Monday, October 02, 2006

Musings on an October Monday

I've decided I am going to try to blog in here at least every day. Ok, that's my resolution today but who knows how long I'll follow through with that game plan. Organization is not my forte but procrastination is!

To recap the past week, it was fun, interesting, exciting even at times. Fun, in that I got to see my buddy from Michigan - Jeff - while he was in the area doing his mine/railroad history research and fun too when Saturday, after I watched a good deal of the Penn State - Northwestern game, I taught my almost 3-year-old granddaughter how to do the Penn State Cheer! WE ARE - PENN STATE! She does a mean job on it too now and totally cracks me, her mother and my son up to watch and hear her do this!

Interesting - but in a frustrating way (VERY FRUSTRATING) - the issues with the hospital and physician's assistant in Pittsburgh as they try to get me scheduled there for a colonoscopy! Initially, it was to be done last Friday, then Wednesday I got mail telling me it had been scheduled for this Friday but on Thursday, I got a call from the PA telling me it is in the process now of being rescheduled for either this coming THURSDAY or next Friday (Oct. 13th). As I write this today I am still waiting to get a phone call from the PA to confirm when I am supposed to report in down there - this Thursday or next Friday. My older daughter, Carrie, is having fits about all these changes because each time they juggle with my schedule it means she has to go to her boss and explain there's been yet another change and she will now need this and this day off from work instead of the two days she had initially given them! What a mess and such confusion for a bunch of us now!

Exciting - seems the ghost town about a mile down the road from my home was hit by an arsonist last Wednesday nite sometime and as a result, the last remaining house still standing (and in use at times as a summer home/hunting camp) was torched. Whoever did this also torched a garage-type building across the road from the house too. How sad that this last remnant of the history of this once bustling little community has now been destroyed and for what reason? WHo knows what evil lurks in the heart of man? Guess that is really an appropriate comment on the burning of the house and garage, isn't it?

The irony of the fire though is that my friend Jeff was using that back road that meanders through Peale to go to Moshannon and he was the one who discovered that the place had been torched. Jeff is one who is very, very knowledgeable about the history of Peale as well as of surrounding little villages here in this township and he is also one who most definitely wanted to see this place preserved for posterity too. He told me Friday nite when he stopped by to visit that he was really in somewhat of a state of shock as he drove by and at first, just sensed there was something different and then realized that the structure was basically a pile of smoldering rubble then - a few flames still licking about he said. He came back up to "town" (Meaning the big village where I live) and managed to find someone up at the local Moose building where he used the phone to call it in to the authorities.

Of course, our crackerjack local daily newspaper has yet to have any report at all in the paper about this recent case of arson in the county. Seems that is the "in thing" of late around these old hills - to torch a place! A chiropractor over in the Clearfield area's home was also burned about a month or so back and it is still under investigation as it was determined to be arson - along with I think it was 3 other fires that same weekend and some of those were also the work of an arsonist! Just have to love the credibility of the local newspaper though!

I'm still enduring the remnants of having had a case of the SHINGLES inflicted on me about a month ago now - actually 5 weeks ago since they came calling. And, let me tell you, I can't wait until they finally clear out completely and leave me the heck alone! Talk about something painful! If you ever get the Shingles, you will know completely what I mean there as they are at times excrutiatingly painful! Don't ever want a rerun of this illness, that's for sure nor would I wish it on my worst enemy either. So now you know (maybe) how miserable these things can be to contend with! Even the pain pills I have (by prescription) don't do much to ease the discomfort!

Today was my son's big day - he started classes at the Vo-Tech School in Truck Driver Training so he can then get his CDL license and be qualified to hire on as a truck driver! Hopefully, this will be a good employment opportunity for him and also, one that I really think he will enjoy too - as much as one can possibly enjoy employment at any rate! Ok, that's not fair - sometimes some folks are lucky enough to stumble into a job that pays a decent wage and that they don't hate getting up and going in to perform day after day for year after year! But, in this case, I really do think this is a good employment match for my "favorite son."

I think since I hit on a positive note with that last paragraph, I'll end my "musings" for today!

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