The latest picture of Wayne's family. A good loolking and good group.

I completed my appointment with Dr. Buch at the Kaiser West Los Angeles Medical Center. I felt sure that the doctor would not find any deterioration in my condition, which I felt to be better than it was at the last meeting in January. He did not. He was satisfied with my blood pressure, cholesterol level with a total of 189 and my general condition. He did want a couple of blood samples. Another meeting with the doctor was scheduled for February 2007. I am pleased that I am feeling so well, on no medication except for the eyes and hope to remain this way.

Thursday

In a few minutes I will be off to St. Johns Medical Center for my usual Thursday morning breakfast. There I get scrambled eggs, two bacon strips, sourdough toast and coffee. It is the about the only breakfast with bacon and eggs during the week. At home I have a hot cake, bran flakes, fresh fruit and coffee. That breakfast is different than my breakfast for many years in that I do not use milk on the dry cereal. After 85 years it was determine that I have an allergy to milk products. That sounds strange for someone who was born and raised on a dairy farm. The allergy has been evident for years without my knowing its cause. I thought I had some signs of irritable bowl syndrome and I had read that giving up milk products might relieve the symptoms, it did. I had changed from having toast for breakfast because the sourdough bread would not be distasteful after a few days, I could not use it up fast enough. That is why I have a hot cake and enjoy that. As I always like to say, “Life never seems to stay the same.”

A normal day

The CDD Graduation Event was interesting and there was a lot of enthusiasm by the guests and the students. It was interesting for me and I will be looking forward to the new session that will be starting soon.

That does not look like anything unusual will be taking place today, life is running along smoothly.

CDD graduation

This maybe the expression of some of the grads.


Tonight will be the CDD, Crossing Digital Divide, Grad Event. I will be one of the down stairs hosts. This is all new stuff for me. The event takes place at 10th floor of the Abram Friedman Occupational Training Center on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles. I am to report 5:45 p.m. as a downstairs host. Here are my instructions:

Pleases arrive early to welcome guests and assist in locating the elevator. Be sure to tell arriving guests that the auditorium is on the 10th floor.
.
First, post CDD the sign on the side of the building near the entrance.
As you stand at the door, look out for cars circling the block reputedly, as they may be trying to locate the building.

This should be interesting.

To Swiss Club

Nick and I will be off about 10 8 am for a drive to Whittier and the Swiss Club. Nick likes to exercise his Mercedes and I go along for the good dinner. So far, there seems to be no plans for the rest of the day. Happy day!

The end of summer

To picture enclosed was taken during Wayne and cities trip during the summer to Northern California and Oregon.

This is about the last week of summer. Most students and teachers are back in school and we can’t live with our pleasant summer.

Yesterday and today

Some CDD students are this involved.

Yesterday was a fairly ordinary Thursday, finished with the expansion of the irrigation system for the garden, did the laundry, went to the library and dinner at St. John’s Medical Center.

Today is the last class they for the classes for the group in Crossing Digital Divide. Ben and I did a good job teaching the 10 students computer basics and getting each of them to write a 500 word paper explaining what they learn and why they learned so much about computers. The graduation ceremony will be this coming Tuesday evening. This graduation ceremony covers all of the students from the Los Angeles area.

Paul's e-mail

Hi, dad. I was in Colorado for three days up around Grand Lake and Shadow Mtn. That sure did bring back memories of sailing on those lakes. When heading back to Denver I decided to go over Trail Ridge Road and stay the night in \ Estes Park. I got to the top of Trail Ridge right at dark so in the morning I got up early, which I do anyway, and drove to the top again. I got out of the car and did a short walk where the Ute Indians traveled over the divide. When I looked around to see the sun coming up over the ridge to my surprise was this young bull elk standing, looking down at me. I think it is an omen. Maybe you can post it on the blog.

Ben has a new job of fixing bikes at UCSB student center. That should be good practice and fits his major.

Paul's Trail Ridge Experience.

 

Germs

We hear advise that in order to stay healthy and to help prevent communicable diseases we should wash your hands often. I know that this is good advice and that it works. I realize that washing the germs of of one‘s hands prevent them from entering into one’s body. Here are some thoughts: If washing hands with soap of water prevents the common cold, the flu and other diseases, why not analyze what is in the soap and water that removes these germs, then process those ingredients, get them into a pill a liquid or an injectionable form and treat us for all of these diseases????

Dinner under the a tree

It was a very good barbecue dinner at the large table in the backyard. All eight of us contributed something. Anne and her visiting company and John, her boyfriend, did most of the cooking. I got the barbecue going and did a good job with the chicken breasts. We have the yard light and it is a good place for good neighbors to gather and enjoyed each other.

BBQing

This evening there will be a barbecue in our at the area at the rear of our units. Anne’s mother Daughter-in-law her two months old baby girl is here from Arizona for a visit. It will be a party of about six. I will do the barbecuing furnish something to drink and some desert. The garden will furnish most of the vegetables. We have had a barbecue out there before and it was a pleasant experience.

Sunday

Sunday was such a regular day. Brunch was about 10:30 a.m. at Rae’s on Pico Blvd, that made it impossible to be at the UU’s at 10 a.m. In the afternoon some of the soil in the garden plot was spaded with the expectations of planting a row of carrots on Monday. I Segwayed to Santa Monica ‘s UCLA cafeteria for dinner. There are not as many diners there each evening as there has been in the past, some did not come as it seems as you the food is not as good as it once was, and there does not seem to be many new faces. Nothing stays the same

Yesterday

Yesterday’s helping with instructing 10 fellows learning to be more familiar with the computer at Walden house went well. The coffee and coffee at a Mexican fast food eating-place, the heuavos ranchero at other authentic Mexican eatery, along with dinner with seven of us from Anne’s family, next-door neighbor, at the café Escobar made for an interesting dining out experience.

Two Fishers

A snapshot of two fishermen at Lake Alpine, Amber and Aidan, August 2006. They caught about as many fish as anyone.

Stairs and Knees

The beautiful stairs shown above are not the ones that I will be talking about.

Yesterday I challenge my stair climbing ability. Years ago, before my shattered leg, I regularly challenged a rather long flight of stairs and was pleased with the results. Yesterday there was a shorter flight of stairs that I was able to climb without the aid of a handrail. That did not tell me anything about my stamina, but it did tell me that my knees are in better condition than they have been since 2001. It is believed that my disease, polymaligia rheumatica, is either over for nearly over. My knees seem to be in good condition.

The garden

A scrubby shrub was removed from an area where we have our garden. Now there will be more room for vegetables. A new sprinkler head will be added to the irrigation system. There is a list of fall vegetables that we may plant. The garden has been more successful than was expected.

New eye glass lens

The new lenses with the old frames supplied by the Kaiser optometry department were picked up yesterday. There was very little change in the prescription but without the scratches they make an improvement is the ability to see close-ups and an aid in reading. I had gotten along for about three weeks with my spare glasses purchased at a drugstore. Of course glasses, do nothing for the left eye with the age related macular degeneration.

Nothibng New

Yesterday turned out the way it was described.
Nothing new appears on the horizon so I will make this blog extremely short.

Dinner at the Swiss Club

My friend Nick, Nicholas Ubersax, invited me to go along with him while he exercises his Mercedes. That exercise consists of driving to and from Whittier, about 45 minutes each way. In Whittier has the Swiss clubs facility. They have a wonderful dinner that is served at noontime. Nick has had .his Mercedes for about three or more years and has about 10000 miles on the odometer. He normally drives his Volkswagen of around Santa Monica. This gives me a chance to get out of town and do some good eating. Nick is from Switzerland and likes to talk about that. I am a good listener and enjoy Nick for the person that he is.

Sunday

This ordinary Sunday will consist of the hotcakes and egg breakfast, the time spent at church, soup at St. John’s cafeteria, some gardening, dinner at the cafeteria at UCLA Medical Center and some relaxing. It will be a good day.

This tree has nothing to do with today's blog. The oak tree is beautifull and the setting is pleasant.

This will be my day for volunteering at the class Conquering the Digital Divide, CDD. Ben Colfax is the main instructor for the Saturday morning class. I will be there at 1030 and we will be going over the material that the students will master. It is only a two-hour session and there are 12 of these classes for the course. I sat in on the last class of the last series of instruction and it seemed to me that the students were proficient. They should be able to have a fair shot at a job. That is the purpose of the instruction.

Home Cooking

Last night was one of the few nights that I cooked at home. The menu consisted of carnitas, baked beans, fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob, fresh peach sauce and fresh brewed coffee. The fried green tomatoes were from our garden. I have developed a method for preparing them that is easy, not messy and with great results. Tit It is pretty rare when I do cook at home. No matter how good the meal, it would always be better with a partner, so eating at the hospitals is also OK

The family gathering

The family get-together at Lake Alpine Lodges near the Bear Valley ski resort was a great family get-together. It was good to see the younger members of the family. Ryan’s family was too far away to make such a long trip for such a short time. Rachel, Jered, Anjuli, Benjamin, and Andrew were busy with there schooling and work. Norma’s excuse for not being there is not well understood, by me. The BBQ potluck and the campfires were special and great for visiting. There may be some differences of opinion as to the facilities. My setup was very good. . We must start thinking of something for next year.

Blog to closed for a few days

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH 

Bog to be closed for a few days

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SANTA MONICA


Nicholas and I will be leaving Santa Monica on Aug 5 and I will return to the blog until Wed 9. I will be in Grass Valley and in Bear Valley with the family.

This Friday

Nicholas and I will continue with our adventuring and get us prepared for an early Saturday morning fight to Sacramento. We are all looking forward to a busy week and good visiting early next week in Bear Valley at Lake Alpine.

Nicholas' visit

Paul, Nicholas and I believe that we are all set for Nicholas’ flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles. The plans are that I will leave my home here at the time that Nicholas boards his flight in Sacramento. I should arrive at the Los Angeles airport before Nicholas and he will meet me at United’s baggage claim area. There should not be any problems that cannot be overcome as Nicholas and Paul both have cell phones. Nicholas and I should have a good time doing fun things without an automobile. I will try to make Nicholas and experienced bus rider.