14.8 lb. Aluminum Pull Tabs

1/22/2009 pm

Dear friends and family,

Long time ago, years and years, somebody told me to save the aluminum pull tabs off of canned Cokes, Pepsi, etc for charities and school. I was working back then and got customers and warehouses to save these for me. I never knew what this habit and collection might turn into.

It started out small then other folks got into the swing of doing this and I found myself with ziplock bags, small bottles, larger bottles, tin cans, all filled with these aluminum pull tabs. I collected these religiously and put them into larger ziplocks and stored these in our garage.

In my kitchen, I have had several 64oz Gatorade bottles and over the years these too have been filled by my use and contributions, and them too migrating to a shelf in my garage. Now remember this started YEARS ago and I am thinking how much do I have and will it be worth anything to a school or charity. Then yesterday, Bingo!

Karen came home from work with new two fellow employees had kids in Leeds Elementary School and Pleasant Grove Middle School, both schools with contest with the kids as to how many they could get their friends to collect for them for school supplies.
Leeds we knew about first, so they got the bulk of these.

Karen took these to work yesterday in a box that copy paper comes in and they weighed these ziplocks and Gatorade bottles on the banks postage scales. FOURTEEN POUNDS PLUS 8/10TH OF NUMBER FIFTEEN. Karen told me about this last night and I pointed out one full 64oz. Gatorade bottle she missed, probably another 2 lbs or more. These last ones plus all the "helping schools" coupons I cut off of cereal and tissue boxes and these went to Pleasant Grove Middle School.

I would love to be a fly on the wall when the child from Leeds Elementary Schools turns in his 14.8 lbs. plus what he collects himself. I would be he or she is in the lead from the get go! It took years to collect over 15 pounds of aluminum pull tabs and finally they are going toward a good cause....

Jeff the Knutt in the Ham

AT&T U-verse Cable/DSL/PHone/LD/

1/13/2008: am

Dear F & F and my casual reader,

I have had several cable companies and ISP but nothing really new. When I moved here in 76 we had one cable company then Bellsouth bought them. Then Bellsouth got out of the cable business and Charter stepped in, now for years.

I looked around, looking for something NEW! I read about a new fiber optics cable system that ATT now offers and typed in my zip code to see if it was available. It was, and just in the last few days.

I got a sales visit and read all what they offered plus the big kicker, all new cable system all through your house as well as outside. My experience with Bellsouth/ATT has been good with my DSL, so I decided to try SOMETHING NEW.

Plus you keep your old email address and everything is either ethernet or wireless and everything including my printer is now all wireless. Then the TV is all digital and HI-Def on the 40" Sony and the 19" Westinghouse in the bedroom. Plus, I now have hours of recording capabilities and can program shows to record automatically.

Plus, you can watch the recorded program on the other sets, just using the controller in and with each set. All this is interactive and Karen just loved it from the get go.

They now offer too, movies that are currently in the theater, but for a small charge and you can watch them over and over for the 24 hours after you select them.

Plus, the DSL is now ATT/Yahoo and seems to be faster than the Bellsouth I had powered by Google. Plus, the mail address migrated all my email history, plus addresses, everything migrated to the new but same ISP now powered by Yahoo.

Plus, the guys and gals from ATT were just great. In the 6 or 7 hours they worked on and in the house, I had Brian, Eddie, John, Windy (heard her, never saw her), plus Brad. I have never had that many people on ladders, in windows, working on my computers, all at virtually the same time trying to get me up and going as soon as possible.

Plus, they did as they said. They called at 7:30am, got here at 8:00am and left completed at 3:30pm with 4 TVs and 2 computers all running smoothly. Now that is a great jobs, so just call it a PLUS!

Jeff the knutt in the ham

Gracie's Door

Gracie was our inside cat her entire life. But she loved visiting her kitty friends next door and across the street. This was one of her favorite haunts.

Gracie's Ghost

1/7/2008

Good morning my friend and casual reader.

You read my letter about losing my little Gracie just 2 weeks ago. If not, drop back one letter and read that post. Now let me tell you her sounds, her scent, her presence, her steps, are still echoing through our home.

Karen and I have shared stories over the last few days of how Gracie may be refusing to leave. I am watching television up stairs, and I hear her running on the stairs, just as real as life. Last night, I hear something to my right, and there is a shadow, a dark shade at the top of the stairs, and I see her in my peripheral vision, her favorite place to rest just out of reach.

I got up yesterday morning, and in rolling out of bed, there was Gracie moving across my feet, shifting under my moving, finding a more comfortable place at the foot of our bed.

Karen said she looked up from getting out of the shower snd looked into the hall and said a glimpse of Gracie ran past the door, and the running noise she makes running in the hall. She knows we fuss at her when running in the house and it was her way of getting our attention.

I sat at the top of the stairs and there is noise downstairs, and it sounds as if Gracie's running and playing, just like she used to do. Then I find her favorite ball at the very bottom step at the bottom of the stairs and I had missed it for days. Maybe I moved it and did not know it or did Gracie put it there to let me know she was here?

I have picked up most of her toys and put them away. But now I am finding nesting places she had that I did not know about. I look across the room and there is motion in my vision, looking like her tail sweeping from under the furniture as she used to do.

Last night I was watching television in bed, and dozed off, then awakened with her running across the foot of the bed, hitting Karen's cherry highboy, sliding to a noisey stop. It was so real I lifted myself to look to see if she was truly there?

14 years plus leaving lots of memories and habits and these will fall away in time. But she left her mark on us, changing us and made our love more for her everyday. What a Kitty! Love ya Gracie, we truly miss you!

j and k