The year in review

Yours truly, Ed, has turned Bela's old bedroom upstairs into his office and 12' x 12' filing cabinet. My first step a couple of years ago was to recognize that I am not neat, so I installed my desk/work area in one of the closets, so that the doors could be closed when instant neatness is required. Those of you who are old enough will remember Fibber McGee's closet, which spilled out every time it was opened. (Oh, wait, nobody out there is old enough. Hmm. Well, at least you get the picture.) First I used a table-top as home for my battery re-charging, then the bed became the staging area for numerous piles of paper, each one associated with an on-going task, then I opened a folding table for the really urgent tasks, then the floor around my office chair became the repository for things that need action the next time I get up from my chair. (The papers are starting to get yellow with age.) I spent this last week straightening the room. After a herculean effort (remember? Hercules cleaned the **** out of the stables as one of his appointed tasks.), I have wrangled my collection of projects into a slightly more compact arrangement. But throwing things away is generally out of the question.

There was a recent study finding that a majority of retired people complain that they don't have enough time to do everything. I continue to volunteer at the Synagogue, including attending minyan Sunday through Thursday evenings, working with the Bylaws revision committee and the Ritual committee, and going to Board meetings. I work with a former employee's business two mornings a week, doing consulting in medical computing. I am baking bread more regularly now, and also making cookies occasionally. I do most of the grocery shopping. In fact, when the weather is nice I walk to either the Publix or Kroger, both of which are about a mile away, or I ride my new (estate sale, actually) bicycle to the Dekalb Farmers Market, which is about 3 miles. I try to find an excuse either to walk or to ride every day. I hate exercising, but walking is so natural. Two to three days a week, for a couple of hours a day, depending on the semester, I am taking classes at Georgia State University, in downtown Atlanta. This also requires a walk to the MARTA train station. I may have told you that in GA, when you reach 62, you may take courses at state colleges and universities without having to pay tuition. So far I have taken five courses, and I plan to take two more in spring semester. I am running a 4.12 GPA at the moment. (They give +'s and -'s at the university.) Last semester I took a course on 20^th century German history (taught in German). I empathized with my fellow students, most of whom are between 20 and 25. I recognized how unfair it is for them to study history while I was studying current events. I spend a lot of energy dreaming and even planning the wonderful trips that I want to take, and then even more energy trying to convince Yoyi to go with me. I'm looking forward to Yoyi's retirement, so that we can travel together – while Yoyi looks forward to her retirement so that she can stay home more. Speaking of retirement, I am now on Medicare and will start collecting Social Security in March (to the dismay of all you Republican opponents of entitlements).

When Leah started studying for her Master's Degree (in downtown Atlanta), we decided to purchase a condo and rent it to her. It was the beginning of the real estate slump, so we were able to get a pretty good deal – not a foreclosure or a steal, but a good deal. The condo is at the edge of midtown Atlanta, with all the advantages and disadvantages. Huge numbers of people are moving into the city, and midtown is the destination of choice. The condo is about 4 blocks from the North Avenue MARTA station, a mile and a half from Georgia State University, about 6 or 7 blocks from the Georgia Tech stadium at the edge of campus, around the corner from a Publix, but also around the corner from a homeless shelter. If I were single – or married and childless -- it's where I would want to live. We did some minor upgrades, like adding or changing out lighting fixtures to brighten up the space, and now we look forward to the replacement of the A/C, to the repainting job that we promised as a Chanukah present, and other projects. It has turned out to be advantageous for other reasons to have this nice condo. We held the engagement party for Bela and Leandro in the clubhouse by the pool, and the girls had the bridal shower there just before the wedding.

Home again home again jiggedy jog

July 18 - 21

We went to Dallas on the first leg of our trip home in order to

• visit Leah's friend from high school
• drop three of the kids off at the airport to go their separate ways.
• visit our friend who had moved away to go to Dallas (if you can believe someone would do that)
• spend a short day in Dallas to become acquainted.

We dropped Leah off with her friend while we killed some time at a close-by mall, which had an ice skating rink inside.

Soon it was time to drop some of them at the DFW airport. Each was taking a different flight at almost the same time of day. We made a round trip of the airport and got each to his/her respective terminal on time. Another logistic accomplishment. To exit the airport you must pass through a toll booth to pay for the privilege of dropping someone off at a terminal.

Now we are left with one child, but still had the luggage and accoutrements of all of them to carry. We checked into the hotel and ate on Lover's Lane. Yes, that's the actual name of a main thoroughfare in one of the best residential districts of Dallas. After dinner we visited our friends; somehow their children had all grown up from toddlers and kindergartners.

In the morning we toured downtown, including the square where Kennedy was assassinated in 1962. Then we went to see the very impressive bronze sculpture assembly of a cattle drive at Pioneer Park in the middle of the city, where there is also a cemetery that dates to the beginning of the 19th century. Here are some pictures on the Internet of the statues.

We enjoyed a trip to the (almost) top floor of the JP Morgan Chase Tower Building. There is a beautiful (air-conditioned) garden overlooking the city. In addition, we visited the board meeting rooms and what I would call the club room on the same floor.

After lunch we hopped on the (free) M-line trolley ride. The vehicle dates from the early 20th century and the conductor narrates the trip out and back. No air conditioning of course, but very interesting, not to mention unique.

The Children's Medical Center was our next stop, where there is a model train layout in the lobby to entertain the patients as well as their families and strangers, like us. When you take the virtual tour of the hospital, the 9th frame (you can go there directly) shows the "trainscape."

After Dallas we were seriously on our way home. Shreveport, Louisiana looked interesting; so we stopped to look around. The glassed-in tropical garden at Barnwell Memorial Garden and Art Center was not easy to visit in the heat of a 95-degree day, but the setting on the Red River was beautiful, and there was a nice photo exhibition. We then visited what is probably the best-kept secret in Louisiana: the R.W. Norton Art Gallery. Originally the collection of a rich oil family, the Nortons, it is now a free admission jewel. Next time you're in Shreveport, don't miss it. The museum is situated in the middle of a huge garden.

Our last stop before reaching home was the Mercedes Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, AL. We waited too long to reserve spaces in the factory tour; they fill up early. But we visited the museum and visitors' center, which are very interesting.

We arrived home on Wednesday, July 21 -- 2000 miles later.

Texas in Summer?

July 16 - 18, 2010

One of the nice things about traveling in a van with a carrier on top is that it doesn't fit into garages where valets prefer to park it. Our hotel had valet parking only, but we would never have to wait for our car, as it would be parked right in front of the main doors in the "15-minute registration" parking spots. That's also an advantage if you need to retrieve something from the car.

We checked in and immediately prepared to go to the rehearsal dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant, about 4 blocks from the hotel, all our extended family was already there: Martha and Anita, Jay and Trish, Bev and Sandy, and of course Elise and Joe as parents of the bride. Everyone else was unknown to us except for our nieces, the bride, Beka, and her older sister, Dani and her husband. It's nice to see families at happy occasions.

During the course of the evening we saw the obligatory slide show, which was a lot of fun, and then the hosts asked the guests to offer the group their comments, if desired. for the most part, the Texans complimented the bride and groom on things that Texans seem to enjoy: hunting, guns, sports, cattle, ranches, oil, and the like. I felt compelled to make a few remarks about how the couple could and should emulate Joe and Elise for the type of people that they are -- the way they live their lives. I hope that I said something that was useful.

The hosts had timed the evening so that we could experience the famous Congress Avenue bats. The grounds of the restaurant sloped down to the river (which they call a lake) just down-river from the bridge. Hundreds of people lined the railings at the top of the bridge, above us, and several tourist boats circled the pylons of the bridge, waiting for the bats to swarm.

Nature was not cooperative, and after about 45 minutes we had seen fewer than 15 bats, the boats had all left, and we decided to give up. Oh, well.

Back at our hotel, we turned in for what should have been a great night's sleep, but there was a fraternity party in the hotel, in spite of the hotel's posted "no parties" notice. A couple of our party slept through, as we might expect, but several of us spend a lot of the night putting up with loud music and people running and shouting in the hallways.

But it was up and out the next morning, as I had reserved space on walking tours of the city. I knew that many of our party would either sleep in or prefer to go to the pool, given the rather high temperatures. Thus, I made reservations for 1 on the tour, with the understanding that we might have 1 or 2 join me. As it turns out, Moshe was the only one who braved the elements.

We were out before 8:00 looking for a breakfast venue, since our walking tour was to start at 9:00. Remarkably, in the nearly one mile from our hotel to the start of the tour, not a single restaurant was open before 9:00 AM. We finally asked people who looked local where we might find breakfast. We ended up in a nice little restaurant on Congress Ave. where we had a very tasty breakfast.

The walking tour started at the Texas State Capitol with a description of the building and the manner of its construction. By this time it was about 88 degrees Fahrenheit. We walked for nearly 2 hours around the downtown area learning about history and politics, ending up at the Driskill Hotel, with its legends of spirits, as well as boom and bust. The Driskill is where the wedding would be held that evening.

Glutton for punishment that I am, I had registered for the 11:00 walking tour of a residential block in the downtown area. By this time Moshe was done in and he went back to the hotel, hoping to accompany Leah and Joe to the firing range. Now around 95 degrees, the heat could not daunt me! I spent the next 2 hours learning yet more about Austin. I wish we had more tours like that in our town. I think that being a docent for such tours would be a lot of fun.

At the end of the tour Yoyi called me with the news that we had changed rooms. Resourceful that she is, she had complained about the noise, and the hotel moved us to a quieter floor and gave them several vouchers for the hotel restaurant.

As if that weren't enough, Leandro had not been out on the town yet. I still wanted to see the inside of the capitol building and maybe some other things. The two of us walked to the capitol and connected to one of the very informative free tours. Afterwards we walked to the museum of Texas history. By that time, I was so beat that I could barely walk. Leandro went through the museum while I had a light lunch (at 2:30) and sat down with my feet elevated. I suppose I had walked about 10 miles by the end of the day.

The wedding that evening was lovely. The Driskill was only about 6 blocks from our hotel, but we had to drive, given the temperature. The service, quite short in duration, was conducted by a family friend, after which was a very short photo session. We all enjoyed dinner and dancing. The food was sumptuous; everyone commented on how good it was. One guest confided in Yoyi that she had never before experienced so lavish a wedding.

I must admit that I didn't get some of the dancing. As I grow older it becomes more and more incomprehensible. But somewhere along the way, Elise forewarned me, "Get ready. There's going to be swing selection very soon. We expect you to dance." Sure enough, when it was played, I danced with Leah, and Elise eventually cut in near the end of the song. We were the only dancers, and we got a nice round of applause at the end.

I guess I'm just not used to it, but I was blown away by the cost to park our car. Austin is not a major metropolitan city, but the valets charge as if it were.

• Our hotel charged $26 per day.
• The restaurant (rehearsal dinner) charged $6.
• The Driskill charged $14.

Yikes.

We all slept well in our new rooms on Saturday night.

Sunday morning, we all went across the street at 9:00 to a small restaurant to have a birthday breakfast in honor of Moshe. They had an interesting selection of American and Mexican breakfasts. I had smoked salmon, among other things. I was expecting "nova," but it was a large filet of salmon, smoked whole. Very tasty.

Finally it was checkout and off to Dallas for the six of us, car packed by our engineers.

Who would drive to Texas?

July 8 - 16, 2010

It's summer and time to travel. This year we had a destination goal: my niece was to be married in Austin, TX on July 17. Averse to the annoyances of air travel we decided to drive, and take advantage of things to do along the way.

It would also be a logistic adventure, since we would start out traveling with one of our grown children, pick up others along the way with widely varying travel and flight schedules, and end up returning with another of the kids.

This would be a great opportunity to go to the beach. The Gulf of Mexico beaches, with their beautiful white sand, are practically on the way! We made our reservations on the so-called "Redneck Riviera" at Gulf Shores, Alabama about 365 miles from Atlanta. The rental condo was reasonably priced and very nice, on the 7th floor with a great view of the Gulf.

You may have heard that there was an oil spill over the past two months. You may also have noticed that CNN posted their senior weather reporter at Gulf Shores to report on the globs of tar washing ashore. The eternal optimists, and without a realistic beach alternative given our summer and fall schedules, we went anyhow. The condo owners were offering 100% money-back guaranties if we had to cancel or shorten our stay because of hurricanes or oil slicks.

The beach was beautiful, and only a little oil, mostly in pea-sized globs or smaller, was washing ashore, and then mostly at high tide. Leah and the two of us enjoyed about five full days; the condo owner allowed us to check in early the first day and check out late on the last day.

Everyone else in the world stayed home, and we had the beach to ourselves -- and the BP crews that came through every so often to sweep up the oil. It was incredibly hot, usually topping out at about 98 degrees F every afternoon.

After Gulf Shores, we took off to visit Yoyi's cousin, who had just moved to Houston. This would be about a 540 mile drive. I had planned the visit to Houston perfectly, arriving on Thursday, when admission to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts is free. But we ended up having more fun talking and visiting. I'll have to visit Houston some other Thursday.

We left for Austin on Friday morning, since we had to arrive in time to prepare for and attend the rehearsal dinner that night. We also had to pick up Moshe and Bela when they arrived at the Austin Airport that afternoon. But first, we had to pick up Leandro, Bela's fiance. He had flown into Houston to visit with a friend; we were already carrying his suitcase in the van. On the way out of Houston, we met him at a Starbucks and the four of us drove to Austin.

The road to Austin was only partly interstate. I enjoy driving on the surface roads; you get to see more interesting sights. Just in the 150 miles to Austin there were several things worth mentioning:

• The sign on the fence of a farm: "Hay Thief! Call 555-555-5555 if you have information." Somebody actually makes the effort to steal hay???!!
• A field full of bridge structures. Bridges were for sale of every description. Business did not look brisk, but how often does one go shopping for bridges? All our passengers were asleep, and I was driving. I should have pulled over to get a picture, but I didn't. Sorry.

The road passes the Austin Airport on the way into town. The GPS said to turn left (but the sign on the street showed the airport straight ahead). We (I?) foolishly followed the GPS. We ended up in a cow pasture at the end of the runway. We asked a man operating a mowing tractor for directions, and eventually found our way to the airport. We called Moshe to advise him that we were on our way.

As we drove into the airport, we saw someone who looked just like Moshe, walking through the parking deck. Hey! It was Moshe! We stopped in the middle of the driveway and everyone hugged and greeted; after all, we had not seen him for about a month.

At least he had made it to Austin safely. Now we would have to wait for Bela.

About the same time, she called from Tulsa to advise us that the flight was delayed. We decided to eat lunch while we waited. We scouted the airport for restaurants. Believe it or not, there is only one restaurant outside of security in the Austin airport. So, we left the airport in search of lunch.

Fitting everyone and their possessions in the car was a job for our engineers. The car-top carrier and interior of the cabin were now packed with the luggage and belongings, not to mention beach accoutrements, of five of us. Where would we put Bela's stuff?

After lunch, back at the airport, we drove through passenger pickup to get Bela. As we cruised the pickup area, someone said, "That looks like Grandma." Sure enough, she and Anita were standing at the curb waiting to be picked up. About that time, Jay and Trish drove up to pick them up. We had a little impromptu family reunion under the 5-minute security rule at the Austin airport. Shortly Bela came out, safely arrived

We had all made it in time for tonight's Rehearsal Dinner, and so far our logistical puzzle was falling into place.

Engagement party photos and videos

February 3, 2010

Bela has posted some photos and the summary video of the party. Click on the links to see them.
There is a password on the video. Ask me for the password (email is OK).