Last night I lay in bed, waking periodically from unpleasant dream after unpleasant dream in which my hair kept falling out. I had like a half dozen strands on my head and looked like a Chinese Crested dog with dandruff. Prior to going to bed, had thoroughly shocking and unpleasant intestinal... problem.

All of above occurred because tomorrow is my big-arse presentation to highfalutin' muckity mucks at work. Cannot wait until presentation is all over.

I mean, it isn't as though presentation will be difficult. I will sit at a desk and read from paper in front of my nose, while audience and head big cheeses look at screens around the room (ok, what they normally do is chat with each and work out cross word puzzles as though they are taking notes and believe me - I don't blame them one bit). *sigh* I tell myself this is small potatoes, but my intestinal tract seems to think otherwise as it ties itself into adorable balloon animals, the gnu being my favourite.

The Vultures and Jackles Close In...

Started the day with my typical weekend breakfast - eggs, English muffin & coffee - and a call from my neighbor-across-the-fence, Joyce. She was the one in whose yard Grandmother Oak decided to drop in on - literally.

I scampered right on over with my camera in hand to take a zillion photos. Here is the oak, from Joyce's yard, peeking through to the former home of the yappy dog neighbors who will forever be known to me as the louts who cut down the orange tree (let it go Claire, just let it go).

I had a good look at the Oak's base which was riddle with slime mold. Between that and the shallow root base I suppose she had to lie down sooner or later.

The white, paint-like streaks are slime molds - or so I believe.

I got the grand tour of Joyce's home & grounds. Didn't know my immediate neighborhood could be so classy! Lovely home, lovely lady. One look at her pool made me realize I have got to fire my pool guy. He hasn't stopped sending bills but I'm about 98% sure he has stopped his weekly visits to clean my pool, but that is another story.

Joyce said the oak is to yield maybe 5 cords of wood. Of course I ache to get my greedy hands on some of it just to find out what it is like to burn a hard wood. The wood I'm currently burning is soft, so it yields high heat for a brief spurt, then turns to ashes. To keep the fire going I have to nurse it along with offerings of more and more wood - which thank heavens, I still have some. But from what I understand, hard woods burn hot and continue burning for a longer time.

Oh well! Not like it would be ready to burn before next year anyway. Poor Grandmother Oak; former home of possums, screech owls and woodpeckers, perch to flickers, titmouses, magpies, crows, sharp-shinned hawk and western screech owls. Now she is just so much firewood to be divided out. Useful right to the end.

The view of the oak from Joyce's back patio

New Orleans Lite - or if FEMA Was on the Ball

As my Mom used to say, 'it's all over but the shouting'.

Tuesday I stayed home from work - a brilliant move if I say so myself. Early in the morning the SMUD trucks lined the street in front of my house.

Knock, knock. Who's there? SMUD!

A friendly guy from SMUD told me my electrical lines were pulled right out out of the roof and - no surprises here - SMUD could only work the power lines and couldn't touch my house. So, I would have to call an electrician.

I had a friend from work call around for an electrician for me because my cell phone was due for a charge and I had no way to charge it unless I either charged it while driving my car, or GASP asked a neighbor to let me charge it on their line - like that's ever going to happen. Chris called three electricians, all three promised to call me and only one did. He and an assistant made it over to my place around 3 o'clock.

I was stunned how much money I had to shell out, which included having county guy come out to ok the electrician's work before SMUD was allowed to reconnect my house. The SMUD crews worked all day long and a little after 5 o'clock I was back on the meter good to go - except - the Internet was down. WAH! I was off line from Monday night until this afternoon.

The SMUD guys were a hard working and cheery lot. They worked in teams up and down the block, replacing downed poles and climbing up to work on &/or replace the transformers. Although the sun was shining like a sonofagun there were impressive claps of thunder but it wasn't even raining! Really bizarre weather. With each blast of thunder the SMUD guys up and down the block cheered their approval of Mum Nature's might. Cool.

There are 4 men on this pole!
Look for the hard hats - Believe it or not!

Getting the Internet back up took most the day because those lines were also torn from my house. When the pole lines were back up another cable guy came to hook me up in the house. He told me my Internet lines were all squirrel chewed & he replaced all the lines, right up to my house.

So although the loss of the Old oak tree is still a bit traumatic for me, it did bring about some good. I got all new, and likely more dependable Internet lines, and while I had the electricians out I had them do a fair bit of work in the garage, including putting up new dusk to dawn lights on the garage for safety. So another old saying comes to mind - no great harm without some small good.