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Week of 21 May 2001 Latest
Update: Monday, 28 April 2003 07:02 |
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Monday, 21 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| A day of rest and leisure, more or less. That is how I
spent most of yesterday afternoon after the morning house cleaning chores
were completed. Yesterday Bob and I watched the first episode of Nero
Wolfe on A & E from back in April. It has been airing on Sunday nights
at 8 P.M. which we have been taping every week. Yesterday was the two hour
opening movie with the regular series running an hour. I enjoyed it. It
was sort of a cross between Dragnet and Sherlock Holmes, where much of the
story is told voice over by the main character who goes out and does all
the work while Nero Wolfe sits in his mansion doing the brain work.
After the show was over I cat napped for a half hour or so and then hit the computer to catch up on mail and web pages. I started playing around with my new music page if you want to take a look. It is still very rough but after mulling over how I wanted to lay it out this is what appealed to me the most. I need to add the titles for the Classical Section, a few more comments on some of the albums, and some basic cleanup but I think I have it organized as I want it. Comments are welcome if you have some suggestions to improve the page. I am not very creative so web page layouts for me tend to be pretty basic. After dinner I worked on it some more and then stopped to watch Nature on PBS at 8:00. They were running a show on Australia's Little covering some of the world's most poisonous plants and animals. Very interesting show, I watched it mainly to get information for the book. Then we watched the tape of Buffy/Angel and I went to bed. Bob came back about 11:45 and woke me up to tell me the Kaycee story was somewhat of a hoax. We discussed it looking at different angles. I would have donated money to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society anyway since a lady down the street does a local drive each year. A teenager somewhere has died of this cancer or the side effects from fighting it with an equally brave fight but their story never made the Internet. For all the Kaycees in the world, whether we suffered along with either a real or imaginary person, your story has been told. Yes, we were duped but I believe Debbie's underlying principals were good. I am sure there is much more to this story than has been told. Off to the gym this morning. I am doing a home visit this afternoon in Mt. Airy, just down the road a bit. The family lives on a big farm and with the rain and damp yet again today, they said it was a good day to come. Duncan will enjoy going along with me.
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Tuesday, 22 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Marcia and Brian
have the new look on the Netwidows
page up so be sure to take a look.
Busy day again yesterday. I did not get to the gym until 9:15 after getting my morning mail and diary page done as well as talking to the family I was doing a home visit on. When I got back from the gym and checked my mail I discovered that my friend Nancy, a CBCR volunteer had the Worm because of a return e-mail message I had from her. I quickly deleted her message and closed Outlook than tried to get her on the phone. By the time I had my shower, taken care of some computer stuff, and eaten a quick bit of lunch it was time to leave for the home visit. It was cloudy and drizzly all day. The couple I was visiting live about thirty minutes north of Winston -Salem. By the time we got up there it was raining off and on. Duncan enjoyed getting to run around and meet the people as well as meeting their cows. He did not go in the pasture but was very interested from his side of the fence. We finished up talking with them and headed back to Winston arriving home around 3:00. Bob had talked to Nancy while I was gone and he had walked her through getting the virus cleaned from her system. I posted my report to the group from the home visit and took care of some other e-mail and then stopped to fix dinner. After dinner I finished reading the mystery I mentioned earlier in the week and then decided to watch a movie I had taped on PBS a couple of weeks ago The Song of the Lark from their American Collection based on the semi autobiographical novel by Willa Cather. Very well done, good acting, and very enjoyable to watch. I like period pieces set in the late 1800's to early 1900's. Probably my most favorite novel setting other than modern day. It was supposed to be rainy and thunderstorms this morning so dad and I cancelled our morning golf game. However, the sun has been out since I got up and there is no sign of the storms. It looks like mother nature may have pulled a fast one as it appears that all the severe weather and rain has gone west and north of us. Oh well. My plans for today are to stay home and work on the book and my music page. I also need to pay bills and clean up my desk.
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Wednesday, 23 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I got a lot of work done on the book and got my desk
cleaned up. It never did rain until about 4:00 then we would get these off
and on downpours that lasted about five minutes. Late in the afternoon I
got a call from Nancy about a border collie we had placed in a home last
year. Apparently one of the neighbors called the Humane Society who
contacted Nancy and told her the neighbor was complaining about the dog
not being properly cared for. The neighbor claimed the dog was chained
outside without food or water and was not allowed inside or have any shelter
during cold weather. We decided we would drive by the house and take a
look at the dog and see what might be going on.
Right about the time Nancy called about the dog I had just opened Quicken and discovered that all my data from January 1 to date was missing. I called Bob back to my office to take a look and verify that indeed my data was lost for the last five months. He proceeded to check all his backup tapes and found each one had the same backup data with my five months missing. We have no idea what happened but Bob has posted a message on the back channel to see if anyone has a clue. I fixed homemade pizza for dinner and worked on web stuff until Nancy called to say she was on her way. We drove by the house and saw two cars in the drive and a light on in the living room. Thinking maybe they had not gone out of town or had returned from being out of town we drove on by the house and stopped in a nearby parking lot to call the house. The dog sitter answered the phone and after talking with her we decided the dog sounds like he is being cared for properly and perhaps this is a neighborhood feud. Once the owners of the dog return from their vacation we will call and talk with them and just ask if we can make a visit and see the dog ourselves that he is being well cared for. We watched the final episode of NYPD Blue and of course taped the final episodes of Buffy/Angel to watch later this week. I actually wrote this page last night as I am up early this morning to pick up dad for our golf outing. I usually have just enough time to read the paper and eat breakfast before I need to leave around 7:30. This afternoon I will mow the lawn. I guess my day is pretty well planned. [Top] |
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Thursday, 24 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Picture perfect day. That is the description for yesterday.
Clear blue skies, temperatures in the low 70's and a bit of a breeze. Dad
and I enjoyed our round of golf. Let's just say we got our money's worth
by hitting the ball as many times as we could possibly manage on one hole.
Marcia asked me yesterday why I
never say anything about my score. I play to about a 12 handicap but for
the record I also play off the men's tees. Have been since I was twelve
years old. Second, I try to just go out and have a good time and as long
as I am hitting the ball and scoring within my capabilities I am happy. I
usually shoot in the low 80's to low 90's. I don't practice or take it
seriously enough to shoot in the 70's. My short game is my Achilles' Heel and
always has been. Just for the record I shot an 88 yesterday.
Dad and I went by the house and picked up mom and drove over to the little diner to have some lunch. I dropped them off and then headed on home. I edged and mowed the lawn, swept up and finished around 3:15. By the time I had a shower and started catching up on mail and stuff it was time to put the lasagna in the oven for dinner. It was not homemade by the way, but a frozen one from the grocery store. While we ate dinner we watched the season finale of Buffy we taped Tuesday night. I must admit I was a bit surprised by the ending. It will be interesting to see what they will be doing with the show next fall. We cleared up dinner, walked the dogs, and then watched the season finale of Angel. Much more predictable ending as the entire crew made it back through the portal and safely to L.A. once more. Off to bed for me around 10:00 to read but I was pretty tired so I only managed a couple of chapters. I think today I shall go to the gym, drugstore, pet store, and grocery store this morning. Then work on the book and my web site some this afternoon. [Top] |
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Friday, 25 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
I worked on my music
page yesterday mainly adding titles under the classics section then worked
on the book until time for Bob and I to go to the library and dinner.
Other than answer some e-mail I spent most of the evening reading a new
book I had started. It is sort of weird but I am enjoying it. The Bird Artist
by Howard Norman is set in Newfoundland from around 1900 to 1905. The
opening paragraph reads
Then the book proceeds to tell the story of a very lonely young man, Fabian Vas and an equally lonely young woman Margaret Handle. By reading the book one gets a feel for the isolated yet loveliness of Newfoundland as narrated by the main character Fabian. Very well written, I just happen to pick it up at the library shelf browsing. Right after I went to bed last to read before turning out the light the rain started again. It poured for a long time and then rained off and on during the night. We had another inch. Remember all this rain later this summer when I am talking about how dry it is. It happens every year. I think this morning I will go over and do some volunteer work at the library. The problem with working on the book for long periods of time is not the typing but the constant mousing doing searches and cutting and pasting of information. I have a brace which I wear. I checked yesterday afternoon and the book sale room did not look too bad if I work in there this morning I can keep it caught up. I hope everyone has a nice, long weekend. No big plans in the Thompson house. Tomorrow night is an observation night at Pilot Mountain if the weather cooperates.
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Saturday, 26 May 2001 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| The last time I checked my address I was pretty sure we
lived in the United States, not England. However, our weather of late has
resembled Lynne Walder's. Cool,
cloudy, rainy, etc. The sun pops out periodically for a couple of hours or
even a half of a day. More of the same for today. "Be careful what
you wish for" my mom always taught me. Well, I wanted rain, I got
rain.
Gift books are all caught up at the library from a couple of hours work yesterday morning. I worked all afternoon on the book taking short breaks to play with the dogs. Around 4:00 I was getting cross eyed from doing searches and decided to quit and watch the golf match. But, it was raining there too and play had been suspended. I settled for looking over the Hamilton Book Catalog to see if there was anything Bob and I might be interested in. We had leftover homemade pizza and lasagna from two earlier meals for dinner. While we ate we watched another installment of the Nero Wolf mysteries. Then I finished The Bird Artist and started a new mystery, an Agatha Raisin. This morning I have odd jobs to do like brush the dogs and fold a load of Lenore's laundry. I need to do a complete inventory of the CBCR merchandise so we can bring the online store back up. Right now we have mostly t-shirts and note cards. This afternoon I will work on the book pages. If the weather clears up we are supposed to go up to Pilot Mountain for a public observation with the Astronomy Club. Right now the forecast calls for clear skies, so we shall see.
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| Yesterday turned out to be a very nice day. The clouds gave
way to sunshine late in the morning and by noon we had clear blue skies
and a few puffy white clouds. I worked on book research all afternoon
until time to start dinner. Grilled steaks and red potatoes boiled in
their jackets. After dinner clean up we got ready to go up to Pilot
Mountain.
We got there around 6:30. A few of the club members had arrived and were setting up their various scopes. Several had sun filters and were letting people who walk by take a look at the sun spots. We carefully guarded ours. Although we did not have an eyepiece in the scope we had to make sure no one tried to look through it at the sun. I walked around visiting with club members or just sat watching the birds and butterflies enjoying the nice weather. The skies had cleared very nicely for a great evening of viewing. As the sun started to set a few more club members arrived and a pretty good crowd. Folks walked around talking to those of us with scopes asking questions and learning more about the club. Several club members had some awesome star clusters and galaxies in their scopes. A lot of the crowd started thinning out around 10 o'clock leaving mostly club members and a few spectators to walk from scope to scope and talk. We started packing up about 11:00 getting away at 11:30 and home at midnight. By the time we settled Lenore, walked the dogs, and got ready for bed it was well past 12:30. We slept in until 8:30 this morning, which was late for us. After reading the paper and getting this journal posted it is already 9:45. Time to get the house cleaning under way. Today is race day, all day. The Indianapolis 500 starts at noon and the Winston Cup Coca Cola 600 from Charlotte is tonight beginning at 5:00. I don't watch Indy, but I may watch parts of it this afternoon when I take breaks from working. I will watch the 600 tonight. [Top] |