Haydennet.com, personal site of Joseph A. Hayden, J.D.

Landlords divorced after decades and foreclosed, basically. I can’t buy the place, so unless a family member comes through with a cash offer, we have to move anyway by beginning of April.

I’m traveling to Phurfest and hoping to see friends and family in Arizona in late April/early May.  It’s a state I’ve never stepped foot in, to my knowledge, but which my family has a long history in, apparently.  I’ve seen a lot of relatives going back generations move and return to Arizona, and I know my dad lived there for a time as a kid.  Ancestry.com has helped prove the links I have to the area, but I’m also looking forward to some pool parties and dry heat, which is one of the reasons I moved back to the West Coast.

So my brother fixed my windshield wiper gears with a twist-tie!  I guess the chewing gum (actually superglue) I tried to use wouldn’t hold.  Of course that now means that it won’t rain for at least twelve months.

Some of the trip is uphill, so hopefully it won’t be too hard walking home for me.  I traveling light with my briefcase, but it does hurt my shoulder after a while.  If I do this, I will be walking well over 20 miles a week, which hopefully will net a significant, healthy weight loss.  While I don’t officially get to wear tennis shoes at work, I have a pair of dress shoes if I need them to change into, and I can’t imagine walking in anything else.

Despite originally protesting, Alex walked with me to her school and I even caught the early train.  I’m hoping this will significantly improve health/blood sugar.

If the timing and discomfort of walking becomes ridiculous, I might buy a bike and a heavy-duty chain, but right now I’m saving money on that and the one dollar a day parking fee.   I don’t even know how long we will live at this location, so this is not the time to make such large investments.

Yesterday after I returned from IBR from the long weekend, Alex and I did a ton of grocery shopping and got a lot of healthy food, which of course is more expensive.  We went to Safeway and I used my discount card, but before going there, we got some basic canned goods at the dollar store near Mom’s house in southern Hayward.  We got to see Nicholas and my brother finally fixed my windshield wipers, which was something that was scary not to have fully functioning on the Nissan when it rained, but of course now it probably won’t rain until next year.  It was nice seeing Mom and having lunch there after not seeing her for about a month while she was in Florida.

As technology improves online, exciting things can happen.  I’m currently loving my free trial of Ancestry.com, which has already found at least 3 generations on dad’s side I never knew about.  That means that my daughter’s great-great-great-great grandfather Hayden was born in New Jersey, right over the river from her!  I’m finding lots of details and have to remember to go to sleep.  I think I will have to keep a subscription, but will have to check very frequently.  Fortunately some of my relatives in Arizona are unwittingly helping me make some connections.