Michael and Rebecca

I stopped off to pick up a paper.  Usually I do that either on Wednesday afternoon when they first come out of Thursday night before going in for library duty.  So I was late picking one up but I didn't expect there would be NO papers.  I asked the lady behind the counter if they had anymore.  She looked toward where they usually are stacked and seemed surprised too.  "Guess there must have been something really interesting in this edition."  was her reply.  Made me smile.  Just before an election the paper runs not only a sample of what the ballot will look like but often has a write-up about referenda on the ballot and interviews w/ candidates.   Hopefully this means people are taking an interest in learning about the issues before voting!  Always a good thing.  As for me, I know how I plan to vote but will check out the paper at the library on Monday.  Extra info about this election can't hurt.

I was still in bed when Whip came in and started licking my face.  Her internal clock doesn't recognize these one hour time changes.  I went around the house resetting clocks and calendars.  I'd be OK w/ staying on Sun time (i.e. Noon is when the sun is at it's zenith) but it seems even that is an issue politicians can't agree on - neither state nor federal.  Now that the plants are overwintering in Sleipnir, they need watering once a month.  I usually do it on the first of the month.  Kinda forgot that I'm not suppose to lift anything more than 10 lbs. but I don't think a plastic sprinkling can filled w/ water actually goes over that limitation.  Anyway, got that done.  Whip stayed close to me all afternoon.  I've said it before, every dog is a support animal.

Semi's on Halloween

 

Checked my heart rhythm.  I had persistent A-fib which doesn't have as high a success rate after an ablation as the non-persistent kind.  However, I'm still in a good rhythm.  

It's the Night of the Spooky Semi.  Thursday night, well after dark, Whip let me know there was something going on outside.  When I let her out she just sat looking down the driveway.  There at the end were two bright lights beaming right at me.  We walked out together and could make out it was a semi, in Neighbor Dearhamer's field,  pointed across the road towards me.  No one at the wheel - just the lights.  In the morning the semi was gone - only to return again the next night.  Again lights pointed down my driveway but no one at the wheel.  Early this overcast and drizzly morning the semi was still in the field ... but ... there were now two of them.  Both pointed toward my place and no one in either of them.  Oooh - spooky.  Sorry, that's as scary as I can make it.  Pretty sure someone is filling them up w/ grain and carting it off during the day.  Nothing more than that .... hopefully.

Raspberry Leaves

 Septic system alarm started again on Thursday morning and wouldn't shut off.  I unplugged it and called the Sewer Sucker Company.   I'd just had them out last year but I needed some idea about what was setting off the alarm.   The truck appeared bright and early this morning.  I explained the problem and he sucked all three bins but said there wasn't an issue in anyone of them.  He cleaned both filters.  They weren't the problem either.  He asked me to bring out a hair dryer.  That turned out to be the problem.  No power to the pump that sends effluent out to the mound to filter out through sand and gravel.  The alarm was going off because there was no power to the pump, not because the sewer floats were setting it off.  Sewer Sucker Guy was extremely nice and helpful but this, he said, is something for an electrician.  I made a check out for his services and he was on his way.  I put a call into my go-to electrician company and then bopped down to the library to catch the last portion of a training session Librarian Trevor had scheduled for today.  When I got back home, I realized I was really tired.  Covered up w/ a throw on the sofa and didn't wake until afternoon.  Hadn't received a call back from the electrician so tried again (still just leave a message) and checked on-line.  The business had new management, the electrician I knew had retired, and reviews on the website said they often ignored messages or didn't return phone calls.  Great.  Called around and I think I found a company that will come out later next week.  W/ everything sucked out, I should be OK til then.

Connie and Dunder finally making friends

 

Sister Connie took my hospital release instructions seriously.  She parked her car in front of the garage so I wouldn't be able to drive,  gathered up Whip for the morning constitutional and made me breakfast.  Just like me she doesn't like runny eggs so no issues.  After that, even though it was a chilly day we took Jormungandr out to see the sights.   Checked out where the other Yggdrasil's have been planted; around the backside of Gorgeous Gorge; past the plum tree copse; over Bifrost and out to the new trails in the back 80.  Then we took off past the right-of-way to connect up to Neighbor Blake's trails.  Whip and I try to always take a late October romp through there before the November hiatus for hunting.  We popped out of the woods at the gravel pit; circled around Turtle Head pond before going back home.  Connie and Whip hugged each other the entire time even though, I swear, I went slow - well - slower than usual.

Tonight Connie drove us over to Churchtown for supper with Brother Russell and Sister-in-Law Donna.  Tomorrow, though, I have my road privileges back!

Crepuscular Rays

Tuesday morning Sister Connie and I drove over to the Clinic's Mother Ship.  I was going to have an ablation and Watchman installed in the latest effort to get rid of my A-fib.  Once I was registered, things moved along quickly.  I was shown to a prep room, had all sorts of things attached to me, two IV lines poked in, 'x's drawn on my feet, and, of course, by now clad only in a open-in-the-back mu-mu gown.  The nurse said she needed to shave near my 'hoo-ha'.    I have  heard the term before, though not sure precisely what it means.  Since this person was a nurse I figured she should know.  She giggled and said it was a name for a woman's 'nether region'  (sounded more like a description from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales than something anatomical).  I was rolled on out of the prep room to the operating room.  The anesthetist said he would be giving me some 'happy juice' (again w/ the euphemisms) and that's when the English Insurrectionists broke into the operating room to take it over.  They rolled me out of the room to get away from the fighting and into another one to hide.  This made no sense.  Slowly I started to wonder if maybe there were no real insurrectionists but it was a dream?   I took some deep breaths.  My thinking  began to clear.  I was in a recovery room.  An operation of a little over 2 hours and that's all I remember of it.  The hospital kept me overnight for observation.  They were serious about the observing part - think someone was checking on me every two hours.    The doc stopped by early this morning to let me know everything had gone extremely well and next steps.  I told him I felt great and (wisely, I think) refrained telling him about the English Insurrectionists.  He might have made me stick around longer if he knew.  Around 11 a.m. I was released to Connie for the drive home.  My entire heart is beating in rhythm once again.

Doe and Fawn

 Sister Connie arrived in the afternoon.  As usual, I planed to have all my errands done before she arrived.    I'd just stay at home and play w/ the pets.  Also, as usual, that didn't happen.   After the Public Test on Saturday,  Chief Inspector Andy and I had decided we should get a new ink cartridge, some rolls of paper, and additional security seals.  True, we don't need them for this election but we would forget by the time the next election rolls around.  The County Clerks office opens at 8.  I'd go then.  Texted Connie.  Connie doesn't like beef but will eat most everything else.  For meat, I only eat beef (and bacon).  Meals could be interesting while she's here.  She suggested some frozen meals she liked so, since I had to go to the County Seat anyway, I decided to swing around to the grocery store and get some frozen meals.  The clinic is pretty close to the grocery store and I had a small outstanding balance w/ them.  Why not?  I whipped over there and got that paid off too.  Picked up a latte before heading back home.  Once I hit the Village, I stopped off to get my mail and cashed a check at the bank. OK, none of those errands HAD to occur that day - maybe I was just burning off some nervous energy.

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.

Belt of Venus

Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

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.

Clearing for Sunrise

Public Test of the Election Tabulator today.  Chief Inspector Andy and I met at the town hall.  We rolled out the tabulator and plugged it in.  Yes, still held it's charge.  Andy put in the cartridges for this election while I unpacked the paperwork.  We fired up the machine and then reset the time to one hour earlier.  Pretty sure no law is going to be passed within the next week to stay on Daylight Savings Time so we wanted the tabulator to be set to the time it will be November 3.  One less thing to remember to-do come election day.  

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 End of the Goldenrod

Bought a new food bowl for the dog.  Read somewhere that there was a ratio between the size of the dog and the size of the bowl.  If that was correct (and I admit I never checked it) then the bowl I had for Whip was too small.  I put down the new bowl and filled it w/ the same food I've been feeding her.  She stood by my side.  Looked at the bowl and then looked up at me.  I pointed to the bowl.  "That's your bowl."  She looked down again at the bowl and then up at me.  This same sequence continue for a few iterations before I realized we were getting nowhere.  I grabbed one of her treats, tore into smaller pieces and threw it atop the food.  Again with the look at the bowl and look up at me.  Finally she took a step toward the bowl and gingerly grabbed out a treat and went into the living room to eat it in peace.  Didn't think a new bowl would be this big a deal.  

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.

The Tamarack are turning gold

I woke to chaos.  The dog had hopped up on the bed which scared the cat, who was in the process of upchucking on the sheets.  They jumped around a bit until the bed became 'uninhabitable'.   Thought I'd try to get some sleep in a reclining chair and deal w/ it all in the morning but gave up on that notion.  I removed the electric blanket and put that in the wash machine.  While that was washing, I took a shower and dressed.  Sunrise brought out some intense colors so I took along the camera on the constitutional.  Something about taking a walk - even a short walk - puts the world right again.  Crisp temps outside so the house felt good when we go back inside.  Hung the blanket out on the line and washed the sheets followed by the comforter.  Tonight everything will be back to normal and a little fresher.

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

Another beautiful fall day.  Nights are getting pretty cold - above freezing but not by much.  Worked on washing the windows.  The first house I owned had two floors plus a window high in a stairwell.   When I planned this house one requirement was a one story building - all windows would be reachable by someone standing on the ground.  That's worked well for me.  What hasn't seemed to work is my ability to clean a window w/o streaking it.  The windows looked great when the sun was overhead but when it was low on the horizon and shining directly through the glass it looks like a smudgy mess.  If the warm weather holds I may give them a second try w/ a squeegee.  If not, well, at least the accumulated dust and pollen from the summer has been removed.

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?

Blitzen

 Neighbor Anita dislocated her shoulder - twice.  The local hospital set her up w/ an appointment w/ an orthopedist in College Town.  Only issue is they told her not to drive and her husband Doug had other appointments at the same time.  I got up before sunrise and we started on the way there.  Went slowly to avoid hitting deer until it was light enough that we could at least see the deer coming.  Anita was ushered in to see the doc pretty quickly.  (Like I said, early morning appointments are the way to go.)   I wandered on down the corridor following the smell of fresh brewed coffee.  I would consider giving the Nobel Prize in medicine to whoever came up w/ the idea of switching out vending machines w/ actual coffee shops in hospitals.  (Okay, maybe not a Nobel but certainly a Presidential Citizens Medal.)  The latte was quick, cheap, and excellent.  I sat down and caught up playing WWF. Was just sending a message to one of the guys I'm friends w/ when Anita returned.  She was beaming.  Yes, the doc had made her feel better.  Yes, he had given her workable options.   However, her smile was because the doc said she could drive as long as it felt OK. Big Yes!

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.

Autumn Color

This year the First Frost and the Killing Freeze coincided on the same night.  It was bitterly cold just that one day and now a bit warmer winds are blowing through.  

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.

Virginia Creeper stems

I put on my windbreaker and Whip and I walked around the buildings today.  Excellent chance of a frost tonight and maybe even a freeze.  I wanted to see what things still needed to be brought in for protection.  It was very windy and raw even after the sun came out this afternoon.  Glad I did all the work of moving the plants and rain barrel while the weather was still nice.  

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.