fossilfreak

 

The 12th I only dug one tulip bulb out. I went to Bernadette's in the morning and picked up some of the mess while she had a dentist appointment. Back at home I changed the kitty litter out, did laundry, and fixed stuffed peppers with a southwestern rice hamburger mix topped with mozzarella.

 

On Friday the 13th I finished season 4 of Chicaco P.D. and discovered one of the season 2 NCIS episodes has gone missing. Maybe I accidentally let it get erased. 

 

It turns out I waited too long to sign up for the Mississippi River cruise next April. Darn it, it looked like fun. 

 

I went out to thrift shops and a bookstore and found 4 Boxcar children books for Joanna.

 

Carol and Frank were leaving just as I was so she didn't get a chance to tell me they had some food for me in their fridge. She called. And so I looked for their key in the plastic bag I keep it in, and it wasn't there! Maybe the cleaners saw it and hung it up, so I took a fistful of keys over, and sure enough, the second one I tried opened the door!  The food was two huge artichokes and a big pack of potato salad.

 

That night I went to see 1776 at the Chatauqua. Bev didn't arrive in time for the first act, and when I saw it was an all female cast I was annoyed, but it was great. Bev was there after intermission so I could stop worrying about her. Meanwhile, my friend Bill with the Pancreatic Cancer, looks great! He's recovered so well they gave him a new knee and they geocached through a lot of states.

 

I liked the first act better, but then I believe that's true every time I've seen it.

 

Saturday I had gotten tickets for us to ride the Sacramento River Train.  Bernadette came by for me and we got down to Old Sacramento early. We stopped at the History Museum to spend some time. I am guessing it's been over 10 years since I've been there and they've surely changed a lot. They had a stretched penny machine so Joanna and Padreic each got one. Then we started walking toward the depot and when Padreic said he would like to get on the train, is when I let them know that's what I planned. We rode in the back coach and got our tickets punched, rode the 3 miles south and then got to watch the engine go down a spur then couple onto our coach. 

 

I was wearing my Wyoming shirt and a guy asked me was I from the state. Turns out he is from Rock Springs and did indeed know the Zs, Joe's family.  

 

I learned two short toots mean "we're starting" and two longs and a short mean "we're coming in." 

It was a fun ride and the kids seemed to like it.  When we got off Gareth asked "have you noticed we haven't had lunch?" so he got a bit of a talk from Mommy about how to tell people you're hungry a bit more politely.  We went to a restaurant and Joanna turned into a whiny thorny monster because nobody else had finished their lunch. She was hanging her head with her shoulders hunched and near tears, so I tried to comfort her. A porcupine would have been easier. Turns out she wanted to "do something exciting."  

 

Then we went over to the Railroad Museum, and she got into her "cling-to-mommy-because-there-are-scary-adults" phase. Mighod. She's got to be the saddest little girl in the world.  It was NOT a good day for her. (Oh, yeah, she'd already informed me she doesn't like ballet and didn't want to see "Cinderella" and I'm pretty sure it's just that she didn't want to go anywhere with me. This despite a good camp. I've made myself feel better because I'll take Bernadette, and she can just stay home and maybe rethink her life.) It was the kind of day that makes me say that while I love her very much, sometimes I don't really like her. (I said that to B., and she agrees.)

 

At that gift shop we got more stretched pennies and I got Padreic his book. He was thrilled. 

 

At home I noticed that after maybe a year, my fridge water filter needed changing. (I've been looking at the light for months, but never saw it go yellow. It was red this time.) I pulled it out to see what it was (but didn't write it down) and went to put it back and jammed it in, couldn't close the filter door. I tried to get the filter out but couldn't, asked for help from my friends, but no, and finally freed it on Sunday by attacking on a different angle. 

 

\I dozed off and woke at 7:47. As it was light outside, I thought I'd overslept through the night, had missed my chance to dig, and would have to hurry for church. It finally dawned on me that it wasn't actually Sunday, but was still Saturday!

 

 

Sunday the 15th, I was distracted in church because of Joanna. Grrr.

 

I ordered tickets for the Kingston Trio (just me), Pinocchio with the kids and Bernadette, and the ballet with Bernadette. These are at Folsom. Last week I got the Mondavi (Davis) catalog for next year and they don't really have anything I want this time.

 

I was making chicken a la king and dropped it as I was putting it back into the microwave for the second part. And it smelled so good, all over the floor. I was amazed at the dog, who just sat looking at it until I told him it was OK for him to eat it. Such a clean floor!! Sigh.

 

 

Monday, I'd thought I'd be done digging by the weekend, but I was overoptimistic. I waited all day for the cleaners. Once they came I called Helena, who is also having a colonoscopy, hers this coming Friday.

 

I went to the Newcomer's dinner, and took my iPad (in its new cover) so I could show  Bill my wounded picture. He wasn't there, but I did talk to Tom.

 

I am in 37 different places in Albion because I accidentally opened the perfumer's workshop instead of keeping it for the artist's studio. 

 

 

July 17 I dug up 14 bulbs, then went to the WPAC breakfast. There were 6 of us. After a nice meal and chat I went to the commissary for a few things. I got home before it got too hot. It's been over 100 the last two weeks.

 

 

And at home, Benson asked me to come on safari next year. I really want to! It would be all over Zimbabwe. I asked if I could come early and go geocaching with him around Victoria Falls. It actually sounds like maybe we could do that! So I went to the Road Scholar page and checked it out, and then looked at the Iceland tour.  I called Jean and we firmed up the date. I will sign up at the end of July. 

 

I had found out at the Newcomer's dinner that Gary T. was home again so I called him. He's doing well.

 

And, of course, I forgot it was Tuesday until Vince called.

 

July 18 was the day I gave Gareth his promised trip toThe Tech Museum  in San Jose. I got there by 7:30 so as to get to San Jose by 10, but I didn't account for dire traffic especially on 580. There were times I would have to come to a complete stop, then go a few car lengths and stop again.  It was frustrating, but we finally arrived at the parking garage and got to the Tech a little before 11.  The bathroom was the first stop. Gareth was so excited. I got our tickets (free, with a membership at the Powerhouse) and the guy asked if I'd like to donate. I said "yes, but later" and actually did drop $10 into the box as we left.  

 

We stopped at the exhibit entrance and asked how the TechTags (which were the tickets) work. You scan it at each exhibit and at the end of the day you can put the number in at home and see a summary of your day. This sounds good, but Gareth lost his at the first exhibit. Used mine for awhile, but then when we left for lunch he got a different one, which he mostly used but at the end of the day he was back to using mine, and lost it. At the same exhibit. I'd picked up another one so at home I tried to see what that ticket user had done, and this spoiled the chance for Gareth to use the blue, substitute one, since apparently they only register one each day. Oh, well. If we do this next year we'll do better.

 

I had brought a book and sat nearby while he played. I did, at one point, show him there was another area, since he had pretty well done the whole coding area.  At one point he was encrypting a password and the numbers were flying past and he was covering his ears to help him to focus.  When we went to the different area he was entranced with the earthquake exhibit and with Google Earth.  At 1 I finally suggested we go to lunch, where we spent a whopping 20 minutes.  Back to the area. He discovered the biometrics area, and signed up for a monitor which he wore for about 40 minutes.  (Again, this would be one of the first things if we come back.) Then we went upstairs, where there was my favorite thing of the day, the biochemistry. I helped him put on plastic gloves and a pair of goggles, and then he got a tube of bacteria and a tube of dna, combined them, warmed it, cooled it, spread it in a petri dish, put in the warmer to cook, (after scanning it) picked a cooked one and looked at it for various colors. The whole thing was fascinating.  Another one that he liked was "building bacteria". We turned in his monitor and discovered he's a "confident builder." This is something I really would have liked to have on his tech tag at home. Oh, well. 

 

He stood in line to ride the jet chair in space. Definitely he'd be Major Tom.  There were lots of camp groups, but eventually he got to do everything he wanted to do. He finished on the same exhibit he'd started on, a game of building a network. I was interested to see how he interacted with other kids. 

 

We went to dinner across the street, but didn't stay long enough to avoid major traffic jams on the way home. Gareth said he'd like to go with Joanna and Padreic and I pointed out that they would want to go to some other exhibits when he didn't. Padreic in particular would be bored with a lot of it, though there are areas he would enjoy. I think we would need three adults for the three kids.  I was not the only adult who had brought a book (though I used my iPad more, to report on Facebook) and let the kids do their thing. I had a good time and I know he did, and I may do this again for his birthday next year. However, I believe then I would get a motel room on 1st street by the metro line and ride the train in, and avoid traffic. Rich and I did that when we went to ConJose in 2002. If we did that we might visit, uh, someone who lives here (to quote Gareth, who doesn't remember Aunt Monica's name.)  

 

Anyway, I didn't get home till past 9, but the dog had behaved himself. A nice day!

 

308 recordings of 21 types. 66 old SVU. 31% clear.

 

Sunday morning (the 18th) I went to church. There was an amazing time when all these young people, at least 100, filed in. I gathered it was a Confirmation class by the flame badges they were wearing, and later, after meeting the 14(!) leaders who came from as far away as Scotland and many different states, I deduced it was a retreat, and probably most of the diocese.

 

Then I came home, quickly wrote a journal entry, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, grabbed a quick bite, and was out of the house by 11:15. I tried stopping near the raptor center to see if I could get the cache I missed the other day, but it was down a steep slope and I had no backup if I hurt myself, so I reluctantly let it go. There were a couple of slowdowns on the road to San Jose, including one complete stop, but I got to Monica's house about 2:20, yay me.

 

 

Mark wasn't there! He was off riding his bike. Monica helped me carry the train stuff into the house, and the grill set from Lazy Boy. Then she gave me two bags of citrus. Now I'm trying to sprout some kumquat seeds. We were on our way out the door to walk down to the MLK library when Mark arrived, so we told him he wasn't allowed to look till I got back.

 

It was a pleasant walk and I got to see the inside of the library (which is a joint city and university library, which is a fantastic idea!) with Charlotte. When we got back to the house, I went and got Mark, telling him I want to play with the trains.

 

He was delighted. The decorations are great, (he thinks he can use Windsor Castle as an amusement park) and the trains wonderful. He said one locomotive was worth over $300! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to sell them! (And I just found another box with more layout stuff, though not as full as the last one.) Two of the transformers were corroded, and he gave me back the good one that was in good shape, because the Z gauge train was in the box. So I still have the tiny tiny one.

 

I overheard Genevieve breaking my heart. She was making a poster or something that said "If you're pro-life you're pro-welfare..." Sigh. But no point in confronting the 17-year-old, who knows everything of course. I hope the society continues to change, because I'm sure her grandchildren will be horrified that people nowadays thought abortion was acceptable, the way we are disgusted by slavery.

 

Monica and Charlotte went off to see a play, and Mark had a dinner with friends, so I said goodbye to Genevieve and drove off to Helena's. Of course I once again turned at the wrong exit (the Lawrence expressway). Maybe next time I'll get it right.

 

Helena, on medication for her bad back, couldn't have the wine, but *I* surely enjoyed it!

 

She fixed a pleasant dinner and we were relaxing, both in our jammies at 9 when all of a sudden the CO monitor went off with an ear-piercing shriek! It turned off for a short time when I took it outside, but started up again in the house and there was no shutting it off... Helena went through the neighborhood till she found someone to remove the batteries. We opened windows and turned off the heater, but it was obviously a defective monitor. (It never stopped, even outside.) Nonetheless, we were jumpy.

 

Helena has a way of repeating herself that is easy for me to catch. When I got home I found myself talking to myself (which I do) "That was good. It was quite tasty." "I really liked that tasty meal." "It was really good."

 

Monday morning I went out geocaching. To my delight, I found the first three, so of course I got cocky and didn't find two, but ended up with 5 finds, including two Little Free Libraries and I did remember to bring books to leave at each. (And picked up a book for Padreic at the first one.) The second one was built from an old fence. Their hint was something about the attic so I wasted a lot of time looking there before I found the cache in a fake book. Really clever!

 

 

Helena had been intent on taking the CO monitor to Home Depot but when I got back and said "let's go" she didn't want to. We had lunch and then went off to Notre Dame High School. Monica and Mark had each given us directions, and they differed slightly, so once I had the vague idea, I was able to get to the school, and I saw the parking lot was open. Helena, trying to interpret the instructions, was telling me to turn right, but I decided to circumnavigate the school first, and sure enough, we got a parking place in the school lot!

 

There was a little program, and then Charlotte took us on a tour of the school. The tour finishes at a big display of place settings... each Freshman girl made a plate and display about a famous woman. Of course there were a lot of women like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, not so many of the Condaleesa Rice persuasion. They did have Katherine Johnson, (Hidden Figures), and Malala, women I really respect. They also had Bella Abzug and Margaret Sanger. I dont know why one has to be in favor of killing babies to be a feminist, and this at a Catholic school. If I lived here I would be biting my tongue so very much.

 

 

They also had some really nice food and I, like an idiot, threw out a very nice plastic cup that they had veggies and dip in (so I went back for another which I kept.)

 

They finished with the school song and I was reminded of the time I saw Charlotte in her 1st grade performance of "I'm going to eat some worms" when she really got into it and shuddered. I said then she'd be an excellent actress and so she has been (apart from the first time when she was just checking with everyone else about what she should do.)

 

 

Afterwards I drove us to Monica's (which Helena, for some reason, calls Mark's) where she fixed a very nice dinner. I told her I'd filled my eye-rolling quotient for the day, but I got a few more in before we were done.

 

Part of the eye-rolling was because I'd said "sure" I'd come to her grief support group and then she was all a-dither about dinner, we'd be late, they couldn't have it early enough, etc. etc. I finally said I wanted to go to dinner(!) and to the grief group if we managed but que sera sera. She'd managed to get Mark involved in the panic, but in the end we had a good dinner, plenty of chat time, and make it to the meeting in time. Though Helena's deafness did cause some trouble because on the way back I asked, to be sure, if the grief group was at the church, and she heard something about the Greek church and said she'd never been there and I'm thinking that can't be right. We finally got it sorted out. It's good we went because we were the only two people there apart from the group leaders. I wore my WPAC name badge and we ended up talking about that. They thought we had some good ideas. I pretty well dominated the hour, but we did give Helena some time to talk.

 

Tuesday early I left, and came home. It wasn't too bad once I got out of SJ.

 

368 recordings of 27 types, 23 old CPD and 4 SVU. 23% clear.

 

Sunday Laurie called, because her car was stuck at the mall. I gave her a ride to church (she'd called just in time.) I gave the Sharing God's Bounty donation to Jim.

 

Afterwards I went to Petsmart for dog food (for some reason, Pharaoh keeps eating!) and also got a cat toy to play with Spooky. He's enjoying it.

 

In the evening, Helena called, to commiserate. Nice lady, nice to hear from her.

 

Monday the cleaners came. They were pretty late, and of course after 4 weeks, there was a lot for them to do. When they left, I heard water running. I checked all the faucets in the house, out in front, and then glanced out the window in back... uh oh! The pipe had burst! Such timing.

 

I called the plumber and nobody could come out until the next morning.

 

 

Tuesday Brian came out about 9 and had nothing but bad news. Because it's galvanized pipe, it will all need replacing, about $5K. Furthermore, he doesn't have the tools to fix it, and he was NOT willing to dig down where the leak was because he couldn't be sure he'd find the pipe. He was just a barrel of rainbows, but fortunately he didn't charge me for the visit.

 

So I googled "electronic leak detection" and found American Plumbers, practically in my neighborhood. I called them. I had to tell my story to about 4 people, but finally got Monique, who told me their two emergency plumbers were out on calls but maybe she could get someone between 2 and 4. OK, I figured I had time to make my quick trip to the commissary. I did turn on my cell phone, fortunately, because the phone rang while I was on base. I pulled into a parking lot, too late, but I called back and a plumber was available could be at my house in an hour! I told her I'd be home in a half hour, dashed through the commissary and got home after 31 minutes. I could see the plumber's van in front of the house. Dave had arrived about a minute earlier! "Thank you for waiting!"

 

He immediately stuck a probe near where I said the leak had started and created a small geyser, then probed around till he found the leak. Then he turned off the water and went to make his estimate... digging out a 2x3 square, and replacing the leaky area with PVC plastic, then clamping it on and refilling the hole, 3 hours, $678. I signed, and he got to work.

 

 

 

 

The amazing thing is that even though he had to go to the store for a part, he still was done in 3 hours. He's related to my neighbors and was at the Hallowe'en party!

 

 

   

We talked about the next step. After the water company does their thing, he will replace the whole pipe from the house to the riser. This will take two days, so I will have a motel stay in there, and cost $4K. Sigh. I'm trying to get back to my pre-Africa money and was thinking earlier on Monday that I was closing in on it. But at least I do have the money for these emergencies. Also to be thankful for was the good weather, and that I was at home when all heck broke loose, not off on a trip.

 

 

Today, in my 6 years ago memories, "A lot of these tears are leftovers from the last few weeks. I didn't want him to see me crying. He did once, last week, I was sitting next to him on the bed rubbing his back and I just couldn't help it, and he looked over and saw me. I don't know if he understood or not."

 

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 547
166.9 miles

warm

 

350 recordings of 31 types, 66 old SVU. 21% clear.

 

On my birthday I went over to the WPAC breakfast with a bag of pomegranates, but nobody turned up for a long time and I thought I'd be eating alone. Finally Jackey came and I got to tell her my tale of stupidity. Then Terryl came and I got to repeat it. It's a good story if it has happened to someone else! They each took a pomegranate, leaving me with about 7 to take to Bernadette. I guess that's why I forgot my glasses!

 

On down (ow) to Bernadette's, where I dropped trows for her. She was properly impressed with the bruise, which is less black but still impressive. Now, two days later, the outskirts of it are feathery (I'd do well camouflaged in a forest!) then blue, purple, ending with black in the crack. Still painful.

 

She didn't do much cleaning in the garage, though she got out an impressive amount of Hallowe'en decorations. She did pass out Boo Baskets the day before, two in the neighborhood (they're wise to her by now, as proven by the nice Easter baskets a neighbor gave the kids this year) and one with Gareth's teacher from last year. (SHE will be baffled!) B's main project this day was to clean up the kitchen counter. That she could have done without me. Meanwhile, I went into Gareth's room. All the stuff was up off the floor but in a tumble on the desk. I sorted through papers, keeping an awful lot because I didn't know for sure if it was important. Joanna has been there, too, leaving her junk in the room, and I sorted that out. I dug down to his computer, anyway.

 

Joanna had had a "difficult day." I would guess SO. She's defiant in school and refusing to do what the teacher says. Wednesday's report was much the same. I know there have been times she's argumentative (like almost all the time) but she's gone over the line to bratty.

 

I talked to Gareth about what HE would have done if I'd gone unconscious. "CPR" was his answer, so we had a talk about calling 911 or at least running into the museum to say "My Nana needs help." I'd better talk to him some more about how you need to actually know HOW to do CPR or you'll hurt someone worse. (Though teaching the Heimlich manouver might not be a bad idea.)

 

Vince called. He told me all about the plans for his and Eric's trip to Washington, which started the next day. On Thursday they had a Congresswoman (Eric's friend's district... he's moved to Kentucky but the kids are still close) giving them a tour of the White House and later (dunno if it's the same person) the Capitol. Nick will give them a tour of the Pentagon and the rest of the time it's play it by ear museums and so forth, though they will definitely do the Spy Museum. If Rich had been going after it was built, I'd have certainly directed him there. Apparently if you want to go to the bathroom, you have to crack the code! Rich would ask me what he should see when he had Pentagon trips and I told him the VietNam wall, and the Holocaust Museum, both new since we were there together 50 years ago. Vince and I talked about when he went, in 8th grade. He saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I don't think we saw the Tomb... I remember the Iwo Jima monument and the eternal flame for Kennedy, but I don't remember that. Gabe will go with Niki in two years. (Personalities similar. I remember when Rich and I took the two to the Lawrence Hall of Science. Rich, who was ill, was able to sit with Eric concentrating on some computer program, while Gabe led me on a merry chase through all the exhibits.) I'm putting in my bid to be the one to take A.J. when he's in 8th grade!

 

Vince, living in Washington (state), doesn't have an acceptable driver's license for ID, but he does have a passport. Eric has a passport and also an ID card.

 

Anyway, it sounds WONDERFUL!

 

Yesterday I started trimming the privet in back, because I was looking for the water cutoff for one of the houses on French avenue and couldn't see it. I want to show the water guy next week... I called him to tell him I had three, and when they are installing the new water mains, I would really like it if they didn't come here three times to do it. Since the other two are on a different street, I imagine that's not going to work.

Then down to my usual Wednesday stint at Bernadette's, though this time she had an appointment about Joanna. It wasn't an actual 504, because the J. is not having any educational problems, it's all behavior. (Howling in the bathroom, screming in line, defiant with the teacher.) They have a behavioral specialist at school so she'll work with J. and give Bernadette and Rob some helpful ideas. I sure hope so. Meanwhile, I emptied both kids' wastebaskets before the recycle truck came... hello? I thought that would have happened last night! I started going through Joanna's stuff and found the poster she didn't have last weekend, so I put it out with the stickers she was supposed to put on it. When Bernadette got home, though, Joanna had picked up the Ladybug magazine and could barely keep her eyes off it. I stopped her twice from taking it into her room before she'd done her homework.

 

(This reminds me. I went to CricketMedia to do the yearly renewals, but naturally, they didn't send my password. Hmm. Maybe I didn't have one. I'll have to start fresh, but who knows who's getting what. This company has been nothing but trouble since I started.)

 

I finished the Nero Wolfe I'd brought with me, and so while I was waiting for B. to get home with the kids, I started "The Little World of Don Camillo" (I'd had two so gave her one.) OK, hooked again.

 

Now reading: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (yeah, right); Pepys' Diary; American Fiction; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; The Red Box by Rex Stout; and The Little World of Don Camillo, by Giovanni Guaresci.

Today was pretty much a waste. I finally got my act together to drive to the restaurant to look for my glasses, and they told me Jackey had picked them up. This afternoon I was going to go to the neighbor's water polo match only it was cancelled. I talked to her about others and thought I might go to Rio next week, but no, I'll be heading to a WPAC dinner.

 

So I did drive enough to get the car out of the carport so I could take the bin back for the rest of the privet, and leaves, and yes I found the water cutoff.

 

Lots of real phone calls. From the WPAC lady reminding me of breakfast next Saturday, from Jackey to tell me she has my glasses (NOW she tells me!) and can bring them by, from Alicia, twice, to find out if I was home (I was the first time, outside talking to Jackey!) and then they came by with my birthday present, a Tricerataco holder! The other call was from Helena, Monica's mother-in-law, first off to thank me for a grief booklet I sent, and to tell me she's having a hard time (go figure, of course she is) and to invite me down in a couple of weeks. I don't think Monica is reading this, in fact, I don't think she ever read my LiveJournal and I haven't yet actually advertised that I'm here, but in any case I think that's all I'm saying at the moment.

 

I snapped about half the green and wax beans Bernadette gave me, heated them in the microwave, sprinkled them with Parmesan and YUMMMMM! Also had leftover andouille and squash stew. Yum. I'm spoiling all that nice healthy eating with Amarula, but ohhhhh, it's good!