Saturday, January 20, 2007

AT Our Daughters

Ron and Jacky Thomas

We got here a little after 4:00PM No trouble in the drive. Tomorrow I get started securing the place.

For the CERT team and the community.... We stopped at Harbor Freight in Arcada. I bought one megaphone. Had planned to buy 5 but they upped the price to $15 apiece. They were $7. The clerk says they go on sale every 3 months so we will wait. This also gives us a chance to try out one to see if it is all we want it to be. The clerk says if it does go on sale from 90 days of purchase they will refund the difference. When I get home will turn the receipt over to the Social Club.

Let me talk to you folks our friends and neighbors. I am heartened by your response to the controversy article. I think enough has been said and plan to let it drop now.

If you really want to help the CERT team you could talk to your Neighborhood Watch Block Capitan and convince them to buy an FRS radio with a battery Charger. Why? CERT and the Neighborhood Watch Block Captains working together will increase the CERT team's ability to help the community in a rapid manner. In point of fact Neighborhood Watch will be asked to perform an assessment of the damage and injured within their group and relay that information via FRS radio CH5 To CERT Operations. With them doing that we can cut 4 hours off what the CERT team would have to do before they could begin rescue operations and First Aide. 4 hours .. 4 HOURS! Think of the possible lives that can be saved... Think of the rescues that can be done almost immediately. The Neighborhood Watch Block Captains have a huge and important roll to play in our community Disaster plans. Yet they are unusable without communications. Our hope is between the CERT team and you, our neighbors, we can get our Block Captains motivated to buy a radio.

How will it work? After the disaster CERT will be setting up for a time in order to prepare for operations. During the same time our CERT Communications team (Liz Hill and Kristy Graff) will set up neighborhood, CERT and Lincoln County Emergency Services communications links.
The team will survey their neighborhoods on the way to the operations center (the clubhouse if it is still standing). The teams will organize and begin operations taking any volunteers willing to work under their supervision. About this time radio links should begin being established and an Incident Commander from CERT will assume the lead roll. People from the community will listen on their radios on CH 5 if they need help they will ask and Kristy or Liz who will notify the CERT team. Soon the Neighborhood Watch block Captains will call in with their knowledge of who is at home and who is injured, and how badly. The Incident Commander will establish priorities and dispatch the teams and volunteers at his/her disposal.

We are presently working on guidelines for incident commanders for all the emergencies we can see befalling the community. All the large ones require Block Captains and radios. This then is probably our single biggest problem right now. Please talk to your Block Captain and ask them to get a radio with a charger... while you're at it... consider buying one for your self.

Hey, all you sons, daughters and grandkids... what a great gift for Grandpa and Grandma, an FRS radio with a charger! Nothing says love like an FRS radio :)

The next time we have a power loss wouldn't it be great to just be informed as to what is going on? Wouldn't you like to know that there is someone out there that you could ask for help... Here is one for you... You have a power loss, it's raining, blowing, nasty, your wife is having a heart attack, your phone doesn't work, You don't know how to get your garage open to go to the hospital.. You have a radio :) tune to CH5 and ask for help... Most of us know CPR. We know how to get your garage door up We have stretchers and know how to use them. In fact they were especially designed by our seniors for our seniors.. And some day the clubhouse may have a defibrillator... 95% of the CERT team has been certified to use them.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Update - StatesmanJournal.com

Update - StatesmanJournal.com: "



Cold War-era siren to become tsunami warning

Associated Press

January 19, 2007

CORVALLIS, Ore. — A forgotten Cold War-era defense siren set off by a prankster at Oregon State University to herald the new year is going to Astoria to serve as a tsunami alert, officials say."

What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy - New York Times

What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy - New York Times: "What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy

The human mind isn’t very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don’t deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number. Millions, billions, a trillion — they all start to sound the same."

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.'"

Thursday, January 18, 2007

CERT Team Creates Controversy At LVH....

Monday, 15th... @The Social Club Meeting...

In the last year and a half that the CERT team has come into existence it has always been plagued with funding problems that have caused it to seek many creative solutions toward making our community a safe place during an emergency. A finer group of community minded citizens you could not ask for in my opinion.

Since we are dedicated to raising the LVH community to a standard that will enable the community to survive all manner of disasters and 90% of our training and time is spent right here at LVH working for the common good of every resident at LVH we sought to acquire status as a service club working under the auspicious of the Social Club in addition to our affiliation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Police, Fire Dept.'s, Coast Guard, Red Cross and Lincoln County Emergency Management.

Our goal in doing that was to ask the Social Club to support our group with a $250 annual budget. The Social Club voted unanimously to take us under their wing and fund us.

Not very long after the meeting was over we started getting feedback that a resident was upset and asserted we (the CERT Team) would bleed the Social Club treasury dry. Personally, this was offensive to me and probably to the whole team of volunteers who have spent many hours of voluntary work and monetary donations of their own.

Now the activity planning group which met shortly thereafter has come up with an idea that we can all get behind. They suggested that we (the CERT team) could volunteer to cook a couple of breakfasts during the year to help defray the $250 funding we asked for. Most of us have learned from life that their is no free lunch and so the team members all felt good about volunteering to help cook those breakfasts and are looking forward to yet another way to serve the community.

Entering a post script here.. The Social Club and the CERT team are working on ideas for future fund raisers.

No Reprieve From Deadly Winter Storm, Ice, Snow And Cold Kill 65, Leaves Many Without Power - CBS News

No Reprieve From Deadly Winter Storm, Ice, Snow And Cold Kill 65, Leaves Many Without Power - CBS News: "Wednesday, as icy weather spread from California to the East Coast and from Maine on down into Mexico, hundreds of airline flights were canceled, the death toll rose to 65 in nine states, tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost power, and a 300-mile stretch of Interstate 10, a major east-west highway, was closed. "

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

FREE TICKETS TO BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

I have 2 free tickets to tonight preformance at the PAC to see Beauty and the Beast. It is Georgia Pacific Night and I am sick. The doors open at 6:30 and the preformance starts at 7 :00PM open seating. Pick the tickets up 1st come 1st serve in Box #163 white envelope say Jacki on the front. Enjoy.

Driving Safely On Icy Roads, AAA's Robert Sinclair Offers Expert Advice - CBS News

Driving Safely On Icy Roads, AAA's Robert Sinclair Offers Expert Advice - CBS News: "WE'VE HEARD SO MANY THEORIES ABOUT WHAT TO DO IF YOU HIT A PATCH OF ICE AND BEGIN TO SKID. WHAT'S THE PROPER WAY TO GET THROUGH IT SAFELY?

Most skids are caused by excessive speed in a turn. If you've gone into a turn too hard, the car begins to skid, because it loses traction. In the past, we've been told to steer in the direction of the skid, but that advice applied when vehicles were rear-wheel drive. Many are now front-wheel drive, so the new thinking is to look in the direction that you want to go in and steer in that direction. We are creatures of our eyes, so when you lose control, just keep focused on where you want to go; don't look at walls or other cars, because you will crash into them. Anti-lock brakes will enable wheels to keep turning and enable you to maintain control of steering. Just keep your foot on the gas.

If you don't have anti-lock brakes, use the threshold braking technique. Step on the brakes, sort of like pumping — pump, look and steer. Even on sheer ice, there is a measure of traction available and if you take advantage of that, you should be able to get around it. "

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.'"

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.'"

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

A new kind of Pine

Last night as we returned home from the Sizzler after dining we saw a person (looked like a lady) Standing down by the gate looking across the park. We decided to go around and investigate. By the time we got back around to have a look she had disappeared. So up the hill we chugged on Evergreen.. When we spotted a new kind of large pine in front of Ben Davi's house. It was a Porcupine. He was big-un.

He was digging and rooting in the grass. We took Ben home and got the million power light out and back around to watch Porky. He had wandered over to Jackie Johnson's home and was bothered by our spotlight so he ambled up to Mike Larsen's fence and went toward Windmill. Cool huh?
Our Newport Police Department

Today was the culmination of a lot of work for the Newport Police Department's web sites. We have been working setting up the accounts with them for quite awhile. Yesterday we received a green light from the Chief to finish the websites. They are all operational now and make a lot of tools available to you for reporting criminal activity or problems in our community. In addition there is an arrest log that shows who got arrested and why. There is a new News Release page that gives the full accounts of an arrest. Not the abridged ones you see in the newspaper.

Be better informed about the community and visit and use these new sites as often as you like.

Take a look at the "File a Report" page. We made it with the folks here at LVH in mind based on what we have observed over the years. It works beautifully just fill in the form and send it.

The police Dept has plans to change pictures on their site more often to give you a window on their activities and plans for two more websites. One will be a page that honors our police and another will be a form that you fill out that will put your name on a police email list where they can warn and update the community about developing problems. Here is a link to the front page of the Newport Police.. Explore the entire site it's a good read.
Newport Police Click Here

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'People want economy and they will pay any price to get it.'"

What Is the Difference Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims--and Why Does It Matter?

What Is the Difference Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims--and Why Does It Matter?: "What Is the Difference Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims--and Why Does It Matter?"

Monday, January 15, 2007

Monday, January 15, 2007

The Replacements
Ron says: Sometimes you just find gold when you mine the internet. This blog is the day to day life of an officer in Iraq. Powerful! Poignant! a must read.The Replacements: "The ReplacementsThe Replacements is the War Blog of 1LT Adam Tiffen, an Infantry Officer that served in Iraq from May 2005 - May 2006. It is monitored but not currently updated. He returned safely from Iraq, and now resides in Arlington, Virginia."

(I moved from the Senior Humor site to the main page.....hope this is ok Ron.
Charles)
Ron is looking for a helping hand....

I start Medicare on February 1st. I'm a Newbie and can use your advice and experience. I've called some local Dr.'s but they are not excepting new Medicare Patients. So , what I am asking for is help from you . Do you know of any Dr's accepting new patients? Do you know of one that is familiar with dealing with the Veteran's Administration?

Please drop me an email at:

teckron@gmail.com

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.'"

Ethics Fencing in the Senate - New York Times

Ethics Fencing in the Senate - New York Times

California Shivers, Some Take Refuge In Shelters; Birds Huddle; Farmers Worry - CBS News


California Shivers, Some Take Refuge In Shelters; Birds Huddle; Farmers Worry - CBS News: "(CBS/AP) It's no laughing matter – icicles are in the orange groves, people are in shelters, and even birds are huddling together for warmth, in temperatures so cold California's governor has declared an emergency.

California's weather lurched from beach to ski in less than a week as an arctic blast delivered rare snowfalls in low-lying southern cities and put the state's $1 billion citrus industry on alert. "

The Replacements

Ron says: A powerful account of daily life in Iraq. A must read for those that have a thirst to see what the troops are seeing.

The Replacements: "The Replacements

The Replacements is the War Blog of 1LT Adam Tiffen, an Infantry Officer that served in Iraq from May 2005 - May 2006. It is monitored but not currently updated. He returned safely from Iraq, and now resides in Arlington, Virginia."

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake: "Hokkaido officials urged residents to move to higher ground and fire trucks made the rounds of coastal areas warning about the tsunami threat. There were only moderate tremors in Hokkaido and no immediate reports of casualties.

'We have cars going around the city telling people to evacuate,' Takahiro Yamamoto, an official with the Monbetsu city government, told NHK.

Television footage showed a worried resident of Kushiro studying the coast with binoculars from an evacuation center.

'I'm scared to return home,' said a woman cradling a child.

Authorities in the Philippines said they issued a tsunami alert 'level one,' warning residents on the northern and eastern coasts to wait for further information and possible evacuation."

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake

Ron says... This is how other countries handle tsunami alerts

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake: "Hokkaido officials urged residents to move to higher ground and fire trucks made the rounds of coastal areas warning about the tsunami threat. There were only moderate tremors in Hokkaido and no immediate reports of casualties.

'We have cars going around the city telling people to evacuate,' Takahiro Yamamoto, an official with the Monbetsu city government, told NHK.

Television footage showed a worried resident of Kushiro studying the coast with binoculars from an evacuation center.

'I'm scared to return home,' said a woman cradling a child.

Authorities in the Philippines said they issued a tsunami alert 'level one,' warning residents on the northern and eastern coasts to wait for further information and possible evacuation."

24 not looking to be torture's TV handmaid

24 not looking to be torture's TV handmaid: "24 not looking to be torture's TV handmaid
Real becomes too real: Show's executive producer discusses Mr. Bauer's ethics
Alex Strachan, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, January 12, 2007

It's the thorny question that dogs 24 even as the Emmy Award winning drama prepares to unveil its sixth season on the heels of its highest-rated, most critically lauded season yet: When does real become too real?"

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.'"