Taking a Big Pine Tree Down

Updated Picture as of 12:30pm on Friday, Nov. 9- No more tree!

Tom hired our friend Shayne to trim our giant pine tree in the backyard. When Shayne began inspecting the tree, he noticed that the top half was rotted out as a result of insects. 
We're fortunate that the tree didn't come down during June 29th's Derecho wind event, or Hurricane Sandy on Sept. 29-30. So, instead of having the tree trimmed, Shayne and his crew started taking it down  on Thurs. Nov. 8.   Here are some photos taken during the tree cutting.

Remembering My Dad on His Birthday

  Today, Nov. 8, would've been my Dad's birthday. He would have been 85 today. He passed in 2008.
  As I wrote in this blog in 2009l I miss my Dad every day. I miss the letters he would write me every couple of weeks, filled with newspaper clippings, a superhero comic book or two that he would go out of his way to surprise me with, or other little things.

(PHOTO: One of my favorite pics of Dad and Mom, where Dad was laughing at something during opening presents at Christmas)

Dad's letters were filled with what he and Mom have done, who they met, where they went out to shop or eat, or how they were fixing the house. Dad always wrote about what was happening in my hometown in Mass., or talk about the weather, ask about Tom and the dogs, or tell me about the latest book he was reading and how good it was. I'm now reading many of his books, and that's how I'm remembering him on this day.
 
I've been fortunate enough to communicate with my dad many times since he passed. Dad's helped me find things, given me signs to calm my mother and shown me what life is like after our time on Earth. He's always here if I need him- all I have to do is call him, and that's a blessing. I think of dad in every comic book I read, every book I read, and every time I write something. He inspired me to read and write.  I still talk to my Dad and know he can hear me, and occasionally he talks back! :)   

Visit from Maureen and Ruthie : Part 2

Perfect sign for Ruthie and Maureen

More pictures from Maureen and Ruthie's brief visit before Hurricane Sandy chased them away! These are photos from our Ellicott City, Md. Day when we had lunch at Cacoa Lane and met our waiter, Anton who showed us his tattoo. We enjoyed walking through the shops and ghost hunting, too.

Ellicott City!

 

Tom's Not Listening!!

Tom's favorite shirt

An Emotional Election

Yesterday I took the day off (for the most part) and worked the polls during the election to support "Question 6"  Marriage Equality here in Maryland. The turnout was overwhelming.  The people supporting question 6 worked so hard for what straight residents take for granted, the legal protections of marriage.
  My experience at the polls was extremely emotional. I first went to a local Catholic church that was a polling place. The lines wrapped outside the church and around it. I met two great guys named Seth and Joe, both of whom have partners they wanted to marry legally, and both have been together for many years. I brought them both coffee and got to know them a little. Such passionate and caring men, who have both worked hard for the last couple of years for marriage equality.

A WACKY NASTY OPPONENT
The opposition was a woman about 45, who stood behind Seth outside. Seth handed people information about how Maryland's marriage law "protects" churches from marrying gay couples. The woman, whom Seth told me was a "crazy," was extremely out of her mind. I spoke with her briefly and she was hostile. I was really aggravated, and decided I couldn't work in that spot, besides Seth had it covered. The woman also BROKE THE LAW by harassing people in line to vote, to convince them to vote "no" on gay  marriage. The opposition didn't just stop there at breaking laws.
SIGN STEALING

I went to Bowie High School's voting place where I saw that the opposition removed and trashed (and hid) all of the "Vote Yes for Question 6" signs. That's Stealing. Further, I noticed that all of the signs FOR Democrats were also Stolen and apparently trashed somewhere. I checked the nearby dumpsters and they weren't there. When I asked someone at the polling place, they said a woman and other people went through earlier and stole all the Democrat's signs and pro-gay marriage signs, put them in their car, and replaced them with GOP candidate signs and anti-gay marriage signs.  That's STEALING. It's also childish, and NOT how the electoral process works.

AT THE POLLS
Tom met me at the polls at 9am and it took us 1 1/2 hours to vote. Our neighbors Paul and Christina were there in the morning when Tom and I voted and were wonderful and supportive.Tom returned to work and I returned to handing out literature explaining the gay marriage law vote. There were 5 others handing out literature. A 21 (Zoha) and 15 (Sabina) year old girl of Indian descent, supporting their relative, Raaheela for school board (whom I met before and was so impressed by).  There was a 31 year old African American man (a big guy, too) named Jonathan and woman, who was a friend of his, supporting the Casino question and all other questions, including 6 (for gay marriage).
  There was also a woman about 60 who was strongly opposed to gay marriage and she was Nasty. She was aggressive and stood at the corner of the sidewalk thrusting her "Vote No on 6" brochure at everyone and telling them "gay marriage is an abomination."
  She caught wind of me, and glared at me. She said that being gay is sick. I told her I was married to a man and wondered how it affected her. She couldn't answer. She said "marriage" is God's word, and shouldn't be associated with "the gays." I asked if she knew gay people and she said "no." I mentioned there are a lot of gay priests and was about to stop talking with her, when she said "all gay priests and gay people are pedophiles."
  The four others standing there handing out flyers were as horrified as I was. Jonathan and his female friend said "You can't say that!  You are so wrong!" The two younger ladies came over and apologized to me for that woman's comment.  Jonathan came over and gave me a hug. I was pretty shaken and the woman was nasty and heartless, so I kept my distance.
    There were a lot of wonderful experiences, though.  Later, Jonathan saw me shivering (I didn't have a warm enough coat or gloves) and he gave me an extra pair of gloves. What a wonderful act.
  Several of our neighbors voted and came out just after that woman's comment - which was SO hurtful. The hatred that woman had for me without even knowing me was really hurtful, and that's the hurt that gay people face with marriage opponents. It was hard not to tear up. My neighbors, Ann, Elvina, Melissa, DeeDee and Bill came out from voting - and all gave me a big hug. It was a much needed, and I'm so grateful for all of them.
   Most of the people that went it to vote walked by me and saw the "Vote Yes on 6" brochures and said "I support you," "it's ridiculous that we have to vote on a basic right," "everyone deserves marriage."  It was encouraging.
  I left and returned with a warmer coat and hat, and coffee for Jonathan and his friend, and hot chocolate for the two girls. They were all so appreciative, and they were a light in my life that day. I didn't bring the nasty woman anything. When I left for the final time, the girls, Jonathan and his friend all gave me big hugs. For the most part people were wonderful and supportive, unfortunately, the hateful ones somehow stick in your memory, too.
  Today, we woke up to find out the Maryland and Maine voted to give gay couples like us the ability to be legally married here, and protected. I can't explain what it feels like to be finally be embraced by the entire state you live in.

What is a Mormon? Watch this brief Banned Mormon Cartoon

This "religious" cartoon of the Mormon doctrine is on You Tube. It was produced by the Book of Mormon.   It's also one that no Mormon wants you to see. These people are a Cult, and Not Christians.  It says that Jesus and the Devil were brothers. Black people are denigrated as lower people. Elohim is the Mormon God from the PLANET "Kolob. Kolob is a star or planet described in Mormon scripture where the "Gods" reside. The Mormon Gods live and thrive on Planet Kolob with multiple wives. They say that the Mormon "God" Elohim came to earth with one of his "Wives" to become Adam and Eve.. THEN their "God" had sex with the "Virgin Mary" and gave birth to Jesus. *It says that Jesus had 3 WIVES and had many children and their "founder," wacky Joseph Smith from the late 1800s said he was a direct descendant of Jesus. There's more, but this reads like some Wacked-out, sick, twisted, religion-meets-science fiction story. Watch it yourself....

Good Dog - Election Day is Here

Thanks to our friend Jacquie for this pic of an intelligent dog

Ron Paul's Video About Mitt Romney

This is a video that Ron Paul's campaign put together about Mitt Romney and should be seen by all Republicans, Independent Voters and Democrats. This highlights the SAME reason why Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry lost the election in 2004, and should be the reason why Mitt Romney will lose this year's election. **IN addition, Any CHRISTIAN that votes for a Mormon is being unfaithful to their religious practices because Mormonism has been considered a cult since I went to a Catholic church in the 1960s. Watch the video and learn what Ron Paul uncovered:

Visit from Maureen and Ruthie : Part 1

Baltimore Ghost Walk

Life is filled with adventures, and it seems that our visitors always have adventures when they come down and visit us lately. In June, our friend Mary Ann visited us for a weekend and we were hit with the powerful Derecho and 100F temperatures where we were left without power and air conditioning.

Ruth,Anton, Maureen in Cacao Lane

 - On Friday, Oct. 26th, our friends Maureen and Ruthie flew down to spend the weekend with us, and guess who arrived in Maryland on Sunday the 28th that cut  their visit short? HURRICANE SANDY.   Fortunately, they were able to leave Sunday morning before all of the airports shut down from Baltimore to Washington.
 - We had fun during the short time, though. Friday the 26th we went on the Baltimore Federal Hill Ghost walk.
- Saturday we visited historic Ellicott City, Md., a civil war town filled with antique shops and ghosts!
- Saturday night we went to Barb Mallon's double medium event and enjoyed our time there. Here are some pictures.

Ruthie meets a cute dog

Maureen and Ruth in Ellicott City

Maureen, Ruth, Tom

Anton's Tattoo

Lunch at Cacao Lane

Ruthie, Rob and Tom doing the "Monk thing" Looking for ghosts

Home Project: Barrel Shed

Owning a home means always being busy with upkeep, and recently our barrel shed, made of wood, has been falling apart even though its less than 2 years old. Turns out that the $400 shed wasn't a good investment, so we finally gave up and bought a plastic one.
  Tom put the plastic one together, and that left me (Rob) to perform destruction of the old wooden shed. Tom's always better at building things, and I'm always better at destroying them, so it was a perfect balance. I took the doors off the old shed, and we're using it in the backyard near the tool shed, to store outside stuff. Here's a pic of the old shed as I was taking it apart, and the new shed.
  Bottom line: If you need a barrel shed, get plastic. Wood is too fragile with the extreme summer heat we now get, and the cold winters.

Special Hurricane Sandy Video from NPR's Science Friday

In my daytime job, I work with amazing researchers and meteorologists, like Owen Kelley and Marshall Shepherd. Marshall has been a hero of mine for over a decade and he's now at the Univ. of Georgia.  This week, they both talked about NASA data that I've been posting (and writing about) on  the NASA Hurricane page when they did this great interview with  NPR's Science Friday!  
TRMM looked into the eye of Sandy the day before it made landfall and saw something surprising. Satellites also took snapshots of Sandy. J. Marshall Shepherd, president-elect of the American Meteorological Society (and former NASA Scientist) and the director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia, explains some of Sandy's unusual features.   

Our dog photos!

Sprite, Franklin, Dolly

 Here are a couple of pictures of our dogs, Dolly, Franklin and Sprite. These pictures were taken about a week ago and Tom decided to pose with them. :)

Tom can't get any of the kids to look at the camera!

What the President HAS Accomplished

Attn Independent Voters- Here are some things to consider: Yes, Pres. Obama isn't the best U.S. President BUT - here's what he's done: 
1) Found ways to make health care available to kids up to 26 yrs old - I Needed that in the 80s - 
2) now prevents insurance companies from dropping people with "pre-existing conditions. - and 10 other health care things I cited yesterday on our blog (http://rob-tom-dolly-franklin.blogspot.com/2012/08/educate-yourself-12-reasons-why-we-need.html) - I'd like to know who thinks these things are bad.  
3) Obama is not going to try and pass legislation to Invalidate ALL gay marriages around the U.S., including my marriage of the last 3 1/2 years.
4) Obama is also not going to force Rape and Incest victims to have babies of their rapists or relatives, like the new GOP platform states.
5) The bailout measures saved GM and other companies, and allowed for fixing roads and bridges (much needed). 
6) He repaired the Damaged foreign relationships caused by the Bush Administration over the previous 8 years.
6) He got us out of that hell-hole called Iraq as promised, and is working to get us out of Afghanistan.
7) He gave the okay to remove Osama Bin Laden that our troops did so incredibly! 
8) He's reduced the extreme limitations from the "No child Left Behind" program that many teachers I know personally said was financially devastating on their schools, and ineffective. 
9) He's NOT going to make seniors find their Own insurance with a voucher for $6k annually. My 85 yr old mother wouldn't have a clue where to get it, and 6K wouldn't cover her medications- On a fixed income, where is she supposed to get the Rest of the money for her Prescriptions?
10) Obamacare helps make health care affordable by creating insurance pools.
According to FederalNewsRadio.com: Premiums in Blue Cross-Blue Shield's popular standard plan next year will total $236.30 biweekly for self-only coverage and $553.30 for family coverage. That's $472.00 a MONTH on your own (The Republican Plan). Under Obamacare, premiums would be much more affordable (a fraction of that cost).  
- --- I can give a lot more reasons, but these are just some of the reasons why I'm voting to keep him in power. Women's rights, health care for all, Civil Rights, Education, Infrastructure, keeping medicare and more.