7:40a - Skip is calling in sick today, apparently. Hmmm... I just realized... it is "Friday the 13th" today!

SATURDAY - AUGUST 14, 2004

I got up around 11:00a this morning. Did not do much all day. I got an email from Colleen indicating that Uncle Jesse was in the hospital and his kidneys are failing. It does not sound good. I called 'lisa and let her know. Margie Lee could not be contacted since she is living in Florida and was evacutated due to Hurricane Charley.

Jodi contacted me on her way home from Deltona. She says Deltona was hit hard by the storm. Power is out to the entire City.

RD got her birthday gift from me. She seemed quite happy & excited with her new webcam!

Marty & JR came by and I got a ride from them over to Wal-Mart and Schnucks where I spent nearly $200. I picked up a new webcam. Marty brought over a bag of tomatoes from his garden.

I didn't do much else today, though the kitchen is a disaster area with all the stuff moved into it. I need to clean up in there. Or Skip does, but it will sit forever if I wait for him. I stayed up until after 2:00a.

I got my bedclothes all laundered and slept well in fresh smelling blankets.

SUNDAY - AUGUST 15, 2004
Happy 40TH Birthday to Ruby Dancingmoon of Hants England!
~ I rolled my Toyota Celica off the show room floor this day in 1987 ~

I slept in again, until about 11:20a. I heard Skip laughing from the other room, and I knew he was watching the "Chunk a Monk" marathon (sure enough, he was). I watch some of it off & on all day. I cooked and ate all day! Never left the house. Boring. I set up my webcam, but I think it's conflicting with my system. It works, but I had to reboot a couple of times.

I made some jello/fruit for breakfast in the morning and cooked one more time. That makes about 2 pouinds of hamburger and a pork steak that I have cooked today, plus about 5 potatoes, a tomato, 2-3 onions, a handful of mushrooms & snap peas, half a bag of corn... that I can remember.

I got minimual laundry done so that I will have something to wear during the week, but I really need to do more.

What a dull boring weekend.

MONDAY - AUGUST 16, 2004
Happy Birthday 59th birthday to Susan Christopher in Orlando!

7:36a - 54°F - I am still amazed at the chilly weather! I was bundled up all night. However, despite being under covers and it being so cool, my feet got attacked by one or more mosquitoes. I am itching like mad.

7:39a - 55°F - I decided not to take my jello breakfast with me since I have an eye exam scheduled for 10:00a. I will just have a bite at Barnes Cafeteria. I will just sit over there and read my book for a while before going in.

7:42a - 55°F - It is almost 2:00p in England now. RD is probably in the middle of her trip to the zoo. I wonder if she has seen the wolves that she was excited about seeing? I know she will tell me all about it! I wish she had a digital camera! Oh... and I wonder if they escaped the rain? ... We will find out tonight!

I missed my bus! ... but, it should be no problem. I have my eye exam scheduled for 10:00a anyway. I should be able to make it no more than 10 minutes late. I called the Barnes Eye Center to let them know.

9:18a - At the bus stop. The old black man with all the tumerous growths cackles at me... I can't quite make out what he says. It turns out he was saying something like, "you sure called it close this morning!" I grasp his meaning as I turn to see the bus pull up just seconds (maybe 2) after my arrival!

The bus arrived JUST in time for me to catch the 9:36a train (rather than the expected 9:46). I was ahead of scheduled.

10:00a - Perfectly punctual, despite all odds, I arrived for my apointment!

The doctor did all the standard tests for glaucoma and such, staingmy eyes with chemicals, and dilating them. I had to sit for about 20 minutes while waiting for the dilation to become effective, and continued to read my book, "These Aliean Shores." I gave up shortly before he called me in. In his exam, he found a small perforation, "very old" with a lot of "demarcation" in my cornea. He asked if anyone had mentioned this to me before. NO! I did not know I had a hold in my cornea! I am thinking this probably occured in about 1977 when I got in a fight with a Nuc student back in my Navy days in Orlando. How strange that it was never noticed before today!

After my eye exam, I went over to Barnes cafeteria. It was already after 11:00a by this time. Too late for their breakfast, which is decent. Their lunch was much less attractive. I settle for a smashed steak... no, that's not what they called it. Hmmm ...it was cubed steak, not salisbury steak... OH... "chopped steak" .. that's right. I would have called it grilled hamburger! I got some steamed brocolli with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes with gravy. I ate, tried to read a bit more with my blurry eyes, then headed back to the office.

I had completely forgotten that LR had planned an "employee apreciation" luncheon for us today! (Oops!) But ... I still had room for about 3 tacos and some Mexican Salad.

Most of the rest of the day went about normal. Gary is still on his (first?) vacation and Jeff is working in his place. (Jeff is the new temp guy. He is cool. I like him). Until around 4:00p ... we lost ALL connectivity to EVERYTHING! We were dead in the water for about an hour or more.

Meanwhile, back in England, RD is having a wonerful excursion on her "Safari." It really sounds like a wonderful day, and I wish I could have joined her and her daughter. However, her email describing her adventures will have to suffice and, with her permission, I add her commentary to my journal entry for today...

(All graphics in this section provided by Ruby Dancingmoon) Oh, oginali, where do I begin? It was a fantastic day all round. Left home at 9.30 to avoid rush hour traffic...arrived at safari park (not a zoo as you put on your website!) at 11.15 It was raining most of the way and I was begging the Great Spirit to let the sun come out when we actually did the safari 'bit' as otherwise the animals would all be in their homes or hiding under trees too far away to see! We started with the safari boats. That was great! They were made to look like miniature paddle steamers...The lake is 1/2 mile long and once we set off we bought some fish..well...bits of fish ick! to feed to the seal lions that follow the boat. They were right alongside us....I counted 6 of them...the girls fed them the fish while I took photo's! I'm just worried that they were too close for the photo's to come out!!!!! We got soaked when they leapt from the water!!! Great fun! 1/2 way through the boat trip we rounded a big island...on there were two huge gorillas! The female 'samba' was really big but then we saw the male silver back....he was HUGE! Name Nico....weighs 40 stone! That was some sight....on the way back to the pontoon we saw 6 seal pups and a hippo! Another amazing sight! Then we went on the Longleat train. This was a 20 minute trip round the grounds and lake and was a pleasant run..... L U N C H Next came pets corner (we left the safari bit until last)...here we saw everything from rabbits, chinchilla, tortoise, pythons, chipmunks, meercats (they are so funny - especially the ones on lookout!) and all manor of other small creatures. When we got to the Macaw house there was a keeper there. He was explaining how apart from the destruction of habitat some tribal people kill the Macaws for the feathers for headdresses etc rather than wait for the moult. Longleat has a policy to collect all the moult feathers and ship them out to the tribes in the hope that they will lessen the devestation of these beautiful birds. While I was talking to him he asked why I had feathers in my hair, when I explained he reached under the counter and said he had 4 feathers from today and would I like them.......so they are here on my desk! Not the longest ones but they are very pretty! Next came some of the other attractions like the mirror maze...very disconcerting when you THINK there is a left turn only to find it's a right turn and what you saw was merely a reflection! Unless you are smart like me and know the secret to getting through ANY maze in the world without ever taking a wrong turn!!! I just waited at the end for the girls!!!! hee hee hee To the safari.....very impressive.....all the animals were able to wander wherever they like...obviously there are fences....if you could ever see them! So natural an environment it was wonderful to see. There is one section we opted not to drive through. That was the monkey enclosure. They are completely free to go where they like and like nothing better than sitting all over your car...yes it would have been great/fun but there are warning signs everywhere with pictures of some of the cars as they enter and leave that part of the park....minus wingmirrors, rubber trims round windscreens, wheeltrims, wiperblades in fact anything and everything they can remove from a car they can and do!! There is no way I could afford to get the car damaged like this so we bypassed that bit. The first we encounted were Tapiers and camels and llama's.....all wandering down the middle of the road...we had to wait 5 minutes for 2 camels who decided that standing right alongside my window (which at this point you were allowed to have open), was a good idea! He wasn't going to move until the safari jeeps and wardens that are all over the park came and moved him along! All I did was put my hand out the window and was petting this creature....or at least his thigh....they are so tall! Then came giraffes...there was a youngster there with them.....lots of 'ooohs' and 'aahhhhs' from the car! Pelicans, Ibis, Oryx, and all sorts next. Then we had to stop again as the parks 4 white rhino decided that they would amble slowly down the center of the road.....the scary bit was when one of them turned and peered through the windscreen....thought better off it and ambled off again! Next section was the deer park....we stopped at the gates and bought some deer food from the keepers... little pellettes of some description...we were allowed to feed them! So we pulled over and I switched the engine off while the girls put some food in the flat of their hand and after a minute or two the car was surrounded on all sides by these beautiful but quite shy creatures! They were eating straight from their hands! Further into the deer park we stopped again where there were some very big stags. Again we were lucky.....one of them came to the car and after checking us out for a few minutes decided that the food in their hands was too good to miss and came and ate.....to see a full grown stag put his antlers down level with the car window and eat from your hand is an amazing sight and very definately imprinted forever in my memory! Eventually we got the bit of the park where it was strictly windows closed! The tiger enclosure! I had been dying to see these 3 tigers...I know all about them from the tv programs I had seen on Longleat! The white tigress was called 'chandi' the male (orange) is called 'Skidoo' and their offspring is half white and half orange....beautiful... his name is 'Sonar'....I was looking everywhere as I drove slowly round....but all 3 of them were lying under a tree....right by the side of the road.....I stopped again and they were no more than 10 feet from the car....one of them decided to get up and stretch....another photo! Next came the lion enclosure.....there is a full pride here.....the male was beautiful.....he yawned and those teeth! WOW! I thought their paws were big enough! Again I stopped within a few feet of them. Last on the way round the park was Wolf Wood....the bit I had been longing for since we left home! We were half way round and I spotted a keepers jeep just sat up on the grass....given that all the way around the park the keepers were near to where the animals are I knew they were there somewhere...I didn't have to look far! Right by the side of the road....under some tree's was a pack of 14 Canadian Timber Wolves and both the alpha female and male were there! They were pretty much altogether. I stopped of course! I just couldn't believe it..there they were...just outside my car about 8 feet from me....they took my breath away. They are such beautiful creatures. I have loved the timber wolf since childhood, and my totem animal is the timber wolf too....but I never, ever thought I would get a chance to see them for real! The alpha male stood up and was just watching the car....looked right at me...those eyes!....and I have to admit that I am glad I was stopped....I was so moved by seeing them that I couldn't have seen where I was going anyway! I can't describe the feeling I got...it was amazing and I wasn't prepared for it.....it was like...how can I put it without sounding silly.....like an affinity...like I was meant to see them...meant to have that close encounter with them.....I was excited and calm at the same time.....have you ever been somewhere new and felt so totally at home...at one with your surroundings that it's like 'going home'? Well that was the sort of thing....meant to be....how strange! Reluctantly it was time to leave...I had such a queue of cars behind me! I didn't really care! Seeing those wolves like that, so close up, made the last 12 months of saving to go there all worth while! (yes it really did take me 12 months to save the £75 it cost me today!) It REALLY MADE MY YEAR! Well there you have it....a 'potted' version of my day out! There were loads more animals we saw but for the girls it was the seal lions and deer/stag eating from their hands...for me it was the wolves.....a great day out, but I am so exhausted.....!!!!! ....and guess what? From the moment we entered the safari bit of the park....it stopped raining and the sun came out......!!!!!! Honest! Wado Great Spirit! We took a different slightly longer way home and drove right past Stonehenge so the girls got to see that too...oh yeah - It rained all the way home. LOL Got home 7pm! Huggz, oginali.....wish I could have shared the day with you in person!

Wow! Does that sound like a fun day... OR WHAT!? I was only there in "spirit" as she was with me "in spirit" on my visit to Cahokia Mounds last month. I also got to see RD's dog, (Kira's British couterpart), "Prula" for the first time on the Web Cam that I sent her for her birthday! Awwwww! I am glad to have an actual IMAGE of Prula!

10:03p - I still have to finish writing Darlene's letter...

TUESDAY - AUGUST 17, 2004

12:21a - 64°F - I have printed a nice picture of my at Cahokia Mounds and put it in a frame for Darlene. I sure hope she likes it. It is very well done (in my most humble opinion).

8:45a - 69°F - I don't feel well this morning. I almost threw up my pills. Then I look in the mirror! My face is all swollen. Just like back in June of 2001.

I had to call in sick this morning. I really did not want to do that. I am trying so hard not to miss any days, but I feel awful and my face is throbbing.

I fixed some grits this afternoon when hunger finally drove me to find some food. My jaw burst into flames of pain with every spoonful, especially the first few bites. Later I made some soup and when through the same process. I tried to take a nap. Slept fitfully for a bit. I finally went to bed this evening before 8:00p. However, Kira was in so much distress from her flea problem, that I got up around 11:30p and managed to give her a thorough flea bath. I am so concerned about her. Having my own issues today, I forgot to give her pills to her this morning.

WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 18, 2004

7:32a - 70°F - I feel MUCH better this morning. The swelling has gone down in my face just as fast as it got there.

I got my package to Darlene ready to mail out, as well as one for Carl and for "Gramma". I did not have time to get the to the post office today though.

I tried making Papas Rellenas for supper tonight. It was a lot of work and half of them exploded in the deep fryer! Very disappointing. The ones that did not explode were not bad though. The exploded ones were pathetic shells, reminiscent of The Death Star from Star Wars after it had been destroy in the first movie.

I went to bed around 10:30.

THURSDAY - AUGUST 19, 2004

7:29a - 69°F - I woke up in the middle of the night with a case of acid reflux for the first time in ages. I can't remember the last time I was struck by this malady. I am thinking it was caused by eating the somewhat greasy "shells" of the exploded Papas Rellenas, along with one glass of white wine. I had eaten light all day and only had the one glass of wine though, so I don't know.

7:31a - Kira has been scratching all night. She is miserable. I cannot get rid of all the fleas. The flea bath helped a bit, but they are just ridiculous. I think I will get some flea powder this weekend, but with her possible liver condition, I hate to put more chemicals on her. But then I hate to see her in such misery.

Long day. Very tired. Skip mowed the front lawn (an some of the back). Cooking something vaugely Mexican for supper.

It has been raining all night and is still drizzling this morning. Kira got me up FOUR times during the night, but she wouldn't go out because of the rain. On the fouth time I figured out she was trying to get me to fill her water bowl... duh! Then I realized the "central" water dish in the kitchen was bone dry too. Skip rarely remembers to check it.

FRIDAY - AUGUST 20, 2004

8:08a - Leaving the house. It's not raining enough to bother with an umbrella or my rain slicker.
8:15a - I am at the bus stop a bit earlier than usual.
8:17a - Good thing I was early... so was the bus!
8:36a - Was able to catch the earlier train this morning, which is rare.
9:05a - Standing in line in Barnes Cafeteria for some breakfast.
9:12a - Getting off the elevator... here goes another day at the office...
10:25a - I am sleepy. Stayed up too late last night.
2:32p - I am off to the doctor appointment now. First I will stop to send a package out to Blake.

I went by the post office and sent Blakes package off to him, then stopped at Cha Yoon for a quick (late) lunch of sushi, then went to the doctor's office. From the doctor's office I stopped by LZ for a few cocktails. I ended up missing the 6:01 train and had to wait another hour to catch the 7:01. I was getting way too drunk! I came home, stopped by KFC and got supper. Walked home, ate, checked email, and went to bed before 10:00p

SATURDAY - AUGUST 21, 2004

I got up this morning and my back was killing me. Can't I have a few days without something hurting?! Sheesh!

I got my money entered into Wheres George this morning. I finally went over $10,000.00 entered!

10:58a - 70°F - It looks like a beautiful day out. Skip and I are watching "Kill Bill 2". We are barely into the movie and already the main character has been shot with a shotgun and buried alive. Not too promising!

11:35a - 72°F - Our heroine has broken out of the grave where she had been buried alive. First they had to do a flash back to her training with ancient Master Pai Mei, to see how she had the ability to punch her way out of a buried casket. Oooookay....

1:35p - 74°F - We finished watching the movie. The ending sorta sucked.

9:07p - 65°F - Another mostly wasted day. I haven't done much of anything. I spent some time updating my birthday list on next month's journal page, but that is about the most productive I have been. Ate some left overs, took a nap, walked to the store & bought some beer, took a shower... and chatted most of the day with RD and played with some of her pictures.

10:05p - 64°F - Darn... need to reboot...

SUNDAY - AUGUST 22, 2004

I got up late and did do much of anything today. I did walk over to Walmart to get my prescription filled... and forgot to take the damned perscription WITH me. grrrr! So, I had to walk back again. I picked up some accent cushions for the new furniture and then stopped by Schnucks for a couple of things.

MONDAY - AUGUST 23, 2004

I could not get to sleep last night! It wasn't until after 3:00a that I finally got to sleep properly, and Kira kept waking me up.

7:01a - My alarm goes off... I struggle to wake. Hit the snooze...
7:10a - My alarm goes off again... I turn it off (and promptly doze back off!).
7:30a - I woke up... I'm late already.
8:12a - Rushed to get ready, but I can still make it. I just left the house and am on a brisk walk to the bus stop.
8:17a - I'm at the bus stop. People are still waiting, so I am fine...
8:38a - Arrived 5th & Mo.
9:16a - Leaving Barnes cafeteria with another fattening breakfast.
9:49a - This is a first at the help desk this morning. I have Jeff and Gary working with me. All male support staff for the first time since I have worked here. Well, that's not exactly true, but it's the first time we have had THREE guys manning the phones. Lisa is still on vacation this week.
12:57p - I call the doctor's office earlier and gave the number of MedCo to Janet. She contacted them, then called me back. They need the prescriptions back. I dropped them in the mail a little while ago.
1:10p - Off to lunch.
1:59p - Had a bowl of chicken noodle soup and read my book some more.
5:44p - And the work day is winding down. If I have enough energy tonight, maybe I can tackle the kitchen. It has been as disaster area ever since we got the new furniture.

Cousin Glenn's books arrived today. Lucy's Treasure. Four copies. Autographed.

10:57p - I'm pooped. I've been cleaning the kitchen. It's SO much better now!

TUESDAY - AUGUST 24, 2004

7:10a - I woke up with my alarm going off. It is supposed to go off at 7:01. Did I hit the snooze button in my sleep? How baffling.
8:10a - I barely got myself thrown together again this morning, but I made it. I am headed to the bus stop now.
8:11a - Oh gross... there is a dead cat on the side of the road. For a moment I thought it was Barnabas, but I had just seen him back at the house. It gave me a very sickening feeling.
4:13p - Applix is down, there is a storm outside... what a busy day!
5:50p - time to go ... hope its not raining still!

Got a ride home from Q-Mart with Richie (he is painting Deana's car... it looked pretty good). I took the opportunity to discuss hiring him to do some work around the house that Blake has approved.

Got a lot of pictures from RD with her new scanner today.

WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 25, 2004

7:46a - 69°F - It's cloudy a beak out this morning.

I slept long and cnotinuously last night (thanks to drinking beer). However, the down side to that is that is that I then have long, complicated, and very tedious dreams. I am getting to where I don't remember the dreams that well any more. That is probably a good sign, but I *want* to remember them. I seem to invest so much mental energy into these nocturnal "creations" ... I should at least remember them! Last night I remember only a segment in when I had four clones. However, I am not sure when of us was the clone! There was something about having our memory erased... and ... it is all burry at this point.

8:17a - I am standing in the middle of Highway 157. Don't see the bus coming.
8:18a - Here's the bus! Precisely on time... just made it!
8:36a - Just pulled in the 5th&Mo... the 9:36 train is on time and just pulling out. Darn... it's nice when I can catch that earlier (less crowded) train.
8:46a - I my usual train is here... precisely on time.
9:07a - I am walking down the hallway at the moment, in Barnes-Jewish Hospital, on my way to the cafeteria to get breakfast.

Gary did not work today; just me and Jeff. Lisa is still on vacation. I had another bowl of clam chowder for lunch today... that's 2 days in a row. I like clam choweder, but not every day. Unfortunately, I forgog to take some of my cans of soup in with me. Must remember them tonight as I am now "out" at the office.

5:57p - It's cloudy and dark. I am now walking over to the CWE MetroLink station. I thought Dennis told me it was raining, but it looks like that is yet to come. 6:23p - I took some pictures when I got off the train at 5th&Mo. The sky was roiling and looking darker. It's coming in from the West. 7:31p - It is pitch black out now and raining. There are flood warnings in effect for some counties. 8:47p - YAY! Cousin Artie is back on line tonight. She has been moving for the past few weeks and its good to hear from her again.

 

11:33p - I am so disgusted with Skip sometimes. I was just walking by him in the kitchen and he walked past me, brushing my arm as he passed. This ended up knocking the drink out of my hand which fell on the floor. Instead of saying he was sorry, or offering to clean up the resulting mess... or whatever, he blames it no ME! I just don't know what to say about such inconsiderate behavior. It really upsets me. I don't care about the little spill or a minor mess. It's his nasty and viscious response that astounds and dismays me...

THURSDAY - AUGUST 26, 2004

I feel rotten this morning. Struggling to get ready. Got several emails from cousin Artie.

8:18a - At the bus stop. It's hot and muggy
9:04a - The train pulls in to CWE precisely on time.
9:46a - I am still eating my breatfast. They were out of gravy this morning! I ended up getting hash browns with brown gravy (the "lunch" kind), and eggs with cheese over them. I need to get back on my jello and fruit regimine.
12:08p - I started reading cousin Glenn's book.
5:52p - What a long day. I have spent a portion of this afternoon gleaning some of the text out of the Bloodwine Bar from 3 years ago. I have a lot of "K'Pach" story material in there that I would hate to lose.

I went to bed early tonight after a supper of Sailsbury steak, mashed potatoes, and corn.

FRIDAY - AUGUST 27, 2004

I feel MUCH better this morning. I even got up early... before the alarm went off.

SATURDAY - AUGUST 28, 2004

Skylar and Denise came over this afternoon and we went to Landry's Seafood restaurant in Union Station for dinner. It was a pleasant outing. He brought me home and picked my brains about UNIX and C++ (of which I know very little). I think I ended up doing his homework for him!

SUNDAY - AUGUST 29, 2004
Happy Birthday birthday to Lisa Kendrick in Atlanta!

I spent almost the entire day working on genealogy! Thanks to counsin Artie, I had lots of new material to organize, including new pictures.

Later, Skip and I walked over to Walmart. I got my prescription filled for the Androgel. It cost $50.00! I cannot afford to pay $50 per month for this.

We got creative for supper tonight and made "Beer Can Chicken" ... it was a fun process, and a delicious result!

I ate last and did not get to bed until after 1:00am!

MONDAY - AUGUST 30, 2004

I felt yucky all day. I went to bed way too late last night. Or rather "this morning." It dragged me out all day. Lisa was back from vacation and Jeff is back to working weekends. I got my hair cut at lunch (and only had some Cheetos for lunch!). I got home and fixed a bite of left over chicken & potato right away. I was hungry... and so very tired.

I still did not get to bed until midnight. I ended up sitting up with Skip and watching the movie we started last night. I don't know the name. The one with Robin Williams playing the part of the photomat developer guy who was fired and lost it.

TUESDAY - AUGUST 31, 2004

Wow... its hard to believe August is already gone!

7:45a - I have to hurry. I have been updating my journal this morning and still don't know what I am going to wear to work.

I almost missed the train this evening. I nearly had to run to catch it. Just made it in time.

Went to Walmart when I got off the bus. I was still feeling energetic.