Finished the last two pre-fab (Eggland's Best) hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. Did email. Newpapers.
Around noon Jamie and I went to My Neighborhood Food Store and Restaurant, an odd discovery of mine.
West Palm Beach's downtown area has seemed on the verge of giant growth for 10 years now. While much has grown, there are many swaths of undeveloped land and empty buildings especially bordering the "historically black" neighborhoods. The free WPB trolley takes an odd loop on it's way to the bus station, revealing a previously unnoticed eating place. It's circled in red below... surrounded by vacant lots. Google map of My Neighborhood...
Google maps has it wrong, listing it as Garret's City Ribs with a street view of it looking pretty deserted.
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| 309 North Rosemary - looks MUCH better now than photo My Neighborhood Food Store and Restaurant (561) 557-5766 |
Friendly staff. It opened about two months ago. Bizarre amateur menu includes "Sandwhiches", and odd pricing like
Fish $8.99
Ribs $9.00
(includes 2 sides and drink)
(includes 2 sides and drink)
Cheeseburger 4.99
BLT 5.00
I had ribs and so did Jamie. His son got chicken. It was all good except the collard greens had too many hard pieces, including tiny bones.
Back home, I actually napped and overslept! (Napping was always a retirement goal.) Jamie drove me to Chick-Fil-A drive-through for Mom's coleslaw, then he let me off at the nursing home.
THEN he called later to say he was still out and he picked me up and took me home.
Day 58 Sunday 10/13
It's Nian's birthday. (Jamie's son )
I've omitted details (Can you believe it!!) of the texts, emails, bad phone numbers, and conversations arranging this. Anyone who's organized anything involving 5 or more people knows what I mean.
A little tougher b/c I was depending on a 14-year-old to get me the contact info, and had to convince people via text or phone that I was not a solicitor and to please respond.
Jamee brought waters, ice, insect repellent, sunscreen, bananas, and most important ... Takis,
Snopes reported on Takis, saying
Takis Snacks by Barcel are tortilla snacks that resemble rolled tacos; this crunchy snack is coated with salsa and seasoned with lemon powder. They come in four flavors with varying heat intensities: Fuego (Hot Chili Pepper & Lemon), Salsa Brava (Hot Sauce), Takis Nitro (Habanero & Lime) and Crunchy Fajita (Taco Flavored).
Snopes was reporting because in June 2013 a woman circulated a complaint that a small amount made her daughter sick, and her physician said Takis had caused throat cancer in another child.
Snopes would not confirm nor deny but said that many doctors gave it the same caution they would give for any spicy food - moderation.
I think Takis (aka Taquis) has been around since 1978, but unnoticed by many in the USA because Barcel is a Mexican company. Popularity among students at Nian's school - Conniston Middle - is probably reflective of its high Mexican/Central American population.
Neither Jamie nor I care for them much.
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| Jamie, Richard, Nathan, Marshall, Staff |
Paintball at East Coast Extreme west of Lantana was the goal for the day. Three of Nian's friends showed up, and the four of them along with Jamie played a few rounds of "fast ball".
They rested for awhile then - without Jamie - the boys did "The Woods" course.
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| Richard, Marshall, Nian |
We stayed for more than three hours and all seemed to have a good time.
Kristen (Jamie's wife) and Brook were there but - like me - did not play. In fact they drove off to shop for awhile.
Everyone agrees it's HOT and mid-November through mid-April is a better time. Trouble is, you want to cover with heavy clothes. The paintballs exit the gun at about 200 mph, I'm told. They're about the size of a large jaw-breaker, but softer. Everyone gets about 200 loaded in their guns. With breaks, that lasted 2 hours. We later bought more and now are the proud owners of probably 300 paintballs.
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| Richard, Nathan's mom, Nathan, Marshall |
Jamie got a hard hit on the shoulder. It looked a little red and the next morning turning towards blue.
Jamie and Kristen took separate vehicles so we could bring everyone home. First there was a stop at McDonalds (on the LEFT side of SR7 - inside joke) for the birthday dinner celebration.
"McDonald's?" you question. The answer is obvious.
Why waste money on 14-year-old boys who will devour anything?!
We had everyone home by 6 o'clock.
Poor Jamie had to pack for heading back to middle of nowhere motel in South Carolina for several more weeks of work. I can't convince him to hate his two children! He keeps working for them!
By the way, if you're REALLY invested in this blog - like - you miss episodes of Breaking Bad so that you can read my latest ... then you're dying to know what Jamie thought about the Keurig.
He was a skeptic (unmistakable foreshadow) but quickly adopted and went through two gallons of coffee in 6 days. He admits it was a problem...he usually consumes less coffee and takes more water or juice instead. Hopefully the novelty will wear off.
Day 59 Monday 10/14
Columbus Day means no mail delivery and little else.
Ariel drove Jamie to airport.
I showered again. Including washing hair, drying off, getting dressed - it's a time-consuming process for me.
I began finally to call about therapy at First Rehab. They took my insurance info and promised to call back.
BUSES!!!
Ms. Gissenter, head of the Medical Magnet at PB Lakes was going to treat Chris, Paige, and me to a dinner... and we all agreed to meet at 3:45 at Red Lobster on PB Lakes Blvd... which is across the street from the nursing home where my mom is. Perfect. I would still get to give dinner to mom, and Chris could still get to class in PB Gardens at 6:30
To be early, I tried for a bus that should get to my house at 3:45. It was 10 minutes later, and we were pulling into the bus station at 4:04. By the time I exited my bus, the 4:05 bus was already on the road. It really left early... as I'd noted before. I actually called and complained for what it's worth.
So I wait for the 4:35... which pulled out exactly at 4:35, leaving people beating on the windows to let them in. It's insane. The bus had to wait for 2 minutes at a light two blocks away! It could have let people on.
We enjoyed dinner, of course.
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| Chris, Paige, Ms. Gissenter and me at Red Lobster. Don't know why the flash photo came out so weird. |
Paige had pumpkin pie dessert, while Ms. Gissenter and I shared Upside-down cake with ice cream...I ate the ice cream.
"Ms. G" listened to Chris' and Paige's career plans, and gave some advice about scholarships. Her program prepares and pays for testing for her students to graduate high school with a CNA. Great opportunity.
That was my "Last Supper" on the CareCalendar.org and thanks again to the many of you who contributed to easing the duties on Chris and Paige. And for the great variety of food.
After dinner, I walked over to the nursing home. Finished feeding mom, including the banana I brought.
Took the bus home again.
Day 60 Tuesday 10/15
I'm sleeping great at home. Possibly because I prefer no air-conditioning! I sleep next to an open window with a great breeze provided by an attic exhaust fan.
I waited too long again for a bus downtown. Stopped at library ... frankly looking for a joke book. I spent time browsing one and a story there reminded me of a joke my father liked. I'll convert it to a Sam joke.
For $6 I got a Spanish omelette and "large" 4 oz Cuban coffee at Don Ramon's on Clematis. That was lunch.
Tomorrow I'm seeing "Of Mice and Men" downtown WPB at PB Dramaworks with Renate and Axel. I wanted to check out nearby restaurants. I learned that....
(1) Bar Louie - directly across the street - has many $7 items for lunch. Most seating is booths or high tables with stools, but I learned they could accommodate handicapped seating upstairs, accessed by elevator. I also took a menu.
I took a free trolley to Publix in City Place to buy cat food and coffee creamer. Then I went to catch a bus home. In the distance I watched it pass by WAY too early and once again I waited too long for a bus.
I stayed home long enough to put away stuff, eat a yogurt and an apple... and go wait for a bus for nursing home.
I waited 35 minutes for a bus that runs every 20 minutes, and so again missed the #43 and so again did not have time to get coleslaw for Mom.
Day 61 Wednesday 10/16
Breakfast. Shower (slow). Reverse and put on socks (slow).
Renate and Axel picked me up for lunch. We decided on Bar Louie and are very happy about the decision.
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| Truth is - we didn't eat upstairs in this room, but I like the picture. |
I think their onion rings are among finest I've ever eaten. Axel praised the tempura shrimp for their size and taste. Renate had pulled pork and was delighted by the addition of melted cheddar on it. I had a ranch bacon salad with portabella. All reasonably priced. Easy for me to say; Renate treated!
We then walked across the street to Palm Beach Dramaworks to see Of Mice and Men, wonderfully performed (as usual at PB Dramaworks) with typical full set, including a small, shallow in-the-stage-floor pond of water.
It's my 2nd (3rd?) year of subscription there, and I'm anxious to see their December rendition of a favorite of mine..The Lion in Winter.
Afterwards we sat through a question answer session with most of the cast.
Renate and Axel dropped me at the nursing home. I was prepared. I had brought a banana to the theater.
The usual two buses home. I now know drivers' names: Brian and Victoria.
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Sam Joke #6
Sam met many people at Sunny Vale Dignity Residence for Seniors. None struck his curiosity as much as Joe, who had been a funeral director for 37 years. 
“It must be nerve-wracking,” Sam shuddered. “So much time putting dead people in the ground.”
“Well,” replied Joe slyly. “We tried it a few times with living people. Don’t ask! Much better the other way.”
Sam wouldn’t be put off. “Come on. What’s it like, the funeral business?”
“It’s a living.”
“You must have one good story you can tell me. You don’t have those confidentiality rules, like lawyers, do you?”
“Oh, yes,” replied Joe, turning serious. “But the law is written the other way with our profession.” Seeing Sam’s puzzlement, Joe explained “We tell all kinds of confidences to our clients. They can never repeat a word.”
Not humored, Sam practically threatened Joe to tell a story.
“Okay,” says Joe. “One day, years ago, we had a hearse driving up a steep hill to this old cemetery in Fairhope. It was January. What an awful cold winter!"
Joe seemed to digress. "Flu season. My old pal, Frank the pharmacist could hardly keep up with prescriptions, everyone coughing and sneezing.
Anyway, there was ice on the road, an old bumpy road.”
Sam pictured the scene.
“Well,” continues Joe, “I don’t know if the cold caused the door lock to malfunction, or the driver wanted to get out of the cold and never slammed it good, but suddenly on one bump the back door of the hearse flies open, and the coffin bounces out and starts sledding down the hill.”
“Oh my God”, murmurs Sam. “That’s terrible.”
“The thing manages to avoid the three cars that were in the procession. It goes through two intersections - one against the red light!
Sam is horrified.
Joe finishes: “So, the pharmacist says ‘Can I help you?’
And by now he's heard it a thousand times. The guy inside says, ‘Yes. Can you please give me something to stop this damn coffin?’”
Sam never spoke to Joe again.
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Day 62 Thursday 10/17
#1 bus to bus station ("Intermodal Transit Center") to catch the #31 to get to 45th and Congress. I ate at nearby Burger King. $5 for whopper, fish sandwich and water. I discard most of the bread. I'm something of an Atkins dieter. Not strict. I eat many vegetables except try to restrict pototoes, corn, and rice.
I saw Atkins once at an event. Renate had me go and I'm grateful for it. Many things he said make sense to me.
"But, Sandy. You're not fat," you decry.
Exactly!
My mom trends to be heavy. Both her parents were. I'm built more like my father - and his mother. Thin on top. Big belly. To be broader on top requires exercise/weight training. Smaller belly requires dieting and aerobic-type exercise. No revelations here. The only question is what are you paying attention to in "diet" and I choose to avoid "carbs" over "calories".
After my questionably healthy lunch, I walked the short distance for a haircut - my real reason for being in that neighborhood.
Continue bus #31 to Military and 45th. Take bus #3 (along with many students getting out of "my" high school) to Military and Okeechobee. LA Fitness.
I knew I wouldn't have time after after the haircut to go home and then leave again for nursing home. So I planned to finally drop in on LA Fitness, the gym that honored my ancient life-time membership from Bally's, which was shuttered a few years ago in West Palm Beach.
Back in, like, 1986 I paid $300+ for 2 years PLUS annual renewal fee of $52. Even when I never went, I renewed. By some error of mine, I happened to be a few years ahead when Bally's left. It's up in Feb 2014. I'm hoping to pay LA Fitness only $52 to renew again.
I did some leg presses and extensions. And a chest machine that did not involve wrists. I talked to some acquaintances there.
#33 bus to Chick-Fil-A
Cole slaw
Two blocks to nursing home.
Feed dinner to Mom, including banana (which had been with me all day) and coleslaw.
#43 to bus station.
#1 home
Ariel, new to PB State College, had gotten a standard email from the school advertising a play by their theater department. He opted for "some culture." And the production was...here's a hint:
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| Louis Bouwmeester as Oedipus in a Dutch production of Oedipus Rex c. 1896 |
First performed in 429 BC.
Another hint: look at the photo.
I'm ashamed to admit that, although somewhere in my 64 years I had garnered the concept of an "Oedipus complex", my closest study is hearing the song lyrics, Oedipus Rex, by Tom Lehrer, wonderful Harvard/MIT math/political science professor/ musical satirist popular in the 60's. I know the song by heart, having owned the album from which this YouTube clip of Tom Lehrer's Oedipus Rex is stolen. Several YouTube versions exist but I prefer this most plain one. The actual song starts at 1:58.
So... I really thought all my life that Oedipus grew up with, knew, and consorted with his own biological mother. The only lyric in the song that might conflict with this idea is "When he learned what he had done..." I was always a bit puzzled by the line but figured that Oedipus must have gotten drunk on occasions and did not know of the incest. I never knew that he MARRIED his mother. I just plain did not know.
While the play does hammer its point too long, too hard... Ariel and I both enjoyed the play and the production. Good set, staging, lighting and atmosphere. In case some reader wishes, here's Wikipedia on Oedipus Rex. Amazing that 2400 years ago questions of free will and fate were no less considered than today.
I believe that Jack and Mary Patrick of Boston - mentioned in an earlier blog - introduced me to Tom Lehrer. He's known in many science classes for "The Elements Song", written to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Modern Major General" from their 1879 hit operetta The Pirates of Penzance.
I used to sing The Elements Song in my class, and sometimes as a guest in a chemistry class. Easy to Google-find lyrics if interested. When I was younger, I had to listen to the record a LOT to write down the lyrics.
I created a midi music background for performing this song, but can't find a way to attach or link it. I have to learn how to convert to a video format.
YouTube has Daniel Radcliffe performing it on a talk show, where he idolizes Tom Lehrer's wit.
I created a midi music background for performing this song, but can't find a way to attach or link it. I have to learn how to convert to a video format.
YouTube has Daniel Radcliffe performing it on a talk show, where he idolizes Tom Lehrer's wit.
I share some of that. I've always been fond of this lyric, from a song (The MLF Lullaby) written in the 60's that mockingly defends the admission of West Germany into a Western-bloc Multi-Lateral Force with decision-making powers on the use of nuclear weapons:
"Once all the Germans were war-like, and mean.
But that couldn't happen again.
We taught them a lesson, in nineteen-eighteen,
And they've hardly bothered us since then."
I'm a fan of understatement.
Lehrer never approached mainstream popularity, although he made the TV show TW3 with "The Vatican Rag", singing about the attempts of the 2nd Ecumenical Council to modernize the Catholic liturgy. Okay old-timers. Any of you remember TW3?
Lehrer never approached mainstream popularity, although he made the TV show TW3 with "The Vatican Rag", singing about the attempts of the 2nd Ecumenical Council to modernize the Catholic liturgy. Okay old-timers. Any of you remember TW3?
"That Was The Week That Was" was comedic daring and genius of the early 60's. It was somber for one episode, when it debuted the song "Summer of His Years" about Kennedy's assassination.
Three more Lehrer songs.
First: His "hit" song: Poisoning Pigeons in the Park from which I enjoy the rhyming of
First: His "hit" song: Poisoning Pigeons in the Park from which I enjoy the rhyming of
"We've gained notoriety and
caused much anxiety in the
Audobon Society
With our games.
They call it impiety and
Lack of propriety and
Quite a variety of
Unpleasant names.
But it's not against any religion...
To want to dispose of..
a pigeon"
Also
"My pulse will be quickenin'
with each drop of strich'nine
we feed to a pigeon
- it just takes a smidgen -
to poison a pigeon in the park."
Second: For mathematical historians: Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky
Finally: If you're classical-musically cultured, you might enjoy
Clementine . The accompanying video is a distraction. Just listen.
Oh yes, the promiseed quiz:
How many buses did I ride today?
Answer follows this brief interruption:
Oh yes, the promiseed quiz:
How many buses did I ride today?
Answer follows this brief interruption:
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Random Internet Photo #6
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Actually a pretty zenny cartoon. Reminds me of a saying taught to me by a friend, Kip Mason:
"When a man points to the moon, remember always to include the finger. "********************************************************
Actually a pretty zenny cartoon. Reminds me of a saying taught to me by a friend, Kip Mason:
"When a man points to the moon, remember always to include the finger. "********************************************************
Answer to quiz:
7 buses. I'm checking with Guiness on getting into their book.
7 buses. I'm checking with Guiness on getting into their book.
After the show Ariel drove me to Publix to shop. It's been tough carrying everything I want on a bus.
Day 63 Friday 10/18
Fortunately uneventful so I can post this blog before the weekend. Latest I woke up in years. 11:21 am after going to bed around 1:30 a.m. Nearly 10 hours sleep. Remember I was out of the house most of yesterday. All those bus rides. And Greek Tragedy. Exhausting.
Anthony came by to collect some of the stuff he left when he lived here THREE YEARS AGO.
And Kristen (I'm tired of explaining this: Jamie's wife) showed up with her new, used 2004 BMW. This means I now have my own car back. She used it for about 6 or 7 weeks since wrecking hers (1st accident in 30 years).
"Who's Jamie?" Just someone else that lived here 25 years ago and now lives here again. But is never here because his job keeps him for weeks at a time in other states. Are we straight now?
The only place I went today was Chick-Fil-A and the nursing home via bus.
Banana and coleslaw were procured for Mom.
I met a former student, from 2008, on the bus. Casey Berrios. He recognized me, commenting I'm the person he least expected to see on a bus. I explained the injuries. He's living at Salvation Army, after kicking some sort of addiction. He looked clean; not even like a former addict. He's happy that he just got a job making deliveries for an appliance retailer.
I was surprised to learn that Salvation Army lets people stay for up to 2 years if you straighten out. I had imagined only 6 months. I guess they try to keep up with reality of the times.
I was surprised to learn that Salvation Army lets people stay for up to 2 years if you straighten out. I had imagined only 6 months. I guess they try to keep up with reality of the times.
So many empty houses in this county. And apparently people or businesses rich enough to keep them empty.
At Chick-Fil-A a student from 1993 or 4, Andrew Hicks, recognized me (or his wife did). He had 4 children with him, seemed "successful" and left me a card for his landscaping / tree cutting business. Need I explain how he thought to do that?
Mom enjoyed dinner, banana, coleslaw. And Milano double chocolate cookie that I keep in her drawer.
I took a bunch of sweetener and sugar packages from dining tables. They get thrown away and I want to give them to Greg.
I'll explain another time.
Buses home.
DONE!
FINIS!
"PUBLISH!"
Enjoy the weekend.
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