I received this from a friend today and just HAD to share it…

What a delightful experience I had while visiting the "new" Rotary in the Vail area.  The club was split off from Pantano a year and a half ago and is in the growth mode.  The members are educators, insurance people, an escort officer for international visitors (not how he described it but that's essentially what he is) who works primarily with people from Eastern Europe (Russia) and others that I'm not sure of their occupations.  I will go back next week, it seems to be a great bunch of people.

The District Governor for District 5000 was there.  He's an attorney with a great sense of humor.  He told about how he was supposed to speak at the Pantano Rotary this week and had received a call asking if he could delay his presentation since they had an out of town speaker coming and apologized for the mix-up.  He said he would.  Then he got the newsletter from the club with the storyline that said that "He (District Governor) was supposed to speak but was going to be moved for an interesting speaker."  He, as well as all of us, found that to be really funny!

The girls went to the Theatre workshop today and it sounds like it went pretty well.  They are supposed to call me later and tell me about it.  It should have been an exciting time for them with new experiences and challenges.

The TCIV (Tucson Council for International Visitors) will soon be in possession of my dues.  I look forward to the opportunity to become involved with this world again, I have missed it terribly.  The organization here is different than the one I worked with since it is small, underfunded and so on, but the challenge to get it to be a viable part of the community is really exciting to me.  I certainly have the experience to help get it to its goals so I look forward to it.

We had our carpets cleaned today by Dave's Carpet Cleaning.  A one man operation that did a SUPER job.  He was reasonable, courteous, careful and thorough.  Pretty tough to beat that combination.  If you want your carpets cleaned by a super neat guy his number is 520 (obviously) 745-1530.  He will do your job correctly; at least he sure did a great job at our house!

We have arrived in Arizona following a rather uneventful trip other than when we were caught in a major storm in New Mexico which started with rain so hard I had to pull off the road and wait for the worst of it to pass.  The Prof couldn't stop because there was no one ahead of him that he could see and he didn't want to have someone run into the back of him because they couldn't see him.  It was nasty, then we encountered hail and then a dirt storm that also brought the visibility to zero.  Fortunately it didn't last very long and no major problems, but it was scary anyway!

We got to the house and C had been here all day working with the movers and the furniture delivery guys from the bed shop with no air conditioning working!  It was so hot for them, it was awful.  Fortunately she got a hold of the property manager and he got the air conditioning guy here so by the time we arrived there was air!  Bless her heart.  That along with all the work she had done at the house, it saved me hours and was so wonderful to have done and the cold Pepsi in the refrig was fabulous!  Pizza for dinner was also a great treat.  How do you ever say thank you for that kind of help and have it mean something, it was terrific.

We worked until late last night to get some stuff in place and then got a good start today, tomorrow we certainly hope to have the boxes all unpacked so that we know where everything is.

This afternoon we went furniture shopping at a discount shop, then Sam Levitts and ended up at the store that H told us to go to, Levitts clearance center.  Fortunately we got the sofa, love seat, chaise lounge recliner, two side tables and a coffee table, kitchen table and 6 chairs all at a great price!  Thanks H, now come over on Tuesday and see them.

Mercy is getting used to the house, it took awhile with all the people in and out and the different noises and all that stuff, but tonight she is wandering around and not running away when she hears something new.  By the end of the week she should be back to normal!

Now it's off to bed, don't know when the Prof will get to bed, he's working on computers.

Listening to the news you would think that every person in the United States gets the New Yorker in their mail box or they buy it at the news stand.  Now, we know that's not the case and therefore the majority of the population would never have seen the cover or been drawn into the silly controversy about the cover of the newest issue.

Why do I say silly?  Well, let's think about it.  Since Ben Franklin there has been a place for satirical drawings and humorous cartoon covers.  It makes people talk, discuss issues, raises the ire of some and the understanding of others.  In the case of the cover of the issue of the New Yorker the news media grabbed on it and went on and on about how awful it is.  Well, let’s look at this differently.

If you are an Obama fan (and I am not) then this is a perfect opportunity to encourage people to read the article in the magazine which points out that the internet stories about how he is a Muslim, how he went to a Muslim school and on and on is just crap.  It points out that he is not and did not.  It goes on to tell the positive side of Obama.  The Editor of the New Yorker is a strong supporter of Obama and believes he is the answer to the needed changes in the United States government so you can bet that anything negative toward Obama was not in the story.

Yet, with just the cover being shown on many, many stations the perception of those that don’t dig deeper will be that they were right, Obama is all of those scary things they have heard or read about.  I’m not slamming the news media, they do what brings viewers, and it’s just too bad that it is believed that the majority of the people in the United States are going to believe that the cover tells the story.

The common citizen in this country will make their minds up on who they want to vote for in the presidential election on things of more substance than the cover of a magazine. If they don’t, they probably aren’t informed enough to make a wise choice anyway.  I’m not saying they shouldn’t vote (although I may personally think that) but I do hope that if they vote they talk to someone that actually pays attention first!

This election has been not only long but it has also been a smear session that was worse when it was in the primary time than it seems to be now, but good grief, do we really need over a year of campaigning?  Do we truly know anymore about the candidates now then we did the other candidates in prior elections where the campaign season wasn’t nearly as long or as expensive? I don’t think so.  I really don’t need to know minute details of the lives of the wives, children or actually the candidates themselves.  I want to know what they stand for, what they plan to try to accomplish (which won’t be a great deal if the Congress doesn’t agree….the President can’t do much by himself) and what their moral character is comprised of. 

I support John McCain, not because I believe he is the best man for the job, I just, personally, believe he is better than the opponent.  At least we know that, when it comes to push and shove, he doesn’t get pushed around.  The Viet Nam war shows us that.  His stands against things he doesn’t agree with shows us that, his years in Washington DC without the media being able to dig out filth, affairs, scandal or any number of other things that would feed the frenzy shows us that. 

It will be wonderful to have the election over, regardless of what others may think, this has been just too darn long of listening to the same BS that we hear every campaign season, we’ve just been subjected to it longer this time around!

As for financing, it would be impossible for a good, honorable man or woman of moderate funds to run for President (or almost any governmental position) with the cost going through the roof.  It is a crying shame that only the super rich or those with connections to deep pockets can run.  There are good people that avoid the hassle and the cost of running for ANY office because of the cost.  What a shame.

We are packing up again, this time it is the DM stuff to take to the office so it can be loaded on the truck on Monday morning about 8 am.  We hope that the cubes are sold, but if not, they still aren't going with us, I'll get them sold before we leave on Thursday.

Yes, Thursday.  The Prof. gets done teaching on  Wed. so he said we might as well take off on Thursday since we won't have much left here to work with.  The guy that works with us is planning to take some time off and take a vacation.  So, timing will work just fine.

With the stuff arriving in the 18th it would be nice to not have to bother C with letting everyone in and being there most of the day, but, we won't be there by then, not possible with teaching not getting over before Wed. 

It is raining here today, cools everything off, the windows are open and the breeze is rather cool.  Sure beats the high humidity and heat of the last few days.  It is too bad for Summerfest, but it isn't supposed to last all day so perhaps this evening will be fine.  Tomorrow is supposed to be fabulous, 80's with low humidity. 

We have Mable back in with Mr. Lane.  She was having some issues that he needs to fix, not the tranny, some other stuff that I want done before we hit the road.  She's spent more time with him this last month than she has with me!

Mercy knows that there is something going on.  She got really "pis–" with the Prof. last night which resulted in me giving her a thump and chewing her out.  She got pretty mellow after that, she isn't used to me chewing her out.  She had actually hissed at the Prof when he picked her up.  Don't think she has ever done that before, probably won't do it again either!  Brat

I have the kitchen cupboards empty of food products (except for what we will eat this week) and now have to start on the pots, pan, and all that kind of stuff.  But, it reality, there isn't much time required for what is left, not more than a couple of hours.  We are taking the cloths with us in the cars rather than getting wardrobe boxes, we have the space and decided that's what we'll do. I think Mercy is going to ride with Greg, she usually does better with him, we'll see.  If she's too much of a brat she will come in with me, then she will really wish she was with her dad!

We are looking forward to being there in time to take the kids school cloths shopping.  As it is a "tradition" we will have a blast.  More choices this year than we had in Burlington, although we always had fun there too.  I know the girls are going to be in town, I just have to arrange for the boy to be with us or we'll go seperately but he's gotta be included too.

Next year the little one will be with us, she will be starting school so she gets to do the shopping trip too!

Now back to packing.

Here is something that probably should be obvious but wasn't until now.  We have had so many discussions of stem cell research, the collection of stem cells from the umbilical cord and other ways, such as from the fetus of aborted babies that finding out that there is an option that is available from every female on a monthly basis is encouraging.

It may seem like something that you don't want to "mess" with, or think about, but if this is a way to work toward the cure of so many diseases and accessible on a monthly basis then perhaps it should receive serious consideration.

Just go to CNNMoney  and read the story.  It means that science is looking at alternative methods of working toward cures, interesting and hopeful.

I went to the site to find out why it is that you can't just use the blood from your arm instead of the menstral cycle and this is what it says: "What is unique about a woman's menstrual blood versus blood extracted from her arm?
While most blood stem cells reside in the bone marrow, a very small number are present in the bloodstream and the quantity is usually not sufficient to support therapeutic application. In contrast, a woman's menstrual blood includes tissue shed from the endometrial lining of the uterus which potentially contains hundreds of millions of rich and abundant stem cells that can possibly be procured, processed, isolated, and cryopreserved. Ultimately, these stem cells may potentially be differentiated into many other cell types, which could possibly serve as a source for a wide range of regenerative therapies ranging from cardiac disease to diabetes, to anti-aging and wellness applications."  Interesting.

The website for this information is at http://www.celle.com/about_faq.aspx, you may want to take the time to read it, pretty informative.

The movers were at the house yesterday and loaded all that was left and will take it to the warehouse in DM until they load the stuff here and head for the new house.  It was both a great thing to get done and watching them load the boxes and desks and stuff at a speed that would make me pass out from exhaustion.  Then of course, it was sad. 

The house has been the center for lots of joy, challenges, excitement, our marriage, new businesses and family.  I just wish that someone that will love it as much as we did will buy it and be as happy there as we were.  It's got great history and good vibes (at least for us.)

The house had been closed up so it smelled like an old house, I hate that smell.  The basement was damp (no water, just damp from all the rain the southeast has gotten.)  So, opening it all up was a good thing, then the ceiling fans were engaged and it helped a lot.

B called while I was getting something to eat to tell me of the terrific sale that GH made.  Such exciting news, it is always fun to make the "big" sale and know that what you are doing makes sense!  I called back later to talk to her but she wasn't there so got to visit with J for just a couple of minutes.  He's a very busy boy!

C comes to the area today, it will be a blast for her to see all her high school friends and see what mischief they can get into!  She'll be here Sunday night before flying home then in short order we will be there.  Whew, busy month for all of us!

I called H the other day to find out how in the world to load books on my IPod.  It just wasn't working.  Ended up calling Audible.com for help and got the neatest guy, talked to me like the Prof does so it all made sense.  It wasn't me, it was a glitch that he removed and then I could load them all!  It works great now, listened to a book while I was driving home from MP.  It will sure be nice to have it while driving to AZ! Thanks H, nice to know it wasn't us LOL

 

zennioptical.com offers you a wide range of frames to choose from that will not break the bank!  If you look over the different styles you will see that they have some style and options for getting sunglasses as well as bi-focals and standard lenses. 

Having just gotten glasses I can tell you that this option is a nice one, it sure beats hundreds of dollars for the same frame at a well known place in the mall.

 

Driving through Fairfield, Iowa on the 5th of July, 2008, we were suprised to see a huge sign in the yard of a house on the main street of the town telling everyone not to hire a certain construction company.  It was such a strange sight that we turned around and took some pictures to share.  Now this is someone that is totally furious with a hired company and letting everyone know about it.

Then we took a look at the house, seems like they have a right to be upset!

As we were driving toward the square we saw the sign of the company on the store front that houses the Elks Club.

It would probably be worth the companies time and effort to go finish the job to get the owners to remove the sign, can't be good for business!

If you are planning a trip to Portugal you will want to have a car to get around to see the things the country has to offer.  If you are headed for the beach you can pack your picnic lunch, blanket and sunscreen and take a scenic drive to enjoy the day at the beach.

It's less expensive to rent online than it is to try to put up with the hassle once you get in country so take the time and do it before you leave home! 

The opportunity for a car hire Portugal is easy to do and the site gives you ideas of things available to see and do in country.  This down to earth country will make it seem like you have found the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of your everyday life.  Meet the people, see all the historic sites, take some time to enjoy the fabulous food, travel the whole country in your rented car. 

While most of Europe has been overrun with hotel development, poor planning and lack of services Portugal has wisely used its resources wisely to make an inviting, hospitable and warm environment for visitors from all over the world.  Make some new friends and return often to see them again.