Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

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A phone call...

...From my dad's co-pilot! To thank me for sending pictures! Meet my dad's co-pilot, Joe, standing next to my dad!

Left to right: my dad (bombardier) Frank, co-pilot Joe, pilot John and navigator Peter.

Joe is 91 years young and he talked my ear off with tons of stories. He and his wife of 60+ years live in Ohio.

Joe told me before they went overseas they were in North Carolina, then New York, then Florida. From there they flew to Brazil. From Brazil they were to fly to North Africa on a B-24. But the plane had something wrong with it, and a typing paper-sized piece of paper was taped to the side with red tape all around the edges of the paper. The message was "DO NOT FLY THIS PLANE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES". So they were delayed a day in leaving. Now I'm not sure if it was the same plane that got fixed or a different one, but the next day the B-24 they were leaving in had problems. Un-noted changes had been made and it wouldn't fly level and it took an extra 3 hours to get it to fly right.

Basically the story was they left Brazil at 8:30 pm to cross the Atlantic to North Africa. When they were approaching the airbase at Dakar, French West Africa, they got a big scare. Now, Joe explained, when you land a plane you fly in a pattern and you land into the wind. The pattern is divided into legs. There is a downwind leg, a short leg and the approach (into the wind). The B-24 has 4 engines. Number 4 engine stopped on the downwind leg. The number 3 engine stopped on the short leg. So they had engine 1 & 2 but they are on one side of the plane, which makes it want to fly in circles. Joe thought they would crash for sure. But the flight engineer was able to restart them so they could land safely.

After they landed they taxied over to refuel. Joe said that the fuel gauge on a plane is the same as on a car, they aren't all that accurate. Joe asked if I knew how they checked the fuel level. "With a stick?" I asked. Yes, he said, and there wasn't even enough fuel left to wet the end. The extra three hours added to the trip ran the tanks nearly dry. The flight engineer found enough reserve to restart the engines. They came close to ditching in the ocean.

Other miscellaneous things Joe told me were:

It took an hour for squadrons to all get into the air, into formation, and then up to the altitude they were to fly at for the mission.

The targets were heavily guarded with anti-aircraft guns. The puffs of black smoke were so thick at times it looked like you could walk across them. He said they called him "Holy Joe" because he prayed so much.

The oil pressure on a B-17 engine could drop suddenly for no apparent reason. You had to keep it at 80. If it dropped below 40 the propellers would loose their trim and would "windmill". (I don't understand that one yet LOL)

My dad was assigned group leader bombardier because he always did an excellent job at destroying his share of the enemy targets. I'm not sure exactly how Joe described the groups, but each squadron had groups of planes and the lead plane had the bombardier. The following planes had other crew members that weren't trained as bombardiers. The bombs were released by flipping toggle switches, so when the lead bombardier located the target and began dropping the bombs, the "toggle flippers" in the following planes would also drop their bombs.

Well, that's about it for the stories right now. At least they are getting written down this time! Today I took the crew photo above and made a copy at Walgreen's. It turned out well, much clearer than my printout. Now, tomorrow I am going to make more, because Joe wants to send one to the pilot John and the navigator Peter! And I have to make one for the archivist for the 99th Bomb Group Historical Society.

Wow. What a day.

Found!!!

I found the photos I had been looking for! I had gone through the large box of my parent's old photos over and over, and through the photo albums, and then countless boxes and drawers but could not find them.Then I picked up a small box and unfolded some tissue paper. Wrapped in the paper was an envelope with the writing "old photos from WW II". Sometimes you are just one small box away from loosing something rare.

This is my dad inspecting 100 lb. napalm incendiary bombs -- Photographed at Airbase -- Poltava, Ukraine, U.S.S.R. June 1944". A note was added: "Note the cigarette behind back, he has just discovered one of the bombs is leaking and is about to get out of there, fast."

Italy 1944. In this photo my dad is pictured with three other crew members. I am guessing a pilot and co-pilot plus another member. There are no names. Captions reads "Frank with his crew". My dad is on the left. I am hoping the co-pilot I am in contact with is in the picture. That would be too cool!

Italy 1944. The caption on the back of this photo reads:

"The best crew the 347th ever had -- right Frank?"

(my dad is not in this picture but it is a picture of his crew)

I'm sending copies of the photos to the 99th. They have an archivist who won't almost loose things in little boxes.

In other news, I did a little Christmas shopping today. I only found some of what I was looking for. Bought dad and I some chocolate. Well, that wasn't on my list. Gotta have chocolate! LOL

A letter!

I received an answer to the letter I wrote to my dad's co-pilot! It wasn't a long letter. He admits he has forgotten a lot, as WW II was a long time ago. But I was excited to hear from one of my dad's crew members.

He writes, "Your Dad was an easy going guy. Nothing seemed to bother him. Fighters, anti aircraft shells. He was always cool as a cucumber."

I grew up listening to my dad's stories. It's a shame no one wrote them down. I remember a few things, but not dates and locations. My dad told stories of returning back to base with the plane limping on one engine, barely keeping altitude and brushing the tree tops. That was over Italy. Another time my dad's parachute was hit by shrapnel (flak). It tore up the parachute but he was not wounded at all (I have the metal pieces with his medals). He also told stories of visiting Egypt and the Holy Land. He noted on his Mission list that happened in June 1944.

In other news, I had an orientation today for three new employees and mailed equipment to two more new people. I had to set up five laptops plus pack everything up. I'm tired of setting up laptops! The orientaion went well. Now I can rest.

Nice day and a "darn it!"

Today was sunny and mild. Temperatures have been hitting 60 frequently this month. We even cracked open a couple windows. Since it was so mild I decided to wash sheets and hang them on the line.

Do NOT, I repeat, Do Not Ever hang clothes on the line when your back yard is littered with crab apples!!! I didn't notice a flock of starlings flew in and feasted on them, and rested will full tummies ON THE CLOTHES LINE.

I went out to take the sheets down and ohhh crap!!!!!!!!!! Those little sheet sh*ters!!!! I had to wash them all over again and dry them in the dryer.

Aside from that it was a lovely day. Nice to see the sun all day long with it mild enough to enjoy it. Dad made yummy bread. He used white and whole wheat flour with a little oatmeal added. He also used honey and Agave nectar. It's really good!!

In touch with the 99th!

I emailed one of the contacts and got an answer. After we shared some info back and forth (well, you're not going to give out info to just anyone who finds you on a webpage, right?) he told me one of the 99th Bomb Group Historical Society members remembers my dad. In fact he was the co-pilot on many of the missions! He has agreed to us getting in touch. I have been looking for photos but I have not been able to find them. I'm not sure if my mom put them someplace or if they are gone forever.

Reflecting on my parent's past

I've been watching WW II in HD. I have wept a lot. It is gruesome to watch, yet I feel like I am seeing first hand what my parents lived through, especially my dad as a B-17 navigator and bombardier. I am amazed at the stories told and photographed by the people who lived to tell them. My dad flew 50 missions over Italy, north Africa and Europe. I tried to see if any of the planes were El Diablo but I didn't see the name. Later I decided to google it and actually found a book that mentions El Diablo. I found a couple mentions but not the 347th squadron which my dad was in. I also found The 99th Bomb Group Historical Society. More serching and I just found some basic history of the 347th. My dad used to tell a lot of interesting stories. Too bad no one ever wrote them down.

My dad standing in front of the B-17 El Diablo

Been awhile...been busy

I'm always busy after the conference but that work is done now. The weather has been very mild for November. Today we cleaned the carpet. The weather was still mild enough to open the windows for awhile and hang a few items on the clothesline.

My son-in-law in Australia bought me some books! "Learning PHP5" and "JavaScript". They are both O'Reilly books. I'll never be a serious programmer like John but I am having fun adding some functions to my PHP forms. Eventually I hope to understand how to work with MySQL database, which is also included in the PHP book.

Back to normal

We got home yesterday. The kitties were SOOO happy to see us. They keep checking up on me to make sure I'm still here. Last night Sophie jumped on the foot of the bed, ran up along my side and meowed in my face, just one meow, then she left. It was so funny! Still trying to figure out what it meant. Do pets think their people got out and ran away?

This morning I picked up our dog, Trixie. She stayed with my daughter so she brought Trixie to work with her and I met her there. So now that we have eaten home cooked food gotten a good night's sleep we feel back to normal.

Now for some pictures:

The balcony outside our room

Looking toward the Inn

Saturday from the conference room---the sun peeked out for a few seconds

Sunday morning---fog on the lake

On the pier looking back at the Inn

One of four lakes at the Natchez Trace

Clouds reflecting in the water. So blue!!

And clear

Moss garden

Beaver work

Postcard perfect lake

Monday morning fog

Dad getting ready to leave.

We enjoyed the fresh air and quiet. The scenery was so beautiful!

Vincennes

We're staying in a better place this time. Also found a decent Mexican restaurant, La Fiesta. Home tomorrow. I miss my kitties!!!!!!!!!!

Natchez Trace State Park, TN

I started this post on Thursday the 15th. It's now Sunday, the 18th and we're still here! The weather for the conference was disappointing, chilly, damp and cloudy. Of course Sunday, the day everyone had to leave, was sunny and gorgeous. So...we didn't leave. I took lots of pictures but I'm not sure if I can edit them until I get home. I didn't install my editing software.

Back to the 15th:

We are here, tired, and about ready to grab something to eat. I hope it's sunny tomorrow so I can get a nice picture before my head is buried in all the conference work (didn't happen).

The drive down was rather unremarkable. Western Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee don't have the spectacular rock outcropping and cliffs. I saw field after field of corn and soybeans. We saw cotton in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. The most unusual thing we saw was long, covered conveyor belts for moving coal to the railroads in western Kentucky. They undulated up over roads and down through farm fields for miles.

Thursday night the boss, vp and I sorted out all the shirt orders and stuffed the gift bags. Friday morning I set up the equipment area in the conference room. It was a long day so we crashed early and planned an early start on Saturday. The weather was cold and gloomy.

Dad and I finished all the equipment in time for dinner with the employees. We enjoy their company and honestly would rather talk than work. But that's "my marathon" I call it. I cleaned, checked and updated 19 laptops (I think---my list is packed) and printers. Dad cleaned all the inventory calculators.

Sunday (today) morning we packed up all the conference related stuff and decided to stay. We took several walks and ate yummy pizza from Sparky's in Lexington, TN, only about 10 minutes drive away. It's time to post this and head to bed. We must start home tomorrow!

An early Merry Christmas or...

...a late Anniversary gift. Either way, I was to the point that my carpal tunnel was driving me nuts, so I was either going to have to give up using the mouse, or stop using the computer. Guess what won.

Here it is---my new Wacom Bamboo. I have wanted a tablet for years.

In other news, Macey (left) and Murry say "Hi, don't bother us we're sleeping."

Aren't they cute. You can see Macey's extra thumbs.

Happy Anniversary

To dad and I---40 years!! Seems more like 20. I don't know how on earth we could have gotten to that number. Must mean that white-haired lady I keep seeing in the mirror must be me??? Well, I don't feel old, so that's what counts. Dad grilled steaks and we had baked potatoes with sour cream. I made onions and mushrooms sautéed in butter (the healthy stuff, not real butter LOL) to serve with the steak and blue cheese. Yummy.

What a day!

This is a very busy time of the year for me. The conference is barely over 2 weeks away and preparations are in high gear. I have been shopping and purchasing gifts for the employees and taking orders for the two free company shirts they receive every year. So today when my DSL went down I decided to not become frustrated and take a break from the computer. I got a laptop set up and re-potted some violets. Then the mailman knocked on the door. He had a box for me. You have to go to my Violet Obsession blog to find out what was in it. (link is on the right).

Eye Opening

Tonight we watched the "Holy Grail in America" on the History Channel. Now I've never been one to blindly believe everything I hear or read but I am open minded. Give me some new information and back it up with enough evidence and I'm interested. And I do mean interested. This program was amazing! It's controversial, but I'm approaching it with an open mind. Dad and I both enjoyed it immensely.

First of all, I had no idea there are ancient runestones in America. The story progresses in more and more eye-opening ways, all backed up with examples and scientific study. Well, some of it is theory of course, because we don't know everything, but the clues are unmistakably there.

The story starts with a large runestone in Minnesota, called the Kensington Runestone. Many archaeologists think it's fake because the writing doesn't fully match what they normally see on runestone. They think it's a modern fake. But new scientific evidence debunks the debunker's. The story hops back and forth from Europe to Scotland to Nova Scotia and then the US. Ha! That's cool. My dad's great grandparents came from Scotland to Nova Scotia and then to Massachusetts. Not that my family is any way connected. None of them were Templar Knights. There is an ancient stone tower in Rhone Island that aligns astronomically. Wait...what? Templar Knights? Yup. They are in the story, too. Did I tell you this story is Amazing!! I found the author's website. I think the book would be an interesting read. The website, The Hooked X, has links to the book, the film, the author (he's a scientist) and other links.

More links:
A bit about runestones in America - here
A blog with a good collection of pictures, including the Newport Tower in Rhode Island - here

Cool Site

Take a look at the ancient gold http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/ on this website!

Not much to write about tonight. We watched a good movie, Cadillac Records. We enjoyed it, even though the IMDB review isn't so great. Apparently it isn't fully historically correct, but so many movies aren't. But we enjoyed it.

Dinner tonight was breaded fried sole. I like sole because it doesn't taste fishy.

It's ok if you laugh

It's been a LONG time since I tried to crochet. Maybe 20 years. Even back then I was just learning. In fact I packed up almost all of my mom's knitting needles and crochet hooks after she passed and mailed them to a friend. I had to hunt to find any remaining ones, so I don't have a nice metal one right now. Then I didn't have any yarn handy because it's packed away in a bin in the closet. I found some cotton Lace Net Darning yarn but it's very hard to handle. Then I remembered a skein of yarn I tossed into my African Violet potting supply box. Ah-ha! Now I have purple yarn to practice with. Well---I can make a chain LOL. And then I worked in something I learned on http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/. If I did it right it's the double crochet. It's kind of catawumpus and wonky. Oh well.

I want to make those pretty flowers!! But I can't read the patterns yet.

In other news, my daughter said tonight (in our ICQ chat) that it was beginning to rain. She added that she misses our lashing thunderstorms because the ones in Australia are mild and gentile. Then she said the weather is just now proving her wrong because a huge storm is coming in. The weather service reported, "Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones, destructive winds, very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours." She's off-line now because hubby wanted her to drive the car over to his parent's and park it under the carport before the worst hit. I'll try to grab a radar screen shot when the biggest part of the storm is over Elizabeth, South Australia.

Ok, got pictures:

10:07pm Sunday our time but it's Monday afternoon in Australia. I put purple dots for Elizabeth (where my daughter lives) and Virginia (where her in-laws live). Look near the center of the map, just to the lower right of center. If you look south from Elizabeth you will see Adelaide. That's where her hubby works. You can also find Adelaide on any Australia map. This is a 64 km view.

Now here is the storm at 250 km at 10:19 pm our time.

And now zooming in to 64km again to show they heavy rains now hitting her area.

Rain like this is a common experience for us but Australia is coming out of a six to ten year drought.

Kangaroos

My daughter's mother-in-law bought some paint that wasn't quite the right color, but she couldn't return it because one of the roos ate her receipt so she can't take it back. Let me explain. My younger daughter lives in Australia. She and her husband and his parents are part of a wildlife rescue program. So both households have the pitter patter of little orphaned kangaroo feet. Baby roos are too little to live outside without a mother roo.

So----much like the dog ate my homework story, roos really eat paper. My daughter said roos really LOVE paper, and they know they aren't supposed to eat it, so when they see you coming they suck it up like noodles and poof it's gone! So went the receipt.

Now that's funny!!

Baby Oan in his bassinet

Baby Russ in his basket with kitties. The grass is for him to munch on.

Russ and Iggy

Russ is growing up. When he is old enough and the weather is warm he can live in the pasture with the other adult roos.

Where did that come from??

I've been reading my friend's Knit and Run blog for quite some time now, but I've said again and again I'm all thumbs when it comes to needlework, so I never do any of it. Well, I don't know why but for some reason I pulled out one of my mom's crochet hooks and grabbed some yarn and started crocheting. Just the simple stuff---I don't even know what you call it. And the yarn kept slipping off my little finger just like it did when my mom taught me....oh....now it's all coming back. She taught me, I just never kept up with it, or learned patterns, or any of that good stuff that actually leads to making something. So maybe I'll try to make something. Finally...after all these years.

Oh----we opened a jar of the tomato jam. It tastes LEMONY. Really sweet and lemony, like lemon candy. So I'm not crazy about it. There were some other recipes with other flavors so we might try one of them.

Plug into the Borg

Microsoft is sounding more and more like plugging into the Borg Collective. The big push toward Cloud Computing (computing without walls they say) just reminds me that resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

As much as I disliked Windows 7 (past tense---it's deleted) I even more so hated Windows Live Mail that wanted me to login to receive something better than not being logged in, whatever that was, I don't know, because I never logged in. It never sent my test email and there is no Send button! I downloaded Thunderbird, which works fine, of course.

If you are wondering what Cloud Computing is, The Cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, and instead of buying software to run on your own computer, you subscribe to online services that are managed by others.

Some time ago I read that Microsoft was planning a shift from purchasing rights to run software on a computer (you never "own" Microsoft software, silly, you just buy a product key to unlock it so it runs on one, maybe two computers) to online subscription services that are constantly updated so you always have the newest version ($$ ka-ching $$).

Which also leaves me wondering---who are the "others" who are running the clouds you log into? What country(ies) are they located in?

Ok, so maybe you think I'm old-fashioned, but I'm just not "into" the online-everything concept. Which is why my next desktop computer will be Ubuntu. Ubuntu Linux is far from old-fashioned. It's just unfamiliar, and not in the public eye as much as Windows is. No wonder---try searching for an Open Source machine. And because of that, some manufacturers don't bother offering Linux drivers for their hardware. That leaves some people feeling that Linux doesn't work, because there are no Linux drivers for certain Windows-based hardware. However, the Linux community is growing, and hardware support is growing with it.

Dinner tonight---homemade pizza. The movie---most of the way through "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Good movie, long, will finish tomorrow.

*******Where were you 8 years ago on September 11?*******

Dual Boot

Some days I just need to challenge myself. I enjoy the learning process, including the set-backs and minor failures that make success all the more fun. So today I decided to get rid of that awful Windows 7 on my test laptop and put Vista back on with an Ubuntu dual-boot. You might have read in my August 10th post that I installed Ubuntu on one laptop and Windows 7 on another. I had to format and re-install Windows XP on the Ubuntu laptop so I could get it ready for a new employee. That left me with Windows 7 on the test laptop. It isn't mine but I get to keep it as long as I remain the equipment manager.

It took three tries for me to get all the details right. The harddrive is 120 GB but I actually only had 101 GB to play with because of a Dell partition and a recovery partition. So Ubuntu got 30 GB and Vista got 71 GB. I'm not planning to install much on it anyway.

Because Vista is installed first, it goes on the faster (outer) area of the drive, and Ubuntu installs second, more toward the center, where the disk spins more slowly. It's a moot point though, because you wait for Vista to boot up. You know, I've had something come up where I needed to get online pronto and then sat there fidgeting while my XP machine booted up. I think Vista is slower, and that's on a faster processor with 2 GB memory. Ubuntu just pops on.

I still have lots to learn, but Ubuntu is much more friendly to use and learn than past Linux versions, especially for those of us who started out with Windows and are used to clicking on things as opposed to typing in commands.

In other news, the yearly conference will be held at the Natchez Trace State Park in Tennessee. It looks absolutely gorgeous there! Looking forward to it. Dad is going this year, so I don't have to fly. Hopefully with his help we can get the work done in time to enjoy some of the fall colors and scenery.

Dinner tonight was battered and friend sole fillets and hash browns. I'm such a picky fish eater but this was really good!

Pickles :-)

Today we canned some bread and butter pickles. It's been years since we last did any canning, and I no longer have my big canning pot. So until we have the proper equipment, batches are just going to remain small. I can tell you I was pretty nervous listening to the jars dancing in the boiling water because there was no rack to hold them.

Cucumbers, bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, all from our garden.

They look like they turned out fine. Now---the long wait, not opening any for at least 4 weeks. Haven't tried the tomato preserves yet, either.

In other news, if you love cats, or even remotely like cats, you must watch Nora play the piano! Nora even had a concerto written for her, a CATcerto!

The Conference this year will be in Nashville. Sounds like fun. More later...

Jam!

Here's the jam! Actually, tomato preserves, because we left them whole.

Can't wait to try a jar. Probably need to wait a week.

Tomatoes Cooked

We decided to make Tomato Jam from all those little Yellow Pear tomatoes. We have a recipe in an old WWII era cookbook we found at a garage sale. The recipe actually calls for Yellow Pear tomatoes.

We needed to scald them and then plunge them into ice water to we could slip off the skins. The directions were a bit vague and we ended up processing them a bit too long. They are tiny, so they heat up fast. But I don't think it matters as they didn't fall apart. Here are 2 pounds of tomatoes sitting overnight in 3 cups of sugar. Tomorrow I need to go buy jelly jars because I don't have any!

Oops we missed a skin. Do you see it? It's orange.

TOMATO PRESERVES

2 pounds small yellow plum tomatoes

3 cups sugar

1 lemon

Cover tomatoes with boiling water, cover and let stand 2 minutes (this is what didn't work). If we make them again I will put them in boiling water in batches and then into the ice water and then drain them.

Peel, taking care not to break them. Place in layers with sugar in a bowl and let stand overnight. Then drain and cook juice to 228 degrees or until it spins a thread (*when dropped in a glass of cold water). Add lemon, thinly sliced, and tomatoes. Cook until clear and thick. Seal in clean, hot jars. Makes 2 quarts.

*If you aren't familiar with cold water candy testing, see Science of Candy: The Cold Water Test

Tomatoes!

Aren't they pretty?

The little yellow ones are Heirloom Yellow Pear. The little red ones are regular cherry tomatoes and the larger striped ones are heirloom something that were accidentally mixed in with the yellow pear.

Movies

I have neglected to mention some of the movies we have enjoyed lately.

The Great Buck Howard (a story based on the Amazing Kreskin)
Frozen River (upstate New York Indian Reservation & smuggling, good story)
Bait Shop (Bill Engvall--funny of course)
New In Town (Renee Zellweger)
Outsourced (takes place in India--a realistic look at life there, touching yet funny. Truly well done and worth watching.)
Hotel For Dogs (family-orientated movie, fun to watch)

Ubuntu & Windows 7

As a business environment research project I downloaded and installed Ubuntu Linux on one laptop and Windows 7 RC (release candidate) on another. Now you have to understand, the people using the laptops in the work environment only need Office, email, a web browser and a wireless Internet connection.

Ubuntu is an easy download on DSL, under 700 MB. You must install an ISO burner to burn it to a CD. The first thing that amazed me about the Ubuntu is that it installed and worked without installing the time-consuming Windows driver installs. Right "out of the box" I had a working email program, OpenOffice and a DSL cable connection. However the wireless connection utility was not connecting. I have to admit that I am so much a newbie with Ubuntu that I didn't know how to install the utility needed to make it work. But...when I found the right support it was a breeze! Everything works from a drop-down menu from a task bar at the top of the page. I love it! However---IMPORTANT---before you go formatting your drive and installing Ubuntu, remember Windows applications won't run on it.

The next laptop got the mega install, 2.3 GB download---took 5 hours! Since this is also an ISO image, you must use an ISO burner to burn it to a DVD, since a CD isn't large enough. The machine you install it to must also have a DVD player, so it can read it. Anyway, Windows 7 is an upgrade of Vista, and honestly I haven't figured out why anyone would want to drop that much moola into a program which looks pretty much like the one they just paid a lot of moola for. I did find out that avast! antivirus works on Windows 7. However it does NOT come with an email client. I downloaded Windows Live mail and I don't like it, so I installed Thunderbird instead.

So, I expect to be testing these two laptops for awhile.

On Soapbox

Well, I've been quiet too long. Time to spout off a bit. The doomsday people, special interest groups and naysayers are trying to spell health care as E-V-I-L, so I'm going to pass on some important info I got from the AARP.

Here are some Myths the fear mongers want you to believe:

Health care reform is socialized medicine.
Health care reform means rationed care.
Health care reform will hurt Medicare.
Health care reform is too expensive – we can't afford it.
Health care reform means the government can make life-and-death decisions for you.

The answers to the above statements are FALSE, FALSE, FALSE, FALSE and FALSE.

Read the TRUTH here: http://aarp.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/Myths_vs_Facts

Although I'm several years away from Medicare, I am an AARP member and here are some important messages for all of us.

FACT #1: Medicare will not be ended, and no benefits or services will be cut.
Your services will not be ended, nor will your benefits be cut. AARP's position on this could not be clearer. And we have sent this message loud and clear to Congress. While the current proposals include savings in Medicare by cutting out fraud, abuse, waste, and inefficiency, we're standing up and making sure benefits for Medicare recipients are not only fully protected, but are improved. [See "A" below]

FACT #2: No legislation currently in Congress would mandate the rationing of care. Period.
Our staff has read all of the legislation circulating in Congress and there are no provisions in these bills that would ration care for our members. None. If any ever did, we would vigorously fight to stop that legislation. [See "B" below]

FACT #3: There is no provision of any piece of legislation that would promote euthanasia of any kind.
The rumors out there are flat out lies. Right now Medicare does not cover counseling for end-of-life care. The portion of the bill in question would simply provide coverage for optional end-of-life consultations with doctors, so that the patient can be aware of all of the treatment options on the table. It is not mandatory and it has nothing to do with euthanasia. [ See "C" below]

FACT #4: We have not endorsed President Obama's plan.
In fact, we haven't endorsed any plan. We are supporting reform of our health care system, something that AARP has pushed for many years.We're working closely with Republican and Democratic members of Congress to lower health care costs and to ensure quality affordable coverage for older Americans - and we want reform legislation passed and signed by the president this year. [See "D" below]

So what is AARP fighting for in health reform?

A. Stopping insurance companies from charging older Americans unaffordable premiums because of their age.

B. Ending the practice of excluding people from insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

C. Holding down health costs and making insurance coverage more affordable for all Americans.


D. Making prescription drugs more affordable by narrowing the Medicare doughnut hole, bringing generics to market faster, and allowing Medicare to negotiate better drug prices.

So...there you go.
Off soapbox.

Lucky

Stripey Cat has a new name, Lucky. He came to visit us today and I snapped some pictures. (click on them for full size)

Below---I put him on the lawn chair because he wouldn't stay still

You are not seeing things---the centers of his eyes are just as green as the chair he's sitting on!

Gold eyes with teal green centers! Awsome!

We are SOOOO glad he has a good home.

Kitty Update

Stripey Cat (I thought adding the "e" made it look more like stripe-ee and not strip-ee) must be happy next door. They haven't turned it out. The former owner was across the street this morning. Didn't even show her face, or even look for it, or even miss it. What a shame. Glad it has a new home. I will try to find out if "it" is a he or she.

Stripy Cat

Aww I hate it when people dump animals!! And no we didn't take it in---can't with three older cats.

I know who dumped the kitty, too, because she had it with her and her children when they were visiting across the street. Because I know her she came over to talk and brought the kitty with her. She told me how much they loved this kitty named "Precious".

Today little silver and black striped cat Precious was meowing at our door, but I didn't see the owner and her children anywhere. I brought the kitty water but couldn't let it inside, not with my upset kitties peering out the window at it. For hours dad and I watched for the owner to drive up, looking for kitty, but they never came (we have no way to contact her). Finally dad broke down and said we should feed it, although that means they never leave, and we can't take it in. He said to set the food over by the gate, away from the porch, so our kitties couldn't see it.

Stripy Cat came bounding over with joy when it saw the dish in my hand. I called it over to the gate and set down the food. Just then our next door neighbors came home. They came over and asked if that was our cat. We told them no and who owned it. The son (who was playing with the children of Stripy Cat's owner) said they didn't want it anymore and just left it. The mom said it was at their door this morning and they let it in, but turned it back out when a call to the landlord wasn't promising. She told her family if it was still around when she got home from work she was going to buy a litter box and food and take it in anyway. She said they always had cats and she wanted to give this little one a home. I was so happy to hear they were taking it in. I gave them an extra bag of cat food.

So Stripy Cat Precious is living next door. Dad and I are relieved because I would have been in tears if this had gone on much longer. Dad said it's a smart little cat and if it wasn't for our own kitties we would have taken it in. Maybe I'll get a picture of it sometime.

Rocks!

I was looking through my rock collection, and I decided it was time I unravel the mystery of these milky white, waxy smooth rocks we (my parents and I) found in the desert back in the later 1950's or early 1960's. The larger rock on the left looks like wax, and both of them have a smooth, bubbly surface. They both can scratch glass (hardness of 7) and appear to me to be made of quartz. (Click on the photos for a closer look. I think three of them will do that. I don't know why one won't)


The biggest surprise comes when I turn them over. The smaller rock on the right has a crystalline cavity suggesting a broken geode. The rock on the left is a mysterious bunch of drips.



Here is a closer look at the crystals. They are very tiny. I love the milky patterns that look like cirrus clouds. The parts that look darker are actually more clear, allowing the brown background to show through.

And now a closer look at the "drips". I am amazed at how something like this could be formed of rock. I am guessing that it must have been molten.

I searched my rock books and the Internet for an answer. Finally I found a forum headed by a geologist. After posting pictures I found out my rocks are Chalcedony or "white agate", which is a form of quartz. I still don't know how such an unusual pattern was formed.

Fishing

A few months ago I was blessed with $150 worth of Cabela's gift cards and today we finally got around to using them. It was like Christmas in July. Dad and I both got fishing poles.

This is mine. It's very light so my wrist won't get tired. I like how the reel is below the rod, yet it's not open-face, which often tangles for me. It's easy to hold in my right hand and turn the knob with my left, which is good, since I had the surgery on the left I can't over-work it.

Dad wanted the pistol-type grip for his arthritic hands, so he bought his rod and reel separate.

Dad said he always wanted to learn to tie flies. He hesitated at picking up a $30 book but I insisted since it was FREE. I think I want to learn, too!

In addition I talked him into getting a small fly tying tool kit. We opted not to buy materials at this time.

Can you believe it---all of the above and we got a quarter in change back! We also found out the Cabela's has free fly-tying classes and a discount on supplies at that time. By the way, dad has a fly rod, and we have a tackle box in the garage. We're going to be all set to go fishing after we move :-)

Packing

I've been going through everything, sorting, tossing, packing, giving some stuff away on freecycle. Tried a few things on eBay, some interest there but not great.

Dad said he hasn't seen the Milky Way since he stood in my mom and dad's back yard in Arkansas, about 1984 (?) it would have been before 1987. I saw it when I went to the Midland Reunion in 2005. We're going to find us a place where we can see the stars.

Stuff

Been running the A/C but have the house open now, 75 degrees, not bad, although I'm getting whiffs of someone burning. There is always someone burning. How can you have a campfire in the city without it blowing into some one's house?

Had a tooth pulled today. I decided against a root canal, which would cost more than twice as much as a bottom partial, which would be nice, so I can chew again, on both sides. I hate the shots. Not shots in general, Novocaine shots. They're horrible. I would rather be knocked out for the procedure.

Our tomatoes are blooming! The peppers are still small but the radishes are almost ready.

Is anyone actually reading this? Just wondering....

Now it's too warm

From blankets to air conditioning LOL! The first thing I learned about the weather in the Great Lakes region is if you don't like it, wait five minutes. We decided on a quick dinner tonight, instead of fish since the house is closed up. Dad baked homemade bread yesterday so we decided on toasted cheese sandwiches.


I got a lot more packing and cleaning done this week, but then I have such great helpers!

Sophie

I found a box with some ornaments in it and thought Murry might want to sport a bow tie.






Notice the packed bins and the repaired scratching post. Sophie only likes the sisal so she confines her scratching to the bottom 4 inches. Murry loves the whole thing, and yes, they like it best in the horizontal position.

Weather Radio Blues

Cooler near the lake AGAIN dammit! It's Mid June for cryin' out loud and we had to run the furnace today. Last night we has some rain and a bit of thunder. The rain went on all night, as did the weather radio.

EEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOO!!! Warning there is a thunderstorm coming.

EEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOO!!!! Wake up there is a flood WATCH for the river that is freakin' WAAAAY over in Illinois.

EEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOO!!!!! Wake up there is a flood WARNING for the river that is freakin' WAAAAY over in Illinois.

EEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOO!!!!!! Get your sleepy ass out of bed it's 4 am and the roads under the bridges are flooded so now that you're UP why don't you go OUT AND DRIVE IN IT you stupid idiot don't you know you should NOT be sleeping. You should be stumbling out into the living room every couple of hours to poke the button on this FABULOUS RADIO so it will SHUT UP.

Well, the radio didn't actually SAY that but it ruined my night of sleep warning me about crap that had absolutely nothing to do with me. So I shut off the alarm. Yes, I have it set for my area, but unfortunately "my" area includes Chicago Illinois, Hebron Indiana, Kankakee Illinois, and Lockport Illinois. Now that is just WAY to big of a coverage area. Well, I can shut off the flood stuff, I just have to fiddle with all the settings to do it and I just didn't feel like it today.

In other news, I am tired. That's about it. Not mad at the radio anymore. Heading to bed soon before I stuff my face with too much chocolate.

Sorting, tossing & packing

I tackled the utility room today, and some boxes of papers, old bills and things I needed to shred and never did. Years ago when we had a fireplace I could toss them in the fire. But that was years ago, and it was a long time before we bought a shredder. So, faced with boxes of stuff to shred, one page at a time, it was taking forever!!! The solution...the city recycling will accept 4 paper grocery bags of papers and they will shred them for you in a big machine that I have yet to see operate. They let you watch, so you know they aren't going through your stuff. So I have my 4 bags full. Can't wait to get rid of them!

Other items have gone to freecycle, some on eBay, and some will be donated. I also have some more extra African Violets. Now if I can only find someone to send them to. I can't do too much packing this far in advance but I have boxed up some of my mementos and keepsakes. My goal is to get rid of the clutter and make it easy to finish packing when the time comes to move.

Nice day.....finally!

After days of cooler near the lake we are finally back to spring! Got more of the garden planted. It seems late for that but it's been so darn cold at night, in the lower 40's at times. It's nice to have the house open today, but it's going to be chilly again tonight. Dried more clothes on the line, went shopping and cleared out another box of old papers and files. Yay!

Chinese carryout tonight an a movie, "Outsourced". Better than I thought it would be. Fun and enjoyable. Might watch it again.

Made in the USA

Do you think we'd be in this mess, at least part of it, if most of our products were still made here in the USA?I really don't get into politics much, or economics, either, but years ago, back in the 1970's, my dad bought a book, read it, and told me that eventually America would become a country of service industries, because the service industry is the only job you can't export overseas. That was an "I told you so" from the 1970's. See, Daddy, I listened.

According to the book, the global economy is destined to go through some awful birth pains before it all evens out. "Evens out"? According to the book, those huge corporations keep moving their productions to wherever the cheapest labor and least environmental protection and least taxes are. The people work hard for pennies, then after time they better themselves and realize how bad off they are, so they want better, including a TV, refrigerator, clean water to drink, shorter work hours and health care. Look at China, a few cents wages, 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, maybe 6 days a week now that the government has decided people need to rest one day. That's what I mean about going into a dollar store and thinking about how hard they work to make that crap for next to nothing. And no, I don't normally purchase there. I went in looking for some plates, and I found some, made in the USA!

OK, so here are a couple websites I found. How to buy American and made in Indiana. Happy shopping! Well, I haven't checked out the usefulness of the first but I have been to the Indiana one.

In other news, I'm still trading African Violet plants and leaves. The weather is still perfect for trades. I've been gardening, cleaning up the yard, plus still cleaning and packing in the house. Little at a time. Tomorrow my boss is stopping in. He still hasn't transferred files from his old laptop to the new one. No time. His company is doing fine. It's a service industry.

The weather is chilly again, in the lower 60's during the day and 50's at night. Cooler near the lake dammit.

Cooler Near the Lake

Ugh. Every spring. You can count on it.

In other news, the garden is nearly planted. Radishes are coming up, squash, both summer and winter are planted and the zucchini is up already. We bought heirloom tomato seeds when we were at the Lost River Co-op in Paoli. They are called Yellow Pear. We also have cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers.

In case you're wondering why we're planting a garden when we're moving---well, we figure it will be awhile before we move. Besides, we still have extra seeds for next year.

Speaking of moving, I finally got rid of three boxes of old magazines my boss brought over a couple years ago. "I have a box of old magazines in my mom's basement, do you think you can sell them on ebay?" he asked. I agreed, and then he brought THREE big boxes and none of it would sell. I mean it wasn't just me, all the other hundreds of the same magazines were not selling either. So I freecycled them, snapped up in a day LOL!!

I've pared my violet collection down and I'm sending out a couple more. Of course leaves and starts are coming back here---can't win! Well, actually it's my hobby so I love it.

Might be raining tomorrow, if so we might look at the old Grundig radio in the living room to see what it might sell for. Figured it was a good rainy day project. Don't want to take it with us. Not sure what to do with the Temple radio. It's big and really heavy.

Tacos for dinner, homemade of course. Movie--on TV, "I Walk the Line"--about Johnny Cash and June Carter. We watched it before.

Time flies...

I didn't realize so much time had gone by since I last posted. The weather has been nice, 70's and 80's and still cool at night. It's breezy enough to keep the air fresh so we can keep the house open all night. So far. But the time will come as it does every year when the breeze will stop and the smog will build up and the idiot across the alley will burn his stinky campfire every night so I have to close the house up.

I've been busy, putting stuff up on eBay and throwing stuff out. I filled up three grocery bags full of papers to take to the city recycling to be shredded (so much easier than one page at a time). I've been going through my violets, re potting and tossing extras that aren't worth keeping. I managed to send out quite a few to new homes a couple weeks ago. I also sent some tubers of the unusual iris I got from grandma on Lindbergh Street to friends in Missouri and Michigan. I have lots of it here but at least it will be shared so I won't loose it when we move (just in case what I bring doesn't take).

A type of Japanese Iris bought many years ago.

My daughter in Australia had a very sad day yesterday. One of her cats, Iggy, developed sudden and severe kidney problems and did not respond to medication. He passed away at the vet's on Wednesday (Thursday the 21st in Australia).

May 2004, they were tiny kittens

Iggy (left) and Woolly, March 2008

Iggy 2004 - May 2009