October 23, 2000: Norm's House

In the morning, we watched the talk shows.  George thought they were so crummy and didn't want to retire and watch them.     Grandma, Norm, and I watched "Young and the Restless".   Norm thought the character, Sharon, was very attractive.   I helped George wash Grandma's car.   The temperature was 84 degrees which was wonderful.    

Then, we rode over to Norm's house.   I was so surprised how big it was inside.      He said he had at least 12 closets in the house.  His wife used to have all of the closets full of clothes.      His house was decorated in the 50s/60s style.   He showed us his indoor pool. He was in the process of putting solar panels together that would be used to heat the pool.    

Got back to Grandma's mobile home and had lasagna for lunch.  Then, I had to take the cab back to the Tampa airport to go back to Chicago.        I talked to the cab driver who said he had moved to Florida from New York 20 years ago and never regretted it.

October 22, 2000: Busch Gardens

George, Marianne, Joy, Grandma, Norm, and I went to Busch Gardens for the day.   Grandma paid for our admission which was really nice of her.  Of course, George found the bakery near the entrance, so we sat down and had a muffin and planned our day.   George, Marianne, Joy, and I went to the dolphin show, bird show, acrobat show, and ice skating show.    We all had lunch in the German restaurant, where they performed the shows.    

I was the only brave one to go on the roller coaster upside down 7 times.  

We went to Pizza Hut in Zephyrhills for dinner.  When we got home, Joy and I played cards. 

October 21, 2000: Big Top Flea Market

George, Grandma, Joy, Marianne, and I drove over to the Big Top Flea market to shop.    I got a nice black leather fanny pack for $6 and some birthday cards.    Joy got a nice suitcase for $20.   Then, we went home and had a big lunch at Bryan's Buffet in Zephyrhills.    Joy and I went to Bell's Department store.    It was always a tradition of ours to shop at Bells down in Florida.   

Then, we played some cards and watched TV.

October 20, 2000: Visiting Grandma in Florida

Took the 8:35 flight from Chicago to Tampa to see Grandma.  George, Marianne, and Joy picked me up at the airport.   I was really happy to see them all.  I realized how thankful I was for my family and how glad I was at moving back to Michigan next year.     We had lunch at Sonny's BBQ, which was a big chain down in Florida.   It was so nice to see Grandma Gonyo. I gave her a big hug.     We sat and relaxed and had a nice conversation.

After dinner, Norm came over.   Grandma and Norm taught George, Joy, and I how to play Skipbo.   Of course, we couldn't stop playing until I won a hand.   

Being with family was wonderful.    I will always remember all of the food we have eaten together, the conversations, the TV shows we watched together, as well as the card playing.

October 10, 2000: Review at IRI with Chris Blackwell

Today, I met with my supervisor, Chris Blackwell, concerning my yearly review.   I had calculated myself at 46 points, but he came out slightly lower.    I told him I believed I deserved the 46 points, so he said I should write a statement listing why I thought I deserved the higher rating and then he would submit it to the committee for review.     I was very thankful for the chance to plead my case, even if I didn't get it.  

I told him after the review, that I was discouraged with this review process and also with the fact that the new employees were getting paid $1700 less than I got when I started at IRI 3 1/2 years ago.      He said he had some issues with Bev the past few weeks.   Ever since he announced his transfer,  the relationship with them had not been the best.     

October 6-8, 2000: Jim Morse & My Mom's Visit

On Friday, met Jim and my Mom at the train station.  Their train was 1 1/2 hrs late due to a derailment.    In the evening, we went to Rudi Frazules on Clark and Fullerton.   Jim paid for our meal, which was very  nice.   Then, we went to the movie "Almost Famous".     

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the Golden Nugget.  Then, we went shopping on Michigan Avenue.   We took the 'El' to China Town and went through the shops.   We had dinner at the Evergreen Restaurant.   

On Sunday, Jim, my Mom, and I went to church at Moody Bible which was near Lasalle and Clark.   It was a beautiful church.  The service was too long, though.    Then, we went to the movie, "Meet the Parents" which was hilarious.   When we got out of the movie, there was a big power outage in Chicago.  

All of the transformers were out at the train station, so no one was able to take their train out.    There were hundreds of people stranded.   Mom and Jim's train left about an hour late.