Until this moment, I had completely forgotten to post the picture of my only Sunflower, this year. It is behind the garage, a volunteer that came up on the edge of the patio-end of the strawberry patch. Millie was on my mind when I snapped the photo, since she has a great appreciation for the flower. Enjoy! It looks pretty bedraggled, now, while the seeds are maturing.
Bogie has inspired me to post a few more photos of things abloom in our yard. It has been only in the past 10 years that I've planted much for their blooms, previously preferring to planting something that was edible, so I'm rather new to going ga-ga over blossoms!
This year, recalling how drought tolerant they were, I planted two planters with California poppy seeds. The first bloom appeared, Thursday. Here 'tis (to the right).
My Grandmother H always had a bed of rose moss. For some reason, I didn't think it hardy until, two or three years ago, I planted a couple of planters with rose moss seed. They not only reseeded within the planters, but have come up as volunteers across the double driveway from the planters and in our strawberry & cherry bed (strawberries fill 1/2 of the bed while a cherry tree and some cherry bushes fill the other 1/2.). This (to the left) is a photo of a golden one--nearly the color of the California poppies--that grows in the edge of the cherry bed, overhanging the apron to the garage.Another shot of rose moss cohabiting with the tomatoes that I planted in the strawberry patch, this year, is to the right. I intend to grow tomatoes in the erstwhile strawberry patch and grow strawberries in what was a rose bed--trying to hold nematodes at bay.
A final photo--of our crape myrtle bushes. The smallest of our three, to the right--not included in this photo, was planted first. The first crape myrtle, purchased at our favorite nursery, cost about three times as much as each of the other two, purchased from Wal-Mart. The largest bush, only the left hand portion of which is in the photo, has a root or two of white-blossoming crape myrtle entwined--a complete surprise to me when it bloomed for the first time. (The window is the street-side window in our garage.)
In the last year both Trend Micro, who supplies my PC-cillin security software, and Symantec, who supplies Hunky Husband's Norton 360 security software, have stated in our agreements that the software is licensed for installation on a maximum of three computers. Oh, happy day! Not counting our five PDAs, HH and I have three working computers. My thinking, since men are notoriously reluctant to accept a "feminine" product, was to allow my subscription to PC-cillin to lapse on 7/19/2008, and install HH's Norton 360. Let me lead you down the path that was to save me $50/year on security software charges.
1) Uninstalled PC-cillin and checked that Windows personal firewall was still turned "off".
2) Installed Norton 360 from CD.
3) Went online to register installation. Registration failed. Was notified by Symantec to uninstall Norton 360 and reinstall it.
4) Repeated steps 2 & 3 a few times.
5) Contacted the Symantec service site and met one of their ITs (in India, of course) in a chat room to discuss the issue. After several rounds, the IT asked to take remote control. Fine. I've allowed remote access/control of my computer innumerable times over the last 20+ years and know how it works. IT expresses dismay that I use dial-up. Instead of taking time to download the software (which would take a few hours by dial-up), he would send me a free CD of V2 of the software (I had installed V1). Not convinced that this would fix the problem, I said "Fine".
6) While awaiting arrival of the CD, I activated the Microsoft personal firewall and limited online visits to sites that I trusted (Red Cross sites, Computer & Software sites, Typepad blogs) and used web mail to pick up/send emails so that nothing got downloaded onto my machine from a strange email that might slip through Earthlink's filters.
7) Five days after the chat, the CD arrived. Eagerly, I turned the firewall "off" and told the Norton 360 software to do its thing.
8) Its thing turned out to be much easier than what I had gone through--it proceeded to automatically repeat Steps 2 & 3, several times. I killed the sucker!
9) Backed up my data files on CDs, which took a few hours.
10) Reinstalled PC-cillin.
11) Downloaded updates to PC-cillin (about 6 hours of download time).
12) Renewed my subscription to PC-cillin which, including a CD of V2008 (to preclude about 10 hours of download time), came to $49.95. Let's see how that worked out: I did not save myself $50/year and I spent about 50 hours. Wunderbar!
Lest you fault Symantec for my problems installing Norton 360, I tell you that the problems were most probably of my own making. When HH gave me this machine last Fall, I uninstalled his Norton software. I vaguely recall that some piece of software (Norton ? Windows? most likely PC-cillin?) asked me a question at some point, which I answered in a way to save me the most time. I was warned by the software that if I did not change my answer, I would never again be allowed to do something (install Norton?) The same thing happened, in some fashion, with Flash. That is why I cannot play video streams from online. My impatience costs me!
Let's end on a positive note. The GOOD news is that, after operating all of that time with only the personal firewall protecting me from malicious downloads, I ran a scan of my hard drive. There were no Trojan horses, no viruses, no phishes, no nothing. That is one nice thing about dial-up. One is fairly safe with minimal security, if one is careful. The same may be true for other forms of access--I don't know. Try it at your own risk!
Oct 1972
I was born in Krutchitza Banat. That is the way Serbia was divided before World War I. It is in the heart of the wheat belt--and that is why Babu [Corner--Sofina Krmpotic, her mother] knows how to do all the fancy baking. Stans people come from Croatia--a corn belt. That is why Babu Tetu [Caroline ________- her mother-in-law] made such good corn meal mush, corn bread etc.
Continue reading "A Guest Posting from the Past - as written by Mom S in Oct 1972" »
Nov 1956
My grandfather, John Headlee Wise, was born Oct 1, 1811 in Monongalia County Virginia (Later W. Va) and died in Feb 1901 in his 90th year. He was the oldest of either 13 or 15 children. Parents' names not known. His mother was a Headlee before marriage. When Grandpa was a young man, his parents and all the rest of their children moved to Illinois. About 1839 Grandpa married Margaret Sutton and to them seven children were born: David, William Maccabee, Cephas, Betty Ann, Clark, and Edgar, and a daughter who died in early childhood before my father was born. David was born in 1840 and died in Dec 1900. He had two children: Carrie Evans and Lida Stewart. William M. was married but his wife lived but a short time. He never remarried. He was born in 1841 and died in Aug 1899 in Minden Mines Mo and is buried in a cemetery in Mulberry, Kans. He homesteaded a quarter section in Rush County Kansas & bought an adjoining quarter section. He lived there and farmed for a number of years. His health failed and he got behind on the taxes So he started east driving a muleteam and wagon. We think he was coming to visit us. Short of money, he started working in the mines at Minden Mines, took typhoid fever and died.
Far from offering a choice for president who cleaves to a new way, Barack Obama has bared either a penchant for pandering, or a hidden agenda, by announcing that he supports additional Federal support of charitable work by "faith-based" organizations--using tax dollars. This man who claims to have been smart enough that he voted against US entry into Iraq, this man who claims to differ from the presumptive religious right candidate now supports a religious right agenda item? I could hardly be more disappointed. While the vast majority of Americans ally themselves with a religion, there is a good reason that a wall was built within our Constitution (as amended) between church and state. I need not delineate all of the wars, all of the ethnic cleansings, all of the holy jihads that have been waged by the followers of one religion against another--they are well known to well-read people. I will, unequivocally, proclaim that tax dollar support of "faith-based" religious organizations, even for charitable work, is wrong.
The faith-based organization known for engaging in good works is The Salvation Army (TSA). Note that I did not put good works in quotations. TSA does a very good job of helping others. However, TSA is not just "faith-based", it is a church--a church well known for proselytizing by its membership. By giving TSA tax dollars, more of TSA's donated dollars are available for religious use--for proselytizing, among other activities. Here, in Kansas, are many "faith-based" organizations that engage in charitable good works. Among others are: Adventist Community Services, American Baptist Church, American Evangelical Christian Church General Conference, Catholic Community Services Inc, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Church of the Brethren, Church of God in Christ - Mennonites, Church World Service, Kansas Ecumenical Ministries, Lutheran Disaster Response, Mennonite Disaster Service, Nazarene Community Ministries, Presbyterian Church (USA), Society of St Vincent de Paul, The Salvation Army, United Methodist Church. In addition, although I'm not certain of their official titles, I know of Wichita-area good works organizations within the Apostolic, Bahai, Friends, Jewish, Latter Day Saints, Muslim, Orthodox, and Pentecostal communities. All do good works.
Do I believe that the above-listed (and, I presume, others that I failed to list) do good things for the community? Yes, I do. I do not, however, think that "faith-based" organizations tend to unite us. Each is out to garner adherents to their own peculiar brand of faith. Each is jealous of other "faith-based" organizations (I have seen this at work locally as well as internationally.) This, I do not see as a good thing. Freeing up money within a "faith-based" organization, in my mind, builds the coffers of divisiveness.
Too, bad. I can only hope that a miracle occurs that will provide an alternative to John McCain and Barack Obama. My vote can go for neither. This pandering to the religious right does not bode well for the quality of a nominee put forth should a vacancy occur in the supreme court under Obama or McCain as president. How disappointing.
In The Rains Have Come...and Come...and Come...., I lamented that, during the month of May 2008, we had received 11.07 inches of rain, which became 12.8 inches by the end of the month--a month during which we normally receive 4.16 inches of rain. We have just topped 12 inches of rain for June 2008 (Hunky Husband hasn't yet given me precise figures!)--a month during which we normally receive 4.25 inches. We shall see what the final two days of this month hold. The roses abide--awaiting planting. At least, Bogie received a little rain--if some of it came too quickly.
This week has been consumed with Red Cross and WSU volunteer work. At the Red Cross, I am busily documenting human resources files for volunteers who are no longer active, and dispositioning the files. This is a task that has pretty much been ignored for the past two years. During the summer and fall of 2006, our paid staff underwent an upheaval of changes, and we have all been kept busy working disasters here in our own state of Kansas in 2007 and 2008; thus, we had good reason to delay tackling the task. As soon as we finished updating all of our active volunteer files during the first three months of 2008, I tackled the task. Another couple of weeks, barring my being dispatched to work elsewhere, should see the tasking closed out. In addition, I am starting to train another volunteer to do at least some of the tasks that I now take care of. It will help having a co-conspirator and backup operator!! She is one of the nicest people whom I've ever met and just needs to reaquire computer skills which have lay dormant for a few years.
As to WSU (Wichita State University), the communications specialist who works in the dean's office has gone over the Physics Department Newsletter (that she has, quite rightly, re-titled "Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Department of Physics: Newsletter". She has taken the rough stone and polished it to show some jewel-like qualities. She is fabulous! The only real area of disagreement that we have (and I am not pressing the issue--she's the expert) is the font used for the text. She says that fonts with serifs are easier to read, with which I vigorously disagree; thus, she has changed the text from Arial 11 to Palatino Linotype 10. I must admit that the overall image of the newsletter is much improved by her formatting, if not (to my eyes) by the font. Besides, she knows all about requirements for statements of non-descrimination, et cetera. More power to her! (I think that she is counting upon my learning from her--for use in the newsletter of 2009. I was specifically told by the head of the physics department that a different alumnus/alumna would be recruited, each year, for the task!)
Do we all tend to packrat old letters, old mementos, old whatevers with the intention (especially, as we age) of going through to cull out stuff so that our survivors won't be faced with the job? That was one of the first "long-term" tasks that I had intended to tackle following retirement. The day came, last Monday (while Hunky Husband was on deployment with the Red Cross--for two days!), that I actually started. Much stuff has already been tossed; but, there are boxes and boxes of stuff to sort and disposition. My retention policy has not been at all clear, over the years; so, now I pay for it. How can one possibly throw out the hand-made love-offerings that younger hands have made for her, over the years? I'm struggling. I am documenting "important" dates and events in a database that I started years ago (using Lotus 1-2-3). This tasking will last for the rest of 2008, I predict.
If no one hears from me, online, for a few days, be aware that my next "short-term" task is to uninstall PC-cillin as my security software and re-install Norton 360. I have used PC-cillin for at least six or eight years, having started when the Little Airplane Company (LAC) had me install it (on their nickel) as a precaution when I was allowed to access the company data sites from home. A bit over one year after my retirement, I called the LAC to tell them that, although PC-cillin was still supporting my installation, I was not being billed. LAC said not to worry about it--it wasn't costing them enough to go to the hassle of cutting me off. Of course, I cut myself off when I wiped my hard drive (fall of 2005 or 2006) and had to re-install all software. As I thought it improper to re-install LAC's PC'cillin, I bought a copy. When I renewed my subscription in July 2007, I noted that they allowed me to install the software on up to three computers. When Hunky Husband renewed his Norton 360 last fall, he noted that he was allowed to install that software on up to three computers. I'm not stupid. I am installing HH's Norton 360 to avoid a $50/year charge on security software. If you don't hear from me, imagine that I am wrestling with it. Downloading the updates to it (10-12 months' worth) will take hours and hours--during the night, mostly, so it may be a few days. Have fun.
Our lot (actually, 2 lots) is bound by the street in front, parallel side lines that are perpendicular to the street, and a line at the back that roughly follows a tributary to a creek. It is about 140 feet wide and 300-400 feet deep, depending upon which side one measures. Starting at approximately 175 feet from the street, the back portion of our lot is drainage easement--flood plain for the tributary. That is why we are subject to flooding (although, a couple or three times, the flooding has come up beyond the floodplain.) About half of the floodplain is populated by mixed-hardwood woods--that follow the curve of the tributary. The rest of the floodplain is grassland--a former cow pasture. Since the city won't allow us to let the grassland grow tall (quite a bit of it is Johnson grass, anyway--County-designated noxious weed), I carved out an oval of land that I planted in native flowers and call my meadow. It is a joy to me, and to the butterflies.
While we're posting photos, these are some of the healthy hostas that I had previously mentioned. I think that they are three years old, but who remembers?
It has rained several times since my last real posting about it, The Rains Have Come...and Come...And Come....The whole state (along with the states of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois....) is really weary of the tornadoes and flooding that have plagued us since May 2007 when Greensburg was devastated. As you surely know, we (and Iowa...etc) had more tornadoes during the last two days--Wednesday and Thursday. One was spotted in Haysville to the west of us, last evening, headed our way. I was still up, but Hunky Husband had just gone to bed so I had to rouse him. He dressed, we grabbed a few items (he grabs money and keys, I grab my work bag, a wind-up radio, and an extra flashlight) and went to his den in the basement, which has no windows so there is no danger from broken window glass. It didn't take long for the storm to get to us (actually, the worst of it was a few miles north of us) and pass us by--heading for Rose Hill. When all had passed, Dudette called to check on the old folks since the TV had said the southern Derby was threatened. We got less than an inch of rain (more like 1/10th) during that storm passage; but, other waves of storm hit us and, this morning, our back lot was mostly under water and the rain gage indicated 2.68" (if I remember what HH told me, correctly. 6/14/2008 I did not remember correctly. We got 3.68".) I believe that the radio reported a total of 176 tornadoes in KS during 2008, so far--about 1/10th of the number that the paper reported for the continental US for 2008.
Yesterday, HH and I had a Training Committee meeting to attend at the Red Cross offices; but, although the emails were delayed in reaching us, the meeting had been cancelled. We got busy--HH with planning and me with helping get the disaster response workers and vehicles dispatched to work the tornado destruction to the north and northeast of us. Chapman, a town a bit smaller than Greensburg, had been hit with one fatality and, as The Wichita Eagle reported, the tornado
"...destroyed 60 homes destroyed, and severely damaged two-thirds of the town's buildings.
"Two churches, the middle school and the high school were effectively destroyed."
Kansas State University, in Manhattan KS, took a hit from a tornado. Fortunately, although the building that houses it was one of the several buildings that sustained damage, the campus's nuclear reactor was not damaged, according to news reports.
The Red Cross asked HH to direct the Disaster Relief Operation; but, as my Elder Brother and Expert Seamstress are due to arrive from Colorado this afternoon and stay for a few days, he declined. Fortunately, one of the best (much more experienced even than HH) accepted the tasking. HH went into the offices to help keep the operation on track until the Director can arrive. The Director and HH have worked together on several operations and have formed a mutual admiration society! I met the Director during the Greensburg response. I had been working as a liaison in the Kansas State Emergency Operation Center in Topeka; but, was able to meet him and many others at the Disaster Relief Operation Headquarters that had been set up in Pratt--about a 30 minute drive from Greensburg.
By the way, I had to decline assignment to Chicago a couple of days ago to allow me to be here to see Elder Brother and Expert Seamstress whom I've not seen in over a year. It breaks my heart when I don't get to go someplace near to a friend--who might be available for dinner some evening? Drat!
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