February 2002 Week 4

Last updated

08/29/2007 06:39 PM -0700

I have learnt silence from the talkative,

toleration from the intolerant,

and kindness from the unkind;

yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet and artist (1883-1931)

Monday February, 18 2002

President's Day

No school today.

Christy took herself and Cindy to Kaiser, both of them have been feeling punky for a a few days... Cindy has a real deep cough.

I took Mike to 24 Hour Fitness. I rescheduled my intake interview with the Palmdale Club... I was not comfortable with the one in Lancaster, I didn't care for the matter of fact little girl that was assigned to me. I resent being lectured on diet and exercise like I have been hiding in a closet for the past 58 years... My goal is to gain stamina and lose weight, I told her that all I wanted was to be shown how to use the machines and I would appreciate some recommendations on where I should start with regard to the amount of weight, number of repetitions, time on the tread mill and other cardio-machines... Then it was "We can't give you a specific program Mr. Daggett. We do have special packages (ranging from $51 an hour to something like $84 an hour. I went to a site called "epinions" http://www.epinions.com/well-Fitness-Gyms-All-24_Hour_Fitness and when I read the Pro's and Con's I was a bit startled to see my opinion reflected almost universally. Pretty place, nice equipment, the employee's weren't rude so much as superficial, they don't really seem to want to talk to you unless you are forking out $50 an hour for the privilege. I guess that as long as you're aware of the scam it's a pretty good place. Everybody's got to make a buck.

Tuesday February, 19 2002

Christy is going to class and teaching. I am going take the kids to school then run over to Kaiser to get permission to exercise from my Cardiologist, stop at the gym at noon for another check-in session. I should be back in time to pick up "B" and Autumn. Cindy and Monica are home sick, Calie and Christian are being home schooled, I hope the house is still standing when I get home. This may not work... I'll see how the day progresses. It's noon now, Christy and I are able to shuttle childcare responsibilities.

The shuttle didn't work

Comments from Europeans and Asians. Fear return of American Unilateralism. Axis of EVIL. Absolutist - Simplistic - Crude-Simpleminded

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it".

Mark Twain

(I have some reservations about the validity of this quote, I can't find it anywhere but on a conservitive Rant page http://www.rantweb.com/ but I appreciate the sentiment anyway.)

I had some e-mail Jerry and I were playing with posted here but I moved it to another page.

(Click Here)

Wednesday February, 20 2002

Elections coming up here in California pretty soon...The Party's have too much control now… the men they are running are turned into indentured servants to the Party… both parties are controlled by the power brokers in business… it’s a joke… a bad joke. Jerry is registered as a DS (Decline to State) I didn't know you could do that... I am sitting here with my Official Sample Ballot and the fella I want to vote for isn't on it... I don't consider myself a Democrat, I am not a Republican and the other parties just sort of make me cringe They have a row called American Independent and Natural Law Party's... The Democratic Party Faithful will all vote for Davis because they really have no choice, the other three are veritable no-bodies, The Liberals will all vote for Reardon because he really doesn't fit with the rest of the Republican's marching in lock-step. The folks that will really have a problem are the Conservatives because the Front running Republican is a Liberal... must be driving them nuts.

I took Cindy, "B" and Calie to the dentist this morning. They used some kind of bubble-gum flavored polish on their teeth, Cindy gagged three times and "B" almost barfed...

I took Mike to therapy in the afternoon... We stopped at the 24 Hour Fitness in Canyon Country. What a Yuppie Aquarium... the people were standing in line for machines, every machine was being used. We were there at 1700, probably the beginning of peak time for the place... Mike and I looked at each other and left... I will be going to the Palmdale gym in mid morning if I can swing it.

A distant cousin made note of the fact that I have been writing a lot of not very upbeat stuff about my kids... Looking back, she's right...I am going to have to write perkier patter about my kids… Going back over the past week or so I have to agree, there is not a lot of positive stuff there… there are good times, it’s just that the crappy stuff gets stuck in my mind, Mike especially is being a 14 carat jerk lately.

Autumn drew a picture for me and spelled her name at the top… that was pretty cool, Calie, Monica and Autumn serenaded me on Mikes guitar and some pots… (See picture). Kids are generally a pain in the butt, I struggle to find the up side to having them sometimes, but there are occasions, thousands of them, when you know for a fleeting moment why you endure the bullshit… a hug and a kiss from Autumn erases a lot of negative crap, I need to be reminded sometimes that Calie’s smile will melt my heart, and of Monica’s laugh , "B"’s pranks and silly giggle, Christian’s indomitable creative exuberance, Mike’s potential and Cindy’s simple innocence… thanks for reminding me

The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad.

Salvador Dali, painter (1904-1989)

Thursday February, 21 2002

Christy is teaching twice today... 0800 till 1400 and 1800 till 2200... I need to get the house picked up... it's a wreck again. "B"'s SW is coming tomorrow at 10:00, sadly, that's my only incentive to clean... There is nothing more futile than cleaning this house... Ugh... so much for Perky Patter... I feel like hell too... I'll try an Alka-Seltzer I feel like a five-year-old who spent the night locked in a candy store... damn.

I want to get my taxes done too... I will have to do that Saturday I guess...

"B"'s Social Worker called, he said, I had to change my schedule, I'll be there in 15 or 20 minutes... S**T!! The house was a mess, I was still doing dirty dishes still in the sink from last night and breakfast when he came through the front door... Oh Well... He's a good guy, I hope he made allowances for the house looking like a slum... we'll see when his report comes out.

I got an E-Mail from Nephew William Bowman, III, my baby sisters oldest little boy (He's 29 I think) he has posted a website with his kids on it... http://bill.bowman.net pretty nice page, but he is the builder of Children First's website so it should have been pretty slick. He has three cute kids...

Got a call to take Cindy to Dr Berglund's (Kaiser Psychiatrist) office tomorrow at 1300... sort of strange, she was just there last month.

Friday February, 22 2002

I got a call back from Dr. Berglund's office, the appointment made yesterday was a mistake. Apparently some paperwork got recycled... I am glad we hadn't gone to any serious trouble to make arrangements to get her there. Christy was teaching but her class ended at noon...

I had an (for lack of a better word) incident... today. A fella I know by sight, I think his first name is Ed, reacted negatively to a remark I made in a conversation with someone else. He said I was wrong... I just shined him on but it really pissed me off... How can my opinion be "wrong"? My opinion is mine, it's can't be "wrong" It can be a contradiction to yours, it can not agree, it can even piss you off, but it's can't be "Wrong!" I can't understand how a virtual stranger would feel compelled to get in my face about something that is none of his business... unless he was looking for a fight or crazy... I decided I didn't want to find out which sort of asshole he was. I wish I had the presence of mind to say something like:

	"The fact that I disagree with you makes me wonder how you reached your conclusion and it makes you think I am an idiot. Can you see the difference?"
	"You have analyzed my opinion and decided that it is wrong and yours is right... the sum of everything you know says that the sum of all my knowledge is wrong. My first question would be why is your reaction so arbitrary, and defensive."

... but I didn't..... Arguments over opinions are just a waste of everyone's time, if everyone accepted the fact that everyone has an opinion on everything and let it be, this would be a lot friendlier place to live.

I got tweaked three times today... some young mommy parked her Ford dually in such a way as to block the path of anyone who wanted to get by her, she got indignant when I asked her to move, she called me a name, I am not sure what, I guess assertiveness training has paid off for her.

The third time was when I went to pick up Autumn... the bell was about 30 seconds from ringing so I went to the door, Autumn saw me and smiled and I heard her scream Da-eee! at the top of her lungs. Mrs. Raineri reprimanded her... I went in and said "I'm sorry' that was my fault" They said "No, she has to learn not to do that, she scared the children" Well, I looked around and the children didn't seem to be too scared but that wasn't the problem. It's a subtle thing, and maybe just a little peevish of me to bring it up, but Autumn didn't "Scare" anyone, the children may have been startled by her scream but not scared...Autumn got excited to see me and the teacher reprimanded her for it. Autumn got excited and screamed "Daddy" it wasn't meant to frighten anyone, if anyone did get frightened that's because they didn't understand, they shouldn't have made it Autie's problem. Autumn put her head on the floor and cried... she didn't do anything wrong, but they made her believe she did. She kept crying all the way to the car.

I went to see "Collateral Damage" with my boy Arnie Schwarzenegger ... it was a pretty good flick, I was able to surrender my incredulity to the story and was able to enjoy the movie, I had read some reviews before going and was prepared for it to be a dog, it wasn't a cinematic jewel, but it wasn't as bad as they say... I think reviewers get the words Reality and Realism mixed up. One has nothing to do with the other... at least in my mind. This movie had a lot of realism but you had better check reality at the door. That's fine, "Reality Bites" as they say. If I had wanted "Reality" I would have stayed home and watched the evening news.

I did watch a good show though, I had read the jacket on video tape for sale at Albertson's a few weeks ago, they synopsis intrigued me. It was an HBO movie called "Wit" Staring Emma Thompson, Here's the review on Amazon.com:

Deservedly hailed as one of the best films of 2001, Wit makes it clear why top-ranking talents seek refuge in the quality programming of HBO. Unhindered by box-office pressures, director Mike Nichols and Emma Thompson turn the most unglamorous topic--the physical and psychological ravages of cancer--into an exquisite contemplation of life, learning, and tenacious, richly expressed humanity. In adapting Margaret Edson's compassionate, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Nichols and Thompson open up the one-room setting with a superb supporting cast. But their focus remains on the hospital experience of Vivian (Thompson), a fiercely demanding professor of English literature whose academic specialty--the metaphysical poetry of John Donne--is the armor she wears against the cruel indignities of her cancer treatment. While losing all that she held dear, she reassesses her life as an aloof intellectual, and Wit illuminates her bracingly eloquent and deeply moving struggle for dignity, meaning, and peace at life's ultimate crossroads

It's a powerful movie, and it moved me to tears twice, in my estimation the only flaw was that they were a bit heavy-handed in the beginning over emphasizing the insensitivity of the hospital staff... it's a beautiful movie if you don't mind a tear or two.

Heard that the G** has sued Chaney for information on the secret conferences he had with Power Moguls (Enron VIP's included) Ole Chaney says that will infringe on his ability to get frank and honest opinions, He calls it "Unvarnished Advice" what the hell has he got to hide? Chaney is not a very nice man, an elitist fighting for the rights of the privileged to do what ever they damn well please. His comment during the energy crisis when asked if folks should cut back on energy consumption, gasoline electricity, he said there is no need, if you can afford to drive your SUV he sees no reason why you should not drive it.

Saturday February, 23 2002

I didn't have a very good day, Mike really upset me today, I am not comfortable spelling it all out suffice to say he is hanging by a thread... I mention this primarily as a reminder to me.

I am about 90% done with taxes, I am still waiting for Christy's 1099 Misc. from COC for the teaching she did... I went to the gym at 2030, there was hardly anyone there, that is the way I like it, I still need a trainer though, for at leas a couple days.

I have been trying to work on my genealogy...

I am trying to reconcile a problem... I had Thankful Snow married to Humphrey Purinton, Jr but a friend found the Will of Thomas Woodberry leaving all his property to his daughter Thankful Woodberry and Humphrey Purinton Junior When I got that info I changed Thankful Snow to Thankful Woodberry. A few days ago I got an e-mail with a link back to the Mayflower citing Thankful Snow and Humphrey Purinton, Jr as the link back... I had a will on one hand and a verified genealogy from the Mayflower society in the other... I went searching about on the internet trying to find corroborating data. I got my information on Thankful Snow from my Aunt Dorothy, unfortunately she died several years ago. I wrote to her son, my cousin, to see if he had salvaged any of her work, he has sent a bunch of stuff on Purintons, but I hadn't had a chance to go through it all... she was unaware of the Mayflower link I think... perhaps not, I see the line of Snow's back to at least Isaac. She shows Thankful Snow too...

Well, I went through it... A quick look confirmed that what the e-mail said was true, the line I input had a significant error... It took me about an hour and a half to figure out I was missing one Humphrey... Damn It... Who'd a thunk there would be father, son and grandson and all three would be married to Thankful's Thankful Harding, Thankful Woodberry, and Thankful Snow... I feel like an idiot... it was all here and I screwed up... Damn Damn Damn. it will take me several days to sort this all out.... There is tons of stuff here, Letters, wills, obituaries.. even a lovely letter from Aunt Dorothy about her uncle Harry, a carpenter who used to make her doll furniture...

Sunday February, 24 2002

... Autumn was sick, feverish, lethargic and a rash, so Christy took her to the Kaiser... The Dr sent her to get a blood test and so she did and took off for home, The Dr.s called here and said to bring Autumn back because the White Blood Count was way too high... She has an infection, her throat was real red so we are assuming she has some variation of Strep... They gave her a heavy-duty anti-biotic shot... Rosaphin (sp) . The poor kid looks like she's exhausted.