Dizzy, not Gillespie

The Wild Blue Yonder!

(Hey, what's a 'yonder'?)

Just got back from Buffalo- shoot me now. JetBlued it there and back but took
the unusual step of staying TWO full days instead of one- like I said, shoot me
now. Every time I visit my dad I see a little more of him chipped away and a
little less of him involved with ANYthing else in the world. Like me.
Yesterday he took THREE naps while I sat there trying to be chatty in a 90
degree room. Hence the Dizzy reference above- he tells me EVERY FRIGGIN DAY
that this day he is dizzier than he has ever been... Since I have had vertigo
in varying degrees for 15 years now I give him tips in coping- like don't look
up and down, don't swivvel your head sideways fast, move your head and not your
eyes- stuff like that. He won't listen because WHAT DO I KNOW??? HE is the one
who is the dizziest.

In addition, a member of the staff at his Assisted Living place pulled me aside and told me scary things about the doc he now has. (The last one dropped his practice and is now doing research or some such thing) So, first thing Monday I have to follow up and see if I can find someone else for him- not easy with 1500 miles between us and no knowledge of whos-who. Or wheres-where!

You may be interested to know that the Days Inn/Bowling Alley combo has gone
belly up. but the deisel filling station and driver shower combo is still viable
in their front parking lot. I previously had a lot to say about the case of
empty beer bottles acting as doorstop at the Days Inn- very comforting for the
paying guests to have to step over.

It seemed that my current upgrade to the Mildew Motel may be in jeopardy too-
300 rooms and the vacancy rate was maybe 290 rooms this week- and I was the only
one that wasn't driving a pick-up. This week there were no conventions- I particularly enjoyed the National Canary Convention a few trips back- those folks all arrived in huge vans and pulled out massive covered cages of chirpers. Considering the lack of climate control in the Mildew (as we fondly call it), the damn birdies would probably been better off in the vans. Here's my example of Buffalo Cuisine- barely able to contain it to one measley picture!


Tonight I got in at 6:30 from JFK and TY immediately found me a veal chop to
make up for the last few days, bless his heart. I did discover a mighty good
pizza there in the airport- top and bottom crusted so it didn't slide all over
my chest/shelf trying to eat it- from La Familia which I understand is a pretty famous
place there in NY.

But all my care at not getting pizza on myself was for naught as my seat partner
dumped a full hot coffee on my lap while I was snoozing- about sent me through
the window over the DelMar peninsula. Rode the rest of the way in wet pants,
took off my soppy socks and felt soooo comfy the rest of the trip.

All in all, I sure would have had a better time staying here and hooking up with
Judy and Russell, but guilt and timing got the best of me since I hadn't seen
Lazarus since October. TY has to be out of town all next week so I knew I
coudn't wait till mid Feb to get to Buffalo. Also, I had to fit the trip in
between my classes I am teaching.

Oh, I didn't tell you about that? Stay tuned. First class was last week- it's
an improvisational quarter-circle class- a way to bang out quick quilts and play
with color and sells a whole lotta fat quarters for the shop. Hopefully. I have to show up early on Tuesday since one of the students got times mixed up and missed the first class. It won't be any problem to get her up to speed.

Looks like the new house project is back on the block again- our next door
neighbor sold their little house that's similar to ours for an obscene amount of
money and the real estate guy is banging on our door with buyers holding out
fistfulls of cash for ours. TY is elated. Well, we'll see about that cash when the time comes-
can't do a thing now until we start the building and see how long that will
take- the general time frame is now about 18 months which brings us solidly into
summer/fall 2007 if we are on schedule all the way AND no more hurricanes hit.

I gotta go to bed.