Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, the day we remember those who died protecting our country and our freedom; and while it's good to thank those who are serving, it is important to remember that this day honors our fallen.  So this morning, as I sit in my kitchen, I am thinking about those who never came home.  My father talked about comrades who were killed in World War II.  He thought of them often.

It got me to thinking.  I was anti-war during the VietNam era, but not anti soldier.  I wore a POW bracelet, something many of us did.  The name on my bracelet was Captain Clifford Fieszel.  He was declared Missing in Action, although initial reports from the Viet Cong claimed they had him.  I think of him, someone I never knew, and wonder what happened to him. How terrible for his family, never to have known.  I hope someday, the remains of those who died there will be returned so that they may be honored properly.

So today, before you light up the BBQ and pop open that beer, take a moment to think of those who gave their lives for this country.  Those men and women who paid the ultimate price and whose sacrifice was not in vain. 

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would have been my father, Robert Myers, 93rd birthday.  I hope wherever he is  he is celebrating.  I am sure there is BEER wherever he is or he wouldn't be there for long.  And some really good Dixieland music.  Gotta dance!

My Dad's folks split up when he was about nine or ten and after his father was killed in an accident, he was shuttled around to relatives and finally, against his wishes, ending up with his mother in New York City.  I always got the feeling that life in Chester PA was much more to his liking than New York City, even if it was a bit rustic.  I remember him telling me about one of the places he lived- his dad's girlfriend- who had INDOOR PLUMBING.  His dad had a roving eye, apparently,so that did not last.  He told me once that when he and my mother were arguing and he considered leaving, he thought of how he felt and knew he didn't want us to grow up like that.  They worked it out, whatever the problem was. 

My father served in World War II and was at the Battle of the Bulge.  His stories when we were kids made it sound like Hogan's Heroes, only later did the stories darken.  He never forgot the bitter cold of that Christmas in Belgium or the warmth of the Belgian people who fought with them against the Nazi's.  He told me about the women bringing their fine white linens out to cover the guns.  He asked them about it and they said that it was a small price to pay to be free.  The experience most certainly stayed with him all his life.  He never forgot the war or the people who did not make it home.   

I miss my Dad and have been "channeling" him lately.  I open my mouth and my father comes out!  I inherited his off-beat sense of humor, his love of cooking and his square fingers.  I did NOT inherit his dancing gene.  My daughter got that.  I wish I had more of his joie de vivre ; his sense that everything will work out if you let it.  He used to tell me "Don't take life seriously.  You don't get out of it alive."

Kids

My daughter is twenty-five, almost twenty-six.  In her lifetime,there  has always been cable.  Computers were small and are getting smaller everyday.  She had a cell phone when she was thirteen.  Cars have GPS built in.  The radio looks for your station AND tells you what song is playing.  Technology is a constant in their lives, they take it for granted.  So WHY is it SO FREAKING HARD to get kids of a certain age to LEAVE A MESSAGE when they call you?  Seriously.  I forgot to take my cell off "stun" and when I looked I saw I had a missed call from her.  Called her back and left a message asking her to call me but my cellphone is the spawn of Satan these days and it turned itself off.  Missed another call.  No message.  I am guessing she called me on her break, because when I called her back she did not answer.  I left HER a message confirming our plans for this week and asking that she call me back.  This was a moderate problem.  I HATE it when I miss calls from her and there are no fewer than SIX in rapid succession; again NO message.  Now I am frantic, in Mom mode, picturing her stranded by the roadside or in Emergency or something heinous.  Heart in throat I call her back to be greeted with a breezy "Hi Mom, I figured it out" or  "what temperature should I cook the chicken at?"  COULDN'T you leave me a message so I don't go into warp drive?

Working the polls

I have worked the polls for several years now.  It's a tough job, believe it or not.  First of all, it's a LONG day.  We are there from 6 a.m until around nine ( no later than 9:30 is the decree)  You have to smile and help people and try not to let moody , grumpy frustrated people get to you.  You get an hour meal break.   Sometimes you have to work with difficult people ( NOT what happened for me yesterday, thankfully, but it happens)  I try to keep it light.  Things to remember when voting ( again , in no particular order)

Don't get angry at the poll worker if they can't find your name in the register.  They aare doing the best they can to find your name and help you vote.

Don't yell at poll workers and insist that you have "always voted here"  Again, not their fault if there was a demographic shift  and you are voting at the church ( where you suddenly recall voting at LAST time)

If you are having trouble with the the vote recorder ( that box in the booth) ASK for help.  We had an elderly lady who slid her folded ballot into the recorder and could not figure out where her ballot went.  I took the recorder apart and found it after she left.  I was certain she had put it in her LARGE purse and none of us wanted to insist she empty it to see if she had put it there.  We gave her another ballot and she voted, but the mystery of where her ballot went was solved by the next voter entering the booth who said that there were already vote marks on the recorder.  In trying to clean it, we saw the ballot stuck in the recorder.  I helped an elderly Armenian couple who had not used a recorder before, and a few new voters who were too shy to tell us up front this was their first time.  

Try not to leave anything behind.  We had a voter leave her driver's license in the booth.  One of the crew took it to her after we closed the polls and got everything verified.

Remember, poll workers VOLUNTEER for this. Poll workers make it possible for you to vote in person and in your neighborhood.  Many cities have dispensed with the polling places and have gone ALL vote by mail.  If you enjoy voting in person, remember the tired person at the table is making it possible for you to do so.  I always say "thank you for voting" to our voters.  It's nice to hear "thank you for being here" from our voters.

We had about a 10% turn out, a lot of our voters are "vote by mail", so hopefully more than that 10% contributed to this election.  Congratulations to Eric Garcetti.  I hope he will be the mayor we need, after eight years of that smiling idiot ( I know I shouldn't sugar-coat how I really feel about AnVil, should I?)    Hopefully we will move forward and be the wonderful city we used to be!

Elections and other things

I am up early, as I am working the polls today.  If you  live in the City of LA- PLEASE VOTE. It's important.  Even if we don't agree on the choice of Mayor ( I  am going for Garcetti, more because former Mayor Dick is pushing Wendy and as a City employee, HIS agenda scares me.)  Who ever is elected has a LARGE mucky stable to clean out after four years of AnVil ( I love the Downtown News' sobriquet for our current Idiot in Chief. )  As a City employee, I still have hope.

It's a long day  6 a.m. to around 9 or 9:30  I have coffee and a five hour energy drink for late in the day.  I am sure I will be talking about the experience tomorrow.  It's almost always a positive one ( I did have one time when the inspector was TERRIBLE and I had to call for backup.)  The people I am working with today are the same folks I worked the primary with. Nice people.  

GO VOTE ( and if you have voted already- THANK YOU!)

Going Buggy at LAPL

Most days, I  Like my job, I really do.  Today was just NOT one of those days.  Starting with a misunderstanding that left me frustrated and upset, I spent the better part of the morning trying to untangle a mess. When it was solved, I raced off to a meeting.  It was a productive meeting and I was feeling pretty good.  It was kind of past lunchtime so I grabbed a snack and went back to my desk to see what was there.  I had a grey interoffice envelope and when I opened it, I found a plastic grocery bag with dead cockroaches in it and a note from the sender telling me, here was the proof I asked for....   uh... 

Here were the actual instructions:

If you see bugs, try to kill one and put it in a baggie.  GSD needs to see the proof of the bugs, as a lot of places call in bugs and don't have them ( it's NOT the Library Department that calls them in, but we are being painted with the same brush, apparently)  SHOW the bug to the person from GSD when they come to the branch.  This will also determine what type of pesticide will be used.  This particular librarian  does not have a mean bone in her body, so I know it wasn't anything malicious or directed toward me, especially since I would have known where it came from and  it would have been an unpleasant conversation with someone's boss if it had been.  No this was just someone totally mishearing the instructions.

I sealed them in a ziplock and sent them back.  I will check on their pest control order. Tomorrow!

Wednesday morning...

Long day ahead of me and the new sleeping tablets the doc gave me did two things; I didn't sleep any better ( I keep waking up WIDE awake every two hours) AND when I did sleep I had vivid nightmares. ( Can I get a meeting with Brian de Palma,? I've got some story ideas for him)

I see where Prince Harry  is touring the east coast.  It must be hard to be born into a "job" where about 50 % of the people think you and your family should go away.  As an American, I don't think much about the Monarchy, but I think the new generation of royals will make some real changes in the system.  Personally, I like the public personae of Will, Kate and Harry.  They have the "common touch" and  at least by all appearances do care about things.  They are not just up in the balcony rattling their jewelry.  They are in the trenches.  I heard they refer to the family business as "the Firm"  It's one way to look at it.  I wonder what that must be like.  I had a friend, a LONG time ago, whose father owned a very successful car dealership.  His father let him "play" with his dream of being in the music business- I think he gave him two years to do something- then he told him if he wanted to inherit, he would need to learn the job and it was time to do it.  He made my friend work every job at the dealership, learn the business from the ground up.  Smart move.  It gives you perspective and compassion if done correctly.  I assume my friend is running the show now, although we lost touch years ago; the dealership is still there with the family name on it.

I can't WAIT for the mayoral election to be OVER!  I am disappointed that both candidates chose to tramp through the mud-bogs  during these final weeks. Please, I would prefer you remind me why I want to vote for you in the first place, not why I don't want to vote for your opponent.  If I am undecided, I look at who is doing the nastiest mudslinging and vote for their opponent.

I see the IRS got caught targeting certain groups for audit.  Well, well well, THAT is going to make them even more beloved, isn't it.  They need to take a look at the tax collection system and make changes to it.  It's not right when the really wealthy pay less of a percentage than the average working stiff.  If you just paid a percentage, period and were done with it, no deductions or loopholes, I wonder what the outcome of that would be.  People will argue that there won't be any charitable donations and people with large families will have problems, maybe we can look at that, but  the tax code is HUGE and confusing and we need to make it much simpler.  This probably won't happen in MY lifetime, but you never know!