Good news for avid book readers and reviewers like my son Chris (see his blog: chrisvaughanreader.blogspot.com ) .. Playaway audio books are now available in Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard county libraries in Maryland, according to Mary Gail Hare in the Baltimore Sun. Unfortunately, only the Perry Hall library branch in Baltimore County has them at the location, but they can be ordered through the other branches. I have often borrowed books on cassettes from libraries and I'm anxious to see how the Playaway system works.
I'm not sure if Playaway can compete with the XM radio in my car. I just found out that XM now has a Metropolitan Opera Station that plays "live" operas 24 hours a day! I tuned to it yesterday, but was almost put to sleep by a work of Charles Ives.. not my "cup of tea." However, they promise to have others that I do like. It will be a problem to decide if I want to hear a favorite opera or stay tuned to the standup comedy station, or now, listen to a Playaway.
I didn't see any reference or hear on the news about Prime Minister Brown's referal to "Obama Beach." Maybe I misheard Brown's words.
There are 16,400 abandoned houses in Baltimore according to Peter Hermann in the Baltimore Sun. A company called Creative Camouflage has been authorized to glue pictures of pretty windows, doors, curtains and blinds over the boards of abandoned rowhouses.
I spoke with a fellow AARP member who told me he canceled his Sunpaper subscription when one of their columnists criticised Sarah Palin. The paper has now offered him a year's free subscription to entice him back. He says he may resubscribe after the year is up because, and only because, he likes the TV schedule that is printed in the paper.
Another Bird won the Belmont Stakes. Elaine was hoping that Calvin Borel would get his triple win dream. Maybe next year.
NBC's Meet the Press will not air today because of NBC's coverage of the French Open. Well, we can now see which activity is more important: hitting a ball or talking about the events of the day that affect everyone. (However, I looked through today's Sun and did not find one word about the French Open, and there was a lot of sports information.)
A commentator writes to the Sun that the West Bank settlements are no threat to the Palestinians.. then why are the Palestinians upset? I wonder if President Obama can resolve this dispute. It's a big one.
For the second time in a week a photo appears on the front page of the Carroll County (Maryland) Times showing a bare female belly. For a while I was thinking of sending them a picture of my fat belly to publish next week. They already print lots of pictures of me in that paper.. in fact, my friends in NARFE decided not to include me in pictures any more because "enough of Joe Vaughan is enough!"
Mystery: Yesterday, I had to shop at a super market. As I was walking in, an extremely heavy (500 pounds?) came racing past me with a cane, almost running, on massive legs squeezed into little tennis shoes. She was followed by a very frail little older lady, her mother. In the store, she surrounded an electric scooter and began a fast expedition through the store, followed by her mama, who tried to keep up. "Hurry up, mama," said the chubby lady as she terrorized the slower shoppers.
I lost track of the dynamic duo, paid my bill, and put my goodies in the car, when I heard one of the super market clerks calling 911. She was telling them that someone had hit a light pole in the parking lot. When I looked around, I saw an SUV billowing smoke and a bunch of people trying to pull the lady out of her car. She had indeed hit (head-on) a light pole in the parking lot. How she did that is the mystery to me. The pole is nowhere near where anybody parks and there is at least a 50 foot circumference area around the pole that is completely empty. How in the world did she go out of control, travel way across a large parking lot and hit that pole?
Anyway, three ambulances showed up and I left when I knew that everything was under their control. I don't think that she or her mother were badly hurt, but that SUV will never be the same.
Elaine reads in the Carroll County Times that another high school graduate has gotten himself killed in a car accident. Every year it is the same, one or more teen-agers killed, usually because of alcohol abuse. Twenty years ago, most of the unfortunate kids came from the area in which we lived: Gamber, Maryland. It wasn't just automobile accidents; the kids also liked to see if they could walk a straight line down the center stripe of Route 32. Because most of them were drunk when they tried this, they got hit by cars and killed. We called it: The Gamber Death Wish.
One of the teens that was in an auto accident at this time last year survived a head on crash. The other driver was lucky as well. She was drunk and had to pay a penalty when she recovered, months later. She graduated this year from High School and her's is one of the pictures I mentioned before of female bare bellies.
I learned today that there are 46 miles of nerves in the average human body. I wish that the nerves that were severed in my recent carotid procedure would hurry and rejuvenate. So far, some numbness has disappeared from the top of my right ear, but the bottom of the ear and some of the neck area are still numb to the touch. I've been told that nerve regeneration takes a while. Anyway, its better than having a stroke.
To help with the drive to cure breast cancer, Elaine purchased ten pink shopping bags yesterday. Besides that, pink is Elaine's favorite color.
Good news... The Detroit Police Department has adjusted their crime statistics and Baltimore now ranks second, instead of first, in homicides. Well, that certainly makes me feel better.
My police friends tell me that gangs of white-shirted youths are attacking people at Harbor Place. The police have stepped up patrols, but one still must be careful downtown. This kind of news will kill Harbor Place, I'm sure. However, Baltimore is still a wonderful and safe place to live in or visit, as long as you know which neighborhoods to avoid.
Westminster is probably the safest place to live or visit in Maryland.. and it has an interesting downtown Main Street. And Carroll Lutheran Village, where we live, is probably the safest place to live or visit in Westminster. Here, you can walk wherever you want, in perfect safety and pleasure. (advertisement)
What a great name for mattress sellers: SLEEPY'S.
I looked through the obituaries in both the Baltimore Sun and the Carroll County Times this morning and I did not see my name, so now I can relax and enjoy this hot sunny day in the safest place in Maryland, and possibly in the USA.
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