Street Parking June 22, 2012

        The city of Milwaukee requires a permit to park on the street at night. You can purchase window parking stickers either on an annual or quarterly basis. The most economical option is to purchase the Annual pass. On January 3rd I went online to figure out where we had to go to get one and we realized at that point with our work schedules we had two choices: Ask for a temporary three night visitor waver and then purchase a pass on the 6th or order it on line and get an eight day grace period for it to show up on the mail. To order it online you had to pay an extra $2.50 convenience fee. I figured why go through the hassle, besides if we got it downtown we would probably pay at least that much just to park the car to get it. So I pulled out my card and filled out a form and was given a confirmation number. The money was taken out of our account and everything seemed fine. But the sticker never came.
   
        Ten days later we got a ticket. Latif decided that all he needed to do was go downtown and deal with it. So one Friday afternoon, after getting directed from one office to another, he was told that he needed to call the number on the ticket. They were the only ones who could forgive the ticket and rectify the situation.

        The number on the ticket is only answered on weekdays during regular business hours. Calling it you can expect to be on hold for upward of 20 minutes. The only time Latif has to make such calls is the odd Friday when he gets off work early. In the meantime we got another ticket. Latif finally got ahold of a human being and had a lovely chat with, let’s call her, Shannon. She agreed to forgive our tickets and explained that when I filled out the online form I failed to enter the license plate number and they couldn’t distribute it without that. Of course the form did have our phone number, e-mail and mailing address, but there was no way, after taking my money, that they could figure what car I drove. Shannon promised that as soon as she received our parking sticker she would forward it on to us. Time passed; we never got the sticker, but we kept getting occasional tickets. Latif would call, tickets would be forgiven and finally in late February when calling to deal with yet another ticket Latif was told that the sticker was finally ready to be put in the mail. But the sticker never came.

           Eventually, they claimed that according to their records someone else lives at our address and thus they couldn’t mail it to us. Funny that—they had no difficulty sending us letters about unpaid tickets that Latif hadn’t had the time to call and get excused right away. At the end of it he asked them not to mail us our sticker and worked to see where he could pick it up in person. Arranging that took another two weeks and we got two more tickets in the mean time.

       So here we are, six months and 19 days after paying for our annual night street parking pass, 12 forgiven tickets and money spent in downtown parking for Latif to finally show up in person at the third party company that the city contracts with to handle parking citations and we have the proof that we paid for our parking on January 3rd. Icing on the cake is that letter they handed him with our sticker is addressed to LITIF GABA and thanks us “for using the web permits application/renewal system.”

      If I were rich and petty I would sue the city for a refund of the convenience fee or as I refer to it: the worst $2.50 I have ever spent.

REG

lhg edited and approved.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal April 2

4.2
Sunday afternoon, We went to Takikawa to a church service where we took part of the Holy Comunion. On the home way we went through a 10km long City of Sunagova

3. Monday. We had a company at Ernö’s house. Rev. & Mrs. Schiesler with their family were here for dinner and we had a good time.

4. The whole day was raining so I couldn’t go out

5-6 relax

7. We had a ride at long the two coal mines

8. Rev. & Mrs Schiesler were here for supper

9. relax

10. We had a birthday party for Canisar a Japanise boy who was baptized a year ago to Christian faith

11-12-13 Relaxing

14 The first sight seeing tour to the rocky mountain of Sounkyo Hokkaido. We have seen the marvelous rocky natural walls and waterfalls and the beatyful sinery. We were overnight at the Hotel Sounkaku. We eat there a Japanese meal of it consist of
20 diferent dishes. On our home way on 15th, we stoped in Asahigawa (Morning sun river) at Rev. Patskys hous for dinner.

16. after noon we went to Takikawa for dinner in Restaraun where we kooked or roasted on the table our own meal in ginghis Khan still. It was a delicious meal

17. We were at the Rev Shoppa in Oasa Doushi for dinner

18 We went early in morning to Sapporo to arranging our tour to Central Japan.




The journal ends there. There are still about 20 blank pages in the book, so it seems unlikely that there is another journal after this one. The back page appears to be the score of some sort of game with columns marked “We” & “They” with progressively larger numbers written under each.
I know from my parents that they were in Japan for two months and then went to Hawaii before flying home.




This is my last entry about their trip around the world. I hope you have enjoyed it.

I’d be happy to entertain suggestions about what to do next with my blog. Not sure if I should keep sharing historical artifacts –like old journals or simply tell stories from my past or present. Let me know what you think.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal March 27-April 1

From March 1 to March 27 my grandfather did not write anything apart from the note pictured below. I know from the photos that they spent some time in India and some other Far East countries and then he picked up again with their arrival in Japan.




March 27
We arrived at the Tokyo airport at 7.00, with 13 hour delay. At 8.50 We left Tokyo and arrived in Chitose, Hokkaido Airport at 10.00. We took from there a airline buss and went to Sapporo. There I phont my son and during this time Rev. Aho came for us and took us to his house and had there a lunch. From there our son and his family took to Bibai to their house and arrived in at 16.30 in Bibai.
We saw for the first time our little grand daughter.

28.29. & 30
We stayed at house to relax and played with our little grand daughter.

31 We went with Erno’s to Sapporo to a church service and met there a few missionaries with their familes and after the service we had there a good time. In home way we went through Ebelsu and Iwanisavo.

4.1
I went for a little walk.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal: Feb 20-March 1

21 Tuesday
I went out to make Picture

22. Wednesday
We went in the city to shopping some items. Then we went into the Central Bank of Iran and saw the Treasury of the Crown Jewels of Iran. It is the most fabulous jewel collection in the whole world. The value of the jewels treasury is immeasurable

23 Thursday
Daly Walk


24 Friday we went to the famous skye resort for the whole day

25. Saturday
We saw the Arthsological Museum of Teheran and the Colestan King palace, The Royal Siting room and the drawing room with splendor furniture, oil paintings, carpets and other art collection.

26 Sunday
We stayed at home.

27 Monday
We went shopping and we bought 2 Kerinan Persian Carpets and on the evening we went to Shukuweno night club for dinner.

28 Tuesday
We stayed at home.

March 1 Wednesday
Our last day in Iran. We went to Gen Fazelis house say good by and afterward we went to the carpet center and picked up the insurance paper for our carpets. At 24.00we left Anna’s house and went to the Teheran Airport.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal Feb 1-20 1967

February 1 Wendesday
I went for a little walk

2. Thursday
My wife had her birthday and we stayed at home.

3. Friday
We went to the American Club for diner. Afterward we visited two friends of our son in law and had there a good time.

4 Saturday
I went to Near East Tour traveling agenci and picked up my refund of 120 Rials afterward I went to Pakistan Abacy for visas

5. Sunday
I went for a little walk.

6. Monday
I wrote some mails

7. Tuesday
I had a little ride in the city

8. wendsday
I walked down town just for window shopping

9 Thursday
It was a lazy day.

10 Friday.
We went out for lunch in a famous perian resturant and afterward we drove around the city and saw a round 3 story building like a bal. The whole house stays on a one an half m in cross + cement base and have also seen the old palace of the Shah Pahlovi and the old and new sommer palace

11. Saturday
I went out for a little walk

12. Sunday
My wife and I walked downtown just for window shoping

13 Monday
We went into the bazaar and did some shopping
14 Tuesday
It was a lazy day

15 Wednesday
We went into Theater or movy and saw the Bibel story part of Genesy

16. Thursday
I walked

17. Friday
I went Grocery shopping

18. Saturday
I was a nasty day, we stayed at home

19. Sunday
In the evening we went to a movey

Narrating my own thoughts

I pick up accents easily. I will watch a movie set in the south and for the rest of the evening my husband has to endure his wife not talking like the Midwest girl he fell in love with. The crazy thing is that I can pick them up from books. My thinking will automatically without even being conscious of it emulate the style of whatever I am reading or listening to being read.

My husband is currently reading Joseph Pearce’s biography of Oscar Wilde to me. I go to bed each night now narrating my life in the third person past tense explaining the contradictions between my & my husband’s public and personal personas or perhaps the lack of them. It is crazy. So now I’m reading Sarah Vowell (whom I will have the pleasure of hearing read on March 9th at Boswell Books) and I like her writing voice—partly because I think it most resembles my natural voice and I come away from reading her work feeling, speaking, and thinking more like myself.

REG

lhg edited and approved

Mate Szedlak Travel Journal Jan 23-31

Tour to Near East
23. Monday.
We left at 6.00 to the air port and at 7.00 we flew with Iranian airline and arrived at 7.55 in Esfahan.
Sight seeing in Esfahan
1. The fourty pillars palace or museum in which shah Abbas entertained his royal guest.
2. The king Mosque of Masjed E Shah. One of the most beautiful in the world
4. Masjed E Jum a, The oldest and most interesting Mosque. illustrating many styles of architecture.
4. The famous Bazaar, where everything is made by hand we have seen.

24 Tuesday.
There the gold silver cupper and brass sinieds, how they are making jewels tryses etg.
5. The art school and museum Chahar Bagh The anciend Theological school of Greec Orthodox
6. Mumar Jonban, the shaking minarets
7 Zoroastrian fire temple
8.The fine carpet waving art school and the
9. Khahan and Sio Sia bridges, They spanning the Zayanderood river. We left at 7.45 the Iranien tour hotel and at 8.35 we flew to Shiras arrived at 9.30

25 Wendsday
Park Saadi Hotel Shiraz Sight seeing of Shirar
1. The ark citadel the
2. tomb of the poem Saadi
3. Tomb of Hafer
4. The Mosque of Jun
5. Ghavani Mirror house and orange garden
6. Bazaar and the shopping center

26. Thursday Excursion to Persopolis to the majesting stone ruins of the Achanamin capital wich was founded by Darius the great in 500 B.C. and extended by Xerxes Artaxerse and Darius The second it was destroy by Alexander the gr or the Macedonian & Nagash-e Rostam, the Rock tomb of Achamenian Emperors Darius, Xerxes, Artaxeres and the carved Rock, The image of Darius the great, how he defided the Roman Emperor

27 Friday
We left at 10.00 Shiras and arrived at 10.50 in Abadon, Bahran was waiting us and he took us to the Abadon Hotel. Afternoon he showed us the city and bazaar and shopping center, then he drove us to the port of Kharranshar and in the evening he went with us in a Theater.

The city of Abadon has a population of 300,000. It had the largest oil refinery in the World. The oil refinery was build in 1941. It had 5 square mile extend and has an output of refined oil 19,000,000 tons a year. There are 10,500 daly paid and 2600 montly paid employies.

28. Saturday
Bahran had given us a 560 Km excursion ride at long the province of Khozestan
1. we have seen in Susa the tomb of the profet Daniel
2. The fortress of Susa
3. The ruins of the ancient capital of Elam founded
by Dahde Tarjus at 5000 B.C.
4. have seen a excevation of Haphtopy, where cc 100 people were working
5 The excevated temple of Chaghe Zanbil where every day (according to legend) a human been was sacreficed
6. The tombs of the ancient people
7 The City of Ahwas and the oil field and the military camp

29. Sunday
Sight seeing in oil refinery of Abadon. The company there shoved us a film of the exploration and drilling in the rugged parched mountain region in South Western part of Iran. and by seven years of fruitles searching they strucked oil on 1911 Masjid-i Sulaiman in the foothills of the Zagros range and so the Middle East Oil Industry was born. Afterwords they showed us the instalation of the oil refinery. It was very interesting

we left Abadon at 20.30 and Arrived at 22.00 in Teheran.

30. Monday.
It was a laizy day. We didn't go out.

31 Thursday Gen & Madame Fazeli were here. They were curious of our Near East Tour and we did have to teling them of what we had seen on our round trip.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal: Jan 15-22

15. Sunday
Since my arm did sore from the vaccination shot so we didn’t go out.

16. Monday
I went for my daly walk

17. Tuesday
We went down to the City arranging our tour to Isfahan Shiras and Abadon, afterward we walked in the City the whole day.

18 Wendsday
My daly walk on the hills

19 Thursday
My daly walk

20. Friday We took our grandchildren to the school for children program

21 Saturday
We got on second Collera Vaccination and this was very strong. My whole body was shaken.

22. Sunday
We stayed in the house and packed our lagguage for a week long tour to South East and South west. In the evening Gen & Madam Fazeli visited us.

Book store anxiety

I just got back from an author reading at a locally owned book store. My natural inclination is to come home from work and not go anywhere—big thanks to Mr. Gaba for getting me out of the house. It was a very nice event. The author, Ayad Akhtar, was fun to listen to. I haven’t read his book. For a librarian I oddly don’t do a lot of causal reading.

I often feel intimidated at book stores—so much writing I haven’t done. I haven’t been published in anything but school publications and professional proceedings. Tonight was better. Why? Well, Mr. Gaba wanted to be sure to get a good seat so we arrived an hour before the event, so I brought my ten goals journal with me and did some writing while waiting for the event to start. It was a way of saying to myself, “See, I’m a writer, I’m working on something right now.” The fact that I’m just making a list that includes things like, “take a walk tomorrow, drive to my folks, write in this journal” doesn’t matter. I’m writing. I have a journal so all those imagined accusing voices of the books on the shelves taunting me about not being published in the commercial market can just shut up!

For whatever reason libraries do not have this effect on me at all.

REG

lhg edited and approved

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal: Jan 8-14

8. Sunday I mad a long walk and came home tired with a back ack in the eveing Gen. & Madam Fazeli visited us.

9. Monday We went for a long walk at long the and at the evening we had a ride to the city.

10. Tuesday I had a terrible cold with a Tripping nose. I stayed the whole day in the room.

11. Wednesday I went for a little walk than we had a ride in the city.

12. Thursday I walked to the Zoo.

13. Friday in the morning we picked up our grandson Polad from the hospital and afternoon we went to the American Club for dinner.

14. Satruday
We got our Collera vaccination free at the clining. Than afterward we walked in the city.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal January 1-7, 1966

New Year 1967 Sunday
1 of Jan. I went up to the mountain with our daughter and son in law skeeing.

Jan 2 Monday
I went to Park Hotel to arrange by the Sita our tour to Shiras.

3 Tuesday today is a Moslem holy day or mourning day and all stors are closed. However I made a walk up to the hills

4. Wednesday In the morning we had 2 inches of snow. In the evening to the American club theater.

5. Thursday we went to Gen Fazelis for dinner. There were more people invited.

6. Fridday We went for a walk in nero and mudy street and have seen a group of people a Moslem preacher was preaching to them.

7. Saturday I cacht a cold again. My whole body does aching.

Mate Szedlak's Travel Journal Dec 22-31 1966

22. Afternoon our son in law took us out for a ride and we made some Christmas shopping for our grandchildren.

23. Our grandson Polad had his birthday party and the whole house was ful with kids. Then late afternoon Gen & Mrs. & Miss Fazeli came for a short visit and we had a good conversation. They invited us for dinner.

24.
Christmas Schopping for the grandchildren and we had a nice Christmas evening. Our grand children were very excited when they saw their new bicicls.

25 at day Time I made a little walk and in the evening went to a movi. I went to a German Lutheran church service

26.I went on my daly walk and in the evening we went to the American Club for a little chat.

27 I mad a long walk and in the evening we went bowling, but the bowlerana was overcrowded so we went for a rid up to the mountain foot.

28-29 we stayed at home

30 In the evening we went to our son in law’s friend for dinner we had there some caviar and had a good time.

31 We didn’t go out in New Year’s eve since it was a strict Moslem mourning day and all puplic places were closth.