Monthly Archives: October 2010

Saturday night – Jonesville Free Library

Ahhhhhh.. I took the day off.. and really needed to..   I slept late (7 AM).
puttered around the house for a it (Diane was out helping friend Maureen move)..
I the wandered out and cleaned my lab.. It had gotten into an amazingly bad state over the past 3 weeks. I have the tesla coil build going, some stuff for the Haunted Forest pumpkin and a huge mess for various Halloween costumes. Cleaning the lab is like uncluttering my mind.. putting back all the components, tools and instruments back into their places is strangely soothing..

The clean workbench inspired me to finally debug our broken invisible fence.. We’d noticed the dogs getting dangerously close to the road.. I started by checking the wire continuity with an AM radio.. it’s a neat trick.. you can actually ‘hear’ the fence underground as you move the radio over it.. No breaks… hmmmm… I checked the loop with an ohmeter and confirmed it was connected.. so.. I took the whole unit apart..  After a bit of snooping, I found the culprit.. a 50 cent high voltage suppressor had blown and shorted.. I popped it out and the unit started right up.. (need to order a replacement) .. Very strange.. the only thing I can figure that might have done that was a lightening strike to the house.. our lightning rod ground goes right next to one of the lead wires to the fence loop..   pretty cool.. no ?

I managed to get in some more goofing around.. some meditating, a nap and a run..  I felt rejuvenated.. which I really need because I have such a busy week coming up.

Later in the afternoon, Diane and I walked over to visit neighbors Bob and Amanda.. You can always recognize Bob as he drives his orange truck.. I was tickled to see he’d decorated it with a pumpkin face.

Bob had been cleaning out his old house and his mothers old house.. so he had some cool stuff to show us.. like this old sign they used t to advertise all night barn dances in their barn. It’s on the ack of a very old map of Vermont.

He’d found an old teachers desk that he figures must have been from our house at some point.

He also had found a bunch of old books.. including a nice

collection of urns poems.. all form the ‘Jonesville Free Library’.. which we

just learned today was in the room we now use as a mudroom. How cool is that

?!?! How often do you learn a new fact about the house you’ve owned for nearly

30 years ?

It was great visiting with Bob and Amanda.. and checking out their new house.. They’re trying to sell Bob’s mom’s house right next store.. it’s a nice old place if anyone is interested in a real Vermont farmhouse.  Here’s a mid-late 19th century map of our neighborhood..  Bob’s mom hous is labeled ‘S. Coly’  We’re the ‘Jonesville Academy’

Now.. just sitting around trying to figure out if we feel like going out for a Halloween party. .. or just staying here.. both sound fun..

Mmmm.. diane just pulled some cupcakes out of the oven.. one even looks liek a ghost.. maybe that means we should go to the party ?

OK.. that’s all for now..  more tomorrow..
Happy all hallow’s eve-eve

nite all, nite sam
-me

Friday night – TGIF…

So, so , so glad it’s Friday.. I was running out of energy y the end of this week. This time of year is always really busy.. this year it seems busier than ever. I’ve got lots of stuff coming up next weeks.. a trip, and three talks.. and 2 other places I’m supposed to be..

Its nice not to think about that on a friday night…

not thinking, not thinking, not thinking

Today was costume day at MMU.. so Diane re-inked lil’ wayne for breakfast.


..

Then.. dinner at Tim and Jen’s.. Peggy was ack in town..   Betsy and Fritz were there for awhile before their 11PM bus to the Jon Stewart/Stephen Cobert march in DC

Is it me.. or do these slices of bread look like rabbits ?

Afterwords a dumb movie an samstones.. nice !

simple post for a complex day..
have a nice start of your weekend friends

nite all, nite sam
-me

Thursday night – all at once

OMG.. today started fast.. and sped up through the day. By the end of the day, everything was happening all at once. phones, emails, txt messages, thoughts, people walking by, everything.  I could hardly breathe.. let alone think.. but in all that swirl I kept realizing that I was strangely calm and happy.. the crazy pace only made everything feel more surreal and exhilarating
I collected today..
I’m home now.. nearly 11PM and trying to unwind..

I can’t really describe my day.. I’ll just give three samples of stuff 

First, my friend Arash sent me pictured from our first SamStone placements in Iran..
These are from the abek Citadel



Then  my friend Vlad from the Colony sent us all pictures from our old home at 615 Anderson in LA.. man.. that brought back memories

Finally.. my young new friend Christopher’s mother sent me pictures of his Halloween costume.. now.. who could this be ? !

what and honor when someone chooses you as a Halloween costume !

Gotta sleep now.. or my head will explode !

nite all.. nite Sam !
-me

Wednesday night – RIP Bruno Pileggi

Yesterday I received word that our friends Larry. Leah and Hannah’s   Italian greyhound Bruno passed away 1 day short of his 16th birthday. This dog had really had an amazingly long and happy life. Somehow.. that never makes saying goodbye any easier. I remmebr this dog used to bark his head off whenever I came in to their house in Pittsburgh..   it used to be a running joke that he’d only bark at me..

I spoke with Larry. leah and Hannah yesterday.. they’re all hurting. We talked about societies expectations about how we’re supposed to deal with loss.. and the differences we’re supposed to feel between pets and people.. I think love is love

Here’s the note that Leah sent out yesterday.. I was really touched by her request at the end that we all hug our furry friends in Bruno’s honor. I hope she doesn’t mind me passing that along:

Dear friends and family,
 
Just one day short of his 16th birthday, our loyal companion Bruno passed away with the help of the vet who has taken care of him for most of his life. Officially registered as Bruno Pileggi with the American Kennel Association, he was the fourth member of our family for as long as any of us can remember.
 
In memory of Bruno, pass along a hug to one of your own warm, fuzzy friends.
 
Larry, Leah and Hannah

Goodbye Bruno.. you will be missed …

nite all.. nite sam
-me