javacat

Hello. Migrated from LJ.

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 03:02:40 GMT

Hello. Thanks to Raq for the info on how to migrate from LJ. It seems like forever ago. It was a different lifestyle, that's for sure. I'm retired now, and I bought my first ever laptop just before I retired. Yes, I did all my computer work late at night on my work desktop for all those years. Hello in case anyone I know is still reading me. From -- The former makaidiver on LJ, and still-current Java cat on b.org.

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Long time, no see!

Thu, 19 Dec 2013 22:42:32 GMT

Hello, hello, in case anyone is reading this. I have not been over here in *ages* and now I am quickly reminded of how much I have enjoyed reading the intelligent and interesting things that the folks on my reading list and following list have written over the years. I am here looking for something in particular, and hope that I have found it, on this quick segue from paying bills etc.

What I'm up to: my mother died last year, I might have written about that already. She was almost 97, so, not a surprise. I still have some things I need to take care of as executor of her estate. Lucky for all of us four kids, the parents were able to leave some money to us. My sister in Mexico has already spent all of hers and it's looking like I am going to have to loan her $10K because, no really, you won't believe this: she doesn't have title to her property in Mexico, after all these years and the cumulative hundreds of thousands of dollars that she's sunk into the place. She wants to sell it but she has to have clear title first. My eyes are on the floor from rolling. Okay, that's my sister-venting for the day!

Merry Christmas, HAPPY SOLSTICE!! I'm so thrilled that we will start getting sun back soon. YAY! Best regards, javacat

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commenting in a safe place

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:15:02 GMT

So....my mother died in her sleep around 3:40 AM Sunday night. Aldersly staff checked on her around 3 AM, as they do, and found her. We are sad that none of us was with her, but the hospice medical staff thinks she just drifted off in her sleep.

My oldest sister spent a lot of time with her on Thursday holding her hand and sitting with her. The next oldest sister is staying with me for a few months, taking a break from the heat and humidity of her home in Mexico -- she's glad she got to spend time with mom earlier in the week. My brother and his daughter Shawna were here over Easter. I spent a little time with her on Friday, before I had to leave to let Comcast in to fix the cable box.

I didn't think it was so imminent! She rallied so well from Spring, when she went into hospice, moved into assisted living, and at the time, seemed close to passing. She was so strong. Almost 97, she had a good long life.

So the commenting in a safe place: the sister staying with me was coming unraveled the last several days. ::pause:: She just got up, at noon, which is good thing and it looks like she finally got some sleep. She has been spending the nights obsessively touching-up old photos of my mother, and this morning, I discovered that she spend last night obsessively looking at the photos on my Facebook page, and leaving comments. And modifying my current profile photo in Photoshop to make me look better (which I couldn't care less about. Take me as I am or goodbye). Okay, she seems better, more together today, and I have to think about the FB thing. I didn't add her to my FB list until a few days ago, and it might be that my earlier instincts were correct.

Got stuff to do.

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Mom

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:41:25 GMT

I moved mom from her independent apt. with an amazing view of Mt. Tam into an assisted living apt. near the nurses' area that doesn't have a view, but looks okay now with her stuff in it. She sleeps nearly all the time now anyway so it wasn't like she was looking at her view before. The hospice nurse has been saying for a few days now that mom could just go at any time. I'm not convinced, but I can't dismiss her either. It could be denial on my part. The brother was here at the beginning of the month, arrived the same day the nephew's wife went into labor, so we have the first ever great-grandchild now. Sister who lives in Mexico is coming up this weekend to stay for two weeks. I'm stalling on cleaning my house. She staying with me, and I'm still moving stuff from mom's apt. over here, too. I have a test on Thursday in EMR class. I have a long to-do list. For the kerjillionth time, I'm so grateful that I was able to retire early. Looking after mom was one of the many reasons why I did it. No rewrites for paragraphs, just a post in a bottle into the ocean.

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Book

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 07:05:10 GMT

I'm reading the second book in an excellent zombie series by Joan Frances Turner. The first book is Dust, second is Frail. I was tickled to see our own Jonquil (by real name) thanked in the acknowledgements.

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Mom

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:54:22 GMT

So, my mother had Mohs surgery today on her leg. We were there for less than an hour for the first scoop of skin cancer, went back to my mother's place for lunch, and then went back for the rest of the afternoon. Mom napped on the operating table for about a hour while I did my EMR homework. When she woke up, wow was she cranky, in full on temper tantrum mode, she even took the pillows out from behind her head and threw them at the door! I yi yi. But the doc got all the cancer out at that site, her skin held for stitches, and I had just enough time to let the cats out and back in and get to the splendid Tao Drums concert at the Marin Center. (That Frank Lloyd Wright sure did know how to design. I'm always impressed with things like the door handles and water fountains, all curved to fit the building.)

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Mom

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:00 GMT

Meeting with hospice at 1 PM today to sign the papers to admit Mom to the local hospice program. Primary diagnosis: breast cancer. Secondary: skin cancer, CLL, and bronchectisis.

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Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:20:31 GMT

There's a lot going on with my mother these days. ( Read more... )

School started last week. ( Read more... )

Oh, and Don gave me a copy of Environmental Geology. It's the only book I rented, and I loved the book. That was really nice of him. It's an older edition but hey: free book, nice gesture.

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June-July camping

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:44:04 GMT

I have plotted out two weeks of camping and backpacking already.

I have never seen the Columbia River Gorge. I *could* take one day to see it between Troutdale and Pt. Townsend, WA. Recommendations, Oregonites or former Oregonites, for a camping spot or hostel for one night? What should not be missed?

June 23 - try to leave

June 24 - really leave, drive to Ashland, camp at warm springs

June 25 - drive to Eugene

June 26- drive to Edgewood McMenamins in Troutdale Oregon edgefieldconcerts.com/index.php

June 27 - at McMenamins - Foster the People concert

June 28 - leave McMenamins, drive to Pt. Townsend WA OR see the Columbia River Gorge

June 29 - hang out in Pt. Townsend WA OR leave Columbia River Gorge, drive to Pt. Townsend

June 30 - drive to Pt. Angeles, WA, join the backpacking group

July 1-July 7 - backpacking

July 7 - at Sol Duc Hot Springs. Last day of backpacking.
July 8 is the official end of the trip, in Pt. Angeles.

I might stay in Sol Duc and meet my friends there for more camping, or go to Pt. Townsend, then go on another backpacking trip with them (this one: http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/2007/06/enchanted-valley-backpack.html
and hot spring before and/or after at Sol Duc. I think. I need to find out where the enchanted valley IS.

Then on to Corvallis for the Da Vinci Days! http://www.davincidays.org/

Somewhere in there, visits to niece in Eugene, maybe to the coast again, maybe finally get north of Tillamook in OR. Definitely a trip to Breitenbush. http://breitenbush.com/

I have never been to Victoria, maybe that would be possible? Pt. Angeles is the ferry departure point.

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FB

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:01:12 GMT

This is cracking me up as much as it's horrifying me. I grew up in a really small town, population 1,500; only 300 in every graduating class, so of course everyone knows everyone. I figured what the heck when someone in my class issued a friends request on FB, and clicked okay. After all, I've gotten to be nice friends on FB with someone I didn't know very well in HS, and that "via" is how this person found me. She posted today, complete with a picture, of the scar on her lips from the stitches from a drunken fight on her 37th birthday. "lucky to be alive..." she says. !!!!

It makes me so glad to have gotten out of there, no matter how I did it.

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Books read in 2011

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:34:22 GMT

Library books read in 2011 listed below. Book list below does not include:
* Text books: Meteorology Today, Environmental Geology, Physical Geography, and Pipkin's Geology workbook.
* Backpacking and camping books: Between a Rock and a Hard Spot, Aron Ralston; Animals Make Us Human, Temple Grandin; and I forget the rest.
* A bunch of YA and youth books, before I mailed a box of them to a newly-literate adult friend: Lauren Myracle's TTYL set. Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Underworlder series. The Little Prince. The Velveteen Rabbit.
* The trend: Biography. Home improvement. Young adult fiction.
Favorite books: Room; Unbroken; Swamplandia; Shiver; Dust; Inside Scientology; 2030; Animals Make Us Human; Bossypants; The Diana Chronicles.

( tl:dr )

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Yay Literacy!

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:35:59 GMT

The boyfriend of one of my sister's best friends from Scientology days is, I always knew, dyslexic. What I didn't know until recently is that he's actually illiterate. Apparently he and my sister had a argument last year that totally pissed him off -- she told him to quit relying on Jim for everything and go out and learn how to read already. After he got over it, he did, I think through a library literary program. His news when I saw them out at the Stinson Beach cottage is that he's reading at a fifth grade level. Yay!!

There was a big book sale at the library bookstore and I scooped up armloads of classic and current good young adult books, 30 or 40 of them, and popped them in the mail last Saturday, just under the 2 PM closing wire. They got them already! Here's his email from last night --

>> OMG, L. ...Your wonderful treasure trove of books came today. I'm looking forward to reading each one and then donating them to my literacy program unless you want them back. Good choice on the Island of the Blue Dolphin...I've read that one and really enjoyed it. Thank you VERY much for your helping me on my endeavors to reading and enjoying different literature. I can't thank you enough for your loving support! All the best, D. (typed by Jim with big thanks too!)

This makes me very happy. And I'm reading some of the YA books that were new to me. It's fun because they go so fast.

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Book: Inside Scientology

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:22:30 GMT

I've been sick for a week and since I'm over the so-sick-I-sleep-all-the-time phase, I might get out and about today. I have to get my Environmental Geology homework caught up for one thing, and I suck at doing homework at home.

I'm reading Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman, the book that was excerpted in The New Yorker earlier this year. It's very well written, very readable.

Parts that I particularly like and relate to --
Page 68:
          But Jeff was bored. He was searching for something; he didn't know what. The Summer of Love had come and gone, along with its haze of promise. The war in Vietnam continued to kill thousands of young Americans. Many who made it back alive wore the dead-eyed stares of the walking wounded. Active in the anti-war movement, Jeff was haunted by the memory of one large demonstration outside the Los Angeles Convention Center, where he's seen a twelve-year-old girl beaten up by the Los Angeles police. Drugs, Jeff knew, weren't the answer -- a bad acid trip a few months earlier had cured him of that interest. He spent most of his spare time poring over books on meditation, yoga, cybernetics, hypnosis.
...
Page 70:
          And so Jeff Hawkins, a shy, somewhat awkward young man usually dressed in jeans, sandals, a blue work shirt and tinted granny glasses, got into Scientology, as did his friend Jerry and thousands of other young people all across the United State. For those like Jeff, who were smart, curious, and searching, Scientology provided its own form of rebellion, which was perfectly timed, as it turned out.
          Had the sixties never happened - which is to say, had a tremendous number of young people not become convinced of the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of their parents, the church, the Republican Party, and other people and institutions collectively known as the establishment -- Scientology might have gone the way of other fringe movements and died a quiet death. Instead, repositioned as a mystical quest rather than an alternative mental health therapy or religious movement, Scientology rode the countercultural wave, and by the late 1960s, a whole new generation of spiritual seekers had caught on to the renegade vision of L. Ron Hubbard.

Page 71
         In Kenmore Square or Washington Square, on Shattuck Avenue or Sunset Blvd, in the Haight or Golden Gate Park, pretty young girls dressed in hot pants or mini-skirts [hey, it was the fashion of the day], smiling radiantly as if they'd discovered a secret they were bursting to share, would approach young, mostly male college students or hippies and invite them to come with them. And, like lemmings, men would follow, said Nancy Many, who worked for the Scientology organization in Boston. It was unwritten policy that the church would deploy its most attractive staff to recruit people off the street. "No one had any idea where they were being taken," she said, chuckling, "but these girls were gorgeous and so the guys would go."

I did that! That was my job! I had NO idea that I was lovely with youthfulness though. Once again, youth wasted on the young.
---
I didn't know that Neil Gaiman's father David was the PR director of England. I wonder if he knows Gillian Christie, one of my sister's former roommates when she was in the SF Scn. Org. Gillian is one of the top people in the Guardian's Office now, has been for a long time. It's kind of the FBI/CIA of Scn. I think the offices are in the same estate. Perhaps I'll find out as the book goes along.

I'm really grateful I was only involved to the extent that I was. It was a lucky fluke that I was around a lot of power players in the org, and being young, was accepted as a helpful mascot without having to dump a lot of money into the org. And then I had a regular Scientologist boyfriend, and boy howdy did I see how differently he and his family were treated than the people I normally hung out with.

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Travel

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:26:25 GMT

I'm staying at Asilomar, the Julia Morgan-designed retreat center in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. (She of Hearst Castle fame.) It's fabulous. www.visitasilomar.com/accommodations.aspx I would love to organize a b.org retreat here. I think everyone would have an excellent time, but it wouldn't go over to start with. Too bad. It's owned by the State Park. If this place was private, the rooms would be 3 or 4 times the cost.

I'm enjoying all my various lodgings. Sat. night was tent camping. Sunday was in a hostel, in a six-plex all girl bunkroom, but with only three of us. Tonight the luxury lodging. Next three nights, tent camping. Then I'm going back to the lighthouse hostel. www.norcalhostels.org/pigeon/ The location is great. The best part, though, is the hot tub right on the west edge of the cliff. It really is All That.

I'm doing a great job maximizing my stay at Asilomar, and am blowing tomorrow morning by staying up too late. Off I go!

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Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:40:02 GMT

This is a good XKCD: http://xkcd.com/931/ ; (f*ck cancer, yes yes)
A local friend has spindle cell sarcoma; not good. Her arm has been surgically stripped to bone and tendon with bits of skin. If it was me, I think I'd have it amputated.

My second housesitter asked if I was going away again and I took the opportunity to schedule another trip. I leave this coming Friday for: Big Basin Redwoods, Big Basin, Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, Asilomar, Asilomar, Manresa State Beach, Manresa, New Brighton State Beach, Home.

I didn't check the College of Marin schedule before I paid for all my reservations, duh. I will miss the first week of class. Oh well. I'm taking classes from people who know me by now, and they will be okay with it.

Since I got back, I'm not depressed exactly, but I don't want to do anything. I've been spending an astonishing amount of time in my pjs, reading, and catching up on a some key shows. I remind myself of the lady Harriet the Spy spied on, although I am not ill or pretending to be ill, I'm very well and just stuck. I suspect it's a post-retirement malaise. The thing to do, is to not do it, and I shan't be once I get back and start lap swimming classes and a couple of science classes. Yay for school.

Rumor has it that one of the younger generation in the family is having a baby. THANK GOD. We have really healthy genes and hardly anyone has procreated. Damn shame. I'm glad there will be at least one packet of DNA shot into the future, as Jonquil once wrote.

Temple Grandin's book Animals Make Us Human is fascinating. If you have any interest in how animals, domesticated, wild, and human, work, you should read this book. Especially if you have bought into any of this hocum about dominance over your dog -- Ian Dunbar and now Temple Grandin are debunking all the Cesar Milan stuff. Read it!

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End of month-long vacation

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 06:21:20 GMT

I got home around 10:30 PM last night. It's nice being home, but also a little sad, because it means my Big Trip is over. I haven't fully unpacked the car yet, the car that is covered with dead bugs from driving down the northern part of the Calif. Central Valley at night.

My trip started with two weeks of backpacking, followed by a week of car camping on my own, a week of camping with a friend that turned into a week of hoteling, since it kept raining at night and early morning along the Oregon coast), and a week of staying either with friends at their house or at a rental house or meeting up with a third person for more camping.

Things I want to list or write more about - list for later.
Places and dates I was there.
The high fives: equipment All Stars.
People I met. Reminders to contact some of them.
Books - Aron Ralston's was fantastic, and I really honestly think that everyone should read Temple Grandin's "Animals Make Us Human," for all the science reportage on how human and animal brains work and scientific insight into how animals think.

Equipment All Stars.

Petzl headlamp with multiple setting, using 3 batteries.
Shock-absorbing hiking poles. These were required by the backpacking organizers, and I was surprised by how helpful they were both up and down hills while backpacking. It tightened up my arms also.
Free backpack pouch, the kind that's a rectangle of fabric with some pull-cord straps. I used this every day - as the container for my personal bear-hang things on the backpacking trip (toothpaste, my trail mix, etc., e.g., anything that you have to take out of your pack and add to the nightly bear hang.) I used it nearly every day. I pulled out my proper knapsack once and quickly abandoned it as being too bulky. It was just big enough for a shirt, book, keys, and a few other odds and end. It was comfy, it stowed in next to no space, and I was amazed at how much I loved it and used it.
Thermarest Camp Rest, tho' I've known for years that it's the only way to go. I was always insulated from the ground and always comfy in my tent, even in rainstorms.
I picked up two new used tents at the REI equipment sale I stumbled up just days before departure date, and really like them both, but especially the smaller REI Camp Plus it is so easy to put up and take down. The bigger tent is nearly all mesh with a tight and low rain fly shell and it kept us surprisingly warm in the rain in Corvalis. I'd thought the heat loss would be much more than a standard tent, but no.
LLBean shirts.I should just link to these, huh. Maybe later.

Having electricity, Internet, and tv is keeping up too late. I'm going to bed, try to keep to a normal schedule and write more later.

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The big summer vacation

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 03:33:17 GMT

So I've been on vacation since June 22nd, that's what, 2.5 weeks. I went on an organized backpacking trip, group called fitpacking.com, for 70 miles along the Calif. coastal trail from Orick, CA (just N of Arcata) to the Oregon border. Then I left for a 3-week car camping trip on July 4th.

For all that I wanted to travel and see all these places in Oregon, I checked into this awesome little cottage (brooklanecottage.com) in Corvalis around 4 PM today and all I want to do is sit and read what various of My Peeps are up to on FB and over here and in email and so on. I've been doing Nothing But That for four hours straight now. I am fine on my own, but I can't help being a social animal.

I've been to Brookings - 1 night (an airbnb.com place; amazing house, artist-MD + retired psychologist own the house and the 4th of July party was full of arty hippy folks older than me, three of them from about 4 miles away from my house in Calif.; made friends with a couple from Coronado who have invited me to stay there anytime); Gold Beach - 1 night (Sheila the camp host and Britney the other single woman traveling with her cat to Orcas Island); where was I on the 6th? The yurt at Bullard's Beach near Bandon; Jesse Honeyman State Beach July 7 and 8, spent most of the day on the 8th riding my bike around and reading a book on top of a picnic table next to Wheatabix Lake (some other name); on the 7th, driving, Coos Bay, ___ where the oysters are. Here I am in Corvalis, losing my mind on the 9th! Drove from Florence, stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and in Yachats. This morning, I lost my high school sleeping bag thanks to the Yakima pod not being locked when I thought it was, so bummed about that.

An old friend from work who has been living in Pt. Townsend for yonks is taking the train down from Seattle on Monday. I'll pick her up in Albany OR and we'll travel around from there. I'm looking forward to company.

Well, I've been wanting to do laundry, I suppose I could do that now instead of frittering away the day doing it tomorrow. Except it's a treat to stay put and have household amenities! I can't decide whether to watch tv or not. I'm glad I had leftovers from Bandon so I didn't have to go out for food tonight.

I find I'm avoiding the crowds mostly by accident but I don't mind it. The big county fair in Eugene is this weekend. I'll be there next week instead. I am sorry to miss the Da Vinci event in Corvalis next weekend, I'd like to see a kinetic parade. I drove on by the Fish Fry in Yachats. I originally was going to be home by July 24 but I think I'll aim for July 22 instead. We'll see.

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EKG

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:40:00 GMT

I had an EKG this morning at my doctor's office, after deciding that I needed to get the weird fluttery feeling in my chest checked out, but didn't need the ER. The verdict: my heart is skipping a beat, then doubling up, now and then. "It isn't uncommon." I am not in danger unless it continues for days and days. The pain under my chest? a stomach thing.

It feels very, very weird when it happens. (At times like this, I have regrets about living alone. On the other hand, neighbors Sarah and Daniel were very helpful, as was the neighbor up the street who's a nurse, who just happened to be in front of my house when I was returning from S&D's. Yay neighborhood friends!)

I need to do some house cleaning since the veterinarian housesitter that I've never met is coming over to meet me and the cats tonight. After running around doing errands all day after the MD appt., all I want to do is lie down.

Think I'll call a local friend. I seem to need to talk about this more. Later!

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Mon, 30 May 2011 22:51:27 GMT

I haven't posted since Easter, not that anyone's dying to hear about me but ... here's what's up with me --
Finished my two academic classes. I probably did okay on the final exams. I miss swimming already. I was sad the day after the last class because I enjoyed the classes and the prof so much. Studying for tests was a pain, though, so I probably will take just one academic class in the fall.

I have been saying "I'll start it tomorrow" for a long time, and so am not in very good shape for a two-week backpacking trip that leaves in three weeks. I need to remedy that. My laziness is epic, which I'm not proud of, but hey, it's good I recognize reality?

I'm working out an itinerary for a three-week car camping trip to OR and WA beginning the day after the backpacking trip ends. SIX iterations so far! I'm uptight about reservations on Friday and Saturdays, when I think it will be hard to get a spot somewhere, and some of the parks are supposed to be very popular. The bones of the trip are similar to my Seattle F2F trip two years ago, with more time. (Yay for being early-retired! )

My mother is hanging in there. I so hope and in my agnostic way pray that she stays okay while I am gone. I asked family members to start phoning her - she needs it for many reasons, but no one has. Group email was not effective, dammit.

My back hurts. I bought a new mattress that arrived today and thought I was maneuvering the chest bed base around in a safe way to vacuum behind it, but maybe not. Here's hoping the new mattress helps it feel better.

I have various contractors coming for various upgradey things around the house before I go. One inquiry often leads to the need to do something else first, which is not unexpected, but kind of amusingly annoying.

I had a really nice day yesterday. Went hiking with a friend I haven't seen in a long time and her dog, followed by lunch at a nice riverfront restaurant in Petaluma that I never knew existed, Demsey's. Then I visited the ex Henry and his wife Ruby for most of the afternoon and we had a really nice time catching up. Always on the list of things I'm grateful for is being friendly with both of them. Ruby said they have been together now for 18 years. Shocking! So I broke up with Henry 18.75 years ago?! Time goes by fast.

What is up with this cold cold weather? I shut off the heat about 2 weeks ago, thinking summer was here, and had to re-light the pilot two days later. Brr. I'm taking a stand and putting cotton, not flannel, sheets on the new bed. I hope I don't regret it.

Okay! back to email, the house sitter for the last week of my trip, and, eventually, a hike.

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Older sister (rhymes with witch)

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 23:23:31 GMT

Something my oldest sister said during Easter dinner surfaced in my mind today. I said something about living in the Berkeley Hills with Roy, and said to the boys (the nephews), "I don't know if you remember Roy or not .." -- she piped in immediately, "*I* remember him. He decimated my jazz collection."

WTF? First, I'm certain that he did not. She has a history of false accusations that I don't feel like getting into, but I know he would never do that.

SERIOUSLY. We cannot get through one single event without her being some sort of a bitch. EVER.

Oh my lovely family.

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Posting fun after a day of studying

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:11:52 GMT

It's amazing how hard it is raining. There was a lull between 4 and 11 PM HOORAY since I had to be out and about. Not much soil drying-out time, but it helps a little.

I studied ALL DAY for the meteorology test. (I am not an all day studier, though I suppose I could be.) A month ago, I arranged to take the test early so I could attend a lecture by Michael Pollan. I left two messages for the prof to confirm, morning and early afternoon, and arrived 20 minutes early to check in with him and have a last quick review before the test. He hadn't listened to his voice mail or prepared the test yet! By the time he got to the classroom with the test, there wasn't enough time to take it before I had to leave. I'm taking it after the Tues. afternoon class now. So... more time to study! Yay?

Good lecture by M. Pollan. I wonder if he scheduled being here to coincide with the 5th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival in Sonoma County this weekend. (The College of Marin offers an A.S. in artisan cheese making now!) I blew it on getting Friday farm tour tickets, but am going to the marketplace event Sunday. Also: events at the Center wow me. It was built by Frank Lloyd Wright, is so beautiful, and the acoustics are amazing. Knowing how lucky I am to live here rushes through me, always.

Mom is hanging in there, but the importance of routines was emphasized by how whacked out she got skipping her dinner tray last Friday. I thought it was a bad idea, and called several diff times of the day to ask if she was sure about it, and she said yes every time. But I should have overridden her. She got up at midnight, dressed, and walked down the hill to the dining hall (which was locked) for breakfast. Twice. In the rain. To her credit, she did not fall, got extra exercise, and called me after her second trip. (She should have used her "help button" device, but, no harm done.) Poor Mom, she was hungry, and confused about what time it was! I have restocked her tiny cupboard. We have to update her Power of Atty. anyway for a financial thing and are restating/updating her trust. I called the atty. to suggest he take this off the back burner.

I have a new haircut. It's a real haircut, like, styled haircut. I like it, although it's hard to see the bigger Splat blue streak because of the way the hair falls on one side.

I've found two camping events and one backpacking trip that I want to go on. Have to figure out house/cat sitting.

What else. Oh! I was at my former workplace Mon. for the 30-year award they forgot to give me last year. The timing was good to reconnect with people. So, I heard on Wed. that one of the two people hired to fill my position was fired and escorted from the premises. This is not a place where people are escorted from the premises! Or wasn't. SHOCKING. Schadenfreude! I am SO GLAD I retired. Speaking of which, the pension increase (which add'l multiplier I paid for with my own money) is finally going into effect. It's been pending since last June! I'll get a nice retroactive check to bring me current. YAY.

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In the mood for a meme

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:54:08 GMT

Delayed, but oh well. I'm in the mood for a meme. The location thing:

March 1971: Living with my parents here: http://www.ligoniercam.com/camarch.html It's zoned too tightly to have changed muchl. The trees are bigger and the cars look different is all. I was in my sophomore year of high school.

March 1981: Got a whole lot of living done in those ten years. By 1981, LA and everything there was behind me, and I had started a new life in Berkeley. I was 8 months into the job that I would hold for thirty years. I was either living in the Berkeley Hills with Roy, or had broken up with him and moved to the little treehouse apartment on the upper floor of a huge old farmhouse in North Berkeley.

March 1991: Still at the same job. Henry and I had been living together for seven years, and bought this house in San Rafael, and a house in Eugene, Oregon.

March 2001: Still at the same job. Henry and I were no longer a couple, nor was I with Peter. In the settlement with Henry, I kept the San Rafael house, he got my share of the Eugene house, plus a whole lot of cash from me.

March 2011: Been retired for eight months, after early-retiring from the job (age wise) after 30 years, 1 month, and 9 days of working there. Same San Rafael house.

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Sat, 19 Feb 2011 17:45:40 GMT

Dear Sister,
Your parking ticket was issued at 2:02 PM on Nov. 13. My airplane was scheduled to touch down at SFO at 9:00 PM on Nov. 13. The earliest I could have gotten back into town is 10: 30 PM on Nov. 13. I assure you, I was in Hawaii when you got the parking ticket. I did not "make you" get the ticket. I am not that powerful, trust me.
Really. Me.

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The sun is over the yardarm somewhere

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:00:24 GMT

It's after 5 PM in middle America. Close enough. I had a glass of wine with my sister whine about the admin hearing and hooo boy, I am not a regular drinker! Still, the buzz feels nice. Yee Ha!

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The sister; did not win admin. appeal

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 23:38:49 GMT

Dear Sister,
Today was the administrative appeal to the parking ticket you got while I was on vacation in Hawaii in November. I dressed up in conservative and nice mufti, was 20 minutes early to my court date (he heard me right away, which was nice), and gave my best pitch on why you were parked in the cross-hatched area next to a handicapped parking spot, complete with a copy of our mother's ID showing that it was a few days before her 95th birthday and her disabled placard. I tried my best and thought we might have a shot, but the hearing officer said his hands were tied; you violated federal ADA law by parking in the cross-hatched area, and would have gotten a legitimate and legal ticket even if Mom was in the car with you and her placard was hanging from the rear view mirror. I tried. I had to pay the ticket in order to get the appeal date. The ticket was $275.00.
Your sister, LT

What I did not say:
Dear Sister,
Seriously? Do you really not get that you can't violate the law without paying consequences? This is the second time in three years that you have violated federal law and paid for it - or rather, I've paid for it, and you have to pay me back.
Your sister.

I wonder what exactly is wrong with her? Maybe I've been watching too much Criminal Minds lately, but I wonder if there is some screw loose that makes her think that she is so special, she isn't subject to anything normal people are. One of our family members is bi-polar and schizophrenic, and in the middle of a breakdown, was convinced he was too special to have to eat or sleep normally. I wonder if she's got some spectrum of that going on.

No matter what, it's both annoying that she got the ticket, and disappointing that my argument didn't work. But -- I'm kind of glad that the law was upheld, at the same time.

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