Observations

[Wilma]

You won't get any back talk from me on this.  I hate the telephone.  I cringe when it rings.  If one of the daughters is here, they know it is all right to pick it up and take a message.  When I do answer it, I am relieved when it is one of those automated calls that I can hang up on and don't have to talk to.  Other live calls doing surveys, etc., I just tell them that I don't do that over the telephone and hang up.  I won't make a call unless it is necessary or I want an immediate answer.  Mostly I depend on e-mail to keep in touch.  That way I am not tied up for half an hour or more at a time with small talk.  I put off making business calls just because I have to stay on hold waiting for a live person that can answer questions.

How do I handle my daughters?  Oldest daughter takes care of business and hangs up.  Janet takes care of business and hangs up.  Second daughter is more inclined to talk, but she is usually on her way to somewhere and doesn't have the time for an extended conversation.  Youngest daughter, ditto.  E-mail keeps me in touch and I am not tied down.  They can answer when they want and I can reply when I want and I don't have to be nice to their face.

No, Larry, I am not going to diss you for this.  I am more inclined to think the way you do.  Let your wife enjoy her telephone conversations and you enjoy yours with your dead anscestors.  I kind of enjoy my dead ancestors, too.  They don't talk back.

[larryJ]

I wish to announce, sadly, that it has happened again.  Yes, we......we went shopping again today.  I tried, really I did, by volunteering to do the shopping yesterday, but she wanted to go today.

We stopped at the pet store for some treats and food for the dogs and the cat.  Just inside the door we ran into the young lady who had given the class when we were training R.A.M.B.O.  I lingered for a few minutes and then left them to get the things we needed.  I rejoined my wife as their conversation was winding down and we checked out and left.  Once in the car her comment was, "When we went in the store I heard her voice and I was hoping she wouldn't see us."  I guess that means the twenty minute conversation could have lasted longer.

We went next door to Target and picked up some things we will need for the beach gathering tomorrow.  It was supposed to be "get the stuff we need and get out."  She was pretty good in this store and we did what we came to do.

Another stop at the grocery store.  We had discussed what we were going to get and it was fresh in both our minds.  She got an electric scooter and I took off going for the things on the list in my mind.  It was crowded, naturally, and she could not maneuver as well as I could so I left her behind to browse the shelves while I got the things we needed.  We found out that cute little baby in the deli section is six months old today and imparted some grandmotherly wisdom for a few minutes.  Fortunately, because it was so crowded, lack of space limited that conversation (meaning we didn't get the baby's name.  darn it.)

All in all though, it went well and we were back in time to unload and relax before the Lakers start to beat up on the Suns.

Larryj

[Wilma]

Larry, do you get to watch the Suns play out there?  We very seldom get them here.  I quess there is one advantage to living in the West.

[larryJ]

We follow the Lakers and try to watch every game.  All Laker games are televised.  Although I haven't really checked it out, I did notice with Direct TV, we get many NBA games.  But we only watch the Lakers.  I will try to pay attention to what other teams are televised here. 

On a second note, sadly, the Lakers got trounced tonight.  Oh well............

Larryj

[Wilma]

Quote from Larry, "the Lakers got trounced".  The score was 125-105.  The Suns are now tied for the bottom of the pile while the Lakers are not at the top, but darn near it.

I can't get the NBA channel so I have missed a lot of the games that I would have liked to have seen.  Just watched Chicago and New York.  The Knicks won in overtime.

[larryJ]

Over all my married years, I have considered myself to be above average as far as intelligence.  Not a genius, but I can usually figure things out, like how to work the remote control or how to fix something temporarily until a more suitable solution, usually professional, comes along.  I mention all of this because my wife depends on me to be this way which makes her life easier.  And, in my last few posts, I have made her sound less than she really is.  Just having fun........fortunately she doesn't read the forum!!!

Observation:  I had mentioned somewhere about the circuit breaker going out late Saturday night.  Not much I could do about it then and when I was resetting it, I was calling her cell phone to see if it worked.  At this time, she had gone to bed and turned her phone off.  Easter Sunday we were gone to the beach to be with all our family and there was not reason to call anyone.  When we got home I figured out that I could run extension cords for the TV and the washer and dryer.  Problem temporarily solved.  Monday, I was going to fix it by replacing the circuit breaker.  My wife said, "Don't do it unless I am out there with you."  This could mean two things.
Either she wanted to provide moral support and be the first to watch me electrocute myself.  We procrastinated and decided to call an electrician.  We didn't and decided to call on Tuesday.  As time was going on today, we hadn't called and then my wife hollered at me to come out to the garage.  She pointed out the little reset button on the outlet for the washer and dryer and said she had pushed it and everything was working.  She then asked me how much I had been willing to pay for an electrician and I said, "100-150" and she started grinning...................sheesh!

Larryj

[Judy Harder]

"Got Cha!" LOL

I had that happen when the right side of my kitchen wouldn't light up.
Had a call into the maintainance guys and a couple of weeks without using my microwave/light above stove and the other outlet and my repair guy walked in pushed the little red button (I knew it was there, but did Not see it???!!!) And everything worked.
Talk about a dumb feeling........glad you are back in business.

[larryJ]

Is there a "small world thread?"  I didn't look.  But I will put this into the Observations thread.

I mentioned that while we were on vacation last summer in Oceanside, I had met a gentleman who was staying in the cabin next to us.  As it turned out, he was born in the same town I was, went to the same schools I did, knew all the same people and yet we couldn't remember each other.  As I mentioned then, what were the chances of running into someone like that almost 50 years later at that time and at that place!

All this leads up to today.

My daughter works for the county court system.  She started as a student worker and moved up to becoming a Judicial Assistant which is quite an accomplishment requiring hard work and several months of special training.  The person in this position is the person who sets up the judge's calendar and handles all his/her courtroom needs.  Her first assignment was in the downtown (LA) courtroom and was in a civil court.  A few months ago, she was asked if she would be willing to transfer to the Pomona court which is just seven miles from her house.  She did and is happy because she doesn't have the long commute and can actually go home during her lunch hour if needed.  While it was a tough transition for her (leaving her friends and a really nice judge) she is happy with the move.

That said.........

Here is the small world part.  Today she called me and asked if I was ever stationed in Ft. Campbell, KY, during my time in the service.  I replied to the affirmative and she asked when.  I told her and asked why.  She had been talking to her judge and he mentioned being in the Army at Ft. Campbell.  This rang a bell in her memory and prompted the phone call.  The judge told her he was then sent to Korea as a medic...............I was sent to Korea as a medic...............

So I asked her his name.  I won't mention his name here.  Suffice to say, he was my closest friend while in the service in Korea.  We partied together, we were responsible for the clinic together, we were always in trouble together and he was the one who was responsible for getting my transferred from my mountaintop assignment down to the clinic.  So she asked me for some sort of memory that he might know.  I mentioned about him dating a certain USO girl and that the three of us got in trouble for playing outside in the rain one afternoon without any rain gear.  (That's another story.)  She came back to the phone and his response was,   

OMG!

We had lost contact after leaving the service and that was in 1968.  44 years ago!  What are the chances of him being a judge in a court near my house (he was from Long Beach) and my daughter being his JA? 

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

Wow, how cool is that! Do you think you'll get together?

[larryJ]

Diane, when this occurred yesterday, it sent me digging out old high school yearbooks which included a similar type book that some Korean company put together.  Both he and I are in this book.  When she comes today to drop off the kids, she will take the book in with her to show the judge.  I am sure that there will be some sort of get-together like a lunch or something in the near future if he is interested.  I, of course, did a lot of surfing yesterday and managed to find out some information about him.  Quite interesting.  More important is that he has been, and still is, living no more than six miles from me for the last twenty some years.  In a large urban such as the one we live in, it is not too hard to believe we never saw each other in a store or somewhere else like that.

Larryj