Saturday, December 04, 2010
Friday, December 03, 2010
Friday 9:00am
In honor of the new TSA screenings, I present Kayte @ work, using the Photobooth XRay setting.
Friday 12/3/10 8:00am
>
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Today Jim and I went to one of our favorite Indian restaurants, Dil Khush. The owner is this cute middle aged Indian woman. She was making us our food when an Indian family came in and started looking at the menu. She said she'd be out in a second, but before she could come out, they left the restaurant.
She came out from the back, and went outside to check in with them as they were making their escape. She came in and looked really frustrated, and told us that they wouldn't eat at her restaurant because they served halal meat, and that was against their religion... but they go to the same temple as the owner.
She then told us how great halal meat was. And we agreed... because it's tasty. I found the whole thing pretty amusing. So, was the Indian family lying? Or did they have a dramatically different version of what is right and wrong from someone else who goes to their same temple? Good to know Christianity doesn't have all the crazies.
She came out from the back, and went outside to check in with them as they were making their escape. She came in and looked really frustrated, and told us that they wouldn't eat at her restaurant because they served halal meat, and that was against their religion... but they go to the same temple as the owner.
She then told us how great halal meat was. And we agreed... because it's tasty. I found the whole thing pretty amusing. So, was the Indian family lying? Or did they have a dramatically different version of what is right and wrong from someone else who goes to their same temple? Good to know Christianity doesn't have all the crazies.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Kaiser
So why do I still have Kaiser insurance? Sometimes Kaiser has been just fine when I get sick or injured, but then sometimes I'm just amazed at how crap they can be.
So I did something stupid to my back a couple months ago, and it really hurt. It got better, but whenever I'd do something strenuous, I'd re-tweak it, and it would hurt again.
Well, last Sunday I was making screens for my bedroom windows, and hunched over assembling it for way too long. I stood up and man, was I sore.
Sunday night and Monday I could barely stand up straight. Moving from seated to standing took about 30 seconds of telling my back to do what I wanted, and my back and hip seemed fused together, making me look like a hunchback with a wood leg. A wood lug that hurt when I put weight on it.
So I called Kaiser, and somehow magically got an appointment the same day. I go to my appointment, standard waiting in the lobby, getting my weight and blood pressure taken in the hallway by a med assistant, and escorted into the exam room. After a few minutes, my NP comes in. The woman was my height, and must have weighed 300+ pounds. I'm supposed to take medical advice from this woman??
So I explain the basics of what I did to my back, how it's been hurting, and how it feels. She has me touch my toes. Does it hurt? Yes. She has me lay on my back and bring my legs in. Does it hurt? No.
OK, so I did something to my back. She tells me she's going to prescribe me meds for swelling & pain. She spends 5 minutes typing things into the computer. Oh, you were here previously for stomach pains? Then I'll prescribe you more meds for that! She then hands me a piece of paper with a referral to Physical Therapy, and gets up to leave.
Um, wait? What am I supposed to do now? "Well, I wouldn't exercise for a while" No shit, your 300 pounds, I bet you don't exercise... I however, would not like to end up like that. She basically tells me don't do anything that hurts, and see the physical therapist. OK fine, maybe they will be more helpful.
I go to the pharmacy and pick up my meds. Prednisone for the pain (1x a day), Pepcid to help my tummy handle the Prednisone (2x a day), IBProfin for pain (3x a day), and Hydrocodone for pain (4x a day). I think I spent more time with the Pharmacist longer than the NP, asking what the drugs did, and how they would affect me.
Called the physical therapy office, and they say that before I can have a 1 on 1 appointment, I have to take a group class for low-back pain. OK, fine, the class is Wednesday, so that's not so bad. Today I went to the class. First bad sign: We received a packet of info & exercises, and the picture on the cover was a man massaging his shoulder, with the title "Care for Acute Low Back Pain." Through the next hour, I sat through learning how to stand up properly, sit down, pick things up, etc. It wasn't bad, but I've been helping Jim do these things for the past several months, so it wasn't very novel. I patiently waited for the exercise portion of class, so I could strengthen my back & core.
So we lay on the ground, and contract our abs. Magic! And then we bring a knee into our chest, and then the other. And then, the most amazing exercise - cat/cows.
2 of the other people in the class were an older man, and an older woman. They were both obviously fairly inactive, and have had health problems. Arthritis, knee replacements, falling episodes, all sorts of fun old-people problems. And I was just thinking - jesus, I need to keep myself fit, I don't want to be them. I want to be healthy as I get older.
So the class was ending, and the physical therapist decides to actually take us a minute to talk to us individually. She now had approximately 2 minutes to decide if we should take an exercise class from Kaiser, or get referred to 1-on-1 physical therapy.
So I tell her that I do yoga, and that my back doesn't hurt during yoga, but it does afterword, and I'm not sure what part of yoga makes me hurt. So I get the 1-on-1 referral. But, can't she give me a little help until I can get an appointment? I don't want to get old and brittle and frail, I want to go home and exercise! No, she has another class, she can't tell me anything, and there isn't anyone there who can help me right now.
So I go to the desk, and sign up for the very next physical therapy appointment... 2 weeks away. But what am I supposed to do until then? I ask the receptionist, but she's just a receptionist. My obese doctor says not to exercise, my physical therapist has told me how to put on pants without hurting my back.
Oh, and would you think that if I'm having severe back pain, maybe I should get an MRI, see what's going on in there? Nah, Kaiser would rather give me drugs and PT, and see what happens.
So I go to work, frustrated, wanting to take good care of myself, but not knowing what to do.
I call the one health care provider that I know I can actually talk to - my chiropractor.
I call her, she picks up the phone, recognizes my voice, and we talk for 20 minutes. I tell her my dilemma. I want to be fit! I don't want to get old! I don't someone to help me! She has 45 minutes before her next appointment, so I close my computer, and head to her office. She gives me an adjustment, looks at my spine, and tells me that she doesn't think it's a disk problem, she thinks that my sacrum has been tilted, which is what causes me pain. Then we talk about what hurts, what puts pressure on my sacrum, what exercises I can do, and what I shouldn't.
I shouldn't do anything that involves curving my back forward, my back should be straight. And I shouldn't do anything that puts a lot of pressure on my back, like hard laying on my back, and lifting my legs. Sweet, I know all the modifications in yoga, I can avoid doing those things.
Our goal is that by the time I have my physical therapy appointment in 2 weeks, I've already mostly healed myself :-) A good goal I think.
So now I'm at home, lots of Kaiser drugs flowing through my system, but I have a PLAN. Modified yoga, exercise, drugs, healing. And at the next open enrollment, I'm picking another health care provider.
So why do I still have Kaiser insurance? Sometimes Kaiser has been just fine when I get sick or injured, but then sometimes I'm just amazed at how crap they can be.
So I did something stupid to my back a couple months ago, and it really hurt. It got better, but whenever I'd do something strenuous, I'd re-tweak it, and it would hurt again.
Well, last Sunday I was making screens for my bedroom windows, and hunched over assembling it for way too long. I stood up and man, was I sore.
Sunday night and Monday I could barely stand up straight. Moving from seated to standing took about 30 seconds of telling my back to do what I wanted, and my back and hip seemed fused together, making me look like a hunchback with a wood leg. A wood lug that hurt when I put weight on it.
So I called Kaiser, and somehow magically got an appointment the same day. I go to my appointment, standard waiting in the lobby, getting my weight and blood pressure taken in the hallway by a med assistant, and escorted into the exam room. After a few minutes, my NP comes in. The woman was my height, and must have weighed 300+ pounds. I'm supposed to take medical advice from this woman??
So I explain the basics of what I did to my back, how it's been hurting, and how it feels. She has me touch my toes. Does it hurt? Yes. She has me lay on my back and bring my legs in. Does it hurt? No.
OK, so I did something to my back. She tells me she's going to prescribe me meds for swelling & pain. She spends 5 minutes typing things into the computer. Oh, you were here previously for stomach pains? Then I'll prescribe you more meds for that! She then hands me a piece of paper with a referral to Physical Therapy, and gets up to leave.
Um, wait? What am I supposed to do now? "Well, I wouldn't exercise for a while" No shit, your 300 pounds, I bet you don't exercise... I however, would not like to end up like that. She basically tells me don't do anything that hurts, and see the physical therapist. OK fine, maybe they will be more helpful.
I go to the pharmacy and pick up my meds. Prednisone for the pain (1x a day), Pepcid to help my tummy handle the Prednisone (2x a day), IBProfin for pain (3x a day), and Hydrocodone for pain (4x a day). I think I spent more time with the Pharmacist longer than the NP, asking what the drugs did, and how they would affect me.
Called the physical therapy office, and they say that before I can have a 1 on 1 appointment, I have to take a group class for low-back pain. OK, fine, the class is Wednesday, so that's not so bad. Today I went to the class. First bad sign: We received a packet of info & exercises, and the picture on the cover was a man massaging his shoulder, with the title "Care for Acute Low Back Pain." Through the next hour, I sat through learning how to stand up properly, sit down, pick things up, etc. It wasn't bad, but I've been helping Jim do these things for the past several months, so it wasn't very novel. I patiently waited for the exercise portion of class, so I could strengthen my back & core.
So we lay on the ground, and contract our abs. Magic! And then we bring a knee into our chest, and then the other. And then, the most amazing exercise - cat/cows.
2 of the other people in the class were an older man, and an older woman. They were both obviously fairly inactive, and have had health problems. Arthritis, knee replacements, falling episodes, all sorts of fun old-people problems. And I was just thinking - jesus, I need to keep myself fit, I don't want to be them. I want to be healthy as I get older.
So the class was ending, and the physical therapist decides to actually take us a minute to talk to us individually. She now had approximately 2 minutes to decide if we should take an exercise class from Kaiser, or get referred to 1-on-1 physical therapy.
So I tell her that I do yoga, and that my back doesn't hurt during yoga, but it does afterword, and I'm not sure what part of yoga makes me hurt. So I get the 1-on-1 referral. But, can't she give me a little help until I can get an appointment? I don't want to get old and brittle and frail, I want to go home and exercise! No, she has another class, she can't tell me anything, and there isn't anyone there who can help me right now.
So I go to the desk, and sign up for the very next physical therapy appointment... 2 weeks away. But what am I supposed to do until then? I ask the receptionist, but she's just a receptionist. My obese doctor says not to exercise, my physical therapist has told me how to put on pants without hurting my back.
Oh, and would you think that if I'm having severe back pain, maybe I should get an MRI, see what's going on in there? Nah, Kaiser would rather give me drugs and PT, and see what happens.
So I go to work, frustrated, wanting to take good care of myself, but not knowing what to do.
I call the one health care provider that I know I can actually talk to - my chiropractor.
I call her, she picks up the phone, recognizes my voice, and we talk for 20 minutes. I tell her my dilemma. I want to be fit! I don't want to get old! I don't someone to help me! She has 45 minutes before her next appointment, so I close my computer, and head to her office. She gives me an adjustment, looks at my spine, and tells me that she doesn't think it's a disk problem, she thinks that my sacrum has been tilted, which is what causes me pain. Then we talk about what hurts, what puts pressure on my sacrum, what exercises I can do, and what I shouldn't.
I shouldn't do anything that involves curving my back forward, my back should be straight. And I shouldn't do anything that puts a lot of pressure on my back, like hard laying on my back, and lifting my legs. Sweet, I know all the modifications in yoga, I can avoid doing those things.
Our goal is that by the time I have my physical therapy appointment in 2 weeks, I've already mostly healed myself :-) A good goal I think.
So now I'm at home, lots of Kaiser drugs flowing through my system, but I have a PLAN. Modified yoga, exercise, drugs, healing. And at the next open enrollment, I'm picking another health care provider.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
I've had a big year. You know all those big life changes, yeah, I've had a lot of them. One of my colleagues was encouraging me to sign up for this really awesome Project Management Certification at Stanford, and I was realizing that it was about this time last year that I dropped out of my MBA program. I want to take more classes and further my education, but I like a work/life balance, and I have stuff going on! I also like lists, so here's one for today:
My last year:
I love cheesy Christmas update letters, but didn't do one this year, because I was crazy busy, and because it felt like I'd have three things to say:
My last year:
- March: dropped my MBA program
- April: lost my Dad - in San Diego for a month
- June: Went to Telluride
- August: Got married
- August: Mini-moon in NorCal
- November: Birthday party with 20+ friends & mom & her new boyfriend
- December: Got a promotion
- December: Visited Grandma in Effingham Illinois
- January: Celebrated 5 year (dating ) anniversary with Jim
- January: Started fostering Sanzu (kitty #2)
- February: Start looking for a house
- March: Buy a house, move from San Jose to San Mateo
I love cheesy Christmas update letters, but didn't do one this year, because I was crazy busy, and because it felt like I'd have three things to say:
- Dad died
- I got married
- Jim still doesn't have a job
Sunday, March 21, 2010
We haz a house! Yesterday was moving day, and I'm so glad that's done. It's great to actually be in the house. We have a lot of work to do still, but at least we have a great home base.
First my office moved. That was a lot of work too. Fortunately, as we unpacked, I got to take a bunch of the boxes. They filled my cube, and I was unsure that I would actually need THAT many boxes. But I did.
Then we had to do a few things to get ready to move in. We had to buy appliances. This is Vasily and I getting rejected for the Sears credit card. Because we can buy a house, but can't get new applicances. Stupid Sears. Oh well, we still bought our appliances from them.
Then we did some work on the house. We changed the locks, and installed new knobs where there were none. There were also locks that locked us into the house. That's not a good idea. Fixed that.
Then we painted the baby blue office grey!
And Vasily's horrible red walls were painted.
We also had our first meal in our new house, sitting on the floor of our dining room.
The appliances finally came and were installed. They are new and pretty and shiny.
Meanwhile, at home, we piled everything we own on top of each other to make space for boxes, and the like. Sanzu was a fan of climbing.
Moving day finally came, and we had an excellent team. And by team, I mean small village. Which is exactly what we needed to move this ikea bookcase. We had to basically push it over our balcony and have about 8 people catch it.
It's always fun to move large furniture around narrow spaces...
Also, holy crap I have a lot of stuff. A lot of old fragile nice furniture. I can't believe how much stuff I have...
That 26 foot truck, it ended up pretty full. Holy crap, I have a lot of stuff.
The next stop was Vasily's house, where we somehow made room for everything of his in the truck, and in everyone's cars.
Jim drove the giant UHaul, and was AWESOME. Although it was pretty funny when he trapped Brian's car in our new driveway. Brian eventually got out, and Jim was directed by about 10 people and managed to back into our driveway.
Once everything was unloaded, the crowd rejoiced! Thanks much in part to Margaret, our awesome realtor who brought us pizza and pasta.
Zana wins for coming all the way from Oregon and helping us move. This is our living room at the moment, you can actually walk through it, which I find quite impressive.
I like this picture because it looks so casual. It looks like it could be from any party at our house, and not like these people just hauled everything we own up the peninsula. And they all fit in the living room. Amazing!
This is where I am now. It's Sunday morning. I spent the first night in the new house, and it was great. The kitties are much less traumatized than they were while we were moving. Jim is still asleep (he's the lump next to me), and now all I have to do is figure out which box contains clean clothes, and then I can start unpacking!
One more shout out: Jim, Vasily & I have the most amazing friends & family in the whole world. It's crazy that so many people willingly volunteered to help us move. It was so nice to be able to let the strong men do the heavy lifting, let the tetris masters figure out how everything fit in the truck, and in general just have people to step up and help out with everything. Thank you so much!!
Once we've settled in and unpacked, I'll take more pictures of the house, and yes, we'll have a housewarming party too, so that we can see everyone without subjecting them to physical labor all day.
First my office moved. That was a lot of work too. Fortunately, as we unpacked, I got to take a bunch of the boxes. They filled my cube, and I was unsure that I would actually need THAT many boxes. But I did.
Then we had to do a few things to get ready to move in. We had to buy appliances. This is Vasily and I getting rejected for the Sears credit card. Because we can buy a house, but can't get new applicances. Stupid Sears. Oh well, we still bought our appliances from them.
Then we did some work on the house. We changed the locks, and installed new knobs where there were none. There were also locks that locked us into the house. That's not a good idea. Fixed that.
Then we painted the baby blue office grey!
And Vasily's horrible red walls were painted.
We also had our first meal in our new house, sitting on the floor of our dining room.
The appliances finally came and were installed. They are new and pretty and shiny.
Meanwhile, at home, we piled everything we own on top of each other to make space for boxes, and the like. Sanzu was a fan of climbing.
Moving day finally came, and we had an excellent team. And by team, I mean small village. Which is exactly what we needed to move this ikea bookcase. We had to basically push it over our balcony and have about 8 people catch it.
It's always fun to move large furniture around narrow spaces...
Also, holy crap I have a lot of stuff. A lot of old fragile nice furniture. I can't believe how much stuff I have...
That 26 foot truck, it ended up pretty full. Holy crap, I have a lot of stuff.
The next stop was Vasily's house, where we somehow made room for everything of his in the truck, and in everyone's cars.
Jim drove the giant UHaul, and was AWESOME. Although it was pretty funny when he trapped Brian's car in our new driveway. Brian eventually got out, and Jim was directed by about 10 people and managed to back into our driveway.
Once everything was unloaded, the crowd rejoiced! Thanks much in part to Margaret, our awesome realtor who brought us pizza and pasta.
Zana wins for coming all the way from Oregon and helping us move. This is our living room at the moment, you can actually walk through it, which I find quite impressive.
I like this picture because it looks so casual. It looks like it could be from any party at our house, and not like these people just hauled everything we own up the peninsula. And they all fit in the living room. Amazing!
This is where I am now. It's Sunday morning. I spent the first night in the new house, and it was great. The kitties are much less traumatized than they were while we were moving. Jim is still asleep (he's the lump next to me), and now all I have to do is figure out which box contains clean clothes, and then I can start unpacking!
One more shout out: Jim, Vasily & I have the most amazing friends & family in the whole world. It's crazy that so many people willingly volunteered to help us move. It was so nice to be able to let the strong men do the heavy lifting, let the tetris masters figure out how everything fit in the truck, and in general just have people to step up and help out with everything. Thank you so much!!
Once we've settled in and unpacked, I'll take more pictures of the house, and yes, we'll have a housewarming party too, so that we can see everyone without subjecting them to physical labor all day.
Monday, February 15, 2010
We can haz house!!
All engines are go for our new house in San Mateo. I'm really looking forward to being a homeowner, but I'm quickly realizing that in addition to all of the maintenance and work to be done, I need a lot of STUFF. Here's my ever growing list. If you happen to have any of these things and would like to give them a good home, please let me know. I'll soon be scouring Craigslist to try to find these items cheap...
All engines are go for our new house in San Mateo. I'm really looking forward to being a homeowner, but I'm quickly realizing that in addition to all of the maintenance and work to be done, I need a lot of STUFF. Here's my ever growing list. If you happen to have any of these things and would like to give them a good home, please let me know. I'll soon be scouring Craigslist to try to find these items cheap...
- Fridge
- Stove/Oven
- Range hood
- Washer ( I think I already have a dryer...thanks Julie!)
- Lawnmower
- Tree trimming tools
- Primer & Paint
- Futon
- Doorknobs
- hose
- ladder
- bookshelves
- area rug
- light fixtures
- lamps...hmm, not sure what built in lighting there is, this might go up to a 'need'
- pink flamingoes
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Random notes for the day:
- Banjo is amazing.
- Africa is so cool.
- Throw Down Your Heart with Bela Fleck taking the banjo to Africa to play with musicians was an amazing documentary
- I want to adopt all of the cute kids in the film
- Yoga is fantastic
- My current yoga teacher at Stanford is going to teach a yoga class the morning of my wedding...possibly in my living room. Who wants to come?
- Jim's sister is having a baby
- Jim doesn't want to know what sex the baby is
- I know the sex, and the name, and am trying really hard not to tell
- It's St. Patty's Day
- Here are the following things I have that are green that I'm wearing today:
- Shoes
- Dress
- Sweater
- Panties
- Bra
- Anklet
- Neclace
- About 8 bracelets
- Purse
- I'm also writing with a green pen
- I think now is the perfect time for me to fail out of college
- I can't believe there is only 1 more episode of Battlestar Galactica left
- I have shit going on in my life that sucks balls
- Quilting is my new hobby, and it doesn't suck balls
- Toaster is the best cat. Except when I can't sleep and am really fidgety and she just wants to cuddle.
- But I can't really blame her for that.
- Toaster has a green collar. She's festive today too.
- I need to make a Mix CD when I get home tonight.
- My mom is on facebook, it makes me laugh
- People from work are on YahooChat, it confuses me
- I have the best fiance ever
- I don't know how his nickname became Binkie, or BinkBink, but I like it
- I used up an entire tube of chapstick. I need a new one
- There are probably about 10 different cheeses or cheese products in my fridge
- Happy St. Patty's Day.
Monday, December 08, 2008
It's a wedding extravaganza!! People are just getting engaged right and left! Of course it's because Jim and I are such trendsetters!
OK OK, sorry, you know once the ball is rolling, it just keeps going sometimes.
And is it really a bad thing to be in such fiancee-happy bliss that you want other people to have that too??
I heart weddings!
I guess that means it's time to start planning mine... calling the caterer today!
- Matt & Tina (Matt is Jim's friend from High School & College)
- Arthur & Em (Arthur is my friend from High School & College, Em is a friend from College)
- Emerie & Fiance (Erin's sister, who I've met maybe twice :) )
- Heather & Fiance (Heather is my friend from High School)
- Numerous people that I see on Facebook from High School & College
OK OK, sorry, you know once the ball is rolling, it just keeps going sometimes.
And is it really a bad thing to be in such fiancee-happy bliss that you want other people to have that too??
I heart weddings!
I guess that means it's time to start planning mine... calling the caterer today!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
So I get really motion sick. People don't really believe me when I tell them that I get really bad motion sickness.
- Even sitting in the front seat with Jim driving, who's a pretty smooth driver, I sometimes have to ask him to "drive good please."
- When other people are driving, it's kind of a crapshoot. Generally stick shift drivers don't drive very smoothly, short trips are OK, especially when I have shotgun.
- And yes, I often get carsick while driving. Yes, me driving. Either in heavy traffic or on curvy roads. Doesn't help that there's usually a good bit of traffic on the way to/from work.
- Walking on the beach... I love the beach, and I love walking, but I usually go down to the water's edge where the sand is packed tight. Walking over the loose sand for 20 minutes + will probably make me sick.
- And the newest one to add to the list, obviously I can't read while in a moving car, I can't even effecitively text message. Apparently I can't read while walking. Not like, trying to read a book, that's just silly. No, when I'm at my desk and I pick up a file to put back in the filing system (about 10 feet from me), I CANNOT look at the file folder label while walking over. So I either have to look at the title, figure out where the file goes, and then walk over there, or walk over there, then stop and read the title and figure out where the file goes. Isn't that sad?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Hooray for free trials of statistical software. I'm on my last homework assignment for this class. As of Wednesday, I'll be done with Business Statistics & Operations Research.
And if I can get my act together, I'll be done with Information Systems by Thanksgiving.
Then I'll have a couple weeks to chill, and not do homework every weekend. Amazing!
And if I can get my act together, I'll be done with Information Systems by Thanksgiving.
Then I'll have a couple weeks to chill, and not do homework every weekend. Amazing!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
In other music related news, I have the best Christmas CD EVAR. Ok, so I know that seems like I'm not saying much, it's still a Christmas CD, even the best of crap is still crap. But no! It's super good! I just sit and listen and am dumfounded by the awesomeness that is Bela Fleck and the Flecktones Jingle all the Way.
Oh, and I'm seeing them in a week and a half.
Usually I'm very adament that Christmas festivities do not start until either the day after my birthday, or the day after Thanksgiving - whichever one is later. This year, I must admit, I really want an excuse to decorate the house and frolic to this CD.
I'm actually thinking of having a Holiday party just for an excuse to play the CD and force other people to listen to it.
Oh, and I'm seeing them in a week and a half.
Usually I'm very adament that Christmas festivities do not start until either the day after my birthday, or the day after Thanksgiving - whichever one is later. This year, I must admit, I really want an excuse to decorate the house and frolic to this CD.
I'm actually thinking of having a Holiday party just for an excuse to play the CD and force other people to listen to it.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Taken from Jim's fab idea, I've made a playlist of A-Z songs. It was HARD. Here is my playlist:
All Night Radio - Sam Bush
Body and Soul - Sam Bush & John Cowan
Callin' Baton Rouge - New Grass Revival
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground - Chris Thile
Extraordinary - Liz Phair
Forget About It - Alison Krauss
Get Off This - Cracker/Leftover Salmon
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
It's All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies
James K. Polk - They Might Be Giants
Kate - Ben Folds Five
Low - Cracker/Leftover Salmon
Mamma Mia - ABBA (or Meryl Streep from the movie)
New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
Oh Darlin - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Pink - Aerosmith
Queen of the Air - Everclear
Rewind - Paolo Nutini
Steam Powered Aeroplane - John Hartford
Two Shoes - Cat Empire
Unplug That Telephone - Leftover Salmon
Vix 9 - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
X Concerto for Clarinet - McAllister
You Spin Me Right Round - Dead or Alive
Zebra - John Butler Trio
All Night Radio - Sam Bush
Body and Soul - Sam Bush & John Cowan
Callin' Baton Rouge - New Grass Revival
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground - Chris Thile
Extraordinary - Liz Phair
Forget About It - Alison Krauss
Get Off This - Cracker/Leftover Salmon
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
It's All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies
James K. Polk - They Might Be Giants
Kate - Ben Folds Five
Low - Cracker/Leftover Salmon
Mamma Mia - ABBA (or Meryl Streep from the movie)
New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
Oh Darlin - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Pink - Aerosmith
Queen of the Air - Everclear
Rewind - Paolo Nutini
Steam Powered Aeroplane - John Hartford
Two Shoes - Cat Empire
Unplug That Telephone - Leftover Salmon
Vix 9 - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Wagon Wheel - Old Crow Medicine Show
X Concerto for Clarinet - McAllister
You Spin Me Right Round - Dead or Alive
Zebra - John Butler Trio
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Kayte went to Grandma's house.
OK, long overdue. What can I say, I needed to decompress, and attempt to forget the parts of this trip that made me shutter, and vomit a little in my mouth. But now sufficient time has passed, and I'm procrastinating doing other homework, so it seemed like a good time to update things.
First I'll tell you a little about my Grandma Julia. She's 95 years old, so she's lived through a hell of a lot. That means that she actually has really cool stories about working in an airplane factory and being a 'Rosie the Riveter' type during WWII, working in a speakeasy, all sorts of shenanegans about living on the farm, and only having received a few years of school, going for her GED while my mom was in high school. The problem here, is suffering through everything else she has to say, to get to these stories. Grandma has an amazing memory for how much things cost, how much she's bought and sold things for, and who married and divorced who.
Grandma lives in Senior Living apartments in Effingham, Illiois, which is the next town over from Altamont, Illinois, where she grew up and lived, and where my mom grew up and lived. Now lets get the first thing straight, Effingham and Altamont are not cute little country town, they are tiny little pieces of hell transported to Southern Illinois. I used to dread visiting Grandma because I'd have to see . . . Grandma, but I've realized that Grandma Julia is very much a product of her environment. These are old farm town, which over time have seen factories come in, and more recently, seen factories go. There's very little industry here. A good job is the day-shift at Walmart. Few people go to college, but for some reason, most who leave to get an education come back to Altamont. The women become school teachers. Dentists and Lawyers and Undertakers come back and take over the family businesses. There are lots of fast food places, lots of shiny looking chain stores in the middle of miserable strip malls. And cemetaries. Dear lord there are a lot of cemetaries here...
Here now, are some highlights:
One day we put Grandma in the car, and drove around town. We went to one cemetary to put new flowers on Grandpa's grave, then we went to another cemetary to put flowers on Grandma's parents graves. Their names were August and Augusta. :)
As we continued around town we saw the 1 room school house mom attended 1st grade in, saw the property that used to be in our family, the property that still is in our family, drove through all the cornfields, and kept passing cemetaries. Cemetaries are like the Starbucks of California, they're everywhere. Whenever we'd pass one, Grandma would start telling us about who was buried there, and how they died (because that's what you do when talking about dead people). Whenever we passed one, I started to ask "Grandma, who's buried there?" And she always had an answer.
We cooked for Grandma when we were there. We didn't go out to eat much because it was so expensive. We went out to Ryan's buffet on Monday. We couldn't go on Saturday or Sunday, because they charged more, and it was the same food! I think Grandma told me this at least 3 times a day every day. Ryan's was all of $25 for the 3 of us to go the buffet. And it was actually a good buffet, big salad bar, lots of meats, fried chicken, ribs, roast beef, burgers, pork, fish, desserts, veggies, rolls. While at Ryan's grandma had finished her dinner, and still had about 4 square inches of fish left. "Well, they don't let you put it back!" My mother and I did our best to ignore Grandma as she wrapped up the fish in a napkin, and put it in her purse. Now, I have no problems taking the uneaten roll, but fish??
When we cooked, we made such country delicacies as peas and potatoes in cream sauce. First, you take frozen peas, and potatoes (grandma uses canned potatoes, but we stepped it up and used fresh taters), and boil them. Then you heat up heavy cream, and mix in some cornstarch to thicken it. That's it! Then you put a tiny amount of the veggies into the glop of the cream sauce. I was so disgusted that I wrinsed my veggies off in the sink, because I could only handle 1 bite of the flavorless slop. Grandma thought it was heavenly. Grandma also insists on peeling tomatoes before eating them, which I find strange.
Grandma has plenty of silverwear, plates and glasses, but generally tends to use reused styrofoam cups, rewashed plastic forks, empty margarine tubs, and cool whip lids as plates. Mom and I broke into the 'good stuff.'
Throughout the trip Grandma kept trying to give me stuff. Being a packrat, and knowing the 'value' of things, she has a ton of stuff. She won't donate any of it, but she might sell it...if she could get a good price. But she tried to give me stuff. It was confusing, because one minute she'd be offering me glass salt and pepper dips (what they used before there were shakers), that her grandparents had brought over on the ship from Germany. The ship sank when it was a few miles from shore, and these were one of the few things my family had been able to save from going down. The next minute she'll be trying to offer me ugly sweaters from the free table. The free table is at her apartment, when someone dies, anything the kids, or whoever empties the apartment doesn't want, they leave for the other residents to hoard. No grandma, I don't want dead people's ugly clothes. For every 15 things she tried to give me, I really had to pick one or two to take to make her happy. I took a jewelry box that I think she bought at a garage sale, and a bunch of balls of scrap fabric, sown together into thin strips to make rugs. If you've been to my house, you know that I have a habbit of cutting up old clothes and making rugs, well apparently my great great grandmother did too. So I have some really cool old fabric. I tried on some of the ugly clothes, just for shits and giggles, and I think I made my mom pee her pants a few times. Old people love pants they can tuck their saggy boobs into the elastic waistband. No pictures of those outfits to share, you'd be too jealous of my sexyness.
Unfortunately, the fabric balls didn't fit in my suitcase, so we went to the only thrift store in town to buy a cheap suitcase. I'm pretty sure it was a Pro-Life store. But I donated to Planned Parenthood (in Sarah Palin's name!) so it balances out.
Grandma did sell some stuff, there was an antique/vintage store in town that took things on consignment. One of the things in there is a 1985 Cabbage Patch Doll. Originally bought for me as a gift, Grandma saw how I treated my other dolls, and decided that I wouldn't take care of it, so she didn't give it to me. (I was 2 at the time). So my mom bought me a Cabbage Patch Doll who I loved and was happy with. Mom says that Grandma never offered me the other doll. Grandma says that she offered it to me when I was 'older' but that I didn't want it. If she did, she probably waited til I was like 15, cause what kid would refuse another doll? Anyway, the doll, still in the box! is being sold for $75.
Being the month before an election, I thought we'd see more political signs out and about. There were lots of local school board or whatever, but very few Obama or McCain signs. One of the McCain signs said "Pro-life for McCain" boo. I wore my Obama button every day I was there. Grandma asked me the first day, what my button said, so I told her. I asked her what she thought of Obama. She told me that there were a lot of people that didn't think there could really be educated black men, but she guessed there were more and more these days. I asked her who she was voting for, and she didn't know. I told her that I was voting for Obama because he is a good man, and that I think he'll be good for our country. Grandma is voting this week, but I'm not sure who she'll end up choosing...
Grandma liked to talk about fat people. In restaurants, she'd point and smile, and say F-A-T (she'd spell it out) or she'd whisper it. And at home, of course if someone was fat, that was an integral part of any story. Mother especially didn't appreciate this, as grandma kept making underhanded remarks about Mom's weight.
On the last day we were there Mom was wearing a cute shirt with a V-neck, and a wide band underneath that tied in the back, and had a bit of an empire waist. Grandma kept pointing at Mom's boobs all morning and smiling at me, like we had some sort of an inside joke. Finally I said, "Doesn't mom look pretty, today?" To which she said "Well, she's got a titty tightener."
At one point, I think Grandma had run out of things to say, so she grabbed the phone book and started showing us pictures. Like the lawyers all had pictures, and she started telling us how this ones the father of that one, and his wife is so mean. Very strange.
One new story I got out of Grandma this trip: She was wearing a pretty silver ring one day, and I told her it was pretty. She said that her boyfriend had gotten it for her before he got shipped out in WWII. It was a 'friendship ring.' He didn't want to get her a diamond ring, because if he'd come back and didn't have an arm, or was crippled, he didn't want her to marry him out of pity. Unfortunately it was about 2 weeks after he was shipped out that he was killed in action. Sad!
Grandma then had to wait til the war was over and the men to come home before she could find a man, which meant Grandma didn't get married til she was in her 40s, and didn't have my mom until almost her mid-40s. Kind of strange for that time.
Grandma liked to complain about how there weren't very many men in her building, and the men that were there were almost all married, or were too young for her. She said she wanted a boyfriend so she had someone to ... talk to. She put this big dramatic space in when she said it, and I was so afraid she was going to tell me that she wanted to have old people sex.
One day the Lutheran minister came by. Mom was raised Lutheran, but is no longer a church going person, and me - never a church going person got to sit and get our own little private service with Grandma! We got to hear about being sheep, and having a shepard, and we prayed for the crops, and it was very exciting. Mom said that one of the reasons she left organized religion was because growing up the church folks were always the most gossipy judgemental people, and they held their religious morals over other people, and didn't use the religion to be good people and do good things.
While we were there Grandma got a call from one of Mom's high school friends, my mom's best friend in high school, Lucy, had passed away from cancer. Mom went to the memorial service, and left me with Grandma. Grandma kept asking how she looked, and couldn't understand that Lucy wasn't at her own memorial service, because she was being cremated. That was still kind of a no-no in the area. The area really has a culture of death, Mom said that most all of what people talked about at the memorial was how Lucy had died, how the cancer treatments were painful, how she was sick... Mom said little was said about how Lucy lived, which seems so strange because every memorial I've ever been to it's been almost taboo to talk about the person's death, you just remember how they lived. There was also lots of talk about one of Lucy's daughters, who was married to some asshole, who made her strip in St. Louis so he didn't have to work, and it was commonly known and gossiped about that he had to make sure not to beat her up too badly, or she wouldn't get good tips. Of course, everyone knew about this, but no one did anything about it. One of Lucy's sons was also rumored to be gay. This however, was much more hush hush. It's much more acceptable to be in an abusive marriage, than to be a closeted gay man in Effingham Illinois.
We also paid a visit to Reetha, another friend of my mom's back from high school, who we found out actually lived in the same building as Grandma! Yes...in the senior apartments. So happy to talk to someone sane, Mom and I went over and sat down on her couch. How are you, Reetha? Well... we got to sit for half an hour and listen to how she had become so close to her mother before her mother had passed away, and how she was the one who found her mother's body, and how hard it was now that her mother was gone. We also heard a little about how she used to be an alcoholic, and ended up being a crappy mom, but how that's getting better. We also learned that Reetha was in the Senior living apartments because she was on disability for 'mental reasons.' But mostly she just talked about her mom's death. And she cried. And after 30 minutes we excused ourselves and got the fuck out of there. Yes, everyone in Effingham is crazy. It's a culture of death, mixed with the desire to talk shit about people.
For some reason, no one really leaves the area, and those that do, always come back. People look at my mom like she's crazy for ever leaving, and ask her now that she's retired, if she'll be coming back. They don't understand. Mom said she felt like she always knew, that there was something more out there, better than this, so she went to college, and got out. I'm so thankful she did.
And now I leave you with a picture from the Giant Cross. The Giant Cross was erected by the president of the DAV (Disabled American Veterans), because he was the only one willing to climb up on the scaffolding to finish the welding at the very top. Does that seem strange to anyone else?? All I can say is thank God I'm back home.
Also, I love my Mommy.
OK, long overdue. What can I say, I needed to decompress, and attempt to forget the parts of this trip that made me shutter, and vomit a little in my mouth. But now sufficient time has passed, and I'm procrastinating doing other homework, so it seemed like a good time to update things.
First I'll tell you a little about my Grandma Julia. She's 95 years old, so she's lived through a hell of a lot. That means that she actually has really cool stories about working in an airplane factory and being a 'Rosie the Riveter' type during WWII, working in a speakeasy, all sorts of shenanegans about living on the farm, and only having received a few years of school, going for her GED while my mom was in high school. The problem here, is suffering through everything else she has to say, to get to these stories. Grandma has an amazing memory for how much things cost, how much she's bought and sold things for, and who married and divorced who.
Grandma lives in Senior Living apartments in Effingham, Illiois, which is the next town over from Altamont, Illinois, where she grew up and lived, and where my mom grew up and lived. Now lets get the first thing straight, Effingham and Altamont are not cute little country town, they are tiny little pieces of hell transported to Southern Illinois. I used to dread visiting Grandma because I'd have to see . . . Grandma, but I've realized that Grandma Julia is very much a product of her environment. These are old farm town, which over time have seen factories come in, and more recently, seen factories go. There's very little industry here. A good job is the day-shift at Walmart. Few people go to college, but for some reason, most who leave to get an education come back to Altamont. The women become school teachers. Dentists and Lawyers and Undertakers come back and take over the family businesses. There are lots of fast food places, lots of shiny looking chain stores in the middle of miserable strip malls. And cemetaries. Dear lord there are a lot of cemetaries here...
Here now, are some highlights:
One day we put Grandma in the car, and drove around town. We went to one cemetary to put new flowers on Grandpa's grave, then we went to another cemetary to put flowers on Grandma's parents graves. Their names were August and Augusta. :)
As we continued around town we saw the 1 room school house mom attended 1st grade in, saw the property that used to be in our family, the property that still is in our family, drove through all the cornfields, and kept passing cemetaries. Cemetaries are like the Starbucks of California, they're everywhere. Whenever we'd pass one, Grandma would start telling us about who was buried there, and how they died (because that's what you do when talking about dead people). Whenever we passed one, I started to ask "Grandma, who's buried there?" And she always had an answer.
We cooked for Grandma when we were there. We didn't go out to eat much because it was so expensive. We went out to Ryan's buffet on Monday. We couldn't go on Saturday or Sunday, because they charged more, and it was the same food! I think Grandma told me this at least 3 times a day every day. Ryan's was all of $25 for the 3 of us to go the buffet. And it was actually a good buffet, big salad bar, lots of meats, fried chicken, ribs, roast beef, burgers, pork, fish, desserts, veggies, rolls. While at Ryan's grandma had finished her dinner, and still had about 4 square inches of fish left. "Well, they don't let you put it back!" My mother and I did our best to ignore Grandma as she wrapped up the fish in a napkin, and put it in her purse. Now, I have no problems taking the uneaten roll, but fish??
When we cooked, we made such country delicacies as peas and potatoes in cream sauce. First, you take frozen peas, and potatoes (grandma uses canned potatoes, but we stepped it up and used fresh taters), and boil them. Then you heat up heavy cream, and mix in some cornstarch to thicken it. That's it! Then you put a tiny amount of the veggies into the glop of the cream sauce. I was so disgusted that I wrinsed my veggies off in the sink, because I could only handle 1 bite of the flavorless slop. Grandma thought it was heavenly. Grandma also insists on peeling tomatoes before eating them, which I find strange.
Grandma has plenty of silverwear, plates and glasses, but generally tends to use reused styrofoam cups, rewashed plastic forks, empty margarine tubs, and cool whip lids as plates. Mom and I broke into the 'good stuff.'
Throughout the trip Grandma kept trying to give me stuff. Being a packrat, and knowing the 'value' of things, she has a ton of stuff. She won't donate any of it, but she might sell it...if she could get a good price. But she tried to give me stuff. It was confusing, because one minute she'd be offering me glass salt and pepper dips (what they used before there were shakers), that her grandparents had brought over on the ship from Germany. The ship sank when it was a few miles from shore, and these were one of the few things my family had been able to save from going down. The next minute she'll be trying to offer me ugly sweaters from the free table. The free table is at her apartment, when someone dies, anything the kids, or whoever empties the apartment doesn't want, they leave for the other residents to hoard. No grandma, I don't want dead people's ugly clothes. For every 15 things she tried to give me, I really had to pick one or two to take to make her happy. I took a jewelry box that I think she bought at a garage sale, and a bunch of balls of scrap fabric, sown together into thin strips to make rugs. If you've been to my house, you know that I have a habbit of cutting up old clothes and making rugs, well apparently my great great grandmother did too. So I have some really cool old fabric. I tried on some of the ugly clothes, just for shits and giggles, and I think I made my mom pee her pants a few times. Old people love pants they can tuck their saggy boobs into the elastic waistband. No pictures of those outfits to share, you'd be too jealous of my sexyness.
Unfortunately, the fabric balls didn't fit in my suitcase, so we went to the only thrift store in town to buy a cheap suitcase. I'm pretty sure it was a Pro-Life store. But I donated to Planned Parenthood (in Sarah Palin's name!) so it balances out.
Grandma did sell some stuff, there was an antique/vintage store in town that took things on consignment. One of the things in there is a 1985 Cabbage Patch Doll. Originally bought for me as a gift, Grandma saw how I treated my other dolls, and decided that I wouldn't take care of it, so she didn't give it to me. (I was 2 at the time). So my mom bought me a Cabbage Patch Doll who I loved and was happy with. Mom says that Grandma never offered me the other doll. Grandma says that she offered it to me when I was 'older' but that I didn't want it. If she did, she probably waited til I was like 15, cause what kid would refuse another doll? Anyway, the doll, still in the box! is being sold for $75.
Being the month before an election, I thought we'd see more political signs out and about. There were lots of local school board or whatever, but very few Obama or McCain signs. One of the McCain signs said "Pro-life for McCain" boo. I wore my Obama button every day I was there. Grandma asked me the first day, what my button said, so I told her. I asked her what she thought of Obama. She told me that there were a lot of people that didn't think there could really be educated black men, but she guessed there were more and more these days. I asked her who she was voting for, and she didn't know. I told her that I was voting for Obama because he is a good man, and that I think he'll be good for our country. Grandma is voting this week, but I'm not sure who she'll end up choosing...
Grandma liked to talk about fat people. In restaurants, she'd point and smile, and say F-A-T (she'd spell it out) or she'd whisper it. And at home, of course if someone was fat, that was an integral part of any story. Mother especially didn't appreciate this, as grandma kept making underhanded remarks about Mom's weight.
On the last day we were there Mom was wearing a cute shirt with a V-neck, and a wide band underneath that tied in the back, and had a bit of an empire waist. Grandma kept pointing at Mom's boobs all morning and smiling at me, like we had some sort of an inside joke. Finally I said, "Doesn't mom look pretty, today?" To which she said "Well, she's got a titty tightener."
At one point, I think Grandma had run out of things to say, so she grabbed the phone book and started showing us pictures. Like the lawyers all had pictures, and she started telling us how this ones the father of that one, and his wife is so mean. Very strange.
One new story I got out of Grandma this trip: She was wearing a pretty silver ring one day, and I told her it was pretty. She said that her boyfriend had gotten it for her before he got shipped out in WWII. It was a 'friendship ring.' He didn't want to get her a diamond ring, because if he'd come back and didn't have an arm, or was crippled, he didn't want her to marry him out of pity. Unfortunately it was about 2 weeks after he was shipped out that he was killed in action. Sad!
Grandma then had to wait til the war was over and the men to come home before she could find a man, which meant Grandma didn't get married til she was in her 40s, and didn't have my mom until almost her mid-40s. Kind of strange for that time.
Grandma liked to complain about how there weren't very many men in her building, and the men that were there were almost all married, or were too young for her. She said she wanted a boyfriend so she had someone to ... talk to. She put this big dramatic space in when she said it, and I was so afraid she was going to tell me that she wanted to have old people sex.
One day the Lutheran minister came by. Mom was raised Lutheran, but is no longer a church going person, and me - never a church going person got to sit and get our own little private service with Grandma! We got to hear about being sheep, and having a shepard, and we prayed for the crops, and it was very exciting. Mom said that one of the reasons she left organized religion was because growing up the church folks were always the most gossipy judgemental people, and they held their religious morals over other people, and didn't use the religion to be good people and do good things.
While we were there Grandma got a call from one of Mom's high school friends, my mom's best friend in high school, Lucy, had passed away from cancer. Mom went to the memorial service, and left me with Grandma. Grandma kept asking how she looked, and couldn't understand that Lucy wasn't at her own memorial service, because she was being cremated. That was still kind of a no-no in the area. The area really has a culture of death, Mom said that most all of what people talked about at the memorial was how Lucy had died, how the cancer treatments were painful, how she was sick... Mom said little was said about how Lucy lived, which seems so strange because every memorial I've ever been to it's been almost taboo to talk about the person's death, you just remember how they lived. There was also lots of talk about one of Lucy's daughters, who was married to some asshole, who made her strip in St. Louis so he didn't have to work, and it was commonly known and gossiped about that he had to make sure not to beat her up too badly, or she wouldn't get good tips. Of course, everyone knew about this, but no one did anything about it. One of Lucy's sons was also rumored to be gay. This however, was much more hush hush. It's much more acceptable to be in an abusive marriage, than to be a closeted gay man in Effingham Illinois.
We also paid a visit to Reetha, another friend of my mom's back from high school, who we found out actually lived in the same building as Grandma! Yes...in the senior apartments. So happy to talk to someone sane, Mom and I went over and sat down on her couch. How are you, Reetha? Well... we got to sit for half an hour and listen to how she had become so close to her mother before her mother had passed away, and how she was the one who found her mother's body, and how hard it was now that her mother was gone. We also heard a little about how she used to be an alcoholic, and ended up being a crappy mom, but how that's getting better. We also learned that Reetha was in the Senior living apartments because she was on disability for 'mental reasons.' But mostly she just talked about her mom's death. And she cried. And after 30 minutes we excused ourselves and got the fuck out of there. Yes, everyone in Effingham is crazy. It's a culture of death, mixed with the desire to talk shit about people.
For some reason, no one really leaves the area, and those that do, always come back. People look at my mom like she's crazy for ever leaving, and ask her now that she's retired, if she'll be coming back. They don't understand. Mom said she felt like she always knew, that there was something more out there, better than this, so she went to college, and got out. I'm so thankful she did.
And now I leave you with a picture from the Giant Cross. The Giant Cross was erected by the president of the DAV (Disabled American Veterans), because he was the only one willing to climb up on the scaffolding to finish the welding at the very top. Does that seem strange to anyone else?? All I can say is thank God I'm back home.
Also, I love my Mommy.
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