Observations

[Diane Amberg]

Most places will not let that acting out go on much longer. She will not get many more chances until she is taken to a secure facility, especially if she is scaring children. As you say most folks who go into homes like that are fine and eventually go back to the mainstream or to families. We have several homes near here too and problems are very rare.

[larryJ]

Well, you are correct.  Apparently, she went up the street to the house next door and starting bothering them.  They didn't want to call the police so they asked the home operator to come get her and take her back.  That didn't work and the police were called which would be the third time today.  I heard that they weren't going to respond until a supervisor could be on scene to arrange a transfer to a facility in Los Angeles.  The police came and got her to sit on the curb and wait.  Meanwhile, the supes showed up and went into the house to fill out the paperwork.  Then an ambulance was called for transport.  She went quietly.  Maybe she is not as crazy as she seems, I mean, knowing possibly that a larger facility meant better care.  Who knows? 

Oh well, back to the soaps.  Oh, saw a neat Halloween decoration on the way home from school.  It was a life-sized witch plastered against a tree, legs and arms spread eagle around the tree with her face buried into the trunk and a broken broom dangling from one leg.   

Larryj

[Ms Bear]

And where was your camera at Larry?  We need at picture of that.

[larryJ]

Ms. Bear, I will work on that.

Having had all the bathroom tile work completed and all the holes in the walls left by the plumber patched, the only thing remaining was to mount two TVs on the wall in their respective rooms.  When we had hired this company to do all this work, we were assured that all workers were pros and very proficient at their crafts.  After a few days of waiting for someone to come and put up the TVs, my wife called the company and asked when this might be done.  The answer was that they had been really busy, but would send someone the next day.  We were also assured in the beginning of all this work, that they (workers) all speak English.............

The observation:  I need to get a definition or a clearer understanding of what "they all speak English" means.  The guy who did the tile spoke passable English, but was not always around as he laid the tile, left it for a while and then came back to grout.  The other guy with him did not speak more than a few words of English.  He was patching holes.  At the end of the second day, when they were about finished, my wife's cousin prepared to wash some dishes in the kitchen sink and the patch guy said not to run water.  Okay.........
It was later determined that he had somehow disrupted the drain pipes under the sink and was waiting for the other guy to come back to fix it.  Skilled craftsmen!  It was fortunate that I had some replacement supplies to repair the damage under the sink, for neither one of them had a clue as to what to do. 

On to the TV hanger guy.  He showed up yesterday.  It was his understanding that we had all the parts he needed to do the job.  It was our understanding when we contracted this company that he would come and measure and he and I would go get what he needed.  He was confused, mostly because HIS ENGLISH WAS NOT SO GOOD!  But with phone calls to the company, he got it straight as to what he needed to do.  He took measurements and off we went to Home Depot.  There was nothing there that would work on my TVs, so we went on to Lowe's where he found what he thought would work (key word thought), bought two and home we went.  As luck, or fate, or whatever, would have it, the brackets purchased would fit one TV, but not the other.  So back we went to Lowe's and returned the bracket and looked at other ones.  Nothing there.  My thinking here is that we really don't need that other TV up on the wall right now.  But then, he looked at me and muttered, "Walmart."  Now, the Walmart store closest to me is right across the street from Lowe's.  Given the large majority of Spanish speaking residents in this area, and he being Mexican, almost made me laugh.  I would never think of Walmart as a place to buy something like what we were shopping for, but a Mexican would.  And, would you believe, they had a bracket that would work and was about half-price of the other he had already installed on the other TV.  As we were headed to the check stand, he was looking around for something and I asked what.  He was looking for an Allen wrench.  I told him I have all kinds of Allen wrenches.  We got home and I got the wrenches and then he wanted to use my socket set.  Now, the TVs are up and working fine, despite the fact that this "professional" did not know about going for the brackets, did not bring any tools to do the job and spoke limited English. 

Wait til you hear about the plumber......................

Larryj

[Judy Harder]

Just think of all the fun you would have missed if you had done all the work yourself. Thanks for the giggle Larry,
you tell a great story..............Did you learn any new words...........I mean a new language? LOL I am sure you thought or said a few choice words during all this......LOL

[larryJ]

Judy, you are correct about the few choice words that formed in my mind, but did not escape my mouth.  I have picked up a few words, both nice and nasty, over the years.  I was, however, more interested in getting the job done. 

Larryj

[larryJ]

We have survived our second attempt at Bingo.  We went last night and joined the other grandparents for a night of fun and laughter.  I say this because hanging with this bunch of seniors is pretty funny.  Example:  when the caller calls out I-22, the crowd goes, "toot, toot," like a train.     Having mentioned my habit of watching people, I noticed a woman who, I heard, had just bought one of the mobile homes in the park.  She was nice looking, hair styled nicely, small amount of makeup, nice gold watch, but no other jewelry other than earrings. She had a nice smile and seemed to want to fit in with the crowd, but not overly talkative.  I say all this because I try to imagine what has happened in her life that brings her to this place at this time.  No wedding ring.............is she recently divorced or did her husband pass......some women wear their wedding rings even after the husband passes.  I will never know because I don't meddle in other people's business, but it was fun to observe and test my imagination. 

I have also observed on my two visits to this place that I am the only one who is using oxygen............................forty people, give or take, all, or mostly all, over 65, but I'm the only one.  After our first trip there, I thought that was strange.  Last night, however, one lady, one of the callers, came over to me on the break and asks about the oxygen.  Come to find out, she is also on oxygen therapy, but not all the time like I am.  There are probably more like her.  When I mentioned this Bingo game in recent posts, I commented that we seemed to be the only ones not totally gray.  Last night, though, there were some younger people there, so I guess it varies from time to time as to who comes to play. 

Oh well, only one game in November as it is on Thursday and the second game of the month would come on Thanksgiving.

Larryj

[Ms Bear]

A young friend of mine that works on my house has agreed to tell me the next time I want to make changes on the house that I just need a vacation.  I started out with having a new wider door for the back door and while we are at it lets move it over about two feet. 

Got that done and the propane ran out so now I can get an electric stove but that means I have to have a larger breaker box, called an electrician in May, was willing to wait until after my July vacation and in September they finally put in the outlet for the stove and today they came out to put in the heat lamp in the bathroom and a new outlet for the frig and microwave off of the new breakers.  Don't know when they will be back to finish but enough done now that I can at least hang the stuff back on the walls and clear off the counter.

The stove was delivered today with the wrong plug so they will be back tomorrow with it.  Tomorrow night I can actually fry an egg.

Didn't have any problems with them not understanding english, one of guys that delivered the stove was mexican and was more concerned about being bitten by dog, the dog was tied by the other door.  The electricians were all rednecks waiting for 5 pm on Friday to head for the deer lease.

If you see me in Elk County you will know they sent me on vacation.

[larryJ]

A few days ago a guy showed up to remount the TV in the living room making it look more centered over the fireplace.  He did a great job.  In talking to him, we found out he does just about everything, i.e., electrical, wall patching, etc.  A deal was made for him to return and do some work, under the table.  He came today and installed a plug up behind the TV so the wires won't show.  He also replaced two outside porch lights with sensor lights and put in a plug in the water heater closet so that we don't have to run an extension cord for the hot water pump.  He did good work and we have him on tap for future electrical work.  And, he spoke passable English!  And, for a decent price. 

The exciting part of the day is that the Los Angeles Dodgers went up for sale.  My son and I have already started forming a group of investors to buy the team.  I feel confident that this could be a done deal in, say, 1,000 years.   I have already put in $20 and my son just informed me that he could put in $1.50.  All we need now is close to $1,000,000,000. 

The observation:  My son and I have way too much time on our hands!

Oh, yeah, the plumber.  My wife had called him every day now for a week and he wasn't returning her calls.  Finally, two days ago, he called and said he would get the tub spout we need and come when he got the part.  I had to look to be sure, but I did find that I wrote him a check for the part back on July 1.  His excuse.................he was at a plumber's convention in Florida for two weeks.  The other two and half months............I don't know where he was.

Observation:  I now know where all the money I spent on plumbing this past year is going and that it is being put to good use.

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

You guys are a riot! Wish I lived next door to you.