SETTLED!

The two little fern plants that Andy and Dorinda gave me up on Cape Cod are now settled in their new home in the greenhouse window of the kitchen. They made it across country on the floor of the passenger seat although I had to bring them in at night to keep them from freezing. Imagine, I took the southern route across country to avoid winter weather and I ran into winter weather.

The moving van arrived Saturday morning and so far I have set up sleeping, bathing and eating facilities. I also got a washer and dryer so I can do laundry. Next is getting my office set up so I can start meeting clients. My three piece black wall unit doesn't fit so I will have to take it apart and use two of the pieces separate. But before that I have to get my internet service set up.

ARRIVED!

I arrived in California at 4 PM PST today. Most of the entire trip was in cold rain. When I left Andy & Dorinda's on Monday it was raining all through PA but overcast and mostly dry down through the backbone of Virginia and into North Carrolina. The trip from North Carolina to Houston on Tuesday took about 14.5 hours and was mostly rain, heavy at times. When I left Houston on Thursday it was raining. The freezing rain was in the north of Houston. When I got to San Antonio there was ice covering the trees and big icicles hanging from the the street signs. There was a lot of ice piled on the sides of the freeway. When I left Las Cruces, New Mexico at 5 AM on Friday it was raining and 34 degrees over the Continental Divide. It rained heavy all the way through Phoenix and across the California border. When I got to Orange County this afternoon, it was sunny and 70 degrees. I'm a little dazed right now. My furniture arrives tomorrow morning.

Many thanks to Andy & Dorinda for the room on Sunday night. Sorry for the short visit. The visit with mom's friend from Sumatra on Monday evening was very rewarding. Part of the letting go process. Also, many thanks to Melissa and Rob for the room on Tuesday and Wednesday night and for the wonderful tour of NASA. A new chapter now begins and I place my trust in God for what the future brings.

Mission Control Center Houston

Melissa and Rob took Jonathan and I on a private tour of the NASA Houston space center. We toured the simulators for the Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Then we were allowed into the Mission Control Center (MCC) for the ISS. We also toured the mockup training building for the space shuttle and ISS. Click on pictures to enlarge.

ISS MCC ....................................Sitting at the ADCO console
ADCO = Attitude Determination & Control Officer (One of Melissa's roles)


Shuttle MCC ............................. Old Apollo MCC


Shuttle mockup ....................... Robot arm mockup trainer


Payload bay mockup

Grace Goodell

Grace Goodell is a friend of mom's from the days in Sumatra in the 1930's and Malaya in 1947. Grace and her husband Val came to Boenot, Sumatra in 1935. My mom and dad had been there since 1933. Grace, Vall and their three children had a harrowing escape from Sumatra in 1942 as the Japanese were occupying the island. They managed to get a boat around the cape of South America and about a day out from New Orleans their ship evaded a German torpedo. Grace is 98 years old, still drives and is very lively. We had dinner together in her retirement community in Hendersonville, NC. Then we went back to her apartment and I showed her the DVD movies from Sumatra. She identified the man at the beginning ad Bill Giddings. We also looked at the picture album of Sumatgra photos. We both had a wonderful time and parting was a sweet sorrow.

California Bound

After a very tumultuous year, I have decided to return to California and pick up where I left off. I have secured a part-time consulting assignment with my previous employer - Cemtek Environmental and I hope to secure other consulting assignments with business owners that I know in the area. These assignments are and will be in line with my personal financial planning career ambitions. I will also be greaing up my tax practice by springboarding off the 25 clients I currently have in California. I have a home in Irvine under contract. It is a small home with a den that I will use as an office for my tax practice until I get it going in a few years and can afford a real office. Strangely enough, the home is in the Woodbridge area of Irvine.





I will be driving across country, leaving on the 15th and stopping at the Greens for a day or two.

New Year's at Elmcroft

George and Barbara spent New Year with me at Elmcroft. On New Years Eve Bruce and Mary came over for dinner. Dick Strong and Maryanne stopped by for a brief visit. During the evening we watched Laurel and Hardy in March of the Wooden Soldiers on DVD. We also watched the home movies that I had converted to DVD. We were surprised to find two clips of movies from Sumatra in the early 1930's. There are scenes from Lake Toba, Berstagi, and the plantation in Kisaren. Quite a treasure. I will have additional copies made to distribute. The remainder of the clips are family vacations to Maine, Cape Cod, Coumbia Lake in Connecticut, and many clips from Elmcroft. Many of them are in very poor condition from water damage.

On New Years Day George, Barbara and I viewed all of the 35mm slides and sorted about 400 as keepers. Once I catalog them, they will be sent out for scanning so they can be shared with the family. Karen, Doug, Rachel. Emely and Jacob came over for lunch and the kids tore up the house - something my mom loved. I guess this will be the very last gathering. A sad ending and new beginnings.