There is nothing new to report so I thought that I would include a picture taken by Wayne on his and Cynthia's recent trip to Oregon.

I will be traveling to and from Kaiser in West LA and drop-off a pair of glasses so that,a scrached lens can be replaced.

This last day of July

This area’s natural air-conditioning phenomenon is functioning again, a great relief.

Last evening Andrew, Steven. Jyoti and I head of our dinner at Canter’s Deli. We picked up Andrew at his apartment and had a good visiting. Andrew is doing well with his music schooling .

Today Steven will continue for a new days with some business calls in the area. Jyoti will be flying back to Marin County later in the day. It was good to have with been them.

Volunteering, Steven and Jyoti"s visit

Of volunteering at welding house was okay. Space where one of my greatest worries was that it was going to be uncomfortably hot in downtown Los Angeles. The weather was comfortable.

Steven and Jyoti arrived and settled into the Ambrose Hotel. aand very nice accommodation. We did some shopping on Montana Avenue and had some tea and coffee. We returned to the Ambrose for a brief respite and cocktails before our dinner at Le Peitt Café.

Volunteering, Steven and Jyoti"s visit

This will be my first day of volunteering at Walden House. It is part of CDD (computer digital divide). It takes place on Saturday mornings in downtown Los Angeles. I can use the number 10 express bus. I believe I am prepared to do a good service to the seven people there that are trying to restart their lives by learning to use and understand computers.

Steven and Jyoti are due to be here in Santa Monica later in the afternoon. They will be here for Saturday Sunday and leaving on Monday. We will find some interesting things to do along with our good visiting.

Cooler weather +

The long spell of hot weather seem to be coming to an and a end. This morning we have the marine overcast which gets us started for a cooler day. A trip to the library and dinner at the UCLA Santa Monica Cafeteria will be about all that is planned.

The optometry visit +

The optometrist checked my eyes yesterday morning and found that my glasses that I will be getting will be about the same as the ones that I had. My right eye has changed very little. The glasses that I have been using have become scratched. There is not anything that the optometrist could do to help the vision in the left eye.

Benjamin arrived along with a girlfriend about 6 p.m. from Santa Barbara and Venice. We had some good visiting and an excellent dinner at Le Peitt Café. This summer Benjamin is looking great, doing great, working hard and continuing with his studies. I do not know how long Benjamin has known the girlfriend. I would spell her name as Nicola. She is very nice looking and impressive

Dental Visit

The visit with by dentist Michael Schneider DMD, doctor of dental medicine, was a very satisfactory. About 28 years ago two crowns were added to the back of my upper jaw. They had deteriorated and some of the original teeth had broken away. They had not caused any trouble. The dentist says if they do not to give you any trouble we will just leave them alone. I like a dentist like that. I feel that most dentists would have liked to have made some money reconstructing. My teeth are giving the good service. I thank my good genes for that.

Computer Digtial Divide

Our classroom is not as nice as this. Ours is described as intimate.

Last evening was a meeting of the Computer Digital Divide volunteers at the Santa Monica Montana branch library. It looks like something that I will be able to handle although there may be more responsibilities than I had anticipated in helping the students from Walden Halfway House who have been criminals, alcoholics, addicts who wished to restart their lives by learning the computer. The class will consist of about 10 students and two of us instructors. I thought I would be a helper. Nothing that I heard last night was about helpers. I was looking for a new challenge and I think I may have found it.

This Week

There is some activity planned for the coming week. Monday Nick will drive me to Whittier for dinner at the Swiss Park. They serve a very nice dinner at a reasonable price. Nick does not seem to mind driving to and from Whittier about every other week. He likes to keep in some contact with the Swiss in America.
I have an appointment with the dentist on Tuesday, an appointment with the optometrist on Wednesday and Benjamin will be here later on Wednesday and we will do some fine dining. He has a very busy schedule and does not get much free time. Steven and Jyoti will be here Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Saturday will be my first time at the computer class in downtown LA. It is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and it will not interfere with the visiting from Steven and Jyoti.

Great grand daughter Mariah, granddaughter Susan and Rachel. Maria is Rachel's daughter.


It has been warm here. All time high temperature records have been broken in many areas. Santa Monican’s are fortunate to be living close to the ocean and therefore are favored by the afternoon breeze. This cottage is not too well insulated but has good ventilation so that I can, with a fan, the reasonably comfortable. It is comfortable outback under the tree at the table with the breeze.

Doctor's appiontmnts

Yesterday I made an appointment with my dentist and my optometrist. It has been some years since my teeth have been looked at by a dentist. My right eye‘s vision may have changed a bit and the lenes are becoming scratched. It is time to be checked for a new pair. No lenses or glasses or magnifies are not of any help to the left eye. The appointments are for early next week.

A small glass of ale for the 87th

Yesterday’s birthday turned out much as planned. A trip to the library was added and in the evening a four blocks walk too O’Brein’s Pub for a small ale. The best part of the day was the telephone calls and the birthday cards. It was a good day to turn 87 and looking forward to additional years.

Birthday 2006

In 2004, that was a BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Today I have turned 87. Breakfast this morning with Paige and her daughter Kendall, seven months old, will be at the International House of Pancakes. The session on Sustainable Works will be in the evening. That is, so far, the only planned events. I cannot say that I feel one year older. The condition of my eyes has not changed much but do believe the left eye is slightly improved. I would not ask anything for more on this birthday.

Last day of volunteering

It has been wonderful to have been able to help people like these.


Today is my last day as a volunteer at St. John’s Medical Center. I will miss seeing those that I have worked with for the past nine years. There are lots of wonderful people working at St. John’s. The benefits that I received were in helping people that needed help that the regular staff could not always find the time. The very young babies (4 or 5 days) were always a highlight during a shift. There was no reason for my ending the volunteering. It was just that I thought I have been there long enough and that it was time to move on to something else.

Family News

Wayne called and left a message on the answering machine. He let me know that they are back from their trip to northern California and Oregon. I will call back and get the details.

Paul called and we set up a visit for Nicholas to be here for a few days. Nicholas and I we all use the buses for a number of adventures. It will familiarize Nicholas with the opportunities to get to do things by bus. I will go back with Nicholas on Saturday before the trip to Lake Alpine and then we will make the trip to the outing.

Steven and Jyoti will be here next weekend.

The summer is shaping up with some good activities.

A Lake Alpine Native

Nothing to unusual Is expected today. Mark and his daughter Jennifer would like to take me out for dinner this evening. I have been babysitting for a half hour a day for a couple of weeks. Mark wanted to compensate be when I would not accept that. He is a good father to Jennifer. He has gained full custody of. We enjoy the children that we have in our neighborhood

Internet connections

Laser sailboat racing, that was choose living.


As of yesterday I canceled my Verizon account. The main reason is that I have been on a wirelesss network since May. It is much faster than Verizon. That means that my old Verizon e-mail address is no longer functioning (res1cz1m@verizon.net). My only e-mail address is rwelias_1999@yahoo.com. I will continue to use the wireless network connection as long as it is available and free. Earthlink has been contacted and I will be opening a DSL line with them. It will save me a few dollars a month for a few months. I feel as if I need a DSL line as a backup for I never know when my wireless provider may not continue to provide an Internet connection.

ARMDYesterday was the monthly meeting of the ARMD group at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA campus. It is a group of about 20 people and I alway

An example of what the left eye and the right eye sees due to age related macular degeneration in the left eye..

Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the ARMD group at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA campus. It is a group of about 20 people and I always learn something.

Consumption

The Sustainable Works group that meets on Wednesdays has completed its fourth session. I do not know how many sessions there will be but the next session is an agenda for shopping.
Globally, 20% of the world’s people in the highest- income countries account for 80% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20% a miniscule 1.3%.

The next Wenday's session should he interesting.

More specifically.
The riches fifth consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%
The riches consumed 58% of total energy; the poorest live less than 4%.
The richest you have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest get 1.5%.
The richest fifth consume 84% of all paper, the poorest at 1.1%.
The richest fifth own 87% of the world vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%.

Today is Anola’s birthday. I will not say how many year old she is, as she may be sensitive, but I wish she would get on with her birthdays so that all of us six surviving siblings will be over 80 years old.

Yesterday was one of the visits with my ophthalmologist Dr. Rosen. These visits take place about every two months. Be dilated my eyes and took a look to see how the age related macular degeneration condition compares with his expert knowledge. He informed me that the wet macular degeneration is no longer leaking, which is good news. Nothing new to recommend or nothing new to do at the present time, he just wants to see me again in two months.


I think that my eye color maybe closest to 12, 22 and 35 I am not certain as I have not had any one to look into them loveing intentl for some time.

Swiss Park +

I had a great lunch yesterday at Swiss Park in Whittier. My friend Nick is part of the Swiss society that has this large and beautiful facility. Nick likes to go with their about once a month and does not like going by himself. This will be the second time that I have been there for a Monday meal at noontime. The meal is so good and the price so right that it is worth the long drive there and back.

If any of you have not seen and would like to see the pictures of Lisa and Gary’s vacation trip along the north coast of California and Oregon, you can go to www.myspace.com/garyeb. The pictures are outstanding.

Four of six grandchildren. Amber, Corrine,Dylan and Aidan. Corrine and Dylan are great-grandchildren. (2006)

Out Of Doors

It was a warmer day and a lot of time was spent in the out of doors, in the backyard, around the table and under the shade tree. I was doing some gardening, visiting with the neighbors, a little babysitting and eating lunch. It is a good place to hangout with the birds and squirrels.

Food +

The meal at the new cost-of-living price of $4.01 last evening at the Santa Monica Medical Center cafeteria was okay. It consisted of a filet of salmon with a light crust. I am sure it was not wild salmon but it was flaky and moist. To go with that entree, macaroni and cheese or rice was available. I chose macaroni and cheese. To go with them, mixed vegetables or green beans. I chose mixed vegetables. With a choice of clam chowder or a fruit salad, I went for the fruit salad. A choice of chocolate layer cake or a white laayer cake, I chose white. A cup of Starbucks coffee was my beverage.

After arriving home at about 6:30 p.m., Anne wanted to know if I did not want to have dinner with John, Lazio and her. I was sorry to have had to turn that down. She suggested that maybe the neighborhood could have a dinner Sunday evening outback. We have a nice neighborhood. Yesterday and today, on both days, three little girls age 5, 4 and 2 came by with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for me.

Experiments

There does not seem to be anything of much interest to report today. Just an ordinary Friday. I am doing some experimenting with heat sensors on a couple of appliances. Trying something else is one of my hobbies. Sometimes the experiments are beneficial.

Inflation

Inflation affects us all. For a number of years the cafeteria at UCLA Santa Monica’s Medical Center has charged $3.90 for a dinner for us seniors. Starting July 1 the price has gone to $4.11. Where else can you get a bargain like that? I eat about three nights per week at St. John’s Medical Center cafeteria and about three nights at UCLA Santa Monica cafeteria. I am lucky to have too good place is to meet and able to eat with a number of friends.

Lake Alpine

There has been some activity concerning Lake Alpine and our family get-together at the beginning August. Everyone is getting things organized and are looking forward to a great time. I believe that going to a spot where there is a camping area and lodges side-by-side is going to be beneficial to both types of vacationing. My reservation at Jeffries cabin is set up to sleep three. I am only one and so extra space is available for anyone who may wish to use it. The other facilities of the cabin are also available for anyone to use.

July 4, 2006

Venice Beach before the 4th Of July weekenders arrive.

Yesterday I explored part of Venice beach and parts of Marina del Rey. I had done something similar to this eight or nine years ago. There was very little difference. There was lots of walking involved and the day was quite warm. I expected to find a suitable place to eat that would satisfy my slight appetite. I found none. After arriving home I found that beams and tuna fish along with a bag of kettle corn purchasers at Venice beach were very satisfying.

 

Nicholas +

Nicholas at his 16th birthday, June 30, 2006

Don’t be timid and squeamish about your actions, all life is an
an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Fireworks

Santa Monica has a good Fourth of July fireworks display. They usually do it on the Saturday before the fourth. The top of the fireworks could be seen above the trees from here. The boom
echoed off the tall buildings.

Sometime ago I filled in a lengthy list of questions to be answered.
The question were to determine who might have depression. I received a nice letter back from Kaiser. A sentence in the letter read, “We are pleased to advise you that you have no symptoms of depression at this time.” That did not surprise me.

. The observation of the class for people trying to restart their life by learning computers, went well. I will be helping the group starting on July 29. That is the weekend that Steven and Jyoti will be in the area and I am sure we can make that work out.