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August 1, 2008

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

I spent the weekend by myself, as Dave was busy broadcasting the Mazda races in Portland. He left at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to be at a production meeting at 6:30 a.m. and didn't return until late Sunday. Meanwhile, I spent the day cleaning house and getting caught up around here after all the company we had the previous week. I wandered over to the Farmer's Market in Manzanita on Friday and picked up a few vegetables and fresh eggs, but otherwise stayed close to home all weekend.

We got our cedar "hedge from hell" cut on Monday. We had almost given up on getting anyone to do the job. I had left several messages with the guy who had cut the hedge a couple of years ago and he would never return my calls. I don't blame him. It is a terrible job. The hedge is about 20 feet tall and 100 feet long and on a slope. It is also situated right on the highway. You literally have to stand in the middle of it and hack away. Anyway, I decided the guy wasn't interested so about a month ago, I contacted someone else who really wasn't into hedge trimming and he gave me two other names. So I called them. One returned my call and I never heard back from the other one. The one that did return my call said he would come by and look at it and let me know. No answer from him either. So we finally contacted another guy in Tillamook and for an arm and a leg, he and three of his men had the hedge from hell trimmed in about three hours. So we are good to go for another year or so (I hope). Luckily, the hedge doesn't spoil our view and the only reason we haven't cut it down completely is that it is a great sound barrier with all the traffic that zooms by on the highway.

On his way home on Sunday, Dave stopped at Home Depot and picked up some graffiti remover. I read the instructions carefully and tried it out and guess what - it works! You have to spray this stuff on the graffiti, wait 30 minutes and then take a bucket of warm soapy water and scrub the heck out of it. With a little elbow grease, it is all gone. Apparently, our building was not the only one tagged. The hoodlums (who were from Los Angeles by the "signature" of the graffiti) worked their way north up Highway 101 and left their calling card along the way - including the high school in Rockaway Beach and some places in Seaside.

Have you ever wished you had a little foresight? I received a letter from the US Bank notifying me that my mother's account had been closed because the State of Oregon decided that they were entitled to what little assets she had at the time of her death. The month and half that she spent on Medicaid gave them this "right". I found out that - although I had the Power of Attorney for my mother - it was not valid after her death and apparently even being a guardian of her account didn't matter either. Anyway, what money she had is all gone, poof!! It wasn't a fortune but it would have been nice to be able to pay some bills and then divide the remaining few dollars between my sisters and me, but that isn't going to happen. I guess I wasn't kidding when my sisters and I happened to find $6 in silver coins among her things. I gave each sister $2.00, and jokingly told them that was their inheritance! I feel really frustrated thinking that I should have withdrawn the money before the State had a chance to grab it up but I was going by the advice from the bank who told me to leave the account open for six months, just in case. So be aware that if you ask for any assistance from the State that they will come back and get all that they can after your loved one has departed, even if it's more than they spent on her care.

We leave for West Linn today. A friend of ours who we work with at the Blazer games is getting married and so we will be going to his wedding and will be spending the night in town. Another frustrating situation this week, I had ordered a place setting of their dishes online as a gift and I have been waiting for two weeks for it to arrive. Come to find out it had been sitting up at the Post Office and they didn't notify me. I finally found it yesterday. Then, when I opened the box, one of the plates was broken. So I had to call up and have them resend a new plate. Meanwhile, I placed the broken plate in a plastic bag along with the other pieces with a note explaining that I had ordered a new plate and it will be coming soon. Then I gift wrapped everything. I felt so bad, but what do you do?

On Saturday, we will head down to our daughter's place in Silverton. Dave wants to attend a steam meet in Brooks and I will just hang out with Leslie until he finishes. We will probably leave for home after that.