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      Saturday, August 02, 2008


tales from the parkside
12:05 PM - 08/02/2008

The topic: Mom’s place
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Well,  the appraisal came in at $45,500.00.  We were asking $60,000.00 which was $10,000.00 more than I had anticipated asking.  Figure the thing was manufactured in 1970, well, it’s no spring chicken.  Yeah, the spot it’s on is nice, but I don’t really want to go over there a couple of times a week to water and do maintenance on it.  And I most definitely don’t want to be writing out a monthly check for $700.00 for something we can’t use.

We can’t rent it out, park policy.

The people who want to buy it, just don’t have the money to pay more.  I counteroffered with $50,000.00 when he told me, but apparantly, they’re working on a shoestring. With the payment to the bank and the rent on it, they’ll be paying out about the same as they do now with rent.

Brian and I talked about it.  I just want out.  I want it gone, I don’t want to be sitting here in another six months, waiting for it to sell.  An agent would cost us $5000.00 and then there’s the rent.  Sure, maybe we could get sixty for it if we held out, but how long would that take?  So far, we’re down over $4200.00 in rent.

Brian called the people up this morning to see if they could swing the fifty.  Doesn’t look like it.  So he told the guy “we’ll sell it to you for $45,500.00, the appraisal price”.  We’ll still pay this month’s rent, which will give us time to get the remaining stuff out.  But I’d like to hand over the keys by the middle of this month.  The guy said he felt bad because it was worth the sixty to him.  But we look at it like times are hard now and these are really nice people, I think my mom would approve. They like what she’s done with it, they don’t have big plans to renovate, maybe pull up the carpet and put down laminate and put up siding. They’ll do their own painting.

We would leave the furniture since they don’t have much and be done with it.

I don’t have any emotional attachment to the place, I didn’t grow up there, it was my mom’s party central, not mine.  I don’t like being there, I don’t like the way it smells and I just want to be done with it and not have it hanging over my head any longer.

When I told Brian how I felt about the selling price, I was surprised that he agreed. 

Now, let’s hope the financing goes through.

      Sunday, August 03, 2008


otherstuff
07:19 PM - 08/03/2008

The topic: What do they hope to accomplish?
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Is there anything in your life that you really like that some people just don’t get?  And they tell you this as often as possible?

You know, like I like cats, not a big fan of dogs.  Don’t get me wrong, dogs are okay, we’ve had dogs and I look forward to having them in the future, but dogs are not something that completes my life.  Or say you like country music or opera or rap.  And people who know this repeatedly tell you “I don’t know how you can stand that crap?”  What’s the purpose?  Do they think that if they say it enough, if they put it down enough, if they let you know they just can’t understand it, no matter how many times you try to explain, that you’ll come to your senses and think “Hey, if they don’t like it, then neither do I??

You’ll never find me holding a rifle and shooting at some critter.  You’ll never find me in an opera house, listening to opera.  Chances are pretty damned good that you won’t find me in Vegas sitting at a slot machine or at a roulette table or at a black jack table.  Or at an Indian casino doing the same thing. But if that’s what floats your boat, more power to you.  Go ahead, knock yourself out, have a great time, just don’t expect me to be right next to you while you do it. I won’t give you a bad time about it, because I know one of the biggest rules of life is different strokes for different folks.

So, why do people think it’s okay to question why we like to go to Disneyland so much?  From the tone of voice we get, it’s almost as if people think we’re mentally deficient or something.  We’ve had annual passports since the late 80s.  We used to have season tickets to the Chargers and mini-season tickets to the Padres, but it got tiresome, having to do attend the games on a schedule. It was a lot of money, we took the bus to the Chargers (too much traffic and after the games, too many drunk drivers).  We just let the tickets lapse, for both teams.

When we first got the Disney passes, we’d try to go up on a monthly basis.  We were younger then and the drive wasn’t so hard on Brian.  But he got busy, we got older and we didn’t go so much, but we still got the passes and we still enjoyed ourselves when we went. 

I know we’re not the only ones that like Disneyland, there are thousands and thousands of adults who feel the way we do. There’s nothing wrong with us, we aren’t freaks.  So, why do people feel they have the right to try to make us feel weird?

I just don’t get it.

I’ll make you a deal.  You don’t bug me about my likes and dislikes and I won’t bug you about yours. ‘Kay?

      Tuesday, August 05, 2008


catstuff
09:07 AM - 08/05/2008

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #102!
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click for a larger pic

Today, we have Oliver cleaning his paw.

He’s doing well on the new meds and is pretty affectionate.  He’s not sleeping as much as he had been, which is a good thing.

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

 

      Monday, August 11, 2008


otherstuff
05:53 PM - 08/11/2008

The topic: Remote
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That remote control thing on the camera on the roof isn’t working.  Again.  Last time it was the computer, this time, I think it’s the remote.  Just bounces and bounces and can’t be moved.

Scream.

      Tuesday, August 12, 2008



09:45 AM - 08/12/2008

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #103!
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Today’s tummy is little miss Rachel.  I tried to be as quiet as I could, but she heard me and by the time I got on the other side of the bed and on a chair to get a picture from above, she’d already rolled over.

Rachel is one of the last kitty cats in at night and it used to really annoy me that she’d run behind the shop and I’d have to walk after her, come on, Rachel, let’s go in the house, time for kitties in, let’s go, sweetie….  I mean, it’s dirt back there, the cats use it for a litter box, spiders build their traps at night and I’m walking back there cajoling her to get inside the house.  I hate it.  But lately, she’s not running back there, but up to me and we walk in, she speaks to me and I scratch her back and lightly hold her tail as we walk in.  She seems to like our little visits.


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If you've got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

      Wednesday, August 13, 2008


otherstuff
07:38 AM - 08/13/2008

The topic: What color are you?
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you are lightcyan
#E0FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.

Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.
the spacefem.com html color quiz

      Friday, August 15, 2008


tales from the parkside
07:18 PM - 08/15/2008

The topic: Woohoo!
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Got the escrow papers signed, notarized and in the mail this morning. 

Both Brian and I spent all day over at mom’s today.  He replaced the stantions on the carport and we both took the last stuff out of the place and loaded up the vehicles (he brought his truck since what we were taking wouldn’t fit in just one, like two vacuum cleaners, which where the last things out).  I vacuumed and dusted, pulling furniture out from the walls and after he got the stantions done, he came inside and cleaned all of the mirrors in the place. 

He also washed the kitchen window, the same one I’d done on Christmas Eve.  I remember when I washed it, my mom said to me with a spiteful look on her face and tone in her voice, that I wouldn’t be able to wash it.  Uh, yeah, I can I said as I popped the screen out.  Well, it would appear that sometime between Christmas Eve and January 4th, she opened something outside and the outside of the window was sprayed with whatever she opened up and she just left it dirty.  I can see her doing that to spite me.  Not making the mess, but leaving it.  She sure showed me.  But that was my mom. 

Anyway, Brian got that all cleaned up.  He helped me make the bed in the master bedroom, finished the mirrors, and I finished vacuuming.  I had one small load of laundry going and I started cleaning the counters in the kitchen, having cleared them of the last few things that needed to be packed.  While the laundry was going, he straightened out the cabinets over the washer and dryer and moved all of the laundry liquids and powders that had just been sitting on the dryer to the cabinets, making a much neater looking room.

Brian left and I stayed until that last load was dry, I wiped down the inside of the frig and sat down and admired all that we’d done today.

The place looked completely different when we left this afternoon than how it looked when we go there this morning.

Sue, the manager came up a couple of times and we made it official.  They were supposed to take a final reading of the meters this evening since we won’t be going back in to water or do any cleaning.

Hopefully, escrow will be closing Monday, since all paperwork will be at the escrow company and we should be receiving a check before too long.

My recent wish was that we were out of there by the 20th of August, the six month anniversary of mom’s death.  Sue brought up the lease mom signed and it was a twenty year lease.  She signed it on the 19th of August, 1993.  Fifteen years ago.  The new owners want to just take over the lease, since it will mean a smaller monthly rent.  I have no problem with that.  I signed some paper today to that effect.

But we’re done!  No more maintenance hanging over our heads!  No more thinking “we really should go over there and get this or that done”.

After the laundry was done and I’d put it away and I was by myself and locking up, I took a last look around. The end of an era, the end of my mother’s second life, life after dad. 

I knew she’d be proud.

      Tuesday, August 19, 2008


catstuff
09:25 AM - 08/19/2008

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #104!
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click for a larger pic

Today’s substantial speciman belongs to the lovely and talented Oliver.  I think the calcitriol is helping him a little, he does seem a might more active, not that he’s really ever been all that active.

But he is spending more time outside sunning himself instead of on the sofa in the family room.  Go, Ollie!

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

      Thursday, August 21, 2008


tales from the parkside
05:02 PM - 08/21/2008

The topic: Escrow closed and
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the check is in the mail. It's being overnighted. And once it's here, we shall make plans to meet with the new owners and hand them the keys.

 

      Friday, August 22, 2008


catstuff
10:43 AM - 08/22/2008

The topic: Chandler recheck
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We had a vet’s appointment this morning for his first recheck after being diagnosed with cryptococcosis.  The first couple of weeks, he didn’t seem to be showing much improvement, but the third week, he was more active and didn’t sound as noisy as he had.  And this last week he’s been doing great. 

So, today his first recheck (the first of many).  He’s gained almost a pound since last month (always good news).  The vet checked his eyes, paws, mouth and nose. He told me this fungus presents itself in four places.  Skin, brain, lungs and nose.  Chandler has it in his nose, vet didn’t see any signs of it elsewhere.  He didn’t check his lungs, but he really doesn’t believe it’s in the lungs. 

But Chandler’s nose is doing much better.  He still has a growth in there, but it’s much smaller than it was last month.  The vet took a crypto titer, but he said he wouldn’t call on the results, this is for a baseline to run future tests against, to check the progress of the meds.  He will have two more tests this year, one in October and one in December and hopefully the one in December will show that the titer has gone down enough that we can cut back on Chandler’s meds. 

But Chandler is doing much better.  Yay!


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      Saturday, August 23, 2008


otherstuff
09:07 AM - 08/23/2008

The topic: What’s wrong with this picture?
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I'm not often political, but.....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080823.BCLONG23/TPStory/National

Private Robin Long, 25, of Boise, Idaho, told a military judge at his sentencing yesterday that he left the country over moral objections to what he called an illegal war.

Then there's this:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080822/news_1n22abort.html

The rule empowers federal health officials to pull funding from more than 584,000 hospitals, clinics, health plans, doctors' offices and other entities if they don't accommodate employees who refuse to participate in care that they find objectionable on personal, moral or religious grounds. “People should not be forced to say or do things they believe are morally wrong,” Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. “Health care workers should not be forced to provide services that violate their conscience.”

So, as long as your moral objections are aligned with those of the administration of the United States Government (or the G.W. Bush monarchy, I swear he thinks he’s king, he sure acts like it), they are a valid excuse for not doing your job.

Right.  Uh, huh.

I’m gettin’' this shirt, I swear I am.

      Tuesday, August 26, 2008


catstuff
08:02 AM - 08/26/2008

The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #105!
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And today's tummy belongs to a ne'er seen before Tuesday tummy model, Mister Joey T!


click for a larger pic

He has a cute tummy, with an inviting white patch, perfect for a nose.  Alas, Joey doesn’t feel the same way about hoomin faces or fingers and he has a huge boundary bubble around him and if you break this invisible boundary, he’ll move to make sure your distance is kept. 

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If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!

      Friday, August 29, 2008


otherstuff
12:49 PM - 08/29/2008

The topic: Autumn and winter weather
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I’ve been noticing things this past month that don’t seem normal. 

The catnip is thicker and more abundant than past years, although I’ve done nothing different.

The roses are all long stemmed, not short and having multiple buds on a stem.

Very few wasps.

A LOT more lizards. Even with the cats, the lizards are running rampant in our backyard.

The leaves on the plum tree are already turning brown and dropping.  The fruit itself was sparse this year.  Unlike previous years when it seemed like plums were dropping for well over a month, this year it was just weeks.

The liquid amber is really, really thick.

Brian noticed things, too, after I started pointing out my observations.

In this morning’s paper, they spoke of the average temperature this year.  It’s a couple of degrees cooler than in past years.

I’m thinking we might be in for a rough winter, lots of rain.

That would surely be nice.

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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