Tom's Diary

Today’s Chores

• Cat duty
• Giving Mom her meds
• Finishing all pending laundry started yesterday

Log 

07:20 AM: I’m up.

09:35 AM: Worked the   Christmas lighting, 2009 project.

09:50 AM: Wrote the initial post for the   household organization effort.

10:00 AM:  Worked the   household organization effort. 

10:35 AM: Worked the   Christmas lighting, 2009 project.  150 blue LED bulbs arrived today and I’m putting them into strings and considering where outside to place them.

11:30 AM: Sister Diane just arrived.  We’re driving to State College in a few minutes to meet sister Mary Ann for lunch.  See you when I get back.

11:57 AM: Well, we learned that sister Diane’s gray car is too small to carry Mom’s wheelchair.  Neither the trunk nor the back seat have sufficient space for the chair.  Not even Mom’s scooter would fit.  Indeed, we learned this after we’d already transferredMom into the car.  So, we moved her back out again and into the house until Diane gets back with her larger vehicle. She should return in fifteen minutes or so.

01:15 PM: We ended up going to sister Mary Ann’s for the afternoon, so Mom could see the grand kids. 

05:30 PM: Then, we had Parmesan chicken for supper.  You just take some egg white and mix with a generous portion of grated Parmesan cheese, then put it in the oven for around a half-hour.  Yummy.

07:45 PM: We’re back home again.  Over all, we had a great time.  Now I’m off to watch today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless.

09:45 PM: [Tad] called to let me know that   Richard Meckler passed away.

10:30 PM: Talked with [Emmy]. 

12:00 AM: Watched a little AC 360.  It’s the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, and so, Anderson Cooper interviewed Oscar, who says that he’s actually 43 years old.  You know Oscar the grouch; the the green fellow with the matted fur who lives in a trash can.  Remember?  He was witty and rather funny actually.    I remember when the show first started.  I was in third grade and the home room teacher read us an article about the show, and many of us got to see the first episode, since we knew from this where and when to find it.  While I was not a big fan of the series, I did like some the “heated” exchanges between Burt and Ernie.  That blue cookie monster had his unique charms too.  Good show.

12:05 AM: I’m off to bed.  Going Wal Marting in about nine hours, and so I’ve got to be fresh.  Later.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Christmas lighting, 2009 Project
• Household Organization Effort: 2009
• Mom’s Status: 2009-11-12
• Richard Meckler Died
• Teacher KC Has Cancer

I learned from [Tad] tonight that my eighth grade teacher, [KC] has some rare form of cancer.   But we neither know what kind of cancer it is, what part of her body is afflicted, nor whether she’s terminal. 

She only retired just a couple years ago and so, it’s a shame that she must deal with something like this already, so soon into her time of leisure, which she so much deserves after enduring hellions like me.  She usually stayed pretty calm through my relentless talking in class, teasing, and just plain orneriness.  Nonetheless, I was the first one to whom she gave demerits, because I wouldn’t shut up.  Indeed, I was so distracting that I managed to get through her cool exterior and unleash a bit of genuine rage from her that day.  But I can’t blame her though, for I acted pretty immaturely then, and I respect her for staying as even-tempered as she did.  She was a gem.

I’ll post more when I learn more of her condition.  Stand by.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2009-11-12

I just received word that Richard Meckler, a schoolmate of mine who graduated in 1975, passed away earlier this evening.  He, his wife of twenty-six years, and myself were great friends during the eighties.  She and I were roommates when the two of them fell in love back in 1981.  Then, they married in 1982 and in 1983, they had their only child, a cute little girl. For several years, from 1984 through 1988, we all lived at Moorhead, and I’d often visit them on Sunday nights, when KDKA TV ran two Hawaii Five-0 episodes back-to-back.  Often, we’d get pizza and they’d both patiently listen as I whined about my struggles in college. 

Richard cared a lot for his family and friends and never expressed any hostility toward anyone that I know of.  He was the very sort of fellow that his wife really needed, as she had more than her share of physical challenges to cope with.  Though he knew some wild characters in his day, he never judged anyone harshly, and seemed to have a great capacity for empathy.  He tended to the mother of his child with such compassion, and never got tired of doing so.

I lost touch with them when I left Pittsburgh in 1988 and shortly thereafter, they moved to Michigan.  In fact, 1988 was the last time I ever spoke to Rich, though I did chat with his wife once in 1996.  I’m gong to call her tomorrow to express my condolences and perhaps, catch up a little.  I never forgot what a kind-hearted soul he was, and though we haven’t talked in such a long time, tonight the world feels a bit more empty to me, now that he’s gone.  I’ll miss knowing that he’s around.

Take care, Richard.  You were a great friend both locally, and over long distances.  This place needs more people like you.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2009-11-12

As of late, I’ve felt a little chaotic as I stroll around here because it appears that we have way too much stuff.  Yet I feel a perhaps irrational attachment to the junk I’ve purchased over the years.  So, I wish to keep the stuff that still works; unless space shortages force me to pitch it. 

My clinging to my stuff might originate in the notion that I doubt that I’ll ever have the middle-class level of income, that I did when I worked as a software engineer.  Translation: I’ll probably never be able to afford to buy this junk again.  So throwing it out gives me the jitters, even though much of it I haven’t used in years. 

But, maybe I won’t have to order a dumpster.  A better solution might be to organize it all very well, so that I know where to find each and every item.  So to that end, I begin the effort of eliminating clutter here at the house, and in this post, I’ll write about this effort as it unfolds.  I’ll tell you about each step I take to combat the junk monster such as building additional shelving for various free walls, and purchasing a storage shed, and so on.  You’ll get it all here and you just might find some  useful information herein to aid you in your organizational goals. 

Look to the comments below to see the journal style entries for this effort. 

I don’t anticipate that this project will ever end because there’s always better places for things than where you have them currently, and better ways of organizing in general.  So come along with me here as I write about the many discoveries I know I’m going to make as I embark on this undertaking. 

Tom Hesley 

Related Posts

• Projects Page
• Shopping Trip: 2009-12-01

Log

7:00 AM: Blood sugar: 179. Covered this and her breakfast with 14 units of log insulin.

11:00 AM: Blood sugar: 171.

12:30 PM: Covered her lunch with 14 units of log insulin.

03:30 PM: Covered a snack she ate with 6 units of log insulin.

05:00 PM: Blood sugar: 232.  Covered with 14 units of log insulin.

06:15 PM: Covered her supper with 8 units of log insulin.

08:25 PM: We get to open another canister of test strips today.

10:00 PM: Blood sugar: 110. 

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2009-11-12