Barbara and I had a chance to fly to Salt Lake City this weekend and I thought you might find this interesting. Mom just turned 93 and she says she plays the piano every day. She is quite hard of hearing and she is no longer able to read and see things upclose but she is still physically active and her mind is a good as it ever was. I have a slightly longer video that I did not post here.

Arrrg

The sub service computer called this morning at 5:40 am with an assignment to cover for the French teacher in Yelm. I looked out the window and the sun was coming up for a change so I respectfully declined the assignment, besides, they are not suppose to call before 6 anyway. Serves them right.

We were both hungry after the symphony rehearsal last night and decided to stop at Carl's Jr. for a snack. I almost ordered in Spanish. I figured if I could not understand the counter guy’s English it would only be fair if he could not understand my Spanish. It appears that Carl’s has set some really low thresholds for obtaining employment. Picture this now. Its 9:59 pm. They close at 10 pm. There is no one in the place but me. It’s a take out order and Pedro hands me a number. A number!!!… I’m the only one in the place. Appears he was worried that he would not be able to get the onion rings to the right customer on facial recognition alone. While I’m waiting I take a look at the menu. Up on a lighted board are photos of what they refer to as the Six Dollar Burgers. There are six of them and the prices are $4.49, $4.59, $4.69, $5.45, $3.85 and $29.64 which is the same burger as the $3.85 but comes with a gastric pump and a “go to the front of the line” card for St Peters Hospital ER. No $6.00 burger. Go figure.

We are flying to Salt Lake this weekend for a short trip. I went into my old place of employment and looked up an old friend who works for Enterprise Rent a Car and got him to arrange for a rental in SL. He asked what kind of car did I want and I told him a Geo Metro would be fine. He listed the choice as "Economy" $16.00/day. Both he and I know that the ERAC office at the SL airport does not have any "economy" cars and they will have to give me what they have on hand for the same price. Oh dang. He also listed in the comments section that I was a State Farm VIP, so I guess I will have to shave and use deodorant. O the sacrifices we make to save a buck.
I'm looking forward to a good frisking at the airport and a spacious seat assignment on the plane
We are flying with a new airline called Larry's Feed, Tire, Funeral Home and Discount Airline LLC. Wish us luck.

Thanks for listening, I feel much better

I am requesting that the management of Fred Myer's put up a readerboard that indicated how many people over the age of 7o are currently in the store so that I can avoid going there during those really fun times.

Oblivious is the word to describe most of these shoppers. Now we're not talking about the crowd that shows up at Costco for the senior lunch (ie hotl-dog and soda $1.50) but those people who through overuse or underuse of the brain matter have learning to behave like no one else in the world actually exists. Try getting around some old fart who wife sent him to the store to buy toilet paper. He parks his cart in the middle of the isle crosswise and then tries to decide which of the 250,000 different varieties he is suppose to buy. I'd like to scream, "just grab one, it doesn't matter which one. None of it is going into your scrapbook" Just for fun, next time I see a crowd at the dairy section I will move in, open my cell phone and say in a loud voice. "Is it all the milk that is being recalled because of e-coli or just the ones with the blue caps?"

Thanks for listening, I feel much better....Frank

welcome

Welcome to the too busy world of Barbara Johnston and her faithful driver, gardner and soul mate Frank.

Just to give you an idea of Barbara's busy schedule it ususally follows this format.
Monday: She takes a fiddle lesson at noon followed by violin lessons all afternoon. Visiting teaching in the a.m. with assorted other humanitarian efforts. I describe her as a Mother Theresa only much hotter.
Tues: Lessons starting at 8 and continuing until about six then its off to O'Blarneys Pub to play with and Irish Fiddle group
Wed: Lessons all day and Olympia Symphony rehearsal from 7 pm to 9:30.
Thurs: Lessons throughout the day and a group lesson of her students in the evening.
Fri: One lesson in the afternoon.
Sat. Off
Sun. Teach Primary class. Got to choir.

Frank's schedule is the same every day:
9-10.00 nothing
10-11:00 break
11-12:00 NADA
12-01:00 lunch
1-2:00 Zip
2-3:00 Zero
3-4:00 break
4-5:00 Zilch
After 5: Planning for next day
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