[NTLK] NewtonTalk Digest, Vol 65, Issue 24

[Bobby Z]

Frank, please add my sympathy for your family's loss and my support for
you. I will help where I can. Please let me know if you need anything...and
thank you for your longstanding work on this email newsletter and other
things, too!

Please take a break from newtontalk--it can wait.

In support,

bobby

On Mon, May 20, 2019 at 8:04 AM <newtontalk-request at newtontalk.net> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Frank's still here, although but barely (Doug)
>    2. Re: Frank's still here, although but barely (Gene beaird)
>    3. Re: Frank's still here, although but barely (Jeff Sheldon)
>    4. Re: Frank's still here, although but barely (tonykan at xtra.co.nz)
>    5. Re: Frank's still here, although but barely (Rufus Kohn)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 19 May 2019 09:35:06 -0700
> From: Doug <ispinn at gmail.com>
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Subject: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CAKW856++KAgjKa-OyY7GyRUGXQkyQc6KL0nV84krD78C81XFuA at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Frank wrote:
>
> >> Hi folks,
> >>
> >> thanks for inquiring about me. That's what friends do, and it felt
> really
> >> nice.
>
> Morgan Aldridge wrote:
>
> > Frank, I hope writing about your
> > current situation has lifted a little of the burden as well,
>
> "A burden shared is halved?a joy shared is doubled."
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 19 May 2019 11:41:49 -0500
> From: Gene beaird <bgbeaird at sbcglobal.net>
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> Message-ID: <B0B458B9-F1BB-425C-ACB3-0BA3382050AA at sbcglobal.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=utf-8
>
> Frank,
>
> Hang in there!  There IS light at the end of the tunnel.  I ?enjoyed?
> disposing of my parent?s estate after my Dad suddenly passed while visiting
> his siblings out of state.  While not a hoarder, he didn?t throw much
> away.  We had a 8-place dining room table in his house that was under 2
> feet of old mail.  A dumpster took care of most of that, then the estate
> sale fixed the rest.  After the house was emptied, we spent money getting
> it completely repainted, and new flooring installed on the first floor.  We
> still got almost nothing for the place.  Although it was big, it was the
> biggest house in a neighborhood of small houses, so that bit us hard.
>
> But as others have said, take care of yourself first!!  And it?s not a sin
> to take a day off from it every now and then.  That process is not a
> sprint, it?s a marathon, so don?t knock yourself out up front.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gene Beaird,
> Pearland, Texas
>
> > On May 19, 2019, at 12:19 AM, newtontalk-request at newtontalk.net wrote:
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Sun, 19 May 2019 01:12:07 +0200
> > From: "NewtonTalk" <newtontalk at pda-soft.de>
> > To: <newtontalk at newtontalk.net>
> > Subject: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> > Message-ID: <000601d50dcf$2b9b7f60$82d27e20$@de>
> > Content-Type: text/plain;     charset="us-ascii"
> >
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > thanks for inquiring about me. That's what friends do, and it felt really
> > nice.
> >
> > Pawel was right when he said that I'm very busy, but that's not the main
> > reason for my silence. I've been very busy since I've started to think,
> > which was about six decades ago. That never kept me from taking care of
> > Newton issues.
> >
> > The reason for my silence is sheer physical and psychical exhaustion. My
> > mother died last December, and I was left with resolving her "legacy". I
> > spent almost three months turning a 160 square meters hoarder household
> into
> > something that might have a fraction of a chance to be sold without
> > potential buyers puking onto the driveway when they see it. This house is
> > still inhabited by my mentally challenged sister and my mother's mentally
> > challenged partner, who don't have enough income between them to pay at
> > least for the running costs. I spent almost 1500 bucks on having garbage
> > disposed of. About 70 cubic meters of garbage, to be exact, every single
> > piece of which had to be checked manually by yours truly before throwing
> it
> > away because important documents and family pictures were all over the
> > place. This family never really grasped the concept of organizing or
> filing
> > things, or keeping one's dwellings clean, or throwing things away that
> you
> > no longer need. I brought another 50 cubic meters of usable things to
> misc.
> > charitable organizations. Not exactly an easy task, if one's car is the
> > smallest model Toyota offers...
> >
> > My mother's partner is a really nice fellow, but he's a bit like a child.
> > You need to tell him what to do, and he does it. Sometimes. Sometimes he
> > doesn't. Sometimes he does things you never told him to do, causing huge
> > amounts of additional work you didn't expect and don't have time to do.
> > Although this guy is only eight years older than myself, I had to find a
> > retirement home for him that he can afford and that's nice enough to
> ensure
> > a halfway dignified way of spending the last years of his life.
> >
> > My mentally challenged sister, unfortunately, didn't cope with her
> mother's
> > death as well as I had hoped. When one day I drove there to check on
> them,
> > she sat in her room, talked nonsense, didn't know when she had eaten the
> > last time, and her personal hygiene left a lot to be desired. So I
> called an
> > emergency doctor, who committed her to a mental hospital as an emergency.
> > Visiting her there wasn't really fun, because in her world I was the one
> who
> > brought her there. She's been released meanwhile, but nobody knows if she
> > will be able to face life on her own. Will she be able to keep her job?
> Will
> > she be allowed to continue driving her car? Nobody knows. The doctors in
> the
> > hospital said that she will get someone assigned to her who has the same
> > right of decision as herself, and who ensures that she won't do things
> that
> > might harm her in any financial, medical or other way.
> >
> > This stupid house must be sold ASAP to get the funds that'll ensure
> decent
> > living for the two of them. Guess whose job this is...
> >
> > I do have three brothers that could help, but they don't. I won't go into
> > this here, but they simply don't. The majority of what they do doesn't
> > really help. Sometimes it causes new problems. And I'm under the
> impression
> > I'm about to make enemies of them because I try to handle all this
> > thoughtfully, thoroughly, conscientiously and in a way that won't require
> > doing it again in the future, keeping the long-term well-being of my
> sister
> > and our mother's partner first priority. Sometimes I'm under the
> impression
> > they had hoped to resolve all this within a week or so, and are really
> angry
> > that everything takes so long.
> >
> > Before all this started, my life was... well... not exactly without
> duties.
> > I have two relatives older than 80 years that rightfully expect support
> and
> > help. And the fact that I have a wife and a child, who all live on 2000
> > square meters property, in a house much too small and 110 years old,
> doesn't
> > help very much, either.
> >
> > My To Do list is getting longer by the minute. All this is exhausting
> both
> > physically and psychically. My own health leaves one or two things to be
> > desired at the moment, regularly requiring a lot of my time to keep me
> > operational. Most times when I turn my computer on, I only take care of
> one
> > or two of the ten million queued-up issues that absolutely MUST be taken
> > care of. After that, I hardly ever find enough energy to address anything
> > that has the word Newton in it. There are days when I leave my car and go
> > straight to bed.
> >
> > I sincerely apologize for leaving people who wanted to purchase Newton
> > hardware or required other forms of Newton support out in the rain. I
> > promise y'all that you're not forgotten. One of these days I will
> definitely
> > get in touch again. But this might still take a bit...
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Frank
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 19 May 2019 12:27:33 -0500
> From: Jeff Sheldon <jeffsheldon at gmail.com>
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> Message-ID: <CD6A0A9B-1228-426A-A22F-D59BBEECDBCF at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=utf-8
>
> I just want to put this out there:
>
> While acquiring is a form of hoarding, the abundant and excessive
> collecting of Newton products (and any peripheral
> software/devices/infrastructure) is ?preservation? oriented and archival in
> nature. ;-)
>
> We continue to build upon and dispense the tribal knowledge for another
> day, another generation.
>
>
> -Jeff
>
> > On May 19, 2019, at 11:41, Gene beaird <bgbeaird at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> > Frank,
> >
> > Hang in there!  There IS light at the end of the tunnel.  I ?enjoyed?
> disposing of my parent?s estate after my Dad suddenly passed while visiting
> his siblings out of state.  While not a hoarder, he didn?t throw much
> away.  We had a 8-place dining room table in his house that was under 2
> feet of old mail.  A dumpster took care of most of that, then the estate
> sale fixed the rest.  After the house was emptied, we spent money getting
> it completely repainted, and new flooring installed on the first floor.  We
> still got almost nothing for the place.  Although it was big, it was the
> biggest house in a neighborhood of small houses, so that bit us hard.
> >
> > But as others have said, take care of yourself first!!  And it?s not a
> sin to take a day off from it every now and then.  That process is not a
> sprint, it?s a marathon, so don?t knock yourself out up front.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Gene Beaird,
> > Pearland, Texas
> >
> >> On May 19, 2019, at 12:19 AM, newtontalk-request at newtontalk.net wrote:
> >>
> >> Message: 2
> >> Date: Sun, 19 May 2019 01:12:07 +0200
> >> From: "NewtonTalk" <newtontalk at pda-soft.de>
> >> To: <newtontalk at newtontalk.net>
> >> Subject: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> >> Message-ID: <000601d50dcf$2b9b7f60$82d27e20$@de>
> >> Content-Type: text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"
> >>
> >> Hi folks,
> >>
> >> thanks for inquiring about me. That's what friends do, and it felt
> really
> >> nice.
> >>
> >> Pawel was right when he said that I'm very busy, but that's not the main
> >> reason for my silence. I've been very busy since I've started to think,
> >> which was about six decades ago. That never kept me from taking care of
> >> Newton issues.
> >>
> >> The reason for my silence is sheer physical and psychical exhaustion. My
> >> mother died last December, and I was left with resolving her "legacy". I
> >> spent almost three months turning a 160 square meters hoarder household
> into
> >> something that might have a fraction of a chance to be sold without
> >> potential buyers puking onto the driveway when they see it. This house
> is
> >> still inhabited by my mentally challenged sister and my mother's
> mentally
> >> challenged partner, who don't have enough income between them to pay at
> >> least for the running costs. I spent almost 1500 bucks on having garbage
> >> disposed of. About 70 cubic meters of garbage, to be exact, every single
> >> piece of which had to be checked manually by yours truly before
> throwing it
> >> away because important documents and family pictures were all over the
> >> place. This family never really grasped the concept of organizing or
> filing
> >> things, or keeping one's dwellings clean, or throwing things away that
> you
> >> no longer need. I brought another 50 cubic meters of usable things to
> misc.
> >> charitable organizations. Not exactly an easy task, if one's car is the
> >> smallest model Toyota offers...
> >>
> >> My mother's partner is a really nice fellow, but he's a bit like a
> child.
> >> You need to tell him what to do, and he does it. Sometimes. Sometimes he
> >> doesn't. Sometimes he does things you never told him to do, causing huge
> >> amounts of additional work you didn't expect and don't have time to do.
> >> Although this guy is only eight years older than myself, I had to find a
> >> retirement home for him that he can afford and that's nice enough to
> ensure
> >> a halfway dignified way of spending the last years of his life.
> >>
> >> My mentally challenged sister, unfortunately, didn't cope with her
> mother's
> >> death as well as I had hoped. When one day I drove there to check on
> them,
> >> she sat in her room, talked nonsense, didn't know when she had eaten the
> >> last time, and her personal hygiene left a lot to be desired. So I
> called an
> >> emergency doctor, who committed her to a mental hospital as an
> emergency.
> >> Visiting her there wasn't really fun, because in her world I was the
> one who
> >> brought her there. She's been released meanwhile, but nobody knows if
> she
> >> will be able to face life on her own. Will she be able to keep her job?
> Will
> >> she be allowed to continue driving her car? Nobody knows. The doctors
> in the
> >> hospital said that she will get someone assigned to her who has the same
> >> right of decision as herself, and who ensures that she won't do things
> that
> >> might harm her in any financial, medical or other way.
> >>
> >> This stupid house must be sold ASAP to get the funds that'll ensure
> decent
> >> living for the two of them. Guess whose job this is...
> >>
> >> I do have three brothers that could help, but they don't. I won't go
> into
> >> this here, but they simply don't. The majority of what they do doesn't
> >> really help. Sometimes it causes new problems. And I'm under the
> impression
> >> I'm about to make enemies of them because I try to handle all this
> >> thoughtfully, thoroughly, conscientiously and in a way that won't
> require
> >> doing it again in the future, keeping the long-term well-being of my
> sister
> >> and our mother's partner first priority. Sometimes I'm under the
> impression
> >> they had hoped to resolve all this within a week or so, and are really
> angry
> >> that everything takes so long.
> >>
> >> Before all this started, my life was... well... not exactly without
> duties.
> >> I have two relatives older than 80 years that rightfully expect support
> and
> >> help. And the fact that I have a wife and a child, who all live on 2000
> >> square meters property, in a house much too small and 110 years old,
> doesn't
> >> help very much, either.
> >>
> >> My To Do list is getting longer by the minute. All this is exhausting
> both
> >> physically and psychically. My own health leaves one or two things to be
> >> desired at the moment, regularly requiring a lot of my time to keep me
> >> operational. Most times when I turn my computer on, I only take care of
> one
> >> or two of the ten million queued-up issues that absolutely MUST be taken
> >> care of. After that, I hardly ever find enough energy to address
> anything
> >> that has the word Newton in it. There are days when I leave my car and
> go
> >> straight to bed.
> >>
> >> I sincerely apologize for leaving people who wanted to purchase Newton
> >> hardware or required other forms of Newton support out in the rain. I
> >> promise y'all that you're not forgotten. One of these days I will
> definitely
> >> get in touch again. But this might still take a bit...
> >>
> >> Cheers
> >>
> >> Frank
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > http://newtontalk.net/
> > http://twitter.com/newtontalk
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 09:44:21 +1200
> From: <tonykan at xtra.co.nz>
> To: <newtontalk at newtontalk.net>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> Message-ID:
>
> <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAuAAAAAAAAAMCpV+2BtndLqPDZwU7duKUBAMO2jhD3dRHOtM0AqgC7tuYAAAAAAA4AABAAAAAr7ohIegJ2QaRGzeJgk4/XAQAAAAA=@
> xtra.co.nz>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="UTF-8"
>
> Hi Frank
>
> Back in 2008 we went back to China to find my grandfather's ancestral
> home.
>
> He had left it in 1902 after a drought-led famine drove the adults to send
> their children away.
>
> When we found it, the neighbours allowed us to inspect the house which
> turned out to be a sizable estate, with courtyards, and servants quarters.
>
> They said it hadn't been inhabited for nearly 90 years so we were
> surprised to see that it was in amazingly good condition.
>
> We asked the 80-year old lady who had been looking after it.  She said,
> why, we have been.
>
> But why would you do such a thing?
>
> My grandfather, said the elderly lady, told us to look after it because
> one day you would be back.  He was right, for here you are.
>
> My cousin burst into tears.
>
> We felt guilty that they had spent their own money to keep up the house
> over nearly a century with no guarantee of payment.
>
> We offered to take possession of the house and take up our responsibility.
>
> They said that our grandfather had two siblings who would have a claim
> over the house.  Where were they?
>
> We had no idea.  No contact had been had with them for maybe fifty years
> and no surviving family members had their contact details and we were
> unsure what part of the world they were now.
>
> My father passed away back in 2015.
>
> He didn't hoard throw much away either.
>
> There were stacks of old invoices for utilities going back fifty years.
>
> Alone in the house, being the eldest it fell on me to tidy the estate.
> Like you, no offers from the other siblings to help.
>
> It was tempting to throw them all away but there was a risk that a
> valuable document might be falsely filed in one of the piles of paper.
>
> So I set to work and amongst the power bills of 1972, there was a scrap of
> paper with a Chinese name and a north American telephone number on it.
>
> It dawned on me that with a smartphone in my pocket, I could solve the
> mystery by immediately dialling it.
>
> It turned out to be my father's long lost first cousin and through this
> discovery we have since re-connected with the descendants of both my
> grandfather's siblings.
>
> Cheers
>
> Tony Kan
> Christchurch
> New Zealand
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net <newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net>
> On Behalf Of Gene beaird
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2019 4:42 AM
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
>
> Frank,
>
> Hang in there!  There IS light at the end of the tunnel.  I ?enjoyed?
> disposing of my parent?s estate after my Dad suddenly passed while visiting
> his siblings out of state.  While not a hoarder, he didn?t throw much
> away.  We had a 8-place dining room table in his house that was under 2
> feet of old mail.  A dumpster took care of most of that, then the estate
> sale fixed the rest.  After the house was emptied, we spent money getting
> it completely repainted, and new flooring installed on the first floor.  We
> still got almost nothing for the place.  Although it was big, it was the
> biggest house in a neighborhood of small houses, so that bit us hard.
>
> But as others have said, take care of yourself first!!  And it?s not a sin
> to take a day off from it every now and then.  That process is not a
> sprint, it?s a marathon, so don?t knock yourself out up front.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gene Beaird,
> Pearland, Texas
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2019 08:36:54 +0200
> From: Rufus Kohn <rufuskohn at gmail.com>
> To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> Message-ID:
>         <CAMcQU37zKOkzWRZoMuxC=
> e7QBE_jVpQsB2rx7C1D7_vOA+1pMg at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Your story would make a movie worthwhile watching.
>
> Op zo 19 mei 2019 23:46 schreef <tonykan at xtra.co.nz>:
>
> > Hi Frank
> >
> > Back in 2008 we went back to China to find my grandfather's ancestral
> > home.
> >
> > He had left it in 1902 after a drought-led famine drove the adults to
> send
> > their children away.
> >
> > When we found it, the neighbours allowed us to inspect the house which
> > turned out to be a sizable estate, with courtyards, and servants
> quarters.
> >
> > They said it hadn't been inhabited for nearly 90 years so we were
> > surprised to see that it was in amazingly good condition.
> >
> > We asked the 80-year old lady who had been looking after it.  She said,
> > why, we have been.
> >
> > But why would you do such a thing?
> >
> > My grandfather, said the elderly lady, told us to look after it because
> > one day you would be back.  He was right, for here you are.
> >
> > My cousin burst into tears.
> >
> > We felt guilty that they had spent their own money to keep up the house
> > over nearly a century with no guarantee of payment.
> >
> > We offered to take possession of the house and take up our
> responsibility.
> >
> > They said that our grandfather had two siblings who would have a claim
> > over the house.  Where were they?
> >
> > We had no idea.  No contact had been had with them for maybe fifty years
> > and no surviving family members had their contact details and we were
> > unsure what part of the world they were now.
> >
> > My father passed away back in 2015.
> >
> > He didn't hoard throw much away either.
> >
> > There were stacks of old invoices for utilities going back fifty years.
> >
> > Alone in the house, being the eldest it fell on me to tidy the estate.
> > Like you, no offers from the other siblings to help.
> >
> > It was tempting to throw them all away but there was a risk that a
> > valuable document might be falsely filed in one of the piles of paper.
> >
> > So I set to work and amongst the power bills of 1972, there was a scrap
> of
> > paper with a Chinese name and a north American telephone number on it.
> >
> > It dawned on me that with a smartphone in my pocket, I could solve the
> > mystery by immediately dialling it.
> >
> > It turned out to be my father's long lost first cousin and through this
> > discovery we have since re-connected with the descendants of both my
> > grandfather's siblings.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > Tony Kan
> > Christchurch
> > New Zealand
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net <
> newtontalk-bounces at newtontalk.net>
> > On Behalf Of Gene beaird
> > Sent: Monday, May 20, 2019 4:42 AM
> > To: newtontalk at newtontalk.net
> > Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frank's still here, although but barely
> >
> > Frank,
> >
> > Hang in there!  There IS light at the end of the tunnel.  I ?enjoyed?
> > disposing of my parent?s estate after my Dad suddenly passed while
> visiting
> > his siblings out of state.  While not a hoarder, he didn?t throw much
> > away.  We had a 8-place dining room table in his house that was under 2
> > feet of old mail.  A dumpster took care of most of that, then the estate
> > sale fixed the rest.  After the house was emptied, we spent money getting
> > it completely repainted, and new flooring installed on the first floor.
> We
> > still got almost nothing for the place.  Although it was big, it was the
> > biggest house in a neighborhood of small houses, so that bit us hard.
> >
> > But as others have said, take care of yourself first!!  And it?s not a
> sin
> > to take a day off from it every now and then.  That process is not a
> > sprint, it?s a marathon, so don?t knock yourself out up front.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Gene Beaird,
> > Pearland, Texas
> >
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > http://newtontalk.net/
> > http://twitter.com/newtontalk
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> http://newtontalk.net/
> http://twitter.com/newtontalk
>
> End of NewtonTalk Digest, Vol 65, Issue 24
> ******************************************
>