Working Hot Saturday

It is hot today. 80 plus degrees. Today is the “official” Memorial Day but this county has already celebrated the day earlier this week because Monday fit better into the workers mindset. No I did not go out today and visit my dads or uncle grave down in Santaquinn nor did I visit Sheelan’s grave up on Redwood road. I should have I could have but I did not which makes me quite pathetic. Its just easier to stay home and conserve the gas and work on cleaning up the house and yard. That Is what Dad would have wanted I think.

Dianne has been working out on the yard. I helped a little sweeping up pine needles and stuff on the driveway best I can but mostly I just read trying to get some closure on the book I am currently reading, I have been at it too long.

Dianne used the lawnmower repaired by the LMG earlier in the week and the lawnmower actually held together and we got the front part of the yard half way presentable. The backyard is still waiting for the Lawn Professionals Dianne recently engaged—they have supposedly “nuked” the yards front and back to get rid of the weeds and were supposed to come back mow and do what ever it is thy do to restore the lawn. So far, they have half hearted killed a fool foolish plants but the smart and braver weeds are still there I believe digging in for the up coming plant war, of the plant guy ever returns. At least the neighbor can see us working on the yard striving to be “good neighbors”.

I worked until I got bored or I had swept as much a I could so I struck out searching for treasure: yard sales. I figured the day was forecast to be so nice the whole neighborhood would have signs up, garage doors open and neighborhood dreams of making quick cash from the junk living in their garages, crawl spaces and closets. I cruised the whole neighborhood only finding one garage and that garage sale was piss poor. I guess stimulus checks have come to everyone except us.

I ended traveling all the way up to State street and crossed 5900 south and checked out Toys R Us and the Office Depot looking for licorice black licorice but I could find nothing which interested me. I did see at OD a 10 MGP canon camera plus some flat screen monitors which I would not mind replacing my current screen with. I doubt we will get the flat screen yet but it was enjoyable looking. I even stopped at the Beans and Brew but by then I was getting anxious to get back home, feeling I had roamed enough for an almost Summer Saturday. I could have voyaged further and crossed State street but there is nothing on the North side of State street I need—maybe next week, maybe even tomorrow but not today.

Hail to the Grief

The president just passed my office or at least the presidential motorcade did; some speculated that he was in one of the helicopters which have been orbiting the city all morning. And the motorcade was just a decoy-which could be true its hard to say but still the event was cool. Motorcycle cops, SUVs, unmarked cars, choppers in the air and lots of white vans looking like something from the X-Files.
Anyway—things are getting busy again at the office enjoy the footage

Slinky

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the neighbor who called and left a message for me to contact him. I really do not know this guy except he is the “home-teacher” ( an ecclesiastical watch dog group that makes sure the local ecclesiastical unit is well and in good working order)for my neighbor. I blew off the phone call and he called again and blew that of and then he stopped by one day when I was at work and talked to Dianne. He is on disability and is starting a lawnmower repair business and wanted me to do his website. I basically told him I was not interested but he seemed a bit desperate to have a presence on the INTERNET. I told him I was not very skilled and that I had been burned by the city for not having n license and such the last time I did a business venture from my home. Still he persisted and I said “sure” I would do what I could and started waiting. The way I saw things the ball was in his court and I was waiting for him to contact me with the items he wanted on the website. It never came and weeks passed. And life happened and I put the event aside hopefully to be forgotten. Then Sunday I got a call( we never pick up the phone but elect to screen each call calling back those wish—how decadent is that?) m It was the neighbor and he was miffed. Was I going to do the project not he needed to know. When I heard this I figuratively dug my heals in and blew him off with great prejudice. Dianne said, “ You know this really makes us look like flakes” I said “So?” Dianne replied “it just does.”

This non confrontation festered like a blister on my heal all day long at work and maybe because the day as so beautiful or maybe because all the networks are in “rerun” mode that I decided to go over and have a ‘face to face’ with my neighbor the lawnmower repair man “LMRM”. Dianne thought I should call first but I did not ant to give him a heads up. I wanted to do a drop in and see what happened. I figured I had to do this or I would be slinking round all summer. I was not sure where LMRM lived but I figured there would be enough neighbors out they would direct me and sure there were and they did.

Of course there are steps going to LMRM’s house and luckily there was some leaving just as I motored my chair up the drive way and this neighbor fetched LMRM out. He was gruff at first and seemed like he grudged me like I my kid had broke a window in his green house and now what was I going to do. So I talked, I did not quite apologize and there was a lot of arms folded eye sparing but LMRM held out and I sort of wore him down and decided and we sort of agree that he was going to check in with another person he contacted and I said if this fell though or if he needed back up I would be happy to stand in. But I got the impression that it would be a long cold day innhell before he would ask me to do anything for him and that it OK. I did not want to do it any way.

We moved on and he showed me his new, old truck which he has outfitted to repair lawmowers at their own homes. It’s a Uhaul cast off but big and he has crafted a great work area inside.. I am envious. The face to face went off well, I think he will tolerate me now but best of all I will not have to slink.

Not To Night...I'm Just Too Tired

Today went to fast. I just finished writing my mom's weekly letter and am all out of energy. Tomorrow I shall write about my pesky neighbor the budding lawn mower repair guy and the how I go over and visit him and apologize for putting him off. But not tonight. I gotta crash.

Getting Old

I hate like hell settling down into old age but that is exactly what I am doing whether I like it or not and its not that I am a doting grandfather, I am not! BUT I keep getting caught doing things which might describe me as such. I hate it I just hate it.

This holiday has been marred by low temperatures, wind and lots of rain making doing the kind of things I would enjoy near impossible. As indicated in earlier posts GD1 has been at the house all weekend and I think yesterday morning cabin fever was beginning to set it. Actually, the day started off clear and fairly warm all things considered. Dianne was in need of further sleep or least a long nap and GD1 was in need of way more attention then grandma was able to administer so I stepped in and suggested that GD1 and I explore the neighbor hood and search for as garage sale or two. I noted on our return trip from Iron Man a couple of posted signs indicating as much. I was surprised when she jumped at the opportunity to go questing with me. So with GD1 at my side we bounded down the ramp and out into the neighborhood and looking for neighborhood garage sales and I knew a visit to the neighborhood 711 or equivalent would also appear on our agenda before too long. I soon realized what garage sales may have been advertised on various telephone poles and street posts were long over—very rarely do these events lapse into Sunday so we ventured east to our 711. Good old always open 711. Thanks to the homogenization of 711 GD1 knew where candy would be located and immediately drug to the spot. We picked a few pieces: Sour Watermelons, some sort hard candy, a candy bar for Dianne, sleeping at home, and a bottle of Naked—some concoction fruit and vegetable drink –GD1 assured me the Naked was a health requirement for a diet she was contemplating going on. We checked out with our goodies in plastic and headed across the street to a Starbucks.

I was not sure how Starbucks and 8 year old would go but GD1 is not your average 8 year old. She is hip, cool and knows what is down. She settled into the Starbucks environment immediately. The dark lighting, over stuffed chairs and young staff in black tee shirts wishing they were anywhere, on a Sunday morning but there. There were a couple other old farts reading the paper, some yupsters in shorts and tan baseball caps and couple dressed down business types waiting for a deal to be made or to make one and finally there was a semi cute couple. He with his lap top wyfing like crazy she I finally realized had a small human type firmly attached to a breast. GD1 is too shy at first so I have to ask what Starbucks has which is legal for kids and we soon found some form of frozen chocolate. I got a latte and we found a spot and settled in sipping our drinks, gossiping about customers and going through my backpack for items of interest settling on my sketch pad. We sat there for more then an hour being “cool”. We made fun of the Barbies who came in and made a major effort at being ostentatious and two other chicks dressed in black and white—exactly alike, I think they may have been waitresses at one of the neighboring restaurants choosing to sit out front and smoke cigarettes. We sat there and just enjoyed each other rare. We came to the conclusion together that Grandma had slept long enough and we should be heading back. But we sort of made a date to do this again, possibly in a forthcoming winter, sit there and drink lattes and kid lattes and watch the snow fall.

So is this doting? I don't think so but I kind a think, in the back of my mind it is an old guy thing.

What's In A Name ?

Anakah will now be GD1, Jasmine GD2 and Riley is GD3—this is the birth position not their social, loved or worshiped position because everyone knows the three are all loved to Infinity and beyond. For those of you who have not yet figured it out GD stands for Grand Daughter and for the record Jessica will be GDA( Alpha) and Summer GDB(Beta). I cannot explain why I have chosen this nomenclature but seems fun at this point in time.

It the holiday middle and GD1 came over yesterday morning. We went to Iron Man which we all enjoyed. GD1 spent time with GD2 which was a real surprise; GD2 was excited as GD1 for a reprieve from adult care. Dianne and I enjoyed an hour and a half of freedom before we collected GD1 for the movie.

It finally happened! The movie place I have written bout where management lets wheelchair users and their guest into the movie without payment. I have always felt this practice would not last for ever and sure enough there has been a change—when we presented ourselves for the movie yesterday fully expecting to have to pay for just one ticket we charged for two. On inquiry we found that the policy supposedly had changed and now just the wheelchair person gets the free admission. I just have to accept because I know there is no written precedence that I have ever found which clarifies the free admissions in the first place. There is no one to talk to no one to fight with it just is and people with disabilities just have to accept the change. Oh well, at least we did not have to pay all three admissions. Sigh, I know that I will be next, but I should use the free movie admission “card” as much as possible before they (who ever they are)decide to pull that bennie too.

Its almost noon on the middle day of the holiday—the weather has already improved with clear morning skies and promises of temps in the low 70’s with threats of thunder showers in the evening. There has been no discussion of BBQs, picnics or get togethers which is fine by me. I have graves to decorate but I doubt I will get out of town today or tomorrow. I think my dad and uncle would just as soon that I not stress the van or endanger myself or family by being on the road during a holiday weekend. Or maybe I am just talking myself out of my family responsibilities.

Friday at Dawn

It's the end of a tough, busy week. I drove in four days and I am again, driving today. I have a meeting at the University, work related. I have another meeting too and the boss leaves again today for meetings in DC and vacation almost three weeks gone with me in charge. I hope I don't drive the office into the ground. Hum. I still have not had my P.E. yet, a mixed blessing, and now I won't get the evaluation until Claire gets back. I guess I should enjoy the bliss...

Dress Up Day

It’s a dress up day and a drive in day. The rain is still with me and I am selling the office service. I am meeting with DSPD today to get their FAQ’s a new feature of Access Utah Network. Our plan to is to go to our funders and have each provide us with FAQs their consumers have asked and then have the questions and answers on a page on our website www.accessut.org. I am nervous as I approach this task and I have drug my feet a bit coming to the task but I am going to do it today break the ice and I am going to it well. I am also going to have to revisit my stand on not submitting gas mileage as I am using my van more and more. I may also start using public transit again even though taking the bus and train for meetings is time expensive and that is stressing as I sense I am having to do more and more with the job.

I was supposed to have my Performance Evaluation yesterday but the hou came and went. The boss was called out forma meeting “on the hill” and I spaced it off as well until I happened to check my calendar. So, supposedly, I have the event today but the office is going to be very busy but I am ready even if the PE is too short to be credible except to say that that the evaluation was done. I can live with that.

Tears

I really do not have much time for the newspaper, newspapers bore me or rather I don’t have the patience to read the paper front to back but not Dianne she reads everything and fills me in on things she feels I might be interested. So I intrigued this weekend when she directed my attention to an article regarding a local LDS missionary who dropped dead in England a few days ago. I recognized the last name of the missionary of a family I knew from my childhood days. Spjute, that name and spelling is fairly rare and so I researched the young missionary a bit closer and sure enough she was the daughter of my old friend Mark Spjute. What a shame what a beautiful daughter. Then I do some Googling and I realize this friend is actually living in the Salt Lake County what a shock. He is a CFO of a major company in the area. He is universes from me and my life style. But I signed the book on line on the obituary page of the Deseret News. I left my email and who knows. I’ll give him some time and see what happens and if I don’t hear back from him maybe I call in a couple of months and see how he is doing and see if he wants to get together or something.

“Vignette V6 Mon May 19 07:45:14 2008

LDS missionary dies in England

By Aaron Falk
Deseret News

A Farmington woman collapsed while jogging and died Saturday near Birmingham, England, where she was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sister Lindsey Spjute, 23, "loved life as she loved people and had a work ethic that didn't quit," said Richard McKenna, Spjute's LDS stake president in Farmington. "She was an incredibly fun-loving, energetic person. This young lady had a depth of character that goes far beyond her age."

An autopsy could not determine the cause of death, according to a statement from the LDS Church. Spjute's family was grieving but remained strong even through the uncertainty surrounding the woman's death, McKenna said.

"Clearly they're mourning her loss," McKenna said. "They recognize the emptiness and the loneliness and the concern. But they're also solid in their belief that there is life after this life."

Just hours after her death, Spjute's family received a call from the woman's mission president in England. He called Spjute "the perfect missionary," McKenna said.

"They could not identify the cause of death, but the family is at peace with that," he said. "They believe God's hand was involved in this. She extended her mission."

Spjute attended Brigham Young University-Idaho and later Utah State University, where she planned to complete her schooling in special education when she returned from her mission.

"She was well into her schooling when she decided she had to go on her mission," McKenna said. "The family takes great comfort in that. She was doing exactly what she wanted to do, exactly what she knew she needed to be doing." “

---

E-mail: afalk@desnews.com

It's May be Artifical but It Feels Like Real

I did it! Even with all my procrastination yesterday I eventually settled down and started filling out the data (I hope ) asked for on my performance evaluation which is due to be discussed my me and my supervisor this coming Wednesday at 3:00 oclock. I don’t know if I did the evaluation correctly and I just sent the evaluation to the boss who I hope will critique the document and let me know how I might better report my years activities. The experience flowed too smoothly so I am sure I did something wrong and I will have hours more to slave over this document before it become acceptable.

We had staff meeting this morning the first time in a couple of months, the meeting lasted a couple of hour and meant to let the boss know where everyone was at and what they were doing with their work lives; especially since the boss was going to be gone for almost three weeks beginning next week. Because the boss well be gone she wants to be sure the work of the office well go on unabated in her absence. So the pressure is on to make my works visible. Artificial as the stress may be it is stress non the less and I move pretty fast to relieve my stress. So expect concise postings for the next couple of days.

I Want My Widget

I should be doing my performance evaluation but I am not. I have just spent two hours trying to install a “Widget” on my blog. I had the thing just the way I wanted it but then I did something, I don’t know what, and the image and twitter box disappeared. So I went back and messed round till I got something close to what I want. This was after I did an afternoon BBQ which was OK and I was led to an epiphany I don’t like cooking the prepared or small meats and meat products like hot dogs, chicken tenders or even chicken wings. What I really long to cook on my grill is big meat like briskets, roasts and ribs. Steaks are OK everything else is kid stuff, finger food. I made enough to send a bag home with Auni when she leaves and still have enough protein for me to have materials for lunch all week long. Next week I think I’ll do some Mexican flat meat or maybe a flank steak. I really like flat meat something I can cut strips off of all week long .

In truth everything I have done today has been an exercise in procrastination to keep from having to come to grips with my performance evaluation. It may not be right but it is just the way it is. I think I hear my novel calling me.

P.E.

Performance Evaluation! Its that time of year when bosses start thinking about how you are doing—not because they particularly like you (though mine does) but because they themselves get a memo or email saying they have to get the staff’s performance evals in to some head office before a certain date and then the stress begins.

I have figured out that performance evaluations are the equivalent to vocational report cards and you are the parent and if you get a bad performance eval then you better rectify it one way of the other or else. I hate the performance evaluation—luckily I have never had to give them because I have seen how the supervisor, whoever they might be has had to sweat them. Historically I have worked in small shops, rarely over ten folks so your supervisor was usually also a close friend and they suffer almost as much as I would as these evaluations of performance were being rendered. In my former position at the independent living center—this was the first time I was exposed to the performance evaluation and was bout twenty years ago when evaluations came into to vogue. We were a very small shop and very close friends and when the boss started she was as inexperienced at giving thee as we staff were as getting them. She even did this intimidation thing some years and eventually gave to task my best friend Kim—who also tried very hard and with due diligence but was very difficult, for me, to take serious in that role. I am also so stupid I am sure Kim felt this insolence and too great restraint not to thump me mightly with his role of power. Then when the dread of impending doom wore off and the director tired of the game they looked to make the process less complicated and less work for management. This was when management started handing you the program evaluation form and then you were expected to be honest and fill out your own eval and the meet with your boss to “discuss” the evaluation and come to sort of agreement.

I think Alyson, my social worker boss, was one of my favorite performance evaluators. We actually did this dance where she would actually type her responses to her evaluation questions as she gave them during the interview and you would sit there and coach her on what to write. As a social worker, Alyson was always trying to be pleasant so the ordeal was not too bad. Actually, it was great everything was done by the time you rolled out of her office, for another year.

This year the email said to take you evaluation and type your responses in a different colored ink and come prepared to discuss(defend?) your responses. For some reason these evaluations always fall on a period of time before my boss is about to head out of the country for one reason or another and she has to execute these evaluations before she can leave; perhaps this is her way of getting the evaluations completed.

I hate performance evaluations. I hate performance evaluation season. I think for the most part my boss hates them too but admin says they have to be done, they are a task to be ticked off to get on with the rest of the work. I know all this and I am almost sure I will most likely survive( vocationally) but the season sure is uncomfortable.

Marsha's Lunch

Today we had a lunch honoring one of our workmates who recently received an award from the Governor. We had lunch at Market street Grill. Market Street Grill is a high end easting spot catering to the upward mobile professional not necessarily to State employees but Market is where we ended up today.

Since I was in my power wheelchair I took off early and zipped over to the Market to secure a table. I was wearing my tattered hood and my back pack between my legs I looked like warmed over homeless. But I got the table. I told the waiter guy we were expecting 7 or 8 folks. I swear I did not mislead intentionally--I get confused. However the waiter set out their famous sour dough bread for eight folk--we had lots.
This is the kind of place where there specials is $10.00 and everything goes up in price from there and Market Street's big offering is fresh fish, well, as fresh as you can get in Utah being a landlocked state. The boss bought lunch up to $10.00 if the meal cost more we paid the difference. I found a hamburger which turned out to be OK and I drank water with lemon.

It was a good day and a good lunch. We missed Chapman, our staff member who could not make itto work today staying home with her sick daughter, maybe next time.

Council

Its Council meeting today not whole lot gets done on Council meeting. Luckily , for me, I don’t have a lot of direct involvement, I don’t have to sit in the meeting which can be up to four hours in length or mingle with the participants. But I do assist with covering phone for the Council since our receptionist is also staff to the council meaning she has to be in the meeting, all meeting. So I am saddled with the regular calls my office gets during the day plus the back up calls the Council staff might get during the day as well.

The Council maintains a number of committees made up of Council members and I of course staff one of these committees meaning I have t talk notes , type them up and make sure committee members get them following the meeting. As I said I staff the Transportation committee. The Transportation committee is committed to assisting the local pubic transit system to better serve folks with disabilities in Utah and specifically Salt Lake. The meeting usually follows Council which means its members are usually burned out but usually generates three pages of hand written notes. The most redeeming value of these meeting is they are catered and usually really good and staff always gets to eat and so I eat.

So not a lot is getting done today, Council day. Even after the meeting is over there are always stragglers who tend to yammer on endlessly. Tables need to be cleaned and folded and chairs put away and some dishes done. The boss is relaxed and glad the meeting is over for the month and rehashes he meeting with different members of the staff and of course since everyone worked through lunch a lot of the staff leave round four—not me. am hear for the count. I must cover my phones until the end. In the old days when I had two full time staff I usually left at four and got home early. But not now. Now I just blog out the clock.

Lights Camera, Action

I was contacted last Thursday by a Communications student from the local university. The student needed to get some information regarding accessibility (disabled) in the 1940’s here in Salt Lake City. I am the main guy for accessibility questions in this town. I don’t know if this is good or bad because I am sure others in this area know more then I on general access but I can sure tell folks where to go to find this information if not be able to answer it myself.

During this phone interview I must have said a number of things which impressed this student because the next thing she indicated was that she would like to interview me for a documentary she Is doing for her class. I have to admit I was a bit flattered, as old guys like myself tend to be after such requests, and thought listening to myself talk for a bit might be fun. I envisioned a four eyed academic with a reporter’s notebook, a cassette recorder and possibly a digital camera. Imagine my surprise when the 20 something student showed up this morning with two bags of equipment containing sound equipment, four high-intensity lamps and a professional digital cam corder I would almost die for. It took her twenty minutes just to set up the lights and then she actually “microphoned” me with the lapel microphone I ran under my sweater. And then we interviewed for 90 minutes. I am sometimes shocked at what comes out of my mouth at times like these.. I am shocked that people tend to believe me when I am yammering on. The wheelchair gives me all kinds of validity. I try to cover myself by constantly justifying my comments as “this is me talking here” “that was how I saw what was happening when I was experiencing this or that event”. And as fair and impartial as I strived to be I know I slipped a couple of zingers here and there to the local establishment, bus company or housing authority. I don’t know what kind of distribution this documentary will have or how this student will use the interview and you know what: I do not care the event was fun and broke up the care some times that is as good as it gets for a Monday

Friday Mists

Remember yesterday I could not sleep because of my excitement to get to work? I was exhausted when I got to work and I was not able to very effective all day. Today is better I feel a little more focused. But I just wanted to discuss the reason I was so excited to get to work because I was going to finally start filming the snippets we are planning to start incorporating in our website. We have been talking about doing these short films for a long time but just talked about it. Well a couple of days ago Chapman and I decided to take the first step and we hacked out a short film on low-tech assistive technology. The snippet actually came out better them we anticipated for a first try. Chapman, filmed the document on it’s side for effect and she achieved that and actually the more you watch the snippet the more the snippet seems OK but we will film it again that right way when new get serious.

Pansies

Last night was one of those nights that I should have been able to sleep but was wide awake by 3:15 am staring at the clock wishing I could get back to sleep for even just a few minutes. I was too excited to sleep, excited about getting up and getting into work and getting busy on some projects we have been considering for some time. So I had idea after idea rattling round my head and all I could do was rest stair at the clock and wait.

The city was wet with late night Spring rains—I could smell the farm where I was raised in the mornings air four decades ago. There was no traffic at the hour I was going to work this morning and I powered my chair down the center of the street with my eyes closed trying to remember another place in another time. I was early though about a half hour earlier then I usually get to the office. Rather then having the driver drop me off at my regular stop I got off at the Galavin Station, dead center downtown. I had drop off my mom’s letter at the post office since I did not get to it last night do o the pouring rain.

The morning was beautiful as I powered through the city, wet, clean and just waking to the world. I stopped by some flowers, a whole host of pansies and it made all the difference.

Grants and Flowers

I am reading grants this week actually for the next two weeks. Luckily this year I have 11 grants, only 11 grants this year. In past years I have had up to 30 grants to read and reading thirty grant as in three weeks, for me, is a challenge. Fortunately this year the grants are fewer and I have realized that a number of the larger grants are “sweetheart deals” grants which are going to be funded regardless of what is written—so those I am not going to read—just glass over and list my objections, as I do each year and go on to the more interesting grants. This year I have noticed readability of the grants seem to reached a new low. Some folks just cut and paste parts of the same grant to the new grant forms each year but I swear some of the writers, this year have just plopped words together, done the math, ran the whole thing through spell check and sent the grant off. I read the same page over I don’t know how many times, yesterday trying to figure out this on paragraph and I final realized the sentences were not complete sentences. Granted I was trying read these grants following lunch and I was full and sleepy but still sentence fragments? So in my estimation I have about two grants left to read and ponder, evaluate and show up for the meeting on the 20^th of this month, get my lunch, discuss and leave.

Today’s image is from the tulips in front of out house. I am amazed at how will my little camera does on things like flowers and other items of interest.

Like Aliens

Friday night just about dark there was a terrible screeching in the neighborhood and when the screeching stopped and I peeked out the front door there was catapillar backhoe tractor parked infront of the neighbors house across the street.

A backhoe, parked across the street, just before dark was surreal. It looked like a dinosaur waiting for a neighbor to walk past walking the dog. Saturday morning with daylight the steel beast was still there and would remain for the rest of the weekend.

The weather yesterday was perfect, dry and almost hot in the direct sun. I burnt my head. I am so pathetic, but I love the hot weather allowing me to visit at length with my neighbor on his back porch speculating as too the work destined for the equipment parked out front in the street. The neighbor thinks it’s the City laying more water lines(pipe) which of course it is the CITY laying more pipe but sometimes I just wish it were more. Like Aliens

The Graduate

Dianne and I went out last night, again! Two weeks in a row where we actually went out and socialized. I had better watch out I may become just way too social. Last night there was a graduate party following work. Actually the invite came from the Japanese festival I went to last Saturday. Dianne was wondering round the festival and found a fellow Louisianan; Dianne has a most unusual talent of going out into a crowd and finding people from her home town. When Dianne finely returned with her new friend in tow and started to introduce Carmen to me I realized the person was Carmen, Marsha’s sister! Marsha works in the same office I do. I feel we have become good friends in the time Marsha has been staff. Marsha had told me that her sister was graduating this year with her masters degree. I thought that was cool but did not think much more of the graduation, ensuing celebrations and the happy times this family would be experiencing. Not Dianne though, she came back with a personalized invitation to this event, the Carmen graduation party. So Dianne drove in and picked me up after work and we made the drive over to the Cathedral of Madeline, this massive Catholic gothic cathedral. We were some of the first guests to show up. Dianne had made a Queen cake and put the cake in the kitchen with a growing pile of food beginning to grow with each new guest to arrive. In not time there were hams, cold cuts, cut vegetables, potato salad and bowels of “dirty rice”. Boxes of wine, coolers of beer and some kind of alcoholic red slush which might have been good had the day not seemed so cold, were waiting for visitors. A priest finally showed up and blessed the mess and the party began.

Dianne is a natural in groups, she is vivacious, she is great at striking up conversations, self introductions and finding a common thread between her and the person she has just met. Not me I tend to hunker down and sit at my table and blankly stair straight ahead and pray that no strangers comes up to my table and sit down. Dianne is helping Marsha and Carmen and I am guarding our table and trying to take pictures. My camera was having issues but I finally figured out it needed new batteries and I changed them. I still did not get any good images.

We stayed about two hours and figured we had done our duty: brought a cake, smiled and hugged and wished the graduate the best. Carmen was the graduate and the guest of honor and Marsha, poor Marsha looked like she was just about worked out. I know she had already put in a full day at the office and who knows what she did to prepare for this event and she or they still had to finish the party and clean up. Perhaps we should have stayed and helped but I was tired and I wanted to go home…this socialization is wearing me out.

Slow Friday

Its slow today even for a Friday, may have something to do with the return of the sun and fairly warm temps. Actually the whole weekend is looking better and better 70’s by Sunday and beyond. People, even poor folks are away from their phones riding the train, the bus or just walking to the park and does not have time to call the State guy and complain about what ever. That’s cool except that we live or die by the number of phone calls we have come in over a quarter, but at 3:00 o clock on Friday afternoon I just want the week to be over.
As the high pressure builds over the region I am also sensing social pressure building as well. One of he people who works in my office is having a graduation celebration for her sister tonight right after work. Dianne and I are going—I would rather just go over to the hospital for Cafeteria food but not this Friday. Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday I will be able to get my grill out and cook an iron steak I have had marinating for the last week. Anyway have a great weekend…here are train images for this past week

Happy May Day...Not

Its snowing and its been snowing, on and off all morning I hate it. It May, Damnit! Flowers should blooming and trees should be budding but no it snowing! Flower buds are being beaten down and orchards are being frozen and another weekend is being put in jeopardy being another set of days spent huddled over the furnace of my house trying to stay warm and longing for warmer days.