BS: Working (at last) in Guam

Subject: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 11:05 PM

Here we go. The new thread continuing the story of the Burnham Family in Guam. I have a question for those of you who have suffered through this from wherever you picked it up. Would it be better to keep it here or move it to a BLOG site? I'm not fussy but I am wondering if the Mudcat is the appropriate place to be running what is essentially a BLOG.

Click here for the first thread: News From Guam

Click here for the second thread: Springtime in Guam.

Click here for the third thread, Happily Ever After in Guam.

I thought it might be a good idea to provide a little click index to the threads in this journey. If you stumble across this travelogue and decide to bravely take it on you can start at the beginning and follow our adventure to the current date.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: MMario
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 08:18 AM

hey! Don't make me go to two places!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 09:17 AM

HERE!!!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 10:45 AM

Here!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: curmudgeon
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 11:04 AM

Hear! Hear! Keep your good words here, please - Tom

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 11:06 AM

We'll tell you when we're tired of it, Brett. *grin* You are one of us...and one with a unique perspective on places and life. Many of us have met you & Wakana RT, and it's nice to follow how life is treating someone we consider a friend.

If you want to blog somewhere for the rest of the world, that's fine...but like MMario said....

keep on keepin' on!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 11:58 AM

all of the above

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 12:08 PM

Brett-

Do keep posting your latest report here but there is a larger readership out there that you might be able to serve via a blog. You also might consider providing links to your own website for digital images. Some of what you describe is challenging to the imagination and a digital image may help!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: bbc
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 12:34 PM

I like having it here, so I can check in & see how you are doing. I don't always post, but I do read.

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 01:38 PM

Here!

A thought: If you posted your material in a blog could that eventually impact the salability or suitability of its publication?

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 09 Apr 06 - 02:14 PM

I'll read it wherever you post it, Brett, but it is nice (and convenient) having it here.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: open mike
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:41 PM

if you post it elsewhere, at least put a link here
so we can find out how, where, etc. to find you..

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 12:47 PM

NOOZ!!! We want NOOZ!

:~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Apr 06 - 02:42 PM

Here!! BUT, bear in mind, it could help to get it published if you blog it, too. Ya might even get a PRIZE!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Apr 06 - 10:34 PM

Hmm, readers speak out! What to do, what to do.... I will consider the future with a wary eye towrds your continued presence.

I've been having trouble with my computer. I thought it was a virus but scans with my own software and using the Symantec website has shown no infection. I guess I'll need an expert, one that doesn't work for money. Anyone know a kid?

I wanted to write some more but I just realized I am late for a party. I guess I better go get cleaned up. Parties on Guam are delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 18 Apr 06 - 08:58 PM

Well, as expected the party was delicious. Lots and lots of food. I took my guitar along not knowing if I would get the chance to play it. Usually a party in Guam has a DJ spinning tracks too loud for conversation. In this instance it was only a boom box and the parents shut it off when the kids put in the hip-hop disk. I don't think the kids really cared though the whined about it. They were having lots of fun in the pool.

As usual for a Guam party the table groaned under the weight of the food. The BBQ was delicious. There was also ham, red rice, daigo, lumpia, shrimp fritters, hot dogs, potato salad, kim chee, and several other dishes with exotic and not so exotic contents. I loaded a plate and pigged out. The dessert table could barely carry the weight also. There was a store bought cheesecake and home made brownies. There was bread pudding with a flan topping. Fruit and whipped cream salad were there as well as watermelon. I'm getting hungry just listing this stuff and I just finished breakfast.

We sat and talked and I played the guitar for a bit. Then I loaned it to Gordon't son so they could jam with his uke and the guitar. I needed to talk to the teachers there about how to handle middle school kids. There answer was universal. To a person they just laughed at me. But then they wiped the tears from their eyes and gave me some helpful advice.

On Friday Wakana and I colored Easter eggs. She had never done anything with Easter and I had determined to give her an Easter like the ones I remembered as a child. We were never religious though my parents did give us the Easter story and we did watch the movies they used to run at Easter time (my favorite was Barabas). But we did color Easter eggs and my parents would hide them and the Easter baskets around the house.

She was fascinated by the process of coloring eggs. When I mentioned using crayons to decorate the eggs before they went into the dye she ran for her set of colors. Subsequent eggs had hearts and messages on them. Some of the colors were way too much for her Japanese sense of value. Apparently Japanese will not eat blue foods. She mentioned that to me once when we were at a birthday party and she saw blue icing on the cake.

Anyway, I had a basket and some jelly beans and some chocolate eggs. On Easter morning Wakana found a basket at her place at our table and then had to find the eggs hidden in the living room. She had a great time. Later we drove out and saw all the cars parked in front of all the churches and I told her how important the holiday is to Christians.

Monday Gordon and I went to run some errands. We needed to deliver our taxes into the hands of the officials, pick up a screen door for my house, visit his new backhoe and let him drop off another payment, and go to Kmart. He does taxes for his son and a friend of ours so we were going to be filing for four people. Being the last day we expected long lines.

Now, Guam has long occupied a set of military surplus buildings up on the old Navy air station. Recently, however, they bought and renovated a big building that used to be a huge grocery store up in Barrigada. They moved all their tax and registration offices into that one building. It's a good idea. Maintain only one relatively new building instead of half a dozen old ones. However, they moved in one week before the end of the tax year! When we visited there to pick up our forms you could still smell sawdust in the air.

Anyway, we decided that I would take all the forms in and file them while Gordon drove up to Dededo to visit his backhoe. I think he wanted to be alone with it for a while to dream of future projects. I expected to spend the whole time in line. I knew this because the parking lot was so full of cars that there was literally no place to park. Some cars just kept driving around and around either looking for a place to park or waiting for someone they dropped off. After Gordon dropped me off it took him 25 minutes to get out of the parking lot!

Outside the building they had a row of tables set up with people waiting to accept the tax forms. They would review the forms and date stamp them and your copy. If you needed to pay your taxes you needed to take the form inside. Our friend had to pay and had included a check with her form. Gordon's son didn't have the correct copy of his W-2 for filing. We had attached a copy of the records copy to the tax form. The woman at the table told me I had to take those two forms inside.

Near the door there was a cart giving away diet Pepsi. I had a cup and then entered the dragon's den… to find it was no dragon's den. There was no heaving mass of humanity. There were no long lines. There was nothing to make me thing I was doomed to stand forever shuffling forward slowly through the long years of my life. I walked down to the income tax window where I saw a sign directing me to the treasurer's window or the collections window. I went down, chose the shorter line and was done in 10 minutes. I walked out to the road in time to catch Gordon and keep him out of that hellish parking lot. Easy and quick. I am still in shock.

Poor Wakana taught her second Japanese class on Saturday. She came home exhausted and haggard. Teaching the older kids in the afternoon isn't so bad but the little kids drive her crazy. She really isn't much of a kid person and their endless need for attention and requests for simple things gets to her. Fortunately she had Sunday off. She had to work at World Bridal on Monday but the teaching job has added perspective and now she sees the bridal job as being, by far, the easier, more desirable job. She was still tired on Tuesday and looked forward to a nice quiet day but her supervisor called her to ask where she was. Wakana had incorrectly marked her calendar. She was supposed to be at work. She raced out the door and headed off to the job. When she came home she was worn and tired. She'd had a full bad day at work and then had her adult students for Japanese. I had done some laundry and cooked a stew for her supper.

So now we have a day off. I will go to the Chamorro village for a canoe meeting and she has her adult students this afternoon. We will dine of fiesta plates of BBQ for supper.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Apr 06 - 06:26 PM

Well, I guess I'm NOT working in Guam. Yet another morning when the phone doesn't ring and I do NOT run off to babysit another classroom full of ignorant children. Don't mind me. I'm feeling a little negative this morning.

There was an article in the Tuesday PDN (Pacific Daily News) telling us that the Guam Public School System has sent a team of recruiters off island to find more teachers for the island. They will be at the MERC Education Career Fair in Boston on April 20, at the Minneapolis Convention Center on April 24 for the Minnesota Education Fair, at the Memorial Field House of Indiana University Of Pennsylvania on April 25 for the IUP Teacher Recruiting Fair, and at the Slippery Rock University Teacher Job Fair in Pennsylvania on April 27.

You know, there isn't a day goes by that there isn't some mention in the paper about how desperate the Department of Education is for teachers. There is a new educational initiative that will require the DOE to hire a lot of teachers very soon. They are sending recruiters off to the USA to find someone to educate these kids.

So, I have to ask the question. If DOE is so hard up for teachers WHY HAS IT TAKEN THEM 4 MONTHS TO PROCESS MY CERTIFICATION AND APPLICATION?

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Apr 06 - 06:27 PM

Oh, by the way, that is 4 months and counting. They still haven't finished the application or the certification....

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 20 Apr 06 - 12:18 AM

cos DOE is a bureaucracy?

or just because?

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Apr 06 - 11:54 PM

I'm not sure if I have mentioned my wrist problem. Some time ago I slipped on a bit of gravel on a steep piece of ground. I caught my weight on my right wrist. It has been painful ever since. I went to the doctor and he sent me to Dr. Landstrom. Dr. Landstrom is one of the foremost surgeons in the USA and he specializes in hands and wrists. The usual medical practitioners here on Guam are good but not great. Dr. Landstrom is one of the best and the brightest.

So I went to hem and he determined that I had torn one of two things, neither of which I can pronounce, and that I am developing a ganglion as well. The bones are fine but something else has let go. I need an MRI to be sure what it is.

And there's the rub. The local MRI machine cannot handle more than 295 pounds. I weigh another 50 pounds more than that. The only other possibility is to go to either the Philipines or Hawaii for the procedure… and I just happen to be visiting Hawaii in June. So that is where I have to go.

In the meantime my wrist is very painful and I am taking lots of heavy duty Ibuprofen. It doesn't seem to bother my guitar playing anymore but I cannot lift anything very heavy without pain and I just reinjured it swatting a fly. Ugh.

Saturday was Earth Day and TSS participated in the celebrations at Ipao Beach Park. We took our two man paddling canoe and enough sword grass and pandanus leaves to keep weaving thatch for the day. They handed out passports to the kids. The kids brought the passports around to various booths and collected stamps. Then they turned in the passports for a free T-shirt. I thought it was a good idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 12:35 AM

Click here for a new set of pictures from Guam. The website is new to me but the pictures are nice.

views Of Guam

These pictures are all from Agana (pronounced a-GAN-ya). The citiy is also known as Hagatna (the Chamorro name).

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 08:23 PM

Yesterday at the canoe house they decided that sword grass would look awful. They have changed their plan. They will now be using nepa. A load of nepa will be delivered on Friday and we will work all day Saturday on weaving and thatching. By the end of the weekend the canoe house will be finished and the canoe will be installed in its new home. This is great!

My friends al and Sandy have been pressuring me to start performing at the only micro-brewery on the island. Sandy talked to the owners the other day and they are enthusiastic. I guess I need to set up a two hour set list and plan for a regular gig. Funny how things work out. I don't believe there is any pay in it to speak of but that has yet to be determined.

I talked to a couple of the kids (early 20s) who play instruments in our group. I told them about band like Tanglefoot, Castlebay, and Schooner Fare who make music using local stories. I suggested they could write up some of the local legends and sing of the history of the island. The automatic response was that I should do it but I told them I couldn't get that island sound int the resulting song. Maybe we'll work together on it. We have to wait until after finals and after I get back from the graduation.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 08:58 PM

Brett-

The song project sounds interesting if you can get deep enough inside it. I've been invited to do a similar thing with regard to Antartic Nature Cruises, via some old family friends who act as guides and lecturers.

We're thinking of cannibalizing another of your favorite songs, "A Whaler's Tale," for presentation at Mystic in a Whaling Workshop. We haven't done any whaling songs in years but they decided to stick us into this workshop with some real heavies. I'm planning to do "Fresh-Water Whaling." They may not invite us back!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: bbc
Date: 29 Apr 06 - 10:29 PM

I *love* "Fresh Water Whaling!" I've heard Scott Alarik sing it. Do it!

bbe

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 02:49 AM

Charlie, after all those years of dreaming of performing at Mystic you're going to inflict Fresh Water Whaling on them? Well, at least you won't have to worry about going back. Frees up your future summers...

Don't forget Thirty Dirty Sailors. That's a whaling song too.

We went to a fiesta today. It was my first since I got to the island. They have a fiesta pretty much every month somewhere on this island, our own village has two a year, but I have never managed to get to one.

These are religious holidays honoring the patron saint of each village. They gather at the church for prayers and then meet at various homes for a big feast. We went down to Malesso with Gordon and met Larry and his wife, Frank, Sandy, and a few other people we know. There was an enormous amount of food. A bar served drinks. A DJ spun the tunes and people sat and talked and danced and talked and ate and ate and ate... I'm full.

There is a train of thought that island people in the tropics are not very industrious. Like all generalizations this one is false. Unmotivated people are everywhere. There are a lot of problems on this island but most can be attributed not to a lazy disposition but to poor choices for management of the infrastructure. Nepotism runs rampant here. You cannot get elected unless you are a member of a large extended family. Almost every conversation between people who've just met bears on their family ties and who they know in which walk of life.

All that being said the islanders really shine when it comes to planning a party. The main table was made up using at least three six foot tables. There was almost no room on it to lay down your cup to fill your plate. At the other end was the dessert and salad table made up of two six foot folding tables. That too was groaning under pies, cakes, puddings, and other delectable concoctions.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Apr 06 - 08:55 PM

After we left the fiesta we took Gordon home and headed home ourselves. Wakana was still tired from her trying day with the kids at the Japanese School. She had been taking pictures of the flowers at the party. On the way home from Gordon's house she saw some flowers she wanted to photograph so we stopped. The family was home and the father came out to see what the suspiscious strangers were doing in front of his house. We explained and introduced ourselves and all was happiness. We admired the mangoes in his tree and he got out his fruit picker and gave us some. It was a very nice visit. The people here are so pleasant.

The other day I cleaned out one of our closets and pulled out three big boxes full of sheets and blankets. These have been packed away since I moved to Guam. Not much call for blankets here. I decided to give the good ones to my in-laws. I have some very nice Mexican blankets, made of wool and very colorful. I also had sheets for twin beds and old sheets for my queen bed and one of the soft velour type blankets they make in Saco, Maine. They were all musty from their long stay in the boxes. They had to be washed.

Now, Wakana and I decided long ago that we probably would not be in Guam long enough to warrant buying a washing machine and dryer combination. That would be at least a $600 price tag and using the laundromat costs us about $10 to $12 every two weeks. So we've been visiting the laundromat. I mentioned this to Gordon one day. We were checking out a washing machine up at Habitat For Humanity. He works for them as a volunteer. Someone had donated the washing machine and they needed to know if it was a working unit.

The machine was working more or less. We checked it out and found the door safety switch was bad. The machine couldn't tell when the door was open and therefore wouldn't go into the spin cycle. Gordon had been talking about installing a second washing machine at his house. He uses the wash water from the machines to water his betelnut trees. So we loaded the machine on to his truck.

When we got to my house to unload some other stuff we picked up he began to unload the machine. It turned out it was for us after all. We set it up, I removed the switch and connected the two wires together so it would seem to the machine as if the door was always closed and we were ready for washing. Of course we had no dryer.

We suspended some rope under our canopy for a clothes line and we were truly in business. No more trips to the Laundromat. Then, the other day Gordon shows up in our yard with a dryer. He'd found it lying by the road where it had been dumped. He picked it up on a whim assuming it might be persuaded to work. We lugged it around back and plugged it in. Yep! It works. The drum doesn't turn but that is just the belt. The motor runs and that's what's important. It's even the same make and model as the washer. Of course, it's covered in rust and filth. There's some kind of black mold growing on it.. But the drum is clean and the heater works. I just need to clean it up and fix the belt.

So, anyways, we needed to wash the blankets. We ran one load through the washer and hung them to dry. All fine. We ran another load, the Mexican blankets, and hung them to dry. Still fine. Then I loaded the washer with that damn Saco blanket and some sheets and a pair of jeans I found in one of the boxes. We Wakana went out to pull out the wet stuff she found a disaster. The Saco blanket had completely dissolved into shreds and stains. Everything came out of the washer covered in soft fluffy bits of blanket and all that was left was the netting on which the fluffy stuff had been sewn. The white sheets that had been in there were now stained with a suspicious yellow stain that looked like, well, you know, if I didn't know better I wouldn't want to sleep on those sheets. What a mess.

We've been feeding the chickens out the back door. We were warned that doing so would attract a huge flock of the birds but we like to watch them peck and scratch. There is a Momma Hen out there right now with her own flock of chicks, eleven at last count. We have about six roosters that wander in with their hens every now and again. The biggest is white and fearless. Generally he is out there in the morning when I go out to scatter the corn. He doesn't move when I come out the door. There is another rooster colored all in reds and greens and browns and whites. He is beautiful. He isn't as big as the white one but he is also fearless. Generally the others scatter when I come out but those guys hang close.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 May 06 - 12:31 AM

LOL...I had a blanket do that one, too, Brett, though it was all reds and oranges, and maroons, so everything turned pink!

I'd love to see a picture of the canoe house when it is done, and the chickens, and those flowers.

Thanks for continuing to share your writings with us. I love reading them!! And, the music thing sounds really great. Congratulations. I hope the young men will follow up on your idea.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 May 06 - 09:02 AM

I've never had anything dissolve in the wash, but I have deliberately dyed stuff using Indian or Chinese clothing. The fuschia dress was used to brighten up some very shabby cotton singlets (vests), the emerald green silk blouse coloured a similarly shabby white blouse. I've also accidently dyed stuff but that's a different story. And washed tissues with black silk shirts etc.

One day I found lots of strange white flakes inside my supply of plastic bags. Turned out I'd tried to keep one of those modern plastic bags made of environmentally friendly cornstarch. It took a long time to remove all the bags & shake out all the flakey bits.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 May 06 - 06:43 PM

As I write this the Momma Hen with her 12 chicks is out in the back yard. She just arrived and her chicks are struggling down the embankment behind the house. They make a lot of noise. Not as much as the roosters though. I was talking to my sister on the phone the other day while a rooster crowed in the back yard not fifteen feet away. She commented that it was like talking to Billy-Bob in Arkansas. She also complained that it wasn't a very tropical sound.

Photos of the canoe house? I can do that. It might be interesting for   you to see the progress. I need to revisit that photo site and upload some recent photos anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 May 06 - 06:18 PM

Hmm, not so easy. Gotta work on that...

Gordon and I went over to talk to a guy about using vegetable oil as fuel to avoid the high cost of gasoline. This guy has been buying up all the diesels he can get, mostly old Mercedes, and converting them to run on waste vegetable oil. He's a young guy, full of energy and a zeal for this idea. And he's quite a talker. We left there with our heads spinning. But we are also fired up about getting diesels ourselves and getting out of that upward spiral of gas prices.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:29 PM

The last two days have been very trying. Thursday it was only a matter of dealing with bureacracy and finding my paychecks for substitute teaching. Friday was upsetting because I was dealing with an insurance company. If any of you are in the insurance industry or linked to someone who is you may not want to read any further. I have nothing nice to say on the subject.

This may require some recapitulation. As you may know I am headed for the east coast next week. I have to stop in Hawaii for a week on the way back in June. You may also know I have injured my wrist and need an MRI to determine the actual cause of the pain. I don't believe I have mentioned the need to see a gastro-enterologist about the pain that causes the blackouts or the podiatrst about the broken bone in my foot and the general trouble I have with those appendages. I had hoped to get pictures of all those areas while in Hawaii.

Well, I got a call from my insurance company. It turns out that the hospital there in Hawaii doesn't have the equipment or expertise to handle what the hand doctor wanted done. He had requested an 'open MRI' which they had interpreted as meaning I was to have a surgical procedure before they shoved me into the MRI machine. However 'open' in this case merely means the machine is built to look at small parts of the body, i.e., it isn't a closed donut shaped machine but a smaller open machine. They didn't know that when they called. They wanted me to change my flight so I could stop in Los Angeles to get the work done at UCLA. This took several phone calls over two days.

Finally I called COntinental and explained what I needed to do. They went through their system and told me that they could get me to LA by June 10 but couldn't get me out of there until mid August! I said thanks but no thanks.

I called the insurance company and told the agent that they win! I paid lots of money for insurance but there was no way for me to get treatment. They will call me back. Maybe they can still do something in Hawaii.

In the meantime I am limping around the house in a special shoe, wincing from the pain in my wrist, and passing out every ten days to two weeks. Life is a bitch sometimes.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: CarolC
Date: 05 May 06 - 11:59 PM

So sorry to hear about your health difficulties, Brett. I hope you will be able to get all of that straightened out soon. But I don't understand why they can't just put your arm and your leg (not at the same time, of course) into the MRI machine, and leave your body outside of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 May 06 - 04:18 AM

sigh, my question exactly. I guess I'm not too smart.

By the way, I found out why my phone has been silent for so long. Apparently the Guam Public School System is going through a bunch of tests and they are not allowed to use subs in this two week period. They told me they would call next week but... I'll be off island.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 May 06 - 07:47 PM

Brett-

Do remind us of your travel plans if they still include Maine and New Hampshire. You probably posted them somewhere above but I, like many Mudcatters, never have figured out how to scroll up and check for earlier posts.

Cheerily,
Charley Ipcar

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 07 May 06 - 06:00 AM

Itinerary:

Arrive Portland Jetport on May 9 at 10:00 PM

May 11 - Head to Richmond for my daughter's graduation.

May 15 - Return to Portland

May 15 through May 31 - Itinerary uncertain. I want to take a run through the southern part of New England visiting with friends and relatives. I will mostly be in New Limerick visiting with my parents. I hope to get to at least one Press Room fun time and swing in to Mary's song night if it happens at a good time.

That's it. Not much to work with.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 May 06 - 10:48 AM

Brett-

Thanks for posting your itinerary.

Let's see Roll & Go is performing at the Sidedoor Coffeehouse on Friday, May 19th, and some of us will be at the Press Room for the Shanty Sing on Saturday, May 20. Eli and Rebecca are having a joint graduation party in Portland on Sunday afternoon, May 21.

At least one of these events may be of interest to you. To do all may be too rich. If you want additional details, e-mail me.

We'd love to see you again, and we have an updated copy of ROLLING DOWN TO SAILORTOWN reserved for you.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 07 May 06 - 07:40 PM

Hmm, the coffeehouse is doable, I think. Maybe even the shanty sing. I'll have to add it into the itinerary.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 May 06 - 10:24 PM

I am sitting in Narita, Japan, at the Yahoo! internet cafe. Use of the computers is free. I have several hours to wait for my connection to the States. It is cloudy and cool here, too cool for my shorts and T-shirt.

I miss Wakana.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 May 06 - 10:18 AM

Brett-

If you attend the Shanty Sing at the Press Room you'll get to meet a new group of singers who have been attending from Gloucester and are involved in the rebuilding of the schooner Adventure; Barry and I inspected their work on the boat, tried out the acoustics in the hull, and sang with them at their regular Wednesday gathering at the Schooner Pub.

You are certainly welcome to stay with us in Richmond if we're a convenient stop in your travel plans.

Happy sky trails!
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 May 06 - 11:01 AM

Brett - no song circle this month because Linn is having her Tune It Or Die Party. Need a lift?
Maine Medical must have all the required equipment or Mercy Hospital. I am happy to act as chauffeur. PM me if I can help set up appointments or whatever. I don't like to hear that you are driving and passing out.
As always, there's a bed, a meal and music here for you. I miss you Big Guy.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 May 06 - 04:48 PM

Maine Med is not a choice. My insurance will not work there. Too bad. I appreciate your offer.

I've been reviewing the options for my stay here. I like the idea of going to Linn's for the party. When is that?

By the by, I am now in Maine. I arrived at 11:30 last night and collapsed into bed at 11:30 after 37 1/2 hours from rising from my bed in Guam. I managed a few catnaps in the airport in Newark but nothing more than that. UGH! I feel tired now. My body insists that it's 6:15 AM and that I've been up all night. My daughter better appreciate this.

Also, I hate to confess this but, I'M COLD dammit.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: JudyB
Date: 10 May 06 - 07:37 PM

What do you mean, cold?? There hasn't been a frost for at least a week!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 May 06 - 09:53 AM

I'm sure the little black flies have missed you!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: GUEST,bbc at work
Date: 11 May 06 - 11:17 AM

Welcome back, dear! Hopping down my way anytime?

love to both,

Barbara

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 May 06 - 06:59 PM

I am in Virginia with my daughter at last. It's so nice to see her. We had a late lunch and now she is packing her room. I'd like to describe the scene but words fail me. I've seen dumps with more organization.

As for cold, my blood has thinned somewhat. And my sister doesn't believe in heating the house. If you're cold put on another sweater (if you have one). She did generously loan me a sweatshirt... it was a generous act until I realized it was my own sweatshirt.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 11 May 06 - 08:19 PM

Brett-

Here's an unusual request. We would like to consult with Wakana with regard to our niece spending a year in Japan; she won a full scholarship and has been taking Japanese language classes. But we're thinking there may be a book or two that would be useful to read as a 20-year old American kid parachuting into Japan. Not exactly the book you've been reading, JAPAN FOR DUMMIES, but something sociological...

Does Wakana have her own e-mail address? You could PM or e-mail me that.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 May 06 - 06:54 PM

Charley, we would be happy to help out. I will send you her address. Wakana does not check her email regularly so you may want to let me know you have sent it so I can suggest that she check her messages.

Japan is a trip. The people are so savvy about their own history and geography. In the States you are lucky to find someone who knows anything about either history or the place of the US in the world (other than "WE'RE NUMBER ONE!") In Japan they are continually reminded in their daily lives what makes up their culture. Gojo Bridge plays an important role in the history of Japan. It is still there and is still venerated. (Lookitup! The story is wonderful.)

((I dunno if dad is done with this post but it's been on my computer all day so I am gonna post it for him and he can add to it later. Hi Charley!!! ~Amy))

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 May 06 - 09:53 PM

Amy-

Why, thank you, and congratulations on graduating!

Will we see you in Maine next week as well?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 May 06 - 11:17 PM

We'll all be in Maine day after tomorrow... well, she might be there by Tuesday.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 May 06 - 06:44 PM

Well, the kid is gradiated with a full educimation. The creaking sound you hear is the money tap being turned off.

The ceremony was very nice. The kids were allowed an escort and Amy chose me. We walked the grads into the hall and sat behind our kids. At the right time we hooded them and flipped their tassel to the left. On Amy's left sat a young woman whose escort was her seven year old son. On Amy's right sat a young woman who looked like Megan, my daughter number three who died last year. I took the role of keeping track of the seven year old kid while his mom did the graduation thing. After the ceremony I escorted him out to where he met his grandparents.

The ex-wife was there. The less said about that, the better. She looks aw... never mind.