My favorite childhood home was a two story white house in rural West Virginia. The house was built in the 1800’s by my grandma’s great aunt’s husband. The house was sold out of the family for years then in the 1950, my grandma’s parents bought the house. In 1969, my grandparents bought it from them. Through the years the old house had served as a hotel or bed and breakfast-type establishment. There was a train station right out front for many years. (But not in my lifetime.)
I moved into this house in 1975 when Mom packed up her three youngest children and moved back to West Virginia. She and Dad had divorced a couple of years earlier and she decided she wanted a stronger support system. We moved into this two-story white house with her parents whom I didn’t know very well. I had met them several times before, but it was almost a year before I felt comfortable enough with them to call them Grandma and Grandpa.
I love this house. And I love that I grew up with my grandparents so close.
The front yard was a very small patch of grass between our front porch and the gravel lane. Our house was the last house on this end of the lane. The gravels were actually small smooth stones. I could sit for hours examining them carefully. I picked out the prettiest ones—or sometimes the ugliest ones when I felt sorry for them—to keep. I remember one time, after a particularly long and hard rain, building a dam out of those stones. I watched how the water slowed as it reached the little dam then flowed faster again after it went over the dam.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
disney world trip
we went to kennedy space center on tuesday, stayed all night in orlando that night, then hit disney wednesday. magic kingdom opened at 9 and we made it! david had advised us to park at epcot because parking would be better. so we parked there and rode the monorail to the transportation and ticket center. on the way, howard commented that he loved the monorail and could ride it all day. he'd ride it instead of paying admission to the park. when we got to the transportation center, he and i discussed buying tickets there, but decided to wait until we got to the magic kingdom. we got there...and discovered there was a reason they sell tickets at the transportation center...it's because they don't sell them at the magic kingdom gates.
howard rode the monorail back to the ticket center while the kids and i went through security at the magic kingdom and waited for him by the gate. and waited. and waited. the bricks paving the walk ways had names and dates and hometowns on them. we found several from kentucky, including a couple from paintsville. or was it prestonsburg? we got bored. we watched every passenger walking down the ramp from the monorail stop. we really didn't think it would take that long. after about 1/2 an hour, alyssa (the 5 yr old), who was holding my hand, looked up at me and seriously said, "Do you remember when my dad said that he could ride the monorails all day? I think that's what he's doing." we all had a good laugh at that. a little later she added that if he didn't come back soon, she was going to eat his lunch...AND his dinner!
finally, ginny (13 yr old who got a tracfone for Christmas) decided to call him. the computers had gone down and he was still in line to buy the tickets!! he finally got back to the magic kingdom around 10 a.m.
we went into the park and walked through the swiss family robinson tree house. next we did the magic carpet ride. the person directing the guests asked, "How many?" well, we had already decided who was going to sit with whom, so sarah and ginny were first in line and replied, "Two." so the lady sends the two of them to one car. it ws a car that had room for at least 4 ppl. next was howard, alyssa, and thomas; they were sent to a different car. finally the party of two known as ann e and suzie were sent to a third car. we learned to tell the person running the ride that we were a party of 7 so there wouldn't be so much wasted space!
while on the magic carpet ride, alyssa and thomas spotted the tiki room and wanted to go to it. so we got a speed pass for the jungle cruise then went to the tiki room. that was a cute singing bird show. it got a little dark which freaked out alyssa a little bit, but it was kind of neat. the birds were really funny and the faces on the totum poles sang along.
that show ended and we went to the jungle cruise. i gotta tell ya, that not standing in line thing was great!! we felt kind of guilty walking right up to the front. i think we learned though that at that time of day we should have gotten a speed pass for one of the more popular rides (one of the mountains maybe). but who knew? the jungle cruise was pretty cool. the guide..."rhonda"...made it more enjoyable. she was a hoot. i put rhonda in quotation marks because, even though she told us more than once that rhonda was her name, her name tag said "jenny." as we came to the end of the cruise, she said, "If you enjoyed your trip today, I'm Rhonda and this is the Jungle Cruise. If you didn't enjoy it, my name is Stacy and this is Space Mountain." she called herself rhonda again. i had to ask. i raised my hand and she said, "I know what you are going to ask. Do I do parties??" we all laughed and i said, "No, I wanted to know why you keep telling us your name is Rhonda but your name tag says, 'Jenny'?" her response was, "Well, a couple of weeks ago I lost my name tag. About that same time, Jenny lost hers too." there seemed to be some sort of delay in us being able to disembark--there were two boats in front of us still waiting to unload. so at this point i think she started improvising. she said that before she started working the jungle cruise, she worked "it's a small world." she asked if we wanted to hear her presentation on that ride. we all agreed that we did. so she started: "How many? How many? How many? How many?" it's a good thing we had already ridden the magic carpet ride and had heard that presentation--it probably wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't known the presentation. ha
after this, we went to lunch. we ate at pecos bill's. it was pretty crowded and as i turned around to leave the food counter, my pop slid off of my tray. it fell straight down and landed sitting up. unfortunately, it hit so hard that it exploded like old faithful. pop went everywhere!! i mean everywhere!! even before it hit the floor i was saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" well, the pop sprayed all up the back of this cheerleading looking chick in shorts and a tank top. OMG, she went nuts. she had that little cheerleader "tsk" thing down perfectly. i tried not to laugh, but i failed. i at least kept my hand over my mouth and face while giggling, "I'm so sorry." i had to turn away to keep from totally losing control and the girl behind me was smirking too. i swear she almost winked at me. we enjoyed a good laugh at the prissy girl's expense. i did feel bad. but wow it was funny. to my credit, i was looking in my bag for some handi-wipes while they were giving me a new pop. but i couldn't find any. :(
after lunch we planned to get speed passes for splash mtn, but return time wasn't until 6:30! and we couldnt' get any other speed passes while holding this one. so we decided to get speed passes for thunder mtn which had an earlier return time. then we could stand in line for splash mtn. but the wait time posted for splash mtn was was longer than for thunder mtn. so ann e and ginny went to get speed tickets for splash mtn after all and we stood in line for thunder mtn.
this was going to be alyssa's first ride that wasn't a kiddie ride! and it was a roller coaster! she was so excited. while waiting in line she kept showing us how she was going to hold up her arms as we sped down the drops! but once we got on, she got a little spooked and started to fuss a little bit. she kept trying to look for her dad who was in the car behind us. so to get her mind on other things, i said, "Aren't you going to hold up your hands?" that made her kind of grin and she just shook her head no. her knuckles were white holding on to the bar. when we got off the roller coaster, howard said he heard her looking for him and asking for him. he asked if she was ok. she said, "Yes Dad. That was just fake scared." they were all looking forward to space mountain!
we didn't find out until later that it was ginny's first roller coaster too! more about it later, but her second roller coaster was space mtn!! that's a wild second coaster ride. :)
after thunder mountain, we went to the haunted mansion. we stood in line for over an hour when we finally got to the graveyard. the kids thought the tombstones were funny. but then they started hearing the moans, slamming doors and chains from inside the mansion. alyssa got a bit scared. she started crying and didn't want to go in. then it was announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties on the ride. but we decided to wait it out a bit. the noises kept going and alyssa couldn't help but hear them. i think if it wasn't for the noises she might have been ok. but she cried more. we waited longer. she cried harder. a few people around us decided not to wait longer. a group of people were finally let into the mansion--we JUST missed it! we would be the next people let in. we finally got into the stretching room of the mansion. it went dark and the noises got louder. howard had to hold alyssa. we were lead out of the room to stand in line again and wait to get onto the cars that take us through the mansion. another announcement came that they were experiencing technical difficulties again. more people left. alyssa really started crying hard now. we decided to ditch the ride. as we headed for the exit, we were offered speed passes to come back later in the day. while someone was getting them for howard another employee knelt down to talk to alyssa. he was so sorry that she was so scared. to make her feel better he told her where one of the hidden mickeys was on the ride. that cheered her up some, but she didn't want to come back to find it. so we didn't use the speed passes. it kind of put a damper on alyssa's enthusiasm for riding the rest of the day.
then we ate again. but i don't remember where. :( we headed towards splash mountain. ann e, ginny, sarah, and thomas all rode it!! they had speed passes, so we didn't have to stand in line with them. we stood on the bridge waiting for them to come down. alyssa got a little bored and asked if she could call a friend. she knew the number, so we called nicole. she talked for a little while. she was so excited, but nicole wasn't all that interested. it kind of hurt alyssa's feelings, but she was glad she got to talk to her. when the others got off of splash mountain, we rode the train over to mickey's toontown. as we boarded the train, i had it in my mind that the kids would all sit together in one row and howard and i would sit behind them. that's just what i expected. well it didn't work out that way. the kids split up and howard sat in one row with them and that filled up that seat. i actually stomped my foot and said, "But I wanted to sit next to you!" and i kinda whined when i said it. well i heard what a brat i sounded like so i forced myself to laugh it off and act like i was kidding. but i was a little bothered. the kids were being so good! they weren't at all tired and cranky like me.
we headed straight towards space mountain. ginny and sarah asked alyssa if she was going to ride. she really didn't want to, but didn't want to say no. so she said, "Maybe I won't be tall enough." we got to the ride and there was a measuring stand--she was JUST tall enough. man, she really got a look of disappointment when they told her she was tall enough. so i told her she had at least an hour to think about it and if she didn't want to ride she wouldn't have to. we got pretty close to the front of the line when there was an announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties. we were getting tired by this point and this was NOT good news. LOL the kids really were great. they were patient and understanding. they didn't get cranky. alyssa got quite tired though and really wanted us to hold her a while. so howard and i took turns for a while. she was really getting nervous about the ride and finally told me she didn't want to ride it but she didn't want us to leave her alone. i promised her we wouldn't leave her alone. i told her we would take turns riding so someone could stay with her. the way it works is that everyone except me and her would get on the ride. i would stand with her. then when the others got off the ride, they would wait with her while i took my turn. she said that she didn't want to wait in line again though. i told her she wouldn't have to; the people running the ride would let me get on it right then. she still didn't understand and begged me not to leave her alone. i promised i would not leave her alone. while we were waiting in line, howard found the hidden mickey in the asteroids flying across the sky. so we got to the front of the line and daniel asked us "How many?" LOL, i thought about rhonda. howard told him there were 7 of us in the party, then explained that one was not going to ride at all and that i would ride when the other 5 got back. so daniel sent the 5 who were going to ride towards a lady who would help them board the ride. meanwhile, he took alyssa and me to the side and explained that this ride would not stop here to let them out. we would have to start down the exit ramp and hang an early left. there would be seats there for us to wait. he said the ride would last for about 4 minutes. as soon as our family got off the ride, we should come back up the exit ramp to him. he warned us that nobody else would or could let us on the ride but him. so we walked down to where they would get off the ride. she watched my watch and counted how many times the second hand passed 12. they were back before it passed 4 times. we hiked back up to the loading area. daniel let the other kids ride again. well, sarah didn't go, but ann e, ginny, and thomas all rode with me. i screamed through the whole ride. i'm sure i embarrassed them! first i yelled, "I want my mommy!" to which ann e replied, "Who's the crybaby now??" (funny inside story...maybe i'll post it sometime.) i think i went over the top when i yelled, "I have to peeeeeeeeee!!"
sarah really wanted to see the stitch show so we found it after space mountain. but it was close to time for the fireworks. so we watched the fireworks first. the fireworks were awesome. i took lots of pictures, but they really don't do it justice. after that we went back to stitch. at last we got to sit down!! i closed my eyes and tried to relax for a few minutes. it was kind of scary for alyssa. we finally figured out it was the dark that freaked her out. everytime she was brought to tears, it was dark. stitch ran around the audience, he farted on us, spit on us, then he asked each of us if we would be his friend. the fart was really hot, stinky, and just gross! we smelled it the rest of the night. ugh. we decided as a whole that we didn't like it very much overall. and so much for my nap during the show! yuck.
after this we looked for ice cream. we finally found it after asking 3 employees and walking for what seemed like 1/2 an hour. but it was really really good!! it was right beside the winnie the pooh ride. we thought alyssa would want to ride that, but she didn't notice it. i was kind of glad because there is a part of the ride that gets dark as you go through a thunder storm. i don't think she would have liked that.
as we were eating our ice cream she commented that she had not seen mickey or winnie the pooh. ann e and ginny tried to explain to her that they were getting ready for the parade. they had to get dressed, etc. she thought about this for a minute then she said, "What about Winnie the Pooh? He only had to put his shirt on!" This cracked us up!
after the ice cream break we made our way to the carousel. that was a nice end to the evening. we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the ride. i still didn't get to sit next to howard though. at least this time i didn't throw a fit. LOL after this they wanted to walk through the castle. i thought we could. we headed that way and found that some kind of show was going on and we could not walk through it. :( but we took a few pictures around it. then we headed towards the monorail. we rode to the transportation center through the hotel. we stopped at the hotel to let people off there. as we were slowing down, i was watching out the window and saw...ED!! (the husband of a woman i used to work with!!) i waved and he waved back and smiled, but i didn't think he recognized me. so as the doors opened, and i jumped up and yelled, "ED! It's me, Suzie." he grinned and came and hugged me. i told him i'd call sandi...which i haven't yet. i really need to do that. so that was kind of exciting. then the monorail took us to the transportation center. we changed monorails and went to epcot. the monorail seemed to go right through the middle of the park. it was cool to see all those rides. the park was completely closed up and dark. we got off at the platform in epcot and ran towards the tram. it was a good thing too...as we were getting on, they announced this was the last ride out to the parking lot!! this guy was pretty funny, but now i can't remember everything he said.
we got to the van and drove back to dad's. we were so very tired and exhausted, but happy. it was a really good day!
howard rode the monorail back to the ticket center while the kids and i went through security at the magic kingdom and waited for him by the gate. and waited. and waited. the bricks paving the walk ways had names and dates and hometowns on them. we found several from kentucky, including a couple from paintsville. or was it prestonsburg? we got bored. we watched every passenger walking down the ramp from the monorail stop. we really didn't think it would take that long. after about 1/2 an hour, alyssa (the 5 yr old), who was holding my hand, looked up at me and seriously said, "Do you remember when my dad said that he could ride the monorails all day? I think that's what he's doing." we all had a good laugh at that. a little later she added that if he didn't come back soon, she was going to eat his lunch...AND his dinner!
finally, ginny (13 yr old who got a tracfone for Christmas) decided to call him. the computers had gone down and he was still in line to buy the tickets!! he finally got back to the magic kingdom around 10 a.m.
we went into the park and walked through the swiss family robinson tree house. next we did the magic carpet ride. the person directing the guests asked, "How many?" well, we had already decided who was going to sit with whom, so sarah and ginny were first in line and replied, "Two." so the lady sends the two of them to one car. it ws a car that had room for at least 4 ppl. next was howard, alyssa, and thomas; they were sent to a different car. finally the party of two known as ann e and suzie were sent to a third car. we learned to tell the person running the ride that we were a party of 7 so there wouldn't be so much wasted space!
while on the magic carpet ride, alyssa and thomas spotted the tiki room and wanted to go to it. so we got a speed pass for the jungle cruise then went to the tiki room. that was a cute singing bird show. it got a little dark which freaked out alyssa a little bit, but it was kind of neat. the birds were really funny and the faces on the totum poles sang along.
that show ended and we went to the jungle cruise. i gotta tell ya, that not standing in line thing was great!! we felt kind of guilty walking right up to the front. i think we learned though that at that time of day we should have gotten a speed pass for one of the more popular rides (one of the mountains maybe). but who knew? the jungle cruise was pretty cool. the guide..."rhonda"...made it more enjoyable. she was a hoot. i put rhonda in quotation marks because, even though she told us more than once that rhonda was her name, her name tag said "jenny." as we came to the end of the cruise, she said, "If you enjoyed your trip today, I'm Rhonda and this is the Jungle Cruise. If you didn't enjoy it, my name is Stacy and this is Space Mountain." she called herself rhonda again. i had to ask. i raised my hand and she said, "I know what you are going to ask. Do I do parties??" we all laughed and i said, "No, I wanted to know why you keep telling us your name is Rhonda but your name tag says, 'Jenny'?" her response was, "Well, a couple of weeks ago I lost my name tag. About that same time, Jenny lost hers too." there seemed to be some sort of delay in us being able to disembark--there were two boats in front of us still waiting to unload. so at this point i think she started improvising. she said that before she started working the jungle cruise, she worked "it's a small world." she asked if we wanted to hear her presentation on that ride. we all agreed that we did. so she started: "How many? How many? How many? How many?" it's a good thing we had already ridden the magic carpet ride and had heard that presentation--it probably wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't known the presentation. ha
after this, we went to lunch. we ate at pecos bill's. it was pretty crowded and as i turned around to leave the food counter, my pop slid off of my tray. it fell straight down and landed sitting up. unfortunately, it hit so hard that it exploded like old faithful. pop went everywhere!! i mean everywhere!! even before it hit the floor i was saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" well, the pop sprayed all up the back of this cheerleading looking chick in shorts and a tank top. OMG, she went nuts. she had that little cheerleader "tsk" thing down perfectly. i tried not to laugh, but i failed. i at least kept my hand over my mouth and face while giggling, "I'm so sorry." i had to turn away to keep from totally losing control and the girl behind me was smirking too. i swear she almost winked at me. we enjoyed a good laugh at the prissy girl's expense. i did feel bad. but wow it was funny. to my credit, i was looking in my bag for some handi-wipes while they were giving me a new pop. but i couldn't find any. :(
after lunch we planned to get speed passes for splash mtn, but return time wasn't until 6:30! and we couldnt' get any other speed passes while holding this one. so we decided to get speed passes for thunder mtn which had an earlier return time. then we could stand in line for splash mtn. but the wait time posted for splash mtn was was longer than for thunder mtn. so ann e and ginny went to get speed tickets for splash mtn after all and we stood in line for thunder mtn.
this was going to be alyssa's first ride that wasn't a kiddie ride! and it was a roller coaster! she was so excited. while waiting in line she kept showing us how she was going to hold up her arms as we sped down the drops! but once we got on, she got a little spooked and started to fuss a little bit. she kept trying to look for her dad who was in the car behind us. so to get her mind on other things, i said, "Aren't you going to hold up your hands?" that made her kind of grin and she just shook her head no. her knuckles were white holding on to the bar. when we got off the roller coaster, howard said he heard her looking for him and asking for him. he asked if she was ok. she said, "Yes Dad. That was just fake scared." they were all looking forward to space mountain!
we didn't find out until later that it was ginny's first roller coaster too! more about it later, but her second roller coaster was space mtn!! that's a wild second coaster ride. :)
after thunder mountain, we went to the haunted mansion. we stood in line for over an hour when we finally got to the graveyard. the kids thought the tombstones were funny. but then they started hearing the moans, slamming doors and chains from inside the mansion. alyssa got a bit scared. she started crying and didn't want to go in. then it was announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties on the ride. but we decided to wait it out a bit. the noises kept going and alyssa couldn't help but hear them. i think if it wasn't for the noises she might have been ok. but she cried more. we waited longer. she cried harder. a few people around us decided not to wait longer. a group of people were finally let into the mansion--we JUST missed it! we would be the next people let in. we finally got into the stretching room of the mansion. it went dark and the noises got louder. howard had to hold alyssa. we were lead out of the room to stand in line again and wait to get onto the cars that take us through the mansion. another announcement came that they were experiencing technical difficulties again. more people left. alyssa really started crying hard now. we decided to ditch the ride. as we headed for the exit, we were offered speed passes to come back later in the day. while someone was getting them for howard another employee knelt down to talk to alyssa. he was so sorry that she was so scared. to make her feel better he told her where one of the hidden mickeys was on the ride. that cheered her up some, but she didn't want to come back to find it. so we didn't use the speed passes. it kind of put a damper on alyssa's enthusiasm for riding the rest of the day.
then we ate again. but i don't remember where. :( we headed towards splash mountain. ann e, ginny, sarah, and thomas all rode it!! they had speed passes, so we didn't have to stand in line with them. we stood on the bridge waiting for them to come down. alyssa got a little bored and asked if she could call a friend. she knew the number, so we called nicole. she talked for a little while. she was so excited, but nicole wasn't all that interested. it kind of hurt alyssa's feelings, but she was glad she got to talk to her. when the others got off of splash mountain, we rode the train over to mickey's toontown. as we boarded the train, i had it in my mind that the kids would all sit together in one row and howard and i would sit behind them. that's just what i expected. well it didn't work out that way. the kids split up and howard sat in one row with them and that filled up that seat. i actually stomped my foot and said, "But I wanted to sit next to you!" and i kinda whined when i said it. well i heard what a brat i sounded like so i forced myself to laugh it off and act like i was kidding. but i was a little bothered. the kids were being so good! they weren't at all tired and cranky like me.
we headed straight towards space mountain. ginny and sarah asked alyssa if she was going to ride. she really didn't want to, but didn't want to say no. so she said, "Maybe I won't be tall enough." we got to the ride and there was a measuring stand--she was JUST tall enough. man, she really got a look of disappointment when they told her she was tall enough. so i told her she had at least an hour to think about it and if she didn't want to ride she wouldn't have to. we got pretty close to the front of the line when there was an announcement that they were experiencing technical difficulties. we were getting tired by this point and this was NOT good news. LOL the kids really were great. they were patient and understanding. they didn't get cranky. alyssa got quite tired though and really wanted us to hold her a while. so howard and i took turns for a while. she was really getting nervous about the ride and finally told me she didn't want to ride it but she didn't want us to leave her alone. i promised her we wouldn't leave her alone. i told her we would take turns riding so someone could stay with her. the way it works is that everyone except me and her would get on the ride. i would stand with her. then when the others got off the ride, they would wait with her while i took my turn. she said that she didn't want to wait in line again though. i told her she wouldn't have to; the people running the ride would let me get on it right then. she still didn't understand and begged me not to leave her alone. i promised i would not leave her alone. while we were waiting in line, howard found the hidden mickey in the asteroids flying across the sky. so we got to the front of the line and daniel asked us "How many?" LOL, i thought about rhonda. howard told him there were 7 of us in the party, then explained that one was not going to ride at all and that i would ride when the other 5 got back. so daniel sent the 5 who were going to ride towards a lady who would help them board the ride. meanwhile, he took alyssa and me to the side and explained that this ride would not stop here to let them out. we would have to start down the exit ramp and hang an early left. there would be seats there for us to wait. he said the ride would last for about 4 minutes. as soon as our family got off the ride, we should come back up the exit ramp to him. he warned us that nobody else would or could let us on the ride but him. so we walked down to where they would get off the ride. she watched my watch and counted how many times the second hand passed 12. they were back before it passed 4 times. we hiked back up to the loading area. daniel let the other kids ride again. well, sarah didn't go, but ann e, ginny, and thomas all rode with me. i screamed through the whole ride. i'm sure i embarrassed them! first i yelled, "I want my mommy!" to which ann e replied, "Who's the crybaby now??" (funny inside story...maybe i'll post it sometime.) i think i went over the top when i yelled, "I have to peeeeeeeeee!!"
sarah really wanted to see the stitch show so we found it after space mountain. but it was close to time for the fireworks. so we watched the fireworks first. the fireworks were awesome. i took lots of pictures, but they really don't do it justice. after that we went back to stitch. at last we got to sit down!! i closed my eyes and tried to relax for a few minutes. it was kind of scary for alyssa. we finally figured out it was the dark that freaked her out. everytime she was brought to tears, it was dark. stitch ran around the audience, he farted on us, spit on us, then he asked each of us if we would be his friend. the fart was really hot, stinky, and just gross! we smelled it the rest of the night. ugh. we decided as a whole that we didn't like it very much overall. and so much for my nap during the show! yuck.
after this we looked for ice cream. we finally found it after asking 3 employees and walking for what seemed like 1/2 an hour. but it was really really good!! it was right beside the winnie the pooh ride. we thought alyssa would want to ride that, but she didn't notice it. i was kind of glad because there is a part of the ride that gets dark as you go through a thunder storm. i don't think she would have liked that.
as we were eating our ice cream she commented that she had not seen mickey or winnie the pooh. ann e and ginny tried to explain to her that they were getting ready for the parade. they had to get dressed, etc. she thought about this for a minute then she said, "What about Winnie the Pooh? He only had to put his shirt on!" This cracked us up!
after the ice cream break we made our way to the carousel. that was a nice end to the evening. we all kind of relaxed and enjoyed the ride. i still didn't get to sit next to howard though. at least this time i didn't throw a fit. LOL after this they wanted to walk through the castle. i thought we could. we headed that way and found that some kind of show was going on and we could not walk through it. :( but we took a few pictures around it. then we headed towards the monorail. we rode to the transportation center through the hotel. we stopped at the hotel to let people off there. as we were slowing down, i was watching out the window and saw...ED!! (the husband of a woman i used to work with!!) i waved and he waved back and smiled, but i didn't think he recognized me. so as the doors opened, and i jumped up and yelled, "ED! It's me, Suzie." he grinned and came and hugged me. i told him i'd call sandi...which i haven't yet. i really need to do that. so that was kind of exciting. then the monorail took us to the transportation center. we changed monorails and went to epcot. the monorail seemed to go right through the middle of the park. it was cool to see all those rides. the park was completely closed up and dark. we got off at the platform in epcot and ran towards the tram. it was a good thing too...as we were getting on, they announced this was the last ride out to the parking lot!! this guy was pretty funny, but now i can't remember everything he said.
we got to the van and drove back to dad's. we were so very tired and exhausted, but happy. it was a really good day!
Sunday, January 09, 2005
church
i went to church this morning and this evening. i've been going pretty regularly the last couple of months. i went regularly from the time i was 12 until i left WV 7 yrs ago. it's not that i didn't want to go or that i was growing away from God. it was just that i couldn't find a church i liked.
my little Baptist church was very fundamental. we only used the King James Version Bible. the females wore dresses. we had 4 sunday school classes: up through grade school; jr high, sr high, and adult. those who were too little to go to the grade school class sat with their parents. they behaved. those who graduated from high school stayed in the high school class until a) younger kids were promoted, b) they got married, or c) they finally said, i'm in my mid-20's and i think i'm an adult. that's how it happened for me. we had very few kids in church back then. we took up the offering once on sunday morning. we didn't have technology such as video, audio, or "canned music." we had a preacher--yes preacher. he didn't take offense to that title because that's what he did, he preached. it was the congregation's problem if they thought of preach as a derogotory term. preacher joe did not. and we had maybe 30 ppl on a good sunday morning. a nice size crowd for a small country church.
that was a tough act to follow. i went to churches that used Bibles that left out things like "Blood" and "virgin" and sometimes even "hell." seems as a Christian society, we are getting lazy about reading and understanding the Bible. so in trying to find an "easy to read" Bible, we lose some of the important stuff. sorry, i know that offends my boyfriend. we have agreed to disagree about that. i went to churches where the men and women wore jeans and printed t-shirts. now i know God really doesn't mind how you dress. the improtant thing is to be there. and there are ppl who just don't have that many dressy clothes for church. that is fine. but really, the printed t-shirts are more than i can handle. this is God's house. we are to respect Him. people forget that i think. they just throw on any old thing and go. again, i know being there is more important. but people, let's have some respect. and speaking of respect--why do parents allow their kids to run all over the church, talk with others, play loudly, etc. i know i know...at least they are in church. but i can't concentrate when junior is counting his cheerios as he smashes each one deeply into the carpet and then laughs while loudly asking his older sister, did you see me smash that to smitherines?? i went to churches that had more sunday school classes than they had members. i went to churches that took up the offering during sunday school and church. and they used guilt tactics to get $$. it appeared to me that the $$ was used to buy the "pastor" a new car or his wife a new suit. iand i went to churches that had so many attendees, they had to have 2 worship services. i like ppl and i like crowds and i loved living in the city. but how do you even start to function as a congregation when 1/2 of you go at a different time????? and some churches even had "traditional" services and "contemporary" services. WHAT?? contemporary? can you say new age? can you say satan? yes i know i sound like church lady, but someone has to!
i never found a church i liked in florida. then i moved to milwaukee. i found the perfect church! it was very small. and very fundamental. they would tell you from the pulpit every sunday that they used the KJV Bible. women wore dresses that covered their knees. (ok, so it took me a few weeks to catch on to that "covers your knees" part.) granted, some were denim skirts and that was fine. but they weren't wearing beavis and butthead shirts with them!! women wearing slacks is fine with me--just be neat about it. you don't have to have on the best...but at least be clean and have no tears. ok, there i go again. LOL can you tell that bugs me? let me stress again, jeans and pants are ok....printed tshirts or sweats are not.
um, where was i? oh yes, the little church in milwaukee. the only thing i didn't like about this little church was that they never allowed time for prayer requests or praise from the congregation. i found that odd.
but i moved back home a few months ago and was excited to be back at my little church. my little church where they now dress casually, let the million children who attend there ramrod the adults, have audio/video equipment, take up the offering twice, and have started a new sunday school class. HA. ok, i'm living with it because i love the people. we have a new preacher--a guy i graduated from high school with. he's great. it's taking some getting used to, but i'm adjusting....
then today i walked in and our piano was gone. GONE!! the piano my grandma used to play every sunday morning until she got sick and had to quit coming to church. the one that caroline has played ever since. the one on which caroline's daughter, rachel, learned to play for church. GONE!! in it's place some wierd synthesizer looking thing that caroline seemed overwhelmed with. OMG, GONE!! without so much as asking ME about it. LOL and on top of that...
the sunday school teacher used a NON-KJV Bible today!! HELLO!!
ok, so that's my rant about the downhill ethical and moral freefall of the church.
don't get me wrong--i am not slamming the faith. i am a Christian and i know i'm going to heaven. i know the people who wear printed tshirts are going to heaven--if they are saved. i was just overwhelmed by pet peeves today.
my little Baptist church was very fundamental. we only used the King James Version Bible. the females wore dresses. we had 4 sunday school classes: up through grade school; jr high, sr high, and adult. those who were too little to go to the grade school class sat with their parents. they behaved. those who graduated from high school stayed in the high school class until a) younger kids were promoted, b) they got married, or c) they finally said, i'm in my mid-20's and i think i'm an adult. that's how it happened for me. we had very few kids in church back then. we took up the offering once on sunday morning. we didn't have technology such as video, audio, or "canned music." we had a preacher--yes preacher. he didn't take offense to that title because that's what he did, he preached. it was the congregation's problem if they thought of preach as a derogotory term. preacher joe did not. and we had maybe 30 ppl on a good sunday morning. a nice size crowd for a small country church.
that was a tough act to follow. i went to churches that used Bibles that left out things like "Blood" and "virgin" and sometimes even "hell." seems as a Christian society, we are getting lazy about reading and understanding the Bible. so in trying to find an "easy to read" Bible, we lose some of the important stuff. sorry, i know that offends my boyfriend. we have agreed to disagree about that. i went to churches where the men and women wore jeans and printed t-shirts. now i know God really doesn't mind how you dress. the improtant thing is to be there. and there are ppl who just don't have that many dressy clothes for church. that is fine. but really, the printed t-shirts are more than i can handle. this is God's house. we are to respect Him. people forget that i think. they just throw on any old thing and go. again, i know being there is more important. but people, let's have some respect. and speaking of respect--why do parents allow their kids to run all over the church, talk with others, play loudly, etc. i know i know...at least they are in church. but i can't concentrate when junior is counting his cheerios as he smashes each one deeply into the carpet and then laughs while loudly asking his older sister, did you see me smash that to smitherines?? i went to churches that had more sunday school classes than they had members. i went to churches that took up the offering during sunday school and church. and they used guilt tactics to get $$. it appeared to me that the $$ was used to buy the "pastor" a new car or his wife a new suit. iand i went to churches that had so many attendees, they had to have 2 worship services. i like ppl and i like crowds and i loved living in the city. but how do you even start to function as a congregation when 1/2 of you go at a different time????? and some churches even had "traditional" services and "contemporary" services. WHAT?? contemporary? can you say new age? can you say satan? yes i know i sound like church lady, but someone has to!
i never found a church i liked in florida. then i moved to milwaukee. i found the perfect church! it was very small. and very fundamental. they would tell you from the pulpit every sunday that they used the KJV Bible. women wore dresses that covered their knees. (ok, so it took me a few weeks to catch on to that "covers your knees" part.) granted, some were denim skirts and that was fine. but they weren't wearing beavis and butthead shirts with them!! women wearing slacks is fine with me--just be neat about it. you don't have to have on the best...but at least be clean and have no tears. ok, there i go again. LOL can you tell that bugs me? let me stress again, jeans and pants are ok....printed tshirts or sweats are not.
um, where was i? oh yes, the little church in milwaukee. the only thing i didn't like about this little church was that they never allowed time for prayer requests or praise from the congregation. i found that odd.
but i moved back home a few months ago and was excited to be back at my little church. my little church where they now dress casually, let the million children who attend there ramrod the adults, have audio/video equipment, take up the offering twice, and have started a new sunday school class. HA. ok, i'm living with it because i love the people. we have a new preacher--a guy i graduated from high school with. he's great. it's taking some getting used to, but i'm adjusting....
then today i walked in and our piano was gone. GONE!! the piano my grandma used to play every sunday morning until she got sick and had to quit coming to church. the one that caroline has played ever since. the one on which caroline's daughter, rachel, learned to play for church. GONE!! in it's place some wierd synthesizer looking thing that caroline seemed overwhelmed with. OMG, GONE!! without so much as asking ME about it. LOL and on top of that...
the sunday school teacher used a NON-KJV Bible today!! HELLO!!
ok, so that's my rant about the downhill ethical and moral freefall of the church.
don't get me wrong--i am not slamming the faith. i am a Christian and i know i'm going to heaven. i know the people who wear printed tshirts are going to heaven--if they are saved. i was just overwhelmed by pet peeves today.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
it's a whole new year
happy 2005!!
i spent Christmas in florida at my dad and stepmom's. dave & thea, and billy were there. the day after Christmas howard and the kids got there. we took them to kennedy space center and disney world! but more about that in another blog.
we were all still there for new year's eve. the kids wanted to stay up through the new year. i think 4 of them made it. well ok, most of them were asleep early with wishes for us to wake them up in time. it wasn't the same without dick clark. :( and of all people, they chose regis to cover for him. ugh, i hate that guy!! but we watched the ball drop. then everyone was in bed before 12:01. LOL
i had been having kind of a rough week personally. so howard stayed up with me for a little while. we sat at the bar in the kitchen and i cried on his arm. it was kind of bittersweet. i hated crying in front of him. but it was so nice to have his arm there to lean on. i'm not sure why i cried. well, there are a few reasons that could have been part of the reason. i always hate to see the old year go out. but this year i didn't feel that so much. i'm really looking forward to 05. i always cry when i leave my dad and i was leaving the next day to come back to WV. also, i get nervous when i travel. but i think mostly it was being harassed by my stepmom all week.
the stepmom story i'll save for another post also.
do you make resolutions? i always think a lot about it. but i don't think i've ever seriously made a resolution that i had any real thoughts of keeping. i guess the same is this year. oh wait, i did make one resolution--TO GET A JOB!!!
i have been out of work since aug 30. and i have been so stinking lazy, i have done nothing. i was going to organize my life, start writing my novel, find part time work for a while, make beautiful homemade Christmas cards this year, work on my scrapbooks, travel, etc...
well, ok, i did travel. i've been to florida twice, to pikeville, ky countless times, and if i can count parkersburg as traveling, well i've been there a few times too. oh, and i did have adorable Christmas cards this year! i used a picture of my oldest brother from his second Christmas. it was really cute.
school starts again for me this coming friday. i'm excited about that. it's so tough 'cause of the format--4 wknds per semester. it's so intense for those few wknds. but then i have a lot of time between terms. but if i get a job it's going to be insane. :O
speaking of getting a job, i had an awesome interview at marshall a few days ago. i am trying not to get my hopes up, but i think i did really well. i should tell you the funny part about that day.
i walked across the courtyard on my way to the interview and it had been raining, but had slowed to a drizzle. well, these 2 huge drops plop down from a tree right in front of me. so close in front of me that if they had been any bigger i would have felt the wind from them! i checked my jacket and didn't see anything, whew!! well, i got into the office where i was supposed to meet the head of the hiring/interviewing committe and then i see it...a BIG blob of brown bird poop on the tail of my jacket--right in front!! well, my suit was dark, and thankfully the dropping was brown, not white!! so i asked for a tissue and got most of it out. i walked proudly into the interview room where everyone was patiently waiting for me. we went through the interview then i had a break before meeting the second group. i went to the restroom and as i was leaving the restroom, i glanced at myself in the full-lenght mirror. and that is when i noticed the WHITE blob of bird poop on my skirt!!!!!!!! Oh My Gosh! i could have died. LOL i got most of it out before meeting with the second group. i just hope the first group hadn't noticed too much. yikes.
wow, and this is just the beginning of week 2 of 05. :)
i spent Christmas in florida at my dad and stepmom's. dave & thea, and billy were there. the day after Christmas howard and the kids got there. we took them to kennedy space center and disney world! but more about that in another blog.
we were all still there for new year's eve. the kids wanted to stay up through the new year. i think 4 of them made it. well ok, most of them were asleep early with wishes for us to wake them up in time. it wasn't the same without dick clark. :( and of all people, they chose regis to cover for him. ugh, i hate that guy!! but we watched the ball drop. then everyone was in bed before 12:01. LOL
i had been having kind of a rough week personally. so howard stayed up with me for a little while. we sat at the bar in the kitchen and i cried on his arm. it was kind of bittersweet. i hated crying in front of him. but it was so nice to have his arm there to lean on. i'm not sure why i cried. well, there are a few reasons that could have been part of the reason. i always hate to see the old year go out. but this year i didn't feel that so much. i'm really looking forward to 05. i always cry when i leave my dad and i was leaving the next day to come back to WV. also, i get nervous when i travel. but i think mostly it was being harassed by my stepmom all week.
the stepmom story i'll save for another post also.
do you make resolutions? i always think a lot about it. but i don't think i've ever seriously made a resolution that i had any real thoughts of keeping. i guess the same is this year. oh wait, i did make one resolution--TO GET A JOB!!!
i have been out of work since aug 30. and i have been so stinking lazy, i have done nothing. i was going to organize my life, start writing my novel, find part time work for a while, make beautiful homemade Christmas cards this year, work on my scrapbooks, travel, etc...
well, ok, i did travel. i've been to florida twice, to pikeville, ky countless times, and if i can count parkersburg as traveling, well i've been there a few times too. oh, and i did have adorable Christmas cards this year! i used a picture of my oldest brother from his second Christmas. it was really cute.
school starts again for me this coming friday. i'm excited about that. it's so tough 'cause of the format--4 wknds per semester. it's so intense for those few wknds. but then i have a lot of time between terms. but if i get a job it's going to be insane. :O
speaking of getting a job, i had an awesome interview at marshall a few days ago. i am trying not to get my hopes up, but i think i did really well. i should tell you the funny part about that day.
i walked across the courtyard on my way to the interview and it had been raining, but had slowed to a drizzle. well, these 2 huge drops plop down from a tree right in front of me. so close in front of me that if they had been any bigger i would have felt the wind from them! i checked my jacket and didn't see anything, whew!! well, i got into the office where i was supposed to meet the head of the hiring/interviewing committe and then i see it...a BIG blob of brown bird poop on the tail of my jacket--right in front!! well, my suit was dark, and thankfully the dropping was brown, not white!! so i asked for a tissue and got most of it out. i walked proudly into the interview room where everyone was patiently waiting for me. we went through the interview then i had a break before meeting the second group. i went to the restroom and as i was leaving the restroom, i glanced at myself in the full-lenght mirror. and that is when i noticed the WHITE blob of bird poop on my skirt!!!!!!!! Oh My Gosh! i could have died. LOL i got most of it out before meeting with the second group. i just hope the first group hadn't noticed too much. yikes.
wow, and this is just the beginning of week 2 of 05. :)
Sunday, October 31, 2004
wknd 10/29-10/31
happy halloween!
last week howard mentioned us meeting in charleston on friday night. ;) it sounded like a good plan to me. but my oldest brother was visiting the family, so i wasn't sure i'd be able to get out of town. but we really wanted to see each other...so i had friday night dinner with the family then i drove to charleston.
we met at the microtel in south charleston. he was afraid meeting at a hotel might feel cheap and sleezy. it didn't. we live far apart. by meeting in the middle it gave us more time together.
but he had to head back home early saturday. and i was meeting one of my best friends M3 in morgantown later that day. i had a lot of time after he left and before i had to be in morgantown. so i took the scenic route. i drove up route 119. i saw a video store named after me. and i stopped to eat on the north side of weston.
when i got to morgantown, i went to the mountaineer mall. :( so i decided to try out the morgantown mall. so it was 119 south to 68 west to 79 north to the mall. when i left there, it was 19 north through town to 119 north to M3's mom's house.
i went to M3's halloween party at her sister, mindy's house. mindy and i were the only straight ppl there. LOL well, M3's mom and dad and grand niece, paxton, came for a few minutes.
i stayed at her mom's house. i woke up having night terrors. apparently i didn't scream outloud though. they didn't mention anything about hearing me. i sat straight up and screamed 3 times. and i guess it was in my sleep cause my throat didn't hurt this morning. if i had really screamed like that, i would have hurt. so i cried for 2 hours, read a magazine, and finally fell asleep with the light on.
we had lunch there this afternoon. turkey!! yummm...oh and banana nut bread for dessert. i LOVE her mom!! :)
i left there and decided to take the scenic route home. i took 119 south to 50 east. yes, east. i stayed on 50 into maryland where i picked up 219 south. i stayed on that to 33 west to ripley.
the drives were really nice. i took a few pictures of the trees and the cheat river. i love that river! well, not as much as i love the ohio...but still...
so that was my wknd! hope you had a good one too. ;)
last week howard mentioned us meeting in charleston on friday night. ;) it sounded like a good plan to me. but my oldest brother was visiting the family, so i wasn't sure i'd be able to get out of town. but we really wanted to see each other...so i had friday night dinner with the family then i drove to charleston.
we met at the microtel in south charleston. he was afraid meeting at a hotel might feel cheap and sleezy. it didn't. we live far apart. by meeting in the middle it gave us more time together.
but he had to head back home early saturday. and i was meeting one of my best friends M3 in morgantown later that day. i had a lot of time after he left and before i had to be in morgantown. so i took the scenic route. i drove up route 119. i saw a video store named after me. and i stopped to eat on the north side of weston.
when i got to morgantown, i went to the mountaineer mall. :( so i decided to try out the morgantown mall. so it was 119 south to 68 west to 79 north to the mall. when i left there, it was 19 north through town to 119 north to M3's mom's house.
i went to M3's halloween party at her sister, mindy's house. mindy and i were the only straight ppl there. LOL well, M3's mom and dad and grand niece, paxton, came for a few minutes.
i stayed at her mom's house. i woke up having night terrors. apparently i didn't scream outloud though. they didn't mention anything about hearing me. i sat straight up and screamed 3 times. and i guess it was in my sleep cause my throat didn't hurt this morning. if i had really screamed like that, i would have hurt. so i cried for 2 hours, read a magazine, and finally fell asleep with the light on.
we had lunch there this afternoon. turkey!! yummm...oh and banana nut bread for dessert. i LOVE her mom!! :)
i left there and decided to take the scenic route home. i took 119 south to 50 east. yes, east. i stayed on 50 into maryland where i picked up 219 south. i stayed on that to 33 west to ripley.
the drives were really nice. i took a few pictures of the trees and the cheat river. i love that river! well, not as much as i love the ohio...but still...
so that was my wknd! hope you had a good one too. ;)
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
life in milwaukee
here are a few things i've written over the past year and a half.
*****
June 2003
hey everyone!! i can't find the power cord to my computer (still all packed up somewhere, but NOT in the computer box!!) and my battery died. so i'm at the public library, where i have to pay a parking meter to leave my truck outside. and since they don't allow full-size trucks in the library, i didn't have a choice. i guess i could have walked here from home... anyhoodles, just want to let everyone know that i am safely in milwaukee. the move was fine and my apt is great. i'm right on the lake and have plenty of room for visitors!!! just a warning though, parking sucks!
i got my new driver's license. funny story there. i went in to get my license very early in the morning on the first full day i was in milwaukee. i had to do this right away because you need a permit to park on the street, you cannot get a permit until you have a local license. so at 8:30 a.m. on tuesday morning i was at the DMV. i was about the 3rd customer that morning. but already the staff was having a bad day. the first man, a middle-aged guy named john, said in a very flat tone,"can i help you?" i smiled and said, "i sure hope so! this is my first day here and i need to get my drivers license so i can get a parking sticker." he said flatly, "i need your current drivers license." so i handed it to him. without so much as a smile, the man put my license down on the counter, shoved it back towards me and says, "i mean a United States drivers license." well, i stuttered for a second, not knowing if he was really that stupid or was just trying to be funny. finally i said, very hesitantly, "uh, florida IS one of the United States." he replied, again without so much as a hint of a smile, no humor in his voice at all, "no it's not. it's part of the confederacy. the US govt may have invited you back, but I did not." i was totally speechless! he didn't smile, he didn't move, he didn't pick up the license. so finally i said, "can i get a license in wisconsin?" finally he pulled out an application for me to complete and wrote something on it. then he asked for another form of ID w/my signature. well i don't normally sign my credit cards, i just write, "see ID" on the back. but luckily i had my social security card with me. he wrote something else on the application then handed it to me and told me which parts to complete. he handed me a numbered ticket and said when it is called i can go to the other counter for my license.
a few mins later, my number was called and i went up to another friendly milwaukee-an. she said, "i need your application." well, i had completed the parts he told me to, but was unsure about the signature box. WITHIN the signature box was the statement about the military draft, directed at males aged 18-??...so i thought the signature might be only for them to sign that they understood the draft, etc. but then too, i thought it odd that I didn't have to sign the application for driver's license. so as I handed the form to the woman, i explained why i didn't sign it, then asked if i should have. she said, in the MOST sarcastic tone i've ever heard, "NOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOOO, women don't have to sign an application for drivers license." well obviously, she was being sarcastic so i knew I WAS supposed to sign it, but since she said NOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOOO, i smiled, handed it to her, and said, "ok." wellllll, that ticked her off!! she slammed the form down on the counter and shoved it back at me and almost screamed, "OF COURSE you have to sign it!" so i picked up the pen and very calmly said, "i wish you'd make up your mind. first you said no, now you said yes. do you even know if i have to sign it?" through clenched teeth the helpful employee said, "SIGN THE FORM." so i signed it. THEN...she wouldn't accept my social security card as a form of ID because the signatures didn't match. i said, "well of course they don't; i got that card when i was about 12 yrs old, my signature has changed." she couldn't accept it and needed something else with my signature. now why didn't the helpful man i spoke to earlier tell me that?? so i found a credit card with my signature on it and we were on our way. i finally got out of there, but she took license pictures for 3 people who came in behind me before she'd take mine. i know their names are john and alicia, but i don't have last names yet. i AM writing a letter to complain.
WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE!!!!!!!!!
****
July 2003
BACKGROUND INFO: ok, i was "laid-off"...or as i like to say, "FIRED" due to the elimination of my position. by the way, they did not eliminate the work--just the position, therefore there are others who have to pick up the slack...funny how that works. anyhoodles...the man who came down from human resources to break the news to me in tampa (on april 23, 2003 at approximately 1 p.m.--not that it is burned into my brain or anything) is named david. his office is located at another one of our offices in another state. truly i have no hard feelings for this guy. he did not make the decision to eliminate my position; he was merely the messenger who had to follow protocol. he was a nice enough guy. he carried my belongings out of the office for me and walked me to my truck for security purposes. mind you, i was not fired for doing anything wrong—my position was eliminated. when we got to the truck he thanked me for being a professional about it. he explained that when he had to let people go, he never knew what the reaction would be. basically, i made his job easier. WHAT!? now again, i don't hate the guy, but i certainly didn't mean to make his job "easier"!! i wanted to vomit on his shoes at that point. i also wanted to explain that i am pretty perceptive and knew i was being let go before he broke the news. but i didn't go into all that. i shook his hand and told him good luck. afterall, he had fired 4 people that day—pretty big day for a guy who has only worked here for a few months! and i didn't know it at the time, but found out later that the following day he left florida to CLOSE a complete office in another state!! he had to let ALL of them go. fast forward several weeks: i think all of you also know that i was re-hired by this company at a different location and am working in a completely different dept. this job is in *UGH* the financial dept. (HAAAaaaa, me--who failed acct 101). i started my new job in milwaukee on 6/19. it was decided that i should actually visit the main financial processing depts at our home office for training. so plans were made and i'm here this week getting the scoop.
FUNNY PART OF STORY: today, at the training site, as i was leaving for lunch, the elevator opened and who should step out but david the messenger!! i smiled (as i said, no ill feelings at all!!) and said, "DAVID! hey!" he looked at me kind of confused wondering if he even knew me. i stuck my hand out towards him to shake his hand and said, just as his hand grabbed mine, "it's kuke, formerly of the tampa office." OH MY GOSH i had NO idea what kind of an effect this would have on the poor soul. i watched as the blood drained from his face and he turned totally white as he recognized me. his hand dropped from mine and in a nervous voice he asked, "what are you doing here????!!!!" his eyes widening even more. wow, for about 10-15 seconds i put the fear of God in that man. i know his life flashed before his eyes. my only regret is that we were not ON the elevator with the door closed when i said it!! i truly had not thought of what kind of an effect seeing me would have on him. he completely calmed down after i explained that i was here for training. i shared the good news that i had been allowed to keep my seniority, etc. he asked about the move and what was i thinking moving from tampa to milwaukee!? i wanted to say, "i was thinking i have a job in milwaukee and not in tampa you goober!" but i didn't say it. he was very nice once he realized i was not here to take him out. i think it was an ironic situation. when he "fired" me, it was truly nothing personal. he didn't want to do it. he didn't even know me. but that feeling i got in the pit of my stomach upon having my suspicions confirmed will always and forever be associated with him personally. today i truly didn't mean to give him a fright. i was just saying hi to let him know all was well. but i bet that always and forever that feeling will be associated with "kuke, formerly of the tampa office!" it wasn't so much a feeling of revenge or anything that negative. but i felt somewhat vindicated. vindicated does not mean got revenge does it?? :) cheers!! it felt way better than it should have.
****
February 2004
i got out to my truck at 9:45 a.m. yesterday. that would have been enough time to get to work on time if i dind't have to let the truck warm up. but i'll warm it up anyway and be a few minutes late again. but the snow plow had gone by through the night and packed up the snow next to my truck. not deep, and not even frozen...just thick slush. my truck will not go through it. i tried for 20 mins to get out of that spot. i succeeded just enough to get the nose of my truck out into the street to cause havoc with traffic. don't you think that would make someone stop to help me? well, i'm not in the south anymore, i can assure you of that. i know this not only b/c of the snow problems, but also b/c of lack of neighborly help! i called work to tell them i'm going ot be later than usual and why. i thought, i'll just work my way back into the parking spot again and take the bus. 20 more mins of trying to back up and i still couldn't get anywhere. i was STUCK! i called work again to ask if someone would look up a roadside assistance phone number for me. my boss didn't want to do that. he didn't want me to have to pay for that. so he kept me on the phone for 10 mins just talking. i was getting madder and madder. finally i say, hey, i can't get out of here and the nose of my truck is out in the street. can you please look up a number for me so i don't get hit by oncoming traffic. then he said, don't you have anything you can put under your tires to get traction? i said, only a floor mat. he told me to try that then call him back. i tried that and it flew right out from under my tire about 3 car links down the street. well about this time, a guy who was walking down the street finally stopped to help me. he directed me to straighten up my wheels. (something i had forgotten after not driving in the snow for years!) that didn't work. we finally found a cardboard box in my truck. (for those of you who ever saw the inside of my car, it will not surprise you to learn that i carry almost that much stuff behind my seat in the truck! but jimmy hoffa doesn't fit. i don't know what they've done with his body now.) we put the flattened box under the floor mat to give it some heighth. and it worked! i drove about 3 more inches out into traffic then came to a screeching halt. so at this point i was really messing with traffic. people were swirving (swerving?) around me, blowing their horns at me. others were stopping to try to "help" by yelling directions from the comfort of their warm cars to the poor guy who is pushing my truck solo. but nobody would offer to stop and help this guy!! finally, we decided he should just push the truck back into my parking spot and leave it. that worked. i took the bus and finally got to work at about 12:15.but wait! as if that weren't enough!!
here's another installment of "my first wisconsin winter." my first wisconsin winter, chapter 2/day 2 of stuck truck
i was up and out of bed before 8 a.m.! :) i left the apt before 9 and thought, i just might make it to work on time today. i walked to jewel/osco to see if i could buy a bag of salt or something to help me get my truck out. i bought a 25 lb bag of salt. that was quite a load for me to carry--three blocks! i got to my truck and my mouth fell open. i dropped the bag of ice and slowly started walking towards the truck. the driver-side window was gone. completely. there was no glass hanging from it at all. no glass on the ground either. i walked closer and there was no glass on the inside either. nothing in my truck had been touched. my phone charger was on the seat, a couple of heavy sweatshirts/sweaters, cassette tapes, etc. nothing bothered. then i remembered, when the guy was helping me yesterday, i had rolled down the window so he could talk to me rather than relying on hand signals. i didn't roll up the window. the bus was coming, so i locked the door and ran for the bus. it was down all day yesterday and all night last night. can you believe that?? i rolled it up, but the truck was not going to get out of that spot again this morning. people parked very close to me on both ends! and the piled up slush from yesterday was now mountains of ice and was molded around my tires. so i left it and took the bus again today. on the upside though, i didn't get a parking ticket. :) yet. lol
the bus thing isn't so bad. i only have to walk one block to the bus stop from my apt. well, actually, there is one right outside my apt building. but it's going in the wrong direction. if i get up early enough though, i can catch it and right it to the end of the line in the wrong direction, then back towards downtown to my stop. which, by the way, is 5 blocks from work. yes, i've been walking 5 blocks twice a day in this weather. brrrrrri'm not kidding when i say that today i wore:hose, wool socks, boots up to my knees, a pair of pants (not heavy ones or anything though, so maybe that was my problem), a long underwear shirt, a turtle neck, a red wool blazer, my long wool coat, 2 pairs of gloves (one pair of isotoners and a pair of fur lined leather ones), a scarf, and ear muffs. the weather did not care that i was bundled up. noooo, it laughed at me. it made an annoying buzzer sound and yelled, try again!the weather man says tomorrow's windchill will make the air feel like -30. but no snow..sorry kids, looks like you'll have to bundle up and go to school anyway.
****
June 2004
i hesitate to write this story because it means admitting something that i don't want to admit. but it's too funny not to tell. i hope it doesn't ruin your perfect image of me. ;)
without going into a long explanation...or rather a bunch of excuses why...let me just start this story by saying i let the sticker on my truck tags run out, not intentionally! i have mailed in the form with the money, just haven't gotten it back yet to put on my truck. so i've been driving very carefully!! stopping at yellow lights, not speeding, and with that exception of driving to illinois recently, haven't driven anywhere except to work and back.
well, today a friend of mine from work wanted to borrow my truck to pick up a dryer. (and i don't mean a hair dryer.) anyway, i saw this as an opportunity to rope her into helping me load the u-haul truck next month, so of course, i agreed. i met them at the store, the dryer was loaded, and i drove it to their house. i decided while i was out i would go to KFC. i haven't been there in forever and was really craving it. i was feeling lucky (about driving illegally i mean) so i chanced it.
i got to KFC...which is near a cinema...and 3 guys with protest signs ligned up along the street in front of KFC. it took me a while to be able to read the signs. but i finally managed. they were saying things about the movie Fareinheit 9/11 (i think i misspelled that word). they thought michael moore (the man behind the documentary) should be arrested for treason. they called him the american taliban. i can't remember the other things.
anyway, these guys (all pretty young, i'd say 17-20) got into a verbal altercation with someone driving by in a car. they were shouting at each other and making gestures towards one another. someone called the cops. so the cops showed up and pulled into KFC's parking lot. they talked to the young men for a few minutes, but didn't make them leave. all of the cops finally left except one. and he pulled up right behind my truck. well, i was busy writing something (the show "last comic standing" has inspired me to try to write comedy again cause i think i'm funnier than they are) so i just took my time and wrote my routine on a napkin.
an hour passed with me avoiding the cop. i was a nervous wreck. he was just sitting there blocking me in. there were a couple of times during this hour that i was the only non-employee in the restaurant. i kept waiting for him to come in and get me. my heart was pounding--you could see my shirt moving!! i thought about calling someone to come pick me up. i thought about making a fake call to the cops saying there was a car stalled just down the street from KFC...close enough that he'd probably get the call, but in the opposite direction of my escape route. then i realized i didn't want to get into any more trouble than i was already in.
i wanted to go out and talk to him. but by this time i was so nervous, i didn't know if he'd ticket me or arrest me. i wanted to call someone to find out, but didn't know whom to ask. so i tried to focus on writing. i refilled my pepsi. for the third time. i went to the bathroom. for the third time. i sat and watched the cop parked behind my truck. for an hour.
then it happened. A WRECKER PULLED INTO THE LOT!! A TOW TRUCK!! oh my gosh. my heart DID beat now. my head pounded. my palms got sweaty. what to do? i watched them. the cop got out of his vehicle and pointed towards my truck. well, i got up and started towards the door. that was when i noticed there was another car parked beside me and 2 ppl standing beside it. i had not seen them this whole time. the wrecker man walked right straight to their car and used a tool to unlock it for them so they could get their keys.
yes, i sat at KFC for an hour on the verge of a heart attack because some couple locked their keys in their car. the cop left. the wrecker left. the couple left. i left. but not after nearly breaking down once i got into my truck.
i drove home. i'm debating taking the bus this week.
*****
June 2003
hey everyone!! i can't find the power cord to my computer (still all packed up somewhere, but NOT in the computer box!!) and my battery died. so i'm at the public library, where i have to pay a parking meter to leave my truck outside. and since they don't allow full-size trucks in the library, i didn't have a choice. i guess i could have walked here from home... anyhoodles, just want to let everyone know that i am safely in milwaukee. the move was fine and my apt is great. i'm right on the lake and have plenty of room for visitors!!! just a warning though, parking sucks!
i got my new driver's license. funny story there. i went in to get my license very early in the morning on the first full day i was in milwaukee. i had to do this right away because you need a permit to park on the street, you cannot get a permit until you have a local license. so at 8:30 a.m. on tuesday morning i was at the DMV. i was about the 3rd customer that morning. but already the staff was having a bad day. the first man, a middle-aged guy named john, said in a very flat tone,"can i help you?" i smiled and said, "i sure hope so! this is my first day here and i need to get my drivers license so i can get a parking sticker." he said flatly, "i need your current drivers license." so i handed it to him. without so much as a smile, the man put my license down on the counter, shoved it back towards me and says, "i mean a United States drivers license." well, i stuttered for a second, not knowing if he was really that stupid or was just trying to be funny. finally i said, very hesitantly, "uh, florida IS one of the United States." he replied, again without so much as a hint of a smile, no humor in his voice at all, "no it's not. it's part of the confederacy. the US govt may have invited you back, but I did not." i was totally speechless! he didn't smile, he didn't move, he didn't pick up the license. so finally i said, "can i get a license in wisconsin?" finally he pulled out an application for me to complete and wrote something on it. then he asked for another form of ID w/my signature. well i don't normally sign my credit cards, i just write, "see ID" on the back. but luckily i had my social security card with me. he wrote something else on the application then handed it to me and told me which parts to complete. he handed me a numbered ticket and said when it is called i can go to the other counter for my license.
a few mins later, my number was called and i went up to another friendly milwaukee-an. she said, "i need your application." well, i had completed the parts he told me to, but was unsure about the signature box. WITHIN the signature box was the statement about the military draft, directed at males aged 18-??...so i thought the signature might be only for them to sign that they understood the draft, etc. but then too, i thought it odd that I didn't have to sign the application for driver's license. so as I handed the form to the woman, i explained why i didn't sign it, then asked if i should have. she said, in the MOST sarcastic tone i've ever heard, "NOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOOO, women don't have to sign an application for drivers license." well obviously, she was being sarcastic so i knew I WAS supposed to sign it, but since she said NOOOOOOOOoooooooooOOOOOOOOOO, i smiled, handed it to her, and said, "ok." wellllll, that ticked her off!! she slammed the form down on the counter and shoved it back at me and almost screamed, "OF COURSE you have to sign it!" so i picked up the pen and very calmly said, "i wish you'd make up your mind. first you said no, now you said yes. do you even know if i have to sign it?" through clenched teeth the helpful employee said, "SIGN THE FORM." so i signed it. THEN...she wouldn't accept my social security card as a form of ID because the signatures didn't match. i said, "well of course they don't; i got that card when i was about 12 yrs old, my signature has changed." she couldn't accept it and needed something else with my signature. now why didn't the helpful man i spoke to earlier tell me that?? so i found a credit card with my signature on it and we were on our way. i finally got out of there, but she took license pictures for 3 people who came in behind me before she'd take mine. i know their names are john and alicia, but i don't have last names yet. i AM writing a letter to complain.
WELCOME TO MILWAUKEE!!!!!!!!!
****
July 2003
BACKGROUND INFO: ok, i was "laid-off"...or as i like to say, "FIRED" due to the elimination of my position. by the way, they did not eliminate the work--just the position, therefore there are others who have to pick up the slack...funny how that works. anyhoodles...the man who came down from human resources to break the news to me in tampa (on april 23, 2003 at approximately 1 p.m.--not that it is burned into my brain or anything) is named david. his office is located at another one of our offices in another state. truly i have no hard feelings for this guy. he did not make the decision to eliminate my position; he was merely the messenger who had to follow protocol. he was a nice enough guy. he carried my belongings out of the office for me and walked me to my truck for security purposes. mind you, i was not fired for doing anything wrong—my position was eliminated. when we got to the truck he thanked me for being a professional about it. he explained that when he had to let people go, he never knew what the reaction would be. basically, i made his job easier. WHAT!? now again, i don't hate the guy, but i certainly didn't mean to make his job "easier"!! i wanted to vomit on his shoes at that point. i also wanted to explain that i am pretty perceptive and knew i was being let go before he broke the news. but i didn't go into all that. i shook his hand and told him good luck. afterall, he had fired 4 people that day—pretty big day for a guy who has only worked here for a few months! and i didn't know it at the time, but found out later that the following day he left florida to CLOSE a complete office in another state!! he had to let ALL of them go. fast forward several weeks: i think all of you also know that i was re-hired by this company at a different location and am working in a completely different dept. this job is in *UGH* the financial dept. (HAAAaaaa, me--who failed acct 101). i started my new job in milwaukee on 6/19. it was decided that i should actually visit the main financial processing depts at our home office for training. so plans were made and i'm here this week getting the scoop.
FUNNY PART OF STORY: today, at the training site, as i was leaving for lunch, the elevator opened and who should step out but david the messenger!! i smiled (as i said, no ill feelings at all!!) and said, "DAVID! hey!" he looked at me kind of confused wondering if he even knew me. i stuck my hand out towards him to shake his hand and said, just as his hand grabbed mine, "it's kuke, formerly of the tampa office." OH MY GOSH i had NO idea what kind of an effect this would have on the poor soul. i watched as the blood drained from his face and he turned totally white as he recognized me. his hand dropped from mine and in a nervous voice he asked, "what are you doing here????!!!!" his eyes widening even more. wow, for about 10-15 seconds i put the fear of God in that man. i know his life flashed before his eyes. my only regret is that we were not ON the elevator with the door closed when i said it!! i truly had not thought of what kind of an effect seeing me would have on him. he completely calmed down after i explained that i was here for training. i shared the good news that i had been allowed to keep my seniority, etc. he asked about the move and what was i thinking moving from tampa to milwaukee!? i wanted to say, "i was thinking i have a job in milwaukee and not in tampa you goober!" but i didn't say it. he was very nice once he realized i was not here to take him out. i think it was an ironic situation. when he "fired" me, it was truly nothing personal. he didn't want to do it. he didn't even know me. but that feeling i got in the pit of my stomach upon having my suspicions confirmed will always and forever be associated with him personally. today i truly didn't mean to give him a fright. i was just saying hi to let him know all was well. but i bet that always and forever that feeling will be associated with "kuke, formerly of the tampa office!" it wasn't so much a feeling of revenge or anything that negative. but i felt somewhat vindicated. vindicated does not mean got revenge does it?? :) cheers!! it felt way better than it should have.
****
February 2004
i got out to my truck at 9:45 a.m. yesterday. that would have been enough time to get to work on time if i dind't have to let the truck warm up. but i'll warm it up anyway and be a few minutes late again. but the snow plow had gone by through the night and packed up the snow next to my truck. not deep, and not even frozen...just thick slush. my truck will not go through it. i tried for 20 mins to get out of that spot. i succeeded just enough to get the nose of my truck out into the street to cause havoc with traffic. don't you think that would make someone stop to help me? well, i'm not in the south anymore, i can assure you of that. i know this not only b/c of the snow problems, but also b/c of lack of neighborly help! i called work to tell them i'm going ot be later than usual and why. i thought, i'll just work my way back into the parking spot again and take the bus. 20 more mins of trying to back up and i still couldn't get anywhere. i was STUCK! i called work again to ask if someone would look up a roadside assistance phone number for me. my boss didn't want to do that. he didn't want me to have to pay for that. so he kept me on the phone for 10 mins just talking. i was getting madder and madder. finally i say, hey, i can't get out of here and the nose of my truck is out in the street. can you please look up a number for me so i don't get hit by oncoming traffic. then he said, don't you have anything you can put under your tires to get traction? i said, only a floor mat. he told me to try that then call him back. i tried that and it flew right out from under my tire about 3 car links down the street. well about this time, a guy who was walking down the street finally stopped to help me. he directed me to straighten up my wheels. (something i had forgotten after not driving in the snow for years!) that didn't work. we finally found a cardboard box in my truck. (for those of you who ever saw the inside of my car, it will not surprise you to learn that i carry almost that much stuff behind my seat in the truck! but jimmy hoffa doesn't fit. i don't know what they've done with his body now.) we put the flattened box under the floor mat to give it some heighth. and it worked! i drove about 3 more inches out into traffic then came to a screeching halt. so at this point i was really messing with traffic. people were swirving (swerving?) around me, blowing their horns at me. others were stopping to try to "help" by yelling directions from the comfort of their warm cars to the poor guy who is pushing my truck solo. but nobody would offer to stop and help this guy!! finally, we decided he should just push the truck back into my parking spot and leave it. that worked. i took the bus and finally got to work at about 12:15.but wait! as if that weren't enough!!
here's another installment of "my first wisconsin winter." my first wisconsin winter, chapter 2/day 2 of stuck truck
i was up and out of bed before 8 a.m.! :) i left the apt before 9 and thought, i just might make it to work on time today. i walked to jewel/osco to see if i could buy a bag of salt or something to help me get my truck out. i bought a 25 lb bag of salt. that was quite a load for me to carry--three blocks! i got to my truck and my mouth fell open. i dropped the bag of ice and slowly started walking towards the truck. the driver-side window was gone. completely. there was no glass hanging from it at all. no glass on the ground either. i walked closer and there was no glass on the inside either. nothing in my truck had been touched. my phone charger was on the seat, a couple of heavy sweatshirts/sweaters, cassette tapes, etc. nothing bothered. then i remembered, when the guy was helping me yesterday, i had rolled down the window so he could talk to me rather than relying on hand signals. i didn't roll up the window. the bus was coming, so i locked the door and ran for the bus. it was down all day yesterday and all night last night. can you believe that?? i rolled it up, but the truck was not going to get out of that spot again this morning. people parked very close to me on both ends! and the piled up slush from yesterday was now mountains of ice and was molded around my tires. so i left it and took the bus again today. on the upside though, i didn't get a parking ticket. :) yet. lol
the bus thing isn't so bad. i only have to walk one block to the bus stop from my apt. well, actually, there is one right outside my apt building. but it's going in the wrong direction. if i get up early enough though, i can catch it and right it to the end of the line in the wrong direction, then back towards downtown to my stop. which, by the way, is 5 blocks from work. yes, i've been walking 5 blocks twice a day in this weather. brrrrrri'm not kidding when i say that today i wore:hose, wool socks, boots up to my knees, a pair of pants (not heavy ones or anything though, so maybe that was my problem), a long underwear shirt, a turtle neck, a red wool blazer, my long wool coat, 2 pairs of gloves (one pair of isotoners and a pair of fur lined leather ones), a scarf, and ear muffs. the weather did not care that i was bundled up. noooo, it laughed at me. it made an annoying buzzer sound and yelled, try again!the weather man says tomorrow's windchill will make the air feel like -30. but no snow..sorry kids, looks like you'll have to bundle up and go to school anyway.
****
June 2004
i hesitate to write this story because it means admitting something that i don't want to admit. but it's too funny not to tell. i hope it doesn't ruin your perfect image of me. ;)
without going into a long explanation...or rather a bunch of excuses why...let me just start this story by saying i let the sticker on my truck tags run out, not intentionally! i have mailed in the form with the money, just haven't gotten it back yet to put on my truck. so i've been driving very carefully!! stopping at yellow lights, not speeding, and with that exception of driving to illinois recently, haven't driven anywhere except to work and back.
well, today a friend of mine from work wanted to borrow my truck to pick up a dryer. (and i don't mean a hair dryer.) anyway, i saw this as an opportunity to rope her into helping me load the u-haul truck next month, so of course, i agreed. i met them at the store, the dryer was loaded, and i drove it to their house. i decided while i was out i would go to KFC. i haven't been there in forever and was really craving it. i was feeling lucky (about driving illegally i mean) so i chanced it.
i got to KFC...which is near a cinema...and 3 guys with protest signs ligned up along the street in front of KFC. it took me a while to be able to read the signs. but i finally managed. they were saying things about the movie Fareinheit 9/11 (i think i misspelled that word). they thought michael moore (the man behind the documentary) should be arrested for treason. they called him the american taliban. i can't remember the other things.
anyway, these guys (all pretty young, i'd say 17-20) got into a verbal altercation with someone driving by in a car. they were shouting at each other and making gestures towards one another. someone called the cops. so the cops showed up and pulled into KFC's parking lot. they talked to the young men for a few minutes, but didn't make them leave. all of the cops finally left except one. and he pulled up right behind my truck. well, i was busy writing something (the show "last comic standing" has inspired me to try to write comedy again cause i think i'm funnier than they are) so i just took my time and wrote my routine on a napkin.
an hour passed with me avoiding the cop. i was a nervous wreck. he was just sitting there blocking me in. there were a couple of times during this hour that i was the only non-employee in the restaurant. i kept waiting for him to come in and get me. my heart was pounding--you could see my shirt moving!! i thought about calling someone to come pick me up. i thought about making a fake call to the cops saying there was a car stalled just down the street from KFC...close enough that he'd probably get the call, but in the opposite direction of my escape route. then i realized i didn't want to get into any more trouble than i was already in.
i wanted to go out and talk to him. but by this time i was so nervous, i didn't know if he'd ticket me or arrest me. i wanted to call someone to find out, but didn't know whom to ask. so i tried to focus on writing. i refilled my pepsi. for the third time. i went to the bathroom. for the third time. i sat and watched the cop parked behind my truck. for an hour.
then it happened. A WRECKER PULLED INTO THE LOT!! A TOW TRUCK!! oh my gosh. my heart DID beat now. my head pounded. my palms got sweaty. what to do? i watched them. the cop got out of his vehicle and pointed towards my truck. well, i got up and started towards the door. that was when i noticed there was another car parked beside me and 2 ppl standing beside it. i had not seen them this whole time. the wrecker man walked right straight to their car and used a tool to unlock it for them so they could get their keys.
yes, i sat at KFC for an hour on the verge of a heart attack because some couple locked their keys in their car. the cop left. the wrecker left. the couple left. i left. but not after nearly breaking down once i got into my truck.
i drove home. i'm debating taking the bus this week.
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