Well I had a real high this morning, which, after a little low, led to another high this afternoon. I've been researching my family history, and have been in touch with a man named Yuri in Latvia (where my father is from) who writes about naval history in the area. A while back he helped me find out some info about my (paternal) grandmother's cousin, who was a Captain in the Latvian Navy. A few weeks back Yuri told me his new book was out and that he wanted to send me a copy because Janis, the Captain, was in it. This morning the book arrived, and I was a bit disappointed at first to see it is in Russian, and unfortunately my understanding of cyrillic is not what it could be (ie non-existent!). But I opened it to the page Yuri had marked for me and saw a family photo of about 20 people. My eye was immediately drawn to a toddler who was obviously squirming to get off an elderly lady's lap. I nearly dropped the book, as it looked exactly like photos of me as a baby. I looked a little closer at some of the other people, and picked out my grandfather (who died before I was born) holding my aunt. Then I realised that the toddler was actually my father! It was pretty amazing really. Then I picked out my two uncles, as well as Captain Janis, of course (who was also my father's godfather), and Janis' brother who was an Army Officer.

So I was all excited, but then the slight low came as I read the translation Yuri had sent me of the chapter involving Cousin Janis. I already knew he didn't survive the War, but the family didn't know how he'd died. It seems that the Soviets took over the Latvian armed forces in 1940, and by 1941 Janis was in the first of a series of what were, essentially, prison camps. He and several hundred other Latvian Officers were left to starve to death in the camps.

But the afternoon high came when I went over to show the picture to my father. I was a bit worried that he either wouldn't be able to see it clearly enough (he is legally blind) or wouldn't recognise anyone. But he immediately saw his father and himself, and then managed to identify almost all the other people in the photo. He was sitting on his mother's mother's lap, as I had thought, and his brother was on their grandfather's lap next to them. Then there were their mother's three sisters, and her brother who is always spoken of in reverential tones as 'the doctor' (he was a doctor, nothing weird there, they were all obviously just very proud of him.) I'd never seen photos of most of these people before. And it was so great to see dad happy for once. I spoke to mum a few hours later on and she said he was still all bubbly and excited about it, which is just so not my dad. I hope it lasts for a while.

ing this is seriously cool. What a wonderful gift to give your father. The starving to death isn't very nice though.

High/Low. I now have a date for my surgery, 24th November with a CT scan on 17th November. Low for two reasons, one is that it is ages off and second is that I will have to make two trips to England now instead of one. I was hoping to go over into the hospital, them give me the CT scan and the procedure within a couple of days.

Yes, I agree. What a wonderful piece to read early in the morning, Ing. How amazing that your family has such solid [ not to mention type -set] early records of itself and some of your family 's exploits. Impressive stuff!

Everybody is thinking of you, Sue. You are a strong and smooth minded person. Just as your intense heart surgery is past, so will this soon be, also.

I know that you are bored out of your mind Sue, but think about how much more difficult it would have been to go back to work and then have to take another chunk of time off.
It's too bad about having to make two trips though.
How does this line up with your daughter's visit? (I could scroll back and look, but it's easier to ask. LOL)

Big high of the YEAR! We finally moved into our house over the weekend. This summer we bought an 80-year-old, 5 bedroom farmhouse. We have been doing major renovations over the past three months and are just getting settled now. Whew! It's been alot of work. More that we ever anticipated, but it's been worth it. We love the house.

My other high is now I'll be able to spend time around the forums again. I've missed you all.

It will be after my daughter's visit, she returns to the UK on 13th, my CT scan is on 17th as far as I know. So a high!

New low. I e-mailed my boss to say that I thought I would return to work on Monday, my doctor had signed me off work until 5th November. Now my boss is asking for a letter from my doctor to say that I can return to work early - er, my doctor had told me that if I haven't had the treatment he will extend the date so I doubt that he would be happy to let me back earlier unless I bully him. Then if I bully him and not really up to being back at work I hae a problem. Sheesh.

Well...if you don't go back to work you will be home for your daughter's visit and can spend more time with her!
Follow advice Sue, we don't need any more scares with you!

Yay about the timing on your daughter's visit, Sue. Boo about your boss's attitude. I hate that sort of thing - does he (?) think the doctor just picked a date for your return out of a hat? Has this person ever been ill? Sorry, it just gets up my goat (that's actually a quote, I'm not just mixing my horses in midstream).

Anyway, I'm going with yay on the timing of your daughter's visit!

And also yay on BKAngel's house, sounds wonderful!

Oh, and I'm glad that you liked my family story kt and skunkee (and anyone else who did too, of course!). The other bit I forgot to say is that even though I didn't think I'd been much help at all, Yuri put a 'thankyou' to me in the book (as well as signed it and wrote a lovely dedication). So now I know what my name looks like in cyrillic!

My little high of the day is after 30 years I finally got my old drawing pen working again for my series of local views. After watercolours I thought I'd try some pen drawings but the nib was glued up and split when I took it out anyway.
It took me two weeks to find somewhere selling the (very expensive) nibs, and another week to get the ink (everyone had run out) and today used it for the first time since the 70s. I'm part-way through a path framed by an archway above and hedges at the side, plus a large tree in the background, and so far it's looking good.

That's dedication Guru! Glad you are happy with your work.

I tried to resurect my old Rotring pens about a year ago - they'd 'only' been sitting to dry up for about 8 years - but after a few hours of ineffective soaking I gave up. Perhaps I don't have due reverence for such items because I saw so many - many of which got thrown away when they became tempramental - as a kid. My father and uncle were cartographers, my maternal grandmother was a draftswoman, and my grandfather an engineer and artist. So I'm always finding old nibs and dried up ink cartridges in boxes of their stuff. Gee, it's amazing the things which can send you on a nostalgia trip. I remember when I started at (graphic) design school I took my grandmother's beautiful, probably 50-year old Schaeffer compass box-set in one day. My tutor hung his head in shame at the horrible little modern tools we'd been supplied with.

Well, I've just spent a fruitless half hour or more trying to find Schaeffer on the net. I gather the company doesn't exist anymore, must have happened in the last few years. Now I'm on a confused low!

It's true that many architectural pens are cranky - I always used a brand named Rapidograph, back when I still did a lot of pen and ink drawings. One had to clean the needle gently with warm water then store the clean, dry pen in a sealed jar with a wet sponge attached to the lid to insure moisture. I haven't used one in years, having discovered Rollerballs and other modern, no hassle pens. True, they don't have the clarity and blackness that the old inks and pens did, but that doesn't matter to me so much anymore, since I have moved on to other mediums.

On the other hand, I still have a soft spot for old Schaeffer fountain pens. My husband used them exclusively and I still have several of his favorites, which are 50 or 60 years old. Some of those he bought on his first trip to New York City, in the mid 1950's.

ing, I believe the correct spelling is Scheaffer - I have no idea whether the company still exists, but maybe that will help you in your search!

Cinnamon you're an angel! Looks like it does still exist, phew! You know, I tried every other spelling variation - actually I did try this but I'm too liable to believe Google's spelling over mine (when you type in 'Scheaffer' it says 'do you mean Schaeffer?' which is a really mean trick to pull on a poor speller!)

How's it going with your mother-in-law?

It's Sheaffer (OK, I had to do a Google...), and I've sent you the link, still very much up and running!

Thanks Guru, got it!

My high of the day, was going early Christmas shopping with Mum and one of her sisters...not only that but actually walking around shops instead of my wheelchair. I get tired easily, so the wheelchair is convienient when we do a lot of shopping. But today I managed it...as well as choosing new clothes etc! Dad has his good days and bad days, there is no sickness, but very tired lately. He has his second course of chemo this coming Monday. Taking each days as it comes

Sounds like your dad is a real trooper, Jane, and I'm glad things are going smoothly right now for him.

Meanwhile, here in the Ozarks, we've got our first real cold snap, and I can see my breath in this little back office where we keep the computer. Down to 27 here last night, and I am actually so pleased that these two little oil heaters kept the the whole two stories almost warm! My new heater won't be here until Monday, so the girls and I are roughing it a little for now.

If it were up to me, I would chuck the natural gas idea and go out right away and purchase a new wood heater - the kind I grew up with! The mortgage company, however [ after they called my loan] would then sue me for breach of contract, or something, then the insurance company would have their turn at me! [ after they cancelled, in colorful fashion, I'm sure - my home owner's policy.]

I have found that people in general know very little about wood heat and are afraid of it. True, it's not something that you go off and leave, or do in a hap -hazard fashion. You have to be alert and follow all the safety rules. In the 20 some odd years my dad heated with a wood central air system we never had a single flue fire, because he was meticulous about how the chimney was kept and made sure we burned nothing but hard wood, so's to keep the flue clean.
I really miss the deep, cozy heat and not to mention the lovely hickory smell which permeates the old homestead. But then that's just the country girl talking, I guess!

[ edited to add- I didn't realize you spend a lot of time in the wheelchair, Jane. You must be a trooper, too] What a treat to get to walk around the stores without tiring. Good for you!

Ing, as far as I can see by reading your posts and observing your general attitude,
no one need worry about your bogging down in self pity. You seem cheerful and level headed - not the type to take everything in life so seriously. It is a gift to be able to see things as they really are,and yet not be overwhelmed - slogging forward, no matter what!

Thanks for the vote of confidence kt, I really appreciate your thoughtful words. As I say, normally I'm pretty good, just sometimes it gets a bit much. But writing it down like that this morning really helped - part of the bending-not-breaking process. And yes, slogging ever on, laughing all the way!

Ing,

Schaeffer used to have headquarters in Victoria, somewhere around Ringwood, I think. I went out there once to get a replacement nib for my "Schaeffer solid gold Triumph" pen (won on "Pick-a-Box" MANY moons ago - the quote is from the on-air description). I remember that the nib alone cost me $80, and when I tell you that I have not lived in Victoria for over 20 years, you will have an idea of the real cost of the thing (the nib was 22ct gold. It worked really well until I dropped it. I did not replace it again. But I still have the pen, and possibly even the matching ballpoint, which I used during my HSC exams - and that WAS a long time ago!

Oh, my ! In a day of restive highs and after reading here I have lots to say!

First to ing: I have come to learn that reciprocation is basically impossible, at least in terms of equal amounts. My parents were obsessed with pay-backs on any level and it used to drive me crazy. When my Dad was healthy it was a joy for me to come over here and toodle him off to a gun show or help him patch the roof or paint the awnings or whatever. The time spent was primo - that was all that mattered. But invariably he'd offer me a fifty for my time full unaware that it was kind of an insult for him to do that. My eight hours a day at work was a job and I expected to get paid for that. Other hours were free. But it put a whole odd spin on things because then I felt that I should recompense my parents for everything they had done for me since birth. That was impossible to do but I felt guilty that I couldn't anyway. As they got older and their health started failing it all got even more extreme. They were unable to do the blasted 'repay routine' and ultimately wouldn't ask for help so I had to guess, which I found stressful indeed. In the end my Dad ended up terminally and my Mother with dimentia. Wow, I was kept hopping/guessing like crazy. I think I peaked on the whole issue when I was emptying my Father's pancreatic drainage bag four times a day. "Dave," he'd say, "I wish there was some way I could repay you for doing this." All I could think to say was: "If you can think of a way to pay everybody back for everything that needs done then you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." At about the same time my Mother was changing the draperies four times a day, walking around outside in her underwear and talking to the coffee maker . Sorry, but there was no time for score sheets and less time for guilt. Strangely, though, now I find myself a lot like them (not the underwear parts lol). Very hard for me to ask for help as a matter of social course and I'm horribly clumsy when accepting unsolicited favors - the patterns are hard to change. Maybe that doesn't relate to your situation, ing, but hopefully it fits somewhere.

Jane...if anyone can even partly grasp your shopping thrill maybe it's me. Again, our situations are quite different but the other day I actually drove my car to a small shop, voluntarily got out and walked in. I was terrified, to be honest, being sure I'd fall down and embarrass myself and get stared at and all. Nothing bad happened! It probably sounds crazy but I felt like David conquering Goliath!! I felt productive, 'regular', functional, victorious I guess. I haven't been on my feet voluntarily in public for two years or so. To most it would seem like a dotty thing but, to me, it was surely a fine hour. And I say Good For You (Us?) Miss Marple!

That's probably enough for now. I could tell you about the fellow who showed up at my door last night with three bags of groceries and then started apologizing for his kindness . It seems he and his wife were cleaning out their cupboards/fridge and he wanted me to have the overflow - but he felt bad that it was 'second hand'. Hey, food is food! One more time the question arose --- how do you even think about returning such a kind and generous favor? He said my obvious gratitude was enough. Clearly his head and heart are solidly in the right place. Encouraging to see.

I'll shut up now . You all have a great week.

Edited for a typo - just one! Gosh, that's a record...