Folks,

Continued from a previous page the more fortunate reader may have missed.

Isaiah had the shivers for quite some time after the stranger left. Eventually, he calmed down and actually began to tell himself he had imagined or perhaps dreamed the whole thing. He always managed a nap about 11 PM. Of course, that empty place on the shelf where that mysterious gong had once been on display was disturbing. Finally, Isiah just figured that had been sold earlier in the day and he had simply not noticed it when he came in to begin his night shift at 9 PM.

Yawning and stretching broadly, Isaiah settled in behind the counter with his book "Fancy coffins you can make at home" By. Vlaad D. Impailer. The lights in the shop were low and it was late. Isaiah yawned again and he was soon slumped across his book once more and shortly, Isaiah began snoring loudly.

The large pendulum clock hanging on the wall behind the sleeping man ticked on. Gong-gong-gong..!! It was just striking midnight. After the third stroke of the clock, Isaiah woke with a start.

He had been dreaming about the hooded stranger floating about the church graveyard banging on his gong. All the graves were opening and skeletal arms and glowing skulls were coming out.

When he realized the sound of the gong was continuing even after waking, Isiah was really frightened. He was about to run for his life until he realized it was only the clock on the wall chiming midnight. The sound was not coming from a gong at all.

Isaiah gasped for air to fill his empty lungs. He had not taken a breath since he awoke. Soon, he stopped shaking and mentally felt very sheepish about being afraid of...of a clock. There was nothing to fear not even on the night of Halloween.

Isiah Lilprayer calmed down and after looking at the big, green door, he began reading again. In minutes he was sound asleep and snoring away. At that very moment, and without the slightest tinkle form the little brass bell, that big, green door opened quietly.....

TO BE CONTINUED

Folks,

Continued from somewhere above. Hey, no complaints. I warned you this was coming. What do you think "To be continued" means?

As Isaiah slept, a shorter figure than before, also dressed in a black robe, glided into the dim light of the room. He paused for only a moment to look at the slumped form of the sleeping Isiah. Then he turned and glided to the shelf that once displayed the missing gong.

The dark figure pulled something large and golden from inside his robe. In doing so he revealed a hand and arm that could unmistakenly have been called skeletal. The gong was placed precisely where it had been gathering dust for several years.

Now the dark figure approached the sleeping Isiah and scrutinized him closely. Satisfied, the stygian aberration moved silently behind the counter. Just as silently it opened the cash register. A bony hand reached forth from the robe. The heavy gold coins Isaiah had placed there seemed to jump out into one of the creature's bony hands.

The register had been opened without its customary ding, ding, ching, ching. Now it closed also without the same. The dark thing, for "it" did not seem to be a living creature, glanced up at the clock which was about to strike one. With a cryptic hand gesture, the clock chiming mechanism froze. With its tiny hammer only a mm from striking the hour the clock had stopped.

Suddenly, Isaiah moved. He rose from the counter and adjusted his book. He scratched and yawned. Then he turned 'round to see the robed figure standing behind him. Yowza!

With a strangled gurgle and a gasp, Isaiah fell right off his stool toward the cold floor. Before he could land much less bounce, something amazing happened. The robed thing spoke an ancient incantation and made another cryptic gesture. The voice, when it came from the hood was extraordinary. That would have sounded to you or I like the voice of James Earl Jones if he had just eaten a gravel sandwich.

Isaiah found himself comfortably seated once more. Not only that. He had completely forgotten about the dark interloper behind him. With a great yawn, he slumped over his book and soon was sound asleep again. Behind him, the dark creature had performed another silent hand gesture.

The creature in the dark robes moved silently out from behind the counter. It proceeds just as silently out the big, green door. Anyone watching that door from outside might have seen very little. The only thing anyone would have seen was that some bits of trash were suddnly being blown down the street and sidewalk.

Next morning, Hymie found Isaiah in his usual place and in his usual condition. That would be sound asleep. This time it was unusual, however. For Isaiah was unusually not difficult to wake up. It took several good shakes and a loud bellow in the ear hole to do what usually took only the lightest tap on the shoulder.

Hymie had much to tell Isaiah. And Isaiah said he had much to tell Hymie. It took a bit but finally, it was determined that, since Hymie was the boss, he should go first.

Hymie explained that something very strange had gone on last night down at the church cemetery. People reported seeing a weird, iridescent glow, during the night. They heard the even stranger reverberations of a gong and many voices chanting. One voice was very deep and gravelly someone said.

The strangest thing of all was that the two most ancient graves had been opened and the bodies removed. Then the bodies had been dressed and replaced. As Isaiah stood there and listened his eyes grew larger with every revelation. Isaiah seemed to begin praying under his breath when Hymie continued. Hymie said that both those skeletons were clothed in flowing, black, hooded robes

With a shriek, Isaiah was out the front entrance and rushing homeward as if the devil himself was behind him. Hymie shouted after him... Some folks said those black robes had the same eerie, iridescent glow they'd seen in the sky. By then Isaiah was high stepping it down the lane already more than halfway home. He could not have heard.

Hymie turned to his work but wondered to himself. What would Isaiah have thought about the old gold coins they found? The coins were seen clutched in the bony fingers of one skeletal hand.

THE END

Happy Halloween, yawl.

Chaps,

The Swallow construction is well under way with most of the fuselage completed, one wing, fin and tailplane. Adhesive is the 'Superphatic' brand which I used on the Fokker EIII 12 years ago but need balsa cement also.

Next time I return from Derbyshire I will bring the Fokker which needs some rebuilding of one fuselage side, general repair here and there and additional paint job, particularly under the wings. Also a mod for electric flight will be considered.

JRT,

Where was Olga when all this supernatural stuff was occurring? Her very presence would have been enough to discourage the most dreadful visitation and those coffin lids would have stayed firmly shut. Perhaps Isaiah and Hymie thought they would be better off facing the undead than risking their mortal souls with Olga.

Folks,

It is chilly this morning but not cold. The window was open all night and the cat didn't try to get under the cover with me so I guess it wasn't cold last night either. The current temp is 45°F. at 9:15 AM. The humidity is 100% so that explains why I do not feel the cold.

Dux:

Funny you should ask about Olga. You must remember that she always visited her mom on Halloween. The formidable lady had somewhat hurriedly moved to Old Salem in Mass., USA when the Stalin purges began. It seems several of Olga's female relatives had also once dwelled there. I have had LeRoy consult the HWH Handbook in 29 deluxe volumes. All perfectly bound in sleek Caribou leather. As you know, this latest edition was hand-stitched under freezing Arctic water by those highly skilled Inuit craftsman in North Frozen Undies Alaska. Anyway, what LeRoy discovered was startling.

Apparently, way back in February 1692, Olga's great, great, great grand mum had been branded a witch. She had vehemently denied the charge of course. The unfortunate fact that she reportedly did this denial while flying around her big, black cauldron on a broom may have had some bearing on the ultimate decision of the court. Анастасия (Anastasia) of Minsk was burned at the steak one week later. No, LeRoy, I spelled that correctly. The judge, Yule B. Krispi ate a steak while Anastasia was set alight.

It was said that despite the overwhelming evidence against her, Anastasia (formally) of Minsk denied her guilt with such fury and fiery rhetoric that, although the judge was unmoved, every dog in town went mad and every cat fell stone dead. Oh, I almost forgot, LeRoy has reminded me that later that night the judge's privates also fell off.

All fourteen of Anastasia's daughters would follow her to a painful death in time. First, all but one was given the standard test for the blazing, bleeding in your face practice of witchcraft. The women were stripped and, each one, in turn, was tied securely to a kind of teeter-totter set over the nearest pond. Then they were dunked repeatedly until they either confessed or drowned. For pity sake, those who confessed quickly were tested one more time just to be sure. This time, they were thrown bodily into the water where they sank. If they ever came up they were deemed guilty and promptly hanged.

For several unpleasant days after the sentences had been carried out, it was said that many strange and terrible things plagued the good citizens of Salem. The smell of all those rotting cats could not have been pleasant for one thing. One Shirley A. Dimmwidt who had been heard cursing one of the women being dunked fell down a well and broke both her arms. The well was not surprisingly full of water. Shirley apparently found it rather difficult to swim with both limbs broken. They found Shirley's body when the well water tasted odd.

Emma Bettarinyu was bitten by an angry snail and instantly went apoplectic. No one could recall a snail of any kind ever getting angry or biting anyone in the past, the finger, or anywhere else. Robb U. Iffekan was discovered by the local constable asleep beside the recently missing stage strongbox. He denied having stolen it. The fact that he still wore a hood and had two pistols in his belt was not in his favor at the trial. Robb had once tried to steal Anastasia's purse. He spent 2 weeks regretting doing that in bed covered with the most painful, itching pustules

The mayor of Salem, Squire Roland Downhill, Who had unwisely testified against Anastasia lost his manor house and all his belongings in an impromptu game of tiddleywinks in which all players were blindfolded, it later turned, all but one. Justin Thyme the local watchmaker was cleaning the town clock when he was somehow struck by the hammer striking the hour. It was the fall that killed him....or was it?

Olga always said she enjoyed her annual visits to her kin in America. Especially the dancing naked around a fire in the woods at midnight. Perhaps it was her great size that prevented her learning how to get a willing broom off the ground, she said. Ahhh, thank you for reminding me LeRoy . I have failed to explain why one of Anastasia's daughters was not given that no-win witchcraft test. Though she pleaded most pitifully for inosense the men who came after her were not persuaded. The reason they could not test her was simple. They turned their backs for a moment to discuss the matter and when they turned back it was too late to keep her from flying away to safety on her broomstick.

Chaps,

In case I decide to install R/C I will need to do the tailplane and fin again with rudder and elevators. The previous constructions will come in handy in case of damage. With modelling, a fair number of tools are collected together but with the passing of time they will inevitably get mislaid or used for other purposes. There are things which I once had and will now need to buy again. Somehow I managed to hang on the the airbrush. With grandchildren around, that could have been 'borrowed' many years ago.

Folks,

Or current level of red stuff in the old thermometer indicates 62°F. at 11:30 AM. That agrees with my other read-outs as well. Sometime the old technology can be as good as the new. Having said that, I would not go back to just nailing a string to a post to tell the weather. It was warmer during the night and today's forecast is for a high of 75°F. with mostly sunny skies. We have no measurable wind at the moment and the reported humidity is a damp 93%.

That old technique for telling the weather, as I am sure you know, is simple. If the string is waving it is windy. If it is wet, rain is falling. If it is frozen, the weather is cold, etc. Olga used this method quite often. However, instead of nailing a string to a post she usually nailed a recently discarded lover that had in some way disappointed her.

Dux:

Hopefully, you will.I imagine there has been quite an improvement in R/C flying by now. Radios and servos are probably lighter and more responsive. They may be cheaper to build and, in my case, repair or replace. Is there a R/C modeling club nearby? I'd join that if you like. We had a large and very active club back when I dabbled in it. That club was mostly made up of guys who built planes but there were some car builders and on fellow with a scale model tank. The editor of the local paper built a lovely Sherman tank that growled around and even fired its gun. Keep a pictorial record of the building process. *

Speaking of pix, and someone just did, number one grandson just became the proud possessor of a slightly used Kodak ProPix camera. It is a middle range camera kinda between a simple point and shoot and a real DSLR like my son has. The original owner is quite elderly and never got the hang of using it. Grandchild #1 does a lot of chores for these folks without thought of pay so the camera was a gift. I think the camera (which came out in 2013) will be taken care of. It has a good optical zoom and many other nice features. It cost just less then £200 in the UK.

*HINT: You can send photos by e-mail even if you can't do so otherwise.

Chaps,

JRT.

Unfortunately, the nearest Model Flying Club is about 20 miles away and I wouldn't want to travel that far unless they had a general flying day - probably next year now.

Thanks for the hint! I did think of that and an email is long overdue!

The harbour fishing has much improved over the previous two days and I caught 3 Gurnard and 3 Whiting yesterday afternoon. Lugworm and sandeel bait was doing the job quite well. Eventually it got quite dark and it was my hard luck that one of the harbour led lights had packed up right where my spot was. Other anglers had tiny rod-tip fluorescent lights which allow you to spot the bites so I ordered some off Ebay today. They are about 35mm long and you gently bend them until they split inside and chemicals interact which give off a green, blue or red glow. Just Sellotape them to the end of the rod or get a special holder which slides on. Some last up to 12 hours but 2-3 would be enough for me. Work out at about 30p each which is trivial really.

Most of the glider framework is done, leaving the covering procedure to be decided.

Some fantastic kits available from Tony Nijhuis Designs. Full page ad in this months RCM&E mag. He has a website with two Hurricanes listed - one at 62" and the other a massive 103"! That makes 8' 7" higher than my ceiling! How would you like a 8' 8" Handley Page Halifax hanging in your den?

Folks,

It defiantly ain't no Sun Day here this otherwise fine new Saturday morning. The temp at 10:15 AM is a cool 62°F. The reported humidity is a drippy 95%. Any higher than that and there might be a serious risk of drowning with every deep breath. The sky is mostly overcast.

Yet this day is a good day as every new day is. My new headphones arrived from Amazon yesterday. They are not expensive but WOW! They are such an improvement over what I had. The sound is like being there. Music is fantastic. The boosted bass, Dux, is especially amazing. I swear Dux that when I play some of those 60's tunes I am transported back to happy days peopled by those now long gone.

I know Bluetooth does not perform quite as well according to audiophiles but don't tell me that because I am quite a happy listener. I've found a very good 50s-60s stream on my Tunein Radio app. Gosh, The very first song I listened to fueled that time machine between my ears and I was instantly transported back to 1960. I was at a school dance. I was dancing with, arguably, the most gorgeous girl in school. I hoped that song would never end back then. I felt much the same as I recalled that lost memory once more.

As I listened, so absorbed with that delicious memory was I that I swear I sensed the perfume she was wearing that night and felt the sensation of her warmth and that of the crowd of kids joyfully dancing around us. When "Wonderland by Night" played the scene instantly changed to a classmate's birthday party. When "Born Too Late" began playing I was suddenly dancing with the lovely neighbor girls upstairs in their home. They tried to teach me certain dance steps but for some reason I was surprisingly slow to learn and we had to dance quite a lot.

When that beautiful bass riff of "She was only sixteen" began playing, oh my. Back I went to the exciting days of our band. No Sam Cooke, I never was quite satisfied with my best professional attempt at that song. To my disappointment, the band heartily agreed with my assessment and I was so crushed by their agreeing with me, after the set was over and the Jukebox began playing, I just had to find a willing dance partner to dance away my understandable pain. Fortunately, that never took more than a few seconds. Have you noticed, Dux, how the ladies always fancy the vocalist?

That reminds me, the neighbor girls were also pressed into service to teach me to skate as well. When they finally caught on I just wanted them to hold me up they pushed me down a hill and I ended up in a ditch missing one skate and the shoe that it had been attached to. The song "Cherish" came along after our band broke up but I well remember the young lady I was going with at the time. That was "our song". We had a fairly amicable breakup, as I remember. I mean, the police weren't called and no one went to the hospital.

Years later, I tasted sweet revenge when I went into a McDonald's and she was working behind the counter. She had seen my photo in the newspaper the night before. Apparently all was forgiven and she had been impressed. I thought she was coming over the counter for me. "You're a BIG SHOT now!", she exclaimed. I wasn't a BIG anything, of course, but I was not stupid either. I let her continue to think I was.

When the Tommy Edwards tune "It's All In The Game" started playing I could not help singing along. Hopefully no one downstairs heard me. Unlike you Dux, I am no longer well practiced and in good form with my former musical abilities. I think my favorite Tommy Edwards song was "It's all in the game" but it may be "Please Love Me Forever". That song reminds me of my late wife. Forever? I think each of us has a different "Forever". Our individual 'forever' begins at our birth and ends when we cease to live.

Dux:

I've never heard of those lights for fishing before. Good idea though. Our kids use something like it on Halloween. We get them those light sticks that are chemically produced "cold light". I'm glad the fishing has improved. Are you doing any birding now? I watched an interesting program on PBS yesterday. The title was H is for Hawk. It was a rather sentimental program about an author and Falconer who was training a Goshawk. During the program she was out in a wood very near Wales apparently where she had found a nest. I understand that the Goshawk is quite an illusive creature seldom seen except during mating season when they can be seen doing amazing aerobatics high in the sky. I enjoyed the program. The author has published a best seller in the past about training and living with another Goshawk.

The first thing I would do if I had one of those huge planes is get in touch with Alice of Looking glass fame and shamelessly beg for a bite of one of her mushrooms. The one that makes you very small.

Jens:

More windows glitches yesterday. My USB connections failed. I ran a diagnostic which found and fixed the problem but left me wondering what caused it. In my mind Windows is kinda like Churchill said about Democracy. I paraphrase. "It isn't good but it seems better than any of the alternatives." Perhaps, in this case, my opinion is due to my complete lack of trying anything else so far?

Chaps,

JRT,

I omitted to mention that there is also a 62" span B17 electric power job from the same source. More up your street I should imagine.

I enjoy playing along to YouTube songs of all types including those you mention. I always associate the song 'Cherish' with David Cassidy when featured in the Partridge family series. He's 67 now would you believe! The bass sound through the phones from guitar through the amp is quite pure and different from live sound, acoustically in most rooms. Also, it does not annoy the neighbours.

The only birding I do now is when walking around locally. I stopped long distance journeys quite a few years ago. The Goshawk is quite uncommon even in the Peak District of Derbyshire but one may occasionally be spotted when driving in the Chatsworth House region.

Gents,

Music is wonderful; balm for your soul. In keeping with my global tastes, I usually prefer pretty much any music over Danish. U.K. and U.S. music mostly for the modern stuff, and European for the classical. Glad you enjoy you new headphones Roger and Bluetooth is much more convenient than a long cord alternatively moving the comfy chair closer to the source of the sound although if you're plugged in to the laptop it might just be more natural to bring said laptop to your favourite listening habitat. Beware of jealous female cats, especially the one you call Zena!

I did get into some new Danish music this summer as I attended a mini music festival; a band of very talented young musicians bringing in horns like trumpet and trombone to spice up their sound, and the songwriting was, imho, really rather good as their music is melodic and somehow genre-transcending. One of the songs which I hope they will record asap they described as a "Balkan-Polka" - whatever that means.

Dux: I took a gander at the website you mentioned and noticed that B-17, and also a Lanc. If I didn't spend so much time and space on bicycling and bicycles, I'd be sorely tempted to have a go at some of the easier models first as I think the Halifax was about £400!

Folks,

MG:

Yes, music is indeed food for the very soul. Buying that Bluetooth adapter was a very good idea. These headphones have been highly rated online. The rechargeable battery is claimed by the Mfg. to last for an unbelievable 40 hours of music play on one charge. We'll see about that. Reports by users usually fell between 30 to 35 hours but that is still remarkable. The phones I got with my smart phone last about 6-8 hours tops.

I like oldies meaning mostly American and Brit songs from the 50's and 60's with a few 70s tunes blended in. Songs of my youth. With all my MP3s in storage I get my music from streaming sources using the free and premium Tunein app. I also get many favorite podcasts through that. For my classical music, which I also enjoy, I listen to a NC community supported radio station WCPE either online or on the radio. That is found at www.theclassicalstation.org. I recommend it. It has no commercials and its only support comes from listeners. I get that on Tunein but they offer several means of streaming. I failed to be able to set that up properly for some reason.

If Dux gets one of those giant kits and builds it inside his house, how will he get it out? If it remains in the house someone is apt to look in a window and seeing that plane in there rush to report a terrible air crash.

Gents,

Regarding Windows and trouble, the two words seem synonymous and interchangeable as I recently experienced some USB related shenanigans. Upon plugging in my e-reader it suddenly wasn't registered by the Windows file system which of course meant that related software a,k,a, Calibre didn't register the reader either. When I tried plugging in to another USB port, suddenly Windows downloaded the necessary drivers. Something tells me that windows had forgotten that it had already previously downloaded the drivers and that this registering business had been going on for months previously, with no problems.

A bit of rain today and we don't have much in the way of sun although Monday is forecasted to be sunny but cold.

I'm still old fashioned in the way I like my music served as I tend to go to the HiFi Stereo system with the Technics SU-VX700 amplifier and the Mission 737R loudspeakers. The source however these days has more and more become my digitized collection stored on my NAS. I'm not nostalgic for vinyl I must say; I tried putting on an old vinyl and I could clearly hear that it was worn and in need of replacement. Digital files do not wear as you listen to them over and over again.

Some music has been a mainstay and a favourite since my youth while other has fallen by the wayside as I've grown tired of certain artists but I pick up from the seventies, with the occasional journey back to classical pieces.

Folks,

Although today is called Sunday it is as far from a sun day as you could imagine. It appears to be a replay of yesterday where the sun slept all morning and came out for a short a bit after noon. The current temp is just 58°F. with a drippy clammy humidity of 100%. I am happy to report that we have more color in our neighborhood but it is taking more time than expected this year. When I was a kid going Trick or Treating I remember wading in fallen leaves on Halloween night. Color will come the chlorophyll can hold on in those leaves only so long.

I think OG and maybe Fittop are more likely to appreciate the fact that my grandson got his first deer on Friday. He has a new .270 rifle. That is still a rite of passage for a boy in the south. It was a button head but counted just the same. I believe he was within 150 yards of the deer because of the relatively light rifle and the size of the exit wound he described. He is so proud of getting his first deer. His half brother has been supplying the venison for us all long enough he said. His brother is only trophy hunting now so the supply for our table has slacked considerably. Now there will be deer sausage and burgers and all the rest as soon as the meat is processed.

Sometime later he saw several does come out of the woods and begin feeding. He was holding for a buck with a rack so he showed good restraint for a kid his age. It was about 5:30 in the afternoon and the sun was getting low. My grandson was hidden in a deer stand and in contact with the other, far more experienced hunters in his party by radio. The most experienced hunter cautioned him to hold because a nice sized buck would likely soon join the girls. Just as he was at the end of his patience, that is what happened. A nice buck stepped out of the woods, and through his field glasses, he seemed to stop and pose. BAM! Two deer taken on this his second hunt. The deer population is thriving here. If some are not culled then nature will cull them with disease or starvation. We eat what we take, nothing is wasted.

Every member of my family who drives has had at least one deer hit their car at night. My son once had one run along beside his truck for some distance. When they reached the I-95 overpass the frightened creature jumped over the side rail to its doom. We are hunters. My nephew has some good dogs and hunts coons. Our closest neighbor is an avid duck hunter. Mattamuskeet, NC and its lake is world famous as a duck hunters paradise. That is not local but not too far from here. Mostly I hunted dove, quail, and deer with an occasional squirrel or rabbit when I was much younger. Today I only hunt for the many things I've misplaced.

I remember one deer hunt when my pal and I were not in a deer stand but on foot crossing a farmer's field. We had separated by about a hundred yards but knew precisely where each other was. I heard a shout from the other fellow's direction. At that instant, a big buck suddenly came over a rise behind me. He cleared the rise and me in the air and disappeared into dense woods before I could even get my gun up. That was embarrassing. Yet, I think it makes just as good a story.

Dux:

I have never been an avid fisherman even though the river was an easy distance from my home when I was growing up. I'd walk there a lot but not often fish. I preferred the taste of salt water fish. I was an impatient angler. I liked to catch fish but did not enjoy fishing for fish. The annual Shad run in March was a fun time. There would be so many fish clogging the water you could not fail to catch one of the big fish. In fact, there were so many we had a difficult time not foul-hooking a fish. That event is about the same today as it was back then. Fishing from a boat later on was far more productive and fun.

The best fishing of all was, for me, mountain trout fishing. My late wife and I used to go tent camping in the western mountains pretty much year 'round. I have eaten at some fancy-smancey restaurants.I can honestly say that the best fish I have ever eaten came from a mountain lake, cleaned and cooked on an open fire. Lordy, that was fine eating. I do not know what smells better, fish, beef or bacon sizzling over a hot fire. Those who have never enjoyed it are truly missing something wonderful IMHO.

No, LeRoy I never caught a cow fishing for trout or any other fish. I had to buy the steaks in town at a market and cook them at camp on the odd days I could not either catch a trout or just for variety. That was a silly question LeRoy. You really must think these things out. Pardon my absence while I close the window, it is getting chilly.

MG:

There seems to be a new issue with Windows every day now.No, that isn't unusual. Today, MS Word tried to load its installation program after I logged in. I do not want MS Office. They are too expensive IMHO. So I shut that down and then ran an app that shows me what is loading at boot time. I shut MS down. I hope the thing will still start. Next step would be to remove MS Office from the computer. I don't know what affect that might have things are so integrated in Windows.

The fan in the new laptop has started making a bit of noise. That started a few days ago. Then it stopped when I fixed the USB problem. This morning it returned again. It can't be heat related as it begins at boot up when the computer is still cold. I do not see how Windows could have anything to do with it but it did smooth out when I ran those diagnostics and Windows repaired itself.

I used to have one of those modular, solid state stereo systems with cassette player and quite a few large speakers. That included a Girrard turntable. The Girrard was supposed to be the best back in the 70's. I enjoyed it quite a lot. That was killed by that lightning bolt I have written about recently. My insurance gave me the cash to replace all of it but for some reason, I can no longer remember, I never did. I have thought about getting something again recently but haven't gone very far in researching what is available for the $10 I want to spend on it.

Folks,

I woke to a foggy start this Monday morning. Yes, LeRoy not uncommon but this time I had not been celebrating the night before. It was really foggy. That had all but burned away by 9 AM and so at 9:30 AM we have high, thin cloud and full sun. The temp right now is 60°F. with a humidity of 90%. Clouds are predicted to cover our sky later on today with rain coming in to dampen our day tomorrow.

My former daughter-in-law ha just finished another 2 weeks in the hurricane tossed area of Texas, around Corpus Christi. Tomorrow, she is off to the even more devastated island of Puerto Rico for an additional 2 weeks. She was in charge of a large body of first responders as a safety coordinator in Texas. I do not know in what capacity she will serve on that troubled island. She is expected to return in two weeks.

MG:

The joy of Windows keeps on raising my blood pressure. Today MS word still tried to launch even though I had removed the check marks of MS Office 16 so that shouldn't boot when I login. I have downloaded a MS fix that should totally remove MS Office from my computer. I do not want their subscription version of Office or the over priced boxed version either.

The sound of the fan in my laptop continues to annoy me. It is not a loud noise....yet. I am bravely considering cracking the box to see what is going on. Perhaps the fan is touching something which creates the sound? If the fan is already going bad the laptop is still in warranty and a replacement fan only costs $12 US anyway. I may call support today. In my desktops, the fan and power supply were connected together. I am not sure if that is the case in this 17" laptop/notebook. I haven't had it long enough for the cause to be accumulated dust. There is no obvious over-heating.

If this tragic shooting and killing of innocents continues, citizens will quite possibly become so frightened they beg their congressman and women to pass legislation contrary to the constitution or amending it, banning personal firearms. Then only the military, police, government agencies, crooks, terrorists and, of course our good pal OG will have guns. Heck, he'll have an arsenal down there.

Folks,

Is is it sunny where you are? Wet and cool will be the order of the next few days around here. So say the TV meteorological Sayers of sooth. At 10 AM, the temp here is 62°F. with the humidity now 96%. RADAR shows rain is indeed on the way and cooler temps are soon to be upon us dropping into the the 50's F. by lunchtime. After that we put out our largest rain gauges, stoke the fireplace, don our warmest undies and settle in with a good book or a wicked woman. Predictions are for a possible 6" of white precipitation this winter.

OK, you Canadians can stop laughing now. That was rude. I know that is considered little more than a trace up thar in dogsled and Igloo Country. In our neck o' the woods that is a lot more than usual and it could be more or it might be less. I am just getting over the shock of the first real Christmas snow in my memory. That happened a few years ago. My Christmas snows have always come out of an aerosol or big plastic bag. The older adults were truly astonished and the widdle kiddies absolutely giddy with wide-eyed happiness.

Do you fellows remember the big snow we had the night of Dux's (?) birthday? He never told us his age. He did that so Olga wouldn't learn how much younger he was than she.

It snowed so deep in Studley Grange that night that none of the nurses from the hospital could get to the party. Faced with celebrating without female companionship, we were desperate.

Finally, someone thought of our Canadian friend Willy Riskett. Willy would be able to go for the girls in his new dogsled he had built. He wanted to setup a taxi service from the RAF base to the Prince and Polecat Pub in Studley Grange on snow days. Come on, you remember Willy. He was the guy who had the reputation of never refusing a dare of any kind.

Like the time down at the P&P when he swallowed a large ice cube on a dare. That cube stuck in his throat so tightlky it wouldn't go either up or down. Willy was in terrible distress. We believed he must suffocate before the ice melted.

Willy struggled to breathe while we finished our drinks. During this, our best minds struggled with the problem. Our best minds suggested we stick Willie's head into the fire to melt the ice. WE all looked at Willy who seemed to vigorously object.

Willy was turning a bright shade of blue by now. Willy protested so strongly that he fell right off his stool. Then he began crawlling away from the fireplace as fast as he could. Noting Willy's departure, I recommended we go to our second best minds for help.

We thought and we thought. Then having thought of nothing, we thought some more. "Another round!" shouted Dux. Poor Willy paused his crawling and rolled over on his back trying hard not to choke. The ice was, at long last, melting.

Hot coffee!! That was a great idea we all agreed. LeRoy thought of that. Willy was halfway out the door again and a darker shade of blue. LeRoy went for th hot coffee and the reat of us crowded around the distressed Willy.

We saw a change come over Willky about then. Willy had stopped choking... but he also seemed to have given up his lifetime practice of breathing. Dux held him up and then slapped him on the back. Willy coughed twice. Out shot the offending piece of ice right into the steaming cup of coffee LeRoy was bringing from the mess.

A lot happened in short order after that. The speeding ice broke the coffee cup. Scalding coffee poured down LeRoy's trousers. LeRoy screamed something uncomplementary at Dux. Willy took his first good draft of air in quite some time. Dux dropped Willy and went for a stiff drink before giving LeRoy his appologies and a dry tea towel.

With all that in mind, we sent Dux out into the freezing night to find out if Willy was up for it. We knew Willy had returned from closing his home in Frostybottom Alaska the day before.

Dux opened the Hall's heavy front door with difficulty due to the gale outside. "Tain't a fit night out for man nor beast." cried the brave Wingo as the snow slapped his face. He stepped out into the blinding snow and soon he was gone from sight. LeRoy closed the door with great difficulty.

TO BE CONTINUED

Hello Chaps...

More or less finished with the kit plan so have just tidied up the table ready for a little putty filling here and there and then papering the model with the good old, time-honoured tissue. I think it will be a towline job after all because it would take some time and expense to fit out with servos, battery, controller and linkages etc.

Gents,

In fact, the sun did shine for a couple of hours yesterday but around noon it all went horribly wrong and skies gathered to cast their grey gloom and doom. Much the same happened today although the doom and gloom part was not quite as prevalent. Nightly frost has arrived to glaze over cars' windscreens and cause delays to motorists on their daily morning commute.

Roger, the Ice cube related incident you relate I cannot remember. Perhaps I was away on leave when it happened because had I been there I would have instantly suggested the Heimlich maneuvre to relieve the poor Willy of the obstruction to his airways. In fact, do you know what you call a flying icecube?


No?



Wait for it........



Icelandair!

Folks,

Continued from somewhere above

Dux stepped out in the storm and tramped through a foot of fresh-fallen snow to the street. Turning around, he realized he could not make out the details of HWH Hall at all. Only the lights pierced the dark and thickly falling snow.

The street was hardly visible as he trudged the 3 blocks to Willy's house. Willy listened to Dux beating on his door and pleading to come in for several minutes. Finally, he allowed the half-frozen fellow to come in.

"Stamp yer ruddy feet on the mat, old man, if you don't mind.", shouted Willy as he shut his door. Dux did that. It was getting late and he wanted to hurry back so Dux posed the question right away.

Could, would Willy help them out getting the nurses to the party? Willy was about to say NO when Dux had a brilliant idea. "I dare ya to do it.", said Dux who was standing by the fire and finally thawing a bit.

Willy stopped saying "no" and pondered a moment. His reputation would be at stake if his saying "no" ever got out. Contrary to all common sense, he then said "yes". He could not believe he is ears as he said it.

Dux helped Willy hitch his dogs and gave him instructions. Then the two men parted company. Dux headed for HWH Hall and Willy and his team of dogs lit out toward the hospital. Each lost from view as they plowed into the blinding storm.

Dux arrived back at the hall looking as if he had spent the day chipping ice in a frozen food locker. Everyone was happy to see him return with the grand news that Willy was coming to their rescue.

Dux beamed as everyone congratulated him on his brilliant strategym. Howsmart it had been daring Willy to help. The drinks began to flow once more. LeRoy kept one eye on the big birthday cake lest a hungry mouth get too near before the proper time.

An hour passed, then two. Everyone kept an eye on the clock and began to worry. Where was Will and the nurses.? Three and a half hours passed before someone said they heard dogs barking. Everyone ran to the windows and looked out upon the new fallen snow.

The dogs were there barking and they saw Willy waving some distance behind. Where was the big sled? Most of all, where were the nurses? Peering as hard as they could there was no sign of them.

It took time but LeRoy managed to remember to let Willy in. He had difficulty keeping the dogs out. The dog smelled food. After thawing Willy before the fire and allowing him to down a rather large brandy, he was about to tell his story. Before he could utter a word, there was a loud noise at the front door.

The door opened and a great polar bear stepped into the room.

TO BE CONTINUED

Folks,

Continued from somewhere over the rainbow

Dux was the first to stir when the door opened. He was under the table in a flash. who knew he was so frightened of bears? The rest of us animal lovers did our best to give the bear every bit of space it wanted. We began clearing out pronto.

Only the fearless LeRoy stood his ground and refused to give ground. In truth, LeRoy froze in his tracks.So terrified was he that he could not move. This was good for me because all I had to do to avoid a maulling was move faster than LeRoy.

This I was doing believe me. The hasty exodus stopped when the loud laughter of many happy females came from behind the bear. We stood stunned in our tracks as from behind the bear came all the nurses. Each girl came attired for Arctic exploring. Each one was laughing like a little child coming in from playing in the snow.

What about the bear? we turned our attention to it. What was it doing? Out of the Trotsky brand white bear skin coat stepped Olga of Minsk. Still under the table, Dux saw this and groaned. He had ignored my advice and not invited Olga to his party. He'd pay dearly for that.

It seems Willy had lost his way in the strom. Fortunately, he bumped into Olga who was fresh from taking a long dip in the nearest pond. Refreshed from her swim, Olga was keen to hear all about the birthday party going on.

Olga took immediate charge and they mushed onward in the direction of the hospital. They stopped a bit at Olga's place where she loaded the sled with a pile of furs, gloves, hats and boots. On areriving at the hospital, Olga got all the girls properly dressed and into the sled.

Everyone save for the dogs was in a festive mood. The poor dogs tried their best but could not budge the sled. Willy coaxed and threatened but to no avail. His dogs were not up to it. Joy turned to despair. Then Olga had Willy unhitch the dogs and put them into the sled as well.

Olga of Minsk hitched herself to that sled. Then she pulled it and its heavy contents all the way back to the festive warmth of HWH Hall. Thus, she saved Dux's birthday party and pleased the hopeful men waiting for them there.

Later, Olga saved Dux's life. This she did by dragging his carcass back from an open window he was trying to escape through. She gave him only a mild tongue lashing for not inviting her to his party.

Of course unless you have actuslly been tongue-lashed by Olga you cannot imagine what it is like. One or two survivors claim if you can relax it can be rather enjoyable....

THE END