FRAZZ

The last week or two have been ablaze with color here. We have had a couple of nasty days (like last Sunday's World Series game) but mostly it has been warm and bright. I love this time of year with the crisp air and all the glorious colors God sends our way. The nights are cool and very dark, the stars bright and clear. The trees turn such wonderful colors before they begin to drop their leaves and chill till spring.

I stole this from yesterday's Frazz cartoon, the Sunday funnies are in full color and this one is full of bright orange, red and yellow trees. Frazz is writing a song with his acoustic guitar in hand:

The Midwest's climate poignantly
descrives in sweet analogy
the pace and temporaity
the seasons and our lives reflect.

I like the part especially -
the chilly breath of urgency
in sync with the cacaophony
the pigments in the leaves project.

We're warned against complacency
while reassured empathically
that aging isn't entropy:
It how we reach our fiery peak.

That blinding blowout brilliantly
asserts a truth we need to see.
So pity, then, the retiree
Who moved where autumn doesn't speak.

Update from South Florida

News: Jean's surgery has not yet been rescheduled.

Grandma and the Polaceks now have power, and so does the Lambert household on Pine Drive
The Dwyers got a scare tonight, as the power went out for about 15 minutes and we were again in the dark. But it was just a glitch, and came back on. I guess we were being humbled because of my earlier remark about God loving us more.

The Polaceks and Grandma have returned from Orlando, after a pleasant visit with Dave & Eileen. They bought gas cans and cheaper gas there. Was it worth the trip?

Sean and Dani did NOT have power as of 3:30 pm today. So Austin and Carolyn went to the beach instead. PBCounty schools are closed again on Monday. Austin is loving it!

South Florida will be turning their clocks back an hour tonight - we get some extra sleep!

No Phone No Lights No Motorcar Not a single luxurie...

Joohn unt Jeemn are be habin Power agin. Hooray.

weez Back munxt de libin mon. say ja.

Hello all It' sure good to be able to post to you all again. we had a tough go of it during Wilma. As I heard said "it was a hell af a ride."
Thinking we were in for just a cat 1, Jean did not put up the boards. Well for the first half that was ok. The eye came and we had 2min of sunshine.Then part two kicked in rather quickly and it huffed and it puffed and the sliders in the computer rm started to bend. I put my pocket knife in the space above the door as that would stop them from being lifted up and pushed in, (which is how you remove them). well as I'm looking out at the storm bending trees and blowing waves across the lake, I see the Lincoln which is long ways infront of the doors rocking like its doing a hundred, Now the sliding doors are bending and bowing in the middle. I start to lean and pust back a bit. The storn intence i flys to where it was before and then a stronger gust and another, stronger and stronger well I am now leaning on the middle where the two sliders meet and it is pushing harder so I pull the chair over and push it to the waterbed and put my foot on it and it gets stornger so I put both feet up on the chair and my back on the door post pushing my legs out almost straight. Jean comes along an just looks at me with no particular surprise. I say get me a board I cant keep this up forever. So she found the perfect lenth board to replace me wedged betwix the waterbed and the door. Well that left me to look out the window and see a fun island water trampoline blowing out from the trailer park way and comming tward us but the wind is still getting stronger and I notice the window is now bow ing in so I start to lean on it and it gets stronger so I put my back onto the window glass and it's getting gustyer yet and I hear tiles moving across the roof. Well about this time I pray for some help and could I have some help to hold the other windows in the other rooms from popping in. I yell for Jean to get me a flat board and that piece of PVC pipe from the garage which I put the board on the glass flat with pvc wedged to hold up there and again incorparate the chair and waterbed on the other end. Well with most of my energy used I was able to free my hands so as to be able to bite my nails till the wind slowly changed around too comming more from the north and then I started to breath again.
Later I broke out my new chain saw I ordered 3 weeks ago and cut a six inch tree branch that was blocking the road. Jean went to work that night. And the beat goes on.

No Seoul food for us!

Last weekend Josh and I went to Korea (we had to go to another country so he could get a new 90 day visa). We left the school right after the bell rang at 2:10 pm and took a taxi to where we were supposed to meet the bus. I couldn’t believe that the bus was free and it left right when we needed it to. It was funny to see the same things we saw when we arrived, except in reverse. It brought back memories of that first day and how exhausted we were when we arrived in Japan. We got to the airport at about 4:00 pm and our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 6:10 pm. We checked in and the machine asked if we would like an earlier flight. That sounded good to us, so we said yes. Turns out we only had about 20 minutes to get through security and to our gate. We made it just in time and then they decided that they needed to search our stuff. That always happens to me!

Once we finally got on the plane, we realized that we hadn’t had dinner in the airport as planned, so that was a minor problem. Other than that, the two hour flight was uneventful. We arrived in Korea and went through customs. Our conversation would have made a great act for Abbott and Costello! I had made reservations to stay at a guest house in Korea called “Friend’s House.” When I filled out the card for customs while I was on the plane, I’d left the question about where I would be staying blank because I couldn’t remember the name of the place and figured I would get do it later. Unfortunately, I forgot. When I got to the window, the guy asked the name of the place where I was staying. I’d looked it up by then and said, “Friend’s House.” He asked where my friend lived. “No, no,” I said, “The name of the hotel is ‘Friend’s House.’” “Yes, but where does your friend live?” Hmmm…we have a problem! After several more attempts and showing the paper with the reservation information, he was very frustrated with me and no closer to understanding, but he gave up, wrote down the address and let us through. I made a mental note to be careful when choosing hotels in the future.

After we got through customs and immigration we went outside, and after being shocked by the cold (about 45º F), we got on the bus. Driving through Seoul was a little frustrating because it was dark and we couldn’t see anything. We were driving on the right side of the street though and that was kind of nice! We also heard that the Koreans despise the Japanese so we spent much of the weekend avoiding mention of Japan (and pretending we were Canadian).

After we got off the bus we had no idea where to do. We started walking and asking for help. It was about 10:00 pm and there were lots of people, but no one had ever heard of “Friend’s House.” We decided to get into a taxi and the taxi driver was very confused. He eventually found the right place and we later realized that he charged us WAY too much, but I guess it was worth it to find our place. We saw the sign and knocked on the door. A lady opened the door and looked very confused. We said we were there to check-in and she pointed around her house and said, “Friend’s House?” We had knocked on the wrong door! Oops! When we finally found the right spot, the lady led us to a room that didn’t have a lock, its own bathroom, or anything else you would expect to have in a hotel. We shared a bathroom with several other rooms, the bed was rock hard, and there was stuff in all of the drawers and cabinets! Very strange! We were starving when we arrived, so we left and got a taxi to one of the shopping areas nearby. It turned out to have a Burger King, but the shopping wasn’t too good. Everything was very expensive (not cheap like everyone else said). Confused, but no longer hungry, we decided to go back and get some sleep.

We woke up at about 9 am on Saturday and decided to go to the base to get some travel info and to ask where the cheap shopping places where. We had to pay first and get a key to the place because when we got back on Friday night we were locked out and had to wake up one of the other guests to get in. They were serving “breakfast” down in the main house. That seemed to consist of sitting on the floor to eat black toast and tea with about 5 women talking away in Korean. We declined and left to go to the base.

When we got there, the guard wouldn’t let us in. After a taxi ride to the main gate we were able to get in and find their lodge. Wow!!! What a nice place! We went in and had their breakfast buffet. We picked up some travel info, found out where to shop and walked over to their PX. They wouldn’t let us in there either so we left the base and went shopping. We ended up in another area where the prices weren’t great. Extremely confused, we decided to try another area. As we were walking, we happened upon a huge gate to the city, with guards outside. Called Namdaemun (Great South Gate), it was built in 1448. We took some pictures and headed on to the next shopping area. It was expensive also, so we gave up and decided to go to visit a palace.

The palace was very, very, very big! The grounds were beautiful and there was a museum of Korean history there also. We wandered around looking at the buildings. Most were closed and locked so you couldn’t see inside, but the throne room was open to the outside and very nice. Josh wasn’t happy that we weren’t allowed into the rooms of the palace, and he got tired or wandering around pretty quickly.

We decided to go eat at the Outback Steakhouse that we had seen, but had no idea where it was. After jumping in about three different cabs, one driver finally knew what we were talking about. The steak was good, but the ribs weren’t very yummy. After dinner, we did a little shopping on the street and found some “Oakleys,” gloves, a “Prada” purse, several hats and a couple of shirts that Josh deemed cool, a toe socks, and ear warmer thingies. All were purchased after haggling and pretending to walk away. Josh was actually very good at the bargaining thing too, and perfected the pouty lip and puppy dog eyes technique. He got so into it that he was trying to talk down one of the vendors after we had run out of money! By then we were pretty tired and decided to head back to our lovely room.

On the way back, after the usual hassle of trying to find someone who could figure out where Friend’s House was located, we saw what looked like a ride on the top of a small mountain in the center of the city. We asked the driver about it and he said, “Oh yes, cable car.” That was all Josh needed to hear, so he told the driver to take us there. He did, pointed out the cable car station, and kept driving! We thought that was pretty funny and after we stopped laughing we explained that we wanted to ride the cable car. He dropped us off and we went to buy the tickets. The lady at the window asked if we wanted roundtrip tickets…it was cold, but not cold enough to ski down, so we said yes. It was a very pretty night (as beautifully clear as the day had been) and the ride up to the top of Mount Namsam was very nice. We got out and found that there were some very steep and uneven steps that led higher up the mountain to the ride thing we had seen. We walked up there, but the ride was closed. The view was great though and we were glad we had ridden up.

After that, we went back to Friend’s House, packed up, and went to sleep. The next morning we caught the bus to the airport at 7:00 am and headed home. When we got to the airport, we learned that our flight had been cancelled, but they put us on an earlier flight on a different airline. We got back to Tokyo at about 12:30 pm and decided to take the train home rather than waiting for the military bus to the base. That turned out to be a big mistake! We got the tickets and got on the train, but it kept stopping in the middle of nowhere and we eventually learned that there had been an accident somewhere along the way. We didn’t get back to Yokosuka until about 6:00 pm. We walked back to the base and when we got to the gate, Josh couldn’t find his passport! I was flabbergasted!!! We had left so that he could get his Visa renewed and as soon as it was done, he lost the passport. He also realized that he had left his new watch, phone, and sunglasses at Friend’s House! UGH!!!! I had to walk on base get the car and go out to pick him up. Luckily, he found the passport in his bag later that night and when I e-mailed Friend’s House they said they would send his phone and watch to us (he didn’t tell me about loosing the sunglasses until yesterday, so I didn’t ask about them).

So that was our big Korean adventure! We decided that although we can't put our finger on why (perhaps the stench of fish that permeated the air), we like Japan better and the people there seem much more friendly. Korea, however, is very pretty and much less crowded. Check out the Flickr site for pics.

News from the Hurricane Zone

Regarding Jean's surgery: she is having a cyst removed which is supposedly nothing, but she wants to have it OUT. This was supposed to take place Tuesday, but was put off because of WILMA. I have not heard that it is re-scheduled yet, but that might have changed. I left a message to find out at their house, but we'll have to wait for them to call me back because their phones are not operating well. Their message says that they can retrieve messages, and will get back to us. If their phone is like Grandma's, you can call out, but you don't get a ring when calling in, so they don't know to answer it. Anyhow, I'll update as soon as I find out.

Gram L and the Polaceks have left town for the day - gone to Orlando to visit the Conklins and find some gas and propane. They'll be back tomorrow (Saturday). The news reports say that power may be out for some time, maybe another week or more depending on where you live. The Dwyers are sooooo cool, literally. God loves us more - lol. I still have the crabmeat, if anyone is interested.

Surgery Info???

Congrats on having power...you probably now not only have too much food, but too many people if you are the only one with power.

Do you know if my mom's surgery has been rescheduled yet? I've been trying to find out for the past couple of days and I never seem to call when they are home. I've also left messages, but Josh told me today that they can't check their messages when they don't have power.

Any info on that would be appreciated.

I'VE GOT THE POWER!!!

Gram L and Carolyn are finally checking the blog after being without electricity since Hurricane Wilma knocked us out on Monday. Today is Thursday, and we have been blessed with power since last night after everyone was in bed. Joe and I got up in the night to empty the coolers back into the fridge. (My refrigerator has NEVER been so full - with everyone else's food that was spoiling at their houses) So along with the great weather (50s at night and 80 in the day) - we have all the creature comforts we have become accustomed to. Except for gasoline. That is a precious commodity. You must wait in LONG lines to obtain that golden liquid. However, Sean had many gallons stored in his garage, so we drove up there and raided his house. Dani's parents have also utilized some of that, but we are hoarding the rest. I heard Megan is looking for some. (Call me, if you want to drive over to get some - we'll share). Joe has been called into work to check on all the sex offenders in the county. The state has issued him a vehicle, even. This is a first! I have not been able to contact my job - so I'm just not going until next week.

Sean and Dani are having a great time in Colorado, even tho they went flying down an expert ski run without any lessons and nearly killed themselves. Sean was even intimidated by that mountain. He says you need to be experienced to try that. Daniela stopped halfway down, cried, and hitched a ride on a snowmobile. Sean skied/tumbled the rest of the way down. They have done more sane things, like horseback riding, biking, hiking, jeep touring, etc. I think it's an extreme honeymoon. I wish they would post on the blog. Sean has his laptop with him.

Austin and Bodi (the pit bull) are having fun over here, and since there is no school, we are chilling out. Now that we can do laundry and dishes, we're happy. Soon we'll have to start calling the roofers and tree chopper uppers to get this place back to normal. We lost many shingles and one of our palm trees in front. We now officially have ONE tree left on our lot. If anyone is hungry, please come on over because we have WAYYYYYY too much food in our fridge, all waiting to be eaten. We can feed you anything from shrimp and crabmeat to Italian sausage from Chicago's stock yards which came out of the Antonacci's shop. We have ravioli, lasange, proscuitto, gnocchi, wedding cake, buffalo burger meat, and lots and lots of cheese.

Anyhow, we're fine and getting back to normal slowly but surely. Thanks for the prayers. --Carolyn

World Series Winning White Sox!!!!

Whoo hooooo! YES! We are number one!!! Yeeeeeessssss!!! Alright!! GO GO WHITE SOX!!! Ozzie, Ozzie!! Whoooooooo HOoooooooooo!!!
Last night the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros by a score of 1 - 0 to become the World Series Champions. The lone run was scored by Willie Harris who was a pitch hitter put in to replace the pitcher, Freddie Garcia. Harris had hit a single and was bunted to second by Scott Podsednik (a Texan, BTW). Podsednik was the hero of the previous night as he had hit the game winning walk off homer. Harris got to third on a groundout by Carl Everet. He scored on a grounder up the middle by Jermaine Dye, his third hit of the night. Dye would be granted the Series Most Valuable Player award for his fielding, his timely hitting and his .438 batting average in the series.

Freddie Garcia had pitched a great game, giving up no runs and thowing seven strike outs. Cliff Pollite and Bobby Jenks held the Astros scoreless, though not hitless. Bobby Jenks was the reliever of the Series, a cool 24 year old that was brought in at midseason. He came straight from AA ball, not having pitched in AAA at all.

Fans here in the far south suburbs of Chicago are extatic. There were lots of fireworks and horns honking last night, your blogger included. He watched the game at home with his wife and neighbor, too tired from the last night's fourteen inning, 5 hour 41 minute marathon game to go out.

Please join me in celebrating the World Series win by the Champion White Sox!!!!

GO! GO! White Sox!

I hope that all of you are aware that the White Sox lead the World Series three games to zero. I am both very excited and very tired. Last nights game lasted till 1:20 AM in the Central Time Zone and I had to be at work by 8:00 AM.

The White Sox won the game in the 14th inning, 5 hours and 41 minutes after it started. And it started late due to Fox wanting to have a lot of hype before the game. The final score was 7 - 5. I should be exstatic but I am mostly tired.

There has never been a post season team that has come back from a 0 - 3 defict to win, so we expect the White Sox to win it tonight or tomorrow in Houston. I feel sorry for the people of Houston. This is the first World Series in the state of Texas, and they are going to lose it. And they have to live in Houston, with all that heat and humidity, yuck.

Hurricane Wilma?

We here in the Midwest are very worried about the LamPolDwy people in Florida. I have been unable to contact any of them in spite of repeated attempts. Maybe someone has some news that they could post here. We will continue to pray for your well being. Please let us know how God is responding to those prayers.

the woodpile

the woodpile

This is Jay's speech to Sean & Dani at the wedding

Jay wrote this to be read at the wedding. Thought you all might enjoy reading it. Joe read it before the toast (which was done by Adam), and it was very cool. Here it is:

Hey Sean and Dani wanted me to write something that could be read at the wedding or the reception so it's Friday night and I'm thinking about what to write, all I ask is that you give this to Dad and tell him to read it at sometime throughout the night. Just don't tell Sean or Dani what I wrote. So here you go:

As my big brother is getting married I am dispatched over seas in the military. I tried to get home for the wedding as I would love to send him off into his life with a wonderful woman named Daniela. Although this was not possible, I'm still present in spirit and I thought I would write something to try to make it seem like I was there. My whole life as the little (emphasize that cuz I'm bigger than Sean hahaha) brother I've always looked up to Sean. When I got into sports I often played Sean because he was better than I was. Although this led to many sibling fights I do believe that it was just the competitive nature in the both of us wanting to come out. But through all of the times when we went at each other's necks we always worked it out so that everything would be ok between us. Sure sometimes took longer than others but that's what makes sibling rivalries fun. Then as we grew up it took on a different nature, it wasn't about winning anymore as much as it was about helping each other. When ever we saw something that we could help each other out with we were quick to offer some advice. When I needed help he was always there to do whatever he could to help me out. So to Sean I say thank you for everything, Godspeed and goodwill in your new life with Daniela. Now to this... Daniela. We have known each other for several years now. You have known me through some good times and some rough. While you may know more than some people about me what you don't know is how good of a person i believe you are. To come into this of all families a person needs a good sense of humor. Through the years I have seen many people not be able to handle all the jokes and come back with retorts quite like you . It's a different people to say the least. You have a good heart which speaks worlds for anyone in this day and age. So the point that I'm trying to get to is this: (try to read this next part as a joke) now that you're part of the family we aren't going to take it easy on you anymore. (This whole next sentence is a joke) And now that you married my brother all I ask is that you take care of him and don't screw him up, he's bad off enough as it is and he's been making progress. So to the both of you I say congratulations on your wedding and may you two live a long and prosperous life together. I wish for you both happiness and longevity. May God bless this marriage. I love you both.
PFC Joseph B. Dwyer
Also known as Jay, Sean's little brother and Dani's brother-in-law, 2 things I am very proud to call myself.

Hmmmm....I can't see....

Will the keeper of the blog please change the colors? I can't read the blog because of the darkness, and Gram L can't read it either. Something more contrasting and not reverse would be good. Thanks for indulging me on this Blog-Keeper.

Also, when you read Gram L's blogging, you'll have to look up a word. I asked her what it meant and she would not tell me - just told me to get the dictionary. But my paperback one doesn't have it. If someone can research it, I'd like to know the answer!

A Note From Grandma on Hurricane Sunday

Just had to let you know what a fabulous time we all had last night at Sean and Daniela's wedding. We had been warned a hurricane was liable to hit the area but a shower before the ceremony was the only bad weather to come our way.

The service, held at the Wellington Country Club, was beautiful. Many pictures were taken and I hope you will have the opportunity to see them. Dani, her mother-in-law Carolyn, and Aunt Joanne had made many decorations which turned the Wellington into a chapel. Lovely!

After the service nd photos taken, we were moved to yet another room for an excellent meal. An entertaining, sometimes touching program was presented. A beautiful letter was read which brother Jay had written from Okinawa, where he is stationed with the Marines.

Then the dancing began. Everyone joined in and some terpsichorean wonders were performed. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, none of them could compare with the gyrations of the wedding crowd. Great fun to watch. The party wore on till the band and waitresses wore out. Whan an evening, what a wedding, what a party.

But now we must pack up and prepare for a possible hurricane to blast us. Joanne will come over and help me think straight and pick up some stuff to take out to Carolyn's house where we will sit out the storm. Pray for all of us. Love, Gram L

P.S. Thank you to Megan and Jason, who wrote me a note recently!

HR Story

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see,strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you." "No problem, just let me in," said the woman. "Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in." "Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman "Sorry, we have rules..."

And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell. The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends-fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator. The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her. "Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her."So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity," The woman paused for a second and then replied,"Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell. When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate waste land covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her."I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a waste land of garbage and all my friends look miserable."The Devil looked at her smiled and told...

"Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're an Employee.."

BAAAAAMMM!!!

After I taught my Wednesday class and had office hours Valerie came with Jeremy to pick me up to return me home. We were on Sauk Trail about two blocks from the nearest light and just over a little hill. Traffic was stopped, I do not know why, so we slowed and stopped. We remarked that it looked like someone was making a left turn into a driveway and then; SCREEEECH----BAAAAM. We had been hit from behind. Jeremy was crying, Valerie pulled onto the median to get out of traffic. I grabbed some paper and a pen to get details and went back to the offending car. It was a 2005 Chrysler Sebring with significant damage to the front end. A young woman was in the driver's seat with the door open. There was smoke coming out of the car. For a moment I feared fire but soon realized that it was the powder from the air bags, both had deployed. I looked in at the woman who said to me "My brakes didn't hold." She had a cell phone in her hand and began explaining to someone that she had just been in an accident. I assume that she was talking to someone with whom she had been already conversing before she hit our car.

I was hoping to ask for her information but she continued to jabber on the cell phone. I wrote her licence number on my pad and checked the damage on my car. She continued her conversation. Within a minute a police car arrived, we were less than a half mile from the police station, and he may have been on his way there. He did a U-turn and placed himself behind her car. He got out to speak with her, asking if she was alright and asked if there were anyone hurt in our car. She kept talking on the cell phone, I think she called someone else. The policeman got her ID and Valerie's. He called things in, checked the licence information, etc. She kept talking on the cell phone. She did not get out of the car. She had been stunned by the air bags and did not move much. The officer came over to ask additional questions as a couple of ambulances came up. Some of the ambulance people came to our car to check on Valerie and Jeremy. I think some of them hung around because Jeremy was being so cute. She blabbered on the cell phone. She would give the officer short answers between explaining things to the party on her cell phone. The people from the ambulances attempted to ask her questions to determine her state, she answered them while still on the cell phone. Finally the police officer said: "Ma'am, I am going to have to ask you to hang up the cell phone." You should have seen the look she gave him, it was as if he had asked her to eat the head off a live baby. It took her a minute to say good-bye and end the conversation.

Finally a tow truck arrived, so did someone who looked like they were affiliated with her. This person took some of the personal effects from her car. She got into the ambulance and went off, the tow truck picked her car up, the officer gave us a police report, we refused transportation to a hospital, and we drove home. As she drove off in the ambulance I would not be suprised if she made another phone call.

Here is a clue Sharee Anderson: HANG UP AND DRIVE. Shut up! Do you really have anything to say or are you just blabbering?

I called my insurance company to report the thing as required. They took all my information and recorded it. But since I do not have any collision on this car they will not represent me against her insurance company. I called her insurer but since it was after 5:00 PM by then they were not there. Oh, no, a little local insurance group with no after hour claims. I called them on Thursday morning and they told me to take the car to Blue Island next Wednesday. Why should I drive around in a car with a bent bumper, jammed trunk and bent fenders and missing taillights for a week, I asked. Eventually I got thru to an adjuster who sent me to a repair shop in Crown Point (nearby) for an estimate. He walked out the door of his shop, took one look at the car and said "They are going to total this car." He ran his estimate thru a computer program and it confirmed his guess.

I called the adjuster when I got home, but had to leave a message. He has not as yet retruned my call. I expect to have to fight with him about the value of the car. It runs very well, just got new brakes and has pretty new tires but it has a lot of milage. If they offer me $1500 or $2000 for it I would never be able to replace it for that kind of money for that good of a car.

In the meantime, Valerie started to feel the effects of the accident. She began to feel neck and back pain Wednesday night. By Thurday she was in full discomfort. When we tried to set up an appointment with her doctor the office told us that since it is an automobile accident that they would not see her unless we paid the visit up front ourselves. We called the my health insurance company and they confirmed that the doctor should accept our card, they would cover and later attempt to collect from Sharee's insurance. After several calls we found out that there are different rules for Illinios and Indiana. Since we live in Indiana (bearly) we are covered by those rules we have to pay up front. Valerie called around and found a doctor that will see her and let us pay later. She will see him this morning, I do not know the result of it. But I do know that she is in pain, her neck and back hurt. She did not sleep well. She moves slowly.

So, now, I have to run around and get estimates. I have to drive a bent car and if given some money for it I will have to look around and find a new one. Valerie is in extreeme pain, she will not be able to pick up her grandson, she had to reschedule her monthy bunko party at our house Friday because she cannot prepare for it. We have to pay for the doctor visits and hope to collect from Ms Anderson's insurance. All because some young woman was too busy chatting on her cell phone. Hang up and drive.

DRAMA: The Wedding Vs. Wilma

So here we are in South Florida waiting to see if Hurricane Wilma is going to ruin our plans. At present, she's packing 155 mph winds, down from 175 earlier today. A full-blown cat 5 storm - the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic. So we're wondering: do we cancel the wedding and re-schedule it for another time? Do we evacuate the Polaceks and Grandma to Wellington? Do we board up? Do we take our planned vacation days or do we go in to work? Do we keep our hair appointments? HIGH DRAMA! Stay tuned........Daniela and Sean will make a decision on Thursday whether to postpone the wedding. The suspense is killing me.

Meanwhile, the important thing is, the World Series starts Saturday night.

Ummm...

Something!

This is from Grandma, with comments from Joanne

From Grandma: "As you know by now, recently I became very deaf. I have been examined by three doctors and none of them can explain the trouble or neither can they promise any improvement. I am hoping to get over the extreme nervousness this has caused, so will surely appreciate your prayers in my behalf.
At present, nobody is quite sure what to do with me, but I have stayed at Carolyn's recently. She tries to call me from work to check on me, but I can't hear what is said over the phone.
Today she hired a young woman whose tiny baby is named Valerie to stay with me. It cost $50 for six hours, so we can't do that often.
The coming Saturday is Sean & Dani's wedding, and this house is full of decorations for the event. Pray for Carolyn and Joe, and for me, too, that we may get through Saturday gracefully." Love, Mom
We "kids", Jean, John, Carolyn, Joe, George, Jo, see Mom as doing really well on the medication. She is tolerating it well, and it's helping her with other issues, like walking. We also know, though, that it's only a short-lived thing. You can't take steroids for a long period of time. Just ask some of the athletes around town! For right now, she's hearing a tiny bit better, but the phone conversations are still difficult. We maintain the plan of taking each day on its own. We can always make huge changes, but we don't need to do that right now. Everybody is helping out and all are happy Mom is doing well. We're all looking forward to the coming weekend, where we'll dress up, eat out, and dance a lot. See you there. If not, maybe somebody will have a camera to catch the festivities for the rest of you all.
Fall has come to the south Florida scene; it was 68 degrees this morning on the commute to work. No humidity, a beautiful giant white moon, and generally the kind of reason why folks have moved here in the first place. Some of us who have returned after a hiatus returned for the family, but the weather's sure a plus.
For some of us who need review, we need to know how to put a message on in the first place, and how to sign on new members, like Mom. She wants her own space. We tried signing her up, but they wouldn't put her on this family blog.

WS in WS

The White Sox are in the World Series.

Last night the White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by a score of 6 - 3. This was the fourth win of the American League Championship Series and clinched the first AL pennant for our favorite team since 1959. Now all the Pale Hose need to do is win four more games to become World Series champions. They truley are a World Class team with Dominican, American, Venesualian, Cuban, Japanese, Mexican, Guatamalan, and even Californian players.

The rumor is that Bill Lambert is overjoyed by this, a thing that has only happened once in his life, when he was nine. He also expects that the team of his dreams will go on to win the WS, something they have not done since 1917 (a very good year: the Sox won, Edwin Lambert and Irene Castle were both born).

The South Siders were also in the Series other times. They beat the Cubs in 1906, the NY Giants in 1917. They lost to Cincinati in 1919 with the Black Sox scandle and the LA Dodgers in 1959. The have gone the second longest of any team who has won it after the Chicago Cubs, who have not won since 1908. The Flubs have been there nine other times but lost all those.

GO WHITE SOX!!!

Statue of Joe

Way back in the 1930's there was a person, nowadays we would refer to him as a "street person" or a "homeless man", but back then he was just a plain old bum or a tramp. He lived in a cardboard box by the railroad. He would tramp from location to location on the railroad in a boxcar and meet with other bums. These fellows would often go to houses near the railroad and "bum" food. They had a tightknit society of other tramps and bums. They would mark houses that were known to be a soft touch with the food by engraving a symbol on the door or fence. Sometimes they would get money from the "marks" and might use that to buy booze. They would share the booze with their friends and expect them to share when they had some. There was respect for each other within the tramp community.

One day one of these tramps attempted to bum some money from a rich old lady. She took pity on him and spoke with him at length. He seemed like such an interesting fellow that she put him in her will for ten million dollars, a small part of her estate. Within six months she died the will was read. Her lawyer had to find this fellow in order to execute the will. It took another six months to track him down, he did this by contacting the hobos who might know our hero. Doing all this made the lawyer well aware of the tramp culture.

We do not know this man's name, but the other hobos called him "Willie". Willie was a crusty old bum, had been a tramp most of his adult life. He had many interesting tales and a philosophy based on his life as a bum. That is why the rich old lady liked him so. She had assumed that with enough money he would be a cultured member of modern society. Willie may have been intelligent but he was not educated and he did not speak well.

They lawyer finally tracked Willie down and told him of his good fortune. Willie knew enough about the world to know that he would also need representation so he hired the lawyer to help him. The lawyer now worked for Willie.

Willie was very happy to have enough money to be able to live in one place, to have his own bathroom and all. So he ordered the lawyer to build his a big, fancy house. Willie wanted a large mansion, he had been cold for years so he wanted a fireplace in each room. He had never had a place to use the toilet other than a tree or take a bath by himself so he ordered six marble bathrooms. He wanted the best of everything, he was going to invite his other hobo friends to share in his fortune just as they had done with their booze. One of the request he made of the lawyer was that each room have a "Statue Joe". He wanted a bowl of fruit in each room so he and his friends would never be hungry.

The lawyer went about his business, contracting to make the mansion as Willie wanted it, or as close as close as he could figure to the request. Sometimes he had to guess just what it was that Willie, with his limited experience, was asking for. Sometimes it was hard to understand Willie becasue he spoke so colloquially. But eventually the place was done. He had to track Willie down again.

Willie was brought to his new digs. He was shown the marble bathrooms, he was shown how to use the features of them he had never seen before. He was taken to the nice bedrooms, each with fresh hay as Willie had ordered. He was shown the fancy kitchen, the long hallway, the great living room. Each room had a two to six foot marble statue of what the lawyer thought Willie's friend Joe might look like, based on his time searching for Willie. It was a haggard man with a bag thown over his shoulder holding all Joe might own. The statue had a worn hat and a cigarette butt. He was impressed by much of it, awed by some of it, and happy with what he saw. So the lawyer asked him if it was all to his liking. He said "Dis is all real good, I like everyting ya done here, but what about the Statue Joe? I wanted a Statue Joe in each room."

The lawyer pointed to the table in the middle of the room with a large bowl of fruit, fresh apples and oranges and bananas. Behind the table was one of the marble renderings of what the lawyer thought Joe might look like. "Does that not look like your friend Joe?"

Willie walked over to the table, looked at the marble carving, and took one of the bananas and held it to his face, one end near his mouth, the other near his ear. "NO, no, no! I said in each room there should be one of those things that you hold like this and say 'Stat you, Joe?"

Trace in Iraq

I have heard from Trace. He has been sent back to Iraq.

There are only thirteen people in the Air Force qualified to do what he does. There are twelve of the planes he flies on. One of the people who is deployed over there blew out his eardrum and cannot fly. Trace has to high-tail it to Iraq so they can fly the plane. Sorry, no time to get it together, no time to say much good-bye Just get there ASAP. They tell him it will only be for 90 days. They tell him lots of stuff he does not nessessarily think is so.

His enlistment is up in April. He is looking forward to the end of his career as a member of the Air Force and finishing his college degree.He is looking forward to coming back to the Midwest where it gets cool. Tucson is HOT, Iraq is HOTTER. Schol looks good, just one more semester and then get a real job and make real money and get to sleep till six or seven in the morning instead of three.

Joanne blogs about Grandma

Joanne has posted the latest news about Grandma as a comment to another posting. What she has to say is too important to get lost way down there so I made this post's title a link to the information. Read and react, peruse and pray.

Ah, Fall in the Midwest. We took Jeremy to Michigan for the day on Tuesday. We went to Warren Dunes, several pumpkin patches and enjoyed the fall colors. Please notice the prices on those large pumpkins. He got out of the car and was amazed as he said "Balls!" 

He really loved the pumpkins, or "Balls !!!" as he called them. He had a great time. 

This boy truly loves anything with wheels. Things that go "vroom-vroom" or "brrrrrooom" with that gutteral sound) get a lot of attention. And he makes the sound. His Dutch farmer background comes out as well 

This is not just a childish game of hide-and-go-seek. 

We stopped at a breakfast diner Tuesday and Jeremy enjoyed the newspaper. 

Well, it looks like I have been successfull in my mission to turn Jeremy into a White Sox fan.  

Stachu, Joe?

Grandma is doing better than last week, but we have a new problem. She has been very anxious, to the point that somehow she has damaged her hearing. Jean escorted her to Dr. Liporace on Wednesday, who prescribed some meds for anxiety and sent her to have her hearing aids checked out. So off they went to David Vreeland, who said she has had a 20 decibel reduction in her hearing since a couple of months ago. He sent her to an ENT. Joanne and George are escorting her this afternoon to the only ENT we could find (it's Yom Kippur) who would see her today. The hearing aid guy says that if we act quickly we will have the best chance of recovering any loss, but if it gets too long, it will be lost forever. There is a profound difference, and she is very upset by it. It makes her nervous to not be able to hear the conversations around her or communicate with the neighbors and people at the pool, etc. Talking on the phone is a challenge, too. Therefore, she doesn't want to be alone, which gives us a new set of problems, too. Again, prayers are in order for this to be resolved. Friday, everyone is working, so we need a plan B. Maybe she'll go with me to work for the day - we'll see..... (BTW, the title is the punchline of a joke my dad used to tell about a deaf guy)

I Think

Lambert Polacek Dwyer
I Love Myself

240G

I got curious about Jay's posting regarding shooting a 240G. Here is a pic and some info at the link you will shot to when clicking on the title of this blog.

Goldilocks says this chair is too big!

This one is too small!

Ahhhh...this one is just right!

Okay, okay...one of me too. :)

I finally figured out how do save th pictures from my phone onto the data card and I thought you might like to see photos from our first trip into a Japanese department store (I think it was sometime in early September - we've been to several since then).

Just for Fun....

One of the therapists at Spanish River emailed this to me. Trouble is he didn't know who Red Skelton was. (If you don't know either, just pretend you remember seeing this classic comedian from the 50's era.)


RED SKELTON'S RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT MARRIAGE

1. Two times a week, we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food and companionship.
She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays.

2. We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is in California and mine is in Texas.

3. I take my wife everywhere..... but she keeps finding her way back.

4. I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested the kitchen.

5. We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.

6. She has an electric blender, electric toaster and electric bread maker. She said "There are too many gadgets and no place to sit down!" .. So I bought her an electric chair.

7. My wife told me the car wasn't running well because there was water in the carburetor. I asked where the car was; she told me "In the lake."

8. She got a mud pack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.

9. She ran after the garbage truck, yelling "Am I too late for the garbage?" .... The driver said "No, jump in!"

10. Remember: Marriage is the number one cause of divorce.

11. I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always.

12. I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months. I don't like to interrupt her.

13. The last fight was my fault though. My wife asked "What's on the TV?"
I said "Dust!"

Update on Grandma

Dateline Friday: Spoke with Grandma at 11:30 Friday morning, and all is well over there. She has had Charlotte in cleaning and looking in on her today. Apparently, the pain in the sawdust is gone for the time being.

For all you ladies who were at the shower for Daniela, we found out that Sean's favorite restaurant was Outback, and his favorite dessert was French Silk Pie. So last night (on his birthday) we went to Outback, and Dani brought a bakery-made FS pie. Sean should be happy for a while! We parent-figures gave him a very large flashlight for his b'day present. It's a 15 million candle-power light that's the hugest flashlight known to man. Sean's comment: "This is so me -- everything to excess" I thought that was funny...... He can now LIGHT UP OUR WORLD. Also, Jay called while the waiters were singing to him. that was funny, too.

Gram L is at home

Joanne, Carolyn, and Grandma spent Wednesday night in the ER - where basically nothing happened, of course, throughout the whole night. They did take blood, xray, etc. and decided that there was nothing wrong except a tummy ache. We couldn't believe they were releasing her, but by 6 am, we were happy to get out of there. They had given her morphine through the IV, so she has been sleeping ever since. We wake her up to feed her, but she keeps falling back asleep. We're kinda concerned because both Jo and Carolyn need to work on Friday, leaving her by herself. So far, her abdominal pain has not returned, so thank the Lord for that. Hopefully, she'll eat light and we'll get through this without any further problem. Joanne is headed to bed now, as she has not slept much. I'll update you all tomorrow. Thanks for praying! --Carolyn

Grandma???

How is she? All of us outlanders need an update please!

The White Sox fan on Miller Beach 

GO! GO! White Sox!

For those of you who are not aware, I need to state that I am a White Sox fan. Have been all my life.

As a kid I went to many White Sox games at Comisky Park with the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts as they had half priced days for the scouts. These were always games against the Boston Red Sox. I don't know why but that was the tradition. So for years the only team I ever saw was the Sox-Sox games. I grew to have a respect for the Red Sox and knew their players almost as well as those of the White Sox. I hoped they would lose but never grew to hate them like I did the New York Yankees. Memories of the 1959 pennant winning White Sox were a bright part of my memory. The night that Sherm Berry (I think that was who it was) was driving us home from dinner over at thier house at 95th and Halstead or there abouts and the bomb alarm going off are still bright in my mind. The Sox had won the pennant!! or maybe the Russians were coming? The star of the White Sox pitching staff was Billy Pierce. A few years later I got to know Mr Pierce and he was such a nice man. He took me to the father-son banquet once as my dad when mine was not available.

When John and Jean lived within walking distance to the ballpark we would often gather at their place and truck over to the game with a crowd. The team was mediocre then but we would have a great time yealling and shouting. Even when they lost it was still a good time.

As a young man I would go to games with my friends or wife for a fun afternoon or evening. As a father I enjoyed taking my sons to the game, teaching them the nuances of baseball and trying to instill in them a love for the White Sox.

The Cubs were purchased by the Chicago Tribune, the owners of WGN the superstation. They used their media outlets to promote the Cubs and ignore the Sox. The Cubs were in a trendy neighborhood while the Sox were located in a working class area just west of a "colored" area. The Cubs became trendy, popular with people from out of town and those who thought they were "cute". The fact that they played in the daytime made them the darlings of the old ladies who watched them in the afternoon.

But I remained a loyal Sox fan. Trace and Alex and I had many great father-son times watching the games at home and at the park. I have a warm spot in my heart for the game of baseball and especially the White Sox.

Back in the 1980's the Sox hired a Venesualian shortstop by the name of Ozzie Guillen. He was in the tradition of Minnie Minoso as he was from the same area, played the same position and enjoyed the game as fun. Last year he became the coach of the White Sox. He instilled his love of fun and the game in the team. That fun and joy has made them play well this year and a lot of fun to watch.

The White Sox were in first place the entire year. At one point they were 15 games ahead of the rest fo the league. They play baseball the way I enjoy it: "small ball". Get a walk, bunt the guy to second base, steal third and a fly ball to drive him home. Get a run without a hit. Make the other team nervous and they will make mistakes. Throw in a long ball once in a while to score big and keep them on their toes. Lots of fun, lots of close games. Light up the scoreboard and set off the fireworks for show and effect.

The did not play too well the last couple of weeks and got within 1 1/2 games of losing first place. But they game thru in the end winning the last four games of the season, three of them against their division rivals, the Cleveland Indians. Now they are in the ALDS, the semi-finals for the pennant against those same Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are the wild card team, same as last year. They play hard and are fun to watch. Last year they were down 0-3 agains the (hated) New York Yankees and won the next for to go to the World Series. They won that as well and are the current Wold Champions.

Yesterday was Valerie's birthday (thanks to all who sent her greetings, she likes to be be included in the family clan). For her birthday we had plans but she emailed me at work asking if could change them. What she wanted to do was to walk the beach near our old place in Miller and then grab a beer and burger at the Flamingo Tap in Miller Beach. What a gal. I love her so much. For her birthday she wanted to watch the White Sox with me. I am not sure that she is that much of a Sox fan but she did enjoy the game, the outcome and watching me enjoy the game. Thanks, Babe!

BTW: The Sox played Tuesday during the day. The game started with the Good Sox scoring five runs in the first inning on their way to a 14-2 victory. I was holding baby Jerremy when a run was scored and I started my usual holloring. He broke into a terrible fright at the noise and the screaming. Big tears streamed down his face. I hope he is not traumatised and scared of baseball, though his mother did dress him in a White Sox outfit the next day. I hope he grows up to be a loyal White Sox fan and not one of those sissy, go with the crowd Cubs fans.

Go White Sox!

God is good...All the time!

Today I went to the first meeting of a Bible study offered through the Chapel on base. None of the people I knew at the school were going to go, and when I called to sign up, the lady said that there were only about 8 people. So I was off to meet some strangers. :) I thought it might be nice to meet some people who weren't teachers since almost everyone I know seems to be employed by a school.

When I got there, one of the other middle school teachers was walking in. I'd never talked to her, but I recognized her and she seemed nice. So we walked in together and there were two people already there, both of whom I recognized as teachers at the middle school. We chatted and then another middle school teacher showed up. It turns out that of the 8 people, 6 are teachers at the middle school, one is a Special Ed assessor and the other teaches English in a Japanese school. I guess God decided that getting to know non-teachers is one change I don't have to make right now. :)

The books hadn't come in yet (Experiencing God), so we spent the time introducing ourselves and giving testimonies. They seem like great women (okay, one is a bit wacky), and it felt like a little taste of home to be talking to other believers and sharing what we have learned in our walk with the Lord. It was a good mix of ages and single/married people, so I am really, really excited! Now I just have to decide which church service to attend. I've been to the generic protestant service at 9 am (very traditional) and the contemporary service at 5:30 pm (loved the music). I was going to go to the Gospel praise service as noon on the weekend of the typhoon, but church was cancelled, so I still want to visit that one, just to see. I am still trying to figure out the Chaplains and if they know what they are talking about. :)

Okay...gotta go figure out what I am going to teach tomorrow. OH! I got observed today. I was totally and completely nervous (I'm sure you are all shocked, but give me a break - I've only been observed for the first time once before!), but it went well. Of course, I picked my second class on B day so I'd taught the lesson 3 times before the principal got to see it and I'd worked out the kinks. But I did fine and I am just so glad it is over. Mary had at least two pages of notes by the time she left, so I'm really curious about what she has to say in the post-observation conference tomorrow.

Call for prayer

Grandma Lambert is having one of those nasty bowel obstructions. Carolyn and I are getting dressed now, at12:30 midnight to take her over to the hospital, since she has vomited. Pray we don't have to think about surgery.
In the morning George will fly to Chicago, since his Uncle Pete died yesterday. We all need your prayers around here!
And Happy Birthday to Valerie for today and Sean for tomorrow. Sorry you outlanders missed the wedding shower on Sunday afternoon for Daniela. We had a nice tea party. Love, Jo

Plage Sud

Jennell,
In response to your confusion about the picture you have regarding the Resturant Plage Sud I think I can clear everything up. Plage Sud means "South Beach" in French (well, actually Beach South, but you get the idea). It is a resturant that, accourding to one Japanese reviewer offers: "Acceptable Mediterranean food and wine, notable for its wonderful location. High above the waves but set well away from the coast road, this has to be the ultimate romantic sundowner spot."

The translation from Japanese to English makes it SO ABUNDATLY CLEAR: We are talking about Resturant Plage Sud - Kanagawa prefecture Yokosuka city fall valley 5575.

If you need the direction to there these are easy to follow:
The R134 number to the customer who comes from the Yokosuka direction.
As gotten off in the parking zone of this store, the very to be thin it has become steep hill. When it enters that way with the angle which from the lane from the Yokosuka direction is close to U turn, there is an excessiveness and it is dangerous. In this case, to pass by the signboard of this store once, after that a certain millionaire the U turning first near bus stop of the promontory, the male be completed it does that it enters from the opposite lane.

I hope that helps.