It's not unusual to see boats in the NW covered with canvas and tarps. What surprised us was that there were people living under this blue tarp. Quite sure we couldn't live this way.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Blue Skies Everyday
It's not unusual to see boats in the NW covered with canvas and tarps. What surprised us was that there were people living under this blue tarp. Quite sure we couldn't live this way.
Friday, June 20, 2008
I Can See Clearly Now
Been thinking that the situation was looking kind of dim but not so!
Took a trip to my friendly family optometrist and flunked the eye chart. Well, what do you know! The openings behind the replacement lens after my cataract operations had closed up. Off to the laser clinic again. With a few zap right and a lot more left I've got sharper definition and colors too. (Maybe Laurie will let me drive again! Ha!)
Lasers are wonderful things as long as you don't blink.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Fountain Project
How to make a garden fountain: Take 6 clay pots, 4 clay saucers, and a water pump.
Saw this design a number of years ago and finally it got high on my "do-it" craft list. Mom bought me all the pieces for Christmas. My job was to cut spouts in the saucers. Dean supplied copper pipe to come out of the pump and took on cutting a hole in the center of one saucer. All the pots were sealed and we were ready to put all the pieces together when we realized there was one glaring error with the design in the book.
Simple!?!
Saw this design a number of years ago and finally it got high on my "do-it" craft list. Mom bought me all the pieces for Christmas. My job was to cut spouts in the saucers. Dean supplied copper pipe to come out of the pump and took on cutting a hole in the center of one saucer. All the pots were sealed and we were ready to put all the pieces together when we realized there was one glaring error with the design in the book.Every day we learn something new. The book called for a submersible pump and there was no problem finding one. Ah, but submersible does not mean can be submersed - it means it must be submerged. With the bottom saucer having only about 1 1/2" of water it was a challenge finding a pump to work. Little Giant Pumps in Oklahoma answered all my questions and had a pump that pulls from the bottom. It works perfectly.
This design comes apart in 5 pieces so it can be stored away when the weather turns.
What a great place to display the shiny rocks and shells I pick up on our travels.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Meet "Bob" the Bob-Tailed Jay
What do you suppose happened to him? Suppose a cat got too near? He flies ok but imagine he may have a challenge maneuvering.
Our pet theory?
There's a pretty brave blue jay that sneaks in through the hole in the squirrel feeder to steal peanuts. Do you think one of the squirrels took a nip at him when they found him inside? Hmm - maybe it was Bob?
Thursday, June 05, 2008
A little slight of hand or total incompetence?
Some people might think that we just goof off all the time. But we always seem to find a cause needing our attention.
Dean took on assisting our 96 year-old neighbor, Floyd, whose property tax was in arrears. He found out that Floyd had missed his last October payment but when he got this year's tax statement, went down to his bank, got a cashier's check and walked the payment across the street to the post office where he sent it certified. But the payment never got to the Treasurer....or so we thought. Dum de dum dum dum!
So Dean and Floyd traveled to the bank, the post office, and the Treasurer's office. The post office had a date and signature of the person who had picked the envelope up. The bank had a copy of the cashed cashier's check with an unreadable hand-written signature on the back - not a stamp as we would have thought. Since it looked like the check had been stolen, Dean asked the Treasurer's office if they were going to contact authorities. The Treasurer's office said no, that they had never received the check so it hadn't been stolen from them and they considered Floyd in arrears.
So Dean marched off to the cops. And waited and waited. This wasn't really a high profile crime so Dean kept at it calling the detective every couple days checking progress. It came out that the mail to the Treasurer is actually picked up by a local bank who opens the envelopes and processes the payments. The detective found out that the check had been deposited by someone in Spokane and was researching how the check got there. Whatever the problem it seemed to Dean that the Treasurer's office had a lack of fidicuary control.
Dean met with the Treasurer where they admitted that they had received Floyd's check but that the bank had pulled off the remittance stub so they didn't know where the payment should go (regardless of the fact that Floyd's name was on the cashier's check) so they decided that the fellow (from Spokane!) who had made a payment that same day had overpaid and they sent him the check. He may have wondered why he got the check, or why he got a check with Floyd's name on it made out to the Treasurer, but the Treasurer's office said he'd overpaid so he deposited it.
Once the Treasurer's office decided that they were part of the problem, they worked harder on resolving this. They contacted the bank in Spokane which sent the value of the check to Floyd's local bank.
When Dean or Floyd still hadn't heard anything, Dean called the local bank and they said they had just deposited the check in Floyd's account and were going to send him a letter telling him that. Dean figured let's just get this resolved now. He and Floyd went down to the bank, got another cashier's check, drove to the Treasurer's office and paid in person. Mission accomplished.
(Won't mention that Floyd came by yesterday with a new check he'd received in the mail for nearly $5000 from a company in Canada that said that was just a portion of the money owed him if he would just send a money order for $2800 to them to pay the taxes they would then send him another $5000. He wondered if he should cash the check. Argh! We explained that you don't get anything for nothing and hope he pays attention. With black marker pen we voided that check which he'd already signed and contacted the postal inspector for mail fraud.)
Dean took on assisting our 96 year-old neighbor, Floyd, whose property tax was in arrears. He found out that Floyd had missed his last October payment but when he got this year's tax statement, went down to his bank, got a cashier's check and walked the payment across the street to the post office where he sent it certified. But the payment never got to the Treasurer....or so we thought. Dum de dum dum dum!
So Dean and Floyd traveled to the bank, the post office, and the Treasurer's office. The post office had a date and signature of the person who had picked the envelope up. The bank had a copy of the cashed cashier's check with an unreadable hand-written signature on the back - not a stamp as we would have thought. Since it looked like the check had been stolen, Dean asked the Treasurer's office if they were going to contact authorities. The Treasurer's office said no, that they had never received the check so it hadn't been stolen from them and they considered Floyd in arrears.
So Dean marched off to the cops. And waited and waited. This wasn't really a high profile crime so Dean kept at it calling the detective every couple days checking progress. It came out that the mail to the Treasurer is actually picked up by a local bank who opens the envelopes and processes the payments. The detective found out that the check had been deposited by someone in Spokane and was researching how the check got there. Whatever the problem it seemed to Dean that the Treasurer's office had a lack of fidicuary control.
Dean met with the Treasurer where they admitted that they had received Floyd's check but that the bank had pulled off the remittance stub so they didn't know where the payment should go (regardless of the fact that Floyd's name was on the cashier's check) so they decided that the fellow (from Spokane!) who had made a payment that same day had overpaid and they sent him the check. He may have wondered why he got the check, or why he got a check with Floyd's name on it made out to the Treasurer, but the Treasurer's office said he'd overpaid so he deposited it.
Once the Treasurer's office decided that they were part of the problem, they worked harder on resolving this. They contacted the bank in Spokane which sent the value of the check to Floyd's local bank.
When Dean or Floyd still hadn't heard anything, Dean called the local bank and they said they had just deposited the check in Floyd's account and were going to send him a letter telling him that. Dean figured let's just get this resolved now. He and Floyd went down to the bank, got another cashier's check, drove to the Treasurer's office and paid in person. Mission accomplished.
(Won't mention that Floyd came by yesterday with a new check he'd received in the mail for nearly $5000 from a company in Canada that said that was just a portion of the money owed him if he would just send a money order for $2800 to them to pay the taxes they would then send him another $5000. He wondered if he should cash the check. Argh! We explained that you don't get anything for nothing and hope he pays attention. With black marker pen we voided that check which he'd already signed and contacted the postal inspector for mail fraud.)
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