Father & Son Both Sick

Last week I came down with a kidney infection.  The pain was debilitating, and I spent several days in bed or on the couch.  I am on antibiotics and the infection is on the wane.  I will take the antibiotics for another ten days per the doctor's advice, to make sure the nasty bug is really dead.

My eldest son in Washington State also came down with a serious infection, and is currently in the intensive care unit of a hospital.  He is having his second surgery tomorrow (Monday) and will remain in the ICU for a few more days.  The nurse on station told us that he is responding to the medication and is in stable condition.  That's good.  I feared that we were going to lose him.

We are planning to fly to Spokane to visit him on Saturday this week.

A Day in the Hospital

On Wednesday morning my wife checked into Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos for a surgical procedure on her heart.  She has long suffered from irregular heartbeat and tachycardia, and this procedure was to see what was going on and what, if anything, could be done about it.

She checked into the Short Stay Cath Lab in the basement, and was awake during the procedure, viewing her own heart on a television screen as the doctor talked to her about what he was seeing.  It seems she had a second heart node that was likely the cause of the rapid heart beat.  They cauterized it, and hopefully that will end the problem.

Before we arrived at the hospital, we went to Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose to finish preparations for our final expenses, just in case.  More about that in the next post.

Lucky October

October was an especially lucky month for me.  My long favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, won the World Series in a hard-fought, seven game matchup against a powerful team.  I interviewed for a temporary assignment as the stand-in Director of Finance for the Monterey chapter of a large, national non-profit organization.  I was the only one interviewed, and was offered the job, which I accepted. Then, one day after October ended, my youngest son was married in Corona, (Southern) California.  Three days later, the Republican wave occurred, sweeping the despised Democrats out of office all across the nation, to my great satisfaction.

The Director of Finance job is quite challenging.  It is temporary, as I am a fill-in for the vacant position until a permanent replacement can be found.  I don't accept permanent jobs, as I am supposed to be retired.  I like working during the tax season, but like sleeping in the remaining nine months of the year.  Right now I have to leave the house at 6 AM in order to arrive by 8 AM, and have been reintroduced to the joys of commuting through heavy traffic.

The job is in Monterey, California, one of my favorite towns.  It is a very scenic town on the coast, and I see ocean waves breaking on beaches as I commute to work in the morning.  Lately, traffic has been terrible due to road construction, and it takes more than an hour to get to work, and just as long to return home in the evenings.  I hope to make some extra income, as I need it for some dental bills and for a new acoustic bass amplifier that I plan to buy.

I don't know how long the job will last.  Maybe one, two or three months.  Then I'll find another one, if I so desire.  If I do good work on the current job, more will be easier to get.

My new daughter-in-law is Korean.  She was born in South Korea.  Her parents, very nice people, do not speak English with great fluency.  Her mom wore a traditional Korean dress to the wedding, and looked quite fetching in it:  a red blouse with a long black skirt.  She is anxious for the wedding to bear fruit:  she wants grandchildren.  We are on the same page.

Just Got Back From My Son's Wedding

Wifey and I were in Los Angeles for the past few days.  Our son got married on November 1, and it was a joyous and fun occasion.  I have a new daughter in law, and she is special.

Thank God I'm home.  The traffic in LA was as terrible as ever.

Tomorrow's Post Will Be Interesting! Includes Photos Taken From Fallen German Soldiers (by My Uncle at Normandy)

Since it is the 70th anniversary of D-Day tomorrow, I have put some effort into my posts for that day.  I tell some personal tales of my Uncle Theo who went ashore on Normandy Beach on D-Day + 1 (and appeared in a Life photo on the beach).

Unc helped himself to the wallets of dead German soldiers, plucking them from their pockets and bringing them home as souvenirs.   These wallets contain the personal and family pictures of the German soldiers, some of which are quite poignant.  Adolf Hitler was not only the biggest SOB in modern history, he was the biggest SOB to the German people too -- sacrificing millions of their sons in an evil and ultimately, fruitless war.

The posts will publish automatically at 11:59 PM tonight and 12:00 AM tomorrow.

Tune in!

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey; a Seasoned Citizen Looks Back

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday that warms my oldest and fondest memories of home, family and food.  I have a lot to remember:  I'm a senior citizen.  I was a college sophomore when JFK was assassinated fifty years ago.  I saw the Beatles, Janis Joplin and the Jefferson Airplane perform live (to clarify, not together).  The Beatles in '64 and '65, and Janis Joplin in 1966, with Big Brother and the Holding Company.  I saw Jefferson Airplane the same night that I saw Janis.

My first recollection of a presidential election is when Eisenhower was running for president.  I was a cub scout, and we were given silvery (plastic) medals to "get out the vote, 1952."  I decided I liked Ike, was a Republican in a Democrat household, and never looked back.  I was shocked to learn my father was a Democrat, and he was equally shocked to learn I was a Republican.

I supported Nixon against JFK in the election of 1960, but later became smitten with JFK, as he was a strong anti-communist, as was I, and for a while, I fancied myself a liberal Democrat.  However, I never voted that way, as I was too young to vote.  My first presidential vote was for George Wallace in the 1968 election, as I believed he would have the gonads to win the war in Viet Nam.  I regretted my vote on election night, when Nixon was neck and neck with Hubert Humphrey, but finally pulled ahead to win by a slim margin.  I thought Humphrey would be another liberal disaster.

Yes, through the decades, I always loved Thanksgiving:  turkey and dressing; no school; getting into mischief with my cousins; football on television; and naps.  If only all my departed relatives could be resurrected to join me once more around the table:  grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, and even a cousin or two, all of whom are now in the next world.

Living Rich in Hawaii With Pro Bowl Players and Elvis

Peyton and Eli Manning by the Pool - Peyton is standing, Eli is shirtless and
sitting.  They are in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl Game on Sunday (Click to Enlarge).

One of my sons is vacationing in Hawaii.  He is staying at the Marriott Hotel where the NFL football players are also staying, in preparation for the Pro Bowl.  The Pro Bowl is a game played about a week before the Super Bowl and features the best players in the NFL, with the NFC team playing the AFC team.  Recently, however, a lot of stars have dropped out of playing in the game, raising concerns that the Pro Bowl may be cancelled after this year.

There's a good reason for it:  NFL players aren't going to go the extra mile to win a game that essentially means little.  Why risk the injuries?  Just go through the motions.  Some critics have gone so far as to say that the Pro Bowl is a joke.  At the very least, it is highly anti-climactic in light of the Super Bowl, an event that really does mean a lot to football fans and players alike.  The 2013 Pro Bowl will be played in Aloha Stadium on January 27.  The Super Bowl will be played on February 3 at the Super Dome in New Orleans.

This week while my son was having dinner with his family in the hotel, the waiter pointed out to him that the two men sitting at the next table were the Manning brothers:  Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, and his brother Eli Manning, quarterback for the New York Giants.  He took a picture of them with his iPhone and sent it to me.  They look like two guys having dinner.  Eli's young daughter was with them.  I told my son to tell them "Niners Rule" but he demurred.

My son attended the 40 year anniversary replay of the Elvis 1973 concert from Hawaii, which took place in Hawaii (and broadcast by satellite) on January 14, 1973.  The replay was the filmed concert, played in the same concert hall where the actual event took place 40 years before on that very night.  I watched the original broadcast on television in 1973.  I especially love the song written by Hawaiian singer Kui Lee, "I'll Remember You."  Kui Lee died in 1966 of cancer and the 1973 Elvis concert was to raise money for a new cancer wing in his name.

Now that was an event worth watching.

Visiting the Grandkids

I am in Murrieta, California, visiting my middle son and grandchildren. Murrieta is next to Temecula, about 45 minutes north of San Diego and south of Los Angeles. The Grandkids appropriated my iPad to play with the piano app, and I haven't had time to post.

My daughter in law tells me Murrieta was named for the famous Mexican bandit Joaquin Murrieta, whose head was cut off and preserved in a pickle jar. If you saw the last Zorro remake, this legend was portrayed in that film. Allegedly, the pickled head was on display in a local bar for many years. Poor Joaquin, my head has been pickled a few times and it feels like hell the morning after.

I Love My Granddaughter

This is one of my favorite pictures of my granddaughter and me.

Stogie's Gang (Photo)

A recent trip to an amusement park with my gang (aka grandkids).  I'm the one in the middle.

God Bless Joplin, Missouri, My Childhood Home

Mom, Little Brother and Sister
Joplin, Mo 1952

Bro and I lived in Joplin, Missouri as children, and our little sister was born there.  I attended grades 1 through 4 in Joplin, mostly at Irving School.  We were cub scouts there and had a great childhood exploring surrounding woods, setting off firecrackers on the 4th of July and swiping our dad's cigarettes and smoking them in the woods.  We got our first television set in that house (it barely worked), and I learned of the death of Hank Williams (Sr) there, too, something I will never forget.

Now Joplin is very much in the news, having endured the destruction of a major tornado, or as we used to call them, "twisters."  Bro and I spent the night in a cellar on two occasions when a twister passed over Joplin; one of these did some damage to the town, but nothing like this new one.  Much of the city is rubble and the death toll stands at 122, but is rising, according to news reports.

We lived in a little gray, stone house on South Pearl street.  Bro went back to visit Joplin after a 50 year absence, and the current residents of our old house allowed him in to reminisce.  I hope that little home is intact and its current owners are safe.

Here's a picture of our home with our mom, kid brother and little sister in 1952.

Related Posts:  See the BlogProf's Harrowing 1st Person Video of the Joplin Tornado.  He also has an AP video of the twister tearing up the landscape.

Thoughts on a Funeral

My mother-in-law, Sally, has been laid to rest.   Her funeral was held Saturday, November 20 in St. Christopher's Catholic Church in San Jose, California.  The priest who presided was her own son, who flew in from the Philippines to deliver her eulogy and lead the services. 

I knew my mother-in-law for 37 years.  I met her on the same night that I met my future wife.  Two people, who didn't particularly like each other at first, grew to love each other in the years that followed.  Sally didn't like this white guy who she was sure was out to seduce her daughter; and the white guy (me) didn't like this combative hen who was ready to scratch my eyes out for sniffing around her prize chick.  I married her prize chick, without her permission, and then things began to improve. 

When our baby boy came along, Sally was overwhelmed by the child's perfection (as perceived from a grandmother's eyes), and came to visit him every weekend.  She just wanted to sit and stare at him.  She said he was the most beautiful child she had ever seen.  On his first birthday, Sally gave her grandson a big cake, without icing, placed on her coffee table where he could tear into it with his tiny hands, stuffing the pieces into his mouth.  I loved that she did this.  It made me realize that Sally and I were kindred spirits.

When two bloodlines mingle in a single child, it represents the juncture at which two families join together and become one.  Nothing unifies two people like a common love for the same child, a child to whom both are related, me as the father, she as the grandmother.  We became fast friends from that point on and loved each other like any natural relatives would.  And Sally didn't object when almost all of her younger daughters married Americans, one by one, adding greatly to her supply of beautiful grandchildren, several of whom (the boys) were pall-bearers at her funeral, while others (the girls) sang.

November 20, 2010, the day of interment, was rain-soaked, blustery and cold.  After the service, we followed the hearse to Oak Hill where Sally's body was placed in one of those wall tombs where many are laid to rest.  Her spot was about half way up the wall, in the middle.  I always wondered how they got coffins into those high spaces.  They use a special lift, with places on either side for workmen to stand, and raise the coffin up to the open space where it is slid head-first, on rollers, into the space.

As the coffin was lifted skyward toward its final resting place, I was struck by the sight of two of Sally's sons, one of them the priest, holding each other and sobbing loudly. Encircling the scene was a crowd of uplifted faces watching the coffin's ascent, drenched in tears and haggard with grief.  One of Sally's daughters shouted a last, emotional message: "I love you mommy!"

Sally, you were loved.

The coffin was inserted into the space, which was then sealed with a square metal plate using common white spackle. Secured over that was the decorative stone plate, bearing the name and dates of the deceased, i.e. the year of birth and the year of death. Sally’s read:

S.... T M.......

1926 - 2010

How strange it seemed to me, to see her familiar name like that:  as an inscription on a tombstone.  How odd, that a person so loved could be reduced to such brevity.

Our final act of the day was to retire to Sally's favorite restaurant, Khan's, to eat and visit with one another before departing.

A Death in the Family

My mother-in-law passed away early this morning.  She had been in a hospice for over a year and knew she was going to die.  In the last couple of weeks, she made a point of calling all of her relatives, including children still in the Philippines, to tell them goodbye and that she loved them.  Many others came to see her in the hospice.

I spent time with her last week, sitting by her bedside and listening to her stories.  She was a wonderful mother-in-law and a great friend too.

One day last week when I went to see her, she was trying to stand up, holding on to her walker.  Since she was blind from inoperable cataracts, I announced my presence as I entered.  She pointed to her left and asked me who the lady was standing nearby.  I told her there was no one there.  When Mrs. Chomper came in, she also asked her who the stranger was standing a few feet away.  "Is that a statue?" she asked.  My wife replied that there was no one there.  How my mother-in-law could see anything, being blind, is rather strange. Still, she insisted that she perceived this person's presence.

It immediately occurred to me that my mother-in-law was having predeath visions, fairly common among the dying.  My father had them too, a few weeks before his death in 1991.  He kept asking who "those people" were, the ones standing over by the fireplace.  No one else could see them, however.

I will really miss my mother-in-law.  I loved her, and I told her so frequently in these past few final months of her life.

Dad, Mom and Bro

This picture was taken in the late days of World War II.  It shows my father in his army uniform, my mom and my grouchy older brother "Bro."  Hard to believe he was once that cute!   I had not yet made my appearance into the world.

Son of Stogie: Folsom, California: Wedding Update

My niece was married yesterday here in Folsom, California.  I didn't like the lady pastor who married her and her husband.  Her ceremony was a bunch of new age crapola.  God wasn't mentioned even once, and the age old words, "for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do you part" was not part of Pastor Airhead's lexicon.  I wouldn't have minded if "to honor and obey" had been modernized, perhaps to "honor and negotiate in good faith," but that's about it.

In any case, my youngest son was there (see pic).  He's a handsome 29 year old and he's single and unattached.  Beautiful young women are invited to submit their resumes, which I will forward to him.  Ha ha!

No Blogging Today -- I Have a New Grandson

I got up early today to report to the Superior Court in Santa Cruz today, to witness the final act of adoption of my new grandson, Stomper (left pic) Chomper.  Stomper is Korean, almost two years old.  He looks as Korean as a gallon of kimchee but has a disarming smile with a dimple in his cheek.  A couple of years back my son and his wife adopted his older sister, Vittles Chomper.  Vittles (right pic) and I get along very well; she is a delight to me. Okay, I admit it, I love her dearly.  My wife says we are drawn to each other.

The hearing was presided over by a young and pretty lady judge.  She was very accommodating to our group, which included the parents, both sets of grandparents, brothers and sisters, two uncles, lots of cousins and friends from church.  We were told to roam the courtroom at will during the proceedings and take all the pictures we wanted.  After the hearing, the judge brought out a big plastic tub of stuffed animals to distribute to the children present.  My natural grandson was  allowed, at his own request, to sit in the judge's chair behind the judge's desk, with the giant seal of the State of California behind him.  We took several photos of him there.

Finally, the parents, grandparents, grandchildren, cousins (and everyone else) were told to stand in the jury box for pictures (see bottom pic).  I looked out over the courtroom and saw something incredible:  both the judge (in her black robe) and the bailiff (in his khaki uniform with badge and walkie-talkie) were pointing our own cameras at us and snapping away.  California does have its charms.

Note:  the judge took the above photo.

No Blogging Today -- I'm SICK!!

Thanks to all for the good wishes.  I am going to retire to my bed and get some sleep.  Hope to resume blogging tomorrow.

Cold Weather Saturday: Cigars, News, Views and Blues

Hmm, it's Saturday. It's cold (48 degrees) outside. I have a good stash of cigars.  So I will go outside, light one up and study my tax course, which I really need to finish.

There is no breaking news that requires my expert opinions today.  However, you may find my discussion with reader Wyandotte interesting, at this article regarding Robert Stacy McCain.  I thought we were approaching a healthy meeting of the minds when Wyandotte suddenly went hostile after I asked her if she were associated with the blog Little Green Footballs.  I assume that I must have stepped on the truth, otherwise, a simple denial would have been sufficient.

My son Dooj is in the area to attend a funeral of one of his cousins, a wife and mother who died in Indiana last week of the H1N1 virus.  Of course, her husband's brutality may have been a contributing factor, as the coroner reported that, besides the flu, the woman had a broken arm, two chipped teeth and multiple bruises throughout her body.  She went to sleep on her living room couch and died during the night.  Her body was shipped to Gilroy, California so her parents could bury it in her hometown.  The funeral is next Tuesday.

I haven't seen my niece by my first marriage in many years so I won't be going to the funeral -- it's complicated, with all of those former in-laws and my ex-wife.  However, I have prayed for my niece and will continue to do so.

I am still trying to become the next great jazz bassist.  I'd be satisfied with a Blue Brothers style gig playing Rawhide in some dangerous honky-tonk, safe from thrown beer bottles behind a mesh screen.

Maybe I will take a Zen approach:  to learn the bass, be the bass.  If that doesn't work I may have to resort to actual practice.  Just kidding.  I have been practicing.

I've had a good week with my upright bass.  My playing fingers have grown strong and dexterous and I feel my confidence growing.  That big long ebony neck has become a familiar place.

I am learning to read notes with a play-along book.  I also challenge my ear by playing along to Diana Krall jazz.  I tried it with Norah Jones but after my third suicide attempt in 20 minutes, decided that Jones' music is too damned sad and depressing for me.

Well I have coffee to drink, cigars to smoke and naps to take, and I'm way behind schedule.  Have a great Saturday.

The Biker Priest and a Harley Named Elvis

My eldest son "Dooj" is staying with me for a few weeks. He rode all the way from Seattle on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, one that he got at auction and restored himself. It's a Road King and its official Harley color is Black Cherry. Dooj named the bike Elvis.

Also in town is my brother in law from the Philippines, who is a Catholic Priest. Dooj and the priest hit it off and Dooj posed the priest on Elvis, but insisted that the priest wear the do-rag. At right is the result: Bad-Ass Biker Priest.

The priest then took out his little red book of blessings, thumbed to the Harley section and blessed the bike, sprinkling holy water over it as he did so.

Thoughts on My Alleged Life

A Family Matter

I've been watching episodes of "Dead Like Me" all week. A year ago it was Alfred Hitchcock. I get on these kicks.

This week we learned that my mother-in-law, who just turned 83, has congestive heart failure and will not live much longer. She's in the hospital right now but will be moved to a hospice this week. I love my mother-in-law and will miss her, but for now I plan to visit her often and share as many moments as I can with her. She seems at peace with it and plans to enjoy every day that God gives her. As a Filipina, she lived through the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, avoiding rape by the Japanese soldiers while members of her family joined the resistance. (One, my wife's aunt, was captured, tied to two saplings and split apart as a cruel form of execution.) I guess the Japs figured that if you are going to be assholes, be really good ones.

Photoshop Training

Since I have plenty of free time these days, I am working on expanding my Photoshop skills. I am studying political caricatures created by Linda Eddy of Iowapresidentialwatch.com; she is the most skilled Photoshopper I know: her work is simply stunning. I am attempting to recreate her caricature of Joe Biden (that's it on the right); not so I can plagiarize it, but so I can learn her techniques. (I won't publish my copy.) How did she create those realistic skin wrinkles? How did she make this effect of that? Then I experiment until I can create a reasonable facsimile. It may take me a week to finish my copy but I will learn a lot of new skills in the process.

She creates her digital art using only Photoshop. It seems much easier to just use a vector drawing progam like Xara X, but I am not going to take the easy way out any longer. Vector art is easier but not nearly as realistic.

Linda Eddy's art requires many layers, which are separate drawings that are finally blended together to create the image. An eye, for example, includes the eyeball, iris, pupil and a bit of reflective light; the upper eyelid, the lower eyelid and the eye brow, not to mention wrinkles in the skin to give it texture and realism. It's time for me to really learn how to use the pen tool, which accounts for much of Eddy's realistic touches. Linda Eddy makes the most realistic human hair I have ever seen; she uses Photoshop brushes (another digital tool) to do this and she is a master.

Fortunately for us, Linda Eddy is a Republican.