Virtual Front Porch

That is great to hear, meanwhile south of the boarder, lack of PPE, Lack of testing, Layoffs of HCW. I think I see a contrast, wonder what is different between our two countries?
The question is rhetorical!

This quarantine has lasted a little too long. I am starting to have cabin fever. It was time to get an old toy and entertain the dog. Well, she did not like the competition, so I put the noise maker back in the drawer.
We had about 20 minutes of heavy hail, about an hour ago. Just a quickly as the hail came, it melted and left no evidence.
One of my Harley riding friends called yesterday. I had not heard from him for a very long time. Last time he was here, he dropped off a MAC touch-up paint gun, He said it was for some long forgotten work I had done for him. He told me that he has had two heart attacks and his wife is close to the end of her life. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer. He told me he was taking her to the hospital and very likely, she will never return home. She has developed some serious complications.
My Dad used to say, "If you live long enough, you will not have any friends left."
Man weeps to think that he will die so soon; woman, that she was born so long ago. H. L. Mencken

When I was in elementary school and then middle school, we were expected to use a fountain pen. The teachers would have their students repeat writing exercises over and over to train muscle memory. Even though nearly 70 years has passed, my hand still responds to the drag of a fountain pen. I find my writing is so bad with a smooth rolling pall-point pen that I cannot expect anyone else to read what I scribbled.
I have to complete a birthday book for my daughter and I want it to be the best I can do.
So the hunt was on for my treasured Waterman Paris fountain pen. My wife bought this pen for me shortly after we were married.
Finding the pen was a trip through my history. I found award pins for long service with the company, union membership pins, car club pins, Porsche 356 and 911 pins, a few VW pins and a Mercedes pin I was given at the museum in Stuttgart. I even found a few awards for ice racing in the 1970s.
I have to find my other fountain pen. I bought it, where I worked, with my first pay at Woodwards in Calgary. That was in 1961,
Since this is about the Waterman, I am including two pictures.
BTW, I had my daughter fill the Waterman and prime the nib. My hand responded to the natural drag of the pen on paper. This may be the first time in decades that my signature looked like something I can be happy about.
My daughter chose the ink from my collection. The colour is SHEAFFER blue/black/green.
There must be a 100 other pens for calligraphy and such. I need to get back to some of this stuff. The birthday book comes first.

I was out in my shop yesterday. I had the big door open. A medium size HINO dump truck came down the lane. The drive shaft was slopping around. It appeared the rear universal joint was destroyed. I got the driver's attention and pointed out the problem. He did not understand what I was suggesting.
So the driver and the truck continued on to the neighbour's carport, two doors away. The HINO reversed up close to the carport. The damaged universal joint was twice as loud in reverse. The Hino driver raised the dump box and almost immediately got it tangled in the overhead communication cables. The neighbour was out in the lane and directing the truck driver. The neighbour was waving his arms around and apparently not being understood by the driver. Fortunately the driver lowered the box before moving ahead and the cables held on then released with a great snap.
The Hino dump has a divided box, so the driver reversed up a second time and caught the cable again. The first dump was bark mulch and the second dump was composted soil. The second cable contact was not hooked on the box, fortunately. The driver drove away with the box elevated. .

Was he going up hill or down? No fun either way if the drive line gave out. Lucky the line held.

Both. Driving forward down the lane. Reversing up the lane to the carport apron. The transmission sounded like an automatic.

Received an email from a good buddy from high school days. Thought I’d share it with the forum guys who might be interested.

https://safeshare.tv/w/FEDEwZHZXu

(Some images may be controversial, but are presented as historical record and not a statement of current beliefs or opinion.)

That's the America I grew up with. . . .It was great! Problems were solvable.

Fantastic video.
I remember when the first black family came to our small Alberta town, in 1956. The school principal called an assembly. He told us that we are all God's creation and with that being true, we should treat each other with respect and in a way each of us would like to be treated.
The principal gave the assembly a list of words that were not appropriate and should never be used. This was a religious separate school. Corporal punishment was used to encourage cooperation.
That was 65 years ago. While many of us accepted the advice, there was a few who did not.
I worked for a large company where the workforce reflected the mosaic of the neighborhood. In my 35 years with the company, I saw very few cultural and racial unsavory events. When one of these situations happened, it was so very uncomfortable.
I found myself standing up for a black electrician a few times. We became friends. I went, with him, to Barbados for Crop-over-festival and to meet his family. We went into percussion music business together, for a few years.
We grew up, together, in so many ways. Now we are two old grey haired guys with a great history. We got rhythm.
For me, the best part of being 75 is having lived long enough to experience change on so many levels.
I have always been a "car-guy". We are inundated with exotic cars with exotic systems. Most of us accept this change.
The news fills me with fear. I hope those who choose to be offensive do not reflect badly on the majority of us who choose civility.
I am so proud of my two children. They have become involved in their Unions and are strong supporters of equality and fair treatment in a safe working environment.

Thought we could use a few chuckles.