Beth and I have been busy working on my mom's house, painting and doing floors and other things, with the hope to be moved in by Christmas. We are becoming a bit burned out by it all, but the end is in sight and the house will be a perfect home for us to live in-probably for the rest of our lives. Real estate in Warren is dirt cheap by the standards of the rest of the country, so the isolation and relative poverty of this part of the country make it a perfect retirement haven for prospective 'snowbirds' such as ourselves. Eventually,we plan to buy a small motor home in which to travel during the winters, and God willing still have a few good years left to enjoy life!

Goodbye Mom

Just returned from a vacation to Maine and Mt. Washington, a beautiful part of this nation and much less crowded during mid September than in summer and autumn. We dropped a car off at a brother’s house in Boston along the way, and then spent a few days in Sanford, ME, where my parents used to live, before returning home through New Hampshire, Vermont and NY…T'was a little too much driving for one week we decided, but it was great to get away from the Warren routine. My youngest son Skylar joined us in Sanford, where he used to spend vacations as a kid, so it was a nostalgic trip for him, and relaxing as well. Beth was able to reminisce with her childhood friend Annette in Portland, and we took side trips to Kennebunkport, where an aunt and uncle once owned a bookstore, then drove to a lighthouse near Portland. We also stopped at L.L. Bean in Freeport, but did not buy much. The ocean all along the coast was surprisingly warm for Maine,near 60*F although we did not do any swimming. Mt. Washington, N.H. has a cog railway to the top, built around 1870, which still runs one steam engine and well as two bio diesel engines. The views on top are spectacular, but the mountain is famous for terrible weather and there is a plaque at the top listing all the people who have died there, usually one or two a year. The Prius averaged 52 mpg-as it has since April-so besides motels and food and miscellaneous tourist stuff, it was a very economical journey. At the beginning of the trip Beth and I had stopped at an RV show to plan for the future, and we have our eyes set on a class “B” motor home built by Pleasureway. The advantage of the “B” class is their maneuverability and small size, which can be parked anywhere like a common van. That will save on motels and food to offset the poor gas mileage...

CO2 Emissions and other hot air

CO2 emissions in the United States are at 1992 levels, a twenty year low that is attributable to cheap natural gas replacing the burning of coal at electric power plants. So whatever problems have been associated with 'fracking' at the new Marcellus shale gas wells have been compensated for through lower emissions. Of course coal is still cheap and is exported to other countries where it is burned, but in our own country we have made progress related to global warming. Whether this years nationwide drought is related to the warming atmosphere-which is likely, considering that extremes are one of the consequences of a warmer atmosphere-or whether humanity will ever do anything other than react to global changes, is still being debated. At any rate like with most things in life people follow their wallets, so when alternative energy sources are cheap enough we use them. Regarding other sources of hot air, there was a discussion on PBS this morning about Facebook and other social media, and whether or not posting daily minutiae about one's life is simply a form of narcissism. Surely there is some of that, and I have no clue whether anyone reads any of this drivel,so likely I am writing to myself. But I am hesitant to criticize any new media too harshly, because both television and the telephone, and before that the telegraph, were viewed with suspicion when they were first invented. Generally something becomes a problem only when it is not used intelligently, so when balanced by other activities technology can be a positive addition to one's life. The trick is to straddle that line, which is a hard thing for some people.

J.D. Northwest

Northwest bank won the JD POWER customer satisfaction award for the Mid-Atlantic region for the 3rd year in a row...Not bad for a hick institution headquartered in Warren,PA!?! The corporation has about 8 billion in assets with branches situated primarily in PA, NY and OH...There was a celebration on Main street again this morning, which was a nice gesture although of course many employees would rather the money had gone into their personal paychecks. Still the few hours off from work in the sunshine helped their dispositions!

This quilt,which we had appraised at a quilt show in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, was made by one of Beth's relatives in 1884 ...The official quote has not come back yet but two less impressive quilts from the 1920's together were assessed at $600-$800, so I'm guessing that this one will be worth at least $1,000. I'll post the true number as soon as we get it. During this trip we stayed overnight at a Comfort Inn in Akron,Ohio and were awakened at 3:00 AM by some guy knocking on the door. I asked him what he wanted and got some mumbled reply, so I loudly told him to get lost, after which he wanted to know if "Nora " was there. "This is room 209 isn't it?" I yelled again to get lost then dialed the front desk and angrily said that some guy was knocking on the door. The front desk just as angrily replied "Are You yelling at me?" and I said 'Yeah, I don't like to get awakened at 3 in the morning by some black guy knocking on my door'. When I called the manager yesterday of course he was apologetic and adjusted the bill a little, but needless to say my opinion of Comfort Inn has been permanently tarnished. We had been pressured by time to find a place and the on line reviews were ok, but any place that lets derelicts roam the halls all night is not policing their facility properly. POSTSCRIPT: t'was worth $1,000

Random Musings

-The picture is of the Conewango Creek, which merges with the Allegheny River in the middle of town about four miles downstream from this location. People tell me that this is a good bass stream, although I stopped fishing years ago so cannot verify that claim. There is dirt road following the left shoreline on which I walk the dog sometimes, and she enjoys this place because the woods is full of chipmunks to chase-never catches them of course but it’s in her instincts to run like a little kid. The walk offers a nice, tranquil area for a quick four miles. -I just finished 3 plus hours of filing paperwork into medical charts at the office, and despite claims by industry and government that electronic records will simplify and make more efficient the health care system, so far efficiency has been reduced by 15-20% in the local offices that have implemented it. There is no doubt that patient care has been compromised,through incorrect medication lists and computer glitches etc, so overall the doctors feel frustrated by the encroaching bureaucracy of administrators and politicians. Treating patients like customers and trusting in computers-which regularly crash and get hacked- has fundamentally changed the medical field for the worse. Ironically, paperwork, or rather, busywork, has exploded. The consensus is that the system will collapse through lack of money and sheer complexity, but for the moment people muddle through, which is the word they use. The office I work in is scheduled to begin the electronic transition next week, so I’ll post the “progress” as I experience it. -Meanwhile I have distributed a few drafts of my book for family and friends and friends of friends to read, and a stranger or two as well, and the little feedback I’ve heard has been positive. No doubt it will appeal to a select audience but such is the nature of all books; writers are a dime a dozen. I’m still considering how and where to release it generally. If anyone I met on the walk reads this blog and is interested, let me know. -Over the weekend Kenny and his band were rained out of a show on the 27th, but have another one scheduled this evening, rain or shine, so he's now looking for a more powerful

PA system.