May Greetings & April Wrap Up

Another busy April, not only the usual monthly newsletter daze but it's also the time to put together the town's annual report. My third. Also clogging things up has been the email traffic regarding the end of the town's newsletter. In an effort to cut expenses the selectmen removed the cost of publishing it from the next fiscal year's budget. The upcoming issue will be the last published, after which everything will go on the website. Should still keep me busy and will probably spread the work out over time.

On a more important note, my mother-in-law, Margaret, had a heart attack which led to bypass surgery. That went very well and she is taking physical therapy at the hospital then will convalesce at Lois' until she fully recovers and can return to her home.

Ian's time in New Zealand is winding down. Things there seem pretty low key now as he and the other students have final reports and presentations to finish up. He'll be returning home next Saturday. I think Taylor will be returning from Austria Monday or Tuesday.

Last Sunday Elaine, Lois, Jim, Carol and myself attended the USA vs Sweden National Hockey Teams exhibition game in Portland. Even better, IMHO, before the game we went out to dinner at Ri Ra's, an Irish pub and restaurant on Portland's waterfront. I had the Beef ‘N Guinness Pie and washed it down with... Surprise! A Guinness Stout. Beautifully poured with a perfect creamy foam head. Life is good.

The day before Carol and I attended our first double Eagle Court of Honor. A couple of Scouts from our Troop who are good friends had their event. As the Troop's advancements chairperson Carol presented them with their Eagle certificates. Nice ceremony.

Recent Netflix movies (rated 1 - 5): Meet the Robinsons-4; No Country for Old Men-4; Ronin-4; Beowulf-2; Wasabi-4; War-3.

Finished reading Iain Banks' Look to Windward. Quite interesting in the types of beings and the settings of the story. Good build up to the conclusion and some interesting scenarios though a rather passive ending and some parts left me confused wondering why they were even included in the storyline. Overall I'm glad I read it. I finished the Dec 2007 issue of Asimov's, another arrived in the mail and discovered I'd skipped the Sept 2007 issue, now I'm 7 issues behind and will not renew my subscription until I'm caught up. I'm going to start reading Neal Asher's The Skinner next while grabbing an occasional story out of that skipped issue of Asimov's.

In the midst of it all I did manage to squeeze in picking up the camper from storage.

So that's my quick wrap up of things to make up for not blogging for about 3 weeks. A few of the items deserved more attention but that's how it goes, better than not mentioning any of them at all.

Photos top to bottom: view of table where we sat which provided a view along a wharf area where some harbor fire department boats were docked; Elaine, Jim and Lois sitting across the table from Carol and myself; Carol, Lois and Elaine caught up in the excitement of the hockey game; my Guinness; Carol in front of the recently returned Coleman Caravan -- all pictures were taken with my cellphone camera.