Spring Kayaking

On a good day I'd say watching an osprey circling Findley Lake from our kayaks would be enough. But we also saw it dive, catch a fish, and take its prey to a perch in a tree. Before that we'd given up on finding our usual herons and had settled for several groups of turtles. It was a nice couple hours of kayaking - and just before the rains hit. And we ended the day with a possum visiting our birdfeeders.

Click on the title above for a few more pictures (and a different blog - how many blogs do you have?).

This has been an odd spring break. Normally we'd have gotten out of town but this year the combinations of jury duty, a major school technology project (fixing the high school media center lab) and Nicki working at the Conservatory kept us in town. We didn't even do any special dinners out. We did do two student concerts at the college. But we didn't do any traveling. We'll blame this on the cost of gas?

Jury Duty

Yea! Jury duty is officially over. No more calls at 4:30 to see if I needed to report the next day. No more creating lesson plans with the hopes I wouldn't need them. And no more telling everyone I might not be able to attend the next day's important meeting. Over my three week period I was only required to report twice and both times my group was sent home without being seated for a case. $10.00 each day for my time. And now with that behind me we can start planning our vacation - of course there's only a weekend left of it.

Way too tired...

Here’s how I spent the first evening of my spring break - being with and taking photos of an overnight lock-in of our better 6th graders. The evidence can be found in these photos. The kids earned the right to be held in school for an extra night instead of starting their vacation. I’m not sure what us teachers were thinking when we conceived this “reward”. The kids arrived at 7:00 PM and will be released after a breakfast at 8:00 AM. My job during this was to take the photos and then to supervise the boys during their “sleep” on the third floor of the building (girls held the second floor). I think the final kid hit the floor at almost exactly 4:00 AM. They all vowed to stay up all night and for a while there I was convinced they would. Of course it appears I’m the only fool to be sleepless. I’d much rather be home with my wife in my bed hearing the snoring of the dogs. There is another teacher with me on this floor but he is upright in a seat at the far end of the hall with a white blanket draped over his head - very ghostly in the not-very darkness. Our principal did promise to help us but we haven’t seen him since much earlier in the evening - maybe he is guarding the first floor. I’m getting too old for this.

Ed & Theresa

Ed and Theresa visited on their way back to Olean from Ann Arbor. Of course we had a nice brunch at the Black River Cafe and then exchanged photos in the front of our house.

Dog on Keyboard

Sometimes there's a real good reason why you can't get your text on your blog. Thank you, Samantha.

To LV and Back

Nicki and I did a quick visit to the Little Valley homested. Thanks to Martha everything was warm and comfy. Driveway was well plowed - bare with enough extra parking off to the left. We three did our required dinner in Ellicottville at the Barn. Got a table quickly, good food, good service, and a friendly family-oriented crowd. Lots of snow. It truly looked like winter. Then home for calls with all the other siblings.

Sunday we returned to Ellicottville for breakfast at Dina's. Again straight to a table and a very good breakfast. We did find out a secret - you can get a half-order of french toast so there is no excuse for getting stuffed. A little shopping, back to Little Valley, and then the return trip to Oberlin.

As to the wireless situation. Yes, we have a problem, but one that can be fixed. There are 2 pieces of equipment involved - Atlantic Broadband's cable modem and our wireless router. The wireless router is fine and will talk to the computer just as it is supposed to. But the cable modem has serious problems and will not establish a lasting connection to the internet which makes the wireless router's well-intentioned efforts fruitless. No amount of prodding and poking would revive the cable modem. I did talk to an Atlantic Broadband technician and a housecall was scheduled. Martha has agreed to make herself available and by this time next week we should have our access re-established. I suspect the technician will simply switch the faulty cable modem for a new one that works. I had brought 2 new and different wireless routers if it had turned out that our router was the cause. On the way back to Oberlin I returned the ones I brought for a full refund. No need to charge any expenses to the estate. I'll use the travel costs as a deduction on my taxes I suppose.

No photos this trip. Never had the opportunity. And no mention of the blurry window - no fog has appeared lately. And no, I didn't try the vaseline trick.

A Blurry Window (redux)

It could be the weather (clear and dry) or maybe it was just speaking out loud too soon - but our foggy window is back. So tomorrow we'll try the next suggestion - applying a layer of vaseline around the inside of the window frame. We were told by the inspector that this will seal the window and prevent moisture from getting between the panes. Why am I skeptical? At least nobody has mentioned tossing a couple silicon packets inside. I'd post a picture but it doesn't look much different from what you've seen below.

At my tech workshop today one of the participants told the story of how an electronic game once owned and cherished by her deceased mother every once in a while will play its jingly music - without being turned on and without batteries of course. I don't think our blurry window and her ghostly music are related. But maybe they are?

A Blurry Window (resolution?)

We had our scheduled visit from the window company. Didn't take him long to recognize and correct the problem. There are these little yellow tabs inside the window frame that have the word "DISCARD" stamped on them. The original installer should have removed these tabs and actually discarded them. And then the frame would properly seal when it shuts. And moisture wouldn't get between the window panes. I would have noticed the labels when I painted the window if the word hadn't been stamped INSIDE the tab where you couldn't see it. We're hoping this was the problem. There has been a little slight streaking of moisture since the inspection but we think that is related to the particular cleaning solution we've used since the installation. The window has been much clearer.

Two Children

Soon after Kendal was started, residents were encouraged to contribute a personal square to a quilt. Ursula created the figures sharing an umbrella. Now every time we visit for supper and pass the quilt on our way as we wheel Ursula to the cafeteria, we stop to visit with "her children".

Ursula Celebrates Her 95th Birthday

There was a "quiet" celebration at Kendal for Ursula's 95th birthday. We had a normal supper in the cafeteria with her that evening. Hans and Norma joined us. Afterward we wheeled her to the lounge area where she discovered a string quartet with piano (quintet I suppose) led by Father Brian who was playing Ursula's violin. And we had a cake and refreshments set up and Kendal had servers to help. There had been some advertisments posted where Ursula wouldn't notice so a healthy-sized crowd collected. The music and treats were enjoyed by all. But we may have happily tired her out.