Peter Rolf Klaus Wagner

Archive for May, 2005

Things sure have changed ! Twenty years ago we go a microwave oven and it cost us almost $400. Today we got a new microwave at Wal-Mart for $74. What a difference! The old one was a 1.3 cu. ft. model whereas the newer one is a 1.2 cu.ft. But you can hardly tell.
Electronics has progressed to the point where everything is disposable, not to be repaired. If this one breaks it won’t pay to repair it.

Two things we seem to not be able to do without, a microwave oven and a table grill.

New Orleans Time & Temperature

On my son Wolfgang’s birth day (Feb 27, 1985) I decided to give the family a present.   Well it really was a present for Gayle to help her in preparing meals since she just had baby #4 , Wölfi.

I went to J C Penney at Lakeside Shopping Center and found a nice Microwave Oven, I thought. Well I bought it and brought it home. At that time we lived in a trailer on W 123rd Street in Galliano and it matched the interior of the kitchen. That’s why it’s wood tone. The microwave lasted over 20 years! I find that amazing. Commercial Microwaves burn out sooner than that. The only problems this one had was a burnt fuse once in a while.

But this time, this past week it popped its last bag of popcorn. The Magnetron won’t fire (that’s what makes the microwaves). Parts for this thing, if available, are too expensive. They’re getting like TVs, almost disposable. It looks like we’ll be shopping for a new one but I know we won’t find one as reliable as ours was.

The prices have come down considerably in 20 years so we should get a feature rich machine !

I went with Erika to see her Air Force recruiter today. I wish I had the same treatment from my recruiter 36 years ago! Everything was spelled out in black and white. But Erika almost sank her own ship by bringing up medical histories that I would consider trivial. Getting thrown from a horse and sustaining injuries then. I wouldn’t put much weight on that incident because it hasn’t affected her physically or mentally.  It looks like she’ll enter a delayed enlistment program and she can select whatever job she wants. That’s because her AFLAC test grades were so high across the board. I remember taking them in 1969 and I aced them so I tried to join the Air Force but my security clearance wouldn’t finish by the time my draft date would come up. Erika wants a field in Linguistics. Interesting !!

Coming back from the recruiter I hit a sign on the road and busted my side-view mirror. It exploded into the passenger compartment. My car”s front end is a little wobbly and I didn’t want to jerk away and Erika didn’t want to startle me by yelling to avoid it. I saw that flimsy sign so I didn’t avoid to hit it and risk erratic maneuvering  Lapalco at Bayou Segnette is especially narrow.

Check out the

“Ketchup Song” or

“Psycho”or

“No Milk”or

“Lovely”

at left under Pages or just click on any bold title !

I’m experimenting with this Blogging software and its many potentials.

A really good movie is in “Windows Really Good”

Franz showed his class his blog on the internet. Most of his classmates were impressed but a few weren’t, they said it was “fake”. I don’t know what they mean by “fake”. The part that impressed them most was the lyrics link that I gave Franz. But, like all things on the school network the links or lyrics it discovered were heavily censored. Maybe Franz will elaborate on this some more in his Blog.

I can’t just give Franz a Blog.   Franziska is next. Erik after. Then the caboose …. Dakota !    BTW,  Erika has her own site – www.ekmw511.com

She doesn’t have a blog but she does have a bulletin board.    An unofficial Hahnville High School Bulletin Board.   She’s been too busy with schoolwork to devote time to her site.

Today, Friday the Thirteenth, it was done. We brought Charlie and Sparky to the Humane Society. They were getting old and Sparky had that hair loss that people always commented about as being the mange which it wasn’t. We spent a considerable amount of money on our pets in the last few months, more than our kids in medical bills! If the neighbors continue to complain about the “dogs’ condition” we’d have to spend a lot more. Sad situation. Bringing them to the pound was an emotional experience. We always considered our pets as “family” but this time our hand was forced. The stark bleakness of the pound with all the dogs yelping didn’t help the occasion. Gayle was visibly distraught. It got to me too. Charlie and Sparky are okay now, gotta believe.’

Today, Friday the Thirteenth, it was done. We brought Charlie and Sparky to the Humane Society. They were getting old and Sparky had that hair loss that people always commented about as being the mange which it wasn’t. We spent a considerable amount of money on our pets in the last few months, more than our kids in medical bills! If the neighbors continue to complain about the “dogs” condition” we”d have to spend a lot more. Sad situation. Bringing them to the pound was an emotional experience. We always considered our pets as “family” but this time our hand was forced. The stark bleakness of the pound with all the dogs yelping didn’t help the occasion. Gayle was visibly distraught. It got to me too. Charlie and Sparky are okay now, gotta believe.

I got an E-Mail today fron one of Franz’s teachers. She lamented that Franz was lost today doing a project. He had full use of a computer on the internet in the classroom.
He did not accomplish anything. Franz is a hard starter because he gets himself into what he considers being overwhelmed. I have decided to do something about this. Instead of playing games on the computer this summer I have jump started a BLOG for him. Like this blog it will use WordPress. I”ll let him have free reign of content. Tomorrow I”ll start some pages for the other kids, Franziska, Erik and Dakota. Erika already has her own webpage. Erika’s Web Page hasn’t been maintained on a regular basis since she has been a busy girl!

To see the beginnings click on the picture of him. Right now (May 12) the blog uses the default scheme. Check often and I hope he’ll improve upon it and possibly should me something fresh and unique.

Things have quietened down some. I”m learning as I go in making this webblog. Also check my Journal for other things. Below is an experiment in incorporating HTML in postings. It seems to work pretty good.