Cars That Say "Cheese"!

So there was a local guy who had a car collection that grew - and grew - and GREW! until it was so big, it filled many warehouses.  It numbered over 3000 cars and was the largest collection in the world.  They would open the collection to the public once a year, in August.   In 2000 Harold LeMay died but his collection continued.  Hundreds of his vehicles have been displayed in a new museum built in the parking area of the Tacoma Dome.  But the old warehouses are still full.

Rick and I visited a Tacoma Photo Society meeting years back and have been receiving emails regarding their meetings, etc ever since.  Well, they had a photo outing planned for the old warehouses this past Saturday and we decided to join them.  Fun!

We got to the museum early to stop at the Senior Center and have breakfast that was right there next to the warehouses.  It was $4 for a slab of ham, a couple scrambled eggs, coffee, orange juice and all the pancakes you can eat.  Yum!

The day turned rainy so it was great to be inside and dry.  But the warehouses were packed.  It was hard to get any good angles of thes cars.  There were even shelves packed with cars!  Old beaters all the way to perfect restorations.  Early 1900s all the way to fairly recent cars.  Foreign and domestic.  Fire trucks, school buses, a tank, motorcycles, tow trucks, limosines, cars that open on the front and those whose doors swing up.  You name it, they have it...

We spent an hour in each warehouse and got about 100 pictures in each.  So when we got home we had a lot of editing to do.  I ended up dumping all but 111 and only edited 13.  3 got emailed to the Tacoma Photo Society to share with the LeMay people to possibly be used in their brochure or on their website (everyone was encouraged to send in photos, to repay them for our special rates).  After receiving the 3 they asked me to send more of my stuff, they liked my "eye".

Here are the 3 that I initially sent in:

Maybe we should join the club!

Kids - Waddya Gonna Do...?

And I've got more than my fair share of them.  But I wouldn't give a one of them back!

I received this text from one of them this past Monday :

"I have a bump on my brain..."

Not exactly the kind of text you want to see coming from anyone - let alone one of your kids!

Denny has had migraines since he was 6.  Lately, though, they've increased to a point where the doctor finally decided it was time to look into a cause for them.  They've increased to 2 - 3 a week and he's also having blurred vision in connection with them.

So the first plan of action was a CAT scan.  Let's see if there's anything in that noggin.  Well, it looked like there was.  A MRI was done the very next day. 

It turned out to be a good news - bad news situation.  Good news - the "bump" turned out to be just an oddly located blood vessel, no mass, no tumor, no bulge, just a vessel.  Bad news?  They still don't know what's causing the headaches and blurred vision.

And now, on a totally different note - Keith started his first job!  It's not a super job, by any means, but since he's 22 and this is very first job ever it's a big deal!

I didn't get filled in on what all it entails but his comments to Rick were that is was stupidly easy and boring.  He's working at an auto auction and the only description I got was involving stickers.  I'll get more information tonight but - in the meantime:

Congratulations Keith!

Turning Around

6 weeks ago my household was in a pretty sad state. No one was employed and the money was flying out of Rick's savings account to pay the bills. Buying anything was strictly on hold. Food and gas were eating up some of our meager cash holdings. But we weren't too down about it, we knew it was only temporary.

A couple weeks after Rick was out of work and we found out that he would not be able to collect unemployment I decided to apply for food stamps. I hesitated because between us we had what I thought was too much money in savings. But what could they do? All they could do was deny us. So I gave it a shot and I was approved within a couple days and was immediately issued over $700 in a EBT food account!

The following weekend I found a cabinet on Craigslist for free that could be used to house Rick's camera collection that he wants to rebuild. It's in very good condition and other family members wish they'd seen the ad first!

Next, I had cut Tony's hair a couple times without any compensation so they finally brought us over a 12-pack of light beer.

Rick had rebuilt a gate for his parents and they loved it so much! They dropped by that same weekend to repay him with steak and more beer!

The following week Rick found out that his ex-brother-in-law had spoken to his boss at Boeing and Rick got a call for an interview. I also got brought in to work at the Transportation Department at the school district to fill the void for a woman who suddently loss the sight in one eye. I've been here since late September and will probably be here for another month. My income is gravy so this is all going into a fund for travelling, etc because...

Rick got the planner job at Boeing! He's making typical Boeing wages and all the benefits that come along with it. He started "working" last week, meaning that he's getting paid for his time but for now has nothing to do. Training starts soon and will be complete before the end of November.

Keith got a job! Job #1! It's a part time job at an auto auction putting "stickers" on cars, whatever that means... But it's a JOB!!!

I'm psyched, can you tell?

WOW! what a turn around from just a few weeks ago...


About Me

My photo
After 2 unsuccessful marriages I spent 12 years as a divorcee, only to fall prey to another man's wiles. We had a fun 5 years together and then he decided he wanted more freedom so once again I'm single.

So I'm freshly divorced at 57 and have 5 great kids and now 7 grandkids. My kids are still a major part of my life but I'm busy helping my aging parents on Kauai.

I've lived in California, Hawaii and Oklahoma before finally settling here in Washington. I love Washington and come back to visit family, friends and take care of my garden often but will be temporarily a resident of Kauai.

I've moved 30 times in my life (no, my parents weren't in the service, at least not since I was about 2) and finally planted roots when I got my little house that I've owned since '91.

My family are Jehovah's Witnesses, I've been one since '72.