My Day

Today was an interesting day. It started with a trip to the Brooklyn Animal Hospital (Actually in Cleveland on Pearl Road). Squeaky the cat had not eaten in days, and she has some "gunk" in her eye. We learned that she was constipated. She is being held overnight. Bob, Maggie, and I will be picking her up in the morning. There are more technical details, but I am trying to keep it simple.

Later in the day, after my trip to the Maple Heights Library, I went to Super Wal Mart in Bedford to pick up some Lean Gourmet dinners. I struck out there. I manage to miss the bus to downtown by a few minutes. I then take a short bus ride to the Southgate Transit Center. I then take a bus down to the Warrensville-Van Aken Rapid Station to catch a train downtown. Any other day, I would have had connections. Unfortunately, we were delayed by twenty minutes because Barack Obama was on his way out of Shaker Heights, where I was, after speaking at the high school. I was going to go to Super Wal Mart at Steelyard Commons to attempt the shopping that I failed to do earlier. It was getting late, so I decided to go to Save-a-Lot by my house to buy some bananas. I made it downtown in time to make a bus that would use the freeway to speed up the trip. Unfortunately, I attempted a shortcut that is beneficial when the Indians and/or Cavs are in town. I learned that the Walkway to Gateway is only open for special events. I then try the Federal Courthouse Walkway. I went all the way through the underground parking lot. I went back into Tower City and left through the entrance near Euclid and Ontario Avenues. I walked to catch one of two buses to take me to Save-a-Lot. After a longer than anticipated wait, I caught a bus, bought the bananas, and headed for the bus stop to catch my bus home. There was a bus laying over to relieve a bus that had broken down somewhere along the route. My bus was coming soon, but the driver of the layover bus invited me on his bus. I assumed that he was leaving soon (It originally said "Not in Service.") . Of course, two minutes later, my expected bus went by, but my driver left a few minutes later. He thanked me for waiting. I then came home and relaxed. Next time, if the next bus is coming soon, I will take it. I have had enough inconveniences for one day.

Mom

Around 10:00 P.M. eleven years ago, my mom lost an approximately year and a half battle with lung cancer. Fortunately, she was surrounded by my dad and all eight of her kids at our house. Let us hope that she is looking down at us from heaven as she is "celebrating" with her loved ones already with her.

Happy Birthday, Lois

Today is Lois's birthday. I hope that she had a nice day full of joy. Let's hope that she remains a part of our lives indefinitely.

She has been a part of my life almost four years now. I met her on July 18, 2005 when we had a gathering at Maggie and Mike's house in Parma to see Patty when she and Dan SR. were in Ohio to attend their nephew Jim's wedding in Cincinnati. Dan SR. remained at Dan JR. and Laura's house in Chardon (They now live in Howland, OH with their two daughters, Amy and Emily.) because there was a problem with their then newly-built garage. We had a nice visit, but I can't remember anything interesting that happened that night. I wish that I had this blog back then. I could have refreshed my memory. My new readers whom I have or haven't met since then would also get a great story.



By the way, I looked at another book on blogging, but I didn't note the title, so I'll reveal it next week when I hopefully see the book again. Until then, enjoy life. It could change in an instant.

Blogging for Dummies

There is a book called Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley that was published in 2008. It is a second edition of a book with the same name originally written by Brad Hill in 2006. I noticed the newer volume at the Maple Heights (OH) Library on Tuesday, but my first glance was on Wednesday at the Parma-Snow Library. I learned about the original volume tonight from the Cleveland Public Library Web Site while researching this blog entry. (Before I visited http://www.cpl.org, I noticed the authors of the second volume when I went to the Cuyahoga County Public Library Web Site (http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org). Eventually, both books will be coming home from the library. If I find anything useful from either book, this blog will hopefully benefit immensely.

My next report will be in a few days.

Happy Birthday, Dave! and Other Tales

My nephew-in-law, Dave Goldberg turns 28 today. It's his first birthday since he married Amy. They live in Auburndale, (Newton) MA. They were planning to come to the Warren area to see Amy's brother Dan, his wife Laura, and their two daughters, Amy Marie and Emily. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

Speaking of great-nieces, there has been a link to Kendal and Hayden's blog on this blog for awhile now. Now, Mike and Marnie have reciprocated. It's listed under "Uncle Bill". My goal for this link is to get Mike and Marnie's friends to read this blog, especially the tales of Kendal and Hayden with "accurate" locations.

Locations are important to me. I like to travel to exciting places. Unfortunately, I do not travel as much as I like. I did go to Massachusetts this year for Amy and Dave's wedding, but I generally stay within Cuyahoga County, OH., unless I am riding with someone to some occasion.

I traveled to the Akron area by bus on June 18. Regular bus service was free on Akron's Metro RTA to encourage use of public transportation. I went to Chapel Hill Mall. I didn't stay long as there was nothing exciting to see there. I looked for an interesting place for lunch. The most interesting place in my "budget" turned out to be a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut Express. Quizno's would have been fun since most of the locations in the Cleveland area (At least the ones that I have patronized) have closed. A four dollar "Torpedo" was tempting, but the size was unknown, so I settled for a Grilled Chicken Taco and a Bean Burrito. It was satisfying.

I then took the scenic route through Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, and Akron's Merriman Valley area. After a stop at Akron's Main LIbrary, I then went out towards Lakemore. I visited the Tri-County Plaza. (JcPenney, Family Dollar, Radio Shack, and Goodwill are the anchors.) Chapel Hill Mall is an improvement. I then walked near where Mike and Marnie were married almost five years ago. I then headed back to Akron's recently opened Transportation Center to catch a bus back to Brecksville. I then caught a bus to downtown Cleveland. Yes, I could have gotten off at Brecksville and Rockside Roads, but Discount Drug Mart and Walgreen's can only kill so much time. I could also have had dinner at one of the many restaurants in the area, (including Quizno's) but I decided to save money and go home to dinner.

It was an interesting day that went relatively smoothly. My only fear was that I could have missed the bus back to Akron's Transportation Center when I stopped at Giant Eagle to grab an Akron AT&T phone book that may or may not have been available. The first copy had a ripped cover, so I exchanged it. Fortunately, I made the bus easily. Even if I missed it , I would have probably made the last bus back to Brecksville. Let's just say that I prevented any unnecessary stress.

In closing, I wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July and a happy Canada Day.

dd