1959

The month of May hasn't been that great for us or my grandfather. He's fallen down three times and on the third fall he ended up in the ER. This happened over the weekend and he's now in the hospital with a throat infection. Anyways, watching Ago today, I realized something: my grandfather doesn't live in 2009. He's still in 1959. Everything about him, the way he eats, the way he thinks, the way he dresses (definitely the way he dresses) screams 1959. The only things that are of this year are the treadmill and printer/copier/fax. Actually, I don't even think 2009 is accurate because he's lacking a cell phone.

So his mentality is still in 1959 but that's not necessarily a bad thing, its just Ago. He's always been like this. Stuck in the past, un-willing to change his ways. Just look at his wardrobe. The hat and the jacket look straight of a 1950s movie and the man has not bought new shoes in like 20 years!

The past couple of days have been interesting and (obviously) humor has been helping to cope. Watching Ago the way he is right now is difficult but every time he pulls one of his Agosims I can't help but laugh. Every time he confirms what just happened or barks orders, such as close the blinds, shut the door, or go to his house and bring him his Evian and the yogurt I can't help but think that's my grandfather.

Absorbed in my own thoughts

What if I blogged entirely in Spanish? That just crossed my mind. I think I am capable of doing that. I've been studying the language for enough time. I guess one day when I get bored....

Well, I've been branching out the Sparmenglish name. I wrote about my blog and the discourse that I've been a part of (I'm on Armeniapedia and I should be writing that essay right now). And, I wrote about it in my linguistics essay. What I want now is feedback. I want to know how others perceive the Sparmenglish language. Is it worth it to keep blogging about? (actually, i don't care about that one, i'll keep blogging). Is it worth it to continue my goals and plans for it? I've been toying with this idea, with Sparmenglish, for quite sometime now and i'm getting hesitant about what direction I can run with it.

"That Store"

There are certain stores that Ago only goes to with me. One of them I call "that store". I do not want to call it by name because I don't want any affiliation to it, but I will give hints: it's huge; it sells a lot of stuff; It destroys small town businesses; oh, and you can NEVER NEVER NEVER find some one to help you when you need them--they always pop up when you don't. Got the idea? When HEB starts carrying prunes we'll stop going.

Well, we went to "that store" today. Ughhh. And I can't remember what we bought. But some people were very inconsiderate of us. I don't expect red carpet treatment when I take Ago shopping but I expect people to let this man pass with his cart. No that didn't happen. He almost ran into a family of four. And the looks that we get, some are mean; some people get mad at us because take up half the aisle and walk slow. But I think most looks are out of ignorance. They have no idea who we are, or where we're from, and they probably will never see someone dressed like my grandfather in their beloved store (hat, trousers, button down shirt, jacket usually tweed, outdated, and the shoes, oh! I'll have to write a post on his clothing). There are some people just stare with confusion. It is very uncomfortable for me to know that I am being watched (and judged maybe?) by a complete stranger. On top of that, I'm yelling (Ago's hearing problem) in either Spanish or Armenian, or both most of the time and he's yelling back so it paints funny picture of me searching for I don't even now what because he mispronounced it or it was written illegiblly on his grocery list. (One time he kept yelling "COLOR X" and when I looked at the list it actually was Clorox. So we go to the clorox aisle and i pick one up for him and he says "NO, ASIGAH NO. COLOR X! NO ESTA AQUI"). However, there are people who smile and are patient, and curious. But not enough types to counter balance each other.

I know that I sound whiny when I complain like this, but I do expect people to be coinsiderate of us when we're at the store. He's 94 years old, and he's doing his own shopping. I'm there to provide transportation and bag fruit. There are people in "that store" that are clearly twenty to thirty years younger than my grandfather, and they use motorized scooters. WTF? This man is 94 years old, he's pushing his own cart; if I ever offered one of those scooters he'd throw a tantrum.

--> So I just read over my post and realized that the way I wrote the last part makes it sound like age triumphs handicap.

The Treadmill part 2

I mentioned this a couple of posts back, about Ago buying a treadmill, well...he did. My 94 year old grandfather is now a proud owner of a top of the line treadmill. The kind of treadmill that you'd expect at the gym, not a home. Ago had been mentioning this for ages but I didn't think he'd actually go through with it. He has always exercised, in fact when I was younger I vividly remember him walking to nearest grocery store, Randalls, with his carrito every day to buy fresh produce. (Now we take the car to go to HEB; he has the same kind of carrito though.) He'd take the bike paths that are intertwined in the neighborhoods, but still Randalls was at least a mile away, one way, and he did this while he was his late seventies and early eighties. Now, within the past seven years, he has been walking on the treadmill at the gym in his complex for fifteen to thirty minutes. He's actually pretty good, (that's what the salesperson said) he has arthritis in his back. I don't think he takes anything for it, but the exercise helps him. I have to say I'm a little impressed (and proud) that he is so physically and mentally active. When I get older, I want to be able to walk on the treadmill everyday, hell, I want to go on walks everyday.

I haven't seen the treadmill yet, but I have two predictions of what it might be like:

1. He will Agoptize it. AKA he will make it his own by tying string somewhere. Nothing truly belongs to Ago unless there is string on it.

2. I'll be told that even I can use it. I didn't get any of the Wusthof scissors, but I can run on the new treadmill!