Governor Election

Jane and I waited a half hour to vote this morning at 8:00am.   The ballot was marked with a pen in the bubble and then scanned.  We both voted for Jennifer Granholm as Dick DeVos did not do well in debates and the overall negative campaign hurt him.  I voted for numerous Green, Natural Law, U S Taxpayer, and Libertarian Party candidates.  It has been a rainy dreary day and I did not get a subbing job today as Lansing Schools had the day off.  I've been subbing quite regularly with some good multiple day assignments.   Jane went to a Dr. Messina yesterday who did a much more through job than the other neurologist she had seen who basically did nothing definite for her.   The end of the first quarter was last week and conferences are tomorrow for the boys.  We still have 3 kittens and 5 cats living here with Wiley and the fleas.   It was a cool October with the earliest over an inch snowfall.   I will be glad to see the end of all the political ads on TV and hearing them on radio and the calls with their minute messages.  A great waste of money that could have served a noble purpose but that's democracy today.   Granholm won with 56% of the vote and over 50% of citizens voting.

New York August baseball trip

On August 2-5 Phillip, Tommy Graf, and Andy Wegener were in New York for a baseball tournament which also took us to Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame. The trip was Uncle Mark's brainchild and the 5 of us traveled to Williamsville NY to play baseball at North Tonawanda Wednesday night at 6:00 where we lost to a local team 15-11. We stayed at a nice Residence Inn with a loft, we arrived about 4:30 and were at the park by 5:30. It was sunny and hot and after an 8 run first inning we played a good game going ahead after 4 innings 10-9. Phil had pitched until then and Tommy took over but had a bad inning and eventually taking the loss. The next day we played again at 6:00 at a school a mile+ down the road in an off and on rain against the team from Stoney Creek Canada. Andy started and pitched 2 innings and the score was 0-3 when Phil came in to pitch 4 innings and the score now 5-4 . Tommy came in for the save in the bottom of the 7th but we lost 6-5 on a slow roller to PJ at ss and a low throw Phil couldn't hold for the third out and the score tied. It was now raining steadily and almost dark, and our baseball playing done for the trip. Andy found a puddle to slide in and after cleaning up at the Inn we went to Dave and Buster's at 10:00 in a now heavy rain. Friday we traveled on the NY Toll road to Cooperstown arriving at12:00 and staying until 4:00. We had pizza at Sal's and got back about 9:00 after riding up and down Main Street searching for the connector to Maple Road. We left the Inn at 10:00 Saturday and after a brief stop to wish the Canadians luck headed to Niagara Falls. We got to the Falls about 12:00 and walked around with Mark and I going over the bridge to the island to observe the Falls from the center of the 2 Falls. Mark then treated us to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and at 3:00 we crossed the Rainbow bridge to finish my 1000+ driving miles of the trip. It took us about 40 minutes to cross over the border and we got back to Lansing at 8:30. We then returned the Mazda MVP to the airport and after taking Mark home and unloading my day of driving was over. Surprisingly the trip was enjoyable and we all got along without ever being bored or uncomfortable with each other. It was refreshing to be home and Jon and Lukas had taken Jon's furniture to Indiana earlier and Jon left Sunday at 2:00pm for Valparaiso. I 'm still a little tired but God gave us a safe trip keeping me aware and on the road. Sadly Arthur Lee died Thursday August 3 at 61 of leukemia may Forever Changes finally get it's deserved recognition!

7/11/06 Ybarra's 60 years

   We spent last week in Grand Haven on vacation.   It was sunny with temperatures in the 70's or 80's and water was 65-70 with real strong waves on Saturday.   The Ybarra's came up the last 2 days and are celebrating their 60th anniversary today.   There is only 1 kitten left from last litter and it is the orange one with white boots, we named Rusty Fireball.   He will let you pet him while drinking milk and I'm working on bringing him inside but today he hid under the bed for an hour.  It has been a dry and 80ish summer so far but we had a good rain today to help keep things green.   Jon has an apartment and a roommate for the fall and will be leaving by August 7th.  I still await a summer job or something more permanent for the Fall.   Thoughts about life and what can help all to understand can be found in music, shared poems or journals or lost in the dangling conversation.    

JUNEteenth 2006

   Another school year has passed as I kept busy at Elmwood, Schavey Road and Lansing.   The desire to teach is still in me as I look at students I've had in the past and find many remember me.   I put in applications with Waverly and Dewitt.   Juneteenth celebrates the time at the end of the civil war when many slaves finally got the news of the end of slavery.  On 6/19/1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Texas  freeing the country's last slaves, in Michigan last year, Gov. Granholm declared the 3rd Saturday of June to be Juneteenth National Freedom Day, to become the 20th state to make it a holiday.    The Pistons basketball team lost as the Red Wings did without a championship for Detroit.   Phillip played freshman baseball for Waverly and is playing for Uncle Mark's Panther team this summer.   He pitched and played 3rd base for a 9-9 team coached by Mr. Bird  and Mr. Dimick.    Santana gave birth to 5 kittens in May so the menagerie grows.   Jon bought a Pontiac G6 as he graduated from MSU with a Political Science degree.   Jane has been suffering with pain in her jaw that doctors have not diagnosed and have put her on anti-seizure drugs they give epileptics.   Her MRI came back normal so we don't know if this will be long term or some kind of nerve problem or blockage, that will clear up in time.   Growing old is not easy and challenges wait each new dawn.

"55" Revision of a police state

   Officer shot himself," The headlines of today will be the movies of tomorrow", Jeff Lutz is a sick person who for whatever reasons subjected us to being put in the search perimeter and is now facing charges of  felony false report.  Janis Ian will soon be 55 like myself, who quietly hit doubles 5's with my wife and 2 younger sons in Florida.  I'm currently enjoying a glass of blueberry wine in the solitude of my safe home.  I was cancelled twice today for jobs in Lansing, a first that kept me safely  here free of a police state.   They are tearing down the old Fisher Body plant, which before my time was Durant and the final assembly plant of Oldsmobile.  My father 4/6/08 and grandpa worked for Oldsmobile after coming to Lansing from Glasgow Scotland. My brothers Frank and Jim worked skilled trades there as well as myself for 32.5 years.  Times change and GM is on the brink of either being a has been or moving into the new competitive future that may leave it's retirees in an uncertain and less comfortable days of future passed.  The wine has now mellowed me into a state of ignorance is bliss, so love peace and happiness is my closing.

Monday Morning 3:03a.m.

   A little after 3:00am I let Wiley out and just after going back to bed started hearing sirens.  It sounded like a police chase but I kept hearing short bursts of a siren, like a car alarm.  But it kept moving around so I knew that wasn't what I was hearing.  I got out of bed to observe a Lansing Police car at Barton and Willow and 2 Eaton Co. cars cruising up and down Willow and Thomas L Parkway. This continued for an hour with the police cars communicating with their quick bursts of their sirens and then the sound of helicopters above.  When we woke at 6:30 the car was still at the corner and the news said the area from Saginaw, Waverly, Willow and Maycroft was about to be searched for a fugitive who had shot an Eaton Co. officer behind the West Town  Plaza around 3:00.   I went out to get the paper and saw cars blocking the road at the light and up the hill, so I knew to take the boys to school I would have to take Waverly road and not be able to get back to the house.  When we got near the intersection of Saginaw and Waverly we saw the SWAT teams with guns drawn going from building to building down Waverly and eventually they went past our house and through our back yard.  I was teaching at Windemere View and they were also in a code red lockdown.  They never found the shooter and ended up calling off the search at 10:30pm.  But the trauma of living in a South Central surreal world makes me more insightful of the fear some live their everyday lives under.  The SWAT team left our gate open and after Wiley twice was outside in the front did we find this.  Spring did arrive despite the reality that it is still below 40 degrees this week.    Jane went to Curves and found she had to go through Mar Mor to get back home during the lockdown. 

Future shock revisited

     The 100th weekend assignment is to tell 5 things about the 5 years ahead.  Jon will be a graduate of Valparaiso Law school working in some big city firm. Luke will be a male nurse after getting his 2 year degree from LCC and enrolling at MSU.  Phillip will be pitching for MSU on a full ride scholarship.  Jane will be working full time for Kohls customer service and I will be teaching 3rd grade at a charter school.  Simon will be doing bookkeeping for the Radison hotels.  Hopefully the cats and dogs will be gone or comfortably numb.   Abortion will be illegal and the Muslims will have basically destroyed Muhammad and his Islamic teachings. GM is a subsidiary of Toyota and all cars are hydrogen hybrids.  Rock and Roll never forgets and all the best of the 60's plays on radio and television.  January was one of our warmest in history and February has been winter but not extremely cold or snowy.  Phillip and I are done with our therapy and back to normal or even better.   This journal will be long since forgotten or floating in cyber space of obscurity.   Barak Obama will be president in a flourishing economy driven by third world awakening of freedom.

Another Year 2006

On December 28th we went for Simon's sentencing in Mason at 1:30 as the rain started pouring and soon thundered.  But the weather for us was a good omen as Judge Boyd gave him a 1 year probation $700 costs,  for jostling with an officer and domestic assault, a far distance from the kidnapping charge.  We did have to wait at the court until 4:30 to complete the paper work but it was the fairest treatment we could have expected.  All 6 of us have lived peacefully in our little house watching the bowl games despite the lack of sunshine the past week.  I also turned in the 2003 Impala and we got a 2006 Malibu LT to replace it. Jane picked out the green-silver color and hopefully it will take us through our 3 years lease time.  We have much to be thankful for as faith in the Lord is always the best solution to guidance in our lives.