History

In last night's post I referenced a 1944 Park Ridge phone book. These old documents are fun to look through. I found my grandparents phone number in the book (click on the photo for a larger image) and underlined it in red (not in the actual book, just on the photo!) The phone numbers back then were much different than we have today. For instance my grandparents phone "number" was 391-J. Back then you had operators that would connect you - no direct dial. And late at night the operator might have fallen asleep and you would have to drive to the telephone company and knock on the window to wake her up! When I was a child I can remember that we had party lines. You'd go to call your friend, pick up the phone and people were on the line and talking. You'd have to wait, checking the phone every so often, to find when they were off and you could make your phone call. I remember when everyone got their own line and you didn't have to wait for someone to get off to make a phone call. Boy, those were the days! Now we can call from just about anywhere to anywhere using our cell phones. Technology is amazing. In fact my new blog will deal with some of that. I need to get a few more ducks in a row over the next couple of days before I release the blog. ■ More later. ■

Late night post

10:45 pm - A late night post, because sometimes that all the time there is. I got home about 30 minutes ago from a Kalo Foundation meeting. I drove down to Park Ridge early to have dinner with Betsy and Warren. Betsy is the president of the Kalo Foundation and had some things to give me to do - and I'll be busy tomorrow with it. ■ One of the people at the meeting brought a Park Ridge/Des Plaines Illinois phone book from 1944. My grandparents on my father's side were listed. I took a couple of pictures of it. This same person had a book of photographs of Park Ridge going back to the turn of the century - (1900 not 2000!). One of the pictures was of my parent's jewelery store. Those pictures brought back memories. ■ My back is very slowly getting better. It's really frustrating to be out of commission with this back. Can't bend over to pick stuff up; can't stand, or walk for long periods; it's painful getting to a standing position from a chair . . . just a real pain. ■ The Cubs are losing - make that lost 10 to 7. ■ Time for bed. Night.

Snow! And we thought it was over!

Winter, that is. Yes, we thought winter was over, but here is the proof in a picture - snow. Hard to believe that it's the 28th of April and it snowed. I'm sure I'll have to mow the lawn later this week - snow and mowing in the same week. Somethin' aint right.

The Brain

The picture is of a display that's in my neurologist's office. As you can see it's a depiction of the "Anatomy of The Brain". Down below it says "Shire" and for a moment we thought maybe it was a depiction of a Hobbit's brain! ■ Long-story-short --- it's a meningioma tumor; it's small - about 8 cm; most likely not malignant; I may have had it for years; doesn't think it had anything to do with the headaches I had for 35+ years; and doesn't think it has anything to do with the "dizziness" thing I've been having. I'll have another brain scan in 6 months just to make sure nothing is happening with it. ■ It does take a load off my mind. Now on to other things.

Shopping!

Yes, here I am out shopping. It's not something I do much of. Actually I've done my shopping and now I'm sitting in the car waiting for Holly as she does some grocery shopping. I tried finding a third
party oil filter for my John Deere, but no such luck at Auto Zone. I ended up going to Lowes to get the John Deere brand. Also checked out smaller - read lighter - extension ladders. The one I have at home is too heavy for me and my back. ••• more later ••• 9:30 pm - Tomorrow I have an appointment with my neurologist to see about my brain tumor. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not serious, but my "dizzy" spells make me worried. ■

Saturday . . . Sunny & cool.

The flower is at the end of our yard. It's one of only a few that came up this year. I think the rest of them have been trampled out of existence. We used to have so many out back. I think we'll have to replant this fall. ■ My back is still out. It's getting better, but slowly. Too slowly and it's frustrating. ■ I've been working on getting my 2nd blog started. There's so much to learn in using the WordPress platform. In the past couple of days I've already installed it; deleted it (on purpose); reinstalled it; and upgraded it from version 2.5 to 2.51. ■ I've invited our next door neighbor over for dinner. His wife and daughter have gone to Chicago for a baby Christening and won't be home until later tonight. ■

Friday . . . and then the weekend . . . . .

It's Friday. My back is still out. I'm forced to use two canes to get around first thing in the morning. After awhile I'm able to dispense with the canes, but it's difficult to try and stand for an extended period of time. It'll gradually get better. If just takes time. ■ The headaches seem to be creeping back. Not much, but a little. And then maybe it's this cold I'm developing. Hard to know. ■ I see the neurologist on Monday. Hopefully I have a lot more information about this tumor after I see him. ■ I received an email this morning that one of our old neighbors had passed away. Our sympathies go out this his wife and children. ■

Grass, cold, back, and software

Strange title, huh? Well, the grass is beginning to grow and it won't be long until I'll have to start cutting it again. That means I've got to get a new oil filter and change the oil in the John Deere. ■ Cold? Not the weather, but I seem to be coming down with a cold. ■ Back? My back went out a couple of days ago. It's getting slowly better, but I have to use 2 canes to get around in the morning. ■ Software? I'm starting another blog and trying to find the "right" WordPress theme to use is tough. There are literally thousands of different themes and with that number of choices it's hard to pick one. Back to looking again tomorrow. ■

What friends! . . . and what a meal!

We had dinner last night with our good friends, and our entire family. We were only missing Amy, who is in New Mexico right now. It's been quite awhile since we've been able to get the whole gang together. It was great! The photo is of most of the group (I couldn't get back far enough to get everyone in) at Pappadeaux's restaurant. They've got great food. Love eating there. ■ Our children left this morning. Aaron to go back to San Diego and his ship and the Navy; and Libby back to Louisville. I already miss them terribly and it's only been about 20 minutes. ■ My back went out yesterday and then even worse late last night. I'm getting around with the air of two canes. I'm going to keep working on moving it around a little bit and see if I can't speed up the healing process. ■ I deleted and reinstalled my 2nd blog yesterday. I still have a long learning curve with the new platform and lots to do with it yet. I've got a plain vanilla install and I need to customize it. I'll let you know the URL for it in a bit. Stay tuned! ■ 10:05 pm - I really miss my children. They're all back in their respective homes safe, but they're not here. They're not down the street; not in the next town; they're so far away; and I miss them terribly. ■

Tuesday

It's Tuesday morning - kind of overcast and looks like it might rain. We're supposed to have a high of around 70. ■ I couldn't get to sleep last night worrying about my brother. I'd left him 4, or 5 voice mail messages, but hadn't received a return call. So, I got out of bed last night, booted the pc and emailed him. He's fine. It turns out he's been having some problems with his Blackberry and Sprint. Seems he hasn't been getting his messages. My wife has Sprint and she gets voice mail messages sometimes 2 days later. Not good. ■ 2:50 pm - My son and I drove to the DMV facility and he got his driver's license renewed. It was going to expire on his birthday in a few weeks and he'd have been overseas at that time - then he'd get back and have an expired license. ■ I'm working on getting a 2nd blog going. It'll be on another platform (WordPress as opposed to Blogger - that's the platform this one is on), but I think I installed WordPress incorrectly. Hmmm . . . so now I think I've got to delete it and start from scratch. ■

Family & turkey

The grill is ready for the turkey; our daughter is now north of Indianapolis on her way here; the weather is beautiful; and I'm getting ready to launch another blog.... More on that later. ■ 8:50 pm - The turkey is off the grill, eaten, and it was delicious. Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and potato salad. Yeah, I know, potato salad sounds strange, but it was good. ■ My brother called me on Saturday and left a message. I've been calling him back since Sunday - leaving messages - but haven't received a return call yet. Now I'm getting a little worried. ■ All the children are home right now. Good to have everyone in the same house again. Tomorrow night we're all going to Pappeadeaux's and meet some friends for dinner. Great food. Even better than turkey! ■

Getting' rid of stuff

Once every couple of years we're able to throw anything out. Well, not anything - no paint, solvents, chemicals, etc., but if you have an old couch, water heater, and so forth you can put it out on the curb and the trash company will pick it up. That day for us is this coming Thursday - so - we've been busy getting stuff ready to go out to the curb. That pink bike you see we inherited when we bought the house - that an a shelving unit were stashed up the the rafters of the garage. Finally 20+ years later my son and I got that stuff down. To get the shelving unit down I had to disassemble it and let it drop to the garage floor. I can't imagine how they got it up there in the first place! ■ It's a beautiful day out. Maybe I'll add on to this post later. ■

The "W"

The "W" is back! My across-the-street neighbor, car-mechanic-supreme, and Obviously-a-Chicago-Cubs Fan -- is back! The "W" for a Cub's win is back out hanging on his garage. It's a sign, and it's a good sign, that summer is coming. Since I don't always listen, or watch the Cub's games, I can always tell when the Cubs have won. ■ It's late . . . more tomorrow . . . . . . .

On the way home . . .

Our son is on his way home. He'll be here for a week before he has to go back to his ship. After he gets back the ship leaves for, I think, an 8 month WestPac over to the Persian Gulf. It'll be great to see him! I'll pick him up tonight at OHare airport around 9:00 pm. Can't wait. ■ I've been trying to post a scan of the drawing I'm working on, but blogger.com is having some sort of problem and I've been unable to upload the picture. Maybe it'll work later on. ■ 6:02 pm - Hey, it's fixed. I got the picture uploaded finally. I did 3 sketches of the home from different angles to decide which view was the best. The actual pen and ink is the one in the lower left-hand corner. ■

Two chairs to be filled . . .

The beginning of our warm weather - and two chairs to be filled . . . . .