calherewecome

I just got informed this morning that my brother Stan died in his sleep. He was 75 and was living in Florida. He was suffering with liver failure which in turn caused kidney failure and then congestive heart failure. Please remember him in your prayers.

Here is a picture of the three brothers taking in May 2018 in happier times. Stan in the one on the right.

So we are three hours into our 6 hour wait to fly home to LAX. Flight originally scheduled for 12:19; now 6:41. We were told that the issue is mechanical problem with aircraft in Los Angeles. I suppose that is reasonable. There are no weather issues between DEN and LAX. Clear sky in Denver.

We finally found two seats with working power outlets so we use our iPads. Most of the seats don’t have power and some have outlets that don’t work. Free Wi-Fi is working well. We’ll get home some time this evening (I hope)

Later…

We have been staying at a DoubleTree Hotel last couple of days. Overall, it’s been a nice stay, but there is one thing is wrong. The bathroom. Here’s the thing. Here are a couple of pictures:

So the first picture is of the large wall. What’s missing? Towel racks. No towel racks anywhere in bathroom. Who doesn’t put towel racks in bathrooms? Maybe they want us to throw the towels on the floor.

In the next picture is the shower stall. It kind of looks nice but it is not functional. To turn on the water, one has to get in stall and close the door. Then one has to try and turn on the water. The trick is to turn on the water without getting drenched with cold water.

All that being said, we like DoubleTree and Hilton. We especially like the chocolate chip cookies they give you when you check in. Gooey gobs of delicious chocolate. I would show a picture, but they don’t last very long.

We used to love to fly. Not anymore. Today Paula and I took our first flight since 2019. LAX was crowded. Long lines at security.

We got to the airport in plenty of time. We zigged and zagged looking for the LAX economy parking lot. Waze was not very helpful. It seems that LAX changes roads constantly. We eventually found it and parked and got on the bus.

Got through security and got some lunch then waited for our flight to Denver to board. Full flight. Flight took about 2 hours. Arrived on time.

We got plenty of exercise walking from the gate to the bus pick up area. Got to the Hertz area got the car. It took me forever to figure out how everything worked.

Got to the hotel. Doubletree Aurora. Nice place. Tomorrow we meet up with Mike for his promotion ceremony at Buckley Space Force Base.

By the way, it’s cold. We haven’t been in any cold weather since we left MA in 2012

Next trip will be Mass. in May. I expect winter to be done by then.

So I went to get my haircut today and after I was done I decided to take a ride up to Green Hills Cemetery to visit Mary’s grave. Today is one of those rare days in LA where the rain is falling.

Today is a dreary day with light rain falling. On the drive up the hill to the mausoleum where Mary is interred, I passed several funerals in progress. Such a dreary time to die, but there is no hiatus in deaths during the holiday season.

I passed many graves where the families of the dearly departed had decorated the graves with bright and shiny holiday ornaments, some more brighter than others. I didn’t take any pictures. I didn’t want to impose on the family’s grief.

One thing that I wanted to do was to check on Mary’s grave marker. They were supposed to add a Square & Compass and OES marker. Not been done. We will call to see what happened. Here’s the picture: