Got it Sorted - Thank Goodness

Well, for the past 2 weeks , I have been fighting with the British Embassy in Washington DC over my passport. They had sent me my new one but it was totally mucked up - their mistake. When I asked how it could be fixed, I was told that I had to reapply and pay $236 again. WHAT Not on your bleedin nelly. But this snooty woman insisted that my money was not refundable, therefore I would have to pay again. I read through the paperwork on the Embassy's website and it clearly states that the money is not refundable if I make an error or if my passport application is rejected.

So, I wrote a rather terse letter to the Embassy in Washington explaining their own rules and that my passport was not rejected and it was their error that caused the passport to be messed up. I also wrote to The Foreign Office in London in the hope that someone would place their foot up someones bum.

Well, yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from a very nice woman in Washington to say that , YES, it was their error and she would email me a UPS return label and all I had to do was send the passport back and they would correct it - NO CHARGE. I won't feel happy until I get the corrected passport in my hand and then I can go home again. I need to get away from here and my non-existent support group!

I was putting the garbage out at the curb the other Sunday night, when I fell - luckily I fell backwards and landed on the grass. Freddie was driving by and saw me. He stopped the car and ran over to help me get up. He also said that in the future, he would put the cans out and bring them in for me. Help - at last.

D's mother invited me to Easter at their house but I declined as I really was not feeling well. Michael said he would come over so that I would not be alone. At 11:30 on Easter morning, he called me and I could tell he was either drunk or hung over - his message - I feel like shit and I ain't going anywhere . I told him that I felt really ill and I had put my back out. He said - Well. I'm going to bed - Goodbye.

So, that's how it was, I spent Easter alone and could hardly get off the couch to make a bowl of cereal because my back hurt so bad. I don't know what I did to make my children so selfish.

Do you remember the birdie on top of the light pole on Santa Monica Pier. I wonder if he ever jumped! I'll have to back and see!

Love you and love you xxxxxxxxxxx

I'm begining to hate life!

Hello my darling,

I am up to my eyeballs with problems and have no one here to help me. I think that if I can't get everything sorted soon - I shall give up and take the whole bleeding bottle of Valium.

I am still unable to find anyone in the British Consulate who can help me get my passport corrected - so at the moment - I can't go anywhere. I am now going to write to the Foreign Office in London and tell them that their staff in both Washington DC and Los Angeles are a total bunch of worthless arseholes.

I am also still trying to get things sorted out with your company who owe me $5000+ - but the woman I spoke to today said that "it takes time" She will call me back when she has news about the payment. Oh - OK.

I was out and about today - had to go to the World Market. They had so much lovely Easter stuff and I would love to buy bunnies and stuff for the girls - but as their mother won't let me see them anymore - it would be a waste of money. Do you remember Easters past when Eri and I painted eggs and then I hid them in the garden. We always had such a good time - all gone now.

Glad to say that Mike is feeling better - I hope to see him this weekend - so tired of being alone.

I do hope you like the picture of our wedding in Reno - what a good time we had - and we all drank WAY too much. I have a photo of me sitting at the dinner table with my eyes half shut and my bouquet on my head!

I will love you until I die xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What a week

I think I am going to go stark raving mad before long. Everyday, I dread the mail arriving because it's usually something that someone has screwed up.

I got a letter from Edison yesterday to say that several employees have had their identity stolen and you may be one of them. Well, first of all, I was very upset because I assumed that you had been removed from Edison's data base - SO - why are they sending out letters to dead people? The letter suggested that you check with Equifax or one of the other credit reporting companies. So, I did - but they would not give me credit report because there is a security hold on the account! ARRHHHH!

I was quite upset - lots more tears - and so I got on the horn and called Edison - what a performance! The lady that I spoke with was very nice but had not heard of anything to do with stolen identities - she will check. While I had her on the phone, I also asked her what had happened to the merit award check? I got a check for your merit award and - as per Edison - they cocked it all up. The check was made out to you - but you are not on any of the bank accounts. I have an agreement with the bank manager to deposit any checks made out in your name - so that's what I did. Bunged it in the bank. Well, a few days later, a woman from Edison called and said the check should have been in my name and it was made out for the wrong amount - AND - they want the check back! I told her that the check had gone down the big hole in the bank - so she told me to write a personal check and send them the money back and they would reissue the check in my name. That was almost 3 weeks ago! So, the lady re: identity theft is going to look into that for me.

I called the British Consulate again and asked the same lady that I had spoken to before. I asked her how things were coming along with my screwed up passport and DANG IT - she had forgotten all about it but would get in touch with Washington on Monday.

Jesus Christ! Is there anyone on this planet that can do their job. By the way, the phone calls to the Consulate are costing me $2:50 a minute - and it's that stupid outfit that have screwed things up.

Went to Dr. Dimitri on Thursday to have the impressions made for my partials. Cor Struth! He put so much goop in the mold thing and pushed it so hard, I thought it was going to ooze out of my nose! He also got the latex stuff stuck all over my face and nose. I spent my lunch hour sitting at the bar in Applebees sipping a beer and trying to peel purple and pink goop off my face. A lovely sight.

Do you remember when we went to San Diego and had lunch in that posh place at the museum - twas lovely but way too expensive. I hope you like the picture. Will love you forever.

Sadder and Sadder - Maybe it's the weather!

Hi my Darling - I am missing you very badly today and, therefore, lots of tears.

It has been very windy and loads of stuff keep coming down from the palm trees. Artie took care of the first lot but I don't like to take advantage - so this morning, I dragged about 10 large palm fronds over to the side yard and I will get Felix to take care of them on Friday. I didn't realize how my emphysema is getting so bad - moving the palm fronds nearly killed me ! I had to sit down about halfway through. Don't smoke!

Yesterday afternoon, I called the British Consulate in Los Angeles and was able to get hold of a really nice lady who said that she would call Washington DC - to see if she could find out how they had managed to mess up my passport. I'm not certain that she understood my problem but will keep my fingers crossed and hope that I can get a passport with the right name and signature. If all else fails - I will become an American citizen - with an American passport and everything will be straight. I have no problem with that - except I do so want to go to Cuba and lie on the beach in Havana - reading The Old Man and the Sea - and smoking a Cuban cigar and drinking Cuba Libre!(It is illegal for Americans to go to Cuba - darn)

I shed a few tears today for my beautiful daughter - I wish she could forgive and forget - or just forgive (I'm not sure what I've done to make her hate me so.) I want to hold her and kiss her - but that isn't going to happen. Another hurt in my heart.

I love you - forever.

I hope you like the picture of your grandma Paul and her quilting - what a sweet old girl.

Teeth - and more teeth!

I'll try to catch up on all the latest news - mostly to do with teeth!

I had an appointment on Thursday to have the temporary crowns pulled off and the permanents glued on. As I haven't been able to eat anything solid for what seems like 6 years - I had cheese and broccoli soup with soggy bread on Wednesday night.

When I first got to the dentist, I had a deep cleaning - agh - lots of blood and too much pain - so the hygienist gave me about 12 shots of Novocaine. She left the room while she waited for the numbing to take effect. While she was gone, I was happily sitting doing some knitting when I felt a real broccoli ripper coming on - I didn't think she would be back for a while so I let her go. Cor struth - I almost passed out from the pong.

Well, darn it - she was back in 2 minutes. She opened the door - took one breath - turned a pale shade of green - and left, slamming the door and not returning for 15 minutes! She was not nearly as friendly as she had been earlier! I guess some people don't fart - or eat broccoli!

Both the nurse and the dentist had a hell of a time getting the temporaries off - but after much tugging, yanking and swearing (yes, the dentist said some naughty words - bad dentist!) they came off and I was ready for another round of torture - putting the new crowns on. It didn't hurt but he pushed on them so hard, I thought they would come through my nose!

On to the next phase - shoving great mounds of that vile pink goop in my mouth to take impressions for my partials. They will be ready to pick up for the first fitting on Thursday - but he says they will take at least 3 fittings - so I won't be done for a while yet. The insurance ran out in February so I am paying for all of this torture out of my own pocket -%$#*&%$ thousand dollars! You don't mind do you?

Dear Felix came last week and fixed another sprinkler - I seem to have a rash of broken sprinklers. The garden is starting to look pretty again after all that rain.

I must correct a mistake that I made in an earlier posting - I said that Matt was in the slammer. Wrong! It's Alex who is in the slammer. I got another letter from him the other day. He doesn't have any money! Surprise, surprise! and he has converted to a Muslim! I wrote back and asked him how I can put money on his books (I have some English money lying around.) I will also go and visit him when, and if, I ever get over there.

Mr. and Mrs. L have moved into their new home in Vancouver, BC. I am invited to drive (1000 miles - NOT) or fly up there anytime the heat gets to be too much.

Mand D came to lunch yesterday. We went to a sushi place - Dee doesn't eat sushi but she had a nice grilled salmon with brown rice. I had an assortment of sushi and went a little too overboard with the wabi-sabi sauce and blew me brains out! Still it was good - and I don't think it has the same effect as broccoli.

Must go and do Monday chores.

Love you - more every day

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I thought you would like to be reminded of all your hard work when you made the Camel. It's just beautiful.

Why Can't Things Go Right?

Oh darling,

I do wish that you were here to help me out. I used to be this big-mouthed pushy broad - but now I'm turning into a wimpy little defeatist. Don't know how much more I can carry on alone.

Sarah has sent some terrible emails and she doesn't understand that I adore her - she is my only daughter and I want her to hug me but she hates me and blames me for all the problems in her life. I know that the root of the problem is drugs - but it is much easier to blame me. She told me that she is sending Emily to Maggies's at Pismo for spring break - that way, she will know what a NICE grandma is. Good - I hope she enjoys all the clothes and shoes that I bought her. But there again - I'm NOT a nice Grandma!

I called a family therapist today to make an appointment - I was directed to an answer machine and then told that the mail box was full so I couldn't leave a message. Might as well have killed myself with the telephone - stuffed it down my neck, eh?

My passport showed up and the have got it all messed up - with the name wrong and the signature in the wrong place - AHHHHHHH! I wrote them a snippy letter and hope that this mess will get sorted out before the end of May. One can hope.

Tomorrow, I have an 8:30 appointment to have my smile worked on. I will see the hygienist first and then have my 7 temporary crowns replaced with permanent ones. Then the dentist is taking the imprints (or whatever you call them) for my partial. The dental receptionist recons I will be there 4-5 hours - Cor struth - I shall be dying for a brew when I get out of there!

Talking of brews - I went to Applebees St. Paddy's day party yesterday - I wasn't feeling too well and only stayed an hour - the sight of all that green beer made me icky! I wore a pair of St. Paddy's ears but one of the wires was limp! and the shamrock hung down over me earole! What a sight!

The flowering plum in the back yard is in full bloom - I hope you like the picture - I took it this morning.

I will love you forever

xxxxxxxxx

Ain't life a bithch?

I try to be kind and generous to people but it just doesn't work - so I fucking well give up!

I loaned $ 500 to a friend at Applebees - he needed it to pay off traffic tickets. No problem.

I later found out that he had used the money to hire a limo and take his girl friend to a show in Hollywood. Well, I guess I'm a dumb shit! I don't suppose I'll ever see the $500 again.

Yesterday, granddaughter called on her cell phone and asked if I would take her to look at prom dresses. Of course - I was thrilled. She showed up with her sister and said, ' Do you think you could get some summer clothes for sis - oh and some sandals" We had a great time wandering up and down the mall - even though it was tough on my emphysema. After all the shopping , we went to TGIF for dinner - it was all very yummy. We got back to the house around 7::00 and everyone was happy with their purchases and my bank account was $300 lighter!

This morning, I got an email from my daughter that was evil. I will not take her kids shopping again and I don't care if I ever see any of them again.

I am suffering enough grief - I can't take any more.

My darling, please help me to stop crying.

I will love you forever

xxxxxxx

Do you remember when we went to San Diego in 2005 - I wasn't very well but made it down to the harbor - it was a gorgeous day.

Why can't we do it again? xxxxxxxxxxx