He's off to School!

Anselm called me today. He just got orders to report to Submarine Base New London in two days to traning as a submarine navigator. It turns out he was kind of liking not doing anything in Chicago. He said he went out to fabulous resaurants 2 or three times a week and is going to miss doing that in New London. What's kind of funny is that that among the 26 men whith whom he is traveling from the Naval training center in Chicago to the Sub school in New London, he is the only one to have already slept on a submarine.

Hunting, School, Church, and Oher Stuff

Kathleen, Basil, and I went hunting down in San Luis Obispo County back on the 9th, 10h, and 11th of this month. The location was a big cattle ranch a couple of miles east of Shandon, where my two oldest sons used to live. We got in just a sunset on the Friday the 9th and made camp. THat night we heard pigs so we were pretty confident about getting one in the morning. The next day, before dawn, we were up and looking for pigs. wWe did indeed see a pig Eurasion boar. We were a the top of a canyon, it was at the bottom. We chased it into a thick growth of junipers and waited a long time for it to come out but we got to thinking, "How are we going to get a 300 pound boar out of that canyon?" So we didn't get a pig that morning.

At noon, we went into the town of Paso Robles where we rented a Swimply pool. It was a lot of fun and a good way to avoid the heat of the middle of the day. The host has his back yard designed like a polynesian resort. We grilled italian sausages, swam, and napped. It was needed after the rigours of the mornning hunt.

In the evening we tried a different place on the ranch but didn't see any pigs. The same was true the next morniing, Sunday. We hunted until 10 a.m. then broke camp and headed to the cemetary to pray for Billy. While we were there something amazing happened. Just as we finished praying I saw a woman walking quickly towards us from the other side of the cemtary. She came up to us and said, "Did you know Billy?" So, I have finally met the person who has been puting flowers on his grave for the past ten years. She did not know him but read his obituary in the newspaper and decided to make sure there would always be flowers on his grave. On the way home we stopped in King City for dinner, there are a lot of good Mexican places here so I thought chile verde would be nice. But there was a place right along the highway so we went there instead. I was not expecting the Wildhorse Cafe to be anything special, but WOW! The California Tri-Tip Melt was amazing!

We have many more hunting trips planned, to Mendocino county for bear, to Sierra County for deer and turkey, to Fresno County and San Luis Obispo County for pigs, and to San Francisco Bay for ducks and geese.

I am taking two pretty intense classes this semester. One is on pumps and electric motors. It is a deep dive into hydraulics and the physics of electro-magnetism. The other class is on water treamant plant legal compliance procedures. Neither is very fun, though I am learning a lot. I have sent in my test application packet (Water Treatment Plant Operator I) to the California Water Resources Board.

Work at Bass Pro Shops is still going along fine. I have gotten much use out of the employee discount. And, of course, I am still working as a substitute teacher; Gilrory more than other school districts. It's my favorite district.

A crazy thing happened with my child support. The county sent me a letter saying that I was behind on my payments. I wasn't behind but figured I should pay them anyway so sent them a bunch of money. Then they sent me another letter saying they were suspending my drivers license. Then a couple of days later they sent me six different checks in the mail aproximating the amount I had overpaid. Then they sent me a letter saying they were suspending my teachers credentiaal for non-payment of child support. So, I called them on the phone and they said it would take a while to correct the error and they would contact me as soon as it was fixed. A week later I called them again and they said it wasn't fixed yet but they said they would fix it. It has been a week since that conversation and I still don't know if it has been fixed. This is the third time since my divorce from Athanasia that they have done this to me. It is astounding to me that anyone wants the government to run anything. Elected officials have, at least, a need to please most of the voters happy but bureaucrats are insulated from that pressure. It is astounding to me that the people want the government to run so much of our lives.

Basil and I have sarted reading Genesis together. We are through Chapter 11. It is much fun.

I am making a great effort to attend the Festal Vigils for all the Great Feasts this year. It isn't easy, as I have to schedule my hours at Bass Pro shops a month in advance and they give no time off from Nov 1 through January 10. But I think I've got most of the the Great Feasts between now and Theophany taken care of. So far, I have made it to the Vigils for Nativity of the Theotokos and Exaltation of the Cross. Presentation is up next and I don't have to work that night. Christmas and Theophany will be the difficult ones.

Anselm has been delayed in Chicago by the Navy. Apparently, Covid-19 has slowed down the sub school in Groton, Connecticut so they have no room for anymore trainees until sometime in late November. They keep him busy cleaning things in the mornings but he has the rest of the day free. So, with nothing to do he is, in the main, trying to not be bored as he waits to go to sub school. He is going to church at one of the many parishes in Chicago. Who knows, maybe, this delay is happening so that he meets a wife at church? God knows.

We still do not have a kitchen. It has been since June. And since last week we haven't had water. The pipe that took water to the balcony where we had been cooking was removed during the demolition. And the living room is full of consturction materials. And the floors are torn up. And the second floor balcony where we had been cooking on a camping stove is now full of furniture we had to move out of the kitchen and living room. And the third floor bathroom is still demolished and unuseable. But we have a microwave oven, a toaster, and a freezer. We do not know when anything is going to be done. Two insurance companies are fighting about who is going to pay for what.

I finished Dashiell Hammet's The Thin Man last week. I have seen and enjoyed the film adaptation of his The Malteese Falcon so I figured I'd read a book by him. I very much liked it. I shall, I think, read his Red Harvest next.

A Christmas List

Kathleen saw me Christmas shopping for my sons, and asked me for my Christmas list. In no particular order (BUT I REALLY NEED A NEW PRAYER BOOK), and please don't buy more than one thing, here it is.

1. An inexspensive holster that I won't mind getting scratched and torn and dirty when I am out in the wilderness.

2. Any Wegewood Christmas tree ornament.

3. Go to Nativity Royal Hours with me at Holy Trinity Cathedral.

4. The Lamp

5. A ferry ride to Larkspur where we can get pannetone at Emporio Rulli.

6. I've broken a couple of my pipes. I could use one in a waterfowl or gamebird theme.

7.A pig theme tie to wear when hunting pigs. But don't buy new. The prices are crazy high. Look on eBay.

8. A new Prayer Book.