Cleaning, another birthday and a visit from friends

August had me slammed! So many things were going on. The only thing I was able to do was to keep my photo project going. For a while there, I thought was not going to be able to keep that going. Some of the photos and music matches were a stretch.
A number of things, many of them little, popped up but with a few big stuff thrown in made August a scramble!

Cleaning out the Garage!
My garage has been called "The Black Hole", "The Bermuda Triangle" or the "Last Frontier". Things get sent there and unless it is placed near the door or the path it will never be seen again. The last car parked in the garage was my old Camaro. That car was sold back in 1993!
I had planned on emptying out the garage and turn it into a photo studio/recreational room. I had to make room for a pool table and August was the month that it was going to get done.

August 4 was the day the pool table was arriving. The emptying out of the garage actually started in July. Putting everything out onto the driveway was fairly easy. It's amazing how much junk accumulates over the years (20+). The hard part was throwing things away! Amazing how much Sentimental Value a bunch of "junk" can have for different people.







I went through 4 of these dumpster bins.


I am pretty sure that I will be needing more before this project is over. Yes, that's right, it isn't over yet. Not by a longshot!

Another birthday

Yeah, I had another one of those too. I had planned on doing something fun this year. I was thinking of going on a small road trip... but...

I don't think I did anything special this year... actually, I don't think I did anything this year. My parents took me out to lunch that was cool. I pretty much was kept busy with the whole garage project.

Mollie and family in LA

It was not a good circumstance when I met Mollie. She was in town for a friend's funeral who died in Iraq. I got to know her a little while she was in town and I knew I wanted to get to know her even more. We kept in touch through email and she managed to call me twice from Korea (she served in the army as a military police). Through her, I was contacted by her mother in Ohio and later on her sister contacted me through this blog. As it turns out, Mollie's tour of duty with the army ended and she moved to Africa. She has been working in a number of projects to clothe, school, feed and nurture children, specifically orphans in 3 different countries. I knew she was in Africa but I did not know that her tour of duty was over.

I was helping out putting shelves together with Jim and James over at Raw Materials when I got a call from Mollie's mother saying that she was coming to Los Angeles with her family for a little vacation and that she would like to get together and finally meet face to face. After making plans to get together, Mollie calls telling me that she will be coming along with her family! I didn't even know she was in the country! Cool!
So plans had to be made, changed and postponed.
Mollie's family at the hotel.


At the hotel...


In front of the Disney Ice Cream Shop in Hollywood.


Splash Mountain in Disneyland.


With her mom at the airport.


In the 4 days they were in town I got to meet and know her family. It definitely wasn't enough time but it certainly was full. They are a great bunch of people. Mollie will be in the states for now, Utah is not that close but not as far as Korea or Africa!