Recognizing Volunteers

One of the distinct advantages of retirement is the opportunity to volunteer at more places doing more things. Of course retirement is also the age when you have more opportunities for health problems which interfere with volunteer assignments so it probably all evens out. I've also discovered that many volunteer assignments fall under several "authorities" or volunteer organizations. For example, in my assignment as a Meals on Wheels driver, I was directly responsible to Senior Nutrition Services of Sacramento County. This is a government entity but probably has more volunteers than paid positions. My position was also overseen by Retired Seniors Volunteer Program of Sacramento County which is under the Human Resources Department of the county. It is almost entirely volunteer staffing.

Lastly, this position falls under the general oversight of the Volunteer Center of Sacramento, which appears to be a completely independent, private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is "to strengthen and support the Sacramento Community by connecting volunteers with opportunities to serve."

This past week I had the opportunity of attending a luncheon honoring a couple dozen volunteers in our community. I was there as a guest of an honoree rather than being honored myself. I will have another blog describing why my host had been nominated for Volunteer of the Year in the category Service to Senior.

Almost like the Academy Awards, the Volunteer of the Year award was given for

• Service to Seniors
• Service to Children and Youth
• Supporting Arts and Recreation
• Supporting Healthcare
• Supporting Animals
• Helping Those Less Fortunate
• Group Commitment to Volunteering
• Youth Volunteer of the Year
• Volunteer Coordinator of the Year
• Volunteer Board Member of the Year
• Civic Organization of the Yeare
• Corporate Volunteerism
• Heart of Gold
• Problem Solver
• Salt of the Earth
• Ray of Light
• Lifetime Achievement
• Overall Volunteer of the Year

You might think that a program that needed to honor so many categories with 3 to 5 nominees in each category would be unbearably long but it wasn't. The speaker started her part while dinner was still going on and she kept her speech short. The MC's kept the program moving at the same time giving enough extra detail about the winners you didn't feel like they were just reading the program for you.

Even the pictures on the patio of those who won went fast. On the way out non-winning honorees received their plaque.

Thanks, Richard, for inviting me to such an event.

Bookbinding for fun and family

During our latest session at Pat's bookbinding workshop, after he showed me something for the umpteenth time, he got a little exasperated and told me that all books are made essentially the same. Each book has a text block, covers, spine assembly, and miscellaneous.) So, in fixing a book you look at the hinge which you can either replace or reinforce. You can look at the text block and either straighten it or replace certain pages. And finally you look at the covers and either replace, repair, or reinforce them. It seems to obvious to me now but it wasn't last week.

I decided to take on as a project a book that Ed & Tiff's family bought recently - a collection of Disney stories. It is a delightful little book except that the inside of the book (the text) is upside down with respect to the covers (and vice versa). I had thought about taking it to Pat's to work on it but was afraid Pat would take it over.



But with my new insight I figured I could easily take on the project.

Since the cover was on upside down, the first step logically is to take the cover off. The trick is to take it off the right way so that it will be easy to replace.



Here you see the result of the first step.

The text block that is removed has a lot of junk on it that has to be scraped away. To make this easier, the pages are put into a press which in this case is simply two boards held together by four bolts and tightened with wingnuts.

The old glue and cardboard has been scraped away and a layer of new glue has been laid down to hold the hinge cloth or mesh.


Here the mesh has been trimmed and a piece of folded paper called the hollow has been glued to the mesh. This allows the paper and the spine to act independently.


Finally, everything is put back together such that the new binding is at least as strong as the original and doesn't show ugly joints. And, of course, the cover and the text should agree.

Happy Birthday to Colin!

Colin Loveridge, 2nd son of Philip and Jenny Loveridge was born this evening about 5:30 pm. He measured 7 lb 3 oz and was 20.5 inches in length. Looks like he's starting out to be a big kid. He's going to have to work hard to keep up with his older brother in size at least. I have no doubt he'll be up to it. Philip said Colin's Apgar test was high enough that he shouldn't have to stay extra days in the hospital like his older brother did.

This is our 14th grandchild. We love them all. Thanks to Eric Bushman for the picture of Jenny and Colin.

Money is going away (boo hoo) or is it?

No, not that stuff in your wallet, purse, or pocket. Microsoft Money.

I was doing a little research on which banks have the online service which interacts with my financial management package - Microsoft Money - when I came upon this startling announcement:

	Important notice: Microsoft Money Plus is no longer available for purchase. All purchased Money Plus products must be activated prior to Jan. 31, 2011.

I was actually giving some thought to upgrading my Money software because people giggle at my version 2002. (I hate naming the software version after the year it is sold.) And now I CAN'T upgrade it! What is going on.

Well, the view from the sidelines is that Microsoft has been caught short again. With all their visionaries, they were busily improving a great product while the market was slipping another direction. At least a lot of people think that's what's happening. Intuit, the makers of Money's cheif competition, thought to themselves (literally, they don't talk at Inuit, they just think) "If the purpose of a money management program is to track bank accounts, investment accounts, loans, assets, even profits and losses of a side business, shouldn't it be as portable as possible? And what is more portable than web access?" So suddenly programs and data that used to reside on your home computer now resides in some great vault in the sky as a part of the Internet.

Microsoft will be making future announcements and will undoubtedly be back in the market soon but the word is: Don't upgrade your Money right now. Or your Quicken for that matter. And you might have to actually write one or two checks before this settles down. Things should be sorted out within a year.

Helping the handicapped

I suppose this is something that will change through time as almost everything does in my world of Parkinson's Disease but I have been struck lately with the impression of just how poor most of us are equipped to handle or help people who are "differently abled". (I think that's the politically correct term for handicapped nowadays.)

For example, I virtually always use my 4-wheeled walker to walk anywhere outside our house. I guess it virtually shouts "handicapped! watch out! handicapped!" Some people seeing me coming their way will hurry to a door we're both planning to use. They hurry so they can hold it open for me or (rarely, but it does happen) so they can hurry through fast enough that they "didn't even see me". Worst of all, of course, is the "helpful person" who pushes or pulls the door out of my hand throwing me off balance.

Fast food places like Taco Bell, In-and-Out Burger, who normally just call your number to come and get your food will bring it out to me without even asking. They just assume I need the help. It is patronizing but nice as well. Today at Taco Bell, one of the patrons jumped up from his food to help bring my tray over to a table. I thought maybe he was going to insist I eat with him but he didn't even make the suggestion.

But the most surprising reaction to my disability came at the health club/gym that I still attend. I like to use the stationary bicycle since walking is painful. I had left my towel on one of the two stationary bikes in the equipment room to "reserve it" while I went to get a glass of water. A man coming into the room just as I was leaving the machine shouted, "You left your towel!" It isn't noisy in there so he must have thought that my leg problem affects my ears, too. I explained that I was just reserving that machine, then, realizing he wanted to use that machine, said I'd be just as happy using the second machine.

When I got back with my water he was using the first machine. I mounted with some (the usual) difficulty and he hopped off insisting I use his bike. I told him I was just fine and when he saw I wasn't going to change bikes, he walked off in disappointment. We've seen each other around the gym for years and he's never acted like that to anyone, let alone to me.

Handicap makes people act funny.

Integrity of the e-Mail System

There's an old army story about a 2nd Lieutenant who had just been promoted to 1st Lieutenant and was getting frustrated that his buddies, all 2Lt's, weren't showing the proper respect that his rank demanded. A captain came alone, sized up the situation, and throwing his arm around the lieutenant's shoulder, said, "Ease up, Lieutenant. Haven't they told you yet that rank among lieutenants is like virginity among whores?"

I'm beginning to feel that way about integrity among email systems. A phone call from my youngest daughter alerted me to the latest email problem when an email supposedly sent to all six of our kids only made it to 4 of them. A second email sent to the same list apparently had the same results.

A month ago, it was a message I sent to the former treasurer of the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. When she didn't reply to successively more urgent messages, I finally called her and was told that she had received none of my messages. And what really aggravated me is that neither of us received any notice of the failure to communicate.

Every once in a while we actually get a "failure to deliver" notice. I used to hate those but I changed my mind after getting a failure to send notice in time to correct the problem and fixing it. She checked the system trash bin as well as physical trash cans.

I think there's hope. Years ago if you had forgotten an assignment, and for some reason needed an excuse, you could with a straight face explain that it must have gotten lost in the mail. But that isn't a credible excuse any more. Will we ever get to the point where we know that our email has or hasn't reached it's destination?

Software insurance

Just a minute. Bear with me. I need to adjust this box a little. There. Can everyone hear me?

You know how we're always complaining about how creative the government is in figuring out new ways to tax us? Well, my ire this evening is directed at businesses and the way they have of selling us something that should really be part of the thing we're buying in the first place.

For example, don't you hate it when you buy a gadget of some kind, say a remote control toy helicopter for your child (who's kidding who?) You take it home all excited to try it out and find that it needs a AAA battery. Yeah, now you see it on the package but really, would it have priced the toy out of range to include the battery? Especially if you plastered all over the package, "Battery included" "nothing additional needed". You get the idea.

Now it is in software. I went to buy a piece of software that cost $19.99 and I could download it so I didn't even have to worry about shipping charges. But there were two optional charges: software replacement insurance for $6.98 and upgrade insurance for $4.99. Each of these was well explained, as well they may be. What do I need insurance for?

Software replacement insurance, it turns out, will take care of you if you lose your computer through loss, theft or destruction. Or you buy a new replacement computer but don't have a disk to reinstall that program. All it takes is just a call or email, the company will look up your purchase and allow you to download the program again to your replacement computer at no cost. I haven't looked lately but I thought that was covered under home owner's insurance. Even if not, it seems to me that a software company shouldn't charge anything to replace the software. They've sold it and gotten their money How do they justify selling it again. And the incremental cost of looking up the purchase is so minimal I think it makes more sense to scream all over the product "product replaced if ever lost at any time, in any way." Them's selling words.

Upgrade insurance, I found out, says that if a product is upgraded during a certain period (although sometimes its forever) You get the new product for a fixed price which may be as low as nothing. This one is a little trickier as you would never get a car dealer to update your car to the latest model unless that premium was awfully high. But what the insurance tells me in so many words is that we're ready to issue a new release. So unless you buy this insurance, you won't be able to really take the world as it comes at you. But put "never out of date" all over the packaging and send a complimentary copy. That instantly puts your product at the top of the desirable pile.

I've said my piece. I'll now take my leave (and my soapbox).

Our Halloween Party is over

Well, the team of Carolyn Loveridge & associates have pulled off another great party. Her official "associates" are the ward Activities Committee but Carolyn pulls in representatives from all organizations or even those walking by at the right time. "Sara-Beth, you and your husband would like to use your fabulous clown costumes and hand out prizes to the kids, don't you?"

If you'd like to see more pictures of the event (taken by a real photographer) go to http://www.aaronklapheck.com/pictures_upload/Aaron_Klapheck/Events/La_Sierra_Ward/La_Sierra_Halloween_Party_2009/

Some folks got to the church early so they could get a front row seat and not miss any of the festivities.




Some got there early because they take a little longer getting anywhere these days. Carolyn as a "Newsie" is shown here helping me - Superman. I should have gotten the prize for Irony - Superman with a walker!!





Others got there early to make sure they were ready for the kids.



A ouple of the early arrivals try out some of the games without worrying about competition.


And some got there early and just had to wait and wait... and wait........


Of course the kitchen crew under the expert direction of Karen managed to get everyone fed in record time and without running out of anything.


Well, we did run out of Carolyn's famous "Witch's brew" (root beer) and had to set out non-vaporous lemonade toward the end of the evening.

This little girl was somewhat surprised seeing me in a Superman costume very much like hers. And superman was using a walker just like her mom.

Usually women get upset if someone else at the party dresses like they do but somehow this trio of kitties looked planned:

We had a nice visit from Che Gueverra who seemed to want to hang around Groucho Marx. Wrong Marx, Che!

Snug as a bug in a bug's costume is about the most you dare say about this little fella. A winning costume in the insect category.

Glen had to get down on the children's level to help with this game. It was ring toss with a twist - the targets were all witch's hats!

A backup overflow eating area allowed people to eat without having to hurry off and without having to listen to some rather joyful noise.

Little Camdan enjoyed the nachos but wasn't sure about the spicy cheese.

SaraLynne and her friend Megan show off what wonderful things can be done with some talent and a sewing needle.


All in all it was a great party. Some attendance estimates were in the 160 give or take 10 people. It was pretty hard to count the little kids because they moved rapidly and in random directions.

Here are three kids who definitely enjoyed the evening - 3 of my grandkids. Jake as Inspector Gadget; Tim as Voldemort (he who must not be named); and Camdan as Curious George who isn't at all curious about what he ws dressed in this evening.

Pomegranate Jelly

I was absolutely amazed with our Pomegranate tree this year. I thought I had killed the thing last year when I attempted to prune it such that it would be tree-like rather than bush-like. I pruned it to a few longer sprouts in the center and eliminated most of the side pointing branches. But he branches I left didn't grow significantly and the tree put out dozens of side branches. I was sure we wouldn't get much fruit.


Surprise, surprise the yield was much more than expected. I thought we get a dozen or so to add to the ones we get from the neighbor's overhanging tree but instead we got from our little tree 4 times what we got from the neighbor's tree.


Of course Carolyn wanted to make good use of the fruit and gave quite a lot of it away. She was still left with enough to fill 5 dozen half-pint jelly jars and have half the fruit left.

No Longer an Apprentice

Well, almost anyway. As you may recall from past posts, I am learning to be a bookbinder. My instructor and guru is Pat Bruno who mainly binds valuable antique books. If he had his way he wouldn't touch a book worth less than $100 because even the slightest repair is probably going to cost his a couple of hours and $50 to $100 in supplies and equipment usage. So naturally he isn't really happy to have me waste that much in supplies and even if my time is really cheap, his isn't.

Anyway, he's a very "show you" sort of instructor while I'm very much a "do it" sort of learner which leads to the following scenario: Pat shows me how to put the hinge cloth (mesh, crash, or super as it is sometimes called) on a book then gives me a book to try it on. I start but make a mistake in technique or order or placement and he immediately takes back the book and shows me how to do it again. A couple of weeks later he again hands me a book to put the cloth on and again within second he has asked for the book back and finishes the task the way it should be.

Fortunately for me he has needed to be out of his bindery more often frequently allowing me to finish several steps on several books. I hesitate on some repair steps until he is outside hovering around the door so that if I do make a mistake he can pull it apart while it is still wet. Other steps that I feel very comfortable with so I do them as soon as he walks out the door.

I think Pat knows what I'm doing because he doesn't complain that I've done a step without him. It's more a disappoinment that he didn't see me in the act. Yet ne knows he would have taken it away from him. I'm going to make it yet.

Is it True? Is it Kind? Is it Necessary?

Those questions rang so familiar to me that I thought they must be the motto of the Kiwanis Club or the Rotarians. When I googled the phrases I ended up with number of folk stories and traditions using these questions to improve civil discourse.

The questions re-entered my conscious when I was a multiple recipient of some obnoxious political spam. I replied to one forwarder mainly because she had included so many addressees in the cc: field.

You see, I am very troubled by a new phenomenon made possible by the Internet called "viral disinformation". Like a virus it can spread incredibly fast and infect hundreds of thousands of minds in a matter of hours. But it doesn't infect your computer or your body, it infects your mind. There is no one to take credit or blame for the information which may be true, partially true, or a complete, outright lie. In fact, the more shocking it is the faster it travels. Truth doesn't seem to play a part in it.

In the past we tended to look to newspapers and network news shows which had a reputation to guard. If they helped to pass along tall tales, they would generally get called on it. Reputable newspapers and TV news programs employ fact checkers who do the necessary footwork to stop scandalous and shocking and untrue items from entering the public discourse, at least from them.

But the Internet is another matter. Anyone with an idea, a video clip, a talent for writing can put together a piece of (dis)information and send it to 50 of his closest friends or just one of these Internet Tabloid lookalikes. If it catches someone's fancy, it is forwarded further and becomes "viral". Now, no fact checker in the world can stop it. Even if the President of the United States should hold a press conference to deny the viral rumor, some would turn his denial around to say, "See, even the President is worried that too many people have found out about this secret deal."

It was here in my thinking that I asked myself, "So how do we stop these viruses?" I think a start are these three questions: The next time you're tempted to pass on an information virus, please ask yourself,

(1) "Is it true? How can I tell if this is true?"
(2) "Is it kind? Who does this message affect and how?"
(3) "Is it necessary? What would happen if I did my part to stop this virus?"

And I apologize in advance if someone has already copyrighted, patented, or registered as a trademark these three questions.

Do it yourself for Halloween

I've written before about how creative Carolyn has gotten with making her own jewelry to match her various outfits. She finds that it's often easier and certainly less expensive to make your own instead of shopping for just the right thing. Of course this only works if you have some talent and taste. She has both.


This Halloween she combined some good quality connectors and wires with some rather less quality beads and dangles from Oriental Trading, the place that sells 10 toys for a buck. But if all you want is a bead that sits on a wire or chain, you can probably get by with less expensive beads.

Another nice feature of the Do It Yourself system is that Carolyn had some leftover pieces that she sent to her granddaughters in Long Beach.


She would have made me a couple of ear rings but I really don't the right outfits to go with the colors of these beads.

Using a menu

Nothing particularly unusual to report today. But I did want to share a couple of pictures of Camdan with you. He's growing so fast that he actions and reactions just seem too mature, too coordinated for a little boy his age.

See how concentrated he is. It's as if by willing it, he can change what's inside. And in the meantime, he can enjoy the pretty menu covers.


When he does finally open a menu, his expression changes from concern to fear, surprise, amazement? Who knows. What a fun kid!

Roomba lawn

As promised, Ed and the boys have been coming over to mow and edge our lawns. I'm not sure what method they use to divide up the work but this morning Tim was using the edger while Jake mowed. I was really quite impressed that the two boys could work with very little surevision. That allow Ed to do things like vacuum the lawnclippings on the front drivewayl


Both boys don't have much of an eye for grass that is out of control or weeds of any kinds. "I don't care," I'd say, "just cut the tall grass and pull out weeds." Ed and I would still need to play the pointing game.



Jake seemed to mow in random directions like he had been programmed that way -- just like the Roomba vacuum cleaner or a pool sweep. This undoubtedly made it more interesting for him but again Ed or I would have to point out areas that he had missed.

Even little Camdan got into the act by lifting the box that we use for tossing out recyclables. We wouldn't get nearly as many if we had to take out to the garbage cans every little can, box and bottle. There was no reason for Camdon to suddenly haul away the green box. Eventually, he brought it back and sat it Close to the origianal place.

My new dump chair

For some time now, Carolyn and I have been eyeing this chair at Sam's Club. The main reason, of course, is its ability to just about put the occupant in a standing position so that a seated person can get up without doing the Tim Conway/Carol Burnett routine for getting out of a deep chair.

Of course its always important that the chair also be a fully reclinable chair and that it return to to its normal position with minimum stress and energy.

After Carolyn had purchased the chair, the folks at Sam's Club had helped her load it in the back of our van but there was no way the two of us could unload it. But after our usual Friday dinner with Ed & Tiff, they came over to help us. Edward lifted the 150lb box with only moderate stress. While I watched Carolyn, Ed, and Tiffany put the two or three pieces together, put the wiring under the step on wiring chanel and called it a day. I had to try it a couple of times which then meant that everybody else had to try it out as well.


Meanwhile the huge box the chair came in was working its magic on the young 'uns so that pretty soon they had a fort, a kitchen, a boat, sleeping quarters. It was fun to see what they could come up with but the fighting between the kids got too much.
Our little warrior! Camdan found the corner braces to be more fun for him. It was like Luke Skywalker way outclassed with a weapon.

Broken Communication Line

I belong to at least 3 e-lists which is approximately equivalent to 3 newspapers. Each of these three are hosted by yahoo groups. One or more members of the e-list is designated the administrator. That can be a real headache if he or she chooses to be hands on such as approving new members and new postings or it can be almost nothing if you let the elist run on automatic.

Since I don't know who managed the elists I belong to so I don't know whether this is a people problem or a system problem. For a couple of years now, I have been receiving a weekly newsletter from the Renaissance Society. When it stopped coming last May, I attributed that to the end of the semester and didn't think further about it.

Then the other day a fellow student said she'd learned of a special event posted in the newsletter. It then occurred to me that I hadn't received the newsletter lately. Seems that our email account was blocking some of the messages from the elist. So the provider simply shut down my participation in the elist without giving me any warning.

Fortunately, there was a self-help reset process so I was quickly up and going but I've lost all the newslettters since early May.

After the rain

I forgot to include what few pictures I was able to take during the first rainstorm of the season. I did mention that we had the promised 3 inches of rain and gusty winds that often reached 40 mph.

Here is our sand box. It's no longer sand, or even mud, but actually lakeside property for little kids' toys.


All around the city we saw tree debris down on the road. This shows the mess under the oak tree in front of our driveway entrance. Carolyn actually went out Tuesday evening and swept it all off the road and loaded most of the mess into our green waste trash can. Our neighbor Tom chided her for doing this without a hard hat at least. He showed her a 5 inch diameter branch that had fallen from the same tree into his flower garden. She said she was listening for any sounds of cracking. At least the wind had died down before she did the work under the tree.
There were power outages all over the city but most of the time it was for brief moments only. Ed and his family suffered several hours of power outage so they came over to our house for supper and evening play.

strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff

But Little Jackie Paper didn't bring me sealing wax. He might have brought me the excess ear wax that I've had to deal with lately. (eeeuuuuwww) Don't worry, this time there won't be any pictures to gross everyone out. (whew!)

Recently, the hearing in my right ear had become significantly worse. My hearing aid helped but it still sounded to me like the canal was plugged up. Carolyn volunteered to help and, with the aid of several Q-tips was able to get a lot of wax out. But it still felt and sounded plugged. I remembered my mother using Hydrogen Peroxide to loosen ear wax so we tried that. When Carolyn dropped a couple of drops in, with all the snaps and pops, it sure sounded like it was working. And we were able to get more wax out. It felt like I was hearing better, too. Still, I thought it might be a good time to get an updated hearing test.

At the hearing exam I was ushered into the sound booth after we figured out what to do with Matilda, my walker (you know... "walking Matilda, walking Matilda, you'll come a walking Matilda with me...). Melissa, the tech, sounding almost apologetic said she'd have to make sure I didn't have any wax in my ears. "Oooooh," she said, "problem. Let's check the other side. Yep, same problem. Let me get my tools." The last was said with a little bit of glee, like she doesn't get a chance to use her tools much.

Melissa returned with a small packet of tools, the main one being a pick with a 4 inch handle and a 3 inch probe ending in a sharp circular blade. It looked like she could go all the way into the brain if necessary. But unfortunately, the wax was mightier than the probe. Melissa apologized immensely then went about setting up another appointment for me with the Head and Neck specialists in the hospital office building. And about 24 hours later I was again sitting in a medical recliner with a nurse this time looking down my ear canals. A few quick looks, a couple of probing stabs and questioned looks. I filled her in on what Carolyn and I had done so far. The nurse looked like she'd seen a ghost (and not the one taped onto the door in time for Halloween.) "Just a minute," she said and walked out hurriedly.

Soon the nurse returned with a nice-looking young man in tow. "This is Dr. Kwa," she said and explained that we were lucky he was around. Without further ado, he had me lie on the examining table and brought a machine close to my head. He pushed the machine against my ear and I began hearing loud sounds. As near as I could tell the nurse was dripping mineral oil into myear, the Dr. scraped the oil into the wax, then he would vacuum the loose wax and oil up and out of my ear. In less time than it takes to explain it, Dr. Kwa had cleared my ears of all accumulated earwax.

On my way out I was handed a single sheet of paper describing what one should do with accumulated ear wax. In part it reads

. . .if you have a problem and you know that there is no hole in your eardrum, you ca put two or three drops of Mineral Oil or a commercial preparation called Debrox in your ear at bedtime. Repeaet for 2 or 3 days and the wax will usually come out on its own.

NEVER attempt to remove earwax yourself. NEVER put Q-tips, hairpins, matches, or any other objects in your ears. This could damage the ear or push the wax further in and cause an infection. NEVER put water in your ears on purpose.. . .

Now I have very clear ear canals and I'm still waiting for a hearing test.

The answer is blowin' in the wind

We got our promised storm all right, over 3 inches of rain in a 12 hour period and gusts of wind over 40 mph. Actually, I haven't seen any wind damage to our place but there are several incidents of tree limbs down that will make it interesting for going home this evening. It took Carolyn an hour and a half to travel what usually takes 20 minutes because a tree had fallen over one of the freeway exits. We definitely had 40 mph winds but fortunately they came in gusts so the trees generally had some tine to recover before the next gust. The only damage I saw on Max Court was our oak tree dropping lots of little branches. When she got home Carolyn filled our green waste garbage container with alll the branches so that gives you some idea about how much fell.

I took a small movie clip but I can't seem to get my service provider's software to upload it to blogger. I've either got to get a camera that takes a different format of movie or a program that converts movies.

Big Storm's A'comming

Batten the hatches. Seal the door. Get ready for roof leaks and hot popcorn. We're told that the remnants of a super typhoon are coming our way. It's to hit us sometime Tuesday with 1 to 6 inches of rain and winds up to 40 MPH. We'll see now whether the roofer who looked at our roof a couple of weeks ago knew what was talking about.

In the meantime we're trying to get ready by making sure the screens are all tightly secured and the water spouts clear.

Here are the Before pictures. Let's see if we ca get some during.












(By the way, my spell checker works on the text of the blog but not on the Title. Hence the problems this time.)