At A Standstill

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Jim's House on 76th Avenue)

Think back on the instructions and correction a parent has given you ... (Josh McDowell's, Youth Devotions, 15 January)

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The city has been brought to a standstill by the snow. The subway system is only operating trains below ground at thirty minute intervals. There is, more or less, no bus service. Many cars on the street are still covered with snow. In our neighborhood some folks are still clearing their driveways and sidewalks and some haven't started. The federal government and our county schools are closed today. I predict they will be closed tomorrow too. More snow is predict for later in the week. Oh my!

I rediscovered the family of Seth Ward of Monroe County, Ohio. He is of interest because he married twice, once to a Dougherty and once to a Drum. I have been working on the genealogy of the families of both wives.

My daughter gave me a set of amplified computer speakers. Did you know you can use them as a docking station with your portable MP3 player or CD player?

Mr. Dickie
8/Feb/2010 8:46

This Experience

What is in this experience that I can use in a beneficial way, even if I don't understand why it is happening right now? (Dr. Wayne Dyer, Real Magic, p. 7)

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As of 8:30 a.m. this morning there isn't much movement outside our front window. There seems to be one lane plowed in the street but no cars are coming up the hill. So far I've seen only one person walk by with a shovel. It's too early to try to hire someone to clean up this mess. Besides clearing the driveway, the sidewalk, the porch and the cars we need to get all of that snow out of the outside basement stairwell. Finding someplace to throw the snow is going to be a big problem. There's lots of money to be made.

I got my little hand-held Memorex tape recording working yesterday. I had to recharge two AA batteries before they worked. I'm planning to use the recorder as external memory when I'm working on some of my genealogy projects. Sometimes while working on one task I discover something else that needs to be done. I intend to make an audio note that I can review later.

Mr. Dickie
7/Feb/2010 8:46

Blizzard of 2010

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Previous snowfall which was still on the ground yesterday.)

Enjoy it all, but never make your happiness or success dependent on an attachment to any thing, any place, and particularly any person. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 16)

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As of 9:00 a.m. this morning it had been snowing for about nineteen hours. I looked out our ground level basement window and measured the snow. It looked like 19 inches. The front porch is covered with snow that's blocking opening that door. The stairwell to the basement door is full of snow. It's a mess. The wind has picked up with gusts to around 30 mph making it difficult to tell how much snow is falling. It's bad. Once the snow stops it will take several days to dig out. We will have to hire someone to clear the snow. When Melva opened the kitchen door the male cardinal landed on the snow covering the window of the car in the carport. He was only about eight feet away from her waiting for some birdseed or peanuts.

The semi-annual booksale at the library was schedule for today and tomorrow. That's not going to happen. Everyone will just have to stay at home reading one of the books they bought at the last booksale.

Mr. Dickie
6/Feb/2010 9:11

Helping Others

Of course I am obligated by compassion and common humanity to help others. But this does not mean I should do for them what they ought to do for themselves. (One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, 29 January)
5 Feb 2010

What, Me Worry?

Photo: January 2010 Birthday Lunch (Dick, Melva, Cyndi)

If you're filled with anger about all of those "problems," you are one more person who contributes to the pollution of anger. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 91)

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Our anxiety levels are just about hitting the peg on the anxiety meter. For two or three days all of the talk has been about the next snow which could be up to a foot. We own two cars a Toyota Camry and a Ford Windstar minivan. We have recall notices for both vehicles and are waiting for the next recall notice to arrive from Toyota. Of course there is no guarantee that Toyota is going to fix the real problem. Remember how you bought into the hype about the joys of home and car ownership?

Mr. Dickie
4/Feb/2010 9:01

Toyota

Here lies my past
Goodbye I have kissed it;
Thank you kids,
I wouldn't have missed it.
(Ogden Nash in 10 Secrets For Success and Inner Peace by Dr. Wayne Dyer, p. 67)
3/Feb/2010 8:51

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I got lucky. About 8:45 a.m. a young man came to the door and offered to clear the snow. I decided to live another day and paid him to do the job.

This morning there is a front page article in The Washington Post about the Toyota accelerator problem. Current and former members of the government are suggesting that the problem is related to the electronics that regulate the acceleration process. Now we will all wait while we try to find out who's lying, Toyota or the government. In my opinion the government employees don't have any reason to lie about this problem. Right now millions of people own cars that are probably too dangerous to drive.

Mr. Dickie
3/Feb/2010 8:57

Let's Get Started

,,, the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 93)

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I bought a cute ceramic pot that looks like a bag with a green draw string. On the side of the pot in different colored letters are the words, "jelly beans." I'm going to place the pot beside my computer to hold my pens and pencils. I got a good deal on the pot, forty cents at the 25% off sale at the thrift store yesterday.

Yesterday we went to Takoma Park to eat lunch at a Spanish place. They'd done some remodeling. Melva asked them to change the program on the large screen television. It was 2:00 p.m. and time for "Escandelo TV." It took the waitress a long time to find the show. She searched the on-screen menu for several minutes before she found the name of the show. It looks like there are more channels on satellite TV than we have on Verizon FIOS.

The Toyota is at the dealer today because the "Check Engine" light was on. We are still waiting, like everyone else, for Toyota to give us instructions concerning the defective accelerator. Good grief! There is also a recall for our other vehicle a Ford minivan. What a mess!

I'm working on a couple of genealogy projects, extracting some information from reference books about Monroe county, Ohio.

Mr. Dickie
2/Feb/2010 8:13