I just turned 45 on December 1. I’ve been arguing with everyone that I really couldn’t be 45. Just figure it out for yourself. It’s 1994 this year and I was born in 1949. If you are counting years, you can’t count 1949 as one full year of life. So you’ve got to start counting with 1950. If you subtract 1950 from 1994, it’s obvious that I must be 44, right?

Thomas is 19 this year and has been working at The Herbfarm. Although he doesn’t have a glamorous job there-- he’s washing dishes and helping to prepare food in the restaurant-- he seems to like what he’s doing and it pays pretty well for a part-time job. Mom and dad have let him stay with them over the weekends so that he doesn’t have to drive the 45 minutes each way back and forth each day. This arrangement means that Tom leaves for work on Thursday afternoon and doesn’t return until Sunday morning.

We decided to help Thomas get a new computer for Christmas. For the past several years, Tom and Paul have jointly owned a 486 SX computer. That arrangement has worked well until recently when Paul decided to start his own computer Bulletin Board called the PowerHouse BBS. This ties up the computer 24-hours a day. Luckily he is running his computer with the OS2 operating system which allows him to be doing other things while the BBS is running in the background. However, Valorie and I realize that Thomas isn’t going to live here forever and will need his own machine.

On November 30, I called a company in Virginia (MicroMax) to order Tom’s computer and a new case and power supply for Paul. We found out about this company from an advertisement in the Computer Shopper. He’s getting a 486 DX machine with a 420 megabyte hard drive, double-speed CD ROM player, and 15 CDs. Unfortunately, when Thomas called them this morning (December 19), they still hadn’t shipped our order. We are beginning to think that this wasn’t such a good deal after all.

Anne--who will be turning 15 this January--has been really excited about Christmas this year. She talked us into getting our tree on November 27. After searching all around Kent, we ended up finding a nice Nobel fir for $20 at Payless. It’s all decorated with lights and ornaments and there are a good number of gifts packed around its base. A nice touch this year was to add several strings of lights along the ceiling. They stretch from over the dining room sliding door, over the bookcase and fireplace, above the living room window, and along the south wall to the hall. It really makes a nice glow and warms up the room.

I’m on vacation now and don’t have to return to work until January 3. Last Saturday night Valorie and I went to a Christmas Party hosted by my boss, Gale Dingmon. He has a fantastic house in Normandy Park. I actually had a good time at the party. This is unusual for me since I don’t usually feel very comfortable at these types of social gatherings. Perhaps this was different since I knew almost everyone there, and it was not a large crowd.

After the party we stopped at Ernst and got a new thermostat for controlling our natural gas heater. The old thermostat still worked OK, but the cover was broken and wouldn’t stay attached anymore. The new one is programmable so that we can hopefully save on our heating bills this winter. It can provide four different heat settings during the day on weekdays, and two different settings on weekends. I helped Paul install it when we got home. Now all I have to do is paint the wall under the new thermostat. It didn’t cover the same area as the old one did so there is a patch of dull paint.

Monday, December 19

Christmas is fast approaching and we’re all busy doing our "last minute" shopping. Thomas, Paul and I drove to Bellevue Square through the blowing rain and hoards of shoppers. Thomas drove in and I was surprised that he was unsure how to get to the Square.

We must have beat our feet up and down the square at least three times looking for those "perfect" gifts. I was shopping for dad, and as it turned out, Paul was also looking for something for him too. I found him some gold-toe sox that he likes. We also found a foot massager which Paul purchased. I spent most of my time looking for a sweater for dad. The only one I liked was $52 at Nordstrom-- a bit too pricey for me.

We had a break and bought lunch at McDonalds. It was so crowded that we had to find a bench in the mall to sit and eat it.

Paul found a gift at the Nature Store that Valorie would like. It was a gadget filled with oil and a black substance. When sat on a table, the "sand" flows upward like smoke from a volcano.

Thomas announced that he was looking for something for Kim Betts. Now why he didn’t stop to ask her was she would like for Christmas is anyone’s guess. So he poked around all the stores looking for that "something."

We decided to leave after the mall started getting really crowded. I had the idea of going to Egghead Software to see if I could find this puzzle game for Rick. At first I thought we could go to the store in Bellevue. But when trying to get out of the parking garage, there was so much traffic that I had to go west from the square. This put us in Old Bellevue. From there I figured it would just be easier to go to the Egghead store in Southcenter. (What an idiot.) By now it was raining really hard and the freeway from Bellevue to Southcenter was crowed. And guess what...there were people also shopping at Southcenter! Hoards of them. It took us the better part of an hour just to get to the store. We browsed around in the store for almost an hour before we realized that we weren’t going to find anything.

Tuesday, December 20

Today was a potpourri of activities. I spent an hour this morning wrapping gifts. This made me hungry, so I went to Safeway and bought some sausage links and eggs. They made a good omelet!

At 9:27 AM I took Anne to school. Valorie was going to pick her up at 11:25, so I headed to SeaTac Mall to look for a sweater for dad. Mervyns didn’t have a thing; neither did Lamonts. I did find a nice one at the Bon and it was even on sale! It feels good to find something nice at an affordable price.

I stopped in at Radio Shack to get some AA batteries for the bike lights that we got for Ron and Carrie. Also looked around Sears for a heater blanket for Lola, but they wanted $60-- twice as much as I was willing to spend.

From the mall I headed up to Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) to see if they had a charger that would work with the bike lights. They didn’t. I also looked around for some Microfiber mittens for Carrie, but they didn’t have anything.

So with all that effort, I headed home with a gift for dad. Of course I had to stop at McDonalds for lunch! (MacChicken & Fillet-o-Fish).

At home I wrapped the gift for dad and put batteries in the bike headlight. You’d expect a new light to work, but it wouldn’t turn on. In fact, the batteries really started to heat up so I had to quickly yank them out of the headlight. Since it hadn’t worked to just put in the batteries, I thought it might be smart to read the directions. Fortunately, they said to do exactly as I had done before. So I did it again with exactly the same results. By now I was getting frustrated, so I took my problem to Paul. Of course he tried the same thing with the same results. After fooling around for another 5 minutes, he determined that there was something wrong with one of the battery terminals. So I’ll have to take it back to REI tomorrow. Bummer.

As evening approached I decided to go to Enumclaw to get the license tabs for Tom’s truck (he’s driving the Ford Courier). Tom decided to go with me. The tabs cost $52 plus $2.50 for the agency fee. We then decided to visit the Lindon bookstore there. Found a book for mom called "How To Live Between Office Visits" by Bernie Siegel. Mom had asked for a book by Siegel, but the title she asked for was "How To Be Happy The Rest Of Your Life." There is no such book in publication. The one I got was his most recent book, so I figure that it must be the one she wants. Hope so.

Tom also got a book for Kim. As it turned out, Valorie got Kim’s and Sarah’s Christmas lists when she stopped by their house this afternoon. Kim wants books on starting your own small business and on baking bread. Kim and Rick are considering selling their house and moving to Arizona to start a business baking bread, doughnuts and pizza. The entire family is worried that this might be a mistake for them, but most of the talk has been between everyone but Kim or Rick! The reason they want to move is that Rick is very unhappy working at the Post Office. He has taken a lot of sick leave and is quite stressed out. Kim feels that he needs to get into a job that is less stressful and more fulfilling. They are flying down to Arizona in January to look around the town where Rick’s parents live. Lola is going with them to visit her sister there.

Valorie got a package of genealogy information in the mail from Bruce McPhail. It had pictures of relatives and information that neither Valorie nor Ted had ever seen. Valorie was ecstatic! She called Ted and invited them over to look over the information.

We spent part of the evening calling Virginia about our computer order for Thomas. Tom got the same run-around as before. "No...the computer had not been shipped. No...they didn’t know why it hadn’t even though there appeared to be nothing holding it up. Please call back after 6 PM to see if they had shipped it." Tom was really frustrated. So we had the idea of calling their customer service line. After waiting for 5 minutes on the phone we got through with the same story. We finally asked to talk to a supervisor, but surprise of surprise. The supervisor wasn’t in! He’ll call us first thing tomorrow morning. Right-- and it never rains in Washington State either. I won’t hold my breath.

Had dinner at Sub City and gassed up the car. Ted and Lola showed up at 7 just after Valorie had finished making a large batch of Granola. They spent the evening looking over the information on their family.

Wednesday, December 21 (Winter Solstice)

I arose at 4:30 this morning. My routine includes taking a shower, shaving and getting dressed. I then let Cookie (our Cocker Spaniel) outside to "do her business" while I get her breakfast ready. I feed her Adult Formula Pro Plan (one cup a day) and sprinkle a tablespoon of brewers yeast on top of it. Before feeding her the food, I always let her sample three kernels. I have to put her bowl on a towel so that her front feet rest on the towel while eating. Otherwise she takes each piece and carries it to the living room rug to eat it? Is that strange or what?

I like to turn on the TV in the morning so that I can catch the news. However, I always turn the sound off so that it doesn’t bother anyone. Around 6 AM I get the morning paper and browse through it reading Ann Landers and looking for special sales.

I had the bright idea that I could fix the sticky keys on the Macintosh keyboard for our Macintosh SE. I took out the three screws that hold on the cover and fiddled with the keys, hoping that it was just dust or hair that was causing the problem. There was some dirt, but not enough to cause the keys to stick. The problem is that under each key there is a key-return unit which holds a small steel spring. After many uses, the spring loses its "spring" causing the key to remain in the "down position." I undid the two clamps that held the spring in on one of the keys, and of course the spring did what it does best-- SPROING!-- it popped out pulling with it a small metal clamp. I spent the best of an hour trying to wrestle it back into place. Had to get tweezers, needle nose pliers and the whole bit, but I was successful. Then I got the bright idea that I could just unplug one of the spring units from a key they seldom gets used and move it to one of the keys that was sticking. Good idea in theory. I managed to pry loose the unit under the "bracket" key, but then I noticed that they are supposed to be soldered in to the circuit board and that I had just pulled it loose! So I quickly snapped it back into place and tested out the keyboard. Fortunately it still worked. I took this to be a bad omen so I put everything back together. The funny thing is that the keys are not sticking anymore. Maybe it was just dirt and hair after all!

Since I was already at the computer, I took the opportunity to call the Covington Library via modem to connect to the Internet. I have been investigating the Vancouver Island Network and spent a half hour reading the messages left by the new users. It’s interesting, but difficult to find useful information. Most networks require that you send them a signed agreement before they will let you view their message areas. I guess they are concerned that kids will get into "adult only" areas and that their parents will sue them.

This morning I got out my stores of spare change and rolled it. I have been buying the change from the coffee bar that I am running at work. I buy about $3 each day and it adds up rather quickly. Last month I deposited over $400! This mornings count came to $92. This will come in handy for those last minute Christmas gifts.

I called SeaFirst bank to get the yearly fee waived for our Line of Credit. SeaFirst charges $65 per year to maintain a line of credit. We have $40000 available. When we signed up for it, the lady told us that we could have the yearly fee waived. Unfortunately, this was not put in writing, and when she left SeaFirst, the lady who took over knew nothing about it. She told me last year that she could waive the fee for two more years (last year and this year). However, when I called her today, she didn’t remember anything about that and was reluctant to waive the fee. After making it clear that this was the last time, she went ahead and cleared the fee. I need to decide whether to pay the fee next year or to cancel the line of credit. If I decide to cancel it, it will cost $50. Either way, it’s going to cost me next year.

At 9:22 AM, I took Anne to school. This is her last day for the year and they were going to have a party. Tom and Paul came along so that we could do some shopping. The first stop was SeaFirst. I put the $92 in savings and withdrew $100. Not a bad trade. Stopped at Haps Bookstore, but was not impressed with their selection of books. Apparently, since the owner won the 15-million dollar Washington State Lottery last year, they don’t really need to be very savvy in their business dealings. The coffee shop there did smell good, however.

I had to return the bike light that I had purchased there two days ago. It’s always a hassle returning things but there were no questions asked. We then stopped at a Cost Plus store but didn’t buy anything. Thomas then wanted to go to Ernst to get a gift for Valorie. He found a good price on a clip-on light and grow light.

Next stop was the Mall. Tom wanted to go to the Kitchen Store to get a set of nesting Pyrex bowls for Kim. He found a boxed set. I looked through their bread-making books, but they wanted $27 for one that looked decent and I didn’t want to pay that much.

Of course we had to stop at the computer software store. Paul was looking for a "mouse" mouse, but they didn’t carry any. Tom pointed out a computer CD game that he would like, but the price was too high.

On the way home we stopped at McDonalds for lunch (another MacChicken and Fillet-O-Fish sandwich).

Once home, I put fresh batteries in the bike light and found it didn’t work. I was livid! I fussed and fooled around with it for 15 minutes before giving up in disgust. Paul came out and fiddled with the batteries as well, but it just wouldn’t turn on. At least the batteries weren’t going for critical mass like before. I went outside in disgust and, since today was the first sunny day in over a week, I decided to wash the car. It was filthy. I didn’t get a chance to clean out the interior, however, since Valorie wanted to go to Kent to Jerry’s Agate shop. Midway through washing the car, Paul knocked on the living room window to get my attention. The light worked. Apparently the bulb was loose and just needed to be tightened! What a relief. Paul really has a knack at getting electronic gadgets to work. I would have taken it back and probably would have been embarrassed as the store clerk tightened the bulb. Yeesh!

Paul took the opportunity to clean out his car and to try to determine why there was a 2-inch puddle behind the front seat. He had half a garbage can of trash along with ruined Spanish books that Matt Webber had left in his car.

Just before leaving to go to Kent, I told Anne that she needed to open a Christmas present. It was a tape called "Jungle-Cats"--a collection of Christmas music sung by cats! Anne played the tape all during our trip to Kent. I noticed that she was "meowing" to the music along with the cats!

We stopped at Drug Emporium, K-Mart, Payless, Safeway, The Hallmark Shop, a hobby store, Waggeners and Ernst looking for a Santa hat for Anne. You see, she bought a Santa hat at Drug Emporium about a week ago, but Paul and I wore it around while shopping. When Anne went to wear it again, she found that it had been stretched and it would slide down her head to her nose. She needed a new one. Unfortunately, no one had any left. We did, however, find a large Poinsettia at Ernst for Lola and some Christmas stockings for everyone.

Just before arriving home, we saw Tom and Paul heading the other way in the Courier. They went to see the movie "Dumb and Dumber." Anne was really disappointed since she wanted to see it too.

Valorie went to a Christmas Solstice Party at the Rockin ‘B Ranch (Kitty Brebner’s place in Enumclaw).

Meanwhile, Anne begged me to open a Christmas present. I told her that I had to wait until Christmas, but she insisted that I needed to open this one. She even threatened me with never rubbing my feet again if I didn’t open it. I carefully undid one end of the present and peeked inside noting that it was a box of "Butterfinger BB’s." By this time Tom and Paul had returned and they were wondering what was inside as well. Tom jumped over and tore off the wrapping, so I just had to sample a package! They taste really good. Of course, these are the ones with no calories or fat (yeah, right!)

I hit the sack at 8:30 after feeding the bird, covering its cage, and helping Cookie up onto the bed.

Thursday, December 22

Ran through my morning routine and caught the news. There’s been quite a bit of flooding from the warmer weather the last several days. Lots of snow-melt coupled with heavy steady rains has brought many rivers to flood stage.

I spent several hours browsing the Internet. I found that the Victoria Freenet has a lot of connections. One is to the World Wide Web (WWW). I found the text of the Christmas story. Tried to read the file, but our modem or our line is really noisy and I got a lot of strange characters intermixed with the text. I also found an area where there are several contributors to a fictional story. It sounded really interesting, although chapter one of the first story I looked at didn’t spark much interest from me.

Tom and I went to the local hardware store at Four Corners (The Do It Center). I bought three more strings of indoor lights. They were on sale at 50% off. We also stopped at the pet store (The Pet Place) and bought two Chinese Algae Eaters and two others that looked like eels. Tom put all of the fish in his tank and noted later that the eel-like ones would burrow in the gravel.

Since it was a partly-sunny day, I decided to wax the car, clean its windows, vacuum it, and apply "Son of a Gun" to the vinyl. I guess it was good that I did since I noticed that the right front tire had a one-inch slit in its sidewall. Now I’m worried about it. I think it means that I’ll have to go to Les Schwab Tires and get new tires. That’ll set me back about $350. Ouch!

Tom called again about his computer and found that they had shipped it today. It’ll arrive in seven to ten days--no way it’ll get here by Christmas.

I put the new Christmas lights up around the living room window after taking down the old string. Half of the lights on the old string wouldn’t work. I think it is an older set that goes out whenever one of the lights burns out. I also put a string around the fireplace. They look really nice.

Tom and Anne spent part of the afternoon making cookies. Anne made sugar cookies and Tom worked on Fog cookies. Anne talked me into taking her to the store to get food coloring and icing. She spent a lot of time decorating the cookies in Christmas colors. Tom had a hard time with the Fog cookies. The problem with them is that they have to cook for exactly the right length of time-- not too long or they will burn, and not too short or they will be doughy. The first batch welded themselves to the paper on the cookie sheet so Tom had to destroy them to get them off. He left a large pile of cookie carcasses. He eventually got the timing right and made several good batches.

I managed to take a short nap and then watched the evening news. My stomach started complaining that it was dinner time, but there was no one interested in making any. I finally decided to go out to Skippers for some fish. Tom, Anne and Valorie went along. Paul had gone over to Matt Webbers to look at his new 24.4 modem.

Ted and Lola stopped by and brought a few more presents. Ted has decided to get a Gateway 2000 IBM clone 486 DX computer. It will be similar to what Tom has, but from a different company. Ted intends to use his computer to link up with information over the Internet concerning the status of legislation. He is especially concerned with legislation affecting the right to keep and bear arms.

Watched my favorite TV program at 8 o’clock called "My So-called Life." The story was about a teenager who was pushed out of his home on Christmas eve because he told his father that he was gay. Angela, the programs leading teen, found out that he was living on the street and set out to try to help him. Of course it ended up by pulling her whole family together and gave a true picture of the meaning of Christmas. It’s too bad that more viewers aren’t interested in this show. I’ve heard that it may be dropped next season. What a shame.

Friday, December 23

I left the house at 7:45 and arrived at Les Schwab Tires in Enumclaw just as they opened. The manager looked over the tire which had the cut in the side and suggested that it be replaced. Since the rear tires were worse than the front tires, I decided to have all four tires replaced. I’m getting an 80,000-mile warrantee on the tires. The sale price was about $70 per tire, but after adding the cost of the balancing and the alignment, it came to about $100 per wheel. The alignment was especially expensive since the Subaru needs to have each wheel adjusted individually.

Since the car would not be done until 10, I called Thomas and he came and picked me up while the work was being done. We drove to J-Hawks and browsed around the store until 9. We stopped at SeaFirst Bank and I withdrew $500 from my account. Four hundred of it went into the tires. It sure feels good to be driving with good tires. I had been noticing a "shimmy" in the car at low speeds--like the car was "waddling" down the road. It’s now gone and drives smooth as silk.

Anne had a plan for the day. She wanted to pick up Nickki Betts and then go shopping. Afterwards she wanted to go see a movie.

Picked up Nickki at her house in Hobart after stopping at Key Bank to get some money from the Puget Sound Adam Network account. My idea was that PSAN could buy us a new modem to use with our Macintosh. I knew that the newer high-speed modems cost under $100, and they also have built-in error correction so I can take advantage of the on-line resources on the Internet.

Came home and found that everyone else wanted to go with us. So we had a car full--myself, Valorie, Anne, Nickki, Thomas and Paul. Anne rode in the "cubby hole" on the way to the store.

First stop: The Incredible Universe. I looked at their modems, but the only 14.4 modem they had for a Mac was $169. I decided I’d order one via mail order since I could get what I wanted for $89. We did find a surge protector at a good price and bought one for Thomas and one for Ted.

Since it was lunch time, we stopped at Jack in the Box. I had my favorite--the sourdough burger. Unfortunately, lunch was expensive: $25!

Had to stop at SeaFirst so Nickki could cash a check. There are gizillions of people everywhere today. We went to Fred Meyer and had to drive around to even find a place to park. I found a pretty silver necklace and ear rings for Angel. Paul found some piggy ear rings and necklace for Anne. They even had Santa hats, which Anne quickly snatched up along with some Japanese mandarin oranges which were on sale for $10 a box.

Back home again, I called Carrie to see what I should bring for Christmas dinner. They were not there, but I left a message on their answering machine. She called back within 40 minutes and asked if we could bring some snacks.

At 4:45, Anne, Nickki, Valorie and I went to see "Dumb and Dumber" starring Jim Carrey. It was funny, especially if you like bathroom humor. Afterwards we took Nickki home.

This may be Nickki’s last Christmas in Washington if they decide to move to Arizona. I know Anne is really upset by that possibility. No one seems to know what Angel will do if they move. She can’t go with them because of the kids. Where would she live? Who would help her? The strange thing is that no one else seems to care. Nickki’s comment was, "Well, whatever decision Angel makes, it’s sure to be the worst possible one." Everyone in the Bett’s family is really down on Angel. I hear all kinds of rumors that she’s sleeping with several different guys and "doing drugs"--i.e., smoking marijuana. It’s hard for me to imagine what she must be going through, being a teen mother and all, but the stress must be enormous. Perhaps we all need to remember what Christmas is all about and reach out to her even if we don’t agree with what she is doing. It all comes back to the "little things" that we do that mean the most.

Needless to say, Thomas’ computer did not arrive today, nor did Paul’s computer tower and power supply. I’m considering writing a letter to the company to express our disappointment.

Saturday, December 24

Anne got up early this morning and went with me at 7:40 to do some "last minute" shopping for stocking-stuffer-type gifts.

I was surprised at the number of people already out. The Fred Meyer parking lot was already 1/3 full! I got Anne some Spectra film for her Polaroid camera. The film was on sale since it was some return packages. $6 for a package of 20. Also got some double-sided high density 3.5 inch computer disks for Paul and a Mr. Head for Anne. The head is similar to a nylon stocking filled with sawdust. Grass seeds make up the scalp. The head has a nose, ears and pipe-cleaner glasses. If the head is kept moist, the grass sprouts making a full head of hair.

I also picked up some computer magazines that I thought Tom and Paul would find interesting.

Our next stop was Target. I got some chocolate covered coffee beans for Valorie and a blank VCR tape that she can use for recording her favorite TV programs. Anne got three cans (different flavors) of Pounce, treats for her cats (Shadow, Figaro and Snicker).

From Target we went to Safeway in Covington. I found a copy of The Old Farmers Almanac for Valorie. Picked up some Clearly Canadian for Tom, Paul and Anne.

We next went to the Red Apple in Black Diamond where we finally found a chocolate orange for Valorie.

At home, Valorie and Thomas spent the morning making more cookies. Anne decided she wanted to do a lot of jobs. She got up on the roof and swept off the fir needles. She must have got over 20 gallons of needles! While she was sweeping, she missed the fact that Santa arrived and put a special present under the tree for her!

Shortly after noon a white van pulled up outside and delivered my new modem that I had ordered yesterday from the Mac Warehouse. I couldn’t believe it. It had been less than 24 hours since I had placed the order! Obviously Paul and Tom had to hook it up to the Mac to see how it worked. It did great and works well at 14.4 baud. The only drawback is that the software that came with the modem wouldn’t install on the hard drive. I’ll try later when I have a bit more time.

Paul disappeared for a while and returning with my skiis. He had taken then to a ski shop in Enumclaw and had them waxed and sharpened. They looked really good.

At 3:15 Anne was still busy cleaning. She was mopping the kitchen and dining room floor. Valorie was busy setting out the goodies for our Christmas-eve dinner. She fixed mulled cider, nuts, cheese, crackers, candies, and our party punch consisting of 7-UP, orange juice and orange sherbet.

Four o’clock came and went and no one had yet arrived. However, by 4:40 the Betts arrived. Rick brought a 6-foot long sub-sandwich with all the condiments. They brought a bunch of presents which made a mound in front of the tree. Ted and Lola arrived shortly thereafter and brought even more gifts. Kim wondered whether we had left the gifts we were going to take to Ron & Carrie’s under the tree.

We all had a sandwich for dinner and then came the time for opening gifts. The kids took turns being "Santa." I got a nice shirt and tie from Scott, a lamb’s-wool sweater, a tie, a fragrance ring and a game called "Mind Trap" from Valorie, an outdoor/indoor thermometer from Paul, a book called "Kids Shenanigans" from Thomas, a tape of favorite Country Music from Sarah, a tape of the movie "Ghost" from Nickki, a Farside desk calendar from Anne, a set of screwdrivers and an electrical cord reel from Ted and Lola. I also got a gift from Santa--$500 in cash! I couldn’t believe it when I opened it and started flipping through the $100 bills. The gift was left by Jeannie Vandeberg, I suppose for my having helped her with her astrology computer program. I’ll have to talk to her about that. I don’t feel right about taking that much money.

I spent part of the evening taking pictures as presents were opened. The Polaroid film turned out to be less than ideal. A couple of the pictures were definitely bad. But I’m glad to got the pictures anyway. Anne was really pleased about the special gift that Santa had left earlier in the day. She had me take a special photo of her with her new VCR.

Angel and Jamie showed up after all of the presents were opened. I’m glad Angel liked the silver necklace and earrings that I got her. She brought Christian with her; Alissa was at her dad’s. Angel said she would try to bring Alissa by tomorrow morning if we were still home.

Ted and Lola stayed to help clean up. Got all the wrapping paper sorted through and burned. I installed my new indoor/outdoor thermometer on the kitchen cork-board. Helped Anne to set up her VCR. The first tape she played in it was the new one that Nickki gave her--Pretty Woman.

I opened my new game called "Mind Trap." It is filled with cards which have questions on one side and correct answers on the reverse. For example, one was: "When is the beginning of the twenty first century-- 1) 11:59:59 P.M. December 31, 1999 or 2) 12:00:01 A.M. on January 1, 2000?" The idea is to try, as a team, to determine the correct answer. The correct answer in this case is: "Neither. Contrary to what most people think, the first day of the 21st century will be January 1, 2001, not January 1, 2000. The beginning of the century will start with the year one, not the year 2000." We all had fun trying to answer many of the questions.

Sunday, December 25 (Christmas)

I got up at 5:30 this morning and helped Santa put a few more items in the stockings by the fireplace. I noticed that it had dropped below freezing this morning--31.6 degrees. I really like the thermometer.

I spent some time recording the happenings of last night. Cookie, doing what faithful dogs do, curls up at my feet under my desk as I type these notes at the computer. The only problem comes when I accidentally step on her or when she lets out a SBD (silent but deadly) gaseous emission.

I fixed a turkey omelet for breakfast and fooled around with an "Orbiter--the toy of the future." This is an ingenious device that spins rapidly as its two handles are pulled. It consists of a foot-long length of cord with an aluminized metal "orbiter" in the center. Two handles are attached at each end of the cord. By holding the two handles the orbiter can be wound up on the string. Then, by pulling outward on the handles it causes the orbiter to twirl rapidly. Alternating an outward and inward motion on the string causes it to spin.

I spent some time trying to install the MacComCenter fax and data communication software on the Mac. I turned off the accelerator and tried to install it, but got the same message that the disk was bad and could not be read. Then I tried copying the files off of the disk and putting them on my hard drive. That seemed to work OK, but when the install program was run again, it wanted to read the files from the disk. Finally I copied the files onto another blank disk and tried the install program again. It worked this time and the program said that all I had to do was restart the computer. So I clicked OK and tried to restart the computer. It just sat there with a blank screen. I tried several times with no luck. I even tried to boot the computer from a disk with the system on it--no luck. I finally turned off the external hard drive and tried to restart the system. This time it worked OK and I slowly recovered from my near fatal heart attack.

Paul and I tested the fax software by sending a fax from the Mac to his computer. It worked well. Paul also sent a fax to the Mac, which worked OK, but I was unable to read it. I got the cryptic message "Not enough memory" when trying to read it with the Quick Reader program. So, I wonder how good the software really will be for me?

We got a call from Kim and Rick at 10 o’clock. I guess Nickki was supposed to be there to open presents. We hurriedly packed the car, locking up the house and saying good-bye to Cookie. Dropped Nickki off at her house in Hobart. Wished Rick a happy birthday and spent some time looking at a video of stereographic pictures. These are pictures that are hidden within a pattern. If you look at it long enough, your brain somehow puts the bits and pieces together to show a hidden 3-dimensional picture. The ones on the video were also supposed to be animated. We were not able to see any of them, however.

From Kim and Rick’s, we drove to Preston and found Ron and Carrie’s house with no problems. They live in a clean three-bedroom rambler. Mom and dad had already arrived and were still unloading their presents. We brought everything in and placed it around their Christmas tree. The tree was a pine, decorated with ribbons and sprigs of herbs. There were also white angel decorations hanging from the branches and a red velvet tree skirt covering the tree base and onto the floor.

Also very impressive was Ron’s gigantic urn. This is a ceramic urn that must weigh 300 pounds, standing five feet tall and three feet in diameter. Ron had special lighting to highlight it.

We spent the afternoon opening gifts. I got a new sweater, jeans, pants, a fleece jacket and a dress shirt. Dad gave me a new digital Casio watch called a "data bank." The watch can hold up to 50 names and phone numbers and includes a stop watch, timer, international time and even has a light for viewing in the dark. I have yet to figure out how everything works.

I also received a basket of gardening things including a trowel, slug and snail powder, garlic barrier, liquefied seaweed plant food, some row markers and a ceramic sign that says "Who plants a seed beneath the sod and waits to see believes in God."

Anne gave me Tim Allen’s book called "Don’t stand too close to a naked man." Valorie gave me the book "Iron John" which is about the role of a man as a mentor. Paul got me an assortment of coffee beans from StarBucks.

Ron and Carrie liked their bike helmets and lights. They also got a new Pioneer CD player from dad. It holds six CD’s at a time. Carrie hooked it up and played several of their new CD’s.

Ron really liked the coin bank that Anne gave him. It is a small coin bank with a window in the front. Through the window can be seen what looks like a funnel leading to a small square container. When a coin is put into the bank, you can see it in the tiny box inside--and the coin has been miniaturized as well!

Dad liked the gloves, scarf and sweater. He also really liked the fuzzy foot vibrator. Mom got a really nice monogrammed robe from Carrie.

We spent a little time talking to mom about how she came to move to California from Brule, Nebraska. She said that Bessie and George had moved there, and that she spent several summers visiting them before deciding to move there. Apparently she would drive from Nebraska to California in George’s car, but she couldn’t remember where they stayed on their way there. After moving to Arcadia California, she stayed with Bessie. They found a cleaning job through an employment agency. That is how she met dad. Dad was staying at one of the boarding houses while he was working for Lockheed Aircraft Company. He would take mom home in the evenings and would pull pranks on her. One time he wound up a paper-clip and put it in a box. When she opened the box, it would fly out and surprise her. I wonder where Ron and I got our mischeviousness? Hum?!

Dad remembered that they got married on December 12, 1945, just five days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They remembered that they weren’t sure whether they should get married since it would be possible that dad could get drafted to support the war effort. As it turned out, his job in the aircraft industry was a critical job, and he was frozen in his employment at Lockheed until after the war. They remember that a Japanese submarine shelled the city and that there was camouflage on top of the airplane factory and search lights in the hills.

We began our dinner with Champagne followed by a four-course dinner of steelhead, lamb, salad and a candied pear for dessert. Had two wines as well. The dinner was wonderful.

Paul drove home to an excited Cookie-dog. All was well at home. I got on the Internet and sent Ron a message since he told me his Internet I.D.--Herbswa@aol.com. Basically, he uses America On-line (AOL) and is called Herbswa (herbs, Washington).

Tom has been reading a science fiction novel all evening. It was even hard to distract him from it at Ron and Carrie’s. We threatened to hide it, but he wouldn’t let loose of it for long enough to allow us to do him that honor.

Mom and dad had given a present to Ron and Carrie to put under their tree for Paul. It was some chocolates in the shape of tools. When Paul opened it, there was the following written page:

CHRISTMAS 1994

‘Twas the week before Christmas

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

"Cept Duffy the mouth.

The tree was all decorated

Twinkling and fair

Ron and Carrie were to work

At the Herbfarm so bare.

The pile of presents under the tree

was fragrant, so fragrant it filled Duffy with Glee.

Ever so quiet and careful went he

To search out that present that called "Eat Meeeee!"

Oh yes! He found it and there was his name!

Oh yes! This gift was now fair game

He had seen Ron and Carrie open theirs all week

Now it was his turn to have his gift in cheek.

Careful, so careful, he pulled the gift from the tree

Then slowly, then faster he tore paper with glee

"Oh Santa you heard me and brought me something sweet,"

Said Duffy with his mouth full of his treat.

Bill and Lola searched and widely they searched

To find the chocolate gift for their grandson.

All wrapped and under the tree it perched

Waiting for Christmas for Paul to consume

Yes Paul, as by now you have guessed the truth

That gift old Duff unwrapped was rather for a youth.

A chisel, a hammer and a caliper too

All four of these tools were a gift for you.

And Duffy was saddened when suddenly he stopped

And reread the tag on the box he’d just chomped.

For this box was one whose name he misread

It was really meant for Paul in his stead!

With Belly aching and head hung low

He asked Ms. Carrie to make him a bow.

And then with care he did wrap and ribbon

The remaining wrench that belonged to his cousin!

(Note: Duffy is Ron and Carrie’s dog.)

Monday, December 26.

I arose at 5:40 this morning and found that Thomas had stayed up all night reading his book. He was on Chapter 43. He headed to bed at about 6:15.

It has warmed up considerably and has been raining steadily all night. It’s now 48 degrees.

I spent some time reading how to operate my hi-tech watch. It is able to store 50 names and phone numbers, as well as 50 messages and times. The message feature could come in handy if I can figure out how to set it quickly.

Spent some time on the Internet. I have been investigating the Victoria Free-net because it seems to have connections to a lot of other places. I really dislike how busy it is going through the Covington library, however since I can’t take advantage of the modem speed. I found The Gutenburg Project hidden in the Christmas Special area on the Victoria Free-net and decided to send a copy of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to myself as mail. When I checked my mail, however, there was nothing there. Apparently it’s not instantaneous.

We decided to take down our Christmas tree. Valorie, Anne and I all worked together. Valorie did a good job packing the ornaments while Anne and I wrestled with trying to remove all the strings of lights. It was doubly difficult since Thomas had used "twist-ties" to hold some of the wires in place. We packed away the lights and ornaments, vacuumed the carpet and brought back the fluorescent lamp. We’re going to leave the other decorations up until New Years day.

I spent more time trying to get a good copy of the MacComCenter software. I checked the disk and even used SUM to recover the files off the disk. The process didn’t help at all so I will have to try to contact the company or else be satisfied with what I have.

At 1:45, Anne, Valorie and I left to go see the movie, "Little Women." The movie has just been released and was showing at the Renton Cinema. Kim, Sarah, Nickki and Lola wanted to see it too and were to meet us there. I knew that I had left too late, so I was trying to rush along to make up a little time. I had the brilliant idea that I could take Petrovisky Road and connect with the Benson--thereby taking a shortcut. But I had a mind block and turned onto Highway 18 heading north. So I ended up having to go down the Maple Valley Highway. We got there at 2:25 and there was a huge line of people. I decided to skip the movie and let Anne and Valorie off. I went to Payless to shop around--it looked like a tornado had hit the Christmas section. Tubes of wrapping paper were laying askew, light sets were all jumbled and people were still hustling and bustling about.

Next door was a pet store, so I went there and looked at their aquariums. Their fish do not look like they are very healthy. I saw several tanks with fish dead in the bottom.

Got a bite to eat at McDonalds and then returned to Payless to wait for Valorie and Anne. I listened to music (my December 1993 tape) while I watched the people go in and out of Payless. It’s interesting how many people make several trips to the store. I saw one van stop three times. There even seemed to be some "unusual" activity going on outside the store. One man was laying around on some fireplace logs and would be approached from time to time by different people. Couldn’t make out whether they were getting something from him, or whether he was calling them over for some reason. He finally left with a young, pretty woman who was pushing a grocery cart.

Valorie, Anne and Nickki found me at 5. They really enjoyed the movie and now I wish that I had braved the lines and seen it as well.

At home I watched the news and fooled around a bit more trying to resurrect the modem software (to no avail). Anne wanted to exchange her Beverly Hillbillies tape, so she, Nickki and Valorie left to do that and to look for a good price on candles.

I went onto the Internet and, low and behold, Ron had sent me mail. Oh boy, oh boy...my first real live mail. I even found that A Christmas Carol was also waiting in my mailbox. I proceeded to read the large file, which took some time since the "time sharing" through the library only allows the modem to operate at about 5% efficiency. I did manage to connect with the Cleveland Free-net, and I applied for membership there. I’ll also have to fill out some forms and mail it to them. The forms remove the Free-net from legal problems resulting from minors getting into areas that their parents don’t want them. It sure makes it a hassle for everyone else, though.

Thomas still didn’t get his computer, although I’m not sure if UPS was working today. Maybe we’ll see it tomorrow.

Kim Betts called wondering when we were going up to the cabin for New Years. I suppose we’ll either go up Friday night or Saturday morning. We agreed that it would be good to have a "community" meal, so we’ll have spaghetti, garlic bread and salad on Saturday night, and will have Chili on Sunday evening.

Tuesday, December 27.

I arose at 6 AM and did my usual routine. I heard Anne and Nickki up at 2:30 or 3 this morning. All I hear now is loud snoring coming from the bedroom. I wonder if it is coming from Nickki or from Anne?

Took an hour to write out a summary of yesterday’s events. It’s amazing how quickly time passes and how little gets done on some days.

The weather is still rainy and mild. The low temperature overnight was 46.4 degrees. It’s forecast that the high today will be in the mid-50’s. Not good weather for skiing in the mountains.

Spent much of the morning on the Internet and then spent some time re-formatting "A Christmas Carol." Also went onto Paul’s BBS, The Powerhouse, and downloaded a copy of "Zen and the art of the Internet." I read through the file. It had a lot of good information, especially since I am so new to this media.

Around noon, Thomas and I went to the Ernst superstore in Kent to return his desk lamp. The one he got for Christmas broke when he was clamping it to his desk. I picked up an appliance timer while I was there so that I could put Valorie’s plant light on a daily on-off routine.

Our next stop was at Half-Priced Books in SouthCenter. Thomas had got an adventure game from Paul for Christmas, but three of the installation disks were bad. They had another copy which Thomas got for 20% off, so he now has a $4 credit there.

We stopped at SubWay for lunch after filling the car with gas. Gas prices now range around $1.13 per gallon, self-service.

I got back on the Internet and had a message waiting from Ron. I had sent him a note suggesting that they send the HerbFarm meeting minutes out to me over the Internet, thereby saving on postage (which is rising to $.32 for each ounce for a first class letter). His note said that he and Carrie would work on it once Carrie learned how to attach a file to a message.

I got an ADAM newsletter in the mail today from the Adam User Friendly Group in Ottawa Canada. One of the articles mentioned that there was an ADAM message reflector set up on the Internet, so I just had to send him a message to have my name added as well. It seems that the Internet is really growing in leaps and bounds.

We also got our BECU VISA bill. Of course the bill included the charge for Tom’s computer, even though we haven’t even received it yet. I sure hope that we get it tomorrow.

I spent several hours reading "Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man" by Tim Allen. It is really funny, I guess because Tim is a nationally known standup comic.

Valorie took Nickki home. Anne went with her and will be staying the night. My job tomorrow morning is to turn her fish light on and make sure that her tank water temperature is OK. After dropping them off, Valorie also went to visit Jen Lauren.

Wednesday, December 28.

I arose at 5:36. It’s now clear and windy with a temperature of 39.4 degrees.

This was one of those lazy days where very little gets done. I decided to re-route the wire to the weather station temperature sensor so that it is not trapped between the sliding glass door and the door jam. Eventually it would have ruined the wire. I drilled a hole next to the door sill and was able to route the wire through with no problem. I filled the hole with some caulking compound to keep air from entering.

I spent most of the day browsing the Internet. It was impossible to connect with the Seattle Community Network (SCN) through the Covington Library--I guess Telenet was down or something. I tried to go through the Victoria Freenet and the Cleveland Freenet, but those services would not let me do that since I was only with "guest" status.

I logged on to Paul’s BBS (The Powerhouse) and left a couple of messages and also touched base with Bart on the Assylum BBS. I left a message explaining how to get on to the ADAM echo in Canada for Internet messages.

After Paul got up, he showed me how to use Internet to connect to other areas. He was easily able to connect to SCN and also got on a "chat" channel where people from all over the world can talk to one another in real time. I was rather amazed how well Paul was able to navigate, using different Telenet commands. Where did he learn all of this?

Valorie managed to call about Thomas’ computer. We found out that, although the computer had been sent, the monitor will be sent tomorrow! We called VISA and found out that we could "contest" the bill by sending them a letter. Valorie wrote out a letter and we mailed it. She then wrote another letter to send to MicroMax explaining our dissatisfaction with their service. We plan to also report them to the Better Business Bureau of Virginia and send a letter to the Virginia Attorney General. A copy of the letter will also go to the Computer Shopper.

Ted and Lola came over to look at some maps which Valorie had received in the mail. Anne got back, dropped off by Kim. Anne is trying to talk Nickki into coming over to do work so that she can make money to go skiing on December 31.

Amy Rouse came over to see Anne. She fell asleep on Anne’s bed and stayed the night. Some friend of hers was calling at 2:30 this morning, so we had to take the phone off the hook. It worries me to have people around who are involved in the drug scene. It seems that they will do anything to get money to support their habit, even if it means sealing from their friends.

Thursday, December 29 (Kim’s 39th birthday)

It got cold last night--28 degrees.

I had problems getting to my mailbox on the Internet. By going through the public library, I am subject to their problems as well as the problems that could occur at the Freenet sites. All I could do was get to the Covington Library.

Since I had talked to Laura yesterday, I decided to find the letter that I had started to her last spring. I typed it on the ADAM, so I had to search through the pile of 5 1/2 inch disks to find it. I then had to remove the 512K memory expander from the ADAM since it interferes with the functioning of the ADAM modem. Having done that, I proceeded to send the letter via modem from the ADAM to the Macintosh. I spent a bit of time re-formatting the letter, but didn’t add anything to it.

I made whole wheat waffles for breakfast. Fed the two day old pancakes to Porky. She enjoyed them. Also gave her a couple of apples.

Anne got me to play a new game called "Mancala." This is a game that Valorie got when she visited Jen the other evening. It consists of a flat board approximately six inches by twelve inches with fourteen hollowed out areas on it. At each end is a large hollowed out area (the players collection bowls) and between them, spaced evenly, are two parallel rows of six holes. In each of the twelve holes are four polished rocks. At the start of the game, a coin is tossed to see who is to go first. The object of the game is to be the first to remove all of the stones from your side and to have the most stones collected in your collection bowl. You can pick up any of the stones in any of the six hollowed out bowls on your side. When picked up, you then drop one stone in each bowl to the right of the one you started with until all of the stones are distributed. If you reach your collection bowl on the last stone, you get another turn. If you place a stone in an empty bowl, you get to place that stone and any stones in the opposite bowl, in your collection area. The game sounds really boring, but it is fun since you try to set yourself up to collect more stones.

Anne’s rabbit, Rosé, died today, so she had to bury her in our animal burial yard. Anne also was upset when Nickki told her that she wouldn’t be going skiing. Nickki said that it was too expensive and that she didn’t want to borrow the money. Anne was also mad at me because I don’t want to go to the cabin until early Saturday morning on my way up skiing. I’ll probably break down and go up sometime tomorrow evening. We also were reminded that Amy Rouse will be going up to the cabin with us. Anne insisted that she had told us that some time ago, but I guess we both forgot.

Jeannie Vandeberg came over and we spent quite some time talking about her astrology program. She gave me the newest copies of her data files. I spent several hours playing with a routine that would look up information from her files.

Valorie went to the Seattle Public Library with a friend of hers to do some genealogy research. She also go some new information about the Cowans in the mail. She called Kim to wish her a happy birthday. We’ll be celebrating it up at the cabin.

Thomas still has not got his computer. It seems that UPS is trying to tease us. Yesterday they came down our street and stopped at the neighbors across the street (the Larsons). Today they came again and stopped at the next house down. We still don’t have a computer for Thomas or a tower for Paul.

Ordered pizza from Little Caesars. Got one with olives and mushrooms and one with sausage and pepperoni. It was yummy.

Friday, December 30.

It was cold again last night, dipping into the upper 20’s.

Things to do today:

I sat down and finished a letter to Laura and mailed it. Also made a year-end summary of the cabin finances and printed copies. Anne and I drove to BECU in Tukwila to put the $500 that Jeannie gave me into the checking account. Stopped on the way to make copies of the cabin finances.

At home, I mailed copies of the cabin finances to Jack Kinney and Ken Barr. Packed a copy for Ted and Lola.

Started packing to go to the cabin. Took our skis and equipment and then packed food. I spent several hours looking for the key to the ski rack. I remember lending it to Thomas last year when he took the car to the cabin and then up skiing. But I couldn’t remember getting it back. I finally found it hanging on a key chain by my bed!

Jenifer Jametsky is going to feed the rabbits and Porky while we are gone. Thomas had to work so he left for the Herbfarm shortly after noon.

Left here around 4 and stopped in Enumclaw for gas, groceries and dinner. The wind was really blowing hard--it was tough for Anne to stand up in the Safeway parking lot. At dinner at McDonalds and then headed for the cabin. There was snow just above Greenwater and about an inch at the cabin. It was just enough that I didn’t feel safe driving down.

Ted and Lola had just arrived. Scott and Amy (his girlfriend) had been there since 2.

Unpacked and settled in bed by 8:30.

Saturday, December 31.

I arose at 5:45 and got breakfast ready. Packed lunches. Anne and Paul arose at 6:30 and we left the cabin around 7:30.

Arrived at Crystal Mountain Ski Area at about 8. We were just able to park in the upper parking lot.

Got our tickets, stowed our lunch, and headed for the ski lifts. We took one run on the "bunny hill" and then took the Midway Shuttle. Anne made several runs, but her first one was really slow. The second run was much better and we made several more before lunch.

After lunch, Paul and I went to Queens run and found that the snow was really good. Not near as icy as the runs down lower. We took four or five runs before returning to the lower slopes. Anne was laying by the resort waiting for us. We took one more run before Anne decided to go to the lodge and have some hot chocolate.

Paul and I went up Rainier Express and took the Ice Berg Gulch run. The view from the top was fantastic. The wind, however, was ferocious. Ice Berg Gulch was steep, but not too bad. One run was enough, however.

We took another couple shots at Queens Run before calling it a day. Met Anne at 3 in the lodge and headed back to the cabin.

I took a nap from 8:30 until 11:30 and celebrated the New Year with Pink Champagne. Valorie’s Mancala Game (stones) was a real hit. The snow wasn’t good enough for sliding or sledding, so not much action on the slope.

Sunday, January 1, 1994

I arose at 6. Anne and Nickki had gone to bed around 4. Others had stayed up until 5:30. Spent an hour cleaning up the kitchen and putting dishes in the dishwasher.

I helped make Sourdough Pancakes using some mix that Kim and Rick had brought up.

Went for a walk with Cookie and lazed around the cabin. Anne, Paul and I came home to unload our ski gear and to check on the animals. All at home was OK, although it was difficult to tell if Jenifer had been by this morning to feed the animals.

Anne and I went to the store to buy some oats for the rabbits. Took a shower and packed the snow racers in the car. Thomas got home from the Herbfarm, so he decided to go with us back to the cabin. Paul will stay home to keep guard on the home-front.

Addendum: Top Stories of the Year

• Boeing 777 rolled out and made its first flight

• Kingdome roof tiles fall, two construction workers die

• Sonics had best NBA record and collapse early in playoffs

• Forest fires burn millions of acres in eastern Washington

• House Speaker Tim Foley defeated in elections

• Triple murderer Charles Campbell was hanged

• Kurt Cobain of Nirvana committed suicide

• Bill Gates of Microsoft was married in Hawaii

• Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding...ice skating scandal

• Civil war in Ruwanda

• O.J. Simpson accused of killing ex-wife Nicole Simpson

• Professional baseball players on strike--no World Series

• Jean-Bertrand Aristede was reinstalled as pres. of Haiti

• War continues between Serbs, Croatians in Yugoslavia