The Sad Year That Was:
January, 2011 Betse Streng died at age 83 of natural causes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I first met her in 1988. She was a real Steel Magnolia and an incredible lady. I will miss her always.
February, 2011: My Aunt Relda died at age 91 of natural causes. She had a full and a long life.
March, 2011: Olivier “Frenchie” Avegnon took his own life at age 66. He was living as a homeless man in a church shelter in San Francisco. “Frenchie” earned a chemical engineering degree from City College of New York. He started as a US Navy officer in 1967. I’m sure that he experienced the worst of the Vietnam War and that destroyed his life. He did some wonderful work on our house and on Sue’s house.
March 26, 2011: Our dear dog Eloisa died after a battle with cancer. She lived 11 years and 9 months. She gave birth to 21 puppies. She was so intelligent and sensitive I considered her almost human.
May, 2011: My Uncle Charles D. Walters died of natural causes at age 87. In World War II he was a US Marine sniper under the command of Lt. Colonel “Chesty” Puller. He survived the war with no wounds. He went on to have a career in insurance and the postal service. He was always an inspiration to me. May I have such a long and a full life!
August, 2011: Nicholas Humy lost his battle with cancer and died. He was only 53 years old. He was a great lawyer who literally saved my life in 1998. He did something that I did not think was possible in the Federal system. He stopped me from being sent back to Texas where I would have had a hard ride I would have lost 9 more months of my life for not reporting to some official. It’s madness to spend money locking people up for trivial administrative matters!!
September, 2011: My dear sister Marianna saw her house burn to the ground in Bastrop, Texas. A century or more of memories were lost.
November 8, 2011: Our wonderful and talented contractor John R. Jolivette, Jr. was killed when his motor bike collided with a truck on Hwy 101 North near the Vermont Street exit in San Francisco. He was 49 years of age. It was a huge shock to Elena and I. He left us with a house that was 98% complete. We have been lucky enough to find good people to finish up this project.
The High Points Of 2011:
January 24, 2011: Elena and I celebrated ten years together and her 50th birthday at the Universal City Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Elena and I had an unforgettable birthday dinner with Raquel Cinat.
February, 2011: I got to spend some quality time with my daughter Anna in Sao Paulo after being apart for 4 years.
February, 2011: I got to see my granddaughter Bianca Santos for the first time.
March, 2011: I got to spend an incredible two weeks in Bariloche, Argentina. This is the place that I want to retire to!!
Early April, 2011: I attended the Explore Mars, Inc. Mars and The International Space Station program in Washington, DC. It was the best space conference I have attended in my life. I also got to spend a lot of time n the campus of George Washington University where I was a graduate student in the early 1970’s.
April 15, 2011: I was featured on a CBS Channel 5 program due to a huge problem that I had with Pay Pal while being in Bariloche.
June 15, 2011: After four years of work and preparation, work began on the remodel of our house.
July 31, 2011: Copernicus’s daughter Cassiopeia was born near our house. Her mother is named Alice. She had 4 other puppies.
August, 2011: Elena and I had an incredible adventure in Montana. We spent a lot of time in Yellowstone National Park and did some adventurous and dangerous hiking.
Late December, 2011: The remodel of our house is now complete.
The Great People of 2011:
Sarah Angeles, who took care of Eloisa while Elena and I were in Argentina. Eloisa became deathly ill. Sarah spent hours without pay taking her to various hospitals and vets. She gave Eloisa a few weeks of precious life.
Julie Watts of CBS Channel 5 in San Francisco who publicly exposed what Pay Pal had done to me while I was in South America.
The late John S. Jolivette, Jr., who did an incredible job of rebuilding our house. May his soul rest in peace in Heaven.
Yehia Alansi and the team at Alansi Plumbing and Rooter who did an incredible job on our house plumbing.
The People Who Were Huge Disappointments:
Adolfo Sequeira, Jr.
Bill Baldwin
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