BOOK
IV, the next. Daily Journal
My daily journal actually began in
1981, but was written in long hand and has not been converted to the computer,
yet. So until time permits, the last part of my life's activities will be
recorded herein.
INDEX BEST PHOTO best_photo
Daily Journal entries for 2002
April . . . . . . . . . . . . april
May . . . . . . . . . . . . . .may
Monthly Photo/journal 2006. . . .
.photos_journal
On
way to Tucson, AZ . . . . .to_Tucson
Tucson houses . . . . . . . . Tucson
Iron
Mountain Monument . . . .desert
Hurricane
Katrina damage
at Bay St. Louis, MS . . .destruction
More Tucson & desert . . . . more_desert
Interstate 10 & 20 . . . . driving
Paint,
chainsaw, build . . . spring_work
I-55 Mississippi River . . . interstate
Summer
with family . . . . . summer_family
Interstate
to Maine . . . . to_Maine
Kennebunkport,
MA town . . . Kennebunkport
Atlantic
Ocean beach . . . . ocean
Mountain
roads . . . . . . . mountains
Interstate
to St Louis. . . .road_sights
Grandbabies,
cute helpers. . sod
Making a cheap sailboat. . .
sailing
Make a cement driveway. .
. cement
Vacation Lot, Waveland, MS .
fall_vacation
Driving home, road sites. .
.head_north
Halloween . . . . . . . .
. at_home
Return trip to vacation lot
.return_south
Make boat water tighter . .
.fixed_boat
End of Year . . . . . . . .
.ice_storm
RETURN TO HOME welcome.html
GO TO BookIcontents.html Book I, the good.
GO TO BookIIcontents.html Book II, the bad.
GO TO BookIIIcontents.html Book III, the ugly.
BOOK IV, daily journal. -------- BOOK V, plays. ------ BOOK VI,
board games.
BookIVcontents.html ------BookVcontents.html ---- BookVIcontents.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daily Journal beginning with
the new moon of
7am a cloudy dawn, warm air 60*. Lying
in bed, hearing the birds, seeing the new light, I recalled the strange dreams
of the night. But I fell back asleep for a few moments and awoke thinking about
the re-work I had to do on the support wall of the new garage and the dreams
faded.
Knowing rain was due sometime this morning,
I hurried. Sipped down prune juice mixed with lemon/lime sweet soda water,
puffed the pipe wondering if this was the day I could go cold turkey - no. Down
the stairs to the workroom. Opened the outside door to feel the moist warm air.
Both the tall and short aluminum stepladders set up; tall beside the house, the
short by the mid-wall. Extension cord plugged, the electric drill plugged and
placed on the ladder.
Step one; take apart the horizontal
rafter from the sloped rafter above it. Last night I realized that I had not
taken into account the slope of the garage floor; consequently, the horizontal
rafter was not level. Once it was loose, I held the heavy board with my right
arm and set the long level on top of the rafter. Sure enough crooked; I had to
drop it down nine inches to get it level. The only fortunate aspect was that I
had only put up two long rafters to connect the mid-wall to the house. The
correction work took 5 hours. Dropped the six sections down nine inches; the
holes in the siding I covered by putting in one-inch screws to keep the wasps
from crawling in and making nests(one keeps flying around looking for a place
to make its first nest).
My left arm is really sore today, I had
to stop twice to take 20 minutes rests; the previous week I have made over a
thousand drill holes in then drill screwed in the 3 inch screws to hold the
board together. I don't like using nails, drilling screws in holds the boards
together better and no hammered fingers.
Just as the thunder storm clouds settled
overhead I finished with my repairs. Took the electric tools inside and set
down in front of the TV. The thunder shook the house and water drops passed my
window. I rushed back down to bring in the ladders. More thunder and then a
sheet of cool water soaked the lawns. It's two hours past and the blue-sky
shows through; guess I'll go do some more work.
After the rain was nice, all the
local birds were singing: cardinals, blue jays, crows, mocking bird, even a
hoot owl, the small brown birds chirp and when in a group can be sort of
annoying. I put up five more rafters over the small room; they're easy but take
time. At each end a six-inch high steel bracket goes on each side attaching the
rafter to the horizontal beam with eight small screws. Put the tools away as
the sun set through the remaining clouds. Then figured what remaining lumber,
screws, brackets I'd need to finish the framing.
Supper of noodles with tomato sauce and
parmesan cheese and melted Swiss cheese on 12 grain bread, milk and soda chaser.
I eat while watching TV, usually videotaping a show and editing out the
commercials. Since 1998 I've been taping the cable TV movies and some sitcoms
and sci-fi series, that way I get back something for my monthly cable bill and
the time I spend resting and watching TV.
I got my web page ready to put back on
the Internet. I had cancelled the hosting service at the end of March so to say
$30 per month, but mostly because I now have a writing agency representing my
works for sell on the national level. So why let the public or some other
writer ready my ideas when this agency might actually get some sold, that was
my reasoning at the end of March.
But when the agency sent me the author
biography forms, I saw that there was a question about awards and other
interesting facts, such as a web page. So I have been trying to get the hosting
company to re-install my web page. The last email I received said they were
setting the page back up. So I had to decide what to leave on it and what to
change.
I am about to send off a product
proposal packet to a major retail outlet, offering one of my board games for
sell. If they agree to put in on their shelf for sell, then a game manufacture
will finance most of the production/distribution costs. If that game sells then
I'll try to get more of the games made and sold, so no since in letting anyone
else see the games and ideas of them. That page is gone and is being replaced
by this page, mostly to get me back to writing regularly.
Bed before 10pm, very tired.
13 April - Saturday @ 3am
Awoke at 2am by the screeching hoots of
some type on night birds (owls, maybe). They give out a long whooo sound and
follow that with a shrill gargling hysteric laughter of four seconds. Quite
alarming.
I lay there resting waiting to return
to sleep, trying to recall any dreams, couldn't. Finally I got up, dressed at
3am. There must be something or some reason to be so awake after the past two
weeks of labor on the garage. I went to the computer, avoiding the noise of TV.
I had nothing in mind, was sort
of blank staring waiting for my brain to pop out a suggestion. And surprise me,
an idea did occur. Why not get another board game ready. In fact why not have
the graphic artist make up the second game and then send both games in at the
same time, or at least send the second game in a month after the first. So I
took the other simple kids game and reviewed it. And corrected errors and made
the rules better. Then designed the box top and bottom with instructions for
the graphic artist who is now finishing up the ROLL and MOVE game. Just before
9am I was done.
Went to the lumber company a block away
and paid the bill to date: $857.98. Then got more lumber; loaded onto the
ten-foot lawnmower trailer I bought four years ago. A very useful trailer. By
11am a bowl of oatmeal with raisons was in my belly and I was down stairs
taking the tools/ladders out the door.
I finished the back room rafters (6 of
19) and began the long rafters, which connect the mid-wall to the house support
beams. The top rafter is over 20feet long so I bolt two 12foot x 6inch x 2inch
boards together. Fasten the top end down with two side brackets and toe-in each
side to the beam. The end of the rafter is screwed to the backroom rafters and
toe-in to the beam. The bottom, horizontal rafter is just less than 20 feet,
also two boards bolted together. I toe-in both ends to the beams. Once both
rafters are up I connect their middle sections with three short 2x4 boards,
screws. This process takes about an hour, lots of up and down the ladders.
Being Saturday the neighbors were
outside doing their projects and enjoying the warm cloudy day. My closest west
neighbors are a young couple with a two-year-old boy. They have a fenced in
back yard for him to play safely in, for our valley has a long strip of woods
and a creek at our back fences. The woods have squirrels and ground hogs,
chipmunks but I don't think there are any raccoons like I had living in my wood
shed at my rent house. She's a pleasant sight and the boy's is amusing tearing through
the piles of leaves his mom spent hours making.
I put up three of the long rafter
sections before my body yelled pain and the sun disappeared.
I cooked asparagus with rice; noodles with
tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, milk and soda chaser; melted Swiss cheese on
12 grain bread. But I only ate half; just too tired and still trying to keep
this belly slim. Watched the end of TV "Rain Man", would have filmed
it, but missed the beginning, pretty nice, Dustin H. is an actor's actor, one
of the best of our generation. Bed after the news at 10:30.
14 April, Sunday 8am
Gray fog filled the valley as I dressed
for another workday. As is my daughter's practice, I like to work up an
appetite before breakfast; sometimes that takes hours. I've been on this
keyboard about an hour.
The workday was spent making rafters
and putting them up. I got out the cam recorder and filmed myself making them
for 45 minutes.
The sunshine burned off the fog by 10am
and its heat added to my fatigue. I would work about an hour and then rest my
sore body for 15 to 30 minutes. During the immobile resting I watched the last
day of the Masters Golf Tournament on TV. Tiger Woods won it again, two years
in a row. I haven't played that game since 1971, so I am amazed at how close
the crowd stands at the tee-off. Those pros must be very good.
Bath and shower helped. Warmed up
yesterday's leftovers and watched TV till 10am.
15 April, Monday (Tax day) (it's now Wednesday so I'm remembering back.)
Sister Robin and Brother Dale had both
left phone messages for us to go mushroom hunting at his house at 9am. So I
make my way out there. Picked up the mail from the P.O. Box first, finding
among the bills a letter from my aunt in Palm Springs, CA.
Dale's gold fishpond has a leak. With
six months of work suspension facing him, he had begun draining the water down
to where the bottom tarps overlap. Assuming that's where the leak is, he will
re-fuse their connection. It is quite a nice pond, edged by 2-3inch thick
irregular squares of granite/shale? Rock, overgrown by ground ivy and trickles
of water down two waterfalls of round rock. He peninsula holds the patio table
and chairs. The entire pond is protected and hidden by the house in back. The
giant row of evergreens Dad planted fifty years ago help silent the road's
traffic in the front.
Sister arrived and changed into her
long pants. I wandered around, checked out the dirty water in the pool, then
impatient I went into the woods. To my surprise I found two very large morels
within minutes. I thought to wait and let her pick them, but as is the habit,
findem'/pickem'. I should my finds to them and we were off enthusiastically
ducking limbs, stickers and the growing itch weed.
Only brother found four tiny ones
during our 30-minute search in the spot where they always grow, if at all. I
came upon two turtles in a most unusual display. So I called for sister to come
and see this rare sight. A smaller box turtle was on top of the larger box turtle.
Muddy dirt from their hibernation still covered their shells. Sister asked are
they mating. And I said no, look close, they are head to toe instead of head to
head. They mate like horses. She thought maybe the top one was waiting till the
female was ready. I laughed, it's sitting on it, aign't getting away."
Back at the house we three siblings
played a close game of Cribbage, Dale just squeaking in a win, 80cents loss by
Robin and 22cents loss by me. He was happy, wins so seldom. Maybe his luck is changing.
He is re-dating Carol, so some parts of his life is better, said they were
going to make a garden together - romantic.
I returned to my garage rafter building
in the afternoon. Read my aunt’s first letter in a decade. Her response to my
Easter letter, which summed up what had been occurring over my winter.
Basically she said our family did "work, work, work." Always busy.
Stay peaceful, calm and let the bitter bad memories go. Was excited to hear
that my writing was becoming a career after my many years of interruption
(divorce and child hearings emotional mess). I was surprised at the quality of
her handwriting and sentence composure - at 85 still coherent, thoughtful
intelligent.
Bed at 9:30pm very tired.
16 April, Tuesday
Working on the garage is very tiring.
Carrying the lumber: 2"x4"x8', 2"x6"x8',
2"x6"x12' from the trailer into the workroom as it rains oft and on
during the spring. Drilling guide holes, then drill in the 3" screws and
the 4" bolts that hold the two 2"x6"x12' boards together for the
long rafters; one for the slant and a lower support rafter that is horizontal
which is connected by three short 2"x4". Up and down three different
ladders hundreds of times; carrying the tools in and out of the workroom. The
only break has been in going to the lumber company to get more supplies. When
done I tabulate total boards and nails.
Since my body has gone sore and remains
so each day, I have been taking a 30-minute break every hour and half, watching
the game shows from the 70's and 80's that are now on cable TV. I quit work
around 6:30pm, shower and fix food, sometimes just fruit, or vegetables; then
snack on milk and pretzels for three hours on the couch barely able to move, so
sore.
At ten am I drove down to the Sod Farm,
as they weren't answering their phone. I first stopped in a wooded area and
looked for mushrooms; found 3. At the Sod Farm I placed an order to be picked
up on Wednesday morning. Their house is situated on the low slope of the Bluff,
which overlooks the Mississippi River Valley. From the Bluff to the river is 5
miles of food growing fields: sugar beets, melons, corn and blue grass sod. I
imagine their business barely survived until the land/house building boom
around here since the University was made and expanded during the 1970's. And
this past decade the entire area has nearly doubled from 20,000 people around
the University to well over 40,000 and the new houses are still being hammered
together. More than half of these new houses are over $200,000 and I cannot
imagine where the owners are finding work to make those types of house
payments. There are no factories on this side of the St Louis City river. All
the businesses that sprout up to service the new residents only pay low retail
wages. I have to guess that both man and wife must be working. All these new
houses up the land values everywhere and the old homes get raised in selling
value too, which only means the owners pay higher property taxes.
It is amusing that as a car ages, its
value diminishes greatly; but as a house ages (wiring, pluming, roof, basement
leaks, wood dry rots) the value increases. This economic phenomenon supports
the government wages and services of the area and allows the house salesmen to
make an unbelievable commission for very little actual work.
The other peculiarity of this property
tax system is two fold: 1) the older houses' value is raised so that the owners
have to pay the higher taxes (every year) but when they are forced to retire
from work their yearly income is drastically reduced and they barely can make
ends meet. And if they don't pay their property taxes for three years a type of
business pays their delinquent taxes and they loss their house. (a modern form
of capitalist piracy. 2) And they can't sell or rent out their house unless it
meets the new building codes, meaning completely remodeling - wiring and
pluming more costs that they can't meet.
I have been thinking about this
property value/tax system for quite awhile and although the system has merit
and serves to finance govt services I feel there is a moral flaw.
Added to this property value/tax system
is the renter verses owner. I think that over 70% of Americans now own
(buying/monthly payments) houses. The renters usually cannot go up with a down
payment or make the monthly house payments. So the renter pays out shelter
money all their lives and never acquire any equity. A house is usually paid for
in 25 years; that means that over a working persons life of shelter payments 40
to 60 years, some landlord is acquiring over 25 years of equity. This seems
unfair also. The other factor that I have no statistics about is on how many
people buy and house and then eventually lose ownership by bank foreclosure or
not being able to pay their property tax.
All in all, I think that Capitalism
should be called Modern Piracy.
Possible solution: The USA economic
system operates more as services than as production. Money has to be constantly
"spent" (passed around among its citizens) and wages and prices are
constantly rising. The majority of its citizens will soon be retired and have
less money. For every one person working, two people will be retired and
receiving retirement monies instead of working, providing a service.
It seems imperative that people not
lose their homes after a lifetime of work and service to their society. Since
their houses have aged, the actual real value of their aged houses is less and
should be valued as less. This reality of wearing out houses should be used in
establishing a property value and the property tax would be lower each year.
This lower tax would be easier for the retiree to pay and would make more
sense. The income to the local governments that use property taxes to operate
would be lowered as well but could be compensated by establishing user fees (fire,
police and gasoline taxes).
17 April, Wednesday
I arrived at the Sod Farm at 8:45am. A
forklift put a pallet of sod on my lawnmower trailer and I slowly drove back to
my house. After raking the dirt level between my driveway and the neighbors
house I laid out the 18"x36" strips of blue grass sod. Two hours
later I was back at the Sod Farm for a second pallet of sod. The sun bare and
the heat got up to 85. A mound of loose dirt five feet wide and 15 feet long
and a foot high had to be hand shoveled to the low spots. After 30 minutes of
shoveling and raking I was getting heat stroke feelings. Fortunately a local
teen that mows some lawns around here walked by. I asked him if he would like
to shovel some dirt for $15, about an hour. He said yes and helped. While he
finished up the last half of the dirt mound I laid out the sod. I showed him
how to lay down the sod and the second pallet was soon finished. I needed a
third pallet and placed the order.
My sister made a surprise visit. Fifteen
minutes of looking at the garage framing and some chat of the sod and of our
brother's work mess. As she drove off I went back to putting down the last
pallet of sod. As dusk fell I sprinkled water over the new sod.
Supper and TV for two hours and was in
bed by 8pm.
18 April, Thursday
This date marks my Father's Day. My
first child was born. I was not there, as I was in the hospital myself on the
other side of St Louis, recovering from a LSD trip (got hit by a Mickey Finn
tab in my drink at the local bar). It was what was referred to as a "bad
trip". And many months and years passed before I returned to a
"normal life". How that night changed and ruined my normal life would
take a volume to explain. Considering what had happened to some of the other
victims of that chemist drug (death and jail and never to return to their
normal minds), I guess in some way I was lucky. Who to blame: Chemists, the
crazy dude who drugged me, me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It matters little at this point in time - worse things happen to many of my
generation.
How did I spend my daughter's birthday?
I worked on my garage - making a part my life a better place. Where was my
daughter? I couldn't imagine.
I also went to see the graphic artist
who is making the final of my ROLL and MOVE game. The photos on the box top
turned out well and I made a few corrections. I had to drive back to the house
to get a diskette to give him that has the rules on it so he can download them
on the disk that will get sent to the manufacture. He says it should be down
next week, I hope so.
The rest of the day was spent making
rafters.
Supper and bed by 9:30pm.
19 April, Friday
I made a few more rafters. Tired I
calculated the sheets of OSB siding I'd need to cover the outside walls of the
lawnmower/workroom. Also got two 4'x4' sliding windows and 15 sheets of the
OSB. I put it all in the house as rain was nearing. With some energy left I
hammered 4 of the sheets on the walls.
Filmed two sci-fi series shows on TV
and went to bed by 10:30pm. The heat has been near 90 the past two days so I
moved my sleeping down into the basement, where it is twenty degrees cooler.
20 April, Saturday
It rained most of Friday night. Up at
8am to see the clouds covering the sky. By 9am the air was dry enough to work,
so I spent the day framing in the windows of the two sidewalls. They fit
perfectly, pleasing the learning carpenter side of me. By the end of the day I
had thirteen of the sheets hung on the walls.
Brother Dale left a phone message that
he needed a ride at 1:30pm on Sunday. I couldn't guess what he'd be doing that
was important on a Sunday. Left a message that I would drive him, that he
should call about noon to verify.
Took a shower at 6:45 and filmed an
amusing movie: detective/love story called LOVE AT LARGE.
Bed at 9:30pm.
21 April, Sunday
Awake and sitting at the computer
playing Hearts at 8am. The game usually wakes me up fairly quickly. I use it
for memory learning, keeping track of as many cards played as possible so to
"beat" the computer.
Then shifted to this journal. Five days
behind on updating it. Too tired at night to type and when the day begins I get
out to the garage building as soon as I can. The weather reports have been
showing many storms blowing through, but the rain has been dropping only at
night while sleeping. That's good for the building, but not leaving me any off
time so to type.
At 11am, Brother Dale called. I
answered it live. He wanted me to drive him to the grocery store. I was
somewhat upset, telling him that I didn't mind taking him to important meetings
far away, lawyer, doctor, and union stuff. But taking him to get groceries was
not that important. And that he wasn't going to learn any kind of lesson if he
wasn't inconvenienced. Also that having his friends and family drive him to his
chores for the mess he'd gotten himself into was not going to make them very
happy. He as a bus that goes by his house many times a day that goes right to
the store or that he could walk there. That walking, being on his feet all day
was what his job is and to stay in shape he should do that to get up to the
store. He became combative, argumentative, saying I had made many mistakes and
that he and sister had helped me. I then reminded him of the five years that he
and sister refused to help me be with my kids. He countered with "You
burned us out, that you were late over an hour many times." I knew this
was false and called him a liar. What he doesn't know is that I recorded
everything said and done in my life during those years. It is his drunken
memory that is faulty. I ended the phone conversation, "Take the
bus!" Click.
It is now nearly noon and the sun is
showing through so it is back to hammering the walls onto the garage.
For seven hours I hammered 8 common
nails into the 7/16-inch OSB sheeting. By the end of the day most of the
workroom walls were in place. My wrists sore from using the 2pound hammer. The
OSB is hard to nail through, taking 4 to 6 hits to get the nail down flush.
22 April, Monday
Up with the dawn, I checked my email.
L. Williams at Sydra-tech wrote that my web page was ready for me to proof
read, so I click to it. The photo from 1980 that I'd sent her (me sitting at
the picnic table reading the Sunday comic section just before the Easter Egg
Hunt at brother's began) looked like a writer in thought. The following
comments I made of myself and brief paragraphs about three of my short stories
read well. Some small computer code language error needed editing out, but I
saw no other changes. I then sent an email to the principal who will discuss
the promotion of the book over the phone with me.
From 9am till 7pm I hammered the
outside walls onto the workroom, completing all the weird sized spaces. Lots of
precise measuring and sawing with the hand saber saw. Used the back of the
trailer as a workbench since dummy me left the wooden saw horses down on the
coastal lot. Also left two windows, a storm door and a bathtub under a green
plastic tarp as I had planned to build a small storage shed. But changed my mind
over night and returned to find out about the house mortgage paperwork at the
Bank.
A quick shower and some food, warmed up
a can of beans, melted Swiss cheese bread, milk and cookies. Managed to catch
"Ally McBeal" on TV, but she wasn't on the show, still rather
amusing.
22 April, Tuesday
The strange dreams continue. I manage
to recall quite a bit of them. They are like watching TV shows most of the
time, then trying to recall exactly what I just watched. I seem to be apart of the
dream and can hear words, faces are clear but seldom anyone I know. The action
and places, sets, are places I've never seen. These aren't my dreams, not
memories either. I have to think I'm "seeing" the neighbors' dreams
or their thoughts while watching some intense TV show. After years of these
types of dreams, I've given lots of analytical thought. Mostly I think it is
like seeing though someone else's eyes. I never seem to think, during the
dream, that "This is a dream". I have given thought to try to control
what is being said or done, but seldom does that occur. Very occasionally do
"I" say or do what I would if presented with the situation that I am
dreaming of. Yet I know that I have changed what was occurring, especially when
being chased or in a near death situation (I awake during those). There is a
woman of my past, one whom I loved, who moved on leaving me here. She appears,
or at least someone who resembles her, very often of late. And when I see her,
I am very happy and surprised; just the other night she was standing in a
window I looked through. I sort of flew in and said her name and then kissed
her. She surprised, just stood there. I kissed her again, and then she finally
responded back a kiss. When I awake from those dreams I have to wonder if she
has been thinking of me from where ever she might be. Or is it that I miss her?
I have recorded many of those dreams on paper and then stopped thinking that
they would stop, they didn't. I also began putting down my memories of them on
a tape recorder upon waking and then stopped that thinking they would stop,
they haven't. If I don't review the memory many times upon waking, they fade
and I forget.
The most bizarre violent dream occurred
two nights ago. I was apart of a type of winner takes all fight. The teams were
divided into three groups. One group of four people, one of about 10 people and
the third of about twenty people. It was a fight to the death and no rules.
Each group fought separately and the winners watched the others. Everyone involved
seemed "glad" at the contest they were in. There seemed to be a crowd
watching that cheered and ate and drank. It reminded me of the free-for-all the
TV wrestlers have with twenty people in the ring at once. But this was outside
in a yard. Most everyone seemed clothed. It all happened very fast, a blur of
action. I saw myself slit someone's throat with a box cutter (like I have been
using to cut the tarpaper for the garage roof. I felt no remorse or guilt or
elation. There seemed to be a break and then I thought a second fight was
occurring. I was inside a house looking out the locked front door window. I saw
an enclosed porch. There was a knock on the porch door and I could see through
its glass that there were two small beings. They looked like they were dressed
in Halloween bags or sacks with just eyeholes. I glanced left and saw a couch
on the porch; on it was a person under a cover. I knew the porch door was
locked. I knew that the person under the cover was my partner in the fight and
if I opened the porch door that the fight would begin. I started to open the
front door to go and open the porch door, but I stopped. I thought, "I
don't want to be apart of another fight to the death. That if I open that porch
door it will begin again. The porch door is locked and my partner is not
getting up to open it, leaving the decision up to me, so I will not open either
door." Immediately, I awoke, the dream stopped at that decision was what I
thought upon analysising it. Not opening the door, seemed to be my decision, it
was what I personally would have done if I were actually in that situation.
Killing to stay alive does not offend me, but if avoidable, then that is what I
would prefer. Many of these types of strange dreams seem more of a 'test' of
what I would do. But how can such a situation occur? I doubt that we humans
actually have the technical equipment that can send dream images into a
sleeping person at some distance and then actually record what the person's
mind would do in those dream situations. I have seen the sci-fi shows that have
such equipment; it makes for interesting shows. A god could do such, but why?
An advanced alien could, but why? So I conclude that these strange dreams or
someone else's, that my mind has "picked-up, seen" during my dream
state. And that my reactions can take-over, change, alter their dream in my
mind when it is an intense situation (from my viewpoint). And that no matter
where I might travel, I would seem be subject to picking up others' dreams. My
only experiment may be to find a very uninhabited place and sleep there for a
while to see what occurs. Of course, distance might not matter in the dream
world.
Went to the lumber company first off
and bought more rafter boards and six sheets of 1/2 inch OSB sheeting for the roof.
I have made and put-up enough rafter units to secure each end of the garage to
the house beams, making it all very stable. I left a nine-foot opening in the
middle so to be able to push the roof sheeting up ladders and onto the workroom
roof.
Thinking that I didn't have the
strength to get the sheet up nine foot and onto the roof, I tied rope around it
and put the end over the header boards. I then pushed the sheet up the ladders
as far as I could while standing on the floor. It was still leaning my direction,
as I feared. I held it in place with my right hand and grabbed the loose end of
the rope with my left and pulled the slack taunt; that held the sheet in place
so I could climb up two steps and then pushed it onto the roof. A very slow
process, which I did twice. Then feeling a little more confident in my strength
ability, I just pushed the sheet as high as I could, held it in place while
climbing up the two steps (if it should slide back down I'd be in some pain).
With almost half of the sheet's weight over the roof edge, it stayed in place
until I pushed it the rest of the way. The last three got easier as my style
improved, cling and jerk and push far enough to half over the roof.
Took a break and drove to see the
graphic artist working on the ROLL & MOVE artwork. While waiting my turn, a
bald man came down the isle carrying some paper he wanted to photocopy. He
looked familiar and when he was close he said, "Hi Glenn." I said,
"Hay sarge, how you doing?" He kept walking and made his copies and left
without further words. This sort of surprised me. As every time of late while
helping my brother do chainsaw work at his place, Sarge, his neighbor, has come
over to see and chat. And I always jest friendly with him. But a couple of
weeks ago he had a heart attack and spent time in the hospital, so I had to
wonder if he doesn't feel like talking about it yet or if maybe my brother has
cried on his shoulder and complained that I refused to take him to the grocery
store, mean person that I am.
The graphic artist had forgotten to
bring the corrections with him. I said, "Two demerits for you."
Surprised by my choice, he laughed, "Okay." He has some little kids
in school. We agreed on Thursday and I left.
Then many hours were spent hammering
the 8 common nails through the OSB into the rafters. Firstly I would tack down
the edges with the 3inch screws. Fairly fast and not as tiring as the 2pound
hammering five times to get the nail angled in place. (Nails were $0.80 per
pound while the screws were $3.00/lb.) By late afternoon I had the six sheets
secured to the rafters, took a VCR film of my progress.
After an hour break I finished the last
two hours making another 2 rafter units.
Quick shower, too tired to take a bath.
Too tired to make anything warm, ate grapes, banana, cheese and crackers, milk
and soda while watching TV. Bed by 9pm.
23 April, Wednesday
Up with the dawn, another cloudy day,
easier to work than when the sun bears down its heat. I wear a hooded
sweatshirt over my baseball cap nearly always. By nine am I had gone to the
lumber company for more roofing sheets (13) and more screws. Took my first
break after pushing them up onto the roof. Breakfast of raisons in oatmeal and
sugar and a glass of milk, daily ritual.
Spent the rest of the day nailing the
13 sheets in place. After a late lunch of 12-grain bread with lettuce and
cheese and milk I checked the Weather Channel. Then went and bought 24 bundles
of tar shingles from the lumber company at 5pm. Rain impending overnight, so I
hurried in the dwindling light and stapled the tarpaper over the new wood
sheets.
Too tired for much of anything other
than immobile TV watching for 30 minutes. Then cooked up asparaguses, beans,
milk and soda and some cookies before sleep.
24 April, Thursday
Up late, 9am. Wrote my son an email,
wrote Luckitta at the Alamo in Texas an email of my progress on the garage and
the board game. Found their answers that night; the boy has been working as
many hours as I have been and is tired of it, though likes the overtime monies
which they need to pay for the big wedding party in October. Seems we are both
too tired to shoot pool and chat, I'm glad he finally bought a computer and
sends email to me. Luckitta lets her husband read my letters to her, I kinda
figured that so I have chosen my words carefully, been friends for over 15
years, met when she was "on the run" bouncing from lover to lover,
trying to find herself after her first husband dumped her and kept the kids.
She took my advice way back then and enlisted in the Navy, got a skill and
eventually married and got her kids to live with her. We could have enjoyed
many years together, but I was a poor writer struggling with my own divorce
problems.
I started my workday with taking 6
bundles of shingles up the ladder to the roof. Wasn't sure this old body with
its torn knee ligaments could manage that. Too my surprise I did get the 75 lb
package onto the roof. After my knee began to wobble I quit. No sense wearing
myself out with so much more to do.
Tired, I drove to see the graphic
artist after paying the lumber company, $2400.00 so far. From 10am till 1pm I
stayed there over looking the artwork, finding errors (I don't think he read my
instructions very carefully - I was very precise). We were interrupted by his
other customers very often. But since he is leaving on 1May for a couple of
weeks for army reserve duty I wanted to make sure it was all done before I
left. He made a color print out of everything and I took it home and looked it
over. Only one change to make and so I called him on the phone and told him. He
said he would make the correction and then have the finals for 5 complete games
printed out over the weekend and would then call.
Feeling much better about the game's
progress I returned to the garage work. Made four more rafter units and put
them up.
Filmed the Cirque Due Sole on TV, did
so last night too. Superb, a tasty creative innovative arrangement of music and
athletic performances that inspire the soul and awake the body to the
possibilities it could have done. Spoken in a language I don't understand makes
it the best thing I've ever seen! Will make copies for my family, especially my
creative unusual daughter, sure that she'll appreciate it, a most welcome break
from the routine violence of USA TV.
25 April, Friday
Another cool morning, still wearing
long underwear. Up on the roof by 9am. Finished covering it with the roof OSB
sheets.
Made three more rafter units and put
them up leaving one more to do.
After the usual late lunch I checked
the Weather Channel. Rain for sure late or in the morning. So I went back onto
the roof and laid out the tarpaper. Stapling it down with the electric stapler.
Just hold it tightly down and pull the trigger and "kcthud". Trouble
is, is that the stapler is not powerful enough to plunge the steel U shaped
metal through the tarpaper and into the tough OSB wood. So about half of them
stick up and I have to go back and hammer them down flat. Done and in the house
at 6:40pm.
Clothes off and put into the washing
machine. Then me into the hot shower. Still to tired to enjoy a long warm bath,
probably would fall asleep, not a good idea.
Noodles with tomato sauce and melted
Swiss cheese bread, cookies and milk and soda and pretzels while watching an
enlist twist of the USA classic western, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid". Get costumes, and sets of the 1800's and a nice getaway ending. Then
filmed two sci-fi series I've been watching for years.
Bed by 11pm. Fell asleep to the pattering
rain upon the newly laid tarpaper a few feet from my head, just the other side
of the open window(very pleasant sound, surely will miss this when down in the
casket). Now I can climb out my bedroom window right onto the garage roof and
stare at the woods or the stars, just like they do on "3rd
Rock".
26 April, Saturday
Awake late, 7:30am. No matter,
drizzling rain. Recalled the night's dream as I fog walked to the bathroom.
Many dreams are about trying to find a
bathroom, I awake and have to go pee. I think my body informs my dreaming mind
of the need and then I alter the dream by trying to find a bathroom. In so many
dreams I have realized in the dream that I was peeing not in a toilet but in
some room corner to some large vessel or wash basin; many times someone in the
dream as told me to use the toilet, I then awake and feel I have to pee so get
up and I have to wonder why I was actually peeing in the dream, but had not
peed in my "real bed", but had held it until I woke up. I wonder if
in my old age my body will not fair so well.
So I am in a type of shopping mall,
looking for a restroom. Looking at each opening along the long hallway for the
restroom sign. I see a line of people and think that they are in line for the
bathroom. I walk around them to make sure and then see that they are sitting at
tables, not in line. I then see that this is a really long hallway, that I am
in a mall. I keep walking, looking. I see a salesgirl arranging a price tag on
a manikin and ask her where is a restroom. She points further along and I can
barely hear her words.
I see where she is pointing, above the
entrance is a blue neon sign. I can distinguish the word CAFÉ but not the other
name. I go inside and am greeted by a tall woman (30ish) with long blonde hair.
She smiles at me and greets me with a modified hug, her arms about my side, so
mine go about her, but our bodied do not touch. She says something about a
States Attorney and tells me to go on in. There are people going down a
stairway and I follow them. The stairway has an iron bar and I use it to slide
down, going past a few of them. I then am walking among some tables and end up
sitting opposite a young woman that I know to be a Judge. She is friendly and
smiling and we are talking as if she knows me. (Strange dream)
I make a fresh pot of coffee. I add a
packet of coca mix to each small cup I drink. Usually sip down 3 a day. I play
a quick game of computer Hearts. Mind fairly awake I turn on the computer.
The Sydra-tech man did not return my
phone message yet. I have made up a few questions. I wonder if they are going
to actually try to get the entire collection printed as a book. And if so then
I'd better have it ready. The Bunny Movie story I wrote in February is only 31
pages long and needs a few corrections. So I put it on the screen and spend the
next three hours final editing it. The novel will take many many days of work.
The rain is a nice background to my
reading/editing. Around 1pm I notice that it has stopped. So I put on my work
jump suit. Twenty more packets on the trailer to put onto the roof. Too heavy,
so just cut them in half, that will mean making 40 trips up the ladder and then
moving them along the roof, but better that than have some stoke carrying 75lb
up a ladder at my age. It drizzled some, but three hours latter I had that
chore done. Put all my sweat soaked clothes into the washer and put on clean
from the drier. It seems I am down to two outfits. Went back out and put the
windows in the workroom just before another blast of rain and thunder.
Fed the fire, warmed up and fell asleep
watching some golf on TV.
Awake and belly full of lettuce,
cheese, 12-grain bread and milk and coffee.
Put the Cirque tape in and began
copying it. The music great background for writing. So have been getting caught
up on this journal. A couple of hours ago the graphic artist, Darren, called.
He worked all day and will make the final prints of the game tomorrow. I will
pick them up from his house, and pay for the copies. Then will pick up the two
CD's of the artwork on Tuesday. Another step about done. And done is how I
feel, oh yea, forgot about supper.
It's 10:30pm and thunder booms in the
sky, me? I am tired.
28 April, Sunday
Awake remembering a dream: I am at a
gas station beside the pump. I am marking on a plastic form, checking in small
squares what service I had just got at the station. The plastic sheet is about
four inches wide and six inches long. The words are hard to read, something
about type of oil and gas and kind of car. The form is on the hood of my car
and an uniformed attendant is telling me to hurry as the other man who collects
up the forms is about to leave, that the station gets credit for each form
filled out. I look up to see the impatient man waiting. But when I finish one
form there is another below that, in all about four or five stapled together at
the top. The attendant says just to give the man the ones I've got done, but I
want to fill them all. I see the impatient man leave the lot. I finish the last
one and hurry to catch him to give him the forms, but he is on the sidewalk and
begins to run. I follow a few steps but he is a good fifty feet away. He has a
hat on that covers his ears. I can't imagine why he is running. I think to get
in my car to catch him. Next I am driving my car following. I am in the back of
a large parking area. A large delivery truck almost hits me. I swerve and head
a different direction to the lanes that lead to the road. They are marked with
wide white lines. I then get worried that the driver of the delivery truck will
think that I am following him, that I am angry, so I carefully go a different
way once on the road. (This has never happened to me and I don't know of any
place that has people filling out such forms)
I open my eyes and see the tree leaves
brightened by the sunlight. So I'll be hammering nails into the roof shingles.
I think of the graphic artist, how I should just call him and tell him I'll
just meet him outside his work in the parking lot to get the final copies of
the game rather than drive to his house for them.
Dressed I look at the clock, 7am. So I
make fresh coffee and turn on the computer. For the past hour I have been
making changes to my web page. And now I'll insert them. Then out onto the
roof.
Today is the 28th. It has
been a month since my college daughter has visited to get her living expenses
check. When last here I asked her when her last day of classes was; she said,
"28 April." I later checked the calendar to see that was on a Sunday.
Maybe she meant this was the Final's week. Or that she may visit then, in all I
have been trying to get as much work on the garage done before she gets here as
she does not know I have begun to make one. I didn't decide to build the garage
until a few days after her visit in March.
Today is 9 June, 2002 a
Sunday
I stopped writing in this for a couple
of reasons. I got so busy and so tired from the building work and I wasn't too
sure it was a good idea to let strangers read too much of my personal
activities. I did make daily notes on my calendar so now I will begin to
elaborate in this private continuation of the journal.
Looking back across time to:
29 April, Monday
From 8am till noon I reviewed the board
game printouts for errors, finding many.
From noon till 7pm I hammered shingles
on the garage roof. The sun warms the tar shingles quickly. They get sticky and
hot. Facing up the slope of the roof and leaning to hold the nail in place till
the hammer pops it down, makes the small of the back sore. Also the gravel bits
in the shingles digs into the knees; which forced me to quickly go and put my
kneepads on. The kneepads are held in place by top and bottom straps, which
bunched up behind the knee and cut sore marks. All in all one of the worse jobs
I have had to do.
The evening hours after the necessary
shower and clothes into the washer are all the same. So type of warmed up can
goods and slow sipping liquids while watching TV.
30 April, Tuesday
This was the graphic artist's last work
day before going on a three-week vacation with the National Guard. So I went to
his work place early and was determined not to leave until all the corrections
were made to the game and so I would have enough printouts to make up at least
two correct games. He was friendly as usual, but was upset because his wife
keep calling him and complaining of their marital stresses. So I got to listen
to his moaning while he made the corrections. Coupled with his having to tend
to any other customer at the counter, the corrections took until noon. Four
hours of me basically sitting quiet and listening and mostly waiting, a most
difficult task for me to do.
Having the corrections made and the
printouts in hand, put me in better spirits. I took final copies on 8" x
11" sheets to the insurance company. The broker lady had just returned
from her one-week vacation. She sent them off to a few other companies to get
quotes on what a year's premium would be. She figured a week's wait.
I went home and called the game
manufacture. I told him of my progress and verified his position. On the
financial statements to Wal-Mart I had made a note on the bottom, stating the
manufacture's financial commitment to me. I read that statement over the phone
to the manufacture's representative, asking if that was a fair statement of his
position. He said yes. Confident they would make the game and distribute it to
Wal-Mart once Wal-Mart gave me a buy order, I continued to get the information
about his company to put on the Wal-Mart application forms. This took about a
half hour. He suggested I raise my suggested wholesale price per game to 9.50 -
10.50, saying I needed a larger margin than my 7.50 to 8.50. I ended up
changing it to 8.50 to 9.50. Since he said that Wal-Mart would tack on a 30 to 40%
price hike. That would make the retail price around $12, which was a little
higher than half of the other kids' games.
From 3 pm till 7pm I hammered shingles
on the roof.
RETURN TO INDEX index
I had expected Alaina D to stop by
sometime in April, I was sure I would surprise her with the garage work.
I awoke at 2:30am, the quiet dark or
the day, completely awake. My agent at Sydra-tech had given me two weeks to
have a Final Final version of my Book completed. So I got out of bed and began
the editing of Book I. Went through it line by line for alignment of lines and
paragraphs. Then did two different Spelling and Grammar checks by the computer.
Quit at 9am.
From 9:30am till 12:30pm I finished up
the roof shingles.
From 12:30pm until 1:30pm I filled out
the UCC Bar Code application for the game over the internet and paid by credit
card: $750.
From 1:30 till 6pm I put up the OSB
siding.
2 May, Thursday
Thinking that Alaina D might stop by to
get her check, this her last day of the week to be in town at the university, I
put the first proto-type of Roll & Move together. Gluing the final version
of the printouts onto poster board; that took from 8:30am till 1:30am.
I think went and got more OSB sheets
from the lumber company. Putting them up on the outside of the garage to
completely enclose the garage: 2:30 till 6:30pm.
3 May, Friday
Disappointed that my daughter had yet
to visit.
From 8:30am till 1:30pm I did an edit
on Book II and Book III; taking the plays out of the book.
From 2pm till 7pm I finished the
support boards on the windows and doorframes.
4 May, Saturday
Usual breakfast of oatmeal, raisons and
glass of milk. Lunch is usually lettuce, cheese on 12-grain bread, glass of
milk and a few cookies. Break snacks are usually grapes and lemon/lime soda.
From 8:30am till 11:30am I edited Book
III.
From 12pm till 6pm I put up the OSB
around windows and door and then installed windows and door. Two 4' x 4'
windows with screens in the back work room. One 4' x 4' window and normal glass
screen door on west side of garage.
VCR taped some TV movies.
5 May, Sunday
8:30am till 10:30am, second editing of
Book I.
Went to the lumber company and bought
all of the vinyl siding for the garage; unloaded into the back workroom.
Noticed that one of the workroom windows did not have a screen in it; so took
it out and took it back to the lumber company. A clerk there went to the back
corner of the store where those windows were and we noticed that the remaining
dozen windows didn't have any screens in them. He didn't know what to think and
suggested I order one. Just as I turned to follow him back to the counter I
happened to see a stack of screens a few feet from the windows. I pointed them
out and we found that they were indeed the screens for the remaining windows.
He put one in my window and I left with out paying. Then put it back into the
workroom wall. A good hour and half lost because I had not noticed it missing
when I first bought them.
I
began setting up the tools and table saw necessary for putting up the vinyl
siding. The open doorway from the driveway into the garage was still a problem.
I sat up a long board along the floor to determine just how much of a slope the
floor was; the concrete floor had been poured that way mostly because the
bulldozer operator had not made the ground level. He said it was because there
just was not enough dirt to do so and that a small slope would allow the
rainwater to run off quickly. I had not planned to make any type of garage as I
was going to be short of cash to finish the house so I left the parking pad
area remain with a slope.
But a year and half later I had decided
to make a carport over the parking pad with some of the money that I had gotten
from the mortgage loan. I could have had the pad re-poured level but then the
driveway would have been 4 to 7 inches lower and would have required pouring it
level at the same time. And the total cost would have been well over $6500.
Money that was not in the budget and besides the slope was not that bad. Still
I kinda wanted to put up a garage door at the driveway entrance and was trying
to determine if possible.
As I stood looking at the level on the
long board I had placed on the sloped floor, a car came down the driveway
crunching gravel sounds took my attention. To my surprise it was my son; he had
some free time before having to attend a funeral later that afternoon. He was
surprised at the garage, but liked the work so for. I pointed to the level on
the long board and explained the slope problem and my wondering of a maybe
garage door.
He too, didn't think that hanging a
12foot wide door on the same angle of the floor slope would work very well, if
at all (a clerk at the lumber company had thought it a bad idea also, as had
I). He suggested having the floor poured level, which is what should occur. I
pointed out the driveway would then be too low and would also need concrete;
money I don't have. So we ended the discussion with just leave it open, no
door, like a carport. Which is what is now.
He looked at the garage suggesting
inside walls and painting any wood that might get rained on, which I said I
would do, of course. We walked to the woodsheds and he said to knock them down.
One has tin for outside walls; the other has wide boards. I painted them with a
dark brown super protective outside paint. I built them up on low concrete pad
blocks so the ground damp would not rot. And now some ground hogs have dug
underneath and live there. I told him there were very solid and I would just put
matching vinyl on them. He was concerned that the house and garage looked nice
but they were ugly. And they were. I had planned to cover them anyway.
I took him into the house and showed
him the Roll & Move game that I was getting ready to send off to Wal-Mart
as soon as the insurance came through. He was surprised that I had put the kids
photos on the box lid, but was also pleased by that. We played a few quick
rounds of the game as he had not seen it before; being off at faraway college
when I made most of the games. He too thought it to be a pretty good, quick
playing game for small kids.
He was on his way to play soccer; he is
on an adult team league. I wanted to take my cam recorder and film him playing
but he said no way. Then he was gone. Later that night I sent him an email with
the book agent's address so he could see and read what their promotion of me
and my book on their web site. I had to send them a photo of me, I sent in one
from 1984 where I was sitting on a picnic bench at my brothers and reading the
Sunday funny paper just before the Easter Egg Hunt began.
After he left I returned to begin
putting up the vinyl siding. For the next hour I kicked myself at not insisting
that he let me watch him play soccer.
Since my wife kicked me out when he was
five I lost out on all the things that dads do with their kids. Divorce is a
horrible aspect of life. I know that making this house was to show my kids that
I was a capable person and that they might be proud of me. Getting an agent to
sell my book is also to justify how I spent my time writing. And turning the
games I invented into a business has been done mostly to impress upon them that
their father was not a 'loser' or the weirdo that their mother and the divorce
lawyers had impressed upon them.
6 May, Monday
Awaken by thunder and lightning at
3:30am I got up and began editing Book II. Around 10am I went to the store and
the bank as the last of the rain fell.
From 2pm till 7pm I put up vinyl
siding. For anyone who hasn't done this work or watched anyone, this is one of
the easiest jobs. A strip of aluminum metal is nailed along the bottom edge of
the outside walls. Its bottom edge is turned upwards so the first row of vinyl
will cup onto the aluminum turned up lip. The metal strip has small openings every
two inches for the nails. The vinyl strips are 10 inches high and 12 foot long.
At the bottom of the vinyl is a turned inwards 'C' lip. At the top of the vinyl
is a 1/2" lip and just above that is a row of nail hole opening every two
inches. The bottom 'C' cups over the top lip of the lower vinyl strip; this is
a fairly tight fit and actually holds the 12 foot long vinyl panel up until the
nails a hammered in. The nails are suppose to stick up about 1/8 inch, so that
the vinyl can move slightly because the temperature causes the vinyl to expand
and contract a very tiny bit. If the nails are hammered flattening the vinyl to
the wood, when the vinyl expands and contracts with the daily changes in
temperature a 'popping' sound occurs. It is difficult to get each nail to be
that 1/8 inch up and some of my first hours of putting the vinyl on this house
had the nails hammered flat; consequently I have been hearing the 'pop' of
expansion and contraction, eventually that will stop once the hammered nails
have been loosened.
A special type of vinyl shape has been
made to put over the corners of the house and around the windows and doors; a
half-inch wide 'U' shape that lets the edges of the vinyl panes slip into. The
corner pieces and the 'U' lengths have nail holes and are put up first. Then
when the long vinyl panels are put on the walls all of the nails are covered
up. The most important thing is to have the bottom aluminum strip level. And
fairly exact measurements of the panels; an overlap requirement of 1 inch and a
good 1/4 inch extra space going into the 'U' shapes allows for a little
mis-measurement, but very little. Since the 12-foot long panels are so
lightweight and easily bent, this is a one-person job. Like most jobs, the
higher up the house, the more difficult the task and the longer it takes.
The only really hard measurement is at
the roof peak, where the roof is sloped. The vinyl panels have to be cut on a
long angle to slide under the 'U' shape that has been nailed up under the roof
overhang. The other hassle of this job is the mess of sawing with the table saw
or handsaw. The tiny shavings of plastic can dig into the flesh and stick to
one's clothes.
7 May, Tuesday
Edited book for two hours. The
insurance broker lady called with all of the various companies' premium offers.
Ironic, but the very first company she had a quote from weeks ago turned out to
be the lowest bid. So I drove there and signed the paperwork and paid the bill
with the company check. A tally of the monies spent to get my company in
compliance with Wal-mart vendor company requirements was $2500.
From 11:30am till 7:30pm I put up vinyl
siding.
8 May, Wednesday
Up early again; edited Book from 6:00am
till 9:30am.
Put the Vendor Proposal Packet for
Wal-Mart together and mailed it off at the Edwardsville Post Office; insured
for $100 with a Receipt Return Request so I would know for sure when they
received it.
From 10:00am till 6:30pm I put up vinyl
siding.
9 May, Thursday
Edit Book I from 8am till 11am.
Began putting up the soffit metal on
the roof overhang at 11:30am. Stopped at 6:30pm
My sister Robin stopped by for a
15minute visit and look over of the garage work at 2pm. She usually visits
about twice a month on her lunch hour. Always glancing at her watch, leaves me
with the impression that visiting me is not really what she wants to do. She
could stop in before work or after work or on one of the other four days a week
that she isn't working. She only works about 15 hours a week. Feeling that her
interest in my life is minimal, I decided not to tell her about my attempts of
the Book publishing or my efforts with Wal-Mart. Choosing instead to only tell
her and my brother if either business deal becomes successful.
Having spent so much of my time alone, realizing
that if I got hurt with the chainsaw or fell off the ladder or down the stairs,
that I would just lay there for days, and most of the time for weeks, before
anyone called or stopped by. This has hardened me, something like the explorers
through the mountains who rely only upon their selves.
The local K-mart store is going out of
business so I went and bought paint; 10 gallons of $18 per can at a reduced
price of $10 per.
10 May, Friday
From 7am to 9am I did the company
checking account tabulation, verifying what checks to whom had been written,
using the internet banking and cancelled checks and stubs. My book keeping
habits are not consistently up to date.
Edit Book II from 9am till 12:30pm.
Soffit on garage roof overhang, from
12:30pm to 7pm. Completed the east side.
11 May, Saturday
8:30am till 2pm edit Book III.
From 2:30pm till 7:30pm, soffit work;
completing west side of garage.
12 May, Sunday - Mother's Day
and the new moon.
8am till 9pm ran a printout on entire
Book, front and back - 500 pages, 254,00 words.
When the rain quit for awhile in the
afternoon, I went to the cemetery. Took mom some yellow dandelions from my
front yard. Picked a bunch more growing wild about her stone and assembled them
nicely; cleaned the mud off the marble. Each time I visit there, I feel less
and less of a connection to them. I don't know why sister and brother never go
there, never have; almost thirty years now. Of their generation only my dad's
sister lives on; she responded to my Easter update letter. To my surprise,
steady handwriting and rational, logical, insightful, thoughtful response to
me. I wrote back a few weeks later asking for some family info about my
grandparents; still waiting.
At 6pm I called my sister, wishing her
a happy mom's day and she chatted of the events of the day that her hubby and
kids had done for her. Chatted till 7:30pm. I then sent out short emails to my
lady mom friends.
13 May, Monday
9am till 12pm I glued together the
second final prototype of the Roll & Move game. Thought for sure my
daughter would be stopping by soon, as her college finals would soon be done,
so I wanted to show her the final product.
12:30pm to 7:45pm hammered the vinyl
siding onto the garage walls. Back wall completely done and east wall
completely done.
14 May, Tuesday
9am till 11am broke Book into four
files and sent it to the Sydra-tech agency.
11:30am till 3pm finished west wall
siding. Vinyl siding all done. Began small woodshed vinyl siding.
3pm to 8pm, mixed white and black paint
to get a gray that would come close to the house vinyl color. Painted the two
back walls of main garage; they dried a blue/gray to my surprise.
15 May, Wednesday
9am till 4pm paint support beams
against house, some near outside got three coats, rest got two coats of the
blue/gray mixture.
Began to rain.
16 May, Thursday
Noticed for the first time that there
was a second chipmunk in the brick wishing well in the front yard. Got out cam
recorder and took a few minutes of them. The new one is noticeably smaller.
Four or five days prior I had seen and heard the chipmunk making a loud sound,
"Chip, chip, chip, chip". I thought, "So that is how they got
their name." In all the many months that it has been around here, that was
the first time I had heard any sound from it. Most of the time I see it sitting
on top of the bricks watching the birds and squirrels nibbling the seeds I
throw about the well. Some times when nothing else is about, it would be eating
the seeds too. I wondered why it was making such a loud sound; I didn’t see any
of the local wild cats prowling. I have found a few red bird feathers at the
well before; realizing one of the cats had caught its supper.
So I guess the chipmunk’s sound last
week was some type of mating call. I was pleased for them, so close together, smelling
and rubbing and sitting back-to-back at times atop the well bricks watching
over the other animals. I guess I was slightly jealous too. But most real
shocked that somehow the second tiny chipmunk animal had found its way here.
Just twice the size of mice, barely as large as a small rat, it had gotten past
the half dozen roaming cats of the neighborhood. I was really amazed at that.
So I began throwing birdseed more often. Thinking they'd be raising a family.
9am to 2:30pm, painting support beams
done.
4:30pm to 6:30pm moved all loose bricks
away from small wood shed. Arranged them in nice display on west side of
driveway down to woodsheds.
17 May, Friday
Watched the chipmunks for a good thirty
minutes, as early morning has been the only regular time to see them. The new
smaller one was somewhat frantic; it would not jump down the four feet from the
top to the ground over the shallow moat of water. The squirrels leap amazing
distances high above the ground from narrow limbs to other narrow limbs. And
the first time I saw the chipmunk jump down to the ground unhurt I was just as
amazed. The size of a small rat jumping down four feet to the ground onto
rocks, and unhurt. The bricks of the wishing well are not cemented together,
just carefully stacked. And now time as made many open spaces so that the
chipmunk is just the right size to slide, crawl in-between them. So why jump
from the top?
9am to 6:30pm Planned out the needed
electrical supplies and bought them from the lumber company on my account,
which I pay off a couple times a month by check. Speeds things up and at the
end of the month is a nice convenience when short of cash. Began stringing the
wire up the house support beams and over the rafters. Found that if careful I
wouldn't have to drill any holes in the wall boards, uses a little more wire
doubling back up the wall from the socket to the rafters then over and down to
the next socket. But am putting in just a few sockets and drilling holes takes
time, but also weakens the wall support boards.
18 May, Saturday
Sent off some emails. Began electric
wiring at 10am.
From 11:30am to 1:30pm next door
neighbor, Jenks, stops by. Wants me to do some clean up work, some repairs, mow
his lawn and do some drywall installation in his basement so to put his empty
house up for sale. I agree and accept a down payment of $350 of the 800.
2pm till 7pm finished most of the
electric wiring.
7:00pm till 8:30pm run the gas motor
weed-eater machine over Jenks' entire yard. Back grass over 2 foot tall.
19 May, Sunday 2002
Awaken 5am remembering strange dream.
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4 December 2005, Ft. Bliss in
El Paso, Texas at dawn. The annual
Whittaker Christmas Party was on 2 Dec.
The National Weather report showed a snow cold front dropping down from
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. So if I
left on 3 Dec and drove straight through to Texas I would be ahead of it by
hours. So I did. Arriving in Dallas at rush hour I avoided a
traffic jam by taking an exit; tired I found a subdivision construction site
and napped till mid-day. Had late lunch and was informed by a nice interstate
rest stop worker of ice storm due there in a few hours; so I drove fast to El
Paso. My aunt and uncle Whittaker
buried in the Fort Bliss cemetery, I opted to pay my respects. I had AIT training in nuc-missles there in
1968. Uncle retired there and then
died, 1990s. Aunt died in Denver,
CO. I tried to visit his grave in 1998
with Cage and Becka but misread the gravesite map. We only found an infant Whittaker stone. Becka and I bought groceries in PX, they
wouldn't let Cage in. I dropped them
off bus station in Sacramento CA and called Aunt June, she told me that Uncle
Dwight's son, my first cousin Dwight jr."No wakey, wakey", had died
the day before while we slept in the camper on a street in San Francisco, CA.
I-10 New Mexico, the C. Divide on flat
desert. This business was abandon;
skeleton in VW. Motorbike and rider in
shade. Railroad runs nearby
I-10 mountains of southern New Mexico.
The interstate only dotted with gas stations every 50 miles, no towns for
hundreds of miles.
Cute name for desert town: Road Forks,
AZ. Finally the flat ground turns to
mountains thou the sandy dirt remained for hundreds of more miles
I-10 mountains covered with large
boulders, ever ready to roll down upon the unexpected traveler. Southern
Arizona, 100 miles from Tucson, 5 Dec 06
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I picked a small one-bedroom apartment
2 blocks from daughter Alaina. For 3
weeks I painted 13 Christmas cards and this discarded lampshade.
Then found an old stand up lamp with
round table in middle of pole. Covered it with silver paper and painted shade
and gave it to Alaina.
Arrived the second week of December
2005 40 hours of driving my recent purchase 1997 GMC truck with sleeping camper
on the back.
I then spent two weeks walking every
day around the neighborhood, to grocery store. Found pool hall and poker game
weekend nights.
More photos of the small houses where I
stayed. Aprox: 2 mile by 4 miles square of homes. Bordered by 5 lane roads with
businesses. Dec 05
On both sides of the 5 lane major roads
was a "bike lane" 3 feet wide asphalt. I was about everyday and saw bicycle riders everywhere. Some had
motors
Return to index
31 December 2005 I was getting real
sick Horrible Arizona Flu Fever, deep cough 10 days of bad bad thought I might
die. Didn't; after a week of gradual recovery I drove out to see the desert, 33
miles north of Tucson, AZ This is the
flattest part of Iron Mountain National Monument In distance is the lowest hill I saw, went to check it out.
From my parking spot oft the old
two-lane road that lead to the copper mine, it was a good mile walk to the base
of steep hill. This cattle path was
neat. Never did see a live cow, but
there were warning signs. Also four
wheelers' tracks I saw 3 house flies, 2 butter flies, a flock of quail and the
bouncing ears of a jack rabbit (twice)
The hill was much higher than I had
imagined; I had to stop and rest and catch my breath every 20 feet. The slope was 45* - 65* and covered with
loose boulders, large and small; every step required care. Here at the top some
kids had made a fort with heavy wooden beam.
After I returned to my truck
lungs hurt & legs sore. I
knew I would survive.
January 2006, glenn H. whittaker,
jr. explores the desert 30 miles N.W.
of Tucson, AZ in Iron Mountain Monument.
The cactus is over 150 years old, said a park ranger to me. Temperature
was 70 during day and 45 at night. Coldest night was 30 for only a few days.
15 feet tall slender "bush"
has many thorns but no leaves. I saw town houses use these cut limbs as yard
fences Unfortunately I did not get one for my garden.
In distance is Iron Mountain
Monument. I was shocked, fields of
cotton growing. Their white hulls/seeds
dot the irrigated fields.
One afternoon while rock collecting on
the flats of Iron Mountain, a gang of gas powered four wheelers roared
past. Ten minutes later two Park Rangers
pulled up, told me I couldn't rock hunt there, had to go to a different place,
north.
Got a map at Land Management. I-10 north 35mi, then right for 5 miles on
rock/sand road to the Public Lands. Bumpy sand paths off hard road led to
proper rock gathering designated area.
On left, "Christmas Tree
cactus" daughter calls ‘em, has millions of thin needles like fishhooks,
pain and won't come out easily. I have one in my garden, but last winter’s hard
freeze killed it.
Look closely: On ground in tree shade
is skeleton of horse or maybe a cow.
Head was gone and hide too. No smells; nothing left but dried out bones.
One of the few shade trees around so I made camp there.
Return to Index index
After two months of the desert town I
was somewhat bored and I had wanted to see my vacation Lot in Mississippi. So I
drove there. On the 6-mile connecting
road I-20 to Rte 90, the 5 gas station/stores were blown apart by Hurricane
Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was Aug 05, I arrived
Feb 06 to check out my subdivision.
This very large sailboat was lifted up by the 13-foot water surge and
then left on the ground beside an elevated house.
Maybe 20% people stayed in white FEMA
trailers while cleaning out. All inside walls and insulation is being torn out,
mold & water 13 feet high These two photos were taken from my dock. Lucky
me had not built a cabin yet, just a dock for my small boat.
In my subdivision, the smallest and
oldest (poorest construction) were knocked over, pushed into the canals. Old elevated trailers were twisted and on
the ground. 40% totally ruined. The above house was pretty nice and had been
elevated until…
Feb 06. I left some desert rocks and plants
on my Lot to see if they might thrive in the wet climate. In the afternoon my neighbors, now living in
a FEMA mobile home, told me to drive to down town Bay St. Louis to see the
damage.
Standing in front of the Hancock Bank I
took photos, left and right. There used to be an asphalt road and sidewalks in
front of these buildings only 40 feet from the Gulf of Mexico. Bay St. Louis, MS
Large hunks of asphalt. Light blue water is upper left. The railroad train rolled across the bridge
as I chatted with a minister from Kansas who was part of a volunteer group down
here to help. Beyond the white building
was the road that went along the shoreline mansions; I did not get to see the
damage along there.
My Lot is 3 miles from Rte 90 small
town of Waveland. Then are the small houses of Bay St. Louis. Only the homes on coastline are big. The
tiny town houses looked okay mostly. This giant oak stump, hollow I climbed
down inside and pretended for mercy.
The minister took my photo.
I then spent two days driving back
across Texas to finish my “snow bird” winter near my daughter.
Return to Index index
Feb 6, Saturday lunch at Iron Mountain
Monument, Tucson, AZ Alaina's 4x4 truck
was needed on rock ravine, just ahead, narrow road Rocky sand surface pushed level becomes 30mile ‘country road’,
that rain makes deep ravines into. See mirror smiling at you?
Copper mine is behind us. Gold flecks
in rock we're on. glenn & Alaina D
The "Christmas cactus tree: in front
of Alaina is her favorite. Mountaintop above her has been mined for copper. The
rest of the Iron Mountain hillside has become untouchable National Monument
lands. Only camping, off road vehicles,
target practice, and walking now allowed. This our only adventure into the wild
as she works 60 hours per week and has a weekend boyfriend to go nightclubbing,
etc.
Piñatas full of candy at apartment
neighbor's kid's birthday party. My one bedroom apartment was on second floor,
heard all outside sounds.
Look close: training wheels on a
motorcycle, Tucson, AZ Feb 2006
Mountain 10 miles from my apartment
usually has snow on it in winter but not 2006. Nice apartment building on main
road
Nice large apartment complex, $650 2
bedroom and up. I found a smaller
place: I only paid $400 plus
electricity, but also had a swimming pool
I think this is one of the strangest
natural scenes I've encountered along my interstate travels. These Giant boulders appear ready to
"roll" down upon the roadway.
As if purposefully designed, the Highway Dept. of AZ cut through
mountain with these loose rocks left, right, median at Dragoon Road, on I-10,
65 miles east of Tucson. The first time
I rolled through here I didn't have any film. Both times I've been afraid to stop,
it is just a scary place.
Return to index
Leaving New Mexico, I-10 heading east.
24 February 2006 My 60th birthday.
I-20 heading east, Middle of Texas,
giant massive sand/dirt, yep and it’s still the 24th of February 2006.
This is West Texas, I-20 heading
east. President Bush is from around
these parts I think.
I had to cut my vacation short because
on 1 March 2006, my Temporary IL plates expire and my insurance lapses all
because I forgot to change to ending date for electronic payments of my monthly
bills by the Bank. My sister had sent me my hard copy statement from my
insurance company, which showed I hadn’t paid my January bill. A phone call to the Pay Link department of
the Bank told me what happened. Oh well I was getting bored.
Nearly 900 miles to cross the state of
Texas, speed limit70 & 75. Blinding
sunset in side mirror. Most of Texas looks like this, subdivisions ???
Small stream of water running through
Oak trees in Arkansas. At interstate rest stop, First trees and running water
seen in 3 months, which gave me a sense of relief, "I was nearing
homeland."
As I entered the boot hill of Missouri,
my attention was pulled skyward.
At top of photo is last view of my homemade
camper on 1978 Ford truck, which I used to travel, live in, to Detroit,
MI. Crossed the desert to the Pacific
Ocean and up its route 1 to San Francisco and then over the Rocky Mountains. Later on to see/smell Old Faithful Geyser.
Also went to Santa Fe, NM then down through the Alamo and over to Key West, FL
and back. Then across the Smokey Mountains to Washington, DC to watch the House
of Representatives Subcommittee vote to Impeach Clinton. Now that’s a Ford for
you!
Weeks later I tore apart its rotten
wood and began repaint job.
I had pulled a 4'x8' UHAUL trailer
behind the 1997 GMC truck, carrying desert rock and gravel dirt, which lines my
driveway. The house brickwork I did,
mixing my own mortar, daughter Alaina D helped laid the foundation while in
between jobs.
Return to Index index
April 06. The wood of the camper on the
bed of 1978 Ford was rotting and the paint was chipping off in many spots. So I
spent 3 weeks sanding prep-work. Tiring messy work Maybe 200 hours: Inside
doors, under hood, truck bed. Then had
MAACO paint it to original GREEN :$600.
MAACO
manager said keep new paint job out of weather for a couple weeks, so I
built a carport for it beside work sheds at bottom of hill. Four days work, supplies
from LOWE'S $500.
Original 1987 S-10 truck was entirely
blue. After seeing how nice the old
Ford looked, I decided to put a cheap paint job on the rusting fading Chevy. 3
days prep work for a modern Red/White/Blue. But it turned out so ugly I had to
change it.
Light brown chips on hood are droppings
from a black and yellow bumblebee chewing a home hole, nesting in ceiling wood.
Two coats of Semi Gloss Oil red put on
with a roller. The white stripe covers over original thin tape stripes. Original blue left under grillwork. All
chrome removed.
March 06. Two miles from my house,
woods and farmland is being developed for more subdivisions. The bulldozers knock down the trees and push
them into large piles. On the weekends
nobody works there, so I take my truck and chainsaw the logs into 30/50 lb
hunks to take home. Did 15 truck loads.
Yellow Log splitter (behind logs)
exhaust is fan blown out screen windows and open garage door. 4/5 of the logs
cut, had to be split into smaller pieces.
I unloaded the weekend logs into garage, then used the yellow log
splitter during the week.
The majority of split logs are kept at
the bottom of hill under two layers of black plastic: 25'x25'x5' on pallets.
Along outside of garage on top of
pallets on brick walkway I store the smaller logs and planks of pallets I cut
up for kindling. I use this pile only when the snow is on the driveway.
Return to index
On I-55 at the Cape Girardeau, MO exit,
east side is this curious sign. My daughter, Alaina D, was born December 1976
& not a statistic.
I had passed by this sign over a dozen
times, finally decided to investigate. A frontage road has a parking lot and
gazebo full of information; anti-war. I parked and walked all around, crosses
are made of plastic pipes.
This bridge crosses Mississippi River
to IL Rte 3 at Cape Girardeau, MO
Opposite the Abortion sign (same exit
road) on the Illinois side of the river is this Flea Market Strip Mall; the only
buildings for miles in the middle of farmlands. And is only open on the
weekends.
May 2006, I usually take I-55 south
beginning at St. Louis, MO but the river bridge was being worked on, so I took
two lane Rte 3, IL. Liked it so much used it on return trip. Barge in distance
and railroad tracks hidden in trees.
Old concrete river road leading into
Chester, IL. First building in sight is
a barge granary. Road winds between river and factories.
IL Rte 3, river road passes factories
and meets road to another Mississippi river bridge at this intersection. Sign
reads home of Popeye, famous cartoon sailor, but I don't know why. Many
Mexicans live/work here in snack factory (I happened to drive by a closing
time).
IL Rte I-255, goes around east side of
St. Louis, MO and meets I-55 20 miles south of famous Gateway to the West Arch.
This view shows the only area of land not developed yet on IL side of river.
Very nice view of Arch.
June 2006
At Pierre Marquette Park, IL Mississippi River. 1997 GMC truck I bought Nov05 then I put on camper
top. My 10' long jon boat with sunroof, hauled on my modified lawnmower
trailer, 10 horse power motor.
River current very slow. 50 large ducks
on shoreline. Temp 74* slight breeze, totally relaxing.
One mile north from park. I then off
motor and float back in current; and yes I have two paddles as oars and wear my
safety jacket.
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25June ‘06. Sister Robin sits on swing.
White rocks waterfall into moat around brick wishing well. Motor ran two weeks
then died; now moat leaks. All the old bricks about my house I salvaged from
buildings being torn down in area and are all over 100years old. But recently the impatience and insurance fears
of new contractors cause bulldozers to destroy and fill dump trucks headed for
our giant landfill.
Mid September 2006 was hot! 85* + So I
took my log splitter out to Uncle Dale's and chopped up big oak hunks for him.
Dale's neighbor, Sarge, had a frontyard giant dead oak tree dropped
and gave Dale the firewood hunks. Each half log weighed 100 lbs
Dale helped for one half truck load,
"Too hot, let's play some cards." We drank lemonade and chatted
some. I returned over the next five
days, doing 2 and 3 hours in the blistering heat, quitting when hot and tired.
Return to index
28 September 2006 Interstate Highways
I-64, I-79, I-68, I-81, I-84, I-95. I drove the 97GMC truck with camper sleeping
straight from St. Louis, MO to Kennebunkport, Maine. My first time in northeast
USA. Stopping at few cities along route.
Drove through the Great Smokey
Mountains into the darkness. I slept in a WAL-MART parking lot. In the morning
I saw the white chalk paintings on the high gray rocks.
When I did pass near a city, these tall
wooden plank sound buffers kept my eyes from seeing the houses, hundreds of
miles of buffers.
Hartford, Connecticut see the capitol
dome? I stayed on highway most of 1000
miles was small mountains, curvy & tree lined. The local drivers averaged 70mph; it took me many hours of nervy
driving before I became accustomed. I
wanted to see, to feel, to hear the ocean pound against giant rock lined
shores, just like I’ve seen in the movies, I didn’t want to see town buildings.
I stayed on I-84 to go around Boston to
I-95. Bought a Boston city map tried to find Stephanie on Great Lake Road. But
only found hidden a Air Base.
Bigelow Hollow S.P. I-84 Connecticut,
gas station nestled against these nearly vertical rocks. 30 September 2006
Local man fills tires of his working
1950s tractor. A brief chat, friendly,
uses chains in winter, heats with wood, grows vegetables in valley.
Saturday night on I95 Maine PAY
turnpike; after learning that there were 5 more toll booths to go, I called it
a night, slept in local Park & Ride lot. In morning drove straight to
Atlantic Ocean. This find on Highway 1.
This car I want! Check out plates. Guess Mouse died, as shop
was empty dusty, vacant and the lot out back of garage was also empty.
This intersection on Rte 1 is about 4
miles north of Kennebunkport, MA. So many out of businesses, so much for sale,
seemed like poor Missouri Ozarks
I followed Log Cabin Road, ranch style
homes dotted woodsy asphalt. At this intersection, had to take photos and got
detailed directions to Post Office, downtown and then ocean from coffee house
owner.
Return to index
This hand carved welcoming sign, a mile
from the tourist downtown.
Small bay off Atlantic Ocean, tide out,
most of homes were large.
As I sat behind the wheel on the street
aside the Post Office writing letters home, wearing same "work" clothes
as my son cop walked by; the town so small the police actually foot patrol.
I'm in the parking lot for the downtown
shops, a fee gatekeeper waited but the Sunday tourists all parked on side
streets for free, me too.
1 October 2006, a Sunday morning, while
the choir sang I wrote letters.
The steeple had a large bell, but I
arrived late and didn't hear it. Also missed the sermon and to take a photo of
the old stain glass windows.
After many people left, I went inside;
I was shocked as the first floor was divided into offices and classes rooms. I
smiled at the ladies and wondered; then I saw a set of winding creaking stairs
up to the second floor. The
"church" had been remodeled to make a second floor for services.
Beautiful brick sidewalks, old
buildings looked new. This main street
went over the bay bridge and was the highway out of town, very busy.
I walked to mid-bridge just to snap
photo of boats docked. This old fishing town now just does tourists' trade;
homes became shops.
Nope, I didn't go inside to look at the
trinkets. Junk stuff made in China just
like most other tourist shops, New Orleans, Ozarks, Memphis, etc.
My souvenirs are my photos, rocks,
dried plants, posters. Thou I would have ridden on this town tourist tour, but
missed it.
Look very closely: a plastic hobbyhorse inside a metal wire
horse.
Months later I learned that Ben &
Jerry’s is a nation chain; when I saw this place I thought it just two ‘modern’
men.
A sign of these to come in the future
to all gasoline pumps.
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After leaving tourist town I headed for
the ocean road, but was immediately diverted.
Detour wound through closely built large homes, narrow & curvy
All the very narrow streets to the ocean
were barricaded. No one outside, so much tree shade around all the houses,
looked expensive. Finally an open
street led me to the only parking space on street. I didn't see the No Parking sign until now, appears no one can
ever park there.
Standing on sidewalk aside my truck,
looking north at giant seaside hotel. The local Tri-Atherton, run/bike/swim had
just finished, participants tired.
From sidewalk wall are the dark blue
3inch decorative rocks spread down to very small sand beach and to jetting up
shore rock formations. I sat on hard
rock, small ocean waves splashing feet as I took this arty photo.
View from my parking space looking
south. See the two sea gulls? I took my
rock from this photo place & Robin's rock under big house (pine trees).
Stone sea wall of big white house (pine
trees). USA flag flies tattered and
torn.
I sat on the ocean rocks absorbed by
the waves' sound and the distant horizon. Then I noticed this small bobbing
"dot", which became the man & kayak. Must be very lightweight as
he carried from water to car roof by his self.
Arty photo: ancient upheaval framing
man's marvelous constructions. These dark, ancient rocks really fascinated me,
such upheaval, not a place to be at that time.
I sat on these rocks and tried with my
might to loosen one. Cracks and layers,
yet frozen solid by molecular bonding, otherwise the tourists would have them.
The road was built right up to the
water, large boulders as seawall against sidewalk. See my truck to the right of
the waving USA flag. Storm clouds began coming in.
Nearly out of film I realized I hadn't
shown the homes, so many large houses I had to figure many were built as summer
retreats for wealthy New Yorkers.
The air cool and damp, rain was
predicted so I opted to head west, ending trip up Maine coast. Heading out I wondered, "Some important
white couple?"
Two miles along main highway, it dawned
on me I had not a photo of me at the Atlantic Ocean, so I took a side trip. Followed
city road signs to the Public Beach Parking, which was sandy & nice, but
cost to park = $8; public bathroom available too. Many families with children
on sand and water’s edge and then men sitting in lawn chairs along a very long
pier fishing.
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2 October 2006, Monday. I left the ocean Sunday 3pm, decided to
cross a straight route over two lane roads to Niagara Falls, NY, but after 3
hours of curvy hills in drizzly rain, with hundreds of hidden driveways and
speeders, I headed for 4 lane interstates.
For a brief moment thought this truck
was coming at me; nope, being towed.
Hard to see railroad bridge over wide
mountain river, but check out the cool view in rearview mirror; I do those
double shots a lot.
In the hazy horizon see the
"V", an inch left of green city sign.
How about now? See the "V" in the greenish hazy
horizon.
This is the "V", highway cut
through mountains by men. I-68 in Maryland
Sideling Hill has exhibit building for west traffic and over road walkway.
Parking lots from either direction.
Almost an 80* cut angle in mountain,
with 10' wide cutbacks going to top. Going east has an exit with food machines
and can walk over to exhibit.
I had been here before, trip to
Washington, DC President Clinton's impeachment; did the walkover interstate and
climbed stairway up mountain, exhibit closed. I had forgotten just where
Sideling Hill was; so on the way to Maine, I was suddenly looking at it with no
thought of photo, good sunshine too. So out of the New York state rainy hills
and onto the interstate highways with this as photo goal.
I drove west, past the Hill and parked
illegally on the shoulder for photos,
This is frontage road a few feet right
of my parking photo spot.
Return to index
So my mind has created its own Spooky
Mountain story; then comes the real fright, tunnel in mountain. Everyone has their
psychic fears and phobias: buried alive in a tunnel collapse is mine. Glimpse eternity; salvation daylight.
So you think it's just houses on the
hill with a great view, HA, look below closely.
Yep! To my horror, another damn tunnel,
look closely at billboard on lower right.(it says: I SCREAM for ice cream)
Those houses on hillside?
Within a lifetime of seconds, I could
see the light at the end of the tunnel. While in the first really really long
tunnel my thoughts had been, "if it collapses, I'll just slit my
wrists."
Now this is one cool visual
construction, taken at 60pmr, no room for hesitation or error, got to be in the
correct lane.
The occasional drizzle had the wipers
on timer; Sign says "Welcome to OHIO"
Eastern mountain Ohio houses weren't as
large as east coast houses.
The interstate does provide some scenes
only seen there, why steal just one bus at a time, toe it.
On the far side of Columbus Ohio road
construction at a bridge had stopped all motion westward for 30 minutes; this
biker was in left lane and posed photo
Five minutes of setting, then move up 3
car lengths. Occasional cement trucks
crossed over to right to get to distant bridge. The ground between was very wet. Better have full tank of gas;
this delay took 2 hours.
Any type of construction, this going
east, shifting traffic into one lane caused a back up for 15 miles; which
allowed me to see all the trucks.
A half-mile before construction bridge
the traffic resumed speed. But it took
40 miles before all the slower traffic shifted to right lane, then zoom
75mph. Leaving Ohio.
Indianapolis, Indiana Airport on right
side of I-70 westward. Letterman uses
that??
Only another 270 miles till home and
"Dead like me" is on TV (its Tuesday @6pm) (Just caught the end of
the second episode.)
Another traffic jam slows me
again. Sunshine finally seen an hour
before home.
Return to index
The ground where the swing set was to
be placed was not level so Brandn got some of the extra dirt from nearby new
construction. Prepares dirt for new
sod.
These children really like to help,
playing in the dirt just like daddy. We call it a game but they are imitating;
behavior that will become a job.
"Not a rock papa." When I approach the black cat runs into the
soybeans.
The twins have been climbing up this
for months, yet I worry. Flip flop
shoes??
A pallet of fresh sod I bought from
Brockmeyer's near SIU-E. I folded into
thirds each section to place on tailgate for BG to put down.
The twins were curious and to be
helpful, wanted up onto the truck bed
where they found my work gloves, "Got to get this glove on
papa,"
While Brandn and I finished up the sod laying,
the twins inspected every thing and tool they could grab and drop behind the
seat. They also completely unrolled toilet paper and towels. A tape of Pink
Floyd music played on and on. When I opened the door to see if all was okay
Elle told me to close the door and go.
bossy.
His attention to detail was not lost
here either, cutting straight lines with shovel.
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To modify a flat boat into a sail boat:
Make a rudder; make a center board which to rope strap to bottom of boat; make
support boards to hold the mast; ropes tied to top of mast for front and back
stability. Modify the trailer for boat with center board to ride.
Make sure your motor works before
getting on the water and have some paddles just in case; always wear a water
vest.
Before there were giant cement trucks
and crews to spread out the yards of wet driveway cement, man mixed it by hand
in a wheelbarrow. Pour and spread out smooth a few feet at a time. And don’t be
in a hurry, it’s a slow job.
With the steep hillside now in hard
cement I can easily back the RV or the boat trailer down the hill without
sliding into a tree.
Return to index
October 2007, I was ready for a vacation,
fall colors, nice drive south along Mississippi River.
The hills of southern Missouri along
I-55 were at their color peak.
Arrival at my Lot Bay St. Louis,
MS found grass 3' and bushes 5'
high. I pulled my lawnmower trailer
carrying tools. (sailboat dismantled so to use trailer)
Chainsaw bushes and dead tree limbs and
most of yard grasses into pile.
The boat could have been worse as it
has in past: under water on side, upside down. Weeds and grass grown up through
dock boards, ran the weed eater.
Front of boat: had to bucket out water
down inside fast before the tide came.
The new white canvas tarp now torn,
muddy and harden by sun. Nearly ruined by upturned in water from Hurricane
Katrina.
All water bucketed out, tide comes in, boat
still floats, ready for roof frames that I made at home to keep canvas up and
rain out of boat. (on dock)
Six roof frame sections. On top of them is new black plastic, then
old heavy canvas. Side to side ropes to
hold down canvas in wind, but I slipped when tying last rope and knocked one
inside frame sideways. Tired, but still dry, I went home.
Return trip index
One of many pretty sunsets; one of my reasons for traveling. At home my
yard is surrounded by trees blocking the views.
This rare sight still startles me. I approach and pass a towed truck cab.
The trailer I'm pulling is light so I
do the speed limit and pass sometimes. That looks to be eight feet wide, 16
feet long, nice+.
The first time I saw grave boxes above
ground was an accident. I took the
wrong exit, hoped to re-locate the mechanic who fixed my truck before.
A southern Missouri exit for
gasoline. The building next door was
out of business. I took a break and walked around, across the street was this strange scene.
So I walked over; there was no gate at
the entrance and no buildings anywhere on this side of the highway; just this
dumpsite. I could not guess what the rolls of thick plastic/rubber were for.
About 100 miles south of St. Louis, MO
is a long stretch of rock hills, pretty.
I sure hope that's not used nuclear
waste on its way to Yucca Mountain
Didn't see anyone around the trucks,
the semi was lucky it didn't roll over.
That is a slender cab, narrow on both
sides by a foot. First sighting.
Civilization. Southern suburb of St. Louis, MO, no stops now till home.
I-270 bridge across Mississippi, just
200 yards from Jefferson Barracks Veterans Hospital.
Looking over bridge's south railing, see
the banks of Mississippi River.
Near Cahokia IL along I-270 the granite
rock quarry. Don’t breathe the cloud of dust.
Return to index
First Halloween costume for the twins
October 2006. Ava is a natural
"little Indian girl" dancer.
Elle refused to wear the head feather
strap. Ten minutes later she calmed and
was ready for treats.
Learned of Rolling Stones Tour 2006,
found schedule of cities on their Web site.
"Bigger Bang Tour". I painted their tongue logo on roundish
rocks to sell outside of each concert in parking lot to defray fuel costs of
driving to half dozen events in western USA cities.
Decided not to go so I made a Christmas
tree. The nine painted stones I sent as Christmas presents to pen pals. Alaina
& Alan took their painted ‘stones’ to Rolling Stones Concert in Phoenix,
AZ. Wonder if they got ‘em autographed?
Fall 2006, Election time (red sign)
beautiful leaf peeping colors this year.
Two loads of east side back property
line tree removals to landfill Dump. Chainsaw work is fast. Loading onto truck takes so much time.
Return to index
I was worried about the support roof
frames on the boat; needed more boards. Left as is all winter, it very likely
would fill up with rainwater and sink.
So I put a dozen small boards under the foam sleeping pad in the camper
shell and a battery powered drill and headed south.
I missed the exit south to by-pass the
city and had to drive through downtown St. Louis, Missouri to get back on I-55
south.
That slender oval sticking up in the
morning haze is the Arch.
The new Rams football stadium, has a
retractable roof. The Rolling Stones
played there; I was there but only outside as the concert rocked, could not hear
a sound from within.
It was just after dawn so there was
very little traffic.
I got back onto the "frontage
road" that runs above the sunken interstate lanes.
All photos taken while driving, wanted
to be south before rush hour. I think this is the old Capital Building, never
been inside thou.
The CBS TV station building on right of
street sign. Went in there a very long time ago to get a job, but I wasn’t
pretty enough.
Just one of the many south St.
Louis old churches.
Barely saw this to snap off: Busch beer
factory. Turning the brown water of the river into “yummy beer”.
Mississippi River flows under this
interstate bridge into Memphis, TN. There is a sidewalk along side of this very
long, old bridge; I’ve seen one walker cross it just at dusk, I’ve been over it
a few dozen times.
I do a sleep-over in the 24/7 hour
WALMART parking lot at Granada, MS, 450 miles driving. Usually there are 3-5
RVs or semi-trucks also sleeping over.
All night security car roams the lot.
The entire length of interstate I-55
south through Mississippi 300 miles, looks like this and there are less than 5
long rolling hills & a couple long curves. Quite the endurance run; average speed 78 and the only cops I’ve
ever seen was a squad of drug busters surrounding an old Cadillac.
The town of Jackson has the worst
bumpy, hilly, curvy interstate road!
Entering Jackson, MS; speed limit is 55
but the locals always drive like in a race and I think they may be worse than
St. Louis drivers.
Return to index
First chore was to ignite the pile of
dried bushes and grasses from previous visit. Then to do a better job with the
weed eater.
The tide was out so I had to work fast.
Some water was inside of boat. I put wood
planks on mud so to unloosen ropes holding tarp down.
Under canvas the rainwater had
collected at the collapsed frame area in the newly added brown plastic. Also
water collected along inside of boat rails.
Would have filled boat, good that I came back.
I only brought the battery drill and
screws, extension boards so no need for
the trailer. The real hard part: putting tarps up & over then rope tie down
& not fall in water as the tide had filled around the boat.
Roof frame fits onto lower rail lip. 2"x4" boards screwed connect all
frames. Newly added side extension boards cause tarp to overhang boat rails, so
rain drains off not in.
Both elevated canal neighbor's trailers
had been removed, yards now empty. Many houses are being rebuilt new, insurance here paid off.
Dock cleaned off. Canvas on frames, ropes over canvas, four
ropes secure boat to stay aside dock and float. I built the dock: hammered
support beams into mud with sledgehammer while standing inside the boat. That was
five years ago and it with stood the surge of Katrina.
Why don’t I pull the boat onto a
trailer instead of leaving it in the water all year? I don’t own a large enough trailer and if left the boat on a
trailer on the lot some one would probably steal it, so easy to do that
way.
At end of workday: 90% lot bushes cleaned up; pile burned. Boat saved and hopefully
covered to ward off all rain.
Picnic table on carpet, secured by
chain to tree. Some cactus growing.
Neighbor dropped off trailer and has
electric pole hook-up working on the lot that has been vacant for years. I wonder if they are going to build or if I
can hook up to their electric? Yet to see.
Heading homeward. Sunset along I-20 Mississippi.
Bridges along I-20 arch 50 feet above
water. No shoulder lanes.
Return to index
Approaching Memphis, Tennessee on I-55 traveling north.
Last Memphis exit prior to going over
Mississippi River on white-gray bridge. Both black iron bridges are for trains. Still in use, thou very very old.
Just across the Memphis, TN bridge in
Arkansas is this sign.
EXPECT
EVERYTHING - BUDWEISER
BEER.
Return to index
3 December 2006. Ice Storm during night. 3/8 inch 200mile diameter
Hugh tree limb 8inch diameter falls on
back of RV, breaks ladder.
This limb falls to the out side of the
porch steps.
Limb on roof. After ice melted I got on roof to saw off.
1978 Ford parked forward enough that only ends of limbs on it. Luck has it
nothing broken.
1987 Chevy also away enough that only
ends of limbs on it.
It took me 4 hours to chainsaw and
stack limbs on street curb. The city
trucks took weeks to haul away entire town downed limbs. So I used my S-10 to
gather up usable limbs and logs before the City took it to the landfill.
Way below freezing for a week. 3rd day I took drive for ice photos. Along
I-55, 4 miles from my house, very
sunny.
Hundreds of black birds caught by the
ice storm in farmer fields.
Icy tree limbs bow down to the cleared
off payment. IL Rte 143.
A week to gather cut up limbs and
logs. Two weeks to cut up into usable
firewood; a great start for next winter.
Return to index
Email – glennwhittaker@sbcglobal.net
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