March 99
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March 99
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Jeff said, "Paint a big black grin on the hood and it will be a hit on Halloween..." I learned all that in the first five minutes. I hadn't even driven it. The engine has been rebuilt and it has several new parts. Carburetor, distributor; etc. But it doesn't idle at times and the steering wheel tries to jump out of your hands making left turns. The gear shift is so sloppy it's hard to tell by feel exactly what gear you're in. I used to drive my mother's Bug back in '60 and '61, it was a novelty car in Milwaukee back then, I loved it, I've got to admit the sound and feel of Jeff's VW brought back fond memories. I think I will try to resurrect it, I will take it down to the kids at Affordable Tire tomorrow and see what they can do about the front end ... probably needs a bearing or two here and there. Jeff seems to be thrilled with the truck, we have worked out an equitable arrangement where he will bring me some money monthly, he is an electrician apprentice and I will definitely find some work for him to do up here too... (PS: As of 1/13/2009 Jeff never paid me a dime...)
Christian Quote
 Christy said, "Well what are you considering." He said, "Well, I don't know if I want to be a "Regular Dad" or if I want to work in a store." Christy asked, " What do you think the best thing about working in a store would be? " Getting all that money!!!" Then he stopped and thought a second and... "or does all that money belong to the boss?" Christy, "It all belongs to the boss." Christian: "Ahhh Maaannnn!!!"
Calie Quote Calie got a paper airplane in her goodie bag. She said "Look at this. " in a disgusted sort of tone. I said what is it. She said "It's a model Plane." I asked if she wanted me to put it together for her. She said "No, it's a boy's toy, I'm a girl" I said "But don't you enjoy flying them?" She said "Well... yes, but I'm just not that kind of woman" (She is seven)
The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. -Eden Phillpotts-
Christian has a fever, so we kept him home from school, he perked up almost as soon as I got back from taking the kids to school. Autumn is off track (Vacation) for the next 4 weeks. Christy is having a bad time with Asthma, and she can hardly talk without gasping for air. She took some medicine and took a breathing treatment. Asthma is a crappy thing to have to deal with... Autumn has an appointment with Orthopedics' at Kaiser in Hollywood so we took off at about 10:00. It was raining all morning and it was real cold, there is no snow but it's cold enough, about 28o in the shade. We had lunch at The Spaghetti Factory in Hollywood, I really like that place, the Lasagna is spectacular. Tim had an appointment at Probation at 1600. Apparently there are two Michele's in the Probation Department one in Palmdale and one in Lancaster. The secretary screwed up sent Tim's case to the one in Lancaster, mean while the court sent the papers to the one in Palmdale... we had two appointments. The Palmdale Michele called and went to her boss and won the right to see Tim. She was very nice and we had a good chat, but I suspect I would not want to get crosswise of her. She scared the blue weasels out of Tim... Cindy has her last session at Art Therapy at 1700, I don't believe this class has had any impact on her at all but she had fun. I wonder what sort of a readout we will get from Sylvia... Christy had to go get a shot at Kaiser for her Asthma. She felt a lot better by the time she got home. The shots she gets are steroids, kind of scary to me for some reason. 3/16/99 Tuesday ... Tim has a Therapy session with the Russian, she seemed a little leery of me, I think Christy may have tempered the relationship. Christy is teaching MAPP till 12:30... Tim had a Dental appointment, for a cleaning... he really enjoys going to the dentist...he's so strange, I break out in hives just thinking about Dentists. Lunch at Denny's, not fun, Autumn was a little rambunctious. She was all over the place, and giggling a little loud. I looked up and I got "The Look" from two little old ladies. Most people tolerate Autumn fairly well but some are obviously of the mind that disabled people need to be kept away from places where "Normal" people congregate. I just flashed my most dazzling smile at them, ..... something I learned from my sister. I went shopping at CostCo, I love that place, I can't think of any other place in the world where I can spend more money in a shorter time, not even Fry's Electronics. Found my keys down behind the couch ... beats me how they got there ... Autumn likes to play with them ... so I have my suspicions. The kids wouldn't go to sleep. It only takes one kid to decide that they don't have to listen and then the others feed off him/her, the situation gets sort of tedious for me after a bit, about the only thing that gets me really mad is being dismissed as irrelevant or ignored... 3/17/99 Wednesday ... Tim forgot his books so I took them to school Christy and I went to see Cindy get an award for Citizenship at Acton School. She was one of the first ones... Christy almost missed it, I did manage to get a video of the whole thing... Christy went to teach at Antelope Valley College, I took Autumn to Albertson's. Christy had promised we would get some cupcakes for Cindy to hand out at school, it is almost her birthday. I have something to confess, I flipped someone off today... I haven't done that since 1968... I was on my way to Albertson's and pulled off the freeway at Ave S. I pulled up behind a fella in a brand new, dark green, Jag-YOU-arrr. I waited behind him and no cars went by, and I waited and still no cars went by, I honked and he put up his hand as though to say "I hear you. Hold on" I waited then I noticed, through the tinted glass, the antenna from his Cell-phone protruding. I backed up and pulled up beside him and the *** was talking on the phone, the waving hand was just an animated gesture from his conversation he hadn't a clue that I was there. The intersection was clear so I pulled on to Ave S and as I made my turn my hand flew out the window of it's own volition, signaling what I thought of his self-indulgent indifference to the world around him. I came home to clean the house because Miss Louise (I forgot her last name) a speech therapist was coming up to work with Autumn. Christy came home with some burgers about 1300 and Louise got here about 1330. She is the regular therapist at the Yucca School in Palmdale. She is really taken with Autumn, everybody is, but she is convinced that she can help Autumn and that Autumn is much higher functioning than the diagnosis indicates, Autumn can make the Ma, Da, Ka, Ki, N, Ba, &Th sounds. She says "Right There" sounds like "Aye 'dere", She has several signs "I love you", "I want" "More", "Drink", "Plate", "Cup" and some others that she taught herself that no one can figure out, One is the letter "C" and the other is repeatedly making the "Drink" sign. It makes her and us very upset that we are too dumb to figure out what she is trying to say. I left to get the kids before the therapy session was over and Louise was leaving just as I got back. Mokie has an ear infection so Christy took her and Calie to Kaiser, Calie just wanted to go. I spent about an hour with the video camera and the VCR trying to show a video I had made of nothing particular. I finally managed to get it working. 3/18/99 Thursday ... I got "B" to school late, he couldn't find his backpack. "B"'s school starts at 08:00 Calie and Da Moke don't start till 08:20 and the other's, Mike Cindy and Christian don't start till 08:40. So if "B" wants to lollygag for a while he is only spoiling his own day. The trip from "B"'s school to the little girls school is about 15 minutes so I have some leeway but not much. Out of idle curiosity I got on the internet and looked up Joe Rizzo, number seven or eight on the list was 'Joe Rizzo from Milwaukee'.. so I called and got Mrs Rizzo (who I really wanted to talk to anyway, nothing personal Joe) It was nice to talk to her. Joyce was "the girl next door" when I was in High School. Joyce Harrop, she is a year older than I and therefor infinitely wiser ...and funnier ...and wittier ...and everything else 'er. Joyce was my idol, I lived vicariously through her exploits, she was "cool". She memorized Gilbert and Sullivan, she had Harry Bellefonte, Kingston Trio and Theodore Bikel records. We would sit in her den and eat 'Harrop Pizza' (Cheddar cheese on crackers with ketchup) and listen to music and talk for hours, she took me to beat generation coffee houses soooo cool. I got Joe's e-mail (Joyce has a mild case of CyberPhobia) and sent him a bunch of emails and haven't heard from him since. Chris and I had to take Autumn for an 11:00 appointment in Panorama City with Doctor Wieder, the Neurologist. He used a term, Static Encephalopathy, http://www.come-over.to/fasstar/static.htm . I was trying to get some feel for what we can expect from her developmentally. He said that we could expect that she will be able to take care of herself, she will have an unusual gait, her speech will be hesitant and strained.... I have much higher expectations. We went straight from Panorama City to Lancaster via the Agua Dulce School to pick up '"B". We had to get him to the "Talking Doctor" (Rupp). We got there with about 5 minutes to spare. '"B"'s medication was changed again. His aggressiveness has diminished but he is still angry and grumpy just about all the time. '"B" needed an EKG for the new medication but I needed to get home to get the van to pick up the other kids. So after we got home Christy got her car and took '"B", she picked up Calie and took her to Dance Class, got '"B" in for his EKG, picked up medicine went to the bank, grocery shopped and came home. I got the kids from school and came home. I had to load them up a half hour later to go and pick up Calie at dance class at 16:30... I called my sister and we talked about Mom and about going to Milwaukee. Mom's house sold and we need to be back there to get it emptied out for the new owners, escrow closes on the 9th. 3/19/99 Friday ... I finally took the Van into the transmission shop, there was a rather pronounced leak at the rear seal. The mechanic found a few more things that needed fixing too, Ouch$. Christy picked me up at the transmission shop and she and I took Autumn to speech therapy at her school in Palmdale. She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit for a while but tired of the attention after about 25 minutes. The therapist is very nice but she is pretty hyper, she is all over the place. She has a lot of enthusiasm and makes me tired just watching her. Christy dropped me off back at the Transmission shop and she went to get the little girls and I picked up the big kids. At about 1900 I took Calie shopping for Cindy's Birthday Presents and to get a present for the little boy who's party she is going to Saturday night. 3/20/99 Saturday ...Raining and cold today, Christy took Calie shopping again to get more presents for Cindy, We had Cindy's Party about 15:30 because I had to take Calie to a birthday party for Joshua, Calie's classmate, at the Discovery Zone in Palmdale. The party lasted from 17:30 to 20:00. I asked some friends to point out Joshua's mother so I would know who was in charge, they pointed to a girl in the back wearing a red shirt and coveralls. I tapped her on the shoulder asking if she was Joshua's Mom when she turned around I suspected that she ether gave birth to Joshua when she was 11 or this was not Joshua's Mom. I was right, she was his 18-year-old sister.... embarrassing.... I met some new people though and heard some interesting gossip... nuf said 3/22/99 Sunday "Donut Day" (But first a rant) I watched "Sunday Morning", the first segment was "A crisis in Religion" about Gay's Vs. The Church, then some stuff about "Art" "The New Primitives" ... I think... What I saw of that segment were just someone's psychotic nightmares, hard for me to call it art, (Sub-Rant) the definition of "Art" has gotten watered down to describe just about anything anybody wants to deem Art to be. The LA Times showed a picture of an empty room that had a bucket with a mop in it. Someone had titled it "Bucket with Mop". It seems like ever since Jackson Pollak, and Andy Warhal Art requires less and less talent and more and more Chutzpah. The next segment was a Russian Opera director / producer / innovator who is noted for staging "Carmen" with the title character as a street whore who gets killed by her lesbian lover after seducing a cop. At least they didn't find a way to talk about Monica Lewinski again. I think Sunday Morning has lost it's focus. I liked the homey-ness of "Postcards from Nebraska", and interviews with interesting artists and personalities. Originally it was a weekly respite from the harsh reality of "hard news", an hour and a half of beauty, sensitivity, articulate critiques, wit, and a reverence for the human spirit. Hmm... Kind'a like church. There has to be another Charles Kurault somewhere. I can't relate to the Hip Hype from New York or the Chic shallow glitz of LA. I am so tired of petulant over-indulged celebrities agonizing about their inability to find relevance and motivation for their artistic endeavors. They need ... more... More ... MORE ... to be able to elevate their self-image and perpetuate and justify their irrelevance. I have a cop friend who pulled over an actor. My cop friend hates Movie People. A quote: "Not one of them has ever created a single worthwhile thing in their entire live, but they get paid like they had solved world hunger." The actor says "Can we hurry this up, I'm late for an important meeting." The cop says "What sort of a meeting?" The Actor said "I'm an in the Entertainment Industry" The cop says, feigning interest, "Oh, what do you do?" The Actor said smugly, "I'm an entertainer." The cop says, "Oh really, so where's your *#@!%$ monkey?" ......you had to be there.... I guess my chosen life style has relegated me to a sort of Never-Never Land. There isn't much in this world I can relate to anymore. My kids are too young and my body and mind are too old to be able find a comfortable niche. Most guys my age have sent their children out into the big wild world and are playing golf, traveling, raising horses, grooming their gardens, and taking off for Vegas on the weekends. The fathers of the kids in my children's classrooms are working all day and playing hard all night. Do I resent having 7 little kids, possibly, a little, would I do things differently if I were given the chance... probably. Would I give up the kids if I could and go play golf? Nope... I have so much of myself invested in these little guys I would go out of my mind without them. I get seven kisses in the morning and seven kisses at night and lots of hugs in-between, it's hard to do without. When I am away from them for over a day I get an empty feeling. There are a few people out there who can relate to what I am doing ... there must be ... I think ... I hope. .... back to "Donut Day" the kids and I didn't get going till late in the morning, I took all seven munchkins to the Donut Inn and then we went to the park. We only stayed for about 45 minutes but they had fun. I just puttered on the PC for the rest of the day like a real nerd but I got some genealogy stuff done. I scanned a bunch of old Wills from the 15 and 1600's that my uncle found and some other stuff. I am going to have to go to work on the kitchen tomorrow... There is so much to do and so little time (especially when I spend 4 hours screwing with the damn computer). Oh well, kitchen tomorrow... for sure! Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents? - Peg Bracken - Journal for the week of 3/22/99 - 3/28/99
Mission Statement (Don't you hate that phrase?) It seems like I should try to figure out where I am going with this Journal / WebPage / Rant Venue / whatever... I started this page just for the hell of it back before last Thanksgiving, then I decided I was going to do a sort of Mini-Bio on all the kids and myself, and then I included a Diary / Journal just to keep in touch with friends and relatives. I had no rules then and I have none now, but I have decided on a few guidelines...
I have a hard time with deadlines, but up till now this has been a lot of fun. Due to some incidental events taking priority in my life and a trip to Milwaukee and ... in a blink of an eye I have gotten three weeks behind... I had hoped that by now I would have a clear direction and be able to pump these little WebPages out as a matter of course but that hasn't occurred. I am as direction-less now as I was when I started. This Journal probably says more about me than I should be letting on, but, ultimately, like Bill Murray said in "Meatballs" ... "It doesn't really matter". Revelation: (Pete's Chinese Relativity Axiom: No matter how great your triumphs or how tragic your defeats---approximately one billion Chinese couldn't care less.) I spotted a Tintype in a pile of pictures my sister found under my mothers bed. It's a picture of my Great Grandfather Henry Dunn and my Grandmother Clara and her two brothers it was taken in about 1892 judging from their apparent ages in the photo. The two boys were Ray and Fred, Fred died in the Great War. My Uncle Ray was a bigoted old potato farmer who died alone and not missed by anyone that I have ever talked to. My Grandmother led a full life, and except for her descendents ..about twenty-four other people and counting... nobody really cares. The point of my bringing this up at all is that in the 'Great Scheme Of Things' by any standard you can devise their lives were virtually irrelevant. When I apply that revelation to myself... Instead of sad, I find it strangely liberating. I accept the fact that my existence on this planet is ultimately less significant than that of a grain of sand.... to strive to be important, unique, make a difference, affect/effect the lives of the people around me, putting my stamp on the world seems pretentious and probably delusional ... I'm going to keep on writing in this Journal in the anticipation that, one day, I will say something meaningful. Until that time, I will join the faceless millions on the internet hoping to prove the theory that an infinite number of monkey's on an infinite number of computers will eventually discover the meaning of life. I suspect that though that may very well happen the chance that anyone will read it is infinitesimal...
Speak less than thou knowest. -William Shakespeare 3/29/99 Monday... Shopping all day, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Albertson's, Blah Blah, waste of a day... Not going to have time to grout the tiles today... tomorrow for sure. 3/30/99 Tuesday ... Finished tiling ...finally...It really looks pretty good. Now we have to:
"B" punched out his best friend Scott at school today. Gave him a bloody nose, hope he didn't break it. His punishment will be to be kept after school for an hour. Which means I have to drive to Agua Dulce School after I pick up the kids at Acton School 3/31/99Wednesday ... I set up an appointment to go to Young's RV to get the MotorMonster checked out finally Took Lumpy to the movies with me, we went to see one movie but the schedule I looked at in the paper was wrong and it didn't start for another 2 hours, we went to see Mod Squad instead and it was pretty poor. What it lacked in plot and dialogue it made up for with sex, violence and volume. It would have made a tolerable TV movie with out the sex and bad language though it would have only run for about 35 minutes. Lumpy and I went to Don Cuco's after the movie and had a late dinner.
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