Efficient

Efficient is the word for today. To show you how that works we'll use the order I placed with Amazon the other day which had five items on it. Amazon managed to split this order into five different packages, two different carriers and three different delivery dates. That's probably not the most efficient way of doing business, but I have sure stimulated the economy. The first of the orders should arrive today. 

Another beautiful day seems to be in store for us here in the four corners area. Temperature in the mid 80's and humidity  at about 20%. I can stand a whole lot of this. We do have a noon o'clock ballgame scheduled, but yesterday they weren't sure if the weatherman was going to cooperate. I just checked Weatherunderground and there is a light mist currently being reported. So, maybe ball, maybe not.

Other than that nothing much is scheduled for today. I do have a new book that I downloaded from Kindle yesterday. Molly Brown from Hannibal Missouri: Her Life in the Gilded Age. Written by my friends Ken and Lisa Marks of the Hannibal History Museum. The story of Margaret Tobin's (AKA The Unsinkable Molly Brown) birth and childhood years in Hannibal. I'm sure it will come as a surprise to many that she was from Hannibal, but indeed she was.

I guess today's chore of waiting for UPS and FedEx can be considered part of enjoying the good life.

Busiest of days

Yesterday a couple of friends and I went to breakfast to discuss old times and then we headed to the Mark  Twain Lake To see the new visitor center that has just opened. Here are some views of the lake.

The visitor center.

The flags.

Inside exhibit.

The lake to the north.

The dam.

And looking south.

After that it was time to prepare for the evenings dinner and program. At 6 pm the dinner began and true to our wild nature I was back home at 9:30 pm. The time didn't go unnoticed to the group who all enjoyed the irony of the difference between our 25th anniversary and our 50th. We've all turned into our parents.


Today we started the day with Mass, which we attended as a group and then I met two of my sisters and their husbands and my brother and his wife for lunch. We ended up at the same place the rest of the classmates did and overwhelmed the staff. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting with family before returning to Mel. Mike and Jane stopped by for a final visit and a few more laughs to help prepare me for the road tomorrow. A full weekend of enjoying the good life has a tendency to wear this old man out, but it was worth every minute.

A quick tour of Hannibal

This morning I took a run to the downtown area to see the Mighty Mississippi River and then visit with some old friends. While I was there I shot a few pictures to share. This is my hometown.

Looking down Main street with the Tom and Huck statue at the end of the block and the Lighthouse above. The Lighthouse is not a navigation aid, but was lighted to mark the dedication of the Mark Twain Bridge across the Mississippi. The bridge has been replaced, but the light burns on.

The building on the right is Mark Twain's boyhood home and on the left is the original museum built in the 30's.

This is the Clement's law office, moved and restored from it's original site a few blocks away.

One of the best con jobs ever was carried out on this spot.

The sign tells it all.

And this is the house.

This is the landing where today's riverboats tie up.

And the first thing the passengers see is this lovely garden, with Mark Twain at the helm.

Modern day travelers can also ride the local riverboat Mark Twain

Or they can just watch the ducks.

This is the boat harbor that I managed for the first three summers it was opened. Probably wasn't a better job for a high school kid in those day.

Another view. Seven day work week, sunup to sundown and all of this for $25.00 a week. The truth be known I would have paid them for the job.

This is the Hannibal mosquito control program, low tech, but it seems to work.

Robert Coontz was another one of Hannibal's famous citizens. Other notables from Hannibal included (the unsinkable) Molly  Brown, Jake Beckley , Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket), Bill Lear (of Lear Jet Fame) and fictional characters Col Sherman Potter of MASH fame and of course Joe Hardy aka Shoeless Joe from Hannibal Mo.

Here is the Monument to Admiral Coontz.

After the trip downtown Mel insisted on an oil change which was done at another friends place and while at it Mr. Onan got fresh fluids too. The rest of the day will be spent visiting with whoever drops by and supper with Mike and Jane. Just part of enjoying the good life.

Back in Hannibal

I arrived in Hannibal, my old home town, about 12:30 this afternoon and was immediately in touch with Mike, my ex brother-in-law and a great friend. He was in the neighborhood and dropped by to pick me up. We headed for his home where he served supper when his wife Jane arrived home from her work. We had a great visit and I just returned to Mel at the Wal-mart parking lot. I will be here for a couple of nights before moving to the site of the reunion. Visitors welcome.


One thing Hannibal has can be classified as a black hole for Verizon wireless service. I will do the best I can for the next couple of days, but I might have to catch up the blog when I get to a better service area. The next couple of days we will be working overtime to enjoy the good life.