The Stars at Night are Big and Bright -

Aunt Ranger called them the Astronomers.

The telescope was a big hit with the grandsons here and we just sent the other one to the Alabama contingent this morning. I wish I could be there to see the reaction! It was most satisfying to see the boys faces when they opened the box and then hovered as their mother assembled the lenses and finder scope. I'm telling you, sometimes WOOT outdoes itself on the offerings presented.

Helping hands

By this time, most folks are aware of the tragic explosion and sinking of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that has left barrels of oil spewing into the water. Our daughter in Alabama says there are clots of the stuff coming ashore on the beaches. It makes us sad to think of all the ruin that may be floating toward shore.

People in our town are wanting to help and not quite knowing how. But yesterday there was an article in the local paper about the beauty salons that are collecting hair to donate to help create the booms that are extended along the shoreline to try and keep the oil from coming in.

This morning we woke to another article about the alpaca farms in the area that are collecting fleece that they will donate in order to try and soak up the spill.

There on the cover of the newspaper was a picture of a 9 year old cousin feeding a female alpaca owned by the Suwannee Valley Alpaca farm in White Springs. The alpaca was freshly shorn according to the article and her fleece will be donated along with that of other animals in the herd. Businesses from this area are sending human and dog hair along with panty hose to help in the effort to hold back the oil with the booms. This farm will donate 200 pounds of hair.

It gives one a feeling of pride to see our area step up and give so generously in this environmental emergency and to know our family members are contributing as well.

So the phone rings and.....

So, I'm sitting at the computer and the telephone rings and I pick it up and it's for T. I called him to take the call and he did. And, I'm still online and surfing the Internet.

In the good old days, when the phone rang, I wouldn't have heard anything because I was using a dial-up connection to access the Internet and y'all wouldn't have gotten through to the house. The good old days were about 20 minutes ago!

Some things change for the better. Some things are amazing. There is now a satellite dish on a post outside my side door. And a modem on the desk beside the CPU. Green lights flashing away...loading information up. Loading information down. I really need to figure out how to hook the Belkin router into the system so I can move around the house while I surf. How cool is all this technology.

Very!

Hi Speed WOOT, Mon!

Wow, it's been a while since the last post. We're blocked at work from several websites and most blogs are among the verboten. We have been told that once the server and entire new system is in place in all areas - the IT guy will go around and restore select sites. We can't even access Facebook and that is in use by some of us in an official capacity. It has been a major bummer, believe me. I feel cut off from humanity and the news and just about every amusing website on the 'net. Guess that is because, like Popeye, 'I yam whats I yam!'

The lack of contact with outside weblogs and even my personal email has brought me to the brink of despair at work. At home, my sloooow dial-up is just maddening and I made a decision to do something about it. I called our satellite company and signed up for their first level of high speed satellite service. The technician is supposed to be here on Friday between 8 and noon to install the dish, modem and cables that will allow me to jump into the fast lane with the rest of the world. Of course, the service guy may be running on a different kind of time than I am. I have taken the entire day off. I will call later in the afternoon to confirm that I do indeed have an appointment. The company has been known to schedule a call and then have it evaporate right off their screen - leaving no trace. If by some miracle we do get set up in the morning hours - I could go back to work... nah, I can't see myself doing that. I can see me surfing as fast as my fingers will take me to those sites that have always been slow to load. Places where I have sat and waited for minutes for a NASA Hubble picture to scroll down the screen. I may even set up a wireless home network and boot up the netbook in the living room. Look, Ma! No cords!

Oh, wow -I need to go work on some strong passwords!

Retold by permission.

Elder Daughter and her 2 sons had to go down and have Matthew fitted for a tux. He was ring-bearer in a wedding; his mother was Matron of Honor. I went along for the ride after I got off work on Friday. Matt had gone with his school to a zoo in another city and had purchased a cute little stuffed animal; a monkey with a red body, arms and legs - a grey tail and a flesh toned wise little monkey face. The thing was posed so that it would balance on Matt's shoulder as easily as it would sit on a table. He took the monkey along in the car. We went to the shop where the tux was fitted and once finished there, we went to McAllister's for dinner. Matt took his monkey inside and it sat on the table during our meal. Afterward we all piled back in the car to make the return trip home. I was feeling mellow from dinner.

The boys sat on the bench seats while their mother and I chatted quietly. We were on the interstate heading north and things outside were getting that lovely sunset glow when it happened. Matt began to whack on the little stuffed monkey, pretending it had done something to displease him. He continued to thwack the thing repeatedly - until his mother, tiring of hearing the noise told him sharply, " Stop spanking your monkey, Matthew!"

That's all it took. I snorted, then giggled, then guffawed and couldn't stop laughing. Realizing what she'd said, my daughter joined me and then the boys started laughing along as people do while Matt kept asking, "Why is everybody laughing" and Nathan finally managed to wheeze out, "I....don't....know!"

We probably covered five miles, laughing crazily, before I was able to control the helpless gales and wipe the tears from my eyes. I did think to ask Elder Daughter if she minded if I blogged the incident.

Spring is lovely in North Central Florida this year. The Dogwoods are full of blossoms and the azaleas are outstanding; witness the exhibition just outside my kitchen window.

The downside to all this beauty is the pollen. It's everywhere. it covers the back patio. It covers the car. It covers the ribbons under the car. It makes one sneeze and the sinus feel full.

I guess we have to put up with such things to enjoy this spectacular Spring.

Maybe there will be a bumper crop of pecans, too. One can hope for such a response in repayment for the allergic snuffling and goose-like nose blowing of the local inhabitants. 'Cause one day all these flowers will wither and drop and the memories of this gorgeous spring weather will reside in the glow of the pecans nestling in bags in the freezer.

Wait for it - wait for it. Was that a plink on the tin roof?

How much information is on this highway, anyway!

At work today, I heard some of my co-workers talking about a website that gave a startling amount of information - for free. If you want more detailed information, you have to choose a plan and pay your money. Whichever way you chose, you go to www.spokeo.com and put in a name, a phone number or an email address. The information that is free includes the person's address and a down toward the bottom of the page, picture of their home. I guess it's from Google Earth but it was amazing to me to hear the folks I work with exclaiming, "That's MY HOUSE!" as they put in their names and hit Enter.

So, I tried it. Sure enough, there was my address. Scanning down the page there was a red flag in the middle of a bunch of trees. I thought, humph - that's not my house! Then I scanned out. And a little further away from the treed property there was an overhead of our house! Ulp. Someone knows a whole bunch about us, guys. Try it. Some of the homes I was able to see were taken from street level. You can apparently run - but you can't hide!