May 2011 Archives

Awake: 6:20am      Temp 61     sleep 6+53     light rain off & on     overnight @ Nicktown.

After breakfast, K & I visited our house to see what everyone was working on. Troy, the painter, had finished staining the stair steps, which had been closed for several days, but by Saturday, they will be available for use. Troy has also been staining the bar, giving it several coats & that too, should be finished today. And the bannister for the stairway, Troy also has been staining that. The longest round piece of wood will be the bannister. The remainder of the workers (except for Bob & Adam) were busy hanging (3) more doors, metal doors for the garages & the equipment room.

                             Blumes from Freeport, PA arrived around 9:40am. They extended their platform from their truck, which made a bridge to the house, & brought the granite slabs onto the main floor using a (2) wheel like a see/saw.  . I didn't know what sort of weight they were dealing with, but these guys did not make it look easy.                        Then they huffed & they puffed...                             & lifted that granite up on top of the cabinet.           These (2) guys also put granite on the opposing wall around the big sink...                        & the master bedroom granite counter installation. If the slab was not level when matching another section, they brought the leveling devices (suction cups on both units) & gradually suctioned both pieces of the granite to precisely match one another. @ 6:50pm, I drove to the Nicktown hotel & waited for the guys to walk in; we had spread the word a few days ago that a "guys night out" is on for tonight. First comers get a free beer; stragglers have to wait.

Lucky Cy & his brother, Tony, were the winners. Slowly the rest of the gang filled our table of (8). We chatted, exaggerated a little, told funny stories of yesteryear & simply enjoyed our beers & each other for a good (3) hrs. The (2) large Pizzas we ordered were gobbled up with little effort but that last small piece, no one touched...so I took it home for Kathy.

It was fun; we hope for many more rendezvous like this.

Lights out: 11:34pm.

Awake: 6:12am     Temp 66     sleep 6+13      sunny -- forecast of TRW's     overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting & breakfast in our M.H., Barry called & asked if I would be interested in riding to Altoona with him this afternoon. "Yes I would," I told him. He had a few calls to make & then he would pick me up he said.

This would be the 1st time to ride in Barry's van, which is an appliance repair shop on wheels. The van was smooth & quiet, which allowed us to have casual conversations along the way. I am not too familiar with the streets in Altoona but we did pass one of the malls & Macy's en route to the Carnegie Equipment Store. By the way, this is not Barry's van.  A few weeks ago, that Macy's we passed was toured by Kathy & me; she was looking for a suitable dress.

Barry was picking up (3) new noodle cutters that will be religiously used in the church hall. We spent about (25) min there & I scoured most of their kitchen goodies.                One thing I was most attracted to was this portable Induction stove.                                    & then we returned to Nicktown.

Barry & I are avid airplane nuts so this trip was quite suitable for reminiscing the ole days of our aviation.

Back @ our M.H., Kathy & I toured our house to see what progress the builders had made today. Meanwhile, a storm was brewing; we returned to our M.H. just as the 1st few drops of rain came down. Within minutes, strong gusts of wind blew the cover off of my Pump House. I didn't want the contents to be blown all over the neighborhood so I quickly went outside & re-attached that lid & sped back inside.

The lid remained on the Pump House but then we lost electricity. Our battery pack instantly took over the electrical usage but we didn't know how long it would take to get our power back, so we held off dinner for awhile. Watching the weather report, it appeared that we might be without power for quite a spell; two of our (3) phones had no dial tone so using the cell phone, I called my near neighbor Al & left a message.

An hour went by & we were getting hungry, so I turned on our (20) KW generator & later, Kathy called for dinner. About (2) hrs later, neighbor Chuck called & asked if I had power; I told him that we didn't have outside power but were using generator power. He had a few other questions about our M.H., & was about to hang up when he said: "hey, Shirley just told me the power's back on."

Dinner: sausage, onions, & mushrooms with tomato sauce & toast.

Lights out: 11:27pm.

Awake: 6:32am     Temp 61      sleep 6+43      fog--mostly sunny     overnight @ Nicktown.

After our coffee, Kathy vacuumed & washed the granite floor in preparation for our young friends. We didn't know if they were having breakfast before arriving or not...so just in case, we had our breakfast.

About 9:30am, Larry called to let us know that they were less than a mile away & so we went outside & greeted them in our driveway. We haven't see Larry & Sally since March of 2010 during our (3) months of touring San Diego. And today, they looked as good as ever.

They were eager to see our new house so we proceeded right into a house tour. Afterward, we invited them into our M.H. & we updated each other for a good (50) min. Unfortunately, I did more yakety-yak then picture taking.

                    Here we have Larry, Sally & Kathy checking out our basement.                      And here is Larry scouting the view from top-soil Mountain. We felt that they were destined to return to their home in Wisconsin today with just a few hrs to spend here in Nicktown & we were reminded that they hadn't had breakfast so we all motored to Roland's Family Restaurant in Spangler where they had breakfast & K & I shared a ¾ lb hamburger.

En route back to Nicktown, Larry was curious to see Kirschtown where I was born & raised, so we did that (5) min slow passing gesture & then stopped by the church in Nicktown & said our "goodbyes & safe travels."

Even though the visit was short, we enjoyed seeing them again & certainly hope to meet up with then soon in our travels.

Back @ our M.H., I started trouble shooting our Snapper lawn mower. Of course, I suspected that I failed in getting some Fuel Stabilizer into the carburetor before the winter season was upon us ....so my carburetor most likely has dried up gas pains. Time was against me so that project is on hold for now.

Dinner: Reubén sandwich with chips.

About 7:40pm, 1st cousin Cy visited & we chewed the fat over a glass of Merlot for over an hr. Since we planned to check a string of indirect lights in our house when dark, we invited Cy along. After that, Cy left & we watched our recorded political programs & Jeopardy.

Lights out: 11:59pm.

Awake: 5:48am      Temp 62     sleep 6+30     cloudy -- later drizzle    overnight @ Nicktown.

1st thing this morning, we gave Bernie the go-ahead to order the electrical switches & dimming switches.

Then during our KK meeting, Kathy left early & drove the Suzuki to the church hall to continue making noodles with the ladies & a few guys. Rain was in the forecast but my walk back to the M.H. was dry.

 After my breakfast, I decided to do something about a small leak in the water system. We've been very satisfied with the Culligan water units thus far...except we do have a slight leak in the well itself.

I made a call to Natcher Drilling & Larry answered; I told him what I suspected & he said he would be right down. (22) min later, Larry pulled onto our driveway. He concurred on the well leak, pulled up the pipe, blocked it from falling, & started looking for a "O" ring in his workshop truck. "It's a pitiless adapter leak" he told me. "A new "O" ring will take care of that." And after several tests, I was convinced. I will advertize Larry's good work.

Kathy returned from noodle making @ 12:40pm. Minutes before she arrived, the FDX truck brought my sink for my basement bathroom.

                         I was impressed with the strong & well made box.                         I even liked what was inside the well made & strong box.                            A few minutes later; the UPS truck brought my faucet.

Larry called us (1) hour away from N.Y.C., @ 5:44pm; he wanted to know if the weather was ok in our area. I told him about the on & off light rain & nothing else...yet. He thinks they can make it to Nicktown tonight but if he can't, he will call to let us know.

Dinner: New England clam chowder, oyster crackers, mixed salad & toast.

Later, @ 11:13pm, Larry called to let us know that they will be spending the night at a hotel in Altoona, PA. I had already given Larry directions so we should hear from them tomorrow morning.

Lights out: 11:49pm.

Awake: 6:24am    Temp 63     sleep 6+01     sunny, then off & on rain     overnight @ Nicktown.

Builder Bernie let me know that the high-tech guys will be arriving between 8:00 & 8:30 am this morning, so I skipped the KK meeting. Dean & Randy arrived a few min late but I was happy to see them. They brought a DVR with them & lots of ideas as to where the high-tech equipment will be installed & what will accommodate my operations for these cameras, Satellite music, phone system, security, etc. Dean said he would give Bernie the specifications to build a cabinet that will work. I also asked Dean & Randy to look @ the Geo-thermal room & suggest a spot that can focus on the equipment & temperature during absent times.

Dinner: Italian sausage with peppers, onions, & mushrooms, pasta, grapes, mango, & cantaloupe.

Lights out: 11:18pm.

Awake: 7:22am       Temp 63      sleep 6+46      mostly sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

About 9:30am, a different car came into our driveway; taking a good look, it was our architect, Scott; we haven't seen him since last summer @ the Nicktown picnic.

He was curious as to how our house building was coming along. So we took him on a tour, main floor & basement. He remembered just about all of the house rooms, the nooks & crannies, etc. He did comment on the basement hex being different than he expected, but basically, he felt the plans worked well... & we agreed so.

After Scott left, I topped off the pure water tank & dumped the gray. Then, to give our legs some exercise, K & I took a walk around town & up & down a few small hills...stopping to talk with Pat, Ev, & Betty, who also were enjoying a decent day.

Back @ our M.H., my sister, Mary Jo called & we chatted for about 20-25 min. Most of the talk concerned the up & coming Zack & Katie wedding; it seems that brother Don failed to get a room in the same hotel that all of us are staying in & she was concerned. We skyped with Zack a little later (1 hr-4 min) & he didn't know why Don had a problem, but felt Don should be able to get a room where the family is staying if he's interested. Katie was in Chicago tending to last minute wedding plans & Zack was busy with projects for work.

Kathy asked Zack how his teeth were doing & here is how he responded: His right eyetooth has just about completely straightened out in (7) weeks using "Invisiline" braces.

Dinner: Tuna, rice with pecans & golden raisins, salad, grapes, mango & cantaloupe.

Later, our friend Larry called from N.Y.C. They planed on visiting us sometime next week & wanted to be sure we would be in town. "Absolutely" I told him.

We watched 1/2 of the movie: "Happy Times."

Lights out: 12:23am.

Awake: 6:37am      Temp 49       sleep 7+01       fog...sunshine      overnight @ Nicktown.

After our coffee we joined the KK meeting for about ½ of the usual time frame. I wanted to be prepared for the: BIG BURN today. The Foote family predicted they would be arriving sometime around 2:00pm. So, by returning to our property, I was able to get a few more wheelbarrow loads of roots & stumps for the big burn. I also brought out my (2) water hoses that stretched far enough to: "put out the fire" in the event there should be strong winds if matters tried to get out of hand.

The Foote family arrived in (2) vehicles about 2:25pm. Melissa drove the 1984 Van with the boys & Kevin drove the Toyota Sienna alone because that Sienna was absolutely loaded with stuff, burnable stuff.

He had removed all of the back seats allowing a spacious area to carry a remarkable amount of ....stuff. Our Big Burn didn't exactly get off to a roaring start; most likely due to those big damp stumps & moist roots.                In fact, our smoke was keeping us away from lighting Kevin's dry trash. Even the boys were not very impressed. Eventually our little burn burned a little better; hot enough to chase Matthew away from the heat & smoke but still hanging onto his stick with the marshmallows. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, this was where the action was: hot dogs, s'mores, chocolate mice, drink, etc. Actually, when the time came, the boys seemed to enjoy putting the small fire out with the water hose more than building a bigger fire. They each took a turn spraying the flames (except Gregory). We said our goodbyes to the Foote family, changed clothes & attended 6:00pm Mass @ Nicktown.

Afterward, we joined Barry @ the Nicktown Bar & then Bill arrived & Theresa. Our small pizza went well with the 1& 1/3 glass of beer.

Back @ our M.H., we watched the movie: "Prisoner of Zenda" with Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., C. Aubrey Smith, etc. Lavish costume romance/adventure with excellent casting; Colman is forced to substitute for lookalike cousin, King of Ruritanian country, but commoner Colman falls in love with regal Carroll. Fairbanks nearly steals the show as villainous Rupert of Hentxau. 1937. We enjoyed this story very much. Lights out: 12:36am.

Awake: 5:50am       Temp 53       sleep 6+10      fog....cloudy      overnight @ Nicktown.

When walking over to the KK meeting this morning, we passed Dave's truck & something in the bed of his truck caught our eyes; it was an old mowing tractor.

Several yrs ago, during one of our meetings, Dave talked about a tractor that was just setting around out of the weather & was free for the asking. I wasn't interested in his proposal to: just go out & get it. I had the 1986 Snapper that worked fairly well. Both John & I looked at this old weathered machine & we thought it might be fixable. I shouldn't have done it but I buckled & told Dave that I would take it.

With help from John, Dave, & Barry, (Barry went & got his portable air tank & pumped up the tires), using planks, we got it off the truck & covered it up in case of rain. I gave Dave $10.00 for hauling it & later, I pushed it closer to the M.H., & covered it more security. This morning, Bernie scheduled Bob & Adam to help him to re-distribute our power source that the M.H. & camp sites use. I unplugged our (50) amps from our site & Bernie shut all circuit breakers off.Then they started pulling the electrical lines from the conduit & connecting them to the house power & reversing the power back into our M.H. & campsite power boxes. Thus, the power we use afterward, will be coming from the house & it's meter system. The old meter is now disconnected.                                And this is the new meter on the house. Next, using the construction workers wheelbarrow, I went down into the field & made 7 or 8 trips with roots & stumps & dumped them onto the burn pile. Yesterday @ the Foote Castle, I told Kevin & Melissa about my burn pile & invited them to join us on Saturday to get rid of any burnable things they might have. They were both interested & will let us know.

Next, I took my small sickle & cut some growing weeds on our leach bed in order to expose the pipes. While I was doing all of this, Kathy was continuing the painting of the inside doors on our house.

Around 5:30 pm, my brother called to let us know that he, Josie, & Chris (from Norway) were en route to our M.H. We agreed to give Chris a tour of our house & afterward, have some pizza & beer @ the Nicktown Bar.

This was a Rotary thing from my brother's town & Chris had been chosen from his hometown in Norway to spend a month seeing some sights in PA. We enjoyed talking with Chris; his English was quite good & we learned a few things about his country.

Lights out: 11:26pm.

Awake: 5:55am      Temp 50      sleep 6+07      mist       overnight @ Nicktown.

KK meeting was very busy this morning; about (20) active members & Janet made her specialty cinnamon roles for the occasion. My 1st cousin, Florentz, joined us also.

After the meeting, he followed me to our M.H. as he needed to make a copy of some business stuff...but we don't have a copy machine. However, I've learned that I can take a picture of the page or pages, send it to Picasa on the computer & then use my Pixma iP90v Canon printer to reproduce the original. Florentz was well pleased with the reproduction.

After our breakfast, K & I motored to Indiana, PA, topped off our Suzuki's fuel tank @ Get-Go, then did some light grocery shopping @ Wal-Mart. Next, we spent the rest of the afternoon with the Foote family celebrating Melissa's (our eldest daughter) 37th birthday.

                     Hard to believe that she is 37! Go ahead, count those candles. Melissa did little blowing as she had (3) windy fellows ready & willing to snuff out those candles. Some of the candles were the self re-lighting type so the boys employed even more of their hot air power. We brought some balloons along to entertain the boys & Moira, a next door neighbor girl. We hooked up a battery charger & then used a small compressor to easily blow up those balloons.
                     I've heard of egg heads but this was the 1st one I've ever seen! Here is the neighbor girl who admits she is a tomboy & proves it by not being shy of getting all muddy.            Yes, some of the kids wanted to blow their balloons up using their own hot air. Then it's time for us to leave; we certainly admire Melissa a lot for being a good daughter & Mother.

Later, K & I visited our house & were delighted to see the progress on our bar in the basement. Cy, picture yourself standing 1st in line! Also, we'd been entertaining the idea of using some of the leftover bamboo to build the stairs, but Bernie suggested that due to the labor involved & the cost of the bamboo stair nosings, it would be more cost efficient to use oak wood.

Dinner: leftover Chili with chips, fresh mango & cantaloupe.

Lights out: 11:40pm.

Awake: 6:24am     Temp 55     sleep 7+10     heavy rain -off & on     overnight @ Nicktown.

After 8:00 am, I called the Verizon Phone Co. & talked with Lisa about having our outside phone unit moved to our new house. I also gave her our new address. She said it would take a few days to feed the info thru their system & to wait for her to call us.

During a no rain period, I went into the woods & found a long sturdy limb, wrapped about (2) feet of old cloth on the end, got myself in position close to our apple tree, poured some gasoline on the cloth, lit the cloth & burned those vicious tent worms on (2) different limbs.

Some of the worms were scooting away & falling to the ground so I torched a good section of that ground as well. This afternoon, Kathy spent (2) hrs bagging noodles & helping crack 60 dozen eggs for future noodle making. When she returned, she had a few messages from Blume's in Freeport to take care of.

K & I attended 6:00pm Mass @ Nicktown & afterward, had a beer @ the Nicktown bar.

Dinner: leftover turkey dinner from our meal in Heilwood; Kathy added some cranberries & some chicken gravy.

Lights out: 11:38pm.

Awake: 6:14am     Temp 51 fog..mist...off-on drizzle most of day   overnight @ Nicktown.

Kathy spent (3) hrs this morning helping make noodles @ the church hall. She said they had a lot of help & that was good.

When she returned, we both visited our house to find out how the water testing survived; Bernie had his team of (5)workers in different rooms checking each & every faucet in the house, main & basement floors & no leaks were discovered.

Here Ryan & Adam are thoroughly checking the corner Kashmir combo jet & air tub for leaks....they found none. About 3:00pm, Kathy hinted that she would like to eat out today. After all, it's voting day for the state of PA & the Heilwood Presbyterian church has turkey dinner meals on voting day each year (for 20 years) to eat inside or take-out. She called Theresa & asked if she would be interested; yes she was & then Theresa called Janet & Mark, but they were busy cleaning their basement. Theresa volunteered to drive, picked us up within 10 min, & away we went.

The Turkey dinner with all the trimmings & dessert was almost as good as Gary's dinner (2) days ago. K & I couldn't eat all that was on our plates so we asked for containers to bring it back home. Since Theresa drove us to & fro, we gave her a tour of our home which we think she enjoyed.

We had a phone message from Corinne when returned to our M.H. We returned the call & she revealed her travel plans to Ohio next week to visit our 99 yr old Aunt Bertha for her birthday. Just as we were getting ready for bed, heavy rain.

Lights out: 11:14pm.

Awake: 6:22am      Temp 53      sleep 6+39     fog--then rain     overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting & back in the M.H., Bernie rang our doorbell; he wanted to talk about our electric....the (30) amps I have & what it powers. I explained the (30) amps are for using the # (1) old pump-house well & the camp-sites for visitor's power, etc & then he understood. Next Monday, Bernie is planning to take the campground power & feed it into our house, & then bring it back to the campground. This will allow us to get rid of the old electric meter.....which I wanted to do. Then all of my electric use will be read on one meter.

Later, K & I visited our house & talked with Bob about switches with lighted dimmer controls, plus fans & labeling.

                 We also admired the ceiling panels as we walked thru the basement. After that, I filled the M.H.'s pure water tank so Kathy could do (4) loads of laundry.

Before Dinner, Nick called from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was inside the hotel & waiting to get a room for the night; he let me know that my e-mail is back. We talked a little longer & then he to had to go. I thanked him very much for his good fix.

Dinner: Chili with elbow macaroni & chips.

Lights out: 11:43pm.

Awake: 7:23am      Temp 59      sleep 6+49     rain, heavy @ times     overnight @ Nicktown.

Due to the mothers who didn't want to work on mother's day, they postponed the church hall breakfast (1) week ....so today all mothers in Nicktown have a free breakfast with no strings attached. Of course, guys still pay.

About 8:30am, K& I motored to the church hall for a breakfast of: scrambles eggs, American fried potatoes, bacon, sausage, waffles with a choice of blue berries and/or cherries, toast, coffee, & orange juice. During the meal and/or after, we usually socialize with the folks we know. Today, we are also invited to my buddy Gary's 67th birthday party....starting @ 3:00pm.
As we exited our Suzuki, Gary wanted me to follow him to the lower garage to see what Rosemary got him for his birthday. Wow! I had no idea. It's a "Trike" with low mileage & loaded with extra hi tech goodies. How did she know what to look for? I had to tell him that he was so lucky to have a woman that thinks so far ahead.

Since we were in the garage, I also had a chance to look @ his repaired riding lawnmower; the GT 5000 Craftsman. Thanks to his brother-in-law's talent, the engine that blew a gasket is now repaired & back to normal. Back in their living room, we enjoyed an appetizer tray of assorted cheeses, crackers, & summer sausage, plus a bottomless glass of wine while we yakked about our latest activities & future plans.
                         Dinner was special; a real turkey dinner (Gary's favorite) ,with all the trimmings. After dinner, we played (2) rounds of Diminishing Bridge, one of my favorite card games....even though I rarely win, I sure have fun trying to.

                  Dessert: Kathy presented her special gift of chocolate mice to Gary.                     Now you know what those cherries & chocolate kisses were for.

The real dessert was an Angel Food birthday cake, complete with candles for Gary to blow out after we sang, "Happy Birthday" and ice cream.

It was another special visit & thanks guys, for the exceptional treat of the Turkey meal.

Back @ our M.H., Nick Skyped us for (19) min to let me know that I have no Squirrel Mail. He was renovating his computer hardware in Seattle & shut the wrong system down...which caused other problems he didn't have time to correct. He did say that I will have the Blog up & running & he will be getting my e-mail back on line soon.

Katrina called on her way to her condo from the airport. She had a busy weekend; the wedding of a colleague on Friday in Denver and a quick trip to Seattle on Saturday to be a part of Katie's bachelorette party Saturday evening/Sunday morning.

Lights out: 11:43pm.

Awake: 6:20am       Temp 60       sleep 6+06      cloudy       overnight @ Nicktown.

Yesterday our builder, Bernie, told us that he & his brother, Bob, would be working ½ day on Saturday, and that was fine with us. I think they wanted to get more of the ceiling panels up? Before breakfast, Kathy started making something in the kitchen that I've never seen before....so I took a picture.

             "What is it?" I asked. "You'll just have to wait until tomorrow" she told me. After our breakfast, Kathy continued painting the inside doors. While she was busy doing that, I started cleaning up our front yard by rounding up & loading the dead roots & tree stumps in the builder's wheel barrow...                                  and carting that wood to a safe burning area. There are many more to pick-up, especially in the field, but for now, I ran out of time.

K & I attended 6:00pm vigil Mass & then we joined Barry, who was guarding our favorite table, then his son, Todd arrived, & lastly, Theresa. We all had a pizza with beer except Theresa; she had already eaten. We did have our funny stories to tell & much laughing, which we sometimes don't do enough of.

Back @ our M.H., we watched a documentary: "Moguls & Movie stars" # 4. Very interesting!

Lights out: 12:34am.

Awake: 5:54am      Temp 63     sleep 6+43     TRW's & heavy    rain   overnight @ Nicktown.

After breakfast, K & I motored to Freeport, PA to visit Blume's for the 2nd time. En route, we drove through a heavy downpour before arriving & then the storm went east. Michelle greeted us & brought out the templates of our kitchen counter top. Then we met Gus, who is the cutter & the one who takes great care to make sure that he understands each & every cut & hole that will be done.        Gus moved the templates over to the granite slab to get the best choice of pattern.                                       And he did this several times.... Then we spent some time talking with Wes, the detail guy, & later, we followed Michelle into the warehouse to look at some bathroom sink/counter rejects, called "oops"! The price was right & the colors were workable, so we chose (2), one for each guest room.
We finished up with Michelle early afternoon; Kathy signed a few papers & we headed back to Nicktown.

On the way, we stopped briefly @ Wal-Mart for a few groceries & then at the Foote's to drop Matthew's Crocks off. We knew they would not be home as our earlier phone call was greeted by a recorded message, so we just left the shoes on the back porch. We arrived @ our M.H.late afternoon.

Dinner: Cottage cheese salad on spinach with peaches, hard boiled eggs, red grapes, & garlic bread.

Evening time, Melissa called: she had some comments & suggestions on our activities yesterday, which we both listened to & will take into consideration.

Evening movie: "The Demi-Paradise" with Laurence Olivier, Penelope Dudley Ward, Leslie Henson, Marjorie Fielding, Margaret Rutherford, etc. Charming romantic comedy-satire with Olivier intriguingly cast as a Russian engineer who skeptically comes to England...and promptly becomes involved with Ward. Perceptive and, in its way, still-topical Anatole de Grunwald script gently chides people's prejudice against "foreigners." (1943-British). Most interesting; I enjoyed this story very much.
Lights out: 12:14 am.

Awake: 6:25am       Temp 55       sleep 7+12      sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting, & back @ our M.H., Melissa called & wanted to know if this morning would be a good time for a visit. I told her that Kathy was helping make lunch with the ladies over at the church hall but as soon as I tip her off, she could be over here pronto.
And sure enough, she relinquished her position @ the church hall & was ready for our grand-kids.

The visit started out by Matthew selecting some of our water tubing left over from the geo wells. He said he has an idea to use tubing for their back yard.

Next, the day was sunny & warm so I had the boys follow me for a walk thru the woods just to stretch their legs before they focused on the dumpster. I think that dumpster will be the main focal point for them until our house building is finished.

This time, Melissa let Matthew & Andrew inside the dumpster, as the treasures were relatively skimpy at this point. Both boys selected packing pads which came in handy for all of us when sitting on the ground during the Foote's lunch time. Of course, there were other things of interest that the boys set aside for later.

During lunch, one of the boys wanted some water & then we all wanted some cool water; well, easier then ever....we have a faucet (30) feet away...with clear & cold water at your fingertips. I wanted to get a picture of the boys close to the small flower bed that Melissa & Mathew planted last fall...and this was the best I could do. Then it was lunch time for the construction team & an opportunity for Melissa & her boys to tour the inside of the house. Unfortunately for the boys...there were many windows & doors opened that were a hazard for youngsters....& it wasn't easy to watch all (4) closely when they ignored the warning signals we gave out; even though no one was injured, it taught us a lesson to operate our tours with young people differently. After the tour, Melissa encouraged her boys to play on the top-soil mountain. Each boy, except Gregory, had a shovel he could use to do whatever with that mountain.

            Here is Nathan digging for gold on the roof! Sure looks like he is anyway. With a suspicious smile, I think Gregory is carrying far more weight around then necessary? Then it was time for the gang to pick up their treasures & return to the Foote Castle. All in all, it was a different kind of visit. Later, Matthew called & asked me if I could bring his "Crocks" shoes the next time we visit them. He was barefoot & forgot to pick them up from the Top-soil Mountain.

Dinner: Tuna salad on a bed of Romaine lettuce with tomato, red grapes, olives, & chips.

Lights out: 11:02pm.

Awake: 6:16am Temp 55 sleep 6+36 sunny overnight @ Nicktown. We left the KK meeting early due to house work.
                                              This morning, not just (1)                                but (2) Culligan trucks arrived on our premises. Harry & his sidekick started the installation & programming @ 9:30 & finished @ 2:20pm. There were a lot of plumbing issues to take care of on this project; for example, having the water come into the house from the well, then thru the Culligan high efficiency automatic water filter system to remove the iron & then the automatic water softener to reduce a fraction of the hard water. The water then returns to the buried outside campsite faucets & outside house faucets. Here we see Harry programming the automatic water filter system & me asking some questions. Meanwhile, Kathy has volunteered to paint the interior doors in lieu of paying a professional painter.




After the Culligan guys left in their respective trucks, I filled up our motor home's pure water tank in minutes & the water color was so clear & the taste....very good.

During this time, Bernie & Adam were attaching the grid work for the ceiling panels...and Ryan & Nathan were getting the lights & trims in the ceiling.

Dinner: Power burger with broccoli, asparagus & red grapes.

Lights out: 11:13pm.

Awake: 6:20am       Temp 46      sleep 6+56      partly sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

For the last few days, my Dell computer has been slowing down more each day...so, mid morning, I did the Disk Cleanup & later, A Disk defragmenter. It sure made a nice significant change for the better.

                  Before noon, the UPS guy delivered (2) more faucets for our house. Early afternoon, my brother called from North Carolina & he said they will be returning home tomorrow. He told me not to mow his grass because he can do it. "Well alright," I told him. But...after Kathy returned from the Book-Mobile, we motored to Ebensburg & while Kathy went grocery shopping, I mowed my brother's yard.

                                 Now that's a good load of healthy grass.                          The Husqvarna mower sure does a superb job for my brother.                    When Kathy returned, she did some trimming with the push mower. And it looks good to us. Hey, I don't want to loose our job!

Next we cleaned our bodies & attended 6:00 pm Mass @ Nicktown.

Dinner: Reuben sandwich (Corn beef, 1000 Island dressing homemade), Gruyere cheese, & sauerkraut + some 4-bean salad.

Lights out: 11:40pm.

Awake: 6:30am       Temp 45       sleep 5+57      sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

Kathy joined the KK this morning & I stayed in the M.H. to catch up on my paperwork.

                     @ 9:12am, Springer delivered our basement ceiling panels'.                                 Here are the guys unloading the panels. These panels will make a nice difference in the basement play room. Springer, the truck driver, knows a lot of people here in Nicktown; a very friendly & nice guy.

Mid afternoon, while Kathy was visiting her Angel Carol, I spent some more time trying to get Al's (18) volt charger working to no avail. He may have to go to Sears & purchase a new transformer.

Dinner: Cod fish, rice with golden raisins, asparagus, & Como toast.

Zack called late evening: he will be flying into Canada tomorrow for a computer language meeting with other gurus who use different computer languages. But, most of our talk was related to getting measured for the Tux necessary for the Zack & Katie wedding. We didn't chat too long as Zack's wakeup call was relatively early.

Lights out: 11:24pm.

Awake: 6:51am      Temp 45      sleep 6+03      partly sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

Throughout the day, Kathy had calls from Gary & Rosemary, Katrina, Nick, & later, Zack....all wishes for a "Happy Mother's Day."

I've had the 1984 Ford Van sitting in our driveway for the last couple of days, so today I will be returning it to its lawful owners. K drove the Suzuki to the Foote Castle & I arrived about (5) min later.

We spent mother's day with the Foote Family, mostly in the back yard with the boys. I've been carrying around (2) small generator recharging LED flashlights ever since our machinery expo in Las Vegas, about (3) yrs ago. So today I gave (1) to Matthew & (1) to Andrew. I gave Nathan a small flashlight that he can recharge the battery with Kevin's charger & Gregory was happy to get a little trinket.

Matthew & Andrew were especially looking forward to dark so as to use their LED lighting. Kevin was busy on the grill cooking burgers & homemade fries; Melissa was not her peppy self today, she didn't sleep enough & was very tired. Luckily the boys had much to do about nothing & that kept them occupied most of the time. K & I interacted with the boys off & on & that was fun.                          Here is Gregory exiting from his across the yard trip. One of the things Matthew & Andrew wanted to do was to lie down in the wagon with a cover over them so it would be dark & then they could use their LED flashlights.

                 Mid-day dinner: burgers, fries, fruit salad,& smoothies; delicious.                   And about an hr later, we had ice cream cake, also very delicious. Aside from Melissa's not feeling so well, we had a good & fun day.Thank you Foote Family.

Back @ our M.H., we watched the movie: "Room for One More" with Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Lurene Tuttle, George Winslow, etc. Grant and Drake are softhearted couple who can't resist adopting needy kids. Sentimental comedy retitled: The Easy Way; basis for later TV series. 1952. Nice story. Wish it was happening in the U.S. today.

Lights out: 12:33am.

Awake: 6:29am    Temp 42     sleep  6+11     sunny     late rain      overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting, we toured KK members: Bill, Al, & John through our house.

After breakfast, we had a distinguished visitor from Chicago, Ernie, who was a classmate in grammar school & high school. We sat around in our motorhome & updated each other for a good (2) hrs.

We planned on meeting @ the Nicktown Bar this evening so Ernie & I were both looking forward to that small reunion as well.

Melissa called & reported that the boys all have the sniffles; we will probably visit them tomorrow anyway.

Just before we attended 6:00pm vigil Mass, a heavy downpour of rain moved into the area; but then stopped & out came the sunshine again...so we didn't need our umbrellas after all.

After Mass, we assembled @ the Nicktown Bar; Barry came early & held the big table for our get together. Our small crowd: Barry, Bonnie, Ernie, Theresa, visitor Joe & his sister Anna Marie + Kathy & me. We had a good time & Joe really told some good stories of yesteryear.

Back in our M. H., we watched the movie: "Doubting Thomas" with Will Rogers, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Sterling Holloway, Andrew Tombes, etc. Rogers is at his best dealing with a variety of eccentric and pompous characters when his stage-struck wife Burke joins an amateur theatrical troupe. 1935. Having Will Rogers in this story made a nice difference.

Lights out: 12:48am.        

Awake: 6:41am Temp 40 sleep 7+06 sunny overnight @ Nicktown. We skipped the KK meeting this morning; the Cunningham guys with their equipment trailer, arrived shortly after 8:20am & Larry wasn't far behind. When Larry arrived, he took the # 2 pump house off the well-head, & set it aside. Then Dave, operating the excavator, carefully dug down close to the well-head so Larry could start laying the (1) inch pipe from the well-head to the inside equipment room. We will be using the same pressure tank that we've had since 2004. Now that Larry has attached all the water pipes to the main house, they will not only feed water to the house, but also to the (2) campground campsites. Meanwhile, the Cunningham guys had opened the plug, making the sewer available, & they dug the trench & raised the lid height for the sewer clean-outs. Next, the Cunningham guys buried (2) conduits to get rid of my old electrical meter & make the electricity come from the house to our motorhome....as well as the phone system, Coax cable, etc. It hasn't been done yet, but the conduits are ready. Before Dave left the premises, I asked if he would use his excavator to pull up some of the tree stumps & roots that we have in the lower field. He agreed & afterward, there must have been over (50) of those dead stumps lying around. Dinner: leftover Minestrone with toast & grapes.

Evening movie: "The Hill" with Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Michael Redgrave, Ian Bannen, etc. Powerful drama of military prison camp, with superb performances by all. One problem: British actors bark at each other and much dialogue is unintelligible to American ears (though, if you can make it through the first reel, hang on).1965. We hung on...it wasn't easy but, oh, what a story!

Lights out: 12:18am.

Awake: 6:20am       Temp 32       sleep 6+22      sunny      overnight @ Nicktown.

The guy from Blume's, Kurt, arrived early this morning to take measurements of the kitchen countertop. Also, the REA guys arrived early with their trailer & they will be gathering their tools & finishing the Geothermal heating & cooling system. About 11:00am, I motored to Ebensburg to mow my brother's lawn using his Husqvarna mower. The 1st trip around let me know that the grass was too wet...but I continued for a few more rounds. After I emptied the bags of grass, I checked my cell phone & a message from Kathy let me know that the Cunningham boys were @ the house waiting for instructions of what to do. I told Kathy that they should start digging the trench that we talked about on Monday & I would be there within the hr.

By the time I cleaned up my act & arrived home, the trench was finished & they had done a great job of digging 4-5 ft down, uncovering the electrical conduit, water conduit & sewage pipe without any damage. I was impressed. My buddy Gary called & sadly told his story about his lawn mower spewing 1st white smoke & then oil out of the engine. At this point, he will call around to find out what to do next.

         Mid afternoon, the UPS truck delivered the rest of our Bamboo for the hex flooring.                             Here we have Adam helping unload the Bamboo. Dinner: Italian tuna casserole. After dinner, my 1st cousin, Joan, & her daughter, Lisa, visited us & we gave them a tour of our home. Lights out: 11:35pm.

Awake: 5:36am       Temp 42       sleep 5+53      overcast       overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK meeting & my breakfast, (Kathy was fasting in prep for her surgery) we motored to Miners Hospital in the town of Hastings where Kathy is to have a lipoma excised from her right shoulder.

She went into surgery about 12:30pm & returned to her room around 1:45pm. She was just awakening when the nurse rolled her in. The doctor was not far behind. He gave Kathy some tips about how to care for the wound & instructions in the event she had any untoward reaction. A nurse brought Kathy a cup of coffee & some toast with jam.

We returned to our M. H. around 2:25pm & then Kathy proceeded to eat her regular breakfast. Not long after she finished eating, she stretched out on the sofa & took a nice long nap.

When she woke up, she insisted that we should take a look @ the ceiling lights in our house & see the different trims & how they affected the focus, brightness, etc. We did realize that moving the bulb lower or higher could alter the spread of the light. I asked if she was feeling OK to do this & she said: "just don't touch my right shoulder & I will be fine."

                                  This bulb could be used as a spotlight.                                And this bulb can be tilted 360 degrees.                                 Kathy's fireplace is coming along nicely. We didn't peruse every room but we did want to investigate & learn more about the lights with the various trim rings.

Dinner: Leftover minestrone with Como toast.

Lights out: 11:58pm.

Awake: 5:36am     Temp 56      sleep 5+48      overcast then rain     overnight @ Nicktown.

We skipped the KK meeting this morning & made several phone calls to Steve & Jamie regarding the water works & Kathy checked with Bernie about her fireplace.

Jamie arrived about 9:30am to make sure we had enough room in the equipment room, for the Culligan tanks & in the kitchen for the filters & instant hot water tank. On our way back to the M.H., we looked over the lighting trim options we have for the house. About (20) min later, UPS delivered our (4) toilet paper holders arriving from Las Vegas, Nevada from Moen, Inc. Then Katrina called while en route to her school & talked with Kathy about her (2) yr roommate Sara, getting married & leaving Katrina's condo. After our breakfast, K & I motored to Altoona & stopped @ the Logan Town Center where Kathy was looking for a dress for the June wedding of our son. We visited David's Bridal where Kathy tried on about half a dozen really nice outfits:            
                                                    Ahh, not this one.                                Now we're talking...lets see that smile.                                           Oooo, this is the one...wow!                                   This is good but your last one....is the one! Kathy wanted to continue her search for something not quite so short. Just down the street there was a Men's Warehouse so we visited & they specialized in taking measurements for tux's etc. So it was my turn to try on just (1) suit (tux) at Men's Warehouse after getting measured.
                                             So I go from this suit......                         .......to that suit. But only for a few minutes. Next, we drove across the mall & continued looking for a dress for Kathy @ Boskov's. This dress could be a contender with David's Bridal. We spent more time @ Boskov's than we planned due to a heavy downpour. From there, we motored downtown to Sandy's Closet & searched her upstairs outfits where Kathy tried on (2) dresses as all the other ones were long gowns.

Then we motored to the other mall in Altoona, Logan Valley Mall; Kathy didn't find any dress worthy of trying on but we casually popped in out of several stores to no avail.

En route to Nicktown, we drove in heavy rain most of the way home.

Dinner: Chicken cacciatore, pasta, asparagus & red grapes.

Lights out: 11:43pm.

Awake: 5:46am      Temp 51      sleep 5+52       light rain      overnight @ Nicktown.

We skipped the KK meeting this morning to greet the Cunningham boys & have them look over the excavating job I would like them do on the water works. Steve actually came up with a better & simpler plan then I had suggested. After we all agreed on that trench, I showed them a few other digging areas we would like to have done. Both Dave & Steve said they would do the job tomorrow, weather permitting.

After checking with Bernie regarding other activities, K & I motored to Johnstown & looked @ their slate, tile & granite;                 .....and the cost of switches, dimmer switches cover plates, etc. Then to Lowe's across the street: Lowe's still has the best selection & options...so far...in the electrical arena. Using my cell phone, I called Larry, the plumber in Ebensburg & left a message to make sure he will join us with the Cunningham boys in digging, & renovating the plumbing to our house & around the campsites by relocating the pressure tank in the basement.

  In our front yard, our red Tulips passed on & then up came the orange & yellow ones. Next we visited the Galleria in Johnstown to look for a dress for Kathy for the upcoming wedding of our younger son, Zack to Katie. We also visited the "Dress Barn", the "Fashion Bug" & T.J. Max.

After that, we grocery shopped @ Wal-Mart, Conzattis & Market Basket.

Back @ our M. H., we had a dinner of New England clam chowder & a Reubin sandwich; most delicious.

Late evening, we Skyped with Nick at his condo for (19) min, wishing (5) yr old Jerry a "Happy Birthday" & saying our "hellos" to the rest of the gang @ the party.

Lights out: 11:48pm.

Awake: 6:45am     Temp 53    sleep 6+39     off & on rain    overnight @ Nicktown.

K & I attended 8:00 am Mass in Nicktown. The travelers planned to wait for us to say our goodbyes; when they saw us driving in, they were ready to go. Their distant target for today is Scranton, PA, but their final stop will be in Vermont after touring along the way.

With off & on rain, K & I stayed mostly indoors & had some homework to catch up on.

Dinner: Minestrone with Como toast.

Lights out: 11:54pm.

Awake: 6:02am        Temp 37       sleep 5+24       sunny       overnight @ Nicktown.

At 8:20am, we rendezvoused with the travelers outside our M. H; Thea & Carl already had plans of motoring to Punxsutawney, PA to ride their bikes & visit with Phil so we wished them a safe & fun trip.

Mark, Marcia, Kathy I started walking toward the Community Center. We've invited them to join our KK meeting this morning so they could understand just what people like us do in a small town...in our spare time.

I've already tipped Mark off about our Koffee Klub meetings...that we talk about anything & everything....but we don't gossip. Our crowd this morning was about average. Kathy & I have been having a harder time than usual making the meetings, mainly due to our home building, but otherwise, we enjoy the group & usually have some good laughs & serious talk as well.

Marcia explained & showed some of the crowd her different & new hearing aid. She literally had a hole drilled in her head (cranium bone) behind her right ear into which the receiver end of a snap was placed. The other end of the snap is on the hearing aid which she simply "snaps" in place.

Then we walked to our church & showed Mark & Marcia a laser cut wood Medallion that our cousin Cyrus made & fit into the altar floor.

After breakfast, Marcia, Mark, Kathy & I motored to Indiana, PA & toured the Cherry Hill Manufacturing Co. Since last year, Cyrus has added (4) more computerized metal lathes in his factory.                       This is one of their older models.                                    And this is one of four of the newer ones. Besides making railroad wheels for a number of small rails in Portland, OR & San Diego, CA, they also make most of their own parts for the "U- sand" machine.                            This was the 1st "U-Sand" proto-type of the late 90's. Now these machines can be seen at rented places from Home Depots all across the USA.                                They also manufacture laser cut medallions...                                       .......and borders & corners. Next we headed to the new Giant Eagle in Indiana where K & I grocery shopped as did Mark & Marcia. We certainly enjoy shopping @ the new Giant Eagle.

After that fun time, we motored across town, stopped @ the Foote Castle & introduced Mark & Marcia to Melissa, Kevin & the boys, who were outside playing in the back yard. Marcia remembered Matthew when he was born in Anchorage & was very interested to see how much he had grown since then.

Back on our property, Thea & Carl greeted us & told their story of touring Punxsutawney & getting a glance of Phil, the groundhog. Thea was very concerned that the dinner she had planned would be too late & then we wouldn't be able to watch the rest of the royal wedding; we assured her, "it's not a problem." Dinner: boneless pork tenderloin, noodles, applesauce, mixed salad & a pistachio pudding for desert. .......a delicious meal was had by all....so thanks to you Thea & your helpers, we were well pleased with the time & the special meal.

After the dishes were cleaned & rinsed, we all took a seat & continued watching the marriage of Prince William & Kate for the next: (2) hrs. Kathy continued doing her speed control system & I do believe they were quite satisfied to see and hear a lot of that (5) hrs recording. The night was still young for us & the travelers needed some good sleep tonight so, after they retired to their RVs, K & I watched: "On the Beach" with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson, etc. Thoughtful version of Nevil Shute's novel about Australians awaiting effects of nuclear fallout from explosion that has depopulated the rest of the world. Good performances by all, including Astair in his first dramatic role. 1959. Not a happy story.

Lights out: 12:06am.

Awake: 6:05am      Temp 45     sleep 6+37      early off-on rain      overnight @ Nicktown.

Both K & I organized our respective corners of our MH in preparation for the visit of our friends. In her excitement, Kathy also dusted & vacuumed the bus.

Early afternoon, I had a call from Marcia; she estimated their arrival in a few hrs...and she asked for a favor: "If you have a recording device, could you possibly record the marriage of Prince William & Kate... we don't want to miss it." I let her know that we would do our best (weather permitting) to record it.

Around 3:45pm, (2) RVs pulled into our circular drive; I pointed to the 2nd campsite area where both vehicles can share the water, electricity & dumping of the gray water.

Carl & Thea are both from California while Mark & Marcia are our friends from Anchorage, Alaska. Mark & I had many good times exercising together @ the Alaska Club. We invited them into our coach where we updated each other ...except for Carl & Thea, they were new to us. It didn't take long however, for us to realize that Thea & Carl were also great people.

Sometime after 6:00pm, we gave them a tour of our home with the lights on &, afterward, we drove everyone over to the Nicktown Bar for pizza & beer. The bar area was packed so we ate in the dining room area. The pizza was good, the conversation better & our friends were the best.

Back in our M.H., we started watching the recorded Royal wedding...there were literally (5) hrs recorded of this wedding but Kathy knew when to hold them & when to fold them; speeding the cars up & slowing them down. Listen to the choir & mute the speaker, etc.

After a couple hrs, our company expressed feeling tired from the days travel, but we had to promise to hold the remainder of the recording for tomorrow.                                         Then they retired to their respective RVs.

Lights out: 12:39am.

Awake: 6:03am       Temp 59      sleep 6+08       windy       overnight @ Nicktown.

Kathy joined the KK meeting while I stayed in our M.H. & tried to catch up on some homework. After Kathy returned & we had our breakfast, we visited the house. Doors & more doors continue to be hung by the working team & Bernie was focused on the small bar in the basement. The REA guys were testing the air-conditioning system early afternoon.

Back in our motorhome, Kathy was getting & making a number of calls: we agreed to have more Bamboo shipped in to finish the hex flooring, and had to delay the appliances shipment again until we get water into the house.

Dinner: Easy Apply pork chops, fried noodles, red beets & Como toast.

At 9:30pm, K & I returned to the dark house, turn on some lights & tried to see how much light coverage the bulbs will give.

Lights out: 11:28pm.

Awake: 6:34am    Temp 59     sleep 6+32     sunny     overnight @ Nicktown.

After our KK & later, our breakfast, Kathy motored to Minors hospital for her first visit with Dr. Moreli, a surgeon, who will excise a lipoma from her right shoulder. She had to have a pre-op workup consisting of blood work, EKG, & chest x-ray. Surgery is scheduled for next Wed.

Meanwhile, I visited the house & talked with the REA guys to get a little more understanding of the geo-thermal system. I noticed that Bernie's team continued hanging inside doors today; it takes time to hang a door & do it right.

When Kathy returned @ 12:35, we both wanted to ask Bernie a few questions but he was elsewhere, so we'll catch him tomorrow.

Just when the construction team was leaving for the day, Rosemary & Gary arrived. Of course we invited them in for some good chewing of the fat with wine; oops, can't do that! Our wine vaporized with Lent & we didn't take the time to restock. G & R were nicely dressed up so I hope this photo will make them smile.  DSC04957.JPG. After the photo, K & I gave R & G a grand tour of our house; then we invited them for a visit to the Nicktown Bar....but they had to leave for some better offers.

Dinner: Tuna steak, broccoli, rice with golden raisins, mixed salad & Como toast.

Melissa called: we started to talk with her, but her house was so HOT that the boys were unable to sleep, so our talk was cut short.

Lights out: 11:55pm.

Awake: 6:24am       Temp 61      sleep 6+01       sunny       overnight @ Nicktown.

I made phone calls to Bernie, Steve, Jamie & Larry. All returned my calls but Jamie. We had a plan to visit Culligan where Jamie works in Indiana today to find out more about clearing the iron from our water.

Meanwhile, we talked with Bernie regarding electrical switches, dimmer switches & cover plates.

I also talked with Steve about him using his excavator to dig up the water lines & bring our pressure tank inside the house & a few other matters.

Actually, Larry visited us early afternoon & surveyed the water works for digging up the lines etc to bring the tank inside the house. He will send me a quote.

Next, I filled our pure water tank & drained the gray holding tank in the event Mother Nature has plans for precipitation. As it turned out, I was all done with the job except for putting the water hose in the pump house when heavy rain came & chased me inside; later, sunshine.

About (20) min later, Mark Brum... called from Ohio; they will be leaving Ohio & motoring into PA with anticipation of visiting us midday Friday. "That will be wonderful!" I told him.

Meanwhile, Jamie did call & he was about (30) min away from his work building; I asked if it would be ok for us to meet him at the shop in about (30) min to see the equipment & understand how the system works. "That will be ok with me," he said.

So Kathy & I quickly climbed into the Suzuki & motored to Indiana, PA & met Jamie at the Culligan building. Jamie was very professional in his explanation of the instruments & works that go into getting rid of the iron from the water. Having a strong magnet just won't do it! After the iron is removed from the water, they have another system that makes the water taste even better.                           We will keep in touch with each other on this subject.

Next, we visited Lowe's & began the familiarization of many selections of switches, dimmers & cover plates. This one does it all: switch, dimmer & has a locator light.                           This one also does it all including a cover plate.                         So far, Lowe's had the most switches, etc in our search.                                         Here is a panel of cover plates. While in Lowe's we could hear torrential rains falling outside so we extended our time inside to coincide with the rain let-up. A quick stop @ Wal-Mart & then we returned to Nicktown.

Dinner: leftover filled peppers with Como toast.

Lights out: 11:58pm.