Ice

Looking down the line, ice covered wires and trees
Photo: Garor Degre Bangor Daily News

  Please click to enlarge any of the photos. 
There are still people without power this morning, in at least three counties.  Daughter Hollie was displaced for a couple of days as parts of Brewer lost power.
  The other damage is to the trees, ice is heavy and branches break off, or sometimes the tree will split in two.  People who rely on their trees for a living are worried now that the ice has remained for a week.
  Yesterday the sun came out and some of the line locally had the ice drop off even though it was only 14 degrees, more sun today might help.  A new storm is being predicted for Sunday and Monday during which more snow would only add weight to already stressed trees and power lines.
  We should all be thankful for the crews from power companies and tree companies for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Brunswick/Nova Scotia have come to assist.

From the hilltop.  Small trees weighted down, they will freeze to the surface
and stay bent for life, or they break.
Photo: Linda Coan O'Kresik Bangor Daily News

Trees in danger of breaking
Photo: Linda Coan O'Kresik Bangor Daily News

The Stamp act

Forever Stamps
Photo: USPS

  Next month the price of the "Forever" stamps will increase to forty-nine cents each.  This price will only be for two years and then the price will revert to forth-six cents.  Any takers?
  The reason postage prices increase and people are laid off and post offices have closed is the 5.7 Billion dollar payment each year for health care benefits for "future retirees", the Postal Service has defaulted the last two years.  The Postal Service is the ONLY Federal Agency that is required to make such a payment.  The Postal Service pissed off some people in Congress and this is the result.  Okay, that's speculation.
  When I was born, in 1940, a letter cost three cents to mail.  When I joined the Navy, in 1958, the cost was the same. So in seventeen years there was no price increase.  Of course UPS was in someones imagination and packages were either sent at the post office or Railway Express.  Now the Postal Service only gets a fraction of the package business and our economy is "service based" so the price of a stamp is gone up and up.
  I'll have to tackle the "service based economy" in a Rant, RIP stuff made in the USA.

Etching, shipping and the post-holiday ice

Etching the hood of a Honda
Photo: Shawn Lisjack

  Shawn Lisjack has a small Dremel rotary tool, and he's a bit of an artist.  HE applied a special paint to his Honda sedan and the rest is history.
  Read about it:

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/engraved-civic-more-5-000-hour-piece-art-200211747.html

  I have been reading and seeing news about UPS and FEDEX not getting packages to consumers in time for Christmas.  All of this time I have been wondering about one other thing.  Did the people waiting for these items order them in time?  Or, did they wait until the last possible minute and hope for the best?  Maybe it was easier to complain about a transportation company than admit you waiting too long to order something.  Just maybe, at least that's my take.

  Here's a nice parody of Walking in a winter wonderland.  It's called Walking around in women's underwear. Listen:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn6HI5JQBhQ

  And here's what it looked like here in Levant, Maine yesterday, it still looks the same today!

Photo: Linda Grant

A Christmas list

Flying Santa loads up in 1940
Photo: Dolly Snow Bicknell via Bangor Daily News

  In the 1940's the Flying Santa would load up his airplane and deliver gifts to United States Coast Guard families who manned the lighthouses that dotted the New England Coast.  A new book has been written.  Read about it here:

http://bangordailynews.com/slideshow/to-this-day-i-believe-in-santa-woman-recounts-1940s-lighthouse-christmas-story/

Christmas kitty

Flying Santa at Boston Light 1947
Photo: Dolly Snow Bicknell via Bangor Daily News


Please be sure to visit www.greatergood.com and deliver your own Christmas giving, all of that for free.  Don't let the opportunity pass you by.
 

Ice, winter and the first Republican Vice President

Hannibal Hamlin get plowed out and a new scarf - click
Photo: Alex Barber Bangor Daily News

  Hannibal Hamlin was the 15th Vice President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln's first VP.  He served in the US House, US Senate and as Governor of Maine.  This statue is located along the Kenduskeag Stream park in Bangor, Maine.  He is shown getting a little help from the Bangor Public Works Department.

West Market Square during a snow storm earlier this month - click
Photo: Chris Olmstead Photography

  West Market Square is at the beginning of Main Street, and is the northern terminus of US Route 202, the southern terminus is Dover Delaware.  It is located in the center of downtown Bangor.

Santa in Russia
Photo: Ilya Naymushin Reuters

  Santa on a sail board used to be a common sight in Bangor until last year.  The man was getting too old and had suffered an injury so this year he was in a boat instead.

The geezer, hisself deices the car
Photo: Linda Grant

A seasonal song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnqAUK4eaLc

Alan Jackson sings "I only want you for Christmas"  enjoy.

BIG

Antonov An-124 Cargo plane in Wichita Dec 20 2013
Photo: Wichita Eagle www.kansas.com

  This very plane landed in Wichita last week, loaded and left for Russia with 18 Cessna Skyhawk airplanes inside it's cargo bay.  That's big!

Cessna Skyhawk
Photo: Wikipedia

The Skyhawk aircraft were in crates, and I'm sure the wings and wing struts were in separate containers (a guess) 18 of these is a lot.  That's big.

Skyhawk specifications
Source: Wikipedia

Seasonal Photo:

Tasha is ready for Christmas, a former neighbor
Tasha now lives in Maryland.
Photo: Jan Faust

And  a song:
"White Christmas" by George Strait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwo6VFNR6Ko

I'm surprised

Snip from weather.com

I'm surprised, I fully expected to wake up in the dark.  There is still freezing rain, the temp is 23 degrees.  The tree trimmers must have done their job well this past summer and fall, they did trim a lot in this area.
We had some ice overnight last night but I was able to scrape it and the roads were passable, today not so much.  I think I will be staying home today, no coffee (well, I have some here - in the thermos).
Because I'm surprised I don't really have a topic, guess I could rant about Congress but you've heard all of that before.  I could write about the Celtics win, but they didn't, almost doesn't count.  I could promise the Patriots will win, but they're iffy too.
Let's just wait and see how tomorrow morning is.
Seasonal Photo:

Casco Bay Ferries vessel Acocisco in the Parade of Light
Photo: Gordon Ghibroski at Portland Press Herald