Good morning world

7/19/06 Wednesday
Good morning world. Cherie had a hard time waking up this morning. Our body clocks are still on Texas time so it’s harder to go to sleep as early as we need and to also get moving in the morning. There is much to tell so I will see if I can recall most of it. I am running an 8 or 9 on the Bob scale this morning. Hope it stays that way.

In my opinion one of the most significant events of yesterday was Cherie’s youngest sister, Cathy, coming over to our apartment. I don’t recall ever talking with her as much as we did, not even when Cherie and I were married the first time 25 years ago. I had asked her to come over so we could work on the legal issues with the city in an atmosphere that was less hectic than at her parents house. We didn’t get allot done other than her helping me understand things a little better. Mom had called Connie’s (Cherie’s oldest sister) husband, Jim, about this because he is a lawyer. While I have a small amount of experience with the law it is mostly in the criminal field so I am not up on misdemeanor court procedures. He told her that if they plead not guilty it would then go to a trial. That is good because it will give us time to get things prepared. One of the ideas I have is to get the city council involved and to also gain a media presence, which shouldn’t be too hard considering the event in question was aired on all four of the local television stations. That scrutiny will help insure things are done right and not just swept under a rug.

Mom wasn’t keen on me going to court with them this morning as it appears it will just be a short “Not guilty” plea with a date set for trial. That’s fine with me. Cathy, Cherie, and I talked for quite a while until she had to leave because it was getting close to midnight and she must get up at 5:30 or so. Getting dad and mom to court will be a journey as dad can hardly walk. The wheel chair had broke some time ago and was never replaced. Dad doesn’t like it and because of his stubborn pride he probably wouldn’t use it anyway. It is a long walk up to the courthouse steps. Hope it goes ok.

We talked about the farm. Cathy is excited about helping us figure things out and will be probably the most valuable asset we will have. I’m a city boy who doesn’t know didley about farming and she has an extensive background. Come to find out she is a grant writer among her other skills. It’s too bad we will be 2000 miles away when we move but the computer will help us work together. I intend to compensate her well (“Well” is rather relative) because I know this will take up a significant portion of her life, which is fraught with enough problems as it is. I suspect that there are many things we would not be able to do without her help.

Her excitement is contagious and is encouraging me to think more on the farming possibilities. I was online studying composting just a few minutes ago. Learning about invertebrates found in the compost pile and other cool stuff. OK, now I got the bug (Pun intended) as I read about worms, nematodes, and a host of other creatures that help turn trash into plant food. Next I will learn about microbes, physics, and chemistry when it comes to a pile of organic garbage.

We only have a couple of months to get prepared for this new life and I don’t think it will be enough time. When it comes to farming I will be learning the rest of our life. The land will be tied up till 2008 when the five acres I requested will be released from the government conservation program. The remaining seventy acres will remain in the program till 2011.

Among the things that Cathy brought to our attention is that there are grants available specifically for women in agriculture. She mentioned that there are forms of cotton that are not white but colored. This can be grown organically, which is something we feel strongly about. Cherie’s passion is sewing and material so it opens up some exciting possibilities.

Cathy just called to let me know how court went. It was as expected, just a not guilty plea and a date set for pretrial. Dad’s need for a wheel chair is such that mom will call Medicare to see if they can cover it. I am going to make some calls because as a liquidator I helped some hospitals get rid of their excess wheel chairs. It’s been years and I can’t remember any of the names of who I dealt with so we will see.

I got Wayne to the doc yesterday and after that gave him a haircut. I also put the computer that Jeff donated set up for him but will need to get an extension cord. I’ll look around here to see if we have one hanging around before I go buy one. Money’s tight.

That’s it for now. Got to get moving.
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4:00 – It feels like it has been a long day. I took the computer we had in our bedroom to Sharon. Calling her before I went over I heard about everything going on in her life. She talked a mile a minute as she usually does. Finding a space to say something I told her I would be coming over with the computer.

She was outside pulling weeds along her drive when I pulled up. Sharon didn’t look good. She had told me she lost about twenty or thirty pounds but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. The skin on her face was drawn tight around her skull and the eyes showed the stress she was in. The guy who beat her up was going before the parole board so that was eating her up with fear. Sharon has been on a campaign to keep him in prison. The stress is why she lost all the weight.

I talked to her about her fear. The guy that had beat her is an ex-con who had violated his parole several times. His criminal record is extensive and he was on parole when this happened. I explained to Sharon that the odds of his making parole were slim. She had the idea he was seeing the parole board because he had asked to. “It doesn’t work that way Sharon” I told her. “He sees the parole board based on a calendar, not because he asked to”. This came as a surprise to her for some reason the officials she was dealing with didn’t explain this. I tried to assure her and think I may have allayed some of her fear but it will come back. She is on tranquilizers and other anti psychotic medicine because of the anxiety resulting from her brain injury. Of course having gotten the injury from her ex beating her with a pipe didn’t help. She will have her son set the computer up.

After that I went to the house to see if we had an extension cord for Wayne. No such luck so I drove to Walmart and got one. I called Wayne on the way out the door to let him know I was coming over. When I got there he was up and ready. I got the computer all plugged in and turned it on. Wayne was constantly talking about how he didn’t know about computers and wasn’t sure if he wanted to get on the internet. This was because of the things he heard on the news about predators. That didn’t make any sense and I told him so. “Wayne, are you worried about someone picking you up?” I quizzed him to make the point. “You aren’t going to those chat rooms. I got you this computer for two reasons. So you can keep in touch with me and also because you can learn anything you want on the internet. It will keep you occupied” I explained.

I showed Wayne how to do some basic things and put the four games that came with it on his screen so they are easy to find. We talked for a while and I made him play a game of solitaire to get him familiar with the computer. I was wearing out so told him I needed to go.

For some reason I am incredibly tired. Just typing this I have to fight to keep my eyes open. I bought some coffee at Kroger as Cherie asked me to. I will post this and take a nap.
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Just as I was getting to sleep my phone rang. “Who could this be” I thought as I struggled to find it in the pile of clothes next to the bed. It was Wayne. It hasn’t been an hour since I left his place. Instead of telling me what he wanted he started with “I probably called you right when you were eating dinner”. I told him no so he said “I’m probably interrupting something”. After going around this circle for a few I finally said “Wayne, what do you want?”. “I don’t know. I got a letter from Social Security. Could you come out here in a day or two?” Wayne said. “What did the letter say Wayne?” I asked with my frustration growing. “I don’t know, something about a hearing, I don’t understand it” was his reply. That set me off. Wayne may have M.S. and it does effect his memory and mind but he can read just fine.

Now he is being needy and wanting me to take care of every little thing. That is something I have cut him off from before. I have told him many times he needs to take care of himself and not depend on others to do everything. I got specific about this when we knew we would be moving to Texas. If he does this he will stop fighting and just vegetate. Not a good thing. This is something I learned while studying brain injury as it is a common problem for those bedridden. I will see him tomorrow and read him the riot act again. I know he is afraid because we are leaving. That’s one of the main reasons I got him the computer. I think I need to make sure he is taking his depression medication and perhaps call his case worker at the Zeph Center.

It was a rude way to wake up. Cherie could tell I was perturbed so walked up to me with her arms wide saying “You need a hug”. What a good woman. I am blessed. She said that we have been running hard ever since we got back from Texas and needed to rest. “Let’s just stay here the rest of the day and not do anything” was her prescription for this. She fixed a great dinner and we cleaned out the ice cream. I haven’t touched the farm stuff I want to do yet because I have been running.

I think I will work on the blueprints of the farm house I am drawing up. Cathy called and asked if I could give her something on our plans to help her with the research she is doing. That I need to get on also. I am glad I don’t have to run Fred around or at least that he hasn’t asked me to. Other than seeing Wayne tomorrow I think I will concentrate on farm stuff. We also brought back boxes of stuff from my grandmother that needs to be gone through. Part of that is the notes she kept of every dime she gave out and who she gave it to. I’ve got several notebooks and scraps of paper. It is all dated so I will sort it by date. Should be interesting. There are pictures including an envelope labeled Robbie pictures. (That’s me)

I called several hospitals to see if I could find a wheel chair for dad but had no luck. St V’s said they use the old ones for parts and the rest seem to get stolen. It is a shame I no longer have the connections I once did. I think this will be the last post for the day unless something momentous happens so night all.