LOST WEEKEND

This was a looked forward to weekend; but in some ways this weekend would be forgotten. The best part of it though was that I had my daughter and son-in-law from Roanoke Virginia and their daughter my granddaughter and husband and two children Casey and Sydney from Ohio visiting. More about that later.

The low point of this past weekend was a saga of Epson and FedEx. To start; we have to go back about three weeks when my Epson printer began to decide it had no ink. That did not matter whether there were 4 full or almost empty cartridges, it would not recognize the cartridges and would not work. Epson technical support could not correct the problem and sent me a replacement printer.

Enter FedEx; three days later I had a call from a resident several blocks away who informed me that he had a package for me which FedEx had left at his house. This gentleman very kindly brought it to my house instead of asking me to come and pick it up.

Since the old printer had to be returned by FedEx, I arranged to have it picked up the next day. Midafternoon of that day I had a telephone call; the FedEx driver wanted to know where I lived since the address he had been given did not exist.

The new printer worked fine until last weekend when I had to copy something. This was the first time I had used the copy function. Half the sheet was solid black. No matter what I tried I could not correct that problem so once again technical support failed and I was sent another printer and having to return the defective one.

I was very happy with the delivery two days later, and repacked  the old one for return. On Thursday I arranged for FedEx to pick up the return box on Friday. I checked the PRP number with the agent to be sure was correct and waited until 6 PM  for the pickup. When I called FedEx after going through the computer rigmarole I finally got a human being who informed me that they had no record of that reference number or for any pickup.

I was given a new PRP number and told I would have the pickup on Saturday. Sure enough on Saturday about 1 PM the FedEx driver rang the doorbell and when I showed him the one box to go he remarked that he was supposed to pick up two boxes.

He was a little bit surly when I insisted that there was only one box to be returned. After he left I decided everything was ok. However after I returned from our family dinner that evening, I had a call message waiting from FedEx that the driver had stopped here in 5:45 PM and nobody answered the bell so that they would try to pick up the package again on Tuesday.

Of course there is nobody in FedEx when I tried to contact the saga will continue today. As of 11 am the callback FedEx number I was left with is not a working number; of the other two I have one states that leave only voice mail, and the second goes to a computer with no workable options.

In my company consisted of three quarters of the Oh Hellers.

However, in we had a substitute fifth in Sheldon a.k.a. Casey who will be thirteen Labor Day weekend filled the fifth spot as an “intern”. With a degree of coaching from his father he won that game.

Sad to say I had never held the type cards that landed in my hands that night. Winners were losers and losers were winners. The net result that out of the 10 deals in which on  the first hand in second bidding position 

I was afraid that my bid of 3 tricks was an under bid which it turned out to be. I won my bid only twice. In each of the other 7 hands I was a victim of circumstances that I could not control.

The next game the next day I did better but nothing to be proud of. The last game I was a close first loser (2nd place) with the “always holding the trump ace” shotgun in place of the intern.

Next chance for redemption will be in December during the Christmas/New Year’s holidays.

In truth the visit was enjoyable and too short, but the Ohians have to work.

HAPPENSTANCE

Not only is this a summer weekend, but I do have family for two days. However this will be a brief exception to the summer weekend hiatus.

I have requested a “concise” copy of the Mayor’s Administration’s Thursday night reports and when received will post for the benefit of those who like me missed the meeting.

Of personal interest; Theodore Van Kirk age 93 died last Monday. He was the navigator and the last survivor of the Enola Gay crew, the plane that dropped the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The result was some 80000 deaths and it and the following bomb ended the war.

My relationship was an indirect one; but for what was then a fortunate happenstance could have been a direct lifesaving one.

My division was in France being disbanded and its personnel transferred. I was told one morning that my orders were on the Colonel’s desk, transferring me to the 82nd which was going to be the occupation force in Berlin.

I picked up my orders was driven to Epinal and signed into the division being assigned to the 176th Parachute Artillery Battalion. I then went back to pick up my stuff and upon arrival was told they were looking for me because new orders had come down transferring me to The First Airborne Wing which was to make the initial landing (drop) in Japan.

After I informed them that I was no longer part of their command they took another medical officer; who was on his way to the Pacific when the bomb was dropped.

Just imagine what the casualty rate would have been in an airborne invasion of the home islands. In the four in Europe the troops were decimated.

ABOUT MEETING

From Olive Lynch; a report.

My takeaway from the meeting:

1. Plainfield's financial house is being put in order. A forensic accounting is in the works. A settlement has been reached with Monarch.

2. Economic development appears to be primarily focused on building retail/apartments.

3. The street situation is a mess. There were monies to fix streets, no one appears to know the real status on when/where things will be done. Mayor Mapp said they had to deternine Plainfield's debt-carrying capacity for more repair borrowing. But, no one answered about the monies already borrowed for work that has not been done, or the priorities that were set and funds allocated from years ago.

4. They have requests out for resumes for Director of Public Works, Inspection Director. They will close them shortly, start interviews.

5. Health Inspections -- I think I heard 96 establishments have been inspected. They are hiring another part-time person. A commitment was made by spring to have every food facility inspected.

6. Communication. Mayor Mapp is setting up different ways to 'get the word out' via email and phone on meetings and other important events. The website is going to be reworked and made more user friendly, with forms online.

7. Police -- I think director said there has been a significant reduction in violent crime in first 6 months. The division being certified. Nothing was said about Shotspotter. Police dept did a problem with kids that was successful.

8. Recreation. All the pools were opened on time. The open land resolution will be a referendum vote in Nov to primarily benefit recreation opportunities. I think I heard kids will be given an id card, so recreation can track use of the facilities/programs.

9. Muhlenberg. They have the draft report. It will get reviewed by government and a public meeting will be set up to present to citizens.

I'm sure I haven't mentioned everything.

The meeting was 1.5 hours long, with 1/2 hour for public comments.

The space was packed, people standing. Next time it should be where there is more room and parking. The sound system was horrible.



See also Robin's comment  to "OZ and GAZA"

OZ and GAZA

I was unable to find parking space as I had feared near the Senior Center and was forced to miss a meeting that I wanted to attend. Bernice was also unable to attend and when I checked David’s blog there was no mention of the meeting. Perhaps Dan will have an in depth account. If not we will have to wait until we can see the video.

I, too, would appreciate any comments that are not obviously biased about the meeting. I had a minimum of 10, some multiple, questions that I had hoped would be answered.

According to Councilwoman Willians; Councilors Taylor, Greaves, and Rivers did not attend the meeting.

If anyone has a signed detail report that they wish me to post as a “blog” I will gladly do so.

This is going to be another black tragic weekend in the Near East. The 72 hour “Humanitarian Cease Fire” agreed to by both Hamas and Israel was to start at 9:00 AM local time. At about 10:30 AM Hamas fighters emerged from a tunnel near Rafah, at the strip’s southern tip, killing two Israel soldiers and kidnapping a third.

In the ensuing firefight almost all of the Hamas militants were killed and in the subsequent Israel shelling response more than 30 Palestinians were killed.

Once again Hamas has shown its callous disregard for Gazans safety knowing that the world will condemn Israel and disregard not only Hamas’s use of civilians to shield their actions but that its word is dishonest.

The terms of the Truce permitted Israel to continue to destroy all the tunnels it had found.