End of a Historic Landmark

Gerry grew up in Benld, IL and lived there until we moved to Washington, DC once we were married.  I first talked to Gerry at the Coliseum Ballroom in Benld at a dance there in 1956.  The chat didn't go very well but I persisted and chased her until she caught me.  That is my story and I am sticking to it.

The Coliseum Ballroom was built in 1924 and had many big name bands of the era play there for many years until 1996 when it was converted to an antique mall.  Fats Domino, Tex Beneke, Louie Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Kay Kyser, Count Basie, Everly Brothers, Ray Charles and many others played there and people came from all over Central Illinois to hear them play and to dance.  It was mainly a dance hall with a 10,000 sq ft dance floor and not a concert hall like now days where you listen but don't dance.  

Well, that all came to an end last night when a fire broke out and the place burned for 3 hours and it took 16 firefighting units to put the flames out.  The roof is gone and I would imagine most of the interior is gutted also.  My niece took the attached picture from her cell phone early on in the blaze.  The quality isn't very clear due to darkness and the smoke, but you can clearly see it going up in smoke.  Sad night.  

Newspaper Article on Fire 

The naming of Benld is an interesting story.  A wealthy land owner wanted to build an addition to Gillespie and name it after his daughter, but didn't get very far with that.  So he built the town and named it after himself; Ben L Dorsey.  As far as I know it is the only place in the world named Benld which makes it easy to search the internet as a key word.  Since it is located in Macoupin County, IL and there is only one Macoupin listed, that makes it even easier to search for events there.  Great for genealogists.

Hot Rod Dentist Office

As I mentioned earlier this week, things are slow around here in the boondocks.  A friend sent me an email about a Hot Rod Dentist Office and I thought it was pretty cool.  I googled the title above and came up with this website which featured the dentist.  Check it out, it is very cool and amazing that he did a lot of the work himself.  

Hot Rod Dentist Office 

I was working with some old pictures and came across our first house that we rented in 1960.  It was located in Kensington, MD and a co-worker owned it and agreed to rent it to us furnished for $95/month plus utilities.  He also wanted to sell it to us for $10,500 which we couldn't afford so we declined buying it.  We lived there for 2 years until we could buy our first house in Rockville, MD.  The rental house had the smallest kitchen I have ever seen, but it worked for us and our two young daughters.  It also had a large garage in the back but it was full of the owner's stuff and only a small part was usable.

Hot day & lousy leadership

I knew that it wasn't a good thing to say the weather was nice and we didn't have to run the a/c 24/7.  We were sitting outside on the porch this morning having a 2nd cup of coffee and watching the deer in the meadow feed for an hour or so.  During that time the temp went up 10 degrees and it was very noticeable.  By 2pm it was up around 99 degrees and very hot.  Back to the a/c for us.

Yesterday we worked on removing some old firewood that had decayed and wasn't any good for anything.  We used the wheelbarrow to truck it back into our woods and dumped it on a pile.  It will decompose very quickly back there and save us hauling it out of here.  We have to make room for some new firewood from all the trees we had cut down.  It doesn't really make a lot of sense to split a lot of firewood since we try and get out of here long before we need the fire in the cabin.  At least we will have enough to last a while if we are late leaving.

Do you all think the politicians will cut a deal and avert a meltdown in the financial market?  It seems like they are all trying to get the best deal they can and something will be worked out.  I find it amusing that Harry Reid says they will vote no on the House version before he even knows what the final cut will be and then say the Republicans are holding up the works.  Typical politics as usual.  I am so sick of all of these people and don't have much confidence in their ability to get the U.S. back on track.  What a crew!!!!


We need some old fashioned people in there from the top down who know what needs to be done and get some bi-partisan cooperation going rather than how it's been the past few years.   Where are the Sam Rayburns, Douglas & Dirksen caliber people when you need them?  


Ok, that is my political rant and I won't say anymore. 

Electrical Work Finished

The electrician showed up this morning and finished his part of the job to connect the meter to the incoming power lines.  West Penn Power called and said they would be a hour or so late getting there due to a higher priority repair that came up this morning.  They did show up and connect the meter to the power line and all is well.  

This upgrade sure was a long process and took almost three weeks from start to finish.  At least it is finished and we can move on to our next project.

We have a screened porch and the screening has been torn, ripped, etc over the years and needs replaced.  I thought I'd just buy some screen wire and do the job myself since it shouldn't be that difficult.  On to the internet to check screen wire prices and what a shock that was.  It looks like I will have to buy a 100ft roll of wire at $125 to complete the job.  I never imagined it would cost that much for screen wire.  Whew!

Cassie, Jack & Lexa went to Illinois to visit with Cassie's cousins and uncle out there.  They will be gone a week or so and we have the honor of feeding & watering their three cats for that period.  One neighbor will be helping so it won't be an everyday trip down the mountain to take care of it.

Not much interesting going on around here lately.  At least the weather isn't so hot and we don't have the a/c on 24/7.  

Hope you all are enjoying the summer wherever you are.

Another one bites the dust

The tree cutter came for the Jeep truck today all prepared with a car trailer and additional help.  The truck had sat so long that the right front brake had rusted to the point where the wheel wouldn't turn.  They jacked up the truck and removed the wheel and began to pound on the brake drum with a sledge hammer.  It took them 30 minutes of pounding and prying to get the drum off the truck.  After all that they put the wheel back on and were ready to go.  Not quite!  When they lowered it from the jack the truck rolled back into the woods.  Minor glitch.

The driver of the truck was a 6th grader who could barely see over the steering wheel.  That didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling being that there just a small space to back the pickup truck in by our porch on the cabin.  He managed to get it in there with outside help from his father.  Interesting!!

Eventually that extracted the truck and pulled it out onto the road in front of the cabin.  Loading it on the car trailer wasn't a piece of cake but they finally were ready to roll.  He came up and thanked me for the business and said to call him again if I needed any more trees cut.  Gerry wanted to get a picture of the Jeep leaving the area and had to hustle down there to capture this final shot of the the Jeep.   Maybe one day we will see it being driven down the road by the 6th grader again, but I think he will be a lot older before they get it road ready.  Good luck guys.

Cassie, Jack & Lexa came over for a ham, continental potatoes and squash dinner and it was enjoyed by all.  I mixed up some margaritas and we made it into a little party.  Later we played the game of Catch Phrase for a couple hours.  Friends Gloria & Doug introduced us to the game last winter and it is a fun game.  Lexa especially enjoyed the game and didn't want to quit, but three of us were so tired she had to hang it up. 

A clarification on this posting.  The tree cutter came to take down some dead trees that were threatening to fall on the cabin.  While here he noticed the Jeep and was interested in acquiring it, so I traded him the Jeep for cutting down a large dead tree.

Final Inspection

The electrical inspector came out this morning and checked over the new upgrades.  He seemed less than pleased with the work but could only find one minor problem which was easily fixed.  He thought the work should have been done another way in a couple cases but that is more a preference on his part rather than a failing of the our electrician.  

The power company representative came out and checked it over and they have scheduled the change over on Wednesday morning.  Then we should be finished with this project and start on a couple others in the job jar.  Never ending work around an old cabin, especially with an old man doing a lot of the work.  

I was editing some old pictures and ran across this one.  Gerry and I went to the 1957 Prom together and drove up to Springfield, IL for a dinner before the prom.  The Lake Club was a very high end restaurant on Lake Springfield and very special for it's day.  We kept the menu for a souvenir and I scanned it into the computer last summer.  Keep in mind that this is an upscale place for special events when you check the prices on the menu.  This is one page of the 6 page menu.  It's hard to believe that I had to work a long time time to be able to afford to take Gerry there.  She was/is worth it.

Check out the prices for the Griesedieck Bros beer.  

The Lake Club had somewhat of a checkered past and was supposed to be haunted.  The link below goes into some detail about the place.  It was very common in the 1950s for bars, restaurants, night clubs, etc to have illegal gambling rooms in the back and many had adult entertainment for the male patrons.  

Lake Club History

Ooops and an estimate

The electrician showed up at 8am this morning and said he had a few last minute things to do before the inspector arrived.  Well, he had more than a few things to do and will have to come back this afternoon and finish them.  Master cutoff switch, electric meter and ground the box with two ground wires.

The inspector said he would come back on Thursday morning and give the final inspection.  It seems everything else was ok, but the above changes had to be made first.  Also, the power company will have to upgrade the wire coming into the cabin to take care of a 200amp circuit.  No telling when that will take place.  At least we have adequate power up here now and can wait for the final connection.

At least these last few weeks have shown me that I will never subcontract to build a home.  Too much trouble and the craftsmen spread themselves too thin and are always behind the eight ball.  I don't have the patience for that kind of c^%# anymore.  

Last April on the way back from Arizona we got caught in a hailstorm west of Junction, TX and the MH and car were damaged.  The MH was repaired in North Carolina while we were there but I didn't want to fool around with getting the car repaired since we needed the car.  I finally called the Insurance Co and the claims adjuster checked the car out and put the cost of repairs at $2500.  More than I thought, but I am not sure if it is worth it to repair the car since the hail dimples aren't that bad and the car is a 2006.  We will have to think this one over before we make any decisions.  The Ins Co was very prompt, courteous and said we would have the check in a couple days.  Great.

Fellow blogger http://jerrysuzylifeonwheels.blogspot.com/ had an interesting blog yesterday.  It seems Angels are following him around.  No, he isn't crazy, check out his blog.

Doctors & Friends

When we came back from Costa Rica in 1992 we needed a new family Doctor and picked one close to our home.  We have been under his care since then and are very pleased with his knowledge and concern for his patients.  He keeps his practice small and when you come into his office he takes you at your scheduled time.  In addition, he calls you personally with your blood work or anything he finds out of the ordinary.  Gerry won't even consider switching to another doctor and we drive the 180 mile round trip down there to see him.

Today was the long trip down and we left in plenty of time but didn't plan on so many traffic delays due to construction.  We arrived a few minutes late, but not late enough to invoke the wrath of the good doctor.  It was a good visit for Gerry and she got very good results from some tests and such.  

While I was waiting for Gerry to finish her appointment, an old neighbor came into to see the doctor.  Kathy & Bob lived across the street from us for 34 years and are a great couple.  We chatted until Gerry came out and then it was Kathys turn to see the good doctor.  We drove through the neighborhood after that to see how it has changed.  Other than a few trees missing, it looks the same as we remember it.

We are always amazed to confront the horrendous traffic in that area.  It is non stop, fast and loaded with nasty drivers in a hurry to get somewhere.  It is nice to be out of that rat race and hard to believe we lived there so long.  Never again.

We met our old friends John & Diane for an early dinner and had a very nice visit.  We try to meet them when we are in the area and they also come up to our neck of the woods to join us for dinner.  We've know them since 1962 and John & I have co-owned season tickets to the Redskins since the late 60s.  We don't go anymore since I have left the area and John lets his children use them for the businesses.  Work for me.

We stopped at Costco for some stocking up shopping and arrived back at the cabin about sunset.  It was a long day and tired us out, but we only have to do it once again for one of my doctor visits.  

Now to schedule the dentist and other procedures up here for the next round of medical care.  These old bodies sure do require a lot of poking, twisting and shots now.  

Sorry for the long drawn out post and my rambling on.  Maybe something more interesting will be going on in the next week or so.  Gerry and I want to go to Pittsburgh and see the Pirates play this summer.  

Good night.

Hot Hot Hot

Whew, summer has arrived here on the mountain with a vengeance with very hot weather.  It has been cool in the evenings and nice sleeping weather up until today.  There isn't any breeze and it's in the mid 90s and stifling.  I know mid 90s doesn't sound bad to many people but when you are used to cooler weather it is very noticeable.

The electrician installed the outside 50amp service just in time and we have been running the a/c in the motor home all day and most likely all night.  They are forecasting very high temps for the next week or so and I have been watching our friends out in the midwest suffer through this for the past few days.  

At least it is better than what we had when I was a child.  One window fan in my parents room and temps above 100 were very common.  I slept on the 2nd floor and all the heat rose up during the day and night.  Many nights I would use the water hose to wet down the porch and then sleep out there.  Ah, the good old days.  NOT!

I hope you all stay as cool as possible for the hot spell and that it passes quickly.

Poles and Trees

Sunday was a very busy day around the cabin for us and the workers.  Early in the morning Kenny showed up with the title to the Jeep truck sitting here next to the cabin and dropped it off for the tree cutter.  We swapped the Jeep for the cutting of one tree by the road.  Good deal for us.

A little while later the tree trimmer and his three boys showed up to work some more on cutting the trees.  The boys picked up all the limbs and loaded them on a trailer, plus some other wood that he wanted.  They then loaded the pickup truck with fireplace length oak wood and raked up the area where the limbs were.  They are hard working young men and worked steadily to finish up their jobs.

The father cut down another tree and dropped it across the road leading to the cabins behind us.  He then cut it into fireplace logs that I will split and use at the cabin.  There is still a very large oak treed that needs to be cut up into fireplace logs and haul away the branches from that tree.  It sure does open up the area around the cabin and motor home and will look a lot better when the job is finished.

The electrician came in the afternoon and finished hooking up the outside pole with 50 amp service and connected it to the service panel.  We tested it and then hooked the motor home up and turned on the a/c and the volts held up very high and steady.  It sure felt good to have the a/c working since it was very hot up here.  

The only tasks left are to wire one more outlet box in the living room and then have the inspection of the electrical work.  The inspector is schedule to be here at 8:00am on Wednesday.  Once it passes inspection they will send a work order to the power company to install the next electrical meter.

Gerry and I managed to install the new screen door on the porch and it sure looks a lot nicer than the old one we had there.  We have to install new screens on the porch and that job will be finished.  We also installed new window blinds in the bedroom and will have to find some new curtains to finish that job.

I sure hope we can finish all of this work before it is time to hookup the MH and hit the road again.  We do have more tasks to work on but I am not sure which ones we will tackle first.  Are we having fun yet?  

MDFDB Celebration

Last night we went on our MDFDB celebration at the Ott House in Emmitsburg, MD.  It was an extremely busy Friday night there and we just managed to get a table.  Actually, the owner came out and took a reserved sign off a table so we could have that one.  I think Gerry charmed him into making the switch.  Good job Gerry.

The bar area was lined up two and three deep and every table was full.  They have live music there starting around 9:30pm and everyone wants to find a spot before they begin playing.  I will have to make a note of that before we schedule another gathering there on a Friday.

In case you are wondering what a MDFDB celebration is, you have to understand our family a bit.  We don't always celebrate special dates on the actual date since we are on the road so much.  This one was for Mother's Day, Father's Day and Jack's birthday which was on July 1.  If you remember, Jack had a hernia operation on his birthday so this was the first chance we had to have a dinner for him.

The tire from yesterday was not repairable and I purchased a new one for the car.  Ouch!  It seems that there is always something coming up to help us spend more money.

I may be setting up a Paypal account so you readers can feel free to send me money.  Most likely it would cost more to set up the account than I would collect so this will be put off into the future.  Maybe sooner than I think though, since if the Debt Limit isn't raised they may not be paying the Federal retirement checks at the end of the month.  Now that would be interesting.

Loose screw, shots in the legs and lunch

The day started off innocently enough and it went downhill from there.  The electrician ran out of breakers last night and didn't hook up a couple wires.  One of them was the water heater wire.  I managed to get a warm shower last night and when Gerry went to take her shower this morning she had lukewarm water and it got colder as she progressed.  Not a happy camper, but she got through it.

I had a doctors appointment at 2pm and a lunch engagement scheduled for 1pm so we left the cabin early.  It was a good thing we did because we had a flat tire on I-270 just south of Frederick, MD.  It happened on the bridge over the Monocacy River and I pulled off at the earliest time that I could.  Gerry wanted to call our Good Sam ERS, but I had the tire changed before she could even make the call.  Of course I told her to not make the call and continued to work while she disagreed with me.  The tire was on the passenger side of the car away from the road but it sure was interesting having cars and trucks whizzing by at 75+ mph while you are working.  I put the donut tire on and headed down the road in 15 minutes.  The flat tire looked like it had a large screw in the thread and it finally blew out the screw and opened up a moderate sized hole in the tire.

We met our friend Elaine at the Panera Bread restaurant for lunch and I gulped down my sandwich and left them there to have a nice chat.  We hadn't seen Elaine since last August and the girls had a lot of gossip to catch up.  Thank God I missed out on that part.  LOL

The doctor's office was just around the corner and I made it with 5 minutes to spare.  I was there for a checkup on my rheumatoid arthritis knees and gout.  The gout hasn't been a problem for many years but the old knees have taken a beating.  The woman doctor was from the Philippines and quite young but she really knew her stuff.  She ran an ultrasound on both knees and discovered I had fluid on both of them.  She drained 21 milliliters from one knee and 28ml from the other.  At the same time she gave me a cortisone  injection in each knee since she had deadened the area for the draining of the fluid.  Whew!!  Some friendly advice and a couple prescriptions and I was on my way out of there.  Well, after I had blood drawn, saw the cashier ( 100% covered by Medicare and Ins) and then I was out of there.  It took 2 hours for all the above.  The knees felt great while the deadening agent was active, but then went back to more like they have been lately.  I am optimistic they will feel better as time goes on and up until the cortisone injections wear off.  

We then drove to Costco to have the tire repaired.  The clerk in his heavy and thick accent said if we didn't buy the tires there, they would not fix the flat.  Hummm!  What is that all about.  So, when I got home I fired off an email to Costco and expressed my opinion about this practice of theirs.  We have been Costco members since 1992 and have been very pleased with the service we get from them, but in this case I decided to let them know my views.  I know I will get a canned email back thanking me for my comments, etc, etc, blah blah, but I at least got a chance to express them.

We got back to the tire company up here where we bought these tires and they were closed.  Since it takes them a day to get the tire down here, we called them before they closed and had them order a tire and if they can't repair the old tire ( bought Aug 2010 ), then we can get a new one installed.  We drove by the place and one of the owners was helping a mechanic work on a car and we left the tire with him so they can check it out early Friday morning. Any bets on whether it will be repairable or not??

We had a late dinner and got back to the cabin about sunset.  Two tired old troopers, but overall it was nice to get out and about for the day.  Cabin fever sets in real quick.

Soccer and a 2bl header

The US women's soccer team played France in the Womens World Cup today and won 3-1.  This win puts them in the finals for the world cup against Japan who beat the Swedish team 3-1.  I enjoy watching the women play the game since they are so skillful and dedicated.  When they win the final game they will be World Champs once again.  They last won the title in 1999.

The electrician and his helper showed up today and finished everything except for one outlet and the external 50 amp circuit for the RV.  The helper had to dig a 75 ft trench to bury the electrical cable to the outside box.  The ground there is very hard, lots of rocks and roots and was a bear to dig.  Better him than me.  It should only take them about 3 hrs or less to finish up the job and things will be back to normal again.  Great.

About 6pm the tree cutter showed up with his trailer and commenced to cutting down the 90 ft hemlock tree that was dead.  Since it was so close to the cabin, it made me very nervous to watch him fall the tree.  He didn't top it or anything like that, just cut his notch and began on the other side of the tree.  He did have to use a number of wedges including a big wooden one to get the tree to fall.  When it went down it took a couple smaller trees with it and the trunk bucked back about 4 feet at the base.  If one of them would have been standing in the wrong spot, the trunk would have crushed their chest.  Tree cutting is one dangerous job and I don't have any plans to cut any in the near future.


The electrical box that supplies power to the RV finally gave out this evening as the electrician was getting ready to leave.  We finally ran the power cable through a kitchen window and connected to a new outlet and all is well so far.  Never a dull moment.

Trees, Electric and a Birthday Celebration

Happy birthday Darlene!  

I am debating about putting your age out here but will hold off for a few days until you get used to being 6_ years old.  Fill in the blank.  For those who don't know Darlene, she is over 50 and holding.

I guess everyone all across the U.S. is feeling the summer heat now.  It sure is hot and humid up here on the mountain and we finally turned the window a/c on in the cabin bedroom.  It cools that area fairly well and a little bit in the main cabin area.  I think we need a larger unit for the living room and once the electrical work is finished we will look into buying another a/c.

The electrician showed up again today and started digging the trench to bury the electric line out to the RV area.  He dug a trench about 8ft long and 8 inches deep and said it was too hot and difficult for him to finish the dig.  His helper will have to finish that part of the work on Tuesday when they return again.  The only remaining work to be finished is one porch light, a 20amp circuit in the kitchen, the RV hookup and the installation of the new electric panel.  If they show up, they should be able to complete the job on Tuesday, but I would imagine that won't happen.  We will have to wait and see how it goes.  Then the County inspector has to OK the work and have West Penn Power hook up the new 200 amp meter.  Poco a poco.

I stopped and talked to a tree cutter yesterday and he said he would come up and see what needs to be done.  Today was the day he showed up with his wife and son and they were ready to start the job.  He works until 4pm and got here around 530pm ready to do the job.  We agreed on a price and he immediately cut down a maple tree that had a couple dead branches on it that were too close to the cabin.  Zoom zoom and the tree was down.  The tree had a beautiful center to it but had been wind damaged and was fractured.  They loaded most of it on the pickup truck and will be back on Tuesday to work on the other 4 trees.  They will not be as easy as this one since they are about 90ft tall with a lot of branches on them.  We will have to move the RV for them to cut three of the trees.  

Electrician Showed up

The electrician showed up today and put in about 5 hours of work.  He got a lot accomplished and should finish up the work in two more work days/evenings.  We are looking forward to having adequate power to the RV so we can use a/c on these warm days.

Kenny & Peggy showed up today to retrieve their Jeep from the cabin.  Kenny bought it from Larry Jr. and intends to rebuild it and restore it back to new condition.  I think he has a lot of work ahead of hime since it is badly rusted and needs a ton of work on it.  The Jeep is a Scrambler Jeep and there weren't many of them produced so it could wind up being valuable if he restores it.

I managed to find a tree trimmer/cutter person today and he said he would come up and check out what work we need to be done.  There are a couple dead trees close to the cabin and also a couple live trees too close to the cabin and where we park the motorhome.  The dead trees have to go one way or the other.  

Man, this has been a fun summer so far.  I hope we can get through it before the money runs out.

Slow Week

It's been a slow week up here at the cabin with not much interesting going on or happening.  When you are very busy you look forward to a slow day and when the slow days appear you look forward to busy and interesting days.  

Other bloggers that I follow are writing about past trips they have taken, some about present day trips to the West Coast & Alaska.  I get the hitch itch reading those blogs and am ready to hit the road again, but we have some chores we have to take care of before we can leave.  

The electrician was supposed to be here today and his wife called and said he would be here early Sunday and get most of the work finished.  I know that contractors usually bite off more than they can chew and run from one crisis to another, however I hope that isn't the case here.  

Gerry and Cassie went to the Totem Pole Playhouse for an afternoon play there called It could be any of us.  The Playhouse is about 6 miles from our cabin and puts on a very good show.  The following article tells you the history of the Playhouse including the participation of Jean Stapleton.  

Since 1950, Totem Pole Playhouse has provided professional summer theatre to residents and visitors of the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. Located just 15 miles west of Gettysburg and only two hours from Washington, DC, the theatre is known nationally for attracting high quality professional artists and for its wide variety of theatrical programming.

Now in its third location in beautiful Caledonia State Park, the theatre was first led by Artistic Director Karl Genus from 1951 to 1953. For the next 30 years, the late William H. Putch guided the Playhouse into national prominence. Working closely with his wife, actress Jean Stapleton, he was responsible for 270 productions at Totem Pole, in addition to directing several national tours.

From 1984 to 2008, Carl Schurr was the Producing Artistic Director for Caledonia Theatre Company. In 2007 the non-profit organization to preserve, secure and promote professional theatre returned to its original Totem Pole Playhouse name. The fundraising efforts of Totem Pole Playhouse ensure you will enjoy quality productions at an affordable cost.
In 2009 Ray Ficca of Arlington VA. and President of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington, D.C.  assumed the role of Artistic Director for Totem Pole Playhouse and continues to present quality theatre in Caledonia State Park.

The mission of Totem Pole Playhouse also includes providing arts education opportunities for area residents. The popular theatre camps for students and the Theatre Family Fun Fest are programs included in this outreach.

Totem Pole Playhouse is one of the few remaining summer theatres that maintains a resident company of actors. Interspersed with the regular faces have been a series of well-known artists, including Keir Dullea, Sada Thompson, John Ritter, Sandy Dennis, Harry Groener, Curtis Armstrong and, of course, Jean Stapleton. Revered by members of the theatrical profession and theatre lovers all, Totem Pole Playhouse will celebrate its 60th season in the year 2010.

You can tell it is slow up here when I write about a Theatre Play and I'm not even attending the Play.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day

I hope everyone has a very great day celebrating the 4th of July and they get a chance to see a parade and some great fireworks.  We have plans to attend the fireworks show at Waynesboro, PA as we have for the past few years.  They put on a great show and we've never been disappointed in them.

We went over to Cassie & Jack's to visit with them today and Gerry prepared a pork chop and wild rice casserole to take to them.  Add some corn on the cob, sauteed mushrooms, green beans and you have a delicious meal.  We planned on going to the fireworks later in the evening, however they were rained out.  We aren't sure when they will rescheduled, so we have to keep our eyes open for the announcement.

I took my laptop over to their house so I could download some large Windows 7 update files and it took me 4 tries to actually download them.  I guess a lot of people took advantage of the holiday to download the updates.  Then when we returned to the cabin and I connected via the verizon aircard, there was another update out there.  What is it with these guys?

Ok guys and dolls, what do you think the photo below is about?

Electrician

The electrician showed up today before 2pm as promised and we went over the work we want done to the cabin.  He prepared an estimate and it looked reasonable for the job so I gave him the go ahead.  He thinks he can do all the work within a week working in the evenings or one day if he can find an open date.  As long as he completes tasks in a certain order and we don't have any long term outages, that will be fine with us.

It rained on and off all night and with the rising temperature today it was hot and muggy.  For a while there I thought we were back in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since it was so humid.  At least it has cooled down in the evening and we should have some good sleeping weather.

After the electrician left we decided to take a little ride around the area to geocache for a while.  The first cache was in a cemetery near an old "Meeting House" and it was placed in a neat spot.  We took some pictures of the area and thought we'd share the photos and narrative with you.  There are a number of families in the area that belong to this congregation but I don't know much about them. 

 

For almost a hundred years the Brethren in Christ worshipped in houses and barns. Then because larger and more convenient buildings were needed, they began to build what they called meeting houses, emphasizing that God's presence was in the meeting of his people, rather than in the building itself.

Built in 1871, the Ringgold Meeting House was one of the first of such buildings to be constructed. In the 1970's it was restored to its original interior arrangement with original furniture. The Ringgold Meeting House illustrates the historic emphasis of Brethren in Christ worship. The simple design of the building and furniture symbolizes the belief that God accepts us as we are and that there is beauty in simplicity. The seating arrangement facilitated the congregation's surrounding the Word. The unelevated preachers desk illustrated that all, even the leaders, are equal in God's sight. The arrangement for love feast (sleeping quarters upstairs and table and cooking facilities downstairs) are reminders that the Brethren in Christ emphasized Christian community.

Plumbing & Trash

We've been having problems with the sewer drain at the cabin for the past year or so and had a plumber out at 8am this morning to fix the problem.  He installed an access pipe and rooter routed out the pipes.  It seems that a wash cloth or something was in the pipe and causing it to back up.  Also, the pipe is sloped ever so slightly the wrong way causing debris to sit in the pipe.  If this latest fix doesn't take care of it, then we will have to install a drain pipe above ground and run it under the cabin to the septic system.  There isn't much work space under the cabin and this method is used all the time. 

We moved into the automated stage for our new electronic trash can.  It uses three C batteries and has a "Toe Tap" bar to lift the lid.  Not the old fashion kind where you step on the bar to open the lid, but an honest to goodness bar that you tap with your toe.  I am not sure how we have survived all these years without one like this and look forward to having it a long time.  I think I will make this Gerry's Christmas gift for the upcoming year.  Yes, I do treat her very well, but she is worth it.  ( Just kidding girls about Xmas gift)

We have an appointment with an electrician to come out and give us an estimate on some much needed upgrade to the electrical box in the cabin and add an outside line to hook up the motor home with the proper sized wire.  We plan on having a camping type post installed with 50,30,20 amp receptacles next to the RV and the outside shed.   **** NOTE **** The electrician didn't make it today and says he will be here on Sunday before 2pm.  We will see if he makes it.  Any bets?


With all the work above completed we will have a full hookup with water, electric and sewer at the cabin.  This will be handy to have when we have company or when we arrive after a long trip and want to take our time unloading the RV.  


Yesterday was Jack's birthday and Cassie ordered up a hernia operation for him.  That is a present that I would never have dreamed getting for him.  How original.  Actually, Jack had the operation scheduled for the past few weeks and it just happened to fall on his birthday.  He came through it fine and after the operation they all went out to lunch and then back home.  He is one tough person or they have improved the operation 1000% since I had my double hernia operation 40 years ago.  He is doing fine and it will take a few weeks before he can go back to any heavy lifting.  Vacation time for him.