Back from Canada
First off, welcome xfear to my journal. We've been AOL buddies for many years and he hails from FLA. Watch those 'caines! Funny how everyone's on the LJ thingie nowadays.
Been busy for the past 4 days.
I had to LJ cut this for you: So the wake for my 24-year-old cousin Mike of Canada was on Wed. It was my immediate family, plus my Aunt Sue who trekked up there. We left about noon, had a bite in Port Huron, then made our way over the Blue Water bridge. There was a guy who scraped this woman's new green Lincoln with his car while waiting for our turns at customs, and she got out and went after him. He was some old fart who denied it. Then he got out with a rag and rubbed the spot almost clean, then invited her over for coffee in Canada. LOL. Our customs woman asked us what license plate we had. It says MICHIGAN all over it, can't you read? She was kinda bitchy. But as soon as you tell them you're going to a funeral or to the casino, they usually let you pass with no incident, heh.
From the border, it's 3 hours up to Caledonia, Ontario. My Aunt Sue talked the whole way up and I razzed her for it. She's turning into a stereotypical old Polish granny every day. Along the way, there's not too much to see... it's rather like Ohio with farms and fields. While pretty, you can only take so many miles of that. Heh. There were cops EVERYWHERE. They were doing some mad stings up the main freeway for MILES... from the ditches to the on-ramps to the overpasses... 30 O.P.P. cars and people pulled over all over! When I saw the first cop car with "O.P.P." on it, I thought of the old rap song and laughed. =).
A bit about Caledonia... it's a very small town. Hamilton would be the nearest large city. Toronto is north and east around the water. You're pretty close to New York, so my relatives go major shopping there. In Caledonia, there's a little downtown area, one funeral home, a bunch of Presbytarian churches, and the beautiful Grand River that runs through town. There's no hotels in the city, so we checked in at the Super 8 motel in the town nearby. Clean but yes, a budget hotel in MANY senses. (More on that later.)
We went downtown to find some food that wasn't too pricey. There was a Chinese place that seemed decent so we went in. It was decorated in bad 60s/70s wood decor, but oriental style. The place was run by all old Asian men and women and it was pretty dead in there. Our waiter was funny. Very nice man, but looked dissheveled, with his fly a little open too! Ha. Just an middle-aged bumbling man. His accent was funny, especially when he was talking about the "chicken balls with nuts" (sweet and sour chicken). The food was decent.
The funeral home opened at 6 to the public. All my Canadian relatives were there. Holy crap did Nicholas get big, and he's 16 now? (That's mom's cousin Rick's live-in girlfriend's son.) And my second cousins... Kaity and Laura... wow. Kaity had this goth look about her with the dark brown hair extensions with platinum blonde streaks. Michael's 22-year-old sister Megan was beautiful as always. She's all tan from the summer, blue eyes and chocolate brown hair. She could be a model. She was greeting people as they came in, along with her parents, Norm and Krysia. The line of visitors NEVER STOPPED. They lined up before the opening at 5:30 and kept coming after 9 when it was supposed to end. They estimated about 300 people! Word got around the small town, plus my cousin Mike knew lots of people from schools and working at a golf course and airport.
Now Mike... he looked exactly as I saw him last. It was him in the casket, but it was surreal. He looked so alive, like he was sleeping. It made it hard for me to cry because he didn't seem dead. He's a cute guy, and still looked cute in a polo with tan skin and a little goatee, sun streaks in his hair. Dang. Hard to believe he was gone.
We talked with the relatives during the visitation... caught up on them all. These are all my mom's cousins. See, great grandma (Babcia Louise) and great grandpa came from Poland to Windsor, Canada. They had 3 daughters: Stella (my grandma), Helen and Jenny. Helen and Jenny married Polish men and stayed in Canada to have my mom's cousins (Krysia, Yancia and Richard). Stella met & married my grandpa (Harry) in Windsor, then they moved to the U.S. and that's how we all got roots here in Detroit. So all the younger cousins (and Mike) are my second cousins.
After the funeral home closed, my family and Aunt Sue went to this restaurant called "Frankie's" next to the Motel 8 for a snack and drink, then to bed. The mattreses were like sleeping on the bare boxsprings, so I got very little sleep. =(
The funeral the next day was sad. It was held in the funeral home, and a Presbytarian minister presided. You know, everything is shocking and sad, but then people get up and make testimonials about the deceased. It makes everything even more sad, especially when the deceased is young and had the world ahead of them. Mike's father Norm made a touching tribute to his son, and held it together well. Mike's Uncle Wes had an equally good tribute, but he didn't hold it together as well. It was so hard for everyone. One of his best girl friends from high school read her memories of him and did such a good job. It helped bring some comic relief to the sad day. Another woman he met in rehab and flew a plane with at the airport read a pilot's tribute poem, written in 1941. A couple of Mike's guy friends spoke as well. I had only seen Mike maybe about 10 times over my 26 years, and never really got to know him, so all of the speeches shed more light on who my cousin really was, and it was extremely sad. They drove his body away to be cremated after the ceremony.
The funeral luncheon was across the street at the veteran's hall. Very good tea sandwiches and cakes made by the old ladies there. I talked a lot with my second cousin Kaity. She's studying English (Journalism, really) and it's her her first year at University of Toronto. I told her about my college experience. I didn't get to talk much to Megan, who is closer to my age, because she was with her boyfriend most of the time.
We went back to Norm and Krysia's and got to socialize more. They had CRAZY amounts of food donated by the whole town. So much had to be stored at 2 neighbors'! Their backyard was really awesome... they have a nice pool and stuff. I haven't been there in 10 years and remember little, except back then, their backyard was huge with the highway behind it and their cat was catching mice in the ditch and bringing them to us as an offering durring dinner, ha.
After lots of good Canadian beer (it tastes different over there), the guys were chipping old golf balls over the highway onto the slope, carefully dodging the cars. That's Uncle Norm... he's such a funny guy. I wanted to take more photos of everyone, but it didn't seem the time to make people pose, so I got very little. I'll see them all again in a year at my parents' official housewarming party.
Aunt Sue and I took my Great Aunt Jenny back home, so we went through Windsor to get home. She's selling her house and moving closer to her son Robert and family. It was HER talking all the way home, with a few interesting stories about babies and her animals and family and stuff. Then she said the family needs a happy event, so come on Kim... get married already! Great, I'm next in line on both sides of the family to be harrassed about that.
After Aunt Sue dropped me at home at 11PM, I crashed on the couch to the TV.
But the main thing for you to know about the death: After watching a movie downstairs, Norm left him at 2:30AM and went to bed. Mike's alarm went off at 5:30AM, and Norm shut it off. Went looking for Mike. Mike was passed out, half off and half on the couch and cold. They called the O.P.P., took him to the hospital while doing CPR. He was already dead. Through the autopsy they found his heart was enlarged. The chemical tests will come back in a few weeks. They think it was a combo of asthma medication and depression medication that did him in. Earlier this year, he was in rehab for an addiction to prescription drugs and maybe some recreational drugs. He's been clean for the past 6 months and had plans to go back to school and be a teacher overseas. He really turned his life around, everyone says. They don't think it was suicide. It's shocking enough to know about the rehab part, but I wish we knew the truth about the death...
On Friday, I went back to work. I shoulda just not gone, because every time me or JABBO go away on vacation, shit happens when we return. This time, there were errors in the Super K ads, so now editing/copywriting was given the Super K ad to double-check. So add that to checking the printer database, editing the offshore books in full and at VP stage, and writing and building the regular Kmart ad copy and editing them when they come back as VPs AND doing pop breakouts. Just because there are so many incompetant people working there, WHY SHOULD JABBO AND I GET ASSIGNED ALL THE WORK? Jesus, this is getting crazy! Now we have Turley and Ben breathing down our necks, asking why we're falling behind on things. Well when 2 people are doing all the work in the company, I WONDER WHY? If things keep getting out of hand, JABBO and I are going to have to have a meeting with the bosses. This is nuts. It's non-stop work and you can't hardly get a lunch break in. And when one of us goes on vacation, it's hectic for who remains. As if I hadn't said it before... I NEED A NEW JOB!
Friday night I left work and went out to Ron's. One of his friends, John H., got married at the new Best Western about 5 blocks from his house on Groesbeck. We made it for the reception. I was shocked at how nice it was there. The food displays were really spectacular and it was a large wedding. Lots of people in the wedding party. I saw someone that looked like Fr. Bill P. (one of my parents' friends that became a priest) there. I also saw two other "look-alikes"... a woman named Mary at our table who looked EXACTLY like my deceased neighbor AnnMarie M. and a woman who looked like Catherine P., the annoying little singing shit from high school. Funny.
Since the wedding was of two Channel 4/WDIV employees, there were Channel 4 people there, none of who I recognized but Alan Frank, who sat at the table next to ours. They had one of those ME TV kiosks (that Channel 4's set up all around Metro Detroit for you to record your thoughts, comments and actions about anything for possible news broadcast) there so you could record a message for the newlyweds. Ron and his friend did a nice message, then did some funny ones. I hope they make it on the couple's tape!
Overall, great food, great facility, annoying DJ, weak drinks. Nice event, though.
On Saturday, I took it easy, dyed mom's hair over Ron's house and had a nice meal out. Chatted with Greenberg a little. It's Yom Kippour, so he's been all dressed up for services and fasting and all. Good for him. He's really happy living at Ron's and making progress. I can't wait for "Ronnuka" (the proposed Greenberg Hannuka party at Ron's) this year!
Saturday night I was invited out by Big Joe to see a movie and grab a bite with a few other old college newspaper friends. Jenn didn't call back (is she on a leash by her new husband?) but Ramez showed, and so did one of Joe's roommates, Dave. We saw "The Forgotten" at AMC Forum 30. Long T. was there selling tickets so I quickly said hi. He screwed up our tickets twice and Joe was complaining about him, awww, poor Long. I've only been to the Forum maybe 2x and I remembered why... $9 is too much for a movie in my opinion. Plus, partial resentment of the place for shutting our shithole theater down, heh.
I know some of the critics said "The Forgotten" had a weak plot but strong acting, and I agree. But I really did fall into the plot and the special effects were freaky. Some really cool camera angles and stuff that will make you jump! I kinda guessed the ending, but it didn't bore me. I suggest you guys see it, 'cause it was good.
We went out to eat at CHAMPPS afterward, and I met two more of the group's friends, who were nice. They had Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps there, yummmm. Joe and I groused about how our jobs don't pay shit and some of the runaround we get. Ramez is doing well for himself as a sports and education writer for a small paper and seems pretty happy. Always has the pager with the sports scores that he checks constantly, glued to his hip. It was a fun night out.
I slept in Sunday and lazed online instead of doing more cleaning. Well, I missed the compy after 4 days away from it, awwww. Going to a birthday party later today.
HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY, jaxian!!!
An update on our sick boy... Sunshine, mom's parakeet, went back to the birdie doctor yesterday for another shot. He had a sinus infection but he's doing much better now.
In 2 weeks Ron and I will go camping again for the last time... anyone game? It'll probably be a little chilly but what the hay...
Been busy for the past 4 days.
I had to LJ cut this for you: So the wake for my 24-year-old cousin Mike of Canada was on Wed. It was my immediate family, plus my Aunt Sue who trekked up there. We left about noon, had a bite in Port Huron, then made our way over the Blue Water bridge. There was a guy who scraped this woman's new green Lincoln with his car while waiting for our turns at customs, and she got out and went after him. He was some old fart who denied it. Then he got out with a rag and rubbed the spot almost clean, then invited her over for coffee in Canada. LOL. Our customs woman asked us what license plate we had. It says MICHIGAN all over it, can't you read? She was kinda bitchy. But as soon as you tell them you're going to a funeral or to the casino, they usually let you pass with no incident, heh.
From the border, it's 3 hours up to Caledonia, Ontario. My Aunt Sue talked the whole way up and I razzed her for it. She's turning into a stereotypical old Polish granny every day. Along the way, there's not too much to see... it's rather like Ohio with farms and fields. While pretty, you can only take so many miles of that. Heh. There were cops EVERYWHERE. They were doing some mad stings up the main freeway for MILES... from the ditches to the on-ramps to the overpasses... 30 O.P.P. cars and people pulled over all over! When I saw the first cop car with "O.P.P." on it, I thought of the old rap song and laughed. =).
A bit about Caledonia... it's a very small town. Hamilton would be the nearest large city. Toronto is north and east around the water. You're pretty close to New York, so my relatives go major shopping there. In Caledonia, there's a little downtown area, one funeral home, a bunch of Presbytarian churches, and the beautiful Grand River that runs through town. There's no hotels in the city, so we checked in at the Super 8 motel in the town nearby. Clean but yes, a budget hotel in MANY senses. (More on that later.)
We went downtown to find some food that wasn't too pricey. There was a Chinese place that seemed decent so we went in. It was decorated in bad 60s/70s wood decor, but oriental style. The place was run by all old Asian men and women and it was pretty dead in there. Our waiter was funny. Very nice man, but looked dissheveled, with his fly a little open too! Ha. Just an middle-aged bumbling man. His accent was funny, especially when he was talking about the "chicken balls with nuts" (sweet and sour chicken). The food was decent.
The funeral home opened at 6 to the public. All my Canadian relatives were there. Holy crap did Nicholas get big, and he's 16 now? (That's mom's cousin Rick's live-in girlfriend's son.) And my second cousins... Kaity and Laura... wow. Kaity had this goth look about her with the dark brown hair extensions with platinum blonde streaks. Michael's 22-year-old sister Megan was beautiful as always. She's all tan from the summer, blue eyes and chocolate brown hair. She could be a model. She was greeting people as they came in, along with her parents, Norm and Krysia. The line of visitors NEVER STOPPED. They lined up before the opening at 5:30 and kept coming after 9 when it was supposed to end. They estimated about 300 people! Word got around the small town, plus my cousin Mike knew lots of people from schools and working at a golf course and airport.
Now Mike... he looked exactly as I saw him last. It was him in the casket, but it was surreal. He looked so alive, like he was sleeping. It made it hard for me to cry because he didn't seem dead. He's a cute guy, and still looked cute in a polo with tan skin and a little goatee, sun streaks in his hair. Dang. Hard to believe he was gone.
We talked with the relatives during the visitation... caught up on them all. These are all my mom's cousins. See, great grandma (Babcia Louise) and great grandpa came from Poland to Windsor, Canada. They had 3 daughters: Stella (my grandma), Helen and Jenny. Helen and Jenny married Polish men and stayed in Canada to have my mom's cousins (Krysia, Yancia and Richard). Stella met & married my grandpa (Harry) in Windsor, then they moved to the U.S. and that's how we all got roots here in Detroit. So all the younger cousins (and Mike) are my second cousins.
After the funeral home closed, my family and Aunt Sue went to this restaurant called "Frankie's" next to the Motel 8 for a snack and drink, then to bed. The mattreses were like sleeping on the bare boxsprings, so I got very little sleep. =(
The funeral the next day was sad. It was held in the funeral home, and a Presbytarian minister presided. You know, everything is shocking and sad, but then people get up and make testimonials about the deceased. It makes everything even more sad, especially when the deceased is young and had the world ahead of them. Mike's father Norm made a touching tribute to his son, and held it together well. Mike's Uncle Wes had an equally good tribute, but he didn't hold it together as well. It was so hard for everyone. One of his best girl friends from high school read her memories of him and did such a good job. It helped bring some comic relief to the sad day. Another woman he met in rehab and flew a plane with at the airport read a pilot's tribute poem, written in 1941. A couple of Mike's guy friends spoke as well. I had only seen Mike maybe about 10 times over my 26 years, and never really got to know him, so all of the speeches shed more light on who my cousin really was, and it was extremely sad. They drove his body away to be cremated after the ceremony.
The funeral luncheon was across the street at the veteran's hall. Very good tea sandwiches and cakes made by the old ladies there. I talked a lot with my second cousin Kaity. She's studying English (Journalism, really) and it's her her first year at University of Toronto. I told her about my college experience. I didn't get to talk much to Megan, who is closer to my age, because she was with her boyfriend most of the time.
We went back to Norm and Krysia's and got to socialize more. They had CRAZY amounts of food donated by the whole town. So much had to be stored at 2 neighbors'! Their backyard was really awesome... they have a nice pool and stuff. I haven't been there in 10 years and remember little, except back then, their backyard was huge with the highway behind it and their cat was catching mice in the ditch and bringing them to us as an offering durring dinner, ha.
After lots of good Canadian beer (it tastes different over there), the guys were chipping old golf balls over the highway onto the slope, carefully dodging the cars. That's Uncle Norm... he's such a funny guy. I wanted to take more photos of everyone, but it didn't seem the time to make people pose, so I got very little. I'll see them all again in a year at my parents' official housewarming party.
Aunt Sue and I took my Great Aunt Jenny back home, so we went through Windsor to get home. She's selling her house and moving closer to her son Robert and family. It was HER talking all the way home, with a few interesting stories about babies and her animals and family and stuff. Then she said the family needs a happy event, so come on Kim... get married already! Great, I'm next in line on both sides of the family to be harrassed about that.
After Aunt Sue dropped me at home at 11PM, I crashed on the couch to the TV.
But the main thing for you to know about the death: After watching a movie downstairs, Norm left him at 2:30AM and went to bed. Mike's alarm went off at 5:30AM, and Norm shut it off. Went looking for Mike. Mike was passed out, half off and half on the couch and cold. They called the O.P.P., took him to the hospital while doing CPR. He was already dead. Through the autopsy they found his heart was enlarged. The chemical tests will come back in a few weeks. They think it was a combo of asthma medication and depression medication that did him in. Earlier this year, he was in rehab for an addiction to prescription drugs and maybe some recreational drugs. He's been clean for the past 6 months and had plans to go back to school and be a teacher overseas. He really turned his life around, everyone says. They don't think it was suicide. It's shocking enough to know about the rehab part, but I wish we knew the truth about the death...
On Friday, I went back to work. I shoulda just not gone, because every time me or JABBO go away on vacation, shit happens when we return. This time, there were errors in the Super K ads, so now editing/copywriting was given the Super K ad to double-check. So add that to checking the printer database, editing the offshore books in full and at VP stage, and writing and building the regular Kmart ad copy and editing them when they come back as VPs AND doing pop breakouts. Just because there are so many incompetant people working there, WHY SHOULD JABBO AND I GET ASSIGNED ALL THE WORK? Jesus, this is getting crazy! Now we have Turley and Ben breathing down our necks, asking why we're falling behind on things. Well when 2 people are doing all the work in the company, I WONDER WHY? If things keep getting out of hand, JABBO and I are going to have to have a meeting with the bosses. This is nuts. It's non-stop work and you can't hardly get a lunch break in. And when one of us goes on vacation, it's hectic for who remains. As if I hadn't said it before... I NEED A NEW JOB!
Friday night I left work and went out to Ron's. One of his friends, John H., got married at the new Best Western about 5 blocks from his house on Groesbeck. We made it for the reception. I was shocked at how nice it was there. The food displays were really spectacular and it was a large wedding. Lots of people in the wedding party. I saw someone that looked like Fr. Bill P. (one of my parents' friends that became a priest) there. I also saw two other "look-alikes"... a woman named Mary at our table who looked EXACTLY like my deceased neighbor AnnMarie M. and a woman who looked like Catherine P., the annoying little singing shit from high school. Funny.
Since the wedding was of two Channel 4/WDIV employees, there were Channel 4 people there, none of who I recognized but Alan Frank, who sat at the table next to ours. They had one of those ME TV kiosks (that Channel 4's set up all around Metro Detroit for you to record your thoughts, comments and actions about anything for possible news broadcast) there so you could record a message for the newlyweds. Ron and his friend did a nice message, then did some funny ones. I hope they make it on the couple's tape!
Overall, great food, great facility, annoying DJ, weak drinks. Nice event, though.
On Saturday, I took it easy, dyed mom's hair over Ron's house and had a nice meal out. Chatted with Greenberg a little. It's Yom Kippour, so he's been all dressed up for services and fasting and all. Good for him. He's really happy living at Ron's and making progress. I can't wait for "Ronnuka" (the proposed Greenberg Hannuka party at Ron's) this year!
Saturday night I was invited out by Big Joe to see a movie and grab a bite with a few other old college newspaper friends. Jenn didn't call back (is she on a leash by her new husband?) but Ramez showed, and so did one of Joe's roommates, Dave. We saw "The Forgotten" at AMC Forum 30. Long T. was there selling tickets so I quickly said hi. He screwed up our tickets twice and Joe was complaining about him, awww, poor Long. I've only been to the Forum maybe 2x and I remembered why... $9 is too much for a movie in my opinion. Plus, partial resentment of the place for shutting our shithole theater down, heh.
I know some of the critics said "The Forgotten" had a weak plot but strong acting, and I agree. But I really did fall into the plot and the special effects were freaky. Some really cool camera angles and stuff that will make you jump! I kinda guessed the ending, but it didn't bore me. I suggest you guys see it, 'cause it was good.
We went out to eat at CHAMPPS afterward, and I met two more of the group's friends, who were nice. They had Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps there, yummmm. Joe and I groused about how our jobs don't pay shit and some of the runaround we get. Ramez is doing well for himself as a sports and education writer for a small paper and seems pretty happy. Always has the pager with the sports scores that he checks constantly, glued to his hip. It was a fun night out.
I slept in Sunday and lazed online instead of doing more cleaning. Well, I missed the compy after 4 days away from it, awwww. Going to a birthday party later today.
HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY, jaxian!!!
An update on our sick boy... Sunshine, mom's parakeet, went back to the birdie doctor yesterday for another shot. He had a sinus infection but he's doing much better now.
In 2 weeks Ron and I will go camping again for the last time... anyone game? It'll probably be a little chilly but what the hay...