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Barbara Fritchman Thompson Diary Week of 24 June 2002 Latest Update: Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:39 |
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Monday, 24 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Today PC Hardware In A Nutshell, 2nd edition is
supposed to hit the bookstore shelves. And, Bob is getting the first
edition of the TechnoMayhem Newsletter ready role the first of July. Yes,
exciting things are happening around the Thompson Techno Grotto. I will
try to do as much as I can to pick up the dog/mom care before I leave on
my trip to give Bob plenty of work time for our new projects. In the past
year while Bob has been working on the book I have been researching the
information on the various poisons that will go up on the TechnoMayhem web
site.
Speaking of which, Lenore has the second of her three tests today. I am off to the gym this morning for Body Pump and then back home for a quick lunch and shower before leaving around 12:30. Today she has a Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response test which records how the brain responds to auditory sounds. This test locates any disorders of the ear and nervous system. It is supposed to take from an hour to an hour and half for the test to be completed. That will pretty much be my day. I hope you have a great Monday and a good start to your week. I finished the Dorothy Simpson, A Day For Dying, last night and started a new Rhys Bowen, Evans and Elle. In this mystery someone is starting fires to buildings in Evan's small Welsh town that are owned by foreigners. And, as usual a pretty newcomer, a French lady who opened a new restaurant, is chasing Evan making things rather uncomfortable for him with his two suitors Bronwin and Betsy. [Top] |
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Tuesday, 25 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Two down, one to go. Lenore's hearing test went a okay I
guess. I stayed out in the waiting room and read while she was back having
the testing done. The last one is Thursday for the MRI which is why I am
playing golf this morning instead of Thursday.
Bob has several projects going and really needs to spend that time getting those up and running rather than two hours taking Lenore to her MRI. This will most likely be the last golfing outing until we get back from out trip. With next Thursday being the 4th, Dad and I do not play on holiday's, I will be spending the other days getting errands run and catching the last couple of gym classes in between. I am now at the making a list and checking it twice stag of the game. We spent another quiet ( more or less with dog playing intervals) evening last night reading until time for bed. I bought a couple of new dog toys in the recent Foster's and Smith order that came yesterday. While they can be used indoors I got them primarily to in our outdoor playtimes but we did have to try them out last night. It is still hot and dry with no rain in sight. [Top] |
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Wednesday, 26 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| The big news here locally is the closing of one of our
library branches, Thruway. Located in a strip type shopping center, the
library has been there since 1967. It was one of the first branches to be
opened in our system. Over the years the shopping center has changed hands
and the management has been increasingly hard to deal with. The branch is
so small that they primarily support popular reading rather than research
services for the public plus the now popular computer and Internet stuff.
I hate to see a branch close but this branch should have been on the list of libraries to be replaced by a free standing building a long time ago. Instead, the past director built branches in other parts of the city/county to satisfy political factions rather than practicalities. Now it has come home to roost for library users and supporters. The staff had very cramped working areas and no private bathroom facilities. They had to use the public restrooms out in the hall or a unisex facility in a hallway for other tenants. The library had the fifth highest circulation statistics due to the fact that it is located in an area that has a high percentage of educated readers who look to this branch as their place for recreational reading. This closing comes on the heels of some major budget cuts by the state and local government. In order to cut $250,000 dollars from the library budget closing this branch digs deeply into those cuts. The staff will not loose their jobs but instead be transferred to other library branches. That in itself is good if they move the support staff to branches that are over worked and understaffed already. The branch supervisor will be moved to another branch that has a supervisor position open at this time. I am off this morning to the gym then the drugstore and grocery store. Last night I started the last and latest Rhys Bowen mystery, Evans to Betsy. For those of you who have not read her books yet, Betsy is the bar maid at the Red Dragon who is competing with Bronwin for Evan's attentions. Betsy gets herself involved in a scam by some Americans who come to their small, Welsh village of Llanfair and ends up getting in over her head in trying to help Evans solve a murder.
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Thursday, 27 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
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1.7" of rain last night!!! We had some major though not severe thunderstorms roll through late yesterday afternoon and last night giving us a very good soaking. While it is not enough to fill up the drought buckets it is a good start. More rain is forecast for today and tonight. The upstairs and down stairs freezers are now fully stocked with frozen dinners and pizzas, breakfast foods, and other miscellaneous items to get Bob and Lenore through my three week absence. They also have tuna, Chef Boyardee canned ravioli, etc, etc. Next week I will get the milk and fresh veggies, bread, etc to get them set up. I am not sure if Bob has a full three week supply of Coke but I am working on it. Bob got an advanced copy of PC Hardware In A Nutshell yesterday from O'Reilly. While the first edition was great this one is superb. Be sure not to miss the picture of me with my headlamp on working on a PC. Vogue and Vanity Fair models have nothing to fear from me but "Women's Construction Wear Daily" better watch out, here I come! Lenore and I need to leave about 11:10 this morning for her MRI. It should take anywhere from an hour to two hours. Tonight Bob and I are going to the library and dinner I sat up reading last night until I finished Evan's to Betsy. I am writing a review for one of the TechnoMayem newsletters.
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Friday, 28 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| Happy Friday to everyone! It was an exhausting week.
Although weekends are pretty much like any other day around the Thompson
Techno Grotto there is something mentally refreshing about knowing it is a
weekend anyway.
The MRI pretty much exhausted Lenore yesterday. I think it was combination of the two appointments in one week plus her normal bathing schedule that just wore her out. Yesterday, by the time she went through the rigors of getting bathed and dressed, loaded into the car, unloaded at the MRI center, sitting in the waiting area for her appointment, and the actual MRI itself it was all just too much. It was all I could do to get her back into the car she was so exhausted. Normally she can help a little herself when we put her in the car. It was all I could do to get her lifted in. When we got back home she asked Bob to carry her in the house rather than try to get back in the wheel chair. Last night instead of the usual reading evening we watched the first two episodes of a four part Masterpiece Theater we taped back in April, The Way We Live Now adapted from the novel by Anthony Trollope. The series features an excellent cast starring David Suchet along with many other recognizable British and American film stars. This is of course another period piece set in the 1870's in London and America. The overall theme of this last Trollope novel is the corruption of money on society itself during this time. If you get a chance to view this as a rerun on your local PBS station be sure not to miss it. We will watch the two remaining episodes tonight. I may try to mow the lawn this morning before more storms move in. While most of it is still dead from the drought the Bermuda has continued to grow. I had been waiting (begging) for some rain first so I would not be surrounded by clouds of dust. It has not been mowed in well over two weeks. This afternoon I need to load up the car for a CBCR event for tomorrow. Looks like storms are forecast for this afternoon and tonight hopefully bringing more rain.
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Saturday, 29 June 2002 [Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I am off this morning for another sheep dog trial in nearby
Cleveland, NC. The weather is supposed to be cloudy but no rain or
thunderstorms at least until the afternoon. I plan to leave there sometime
between 1 and 2 to head back home.
Ray Shaw, who lives directly behind us, is having a surprise birthday gathering for his wife this evening. It is a drop in anytime after 4 pm. Frances came by yesterday afternoon to look at some of the pictures from the digital camera we took at her wedding that she had not seen. Bob burned a CD for her of the ones from her shower, the reception, and the wedding. We got a little more rain last night after dinner. Bob and I watched the last two episodes of the Masterpiece then it was walk the dogs and off to bed. [Top] |
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[Last Week] [Monday] [Tuesday] [Wednesday] [Thursday] [Friday] [Saturday] [Sunday] [Next Week] |
| I had a very successful day at the sheep dog trial selling
stuff for CBCR. As always, I talked with several new people about rescue
spreading the word about what we are doing for this great breed. It was
hot as heck and the recent rains hatched all the June bugs out. If you are
not familiar with these creatures, they are about the size of a bumble bee
and fly all over the place in swarms including into me, the tent,
etc.
I packed up and headed for home around 2 getting home at 3. The first stop was the shower then I read the paper. While I checked mail and stuff Bob took his shower before we wandered down to the birthday party at our back neighbors. Ray pulled a very nice surprise on his wife Linda with neighbors and friends dropping in for some catered finger foods and birthday cake. We sat around talking and eating for an hour and half or so. Bob came back up to the house to fix Lenore's dinner and I stayed on to visit a little longer. I was pretty tired last night from being outside most of the day so we walked the dogs around 9:30 and I headed off to bed to read. I have started the last and most recent Dorothy Simpson mystery. With the impending trip coming up today's normal Sunday routine will be a little different. I will wait to do the full weekly house cleaning on Thursday. Today I will clean the bathrooms and straighten up a little but that is all. I told Bob he might as well go ahead and do the laundry today rather than let it pile up. I also need to go down and unload the stuff from the car from yesterday. No NASCAR today either but the Senior PGA tour is on so I may watch a little of that.
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