On my way back from California to Texas, I had a flight that went from L.A. to Houston. There was some sort of creature in the seat in front of me. This photo is the only one that I could safely get of that creature. The creature had an unusual odor, and although it was somewhat familiar, I was still not able to identify the creature.
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Creature
On my way back from California to Texas, I had a flight that went from L.A. to Houston. There was some sort of creature in the seat in front of me. This photo is the only one that I could safely get of that creature. The creature had an unusual odor, and although it was somewhat familiar, I was still not able to identify the creature.
Friday, September 11, 2009
California
Here's the thing: I learned, after many years, to tolerate and even accept my step-father. I never knew him as a father, or thought of him that way. He did great things for the family and for my mom, and for that I'm grateful. While my brothers, Jake's step-sons, loved him like sons, I never loved him like a daughter. I went home for the funeral for my mom. If not for mom, I would not have gone. There's a long story behind this, but I won't go into it here.
The funeral, which took place on Saturday, Sep. 5, was okay, as funerals go. Jake had an open casket and did not look like Jake, until you got farther away and looked at his profile. The mortician was not given any photos to work with, so he/she had no real idea what Jake looked like. So here's a tip: always provide the mortician with photos of the deceased. Take some photos of yourself, close up, from several angles, and put them where your next of kin can find them when the time comes. That is, if you plan to have an open casket.
Jake was not buried until Tuesday, Sep. 8, because he had a military burial and the veterans cemetery was closed over the long weekend. It was a nice ceremony. The VFW provided an honor guard and a chaplain, the Army provided pall bearers and a bugler who played taps live. (This is rare these days.) The ceremony was held away from the actual gravesite, and we did not get to stay to visit the grave after the burial. (It would have been a few hours of waiting, and we had a two-hour drive since the cemetery was not close to mom's home. Also, I had to catch a flight that evening to get back to Texas.)
So Jake was respectfully remembered and buried. The funeral was attended by all his children and step-children, who all had to travel to get to California. It was great that they could be there. Fortunately, everyone had seen Jake not too exceptionally long before he passed away and had those memories.
Something happened for me while I was in California. I began a close relationship with a man I've actually known for many years, as he is a family friend/acquaintance, but who I didn't "notice" until last year, when I went home for my youngest brother's (Charlie's) funeral. I'm not going to go into that here, either. Suffice to say that there is now a man in my life where there has not been a man for twelve years. It may be nothing. It may be something. We'll see. He is, after all, still in California!
The funeral, which took place on Saturday, Sep. 5, was okay, as funerals go. Jake had an open casket and did not look like Jake, until you got farther away and looked at his profile. The mortician was not given any photos to work with, so he/she had no real idea what Jake looked like. So here's a tip: always provide the mortician with photos of the deceased. Take some photos of yourself, close up, from several angles, and put them where your next of kin can find them when the time comes. That is, if you plan to have an open casket.
Jake was not buried until Tuesday, Sep. 8, because he had a military burial and the veterans cemetery was closed over the long weekend. It was a nice ceremony. The VFW provided an honor guard and a chaplain, the Army provided pall bearers and a bugler who played taps live. (This is rare these days.) The ceremony was held away from the actual gravesite, and we did not get to stay to visit the grave after the burial. (It would have been a few hours of waiting, and we had a two-hour drive since the cemetery was not close to mom's home. Also, I had to catch a flight that evening to get back to Texas.)
So Jake was respectfully remembered and buried. The funeral was attended by all his children and step-children, who all had to travel to get to California. It was great that they could be there. Fortunately, everyone had seen Jake not too exceptionally long before he passed away and had those memories.
Something happened for me while I was in California. I began a close relationship with a man I've actually known for many years, as he is a family friend/acquaintance, but who I didn't "notice" until last year, when I went home for my youngest brother's (Charlie's) funeral. I'm not going to go into that here, either. Suffice to say that there is now a man in my life where there has not been a man for twelve years. It may be nothing. It may be something. We'll see. He is, after all, still in California!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Another Death in the Family
My step-father passed away yesterday morning. It wasn't entirely unexpected as he had broken his neck a couple months ago and, although he was recuperating, he wasn't doing very well. He was in a nursing home. He finally got that "halo" thing off his head when his blood pressure went way down. He was taken to a hospital and stabilized. He was in the process of getting permission from his doctor to go home because he wasn't expected to live much longer, and he didn't want to die in the hospital. Before they could get permission, he slipped away. My mom was with him.
He had been miserable with the halo on and the tubes sticking in him. He kept pulling his catheter out so they had to put him in diapers. Then he didn't get that he could go pee in the diaper whenever he needed to. I don't blame him for any of that. How miserable we'd all be in that situation. If only he could have hung on for a few more days.
I'll be flying out to California for the funeral this weekend. I'm concerned mostly for my mom. A little over a year ago, you might recall, my youngest brother - mom's youngest son - died. Now her husband of 40+ years has passed away. My brothers and I will no doubt be discussing what to do next. Mom is hard-headed and I'm sure she won't want to leave her home. But she'll be living alone if she doesn't, and she's getting older. We'd all be happier if she had someone to watch out for her. I'd love to move out there with her, but I have the dogs and cats to worry about. We'll think of something.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Okay, it's time.
I'm tired, as usual, and I don't really feel like writing. But I promised, didn't I? So here goes. I'm going to write about the trip home (to Texas) from home (California).
Once again I was flying standby on United, thanks to my brother's having worked there for a lot of years. I was trying for a flight from San Francisco to Dallas. When I got to the airport the first thing that was obvious was that it was much busier than the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. There was a long line to get through security, but it moved pretty smoothly. I got my ticked from the machine, as before, and got in line. When I finally got up to where a person looked at my ticket, I was asked to step over to a special area. Jackpot!! I was one of the lucky travelers who got to receive special attention. I guess I looked like a terrorist. Fit the profile. I guess the fact that I was traveling on an employee ticket didn't matter. Also, I'm an overweight 55 year old woman who bears no resemblance whatsoever to middle easterners, imho.
So I took off my shoes, put all my stuff in the plastic totes, walked through the metal detector, and was taken over to where they could take a closer look.
First I had to stand in this booth thing with my legs spread and my arms out while little nozzles blew puffs of air up my clothes. I have no idea what that was for, but I thought about it being that big x-ray machine that some folks have been complaining about - the one that shows much more of your body than any TSA employee needs to see. I don't think it was that thing, though, because I didn't see anything that resembled an x-ray machine.
Then some guy had to open and look through my carry-on bag and my purse. No surprises.
Then I got to put my shoes on, take my stuff and go to the gate.
I went through a few shops on my way thinking about buying a souvenir, but ended up with nothing. When I got to the gate I bought some water and a bad blueberry muffin. Then I waited for the flight.
This flight wasn't as enjoyable as the first. I was crowded into a cheap seat. Not nearly as much leg room as the first flight. If I recall correctly, we got a beverage and a snack, but I'm really not sure. We must have gotten at least a beverage. (I knew I'd forget a bit the longer I waited to blog about it.)
The flight was uneventful - which is definitely a good thing.
My niece and sister-in-law were waiting for me outside the terminal in Dallas. We drove to their house where I had left my car. I stayed for a short time but was anxious to get back to the dogs and cats, who by now were wondering if they'd ever see me again.
The dogs were extremely happy to see me, and I was extremely happy to see them. Everything at home was okay. Everyone, including my fish, had survived.
This picture was taken about a half hour after I got home.
Once again I was flying standby on United, thanks to my brother's having worked there for a lot of years. I was trying for a flight from San Francisco to Dallas. When I got to the airport the first thing that was obvious was that it was much busier than the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. There was a long line to get through security, but it moved pretty smoothly. I got my ticked from the machine, as before, and got in line. When I finally got up to where a person looked at my ticket, I was asked to step over to a special area. Jackpot!! I was one of the lucky travelers who got to receive special attention. I guess I looked like a terrorist. Fit the profile. I guess the fact that I was traveling on an employee ticket didn't matter. Also, I'm an overweight 55 year old woman who bears no resemblance whatsoever to middle easterners, imho.
So I took off my shoes, put all my stuff in the plastic totes, walked through the metal detector, and was taken over to where they could take a closer look.
First I had to stand in this booth thing with my legs spread and my arms out while little nozzles blew puffs of air up my clothes. I have no idea what that was for, but I thought about it being that big x-ray machine that some folks have been complaining about - the one that shows much more of your body than any TSA employee needs to see. I don't think it was that thing, though, because I didn't see anything that resembled an x-ray machine.
Then some guy had to open and look through my carry-on bag and my purse. No surprises.
Then I got to put my shoes on, take my stuff and go to the gate.
I went through a few shops on my way thinking about buying a souvenir, but ended up with nothing. When I got to the gate I bought some water and a bad blueberry muffin. Then I waited for the flight.
This flight wasn't as enjoyable as the first. I was crowded into a cheap seat. Not nearly as much leg room as the first flight. If I recall correctly, we got a beverage and a snack, but I'm really not sure. We must have gotten at least a beverage. (I knew I'd forget a bit the longer I waited to blog about it.)
The flight was uneventful - which is definitely a good thing.
My niece and sister-in-law were waiting for me outside the terminal in Dallas. We drove to their house where I had left my car. I stayed for a short time but was anxious to get back to the dogs and cats, who by now were wondering if they'd ever see me again.
The dogs were extremely happy to see me, and I was extremely happy to see them. Everything at home was okay. Everyone, including my fish, had survived.
This picture was taken about a half hour after I got home.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Video of Mom's neighborhood in CA
I've uploaded a new video to my YouTube account. It shows the neighborhood where my mom lives, and where I want to live. Alas, I'm too poor to live in a place where the homes cost a half a million dollars. (They were only 20 thousand when mom bought her house.) My YouTube account is here.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Beautiful, Beautiful California
The pain of my brother's death has started to subside a little. I've sort of worked things out for myself about who he was and why he died. I'm still in California. I did't fly home tonight as I was planning to do because I'm going standby and the flight looked pretty much booked. So I changed to a flight leaving tomorrow morning.
In the past few days I've fallen in love again with California. The weather can not be beat. It's been cool during the days and cooler during the nights (about 70 degrees during the day). There's absolutely no humidity. I've decided I need to get back out here somehow.
For comparison, right now central Texas is about 100 degrees during the days and about 80 degrees during the night with LOTS of humidity.
The cost of living is way too high, so it may be awhile before I can get here. But I'm going to be thinking about it and, if I can figure a way, I'm here.
If anyone out there knows or is willing to be my sugar daddy, please let me know. Or if you're just wealthy and very generous, let me know. I'll need some capital!
In the past few days I've fallen in love again with California. The weather can not be beat. It's been cool during the days and cooler during the nights (about 70 degrees during the day). There's absolutely no humidity. I've decided I need to get back out here somehow.
For comparison, right now central Texas is about 100 degrees during the days and about 80 degrees during the night with LOTS of humidity.
The cost of living is way too high, so it may be awhile before I can get here. But I'm going to be thinking about it and, if I can figure a way, I'm here.
If anyone out there knows or is willing to be my sugar daddy, please let me know. Or if you're just wealthy and very generous, let me know. I'll need some capital!
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