Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CA. Show all posts

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Day Has Come. by gayle's husband

The time has finally come, they are about to close our road, peace and quiet, and no more traffic going by. Well that is not exactly how it works, we will still have all the construction equipment. You know, the 6am, 3 dozen diesel engines coming to life roaring as they jockey into position for the day’s work. Then the beep, beep, beep as they hit reverse and just sit there. It is almost as if they think, if I can’t sleep then no one can and believe me no one can, that is except for my wife. She could sleep through a bomb attack and wake up asking why am I so grumpy. I can’t believe her, once she is asleep nothing bothers her but me, on the other hand a Nat could fart and I would heat it, this is so annoying.


They have been working with the bridge on our road that will cross over I-540 for several months. I can’t believe how fast they can build a bridge once the concrete cures in the abutment and center piers. Except for the side rails the bridge is finished and they are now starting to work on the road bed leading to the bridge. Here are some photos of how the bridge has progressed with time.
Beginning ground work for bridge. Nov 10, 2010
Bridge Foundation & Supports being built    Nov.18, 2010
 Bridge Center Support  Nov.28, 2010
Wal-la, a bridge.
I left for two weeks in Feb. to work in LA, CA.,
came home and all of a sudden it is a Bridge   Feb.26, 2010
Above & 2 Below Pics show
Removing a small hill in preparation for the new road bed leading up to the bridge. Bridge is behind the Dozer.   Mar.19,2011
The old road will be removed starting Monday 3-21-11


G.D.Woods




Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Notes Taken In 1990

I took the following notes while talking to my dad one day. He died in 1998. I am sure most of this will not even be of interest to anyone other than my family.

The house my dad lived in while growing up in Nebraska had two bedrooms upstairs. The girls shared a room and the boys shared a room. One bedroom downstairs was for their parents.
My Grandma ( his mom) use to heat some type of irons and put at the bottom of the beds to keep them warm.
The bucket that they used to go to the bathroom in was frozen many winter mornings.
My dad went to school from first to eight grade in a one room school house. He got glasses when he was in the fifth grade. He got very sick in the 11th grade with Scarlet Fever. He was out so long and got so far behind that he never went back. He finished his high school education after I was born and in grade school.
The teachers sometimes live with my dads family.
After the 8th grade he had to go away for high school, in Curtis, Nebraska.
Grandma (his mom) use to read stories or play the piano at night. She played the Black Hawk Waltz. I use to call this the wiping song because she seemed to wipe her fingers over the keys. It wasn't until years later that I even knew the name of the song.
In 1948, Grandpa and Grandma ( my dad's parents), my dad, my Aunt Alta, Uncle Delbert and Uncle Charles moved for Nebraska to LA, California. My dad was 22 and his youngest brother Charles was 7 years old. My dad and Uncle Delbert drove together. My dads oldest sister Gen and her first husband Harry already live in CA. His older brother Albert was in college in Lincoln, Nebraska. His younger sister Sylvia was in college in Kearney, Nebraska. His younger sister Zella was married and lived in Lincoln, Nebraska.

My dad worked at a gas station and my mom worked at a movie theater near by, when they were very young. My mom would sit on a bench at the bus stop and my dad would see her sitting there. One day he asked her if he could drive her home. That was the beginning.

My dad tried to in list in the Navy but was drafted in the Marines.
The first 6 months of my life he was in the service.

Our house in CA cost $10,000. $250 down and $67.50 a month

I have more notes like this packed in boxes. It's fun for me to go back and read them from time to time. I wish I had asked more questions when my parents and grandparents were living and that I had written more down. If your parents and or grandparents are still living be sure to ask and write down any questions you have. I wonder how many people do this.