Frogtails, Faces you remember
Chester Rugrats T-Ball2004.05.08—news and details about the team. June, 2004June 30, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Getting ready to visit Steve and Mary Ellen in Boston. Will return Monday or Tuesday. June 26, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. It rained here last night (surprise). Without the school to occupy my Saturday mornings, I’ll have time to find some other mischief to get into to. :) Here is another of Patrick Martino’s fabulous travel stories. This one is is about his adventures in Cambodia and covers the topics: Siem Reap, the Countryside, the Temples of Angkor, Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, and the Khmer Rouge. It is another lengthy story so be patient while it loads.
June 22, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Having thought about space the entire day, I’ve pretty well decided that I want to go and have a plan for getting there. I'm going to set aside $10 USD each month for the next 21 years. The price of a civilian ticket into space will surely have dropped from the current millions to the thousands I will have accumulated by then. On my birthday that year, I’ll be ready to go. It seems a fitting way to turn 75. On my 25th, I spent the morning in Paris, France and had breakfast at an outdoor cafe. My lunch that day was a stand-up affair at a counter inside the JFK airport in New York. Dinner was served at Smitty’s (sp?), a small greasy spoon restaurant in downtown Columbus. A day in space sounds better than what I did on the 25th and very likely is actually possible if I save up for it and remain healthy. Congratulations to Mike Melvill, the first civilian to fly a spaceship out of the atmosphere. It is about time that we begin the commercial exploration of space. It seems to me that once we have a routine and reliable flight into space, we will soon have movies being filmed there (think of the special effects that would be possible), tourism (make it anywhere near affordable and you can sign me up today), and manufacturing (a near vacuum and weightless environment just doesn't exist on earth). Others with greater vision will see far more possibilities and would likely spawn an entire new wave of advancements not unlike the Internet. I’m excited and patiently awaiting my turn in space. Patrick Martino writes another lengthy travel story about New Zealand. His stories are fairly long so take a look when you are prepared to spend a few minutes. I find his stories very enjoyable and interesting. June 21, 2004 — Bromley, Kentucky. Dennis shares a story about God and St. Francis talking about lawn care. He mentioned recently that he may be willing to share a few of his photos and may start writing now and then. Wouldn’t that be grand! June 20, 2004 — Covington, Kentucky. What a pleasant Father’s Day. Dad and I went to Covington to meet my brother for breakfast. Afterwards, Dennis took us to Sawyers Point in downtown Cincinnati. They have really done a nice job on this park. You can see that Newport, Kentucky is also building a park on their side of the river and there is already a pedestrian bridge that will connect the two. I am very pleased to see the two cities working together to make a very pleasant riverfront. The weather was near perfect. I stopped at Jeanie’s mom and dads house on the way home. The weather was still nice so we sat on the porch and talked. After our visit with them Jeanie and Nick treated me to supper on our way home. Joe and Angie stopped by for a visit and Steve called. What more could a fellow ask for? Thanks to everyone for making today feel like my own personal Father’s Day.
Still later in the evening my aunt and her daughter stopped in. They have been going through grandmothers things and found a few letters and pictures that are nothing short of amazing to me. Below is a Loveland postmark dated December 22, 1951 at 1:00 p.m. and a 2 cent postage stamp that was on the envelop of a Christmas card she had saved from my mom, dad, and I. It is hard for me to imagine that she would keep a Christmas card for over 50 years, but I’m happy that she did.
I am on my way to visit my Dad in Cincinnati for Father’s Day. With the weather heating up and more outside activities possible, the postings on this site may become a little less frequent.
June 18, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. More rain. It has been task trying to keep the lawn mowed and near impossible to work in the garden this year. A neighbor has cut hay on the ground and much more that still needs to be cut. It should have been cut a month ago. Out West, they are having the worst draught in 500 years. The Colorado river is at its lowest level ever recorded. Lake Mead is down over a hundred feet. Average weather never happens, it is just a statistical measure of many extremes. A headline today caught my eye. Israel is giving serious consideration to building a moat. I’m thinking that a moat will solve few of their problems and will only serve to distract them from figuring out how to live together. Perhaps they are thinking that a dry moat will someday be a neat tourist attraction. China tried to protect its borders with a wall without much success but it is a sight that I would someday like to behold. June 14, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Oops! My bad. It probably went unnoticed but I’ll make certain that it doesn’t happen again. Here is what went wrong. This morning, I posted the note below by Patrick Martino in Laos. It is pretty lengthy and requires a fair amount of tedious touch up work before it is ready for viewing. I always read everything before placing it before the public. Time passes by quickly when I’m working and I didn’t get it all completed before it was time for work. Realizing that most readers would not even know what I’m changing*, I figured it safe to just post it as is and then finish cleaning it up tonight. Therein lies the problem. I have only read a little over half of it. Having read several of Patrick’s stories, I trust that it is suitable for all ages but I really don’t know that to be a fact at this moment. With several people writing for this site, it will be imperative to know what is being published to avoid any embarassment. Again, my apologies to all and rest assured that I will thoroughly read everything that is posted on this site before it goes public. You and I may not agree with everything said here, but I’ll make certain that it maintains some sense of decency. * Curious? Make the text larger. E.G. In I.E. view/text size/largest. Notice how quotes and single quotes have a curl to them? They should look like this: “hello world” and ‘hello world’. Typical e-mail and notepad programs code them incorrectly and they turn out looking like this: "hello world" and 'hello world'. It is subtle I'll admit, but I know better thanks to A List Apart. If you are curious about making a better web site, A List Apart is excellent reading. Earlier, I had provided a snippet of an e-mail from Patrick Martino while in Laos. Today, I have the whole story. Here is Update #7—Laos, including stories about: HUAY XAI, MUANG SING, MUANG KHUA. THE NAM OU RIVER, PHONGSALI, LUANG PRABANG, PHONSAVAN, VIENTIANE, and the PLAIN OF JARS. His stories are a little long but I find them well worth the time it takes to read them. I’ll continue posting them about once a week until my supply of stories are exhausted. June 13, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Butch, Bev, and their family are all en route to Puerto Rico. Steve and Mary Ellen on their way to Boston. A mobile crowd we are. Until yesterday, Ohio University had never paid a nickel for a commencement speaker. This was the 200th anniversary of O.U. so they anted up USD $30,000 for one. Mind you he had to speak at both the morning session and the afternoon one that I attended. The morning session must have worn him out as he spoke for only fifteen minutes at ours and it was not much different than I would expect from a free speech. It was an OK speech mind you and I know few who could deliver a speech so well. But it does make it clear that the people who authorize such spending do not have any idea of what the experience is for the majority of people. They are very nice people by and large and they mean well. In fact, the office that Steve works in gave him a book signed by many of the top administrators of O.U. They are just out of touch with the majority and those they should be serving in my opinion. All that said, it was a very nice ceremony and I enjoyed it immensely. John Climer conducted the O.U. Wind Ensemble. Susan, his wife, was the high school band teacher for Steve so we know him pretty well. Mary Ellen’s family turns out to be really nice people and sat with us in the President’s section. Joe and Nick both were willing to shave and dress for the occasion. I don’t think either really wanted to but were willing to set aside their own feelings to help celebrate Steve and Mary Ellen's accomplishment. Everyone was on their best behavior. Steve had several of the people in the office stop by and congratulate him while we were waiting on Mary Ellen to walk through the line. It was nice to see people who really care for your child and wish him well. In all, I felt rather cozy and comfortable in a room of 20,000 or so. I feel blessed.
June 12, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Steve and Mary Ellen both attended the commencement exercise at Ohio University this afternoon. Steve was able to obtain reserved seating for both families. It was a happy moment for everyone. I am proud of both. It is really late so I'll write about it tomorrow. June 11, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. This evening we had a graduation party for Steve and Mary Ellen. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend for wishing these two well and celebrating their accomplishment with them. June 09, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Happy Birthday Jean! June 08, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. A guest on the John Daily Show (didn’t catch his name) had an interesting observation to make about how the rest of the world is currently looking at the U.S. He indicated that nearly everyone has always admired our friendly ways and boundless optimism. He pointed out that in much of the world there has been little but dismal expectations for eons. Our optimism is what has helped the U.S. to stand out among other countries of the world. The U.S. in effect was exporting hope and optimism to all corners of the world. That is why he felt that people have loved the U.S. in the past even though they may have felt envy or jealousy towards us at times. The guest continued on that after 9/11, we have preached 100% terror in all discussions, with everyone, at ever level, on every subject. We have been rude in delivering this message. The world now “feels” fear emanating from the U.S. At a gut level, they are feeling betrayed by us. They are angry about the loss and it is causing the intense dislike for us we are presently seeing around the world. This is a point of view that I had not considered until I heard it and will admit that it may merit additional thought and action.
11:19 GMT. NADA, No show! I was awake but still in bed thinking about the transit of Venus. Well, if God is going to put on a show of a lifetime for me I’d better get up and witness it. Here I am at the appointed hour and guess what. The sun didn’t rise this morning, at least not at the appointed hour, not in these parts anyway. I’m hoping that it still will later on. There is not a cloud in the sky and actually a very lovely warm morning. A beautiful half moon is due South and it is clear and quiet… but the sun is totally missing from view. It is still very pretty out this morning. The image above is from Nasa. the BBC. Our own Nasa site hasn’t bothered to offer anything other than yesterdays announcement of the coming event as I write this. UPDATE: OK, later on in the morning I checked the NASA site and they had the photo above and a nice article. I take back everything I said and apologize for my haste.
Thank you both for all of the times that you have volunteered to help Jeanie and I with various household tasks and emergencies that seem to come up that require an additional hand. A parent can not help but be proud to see his son or daughter become a decent person and making it in the world. I hope that you are blessed with many happy years together and wish you both the best in life. Trust me, it will be an adventure full of both good and bad times. Treasure and dwell on the good ones and pray that you are given the strength to endure and forget the sad ones. June 06, 2004 — Frederick, Maryland. Where’s Daphne?. Grandma claims to always know the location of a favorite doll. Another great story for anyone who has ever cared for little ones. June 06, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. This day 60 years ago the Allied forces stormed the beaches of France. It is terrible to think of the losses that occurred that day. Most people think of the many people who died or were wounded that day. Consider also those who lived but had to do awful things to other people that day. I think that would not be a pleasant experience or memory for anyone to carry through a lifetime. I doubt that our troops who have recently fought in Iraq cherish the memories. Sixty years ago, our troops had a declaration of war duly issued by the U.S. congress, as required by our Constitution, as a just authority for doing what they did. Today’s troops must follow the commands of a leader that might not stand up as legal authority under constitutional scrutiny. The troops in both cases have done a wonderful job under trying circumstances. They carry out what they were trained for and ordered to do. The troops of today seem equal to the troops of long ago. The leadership of today could learn much about integrity from an earlier time. Coming soon, a transit of Venus. It really is not that big a deal but it is very rare. The last time anyone has seen the planet Venus cross in front of the sun was in back 1882. In other words, no one alive today has ever seen such an event. If the weather is clear and you get up early, you might just see this peculiar event. On the East coast of the U.S. it will already have started across the sun before it comes up and will exit the face of the sun beginning around 6:05 a.m. and will be completely gone by 6:25 a.m. EST. CAUTION: do NOT peer directly at the sun. Sunglasses are NOT sufficient. Be prepared and read up on the safety precautions. June 05, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Kodak. Bah, humbug! Jeanie bought a digital camera for me a year and a half ago for a Christmas gift. It took beautiful photos and I was pretty happy with it. I was happy enough with it that I bought an additional memory card and had planned on taking it with us to Hawaii. My brother was in the market for a digital so I gave it a pretty good endorsement. Good enough that he went out and purchased one. Now, I regret having giving him what I now realize is pretty bum advice. You see, it stopped working and I could not obtain warranty work on it. The Kodak web site appears to me to be designed to keeping you from obtaining service and repair. Worse, I have had great difficulty in finding anyone who will even consider repairing it. Today I received an estimate of $393 from some outfit in Atlanta, Georgia. I told them to just send it back as I wasn’t paying that much money to repair something that originally cost a little over $500. It is absolutely obscene for Kodak to sell a consumer product that they have no intention of servicing. From this day forward, when I see the Kodak name on a product, I’ll be looking the other direction. I’m pretty certain that there are others willing to satisfy my photographic needs. Two years from now when their business is hurting and they are wondering why they have lost so many lifelong customers, I hope someone will point this article out to them. More rain. I've not been able to get into my garden for two weeks. The weeds are winning. Lucky for you that gives me a little more time indoors so I was able to spend some time getting another of Patrick Martino’s stories ready. This one is from Thailand. Russell, from Denver, Colorado, also sent another of his stories this week so I have quite a backlog. I’ll try to get one fixed up and published each week for a while. For obscure technical reasons that you are most likely not interested in, some of these take a fair amount of tedious work to make them look nice for you. If you consider for a moment that these stories originated on who knows what kind of computers, half way around the world, it is pretty awesome that it takes no more than it does to deliver these stories to you, anywhere in the world. June 04, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Jeanie and I just returned from seeing Shrek II. It was better than the original. I had thought the original was hilarious and very well done. This is bound to become a classic and is well deserved. My hat is off to everyone who had anything to do with the making of this movie. I would highly recommend it to anyone without hesitation. The only consideration would be that you might want to watch the original Shrek first, if you have never seen it before. June 02, 2004 — Frederick, Maryland. Another little note from grandma titled “Rocks and Rainbows”. June 02, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. Yesterday I said that I would start providing a few tips and other small useful articles. The first item I started on was how to wire a switch. Before starting on it, I figured it wouldn't take five or ten minutes. After an hour or so, I had it in my mind to take a few photos and include those to help clarify the words. It seemed that I could just check a few details and then have it wrapped up within another half hour or so. The more I write the more I began to realize that:
Those thoughts really did cross my mind as I was writing. Mind you, I'm not an electrician by trade. However, I have wired switches for years without any failures and generally believe that I know how to do it. Who knows, it might just be useful for someone else to hear it in simple terms. Even better, my writing may just prevent more fires and save a few lives. Will the courts and attorneys reward my good efforts or merely try to take what they can from me? Unfortunately, we all know the answer to that question so I think it best that I retire from giving instruction on anything that could cause a loss to anyone. Pity. June 01, 2004 — Alfred, Ohio. My new truck gets 27 mpg. I drive nearly 26 miles each way so that comes to about 10 gallons of gas each week plus over 250 miles on the tires and truck. Toni, a co-worker, drives within a mile of my house each day. She told me that she gets 33 mpg so she would be going through another seven and a half gallons of gas each week. Today, we started sharing our ride to work and will take turns driving. So simple. Between us, we are going to save around eight and a half gallons of gas each week. Gosh knows that I have used far more than my share of gasoline over the years so I fell pretty good about that. National Geographic this month had a pretty big article about the end of cheap oil so we are taking a small step in the right direction. Here is another small step that I can make that may be useful to people down the road. Have you ever wondered how to wire a switch or an electrical outlet? I’ve decided to add a new section of practical tips. I intend for each article should be brief, factual, and useful. I would like to see this expand to include recipes and other common items of interest. If you know how to do something, write it up and submit it for posting. |
