Backyard Birds

The new feeder in the backyard has finally been noticed by the birds. There's also a squirrel that is enjoying the sampling of seeds that the birds throw on the ground. There have been at least four different species of birds that have stopped by already and it's only February. At this pace of activity it should make for some interesting viewing on the weekends and as the days get longer it will be nice to see what shows up in the early evening.

Needless to say the feeder has also been noticed by the neighbor's cats. So far they are just lurking at the edge of the yard, sitting on the woodpile. As long as they stay at the edge of the yard, we won't have any issues, but should they come much closer...I know of two dogs that are going to have a field day chasing them here, there and everywhere.

After an outing of errand for Walter to pick up him some lunch supplies and a radio, to use to keep up on the news/weather, I've come back to see that the cats have "MULTIPLIED" in my absence. So far, I think that I have photos of at least 15, I feel a collage coming on so that we can use it to identify them all.

The squirrels are taunting the cats as well, they hang right there on the tree and swish their little tails at them. One cat sat at the bottom of the tree with his mouth quivering watching one of them.

Early Morning Mission

I made a quick run into Richmond this morning to take Walter some 'lunch', he had forgotten it on his way out this evening. I did take to opportunity to take a few pictures while I was out.

Richmond At Night Photos

Blog Posts

It has been brought to my attention, that I appear to be really blurry-eyed when I'm writing some of my posts lately. I'm not really having difficulties with 'short-arm' disease, the reason for the odd looking beginning to each post is due to my using some great drop cap graphics for the first letter of each post. Be sure to check out the blog site (http://themews.blogspot.com) to see these cool graphics.

CHHS Get Together

oing out this evening the the CHHS Alumni get together at Murphy's Law in Chester. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Nice, but short evening out. I'm looking forward to getting the group back together in the Spring at Glory Days Grill on the patio. We all seem to have a really great time there.

Photos from CHHS Get Together

Sunny Saturday

een having a fairly productive day. I've gotten some homework, laundry, and cleaning done. Even though the sun is out and it's nice out, I built a fire to warm up the house.

The dogs have been getting along quite well today. They both are adjusting to going outside on a leash. If only, Carla, hadn't started 'wandering' around the yard for long periods of time they both could probably still be going out alone.

Adventures in Video

ideo editing gone awry. I spent the majority of the morning working on a 4 1/2 minute video. The trick was the original video was over 5 1/2 gig in side so it never quite got completely loaded. It was edit, wait, listen, edit, wait, wait, and wait some more, then start all over again. To tackle the lag problem I ended up watching what I was editing on one screen and using the 2nd to make the actual edits using only the time markers. It was a minor challenge, but it could have been much worse if I'd only had one computer to work on.

A tweet came through today from TecHead - they are offering a class on Adobe Flash Catalyst. At our last RAUG meeting we had a "preview" of what it can do and WOW! It will be an awesome tool to use in creating and sharing interactive content without writing codes! Yipee! I've already gotten my registration in and in a real stroke of luck, the office was already closed that day, so I don't even have to worry about missing any time to attend.

This evening I hopped out by to Mom & Dad's for dinner. Mom made a great chili.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Computer Repair

Caller: Hi, our printer is not working.

Customer Service: What is wrong with it?

Caller: Mouse is jammed.

Customer Service: Mouse? Printers don't have a mouse you fool!

Caller: Mmmmm??.. Oh really?... I will send a picture.

Hump Day!!

Man, am I glad that the week is half over. Today has really been a challenge. Not so much in what I was doing just the nature of the work. I was trying to recover a video from online which ended up needing to go through about four more steps than I thought it really should have needed. Grr, just a real pain.

I’m beginning to think that I’m trying to come back down with a flu like bug. I’ve been freezing all day and getting the chills. Basically just the ‘yucks’!

Wow, Mom sent me this real blast from the past. Traveling the country in 1985. This was a great 5th wheel trailer. It was loaded with everything available at the time. I even had a washer & dryer. The little cut-out looking area at the rear popped out so that it gave an extra 3-ft of floor space (this is where the sofa sat).


Email & Newsletter Gleanings:
Way Too Funny!

Happy Mardi Gras!

orning meeting, lunch out with everyone at the office, home and out with Kelly & Walter. Wow! That's a whole lot going on in just one day.

The morning meeting was really very good. Time to get us all pulling in the same direction and working on the same overall goal. Dr. Martin had a couple of role playing exercises for us that will really come in handy in the future. I bet someone even uses the exercise in a real situation before the end of the week.

We all headed over to Red Robin for lunch, by way of Hops. Hops, our first choice for lunch, had closed down and there was a sign on the door about an auction. Oops! The food at Red Robin was pretty good, and the service was really good.

Back at the office this afternoon we all dived into our projects and regular 'office duties'. The end of the sorta just slipped up on me. I almost didn't see it coming. There were just things that needed doing.

At home, Kelly was working on her homework - Walter was cheering her on and trying to help where he could. They were so cute sitting at the dining room table working across from one another on different computers.

Once Kelly's paper was all written and printed, we hopped over to IHop for a late dinner. The two of them kept talking about pancakes, that is until we got there. Then neither one of them even order them. Silly things. Since today is Mardi Gras, and Kelly is from New Orleans, had Mardi Gras beads to wear this evening. Very cute!

It's been a long day and it won't be that long before it is time to start all over again. Walter will be heading out for training in the morning as I go, so the dogs will be on their own for most of the day. Bounce & Carla both will be able to get into a better routine beginning next week when Walter gets on his regular schedule.

Normal Monday - Possibly

tupendous! A Monday morning without snow. How in the world did it happen? I've been doing a little recon on Tuesday's forecast and maybe, just maybe we are going to dodge the previously predicted snow storm. Here's hoping!

Today I've been helping out at the office at the front desk. Doing the typical front desk stuff; confirming, scheduling and rescheduling appointments. Not my normal stuff, but I'm happy to pitch in whenever it's needed.

Monday Evening:

Just as I started home this evening, I received a text from Walter saying he was finally on his way home from work. Oops! The plan had been that he was only working half a day today. We'll since I just knew, that he would be home at lunch, I didn't go home and let the dogs out. Hmm. I could only imagine just what horrors were awaiting after they both had been locked in the house all day. I really wasn't worried about Carla, just Bounce. He hadn't been left that long before. Much to our GREAT surprise, he hadn't had any accidents all day! Walt let him out of the laundry room and he made a bee line for the front door. Yeah! He's getting so much better. Even this evening both he and Carla have been doing great. Bounce has even been laying down for me on command.

Happy Valentines Day

alentine's Day or Single's Awareness Day your choice, whichever you choose hope that you have had a great one.

I was out awhile this morning with Walter on a covert mission, very hush hush. While we were on a stakeout I saw bunches of Bluebirds in on the trees nearby. They were really cool to watch. Photos weren't the best - the sun was hitting them at the wrong angle, but they were a busy bunch.

Then there was this odd pile of snow that sorta looks like a shaggy buffalo. It was just too odd.

Walter got all of his errands ran just in time to take Miss Kelly out for the evening. Valentine's surprises delivered during the day and a clean vehicle to pick her up in. The great thing about the day was NO SNOW!!! Although I heard from a little bird that something may be coming our way by next weekend.

Bounce was cute this evening. He pulled down the door on his crate, climbed in and proceeded to lay down. It didn't last long, but it was a step forward. It's getting late now and he'll be looking to go to bed before too long.

Another Snowy Morning

nother snowy morning. I was definitely surprised when I woke up this morning to find that we had had another dusting of snow.

We had a couple of errands that needing running this morning, including a stop by Mom & Dad's for Walter. I got Mom to put on her shoes and grab her camera for a quick outing to see what we could find.

We started out at Sunday Park in Brandermill. There were a few ducks and geese on the reservoir, but overall it was fairly calm. The wind off the water was bitterly cold. It was nice to get back into a warm vehicle after walking around. I got a few nice shots there. I think Mom did as well.

Onto the Strayer University Campus, just off Genito. There are a couple of ponds there that we thought that we would check out. The best photo of the day was this cute little fellow.

Snowy Outing Photos

This afternoon Walter combat crawled under the house and found where one of the ducts had fallen down. A quick to trip to Pleasant's Hardware had him all fixed up with a roll of duct tape. After that it was a quick fix - the duct is back into place, blowing warm air into the house instead of underneath it.

Friday!!

ippee! Friday has turned out to be a very pleasant day. I'm so glad that the sun has been out and warming things up, even just a little bit. It really does lift the spirits.

I've been making midday runs to the house to let the puppy out at lunch time. He's been doing so well. It won't be too long before we'll be able to leave him for most of the day without any trouble. Once we can let him out of the utility room while we're gone, and he's staying out of trouble. He'll probably be a bit less "hyped" up when I get home.

Perhaps come warmer weather we maybe able to get a fence up around a portion of the yard so that he'll have a place to run during the day. I'm sure that it would help out with his energy levels. He'd be able to burn off some of his energy and as an added bonus, help keep the neighborhood cats out of the yard.

On the way home from lunch today, I spied this "little truck" out in the parking lot of Chesterfield Towne Center. They were loading it up with brush. Cool little truck.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

I got this link to this through email - very funny.

Back to the Office

'm beginning to lose track of what day it is, since we're missing so much time from work, due to snow. I'm pretty sure that it is Thursday, so here we are at the end of another week facing another possible snow this weekend. I'm sure that I'm not the only who is ready for all of this cold stuff to be over with for the season. I'm surely looking forward to Spring. If the pattern holds out - I'm betting that come, August we'll have some 100-degree days at least for a week.

Bounce & Carla had the house to themselves today. Bounce was a good boy while I was gone - he didn't tear up anything and waited until I go home to let him out to go potty. Yeah!!!

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Inspirational- 4 Worms Church Sermon!

4 Worms Church Sermon!

For those of you who missed church on Sunday, here is a recap! Four worms and a lesson to be learned!!!!

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.

The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.

The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.

The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:

The first worm in alcohol-Dead


The second worm in cigarette smoke- Dead


Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead


Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.

So the Minister asked the congregation, "What did you learn from this demonstration???"

Maxine was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,


'As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'

That pretty much ended the service

The Day at Home

lthough I started for work this morning, that was cut short by a text message that we weren't opening until 10. Since I was already at Hull Street I slipped into Sheetz for a Chai tea. Something nice and warm for a very, very frosty morning. Finally back home. I settled in to work on some homework. It wasn't too much later that a second text came through say we were closed for the day. I took advantage of the day in to do laundry, homework and work on a few things that I'd been putting off.

I even had a visit from Tim & his family. They even brought their puppies over to visit their little brother. It was extremely amusing watching all three of them bounding around all over the yard in the snow. If it had been much deeper, we could have lost them all in the snow. Carla wasn't not too pleased about it all - I could just hear her saying, "One was bad enough, but three!!!"

All in all it was a very productive day. The news away from home was a bit more adventurous.

Sean spent his morning trying to get away from school. He normally gets home at 10:15 and they were trying to make them all stay at school till 2:00 p.m. Big difference. He had several other classmates that were obligated to get back home at their usual time - really a bad situation especially when there are younger children involved.

Walter was out with Kelly - he was going to be a real sweetie and drive her to VCU today, which turned out to be unnecessary when they closed for the day. They did, however, rescue Kelly's sister from the high school. She was trapped behind a "teacher chain" that was blocking the doorway. They really didn't want them to escape.

This afternoon the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly on all the white stuff. Bounce and Carla spent some time outside looking for cats near the woodpile. They didn't have much luck, but the trip back was entertaining to watch.



More Snow Photos
Walt was heading back in this evening, just after dark, and had some difficulty getting back to the house. Just down the road from the house a U-Haul had gone into the ditch and was stuck across the road. The police were there and he had to wait for a spell until they would let him pass. This is the view of the mess from the front window at the house. Today was definitely not a good day to move, way too slick.

Snow Yet Again

mm, snow yet again! I think I see a trend developing. Clear roads, snow, clear roads, snow, and repeat....

I do believe that Global Warming is just hammering us these days. I don't know if we can take many more of these days. Although, I vaguely remember the weather being a little worse than this back in the late 70's - early 80's. Could it all be just a vicious cycle???

Just heard that Chesterfield County Schools are Closed/Closing. Now all they have to do is get all the high school students back home. Poor things had to get up early, go out in the snow, ride the bus and then go to class. Now they get to wait around while they decide what time they get to go back home.

Monday Evening Madness

his evening we had a bit of puppy madness at the house. I'd settled down in the Sun room to watch television when all of a sudden a heated, scented candle went crashing to the floor spill all over the floor, curtains, chair and one unfortunate puppy. Bounce had been nosing around the chair looking for anything that he thought that would be worth nibbling on. He'd even found a Hershey kiss that had fallen sometime around Christmas, which he was promptly relieved of.

It seems that he some how managed to tangle one of those long legs of his in the power cord to the candle warmer. Poor thing had wax all over his rear feet, legs and his tail. There were some splotches here and there elsewhere, but the majority of the 'waxy build up' was on his rear.

He has been through a bath, having a fine tooth comb run through the waxy areas to try to loosen them, having ice applied to the areas to harden the wax so it would come out easier and then finally being released. By the time all was said and done he was so tuckered out that he just has given up and gone to sleep.

Hopefully this will make him at least a little leery of power cords. I guess it's time to think seriously about 'baby proofing' the house.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Daddy, how was I born?

A little boy goes to his father and asks 'Daddy, how was I born?'

The father answers, 'Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, and googled each other. There your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive.. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said: 'You got Male!

Sunday Outing

We got the driveway cleared, again, and headed out for a visit at Mom & Dad's house. It was nice getting out of the house.

We took Bounce with us, so that Carla could have a little time at the house without worrying about the puppy. It gave her the opportunity to sleep without being bothered.

Walter packed up the snow shovel and a bag of ice melt and off we went. He jumped right into clearing Mom & Dad's driveway. It didn't take him very long at all and it look terrific when he got done. By the time we were ready to leave the gravel was clearly visible in a large portion of the driveway.


On our way back to the house I was able to get some really neat bird photos. The Bluebird is on the left and Cedar Waxwings are on the right.

More Snow Photos
Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon." - George Washington, 1795

"Reviving the Constitution" - An Online Town Hall

Thank you for participating in “Reviving the Constitution,” Hillsdale College’s first-ever online town hall. Owing to your interest in the principles of the Constitution, the event was a tremendous success.

If you were unable to access any part of the webcast on Saturday, January 30, each session of the program is viewable free of charge at www.constitutiontownhall.com. The “Town Hall Reader” is available on the Kirby Center Web site at www.thekirbycenter.org.

Please tell your friends, family, and coworkers about the Constitution Town Hall, as it’s not too late for them to register and view the archived event. Please direct anyone interested in watching the event to www.constitutiontownhall.com.

Check out the Hillsdale College U.S. Constitution Reader at the Kirby Center Web site, under “Resources.” It contains a wealth of key documents on citizenship and the Constitution.

To receive a free subscription of Hillsdale College’s monthly speech digest, Imprimis, please click here. Imprimis promotes the principles of individual rights, limited government, free market economics, personal responsibility and strong national defense. Launched in 1972 with a circulation of 1,000, it now reaches over 1.8 million monthly readers. We hope you will join this community of readers committed, with Hillsdale College, to “pursuing truth and defending liberty.”

Signs You Need a New Pizza Place

~ The pizza's secrets ingredient is still moving.

~ The delivery kid is packing.

~ This weeks special is double cheese and double anchovies at no extra charge.

~ While waiting for the last order to come out of the oven, you catch the delivery guys playing "Frisbee golf" with the other pizzas.

~ When you call in your order, someone answers the phone with "Gino's Bait Shop and Pizzeria, how may I help you?"

~ When you open the box you find that the anchovies are eating the sausage.

~ You realize the red sauce is ketchup.

~ The pizza box that was just delivered to you displays the phone number for the Poison Control Hotline.

~ You notice a sign on the door: "Dear Customers: we are pleased to announce that 38% of our menu is FDA approved."

~ Their slogan is "If it's not there in 30 minutes, it's not getting there."

~ Your "stuffed crust pizza" is stuffed with pudding instead of cheese.

~ Your order of bread sticks is simply the uneaten crust from old pizza slices.

~ The delivery guy waits at your door until you're finished so he can take the box back for the next customer.

Happy Birthday Danielle!

Frosty Friday

ur weather forecast here is for some very frosty weather for the next several days. WRVA has been broadcasting weather reports from WXRisk.com and they are very accurate (he predicted the last two major storms a week before anyone else!).

The snow started at the office around 10 this morning. By noon I had over a half inch of accumulation on my car. We closed up the office at 2 to patients, but did not get out until 3. The drive home was a little hairy in places, I dropped the car into 2nd and puttered on home. As for the others on the road....there wasn't much that could be said.





On the way home I started out in heavy snow and ended up at the house getting hit with sleet. It was great to make it home in one piece.

Walter, bless his heart, had gone out earlier in the day and pick up more rock salt from Home Depot, stacked wood on the front porch and already shoveled the walks once before I got home.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

What to do when you are bored at work.....

1. Kill a few flies.

2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.

3. Once they are dry, pick a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.

Here are a few examples...






Makes me wonder, though: where does someone work that there are this many flies? Eek!

Thursday Trials

oday turned out to have a unique set of challenges and turn of events. First thing this morning, on my drive into the office, I do believe that I got caught behind every driver who was in need of a refresher course. Loads of definitely distracted drivers. I swear that you'd think they driving with their eyes closed. Brian F. came into the office just after me and told me that there had been an accident out front. It seems a Mustang and a truck got into it. In the end, I don't think either one actually won. Traffic after that was an absolute mess.

A quick call from Walter this morning let me know that his cell phone had died overnight while he was out of town. He was having one heck of a time with the Verizon store in Lynchburg. They told him that he wasn't eligible for a new phone, and they weren't much help figuring out what he needed to do next since the phone had actually broken. He did not take that very well. Being the resourceful fellow that he is, he visited with Patrick and Appomattox, who was able to supply him with an alternate phone to use until he could buy another one.

The boss let me know the other day that he wants me to learn how to operate a Mac - so while Walter was visiting with Patrick, a real geek (in a nice way), had a spare older Mac that he sent back home with Walter for me to 'learn' on. I'll have to work with it a bit to get the hang of the way Apple does things. I'm sure that there will be a learning curve. I sure do appreciate the loan.

Once I got home this evening, we ran up to the Verizon store from the house and had them look into the situation. Luckily they were able to straighten out the whole situation. His phone was still under warranty, by a whole 10 days, they were able to give him a replacement phone. Yippee!! All of his contact are all transferred and saved online for safe keeping.

All in all a very successful evening out. On another happy note, Bounce spent his 2nd day in the laundry room while I was at work, and I'm happy to report that he didn't even have any accidents today. He was such a good boy! It won't be too long before we are able to leave him in other rooms for at least 30 minutes by himself.

We're a little shorthanded at the office, so beginning tomorrow, in addition to what I'm normally doing I'll be helping out at the front desk. Everyone cross their fingers for me.

A Non Snow Day

Hard to believe that it wasn't snowing today, after the weather that we've had over the past week. Then there is the the prospect of more coming on Friday. So much fun! Not!

Walt's been out and about this morning taking one of his expeditions off to somewhere. He shot this interesting video, looks a lot like my drive into work this morning. Not a lot of traffic nor visibility.


I went out during lunch to take care of the dogs, and on my way back to the office I was stopping by the post office to pick up some packing materials. While I was in the turn lane, I could see that there were police cars near the next intersection working an accident. When the light turned green, traffic took off and the next thing I know there had been another accident just behind the other one. Now you would think with all the flashing lights that they could have anticipated the need to change lanes, but no...let's run into the person in front of us who is actually trying to do just that! Talent!

Bounce did really well today while he was home alone in the laundry room. I wasn't sure what I was going to come home to, but it was very good for a little guy being home by himself.

Back to Work

Off to work this morning! Thank goodness that the snowplows were up and down our road so many times over the weekend. Compared to the snow in December the clean up on this one was a 100 times better, no big nasty slick spots on the road out to Hull Street.

The trip home was totally uneventful. No ice, no snow, no muss.

Walt & I ran a bunch of errand this evening. He was bound and determined to find some more rock salt for the driveway. No such luck, but he does know when it is arriving at the store.

The dogs are still suffering from cabin fever. The whole concept of staying in the house without getting out for at least 10-15 minutes to wander around every couple of hours is making them crazy. Bounce really could use the time out to literally 'bounce' around the yard. Carla on the other hand could use it so that Bounce could work off some of his energy.

The sleet is beginning to come down. I can hear it hitting the window panes in the living room. It promises to be a very slick adventure in the morning.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Funeral For a Homeless Man

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently, I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man, I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.

There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for over twenty years."

Unfun Snow Day

ell, what could have been a really great snow day, turned into a sick day instead. I came down with the 24 hour nasty bug. I've been nauseous and achy the whole day. Between sleeping and dozing I've gotten a lot of rest, but I'm still not back up to par. I've still got a headache that I hope will pass shortly.

The dogs have been edgy today. I do believe that they are suffering from being house bound. Since they usually get out and have the opportunity to run around the yard for a while everyday, being cooped up has them a little edgy. They both will be much happier once the snow melts off the yard.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Like the sign says............."Only in Pennsylvania "

People in Schuylkill County have a warped sense of humor. It must be something in the coal-infused water. This is the pull off at SR 61 and Adamsdale Rd.

A deer was hit there. The couch was dumped there previously.

Day two the deer was on the couch.

Day three the end table and lamp showed up.

Day four the TV and TV stand showed up.

The Trooper had to call PENN DOT because of all the people stopping to take pictures.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SIGN.

The cardboard caption in front of the deer on the couch reads,

"Sorry Hunters. Obama ruined health care. We can't afford to have injured hunters on our conscience, so I'm staying home! Sorry, The Deer."