Deaf Soda Pop Time

Good One For One Gallon Of Gas

2008-06-02T15:47:00.001-05:00

Here is the coupon good for one gallon of Gas.

Response To Carl Schroeder's "Kula By Popular Demand"

2008-04-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

Carl,

Your puppy will be lot bigger like our 4 years old yellow lab dog who weights 100 lbs after losing 5 lbs a few weeks ago. Her ears are five inches long. She is our sweetie pie.

Happy Easter

2008-03-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

Hope you have a good Easter weekend.
This afternoon we were covering the big hole our yellow lab dog had dug under the fence and we put the 2x4 stud with sticks and screws and bricks underneath hopefully she won't dig again. We know that she will!! She gets so excited when she hears some kids or pets playing in their yard next door and wants to play with them. Do you guys have an idea how to make the dogs stop digging? If she was on a leach, she would pull herself out of her harness.

Happy Easter!

Embarrassing Moment: Forgot To Turn Off My Car

2008-03-10T12:37:00.000-05:00

I'm glad that my psychology exam I took this morning is over. I was unable to upload my video clip into my blog so I'm writing instead. Uploading one of my video clips into my Facebook was a success. I remembered what I had forgotten when I was reading Seek Geo and Diane's vlogs about their embarrassing moments. I had forgotten to turn off my car in the garage one late evening last Spring and I didn't hear it running because my hearing was not working this time.
I had forgotten to turn off our little car when my husband Dick and I got home one late evening , parked it in the garage that is attached to our house. The door for the garage entry is in the kitchen. We collected some bags of groceries and if I had my hearing aid on, I would have heard it running. So guess how long I left it running??? Over night!!! Augh!
I woke up the next morning with a very bad headache and tense muscle in my neck without knowing what was causing. When I got home from running, I finally was able to smell the gas odor and asked Dick why there was an odor in the house. I decided to check the garage to see if there was gas leaking from our car. When I got into the garage, it was soooo hot like an oven being heated and it was also very humid. I realized that I had forgotten to turn my car off , quickly turned it off and was very, very upset. Everything including our SUV was very hot to touch. Some candles in one of the boxes melted. I opened both of the doors open and told Dick about it. He said that he could not smell the gas odor even after going outside. We took our cars outside to cool off. There was one forth of gas left! We noticed that a small bottom part of the front bumper had been slightly warped from the heat. We were fortunate that we didn't die from the odor. We also were told by a close friend that we could be killed if we lighted the match. I have hoped none of our neighbor heard our car running in the garage because I would be embarrassed if they did. The bad headache and tense neck muscle I had lasted for three days. Dick could not smell anything since he was injured from the motorcycle accident. I told him that he needed a nasal implant ( with a "CI" hand sign on right side of my nose) to help him smell and he laughed out loud. I made and placed a new poster on the door to remind myself to turn off our car.

CH 14 Our New Lives in Texas-Our Cat Swallowed A Dime.

2007-12-30T17:02:00.000-06:00

Our cat Pumba loves to play with some plastic straps we removed from the milk jugs (see top picture). She carries one of them around in her mouth since she was a kitten. She drops them into either of her cat food bowl and a large water bowl she shares with our dog. We had adopted her from the vet's pet shop in Spokane, Washington the same month we adopted a yellow lab puppy from a very nice breeder's farm in Newport north of Spokane when we lived in north Idaho in 2004. She acts like a raccoon because is very mischievous like jumping on any surface and knocking everything off. My brother said that raccoon was probably dyed to look like a cat. We love her too much. One day in May 2006 we were packing for move, we notcied that Pumba was vomiting after each meal for two days. I talked with the vet's nurse about it and she suggested me to restrict her from any food for a day which I did but she continue to vomit so we took her to the vet the next day to be checked. The vet found a dime in her intestine through the x-ray that had been taken. So he had to tear her belly up to get it out right away and kept her over night. When we picked her up, the vet gave us the dime in a rx bottle with a little bottle of pain medication and antibodies for her to take. We noticed the black spots all over her shaved belly (see below) and thought she looked so cute. She often sleeps with her back on the surfaces. We paid the total of $500.00. She was feeling much better. She still sleeps during the day and parties at night.

CH 13 Our New Life In Texas-Offer On New House

2007-12-28T14:37:00.001-06:00

Our first year in Texas was really great. I had been making some local maps from the Map Quest online when we needed help finding the addresses. Its was very helpful. Living in a one bedroom apartment was no fun. Some of my favorite clothes were packed in the garage and I decided to wait till we moved into our new house. No job or interview yet. I applied for a job with the Texas Instruments company in north of Dallas at the personal office and hadn't heard anything.

We found out that the tracking wheel in Richard's Blackberry pager had been worn out and decided to buy a new Sidekick II pager for himself. We went to the T-Mobile store to get it and we had fun playing with it. My old Blackberry pager was still working well.

The weather in Plano, Texas was a lot warmer than in Pacific NW. I was puzzled when I saw some people in their t-shirts and shorts in the evening when we went to the grocery store because I had seen people in long pants and jackets when we lived in North Idaho before we left. The longer Summer and warmer weather weather boosts my weak immune system.

There were some lawn mowers outside of Lowe's and Home Depot in October and even in December.

The built in camera in Richard's new Sidekick II was really cool. When we were at Lowe's one day late in October, I took a picture of the lawn mowers outside to show it to my brother Dale via email because in Pacific NW, they were put indoor in the first week of September. He replied saying that I was so nasty because he hated a cold weather and there were snow blowers outside of Lowe's and Home Depot in NW. Dale said he had to put away his summer clother and we didn't. He loves Summer. He has a condo in Spokane, Washington but lives with our dad at the lake in North Idaho where my parents moved in 1984 from Spokane.

There was a bank temperature near our apartment complex and I took a picture of it for Dale to see on one day in late November when it was so very warm at 82 degrees. I gave him bad time about how warm the weather was. He printed it and showed it to our dad. He was giggling. We don't understand why our dad loves Fall but I told him it's a football season which our dad can not live without.

We had been looking a new house in Fort Worth because the price ranges were lot cheaper than in Plano where we lived for 8 months. Finally on one day in November we found a very nice subdivision and on Christmas Eve made an offer on the lot where our new house was being built after discussing with Renee the realtor whom we met a month before at the model home office. She had been so very nice and took time answering our questions. We read and signed the paper work and paid only one buck on earnest money agreement. We found out that the area was about 10 miles away from the Texas Motor Speedway. How exciting!

A month later we made a nother trip to see Renee again with some paperwork to choose the model of the new house, bricks, colors of the walls, floors and carpents, etc. We started visiting the lot every two weeks after the ground was leveled. The closing was going to be on May 26, 2006.

CH 12 Our New Lives In Texas

2007-12-25T14:24:00.000-06:00

For two months after moving to Plano, Texas from North Idaho in 2005, I was looking for a new job and had applied for about 55 jobs but no luck because I'm DEAF. I made a very nice resume with some help from Richard's oldest son and gave them out with some application forms. I had taken a six hours training in a "meat cooler" room (brrrrr and teeth chattering) at the cell phone company in Fort Worth and failed the test with lots of long numbers, etc which I didn't know after a six hours long lecture because the two interpreters who took turns interpretering didn't do a good job. I was fortunate to having worked for one day after moving here because we were able to have a large tax return on our moving expense.

We were not looking forward to taking the driving test here in Texas. We had taken the test when we moved to North Idaho in 2003 from Liberty Lake, Washington near Spokane. We were not in a hurry to replace the Idaho license plates but about three weeks after moving there. When we went to our Ford Focus to drive to the store, we found a flat tire, replaced it with a spare tire. We rolled the flat tire toward to our Ford Exploerer and found another flat tire so we put both flat tires into our Focus and took them to the tire center for repair. The repaqir person said they had been slashed by someone at the same time. Remembering what the Texan told my dad about his and others fears on Idahoan due to the Neo-Nazi when he saw an Idaho license plate on my parents' Explorer when we visited in Marshall, Texas in 1997 for my mom's family reunion with my youngest son and two brothers, (my brothers, youngest son and I flew there and joined with our parents who drove there from North Idaho.) I realized that some Texans had some fears about the Neo-Nazi Supermacist group who had set up their camps in about an hour and half drive from north of Post Falls, Idaho where we lived for two years ( These camps are gone for good before we moved there.)
We went to the Tax Assessor Collectors office the next day to get some new license plates and found out that we didn't have to take the tests if we surrendered our Idaho licenses which we did the next day. YES!!! I didn't have any more gray hair. The clerk found out online that Richard had an old Texas license and gave him a renewal one.

When we received the new license plates, we were given with the windshield stickers that were lot bigger than old ones we had on old license plates. I asked the lady if we should put them on the left side of windsheild and she said yes. Thats odd. She also said that we would need another stickers about the same size as others placed below the other stickers when we had our cars emission tested. These stickers on the windsheilds had been very distracting for a short time when I was driving. That's Texas.

Afterward I continued looking for a job because I needed it real quick so we could purchase a new house which the loan officer said applying for a loan required two salaries each household.

I started to feel flu-like symtoms more often and I noticed the weakness in my leg muscles which I didn't understand why and what was causing my illness. I have had several syndromes like thyroid problem I had since 1992, Meniere's disease, low blood sugar, frequent sinus infection, sjogren's (dryness in the mouth and eyes),chronic fatique syndrome, Restless Leg syndrome, allergies and asthma problem, etc. Some doctors in Washington were unable to diagnose exactly whats wrong with me. I had never felt good or healthy for years. I had the gallstones removed at home without a surgeon's knife. I felt like my immune system was attacking me. One day I became so sick again two days after I recovered from the same illness, I went to see the new female doctor whom I was seen by a week earlier for thyroid medication refill request. After series of tests, she finally found out that I had some autoimmune disease meaning my immune system was attacking my body. She said that she would refer me to the specialist but warned me that he would give me some corticone (steriod) medication for the disease which I was against because they don't help but only makes people miserable. She suggested me to look up online about the disease and learn more. It was bit complicate. I put my job hunt on hold for a short time and had to have my SSDI restated to help pay bills. I spent time searching online, found and ordered a book. I changed some diet and added some vitamins including the fish oils. I still have some health issues and try my best to avoid some stresses. I had a "Stiff Man" Syndrome for a few months. Later I started looking for a job again and still no luck. I sent my resume to the Radio Shack manufactoring in Fort Worth twice and haven't heard from them. I guess when they read my resume, they noticed the name of the high school where I graduated from was a state residental school for the Deaf and wouldn't hire me. In Washington state I was employeed with the laptop manufactoring as a repair technican for seven years before resigning when we moved to Texas. Its Radio Shack's loss but there was a huge lay offs about a year later. I decided to go back to college after purchasing a new house.

I will write more about making an offer on a new house with some pictures in next post.

My son's little book called "The Bears"

2007-12-25T13:26:00.000-06:00

I've been on a winter vacation from the school and I was so bored so I decided to clean out the den closet. I was sorting out some junks in one of the boxes and found a cute little book. "The Bears" book was made and written by my oldest son Micah when he was in second grade in 1991. He learned the story from a deaf family friend and decided to publish it when his class teacher asked the students to make some books.
Its said:

Once there were 3 bears. The father's name is Shut-Up, the mother's name is None Of Your Business, and the baby's name is Trouble.
One day they went to the fair and when they were finished Shut-Up said, "I am hungry. I want to go home." None Of Your Business said, "I need to to go home to cook dinner." Trouble said, "I don't want to go."
When they got in their car, Trouble snuck out and went back to the fair.
When Shut-Up and None Of Your Business were almost home, None Of Your Business looked in the back seat and Trouble was gone. She said, "Trouble's missing.!"
So, Shut-Up turned around and went very fast. "Shut-Up, slow down," said None Of Your Business but the warning was too late, the police had caught them. They stopped. The policeman went to their car and said, "What's your name?" "Shut-Up."
What's your name, Miss?" "None Of Your Business." The policeman said, "Are you looking Trouble?" They said, "Yes!"

Happy Holiday!

2007-12-21T12:26:00.000-06:00

You all have a Happy Holiday!

CH 11 Moving To Texas.Our New Home Sweet Home

2007-11-30T13:39:00.000-06:00

Hi, I'm finally free from the "prison" of online homework. Yay!! But it's going to be a short time before I start again in next semester. Got to vacuum some dust bunnies that had been increasing in some areas in our house when I was doing my homework. "Hey Dust Bunnies, enjoy your new lives in a vacuum bag!" I'm able to catch up some of my new posts about our move to Plano, Texas we had in 2005 and beginning our new lives here.
How exciting!! We were so excited to begin our new lives in a new town with new people and new jokes.

Texas, here we come!
After spending the night at the motel in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, we went through the Texas border on Oct 1, 2005 and I shouted "Yay!!" I continued following Richard until we arrived McKinney north of Plano and Richard decided to follow me since I was following the direction his son Jeff who had a Sidekick II pager gave to me via email toward the gas/mart parking lot where we were going to meet him. When arriving there, we followed Jeff to our new apartment and we signed the leasing agreement papers before receiving the keys and garage door opener remotes from the manager. We unloaded our SUV before going out to eat and spending the night at the motel with our dog and cat since we didn't have any furnitures in our new apartment until the next day.
After breakfast, we went back to our apartment and had the three movers come to help us get everything in and the garage.
A week after we got settled, I had some problem finding the doctor for Richard because some of the doctors didn't accept his medical insurance. I finally found one of them and made an appointment to have Richard checked. He had been feeling tired since he had bout with pneumonia five months earlier. We didn't realize that it had caused the problem in his heart.
The doctor found out that there was something wrong with Richard's heart because his heart beat was not beating regularly as it was supposed to be so decided to have an electrocardiogram/ECG done to find out if the electric signal was normal but it wasn't. The doctor said that Richard had atrial fibrillation meaning the part of the heart doesn't beat the way it should. Instead of beating in a regular, normal pattern, part of the heart beats irregularly and too fast. It's important for the heart to pump properly, because that's how your body gets the oxygen and food it needs. Richard was given with medication to help his heart to beat regularly and was referred to the cardiologist. The doctor who referred him had problem finding one of the caridiogist because they didn't want to hire an interpreter and later later found one who was willing to have an intepreter.
After series of tests, Richard was also given with the blood thinning medication to prevent the blood cloth from forming in order to reduce the risk of getting stroke. I was so glad to have Richard taken care of right away so he would live longer because I need him as my loving husband.
Its was time for me to look for a job.

Pumba enjoyed climbing on boxes in our new apartment.

Kelly was glad when the long trip was over. She got excited when she saw some rabbits and squirrels and wanted to chase them everytime we took her out to relieve herself on the lawn.

Its Black Friday! What Are You Gonna Do Today?

2007-11-23T07:32:00.000-06:00

Good morning! What are you gonna do today as its Black Friday? Its 5:30 AM. Standing in a long line at the store parking lots waiting for the doors to open in the freezing cold weather with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands? If I find out that there are the Nintendo Wii video games advertized at $50.00 or 75.00 each, I would have gone to one of the stores at 4:30 AM to wait for the doors to be opened in my goose down coat, snowboard pants, boots and packs of hand warmers in my snowboard mittens and butt pants pockets (and cash of course with me for a quick payment without any worry) since its 37 degrees in Fort Worth, Texas where I live, brrrrrr. (Yes, I miss snowboarding on the snow covered mountains that's one of my favorite activities which I had done in the past when I lived in Washington state). So this morning of this year I'm staying home in my toasted warm house writing a new post in my blog and also free from the prison of online homework!
According to the Wikipedia, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. Most retailers will open very early and usually provide massive discounts on their products.
Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve, the last Sunday before Christmas.

It's interesting to watch some people in the early 1990's fighting over some popular stuff they wanted like some video games and some "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the toy action figures which my two boys were collecting them when they were little. I had seen some empty shelves and racks where the popular stuff stood at some discount stores just fifteen minutes after the doors opened. They were always gone just minutes after people rampaged through the doors when they were opened.
One Thanksgiving day in 1999 when I lived in Washington state I noticed the Target store newspaper ad saying that they were giving away some free regular "Hot Wheels" die cast toy cars to up to 1000 first customers and I was a collector at this time. When I drove by the parking lot the next morning at 5AM, there was a looooong line of people outside the store thats not compared to a last year's longest, looooongest line in the world in New York City when people waited in line to buy some new Sony Playstation3 so instead I went to another store to buy some electroic stuff I wanted but found out they were all sold out, oh well. I returned to Target and I got into the last half of the line outside. When I got into the store, I was given with an unusual "Hot Wheels" neon red Ford Mustang Mach that was later valued at $35.00 according to the 2004 "Hot Wheels" Price Guide book Some collectors asked me if I wanted to trade my car with and I said" No, thanks". They looked disappointed. I still have it packed in a blister pack. I had never seen any more of this on the racks.
I would have gone to either Best Buy, Target or Circuit City at 5 AM on Black Friday and watch people in a long line rush into the store when the doors are open just like the horses with riders race down the steep hill called "Stampede & Suicide" Race that occurs annually in Washington State.

Giant Chess Board Game On Campus

2007-11-23T06:44:00.000-06:00

There is a giant Chess board game on a college campus where the students play during the break time. I took a picture of it in August the week before the semester started when I was on my way to the adm office. I thought its pretty cool.
I noticed the students playing with it every time I walked by during the semester. The game pieces about the size of between 1 1/2 and 2 feet tall have been put away on weekends.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

2007-11-22T09:27:00.000-06:00

You guy have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plumb.

May your potatoes' n gravy have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.

May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

CH 10 Moving To Texas. Wyoming, Kansas & Oklahoma

2007-11-21T14:47:00.000-06:00

Finally, I was finished yesterday with my online homework that was due on 26th.
After spening the night in a Billings, Montana motel and visiting with one of Richard's cousins Patty, we went through the Wyoming border on Sept 27, 2005. We stopped by the discount store at Sheridan to buy a new Sony Playstation 2 video game and had a lunch. Sheridan is where Richard used to live for a short time when he was little before moving back to Billings. After several hours on the road, we stopped at Casper to spend the night. I was loading some picture into my laptop so I sent some to my family and friends. Richard said that he was feeling fine even he looked bit gaunt and still didn't want me to hire someone to drive the moving truck toward Texas so he continue driving it and I was driving in our Explorer behind the truck like I had done since we left North Idaho. Next day after breakfast, we got on the road for Denver, Colorado. I was excited when we drove through Cheyenne, Wyoming because we were half way toward our new home in Texas. We stopped for some gas and lunch. Before arriving Denver, We emailed Richard's other cousin Ken who lives near Denver telling him that we were going to be at the motel where we were going to meet and have a dinner with him and his wife Jeanette after arriving there. They were very happy to see Richard again and also meeting with me for the first time. We had a good time and I got to know them really well. They made me feel like I was part of the family.

After dinner at the nearby resturant, we went back to the motel room and Jeanette wanted to see our cat, Pumba who had been kept in the bathroom while we were gone. She fell in love with her. Pumba had fun playing with a foam cup and got it shredded with pieces all over the floor. Ken who saw my snowboard on one of our suitcases asked me if it was mine and I said yes. He thought its a good idea for us to bring it and our new video game into the room so no one would break into our SUV and take them. Ken took us for a drive in his fancy new Caddilac and showed us where we would need to get out of Denver toward Kansas next morning. We thanked them for coming and a dinner.
We hit the sack and zzzzzzz. We had a good breakfast the next morning and were ready to leave. Two hours after leaving Denver, we stopped by the souvenir store to buy some t-shirts and rested for a little while. We stopped two hours later at Burlingon near the Kansas border for some gas and lunch at McDonald. When we got into the Kansas roads, there were no more mountains to drive on and I was relieved because I was concerned about Richard when he was driving little fast down the hills. We continued east on Kansas highway

We stopped at Salila, Kansas to sleep. The weather was getting warmer and the motel swimming pool was still open. I had the problem getting the internet access in the room so I talked to the motel clerk about it and he gave me the key for another room to use it.

The next morning we found out that we had run out of our socks so went to the nearest Wal (W-scoff) mart to buy some. I had never bought any clothers from Walmart before and didn't know where the department store like JCPenney or Sears was.

Our dog and cat were good kids during the travel but our dog, Kelly started getting tired of it by showing her temper tantrum when she resisted getting into the moving truck. We had to push her in and she stared out of the passender window for a while when Richard was driving before she was laid down. We started south on the road toward Oklahoma.

We stopped for some gas in Billings, Oklahoma and noticed the area was tooo flat. My hand felt little sticky due to humidity. We had decided to to stop to sleep in one of the towns south of Oklahoma City because we were very anxious to get into our new home. We stopped for our late lunch in a couple hours north of Oklahoma City. When we went through Oklahoma City, we realized how big the city was and the traffic was pretty heavy. I saw the pacific time in my Blackberry pager had been changed into the central time when I checked it and Richard's son Jeff told me that we were to change two hours ahead of the pacific time. Jeff and I made an arrangement to have three moving men help us unload the truck at the apartment the day after we arrived Plano, Texas when he was on the phone talking with one of them.

We finally found the motel at Paul Valley, Oklahoma and asking if the pets were allowed b ut the clerk said no so we looked and found one. The clerk said the pets up to 50 pounds were allowed but she saw the disappointment on my face when I told her that our dog weighted 95 pounds and she changed her mind saying that it was okay. I assumed she was a manager. There was no interenet accest in some rooms but it was fine with me since we needed to get into the bed.

The next morning on Oct.1,2005 we were ready for our new home in Plano, Texas and checked out of the motel. I will write more about our arrival in Plano in next post.

CH 9 Moving To Texas. On The Road In Montana

2007-11-12T18:48:00.000-06:00

I was going to write more sooner but I had been drowned with tons of online homework.
After we had the moving truck replaced and leaving Haugan, Montana, we stopped often to rest because we were still tired from packing and loading the truck the days before. We were very thankful to some of our neighbors and their friends for their help. BLESS THEIR HEARTS! We gave them some very nice lunch. Had a lunch at Missoula about an hour and half after leaving Haugan. I emailed my brother Dale telling him what had happened in Haugan and he said that he and Dad were at the annual musical festival in Sandpoint, Idaho where he was singing with his choir group. Sandpoint is in north Idaho near the large mountain where my son and I used to snowboard together. Richard and I decided earlier that we needed to stop at the Bozeman motel to rest instead of Billings so we were able to have enough time visiting with one of Richard's cousins and playmates Patty in Billings the next day. Billings is their birthplace. We had a very good sleep. I was concerned about Richard's heart condition since he had bout with pneumonia five months earlier and had been feeling so tired and looking so gaunt. He didn't feel like going to the cardiologist for an annual check-up in Spokane. I decided that I was going to have him checked when we arrived in Plano, Texas which I did. I will explain later what the Plano doctor found out before refering him to the specialist. I suggested him that we would hire a person to drive the truck to Plano but he wanted to continue driving.

Our cat Pumba was sleeping in one of our suitcases the morning at the motel in Bozeman.

When we were waiting for our breakfast serviced at the cafe the next morning, I was talking with one of our former neighbors Joe via email. He said he had met the parents of the buyer who bought our old house in North Idaho and knew him who was his daughter's financial advisor. Joe understood earlier that the buyer's parents were moving into that house from Montana and also for the buyer's investment purpose.

We got on the road toward Billings. We made several stops because we were still tired. The shift clush in an older truck made the driving very difficult for Richard. I kept in touch with Patty via email makking an arrangement to meet at the motel. When arriving in Billings, we stopped and checked in the motel before I heard the door knock. Richard and Patty were so excited to see each others and it had a been a long time to not seeing each others. Patty was very happy having met me for the first time. We had a nice dinner at the Cracker Barrel next door and talked for hours. Afterward Patty and I had washed some of our clothes. Then she went home and we went to bed.

The next day before getting on the road again, we decided to stop at Casper, Wyoming. We arrived there long before dark and had no problem finding the motel to sleeeeep.

I will write more later when I'm free from homework.

CH 8 Moving To Texas.....Getting Back On The Road

2007-10-19T08:28:00.000-05:00

The night after the moving truck was being replaced in Haugan, Montana we got up early in the morning to clean out the motel room and load our cars. I found some more spaces in the back of the truck and was able to load stuff I got from our SUV. It was very cold at 35 degrees. When I was loading the truck, the motel manager who helped me make the call to the UHAUL person the day before pestering him to have the truck replaced right away stopped by to check on me on her way to church and we talked for a few min. Afterward I went to the front desk to ask the clerk for the manager's name so I could send her a thank you card with the motel address when we arrived in Texas.
Richard's cousin Joy and her husband Dale came from Spokane, Washington to check on us and had a breakfast with us. They had moved back to Spokane from Alaska a couple of years before to be closer to Dale's family. We put our dog Kelly into the truck and our cat Pumba in a crate into our SUV before checking out the motel room. We embraced Joy and Dale and thanked them for coming. Finally, we got back on the road.

We stopped for lunch in Missoula. We decided to spend the night at Bozeman because we wanted to have enough time visiting with Richard's cousin Patty in Billings the next day before spending the night at the motel. Billings is Richard's birthplace four years before moving to Seattle and then Spokane.

CH 7 Moving To Texas...Waiting For A Truck Replacement

2007-10-16T18:27:00.000-05:00

On Sept, 24, 2005 the night after the moving truck Richard was driving broke down at Haugan, Montana, I went down to the motel front desk to ask the clerk to make a phone call to a person at the UHAUL truck rental office and make an arrangement to have the truck replaced right away so we could get back on the road for Texas. The clerk went to get a very nice manager to help me. She explained everything to a person and telling him that we wanted a truck replaced. But he told her that the repairmen were going to fix it in a couple of days and we told him no way and demanded them bring another truck. He told to tell me that he would do that. I also made her tell him that I needed the truck key back right away from the repairman so I could get our medicines and another suitcase from the truck that was parked on the shoulder of the highway. After three hours of waiting I got up and started going back to the front back to make a phone call to a person again, the other repairman was at the door with the key saying that they towed the truck to the motel parking lot (see picture above), I asked him for another truck but he said they were looking for it. I told him to "get real" and we needed to get back on the road. Since there was no coverage for our old Blackberry pagers and no one had an access to internet in a small town on the mountain, I had asked the manager to call and let some of our family members know where we were. We were unable to get aholf of my dad and brother, Dale before finding out they were at the musical festival in Sandpoint, Idaho that weekend. One of Richard's cousin, Joy and her husband Dale from Spokane, Washington were concerned about us. Joy had called the person of the UHAUL and demaned them get us another truck right away and was so frustrated to hear that it was not done we wanted. She checked on us by calling the manager.
Finally in the late evening the another truck was towed to the parking lot outside the motel and the driver backed the new truck toward the back of the truck. Six people including one woman came to load everything into the new one from old one that took them two and half hours finishing at 11:30 P.M. We were disappointed to find out that the new truck was older than the previous truck. They hooked up the car trailer to a new one. We spent another night at the same motel. Before hitting the sack, the swing shift clerk gave us a note saying that Joy and Dale were coming to see us in the morning.

I will write more in next post.

CH 6 Moving To Texas... UHAUL Truck Broke Down!

2007-10-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

We were about 96 miles toward Missoula, Montana after leaving Coeur D'Alene, Idaho when the UHAUL moving truck broke down on the highway in Haugan ,Montana after the smoke was coming out of the front. It was five oclock in the evening. The truck was brand new at 16,000 miles when we picked it up the day before. I parked our Explorer in front of the truck on the shoulder of the highway. Richard tried starting it after stopping but it wasn't working so I ran aross the highway toward the tavern to get a help. I showed the note with an emergency phone number on an UHAUL folder to a very nice bartender who was about 60 or so years of age and she called the person explaining to him what had happened. She said that the repairman was coming from Missoula and it would be two hours. I thanked her and went back to the truck. Richard who wore shorts had changed into his jeans and sweatshirt when the air became colder. I was glad I threw his warm clothes into our SUV the day before. I forgot to turn off the emergency lights and the battery in our SUV went dead and I was cold. I played my Nintendo DS to kill time while Richard slept for a short time in the truck. I went into the truck to talk with him and noticed our dog Kelly being shaken so I took our cat Pumba in a crate and brought her into the truck. Kelly got up, sniffed at Pumba and started to calm down that surprised us. We used the towels to keep ourselves warm. I realized I didn't put some blankets into our SUV. The truck still smelled so bad from the smoke.
The repairman came after the bartender came to check on us and he tried to fix it but no luck. He went back to Missoula and forth with some extra tools and parts. He tried for an hour but its didn't start. He went to the gas station near the tavern and came back with some hot cocoa because we were freezing cold. He recharged the battery to get our SUV started.
After six hours of waiting with no luck, the repairmen took Richard and Kelly in his pick up to a new motel next to the tavern and I followed them in our SUV leaving the moving truck and our little car on a trailer behind on the shoulder of the highway. We checked in and went to bed after I went to a gas mart to get a bag of kitty litter to fill Pumba's litter box. We were disappointed to find out that there was no coverage on our pagers since the little town was on the top of the mountain. Then we zzzzzzzzz.
Pumba and Kelly sleeping in a motel room.

I will write more in next post.

Ch.5 Moving To Texas. Moving Day 2005

2007-10-12T16:15:00.000-05:00

The moving day was on Sept 22,2005 the day after the estate closing. Some of our neighbors and their friends helped us load the truck after we picked it up with the car trailer. The truck was brand new at 16,000 miles with auto transmission. We served the people some pizzas for lunch when we were done. The buyer Ty said that he would be happy to let us stay there for another day if we needed to rest before leaving. When we bumped into him at church two weeks before when we donated a paper bag of canned food and he was saying that he bought our house said that he was buying it for his parents to move in from Montana. One of our neighbors Fred put our new little Ford Focus onto the trailer. We gave him the four snowtires we used for our old Ford Escape so he was able to sell them to keep the money for himself. Along with their five birth children he and his wife Keileen adopted two little girls from Russia a year before.

After leading the truck, we spent the last night at the house using the patio chair cushions on the floor in our empty bedroom. Our dog Kelly and cat Pumba were confused what was going on, and they slept close to us for the first time.

The next morning we found out that the dog harness with a leach was missing believing that someone had put it into the box the day before so Richard had to buy another one. My Gameboy SP was also missing (I found it in one of the boxes two months later) and I had a Nintendo DS game in a glove compartment in our Ford Explorer which I was driving so I was able to use it when we stopped at the motels. I threw some of warm clothes into our car before someone helped us with some last packings. We finished cleaning up the house and were ready to leave. I cried when we left the house and I waved at one of our neighbors Mary who had tears in her eyes. She bought several children books that belonged to my boys when they were little from me during the garage sale a few weeks before. Also other neighbor Terry bought a lot of "Beretsen Bears" books from me for his daughter. I had our cat with me in our SUV and our dog in a moving truck with Richard. We were amazged that they were the very good travelers. We were sad to leave North Idaho and Spokane, Washington where we lived for years but we were very excited to begin our new lives in Texas. The few days before we left, I had stopped by to see my oldest brother Bob and two of his grown children in Spokane Valley, Washington near the Idaho border to say good bye. His wife was at work. Bob was very disappointed to see us leave.

Railroad on a bridge on Seltice Way at Post Falls, Idaho where we lived for two years.

Highway 95 in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho after dinner at the fast food resturant before turning left on Highway 90 toward Montana. We were emailing each others with our old Blackberry pagers when we needed to stop. I dropped the deposit check into the mail for the apartment in Plano, Texas we made an arrangement earlier online so we were able to move into the day we arrived there.

Hit the road!!

In 76 miles and an hour and half after leaving Coeur D'Alene, the smoke started coming out of the front of the moving truck and it smelled so bad. I will write more in next post.

Moving to Texas-Changing The Mailing Address

2007-09-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

I had forgotten to mention the date of our move to Texas I wrote in the previous posts that had occured. It was on September 2005. Its been almost TWO years since we left Post Falls, Idaho for our new home in Texas. We left on Sept 23, 2005 and arrived in Plano, Texas on Oct 1, 2005.
Before we moved, we found an apartment in Plano online where we were planning to live for several months before finding and purchasing a new house in Fort Worth. We made an arrangement for the apartment and paid the deposit in order to make a reservation on it with the help by Richard's son who lives there so we were able to move into it the same day we arrived in Plano. We had him get some movers to meet with us the day after we arrived.
We picked up the Official Mover's Guide with the Mail Forwarding change of Address Order form in the Post Falls Post Office, filled it out and gave it to a postal worker.

Caution: I found out from the newspaper a few months ago that the person had filled out someone else's name and address from the phone book on the mail forwarding change of address order form and giving them to the postal worker so he was able to recieve the credit card statements forwarding to him with the credit card account numbers in the mail. So I decided for our protection of our credit card and checking account numbers that if I don't recieve any mail within two days, I will go to the post office to find out if I still have my mailing address on their list.

I will write more in next post about what had happened in Montana where we were stranded for two days.

CH.4 Moving To Texas-Packing and Packing.

2007-08-25T19:03:00.000-05:00

Dragonflies mating on a back sliding door

I was collecting many large boxes and foam wraps from my work with where I was employeed as a repair technican and we started packing some of the stuff we were not planning to use. I also collected several small boxes from the parts store at work earlier for my Ebay packing and shipping. I was selling lots of vintage toys and some stuff through Ebay some months earlier. We had some yard sales and took the rest of the stuff and old clothes we didn't need anymore to the thirft store. We sold the china hutch to one of my co-workers, dining set, a fridge two weeks before the closing through the ad and bought a small dorm fridge to keep the remain of food cold. We gave the washer and dryer to a Russian co-worker.

We found out that we could not put our Ford Explorer on a trailer when moving because it eas too heavy so I was going to drive it while Richard drove the moving truck.

I gave my two week notice each to my leader and the manager at work. I had told a few of my close friends there two months before and we kept it secret. We kept telling each others how sick we were of the manufactoring where we worked because the managements were not good. We didn't tell anyone in my family yet until a month before we left. I was very disappointed for not seeing my oldest son in Seattle for some reasons. I stopped by Sears in Spokane where my youngest son worked and said good bye. I had told him about our move earlier but he didn't think so. I still keep in touch with them by text message since moving to Texas.

I had hard time deciding to sell my old 1980 Ford Mustang I kept for over 25 years. I knew it would take arm and leg to put it on the train and it would be put on the list for maybe a month or so. I had the engine replaced in 1996 and got it painted dark blue in 2000 because the old silver paint had faded with some peels. I painted the white stars on it a year later. For the past 25 years my two sons were each brought home from the hospital in my car right after their births and to their driving ages. It wasn't a classic car but I enjoyed working in it as one of my hobbies. The engine had been worn out again and needed a rebuilt and new rings. I had met Andy the Mustang collector in Spokane a few years earlier and so in a week before moving, I called and asked him if he was interested in buying it since no one else was interested when I put it on an ad and he said he was happy to buy it. I explained to him about the car problem and he told me to bring it over which we did. It broke down when I was driving closer to his home and Richard was following me in our Exploerer. We pushed my car and the driver who saw us stopped and helped us push it toward Andy's house. I secretly kissed on a steering wheel and it broke my heart to give it up. Andy looked at it, gave me the cash and I gave him the title. I took off the two Idaho license plates to take them with me and got into our Exploerer. I put both license plates on my laps, cried and Richard gave me his comfort. That car had been so good to me for 25 years. It also was the best to get rid of it since my exhusband was driving it in the past.

I was so quiet and bit depressed for three days because I felt so weird for not having my own car. So when I was at work, Richard went to the Lake City Ford in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho to look at a new Focus for fun and the saleperson who with a hearing loss in his left ear at birth had been a good friend to him since he bought a new Exploerer a year and half earlier from him offered him a very good deal knowing that we were planning to move to Texas. Richard came to see me at work during my lunch hour with a new Focus and asked me if I wanted to test drive it. We bought it later in the afternoon. We had arranged the UHAUL a month before to rent a 26ft long truck so we stopped by to add the car trailer for our new little car and bought some boxes for the lamps and two small TV's. We later took our Exploerer to a Ford service for oil change and check up for the trip.

We went to the bowling alley one night to visit with the deaf bowlers and friends before saying good bye.

I was given a very nice farewell party at work on the last day of my employment. After signing out and returning the hanging parking permit card to Bruce, the Human Recource personal, he gave me a bear hug. I was very happy to get out of the "prison" after almost seven years.

We invited my dad and brother Dale to breakfast with us at IHOP and had a good conversation for two hours. My dad said that my late mom would be thrilled about our move back to her birth place. (She was born in Denison, Texas).

I will write more later about the moving day.

CH. 3 Moving To Texas-House Inspection Report

2007-08-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

Before starting to write my new post, I realized that I needed to put the empty chicken breast package and some cuts into the garbage can before the collection truck comes so they don't smell real bad when they remain in the can for days during the hot weather. I took out, cut and coated the chicken breasts with BBQ sauce mixture in a container and put them in the fridge. I dumped the little bag with package and cuts in it into the can. Whew!

About a few weeks after putting our house into the market we received an offer from the buyers who were moving to Post Falls, Idaho from Virginia asking for $5,000 less of the price and they had requested our house being inspected. They were paying to have it done and Josie, our realtor said that it'd take 3-4 hours and costing the buyers for $300-500 from their pockets. She said that we didn't have to be home but we wanted to be home to make sure the inspector and the buyers don't take our valuable stuff or nose around. They came and the bald-headed inspector whom I called "Mr. Pinkerton" the high school principal from the TV show maybe called "Saved By the Bell" which my 2 sons liked to watch when they were younger (Josie laughed so hard when I said that) and they showed disappointment on their faces to find out that we chose to be at home during the inspection, too bad! Josie wasn't there during that time. We kept our dog outside and cat in one of the upstair bathrooms. The buyers seemed nice and we were talking about our employments, etc. I was very annoying with the inspector checking all over our house.
What he inspected our house are: (we were told that he was very picky) turning on and off range tops and boil (making a bad odor into the air) and pulling it forward and back in, dishwasher, furnace/air condition, opneing ALL of kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors listening to the hinge noise, flushing toilets, turning on and off the water fountains, listening to the drains, vents, even in attic making some messes on the carpent even he put the tarp on it, (he noticed me being displeased), sewer drain, valves, garage door opener, (my teeth grinding) patios, landscape, fences, gates, drainage of the property, driveway, walkways, stairs, doors, windows, trim works, floors, carpents, light fixtures, roof structure, walls, wall framing making sure they were perfectly straight, basement, moisture, ventations, fire safety, etc, etc , etc. FINALLY he was done and left. So did the buyers. I saw them talking on the street afterward for several minutes.
A few days later we received the report from him online and got it printed the same day Josie stopped by (we saw her eyes rolling up) with the papers from the buyers' realtor about what they expected to be done before closing even our house was just TWO years old (scoff). They showed: poor proprty draining around our house when raining, landscape work be done by the qualified landscapers, leaking furnace fixed and cleaned and verified by the qualified HVAC contractor (we got him check it, put a few duck tapes and he said that everything was FINE which he wrote down on the report), sewer checked by the qualified contractor, there was no water shut-off in the basement ( yes, it was there! just on the wall above the water heater), water heater be raised 18" above the floor ( we got the builder come to check it and said it was NOT required, and he read the report and he said he disagreed with it), anti-tip hardware had not been installed on this range needed it done so it doesn't tip when a child stands on an open oven door, the personal items and boxed packed for moving in the basement needed to be taken out and put into the storage somewhere before closing of escrow (no way! we were planning to put them in the garage days or weeks before closing to be ready for loading in the truck instead), gates of the fences needed to be repaired by the qualified fence installer, the lift sewer machine did not operate property and needed to be fixed by the qualified sewer contractor, do not flush such items as greases, oils or feminine hygiene products down the toilets which we never did, high level alarm be installed with the sewer machine in case the pipes get clogged, garage was not vented (we had the papers saying it was not neccesary unless we request before closing, The screen sliding door missing (it was in the garage keeping our dog from tearing the screen), the sensitivity on the closing (downward force) of the garage door needed to be done by the qualified opener mechanism (we had him come to check, greased it and he said it was fine), and slightly cracked driveway needed to be sealed by the qualified contractor.
We sat down with Josie in the dining room to review the reports and discussed by writing notes. Josie said that it was not common and the inspector was very picky and so did the buyers. We agreed with each others because of all the unneccesary repairs would cost us $5,000.00 and more plus $5,000.00 less of the house value the buyers offered, we turned down their offers. A week later we put our house back into the market and we fixed the landscape voluntarily in order to pass the next report if the other buyers request the inspection. We had our house shown several times by some people and their realtors. Three weeks later after my prayer, I received email from Josie saying that she didn't receive response from Richard in email she sent to him if it was okay for him to show our house to another buyer and his realtor and I tried emailing him a few times from my work but no response. I believed he was taking a nap in the family room. Richard was awaked and startled by the realtor who patted his arm with his busines card before bringing a buyer in. We received the offer the next day with NO inspection request and NO less of the house value. Josie said that Richard's taking a nap had helped and we laughed. Everything went well and we were preparing for move. When we were talking with Russ our friend and interpreter at the church and I was looking for the food bank box, carrying a paper bag of canned foods in my arms, we bumped into the buyer who said he bought our house and Richard was taking a nap when he and hsi realtor stopped by to look at. Richard recognized him and Russ was surprised.
I write write more in next post later.

Our sweet dog Kelly playing in the snow in the backyard.

Ch 2. Moving to Texas-Putting Our House Into Market

2007-08-18T20:04:00.001-05:00

A few months after the spring cleaning and Richard's getting over with pnuemonia, we invited the realtor, Josie over to our house in Post Falls, Idaho to talk about putting our house into the market. We decided to move to Fort Worth, Texas for some reasons and also to begin our new lives. Richard had lived in Big Spring, Texas when he was the dental lab technican instructor at the college for the Deaf for 20 years before retiring and moving back to Washington state in 2001 when we were just dating. We had met in 1976 and were good friends for years. We were both raised in Spokane. We got married in the Summer of 2002 and lived in an apartment in Liberty Lake less then five miles from the Idaho border for two years before meeting Josie who helped us find a new house in Post Falls and since we liked her a lot we decided to have her put our house into the market for us. When we were talking about it, she suggested us to wait for three months before putting it into the market so we didn't have to pay taxes after owning our house for two years before selling it and we agreed with her. It gave us time to get rid of the stuff we didn't need by having three weekends of yard sales and taking the rest to the thrift store.
Some of our neighbors were sad to hear about our discussion to move and they offered to help us load the truck. They have been very nice to us and we would not trade them for anything.
Josie returned three months later and we got the house ready for the market. We were very excited about starting our new lives in Texas. I liked Texas since I was in the eastern Texas in 1997 with my youngest son, parents and two brothers to attend my mom's family reunion and fooling around in nine days. My oldest brother, Bob liked it there, also and wanted to move down there and told his wife about it when he got home but she on other side didn't want to leave her family and friends so they remain in Spokane. My mom was born in Denision an hour north of Dallas before moving to California when she was six with her family and relatives from her mother's side when there was no money in Texas during the Great Depression after her parents' divorce. Her dad stayed in Denision and later moved to Dallas. Former President Eisenhower was also born in Denision.

I will write more in my next post about turning down the buyers' offer after recieving the house inspection report which Josie, Richard and I didn't like.

Ducks on Spokane's Manito Park pond during the freezing cold day at 12 degrees above, brrrr! I took several pictures of them without realizing that it was our last winter in the Pacific Northwest before moving to Texas. I saw the picture of them in the newspaper the day before and decided to go there to take some pictures. People fed them with some duck food and bread crumbs.

Ch 1 Moving To Texas - Spring Cleaning & Neighbor Boy Escaped.

2007-08-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

The morning in the early spring in 2005 I woke up feeling sick and didn't feel like going to work, I emailed my leader telling him that I wasn't going to work and went back to sleep. I was employed with the laptop manufactoring in Washington state near the Idaho border as a repair technican for almost seven years. The management was not good during the last two years of my employment. Some of my co-workers were considering of leaving and some other good people were laid off. The first years were really good and I made new friends.
Two hours later I started to feel lot better , my husband Richard came into our bedroom, asked me if I was in a mood to start a spring cleaning with him and we started it. After living in North Idaho for almost two years, we were talking about putting our house into the market and moving to Texas. After vacuuming the furnace/air conditioning pipes, we were removing the screens from the windows to begin washing them. I heard and saw the young mother with her baby girl in her arm calling for someone from our upstair bedroom window and she looked worried. I went outside to find out whats going on and she said that her three years old son had escaped from her house. She said that she had locked the doors but she assumeed he had figured out by himself on how to unlock them. (Kids can be smarter than you think!). I told her to tell one of my neighbors who was a cop and having a day off , and I went back into my house to change into my running shoes before I began looking for the boy. Richard and the cop joined the mother with some other people to begin looking for her son and I was running along the other block as fast as I could to find him. About two blocks later I found him in his pj and socks and and took him home. When Richard saw us and called the team by blowing a whistle, the mother with a baby girl in her arm ran toward us and grabbed her son hugging him. I took her baby and we were relieved. She thanked me with her hand sign and I was surprised. About half hour later she came to our house giving us a note expressing her thankfulness for helping her find her son and she said that she knew some signs but forgot most of them. I was glad I had called in sick earlier that morning so I was able to help finding the boy. The next day I told one of my co-worker about the neighbor boy escaping from his home and she said that she heard from the news about the other little boy escaping from the nearest daycare center the same day and was later found. Yikes!
Our curious cat Pumba during the cleaning.

Our Clueless Neighbor Married To His Prized and Joy Yellow Truck

2007-07-30T14:18:00.000-05:00

I had been thinking of writing my story about our clueless neighbor in my blog but didn't do it till after I read Lantana's new post in her blog about how her summer months went by and I got kicked in my butts to write. My summer months went well. I had been busy preparing for some courses at the college beginning on Aug 27. I chose community college instead of the university because it will be less stressful to start with than a large college and I hadn't in college in a long time. Its an Old Timer's Disease. My EX-husband had refused to let me go to college in the past. Now my new husband is encouraging me to start with. I met with a social work professor with an interpreter at the university this morning to help me choose the courses at the community college that could be transfered after two years. I'm very excited about it.

Our neighbor's name is Mark (name changed due to his identity). He is married with two little children. His wife is friendly and he isn't because he doesn't wave his hand at us. I thought maybe he was bit shy. He works with the TV dish company. He has a TV dish on top of his shed instead of his house which our builder thought a was crazy idea. His wife introduced herself to us when we stopped by our new house a month before we moved in. Mark washes his yellow pick-up twice weekly and I told my husband that Mark was married to his truck. He laughed saying he agreed with me. I found out online about why people like him cleaned too often even everything was clean.
One day last Thursday he was washing his weathered fence with his power spray machine making the weathered wood chips and water flying into the air and all over the side of our house, shed and fence. I saw the water and chips on the bathroom window as well as other two others when I looked out to see what Mark was doing because our dog and cat ran into our house thru the back door when I opened it. Boy, I was boiling mad and I didn't know how to talk. I didn't know how to think before I talked. I was going to hose the water at him to stop but instead I had to go to Home Depot real fast to get the window cleaner supplies and a bottle of cleaner before the chips on the window become dry without thinking we had some old supplies we bought when we lived in North Idaho for a short time. Yes, I did purchased new ones and afterward I finally remembered that we had old ones at home just minutes before I got home. I grabbed the bottle of cleaner from our SUV leaving behind the new supplies with a receipt in a bag which I was going to return to the store later. I collected old supplies and started washing the windows. I also hosed the water on the side of our house, shed and fence removing the weathered wood chips. I washed the rest of the windows. My husband was upset when he found out about it when he got home from his work and told me that he wanted to take me out to eat since I was working too hard. Bless his heart. After taking a bath getting dressed and ready to go to favotite Italian resturant, I wrote on a small neon pink post note saying "Thanks a lot for making a MESS on our house, shed and fence!" and put it on his yellow truck driver side window. Sorry, I'm not a "Pollyana". I don't mean to be pointing my finger at Mark but wanted to express my feeling to others. If I were in his shoes, I would have warned my neighbor in advance and would clean his house after I clean my fence with a power spray machine. You might have/had some experience having some neighbors like ours or you might have good ones, if so you are lucky. Our other neighbors have been very nice and friendly. One of them sent me a thank you card expressing their appreciatation last winter after finding out that I put their three loose dogs back into their fenced backyard and covered the hole under the fence with rocks to keep their dogs in place when they were working.

Some of you like us may have been unfortunately being stuck with some clueless neighbors with whom we don't get along. We had some good ones most of the time. Like my uncle Cy, himself a good neighbor, who accidently got his neighbor's shed into a fire by a sparked fire that flew toward it when he was working in his back yard in Anacortes, Washington and Cy who was thoughful went over and took out everything of the shed before it had burned down. Cy offered to have it replaced by himself BUT his neighbor decided to file a lawsuit against him for a mental anguish but lost it in a settlement.

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

My cat Pumba was trying to become a patriot when she jumped on a flag I put on the floor.

Happy 4th of July and hope you enjoy your day.

Pagers and Cell Phones Save Lives.

2007-03-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

People are able to call for help using their cell phones and pagers when they are trapped in some deserted places.
One day in 1994 one of my youngest son's soccer team mates names Brian was riding in a SUV with his mother and younger brother Brandon into the deserted place south of Spokane Valley, Washington. Brian was nine years old and Brandon was six. When their mother stopped her SUV, turned it off and took out a gun from her purse. She shot at both boys and then herself. After Brian was shot in his abdomen, he found his mother's cell phone in her purse and called for help. The police and paramedic found them and they were taken to the hospital. Brandon and their mother were pronounced dead. Brian recovered nicely from surgery and was living with his father, the owner of the motorcycle and snowmobile store. He continued playing soccer afterward. His mother was not smart about keeping her cell phone in her purse that had saved Brian's life.

KODA My "Speech Therapists"

2007-03-17T13:52:00.000-05:00

My two hearing sons were my "speech therapists" because I had always asked either of them using my fingerspelling how to say the word like Jose Canseco the retired major leaguer's first name and my oldest son Micah said "Hoesee" in Spanish. They never made fun of how I spoke but one day Micah made fun of my crooked numb lips when I was talking after my root canal treatment. In order to get (fun) even with him, I went behind Micah at the barber shop and whispered to Irv the longtime haircutter to cut his hair real short which he did laughing. Irv and his brother/co-owner Tom also cut my boys' hair knew that I was always picking on my boys. When it was done, Micah who asked for a crew cut was surprised to find out how short his hair was when he saw at the handheld mirror Irv gave to him. Irv and I chuckled. On our way home I told Micah what I had done and he hit my arm with the back of his hand and we laughed. When we got into the church bus to go to a rollerskating rink a few hours later, his friend Holly screamed when she saw his hair after taking off his baseball cap and we laughed so hard. Thats one of my pleasant memories. My boys know sign language that makes our communication very easy.

Blushed Deaf Mom with Loud Radio On

2007-03-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

When my Deaf friend Charlotte with riding with me in my new Ford Mustang one day in 1980, she was telling me that her hard of hearing son, Keith liked to listen to a loud music on a car radio when she was driving. One day she was driving alone with an open window without realizing the high volume radio was on and noticed the people in other cars were trying to talk to her but she ignored them. She was wondering why they were doing that. The man finally got her attention with his hands on his ears and his head shaking at the same time, and Charlotte put her hand on the dashboard to feel a strong vibration. She was blushed.