My New Bus

Things I have eaten

2011-11-14T11:28:00.000-06:00

Because of my many years (40+) in the airline industry I have been able to travel overseas quite a lot. Over the years I have eaten many different types of food, some with full knowledge of what it was and some by accident. Here are a few examples:

One of the most memorable meals was in Jerusalem. Our group of Swissair employees was invited to dinner at the home of Gabriel Khano. We had roast lamb and stuffed grape leaves. Gabriel's mother spent the entire day in the yard turning the lamb on a spit over an open fire. The stomach cavity had been stuffed with stuffed grape leaves. The grape leaves were stuffed with rice, raisins and pine nuts. We ate the whole meal Bedouin style (no utensils).

Another meal was while I was in India. It was called a Wazwan dinner and consited of 27 courses of lamb. Each course was prepared differently and served in a large bowl of rice. Again it was eaten without benefit of utensils.

In Cairo, Egypt Sharon and I had camel brains. It was a buffet lunch and they looked so good and I didn't know it was brains until I asked the waiter what it was and he pointed to his head then to the two camels outside.

In Greece we (again Swissair employees) went out to dinner and for an appitizer were served a bowl of little round things. After eating about a dozen it was revealed that they were sheep testicles (also known as Rocky Mountain Oysters).

In Bali, Indonesia the shrimp (I do not like shrimp) are called prawns and are served with all the legs, feelers, heads and beady eyes looking up at you.

I was in Montreux, Switzerland and had gone for lunch at a restaurant that was recommended to me. The menu was in French (I could have asked for an English menu) but I decided to try my luck. I saw "porc" and decided to try it thinking I would get a pork chop. I should have read more closely. I ordered Pies du Porc. It turned out to be pigs feet.

In Kenya, Africa we had "bush dinner". It consisted of samples of 5 different animals: Crocodile (tasted like eating a fish flavored eraser), Warthog (just like eating pork), Giraffe, Wildebeest (also known as a Gnu) and Zebra. All was served at the end of a spear.

Also in Kenya I was invited to drink cow blood right from the neck of a cow (I politely declined).

I ate monkey in India (tasted like chicken) and when I was a Boy Scout I ate rattle snake (also tasted like chicken).

The Israeli breakfasts are excellent. Hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, cheeses, yogurt and hard rolls. Also some of the best pork I have eaten was in Israel.

The list could go on but you get the idea. It was always good to come home and have a Mickey D.

Venting

2011-09-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

I need to vent a little here.

Microfilm ordering at the Family History Center (known henceforth as the FHC) has undergone some major changes as of last week. Previous to last week when a patron ordered a film they filled out an order card, paid their $5.50 to cover postage from and to SLC and then they had the use of the film (at the FHC only) for 30 days. When ordered I would call in the order to the Global Service Center and the film is then shipped to me, when received I log the film into our database (which is accessable by SLC) and when returned I so note in the database.

As of Sept. 21 patrons now order the films on-line and pay the $5.50 using their credit card. The patron receives an e-mail when it is shipped, when it arrives here, etc. etc.

Now when I receive a film I log into the on-line database and make all the necessary notations.

Sounds easy, right? Nay!! Of course some of the problem I encountered was my own doing because I needed to enter about 15 films manually but in doing so I entered the wrong film number for each film.

Now the problem: I called SLC yesterday to remedy the situation (because after meticulously following printed directions it wasn't working). I spent 90 minutes on the phone - well part of the 90 minutes was redialing after being disconnected several times - and explaining my problem to various elderly, part-time missionaries, no solution was found but everyone kept telling me to go to the Users Guide (which I was looking at right in front of my face) and follow the directions.

So again this morning I tried to brave the "help desk" again and spoke to a very nice sister and SHE COULDN'T MAKE IT WORK EITHER!!

So she took down the wrong film numbers (supplied by me) and said she would git 'er done (she didn't actually say "git 'er done) but to give her a few hours.

Techinally speaking it should all work well but sometimes technology gets in the way.

Hot Stuff

2011-09-24T11:41:00.000-05:00

I thought that might get your attention. I have nothing to post about so I'll just ramble.

I have a whole new group of school children that I drive. My routes take me to the same neighborhoods as before but all new students with all new challenges. I have more pre-schoolers than in the past. I also have some students that are severely challenged, non verbal and physically handicapped whose parents have earned or are earning special rewards for their patience.

I work fewer hours (about 4.25 per day) but I got a raise of $.40 per hour which in comparison to the last few years is eaten up by fewer hours.

My aide hurt his back 2 weeks ago playing around with another drivers child and he has been off work for the past 10 days, so I have had a substitute aide. She is very nice and takes kind care of the children.

The Family History Center is undergoing some changes. In the past when patrons rented microfilms they paid us for the rental/postage. Now they can order the films on-line and pay the fee with their credit card. It makes my life (from the admin perspective) easier.

That's about it - oh, Sharon has a very bad cold. She gets these whiz-bang, super colds about twice a year. Her nose runs like a faucet, her throat gets real sore and it just lays her low for a few days. The funny thing is I never catch whatever she has.

Pistachios and Dates and Lockers

2011-08-10T11:39:00.000-05:00

I love Pistachios. I didn't know this but the Pistachio is a small tree that is either male or female. A male tree can pollinate up to 8 female trees. It takes about 20 years for a tree to reach complete maturity and it will bear fruit every other year in larger amounts. The first Pistachios were cultivated in Western Asia primarily in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Egypt and most of the "stan" countries. Recently they are being grown in California, New Mexico and the Western U.S.

My first real encounter with Pistachios was in Israel and Egypt where in the souks I saw huge burlap sacks full of green and red pistachios. Then at a tea shop in Cairo I saw 4 men sitting around a table playing dominos, drinking tea, smoking from a hooka and eating Pistachios.

Dates

When I was young I thought dates only came in bread (which my mother made) and then as I grew I found out that they were really very good even if they were stickey. Then on my first trip to Israel in 1968 I was driving (I wasn't actually driving but was riding) south from Jericho toward Massada along the shore of the Dead Sea when we passed a huge grove of palm trees with bags hanging from them. I found out on the way back that they were date palms being grown by the local kibbutz. We stopped and bought some and these weren't anything like the dates I had eaten at home. They were delicious, soft and sweet and still stickey. I ate what I had over the course of the next few days and then bought some more to take home. I gave some to my mom to eat and she MADE DATE BREAD instead of enjoying them in their natural state!

Lockers
As the start of school approaches I will share with you my big fear when I was in high school. I feared that I wouldn't remember my locker combination.

Nauvoo

2011-06-16T11:12:00.002-05:00

On our first day of summer vacation we decided to take a trip to Nauvoo. From here it is an easy 6 hr drive (unless it rains for the entire drive home). We arrived about 3pm and went to the visitors center where we were able to watch a musical "High Hopes and Riverboats". This performance is done by youth of the church (most looked to be about 16-18) and was a lot of fun. We drove up to the temple and looked around before heading to Fort Madison and our hotel.

The next morning it was decided that I would go to a 10:00am session at the temple. Conveniently there is an Arrival Center where you can change from your travel duds into Sunday go-to-meetin duds to enter the temple. I cannot accurately describe how beautiful the temple is inside. The use of a very dark wood for stairs, paneling, rails and accents against the pure white is beautiful. There are beautiful murals on the walls of the various rooms and a really awesome spiral staircase.

The temple is built on the footprint of the original temple (finished in 1846). The original temple was destroyed by firer and then a tornado and the rebuilt temple was dedicated in 2002.

The Sun stones are beautifully carved. The grounds of the temple are immaculate and provide a great view of the Mississippi.

We took a wagon ride around old Nauvoo and were able to determine sites to visit on our own. we went to the Land and Records office where a senior missionary helped us look at the data base to see if and Hawleys owned property in Nauvoo (I already knew they didn't) but we did find a Rufus Hawley who owned a plot of land. He's not a relative (I'm sure at some point back a few years he is).
Then it was on to the brickyard where we got a brick to go with the last brick we got there on August 14, 1982 (that's the last time we were in Nauvoo). From there we (mostly me) had to go to the Johnathan Browning Gunsmith Shop. I didn't know that he was a church member. In case you didn't know he invented the repeating rifle and his descendants later developed the Browning Automatic Rifle (Known as a BAR used in WWI & WWII). From there we went to the Bakery where we ate a gingerbread cookie and then to the Family Living Center where there are demonstrations on quilting, making rope (we made our own 6 ft length of rope), candle making, weaving, carding wool and much more. All of this is done by senior missionaries.

We then went to the Joseph Smith Historic Site which is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church). Saw the grave site of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Smith home and the Mansion House.

There are tons of things for children of all ages to do and see. There is a campground for those interested in that. We opted to stay in Fort Madison, IA and cross over into IL. Nauvoo hotels are a little pricey so we felt it was worth the $1.00 bridge toll to stay outside of Nauvoo.

The senior missionaries do a terrific job at each of the sites telling the story of that site and involving the viewers. They also participate in one of the shows in the evening. While we were there the BYU Folk Dance Ensemble performed (we were too tired to go to a show in the evening).

You can easily spend 2-3 days there and it is so inexpensive. There are no admission fees or ride fees just sister missionaries at the visitors center eager to talk to anyone who will listen and tell them where you are from. One missionary we talked with was from Gilbert, AZ.

This is a great family vacation site, something for everyone.

There is a web site you can go to to search for names during the Nauvoo period. www.earlylds.com

Sylvia Edwards

2011-05-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I received an email (via Ancestry.com) from a man I didn't know asking for information on Sylvia Edwards who at the time of her death in 1933 lived on Rialto Ave in Venice, Calif. I recognized the address as the home where Auntie Louie and Uncle Ted lived. Auntie Louie was my grandma Ritchie's sister (Louisa Jane MacGlashan and Uncle Ted was Edward Edwards) and they lived just through the block from grandma and grandpa.

This man wanted specifically to know how Sylvia died and why at such a young age (she was 12) so I looked at my family history info and found that she died of erysepelas. Obviously I didn't know what erysepelas was but thanks to google I found out. "Erysipelas is a superficial infection of the skin, which typically involves the lymphatic system. Erysipelas is also known as St. Anthony's Fire, an accurate description of the intensity of this rash. Erysipelas was a feared disease in pre-antibiotic days, especially in infants." So I called my mom to ask her if she knew anything about Sylvia's death. I figured she would because mom and Sylvia were only 2 years apart in age and they lived very close to each other and grandma and auntie Louie were very close (they died within just a few days of each other). Mom said that Sylvia had a new bathing suit and went swimming at Mud Lake in Venice and the suit chaffed her and she got the infection from bacteria in the lake. I also found out that the home they lived in was built by grandpa Ritchie.

The disease is easily treated by antibiotics now but penicillin had not yet been developed. Had Sylvia lived now treatment would have been a simple matter.

Mud Lake was in a swampy area in what is now Marina Del Rey. As a teenager Dick Faulkner used to take us (by us, I mean the kids in my age group) water skiing there. The lake and swamp were drained in the 1960's to create the Marina.

Out for a walk

2011-05-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

This morning after my bus routes I was reading and Sharon said there was some geese in the neighbors yard. Upon closer inspection we found that mom & dad goose were taking their 5 babies out for a walk. I know water fowl usually have their nests in close proximity to water and this got me to thinking "where is the water?" There is a large pond about 1/4 mile to the west of us and another large pond about 1/4 mile to the east, so my guess is that they must not have liked the accommodations at the west pond and were going to try out the east pond. As you can see from the picture one goose walked in the front and the other "brung" up the rear. They were walking at a pretty good clip too. I guess they weren't too comfortable walking through enemy territory.

I saw 3 families yesterday at work (we have several ponds nearby) and during my driving we pass a large pond where we have seen geese and ducks in the past because a guy that lives across the street from the pond puts feed out for the critters. He has squirrels, ducks, geese and 2 weeks ago had 5 deer in his yard eating whatever he puts out for them.

There have been many instances where traffic will stop while duck or geese families cross the road. It is so darn cute.

2011-05-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

The above picture is not a wedding picture but does show them at an early time in their marriage.

From the Church News April 23, 2011 edition the following:

Gilbert Pierce and Isabelle Ritchie Hawley were married 70 years ago, on April 20, 1941, in Santa Monica, Calif., and were later sealed in the St. George Utah Temple. They are members of the Sutter Buttes Ward, Yuba City California Stake. They have five children, 24 grandchildren and 64 great-grandchildren.

The date of April 20, 1941 is incorrect. They were married in Santa Monica, Calif on April 30, 1941 and sealed in the St. George, Utah temple the next day.

I love my Mom and Dad.

Darrell

2011-05-04T11:02:00.000-05:00

Every morning after I have checked over my bus I do a "radio check" (my bus/route number is 625) as follows:

Me: "625 radio check"

Base: "loud and clear Dennis"

And that is the end of communication unless base has something to advise me about for the day such as a particular student will not ride that day and therefore I don't need to stop for that student.

Yesterday I did the usual radio check but received this response:

"loud and clear Darrell".

So me being the jerk that I am replied

"I have been called many things during my life, but I have never been called Darrell".

These radio transmissions are heard on all of our 60 or 70 buses. I did receive a few comments on my transmission.

In support of the person(s) at the base I admit that a mixup is inevitable but I was just feeling a little "frisky" that day.

The Past

2011-04-19T11:49:00.003-05:00

50 years ago this October I left the warmth and the beaches of Santa Monica and Venice to serve a 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Minnesota. Let me back-track just a little here.

Not long after high school graduation I went to work for American Airlines as a mail clerk (if you are from England then I was a postal clark). Eventually my work must have pleased my bosses and I moved into crew schedule where I kept track of pilots and stewardesses (they were stewardesses then) flight time.

I turned 19 in Feb of 1961 and planned to serve a mission but I wanted to take advantage of my free flight benefits just once so I planned a trip for my parents and me to go to New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Mexico City and Acapulco during the summer. We went on our vacation and when we returned I began the interview process for my mission. First an interview with my bishop, then stake pres., then a general authority. For the general authority interview I drove to San Diego to be interviewed by Alma R. Sonne (a member of the Seventy). After the interviews were completed I just had to wait for my "call".

One day in early Sept. I received a call at work from my mom to say the call had arrived in the mail so I asked her to open the letter and tell me where. Since I had taken 4 years of Spanish in high school I fully expected to go to Mexico or Chile or Peru and to serve for 2 1/2 years. Mom said North Central States Mission with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota (I had to get a map to find out where Minnesota was). I knew NOTHING about Minnesota, certainly not that it was cold in the winter.

This picture was in SLC. Can you find me? I can't.

50 years ago there wasn't much information in the call packet, just dates that I needed to report to the mission home in SLC, that I needed to have a physical, have my dental work done and what clothing to bring.

The time came for me to report to the mission home and Mom, Dad, Marylee & Laurie drove me to to SLC. Along the way we stopped for a night in Las Vegas and we went to a show where we saw bare breasted dancers (I don't know what Mom & Dad's motivation was there). We also stopped at BYU, then to SLC.

Dad, Marylee and Laurie at BYU.

The mission home was a surprise. It apparently was at one time a hotel and I was assigned to my room on the 3rd or 4th floor. There were 16 missionaries on my floor and there was only ONE bathroom with ONE shower, ONE toilet and ONE sink and I shared a double bed with 2 other missionaries. The mission home was right around the corned from the Hotel Utah (now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building) and we ate our meals in a dining hall in the basement, went to classes there and listened to speakers there. Actually there weren't classes but mostly just speakers. We had talks from many members of the Quorum of the Twelve and also lessons on the basics of cooking, laundry and how to iron a shirt.

After one week we were sent on our way to our various missions. I boarded a train (flying was not yet permitted) along with 8 other missionaries for my mission. The train ride was 33 hours with no sleeping or eating (except food in Butte, MT) opportunities. We huddled together and prayed, studied the 7 lessons and sang hymns until a drunk in the car told us to shut up.

We arrived in Minneapolis early in the morning in mid October and it was cold. I had previously purchased an overcoat and dress hat (we were required to wear hats summer and winter) in SLC but I now discovered I needed more warmth so a pair of long johns were purchased within a few days.

After a 2 day stay in the mission home (which was at 2219 Pillsbury Ave So) we met or new companions and went to our first areas and began our 2 years of service.

First snow fall the day before Thanksgiving 1961

A Light Went On

2011-02-28T12:37:00.000-06:00

One of the "tiny" students on my bus is 3 yr old Emma. She is sooooo cute. She had long curly hair (notice I used the past tense). I only drive Emma home from school and one day she got on the bus and her hair was really short, but she still looked so cute. I asked her who cut her hair and she said daddy. So I asked her if mommy was happy about that and she said no. It just so happens that Emma (and her mommy & daddy - and the rest of the family) go to our church so I took that opportunity to ask Emma's mom about the hair cut and she told me that daddy did in fact cut Emma's hair but only AFTER Emma had cut her own hair and daddy had to fix it.
I always manage to say hi to Emma at church but she hasn't made the connection of me at church and me on the bus, until yesterday and it was like a light went on and she said "are you on my bus?" It's funny because I had just been talking to her daddy about that very thing.

Max is another of my special students and I had blogged about Max before. Max now has a "comfort" dog and the dog is a big hit with my kids. Zadie is a 2 yr old Golden Retriever/Lab mix and is specially trained to work with Max. Zadie gets on the bus with Max and she sees that he is properly buckled in his seat then she is allowed to greet the kids and especially the bus driver (me). Deshon is my downs boy and he gets on the bus before Max and Deshon LOVES dogs. From the moment Deshon gets on the bus he starts is with puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, we go get Max's puppy, we go get Max's puppy? Fortunately it is only 3 or 4 minutes of that but once we get Max and Zadie, Deshon is fine until the ride home.

Petra, Jordan

2011-02-22T13:18:00.001-06:00

I know I wrote about some of this in a previous blog but just a few nights ago I watched a brief program about some of the sites in Jordan and I just felt like writing about it because my previous blog was old and also because I couldn't find anything else interesting to write about.

In 1986 I visited Petra and was truly amazed (Sharon and I also visited in about 1988). At the time I was told by the guide several "stories" about Petra and I learned recently that what I was told was not necessarily true according to recent archaeoligical findings.

The way I entered Petra was on horseback thru the dark, narrow (9ft wide), sandstone Siq a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the sandstone rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into Wadi Musa. At the end you come to a spectacular view of the "treasury". I put treasury in quotes because it is not and never was a treasury. I don't know if you can see it but at the top of the carving there is what looks like a crown and atop of the crown is a pot. The pot is riddled with bullet marks because the Bedouins thought it was filled with gold and tried shooting it until it broke (there never was gold in it), thus it came to be called the treasury.

The sandstone is very colorful with red, blue, green, brown colors and is easily carved. There are many "buildings" such as the treasury carved into the mountaisides. I came to learn (recently) that most of these buildings were tombs and not living quarters.

Petra is situated on the old "spice road" and was a major trading stopover for caravans carrying frankensense and other spices. The Nabataeans, as it turns out, probably did not creat the buildings themselves. They were very wealthy because of the spice trade and the fact that they had an abundant supply of water in the middle of a vast desert. They most likely hired the work to be done by Greeks and others.

Petra (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning rock; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ was established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans. The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

It is spectacular!

I'm Very Dissatisfied

2011-02-04T11:24:00.000-06:00

Back in December I had a Basal Cell Carcinoma removed form the left side of my nose (as I previously blogged about). A painful procedure. Actually the procedure didn't hurt a bit because my nose was numb but the injections (there were approx 18-24 of them) hurt like crazy. The procedure (it's called Mohs) left a rather large hole in my nose so I decided to have plastic surgery (that is called a Mohs Closure) to repair my nose. Another VERY painful series of injections to numb the nose.

Well it has been about 3 or 4 weeks since the last surgery during which, a small piece of cartilage was taken from my ear and implanted in my nose. Of course there were jokes about having ear wax in my nose or ear hair growing out of my nose.

Today I was sitting in line to have my car washed and I pulled down the visor and popped open the mirror on the back of the visor (it has a light to see better) and to my horror there was a one inch long HAIR growing out of the side of my nose!!! I tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge and of course it was right in my line of vision so I could see it without the aid of the mirror. I couldn't wait to get home to cut it off.

The other reason I'm dissatisfied is that I have a small "bulb" on my nose now and the left nostril is smaller than the right one. At my age I don't really care about my looks too much but this is bothering me.

I will NOT subject myself to more plastic surgery to repair the botched job so I guess I'm stuck with ear hair growing out of my nose and a smaller nostril in addition to the small but only slightly noticeable bulb.

So please don't stare at my nose (even if it does look funny)

Really Old Galaxy

2011-01-28T12:15:00.004-06:00

I am really fascinated with astronomy and this is the latest discovery to come from the Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy is estimated to be 13.2 BILLION light years away. In other words the light that is in this picture originated approximately 13.2 billion years ago.

Well then how far away is that you ask?

The speed of light is 186,282 miles per second (or faster than my school bus will do in the quarter mile). It's a complicated calculation based on the distance light will travel in one metre (or meter if you're 'merican).

So here is the calculation:
The speed of light, usually denoted by c, is a physical constant important in many areas of physics. Light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation always travel at this speed in empty space (vacuum), regardless of the motion of the source or the inertial frame of reference of the observer. Its value is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second." And how, you may ask, was the value discovered?

Well it seems that our old friend Albert Einstein was partly responsible for this:

"Ole Rømer first demonstrated in 1676 that light travelled at a finite speed (as opposed to instantaneously) by studying the apparent motion of Jupiter's moon Io. In 1905, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light in vacuum was independent of the source or inertial frame of reference, and explored the consequences of that postulate by deriving the theory of special relativity and showing that the parameter c had relevance outside of the context of light and electromagnetism. After centuries of increasingly precise measurements, in 1975 the speed of light was known to be 299,792,458 m/s with a relative measurement uncertainty of 4 parts per billion. In 1983, the metre was redefined in the International System of Units (SI) as the distance travelled by light in vacuum in ¹⁄_299,792,458 of a second. As a result, the numerical value of c in metres per second is now fixed exactly by the definition of the metre."
This information was from Wikipedia.

So in order to measure the speed of light you need a vacuum (not a Kirby or Dyson) but a space vacuum then get some flashlights....

I know this is very boring stuff but I find it very interesting. By the way, now that you know what the speed of light is, how far away is this new galaxy? Furthermore scintists believe that the galaxy no longer exists.

Answer: It is 80 sextillion miles. That's 80 followed by 21 zeros.

80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Reporters should proof read

2011-01-25T11:50:00.000-06:00

"Police say the accident happened Monday afternoon in Brooklyn Park. A homeowner left the contractor to work on her house, and returned hours later around 4 p.m. to find the 52 year old contractor on the floor with at least one nail gun in his chest from a pressurized nail gun."

I'm just wondering how he got an entire nail gun in his chest, I would have thought just the nail would have gone into his chest but apparently the entire gun entered his chest..

In a headline on today's Kare11 web page I read about a man accused of molestating. I'm sure that must be a new word but I'll check and get back.

Nose Job

2010-12-29T09:59:00.000-06:00

Not a very flatteringg picture and I think it is backwards because the nose job was done on the right side. This is a result of a Basal Cell Carcinoma, a mild form of skin cancer and the least serious and most treatable kind.
I had a biopsy done a few weeks ago and then scheduled my appointment to have a procedure known as Mohs something surgery (named after the inventor of the procedure Dr. Mohs - not nose). It is a simple procedure in which the area around the Basal Cell is numbed by injecting Novocaine around the area. The Dr then slices off the offending cells and, while you wait for about 1 hr, he freezes the offending cell (s) and slices them and views them under a microscope to see if he got all of the cells. If not then he repeats the procedure until he gets a "clean" sample. This means that all of the cancer is gone.

In my case numbing the area was PAINFUL because he required 6-8 separate injections in order to numb the area completely and this was repeated 3 times until all the cancer was gone. So I figure I received 18-24 injections in my nose.
Then all of the "bleeders" were cauterized and that smells just awful. The nurse then packed my nostril with 2 round cotton things that dentists use and told me they had to stay in until I see the plastic surgeon today. I was then bandaged up and told to keep my head up and to not ben dover (a high school name we created).
So last night I tried to sleep in my recliner and that didn't work so I went to bed. I couldn't use my c-pap machine because of the bandages and I had to breathe through my only functioning nostril which became over used and refused to cooperate so I snored all night.

Today I will go see the plastic surgeon and maybe he will take skin from my ear to patch up the canyon in my nose (like they did to my dad). In which case you will have to talk to my nose and not my ear.

The whole procedure took over 4 hrs and as I was leaving the Dr. said I should have all of those pre-cancerous spots on my forehead looked at.

Now I am paying for all those summers as a teenager that I spent at the beach and before we ever heard of sun block.

2010-12-27T15:27:00.000-06:00

To those who live in warmer climes we have had record snow fall. This December beat all previous records for December with over 30 inches of snow (and that's measured at the airport where nobody lives and where they always get less snow that we in the suburbs get).

The first picture is of the street we live on (actually it's not a street but an access drive), the 2nd is our house and the third is of the icicle forming outside our bedroom. The pictures were taken shortly after the storm last week and the pile of snow is even higher now because crews came and cleared part of our roof in order to prevent ice dams.

Part of the process of eliminating ice dams was to put "salt socks" along the edge of the roof perpendicular to the roof line in order to create a channel for ice melt to run down and off the roof. A salt sock is exactly what it sounds like it is - a sock filled with salt.

I wish all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

No Poop!

2010-12-16T12:57:00.002-06:00

Yesterday when I stopped my bus to pick up "Johnny" (not his real name) and his 2 brothers the neighbor lady that was caring for them told me that Johnny had messed his pants and that she didn't have any supplies to change him. Johnny has Downs Syndrome and is about 10 yrs old and is not toilet trained (duh).

It is about a 15 minute ride to his school (we have to make 2 stops after Johnny's) and by the time we got to school the bus smelled pretty bad. While we waited for his school aide to come get him one of the other aides that cares for Max got on the bus to assist Max and about died.

Finally Johnny's aide arrived and I explained the situation to her (she was the one that was going to have to clean him up). At the end of the day Kay (Johnny"s aide) told me he had poop from his shoulders to his knees and it took her 30 minutes to clean him up.

This morning when we stopped to pick up Johnny and his brothers he got on the bus and announced to everyone "NO POOP, NO POOP and he laughed and sat down.

Kay told me he calls it his "water poop" and you can guess why.

I felt bad for Johnny but in a sad way it was kind of funny to see him walking into school like he had just ridden a horse.

This is only the 2nd time this has happened to him and I have been driving him for 2 yrs.

Blower Door Test

2010-12-09T11:12:00.003-06:00

As some of you may know I am on the board of directors for our town home association (in fact I'm the VP) and have been for about 15 years. Anyway, at our last bored meeting (yes, I know it is spelled board) we discussed ice dams and what to do about them. As a result the management company that manages things (hence the title "management company") suggested that we offer homeowners a FREE blower door test in an effort to find out where most of the warm air is leaking into the attics and causing ice dams. We have one case where ice dams caused about $10,000 damage to a unit and insurance is not going to cover it. They offer it free because then they, hopefully, will get the job to insulate the home properly.

So the blower door guys came yesterday and this is what they did:
They unfolded and installed a red fabric and plastic "door" in lieu of our door and storm door. This red contraption had an opening in which they installed an large fan facing outward.
They made sure all windows and outside openings were tightly closed and then turned on the fan. The fan was sucking air from inside the house and blowing it outside so that any areas that are not properly insulated or closed off would draw in outside cold air.
The result was that we discovered that our utility room is in fact a cold air wind tunnel, we discovered that even though we thought the flue of our fireplace was closed, it was in fact open and has been for the past 5 or so years. It was also discovered that our attic is not insulated enough. We have about 6 inches of insulation and should have about 18 inches to give an "R" value of 50.

We also discovered that contrary to my belief that our windows were the source of air leaks, they were not and were really good windows. We also discovered that our new entry door and patio door were providing a good barrier to the cold.

Conclusion: This house leaks like a sieve in certain areas and is pretty tight in other areas. We will have to do some insulating in and around the utility room but the attic will have to wait.

And so you see that by placing a fan in the entry door and blowing air outside they can call it a "blower door".

Bus Driver Frustration

2010-11-17T13:07:00.002-06:00

My frustration is not with my students but with my schedule. The school district has our routes planned down to the minute. As an example I make my first pick-up at 7:43am and my second at 7:48 etc, etc and arrive at the school at exactly 8:15am, or so my schedule says I am supposed to arrive. In actuality I arrive at the school at 8:21 or 8:22 and have been as late as 8:25. The school district in it's wisdom revamped my schedule in mid Sept. and stuck a stop in the middle that was totally out of sequence with the other stops causing me to be late. Furthermore the computer that plans all of this (yes it is done by computer, that way no one is to blame but the computer) gives me about 1-2 minutes less than the time I need to make the stops (plus children dawdle and PARENTS are late). I refuse to exceed the posted speed limits so as a consequence I'm late every day.

Two weeks ago I did a 3 day time study keeping track and logging my arrival time at each stop. I turned this in to my supervisor and heard nothing back. Today it came to a head when the parent of the child at my last stop called and complained that I was habitually late causing her child to be late for school. The parent is a very nice lady and is the mother of Max (my favorite) and she assured me that she knew it wasn't my fault that I was late.

So as a result I was called in to the office and asked for my opinion (that in itself is unusual because we drivers do not have working brains) on how the route should be laid out. I pointed out that I had submitted my study 2 Weeks earlier and he (the supervisor remembered it and said that the school district transportation person had the report but had not acted upon it.

My bet is that there will be a change in the structure of the route withing hours.

I like my students very much and I like te company I work for and I like my routes (this is just in case my employer reads this).

The Kingston Trio

2010-11-05T11:30:00.002-05:00

As a teenager and into my early adulthood I reveled in the music of the Kingston Trio. I even made an attempt at the guitar but I am just not musically talented (I can play the radio and that's about it). That's not to say I don't enjoy music, quite the contrary, I enjoy all types of music (except rap and other music of that same genre). Back to the Kingston Trio. I had many of their albums (on LP vinyl discs) and tried to sing along with them.

Some of my close friends, namely Lyle Schiess, Richard and Ron Gill, Steve Peterson to name a few, were more musically talented that I and they continued their pursute of their music. Lyle even developed a talent at the guitar and banjo (an instrument that I really enjoy when picked. Did you know that the banjo is the only musical instrument invented in the U.S.?)

I don't have the albums any longer and I longed to listen to some of the Trio's music on CD. I googled their name and found a place to buy their CD's and at this very moment I am listening to their album "College Concert" that was recorded live at UCLA in 1961. It is perhaps my favorite of their albums.

I'm in Trio heaven.

Whew

2010-11-03T12:26:00.002-05:00

WHEW it's over!!!

The late former mayor of Chicago Richard C. Daly once said "Vote early and vote often". So I voted 5 times for my guy but he still lost a squeaker.

I'm so glad the election is over so I/we don't have to listen to the political mud slinging on the telly any longer and those awful roadside signs that cause a blight on the earth will be gone within a few days. In fact many of them were gone this morning, the day after the election.

Now we in Minnesota get to go through another recount just like in 2008. Isn't politics exciting? Red state, blue state, red party, tea party, blue party, I'm so confused. And to think the Iowa caucuses are only 13 months away and it will start all over again.

I heard on the news that there was approximately $4 billion spent on this mid-term election by all candidates. Imagine what that could have done for education, helping the homeless, job creation and a whole list of other needs.

As bad as elections are, this is still the best country in the world and I am so grateful to those who have paved the way for our freedom, to those who have died so that you and I can be free and so we can freely vote and elect our (greedy, dishonest, cheating) leaders.

Found

2010-10-10T09:16:00.002-05:00

I have communicated with a distant cousin from the Ritchie side of the family for several months. As far as I know I have never met her although I could have when I was about 5. The meeting would have taken place at grandpa Ritchies "lodge". Grandpa Ritchie was a Mason and periodically he would take us to the "lodge" for some sort of party (usually Christmas) - any way I digress.
I received an email from Mary on Friday asking questions about my great, great grandfather's brother Andrew Ritchie. Both Andrew and his brother James were lost at sea in 1875. This fact has long been established. In fact the exact location of their drownings has been established due to diligent research by Sara.

Any way, Mary asked me if Andrew was married and did he have children. I knew of no marriage but since he was 48 yrs old when he drowned I would guess he was married and most likely had children but I had no idea who they were.

The reason Mary was inquiring was that she had met someone that she thought was related because she was the daughter of Robert Ritchie (relationship uncetrain) and she thought maybe this Robert was decended from Andrew so she was going to trace the relationship that way.

I started searching for information on Andrew and came up blank. Nothing in Familysearch or newfamilysearch, so I tried ancestry and I hit the jackpot. Someone else had researched Andrew and had his wife's maiden name and the names and birth dates of their 5 children.

So I sent the info to Mary.

On another note our stake is establishing a larger Family History Center and since I am the director the responsibility falls on me to organize things, establish operating hours and staff the operation. I'm finding that the non-church members are much more willing to serve than the members. It doesn't take too much of a commitment (2 days per month for 3 or 6 hours each day). We "open for business" on Oct 19 and I only have staff on 2 of the days and then only part staff (we have to have 2 people on staff each day). There are other logistical problems to solve and things are moving too slow.

We will have an open house on Nov 6th from 10am-12pm.

Paraprosdokians

2010-10-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax.

If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong. (Good one to remember when being questioned by the opposing attorney.)

I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.

A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it...so I said "Implants?"

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are
sexy.

Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for President and 50 for Miss America ?

Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches
my foot.

Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.

There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.

I always take life with a grain of salt ... plus a slice of lime and a shot of tequila.

When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

You're never too old to learn something stupid.

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.

A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Honeycrisp Apples

2010-09-24T12:56:00.002-05:00

I had never eaten a HoneyCrisp apple until yesterday. I had always preferred the Washington State Delicious apple as I liked its sweetness and crispness. I'm also partial to red. Tart apples are good for pies but not for my taste to be eaten raw.

I had always thought the HoneyCrisp was a tart apple, that is until my first bite. WOW!!! What a great apple. I am now a fully converted HoneyCrisp fan.

I knew that the HoneyCrisp was developed here in Minnesota and courtesy of Wikipedia here is their information on this great apple.

"Honeycrisp (Malus domestica 'Honeycrisp') is an apple cultivar developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 as the MN 1711, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and boasts a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.[1]

U.S. Plant Patent 7197 and Report 225-1992 (AD-MR-5877-B) from the Horticultural Research Center indicate that the Honeycrisp is a hybrid of the apple cultivars Macoun and Honeygold. However, genetic fingerprinting conducted by a group of researchers, which included those who were later attributed on the patent, determined that neither of these cultivars is a parent of the Honeycrisp, but that the Keepsake (another apple developed by the same University of Minnesota crossbreeding program) is one of the parents. The other parent has not been identified, but it might be a numbered selection that could have been discarded since.[2] According to the US Patent office, the Patent was filed November 7, 1988. As a result, the patent has now expired.

Some factoids and other stuff

2010-09-21T13:27:00.002-05:00

1. A lightning bolt is 5 times hotter than the sun. At 10,000 degrees F the surface of the sun seems frigid compared to the temp of a lightning strike. One bolt alone can raise the temperature of the surrounding air to as much as 50,000 degrees and generate 100 million to 1 billion volts of electricity.

2. It took 44 years to compile the worlds largest thesaurus. at 800,000 meanings, 3,952 pages and 15 pounds, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, is the first of its kind to contain synonyms for nearly every English word spanning from the eighth century to today. The two-volume thesaurus is priced at $395.

3. 98.6 degrees is our normal body temperature. "The figure we use to define a normal body temperature - 98.6 degrees F - seems very accurate and official. It is anything but. In the late 1860s, German physician Carl Wunderlich claimed to make large numbers of painstaking measurements of patients' armpit temperatures. It's likely he fudged much of his data. We don't typically take temperatures in our armpits, but his determination of 'normal,' 37 degrees Celsius became standard. Translating the number into Fahrenheit turned 37 degrees - a nice round number - into 98.6, a precise sounding number with a decimal."

All of the above courtesy of Southwest Airlines magazine "Spirit"

First Day

2010-09-07T10:53:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again when all the little kiddies go back to school and their bus drivers cringe and grit their teeth and give thanks that there is only 173 days of school left until SUMMER.
Last week I received my bus assignment and a few days later received my route assignment(s). First my bus: Last year I drove bus 625 and this year I moved up in the bus driving world to bus 625. Yup, it is the same bus as last year and I'm glad about it. I liked my bus last year and I like it again this year partly because the heaters work and I have new brakes and wiper blades (wiper blades are a big deal).
Routes: For the most part they mirror last year and I'm so glad about that. I enjoyed the kids (especially Max) and I have most of them again this year with a few new kids added on for good measure.
I have basically the same routes in the morning and afternoons with a few minor exceptions. I will have a child from our ward to drive home in the afternoon and I told her mom Sunday at church.
So it looks like a good year with very little hassle and no major student problems.
I do have a new aide this year, Tony, I lost my old aide Jim because he only works 3 days a week and they couldn't find anybody to fill in those 2 days that Jim doesn't work.