Barb & Sal Dragotta Macomb County Michigan Homes for Sale

Do you hear it;
Do you see it;
Did you get it;

No, no ...not speaking to the congressional 'dance' ongoing;
Not indicating any local & state items up for discussion;
Never intending to make this a political posting.

Am speaking of the recent almost all night-time "Rains".
With more predicted for today, tonight & into Friday / Saturday.

What then, might be the problem around here ?

Let me first explain--we--here in our part of Macomb County, Michigan--are under a watering-ban-rule..more accurately, we CAN water via sprinklers of the automatic type as long as we follow the Odd-Even [we are Even] days; water only between 12:00 am and 6:00am. The truth I swear--boy do I swear!

We have been following the ban as to days and almost to time of night; due to the fact that we don't let the sprinklers do their 'thing' unattended--thus we start after 10:30 pm.
How's that working out for us, well/...
Let me illustrate:





We do have some real green lawn; it is one the side street area;
Let me illustrate:



OK, with enough RAIN our lawn can look just like those across the street..
WHO do not follow the RULES:

Let me illustrate:

[mailbox from next door]
[Eagle is ours]



Now, I ask you, is this fair?
And, to make matters worse, just got a glimpse of my hair from taking these photos for your enlightenment;

You know Richard Simmonds right--well that is the look.

Not only could you feel the humidity, really FEEL it;
It was palpable, a living, breathing entity [oh wait that is the theme of the New ATT];
Got stung by some flying insect standing outside.
And ended up looking like Simmonds or possibly that "fight promoter" Name?

SOB !!!! LOL !!!!

One final note: the lawn-service did come and took samples;
It might actually be an insect investation...DUE to the lack of water !
O.K. so what is the difference--don't see that happening to the:
Lawns Across the Street!!!!
Who Don't Follow the Rules

We finally had a measurable rain fall today;
it was during the 5:00 to 6:30 pm time slot;
It was very welcome to the grass, flowers, birds & humans;

Around 8:00 pm I noticed some very interesting cloud formations;
Thought " Camera";
Followed through even as the sun set lower and the colors changed.

At the first there was a palpable feeling of humidity and the photos show that :


... I thought it might be a blotch on the lens--not so;




One special formation appeared over the House directly across from our Home; two houses to the left of the tree in the above photo. When cropping those photos, I see the 'Ghost riders in the sky' heading to the North;




Turning to the South or West [lines are blurred on the directions; a little of both]


Looking back to the North one last time:



Finally--our two Grilling-folks say goodnight;

It is 10:40 p.m. and quite foggy or hazy out there now

If you rely on Local News papers for information- as the only source- the facts found therein would seem contradictory at best & oppositional at the worst.

Just reading the "Large Type-setting-font choices", Macomb County headlines say:
...economic 'double-dip' recession possible;
...drops in unemployment;
...loss of actual workers;
...housing sales rebound;
...over 1600 foreclosures county wide.

These types of 'information' go on & on, depending upon the day, hour of, or the movements / lack there of in state legislature or in Washington.

Macomb County, Michigan is still Automotive dependent or related as per the job market.
Splinter auto-related businesses are in the position of 'wait-&-see' as per large hiring. There are some auto-related jobs posted--majority of which involve skill levels, thus perhaps, leaving out 'newbies to the field'.
UAW is scheduling the "talks" with the auto companies with expectations set.

Housing and small business [even some mid-large businesses] are affected by the totality of the automotive industry.
Coupling that with the other state-wide or local issues and you potentially have volatile, vitriolic, & sometimes violent-tendencies.

That all this is happening within the weather-hike in temps. and this state [probably all 38 others so affected] now seeing a;
...shortage of human-control of temper;
...negativity in some printed material;
...interesting, but oft confusing 'letters to the Editor';
...inaccurate & divisive TV ads from AARP;
...phone calls from Blue Cross-Blue Shield;

Drivers are seeming to use their cars as the 'weapons-on-wheels' that they can be.
Digits-fingers are widely used to indicate the driving ability - inability of others on the shared roadways.

Could go on listing items serious to hilarious that we humans employ on a daily basis, but that would only add to the nonsense or contradictions out there.

Not to promote a 'Pollyanna' type of presence in public--all the above other than the weather temps. are under the control of the individual person. No one should ever allow others, events, or interactions between __ to dictate personal behaviors.

One can, via research online to trusted sites, discover the facts from or about any side of the question / situation;
One can, through personal study / exploration, become employable in a different job or field;
One can refuse to believe everything they read, hear, or see without considering the source[s] personal belief system or 'bent' . This is vital to the true facts.

All the above anticipates the time and effort, by us, that needs to be taken.

Naturally, it is wonderful to read that all if moving forward to good endings.
Talk the Talk may work in personal encouragement when striving for a goal.

The truth is expected to "Set you free"-- it is "The Getting to the truth" that is hard.
OR you could just cancel the papers: turn off the radio & TV; & proverbially 'stick your head in the sand' .

[note: earlier today Sen H. Reid solved the Senate's problem with the 'cap,cut,---' option--He simply refused to bring it to the floor.
That is one way to handle these problems with which we all live:
. Don't Deal with them !!! ]




[[must apologize for any spelling errors; can no longer use the tool bar SC; and cannot--with my eyes--always see ARs spell-check's "Red" line]]

The fifth Great Lake has international borders--Canada & Northern New York.
The 14th largest lake in the world.

It would be remiss of me to ignore this fifth Great Lake simply because it has no Michigan 'side'; but many Michiganders have traveled through Canada to cross this Lake over to upper New York.

Simultaneously many here in Michigan have crossed that ferry by the 1,000 Islands; or perhaps visited Niagara Falls both the American Falls & "The FALLS--the Horseshoe Falls--Ontario".

Named Lac Ontario from the French; Canada's most populous province--Ontario--was named for the lake.

As the second map above indicated--it is bordered on the north & southwest by the province Ontario, Canada;
It is bordered on the south by the state of New York--northern coast;
The name Ontario is from the Wyandot [Huron] language meaning
"the Shining Waters".

This fifth Great Lake is the last lake in the chain of lakes, and serves as the outlet to the St. Lawrence River.

Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes and the smallest in surface area.
Having the lowest mean surface elevation--Ontario drains from Lake Erie;
the St. Lawrence River serves as the outlet. The Niagara River is the primary source.
Other major rivers that drain into Lake Ontario are:
..Don River; Humber River; Trent River; Cataraqui River; Genesee river; Oswego River; Black River; & the Salmon River. {Those Rainers who are from this Province may know these particular rivers; Any having photos are welcome to offer them in a comment]

On the Canadian side--the cities of Toronto and Hamilton anchor the area called
'the Golden Horseshoe'; while on the American side, the shore is basically rural with the exception of Rochester.

The ports on the Canadian side include:St. Catherines, Oshawa, Cobourg and Kingston, near the St. Lawrence River outlet.
American ports are much smaller and are: Oswego and Sacket's Harbor. The city of
Syracuse is 40 miles inland and connected to Lake Ontario by the NY State Canal System.Z

Personal experiences revolve around Canadian cities of Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton and where ever the ferry docked from the crossing by the 'Thousand Islands' situated within the St. Lawrence River. Time constraints did not allow for a visit to
"Wolfe Island" which is accessible from both sides--Canada & the U.S.

The above information is gleaned from Wikipedia's 12 page report.
visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ontario

A fun web site: http://www.GreatLakesPirateFest.com has this info page; it is for children, but adults can learn from it also:



To see more about the Niagara Falls visit: http://www.niagarafallslive.com

There is an area where you can click on the 'live cam' as well as information on the three set of Falls:
..American Falls
...Bridal Veil Falls --American Falls;
...the Canadian "Horseshoe" Falls;

[stretched this map to enlarge some areas; note Buffalo on the right and some areas on the Canadian side--the toll bridge is in the upper right side]
Clearly marked are the Niagara Falls on the left side of Goat Island.

There is a web site that promotes recreational & charter fishing from Rochester, NY: visit: http://www.lakeontario.org/


As this series draws to a close there is one final site where you can discover facts about all 5 of the Great Lakes; Lake St Clair; St Lawrence River; & States & Provinces involved;
...once on the site, Navigate via the left side listings:
visit: http://www.great-lakes.net/

Plan a trip to a Lake;
See a Great Lake;

When Sal worked at the OLD General Motors; there was a time, or a place in time when he drove all types of 'trial-types of cars'; through this process, we purchased one of those delightful Serviles with the wonderful design of the Back section.

The present-day PT Cruiser recalls that specific design of the 'diesel Seville'

Ours was two-toned Silvered-Blue;
Had that distinctive back comprised of 2 slanted areas;
...one was the back window &;
...the second slant was the actual trunk area. It was so great.

Loved to drive that car;
Loved the way it handled;
Loved the effect it had on 'rude' drivers behind.

Because those first diesel cars did have that "Cloud" of black smoke upon fast accelerations;
when driving it felt it was polite to pull away from stops of any kind
in a steady, deliberate & slowly accelerating manner.

Many times, the drivers behind would get impatient;
They discovered their horns;
They USED their horns.

So---
If that same driver remained behind me for 3 lights and used his/her car horn;
Then--
at the very next light that turned Green,
I would pull away with the speed that they desired;

As they came out of the Noxious Cloud of Diesel Fumes, they had some very interesting reactions.
If it was possible, I would then change into the right hand lane letting them continue in the left one;
Most of those drivers, upon coming along side of me, would smile & indicate that they understood the "WHY" of my driving approach.

Some were so happy to get away that they would give me the "one-finger" wave.

All got the message.

How I hope that this new GM Diesel Chevy has that same 'capability';

Sal claims that GM & the other automakers have fixed that problem;
I, however, LOVED that particular Problem.

Just a laugh to share on a Wednesday Evening