The View From Kaiser

I went to an eye appointment at Kaiser's Franklin Building this morning. It was a very dismal, gloomy day - why do people like the fall, anyway? This facility is a large high rise medical building - connected to St. Joseph's Medical Center - and it is very much like being in a hospital. Most of the people here this morning were elderly, dealing with declining health, just as my mother did before she passed away. Steve, the optometrist who I went to see, was a really nice guy, and at the end of the examination told me that all was okay with me - medically. "What the hell does that mean?," I thought to myself. I stewed about that all day. Then, around 5:30 P.M, right before I was about to leave work, I remembered that I had asked Steve about glaucoma, and he had given me some additional tests to make sure all was okay. I realized then that he was distinguishing glaucoma from general eyesight issues. He was NOT calling me crazy, at least not out loud. Maybe I am too sensitive.

Robin Makes It To the Blog!

Robin has finally made it to my blog. She didn't even know I had a blog until Roddy, the University of Denver Photography Professor, mentioned it to her. I find this hard to believe, since my blog is the talk of the Bookstore. In any case, Robin is a work study student who assists in the Bookstore's computer department. She knows everything there is to know about computers and software, and is an asset to the store. I attribute her lack of knowledge of my very popular blog to her intense concentration on her duties at the store.

Charlie Joins the Bookstore Crew!

Charlie has worked for the DU Bookstore as a temporary employee for a number of years. He worked at the Heckman Pioneer Shop at Magness Arena (which the Bookstore used to run before we were unceremoniously thrown out) before that. Charlie has the most positive attitude of anyone I have ever met, as compared with the surly attitude of the rest of the staff. He has been hired to work 3 days a week at the Bookstore on a regular basis, which will help a lot when all of our work study students insist - can you believe it? - on going home for the holidays. Welcome Aboard, Charlie!

The DU Bookstore's Student Employees Step Up!

The DU Bookstore is hiring more student employees than ever, and they are doing a great job! Often they are running the sales floor by themselves, like Anna, Bweza, and Kyla (pictured above) did today. This is a good thing, since our rather aged full-time staff does not seem to have the same energy. Often we find them sound asleep while standing straight up - whether at their cash registers or computer terminals. I feel bad having to taser them, but that' s what you have to do in today's competitive economy. Otherwise, they would wind up sleeping in the store all night. It's the right thing to do.

Time and Memories

I received my current watch as a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law a number of years ago. My mother was visiting from Florida at the time, and pronounced it - in private - the ugliest watch she had ever seen. The following August, when I came to visit her in Stuart, Florida, she hadn't changed her mind. One day when we were walking in the Treasure Coast Mall, we passed a Walgreen's Drug Store and she announced that she was buying me a new Timex watch, and to pick one out. I wore that watch until it gave up the ghost years later. I only then started to wear the "ugly" watch again. Last April I was wearing that watch when I lost it in Oakwoods Cemetery in Chicago, taking photographs on the "Confederate Hill." This place is the mass grave of 5,000 Confederate soldiers who died from disease and neglect at the nearby Camp Douglas prison camp. I didn't realize I had lost it until I was driving away. I thought about not going back for it, but finally decided to turn around and look for it. The gates to the cemetery were closed for the night by the time I returned. However, the next morning the watch was still there, right where I had dropped it. Now I wonder if the watch might be haunted. One of these days I expect to see one of those long dead Confederate soldiers looking back at me where the clock face should be. In any case, I recently had to replace the watchband and two batteries, at a cost of $85 (the price of 3 Timex watches!). As a natural cheapskate, I hesitated to pay it for a minute, but then told myself the memories were worth the cost.

Free Day!

Today was a free day at the Denver Art Museum. The placed was packed with my fellow cheapskates, taking in all the new modern art on display in the Hamilton Wing. There was a time when I didn't care much for modern art, but over the years I've changed my mind. It is by far the most original and thought-provoking work being done these days, not to mention just a lot of fun to look at. But where have all the photographs gone? Put them back!

Nina is Still Positive!

I had lunch with Nina today. She is enjoying her job at the DU Bookstore very much, and still looks forward to going to work each day. She is an inspiration to us all, having such a positive outlook on life. It makes me, a pessimist by nature, and counting the days until retirement, ashamed of myself. Still, I think of the fun I might have had in the French Foreign Legion, enjoying the warmth (115 degrees at noon), the camaraderie (ex-cons from every part of the globe), and the beautiful scenery (desert as far as the eye can see). Oh well, I can do all that when I retire.