OK, so I never did a Christmas letter, as far as I can remember. But I still have a copy of the one my mom made on a gelatin copier in 1957! My brother, David, was born that year, as Elvis rose to fame. So what's happened since then . . . randomly, here's what's on my mind to share. You'll note I live more and more in the past!
After two serious accidents in two '69 Chevy Novas [in 1970 and 1973], I swore off ever driving or riding in a Nova. They were my favorite car, and I still long for one, but the third time's a goner, as far as I'm concerned. Our 1994 Toyota Camry is reaching the end of it's useful life after 12 years, and now Corine and I are looking for a van or SUV that can accommodate Corine's motorized wheelchair. We expect chair delivery any day, after negotiating with the insurance company since August. Corine's brother John is helping me build a ramp to the door. I remember Dave and some friends helping build one on short notice, for Dad at 824, back in the last century. I learned a few things from that, and will make it wider!
My grammaw died in 1979, and 4 days later they had her in the ground 1500 miles away, in Fort Wayne. Uncle Bob must have engineered that, to make it happen so fast.
I retired from 31 years of gummint work in December 2001, and haven't had a raise or cost-of-living increase since 2002. But, the cost of our insurance sure went up, from $750 to $1000 a month. It's kind of a bummer to retire at 52, and have a whole decade to go before you get social security, and even longer until you get Medicare. I keep on the lookout for a part-time j-b, but I volunteer so much that I don't have time for w--k. And, I need to be available for Corine pretty much 24/7. But if I didn't have these problems, what WOULD I complain about?
Eyesight, for one. I need glasses because my arms aren't long enough to read stuff. And the small print on the back of food packages [looking for milk or high-fructose corn syrup] is beyond me. I am too proud to wear glasses in public, so I just keep 'em in the bathroom where I do most of my reading anyway!
In January 2007, we are going to remodel the bathroom, and rip out some very old carpet in the bedroom. Maybe insulate the walls. But I don't want to tell you all about it now, because then what would I write about NEXT year? (If you really can't wait for the excruciating details, remind me in the card you send with the cash for my birthday in March.)
We were congratulating ourselves on spending so little on medical co-pays this year that we were only half-way to stop-loss [the point where the insurance starts paying 100%]. We usually get there in October, and this was just a great, trouble-free year. Then Corine got pneumonia in early December, and spent 3 days in the hospital. That got us to 100%, and now they will deliver the "electric chair" this month, and we avoid paying $1100 of the cost of that. Or maybe do it in January, and get to stop-loss right off the bat!
Our daughter Susan had a house fire in late May, caused by too many things plugged into a power strip in the garage (which was also Dominik's bedroom). Dom's room got destroyed, although he salvaged one guitar and a couple of other items. Susan, Jason, Dom and Whitney moved in with us for 6 months, while the house was repaired. Friends loaned them a travel trailer, and our neighbors graciously consented to allow it, so the city gave us a permit, and Susan and Jason had a bedroom in our front yard. Our little house is 912 square feet, with one bath and 3 bedrooms, and was already stuffed with Mike's stuff ("junk", as Corine probably thinks. Where did I learn to be a packrat???). Each grandkid had a bedroom, and teenage friends who stayed over a lot, so the house was pretty crowded and busy. The boys brought in their Xboxes and TV's, and played online into the wee hours, in Dom's tiny 8x10 bedroom.
In the meantime, Susan and Jason found they could buy a brand-new home in a nice development, just blocks away from their old home (and our house). They moved in after Thanksgiving, and a group of friends and family helped them get everything out of storage and out of our house. It's nice to have our tiny home all to ourselves again. We keep remarking on how much space we have now!
16 January 2007
Picking up where I left off a month ago, I guess you can consider this my 2007 Christmas Letter, early for once!
I was always a little pleased that my great-grandpa, Frank Sepetowski, was more than just a drunken, wife-beating bartender, as witnessed by his lawsuit in 1902 over getting hit by a city streetcar. I always thought he won, and got the money ($425 then, or about $9500 in today’s dollars). I shoulda knowed better, ‘cause he sued a corporation. Today I found that the Transit company appealed, and the St Louis Court of Appeals overturned the jury verdict in 1903. But Frank was tenacious. Ever one to find an excuse to get out of jail for a day (he was now in the pen for trying to kill his wife, my great-gramma Atherton), he asked for a new trial on the old case. He got an order for it, but the Transit company appealed that. In 1904 the Appeals Court affirmed that he should have a new trial. Now to find out if he ever got it before he died in 1913.
Corine now zooms around the house in her electric chair, but hasn’t ventured outside in the winter cold yet. We are still working on getting a van, before our Camry needs a ring job (has 177,000 miles on it).
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and there it sat, on my computer, unfinished. Rather than send it or delete it, I'll put it here, and begin anew on a more current letter to borethesoxoff my relatives.
