For fun I "learn", scuba dive, putter around with computers, write, watch Jayhawk basketball and ride horses. Mostly, I putter with computers and the net. I have crashed my computer so many times I can't count them. In my opinion, that's how to learn. Try something, screw it up, and then figure out how to fix it. Fortunately, I have many teachers too. I have gotten into fixes I could not figure my way out of. That is where the teachers Randy and so many others come in, they help me out of those fixes, and I learn.

How many people get to live their dreams. This is the second time in my life I have gotten to live a dream. I always dreamed of going to college, but never thought I would get there. I not only got there I got a masters degree. My dream car was a Mazda Miata but I didn't think I would ever get one. I got my Miata. I always wanted to live by the ocean but knew I would never get to do that. And now I am living in a condo from which I can see the ocean and walk there in two minutes. Who could ask for more?

The down side to this situation is that my son is mad as a hornet at me. He will get better over time. He and his wife have had a baby her name is Maddeline Ruth (Mom's name) Faust. I have yet to meet her but can not wait. I don't know when this will happen. I have learned something new. Money makes people act strange. Yup, that's what my son is angry about. I inherited some bread and he wants it. He will get it but not the way he thinks he will yet he is not speaking to me so he won't know until it happens which will be sooner than he thinks. This money thing is horrible. My advice is to either not have any or give it to the people before you die.

In this life I have been a nurse, social worker and now I am a computer nerd wana be, or maybe I am a nerd, some people think I am but then my teachers think I am a wana' be so I guess it depends on where you are standing. Most recently I found out that I am an artistic photographer. I seem to be having some very good luck in the real estate market as well as the stock market.

Until I hit around 50 I didn't think I had a creative bone in my body. Then all of a sudden all this artzie stuff starts showing up. I still can not draw a stick and all of the creative art work here is not drawn by me. I use a variety of fonts to draw the images then I combine and color them. I owe the font makers a big THANK YOU!

The latest information with me is that I have Post Polio Syndrome. I'm not having a good time with this. I am tired all the time and having trouble swallowing. I knock things over and my left hand does exactly what it feels like most of the time. It never was very cooperative but it has become like the hand that lived with the Addams family. My friends and I call it Thing.

I left the condo and made a nice profit. It was hard to leave the beach but I was very isolated in that condotell; now I am in a neighborhood and I like it a lot better. I bought a dump with a very nice yard and just finished the renovation. The good part about what's new is that I have an entirely new house with a new floor plan that includes a new half bath. Prior to the beginning of the work, you came into the front door and looked straight into the bathroom..."my how attractive"; my bedroom was one very tiny room and the house had a tiny second bedroom. They are now a master sweet and I have a bath with a whirlpool. Being a water baby, I am in heaven with this thing. The floors in the kitchen and both baths are tiled and heated...what a luxury. The kitchen was all fouled up the sink and the dishwasher were separated by a cabinet, for some unknown reason as well it, the sink was facing a wall and there was absolutely no window so we took the sink and stove; swapped sides an put a window over the sink. Oh, the sink is copper; because I am a mermaid it and the granit that surrounds it sparkle like diamonds and I am in seventh heaven with that. The backsplash is made of shells that I found while living at the beach, some nautilus fossils and some pieces of drift wood. We changed out all the windows and the entire place was rewired, walls came out and put back in other places. I have new carpet and Pergo that I found on sale at Home Depot for $0.99 a foot. We added a front and back porch; I put my swing out front. There was no cleanup crew but me...UGH! I am wondering how long it's going to take me to recover. How wonderful it is to have this beautiful place to live in. If you are in Astoria, OR and need a contractor or even just a wood worker there is only one to have and his name is Ken Hurst seek this dude out. He is absolutely the best. Thanks Ken! There is only one electrician in my book too, his name is Eric Filley and he owns Halo Electric here in Astoria. These people don't make a mess and if they do they bring in their own vacuum and clean up after themselves. Eric and his wife Debby take off their shoes before they come in...How cool is that? The worker dudes wear covers on their shoes as not to screw up your nice new floors. Thanks Eric and Debby! Would I ever go through that again? Most decidedly not but then it's nice to live in this wonderfully customized home. I'm never moving again, period and that's all there is to it.

Learning may be the thing I like to do the best. It is a toss up between learning and the ocean. The reason I dive is simple, I have an affinity for water. I don't care what kind of water it is; my "favorite water" spectrum is exceedingly wide. There are no limits, the scope encompasses Kansas mud holes to swimming pools. And, then there is…the ocean. The ocean is something to which I have a very unique bond. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to read my musings about the ocean in "Tears for the Sea".

My dad is the one who got me started with SCUBA. There are several things written about him on this site. The first is The Humorous Memorial Service. This composition is really a celebration of the life of my father. This very funny composition is an excerpt from my contribution to a book that has been published. The title of the book is From Eulogy To Joy there were a number of contributors to the book and there is a discussion about the book at this website From Eulogy To Joy this website is not commercial and we would love to have you come talk to us in the discussion group located there. The second is "My Father's comments on life in 1962" which is actually a Christmas letter written and run off on a mimeograph, you remember one of those drum thingies that turned out purple print. Finally, for now I have a picture of my dad under water. I hope you enjoy all of this :-)