Current Mood: Melancholy

I’ve been thinking a lot about GB this past week. I still can’t believe he’s gone… I knew this day would come; but maybe selfishly, thought it would be years away. I know how much he wanted to be with Mary Lee again. Perhaps, now he is.

It’s funny how when a person is living, you can remember the bad times so clearly. Although I still feel the ’sting’ of some of the bad times, they’re becoming cloudy and diminished as I think of the man I grew to know and love over the past 28+ years. Gene had a kind and generous heart, depsite the fact that he could be so darn frugal! One of his signature lines said “Never look down on another man, unless you are helping him up.” I think that sums it up.

Over the years, Gene has unquestioningly helped me through some very tough times in my life, like the BIG decision I made in late 2001 to relocate to Wisconsin. I remember when he was driving with me and the kids as we made our journey across the US, from California to Wisconsin. He talked and talked! We talked about everything under the sun, and then some. I always knew he deeply loved Mary Lee, but these conversations left me with a greater understanding of his love and admiration for a woman he said was ‘one of the two FINEST women he ever knew!’ (The other woman was his mother.)

After Mary Lee passed away, Gene mourned and grieved for years. Despite his profound grief, he still kept up his frugal, caring, and yes, generous ways. He also kept the B&B business going. (He considered it to be Mary Lee’s ‘baby’!) He kept up his divorce legal practice. He walked the dogs, played beach volleyball for a time, stayed active in his church, and in keeping with the pattern of his life, worked to change the world around him for the better. He was passionate in his beliefs and his actions always reflected this.

My head is swimming with fond memories and my tears are falling as I type this. Gene Bridges is a person whom I will ALWAYS remember as my Hawaii dad. He leaves behind a large extended family, from Hawaii to Germany and back again. I know I can speak for all of us when I say that we are greatly saddened by his leaving; but at the same time, thankful that he is again with his beloved Mary Lee, and is no longer feeling the physical and emotional pain of the past few years.

It’s so hard to write things as a final ‘testament’ or ’statement’ or whatever, about people I love and respect. I feel like the impact GB had in my life deserves a 12-page memorial. I will keep this to a few paragraphs though, and end by saying I love GB and miss hearing his voice. I feel he is at peace now, and all is well in his world.

Posted: January 12th, 2008 under Other Stuff.
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Current Mood: Happy

Posted: December 15th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
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Current Mood: Determined

Things is going… same ol’ same ol’. Giving up on the Fond du Lac idea is probably for the best. I found something I like here in Hartford, and next step is to figure out how to get it. It’s a really nice condo, 2/2 with an attached 1-car garage. I’m going to contact Independence First, a Milwaukee-based organization that helps disabled people. One of their services has to do with home ownership. I hope I qualify, and they can help me with this dream.

Heather’s doing really good in school this semester. She has all A’s and a B or two. My girl is back on her game! Brian’s doing good too, from what he’s told me. He was a cake escort for the Marine Corps Ball on Friday. Hmmm I wonder exactly what that means? Will have to research that a bit.

Gonna try to get a jump-start on this Sunday morning. It’s going on 11am, so I suppose that’s not really a ‘jump-start’ hehehe S’ok tho, we did all our housecleaning yesterday. All that’s left is the laundry. It would be really nice to have my own washer and dryer. Did I mention this condo I like has both?

Anyway… buh bye 4now!

Posted: November 11th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
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Current Mood: Lazy & Recumbent

It’s that time of year again! An extra hour of sleep… mmmmm nice

Despite it’s perfection, the last condo I looked at had an anti-pets association. Hrmph! Ain’t gonna do that again. It made me way too sad to give up all my critters. So I’m going to look at another one today which has a ‘pets allowed’ policy. It’s older, a little bit smaller, but supposedly very private, almost secluded. And it’s a stand-alone unit, which means it’s not a building with 8 other front doors in the hallway. It’s also more appealing to my budget.

I visited with mom and dad yesterday. Dad finally got his teeth fixed. Good thing. I stayed for dinner, and we watched a football game. Dad’s a huge Notre Dame fan, so we were checking out the Navy/ND game. I guess it’s been 43 years since the Navy beat ND. So yesterday was like history in the making, because the Navy finally won. 3 overtimes, and by just 2 points. Dad was so disappointed! hehehe s’ok tho, it was a great game to watch.

It’s nice to have that extra hour of sleep. Here it is, 8:30 on a Sunday morning, and I’m about ready to start my day. Imagine that! There’s plenty to do around here, as we’ve neglected the dishes for a few days and I have laundry to gather up from all around my bedroom. hehehe

So let’s get this show on the road. laterzzzzzz

Posted: November 4th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
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Now I gotta figure out how to GET it…

Park Street condo in Fond du Lac, WI

This is a really nice, big condo. No private garage, but there’s plenty outdoor parking and a space in a heated underground garage. The livingroom is HUGE. The kitchen is good-sized, with a dining area (also big) right next to it. Bedrooms aren’t bigger than what I have here, but theyre not smaller. Comes complete with a washer/dryer.

Hmm hmmmm hmm hmmmmmm… would be nice if it was a no-money-down place but it isn’t. Well, even if it gets away, I will probably eventually find something I like just as well. This place is so perfect, though. Ahh well, we’ll see what the immediate future holds for me.

Posted: October 28th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
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Current Mood: Melancholy & Peaceful

When I was a kid, all I had to do was look up into the night sky, and it seemed like the moon was always there, shining as bright as ever. Always up there, never had to search for it.

Now it seems like I’m always chasing the moon. Sometimes it’s in the east, sometimes the west. Sometimes daytime, sometimes night. Staring at the moon makes me think of a lot of things. Mostly, who else is looking at the same moon, at the same time? It’s strange to think I’m sharing this moment with countless people.

Also makes me think of how much time has passed. Used to be I could always count on the moon, being up there when I wanted to see it. Now that I’m an adult, I have to plan my moon-watching time. Is it up there? East, West, or right above me? How much of this time have I wasted?

It is comforting though, to think that there’s a special someone who will look up there at the same moon, at the same time as me. :love:

Posted: October 19th, 2007 under Photographs, Other Stuff.
Comments: 1

Current Mood: Loved & Happy & Content

It’s been a couple weeks since I posted. Things are movin’ right along, too. I was in Seattle the last week of August, then the first week of September I took some vacation time. The Seattle trip was good. I had a chance to visit a few really nice restaurants, ate some really yummy fresh fish, and saw Lake Washington. The work part was good too. I had a programmer on this visit, so we were able to accomplish quite a lot. The client’s database still has some issues which I am working through one at a time. But it should be in good shape by the time they start their parallels.

Dillon came out to visit the following week, and we did a lot of fun stuff together. We saw Pike Lake, Holy Hill, Milwaukee Art Museum, Lake Michigan, Fond du Lac and Lake Winnebago, and the best day was the last day - we spent the whole day looking around downtown Chicago. Heather came along for this day-trip. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, browsed around Chinatown, went to the top of the Sears Tower, and walked through Grant Park, looking at Buckingham Fountain. Of course, I have lots of pictures! Here’s some gallery links:

Milwaukee 9-5

Route 175 and Fond du Lac, Lake Winnebago

Chicago Trip 9-8

I thought I had pictures of Lake Washington hmmmm… I must have forgotten to upload them. I’ll get to that later. Here’s one more gallery of pictures taken from the airplane on the way back from Seattle:

More Plane Pics

I guess you could say I’m doing ok right now. I was horribly achy after the Chicago trip. I took my wheelchair, but when I put it together and plugged it in, the battery had next to no charge left in it. I charged it up the night before, so I don’t understand what the problem is. I still have to look more closely at it since the airline lost it when I came back to Milwaukee. I hope nothing’s broke; I suspect there’s a loose wire somewhere in there. Well anyway, I wound up walking the whole day while downtown. So by Tuesday I gave up and phoned the doctor to get some pain meds. The pills help a lot, but make it hard to concentrate at work. So I only take them when absolutely necessary. By Friday I was feeling much better, so those pills are now tucked away in a drawer until I need them again.

Heather started school a couple weeks ago. She’s in the Veterinary Technician program at the technical college for this area. She seems to like her course-work, and manages to keep on top of everything. She is also still working at api, answering phones for customer service.

Brian came up to visit while I was on vacation. It’s always good to see him, even if it’s only for one evening. He’s still stationed at New River in Jacksonville, NC. He loves that motorcycle, and rides it everywhere. I have a picture of it somewhere, also, but not sure where right now. Another day, another post, I’ll have to catch up all the pictures I’ve taken that haven’t made it to the blog here.

It’s Sunday morning, and a chilly one at that. We’re in some kind of cold snap, with temps being in the 30s and 40s at night, and upper 50’s or lower 60’s during the day. Where has summer gone? *sigh* The trees are starting to turn colors, and the wind blowing through the corn fields sounds like applause now. During the summer, when the wind blows through corn fields, it sounds like a lot of whispering. Now that it’s all drying up in the fields, the leaves make a lot of noise on a windy day. hehehe

I spent a lot of yesterday sitting around doing nothing, so today I’ll have to be productive. We’ll see what gets done today. I know I have to do some laundry, and I’d like to get back to the BBHS website and add more info. I also have to log in to api’s network and begin reviewing the rules survey that I received from my new client on Friday. That should be enough to keep me busy all day. Heather and I want to cook outside on the grill tonight. We have some shrimp skewers and a nice strip steak for dinner. Steak always turns out best when grilled!

So I’ma gonna wrap up this post. Happy trails to you………..

Posted: September 16th, 2007 under Photographs, Other Stuff, News.
Comments: 1

Current Mood: Tired

Here’s a slide show of pics of Maddie, our new ig. Well, this one’s actually Heather’s ig, she’s doing a good job taking care of her too. She’s sorta orange right now because her previous owner used to feed her day lillies. We’ll get her good n green again soon enough. She’s active, and has a HUGE appetite.

I haven’t posted in awhile. Flossie fizzled out, and didn’t hit the islands. Then came the tropical storm in the gulf, and hurricane Dean. Now there’s another one going across the Caribbean.

I had a good trip to Seattle last week. Ate lots of really good food this time. The airline lost the battery pack for my wheelchair but it was delivered to me today. yay.

It’s late and I gotta get some zzz’s. I’ll try to post again tomorrow.

Posted: September 2nd, 2007 under Photographs, Other Stuff.
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Current Mood: Blank

Well not alot of great news to put in a post, at least. Work is in a ‘lull’ at the moment, having finally gotten those custom rules documents done and sent to programming. I’m still working on configuration support with the Seattle client but that’s not too time-consuming. I’ll be heading out there at the end of August for my last configuration visit.

I picked up a new client in Georgetown, South Carolina. I hope their rules are simple, or at least require no custom programming. I should be starting with them by mid-September. Travel dates are in January and February. They’re also an ActiveStaffer client, so making that transition might be good for me and my clients.

Brian’s laptop was stolen out of his room on base last week. That really sux. It wasn’t even a year old yet. He filed a report with the police, and distributed his serial number to all the local pawn shops. But still no word. I know he feels very bad, very angry about the whole thing. I just hope he keeps himself out of trouble and doesn’t try to find the thief himself.

It’s a grey and drizzly Sunday here, and I have some work to do. So I guess in an hour or so I’ll try to get up and start the day.

Posted: August 5th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
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I would love to get this episode on dvd or something… I love the flute Picard played.

Posted: July 27th, 2007 under Other Stuff.
Comments: 1