Sun Apr 1 = Happy EASTER, APRIL'S FOOLS DAY and SUNDAY! Today I visited the tenants on Sherman and told them about the letter I received from the City of Hutchinson about stuff in the yard. They were very cooporative.
Mon Apr 2 = Today I organized some more of Stan's finances, phoning lots of credit cards. I found that the Home Depot, Sears and other credit cards were issued by Citibank. Kayla, in KCMO was very helpful in getting the Citibank accounts closed.
Tue Apr 3 = Today I drove to Wichita, KS to visit my daughter and her family. It took a little doing to get me and my van approved as visitors on McConnell Air Force Base.
- It is different now spending my nights in a house and in a regular bed.
Wed Apr 4 = I got up early this morning and had breakfast with Anne and family.
- At 8:30 I picked Anne up at Trinity Auto where they are performing some repair warranty work. Later in the morning I met with Pamela J Thompson, estate attorney. It was an informative hour, cost only $250 as a reference from
Cindy
my younger brother George's wife
's
sister. I found out a few new things but mostly confirmed what I had already learned previously. Pam said my form to manage Stan's estate was good.
- This evening I did comedy at The Wichita Loony Bin Comedy 215 Open Mic. It was a good group. Here's my set:
Thu Apr 5 = I picked up my custom rubber stamp, saying Administrator, Stanley A Self Estate at Superior Rubber Stamp. I had ordered it Tuesday morning before leaving Hutchinson.
- The Loony Bin was featuring three comedians, each getting 30 minutes: Brent Terhune, Jason Cheny and Shane McConnahay. My plan: go to all the shows for the four days, Wed through Sat and see what I can learn, so away to the Loony Bin for the show tonight. It was snowing when I drove home.
Fri Apr 6 = I don't know what last night's low temperature was in Wichita, but it was forecast to be 19° F. Looking out my upstairs bedroom window this morning at Anne's house I saw the result of the spring snowstorm (panoramic photo by Louis Self using his Nexus 6P cell phone)
- Of course I enjoyed visiting with Anne.
- After I sat in during the first show at The Loony Bin this evening, I went back for the 10:30 show. Bigs, the manager, said, since I came back he'd let me go up for five minutes. Jason introduced me. I did my Viagra set, the same one I had done on Wednesday. Thanks, guys.
Sat Apr 7 = Around noon I cut my hairs (2 months since last time)
- Today's big event was The Hanovich Family Comedy and Talent Show. Robby was traveling, so it was just the girls and me. Everyone took a turn at comedy and then with talent (video coming)
Brooke's drawing. She was embarrassed with her misspelling, but we had her leave it cuz we thought it was cute.
- Again, I saw the Loony Bin comedy show. They changed the order of the comedians. Each of the comedians were good, but in their own way:
Brent Terhune (original ginger) tried the most new or different ideas during his portion of the shows. He used mostly short jokes and punchlines and little audience work. He was the best on Thursday.
Jason Cheny (Oriental) was mostly soft spoken, used some different voices, had the most eye contact and did quite a bit of audience work and varied his routines some. He was very good at combining acting out with just talking. He used facial expressions very effectively. He was the best on Saturday.
Shane McConnagy's routines were pretty much the same all three nights and the audiences responded well. He did some audience work, used facial expressions effectively and his descriptions and actouts were a hit - especially his, Don't touch it! He was good all three nights.
Sun Apr 8 =It was most efficient to do some Internet work before leavng Wichita, so I looked up locksmiths in Wichita and Hutchinson, updated this blog, looked up the Private Sale value of
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
vehicles and a few other things.
- Afternoon was packing-up time, which means moving all the stuff I managed to scatter around Anne's house into my van. We had a scavenger hunt to make sure I didn't forget anything. After my van was all packed I offered $1 each for any items that the girls could find that I had accidentally left. To spice things up a little, I also offered $1 for a few left items that I had planted around the house. Katie found a van key I had planted on a dresser behind a pillow and Brooke found the Romaine lettuce I had planted in the refrigerator. Neither found the little USB charger I had left plugged into a wall socket. Final score: Granddad Lou minus $2 and some fun for all. What a neat way to end an excellent visit
- The drive to Hutchinson was a pleasant hour. It's good to be home now in my van parked in Steven's back yard.
Mon Apr 9 = This morning my new Remington F5-5800 shaver's charge indicator got down to the red so I recharged the shaver - the first recharge since it was new. The initial charge lasted 72 days: about 10 weeks.
- In the research department, I checked into some locksmiths, anticipating possibly needing one to get into the garage at the Avenue A house to get at Stan's stuff stored in there. We need information for Stan's taxes.
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
sold the house about two years ago. I also researched local auto detail companies for detailing Stan's cars.
- I finally got in touch of Johnny Graves who bought the Avenue A house from Stan. We met him there and got in to clean the place out. What a job. We sorted through old, scattered, paperwork dating back about four decades, but found nothing to help with current taxes.
Tue Apr 10 = I met Johnny Graves and paid him $200, which is what I sold his framed entry doors for. The doors were unmarked in Stan's storage module so I assumed they were Stan's. Johnie said they were his and Stan had been storing them for him. Over the past week I had left notes on the doors of the Avenue A house in an attempt to contact Johnny, but he never got back to me until I had already sold the doors. I felt badly that Johnny had to take the loss, but I had done everything within my power.
- I put this weekend's garage sale up on CraigsList.
Wed Apr 11 = Today I dropped off Stan's 2004 Buick LaSabre at Tom's Detail shop for them to do $100 worth of detailing as they have time between their scheduled jobs.
- I called in a classified add to the Hutchinson News for this weekend's garage sale. Julie was very helpful. I had tried to do it online, but creating a classified add on their website was one of the worst online experiences I have ever had, with no wat to get the add to say what I wanted.
- The selections came out for America's Got Talent. I did not make the cut - there's always next season.
- The bulk of the time each day I am spending on paperwork for
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
estate and going through things for this weeknend's garage sale and making four garage sale signs. Steve Fowler has been an unbelievable help!
Thu Apr 12 = Got things arranged (sort of) for the indoor garage sale that starts tomorrow, including a cash box with $50 worth of change in it. This evening I put the first two of our four garage sale signs in front of Stan's house and down at 5th Avenue and Monroe. I got to bed relatively early.
Fri Apr 13 = Up early to put additional garage sale signs at 17th Ave and Van Buren 8th Ave and Monroe, set up my dash cam as a security camera in the house, and then out front, strung out 2" gold sparkle ribbons and tethered a gold mylar helium balloon to the fire plug. Back inside I taped off a Private area for my office with a magnetic gate, using more of the 2" gold sparkle ribbon.
- We had lots of traffic and got rid of some of the stuff. Steve and I had fun with our customers and I think most everyone who came enjoyed our mild harassment and had fun going through Stan's stuff, looking for treasures.
Sat Apr 14 = When I checked this morning, the garage sale sign down at 5th Ave & Monroe had was gone. Only the wire frame was left, so I collected the frame. We had another pretty good day of garage sale.
Sun Apr 15 = Steve and I ended the garage sale today, still friends. I sold
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
van to Johnnie Belote. About 1:30 I drove around and collected the remaining three garage sale signs.
Mon Apr 16 = I chased down Brenda, the mail carrier for Stan's house, with a burning question. Where is the best place on envelopes to place the stickers I created, saying, DECEASED Return to Sender. Now I understand how the system works. I always like to make easier for others if I can.
- A lady by the name of Rexan rode Stan's Buick Lasabre around the block with her neighbor driving. Amy, Rexan daughter in Wichita, really wants her to buy this car and quit sinking more money into her old car. I don't think Rexann agrees.
Tue Apr 17 = I worked in a light full-body workout at the YMCA this evening after taking
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
Buick to Shelton Motors for their offer to buy.
- I also stopped by Stan's 8th Ave house and went through, what I hope was the last box of his paperwork.
Wed Apr 18 = I tried to get the USPS Informed Delivery so I can monitor the mail to Stan's Hutchinson house. The attempt was in vain with a somewhat hostel postal clerk, because of the paperwork the USPS website told me take in.
- This evening, at the YMCA, I did my first full-fledged heavy slow legs workout. I have been working up t it for a couple of weeks now, with light to medium full-body workouts.
Thu Apr 19 = I sold the Buick to Jeff Shelton at Shelton Motors. I didn't get much out of it, but got double what Earl (Stan's former tenant at 8th Ave) had offered me.
Fri Apr 20 = I enjoyed taking Steve Fowler and his wife, Lou, out for lunch at Kansas Buffet. The place used to be Sirloin Stockade, where Stan and I ate when I visited him here in Hutchinson. The same people are still working there and It was good to see them again - particularly little old Joella at the register.
- My last attempts to recover the video from The Hanovich Family Comedy and Talent Show that I had accidentally erased from my Panasonic camera's SD card yielded only the first part of the file. It did not include what I wanted: video of the piano keyboard for some of the performances. Tony Terlik, the good guy at
and I together tried four different undelete programs.
- This evening I did a slow, heavy arms workout at the Y and then set up Steve with one of his used monitors as a second and vertical monitor for his computer. I think he'll like it.
Sat Apr 21 = Today I drove to Wichita, stopping by the Bentley Elementary School to hand off a suitcase of
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
memorabilia to Shauna who will eventually get it to
Cindy
my younger brother George's wife
.
Whew!
- Tonight I saw both the early and late comedy shows at The Loony Bin Comedy Club in Wichita. I spent the night in my van, parked across the street.
Sun Apr 22 = This morning I left my overnight parking spot before I overstayed my welcome and reached the two-hour parking limit between 8 and 5. I drove to an Anytime Fitness parking lot to fix and eat breakfast.
- At noon I met Anne and Robby who got my van onto McConnell Airforce Base and parked in front of their house.
- This evening's big event was joining Anne, Robby, Kattie and Brooke for their weekly Movie Night. It is their reward for completing all their chores. The movie was Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure of the Lama Rama, chosen by Robby.
Mon Apr 23 = While the girls were in school and Roby was at work, Anne and I had some good father/daughter time. I joined the family for supper outside on the patio since the weather was nice.
- We played Trash Ball, a game they invented, where the IT uses a mushy ball or ball of taped trash to hit the other people who are climbing around on the playground equipment. Later Brooke had a good time checking things out around the house with my Flir thermographic camera and Katie looked magnicifcant in her maid and queen costumes. I just wish I could see her doing Shakespere tomorrow night.
- Anne's high tech Brother Model NV 500D computerized sewing machine is absolutely awesome. I used it to sew pocket dividers for my electronics in my new Goodwill cargo pants. Before using this sewing maching I thought that self threading and automatic thred cutting were just gimics. No more tangled threads when starting up or ending. I also used the maching to make a couple dead cat wind shields for the Sony ICD recorder I will be using to record my comedy routines in the wind on the
.
- I joined FaceBook Messenger at the suggestion of one of the comedy club owners. I'm not sure what the good is, but the bad is that the app sort of took over my phone and put an ikon for itself on all of my screens, covering up whatever is supposed to be there.
Tue Apr 24 = I got off from Anne's house about 11:30am after getting everything packed up and leaving a thank you reminder on their Amazon Echo. I drove down to Dallas, TX. A truck ahead of me ran over or dropped something that exploded and covered my hood and windshield with brown spots. My windshield washer reduced the spots enough for me to keep driving. In Dallas freeways are a mess of spaghetti. It took me twice around a freeway racetrack to find Mockingbird and from there Hyena's Comedy Club. Now that I know where it is, I can go directly, I hope, to Hyena's Comedy Club for tomorrow night's open mic.
- I spent the night on the lower parking level of the Retail Drive Walmart. Rodney, the security guy suggested I park around the corner to minimize drawing attention. This is an awesome location with three levels of parking, a full-sized Walmart and Sam's Club all stacked on top of one-another
Wed Apr 25 = I have been hanging out at some Anytime Fitness locations. Today I tried to straighten out my credit cards after I got a text message that Chase was not paid. Guess I was so involved in taking care of
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who was a retired as a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS until he sucommed to a three-week bout with Myasthenia gravis in March, 2018
's
stuff that it slipped by. I got it paid, but two days late. Chase was good to remove the late fee with a phone call from me.
- Comedy tonight was the Open Mic at the Dallas Hyena's Comedy Club. They divide the comedians into blocks of 10-15 comedians. I was in the fourth block, getting only three minutes, getting on stage at midnight. One of the comedians suggested, in Fort Worth tomorrow night, going to Killer's Tacos open mic tomorrow before Hyena's.
Thu Apr 26 = Today I spent quite a bit of time making phone calls, keeping up with things while on the road.
- Killer's Tacos was a congenial group of comedians. The host bought a T shirt from me and two other comedians donated money for Duet. I had fun with my Old Man and Yoga routines. I left out some things, being so concerned about going over my five minutes. I ended up being about 1.2 minutes short.
- At Hyena's, in spite of signing up earlier, they put me third from last, with only three minutes instead of the five minutes that the earlier comedians received. I went up a few minutes after midnight. The small audience of 12 was pretty responsive with my Yoga routine. I learned that I should ask if I want to be earlier to get more time, rather than assuming that they will give the benefit to someone from out of town and out of state.
Fri Apr 27 = I got my oil changed this afternoon (or was it done tomorrow?). Tonight they let me sit in the back corner at the Dallas Hyena's. Thanks, guys
- I discovered the best way to keep my feet warm during the night is to leave the comforter in couch mode and drape the baby blanket across my feet with one end under my shoes on my computer bag/back support.
Sat Apr 28 = I'm at the George W Bush center and library in Dallas, not far from where I spent the night and just north of the CVS Drug store where I had a consult with the pharmacist about my lingering accute diarrhea. The most impressive thing is the square rotunda with four nearly vertical giant screens overhead on the four walls functioning as one screen. The videos are created with lighting to match the overhead lighting so that they look like real people walking around on a ledge.
- The whole thing, I thought, was a little pricey, with parking $5 for the first hour and 1.50 each additional. Admission to other than the central hall area with the giant screens was about $20. That means $31 for my visit.
- On to The Skillman library and then to a nearby LA Fitness. Tonight I took a nap and then saw the show at the Dallas Hyena's Comedy Club. The only thing that was the same as last night was the host.
Sun Apr 29 = I saw this car on my way out of Dallas. It looked like the inside was just as packed, with only enough room for the driver. At least he has a spare tire!
Today I made it to Raymore, MO, about 20 miles south of Kansas City. I did a heavy quick full-body workout at an Anytime Fitness and then stayed up late doing this blog :(
Mon Apr 30 = This morning started in the parking lot at the Anytime Fitness in Raymore, Missouri, punctuation by a visit to my van from the club manager, checking on my van and me. After my medium-weight workout, he said it was OK for me to park there, if anyone asked.
- By the time I stopped by an Ace Hardware for paint thinner for the van spots, they were closed. I used the next best thing: Liquid Wrench, which is essentially graphite suspended in mineral spirits.
- I wasted $10 this morning on a car wash. I wanted touchless, but it was not. They sprayed soapy water on my van then pulled me through their brush system. The brown spotty mess on my hood from Tuesday was not cleaned off, my antenna was bent (but straightenable), the wheel covers were still dirty and the dirty outlines of my Duet magnetic signs were still on the doors.
I am feeling a little down now, a normal human emotion, because of:
My unclean van from Tuesday's splattering behind a truck
Wasting $10 trying to wash my van of the splatters
My frustration from driving all the way to Dallas for comedy and not getting to meet Randy, the manager at Hyena's
Acute diarrhea
not interacting with people for comedy, because I was driving
Thank goodness the future will change.
- This afternoon I spent several hours at The Bluford Branch Library in KCMO, writing two thank you notes, catching up on some emails and catching up on inputting email addresses into my fan club spreadsheet.
- I drove up to North Kansas City, MO to the fantastic North KC YMCA for to poo and shower. There was no Walmart with morning shade so I spent the night west of a Walgreen - a short night because I had to be out by 8am.
