor teller had to dig me out of her computer, a tedious process that endeared me to the people in line behind me. I got the car insurance into the mail before the last pick-up in Palmdale and headed to Home Depot to return the salt I bought two days ago. I had bought "Pellets" instead of "crushed", Pellets turn into a block of salt and muck up the works. I had to wait about 15 minutes for the guy to bring the salt out from the back, and I forgot check out the price on the cabinets. I went to Albertson's too and got everything but the fixin's. I should have stayed bed instead... Tuesday 12/29/98 "...Calie and I took the old dishwasher over to a friend of a friends house and then we stopped by Home Depot to get some "L" shaped tile pieces and check out the prices on the cabinets and cupboards that I forgot to do yesterday. We stopped for a late breakfast at "Karen's Kitchen #2", I had some Hobo Eggs and Calie had pancakes. She was a big hit with the waitress, "She's sooooo cute! and polite to." Calie got home and told all the other kids what a wonderful place Karen's Kitchen is, now they all want to go. Karen's kitchen is just a dumpy little cafe with pretty good food. The kids are usually good when I take them out one at a time, it's when there are two or more that there is trouble. I don't know why but that's just the way it is. It's as though they have no control over themselves, they either get insanely silly or start fights with each other. The poor kids have been cooped up for a week and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. It's been in the 70's since Christmas. Christian and Mike "The Nintendo Zombies" got new Nintendo games and I haven't seen them since Christmas Day. I think they send "B" out for food occasionally ... but I'm not sure. Christy and I have been following a book about installing tile to the letter, we put the first 40 tiles down and it looks pretty darn good, I am apprehensive about putting the tiles on for the backsplash...but only because I've never done it before. I am not a particularly adventurous soul. I used to tackle anything when I was young and knew everything. Now that I am old(er) and unsure of most every aspect of my life, and have a string of botched projects in my wake that would amaze Ripley's, I am a little less interested in taking on anything more challenging to my Do-It-Yourself ego than vacuuming the rug. This thing with the Damnkitchen is all Christy's idea, I will, of course, assume credit and bask in all the accolades from my admiring fans if it turns out well but Christy will have to shoulder all the blame if it doesn't ... that's just the way it is ... It's a guy thing. I bought a tool a while back with a retro 50's sort of name, called a RotoZip / Spiral Saw, it actually does what the advertisements say it will do. I had to cut some curved pieces to fit around the corner of the sink, they came out like they were cut with a laser, I can write my name in a tile if I want to. I am impressed. I had already used it on the dry wall to cut holes for the electrical outlets and light switches, also to cut the hole for the sink out of the cement board. I have been pleased with the results since I learned to put the right saw/bit in for the different materials. i.e., drywall bits break when you try to cut wood, and wood bits dance around in drywall with a life of their own. I got into another discussion about Clinton today, this fella said he could forgive the sex and lying but not the "fact that he was a Draft Dodger", I don't know where they get that, he didn't sneak over the border he said to himself "Now lets see, should I join the Army or go to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar" Hmmm ....... I know I would have agonized over that for about a mili-second. While I'm in the "rant" mode, the polls show President Clinton with the highest approval rating ever. Why is it that the media only seems to be able to find Rush Limbaugh "Ditto Brains" with rocks in their pockets itching to cast the first stone to interview. I got into another discussion about Clinton today, this fella said he could forgive the sex and lying but not the "fact that he was a Draft Dodger", I don't know where they get that, he didn't sneak over the border he said to himself "Now lets see, should I join the Army or go to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar" Hmmm ....... I know I would have agonized over that for about a mili-second. While I'm in the "rant" mode, the polls show President Clinton with the highest approval rating ever. Why is it that the media only seems to be able to find Rush Limbaugh "Ditto Brains" with rocks in their pockets itching to cast the first stone to interview.
My 11th cousin Alan in from Waddel (The town with a name but no town) Arizona wrote to say that I ought to challenge Jenny Craig with my weight loss program;
He even offered to be the Finance Manager. I don't know about the kitchen appliances but I could get a crew of retired telephone men together and we could go around Los Angeles County ripping out kitchens. Absolutely zero overhead... I already have a pick-up truck and a hammer.
Guaranteed Weight Loss Program! and a !! NEW KITCHEN !! to boot. Call 805 269-2212 !!NOW!! We will be out to remove your old kitchen the very next day! all you have to do is give us a call after you have lost however much weight you want to loose and we will come back and try to install aBRAND NEW KITCHEN when we can get around to it
Well, there may be a few wrinkles to iron out. Thursday 12/30/98 "...Busted the bit on my RotoZip so I had to go back to... (Three guesses), I took Cindy with me this time. We dropped some money off at the bank and got some lunch (At Karen's Kitchen). They were out of bits so I had to go to the Lancaster store. Christy and I cut all the tiles for the countertop, I only broke 3 tiles, amazing. We will cement them down tomorrow. New Years Eve "...Ricky Williams is playing Football on ESPN tonight and I have vowed to myself that I will see that game. I saw him in September and was amazed at what he can do on the field. I don't normally follow College Football so I had never heard of him before. We will start on the tiles early so we can finish up. they have to set for 24 hours before we can grout them. We got all the tiles on the counter and one course of the wall done. We had to pull off some of the "L"-pieces to the right of the sink because we built up the front edge too much, it was only about an 1/8th of an inch but it was a glaringly bad looking 1/8th of an inch. All the preparation we put into it would have been for nothing if we left it the way it was. I tuned to my game at 17:30 to watch Ricky Williams but it was the wrong Ricky Williams. There are two, one plays for Texas Tech ant the other plays for Texas State. Oh well, the real Ricky Williams will play tomorrow. Mike is staying at his buddy's house tonight. The kids are trying to stay awake for the New Years. All the girls are asleep and "B" and Christian are hanging in there, It's 2300 now, I am tired, I don't know if I will make it. Friday 1/1/1999 New Years Day "...Christy and I stayed up and we woke the kids up to see the fireworks from the Space Needle in Seattle. It was a spectacular show, this morning Cindy is the only one who remembered seeing it. Well, the year started off pretty much the way the last fifty-five years started. Sort of ho hum, with a hint of promise and a dash of hope. I am worried about my Mom and anxious to visit with her next week. My baby sister Leigh Elaine Bowman is flying out from Massachusetts I haven't seen her in a while that will be fun. The three of us usually spend a lot of energy entertaining each other. We seem to be able to laugh a little easier now then when we were kids. There was always a lot of laughter in our house but there was also a lot of self-preoccupation on my part, I was a little "out of it" I guess. Leigh and Sue and I have gone our separate ways over the years, they are closer to each other than they are to me, I think. Maybe I'm just jealous, there are aspects of their lives that are mysterious to me, but I think we are pretty close. Both of my sisters are married to pretty nice guys, they are both rabid Conservative Republicans but I try not to hold it against them. I have turned into a Democrat over the years with out even realizing it. Not a Yellow Dog Democrat but it seems like it sometimes. I always considered myself a Republican until I realized I didn't like most of the creeps I was voting for. Lately, it turns out that the people I choose to vote against are, for the most part, Republican and I end up voting for the fella that least is offensive to me, they usually turn out to be Democrats.I never believed in "My Country, Right or Wrong" or any of that Viet Nam crap pro or con. It happened, a lot of people died, it was a damn shame... I will never blindly believe in any thing ever again. The last thing I would do is believe the promises of any politician, I vote my heart and my gut because I am not smart enough to figure out which of the candidates is lying, deep down I figure I'm voting for the better Con-Man anyway. So even if they are total idiots at least they will be able keep me lulled into a rosy sense of well-being. I have been flim-flamed, scammed, bamboozled and coned by every slicker that has ever even noticed me. I am the epitome of the sucker that spawned P. T. Barnam's empire. I've been the 'rube' at the carnival all my life. I've bought encyclopedias, vacuum cleaners, used cars and even houses, I get taken to the cleaners every time, I've gotten inured to it. I figure that that's just the way of the world. Some take and some get taken. I get to sleep at night though, that's worth something. I got to see the "Real" Ricky Williams play against MSU in the Cotton Bowl, and he is pretty awesome. He will probably go #1 in the draft. He'll probably go to some loser team and waste away, it's such a shame that guys like him get stuck with poor performers and end up breaking records in a losing effort. I watched the Rose Bowl and rooted for the Badgers (Being from Milwaukee I'm a Badger and a Packer fan) Cheese-Heads Rule this year at least.... UWM has a Running-Back named Ron Dayne (25 rushes - 237 yards - 4 TD) who is as good as R. Williams, (30 Rushes - 203 yards - 2 TD) almost. He has Ricky Williams's strength and speed he doesn't seem to have the moves ... but he's so strong he doesn't have to dodge anyone..... We have all the tile placed and now we must wait 24 hours to grout, wait another 36 hours, seal it, then we can start on the Dining room. We still have more cupboards and cabinets to erect and more tile to do, but we need to order the cabinets... when that's done we can do the floor and put up the kickboards in at the base of the cabinets. I had to make another trip to Home Depot because we decided to use Bullnose tile instead of taking the tile flush to the cupboards. I got double teamed by Mokie and "B" and ended up taking both of them with me, they behaved pretty good till after I fed them (At Karen's Kitchen) and we had headed home. They poked and punched and cried and whined all the way home. I know better than taking two but I guess I have to refresh my memory periodically. Christy called Jeff,... He, Debbie and Keagan will be up Sunday, (she says tentatively...). He stood us up last weekend... I can remember Jeff sitting for hours on the curb out front of our house in North Hollywood, in the rain, waiting in vain for his Bio-Dad to come pick him up. He idolized his dad and never paid much attention to me at all. I always thought of him as true blue sort of kid, a hard worker... I hope he settles down soon, a whole lot of people are counting on him.
Saturday 1/2/99 "... Kitchen tiles look good, Christy spent a couple hours cleaning the thin-set off them in preparation for grouting, and it really looks good. I removed most of my tools from the kitchen, scraped all the mortar off the floor and swept it up. Looks pretty good, I am anxious to grout tonight. Just had a "Chat" on the Internet with Dave Michels. He's an ex co-worker / boss / friend / mentor from my Telco days. We are about the same age, I always considered him a kindred spirit, and we used to go to one of the local taverns after work and wash the taste of the day out of our minds with a few beers. Davy is a passionate guy, he always seemed to be on the ragged edge of ecstasy or depression then. He seems to have a pretty firm grasp on his life, His wife Debbie is neat and they seem to be well tuned in to one another. I sat in their living-room/balcony/whatever and listened to them banter with such ease it almost seemed rehearsed. I like talking to him, I feel like a grown-up again. I get to pretend to myself that I have a little autonomy in my life. I wonder if anyone is ever really autonomous... seems like the pressures of living direct us all. Maybe sociopaths and other egomaniacs can be totally self-directed, not me .... or perhaps I've just missed the point Mike finally came home from his friend Austin's house, his buddies Mom really likes mike because he helps her clean The tiles are grouted, we used white tile and charcoal (Read VERY BLACK) grout. It looks wonderful, I guess I'll have to prepare to humbly accept accolades from far and wide. Sunday 1/3/99 "... We got the house cleaned up and the kitchen put back together in anticipation of cooking our first real meal since before Thanksgiving. I took Mike to his other buddy Jessie's house, they were having some sort of Nintendo bash. Jeff, Debbie and Keagan came up and so did Pat, Grandma and Grandpa. We made spaghetti without spaghetti, we had to use Manicotti instead. We ran out of spaghetti, which has never happened before. We always have spaghetti, it's my favorite meal (I'm a lazy cook). Keagan is two, he called me Gam'pah, I've never been called Grandpa before... feels good. He told Jeff he wanted to come to Gamah's Dump. We have a trampoline and he loves it, he meant to say Gamah's Jump, however the first interpretation seemed to be the more accurate considering the condition of the place the last time he saw it. He is really cute and has a mind of his own. He leads Jeff around like he has a big puppy ... it's funny to watch. He is very talkative and seems to be well adjusted and loved. Jeff and I had a bet of $1.00 on the game, he's a 'Niner fanatic, a gloating, stomping, yelling, obnoxious, Niner Fanatic. In case you missed the game the Packers had won the game, with a 00:01:25 to go, Jeff had his $1.00 in his hand. Young threw to Rice, Rice took a few steps and fumbled the ball, a bad call (Not sour grapes, honest) let the Forty-Niners keep the ball. Instant replay showed it clearly. Interesting that Holmgren, the Packer coach, was against Instant Replay being used in disputed plays. Bummer, two plays later the 'Niner's had a touchdown on a beautiful throw from Young... So it's not the "Year Of The Cheese-head" after all ......
Scottsdale, Lumpy's Birthday, & Mokie's Birthday Journal for the week of 1/4/99 - 1/10/99 Damnkitchen The picture at the left is of the Damnkitchen. I had other pictures but they contained Christy's image and she was adamant about having her picture on the web. She's a techno-paranoid.... Monday 1/4/99
I took "B" to his new school, he had lot of trepidation and anxiety. He went to his new classroom and I went to the office to get some paperwork, when I came out he was walking toward me crying, he was like Mike, hung out to dry, I gave him a hug and a kiss and a little pep-talk and walked away. I looked back and he was going into his room with his teacher like he was going to the gallows. Sometimes I wonder if we're doing anything right. When I picked '"B" up he was smiling and happy, he said he liked it there and is excited about getting to ride on the bus tomorrow. I will take him to school but he will ride the bus back to Acton School in the afternoon. He said "I made two friends today" That's neat, he didn't have many friends at Acton School... he'd burned too many bridges. Like I said before, he needs a fresh start. But ...is it the right thing to do... how the hell should I know. I'm giving the Damn (Beautiful) kitchen a week's rest. We decided Christy would put sealer on the grout while I'm in Arizona. I did some grocery shopping, I held my breath when I paid with the ATM card, the check was late because of the holidays and, because of the holidays, the ole' checking account was stretched a little thin too. I want to buy some clothes to go to Arizona, I looked for something nice to wear and I just don't have anything, no, not because I can't afford it, I just haven't bothered to buy new cloths for over a year. I'm retired, who do I have to look pretty for? The check came today; I picked it up at the mailbox on the way home ... whew. All's well in Whoville ....... Christy is doing the bills, she has a sour look and is grumbling under her breath and shaking her head a lot, I think I'll just go watch football.... Tuesday 1/5/99 "...Mokie couldn't find her shoes this morning, I had to leave her home because if I didn't leave on time the rest of the kids would be late. I dropped the other kids off at their schools and met Christy coming down Crown Valley Road with Da Moke, I switched cars and took Mokie to school, she got out of the Van when the tardy bell sounded, so she was not late. "B" took the bus to Acton School, he was thrilled. Christy took Cindy to Dr Rupp, at 1500 - Christy home with Cindy at 1930 - Cindy had to have an EEG and was given some medication. Mike had another Tantrum tonight, I don't know what is causing them. They start out with him getting silly, then he starts playing rough with "B" or Christian, then he gets mad and will not listen, he becomes defiant and belligerent. He says things with the intent to provoke a fight with Christy or me, the whole episode usually lasts from thirty minutes to something just short of an hour. He will physically attack one of us but he won't really fight, it is very strange, it's as though he is trying to provoke us into hurting him. Like he wants to be punished. Autumn slept from about 1630 till Christy got home she wouldn't go to bed, my fault, I shouldn't have let her sleep so long. Calie got mad and had her tantrum too. She started banging the door to the coat closet, she banged it so long and so hard that it pulled the frame away from the wall. Wednesday 1/06/99 "...The Plan Wake a regular time 0530 Get the kids dressed fed and off to school at 0730 Drop "B" at Agua Dulce School at 0755 Christy leaves to take Autumn to Carols at 0815 Calie and Mokie at Meadowlark School at 0815 Drop the big kids at Acton Elementary School at 0825 Back to house to get the truck and drive to Scottsdale 0845 Christy arrives at AV College at 0900 to teach a four-hour class Arrive Deans at 1525 Fall asleep 1537 "...The reality Actually, I managed to pretty much keep to the schedule. I arrived at the Deans at 15:40. Mom, Leigh, Sue Ross, Christine, Dave and John (Jake) all look fine. We spent a lot of time talking and had dinner. Leigh and Mom went to bed pretty early. I stayed at the Wida's home, they have a dog named Tempest (named after the one in a teapot I suspect) and a cat that I can't remember the name of. They slept in the room with me curled up with one another. I slept fitfully, perhaps because I was subliminally anticipating being awakened by a security guard pointing a gun in my face saying, "Who the hell are you". Thursday 1/07/99 "...I woke up at about 06:30 California time (7:30 AZ time). I took a shower and removed a dead kangaroo rat that had put up a valiant but futile battle with the cat... in the process it made a bit of a mess on the dining-room carpet. Ross went out early for water since the well pump system that he has was designed for sustaining 4 people, not 8. He has a large tank in the back of his pickup truck. Looks like about 250 gallons, but it could be twice that, I am a poor judge. When he was returning he noticed someone with dark hair and a white shirt in the back of the Wida's, We jumped in the truck and sped over there meeting the daughter of the McVaugh's struggling with two dogs on a leash. Apparently one can open doors and chased the Wida's cat through the house, not much damage but quite a mess. Ross and I went over and straightened out most of it. There were papers scattered every where and there was some blood on the bedspread, the dog apparently clipped the cat somehow. I showed Ross the blood on the carpet from the kangaroo rat. We went back to the house to talk to the pro's about how to clean that up. Ross went to pay the people putting the replacement garage door at Katy's house, they didn't show up. Leigh and Sue went down to pick up the SUV and it wasn't ready, all and all it was a pretty screwed up day. Florida Scott-Maxwell Mom gave me a Photo Album full of old pictures, some of her mother when she was about 18, she was a beautiful girl and a picture of William Talcott Daggett and his wife, they are my great-grandparents. He was the son of Nathan Daggett who died of Measles in Virginia in 1863 during the Civil War. My Grandfather Cecil M. Daggett, Senior was William's only son. The pictures are true treasures to me... I also got a box full of stuff that belonged to my dad, my grandfather, and me. A late Christmas ... Dinner was excellent, steak, Sue offered me a piece about the size of an 8 1/2 EEE basketball shoe. I have no self-control when it comes to steak and said "Sure". Leigh concocted some sort of barbecued vegetable side dish composed of bell peppers and zucchini I don't care for bell peppers and zucchini... at all. I couldn't even be polite about it. Sorry... She said "Bill has lost fifty pounds and he eats it all the time" I bit my tongue... just kidding folks, I'm sure it was delicious, I just can't stand the taste of bell peppers or zucchini. Every one enjoyed it thoroughly saying how wonderful it was. I took their word for it ... I just prayed that they would keep it at the other end of the table. I noted that Leigh has some sort of switch in her behind that won't permit her to remain seated for over 45 seconds. It was beginning to get funny, she would pop up to play with Jack, pop up to scurry over to help Sue, pop up to take pictures, pick up toys, straighten pillows, serve dinner. It occurs to me to ask how she manages to sit still in church long enough to hear a sermon. Mom and Leigh retired early, Sue, Ross and I stayed up and "discussed" the Clinton fiasco again. I had no luck getting my point across. Ross is very articulate he has a bottomless fount of facts and figures to support his stance and I am only armed with the basic gut feeling that this impeachment thing is like being executed for jay-walking. I'm afraid I didn't put up a very effective argument. My facts were wrong and my alliterations were feeble, still... losing the debate doesn't mean I'm wrong, just a bad debater. I will cling to that. The problem being, I don't like Clinton very much either, it's hard to defend someone, who, though very smart, has no common sense regarding his place in society... Friday1/08/99 "...The night was uneventful, I slept better. Leigh and Sue left for the airport as I arrived from the Wida's at 07:00. Ross and Jack took off and worked in the greenhouse, Ross told me that when he was at Purdue he took an aptitude test that concluded he should become a farmer, and looking at his greenhouse I believe it. Mom and I talked and then Ross came up for lunch. Sue arrived at about 13:00 and presented me with a framed needlepoint Mom did saying "No matter where you go, there you are" I will hang it in my bedroom with the rest of my family stuff. They gave me a picture of my other grandfather Wilmer Mooers with the Colby College baseball team that he pitched for in 1913. They beat Yale that year, first time and last time it was done. He was a hell of a baseball player. I left for LA with a stop at my 11th Cousin Alan Daggett's house. We had a nice visit Saturday 1/09/99 "...I managed to watch a little football 'Niners put up a pretty good fight, I missed Lumpy's Birthday on Friday and assuaged my conscience by promising to take all the kids to see "A Bugs Life", it was ok I guess, I expected it to be a little more.... relevant ...but ... it wasn't. We opened Lumpy's presents after dinner. Mokie's B'day maņana. Sunday 1/10/99 "...We celebrated Mokie's Birthday in a low key sort of way. Last year we had a big party at Chuck E. Cheese's and it cost a small fortune, we had a big party for each of the kids and it was just sort of blah after a while. We decided that we would just have family birthdays this year and then take the kids out for a bash at one of the big parks like Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm. I turned on the games today but was not able to concentrate on them. The teams that were supposed to win... won. Ho Hum. The Vikings are just about the most intimidating team I have ever seen, my money is on them this year I guess but I'll be rooting for the Broncos... Autumn had another seizure tonight, it was different than the last times. This was not in her extremities, it was her mouth and throat, rapid sucking, poking her tongue out the side of her mouth, eyes closed. She didn't respond to either of us for about 3 minutes. Earlier she made some particularly spastic moves at the table and sort of lurched forward and tapped her head against the table, the expression on her face seemed to be confused frustration. Her right hand flailed around and her right leg was bumping up and down. Earlier today, about noon, her left foot was vibrating too. We get upset when this happens; we are told that we will have to periodically boost her seizure medication. I just don't like the implied prognosis, Autie, is my baby and I hate not being able to help her. I'm tired, I'm going to put this on the net and go to bed...
The never ending saga of ... Journal for the week of 1/11/99 - 1/17/99 Monday 1/11/99 "...I took Cindy to "Art" Therapy, it wasn't the real thing it was only a check-in meeting to be sure we're all on the same page. I talked to the therapist, Dr S., she is the creepy one I mentioned before. She is OK I guess, but she is odd. She just seems to have a real "downer" personality and seems to be tuned in the "Worst Case Scenario" school of mental health. It is supposed to be a Group Therapy, Play Therapy, Socialization, Self Esteem Building sort of hodge-podge thing, I am actually sort of leery of the whole affair. Tuesday 1/12/99 "...Christy is scheduled to take a Treadmill, She was feeling bad all morning, a touch of the flu I suspect. She took the test anyway and the Dr. / Technician said that he didn't see anything wrong but the results wouldn't be in till next week. Mike just called, he rode his bike down to Scotty's house, he got there in about the same amount of time it took me to type this, it's about a mile and a half and down hill but he must have been flying. It's girls night out...Christy and Carol went out grocery shopping and to dinner. She was back at about 20:30. She has a night out once a week and so do I, theoretically... Wednesday 1/13/99 "...Lumpy and "B" had a fight in the van on the way back from school. This happens occasionally, I figure that fighting among brothers is natural to a certain extent, I only get involved when they won't stop. I don't allow fighting in a moving vehicle, it's sort of distracting. Today I had to stop three times to pull them apart, when those two fight it's a total take no prisoners warfare. Mike and "B" had a set to in the front seat of the Buick the other day and I almost drove off the freeway. Christy is teaching "Foster Pride" tonight and will be teaching it on Wednesday and Thursday all month. Christy came back at 20:00, It turns out there are three instructors. There were only two people signed up for the course and they are married and ... they didn't show up. Thursday 1/14/99 "...Took Mike to Dr. Rupp, She decided to modify his medication again. A friend observed that in her humble opinion "Any Dr that prescribes medication without accompanying it with Therapy should loose their license." I think I have to concur, I understand that Kaiser has imposed policies on Dr. Rupp that preclude her from being able to provide intensive therapy. Kaiser does provide intensive therapy but it means we would have to commit him to their psychiatric facility in Van Nuys like we did for "B", not a happy prospect. It may come to that but I can't get it out of my head that taking that step would set us off on a journey that we couldn't walk back from. I went to the R.O. F. (Retired Old Farts) and had a pleasant evening with friends. We held it at Lois Taylor's house again and it was a nice quiet evening. We swapped war stories of Korea and Viet Nam and work stories and bailed out of there about 22:30. I would expound, but I have another page for the ROF at http://members.tripod.com/padagge/ROFGrid1.html only a few people are interested in it so I won't bore you, besides it's a particularly uninspired effort on my part... Friday1/15/99 "...Christy and I went out to Sears and bought a new Washer & Dryer. We wanted the new Maytag "Neptune" but it was a little bit pricey for us at the moment. We did get Maytag's though, they will be delivered next Thursday. Our current washing machine has been making awful noises for months and its demise has been inevitable, every time we turned it on we expected it to be the last. We were not emotionally attached to it but we were a little disappointed in that it had a five year parts and labor warrantee from Sears and it lasted five and a half years, ... how do they do that? Saturday 1/16/99 "...I slept in till 07:30, what a deal. Christy woke up with a start remembering it was her mothers 73rd birthday today and her wedding anniversary tomorrow. She decided that she needed to go to Riverside. Autumn had Nicole's Birthday Party to go to, Nicole is in her class at Yucca School. We let the kids decide whether they wanted to go with me or Mom, Cindy chose Mom and I got the rest. I had already planned on having them all day so it wasn't a big deal. We took off for the party early because I wanted to feed them German food at The Weinerschnitzel (sp). Eating at the Discovery Zone is expensive and the food is pretty bad. We arrived at the appointed time and I met Nicole and her Mom. I just played with Autumn, I forgot about the other kids until it was time to go. I think they had a pretty good time, at least I had a hell of a time getting them to leave. Autumn was adorable at the party, the guy hosting it, a D.Z. employee, who called himself "Pee Wee", told all the kids that if they wanted more food to put their plates on top of their head and if they wanted more to drink to put their cups on their head. Autumn immediately put her plate on her head. He tried to play "Captain May I" with them but he didn't realize that three of the kids couldn't stand up by themselves and two of them, Autumn and Nicole, were to slow to react with put your hands on your head, though they tried. The kids working for D.Z. do a pretty good job of entertaining the little kids. They sing songs and joke with them but they are a little jaded with all the parties they have to put on, it must be tough to get "up" for seven or eight parties a day. They give it their damnedest though and the kids seem to be oblivious to the obviously scripted patter. Autumn yelled, laughed and did her best to keep up with the games and had a good time. Observation: I went up to the counter with my coffee mug and asked for a cup of coffee. I offered my mug to the little girl working there, she may have been 16 or 17 but she looked 13. She took a look at the mug in my hand and didn't know what to do, she wouldn't touch it. She went to get another little girl who had 'more experience' and asked her what she should do. The other little girl asked me if I had ever had my mug filled there before, I said "No", a pained, irritated expression spread over her face. She stepped back and went over to the young man at the cash register and asked him what she should do. I saw him shrug. I was tempted to let this scene play out but I didn't, I told the first little girl, "Never mind, it was too much trouble, just give me a cup of coffee, I'll pour it in my mug myself." I am not sure what to make of all this, what concerns me is that none of these little people felt they had enough autonomy to pour $.05 worth of coffee into my mug and charge me $1.25. It never occurred to any of them to just ignore my mug and pour a cup of coffee into one of their cups. I think it makes me sad ... I was tempted to mention it to the manager but suspected that the manager would have misunderstood the problem and just made things worse. I seem to run into this sort of behavior quite frequently. I brought Autumn to school 5 minutes early a while back and the person on the playground wouldn't unlock the gate to let me bring her in because her teacher wasn't there yet, "it's the rules". Dan the bus driver can't let Autumn off the bus until the appointed time for the same reason. People won't bend the rules any more and there seem to be rules for everything. I used to be able to just wave at the lady at the 76 Station and she would turn on the pump. Someone took off with out paying once and even though I have been buying gas there every day for 14 years I have to go in and pay first now. Then I go back out and pump my gas and then come in again to get my change, it's a shame. It is getting to the point that when I get even an unsolicited smile from someone I feel grateful. The waiter at "Don Cuco's" restaurant brings me a beer without asking and asks me if I want to have Zarapé's again even though I haven't been in there in a month. That's neat, makes me want to go back.... The lady at the Acton Market asks about the kids and that is nice, I get a familiar smile from Linda at the Post Office and ... that's about it. We have always had commuters here, I used to be one, but now we seem to be inundated with people who have brought their San Fernando Valley paranoia with them. I hear car alarms in the Acton Market parking lot for crying out loud. The new 50 home development down the hill from me has security alarm company placards all over the place and there are motion sensor security lights on all the houses. This is a real small town but the small town atmosphere is slowly disappearing. It seems we have become so civilized that we have lost our willingness to be civil.
Sunday 1/17/99 "...I woke up to watch "Sunday Morning" on CBS but I missed the first half hour because they started early. My Mother got hooked on this show when Charles Kuralt was the MC and I have kept watching after he left in the hope that it will attain that level of excellence again someday. It is still the only upbeat show on TV ....except for the Clinton / Lewinski /impeachment lameness that they feel they have to inflict us with to be "relevant". I noticed it was a bit chilly when I got up. It was 61 degrees in the house. I checked the furnace and the pilot was out. I got dressed and went out to get the kids some donuts and pick up some matches to light the Furnace. Christy and I tried several times to re-light it and nada. I hate when that happens. I suspect that it needs another thermostat. Oh well, washer, dryer, furnace ... that's three, hope we're done buying appliances for a while. Vikings lost their game and the Broncos won theirs. Who'd a thunk it... the Falcons were pretty good, better than I thought they were, Robert will be inconsolable. Jeff was crushed last week when his invincible 'Niners bit the dust. Mike is spending his third day at Austin's house, he does well over there. Austin's Mom raves about how well behaved he is and how much help he is to her, cleaning and picking up around the house. Interesting phenomenon ... Mike does well here too but he can really turn on the charm when he wants to. A friend of mine made a digital "Movie" on CD-ROM as a present for his twin brother, I played it tonight and it was a lot of fun to watch. It was an encapsulated, humorous, life in pictorial review. It had music and a voice over too. I am really impressed. I have asked him to make me a copy of the program he used to create it so I can give it a try. The never ending saga of ... Journal for the week of 1/18/99 - 1/24/99 Monday 1/18/99 Martin Luther King's (Observed) Birthday "...Kids are home today in celebration of Martin Luther King's Birthday, were I to have been consulted I would have suggested that we commemorate his birthday by keeping the kids at school and teaching them about his life. Some might think I had an ulterior motive though... Christy's brother, Ken, collapsed at her parent's home. This development has been anticipated for some time. Christy went to Riverside to be with her parents. People who know the story behind this development are already informed. People who don't, don't need to know. Yes, even I have to draw the line somewhere. NOTE: Alan Daggett wrote that he was concerned about the recent crime wave I referred to in my last Journal entry, i.e. the gasoline theft at the Union 76 Station.... Perhaps I have given the wrong impression about the Acton crime-wave, crime is not rampant in Acton, crime passes through on a regular basis though. Last month the new Southern California entertainment rage "The televised car chase" passed through town, the second time in three months. I suspect that this form of madness is encouraged by the media, it gives them an instant ratings boost. Acton is located 56 miles North of Los Angeles, next stop Palmdale and the Mojave Desert. It seems that loonies from "Below" wrongly presume that they can escape the authorities by hiding in the desert. What they don't realize is that once they get pointed north there are only two ways out of the Los Angeles Basin. One goes through to Bakersfield and the other passes through Acton. The police love it when the criminals try to escape North, they just park along the off-ramps and wave at the evil-doer as he passes by. Last year we had some fella try to escape from Mojave to LA. He sort of threw the local constabulary for a loop, if he had made it to the Valley he may actually have gotten away. Maybe he wasn't so dumb... They put up a roadblock and snagged him when he tried to escape down a dirt road. Some people are so lame that it boggles the mind Tuesday 1/19/99 "... Christy went to Riverside to be with her parents. I went to Pasadena to visit with the lady that manages my retirement money, so far so good. I don't have to sell pencils on the street corner or anything.... yet. I did get a call yesterday from a lady offering me a job though, I haven't thought about going back to work but .... what the hell. I spent the evening writing a 'resume'. I thought it would be relatively easy and it actually was but the disconcerting part was that I could pretty concisely describe 30 years of my life on one page ...double spaced. There was never a time in my (adult) life when I aspired to be anything other than perhaps, a competent telephone man, I actually achieved that for several of the 30 years I worked there, not all, but enough so that I didn't feel guilty cashing my paycheck. I wasn't willing to invest the money, time, and energy into becoming a "Professional" person. I am impressed with the people who are able to lay it all on the line like that, Doctors, Actors, and yes, gag, even lawyers. I was never able, at an early age, to predict what sort of a life I would want to live when I was a grown-up so I just went from day to day, taking what was offered, trying to enjoy life. People who wake up on the morning of their 16th birthday and say "I want to devote the rest of my life to becoming Pope or President or whatever ....." are a wonderment to me. I never felt a calling or even a vague urge to do anything momentous with my life. If I did, I would probably go lie down till the urge went away. I worked with a guy that had his whole life mapped out, he was 22 years old and knew exactly what he was going to do from that day till he was 80. How can a 20-year-old guy know what an 80-year-old guy is going to want. Seemed sort of presumptuously delusional to me. "Dum-De- Dum- De- Dum-De- Dum Which way did he go George, Which way did he go? Wednesday 1/20/99 "... Christy went to Riverside to be with her parents again, I feel sorry for my In-laws, they deserve better than this. I woke the kids up and fed them, took kids to school and picked them up and fed them and put them to bed. It was a long day.... Karen sent me another "Urban Legend" something about an HIV needle in a movie theater seat infecting some poor unsuspecting person.... I think she collects them. I don't usually reprint emails I wrote but I liked this one: Karen.... Cool.... We're going to have to come up with one too!.... Where Some times I just crack myself up.
Thursday 1/21/99 "...Ken is apparently reviving from his coma, Christy stayed home. We got the kids to school and put Autumn on the bus and went out to lunch. We planned to clean the house but we didn't make much headway. Friday1/22/99 "...the week has been filled with memorable stuff.... I'm sure ... I just can't remember any of it. Selective Alzheimer's I suspect. Christy and I went to lunch again and did some shopping. We had to buy some snake and frog food, if you own snakes or frogs you know what we bought, if you don't, you're better off not knowing. I went to get the kids, Scottie, Mike's friend, came home with us. He ended up staying the night.
Saturday 1/16/99 "...I worked on this http://members.tripod.com/~padagge/Nathandaggett.html for a while: It's the story of my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather. Genealogy is a good hobby, I enjoy discovering new links and meeting distant relatives, I occasionally encounter some people who are a little obsessive about it, I try to keep them at arms length. I'm glad they are out there though because they are the ones who do all the hard work and post their efforts on the Internet for me to plagiarize. I am trying to find reference to the Mooers side of the family but the pickin's are pretty slim. Today was a mess again, Christy took off for church with some of the kids but Cindy was misbehaving so badly that she had to return before she got there. When Cindy gets into one of her manic moods there is nothing you can do. When she got back she got a call from her sister Karen that Grandpa's back was "Out" so bad he couldn't even sit up, let alone drive. Grandma can't get to the Hospital to see "poor" Ken.... Sorry, Basic Daggett Precept #1, If you can't say something nice, keep your trap shut. Christy packed up Mokie, Calie and "B" and took off for Riverside. Mokie asked Christy "What did Gamma look like when she was real?" She meant "young" but it cracked Grandma up. Da Moke is a great kid, no pretense.... We got word today that the Dr. said that Ken shouldn't have survived, he has total Liver failure, total failure of one kidney and marginal function in the other. The Dr. is amazed that he has been able to regain consciousness. Ken is very strong. Mike went to his pal's house and I kept Cindy, Christian and Autie with me. We went out for Scottish food and returned with our Happy Meals. The weather is clouding up and we are due some rain tomorrow according to the radio. I have a lot of cleaning to do. Scottie's Mom came by to pick him up and the house looked like 7 little kids lived in it. Damn, housework is such a pain in the butt. I don't mind cleaning but I would like to be able to blink before I have to do it again. We need a live-in maid...wait, never mind...I guess that's me. I played with my Daggett Genealogy today and found a treasure trove of information at a site called http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history Sunday 1/17/99 No rain, No football this weekend, withdrawal is a real bear. I really like football, I don't really know why, I never played except in the yard with the neighborhood kids. My Dad played at Colby College, perhaps I learned to like it from him. Anyway, football is over till August except for the orgy in Miami next weekend. It's such a big deal they don't even hype it any more. Years ago it was wall to wall Super Bowl hype for two weeks. We took the kids to Hometown Buffet, gag ...... the kids love it, we force them to eat a little chicken before they go to graze at the desert bar, Christian and "B" eat ice-cream till they turn green. They are so transparent, they march dutifully off to the food table and put one piece of chicken and about a teaspoon of potato or macaroni on their plates and pick at it till one of them finishes. (If one finishes then they all feel they have achieved some sort of oneness with him or her) Once one has eaten a whole entire chicken leg they deem themselves to have all had a chicken leg and now have tacit permission to bolt for the desert table like they hadn't eaten in a week. it's funny to watch. I just talked to Robert (Our son in Washington) on ICQ, www.mirabilis.com he seems pretty happy, I am listening to CarTalk as I type this. Some poor lady called and was complaining about her "gas tank getting smaller, It used to take 12 gallons now it only takes five." They asked her "What sort of vehicle is it" she said it was a "Minivan." "Well how old is it" She said, "Well... what year did they make the blue ones." http://cartalk.cars.com/Radio/Show/ . Go here and you can hear it yourself... Segment #3. They are really funny, I wish Prairie Home Companion had its show on the Internet.
"...Next week is going to be a challenge. Monday: Autumn to UCLA Medical Center in the morning and Cindy to "Art Therapy" in the evening Tuesday: "B" to Kaiser Paramount for X-rays of his spine Wednesday: Mike to Court Thursday: Autumn to Paramount to see her Developmental Specialist, Dr. Brill. The picture is Me, Mom, and Sisters Leigh & Sue. Taken on the 7th of January. I didn't take the picture, obviously, so don't criticize me for the way it was framed, I did the best I could with the cropping tool in Corel.
The never ending saga of... Journal for the week of 1/25/99 - 1/31/99 Monday 1/25/99 "...Christy and I got up early and to get ready for her trip with Autumn to UCLA. We looked outside and it was snowing .... like it was Milwaukee. We have gone through about a year of jumping through hoops and clawing our way through all the red tape (Anybody know where the term "Red Tape" came from). We have been waiting so long that there was no way a little snow was going to stop us. I cleaned the snow off the car windows and turned it around. Christy took off, slipping and sliding down the driveway. I went back in and woke the kids up, it was no problem, all I had to say was get up and look at the snow. Christy called and said she had made it through Canyon Country. The kids and I had Quaker Oatmeal for breakfast and piled in the van. That old Van works pretty good in the snow. I got "B" to his school in time and made it back through the snow to Acton School. There wasn't a lot of snow on the ground below 3000' so Acton was clear. It is strange to me what effect a mere 700' can have on the weather. My house is at 3700' and there are times when I can drive through 4 or 5 inches of snow to get to the paved road and it will be clear. Looking at the hills this afternoon it looks as though the snow was painted on with a ruler. The valley has a ring of snow at about 3400'. We didn't learn a lot from Autumn's evaluation but the consensus was that she has a lot of potential, they are concerned about how small she is. One Dr. ,the Geneticist, came in late and looked at her and "She's just skin and bones" the other Doctors, who had been examining her for a while, said "and muscle!" He said, "Whoa, you're right, my son would kill for six-pack abs like that" Autumn is very strong, her every move is like an isometric exercise, she has to fight her muscles to move her arms and legs, every movement is a conscious effort for her. Her head is Micro-cephalic, they made a lot of cryptic associations like, her fingernails grow fast but her hair is sparse and wispy... we will get a read-out soon and find out what it all means. We will use their recommendations to get services from the State and from Kaiser. Tuesday 1/26/99 "..."B" had to go get his spine X-rayed at Kaiser, his appointment was for 9:00 so Christy took him and I took the rest to school, we left at about the same time. Christy called after she dropped "B" off at school and we went to lunch at Don Cuco's, I like it there but I'm afraid Christy is getting bored with it. The Dr. said that there is only a 8-degree deviation putting a 1/2-inch lift in his left shoe fixes the problem. He said that a 10-degree deviation is considered within normal. Christy took Mike out to buy him some nice clothes for court tomorrow. She brought home some pizza. Mike looks pretty sharp in his new clothes, the sweater-vest is a little nerdy but... Mike had a hard time maintaining his cool tonight, he finally stormed out of the house. I let him go even though he was barefoot and it was snowing. I figured he would come right back in or go to the MotorMonster. I went out about 15 minutes later and found him in the MotorMonster like I figured. He was crying his heart out, he hugged me and said " Daddy, I'm so scared. I think they are going to put me in jail." Poor little guy. I think he has learned his lesson well and I hope they are lenient tomorrow. Mike is going to struggle to do the right thing for the rest of his life. Wednesday 1/27/99 "...I got to court with Mike at 08:00, Christy arrived at 09:30, we were released for lunch at 12:15, back to the waiting room at 13:30, they took Mike on a tour of the "Detention Facility" at 14:15, we saw the Judge at 15:00. If Mike stays out of trouble till July 28th his record is wiped clean, that is good.... now that being said... what an absolute hell that place is. It's an assembly line for dispensing Carbon Copy Legal-ish mush, they couldn't have cared less about Mike, Justice, or the law, the fact that Mike got what he deserved (maybe a little more) was an accident. There were kids in that waiting room that are professional thieves, White Power Skin Head Nazi thugs, arsonists, rapists, addicts, and ..... my 11 year old Mike who took a jack knife to school. They were all taken into court and read the same nasty little "Big Brother Has You By The Balls" speech and given 6 months probation. It is a speech, like the Safari Guide at Disneyland that tells you to keep your hands inside the boat as he shoots blanks at a plastic hippopotamus. A one-size-fits-all speech... As near as I can figure, it's just meaningless intimidation, no wonder kids defy authority, The Law is a mindless machine, if you get caught by the machine you aren't a person you are meat it will swallow you up and digest you or spit you out depending on which way the wind is blowing that day. Keep on playing, what the hell. Nobody really cares what you do or who you do it to, if you get caught chances are you get the "Speech" and your back on the street, sometimes you get locked up, there's no rhyme or reason to it, "A Clockwork Orange".. it's just dumb luck. If the courts really gave a damn about those kids they would do something about them. Some of those kids Do need to be locked up and forgotten about, some need help. If the Courts dispensed real, harsh when needed, compassionate when deserved, honest justice they would be doing something worthwhile, but instead what they are doing now is satisfying some sort of legal commitment to society, no less and certainly no more. So what if the kid is left virtually unaffected by his/her encounter with the "system", the courts fulfilled their "Legal commitment". What total crap. I see kids in Foster Care who are doomed because of where they came from and because of where they are sent. Every thing is legal, there's no one to blame because everyone is following the law to the letter. The kids are labeled and boxed and sorted by size, age and type and sent back home to the same environment that got them in trouble, or off to Juvenile Hall, a Residence Facility, a Group Home or a Foster Home. They are just anonymous case files, lost in the System. If there was the time, money, will, and inclination to do them some good it would be done, but there isn't. There are as many reasons as there are people to ask, it's The Law, Homogenized impersonal processes, expedient cost conscious policy's, too many rules and regulations, political mood swings, special interest groups, overworked / jaded / apathetic or just plain ignorant social-workers, uncommitted lawyers, apathetic Judges, and indifferent Police, Society, Rock Music, Parents. Take your pick, it just depends on who you talk to, unfortunately, its all of those things ...and none of those things ....and combinations of those things ....and others that we can't even imagine and ... nobody really gives a damn. What a lousy business the Law is, no wonder it pays so well, the misery business, how anyone can cling to their humanity in the Criminal / Juvenile Court System is beyond me. .....I doubt myself when I raise my voice, these people make permanent life altering decisions with impunity all day long, and sleep like babies ... is it because they are always right? Are they that much smarter and wiser than you and I? Is it because they are piously righteous, comforted in the fact that they have followed the letter of the law? Naw, if that was the case we wouldn't need Judges.... all we would need is a clerk with a check-list, or is that what the judges are all about. I don't like being caught up in the legal net because the law is easy.. it's Justice that's hard.. Thursday 1/28/99 "...Christy and I took Autumn to Dr. Wyeth at Kaiser. She's a Doctor of Physical Medicine she was doing her job and asking us a lot of questions and she asked if we knew how she acquired Cerebral Palsy we said yes and told her the story. It is a pretty horrendous story and I could see her interest and involvement in Autumn go from professional too personal in an instant. She tested Autumn every way conceivable. At the end of the session she asked us if she could follow Autumn's case. The Doctor said that Autumn has a lot of potential, she is extremely attentive to her surroundings. We will get her hearing tested and get her speech and language evaluated to see if a communication computer would help her. She will be going to an Orthopedist to get her spine, legs and feet evaluated. It was a productive appointment. Mike had another explosive episode. I saw it coming before he got completely out of control. I put a call in to the Talking Doctor. I don't like these episodes they scare me.... Calie had dance class and she came home to show me her "Moves". She's so adorable. Her manic episodes are starting to get predictable too. Every evening she gets goofy ... damn, here we go again. Friday1/29/99 "...Kids don't have school today.. well, ... Autumn does, but the rest are under foot. I put Autumn on her bus at 11:00 and loaded the kids up in the van, we went to Yum Yum Donuts. Then we went to the 'Skate' Park. They got bored there and we went to another park, they call the "Cement Park". There's "Jeannie's Park", near Jeannie McCullum's house, the "Grassy Park" Grass is a novelty for them and this park is big with lots of grass , the "Basketball Park", a park where they watched some grown-ups playing Basketball, it stuck in their minds for some reason, and the 'Park with the Water", Placerita Park, it has a stream, also a novelty in this part of the Mojave. The parks all have real names but that's what the kids call them. I took them out for hot dogs, got the mail and went home. Christy went to Kaiser to get her elbow checked out, they said that she has tendonitis..... Duh, I could have saved her the trip. On the way back she bought the base cabinets for the South wall of the kitchen. I went to pick them up at about 18:00, Don Miller the President of the Cogswell Association was in town on his way to a golf tournament in Palm Springs, I stopped by to see him at a Motel in Palmdale. We talked for about an hour about the reunion coming up in October and some of the people we know. Saturday 1/30/99 "...I heard Christy say out of the corner of my ear that she "bought this purse three weeks ago and I haven't had a chance to change over to it". I said why are you changing, I like the old one, she said I have to change because the old one is soooo heavy. I digested that for about 3 milliseconds and said "What? ... I noticed that the other purse was smaller. Hmmmm I asked, "Did you ever consider taking some of the junk out of the old purse?" She said "You just don't understand" .. I guess not. Calie and I went out shopping and got the mail. When I got back Christy and I started building the new cabinets. I had to move some wiring around, I got lucky on the one coming out of the floor, it was near a heating vent. I cut a hole in the vent and managed to reach the wire, I only had to move it about a foot so I just drilled a hole where I wanted it and moved it over. I had to cut a hole in my new wall too but that wasn't a big deal. The cabinets fit fine and they will look nice when we get the doors on and a countertop on. We still have to buy and hang the wall cabinets but that can wait.... Sunday 1/31/99 Super Bowl Sunday ...Ho Hummmm, no Packers, No Vikings, I guess I'll root for Denver, Elway seems like a pretty nice guy except for the tantrums. And Turrell Davis is impressive and I like Sharpe...The Broncos should win it.... according to the stat's... we'll see. Karen and Blaine are going to come over from Riverside. That's nice, I'm anxious for them to see our kitchen... Well I found myself rooting for the Falcons I instinctively lean toward the underdog, I am my fathers son, but the Bronco's were in a groove, Atlanta didn't stand a chance. Karen Ooo'd and Ah'd appropriately and Blaine said "Ya did a good job Bro". He talks like that but he's a good person otherwise. I bought a big sandwich and a bunch of Hors d'oeuvres, if you can call Jalapeno Poppers, and Chips & Salsa Hors d'oeuvres, it sounds strange somehow. There must be a Spanish word for Hors d'oeuvres...wonder what it is. We had a pretty good meal and talked a while. Too bad the game was on so late because Karen & Blaine had to leave before the game was over, it's a long drive back to Riverside and Blaine has to work mañana.
|
"...Mike had a hard day at school, His first day in Special Day Class and resents being there. He went to his old class for a project and someone else was in his old seat. He felt betrayed, he felt like he was hung out to dry I guess, poor little guy, he has some hard adjustments to make and he doesn't really understand why. This whole redirection is a punishment in his eyes, but there is really no other recourse, he can't keep up in the regular 5th grade, he will eventually just get so far behind he'll give up trying and go somewhere else for acceptance. Are we doing all that we can? I don't know... it seems like we are and it seems like we should be doing more, all we can do is listen to the pro's and go with our gut instincts. I really hate this crap. Mike is like a pinball in a crystal box. It seems like everybody has "the answer" and the watch him roll around in the box and is poised to pass judgment when he breaks the glass.... but nobody knows anything. We are flailing away in the dark trying to figure out the "Right" thing to do is, to get him to fit in. Mike will never fit in, he is special ... he is a sky rocket, if we do the right thing he will light up the sky someday, we do the wrong thing and he will blow up in our hands. 
