Chuck's Chatter

Simple Food

2009-06-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

My wife and I went out for dinner last night. She had a fried bologna sandwich with mashed potatoes and wine. Then for dessert: Derby Pie with ice cream, coffee, and of course some more wine.

MTM - Old Cars

2009-05-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

The advertisement said: The Model T's are Coming! Fri. May 8 at 7p.m in front of Court House - Cars! Ice Cream! Music by Dixie Sizzle! Come join the FUN!

I was not in town on Friday night, but I believe by 7pm it may have just stopped raining.

Sleep(less) Study

2009-04-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have sleep apnea. In short, my airway closes when I am sleeping and I stop breathing. My heart rate then goes up due to lack of oxygen until I finally take a breath. This cycle is repeated many, many times a night. As you can imagine this is not good.

For 17 years I have slept with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. This machine blows air, at a controlled pressure, into my nostrils to keep my airway open. Every so many years I go for a new sleep study, which determines if the pressure needs adjustment, as well as other things.

The protocol is to go to sleep without the CPAP. A technician and instrumentation measure things like how often you stop breathing, eye moment, leg movement, etc. After two hours of sleep without the CPAP, the technician comes into the room and attaches a CPAP mask to your face. The rest of the night is spent with the technician adjusting the pressures (from a control room) to see what pressure is optimum.

Last night was the first study since Medicare covered me. Medicare has their own protocol. The medicare protocol insists that the determination of the correct pressure be done after at least two hours of sleep without the mask. This determines how bad your apnea is, i.e. how many times you stop breathing. Their other protocols, in my case required that these two hours be up by 2 am.

I went to bed at 11pm, of course without the CPAP. I took a sleeping pill just before bedtime and another one hour later. Here is the short of it: by 2am I had only slept 1-½ hours. Therefore they could not do the second part of the study (called titration). They would continue taking measurements until 6am without the CPAP in place! After sleeping for 17 years with the mask on, I do not sleep very well with it off. I got a measured 2.25 hours of sleep during this sleep study!

Now I get to go back for another night so they can do the titration!

Back from Florida!

2009-04-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

I am back home with memories of Tradition Field (Mets spring training home) and especially Kerri, the Sports Management Intern from Mississippi. I also have memories of the River Cruise on the North Fork of the St. Lucie River during which I saw many birds, and some alligators and a few turtles. After the cruise as I was driving to my rental I saw the group of white Ibis crossing the road.

It's the Little Things in Life!

2009-04-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

My eight year-old grandson wanted everyone to know that he ate a small Domino's bacon and cheese pizza by himself!

Word Usage

2009-03-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just read a blog by a blogger whom I regularly read. I could not help but notice how many words in the blog ended in "ing". If I counted right there were 23. Then it bothered me that I could not remember what part of speech these words are. Google to the rescue!

-ING WORDS "The present participle form of English verbs ends in -ing. Its most basic use is to describe an action in progress, whether as part of a compound verb, an adjective, or in a participal phrase."

I've been living in KY for almost 7 years now and still notice how often the word "wanting" is used. This is not the case in NJ and CT. Do you suppose it started with a student who did not have enough words in is essay so added some "wanting"s. For example "I am wanting to go to the store" has one more words that "I want to go to the store".

When I spell checked the above in MS Word it want to change the “I am wanting” to “I want”!

Is "wanting" used where you live? (Please post where you live in your answer.)

Of course adding "I am just going to go ahead and" adds even more words, but I am going to go ahead and save that topic for another blog.

Wordless Wednesday - One for Packages?

2009-03-25T05:24:00.001-07:00

MTM - Kentucky Confederate Cemetery

2009-03-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

The Kentucky Confederate Cemetery is in Peewee Valley, Ky. It is the final resting place for 313 Confederate soldiers, who lived out their final days in the Peewee Valley Confederate Home. It is also the home of the Confederate Memorial, which is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. There is a house, just larger that a bird house, that contains a log of the people buried here, giving their grave location and the unit that they served with.

I learned about this from my Geocaching hobby, which is a higher tech hide-and seek. The gentleman in the picture is Ben of the Geocaching team Ben & Grace. Ben passed away recently after he and his wife Grace found their 1,000th cache.

I Guess Every Penny Counts!

2009-03-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from DirecTv saying that certain fees were being increased. I could check on line for the details. I looked at this month's and last month's bill on line to see what the "increases" were:

Premier Monthly service went from $104.99 to $109.99

Each of the two addition receivers went from $4.99 to $5.00!

The HD Access fee went from $9.99 to $10.00!

The DVR fee went from $5.99 to $6.00!

"Going" by Sonar at Starbucks Solution?

2009-03-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Please see "Going" by Sonar for a description of the problem.

I've come up with a possible solution, which took me back to my much younger years: Draw "letters" in the water while “going”. I suppose that dumping a few Cheerios in the water would work too. Just try to sink them! What do you think?

"Going" by Sonar

2009-03-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

I am at a Starbucks right now, in Port St. Lucie, Florida. This Starbucks has one annoying feature that I have also seen in other Starbucks: The light in the rest room is motioned controlled! So as you are standing there doing your business, the light goes out. You can no longer "aim" visually, but need to depend on the sound. Of course women don't have this problem as their anatomy puts them much closer to the "target".

Wordless Wednesday - Chow Time!

2009-03-10T19:40:00.000-07:00

My Cell Phone Caper!

2009-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

I’ve been catching up on 2+ weeks of blog reading. I lost touch while getting ready to go to Florida, driving there, and settling in. I finally got Internet service in the place I am renting on Monday, however today I am sitting at a Panera Bread bloging, surfing and having lunch. There is no home spring training game today and a cold spell. Well that is cold for Florida it is in the mid-sixties.

Reading about pita-woman’s and junosmom’s cell phone stories prompted me to write about mine. I left for Florida on 2/23. On 2/20 I went to the Sprint store as I was having a problem with the screen on my cell. It was a flip phone and half the time when you flipped it open the screen was just gray!

Of course I was quickly talked into a new phone at no cost to me, if I signed on for another 2 years. (Well I wanted a new one also.) All phones I was shown had a built in camera. I thought I may at some point actually take a picture with the cell, but certainly would not be posting “random photos from my cell phone” as Passage of a Woman recently did. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I use my cell phone for PHONE calls.

I picked out a phone but asked how to get the pictures out of the phone? I was told that I could use “PictureMail” or buy a data cable to connect the phone to my computer. With “PictureMail” I could email or text message the pictures to anyone. I did not even ask the price of this service and opted for the $15.95 cable.

On Sunday, I took a “test” picture, and then tried to download it to my computer. I hooked up the data cable and the Setup Wizard told me that it had no idea of where to look for the driver or firmware needed for this cable! I went to the Sprint site and could not find anything!

I left for Florida on Monday 2/23, stopping in Acworth, GA and Ocala, FL. On Tuesday evening I visited the Sprint store in Ocala with my problem. I was told that I needed to go to the “SamsungWireless” web site to get the firmware. I visited this site but they did not have what I needed. I then sent an email to customer support. The reply: this phone DOES NOT support download to a computer!

On Thursday, 2/26 I went to the Sprint store in Port St. Lucie FL. A very helpful salesman said he would gladly exchange the phone for one that had the capability I wanted. I explained that I had left the charging cord at home. No problem, but did I have the car charging cord with me? I said no problem it was in the car that was parked in front of the store. The new phone actually has an SD chip that you can store the pictures on. I made the exchange and drove home. After another test picture, I attempted a download. Of course I failed to exchange the data cable and it is a well know fact that each cell phone has a uniquely constructed output port!

Thankfully the Sprint store is near the baseball stadium, so after the Friday game, I exchanged the data cable. I can now actually download pictures from the phone to my laptop. I even uploaded the UCONN Huskies ringer and a picture of my grandchildren as a screen saver! Now if I can only get the phone to ring loud enough so that I can hear it ring when I have it tethered to my belt!

Wordless Wednesday - My Medications

2009-03-03T21:21:00.001-08:00

Florida Sightings

2009-03-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

A billboard that read "Abortion! Thank God mom and dad were not thinking that way."

An automobile registration tag, probably of a chemical engineer: "WEIR TO"

Internet Connection at Last!

2009-03-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

I arrived at my rental home in Florida last Thursday. The owners had had cable TV installed before I arrived. They had been renting long term (1 year) but have switched to short term (weekly or monthly). I have rented for 5 weeks. At my request they ordered Internet, but the soonest it could be installed was yesterday. I have taken my laptop to Starbucks, which is OK for some things.

The installer was to arrive between 11am and 2pm. I told the owner I would be here for him. He called about 10am to ask if he could come sooner. By 10:30am the modem was installed and working. Next I hooked up the wireless router I brought from home, so that I could use the Internet for my laptop and Tivo. What I thought would be a simple task was anything but! I think the problem was that I have DSL at home and cable Internet here.

A visit to the router manufacturer's (Linksys) web site was of little help. I tried a "technical chat" and was told the router was out of warranty and they had little technical support but she could send me an email with some help. Thankfully I asked her what I should do if the email did not help. She gave me the phone number of Technical Service. This number is NOT on the web site.

The email was nothing more than a link to what I had already read on the web site. So I called Tech Serve. Of course I was faced with an automatic response system but told I could dial zero at any time for live help. I decided to try the automated system first. I put my cell on speakerphone. I was very pleased with this service. They had step-by-step instructions. At any time you could repeat the instruction, go back to the previous step or on to the next step. It took about 30-40 minutes of shutting every think down and booting back up (several times) but it worked!

This was an unusual Tech service experience!

In Florida!

2009-02-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

These will be my homes for the next five weeks!

Heading South! - Day 2

2009-02-24T17:47:00.000-08:00

I made good time today. Actually had to turn on Air Conditioning in the car! Staying in Ocala FL tonight. Should be at destination in Port St. Lucie by noon tomorrow.

Heading South!

2009-02-23T15:12:00.001-08:00

On my way to Florida. 400 miles down and 600 miles to go!

Note: "EconoLodge" and "Low Rates" may go together. However, as I found out tonight, neither goes with "High Speed Wireless Internet". I guess you get what you pay for.

Constable Update

2009-02-19T16:09:00.000-08:00

It has been two months since my last update, however I have not written the first parking citation! In order to write a citation you must have someone "run the plate" for you so that you can know the registered owner's (RO in police talk) name, address, etc. I found this out in December and after calling several people, I found that our county dispatch could do this, however I needed to be approved by their "board" which was not scheduled to meet until March (they had meet 3 days before). In early February, I got a call from the Director of Dispatch. Some how I had gotten approved, but needed to sign a "User Agreement". It took another week to get the agreement signed, then of course it had to go to Frankfort (state capital) so I would be approved by them, and "put in" the computer system. Yesterday I got word that I as now able to run plates.

I had to go to the county court house today to renew the plates on my wife's auto. There were two cars without the proper credentials (hang tags or plates) parked in Handicapped spots. But it was much too cold today to write any citations, so they lucked out--for today.

Chicken Sh*t or Chicken Soup?

2009-02-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

For the past seven years I have been going to Port St. Lucie, FL to watch NY Mets spring training baseball games. For the last five years I have spent about 5 weeks there. I have rented several different condos, first on Hutchinson Island and more recently in PGA Village. (I found most rentals on Craigslist.) This year, I thought I had found a "good deal", a unit similar to the one I have rented the past two years, but at 2/3 the price. I got an ID from the person (Josh) offering the rental and in November sent a deposit of $300.

Late last week, I sent an email asking a few details, discussing arrival time, etc. By Sunday, I still had not received a response, so I called the cell number I had called him on before. I got a message that the number was not in service! On Monday, starting to panic, I sent an overnight letter via UPS. (Who knew UPS worked on President's day?)

About noon today, I got a call from Josh. Did I not get the email he sent on Friday? I quickly found that he sent it to an email address that I only use on my laptop. Bottom line: the unit has been sold and I would not be able to rent it. He has sent a money order with my deposit. However, he found a house for rent nearby. He would send the Friday email to my home email address.

I called the owner of the house: a two-year old three bedroom, 2 baths, tile and hardwood floors, a patio, a garage, fully furnished. The price was only $100 more than the condo. I agreed to rent it and sent another deposit.

I guess when I arrive there on February 25, I'll know if I made soup or more sh*t!

Fires in Australia - 1st Person Account - Chapter 4

2009-02-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

By Guest Blogger Adrianne Newman who lives in the south of Australia, in the Australian state of Victoria. This is near Melbourne. Ms. Newman is an American who has lived in Australia for about 30 years. Glenys and Ms. Newman are partners.

This was date marked 2/14/09 at 8:39 PM

Hey
Things are on the mend, although some folks are still doing vigilent
alerts because 19 fires are still burning but in National Parks and
not near towns.

We got some birdseed from down where Tanya used to work and have put
water and seed out for the increasing number of birds that are coming
back to the neighbourhood. I don't know where they went for safety.
It is nice to hear them in the morning again considering that we live
on Bird Street!!

Deaths still at 181, and ~7,000 homeless but lots of telethons, and
ways to give your cash to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross who
seem to be heading up this relief situation. Kinglake and communities
have had volunteers descend and give them generators, food, clothes,
you name it and lots of folks there to do counselling, which in some
ways, I reckon we all need..

More 'facts' are coming to light in that the powelines went down
around Kilmore and evidently that is what set the initial fires north
of us that were swept south in the gale force winds. We were right in
that the wind change that was bringing the fire towards us wound up
turing around in a northeast direction destroying Kinglake and those
other areas.

Healsville is still on alert and the army and firefighters from the US
and distant places are working feveriously to create huge firebreaks
around Melbourne's water supply. Evidently the trees up that way are
Mountain Ash and will die if fire strikes....the bloody Eucalypts just
resprout and so does the bracken. Evidently to recreate trees in the
water catchments will use far more water than the older trees so much
of the state's resources are being used for that.

Talked to my Mom who asked, "where did they get the water" and Glenys
heard a story of kids frolicking in their swimming pool only to have
Elvis, the water bearing helicopter, descend on them. They flew out
of the pool, Elvis took all the water, and off he went. And a friend
of mine from work has a really groovy photo on her phone of Big Elvis
and 2 little Elvis's hovering behind to take their turn, taking the
water out of the dam on her dairy farm. So in answer to Mom's
question....wherever they could.

Glenys also heard of a story about a guy who has a hobby farm up the
bush. He was there before the fires struck and he brought his 15 head
of cattle across the street to a vacant paddock and then went to fight
the fires. They battled all night and he heard the most awful noises
but they saved the house. Next morning he went across the street and
all the cattle were in the dam, not even burned, and since he has
brought them back they are very affectionate and want cuddles and to
not be far from him.

We have that many helicopters flying over head to and fro, Glenys and
I are using the MASH line....'incoming' and run out to see if we can
see who they are. Elvis flies slow and is very whump, whump, whump so
you know when they are overhead. He flew over this morning so things
are 'still crook in Tootgarook' as the saying goes.

After hearing about the financial crisis and all the gluttony it is
lovely to see all the generosity and goodness that still is out there
in our communities.

We'll get through this but it will take a while and much goodwill on
the part of all of us to make it happen. And I wait with much
anticipation for the first green shoots, as after all, this is what
regenerates the flora of Australia. Will be interesting to see what
weed seeds that have been laying dormant in the soil and actually need
fire to germinate, pop their heads up.....they will be most welcome!

Fires in Australia - 1st Person Account - Chapter 3

2009-02-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

Fires in Australia - 1st Person Account - Chapter 2

2009-02-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

Hey
If there is one thing I've learned from all this it is to stay in
contact with folks...regularly because people care and worry....and I
know because I've been doing it myself lots lately.

I keep calling my other girlfriend Sally, who job shares with me and
lives in Seville, which is near the funky bit they are trying
furiously to back burn and put down containment lines near, because if
the Bunyip and Kinglake-Maroondah complex fires merge they are then on
track to take out Melbourne's water and gas supplies.  [Sally calls me
her personal stalker because I ring her each day to see how her family
is and to remind her that there are beds here if it all goes to the
shit.]

Been cooler the last few days so the fireys have been at warp speed,
with the help of the Army, to try and get these Mother fires under
control.  Right now there are 61 fires across the state but none are
endangering homes or 'assets'....there must be some bloody economist
type nerd in the fireys to come up with that term.  There was some
rain in the east which helped overnight damp down some of the action
but it didn't happen here.  I now think we're up to about 35 days
without any rain and after 12 years of drought it is very easy to see
in hindsight why the whole place lit up like a whorehouse on a
Saturday night when it was set alight!

I had a conversation with a guy who works at the hospital who lives in
Coldstream.  Said he was watching the fire proceed into Kinglake and
then all of a sudden it was like the instantaneous combustion you get
when the barbeque goes 'whoooof' and lights up, and that was the end
of Kinglake.

Heard second hand from the guy who lived across the street from Tanya
in Kinglake that they were inside, the fire came up the slope at a
billion miles an hour...actually was travelling at 100 plus
kph.....hit the house and it exploded at the same time the substation
they lived near exploded so the only thing that consoles me is that
they never saw it coming and that it was quick.  She was with Jim and
the animals, and in her favourite place on Earth.....3 out of 3 ain't
a bad way to go.

The thing that is really odd is that we were told that Tanya and Jim
were 'confirmed dead but that it wasn't official' , so this is going
to play havoc with a lot of people's heads.  After all it is stressful
enough to lose someone and have a funeral and bury them usually within
a week, and then you do the grieving thing for however long it takes.
With this, the 'bodies' are being trucked into the city and being
placed in a knocked up morgue outside the real city morgue because it
was already full.  We had 40 die from the heat the week before, mostly
older folks, so 'there was no room at the inn' if you get my drift.
Evidently there is a world's best practice protocol of how to build a
morgue, if your morgue is already full, so we have one of those in the
city now.

What they want to be able to do is identify everyone properly, so that
Mary Lou is really Mary Lou and not Betty.... because burying Mary Lou
in with Harry instead of her husband Nick...well you see how
complicated this is for the forensic folks, and they definately want
to do the very best job possible with IDs.  So not sure when Tanya's
funeral will be and everyone else is in the same boat.

The Police are about 95% sure that the fire at Marysville, that little
hamlet of 500 folks that is no longer on the face of the planet, was
deliberately lit.  100 people died and those in the know say that the
direction of the fire, and subsequent area fires, weren't according to
the Book of Fire in anyway and reek of arson.  I find absolutely no
comfort in the fact that I share the same DNA as these murders but God
forbid if the general public gets a hold of them as there won't be a
hair left to analyse.

I have been smelling smoke since I got home at 5 and have just heard
on the radio that there was a grass fire in Ivanhoe, which is 2 towns
over West of us.  It is out now and being watched but who knows how
that started?  And you can drive home and still see the lowlifes who
smoke throwing the butts out the window as they hurtle
along.....hello?????

Over 400,000 hectares have burned so far and 1 hectare equals 2.47
acres so you Yanks do the math...it's massive and not yet done.

More than 1000 houses are toast and perhaps 5,000 homeless....homeless
figures rubbery as not all have put themselves on lists yet.  They
have set up army tents on the ovals in towns and this is where folks
are hanging until they can get other accommodation sorted.  There
already was a rental crisis with very little stock before the fires so
Heaven knows where they are all going to go.  Perhaps on the MCG?

So the weather is warming up slowly as we head towards the
weekend...back to 28 (82) on Sunday and they reckon there will be a
wind change that will go Northerly again, which puts us back in the
picture.

It's very interesting the new phobia I seem to have developed....each
time I hear to wind whip through the trees since Saturday I get this
fear in my stomach.  Other people have the same thing I've found out,
so the wind's up now and I'm smelling smoke and I'm supposed to feel
ok because the fires are contained.  I think everyone's nerves are
going to be rattled for quite a while.

Glenys lost it on Tuesday because the boss's phone went off and she
was told to engage her fire plan, even though there appeared to be no
alert on the radio.  Janette lives about 20 minnies away in a
Southwest direction at Warrandyte, and Glenys was sobbing and pleading
for me to go home and get Chloe.  Well it was a false alarm, thank
goodness, but we're all getting to the end of our tether I have to say
and then I had to tell her about Tanya last night.  For a woman with
nerves of steel, or the appearance of, she's as wired as I am.

THANKS for all the good wishes and prayers....keep 'em coming because
it's a comfort to know that we aren't in this alone.

And to the Kiwi's - congrats on the cricket you have been playing and
may you come up with the best game you've ever played tomorrow and
really crush the hopes of this country!  [The Oz one day team visited
some of the fire affected folks in Whittlesea yesterday and wound up
taking off their shoes and socks and jackets, etc to give the folks
with nothing....must say the boys were rather buff in the y-fronts if
I do say so myself!!!

Fires in Australia - 1st Person Account - Chapter 1

2009-02-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

Hey

We haven't quite been ourselves and should have reported in before

this as I can see many of you are concerned.  But we've been glued to

the ABC Emergency Services radio listening vigilently for alert

warnings to leave.



Saturday was a day out of Hell...it was 47 degrees here, 117 degrees

F, and there were gale force winds blowing.  I made a comment in an

email to someone that if you lit a match today and dropped it, it

would burn all the way to the coast.  Little did I realise how

prescient that statement would be.



Glenys worked until 1 pm but then came home and we walked out back and

saw these huge smoke columns that were on the distant hills that

seemed to be coming towards us.  [Stupid me had been sitting in the

house with the aircon on and the blinds drawn and wasn't monitoring

events.]  We went in and through the house and got the essentials and

packed the cars and got the dog ready to leave.  If you have never

done that, it is a very interesting exercise about what doesn't matter

in your life. [And if you have never felt 117 degree heat in gale

force, I can't explain that to you either.]



Went back out as we heard that it was spotting in Doreen, which is

about 20 minnies from where we live, and Glenys said "can you feel it

- I feel the cool change."  I told her she was having a menopause

moment and that it was evaporation but then I felt it as well.  So the

wind had swapped from North, which brings the hot air down from

Central Australia..[.and who the fuck would live there, I ask you, if

that's their weather], to Southerly and dropped about 10 degrees C in

5 minutes.



We turned to look at the smoke clouds to see them now drifting in the

opposite direction and then looked at each other, started crying and

realised that our fortune was someone elses misfortune.  And God what

misfortune that has turned out to be.



If you go to www.theage.com.au you can see and read about what has

happened since then.



I'm going to work just to be with people because I'm not coping with

the fact that a wonderful woman who has groomed Chloe for the last 11

years, and who I could always depend on for a natter before and after

the drop off, is listed as missing and presumed dead.  I keep going

down to the shop to see if there is any word but we all just stand

there shell shocked, crying and shaking because even her Mother has

given her up for dead.  She last spoke to her on Saturday at 4 pm and

Tanya was oblivious to the fact that there was a fire....it wasn't on

the internet.  Tanya has put a face to this devastation for us.



Eye witnesses who were in Kinglake, where Tanya lived, said they went

out to a ridge to look at a fire that was 20 kilometres away and all

of a sudden were burned by the trees that erupted into flame beside

them.  Fireballs travelled 14 to 20 kilometres before the fires on the

winds, setting new ones, so it is no wonder that survivors are saying

that they had no warning.  Only consolation for me is that it

evidently was a quick kill so says a man who managed to survive from a

drain pipe because the fire rolled over the houses, they exploded, the

roofs came down and entombed the people.   Whole towns are like that

now and 181 people are dead tonight.



And the fires have only waxed and waned since then although the

temperatures have gotten way cooler....today was 21C, or 70 F, and

Glenys and I are cold after all the warm weather.  [We had had 3 days

of 43,44 and 45 the week before.]



Firefighters are trying to get blazes under control in this cooler

weather but they must be absolutely exhausted.   Go the fireys, we're

all saying, and we're putting them ALL up for Queen's Honours next

year....well I am!



However we were warned tonight that February is our worst fire month

and that it is only the 10th so don't think that this is over by any

means.



And the thing that I cannot get my head around is that some of these

fires were deliberately lit on Saturday.  I want them caught,

handcuffed, put against a wall and shot on national television because

they are no different from terrorists, or as the Prime Minister called

them, mass murderers.  Not only of people but of flora and fauna.



However if you do the prayer thing, can you please remember us over

here.....all of us.

--

My Town Monday - a Church Now United

2009-02-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

The Old:

Kynett Church was part of the Central Jurisdiction (Ky. Tenn. Conference) which in reality was the Methodist Church for Black Americans. Shortly after the Civil War, the Kynett Church was established and named for Alpha Jefferson Kynett, a leading executive for Church Extension of Methodism.

In 1844, as a prelude to our tragic American Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church was divided over the issue of slavery and the local church here in La Grange became part of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Sadly, this branch of Methodism in America approved of the wicked institution of slavery, and fostered racism.

The New:

Beginning in 1968 both churches shared the same pastor. Because of tremendous population growth in Oldham County (which doubled in population from 14,000 to 28,000 people between 1970 to 1980), the La Grange UMC experienced tremendous growth and simply ran out of room. The church voted in November, 1993 to relocate. New land (10.7 acres) was purchased in November, 1994 at a total cost of $150,000 and the land was fully paid for by December, 1995.

Early in 1995, a study was made by both churches and by a uniting committee to pursue the possibility of uniting the two local congregations in La Grange. After much research, prayer, study, sharing and dialogue, both churches voted in October, 1995 to unite to form the Covenant United Methodist Church and to build together our new church for the new century. In January, 1996, the Covenant United Methodist Church was born!

More information on these churches can be found here.

Both of the older buildings are still in use. The side of the Kynett Church, shown above, is used as a dance studio. The back of the former Kynett Church houses the thrift shop where Junosmom and I volunteer. The other older church now houses county offices, as well as an office of our Congressman.

It's Just the Engineer in Me!

2009-02-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight we ate a local pizza establishment. Not a national chain but I guess what could be called a regional chain. Amber colored adult beverages were offered. The "draft" beverages were offered in 16 0z. and 23 oz. sizes. From experience I know that at my rate of drinking the heat transfer from the room air through the glass to 23 oz. of liquid beverage would be such that the beverage would become warmer than I care to drink before I finished it. So I ordered the 16 oz. size which came in a plastic "mug".

Upon delivery of the beverage, I told my fellow diners of my suspicion that the mug could not possibly hold 16 oz. Of course my contentions were firmly dismissed by dw. My son, the chemist, thought that I could be right. Luckily the chemist was drinking the beverage from a 12 oz. bottle.

Near the end of the meal, I excused my self to the rest room and took an empty 12 oz. bottle with me. The diner to my left was assigned the task of guarding the mug. When I returned to the table I had a 12 0z. bottle filled to the crown (sorry that's the technical term for the cap).

Now the experiment (or demonstration) of the night took place! The water in the bottle was poured into what was supposed to be a 16 oz. mug. When the mug was full, I still had at least 2 oz. of water left in the bottle.

The manager was summoned and admitted that the server used the wrong mug! She had used a 10 oz. mug that is normally served with pitchers of this beverage!

I had two supposedly 16 oz.servings at $3.00 each. This should be $0.094 per oz. However I actually got 20 oz. which represented a cost of $0.30/ oz. more that triple the advertised price!

In the end the manager gave me a $3.00 credit, apologizing that the server grabbed the wrong mug. But the real satisfaction was with my dining companions when they were forced to admit that the old engineer was correct!

ICE!

2009-01-29T17:29:00.001-08:00

Ice on the trees! I hope it survives.

Ice on the whirligig!

Ice on the wind chime. How will it chime?

Ice on the satellite dish! No TV tonight! Do you think the exaust from the clothes drier will melt this ice?

But at least the power back is on and we will be warm!

No Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

No heat, no power therefore no WW for me! But do we have ice! Ice on the trees, ice on the roads, ice on the whirligig, ice on the wind chimes, ice on the satellite dish, ice on the mail box!

Estimate to restore power: 7-10days!

MTM - Between the Lanes

2009-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

This tranquil stream (actually it is called Currys Fork) runs in the land between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Interstate that runs through my town. It is in the area that Junosmom recently wrote about: Lifetime Learning: My Town Monday - Divided by Deer. It looks like the deer have just the habitat that they need!

Wordless Wednesday - Queen of the Hill

2009-01-21T00:02:00.000-08:00

MTM -Skateboarding Park

2009-01-19T01:30:00.000-08:00

My small town has a small skateboarding park:

The skateboarding park in the nearby large city is much bigger and considerably fancier:

Wordless Wednesday - Mom's 11 Great Grandchildern

2009-01-13T20:42:00.001-08:00

MTM - a Small Insurance Agency

2009-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

In my small town there is a small insurance agency. The agent drives a small car and I am sure he writes some small poicies.

Wordless Wednesday - I Would Not Think of Messing With This Guy!

2009-01-07T05:17:00.000-08:00

Local Artist Strips!

2009-01-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

It is truly the end of the holiday season! The local artist who decorated the windows at Karen's Bookbarn & Java Stop (my FAVORITE hangout) took all the decorations down yesterday. I am already looking forward to next season's art!

MTM - a Historical Look

2009-01-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

1950: The town converts to dial telephones.

1955: Kentucky State Police builds post headquarters in town.

1961: Voting machines (instead of handwritten ballots) are used at the polls.

1967: Train derailment rips out 356 feet of track and derails 24 wrecked railroad cars.

1970: Rescue ambulance service begins in the county.

1975: The first “strip mall” in town opens with four stores.

1980: The 911 emergency number is installed in the county.

1986: The Humane Society is incorporated.

1990: County opens a new 71-bed regional jail.

1995: Ground is broken for the third Middle School in the county.

2002: The third Middle School opens.

2008: The County Public Library opens its new “green” facility.

Where is Chris?

2009-01-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Where is Chris of ecuineform fame, our scribe in Hong Kong??

Did Regina take his pen away for the holidays?

Did Pommes the Wonder Cat eat his pen?

Did he leave his voluminous words in Hong Kong?

Did he lose his laptop?

Has he been posted to a forsaken outpost where there is no Internet service?

What will happen to the MTM posting sent to him? Will they fall into a Internet bottomless hole?

Wordless Wednesday - A GIANT Shrine

2008-12-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

Unwrapping Rage!

2008-12-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

We had to get the "big gun" out!

Wordless Friday - Ready for Snow!

2008-12-26T06:32:00.000-08:00

This guy is already for snow. However our forecast is for the 60s today and 70s tomorow. (It went down to 3 degrees several nights ago!)

Wordless Christmas - Peace!

2008-12-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - Almost Christmas!

2008-12-24T05:27:00.000-08:00

Wordless Tuesday - Some Last Minute Shopping

2008-12-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

Even the Trees Are Bundled Up!

2008-12-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

MTM - Christmas in Kentucky

2008-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Even the Town Clock and the County Court House are ready!

E-Z Pass Caper - Chapter 2

2008-12-21T09:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the citations came in the mail. Four citations in three envelopes. (It is nice to see that the State of New Jersey is trying to save money on paper and postage.) Now remember I had already been charged $30 by some agency that works with Hertz for them to send my name and address to New Jersey.

The citations each had a picture of the back of my rental car going through the toll I had not paid, due to the EZ-Pass not being recorded. The tolls not paid total $5.75. They also wanted $75 in administrative fees. Thank God two violations came on one form other wise they would have wanted $100 in fees!

As I had fire coming out my ears about the $75 on top of the $30 I had already paid, I turned the pages over to look at the possibilities for disputing these fees. After all I had acted in good faith in assuming that the E-Z pass was recorded. I was VERY relieved to find that there was a provision for E-Z Pass Customers to have the administrative fees waived. I just had to give them my account number and transponder number. I also had to promise to contact my E-Z Pass Customer Service Center and add the plate number of the offending car to my account. Right! Like I am ever going to rent that exact same car again.

Bottom line: $5.75 in tolls could have become $110.75, but wound up being only $35.75!

Constable Training - Update

2008-12-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

The training continues and I am close to being able to write citations. In my first post on training I said that I needed to get a Citation Book from "Frankfort". I first spoke to the administrative sergeant at the nearby post of the Kentucky State Police (KSP). That led to speaking to EIGHT people at KSP. I finally got a supply order form where I could order a case of 20 books! That would be 500 citations, which seemed overkill for someone doing only parking enforcement in a city of 8,000. I was finally able to get two citation books from the Constable Association. They came with an instruction sheet, a whole book of accident investigation forms, a book of forms for the Governor's Seat Belt Program and some other stuff that I am sure might be useful. I also picked up a pad of instructions on how to prepay a citation from the very helpful people at the Circuit Court Clerk's office.

To write a citation, you need a special number, called an ORI number. The one assigned to me was "inactive", so someone at KSP sent an email to the FBI to get it activated. I got confirmation on this within just a few days.

I had ordered a cap online with CONSTABLE printed on it. It arrived and I found out the Large/ Extra Large was too small for my big head. I returned it for credit and got one made at EmroiderMe. I picked up the new cap this past Monday.

On Wednesday, the Sergeant at the city police department was kind enough to give me a "citation writing" lesson. He covered what to put in each box on the form and what to do with the FIVE copies of the citation. In this lesson I found out that even for a parking citation I must put down the registered owner's (that's RO in police talk) name and address. In order to get this information I would need a contract with KSP so they can "run" plates for me. This lead to another call to the helpful administrative sergeant who told me that I needed to contact my county dispatch office and talk to the "Terminal Agency Coordinator" (or TAC officer, as I later found out.) Of course the TAC officer was not available, but I was told that if I had my ORI number, they could put me right in the system. I gave them the number, which did not show up as "active". So I faxed them my confirmation letter and I am waiting to hear back from them.

On Thursday I went to the Sheriff's office and had my picture taken for my ID. Everyone there was very helpful and got to meet the Sheriff. So now I can write citations, but only if the offender gives me his credentials and does not run away!

I'll write an update after I actually write my first citation. I'll also let you know the fees I can collect for these activities.

It's Snowing--No School!

2008-12-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well actually I am well past my schooldays and in fact most schools are in session. However, as some of you know, Junosmom and I work at the church thrift shop on Tuesday afternoon. I just got a phone call that, due to the weather, the shop will be closed today!

I hardly know what I'll do with this extra time. I am sure Junosmom has lots of things to fill the void. As a mother of home schooled children do you think she gives them the day off when public schools are closed?

MTM - The Deliverers

2008-12-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

In my town these are the people who really deliver:

Billy is what has become a vanishing type of Letter Carrier. She delivers along Main Street. She has only four stops where she just drives her truck up to a roadside rural mailbox. The rest of her route is done on foot. In the historic areas of town she actually walks up to the mailboxes that are near your front door. For businesses, she walks into the store to deliver and also picks up any out going mail. She always has a smile and a hello!

Burrell delivers along Main Street. He also delivers to my home where he is greeted by our nine pond dog. She jumps about half-way up the door as he approaches. He lovingly calls her "Killer". If I have a package that needs a signature, he knows where to find me on Main St.

Will I Laugh or Cry?

2008-12-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

I hope that my experience with the installation of this is much better than Junosmom's!

The Dental Hygiene Caper

2008-12-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

My periodontist has always suggested using an electric toothbrush. I have been using a Braun Oral B for years. It is the type that recharges its batteries when you put it back on its stand.

Things went fine for many years. I even remembered to change the brush occasionally, but I am sure it was way later than recommended. Then the proverbial sh*t hit the fan! The damn think would not turn OFF! I found that it would turn off if you put it back on its charger. Otherwise it ran all the time.

The greatest challenge was to put the toothpaste onto the brush. You know “the hitting the moving object challenge”. But, as I am an engineer, and know about centrifugal force this task was somewhat easily mastered. So the only inconvenience was after I rinsed off the brush and went to put it back onto its stand. Centrifugal force was still at work, flinging little drops of water all over the place, including the bottom of the mirror. This brought unkind comments from my significant other. I do not even want to know what the cleaning person thought.

So I broke down and went to StuffMart. For about $20 I got a new brush. Peace once again reigns in our household. I still wonder if that brush is still running in the trash can, as it was running when I threw it in there. If you are at landfill and hear a toothbrush running, you will know it is mine.

EZ (?) Pass Caper: Chapter 1

2008-12-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

EZ Pass is an automated toll collection system used widely in the northeast (where they have a LOT of toll roads). A device on your windshield emits a low frequency signal to an antenna in the tollbooth. As I now live in Kentucky, I do not use my EZ Pass often but did take it with me in September for a vacation trip to NY, CT and PA. I did not “glue” it to the windshield of the Hertz car. I just had my co-pilot hold it up to the windshield as we went through tolls.

Yesterday I got an innocuous looking letter from a “Processing Center”. The envelope was not even sealed! The letter said that when I rented from Hertz I agreed to let this “Center” supply my information to any agency that had issued a CITATION for the car I rented. They enclosed an invoice for $30 for their services. Even worse, Hertz gave them my credit card number and the “Center” had already billed me.

Further investigation revealed that I had been issued four citations by the State of New Jersey for “Toll Violations”. I checked my EZ Pass statement. While five tolls had been charged during the rental period, the ones in question had not.

I believe that the four “Violations” were for tolls of $0.35 each.

I also think that they were not at tollbooths but rather toll collection stations that have a huge, tall “gantry” above the roadway. You drive through these gantries at a speed of up to 50 MPH. It appears that these devices did not receive the signal form my EZ Pass transponder.

I sent an email to the NJ Turnpike Authority last night, but suspect that I’ll need to wait until I get the citations in the mail before they can do anything.

So now the score is: Tolls not paid” $1.40; Expense "incurred” $30.

To be continued....

MTM- Street Signs

2008-12-07T17:48:00.000-08:00

These two street signs are at the same intersection. There are several other roads in My Town that are sometimes called "Streets" and sometime called "Avenues". I've always wondered why this is.

A Simpler Solution?

2008-12-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

Junosmom seems to be getting all the commode press with her I'll have to laugh or I'll cry post. We also had a toilet seat problem. However we opted for a much simpler solution:

Dirty or Clean?

2008-12-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

It probably does not make much of a difference as in our home the rule is to wash the dishes BEFORE you put them in the dishwasher!

Chuck’s Constable Corner

2008-12-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

It is just one month since I was elected constable. In my last Constable post I mentioned that I needed to get a citation book from “Frankfort”, the state capitol. It is now 21 days since I started trying to find out where to get this book.

I contacted the Kentucky Constables Association via email and got a quick response. They had some at their executive director’s office in Louisville, just call for some. A call to this office was answered by the association’s president. He told me to call someone else who could meet me at the office, however this gentleman was sick and evidently not yet recovered, as a message on his cell phone has not been returned.

I was also told that I could order a book through the state police. Two days ago I spoke to EIGHT people in the state police. I was finally faxed an order form. I wanted ONE citation book and an instruction manual. However the form only listed a CASE of TWENTY citation books. I faxed the order back to State Police Supply, with a note asking them to please only send ONE book. Now I sit waiting to see what the UPS man will bring me!

Along the way to finding a citation book, I was told that I need an ORI#. This number is part of a crime reporting system. You can’t write a citation without one. I quickly found the number assigned to my position via a Google search. However a few days later I got a call from the “computer room” at the state police. The ORI# I found was correct but inactive. No problem! He would send an email to the FBI to activate it under my name. This should take “just a few days.”

So here I SIT. I guess a constable without a citation book (and an ORI#) is like a physician without a prescription pad! But he wants to cure sick people. I just want to enforce parking regulations. It looks like the violators will get a break for a little while longer.

Wordless Wednesday: a Trip to the Groomer

2008-12-03T00:05:00.000-08:00

Before

and After

MTM: 2 Views: Black Friday & Rainy Sunday

2008-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

“Come to Your Home” Salespeople

2008-11-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

My sister left a comment on my "MTM - a Small Town Insurance Agency" blog. She commented about the insurance guy who came to our home. That put me in mind of several other salespeople who came also.
First there were the bread guys. One was from Bond Bread and I think the other had Silvercup Bread. They each came two days a week, so you had four chances to buy bread, cupcakes, crullers, doughnuts, pies, etc. They would park the truck on the street and then come to the door with a basketful of stuff.
Then there was the egg lady. I don’t remember how often she came, but I do remember that she drove a pickup truck. A woman driving was rare back then, let alone a woman driving a pickup truck!
The milkman came several times a week. Of course he come so early that he was never seen. He knew your regular order, but if you wanted to change it, just leave a note in one of the glass empties hew would pickup.
A less frequent visitor was the “rag man”. His first visits were with his horse and buggy. He purchase used clothing and then I think branched out into other items (or was that the junk man?)
Another man came to sharpen knives and scissors. He had a pushcart that had his sharpening wheel mounted on it. He used “peddle power” to turn the wheel.
If someone needed a new pair of shoes: just call Johnny the shoe man. He knew everyone in the homes shoe size. Tell him what kind of shoe and he would show up with a box or two of shoes in your size and maybe one size below and one above. He brought shoes in different styles and different colors.

Of course we did go out to some stores, but that is another blog!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

We call this a "Crime Scene" at our house. would you believe a nine pound dog did all this?

MTM - a Small Town Insurance Agency

2008-11-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Over the last several weeks I have dealt with a small insurance agency in my town. They remind me of the first insurance agent I dealt with, about fifty years ago. This was of course the one my parents had dealt with. When I got my first automobile policy his advise was that I should never make a left turn. It was better to go around the block and make three right turns!

Back to the agent in my town: I don't think they own even a typewriter let alone a computer. The few documents they have sent me were hand written. They also do not have a postage machine. They use stamps. It is just nice to have this touch of nostalgia.

Picky, Picky

2008-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

The other day when I bought in the mail, I noticed that three envelopes had been returned, as they did not have stamps on them. You see DW has this system for paying her bills, all of which are credit card payments for her shopping excursions and online purchases. She writes the check, puts it in an envelope and writes the date to be mailed on the outside.

As a good DH I put stamps on the envelopes and posted them at the post office so that they would not be further delayed. When I told DW what had happened she said that the post office was so picky!

The Furnace that did not Roar (for me)

2008-11-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

I woke up and felt the cold in the bedroom. A quick look at the travel alarm told me that the inside temperature was 61! A look at the time that is projected onto the ceiling told me that the outside temperature was 28! I quickly reached the conclusion that DW was "cold" when the A/C was on and closed the furnace vents in the bedroom. I went to the kitchen to confront DW. A quick look at the digital room temperature thermometer told me that the kitchen indoor temperature was 60! It is a good thing that I saw the kitchen temperature before initiating the confrontation/accusation of DW.

So like a good husband, I called the Heating & Air Conditioning guy. It was 9AM. He would be out "this afternoon". He said of course he would make every effort to get out to us as soon as possible. At least he was willing to take my cell number so I could run "downtown" to the coffee shop and for lunch and not miss missing this guy.

Next we decided to turn on the gas fireplace so that at least the dog has a warm spot to nap. The fireplace did not go on by flipping the wall switch. However a search yielded the manual. DW found a switch under the front grill of the fireplace that when turned did ignite the fireplace.

The HVAC technician comes about 4:30PM and turns up the thermostat to about 100 and says, "yep it's not running". He goes up and down the stairs to the furnace room and out to his truck several times. Then he reports that he went to the furnace, turned the switch on the furnace off and then on and the furnace worked fine! Unfortunately the electronics on the furnace did not store the "error code". If we have this problem again during the night we are to cycle the switch on the front of the furnace. If it happens in the day, call them and ask for Scott to come back. Do you want to bet that it will happen again on Thanksgiving or Christmas and that the switch cycling won't do a thing?

Constable In Training

2008-11-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

I was sworn in as a constable on November 14, 2008. I have quickly found out that there is no "Constable's Manual". Sen. Dan Seum has filed a bill in the Kentucky State Senate

"to require the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, in cooperation with the Department of Criminal Justice Training and the Kentucky Constable Association, to develop a qualification program for constables and deputy constables and to require the basic forty (40) hour training course to be provided to constables and deputy constables at no cost." However with the current budget crisis I don't have much hope of this bill passing any time soon.

I thought that I would get to serve my first civil summons today. However, since I was also one of the complainants, I was advised that I should not serve it. So I paid $38.48 to have the Circuit Court's office serve it on four people via registered mail. The alternate would have been to have the sheriff serve it for $160.

While at the Circuit Court office I got a quick lesson in issuing citations for say, traffic violations or parking violations. Who knew that for many traffic violations, the fine is only $20 but the court costs are an additional $143? For improper parking there is no court costs. For handicapped parking violations there are also no court costs, but the fine is $250!

There is a uniform citation system in Kentucky but you have to get the forms from someplace in Frankfort and must file a copy of any citation written with the clerk's office.

And so it goes...

My First Blog

2008-11-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Junosmom talked me into staring my own Blog. So here it is! I have no idea what I will blog about or how often I'll blog, but I hope the readers will enjoy it.