What was your day like?

[Edwin]

I will bet you do miss the Philippines, Red. It is such a different culture from the different foods to celebrations, to family times. In just the 2 weeks I was there I could understand how a native of the Philippines would miss it after moving away. I would be just like you, wanting to return for vacation. When I was in the Philippines in 2010, I had such a good time, and everyone treated me so well, that I hated to leave, and I forgot all about all my troubles, responsibilities, and everything elsel, but having a good time, and the people I was with while I was in the Philippines! I bought a really cheap electronic piano while I was there. It was a nice piano, but it didn't cost much. I had a good time playing it while I was there, and then I left it for my friend's filipina wife's family after I left.

[red]

I understand that sir Ed, any foreigner that visits there in Philippines feel very welcomed and loved. It is our nature of being caring to visitors. I would choose to retire there pohon.

[Edwin]

This was a court day for members of the jury! Carol and I have been summoned to the jury a number of times over the years. I always had a reason why I could not serve on the jury, until sometime in the 1990s. We were living in the Cascade Mountains, but for a number of reasons we maintained our address in the town just down the hill from where we are now. So I got called to serve on the jury. I didn't have a really good reason not to serve, so I went out on the boat, as the only way out of that place was with a boat or an airplane. I showed up for jury duty, and I sat by a lady there that I used to buy propane from. Anyway it involved, if I remember correctly, a drunk driving charge. The guy too the plea bargain, so I only had to serve a couple of hours, after which I was able to return home, and back to work. It was a good experience and shortlived.

Since we have lived here these last 4 years we have been selected for jury duty. A couple of years ago or so they had me fill out the paper work for being prospective juror. I wrote that I had a condition, because of prostate surgery, where I have to use the bathroom every 10 minutes or so in the morning before 11 a.m. It isn't always that often, but sometimes it is. I guess they didn't want to break the court session that often for recesses, so they don't select me for jury duty anymore. I had a friend who used the same reason, and they made him go see a doctor before they would accept that reason. Butl all my medical records are in the medical facility in town down the hill, so they probably checked on me, and learned that I was telling the truth.

Anyway, they selected Carol for jury duty. The case was a domestic violence against this Mexican guy. They deselected Carol for jury duty on that case after she had been there for a couple of hours. Two things caused them to send her home. One was that we experienced domestic violence in our daughter's case, and also Carol saw 2 witnesses frm families who wer Mexicans and our good clos friends in the late 1970's, so she couldn't be an impartial juror, so they sent her home. I was with our youngest daughter and her daughter, and we went to school and ate lunch with the younger daughter which was fun!

Then we picked up 30 concrete blocks and came home. It was kind of funny becasue the high school kids started honking the horns in their cars, with a number of honks in various rythms. I honked the horn in our car to compare the sound to their horns. Then our granddaughters got started to honking the horn in our car, and other kids answered them back by honking the horns of their cars. It was kind of fun, and kind of funny!

[Edwin]

Today I got started working on my bathroom fairly early, before breakfast. Then we had hotcakes, eggs, butter, and honey and milk, then back to work. I pulled old broken sheetrock off my bathroom wall. Some of it had gotten wet, shatter easily, broken already, and some of it black mold! It's all gone now. It took me all day to pull mirrors off the wall, towel racks, and remove, broke up, put in old pellet sacks I am now using for garbage. I have about probably 8 sacks of broken up gypson board. Now it is ready for the green rock our kids are going to put on and tape for me. Even without anything but studs I put the mirrors back, towel racks, because I have to see my face when I shave and floss my teeth! Now my bathroom looks like it did before only without anythink on the walls, only insulation and studs! not the young guys who think they are hot, but the wood kind! My son-in-law brought over an electric belt sander for me to sand the floor where I put concrete in the cracks and screw holes. Then I need to pull all the staples they used to put the thin sheet rock on that I just pulled off, only most of the staples are still needing pulled, which won't be hard to do; just take a little bit of time!

Fish & rice for lunch, & boy was it good!!!! For supper, hamburger gravey potatoes and corn, and 2 large celery stocks, and it was good as well. Afterwards I had 1/2 of a large dark slightly sweetened chocolate bar! Lots of milk through the day; I am a heavy milk drinker. I had a few sips of orange juice as well!

[Edwin]

I bought a 1969 Ford half ton pickup from a young lady that was in my class as a student when she was in the first grade! I didn't pay much for it, and it cost me very little money. I've only changed the settlement bulb below the fuel pump, changed the oil, bought new tires for it, and that's about it; and it has been very good vehicle. I used the wrong wrench combination to change the oil once, and I damaged the threads on the oil plug in the oil pan. Some day I will probably have to replace that oil pan because of damaging those threads, but as long as I can make that plug hold I will use it as it is.

The brakes have progressively gotten less responsive in the last 4 years until I would have to pump them to get brakes. As long as I could pump and get brakes I didn't mind. But, a few days ago I hauled 10 railroad ties, and I was approaching the front of our youngest daughter's 2 & 1/2 ton Ford truck, and I couldn't get any brakes until it was almost too late. I managed to stop, and I don't know how, but I'm thankful I was able to stop it. After that I couldn't get brakes even by pumping them, so I was very careful until I crossed the hiway and headed home.

Today I pulled all the staples out of the 2 by 4s that held the gypson board on that I just pulled off. I was going to start sanding the floor, but I took a notion to try to fix the brakes, so I jacked up each of the back wheels, and adjusted each of the brake shoes closer to the drums. I was getting ready to work on the front, but I was having trouble jacking up the front, not able to find a good place to put the jack. I was so cold and so miserable that I gave up on that job, and I will tack it again when the wind is not blowing, and hopefully it is a little warmer, hope, hope, hope! If that doesn't restore my brakes I will try bleeding the air out of the lines, if there is any? Then after that I will look for other problems. The master cylindar holds brake fluid for ever almost, so I'm not sure what else could be wrong, but eventually I will find the problem, fix it, and have brakes again. After pulling all those staples and adjusting the back brakes, I gave up, played the piano, and ate! We had spaghetti, meat and sause, and apples, then banana bread, and milk, and it was all good. I ate a half a large bar of dark chocolate, slightly sweetened, and boy was that good too!

[Edwin]

Today I worked sanding off the concrete I had used to fill in screw holes and seems between boards. I used the broom every few minutes to keep the excess off the floor so that I could see what I was doing. I wore a face mask, and left my glasses off because a face mask causes my hot moisture laiden breath to fog up my glasses, and I can see better without my glasses than with them in that case. When I was finished I did a general cleanup, as well as vacumning, and I had Carol sweep my clothing off with the broom, the dust out of them I mean. That job is finished now! I am waiting for linolium that is supposed to come November 17th, and then I have to get some green rock board, then my kids are going to help me get my bathroom put together including running water, and that will be nice!

In the afternoon I went out and adjusted the front brakes; they are all drum brakes. Still I had not brakes! I was getting ready to bleed air out of the brake lines, and I notices that there was leaking brake fluid, leaking down on the steering column, so I think the master brake cylindar is bad, so I talked to the parts store, and they are ordering me one. I should have brakes after I install it, and bleed the air out of the lines. I unscrewed the two front brake line bleeders thinking I was going to bleed the lines, but now it will be easier to break them loose when I bleed the lines after I put on the master cylindar. I would probably have tried bleeding the lines, except I was too cold and miserable, and it is just as well, because it would have been a waste of time before I change the master cylindar. I was debating whether to work on my brakes or walk the doggies, and I am sure the doggies figure I made a poor choice, and I really did, because I didn't accomplish much of anything, only adjusting the brake shoes, and I am not sure that needed to be done. It is 5:00 p.m., and it is cold and dark and it is nice to be inside where it is warm!

[crisipicada]

Will commute to the barrio starting today. I would be glad to see my mother daily. Today is Monday and so many clients in the office. I will go to the bank to deposit the fire code fees collection now in 30 minutes.

[Smiley]

Wow! That is going to give you a very long day.I hope for you that it works out well.

[Smiley]

Sunday was Remembrance Day in Canada.The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. This is the time when ,for a couple of hours all the politicians pretend to care about the service men and women who have given so much to create a free,prosperous nation.
Sunday is also the day that I set aside each week for my son.My boy Nathan is now 21,big and very strong.He is also profoundly autistic. His entire vocabulary consists of "no" and "pee". I`m grateful for those however.When he was about 2 1/2,the doctors starting putting pressure on me to sign him into a residential hospital,but after touring one I flat out refused.The place was like a prison.I managed to keep him,as best I could,and help him,as much as I could. I joined several advocacy groups for the developmentally challenged and began promoting and lobbying for better residential facilities for people like my son.
Nathan has been in such a group home now for almost 5 years and he is doing very well,he needs someone to be awake 24 hours a day. He is doing a little light duty work now and seems fairly proud of himself.
On Sunday we just hang out,we go for walks when the weather is nice and find things to do inside when it is not so nice. He loves helping me cook and he helps me by putting the dishes away as I wash them.He can be a pretty charming guy,and we communicate fairly well despite him not being able to talk.

[Edwin]

Smiley, you have been a trooper for your son and you! That is great that you have taken a personal interest in him, and you have added value to his life, and to your own. That is so nice that you have been able to do things with him, and communicate with him so well! Those are nice times that you and Nathan have together!

Our kids from out of town have come to help us, and they really jump in and get with it on this project. It is hard on me, because so many things are happening that it is difficult for me to keep up with all of it, even though it is all good. The weather turned crazy, freezing hard during the night, freezing up our water that was protected somewhat, and we all thought we were going to be okay with it until we got the water system moved into the cellar. But all of a sudden we have no water, so we took everything lose, after thawing out the pressure tank, so it could drain out the water, and we moved the pump into the house to thaw out, and moved the pressure tank and the hot water heater into the basement, even though we were not ready to do that, the cold weather decided for us that we were going to do that, ready or not!

Yesterday we built a canopy over the cellar, bought more propane than I could afford to use a space heater to heat the place, so that progress could continue. My one son-in-law built a box that the water pex pipe lines could go through to protect them from freezing, and my other son-in-law and I went to town and bought more supplies to hook up the water, as well as more concrete to pour after we finish laying the blocks on the last wall of the cellar. It is actually just a v that needs to be completed. I went to bed last night feeling like too much had happened during my day; stress and feelings of being overwhelmed, but actually it is all good. One son-in-law is a procastinator, and he does nothing unless there is a crisis; the one who lives here close by. I and my other son-in-law are work ahead and stay on top of things type people. The one type is hard on the other type, but I am glad that something motivates him, because otherwise nothing would ever get accomplished! We are doing well with it, and with some very hard work we will be okay. We have to heat the area with propane space heaters, and mix stuff to make the mortor stick, but when it is done, it will be done, and I will be thankful for that. Now that the plressure tank, pump, and hot water heater no longer need to be protected, I have enough concrete blocks to go about another 30 feet or so on my block wall, and that is nice!