Last few weekends in OH
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/LakeErieAndFourthOfJuly?authkey=m1AHf1yKASo
My side of the road trip
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/TheConrowSistersHitTheRoad?authkey=ZoZ_Omc2nho
Photos of WI anacdotes coming soon
http://picasaweb.google.com/talknmore/ExploringWi?authkey=ZBNnSJMR1IU
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Farewell dinner in Mansfield
I have never been so appalled, yes I am prone to taking a writer's license and stretching the truth for humorous effect, but truly I have never been so appalled. I remember being the only white person in a Nigerian restaurant, the way the patrons all stared and whispered, I thought then I knew what it was to be a minority, but to truly be a minority is to be ignored by one your own demographic as they focus on the person they perceive deserving of more respect.
May I take a moment to remind you the year is 2008, Gloria Stienham is in her dotage, resting on her laurels, Debroah Tannen has moved on to other sociological battlefields assuming this one conquered. However, at dinner tonight in the very nicest Mansfield establishment we ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress had no idea when asked to recommend, the manager had a bit of insight making excuses about a new wine list (8 types of Robert Mondovi...draw your own conclusions) 1/2 priced bottle night , we decided to go with his recommendation , the Arnold Palmer, no not lemonade and iced tea, he makes wine now or at least he lends his name. The waitress came back 10 mins later (the wine must have been in the sub-sub-sub basement) with a plastic corkscrew. She battled with the bottle, no time for the wine to breathe, no eye contact, no explanation, she poured a taste for the solitary male at the table. We had all been discussing the wine list with the manager, but if we thought we were getting a taste we were sorely mistaken. I sat patiently looking in her direction waiting to be acknowledged with my taste. Her gaze never left his face and so he caved and sipped. As soon as his Adams apple bobbed in a swallow she was pouring glasses all around. Ignoring the tastes buds of her gender soundly profoundly shut down. Chivalrously timid the male attempted to direct her to the female expert but the wine had already splashed, she was off and running no care for our response.
It wasn't bad in fact pretty good so Arnold knows how to pick 'um. The manager afraid I assume our palates would not agree and we would send the bottle back, has not been near the table...smart man! Can he sense my wrath???
May I take a moment to remind you the year is 2008, Gloria Stienham is in her dotage, resting on her laurels, Debroah Tannen has moved on to other sociological battlefields assuming this one conquered. However, at dinner tonight in the very nicest Mansfield establishment we ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress had no idea when asked to recommend, the manager had a bit of insight making excuses about a new wine list (8 types of Robert Mondovi...draw your own conclusions) 1/2 priced bottle night , we decided to go with his recommendation , the Arnold Palmer, no not lemonade and iced tea, he makes wine now or at least he lends his name. The waitress came back 10 mins later (the wine must have been in the sub-sub-sub basement) with a plastic corkscrew. She battled with the bottle, no time for the wine to breathe, no eye contact, no explanation, she poured a taste for the solitary male at the table. We had all been discussing the wine list with the manager, but if we thought we were getting a taste we were sorely mistaken. I sat patiently looking in her direction waiting to be acknowledged with my taste. Her gaze never left his face and so he caved and sipped. As soon as his Adams apple bobbed in a swallow she was pouring glasses all around. Ignoring the tastes buds of her gender soundly profoundly shut down. Chivalrously timid the male attempted to direct her to the female expert but the wine had already splashed, she was off and running no care for our response.
It wasn't bad in fact pretty good so Arnold knows how to pick 'um. The manager afraid I assume our palates would not agree and we would send the bottle back, has not been near the table...smart man! Can he sense my wrath???
A quick update...
Gramps has finally made it down to the Santa Barbara Rehabilitation Center. (I won't exert the negative energy ...insert diatribe about faulty HMO controlled American health care system and the fact every other industrialized nation has figured out how to do this better and in a much more cost effective way...enough said) He arrived on Thursday and the reception was a night and day improvement from the experience at French hospital. They even have tri-tip on the menu; of course for now Gramp's will be pureed. Today was a tougher day for him, it seems he might be fighting a little infection so he is feeling pretty crummy. Mom is there with him advocating and organizing his treatment. Please continue to pray for both of them, this is a physical and emotional challenge, however any of you who have hiked with Gramps know what he does when the trail gets challenging. For those of you who haven't been so lucky, he lengthens his stride, his head drops and he leaves you in the dust. On the off chance he hears you panting behind him his response is "sorry sweetie I just have to stretch out my legs". I have labeled this final push to the finish the "mountain goat". I have no doubt Gramps will attack his therapies with the "mountain goat" approach that has taken him to the top of Mt. Whitney 10 times and kept him going up Valencia peak every weekend for over 400 hikes.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Speaking of Gramps
Interestingly enough my last post was about my family. Late the night of the fourth I found out Gramps was in the hospital, he had a stroke. I'm sure I will write more about all of this later, but for now, he is recovering at French hospital and will be transferred to Cottage for rehab tomorrow or the next day. This is a huge adjustment for him and it is very discouraging to think about giving up the things in life (such as hiking) that he enjoys so much. He would appreciate any bit of encouragement those of you who know him (or not ...he's never met a stranger) would like to send. James Willmott c/o Rehabilitation Institute 2415 De la Vina, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-3819 I am very optimistic about his recovery if he can get some intensive therapy. He is one of the strongest people I know and he is raring to go.
It has been so frustrating not to be there with him. His swallowing has been compromised but the therapy services at French are very limited and the nurses have no idea about the importance of oral care in preventing pneumonia. I am trying to give Mom information but really she should not have to be begging for extra pillows to position him in bed. He is left alone to eat and has to beg to be moved to a chair. If it had been up to his HMO he would be moved to a local nursing home where he would languish further! How is a family without someone who knows the system from the inside out supposed to deal with this, how are they even supposed to know what to ask for. I am certain I was lead to Ohio so that I would have the experience to know what to do now.
We appreciate all of the prayers! In addition to prayers for healing, we are praying God continue to bring the right people to help Gramps. Despite all the frustration, Gramps has met a Chaplin who also served as a Navy Sea Bee, a rehab nurse who happend to be a traveler at French, and others I'm not even aware of. It takes an extra dose of faith to remember God is not constrained by shoddy health care systems and poor staffing ratios, He has opened the door to a rehab facility and I am certain He will continue to orchestrate every aspect of Gramps recovery.
It has been so frustrating not to be there with him. His swallowing has been compromised but the therapy services at French are very limited and the nurses have no idea about the importance of oral care in preventing pneumonia. I am trying to give Mom information but really she should not have to be begging for extra pillows to position him in bed. He is left alone to eat and has to beg to be moved to a chair. If it had been up to his HMO he would be moved to a local nursing home where he would languish further! How is a family without someone who knows the system from the inside out supposed to deal with this, how are they even supposed to know what to ask for. I am certain I was lead to Ohio so that I would have the experience to know what to do now.
We appreciate all of the prayers! In addition to prayers for healing, we are praying God continue to bring the right people to help Gramps. Despite all the frustration, Gramps has met a Chaplin who also served as a Navy Sea Bee, a rehab nurse who happend to be a traveler at French, and others I'm not even aware of. It takes an extra dose of faith to remember God is not constrained by shoddy health care systems and poor staffing ratios, He has opened the door to a rehab facility and I am certain He will continue to orchestrate every aspect of Gramps recovery.
Friday, July 4, 2008
From Celtic dacers to concert band...Pop goes the fourth!
Happy Independence Day!!! I am sitting on my couch air conditioner running with the Boston fireworks special on the TV. A year ago, Mom, Grandpa and I were standing in the rain wedg
ed in with the thousand of other Boston tourists to see the display in person. Okay so pictures of fireworks never turn out . The second picture is of the subway (the T) after the fireworks were over. We decided to walk a bit further and realized we were in the neighborhood of the so 
far elusive Verizon building. Gramps had read on the Verizon website the lobby had a telephone museum and mural explaining the history of the company. Gramps worked many years for GTE (now Verizon) so he was intent on seeing the building while we were in town. 
Note the clock in the picture...after a full day on the freedom trail, fireworks, rain, humidity we end 7/4/07 chatting with a security guard in the Verizon building from Cape Verde. Between Verizon and Wonderland station I managed to loose my cell phone!
This year was an entirely different story. My life is in transition again (I started traveling on July 9 2007) I spent a good portion of the day sorting and packing clothes, I went for a long walk and discovered the horse flies have hatched (like your common house fly but HUGE, yuck!!) maybe it was the humidity.
Yesterday after work I got a haircut (pic to follow) and then Last night I went to a concert up in Ashland, a group called Celtic Spring, you may have seen if you watched the first season of the NBC show America's Got Talent (can't say that I did but cool none the less) Think a family of six doing Riverdance. They were very talented and the band shell at the park was beautiful. It was raining off and on all day so I wasn't sure how long I would be staying but the weather held, the temperature actually dropped down to around 60 degrees... down right chilly for this time of year.
Tonight, well it reminded me more of high school concert band...I think we may have played the very same arrangement of the Beauty and the Beast medley. I
thought the Kingwood Center would be beautiful venue for a concert and it was with the exception of the screeching peacocks. Sure the peacock could have been commenting on the local vocal accompaniment, but the yelping was just as much of a distraction as the very corny MC. The predominantly 60+ audience ate up every joke this "nice young man" attempted to crack. Later I will post a photo of the latecomers (by two minutes) seat I had for the show. My view was limited to three clarinet players and trombonist who was using his head as a metronome. I've decided small towns yield great stories, even just watching the local news...which right now is highlighting a whiffle ball tourney.
I've decided to spend my last free Sat in Ohio (yes next Sat. will be devoted to packing up the Sentra...Laura) to exploring lake Erie and its islands. I want to get an early start so I better wrap this up. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, especially the AG family who was celebrating Mom's birthday (I am missing you and the Conrow birthday party routine).
ed in with the thousand of other Boston tourists to see the display in person. Okay so pictures of fireworks never turn out . The second picture is of the subway (the T) after the fireworks were over. We decided to walk a bit further and realized we were in the neighborhood of the so 
far elusive Verizon building. Gramps had read on the Verizon website the lobby had a telephone museum and mural explaining the history of the company. Gramps worked many years for GTE (now Verizon) so he was intent on seeing the building while we were in town. 
Note the clock in the picture...after a full day on the freedom trail, fireworks, rain, humidity we end 7/4/07 chatting with a security guard in the Verizon building from Cape Verde. Between Verizon and Wonderland station I managed to loose my cell phone!This year was an entirely different story. My life is in transition again (I started traveling on July 9 2007) I spent a good portion of the day sorting and packing clothes, I went for a long walk and discovered the horse flies have hatched (like your common house fly but HUGE, yuck!!) maybe it was the humidity.
Yesterday after work I got a haircut (pic to follow) and then Last night I went to a concert up in Ashland, a group called Celtic Spring, you may have seen if you watched the first season of the NBC show America's Got Talent (can't say that I did but cool none the less) Think a family of six doing Riverdance. They were very talented and the band shell at the park was beautiful. It was raining off and on all day so I wasn't sure how long I would be staying but the weather held, the temperature actually dropped down to around 60 degrees... down right chilly for this time of year.
Tonight, well it reminded me more of high school concert band...I think we may have played the very same arrangement of the Beauty and the Beast medley. I
thought the Kingwood Center would be beautiful venue for a concert and it was with the exception of the screeching peacocks. Sure the peacock could have been commenting on the local vocal accompaniment, but the yelping was just as much of a distraction as the very corny MC. The predominantly 60+ audience ate up every joke this "nice young man" attempted to crack. Later I will post a photo of the latecomers (by two minutes) seat I had for the show. My view was limited to three clarinet players and trombonist who was using his head as a metronome. I've decided small towns yield great stories, even just watching the local news...which right now is highlighting a whiffle ball tourney.I've decided to spend my last free Sat in Ohio (yes next Sat. will be devoted to packing up the Sentra...Laura) to exploring lake Erie and its islands. I want to get an early start so I better wrap this up. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday, especially the AG family who was celebrating Mom's birthday (I am missing you and the Conrow birthday party routine).
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