Got here --Central America

-

-

-

-

We got here, and my goodness it is nice to see the kids again.  Son here - complete with Jobst hose (note right leg) fresh from home and freshly put on. and is is back in his newly local space, leg up and computer open.  Stephen is recovering from the blood clot quite well, still working on getting the INR score correct.  We are having a real father-son good time, discussing dosing and testing related to treatments for clots.  

A complication though for Stephen, much like I had.  Each minor chest pain or deep breath is sign of a heart attack or stroke.  Stephen has admitted to five heart attacks -- all false alarms, and six strokes (or perhaps the count was reversed).  He like his Dad is subject to any and all symptoms and manifestations of problems.  Jen thinks Stephen has underestimated his count on heart attacks and strokes by a large multiple.

Here is Stephen with full view of the living room / dinning room of their very nice apartment in a very quiet part of town just a couple of blocks from the Pacific.  It is in the Punta Paitilla (it is the little point on the side of the bay closest to the airport) region of town.

When we got to the airport due to Stephen's condition and Jen's work, we took a cab into town from the airport.  Found Stephen as above and then went to Jen's office, a few blocks away on Balboa, the ocean front road.  The office is a tiny interior office humming with activity, in a large building with lots of offices ranging from I don't have a clue to what looks like the Swedish Consulate.

Here is Jen showing Stephen (who "had to get out of the house") her Outlook spreadsheet of activities of Koozies.com.  They have been busy. Check it out   http://www.kooziez.com/

--

--

--

--

I finally decided what I want to do now that I have retired.  Clean closets, get rid of junk, throw out stuff, then fold up linens neatly, arrange things  and make the shelves look really really nice like you have lots of space.  See this hall linen closet.  See the neatly folded sheets, blankets, the carefully arranged box of light bulbs.  Does it look like yours ? of course not !  Does it look like ours did prior to my retirement ?  are you kidding?  

Oh I have another idea

I think I would also like cleaning out attics.  Yeah that sounds really fun.  You know bump your head on the rafters, strain your back lifting some box of books, or old magazines, get dust up in your eyes, --- we are talking fun.  This place used to have stuff to the edge of the eaves, to get to the other end was nigh on impossible, and I had promised half the junk to my son-in-law and the other half to my daughter-in-law. Well, 70% of it is gone, trash, recycling, Goodwill, and so on.  Lets talk about a hoot.

Notice also the new attic floor.  Had a new helper person on that one, a nephew, a student at NCSU complete with pickup truck to go to Lowe's with me to get the plywood.  As we were bending nails.  We allowed as to how his Grandfather probably would not have been impressed with our hammering skills.   As always helper persons are appreciated.

See the heirloom.  this treasure.  its value is purely in the eye of its beholder -- that being me.  No one thought our crap was worth a crap.  Had a yard sale and all we got was a couple of sneers.  People would walk up, pick up a piece or two, turn up their nose, and walk out.   A niece helper person, knowledgeable about Craig's list and wine accessories both (talk about your unique combinations) was of immeasurable help in the yard sale, my sanity and is now attempting to peddle some of our treasures.

See the clutter, mess, stuff that has been placed in the garage.  where is the car?  out collecting pollen, that is where.

here is yet another view.  the stuff and been moved around.  Guess who did that.  Do I know how to have fun or what.  Yes, these items will soon be gone, even the ficus trees in the background.  One of those even served as a Christmas tree in the basement one year.  Nevertheless, we can clean out, downsize, have less stuff.  Retirement has never been so much fun.  Been this way for six weeks now.  Getting better every single day.

A student too

An A + on a paper will soon be made.  Take it to the bank.

In addition to having a very strong helper person, unload (and load a dishwasher), yard work assistant, attic cleaner outer, hauler of stuff to the recycle, the Good Will pile, and trash bins, we had a most capable student as measured by capacity to put up with learning from the master. 

To the uninitiated, this student had the temerity to ask for a little help on a major paper for school.  We are talking throw me in that briar patch.  "Modern terrorism and how it has changed" is the topic, (or something like that) and resident expert has some resources and knowledge he is eager to share

and notes are taken, - footnotes noted, sources documented, and wisdom is shared all for the benefit of said student.

She is unsure if "Ahmed the Dead Terrorist" is a legitimate expert to quote on the subject or not.  As is true of most of the younger set, this student was not aware of Jeff Dunham's friend Ahmed.  Ahmed has observations of many subjects, not the least of which is his profession.  (Jeff has other puppet friends too, and they too are a hoot)    

I am trying to persuade our student that Ahmed represents a current take on modern terrorism, or at least a unique source.  (for those interested, he is well documented on you tube under Achmed.  Which is an incorrect spelling of his name -- according to student - who knows Arabic - or so she says.  and I am betting she does.    

I am not worried about our grade at all.

A most useful houseguest

Patt and I have a most useful houseguest this week.  As we are generally on the lookout for such addition to our house, we are delighted.  This is especially true when we have outdoor tasks that need doing and now that Patt thinks I have lots of free time, she has found a bunch of outdoor tasks that all of a sudden need doing.   So houseguest and I were cleaning up the side yard.  Houseguest can also unload the dishwasher -- who knew ?  

In our work --- you can see we loaded leaves, sticks and fall winter debris into a moderate sized trash receptacle. 

And it is hoisted onto the shoulders of a strong worker who then hauls container

around house across back and into the "natural area" in the back.  It is quite a trek.  And I am so delighted to report that of the umpteen loads we hauled ( the royal "we" ), yours truly hauled exactly zero, goose egg, nada, zip, zero, none, not a single load, --- so we are talking useful house quest for sure.

(check out green grass, periwinkle, and flowering shrubs, and daffodils. )

She also learned how to shovel--- correctly too I might add -- after tutorials --   efficiently, and effectively.--  got the wheelbarrow loaded too.  She can enlighten you if you are in need of learning how to shovel properly.  I kinda thought it was time she had a skill beyond dishwasher unloading ( now don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with dishwasher unloading )

The real benefit though was that this young person was able to absorb some words of wisdom, become more aware of wise old sayings, pick up some cultural norms, gain new skills, learn to be aware of nature things, and in general gain a deeper appreciation for just how crazy her uncle may be.

cause that would be me.  Here I am cutting off the escape route to the east.

not my vehicles in my driveway

But if I play my cards right -- who knows, I just may get one.

But which one ?

We are in the midst of several small renovation projects around the house.  We are talking several with a capital S.  This also includes cleaning our of closets, attic, corners in the garage and so on.  You would think my wife discovered that I was available for to do lists.  She printed out four pages on an excel worksheet with a capital W for work.

Anyway on Monday of this past week I had a guy working in the yard with me, and three contractors in the house on two separate projects.  Who calls, Patt that' who "How's it going?  she queries cheerily.  I "splain" there ain't no joy in Mudville this morning - as all three work units were asking me questions.

anyway we now have a painter in the house.-- see how nice and comfortable the house looks.  We are paying by the hour, so I am a helper -- gosh I love retirement.

That is the room I want to watch a little NCAA basketball in,-- "yah surh", as Laura's in-laws would say --only if you sorta sing it -- (you ought to hear Julianna and Lydia say it.  Luther and Jan taught them )  -- but I digress.

anyway back to the vehicles in the driveway.

we have two to chose from

Vehicle number one-- and unfancy pick up -- Chevy tricked out with ladder carrier and contractors tool box

vehicle number two.


oh and which one belongs to the painter, -- oh and number two--- it is a hoot.  Very large muffler, low to the ground and starts with a growl.   of the two if I had to, man it would be a tough choice.  which would YOU chose?

where did those flowers come from

We have lots of flowers this year and an early spring to enjoy them in.  They yard has been green for a while too and Patt thinks it is time to mow already.

sure the grass is green, periwinkle growing and daffodils up and oh so pretty.  Those we know came from my Dad's yard as we have brought many of the descendants of those to our yard.

The question is where did these beautiful pansies come from .  We have never had so many so beautiful in so many places in our yard before.

A look at the two pansies in the picture above from the rear and observing the mailbox post may provide a clue.

Yes, late last fall in November, I had two very good yard workers help me plant pansies.  You may even recognize them.  I remember them well.

They worked so hard.  Digging holes, adjusting hats, moving tools around, and

pushing dirt back around roots of the pansies.    Julianna and Lydia were joys to work with that day

We got so much done that day.  The flowers were planted and they survived the winter's cold and snow and now that spring is here, they look so beautiful.

And every time I see  pansies I remember that day and Julianna and Lydia, planting the flowers.

It was a very good day.

just a few more days - the 28th is coming

See that helpful looking state employee sitting there, eager to help a citizen or corporate entity or local government in our fair state.  Yes-sir-ree-bob, you can bet your sweet you know what he is -- just as ready as he used to be.

Now somedays this employee was able to get out and around some of the more scenic and interesting sites and locals in the state.  We are talking from mountains to the sea, from Virginia to South Carolina, and in many of our eastern counties, the highest peak in the county

This state employee, helpful as he is will soon be leaving behind lot of opportunities for the next generation of environmental workers.  The problems are not yet solved.  We gave it a good run, but the problems are still there.  Some not as big as they were, but they have not gone away.

See that chair it does not have the employee or more specifically me, Paul, in it no sir, Paul is not there, he has gone,  see you later alligator, in a while crocodile, that is an empty chair.  you betcha -- Paul is leaving -- someone else can be of assistance to those who are in need, and want information shared and laws enforced.

  To the lower right of the world map is a Chinese scroll with two verses from the sixth chapter in Matthew -- verse 33 and 34.  The last phrases of 34 were the clincher for me to buy this when in China some years ago.  It is perfect for my office.    (Matthew 6:34  "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. [Each] day has enough trouble of its own.)   -- appropriate huh ? 

 There were times when this job was not easy.  I have liked the job a lot, but it has not been easy, and I am happy to be seeing that chair without me in it. -- and that starts real real soon !!

You see, he has thought of something he would rather do.

Went to Winston twice this past week to see the Deacons, get my popcorn and pepsi, tease the the counter help, and am on my way. -- looking for a good time -- an am still looking --

we had excellant seats, note the camera angle and view.  We were close, in this particular game, but of course no cigar

This was despite the halftime entertainment --  above of the juggling piano player,  yes you saw it here.  This guy bounces balls on an over sized piano keyboard (as you can see he as four going here) and plays some catchy tune which I can no longer remember, but which you would easily recognize.  we are talking good times !! !!  This is why I went to the game.

this is the second game -- notice the change in uniforms.  the visitors now wear red -- the wolfpack -- the home team Deacs are trying out gold home uniforms for a change of fortune -- they should change back to the white, check out the trajectory of that ball -- both photos the one above and below.

I was changing seats trying to change luck -- I did it and luck went from very bad luck to much much worse.  Check out the Deacon player on the floor in the photo below.  That is our season.  Just like the rebounding position in the photo above -- (i.e. not in any)

one last post on the All Star hockey game

last weekend for the AllStar Hockey  game, Raleigh went all out -- the downtown area was turned into party central and showtime as people from all over came to enjoy food, drink, entertainment, meet the stars, participation stuff, and so on.

the crowd in front here was carefully watched by the plain clothes police but was not asked to leave as they cleaned up their act and toned down the argumentative nature of the younger set.

The RBC center was appropriately decorated with hockey like figures.

the place was packed as in really really full of people right up to the rafters.

and the mascots or whatever you call those guys who dress up like what ever were all over the arena, here the Buffalo Saber and the Florida Panther were in our section.

and the hockey was suburb.  even Mark and I recognized that we were watching really good hockey and that it was being played at a very high level.  The speed of the all stars without having the less skilled  rough guys trying to knock them down like in normal games made this one very very fast and the passing was incredible.  We had a very good time.