DownEast Musings

A Birthday Celebrated!

2006-12-17T19:09:00.000-05:00

In the birthday girl's own words:

"I had a wonderful Birthday!"

"We went to church this morning, than I had a nap and a bath with a bath fizzie my mom made. (It was pink, smelled like peppermint and had dried mint stuck in it.)"

"At six I had made reservations at a Japanese restaurant for the Habichi Tables, (we've never done that before.) It was so much fun watching our chef fry stuff up in the middle of the table."

"Afterwords we came home to a Coldstone Creamery cake with devils food cake, chocolate mint ice cream and fudge ganace."

"With cake like that who couldn't have a good day?"

"Thank you all so much for your wishes and prayers, I really appreciate them!"

For another view (mine) of this exuberant celebration - herewith:

1. This was NOT a meal - it was performance art with food! The chef whirls his spatulas, ignites a "volcano" made of onion rings, "launches" shrimp or rice balls from his spatula at the mouths of willing patrons (like throwing food to a dog - Mossflower and Jean failed, Rob - see below - caught his expertly) and generally keeps up a patter of conversation for the 1/2 hour it takes to grill the food for 8 people.

The atmosphere - party-like due to whoops and cheers as well as applause for the chefs' performances (there are at least 4 of them cooking simultaneously). It is LOUD to say the least. But at least it isn't due to bad music - just celebratory families and friends having a good time fueled by lots of food, fun, and of course, plenty of alcohol (though none of our family consumed alcoholic beverages).

2. If you don't like Fried Rice, don't go to this restaurant! The fried rice was perpared on the grill in the center of the "table" that seats 8 (our 6 plus Rob and Holly from up near Sugar Loaf who came down to Portland for shopping and entertainment). The steamed rice portion I got in a very small bowl was miserly compared with the generous servings of fried rice grilled at the table.

3. I did not recognize anything on the menu except Sierra Mist (which I got) and steamed rice. Everything else was very, very foreign.

I believe that I was served Miso soup as an appetizer - fortunately for me, tofu sinks so I ladled the broth off the top and left the 6 or so very small pieces of tofu to their well-deserved fate in the bottom of the bowl.

We also had some kind of noodles that came with some vegetables mixed in and grilled - my wife ended up with a serving nearly twice the size of mine.

We also had a vegetarian veggie assortment that was grilled which had carrots (I did not get ANY carrots in my very meager serving - all the women got much more than I did), zucchini squash slices, celery, onions and I recognized the spine of chinese cabbage diced up and grilled.

3. The place settings contained a large plate (mine never got more than 1/2 the surface used) and a set of paper wrapped chop sticks, which I did not open. We had to request a fork for me twice before one finally appeared 20 minutes after the first request. I entertained myself watching the chef perform and sipping my soup in the interim. We also had to request the rice that was supposed to be included with my meal - they ASSUMED that I was having fried rice (can't stand eggs that are visible in any way or that can be tasted individually) I guess.

4. The house salad was good but miniscule.

I had plenty to eat but thought that the service left considerable to be desired. I wished that I had Sarah to guide me through the menu, though my daughters, who have been there before, basically decided what I could eat. They also had veggie sushi and some other (? Tempura?) type of veggie stuff that I didn't even attempt.

It was a VERY educational evening and well enjoyed by all. Had it not been Mossflower's birthday, I wouldn't have gone at all. But I am currently in the process of listening to Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise she likes this type of food so I had a bit of a hint what might be coming before we went.

Great night. Food - not what I would have selected to eat but we were with family and I survived and was ~~well~~ over nourished and at least I can now say I have 'been there' and 'done that.' Presentation - very good. Service - fair at best (we waited 40 minutes for seating, and 30 minutes after our scheduled table time), the server (though I thought she was somewhat cute) was not real attentive (tips are "automatically included in your bill").

Fuji Restaurant: 2 1/2 stars

And We Are Thankful...

2006-11-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

...giving thanks always for all things...

This year we are thankful for many, many things:
1. Friends and family - who shared this holiday with us
2. Music - that we sing and perform on instruments
3. Children - who excel in all they do
4. Health & modern Healthcare - that relieves the ills of us all
5. Sunlight - especially coming through my window at work
6. My Manager - a Christian who is very good at what she does
7. Paid Time Off - a real and unexpected luxury!
8. Our Church Family - for the wonderful worship and fellowship
9. Jean - who is the vital support that makes everything that I do possible
10. God's Wonderful Gift - freely given to be passed just as freely on to others.

*Ephesians 5:20

I'm Moving! (Again) & Other Musings

2006-11-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

1. Corporate business being what it is my whole department is being moved. I will still have a "window seat" but it will be a small single cubicle and not the nice double cubicle I currently have. I will be "in" my new "home" when I return to work next week. Hopefully a photo to follow.

2. Time Off. I knew that I had scheduled to have used all my time off just before the end of the year. Then they issued hard-copy pay stubs when the corporate website was being "revamped." Upshot: I have much more time off than I realized. Sometime earlier this year I was given extra time that I was not notifed about. I was off yesterday and today on floating holidays accumulated and will be off on Monday and Tuesday as well for my last floating holiday and an additional paid leave day. I will get ALL of the time off I had previously scheduled and thought that I had forfeited by going to Qwerty's rescue in September AND still have an additional 3 days to either take or donate to a bank that the company maintains for those who have medical illness and no PTO. Nice surprise.

3. Time off. Home projects. That last two days have allowed me to catch up on a variety of projects that needed doing. Today we moved Mossflower's 43" wide-screen rear-projection TV and base unit out of her apartment and into the Upper Room. She gave Applebee's certificates to the two kind young men who "volunteered" to help.

4. Clarinets. While I was off I had the time to call the clarinet repair tech to see if we could get Allie's clarinet fixed and if so, what the cost might be. I called at 3:30 PM yesterday and he was in his shop for another hour. I left right away and made it there in 45 minutes (he stayed a few minutes late to accomodate me). He fixed her clarinet in <5 minutes and didn't charge for it! It PLAYS again! He took my old Buffet clarinet to work on: "This will be a big job..." and will cost several hundred dollars to get it in playing condition again. He was very interested to find that it has a much larger bore than most Buffet clarinets today - but it was made in 1942. That may explain why it has a really full, rich lower register. It won't be home any time soon. Stay tuned.

5. Other projects included assembling our Black & Decker Workmate 225 portable workbench and clamping tool. This will be the platform for Jean's new Craftsman 10" Miter Saw. We will mount the saw on a plywood base with a 2x4 screwed to the bottom and clamp the 2x4 in the jaws of the Workmate to hold it in position for use. (Theorectically, we can mount other power tools such as a power grinder, etc. in the same manner and change them off as needed.)

Today I also re-caulked the garden window - it leaked when we had heavy rains driven by gale force winds a week or two ago. It's approaching 10 years that we have had this window and the caulking had broken down and needed to be refreshed.

The children's rope swing in the tree on the front lawn got taken in today. I haven't taken in the front garden hose - we had 60 degree weather two days in a row and I am still hoping to wash my car - Jean had it all day today having left at 8:30 AM for her art class and returned from it at 4 PM. No car wash/wax today! Also in the 'get ready for winter' mode was to take our bicycles upstairs and store them in the attic for the winter. Done. Check.

Other things accomplished have included: credit card statement reconciled, bills paid, charges entered in the Money program (for 2 weeks).

Last Sunday I raked at the church (fall work bee) for 2 1/2 hours and after returning mowed/mulched leaves into our lawn and then Jean and I helped a church friend make over 20 quarts of apple sauce. It's been a busy week.

Something New, Something Blue...

2006-10-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

Today was the day that I swapped off our Netgear FVS318v3 VPN Firewall/Router for the new version that I bought Friday afternoon at Staples - in person, to be sure that I got the "new" faster processor. I was very pleased that the switch over went very well and did not take very long at all. I even installed a firmware upgrade without disturbing its normal functioning. The old one I have donated to the church member who works in the computer field to use at the local Seventh-day Adventist day academy to be able to access the network from home via VPN.

What DID take longer was trying to remedy some issues with the new Westell Versalink DSL modem that I installed during the week when we didn't have any internet or email access. It turned out we didn't actually need a new one (I had inadvertently changed the password the modem and router needed when I tried unsuccessfully to sign up for another year of reduced fee DSL the previous night). But we had it on hand after renewing our contract last year and tech support told us our old modem was at fault (it wasn't) and walked me through the change over.

The tech left us with an unsecured wireless network (the modem includes a wireless router/LAN Switch/Firewall as well as being a modem) AND left me with user name 'admin' and password 'admin'. Grrr. I fussed with the setup software for about 45 minutes to get the wireless router disabled and the password changed AND get the wireless connection restarted.

In addition to that activity today, I have been blessed to get our lawn mowed and the leaves on the ground after the storm Friday night mulched into the lawn. After a brief rest (~1/2 hour) Jean and I tackled painting our daughter's room in the color that she chose this morning: (Sherwin-William's Reticence #6046).

Jean taped and I cut in after which she started cleaning the brushes while I rolled the walls. All together it took about 2 hours this evening. That doesn't count the hour or so this morning we spent wiping the walls down and mopping the floor to be ready for the painting later today. But it's done - at least for now.

My lunch is made for tomorrow and I've had supper and now I'm off to talk with my sister, whose birthday was this week.

Let There Be Light!

2006-10-16T21:49:00.000-04:00

Work Station
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

This is my work station in my new 'window cubicle' taken 1 week after my move. I would have had photos earlier but I 'shared' - Jean needed her camera and I forgot it the one day she didn't use it. As you can see I am awash in gorgeous sunshine and loving it! This afternoon for a while (until the AC kicked in) I was actually starting to feel 'warm' - not enough to take off my knitted vest, just comfortable. After the AC kicked in, I needed my chamois shirt once again.

Nonetheless, I am VERY grateful to my manager and her manager for making this move possible.

Once I got home tonight (hoping to get this posted early in the evening), Jean informed me that we had no internet and no email all day long. About 1 1/2 hours with Verizon DSL tech support and one new (fortunately we HAD a spare, new DSL modem) later we were up and running on one computer but the network still didn't work. I figured out the problem myself and fixed it within another 15 minutes and we are finally back up and running on the network.

It brought to my mind vividly that we are running on borrowed time with our VPN router/firewall. It is the first of 3 versions and some research tonight revealed that it is a 50 MHz ARM7 (RISC) processor while Version 3 (same model number, one has to actually SEE the serial number to know which version one is buying) runs at 200 MHz (RISC).

No wonder when we are all on the internet and doing photos and email, etc. things "bog down". Maybe if I spend the money to buy a new one I'll have enough speed to work from home on an very inclement day. Now that would be a real advantage. But no internet buying - it has to be 'in store' to be sure we are getting a "new" version and not the same thing that we currently have - which is what is being sold on NewEgg.com (that is, they are selling the old 50 Mhz versions).

A Second

2006-10-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

And just how many different meanings can be construed from that title? Hmmm...

Time - a very short period of time on a stop watch

Parlimentary - another individual supporting one's motion

Supper - more mashed potatoes (or turnip, depending on the season and the fickleness of one's parental unit(s))

Or...lifetime paid vocal artist(s) concerts attended.

Courtesy of our DD #2 who gifted Jean and I with tickets we attended Bill Gaither's 10th Anniversary Homecoming Concert on Saturday night. It was his first concert in Maine since 1983 "We haven't come to Maine for quite a few years..." Right, Bill. Got that. Worcester, MA is the closest he has brought his group in recent years. Attendees who have been to concerts both in Worcester and here (this concert) found the resonance of the hockey arena a bit...overwhelming. I believe it! We were 'supposed' to be in "nosebleed" seats but were only about half way up in the stands right at center ice/court as the case might be and right behind the sound board. That sound man kept the instrumental channels "redlined" most of the night! It made it a bit difficult to understand words at times but many of the songs were very familiar and sung by familiar artists including:

Joy Gardner
Gaither Vocal Band
Signature Sound
Ben Speer (his 50 yr. old daughter just died - he was visibly affected)
Jessy Dixon
Jeff & Sheri Easter (and their "oops - Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! baby)
Lynda Randale

Gloria Gaither stayed home with other obligations this weekend.

It was a rousing great time and only slightly tempered by an elderly church friend getting lost in the crowd of ~6,000+ people leaving the concert afterwards - Jean found her in the parking lot looking for her friend who drove her - and a late night search for a 24-hour gas station to buy some oil for another concert goer. All arrived home safely, though. We saw many of our church friends at the concert as well.

I'm Moving!

2006-09-27T21:57:00.000-04:00

OK. Sort of. Not really - just at work.

After my return from the South where I enjoyed working in natural daylight for the first time in over a year, I asked if it would be possible to be moved out of a windowless "dungeon" of an office in the center of the building. I realized that I really dread the coming of the end of Daylight Savings Time and once again entering the realm of perpetual darkness: up in the dark, to work in the dark, home in the dark and if it's stormy on the weekend, a long and depressing time before I ever see daylight. An SAD light is a poor and inadequate substitute for natural daylight.

Today my manager said that I can move!! To a double cubicle right along a wall of windows from waist level to the ceiling!! I will be right beside my manager and in the same proximity as all of my immediate co-workers. I will be further away from my administrative assistant but she will be needed less because I got a direct fax number that allows faxes to come into my Outlook and I can "print" them directly into the company's proprietary business software. The days of "back end scanning" of documents are numbered!

All in all a very, very good day!

We Are Blessed - Good Friends

2006-09-23T22:56:00.000-04:00

We are so blessed to have good friends. I realized this a few weeks ago when we re-started our visitation program after taking the summer off (as is typical in our church community). The elderly woman I visited up through the summer break got hospitalized and no longer lives alone as she moved in with her son. I told Jean that I wanted to begin visiting someone new and we started by visiting an ill church member whose wife is a member of our Sabbath School class. He has not been able to come to church due to his medical conditions (multiple). We went to visit them mid-afternoon and they had us stay for popcorn and fruit salad and then games that night. We ALL had a great time and it wasn't like we were "visiting" but rather just like hanging out with great friends!

Last weekend while we were in the greater Chattanooga, TN area we were invited to go to church on Sabbath with a colleage who used to live in Maine and now works at my company's home office in Chattanooga. We were friends before they moved to TN just under two years ago (I actually am doing the job he vacated when he moved south). We went to their church with our college-aged daughter who goes there every other week and joined their Sabbath School class, worshipped with them during church and went to their Sabbath School class' potluck in the afternoon. When that broke up we were invited to our friend's house for conversation, a walk, supper and more conversation.

This Sabbath afternoon we went and visited our friends here in Maine again and I had contacted another Sabbath School classmate who has an infirm friend whom she cares for who came over as well and we all shared popcorn and fruit salad with time to discuss our various concerns, joys and prayed for the burdens and challenges that are looming for one of our friends. We just got home!

What a blessing it is to have friends to fellowship with, to pray with and to just spend time together with on Sabbath.

On an unrelated side note, our pastor introduced us to a lovely new song in church today: The Power of Your Love by Geoff Bullock - her son had the words matched with wonderful photos and graphics in the worship PowerPoint program.

Life...and Stuff

2006-09-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

Unplanned Vacation

Jean and I received a call for assistance from our daughter in the Chattanooga, TN, area where she is attending school on Monday (nearly 2 weeks ago now) and with some quick phone calls cancelled all our plans for that week, packed what we needed for a week or so, loaded the items she needed us to bring and were on the road by 7:45 AM the next morning.

"Bummer," I can hear some saying. But I enjoy traveling and can drive for long periods of time simply enjoying the country side go by while listening to an audio book. In this case Jean and I talked for quite a few hours of the trip, though we also listened to The Splendid Solution, a biography of Jonas Salk, who developed the first (and safest) polio vaccine during the 1950s to halt a raging epidemic that Jean and I both lived through. We were lucky recipients of his vaccine ("Go behind the screen, lower your pants and the doctor will give you your shot" - this in the highschool gymnasium) when we were about 10 years old.

Our trip (both going and coming back) were uneventful except that we drove 16 hours straight coming back, managing to get all the way to just northeast of Hartford, CT, before stopping for the night on the way home. That left us a very short, very manageable drive that got us home just after 1 PM.

Working In Chattanooga

After we got our daughter's needs cared for, we had a "spare" day - Friday - which was not sufficient to get us home to our own church for Sabbath. I had taken my work laptop so that I could look up a file if contacted by one of my nurses by logging in at our motel, or so I thought. I couldn't make it work when I tried as I had somehow forgotten the code for connecting to the corporate VPN. That spare day looked like a way to "save" a vacation day by slipping over to my company's Chattanooga office, connecting directly into their intranet and working from there for a day.

We got directions to the office, stopped by AAA to pick up a downtown map of Chattanooga, and made me a lunch in a WalMart bag from our cooler to take with me. A good friend of mine formerly from Maine but now working at the Chattanooga office found me an open office where I could work right beside him and I put in a full day's work. The tour of the office that he gave me was eye opening! And he showed me more efficient ways to do my work, which I have brought home and shared with my manager. I suspect that we will implement several points that I was shown down in Chattanooga.

I am thinking that it might even be possible to work out of the Chattanooga office for a block of time during the winter months. I planned to talk about it with my manager today when I met with her. When I sat down to eat, I found that Jean had left this article open at my place at the table when she went to bed last night - it had arrived in the mail yesterday. Nice to be part of a new 'megatrend.'

Let There Be Light...

In other work-related news, it is coming the time of year that I dread: the end of Daylight Savings Time. I get up in the dark, drive to work in the dark, [work in my windowless 'dungeon' of an office] drive home in the dark, walk in the dark...You get the picture. If we have a stormy weekend, I may not actually see daylight for a couple weeks at a time.

Ever since arriving at my current position I have requested a window seat: "I'll cheerfully give up the office for a cubicle by the windows." The answer was: "We want you in the office where you will not be disturbed." That was that. I figured it's worth it to try again. So I asked today - 'You wouldn't by any chance be willing to give up YOUR window cubicle in exchange for my office?' She would not but, there is an empty double cubicle right next to hers which she will see if she can secure for my use!!! If people are disturbing me, she will help me run herd control. She suggested a motel doorknob tag: "Do Not Disturb" when I need to concentrate. I'm excited about the possibility of having a southeast exposure waist to ceiling window-wall this winter to keep the 'blahs' at bay!!!

Labor Day 2006

2006-09-05T20:56:00.000-04:00

Over the Labor Day weekend, which was rainy for most of Sunday and Monday, I took the opportunity to read a book given to me as a Christmas gift: The Desert Generals by Correlli Barnett.

The book is an excellent read as it details the strain of leadership of 6 generals, 5 British and 1 German, who commanded armies in the Libyan desert between 1940 - 1943 when the desert campaigns effectively ended with the retreat of Field Marshall Rommel's Afrika Korps and Panzer Armee just before the landing of a large American expeditionary force near Tripoli.

Several themes prevail in the book:
1. The ill effects (i.e. - increased loss of life, materielle, and time to achieve objectives) when politicians directed military manuveurs for political gain - a tactic used by both Hitler and Churchill (Why am I not surprised? And BTW, this suggests that the current class of political leaders would do well to study history and learn well the lessons to avoid future repetition).

2. The slow adaptation of the British army to World War II battlefield techniques and the delay in learning how to appropriately utilize armour (i.e. - tanks) and the underlying social and political basis for this with the result that there were no "tank men" in command so the commanding generals of the 8th Army had to "learn" from their subordinates and some, including Montgomery, had a very hard time doing it with significant waste of life and tanks in the process.

3. The change of leadership on the field was typically for political reasons, and typically with poor results. The corellary to this was that the ability to identify generals with the ability to not only command but develop imaginative strategies were few: one of the best, Gen. O'Connor, was captured in the first campaign by Lt. Gen. Rommel and spent the rest of the war in a concentration camp.

4. General Montgomery's prima donna-like behavior in Europe which gave C-in-C, Gen. Eisenhower fits later in the war was already in full bloom when he was taken from training the home guard in England and given command of the 8th Army in the desert. That said, he led the way for the military leaders of today who must not only fight the enemy but also fight the battle for the public's opinion in the public media. In that sense he made a contribution that could be seen as positive. As opposed to failing to credit the originators of the plans for the 2nd Battle of El Alamein (i.e. - Auchinleck & Dorman-Smith, his chief of staff), nearly losing the battle despite huge lopsided advantages in men, tanks, artillary as well as having complete control of the air AND with Rommel hamstrung by lack of fuel and ammunition due to Hitler's failure to provision his troops.

5. Field Marshall Rommel's retreat against overwhelming odds is a tale worth the telling in even greater detail as his 30 tanks held off more than 20 times that number while an orderly escape was effected, taking time to completely destroy the harbor at Tripoli. Granted, Gen. Montgomery's failure to aggressively pursue when pursuit was called for was a significant contributing factor. Nonetheless, Rommel's force came close to defeating Montgomery at El Alamein despite coming off his sickbed with an infected liver and a stomach ulcer to lead "his men."

6. The great army generals were great because they were leaders - they were on the field and their men knew that they were leading from personal knowledge of the battlefield conditions - and they fought accordingly (e.g. - O'Connor, Auchinleck, Rommel).

First, practice on dry land

2006-08-21T22:44:00.001-04:00

First, practice on dry land
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

The Outdoor Discovery School instructors for our L. L. Bean "Walk-On Adventures" kayaking class led us step by step to make sure everyone would be sucessful.

Down to the sea

2006-08-21T22:44:00.000-04:00

Down to the sea
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Kayaking on Maine's Casco Bay

2006-08-21T22:43:00.000-04:00

Kayaking on Maine's Casco Bay
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

The kayaking fun is over...for this time...

2006-08-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

The kayaking fun is over...for this time...
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon of a perfectly delightful day!

Anniversary Adventure

2006-08-21T22:21:00.000-04:00

We left home this morning to sign up for an Outdoor Adventure with LL Bean: our first kayaking lesson. We arrived at the store to register plenty early for the 10:00 AM "first of the day" class. Or so we thought. However, reality came upon us when we found only one slot open for that class: the rest of the slots were pretty well taken between 7:30 AM (when the kiosk opened) and 8:00 AM. With other factors considered we decided that the last of the day class starting at 3 PM would keep us out of mid-day sun/UV so we visited the outlet store and headed home until time for class.

We left with plenty of time to park in the hinterlands, walk to the store, visit the WC and still be a few minutes early. We all clambered onto one of two dedicated buses which crept through thick traffic in downtown Freeport and was LATE arriving at the kayak site. We arrived, put our valuables in a bin that was locked in a room and then the building was locked with a padlock. We donned PFDs (personal flotation devices) - mine was a men's xsmall-small that was decreed "the right one" as they did not have any men's mediums, which is what I bought for the purpose. I was cinched in until I couldn't take a deep breath - the other instructor "released" me a bit when I commented that if vigourous activity was required I was in deep trouble!

We pulled on water shoes (I used my own) and were handed paddles. We listened to safety instructions and then followed single file down a path through a cow field (the organic beef cows were absent when we passed through the electric fence gates today) until we reached a 'paddle instruction area' just before heading down a gangway to the dock. After a few minutes demonstration and dry-land practice we filed onto the dock and were one by one dispatched in our tupperware boats onto the Harraseeket River which was nearing ebb tide.

I befriended a family from White Plains, NY, who were also in our class - the Mom, Dad and little sister (tandom kayak with her Dad) were great and the 13 year old son held his own and was near the front of the pack most of the time. I was toward the back but managed to nearly get hit by the 13 year old at least 3 - 4 times as he lacked finesse in controlling his boat. I tried to talk with him about proper technique and use of torso muscles to paddle - Jean said the instructors gave him the same talk while paddling. He used his shoulders and said at the end they were "tired" - I bet! I felt as though I had done nothing at all! No pain or fatigue in the arms or shoulders at all. But I was one of the slowest as I worked diligently on trying to get the technique right as slower speeds so that I would avoid straining my arms and shoulders.

My boat's seat was doubtless either not well adjusted for me or the boat is simply not the right one for me - it leaned me W-A-Y back and I did feel a small amount of back strain from trying to lean forward to paddle. Otherwise it went very well. Jean is ready to take a 1/2 day kayak trip with them out to Casco Bay islands. And they gave us a $12 coupon to use to help defray the $49 charge if used this summer/fall.

Financial Planning & Netgear Router

2006-08-21T21:43:00.000-04:00

And you are saying, "Explain to me how those two things got included in the same subject?" Right. That's what I thought - this morning. After trying repeatedly to go online at my IRA company's website (unsuccessfully, I may add) on Sunday to sign up for a free financial planning consultation. I figured that one of the Microsoft Windows Updates had changed some settings in my browser and the company's website tech support could straighten things up in no time when they opened today.

I called at 8:01 AM this morning, right after they opened for business (after calling 15 minutes before they opened to be told their business hours). "Shannon" came on the line and asked me to delete the cookies and temporary internet files (to no avail), try Mozilla's browser (no improvement or access) and then excused herself to check with someone else. On her return she advised me that my firewall was causing the problem and I should turn it off. I confess that, although I remained polite, I was very frustrated and began spluttering about there had to be a way to access their website with a fire wall intact. She indicated that she would note in the call documentation that I was frustrated with the website (HUGE understatement) and said that was the only option. I indicated that there was another option: I could take the funds I had invested and transfer it to one of their competitors, whose website I can access easily to check my 401k that I have with my current employer.

It was time to depart to schedule our outdoor adventure for the day but on our return (after acquiring a pair of LL Bean dress chinos in my size at the outlet for $7.95 instead of the $48.95 + 5% sales tax it would cost at the retail store) I determined to give it another crack. This time, after trying the site with ZoneAlarm (our software firewall) turned off (again to no avail - see a pattern starting here, yet?) I contacted the INVESTMENT side of the business instead of the TECHNICAL side. The investment people, aware of my balance, set me up with a technical support individual.

"Tim" actually knew something and was willing to use his knowledge to troubleshoot my situation. After having me try various things (e.g. - trying to access the website through a special portal, resetting security and advanced options on the browser to "default", trying two different computers on the network, etc.) he determined that it really was my hardware firewall! He then had me download a small software program to "break up" the packets into smaller sizes so that my router could handle it and noted that if it was >2 years old, it likely needed to be updated: was there possibly a firmware update?

I knew that there had been one initially, but it took 3 tech support calls to get it working initially and THEN my son-in-law had to remote into my computer and change some settings before I could get it to work. So even though there was a firmware update at that time, I was not eager to mess with something that was "working".

He allowed that updating it might help - he couldn't guarantee it. But after changing the "MTU" to "1400" (only geeks understand what that is!) and restarting the computer(s) I was able to access the website!

I then took my digital internet access in my hands and went to Netgear's website to see about a firmware update. GREAT! There are 3 versions of the CPU all designated by the same model #! However, the serial # starting digit(s) distiguish them and I had the serial # written down previously: my CPU is the very oldest version #1. Off to check for updates to the firmware: there are 3! I eschewed versions 1.4 and 2.3 and downloaded version 2.4. I printed out that entire page with all the intstructions and faithfully hand wrote out all the setting in my current version before uploading the new firmware upgrade.

Then, the computer locked up! So I shut it down, restarted it, opened a browser and the configuration wizard opened up and the set up was flawless and smooth, taking only about 3 minutes or even less. I logged in and changed the password to make the firewall/router more secure. And it is working just fine! I have gone to my IRA website and completed the financial planning questionnaire and will have a financial plan to review sometime in the next couple months.

The lessons from all of this:
1. If at first you don't succeed, talk with someone else who understands the financial issues involved: the investment counselor I spoke with did not put me back to a cubicle dweller who does tech support by an algorithm! She connected me to a real pro who spoke with confidence and wheeled from trying one thing to the next with the confidence of a seasoned network engineer that I am sure he is.

2. A 3 - 4 year old VPN firewall/router is virtually obsolete without the firmware upgrades and is incapable of handling the more sophisticated security measures: my router wasn't capable of resolving the IP address for the new secure website: that range of IP addresses didn't exist and it wouldn't even try to resolve it.

3. Even firmware upgrades can, if one follows the directions faithfully when not completely wiped out with fatigue, go smoothly.

Kitchen Renovation

2006-08-18T21:50:00.000-04:00

Kitchen Renovation
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

The new lighter countertop makes the kitchen look so much lighter and brighter--in spite of the dark cabinets.

The countertop is much lighter than the old "harvest yellow" counter tops, but in real life does appear to be a light chocolate brown with a whitish background.

The kitchen renovation was necessary due to the old faucet (possibly a 1950s era relic) was leaking around the cartridge (around the post that supports the handle) as well as spurting out a hole in the "arm" of the faucet that was completely corroded through.

Other improvements that were included in this very small renovation included :

1. a new range hood (the old hood was disgusting when we moved in 20 years ago and efforts to clean it were in vain and there was no insulation between it and outdoors!),

2. a new disposer (the old one did not work well after having a small metallic part dropped into it and not discovered for nearly a week when it sounded "loud" - it remained very loud and the new one "whispers")

3. less visible is the plumbing under the sink which was brought up to code and made water tight.

We re-used the stainless steel sink which still has a few years left in it (that saved nearly $500 making this project affordable this year.

Deb exploring the "pink" apartment

2006-08-18T21:38:00.000-04:00

Deb exploring the "pink" apartment
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Changing the PINK shades on the ceiling fan lights to clear shades went a long way toward "de-pinking" the bedroom. As did removing and storing some of the Victorian era brick-a-brac such as these lamps and making up the bed with a navy blue duvet.

Deb's kitchen is pink, too

2006-08-18T21:37:00.000-04:00

Deb's kitchen is pink, too
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

At this point, the cupboards hadn't yet been cleared out and cleaned nor the oilcloth table cover removed (which exposed the lovely, light wood tabletop).

We Are Home - God Has Blessed!

2006-08-18T20:33:00.000-04:00

I thought you would be interested in how things went and how we came to be home tonight (August 18), when we were not planning on even leaving TN until Sunday morning.
It turns out that everything fell into place for Deb! Granted, we put in some very long days of driving and running errands to get her settled. That included 3 trips to the Chattanooga WalMart within 24 hours for way more money that Jean wanted to credit.

We ran into great difficulty trying to update her cell phone contract and get her a new phone and the local sales office as well as the internet site and the telephone support for the internet site basically gave up on us and told us we couldn't do what we were trying to do. We were to go home and do it from home and then mail her the actived new phone (she would then be without a phone for about a week, wouldn't she?) or unactivated (now anyone could take that and activate to their own account couldn't they?) without offering any options to help us.

We gave up and went on to the next task somewhat discouraged. In the process of fruitless searching for the next item (Staples & Circuit City - just a few stores apart in a HUGE mall), we found a Verizon Wireless retail sales person who, when I offered to simply buy the phone for Deb, said, "No, that's a lot of money. Let me check some things for you." He took the phone #, checked her account and said, "Yes, she qualifies for a free cell phone and I think I can find a code to let me do an 'out of area' upgrade."

He worked on it for 45 minutes and got on the phone to someone higher up in the corporation to get it activated. But he did it! I called and gave him a very positive recommendation as we were ready to leave for another company, though I see that T-Mobile isn't the one to solve all the problems either. So Deb got a new contract and a new phone and is very pleased.

Many other similar events occurred: her TB skin test (done and read), her JCAHO online training (done in the last 2 days after she got settled), finding a great furnished apartment just off campus (very bikable in good weather) with LOTS of comfy seats for her friends to come for Bible-study groups, all the registration "stuff" (we were ALWAYS the next one to be seen - there were NO lines as we were nearly a week early), fixing things (closet door, fluorescent light over sink, outlet cover, frosted globes for ceiling fan to replace the HOT PINK ones in the bedroom) all went so smoothly and fast that we completely finished everything we figured would take 4 days in just 2 days!

So we left yesterday morning at ~8 AM and drove. And drove. And drove. When we got where we usually stop (~750 miles) it was just after 8 PM and I wasn't one lick tired. We decided to get around New York City and stop north of Hartford, CT. Just into CT we stopped at the rest area and met a Maine couple with their 4 children on their way home from Nebraska (wedding, reunion, etc.). They were stopping for the night - in PORTLAND!!! They are from Machaias and couldn't find a vacant, non-smoking room between south CT and Portland, ME. We drove on. And on. And on. Between Hartford, CT and Sturbridge, MA things got a bit dicey so we stopped there and napped for 1 1/2 hours before driving back home getting in at about 5:15 AM. We have unloaded the car, done washing, done finances, napped (of course) and gotten produce from the CSA.

We are thinking that because we got so much done today, we will both go to the walk-on kayak training at LL Bean early AM on Sunday! We did nothing to celebrate our 36th anniversary while we were helping Deb get set up (8/16/1970) so this would be a little something that we thought we might do and at $12 each, it won't break the bank. With Deb in grad school, we don't want to be profligate. We were listening to Michelle Singleterry read on personal finance on the way home.

That's the conclusion of our whirlwind trip to TN this week! (Except to add that our cat was VERY glad to see us and went outside and came back in 3 -4 times in the first hour we were home!)

Tuesday Update

2006-08-18T20:31:00.000-04:00

Today's (August 15) activities included:

1. At the college we got Deb's photo-ID card, saw a financial counselor (no discount for pre-paying as she has 2 hr. above the limit to be consider post-graduate which is a lower tuition rate so we paid the semester with a credit card and got airline miles.

2. Stopped at Nursing Department: turned in RN license, signed for criminal background check and got the website to do JCAHO training (10 modules)

3. Went to the bookstore and bought all her books for this semester

4. Visited a woman with an apartment to rent - very close to campus, reasonable price, well-furnished (over furnished - Deb asked her to remove excess lamps, and will be storing a couple extra tables in a large closet) - rented it, moved 90%+ of her belongings in - some clothing in a dresser we brought down and will take back will need to be moved in tomorrow

5. Visited the hardware store for light bulbs, bolts for the woman's bed frame, outlet cover, etc.

6. Stopped at the dollar store for cleaning & household supplies, etc.

Since supper we have tried (fruitlessly) to order a cell phone for Deb (will do when back in New England) - Verizon Wireless in TN cannot access her account in Massachusetts where she was previously in college - too many people have the number including multiple departments at her new university, so she doesn't want a new number. Deb has gone online and ordered her parking permit for the university.

We are still hoping to stop at Staples and WalMart tonight and if we get her unpacked and settled tomorrow, we will leave for home early Thursday AM. Off we go!!!

Some Thoughts From Tennessee

2006-08-18T20:28:00.000-04:00

We took a trip this week to the Chattanooga, TN area to help our youngest DD get settled in at a new university for graduate school for the next 3 years. We left on Sunday morning ~8:30 AM and traveled ~12 hours and made it >700 miles from Maine to Newmarket, VA - a grueling day. Deb drove almost the whole day with Jean relieving her for a couple hours so she could rest in the middle of the day.

Today (August 14) was a shorter day, as we didn't get in until after dark and then ate and put our feet up before we turned out the light at ~10:30 PM. Jean and I awoke ~5 AM (fluid drained from feet) and both of us finally got back to sleep and awoke just after 8 AM. We all showered and got out the door ~9:30 AM. Jean and I listened to "Sister Chicks in Sombreros" which Cheryl gave us (she had it mailed to her by mistake and the company told her to just keep it - and they doesn't have a CD player currently). Deb again drove all but ~2 - 3 hours today for which Jean relieved her and I drove the whole day. We are all a bit tired from the traveliing.

We arrived here ~6 PM and have already driven by one rental possibility near the college and have written down 5 more from the community "bulletin board" just off campus. We have visited the nursing building (open, no one there) we found Jean's Mom's class photo from 1942 hanging in the stairwell with all the other class photos up to the present as well as poking our heads into as many of the classrooms and labs in the biology/chemistry/math building where she will be having a couple classes this coming semester.

On Sunday night we were at our motel (free WiFi) where we had a (very) late supper and caught up on email and online forums.

SUMMARY: We arrived safely and though tired, are safe and we arrived in good time so that we are well oriented and set up for the events coming up tomorrow. We are very grateful for all of your prayers for our safe travel as well as for God to lead us to the housing He has selected for Deb.

Household Upheaval

2006-08-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

No, not THAT kind of upheaval! It all started with the kitchen faucet which, as far as I can determine, dates to the late 1950s. We made one abortive attempt to replace it in the 1990s but could not find a replacement that would "fit" in the very small hole in the stainless steel kitchen sink which would could not (then or now) afford to replace. A stop-gap measure involved replacing the cartridge at that time and now it is once again leaking. As I contemplated replacing the cartridge once again, the faucet arm itself sprung a leak. The days of that faucet were once again numbered.

We needed a plumber and while we were at it, we might as well replace the countertop which was the late 1960s-early 1970s Harvest Gold (*reast-fed baby *oop yellow, is how I would describe it). And Jean decided (quite independently, though I wholeheartedly agree with her) that the disgusting (and was like that when we bought the house 20 years ago and has not improved significantly with age despite repeated incursions against its vileness) vent hood over the stove needed replacing. And while we are at it, the disposer doesn't really work very well any more since a metal object went around in it for days at a time before I had the stomach to stick my hand inside the slimy sleeve and pluck it out. ALL the other inhabitants of this house, past and present, have smaller hands than I but weaker stomachs, it appears.

We needed to call a halt there as the cost of gutting the kitchen to rid it of the Z-brick and dark cabinets was prohibitive in the context of daughter-going-to-graduate-school-for-the-next-three-years. But the minimum amount of work needed to be done to make the kitchen once again half way respectable.

Believe it or not, we found a color chip for a pre-made counter top (our contractor really wanted to make a custom-made one, "it will be a lot easier") but we are spoiled to NOT having water leaking down behind the counter, so we stuck with our guns.

The tear-out time was yesterday and the countertop is now assembled and more or less "in place". The hood has been install. The plumber comes next week to work his magic on our kitchen. To bad we didn't think to have him buy a faucet to replace the downstairs bathroom fixture. Sigh. Maybe we can leave him a note and he'll "humor" us as there is a hardware store that sells faucets just over a mile from our house.

What's that? You want pictures? Why, imagine that! Jean took some! She was most grateful for this project as it turned out that one of the cabinets was not properly installed and was held in place by only one screw and was tipped ~3/4" out from the wall at the top and was making a reasonable attempt to leave it's place in the line of cabinets for a more prominent spot...on the floor!

Technical difficulties: I tried to upload photos to Blogger 3 times without success. I have put one on Flickr and tried to upload from there. No go. I am finally, in desperation and out of time, giving you the link to the Flickr photo, in hopes of getting more photos up later when there is more time.

Kitchen Countertop

Quiet Reigns

2006-07-22T17:25:00.000-04:00

After 3 fun-filled weeks of company including two family reunions on back-to-back weekends, a couple canoe outings and a trip to Aquaboggan Water Park our house is strangely silent. Our nights of sitting around talking with family members, trips to LL Bean together, and just sitting on the lawn eating watermelon together are over for another few years. And then we'll likely be doing it all out west.

There is still plenty to do: college move prep to be done (for our DD who is now an RN and going on to grad school), financial records to update and bills to pay, and work to go to as well. At Jean's suggestion I mowed the lawn (which had been neglected for 2.5 weeks) mid-week and it has now rained to encourage growth.

We have also made one more trip to LL Bean to buy adult life jackets or PFDs for Jean and I so that we can take 3 adults in each of our two canoes for future outings in the next few weeks. Larry's PFD which is made by Stohlquist. Jean has a matching women's version of the same PFD.

A canoe outing was planned for this weekend however, we will likely have rain most of this weekend, so it will likely have to be postponed a bit.

Hopefully all the family will get caught up on sleep that has been in somewhat short supply for the past few weeks as summer is now well into it's second half. We have actually had just a couple of weeks of sunshine this summer so that last couple weeks were a real gift and we look forward to the next time when we can see our extended family again.

Fourth of July Weekend

2006-07-04T20:50:00.000-04:00

How To Survive A Weekend With 34 of Your Wife's Relatives

OK, it's not all as bad as it sounds as they are a VERY nice family - but the number of her family that attended her triennial family reunion, this time in our home town, was signficant. Only one of our nephews and a brother-in-law were unable to attend and all of her brothers and sisters were in town.

The "weekend" actually started very early Thursday morning: Jean and I awoke at 3:30 AM and picked our way through dense fog to Boston in two vehicles to pick up our daughter, son-in-law and 5 grandchildren (ages 6-2 - yes, there's a set of twins in there) came for the reunion as well. The rest of that day was spent settling in, recuperating, and caring for the assembled clan. That night two of my daughters and myself practiced clarinet for an upcoming performance (Friday night) at the local conference campmeeting with our community band.

Friday evening we performed with the community band.

On Sabbath we hosted most of my wife's family (one brother was not yet in town with his 5 children) for lunch and visiting afterwards. We did clean up, napped and then went to the motel for visting later in the day.

Sunday we all assembled at the motel and caravaned to Cook's Lobster House where we took the Casco Bay Lines Noontime cruise through Casco Bay. This proved to be an adventure to remember. The winds were about 25 - 30 mph and there was a 5 foot swell that left at least 4 of us very motion sick, including myself. Though, 4 out of 34 is a reasonably low percentage, nonetheless, it was clear which of us do not enjoy/ride roller coasters! The ship was pitching and yawing in a rather good reproduction of roller coaster-like motion for more than half of the 1 hr. 45 min. cruise. The other 30 individuals enjoyed the cruise immensely including beverages and food from multiple coolers we took on with us. I did not partake primarily due to motion sickness.

I managed to get my head in the way of a rapidly opening rear hatch of a minivan which was being automatically driven by an electric motor. To be precise: the hatch had been opened using the remote control and I tried to close it manually. It started closing (~1/4 of the way closed) when it very rapidly and very forcefully reopened striking my glasses (knocking them off my face), nearly knocking me off my feet and causing me to see stars briefly. After getting the hatch closed using the remote, putting my glasses back on, I ran to catch the ferry. Once on board I noted that I was bleeding from a cut on my right cheek from the rim of my glasses. My brother-in-law, David, got me a cold pack from the first aid kit onboard and my daugther had bandaids with antibiotic pre-applied. I spent a lot of time just sitting down trying to hold the contents of my stomach inside me (it came up to the back of my throat multiple times, however - likely TMI, I suspect, so I will desist).

Monday my son-in-law, Allan, and I took his son and 4 year old daughter canoeing for about 1 1/2 hours on a local tidal river. We waited until after the hottest part of the day and were paddling downstream against the incoming tide and on-shore breeze. While we still had to paddle coming back, it was definitely a lot less work. I got to use my long kayak paddle in the bow while Allan steered. Last night two of my daughters (#1 & #4), my wife and I moved a van-load of books and bookcases from our attic (kindly packed by DD #1 & #4 and carried to the van by SIL/DDs and loaded by DW) and we all carried them from the van, up the stairs and into DD #2's apartment. When combined with a general clean-out of temporarily stored clothing that is to be donated and worn out clothing that is being discarded there is a LOT more space in our attic today.

Today has been a quiet day - I mowed the lawn and have helped some here at home with dishes (as usual) and food prep. Mostly a low key day, though I did review with the oldest 3 grandchildren (Canadians) a brief history of the events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. SIL with the two oldest grandchildren are off with DD #3 and her DH to attend fireworks.

Tomorrow - back to work for the rest of this week and next week. I'll take a long weekend later this month once again though.

Father's Day 2006

2006-06-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

Unlike my son-in-law on the "Wet Coast" who spent the early morning re-creating in a tupper-tippy on the Pacific Ocean, my father's day was a bit different - "quite out of the usual, actually!"*

Actually the morning was pretty mundane - finances! I plowed through the budget, the tithe/offering check, the Visa statement (and it took adding one account five times before I got two of them to "match"!). Breakfast was the usual: cold cereal, orange and peanuts.

The afternoon: now that's a whole 'nuther thing! Our pastor was discouraged about "camp pitch" for the upcoming 8 days of campmeetings that our church conference sponsors for its members this time of year. I decided I would go and help for half a day to lend my support to the effort. The weather was forecast to be in the 80s with high humidity. In fact, there was a nice on-shore breeze that kept the temperatures at the coast more moderate and the conditions more humane.

All the staff of the church's summer camp (including one of my nieces) and most of the pastoral staff and office staff presented to help plus a retired pastor and his wife ... and myself! My pastor and my cousin's husband were two pastors that didn't come - they were at the funeral of one of my fellow church member's dad's.

I had never thought about "how" exactly the military-style tents are actually erected:
1. metal pipes (dispensed from a pallet-rack) on a trailer pulled behind an old Farmall tractor) are put into orange-blazed receiving pipes sunk into the ground in a grid

2. wooden pallets (3 in number) which form the floor are centered in the grids and "shimmed"

3. long 2X4s are "lashed" to the pipes between the tents

4. tents are opened up flat on the floors and the corners tied to the long 2X4s

5. center ridge beams and tent poles are put into it and hoisted into place.

This all proceeds sequentially across two fields with floor pallets going into the first field as the pipes are still being placed in the 2nd field, etc.

By 5:15 about 50% of all the tents were fully erected and the tents were "out" on most of the rest. And we started at about 1:15 PM! That's a lot of of hard team work to make that happen.

Thunderstorms are forecast for the next couple days - today was hot, humid, and hazy - beginning tonight. The camp staff are living in the tents they erected, I am led to believe. So we will pray for the safety of the staff during the remainder of staff pitch.

Today I have fine crop of bruises from manhandling the floor pallets and long 2X4s. And assorted stiffness and aches here and there. Of course, it doesn't help that I came home and mowed the lawn for about an hour after eating supper. We made up for it tonight with a shorter than usual walk before heading off to get hair cuts (Jean and I).

*Parent Trap

One Little, Two Little Three Little ...

2006-05-29T19:35:00.000-04:00

Less Than A Month - And Counting...

Memorial Day weekend has traditionally been when we get the pool ready for summer. Not this year - that occurred weeks ago. We did swap off a leaking hose for a non-leaking one and topped off the pool. Said leaky hose currently resides in the trash barrel to prevent inadvertent use in the future. BTW, why ever would one save a leaky hose? That hose was replaced last year and never thrown out. Go figure.

There is PLENTY to do with the arrival of seven house guests (DD, her DH, and their 5 children 6 years old and younger with a set of two-year old twins bringing up the rear) in less than a month. Following them by a few days will be all of DW's siblings and a good number of their offspring for a family reunion. Plenty to do.

We started out Sunday (yesterday) with family finances followed by mowing the lawn with a sharp blade this time and the mowing deck set half an inch closer than last week. The outcome was much better than last week's really ragged cut. At Jean's request I got out the weed whacker and trimmed around the buildings, pool, flower beds, etc.

The next task was to disassemble our old picnic table that was left to us by the previous owner when we bought the house 19 1/2 years ago. I had "rebuilt" it a short time after we moved in (read: 1 - 3 years) and now it is simply too rickety to depend on for a picnic lunch. However, all those lag bolts that I put in years ago need to be removed before my neighbor across the street will take it for a July 4th bon fire burn pile. While we were at it, the small children's picnic table that Jean picked up beside the road in Hinsdale, IL, in late 1970s and which I had rebuilt a couple times also needed the same treatment and fate. Eventually both tables (One little, two little...) were reduced to a pile of boards ready for a bon fire.

Two (Old) Picnic Tables

The piece de resistance was the assembly of a new picnic table that Jean bought Friday afternoon. She checked two stores (WalMart and Lowes) finding that WalMart's had a lot of knots. Just getting it out of the back of the van I pulled a muscle in my left low back and have been taking Mobic all weekend to be able to keep moving. It took longer than I had figured it would take and I was starting to feel like a mosquito feeding station near the end. We found that while WalMart's had a lot of knots, the one that she got from Lowe's had a LOT of large splinters that needed to be removed leaving sharp edges and divots as well as a lot of mold/mildew. Jean scrubed it with water, soap and bleach then rinsed it down with clear water as night fell.

This morning we started out right after breakfast with a bicycle ride downtown for the annual Memorial Day Parade. We left after the parade and before the speeches began this year. We got home about 11 AM and as we put our bikes back in the garage, Jean remembered that she wanted to scrub the mildew off the door we were taking the bikes though. She set up with a bucket of soap, bleach and water with a scrub brush and was making very good time while I assembled items to swap off the pool hose that was leaking and found the chlorine table floater in the pool. When she finished that door, she started work on the entrance to our front door which had a similar affliction.

I changed my clothes and got a step ladder out to complete the job followed by a hose to rinse the siding down with. While I was at it I sprayed down the entire front of the house and garage as well as the side of the garage where the door she had worked on was located, removing large amounts of dust and dirt.

I sorted out the hardware from the two picnic tables saving only the reusable nails, screws and lag bolts with the majority being too rusted to be re-used. The rejected hardware joined its friend, the pool hose, in the trash can.

The next step was to tackle the numerous areas on the new picnic table that had splinters, gouges, rough spots or just plain black ink! Out came my trusty electic Craftsman "Mouse" sander which I used to wear out three pieces of 120 grit sandpaper before I was satisfied with the result. I vacuumed the dust up while Jean went to get sealer/stain. She came back with Thompson's Water Seal which I had heard (from a physician friend) did not work well. She checked an online forum and confirmed that there have been significant problems with that product. With 10 minutes left before the Sherwin-Williams store closed (early for the holiday) we headed off and got there just at closing time. We got some stain that we have applied and the picnic table is all ready for use as the stain dries within 3 hours and was dry in some areas by the time we finished applying the stain.

New Picnic Table

While we were applying the stain, Deb made delicous lentils for supper which we ate as soon as we got cleaned up.

A technological side note:

(Multiple Choice Question)

Which Microsoft product(s) qualifies for the installation of Microsoft PowerPoint 2003:

1. Microsoft Works Suite 2003

2. Microsoft Office Suite Basic 2003

3. Microsoft Power Point 97
_______________________________

A. 2 & 3

B. 2

C. 3

D. 1 & 3

E. All of the above

CORRECT ANSWER:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
D!

I was VERY surprised that Deb's Microsoft Office Basic 2003 did NOT qualify for the installation. Luckily, I have a standalone full installation PowerPoint 97 which I have given her to use as a qualifying software so that she can have the current version of PowerPoint on her computer in her room at college. I had it on my computer (uninstalled now) but never used it as I have PowerPoint 2003 on my laptop, which is what I use for that purpose anyway. Strange, really strange. Who can understand Microsoft's logic.

This Weekend

2006-05-21T18:10:00.000-04:00

Jean left for summer camp (Spring Escape for the Adventurers) before I arrived home from work Friday night so I walked alone, ate a solitary supper and went up to the church to practice with the praise team for worship. We practiced for a good 2 1/2 hours and things were still 'rough' to put is charitably. And we only had two of the projected 5 singers: our pastor's wife (with whom I enjoy singing very much) and myself. We were accompanied by a piano, keyboard, saxaphone and 12-string guitar (played by our pastor). Many modifications in the music were recommended, which seemed a bit dicey to me, given that over half the singers were absent.

Once home, showered and ready to cap off my Sabbath School lesson preparation, I found it was already nearly bedtime, save for 15 minutes. It took me a bit over an hour to complete. Not a propitious start for the Sabbath, it seemed.

In the morning I was awakened at 4 AM by feline yeowling - I'm not sure that I ever got back to sleep fully despite a diligent effort. I was at the church early, preceded only by the keyboard player. I set up microphones and got the A/V booth open, up and running by the time others showed up, in fact, I made a trip home for something I had forgotten.

Rehearsal went well, actually, though it was truncated to allow the academy handbell group rehearse some of their music briefly as they were playing 5 numbers for the church service as well. Our song run was 4 songs during the service and one closing song. Before our rehearsal I pointed out to the man who organized the slides that changes had been made the night before - late - that I figured he did not know about (he didn't) so that he could update the slides. As he was doing that, in came a couple with a non-functioning laptop containing the powerpoint slides for their mission talk for Sabbath School for troubleshooting and transfer of their file to our computer.

It turned out, the tech helping them and working on the worship slides, wasn't "on" this week for working the A/V booth! The one who was supposed to do it came late, didn't rehearse, and indicated that he'd likely make mistakes but it didn't really matter - he thought he'd go set up tables for potluck. The kind man who was helping the church out missed two other appointments Sabbath morning due to the combination of factors mentioned above.

After practice, with additional changes made, the pastor referred the pianist up to make sure all the changes were reflected in the slides. Later the tech got the keyboard performer to double check things and they found some more things that needed to be updated. Meanwhile, I changed the batteries in the handheld microphones to prepare for the service and ran the soundboard for Sabbath School.

During church I also ran it until just before I was supposed to be down front when I swapped off with one of the bell ringers - the pastor's son. As we all stood up front and the pastor's wife started the call to worship it became clear that her microphone was not working. Her son zipped down, took it, handed her another singer's microphone, fixed the battery problem (I must have inserted it incorrectly) and handed it back to his mom. During that time period we were singing a part where myself and the singer without a microphone were supposed to lead all the congregational MEN in singing the first verse of the first song. For my mess up with the battery, I got (poetic justice, if ever there was such a thing) to lead it by myself.

A couple songs later From there on things went quite well. The pianist quit playing after the 2nd of 3 verses. We all waited but that was it. She just forgot to play the last verse. Until the last song of the run. We had been told to repeat the chorus after we were done singing the song through. ALL the singers forgot! The pastor's wife (standing beside me) figured it out first and started singing again, after the first 1 - 2 words, I figured out what had happened and started which prompted the other two singers to join in. Otherwise, the service went uneventfully.

After the service one of the other singers (church secretary and mother of the young lady singing lead with me and who was getting married today) leaned over and expressed regret that Jean and I had not been given an invitation to the wedding but she wanted me to know that they really wanted to let us know that we were welcome to come to the service. So today Jean and I (after mowing our lawn and the front lawn for our next door neighbors who do not have an abled body individual to mow their lawns currently) got ready and went up to a really wonderful wedding capping off an eventful weekend.

By no means have I exhausted the activities of the weekend. Yesterday afternoon from 2 PM - 5 PM I attended a "Town Meeting" put on by the officers of our conference in a church one town over from ours. It was very good, very informative and with only about 2 dozen souls in attendance, there was ample opportunity for interacting with the officers to let my "voice" be heard on several issues, including pastoral sabbaticals.

The whole day was capped off wonderfully when, after repeated efforts to call Jean by cell phone (no coverage in the mountains of Maine), she called me to let me know she was about an hour from home heading south! When she got home we sat down, put our feet up and talked about our respective day's activities until midnight! The sun awoke me at 6 AM - so another short night. Early to bed tonight, I suspect.

Then this afternoon after the wedding I have gone online and increased my withholding for my 401k and gotten a quote for auto insurance from AARP that may save up about $800 per year! Not bad! I have submitted a request for a homeowner's insurance quote as well. We'll see - we may do it.

Graduation Is Over!

2006-05-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

Our youngest daughter's (first) college graduation is over and we are home. Way too much happened to detail all of it so highlights will have to suffice for now.

Grammie, Deb, Me, Jean

1. Jean picked me up at work Friday at 2 PM, I left my car in the parking garage at work and we drove down in Jean's mini-van.

2. We stayed in a bed and breakfast (more later) that was about a mile or so from the college - Deb was allowed to join us for Sabbath morning breakfast (without an additional charge).

3. The speakers on Sabbath were excellent. Friday night was alright but in comparision not quite as good. The Commencement speaker was also very good with bulleted points and she has a moving personal story (not an SDA - naturalized Mexican of lower class, rose to be the treasurer of the US - the Seventh-day Adventist church has been there for her at a very difficult time in her life). The Commencement speaker was given an honorary doctorate today - she was very moved by this.

4. Lois Peters (black entrepreneur with a LOT of spirit and charisma) was the Sabbath morning speaker. She is on the college board and received an honorary doctorate from the college today.

5. The nursing student/graduate pinning ceremony was VERY good - clearly the high point of the weekend for us. Jean pinned Deb using her own pin from the same college/school of nursing! You have to be a nurse to pin a student/graduate. She also received "Lamp of Learning" pin presented by Mrs. Diller, which was to honor her for serving as a tutor (that came with a Dell Axim!). She also was honored as one of two who received an "Academic Achievement Award" - she was #2 in her class. The speaker for the pinning service was a college classmate of mine who was conferring with others on the platform during the service trying to determine if she was indeed the daughter of her former classmate!

Deb After Pinning - Recessional Notice that she has two pins - Lamp of Learning (her right) and School of Nursing pin (her left).

6. One of Deb's friend's had a cafe card with lots of monetary value (shared with him by his roommate) and fed our family two meals in the cafeteria saving use easily about $70.

7. After supper Sabbath evening and changing clothes we headed to the girls' dorm to load Deb's things in the van to bring north. When I checked in at the front desk they said I had to be out of the dorm in about 20 minutes! Did we ever move! We got over half of her things downstairs and loaded in the van in that 20 - 25 minutes during a relative lull in the disaster-producing rain that fell (the governor of Massachussetts declared a state of emergency today, as did the governors of NH and Maine - our home area in Maine was spared the brunt of the storm but did get a month's worth of rain Friday and Sabbath nonetheless).

8. Back at the bed and breakfast a party was going on - 50 guests honoring a graduating senior in the banquet/breakfast room. There is very limited parking at this place so when we arrived back we found no place to park. The proprietress called her adult son to come move his car so we could park. She said those at the party had been told they could meet until 10 PM. We expressed hope that would be adhered to, and she demurred thinking that they would likely not be timely in departing. Worse: she was directing them to the room next to use for use of a bathroom!!! I told Jean, we might as well try the TV (uncharacteristically). Rather true to form there was nothing fit to watch on. I tried to call Deb to see if she had a DVD we could borrow while Jean tried our hostess. The hostess quickly produced a DVD she had not yet seen: The Secret Garden. We finished it about 11:30 PM as the last guests were making their way out of the building!

9. After Commencement we went to Panera Bread for dinner: Jean, Deb, Beth, myself, Grammie, Uncle Lewis, Aunt Mary & Uncle David with their daughter Emily.

Mother's Day - Graduation Dinner

10. We finished packing Deb's room completely in ~2 hours this afternoon including the things she is keeping down there with her for her NCLEX review course (staying locally).

11. The drive home was through very heavy rain for New England for over half the trip - we shared driving with me taking the last leg after about a 1/2 hour nap.

Eventually, I'll drop some photos into this, but I'm going to post this before I accidentally lose it.

Eating Out - For Free!

2006-05-07T21:35:00.000-04:00

The Great Impasta is where Jean and I were hosted for a "thank you" supper by PTA(who's web site is currently down, it appears) which we have supported with donations to the academy's physical plant endowment fund in 2005.

There was no appeal for donations - the after dinner presentation by the principal, however was a breathtaking, bold long-range plan for developing the campus. Developing, as in, removing old, hard to maintain deteriorated buildings and building new buildings with improved landscaping, land use, walking trails, additional facilities, and much, much better traffic flow and parking! I LOVE IT!! It takes the plans that Mick Hutchinson and I envisioned nearly 20 years ago when we started the development and expansion of the campus.

Ah, you asked about the meal? But of course!

Seasoned bread
Beverages (Sierra Mist for me, Lemonade for Jean)
Green Salad
Vegetable Lasagna
Dessert (Spomoni with chocolate syrup for me, Jean split a Cannoli, a dessert with sweetened Ricotta cheese and a sauce containing chocolate chips, with a friend, Mary P.).

It was a pleasant 2 1/2 hours after putting in 3 boxes of fertilizer tree spikes this afternoon, doing spring maintenance on the lawnmower, visiting Sears, Staples (20th Anniversary Sale that has prices rivaling Black Friday prices!), WalMart plus stopping by Allison's and Beth's places. The morning was spent catching up on family finances. A very satisfying day, all in all, though I must have eaten a gazillion calories tonight! The calories don't count, perhaps, if eaten in the cause of a very worthy non-profit Christian school??? One could hope, I guess.

We had a very good conversation with our friend, Mary P., whose son, a cellist, has been accepted into medical school at my alma mater! We also discussed a short term missionary trip that we are strongly considering for next winter to a very rural area in Mexico (following our vespers last night about this past winter's Mexico trip).

Solar & Wind Power

2006-04-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

OK. It was a thought. We figured that if it was financially feasible it would be worth investigating. The short answer, after reading 3 books and visiting a local "green store" the following conclusions have been drawn:

1. My preference: a micro turbine mounted on the garage.

Rationale: we live in an area with an annual average of 13.5 mph winds! Needed for operating a turbine: 9 mph annual average.

Downside: Turbines are LOUD and VIBRATE and must be mounted on a tower away from the house. I doubt we could get cleared for that by the zoning board and our neighbors would hate us. Also, we would need to dig another trench (not a big issue) AND (here's the "bite") buy a bank of batteries plus an inverter.

2. Feasible Option (according to our local green store operator): Grid Tied Solar.

Rationale: it is the most cost-effective option as no batteries are needed. The dial spins backwards when the sun shines and you are not using electricity and spins forward when your use exceeds your generation.

Downside: "Feasible" and "cost-effective" are very relative terms it turns out. A 2 kW system (average size) will produce about 1/3 of our annual electricity (optimistically). The cost, in the absence of state subsidies - which are all spent for this fiscal year, would be amortized over 38 years! We would be dead before we got a return on investment and THAT assumes that we didn't sell the house to "downsize" to a smaller house or move to a southern, less expensive location at retirement. With the subsidy the payback time drops to 25 years.

This is so not happening with saving for retirement, still supporting one child in college (Go, Deb!) and with two other children returning to college that we would like to help but simply lack the resources to do very much for them at the present time.

And that is all WITHOUT the battery bank that would keep the power on if the grid goes down.

So much for THAT good idea! This is nothing like our hybrid (Honda Civic 2005) car which has a payback on the hybrid expense of about 3 -5 years and an 8 year warranty on the battery pack.

Another 'First'

2006-04-23T20:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was another 'first' for me in my new foray as an audio-visual technician at our church. I have run the mixing board (32 channel Midas board) but had never run the visual side. Until this week. I arrived early to help set up the microphones and found that the audio tech was already there working on it. I spent a few minutes identifying which microphones were connected to which channel.

The pastor arrived a few minutes later by which time I had already powered up the church's computer for running the PowerPoint slides for the music. He downloaded the slide set (65 slides) to the computer and asked if I could run the slides for the rehearsal as the tech assigned for yesterday is on that rarely shows up and even less often fulfills his duties for the day. I agreed readily while indicating that this was my first occasion to do so. The pastor gave me a 3 - 5 minute outline of how the set is put together and the manner in which he wanted them advanced. Oh, by the way, there is a baby dedication and there are a few slides for that as well.

We made it through the practice alright with just a few miscues as I figured out the transitions between the songs and how to start the slide show in the middle of the slide set. I know - pretty basic stuff. I was preparing to go down to lead the song service for Sabbath School when the pastor, the pastor's son, and a gentleman I had never met (Carl) who was to be our speaker for the church hour showed up to set things up for he part of the presentation. On their heels came the Sabbath School superintendent withh a DVD containing the Mission Spotlight for me to play during Sabbath School. I told her I couldn't be two places at one - leading song service and immediately afterwards running the Mission Spotlight from the balconey at the other end of the building. I arranged for the pastor's son to run it while assisting Carl with his set up.

After leading the Sabbath School discussion for my class, I made my way belatedly to the balcony after a visit to the WC. The pastor's son met me on the way and inquired if I was running the slides. I indicated that I would if needed. He told me that his dad had said that where I had rehearsed the songs with them, I should do it for the service. That made sense to me. Up we went for me to learn what else lay in store for the service.

Carl indicated that he had:
1. A DVD clip (Ghosts of Rwanda/PBS) at the beginning of the service,

2. Corel Presentations Scripture slides (end of service).

Just a couple things:

A. The laptop (Toshiba Tecra, Pentium II/Win 95) has no battery - if the power cord comes out, the computer will power down (where upon followed the sequence to prevent the diagnostic boot up and procedure for loading Corel Presentations),

B. I would have to switch the monitor from the church desktop to the laptop - quickly, after "muting" the projector to prevent this manuver from distracting the worshippers - and while avoiding the power cord.

The set up to permit this involved me sitting through the service with the laptop sitting astraddle the top of the desktop which was turned sideways between my legs to permit rapid access to the back. With the laptop turned 90 degrees to permit access simultaneously to its back and keyboard, with it's screen raised about 1/3 of the way I would be able to operate the "PG UP" &"PG DN" buttons on the near side of the keyboard. I was completely unable to see the laptop screen but could monitor the flatpanel screen that sent the image to the projector.

With a prayer for God's blessing on the service it went amazingly well with only one small miscue when I misjudged the length of the "Intro" on one song requiring a quick retreat to the previous slide as each slide has transitions built into it with graphics that fade in and out to match the lyrics of the song.

The Scripture slides at the end were to be "loose" - he would stop sometimes and talk and sometimes would just read through the passage and go directly on to the next slide. It was a bit anxious until I learned to read his body language which told me when he was going to stop without waiting for him to say anything. He cued me the first couple slides: "Reading on..." but after he did not need to say anything and we moved together through the slide set without comment.

All in all I enjoyed it MUCH better than being on the audio board and would prefer to work the visual aids side. The pastor liked it because the slides were advanced properly. The previous week, Easter Program, he told the technician how to advance them and was ignored. Four time the slides were not advanced in a timely fashion causing a momentary pause in the congregational singing each time. I may have found a niche.

My ignorance of some of the details for the audio side showed through: neither I nor this week's audio tech could figure out how to make the 3 new wireless mikes work. We didn't know that they each had a separate radio station that needed to have a powerswitch turned on. Duh. Though this was not obvious as there is a single switch that I had been "told" controlled ALL the AV equipment. Not, as it turns out. We both now know that. There needs to be a "basic operations instruction sheet" typed up. Someday when I have nothing to do, maybe! Until then we are all working "seat of the pants" and using the expertise of the pastor's son and a member who has worked around sound boards and amplifiers for decades with his electric guitars (Fender basses).

One More Gone, One to Go...

2006-04-09T20:26:00.000-04:00

One daughter moved out today into her own apartment. That leaves just one daughter still "living here" though she is away at college most of the year.

Here are a couple photos of the 'remains' of her departure (plus a HUGE pile of unshelved books in her "book nook" in the attic - all of which "MUST GO!" - hopefully, sooner rather than later).

Daughter's Former Room - 1

As you can see, there is trash to be carried downstairs and outside, vacuuming to do, and a general decluttering. Nonetheless, this is huge progress!

Daughter's Former Room - 2

The "next life" for this room is for it, after a thorough cleaning, to become Jean's permanent sewing room and her current sewing room will become an official guest room.

Site of the Recently Departed Media Center

This is the hole left by the "recently departed" 43" Hitachi Wide-Screen (Rear-Projedtion) TV that Beth bought while working as an associate at Sears. Yes, I provided the $$ however, she is the one that spotted it, wanted it, and got a huge (~50%) mark down on it. Jean and I rarely watch TV and we can get by for a while with another one that is still in the house and we believe can be used just fine.

The family room corner needs a good cleaning, just as the former bedroom does. All in good time. We are just bone tired from being kept up until after 11:15 PM by Gram, awaking at our usual time (~ 6 AM) and getting up, ready and on the road before 8 AM and back at our house by 11:15 AM just in time to carry things downstairs at our house, load the (van, car, pick up truck) and then carry everything upstairs into her new apartment.

The "volunteers" took two full sized pick up truck-loads, two long-wheel based mini-van loads and twice her own car went packed to the gills as well. I'm surprised it all fit in, though there are a LOT of boxes on the floor still.

We came home tired. Very tired! We even bought supper! We NEVER do that: Wendy's baked potatoes, cheese, broccoli and Frosties.

Yesterday afternoon we drove down to my Mom's house to pick up a dresser she is giving me which we will put in a bedroom that we are setting up for her to stay in when she comes to visit. Which will not be frequent or soon, it appears. My siblings are making arrangements for her to remain in her home with periodic in home help. But that is another post. The dresser has carved drawer fronts that matches the headboard/footboard of a bed that we have had for many years AND is the dresser that I used growing up.

While down there we loaded up our daughter's belongings to bring back home as she moved out today into her own apartment. The apartment is quite nice and very roomy and bright. We had a total of 5 people working from 11:15 AM to 5:30 PM (or thereabouts) with an extra hand carrying her media center up the stairs.

Her very kind younger sister completely set up her kitchen: cleaning the cupboards, washing the dishes and arranging things in the cupboards and shelves. Her computer table and bed are set up, her dresser is repaired and in place. She even has some art work hung/placed. Beth, her very self, assembled her "chair". Many boxes need sorting and putting away. Things that are lost much be sought: including the power cord and USB cable for her printer. We found the ones that go to her "old" printer which has been donated to the church in NH where Gram attends. They can await a future trip south to meet up with the printer that we simply left there.

We pray for success for her in her new endeavor: she starts at 6:45 AM at her new job - tomorrow morning, as she will have 2 weeks of training on days before starting to work the evening shift which is much more compatible with her life style.

A (Couple) Bad "Apples" In Every Fridge (or Pantry)

2006-04-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

Tonight's "liquid" blueberry jam

Remember the post "Lightening Struck Twice"? I wanted to recycle that title.

Last night at the supper table there was a "discussion" as to whether the Welch's Grape Jelly was "bad": I said it was crystalized and my dearly beloved said that it was "fungus". To decide the point I tasted it and found nothing amiss. Actually, I tasted two small amounts. Jean later cleaned off the top of the jelly and to my discomfort it did not really look crystalized - it was just a small layer on the top that really did look like "colony" growth of some microorganism.

Last night I slept poorly: due to stomach pains. Later this morning that resolved after clearing the offending material. Avoiding, I hope, TMI/TGI.

This evening I brought up a brand new jar of blueberry jam to add to my homemade yogurt for my lunch tomorrow. I thought it strange that it seemed to "flow" in the jar when tilted. When I opened it, instead of being leery after last night I "plopped" a heaping spoonful into the yogurt jar only to note a somewhat "off" odor as I did so. I got a clean spoon and took a taste. Definitely a bit off. I tried it again to be sure(Idiot that I am). Jean confirmed my assessment and I went downstairs for another jar which was normal in appearance, odor and texture.

You'd think some people would learn. And explain to me how one ends up with two spoiled jars of fruit jelly/jam/preserves on consecutive nights, and one of them unopened/new?

Today's ... Um, Activities

2006-03-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

MEDICALLY GRAPHIC - VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

Today's task was a prosaic one: clean out the pig sty that my office has become to make it presentable for company later this week. Wait. That might have been an insult to the country's porcine population. In any event, the closet in question, along with a nearby twin bed have become the repository for anything that had no "home." The closet was literally filled to the underside of the shelf and was overflowing out onto the floor in the room. The results of today's efforts:

Today's Cleaning Project - The Floor Is Visible!

En route to this peaceful and buccolic outcome lay pitfalls, yea, veritable road hazzards. The shredder, normally of voracious appetite, choked fearfully to a halt. Electronic Heimlick manuvers were to no avail.

Careful examination revealed the impediment: the auto-off switch mechanically blocked the paper wad from being regurgitated during the electronic Heimlick manuver. Surgical intervention was urgently needed to extract the wad of paper so eagerly devoured but so impossible to consume.

The initially tentative efforts with the kitchen knife cum letter opener dubbed "scalpel" became more vigorous in the face of lack of effect. While firmly grasping the constipated switch mechanism with left hand and operating with the right on the errant mechanism, Newton's laws of thermodynamics were once again proven conclusively:

1. An object in motion will tend to stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force causing it to come to rest

2. Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

SCORE: Knife: 1 Thumb: 0

Enter [stage right] wife: "Don't you think that you need a bandaid for that?"

Injured Male (washing hand vigorously under running cold water with lots of soap foam and rinsing with copious amounts of cold water from the tap): "No, dear, I think that this one is past bandaids."

Wife: "I'll get you some gauze to put on it. You want some antibiotic ointment, too?"

Injured Male (while repeating the foam soap washing and rinsing in cold water): "Honey, I think that this one will need a trip to the ER and a few stitches."

Wife: "Here's a paper towel to put on it." [Exits right, sits down, removes flip-flops and starts putting on shoes after first reaching for winter down parka and changing her mind]

Injured Male[holding tight pressure on injured left thumb with right hand]: "I'm not going to change my slippers."

Wife: "No, but I am, I'm driving."

At the ER, former place of employment for injured male, he is greeted with smiles of glee by one and all with thoughts that are not even concealed: "Hey, what did you do to yourself!" It's been nearly a year - and this is the welcome he gets! However, being taken immediately to a room and having one female former co-worker after another come in to chat (four in all - three in the line of duty, actually) staying longer than their duties required.

And after less than an hour's wait - at just after 11 AM on a Sunday morning - and four sutures later, he is bade farewell to return home to wrestle with the errant shredder. This time, though, with needle nose pliers, the tool that should have been chosen the first time around and which required less than 5 minutes to rectify the entire situation.

Photographic documentation of dressing and wound follow for your viewing pleasure - for those of medical or curious bent of mind:

Afternoon Dressing

The wound would likely not have oozed as much blood if I had not continued cleaning through out the afternoon. Time was limited and the job was not getting done on it's own...

Dressing Removed

They asked me at the ER what my pain score was: "1 - right after it happened maybe 2 or 3." It has ached a bit but not overly so. I will doubtless take some Tylenol prior to bedtime.

Cleaned Up

As you can see, it is a well done suturing job for which I am very grateful. I look forward to some healing (hopefully without infection as it was thoroughly cleaned both before and after arriving in the ER) in time to play clarinet this coming weekend.

Belt Bought (Suspenders Shipped)

2006-03-25T12:54:00.000-05:00

External Hard Drive

BELT

Yes, we finally bought an external hard drive (www.buy.com) which is USB 2.0 only (not Firewire as well). It is 160 GB which works out to 148 GB storage capacity. It has proprietary back up software which we used a couple nights ago to back up the laptop hard drive: 2.5 hours for 8.5 GB with a final file size of about 5.5 GB (~33% compression at the highest compression setting). It cost $106 with free shipping and arrived in about 3 - 4 days even though the "free" shipping was 9 - 10 days delivery time.

SUSPENDERS

At the same time we bought a copy of Norton Ghost 2003, the last version of the "real" (that is, DOS-based) Ghost. The two newer versions (9 & 10) are Windows-based versions of Drive Copy, a completely different product that now carries the Ghost label. This will not be a retail version - I believe it will be an OEM install CD only. I have been reading online the
Radified Guide to Norton Ghost to learn how to run the software to make a "image" of the hard drive which takes less time (~1/2 hour) to reinstall in the event of a hard drive failure.

This external hard drive should be large enough to image all three of our computers with space to spare. The next larger hard drive cost about double what I spent for this drive, so the price point was good. As AllanE pointed out, this hard drive cost less than the 80 GB external hard drive that we bought him just a year or so ago. That drive saved a huge amount of time when his work laptop hard drive died the day after our laptop hard drive quit.

Concert Today ~ Last Week's Project

2006-03-18T20:38:00.000-05:00

Today was the day that our community band performed for the church service at a local church. Not one song - eight songs! We basically performed a 45 minute sacred concert. OK. An hour counting two saxaphone duets, a flute solo and a vocal solo that filled out the program.

The really big news is that I got to play my new clarinet for the concert. I have been unable to put the clarinet together or play it for about 3 weeks as it was too dry to assemble safely. The rings were loose on the bell - both ends, and the left C key wouldn't play because the wood had shrunken to the point it wouldn't re-open after being used. The wood was in great danger of splitting.

I contacted my clarinet expert/repairman who warned me to get some humidity into it (see the previous post). Many have been the efforts to get enough moisture into it:

1. A moist paper towel in a small cup
2. Large humidor
3. 2 small humidors
4. And finally a moist paper towel right in the bell of the instrument inside the case, is what did the trick (that is what I did in academy and college - low tech but effective).

Clarinet Humidifiers

As you can see it took a lot to tighten up those rings but it was worth the effort as that clarinet really does sound very good.

Last weekend's project was to reinforce the bunk beds so they will be safe for our grandchildren. It only took two (of the requisite three) trips to the hardware store to finish the project.

Reinforced Bunk Beds

1. The top and bottoms bunks are held together with bracing strips at each corner.
2. The back side and rear of the bunks are cross-braced.
3. The exposed side of the top bunk has a built-in bed rail/board to prevent children from falling out of bed.

That bed board/rail is a bit unique for being screwed at the bottom and brace at both ends at the top with U-bolts.

We have bought two new mattresses - one moderate priced "memory foam" with a box "spring" and frame that can be taken to use in a college apartment, if need be, and the other a less expensive and more typical bunk bed foam mattress of the $100 variety. We already had two Sealy Posturpedic mattresses, so we should now be set for the near future.

Jean Went To The Tobacconist

2006-03-01T21:38:00.000-05:00

The Setup:

One week ago tonight I was asked to play my clarinet for church last Sabbath and was pleased to find a song that fit the pastor's topic of the day quite nicely. I spent a couple hours transcribing it by hand for clarinet and another couple starting a PowerPoint slide show with words and graphics to show while I played. Beth came home and did a marvelous job of revising my slide show by adding more powerful photos. And Sabbath it went very well - praise to God!

However, on Friday night the left hand C key would not work. I took it apart, re-seated the spring, oiled the key. Nothing worked. I used an alterate fingering which my pinky finger on the right hand "catches" every time I try to play that note which made me quite anxious.

Monday I called the clarinet repair man. Tuesday he called me back. The loose rings on the bell, the difficulty assembling the bell onto the lower joint. The sticking key. ALL have one source: the clarinet has SHRUNKEN in the DRY HOUSE!

He suggested getting tobacco humidors to moisten the case. The smaller ones that he recommended were out of stock and are due in tomorrow. Jean bought a larger one (~$5) that I think has started to make a little difference - the top ring is slightly starting to stick when I turn it - so we are making progress.

This is STILL all due to the uncured wood that is used to build new clarinets. He (clarinet repair man) said that it may be two full years before this instrument is not longer very sensitive to environmental change.

On the plus side, he also said that on Monday he saw a wooden oboe that had a 7 inch crack in it from the same cause: too dry! At least my instrument has been resistent to cracking thus far. I need to stop trying so hard to play it no matter what and also need to oil it yet again - I've been playing it so little, I've slacked off on oiling the bore. This weekend. For sure.

Lightening Struck Twice?

2006-02-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

One always thinks of white collar crime affecting..."others." It has hit us recently. Not once but twice this month.

Just before going out of state we were notified that one of our credit cards had been "compromised" and would be closed. Not a problem. OK, it seemed like a problem at the moment but it's the "right thing." And we had other credit cards to take with us. That IS one reason one maintains more than one credit card after all.

One of those "spare credit cards" that went with us got used. Once. The first time in nearly two months. Tonight, about 48 hours later someone has tried to use that credit card to book an $850 vacation expense on our very infrequently used credit card. Fortunately we were notified immediately by the credit card company and when we called back to confirm that it was fraudulent use that credit card has been closed as well.

Credit card fraud is becoming much more common. We have not had any loss due to either of these incidents. I thanked one credit card company when our card was denied when we attempted to use it before arriving home from our trip. They saw a pattern that was concerning and blocked access to the card. When we called in and confirmed that we had the cards and had used them at the places where the charges showed up, they released the block on the card. They were (and are) looking out for us.

When shopping online we always use temporary account numbers supplied through the credit card company: a one time number that can not be "used" elsewhere. When using the card in person I keep the card upside down so unscrupulous individuals can't "memorize" the number of the face of the card. That will not protect us from "inside jobs," of course. Fortunately, for us, the credit card companies are very vigilant for fraud and have done an excellent job protecting us.

Technology Failed Us & Travel Thoughts

2006-02-19T21:37:00.000-05:00

We are back from my business trip to Miami, FL. Finally. We flew down in early February to meet with family/relatives as well as to visit our building lot in north western Florida to attempt to judge whether it was an acceptable location for a snowbird house.

We traveled much more than we ever anticipated (2,465 miles) which was at least partially offset by being able to drive a familiar vehicle: a 2006 PT Cruiser (Turbo Touring Edition).
The vehicle averaged about 27 mpg or about 10% better than our non-turbo 2001 PT Cruiser (Limited Edition). A few travel observations follow:

1. The PT Cruiser greatly enhanced our travels.

2. The center of Florida is a HUGE vegetable and fruit garden! Avon Park
actually tempted(s) us.

Orange Trees

3. Tampa/Clearwater are absolutely gorgeous, however, are W-A-Y too crowded.

4. Miami is a great spot to visit but would be a horrible place to live, IMO.

5. Miami's Bayside Park has a very comfortable tourist spot on the north end that is VERY reminiscent of Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market and appears directly patterned after Boston's fabled attractions.

6. Miami to Maine is really not a two day drive, especially starting the first day after Noon.

7. The Everglades appear to me to be over rated - it's a huge swamp. A tired-looking huge swamp. Though I grant that it has very interesting fauna.
Alligator

8. It appears that there are NO native palm trees in Florida. If they are not "planted" you simply don't see them. Palmettos are a very different thing - they are even growing on our building lot.

9. Northwest Florida may not be as warm and tropical as Miami, Punta Gorda, Tampa or even Avon Park, but our property has a really good "home" feeling to it.

10. We saw one of Jean's uncles, an aunt, two cousins, one first cousin-once-removed (a cousin's son), 3 cousins-twice removed (cousin's grandchildren), one sibling & brother-in-law, two nieces in our travels and last of all, our daughter in college.

Finally, I noted in the title that technology failed us. Our GPS did not "accept" the detailed street level maps of southern Florida that I thought I had installed on it. We had nothing. I tried to change it on the road from the laptop without any success. If Jean had not been able to get down to AAA in the Greater Miami area we would have been in trouble for our trip home.

We did not find that we used a mini-DVD player - we preferred to just talk with each other. We never used the DVD/CD player on the laptop and didn't use the radio on the car except for travel notices on the interstate traveling home and a rare time of trying to tune in news/weather which was not very successful.

We had internet access twice - we were not going to pay $11/day for internet access with our vacation going way over budget with our driving the rental car home after flying down (long story and it's bedtime). I tried to connect to work email and was unsuccessful - my password appears to have expired and I need to log onto the company's intranet to update it and I didn't have my work laptop to access the company's VPN.

The only tech items that got regular use were our cell phones. We used them frequently.

More later. I hope. It's bedtime already and tomorrow's my first day back to work.

Praise God!

2006-02-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

We live in a world where evil people try at every turn to steal from all of us. This past week though the incompetence of workers at the Boston Globe thousands of names and credit card numbers were put in the public domain on the streets of Boston. They have lost hundreds of subscribers following that miscue.

Last night after Sabbath had ended, yea, even as bedtime approached, I was trying to complete an online transaction using a temporary account number created by security software provided by our credit card company. The message I got was that this credit card was not enrolled. I should go to the company's website and enroll.

Strange. It is the ONLY card that we actually HAVE enrolled in the program so it made no sense. I briefly thought that perhaps, as has occurred in the past, they had upgraded the security software requiring all of us to re-enroll. Indeed, when I arrived at the appropriate website the interface was completely new. I dutifully followed the procedure, logged in and tried to complete the transaction only to find that...I got the same message that the card was not enrolled.

Doubly strange as I had just registered it. One more time, with fervor. Same result. (Those who do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results...). I finally, after an irritable outburst in the general direction of my undeserving wife who questioned my increasingly irrational behavior, called the credit card company.

After working through the menues and getting a customer service representatives I was told that my credit card was "compromised". [Insert more irrational behavior at this point]

I was passed off to a senior representative with a very soothing voice who I told that I just wanted to be sure that my trying to register the account for the new security software in a bumbling fashion was not the cause of the "lock out." It was not. The fraud unit had identified that someone who should not have our credit card number actually had it. She would not tell me HOW they got it (i.e. - criminal activity vs. company malfeance or incompetence a la Boston Globe) but intimated that it is usually criminal activity which results in these breaches of security.

We reviewed all the charges and were able to account for all of the charges that had been made. Whew! We will be using a different credit card until a replacement arrives - thankfully we have a back up card.

Also thankfully the companies fraud unit identified this activity and closed the account immediately before huge charges were run up. In fact, I mentioned that I usually get an email if there is any suggestion of different activity - such as charges on vacation, etc. The senior representative said that they would have called me in the morning (today) but that this activity had just occurred in the past few hours.

Also thankfully the Lord will forgive my inappropriate behavior. My wife...we'll see. Hopefully.

It appears that 'all's well that ends well.'

Now You See It, Now You Don't!

2006-02-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

One of my two posts from two days ago is gone. Poof! Gone. With it went the two comments left by Sherpa. Blogger can do some funny things at times. So below this post you will see my response to Sherpa's comments, without his original comments OR one of my two posts that one of his comments pointed toward. All this by way of explanation.

The original post was a comment about my Dell 600m laptop which has recently gotten a new battery ($98 with free shipping from the Dell website - a bargain as they tried to sell me the same item in a "medical" oriented brochure which was mailed to my former employer, who forwarded it to me: the special price for medical professionals who don't take the time to search Dell's support website is ... $140 + shipping!) as well as a new, faster (though smaller) hard drive.

Our family has been revelling in the faster start up times for our Windows computer by using the technique taught to us by Sherpa: Hibernate (Start>Turn Off>Shift-H).

When this procedure was used on the laptop, which gets disconnected from AC power and stored out of the way when not in use, the next time I went to use it, the computer would not turn on and flashed its orange-red battery light at me. Flipping the laptop over and pressing the battery's "meter" revealed NO friendly green LEDs indicating the battery was completely discharged.

The computer responded immediately to being plugged into an AC outlet and is now fully recharged and ready for whatever life throws at it. We hope!

A couple more "tweaks" were needed for it to connect to wireless internet. We had thought, when it would NOT connect to Google's website (its IE homepage), that a brown out had reset our wireless router to default and would have to be reprogrammed. However, I went in and emptied temporary internet files and cookies after which I set the Tools>Advanced>Empty Temporary Internet Files When Browser Is Shut Down to "YES" and the computer is now functioning in a more normal fashion.

There are times when I really DO appreciate Bill Gates: every time I do or , etc., I am very greatful for standardized software. The shortcut keys that I learned to use at work to spare my wrists, work very nicely for my computer at home!

The Sound of Silence...

2006-02-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

While Mossflower was visiting her sister in Canada, I was asked to drive her car into the garage to keep it out of the elements. No, I do not have a special talent for driving cars into the garage. The garage can accomodate a total of three cars as long as two are in tandem and two are side-by-side.

Getting into the car was not a major problem - we had a back up key available. Getting it started - let's just say it "grumbled" a bit before actually succeeding in sustaining ignition on all four cylinders. Once it was running smoothly I backed it out into the street and pulled up into the garage to pull it all the way forward in front of Jean's PT Cruiser (she has since "graduated" to a new Town & Country Touring minivan). When I put on the brakes to avoid going through the garage door at the back end of the garage, I heard sounds that were never intended to be heard in a motor vehicle. Metal on metal in full quadriphonic sound.

Jean called Canada to clear the necessary mechanical work and we took it down to the local Chrysler dealer who replaced:
1. Both front rotors
2. Both sets of pads for the front disc brakes
3. Both rear drums (cracked)
4. Both sets of brake shoes for the rear brakes.

About $700 (US) later the car drives (actually, brakes) better than it ever has, according to a very grateful Mossflower. The service manager pointed out that it will need a couple of new tires before it can be inspected this spring. At least there is time to save a bit for that repair.

When Cooking...

2006-01-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

...It's wise to pay attention to what one is doing.

The saga started when GMP left me completely alone in the house on a Sunday morning. Strategic error, methinks.

After working on some laundry, making a couple beds, dealing with an LL Bean dress shirt of mine that was "hanging out" waiting for it's 100% cotton wrinkles to be "ironed out" sometime, and helping out it's freshly white junior choir robe friend that was in a similar state, I turned my attentions to the family's sadly neglected finances.

Finances? We were talking about cooking, so how did we get into finances? Well, that's what I have been doing because I have not done it since somewhere around January 17 or earlier. While my Mom was visiting, I pretty much let things go and last Sunday I spent almost all day traveling to get her to the next stop on her offspring tour. With Mossflower due home this evening, her exile from her own home is winding to a close.

In 11+ days the finances can get into a horrible mess. Especially when you have made hash of them to buy a new car in the meantime, as was detailed on "My Empty Nest" recently.

I spent 4 hours after Sabbath ended last night and there was still much more to do today including doing our taxes this year - which I am currently procrastinating on by writing instead. My task this morning was to organize our 1st Quarter-to-date medical expenses and seek reimbursement for ~$500 of expenses thus far that are potentially reimbursable through our Flexible Spending Account.

The bright thought came to me while taking a break to fold sheets that I could start some rice and have it left over with vegetables, beans, etc. for the next few days. This is because we finished the goulash last night so I would otherwise be fending for myself. What could be simpler? Right?

Task #1: Find the rice. A check of the Lazy-Susan in the kitchen and the co-op table and corner down cellar yielded nothing that looked like rice but I found:
> about 6 months worth of powdered "Better Than Milk" soy beverage in various flavors,
> dried banana chips to last about 3 - 5 years (I think that's how long they've been down there already, actually, though I could be wrong there),
> the remains of my 15 lb of Turkish dates which I am using regularly and have given a 1 qt. zip-lock type bagful to my Mom who also loves them (do you think that might be inherited? Hope does spring eternal that I bear no personal responsibility for my dried fruit picadillos. Moving on...)
> 1 1/2 boxes of whole wheat macaroni,
> a nearly full box of whole wheat spaghetti,
> a container of dried apple slices that was excavated from King Tut's tomb in 1950 (it helps marrying a wealthy wife to be able to afford such delicacies!)
> a new 50 lb bag of hard white winter wheat berries that makes the most scrumptious bread (and in someways is why one must be patient with some of the other items of archeological vintage that one must concede may well have their original provenance at the co-op)
> and one unopened box which proclaims that it contains Wild Rice - not quite what I had in mind, actually.

No BROWN rice. Back upstairs. Spin the Lazy-Zusan one more time (those who do the same thing repeatedly, expecting to get different results...). Nothing. Time for a more thorough search of the kitchen environs. Pay dirt! In the dining room two containers (1 full, 1 essentially empty) with Basamati rice! One has a cryptic notation on the lid, which after failing to decipher the message, though I comprehend from the math that my beloved has wrestled with the quantities and proportions for cooking this particular item.

Instead I delve deeply into memory from the last time we had rice: [Fade to Memory Vision]

GMP:"You know what I was doing wrong with this rice before?"

ME: (Thinking: "Actually no, and it really doesn't matter: my mouth is full, my stomach is still empty and you want to talk about the fine points of rice preparation?!") "No, dear, I can't say that I do." (Said around a mouthful of perfectly cooked Basamati rice with stir fry vegetables topping it and soy sauce and a bit of salsa...while thinking: "That did it. Now you ARE going to hear what was wrong with it before - seemed fine to me last time" - which is code for, 'It was ready when I was hungry and it filled the void; what more does rice need than that?! At least it wasn't Tofu Loaf.')

GMP: I cooked it with 2 cups of water this time. Before I was using 2 1/2 like it said for brown rice. (ME: THINKING, of course, 'This IS brown rice - Basamati brown rice!') I found out by looking up cooking instructions for Basamati rice on the internet!

ME: "Great job! It sure is good!" (THINKING: "That should give her permission to bask in the praise and eat some of HER rice!").

[Fade to Present]

Task #2: Cook the rice. So I grap the pressure cooker (the old one that I'm familiar with) and two 4 cup measuring cups: 8 cups of water, heat to boiling. Measure out 4 cups of Basamati rice into the 2nd (dry) measuring cup and wait for water to come to a boil.

Back to financial document work: sorting, copying, downloading a 2006 reimbursement form, save the PDF file, print out 4 copies (1 for now, 3 for later), start filing in the blanks, etc.

[Noise from next room intrudes into thoughts - our erstwhile cook gets up to check]

There is water on the burner, the pot may be starting to have a few bubbles on the bottom. Not ready for rice. Back to work.

[Sometime later another sound intrudes into our cook's thoughts - off to check again]

The pot has a geyser of steam that would make Old Faitful proud. Time to stop that nonsense! Get that cover off that pot NOW! W H O O S H!!!

By later measurements it was determined that ~3 cups of steaming hot water erupted out of the pressure cooker when the lid was removed under sufficient pressure to liquify russets!

The cook's backward leap, lid in hand was performed with sufficient alacrity that not a drop of scalding water touched him. Anywhere. Plan B: turn the burner off. Done!

Task #3: Clean up the mess. There ensued a 10 minute clean up of the 3 cups of water which distributed itself in a radius of about 2 feet and ran another 1 - 2 feet before being corralled with sponge, cloth and mop.

More water. Re-heat the pot, lid on. Add the rice, turn down the heat and set the timer (surprised, are you that our wayward cook remembered that little detail?!).

What, after all, could be simpler than cooking some rice? Piece of cake!

I Got Stopped - But I'm Home

2006-01-22T17:27:00.000-05:00

Today was the day to take my Mom from our house to my sister's house in northern Vermont. We left the house at about 8:05 AM and made a couple stops: one for gas before we left Maine for the higher gas prices of New Hampshire and Vermont; the second was for a bathroom break.

The day was gorgeous and the view of Mount Washington at Crawford Notch was just wonderful. There was fresh snow on the roads (still) and the mountains. The trip north took about 3 hours 34 minutes (~150 miles).

While there I had a tour of their house, which once belonged to one of our aunts on our Dad's side, got Mom's belongings into the house and they fed us a wonderful meal. Before leaving I put a link to my blog on their computer toolbar - a warm welcome to them!

The trip home started at 1:06 PM and went very well. Until I had come through Gray, Maine. I missed a turn that would have brought me home the way we went - but I had been navigating on the way out with a step-by-step travel map I had printed out on my Delorme Street Atlas 2006 last night. On the way back I had hoped to be able to retrace my steps, at least figuratively.

It was not to happen. I missed at least one turn and ended up on a road to Yarmouth on which I do not recall ever driving before. I did not see a speed limit sign and was frankly looking to figure out where I was and where I was headed. I should have pulled over and checked a map, to be honest.

I didn't. Until the Cumberland County Sheriff stopped me for speeding. After he told me what the speed limit was I told him I was sure that I was exceeding the speed limit by at least 10 mph and probably more. He agreed. I apologized for that and indicated that I must have missed the speed limit sign. He agreed again and retreated to his cruiser with my license and registration.

When he returned to my car, he handed me back my documents and indicated that he was giving me a warning to drive more safely. I thanked him and mentioned that I thought I had just missed a turn and frankly didn't know where I was or where I was heading as I had not been on this particular road before. He asked if I was headed home? Yes, I was and would be grateful to know that best route. He directed me to continue on the road I was taking.

In the future I will:

1. Have been on that road and will remember (hopefully) that the speed limit is less than what the road appears capable of tolerating safely,

2. Take THAT road going both ways as it is A) a much simpler route, B) has much better quality road(s), and C) really didn't add a significant amount of time due to the overall higher speed limits.

So my brother-in-law's prayer that I would have a safe trip home was answered. I'm off to look for some supper! Jean will be home soon from her committee meeting at the conference office, I trust.

Laptop Troubles Again

2006-01-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Two days ago the laptop battery died. Kaput! If the power cable is unplugged the screen instantly goes black. The battery light constantly flashes orange with occasional green. "0% Charged" is the constant message on the power icon.

Fortunately we recognized that it had died within an hour or so of the battery going bad. I was able to order a replacement from Dell that night and it shipped the following day! We should have the replacement battery within the next week.

In other news, I worked from home Friday so that I could be with my Mom and take her to her doctor's appointment at a local SDA internist to follow up the labs, x-rays, and other tests that he had requested to evaluate her health while she was staying here with us. I got in 7 hours of work (typical for a Friday) inspite of having taken about an hour off for the doctor's visit.

Without the periperals that I already owned for my own laptop (a USB hub and a USB-PS2 converter for my split keyboard) I would not have been able to work from home - I would not have been able to plug in both my GoldTouch split keyboard and 3M Ergomouse. I would never have survived for 7 hours on a laptop keyboard!

One other thing that is new: I just joined our church AudioVisual team. I have been going into the church at 8:30 AM every Sabbath morning this year to learn the procedures for both sides of the desk: sound board/video camera & projection (DVD/PowerPoint/VCR/Audio, etc.). The opening that came up today was for running the sound board one Sabbath per month. My first Sabbath to "solo" on the soundboard (32 channels) will be a month from today.

My hope is to continue working with the music team, continue to teach Sabbath School, and also substitute for others on the A/V team as the need arises this year. That, in addition to playing my new clarinet with the community band will likely be more than enough. Although every Sabbath this year I have gone out to visit one or more church members who are not able to get out to church as well. It makes for a full Sabbath, now that Jean is planning to go to the fellowship dinner most weeks.

A Landmark Day

2006-01-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

Allan Visited: Allan came up from Pennsylvania where he was visiting his sister to spend the New Year's weekend with our family. We LOVED having him visit! He helped us with multiple technologic projects that had been on hold, in some instances, for months and years.

1. Got our GPS, a Garmin GPSMaps 60C working properly for the first time in 2 years. We promptly went out and found 3 geocaches within a couple hours in the area within walking distance of our house.

2. He installed our wireless router and has it working so that we have wireless internet in our whole house! I am currently posting this using my laptop and the wireless internet connection.

3. He helped installed Jean's new HP Photosmart 26210 All-In-One Printer, which includes printer, scanner, copier and fax machine. All functions are connected and working properly. We have all blessed our three dear daughters who bought this for us for Christmas this year - it is greatly appreciated and has been much used already.

The copier function particularly makes life so much easier than hiking to the basement, wait for the 20-year old Mita copier to warm up and then hope that all works well and you will actually get a copy of acceptable quality. It is low cost but fairly low quality and is at the end of its useful life according to my repair man who serviced it this fall. He told us, "This is the last time I will be able to work on this machine." It is just too worn out and parts are no longer available for it.

So our whole family blesses Allan for his help while he was here, even though his trip back home was long and arduous as documented on his blog, in an entry entitled, "Trains, Planes and Automobiles."

More GPS & Mapping Options: Inspired by Allan's huge boost, I went out today and bought an updated version of Delorme's
StreetAtlas 2006, with the idea being that we can map a route and download it into the GPS and have turn by turn directions in our hand while traveling. It took about 2 hours to install the software, install the maps in the GPS, map a route for an upcoming trip, and download it into the GPS. But it is done! In the future, without the lengthy installation process which taxed the laptop processor considerably, it should take just a few minutes.

Traval Options Abound: Jean and I bought an inverter for traveling so we can even plug the laptop into the car's power port and use it for detailed maps while traveling without fear of running the batter down. The GPS holds only 58 MB of maps, which at the time we bought it was about 4 times the amount of memory other GPS units had for installed street-level maps. We can modify our installed street-level maps as we are traveling if we are on a long car trip. Yeah!

Beth Is On Her Way!: Grammie is with my brother for the upcoming week and Beth has left to spend an all-to-short day with us before flying out at "0:Dark Hundred" Tuesday morning to help with children and household chores during and after her sister's upcoming surgery.

Time Off Is Good

2005-12-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

This is unprecedented in my adult life: a 5-day holiday weekend! We just returned this afternoon from visiting my family in south-western NH. We stayed at my Mom's house for two nights after driving down in heavy rain and dense fog to avoid a possible change-over to freezing rain the following morning. Last night there indeed was freezing rain which changed over to snow both in NH and here at home. But by the time we travelled the roads were clear and there was a bright enough sun out that we were wishing for sunglasses!

We had a great family dinner at my brother's house with all of my brothers and sisters present as well as many of their children. It was good to catch up on what is happening in everyone's lives.

My Mom is very pleased after I mounted the "Indoor / Outdoor/Minimum / Maximum Temperature" thermometer that our family gave her for Christmas. She frequently asks those around what the high and low temperatures were and this way it will be easy for her get that information.

We will be glad to be back in our own beds this evening though, after sleeping on Mom's sofa for two nights to be close to the bathroom as well as having our own shower.

After getting home I spent just over 1 hour napping and just under 1 hour clearing the driveway. Dishes are done, the finances have been dealt with, my lunch made for tomorrow morning and I am fondly thinking of going to bed early tonight.

Christmas Cactus

2005-12-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

Just days before Christmas and my Christmas cactus is in full bloom.

Snow, Sun, Music and Flowers

2005-12-11T12:45:00.000-05:00

Snow
Friday it snowed - officially 8" between 8 AM & 4 PM. I went to work and ran into snow over half way there but it was very light. I figured I could get over half a day in before it increased to the point of danger and with nearly 5 extra hours work already for the week I would not feel bad heading home early. I emailed the nurses to bring in any files whenever they had time - in the morning, as I was not going to be there at 1 PM, the usual time for them to bring them in to me. I got a file reviewed and written up except for 2 1/2 hours of video surveillance yet to review, met with all the nurses and was headed home by shortly after 12:30 PM.

The wipers iced up repeatedly despite the defroster being set to 82 degrees. I made two stops (getting off the interstate, pausing at a stop sign each time to clear the wipers and then getting back on) before getting home but arrived safely.

I ate, napped for 1 1/2 hours and then got up and cleared 3 yards. The snowblower (2005 Ariens 1332 - 13 HP, 32" wide) started the first time I turned it over and ran well. I hadn't checked it since I serviced it late last spring. This fall after putting the battery back in it, there has been no time to "test" it before actually needing it. Thankfully, it was there and running well when it was needed.

Sun
Yesterday and today have been gorgeous sunny days with no clouds in the sky today. A walk is definitely in order to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Yesterday it didn't happen. It was our turn for helping to host the fellowship dinner after church. A combination of too little water for 5 hours, a bit of stress and a bit too little sleep was the right mix for a tension headaches. It yielded to the persuasion of another nap after a couple of generic Advil tablets and a large glass or two of water.

Addendum: We did go out and walk today for nearly an hour!

Music
Yesterday was music day. Jean and I headed off very early for Sabbath School so that I could practice with a small clarinet group: myself, Allison and an older church member who plays in the academy's community band with us. We were all there but the other woman hadn't realized this was the week. I hadn't communicated with her about it last week and so she wasn't ready. Allison and I with some modifications performed it as a duet and by reports, despite us each making one minor mistake, went quite well. Cheryl, we did the same one that you and I did at the Surrey Filipino church - 192 O Shepherd Divine. Allison played the soprano line and I played the tenor line the first time through the verse and the alto line the second time but played the alto line for the duet portion each time.

Last night was Pine Tree Academy's Christmas concert. They celebrated with elementary and academy choirs (who both did very well), the academy handbell choir, and the band which was augmented with the community band members that could come and play as well. Two clarinet players, including myself, joined in. I had never played the music until last night. There was a rehearsal scheduled at 6:15 PM and the performance at 7 PM. The academy choir did not finish practice until 6:40 PM. We "cherry picked" hot spots in each of the 4 numbers. My first time start to finish on all of them was the performance. I made one minor mistake in the first three pieces including two from White Christmas. The last piece was Sleigh Ride. I estimate that I played about 1/3 of that piece, though that may be an optimistic estimate. I didn't make mistakes to speak of, I just wasn't able to play without any significant practice.

The program was well done with Norman Rockwell painting "tableaus" changing every couple of songs and a narration accompanying. The elementary children were done up in somewhat "old English" garb and did a nice little parade around the auditorium before performing. I expect that Jean will post some photos on Our Flickr Account sometime today from the ones that she took.

Flowers
My Christmas cactus is blooming! It has done very well this year, unlike last year when I had nearly killed it. I started watering and feeding it daily on Thanksgiving so it has a couple of blossoms fully open and many what are budded up and about ready to pop open.

Laptop Update

2005-12-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

Monday

I came home from work to find that DHL had delivered the hard drive 2 business days after it shipped! I had gotten "free shipping 3-5 days ground" and it came 2nd Day Air! Most likely because it hadn't shipped for 2 weeks after I ordered it.

Opening the box revealed that the hard drive came already installed into the Dell bracket for installation with an extra security screw to hold the assembly in place. I swapped the hard drives in a matter of less than 5 minutes. That was so easy I set my sights on installing Windows XP that evening. And so it worked out. I got Windows installed followed by the device drivers and then the first round of Windows updates - not including SP-2 - and installed Norton Antivirus 2005 getting a bonus 4+ months of coverage in the process, which partially makes up for getting gypped out of two Symantec rebates this fall. Adding in ICQ 2003a and ZoneAlarm rounded out my night.

Tuesday

I skipped band being too tired (Jean snored repeatedly in the night and I woke up at 4:30 AM to visit the WC and never got fully back to sleep again) to concentrate on music so I did dishes while starting the SP-2 download and installation. I installed Office XP 2003 and downloaded 45 MB of security updates for Office. In addition I installed:
1. Photo Album 3 (Jasc)
2. Adobe Acrobat Reader 7
3. WinZip 8
4. SpyBot 1.4
5. RegCleaner
6. Roxio Easy CD Creator
7. Microsoft Media Player 10
8. Zondervan NIV Bible
9. WS FTP LE
10. Google Toolbar

After scanning the whole hard drive with NAV 2005 I think that we are back to where we were, or very nearly so, before the hard drive died. This post is being made from the laptop as I sit on the sofa with my feet up - once again!

The hard drive is a 38 GB drive that has about 9 GB filled thus far leaving us about 29 GB free. That should be plenty for the way that we use the computer. The faster speed on the hard drive seems noticable to me - though I may simply be optimistic. Any way I look at it, it's very good to have it back online again for $89 and my time reinstalling. That's not a bad bargain as laptop repairs go.

No Posts & Ramblings

2005-12-04T13:40:00.000-05:00

Sniffling Sickie: The reason there have been no posts this past week is that I have been sick with a cold. I have managed to carry out my work schedule but I left just about everything else to be done today. Nothing serious - just enough to drag the energy out of me. I'm starting to rebound since last night.

Musical Moment: The reed trimmer that I returned to Muscian's Friend (they sent an Eb reed trimmer when I ordered a Bb reed trimmer) has been received by the company and credited. The correct reed trimmer is...back ordered with no word on estimated delivery date.

BTW, the new clarinet continues to work well. I am playing it up to half an hour at a time without problems. The ring on the bell is slightly loose and will need to be tightened eventually. Time doesn't permit right now and there is no danger of losing it. Two concerts coming up: the Community Band on 12/20 and the Academy Band 12/10.

Computer Talk: The memory that I bought for Beth's computer to bring it up to 1 GB like her siblings' computers has not yet been exchanged by OEMPCWORLD.com. I ordered exactly the right product and it didn't work. They suggested trying to flash the BIOS but it already had the latest BIOS. They suggested that it was a 'memory density' issue and allowed that they would need to replace the memory.

Of interest is that Dell delayed the shipment of the replacement laptop hard drive until 2 weeks after it was ordered. It should arrive in a week or so.

Bittersweet Sabbath

2005-12-04T13:35:00.000-05:00

Esther Norzow, the beloved wife of one of my physician friends died last Friday night after the beginning of the Sabbath that she loved.

Yesterday we attended the memorial service which lasted 1 2/2 hours. The church was filled to over capacity - chairs were placed in the aisles, doubtless in violation of fire codes.

This is particularly sad in that she and her husband have been raising three of their grandchildren.

Her sparkle, joy and infectious laugh will be missed deeply.

Mostly Caught Up & Other Thoughts

2005-11-27T19:39:00.000-05:00

It was a day to catch up on various projects:

1. Back up My Documents on my computer (1 CD)
2. Back up photos (11/27/04 - 11/27/05) on Jean's computer (1 DVD)
3. Kitchen clean up - dishes, sinks, stove
4. Go back to Staples and buy TurboTax Deluxe
5. Enter preliminary data in TurboTax (Federal)
6. Practice band music (holiday concert 12/20/05)
7. Apply bore oil to new clarinet
8. Have all rebates from Black Friday completed

All of the above has been done and I am pleased that what we will owe in federal taxes this year (due to my contracting income while still at my "old job") will not be major AND we get a $2,000 credit deducted from our income due to having bought a hybrid vehicle this year.

Yesterday I was asked to do special music for Sabbath School in 2 weeks. I thought "clarinet piece!" and went looking immediately for the church member who sits next to me and plays 2nd clarinet in community band, to see if she would do a duet on the piece that I played with Cheryl and her cello at the Surrey Filipino Church.

YES! She will play with me and was excited about making it a trio or even a quartet. She has the contact phone number for the 1st chair clarinet in the community band (retired lab tech from Stoneham that I knew when we lived there) and I contacted Allison. Allison is really interested in doing it as well!

So yesterday afternoon I arranged parts for 3rd clarinet and bass clarinet from the hymnal so that if we have 2, 3 or 4 clarinets we will have music to play. The bass clarinet part can be played by a soprano clarinet (which is one octave higher than a bass clarinet - same fingering: sort of like a viola-cello situation) but it would not sound as nice as if it were actually pitched lower. As in - a bass clarinet.

Of course, I had to see how the bass clarinet part sounded. This involved getting out the bass clarinet, playing it, oiling the keys, tightening the screws, and oiling the bore (which actually looked to be in very good shape with only one very slight check in the wood at a joint that is superficial and contained by a ring - it may even be old). So the bass clarinet has had maintenance done on it for the first time in 12 - 15 years.

The other thing that we (my Sabbath School class) are toying with is re-instituting a mid-week prayer service. The November 17 Adventist Review has an interview (Stephen Chavez with Frederick Russell, Baltimore, MD, USA) of how the mid-week prayer service has changed their congregation after he visited the Brooklyn Tabernacle mid-week prayer service.

That article in combination with this quotation:

"God calls for a spiritual revival and a spiritual reformation. Unless this takes place, those who are lukewarm will continue to grow more abhorrent to the Lord, until He will refuse to acknowledge them as His children."

"A revival and a reformation must take place, under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it is connected with the revival of the Spirit. Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend."--The Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1902 (Selected Messages, Vol. 1, Pages 127-128)[emphasis supplied]

suggested to my class that we need a mid-week prayer service desperately. We are praying that our pastoral staff will join us to help provide leadership.

Black Friday

2005-11-26T08:16:00.000-05:00

Shopping happened yesterday with Beth leaving well before dawn at about 5 AM and us old fogies left about 6 AM after corraling a skittish Mopsy who flew through the open doors to the garage when Jean returned to get a key to the Concord which we had pulled in behind the Cruiser during the snow/ice/snow storm over Thanksgiving day. One bright spot is that she was attracted to the hiding places in the BACK of the garage, not the wide open garage door leading out to the slush/snow covered street.

My quick tour of about 4 stores was completed by 8:30 AM thanks to Beth and Allison taking my few Staples purchases through line (an activity that took =/> 1/2 hour at 6-6:30 AM).

By 9:15 AM I had eaten a second breakfast to fortify the cereal & orange I'd eaten at 5:30 AM and was ready to return a call from the Medical Examiner's office that had come in as we were sitting down to our Thanksgiving Day Supper the night before to enjoy the company of Miss Elizabeth and Jacki - retired physical therapist church friends who were kind enough to join us with a fresh fruit/veggie plate and the best cranberry relish that I have ever eaten and steamed broccoli. This supplemented our chef's (Beth) whipped mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle (nothing like what it sounds - it is really a dessert item that used 7 LARGE sweet potatoes: can you say "left overs"?), Mock Chicken (an egg/cottage cheese entree that is a Thanksgiving staple here), peas and apple cider (local).

The call (notice that I'm avoiding discussing it?) was a double fatal auto accident that occurred just before noon on Thanksgiving Day. It has been reported in a Channel 6 News article online. What the article does not say is that they have only one son. I could not help think what it must have been like for him to get that knock on his door when the town police came to tell him both parents had died (Ages 59 & 62).

Anyway, at ~3 hours per case, I finished the paperwork just before Sundown at the start of the Sabbath last night. The only really good news in all of this is that the fees that I will get from the State of Maine for two ME exams plus the funeral home's fees for completing the ME release forms comes to $200. The money that I get from my medical examiner work all goes directly to local charities such as our Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry, Homeless Shelter, Free Clinic, etc. This will be a blessing to those in our area in need of services. But at what a cost. It was a melancholic day, for sure.

Not Jinxed After All

2005-11-24T11:25:00.000-05:00

This morning (US Thanksgiving Day) I slept in until 9 AM (almost unheard of) and while I was hydrating for the day I set Deb's computer up to install my "free after rebate" NAV 2005 software to replace her "free trial" software that came with her new computer. And it worked! There was only one glitch when ICQ found the internet and NOTHING else could - including the activation process for her new software.

A brief check of the internet connection properties found that it was trying to connect to the college's proxy server. Duh! Checking the "detect connection automatically" immediately resolved the problem.

Her software is installed, multiple updates done, computer scanned (no viruses - which is good to know as she lets multiple people use it), and her vertical mouse drivers reinstalled so that her (and mine!) eVoluent vertical mouse will have all 5 buttons working properly.

Now to re-set her internet connection and shut down.

On a more sober note (you couldn't tell that I was delirious to have finally broken the technology jinx - yes, Allan, I DID read your comment and am blaming the gremlins sent or sponsored by our dearly beloved Bill Gates anyway!) - Allison is still sick, likely with a viral bug on top of whatever else she had last week. And Brian is out clearing roads during our first "sticking" snow storm of the year - today. So we may not see either one of them for supper tonight.

Am I Jinxed?

2005-11-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

Beth arrived home for the holiday today (stuck in stop-and-go traffic for just under 2 hours due to an accident which delayed her arrival - she is safe and sound).

She brought her computer to receive an additional 512 MB RAM (2 DIMMs PC3200 to match what it already in the computer).

I installed the memory.

Powered on her computer.

The computer would not boot. It gave a BIOS error beep (actually: beep, beep, beep, beep ---- beep, beep) code and displayed error lights on the back (B & D were displayed orange/yellow while A & C were green). This matches a memory fault according to Dell's 8+ MB Owner's Manual, which I downloaded.

I tried again (nothing if not persistent here - see below for more evidence of my willingness to try the same thing over, and over and over ... while expecting DIFFERENT results).

Same result. (Is ANYONE out there surprised by this?)

New Test: remove ALL the memory (without mixing them up) and installing JUST the new memory in the slots formerly occupied by the OLD memory.

Same result. (You thought doing something DIFFERENT would give a DIFFERENT result? Vain optimist, I see!)

Current situation: back to just the OLD memory in the computer. RMA request for warranty replacement made to OEMPCWORLD. It's hard to believe that memory is bad but it surely does not work! I even read their troubleshooting tips and I've done pretty much what they suggested.

We'll see what happens when we get new memory. If and when Beth is back up here again. Sigh. Maybe I should have just returned the memory for a refund and gone to Staples. But this was a mighty good price online. We'll see.

Problem Solved!

2005-11-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

I tried Repair Re-Install and got booted into a Blue Screen of Death. I tried Windows Re-Install and got the BSoD repeatedly on each successive try. (I know, I know - those who do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results are ...)

I tried calling Dell Technical Support for my laptop problem. I was warned by a wise advisor that I would be connected to a 3rd world country but proceeded anyway. In the course of the preliminary routing I was directed to a "Pay For Service" line for out of warranty computers. That number was no longer in service and I was referred to another toll free number which gave me tinnitus when it connected me to a fax line. I returned to the Technical Support Line and heard a message about contacting Dell Online Chat, which I have previously used to get UPS Tracking Numbers after my order has been placed.

Off to the back room to set up the laptop and fire up my desktop computer for the chat. After about 1/2 hour the tech came on and for the next 45 minutes we worked on my computer's problem. I identifed up from that this was an "out of warranty" machine and that I had tried "pay for support" and the number was not in service and that the toll free tech support line had referred me as well as putting the diagnostic test error code in the subject of the chat session.

It was disconcerting that everything that I was asked to try didn't work. At all. Clt-Alt-D at the Dell splash screen was supposed to boot me to diagnostic testing. Instead it gave me a Safe Mode start up menu. F12 boot was supposed to give me a Bootable Device Menu that would include Boot to Utility Partition. It didn't. It did boot to the Bootable Device Menu that listed "Diagnostics" at the bottom. I told the tech that was how I got the error code. Finally she came back and told me...

"Your hard drive is bad and needs to be replaced."

At last! We know what is wrong and I should be able to fix that. Believe it or not, but the least expensive hard drive I could find is on Dell's website and the drive is discounted 20% and the shipping is discounted 60% this weekend. I'm actually getting a slightly smaller hard drive (40 GB) that is faster (5400 RPM) than the one currently in it (60 GB, 4200 RPM). Dell lists it as being compatible with my particular laptop.

We should be back up and running well before our next road trip. I'm so glad this happened now and not while we were in BC or worse yet, on the road somewhere else where there are no other computers available! God is good!

A More Positive Note

2005-11-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the first time in 3 months that my new Buffet R-13 clarinet could actually be assembled and played!

I had really enjoyed playing Cheryl's clarinet in (see Allan's blog post) BC because it is a professional quality Selmer. I had even started playing some of my older clarinets and found them to be "not too bad".

But when I started playing my new clarinet I found that it has a brighter, bigger sound than any of them and is very, very easy to play (similar to Cheryl's Selmer).

Now it can be played for 15 - 20 minutes per day and must have its bore oiled weekly for a month then once a month through the winter before the wood will be adequately seasoned or cured to tolerate conditions with high humidity.

This is a very good start though! I thought I would never look forward to fall with the furnace having to start up, but this year it was necessary to dry the clarinet out to the point that the swollen wood would shrink enough for the joints to be assembled normally.

BSD - Blue Screen of Death

2005-11-18T21:33:00.000-05:00

Our Dell Inspiron 600M laptop just croaked.
BSD with the following message:

ntfs.sys Address F84554E6 base at F8404000

I managed to boot to a diagnostic screen and ran the system diagnostics which hung with the following error code: 0F00:133D (which apparently has to do with the system memory bus.

None of this shows up on the Dell Support website. That gives me a Diagnostic Tree to follow which comes down to "Prepare to Reinstall Windows".

So there you have it. Instead of listening to a Gaither DVD (Jerusalem) and posting on the Swap I got to chase computer problems tonight. The Windows Reinstall can wait for some night other than Sabbath.

We're Home!

2005-11-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

We spent 8 days in British Columbia visiting our daughter and her family, including 5 grandchildren who are 6 years old and under. Cheryl has chronicled some of our time out there on her blog recently.

I thought that I would mention our trip home. We got up at about 3 AM PST to shower and get ready to go and left shortly after 4 AM with Allan very graciously chauffeuring us to Vancouver Airport (YVR). At that hour of the day traffic was light and we arrived just before 5 AM.

Jean had warned that the lines are long so we were prepared for a wait. However, by 5:15 AM PST we had our boarding passes, had cleared security, customs and agriculture and were in the lounge waiting 1/2 hour for Tim Horton's to open so Jean could buy a bagel. After briefly searching for an AED (defibrillator) in vain, I settled down to reading book.

Our flight left on time for Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) on time and we had "good winds" which resulted in our arriving about 44 minutes ahead of schedule. We took the skylink train from terminal D to terminal A where our outgoing flight to Boston (BOS) would depart as well as the location for the only "in house" Subway shop was located. We ate our veggie delite subs then stopped at McDonalds for a small order of french fries and one of their parfait yogurts, which we took back to our gate to eat.

There we discovered that the flight was overbooked - seriously overbooked. They needed 5 - 6 individuals to fly the following day or be routed through Chicago arriving at nearly 1 AM EST for a $300 travel voucher. The annoucements about the overbooking stopped at about the time for scheduled boarding. But no boarding occurred. Jean investigated and a few minutes later it was announced that the flight staff were in Terminal C and would be about 15 - 20 minutes getting to Terminal A.

We were not started boarding until about 5 minutes before scheduled departure and we did not pull out of the gate until about 1/2 hour late. For the first time in my limited flying career we rolled past a line of eight airplanes waiting to take off so we could go ahead of them!

The flight was due into BOS at 7:46 PM EST and our Concord Trailways bus to Portland was scheduled to leave at 8:25 PM EST. The margin was reduced to about 10 - 15 minutes and we were getting nervous. Our flight was re-routed to avoid a band of strong thunder storms stretching from Houston to Chicago but we were still scheduled to "make up" about 10 mintues in flight time.

We were about 25 minutes out when the captain informed us that there was "visibility" problems at BOS and while we had begun our descent, we were in a "holding pattern" for about 15 - 20 minutes while planes ahead of us landed. I told Jean that I wasn't giving up hope but it looked like we would be delayed getting home by a couple hours if we missed the bus at 8:25 PM.

The "holding pattern" only lasted about 5 minutes and we started down to land once again. We reached the gate at about 8:23 PM but Jean had found out where we needed to go by calling Concord Trailways right after we landed. I grabbed the two larger carry-on bags and Jean took the two light ones as we de-planed. When we got to the door of the plane we came to a stop. The gang-way was completely filled with people - standing. Not walking. Finally an individual was put in a wheelchair and moved out and the line started to move.

When we hit the top of the gang-way we ran through the terminal to the entrance we were told to go to meet the bus. We arrived at 8:27:30 - there were LOTS of buses: Hertz, Avis, Alamo, Ramada, Airport Parking Shuttle, etc. Another man came up moments later - his plane had also just gotten in and he was trying to catch the bus to Portland as well. About 30 seconds after he arrived, Jean saw the Concord Trailways bus pulling up - it looked like he would go right by us. I got out on the edge of the street and waved my hands. He stopped, lectured me to NEVER get in the streets in Boston or I would be run down by reckless Boston drivers (he was the only vehicle moving at that time, and I was nowhere near his trajectory). Then he loaded our luggage!

This is one of the two closest calls ever. May 2004 was just as close - we arrived at the terminal where the incoming flight had radioed ahead that we were coming, we raced through the terminal, boarded and they closed the doors behind us and the plane took off. Our luggage did NOT make it on that flight and arrived in Seattle later that night after we had already left for British Columbia. This time we made it by about 1 minute or less. That was a really close call.

We had a great time in BC even though it rained most of the week. That's what there are shopping malls for, right?

Remember That Abandoned Room?

2005-11-08T08:55:00.000-05:00

If you remember, I posted back in May about a mystery room that was literally cut off the end of a house when the new owners didn't want to pay the additional $30,000 - $50,000 for the "upgrade" that wasn't included in their contract.

The room sat out exposed to the elements with holes cut in the walls and roof for the chains that were used to lift it off its foundationa and move it off to one side.

Mystery Room Archive Link

NOW, it has been added to the back end of a new house that is being built next to the one it was cut off back in May. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera along to take a picture. They took off the roof, and put the room onto a foundation and the next time we walked by they had put the roof back on it. The holes have not yet been patched in the walls or roof.

I would be VERY unhappy to be the owner of this "new" house to find out that my "upgrade" was built of pressboard that sat out in the elements for about 6 months! At any rate, the mystery of that room has been completely solved now!

My Happy Computer

2005-10-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

This gets a bit convoluted.

1. Bought new computer for Cheryl/Allan
2. New computer came without a video card (shared memory) - I've never done THAT before
3. Ordered ATI Radeon 9600 128 MB video card from newegg.com
4. Tried to install video card in new computer: no go
5. Trouble shoot why new video card doesn't even go in the slot
6. Discover 8x/16x AGP video cards do not fit in PCI-express video card slots.
7. Try to figure out what a PCI-express video card is, after all
8. Order ATI 128 MB PCI-e video card from newegg.com
9. Install new video card in Cheryl's new computer - actually, it installs itself in seconds
10. I call Beth and tell her, "I have a new video card for your computer - bring the box up this weekend."
11. Fast forward 4 days: Beth arrives sans computer box.
12. I spend 3 minutes on Dell Support looking up her computer manual online.
13. I discover that Beth's computer takes a PCI-e video card also.
14. I order a new ATI 128 MB PCI-e video card and DVD burner for Beth (Christmas come early - like Cheryl's new computer)
15. I discover that my computer (Dell 8300 2.6 GHz) is the only Pentium 4 computer in the family that is still capable of being upgraded to a 128 MB AGP video card as Jean's Dell 8300 3 GHz already has an ATI Radeon 9800 128 MB card.
16. Hardware installation completed shortly after this discovery.
17. Open photo software with glee.
18. Knot develops in pit of stomach when photos of Jean make her look no younger yet she looks like she weighs 105 - 110 lb. (very thin)
19. Settings checked, Device Manager (working fine - Windows drivers)
20. Reinstall of drivers using the CD that came with it: no change
21. Use Microsoft Troubleshooter (does it ever help?)
22. On advice of Troubleshooter I download new BIOS (A07) from Dell's website and install to upgrade from A01.
23. Check Jean's photos again: she still weighs about 105-110 lbs. - Beth, in retrospect wonders why I ever wanted to change softwear that makes EVERYONE look thin!
24. Off to ATI's website - Lo, there is a new driver! Download and install done pronto.
25. Computer restarted and YEAH! The new video card makes people look normal and not look distorted.
26. Epilogue: after installing the BIOS and new video drivers, not only do photos open very fast, but MY COMPUTER, which I used to be able to go get a drink of water while it opened, now "snaps" open almost instantly! I've put up with poor performance for over 2 years that was fixed with a BIOS upgrade. Sigh. BIOS upgrades used to be so touchy to do that I never checked to discover that they are installable under Windows without using a bootable 3.5" floppy and files that needed extraction, and the right alignment of the planets to work properly.

Allison and Brian - your turn is coming. I just have to find the "right" computer in the outlet.

UPDATE - 6 PM Sunday: I found a Dell 9100 for Allison and Brian - it should be here, I suspect in about 10 days.

My goal is that everyone in the family have a 3 GHz processor, 128 MB Video card and DVD burner. After that, they are customized a bit depending on individual needs and my pocket book at the moment of purchase.

Actually, I rather enjoyed getting to do an upgrade again. I like to upgrade computers. Lately by the time I feel that some component of the system would bear upgrading, I figure that all of the systems inside the computer are "due" for an upgrade as well.

This is reasonable given Moore's law (18 months to double processor speed) and I typically upgrade my own PC about every 3 years.

So it figures. It's now about 26 months since I bought my computer and the only upgrade prior to this new video card was to install my trusting internal 100 MB IDE Zip drive. I am probably due to "clean" my registry and other similar housekeeping chores to make it run more efficiently. But the BIOS and Video card upgrade make it behave like a completely different computer, which I am enjoying.

I Lost $1,000

2005-10-16T08:25:00.000-04:00

Well, that's what it seemed like when I was working on my budget. There should be more money in my budget and I couldn't find it despite doing all the numbers twice. Spreadsheets do not usually misplace that kind of money, nor does my Money 2002 program. I finally decided some time after 11 PM that I must have over spent on computers, software, and accessories for my children, vowed to be more temperate this coming two weeks and headed to bed. By the time Jean was to the same "stopping place" with cutting out 11 Bible Times Costumes for her Sabbath School children it was nearing midnight.

In the early morning hours I "found" the $1K that was missing:

The major part of our home improvement activities for this year was to replace the front door. The old door was a Stanley metal insulated door that did not have weatherstripping on the bottom and did not have an adjustable threshhold and as a result let in much fresh,unheated Maine winter air - despite attempts to caulk it with Mortite and put rugs up against it every fall.

The new window has miniblinds built into the Thermopane window that open and close (but do not go up and down). This is a great upgrade that we are already enjoying as that corner was always dark and dismal. Both Jean and I have thought: "The front door is open" because there is so much light despite it being dark and gray for the past 8 - 9 days.

We included in the cost of the project having a professional painter spray paint the door before installation and do the trim painting after it was installed as well as prepping (chipped paint due to bath tub caulking leaks upstairs) and re-painting the kitchen ceiling.

We are also replacing a medicine cabinet and a vanity in the upstairs bathroom and a medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom.

I Talked With Dave!

2005-10-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, Aviator Dave called me last night. OK. Jean dialed her cell phone and handed it to him. It was sure good to talk with him and I got to talk IRL to someone who has and uses a G5 iMac!

Best Wishes and God's Blessings to him and Gail today!

OC

I Shaved Today

2005-09-25T20:15:00.000-04:00

OK. So that is not an earth shattering event by any stretch of the imagination. But I don't usually shave on Sunday, so that presaged a "different" sort of a day.

Dilatory Greyhound

Perhaps a bit strong but...

Gumpa has stayed with us for the past 3 days: picked produce with me late Friday afternoon, went to church with us on Sabbath morning and went to Popham Beach with us Sabbath afternoon.

This morning he left for New York City to visit some relatives while Melissa spends a few more days here with Jean and, at least for the next day or so, Auntie Bethy and for Friday (build-a-bear day) and today (swim at the YMCA day) Auntie Allie too.

The bus was scheduled to leave at 8:20 AM and the website advised travelers to be at the bus stop 1/2 hour ahead of time. We were there 35 minutes early. I checked in with the clerk at the 7-Eleven which is the bus stop on Maine Street. Yes, 8:20 was right, though she allowed that the half hour early was "way overstated."

Indeed. She, it turned out, understated. The bus had not arrived at 8:30 AM so I decided to do that only thing the I know that has ever made something long overdue to finally happen: I made a phone call. Right on cue the bus pulled in at 8:35 AM. Gumpa embarked with about a dozen drawn from all walks of life, ages and ...maybe I won't go there. Let's leave it there. Suffice to say it was a diverse and interesting appearing group that embarked on the bus headed south.

Salivatory Stimulation

OK. So there is no such thing. So what if I made it up. It actually applies. Somewhat.

Jean has wanted to visit the model condominium during the weekly Sunday Open House for months. Today was the day. We walked over and were greeted by a young realtor with an attractive face. Jean didn't look south. I plead the fifth.

Understand: we have watched (and critiqued) as these units were being built. We know which units will have mold problems, which ones have iffy subfloors, which ones have warped roof trusses. We know these units as well, if not better than, the developer because we walk by and in them very regularly. And actually critiqued is too mild. I have frankly been critical of some of the building practices that have been used:

1. Press-board roofs (I understand subfloors and walls but not roofs in Maine)

2. Leaving roofs "open" without tar paper or shingles for up to 4 - 6 weeks with frequent rain storms

3. The use of 2"x4" trusses for the roofs on single family homes making them LOOK like 2 story homes with just "wasted space" overhead. This design, in a fire, has the roof collapse very quickly, compared to 2"x10" rafters which most of the other homes have.

That gives you the flavor of my opinion of this development despite some admittedly nice touches in the design and overall excellent landscaping design.

We were VERY impressed with the interior finish on the model unit, which is sold already with LOTS of options. It is a 3 bedroom unit (2 upstairs) with a finished basement and a sunroom. Gorgeous. And it should be for $369,000 for a quadriplex! That does include a 2 car detached garage and a $120 monthly bill for condominum fees. The fee increases for duplexes ($140) and singles ($160). One could easily covet...but we own ours and we paid nowhere near that much! We just need some cleaning out and...

Quadraphonic Sound?

Well, it could be if I were quads myself. While looking for a home made cello bow case for transporting a professional quality bow I dragged several clarinets out of my closet. Actually, three. That leaves just 3 more in the closet:

1. My first clarinet (all nickel and in need of a LOT of work to be playable)

2. My step-grandfather's clarinet (a plastic Albert System clarinet)

3. My wooden bass clarinet (which is playable, I just prefer to play Bb soprano clarinets).

The ones I hauled out include:

1. My second clarinet (Hallmark, made in France, in good shape and very playable - cost $100 my senior year in high school)

2. A Buffet Albert System A clarinet - belonged to a church member who died, his widow gave it to her doctor who gave it to me - I had it repadded and recorked, but it is NOT tuned to A440 so I need a different tuning barrel to play it with current bands/orchestras

3. A wooden (made in France) student clarinet which is very good and in good shape as I bought it from a music store after it had been overhauled and it was never played - I bought it for Debbie to play and she gave up on it

Then of course I have my two Bb Buffet clarinets:

1. The 1937 R-13 that I have played on for about 12 - 15 years

2. My new R-13 clarinet (which is not playable as I can't get the bell on the lower joint due to humidity.

I also have Allison't R-13 Buffet here to take down to Bill Street who I use for repairs on the Buffets to repad the lower joint. He will also look at the Buffet A clarinet.

Today I cleaned my old R-13, my Hallmark and the other student instrument. I oiled the keys on the last two and oiled the bore on both of my Buffets, the Hallmark and the student instrument.

In all of this I made a discovery: a 3rd Richard Hawkins handmade mouthpiece with a Rovener ligature. These are worth about $70 plus the cost of shipping so I was very glad to see them. I also found a Selmer HS* mouthpiece which is also a very good mouth piece.

I'm thinking that I ought to learn a little more and go into clarinet repair, sales and rentals!

Internet Musical Supply Orders

I decided that I no longer have the bow case in question, though we uncovered the need to a deep cleaning out of my closet...and the attic...and the basement. Oh, well. I went ahead and ordered a single cello bow case from Shar for $25. Done.

While we were in an "ordering mood" Jean found and ordered a chromatic tuner so that we can tune our instruments better. Long overdue. Boy, am I glad I found www.musiciansfriend.com! I've ordered a lot of supplies from them this fall and have always had free shipping as well as reasonable prices.

More later...

Acrobat Reader File

2005-09-20T22:23:00.000-04:00

Here is the link to the Acrobat Reader file of the End of Life Checklist:

End of Life Checklist

End of Life Check List

2005-09-20T20:51:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year I wrote that the most melancholic task one could undertake was settling the estate of a loved one. I would like to retract, or modify, that statement because this is giving it a run for its money.

A friend who recently lost a spouse requested that I write an outline in a “check list” format to help organize the process. This list will not be all inclusive and suggestions for expanding it will be welcomed.

Documents to Prepare

□ 1. Complete & Sign an Advanced Directive/Living Will outlining care preferences

□ 2. Complete & Sign a Medical Power of Attorney

□ 3. Complete & Sign a Durable Power of Attorney

□ 4. “Prepare & Sign” or “Review & Update” Will (if prepared over 5 years ago)

Documents to Assemble

□ 5. Long Term Care Insurance Policies

□ 6. Life Insurance Policies (Update beneficiaries!) include any that may be through:

□ A. Work – contact Human Resources if you do not have the policy
□ B. Professional Organizations
□ C. Credit card companies
□ D. Auto or Travel clubs

□ 7. Retirement & Pension Plan Documents (Update beneficiaries!):
□ A. Social Security,
□ B. Defined Benefit,
□ C. 401k/403b,
□ D. IRAs, etc

□ 8. Financial (Joint Ownership will allow access to these accounts):
□ A. Savings
□ B. Money Market
□ C. Checking
□ D. Credit Card Accounts

□ 9. Property (Joint Ownership bypasses probate court to transfer property):
□ A. Deeds for Real Estate
□ B. Mortgage Papers for Real Estate
□ C. Title Insurance policies for Real Estate
□ D. Titles to motor vehicles/RV/Trailers/Other
□ E. Loan/Lease Agreement for motor vehicles/RV/Trailers/Other

□ 10. Corporation papers including corporate insurance policies

□ 11. Other Insurance policies: □ health, □ auto, □ house, □ umbrella

Things To Discuss

□ 12. Treatment preferences
□ A. palliative radiation,
□ B. chemotherapy,
□ C. narcotics,
□ D. surgery

□ 13. End of Life care preferences
□ A. IVs,
□ B. feeding tubes,
□ C. ventilators

□ 14. End of Life care location (in-home care, hospice, hospital, extended care facility)

□ 15. Funeral Arrangements:
□ A. Cremation vs. Casket
□ B. Church vs. Funeral Home
□ C. Service details
□ D. Funeral plot (private vs. military)
□ E. Headstone

□ 16. Reconciliation:
□ A. God - Spiritual Matters
□ B. Family
□ C. Church Family
□ D. Business Associates
□ E. Friends

□ 17. Business:
□ A. Notice to □ employees, □ clients, □ partners
□ B. Pay last bills
□ C. Sale of □ business, □ property, □ equipment
□ D. Storage of records

□ 18. Travel/Vacation

New Clarinet's and Tropical Storms

2005-09-17T07:27:00.000-04:00

Friday Night Madness

Sometimes it pays to put one's mind into gear before putting one's hands into motion. Other times the work week just wears one down just enough that come Friday night there is a certain gleeful exuberance that simply bypasses the normal cerebral functions.

Friday night = Playing Hymns

Playing Hymns = New Clarinet

Tropical Storm Ophelia = Humidity

Humidty + New Clarinet = Wood Swelling

Wood Swelling = Locked Joints

Yes, one would think that I would learn. I hadn't learned, it seems. I locked up the bell and the lower joint of my new clarinet. Jean suggested (wisely) that I take it down stairs and set it next to our dehumidifier for "a half hour". That was not long enough but this morning I was able to get it apart.

Jean has (again, probably wisely) bought a 2nd dehumidifier to run upstairs in this kind of weather when it's not hot but it's just horribly humid.

To continue, I played the prescribed 20 minutes on the new clarinet and then took out my "old" R-13 Buffet (1937) and played for another 20 minutes with Jean on her flute. We found a GREAT song for Filipino church: Hymn 192 - which has great harmonies for the top 3 parts. We also found that I have music for several other pieces that we have played before with Cheryl including a Gluck Andante (manually transcribed for flute as it was written for 3 clarinets) and a clarinet-flute arrangement of Dona Nobis Pacem. I'll bring the lot and we can figure out what we want to play. Lots of options!

New Topic

If you wonder why you haven't seen me here more often? I've been suffering from soft tissue overuse from work. I've been too aggressive it would appear and I have elbow and leg pains (likely related to driving my little Hybrid which is a bit cramped for my long legs, it seems). I'm not back to normal but feeling cautiously better today. So this will be a short post.

Clarinet's Home Again & Ruminations

2005-09-07T22:23:00.000-04:00

I brought my new clarinet home from the repair shop today:

1. The bore has been polished and oiled

2. The tuning barrel has been adjusted so that it doesn't stick or lock on me

3. I have been instructed to only play it 20 minutes/day for the next 1 month and to oil the bore weekly for the first 1 - 2 months and monthly thereafter for the first year.

I was encouraged to bring in:

1. My "old" R-13 Buffet to find out why it doesn't play well in the upper register

2. Allison's R-13 Buffet to get it's lower pads changed, etc.

3. My Albert system R-13 Buffet A Clarinet which is NOT tuned to A-440 as he thinks he can fit it with a tuning barrel that will let me play it with modern bands and orchestras!

On other, more work-related notes, my worklist was briefly down to: one file. That's right. My work list got essentially caught up. Then I had walk-ins with my nurses this afternoon and I am back in the thick of it with at least 3 - 4 file reviews plus as many coming in tomorrow. So they are no looking to lay me off any time soon!

Additionally this evening I signed up with a trade organization for insurance company medical directors, the American Academy of Insurance Medicine - there actually is board certification in insurance medicine. Who knows, I may work on that in my spare time.

Labor Day

2005-09-05T07:22:00.000-04:00

A few notes about yesterday's activities and plans for today.

Muffins, Muffins - Jean's Got Some Muffins

First thing yesterday morning I helped Jean make a batch of her favorite banana-bran-chocolate chip muffins. Well, actually a DOUBLE batch. I cleaned up all of the cooking dishes right afterwards as she had plenty of bananas left to make a second batch later in the day. While I was at work at my computer later in the day (see below) she made the second batch and I cleaned the muffin tins a second time. She has frozen most of them, though Deb took some with her back to college yesterday afternoon.

Deb Is Safely Home

Deb came home for two days. We enjoyed Sabbath together - Deb and I led the singing for church. Sabbath evening we finished transferring files, programs and her wireless network card to her new computer and got it ready to go back to college with her. She left mid-afternoon so that she would get back to college before dark and hopefully before the traffic was too heavy. We got a call that she made it there safely before 7 PM.

ABFM Patient Simulation

Every year to maintain family practice certification we have to complete a knowledge base exam and a patient simulation. I have been studying the syllabus for hypertension through the summer and took the exam a couple weekends ago. This weekend I did the patient simulation.

Most family physicians take about 1 1/2 hours to complete it. A window popped up afte 90 minutes pointing this fact out and asking if I needed help! I closed the window and struggled on. Eventually I got the patient's blood pressure controlled for 3 visits and made no serious errors - I didn't see the option to give her an information sheet about high blood pressure, an ommision that was not judged serious. I passed the simulation and am all set until next year, when I will understand the process a lot better.

Driveway Preparation

It's been 3 years since we applied driveway sealer to our driveway. This year is the year to do it again. And it is clearly time to do it. Yesterday I took a weed whacker and trimmed the grass and weeds at the edege of the driveway and walkway. Then I swept the driveway and used a hose to wash off all the visible organic debris. Jean put up red caution tapes around the driveway and before I started cleaning the drive, she moved our cars onto the edge of the road. Today is the day!

Clarinet Maintenance

After we came back from WalMart, where we found a sale of children's life jackets (we bought 3 for next summer), and visiting Allison and Brian for a few minutes, I decided to do some maintenance on Allison's clarinet and my "old" clarinet seeing that my "new" clarinet is in the shop.

The good news is that the bore of both clarinets looks a LOT better after putting bore oil to them. My old clarinet actually had a crack starting to form on the inside of the tuning barrel which is hardly visible after a liberal application of bore oil. Bill Sweet said that LeBlanc bore oil is the best and I stopped and bought a bottle at what used to be Eastern Musical in West Falmouth on the way home last week. I also applied key oil to Allison's clarinet keys (I ran out of time for putting it to my old clarinet's keys). So her clarinet is a lot better now.

The bad news is that both of our clarinets need work on their corks. The lower cork on the top joint has come off while I was working on it. There is nothing wrong with the cork except that it needs to be glued back in place. I may be able to get Eastern Musical to glue it in place. Other corks on both instruments are looking worn and frayed, so they will need attention eventually.

Potato Picking

Today I spend a couple hours picking up potatoes as they are dug at the Community Farm we are members of just a mile or so from our home: 10 AM - 12 Noon. I hope to have the driveway done before I go - we'll see.

Deb's Home

2005-09-03T07:24:00.000-04:00

Deb Is Home Safely

We are so greatful that she arrived safely. Late, but safely. She arrived on the crest of the wave of holiday weekend traffic about 5:30 PM. Why so late when class got out about 12:30 PM?

Ah! The Book Tale:

The college in their infinite wisdom decided, literally at the last moment, to go out of the bookselling business to concentrate on their core business: education. When the students arrived they discovered that they needed to order their books online. Jean, always helpful, ordered Deb's when she got home from helping Deb move to college. So far, so good.

We "joined" Barnes and Noble to get a discount (the discount just about covered the cost of the annual membership). With 8 days to spare we used the basic shipping option which "guaranteed" that UPS would get it there in time (3-5 business days). It turns out that the "guarantee" is not a guarantee.

First of all, B&N let the order sit for 23 hours and 50 minutes before shipping it.

Then UPS took 1 1/2 days to "get it into the system" and when UPS finally did get it into the system and it was on its way...it disappeared! So they re-scheduled the delivery. And then didn't make the new delivery date. It turns out that the tracking label got damaged and was unreadable so after the books got within about 10 miles of Deb's college UPS decided to cut its losses and just ship them back to B&N.

Jean had been calling B&N and UPS daily and emailing them. When she finally heard that the order was irrevocably kaput, she ordered the books again and this time got "Express" air shipping.

At first it appeared that the second order wasn't going to be much better than the first order according to the tracking log online. It turns out that the tracking just didn't keep up with the books themselves which turned up at the college YESTERDAY! Just a couple days after they were ordered. Deb stayed by to track them down and get them into her room before she left.

And then she stopped at Bolton Orchards' store and brought home a box of Cortland apples for us to eat and share.

Deb's Dell 5100

Once she was home we set up her new computer for her to use while she is here.

Tonight we will install her wireless network card so that it will be ready to go.

This Dell 5100 was bought, as usual from the Dell outlet at a significant discount from their "retail" price. It is interesting because it has no legacy ports at all. None. No printer port, serial port, PS-2 mouse port, PS-2 keyboard port. Just seven USB 2.0 ports. Good thing she has a USB printer.

Fortunately, the computer came with a USB multimedia keyboard with a wrist rest (and two USP ports) and a USB mouse, though Deb has a USB Evoluent mouse at school to install.

Deb is impressed with the improvement in speed with her "graduation present" that just happened to be available now. Her computer will be passed along and stay in circulation.

You will notice that I have added a second CD-ROM drive that I found hanging around as a "spare" in the attic when I cleaned out nearly 15 years of computer program boxes and instruction books. It is a Memorex 48X CD-ROM drive that I bought to "upgrade" a previous computer. It takes the place of an internal Zip drive. For now I have connected my USB Zip drive while she is home.

Office Visit

2005-08-31T22:13:00.000-04:00

Monday was the day. I left work shortly after 3 PM to take my clarinet to the repair shop. The shortest road to Gorham from work is the road that goes right by the office - Congress Street. I quickly got on to road and came up to the stop sign. And sat. Through one red light and nothing was moving anywhere! Craning my neck I could see a sign that said, "Construction Ahead - Expect Delays." Right. So I could see. The traffic coming off the Maine Turnpike couldn't get onto the road because...the road was already full of cars waiting their turn to move forward...an inch or so.

I quickly wheeled into the turning lane, hopped onto the Maine Turnpike, went up one exit and caught the Westbrook Arterial into Gorham and was on site and only a minute or so late.

I took my clarinet to the repair man - Bill Street - who looked at it, tried putting the pieces together, sealed the end and blew in them, and held the barrels up to the light and said words to strike fear to any performer's heart, "What do you have for a warranty?"

None, that I was aware of at least. Why? I wondered.

He had me look into the barrel of the top joint and it was ROUGH! Very rough. Like it had never been polished, he said. He sees that fairly often and it takes him about 1/2 - 1 hour to polish it. Otherwise, if I didn't want him to do it the instrument should be returned and replaced with one that was polished and finished. Oh, and he found the spot that was binding.

I put in a call to Lisa who answered right away and spoke with Bill (they knew each other) and then she called her "set up" man who agreed it was about 1/2 - 1 hour maximum to fix. She agreed to pay up to 1 hour at her guy's rate toward having Bill do the work, which seemed reasonable, though Bill has a higher rate than her guy. I figure it will take less time for him to work on it than to FedEx it back to Illinois.

When will I get it back? I don't know. I guess I'll call on Tuesday and see if I can pick it up after work or if I'll be without it another week. He seemed pretty busy.

We Buried A Friend

2005-08-28T08:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the funeral of a friend. A 58 year old friend who had been my dentist for a few years. He had attended Loma Linda University School of Dentistry in the 1970s. Last fall he started having problems with weakness and weight loss and was diagnosed 3 weeks before his death with ALS aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. His wife is a dear friend of mine from my first year in boarding academy. At least one or two of his children were friends with our children in their school years. It puts a whole new perspective on life when your 58 year old dentist is gone. The Brunswick SDA Church was packed to capacity with 40 - 50 people standing in the foyer during the entire service which lasted over an hour. The children, with spouses for those who are married, stood on either side of the coffin in front and greeted people coming up from each side. The line in the middle funneled to Cherry who stood in the center aisle talking with and hugging every one that came.

I have offered to help his wife thread the maze of legal and financial things that have to be done as most of her children are either away in college or married and living elsewhere in the country. I have compiled all of my financial health articles which were written for the Brunswick SDA Church Communique into a book so that she can read through the articles that might be most helpful for her. R. Wayne Clapp's Obituary

It got me thinking yesterday afternoon and evening. So I sat down last night and typed up a page of funeral preparation thoughts: favorite Bible texts, favorite hymns, favorite color (no surprise there, I suspect), favorite memories, etc. Things that I hope will smooth the way for any survivors when my time comes. It is the front page in my red trust book on the top shelf in my office. Jean suggested I just post it here on my blog but I'm not sure I ready for that!

I Need A Doctor

2005-08-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

No, not me personally. My new R-13 Buffet clarinet. This is my first brand new clarinet ever. The woman that I bought it from knew that I had played on old clarinets all my life:

1. I started on a nickel clarinet that was made during one of the World Wars (I'm not sure whether it was WW I or WW II actually) and the whole clarinet is made out of nickel and sounds a little "metallic"

2. My first wood clarinet is one that I paid $50 and my parents "matched" when I was in my senior year in academy with a "Hallmark" label

3. My 3rd (and current) clarinet is a Buffet R-13 made in 1937 and played for about 50 years by a jazz musician here in southern Maine - he was mostly a sax player but occasionally played clarinet. He was a smoker and never oiled the barrel so that clarinet was heavily damaged. It was very difficult to blow and the upper two registers were nearly unplayable, so I played 3rd clarinet because it has a marvelous lower register up through the throat Bb. I have played it for about 15 years.

Lisa knew what I was playing. She never told me that I was not supposed to play a new clarinet for longer than 30 minutes per day for the first few weeks.

Well, I played it for up to 1 - 2 hours at a time. I noticed that the tuning barrel was tight. VERY tight. After band practice last week I had a very hard time taking the clarinet apart.

The next night we got an email from Lisa with a Word document attached telling me how to "break in" the instrument and it I had difficulty taking the instrument apart to take it to a repair man for a simple adjustment.

Fortunately when we bought my daughter's 1995 R-13 clarinet from Tom Parchman, the 1st clarinetist for the Portland Symphony Orchestra, I had requested and gotten by email the name of who he recommended for working on professional level Buffet clarinets.

I made a call Thursday (8/25/05 - the 3 months anniversary of full time insurance work) and have an appointment with the man for 3:30 PM Monday afternoon to have the instrument looked at. "And don't play it until I see it," were his parting words.

Awck! I had agreed to play my clarinet for special music for Sabbath School at about 9:45 AM on Sabbath 8/27/05! Now I would not be able to play it. I tried practicing on my 1937 R-13 but I ended up borrowing my daughter's 1995 R-13 and played a duet with Jean (312 in the Church Hymnal - Near The Cross) and we had the Sabbath School members pretend that we were singing around the piano in our living room: we had them join in and sing the last verse with us!

I LOVE MUSIC! It has been so long since I have taken the time to play. And I have never had an instrument to play that was of this quality. Allison's clarinet and mine are very, very much alike and playing one is very much like playing the other. We look forward to music as a family - various duets and trios - in the future!

My New Love(s)

2005-08-13T17:15:00.000-04:00

The News

No, you are not seeing double. That truly is two Buffet clarinets that I have on trial. One of the things that I had hoped to do more now that I am out of the ER and no longer doing night work is music. I have been added to our church's "arts team" which includes music for the services. For several years now I have put together song services and led them for Sabbath School. Rarely have I been invited to be part of the music program for the church service itself.

The Background

Before our Niagara vacation Jean and I played our instruments (flute and clarinet, respectively) for offeratory one week and we enjoyed it quite a bit even if we did feel like we were shaking in our boots because we simply haven't done it before.

Today I was asked to provide a special music for church. I thought that Allison and I could play our clarinets together: both are Buffet R-13 models - hers is vintage ~1995 and mine is vintage ~1937 and quite worn out with notes that hardly speak without a second or two delay and very difficult to blow.

However Deb is still home from college for another week so Allison thought that we could do a vocal number with her playing the piano. We selected "How Long Has It Been" which is a M. Lister song from the mid-1950s and got it ready to perform. Deb and I also led the congregational singing as well. Mid-week I was invited to lead Sabbath School song service as well.

Then the new clarinets that I had requested to try out arrived yesterday.

The Clarinet Story

When I resigned from the hospital there was no fanfare. I just left. The medical staff and the administration wanted to do something, so they asked Jean what I would like. She had heard me mention getting a telescope a few times over the years so she mentioned that was an interest of mine. True enough. But there is quite a bit of light pollution where we live (in town) so replacing my clarinet seemed like a much better use of the money that they gave me some weeks after I resigned as a "farewell gift."

I spoke with Lisa of Lisa's Clarinet Shop and she selected two new clarinets for me to try out: an R-13 and a Festival. The Festival is supposed to have a sweeter sound and be easier to play. I hurried home from work early last night as Beth came up with my Mom for the weekend AND the clarinets had come. I played the clarinets for over 1 1/2 hours. Then we went up to the church to practice our vocal number for church and Allison tried the two clarinets briefly and we played together for a few minutes. She came home with us, had supper with us (including fresh corn on the cob and blueberries that Mom and Beth brought from NH) and then we played some more for nearly 2 more hours!

So when we went to church we offered to do a clarinet duet if there was a place in the service where it would fit. The organist, who was organizing the music today, volunteered that she was having a hard time finding an offeratory so we could do that! So our family did a lot of music today! After church our whole family stayed for potluck dinner.

The Dilemma

I don't want to send either one of them back! I love them both!

The R-13 (the top clarinet) has a "big voice" with an edgy sound that Allison says has a saxophone-like sound to it at times. It does not have any "bad notes" anywhere up to about 3 ledger lines above the staff. Both Allison and I have made it squeak a time or two and I feel that I have to work to control it - like riding a high spirited horse, but the sound is well worth the effort!

The Festival (the bottom clarinet) has a softer, sweeter sound but doesn't have the "big sound" that the R-13 has. The transitions are very smooth (hence, no squeaks) and it too has a beautiful sound through it's whole range, IMO, though Lisa says it's best in the center of it's range. It has an extra key to provide alternate fingering which isn't present on the R-13 and has a 2nd tuning barrel that makes the tone even softer, slight less bright - almost darker - and silky smooth! I thought that the throat A was a bit weaker than the other notes on the instrument initially, but I can't reproduce that sensation since then.

These two clarinets complement each other perfectly and one would use them in different situations. Allison shares my love affair with these two instruments. I don't want to send either one of them back!

Update:

This evening I played both clarinets some more and concentrated on the upper register: the R-13 wins as it not only has a better sounding throat A, but also has a better sounding upper register. All the other benefits of the Festival I will have to pass up: the extra key, the metal bands on the ends of the joints to prevent splitting, the second tuning barrel, for example.

What A Day!

2005-07-28T07:40:00.000-04:00

Or maybe this should be titled: "Things I have never seen before!"

In sort of reverse order:

1. Tight rope walking - we were heading home for the day when a child behind us was looking through a pair of binoculars and cried out, "Look! Up There!" So naturally we all looked and there was an individual walking a tight rope between two very tall buildings. None of us had ever seen that before so we stopped, watched, and using the nearly 10x digital zoom on our cameras got photos of the last half of his walk.

2. Butterflies Galore - some of us were more fond of this than others. I, for instance, deposited my audio tour equipment and exited this VERY quickly and found a nice bench in the outdoor park where I napped in the shade while Jean made some very colorful friends. She had several of the 50 species land on her and took pictures of several.

3. Class 6 Rapids - these have killed enough people who attempted to swim or float through them that there is a $10,000 fine for trying to make it through them - that is, if you live to tell the story. This is a very impressive river!

What A Week!

2005-07-23T07:33:00.000-04:00

Work Trials
I have been struggling with overuse of my wrists, forearms and now my right lower leg. I saw an osteopathic physician to start treating for my neck, shoulder and upper back this week - that will take time. I have had my work station adjusted (I had already had this done once and use a split keyboard at work since "Day 1") and have ordered an
Evoluent Vertical Mouse for home use. I also requested one for work - they do not have the Evoluent product on their "approved" list but have ordered a 3M Ergonomic Mouse for me to use at work.

I can hear some of you saying, "Just switch your mouse to the left." I did. Both at work and at home. Withing 3 days I started getting symptoms in my left arm despite using quite a few shortcut keys instead of the mouse. And I really like what I am doing. Hopefully with some stretching, ice massage, and splinting things will improve.

Car Prep
Last night shortly after I got home from work we had a torrential downpour. I put my Hybrid and Jean's PT Cruiser out in the driveway and when the rain had nearly stopped I went out and washed both of them. I have washed the inside of both windshields and wiped down the inside of both dash boards, steering wheels, and so forth. I still need to vacuum but ran out of time. That is a relatively small thing left to do before the car show this Sunday.

Car Show Performance
Allison asked me to play clarinet with her and the Community Band "at the end of the month." It turns out that it is for the car show! So we went to a rehearsal this week. I have lost a lot of my playing ability by not playing for nearly 10 years but there are only 2 pieces (out of a 1 hour program) that I truly cannot play and do not have the time to practice to be able to play them. One piece I had played years ago (Liberty Bell March - a Sousa piece) but the rest I was sight reading on Thursday.

This will be interesting. However, it's a part that hadn't been heard previously as they had no 3rd Clarinet which has long been my favorite part to play because my clarinet sounds so good in the lower register. Allison has a clarinet that is set up to sound the best in the high registers and she is much more technically advanced than I am so she plays 1st clarinet.

Mopsy says, "Hi, World"

2005-07-08T22:43:00.000-04:00

Mopsy says, "Hi, World"
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Beth's new kitten, Mopsy, is having a delightful time exploring all over the house. She's a sweet tempered little fluffball.

One Down, One To Go

2005-07-08T22:01:00.000-04:00

One Down:
Poor Allison had her wisdom teeth out two days ago and is struggling through those first couple of days of swelling and pain. All the women in the local family have been spending a bit of time over helping her with fluids, food and medication schedules. I keep repeating to myself "She really will be glad to have this behind her when she's feeling better."

And the One To Go...
is Miss Mossflower with her sidekick Mopsy Kitty (AKA Pumpkin Pants - or something like that, because her hindend has an orange patch on the lefthand side). GMP and Miss Mossy leave early Monday morning to move her down to her Grammie's house where she will be "Girl Friday" for the near future. And maybe longterm if it works out for both of them.

Work Goes On:
My work list is down to 13 files tonight...from the 30s when I came on board fulltime 6 weeks ago.

Don't worry - it's that low ONLY because there are nurses on vacation currently. It will go back up a bit when they are back from enjoying the Maine summer.

Paid Time Off:
It seemed unreasonable that I would get the same amount Paid Time Off for THIS year, when I started in May as I will get next year when I work all 12 months. So I called Human Resources.

"No, that's NOT right. I'll check the numbers and call you back."

2 minutes later...

"Doctor, you are a company officer." Me: "Yes, I am."
"Then that is NOT a mistake. There are different rules for officers of the company. You DO get all of that. You can carry over 40 hours into next year if you don't use it all."

So...

We get to take a Vacation! Time to be determined but it sounds like we'll get to visit our grandchildren again this year - now THAT'S something to look forward to!

Sobering Thought:
I can work on files from work from anywhere in the world as long as I have a broadband connection. So the GMP pointed out today. She is right, of course. So if it is raining and she is reading to children, I can break out my work laptop and log onto my work's mainframe and do half a day's work.

A Happier Thought:
I checked the Dell laptop case that comes with my work laptop and it appears that I can put my own laptop in a 2nd pouch of the case and carry them both along with me with one case so that we can have our built-in wireless connection for checking our own email and a set up that GMP is used to when traveling.

Lawn Care:
Don't worry about mowing the lawn when the remnants of a tropical storm are passing through. 'Nuff said. I'll mow when the weather clears - I happen to think that clover is cheery anyway!

Farm Co-Op:
Is this ever a good deal or what?! We get to pick vegetables from the community garden that the staff do all the planting and care for THREE times a week! And once a week we get up to 10 lb. of organic vegetables - and sometimes fruit, like the strawberries that we have enjoyed for the past 1 1/2 weeks. This week we have enjoyed greens (chard and kale), young peas (snow and snap), radishes as well as a few more strawberries that GMP and Qwerty picked.

Civic Hybrid Instrument Cluster

2005-07-04T13:18:00.000-04:00

Civic Hybrid Instrument Cluster
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

This photo demonstrates that Toyota doesn't have a lock on making cars that get over 50 mpg.

This is a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid that has about 3,200 miles on it. This photo was taken within a mile of our home as we were returning from Popham Beach Sabbath afternoon.

I commented as we were headed to Popham that the gas milage was creeping upwards DESPITE there being 3 of us in the car. I was told - "Of course, we're going 'downhill' to sea level. It will drop on the way home."

Au contraire! It rose from about 52.2 mpg to 53.7 mpg as noted in this photo by the time we arrived home.

This photos has been printed out along with my first blog post and put inside a plastic sleeve to go with me to the 2nd Casco Bay Auto Show later this month where we will be showing this car.

2nd Casco Bay Car Show

See What I Missed!

2005-07-04T12:49:00.000-04:00

Camp School Bus Accident near our home:

Camp Bus Accident

There is a good likelihood that I would have been just going off duty when this accident happened and would have been called back if I had already gone home.

For nearly 20 years I have lived in dread of a bus accident, plane crash at the nearby airport or some similar mass casualty accident that would overwhelm resources and nearly guarantee that someone would have had permanent injury or death because there were not enough medical resources to care for all the casualties quickly enough.

This time - it looks like a happy ending all the way around. Except for the bus driver who now has a permanent big black mark against her driving record and the reputation as the first bus driver to have a roll over bus accident in the mid-coast region in over 20 years.

Thankfully, they could not call me to the ER: my privileges to practice at our local hospital were dropped effective 7/1/05!

Done

2005-06-26T22:04:00.000-04:00

At about 8:05 AM this morning the Medical Director of the ER where I have worked full time for just under 17 years and about 1/2 time for 2 years said:

"You have given a good report."

He then stood erect "at attention" and saluted me.

I have been officially "separated" from the ER after working my last shift last night. And that was my Director's way of saying "goodbye" - he is a retired Army Colonel.

This evening a couple of friends from my Bible class at church came over and brought blueberry muffins and fruit salad to join us for supper in commemoration of the event - Beth fried up some vegetarian saucettes and popped some popcorn.

For the first time since my academy years I will be on a strictly daytime work schedule. A long time.

This is a somewhat bittersweet "moment:"

> I leave behind quite a few friends with whom I have worked for many years;

> I feel some sadness that despite multiple attempts to contact the hospital administration and my employer (a different hospital to whom we had been outsourced 3 years ago) to discuss whether some changes might be made that might result in my staying on a few years longer, no one contacted me to sit down and talk over the issue(s);

> I have done so much above what was involved in my job to try to help this hospital succeed in its mission to more fully reveal God's character to those are ill that it is hard to "walk away;"

> I have patients who have been coming to the ER expecting to see me for just under 20 years - including some whose lives I have been blessed to have been God's instrument in saving their lives in the most literal sense.

On the other hand I can look forward to the future with hope and buoyed by these thoughts:

> That so many administrative types would NOT contact me given the very high cost of recruiting individuals such as myself is, in and of itself, an indication of a Providential "closed door": a clear sign of God's leading in my life;

> That so many individuals who were directly instrumental in helping me get my job and who helped train me for what I am doing now are all gone and no longer work at the corporation where I work is again an evidence of the very close timing and Divine leading that put me where I am: in a job that no one else in this entire corporation does - I am one of a kind - and I love it;

> That I am making new friends in my new job is a real blessing and once again an opportunity to reveal God's character to people I would never have met otherwise;

> That I have been placed in a department with a Director to work with whom I really enjoy working with and who does everything she can to protect me from distractions and corporate politics so that I can simply do my work unencumbered by these issues is a HUGE blessing;

> That I have been given a day time job that will allow me to be at church every week for the first time 1973 is a blessing beyond compare;

> That I have a family that have been supportive during this long transition, which I actively started over a year ago, during which I have been working two jobs alternating day work and night work for 8 months and which has resulted in a decreased income (2/3 of my previous income) is more than I could ever have wished, hoped or prayed for;

> That my dear wife, Jean, made no complaint when I bought a new 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid to use for my commute to work was a very sweet gift of patience;

> That God blessed us with the resources to cover our daughter's upcoming college expenses made this transition possible;

> That in addition, God added enough to pay off Jean's little PT Cruiser which we bought last year was an additonal financial blessing;

> That I will now have paid time off for vacation and holidays which may make it possible for me to not only visit extended family but may make it possible for me to go on short term mission trips - which will stetch my spiritual muscles and help me to learn to trust God more - is an unexpected benefit;

> That I will lose count of all the many ways that God lead me to this job is a reality.

On balance while the emotions are all to near the surface today, on balance this is a very momentous, very positive life change.

Testing, testing, one, two, three

2005-06-20T14:02:00.000-04:00

Debbie, oh cruel taskmaster that she is, is making me learn to work this blog site. Cruel, heartless one, she is...who actually does what I ask her, LOL. Now to check and see if this actually worked....

Jean (AKA, the GrandMomPerson, AKA GMP)

2005 Honda Civic Hybrid

2005-06-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

2005 Honda Civic Hybrid
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

This is the car that I bought to commute to my new job. I have about a 33 mile commute which takes about 40 minutes - depending on the traffic.

It is about 1/2 city and 1/2 highway driving timewise.

The EPA fuel efficiency ratings are:

City 47 mpg
Highway 48 mpg

My experience with EPA ratings is that one is typically fortunate to get what they say it is rated for:

1. The tire pressures have to be "just right;"

2. The engine has to be "broken in" but not "worn" so that the rings are loose;

3. One must drive very "defensively" (Read: no jack rabbit starts or screeching halts);

4. Be alone in the car with no luggage;

5. Have all the planets lined up in the right conjunction.

OK, it surely seems that way sometimes.

My Hybrid has been getting about 50.3 mpg over the past couple weeks of fulltime commuting to work.

When someone borrowed my car and made a "quick trip" to Portland because they were running late, the fuel economy DID drop due to the more aggressive driving: to 48.8 mpg!

I am very pleased with the handling. Many people have felt that being a Hybrid means that it has no "pick up" however nothing could be further from the truth! For acceleration the electric motor kicks in and the car really takes off. It is much more manuverable in city driving than the 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan that I was previously driving.

There are several features of this car that I really like:

1. The seats are VERY comfortable - they seem to mold to your so that there are no uncomfortable pressure points,

2. The fuel economy,

3. The use of the generator to recharge the electric batteries during deceleration and braking thus reclaiming kinetic energy already put into the car by the fuel that has already been burned,

4. Emissions Rating: "Advanced Technology - Partial Zero Emission Vehicle" (AT-PZEV). This is only available in New England and California, which borders on being criminal. The rest of the country buys a hybrid model that is "ULEV" (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) which is still good but not as good as it could be.

I recognize that some will question why I bought a Honda instead of the vaunted Toyota Prius. There are actually a few reasons:

1. The back seat of the Honda has more head room than the Prius (yes, I sat in a Prius before I bought anything).

2. The Prius has a waiting list of about 4 months in our neck of the woods - I went in and bought this after work one day (yes, my dear wife, Jean, was a doll to bring down the checkbook for the down payment when I hadn't really talked with her about it previously).

3. A similarly outfitted Prius costs about $3,000 more than the Honda.

4. I got a GREAT deal on this brand new Honda by getting a $1,100 mark down because it was the next to the last day of the month and the dealer had a quota to meet (and the salesman was 1 sale shy of an incentive bonus!).

5. The Toyata salesman discouraged me from buying a Prius! That's right. He said that it is NOT a good commuter car and that it only gets about 40 mpg highway when it runs primarily on its gasoline engine and doesn't do as well on the hills of Maine. He said I would save money in the long run to buy a Toyota Corolla. (To be fair here the Honda salesman also told me that I could save $3,000 by buying a Honda Civic LE, I believe - I wanted the better emissions control.) Now I believe that the Toyota salesman wanted to make a sale and didn't have a Prius to sell and DID have Corollas sitting around costing the dealership finance fees. Even allowing for that, the Honda doesn't have the dramatic difference between highway and city driving in fuel efficiency and where I will be spending about equal amounts of time in city and on highway, this car seemed to make more sense to me.

So that is the why I ended up buying a Honda Civic Hybrid and not a Toyota Prius.

Building Boo-Boo?

2005-06-02T19:44:00.000-04:00

Building Boo-Boo?
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

This condo shows the effects of a combination of pressboard on the sides & roof and being without siding and shingles for nearly a month with multiple rain storms.

We never fail to be amazed at what people will pay nearly $500,000 for these days.

And that gable end looks like it houses a 2nd floor? Nope. That is just 2"x4" trusses and what we call "wasted space." This house is all on one floor. The local fire fighters who have seen this type of structure when it catches fire tell me that their roofs collapse within just a few minutes once a fire starts. The typical 8" or 10" rafters take up to an hour to burn through, but trussed roofs take just a few minutes.

I'm glad we just live beside them, not IN them!

Flowering Crabapple Tree

2005-06-01T21:43:00.000-04:00

IMG_0031
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Our flowering crab apple tree started blooming today. It is the prettiest right now when there are green leaves, red buds and pink & white flowers.

We planted it only 3 years ago and last year it didn't bloom at all. When full grown it is only supposed to be about 8' tall.

In other local news:

The US Weather Service in Gray, Maine, announced today that May 2005 was the 3rd coldest May on record with an average daily temperature of 49.5 degrees (F). It also was the 10th wettest May on record ever.

No wonder it felt like we had moved the whole state to ... Seattle!

Lady Slippers!

2005-05-31T20:27:00.000-04:00

IMG_0928
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

While walking today I went off the highway to see if the Lady Slippers were out this spring in a wooded area "in town" near our house. To my delight there were 10 of them in full bloom today!

Mystery Room and the Condo

2005-05-30T22:11:00.000-04:00

IMG_0021
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Here is the room sitting forlornly out in the field with the house it was taken from off to the side.

The Mystery Room

2005-05-30T22:10:00.000-04:00

IMG_0022
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

Here is the "mystery room" up close so that you can see the floor joists that were cut to remove this from the house. Two lolly columns that supported this in the basement (steel pipes that were concrete filled) were also cut off. It was moved using a chain let down through the slit in the room for the ridge vent and supported by a beam under the floor joists.

Foundation and Cellar

2005-05-30T22:07:00.000-04:00

IMG_0024
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

You can see that the concrete in the basement that was under the house has been jackhammered to make way for a new rear wall to the basement. This will create the most expensive support for a deck, which will go on top of the existing foundation, that I have ever seen!

New Temporary Carrying Beam

2005-05-30T22:04:00.000-04:00

IMG_0025
Originally uploaded by Larry13.

The foundation for the "mystery room" which has now been removed is in the foreground and the new temporary carrying beam can be seen supporting the "cut off" floor joists.

Memorial Day in Maine

2005-05-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

This is Memorial Day. We went to the town's parade and the ceremonies on the mall, which was attended by both Senators Snowe and Collins. It was a very moving service with the Navy's personnel there to give a 21-gun salute at the end of the ceremony. Special honor was paid to the veterans of the Korean War today.

The Grand Marshal of the parade was an infantry man who was part of a 399-man strong contingent of GIs who held their position in Korea through the against over 2,000 Chinese who were attacking them. Only 28 Americans survived and our Grand Marshal sustained wounds and received two Purple Hearts, an Oak Leaf Cluster and the Bronze Star for his service in Korea.

After his discharge from the military he worked actively with veterans groups and with the state legislature. He was instrumental in getting legislation passed to ensure that every year every veteran's grave will have a United States flag placed on it this time of year.

The senators both emphasized that the Department of Defense has violated its own rules by placing the facilities in Maine on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission list. Senator Collins, as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security has subpoena power and has, with Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, submitted a Letter of Demand to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. If he fails to respond by Tuesday afternoon she will issue a subpoena for the materials that are needed including any emails!

Mystery Solved

2005-05-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

A lone carpenter was still working when we went walking through the "construction project" this afternoon. We stopped and asked him what happened as we found this to be very unusual.

He said that the house was built from plans that had been used for a previously constructed single-family dwelling but it was NOT the plans selected by the family who have PRE-BOUGHT this particular house which faces the pond that was built for storm water control. The family was given the option of:

1. Leaving it on at an increased cost (I guess $15,000 and the carpenter said, "More like $50,000!),

2. Buy one of two OTHER single family dwellings that are either already built or nearing completion

3. Having it taken off.

You guessed it:

They chose Option 3! They are going to pour a new wall to close off the entrance to the "cellar" under what will now become a very well-supported deck!

And I thought that it looked really nice WITH that extra room. We regretted, when we had gotten home, that we hadn't taken the camera to get a picture of this unusual construction project.

Unusual Construction

2005-05-26T06:07:00.000-04:00

Last night just before dark as we were walking through the construction we noticed what appeared to be a small garage sitting off to one side of a single family home that has had little "progress" visible in the past few days. As we got closer to it we saw that it was the sun room that had been literally cut off the end of the house and lifted off the foundation by a crane using a chain that can down through a hole in the roof and a hole cut in the floor.

Closer inspection of the house showed that two lolly columns, about 10 pressboard "I" beams, all the bolts imbedded in the concrete foundation had been cut with a Sawzall or comparable piece of equipment. The 15'x10' area of foundation is completely open to rain falling into the cellar.

In all my adult years I have never seen anything like this and I am very curious what changes have been mandated to this building. It looks very strange with this major room literally ripped off the side of the building.

2nd Day Update

2005-05-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

So far so good.

The first day started at 8:30 PM with Orientation.

Employment documents (e.g. I-9 showing my passport to prove I am eligible to work and sign with them watching, W-4 x2, etc.)
Dress code
Benefits
Repetitive Stress Injury Prevention
Privacy (HIPPA)
Inclement Weather Notification

During the 2 1/2 hour PowerPoint presentation we had a bit of excitement: every time he came to one slide the computer shut down! He got tech support up to work on it to no avail. Finally he did what I would have done - he started at the beginning and scrolled through the slides to where he wanted to go. Problem solved!

We finished early so I got back to the main campus well before noon, dodging rain drops. Work was waiting. Suffice to say I love my work and there is plenty of it!

Going to bed at 10 PM last night was enforced by the power going out due to high winds accompanying heavy rains. I was up before 6 AM, showered, studied my Sabbath School lesson, ate breakfast and headed off to work. Surprisingly, despite being 25 minutes later than my 'usual' time, I arrived in about 35 minutes. Must have hit the traffic lights in town just right.

This evening I dodged the raindrops to walk for about 1/2 hour - checking on the progress in the 95-unit condominium development in the block behind our street. The work continues, though at a slower pace, with all the Pacific Northwest-like weather for the past 5 weeks.

A New Life

2005-05-22T02:37:00.000-04:00

How many of us get to live two lives? And have both of them be lives that one really enjoys?

I have enjoyed my nearly 17 years of fulltime work in the ER but as of today that chapter in my life is coming to a close as I turn the page on this chapter in my life. I have enjoyed the many patients that I have treated - almost all of them are friends. But night work has gotten harder as I have aged and I am looking forward to not having to work Friday nights any more so that I can attend church every Sabbath (Saturday) morning and enjoy the blessing of worshipping God with my church family. The older I get, the more I look forward to Sabbath: worship, singing, walking on the beach or in the woods, visiting friends or family, playing musical instruments. Sabbath is a little oasis in the turmoil of life that connects me closer to God and brings peace to my soul.

Monday I start full time work as a Medical Director for a disability insurance company where I have been working part time (1 - 2 days per week) since early November 2004. This new job will allow me to have every night (including Friday nights), weekend and holiday off AND will allow me to have some paid vacation time so that Jean and I can take some forays into the pre-retirement world. She hopes to visit our building lot in Florida some cold February week - soon. Or maybe visit our family (daughter, SIL and 5 young grandchildren in BC). Actually, I have accumulated a couple of "free" tickets using our credit card so...who knows!

OC