Changes last made on: Wed Jan 03 16:45:00 2007
Dr. George P. Butler, Sr.
George
PAGE INDEX (click to hop to section of page) -
July, 2000
December, 2001
May, 2002
July, 2003
September, 2003
May, 2004
June, 2004
May, 2005
November, 2005
December, 2005
December, 2006
In July, 2000, I quit my California lifestyle of 15 years...
Actually, I was unhappy there the previous 6 years. The Bay Area became too crowded for me - unamazing condos bidding to over ONE THIRD of a MILLION dollars, and no place to build new roads! Friendships were difficult to cultivate, because all the people had to live too far from work, if they wanted affordable housing. Besides, most of my truly close friends live back East. Or maybe that was just my trying to "logically" explain the pushing by my Spirit Guides and Higher Self to get out of there and find somewhere to be happy, again.
I finally accepted I was to liquidate assets and move myself to the Southeast - even if to semi-retirement without a job. I chose to be near family and childhood friends for the first time in 30 years. I readied to move with no particular destination.
Three days after deciding to leave California, I received and accepted a job offer in central Georgia. Since I had no place in mind for my next life lesson, I went with employment. I understood Georgia must hold my next lesson.
I am here in Georgia, neither too close to, nor far from, those family members and friends [grin] and settled into a new home, a new life style and new past life memories. (I have already seen images from my Civil War times.)
That job, however, didn't work out.
Looking back, I think the job was just something that came along to bring me here - and that's okay, since I had no real location preference, just a drive to be back East. Before the job came along, I had the image of retiring in the South, so maybe that's what I'm supposed to do. [grin]
That was July, 2000.
---------
Crystal and I are still together.
Crystal moved here, too, from Illinois and lives with me. We are six miles from her daughter and family - two granddaughters - Megan and Kaitlin. (No coincidence that I got that job, bringing me here, even though the job didn't last.)
I don't think I would have survived the two years without Crystal's help, nursing me along. I'm not sure I tell her often enough how much I appreciate her help in all of the tribulations of these two years, and just having her in my life!!!
Thanks, again, Sweetie!
---------
My other housemate, Bob, when he was 4 months old.
See Bob's Page
---------
My psychic pursuits are going well - healing, teaching, working with spirit guides, past-life regressions, readings, energy work and OOBE/astral projection/remote viewing.
Clients are flying in from around the country, and my overseas client base continues to expand.
My writings are being translated and published in international, foreign language magazines.
---------
2000 was also a year for advancing my formal education... Yup, you're never too young or old!
After all these years, I finally decided what I wanted for my post-graduate degrees. In June, I completed my Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics. Then, in November, I completed my Master of Science in Computer Information Systems Management.
HAHAHA Leave it to me to get them in bass-ackward order!!! [GRIN]
Return to top of page.
Crystal and I had formal portrait photographs taken. (My first formal photo in years.)
Us
Crystal
George
Return to top of page.
Bob gets a baby brother.
Crystal decided she wanted a kitten for Bob some company. Nipper is the runt of his litter from next door, and is dwarfed by Bob.
We'll see how long that difference lasts.
Nipper (@ 7 wks) and Bob (@ 5 1/2 yrs)
Return to top of page.
WOW! More than a year has passed!
Crystal is still the Dietary Manager at the nursing home.
I am staying busy at home. The Department of Veterans Affairs finally approved my Disability for knees trashed and kidney stones developed in the early '70s, which continue to be problems today.
We had to change Nipper's name - he was living up to it. Bob's neck had bites all over it for awhile.
Nipper is now "Mister Squeaky" - he chitters, when he sees something out the window that excites him.
And Mr. Squeaky has grown a bit!!! One would not believe he was the runt. He was 13.4 LBS at his last checkup.
Squeak (@ 1 yr) and Bob (@ 6 yrs)
Nothing like "redeye" in a photo;
but, no, they can't spin their heads around! hahaha
And now they have a little sister.
Crystal's cousin has a purebred Persian cat, "Precious Pepper", which is so pug-faced-ugly that she is GORGEOUS! The cousin bred her. We had first choice, but we told the cousin that we did not think we wanted to add another cat to this happy home.
On our way home from 4th of July weekend, spent with childhood friends of mine at one's cabin in the western mountains of North Carolina, we stopped in South Carolina to visit Crystal's aunt and cousin.
As soon as Crystal walked in the door, we were in TROUBLE! :-)
This little white fur-ball came running out from under a table and climbed into Crystal's lap.
Precious Pepper's Prunella Powder Puff ("Missy") (@ 11wks)
We brought the kitten home with us and now have a three-cat household.
Bob, Missy (attacking Squeak's tail) and Mr. Squeaky
(hidden behind the printer) on my desk
Things are settling down among the cats, and they are getting along well. Bob is the "grumpy old man", while Squeak and Missy are playing, bouncing off the walls, and chasing each other around. In the last couple of days, Bob has begun to participate.
We had to get a third pet travel crate, for when we travel with the cats. They go with us to the "cabin".
I have slowed way down on the public psychic work. I mostly write now, between working on the computer and teaching myself to play my bagpipes.
Return to top of page.
Squeak, Missy and Bob in open window,
now that the weather is cooling.
We have just completed the major portion of an addition to the house.
Here in the South, a veranda is a nice, welcoming touch to the front of a house. However, a veranda adds something else.
In the days before air conditioning, the veranda roof kept the sun from shining directly on the side of the house. The shading reduced the heat absorbed through the wall into the house.
Besides the practical reasoning, Crystal wanted one, so she can have rocking chairs and a swing out front! :-) She likes the idea of sitting out front, watching the world go by.
We like what the veranda adds to the house.
The front of the house last Christmas,
before the veranda.
Most of the work is done.
The veranda, after the bushes have been replanted.
Since that picture, we have added a ceiling fan and a glider-swing, while the rocking chairs are in the garage, paint drying,
We still have work to complete. The entire thing needs to cure (dry) for a couple of months. We will put the wood seal on in November.
Once that is is done, we will be covering the underside of the rafters with soffit, so the plywood, roofing nails and fan support device will not show.
Bare rafters, ceiling fan and glider swing.
We are also finding the odds-and-ends - a side table, antique standing ashtrays, maybe a game table, etc. - to add the homey touches. Gotta have some place to set our mint julips!
(Next thing you know, Crystal will get her Scarlet O'hara dress, and I'll get a white cotton suit and Panama hat... Nope, no tin roof! hehehe)
Return to top of page.
We finally got weather, which allowed us to paint and finish sealing the veranda.
There are still a few touches to add, but we think it's looking good (even if the picture is a bit distorted).
The veranda with paint
and sealed skirt.
Three rocking chairs, a glider and a couple of tables on it - very welcoming.
Return to top of page.
Done at last. Done at last. Oh, Dear God, it's done at last!
The ceiling is covered and the molding is painted.
The veranda finished and
the yodel gnomes hung.
What a relief to have it done and be able to sit back and enjoy it.
Return to top of page.
Here we go again!!! Another home addition project... :-)
The livingroom has been just too small, and the rear deck has not been used enough.
Why not take some of the rear deck and "move it inside"?
Besides, for another year we had just lost our potted outside plants. We bring them in for the winter. The room, in which we kept them, is dry heat, despite a humidifier, and lacks of light - one small-ish, north-facing window.
It was time to have a sunroom, where they can maybe survive better. That is, if the cats let them. And a place for us to enjoy morning coffee with the paper.
Since we had not used the boat in a year and were not fishing, selling the boat to build a sunroom and replenish my savings suited me better.
As with so many things in life, this project did not go exactly as I planned..........................
Return to top of page.
Rather than 2 1/2 weeks to complete, it took over 5 MONTHS!!! (mostly for the parts to arrive from Canada), and there are still "final touches" the man should return to finish.
However, overall, we love it. You will see why.
The contract was to install only the roof, walls, windows and outside door.
The deck planks were to be left bear, and Crystal and I would install the sub-flooring, flooring, electrical wiring, lighing, and anything else.
Because the whole contract was so badly delayed, the contractor was embarrassed.
As such, he volunteered his labor at no charge on many other parts of my end project of the room, if I would just buy the materials and lend a helping hand.
________________________________________________________
Before the project started, our livingroom had a window and a double door, which opened out onto the back deck.
The livingroom also passes through to the diningroom in the background. The outside (left in picture) wall of the diningroom is half of a hexagon, with a window on each of its three sections.
Part of the room.
(The contractor is on the roof.)
Extra work: The white ceiling beam and end-posts set, toward the inner edge of the addition roof, the contractor added to replace wood posts that would have stood in the middle of the new room.
The "room" (walls, windows and outside door) is up.
Extra work: The contractor
- knocked out the double doors and frame from the livingroom to the back deck
- installed a case opening around the hole
- laid tar paper, plastic and plywood over the enclosed rear decking
But now Crystal and I had that window to the left of the archway with which to do something.
It had been an exterior window, afterall - not really appropriate inside a sunroom - wasting wall space in the sun- and livingroom...
[And we still needed furniture for the sunroom. So we had started looking... and looking...... and looking.........................................]
Before the work began, on the back deck we had a single-bulb, old, cheap light fixture beneath the overhang, where the 4-light fixture now is.
Extra work: The contractor installed three ceiling electrical boxes, a ceiling electrical outlet and two wall outlets.
Later, from the ceiling boxes, I hung the fan with light and the bow light fixture, as well as other lights around the room...
Looking into the sunroom from that other door, you see the floor tiles Crystal and I chose and installed.
Yes, it seems an odd color combination --- at first!
Back to the furniture saga...
We must have looked at thirty very different table sets locally and around the country, thinking "center of room".
Then we found a set with bench seats to go perfectly under the corner windows.
With the table set, we bought custom-made cushions in green and white, with maroon and blue accents.
In my mind, the tile pattern became those colors, while the placement became the corner, leaving the rest of the room mostly open. Crystal was hesitant (I think her term was, "WHAT???"), until she saw the tile in place. (The cushions had been her choice.)
Then we put the table in.
I hung lights over the table, and we have brought in the outside potted plants for the winter.
However, we still had the problem with the window from the livingroom, wasting the wall in and out.
I wanted shelves or a cabinet for "stuff", and Crystal just could not imagine what I had in mind for that window cover.
Then, when we found the table set, the place had other furniture; but not tall or wide enough and not quite what I visualized.
We asked if the man had anything taller and wider that would cover what I wanted. He said I should call the maker and ask if the maker could build me something.
This is what the maker came up with.
I suggested he modify his microwave hutch, removing doors, expanding here and there, heightening there. Then I added the corner shelf for the TV speakers.
It was exactly what I had in mind to cover the sunroom side of the window!
AND Crystal loves it, because
- it matches the table set
- her Roosters & Hens collection fits on the shelves (so she can collect more "junk" in her other cabinets)
- her Oreo Tin collection fits on the top
...and there's still space for me to put a television...
That took care of the "outside" of that window.
And, finally, solving the problem of the livingroom side of the window...
Poof!
We have the expanded, airy livingroom.
The sun comes up through the large, east-facing windows.
We can sit out at the table with our coffee and paper in the morning and watch the news. We can even go on line with WiFi, if we like.
And our cats love playing tag on the tile floor, seeming to enjoy sliding without traction.
We also like entertainining in this room more than in the diningroom, because it seems more welcoming.
Return to top of page.
The trailer we had at the river is no more.
Over the last year and a half we have used it only two nights, and those were forced into our schedule just because we needed to make sure everything was cleaned and still working. Everytime we planned to go, something came up to keep us home, Crystal had to work, or we had to run somewhere.
Keeping the trailer, without using it, no longer made sense. We have better things to do with the time and money it took to maintain the trailer and keep it there.
It was so wonderful when we were using it regularly! We really loved it and the sensation of VACATION, if only for a weekend.
Now we have the sunroom and veranda to enjoy.
Then we ended 2005 properly BY GETTING ENGAGED!
(However, no, we have set no date.)
Return to top of page.
We have kept 2006 relatively sane, but "interesting"...
We did not have any major additions to the house - most everything was adjustments, maintenance and repairs.
Besides, we were dealing with my kidney problems...
I have a theory that house problems reflect themselves in the occupants and vice-versa - "Sick House" Syndrome - What is your house saying?
In April, my doctor found another stone blocking my kidney, then I ended up in the hospital with a bad infection.
I got out Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. I came home, and the septic system (the house's "kidneys") backed up and flooded all three bathrooms the next morning.
An after-hours plumber and several hundred dollars later, and we thought we were okay.
I then had surgery the 3rd of July (another holiday weekend...) to remove the stone found in April. (This surgery was 10 months after my previous stone removal surgery.)
A week later, the bathrooms started backing up again.
I do not know septic systems, but I do know "THEY" recommend cleaning a system out every 3 to 5 years. We have owned this house 6 years without having it done, and I doubt the previous owners/builders ever had it done in the 12 years they were here.
I did not mess with a plumber this time and called a tank service.
Good thing, too.
When he got the cover off, the tank looked like a hydroponics experiment gone wild with sea weed! 10- and 15-foot grass roots had grown in under the cover-slab edges and were floating in the tank almost solid and back into the inlet baffle from the house, almost completely blocking it, although the tank was only half full. (The Memorial Day plumber had only temporarily rooted out the inlet, which had overgrown again.)
It turns out, regular servicing isn't so much to empty solids, as to remove roots and all, so everything keeps flowing...
Back to my Sick House Syndrome theory - I would guess the roots had been getting critical for awhile, because
- my kidneys and stones have been getting lots worse since I moved to Georgia in 2000 (the last 5 years in California were not bad)
- Bob has been getting bladder stones (feline equivalent to kidney stones), and I had to take him in during that week to be opened up and have a bladder-full removed for the second time in three years
I am hoping servicing the septic system (the house's kidneys) will help my kidneys!
We ducted heat & air from the main air trunk out to the sunroom, to redistribute airflow through the house, then we had an insulation installer blow another 20 "R"s into the attic. (Since that, our electric bill has dropped over 1/3.)
We got rid of some huge, bulky furniture I brought from California, which has definitely brightened our home.
Crystal finally got fed up dealing with nursing home owners and administration who would not allow her to hire and pay kitchen staff enough to bring in people who would look at feeding residents as important.
In September, she left Dietary Management for good for a Legal Secretary position in Macon, GA, with no one to supervise.
Funny... We used to avoid driving to Macon, thinking of it as "the city".......
But she likes not getting the shakes and heartburn everytime the phone rings, and being able to plan her weekends. And she cannot bring home work! And she is relaxing a bit...
I have seen a difference in her!
So Crystal is on yet another adventure in learning.
As for me, I have been a Disabled Veteran for several years now.
After two years of applying, I finally had my Social Security Disability hearing on December 21st,
and was approved.
Now, I just have to wait for it to come back through the system to start receiving the Medicare and Disability pension.
Return to top of page.
Send me a note!
To write to me 
click --> George
© George P. Butler - '96 - '08