Saturday, January 12, 2019

BUSH DIARY AUGUST 1998

BUSH DIARY AUGUST 1998:

Sad News:  8-2:  Monica called me this evening to say that Marge Pendleton, Patrick's Mom had called to tell her that he had passed away about 3 am this morning.  He was still hospitalized from his latest surgery done on July 17.  I will miss him very much.  Nothing tickled him more than to stroll into medical records and politely ask if it was permissible for him to tell a politically incorrect story.  Of course we encouraged him to do so.

He had multiple system failure particularly renal and liver and just could not fight his way back.  I do not believe he regained consciousness from surgery.  His mother's last e-mail said that she had been spending time at his bedside rubbing his forehead, which was something that he had liked since he was a little boy.  

I don't know what we are going to do on this end.  We are not too sure who his latest roomie was as he had just recently moved.  We would like to help pack up his stuff to send to Ohio.  As far as replacing him I don't think that is possible, he was quite unique and gave us many funny memories.  The best one is about his Aunt Mary Margaret's recipe for hamburger dildo.  

8-3: Pretty grim at work. Lots of people coming around with condolences.  I am exhausted from rehashing Patrick's demise, poor guy.  We found out that his roommate will ship his largely unpacked belongings to Ohio.  We will clean out his desk here and do the same.  Am hearing from many former co-workers and folks who have left Barrow and have heard about him via e-mail.  We circulated a sympathy card for Marge.

8-4:  After mulling it over amongst ourselves and Patrick's friends within the community, we have decided to have a potluck in commons next Saturday 8-15.  Everyone will be invited to bring a favorite dish and a Patrick story.  We are hoping to get someone to do a video.

Weird dream:  I drove through a forest so well tended that rose bushes grew at the base of all of the trees.  I saw Tom Selleck in a car that I drove past  It must be particularly weird to dream of celebrities.

O NO:  Our next door neighbor in the 12-plex was at the hospital during greak and asked if I had heard the rumor about our building.  Um, no.  She said that NSB housing was doing asbestos abatement and we will all have to move.  She said she is moving this weekend as she is going on leave in a week and a half.  Not looking forward to moving.
Update: I called housing, all too true. However we will wait for the official letter and maybe they will have a couple bodies available for schlepping.

8-15: We had Patrick's Memorial Potluck.  About 30 friends gathered in the commons.  After a few uncomfortable minutes we all shared food and Patrick stories.  I summarized some of them and made them accessible for Marge.  I do wish I had taken home some of Jessie's cauterizing hot curried beef with bamboo shoots.  The head came from Japanese green paste which is suicidal hot.  I think a gulp or two will kill millions of germs.

8-17-18:  Still have sore throat, consuming gallons of Chicken Soup.

8-19:  Alcohol initiative. Will be voted on borough wide in October.  Who ever was organizing the effort found 800 registered voters.  

8-20:  US missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan.  I wonder if this will knock the Lewinski scandal off the news.

8-20: Other Barrow news.  The barge is in town!  It is moored just off shore and the ocean is choppy.  The lagoon is bulldozed shut until things settle down.  The barge is piled about eight cargo containers deep and there are lots of modular homes on that thing.

8-24: Jury duty!!! I am in the box and gotta go back 9:30 tomorrow morning.  Maybe they will boot me out, the case is a guy kicking the bejesus out of a woman and I am pretty sure they are going to want more men on the jury.

8-25:  Came in early and got the census done.  Jinky called she will be late.  Monica called in with a headache.  Sandra called wanting to talk to Monica.  By 9:15 there was ONLY ME!  I called one of the coders to come up front and man the phones.  

I am still sitting in the jury box.  We actually ran out of potential jurors TWICE today.  Got a break so they could call in more people.  Ran out of THEM by  pm.  Told to return on Wednesday at 9:30.  Ugh.

8:26:  Showed up promptly at 9:30 went through two more before both sides were satisfied with the jury panel including ME! Took a long lunch 11 to 1:30 and testimony finally began about 2:30.  One of the PSO from the village started to read his copy of testimony. State asked what page that testimony was on.  After a couple of approach the bench consultations,  the judge declared a mistrial because all parties did not have the same information.  We all got to go home about 4 pm.  The judge excused us from jury duty the whole next week in case we got one of those automated calls from the court house.  Yay!!  You just don't see these kind of shenanigans on TV dramas.

8:29:  What a small world we live in -- I received a letter from Barbara Whelan, enclosed was a clipping of a wedding announcement.  Barbara visited her daughter Jennifer (married to Dean)  a couple of weeks ago in Portland.  She was reading the Sunday paper there and one that caught her attention was for Jennifer Logan and Dean Loganbill, grooms mother Esther Loganbill of Barrow, Alaska.

Barbara's letter ask if I knew the person and to pass the clipping along if possible.  After a little bit of detective work, it turns out that Esther Loganbill is a registered nurse who is in charge at the Senior Center in assisted living.  So I called her and told her that a friend had mailed me a clipping from Emmett, Idaho.  Long pause..."um how did that happen??"  I explained it all we had a good laugh.  

She asked me to give the clipping to her sister, Lois Fisher, who is the hospital's social services director.  I took the clipping to Lois and handed it to her without a word. She looked at it and gasped, "Where did you get this?" I told her it came in a letter from a friend in Idaho.  I explained all the distance circumstances and we laughed about it again.  Small world.

We are inching incrementally closer to closing on the Coquille house.  I got a check from Valic and deposited that and also some more papers to fill out and return to the bank.  We will keep you posted.

I really don't wanna move!
G'night folks.

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