My Uncle Fred


Gates, Fred Born February 9, 1934, a resident of Torrance, CA from 1965 until his death on August 22, 2006 from a coronary heart attack. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Yolanda Gates; sons, Fred Jr. and Anthony; daughters, Loretta Perkins and Jennifer Gates; two daughter-in-laws; and one son-in-law. He has seven grandchildren; and two great grandchildren. Fred was a dramatic Tenor who sang Grand Opera from 1959 to 1975 for the American Opera Co. and the Beverly Hills Opera Co. He was a finalist in the Metropolitan Auditions for several years. In his younger days he was awarded a four year music scholarship to SC from Walt Disney. Fred is remembered by his colleagues as the most exciting Tenor in his career. Please sign the guest book at http://www.dailybreeze.com/obits. Published in the Daily Breeze on 8/27/2006.

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My Uncle Fred, only about 16 months older than my mother, was a fun guy. He did have a beautiful voice – that’s for dang sure – but I think I will remember him more for his laughter, his sarcasm, his booming personality, and his loyalty. He could get angry and maybe even throw a fit, but when it came down to it, he loved us and would be there for us if we asked.

This week, at Uncle Fred’s viewing and funeral, I was able to see all the lives he either touched or had a part in bringing to this world. His children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren are living testament to a life well lived. His wife, brothers, his sister, and numerous nephews and nieces stood in honor of his life. To interact with so many who knew and loved him was amazing – and I reminder for me that I need to do a better job of keeping in touch with family so I won’t regret losing so many years……

I will miss my Uncle very much – as will my Aunt Yola and cousins Freddie, Anthony, Loretta, and Jennifer.

It’s August?

Do you ever sit back and realize that the month you are in in almost over ALTHOUGH mentally you felt as if it were like…..March? I don’t know, that’s how I’ve been feeling the last few days. Soon it will be September, Christmas is right around the corner, I will soon be 39 (yes, really…..not the fake one…..). Time sure flies!

On that note, yesterday at lunch the car in front of me ordered over $50 worth of food VIA THE DRIVE THRU! There should be laws about this! While I totally understand it’s a hassle carrying all that food back to your car, etc. – I think it’s unreasonable for the rest of us to sit behind such orders. Also, it would have been cool if the restaurant asked this guy to pull up and wait for his order – but he had attitude and already gave the clerk a hard time, so I couldn’t bring myself to be irritated with them!

(Now you know why this blog is called “Just Rambling”!)

It seems my brain is telling me I have much more to say – however, it is being lost somewhere in the translation. Maybe it’s because I am sitting here at 5:38am and only have had about half a cup of coffee. So when I get the adequate amount of caffiene flowing thru my blood, I will post again!

I wish I had something controversial to write about….

Well, I am not fired up about anything right now so this might be a boring post!

For those of you who read this, thanks! I was surprised to find out this wasn’t done all in vain. It’s more like therapy for me I guess. But hey, if you’ve read anything posted in this blog and have a moment, leave me a comment!

Okay, so here is some exciting news! After getting my $850 electric bill for June-July, I broke down and called the whole house fan people. This was when it was REALLY hot so of course there was a backlog of orders. The peeps there were VERY nice and I am happy to say TODAY THEY INSTALLED THE FANS!!!!! These fans circulate the air within the house and blow out the hot air in the attic. When I first heard about it I was skeptical, but lots of people in my local neighborhood bulletin board insisted it made a huge difference for their house temperature and electric bill. And I am here to tell you that my house is a very comfortable 77 degrees having not turned the freaking air conditioning on AND the air is moving around very nicely! YES! Gina did something right!

What else? Oh, I finally broke down and enrolled in a couple classes – one elective and one GE class. So right now I have New Testament History & Lituratur thru 9/16, Cultural Psychology beginning next week thru 10/20, my BOLD classes every Thursday night, and World History beginning like 9/25 or maybe that’s in October. I won’t have more than 3 classes at a time. But I am excited that it appears that December 2007 graduation date might be okay. If not, I am not going to cry about it. May 2008 is fine with me.

I am also jazzed because I listed a bunch of items on eBay to raise money for Deana (see www.RussiawithLove.org) and one item sold! Woohoo!

On that note, I should be doing my HOMEWORK, not writing in this blog! What am I thinking???

Gina, OUT!

New Testament Survey

Okay, it’s a weird day because I am not irritated at anything! I know, get your butt off the floor – the world is not over!

Today is my best friend’s birthday – yep, that would be Deana! What’s weird is that I am sitting in the first class of my New Testament Survey class while she is shopping in Cabazon. Weird, but I am happy Tonja and Victoria are spending the day with her. Victoria is doing a great job making sure Deana spends monehy on HERSELF and no one else. Way to go, Toria!

So far, I like this class – I am on break now so don’t be all up in my grill! We have covered the syllabus and it promises to keep me VERY busy for the next 6 weeks, but its fascinating. Already the reading in the text about the culture during the time Christ was on the earth has broadened by understanding of the Gospels and the great gift that has been given to us. It’s hard to articulate within the confines of this blog, but I will try to do so as things come to me.

One complaint (yes, now you KNOW it’s Gina writing this blog!). There is a woman in this class that is older and “knows everything”. She was telling people we are supposed to read the text AFTER each week, which is the opposite of what the syllabus and other publications state. I interjected to the person she was informing “actually, that’s not correct” and pointed them to the syllabus. This woman said back, “Well, all the BOLD classes say that but no one ever does it.” I just shrugged and left it alone because I am not anyone’s mother (at least not in this class) so figured it wasn’t my battle. Turns out, she has only taken a couple Bible classes and has not even enrolled in BOLD yet! Sheesh!

Lecture has been AWESOME! Did you know that Paul usually had a scribe to record his epistles? Did you know that the KJV is not the best bible to use? I will discuss that later, but it makes sense – just keep your mind open for my explanation later!

I am enjoying this class very much – much more than I expected! We are talking about so many things – just finished three key variants in the Bible. I can elaborate on that later too, but it is very fascinating!

The next 6 weeks are going to be very hard; TONS of reading and plenty of things to turn in. But I know I am going to learn lots and have some fun too!

Caio!

Acronym not included…..

Okay, this is going to be a more “generic” post in that all names and locations have been changed to protect all parties involved.

I am tired of people telling me they support me or my friends, that their values are such that they are based on Biblical principles, and that it is safe to ask for anything. Sometimes, that’s just not true!

I am tired of people SAYING words that have no merit. (I would elaborate further, but that might divulge too much.)

I am tired of collective professional cultures that describes an environment of balance and fairness that does not exist.

I am tired of corporations who profess faith in Christ, yet pay religious cult organizations for “life changing” information.

I am tired of Christians in general stating they love Christ, but they act more like Christians** then as an emulation of their Lord. (** This term is defined by the individual and not by Biblical scriptures.)

I am tired of people and businesses who do not practice what they preach, or at least not consistently, and justify said action with stupid verbiage and “CYB” language.

Am I jaded? Maybe. Frustrated? Probably. Saddened? Definitely. I’ve been told this blog is kind of a downer or that my posts seem to suggest I have anger issues– maybe that’s because it is not safe for me to share thoughts without being crucified by others who have lawyers or corporate policies or strong opinions based on what they believe certain scriptures state. Or that there is a very, very narrow view on what is appropriate in everything – and somehow I do not have the intellectual capacity to make any sort of decision in the matter.

This is not in relation to anyone YOU know……..of course!

Please note – if I disappear, then Big Brother has found this post!