tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68259227178867115722024-03-13T23:00:30.213-07:00The Diatom Projectb4i8clover @ aolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703204759078303244noreply@blogger.comBlogger505125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-31489136822323652432007-03-24T09:20:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:59:03.577-07:00It's Christmas Morning!<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This is a grand day! We have received presents! Piled on our doorstep! This occurrence is unprecedented! Our mail lady must have been bemused by the appearance of two cartons with our names on them.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>(We also removed the propane bill from our doorknob, but we're not counting that as a gift.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We'll give thanks alphabetically, because the gifts are of equal value to us, and our thought processes have yet to flow as smoothly as might be wished.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>First, many thanks to you, <A href="http://journals.aol.com/dkb11161970/DebrasDose/">Debra</A>, for the absolutely astounding quantity, quality and variety of tea bags that caused our sleepy eyes to spring wide in shock and awe. Many of the flavors we have never before tried, and you included among the enormous selection some old favorites that you know we enjoy. We plan on having a good old-fashioned Penfield Tea Party! We haven't the words to express how we feel about this, so we will just give thanks for having met you.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>And <A href="http://journals.aol.com/mutualaide/LifeOnFlamingoRow">Kathy</A>, many thanks to you for the piles of newsprint that you sent (Bonnie is at this moment happily ensconced at her command center, poring through the pages in search of intriguing tidbits. I myself am wondering if this is your fiendishly clever way of reducing your recycling load {;~)> ) You must have chortled to yourself as you enclosed the small bottles, knowing that we would ask "What are these?" After struggling with the ziplock, stripping away the plastic seal (who would want to contaminate<EM> that</EM> solution, for heaven's sake?), and prying off the cap, we discovered the tiny wand and exclaimed "bubble solution!" I am so far from my childhood beginnings that I began to wave the wand about in the air, to no effect. Bonnie finally said "Blow through it." With a mental slap upside the temple, I said "Oh. Right." and did so. And lo, there were bubbles! </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We both want to say "Thank you, dear friends, for being who you are. We can ask for none better."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<P> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-21284620102255092752007-03-21T15:13:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:59:03.577-07:00Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>I am not in the habit of complaining overmuch about my health. Much of what I suffer from is a fact of life and has been relegated to background noise, not worth mentioning, and no one enjoys a constant diet of bitching and moaning. This latest nastiness, however, is worthy of note, if only to memorialize it as an actual journal entry. I need not describe it, as most everyone in J-land who has suffered from it already knows the details. Bonnie, bless her soul, has been largely immunized to it through constant exposure, and we can only hope that it stays that way.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>In our area, we have three entities responsible for providing content and communications (I am here ignoring radio because for me it is a medium of last resort, as when the power goes out.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>For communications we have Citizens Communications, formerly the ill-fated Global Crossing (ill-fated for us, anyway, as GLBC bought Frontier Corp. not long before the corporate honchos danced away with what Wikipedia describes as "astounding gains", leaving employees, including Bonnie, with very shaky pensions) and Time Warner Cable.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>For content we have Dish Network and Time Warner Cable.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>You will discern the common denominator.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Despite the fact that Time Warner has a virtual stranglehold on our local area, they feel it necessary to mail out glossy, four-color, picture-laden more-than-weekly brochures touting their various bundled products (digital tv! digital phone! broadband!) Every year our cable rates are raised, presumably because 'programming costs more.' Along with that, they continually play with the schedule, moving most of the decent programming to digital and bestowing upon us backward (read cheap) troglodytes the picked-over leavings that nobody wants to watch. They have done one nice thing for us, removing TBS and Animal Planet from ala carte status.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>However, being the greedy corporation that they are ...</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Although the two channels will be ala carte for four days only, the latest bill reflects the idea that we should pay for the full month. What they presumably planned to do is to give us a credit on next month's bill for the overage, having earned a shitpile of interest in the meantime.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie discovered this because she became curious about the new lineup and wondered how long it would be before we had access to the ala carte channels. She was surprised to learn that our actual bill was $1.13 less than the printed bill that came in the mail. Due to this felicitous discovery we will have that $1.13 in our account, rather than in Time Warner's account. Multiply that small sum by thousands of customers, and you will see how clever Time Warner is being.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>I hope that was coherent; my thinking is not currently of the clearest.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the answer for the March fourth Cryptocrostic -</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/Cryptocrostic2answer.jpg"/> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>These puzzles are meant to inform as well as entertain; you will sometimes discover words that are somewhat uncommon. We try to stay away from too much of that, but we can't resist tossing in some lesser-known words from time to time.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<P> </P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-84995277072950672772007-03-18T10:18:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:59:03.577-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We were warming. We were greening. And then - we were cold and white again. Today the sun is of that brilliant purity that leaves you in no doubt that your retinas will ignite if you gaze too long upon it. There are sounds of melting and ice breaking away. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Winter is a fickle soul.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We thought we might offer a cynical political observation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We thought we might revisit the unexceptional bookbindery.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We think we'll just publish the puzzle.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/CityState2.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This is the second in the CityState series of sudokus.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>(Note to Kathy - your word scramble skills should stand you in good stead for this puzzle.) ;.) {;~)></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie has given this puzzle a rating of ** (of course, over time she's become an expert solver, so she may unintentionally be understating things.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Happy Sunday, happy solving and</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt </FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-43949473360264465692007-03-14T15:19:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:59:03.577-07:00Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Whew! Missed it by one day! Friday the thirteenth might bother some people; it's Wednesday the fifteenth that always gets to us. (Not really - we just wanted to offer another angle on superstition. Maybe we can start something. Beware Wednesday the fifteenth!)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here's the answer to the Feb. 28th word cube - we await breathlessly the appearance of the graphics -</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/cubeaanswer.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Not quite as clean as we would like, but readable. We can't ask for anything more. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We've been remiss in welcoming one of our good friends, <A href="http://journals.aol.com/sunnyside46/MidlifeMusings">Marti</A>, online again. For a long time, she did not have access to a computer, but that has been remedied and she is writing again. Please stop by her place and say hello.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>If we haven't commented in your journal recently, it's because our alerts have gone missing. Once again, aol is exercising its capability to be annoying.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-4110539139560106972007-03-11T13:10:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:59:03.578-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Random Sunday Blather</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Our life together could be said to be astonishingly soporific (perhaps more so for our visitors than for us), but we like it that way. We have reached an age where most surprises tend to be of the unpleasant variety (annoyances minor and major); we still do enjoy agreeable surprises, but they represent a distinct minority of the overall class of amazements, and so are the more welcome for their rare occurrence.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>I have lately been wondering why I do not suffer from what is called "cabin fever"; I spend almost every hour inside our mobile home, essentially living in what might be described as a warren (this may be why I identify so closely with mice). It does have the appearance of a tunnel with various recesses, except for the windows through which I peer as I pass them. My only reasonable conclusion is that cabin fever is a condition that I cannot afford to suffer if I wish to lead a happy life. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>War, it seems sad to say, is for some reason part of our primitive makeup - when we live in peace, we sublimate our need for war by means of the outlets of sports and the reenactments of past battles. Despite the fact that natural disasters are a perfectly good means of limiting population overage, it appears that we humans are not satisfied with that but must indulge our primal urge to slaughter. It is to be devoutly hoped that our species may someday become civilized enough to move beyond that, and develop the means by which we can play well with others.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie has shared a few jokes with me, engendered by her choice of tv viewing for this afternoon (<EM>Barbarians</EM> on the History Channel):</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"What battle cries did the Saxons shout as they attacked the Picts?"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"Take your Pict!"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"Go for the Pict of the crop!"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>And the Pict battle cry?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"Blood your axe on the Saxon!"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Okay. We'll stop now. Please don't throw anything, you'll only damage your screen.</FONT></P>
<P>I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.</P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>From "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Substitute "Iraqi" for "Mexican" and this becomes a very timely quotation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>A couple more items of note before we publish the puzzle -</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Kathy has written a very moving and eloquent entry on what it means to be a small-town American, to revere flag and country, and to experience the emotions that arise when someone we may have known is taken suddenly from us in war. Thank you, Kathy, and be assured that we will <FONT color=#000000><A href="http://journals.aol.com/mutualaide/LifeOnFlamingoRow/entries/2007/03/04/never-forget/1393">NEVER FORGET</A></FONT>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>When Carl Sagan was alive, we were attentive readers and viewers of any appearance of his, particularly the PBS series <EM>Cosmos</EM>.<EM> </EM>He was known as a popularizer of science, but beyond that, he was a serious and dedicated proponent of rationalism. There is a contemporary scientist who, although speaking in his own unique fashion, wears the mantle of popularizer and rationalist quite well. His name is Neil deGrasse Tyson, and it is well worth anyone's time to expose themselves to his enthusiasm for the scientific. <A href="http://research.amnh.org/~tyson/18magazines_onbeinground.php">Here</A> is a short article that we found highly enjoyable and would like to share.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/forNikki.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This word search was designed for a particular person whom some of you may recognize, hence some of the peculiar search terms.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>For everyone, we wish happiness and</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<DIV class=tags id=tagsLocation><BR/>Tags: <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/blather" target=_blank rel=tag>blather</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/surprises" target=_blank rel=tag>surprises</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/cabin+fever" target=_blank rel=tag>cabin fever</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/war" target=_blank rel=tag>war</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/Thoreau" target=_blank rel=tag>Thoreau</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/science" target=_blank rel=tag>science</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/puzzles" target=_blank rel=tag>puzzles</A></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-2939230988766373562007-03-07T19:41:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.578-07:00Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We've been hibernating over the past few cold days (animals do it and we can too), so it came as a bit of a surprise that it's Wednesday already. We bought a couple of little toys online that are crucial to puzzle creation and they arrived today, so we're busy playing with them.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Yes. That <U>is</U> boring. That's why we kept it short. ;)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the answer for the first CityState sudoku. Only 49 more to go!</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/CityState1answer.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The graphics! They're clean and clear! Oh, what hath aol wrought?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Friendship is returned in the measure in which it is received.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>If you live life as though you enjoy it, you will.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0></FONT> </P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-78415208707810512112007-03-05T11:42:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.578-07:00Editorial<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We have been watching the Congressional hearings devoted to the state of facilities and medical care of our young men and women who have sacrificed their health, and more, to fight for freedom. It is amazing to us that it took a pair of journalists to rip off the scab and discover the suppurating sore underneath. For decades, veterans have been complaining about the treatment, or lack of such, that they receive, to no apparent effect. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>To put it briefly, here is the problem. If you have ever dealt with a bureaucracy in any capacity, or if you have ever worked in an organization that relies on a rigid chain of command, or (Creator forbid) you have had experience of both, you understand the gist of what representatives' questions have elicited from the testifiers. There appears to be a predisposition to avoid accountability and to pass the buck on any situation that presents more than a normal level of difficulty. This is not specific to the military; one encounters this type of behavior frequently. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>There is plenty of blame to go around, from the lowest-level officers who deal directly with the outpatients to the highest levels of the Department of Defense, and ultimately to the commander-in-chief himself. The men and women who are supposed to represent us in Congress are not exempt; they have been taking the word of military officers that all is either okay or in the process of being fixed instead of initiating personal inspections and compelling the military to allow them to visit places that most ought be inspected. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We the voters should be able to expect that the people who have been injured in service to our country be offered a higher degree of caring than they are at present receiving. That they are not is a shame and a black mark upon the soul of our nation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-6024582577576338782007-03-04T09:18:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.578-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We do not often stop to think how important our senses are to us; how, although we have necessarily defined our world by means of them since we were first propelled from the birth canal, much of our sensory functions are semi-automatic and largely taken by us for granted. It is not until we are compelled to recognize that our senses may fail us that we devote some time to an analysis of how we are intimately impacted by their deterioration or loss.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>It is never easy to realize that what was once a fact, such as the apprehension of high-pitched sounds (the sound of birdsong or the voices of mice), is presently but a sometime or never occurrence. It does lead one to appreciate more the sounds that one can still hear, especially sounds that carry a freight of emotional significance, such as we heard the other night, as we were drifting toward sleep. It had begun to rain earlier in the evening, and as time passed, became a soft and steady percussion of raindrops upon roof. That in itself would have been cause for reflection and the urging of primitive memories to the surface of the consciousness, but in this particular instance it was augmented and heightened by the haunting and lonely sound of a train whistle reverberating through the deeps of the night. It was a moment such as occurs infrequently, laden with phantoms of our primal beginnings and causing us to burrow more deeply beneath the covers and to offer thanks for all that which we have been given.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>One of our visitors recalled to me, via her latest entry, what life was like a year ago, when things were different. Those who were reading then may remember that I was compelled to make forays to the grocery when Bonnie became incapacitated. It was my habit to do the shopping very late at night, after 11:00 pm, because the great crush of day people would have made it impracticable for me, depending as I did on my cane, to maneuver through the aisles with any degree of competence, and more likely than not, things would not have gone well. The comparative emptiness of a megamart at midnight was a more felicitous circumstance. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>There was one occurrence with which I had not reckoned, however - that same emptiness that made my passage through </FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>the store easier, leaning heavily upon the handle of the cart in lieu of my cane (which rested in the cart alongside the groceries), made the appearance of a particular employee inevitable - the<EM> <FONT color=#000000>wielder of the floor polisher</FONT>.</EM> This stolid gentleman would appear from the depths of the rear of the store, maneuvering a truly sizable and daunting device that appeared to occupy most of the floor space. When he was plying his machine in one of the wide horizontal aisles, it was nothing to worry about; we would pass as two ships, one in no way affecting the other. In the narrow vertical aisles, however, circumstances became much more chancy, as the polisher occupied more than half of the alloted space. More than once I was forced to scootch the cart right up against the shelves, attempting to retain my erect position as my legs clamored for nothing more than to collapse in abject surrender. It became such a common occurrence, almost as if the gentleman was intent upon causing me grief, that I began to listen avidly for the gentle but ominous whirring and whooshing of the enormous circular brushes and to go out of my way to avoid the contraption by moving to an aisle that had already been rendered spotlessly clean. I can look back now and chuckle at the ridiculous nature of those occasions, but at that time it was a source of certain distress.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the second in our series of cryptocrostics - we hope that you enjoy it.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/Cryptocrostic2.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4> </FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Happy Sunday, happy solving, and</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-55217803268141286972007-02-28T16:07:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.579-07:00Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Every once in awhile, we run across an aphorism that is so elegant or to the point that we wish we had written it ourselves. We ran across one such this morning, a pearl of wisdom spawned from the mouth of Art Cashin on CNBC:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"Often, it's the second mouse that gets the cheese."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Words to live by.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the answer to the Feb. 11 word search -</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/forLeAnnanswer.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This answer grid isn't quite as clear as we'd like, but if you saved the original, you should be able to make sense of it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-46946208692400416832007-02-25T23:05:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.579-07:00THIS is a Rant<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Long-time readers may remember that we have occasionally made mention of the modest store in East Rochester known as the Village Fair ("Our Meats are Freshly Cut").</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie stopped there yesterday to pick up some Delmonico steaks (at least what passes for Delmonicos nowadays, what with high-priced restaurants claiming the prime cuts) and brought them home. I thought, when I put the package in the refrigerator, that it looked a bit odd. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Tonight, as I was preparing to cook dinner, I asked her, <FONT color=#8000ff>"How many steaks did they give you?" </FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#004040 size=4>"Three, <FONT color=#004040>as always. Why?"</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#8000ff size=4>"The package was one-layered, and it isn't very wide."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>When I unwrapped the paper, I discovered three narrow steaks that looked nothing like Delmonicos; they did, however, bear a strong resemblance to strip steaks. I asked Bonnie if she had seen the steaks before they were wrapped, and she said only briefly. Then she related the story.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>She told me that she had gone up to the counter and spoken to a younger man in his mid-30s and asked for Delmonicos. After a few moments of inspection and hesitation, he asked the older counterman, who was somewhere in his 60s, if there were any in the back. The older gentleman detailed a particular shelf in the cooler and the younger man disappeared, returning in a matter of moments with a plastic-wrapped hunk of meat. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>"Is this them?" the younger man inquired. The older man, who was busy with another customer, indicated that it was, indeed, "them", and the younger man, after saying "These look like strip steaks", cut off three slices to the thickness that Bonnie indicated and quickly wrapped them. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We would just like to say to the young man, if he should happen to Google 'Village Fair + East Rochester NY', "You were right. They were strip steaks. You obviously have more knowledge of meat than 'Uncle Tonio' or whatever non-butcher it was that they brought in to serve the customers on Sunday. Keep up the good work, and don't let the old fart try to fool you again."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>If you should be in East Rochester on a Sunday, wait until Monday when the regular butchers return to work. You won't be sorry.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-2540742472001643922007-02-25T09:19:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.579-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>First, we would like to extend a thank-you to those of you who contacted your representatives about conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital. There is nothing like a good dose of public outrage to awaken politicians to their responsibilites to the people who elected them to office. It feels very good to be able to report that the military administrators are taking this seriously. There are still numerous dark corners in this country that are capable of being illuminated and cleansed by the sunshine of journalistic scrutiny, and we can only hope that the light will shine in.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We are (we hope humbly) proud to announce that we have created a new type of puzzle, one that combines our love of puzzles and our propensity to play with the Paint program. While it is a variation on other types of puzzles, still we believe it to be unique, and we have created a mechanism to allow for three levels of challenge to accommodate those who may not have scads of time to devote to solving. We would warmly appreciate any feedback that you might care to give us.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/3DWordCube1.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We are, at present, calling this a word cube. As you can see, it has some letters already filled in, and all that is required of you, the solver, is to fill in the empty spaces using letters from the list(s).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We have designed letter lists to offer three levels of challenge - the first list, offering the toughest challenge, is simply a comprehensive list of all the letters to be filled in.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/ListA.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The second list offers a bit of help by breaking the list into two parts, one for the horizontal letters and the other for the vertical letters. Admittedly, this particular method may be the most confusing, but for those who can solve in more than one dimension, it may be helpful.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/ListB.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The third list is broken into three parts; each numbered list represents the letters assigned to one of the visible faces of the cube (i.e., #1 <U>might</U> represent the front face, and all the letters in that part will be used to fill in that face.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/ListC.jpg"/></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>As an additional aid, for those who might want it, here is a breakdown of the characteristics of the words -</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>1 word has 3 of one letter repeated, 2 of another repeated, e.g. <FONT color=#008000>cocoons</FONT> (none of the examples listed appear in the actual puzzle.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>1 word has 3 of one letter repeated, e.g. <FONT color=#008000>groggy</FONT> (after the fact, we discovered that there is an alternate word that has exactly the same letters, but slightly rearranged; either word is acceptable. Someday we'll be professionals, but we're not there yet.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>5 words have 2 of one letter repeated, and 2 of another repeated, e.g., <FONT color=#008000>tactics</FONT>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The remaining 11 words all have one letter that is repeated, e.g. <FONT color=#008000>furry</FONT>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We hope that, if you decide to solve the word cube, you derive some enjoyment from it; that is, at end, the reason we're here.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Happy Sunday, happy solving, and</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<DIV id=tagsLocation class="tags"><BR/>Tags: <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/responsibilities" target=_blank rel=tag>responsibilities</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/puzzles" target=_blank rel=tag>puzzles</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/pros" target=_blank rel=tag>pros</A></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-41503823772643703652007-02-21T16:12:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.580-07:00Shameful and Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Many of you may have already heard something about the recent Washington Post series of articles, written by Dana Priest and Anne Hull, detailing the living conditions at some of the facilities at Walter Reed Hospital. Many of the young women and men who have honorably served in Iraq and Afghanistan and been severely wounded and/or traumatized are treated and, after their treatment, warehoused there.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>If you would like to read the complete series, here are the links.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html</FONT></A><BR/><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701314.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701314.html</FONT></A><BR/><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335.html</FONT></A><BR/><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901113.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021901113.html</FONT></A><BR/><A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900759.html"><FONT face=Arial size=2>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900759.html</FONT></A></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We have ourselves, for reasons that some of you know, experienced a variety of conditions in regard to medical facilities, but even in some of the oldest buildings, we have never encountered conditions like this. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This is no way to treat young men and women who have accepted the challenge to fight for our country, and sacrificed something of themselves in the process. Please write an email to your congressional representatives, informing them that their inaction in regard to our injured servicepeople is simply unconscionable.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Thank you.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the answer for the first cryptocrostic.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/Cryptocrostic1answer.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>A short note - I began to tidy up this answer grid, aligning the letters so that it would look neat. If the original puzzle ever gets published in something other than this journal, I suppose I will have to do that. Until then, <EM>pfft</EM>. You can read it, right?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>
<DIV class=tags id=tagsLocation><BR/>Tags: <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/veterans" target=_blank rel=tag>veterans</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/medical+facility+conditions" target=_blank rel=tag>medical facility conditions</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/reportage" target=_blank rel=tag>reportage</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/neatness" target=_blank rel=tag>neatness</A></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-16302954323640071622007-02-19T23:59:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.580-07:00Take Your Pick Part 2<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>First, I wish to correct a possible misimpression that I may have unintentionally left in the previous entry. When I mentioned that Bonnie’s command center is the couch, I was stating the truth, but a little amplification may be in order. </P>
<P>When we used to work at the unexceptional bookbindery, we operated literally as a team. Having attained a measure of seniority and autonomy, we were free to arrange our workspace to our own satisfaction and to assign roles to ourselves that most efficiently accomplished tasks that needed doing. We have continued this practice in retirement, and the way matters have naturally ordered themselves is that I, who had performed the majority of computer tasks at work, am the one who fulfills the same function at home. Bonnie, on the other hand, takes care of any matter requiring paperwork, and she has surrounded herself with all the paraphernalia of an office, including clerical appurtenances and the telephone (there is good reason for this - when speaking on the phone, Bonnie’s voice bears a strong resemblance to that of Marilyn Monroe, while mine more closely resembles Andy Devine - ergo, Bonnie is the one who deals with any callers or people who require calls); consequently, it truly is her workstation, with the added advantage of a television, something the bindery would not have allowed. </P>
<P>(Because we are together 24 hours a day, we, as do most couples, prefer that we not spend every minute cheek by jowl, hence I have set up my workstation at the kitchen table, where we are in voice contact but are not constantly tripping over each other.)</P>
<P>The evening vignette (shuttling between the bedroom and the living room):</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Honey, do you still have your answer from the Sunday paper sudoku?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Ummm .... yes. Are you working on it?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Trying ... the box in the upper left-hand block - is that a 9?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Yes."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Thank you."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>Minutes later ...</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Honey, the number under the 9 - is that a 6?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Yes!"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>More minutes later (once more coming up the hall) ...</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Heeeelllllp meeeeee ... heeeeeelllllp meeeeeee ..."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Uh-oh."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"In the center left-hand block going down, is it 5-2-3 or 2-5-3?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>(I’m getting desperate when I guess more than one number at a time ...)</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"It’s 5-2-3."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Thank you."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>Still more minutes later ...</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>(I must sound like a train passing through a tunnel ...)</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"In the center left-hand block again, is it 6-1-4 going down?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"No."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Then it’s 6-4-1."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Yes."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Thank you."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>Half an hour later, Bonnie peeks in to see if I need anything.</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"How’s the puzzle going?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Finally finished the damn thing. That sucked."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>One would think, being a nominal puzzle constructor, I could do better than that. Then again, I too could put twenty letters in a sudoku and make it seem unsolvable, unless one wants to spend days trying out the various combinations. At least when we construct a puzzle, we are fair about it.</P>
<P>We will sign off with a couple of exceedingly gratuitous jokes. This format is a blatant swipe from Late Night with David Letterman, and for all we know this may have been an actual joke used on the show, but if so we have forgotten. Anyway ...</P>
<P>How cold was it today? It was so cold our local squirrel was using a hotplate to keep his nuts warm! Thank yoooooooooouuuuuu!</P>
<P>And -</P>
<P>It was so cold today that we spotted a vagrant using a bun warmer to ...</P>
<P>Okay, you get the picture. We need say no more.</P>
<P>Peace.</P>
<P>Bonnie and Walt</P></FONT>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-85628392314251064832007-02-19T06:05:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.580-07:00Take Your Pick<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>(Vignettes of Family Life)</P>
<P>(Come Sit with Us Awhile)</P>
<P>(At Home with the Motts)</P>
<P>I’m feeling a bit older this morning, unsurprising in light of the milestone that passed yesterday (thank you, one and all, for the birthday wishes; they put a lopsided grin on this old man's face), and also a mite crotchety. (No, I do not have mites in my crotch.) I have found that an antidote to this state of affairs is to do a bit of self-examination and observation. Here is a rare and intimate look into our ordinary life.</P>
<P>It’s early; we got a good sleep during the night, but on this day we are both awake around 6 a.m. After our waking-up routines (draining the dregs of the coffee and tea in our cups and lighting that first cigarette of the day) we begin to get active. Bonnie settles in at her command center (the couch) and I stay in bed awhile, waiting for my legs to recognize that they will be required to function for at least one more day. Finally giving in to the importunities of a dry and scratchy throat, I reluctantly rise and shuffle up the hall, peering into my coffee cup at an extremely disconsolate-looking slice of lemon (one of my idiosyncracies consists of drinking tea from a coffee cup.)</P>
<P>Reaching the kitchen, I navigate toward the tap, still searching for meaning in the remains of that sorry-looking lemon butt. Finding none, I upend the cup, allowing the slice to drop into the grounds bucket, its final, ignominious resting place. I am at this point running on autopilot, so I remove the small wad of paper towel blocking the drain (we have had the water on trickle these last few days due to the low temperatures, and we both detest the sound of the resultant gurgle) and begin to fill the cup with water.</P>
<P>(Conversation will be rendered in emerald for Bonnie, and amethyst for myself)</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"I made coffee."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Oh, thank you, hon."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>The cup is now full. I pause by the refrigerator, reach up and snag a teabag from the box. (I DID see the coffee on the way to the sink. It just didn’t really register.) The bag goes into the cup, the cup goes into the microwave.</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Did you hear me, hon? I made coffee."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Yes, thanks. I’ll have some after I finish the tea. I’m not awake yet."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>Bee. Bee. Beeeeeeeeeee.</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Oh, it’s time for your pills. Did you want some cold milk to go with them, or are you going to take them with that hot tea?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Cold milk, please. This tea is a little TOO hot."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>..........................................................................</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Wow. I can really tell the difference between the Upstate milk and Wegmans milk."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Which do you like better?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Oh, the Upstate milk, of course, but it is $.60 more than Wegmans’ milk, and Wegmans’ milk is quite acceptable."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Upstate Farms has happy cows." </P>
<P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>(If you haven’t seen the commercials put out by the California Cheese Association, you probably won’t know to what this refers.)</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Yeah, they must. The only milk I really don’t care for is Tops’ milk, when it has that musty flavor."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#008000 size=4>
<P>"Tops has unhappy cows."</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#6000c0 size=4>
<P>"Yeah, well, why should their cows be any different than their cashiers?"</P></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#000080 size=4>
<P>Aren’t you glad you don’t live with us?</P>
<P>Peace.</P>
<P>Bonnie and Walt</P></FONT>
<DIV id=tagsLocation class="tags"><BR/>Tags: <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/family" target=_blank rel=tag>family</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/lemons" target=_blank rel=tag>lemons</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/milk" target=_blank rel=tag>milk</A>, <A href="http://technorati.com/tag/cows" target=_blank rel=tag>cows</A></DIV>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-48654817231740959822007-02-18T12:03:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.580-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Whenever we open this page, we feel that we ought have something profound and earth-shattering to impart - </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>But -</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>As Bonnie so cogently puts it, "It's your birthday. You don't HAVE to think!"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>I like the way she thinks.</FONT></P></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Ah, hell, at least we have puzzles.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/CityState1.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>So- this is the first of a series of sudokus that we have designated the CityState series, because each puzzle, on the diagonal (of course), features a 7-letter city and the two letters of the state. At the moment, we have 50 puzzles in the series, one city from each state. (Thank you, Mapquest, for making our job so much easier.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We're not sure yet whether we'll continue to alternate puzzle types or run a string - we guess you'll just have to wait and see.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>*Sigh* I keep forgetting the ratings. I'll never be a professional. Bonnie has given this puzzle a rating of **.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-21436266518488535122007-02-14T15:07:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.581-07:00Happy Valentine's Day and Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000 size=4>HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>In microcosm, a marriage is a lot like relationships between nations - amity requires discussion, negotiation, compromise, and sometimes sacrifice.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We thought we'd toss that in for <A href="http://www.google.com/accounts/VE?service=blogger&c=628152600403309558&hl=en">Jeff</A>, the subject of today's puzzle answer, who has recently embarked upon the ship named the <EM>Institution</EM>.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/puzzle+23+Jeff.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-33418720891526723542007-02-11T18:50:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.581-07:00The Night the Music Lived<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie has always been the music aficionado in the family; up until this century, music has often formed the background of our life together, but I left it to Bonnie to keep up with the particulars of this topic, while I allocated my attention to other topics that Bonnie might not show great interest in. In this way, we have both acquired a good education in a wide range of topics, as our interests have tended to bleed one into the other, and we both are enriched thereby.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>In 2003, the <A href="http://www.dixiechicks.com/">Dixie Chicks</A> were reviled for daring to speak out against George Bush and his war. They suffered through many attacks upon their patriotism, spewed out by people who demonstrated some ignorance of what patriotism truly is.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Tonight, they won a <A href="http://grammy.com/">Grammy</A> for best country album <U>and</U> album of the year- <EM>Not Ready to Make Nice</EM>. Rock on, Chicks, and let people know that the music never forgets.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4><A href="http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com/">Gnarls Barkley</A> is <EM>Crazy</EM> like us, and we love it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4> </FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-4817993211999861622007-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.581-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Ah, marvelous Sunday! It's very quiet here now; the only sounds are those of the furnace soughing away and the infrequent small squabbles occasioned by a particularly choice nutmeat (and the omnipresent squeal of the exercise wheel.) Bonnie has gone out to the store and the library to pick up a few things, and here I am trying to decide what puzzle to place in this space. Lisa has expressed a preference for a word search, and since we have constructed some but never posted any, this may be a good time.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/forLeAnn.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>A short explanation about this word search (and word searches in general) - this puzzle was created for the father of a friend, and I asked her to offer themes of interest to him, so instead of a single theme, there are six; all of the themes are included as search terms (e.g., country music.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Word searches, we have found, are the most time-consuming and tedious puzzles to construct. I will not go into all the reasons why; the best way to discover that for yourself is to try to construct one. Nevertheless, they do represent a challenge, and we have discovered that word searches are a quite popular type of puzzle, perhaps because all the information necessary to solve the puzzle is included, and because most people do enjoy a scavenger hunt. We have constructed a few and probably will continue to do so when the mood strikes, when we have found a sufficiently entertaining or informational theme. At any rate, we hope that you enjoy this one.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>I just had to edit <A href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070211/NEWS01/702120301/1002/NEWS">this</A> in - different town, different bay, different idiots - same outcome. When will they ever learn?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-6144763620278827112007-02-09T10:20:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.581-07:00This is Rochester<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We first inserted a quick bit about this in Wednesday's entry, but we were unaccountably fascinated by the whole sorry saga, so we thought we'd include the followups today. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The first full-fledged article was in Wednesday's print and online edition of the Democrat and Chronicle, which you can read <A href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070207/NEWS01/702070332/-1/archive2">here</A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>This article is particularly notable for the quote </FONT><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>"Vehicles do not belong in the bay." The gentleman from the DEC has a keen grasp of the obvious, and owes his job, no doubt, to political patronage.</FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>Thursday's edition featured <A href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/NEWS01/70208008/-1/archive1">this article</A>.</FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>Today's edition has <A href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NEWS01/702090356/1002/NEWS">this article</A>, which largely reprints Thursday's material but does reveal the estimated cost to Mr. Newberry, who has presumably learned a valuable lesson (vehicles do not belong in the bay.)</FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>Peace.</FONT></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT color=#0000a0><FONT face=Verdana size=4>Bonnie and Walt<BR/></P></FONT></FONT></FONT>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-90286417143072678632007-02-06T20:32:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.582-07:00Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>First, we'd like to thank two of our good friends for some items that they sent us - Debra for a sampler selection of teas that we had not tried, and which were uniformly quite good; and Kathy, for the Anyday Card and the small-town news publication that is always so much more interesting than ours. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Next, a gratuitous <A href="http://whec.com/index.asp?template=item&story_id=21463">selection</A> for our This is Rochester series - it is, we think, fairly typical of certain people who live near substantial bodies of water, but Rochester does seem to possess more than its share of them.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Lastly, here is the answer for the Jan. 20th sudoku -</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/puzzle+22+Mark.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-46602510892767950812007-02-04T05:01:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.582-07:00Our Weekly Sunday Puzzle Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>This is a little exciting for us, it's been a long time since we put anything but a sudoku on this page. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>There is a weekly publication issued by the Democrat & Chronicle titled <EM>The Insider</EM>; it is free and aimed at a young crowd, with lots of glitzy colored pictures and replete with articles, comics and puzzles. The person who provides the puzzles is a nationally recognized constructor named Matt Jones; he offers two puzzles per issue, one a crossword and one a quasi-sudoku. If you want to know more about Mr. Jones, you can check out some of his stuff <A href="http://thephoenix.com/HomeEntertainment/SubSection.aspx?id=207">here</A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We have freely borrowed a particular puzzle concept from him; we have no idea whether it originated with him, or if he borrowed it from somewhere else (we know that he borrowed at least one of his puzzle types from elsewhere; we used to solve that type in Dell Publications, lo those many years ago.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Anyway, Bonnie took a decided liking to this particular style of puzzle, so I took it upon myself to try constructing some, to tide her through those dry periods when the provided puzzles were uninteresting to her. As long as they exist, we may as well share them, so here is the first in an occasional series that we have chosen to call Cryptocrostics.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/Cryptocrostic1.jpg"/> </P>
<P> <FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We have chosen to call them Cryptocrostics because they are solved somewhat in the manner of a cryptogram, and the grid is reminiscent of an acrostic.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>The solving rules are:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>All 26 letters of the alphabet are included in the puzzle, and each letter is represented by a number, always by the same number - i.e., if 17 represents A, it will represent A throughout the puzzle. As in cryptograms, the number assignation is random (if 17 = A, it does not necessarily follow that 18 = B.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Because I am still a novice at constructing these, I have taken it upon myself to relax the rules a bit - you will run into an occasional capitalized word, such as a name or city, and I have included a hyphenated word in one puzzle so far (not this one.)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>To solve, you will need to look at the puzzle as you would at a cryptogram - look for frequency of letters, letter placement, at the ending letter of longer words (e.g., few long words end in U), such things as recurring prefixes and suffixes - as a solving tip, you will see that the long horizontal words at the top and bottom share a prefix and a suffix, and the long vertical word just right of the central line has four of the same letter, two of them together. As a further tip, you will find two proper names in this puzzle. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>For sources delineating letter frequency, you can visit <A href="http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/frequencyanalysis.html">here</A>, <A href="http://www.rinkworks.com/words/letterfreq.shtml">here</A>, and <A href="http://deafandblind.com/word_frequency.htm">here</A>.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We certainly hope that you enjoy solving this type of puzzle; if not, feel free to let us know, and if we get enough thumbs down, we'll stop publishing them. Happy solving!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-56367370643487782052007-02-02T04:44:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.582-07:00February 2nd<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Attention, government officials of small towns across America! Is your local economy in the tank? Are you worrying about how to keep that last gas station and tavern open? Are the last hundred people in town packing to leave? Fret no more!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>It's "Hoist-A-Small-Animal-Into-The-Air" Day! What better way to attract hordes of cash-waving tourists to your desperately poor region than by hauling some shy, hibernating creature from its comfy den and exposing it to the pitiless light of day? Punxsutawney did it; you can too!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Remember, hoist a small animal into the air today!</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/bunny.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Oh, yes, don't forget to alert the major media, or you won't have the chance of frost in Hell.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-6967021472894595392007-01-31T16:04:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.582-07:00Molly Ivins - 1944 - 2007<P><IMG src="http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/voleman/molly.jpg"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#040080 size=4>We loved you and your work, Molly. Where you now are, may you carry on in the spirit that you always have, pointing out that which requires change.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#040080 size=4>Peace forever.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#040080 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-2422689666530929512007-01-31T09:44:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.583-07:00Molly Ivins, and Our Weekly Wednesday Answer Page<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>It was with a sense of deep sadness that we heard news on the <A href="http://www.stephaniemiller.com/">Stephanie Miller show</A> this morning of the possibility that one of our favorite columnists, <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Ivins">Molly Ivins</A>, is losing her long battle with cancer. The <A href="http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IVINS_CANCER?SITE=MYPSP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">latest news</A> that we can find on the net is five days old, and did not quite convey the seriousness of her condition. This morning's news makes it seem likely that she is soon to pass to a better place.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>If it is Molly's time to go, we wish her well on her journey. If there is a chance that she may yet survive her latest struggle, we send our prayers her way, in hopes that she may yet be with us for a while.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Here is the answer to the Jan. 14th sudoku.</FONT></P>
<P><IMG src="http://hometown.aol.com/B4i8clover/puzzle+21+Mary.bmp"/></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6825922717886711572.post-1826171241191974562007-01-29T09:01:00.000-08:002008-10-28T11:59:03.583-07:00This is Rochester<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>We are incapable of making <A href="http://whec.com/index.asp?template=item&story_id=21361">this stuff</A> up, so we'll just share it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Peace.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000a0 size=4>Bonnie and Walt</FONT></P>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2