BS: Working (at last) in Guam

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Oct 06 - 09:15 PM

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam
And the skies are not cloudy all day...**bg**

luvya!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 12:38 AM

We have lots of buffalo (water buffalo or carabao), some small deer that could be antelope, I suppose, and lots of clouds. We Never have a clear day. There are always clouds, usually small puffy ones. Now it's all dark grey leaky ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Oct 06 - 06:58 AM

Wakana and I are discussing our holiday plans. We get two weeks off at Christmas time. We will probably go to Rota for a few days, make it our anniversary celebration.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 08:59 AM

Today was my last day at the Japanese School. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids. I felt bad all afternoon. The younger class had planned a goodbye party for me consisting of games. They were noisy and boisterous and sad to say goodbye. At the end of the games they had me sit in a chair and they stood in line in front of me. Each one stepped forward to shake my hand and thank me for being their teacher. They did this on their own, no prompting from outsie the classroom. Pretty cool.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:49 AM

what a wonderful way to show how much they appreciated you.

hope you are feeling better & are able to use your hand a bit

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:29 AM

Today I was "cast" in a new part. A nice blue cast, fiberglass and hard as a rock. The nice thing is that now I can straighten my elbow. What a feeling of freedom. I bet the removal of the cast will be the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:35 AM

By the way, Wakana and I went shopping for a birthday gift for a one year old grand-daughter of a friend today. When we stopped to buy gift wrap I bought a clown nose and wore it out of the store. It felt good to be wierd again. As we went out the door some woman complimented me on the nose.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 11:32 AM

Brett-

Glad to hear you're well on the way to recovery. Not of your sanity of course but what the hey!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, wandering through Wales

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Oct 06 - 01:10 PM

Keep that up, Brett, and we will include you in on Wakana's trip to the Christmas Tree shop.
Glad to hear you are feeling better.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Oct 06 - 05:19 AM

While I was in surgery the doctors noticed my heart rate drop to 30 bpm. It didn't affect my blood pressure but they were worried by it. Yesterday I was hooked up to a portable heart monitor that I had to wear for 24 hours. Such a thing plays hell when you are planning a romantic night...

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Oct 06 - 01:58 PM

Sounds kinky Brett..."Let's see how fast your heart goes when I do this"

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 12:20 AM

Hmmm, no sympathy from that quarter I see.

We have our first GED student at Liberal Academy. I expected college age kids set on partying and fun. This woman is 28 abd very serious. I hope she is typical.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Amos
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 12:22 AM

28 ABD? Is that like the lass from Assizes, of several sizes?

Turn her in for a .38, senor.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 10:45 PM

Heyu look, you try typing with your off hand and see what hsafgds

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Oct 06 - 11:15 PM

That'll tell him, Brett.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Oct 06 - 12:34 AM

us 3 fingered typists have no trouble typing with 2 fingers of our left hand!

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Oct 06 - 05:50 AM

LOL!

One of the things I dread about any gathering is the person or persons who go on at length about their illnesses. There are some 'Catters who are suffering through terrible times and yet we hear little from them about illness. I honor them.

I say this because I am afraid this foolish little BLOG has become just what I hate, an endless litany of illness and pain. But when you are sick and house bound there is precious little news to offer.

All this is a lead in to yet another problem... kidney stones. I am in pain and have been all day.

'Nuff said.

Last week I complained to the doctor about pain under the cast. He split it and loosened it up but did nothing to relieve the spot where the cast rubbed on the end of the pins. So, on Saturday, Wakana and I played doctor. No, you gutter minds, not that way. We had our own operation. We used a hole saw to cut into the cast above the pins and took out the four or five layers of fiberglass that covered the pins. Then we cut through the bandages and opened up the area over them. Relief was instantaneous.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Oct 06 - 07:01 PM

I swear, Brett, you have married a Wonder Woman. Next it will be surgery with a...saw?**bg** Glad to hear that worked out okay! And, NO, this has not turned into a pity party blog. It is still interesting and fascinating and what ever else I can say to keep you posting, dammit! I wanna hear more, always, just like with Roger the Skiffler's Greece threads.

FWIW, I also have GED. I used to tell folks it proved that I knew something, compared to those high school graduates I knew who just squeeked by with barely passing grades!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Oct 06 - 09:53 PM

I respect anyone who goes after and attains the GED. Many people make mistakes when they are high school age. The GED proves that they wanted to work for their education. And the GED test is much harder than anything they would have encountered in the high schools. Good on ye!

Medical news: Emergency room - 2:00 AM - morphine and CT scan - kidney stones confirmed - feeling better today.

Wakana, bless her heart, is the best wife anyone could ask for. She is a real trooper. Her support and help have really made a difference. I love her dearly.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 08:33 PM

Yikes! Glad you are feeling better...too much calcium in the water there makes too much in your *water*?**bg** Feel better. {{{{{{Brett & Wakana}}}}}

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 08:51 PM

egads - what next?

GOOD HEALTH!

you have done enough to support the Medical industry, get out there & start supporting the local history or tourism interests.

sandra (who has also given lotsa money to high paid medical folks this year)

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Barry Finn
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 12:34 AM

Brett, something like that happened to me. The srews in my foot were backing out & were causing some real pain & I had to go back & have it taken care of. My Daughter told me she could've saved me alot of time & money, she said I could told you that, you've alway had a few loose screws.
Nice relief job, good thing you didn't try to use a hole saw.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 04:29 AM

The hand doctor put a new cast on me today. He didn't like my customization job. This time HE left a window in it over the remaining pin. I got a chance to clean my arm before he recast it. Lots of dead skin. UGH! The wound looks ugly. He's got me on an antibiotic because the hole is a direct path to my inner recesses.

The OTHER doctor tried to get the medical report on the kidney stones from the hospital but it appears they haven't written it up yet. So we are into pain management until they figure out what to do next.

But I did get out of the house today. It started out raining but cleared off to a lovely tropical day. The ocean was beautiful, small surf out on the reef, puffy clouds drifting by, idiot drivers on the road...

OH! I forgot to mention another Guam bureacracy moment. Way, way, back in the distant mists of time I applied for a position on Guam's Ethics Commission. I filled out the paperwork, got the court and police clearance, and filed it all with the Governor's office. Nothing happened... until yesterday. I got a call from the governor's office telling me I had been selected for the board. All I needed to do was bring a recent police clearance and sign a form letter (I assume the letter gives my soul to Gov. Camacho).

It's been at least a year since I filed for the position. Fast work.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: JudyB
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 08:57 PM

So you sign this form, and then you are in charge of ethics in Guam?   Hmmm........

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Oct 06 - 11:04 PM

Oh dear!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Barry Finn
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 02:09 AM

Oh No Mr. Bill, here come the folkies.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 03:40 AM

Actually it would be a position on the ethics commission.

Remember that Eileen McGann song about being Too Stupid For Democracy? The verse, or refrain, that starts, "Folksingers in the government, and everything must rhyme, folksingers in the government, we'll have a real good time..." Sound familiar?

Knowing Guam it will just be a series of endless meetings with no real attempt to do anything. I gonna do it just to prove that to myself. No use being cynical without a real reason.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 04:05 AM

As you know it has not been my week. Well, I just got home from my first day at work all week. The pain from the kidney stones is under control and seems to be diminishing. I carry, and take, drugs that would get me arrested if I didn't have a prescription for them.

So this morning I headed out to meet my responsibilities to the school and to the new employee that started on Monday without my being there. About three miles down the road I hear a strange sound from the left rear tires. I stopped to look at it and saw that it was very low but still drivable. I was a mile or more from the nearest filling station with air. I slowly turned around and headed back. Not too far I decided to look again. It didn't feel right. Sure enough, it was flat.

Now, you have to imagine the scene. I am by the road, my right arm in a sling, with a flat tire. I am about a mile from the filling station. Wakana is twelve miles away engaged in her busiest day of the week. Gordon arrived home from a trip to the east coast the night before. I haven't even talked to him yet.

I decided to walk to the Mobil station to get a can of Fix-a-Flat. I figured that would at least get me to someone who could repair the tire. I started walking.

I totted up my miseries, the surgery, the swelling, inflamation and pain, the kidney stones, the drugs, the doctors, etc. You know, they say when it rains it pours. Well, that's what happened right after I left the car. Forunately it only poured hard for a short time, enough to soak the grass along the road side and fill the puddles so the speeding cars could splash me as they drove by. Then the sun came out again.

So, it turns out Mobil didn't have any Fix-a-Flat though if I wanted my car to sit by the road all shiny and clean they had everything I would need to bring out hte shine. I finally swallowed my pride and called Gordon.

He had a can of Fix-a-Flat and he brought it by. We pumped it in and the tire came up a little way. We drove it up to the Mobil station and put air in the tire. All was well. I welcomed him home to Guam and he went home.

I drove down to NAPA to buy my own can of Fix-a-Flat and one to replace his. When I got out of the car at NAPA I heard an ominous hissing sound. All the new air we'd pumped into the tire was leaving in a hurry. I got the Fix-a-Flat and drove next door to another Mobil station. I tried my new can of stuff but the gas ran out too fast. I tried pumping up the tire and failed. The hole wasn't allowing it.

Once more I called Gordon. He came down and changed the tire for me (remember, arm in a sling?). Now I had the little donut spare on there. I got the car to Lujan's Tire shop where the rain started again as I got out to negotiate the repair.

It's been a tough day. I am tired and sunburned and still wet.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 09:07 AM

and, as always, an excellent writer!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Oct 06 - 10:14 AM

Brett-

I won't say this...No way!

But....

That's what "retiring" is all about!

Whew!

That was a hard struggle.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, rolling over to nap for another hour

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Oct 06 - 03:28 AM

Not much to report on the medical front, Thank God. Wakana has been severely depressed lately and took the last several days off. She has had a lot of pressure at work, she's working with eight students plus doing a lot of office work. And, of course, my medical problems haven't let her relax at home. I feel so bad for her.

But she went out to visit with a friend today. I talked to her briefly on her cell phone and she was alughing and enjoying herself so I am happy again.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 07:02 PM

Some of you may remember way back in November of 2005 that I applied for a position with the government of Guam as an ethics commissioner. It was all for fun. I filled out all the paperwork, sent it in and was told the Governor would look at it soon and I would hear from them.

Last week, let's see, that's nearly a year ago, the secretary at the Governor's office called to tell me they had accepted my application and wouuld be appointing me to the position...

Hmmm, it's an election year. The current governor is involved with a fight for his position... Could it be that... Nah, noboby could be that cynical, could they?

Anyway, you are now hearing from the latest member of Governor Camacho's administration. If he loses the election I'll be out of a job in January.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 07:28 PM

Wow! An ETHICS COMMISSIONER? MAn, that's hot stuff!! Well done, Brett!! I am impressed!
How many ethics do you get to commission on an island that size?

A

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Amos
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 07:29 PM

BTW, if you are going to dabble in Ethics here's the fundamentals:

10 scruples equals a qualm
100 qualms equal a more
100 mores equals a way of life.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Oct 06 - 10:34 PM

Brett-

There's also the ethics assessment best described as "the camel's nose under the tent flap." For more refined ethics calibration it's useful to know the number of "angels that can dance on a pin head." But I'm sure you will do a swell job!

Ethical Quiz:

Question: When is a "spade not a spade"?

Answer: When it is a Republican!

Alternative Answer: When it is a manure fork!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 Nov 06 - 05:34 AM

Careful with this Dems v. Reps! Camacho is a Republican. I pride myself on being your man behind the lines.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 01 Nov 06 - 05:37 AM

I went to the doctor today. Next week he'll remove the cast and pull the pin! I hope my hand doesn't explode after he pulls the pin out...

Next Wednesday night I am going to tune up my guitar and see if I can remember how to play it!

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: JudyB
Date: 01 Nov 06 - 08:41 AM

Hmmm - do we know any pin-hauling shanties??

Seriously - sounds like progress. Here's hoping!

All the best,
JudyB

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 Nov 06 - 06:02 PM

Yesterday we went down the hill to Agat to get our drinking water. We have four five gallon bottles and a three gallon bottle that we use for drinking, iced tea, coffee, and such. After filling the bottles we bought ice cream cones and wandered over to the little drug store. There we met a friend, Cheryl, buying a birthday card. We talked for a while, mostly about her one year old granddaughter, and then went out to talk to her husband, Larry, who was asleep in the car. He told us they were on their way to Gordon's birthday party!

I was astonished. I had not heard of the party, I didn't know, it was a shock, I must have been invited... etc.

We ran home to shower. On the way I had a vague recollection of Gordon telling me of the event. It is a big one, the sixth decade. He shares a birthday party with his good friend Geddell who he has known for many years. There was a huge crowd there, lots of food, plenty of fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Nov 06 - 06:56 PM

Check the pin, Naemanson. There appears to be a memory chip leakage, and one always checks the new stuff first.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 Nov 06 - 05:03 AM

LOL!

There is great wisdom in the old saying "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."

Wakana's great and burning ambition has been to teach Japanese at UOG. She isn't trying for a tenured position or anything. She just wants to work there. So she was hurt and crushed when they had no place for her at the beginning of the semester. Campus politics were involved and she spent many teary evenings working out her pain and frustration.

Last week she was tagged by the university to substitute for one of the professors who has to leave for a family emergency. They gave her a syllabus and a sketchy lesson plan and left it up to her to prepare.

As in all big projects one has to start out correctly. That means, of course, procrastinating until the last minute. Yesterday she woke early, spread out her materials and then did the laundry, washed the dishes, swept the floor, played a video game, took a nap, and then spent the evening at Gordon's birthday party.

Today she has been hard at it all day. She whines and moans about it, complaining, not too seriously, about what she has to do and begging me to teach a class in Japanese. (as a reminder my total Japanese is 'Watashi wa Nihongo ga hanasemasen.', and 'Toile wa doku deska?' I.e., 'I don't speak Japanese.' and 'Where is the toilet?')

I have been laughing at/with her all day as well as doing whatever I can to make the day easier on her. I bought pizza for supper.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 07 Nov 06 - 04:00 AM

This morning before getting in my car, I grabbed some CDs from the rack. I didn't really look at what I was grabbing. I needed some different songs in the car.

One of them was Bob Zentz' 'Hove To And Drifting'. As I drove down Marine Corps Drive through Piti, Asan, Anigua, Hagatna, Tamuning, and Tumon, I listened to his music and relived a night in Norfolk with Bob and a few of his friends, sitting in a bar trading songs and stories. The music awoke emotions and brought tears into my eyes, tears arising partly from the themes in some of the songs and partly from the memories of that night and so many others when I sat with friends and music and listened and sang from the heart.

Thanks to all my friends for those memories. And for those of you with whom I have not yet shared such times, I look forward to the opportunity.

If any of you know Bob please tell him of this and thank him for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 06:30 AM

I'M FREE! No more cast! My arm and hand are finally clean again. And to make the day complete I passed that damn kidney stone this morning!

Of course the wrist joint hurts like hell. The doctor said it would be a "little" sore for a while. Thank God for pain meds.

After the assistant cut the cast off the doctor came in with some stainless steel side cutter pliers. He said, "This isn't going to hurt the doctor at all." With that he grabbed the end of the pin and pulled it out of my wrist. My wrist looks like hell. The wound where the pin went in is all red and white and puffed up and swollen. But Wakana and I just finished cleaning it and applying the antibacterial ointment. We put on a new bandaid, a big one. I have to wear a splint for the next 6 weeks or so and be nice to that wrist for the rest of my life but it shouldn't hurt after I heal. That will be a blessing.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 07:32 AM

I think I need some of those pain meds after reading how the Dr pulled out the pin.

Or maybe some stomach-settling medicine.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Nov 06 - 08:26 AM

Brett-

Happy to hear your wrist is free! Sounds like it will still be some time before you can pick guitar or paddle but getting rid of a cast is a joy!

Those of us in the States who have been living under Republican rule for the last 8 years are now partially free, the Republicans having lost the House of Representatives. The Maine races went well, with Democratic margins increasing across the board; Judy still has her job!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 09 Nov 06 - 03:23 AM

The doctor told me that there were 70,000 votes cast in Guam for this last election. We were voting for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all 16 senators, Attorney General, and a few other elected officials. There were two proposals on the ballot too. Prop A would raise the drinking age on Guam to 21 (from 18). Prop B would allow slot machines at the greyhound race track.

As I said there were 70,000 votes cast but somehow the Guam Election Commission "lost" 10,000 ballots. So there is some question about how the election really came out. Hmmm.

Note, all voting on Guam is done on paper ballots. All we have to do is fill in the circle and slip the ballots into the ballot box.

Further note, it just occurred to me that I have never voted on a machine...

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 03:26 AM

Well, I got a better story from the PDN. Nowhere near 70,000 votes cast and no reports of missing ballots. Rumors are free in more ways than one.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 06:19 PM

Wakana and I went to see The Guardian yesterday. By the end of the movie she was in tears. This morning I had to explain the role of the Coast Guard to her. She'd never heard of it before. From the movie she'd thought they were another branch of the military.

The weather has been mild lately, not too hot in the day, nice and cool in the evenings. I've heard there is an El Nino brewing. Is that so? One rumor I've heard is that the el Nino will give us this kind of weather for a long time. I hope our good luck doesn't prove the undoing of other people elsewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Nov 06 - 08:36 PM

Our Weather Bureau says the El Nino is back & here it causes drought. Parts of Oz curently are experiencing the worse drought in years.

From their website - Although originally named for a local warming of the ocean near the coast of Peru in South America, "El Niño" now refers to a sustained warming over a large part of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Combined with this warming are changes in the atmosphere that affect weather patterns across much of the Pacific Basin, including Australia. These altered weather patterns often help promote further warming of the ocean because of the changes they cause in ocean currents.

2006/07 El Nino

Subject: RE: BS: Working (at last) in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 11 Nov 06 - 02:39 AM

Thanks Sandra.

I tried playing my guitar today... My fingers are clumsy and my wrist hurts. I'll try again tomorrow.

I should have expected the clumsiness. Lord knows how many mistakes I make in typing. Good thing I edit.