Well, it is about time I updated this blog - don’t you think? So here goes.
Not too much new or exciting. It is the routine things that happen that get one to put off doing this. But here we go.
Look at Kelly’s blog and you will find out that they have been very active in fixing up their new house. Well, we just could not help but try to compete a very little bit. Last November we contracted with Pella for new windows that were delivered in early January just after my last blog update. They look nice but almost exactly like the old ones. Which we are happy about, because we were not tired of the old look. But the new ones have made a difference. There is no more cold downdraft coming off of the windows; there are no more little cracks in individual panes resulting from too much heat when I was removing old paint to put on new paint; the old broken and difficult to use storm windows are gone.
We did a total of 16 windows: the four basement windows got Pella’s bottom line of vinyl windows, the two in the kitchen got their top line of wood ones, and the rest of the main floor (10) got the intermediate line. So now we have rotate-in windows to make cleaning easier, no more banged up fingers opening storm windows, etc.
After that the rest of January and February were rather quiet. We did get together with Ed and Kelly a couple of times and saw their progress. We delighted in the lack of snow and ice. But wonder how the gardens are going to do this year with the unusual weather this winter.
Then in March we took up our daughter’s invitation to visit her and Tyler in St. Thomas; we went down on March 5 and came back March 12. We had a great time. Went over to St. Johns for a day and a night and met a very interesting couple . Visited a different beach in the afternoon every day but two; two on St. Johns and two on St. Thomas. Enjoyed them all and got a good sun tan. We went to several restaurants including one we went to last years ( Marilyn’s favorite - Betsy’s) and several new (to Ann and me) ones. Good food, good times.
Now we are back and catching up. Making appointments for everything from the dentist to the car dealership for a recall (minor), including a catscan and ultrasound to check up on my stent. On the health front there is noting new except that Marilyn stubbed a toe on a rock on the beach and broke her left middle toe. Four weeks with it taped to the next one. Good grief - and she probably wont appreciate that I even mentioned it. And one of these days I will have to do two things: learn how to put pictures in this blog, and how to use Facebook. As one of the authors in a magazine says: if the mood strikes, write.
Bye now.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Differences
‘What a difference a day makes....’. Well, lets talk about the differences a year makes. (I know that the most recent blog was not a full year ago, but..) We will use year ending dates for this. But not in any particular order.
*Most important - Will was with us at the beginning of last year, but is not, now.
*A new car for me.
*A stent in my chest.
*Into a new house for Ed and Kelly.
*Many renovations to Ed and Kelly’s house, which they did mostly themselves.
*A banged up thumb for Marilyn.
*Job progresses, small but worthwhile, for Ed, Kelly, Marilyn, Tyler.
*A college degree for Kelly.
*A year without train shows except for the club open house.
*A new freezer with new contents (due to Irene and Lee).
*A new toilet (seems to be cutting the water bill almost in half) and a new bed.
*Thanksgiving without Will and Mandy.
*Christmas Day with Marilyn and Tyler (they will alternate between here and Colorado for that day).
*Christmas festivities at Ed and Kelly’s new house instead of Woodstock.
For some things there was no difference:
*Ann’s environmental activities.
*Bill’s activities with museum, alumni club and model railroad club.
*General health of all involved (except Will, of course) but including Daisy (for whom I will have to put up a picture soon,
What differences will 2012 bring - wait and see.
*Most important - Will was with us at the beginning of last year, but is not, now.
*A new car for me.
*A stent in my chest.
*Into a new house for Ed and Kelly.
*Many renovations to Ed and Kelly’s house, which they did mostly themselves.
*A banged up thumb for Marilyn.
*Job progresses, small but worthwhile, for Ed, Kelly, Marilyn, Tyler.
*A college degree for Kelly.
*A year without train shows except for the club open house.
*A new freezer with new contents (due to Irene and Lee).
*A new toilet (seems to be cutting the water bill almost in half) and a new bed.
*Thanksgiving without Will and Mandy.
*Christmas Day with Marilyn and Tyler (they will alternate between here and Colorado for that day).
*Christmas festivities at Ed and Kelly’s new house instead of Woodstock.
For some things there was no difference:
*Ann’s environmental activities.
*Bill’s activities with museum, alumni club and model railroad club.
*General health of all involved (except Will, of course) but including Daisy (for whom I will have to put up a picture soon,
What differences will 2012 bring - wait and see.
Friday, November 11, 2011
about time to do an update!
I am finally in the mood to do some writing. I know it has been a long time since the last update - sorry. But I just wrote a letter to the editor about the uptown Kingston goat situation and it got me into the mood to do some writing.
So, lets see what has happened in the last two months. First, we have all been recovering psychologically from the death of Will in late July. That takes a while. We all still miss him and family activities are not the same without him. But we go on.
Maybe I mentioned it earlier (I don’t remember and wont look it up) but one good byproduct of the broken ribs was that they found that I have an aneurysm on my abdominal aorta. So September was spent going to various doctors about it. Apparently it was growing fast enough that action needed to be taken soon. So visits to the vascular doctor and the heart doctor were made. So was another cat scan. (No, I do not glow yet from all the X-rays). So, after all this the surgery to put a stent in my chest by means of an endoscopy was done on October 6. I was in the hospital only two days, but the incisions made it necessary to take it easy in terms of lifting things. Walking was encouraged. There have been followup visits and there will be another catscan next Tuesday. I have become a bit of a nuisance in the family after all the and Will about the need for looking for these aneurysms. Apparently my paternal line has a history of broken blood vessels. My father’s father died on a canoe outing from a heart attack - or was it - medicine in the 1910's was not into autopsies and things so we dont know. My father was found dead on the floor of a shower - so we don’t know if it was heart, stroke or what. So, I am encouraging everyone to think about having the ultrasound test for aneurysms. Enough.
The rib situation is that that is all over - I am fine. But the auto accident is not all over. The two insurance companies agreed that it was the other guys fault and his insurance company payed back mine everything including my deductible. Now he has gone to some lawyers and I am being sued for pain and suffering. The insurance company is handling it and it will go on for some time. They are just firing memos back and forth at this point.
But the best news at this point is that as I write is that our basement is getting cleaned from the flooding that accompanied Irene. Unfortunately, because it was flooding, the insurance company is not paying for it. There are three guys down there sweeping, washing and so forth. It will be great to get this over with, and then we can put things that have been stored in the Big Room back down where they belong. But there are still things that have to be thrown out that will be up to us.
But now we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and make some plans. Ann has been looking at catalogs for quite a while. She gets up to 10 of them a day. And she has earned a free turkey from Shoprite. I have still to get into the mood for all of this. And I have to get into the mood to write a Christmas letter. But I will.
So that about covers things around here. Sorry that I cannot write as humourously as Kelly does - see her blog on ‘ Red House Nine’. But I do what I can! Till later.
So, lets see what has happened in the last two months. First, we have all been recovering psychologically from the death of Will in late July. That takes a while. We all still miss him and family activities are not the same without him. But we go on.
Maybe I mentioned it earlier (I don’t remember and wont look it up) but one good byproduct of the broken ribs was that they found that I have an aneurysm on my abdominal aorta. So September was spent going to various doctors about it. Apparently it was growing fast enough that action needed to be taken soon. So visits to the vascular doctor and the heart doctor were made. So was another cat scan. (No, I do not glow yet from all the X-rays). So, after all this the surgery to put a stent in my chest by means of an endoscopy was done on October 6. I was in the hospital only two days, but the incisions made it necessary to take it easy in terms of lifting things. Walking was encouraged. There have been followup visits and there will be another catscan next Tuesday. I have become a bit of a nuisance in the family after all the and Will about the need for looking for these aneurysms. Apparently my paternal line has a history of broken blood vessels. My father’s father died on a canoe outing from a heart attack - or was it - medicine in the 1910's was not into autopsies and things so we dont know. My father was found dead on the floor of a shower - so we don’t know if it was heart, stroke or what. So, I am encouraging everyone to think about having the ultrasound test for aneurysms. Enough.
The rib situation is that that is all over - I am fine. But the auto accident is not all over. The two insurance companies agreed that it was the other guys fault and his insurance company payed back mine everything including my deductible. Now he has gone to some lawyers and I am being sued for pain and suffering. The insurance company is handling it and it will go on for some time. They are just firing memos back and forth at this point.
But the best news at this point is that as I write is that our basement is getting cleaned from the flooding that accompanied Irene. Unfortunately, because it was flooding, the insurance company is not paying for it. There are three guys down there sweeping, washing and so forth. It will be great to get this over with, and then we can put things that have been stored in the Big Room back down where they belong. But there are still things that have to be thrown out that will be up to us.
But now we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and make some plans. Ann has been looking at catalogs for quite a while. She gets up to 10 of them a day. And she has earned a free turkey from Shoprite. I have still to get into the mood for all of this. And I have to get into the mood to write a Christmas letter. But I will.
So that about covers things around here. Sorry that I cannot write as humourously as Kelly does - see her blog on ‘ Red House Nine’. But I do what I can! Till later.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
More of the days for the dog.
Well, it has been too long since I last related the things that make fun in Woodstock possible. Have you ever noticed that the things that get noticed are usually not that much fun?
First, to rib you all a little: my ribs are about back to normal. Just a little twinge now and then and a little tightness. I am ready to forget about the situation but I cant quite. Now the bills for doctors and the hospital have been coming in and need to be paid. Did three bills today for the hospital out in Sacramento, and the addresses for payment were in Boston, Cincinnati, and Pasadena. Go figure.
We are enjoying the new bed. It is higher and smoother and very comfortable. We should have done this a while back. But it is great, if not fun, to have a comfortable bed to sleep in. And Daisy loves it.
But we need to talk about Irene. She was the exact opposite of fun. The power went out on Sunday morning about 7:30 AM, and did not return until Saturday afternoon about 2:25 PM. We had lots of fun cooking on the grill for every meal. But that worked and was the least of the problems. A flooded basement was about 2 feet in water and the machines were upset. Ed borrowed a 1200 watt generator and we used it to run the sump pump to try to lower the water level. We succeeded a fair amount and then about Wednesday afternoon the fire department showed up to pump more out. Down to about four inches, Then our pump took over and it is now down to about ½ inch of dirty yellow water. But trials of the refrigerator, hot water heater, furnace, dryer, and washing machine all showed that they were willing to provide more fun - they all worked. The freezer is still on its side so we cannot tell about it.
Outside was a little different: tree branches and trees down. We had a service in to do the clean up. We lost a complete pussy willow tree and a lot of parts of a sassafras tree - I always thought it was an elm - now I know. But the fun remains about cutting the grass - it is now five weeks grown. It was all bad enough, but we had fun compared to a lot of folks around who lost whole houses. What do you think about folks whose furniture is piled up on the lawn waiting to be taken to the dump? Or trees by the ton on the side of the road. We had fun in comparison.
Enough for now. Until next time - go out and have some fun in honor of all those who are not.
First, to rib you all a little: my ribs are about back to normal. Just a little twinge now and then and a little tightness. I am ready to forget about the situation but I cant quite. Now the bills for doctors and the hospital have been coming in and need to be paid. Did three bills today for the hospital out in Sacramento, and the addresses for payment were in Boston, Cincinnati, and Pasadena. Go figure.
We are enjoying the new bed. It is higher and smoother and very comfortable. We should have done this a while back. But it is great, if not fun, to have a comfortable bed to sleep in. And Daisy loves it.
But we need to talk about Irene. She was the exact opposite of fun. The power went out on Sunday morning about 7:30 AM, and did not return until Saturday afternoon about 2:25 PM. We had lots of fun cooking on the grill for every meal. But that worked and was the least of the problems. A flooded basement was about 2 feet in water and the machines were upset. Ed borrowed a 1200 watt generator and we used it to run the sump pump to try to lower the water level. We succeeded a fair amount and then about Wednesday afternoon the fire department showed up to pump more out. Down to about four inches, Then our pump took over and it is now down to about ½ inch of dirty yellow water. But trials of the refrigerator, hot water heater, furnace, dryer, and washing machine all showed that they were willing to provide more fun - they all worked. The freezer is still on its side so we cannot tell about it.
Outside was a little different: tree branches and trees down. We had a service in to do the clean up. We lost a complete pussy willow tree and a lot of parts of a sassafras tree - I always thought it was an elm - now I know. But the fun remains about cutting the grass - it is now five weeks grown. It was all bad enough, but we had fun compared to a lot of folks around who lost whole houses. What do you think about folks whose furniture is piled up on the lawn waiting to be taken to the dump? Or trees by the ton on the side of the road. We had fun in comparison.
Enough for now. Until next time - go out and have some fun in honor of all those who are not.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Doings on the dog days of summer
Well, August is turning into an interesting month. Of course there is the necessary follow up on the rib situation. It seems almost well, just another week or two of minor discomfort.
Back on the car accident situation. Received a check the other day from the insurance company with the deductible of $500. Seems as if they recovered all of it from the other insurance company and passed that on to me. Of course there is still the implications for car insurance when renewal time comes. So I got a total of about 2800 for the old car, but the new one cost about 10 times that.
A week ago Thursday Ann and I went and did something we have talked about since last year. We went to Lowe’s and bought a new toilet for the downstairs bathroom. The new one is white (old one blue green); higher by about 3 or 4 inches; 1.6 gallon flush (instead of about 2 - 3 gallons); and a mechanism that does not leak. So far, it has been great.
And then today we went out and did something else we have talked about for quite a while. We bought a new box spring, mattress, and frame for our bedroom. It comes tomorrow. The old one is about 40 yeas old and has been showing its age: a spring pushing thru, grooves, low spots, etc. We are both looking forward to trying it out tomorrow night.
Next Ann wants to look at changing the color of the counter top in the bathroom from its current blue to white. More on this project when it occurs. There is a light fixture that needs looking at. The gardens need weeding. Oh well, it never ends. But do you ever really want everything to be all right and nothing to think about?
Back on the car accident situation. Received a check the other day from the insurance company with the deductible of $500. Seems as if they recovered all of it from the other insurance company and passed that on to me. Of course there is still the implications for car insurance when renewal time comes. So I got a total of about 2800 for the old car, but the new one cost about 10 times that.
A week ago Thursday Ann and I went and did something we have talked about since last year. We went to Lowe’s and bought a new toilet for the downstairs bathroom. The new one is white (old one blue green); higher by about 3 or 4 inches; 1.6 gallon flush (instead of about 2 - 3 gallons); and a mechanism that does not leak. So far, it has been great.
And then today we went out and did something else we have talked about for quite a while. We bought a new box spring, mattress, and frame for our bedroom. It comes tomorrow. The old one is about 40 yeas old and has been showing its age: a spring pushing thru, grooves, low spots, etc. We are both looking forward to trying it out tomorrow night.
Next Ann wants to look at changing the color of the counter top in the bathroom from its current blue to white. More on this project when it occurs. There is a light fixture that needs looking at. The gardens need weeding. Oh well, it never ends. But do you ever really want everything to be all right and nothing to think about?
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The July from Heck
Time to let you followers of “Fun in Woodstock” know what is going on. My energy level tonight is low so this may be shorter than it should be. It will also be in chronological order rather than importance.
To finish the car saga, we ended up buying a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan in deep blue. We all seem to like it and it rides well. No picture - I am without a camera at the present time.
July 3 Ann and I left Daisy with Will while we took a plane to Sacramento, CA to participate in an NMRA National Convention. We were enjoying it but on Wednesday the 6th I tripped and fell. Ended up with six broken ribs and stayed in a hospital in Sacramento for 7 days. My sister lives about 80 miles away so she took us in for two nights and then put us on a plane to home. Things are much better now but the ribs still need some healing.
But the most important thing was still to happen. On the 21st we got an early call that our oldest son, Will, had been taken to the hospital in Albany. He died there on the 22nd from an aneurysm that broke in his head. He had no chance of recovery. Ed and Kelly, Marilyn and Tyler, and Mandy and Diana joined us in the vigil and the other activities. It was a powerful sad time for everyone. He was buried on Tuesday. The turnout for him from the community was fantastic. I never realized what a large and positive impact he had on so many people. For more on this, please see Kelly’s blog from August 2.
We are recovering from all this but it will take time. And that is all the energy I have for this evening. May you all have better days than we did in this July from Heck.
Bill
To finish the car saga, we ended up buying a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan in deep blue. We all seem to like it and it rides well. No picture - I am without a camera at the present time.
July 3 Ann and I left Daisy with Will while we took a plane to Sacramento, CA to participate in an NMRA National Convention. We were enjoying it but on Wednesday the 6th I tripped and fell. Ended up with six broken ribs and stayed in a hospital in Sacramento for 7 days. My sister lives about 80 miles away so she took us in for two nights and then put us on a plane to home. Things are much better now but the ribs still need some healing.
But the most important thing was still to happen. On the 21st we got an early call that our oldest son, Will, had been taken to the hospital in Albany. He died there on the 22nd from an aneurysm that broke in his head. He had no chance of recovery. Ed and Kelly, Marilyn and Tyler, and Mandy and Diana joined us in the vigil and the other activities. It was a powerful sad time for everyone. He was buried on Tuesday. The turnout for him from the community was fantastic. I never realized what a large and positive impact he had on so many people. For more on this, please see Kelly’s blog from August 2.
We are recovering from all this but it will take time. And that is all the energy I have for this evening. May you all have better days than we did in this July from Heck.
Bill
Friday, June 24, 2011
Another Car Blog!
Time for the last of the blogging about car accidents and cars in general.
The next day after the last blog, Ann and I went to a Chevy dealer near here to look at minivans, and found that what they had was mostly Town and Countries. And one Uplander which was the Chevy mini. Nothing new either. I was really not about T&Cs; did not want the extra features and extra complexity. (I have been annoyed about the power sliding door on the Venture - it mostly did not work, and would not operate manually. Also the power locks broke and would not unlock from the door switches. Give me the simpler manual thing!) We did not even take one out for a drive. So that was strike two.
Other things to do so did not get out looking until the following Tuesday. After a routine physical ( I am going to live) and giving blood for testing, I stopped at the Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily) dealer near here. Frustration! Ford made its last minivan in 2007 - the Windstar. He had no new or old Windstars. Strike three. But this is not baseball, and you get as many strikes as you need.
So, Ann and I went back to Saugerties to look and new and old Grand Caravans. We saw nice used ones in red and white. And a nice new blue one. I ended up springing for the new blue one after a lot of soul searching. It is about one model up from the bottom. No power doors. No power seats. Or real fancy radio and electronics. Power locks and windows (hmmm...ugh?). Standard ‘Stow and Go’ seats which fold down into the floor (no need to cart them out of the car). It looks like all of the train stuff will fit into it ok.
So the next day we picked it up and drove it home. It still has less than 100 miles on it and I am still getting used to it. Then we drove the rental car down to the rental place and turned it in. All that is left are some minor things like the additional insurance premium, getting the permanent registration and updating a few places that want to know about the details of the car.
Now what am I going to have to blog about? You will just have to wait and see. Until then, have a good summer!
The next day after the last blog, Ann and I went to a Chevy dealer near here to look at minivans, and found that what they had was mostly Town and Countries. And one Uplander which was the Chevy mini. Nothing new either. I was really not about T&Cs; did not want the extra features and extra complexity. (I have been annoyed about the power sliding door on the Venture - it mostly did not work, and would not operate manually. Also the power locks broke and would not unlock from the door switches. Give me the simpler manual thing!) We did not even take one out for a drive. So that was strike two.
Other things to do so did not get out looking until the following Tuesday. After a routine physical ( I am going to live) and giving blood for testing, I stopped at the Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily) dealer near here. Frustration! Ford made its last minivan in 2007 - the Windstar. He had no new or old Windstars. Strike three. But this is not baseball, and you get as many strikes as you need.
So, Ann and I went back to Saugerties to look and new and old Grand Caravans. We saw nice used ones in red and white. And a nice new blue one. I ended up springing for the new blue one after a lot of soul searching. It is about one model up from the bottom. No power doors. No power seats. Or real fancy radio and electronics. Power locks and windows (hmmm...ugh?). Standard ‘Stow and Go’ seats which fold down into the floor (no need to cart them out of the car). It looks like all of the train stuff will fit into it ok.
So the next day we picked it up and drove it home. It still has less than 100 miles on it and I am still getting used to it. Then we drove the rental car down to the rental place and turned it in. All that is left are some minor things like the additional insurance premium, getting the permanent registration and updating a few places that want to know about the details of the car.
Now what am I going to have to blog about? You will just have to wait and see. Until then, have a good summer!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)