June 00
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June 00
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Thursday June 1, 2000 … I
have to take the MotorMonster in to get the tailpipes replaced, well, I was
going to do it today but I had to take Autumn to Therapy, Christy is teaching…
her paychecks are really going to come in handy this month. The in-laws car
needs a new transmission… Christy will be picking up Cindy after her class and
taking her to see the Kaiser Therapist then she will go to Riverside to take
care of business. I went to Cost-Co to pick up the (35mm) pictures… they were
all ruined I still have a roll to be developed in the camera… it’s a good thing
I took all those digital pictures, we have a video that my brother-in-law took.
He does good with the video camera, he jabbers constantly about everything he
sees through the viewfinder and does interviews… he definitely has the Irish
gift of gab… the tapes are fun to watch and listen to. I
went to Young’s RV in Lancaster and picked up some hardware for the
MotorMonster… I will have to pass on Autumn’s make-up therapy session to get
the damn thing ready to roll… we have to leave here by 15:30 if we hope to get
to Ventura and set up before the sun goes down… I took the kids to a big raffle
at Acton School called “Play Nite” Autumn
was all over the place, she even rode a horse… Friday June 2,
2000 …
We are in Ventura at the beach, well we can see the beach, sorta… on the other
side of the freeway. This is an RV Park(ing lot)… I love camping in the woods,
Sequoia National Park is a Cathedral, I will take this beast up there this year
if I have to push it. That will be
another adventure. Well, we're here now and we need to make the best of it… 297
square feet is a lot of room but if you add in a refrigerator, sink, stove,
shower, couch, 4 chairs, a bathroom and other misc. stuff there isn't a lot of
room for 9 people to get about. This
park seems to cater primarily to the geriatric set, I am a bit leery of their
reaction to my bunch… Seems like the all have small dogs… wearing little doggie
clothing. Saturday June 3, 2000 We forgot Autumn's Phenobarbital… I got up at 0600 and drove home, I also picked up her walker… I made it back to the parking lot (campground) by 0930 and we got everyone loaded up and arrived at Devereux at about 1045. We met "B" right off the bat, he came running out of the dorm and gave everyone a hug. He was excited to see us, and was anxious to introduce everyone to his friends …I had called to be sure he was told we would be late. "B" looks great, he is tan, still pretty beefy but he seems to be really responding well to the environment. The fact that he is doing so well is due to the fact he isn't threatened there. His self esteem is far higher than when he was at home attending regular school… the insensitivity of children is boundless. We talked with most everyone that deals with "B" and met his friend Crystal (we found out she is leaving and that will be hard on "B", he doesn’t know yet, I didn’t have the heart to tell him. We had lunch and Christy made a contribution to Devereux by buying a bunch of stuff. We wanted to buy some of "B"’s artwork but there was nothing on sale… We
stuffed al nine of us into Christy’s 8 passenger Buick and headed back to the
MotorMonster. The kids wanted to go to
the beach so I walked down there with them, it was less than a ¼ mile. It was
cold and windy but the kids played for over an hour… they are so fearless. I
have seen a few Venturians, remember Gallagher’s theory about how people came
to America and started migrating West to find their own perfect Eden, Germans
in Wisconsin, Norwegians in Minnesota and the people who never really fit in
anywhere came to California and found a bunch of other misfits and felt right
at home, but there were a few who just don’t fit in anywhere and they are in
Ventura, they come to the beach at night and early in the morning and stare off
at the ocean wondering where they can go here. One of them came to where we
were and stood on the bank just staring at the kids, made me a bit
uncomfortable but he looked otherwise unthreatening… he carried a stick about 5
feet long with bird wings tied to each end… I wish I had felt comfortable
getting closer for a better shot…
We
got back to “camp” and made sandwiches and s’mores. The MotorMonster sleeps 4
comfortably (It is big but the sleeping accommodations are skimpy. The kids
were all over the place… the bed in the
MotorMonster is horrible… I couldn’t sleep… either could Christy… Mokie climbed
in bed with us at about 0400 just to ensure we didn’t get any sleep Sunday June 4, 2000 …Made
it home in one piece, no thanks to the Motorhome… the damn engine kept dying on
me… when I took my foot off the accelerator to come to a stop It would just
die, trying to steer and stop a Motorhome with the engine off is a little bit
scary… It started doing it on the way over to Ventura but it quit as soon as I
turned off the AC, but it was doing it with the AC off on the way back… one of
the vacuum lines is screwed up… I took Calie and Mike to see a movie because they helped me clean up the MotorMonster We went to see Shanghai Noon It was really a good show, it had a hard time making up it’s mind if it was a comedy or an action flick but it was really funny, the audience and I laughed at all the right spots…
Autumn and Calie
Calie as a SunSpot
More SunSpot
Autumn in the sand Weiner's Law of Libraries:
There are no answers, only
cross-references.
Monday, June 5 2000… I seem to have acquired a cold, I am not pleased… I hate
being sick… a long time ago being sick was a respite from the rut and I could really
get into being “under the weather” but nowadays it is just a damn
inconvenience. It’s hard to take a break from what ever it is I do… Anger,
if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it. -Seneca
(B.C. 3-65 A.D.) Tuesday June 6, 2000 … Still sick. I went to the Podiatrist and it seems that the toe is progressing nicely… I am sure you are all thrilled to hear that… one word of wisdom you can pass on to your children is “take care of your feet!”. Life’s a real bummer if it hurts to walk… Wit is educated insolence. –
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) Wednesday June 7, 2000 …It’s
a “minimum day” for Mokie, Christy is going to take her shopping… I got out
with the weed whacker for about a half hour, it’s too hot now… I will go out
later when it cools off some We
had the day cleared of incidental stuff so we could attend Mikes IEP but they
cancelled it… Christy is tweaked because they were so arbitrary about it…she is
also upset about the Summer School edict from the school that said he will have
to attend every day if he hopes to graduate into 7th grade, we have
just paid to send him to summer camp for a week… I talked to the principal and
she said it wouldn’t be a problem, summer school will have little impact on his
scholastic abilities… I
went back out with the weed-whacker and finished up the front… from past
experience, I will have to do it once more this year. I will try to get out
with the tractor and knock down some of the dead weeds next week… Thursday June 8, 2000 … I
took Autumn to see Beth at Therapy West, Beth is leaving for South Carolina at
the end of July and so now Autumn will have to train another Therapist. I
went to the ROF, it was a pretty good turnout considering the fact it is so
early in the month and I only sent out the notice this morning… It is sure nice
to sit ant talk to grown-ups in a relaxed, non-judgmental atmosphere. I
had about 20 personal e-mails when I got home and stayed up too late responding
to them… Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not
readily suspect them in others. -Francois De La
Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) Friday June 9,
2000 …
Autumn’s “Class Picnic” was at McAdams Park in Palmdale. Special Ed. Programs
from three schools were there, there was a substantial crowd… Christy took
Autumn and I went to Kaiser for PT on my shoulder, a new therapist this time,
Steve, nice fella, he was impressed with the progress I have made, I would say
I am at almost 95% mobility now… but I need to work on strengthening the
muscles in my arm and shoulder, I would judge that I have less than 60% of
normal strength in my right arm… I can’t get very radical with weights either;
I have to stick to 1 & 2 pound dumbbells and little elastic strips for about
3 months… I
arrived at the picnic about 1300 and played with Autumn and talked to the other
parents and teachers a little. Autumn’s teacher is getting married this summer…
she seems to be very excited, Jan, Autumn’s pal (aide) is still up in the air about what she will
be doing next year… she’s a sharp kid and will do well wherever she goes..
Autie and I shared a Popsicle and it was time to leave. I tried to take Autumn
to lunch while Christy went to the bank in Valencia to get a cashiers check for
Camp… …we are going to hand them a bunch of money to send 5 kids to camp and they want a cashiers check… that irritates me… I resent being accused of being a deadbeat by association… they were probably stiffed a couple times and the only solution they could come up with is to punish everyone… typical bureaucratic response… you just don’t expect it from a church camp. Oops…
I
digressed again didn’t I… sorry… where
was I … Oh
yeah… Autumn to lunch… well she yelled and pulled my hair and generally got the
point across that she would prefer to dine with Mom… so I went to IHOP alone
and had a very poor lunch, IHOP is getting pretty bad… I went home and took a
nap, I am still suffering the tail end of the cold I picked up last Sunday…
Christy called from Canyon Country to remind me to get the kids… good thing she
did, I was sound asleep. Chaos, panic, and
pandemonium - my work here is done. Saturday June 10, 2000
…Mike
Christian, Mokie and Calie made chocolate pudding… they asked me if they could
and I said “Sure, just read the directions”… In unison; “Sure dad” They turned
the stove up to high, added chocolate chips, used four packages of Jello
chocolate pudding and 6 cups of milk (about half what is required… it came out
about the consistency of a gooey brownie… it was so rich they couldn’t eat it…
it was really funny. I
had a long chat with Karen and Charlotte, a couple of cousins who hadn’t been
introduced, they seemed to hit it off…then I went grocery shopping with the kids…
when we got back Christy said I had received a call from Linda D., she was
passing through Bakersfield and on her way to Acton… “OHMGOD,
the house is Toxic Dump!!!… I
was on my way out the door to a 10 year anniversary party being put on by “The
Pizza Place” I had promised the kids. Oh well, I arrived at the Pizza Place and
there was no parking within 200 yards of the place…had no idea what to
expect…it was pretty amazing, I think half the town was there. Clowns, one of
those air-filled jumping things, carwash, pony rides, you name it… every
organization in town latched on to the occasion and set up a booth or game or
something…the kids were having a ball. Linda
arrived about 1330, we have become friends but we barely know each other, I
wouldn’t have been able to recognize her after all these years though. I worked
with Linda back about 1989 or 90, she was a clerk (Administrative Associate) in
the group I worked for … Linda and I have been swapping E-Mails for a year or
two.. Her sons Seth and Daniel were with her. Seth is 22 and a very good
skateboarder, Mike was impressed. Daniel looks about 10 and is a very
articulate kid, I was impressed… they have been doing a lot of traveling. We
walked over to Don Cuco’s for lunch. Christy came down to find us but missed us
in the restaurant… she came down later and met us at the Pizza Place. Linda
and her kids piled back into their camper, a 22’ Class B… looked pretty new,
and took off for Pasadena to camp in someone’s driveway… tomorrow, Huntington
Beach for a few days to fulfill an obligation, then back home to the Sierra’s
next Sunday… she is a “Can Do” lady… It was nice to meet her again. I wish I
had her determination. I
went for a walk tonight, it was late… the moon was bright, I had a nice walk
down the road, up the road was pretty tough… I am so out of shape I disgust
myself… The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still,
small voice' within me. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Sunday June 11, 2000
…One
more week of school… soon every day will be like Sunday. Uggggg not a happy
thought. This morning Christian and Calie fighting over what to watch on TV,
Mike tormenting Christian, Christian and Calie fighting over a space on the
couch, Mokie spilling Cocoa Pops on the living room rug, Christian spitting
Cocoa Pops at Mokie… Cindy wanting me to take her to WalMart to buy a teddy
bear, and having a fit because I won’t do it NOW… and it’s not 0730 yet… Still
have the Lingering Crud (cold) Christy has a headache, Autumn has my cold… I
think, it’s hard to tell with her. Autumn was holding onto my chair, it has wheels and gave way, she fell against a plastic storage container and cried, she hardly ever cries, I looked at her back and there was a nasty looking eight inch welt on her back, I couldn’t believe it, I am looking at the container now and can’t figure out what could have caused the scratch… I
tried to get the kids motivated to help us clean, I was not very successful but
the living room is presentable… I took them to WallMart so they could spend their allowance and then to the park for a while, I have an old camera that I bought at an estate sale and I took some pictures with it, it’s about a 40 year old Pentax, still seems to work well… we’ll see when the film is developed… after the park I picked up a couple of really bad pizza’s at Domino’s.. They must think they are the only game in town… maybe they are… the Pizza hut has been rebuilt and it turned itself into a McDonalds that serves pizza… it’s really not a fun place to go anymore… it’s a fast food joint, not a restaurant.
Picture: Kaiser Waiting roomMonday, June 12 2000…
Christy teaching all week… good thing too, with camp coming up we need a few
extra bucks this month… Therapy
for Autumn, Autumn was a little snot, my fault, I barged into the session early
and disrupted Beth and Autumn turned into a little brat… really obstinate and
animate too she has a word(s) that she says when she wants something buck’aah
and muk-ock when she says it softly it’s like a question but when she says
BUCKAAH and pokes her finger at you it’s not funny. She is really frustrated
with you but for being so dumb…it’s funny, sad and worrisome… all at the same
time Putting
Autumn in a car seat is next to impossible if she doesn’t want to be put into
one. She is very strong, her muscles are like steel. When she arches her back
in a car seat it takes two people to buckle her down… she only weighs in at 32
pounds… it is really a sight to behold… I need to video tape one of these tests
of strength for the family archives… it took me over 10 minutes to get her
coerced into her seat at Therapy West today… I answered the phone to a conference call with "B" and his therapist, Christy was with Calie and Mokie shopping, we had made the arrangement last week both forgotten about the call… we will get a call from them every Monday at 1530.. These sessions are awkward for several reasons but it sure beats having to do a five hour round trip drive to Santa Barbara (It’s actually Golita but the brochure says Santa Barbara… more prestigious) It’s awkward because:
I think that once we have done a few more of these calls they will get easier… we just have to be sure that we are here when the calls come in. Tuesday June 13, 2000 …
Calie’s “Show” was a little disappointing, the kids were great and the
performance was not “Death of a Salesman” but they did a good job with the
material they had… something about the “Sun is a good thing”… really lame, the
teachers really didn’t challenge the kids very much at all… they are capable of
much more than they were allowed to do. I
went the Acton Market and Andi asked me if I had been to Crazy Otto’s yet, I
said “Sure, been there a hundred times”, She
said “No, the new one”, “The
one in Lancaster?” I asked “No,
Madeline’s is now Crazy Otto’s!” … Now
you need to know why that’s is great news, in Acton if you want to eat out you
go to one of the two Mexican Restaurants (Both are very good but … sometimes a
BLT instead of a tostada is nice) or you go to one of the four fast food joints
in town, there’s “The 49er” but it’s really more like a club for the old-timers
in town, or Old-timer Wannabes. I they make a pretty good hamburger there,
never had a good steak though. I always feel like an outsider in The 49er, it’s
probably just me but I have never felt welcomed there… but CRAZY OTTO’S!!! is in town, Madeline’s was
run by Madeline, she was a nice lady but the food she served was virtually
inedible, bacon you couldn’t cut with a hammer and cold chisel, coffee tasted
like Clorox … but CRAZY OTTO’S!!! is in
town I went right over, the place was packed, the food was excellent, the
service was energetic… yup, energetic is the word… Now I don’t have to drive to
Palmdale to get a breakfast that hasn’t been sitting under a heat lamp for 20
minutes… if you’re driving through Acton get off at Santiago Road and go to
Santiago Square and have breakfast or lunch (No dinner, they close at 14:00) at
Crazy Otto’s We
had an appointment with the new psychiatrist, Dr. Bayan, for Mike, Cindy and
Christian. Mike made up his mind he hated him in the van on the way over. We
had to take all the kids because both Christy and I wanted to meet him, the
expression on his face was kind of funny…the poor little dude looked like a
dear in headlights when he opened the door and saw all the kids …I thought the
kids were pretty well behaved by my standards anyway, no fistfights or spitting
contests but the old guy in a guards uniform came up twice to stop the kids
from making so much noise, the office is on the second floor and the floor is
made of wood, it must be like sitting inside a kettle drum in his little
cubicle, I’ll bet it sounded like we were teaching elephants to run the high
hurdles… We
are no longer able to pretend that Cindy’s troubles are because of some sort of
chemical imbalance … she is going to need a lot of love and understanding… Went
to a place called
http://www.anybirthday.com
that is really spooky if you’re a privacy paranoiac but cool if you are into genealogy
or just want to know how old someone is… it found me! It found Christy under
Christy Daggett not her maiden name… all the data is from public records. I
looked up William Bowman (My brother-in-law, his son and his father are all
named William Bowman… Billy (The son) is #144, William is # 559… I gave up
looking after finding that, I didn’t have the perseverance to look up “Bill”
Bowman, that would probably turn up another 600 or so… it just goes to show you
how starved I am for entertainment…anyway… I still think there should be a
“William Bowman Convention”, or would that be “A Convention of William
Bowman’s” (Probably in Florida, there are about 150 William Bowman’s there) I’m
surprised that Hallmark doesn’t make “Happy Birthday Bill Bowman” cards. …
incidentally, there are exactly 11 Peter Daggett’s we could have our convention
in a phone booth. It’s late, obviously,
I must be punchy… Wednesday June 14, 2000 …Mike’s
Sixth Grade Graduation ceremony was at 1830, We got there a half hour early, It
was about 95 in the shade, an outdoor extravaganza… Mike was one of the first
to get his diploma and I waited around for another 2 hours taking pictures and
waiting to congratulate him… I went up to give him a hug and he says “Don’t
Dad, you’re embarrassing me”. It made me madder than it should have, he’s only
12 and has a very fragile self image and at the moment his self image is “Mr.
Cool”. Oh well… I
am reflecting back on all the stuff I have written and trying to examine
whether or not I am doing this to elicit sympathy for my situation… hmmm … a
friend said “of course you are” “Like Duh!” I think she was half joking and
given that I had just told her the “…you’re embarrassing me” story above she
was probably correct at the time. I hope that what I am doing here doesn’t come
across as some sort of plea for sympathy because that’s not my intent
consciously or sub-consciously. I want to entertain and at the same time keep a
reasonably accurate record of what transpires here at The Hovel from day to day.
I also want to let off a little steam from periodically, perhaps I need to be a
little more circumspect when I do that, please folks, if you ever detect that I
am crying in my beer feeling sorry for myself slap me across the face! I
retired at 53, I have enough money to do what I want (with in reason), I am
healthy, with 10 kids and 2 grand kids, I have a purpose in life and attainable
goals that promise to keep me content and frequently happy. I may occasionally
bitch about events in my life but not the sum total of my life… not may people
have what I have (Course not many people would want it either) but that is
truly beside the point… I do. Thursday June 15, 2000 …We
went to Cindy’s award ceremony, I had to leave early…Christy waited till the
end of the ceremony and Cindy never received an award… it’s a damn good thing Christy
wasn’t armed… she was seriously tweaked… she hunted down the principal and a
few other people and voiced her displeasure as politely as she could muster…
Cindy, being Cindy was oblivious of course… Autumn
to Therapy, unlike Monday, she was a “hard worker, no trouble for Beth at all… I
picked up the pictures that Pat took of Jeff’s wedding and I met Christy for lunch
at Coco’s Friday June 16,
2000 …
Last full day of school, Mike got two awards today, another Perfect Attendance
and he got a Most Improved Student… now, the Perfect Attendance Award rightly
belongs to me, I get him up and whip him to school but the other award makes me
very proud of him and gives me hope for the future… All the kids except the
smartest one (Lumpy) got awards this year… I have no idea what will ultimately
motivate that kid… he is so exasperating. He worked a picture puzzle tonight…
it was fascinating to watch him do the puzzle… he put it together and it took
him quite a while, he attacked it, he looked at shapes and not the color, didn’t
even look at the box cover, the puzzle was half way done before I turned it 90
degrees to orient it correctly… it was just his persistence that finished it.
Amazing little guy… Well,
the impossible happened, I was locked out of my truck… I had driven the van
today and the van keys have a spare truck key on them, I took the truck and
went to pick up Mike and get some Happy-Meals for the kids and threw the keys
in the console on the seat beside me, I had my bag little fanny pack with a
second spare key still on the floor of the truck from the trip to Culver City
for Autumn’s therapy yesterday and when we got back from McDonalds I left the
key in the ignition because I was going right out again and went around the
truck to get Autumn out I left the door open because Autumn likes to hear the
door locks lock when she pushes the button. I got Autumn out of her seat and
carried her into the house, I sent Calie out to the truck to get the Happy Meal
bags and she shut and locked the doors… three keys to the damn thing and they
are all locked in the truck… impossible… I was so mad at myself… I… words
escape me… AAA came about an hour and a half later… took him 30 seconds to open
the door… he had some neat tools… Saturday June 17, 2000I Took Mike to a graduation
party today… Had I bothered to read the invitation I would have The kids worked feverishly to
look like they were working feverishly to clean the house… I said I would do
something nice for them if they did their chores at least once this week… I had
decided to take them to see TITAN A. E., In the process of looking up
the time and location of TITAN AE I noted that there was going to be a Sneak
Preview of “Me, Myself and Irene” at the Cinemark 22 in Lancaster at 2200… I
took the kids to TITAN A.E. and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be… it
is a full length animated movie (Cartoon) with real actors doing the voices for
the characters, Matt Damon had the lead. … The plot was about as suspenseful as
sunrise but the animation was very good and the kids really enjoyed it… I
brought them home and took off for Lancaster… I was very excited to see this
movie in spite of the reviews that said it was the “Gross out Movie of the
Millennium” because my nephew Mike Bowman has a major roll in it. He plays
“Whitey” … well, I am ashamed to say, I laughed myself silly, really, even
though some of the scenes were unbelievably crude and disgusting I laughed
anyway. It reminded me a bit of “The Jerk” in the beginning, Jim Carey is
amazing at what he does, he has absolutely fearless comic intensity. I have
heard of gratuitous sex, gratuitous Violence, and lately, gratuitous stupidity
in movies but not gratuitous grossness… and unfortunately, there was a lot of
that… The movie is definitely not for everyone, anyone taking a child to see it
needs to have their head examined. (The kids would love it but living with them
afterwards would be traumatic) now to the important part… The movie is
really funny and Michael Bowman is great, he pretty much steals every scene
he’s in… especially his monologue while he’s in bed with Jim Carey… I suspect
that his mother (My sister) is going to have decidedly mixed emotions about
this movie… Sunday June 18, 2000 Fathers DayA bunch of neat handmade
stuff from the kids and I got a talking fish (along with about 12 million other
guys) the kids picked it out and I was appropriately appreciative. We packed up and drove to
Riverside and Grandpa, Blaine and I celebrated Fathers Day… Grand Pa got a
talking fish too (Blaine already had one). So funny. I watched Tiger Woods play
all alone with 50 other guys playing for second place… Mister Woods is amazing.
The trip back was uneventful and I am trying hard to finish this so I can post it… Doubt comes in at the window when inquiry is denied at
the door. -Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893)- Monday, June 19 2000… Well,
I got the web page posted and went to brush my teeth… no water pressure, I checked the
pump and it was on, I climbed the ladder to look in the tank and noticed that
the alarm float had been pulled, as though a neighbor had heard the alarm and
pulled it for me, but they all know that you can’t do that and not tell the
owner. I looked in the water tank and there was less than three feet of water
in it. I operated the relay and heard the switch in the shed trip. I went to
the well removed the fuse and unscrewed the valve at the head, replaced the
fuse and water came out so the well appeared to be OK… I made a few more checks
for leaks and went to bed… When
I woke up the first thing I did was check the well, I hadn’t measured last
night but it looked as though nothing happened, I went to the well and the
power lamp was lit but it showed the circuit had tripped, it trips when there
is no water in the well to pump, it has a thirty minute delay and then resets
itself…that means the drought has finally hit me… damn. We ordered a truck load
of water and I shut off the well pump… it may replenish enough to supplement a
truck load of water a month… that’s livable… we’ll just have to conserve as
best we can… Christy
reminded me that the alarm had gone off the day I was in the hospital getting
my shoulder rebuilt, the American Water-well guy came out and pulled the alarm
float out… the damn thing has been sitting like that since the 4th
of April… damn… The “Big Dipper” water truck arrived and filled the tank, filling it stirred up the tank with sediment too… rust actually… it will take 2 or three days to settle…damn, I shut off the drip system (that’s a leaky hose I use to water my trees) I bought a new lavatory faucet to eliminate the leak in the master bathroom… it had been leaking for about 3 years… I left with Autumn when the tanker truck left…it’s Therapy Day Autumn
and I met her new Therapist, Janet, she seems very nice and Beth had prepped
her for Autumn, I took off immediately and they went to work/play with Autie.
When I got back the said Autumn had worked very hard. The two of them teaming
up to work with Autumn seemed work well. Tony
is having trouble with the page again… I was able to duplicate it this time
though, sort of… Netscape is not formatting the page properly… very weird… the
single column pages are working fine but the two column pages are screwed up…
Hmm. AOL is partnering with Netscape now isn’t it… I really am developing a
strong dislike for AOL… I wish I knew what was going on… Mike
went to another Party… from 1800 till 2200… he seemed to have had fun… Christian
is at Sean’s house Why is it that Pete is spelled Pete, and Jim is spelled Jim
and Carol is spelled Carol but Shawn is spelled Sean… I don’t get it… I guess I
could do that, I’ll spell my name P H N E U G H U T N E U R and get mad when
people don’t pronounce it right “It’s pronounced Peter! …
but why? And
if purist’s want to pronounce Celtic, Keltic, why don’t they spell it Keltic…
they spell Kilt Kilt not cilt don’t they… English is a crazy language. Mark
Twain said… (Something like) “I feel sorry for people who only know one way to
spell a word” I
talked to Leigh to let her know I had seen “The Movie” (Me, Myself and Irene,
AKA MMI). She hasn’t seen it yet… I am anxious to hear her reaction… so far
everyone that I have talked to has had pretty much the same reaction. Leigh
said JJ saw MMI and when she asked him if he liked it he paused and said Yes
then he said No then he said well… Yes then but not really… well, it was funny
but not really… I don't use my conscience as my guide... it's more of a
creative consultant. Tuesday June 20, 2000 … Autumn
is the only one still going to regular school, Summer School starts on Thursday
for all the rest of the kids, 0745 till 1200. I
had an appointment with the physical therapist today, she is all business, I
bitched about the sign out front about how their clients will be punished if
they don’t show up on time again, turns out she’s the one who put it up. She
defended it and I still don’t think there is any excuse for it… I
talked to my sister Sue and her husband Ross in Phoenix, they are psyching
themselves up to see MM&I, Sue asked “Will I like it” I said “No, but you
will laugh anyway, and Ross will think it’s great.” She said that Katie (her
daughter in Hawaii) saw it and said it was "Gross!" but that her
sides still hurt from laughing. She said she let out a yelp when she saw
Michael Bowman’s name in the opening credits and had to explain to the people
around her that Mike was her cousin. Wednesday June 21, 2000 …Kids
are home, been a long day… I’m going to go to bed…. …
Summer School Started today, the kids are a little rebellious but I got them to
school on time… Pat and Grandma & Grandpa came over and Christy made a copy
of the tape that Mike shot at Jeff and Debbie’s wedding. I
took Autumn to Therapy, Janet wasn’t there this time, only Beth today, but
Autumn still worked hard. Autumn didn’t use her walker at all, she falls a lot
but her confidence is increasing dramatically… I
took Autumn to school and met Jan, she is not going to be able to say goodbye
to Autumn without some sort of emotional display… it’s sad and sort of sweet… I
went to CostCo to pick up some pictures, I opened the package and it was
pictures from a roll I took last Thanksgiving… very surreal, I have no idea how
I did that, it was a roll lost in the bottom of a pocket in my camera bag… when
I got home I found the roll I thought I had dropped off still in the camera… an
elder moment…  Friday June 23,
2000 …
We went to breakfast at Crazy Otto’s then did a little shopping. I wonder if
they will be able to stay in business… the food is good, they are obscene
portions, it’s pretty expensive, and they won’t deal. You can’t get a half
order (i.e.: normal sized portion for less…)
Autumn
has no school today. The kids being in school in the morning is a little
relaxing, but not much. We have the illusion of freedom but the reality is, we
really have to be very organized in order to get through the day and meet all
our commitments … it seems like we
never get to sit down… Saturday June 24, 2000
…
Christy took Calie, Autumn and Cindy to church and then went down to Lancaster
and let the kids play with some folks at the Antelope Valley Convalescent
Hospital. Autumn was a big hit with the old folks… Mike went down to The Skate Shack;
Christian went over to Sean’s house. Mokie and I went down and picked up Mike
and we went to Costco to drop off more film… and we picked up some Chinese food
and came home… I felt like I was just spinning wheels all day… didn’t
accomplish much… Sunday June 25, 2000
…We
picked up Christian at Sean’s and drove for 102 miles to Camp Cedar Falls… it
is a beautiful place; I had never been there before. The girls were a little
anxious but when they spotted the pool and were told by the counselor “Sure,
you can go swimming now.” they couldn’t
wait to get us out of the way… Christy took me on a short tour, we saw Tabu the
black bear, a very chubby specimen of the species. I stared at it for about
five minutes and saw him move his head about a centimeter, so it is alive… but
he’s really fat. We walked over and down to the tree house. It’s a pretty
impressive structure, you reach it across a suspended “catwalk” there is a
stream at the base. A beautiful spot… Cindy was a little on the uncontrollable
side so we didn’t stay long, Mike and Christian were acting out a bit too.
Autumn was even upset; the long drive sort of did them all in I guess. It was a long day… The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore
all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -George Bernard Shaw
Monday, June 26 2000…
Took the Buick in to T&J to get smogged, it used to take about 10 minutes
and cost $20.00 now with $55,000.00 worth of sophisticated computers and a
direct link to the DMV it takes 30 minutes and $68.00…. progress… Christy
says the brakes were “grabbing” so I took it over to the kids at Affordable
Tire to get the brake’s done… the rear brake shoes were shot and they had none
in stock so they had to be ordered from Lancaster. I think I don’t believe that
they didn’t have the shoes at Acton Auto Supply, I will have to check and see…
I hope not, I like the place, the kid that ran it before, Adam, is gone and now
it seems like the three stooges are in charge, the place is a mess and the guys
working there seem kind of disassociated (for lack of a better word). Like they
have nothing invested in the business… too bad… I must be getting picky in my
old age. Anyway,
I called Christy to come get me because it wouldn’t be done in time for me to
get Autumn to Therapy West by 1300. . I left the house at 1145; there was lots
of traffic today. There seems to be a lot of people driving about aimlessly …
school is out for the summer… maybe it was an aberration, I will see if it is
as bad next week… so… it took 22 minutes to get over Sepulveda pass on the 405…
about five miles… exasperating, I was ten minutes late. Beth hauled out her
camera to get a picture of us, which was nice. Beth’s last session with Autumn
will be on Thursday… it is refreshing, and reassuring to know she has more than
a professional relationship with Autumn. I
got home in time to get in on the conference call with "B" and his therapist,
"B" is doing pretty good, I am anxious to meet the therapist, he seems like a
level headed fella. I got back in the truck and took Mike to Wal-Mart for some
clothes. Mike wears his pants so low he rips the crotch out of them… we sew
them up but eventually there is nothing left to sew…I drove over to Costco to
pick up some pictures and then Albertson’s for groceries and finally KFC for
some chicken for dinner… got home in time to be too late to pick up the Buick
at Affordable Tire… damn… forgot all about it. Tuesday June 27, 2000 … I
should have had a free day today, Christy had Autumn at Kaiser for her School
Physical, but it didn’t work out… drop of and pick up kids at school. Pick up
the car at Affordable Tire, shopping in Palmdale Cindy to Dance, and a bunch of
other bull… Nothing accomplished really… We
bought a “Blank Deck” for Mikes skateboard, it cost us $22.00. I had told him
that the only difference between a blank and an Official “Shorty” board was the
picture and $40.00, As I was paying for the board Mike checked up on me by
asking the resident pro “What’s the difference between the blank and the
expensive boards?” The guy bent over and said quietly “The picture”… Mike
looked at me with a glimmer of respect… just a glimmer, he’s almost thirteen
and glimmers are just not cool. Mike
Bowman’s site is up and working finally, http://michaeljbowman.com/Home.html
Interesting interview there. Wednesday June 28, 2000 …I
went to the early show to see The Patriot, I took the boys with me, there is a
lot of violence but for the most part there was justification for it, it is a
movie about honor and retribution… I enjoyed it a lot, I thought that it was
extremely realistic, and not just graphically, it is a brutal movie and at
times very moving… the bad guys were really bad and the good guys were really
good, I will probably have to see it again… I thought it was just a guy movie,
but the ladies in front of me seemed to enjoy it too… the final fight between
Mel and the bad guy was a bit silly… Mel’s patented head-butt actually made me
laugh out loud… I wasn’t the only one though… it was the only part of the movie
I wish they had left on the cutting room floor… I
took the boys and Autumn out to dinner and plan to go to bed early… Thursday June 29, 2000 … I
had two appointments at Kaiser, plus I had to get Autumn’s TB shot read… I
checked in and told the person at the desk “I have an appointment with Dr.
Hendricks at 10:45” She took my card, and my $5.00 co-pay and Autie and I
trudged to the other end of the building… The nurse came out and took my
check-in sheet from the plastic trough. About 2 minutes later she popped her
head out and called my name, she told me I was in the wrong place, my
appointment was across the way on the “East Building” with the Therapy Group,
her tone of voice added the “Why do I have to put up with these idiots” After I
explained that I had told the receptionist my appointment was with Hendricks
and she pulled up my afternoon appointment in Physical Therapy by mistake… She
said out loud “Well I don’t know about that, you have to go back to the
reception desk and get the right form… I wanted to say “Why don’t you ask her
to bring the form to me, she screwed up I didn’t” but I didn’t, I picked up
Autie this time, she shouldn’t have to walk it twice. I turned in the “Proper
form” and I went across the waiting room and knocked on the door to get Autumn’s
TB Shot read, took about 30 seconds I went back to Orthopedics and waited until
11:45 and I knocked on their door and told the nurse, “I have to reschedule
this, My daughter is due at school in Palmdale in 15 minutes, she said, OK, she
looked at her schedule and said come back this afternoon… so I took Autumn to
school. As
I pulled up at Yucca School I saw an ambulance; they were hauling some young
woman out on a stretcher. (Heat Stroke) and just as I was leaving a little boy
in front of me rolled his eyes back in their sockets and collapsed in front of
me… the teachers immediately flagged down the Paramedics and took the boy to a
classroom. I think he may have had a seizure… Today is the last day of school
for Autumn… they are having a party. I
took Autumn’s shot card up to Meadowlark School and gave it to Christy. She was
talking to the Principal and they decided to move her to afternoon
kindergarten. Cool, I will pick her up with Mokie next year, but now we have to
move her Therapy to Mornings… I
got back to Kaiser about 14:00 Dr. Hendricks saw me and pronounced me healed, I
went over to Don Cuco’s in Lancaster for lunch, I asked the waiter if this was
like the Don Cuco’s in Acton, he said “Oh yes, we have everything they have but
our food is much better” I asked them if they had Zerape’s, He assured me that
they did, (but they weren’t on the menu). They cooked the Zerepe’s with bell
peppers, yuck, the last recourse of the unimaginative cook. This Chef really
was an aficionado; he had it chopped up real good so you couldn’t pick them out,
damn. I really don’t care for bell peppers. You can make anything taste like
bell peppers. I can imaging a cook trying something new, cooking with olive
oil, mushrooms and tomatoes and tasting it thinking to himself “This tastes
awful, but I’m not concerned, everything will be OK, I have bell peppers, I’ll
just put them in then no one will be able to taste how bad it is…” OK, I know
there are people who actually enjoy the taste of Bell Pepper… I just don’t
understand why anyone would add them to some other food, what’s the point,
whatever the hell it used to taste like it’s just going to taste like bell
pepper when they’re done. I
went to Therapy, She did Ultra-Sound again, what a waste of time and energy. I
am pretty much convinced that it it’s just hokum. Some people want to believe
it works and miraculously it does, and skeptics like me say “Aw c’mon” and it
does nothing. Like putting magnets in your shoes… give me a break. (Twenty
people are going to write to me and tell me how magnets cured their arthritis) I
stopped at Albertson’s on the way home… long day. Friday June 30,
2000 … I emptied out Cindy’s room. Christy sorted through all her stuff and we ended up tossing a lot of it away… Christy took Cindy to Church to decorate for something. While Christy was gone I emptied out Calie and Autumn’s room. Lots of junk in there too, but the room is clean… the living room is full of cloths and toys from both rooms… I got most of it put away but the clothes are still piled high… I took Mike to dance and later picked up his buddy Austin… I’m tired…
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