Saturday, April 28, 2007

The Saturday Breakfast.....

It was an exercise in teamwork. The CERT team presented breakfast for over 60 people today. Chicken fried steak and biscuits and gravy. It was great. The $$ count hasn't come in from the treasurer yet but I saw a lot of satisfied smiles.

Of further fun.. residents did not move on after breakfast but hung on and visited with friends and neighbors. We have always liked that when it happens. Kind of magical I would say.

For my part a chance to serve and watch our team work together provided me with the insight that your CERT team can do more than what it was and is training for.

A more fun and dedicated bunch you'll not find. Each of them found a job they could do and just started doing it..Pretty cool.

We even received $8.10 in donations for the team and would like to thank those folks for their generosity. We also received $250 worth of support from the Social Club Treasury a couple of months ago. Though we haven't used it we have that as an ace in the hole in case we run into obstacles. Today's breakfast effort by the team was a way of saying thank you to the community at large for their support.

For my part I thank the community and my fellow team mates for their unselfish dedication in all that they do.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Results of the poll and a comment from Ron Thomas....



Here are 10 items that the Social Club could work toward getting for the Social Club. Let's see which gets the most votes?

Answers Votes Percent
1.
New Chairs for the club house. 3 9%
2.
Recover the pool tables. 0 0%
3.
Buy a wide screen TV. 10 29%
4.
New couches and chairs for the clubhouse. 2 6%
5.
A new Popcorn Machine. 0 0%
6.
AED (Automatic Elecltric Defibulator) 10 29%
7.
CERT Projects for emergency preparedness. 0 0%
8.
More & new emergency Lighting in the clubhouse. 0 0%
9.
Comprehensive 1st aid kit for the clubhouse. 5 14%
10.
Canned Smoke to check residents smoke alarms. 5 14%

Here is what I think.... It would be a good thing for the Social Club to always have a goal defined for its members. Something to work for. Working for a goal gives it value... Having it handed to you on a silver platter without doing anything, with no effort or sacrifice on your part devalues whatever it is.

"After all it didn't cost me nuthin so why should I care?" That seems to be the attitude these days. So I'm saying rather than robbing the treasury to buy whatever the club's whim is... let's identify it and then work for it. If we come up short we can ask for help from the treasurer but to not even make an effort beyond raising your hand and voting... that makes me feel uncomfortable.

As far as I know, most of the things the Social Club has acquired from the owners of the park or through donation. Like Jacky Memoli who bought the 2 excellent microwaves for the clubhouse and if I'm not mistaken the popcorn machine too. Older timers will remember other gracious souls.

It should be the goal of each incoming Social Club Board and the membership to set a goal for a new, wonderful item and find a way for us to work for it for a year.

Because the Social Club does have a fat treasury means that worry free events can be held because the money, if needed, is there to back us up. It allows more freedom of choice how the club operates. It means the cash is there to help over a rough spot. It means freedom to plan free events or low cost events. It means it can offer support to member clubs.

When the treasury was low what we could do was constrained and now it's not that way at all. I'm willing to work because I learned years ago that there is "no free lunch". Well, that's the way I see it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "George Orwell
4/24/2007 6:00:00 PM [rss@quotationspage.com (Quotes of the Day)]

'All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.'"

Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss' - USATODAY.com

Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss' - USATODAY.com: "Hawking: Weightlessness will be 'bliss'
Posted 3h 41m ago | Comment | Recommend 2 E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this
Physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in Orlando, Fla. Hawking will go on a weightless flight on April 26 aboard a modified Boeing 727.
Enlarge image Enlarge By John Raoux, AP
Physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions during an interview in Orlando, Fla. Hawking will go on a weightless flight on April 26 aboard a modified Boeing 727.
By Mike Schneider, Associated Press
ORLANDO — Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his adult life, expects weightlessness to feel like 'bliss' when he goes on a 'zero-gravity' flight Thursday aboard a refitted jet."

CNW Group

CNW Group: "Finavera Renewables CEO Outlines 'Huge Potential' of Ocean Wave Energy in Address to United States Congressional Committee"

National & World News - Tampa Bay's 10 - tampabays10.com

National & World News - Tampa Bay's 10 - tampabays10.com: "SALEM, Ore.— No coffee this week for Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. He couldn't afford to buy any with his food stamps.

The Democratic governor is taking part in a challenge to raise awareness about the challenges of feeding a family on food stamps. He had just $21 to buy a week's worth of food, which is what Oregon's average food-stamp recipient receives each week."

Another brand of dog food is recalled - Nature

Another brand of dog food is recalled - Nature: "WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the voluntary recall of another brand of possibly contaminated dog food.

Massachusetts`s SmartPak Inc. initiated the recall of a single production run of its LiveSmart Weight Management Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food after determining the product included a rice protein concentrate that was found contaminated with melamine."

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.'"

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Lost world warning from North Sea

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Lost world warning from North Sea: "It also serves as a warning for the scale of impact that climate change can cause, he says.

Human communities would have lost their homelands as the rising water began to encroach upon the wide, low-lying plains.

'At times this change would have been insidious and slow - but at times, it could have been terrifyingly fast. It would have been very traumatic for these people,' he says.

'It would be a mistake to think that these people were unsophisticated or without culture... they would have had names for the rivers and hills and spiritual associations - it would have been a catastrophic loss,' says Professor Gaffney."

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Giant fossil rainforest unearthed

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Giant fossil rainforest unearthed: "'We drove down the mine in an armoured vehicle, until we were a hundred metres below the surface.

'The fossil forest was rooted on top of the coal seam, so where the coal had been mined away the fossilized forest was visible in the ceiling of the mine.

'We walked for miles and miles along pitch-black passages with the fossil forest just above our heads. We were able to make a map of the forest by the light of our miners' lamps.'"

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BBC series to tell Earth's story


BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BBC series to tell Earth's story: "BBC series to tell Earth's story
Reunion volcano
The Earth's forces, including volcanoes, will be explored
A major new BBC TV series is to reveal the story of planet Earth from its birth more than four billion years ago.

Earth: The Biography will be screened on BBC Two later in the year and presented by Dr Iain Stewart, host of Journeys From the Centre of the Earth.

Dr Stewart will visit some of the planet's most remote places to explain phenomena such as the meteorite thought to have wiped out dinosaurs.

BBC natural history series Planet Earth attracted up to nine million viewers."

KOIN News 6 for Local News Weather and Sports, Portland, OR; KOIN.com - Mayor Dies Unexpectedly At 63

KOIN News 6 for Local News Weather and Sports, Portland, OR; KOIN.com - Mayor Dies Unexpectedly At 63: "Mayor Dies Unexpectedly At 63

TOLEDO, Ore. - Sharon Branstiter, the mayor of Toledo for the last 10 years, died unexpectedly at her home at age 63.

Branstiter died Sunday morning while recovering from double bypass surgery performed earlier this month.

Those in Toledo remember as a woman who loved gardening -- both at home and in the community of less than 4,000 near the Oregon Coast. Her daughter, Marnie Jacobson, says her mother had a passion for wanting to make Toledo beautiful. Once that happened, she said, people in the town were proud of it."

OregonLive.com: NewsFlash - Killer whale pod back on central Oregon coast

OregonLive.com: NewsFlash - Killer whale pod back on central Oregon coast: "Killer whale pod back on central Oregon coast
4/21/2007, 1:16 p.m. PDT
The Associated Press

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — Coastal visitors hoping for a glimpse of migrating gray whales in the next weeks may get a 'twofer.'"

Westcoaster.ca - News - Columnists - Earthquake, Tsunami Advice Not Appropriate: Local Scientist

editor: Make sure to watch the video

Westcoaster.ca - News - Columnists - Earthquake, Tsunami Advice Not Appropriate: Local Scientist: "By Jacqueline Windh, PhD
Opinion/Column

(Writer’s comment: This article is Part 1 of a two-part series commenting upon our West Coast emergency preparedness programs. I am writing this critique both as a concerned local citizen, and as a PhD scientist in the field of structural geology – the study of folding and faulting in the Earth’s crust.
I appreciate and acknowledge the efforts of all of the volunteers who have put together our local emergency preparedness programs and information brochures. However, I do not believe that all of the information and advice that they have put together is appropriate for our region or for the magnitude of the expected events.
These two articles provide background information as well as my own recommendations. My criticisms are intended in the most positive sense – to help individuals to prepare for these events, and to work for the continuing improvement of our local emergency plans.
This week’s article focuses upon the nature of the events: the scale and magnitude of the expected earthquake and tsunami, and what this means for evacuation routes. Next week I will focus more on personal preparedness and emergency kits.)"

New drug may cure genetic diseases | Health | The Australian

New drug may cure genetic diseases | Health | The Australian: "A NEW prototype drug could lead to treatments for hundreds of genetic diseases after showing early promise for the treatment of a type of muscular dystrophy in mice."

Monday, April 23, 2007

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Spacecraft return 3D Sun pictures


BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Spacecraft return 3D Sun pictures: "To get the full effect, 3D glasses are needed to view the images"









1

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'There are more of them than us.'"

NewsGator Online

NewsGator Online: "'Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?'"

BBC NEWS | Health | Cheap molecule may attack tumours

BBC NEWS | Health | Cheap molecule may attack tumours: "The University of Alberta team, writing in the journal Cancer Cell, now say it could encourage cancer cells to die.

Experts say much more research will be needed before an effective cancer treatment can emerge.


One of the really exciting things about this compound is that it might be able to treat many different forms of cancer
Dr Evangelos Michelakis
University of Alberta

One of the most important features of many cancers is its ability to cheat the normal process of cell death that happens in normal tissue.

Many scientists are working on ways to find out how it does this, and to switch the mechanism back on."

Sunday, April 22, 2007

POLL

Over on the left. Took some of the suggestions of goals the Social Club could work for and put them up for a popularity vote. I wish you guys had made more suggestions or came up with more ideas. It's not to late!... If you have ideas put them in the comments below and when we have the winners fom this round we will put the new ideas in with them and run another poll.



You can vote even if you don't participate in the Social Club but are a lease paying resident.
Over on the left... Please notice the staff has grown...


Look over on the left. You will see that webpage staff has grown. The addition of Ginger Dale and Jacky Thomas. Recognition of Barb Dudley who takes care of the Fisherman's webpage. These ladies are learning the ropes so to speak and will be handling more and more of the website features as well as writing now and then when they want to.

You can email them with questions and things that you would like to post on the website.. Calendar and birthday updates and they will take care of them for you.

To email anyone on the staff just click on their names and your email program will load with their emails shown in the "to:" box

Newport News-Times: On The Sidelines

Newport News-Times: On The Sidelines: "Geezer games to be held in June

The Newport Parks and Recreation Department will be presenting the second annual Oregon Coast Geezer Games in Newport, Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17. Athletes age 50 and older are invited to show off their athletic skills.
"

Oregon Coast Drama This Weekend: Baby Seal Bitten by Dog, Whale Needs Rescue

Oregon Coast Drama This Weekend: Baby Seal Bitten by Dog, Whale Needs Rescue: "Meanwhile, Chandler was contacted on Saturday by the U.S. Coast Guard in Newport regarding advice about a whale caught in crab pots just offshore from that town. Crewmembers spent some time trying to extricate it from the crab pots, but at one point the whale disappeared. Coast Guard officials were not sure if it had sank and died or freed itself."

Savoring history and food on the northern Oregon coast | Travel | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California


Savoring history and food on the northern Oregon coast | Travel | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California: "Fort Clatsop Reopens

Beat the summer crowds and be among the first to tour the new replica of a 50-year-old landmark destroyed by fire weeks before the November 2005 bicentennial celebration of Lewis & Clark's journey to the Pacific Northwest."

Worldandnation: Oregon governor to sample the 'food stamp challenge'

Worldandnation: Oregon governor to sample the 'food stamp challenge': "SALEM, Ore. - Gov. Ted Kulongoski and his wife are used to eating the best their bountiful state has to offer: fresh salmon, huckleberries and mushrooms foraged from the Cascade Mountains."

KOIN News 6 for Local News Weather and Sports, Portland, OR; KOIN.com - Beef Recall Has Oregon Connection

KOIN News 6 for Local News Weather and Sports, Portland, OR; KOIN.com - Beef Recall Has Oregon Connection: "Beef Recall Has Oregon Connection

NAPA, Calif. - State health officials are recalling frozen ground beef patties after at least three Napa County children who ate at Little League baseball snack shacks were sickened by E. coli."

88" couch Like New - Flexsteel Brand Call Donna @ 265-5530 - $300.00
The message is ready to be sent with the following file or link attachments:
100_0707



1
CERT Update:

The CERT team continues develop and put in place its emergency plan. A major problem was how we were going to evacuate the severely injured and pick up supplies from a Coast Guard or other helicopter. Recent developments in the park took our only site away with the addition of new houses on 54th st. We have one site where they can lower and retrieve a basket but that limits what can be done.. It would be the area behind the clubhouse.

Recently, we spoke to the owner of the golf course via email asking if he would consider being our helicopter landing zone. We were pretty darned happy about the results. One neighbor remarked at the Spring dinner last night that I must be sleeping a lot easier now.. You know what? We think a lot of folks can rest easier now thanks to the generosity of the golf course owner, Terry Martin. Below is his email. If you play golf or use the course and see him.. Take time to thank him on behalf of all of us... He's a good one.

We would be happy to have our property used for a landing site in case of emergency. Our driving range would be the best location, close to the highway. Or even the area in front of our clubhouse. we have used both ares in the past for helicopter landing sites. If you need anything else from me don't hesitate to call.
best regards,
Terry Martin