I'm just getting used to looking in the mirror and seeing an old man.
Wanda and I saw someone on television who looked much younger than his years. His youthful looks may be attributed to cosmetic surgery or he has a baby face. I had a baby face. I had good skin, all my hair, and deep piercing blue eyes. I had nice teeth thanks to an orthodontist. I was 55-years-old before I started showing signs of ageing. Once I started it was a rapid progression.
Our new passports arrived last week.
I applied for and received my first passport in 1984. At thirty-five I had longish hair, a droopy mustache and always looked like I needed a shave. I had half closed squint eyes because my contacts were irritating. I looked much like an average every day drug smuggler. I think I still have that passport somewhere in the house.
Wanda and I went on our first cruise in 2003. At the time a birth certificate and photo identification was all we needed for travel. We took the train to Seattle and sailed on Star Princess to Alaska. We were on the ship just two years post 9/11. The captain made an announcement about the horrific morning and we observed a moment of silence for the victims. The country was still reeling from the terrorist attacks. The government was implementing changes in travel requirements.
We decided to get passports for our next cruise in 2004; these were recently replaced.
I can see a worker at the U.S. Department of State looking at my attached picture and laughing. "Hey, look at this poor fucker. His face looks like a pumpkin four days after Halloween." When I had the picture taken I knew it was bad but it didn't really hit me until I saw it in a book, a book I'll carry for the next ten years.
Our new passports expire in 2024.....2024. Can you imagine 2024! Seeing it in type gives me the willies. When I first opened the official document and read 2024 I almost pissed in my pants. I envisioned flying cars, talking robots and the 35th season of Survivor: Moon. If I don't expire first I'll be 75 in 2024, now that's something to look forward to.
And even worse, a sadistic bastard sent my old passport back a few days later. Have you ever looked at two almost identical pictures of yourself taken ten years apart? Well, have you? Take my word for it, don't. You won't like what you see.
I was mistaken yesterday. The bathroom project will begin not this week but next Monday. I don't think I ever mentioned our house has just a bath and a half. The half bath has never made sense to me. Unless you want to bathe in the sink or toilet you can't take a bath, half or otherwise. Having our one shower out of order for a few days is going to be a bit of a challenge for Wanda. I can go without a proper shower but she has to clean up for work Monday through Thursday.
We have a few seedy looking motels on the outskirts of the city. I'm sure we can find one that rents by the hour.
Years ago I was visiting a cousin in southern California. I stayed in a motel with paper thin walls. The people in the next room sounded like sex starved cats having wild intercourse for the first time in years. Heads were banging, pictures were rocking and all of it was in Spanish. Bad enough I had to listen to this, I couldn't understand a thing they said.
Many of the 51,000 residents of Pflugerville, Texas were shocked, saddened and dismayed when the body of Virginia Monroe was discovered in the home she shared with her husband Gus.
Police were called when a concerned neighbor hadn't seen Gus or Virginia in several days. Catherine Latour told officers she sees Virginia every day. "Either she says hello to me or I say hello to her. She may be getting up in years but she still tends her garden or hangs her laundry. We don't have a fence but if we did I guess you could say we talk over it. Just the other day she gave me her recipe for black bottom pie. I made it and it was real good."
Gus and Virginia lived in Pflugerville all their lives. They were high school sweethearts, married in 1949; they recently celebrated 65 years together. A friend, Bobby McCoy said, "They seemed so happy there at the Moose Lodge. I got to believe something terrible caused this. It don't seem like Gus could do anything like that."
Authorities were able to determine 83-year-old Gus stabbed and killed Virginia with a sterling silver sardine serving fork. When Virginia's body was found she had a fork embedded in her neck and Gus said, "I stabbed her with something, I thought it was the roast beef server. She made me nuts with her flatware."
When questioned Gus said, "I just snapped I guess. After all this time, after all these years you'd think she would give me a break. Ginny was always proper and sometimes I wanted to scream. Every now and again I wanted a hot dog on a paper plate, but no, we always had to sit down to a fancy dinner."
A science and shop teacher for over forty years Gus also coached the high school baseball team. Former student Bill Weatherby said, "Both Gus and Virginia had many local ties. Nothing like this ever happened in this community before. I feel terrible and wish there was something I could do for him. Maybe I'll stop down at Rosie's and pick him up a book or magazine."
Gus is being held in the local jail awaiting arraignment. The District Attorney in Williamson has filed murder charges. At this time bail has been denied.
Gus was overheard saying, if I'd killed her when I first thought about it, I'd be out by now.
Talk to you tomorrow.
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