Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2012-45

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Carol Hansen tells about their experiences during the recent hurricane
• We get letters from Anne Rahamut, Jean Sterling, and Nevil Horsfall
• Carol Dilworth is having problems with a giant jigsaw
• Here, again, is "In Flanders Fields"
• The editor is still wrestling with her demon cold
• Sites are recommended by Bruce Galway, Carol Dilworth, Shirley Conlon, and Zvonko Springer

Carol Hansen describes how they coped with

HURRICANE SANDY

We were luckier than many here on Long Island, so I´m not complaining, but we had been without power since Monday the 29th about 3:00 p.m. We have just got power back at 5:15 November 6th. I turned on the computer and there were 765 messages, most of which could be deleted. So this is just a line to let you know I´m back. We´ve been cold but managed. Had hot water all the while and I could cook on the gas stove burners. Our el cheapo cell phone was practically useless.

We had no property damage and no flooding. Yes, we were nearly nine days without power, so had no landline phone, no computer, and no TV, thanks to a tree that came down at the end of our block, taking the wires and utility pole with it. We kept warm with heavy clothes and lots of blankets on the bed.

Many here have lost their homes and everything in them; 20,000 or so are now homeless.

Our car is in the shop, so we were pretty isolated, though son Rich (only 35 miles away) was here (despite being low on gasoline), and our next door neighbours took us food shopping Sunday morning, but of course, there was not much we could buy, thanks to no freezer or fridge. All that food had to go. I now have the cleanest fridge and freezer I´ve ever had!

Son Bob in Binghamton area (250 miles north of us) keeps in touch with one of his college roommates who lives in the town next to us, so he and his wife were here and very helpful, too.

Dennis was out walking around the neighbourhood watching repairs being done and spent some time meeting new neighbours and running into old ones. He enjoyed that aspect of it all. Everyone was helpful and pleasant. It´s never been an overly social neighbourhood, but see how things can change when there is a shared problem!

We are still experiencing a gas shortage. Starting tomorrow we can only get gas on even days if our license plate ends in an even number, odd days if it ends in an odd number.

BTW, there are still some homeowners without power. So as I say, we were lucky! Some homes on the South Shore of Long Island have been demolished; people have lost everything. And there were some deaths, too.

Now today I woke up to snow, thanks to the Nor´easter that hit yesterday. 23 degrees here last night, 30 degrees this morning. But temperatures were rising and the snow melted ... and tomorrow we should get into the 50s.

CORRESPONDENCE

Anne Rahamut comments on the piece "Some great things about getting older" in last week´s issue: I´d like to add my elderly distant cousin´s comments on his advancing age: "Well, we don´t buy any green bananas."

Jean Sterling writes: I enjoyed reading "Colour Blind" in the last issue. I used to teach homebound kids and sometimes went into black neighbourhoods. I found them to be very neighbourly. Sometimes when I was leaving, a neighbour would come over and ask me how the child was doing health-wise. I was accepted and welcomed.

Nevil Horsfall warns: Windows 7 Antivirus Pro 2013 is a bogus program available on the web and now causing problems. It is NOT an antivirus program, and will in fact seriously infect your computer operating system. If you have any doubt about this, see http://tinyurl.com/cqr2do5, which shows what must be done to recover from this malware.

Carol Dilworth describes a

JIGSAW PUZZLE PROBLEM

I´m assembling a 1,500 piece jigsaw puzzle that is defective.

The border went together fairly quickly but I struggled with the final three pieces. Over and over I looked for my error.

And there was a piece missing. One of my cats likes to supervise, and sometimes he helps by moving pieces to under the stove and fridge, so I wasn´t concerned.

It was amazing luck that one of the extra pieces turned out to be part of the artist´s signature, which was already complete. From there, it was easy to determine that the other leftovers were also duplicates.

So, find the bill. It never occurred to me that I would need it after removing the shrink wrap. Fortunately I have to sort the garbage into wet and dry, so the pieces were still clean.

I photographed the border, the puzzle box, and the bill, and contacted the European manufacturer to ask what to do next. They told me to deal with the local vendor. A former employee of the local vendor told me that the manager would have to see the puzzle assembled to prove a defect.

So I have taken up the challenge. To date I´ve matched 535 pieces. This was already a challenging puzzle. It´s a painting rather than a photograph, so the artist has lots of licence over colour choice and placement. The colours are variations of white, brown, and black, with a modicum of green vegetation. The background is monochromatic, with areas differentiated by the degree of mottling.

I plan to slide the finished puzzle onto a board and carry it into the store. If they only offer to replace the exact puzzle, I shall be quite annoyed.

Click on any image to enlarge

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

FROM THE EDITOR´S DESKTOP

My heartfelt thanks to all who wrote to commiserate with me on my common cold, which I was, and am, making a big deal of. I have been out only once since I caught it, to the library, because I had read all the books I had and was desperate for more. That short excursion showed me that I am not yet ready to get back into circulation, even if people would forgive me for coughing and blowing in their vicinity. A remark that my long-time friend Shirley Conlon had had a bad cold for five weeks did nothing for my hopes of kicking this thing in a hurry.

Again, this newsletter is short because I have not been able to work up any enthusiasm for editing and compiling enough material to make up the usual length. Perhaps next week ... or the next... .

On another note, there was ice on the library roof this morning, but in the library garden there were rhododendrons in bloom! Don´t they know it´s almost winter? Perhaps the sunshine has fooled them into thinking that spring has already arrived, or maybe they are just another indication of the weird weather brought on by climate change. Whatever, I enjoyed their bold defiance of the weather.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Bruce Galway forwards this link to a site that calculates how many years you have left. Bruce evidently was predicted to live to 94, but he was planning on shaving off his beard at 96!

Carol Dilworth recommends recordings of Moby Dick, with a different reader for each chapter, and one chapter a day being posted. She writes: The quality of the readings is high but varies, as do the accents, so I find it helpful to have the book handy in case I miss a few words. I am amazed at how much I am enjoying this. I´ve started to read ahead because I can´t wait to find out what happens next. Follow along with the text or just relax and listen. You can begin this at any time:

Judith English sends this link to a video of a seven-year-old girl, accompanied by a friend, reciting a poem:

Shirley Conlon writes: With a cat´s normal aversion to water, it is surprising that it would enjoy being on a small boat, offshore with his owners, particularly hanging around the boat´s edge where he could easily fall into the ocean. In this case, however, the cat´s natural curiosity wins out as he has discovered dolphins alongside the boat, something he´s never seen before. The cat is fascinated with the dolphins and they with it. They are just as curious and fascinated as the cat:

Zvonko Springer forwards this link to a video of a woman doing a job that few would want: feeding sharks:

For an eclectic collection of photos, go to

Here it is again, for Remembrance Day, "A Pittance of Time":

In case you missed Rick Mercer´s rant on the proposed trade treaty with China, which has never been discussed or debated in Parliament and only recently became public knowledge, go to

To check out the features of the "freedictionary", which changes daily, go to