Day after day alone on the hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still,
But
nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And
he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill
Sees
the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See
the world spinning around.
McCartney
A good life,
continued.
Jan 4, 2012-What
happens next?
I
felt an urgency to finish my autobiography for a number of reasons. The first
is, people my age, and younger, are dropping dead everyday, and I didn’t
want to leave it unfinished. The second reason, is, the fact that I am just
learning how to use the computer to write, and I have dumped so many hours of
text with a wrong click of a button. One time, I dumped my entire photo album
with a single click. Some of it was irreplaceable, but a lot were scans, which
had to be redone, and in the process, many were omitted to save time. I still
have a lot to learn, but I will try to fill in some of the blanks left by my
other writing.
Reader discretion
is advised. Language and topics are not suitable for everyone!
Still in
Sacramento.
The last thing I wrote about was my new dogs. I want to add an excerpt from my bio about Buddy, as I now have photos, and a video, or two to share.
Excerpt;
(I have
the luxury of being able to insert
video clips. These were not in the original bio. I have also edited the
text, and added photos that were unavailable.)
Buddy
Today is August 11, 2011. I put Buddy down this morning at
Buddy came to us at a time when we were having problems, and Denise was
staying with her mom in
Tom brought him to the house, and he was such a tiny thing, he would choke himself on the doggie dish Denise had chosen for him. He was also sooooo cute, I couldn't say no.
He soon became attached to my foot, the same as Scooper did, from the day he was born. The only problem with being attached to my foot, was, one day he was under my foot, and I pinched him when I stood up, and he proceeded to mangle both my hands, snarling and ripping. I didn't think he would stop. We also learned that he protected food, and he mangled Denise a time or two over food, and a couple times when she had been drinking, he mangled her.
The last time he bit her on the foot about a week ago, and I knew he had to go, but I was waiting for the right opportunity, and it came this morning when he attacked my foot for no apparent reason. I really feel awful that I had to do that, but I look at it like this; He needed to be put down. If I took him to the pound, or even a vet, he would have to be restrained by strangers, and lethally injected. As it was, he was happy, one second, and gone the next.
It's friday morning, August 12, 7:30 a.m. I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke up really early this morning, and I got up and made coffee, opened the chicken house door, and filled the hummingbird feeder. I usually have a dog bouncing around my feet, but not today. I already miss Buddy awfully.
|
In
loving memory |
He was so close to me, he mirrored my every move. If I lean forward in my chair, he would stand, and be on alert, anticipating my every move, and herding me, to some extent. His favorite thing was to go "bye bye", and he would jump on Denise until she took him out, and put him in the truck. When we went someplace, he usually wasn't allowed to get out, but he didn't seem to mind. He just loved to go for a ride. Most of the time when I would go outside, he would go with me, one step in front of me, and he would stop, and I would have to stop too. If I sat outside, he would lay at my feet. If it was possible, he would actually make contact with my foot. I learned to be really careful, because I stepped on him on two separate occasions. The first time, he was less than six months old, and still really tiny, and as usual he was right at my feet. I had started to doze off, and when I went to get up to go to bed, I pinched him really good. I still can't believe the fury he attacked with. He chewed my left hand, ripping the knuckle off my index finger. When I put my right hand down to stop him, He proceeded to mangle my right hand too. I was totally unable to use either hand for several days, and I told Denise that he was dangerous, and would have to be put down. The second time he bit me, he had a scrap of pizza crust, and he was defending it, and when I walked too close, he growled, and jumped up, and bit me above the belt, on my right side. As he was coming down, my reaction was to kick at him, and he bit me on my left ankle. Both bites broke the skin, but was nothing like the first attack.
I am not writing for the purpose of bashing anyone or anything, and I certainly won't bash the Oroville folks. Suffice to say, Buddy's first four months of life were hell, and it was imprinted on him that humans were bad. I loved that dog every day. He wasn't always wanting to be petted. Sometimes I would reach out and touch him, and he would get up and move out of reach. I'm not sure what that was, but I was always fearful. I stepped on him, another time, when he was a little older, and he went at me, but as soon as he realized it was me, he pulled back a little, and only broke the skin, giving me reason to think that there was hope.
Buddy grew, from 10 pounds, to 20 pounds, and, still being aggressive, we had him neutered. After that, he really grew fast, to 30 pounds, and, he was a muscular dog with a big, hard head, almost like a pit bull, and he had a personality of his own.
Video Scooper and Buddy http://youtu.be/oQExp6gqDiM
<iframe
width="640" height="360"
src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oQExp6gqDiM?feature=player_detailpage"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Video of Buddy the bee
http://youtu.be/Piz_MN6sMLs
Buddy the Bee
If the phone would ring, Buddy knew that Mike was coming, or we were going to have visitors, and he would get excited, and stand on the alert, waiting. If we said the "Bye-bye" word, he would jump all over Denise.
We both grew to love Buddy, and when he did bite, and we knew he had to be destroyed, we loved him so much, we kept putting it off, and it became harder to think about, as time passed, but we knew it was inevitable.
My son would come around, often, and I was always worried that Buddy would
hurt one of my grandchildren, but no matter how rough
Denise had her own problems with him. She was his keeper, and she fed and watered him. He bit her a couple times, food related, and a couple times, alcohol related. The way those two played, this was something you wouldn't expect. One of my greatest joys in life was to watch Denise play with Buddy, like a little girl. I could see that it was one of the greatest joys in Denise's life, too. I was so hoping that he would snap out of it, but, just about a week ago, Denise tried to feed him some hamburger. He was being difficult, and Denise took a piece out of his dish, and set it on the floor, close to him. I asked her for the broom, and when she went to carry it to me, Buddy attacked her foot, and bit her severely, several times, like, he can't stop himself. So, since that day, I had known that he had to go. I wish I could give him to somebody, but I would be responsible if he ever hurt someone. I could take him to the pound. No, I couldn't. I could take him to the vet, but he hates the vet's office. No, this is something I have to man up, and take care of myself. So for a week, I agonized about what to do, when, yesterday morning, Buddy was hungry, and grumpy, and moping around because Denise was gone, and when I walked toward him to open the sliding glass door, he looked at me real funny, and I hesitated, and took a half step, and Buddy went for my foot. I stopped, and so did he, and he looked at me with his ears pulled back, and his tail drooped, and I knew that I could never trust him again. I'm sorry little Buddy. I'm really going to miss you. I already do.
I found this when Scooper passed, and although it's not as obvious in this situation, I feel it applies here, as well.
A DOG'S PLEA
Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me. Do not break my spirit with a stick, for although I should lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will quickly teach me the things you would have me learn. Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footsteps falls upon my waiting ear. Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst. Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk by your side and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger. And, my friend, when I am very old, and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see that my trusting life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands.
Author Unknown
I can only hope I did the right thing!
Sat. Aug 13
For the second morning, I awake, and kick my feet over the edge of the bed. When I reach down to put on my socks, Buddy would always hear me, and he would jump on the bed, and lick my face. I would put my right arm around him, and scratch his throat with my left hand until he groaned with pleasure. I really missed that, and all the little things. I sat in my chair and had coffee, and I leaned back carefully, so as not to pinch Buddy, and opened the sliding glass door, and he wasn't there. I didn't realize that he was with me every second, and I took it for granted. I miss my dog so much.........
I have to have another dog!
The new babies
I got online and contacted the S.P.C.A., and we visited the feed stores, and
the pet stores, looking for flyers for pups. We found several, and we came home
and started calling around. One place we called said they had three puppies
left, and we went to see them. They lived on Rio Vista, not too far from my old
stomping grounds on
The date was August 21, so in order to give them a birth-date, I calculated it to be June seventeenth, a few days before the anniversary of Scooper's passing, and right around the time we got Buddy. Now we need to be careful where we step, once again, and the babies are an absolute joy, and it makes missing Buddy a little less painful.
We have had our new dogs awhile, and they are so loving, and gentle. It’s about time!
END EXCERPT
In this picture, it’s hard to tell which dog is which. When we got them, they were infested with fleas and skin mites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex). We took them to the vet, and they got their rabies shots. Most of their hair had fallen out, and it was hard to tell them apart. They both got “dipped”, and had to take medicine for months. Buster had been handled by the neighborhood kids, the most, and he was less infested than Bailey, but he was the weaker of the two, and several times, I thought I was going to lose him.
They finally snapped out of it, and they have become beautiful (to us) dogs, and expensive, to the tune of about three grand between the two of them. We love them so much, though, that it was well worth it.
Taken in August 2012.
It's my 66th birthday, today. January 7, 2012. I finished my autobiography, and sent copies to the boys, last week. I wanted to finish before year’s end.
Got my birthday present early
this morning. Thank you, Cialis. I've been thinking how far we've come in the
last sixteen years. When mom passed away in '96, things went downhill really
fast. I didn't realize that she was the glue that held the family together. I
should have been ready for the greed that presented it's self, but, already
devastated, my family shunned me, and I wasn't allowed to see the things my
parents had accumulated in their 75 years of life. My dad had coin collections,
and stamp collections, and other things that, apparently, got sold for their
cash value. I would have liked to have my mother’s computer and I would
have been on line years ago, and possessed a tool to ease the tribulations we
endured. The
Fortunately I was able to recover my aunt and uncle's gem collection, only after my sister let some strangers go through every-one's things. They took everything of value. They asked to borrow my truck, saying that they would load all the things I was allowed to have. Turned out to be mostly trash. I've never had anyone, least of all, Christians, do me that way. But, Karma took over, and things have a way of working out.
(Got this off facebook.)
Steve and Kimberly were here
yesterday, and Kimberly asked me to describe the "church". I tried to
look it up, online, and I found a couple websites to share. Then, I got the
notion to look the church up, in
Recently I have discovered a website that explains, exactly, how this cult works. With permission of the author, I would like to direct you to the website, “Telling the Truth”. http://www.tellingthetruth.info/home/index.php
So, about twelve years ago, we got our wood stove, just in time for our first winter here. I got it from a neighbor that I worked for. Where our back door is now, there was a sheet of plywood bolted in with a round hole cut in it. Two ninety degree stovepipes got it out the door, but on the windward side of the trailer, and a combination of that, and the resistance of the two nineties, most of the smoke came into the trailer. We also had no electricity, and Steve and Diana took us to a store in 'Frisco, and we bought kerosene lamps, and emergency candles, and we watched the Super-bowl on a battery operated, black and white T.V.
Today it is warm in here, and smoke free. We still don't have a real heater, and some time today, I will have to gather and cut firewood. But that will have to wait, because I have some indoor things to do today. I need to scan my photo albums, in their entirety. And I really got interested in that website about my mother’s religion, which I was a part of for a lot of years. So, this writing will benefit, today, as Denise is spending the day with her mother. Her mother is in poor health, and is a long term smoker, suffering from C.O.P.D. I encourage her to spend as much time with her as is possible. I think, to start with, I will pursue the web site I found about “Cooneyites”.
All the years I spent trying to be a member of the church, we never had the luxury of being able to give it a name. When people asked the name of the church, they got a spiel about “the truth”. No name, no church “building”, no collection plate.
This looks so much like my mothers table, and
that’s her coffee cup and saucer.
Identical, down to worker’s picture, workers list, books and case.
I had a black bible case.
The gospel, your “Salvation” was yours for the taking. Here’s a boatload of nicknames to use:
The Church Without a Name - called "the truth"
This website is about a nameless church. Since the group claims no name for their beliefs, it has been given many nicknames, the most common being "The Truth. Some of the more common designations are: The Way, The Friends and Workers Fellowship, Two-by-Twos, 2x2s, Cooneyites, The Fold, No-Name Church, Christian Conventions, Assemblies of Christians, The Testimony, Testimony of Jesus, Nameless House Church, Tramp Preachers, Go-Preachers, White Mice, Dippers, The Black Stockings, The Jesus-Way, The New Testament Church, Reidites, Irvinites/ Irvineites, Alberta Society of Christian Assemblies.
Now, there are several names, which, if typed into a Google search, will
lead you to this final website I found, which I know is correct, because I
recognize the names and pictures and places and descriptions. Check it out. Go
to http://www.tellingthetruth.info/home/ for a general description, and navigate
from there. The first page I came
to, even before I found the home page, was the page on how, I’ll call it
“The Truth”, came to
This website tells about the Cutlers, but doesn’t give any first names. I will write every one I can remember. Meetings were held at Albert’s house. I don’t remember his wife’s name, but he was very old, and in poor health, and didn’t live long after I met him. Convention was held there. Here’s a picture. (Edited 5-20-16) The first picture is a convention grounds in the U.S.A. I mistook it for Albert and Ellen’s house. I have recently reconnected with the Cutler family, and I have some new things to add. The first is a “Google Earth” image of Albert’s house. I wasn’t sure until Anita sent me a phone camera shot of Albert’s house from David’s driveway. (her brother, and my best friend)
OOPS Google Earth image of Albert’s house. Anita’s cell phone camera. Albert and Ellen in 1972
Hewitt Cutler and his wife Dina, Jimmy Cutler, and I don’t remember
his wife, but he had two daughters, the oldest, Ruby loved to
“torment” me, and Bob and ‘Nita owned the store, and Clyde,
with all his kids, one who was hit by a car, and was really messed up, and my favorite
family, Fred and Lydia Cutler with all their kids, lets start with the oldest,
Kerry, two years older than me, then David, my age, and Anita, who I was in
love with, and her sister, Grace who I got in trouble with, and Tommy-cod, and
there may have been a younger daughter, I just can’t remember. I want to
say
I scanned some 8mm movie film and got these fantastic shots. I will have Anita help me with the names when I see her again J.
The folks visited in later years, and brought back pictures, and news.
It is October 20, 2016,
and Anita is sitting beside me. She is helping me make some corrections. Aunt
Neatha (spelled correctly) Died of a stomach tumor, and Kerry worked for the department
of Newfoundland Light and Power where he retired after thirty years. He was a
guide in the fall, after he retired, for big game hunters.
I will continue to make corrections as Anita and I talk.
(5/20/2016) After reconnecting, I have found that Kerry, David, and Anita all live in St. Georges, and I am expecting a visit from Anita in the near future.
Here’s a site to bring back memories. See photo galleries! http://peggygalebennett.com/EasyAccessIndex.aspx (5/20/2016) At this time, this site is no longer available at this URL.
This is the way I remember the beach buildings in St. Georges.
This is a modern picture, but if not for the modern outboard motor, looks just ‘timeless’.
On to something else:
I was in the process of looking for pictures, I found a website that had
bits and pieces from the 1961 yearbook from
They asked for any help with any other yearbook, so I went searching through a huge box of old photos, and I came across my 1962 high school yearbook.
Todd, my oldest
son allotted me some space on his website, and I learned how to put things
“up on the web” by scanning my yearbook and “putting it
up”. The first couple of tries, I put the whole thing on one page, and in
the process, put things in the wrong order, dumped the whole thing, and,
basically, made almost every mistake possible on a two hundred page document.
It started at http://www.petesmemories.com/nfld.html.
This was so
cumbersome, I decided to divide it into two parts.
http://www.petesmemories.com/nfld1.html
pages 1-108
http://www.petesmemories.com/nfld2.html
pages 109-end
This got me
started scanning photos, and I became engrossed in what I was doing, and I
decided to build an “Information Website”. I found photos that I
wish I would have known about, before I wrote my autobio. There are photos of
Van Port flood, Okinawa, Yuma , Sacramento
I invite you to
visit my site. http://www.petesmemories.com
I am also considering putting
this portion of my biography on line, if for no other reason than to preserve
it. It will be stored at:
http://www.petesmemories.com/bio.html.
I will bury this at
the bottom of the table of contents, along with some other sensitive pages. If
you happen to find a way to follow the progress of this writing, remember, this
will continue to change until they shovel dirt on me!
The other pages
found at the very bottom are for a matter of record. I bear no malice toward my
brother or sister. I just wish to
have no further contact with them. After what they have done, they can not be
trusted. My life is much simpler with all the shit stirrers gone!
June 4, 2012;
It is a gorgeous day, and I have
all of my veggies planted. Everything does so well in the rich soil we are so
fortunate to have. Life has been good for me. I can’t say the same for Denise. Her family keeps her so
stirred up that she is unable to enjoy the solitude, and often, encroaches on
mine.
Our new puppies are doing so well. They are innocent,
and loving, and they mind so well for never having been disciplined in any way.
They don’t need constant supervision, because when they aren’t
wrestling with each other, they are content to sleep. The attention they give
to us is sweet and loving, and I would die if something would happen to either
one of them. Bailey loves to sit on my lap, and I think Buster would like to,
also, but his sister is always in the way. When I do get Buster alone, he is,
also, very loving.
Last year, Denise set up a fifty
gallon aquarium, and purchased several Oscars. I told her about mine in the
seventies, and she was anxious to try for herself. She had done so well with
her goldfish that she had for so many years. She had a problem with “popping”
the tank, and it took several tries before she finally ended up with a
beautiful red Oscar, and a nice tiger Oscar. They have grown to the point where
they have become a problem to feed.
One of the first things we did
when we got settled in the trailer was to get Denise on welfare. I was working
off and on, but income was so unreliable that we needed the cushion that food
stamps provided. An added benefit was a small monthly check. It was more than
enough to buy Denise’s cigarettes, and from her first check, she gave me
32 dollars, and asked me to build a fish tank for her. I went to a glass shop
on Elkhorn Blvd.
I glued the glass pieces together
with silicone rubber, and went to Petco and bought a dozen feeder goldfish for
ten cents apiece. I brought them home and Denise set up her first tank.
It wasn’t long before the
goldfish outgrew their tank, and Denise set them up in a forty gallon reptile
tank (thin glass and heater on bottom) and they did well there until the tank
started to leak, so I went to Walmart and bought a fifty gallon tank with a
stand, complete with pumps, etcetera.
When I finally got my settlement,
I bought a guitar, and I was playing with my equipment, which included a dvd
recorder, an amp, and a cheap video camera. Here is a video clip of
Denise’s tank with a little background music. :)
Video of goldfish,
Buddy in background http://youtu.be/UmwjqfAAWh8
When Denise’s mom moved
here, she had several fish tanks, and no room to store them, so they got stored
here, and I had my eye on them for a while.
There were several tanks not in
use, so I set them up with some different things for Denise to feed her Oscars,
besides buying night crawlers, and feeder goldfish.
This ten gallon tank is used as a holding tank for feeder guppies, and
feeder snails.
This ten gallon tank is salt
water and is intended as a holding tank for feeder mollies. At this moment, it
contains the nine baby creamsicle mollies born in this tank. I moved the
females, (three out of nine) to the thirty gallon tank, where they, and their
mother gave live birth to a mess of babies.
This thirty gallon tank contains
mixed guppies, feeder snails, and several varieties of live plants. This
population of hundreds of fish was started with three or four feeder guppies from
River Valley Feed store. I also bought that gorgeous Amazon sword, which is ten
times it’s original size. It was infested with apple snails, and ramshorn
snails. I am raising the ramshorns for feed, and trying to eliminate the apple
snails. They multiply too rapidly. I got the Christmas moss from Taiwan
This thirty gallon tank contains
mollies. I had a hard time getting these guys started, as they require a
certain amount of salt in their water. Sea salt works best.
There are two original mollies, a
creamsicle, which gave birth to nine fry in a ten gallon tank, and an orange
molly, which gave birth to seven or eight fry,which are in this tank, along
with a male and a female orange molly, both born in this tank. I have since
moved the baby creamsicles to this big tank and on 7-9-12, there were a dozen
fry visible. As of 7-25-12, there are twenty or thirty new babies in this tank.
In august, more babies were born, and it is impossible to count them now, but I
did take a few videos of them.
Video #1 is an eleven minute
video with no sound.
http://youtu.be/C4g30wkM1_o
Video #2 is a five minute video
with no sound.
http://youtu.be/C4g30wkM1_o
This is Denise’s first tank
that I built for her. She practiced raising goldfish in it. It sat empty for
years, and it got chipped, so I set it back up in my room. If you look close,
you can see the female red tailed guppy. She gave birth (live) to about twenty
or thirty fry. They are separated from the mongrel guppies to preserve the
sub-species. The female gave birth to about thirty babies, then died. As of
7-25 12, all of the females are pregnant, and ready to give birth.
I was walking in my orchard the
other day, and I looked back toward the house, and the view I had been taking
for granted, took my breath away. This place has changed so much, mostly in the
last five years, since we found out that we don’t have to move to
Oroville, after all. We were offered $440,000.00 for the place in 2005, and we
had resigned ourselves to the fact we had to move, and with the help of Bob
Snyder, we found a lovely five acres in Oroville where we had a well drilled,
and septic installed, along with electrical. A guy by the name of Harold Balaz
did most of the septic, and David and sons drilled my well, and hired the guys
to put in the pump and tank. There are photos of the process which I will make
available.
Oroville; In
2005 we were offered 440,000 dollars for our property.
We purchased
(with Bob’s help) five acres in Oroville.
We had a well
drilled, septic installed, and power brought in. I hired a dowser to locate my
drilling spot. Her name was Sharron something. Here is her classified ad;
Description
DOWSING CONSULTANT Ground Water
Exploration
"Water-Witching" Since 1979
530-534-3516, 530-570-DOWSE
I need to call her and write
down her name. I took her to the “Tai” restaurant in the
Raley’s Shopping Center. The food was excellent.
It’s Wednesday, July 25th.
I just finished talking to Sharron on the phone. Her last name is
“Hope”. I don’t know how I could ever forget that. It’s
been 6 or 7 years since I last saw her, and her memory of me is fuzzy.
I will email her a copy of
this.
Copy of email;
Hello
Sharron.
It was nice to hear your voice. It didn’t sound like
you remembered Denise and me. You dowsed a well for us at 88 Dack Way
I wrote a blurb in my memoir at http://www.petesmemories.com/biopt1.html
I
doubt that you will find much of interest, there, so I pasted it here for you
to examine. If you would like any changes made you can email me.
Excerpt;
We purchased (with Bob’s help) five acres in
Oroville.
We had a well drilled, septic installed, and power brought
in. I hired a dowser to locate my drilling spot. Her name was Sharron
something. Here is her classified ad;
Description
DOWSING CONSULTANT Ground Water
Exploration
"Water-Witching"
Since 1979 530-534-3516, 530-570-DOWSE
I need to call her and write
down her name. I took her to the “Tai” restaurant in the
Raley’s Shopping Center. The food was excellent.
It’s Wednesday, July 25th,
2012. I just finished talking to
I will email her a copy of
this.
As
I look back at these, I see spelling and punctuation errors that won’t
get fixed for a while.
http://www.petesmemories.com/orowell.html
The well being drilled, and pump and tank installed.
End Excerpt………………
I supervised the septic installation, and put in power,
also.
The index for my web site has a similar blurb. Find it at http://www.petesmemories.com
.
We never sold our place here in Antelope, so we were unable
to purchase the property from Bob.
Bob has recently moved a double wide mobile home on the
property.
I want you to know that our well was 400 feet deep, and the
water was the sweetest I had ever tasted. It was a genuine pleasure to meet you
and benefit from your knowledge.
Sincerely,
Pete Peterson
7831 Sunset
Hills Lane
Antelope, Ca. 95843-3955
Her reply;
wow u took a lot of really neat photos
thanks for doing this
love reading this and looking at the photos
hugs
Sharron
As I look back
at these, I see spelling and punctuation errors that won’t get fixed for
a while. I am going through a lazy period, and I’m having a hard time
doing anything.
http://www.petesmemories.com/orowell.html
The well being
drilled, and pump and tank installed.
http://www.petesmemories.com/orosep.html
The septic
being installed. tank, leach lines, etc.
http://www.petesmemories.com/oropwr.html
Installation of
transformer and meter.
In the process of looking for this place,
Bob and I attended an auction in San
Mateo
Here’s before and after
pictures of our place.
This photo was taken by code
enforcement the day my “HOME” arrived. This
photo was taken today (6-3-12)
Then, just the other day, I found
this photo, taken after 2000. Probably 2001 or 2002, maybe later. We still
didn’t have much, but every little patch of shade made life easier.
We were trying to get a lawn
started, with no mowers or lawn tools. Sis gave all that away, also.
And looking back from the
orchard:
This photo is from last
year.
This year is even better!
Todd’s Place
Here are a
couple Google maps.
I got a chance to spend
father’s day with my son, Todd. He recently moved to Cameron Air
Park
Todd’s driveway is adjacent
to a taxiway, named Boeing Road
Standing on the front porch, and
looking out into the street.
Looking to the right, just inside
the front door, the room that never gets used. That is a double sided
fireplace.
The dining room.
Looking back from the dining room
at the other side of the fireplace.
A view of the back yard from
inside.
Todd, the master chef. I was
delighted and proud to enjoy a super dinner.
The chef’s tools.
This spot could use a few tomato
plants.
Back in the house.
Logan
The real living room that does
get used.
Go ahead, son! Clutter your
garage with an airplane.
A dream come true!!!
!!
Just open the door, take out the
guide, and take off in your airplane anytime! WOW!
Had to pull out some wall to get the whole wing in there!
I tried to take a picture of
McKenna, but she was too fast for grampa. Got a good shot of her shadow,
though.
Hold still, sweetie!
There. That’s better! What
a wonderful family. I couldn’t possibly be more proud!
We caught the neighbors walking
their Greyhounds. You can see how wide the street is.
When I put up the camera, and
petted them, they wanted to come home with me. They could smell my dogs on me,
and loved the touch of my hand.
Logan Logan
What a delightful father’s
day!
Live alone in a paradise
That
makes me think of two.
Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things that don't get lost.
Like
a coin that won't get tossed
Rollin' home to you.
Neil
Young
At this point, I would like to remind you that reader
discretion is advised. Language and topics are not suitable for everyone. This
is not intended to be entertaining, but should be viewed as a type of diary, or
journal.
I want to begin
today, with a suggestion from Denise. She thought that the story about our
goose, J.C. would be interesting. I wrote about him in my autobiography, but
his story has evolved, so I agree that something should be added here.
When we first moved
onto the property, we started with nothing. My sister and brother absorbed the
estate, and I was left with two acres. We saw a double wide mobile home for
sale in the Bee Classified Ads, and we got in touch with the owner, Kim
“I don’t remember her last name”, (I am going to say
”Crowder”) and arranged to go see it, just outside the town of
Cool.
My brother had
evicted me, and sued me, and Denise and I were compelled to live in a tent we
had pitched next to the pond. The Dooleys had already called code enforcement
to make sure we weren’t shitting on the property. My neighbor, John, had
given me a port-a-potty for emergencies, but the daily routine was to eat
breakfast at the Roseville Family Restaurant, and take a shit, there. Bathing
consisted of water, heated by the garden hose, lying in the sun. At night, we
slept in my camper shell. We lived this way for six months.
It was a wreck of a place that had sat,
the two halves, separated by several feet, for seven years, and the elements
had taken their toll on the ceilings and floors. I was still in fairly good
health at the time (1997), and was ambitious in intent, if nothing else. It
didn’t seem like it would be that big of a job to fix up, so we paid to
have it moved down the hill to our place. Our neighbors at the time,
the Dooleys, were trying to get this place for themselves, and they made our
lives as miserable as possible. This was taken by code enforcement, the day it
arrived.
This was pasted to the gate:
Then, two days later, this was pasted to the
gate:
The first year was a horror story. We
struggled every day to earn enough to feed our dogs, and ourselves, and buy a
twelve pack. (There is no way to survive this, sober.) Our neighbor gave us a tiny wood burning
stove, and we placed it next to the door, which had been replaced with a sheet
of plywood. I cut a large hole, and made a heat sink out of a cookie sheet, and
ran the stovepipe through the hole with two ninety degree sections of 6”
pipe. This put the chimney to the windward side of the trailer. Luckily, I had
stocked us with plenty of almond firewood, but, unfortunately, we had the
coldest winter in a long time. If we huddled together and sat within three feet
of the stove, you could keep from freezing, but there was icicles on everything
five feet from the stove. If there was no wind, we could actually warm it up, a
little, but the wind was usually blowing, and most of the smoke would come back
in the house.
Denise and I had a job, cleaning carpets, and
we always smelled so bad, smoky, that my boss recommended that we go to the
nearest truck stop to shower. This became routine, to stop at the “Forty
Niner Truck Stop” on I-80 near El Camino, shower, eat, do laundry, and
work the night shift, smelling good, cleaning carpets. The temperature dropped
to below freezing and stayed there until I could get Denise out of here. I was
fired a few days before Valentine’s Day, and I got Denise on a bus to her
mom’s on Valentine’s Day, 1998.
I started going to AA and that is where I met
Gina, and her mom, Debbie Coons. They offered me a job cleaning swimming pools,
and for several months I was sober, and had an income, but the job was too
much, and I wished Denise was here with me, because we make a good team,
working together, but I still didn’t have electricity. I bought a power
pole and box from Troy Connors, and we dug a trench for underground wires. I
was fired from the pool job, and I was drinking again. I got a job at the
Alternative Baking Company, as maintenance person, and I met Bob Snyder. He
finished getting power for me, and once I had power, I called Denise to come
home.
We struggled to get it together, and with my
cousin, Diana’s help, we got the two halves joined, and a septic system
dug. A wood stove from my other neighbor, and we were all set.
I concentrated all my energy on getting power
in, and my neighbor, Hank, gave me a fireplace insert that I installed with the
help of my other neighbor, John Pibbs. I remember the day I had enough money to
buy one sheet of underlayment, and some concrete caps to set the stove on. Most
of the floor was gone from the weather, and we hopped from plywood to plywood,
but the insert that Hank had given me had a nice floor to sit on.
Finally, around the middle of July, I got electricity, and Denise and
her mother and nephew moved in. I had just been fired from my pool-cleaning
job, and had started work at the Alternative Baking Company, the “cookie
factory”. I had a good stove, now, but no way to get the smoke out of
here. I talked to the owner of the cookie factory, and I made a deal with him.
I would install a fiberglass tub and shower insert in one of his rental houses,
and, in turn, he would write a check to Home Depot for all the stovepipe pieces
that I needed.
We all worked at the factory. Denise’s
mom did some painting, I did some painting, and Denise helped me out when I
needed an extra hand. I, pretty much, ran the place, and the plant manager
started to get uncomfortable, and there were some major conflicts about
cleanliness and sanitation, and a conflict about what should happen to reject
batches of cookies. Steve (Rudek) was always worried about liability, and he
ordered me to throw out good food. I argued that as long as it wasn’t
packaged, it should go to “Loaves and Fishes”, a place downtown
where homeless folks, and folks, down on their luck (like us) could get a bite
to eat. A new
I was still trying to work, but the jobs were
scarce, and the pay abominable. We all fought a lot, and it wasn’t long
before Denise’s mom was gone, and we didn’t have anyone to fight
with except each other. One day we were fighting about “something”,
the drunks that we were, and I loaded my dog, Scooper, in the car, and headed
for the mud hole. That was our hiding place, and Scooper could run wild.
This particular day, there happened to be
three geese at the mud hole. They were across the water from us, so I
didn’t think much about them, and I was drinking a beer and watching my
dog, when I noticed that the geese, (two gray ones and a white one) had gotten
in the water and were swimming towards me. When they got close to me, I
realized that they were tame, and someone had dumped them here, or they had
escaped a nearby farm, and ended up here. In any case, once they got close
enough, I grabbed a gray one, and wrapped him in a sheet that was in the car. I
brought him home, and I told Denise I was going back for the others. I tossed
him out next to the pond, and he immediately entered the water, but
wouldn’t stop screeching. Denise told me she was afraid of them, so I
bolstered her courage with a pint of “Jack Daniels”. We went back
and caught the white one, but by then, the other gray one was apprehensive, and
wouldn’t allow us near. We escaped with the second goose, and when we
threw him out by the pond, the first one was visibly relieved, but they both
carried on like they were missing part of the team. We slept that night, and
the next morning we went and got the last goose. Once they were all together
again, they settled down, and really started enjoying the pond.
At night, they would come to the trailer,
and sleep underneath my feet. I could look through the trailer floor, and see
them, and they seemed comforted by human presence. This went on for the longest
time, and they got more tame than I ever imagined was possible. There really
was no fence to speak of, and all our creatures were at the mercy of Mother
Nature. The one we called the “old man” seemed to be the leader. He
had a loose skin on his neck, like us old folks get, so we assumed he was
older. Every time they walked past the door, though, the white goose was in the
lead, so I would say to Denise, “There goes J.C. and the boys.”
This comes from an irreverent Catholic joke, which I won’t go into, here.
One day, we saw the old man limping towards
the house with his neck bent all funny, and he was making awful sounds. We were
sure something got him and he was protecting the others. He lay real low for
about a week, right under my feet, and I could hear his pain, but after several
days, he was coming out and eating and drinking and joining the others in the
pond. He finally healed and everything went back to normal for a long time.
Then, another day, I was looking out into the
pasture, and I saw a dog-like creature running across the field. I watched it
leave, and didn’t think too much more about it. (Beer buzzed) The next
day, I walked out and there was the old man with his throat ripped out. He died
protecting the others.
When we first arrived in early ’96,
Denise and I had gone fishing at the mud hole, and we had stocked the pond with
catfish and bluegill. A couple trips to the Chinese Market on
http://www.youtube.com/embed/hBB7-GVI0gc The Pond, Turtles and Catfish
http://www.youtube.com/embed/cemtkF5nFf8 The Pond, Turtles and Catfish
http://www.youtube.com/embed/yVhKwAjMSbE The Pond, Turtles and Catfish
http://www.youtube.com/embed/SI2ZGneSDnQ The Pond, Turtles and Catfish
From that day on, J.C. took on the leadership
responsibilities. By this time, Rocky, our chicken, (Denise named him
Rockadoodle), had chosen to live with us, and he became part of the entourage.
A
wild duck built her nest next to the pond, and when the ducklings hatched, J.C.
became the protector, and would chase away anything that got close to
“his” babies.
Then came the Canadians. A flock of Canadian
Honkers took to landing here, on occasion. If J.C. didn’t have any other
fatherly responsibilities, he would welcome the visitors, and before long, we had
Canadians landing here all the time.
Then in 2008, Denise brought home a white
Muscovy duck, which was tame and laying eggs. She immediately hooked up with
one of the four unwelcome ducks that we inherited from Danny.
She hatched out several, and two survived
the hawk attacks, a male and a female. From the time the whole brood was
hatched, J.C. was the protector, and the babies were so convinced of this fact
that they followed J.C. around, rather than their mother. Then, something got
the little female, and now we only have one baby left. He is a large black and
white boy, and we were hoping he would fertilize Opie’s eggs, but she
seems to be sterile, as two nests full failed to hatch.
We were unaware that two of the Canadians
that came to visit had built a nest, and before I even realized they were here,
I saw these fuzzy little heads following J.C. around. Denise got a close look
at them before I did, and even then, they were already pretty big. My lazy ass
sat around, and I finally went out before they were completely grown, and got
some pictures of them.
In the pictures, there are six babies,
but one was lost before they all finally flew away. It was so sad to watch them
learning to fly. They would do hi speed taxi across the field, flapping their
wings, with J.C. alongside, and little by little, the babies started to leave
the ground, which distressed J.C. because he can’t get his fat butt off
the ground, at all.
One day they flew away, and were gone
overnight, but were back the next morning. Then they flew away and were gone
for two days, and all the time they are gone, J.C. is squawking, and throwing a
major fit. That was about three weeks ago, and they haven’t been back
since, so J.C. has gone back to his supervisory duties, and life is, once
again, “normal”. (August 16, 2012)
(August 17, 2012) No sooner than I get the
last paragraph written, I look out the window the very next morning, and there
they are, back for a visit. J.C. is overjoyed. The family of seven (five young,
two adult) brought another pair with them, and you can see that J.C.
hasn’t approved of them yet. (See video below)
Today is August
29th, and I finally got a video of the Canadians flying away. It is over eight
minutes long, and only the last few seconds shows flight.
http://youtu.be/xjSuKW7noJU The
Canadians take flight- video=8:40
A few photos and a video of
their return;
Video
http://youtu.be/mHpgYDqc02I J.C.'s
Canadian friends
<iframe
width="420" height="315"
src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mHpgYDqc02I" frameborder="0"
allowfullscreen></iframe>
John Pibb
I have been very careful not to beat up on
anyone, no matter how much I think that they deserve it. I, also, have not
praised anyone, simply because this writing is about me, and I don’t feel
like I have the right to criticize anyone, or even write any things that could
be taken out of context. There is one person that deserves a lot of praise, not
just from me, but everyone that has ever met him. My brother built a house next
door to John, and, Dale was going through one of the toughest times of his
life, and John said, “Dale was a good neighbor. Are you going to be a
good neighbor?” I certainly went through the hardest part of my life
living next door to John. He was so helpful in every way. When we were
starving, he brought food, and invited us to have meals at his church. I had
been down so far for so long that I was in the process of selling my property
to my neighbor, Susan. John could see my despair, and he offered to buy my
dad’s tractor for five hundred dollars. I didn’t think it was worth
anything, but I accepted, and that was all I needed to get going again. So,
between John and my cousin Diana, we were able to stay, and eventually we
recovered enough that, now, nothing could ever get us out of here. I went to
see him today, August 16, 2012, after meeting his future son-in-law, yesterday.
I met Robert yesterday, when he was mowing the pasture adjacent to us. He told
me that John had just had knee replacement surgery. He said that John was
getting forgetful, and I should go see him soon, so this morning, I showered,
and shaved, and I went up to see John. I had forgotten how beautiful his
daughter is, and how much she looks like Suzie, so I was taken by surprise when
she opened the door. They let me in to see John, and we had a nice chat, but I
could see the early signs of dementia, as he was talking as though he was still
in the hospital, and he said as soon as they let him out, he would come and see
me. I feel so bad for him, but I want everyone to know that he was my best ever
neighbor, and a best ever friend, too!
The Space Shuttle
9-21-12
It’s Steve East’s birthday, today.
Here’s a birthday present photo for you, my friend. http://youtu.be/IOsBuXUXX7c The Space Shuttle
Here we go again!
October 15, 2012
I went outside to see
who was at the gate, talking to Denise, and there was John, my neighbor. He had
brought avocados from his tree. He was riding his mower, and when I watched him
drive away, I was more than a little worried, as he really was forgetful. We
usually talk about my brother, and I was going to mention that it was
Dale’s birthday on the sixteenth. His mind was so confused that I
didn’t get a chance to mention it.
I did send a happy birthday message to Dale on facebook, and I got a
response that has disturbed me very deeply. For the past couple of years, Dale
has been hinting to neighbors and friends that he would like to come and visit
me. Singin’ Lori was the one that asked why he shouldn’t come. I
told her that he had sued me. When she relayed the message, Dale said something
like he didn’t recall anything like that. I wanted to remind him, and
ended up in a terrible argument. I couldn’t stop him, so I closed my
facebook account, then, he attacked
me in email. I started to read the email, but it looked like the same thing,
over and over. Now I know I can’t allow my brother or sister to ever come
on this property.
Wow! What a week. I’m back with some cheerful stuff.
Oct.21, 2012
We watched football, yesterday, and I was surprised to see some of my
favorite “kiddie football” plays. There were a couple on-sides
kicks by teams that were ahead, and didn’t need to do that, and for that
reason, it worked. There was a couple reverses, and all in all, it was really
exciting to watch, and my Raiders probably lost, anyway. It went into overtime,
and I couldn’t bear to watch, anymore.
Mike is scheduled to come and split the rest of the wood laying around my
yard. He has a splitter scheduled for Friday evening, whereby he gets to keep
it until Monday morning, for the price of one day, one hundred twenty six
dollars.
Oct.28, 2012
We just finished up splitting all of the big rounds of firewood that were
in my back yard. Mike rented a splitter on Friday afternoon and we got to keep
it ‘til tomorrow morning. I paid one hundred twenty six dollars rental,
and was reminded that John Pibbs has a splitter so I smoked a turkey, and took
it to him, and made a deal to buy the splitter, and to get my dad’s
tractor back.
November second, twenty twelve: 11-2-2012
I got a firewood box built for John, this morning. Mike came and we loaded his truck with the last of the split firewood. We brought it up to John’s house, and we put the box on the front porch, and filled the box with firewood. The leftover went next to the pile we made a couple days ago. John took Mike around and showed him what he wanted done, and, luckily, Maria was there, and she got into the act, and they came up with a bid for seven hundred dollars. Maria and I discussed using the five hundred for the tractor to pay for tree trimming, and I agreed to cover the other two hundred as a down payment on the other tractor.
Here is a scan of the finished document. Due to John’s diminished mental capacity, I will continue to have everything approved by his daughter, Maria Pibb.
Party down-
Denise bought this beautiful piece of meat, and we enjoyed steaks on 11-14-12.
The next time I barbecue, I’ll take some photos.
Thanksgiving
It is Tuesday, November 20, 2012.
It has been a busy couple of weeks. Mike came last Saturday, and we fired up our new splitter, and split a couple pickup loads of firewood. Mike had plans to spend Thanksgiving week at the coast, in the motor-home, and he wanted a load of firewood for the trip. I wanted a load to keep in the back of the truck, to take to John, as needed.
On Monday, I checked on John, and he was almost out of the firewood I had stacked on the porch. I loaded up the box I had built, and filled both wheelbarrows, and I still had a half load in the truck. I’ll check up on him on Friday and see how hw is doing. His son, Michael, was here for a visit, and I met his wife(?), but he was sleeping, so I missed seeing him. They left Monday afternoon, so I missed him again. Maybe next time.
It has always been a tradition of ours to stock up on turkey this time of year. We usually try to get at least ten, and prepare one for each of our friends, but they have made it so difficult to get cheap ones, that this year we’ll only score a few. I bought one at Smart and Final, Sunday, and Denise and her mom are going shopping today. I hope that they will get a couple more turkeys, smaller ones than the twenty-two pounder I bought on Sunday.
It’s Thanksgiving Day, 11-22-12.
The girls got a 10 pound fresh turkey for 99 cents a pound. I started the Barbie at 9:00 and put the bird on at 10:00.
Friday, November 29, 2012
It has been raining since about 4:00 yesterday afternoon, and during the night, it rained the hardest. I had planned to go up to John’s, and see if he needed firewood on the porch, but Denise volunteered to call on the telephone. Suzy answered, and handed the phone over to John. We proceeded to discuss the tractor transaction, and, already there is a problem. I think John is going to need some cash, soon, but now I am afraid to try to do anything. He seems to have forgotten that I paid Mike to trim his trees, and he wants me to give him the cash for the tractor.
I have learned from past experience that the best thing for me to do is bring the splitter back, and write the whole thing off as a loss.
This reminds me of when Richard Day fell victim to dementia. Mom married him six months before she passed, and spent most of that time, nursing him back to health from aneurism surgery. As soon as he started to improve, he started showing symptoms of Alzheimer’s. He would watch me out the back door window of the house, and I don’t know what he was thinking, but, the next thing I know is that I’m being accused of stealing his floor jack. He had forgotten that he had sold his car, because he could no longer drive, safely, and in the trunk of the car he sold was his floor jack. On one of his good days, I managed to explain what had happened, but as soon as his memory failed again, I was, once again, a thief.
I’ll have to close for now, and try to figure out what to do next.
November the first, 2012
It is raining, still, but we are expecting a break at noon, today. Denise made spaghetti sauce with Italian sausage, and it was delicious, so we decided to bring some to John and Suzy. It was sprinkling when we got there, and John was agitated. He was worried about the tractors, and I reassured him that no one was taking anything from him. It seemed I had convinced him because he relaxed, immediately, and we went in the house with the spaghetti. John woke Suzy from a nap, and she said that she was getting over a cold. I think she was glad that she didn’t have to cook. John wouldn’t let me stack firewood on the porch, so I told him we would check back on Monday.
November the second, 2012:
We got round three of the storm we were expecting, overnight. It was pouring rain when I woke up this morning. It rained, harder and harder until the runoff was more than I had ever seen, and so, I got a few pictures, and a couple videos.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JHT5dRiZN2o The storm
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZJj0qugtEbc The storm
http://www.youtube.com/embed/h97yU4oRjRQ The storm
http://www.youtube.com/embed/J4H_6Ju8zXw The storm
The
Clock
12-15-12
I made a clock for Todd. I started to make it last year, for Christmas,
but there were so many things to gather together, simply, to bore a hole in a
piece of glass. So, it got put off until this year. I decided to “do
it” today, and I started early this morning, gathering the
“stuff” to bore a 3/8 inch hole in a piece of glass. The first
thing I had to find was that coil of 3/8 copper tube. Then, I had to find my
tubing cutter. My little drill press is set up in my bedroom, and now, all I
need is my abrasive powder. Like everything else, I searched, and searched,
until I decided to drive to “Pearson’s” Lapidary shop. While
I was waiting, I saw a twelve inch diamond saw, for $850, and I’ll
probably go make an offer on that. Anyway, I got a pound of 220 and a pound of
400 grit silicon carbide.
My drill press with tubing chucked.
The picture was taken at
Now, when they come, I can send them home with some oranges, and an
“Atomix Clock”. I will put the setting instructions, here, as they
seem to have “phased out” the Atomix brand.
Here’s the instructions:
Setting the Atomix clock
1
Insert
an AA battery into the battery chamber on the back of the clock in accordance
with the polar indicators printed inside the chamber. The second hand
noticeably moves.
2
Twist
the wheel on the back of the clock until five minutes before the current time
is reached.
Read more: Atomix Clock Directions | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8077630_atomix-clock-directions.html#ixzz2FBgAVx1I
3
Push
the red button on the back of the clock when the second hand arrives at
"12:00." As the second hand passes the minute hand, push the blue
button again. The second hand doubles in time until it receives signal. After
that, the clock automatically adjusts to the current time, which could take 48
hours.
Read more: Atomix Clock Directions | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8077630_atomix-clock-directions.html#ixzz2FBgRYJA1
It resets itself for daylight savings, and resets itself to standard
time.
The
New T.V.
The T.V. in Denise’s room was another gift from John. A week ago,
or so, she told me that it was going out, so I went online, and I found these
23 inch T.V.s made by Coby??, and all the reviews I read were good, even the
bad ones. The worst review praised the quality of everything, except for the
sound. It was recommended to use the headsets, or employ a separate sound
system. For 129 dollars, I couldn’t pass it up.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shortcut
It is quatro de mayo,
2013, and I just finished teaching myself a new lesson. While I was working on
this portion of my bio, my laptop went down with virus. Steve paid a visit, and
brought a Min iMac for me to play with. I attempted to write with the word
processing program called “LibreOffice writer” and in the process, I
made a horrible mess trying to learn how to anchor graphics to specific
locations in a text document. The office writer was guilty of distorting nearly
every graphic that I tried to insert. It also required so much space on
“Filezilla” that I am compelled to convert this document back to
Microsoft Word. I was so happy to see that I had a copy which was uncorrupted
by “Libre” that, without checking to see if it was complete, I
uploaded it and deleted the part that was actually complete. It covered the
Christmas holiday, and I finished up with my birthday. I was lucky to find the
photos easily and I will describe each one. They are not in order, and I
can’t remember the sequence of events, which is the whole reason for
writing in the first place. Todd fixed my laptop, and I am back in business.
A
gift from Scott
A
gift from neighbor Tim and boys
Dinner
with Todd’s family. Steve and Kimberly came the same day.
Steve and Kimberly
MINIMAC
My
birthday
Denise baked a cake
for me. The dogs thought it looked pretty neat on fire and stuff. I thought it
looked pretty neat, too.
Where
the hell is my fire extinguisher?
This
is where I stopped to wait for my laptop.
Reader discretion
advised
The new stuff
The new computer is
difficult to write with, and I am afraid to open anymore documents with the
LibreOffice Writer.
January 16, 2013
This is the first chance I have had to sit down and write about
what is going on. Denise had “Daughter Duty”, as she calls it, and
the dogs are so well behaved, that I don't have to worry too much. I have an
eye Doctor' appointment on Friday, the 18th. My vision has improved
so much, that I, once again, am taking it “for granted”.
I went to Costco on payday, and found that Cialis had gone up in
price again. They run about $27.50 each, and my script was for fifteen. Do the
math. I am nearly caught up with property taxes, and such, and can afford them,
but I have to make a lot of sacrifices. I asked about a flu shot, and the guy
said they would be receiving forty doses on Friday. I thought maybe karma was
telling me not to get the shot. I went home and thought about it for several
days, and during those days, I heard all the pros and cons, and the pros
outweighed the cons, so I put it in the hands of karma. If I needed to go to
Costco again, then if the shot was available, I would get it.
So, next month we will have money for building materials.
The next thing I have planned is the deck for the sliding glass
door. I need to make it wide enough so that I can mount my heat pump, and brace
my air conditioner, and support the swamp cooler. I am planning to make it
eight feet wide, and almost the width of the trailer, in length, twenty four
feet. The water from the November storm that we had was several inches deep
where the deck posts will be located. That means that the foot will need to be
wider, so that the deck supports won't sink into the mud. It will cost around
four hundred dollars or more, so I have to wait for payday before I can begin
building. The steps that are there now are for nostalgic reasons, and
economical reasons. The nostalgia is, these were the steps that I had to build,
in order for Denise and her mom to be able to move in, back in the
“Cookie Factory” days. I sprung for $100, and bought the materials
to build the deck you see here. It was only two years ago that I finally could
afford the materials for the deck, there, now. First, I had to put a skirt
around the trailer. Then I built the front deck, then, armed with new ideas, I
built the back deck. I'll be glad when Google puts up some new satellite photos
of the place. The ones I looked at the other day were about five years old, and
make the place look really bad. That was when we were poor, and there wasn't
much we could do to improve anything.
January 19, 2013
I need to keep writing this date, as I can't believe that
another year is gone. I had an eye doctor appointment on the 27th of
December, and they worked me in to the schedule, and did laser cataract
surgery. I was rescheduled for January 18th and everything was good.
That was yesterday. I filled my eyedrop subscription, and got a flu shot, just
like karma instructed. I feel O.K. Today. I took three celebrex, last night,
rather than shoot myself in the face! As for the flu shot, it was painless, and
today the muscle that took the injection is sore, as though I over-exercised
it. I feel no flu symptoms, at all.
January 20,2013
Getting
ready to watch the football game today. Starting at noon, the 49ers play the
Atlanta Falcons, in Atlanta. I probably won't write much in the next couple days,
except to keep tabs on my flu shot. I still haven't taken the band aid off the
injection site, and the soreness I felt yesterday is nearly gone. Still no flu
symptoms.
I
started taking Celebrex, again. I was in agony, the other night, and I took
three. That really made a difference. Then yesterday, I took two, one in the
morning, and one at bedtime. I woke up this morning, feeling a lot better than
I have for a long time. I have around thirty free samples, so I want to make
them last, as they are around five dollars a capsule, so I will see how one a
day works.
January 21,2013 M.L.K.Jr. Day
I
watched the 49ers and the Falcons both win their games. Slept really good last night,
and finally woke up around 7:30. The soreness is gone from the injection site,
so I took off the band aid, and took a long, hot shower.
Last
night, right at dark, I remembered that Denise's gibberelic acid kit had
arrived, and I drove down to the mailbox to get it. I left the gate open when I
got back, and when Denise let the dogs out this morning, they went out in the
street. Luckily, she got them in, and closed the gate without incident.
There
were a couple other pices in the mail box. I got my Soc. Sec. Statement for
2012, and an invoice for my laser surgery? I hope that is what it is for.
The
other thing that came in the mail was the Hoegger Catalog. It is a farm supply
company, specializing in goats, and products for goat dairys. I like their
yogurt starter cultures. Two years ago, I bought too many, and after they were
over a year old, even though they were in the freezer, they don't work exactly
right. I will probably by some new cultures, and I think Denise wants to
purchase a stainless steel pail, and a few other kitchen items.
1-24-2013
I
took Denise to the imaging department, and she got mammogram and back x-rays
all at one time, a medical miracle. That was Wednesday. Yesterday I took her to
get her lab work done. Today is Friday, and it has been a week since I got the
flu shot. If Denise and her mother can stay well for one more week, then I, at
least, will be protected.
We
took John's chain saw back to him, yesterday. Mike had come by earlier, and got
it started, and running good, and we made sure there was only enough gas in it
to start it, briefly. He took us down by the barn, and there was a tree down in
the pathway. Three branches, the size of my thigh, had broken off in the
wind??? I dragged the branches out of the pathway, and now my back is telling
me that I shouldn't have done that. I'll have to go up later, and cut that up
into firewood, and brush. He gave us the box I had built for him to hold
firewood. I cleaned up next to the stove, and put it there. It will work just
fine for us.
Denise
has daughter duty, today, and I'm caught up on everything, so I'll probably
just sit around, today. It rained yesterday, and it is still wet outside, so it
would be rather unpleasant to try to do anything.
I
was able to arrange this page with abiWord, on the laptop. It was uploaded and
now the graphics have become a part of the document, something I was unable to
do with libreOfficeWord. I think there may be a glitch trying to run Microsoft
programs on a Mackintosh. I corrupted the laptop so horribly that it needs to
be emptied, and started over.
2-2-2013
Yesterday,
it had been two weeks since I got the flu shot. Still feel good. I am baking
bread, today, and as I write, I have two loaves of rye bread cooking. I need to
get away from this computer, at least until the bread is done. If I get lost in
writing, or anything else, I will burn the bread for sure.
WOW!
That came out good, and I made marmalade, last week, and the two went together
really well. Denise went shopping, and I think I'll have to cook something when
she gets home, so I think I will put this up, and relax. Super bowl 47 is
tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure something will get barbecued.
2-3-2013
Nothing
to cook, today. The game turned out to be really exciting to watch. The Ravens
ran over the top of the 49ers until after half time, when the lights went out.
After a twenty minute wait for the lights powered back up, the 49ers came out
and made back all the points they were behind. In the final seconds, they just
couldn't get that last five yards, for the win. That was the first time I ever
rooted for the 49ers.
2-7-2013
Today
is Todd's birthday. I have been planning on sneaking up on him, and bringing
him a present. I took Denise to Petco yesterday, and we got harnesses and leashes
for the dogs, and we planned on making the trip with the dogs. The weatherman
didn't cooperate, and I ended up going alone. First I went to “Food
Source” for grain, and I got a birthday card for Todd, and some emergency
candles. I couldn't find the ones I wanted.
Came
home and unloaded the grain, and headed out for Smart and Final. I picked up a
giant bag of dark chocolate M&Ms. Todd will have to share those with
Colleen, or else! They also had the candles I wanted, and I got a
“four” and a “six”.
The
next stop was supposed to be Bushnells nursery on Douglas Blvd. I had a hard
time finding the place when we got Buddy's apple trees. I u-turned, and
u-turned, and I finally drove up in the driveway where they used to be, and
asked directions. A guy told me they had moved a little farther out on Douglas,
and I finally found it, only to find it was closed. So, I turned around and
went back to North Sunrise Home Depot, hoping I could get a nice apple tree,
there. The only thing I could find was a “Granny Smith's” bare
root. There's a lot to be said for planning ahead.
I
continued the drive to Folsom Lake, and I turned in at the “Dam
Road”. It is blocked off, so I asked the security officer how to get
around the lake. He directed me to Folsom Lake Crossing Road, and I continued
up the hill. When I pulled into the driveway, I thought I could sneak in, and
away without being seen, but Todd caught me before I could get away. He was on
the phone (conference call) so I got away pretty easy, and I snapped two photos
before I left.
The
drive went well, and I didn't hit rain until I was nearly home. It's been so
long since I was able to buy anyone a present, I really felt good.
2-16-2013
Todd
invited us for a barbecue today, and we planned to plant two apple trees in the
back yard.
We
planted trees first.
Granny Smith in the corner
Red
Fuji in the back
We had barbecued pork tenderloin that was delicious. I asked
Todd what he used for a marinade, and I didn't understand what he said, but I
think he said it came from Costco. I'll have to email him and have him write it
for me.
We ran across the street and watched some airplanes take off,
and I tried to get some photos, but my camera was out of focus, so you have to
look at these until I get some better ones.
I'm
having computer troubles. It is 2-26-13. I have been without the ability to add
to my journal for about two weeks. I finally stopped trying to work with
LibreOffice Writer. It messes with my graphics, and when I think I am looking
at a finished product, and upload with Filezilla, I get something totally
unexpected when I open with Chrome.
Todd has the laptop,
and he is cleaning it up for me to use exclusively for writing. I had become
familiar with Microsoft word, and windows photo editor, and I don't know if I
am misunderstanding the tutorial, or if there is a compatibility glitch because
I am running a Mini-Mac with Microsoft windows as primary programming. A lot of
things are happening right now, and I need to, at least make a note of them so
that when I am able to write, again, I will have a reminder of what has
transpired.
The Canadians are back.
We see them nearly every day, and they are going through their mating rituals.
We are thinking that we may get another batch of babies, this spring. I hope
so, because my lazy butt didn’t get pictures, last year.
I haven't heard from my
neighbor, John for a couple of weeks. The last time I saw him, he didn't know
who I was. He remembers Denise, though, so I always bring her along, and they
decide what I need to take care of. The last time I was there, the wind had
knocked some branches off a tree, and blocked the path to the barn. It took
every bit of strength I had to drag those branches to the side, and my back has
hurt ever since. I just reminded Denise to call up there, and see how things
are.
I have been in touch
with my brother, and he says that he has had some contact with Aunt Alta, and
her daughter, Jo Anne. It would really be nice to hear from them. Maybe I can
get some information from them, as I have been unsuccessful getting help from
anyone else.
It is nearing the end
of wood burning season, and my pile next to the house is nearly depleted. There
is a large pile remaining in the pasture, which I hope I don't have to use, as
I am planning on installing a heat pump, this year, before the fall. Before I
can do that, I need to build the deck for the sliding glass door. Before I do
that, I need to fence off our new garden area that we have planned, and I need
to build a shed at the back, for storage, and workshop. I have run short of
money, again, so I am sitting tight 'till payday.
2-25
The
seagull http://www.youtube.com/embed/HSPpbajg-40
2-28
John called back,
and reported everything was o.k. so I don’t have to worry, so much. Maybe
we’ll go up there, Saturday, and see them.
3-1
Todd finished
with my laptop, and I drove up to the house today to retake some blurry
pictures. I got some new ones, and this time I got “Folsom Dam”.
Folsom Lake
This is a good
place to stop. I have my laptop back, and I will spend some time correcting the
mess I made with “LibreOffice Writer!
To
be continued. http://www.petesmemories.com/biopt2.html