Book by Terry Pratchett,
Picture by Josh Kirby

Imagine my surprise to get a neat package full of neat things yesterday from someone whose sh*tlist I thought I was fairly high on. There was a book, some dinosaur trading cards, autographed, headstones candy, which is the right shape but sweet, and Dem Bones candy, which is the right flavor as the Tombstones I was missing. There were lots of dinosaur stickers and the plastic kind that could stick to the front of my fridge, too. Also some "pregnant onion" bulbs which look like they'll be fun. Thank you very much!

Yesterday we went over to the Park District craft show, as Agnes had told me about it while we were working on the election. Sure enough, there she was with table runners and blankets. I picked up an apron to give my Ma-in-law. We also got a couple of little things for St. Nicholas day, but I can't tell you because the people in question read this page. I'll spill the beans December 6!

I finished the maze page. (Pictures, slow loading.)

Same weight, 6 miles, nothing else good except sending up two updates and I told RATSA (rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc) that I was quitting. One more update for me to do.

Rich got to see a dermatologist about a strange sudden mole, which is non-cancerous, just strange and sudden. Monica has discovered they will need to do some roof-patching, but it's not deeply serious.

Ten years ago Sacramento made national headlines with the sweet little old lady who ran a boarding house and killed off her tenants so she could cash their Social Security checks. There's still some question about what happened to her first husband, too. Anyway, the bodies were buried all over the yard. She bamboozled the police (who really couldn't believe she WASN'T a sweet little old lady) and escaped for a week or so, as well.

Scowl, Nu? is also complaining about Proposition 10, which appears to have passed. My Mom would have had a cow, talking about bootlegging cigarettes and all. Of course, that will happen, especially if you live close to Nevada or Oregon. Perhaps the 50-cent per pack added tax will discourage some smokers, but more are going to buy out-of- state or off a base or just steal them. Meanwhile, of course, the "Early Childhood" programs will be in place, and need money, and gee, who will end up paying? Meathead told us it was "for the children." I know, as well as anyone, that ECEducation is important, but this is a stupid law and a stupid way to pay for it. The unintended consequences loom large.

Lucy talks about travelling on Hallowe'en. It reminded me of 30 years ago, when we left Rich's school in Barksdale, Louisiana, to go visit Pittsburgh and then my aunt and uncle and grandmother in Andover, Massachusetts in early November, before we flew to England. We had the two daughters, aged 1 and 2, but this was one trip without pets. Heinz the dog was already in England, and had been since August, and I'd given the two cats away. On Hallowe'en we were in, uh, Dayton, maybe, visiting our friend Ron. Somewhere (but I can't find it at the moment) I have mentioned Ron. He was Rich's Air Force sponsor when Rich came to Laramie to let Uncle Sam pay for him to finish his degree. Ron also had the hots for me, even though (because?) I was 9 years younger than he was. I used to hang out with the Newman kids even before I was in college, and Ron wanted to date me, but we didn't actually go out till I was 18. He took me to a fancy dinner with the Air Force people and then I wanted to see Fantasia which bored the socks off him. The 9-yr difference was just too much. We remained friends, but didn't date again. Still, I think he had hopes. The summer of 1963 I was in charge of the Newman summer school and Ron brought by some paperwork for me. I saw there was someone in the car (Rich, it turned out later) and suggested he bring his friend in, but he made some excuse. Of course, once Rich and I did meet, in September, it was all over. (Ron had also told Rich I was going steady with someone else. I had been, but stopped in order to go to the Ring Dance with Tom. Rich thought it was another guy entirely when he saw me shooting pool with him.) So, anyway, Ron, all of 5'2", married an Amazon, or at least a woman taller than I, and they lived on base at Wright-Pat. (?I think. I don't remember clearly.) We spent Hallowe'en night with them, trying to have a conversation around the doorbell. I was, I remember, horrified that they liked bullfighting. I have NEVER been that sophisticated. We slept on the couch in the den with a really annoying cuckoo clock, but I repeat myself. And the next day, Roni's birthday, we drove on to Pittsburgh.

All I remember about the Pittsburgh trip is bro-in-law Frank, the Godfather for the bun in my oven, ordering me to produce a boy. I remember the Andover part of the trip, as I have pictures of Monica giving her great-grandma a kiss. That was the last time we saw her.
We went to visit Rich's aunt and uncle in New Jersey the day before we flew off. His cousins were in the late kid/early teen stage and spoiled rotten, which we blamed on the uncle.
At McGuire Air Force Base, they discovered that Monica needed a smallpox vaccination (over a year old, which had happened between the time I got her shots and the trip) and gave her a hurried one which festered and caused problems for weeks after we arrived. I remember seeing the lights of New York City.

I definitely remember arriving in England, though. In a bus on the wrong side of the road. The Officer's Housing. Meeting Wayne, our sponsor. Getting the bungalow where we would live the next four years. (Everyone was surprised we didn't live in base housing. My theory was that if I wanted to live with Americans, I'd have stayed in the States.)

It's really hard to believe that was 30 years ago. Time passes faster and faster, and here it is, Hogswatch again!