notes on life 2012

I'm now a few days older than my dad was when he died in 1977. I was 15 then and I'm 50 something now. He was, I think, more than a little out of his depth, with two teenagers to raise, by himself, since his wife died five months before. He was an aerospace engineer,…

Monacita came up from California but Oregon germs were too strong for her and she's in no shape to go the the Gorge.  She was kind of like the unifying theme - the people and the trip were built around her.   I've got nothing to do, really, now that the Gorge trip is off,…

Japan is not a Christian country; Christians make up a very small percentage of the population. You've heard complaints about how commercialized Christmas is here in the US - multiply that by infinity and you'll have some appreciation of the Holiday in Japan. It is totally commercialized and mean...

A white Christmas is fairly rare here in Portland, and thank god for that. We do not see very much snow here in the city - the mountains, over the last week, have gotten 24 inches or more, and the pass over the Siskyous on I-5 in southern Oregon was closed for hours the other…

  The world did not end.  *****            

I am very glad I did not drive downtown today. VocRehab set me up with an eye appointment; it's been almost four years since I got new glasses. I took the bus (2, actually) to get downtown. That 1/2 inch of snow they were predicting last night did not fall - or at least, not…

I am very sure that is about the only time in this life I'll be able to write, as a date, 12/12/12. 11-11-11 was a once in a lifetime thing too. last year. (on 6/6/06, hundreds of us lined up on the Hawthorne Bridge and gave "the devil's salute" (thumb holding down the middle two…

  So, I've been driving down to Oregon City every day to feed and water my friend's dog.  I stopped at a Plaid Pantry convenience store and got some cigarrettes. I do not smoke in my car.  I bought it new and have this opportunity to Treat it Right from Day One. I was standing…

Well, I dunno what to write. The site's down a couple of days and the things I thought I'd write or pictures I'd post wash away like so much sand and there's nothing left. Oh, I have composed entries in my mind but haven't written any of them down. Why bother. People will get upset…

Good and bad. A nice card from a reader in New Mexico - thank you very much! Replies from Social Security regarding Disability and Supplemental Income: both Denied. I'm not disabled under their blah blah blah. Confirmation I'm just some faker/taker wannabe leech on the federal tit. (I said that r...