A few pretty pictures

The mom on a hike, Granite Quarry trail, note the leaves just popping out

I have collected a number of pictures on my phone and thought I would post them here from time to time before they are erased. All of these were taken from May 15-22, 2010.

Here are some spring photos from the gardens, love the tulips!

and more.....

and even more.

I will add more photo in the future!

We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

Mayville, NY with Lake Chautauqua in the background

This is a photo that I found in the Buffalo News relating the events surounding a tornado that touched down near the Chautauqua Lake community of Mayville, NY. You can read the article below after I tell my little story.

As a young boy I recall having nightmares of tornadoes, which coincided with the annual TV showing of the Wizard of Oz. I need to remind you that when Dadoo was growing up, you could only watch a movie when it was shown on Television or in the Movie theaters. There was no way of recording the show off the TV, (other than my attempts to record the audio with my reel to reel tape recorder, but that is another post), this was way before VCR's!

So back to the story, I was so afraid to watch the beginning of Oz when Dorothy and her house are ripped from the foundation and sent twirling into the air that I would cover my head with a pillow during that scene. Still I didn't associate tornadoes with South Dayton, they just happened in Kansas!

Until....

One night when I was about 7 or 8 years old we had a huge thunderstorm, the whole house shook when the lightening hit and I would count the time from the flash and the sound of the lightening and multiply by 7 (the approx speed of sound) this would tell how many miles we were from the actual lightening. Boom! Flash! Boom! Flash! I have heard that if you are outside and you don't hear the sound you are in big trouble, maybe worse...

But anyways we had a big storm that evening and in the morning my parents told me that a tornado had touched down within a mile of the west of our house on old mud lake road and we were going take a ride to see there it happened. When we arrived there were huge trees laying on top of the houses and doggies were missing. I thought "Oh no, they have gone to Oz with Toto and Dorothy!"

After that Tornado the Fire Department began to sound a special siren that could be heard through the community to signal a Tornado Warning, a long steady tone lasting for a minute that makes your hair stand on end. So now you can understand my thoughts as I read of the tornado damage from Randolph and Mayville this article.

Tornadoes leave chilling imprint

Communities sustain severe damage but no serious injuries

Randolph, NY

Jordan was helping his friend Nathan Lamper remodel Lamper's Main Street house when the wind began picking up in the Cattaraugus County Town of Randolph. Jordan went outside to grab the garbage cans from the curb. As he did, a quick gust ripped them from his hands.

By the time Jordan grabbed a front porch post, a tornado was at his heels, picking his feet off the ground.

"Nathan was holding on to the door with the rain coming sideways," Brandy Gann said Sunday, recalling the chain of events that Lamper, her fiance, had told her.

What lifted Jordan from the ground was one of a string of tornadoes that ripped through the Southern Tier late Saturday afternoon. There were no serious injuries, but damage was estimated in the millions -- possibly as much as $5 million in just one of the effected communities, the Chautauqua Lake community of Mayville.

Mayville was hit first Saturday when a tornado came through at 4:48 p.m. with winds of 125 mph.

Randolph, located in the western part of Cattaraugus County, about 15 miles northeast of Jamestown, was the second Southern Tier community hit by a tornado. That twister, which was seven miles long and a half-mile wide, traveled 100 to 125 mph as it unleashed its fury over a 10-minute period begining at 5:25 p.m.

A third tornado traveling at speeds of 90 to 95 mph, struck the towns of Carrollton and Allegany, several miles southeast of Salamanca, for nine minutes beginning at 5:49 p.m.

"Three in one day basically within the same time period is pretty rare," said Davecq Sage, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Chautauqua County Executive Gregory J. Edwards Sunday said 20 homes in his county received anywhere from moderate to significant damage. Of eight commercial properties affected by the Mayville tornado, two were being inspected for demolition, including the Sword & Shield restaurant at 5695 East Lake Road.

"People are doing whatever's necessary to get their homes together," said Julius J. Leone, Jr., Chautauqua County's director of emergency services. Leone guessed that the total damage from Mayville could be as much as $5 million.

James and Lynn Kester, of 77 Morris St., Mayville, were playing pinochle with their son and his girlfriend Saturday when they began seeing debris swirling in the air near the house.

"We ran to the basement, just got the doors closed and it hit," Kester said, adding that the event lasted about 10 to 15 seconds.

In that time, a 40-foot limb from a maple tree was deposited in his backyard pool. A heavy plastic fence around the pool had only four of its original 16 sections remaining. Another tree had fallen across his front porch and the siding was torn in several places.

Betty Newhouse, of 72 Valley St., Mayville, lives one block away from some of the heaviest damage. "I saw a funnel full of debris, a flash of light, and then the power went out," Newhouse said. Her family took to the basement to wait out the tornado, which did not damage her house.

In Cattaraugus County, the tornado uprooted more than 250 trees and knocked out power in the Southern Tier Village of Randolph.

"You could build a house in the holes some trees left after being pulled up by the roots," said Chris Baker, Cattaraugus County's director of emergency services and fire coordinator.

Downed trees and power lines caused the town to block off about two blocks of Main Street in Randolph. Roofs were torn from multiple homes and commercial properties. Residents reported heavy damage at Landmark Chevrolet and at the town's Mobil station. There was also concerns over livestock.

"I know they had issues with livestock coming up missing. We're getting some reports of people finding the livestock in different areas and returning them back," Baker said.

As many as 100 calves were swept up by the tornado from Beavers Dairy Farm, according to several Randolph residents. One person said some calves were found as far as three miles from the farm.

It was in Randolph where Jordan was helping remodel his friend Nathan Lamper's home.

Sunday, Lamper's fiance, Brandy Gann, said Jordan is lucky to be alive.

Retaining his grip on one of the front porch's spindles as the tornado came through, Jordan jumped forward and gripped the steps when the wind died down. A few seconds later, the front porch roof fell. The roof protected him from flying debris, and only an upright treadmill and a metal brake bender kept the roof from crushing him.

Gann was sitting on what was left of the porch's crumbling concrete foundation as she spoke on Sunday.

"I just kept thinking that it's really weird that we're getting a tornado in New York," said Gann, who moved to Randolph from Kentucky 10 years ago. "It blew my mind."

work crews were busy in Randolph on Sunday removing damaged trees and trying to restore electricity to the town's approximately 1,300 residents. Multiple fire companies from Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties have responded, while the local department of public works crews have been assisted by the county, nearby towns, private contractors and volunteers.

Baker estimated 200 to 250 people had been involved in cleanup efforts over the two days. "The cooperation of all the agencies working together in these conditions with a common goal has been just unbelieveable," he said.

The tornadoes that hit Mayville and Randolph were classified on the Enhanced Fujita Scale as being as EF2 on a scale of five. Only 25 percent of all tornadoes are EF2 or stronger, meaning tornadoes estimated at between 111 and 135 miles per hour, he said.

"I think it happened at a good time of the day where there was daylight and people were watching TV [to get updates], because there were no deaths and practically no injuries, and the lead time average was a half hour and as high as 45 minutes."

The National Weather Service aided the emergency preparers by putting a storm assessment package together and providing constant updates, first as the storm developed and as it happened, and then through the night into Sunday.

With electricity out, the Office of Emergency Services has attempted to go door to door in an attempt to keep people updated about what's being done in the aftermath. Anyone with unreported damage is instructed to contact the office at 938-2212.

Buffalo News By By Steve Brachmann and Mark Sommer

Alice

I recently watched the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, a Tim Burton movie staring my friend Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. I found the film to be engaging and entertaining.

While I watched the movie while donating platelets where one is strapped to a table with two needles attached to your arms for nearly two hours, I didn't come close to the heebie-jeebies, therefore I award it 3 stars!









So with the film still fresh in my mind, I noted that Disney is closing the classic Disneyland ride for the next few weeks for upgrades.

For the life of me, my mind is fuzzy on the ride, maybe some will comment with their personal memoriesof the attraction.




Here is the LA Times article that spurred my thought on this post

Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland ride closed to install safety equipment
The attraction is shut down temporarily after state inspectors note a lack of handrails for maintenance crews.

One of Disneyland's oldest attractions, the Alice in Wonderland ride, has been closed since last week while workers install safety barriers recommended by California work-safety inspectors. Park officials said they hope to reopen the ride in the next few weeks.

Disney officials said the Anaheim park voluntarily closed the ride July 15 after California Department of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors pointed out that it lacked handrails needed for maintenance crews who work on an elevated segment of the ride.

The Cal/OSHA inspectors were in the park on a separate matter and did not order closure of the ride, Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. "We like to have all of our rides ready for our guests," she said.

The ride, which opened in 1958, takes guests on rail-guided cars that resemble caterpillars into a dark tunnel that features glowing characters from Disney's 1951 animated version of the Lewis Carroll classic. Toward the end of the ride, the cars roll outside, along an elevated rail segment with no handrails or barriers to prevent maintenance workers from falling off.

Get a daily snapshot of business, financial and technology news delivered to your inbox with our Business Daily newsletter. Sign up »

Brown said park workers would install scaffolding or barriers along the elevated segment.

In 2000, a 15-year-old Arizona boy suffered a broken foot and leg on the ride when his foot was pinched between a guardrail and the car in which he was riding. The ride closed for about six hours. Police said they believed the boy was dangling his leg outside the ride.

Earlier this month, Disney's California Adventure Park temporarily shut its newest attraction, World of Color, after a July 7 earthquake near Borrego Springs.

Only hours after the 5.4-magnitude quake, Disney's officials said malfunctioning equipment forced them to cancel three of the night-time water, light and fire displays that erupts from Paradise Bay Lagoon.

Disney officials said they could not determine if the quake caused the malfunction, but the shows resumed the following night.

I fought the man and ...

After 2 years of servitude to the Direct TV man, today I called to cancel our service. TJ answered the phone and said "how can I help you sir" and quickly before I could answer, "what is your name?" "Joe" I replied, "I would like to cancel my service" There I had done it and and there was silence on the phone and finally TJ replied, "why would you want to do that?"

Then I thought, oh I want to say I how I had been held hostage for 24 months of living with a substandard DVR without Picture in Picture with a remote that is slow as molasses on a cold Buffalo morning, and how they took down the the Versus channel and refused to let me out of my contract. And and, how I missed the Charlie Chat!

But.... I didn't say that, instead I said "I would like to be a free agent without a contract", Free to negotiate a deal like Labron James, Just let me out of CLEVELAND!

TJ offered me a free month credit after which when I could cancel. It's great to be a free agent. Now back to Deadliest Catch!

Here we go again!

I found this article in the Buffalo News today concerning a young Levi E. Detweiler who is now in a bit of trouble with the law due to failure to stop at a stop sign and "overdriving an animal". What makes it even more interesting to me is that it is set in Leon, New York, the birth place of my father. Plus, since Aaron, Sarah and myself will be vacationing at grandma's it helps to get us acquainted with some local news.

LEON—An Amish teen who tried to flee police faces charges of alcohol possession and “overdriving an animal” after he crashed his getaway vehicle— a horse and buggy.

Cattaraugus County sheriff’s deputies reported over the weekend that Levi E. Detweiler, 17, ran a stop sign and refused officers’ attempts to stop the buggy. Deputies chased Detweiler for about three quarters of a mile, and when he tried an unsafe turn into a driveway, he crashed the horse and buggy in a ditch. The teen then fled on foot but was found later in the area.

The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Bureau completed an investigation and charged the youth with possession of alcohol by someone under 21, overdriving an animal, seconddegree reckless endangerment, failure to stop at a stop sign and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle in the incident that occurred at about 1:30 a. m. last Monday. He is free on $500 bail.