And Here Is Another News Flash ...

... please watch CNN or MSNBC on Saturday night.

You may see a news flash along the lines of "Connecticut First-Time Golfer Kills Two In Deadly Golf Game".

I am trying golf for the first time in my life, Saturday afternoon. The occasion is my co-worker Darrell's "sort-of" bachelor party (not exactly my idea of a terrific time, but it should be good for a few laughs).

I've gone to driving ranges over time, and have been amazed that no matter how I seem to "aim" a driver ... the ball has a mind of its own. Left ... Right ... Down the center ... Right ... Left ... Somewhat down the center ...

I hit the ball a "country mile", but it's not pretty. My only hope is that nobody actually keeps score.

OK ...

... so I'm biased. But I think our favorite "Thursday Morning Armchair Quarterback" target really deserves it this week. RHHS beat LHS for this new-fangled "Oil Field Trophy" last week. RC really showed his arse, in my opinion, so I had no recourse but to reply in yet another letter-to-the-editor:

" "Talk at the coffee table, Saturday morning, was that wet grass caused the Indians' loss to the Salukis. We thought the grass may have held down the score. Wait until roundball!"

Am I reading the Sumner Press online, or the Daily Record?

Last time I looked, the Sumner Press was in the Unit 10 District, and Lawrenceville is still clinging precariously onto their building in Unit 20. "Mea Culpa" if this is no longer the case.

The "Oil Field Trophy" should go each year to the best team (i.e.: the WINNER)

Football is a game played in all weather. Witness the games played at Foxboro Stadium to decide the AFC playoffs in recent years. On a personal note, my "less-than-illustrious" high-school football career at RHHS was capped in a game during a raging downpout at Oblong. I was as a junior when I scooped up a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. The mere fact that we were penalized on the ensuing kick-off for unsportsmanlike conduct (I spiked the ball) wasn't really an issue for me. Bill Huff wasn't happy with me, but I was on "cloud nine".

This, coincidentally, was the only game in my memory where there was a delay of game, to try to find Rick Hasler's contact lenses.

While my brother was All-NEC his junior and senior years at the former BTHS, I do still have it over him in that I actually reached the end zone.

Sincerely,
Lee Brookhart"

We're Baaaaaack ...

... from the 20th reunion of the 67th Naval Construction Battalion (WW II) veterans in Dayton, Ohio. It was a very good gathering of these guys (17 were in attendance). As I recall, there were 46 in attendance in all, the remainder of the crowd composed mostly of "kids" of the vets. There were a number of new attendees among the family members, and one new addition to the veteran ranks was a gentleman from Massachusetts, Joe Tripp Jr.

The sad thing was our digital camera decided to really screw up during the week. We got very few pictures from it, and are going to rely on the kindness of strangers for the remainder of the important pics, both group and informal. Here is the first pic we took with it, which was merely a scene of the Hospitality Suite.

Visible to the left is Clarence Cobb (Waco, TX) and his wife Betty, in the background. Clarence is still a Waco County Bailiff (known as "The Singing Bailiff").

Note the nice set-up of the bar area, with a beer tub on the floor, and two smaller tubs on the bar front that contained sodas and bottled waters. Barely visible on the right are the mixers/harder stuff section, also neatly arranged. I have no idea whose expertise that tapped.

While we arrived on Monday evening, to do whatever part we could to assist Janice's sister Susie, who had taken on the coordination and hosting of the event. She lives in Columbus, and she did a terrific job in all aspects of arranging the reunion. Major "kudos" to Susie!

It was a pretty laid-back week, with people arriving on various days and times. However, the "big tour" was on Thursday, of the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. There were a number of the 67th in attendance, as well as a great deal of nostalgia that day, since one of the prize exhibits is the B-29 "Bockscar". The 67th "Seabees" were responsible for building the runways from which "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar" took off on their historic missions; the 67th also built the bomb pits from which these two ships were loaded with their historic payloads.

Bomb pits were required for the B-29s, due to their low-slung underbellies, while on the ground. The B-29 had an approximate 5-foot ground clearance - quite a low slung plane for the size of it.

A mock-up of "Fat Man", the implosion-type device dropped on Nagasaki, was also on display. It is sometimes difficult to imagine the size of these devices versus their destructive power. Interestingly enough, a second version of "Little Boy" was also on display, and in the descriptive placard in front of it, I was amazed to learn that this second version of "Little Boy" was actually "live" prior to going on display. If I glow the next time you all see me, you'll know why.

As is my case, in a history museum such as this, I am almost never content to just "look".

Shhhhhh ... don't tell anyone ... but I have to "touch" the exhibits that are possible to touch. I even stole a touch once of a porthole hatch brought up from HMS Titanic. Again, ssshhhhhhhhhhh!

This visit allowed me to touch not only "Bockscar", "Fat Man" (couldn't reach "Little Boy", but I touched another version at the Smithsonian in DC), but also another Me-262 "Schwalbe" and another Me-163 "Komet". One "coup" of the day, however, was the very rare example of the Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-4 air-to-air wire-guided missile, which had been placed all-too-close to the railings. The number of intact Ruhrstahl/Kramer X-4 missiles to have survived World War II is estimated at 4, after the 1945 Allied bombing of the BMW rocket motor factory in Stargard, Germany. Approximately 1200-1300 X-4 airframes had been finished at Ruhrstahl's factory in Brackwede by early 1945. These airframes would have received their engines from the Stargard factory.

Other fascinating "touches" of the day included the Douglas VC-54C and Douglas VC-118 used by President Harry Truman, and the Lockheed VC-121E "Constellation" of Dwight Eisenhower, used as his "Air Force One" before that term came into vogue. While we also got a touch on the Kennedy/Johnson/Nixon "Air Force One" plane, the real character of a vintage aircraft came through on the planes of Truman and Eisenhower. How many other planes do you know that sport wood interiors?

Well, that's just a "quick" update. Sorry so boring ... I'll be back at another date with more. LOL

Quick Note To Bloggers

When you post photos, you can "drag and drop" the pics using your mouse. It appears that the standard "Blogger" method is to put the pics in reverse order, relative to what you may intend.

You can "drag and drop" as you compose your post, and position your pics where you like, as you go along.

Or, if you are really analytical, you can post your photos in reverse order, and avoid this issue.

I, for one, am not that analytical, so I just move 'em around. LOL

It Took A While, But ...

... my picture (submitted July 27th, 2005) was finally posted on the We'reNotAfraid.com website. I'm in Gallery #570, third row, far left. (Thanks again, Mom.)

The We'reNotAfraid website was set up after the London terrorist bombings for people to submit photos, or whatever, to "show the world that we're not afraid of what happened in London, and that the world is a better place without fear."

I roughly calculate that I am around the 13,669th photo to be posted by their website team.

Finally ...

... we got heavy rain overnight and this morning. This is the first rain we've had for about three weeks now. Maybe the leaves will stop falling prematurely, and we might actually have one of those colorful falls for which New England is renowned.

However, sometimes when we do have leaves on the ground and we get a hard rain, the storm sewer on Elm Street between the Velvet Mill and the Clocktower Mill clogs, and the street floods. This is an enjoyable thing to watch from our dining room window.

And, sometimes this perverse viewing pleasure is heightened when unintelligent drivers of expensive European automobiles forget to attach their fording snorkels to their cars before attempting to drive through the water.

This morning's "catch of the day" was this new Mercedes-Benz shown below. Last I knew, Daimler doesn't offer an "Unterseeboot" model. Someone forgot to inform this lady of that fact.
I refrained from yelling down "Ahoy there - shall I call the Coast Guard?" like one time earlier. I didn't feel like starting my day with getting the same single-digit salute I received from the previous driver.

Oh well, some Mercedes mechanic is going to be a happy camper.

Like I've said many times before - Connecticut has the least intelligent drivers in the United States.

Just for fun ... and since I know how competitive the Brookhart clan can be when it comes to games, I thought I might put up a "Spot All The Differences In These Two Pictures" contest on the blog. The picture below is from 8-21-2004. List all the differences you can find between the two pictures, and you can win a very handsome certificate, suitable for framing!
I predict John may win, although his answers might be scrutinized heavily if it's anything like how he plays Monopoly.

Answers will be published in next week's edition of The Sumner Press. Just kidding - they will be published here. (Hint: While there are millions of differences in the two pictures, I'm limiting it to a number between 1 and 100 - see if you can figure them out) LOL

I've rethought the prize, and decided that not only will the lucky winner receive the very handsome certificate, suitable for framing, but I will also toss in a "ONE" band that you can wear in pride. Come on, folks - this is a prestigious contest, with the grand prize winner earning a valuable prize worth at least $1.38 !!!

The September 15th "Roscoe Watch" - Online Version

A "front-page" article in the August 4th Sumner Press:

When Will it be Our Turn

" Federal highway budget passed within the week is for $284 billion over six years. Illinois should receive at least $10 billion of that amount. Will the long overdue Illinois highway building boom begin? Apparently not.
For starters, Illinois Department of Transportation allotted $75,000 for 2005 highway building in Lawrence County. In obvious irony, The Daily Record headlined, "Improvements to be made at RHSP entrance."
We remembered former Senator Fitzgerald's claim that IDOT had committed all federal funds to O'Hare Airport road construction until the end of time. We weren't shortchanged; we were robbed.
Forty years ago, Route 50 was made four lanes wide from the Wabash River westward for ten miles. Life's too short to wait another 40 years for the modernization of the highway that would bring industry, jobs, opportunity for civic revival, retention of the youth in home communities. But none of these dreams will come to pass without a public uprising. The chant must become a roar, "Throw the rascals out."
Only by such determined effort can there be a better economic tomorrow in a county that's going down the drain without a gurgle."

Then, in the August 25th edition, we see in the article about the Republican rally for the "meet and greet" of James Oberweis, gubernatorial candidate for Governor:

" While the candidate made an impressive showing in the Republican primary for U. S. Senate, 2004, he has, by own admission, a "tin ear" for politics. That trait was evidenced by his refusal to predict four lanes for Route 50, Lawrenceville to Salem, during his first term, or even to promise to strive mightily to create this area's identified needed lifeline.
The Press will support no candidate for Governor who doesn't promise, on his mother's honor, to strive mightily to build the road during his first term. This newspaper doesn't give a hoot where the candidate stands on abortion, gun control, or self-flagellation for past political missteps. Oberweis is against the first two, for the third. Our impoverished area needs the big road now if the slide into economic oblivion is to be reversed."

Note #1: Hey Roscoe! Would it not make more sense to widen Route 50 to four lanes all the way to St. Louis, via Salem?

And now, this week, Roscoe writes:

" Relocation into many other large cities of those who lived in lower Ward 9, New Orleans, would be a lighter burden on the national treasury, than to restore the homes they had and waste billions on levees.
Hooray for Evansville Congressman Hostettler. He was not panicked into voting for the administration's $52.8 billion giveaway for Katrina repair. Republicans should stand for fiscal integrity. "

Note #2: Hey Roscoe! Why do you have such a hatred of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? Has it ever occurred to you that we spend upwards of $2 billion a day in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we didn't want to spend a few billion to improve the levee and pump system in New Orleans so it could have withstood a Category 5 hurricane?

We are the world's wealthiest nation, and richest in a myriad of other ways.

However, with Roscoe's comment "Now the fate of the poor displaced has become the raison d'etre for most churches, and every politician including the President. Perhaps the pendulum of compassionate concern has swung too far. Each must do for himself what he can. Restoration of standard of living must be limited to necessities", it certainly appears we are one of the least compassionate.

I suggest the following:

(1) Close Lawrenceville High School, and transfer the students there to the new school at RHHS;
(2) Convert LHS to a housing complex for Hurricane Katrina evacuees - this will:
(a) Create more jobs in Lawrence County for construction workers and
(b) Revitalize the economy in Lawrence County with respect to retail and goods and services
(c) Bring some additional talent to the "County of Champions" sports teams
(3) With the influx of cheap labor from the "poor" evacuees of New Orleans, organize chain gangs to build, without the use of public funds, those additional two lanes from Lawrenceville to Salem
(4) Maybe, for once, those three properties that show up each week, unsold, on page 1 of the Sumner Press online version, will finally sell so we don't have to see them anymore!

Anyway ... enough on that.

The September 8th "Roscoe Watch" - Online Version

Sheesh ... as if I haven't had enough to say. When inspired, watch out, folks!

"Two commodities that will sell, regardless of price, are gasoline & tobacco." Well, duh, Roscoe ... care to add "Avarice" and "Greed" to that? Probably not.

"We must find a way to raise the economic status of the poor, particularly those in big city ghettos. Bill Cosby should be appointed national motivation leader, to persuade the downtrodden to make their lives, and the lives of their children, worthwhile." Hmmm ... why not, in the interim, force all those poor folk to name their next kids "Dammit" and "Jesus Christ"? Hey - it worked for Bill, as he grew up!

"New Orleans Mayor Nagin is no Rudy Guiliani." No duh. I think Rudy Guiliani had a phone number to call, or at least the gumption to call directory assistance. However, in the not-so-immortal words of Kanye West, maybe "George Bush don't care about black people." I wonder how many Grammy awards that idiot will garner?

"House Speaker Dennis Hastert said it best, "Why rebuild seven feet below sea level? Stubbornness will cause billions to be wasted." " OK ... (a) Why try to rebuild the bridge north of Lawrenceville that some drunk from Olney knocked down? If a drunk in a pickup truck can knock down a bridge, why was it being used in the first place??? and (b) Has Roscoe ever "known what it means, to miss New Orleans"?

"On the same day that Katrina struck, 1,000 Shiites perished when a huge pilgrims' parade to a holy shrine stampeded in Baghdad. That tragedy was barely mentioned in the news." WHOA. This is a surprise, that he would acknowledge this.

But wait ... "We yet believe that Osama bin Laden, or some of his underlings, will publicly claim that Allah caused Katrina to be so devastating to an entire nation." Dear God (or Allah, or "The Spirit Of All Things", or whoever you worship) ... GIVE ME A BREAK, when in the VERY NEXT LINE, he writes ...

"The need in the world is for a moratorium on war, religion, talking heads on television, and criticism of national leadership."

Pardon MY suggestion here, but I suggest that a need in the world is just for Roscoe to SHUT UP.

He alternatively cracks me up, yet ticks me off. Hopefully none of you have passed this blog site on to "Little Ann". LOL

I Just Remembered This ...

... and it's always "stuck" with me.

Any of my siblings remember Dad's "Sunday Night Dinners" like this?

I thought about this a while back, and took a picture. While I don't don his similar attire on these Sunday nights, it is still a good meal.

Just goes to show St. Francisville has an export known the world around.

Another "city" to add to Roscoe's "County of Champions". LOL

Has Alaska Melted?

I don't know about anyone else, but I for one would like to see some photos of the "senior" Brookhart bloggers' Alaskan trip! What gives?

Well Now ... (CATEGORY 5 POST WARNING)

We're back in CT, after an all-too-short vacation to Missouri.

Thankfully, there were no bat incursions in our absence, so "The Boys" had to be a little bored during the 9 days we were away. You know, they are a couple of smart kids, since they had already figured out we were going somewhere.
And no, we didn't let them stow away, even though they tried this trick seven or eight times.

I did a lot of grass-cutting. I also spent some time cutting off limbs from low trees that I've had head-on collisions with. Basically, Lee's Rule of Tree-Trimming goes like this: "If a limb almost knocks you off your mower seat ... cut that danged thing off, so it don't happen again!"

As mentioned before, the St. Paul Picnic was a good time, although I came up short and only won a set of towels - no quilt. One nice touch this year was an honor guard presenting the colors in a tribute to our veterans. In the picture below, you can see Joe standing in the rear, at the far right, in front of the bandstand.Janice and I also had a good time playing "catch" with a hot-air balloon. The passengers probably weren't too pleased after being tossed around like this. Their stomachs may have felt like Brad's after his "Indian Turnip" escapade. Notes to Brad: (1) Never trust anything that is named after Lawrenceville High School's mascot. (2) If ANY kids ever try to get you to eat something you're not familiar with, reject it ... you know it's not going to be good for you.

Here are some pictures from Janice's brother Joe's place up in Clarksville. He's put up a building, where he is in the process of converting half of it to a deer hunting cabin, the other half into a shop and machine shed. The bad news for deer-hunters is ... this is where he intends to wear his camouflage bathrobe.

The good news for deerhunters is ... he has 28 tags reserved this hunting season. The best news for deerhunters is ... the deer here are really stupid. We saw 13 of them, and they all acted like they were ... "ahem" ... "slow" (I would have said "retarded", but that would have been politically incorrect). We were in Joey's Avalanche, and it's not a quiet vehicle. But as you can see from these two, they didn't seem to mind seeing a pickup filled with humans. In fact, the one in the bottom picture didn't even bother to turn around. I'm thinking these deer are so ... "dumb" ... I could walk up to one and kill it with Joey's 1935 German Police Luger. Deer sausage in November, anyone?

We rounded out the week with an overnighter at the Chase Park Plaza and dinner at the Tenderloin Room. Joe even shook a leg out on the dance floor when the pianist Barbara played "I Can't Get Started" (Joe and Joyce's "song").

Later that night (and into the next morning) after the folks had gone to bed, who walked into the piano bar at the Tenderloin Room but Larry Walker, outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, who had hit a homer to beat the New York Mets earlier that night. We became good friends almost instantly (see below).

Then, lo and behold, the owner of the New York Mets came down from the upper dining room of the Tenderloin Room. He and I performed a duet of "New York, New York" (see bottom picture, below). I don't think he thought it very funny when I changed the words to "Start spreading the news ... the Mets always lose." He was a good sport and laughed, anyway. I did tell him I lived in CT, and probably would now never find work in NYC if I wanted it ... he said "Hey, I've heard worse!" I replied, "I'm sure you have." LOL

I'm not even sure he realized I'd picked his pocket, and had his AMEX Platinum in my left hand. (just kidding) And no, Eric, his smile wasn't because I was administering a sphygmoidoscopy. LOL

I admit to a bit of "New England" behavior, but like any good Brookhart, I cut right to the chase (pardon the pun, based on location) ... in an "off" moment, while the Mets owner was talking to Larry Walker, I asked the Mets owner's ... "chick" (who was around 30-35 or so) "So ... I take it you all are married, yes? He seems like a pretty nice catch." She replied, "Oh no, we're not married ... not at all." To which I replied, "So then, I guess that would mean you're just in it for the 'perks', yes?" To which she replied, not-so-stunned and with a good-natured (sort of "oops, you called me on that") laugh, "Yep ... it's a pretty good life!"

Yep ... I'm sure it is. LOL

And finally, The Brookhart Blog "Weather Report" ... Janice and I are in Dayton next week, to attend the 20th reunion of the WWII 67th Naval Construction Battalion (SeaBees). Another "Category 5" blog posting is expected, since one of our day tours is of the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB.

OK, I've Had Enough ...

... of these automated intrusions into our blog.

I wish there was another way of doing this, BUT ... it appears I will have to turn on the "word verification option" of Blogger, to help repel the unwanted invaders to our little corner of the blogosphere. This will be a little bit of a PITA for us all, but hopefully it will work, as advertised.

What is the word verification option?

The "word verification" option requires you to type the letters of a "word" (a loose term, there) in order to complete the word verification step. As if now, people leaving comments on our blog will be required to complete this additional step, or else the comments will not be posted.

You will now notice an additional field below the little window where you type in your comments. Just above that field, you will see the "wavy" word you have to type into the additional field before you hit the "Login and Publish" button.

The following is an example of what you will now see, just below the comments field where you type in your comments:

Please note - the word will not be "uvama" each time you post a comment - it will be some sort of automated series of letters that will be different each time.

What this does is to prevent automated systems from adding comments to our blog, since it takes a human being to read the word and pass this step. What we've encountered here is called comment spam. Since a lot of this is done automatically by software which can't pass the word verification, enabling this option is a good way to prevent many such unwanted comments.

Once again, sorry for the added step when creating a comment, but hopefully we'll have a cleaner comments area, and we won't have to worry about chain or golf equipment vending infidels.

More from the construction zone....

Hi all!!
We've had an interesting week so far here...We now have skylights that we didn't really know we were getting and had to go above our budget by 2k so far for windows we thought we WERE getting. It also looks like we will be spending Saturday pulling up our front walkway and little porch to make way for the new porch. I think we need to rent a jackhammer but Dave doesn't think so. I think Dave will have a nervous breakdown before this is all done.
We are apparently "construction challenged" when it comes to reading through a contract.
Sue

Invitation Has Been Sent

I've sent an invitation to DeeDee's email account you all provided. If she has problems, I've instructed her to send me an email to let me know.

We're having a good visit with Joe and Joyce ... will post some pics here later. The St. Paul picnic on Sunday was nice - not quite the usual turn-out, perhaps from gas prices here, but was a bit of a disappointment for me, as I came up short at the quilt stand and only won another towel set. No quilt - I think they saw me coming.

Today, Janice and Joyce are having their "girls' day shopping and lunch" that was part of Joyce's birthday present from Janice. Joe Sr. and I are "bach-ing it" and taking a drive with Janice's brother Joe, probably up to his newest property with Joe's son Neal Patrick.

I've not yet seen any "special plans" for Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts from my work yet (other than what I mentioned in my last post) but they know I'm on vacation right now, so they may be waiting until my return. I will find out on Monday. Anyway, Janice and I will be doing something for Ellen and Paul as soon as we return.

....and the beat goes on!

Things have been going relatively well considring the state of other parts of the country. Lori and Brad you two are really fantastic for what you are doing. My friend said that the red corss will send many people our way to live with us when the additions are done as a form of a national tax. The kids are getting ready to go to school as we start very late compared to most. Morgan is very excited to ride the bus to school. Devon on the other hand is too cool to dicuss the situation. I cannot wait until the additions are complete as I missed everyone this summer. Sue was able to travel and see everyone and until then I never realized how spoiled I had become with the North Carolina Trip every year. I would love nothing more than to have a huge family style get-together to break-in everything!

PS- Sue let me get stainless steel everything!!!

Some Catching Up, Here ...

First, A Celebration

Yesterday was Janice's birthday, so we had a nice little celebration at Cavey's, our favorite restaurant here in Manchester. We had yet another terrific dinner, her with her sea scallops and I with my ribeye, a few cocktails, and a lovely little tiramisu "birthday cake" for dessert (complete with a candle).

I went for the "useful gift" this year, and gave her something she can truly use (well, okay, will have to use as of October 1st) ... a Jabra BT250V wireless headset for her cell phone. I've had a BT250 for a couple of years now, and it is really a great product ... lightweight and doesn't dangle weirdly on the outside of the ear. And, in my case, it's a pretty good "hearing aid" for cell phone use. I'm curious to find out, though, how this whole "vibrate" mode works in her BT250V, since it's the "upgrade" model from mine. Hopefully it doesn't vibrate her brain while on her ear.

You see, Connecticut is enacting a law on 10/1 forbidding the use of handheld cell phones while driving. Now if they could just enact a law forbidding the application of makeup while driving, or the turning around to smack unruly kids in the back seat while driving, or (and I swear this is no joke because I've seen it!) the reading of newspapers while driving ... our roads in Connecticut would be even safer.

Next, Another Celebration

The other thing we celebrated last night was that we are officially now "on vacation". We are flying out to Joe and Joyce's for some long-deserved vacation/relaxation time. We cancelled our annual July 4th trip out there, due to Janice's pressing work schedule, and this will be our first lengthy time away since the Seabee Reunion in Colorado Springs last September.

Of course, this also means this will be the first extended period we've had away from Jake and Elwood, and it's a bit of a concern. We have a cat-sitter, Marge, who will be checking in on, feeding, watering, and playing with them each day, but we've also had a bit of a bat invasion the past month or so.

And Now The Concerns

We've had five bats in the apartment since I first reported our initial visitor on August 3rd (see 8/4 blog entry). Elwood actually caught the last bat to come in, at around 1:15 AM August 21st. I was just getting ready to go to bed, and witnessed the whole thing ... the bat sort of glided down (not diving) and Elwood reached up his left paw and in one smooth cat-like motion batted (pardon the puns) down the bat and held it, pinned, to the floor. Elwood then looked over at me like "Hey Dad ... now what do I do?"

Well ... a call to Building Maintenance for another catch-job and submission of the bat to Manchester Police Department Animal Control for testing, a follow-up call from the attending Animal Control Officer, and a subsequent call at 6:45 AM on 8/22 from the Manchester Health Department later, and I ended up having to take a personal day on 8/22 to handle a bunch of tasks.

As it turns out (it's really no different than any other time local government interferes with your life) the Animal Control Department basically told me I had to immediately get both Jake and Elwood to the Veterinarian for examination and treatment for possible rabies exposure, since at least one of them had come in contact with the potentially-rabid bat.

Next, the Health Department called and informed me not only that (a) Janice and I are supposed to undergo the "Post-Exposure Prophylaxis" (and no, "Prophylaxis" is not the same as "Prophylactics" - I know someone is going to make that joke) treatments for potential rabies exposure as a precautionary measure, but that (b) the Health Department has also strongly recommended to the Velvet Mill that we be relocated until such time we can be assured that the dwelling can be 100% guaranteed of bat riddance.

Well, as you can imagine, I spent the day raising hell with the Velvet Mill management, and placed a number of demands on them, and negotiated their agreement that they would have to pay for all necessary treatment of not only the cats, but also of Janice and myself, and any possible relocation expense, yada yada yada. I got the cats in for their appointment, and Rabies Boosters, and also called our primary care physician to determine the next steps. His recommendation was also that we both undergo the every-7-days series of 5 shots for the "Post-Exposure Prophylaxis", and called me back later to tell me that we would have to visit the Emergency Room at Manchester Memorial (not like I haven't been there often enough this year).

To make a longer-than-normal-from-me story short, we're still undecided about when to start these shots, since we have travel plans not only this coming week, but the week of 9/20 - 9/25 to Dayton. The main reason is the last two bats tested negative for Rabies, but we're not sure of the remaining two that were supposedly captured and submitted for testing (no report back from Animal Control on those) and the other one who we could not catch but opened a window to get him/her out.

Our concern is that the contractor for bat-proofing that the Velvet Mill has engaged to bat-proof the exterior of the soffits under our roof has yet to be able to arrange for the 80-foot cherry-picker lift he will need to apply the netting under our soffits. So we're trusting that he will be able to get out here before another bat invasion. The word is "mid-next-week" or so it looks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

And Finally ...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Katrina. We both hope all is well with Ellen and Paul, and Aunt Judith, and are happy they are all safe. We are just heartsick about the effects of this horrific hurricane, and like many others, are saddened both by Katrina's devastation and by the exposure of the evil underside of humanity that has hindered relief efforts and added to the suffering of those affected and displaced by Katrina. We pray the looters and gangs come to their senses and stop their madness.