The world continues!

 Most of you who read this are involved in it, so there is not much need to talk about it.  Suffice it to say that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year have gone with their usual festivities and goings and comings.  Of especial note is that the world did not end on December 21, and that we are stuck with continuing on with things.  But that is not really all that bad - or is it?

We do want to recognize the visit of Marilyn and Tyler over the New Year; they had been on Colorado for Christmas Day, and then came here.  We all had a grand time when they were here.  A couple of pictures from around then:

But other things were happening around then - maybe they should have happened in better weather, but it was not too bad out, and we did not freeze or starve.  On January 7 and 8 we got a new furnace and hot water heater.  We decided that the old stuff - about 60 years old - was too old, and splurged on new stuff.  They promise that we will use much less oil.  Anyway, here is the old stuff (taken the day they started):





















And here is the new stuff:

















One thing we noticed almost immediately is that the hot water can now be used in one place at the same time without freezing someone else. Kosco did the whole job of removal, disposal, installation, cleanup, etc.  Come to find out in talking to one of guys, that Kosco is owned by a Russian oil company!  Who knows!  (And does it really make any difference?)

Later that week we also got a new oven and microwave combination.  Had to shop a little for that because most of the stuff these days is 30 inches wide, and we only had space for 24 inches.  But at Lowe’s we did find a combination that would fit into the old space with just a little modification.  Reason for getting this is that the old one was 28 years of age, and the microwave was broken.  Ann (and I) were rather lost for a while, but we go used to using the toaster oven for heating things. But it is great to have a microwave again.  A pair of before and after pictures:



















Sorry about the strange spacing on the pictures; it looks good in the creating area, but not in the preview!


Well, that will have to do it for now.  Have a great 2013 - now that the world is continuing on.

Halloween, and more!

Because it is Halloween, I just had to post something.  So, here you are.

It has been a rather busy month.  Wedding anniversaries, birthdays; two of each. It has been fun celebrating them.  Not much in the way of pictures from them.  I will have some pictures later in this blog, though; just be patient!

First, some health matters. I have had another catscan to check up on the stent; Ann has a new bridge in her mouth, I have had a hand Xray fpr the arthritis; no results on any of these yet - a few more days.  But enough of this.

The most interesting new thing I did was go to (my first) Chamber of Commerce Mixer representing the Trolley Museum; we had about 4 people there, and made a name for ourselves.  Will have to go to some more. 

Then the RR club had an open house so I was there running the trolley. Had one decide to act up, so it is home here for repairs.  Will only take 15 minutes, but it is hard to just get upstairs to do it.

On our anniversary, Ann and I finally used a gift certificate that Ed and Kelly had given us to eat at the CIA.  Had a great time enjoying their delightful cuisine. And we have been to Ed and Kelly’s house a couple of times to celebrate things.  And Ed was up here to do a couple of things.

But of course, the biggest things were Sandy and Halloween.  Sandy was largely nothing up here - we were on the edge and had a fair amount of wind that brought down mostly small stuff but a few trees in the neighborhood.  About an inch of rain in very light manner.  A picture of a tree across the street:

We were without power from 2:!5 PM on Monday till 6:20 PM on Tuesday; most folks have had it much worse.  The basement got about 2 inches of water but it is gone now.

The Museum has an undetermined amount of damage; you can see what the storm surge did to it at tmny.org/sandy.

Then there was Halloween; we were prepared as usual, with candy and decorations including carved pumpkins.  But only two kids showed up; their costumes were great.  See a picture of them, and of our pumpkins.

And that is that, for now.

Busy September

Gee, has it been a whole month since the last entry in this blog?!  Hard to believe, but time does go by, and I can sometimes be real lazy and not get over to the computer to do some writing.  We left you with some pictures of Grand Rapids, so we will now take up another RR convention, this time in Syracuse for the NER (North Eastern Region).

A highlight of this trip for me was a trip to a steel mill where we saw steel scrap being melted down in an electric furnace and then poured into bars about 20 feet long and 6 inches square.  They then reheat them and draw them down to rebars about 60 feet long.  For intellectual property reasons we were not allowed to take pictures in the mill itself, but were able to out in the yard where they were shipping the stuff by railroad and truck.  They said they use as much electricity as the city of Auburn, where the mill is located.

A second highlight was a visit to a home layout of O scale trains and trolleys.  Very nicely done.  Got talking to the people, and they asked if we knew train  people in Syracuse. Said no, which was true, but that I knew people who lived there that I had met originally in Philadelphia in the early 50's.  Mentioned the name, and these people knew them and see them frequently.  Small world!

Then, last week we had a visit from Marilyn and Tyler.  It was shorter than planned because of airline problems, but it was still great.  We all met at Ed and Kelly’s and had a great time eating cheese and crackers and grilled ribs.  And Ed tried out several whiskeys on me - trying to get me loaded?  Don’t think so, it was just a taste of several things.  He is getting to be a whiskey common sewer (?) as well as a beer one.

Now for a little philosophy about politics.  On the tax cliff of tax cuts.  I suspect that both parties want the cuts to expire because they all (both parties) know the additional income is desperately needed.  So no extension will happen and they will each blame the other for it.

On the political ads.  We hang up immediately if we get a political phone call; we also throw out immediately political mail.  We change the channel or turn down the sound on TV ads.  We know that most of it is phony and hype.  The debate starts in an few minutes, and I haven’t decided whether I will turn on the TV or not.  I think I would rather continue working on this.  What they say has no relationship to what will really happen in the next several years.

They can take or give credit or blame, but the reality is that changes in policies at the federal level usually have no visible result for 3 to 4 years.  So this dragging on of the recession is really the result of things that Bush and Obama did 4 years ago.

On jobs: yes manufacturing jobs went overseas starting back in the 50s, actually.  Remember Japanese cameras in the 50s, TV also.  But what will you do as a consumer or store buyer when you can get manufactured  products from Asia for a certain cost, while the similar thing made in America costs 50 to 100% more.  A closer to home example: apples from China cost less than apples from the Hudson Valley.  We all voted the jobs overseas by buying on price.  My new slogan: BUY AMERICAN (if you can find it).

Well enough ranting and raving.   See you all sometime, maybe sooner or later.  This month we have two weddings and two birthday anniversaries to celebrate.

So; it has been a pretty active month, this month of August.  But maybe not a lot of pictures to show.  In the last writing, we had just come home from Grand Rapids.  Maybe I will put a couple more pictures from that:

 The following Saturday we went to the last show at the playhouse for the summer.  It was a production of ‘Chicago’, and they did a very good job of it.  Obviously, no pictures from that!  But we sure enjoyed the show.

The following Saturday we attended the annual Volunteer Day at which the town honors the people who volunteer their time in town activities.  Ann is eligible because of her work on the WEC; my volunteer work is mostly down in Kingston, so I am not eligible, but I go and keep her company.  We talked to a number of people, were recognized by others and others we recognized.  Listened to the music which was very good - and very loud.  At the end of the day there were fireworks; we watched them from the top of the hill on our street.  Took Daisy with us and she took it in stride - she does not really like loud noises, but being real near us, she tolerated it pretty well.  Again, no pictures although years ago I tried taking pictures of the fireworks and they came out ok.  Will have to remember next year.

The next weekend was the busiest.  On Saturday (the 25th) we went to Tarrytown to attend Ann’s xx (not talking about how many) high school reunion.  About 50 alumni and spouses there.  Ann saw and talked to many of them; I talked to a few but mostly listened to her and her buddies.  But the company and the food were good.  I will put only one picture from this - I think none of you will know them, so... 

 About three people came from California, and about 16 alumni still had Ossining addresses.  We stayed over down there, and on Sunday morning there was another gab fest.

After we got home on Sunday, I grabbed some train stuff and went down to a friend’s house who was having a 5th annual open house featuring his O scale train layout. Quite a good turn out including a lot of the host’s neighbors.  A lot of trains were run for several hours.  Including mine.  But I did not think to take my camera, so again no pictures of this!

Then there was yesterday - Sep 2.  Because my birthday is Aug 26, and Ann’s is Sep 11 (yea!), we tend to have only one combined celebration for them.  This year is was hosted by our lovely daughter in law and our son at their (still) new house.  A good time was had by all; some pictures are included.  They put on a real feast with everything from dips to cup cakes.

So, this will have to do for now.  Stay well and happy, and we will try to do more on facebook, and here than in the past.

Summer Activities

Hello again; it has been quite a while since I last visited with you.  One reason is that most of life has been quite routine and therefore boring to both you and me.  But I guess enough has happened to write a little about it.

First a little about the health situation:  nothing really major has happened to either of us.  I had another little fall that broke a rib, but that is now well.  Also, at the recommendation of the dentist I had a tooth pulled and a new bridge put in.  This was because of the stent put in last year; teeth and the blood system have a connection.  The new bridge feels good; a trip to the recommending dentist is scheduled for next week.

For various reasons, both weather and personal, it has been a difficult time keeping the lawn and gardens looking nice.  Some of the walks we have been able to keep free of weeds, but at least one part of one walk still has to have its first weeding.  It looks terrible, and is now very hard to get the weeds out - they have such large roots.  The weather, with its early heat had caused things to really grow.  But one walk has had a real job done on it, with the addition of new white stones.  Here is a picture of it:

On the other side of things, Ann has been growing small tomatoes, and is using the barbecue pit in an ingenious way:


One of the good things about Woodstock is the resurrection of the Woodstock Playhouse and the presentation there of summer stock plays.  We have been to two so far this summer and are planning on one more tomorrow.  Sorry, but no pictures of the play or playhouse.

The last thing to talk about today is our trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan (GR) to attend the annual convention of model railroaders (NMRA).  We drove Ann’s car and took two days in each direction - total mileage was 1600 miles.  We went out 28, then 30, then 17/86, 90, 23, and 96.  We stopped overnight in Erie both ways. In GR, it was a very nice hotel, with very good service and facilities.  We were both rather active all week.  One interesting trip we both took was about the history of the furniture industry in GR.  Here is a picture of Ann in the Steelcase factory which we toured:

I had a nice ride on a 7-1/2 in gauge railroad which covered 120 acres.  The ride without repeating any track took 45 minutes.  A view:

This operation was amazing!  Also saw several interesting layouts but will refrain from showing any of them; also attended a large number of clinics.  Put some items into the silent auction and came away with about $46; not much, but ok.

Well, lets call it quits for now.  Have a good summer and write into your blog when you can - we are all interested in what you have to say.

Fun in Woodstock - in the Winter

Well, it is about time I updated this blog - don’t you think?  So here goes.

Not too much new or exciting.  It is the routine things that happen that get one to put off doing this.  But here we go.

Look at Kelly’s blog and you will find out that they have been very active in fixing up their new house.  Well, we just could not help but try to compete a very little bit.  Last November we contracted with Pella for new windows that were delivered in early January just after my last blog update.  They look nice but almost exactly like the old ones.  Which we are happy about, because we were not tired of the old look.  But the new ones have made a difference.  There is no more cold downdraft coming off of the windows; there are no more little cracks in individual panes resulting from too much heat when I was removing old paint to put on new paint; the old broken and difficult to use storm windows are gone.

We did a total of 16 windows: the four basement windows got Pella’s bottom line of vinyl windows, the two in the kitchen got their top line of wood ones, and the rest of the main floor (10) got the intermediate line.  So now we have rotate-in windows to make cleaning easier, no more banged up fingers opening storm windows, etc.

After that the rest of January and February were rather quiet.  We did get together with Ed and Kelly a couple of times and saw their progress.  We delighted in the lack of snow and ice.  But wonder how the gardens are going to do this year with the unusual weather this winter.

Then in March we took up our daughter’s invitation to visit her and Tyler in St. Thomas; we went down on March 5 and came back March 12.  We had a great time.  Went over to St. Johns for a day and a night and met a very interesting couple .  Visited a different beach in the afternoon every day but two; two on St. Johns and two on St. Thomas.  Enjoyed them all and got a good sun tan. We went to several restaurants including one we went to last years ( Marilyn’s favorite - Betsy’s) and several new (to Ann and me) ones.  Good food, good times.

Now we are back and catching up.  Making appointments for everything from the dentist to the car dealership for a recall (minor), including a catscan and ultrasound to check up on my stent.  On the health front there is noting new except that Marilyn stubbed a toe on a rock on the beach and broke her left middle toe.  Four weeks with it taped to the next one.  Good grief - and she probably wont appreciate that I even mentioned it.  And one of these days I will have to do two things: learn how to put pictures in this blog, and how to use Facebook.  As one of the authors in a magazine says: if the mood strikes, write. 

Bye now.

Differences

‘What a difference a day makes....’.  Well, lets talk about the differences a year makes. (I know that the most recent blog was not a full year ago, but..)   We will use year ending dates for this.  But not in any particular order.

*Most important - Will was with us at the beginning of last year, but is not, now. 

*A new car for me.

*A stent in my chest.

*Into a new house for Ed and Kelly.

*Many renovations to Ed and Kelly’s house, which they did mostly themselves.

*A banged up thumb for Marilyn.

*Job progresses, small but worthwhile, for Ed, Kelly, Marilyn, Tyler.

*A college degree for Kelly.

*A year without train shows except for the club open house.

*A new freezer with new contents (due to Irene and Lee).

*A new toilet (seems to be cutting the water bill almost in half) and a new bed.

*Thanksgiving without Will and Mandy.

*Christmas Day with Marilyn and Tyler (they will alternate between here and Colorado for that day).

*Christmas festivities at Ed and Kelly’s new house instead of Woodstock.

For some things there was no difference:

*Ann’s environmental activities.

*Bill’s activities with museum, alumni club and model railroad club.

*General health of all involved (except Will, of course) but including Daisy (for whom I will have to put up a picture soon,

What differences will 2012 bring - wait and see.