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June 30, 2014

Well we made it home yesterday. We started the day with packing our stuff and heading out to the hospital to pick up Mary. First stop was to gas up the rent a car. $3.50 / gallon. So we got to the hospital at about 0930. Paula finished packing up Mary’s suitcase then I signed the final discharge paper work. We gave the nursing and PT staff a box of See’s Candies. The nurse wheeled Mary out to the car. We got her loaded into the car.

Mary says who’s car is this? Rental car we answer. It was a short drive up to SLC International. Nice quiet Sunday morning. Absolutely nothing like LAX. We pulled up to the drop off area for Delta. Nice skycap helped us with our luggage. Gave Mary a seat while we waited for the wheel chair to arrive.

I took off to return the car to the Avis rental return lot. and headed off to Terminal 2. I went through security with little problems. I got an iced coffee at the Starbucks inside the terminal. Then I met up with Paula and Mary at the gate. SLC is a lot smaller and quieter than LAX. The flight was full. These post 9-11 days I never see a flight that is not packed with every seat taken.

The gate agent called Mary’s name so that we could get pre-boarded. We all got on board and settled before the throng came along. One of the benefits of being in first class, is I get a drink as soon as I get seated. The nice stewardess brought me a nice cold gin and tonic. Man it tasted good.

We had an ontime departure and ontime arrival. Nice woman from LAX met us at the gate with another wheel chair. I waited for the walker to be retrieved from the stowed baggage. The woman was very patient waiting for Mary while she went to the Ladies’ room.

By the time we got to the baggage claim, our baggage has arrived. The wheel chair attendant patiently waited while we waited for Mike to arrive from the cell-phone lot.

And finally, a quiet ride home. It sure feels nice to be home.

So now we have to start up her out patient physical therapy and make appointments with her personal care doc and her local orthopedic doc. Meanwhile, I’m off to pick up the mail and do the grocery shopping.

Later…

Categories: Family, Los Angeles, Travel, Utah
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LAX

June 23, 2014

Now I remember why I would rather drive to Salt Lake City. LAX. Daughter in law Theresa drove us to LAX this morning. All went well until we got to the terminals. Creep and beep, stall and crawl, four lanes of traffic doing about 2 mph.
 
 We finally got to terminal 5 for Delta airlines. Got my bag checked. So far so good. Got through security with no problems. I bought an over priced bottle of water for $2.50. Then we headed for the bathrooms. Men’s room was dirty with paper on the floor, one of three urinals stopped up and over flowing. Paula reported that women’s just as bad and worse. Three stalls and line out the door. Paper and sanitary napkins on the floor. What a dump.
 
 Terminal 5 is under construction but still that’s no excuse.
 
 So next we look for some food. All we want is a muffin and cup of coffee. Went to place called Farmer’s Market. No muffins, no scones, yes coffee, but no ice coffee. $13 for two coffees and brownie and pastry. Other restaurants also way over priced. I would be happy with Mickey D’s or BK, not some upscale eatery with high prices and slow service.
 
 They had a display for doggie treats. Paula wanted to get a treat for Beast. Overpriced and under serviced. Had to wait for an eternity to take her money.
 
 Here’s the picture of the doggie stuff. Not worth the wait. Beast ate it but seemed to not care very much.


So finally announced boarding. We had booked first class (I’ll explain that in later post.). So we got on board and the stew brought me a gin and tonic right away. Feeling better already.
 
 So now we are starting descent into SLC after having been properly medicated. Once on the ground, we need to pick up a rent a wreck ( actually the car is pretty nice, new Ford Edge) and off to West Jordan.
 
 Later
 
 
 – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:West Jordan,United States

Categories: California, Los Angeles, Travel
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Picture of Harold & Mary from 1949

June 21, 2014

This morning Paula and I were digging through the piles of mail that Mary had saved over the past few months. (She hardly throws any thing out). We found and old photo of Harold and Mary taken in August 1949. It must have been some important occasion. They are all dressed up and the photo was taken by a professional photographer. There is not much to glean from the photo other than the date and location from the back of the folder. Harold and Mary would have been about 25 years when this picture was taken. Needless to say, Paula was at home with her grandma.

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So here is the photo. Harold and Mary are seated on the left. I don’t know who the other two women are. I will ask Mary when I get a chance, but I doubt that she will remember.

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So I wonder what the occasion was? It must have been important. It’s not a birthday or anniversary. I get the feeling that the Wilton Hotel was a pretty fancy place for dinner.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the Wilton Hotel that I found online.

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Categories: Family, Long Beach
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Jonathan

May 31, 2014

Yesterday, we were watching our grandson Jonathan all day while Mike and Theresa went to a conference on home-schooling. So Jonathan arrived early and left late. He has become quite used to our place and our presence. He fussed just for a few seconds when they left. But that ended quite promptly after they left. Jonathan has a generous set of toys at our place. He knows where they are and that they are his toys.

In previous posts, I have talked about our journey to Los Angeles. If Mike, Theresa and their family were living in the Boston area, we probably wouldn’t have made the decision to pull up stakes and move across the country. We would probably have moved Mary either to assisted living or a nursing home or moved her back east. Mary was one of the reasons we moved here, Jonathan is the reason that we are staying here and enjoying life here out west.

So yesterday morning we decided to go for a walk around our condo walkway. Jonathan is still learning to speak, but he clearly understands us. When we said “Let’s go for a walk”, he went to our front door and got his shoes. (We have adopted a Chinese custom of removing one’s shoes inside.) So off we go,the three adults walking and Jonathan running as fast as his little feet can carry him. He stops to look at the shadows cast from the trees and railings. He looks at the flowers. This is a nice place to walk. It is flat and protected. No danger of running out into traffic. We can let him run to his heart’s content. Here are a couple of pictures:

2014-05-30 10.16.14

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2014-05-30 10.28.14

Jonathan is clearly picking up language. Sometimes we can’t tell whether the word is childish gibberish or Chinese. His word for a dog is “gogu”. Many times Jonathan will point to something that he wants (usually to eat). So now we tell him , “Use the word”. We usually know what he wants but we are encouraging him to use words for whatever he wants. Usually pretzel goldfish, potato chips, crackers, etc. All of the things that he knows that grandparents will have on hand for him.

Yesterday we were fixing lunch and he comes in to help speed things up. He has discovered the ice dispenser and water dispenser on our refrigerator. So he pushes the lever and out comes half a dozen ice cubes. So Jonathan says in the cutest possible way, “OH-OH”. So Paula tells him to pick up the ice and put it into the sink, which he does. So today’s word is “Oh-Oh”. Precious.

By 2PM, everyone is ready for a nap. Jonathan is no exception. He lays down on our bed and sleeps for 1.5 hours. Sometime a little longer.

After nap, we decide we can do a little TV. We bring up our Netflix account and start “Curious George”. There is lots of kids programming on Netflix. Sometimes we watch on the TV, sometimes on the iPad. After Curious George, it’s time for Red Sox Baseball on MLB.TV. You can’t start a child too early on watching Red Sox Baseball. By the time he is five, I expect him to know who “Big Papi” is and how to read a baseball score sheet.

So today is Saturday and much quieter around her.

Later…

Categories: California, Family, Kids
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Los Angeles Union Station

March 30, 2014

On Saturday, Paula and I did a tour of the Los Angeles Union Station in downtown LA. The trip was sponsored by the nice folks at the San Pedro Historical Society. The actual tour was done by volunteer docents from the LA Conservancy. We had a total of about 36 people that was split into three groups to do the tour. There are so many clocks through out the building to keep you aware of the time.
 
 Here is the view of the main entrance.
 


The station has two gardens on either side of the station. I was first struck by the awesome view of the towering palm trees. There are many roses, greenery and fountains. Here are a few more pictures.
 


The architecture is a combination of Art-Deco, Moderne, and Mission Revival. Our docent described it as “Pueblo Deco” architecture. When you arrive at the station you walk through a long tunnel with ceilings about 9.5 ft high. Then you reach the main terminal you are treated with site of arched ceilings with beautiful chandeliers.
 


The main waiting area has these beautifully restored cushioned seats. At one time they were made of leather. The leather has since been replaced by vinyl. They are very comfortable. You don’t see seats like this at a modern airport.
 

 We visited what was once the main restaurant at the station. The restaurant was run by Fred Harvey. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who had developed many restaurants for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. These were among first instances of chain restaurants across the USA. Currently the restaurant has no fixtures, but you can imagine the grandeur that was once there. Notice the marble floors and the wrap-around bar. We were told that the area is available for rental for special functions (weddings, galas and such).
 
 While we’re on the subject of the ATSF railroad, I found an interesting fact. The ATSF railroad never made it to Santa Fe. Apparently the terrain was too difficult. The ATSF railroad was of course made famous by the song of the same name. The song was made famous in the movie “The Harvey Girls“. Here is a You Tube link to Judy Garland singing “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” on her TV show.
 

 


One more thing. We told the docent that we would like to see some trains. This being a train station afterall. So here are a couple of pictures of some of the trains.
 

 Be sure to follow the many hyper-links through out this post. There is so much to learn about this fascinating place.
 
 TTFN,
 
 Joe
 
 – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Los Angeles, CA

Categories: California, Los Angeles, Travel
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Happy Birthday

January 25, 2014

Friday was Mary’s 90th birthday. She started the day with visits from her Occupational and Physical Therapists (OT and PT). The OT worked with her on getting her shirt on over the injured shoulder and sitting and standing without using her cane. The PT worked with her on her exercises. Mary is seeing improvement in her ability to move her fingers.

After the OT and PT left, we had lunch with our friend Heather from church. She brought her a small arrangement of white roses.

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After lunch, we all took a short nap. Then at 5 PM, Pastor Rich Freeman stopped by for a short visit. He brought some group pictures from a couple of their trips together to Ireland and Turkey/Greece. She insisted on getting dressed up for Pastor Rich’s visit. The visit with Pastor Rich just made her day. Mary was just beaming with joy. Note, the UC Davis sweat shirt on Pastor Rich.

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Mary and Pastor Rich

Then at 6PM Mike and family arrived for dinner of Chili and fresh bread. I got out a fresh bowl of Goldfish for Jonathan. As soon as he saw the Goldfish, he went and pushed his highchair over to the table. His way of saying that he was hungry and I really like Goldfish.

One of our neighbors stopped by to visit. Susan has two Chihuahuas. The two dogs were quite shy. Jonathan didn’t quite know what to do with the chihuahuas. I doubt that he has ever seen dogs quite that small.

Mike and Theresa brought an Oreo ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins. Another food that Jonathan likes. Mary had room for cake too.

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Everyone loves an ice cream cake

So eventually Mike, Theresa and Jonathan left. We sat down to watch the evening news. Then off to bed. We expect Saturday to be a much quieter day.

TTFN,

Joe

Categories: California, Family, San Pedro
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Update on Mary

January 19, 2014

Time for an update on Mary. It’s been a crazy week. I have sent a few folks email updates but I thought I could do a more complete story by writing it once here for everyone to read.

Mary had her shoulder surgery this past Monday. The surgery is called “Reverse Shoulder Replacement“. See the link for more than you ever wanted to know. Apparently there was enough damage to the head of the humerus that it warranted doing the shoulder replacement. The doctor said that if no surgery done, then it would heal but it probably wouldn’t be very useful. Here’s a typical X-ray of a reverse shoulder replacement.

Mary went through the surgery with flying colors. Paula had taken her to the hospital at zero dark thirty. I remained at our condo for our housekeeper to do her work. (She comes every other Monday, and this past monday was her day).

So once Alicia left, I was going to the hospital to visit. Not so fast bucko, dead battery. So I called AAA. They came in under 15 minutes. These days the AAA truck carries replacement batteries with them in the truck. So I had the old battery replaced in under 15 minutes. $99 plus tax and I am on my way. The battery in the jeep was original equipment, six years and 100K miles.

So while Mary was recuperating in the hospital, Paula and I had a date night. We went to see “American Hustle”, then dinner at local Mexican restaurant.

Then on Wednesday, Mary was discharged from the hospital. We got her home and settled in. I think she was happy to be home. Pastor Jacques from Ocean View Baptist Church came to visit Mary that evening.

So for the past few days she has been resting and sleeping a lot. She gets up for meals. Sometimes she will watch the news on TV. Last night at about 6PM, she had a craving for a hamburger. So off I go to the In’n’Out drive thru for a burger and fries (no cheese, no onion). I guess she hasn’t lost her taste.

Ever since her fall on 12/22, she seems so much more frail. It’s like someone flipped a switch and all is gone. One of the home health aides came to talk with us on Saturday. We brought her up to speed on Mary’s recent health history. Probably starting physical therapy at home pretty soon.

Followup with the surgeon next Thursday. She now has got religion about using her cane. Even with the cane, we have to be very cautious. We had a near miss last night. While heading for her seat on the couch, she stumbled and almost fell. Luckily, Paula was there to catch her. Another fall this time would be catastrophic.

We feel that we can’t leave her alone for the time being. So that means finding someone to sit for us.

So when our children were little we had to find a baby sitter so that we could go out and have some time together alone. Now here we are decades later with the same problem. Is there a word for someone you use for watching over your frail parent? Baby-sitting doesn’t feel right, perhaps grandma-sitting or elder-sitting?

TTFN

Joe

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Categories: Family, San Pedro
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On the fifth day of Christmas

December 29, 2013

Today is Sunday, Dec 29, 2013. The fifth day of Christmas. Another warm beautiful day in So Cal. Forecast in the 70’s.
 
 Mary is doing better today. She is getting around better by herself. She seems to be using her cane almost all of the time and that’s a good thing. Perhaps we can move to a walker once she gets use of her left arm back.
 
 We asked her if she wanted to go to church this morning. She aid no. We were able to leave her alone for the hour and half. Instead of going out to lunch, we cooked scrambled eggs and bacon for brunch at home.
 
 In other news, it seems that our friends at First Congregational Church in Billerica are in need of a new furnace. Cost is expected to be in the range of $5,000. And of course it was not budgeted. You never budget for stuff like this.
 
 So if you’re looking a place for charitable donations at the end of the year, consider sending some money to First Congo. It’s not fun being without heat at this time of year. Go to the First Congo web site for details.
 
 TTFN
 
 Joe
 
 
 – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Pedro

Categories: California, Family

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Christmas Dinner

December 25, 2013

Christmas dinner is done.
 

 Prime rib.
 


Green bean casserole, roasted potatoes.
 


Yorkshire pudding.
 
 Very good indeed.
 
 – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brett Pl,Los Angeles,United States

Categories: California, Family
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Merry Christmas

December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas to all of friends and family spread across the globe. Time for an update from San Pedro. Thank you for all the Christmas cards and letters that we have received. We are running out of space to hang them around our dining room wall. It seems that more and more people are sending Christmas letters. We love reading them all.
 
 This is the quiet time of Christmas. We had planned to go to Christmas Eve services at the Ocean View Baptist Church in San Pedro, but we had to cancel on account of Mary K’s situation. More on that later.
 
 Mike, Theresa and Jonathan will be over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. That will be fun. Having Jonathan over is always fun. He is such a joy. We got him a toy Xylophone. So now we can have a duet!
 
 I am trying not to gloat but the weather here is wonderful. Temp today is 70 right now. It was a bit higher earlier in the afternoon.
 
 Mary K has had a hard time of it for the last couple of weeks. First was the fall that knocked her three front teeth out. She has almost finished the dental work to fix that situation. Now, this past Sunday, she was walking with Paula late in the day when she got dizzy and fell again. Paula generally has tried to keep her arm on her. But for some reason she got distracted.
 
 So, more hurt. We eventually called the EMT’s. Had her transported to the ER. She didn’t think she could handle getting into the Jeep. So she had X-rays that showed fractured left humerus. They gave her a sling and pain meds and sent her home.
 
 Paula got her into the Jeep and brought her home. I met her down by the elevator with one of our kitchen chairs with wheels. We got her upstairs and into bed for the night.
 
 On Monday, Paula took her to orthopedic doc for followup. Wants to schedule MRI. Not sure what that’s going to show. Anyway, we got the Rx filled at CVS. Trying to keep her comfortable.
 
 She seems so much more frail than she was before this last incident. She seems visibly weaker. I suppose not eating very much doesn’t help things.
 
 So everyone, please pray for her. She can use all the help that God can provide. And try to keep this quiet. She doesn’t read anything on the internet. Not Facebook, not email, not blogs. We have been trying to discretely let people know her situation. She would be mad at me for dropping a dime on her. But I thought it was important for everyone to know.
 
 So looking forward, she won’t be driving for a while and that’s a good thing. Maybe, just maybe we can take the car keys away from her for good. Once again we will try to get her to use a walker, or at the very least a cane. That will be a hard sell. She wouldn’t be able to use it anyway with her arm in a sling.
 
 So Christmas Eve supper is in the crock pot. We’re having pea soup with leftover ham and carrots. It’s been cooking since 10am this morning.
 
 Maybe we’ll watch another Christmas movie on Netflix. Toss up between Chevy Chase’s “Christmas Vacation” or maybe “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I’m leaning towards Chevy Chase.
 
 TTFN
 
 
 – Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Pedro

Categories: California, Family
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