As soon as Connie was settled, we bopped to the library so she could pick out a picture to hang on the wall in Mjolnir. It's fly season in Mjolnir. I'd hoped the sudden drop in temps would be enough to kill the remaining flies. While there aren't so many flies in there that it looks like the entrance to Hell, there were a few still flying around. Just in case, I'd also made up the bed in the spare room. Will find out if there are still too many flies if Connie switches bedrooms tonight.
2:08 a.m. - Caller reports someone just tried to burn his garage down. Officers looking for an individual. Fire department not needed. Fire is out. Person of interest reported to be at local bar. Told someone she was going to burn down the garage. Female arrested.
12:19 p.m. - Report of a white SUV all over the road coming from the west on federal highway. Traffic stop conducted. Female driver drove into the ditch. Female arrested for driving while intoxicated and resisted arrest, kicking one officer. Female arrested by neighboring county deputy for OWI and charges for battery to law enforcement to be referred to this county's DA.
1:45 p.m. - Principal reports a 4th grade student brought a knife and stated she was going to kill two other students. This stemmed from an incident of bullying on the bus yesterday evening and continued today. It was reported to teacher at lunch. Mother of juvenile was present during questioning. DHHS notified, photographs of the knife taken. Student suspended for the rest of the week.
2:44 p.m. - Caller saw a Harley Davidson parked in the ditch. Deputy made contact with owner's mother who said the owner and father park there to go mushroom picking. She will contact him to make sure he's OK.
3:52 p.m. - Call from female stating her husband left this morning. Did not take his cell phone and didn't show up for work. Two of their dogs also missing. Deputies and female engaged in search for husband. TTY's sent to surrounding counties to be on the lookout for male. Reporting party believes he may have gone to his mother's house in a neighboring state. Later reporting party stated that she spoke with male in question. He is OK and is at his mom's.
4:36 p.m. - Male came to the jail to turn himself in for using meth. He wants to stop this daily issue he's been having with illegal drug. Two pipes he provided tested positive for meth. He was arrested and escorted into the jail. Probation agent contacted and probation hold was placed.
5:25 p.m. - Call from a mom reporting her children's dad is incarcerated in another county and he is expecting a girlfriend or his parents to get the children. The father's girlfriend has been calling and harassing the nanny about the kids. A call was received from the girlfriend also, asking what can be done about the mom not turning the kids over. She was told the father should be calling, not her, and she was told to stop harassing he nanny.
6:19 p.m. - Caller reporting a group of people on the railroad tracks walking south. Individuals who were using the tracks to take senior pictures were escorted off tracks.
8:23 p.m. - Call from frantic father. He broke a car window to get a gun from a guy who had pulled up in front of his house and was pointing the gun at him and his kids. Gun secured in squad. Person of interest in car has a bloody nose and is not compliant. Male detained. Vehicle searched.
The tabulator spits out an initial list of candidates and how many votes it has for them. Yes, everyone was on it and the count for each was zero votes. Since there was no one attending the Public Test it was up to Andy and I to fill out some ballots and feed them through the tabulator. This is the fun part. We made sure there was at least one vote for every candidate and there were write-ins. The tabulator accepted undervotes and rejected overvotes. We closed the polls. The tabulator spit out it's list of candidates and votes again. I grabbed that and the ballots we had used to check that they matched counts while Andy went through the process of resetting the tabulator back to zero.
Everything matched - Tabulator showed zero ballots - We shut it down. We applied seals to the ballot bin, the auxiliary bin, the printer, and the cartridge compartments and recorded the seal numbers on the seal documentation sheet. (Let the paperwork begin.) There are meetings in the town hall between now and election day so we didn't set up the room. We did sit down and talk about what was special about this election. There are referendum that are printed on the back of the ballot. As we hand each person a ballot will need to point out that they have to look at both sides. There is also a groundswell for a registered write-in for a local seat. Andy is going to a training session on Wednesday where the county clerk will answer any questions including how to report this write-in.
Managed it all in good time. Andy chalked it up to good teamwork.
The septic system alarm went off. Hadn't heard it since 2007. I went into the utility room. Yes, the green light was now red and an obnoxious noise was blaring through the house. I'd stopped cleaning out the sewer filter for two years so maybe that was the problem. Grabbed two prybars and managed the concrete slab top off the septic system and checked the filter. No... it seems fine and I could hear water being pumped from one tank into another. I wrestled the top back in place but caught a finger tip when the concrete fell into place. That's going to hurt. Walked back into the house. The alarm had stopped. I checked the utility room - light was green again. I may have a problem but so far, to paraphrase, no noise is good noise.
My life has slowed down from Honeywell days but a confluence of prep for midterm elections, surgery, autumn chores, along w/ my usual meetings has got me so busy I'll have to miss some meetings and put others off until later. We are only half way through autumn but I'm already beginning to look forward to winter and it's quieter pace.
OD'ing on horror movies this month (as usual). Decided my fav genre of horror is comedic. Yes, there are a whole lot of horror flicks that fall into this category. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic but then there is The Canterbury Ghost, Blithe Spirit, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, Young Frankenstein, Fright Night (w/ my fav actor Roddy McDowell), Gremlins, etc. I'd even include the Aliens and Predator series w/ their quips and one liners that break the tension. I still like the old black and white Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. They don't need to smear blood and guts across the screen in order to be scary. I do think they'd be even better w/ a joke here and there. You know ... Dr. Frankenstein could tell the monster "Don't bolt your food." or when asked what he does in his spare time Dr. Frankenstein could answer he's a body builder. Maybe the archeologist studying a mummy could call to his companion "I'm just wrapping up now." The background music when the vampire is caught out after sunrise could be "You are my sunshine." Stuff like that.
Milkweed pods are opening and their seeds are flying in the wind. I've always loved milkweed pods. Unopened they look to me like parrots hanging upside down on a stem. Opened they look like sleek fish w/ their seeds being the scales Then when the seeds start unfurling it seemed like a Spanish dancer's dress, a dutchman's pantaloons, a ballet dancer's tutu, Santa's whiskers, all sorts of things. As a kid, it was said I had an active imagination. Now it's pareidolia?
During the trip, Anita talked about her plans for the winter. It occurred to me that people make resolutions for New Years and in spring we make plans for summer. Does the rest of the country also make plans for winter like we do in the Northwoods? Projects we can do inside when outside the temps are too cold, the landscape is too snowy, and those dark nights are so long. Will need to get my list done sooner than later.
Watched Svengoolie w/ Friend Kathy. Well 'with' is stretching it a bit. She now lives in Colorado and the show comes on an hour later there then it does here. We argued (via text) about the ending of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). I liked the movie's ending: people realize there are aliens taking over bodies and mobilize to eliminate the threat. Kathy preferred the more abbreviated ending the director and screenwriter wanted where the main character is left on a busy street trying to get someone to believe his tale of 'pod people'. Finally we decided to end the 'fight' by considering WWPHD. (What would Pete Hegseth do?) Always good to end such discussions with a laugh.
Realized I hadn't cleaned out the two birdhouses on the stockade so opened those up and cleaned them out. One had already been taken over by a mouse so glad I'd remembered them before he took up full time residence. The Virginia creeper berries had been all eaten leaving only the red stems. Virginia Creeper vines use the stockade wire mesh for climbing just like the grapes. Big difference is creeper berries are not edible by mammals. They are a favorite though of migrating birds. These berries are more finch or warbler sized. The grapes are being eaten by the larger birds - robins and the pileated woodpeckers.
After this the forecast is for warming again and while the wind has blown away many of the colorful leaves, the tamarack are just beginning to show their beautiful golden color.
4:37 a.m. - Male claiming he has drones that are flying over his house and following him wherever he goes. They followed him all the way from his house into the city. He saw them hovering at market and also at park. Officer stated he didn't see any drones all night. Male stated he will take care of the drones himself if law enforcement doesn't. Officer states male said the stars in the sky were drones following him.
7:12 a.m. - Patient at hospital states her parents drugged her and she woke up a year later. Hospital staff called to say patient is fine. This is an ongoing issue with her.
8:15 a.m. - Report of a loose emu heading south on town road. Animal owners attempting to catch the bird.
8:22 a.m. - Caller reporting a male in the residence that was told to leave and has been breaking items and being verbal. Female spoke with deputy. Altercation began early morning. Arguments about bathroom etiquette led the male to start packing his belongings and a shelf was broken with pieces thrown outside. No law enforcement action as all parties were involved in the argument. Reporting party to work on eviction.
8:46 a..m. - Caller reporting his neighbor throwing dog feces into his yard and swinging a rake at his dog. Neighbor has dementia and has come into their yard before. Officer spoke with complainant, neighbor has also gone into his shed without permission. The Neighbor said that dogs poop on his property. The poop doesn't get picked up so he was throwing it into their driveway so when it rains it will wash away. The Neighbor doesn't want the poop on his lawnmower tires or people's shoes. Complainant was told to keep his dogs on a leash when taking them outside. The Neighbor was told not to go on complainant's property. Parties were counselled to mend their relationship. They agreed to try.
9:16 a.m. - Walk in to Law Enforcement Center reporting his stepson took and sold his engine hoist and a loaded trailer with scrap metal. Deputy in contact with person who received the hoist. He gave stepson $40 as a loan/pawn for the item. Hoist recovered as evidence.
9:44 a.m. - Caller reporting there is an emu running down the state highway. Officer in contact with owner.
10:22 a.m. - Reporting party states her sister is calling the hospital and cancelling her doctor appointments.
10:27 a.m. - A 550-lb heifer Hereford missing from farm. Unsure if animal got loose. No sign of animal going over or under any fencing. Caller believes it could have been a wolf or coyote incident.
11:57 a.m. - Caller reports he was involved in a possible fraud scam. He got a private message on TikTok that he could receive $300/week to promote jewelry. Caller was sent checks totaling $1,000 that the caller deposited. The scammers then requested that the reporting party make other transactions. Caller has all info saved. Deputy reports it was a scam using scare tactics. Caller was sent images of torture and death and told to send $1,000 to a bitcoin account. Caller is not out any money and has deleted TikTok. Dispatch received TTY from the FBI threat operation center in reference to this incident.
12:42 p.m. - Caller from Church of Christ reporting she received a call from a frantic female saying she needed a priest. Caller thinks the female may be in trouble. Deputy contacted the female who was angry and didn't want to speak with law enforcement.
2:00 p.m. - Reporting party states he had many guns, swords, and knives stolen from his residence while he was in the hospital. His son and grandson won't give the items back because they believe he has dementia. Complainant states they don't have power of attorney so he wants his items returned. Deputy to follow up.
2:54 p.m. - Caller found garage door damaged when he returned home. Looks like someone hit it. Deputy reports lower panel of garage door pushed in with an apparent paw smudge on the panel - possibly a bear.
4:11 p.m. - Reporting party states someone put up tree stands on his property. He was told to put up no trespassing signs and attach contact information to the tree stands. He will give them three weeks to see the signs and make contact with him.
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I haven't seen a robin in over a month but today a whole flock of them were in the yard. I don't hear insects anymore - must be too cold for them. When insects are scarce, robins eat berries and there are still a lot of various berries available. I don't know where these robins came from but glad I can be a feeding station for them on their migration route.
There are some new twists in the political ads I haven't seen before. (1) An incumbent house rep is posting AI generated videos of his opponent - making it seem like she is doing/saying atrocious stuff. He's bypassing state laws on deep fake political ads by posting them only on his social sites. (2) I was on my computer when there was a flash of red along the bottom of the screen w/ white letters. It looked like "Crowley Sucks" but it was gone so fast I wasn't sure I'd even seen it. 'Crowley' is the name of a gubernatorial candidate. I'd convinced myself I saw something else when it happened again. Looked it up on-line and, yes, a group is putting out flash banners. They last for 3-seconds and are gone. It's so fast it's less an ad and more subliminal messaging. (3) I was watching a show on TV when a political ad came on for someone in a county I've never heard of. Looked her up. Her district is 500 miles from me. The state she's in doesn't even border my state. Guess streaming services can get confused about what ads to show dependent on IP address, pulling from local feeds in other states, or advertising targeting. Great! As if the local political ads weren't bad enough.
Tomorrow we will be back to more seasonal temps. Could feel the cooler weather blowing in on the constitutional tonight. Last year I turned the heat on in the house on October 11th. While I did turn the heat on one night and a couple of times for an hour in the morning, I haven't had it on full time yet. That may change sometime this week. I checked in to see how the caterpillars are doing. They were all gone. I dumped the completely denuded parsley plant in the compost heap. Made a note on my monthly-to-do list for May to pick up plants in the carrot family next year just for them.
The University is going to be tearing down the science building where I spent an inordinate amount of time when I attended college. They have announced that they will be closing the planetarium sometime in December so they are now putting on their last shows in that place and with that equipment. There is a new planetarium with new equipment being readied in the new science building. Might be nostalgic to go back to see another show but they are only on Thursday nights - when I volunteer at the library. Might be better to keep the memories I have of sitting back in comfy chairs w/ the song "You're so Vain" playing in the background and watching the planetarium go dark as a solar eclipse occurs just as Carly Simon belts out that verse.
I mowed a bit of the back trails but most didn't need it. Then I took out the solar lights along the edge of the deck, any markers for the plants, and the shepherds hooks I used for hummingbird feeders. The peony bushes have turned brown so I ran the the mower down along the edge of the deck and mowed them to the ground. That done I put away Svaldilfari for the winter. That just means parking it close to the wall and taking off the seat cover. Easy enough to reverse if I need to use the mower again before the snow flies.
Texted the plow guy to ask if he would be plowing for me again this upcoming season. He texted back immediately that he would but hoped we only got snow in less than 5" increments. He must be watching the reporting on El Nino's effects on winter weather this year. Some say it will be warmer so that means more snow than normal. Others say it will be warmer so that means basically no snow this winter.
