As I look at these pictures, I am amazed at how complete the house actually appears.
One can see a hutch built into it as well as what looks to me like a picture on the wall.

          Today Mary, Jim, and Lillian Rau will be arriving for a visit. It will be good to see them again. Tommy will be headed to the “Kettle” for his annual club picnic this evening. We shall see him tomorrow. <Later> Our guests left about 8 PM to get back. They had to care for their dogs. We know all about that.

Tonight for supper Jim made a special dish of a marinated London broil cooked on the gas grill then cut into strips and put into a pan of cooked red and green peppers, onion, mushrooms, and olive oil. The veggie mix was cooked until it was tender and then tossed with the meat. This mixture was placed over noodles. It was excellent. We had sliced fresh tomatoes, cottage cheese, and ice cream for dessert.

I received this from Norman Eckhart the other day. See what you think. I think it is right on the mark!! It is not overtly political, but it says a lot about how much of the public thinks today and the author’s reaction to the events of the day.

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.)
Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time because it praises the most unselfish among us and portrays a valuable lesson learned in his life.

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which  means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it.
I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time,
but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it.

On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson
there a few days ago, and  we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie.
But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated.
But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?

Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked  his head  into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets.
Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world. A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad.
He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in  Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of
unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered
and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists. We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines.
The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament....the policemen and women who go off on  patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive, the orderlies and 
paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and  prepare them for surgery, the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children,
the kind men and women  who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.

Now you have my idea of a real hero. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction,
and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as
the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This  is my highest and best use as a human.

I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin....or Martin Mull or  Fred Willard--or as good
an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could  be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and,
above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me.

This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help).
I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma, and then entered
immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only
one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

By Ben Stein
Faith is not believing that God can,   It is knowing that God will.
"People say true friends must always hold hands,but true friends don't need to hold hands becausethey know the other hand will always be there."

 I think this is pretty much how it is in real life.


Sunday, August 29, 2004 7:21 AM 72 deg at LVIA and 68.9 in the bus stop
It is foggy and damp this morning. It looked like London England outside this morning. The weight is 195 and the glucose is 138.

We went for a walk after breakfast and the fog had partially burned off.

It is very sticky and humid today. Now the sun is out and it is hot and humid. I hope a swim will be possible this afternoon. Things are quiet on the new house front today with very little activity.

Now at 3 PM I shall be leaving for the pool. 

<5:14 PM> I am back to help with the supper. The swimming went well. George Ashman and Tommy were there, but no sign of Doc Cyr. 

<After supper> We had Mr. T. Pierce Davies here to dinner here this evening. We had chicken breast, stuffing, green beans, corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes, cottage cheese, coffee 
and Rita’s Water Ice for dessert. It was excellent. Then we all sat on the porch and had a great time talking with one another.
George, Kathy and Andy will be arriving here in town next Friday for a short visit. Andy will be starting back to college very soon so he must use his remaining time wisely.

In case anyone is interested it is easy to recover the key needed to re install your windows operating system if necessary. 
Go to:  http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml  it will show you the exact product code needed to authenticate a re-installation. This can be very handy if you need it.

 
Monday, August 30, 2004 7:20 AM 73 deg at LVIA and 72.1 in the bus stop
It is very humid this morning. We went for a shortened walk this morning. Queen wanted to get out at least for a bit before she started the wash. Showers and thundershowers are predicted for later today, that will probably screw up my swim but oh well!

This morning the blood glucose is 135 and the weight is 195. Meanwhile on the health front Queen had a much better night last night. We instituted some changes in lifestyle that seemed to help. Since she doesn’t eat anything after supper she brushed her teeth with the prescription fluoride toothpaste about 8 PM and rinsed her mouth later as directed. Last night she had dry mouth but no tongue burning. Maybe we are onto something. She wants to make an appointment with Dr. Nicholson to see about her medications as suggested by her dentist. We go this afternoon at 2:30 PM.

This morning I received a great e-mail that I shall share with you all.

Subject: Palmerton Press

Hi Mr. Elliston,

My brother, Joe Lach, sometimes shares your wonderful Palmerton Press with me and my 80 year old mother.  So I'm taking you up on your offer to join your mailing list which is free and worth every cent!  I'm 49 and holding and have lived in Palmerton all my life.  The older I get, the more I appreciate living in a small town - and, in my book, Palmerton is a real gem.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts and memories of Palmerton with the cyber-set.  I look forward to reading the next issue of the Palmerton Press.  Of particular interest is the great debate between Dr. Jane and Dr. Marjorie Batchelor regarding the wearing of girdles!  Joe claims it's a hoot and Mom is eager to read it as we have differing opinions on the subject.

Best,
Jane Lach

Letters like this are priceless to this old geezer. These are really the folks I am trying to reach. Many Palmertonians those currently living here as well as those who have located elsewhere realize what we have here in Palmerton. Particularly those who now live out of the area. Personally I love being a hick from the sticks. The city life ain’t for me. I am counting on Barbara Shepherd for further word on this subject of Jane’s concern. Ha!! I have had other inquiries about her writings that I use here.

This morning I went down to the Prolog office and spoke to a young lady about my web space plight. Since I am no way in a commercial venture I have no need for a commercial site. However it would be great if I could buy about 50 or 75 MB of wiggle room for these pages instead of only their 15MB. A lot of times a story would make a lot more sense if a reader could reference last week's page regarding the same or a similar subject. My problem is that I lose continuity of content from one week to the next. Not many folks want to take the time or trouble to save these things on their hard drives. I guess you could burn a CD-ROM, but what the heck there is nothing immortal on them anyway. PenTeleData has been in the forefront of the technical age and very helpful to its customers. Their anti-spam help is first class and they are instituting a new more secure E-mail service to take effect soon. Perhaps they may find this to be of interest in promoting web use. They do seem to listen to their users. She couldn’t help me directly but she said she would speak to her supervisor and see if something is possible. Everyone was very polite and helpful during the entire conversation. They are nice folks. We shall see.

During these times it is a wise idea to keep informed what is going on in this world be it terror, or bad weather. Here is an excellent place to do so: http://www.emergencyemail.org/
I regularly get e-mail warnings at to weather conditions not only here but in places where our loved ones live as well. It is a valuable FREE thing.

I just got this from friend and neighbor Mike. I hope it isn’t true:

Subject: WHEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
Farmers' Almanac Predicts a Wild Winter By DAVID SHARP LEWISTON, Maine (AP) -
Gas up the snow blower but don't put away your umbrella: The Farmers' Almanac is predicting a wild winter with heavy
precipitation and dramatic temperature swings in the Northeast.
The northern Plains and Great Lakes will be snowy, the almanac says, while it will be milder in the southern half of the country.
The Northeast will have unusually wet weather - either as rain or snow, according to the almanac.
"The big thing is it's going to be a winter of extremes,' said managing editor Sandi Duncan, whose almanac hits newsstands Tuesday.
The weather formula used by the 188-year-old Farmers' Almanac is a closely guarded secret.
Prepared two years in advance, the forecasts are based on sunspots, the position of the planets and tidal action of the moon.
The National Weather Service questions the accuracy of forecasts made so far in advance, but the almanac says it is right 80 percent of the time.
Some people use it for planning weddings and other outdoor events. The almanac's forecast last winter was largely on the mark.
It predicted a cold winter and Mother Nature delivered a January deep freeze in the Northeast. The almanac also forecast a wet and cool summer.
And that seems to ring true in many places, including Maine. This coming winter will get off to a cold start in the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains,
the almanac says. Milder weather is in store for southern half of the nation, with near normal or balmy temperatures from California to the Deep South,
according to the almanac. Later in 2005, the almanac predicts a wet spring for most of the country and an active pattern for the
Midwest's "Tornado Alley'' in April and June. The Farmers' Almanac - not to be confused with the Old Farmer's Almanac in New Hampshire -
also offers up recipes, brainteasers, jokes, gardening tips and trivia. This year's edition also continues a focus by the almanac editors on finding happiness through simplicity.
An article on "Putting the Joy Back into Christmas'' noted that the holiday buying binge leads to personal debt and an additional 5 million to 7 million tons of extra waste in landfills.
"We're not saying don't give. Let's give things that are more significant to the recipient,'' said editor Peter Geiger.
The editors expect to distribute 4.5 million copies of the three versions of the almanac: the 200-page retail version, a shorter promotional version and a Canadian version.
Last year, the editors launched a syndicated column that's in 100 newspapers, and the almanac's Web site remains popular.
Now the editors are exploring a new medium.
"Our goal is to have a family-oriented television show,'' Duncan said.

On the Net: Farmers' Almanac www.farmersalmanac

This afternoon we had our appointment with Dr. Nicholson to check out Queen in her quest for a solution to her problem. He is having her get some blood work done as well as realigning the timing of how she takes her medicines. We are reporting progress. By the time we left there it was 3:30 and I quickly headed for the pool. George Ashman, Howard Witham, and Harry Brown were there. In my haste to swim before the rain I got right to it thus missing some scintillating conversation! Ha! It rained intermittently as I swam and the others headed for the overhang at the bathhouse for shelter. Ha! Jean Stemler arrived for a swim as well. I was the last one swimming when I got out. Golly but it was a wonderful swim!
As I was swimming I saw Larry and Suzy sitting under the overhang and happened to think about Gretchen’s belated 50^th birthday surprise party for Larry the other week. Hell he wouldn’t be born for two more years when I started swimming up there. Geez I am getting old!! Suzy said tell Tommy they are waiting for him to come before closing.
But I must say I never enjoyed swimming more than I do now. Thank God this is something the good Lord has still allowed me to do. I am grateful. Dr. Nicholson told Queen today as we were leaving,” Keep him exercising”. Hell that means more of the damn Iron Works. I hate it, but I will go. Love is a great motivator.

Today was washday so that meant eating in God’s restaurant tonight. Queen made homemade spaghetti. However tonight’s was extra super special. Instead of using canned tomatoes she used fresh ones. This is a lot more work but the flavor was definitely worth the extra effort. As usual I saved some for a lunch later. Then we had a half of a cantaloupe with a dollop of ice cream on it. It was another one of her superb meals.