Coffee with the legislater

I went down at 8am for coffee in the ballroom in an event sponsored by the WRAI, a non profit tenatns organization which does not elect resident officers as the other one does, but is dedicated to bringing other benefits to the residents. I quite enjoyed this session with a member of the Arizona legislature who was willing to discuss the draconian cuts Arizona has had to make to balance the budget this year. Quite a number of residents ended up attending as the state has recently cut copays on drug prescriptions which has affected SSI recipients quite a bit. Anytime you are going to initiate a cut that will affect that group of people you will get some alarm. A number of other programs have been cut back, too, which legislater State Senator Debbie McCune Davis addressed.
Nola and Victor, pictured above, are two long time members and original founders of the WRAI. I enjoyed getting out and about and listening to a group of people address what is going on in our state. Sounds like this state senator is also engaged in trying to educate new legislaters on what is involved in programs they might cut. Ouch! It hurts to balance the budget!

Dante becomes Grandma's new junior partner in making videos!

Dante does not show up from school, Mother picked up phone 4 hrs later to file police report, Dante shows up!

Oh what a night after I had oh what a day. Both his mother and dad went to where his dad was to pick up Dante from school, and he did not show. Dan left to go take care of some business, his mother was seized with a mighty anxiety attack as all mothers are prone to, Dan refused to be as fearful, she got mad, so I became the go between talking to them both on the phone as we wondered why in a society with every other kid with a cell phone, Dante just did not call home. It figured he might have been kidnapped, held against his will, police were called and said that in four hours a police report could be filed. Mother and Dad stopped speaking as each did not react as the other thought right. I kept saying, well, call me, if you hear anything.
Finally just as his mother was picking up the phone to call the police Dante walked in the door. I told her to tell him I loved him, and to please not scare his mother and grandmother like that. His dad claimed he was not scared as he suspected that Dante being impulsive ran into something he wanted to do and did it. He said he did not want Dante to live in fear, of what punishment, as he is bound to be punished.
But in the meantime, his mother and I had a good talk about how to try to keep him from becoming sexually active as she said one of his little friends had a girl pregnant at 13! This certainly alarmed me, and she said she had taken him to an Internet website to show him all the sexually transmitted diseases he could get. She felt that his father was not a good role model for him because he was encouraging him to go with girls, probably because he is dating. I told him what she said in another phone call he made to me in between in answer to one I made to him. She is staying home keeping care of two little kids with her present love, so she has Dante during school, since Dan is working. So she probably feels she has more of Dante than she needs on a night like this.
I just tried to be as neutral as I could and not take sides too far one way or the other which is the duty of the mother and the former mother-in-law and grandmother of the child.
Doc will probably faint when he hears this story as he already thinks my family is one of the most dysfunctional on earth. He made a date for us to go on the new fast transit to the end of the line tomorrow, so I could get away from it all. So when I tell him Dante was lost for 4 hours I don't know whether HE will be able to stand it without saying something that will make me mad so that I am no longer speaking to HIM. But Dante is a TEENAGER now. Let's see sports got discussed, why hasn't his dad got him into sports so he would not be tempted by girls at his young age. I don't know the answer, but I know that Dante is going to be a teen for quite a few years so we better get prepared for the ride.

Great Day with Raymond at the Farmer's Market...

Here we are at the Farmer's Market across the street where we drank coffee and visited. After an hour there he asked me if I wanted to drive out to my daughter Ronda's house for lunch. I was happy to say yes, so we got to visit with Chad, Ronda, and my grandchildren, Jamal and Ethan, who are always happy to see their Uncle Raymond.

Jamal is enrolled in ASU already in the business college for next year. He starts tennis at the beginning of the year at his high school in Happy Valley. I hope we can all take in some of his matches.

Raymond was having a meeting last night with the cast of Caffeine to talk about filming a second season of this Internet mini-series. They are going to film very short commercials this time to sell to interested parties. Raymond is going to take a load of his belongings back to Utah in a few days, but depending on the weather, may return soon. This is when the snowbirds fly in from the cold places. Boulder is cooling off fast.

I have been so up in the air and upset over 'the worst week on Wall Street' for many a year I have not been able to visit journals a whole lot yet. I talked to my sister Linda who says she does not know what move to make, leave her house to foreclosure, leave town, move to SF, so she is in a quandry as I am sure a lot of others are who are having trouble paying their mortgage. She says there are no jobs to be had for a woman 68 years old at this time in Phoenix. She was one who took equity out of her house in a 'restructured' deal which actually upped her mortage beyond her means to pay. She said those who convinced her to do it made money, but now she is finding it hard to leave her house. She is getting to an age where she might have had to leave it anyway. And she probably won't be able to afford a car either, which is always an adjustment. I stopped being able to afford car insurance without a job. But I have very good bus service where I live so now I don't miss the car at all. I was always worried about it and I like company and someone else to do the driving. In fact, we are getting fast transit just outside my door in a couple of months.

The election has also had me in a tizzy. I am glad that McCain cooled some of his rhetoric. I think he got alarmed about setting off a firestorm of racist reactions as well he should worry. I am glad that he had enough character to assure his supporters they did not need to fear having Obama in the white house should he win. I think his negative campaign implying Obama ties to terrorists, etc, backfired on him. So I am keeping close track of what is going on there. I hate negative campaigning. It is so hard to listen to. So I will be glad when the election is over. How about you?