Goldfinches changing back to gold

 I offered to help out the Town Clerk Chris by taking in the school election material this morning.  Chris took the county's copy to the County Court House last night but the school doesn't remain open after hours and asks that we bring in their paperwork the next day during regular business hours.  I've done this before so I knew the drill.  The storm only dumped another two inches of snow (but it wasn't over yet) so I drove into town early w/ the election materials the school district wanted.  When we are voting for school board members and/or a school related referendum like this time, the school district dictates we must provide them with a tally sheet plus a copy of the poll book.  I can understand the tally sheet but when everyone in the town is serviced by the one school district I'm not sure what a copy of the book buys them.  Instead of us copying the poll book one page at a time, we bring in our poll book  and have the school make a copy (which goes wayyyy quicker).  This time the school also wanted a copy of the absentee list and the Inspector's Statement which we can make for them.   I was buzzed into the school and walked down the hall to the district offices.  No one was sitting in the outer office.  I waited a moment and walked through to the manager's office.  "When will your assistant return?" I asked.  "I'm the assistant today." was his reply.  He seemed unsure of the procedure so maybe I was the first municipality of the day to arrive w/ election materials.  I  handed him our paperwork and said he would have to copy the poll book while I waited.  Fortunately he knew how to work the copier.  He made small talk stating one of the school referenda had passed by only 6 votes.  Surprised me since I thought the proposed school measures on the ballot were popular.  Also on the ballot were three openings to be filled for the school board but only two people running.  I considered making small talk back by saying my name had been written in for open spot on the school board - twice!  Naw ....

Amaryllis are opening

70% turnout for the election today - 10% higher than that projected state-wide.  We initiated a token system where once someone signed the poll book they were handed a token which they had to go around the desk to where the ballots are and hand it back in order to be given a ballot.  Overkill for a little municipality like ours but it worked quite well and things ran smoothly.  If there were any problems it was in what I picked to use as a token - poker chips.  They seemed perfect when I saw them in the game section at Walmart.  Poll Worker Andy had a limitless number of 'chip' jokes.  Both he and Chief Inspector Barb congratulated me on using white chips and not using the red or blue ones.  It took me a moment before realizing in the heavily charged political atmosphere right now all sorts of things could be read into using those colors.  Come to think of it though,  no one made any nasty comments about voting machines being rigged (hopefully we are over that nonsense) nor any snide comment about one political party or the other.    I'm not sure why people were full of kindness.  There is a snowstorm coming tonight - a common danger brings people together.  Maybe it's just that it's spring - who can be nasty in spring?

Trenching is done

On Friday, Excel Energy (my electric provider) had stopped by to spray the ground (or the weeds atop the ground) red to show where underground electric lines are located.  I assumed a solar crew would be coming soon but surely not today.   We'd had freezing rain that turned into two inches of snow Sunday afternoon.   No way to see the red spray though the little red flags Excel had placed in the ground back in February were still noticeable.  The ground is squishy in places - not sure how far down the frost went.  As I was about to leave this morning two Olson Solar trucks were pulling into the drive.  The electrician said the little red flags should be good enough to keep the trencher away from existing electrical lines.   His use of "should" bothered me.   I told him when I got back I did not want to find any dead bodies. I said it was devilish hard to get them to sink into the swamp this time of year.   The electrician played along saying they would clean up after themselves.   He let me know he'd have to turn off electricity to the house for awhile.   When I got back the electricity was still off.  One of my last errands was to pick up lunch so I ate that and settled on to the couch for a little winter's nap.  Since I retired I've become a heavy sleeper, I assume, since I go to sleep at night w/ a cat curled up by my head but when I wake in the morning the cat's gone and there's a dog at my feet.  Today though even the subtle sounds of the house 'powering up' woke me.   The trenching was completed.  The electrician said he'd be back in the morning to finish some connection work.  I reminded him tomorrow is election day.  He assured me he would have time to vote.

Christmas Cactus (a little late or way early)

 Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

10:40 a.m. - Walk in to Law Enforcement Center asked officer to look at a letter they received from a Canadian law firm stating his deceased wife was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy valued at 10.9 million dollars.  Complainant said his late wife did have family in Canada but he is suspicious it's a scam and wanted a second opinion before calling the number.  Deputy googled the law firm and found it does exist but information on the address and phone on the site are different from letter.  Deputy told complainant and suggested calling the number of the site of the law firm or contacting a local attorney.

11:48 a.m. - Caller requests phone call from deputy regarding his neighbor blocking his realtor from going on his property.  Caller asked officer to speak with neighbor.  Neighbor states he didn't deny realtor access, just wants realtor to follow rules of the easement.  Realtor was unaware of three-minute rule stating that entry to land must take three minutes or less.  This appears to be a civil matter.  Neighbor states the realtor will be allowed if he follows the court ordered rules.

1:42 p.m. - Complainant stated he was trying to obtain a van that was left by squatters.  A battery left near the van was taken.  Officer informed him it was not his property and could have been taken by original owners.

2:27 p.m. - Report of theft at Walmart.  Individual in custody.  Officer requests EMS as individual is bleeding severely.

3:55 p.m. - Caller reports vehicles by the boat landing area and sounds like they are tearing around.  Deputy observed a small party at the pavilion and observed vehicle tracks in the snow and ditch area that suggested vehicles were spinning their tires and driving recklessly.  Individuals at the pavilion stated they were have a gender reveal party and did spin their truck tires with a pink powder that was also observed in the parking lot.  An apparently intoxicated male confronted deputy.  Deputy took pictures of vehicles, tire treads, and tire marks.  Officer gave intoxicated male a ride to a friend's house.

8:04 p.m. - Complainant reported she hugged a stranger and was pickpocketed.  Unknown male asked to give a hug to complainant while in line checking out at a local business.  She realized she was short of funds when she went to buy a money order.  Only $100 was taken from the folded-up money in her pocket.  Rest was left in pocket.  Clerk at store did not see anything suspicious.  Reporting party was informed law enforcement will have to get footage from corporate office.  She will be contacted when they see it.

8:08 p.m. - Caller reports a male walking in the westbound lane and was nearly hit.  Caller states individual appears to be mad at someone and states he is going to Collegeville (60 miles).  Officer located male.  He appeared confused and was not making sense.  Officer asked him if he could give him a ride home and he agreed.  Officer drove to man's address and determined he no longer lived there.  Staff at residence stated they cannot hold him there and he can leave whenever he wants.  Officer spoke to DHHS but they also state there was nothing they could do.

8:33 p.m. - Caller requests a welfare check on a female for making statements that her brother is beating her up and her mother broke her wrist.  Caller reports female recently broke up with her girlfriend and has been texting messages all day.  Deputy spoke to all parties involved.

9:52 p.m. - Caller reports a male individual had been at her property.  She didn't tell him to leave but instead hid.  Officer made contact with reporting party.  Male individual does not live in the area.  He is the potential father to the child and wants to see the child.  Paternity has not been decided and there is no court paperwork.  Will be logged for information and reporting party will call if he shows up again.

Learning from Mom what's good to eat

At Finley Engineering I was taught how to title search.  It wasn't difficult - an hour of training and I could do it .  The company had been having law firms do their hundreds of title searches.   My time came so much cheaper that the company president broke his rule about not allowing women on out-of-town work trips.  Of course, today that kind of stuff can be done via computer from anywhere.  That's what I was doing early yesterday.  A prefab hunting shack had been brought in on a piece of property in the town.  There are 'No Trespassing' signs put up around it but the Town Planning Commission questioned if it exceeded 200 square feet.  Anything above that size needs a building permit.  The place also doesn't have a fire sign which is a requirement for any building off driveways.  I checked the on-line tax roles.  The land belonged to an LLC.  That's all I needed.  The town can send the forms for requesting a fire sign and check if they need a building permit.  However I was curious about the LLC.  I looked up the name.  It's a large company on Canada's west coast that specializes in fish.    Hard to believe that company and this LLC have anything in common.  I checked the address given for the LLC. The address is a house in Collegeville and I got the name of the couple that live there.  A little more on-line searching and I knew they had lived there for the last eight years and their professions had nothing to do w/ Canadian fish.  Still - just because the address is the same isn't proof these people have any connection to the LLC on the tax roles for the property here.   A little legwork was called for.  Walked into the County Register of Deeds office so I could look at the recent deed transferring the property to ... the LLC.  No names/signatures on it of the company officials.  I walked across the hall to Zoning.  No permits issued for the property.  Down the hall to the Treasurer.  I knew they make notes of who actually pays property taxes.  Nope - property taxes haven't yet been paid for this year.  I did know one permit the LLC had to have.  I drove down the road to the Highway Department.  Their secretary isn't an elected county official.  She gave me the evil eye when I asked to see someone else's driveway permit.    I told her the names of the people at the LLC address and explained I just wanted to know if one of them had requested the permit.  (No need to push her beyond her comfort zone.)  She looked through last year's permits and found it.  While she wouldn't show me the permit, she verified "one of those names is on the request".   So I knew there was a connection.   Rather enjoyed my little morning excursion.

Seasonal molt or Mange?

The sound and 'flurry' signifying nothing but an inch of snow from yesterday's unexpected storm. Good thing since today was one of the few days I needed to be somewhere in the morning.  It was the Public Test of the voting machine at the Town Hall.  Chief Inspector Barb and I finished that quickly.  We'd already decided on the minimum of three poll workers for this election but we both had texts from our Town Clerk warning us that she was getting a lot of interest in this election.  Probably because of the ads flooding the airways for a State Judge office and two referenda for the local school.    The kicker was that I wanted to continue to work on a process to prevent what happened at the presidential election last year - this stage would go easier w/ four people.  State law mandates odd numbers of poll workers in case questions during the election arise about how a ballot is marked.  The poll workers present vote on what they believe was the voter's intent.  Majority rules so the state wants to ensure there is never a tie.  Barb and I decided the original three poll workers would make any decisions and the fourth person would be told they couldn't vote if a question like that came up.  Barb and I were happy:  one extra person to help w/ any surge of voters and we weren't making the town pay for more workers than we thought we would need.  However, as I drove off after the test I realized that the County Clerk might not be so happy.   She'd been picky about the direction the voting booths faced and shot down the idea of having someone checking ID's to make lines go faster.  I knew from sitting in on a County Election Canvass the County Clerk is aware of the number of poll workers.  Since I was on my way to the County Seat anyway, I made my first stop the County Clerk's office.  I was right.  She didn't approve of our using four poll workers.   I explained that we handled the uneven number of workers requirement and added we were attempting to be proactive in making the voting procedure more secure.  That last part she appreciated and finally approved.   I'm pragmatic but try to avoid the 'Do and ask permission later' philosophy.

Another Sign of Spring - more snow

Finally started my taxes.  It's on my things-to-do-by-month spreadsheet as a February activity but I couldn't seem to get motivated.  Strangely, it was a call from the Town Chairman that finally provided the impetus.  Chairman Steve asked me to work on a special project for the town that needs to be finished by mid April.  I figured he'd probably called around to a few people already and no one was interested in working on it. ... so I agreed.  I thought about it for awhile.  Realized I didn't have a clue on what to do.  Figured I'd better get anything else that needed getting done early before I had to figure this project out.  That includes taxes.  Downloaded the tax forms.  Checked the internet to find out if I should take a tax credit for the down payment on the solar panels I made last year (answer is 'No, take the entire cost off in the year the system goes live').  Got the forms together and have made a first sweep through all of the items.  I saw from my notes that I did the same thing last year - planned on doing them in February, did them in March, and sent them in April.  Will see if I can better that by sending them out before the end of the month this time.

Spring arrives

We had no snow from the latest storm that, at one time, was forecast to drop 8". That may be the reason some Olson Solar guys showed up.  Whip alerted me to someone in the drive so I went out to greet them.  I'd agreed to being a 'fill in' spot if the solar company had a team that couldn't work at the planned location for that day.  The company has it's own messaging site and I'd been told that next week they would be contacting me to arrange a time for the electrical team to come out.    This company is based out of the Collegeville area which did get a snow dump.   Might be why I was getting them early and w/o notice.  They were installing conversion boxes on my electrical backboard and the collectors on the back of the arrays.  There is still trenching that needs to be done in order to connect the collectors to the conversion boxes but the company wants the ground frost free before doing that.  Then there will be an independent electrical inspector and the power provider's OK before turn-on.  This morning I woke up and realized I have questions before the system goes operational.  If there is an interruption in power is there anything on the system that needs to be rebooted?  Are there master switches I should be aware of?  Do I need to keep vines from growing up the support structures?  (That one's probably a yes.)  Will have to start making a list since some questions are easier to answer on-site (and who doesn't like starting a new list.)

Colorful Sunset

 

Brother Phil suggested that the U.S. Postal Service should be privatized and I remember saying I didn't think that would be a good idea.  I'm probably wrong on that point.  Remember the Christmas card I sent to a cousin in Missouri?  I sent it out December 6th and it didn't arrive until mid-January.  I sent out a card to Texas Monday of last week.  I asked for tracking on it but didn't think much else about it until this morning when I was ready to send a card to Indiana.  I checked the tracking number of the Texas card - nope, it was still sitting in Fair City where it had directly gone after leaving my local post office. I handed the card I was sending today to the Post Mistress and again asked for tracking.  I explained the delay w/ the other cards.  She related that the main postal center in Fair City had, late last year, removed some of it's sorting machines to economize  and that caused a backup of semi's w/ packages waiting to be sorted. If I understand what she said correctly, the postal service raised the price of stamps to buy more efficient sorting machines in order for the mail to move faster but those machines are now off-line in order to save money,   She said if the cards don't arrive I can petition the postal service for the cost of the cards.  My mail not arriving on time is of a concern to me but a more pressing issue is absentee election ballots.  State law is that absentee ballots have to reach the municipal clerk by the day of the election - having a postmark from before the election doesn't count.   Should a ballot get stuck in the postal system those people will lose their vote.  The Post Mistress assured me that the envelopes containing ballots can be stamped at this post office, put in the P.O. Box for the local municipal clerks, and don't need to be sent to Fair City for sorting.    That works for local people voting absentee but for those people out-of-state, their ballots still rely on the whims of the U.S. Postal Service.  I am not happy.   Reminds me that I'm also not happy because I also have to apologize to Phil since I insisted my state was part of the Louisiana Purchase (it wasn't).  

Robins are back

Picked up Friend Nancy Tuesday morning and we went out to breakfast in Churchville.  We both had things we needed to shop for but that didn't seem any fun.  Instead we went shopping at stores that are fun  but where we didn't really need anything.  After I dropped Nancy back off at her place, I went back to Churchville, did the shopping I needed to do, and drove back home through the hills listening to my latest audio book.  There was a snowstorm forecast for that night so I picked up some groceries, my mail, and a latte for the next morning.  Washed and dried clothes on the line and put tape over the PVC pipe by my front door.   The PVC pipe is the in-ground holder for one of the garden poles.  I take the pole out during the winter since it's right in line w/ where the plow guy plows snow.  I cover the top of the pipe at ground level w/ a little bit of brightly colored tape to keep it free of detritus.   I noticed blue tape in the snow mound plowed up last month.  The plow guy must have scraped it off w/ his blade.  I couldn't find the PVC pipe though - there was mud scraped flat and frozen across the area it should be.  As the frost went out of the ground, the top of the PVC pipe reemerged and I got into a habit of leaving my walking stick in the hole - an easy way to keep stuff out of the hole and the walking stick stuck up marking the spot.  If we have snow coming though  I can't leave my stick where the plow guy would shear it off so more tape across the pipe opening.  It's now Wednesday noon but still not a flake of snow.  I'm keeping count of how many remaining snowfalls there will be this season.   Folk-lore has it that spring arrives after it snows on a robin's tail three times.  Curious to see how close to reality that is.

First Red-Winged Blackbird

 Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

1:05 a.m. - Deputy observed vehicle crossing center line.  Deputy initiated traffic stop.  Driver arrested for bail jumping, possessing THC, possessing counterfeit phencyclidine/methamphetamines, operating with restricted controlled substance in blood (5th offence), resisting an officer, disorderly conduct intimidation, possession of drug paraphernalia.

 2:03 a.m. - Life 360 reported a crash detection.  Call to individual advised everything is OK.  Deputy located vehicle 25 yards off the road.  It struck a tree, no occupants, good amount of blood on the air bag.  Deputy followed blood trail and foot prints to where driver was picked up.  Driver had a decent cut on nose - believes it might be broken.  Denied EMS multiple times.  Driver admitted to taking the corner too fast and losing control.  She states she lied to dispatch because she didn't want to wake everyone in the house.  She plans to remove vehicle.

9:35 a.m. - Caller to 911 asking very strange questions and provided strange information such as "having children and wants to know if they're on file."  Questions attempted by dispatch received odd responses.  Caller was told to call back on the non-emergency line.  Has not called back.

10:16 a.m. - Traffic stop on a vehicle driving left of center.  Elderly driver stated he was taking advantage of the sand down the middle of the road.  Deputy states road was somewhat icy but not a danger at the speed he was driving.  Deputy had to pull off the road when they went by.  Passenger yelled at deputy saying "Come on now I have a doctor's appointment!"  Verbal warning for operating left of center.

10:44 a.m. - Caller states neighbor on opposite side of road is pushing snow from his driveway across the road and into ditch on their property.  Deputy informed caller that there is no state statue that prohibits this unless snow is left on roadway.

10:57 a.m. - Caller states the residence is owned by her but a male has been residing there and she lives elsewhere.  She was evicted from where she was staying and wants to live at the residence she owns.  She wants male living there to leave.  There is a no contact order between them.  Caller advised that law enforcement can't kick him out and she will have to go through the eviction process to have him removed.  Caller given info for emergency places to stay.

1:54 p.m. - Complainant states they sold a vehicle and the new owner didn't re-register it.  Now complainant is being fined for tolls on that vehicle.  The buyer, a known individual to the seller, has sent some money to pay for the tolls but not all.  Buyer has since blocked complainant.  Complainant was advised to contact the toll agency to explain situation and to cancel the plates through the DMV.

4:06 p.m. - Caller reports something is stopping traffic at intersection.  A car being towed by a driver who admitted taking back roads due to having a revoked driver license and no insurance.  In transit the brakes failed.  They jack-knifed and the vehicle on the car dolly came off.  With help from Good Samaritan the vehicle was loaded back on dolly.  Driver failed field sobriety test and was taken into custody.

4:28 p.m. - Caller states someone hit his mailbox and left a dead animal inside the mailbox.  Deputy inspected - mailbox post is bent/broken but mailbox is still attached.  The dead animal is a taxidermied fisher or something similar.  Photos taken.    Caller was informed that it would be difficult to figure out who did it without a witness or camera footage.  Caller states he will be installing a camera.  Caller wants this incident recorded for information.

9:54 p.m. - Caller reports all street lights from the park to the Church of Christ are out.  Officer advised street lights are all operational except for the light by the caller's address.

Setting Full Moon

 

The pastor's sermon was on 'Call and Response'.  Brought a smile to my face since I'm not that receptive to repeating rote sentences at specified times - especially in church.   The crux of his message though was about calling to Christ and his responding.  The pastor's sermon was maybe 10 minutes.  Enough time to only hit the highlights of his subject but then not so much to belabor the point.  I had marked the readings ahead of time but I read beyond the verses indicated.  Came across a passage urging when feasting to invite the poor and helpless since it is more Christian to do something you know won't be reciprocated.  A friend was just telling me her congressman ends all of his missives w/ references to his Christianity.  Even Vice President Vance invoked 'ordo amoris' in defense of more strict immigration laws.  As w/ disagreements down through time, everyone claims God is on their side (but rarely concerned if they are on the side of God.)  The Ancient Greeks did it too except, since they had multiple gods & goddesses, there were plenty to go around and each side just picked one.  Suddenly it was the ending prayer and we all stood to leave the church.   I wonder if preachers know that each person in the congregation hears a different sermon?

Sunrise

I attended this month's Town Board Meeting for two reasons: (1) the April 1st election was on the agenda so I wanted to be there if they had any questions or if there were any changes and (2) I would be getting paid for working the primary election last month and it would save the treasurer the cost of a stamp.  Though not on the agenda, the Town Board allowed the school board chairman and the school's maintenance person to give a presentation about the two referenda on the next ballot.  I'd heard she was hitting every town board meeting she could this month in order to get the word out to vote for the school.  After the presentation the meeting continued w/ the next item on the agenda "Correspondence".   The village had begun it's own garbage pickup service last year and sent a letter now asking to expand it into a small portion of the town roads that are next to the village.  I brightened up and the town chairman must have noticed.  "Yeah, Susan, I thought you'd like that part."  Their rates are lower than any of the other pickup services, it's managed through the Village Hall, and rates are the same for everybody.  The board likes the idea since the village uses smaller trucks than the other garbage haulers so wouldn't damage the roads as much.  Maybe they would consider someday doing the entire town?  That got the Board griping that there had been sightings of the current garbage haulers driving town roads during the weight bans.  The meeting ended on a happy note.  This year the town is 125 years old.  Will probably have a celebration at the Town Annual Meeting w/ cake and punch and photos of the town through the ages.  I haven't been successful in getting the 4H nor the school art program in motivating kids to take pictures the town can add (and therefore publicize) the Town Website.  Maybe the celebration is an opportunity?

Amaryllis

 Temp in the low 70's today.  Nothing like it to make me think of planting.  Of course, March is way too early in the Northwoods to do that.   Brought out the amaryllis that have been tucked away in my bathroom since just before Christmas.  Their leaves had died back during the winter  but now each pot has green shoots and one has a bulb emerging.   I'd split them up originally w/ the thought of giving one pot to the library for their sale.  My problem is I know that most people toss these plants after they've bloomed.  I've had my original bulb for more years than I can remember and it's been a faithful bloomer - usually twice a year.   Even after the blooms are done, the cats love to take sun naps hidden behind the long bending leaves.  Guess a person can get too attached to even plants.   I also moved Yggdrasil outside - setting it by Mjolnir's garage door.  It's been inside that garage since it did it's holiday gig as a Christmas tree.   I'm not sure it's a good thing if the root ball freezes solid at this stage in it's young life so I keep it in Mjolnir at 45 degrees and in as sunny a spot as I can.  However to a spruce tree there is nothing like being out in the sunshine and rain. I opened up the garage door on Sleipnir where the geraniums are overwintering.  Actually warmer outside than it was inside there (I keep that building at 45 degrees too).  Repotted some strawberries.   Feels good to do a little 'green thumbing' today before the cold returns tomorrow.