Pittsburgh Trip......Post 4 "Low Battery"

The night before our trip to Pittsburgh I didn't sleep well.  It's not unusual for me not to sleep well, but was one of the small factors that came into play.  I was up at 3:30 am.  Ate a small breakfast, showered, shaved, dressed, and watched the local news come on at 4:30.  Mary Lynn got up early, we finished packing and made sure everything was ready for the trip.  At 7:25 we headed up the street to pick up the rental car at 7:30.
As soon as we got home, we packed up the car, checked the house to make sure everything was turned off, and took off on our weekend trip.  I drove first.  We pulled over at a rest stop about 30 miles north of Cincinnati and Mary Lynn took over.  We arrived at Jit and Julie's house in Columbus about 11:00 am, enjoyed a tour of their newly remodeled home, and headed to Pittsburgh, stopping for lunch before leaving Columbus. Jit drove.

 I wish I'd had a symbol on me that would let me know my battery level, but I don't.  I know now that my battery was completely run down at that time.  I think my best explanation about a Heart Attack is that it zaps your battery and does not allow it to recharge.  That's what the Rehab does.  Slowly recharges your battery.  I believe my energy level is such that I can do most anything, but in short bursts with a rest in between.  Walking any distance at all is not something that can be done.  Also, heat pretty much cancels out any energy I may have to start with.
So, .....just traveling is taxing on your energy.  If you've ever traveled, you know how tiring it can be.  Yes, I just sat there, but I sat there tired.  Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, we checked into the hotel, parked in the parking lot, carried our luggage up to our rooms on the fifth floor, and unpacked.  It was about 5:00 pm then, and I'd been up since 3:30 am.  My activities thus far had already exceeded what I should have done for one day.
Checking at the front desk, we found out that the restaurant in which the rehearsal dinner was being held was only a mile and a half away from our hotel.  So the question put to me was "Bobby, do you think you can walk it?"  The response should have been, "No, don't think I should even try."  But my actual response was "Sure."  That was not very smart. Two weeks from a heart attack and I'm going to walk a mile and half, long pants, long sleeve shirt, tie, and in the heat. 
After about 5 blocks we decided it was a bad idea.  Luckily, we were able to hail a cab.  I'm exhausted.  Of course we get to the rehearsal dinner about an hour early, but they were kind enough to seat us back in the reserved area and we got a drink to nurse until people started to arrive.  I was able to rest.  Not really able to recharge, but able to conserve what little energy I had left. 
So, a couple of hours of socializing, meeting a lot of nice people, eating dinner, and then it's time to leave.  No, my battery has not charged.  It can't.  I can still do a little bit, but must follow it with a rest period.
Let's walk to the 'subway station', about 5 blocks way, catch the subway to about 6 or 8 blocks from the hotel, then walk the rest of the way.  "Bobby, can you do that?".  My response should have been "Are you crazy?".  However, I heard myself say "Sure.".

 Well, after about a block of walking, the temperature was a little cooler, but still warm, my battery was no longer low, but dead.  As we got to the Subway station, descending on an escalator, the lower levels were still holding the heat of the day and it was hot.  We had to wait for the car about 10-15 minutes.  In the meanwhile, I was completely exhausted, hot, and sweating profusely.  Even though I was sitting down, the heat wouldn't allow me to get rested.  I was done.  The car came, we got on, and rode it to the "Steel Plaza", which was the closest subway station to our hotel.  It was decided by the group that there was no way that I could walk the rest of the way.  I was in agreement.  We needed a cab.
So, up from the depths of the subway station and let's find a cab.  Yep, I'm still walking!    We found this really nice hotel, the "Omni William Penn Hotel", and went in hoping to find a taxi stand. There was a bar inside and the really nice lady helped them.  We were on the backside of the hotel.  So, we went through, through a nice restaurant, (very Ritzy), out the front door where there was a taxi stand.  A taxi took us the few blocks to our hotel and the ordeal was over.  Oops!  I still had to walk up to our room.  Still walking.
When I got to our room I was more exhausted than I've ever been in my life.  I've been tired.  Really tired.  But I know now that being tired is not the same as being exhausted.  When you're tired, if an emergency suddenly comes up you can can summon the energy to act.  I had no reserves.  DEAD BATTERY!
This was all my fault.  Nobody knew how I felt but me.  The problem was, I didn't know how I felt.  Sure, I can go another step.  How many?  I don't know.  I was asked repeatedly "Are you OK?".  "Can you do this?".  I just kept giving the wrong answers.
But I made it through the ordeal.  I learned a lot.  And, I had some people with me who took care of me and looked out for me.  Like I said before, this was all completely my fault, and I learned a whole lot from the experience.

Pittsburgh Trip......Post 3

A lot of you may find this hard to believe, but there are a lot of wedding ceremony traditions I know nothing about.  Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe.  Several new ones were discovered this weekend.  Now, I realize many of you out there may have heard of these things, but I only know the traditions I've seen at the weddings that I have attended.

Such as, at the Reception, when someone raps on their glass with silverware, this means the Bride and Groom are to kiss.  For those who have never heard of this, like me, what I mean is when someone raps on their glass, like you do when you want every one's attention so you may speak, a tinkling sound, you wish the Bride and Groom to kiss.  I heard this glass tinkling for awhile, thinking someone was getting ready to give a Toast, before I was told what the heck was going on.

Another tradition, I'd never heard of, was a Cookie Table at the Reception.  There was a large Cookie Table set up with an assortment of Cookies, I'd say 25-30 different kinds,  for guests to enjoy.  And, towards the end, the guest were encouraged to load up a 'to go' box, boxes on the table for you,  to help get rid of all the cookies.

This was one Julie fixed up.  As you can see, there were lots of varieties of cookies.  All of them tasty. 
Inside the little bag tied with ribbons, were pretzels dipped in chocolate.  These were at each place setting.  The 'Bride'  Pretzels were dipped in white chocolate with white sprinkles, and the 'Groom' Pretzels were dark chocolate decorated to look like a tuxedo with bow tie.  These weren't on the Cookie Table but were put in the Cookie Box to go.  I don't know about you, but I kinda like that tradition.

Pittsburgh trip.....Post #2

The trip to Pittsburgh this weekend provided me with at least a half dozen posts for by blog.  I'll probably let a couple of them slip by without putting them up, but a few 'behind the scenes' posts I thought should be made public.
After arriving in Columbus, Jit drove the rental car the rest of the way, and in around Pittsburgh while we were there.  I sat 'shotgun', and Mary Lynn and Julie sat in the back.  It was a weekend for pictures.  I mean, snap a picture as often as you can and look through all the photos and you'll have some good ones out of the whole mess.  So, I decided to snap a picture of each car occupant from my vantage point.  Here are the results of my cooperative crew:

Jit, who doesn't like his picture taken anyway, was even a little less willing to pose while driving.

Then Mary Lynn, doing her best "Jillian" impersonation.  We were on our way to the wedding at this time.   As usual, she was cold and covered with a blanket.

Julie was the only one who cooperated.  Of course, she was cold, too, and had Jit's jacket on to cover with.  She looks like she's wearing a "Nehru" jacket from the 60's.

I guess each of us had our picture taken 100 times over the course of the 2 days.  I just thought I'd show you a few of the pictures you probably won't see anyplace else!  At least I'm sure they won't be in the wedding album.

This is a late addition.  The 'Peanut Gallery' (Comment Section) requested I should have MY picture on here, also.  So, here it is.  I can think of at least 2 more blog posts that will come from the trip.  Stay tuned.

Pittsburgh Trip, First Report

Mary Lynn and I just got back from Pittsburgh to attend Brent and Mary Ann Wagner's wedding.  The trip went well, the wedding and reception was awesome.  My job was to provide a little Human-interest reporting.  You know, the kind of crap I hate when they show the Olympics!
We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Downtown.  It was a very nice place to stay and had a great Breakfast Bar.  Very Impressive.  And, we were pretty well located to get to all the events.  Well, the Rehearsal Dinner and Reception.  The Wedding was a pretty good distance away.
Back to the Hotel.  The rooms were nice, but trying to adjust the temperature in the room was impossible.

When we would get back to the room, the thermostat would show 75 degrees.  But, it would feel 80 and muggy.  So, I'd drop the thermostat one degree and the unit would kick on.  And run.......and run.........Brrrrrrr.  I know it would get down to the low 60's before it would kick off.  And then would stay cold all night.  It felt cold to me, so I know Mary Lynn, shown here under a large comforter, blanket, her robe, and a pillow stacked up on her feet, was freezing.  I always like to keep my room nice and cool, but this was a little much even by my standards.  But, she was a trooper, and hung in there.

Cousins you say?......Let me count the ways....

According to several posts on Face book yesterday, it was Cousin's Day.  It got me to thinking about my cousins. I don't think I've ever stopped to count them, so in this blog I'll try.

Let's start at the top.  I have double-cousins!  A lot of people don't have such a thing.  My Uncle Bill, my Mom's brother, was married to my Dad's sister, Mary Catherine (Skeets).  They had 10 children, all of which are my double-cousin's because we are related on both parents side.  Those 10 children, in order, are, Willie, Susie, Tommy, Melanie, Celeste, David, Johnny, Mary Dow, Daniel, and last but not least, Pat.  Other than brothers and sisters, I believe these would be my closest relations.  This photo had to be Circa 1951.
That was easy.  We'll go to another easy one.

Alice and Judy.  These are my Mother's other brother Jim's  2 children.  That takes care of my mother's side of the family.  That was the easy part.  We now total 12 cousins, 10 of them 'Double'.

My Dad's sister, Thelma Ruth, had a large family, so I'll put them next.  They also had 10 children:  Deanna, Janet, Carol, Mary, Theresa, Cynthia, Gary, Margaret, Thomas, and Nicholas.  As you can see, my Uncle Bob got a little worried with SIX  girls before having a son.  I pretty sure this picture was taken Easter, 1957.
So, keeping a total, we now have 22 Cousins, 10 of them 'Double'.

I don't have a family picture of a lot of my cousins, so I'll have to combine a couple of families into this one picture.  Of course, Tom Jecker is mentioned above.
Dad's brother, Uncle Jim, and his wife, Christine, had 4 children.  They are in order:  Bernie, Johnny, Darlene, and Tony.
My Dad's sister, Ethel May, married Bill Clemerson, and they had 6 children. In order:  Steve, Richard, Michael, Diane, Marilyn, and Edward.

I believe this takes me up to 32 cousins, 10 of them 'Double'.

My Dad's brother, Uncle Herman (Hank), married Regine Janik, and they had 2 children:  Regine and Stan. I met Regine when she was very young, 4 or 5 years old, but I've never met Stan.  We are friends on Face book, though.  My best guess would be this photo was taken 1964-65.

My total is now 34.







My Dad's brother, Philip, moved out west, Washington, State,  got married, raised a family, and I've never met those cousin's.  Philip married Lucy Fogelman and they had 4 children:  Wesley, John, Linda, and Robin.  I have corresponded with Linda, Robin, and Wesley.

This brings my cousin total to 38.

My Dad's youngest brother, Charles, married and had one son before divorcing his wife, Joyce.  Even though mother and son live in Jefferson County, as far was we know, I've never met him.  His name, Scott Tabler.My Dad's brother Tom (Turk) was married to Sylvia.  She had 2 son's from a previous marriage.  I have no idea if anything was done legally as far as adoption, so I am assuming these two would be no relation to me.

So, my official count would be 39 cousin's, 10 of them 'Double Cousin's'.  I don't even want to try and figure out how many 2nd cousin's I have or 1st Cousin's once removed.  That would be a job for a larger computer than I have!

My Sweet Jillian....Always the Joker!

Shakespeare said, "All the World's a Stage, and men and women merely players."     I believe Jillian thinks she is 'on' the stage at all times.  She is always joking and cutting up.  Here, as they got back from Girl Scout Camp on the bus, I took a picture of her and Erin through the bus window.   Erin can pose normally, but Jillian?  Noooooo!

You can get a picture of Erin, but it's hard to get one without Jillian doing something a little 'nutty'.  Here, she gives Erin the old fashioned 'Bunny Ears'.

Here, she puts on Kim's glasses and wears them around for awhile.  She's always in character, and always 'on'.  At the  Scout Camp she is in the group called the "Bumble Bee's".  And, of course, when I mention this she came around the table and bumped her back-end against me to 'sting' me!  She seems to always be thinking one step ahead of you to be able to pull off a joke.  Jillian, I've said it before, "You crack me up!"

Another pet peeve to write about.

Are there any drivers out there who know what those big, wide white lines at intersections mean?  As I drive around town there is no indication that they do.

For those uninformed motorists, you must stop the FRONT  of your car before crossing the white line.  I believe most motorists believe they stop the REAR of the their car on that line!

The reason they are there are so that other drives can turn left onto the street you are coming from.  If your car is sticking out too far, it becomes a little more difficult.  Also, many times just beyond that wide line begins the crosswalk.  I see so many drives stopped right in the middle of the crosswalk.  Really people, did any of you have to pass a driving test to get your license?

I know that at some stop signs you need to get out a little further to see if there is anything coming in order to pull out.  But you still must stop at the white line first!  But, there is no excuse to be beyond the white line at a traffic signal.  That's what the light is for....to let you know when it is clear for you to go.

Just to wind this up, remember, it's against the law to cross any SOLID white lines on the highways!  Solid lines mean,'DON'T CROSS', broken white lines means it's OK!  Check out all the solid white lines on entry ramps to X-ways.  Don't merge into traffic until you get to the end of the solid white line.  Come on people, you should know this!

Well, let's see if I get any flack over this or any agreement.