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Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Ok, so I’ve been binge-watching “Stranger Things” on Netflix, and I can’t get that Clash song out of my mind.  But “Should I Stay or Should I Go” perfectly describes the dilemma I faced when I left Fresno in my RV in early December.

As mentioned previously, my plan was to store the RV and car at my uncle’s house in Los Angeles.  My flight to Seattle was scheduled for December 14th, but since I had an appointment to bring the full rig to the Camping World in Fresno on the 7th, I decided to head for LA the same day.  I had to completely unhook and pack up the RV at the campground to take it to the shop, so it made sense to just keep driving.

The most direct route from Fresno to LA is via the “Grapevine”, which is where I-5 goes over the Tejon Pass.  It’s a long and steep climb – I’ve driven it with a car many times.  I was terrified of driving it with my rig, and preferred to avoid it at all costs.

Another alternative is to drive west to the coast, and then south along the 101 freeway.  It adds a few hours to the trip, but it’s worth the extra time to avoid getting stuck. So I carefully planned that route, studying maps and the Mountain Directory to make sure there were no big hills.

Two alternative routes from Fresno to LA (the coastal route continues to Ventura and then east, but Highway 101 is closed due to recent mudslides so Google maps would not allow me to finish the route).

I didn’t have reliable television in Fresno, but the night before I planned to leave, I happened to see an online headline about fires in Los Angeles, and thought I better check it out. I soon learned that a section of Highway 101 was closed due to the Thomas fire, directly along my planned route.

Reluctantly, I researched the Grapevine option, but learned that there were strong wind warnings,  especially for vehicles with high profiles.  That would be me.  Clearly, the drive to LA had to be postponed.

Not wanting to go back to the Fresno campground after the Camping World appointment, I decided to drive south, stay overnight in Bakersfield, and see how things looked the next morning.  Highway 101 had re-opened the following day, but the wind was fueling the fires and making everything worse.  Should I stay or should I go?  If I go, should I drive through the fires, or tackle the steep and windy pass?

Thomas Fire on Friday, 8 December 2017 (source:

The campground in Bakersfield was lovely.  It had everything I needed, including cable TV so I could stay informed about the fires.  And it just so happened to be directly next door to an RV repair and storage place, which got me to thinking that perhaps I should give up the idea of driving the RV to LA, and store it in Bakersfield instead.  So, I checked it out.  It cost only $50 per month for storage, and they could do all the repairs I needed.  Best of all, storing the RV there would allow me to postpone the drive to LA until next year.  It felt like the right solution.

I spent the weekend preparing the RV for storage, and doing my packing.   I was able to wash the RV for the first time since May because the campground allowed it, which is rare.  I got up on the roof with my big push broom, a bucket and a hose, thinking constantly that this would NOT be a good time for an accident.

But it’s a good thing I did go on the roof, because I discovered a big hole in one of the vent covers.  Rain water would have poured in, creating a disaster inside.  I was able to buy a new vent cover at the local Camping World, and replace it.

Hole in the vent cover

My uncle’s house was a quick hour and a half drive over the Grapevine in my car, and I spent three wonderful nights in the warmth there before my flight to Seattle.  It was an exciting day when I finally got on that airplane with my two 50 pound suitcases, all ready for Christmas with my kids, and then 5 months in Europe….

Two Game Changers

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I pretty much had two years of my life planned out in advance.  And I’ve followed that plan so far.  But, two little grenades have been thrown into my life, and thus, things have changed.

The first involves the impact of health care on my budget, which has forced me to choose which parts of the plan I can still afford to implement.

As I’ve written about before, I enrolled in health insurance for 2017 through the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”  Since I retired early, prior to eligibility for Medicare, there weren’t a lot of choices.  So I didn’t do much research in advance – I just went on the website and enrolled.

My income in 2017 consisted of a small pension from the State of New Jersey, and Social Security.  I became eligible for Social Security in June, so I received just six payments.  At that income level, the subsidy toward my health insurance premiums was about $350 per month.  I selected a very high deductible plan ($7,500), making my premium about $275 per month after the subsidy.  Fortunately, I didn’t get sick in 2017 so I didn’t have to pay much of the deductible, the premium was affordable, and it all worked out pretty well.  Fingers crossed that I stay healthy at least until I’m 65 and eligible for Medicare.

Next year, my income will include a full year of Social Security, making it higher than 2017.  So when I enrolled for 2018, I was in for a complete shock. Not only did the premium for the same high-deductible plan increase by about 50%, but I was no longer eligible for any subsidy because my income was too high.  So, my premium was going to increase from $275 per month, to $775 per month.

Did you know that if you exceed the maximum income amount, which is around $47,000 per year, by even one penny, you lose all of your subsidy?  I had no idea, but I certainly do now.  There’s a thing called the Obamacare “cliff” – at a certain income level, you just drop off it and get nothing.

The short version of the story is that I was able to “un-do” my application to start my Social Security in 2017, thereby keeping my income well below the Obamacare threshold.  Without the Social Security income, my health insurance premium for 2018 is $12 per month, and my subsidy is about $9,000.  And once I re-start Social Security, maybe when I’m 65 and on Medicare, my monthly check will be significantly higher.

It’s the right decision, but it does have a big impact on my financial situation, and on my travel plans.  Although it’s relatively inexpensive to live in an RV, I can no longer afford to do the other traveling I’ve been doing.  I decided NOT to change my plans to stay in England and Wales for the winter and spring of 2018.  There would be a financial cost to cancel because everything is already arranged, and besides, I really feel that if I don’t do it now, I might never do it.  So, I’ll be funding it with savings.

But, I have to cut out my planned summer sublet in New York City, and I’m debating about the Panama Canal cruise next September.  And these changes are really OK, because of the second game changer.

I’ve mentioned before that my 23-year-old son has moved from Seattle back to his hometown of Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and started a career in real estate (see  It has been quite an amazing transition to witness.  After graduation from college, he had a strong pull to experience “somewhere else”, so he went to Seattle, where his sister was living.

Then last summer, after a year of struggling to support himself and make new friends in a new place, he is incredibly happy to be back home.  He’s lived in Bucks County since he was two, and that’s where he’s comfortable.  He’s an Eagle Scout, and has been active in sports since he was four, so his network is wide and deep.  All the people who know him the best are there – except, of course, for his family.

So, I’m going to change that!  I think Kyle and I have learned very similar life lessons, even though we’re at very different points in life.  We’ve learned how much we appreciate “home” after we’ve been away from it for a while.  We realize how incredibly important our relationships are – the friendships which we’ve spent years nurturing.  Both of us have realized that we belong in Bucks County.

During my travels across the country, I enjoyed visiting all sorts of different places.  I’ve been all over the country, in all four corners, and in between.  I’ve seen big cities and small towns, rural and suburban landscapes, dramatic mountains and peaceful farmland.  A common theme I felt was that the people who live in each place seem to belong there.  They fit.  And it made me ask myself “Where do I fit?”.  Everywhere I went, I asked myself “Could I live here?”, and I tried it on for size in my mind.

Before Kyle made his decision to move back, I might have answered my questions with “Maybe here.  Maybe.”  But, I didn’t feel enthusiastic about anyplace.  After Kyle’s decision, every time I considered a new place, I asked myself, “Why would I live here, when Kyle is back in Newtown?”.  And that’s what stuck.

The combination of the desire to live near at least one of my children, and the desire to be near many of my very dear friends, including a whole community of genealogy friends, made the decision to move back to Bucks County an easy one.  It was literally a no-brainer; I just followed my heart.  And I’m ready to make it happen as soon as I touch down in Philadelphia on May 20, 2018.

More details to follow as I work them out!

Fresno – the Good and the Bad

My RV was in Fresno for about a month in November and early December, and during that time I had wonderfully high highs, as well as some challenges…so typical of life!

I spent Thanksgiving with my kids at my uncle’s house in the Los Angeles area.  I hadn’t seen my aunt and uncle in about five years, and hadn’t been to their home in decades.  My kids met my uncle when they were too young to remember much, so this was truly a family reunion.

The day after the holiday, my brother’s two kids rode a train for two hours each way to visit with us at my uncle’s house for four hours.  We hadn’t seen them in almost two years.  I can’t even describe with words how amazing it all was.  A fabulous visit!

The four loves of my life – the boys are 6’4″ and 6’5″ – my father and both brothers were also tall!

From Los Angeles, my daughter and I drove up to San Francisco to visit an old friend.   I lived there in my 20’s and early 30’s, and hadn’t seen my friend in 28 years – so many great memories!

My house in San Francisco in the 1980s

And, my father grew up in San Francisco, so we visited his childhood home as well.  From there, we drove back to the RV in Fresno, and Caitlin stayed with me for a few days before flying back to Seattle.

General Grant Sequoia at Sequoia National Park
Road to Kings Canyon National Park at sunset

That part of the past month was fantastic!  But, for the remaining three weeks of my Fresno stay, I was alone – two weeks before the trip, and one week after.  Unfortunately, I was able to do very little genealogy research, which was the whole point of being there.   I spent a few hours in the genealogy section of the library one day, and my daughter and I visited the cemetery together.  That was it.

Caitlin and I are fascinated with my great-great Aunt Elsie, who purchased a house in her own name in Barton, Wisconsin, where she lived with her mother until she died in 1895.  Then 45 year old Elsie went west.  On her own?  We’d love to know the details!

My time in Fresno was spent preparing for my trip to England, and taking care of a myriad of administrative details.  It was enrollment time for health insurance, which threw me into a financial tizzy for a week afterwards.  I researched trip insurance,  phone, internet and medical coverage overseas, RV storage options, car rentals in England, rental car insurance, how to get my prescriptions filled while I’m away, and what to do for a GPS.  I finalized lodging plans for England and researched options for my trip to Italy.  I did my online Christmas shopping and worked on my genealogy classes.  In other words, I was busy.  Not much fun, but all good.

When I was in LA, my aunt and uncle very generously offered to allow me to store my RV and car at their house while I’m in Europe, which will save me a ton of money, and give me peace of mind as well.  More good.

Moving on to my complaints, I truly did NOT like the Fresno campground.  I paid extra to be on the lagoon, but it was all dried up.  The site was sandy, which meant I tracked the stuff in to the RV and I was constantly cleaning.  There was no picnic table.  My fellow campers seemed to be more or less permanently there – perhaps seasonal workers – most of whom had dogs which constantly barked.  Either that, or there was loud music playing into the night.  Or both.

It was cold – the last day there, I woke up to 28 degrees – and the bath house wasn’t heated, so I had to wait until it warmed up in the afternoon to take a shower.  Not only that, but the bath house was disgustingly dirty.  Even my daughter said that she didn’t know how I could stand it.  I took really fast showers.

I had an infestation of ants and lady bugs.  I was under a tree which constantly dropped something hard, like a nut, which made me jump out of skin every time I heard it.  The tree debris also prevented my slide-out from retracting on the cold morning I packed up, so I had to get up on the icy roof with a broom to sweep it all off.

And, things started to break.  My brand new computer completely crashed and I had to send it back to HP for repairs.  My brand new microwave stopped heating food.  The hot water heater was emitting a horrible burning smell, so I turned it off and had no hot water for the last week there.

Oh, and let’s not forget the car.  I had a recall notice regarding the seat detection mechanism on the passenger side, which impacts the airbag.  There was no Mini dealer anywhere near Fresno, so I scheduled an appointment in LA.  Then, I had to jump-start the car with the RV several times the week before the appointment, so I asked the dealer to take a look at the battery.  The final bill was $1,200 – evidently the power steering lines were leaking and had to be replaced, which was completely unexpected.

For car repair news on the positive side, I took the whole rig into the Camping World in Fresno the day I left. They repaired the damage to the front end of the car at no charge.  The hitch shouldn’t dip more than 3″ between the RV and the car, and my level was something like 9″, they said.  They corrected the hitch by installing a down bar (which I understandably had to pay for), so it won’t happen again.

It was kind of serendipitous that as I was coming to the end of my time in the RV, things were falling apart and I was feeling very ready to move on.  I just felt done, and very much looking forward to the next chapter in my adventure.

Phoenix to Mexico to Fresno

As I’ve mentioned before, I love love love the southwest.  I hadn’t been there in so long that I’d forgotten how delicious the air feels to breathe, and how big the sky seems.  And a nice side benefit is that it completely takes all the frizz out of my hair!

View of Superstition Mountains from Lost Dutchman State Park Campground

I fantasize about wintering in Arizona, but I don’t think I’d want to be there in the summer.  The temperature was nearing 100 degrees in late October, and I came home one day to this:

Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!!!

The outdoor thermometer must have been directly in the sun, because it wasn’t really 115 outside – more like 98.  But I’m sure the inside temperature was correct.  The air conditioner worked really hard to get that number down!  The desert is always much cooler at night, so there was some relief.

Sunset from my Arizona campsite

I only had a few days in Arizona, and I spent one of them with a genealogy friend, visiting the historic town of Wickenburg.  Then I caught up on personal business, and prepared for my trip to Mexico.  I put the RV into storage near the airport for a week (I would highly recommend Guardian Self Storage on Van Buren), and stayed at a park-n-fly hotel the night before the flight.

You may think that someone who’s retired doesn’t really need a vacation, but that’s not true.  Even though I’m technically not working, it’s still a great relief to take a break from the “real world”.  After seven months in the RV, it was truly terrific to just spend a week doing nothing but laying around the pool reading novels.  My good friend Sandra and her 28-year-old daughter joined me there.

View from our balcony in Puerto Vallarta
Sunset view from the balcony

Keep in mind that I’m still, and always will be, a Frugal Traveling Pensioner.  The timeshare week in Mexico was a gift from my ex-husband, back when I was taking care of my dying brother in 2013.  And the flight to Mexico was paid with frequent flyer miles.  So, my expenses were limited to food, drinks and incidentals in Mexico, storage for the RV, and a night in a hotel before and after the trip, all of which totaled less than $500.

Sandra flew back to Phoenix with me, and we made the two-day drive to Fresno together. I’d never had anyone ride shotgun in the RV before – what a difference that makes!  I mapped out a route which avoided any big hills, so we crossed the Sierras at the very south end, over the Tehachapi Pass.

During the second day of the drive, we noticed that there was a gap between the bumper and the hood of the Mini Cooper. The hood of the car was also slightly uneven.  I had no idea how or when the damage had happened.

Can you see the larger gap on the right under the headlight?

After more thought, my theory now is that it happened while driving along a road in California that had some unusually severe undulations (when I was off the interstate trying to avoid the mountains!).  When the hitch was originally installed last year at the Camping World in Lakewood, New Jersey, Eric was concerned that the height distance between the RV and car was too great.  At the time, the mechanic said it was on the outside of the range (we had read that there should be only a three inch height difference), but that it would be fine.  Well, it wasn’t fine.  At least, that’s my theory.

I stopped at the Camping World here in Fresno last week, and they seemed to agree.  I have a longer appointment scheduled in December to see what they can do.

As Eric and I often say to each other – IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING!!  But that’s true of life in general, right?  In my retirement, in my quest to avoid stress and conflict, I prefer to take these blips in stride, deal with them, and move on!

Missouri to Phoenix

From Illinois, I headed to Marshfield, Missouri, where I met a first cousin for the first time.  People ask how it’s possible that I have a first cousin I’ve never met.  It’s because my uncle had a daughter in between his two marriages, and he didn’t meet that child until she was a grown woman.  Once I knew she existed, I just never made it a priority to get to Missouri until now.  I totally regret that, because Dixie is an amazing person and I wish she had been in my life all these years.

I met five of Dixie’s six children, seven of her ten grandchildren, and two of her four step-grandchildren.  I have never seen a family where every single person is so happy, grounded, bright and respectful.  It just felt good being with them.  I especially enjoyed having 5 year old Abby take a nap on my lap, and holding little 8-month old Ellie while she laughed:

Ellie’s laugh was totally contagious!!

One night, we had a “Show and Tell”, with my computer hooked up to their television so together we could see our family tree and pictures of our relatives and ancestors, and hear all the family stories.  That was great fun and definitely cemented our family connection for all of us.

I was sad to leave Dixie and her beautiful family, but I was also excited to head west.  I hooked up my car in Marshfield in the dark, at 5:30 am.  Last Christmas, Eric gave me a headlamp which I use all the time – hands-free light, wherever I need it!  I try to hook the car up the night before a departure, but sometimes the site configuration doesn’t allow for it.

About halfway to my overnight destination in Sayre, Oklahoma, I passed a police vehicle with its lights flashing on the side of the road.   The next thing I knew, he was following me with his lights still flashing.  Did he want me to pull over?  I certainly wasn’t speeding – the limit on I-44 was 75 mph, and I was only going 62.  The shoulder was very narrow, but I decided I’d better pull over.

It took about a half hour for him to give me a written warning because my right front headlight was out.  Sheesh, it was broad daylight and I didn’t even need to have the lights on – I wished I had turned them off once the sun came up.  On the bright side, all of my paperwork was in order, thank goodness.

So of course for the rest of the drive that day, I wondered whether I would be able to figure out how to change the bulb, or if I would have to take the RV to a repair shop.  I was planning to leave in the dark again the next morning, and knew I needed to take care of it before then.

I arrived at the Bobcat Creek RV Park in Sayre around 2:30 pm, and the owner says, “Looks like we’ll be gettin’ some weather tonight”.  So I asked what that meant.  Well, there was gonna be some heavy winds and rain, and possibly a tornado.  He pointed out the underground tornado refuge not far from my campsite, and said I would hear the sirens in town, and he would make sure all the campers were gathered together.   Holy Oklahoma!!  A tornado is not healthy at all for an RV!

My first concern was to take care of the headlight before the storm came. I opened the hood, and it was just not obvious at all how one would access the bulb.

Right headlight with truck hood up. The left headlight was the one that was out, but forgot to take a “before” picture!

So I checked the internet, and to my great relief a kind soul had posted photographs of exactly how to remove the casing and access the bulb, which I was able to do with the help of the incredibly nice campground owner (the trick is to pull up and back on those two little black tabs above the light).

Headlight after removing the casing

Then it was off to the auto parts store, where they had the correct bulb; I bought two, just in case.  Back at the campsite, I was able to install it and put everything back together.  Whew!

About a half hour later, I saw the owner wandering around, and went out to ask him what was up.  He looked at the sky and said, “Looks like some wind is coming – you better get inside”.  And seconds later the wind was so strong that I had to fight it to get the door to the RV closed – I flashed on Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

It wasn’t a tornado, but the wind was so strong that the RV was rocking, and it was being pounded hard by what looked like white rocks.  I initially thought that the wind was stirring up all the gravel around us; the sound of those rocks on the roof was absolutely deafening.  It was frankly quite terrifying.

Hail storm in Oklahoma

It turned out to be hail – very large balls of ice. How does that happen on an 80 degree day??  My car now has little dents on the side that was facing the wind.

I was very glad to leave Oklahoma and head on to Albuquerque.

From there on, the trip was relatively uneventful.  I drove probably 200 miles out of my way to avoid going through the mountains.  The  direct route from Albuquerque is to head west on I-40 to Flagstaff, and then south on I-17 to Phoenix.   After referring to my Mountain Directory, which I acquired after overheating on a steep hill in upstate New York, I decided to go south from Albuquerque on I-25 through Truth or Consequences, and then west on I-10 though Deming and Tuscon.

I loved driving through the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona – it brought back many memories of the time I worked at the Grand Canyon when I was 19 and 20 years old.  The whole area has always been magical to me.  It quite literally stirs my heart to be there.

And at the end of the road, this was my reward:

Campsite at Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona

More about Illinois

I absolutely loved being in Illinois along the Mississippi, near the little town of Fulton where my Abbott ancestors lived.  In fact, it was probably my favorite place to date.  In my previous post about Illinois, I included a picture of a gorgeous sunset across the river – I saw many of those.  Here are daytime pics in both directions from my campsite at Thomson Causeway:

View from my campsite in Illinois looking left
View from my campsite in Illinois, looking right

Toward the end of my stay there, I connected with the very friendly and helpful folks at the Fulton Historical Society, who put me in touch with present-day Abbotts in the area.  I promised to provide the Society with my research on the Abbott family, which I first need to write up properly so others can benefit from it.

I spent a delightful afternoon with 91 year old Bill Abbott at a local nursing home.  It turned out that he is from a different Abbott line, but I greatly enjoyed hearing his first-hand account of the history of the area.  The next day, I had a great chat over coffee with a distant cousin, a descendant of my pioneer ancestor Clark Abbott.  Unfortunately, no one had any information on Clark’s parents, which has been a long-standing brick wall for me.

Amazingly, I also discovered some collateral Goodenough relatives who lived in Morrison, the Whiteside County seat.  My branch of Abbotts left Illinois in the late 19th century, while the Goodenoughs didn’t arrive until the early 20th century, so the common location was purely coincidental.  It was certainly thrilling to see my maiden name on all sorts of dairy farm memorabilia in the Morrison Historical Society’s Heritage Museum!

Model milk truck from Goodenough’s Dairy Farm

On the “RV Living” side of things, my microwave got fried. I had decided to steam a bunch of vegetables in advance, so I wouldn’t have to do it in single servings every night.  After almost an hour of using the microwave, the breaker blew, and the skin inside the microwave was peeling off.

The microwave breaker is tripped and won’t go back up!
When I saw the tear in the liner, I knew the microwave was toast.

It was quite distressing because I use the microwave all the time.  I cook in batches, freeze serving sized portions, and then use the microwave to warm up a meal.  In addition to steaming vegetables, since I don’t have an oven, I often cook a baked potato in the microwave.  So it was basically a microwave emergency.

You would think that replacing a microwave is pretty straight forward – you just buy a new one and plug it in, right?  Not so.  The microwave in my RV is built in to a cabinet, so I knew there would be issues with venting, and with keeping it securely positioned.

The old microwave in the cabinet. What to do??

I thought about having someone install a new one for me, because I didn’t really want to mess with anything involving the electrical system.   I could contact a mobile RV technician who would come out to the campground, but it usually costs somewhere around $100 for the house call, and then the hourly rate for the work can be $125 or more.  And my experience with taking it in to a shop, like Camping World, is that they are booked out weeks in advance.  So, besides the timing of getting it installed, I didn’t really want to spend the money.

After much angst, I decided to try to replace it myself.  How hard could it be?  If I failed, I figured I could get help any time in the process.

My first step was to remove it from the cabinet so I could see what I was working with:

The empty cabinet after removing the microwave.

It looked do-able, with a simple outlet in the back for the plug.  After hours of research online, and of course consultation with my RV expert, ex-husband Eric, I figured out what I needed, and then found one specifically for RV’s that was the correct size for the opening, the correct wattage, the proper venting, and with its own trim kit.  So I had it shipped to my next stop – my cousin’s house in Marshfield, Missouri.

I’m skipping a lot of steps, but the short story is that I did it.  Here is the final product:

Fancy new microwave, installed!

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but for me it was a tremendous challenge.  I was SO GLAD not to have to spend the money on professional services, and it felt GREAT to complete a successful DIY project!

Random RV Tidbits

I’ve learned the hard way that evidently my credit card gets pre-approved for $100 at the gas station, before I start pumping. So when the pump ticker hits $100, everything shuts down.  I had no idea until recently – cause who spends over $100 on a tank of gas, ever?  I do.

Tolls can also be pricey with four axles.  The Pennsylvania Turnpike and the New York Thruway each cost about $55 in tolls when I was crossing those states. I paid $52 in tolls to get from Ohio to Wisconsin.  There are probably routes which avoid the tolls, but I feel much safer on the main highways, so it’s worth the extra cost.  I was glad when I got west of Chicago where there were fewer toll roads.

I’ve learned that the gauges for my black (toilet) and gray (sinks, shower) tanks are completely unreliable. So I have to know my limitations in other ways.  The black tank can go a long time – longest I’ve gone is two weeks without dumping, and I’m sure I could go longer.  The gray is another matter.  When it’s full it overflows into my shower basin, so it’s very obvious.   That happens after about four days.  I have a strong preference for a sewer hookup and no worries.

Gauges directly after dumping – note that the black (aka “holding”) and gray tanks don’t show empty, even though they are!

My little Mini Cooper needs to be completely cleaned each time it’s towed to a new campground. Apparently, the RV spits dirt and all manner of gunk from its tires as it’s traveling, and it covers the Mini to the point where it would be embarrassing to drive it around.  Most campgrounds don’t allow car washing, and commercial car wash places don’t allow the Mini through with the hitch gismo in the front, so I do a lot of “wiping down” with a bucket of water and a few towels.  I enjoy the job, since it’s one of the few things I do that’s away from the computer.

Hitch Gismo

Speaking of the car, when I first started thinking about buying an RV, the different options were overwhelming: the size of the RV, the type (a trailer, or a Class A, B or C motor home), and whether or not to tow a car, among many other choices.  Now, after living with it and seeing lots of other options on the road and in campgrounds, it’s a good feeling to be able to say that I made exactly the right decision for my needs.  The size of the RV is perfect for me (26 feet), it was a great price, and I’m so glad I chose a Class C motorhome, towing a car.  I can’t imagine how I would function if my only vehicle was the RV.

Going over a particularly rough road recently, a few of the unbreakable dishes in the cabinet above the sink flew out and broke. Ever since then, I use a bungee cord to make sure the cabinet stays closed.  And the first time I open any of the cabinets (or the fridge) after a day of travel, I know to be ready to jump out of the way of falling objects – because, like the airline attendants always tell you, things really do shift in transit.  Cans of food are especially painful.

Mini bungee cord on cabinet doors

I much prefer the cooler nights of the fall to the heat of the summer.  And in case you’re wondering – yes, I do have a heating system when I need it, but so far I’ve only used it one morning when the temperature inside the my little house was 47.

Speaking of the heating system, I’m also learning how much propane is needed. Propane runs the heater, the hot water heater, the fridge when it’s not hooked up to electric, and the stove.  The propane tank has only been filled three times:  mid-November last year, after living in the RV for almost three months; late May, after only two months of use; and in early September, after roughly three months.  Probably it didn’t last as long in the spring because I had the fridge on propane for a week while I stayed at my cousin’s house in Virginia.  That doesn’t happen very often.  But it’s not a big deal as it’s not very expensive.

Propane tank being filled by Ohio campground owner

Downloading movies and TV shows from Netflix and Amazon is a whole THING for me now.  Since my cellular data is limited, I don’t want to spend it on streaming – I need it for my research.  Actually my cellular data plan is Verizon’s definition of “unlimited”, which cuts the speed down so far after hitting a certain threshold each month that it becomes almost useless. And often, I’m not able to get television reception.  So I’ve learned how to download and watch shows offline, which first involves finding a place with good internet.

Through trial and error, I’ve learned that Starbucks has absolutely the fastest internet by far, and I can access it for the cost of a small cup of coffee, which is about two bucks.   This doesn’t apply to the Starbucks kiosks that are sometimes inside grocery stores.  I’ve had one hour shows take a full hour to download at some places, and that’s just a waste of time.  At Starbucks it’s a pretty reliable five minutes.

The Netflix app works on both the laptop and the kindle, but the app can be “buggy” and the rules aren’t clear – sometimes Netflix retracts shows off your device and you’re not allowed to download them again for a year.   The Amazon app only works on my kindle (not my laptop or Chromebook), but I like it better because you can download the show and a 48 hour viewing window starts when you begin watching it.  I plan ahead so I know if there is going to be a Starbucks near my campground.  If not, I download a ton of Amazon shows and movies in advance, and then I can watch them over several weeks without feeling pressured.  I’m a very happy Amazon Prime customer in general.

I have a completely different relationship with possessions since I downsized to an RV.  I’ve never been a shopper – in fact, shopping is right up there with root canal in my top ten things to avoid at all costs.  But I marvel at the fact that when I drive by a shopping center these days, I ask myself if I need anything, and 99% of the time, the answer is no.

I drive right by the Home Depot – don’t need anything for the house or yard.  No home improvement projects, no mulch, plants, or tools.  I drive right by Bed, Bath and Beyond – don’t need any shower curtains, mops or other cleaning supplies, fancy coffee makers, or bath accessories.  Don’t need Pier One – no knick-knacks, no photo frames, no furniture.  I pretty much live in T-shirts and shorts or jeans, so I don’t need many new clothes.  I even saw a Camping World the other day, and didn’t need to stop.  Once I got all set up in the RV, I was done buying stuff.  It’s amazing to realize how little one needs to live a simple life.  I find it to be a great relief.

My friend Peg asked if I get lonely and/or bored on my long drives.  Well, I’m certainly not bored.  Driving the rig takes all my concentration, even for hundreds of miles on an interstate.  I still grip the steering wheel so tightly that my hands get numb from my carpal tunnel – I try to remember to take Aleve in the morning on travel days.   Sometimes I turn the radio on for a little entertainment, but not often.

Loneliness is entirely another matter.  Before I started this new adventure, I figured I would probably be lonely, but that was nothing new for me.  I was living in a country setting and didn’t know my neighbors, I no longer had any single girlfriends, my kids were grown and gone, and after my mother died, I found myself quite alone.  Although I would prefer to have company, I wasn’t about to let “being alone” stop me from doing what I wanted to do.

What I’ve found is that I’m lonelier now than I was before, and in my opinion that’s the biggest downside of this lifestyle.  When I was working,  at least I had the company of my co-workers during the day, and I also had my genealogy friends.  Now, I can literally go days without speaking to another human being.  I’ve always been very independent and strong, believing that I didn’t need anyone else.  One thing this trip has taught me is that my attitude was kind of a false bravado, and I really do need other people.  I’m looking forward to the time when I can belong to a community again.

Meanwhile, it’s really NOT as bad as it may sound!  I’m perfectly fine being on my own and I’m SO enjoying the total freedom I have.  For the first time in decades, I don’t have to consult with anyone else about the schedule for the day, and I don’t have to concern myself with someone else’s needs.  It’s all about me.  And there’s a lot to be said for having that experience, at least temporarily!

The Heartland

I’m thrilled to be in Whiteside County, Illinois, camped directly on the Mississippi River.  After years of seeing the local place names on maps and in historical documents about my ancestors, I’m finally actually seeing the landscape here and visiting my ancestors’ graves.  That’s been the case with all the locations I’ve visited, but for some reason this one in particular has really called me.

View from my front door.

I’ve camped on or very near numerous bodies of water: Lake Ontario in New York, Lake Dunmore in Vermont, Mohawk River in New York, Clear Fork River in Ohio, and Lake Lenwood in Wisconsin.  But the mighty Mississippi is downright magical.

I’m so close to the water that I can hear the frogs plopping in for a dip all night.  In the evenings, the geese come to feed – it seems like hundreds of them.  I watch their little tails go straight up in the air as they dive for dinner.  And there’s always something  – don’t know what – coming to the surface and making a splash and a swirl.  I can hardly believe my good fortune in getting a front row seat for all the action.

The trip here from Wisconsin was relatively short at only 200 miles, so I only had to make one stop. But it was a memorable stop because about an hour past it, I got that sinking feeling in my stomach when I realized that I had left my credit card sitting on top of the pump.  After much gnashing of teeth and hurling of four letter words, I finally calmed down and decided to return the next day to fetch it, and take the opportunity to use the wifi at the local Starbucks since there isn’t one near my campground.

As it turned out, I truly enjoyed that drive.  While my RV GPS had routed me the long way around to stay on interstates as long as possible, the shortest route by car was an hour and a half of zig-zagging on two-lane country roads.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, so I put the convertible top down to soak it all in.  It was classic heartland landscape, but instead of “amber waves of grain”, there were endless corn stalks, interrupted occasionally by a farm house, a silo, a barn, or a few cows.  I passed through very few towns – maybe two – and saw very little traffic, except for gigantic farm equipment which took over the road here and there.

As I drove along, I tried to imagine what it looked like when my ancestors first arrived.  According to the county history books, Clark Abbot and his family were only the fourth to settle here.  Clark married Betsey Jennings Crouch in Vermont, then moved to Chautauqua County, New York in the mid 1830’s, and then Illinois in the early 1840’s.  They established a large farm and Clark was a prominent citizen until his death in 1880.  He and Betsey are buried in the little town of Fulton, just a few miles south of my campground along the Mississippi.

Henry Ustick, head of the other ancestral family which settled here, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and moved to Ohio after serving in the War of 1812, where he married Abigail Young.  He brought his family to Illinois in about 1848, using a land patent from his military service.  He and Abigail are buried near Morrison, the county seat.

One of the things I like to do, if I can, is to identify the location of the land my ancestors owned.  Usually, the land has been completely developed, but I have a feeling that here in Whiteside County, the land is still being farmed.  That will make it a lot easier to envision what it was like 160 years ago – I don’t think it’s changed much!

Goodenough in Wisconsin

It’s hard to believe I’m in Wisconsin in late September in 90+ degree heat.  When planning this part of the trip way back in the spring, I was concerned that it might be too cold!  Last year, I saw frost in upstate New York in early October, and I was hoping to avoid that.  As it turns out, no worries there!

Earlier this month in Ohio, temperatures were in the 40’s at night – delicious sleeping weather! I tend to have an instinctive urge to make soup when the weather turns cold (don’t we all?),  so I went out and bought the fixins for two different kinds of crock-pot soup: split pea with ham, and a black bean and veggie soup.  Once here, though, considering the weather, I made the soups but then froze them for later.  Who wants soup in this heat??

It was a long haul from Ohio to my Wisconsin destination – about 500 miles – and it involved driving through Chicago, which was a source of some angst before the trip.   My main concern was the possibility of getting stuck in a major traffic jam, and not being able to make it to my scheduled stop in a reasonable amount of time.  As you know, I plan all my stops, and I never want to be in a situation where I have to choose a stopping place on the fly.

It turned out just fine.  Here’s a picture of the scenery on the highway through Chicago:

Chicago Skyline en route to Wisconsin

I’m liking it in Wisconsin.  I went to college here (Beloit College), so it certainly brings back happy memories.  The campground is quiet, and my site has a lovely lake view:

Lake at Wisconsin campground
Wisconsin campsite

So I’m here to research my great-great-grandfather Darwin Erasmus Goodenough and his family.  Unlike the other research locations I’ve visited, this time it’s only one family group, one surname, and one county, which makes everything so much easier.  And I’ve never camped so close to all the important places; I’m about five minutes away from the courthouse, the library, the town where the Goodenoughs lived, and the cemetery.

While reviewing my digital Goodenough surname file in preparation for my research here, I ran across this cartoon which had been in my father’s genealogy files:

Newspaper clipping of Goodenough joke. Source unknown.

My parents both had a great sense of humor, particularly my mother.  They enjoyed the teasing about their surname – they saw it as a conversation starter because those who hear the name for the first time usually make a comment of some sort.  Sometimes it’s “Oh, that is so CUTE!!”, but mostly it’s “Is that spelled the way it sounds?  Really??”

You can imagine the jokes I’ve heard about my surname throughout my life. I had a tough time with it as a kid, because I saw it as a put-down.  I wasn’t great, fabulous, or exceptional – I was just good enough, which is what the above cartoon is implying.  As an adult, though, I took my parents’ cue and went with the flow.

And then, my wonderful ex-husband set it all right when #1, he gave me the name Roberts, and #2, he put a different spin on the standard joke, by announcing during his speech at the wedding reception that he’d told his mother, “Mom, I finally found someone good enough!”  Now THAT made me smile!

While doing some newspaper research this week, I stumbled upon this little gem from 1890:

“Humorous”, The Daily Times, Davenport, Iowa, 29 January 1890; digital image, ( : accessed 25 Sep 2017), citing original, p. 2, col. 3.

Nothing like a good joke – er, Goodenough joke – to feel that connection with my ancestors!  Evidently, Goodenough jokes have been around for a long time.

As I got out of my car at the cemetery, this was the first headstone I saw:

Junk Gravestone, Newark Cemetery, Young America, Wisconsin

which makes me extremely grateful for being Goodenough instead of Junk!

Fall Schedule 2017

During the fall, I’ll continue my trek west; by the end of the season my RV will be in storage and I’ll be on my way to Seattle and then England for several months.  I’ll be driving more miles after Labor Day than I have all year so far.  For more info, see the post called Long Term Schedule.

Here’s the fall route, showing all the stops along the way:

Fall 2017 Route, Ohio to California

As I started to write this post, I realized I’ve already written a post called Fall Schedule – in 2016.  I began living in the RV at the end of August last year, so it’s been one full year since I retired and started life on the road.  Time has truly zoomed by!  It doesn’t feel at all like it’s been that long, but at the same time my former life seems in the distant past.

Next Monday, I’ll drive from Ohio to Washington County, Wisconsin, where my Goodenough line settled in the mid-1800’s.  This line migrated from New England to upstate New York, and ultimately to Wisconsin.  My father’s grandfather, an itinerant carpenter, was born there, married in Iowa, and settled in California.

At the end of September, I’ll travel to Whiteside County, Illinois, where my research will focus on the folks from Ohio (or their descendants), who went there in the first half of the nineteenth century, as well as my ancestors from Vermont.  I’ll be staying at a campground directly on the Mississippi River which I’m excited about!

After Illinois, I’ll have a break from researching for a bit while visiting a cousin in Missouri, and then I’ll binge-drive to the warmth of Phoenix as it starts to get colder in the north.  With the RV in short-term storage,  I’ll spend a week in Mexico with a friend at the end of October, and then we’ll travel together in the RV from Phoenix up to Fresno, California, arriving around November 7th.  Many members of my Goodenough family lived there in the early twentieth century.

Leaving the RV at the Fresno campground, I’ll drive my car to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving with my kids and my favorite uncle.  My daughter will then spend a few days with me in Fresno during the week after the holiday.  Once she leaves at the end of November, I’ll be spending most of my time working through the logistics of putting my RV and my car in storage, preparing to leave the U.S. for five months, and then flying to Seattle in mid-December for the Christmas holiday.

Whew!!   It’s hard to imagine saying good-bye to my RV in just a few months, and I don’t feel ready.  I have just under 5 more weeks to enjoy my genealogy research before I hit the whirlwind of the long drive to Phoenix, the vacation in Mexico, and then the holidays.  I have a feeling that after all the genealogy research and solitude of these months heading west, I will welcome that whirlwind when it comes!


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Services and philosophy

I offer therapy from an integrative perspective, using theories and techniques from psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapies, with a foundation in attachment theory and neurobiology.  My trauma-focused training includes Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems and Expressive Arts modalities, and I have experience in supporting addiction recovery through both AA/12-Step and SMART Recovery models.

Now offering the Safe 'n' Sound auditory intervention developed by Dr. Stephen Porges.  This is an adjunct intervention to aid success in therapy; it does not replace "talk therapy," but helps the person to engage more fully.  Research supports the use of SnS for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum, and it appears to show promise also for anxiety disorders and sleep issues.

Psychotherapy as I understand it is a collaborative process: You and I together will identify your goals and work to disentangle you from past experiences and present thoughts, freeing you to move forward with life.

My services are LGBTQA-friendly, poly-friendly, and kink-aware, and I am familiar with a variety of religious and spiritual traditions and equally comfortable with non-religious/humanistic views.

As of August 1, 2020, all services are provided remotely, via Telehealth.  I do not plan to see clients in person at any time in the near future.  Also, at present I have no regular time slots available for weekly or biweekly treatment, although I expect to have some space open in the fall.  I may have occasional irregular availability (e.g. for EMDR adjunct treatment).   Please call (617-520-4557) and leave a message to discuss your needs and availability; my email is not reliable.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield is the only insurance accepted; however, sliding-scale fees may be available to self-paying clients with limited income.

I look forward to meeting you! Please use the form below to contact me and schedule an appointment.

This site uses Google reCAPTCHA technology to fight spam. Your use of reCAPTCHA is subject to Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Thank you for contacting us. We will get back to you as soon as possible

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Repair Vandal Damage

With Vandal damage becoming more and more frequent, we are seeing more and more cars that have been keyed the whole way down the side of their car.  We at RS Scuff N Buff can take away the inconvenience of potentially losing your car for days on end at a traditional body shop, and repair the side of your car in a day.

Restore your paintwork to new

The scratches are sanded down, filled (if needed) primed, resprayed, and blended as far as is necessary, again only painting the damaged area. Using our state of the art paint colour matching system and SMARTRE-FLEX booth we can ensure that you will never know the vandal damage had ever happened.

The booth is ideal for larger for spraying the side of cars. It has an exhaust fan providing string airflow and constant fume extraction and the Andreae filter captures overspray with 99.1% efficiency . Using the booth enables us to repair more than one panel of a car at a time, and ensures we get a top quality finish every time.

Vandal Damage Repair - Key Scratch

Get a price for your vehicle

Vandal Damage Repair Process

book appointment

Book appointment

Book an appointment with our expert team preferably within 2 weeks before your hand over to allow time for repairs.

We inspect the damage and provide an estimation of the cost to repair the damage.

Car Completion

We repair the damage on your vehicle, restoring it to a like new state.

  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    A very fast and efficient service Rob was very helpful and nothing was to much trouble. I had a few scratches to my back bumper which he has made good as new. My car is back to showroom standards.

    Robin AD Smith
  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    Took my car in to Rob after I managed to reverse it into a wall and couldn't be happier with the work he and the team carried out. It's as good as new and all completed in the timeframe he estimated and at a great price too. Professional, courteous and helpful guys I really couldn't recommend them more highly

    Rob Spall
  • Had a repair done to my Kia sportage today. Great service quite a deep area of paintwork damage done and was done within a few hours after dropping off. Was quoted over £1000 by an acccident repair garage in Braintree referred by Kia who said I needed a new bumper etc etc and Rob did a great job for £200. Would highly recommend. Thanks

    karen Mitchell
  • Had some bumper work completed - seriously impressed! Spotless, affordable and brilliant cust service too helping me out looking after the car until the snow melted. Would highly recommend

    Sally Thornley
  • Good speedy service with both quotation and work. Courtesy car bonus and bumper back to its former glory. Would definitely recommend.

    Vivien Cherry
  • Excellent communication from start to finish. Great price and fantastic results on front and rear bumpers. Friendly and tidy. Thoroughly recommend!

    Ruth Westbrook
  • Great result -- repair made my bumper as good as new for a lot less than a main dealer -- Nigel

    Nigel Orange

Frequently asked Car Vandal Damage Repair Questions

I have been keyed down the side of my car…can you repair it ?

Yes we can.

First of all we would see if the scratch marks have broken the paint. If we find they haven’t then we can sand and polish the scratches out, without need to repaint the panels, therefore saving you money. This is always our first option.

If the scratches have broken through the paint, then we would have to re paint the damaged area, and re lacquer the whole panel, and adjacent panels in some cases.

Am I covered by my insurance?

When an act of vandalism takes place, the situation becomes less clear, than if it was a non fault accident. Car vandalism is considered an at-fault claim because the vandal is often unidentifiable, and your car insurer won’t be able to cover costs from them.

It’s better to check with your insurer as you are likely to lose some of your no-claims discount if you make a claim with some insurers, and it may be cheaper for you in the long run not to make a claim.

Can you repair the whole side of my car?

Yes we can.

We use a state of the art  paint colour matching system and with our retractable SMART repair booth, we will ensure you will never know the damage was ever there.

How long does it take?

We can repair the side of your car in one day, unlike traditional body shops where you would lose your car for days on end.

We offer a courtesy car service whilst you wait should you need the use of a vehicle whilst the repairs are taking place.

Can you match my car colour?

We never use stock paint, which is almost never the same batch of paint that was used in painting the vehicle, and could, therefore, be visibly a slightly different colour. We use computer assisted mixing on-site to create a paint to match the panel we are painting, ensuring the best possible colour match.

My car is a 3 stage colour can you repair it?

Unlike many other repairers, we can and do provide repairs to metallic, pearl, mica and combination effect finishes. (3 and 4 stage) .

Call Now


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Ruby Monstas Zürich stands for Ruby Monday Study Group’stas in Zurich.

It is inspired by the original Ruby Monstas Berlin.

We all know there are still not even remotely enough women in tech and we decided to do something about it. Our team has helped in organising and coaching at Rails Girls events but we felt we wanted to take the idea one step further. We want to host a regular Ruby study group for beginners!

If you identify as a woman, and want to learn programming Ruby, learn how to build a web application, or are otherwise interested in joining or supporting our group, then feel free to get in touch with us.

We host regular events every Monday at 18:30 usually at the Simplificator office. Our Meetup page is always up to date and tells you when we meet next. Please RSVP if you intend to join us.

Ruby Monstas mascot © by Michael Slack 2015


text:
Soldier Surprises Mom After 9 Months Away

Published October 31, 2018 9,183 Views $6.74 earned

Rumble / Priceless MomentsOccurred on July 14, 2018 / Kent, Washington, USA

Info from Licensor: "Inez was at a local street fair and was looking at a friends spinner booth. She did not know that her son, a United States Army soldier had returned early from being in a combat zone of Syria for the past nine months. Although Inez served 37 years in the Army herself and has another son that is a Major, she was still clearly surprised and overwhelmed with the emotion of having her youngest return home safely."

... and disable advertisements! No kidding :)


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Wednesday, 5 February 2020

Extremely Rare. Raketa Polar. Antarktida.16 SAE. "Polarnie".Cal;2609 K5. Antarctic.

Raketa Antarktida 16 SAE "Polarnie". With early Cal;2609k5 precursor to Cal 2623 Movement.

I honestly Didn't think i would ever see one of these, let alone, own one.
This historical Russian watch, is eye wateringly Rare, especially in this condition, almost unmarked and completely original..

Comes with a very early precursor Movement. Running Seamlessly.

With regard to the movement. I had discussions with the vendors regarding the cal;2609 installed and not Cal; 2623. They were convinced of its originality,[I have always had much respect for there depth of knowledge] it would have been easy to swap the bridge over to Cal; 2623. But I preferred to keep it, as found, and preserve it`s authenticity.

Another watch, that has anecdotal evidence of expedition use. I couldn't possibly say, if this one had such history.

Like my other version, pictured below, it is incredibly well constructed, The crystal screws into the the case via a ring.This does give the watch, some degree of dust and water proofing. The watch is completely original and untouched.It would have been manufactured in 1970.

A really great and unexpected, addition to the collection. Once again, my thanks must go to Slava.


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How do we know what some of the words on a food label really represent?

The sugar companies, led by the Western Sugar Cooperative, sued the Corn Refiners Association in 2011, alleging that giant food makers engaged in a $50 million advertising campaign to promote high-fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar”;  ”natural” and “nutritionally the same as sugar.”  The sugar industry didn’t think that was truthful.  The Sugar Association denied High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) was the same as sugar or “natural.” The suit was settled but the controversy remains.  HFCS has been statistically cited for obesity and cancer. Because of bad publicity or maybe due the shortage of corn, HFCS dropped to 60.7 pounds per American in 2014 from 85.3 pounds in 1999 and sugar rose in the same period to 68.4 pounds per person from 66.4 pounds according to the trade website, http://www.fooddive.com.

The generally accepted calorie counts for the sweets are:

1 tablespoon of sugar is 48 calories

1 tablespoon of corn syrup is 56.4 calories.

The FDA has struggled with the term “Natural” for years but The US Federal Trade Commission definition is: “Food advertised as natural may not contain synthetic or artificial ingredients and may not be more than minimally processed.”

Another ongoing labeling battle involves consumer groups advocating GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). They want GMO be listed on the label of products genetically engineered. The conflict flared recently with the introduced GMO Salmon which grows much faster than ordinary salmon.

Some products are now being labeled “Non-GMO.” The FDA doesn’t like the term “non-GMO” because the agency says “most foods do not contain entire organisms.”

Consumer groups pressured on and the FLittle_Fish_png_by_AbsurdWordPreferred[1]DA now says it may be okay if labels read “not biologically engineered.” Chickens, of course, have been labeled for a several years with the citation” Raised without antibiotics or hormones.”

The agency cautions that the use of GMO-FREE or NON-GMO “could be “problematic” on labels and recommends manufacturers not use the terms.

And what about “Gluten-Free on the label”? The FDA claimed in 2013 that there was no sure way to determine gluten test methods were accurate.  The Agency proposed that manufacturers provide an alternative method for the agency to verify compliance for fermented or hydrolyzed food labeled “gluten free” based on records made and kept by the manufacturer.

“Free-From” on the label is another quagmire for labels. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) produced new guidelines for labels because of the growing number of food producers making “Free-From” allergens claims. The new British guidance covers 14 allergens yet does not address the use of the terms such as “free-from artificial colors, preservatives” or “meat-free.”

A recent court case involving a fermented drink sweet drink listed 4-6 grams of sugar on its label. Tests showed it actually contained 11-13 grams.

How truthful are the ingredient amounts listed on our food labels? Who checks? For example, I am hypersensitive to salt. I know that some foods labeled “No Salt Added” or “Salt- Free” contain higher amount of sodium than indicated from personal experience.

The old saying: “Don’t believe everything you read in the papers” can now be expressed as: “Don’t believe everything you read on food labels.”

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text:
SmarAct, Inc

Berkeley,  CA
United States
  • Booth: 534

Welcome to SmarAct, your partner for positioning & metrology

SmarAct develops and produces piezo-based, high-accuracy positioning, and measuring systems for industrial and research applications in the micro- and nanometer scale.

SmarAct’s PicoScale laser interferometer is a powerful tool for high accuracy non-contact displacement measurements. It is based on an extremely compact Michelson interferometer with picometer resolution.  The PicoScan laser-scanning vibrometer is developed for megapixel imaging of vibrational modes of microscopic structures. Through raster-scanning, a tightly focused laser beam of a Michelson interferometer measures the vibrations for each pixel of the microscopic image.

Stop by at booth 1334 to learn more about our comprehensive positioning systems with numerous degrees of freedom and parallel kinematics, microscopy stages, and gripping solutions. SmarAct’s precise positioning solutions can be assembled to custom-built, complete robotic systems, and work under extreme conditions, e.g., ultrahigh vacuum, cryogenic temperatures, and non-magnetic materials.

Visit us and let our highly specialized sales team provide you with a customized solution for your project.

Brands: The PicoScale laser interferometer provides precise non-contact displacement measurements. The PicoScan megapixel raster-scanning vibrometer can image vibrational modes of microscopic structures.

Send Email

Type your information and click "Send Email" to send an email to this exhibitor. To return to the previous screen without saving, click "Reset".

For Technical Support with this webpage, please contact support. For all other inquiries, please contact show management.


text:
Adelaide Metropolitan Netball Division

South Australia's largest netball competition

The Adelaide Metropolitan Netball Division (AMND) is the largest netball competition in South Australia. It operates on Saturdays from April through to September each year. Approximately 355 teams from 27 clubs play at Priceline Stadium on the indoor and outdoor courts during the competition.

Each player registers with Netball SA through the division and is required to pay a stadium entry fee each weekend.

Players enjoy the opportunity to play indoors on the world class wooden sprung floors of Priceline Stadium, which is also home of the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
AMND Website

Have a question about AMND? We're here to help!

Contact our AMND Secretary, Jess Nicholls, to learn more.

Contact Jess


text:
Child and the SunGods – My new novel

For this month’s book,I decided to post my second full-length novel. Child and the Sungods is an Alice-in-Wonderlandish adventure fiction about a scientist and his little brother who get lost in another world. They battle zombies, meet talking animals, pirates, and look for the legendary king whose all-powerful “Wings of Ra” have been stolen from him. Meanwhile, a boy called Chike, seeks to restore the “living library” that holds all of humanities’ knowledge.

Both nonsensical, and thought-provoking, Child and the Sungods was inspired by characters and concepts from dreams, music, and various inspirations. I did no research for this story, so don’t expect any of it to make sense! It is very fantastical.

It belongs to my novel “universe” (Which I have not decided a name for quite yet), so you can expect to see familiar faces within my novels, though each story is very different from one another.

I am quite proud of this fantasy, even if it makes no sense to you, but it is still a great read if you like a good, twisted-fate tale.

Please take a look!

A Reason For Changing: New Poetry Book

Here is another new poetry collection by Arianna and I. I regret not having pictures to fill this book, but I wanted to get this particular poetry theme out as soon as possible, so I had to forgo them. The theme is children; both children, and the inner-child. I wanted to put forth this poetry collection as quickly as the idea came to me, because I feel that right now, we need to be inspired by children – ours, our inner-child, and children of humanity. We owe so much to the ones that we have dismantled the futures of. These poems are not coming from individuals who have kids themselves, but from a place of knowing, and remembering how it felt to be a child in a world that was taking a steep turn right before our eyes – and still is. We were all once children, and I think deep down we all know what we wanted to be as we grew older – good people. This is something we can still put into practice for the sake of those who have not even lived life yet.

So please, be good to the world that your children are going to be living in.


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Big changes for big universities

By SADA Says | Cloud Computing Blog

Derek LinEditor’s note: Today’s guest blogger is Derek Lin, Senior Project Manager at SADA Systems, a leading cloud computing consulting firm. SADA Systems designs, deploys and delivers innovative IT solutions for a wide variety of organizations, including educational institutions. See what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.

From letters and typewriters to email and the cloud, messaging has evolved to become an essential element of education today. Google Apps is reinventing the ways students and faculty on university campuses nationwide communicate and collaborate. The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Connecticut and the University of California Santa Cruz all made the leap to Google Apps earlier this year, engaging Google Apps Authorized Reseller SADA Systems to assist their transition. While all three universities have roughly the same amount of students, faculty and top-tier rankings, their migrations were unique, much like the institutions themselves.

Provisioning over 60,000 students is no easy feat. In an effort to allow students to prepare their email for the move, UT Austin worked with SADA Systems to help manage the transition by leveraging a custom self-service opt-in solution. Students and alumni have the ability to choose when to migrate their emails and begin using Google Mail at their own pace. The UT Austin and SADA team decided early on that it was important to ease into the transition, in order to diffuse the impact of the migration process and mitigate the volume of  helpdesk calls to the University’s IT department. The transition plan included a two-month account activation period geared towards the future – Longhorn students and alumni can now enjoy free email addresses for life, powered by Google.

The University of Connecticut has a rich academic tradition that includes interest in technological innovation, with a busy student body and faculty ranked amongst top 20 public institutions in the nation. UConn and SADA worked together to provide a streamlined, effective opt-in migration to the Google Apps suite, to ensure easy adoption with the least migration impact possible. The SADA team created a simple website, which students gained access to by authenticating themselves against the University’s NetID (CAS) system. Once in the website, students chose their own passwords for their new Google Apps account, then migrated the data from their former Cyrus email system into their new Google inboxes. The SADA team integrated UConn’s existing mail routing infrastructure to guarantee proper mail delivery for users that had opted in. UConn’s IT help desk happily reported few support tickets or calls regarding the opt-in process. Now UConn students and staff can look towards discovering innovative ways of using the collaborative tools in Google Apps.

The philosophy of UC Santa Cruz is geared towards inspiration, passion and imagination.  UCSC’s student body was already familiar with the Google Apps suite, having used Google Apps since 2009.  Thus, the logical next step for UCSC was to enhance the collaborative benefits of Google Apps by unifying the technology used by students, extending the adoption of the suite to both University faculty and staff . The SADA team assisted with a server-side migration from the Communigate Pro email system, using the IMAP protocol. Passwords did not have to be reset, and faculty and staff were instructed ahead of time to prepare for their new Google mail system. The majority of the data migration took place in advance, and the 5,000+ members of UCSC’s faculty and staff were successfully migrated into Google Apps.  The SADA Team then used Google Forms to recruit early adopters to serve as Google Guides, helping to take the Google Apps suite into the world of limitless possibility envisioned by the University.

Google Apps for Education aims to make the cloud easily and readily accessible to schools who wish to take advantage of new and exciting learning technologies. The demand for larger mailbox sizes, better communication and calendaring, plus the use of collaborative technology is ever-growing — and its up to schools to make a change for the better. UT Austin, UConn and UCSC join more than 15 million other students, faculty and staff who are part of the Google Apps for Education family. We’re thrilled that experienced Google partners like SADA Systems can play a role in making their launch a big success!
To find out more about SADA’s services and other Google partners, visit the Google Apps Marketplace.
Posted by Derek Lin, Senior Project Manager at SADA Systems.

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About Us

About Us

Kenya Safari Lodges and Hotels Limited (KSLH) being a government parastatal mandated with the provision of premium hotel and lodge accommodation, current conference and business meeting venues, customised beach and safari experiences as well as high value niche products, has geared its core activities towards achieving Vision 2030. Being that KSLH falls in tourism sector has once again been identified as one of the key sectors to drive the economic growth towards the realization of the Vision 2030, our activities focus on the economic and social pillars.

The History of the Company

Kenya safari lodges and hotels is a limited company incorporated in 1966.
The KSLH properties started operations in 1969 under the management of Hallways Hotels LTD, a UK based company until 1974. Thereafter the management of the three units changed to African Tours and Hotels LTD a parastatal, whose management contract was terminated after it was put under receivership in June 1998.As a result KSLH took over the management of its properties.

The main share holders are Kenya Tourism Development Corporation, CDC, Mountain Lodge (TPS) and Kenya Wildlife Service. The company comprises three units:

  1. Mombasa beach hotel
  2. Voi safari lodge
  3. Ngulia safari lodge

Mombasa Beach Hotel

Mombasa Beach Hotel is the flag ship of Kenya Safari Lodges & Hotels. Built in 1969 and completely refurbished in 1986, 2001 and 2006, the hotel is located in the Kenya’s North Coast. It is only 10 km from Mombasa Town and 18 km from the Moi international Airport Mombasa.. It is a prime destination for conferencing and leisure in its many conference outlets. Various kinds of water–sports are available, in addition to excursions to Marine Park, nature trails, Old Mombasa Town and cultural villages.

Despite the Hotel’s proximity to Mombasa itself, it exudes an air of tranquility with huge and well maintained tropical gardens that provide welcome shade in the heat of the day. Overlooking the Indian Ocean are its white sand beach suitable for sand bathing, wedding and public functions at the Cavern Beach Bistro. All the 152 rooms have SPACIOUS SEA FACING BALCONIES. The hotel has 145 Standard rooms and 6 Executive Suites. All the rooms are equipped with guest amenities with a recent addition of satellite TV/DSTV, wireless internet connections and split unit air conditioning systems.

The hotel has four bars namely:

  • Kaskazi Bar
  • Pool bar
  • Cavern Beach Bistro.

Voi Safari Lodge

Voi Safari Lodge, built in 1969, is strategically situated in one of the World’s Largest Game Park – the Tsavo East National Park. Voi Safari Lodge stands high above the town of Voi overlooking a vast expanse of the African Bush. It is 160km from Mombasa City and 360 km from Nairobi. The comfortable Lodge, with its high standards of comfort and cuisine, as found in all Kenya Safari Lodges & Hotels, is easily reached by car from Voi Town on Mombasa–Nairobi Highway. You may either enter the Park from Mombasa at the Bachuma gate through Aruba Dam or Voi Gate. You can access from Nairobi through Voi Gate or Manyani Gate. For those visitors coming by ‘Plane’ there is also a convenient airstrip, four (4) kilometers away from the Lodge. You can simply watch the herds of wild animals roam beneath you or you can get closer by a network of access roads reaching into many corners of the 11,666 square kilometres Park.

From the Lodge, you can look out onto the three water holes and see the ever–changing Panorama of Africa unfold right before your eyes and at the same time enjoy the luxury of waiters’ service. There is a special ‘UNDERGROUND PHOTO HIDE’ for the camera enthusiasts affording close–up and candid pictures of the wild animals which do not suspect any human presence.

This is an ideal spot from which to go out in search of the ‘BIG FIVE’ – Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Leopard and Rhino. From Voi you have speedy and easy access to either the Tsavo East or Tsavo West portions of this National Park. From Voi Safari Lodge one can view Taita Hills, including the fertile farmland secluded high in Taita hills surrounding Wundanyi, reached by excellent mountain road which affords splendid views as far as the Coast.

Because of its access (160 Kilometers from Mombasa, 360 kilometers from Nairobi) Voi Safari Lodge is popular with Holiday Makers and tourists on transit use it as a stopover point between Nairobi and coastal towns. It has 53 standard rooms with private bathrooms and toilets en–suite and various in room amenities, two bars (main bar and hyrax bar).

Being one of the oldest tourist facilities in Kenya, the company boasts of owning the best prime location at the beach and in the parks.

With trends in tourism changing day by day, the company refocused its future plans and repositioned its units to attract some of the fine tourists from all over the world.

Ngulia Safari Lodge

Ngulia Safari Lodge, built in 1969, is located in Tsavo West National Park which a home to a big host of wild animals. It can be accessed from Nairobi (260 km away), through Mtito Andei Gate or from Mombasa (250km away) through Tsavo River Gate. The Lodge is perched on the Ndawe Escarpment just below Ngulia Hills, overlooking the Rhino Sanctuary surrounded by Scenic Hills. Ngulia Safari Lodge no doubt has one of the most breathtaking views in Kenya. Guests take guided expeditions to Mzima Springs ( a living Oasis inhabited with fish, crocodiles and hippos), Hippo Point ( inhabited with hippos and crocodiles), Shetani Caves, Chaimu Lava flows, Kichwa Tembo and Roaring Rocks among others.

The Lodge has 52 standard rooms, all with bath and shower and a balcony with a view of the vast wilderness and floodlit water holes. It has two restaurants:
The main restaurant – built in an open–air style, has a view of floodlit water holes and the Leopard dinning tree. There is also the Leopard view bar open in the evenings before the arrival of the leopard from the wilderness. Guests can enjoy their meals as they watch the leopard feast, other animals drink water and make love, and the birds compete in their melodies.


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Safer States is at the forefront of a state-driven national movement to combat exposures to PFAS chemicals. We coordinate a large and diverse coalition of advocates, policymakers, scientists, and representatives from the most impacted communities to influence public policy, corporate practices, and end-of-life management decisions on products containing these deadly chemicals. Our goal is to turn off the tap on over 3,000 chemicals in this class and ensure safe drinking water for all. For information intended for a legislative audience, please visit our PFAS Candidate Engagement Guide.

151 current policies in 29 states
29 adopted policies in 12 states
  • Current Policies
  • Adopted Policies
  • Both

What Are They?

Highly fluorinated chemicals, or PFAS, are prized by manufacturers for their grease- and water-proofing properties, and the chemical industry is constantly searching for new applications. While convenient, PFAS exposure causes liver and kidney cancer, decreased fertility, increase incidents of thyroid problems, and decrease immune response to vaccines in children.

Residents of the Ohio River Valley in West Virginia were systematically exposed to PFAS for several decades through intentional dumping of chemicals by DuPont while the company had knowledge of the health risks. Similar stories play out across the nation, such as 3M’s pollution of drinking water in Minnesota and high incidences of cancer resulting from fouled water in Hoosick Falls, NY.

States are often left bearing the brunt of costs for PFAS clean-up. For a run-down of those costs, please visit

We Eat Them

PFAS chemicals are extremely pervasive, appearing in the blood of 95% of people in the United States. One of the first avenues of PFAS exposure came from Teflon pans. PFAS now appears in produce grown in contaminated soil and is also widely used in food packaging as a grease-proofing agent. Hot food in takeout containers or fast food wrappers triggers the rapid release of PFAS chemicals and they leach into our food and our bodies.

We Drink Them

It is estimated that nearly one-third of Americans are drinking water that has been contaminated with PFAS, a number that is expected to rise as more drinking water systems are tested. Water is polluted through the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS, poor manufacturing practices, and from the repeated washing of clothing treated with PFAS.

We Breathe Them

PFAS are highly mobile. Walking on carpet containing PFAS or wearing treated clothing causes PFAS to become airborne and settle in dust which we then breathe.

What More is Needed

Our campaign has a number of recommendations for the federal government as well as actions that states and localities can take today to eliminate PFAS from our products and clean up existing pollution. Additionally, retailers and manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that the products they sell are free from PFAS. Read more here.

Drinking Water Limits

Several states have adopted or proposed health guidelines or Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for PFAS in their state. States with adopted limits include CA, CT, CO, MN, NC, NH, NJ, and VT; and states with proposed limits include IL, MA, MI, and NY.

2020 PFAS Water Adopted Proposed

PFAS Lawsuits

Some states have sued the manufacturers of PFAS chemicals for contaminating water supplies and other natural resources. These include MI, MN (settled), NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, and VT. We anticipate these lawsuits to become more numerous as PFAS damages continue to crop up. In fact, most of these lawsuits are recent as 6 of them were filed in 2019 or 2020.

2020 AG PFAS Actions Map

Bill Tracker for PFAS

Current Policy

HF 3970 / SF 3955: Allows composting facilities to refuse to accept PFAS-contaminated waste; appropriates funds to monitor groundwater and surface water near composting facilities for PFAS.

Adopted Policy


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Rescue Journal

another kind of loss

Carol  ·  Sep. 24, 2009

i don't think it is grief over spritely's loss that is bumming me out...although i am grieving her loss.

i think it is caregiver's loss that has messed me up so badly this time. there is this phenonomen i sometimes see.....i saw it with my dad when my mom died after 2 years of him caring for her and i see it with the caregivers of my palliative clients too.

when a person spends so much of their daily lives worrying, caring, frightened of what is coming next...riding that roller coaster ride of scary ups and downs for several years at a time, caring thru illness and vulnerability, carrying a painful but beautiful burden of responsibility..all because of a deep and abiding love for someone else...

what do you do with yourself when all of that "inside of you" caregiving stuff is suddenly gone? you are at a loss. you don't know what you are supposed to do with all the worry/think/wonder/be afraid about, stuff... now.

i think you feel a bit disconnected, a major mission has suddenly ended, but right in mid stream. and there you stand, looking around you, trying to figure out what you are supposed to do or worry about next.

so i think you grieve grieve the loss of who you loved and you grieve that sudden emptiness of caring inside you.

spritely has consumed me in many ways for many years. the daily monitering of her foot and leg, the watching of herself to make sure she felt ok.

anyway..i think this is what is happening to me...i am no stranger to death and loss but the animals who have passed away before did not live so precariously and by such a gift of god, as she did, for so very long.

and the other thing that is different for me the level of confidence i have in my current ability. the dogs and the cats, and even the rabbits now..they are second nature to me. i have been caring for many, many of these guys for many, many years.

the barn guys, esp. the horses and cows...they are relatively new to me. so i am always second guessing, looking in and out, trying to figure even more stuff out.

i know that once jeanette and spot passed..i still to this day feel a huge sense of relief in not having to worry so much about 1500 pounds of living life with painful joints and knees. joy was the right choice not only for percy, but the right choice for me. i needed a break from the fear of caring for such huge and depending on me, responsibilities.

and so here i go again...sorting thru the postmortums of loving and caring and loss. i wonder how long it will take this time to get it all sorted out.

It's called "caregiver's fatigue," Carol. Some also call it compassion fatigue but I think there's a difference between the two. I think caregiver's fatigue happens to those who are actual caregivers, whether they care for human's or animals. I think caregivers can have both caregiver and compassion fatigue. In my opinion, compassion fatigue can be more surface, such as ignoring the homeless person or addict you pass on the street or even work with. You don't have to have an emotional connection or investment to have compassion fatigue. I work in addictions and I see compassion fatigue fairly regularly. Some people lose sight of their empathy. I suspect your empathy is right in front of you each and every moment of each and every day. I believe caregiver fatigue has those experiencing it on a very fine and precise tightrope of emotions. Perhaps even losing sight of where you stop and the care-receiver begins. The most important step is recognizing it and then taking action to address it. When's the last time you went on a vacation, just for you? And I mean more than one night away.... just being a devil's advocate....

WOW!! That is a powerful message. Now everything I went through with one of my dogs, my beloved Molly the dalmatian monster, makes sense. I still have a huge hole in my heart from her. You should be a therapist, in your "spare" time of course.


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Rescue Journal

now we will switch from thinking about my death...

Carol  ·  Dec. 21, 2009

to contemplating max's death.

he and i get along fine until he gets pissed off at me.
and he was a few minutes ago...very pissed off at me.
i don't follow his rules.
he went after rose..i went after him...he went after me (he doesn't actually bite the other dogs...he just scares them and they run, he is a bully.... but me he will try to bite cuz i get in his face and won't run... that really pisses him off....but he has to be quicker than he is to actually get me)

anyway.....i won.

no freaking 14 yr old cardiac crippled crazy cattle dog is winning an argument with me.

because not only am i smarter than him but i have more than a snapping mouth..i have hands.
i picked up the mesh playpen and used it to move him out the computer room door..then i closed the dog door and left him there in the cat run til he got over his bad mood.

i let him back in after about fifteen minutes (it is too damp and chilly for an old dog out there...altho the cool fresh air is probably good for him.)
he licked my hand and said he was sorry..yeah right max...til the next time you oxygen brain starved freak)
i actually have forgiven is not his fault he is nutz (i do believe (since it is getting worse) that it is part of his disease)...but i still ain't putting up with any of his crazy cattle dog shit.

nicole..please switch max to permanent sanctuary dog..he can stay here til his heart craps out..... or i kill him, which ever comes first.

here... play with your ball max...dolt...and deep breathe..maybe it will help to get more oxygen to your head.


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Rescue Journal

Carol  ·  Oct. 15, 2013

lynne...both gertie and andrea came in from animal control with health issues...gertie... luxating patells, elongated palate, restricted nasal passages (all from really shit-poor breeding) and andrea with chronically bad skin (which is most likely from pretty poor breeding too.).

owen had diarrhea again last night...most times I got him outside in time...a couple of times I didn't. I better pick up some hamburger and rice and cook for him for the next week or so. the baby food is just not good enough and he will not eat the gastro.

it was another night of disrupted sleep and I am tired today.

thanks to all of the long weekend warriors it was a great weekend....esp. big thx to those of you who were here all three days of the long weekend, greatly, greatly appreciated that you gave up the entire weekend for our guys!!!

we moved charlotte last night to her new abode. it is a nice area with a really nice house. but I still do want to further enlarge her outside yard. at least she is more in the middle of stuff and more accessible and not blocked off like she was. hopefully we can get the pigs winterizing complete this week while the good weather holds and I will look at how to extend her yard a little bit more.

today was the day I was supposed to make a decision about chewie and how much quality of life he can possibly have...and I can't quite decide yet. I guess a good portion of this decision comes down to if he will be able to move out of that pen and safely move into one of the communal areas and I am not sure that he can. he is still too weak and his food issues add a kink into the moving him anywhere plan.

I would like to see him out, toddering around the fields and barns...maybe even enjoying a swim in the pond. not sure we can get him there and laying around in a pen, waiting to be cleaned up, walked and fed, I am not sure is good enough. it might might be far better than what he had...fresh food, fresh water, good and appropriate symptom control meds, clean, soft and dry inside bed, nice caring people around him is all good...but is it good enough?..that's comfort, but where is the joy in living with just having that?

anyway...thinking about chewie for a little while more yet.

I met owen yesterday , just for a moment, but with him...that is all it takes to grab your heart , sweet dog , I hope he is feeling better soon. Chewy the dog is georgeous (sp) I wish he wasn't as sick as he is, and I hope he does well & we can make it work for him. Come on Chewy, feel good & trust us, it will be wonderful for you.

As for Fernando.. OMG.. I am in LOVE. I took several little video clips of him running around with his cute (?)sweater on, carrying a stuffy ball that is 3 or 4 times bigger than him...and every time I watch them..or show em to somebody, it brings a smile to my face & makes me laugh...what a treasure.

I always do the canned pumpkin as well.... never a problem with leftovers though.. just add cinnamon & sugar & heat. YUM!

Another Doreen

There's also dehydrated pumpkin available called Diggin* Firm Up Pumpkin. It's been pretty effective with my dogs - firmed up the one that needed that and helped keep the other one looser.
I get it at Oly's in Chilliwack so assume Oly's in Abbotsford would have it as well. Easier for me and then I don't have to worry about the rest of the tin of pumpkin going bad or fussing about freezing and thawing it.

Poor Owen. Have you tried a spoonful of pure pumpkin puree in his food? (not the pie filling with spices) That is the only thing I've found for diarrhea when my old dogs get it.


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Rescue Journal

quick updates

Carol  ·  Aug. 31, 2014

grace (the newest FeLv cat arrives on tuesday as does tia..the starved momma dog from up north (thank you nicole for picking them both up and getting them out to saints!)

pumpkin looks like he is getting sick..not sure if he has ever had any vaccines. erin moved him over to the house where i could watch him.

dude is eating a little but still is not feeling all that great. i think he is glad to be out of the vets tho. the vet wants to see him again in a couple of weeks and recheck his blood work. then we will have a better idea if there is anything serious underlying his current unwellness.

i had the new sheep's names is zoey and zsu-zsu..not zoey and whatever the other name i said that it was. anyway..they are settling in well.

zorro and elvira are growing like won't be long before they are no longer babies.

dixon the 20 yr old cat is doing ok...almost time to let him loose with the other ancient/frail cats.

i am not so sure about shadeau and hollywood...they are both hanging out under the couch more than i like. i am thinking of moving them to a quieter with the frail old guys.

the 2 old senior shitz's arrive tomorrow.

gilligan is doing well not so much of a jelly fish anymore... and no further food fights but then we keep him separate with an xpen just in case when no one is around.

speaking of recovering jelly fish..marin is shyly starting to love me. she is a pretty sweet little dog (when she is not kicking ass by fence fighting with the big dogs!)

penny left me a note that amber the bunny is congested again today..i will call the vets and get her back on antibiotics for another round again.

i was late getting home from work today...big thx to michelle and chris for getting everyone settled for bed!!!

and big thx to everyone who came and helped over this long holiday weekend....we all greatly appreciate that!!

i am off tomorrow so i will be around to help out some too!

it is kind of poetic that we all labor so hard for the animals on the labor day weekend...the animals are pretty darn grateful that we do.

or Gillies.
that's the name of my rheumatologist. LOL!
Scottish for "servant of god". i think i'd prefer "servant of dog."
it was also used as a Victorian term for an outdoor servant.
(perhaps not a gardener...) you're right, Helga!

Giles sounds a little pompous, i know, but i do like the name for a dog.

Gilly is good. (as in "gill- for gills). Gilly Guts, Gilly Butt, Gilly Silly....

Maybe just call him Gillie. Isn't that a Scottish word for someone helping a hunter or fisherman?

thx dionne!...i was getting worried. i am not sure about pumpkin...i think it might be stress...i covered his cage up last night and he quit hiding. he might do better over in the medical room once he has been viral tested.

Shadeau and Hollywood are fine during the week. Hollywood even sits at the door and waits for his breakfast with Gary. I have been leaving Dixon's door open when I am in there and close at night so I know he is eating. Hope Pumpkin is ok.


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Rescue Journal

Post W4W

Sheila  ·  Sep. 18, 2016

Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket, bought an auction item, purchased a ribbon, sponsored a table, sponsored an animal, and donated a silent auction item.

Thank you also to Allie for making the delicious cupcakes, Owen, Lenore, Priscilla, Shelagh, Ann, and Zoe for coming down to help set up. Thank you to Nicole M and Meghann for looking after the processing of tickets and end of night purchases. And thank you Leila who designed the animal sponsorship cards, table sponsorship cards, and looks after the floral arrangements. She does this every year and comes up with a different design every year.

And I apologize to anyone I was snarky to. This year I was so behind in doing things that the stress bubbled up into my outside voice sometimes.

We raised $42,575 last night. That netted us $33,255. Our vets will be very happy.

Anne Seward

It is a huge effort every year. Congrats to you Sheila and all the rest who put in the time. What a great event.

Wonderful evening, Sheila - you did a fantastic job as always. Thanks to everyone who helped.

Shelagh F

thanks also, to the weather people, so it wasn't raining for the
trip in and back in the evening. boy, it was "just pissing" earlier in the day.
great work everyone and thanks to all the generous donors

Oh, that's such great was a wonderful night for some very special animals and I'm ever so grateful to be a small part of Saints.