So last night at o’dark-thirty I wake up and hear a strange noise in the house. I’m laying there deciding if I’m dreaming, and I hear it again. It’s a loud “poooosh” sound, kinda like steam escaping from a pot. I say out loud to Jee Yeun “are you cooking something”? She responds: “poooosh”.
Never heard snoring like that before.
Charleston, South Carolina.
So, this is how I recycle here in Richland County:
Basically, paper, cans, and plastic. Oddly enough, no glass.
In Korea, they take recycling to a whole ‘nother level:
We schlep a week’s worth of garbage down the elevator…
…and sort it into specifically designated bags. Woe be to you if you use the wrong bag, as the “trash police” are there to keep a careful eye on things.
And once the trash boxes are empty, they go on the cardboard pile of course. There’s even a place for food waste. I’m pretty sure there is no such thing as a kitchen garbage disposal in the ROK.
Anyway, it’s a pretty efficient system and given the lack of landfill space on the peninsula, necessary.
I do confess that when I worked for USFK I’d take my trash to the dumpsters on base. Supposedly, USFK would do the recycle piece off post. At least that’s what it says on the side of the dumpster…
June 2009, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul, Korea.
Pretty hot date, huh?
That I post something hear on my long dormant blog. I’m living a boring mellow life these days, and what little I have to say about, I’ve been saying to my Facebook pals.
Still, I feel bad about not putting this domain to work. So I’m thinking I’ll do something here, even if it is just sharing a favorite photo each day. Who knows, maybe I’ll even come up with a brilliant insight now and again. But to avoid disappointment in that regard you might ought to just come for the pictures.
So, I started blogging here back in December 2004. That’s also the month I took a vacation in Istanbul (because I couldn’t Constantinople). Yeah, my jokes are about as good as my photography skills. But hey, that’s never stopped me, right? Anyway, this photo is of the famous Hagia Sophia.
Well, just a quick check-in to let the faithful few know that we are still alive and kickin’. Having some interesting times here in the Land of the Morning Calm, but also looking forward to getting back to my American life later this month.
You may have noticed that LTG was hijacked recently due to some malware that was in some old blog rolling code I used. Got that fixed, so at least you can check in and see what I’m not posting about. Although I do have good intentions to get back to posting one of these days…
No, the blog is not dead, on life support perhaps, but not dead.
The fact of the matter is that I just don’t have anything much of interest going on these days. And what little I’ve had to say, I’ve said on Facebook.
I’ve pretty much finished all the major house projects (or at least I have exhausted all my discretionary funds). And I’ve got a nice, comfortable place to call home. Best of all, it’s paid for. In this economy, that’s better than money in bank. Or so at least I keep telling myself.
My dad has some pretty serious health issues. He has a condition called temporal arteritis which has caused him to lose vision in one eye and impaired the vision in the other. It appeared for awhile he may go completely blind, but six days in the hospital for intravenous steroid treatment seems to have stopped the progression of symptoms. He’s extremely weak and unstable however, so I make daily visits, do his shopping, and drive him to his doctor appointments.
I’m still playing darts twice a week and I’m throwing about as well as I ever have. Which is not great, but I don’t have the frustration that comes from under-performing. Darts is really the extent of my social life, and it’s something I look forward to each week.
Had a visit from some old friends from high school, Rod and Pat Headlee. Our paths seem to cross every few years and we get the chance to catch up on what’s happening and reminisce about the glory days. I must admit that their life is much more interesting than mine. They live on a 42′ sailboat and regularly travel the big water to exotic locations, mostly in the South Pacific. They had some really amazing stories about their adventures. We have a standing invite to join them on the boat for one of their journeys. Truth be told, I can see myself meeting them in Pago Pago and doing some day trips around the islands but I’m not sure I’m up for a blue water excursion. We’ll see.
Jee Yeun seems to be adapting well to life in America. Although she’s a big city girl at heart, and as far as cities go, Columbia is a burg compared to Seoul. She’s a trooper though. She’s been out digging in the back yard for the past couple of days removing weeds and such. I think she must enjoy it, but she did tell me the other day that she hadn’t planned on becoming a farmer when she moved to the USA.
I’ve also enjoyed getting to see the kids and grandkids on a semi-regular basis. And I have a new granddaughter in the hatch, which will be my son’s first child. She’ll be born right about the time I get back from Korea.
I’m really looking forward to spending the summer back in the Land of the Morning Calm. Jee Yeun says I miss Korea more than her. Maybe that’s true. I miss my friends and the lifestyle, that’s for sure. Of course, I recognize that things will be different when I return. Life moves forward and things change and all that. But I’m nothing if not adaptable, so I’m not too worried.
I think my biggest fear about returning to America was getting sucked in. By that I mean, falling into a quiet routine and living a vanilla life. I’ve been consciously resisting that, but I’m probably at least half way there. But I’m not going down without a fight!
See? I warned you I had nothing much to say. And I said it anyway.
Last night I had a pretty intense dream about Korea. It involved a $600 parking ticket. God only knows what that means…
Combine a new home security system and a concrete grinder (to even out the slab prior to hardwood installation) and what do you get? Two firetrucks at your front door. Seems the concrete dust triggered the fire alarm. And when ADT couldn’t reach me (my cell phone was inexplicably in the “off” mode), the firetrucks rolled, sirens blaring.
Well, I’m just going to consider it the neighborhood welcoming committee. And hope it never happens again.
On the plus side, the floors (bamboo) look bitchin’.
…I am simply taking care of my heart.
News Item: Staring at breasts improves heart health
Of course I’ve known for years that staring at asses is great for mental health.
Unless the wife or girlfriend catches you, in which case you will have a whole different kind of health issue to deal with…
What a week. Drove 1145 miles to Enid, Oklahoma so my mom could be buried in the family plot near her mother. Actually, she was buried in Goltry, a small and sad outpost on the windswept and desolate Oklahoma panhandle. I believe if you look up the word depressing in the dictionary you can see a picture of Goltry.
The day of the funeral was windy (as I expect everyday in that godforsaken land must be) and bitterly cold. Mom wanted a simple graveside service and that is what she got. My Aunt Pat (of fruit salad fame) led the service and the grandkids present each gave a moving tribute as to what Grandma Bonnie had meant in their lives. Tears were shed and then it was done.
Well, we had a family gathering at the Western Sizzlin’ (apparently one of the finer dining establishments in Enid) and then those of us who were so inclined retired to the Ramada Inn bar. The eight of us then proceeded to wash away our sorrow (at least temporarily) through massive quantities of beer and various other alcoholic beverages.
My nephew Jason and his wife Rosie brought out a guitar and sang “Upward Over the Mountain” in honor of my mom. It was an incredibly beautiful song and an appropriately moving moment that seemed to give each of some measure of closure. I know mom would have loved it.
By unfortunate coincidence, the funeral day was also daughter-in-law Lauren’s birthday. We did a toast in her honor. Although Lauren was toasting us with fruit juice. Because she found out that morning that she was pregnant with my son’s first child. Apparently after quite some time trying.
Kevin revealed that in one of his final conversations with mom she had asked him to promise to take his son to church on Sundays. He told her “grandma, I don’t have a son”. She said “just promise”.
Renee is convinced that the first thing mom did in heaven was to pull some strings. I don’t know about that. But it was a day of days for sure and I wouldn’t put anything past my mom.
Leaving Korea proved to be harder in the end than I imagined it would be. The New Year’s eve send off was tremendous and I will carry many happy memories of my Korea life wherever the future may lead me.
Had a long but uneventful New Year’s Day flight to the USA. I was welcomed to America by a Thrifty car rental agent who made a big show of “doing me a favor” by allowing me to actually rent the car I had reserved. Seems that if I rent a car using a debit card I am required to provide my return flight information. Which since I have now made South Carolina my home I don’t possess. She hemmed and hawed and finally made the comment that she would “do me a favor” and rent me the car. I was tired and hungover and wanted to tell her to go fuck herself but my desire to get out of the airport and on my way overcame the impulse and the transaction was completed. Her parting shot was “well, I’ve done my good deed for the day!”. I shook my head and walked away but I was reminded of one of the reasons I’m dreading living in the USA. Sanctimonious bitch!
I dropped off my bags at the house and went to visit my mom in the hospital. Not good. Not good at all. I was shocked at how much she had deteriorated since my visit in November. Things were much worse than I imagined and the doctor confirmed that they would not be getting better. Since there was nothing more to be done medically (congestive heart failure) we were presented with two options–home hospice care or confinement to a nursing home. We made the obvious choice of allowing her to die at home.
So, a hospital bed was delivered and set up in the living room (ironic name, eh?). A hospice worker comes five days a week to bathe my mother. A hospice nurse comes a couple of times a week. A social worker also appears periodically. The rest is up to us family members. I never imagined I’d participate in changing my mother’s diapers, but that’s now part of my daily routine. I’m doing my best to make her as comfortable as possible for as long as she may have left, but it somehow doesn’t feel like it is nearly enough.
Mom told me she loves me for coming home to her, so there’s that.
I spilled diet coke on my netbook keyboard on a drunken New Year’s morning. The computer functioned fine except when I typed letters would randomly be numbers and vice-versa, which made logging on with passwords impossible. Hence the lack of posting here. I took it in for repairs and got a call yesterday that there was nothing wrong and I could pick it up. Well, maybe the Vaio has a self-healing feature or I experienced a minor miracle. Even more bizarrely the repair shop said “no charge”.
I bought a car, bought insurance for said car, and obtained a South Carolina driver’s license. The last item was was touch and go. Despite having my passport and birth certificate, the wanted my original social security card. Well, when it was issued 40 years ago it was just a flimsy business card material that has long since disintegrated. I didn’t think to bring my last pay stub but then I remembered that I had failed (intentionally) to return my Army ID card. And since it won’t expire until 22 January and it showed my SSN, I was golden. All I had to do now was demonstrate proof of residence. Well, I’m staying with my parents, but my name is on the deed to the house. In the state’s eyes, that doesn’t prove I live there (valid point, since my name has been on the deed for 6 years, and I’d been here 6 days). Of course, the utility bills are in Dad’s name so it looked like I was in a classic catch-22 situation. Then I remembered my proof of insurance certificate showing my living at this address. Score! I am now a licensed driver in SC for the second time in my life.
Thursday I drove my nephew Joshua (who had been staying with mom and was a tremendous help) to the airport in Raleigh. It was an 8 hour round trip, but my new car handled well and provided a comfortable ride.
Jee Yeun has been an angel. She’s a natural born caregiver and has really done everything possible to make mom comfortable (including pedicures).
Of course, despite our best efforts, mom is not comfortable at all. She seems to be having an increasing difficulty breathing and she’s miserable staying in bed. She begs us to let her up, but it is just not possible to move her in her current state of immobility.
I thought for awhile we were going to lose her last night, but she came around.
Her sisters are due in this afternoon and she’s looking forward to that.
And now we are just watching and waiting and hoping her suffering is not too great.
I hate everything about my new life. And I’m glad to be here. For whatever that’s worth.
Little by little I’m wrapping things up. Meeting with the transportation office today and will be packed out next Tuesday. It’s all getting real now.
Some random photos from my Korea life:
Itaewon, January 2005.
3 Alley Pub, December 2006.
Corine is honored by LTG Valcourt with a Distinguished Civilian Service Award.
My coworkers…
Yongsan Garrison cherry blossoms..
Haeundae Beach Busan.
Traditional Palace Guard
Dart mentors Petro, Tom and Duke. They’ve all preceded me in returning to the USA.
Bad ass gatekeeper protecting DMZ visitors.
“Dorothy” from the Korean version of the Wizard of Oz.
I figure 10 pictures at a time is enough. More to come though…
I’m not sure the context for this quote by Kurt Vonnegut. I mean, I have no reason to believe he was referring to those of us who have spent our working life in civil service. I certainly am not saying it even remotely applies to me. But still, I must admit to having had occasional encounters with individuals in positions of power and authority far beyond their level of skill and competence. I mean, I’m pretty sure that Peter Principle was a government employee. And so is the President.
Just sayin’.
…all because of those damn teabaggers…
Are you In the Mood?
Based on the clips from election night coverage I saw, I find it hard to believe that NBC even had standards. I really don’t give a care that Olbermann made campaign contributions, I just think MSNBC trying to demonstrate journalistic integrity is hilarious!
Yes, MSNBC is forever trying to distinguish itself from Fox as a “real” news organization — and forever failing miserably. Again, compare the coverage on Tuesday night. (Mediaite did!) A few weeks ago, Griffin noted that Fox lets its guests fundraise on air and crowed, “Show me an example of us fund-raising.” Whereupon Johnny Dollar quickly compiled a bunch of examples. Media Matters has also been whining on MSNBC’s behalf about Fox giving too much airtime to particular candidates, like Rand Paul. Johnny Dollar turned that one around too in a big way. It’s not that one network has a slant and the other doesn’t; it’s that, as Jon Stewart said the other day to Chris Wallace, MSNBC is “double-A ball.” And suspending Olby for this nonsense is a weak, transparent attempt by them to convince people that they’re not.
By the way, this is the inaugural post in my “oh, THAT liberal bias” category.
…apparently.
Chris Matthews says the thrill is gone:
While she spoke, a member of the crowd behind her came into view of the camera, holding a sign that read, “How’s The Tingle, Chris?” The sign referenced Matthews’ famous comment in 2008 that he “got a thrill up my leg” when listening to a speech by President Obama.
That’s when Matthews lost patience.
“Congresswoman Bachmann, are you hypnotized tonight?” he asked. Has someone hypnotized you? Because no matter what I ask you you give the same answer. Are you hypnotized? has someone put you under a trance tonight?”
“We’re coming out of our trance, really we’re coming out of our nightmare,” Bachmann responded. “I think people are thrilled tonight. I imagine that thrill is probably not so tingly on your leg anymore.”
After the interview was over, Matthews and his fellow MSNBC panelists reacted to the “How’s The Tingle” sign. Rachel Maddow said it was a way for people to charge that MSNBC was “in the tank” for President Obama. Matthews himself stressed that he had never actually used the word “tingle,” but that he reacted physically when people, such as Obama, stirred his feelings of patriotism about the United States.
“They’re making fun of me, fine, for saying that. I can live with that,” he said.