2007 - It's a Whole New Beginning!

Christmas 2007 and July 2008

OK...I guess I got tired of scrolling through all the old stuff and felt that this topic deserved a posting of it's own so here it is.

1. Mailing presents and/or stocking stuffers for Christmas 2007:

     a. Are we doing presents, stocking stuffers, or whatever anyone feels like sending?

     b. Are there going to be lists sent around or are we on our own to come up with ideas for purchases?

     c. I think we already agreed to mail the items at Christmas time, but if you feel differently, please let us know.

2. Meeting of the clans in July 2008:

     a. Is anyone interested in attempting a family reunion type get together or shall we just keep it to those on the blog?

     b. There are motels close by...a Days Inn just down the street from Eric and I, and both Dad and David have Extended Stay Americas near them...not to mention others that we could choose from.

Well I guess that's all I can think of at the moment. Please respond with your thoughts and questions.

My New Job

Ok I will try to explain my new job.

First I get a crane.

Then I take a coil of steel.

And I place it on the coil car.

Then I move the coil car so the coil fits on the decoiler.

The steel rolls off the decoiler and into the straightener.

Then it goes thru two punch presses that put holes in certain locations.

Then it goes thru the shear that cuts it to size.

Then the cut piece goes down a conveyor belt.

Where it enters an oven to heat it up. I couldn't find an adequate picture, sorry. The heat is necessary for the paint to dry properly. (this comes later)

After the oven, the piece enters the rollformer.

The rollformer shapes it into a Cee or a Zee.

Then another conveyor takes it to the paint department, which is somebody else's job.



Here is the computer terminal which operates everything from the decoiler to the last conveyor belt.

Ok this has been the most basic of descriptions. The fact is, it's alot to keep track of. Everything is running at once. There is so much that can go wrong. I have to constantly be looking at and listening to the entire line to make sure everything is operating normally. And at the same time I have to be entering work order data into the computer. It's a little overwhelming at times. Especially when my trainer is rushing me. I understand why he does it, we have quotas they expect us to fill, about 10,000 feet of steel a day. I have to go now but I will write more in the comments later.

Happy Birthday John!

A Belated Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had a great holiday(even if you did celebrate early). Things went well here in Maine. Busy and tiring, but went well. Mom was glad to be home and everyone was glad to see her.

Overall, Santa was very good to me this year and I am very thankful to all of my friends and family that made my christmas a merry one.

Mom is doing okay too. She had a bad spell yesterday of having a bad tummy ache, but doing much better today. Home health is taking good care of her. It is estimated that she will be back to her old self by early spring.

Happy New Year to all
Tarja

2006 VA/NC Christmas Visit

Driving from Florida to Virginia or Michigan is never one of my favorite things to do since Merle and I do not travel well together. I don't feel safe when he's driving and he doesn't like my constant "controling" attitude when he's behind the wheel. However, the trip up to VA this time was better than usual. Merle drove from 5 am when we left (with me resting with eyes closed in the passenger seat)until we got to Rt. 10 in Northern FL then I took over as usual. He was insistant about wanting to drive more this trip, so I gave him the wheel again in SC (with me sitting behind the driver in the back seat and crocheting all the while to keep my eyes off the road). We spent Tues. night in Kenly, NC and then I drove on into NN on Wed morning.

When we went to visit Marcia and Rick Wed and Thurs night, we learned that the scheduled Friday family dinner had been changed to Saturday and no one had told us about the change. This meant we would not be able to leave Sat. morning for Fred's house in NC as we had planned and instead would leave at 3:30 pm. (bummer)

Merle got to visit with his friend Clint Armstrong Friday afternoon and drove by his old house on Lyliston Lane, and went to Sears to see if anyone he knew was still working there. I think he found three.

The most frustrating thing about the NN visit was (besides the change of the dinner day)our motel room door lock. The first night we left Pepper in the room and went up for dinner with Marcia and Rick. When we got back I couldn't get in the room. Swipe/try handle, swipe/try handle...on and on. I went to the office three times to get the card rekeyed... finally got in. Every time we tried to get into the room after than it was just the same, swipe/try handle, swipe/try handle... on and on and on and on. I'll bet you could swipe those cards (we had two) 30 times and it would "green light" only 1/3 of the time and if you were VERY lucky, it would finally let you in. We have bumped, jiggled, pulled, pushed, and everything else short of kicking the door in. @(*%&)!!!!!!!!!

So, Saturday came around and we checked out of the motel at 10:30 am and went over to Nettie Mae's. Normally, everyone arrives around noon, has lunch, and opens gifts. This time, we arrived at 10:30, got hungry and ate at 12:30 before anyone else arrived. Marcia and Rick arrived about 12:45, Rubette and Stewart arrived around 1:00. Cindy and Mike had gone to the airport to pick up Jeffrey (on leave from the Army)and never did make it to the dinner before we left. Clinton, Mike's son arrived (first time in about 4 years)around 1:30. Jennifer and the new baby Tyler (Merle's first great-grandson) arrived around 2:00. So, although we had hoped to leave earlier, we weren't able to depart for NC until 3:30.

I drove to Rt. 85 in Petersburg (64/295/36/85)and let Merle have the wheel and I sat in the passenger seat reclining with my eyes closed. About 30 min. later we're running off the side of the road with those warning strips bump,bump,bumping. I look up and see the speedometer says 117. Instant panic! I look again and noticed, with relief, that it says 117 kmh, not mph. So, Merle gets the car back on the road and explains that he's trying to adjust the driver's outside mirror... and I realize that he has no idea where the control is, has changed us from mph to kph, reset the odometer, and heaven knows what else while trying to find the mirror adjustment. Anyway, he pulled over and I tried to adjust it, but after returning to the road, it still wasn't right so I told him to drive and I did the adjustments as he drove and finally got it fairly right. So, as usual with me, once scared, always scared and the rest of his postion of the drive was fraught with my "controlling attitude" again.

I took over outside of Durham and drove the rest of the way to Fred and Alice's house, arriving about 8:30 p.m.. I hadn't wanted to drive at night to begin with. I don't like driving at night. But, with the time of the dinner changed without our knowledge, plans had to be adjusted.





We had a very nice visit with Fred and Alice and Esther, got to see Fred's little plants (He sent five home with me.), had a delicious lunch of turkey, salad, Fred's own corn caserole, dressing, homemade bread, sweet potatoes, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. Oh yeah... that wonderful chocolate brownie thingey Alice made (not a brownie, she called it something else, but looked like brownies). Alice, I hope you remember to send me the recipe! Barbara and her boys joined us for lunch before heading to VA Beach.

Sunday night all of us except Merle (who had a headache) went to the Festival of Lights somewhere out near Winston Salem. I don't know the name of the town/community, but we drove a good ways to get there. Photos of some of the lights and the Newport News and NC photos are online at Snapfish. If you didn't get an invite in email to view them, let me know and I'll send you one.

Fred mapped out our route from his house (40/52/85/77/26/95)and assured me we would have no trouble finding our way (unlike last time I went that route and ended up on 20 instead of 26 and drove quite a few miles out of the way). I reminded him how hard it was for me to go that route last time because it was raining so hard I couldn't see. He checked the computer and told me, regretfully, that it was going to be raining again of our trip home Monday Morning. Oh well. We left at 5:00 am with me driving (in the dark again... in the rain again). We actually didn't have a bit of trouble finding our way on the route he mapped out for us, but it did rain... and rain... and rain... sometimes quite heavily. And, Merle was not feeling well and by the time we got onto Rt. 95 in SC it didn't take long before I was pulling over quickly so he could throw up. Just before we got to Savannah, he did it again. He wasn't feeling well enough to drive and I was having some grumblings in my gut too. So, I just pushed on since he didn't want to get a motel and wait it out.

I pushed myself as far as I could go and finally,on Rt. 10 in Northern FL, and since he hadn't thrown up again since Savannah, asked Merle to take the wheel and take us on home. Not long after he took over he noticed some downed trees and commented on it but I didn't see them. Just north of Lake City on Rt. 75 we saw a bunch of crumpled up metal in the median and on the sides of the road and off in the field a big steel building in ruins. In this morning's newspaper it said there was a bad storm early that morning (Christmas day) and a tornado had been through there doing $5 to $6 million dollars in damage to homes, mobile homes, and businesses. Sure am glad it didn't touch down in our area!

So, we both unpacked the car about 4:30 pm when we got home, left everything where it sat, and rested all evening. This morning we both feel much better. I think for me it was just total exhaustion and stress from the trip. Maybe the same for Merle... I just don't know.

That's it for this Christmas season.

Happy New Year Everyone!

ThanksChistmas 2006 Video

David, I just finished watching your creation of the 2006 video and I want to say that I think you did an OUTSTANDING job. I'm sure that it will well received and appreciated by everyone. Thank you again for your time and work that you put into it.
Peggy, I want to commend you and Chunnan for your fine coverage of the house building.


Love
Dad

Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Hugs & Love
David & Chunnan

Yup, she's home!!

Mom did come home on Saturday morning and has been taking it easy the past couple of days. She feels a bit lost not having all the therapists bugging all day, but I am sure she will adjust.

She has been going up and down the stairs, and has been eating 3 meals a day(as instructed), so she is doing good. Home health will be doing an inspection today to see where she is going to need help and will be helping her with things that she can't do yet, such as washing her hair and showering, etc.

I am not sure, who all she is going to be calling right away, but should be making some calls this week. Depending on how she is feeling.

But, overall she is very excited to be back home and ready to get into a regular routine again.

Santa's Got Nothing On Us!

We just wanted to let you know that even with hurricane-force wind storms, thermometer-popping fevers, and dark frigid nights with no electrictiy, Chunnan and I were able to finish our Christmas shopping already...for 2007. What's y'all problem???

Linda's home

Tarja called me Friday around 5:15pm and told me that Linda was going home Saturday. She also said that Linda would start calling people in a couple of days. Her mailing address for those of you that don't have it is:

Linda Keddrell
6 Third Street
Pittsfield, ME 04967

Phone: 207-487-5564

If you do call her don't call after 7:30pm EST as both Linda and Rose go to bed early.

Some Results of Yesterday's Wind Storm

David has no power so I am posting these words and pics he took with his cell phone for him here on the blog.

We had a bad wind storm here last night that caused a bit of damage. Here are some photos of downed trees near my office up on 16th street in capital hill. All totalled, the three trees took out nine cars.

Is it just me?

OK...there I was on Wednesday morning around 9:00 (my day off and a gosh awful hour to be awake) after I just got home from a routine blood test at the doctor's office when Dad's phone rings. It is David. Dad says a lot of uh huhs and then tells us David is in the emergency room at the hospital. I say OK...we're going to the hospital and Dad puts me on the phone with David. Now here is my brother shivering to pieces and sounding like he can hardly get the words out between shivers and says there is no need for me to come, he will call me if anything changes.

So here is the "is it just me" part...how many people would NOT have gone to the hospital?

Well needless to say, Eric and I went. By the time we got there, David was doing much better and had stopped shivering. He was on his second bag of IV fluids. They had done some blood work and a quick strep throat test (which came back negative) and could tell he had some sort of infection going on because of his white blood cell count. They also sent the strep for the long test (I think it takes about 24 hours) because it is much more acurate than the quick test. I suppose he'll find out today whether or not he really has strep. So while we sat and waited in the room, they gave him an anti-inflamatory shot and added a huge suringe full of an antibiotic to his IV. They sent him home after his temperature came down from 103 to 99 with two scripts and instructions to come back if he wasn't feeling much better by Friday. Last night his temperature was back up to 101, but this morning he says he feels better and is resting at home. Eric took a picture on his cell phone of David hooked up to his IV. I'll add it later when he gets home.

Santa Dad

Dad asked me to post this for him so here it is.

The day after everyone left to go home from ThanksChristmas, Dad played Santa for a local 4-H club and Summit Assistance Dogs. People brought in their pets to be photographed with Santa and made a donation for the picture. The two elves shown in the picture were the daughters of the photographer. Dad says the he took pictures with various dogs, cats, and one rabbit.

Phoenix Trip & ThanksChristmas 2007

Well it looks like I won't be able to make our trip to Phoenix next July. I only get one week vacation with this new job and not til I've been there a year. But I will get 2 weeks after 2 years and 3 weeks after 7 years.

I asked about taking a week unpaid, and while it MAY be approved, it also could still be overruled the day before the trip if someone who actually has vacation available wants the time off.

Alie will still go without me but I can't see buying a plane ticket and then not being able to use it, and it's not like I can give it to someone else.

So it looks like next ThanksChristmas 2007 will have to be Saturday Dec 15 to Saturday Dec 22 if you want me to attend.

Sounds more like Christmas than ThanksChristmas. Mom would those dates interfere with Christmas in VA?

Next Summer

So, this is random, but planning early. If anyone is interested in taking a trip to Maine, say in the months of June or late Sept/Oct. I can get you an incredible deal at the resort that I work at. Friends and family can stay for $69/night or if I have an apartment you can stay for free, but in all honesty, it's an excellent opportunity for a bit of Maine life. Not to mention that regular prices for rooms go 170-500 a night. And if all goes according to planned, Dave and I will be able to take a vacation in November and who knows, maybe Washington will be the place to visit. So, yeah just thought I would give you food for thought, for summer plans.

T.

Thank you so much!!!!!

Thank you to all the family that contributed to the give that mom and I received. It is greatly appreciated and will come in very handy.

So, picture this, mom receiving the card, then trying to hide it in her room, while running around wearing a johnnie, so the nurses wouldn't steal the card.

Anyway, mom would like to say that it will be put to good use as to help pay for some of her medical treatment that will not be covered by insurance.

We were both pleasantly surprised and grateful. Thank you so very much!!

On a side note, her feeding tube was removed on Thursday and she is doing much better now that it is gone.

More to come later
Tarja

ThanksChristmas 2006: The Movie

The DVD of our Gingerbread Competition and Karaoke Night is nearing completion. Please tell me how many copies each of you want.

Trip to Virginia

I really had a good time. I snuck up behind Nick and asked "hey buddy do you know where I can get a free meal around here". He about fell out of his wheelchair. He had about 72 people at his party. I went to Papou George's Tuesday morn at 7:15 am. They couldn't beleive it when I walked in. Steve gave me a free breakfast.

At 9:15 I left for the video store to surprise Charles and Ron but I got surprised as they didn't show. I called Ron but got his answering machine. When I called Charles I get Rita (his wife) and he was on the Eastern Shore getting some work done on his computer and wouldn't be back til Wed. So I went and visited a few other friends.

I caught up with Ron Wed. morning and bought him breakfast at Papou George's. I had lunch with Nick Wed at 12:30. (Itialian) At 6:00 pm I went to Carole and David's for supper. (pot roast)

I caught up with Charles Thurs. and went to his house and had pizza at 12:30pm. After that I went back to Cheryls for a while. I met Nora and Chip at the new Cheeseburger in Paradise place by the mobile home park where I lived for supper at 5:00 pm. I was a little late (20 minutes) as I fell asleep in front of Cheryl's computer.

I departed dear old Virginia at 6:05 am Friday morning. Arrived Dallas 3:15 hours latr. Had a 3 hour layover. Left Dallas at 11:30 am arrived home at 1:30 pm.

That about covers it. I had a very good time. David I want to thank you for covering me as far as taking care of Peg. That made my trip a lot better.

Blogger Beta...New Blogger...SUCKS

Hey guys...it looks like the "new blogger" or "blogger beta" is NOT team blog compatible. This is a team blog. So, DO NOT SWITCH TO THE NEW BLOGGER. Stay in the nice old stable team-blog-friendly Blogger.

Test Post

Yo peeps. I may have a problem. It seems that I upgraded to the beta version of blogger, and now I can't make comments to posts. It says I am no longer a member of this blog because this blog is not using the beta version. That's very weird since somehow it lets me make this new post. But I can't make comments. Go figure.

Dave, maybe if you try inviting me again, I will sign in as the new beta me first then join and everything will be alright.

Or maybe you will need to switch this blog to the beta version and then everyone else will have to switch to beta accounts too.

Oh my, look at the mess I've gotten us into.

Sorry.

Now that wasn't so bad!

Peggy has been to the dentist to get her teeth taken care of, some thought she would never let them work on her teeth. Alas it was not as bad as the horror stories make it out to be. This photo proves the ordeal was a breeze.

After all the work at the dentist, the chip from a memorable encounter with the floor in the old trailer is no more. Check out that beuatiful smile.

Try This One Fred

Christmas Lights

Well it is hard to get a good picture of Christmas lights. It is either too light outside and they don't show up or it's too dark and nothing is in focus. So here is my best attempt at showing you the lights on our house.

I didn't lose benefits

I just received my letter that I didn't lose my unemployment benefits. I am so thankful for this, because I didn't really want to have to pay back $1000 to them.

That's it for now
T.

It's Official

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, I told you guys to stop worrying.

I go in at 8:30am Monday for orientation and other stuff, though it will be a 2nd shift job.

She's coming home!!!! & more

Yup, it's official. The Doctor actually communicated with the therapists and all have agreed to December 19th as the departure date. And actually as of yesterday, they told her she may even get to leave sooner.

So, here's what's going on. She still has the infection, but apparently it keeps growing because of the feeding tube, so yesterday the doctor requested that the surgeon remove the feeding tube. So, by the end of the week, mom could be going in for minor surgery to remove the tube. Which also means that she is eating more, woohoo!!!!

Also, as of yesterday, they gave her room freedom, which means that she can move around her room freely without having a nurse to watch over her. She is allowed to get in/out of bed when she wants, use the bathroom when she wants, get dressed, etc. And in a couple of days, they may give her total freedom, which will allow her to go out in the hallway and walkaround on her own. So, yeah, progress is good.

Now for me. I had my unemployment interview and won't know anything for another 4-5days. But I did get the job at the walmart, near grams. It's only part time, but if I don't lose my benefits I can still collect partial unemployment, as long as I continue to look for work. We will see.

Okay, I guess that's about it. Hope everyone has a good week.
Tarja
Oh and it appears there have been some birthdays and anniversaries, so, Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary.

Happy Birthday! (Again)

Happy 67th Birthday Daddy!

What a wonderful patriarch of our family you are!

Love from Fred & Alie

Ceramics Latest

Well this is my latest ceramic project that I finished tonight. I did not start it until the middle of October and having missed a few nights working on it I finally got her finished tonight so I thought I would share. I hope you like her!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Uncle Fred! Is this the 60th?

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary Eric...I love you!!