Hello - I'm back!
What a great group of people to travel with and wonderful sights to see. My New England Splendor tour began on Wednesday, September 23rd and ended Saturday, October 3rd. In the next few days, I will highlight some of the places we visited and things we did. Keep your eyes
tuned to this spot!
Day 1, Wdnesday, Sept. 23rd
Left Appleton at 6:30 AM and drove move of the day. Drove through Chicago. Saw the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) in the distance. It’s the world’s tallest building with 110 stories with 6,500 to 7,000 occupants, 1.5 million tourists visit the Sears Tower sky deck annually. There are 22 TV and radio broadcast services in the Willis Tower, 25,000 miles of plumbing, 796 lavatory faucets, 43,000 miles of telephone cables, 2,000 miles of electric wires and the building is 12 stories below ground or 48 feet down. Nine separate buildings make up the Sears Tower. It has 16,100 bronze-tinted windows. They have 6 roof-mounted window washing machines to clean the windows 6 to 8 times a year. You can see 4 states from the top and there are 2,232 steps from the ground floor to the top. It’s 253 feet tall and cost in excess of $150 million to build. It opened in 1973.
Chicago also has the largest population of Polish people. They held the 1893 World’s Fair and from that we got the Ferris Wheel. Chicago is home to baseball, jazz, the revolving credit card and the name “the loop” came from the “L” train that goes around the city.
We spent the night in Fremont, Ohio. Fremont is the Tree City of the World and President Rutherford B. Hayes came from Fremont. Before heading to our hotel, we stopped at Lynnwood Kennels for a catered meal served in dog dishes and a presentation on "Jaws with Paws Enforcing Laws". This was the most interesting part of the trip. A master trainer as well as being a retired police officer, Brian Woods showed us how they train dogs to sniff out drugs.
How long do you think it takes to train a dog to sniff out drugs? The answer is 4 to 5 days! How do they train them to find the drugs? What is the one thing dogs love to do???? Play fetch. They put marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines in a PVC pipe, seal up the ends so nothing can leak out. The object has to be something the dog cannot bite through because if he does get any of the drugs on his body or in his mouth, it will kill him. That's why they use the PVC pipe. They begin by throwing the pipe and have the dog fetch it over and over until he loves doing nothing but fetching. A dog can detect the odors of each individual drug because their nose is 200 to 2,000 times more powerful than a humans. It is thought that dogs get just as much information from scent as we humans do from vision.
Once the dog is comfortable with the smells of the different drugs, the handler plants them in various places. How does the dog let you know when he has made a "strike"? Does he bark? No. Does he run back to you and bark? No. Does he run around in circles? No. He does one of two things.....he sits and stares when he finds the drugs or some dogs will start digging in the area where they sniff the drug. Once you get the drugs, you play fetch with the dog because that's what makes him happiest. Gets his mind off the drugs. Dogs are started at 1 or 2 years of age and will work 8 to 10 years. Most of the dogs are purchased in Europe from a dog broker. They must herd and hunt before being registered as working dogs. The American Kennel Club has destroyed most breeds of dogs so they are not good drug sniffing candidates. The breeds are not kept pure. Poodles are water fowl hunters, beagles chase rabbits, retrievers retrieve and border collies are herders. The Kennel Club does not award these breeds for what they can do but has dummy downed the breeds. The dogs they get from Europe cost between $4500 and $5500 each. They usually are Belgian Malinois. They look like a German Shepherd, only smaller in size. Did you know the dogs are not trained in English?? If the dog comes from Poland, the commands are in Polish, if from Holland, then commands are in Dutch and if they come from Germany, naturally they learn the commands in German. The reason?? Because any criminal can give a command to the dogs in English. I would definitely go back, it was most interesting.
Stay tuned for day 2 on Monday.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee
When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "YES."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things.....your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions....and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full."
"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.The sand is everything else....the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."
"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first...the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand".
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked."
"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID!
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "YES."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things.....your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions....and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full."
"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.The sand is everything else....the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."
"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first...the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand".
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked."
"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."
Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Old Barns and People
Greetings,
The weekend is here and I thought this story about growing old was worth a mention........enjoy.
A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.
He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.
I told him right off he was crazy.
He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car,
his hands, and the way he talked.
He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn
sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.
I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.
He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.
I told him right off he was crazy.
He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car,
his hands, and the way he talked.
He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn
sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.
I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.
Sure, it was a handsome building in its day.
But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind.
The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful. That set me to thinking.
I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn.
The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den
in a new country home he's building down the road.
He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful.
Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun,
Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun,
only that can produce beautiful barn wood.
It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too... and lean a bit more than we did when we were young and full of sap. But the Good Lord knows what He's doing. And as the years pass He's busy using the hard weather of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy seasons to do a job of beautifying
our souls that nothing else can produce.
And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!
They took the old barn down today and hauled it away
to beautify a rich man's house.
And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off
to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord
has for us on the Great Sky Ranch.
And I suspect we'll be more beautiful
then for the seasons we've been through here...
and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.
May there be peace within you today.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
And. . .I do sincerely Thank God for my wonderful friends and family
who love me even though I show signs of weathering.
- Author Unknown -
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Biggest Loser
Hello,
My friend Linda gave me a push and said I better start blogging again. It's been too long since
my last update.
I have some good news. Cathy Skell, The Biggest Loser, will be a guest on the Good Neighbor Show soon. We are finalizing the date. She's going to share her experience with us on her weight loss, what it was like to be on TV in front of millions of people and what motivated her. We all, at one time or another, have tried to lose weight, have tried countless diets with little or no results and some of us will be dieting the rest of our lives. Keep watching this blog for
a date and time for Cathy.
On a personal note, my husband and I have had to put my mother-in-law in a nursing home
because she fell at home and fractured her back. She's 94 and the most feisty woman I know.
It's been very difficult for her to be there even though it's the best place to be right now.
She's a lady who loves watching the Brewers on TV. She can tell you every players name and
his position. She loves to argue politics, does the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel crossword puzzle every day and still maintains a space at the Kewaskum Antique Mall. She's an incredible lady.
One of the hardest things in life to do is put a parent into a nursing home. You feel so guilty
but sometimes you don't have a choice. Prayers would be most welcome.
Go out and make it a wonderful day.
My friend Linda gave me a push and said I better start blogging again. It's been too long since
my last update.
I have some good news. Cathy Skell, The Biggest Loser, will be a guest on the Good Neighbor Show soon. We are finalizing the date. She's going to share her experience with us on her weight loss, what it was like to be on TV in front of millions of people and what motivated her. We all, at one time or another, have tried to lose weight, have tried countless diets with little or no results and some of us will be dieting the rest of our lives. Keep watching this blog for
a date and time for Cathy.
On a personal note, my husband and I have had to put my mother-in-law in a nursing home
because she fell at home and fractured her back. She's 94 and the most feisty woman I know.
It's been very difficult for her to be there even though it's the best place to be right now.
She's a lady who loves watching the Brewers on TV. She can tell you every players name and
his position. She loves to argue politics, does the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel crossword puzzle every day and still maintains a space at the Kewaskum Antique Mall. She's an incredible lady.
One of the hardest things in life to do is put a parent into a nursing home. You feel so guilty
but sometimes you don't have a choice. Prayers would be most welcome.
Go out and make it a wonderful day.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Class Reunion
THE CLASS REUNION
Every ten years, as summertime nears,
An announcement arrives in the mail,
A reunion is planned; it'll be really grand;
Make plans to attend without fail.
I'll never forget the first time we met;
We tried so hard to impress.
We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars,
And wore our most elegant dress.
It was quite an affair; the whole class was there.
It was held at a fancy hotel.
We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined,
And everyone thought it was swell.
The men all conversed about who had been first
To achieve great fortune and fame.
Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses
And how beautiful their children became.
The homecoming queen, who once had been lean,
Now weighed in at one-ninety-six.
The jocks who were there had all lost their hair,
And the cheerleaders could no longer do kicks.
No one had heard about the class nerd
Who'd guided a spacecraft to the moon;
Or poor little Jane, who's always been plain;
She married a shipping tycoon.
The boy we'd decreed 'most apt to succeed'
Was serving ten years in the pen,
While the one voted 'least' now was a priest;
Just shows you can be wrong now and then.
They awarded a prize to one of the guys
Who seemed to have aged the least.
Another was given to the grad who had driven
The farthest to attend the feast.
They took a class picture, a curious mixture
Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.
Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini;
You never saw so many thighs.
At our next get-together, no one cared whether
They impressed their classmates or not.
The mood was informal, a whole lot more normal;
By this time we'd all gone to pot.
It was held out-of-doors, at the lake shores;
We ate hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans.
Then most of us lay around in the shade,
In our comfortable T-shirts and jeans.
By the fiftieth year, it was abundantly clear,
We were definitely over the hill.
Those who weren't dead had to crawl out of bed,
And be home in time for their pill.
And now I can't wait; they've set the date;
Our 55th is coming, I'm told.
It should be a ball, they've rented a hall
At the Shady Rest Home for the old.
Repairs have been made on my hearing aid;
My pacemaker's been turned up on high.
My wheelchair is oiled, and my teeth have been boiled;
And I've bought a new wig and glass eye.
I'm feeling quite hearty, and I'm ready to party
I'm gonna dance 'til dawn's early light.
It'll be lots of fun; But I just hope that there's one
Other person who can make it that night.
Author Unknown
Every ten years, as summertime nears,
An announcement arrives in the mail,
A reunion is planned; it'll be really grand;
Make plans to attend without fail.
I'll never forget the first time we met;
We tried so hard to impress.
We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars,
And wore our most elegant dress.
It was quite an affair; the whole class was there.
It was held at a fancy hotel.
We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined,
And everyone thought it was swell.
The men all conversed about who had been first
To achieve great fortune and fame.
Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses
And how beautiful their children became.
The homecoming queen, who once had been lean,
Now weighed in at one-ninety-six.
The jocks who were there had all lost their hair,
And the cheerleaders could no longer do kicks.
No one had heard about the class nerd
Who'd guided a spacecraft to the moon;
Or poor little Jane, who's always been plain;
She married a shipping tycoon.
The boy we'd decreed 'most apt to succeed'
Was serving ten years in the pen,
While the one voted 'least' now was a priest;
Just shows you can be wrong now and then.
They awarded a prize to one of the guys
Who seemed to have aged the least.
Another was given to the grad who had driven
The farthest to attend the feast.
They took a class picture, a curious mixture
Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.
Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini;
You never saw so many thighs.
At our next get-together, no one cared whether
They impressed their classmates or not.
The mood was informal, a whole lot more normal;
By this time we'd all gone to pot.
It was held out-of-doors, at the lake shores;
We ate hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans.
Then most of us lay around in the shade,
In our comfortable T-shirts and jeans.
By the fiftieth year, it was abundantly clear,
We were definitely over the hill.
Those who weren't dead had to crawl out of bed,
And be home in time for their pill.
And now I can't wait; they've set the date;
Our 55th is coming, I'm told.
It should be a ball, they've rented a hall
At the Shady Rest Home for the old.
Repairs have been made on my hearing aid;
My pacemaker's been turned up on high.
My wheelchair is oiled, and my teeth have been boiled;
And I've bought a new wig and glass eye.
I'm feeling quite hearty, and I'm ready to party
I'm gonna dance 'til dawn's early light.
It'll be lots of fun; But I just hope that there's one
Other person who can make it that night.
Author Unknown
Friday, July 10, 2009
International Space Station and Penny Postcards
Greetings..........
I am such a space nut so whenever I have a chance to see the International Space Station
fly by, I'm checking the heavens for it. If you are interested in the sighting times and dates
go to this website: www.nasa.gov On the left side of the page, look for "satellite sighting
information", click on it and follow the directions.
Here are a few dates and times:
Friday, July 10th 9:44 PM Going from W to NE
Friday, July 10th 11:23 PM Going from N to NE
Sat., July 11th 10:12 PM Going from NNW to NE
Sat., July 11th 11:48 PM Going from N to NE
Sun., July 12th 1.21 AM Going from NW to NW
Sun., July 12th 10:37 PM Going from N to NE
Penny Postcards
What did your town look like, according to Penny Postcards?
Check out your old stomping grounds, during the times of the penny postcard. The price was raised to 2 cents on January 1,1952. Click on the state and then on the county name to see old penny postcards from that area . . . pretty neat.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html
Have a great weekend and we'll chat next week.
I am such a space nut so whenever I have a chance to see the International Space Station
fly by, I'm checking the heavens for it. If you are interested in the sighting times and dates
go to this website: www.nasa.gov On the left side of the page, look for "satellite sighting
information", click on it and follow the directions.
Here are a few dates and times:
Friday, July 10th 9:44 PM Going from W to NE
Friday, July 10th 11:23 PM Going from N to NE
Sat., July 11th 10:12 PM Going from NNW to NE
Sat., July 11th 11:48 PM Going from N to NE
Sun., July 12th 1.21 AM Going from NW to NW
Sun., July 12th 10:37 PM Going from N to NE
Penny Postcards
What did your town look like, according to Penny Postcards?
Check out your old stomping grounds, during the times of the penny postcard. The price was raised to 2 cents on January 1,1952. Click on the state and then on the county name to see old penny postcards from that area . . . pretty neat.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html
Have a great weekend and we'll chat next week.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Highlights of recent Motorcoach Trip
Hello,
It's been awhile since my last blog. Yes it's me..........I'm finally home from my travels. I had a great bus trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. We left on Monday, June 8th and returned Thursday night around 8 PM.We ran into a lot of traffic around Chicago that delayed our arrival by an hour. The weather was in the high 70's the first night we arrived and then cooled down to the high 60's Tuesday and Wednesday. It actually was perfect weather for walking around a flea market. We'd get to the market at 8 AM and stay until 2 PM both days. Lots of walking. Found lots of interesting things to buy - naturally I bought some sterling silver bracelets and slides. You know me, I can't resist jewelry.
At the hotel we were staying at in Shipshewana, they had one of the 16 quilt blocks that make up their Quilt Garden Tour.The garden tour is the only one of its kind in the country. It's a 90 mile loop through 7 communities. There are 16 gardens, 16 hand painted murals depicting unique quilt designs. Volunteers treat freshly tilled soil like an empty quilt frame. The Visitors and Convention Bureau furnishes the plants and publicity and area businesses, civic and service groups provide the garden sites. 80% of the gardens' plants must be annuals so the quilt patterns and color combinations can be changed every year. There are about 80,000 annuals in the quilt gardens or about 1600 flats provided by a local grower. The average size of the quilt garden is 800 square feet. The largest garden is 2500 square feet. It takes 2,000 hours to plant all of the gardens and 100 volunteers to plant and tend the gardens from Memorial Day to the first frost. You can pick up a free audio driving tour CD, map and Amish Country Travel Guide to enhance the tour. The CD talks about the area's history with narratives, personal stories and fun facts. I think quilts are such a visual part of our heritage. What a neat idea.
Check out their website to see photos of the quilt gardens....www.QuiltGardensTour.com
Have a great weekend and don't forget to check back next week for more news.
It's been awhile since my last blog. Yes it's me..........I'm finally home from my travels. I had a great bus trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. We left on Monday, June 8th and returned Thursday night around 8 PM.We ran into a lot of traffic around Chicago that delayed our arrival by an hour. The weather was in the high 70's the first night we arrived and then cooled down to the high 60's Tuesday and Wednesday. It actually was perfect weather for walking around a flea market. We'd get to the market at 8 AM and stay until 2 PM both days. Lots of walking. Found lots of interesting things to buy - naturally I bought some sterling silver bracelets and slides. You know me, I can't resist jewelry.
At the hotel we were staying at in Shipshewana, they had one of the 16 quilt blocks that make up their Quilt Garden Tour.The garden tour is the only one of its kind in the country. It's a 90 mile loop through 7 communities. There are 16 gardens, 16 hand painted murals depicting unique quilt designs. Volunteers treat freshly tilled soil like an empty quilt frame. The Visitors and Convention Bureau furnishes the plants and publicity and area businesses, civic and service groups provide the garden sites. 80% of the gardens' plants must be annuals so the quilt patterns and color combinations can be changed every year. There are about 80,000 annuals in the quilt gardens or about 1600 flats provided by a local grower. The average size of the quilt garden is 800 square feet. The largest garden is 2500 square feet. It takes 2,000 hours to plant all of the gardens and 100 volunteers to plant and tend the gardens from Memorial Day to the first frost. You can pick up a free audio driving tour CD, map and Amish Country Travel Guide to enhance the tour. The CD talks about the area's history with narratives, personal stories and fun facts. I think quilts are such a visual part of our heritage. What a neat idea.
Check out their website to see photos of the quilt gardens....www.QuiltGardensTour.com
Have a great weekend and don't forget to check back next week for more news.
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