Saturday, March 26, 2005

Red light problem...
ron thomas


Last night John & Mary Spangler's red light went off. Their neighbors the Kalar's saw it and called the paramedics. John and Mary live next door to the Furgason's and Bob Abbott on NE56th st.


Here is what happened... Their red light went off a little before 2:00am. There was no reason for it to have activated. John said the transceiver was in a kitchen drawer which would make the light non operational. Theroretically a neighbor could have set it off but his neighbors don't use the code that he has. That leaves me with kind of a, "I don't know how that happened"... Kind of explanation. This has happened one other time in the last three years and we don't know what caused either one.


Marilyn Kalar saw the light. She lives on the hill overlooking the Spangler home. She called 911 and reported it. Soon the paramedics came to the park but took a wrong turn on Evergreen. Marylin jumped in her car and ran after them finally, catching up to them over by the Rose's and Hart's homes and told them they were in the wrong place.


The paramedics then ended up over at John and Mary's home where they banged on the door. John roused out of sleep went to the door where the paramedic stood with defibulator and medical equipment and said , "We're here"... John said that he could see that but did they know where they were?... Then is when John finds out about the red light flashing. The paramedics return to the barn and John is trying to get the red light out. Can't get it out because the switch has reprogrammed itself. So he puts a plastic bucket over the light (it's raining cats and dogs all the while) But the red light blasts right through the bucket. Next a garbage bag over it. Still can see it. Finally John puts a towel and 2 garbage bags over the light and peace returns to the neighborhood.


Fast Forward to the Easter Brunch this morning ... We get the story of what happened so when we get home I call John and Mary and offer to kill the monster. We fixed it soon after we got there.



To the good side:
  • The light was seen and reported by a neighbor.
  • The paramedics found the house eventually.
  • The neighbor watched for the paramedics and steered them to the right home.
To the bad side:
  • The light went off by itself.. With no reason that we can see why.
  • It could not be turned off.
  • Paramedics responded unnecessarily.
  • Paramedics did not know where to go and had to be chased down.
Herein lies some interesting questions about how we view the red light emergency system.
  • Should 911 be called first if a red light is seen?
  • Should the person reporting a red light keep a watch out and make sure the paramedics get to the right spot?
  • If a light can't be turned off ... 99% of the time it has to do with the keychain remote switch having been deprogrammed by the user holding the button down too long. A good reason to come to Mondays Seminar on how to fix your red light.
  • Paramedics are not familiar with our communities numbering and street system. I've been thinking we could change that with a little effort at City Hall by giving our streets and courts different names.
  • Should we have a group of volunteers that are so familiar with the red light that they can be called to take care of problems like this? How do we get these people?


Thursday, March 24, 2005

Are the Picture Collages... How about the links?
ron thomas


You've seen the groupings of pictures showing up on the page now? Just look below. Do these add anything to your experience of reading this blog? Or not? After we add a new theme picture on top do you want to be able to comment on it? Do you think we should keep the same picture for a long time or change it out often or not have one at all?

Do you use the links on the left?

Veryyyy Interesting Posted by Hello

Remember Time....
from an email sent by Blaine Kalar (Kay-ler)...


I haven't thought about "fender skirts" in years. When I was a kid, I considered it such a funny term. Made me think of a car in a dress. Thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice.

Like "curb feelers" and "steering knobs." Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.

When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake."

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed."

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.

"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "worldwide" for granted. This floors me.

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company. So we had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply "expecting."

Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now. "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all.

It's hard to recall that this word was once said in a whisper -"divorce." And no one is called a "divorcee" anymore. Certainly not a "gay divorcee."

Come to think of it, "confirmed bachelors" and "career girls" are long gone, too.

I always loved going to the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day  "rat fink." Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

Here's a word I miss  "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffeemaker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "ElectraLuxe." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!"

Food for thought  Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening their kids with castor oil anymore.

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most  "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.

Someone forwarded this to me, and I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these. Those of us that are not old enough just learned something.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005


A Catered Mother's Day Meal...
ron thomas

At the Social Club meeting a vote was taken to have a catered meal on Mother's Day. The way it will work is. .... There will be a $10 per person charge.


As it stands now the clubhouse can only have 80 people seated. That means there will only be 80 tickets sold to this event. Tickets must be bought before the event.
Also, if you cannot come to the clubhouse.. there will be provisions made for unlimited take out dinners and the price for ordered takeout dinners will be the same.. $10.00... Volunteers will deliver them.

The committee selling the tickets will be Jean Hart, Betty Hanus and Gloria Mazzeo.The cutoff date for ticket purchases will be April 30th in order that we get the money to the caterer on time


You may want to consider that the restaurants in town are likely to be crowded on Mother's Day. Also, the price for the meal is extremely reasonable.

Why a catered dinner? Well moms just deserve a day off from cooking don't you think?


The meal will be served on May 8th. 1:00pm social hour.... Dining at 2:00pm. This repast will be catered by our local 4 star restauranteur... Shirley's on de Bay.


The menu will be:

  • Roast Beef
  • Pork
  • Chicken stuffed with shrimp
  • Scalloped Potatoes
  • Baked beans
  • Salad and desserts
The Social Club has agreed to tip our servers so you won't have to have that expense... another money saving plus for you. So get your tickets or orders in now while there is still time to get a good seat.
EASTER BRUNCH POTLUCK


RON THOMAS

This Saturday at the clubhouse. Come at 11:00 am. Bring your favorite breakfast and lunch dishes to share.

Tickets will be on sale for the Mother's Day catered dinner by Shirley's on de Bay at $10 per person..

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

New Home on Evergreen gets a garage floor

ron thomas

Jim Jobb's home from Deer lane....

ron thomas


On the 19th we had some hefty winds 45 to 60 miles an hour according to Newport Airport weather. Looks to me like the siding on Jim's home wasn't phased in the least.

You might remember from the last article that Jim's is the first home in our community to have a plastic siding. It looks great and is guaranteed for the life of the home and never needs painting. Best of all it cost him only $7000 installed. Jim said it is guaranteed to stand up to 130mph winds.

Previous reasons sited for disapproval of this type of siding were that it could not withstand our winds. Looks good to us....




Hmmm... Four of us were having a conversation about computers.....

ron thomas

Last night at the impromptu birthday/Social Club party... four of us Dale Rice, Jim Rose, Wayne Hill and myself found ourselves staring at each other when the subject of computers came up.... There was a lot of experience there and we shared ideas about networking, Firefox, digital pictures and all sorts of stuff. One subject just rolled into another... From basic conditions to more complex things and the locations of places to buy stuff to bragging rights about how our computers were built. We talked of Wi-Fi and networking and where to find a cable.... I enjoyed it immensely.

So I'm thinking what we need is a computer club where we meet and talk computer... Help one another... not a class just an informal get together where we celebrate our interests in computing. Those that have Notebook computers could bring them and we could use them to illustrate what we are talking about. You could come with answers and with questions and we could work and play together for fun.

If it developed into something that gathers a following we could get high speed internet piped into the clubhouse and try new ideas out.


4 guys talking and having fun is one thing but a club well, I don't know. Anyone interested? I could set up a meeting... What do you think?

Monday, March 21, 2005


Social Club meeting gaveled to a close and then....
PIXS BY RON THOMAS


As Ben Davi gaveled the March Social Club meeting to a close... Wife Donna and daughter Lisa announced that it was Ben's 65th birthday today and that all present were invited to stay and celebrate his birthday with a spaghetti dinner and birthday cake. Many trays of cheese and Italian Salami were also served with dinner rolls and a fresh, crisp salad. Celebrants of who there was 37 left around 7:30 after dinner and wine and a lot of talk.

You never know what is going to happen at a Social Club meeting.

Left click on a picture to make it larger and then come back to this page with your browser's back arrow.









Sunday, March 20, 2005


Jim Dodds building site for you...

Jim Dodds by email...



Jim has been building a website based on the comments from our readers over what they might like to see as a feature for our residents. Though he has not completed the site, it's under construction. The browser you use may affect what you see. For instance Jim says Firefox doesn't seem to understand what he has written in a few instances. At any rate a little kibitzing from our readers may help him with what you would like to see or what you saw that you really liked. Leave him a comment.

Here is a link to the new pages he is designing.....
New site


Charles Burke wants to share these photos with you...

You may want to make a comment to him about them..

Dungeness Crabs


Newport Docks 2004 Gray Whale







When you look at Milt's photo of Mt. St. Helens in the above picture...

ron thomas



Think of a couple of things...
  • Now wouldn't that look like a flying saucer to some folks?
  • Why don't we post an article after putting up a new theme picture so folks can talk about it in the comments?