Michelles Blog

Finally after a couple hours I found Grand-daughter Michelles new Blog site for thier new business. If interested, it is (http://backyardoriginals.blogspots.com ). The doors are great and well worth buying, if you need one.
Shell works at school and said she got bit breaking up a fight today in school. It bled and I advised her to see a Doctor soon, as she might need a shot. They are very busy with this new business, with thinga at two sites. The WindMill in PenYann & a store in Horseheads. I wish them lots of luck on thier venture.
Doing little today. At this age I take a nap if home in the afternoon. Did get out to the store for a few minutes after lunch. Talked to Brother David on the phone & he is busy working on his little house out by Aurora. His wife Katie flies in tomorrow to be with him for a couple weeks. Lots of work for him out there as the inside was in bad shape. Drove up from home in florida with his two dogs. Not sure how long he will stay this time.

Evie Ann

Ev got word today that they will cement her spine on June 3rd. Hopefully this will relieve some of the pain-
Just goofing off the past couple days. tried to touch up scratches on car. Guess they gave me the wrong paint, as it looks like H---. Oh well the car runs good and gets us where we need be. Did go out last night to Tom Thumb ice cream place for a cone.
Oh boy dinner is ready-

How many places

Trying to remember all the places I have lived-?
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1-Prospect St-Interlaken
2-Railroad Ave
3-Seneca St.
4-Railroad Ave ( Dad's new home )
5-US Navy ( three ships & Phillipine Islands )
6-West Ave
7-Seneca St. again-
8-Port Dickinson-Binghamton
9-Schubert St.-Binghamton
10-Main St.-Naples, NY
11-Dartmouth St.-Rochester
12-West Ave.-Interlaken again
13-Knight St.
14-Main St.-( west side )
15-Main St.-( east side )
16-Main St.-Lodi
17-Main St. ( east side again )
18-Cayuga St.-Interlaken
19-Wycoff Rd.-Interlaken
20-Main St.- Ovid,NY
21-Broadwood Manor-Horseheads,NY
22-Tudor Village-Seneca Falls,NY
23-Water St.-Waterloo,NY
24-Tudor Village again
25-Seneca Manor-Seneca Falls,NY
26-Standart Woods-Auburn,NY
( Might have missed some-?? )-anyway thats a lot of moving around-

Car & Gas

Car finally passed inspection today-Was getting worried as only a few more days before June 1st-So I am thankful for this being solved-
As I said yesterday gas was above $4.00 all over Rochester-Today filled up here for $3.89- I think gas was about 20 cents a gallon when I first started drivin in 1942-But only could make about a dollar a day at most ordinary jobs, so guess if you compare it's not so bad- Only thing is people didn't travel so much, or so far as today-In fact the last two weeks I have spent over $30 to go back and forth to get car inspection passed & $30 a trip to Rochester & back each time-
Oh well hope it doesn't go much higher, or will have to stay home-

tough couple days

Had a hard time getting on my blog site tonight ? -Tough couple of days, with a trip to rochester & back both days-
Ev had to see one Doctor there yesterday & a different one today-Also had to deliver MRI films to Strong Hospital to another Doctor who will try to cement her spine fractures-Probably do that soon-
It takes us about three & a half hours driving time up and back, so very tiring for an old guy like me-
I do know without a doubt that the if not for a couple of the Doctors up at Strong she would not be here today-
Now we wait out to here from the new Doctor she has at Strong when he will do her spine- They also put her on another script today to try to counteract some of the bone damage the breathing steroids are doing-It is all kind of a no win situation-
Tomorrow I must go see if I can finally get the old car to pass inspection- Must get it before next weekend, or no more driving it-Gas all over the area today finally hit $4.00-

monday night

Another frustrating day. Went to the garage in Waterloo & car will still not pass inspection. They said to drive it for rest of the week & then they would check again. Have two weeks to go, so if it doesn't pass will have to park it, I guess.
On the way out of Seneca Falls I checked with our old place we lived to see if they had any ground floor apartments. Evelyn just can't take the seven steps here anymore. More expensive there, so don't know what to think about it.
After seeing surgeon in Rochester on wenesday, hopefully we will be in a better position to look ahead. Hate to see it get to the point where Ev can't get out.
Very cold here tonight for this time of year. Brother David got in with his two dogs from Florida to his summer home in Aurora. Lots of problems for him there to take care of. I think his wife comes up in a few weeks.
Talked to Morgan at her parents tonight. Her and her boyfriend came up to stay a couple days. I picked on her about getting married & probably should not have.
Okay Good Night to All

Sunday night

Rained here today-Choen & Tim here for dinner, Choen's birthday-had a good visit-His Mother died this week, so good for him he said to get away from things in Binghamton.
Hope to get car to pass inspection tomorrow. Having a bad time with it & very frustrating, as it seems to run perfect.
Ev's nephew here last night for dinner & a visit. He leaves for Spain on thursday to work in a hotel there for the summer. This is part of his college work & gets credits for it. Says he wants to move to Spain when he graduates.
Very busy weekend and am wiped out about now.

School Board

An afternoon in 1956 two Mother's from up the street came down to talk with me. They asked if I would consider running for the local school board. I thought it over & talked it over for a few days & decided to go for it.
I ran for a three year term & won by several votes. I served on that board for a total of 9 years.
The last ofthose years I was elected President of the Board.
At that time the State Education Dept. contacted us and wanted to know if we would consider merging into one district with Ovid & Romulus. I set up a meeting, which I chaired between the three School Boards to discuss that. After a couple hours of pros & cons the Romulus board walked out. At that point I thought this might not be a good idea, as it wouldn't be big enough to be of much benefit to the children. Also afraid of what it might do to the Villages.
We were then pressured by the State to set up a public vote & did so. The issue passed by 4 votes. A few of us who had second thoughts found that 12 people voted that were not eligible. We took this, with a lawyer we had hired to the State Supreme court & also to a hearing before the Commisioner of Education in Albany. In both cases we lost our appeal & we were ticked as only our lawyer could speak at the hearings.
In 1968 the Merger became a fact & I ran for that Board & won a three year term. The two schools were allowed to hold seperate graduations that year & I had the privledge of presenting my daughter Jan her diploma. She was also Valedictorian of her class & gave a very nice speech to her class.
The first order of business was to pick a name and after much discussion we picked South Seneca, which it is today. All of this was quite an experience & I learned a lot from it. I still feel Interlaken was hurt bad by the Merger & went down hill after losing the High School to Ovid.
One memory of the old Interlaken School Board was a year I was appointed to negotiate with the teachers a contract. The negotiater for the teachers was the teacher who had kick me off the basketball team in High school when he caught me smoking. All in all it came out good and they said one of the best contracts ever for both sides.
Guess thats enough for now on this subject-

today

Finally got Evelyn out for a couple hours today. She is paying for it tonight. We went to lunch at Doug's Fish Fry in Skeanatules ( spelling ? ). Then a couple places where she managed to get around with her cane only. I finally got her script from Doctors which we have tried for all week. Had to get a new type of drug.
Got thru to Car dealer today about getting car passed for inspection. They had to get a part before it could pass & they haven't made that car since 2003. Kinda expensive they say to fix, but the good old tax rebate will pay for that I hope.
Next week we go to Rochester to Spine Surgeon. No surgeon in Syracuse will touch her & not sure from what the one in Rochester said before, if he will do anything. All are afraid because of all her background history.
Forgot one thing in my Navy story the other day.& I'm sure a lot more that comes to me as I think about it. When I was to get my ship in SanFrancisco I decided to call home that morning & had to be at the designated pier at noon. I was a long time on the phone & realized I would miss my ship & be in deep Do-Do. I paid a taxi driver $20 to get me there on time and what a ride we took over the bridge & to the pier with minutes to spare. $20 was a lot then as we were only paid $27 per month, but I still had three dollars left. They were just getting ready to raise the gangway.

Mother's day

Happy Mother's day to all the Mothers out there. Got to tell this, as it always comes back to me on Mother's Day-
When my Mother was in the Nursing home and very bad, I got a call from the home one morning, after her being there five years. They said they didn't believe she would make it thru that day. I went right down there and spent the day with her. I held her hand a lot and watch her slowly slip away. I was with her as she died and even though very sad, it was wonderful to be there & say I loved her as she went away. Probably one of the greatest gift I ever got from a wonderful Mother whom I loved so much.
I prayed a lot that day & talked to her, even though I'm not sure she could hear me. In some ways, although she could not talk & had her eyes closed I feel she did hear me. I thank God for this gift of letting me be with her.

busy day

Off in a bit to get work done on our good old 6 year old car. They tell me it needs quite a bit before it will pass inspection this month, so kinda dreading whats ahead today. Have put so much into it this past year, so can't give up on it.
Had to put a new lock on our door yesterday, as it wouldn't stay locked good. They brought one over, but I put it on as I like to keep busy when I can. Harder to do things like that with my shaking, but want to as long as I can. That was our excitement for yesterday.
Some of Ev's kids coming for Mother's day & I will make some kind of dessert. Don't see to much of them, so it will be a treat for Evelyn.
Okay nothing exciting going on, still waiting for some news from Doctor. Talked with brother David & he will be up here about Memorial day to work on his summer home.

Navy Days

Jan & Sandi said, now that my Navy picture is on the Blog site, I should write about those days. I will attempt this, but try not to make it to long, as there are many things I could write that would matter little.
I was a senior in High School & was in the lead part in two plays put on by the High School music teacher. This changed my life, and her and I got involved & serious about each other. She being 23 & me 16. This became more & more of a problem as time went on.
That summer her older brother was killed in WW-2. When I became 17 that fall, I decide I must join the Navy & help the cause. That also would calm down the problems of our relationship. Later after leaving the Navy in 1946 we were married. She was still teaching, so I was just working part time, I and a buddy decided to go to Ithaca High School and finish school. This we did and then both went to a so called War College in Binghamton. I took Electrical engineering while there.
After joining the Navy I was sent to Sampson Navy base for basic training & 12 weeks of electrical school. The basic training was tough but a good thing for me at that time & made a better person of me.
After leaving Sampson & a weeks leave I was sent by train to Treasure Island, a Navy base near San Francisco. this was to wait to be assigned to a ship.
The war with Japan was going strong & we were to be sent to the Phillipine Islands to take part in the re-taking of it from the Japanese & then on to the invasion of Japan itself. While on the way we had engine trouble and had to spend a time in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor for repairs. This was a good experience and saw a lot of Hawaii.
I remember going out of San Francisco bay, under the Golden Gate bridge & past Alcatraz island & pretty scared as a 17 year old kid.
When we finally got to our destination off the Phillipines, I was transfered to a smaller repair ship. While on that ship I repaired motors and generators of ships that had been damaged in battle. We mainly saw some, but very little action & just some submarine attempts to knock us out. Another problem was floating mines all over the Pacific, put there by the Japanese.
During this time the US dropped two Atomic Bombs on Japan & they before long surrendered.
This saved us invading Japan and an estimated loss of half million Americans, we were told, Japan was tough & did not give up easily. As we heard the news on the ships intercom we had no idea what an Atomic Bomb was & what it could do.
After the War was over I was assingned to some shore duty on the island of Samar & Manicani. There were still a lot of Japs in the jungle who refused to give up. While there I became friendly whith a family and had several visits with them in thier large thatched hut. Ate with them several times, a meal of raw fish & rice, sitting on the floor on at a rough wooden table. Found out you could eat raw fish if it came from salt water. They even ate the eyes ( yuk ). They had a daughter who taught and could speak English well, so learned a lot of thier customs and culture.
While there I ran into three old school buddies from our little town of 750 souls.
After a while I was transfered to a Floating Dry Dock ( ABSD-1 ) which was the first of its kind in the world & very large. I helped in dismantiling it to be towed home in ten seperate sections. While on the Dry Dock I became good friends with a guy my age, whom I still keep in contact today.
I was next transferred to a smaller repair ship USS Proserpine which would take us home. Before leaving the area we dumped all our electrical & mechanical supplies in the ocean. We were told this was so it wouldn't effect the US economy by being brought back to the States??
Don't remember to much of the return home trip, as I was excited, I guess to be going home. We ran into a typhoon and one ship in our convoy was lost and many drowned. We went home by the way of Alaska & not sure why. Down the coast from there to San Francisco & by train across country to Lido Beach Long Island. I was discharged there & made my way into NY City to Grand Central staion and train home to Ithaca, NY.
A great experience & something you can never forget. I thank God for getting me thru it safely & for my long life since.

picture

A busy day, fun day. Jan & George here for a while. Then Ev's grand-daughter & boyfriend came and brought dinner. Good to see them all.
George set me up with my Navy picture on this Blog site. Can't believe I looked like that once years ago. I had tried several times to put a picture of some kind in the site, so anyway I thank him for doing it.
Just finished watching a Yankee ball game I had taped. Now will do some reading & probably fall asleep.

nuttin

Thought I would skip tonight, but on line to check out a couple things, so here I am. Quiet day. Cheryl stopped by for a couple hours this afternoon. Doctor called & thinks now by first of the week get Ev in somewhere.
Some rain today. Got flower box on the deck filled and ready for flowers, as soon as it warms up a little more-

refer to tuesday

I wrote tuesday of the things I miss as I grow older. I spoke of not spending more times with my girls as they grew, but left out someone. Jim my stepson was as much of a son to me , as a son could be. Although we do a lot I regret also not doing more with him as he grew.
Lazy day today. Did a couple loads of wash and ran the cleaner throughout. Read some & fixed a fish dinner. Still waiting for a call from surgeon in Rochester. Our Doctor may try for a good one in Syracuse. Kinda dread that as I don't like driving in Syracuse, but will if neccesary.
Raining here & still cold tonight. Ev and I talking today about cheecking out a possible look for a handicap type apartment with no stairs ?? So hard for her, as I'm sure I have said doing the seven steps.
Good night & God Bless You All ( sleep tight ).