HAUSER THOUGHTS

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Editor: D. J. Nall a.k.a. Frum Helen Back   208-773-4968
Hauser Lake, Idaho   

Panicking is my style

8-19-08

    This morning a neighbor rushed her lethargic dog to our house asking for help. Maybe I hadn’t been awake long enough or maybe I’m getting used to scary things happening but I remained calm. That’s so new for me.
    The little dog had been stung by a hornet and was having a very bad reaction. Dave stuck an antihistamine down his throat and I massaged his esophagus to try to get the pill down to his stomach. It took about 15 minutes but the little guy came to, started walking, and peed on my floor.
    Night before last, Dave came home from his bike ride, pushing his bike and covered with dirt and abrasions. On his way down “killer hill” his front tire went flat and sent him sailing through the air and onto the pavement. I calmly told him to take a shower and then I would fix his sores. He mentioned that our local ambulance was coming down the road with the lights flashing while he was walking home and thought maybe someone saw him wreck and called 911. But nope, the ambulance driver gave him a wave and kept going. Dave is going to be fine but will need to get a shot of some medical miracle in his elbow.
    Just in case you have a family emergency, don’t call me. Call 911 instead. Remaining calm when something bad happens and someone gets hurt is not the real me. And I must confess that I was thinking about calling the Hauser Fire Dept. and asking Larry to come help with the dog this morning. Knowing Larry Simms, he would have come to the doggie’s rescue.

Joseph Duncan Trial

8-18-08

    Betsy Russell is covering the Joseph Duncan trial on her SpokesmanReview Blog, Eye On Boise. The site is updated often so you can follow along almost like being there. In case you don't remember, Duncan is the slime bag who killed three in their home before kidnapping Shasta and Dylan Groene and taking them to Montana where he later killed Dylan.

Fragmented thoughts

8-17-08

    I’m wondering if old women can have PMS. The answer is probably no so I will just have to deal with my sad feelings about growing old. Time just keeps flying by faster and faster so it seems like I’m aging at an incredibly fast rate. If you’re still young, then you won’t understand. At this fast rate I’ll be dead before I know it too. I’m thinking that I just must make sure that I enjoy all the time I have left.
    We bought some fly traps at Lowes. While we don’t have many hornets or yellow jackets this year, we have an abundance of flies. First you put water into the trap and let the little glob of cadaver dissolve. Warning: Don’t hang it close to your patio or an open window. If there was a cadaver dog on Hauser Lake, it would break free to come to our fly trap. But the trap works. In a week, our container was full and we had to set up another trap.
    Remember James Hagengruber who wrote about the Shipp twins joining the Marines and following them to Kuwait and Iraq? Well he’s going back to Iraq on another mission but it’s a secret what he’s going to be doing over there. You can check it out on his web site, The Other Side.

"Happiness cannot be traveled to,
owned, earned, worn or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of
living every minute with love, grace
and gratitude."

      – Denis Waitley

Fair days

8-16-08

    Hope you enjoyed the forum this evening with Obama and McCain. I opted out. It seems like the election process has been going on forever. And I’ve received so many emails bashing the candidates that I don’t really want either of them to be President now. I’ll leave the decision up to you.
    It appears that our mini heat wave will be over in time for the fair. I sure hope so. Of course I will go anyway. Boy do I miss the red candied apples from years ago. They were my favorite fair treat. Unfortunately they went the way of real churned buttermilk. To me cultured buttermilk is gross. And now I fear the only breakfast cereal I have ever truly enjoyed has been removed from the shelves too. None of our grocery stores carry regular puffed wheat anymore. Regular is the kind without sugar. Maybe Quaker ran out of black powder for the cannon. Remember how it was shot from guns? Someone told me once that the only thing we are guaranteed in life is change.

Schools aren't all drug free

8-15-08

    It’s finally summer in our neck of the woods. Monday we start a week of going to the Post Falls’ ice skating rink to watch a grandson learn to play ice hockey. We went there during the winter to watch him learn to skate. We didn’t appreciate the cold like we will this coming week. If it’s too hot outside, they may have to force us to leave while we’re kicking and screaming.
    Post Falls schools sport signs declaring they are a drug free zone. However, when the clerk was checking out our school supplies, she asked if I was over 21 so she could sell me the White Out that one teacher wanted her kids to bring to class. The clerk had a big grin on her face so I guess she could tell I’m over 21. But I guess that White Out must be considered a drug since only adults can buy it. If all the kids in my grandson’s fifth grade class use their White Out at the same time, there may be some very happy kids in the class. Maybe it's just to keep the teacher happy.

Hateful cat

City news

8-14-08

    After attending last night’s Hauser Council Meeting, I have a better understanding of why such a large amount of money is locked into a saving’s account. The Council will be able to spend the money, but only by opening up the budget again and having public hearings. It helps to prevent any of the council from going on a spending spree. The citizens will also have a voice in the decision to spend any of the savings.
    Another change voted on and approved was hiring the accounting firm of Magnuson, McHugh & Company to take over the bookkeeping of the City of Hauser. The City, with the badly needed help of Cheri Howell, has finally caught up on back payments to the IRS for payroll taxes withheld and to the State of Idaho for unemployment insurance payments. Both had accumulated fines.
    Councilmen Danford and Madigan are going to be working on a MOU, Memorandum of Understanding, with the Post Falls’ Highway District. They are hoping to negotiate an agreement for the Post Falls’ Highway District to take over the plowing of City roads. The City would continue the plowing of the extremely narrow roads. The City feels it would be a substantial savings with more reliability of getting the plowing done at a certain time.

Why I don't suck on my thumb

8-13-08

    Late last night the girl gymnastics were on one of the Olympic channels. It was so late that we were in bed and I had already gone to sleep. I woke up just to watch our gymnasts. Then came the performance of the Chinese gals. The cute little darlings did a perfect show. I have figured out the Chinese however and told Dave that the girls are the Chinese latest invention, life like robots.
    This morning I gave in and went to the doctor. Soon after riding the new rollercoaster at Silverwood, I started getting a pain in a back muscle. Now it has affected the arm and half the face. Yep, I held on so tight that I strained a muscle. That’s ok though. Now I have a good excuse to not go on those death defying rides. There are some things that I won’t miss as I get to old to do them.
    Last night my oldest grandson Bob came down to my house looking for a chocolate fix. When he couldn’t find any, he came into my cave to tell me about the problem. I let him look in my private candy stash since I could tell he really was in need. While searching through my yums I heard him mumble to himself, “I feel like I’m stealing an old ladies candy.” I was laughing as I told him that was exactly what he was doing.
    Remember my baby blue polish? Five-year-old Abby was happy that I finally bought some polish like hers at Wal*Mart. She was kind enough to warn me that sucking on my fingers will cause the polish to come off. I told her that I will try not to do that.

Here's the link to Dave's latest panorama of the lake.

Hogwash

8-11-08

    I suffered another disappointment today when I read that the fireworks display for the opening ceremony of the Olympics were fake, digital, not real. It makes me wonder what else isn’t real. Maybe Judge Judy is really a man. Maybe Judge Judy doesn’t even exist. I’ve got to stop thinking about this.
    Yesterday I took the FOUR young Nalls shopping at Wal*Mart for school supplies. It turned out to be quite fun and not hectic. That is not because I’m so good with children. But 13-year-old big sister Hilary is good. She should give serious thought to becoming a warden in a prison. It makes me wish that I was a big sister.
    Remember the heavy rain on Friday night? The roof didn’t leak at all. I don’t need to fire the maintenance man . . . yet. That’s good because I could never find another one that would put up with me. Maybe some of the things Mayor Pro Tem Johnston is saying about me are true. Oh well, Momma always said that if someone is talking about me, they’re giving someone else a rest. She was such a wise woman in so many ways. I shared some of her not so accurate wisdom with my three youngest grandkids Friday night. We were standing on the porch watching the beautiful lightening. Abby was afraid of the thunder. So I told the kids that when I was Abby’s age, I was afraid of thunder too. And I shared that Momma told me that thunder and lightening are caused by the clouds bumping together. The 10-year-old asked if that was true. I told him it isn’t but it’s a lovely story.

Maybe I should get scared

8-10-08

    Yesterday I decided to not write any of my thoughts while I licked my wounds from writing something not nice about the city janitors getting fired. By the way, the janitors said they didn’t know they were fired since they got such a syrupy sweet letter from acting mayor Olita Johnston telling them the City of Hauser just can’t afford to pay someone to clean the city hall. I can’t remember if they get paid $50 a month or $75 a month but it did concern me that The City of Hauser can no longer afford that, especially after the Council and Mayor got nice raises this year and now we don't have to pay $300 a month to a mayor. And I just have never read that the City is required to have a savings account. So I’m still researching that one. I did read in Title 50 that a City “can” put surplus into a savings account but can’t find “shall”, but it is probably written somewhere along with the amount required to be saved. I'll just keep researching. Maybe the Attorney General's office would know and that could save me a lot of time.
    Now I’ve heard that Mayor Pro Tem Johnston is saying bad things about me and my crappy web site again to others on the lake. Yeah, it's happened before and I just kept it to myself. That really does concern me. If I don’t straighten up, my property and business might just get kicked out of the City of Hauser so I won't come to meetings anymore. Woe is me.

If you missed the Olympic opening ceremonies, you can watch them here.

8-9-08 The field behind Hauser Storage was being harvested today.

Thank goodness Howell is forgiving

From: Cheri Howell
Date: 8/8/2008 3:07:37 PM
To: hereinidaho@roadrunner.com
Subject: Thanks

Thanks for the quick response. While I am sure you were kidding, I was hoping for a positive spin on the great things that are happening in Hauser City government, such as let’s not spend more than what we actually bring in for revenue, unless there is an emergency or a huge project that needs to be completed. That is what the “reserve” or “savings” are for. They are called fund balances and the State of Idaho requires you to have a percentage of your overall operating expensive be reserved for “rainy days”. The City currently has approximately $175,000.00 for street and general fund reserves. The only way you can save additional money is to either lower your expenses or raise taxes/fees. So the savings accounts that the City currently has must last. What I suggested and the council decided is if they want to use the savings account monies, you must open the budget up for additional public input. Last year, they put the whole budget in including savings, and so all of the money could be spent during that fiscal year. This year, we are using a more conservative approach and will require the public to provide testimony before they dip into savings.

Please encourage other residents to come to the budget public hearing and ask questions. Notoriously, the budget meetings are not well attended and I believe the public should know how their money will be spent next year.

Thanks for your blog and your input on the community. And no, you don’t have to clean the bathrooms at City Hall.

Cheri Howell

My Response:

I am totally ignorant when it comes to economics Cheri. 49 years ago I was forced to take an economics class in college. Unfortunately I found it so boring that I slept through the class and I'm sure the only reason I got a C was because my body was there for each class. I must brag however that I am very good at spending money. That part of economics comes very easily for me.

Whoops, I did it again

From: Cheri Howell
Date: 8/8/2008 1:12:06 PM
To: hereinidaho@roadrunner.com
Subject: Response to your blog

I felt the need to respond to your blog regarding the janitorial issues. You state that “you get what you pay for” when you referred to Carmen Miller and her volunteering to clean the City Hall. I strongly disagree with your comments. The City Hall looks terrific and I believe that Carmen is doing a great job cleaning the building. Secondly, this Council are now looking for ways to save money under tight budget constraints and if the Council members believe they can volunteer their time and expertise to save money, I believe that is an advantage for the City residents. For example, Bill Madigan recently took on the task of cleaning out the garage because the City does not have maintenance staff.

I believe the City Council is working hard, trying to do the right thing, and I believe they should be supported and congratulated. Thanks for listening.

Cheri Howell

640-9530

My Response:

Yikes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it personally. You all are wonderful! The City Hall looks great. You are also welcome to come and clean up my house too. I was trying to be funny. At least I think I was. I do like Paula and Stan though and hope they didn't mind getting fired. And I hope the City isn't really broke or nearly broke. And I would like to know what happened to the $200,000 that has disappeared from last years budget. And if the Council is saving it, maybe they can pay someone to clean the City Hall with a small portion of it instead of having a Council Member do it. Pleeez don't make me clean City Hall to be forgiven.

Random thoughts

08-08-08

    Well, there’s another person who has made my list of disgusting people. This time it’s John Edwards. He rates a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 for having an affair while his wife is fighting cancer. And if any of you feel he should be forgiven, then you rate a 9 on my list. That means that you can go out and have an affair since that will rate you a 9 too. Of course your partner may be a excellent shot with a pistol, so give it some thought before you do.
    I painted my fingernails today because the young grandkids are spending the night. Five year old Abby loves having her father paint her nails and the last two times he has used baby blue. Well, I finally remembered to buy myself that color at Wal*Mart and I know Abby will be so pleased when she sees baby blue on my fingers and toes. I wore that color a lot when I was 17. I don’t think anyone else I knew did, but it matched the color of my car and leather coat. Maybe I was stylish back then. It was so very long ago.

Simple thoughts

8-7-08

    Today I found out the young guy in the FreeCreditReport.com commercial isn’t really singing the cute, catchy songs. Even worse, the reason he isn’t the one singing is because he isn’t even from the U.S.A. Nope, he’s French-Canadian with a strong accent. Isn’t life just so full of disappointments?
    I walked over to City Hall today to see if Cheri Howell would give me some hot news to share. Boy am I really out of shape. I think I did better when I was smoking. All that effort and the best she could give me was that the janitor was fired. Of course I warned you that was going to happen a couple of months ago. So now Carmen Miller is cleaning the building for free. I would say, “You get what you pay for,” but that would probably get me in big trouble. My punishment might be that I have to do the cleaning for a month.

Don't get jealous when you watch this. It's Dave and I dancing for you. Just click here.

I just love this guy.

We're not alone

8-6-08

    Maybe there should just be a law requiring a large citizenship in an area before it can become a city in Idaho. Hauser has recalled one mayor and was working on trying to recall another in the 30 years I've been here. There could have been more in the preceeding 30 years too. Anyway, I found this article in a link on Dave Oliveria's blog:

E. Idaho voters oust mayor in recall election PARKER, Idaho - The city of Parker is looking for a new mayor. Voters in the small, eastern Idaho hamlet ousted Mayor Bert McLaughlin during a recall election Tuesday. The final tally showed voters approved the ouster 59 to 51. The election brings to a close a rocky chapter in city government. McLaughlin says the results were closer than he expected, but he stepped down and handed over his keys to city hall moments after the ballots were tallied. Opponents complained about Mclaughlin's leadership style and allegations he harassed city employees. City Council President Brand Hathaway will serve as interim mayor until the council appoints a full-time replacement. Voters will then elect a new mayor to a four-year term in November 2009.
A service of the Associated Press(AP)

Tom Inman and wife vacationed in Hawaii. All I got was a picture.

New Glass Art Gallery Show at the JACC - opening August 12

The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center (at the old church)
in historic downtown Post Falls is pleased to announce
the opening of a new gallery show next week!


The Glass Arts Show opens in the 2nd floor gallery
on Tuesday, August 12.

It will feature the glass works of four artists:

Carol Gardner (owner of Glass Expressions, stained glass, kiln formed glass & mosaics)

Louise Telford (gallery director for the JACC, kiln formed glass)

Jan Wilhelmi (mosaic artist)

Julie Wood (sand carved glass & mosaics)

Why I'm voting for Paris Hilton

8-5-08 The fire department was practicing pumping and spraying water from the lake tonight.

Just heard on FOXNEWS that dog is being removed from menus in China during the Olympics. I had NO idea.

Please let me know if this works.

Reminiscing

8-04-08

    Today, while sipping our Chocolate Moods from Jamba Juice, Dave and I were reminiscing about our life 20 years ago. That’s when Dave both broke of his wrists while working on the addition to our mobile home. There’s not much you can do when you have two broken wrists. The only work he could do was to be the clerk in our store when I had to go get supplies. Customers were more than happy to bag their own groceries. Dave did have the use of his fingers, but that was it. Soon he developed claustrophobia and was not a happy camper sitting around all day watching TV. One day I got a spectacular idea. When our son came home, he was 17, I asked him to drive his father to Costco and buy him a computer. Computer PCs were pretty new back then and came with MSDOS, there was no Windows yet. Dave was able to remain sane and became really knowledgeable about computers in the process. Now I refer to him as my Puter Fixer Man.
    Also, we ran into Betty Markley today while we were in Wal-Mart. Since we aren’t out and about much, we only see folks we know if they shop at Wal-Mart too. I guess you could call it the Hauser Lake meeting place for people who don’t go to the bars. Betty just looked as sparkly as she always does. Boy was I surprised to hear she had just recently returned home from rehab after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago. It happened at 4 a.m. and Betty said the pain was terrible. Did she call 911? Nope. Betty waited an hour to see if the pain would get better and when it didn’t she called her neighbor Larry Simms. They both live very close to the fire station, so Larry went there and grabbed the oxygen and other heart attack stuff so he could take care of Betty until the ambulance arrived. Of course Betty has been told boldly by many that she should have called 911 immediately. She’s hoping she won’t need to again.

How will it end?

8-4-08

    Today I can’t help but contemplate how the end will come. What a thing to think about but I have cousins who are senior citizens having to deal with their parents who have lived too long. I really don’t want to live that long. When the fun stops, I really hope I just drop dead. Now that perhaps I have depressed all of you, I will end the sharing of my thoughts today.

8-3-08 While Dave and I were outside doing some yardwork, Mike and Shirley dropped by. From now on I'm calling Mike, Doctor Mike. He and daughter Jaime have worked more miracles on Shirley.

I like poetry, long walks on the beach and poking dead things with a stick.

How to speak sheep

Just stuff

8-1-08

    It was nice getting rained on a bit today. This evening it looks like we may get drenched at any moment. I love summer rain, especially since I now know that my roof doesn’t leak.
    One of our tenants who lives in a cabin moved out today. It’s been a little over a month since she broke her arm and wrist badly when she wrecked on her motor scooter on Cloverleaf Rd. She can’t work and still has to have another operation. This was the second woman I have met in the last 6 weeks who severely damaged herself on a motor scooter. That did it for me. I decided it was a signal from above that I am not to ride my motor scooter. Of course Dave is disappointed which makes me wonder if he is wanting me to ride it in hopes I will end up in the happy hunting grounds in the sky. It might just be his way of getting revenge on me for asking him to get a million dollar life insurance policy “in case” he dies.

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