Sunday morning...all is quiet....

We woke up with a good feeling.
For one it's our day off. :>)
Just a leisurely few hours with the Sunday paper.
Me with the ads, Wheelie with the serious parts.
A pot of coffee, a asiago cheese bagel with lots of cream cheese, Wheelie with his bowl of oatmeal.

For some reason I feel good this morning, physically...rested...no knots in my stomach...

Perhaps that's due to the fact that I've lost ten pounds over the past five weeks. Perhaps it's the mega vitamins I've been taking along with the Green Tea pills.
It seems that my brain has regrouped.

I've got the towels in the washing machine, I've cleaned the bathrooms.
The kitchen is clean and the vacuuming was done because of the visitors yesterday.
Nothing else works like an incentive for getting the house clean before visitors come :>)

I've listed a few CD sets on Ebay to pay for our medical bills this month and our car insurance which is due. Our collection is shrinking, but that's okay. At least Wheelie can burn the stuff he wants to keep, so all is not lost.
Already requests are coming out of the wood works from China and other parts of the world for certain sets. Requests to stop the auction and letting them buy it outright.

Not!

I'm planning to call my parents today. My sister went on vacation yesterday, a two week sailing trip in the Greek Islands. Lucky brat! So the old folks will probably appreciate a chat from the USA.

Other than that I am planning to relax, perhaps drag Wheelie out to Publix for a few groceries.

For my readers on the Gulf coast: I'll be thinking of you, as you all make your way north to escape Gustav. For once it looks like things are proceeding well, or as well as can be expected.
I hope the few idiots who decide to stay will be safe as well.

I find it strange though, that the news channels are all concentrating on New Orleans, even though the affected areas are spread out into Alabama and the Texas coast as well. What about those people?

I read about a few people in St.Paul/Minneapolis bitching about the hordes of people coming down for the convention, and the security, and the locals having a tough time getting around.

Well...tough titties, folks..*lol* It will all be over faster than you can think. So keep your pants on and deal with it.

SGMKJ!

Nana and Pappy

I invited the other grandparents over today to spend some time with Boo-boo. They were thrilled to see her. I know they love her very much.

It was the least I felt I could do for them. If it were the other way around I would be devastated if I could not see her on a regular basis.

So she spent a lovely hour or so crawling all over pappy and poking Nana's eyes out (showing her she knew where the eyes were)

We really didn't start to talk about their son until it was time to go. But from what I could gather, they are fed up with him as well. He's acting like a jerk.
They were so happy when he got involved with Bugs four years ago. He seemed to pull his shit together, and things were looking up. But he got stuck somewhere along the line.

His father told us he would not bail him out of jail this time (if he were to get arrested for anything) they both think he's a complete jerk for messing around with Bugs and her head, and not being a responsible adult and taking care of his child.

The jerk was already calling Bugs' restaurant all afternoon, bugging her and asking her why he couldn't see Boo. This will go on until she really lets him have it and tells him to stop bothering her...or else...
Or until she is at her wits end and has to get a restraining order on him. (which I don't think does any good, it just makes things worse in most cases)

But.....all in all a pretty decent day. We attended Bugs' friend's bridal shower this morning. It was a rather simple and small affair, but very sweet and just plain old fun.

Time spent with the other grands was also nice. Wheelie got to chat a little with Pappy, and Nana and I oohed and aahhed over Boo.

Boo had her dinner at 5, her bath at 6, and we had our stroll at 7. It's now almost 9 and she's fast asleep.

So what do y'all think about the Republican ticket???

I was shocked. I was so certain he would pick a GUY for VP.
In a way I think he shot himself in the foot with this decision.
I can't see this lady being an efficient VP when the heavy duty shit comes rolling in, not with a family of 5 kids to deal with, the smallest one being a special needs baby. Not to even mention her inexperience (talk about a double standard there, McCain!!)

She looks cool, with her modern spiffy glasses, and pretty face. But I got instantly turned off by the news that she is anti abortion and a member of the NRA...

Nope, not my cuppa tea...
I'll stick with B & B, thank you very much.

Thursday night was very exciting for me. I honestly think these two can make things right for us again. There may be hope for us yet.


Have a great weekend y'all!

SGMKJ!

For the Times They are a - changing.............

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

Time will tell if Obama will pull this nation out of dread and craziness.
Of course he will have to be elected first, but I have the feeling he will be.

If McCain defeats him, there will be only reason for that...race...

But we shall see. I for one have high hopes for this man, most of us have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

I watched some of the speeches this week, and tonight we'll watch and experience what might become one of the most important evenings in America's history.

So on we go to our day to day living...and worrying...and hoping...

For those of you who give a hoot and are interested in our daily crap, here's the latest poop:

Bugs rented a storage room and got herself a P.O. Box. She has started packing. Giving away a lot of stuff to friends, hauling crap to the dump.

Her power was turned off the other night due to her not paying the bill. It was a shock to come home in the middle of the night, not being able to get into the garage, or turn the lights on. But it was her own fault. I told her to put her milk in a bowl of ice in the fridge and not open it again until the morning. Open the windows for air, and just get some sleep.

That night Daddy called her and started on one of his drunken/messed up rants again. She hung up on him and turned her phone off.

The next day she heard from a friend that after he called her, he called this friend and begged him to come over and "smoke" with him. We're not sure if this meant cigarettes, grass, or....meth...He has had drug problems in the past and it would not surprise me at all if he was back on them again.

Bugs was wondering whether to call the cops on him, but I'm kind of glad she didn't. He will hang himself sooner or later anyway, the way he is acting. He's driving a friends' car, without a license, without insurance.
He is supposed to pay his first installment of the child support at the first of the month. If he defaults, they'll haul his skinny ass to jail.

This is a very DUMB boy....what a waste.

In the meantime Bugs is busy packing. I haven't been to her house yet, so I am taking this news with a grain of salt. She is a huge procrastinator. But she realizes now that she has no time to mess around now. I give it one month, maybe two, until the sheriff comes knocking on her door with the foreclosure papers. She should be out by then.

We sat her down for a serious talk (AGAIN) the other night, and it seems to be finally dawning on her that we worry about her (BIG DUH), and that she really has no alternative than to move in with us for a few months so she can catch up with her finances, and find herself an apartment.

I sent the other grand parents some of Boo's latest pictures and invited them to come and see her some time. I can imagine them missing their grand child. Hell, I would, if the shoe was on the other foot. It would kill me if I wouldn't be allowed into my baby's life.

They seemed grateful for my invitation, we will probably set up some time this weekend.

So there you have it...everyone seems to be in some sort of limbo this week....

For the times.....they are a-changing.....

Indeed.

SGMKJ!

Wishful thinking.........

Some of the baby blankies
used by the women in India

Joaquin Miller Park grove, where Wheelie and I were married

Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland

View from Joaquin Miller Park
Downtown Oakland in the foreground,
San Francisco across the Bay

I've been re-reading some of Marcia Muller's old Sharon McCone mystery books lately.
These books are about a PI who lives and has her adventures in San Francisco. The books she wrote before cell phones and the internet. 1980's.

The descriptions of the area, the neighborhoods, the essence of San Francisco it's inhabitants and the rest of the Bay Area are making me very homesick for California.

Even though I never lived in the city, it has always played a major part of my life when I did live in the Bay Area.

From my first weekend in the States back in 1968, when my aunt and uncle drove me through the Haight Ashbury area, (to watch the weirdos,) and my first trip to Twin Peaks and the Golden Gate bridge.

To the may many trips to Golden Gate Park and the Zoo, the museums, first with Puri and his children, later with my son, and the many Dutch relatives who visited over the years.

Memories of our very dear friends, an old gay couple who were forever renovating their victorian house on Lyon Street. How they would entertain us, fed us outrageous meals, made us laugh until we peed our pants, they were like our brothers. I say old, because they were our age, set in their ways, and so comfortable to be around. We lost Gary back in the 1990's (I'm embarrassed to admit I forgot the exact year), David sold the house lock stock and barrel and became a Buddhist monk. He has been all over the world teaching meditation, and now runs a center in Westwood, Mass. and runs meditation programs in local prisons.


He also directed me to a friend of his who runs a Women's and Children's Health center in a poor town in India, where I was able to unload my many baby blankies I crocheted over the past few years.


In 1974 when I finally learned how to drive, when my son was about two years old, I enrolled him in daycare a few mornings a week, and I would get into that old VW and race to the city, park the car and head straight to Macy's. In those days I could fill up Old Blue on $3.00.

We were pretty poor in then so there was usually no shopping involved, but I would go all the way up to the top floor and work my way down, enjoying just walking around the store. Taking my time to stroll over each floor.

If there was time left I would 'hit' The Emporium on Market street and would do the same thing, cover the entire store from top to bottom.
Then I would hightail it back to Belmont in time to pick up the kid.

I guess even in those days I took solitude in window shopping. :>)

As life today is taking on a certain sense of sadness and doom here these days, it's easy for me to slip into daydreams about what I consider to be "home"

I've lived in so many places around the world, but when it comes down to it, the San Francisco Bay Area is definitely "home" to me.

If anyone were to ask me where I would really want to be, or if we had the financial means to, I would go back there in a flash.

It would be a dream come true to be able to live either in Oakland, somewhere in the hills, the Claremont or Montclair area, Or Berkeley, or Albany...or......

Just to live somewhere where you can walk down the block to go for coffee and breakfast, get a fresh croissant, hop on public transportation anywhere, take BART to the other side of the Bay.....

What I miss is the people there, the laid back nature of life in general...the eucalyptus trees, Tilden Park, Fisherman's Wharf, 4th Street in Berkeley.........................catching an evening program at the Ashram, eating at the many wonderful restaurants...finding old friends again.........

Wishful thinking...indeed...

SGMKJ!

Holy Matrimony.............

Back in 1986, when Macy's opened their new store in this area's brand new shopping center, I was one of the first employees.

My first job was Bridal Consultant. An impressive title. I had my own desk in the China department, and a printer. This was in the infant days of computers.

I loved my job. I got to dress up spiffy, sit behind a desk, and basically help new brides pick out their china, crystal and silver, linens, towels and other doo-dahs.

In those days I wrote everything down manually on a form. Would walk the bride through the different departments of the store. China, Domestics, Housewares, Electronics....

Once the forms were filled out, I would send it to the Atlanta office, where some yahoo would enter it into the "system"
The "system" was a huge joke. Since I wasn't able to correct, add or delete anything myself, I was constantly on the phone with the yahoo, who was never very cooperative.

All I could do was print out a registry for the shoppers, or the bride.

Can you say: frustrated???

Have you ever had to deal with the mother of the bride, not being able to order her precious child's china?
Didn't matter the "system" was explained ad nauseum when the girl registered.
Certain china patterns are 'special order' and would take 4-6 weeks to order.

Now, down here in Redneckville, most folks didn't understand the finer points of this registering stuff. Some gals didn't know the difference between sterling silver or stainless steel.
And it really threw the relatives for a loop when they were told the gift they wanted to give had to be special ordered, and all they would get was a little (albeit tasteful) gift card to give the couple.
But these dear folks were not even the most difficult to deal with.

A few years later I worked as a bridal consultant, as well as the department manager at the big flagship store in Atlanta's Lenox Mall. A completely different type of clientele. Very RICH clientele. Very IMPORTANT clientele, very very CRANKY and ENTITLED clientele.
Where we dealt with mothers of the brides PLUS mother in laws, and they needed to sit on cushy chairs, and wanted tea or coffee, and ordered exquisite English or French china patterns that would take YEARS to order.

This was not the store for me, with my: 'oh geesh people, get a grip' attitude.

Once a mother of the bride ordered 45 place settings of a Wedgwood 'casual' dinnerware PLUS serving pieces.

For the rehearsal dinner!

This was for a prominent family in Rome.

I managed to get this stuff ordered through my buyer, who had to jump through a few hoops herself. When it was finally delivered to the warehouse, it was two days before the event.
I drove downtown, packed the 45 blasted boxes into my Honda and delivered it to my customer in Rome.

The maids (yes, there were three) were waiting at the gate to unload the car and told me everything was going straight into the kitchen to be washed.

Whew, I was glad they didn't order me to help them with that too!

The next day the mother in law came by the store, all in a huff. Apparently one of the cups was broken (One out of 45, not bad!) I didn't want to deal with her, so I gave her my display sample.
( a huge no-no)

Whew again!

*lol*

And that was just ONE story. I can write a book about that job.

It was a great job though, I loved it.

If it had only been as simple as it is today though.

Bugs' friend who followed her here from California is getting married next month. She is a very sweet girl, love her to death. She manages a pizza parlor, and is engaged to a very sweet boy.

Her shower is this Saturday.

She is registered at Target!

ATTA GIRL!!!

It was great to sit behind the computer at home in my jammies and browse around her wish list. I printed the 25 pages, (my God, girl, how much do you NEED?) and hop on over to the store. I pick out my gifts and they ring it up, scanning the bar code on the list, so it gets taken off the list.

Brilliant!

And when you print out the list at the store, it will even tell you which isle the stuff is located at.

Perfect!

I don't know how the bridal registry works in the big stores nowadays, I just don't shop there anymore.
I hope they improved their systems...

I hope the entitled snot nose brides don't return everything they received, even stuff that didn't come from that store, for cash, like they did in my days.
Something that was completely unfair to the sale associates, who had to eat that loss. Unidentified bridal returns would come out of everyone's commission.

At least Target has the right idea. You can return everything that was bought there. Because the system they have works.

Bugs, Boo and I had fun this morning, picking out a few things. Neither one of us having much money, we were still able to get a few "nice" things. Stuff she will and can use.

Now why the hell they registered for a 7 person Eddie Bauer TENT, I don't know.

Cheap honeymoon perhaps?

SGMKJ!

If you're wondering..........

I'm still here....

Just haven't had much energy this week...

The cold I thought I got rid of last week seems to be popping up again and I feel yucky all over, with a low grade fever and sinuses that are killing me.

Been taking naps when Boo-boo does, which helps, but boy, those 5-days-a-week-babysittings are gonna kill me.

The latest in the Bugs saga:

She finally caught a helpful soul at her mortgage bank who explained a few things to her. He also gave her step by step directions on what happens when you decide to walk away from your home. Which is something she is probably going to do.

So she stops paying her mortgage. She will have approximately (from what I understand) two months to get her shit together, and get out (before the sherrif throws her out)

She has been packing like a mad woman, cleaning and tossing. She's hiring a lawn service to cut all the grass and plow the backyard. She's shopping around for a storage company to stow her belongings while she looks for another place to live.

She dropped a major hint the other night. Her new friend and his mom offered her a place to stay during the "in between time" It sounded like she wants to take them up on their offer. We offered her the same time after time, only to be stonewalled, but in hindsight, this might not be such a bad idea.

In the meantime I ask no questions, give no advice unless asked (Ha!), just to keep my own sanity. It's working so far this week.

Boo-boo seems to have shifted a few gears. She has grown a few inches while we weren't looking, her vocabulary is expanding rapidly, I can see a few molars popping through, and she is developing a little attitude :>)

Talked with my sister earlier today, She was thrilled The Netherlands Field hockey team won the Gold in the Olympics. My sister, who has dyed her hair for...ever....has been letting it grow out and popped up with a beautiful head of gray hair. An amazing revelation.

No word on the wheelchair...I don't feel like getting assertive about it, it'll happen when it happens...

Time for my nap...

SGMKJ!

One step forward, three steps backwards.........

Monday.

Our phone has been ringing frequently these past days. Bugs needing her mom and papa.
We're here! She doesn't want our help, she just needs to talk and vent...

I went out with her for an hour yesterday roaming around to look at apartments and townhouses.
I know it's not the step she should be looking at right now, but in a way it was something "fun" and positive. Of course it only lasted a short while until the nasty reality hit her and us again.

The WeBuyUglyHome people called her this morning and told her the house was not eligible to be bought by them. I guess they only take heaps that they pay a few thousand dollars on, flip them and sell them for a huge profit.
I had a feeling that this would be the case.
She was disappointed.
On one hand she doesn't want our help. But she's like a fish out of water, and needs us. So I let her vent, mostly, making also sure she can call us if she wants us to come over and help.

One thing came through loud and clear. She is tired of having to depend on others to live her life. Be it Daddy, or be it us. I understand that.

It just makes me cry from frustration. I hate to see her going through this.
And it's no use saying: I TOLD YOU NOT TO BUY A HOUSE!!!!

Water under the bridge.

I suggested she get busy, physically. Even if it's something like sweeping her front porch, watering her plants. SOMETHING. Don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself.

The kid who was supposed to come and clean up her yard has his phone turned off, and she can't get a hold of him.

What's WITH these kids????

She called the real estate woman who showed her the house, left a message. She also called her mortgage company, had some questions about foreclosure. The person on the phone spoke English badly, and she was transferred to a supervisor, then they hung up on her.

So very very helpful.

I told her to please keep tossing stuff and start packing. If the bank forecloses on her house they will toss her out and not give her a week or so to get her things out.

A scary thought indeed.

I sure wish I felt more like writing stories about my childhood and such, but at the moment writing these thoughts down is important to me, just to keep things straight in my own head.

My own adrenaline is surging through my body. I tore my bedroom apart, vacuumed under and behind the bed, moved furniture around so I could get under and behind it.
Rearranged my closet and tossed many things, rearranged and reorganized the desk. Dusted, sucked up the spider webs on the ceiling, cleaned out the AC / heater vents....

I've got to stop now. Need to sit and rest for a while.

I had to take one of Wheelie's Ambien last night, as I simply could not quiet my mind. Only took 1/2, that's all it took, we both slept until after 8 this morning. We didn't even finish watching the Olympics last night, went to bed at 9, but couldn't sleep, but we were so damn tired.

Poor Wheelie is staying out of my way, tossing me a frowned glance now and then. He looks like shit.

It must eat him up inside, not to be able to go over there and mow her yard. Something he would have done in a second if he were able.

And so it goes...............

The little one doesn't want to take her nap, she feels the tension, I am sure.

Yesterday she was walking around shaking her little fist in the air, yelling: U! S! A!

:>)

Oma taught her something!!!

SGMKJ!

WeBuyUglyHouses.com

Here's where we stand as of 7:39 this morning, Saturday, August 16, 2008.

Bugs has decided to sell her house. She is going to try and use that company that promises to buy your house no questions asked. I've heard good things about it, now let's just hope they live up to their promises. She filled out a form online last night and will be awaiting their phone call.

She is going to have a bunch of guys come in this weekend to clean up her yard, and clean out the garage, haul off tons of crap Daddy left to the dump, and basically just make the place presentable.

IF the house sells like this she will not be making any money on it, since she will have to sell it at a VERY low price. Not going to speculate here, we need to wait and see what she is offered.
The plan is to find a nice apartment here in town, and saving about $900 a month, which can be used for daycare.

She is thinking over the Nana babysitting issue. They tentatively decided to have Nana come to her house instead of Daddy's, and since Nana and Grandpa are kinda nosy, she will probably tell them: Thanks, but no thanks.
Personally it would freak me out to have these folks in my house all day and night.

My opinion is that she needs to stay away from this entire family for now. I think she agrees.

Daddy managed to get a car. Probably a loaner from a friend. So he will be driving without a license, without insurance. If they catch up with him he's going to be in so much trouble, it will be pretty bad for him.

It's disheartening to watch a perfectly good human being work himself down the drain like this. There is absolutely NO reason for him to do this. He could SO easily do well for himself instead.

Thought y'all might get a kick out of this all...it's like a frigging soap opera.

In a way it feels kind of comical, or maybe my giddy mood is just part of my defense mechanism...

In the meantime we're back to watching baby five days a week.

Better stock up on Mega vitamins and Valerian Root.

Have a great weekend y'all!

SGMKJ!

Welcome to my rollercoaster

What's today? Friday? yes...Friday.....time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?

Well, let's see what has happened since I wrote last...

Wednesday night Bugs went to a concert with a friend. A fellow she has known for a while. They're just dating, neither of them having the time or the energy for a real relationship right now, neither in a position to pursue one.
I am glad she got to go, she needed some time away from all the craziness.

So Boo spent the night here. Never a problem, she sleeps through the night and is a delight to wake up to. The first 15 minutes after she wakes up she plays and talks to her animals, and when she wants to get up, she just gets louder *s*

From what I hear from Bugs, Daddy was still harassing her at work, calling her, sending her messages. He's very jealous, hates not knowing anything about her personal life right now, so he's guessing, and making things worse for himself emotionally.
He quit his job, but went back to work on Thursday.

Today the news is that he doesn't want to see his baby anymore, that he won't babysit her on the weekends, that he is a bad father and doesn't have anything to offer her...

He's flip flopping to see how he can manipulate Bugs into taking him back I guess. He's doing a lousy job of it.

She now wants nothing more to do with him, is more than happy to oblige him regarding his wishes about the baby. She is even talking about changing Boo's last name.

Nana still wants to babysit, so now she will do so at Bugs' house.

I am not sure keeping in touch with anyone from that family at this point is a good thing, not until the child support checks start to come in, which at Bugs' estimation won't be until October.

She'll be in a serious pickle for September financially...but at this point we can only worry about the day-to-day crap.

So we're back to taking care of Boo on Saturdays.

I have started taking some serious vitamin supplements, eating "better", resting when I need to.

I've lost 10 pounds since I was sick a few weeks ago, not bad, but....a hell of a diet...

And so the drama continues. Sometimes I wonder if we should all just pull up roots again and disappear to the other side of the country, but that's really nonsense, isn't it?

For now we'll just sit tight, be on our toes, hope for the best.

This morning we went to see Wheelie's neurologist, who had the results of the genetic testing.

No surprise there, He has what he always knew he had. No matter how many different types of ataxia they've discovered in the past 20 years, he always knew which type he had. Still, in a way, a relief to finally REALY know.

The doctor is young and one of the rare ones who actually knows what this disease is. It's a relief to talk with someone who is interested and empathetic. The doctor also offered to counsel Bugs if she felt the need. We relayed the message. She is still not ready. We understand and support her on that.

The little girl ate her lunch of hot dog, Gouda cheese and peaches, and told me she wanted to go night-night. Hey...no problem!
So there she is now, curled up on her soft blankies in her crib, watching the trees outside her window, softly humming to herself to sleep.

This afternoon I am planning on a little expedition to the Hobby Lobby. A huge craft store here. I will need some supplies to start my new project: making two scrap books.
One for Boo's pictures, and one for Wheelie's.
It's time to collect all those old black and white pictures we have stowed in boxes and envelopes and old albums that are falling apart. It's time to tell his story for the next generation.

Between feeling anxious and ambivalent about Bug's problems and the relative peace and quiet here at home, I guess I should go with the flow and enjoy the positive stuff...

SGMKJ!

The latest from Dramaville

Last night when Bugs picked up Boo from Daddy's house (where Nana and grandpa had been babysitting her) he wanted to have a talk with her, so outside they went.

He proceeded to beg her to come back to him again, crying, carrying on, extremely upset, hanging on to the baby, not wanting to let her go....

Bugs, as always, again, told him their relationship is over, and he needs to get a grip....

So, like a few months ago, he started calling and messaging her all night.

This morning, right after she dropped the baby off, he started calling her again. Completely messed up, sobbing, crying...

And just a few minutes ago he called her again, told her he quit his job, and he didn't want to live anymore...

I told her to call his parents immediately. They need to take care of this boy, he needs some serious help.

You see, this is exactly what I am afraid of, of him doing harm to himself, or the girls.

Wheelie and I agree, we both think that now that Daddy is basically forced to grow up and take responsibility for himself, he just can't cope. He is just not equipped to deal with this.
It's rather sad, and as a mother I feel so sorry for him.
It's so hard to lose your love, and if you've never really learned to deal with life's pitfalls, well, it's bound to catch up with you...

I hope and pray he doesn't do himself or others irreversible damage.

Without his job/income, he won't be able to pay his child support. Bugs is horrified of the idea of him in prison.

Too much drama?

I don't know.

It just scares the hell out of me. How often do you read this stuff in the news paper. Of situations like this ending in death.

I hope this boy's parents will drag him to a doctor. He needs care, and he needs them.

And so it goes.....never a dull moment....

SGMKJ!

And the plot thickens...........

Got a phone call from Bugs just now.

Apparently, Daddy talked the children's services people into letting him give them a check each month (they are willing to take it in four payments, even), and they in turn will pay Bugs once a month, after they have received all of Daddy's payments.

He is claiming he is working as a sub contractor for the guy he's been working for for the past 3 years, and is thus self employed. His boss owns a cabinet making business.

I know that the first year or so he was paid 'under the table'. Never felt the need to file his taxes for that year.

Last year however, they started paying him with paychecks and withholding income tax (not state tax though). I did Daddy's taxes on the computer with Turbo Tax. Daddy ended up owing uncle Sam and the state of Georgia about $800 for 2007, money he doesn't have, so he decided to ignore the whole thing and he never mailed his forms.

It also came to my attention that Daddy's boss would ask Daddy to cash checks for him on a regular basis. After a while Daddy stopped doing that, because he felt 'funny' about that, so his boss had other employees cashing checks for him.

This boss is doing some flaky business in my opinion. Possibly tax evasion.

And here I sit, worrying about it.
Bugs will get her child support, no doubt about that. But it really pisses me off how some folks just squirm themselves out of trouble.

Would it be wise for me to stay out of this mess? Or am I supposed to be a good citizen and report this boss fellow?

What do you think?

The wheelchair sage continues............

Today we had an appointment with a guy named Bruce at a wheelchair company over in Rome.
Rome is about 33 miles from us, but it's a nice quiet drive.

Much to our surprise we found Bruce to be a wheelchair user himself. It was a relief to talk with someone who knows what living in a wheelchair is all about, and I think Wheelie felt at home with him as well.

So we filled out some forms, Bruce did some measuring and made suggestions.
One embarrassing moment for me was when we discovered he has only had this chair for 8 years, not 12. Oh well, time flies, so much has happened since we moved to California and back again, it seemed like 12 years to me!
From the registration number he could tell exactly when the chair was ordered, and what company we got it from.
He agreed though that a new wheelchair is needed. As Wheelie's body changes, and his abilities change as well, the measurements need to be adjusted.
So Bruce suggested a narrower seat, more snug in the butt, and a little lean to the back as well.

He didn't hold much hope that Humana/Medicare would find it necessary to pay their 80% for a custom built chair, but they are going to try their darnedest to make them.
In order to get more ammunition for this quest, Wheelie's condition will be evaluated by a physical therapist. We also have his doctor's say so, and now his neurologist with the correct diagnoses.
By coincidence there was a message on our machine when we got back. His genetic tests came back and the neuro man wants to 'discuss' the findings with him on Friday.

We hope that Humana will see the light and pay their share. I mean, if they are more than willing to pay $6000 for a shot of Eligard, they should'nt balk at paying$2240 for something as important as a proper wheelchair.

You THINK!

Bruce told us he has infinitely more success dealing with Medicaid, than with Medicare.
Go figure.
I'm sure you will all agree that the health system in this country seriously sucks.

Anyway, a nice little outing for us.

Boo-boo is with Nana today.

Daddy was supposed to get with the child support people yesterday to straighten things out. Apparently his boss flat out refuses to cooperate and come forward with information. I know the guy is running an "iffy" business, not reporting to the IRS, employing illegals, etc.
But if this doesn't get straightened out, the chance is good that Daddy will have to go to jail, something we all want to avoid.

Bugs really opened up a can of worms when she applied for child support. We are trying to convince her that Daddy and his boss' problems are NOT of her making.

There is a chance, if things didn't work out with the child support people, that they will all have to go to court tomorrow.
I haven't heard yet if that is the case.

So.....home again home again, jiggety jay....

I'm pooped, time for a good nap.

SGMKJ!

Noooooooo

For some unexplained reason I lost my post about my old neighborhood.

The one with my picture of me jumping rope.

A few days ago I noticed it was on here TWICE, so I deleted one....

It was there yesterday....

I never touched this blog, except to read it...

Where the heck did it go?

I never even got the chance to print it out, as I usually do on Sundays...

NUTS!

How to screw Medicare........

It was high time we started to look into getting Wheelie a new wheelchair.

The one he now has, and LIVES in, we got about 12 years ago. He's been using it permanently for the past 5. Two years before that, when we lived in tighter quarters, he used his mother's, which was a very small chair. He wore that one out.

Last year we tried to find a local wheelchair repair shop. We found one, but the guy wanted to charge $400 for adjusting and fixing the brakes and add a few missing spokes...

Uhhhh...no....!

So now his arm rests are taped up with black electrician tape. We're on our 4th seat cushion, everything rattles and is loose. We're missing spokes.

So...I called Humana to find out how we're covered. Found out we pay 20% they pay 80%.

So...I call the doctor to get a scrip...

They faxed it to the local Medical Supply company...

Who called me yesterday...I told them what we needed and I expected someone to come and take the measurements etc...

Uhhhh...no...

They were going to bring us a wheelchair...we didn't have a choice...

Okay...I thought...this is gonna be interesting!

The minute the guy pulled the chair out of his van I knew we were in trouble...

Out came a black stiff, straight, albeit new, chair...

We gave the man the benefit of the doubt, Wheelie got into the chair. The wheels were straight, instead of angled (which gives him more stability), the arm rests were not adjustable, they didn't even fit under the table, or the computer desk.
There was no seat cushion.
It was just your basic chair that one would use as a temporary solution for someone who is recovering from something.

Now...we fully expected this to happen, so it didn't bother us to say: sorry, but this is not what we need, take it back. Not that it probably would have mattered, but I explained to the guy that Wheelie's wheelchair is THE only piece of furniture he sits in, ALL frigging day long...so it NEEDS to be the correct size, width, length, height, and other equations...
He dutifully told us he could 'probably' order one...yeah right..

Then I took a peek on his order form.

Now get this: we would need to RENT this chair at $107 a month for 12 months, 80% of which will be covered by the insurance company and medicare.
After that we can BUY it!

Wow!

So basically this chair would cost $1284 to rent, I didn't even ask how much it would cost us to buy it after a year.

I went online and found this exact same chair for $275...FREE shipping!

Now...who's screwing who?

To say I am pissed is an understatement.

I realize that the chair we need costs a lot more, retails for about $1500 without any extras...
I'm not sure Humana would cover THAT, but then we didn't ask...yet...

It is infinitely worth it to me to go into debt again and plunk down the money.
It is so important for anyone who is in this position, to have a comfortable place to sit.

So on we go....our next step is a company in Rome, about 30 miles from us, that is supposed to specialize in wheelchairs....I'll give them a call tomorrow...

And so it goes...............

SGMKJ!

Oh Mara, look what you started :>)

The comment from Mara on my last post was pretty right on, as they say.

It is indeed interesting to draw up a time line between Wheelie and myself and see where we were at particular points in time.

And yes, Mara, when I was skipping rope (I think it was 1954) Wheelie was a college student at UC Berkeley, studying courses towards a Letter and Science degree.

When I was 12 and started high school, he was in Germany in the army, working on radars and nuclear missiles. He was married, had a child. I still didn't know where babies really came from.

(yes! Really!)

And on and on. It is indeed interesting to think this through. I pulled his old resumes and this will make it much easier to actually DO that time line on paper.

:>)

After writing about my old neighborhood yesterday, I decided to "Google.nl" a little deeper into this place. I came up with the city's plans to demolish the entire frigging neighborhood.

When I was back there in February this year my sister took me to see the adjacent neighborhood, which was already gone. It was pretty weird to walk there, remembering how we all walked those streets every day. To school, to church, to the butcher, the baker. Now even those buildings, and the church too, will soon be gone.

The picture below gives you a birds eye view of my neighborhood before they started building, around 1950 or so. The three light colored strips are the spots where our buildings/streets would be. The outlined areas is where the actual building would be, the space in between them became the communal gardens/playgrounds. The small dark triangle on the right, at the end of our street, was a piece of land that wasn't built on for a long time. It stayed a mucky hilly, muddy, wonderful place to play. Especially for my brothers and their friends who used the land to "motor cross" with their bikes, catch pollywogs and frogs and stickelbacks.

The large space to the right was a farm with many canals, where we would skate during cold winters. Later on this space became soccer fields, our high school was built there, and a garden/farm run by mentally disabled folks.

The darker area above that was and still is a wonderful park, with A few old mansions, and a bunch of German bunkers.
The Park dates from the 17th century when the land was owned by some important rich people, who built a villa on it and a beautiful park around it.

I fondly remember walking through the park, around the ponds with the ducks and the swans. The autumns were always very special, when the trees would show their colors, and dropped beechnuts, acorns and chestnuts. In the winters we would skate on the ponds. And when we were old enough to roam around town by ourselves and were allowed to cross the street, we would "play" in and around the bunkers. Of course later on, it became the perfect make out spot.


There was a large colony of herons in one part of the park, and they had hundreds of huge nests in the trees. You'd be smart to walk very quickly through those parts, as not to get pooped on too much.


For those of you curious (and bored) enough to want to check this out, just go to Google.nl and do a search for Overvoorde. Just do a sears for pictures, it'll give a you a good idea of the place.




The picture below I just found this evening. I couldn't copy it for some reason, so I took a picture of the computer screen. I placed a little piece of paper with an arrow on it to show where our street is.

The entire area that is marked off by the yellow line is destined for destruction by 2010.

I simple cannot imagine that this all will be gone, with completely new areas built. It will be like our old home never existed. A weird idea indeed. And a sad one.
I am sure when my parents hear about this (if they don't already know) they will be pretty sad as well.

All in all these neighborhoods have existed only 60 years. They had to be built quickly to provide housing for the growing population after the war. Bringing these buildings up to code 20 years ago obviously didn't do much good.



So, as they say: there goes the neighborhood!!!

If you're still with me, reading this......thanks! :>)

Tomorrow I will describe my life there. I need to call Mom first for a few little tidbits of information, like....what the heck kind of floor covering did we have way back then?

SGMKJ!

On the run in 1952

That's him, number 88 :>)

Georgia's Tax Free weekend...Back To School!!!!!

This is the weekend when everyone in Georgia can go shopping for school supplies and clothing; computers and other stuff....

Tax Free!!!!

I wasn't thinking about that when I decided to take Boo-boo and drive down to the Super Tar-ché just to be out of the house for a while.

She had not wanted to take her nap, and my back and ribs are still tender, I can't pick her up much, so I thought, a nice little drive and stroll would do the trick.

She napped on the way, hummed herself to sleep.

The store was jammed with moms and kids and loaded shopping carts.

What fun!

I went to the corner of the store where they have all the school supplies and marveled at all the cool stuff they have these days.

Even though I hated school, especially the last few years, the preparations for a new school year were always very exiting.

In elementary school we never needed to buy anything, the school provided it all.

We lived in a new neighborhood, built right after the war.

Our parish was one of the largest in The Hague. We had four girl schools (buildings)and probably as many boy schools. Initially we were housed in temporary buildings until the 'real' schools were finished, and sometimes we shared classrooms in "other religion" schools, or "gasp!" PUBLIC schools. Never mind the Catholic schools were pretty much public too. :>)

The average family in our parish had 4 kids, I even know a few who had more than 12! Kids galore!

My very first memory of "school" was kindergarten, when my Opa walked me to school every day. It was in an old brick building with wooden floors. We had to wear felt covers over our shoes.
I clearly remember the smells of wooden pencils and paper. I also remember I had a little silver ring with ladybug on it. :>) There were sand boxes on the playground but they were fenced in and I don't recall ever being able to play in them.

When we moved to our new neighborhood in 1953 I was still in kindergarten. A couple of classrooms housed in a building that belonged to a family who ran a printers business on the premises. Smack in the middle of some woods and farm land.

First, second and third grade were spent in the Pieterlangendijkstraat. A brand new building.
It smelled new, it sounded new. (When my son and I went back to Holland in the 70s, he went to kindergarten there :>)

Fourth and fifth grade I spent in a temporary wooden building, which by the way, was still there last time I visited. That was SOME temporary! The whole neighborhood is being torn down around it now and THAT frigging building is still there!

Sixth grade was in another new building, right next to our church. The girls building on one side, the boys on the other. We were NOT allowed to mingle. Recess was planned so the girls and boys would not be outside at the same time.

Then came high school (7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade)

Again, a brand new school. All metal and glass this time.

In high school (MULO this was called, which basically stands for More Extended Elementary Education) we had to start providing our own notebooks, pens, and such. We were still a girls only school :>)

With nuns :>)


I LOVED going shopping for this stuff then and I still experience the excitement of holding a new notebook, an unsharpened pencil now (I need a life, I know :>)
The most important thing we needed in our opinion was out assignment book, or planner. (Agenda)

So many types to choose from!
The ones with tons of pictures in them of movie stars and singers were the most popular of course. My own favorites were Cliff Richard and Romy Schneider.

In our best penmanship we would start by filling in our class schedules. Of course as the year went on things got messy.

I totally forgot about "DE ETUI!!" Or in English: the pen/pencil pouch. In my days the etui was something rather special. If you were lucky you would get on for Sinterklaas or your birthday. made of real leather, with a zipper all around it. It would fold open and held all your pens and pencils, your protractor, your compass, your fountain pen,( if you were so lucky to own one)
Of course most of us had the ones that coordinated with your Agenda. But the leather "professional" etuis, smelled so delicious, and made you look and feel so important!

We used to have to cover our books with heavy dark red paper. And like the planners, the first week or so, all our books looked perfect! But then we started doodling, and adding stickers and pictures....until the nuns got tired of it and made us cover them all over again.

I don't recall ever having to schlep a backpack. We had old fashioned attache type cases, mostly out of some sort of vinyl, but sometimes they were leather. We didn't have a lot of heavy books like they do now either. Our classes were very basic:
English, French, German, Math, Dutch, Geography, Biology, History, Algebra and Geometry.
We also had art classes, 'handwerken' (knitting and sewing), music (singing) and gymnastics. But that was it.

It wasn't until 8th grade that we got more fashion conscious and started using "in" wicker baskets and huge straw totes, which were killers on your stockings. But then, so were our stiffly starched petticoats. :>)

When my own kids started school, my weird affliction of drooling over new school stuff went into overdrive.

Just loved getting "the list" and going shopping. Easy with the son, more interesting with Bugs.

Of course.

So there I was, just enjoying watching these moms and their kids getting ready for another school year.

At Staples I noticed an ingenious system. At the front of the store they have this shelve unit with cubby holes for each school and each grade, holding the list for each individual class

Brilliant!

Perhaps this is not something new, but I had never seen that before, and I thought it was very convenient and clever!

So the two of us had a nice leasurely stroll through all the isles, and sipped on a large Carmel Frappuchino (Boo loves the whipped cream)

What diet?

*grin*

In a few years Bugs will be among those moms, with the list in her hand, Boo-boo bugging her for this and that (NO Dora, No Miley! *lol*) just you wait daughter...........

Going through the section where the picture frames are I had a great idea.

When I cleaned out my files at home the other day and when I found the old pictures of Wheelie and his famous people, I also found two pictures of him when he was a runner in high school.
One of them is a unique shot of a group of them running through a meadow in Golden Gate Park, straight through a bunch of sheep!
The other one is a picture of him winning a race, taken at the finish line. That picture appeared in the local newspaper at the time. I've always loved that shot of him straining to get himself over the line.

Wheelie was quite a runner, won races left and right all through school. His mother kept every news paper article, every score. The scrapbooks are in the attic, along with the box of medals.

I am going to make copies of those two pictures to clean them up and brighten them a little, and then I am going to frame them and hang them up!

:>)

And now it's 9pm. The baby has been asleep since before Jeopardy, and I am going to get me a cold bottle of water and crawl into bed with a new book.

SGMKJ!

My little horticulturist