The World of Grandpa Don
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Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works
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Welcome to The World of Grandpa Don and my activities of the past week along with some of the thoughts that churned in my head. Maybe you will find something of interest and maybe something will touch your soul.
It was a cool weekend, defiantly not pool or beach weather. For me, that's not a problem. Don Hall, my Canadian friend, reports that he was cruising down a steep hill in the rain on his bicycle and skidded of the road crashing into a couple boulders. Nine hours in the emergency room ensued with coughing of blood but other than scratches and bruises, plus a destroyed front wheel there is no apparent permanent damage. He attributes his lack of serious injury to the Miraculous Medal he was wearing as well as the 100 Miraculous Medals he had in his backpack. He was bringing them to his students. We don't often have a hundred and one medals on us for protection and so I refrain from riding my bicycle in that kind of terrain in the rain. As a matter of fact, we don't have that kind of terrain here, I don't own a bicycle and if I did I wouldn't be riding it in the rain. In any case, we will say some prayers that Don will heal completely and quickly. It is not my intent here to belittle Don's Miraculous medals. Indeed it is wonderful that people live their faith by wearing some symbol of it on their person. It is most effective when worn in a way that is visible to others, identifying the person as one of faith. It can be a powerful reminder of our reliance and dependence on God. And ... a person who relies on God is most often helped by God. It is what is in a person's heart that counts and I feel that the device that symbolizes his or her beliefs aids us in reminding us of the fact.
I have been using McAfee Security software to guard against viruses and such. It comes with my Comcast internet service at no extra charge. It just runs and I forget it. However, it gave me an error message that an automatic update failed and I should re-install it. In doing so, it reported that my Windows operating system was not up to date and that, in turn, said I needed to install two updates. That is strange because that is also set to update automatically and I often get little messages that it has done so. Oh well ... it is not a perfect world. I installed the Windows updates and then removed and reinstalled McAfee with a fresh download. I now have a slightly different display when the computer boots up. McAfee seems to be functioning well. I decided to look at some of the "features" of the McAfee program and found that I can schedule a periodic "cleanup" of the registry, temporary files, deleted files, and several other things. I can also schedule a periodic defragmentation of the hard drive. This is something that should be done to group segments of files in the proper sequence so they are more quickly found thereby making the computer run more efficiently. It is time consuming and as a result, seldom if ever done. I have scheduled both of these to be done once a month in the middle of the night.
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I don't know how he knows but he does. Mikey was bugging me all Sunday afternoon. I hadn't said a word to him but he knew. Finally I got his collar down from the hook in the kitchen and he was all over me. We went to the Albano's to celebrate Marc's Birthday but it was later than usual because Marc and Joe were playing baseball. Dominick, Sarah and Bella were there of course. I had also seen them at church earlier in the day. The birthday guy chose BBQ ribs for dinner and they were falling-off-the-bone delicious. The Albano men are not big on Cole slaw so the meal came with garlic mashed potatoes and a pasta salad. It was followed by an ice cream cake with 6 candles, grouped 2 & 4. Mikey gets very excited in the car as we get within a quarter mile of their house, then runs around the yard with Sampson when we get there but than, for the most part, lays at my feet during the visit. At the end of dinner, he starts asking to go home, getting quite insistent if I tarry.
So we say to Marc. HAPPY BIRTHDAY May he be blessed with many more and may his plan for life and God's plan for him coincide or at least come close. Marc has quit his job. That takes a bit of gumption in these times. But, he has a plan. He is on the list of candidates for the Chicago Fire Department with a rather low "lottery" number so he hopes to be selected in the next group to go to the academy. But rather than just sit and wait, he is going to school to learn to be a paramedic. This will not only increase his chances of being selected but will put him at a higher pay level when he is.
Marc and Joe do not "belong" to a particular baseball team. They have a standing invitation to play with several teams. They often play on competing teams and and were scheduled to play for two teams in the same league on the same day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.. They just like baseball. However, they were informed that that was against league rules and had to give up one of the games. Anthony is happy with his Rockford professional team even though he only plays about every other day and that as a designated hitter. He lives baseball and is happy when he is part of the team in any capacity. He says his teammates this year are all great and he has a wonderful relationship with the coaches and manager.
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The above quote brings too mind one of my senior friends. He is always commenting on the high cost of everything from food to fuel these days. He forgets that in the "good old days" when prices were lower, his income was much lower and he, and the rest of us, could afford mush less. He also forgets that the standard of living of everyone has improved dramatically since the "good old days". We keep making comparisons and in doing so always think that the grass is always greener at some other time or in some other place. But in making comparisons it is never of this apple compared with another apple from the same tree. We compare apples from different orchards ... different soil conditions ... different weather conditions ... and different care from the farmer ... different cost at the market. We also go farther and compare apples with oranges, expecting them to satisfy the same. And finding our apple to be inferior to another only increases our discontent. It makes more sense to look at our apple and realize that it has a color, texture and nutritious value that is unique to itself, quite pleasing and satisfying and leave it at that. To hold our apple and wish we had an orange is fostering dissatisfaction. Right now I have this particular apple, why can't I be satisfied with it? There will be a time to have another ... a different apple. And you can bet that it will be different in some way. I am not talking just fruit. We do the same with spouses, children, friends and everyone. We do it with houses, cars, boats (or lack of boats) and TV sets, jobs, and much more.
I wondered how I would conclude my thoughts about our propensity to be always comparing ... always dissatisfied with what we have and how things are. But then Mary Moskal sent ... "May You Be Blest". It says it all.
Monday afternoon was the occasion of my regular 9 week visit to the foot doctor. He is always on time, quick and efficient. This time I left with a prescription for a cream to be applied to my feet twice a day. I have "chronic" Athletes' Foot. He is the only person I know who has ever accused me of having anything to do with athletics. I guess one has nothing to do with the other. On the way home I stopped at Good Shepard Cemetery. I was told that the records for St James Sag Cemetery are kept there and I know that there are members of the Lawler family interred at St James. On entering the office I immediately saw the computer terminal below the "Information" sign. I was hoping to find more complete information on the family members. The fact is that they have the burial records on file for every cemetery in the Chicago Catholic cemetery system. But, it is just that, burial records. If you know the name and the date of burial, it will give you the person's age and the grave location. It wasn't any help to me. I was looking for the names of parents and such.
When I returned home the gazebo beckoned. It was one of those days when the puffy clouds gave character to the sky. There were fanciful shapes drifting bye, seemly more clouds than blue sky, yet on the ground there was more sun than shadow. Another of life's many paradox's. I finished my Bible study homework and just sat there soaking in the splendor of it all. My only interruption was a phone call from "Sweepstakes Central". I let the voice mail pick it up. Later I listened to the message telling me that it was imperative that I return the call so I could get my new car, the prize in the drawing that I had entered. Well, I had not entered any such sweepstakes and the message was deleted forthwith. I am sure that it was one of those scams in which the caller tries to get you to say the word "Yes", whereupon you find yourself subscribed to something or other that you don't want.
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We have the promise of news in the near future in this email from Karen on Monday:.
Hi Dad:
Kelsey and I are off to New York in the morning. We leave at 8:00 and
arrive about 11:00. We are going to tour NBC at Rockefeller Center
tomorrow and spending the day in Central Park on Wed. We are going
to ground zero on Thurs and hope to get tickets to a Broadway show
somewhere along the way. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun
pictures to show you when we get back. We will see you when we
return. Have a good week!!
Love Karen
This trip is, kind of, Kelsey's senior trip and it will encompass the things that Karen and Kelsey are interested in seeing and doing. Tailor made for the two of them. Great idea. More later.
Last week, Bob Lewis' email notifying me that the parish website had
been updated with the new
parish bulletin cam from a hotel in Erie, PA. I assumed that he was on
his way to upstate New York to visit relatives. This week his email came
from a lodge high in the Adirondack Mountains. He sent a photo. I can
only assume that it is his daughter and grandson Dirk in the photo. How
time flies. I remember Dirk's baptism and it doesn't seem to be all that
long ago. Bob doesn't say much but I hope he and Mary are having a great
time up there in all that fresh air. Now I must do my part and send out
the weekly newsletter and let our parish "Include-Me" members know that
next weekend's bulletin in now available to them on online. Bob had also
sent "I
Asked God". It has been around for a while but well worth reviewing
even if you have seen it. It is now part of my "Inspiration" page.
I was up early on Thursday in order to have my breakfast and have two hours to check my "after breakfast" blood glucose before going to Bible Study. At 7:30 the phone rang. it was Bud asking if his crew could do my concrete leveling today. By all means, yes! I explained that I may not be home when they arrived due to Bible Study but that is not a problem. This was the last session for Paul's letters to the Romans. The ladies in the group were delighted to read Paul's tribute to all the women who assisted in his ministry and especially the hints that some of them may have presided at the home church liturgies. Why not! I left early, stopped for gas ... I need to do that occasionally ... and found that my concrete lifting crew had not arrived as yet. But there was a voice mail from Paula at Touch of Class. Mikey was ready to come home so I was on my way again. This time when I returned, the truck was there and Jeff, Bud's son was getting things ready but was waiting for his dad. His usual helper had a family emergency so dad would fill in.
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It wasn't long before Bud arrived and they were soon at work. Jeff had drilled the 1" diameter holes in the concrete at strategic spots and they were soon pumping in the slurry a little at a time, moving from location to location and leaving a plastic plug in the hole as a stopper. You could watch the slabs rise as if by magic ... a kind of levitation ... ever so slowly. They would stop occasionally, move to another slab and then go back to a previous one. On occasion they would use a big concrete saw to clear a joint between slabs where binding was impeding the desired movement. They worked with patience, letting nature help them.
| The "Before" Photos |
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| Uneven driveway | Sunken Walkway | 13" step | ||
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| During Construction |
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| . | Pumping | |||
| The "After" Photos |
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| Even Joints | Repaired Walkway | 8" Step |
The last thing done was to place a "plug" onto each hole and finish with a quick setting cement to seal the holes. Jeff will return and caulk all the joints with a special material which will prevent rain, snow and ice from getting in and causing further deterioration. I was able to drive into my garage to put the car away that night. In addition to the concrete in the front of the house, several slabs of sidewalk leading to the patio were also lifted in like manner.
Backtracking to Wednesday ... it was the Albano family improvement day. The windows looked great to me. They were the latest improvement in windows in 1962 and only 47 years old. But my daughter and her husband decided they wanted new windows. And ... why not a front door while they were at it. Truth be told ... I always disliked those windows. They were supposed to be easy to remove for cleaning but you had to mess with the tension screws and they would slide up and down too easily or not at all. In any case, the installers came Wednesday, tore out the old and installed the new.
Keeping a house up to date and livable requires occasional updating and maintenance. The same applies to our health, our relationships and our spirits. If we think we can coast through life effortlessly we are deluding ourselves. If we don't improve, we decline. If we don't reinforce, we crumple. This applies to individuals, organizations of every kind including nations and, indeed, civilizations. It applies to cities, roads and communication systems. There is a cost to life. Sometimes that cost is money and sometimes it is effort on our part. Our taxes, supposedly, are part of it. We rely on elected or appointed officials to spend our tax money wisely. Home and vehicle repair and improvement are part of it and that is up to us as is our health maintenance. Even more important, eternally so, is our spiritual health and direction. It is also up to us. As with all the rest, there is help for us, and in the case of our spiritual health we have churches. It is prudent and wise to seek out the available help and use it. There is no way to do it alone as none of has all the answers and resources.
An encouraging not was the fact that on Thursday evening as I authorized my Bill pay service to send payment to A1 Concrete Leveling, I noted that for that day, my IRA had increased in value more than I spent.
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I ended the day Thursday feeling more satisfied and content than usual. Even the weather cooperated. As Bud and Jeff were finishing their work there was thunder all around us but not a drop of rain came to impede their work. If you can't tell, I was delighted with the way the project turned out. The raising of the concrete it a technical achievement but there is some art, a great deal of art, involved, knowing where to drill the holes and inject the slurry to get the desired results.
I awakened to the sound of the big lawn mower in my back yard. It was 8:00 AM. When I got out of bed, Mikey moved from his bed to under mine. He was not ready to get up. When I got dressed and went down stairs he reluctantly followed. After breakfast the patio beaconed and the morning was delightful. All was right with the world. Life is beautiful.
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Jefferson was a wise man. He knew full well that luck is an illusion. People who bemoan the fact that others are luckier than themselves simply do not recognize the effects of efforts and right choices. I do not take part in lotteries unless it is my intent to make a donation to a charitable cause. I have never been in a casino. NEVER. They are built on the gambler's money and definitely not for the benefit of gamblers. Casino owners only bet on a sure thing, and a sure thing is that a lot more people will loose than win. Some believe that their problems would all be solved if they win the lottery and do little to solve their problems in a constructive way. They think life revolves around luck. My Bohemian up-bringing precludes the "fun" of feeding coins into a one armed bandit. Don't people realize why they call them that? Sure, some people do win occasionally. I knew a girl who took a chance on a blanket and won a fur coat. But even then she lost more than she won.(Sorry about that.)
But, let's move on to a more positive note.
"Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by
an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest
thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light."
Albert Schweitzer
Each day I include in my prayers a plea to God to watch over and bless all those, living and dead, who have touched my life and left me better for their touch. They may be people like Anne, her parents and mine, all four of mine. They may be teachers I no longer remember, associates in my work, relatives and friends, far and near. They also include people who's touch has been an indirect one. Ancestors, people in the military who have preserved our freedoms, a man or woman who did something extra to make my life better, though neither of us was aware of it. We all touch each other. I also pray that my touch will benefit others, leaving at least a warm feeling and never a scar.
I hope you, like myself, can't remember being left with scars. It has been said that "A person who is right with God, can not be offended."
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I Am blest |
Grandpa Don
Plefka
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Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'.
This button was in one of
her dresser
drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004
