Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Marsha and I went to our friends Pat and Russell’s house yesterday for thanksgiving. We joined their family in enjoying a terrific feast. It was my first time to try fried turkey. Marc, Pat and Russell’s son, cooked it. By the time we ate dinner, I had already nearly filled up with shrimp. I must have eaten nearly a pound of it! The family has adopted Marsha and me, and we feel right at home at their house. We know the entire family….Son, Daughter, grandchildren, boyfriends, girlfriends, dogs, cats, pet lizards….the whole works…Martha, the daughter who lives in the DC area and is the Web Desk Chief for one of the newspapers, was able to make it as well. Marsha took her knitting, and I read and snoozed in one of their recliners.

This morning I got up at 3:30AM in order to make it to Wally World in time to catch their 5AM to 11AM sale. I knew I was in trouble when I got there before 5 and saw the entire gigantic parking lot filled and all the neighboring stores that were closed had their parking lots filled, also. I circled the parking lot for about 20 minutes or so before I caught someone coming out and waited for their space, resisting the impulse to flip off the idiot behind me that was leaning on his or her horn. (It was too dark to see whether it was a him or a her) The space I got was quite a distance from the store…farther than I usually park because I can’t walk a great distance without getting short of breath….but I finally made it inside the store. The store was jammed with bargain hunters. I was able to get a buggy and joined the procession wending its way through the store. I was after a vacuum cleaner for Martha….a camera for Lahcen, Martha’s SO, who, by the way is a very nice guy from Morocco….a couple of 4 gig flashdrives and an all in one printer for Marsha and me.

It took me about 15 minutes to make my way through the crowd to the vacuum cleaners, but I got one and put it in the cart, after poking some poor lady in the tush with it, for which I apologized profusely. She was very nice about it, though, smiled and told me it was perfectly alright.

I struggled through the store trying to get to the electronic department, bumping people with my cart and getting bumped and pushed and stepped on all the while, and having a harder and harder time breathing. I have learned since being in Pulmonary Rehab for the past few years that being in a crowded space is not at all good for those of us with breathing problems. The crowd exhales so much carbon dioxide that you can’t bring in the oxygen that you need, and so you begin panting and gasping for air.

Even though I had had a breathing treatment before leaving home, I became so short winded that I left the cart with Martha’s vacuum in it in the aisle (The checkout lines stretched from the front of the store all the way to the back of our new Super Wally World) and left the store and returned home without getting anything.

Marsha and I returned a little before 11 and the only things left that we wanted, although Marsha did look longingly at the plasma tvs, was the 4 gig flash drives. We got two.

Martha and Lahcen were quite understanding. They were not upset that I wasn’t able to get their items for them.

It seems that everyone is creating a blog lately.
I’ve been creeping around the internet recently, looking at different blogs trying to get some ideas thinking that I might start one myself. So….here goes:

I am 67 years old, retired, handicapped, (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) but stay as active as possible. I live in the Miami Valley of Ohio and love it here. The only thing I really dislike about it is the winter season. It gets cold and snowy here! I have seen it as cold as 10 below zero a couple of times, and have been told to expect to see 20 below upon occasion. ICK!

I have lived in quite a few states….Virginia, North and South Carolina, California, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Pennsylvania. I have no plans to move again.

I voted for Barrack Obama. I know that will surprise a lot of people that know me, or think they do, or knew me in the past, but things change. It is time for a change in our country, and I have high hopes for our future.

Politically, I consider myself an Independent. I vote for whomever I feel is best for the job, regardless of their party affiliation. My wife, however, is a hardcore Democrat, as is her 85 year old mother.

Marsha worked for a number of years on Capitol Hill and knows quite a few politicians, including Joe Biden, our Vice-President elect. She tells a story about him that I have her permission to share with you.

“For a year or two during the time I worked on Capitol Hill, I was in an office next door to Senator Biden. The Senator for whom I worked kept a huge candy dish next to the door. Quite often when Senator Biden was passing by on his way to the Capitol, he would stop for a piece of candy. Since the dish was next to the door, he didn't even have to come in. Most times, all we saw was his hand, snaking in and grabbing a piece, sometimes waving quickly before proceeding.

"I especially remember one time when there was a vote going on in the Senate chamber. My Senator was already there and had called me to bring a file to him. Just as I hung up, the door opened and that hand was moving toward the candy dish. Without thinking, I said, "Since you're going there anyhow, would you mind taking this file with you?" He nodded agreeably and waited. But then I had second thoughts and told him, "Never mind. I don't think my boss would like it if I used a United States Senator as an errand boy!"

It seems kind of ironic somehow that in all my years in Washington, DC, including 15 years on Capitol Hill, I never once met a President, Vice President, or anyone who later became a President or Vice President. But now that I'm back here in Ohio, someone I saw frequently for a year or two has become Vice President. The best part is that he's a good guy, very genuine and down to earth. I'm looking forward to the new administration. "