Past & Coming Week

Highlight was that on Tuesday, Aidan, Dylan and Aidan's girlfriend, Kelsey, came by KQED and we went to lunch at a nearby cafe. We did a lot of story-telling and laughing.

This coming Monday, Julia comes home from college. Can't wait to see her and hear her news.

Rocky week at work; lots of tough stuff going on there. It's been foggy and cold lately -- more like July than mid-May.

Hope everyone reading this is well!

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Voting

This morning I filled out my ballot and dropped it in the mail. Thanks to being a journalist, I know some of the local, state and national candidates and have met others.

At a time like this, when we have a would-be dictator at President, voting becomes especially important. It is the main way we can exercise our rights. And perhaps save our democracy.

***

This was another emotional week. I am not going to go into the details except in one case. I was on a phone call with one of my reporters as she interviewed a young woman who alleges she was sexually abused.

It was my role to explain to her we had to contact her alleged abuser. That is our journalistic and legal obligation. As I told her that, she started sobbing -- she didn't want us to talk to him.

I felt horrible -- obviously this news had triggered her.

It is often not easy being a journalist. This was one of those times. But eventually we were able to help her calm herself and by the end of the call she said she understood why we had to do this.

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No Sleep

I am up much too early again. I've been communicating with some of my kids, who never seem to sleep at all. I cannot imagine why they are still awake at 3 a.m.

But when you are filled with emotion, it is difficult to sleep. How do you explain all of this? Maybe the result of accepting your emotions, medically, is a diagnosis of anxiety. Why is that?

We have medicines to treat these conditions, but maybe they don't need to be treated. Maybe these feelings just need to be felt and lived with and through.

This was an emotional weekend for me and my three youngest kids. Maybe we shouldn't be able to sleep through it. We are remembering someone special we lost year ago. And that is enough to keep us sleepless.

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How Words Can Matter...

As it turns out, my lovely daughter Julia read the words I posted yesterday about her grandfather at the family gathering. They were simple words; had I known this would happen, I would have written more, much more.

But maybe simple is best, at times like this. And what an honor it is to have her as my daughter.

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Remembering Someone Special

I'm up early today, can't sleep, thinking mainly about my former father-in-law, Carey Matthiessen, who died a year ago. Back east, the family is gathering for a remembrance. My two youngest, Dylan (22) and Julia (19), have been navigating the trains, subways, Lyfts, Ubers, taxis, and buses the past few days to get to the ceremony.

I'm proud of them, as West Coast kids, for their ability to figure out those systems, which differ in many ways from ours out here. But also for their family loyalty.

Personally, I miss Carey. He was a wonderful person to talk with -- he taught me all about raising oysters, his main preoccupation -- which requires almost as much attention as raising children. We were both aware of the analogies.

When you live a long life, you get the opportunity to meet many people, but only a handful in the end can be special in your world. Carey was one of the special ones in my life. We had many great conversations.

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The DMV

My driver's license expired last month, and the first appointment I could arrange to renew it was today. I took a cab over to Fell Street and the crowded facility with a long-time reputation for rude service and long delays.

A couple of hours later, I took a cab back to the office, with my provisional license in hand, or at least in pocket. I had passed the eye test, the written test and provided the necessary documentation to get a renewal. And the service was polite and professional. (Maybe it helps to be old with white hair?)

I can't tell you how stressful this was for me. Lots of standing and waiting, worrying about the tests and whether I had the right papers on me.

But all went well, and I met two nice cab drivers during the process.

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Water Heater Blues

Working from home for second straight day because we have no hot water here. Workers yesterday and today have determined the old one is finished and needs to be replaced. Hope fully that will be accomplished today.

I took the opportunity to clear out some junk from the laundry room. This place really is too cluttered for my taste.

I like engaging with the workers, who invariably are minorities, probably little educated, and fun to talk with. I admire the work they are able to do; at my age, I am too frail to do anything like that.

My landlady has been here a lot; she bargains hard with the workers. It looks like this particular job will cost her $1,400. Days like this -- I am happy to be a renter, not an owner.

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