I was personally dismayed by the Tamaqua School... - Rhonda Jones Levy

Letter to the Editor

As an attorney, teacher of 20 years and a proud alumna of Tamaqua Area High School, I feel obliged to weigh in on the Tamaqua School Board’s recent decision to begin arming teachers. The Board’s decision is not only foolhardy and ill-considered; it has the real potential to be extremely dangerous.

Like all of us, teachers want students to feel safe and protected at school. Arming teachers, even willing ones, is not the way to achieve this goal. Teachers, throughout our nation, spend hours training and learning how to protect their students through state required fire drills, lockdowns and shelter in place drills. Educators are required to contact social services when they suspect abuse and each year countless teachers do just that.

Teachers today are already carrying a heavy load. They not only have responsibility for the education of their students, they must often serve as counselors for troubled or bullied students, as well as, emotional support for today’s overworked parents. Asking them to bear the responsibility of protecting their students by using a firearm, in a life and death situation, is completely foolish and fraught with peril. Do we require bank tellers to protect the bank in addition to their regular duties? Do we ask doctors to protect the hospital while performing surgery or medical procedures. Teachers are trained to teach, not act as security guards.

The list of things that could go wrong with arming classroom teachers seems obvious. What if a troubled student accidentally gets access to a gun? What if, in attempting to stop a shooter, a teacher accidentally shoots and kills a student? What if, a harried, exhausted teacher, after years of dealing with volatile students, misinterprets a student’s aggression and goes for the gun. 

Teachers are not trained police, not even teachers who know how to use a firearm. People go into the profession to instruct and nurture children. How many talented young people will be dissuaded from entering the profession of teaching if they must also bear the responsibility of using firearms? Shooting at a moving target, accurately, during a chaotic and dangerous situation should never be part of the job requirement. Does the Tamaqua School Board really want to put their teachers and their students in this untenable position?

Access to firearms, especially those designed to kill large numbers of people quickly, is a volatile political issue in this country. So many innocent children have been killed at school and, of course, we must do everything in our power to protect our students. Arming teachers is simply a knee jerk response. It is not the answer. Listen to what many of our students, parents and teachers are saying. Support reasonable gun control measures to keep these weapons away from those who should not have them. It’s way past time for our politicians to do that. In the meantime, the Tamaqua Board should hire trained security guards if they must, but please don’t place this additional, unconscionable burden on teachers. 

Should the Tamaqua School Board fail to reconsider its decision to go ahead with arming teachers, any tragic consequences arising as a result will fall squarely on its members’ shoulders.

Respectfully,
Rhonda Jones Levy
TAHS Class of ‘71

12 Years On A Vespa Scooter

The old blue Vespa - and the new light blue Vespa

Charlie is heading back to Mobile Alabama -
with the scooter for his wife. 

I just sold our old 2007 Vespa 150 Scooter. We bought it way back in October of 2006. It was not cheap - $4400 with tax - title - and tags. For 12 years - Lulu and I enjoyed driving it to games - running errands - and for trips to Lulu's office and classroom. All we ever did was put two new tires on it and replaced the battery 3 times. We kept it serviced well. It never let us down.

I have owned 75 vehicles - and I guess 12 years is the longest one for me.

After we bought a new Vespa - I listed the old one on craigslist. A few people came to drive it - some made lower offers. Last night - we were already in bed when Charlie from near Mobile Alabama called. He said he wanted the scooter for this wife. He said he would drive over today with the cash.

Charlie is 68 and has a Harley.  He is as sharp as they come. It took him 4 hours to come 217 miles with his Jeep pulling a trailer. When he got here - we went for a little ride. Charlie drove the dark blue one - I drove the light blue one. When the ride was over - he handed me the cash. We loaded the scooter on his trailer - and as I type - he is driving on I-10 back to Mobile.

The scooter cost $4400 new - we put 4400 miles on it.  So it cost us $1 a mile :-)

Today a new one costs $6000 or so.

$4400 - $1780  = $2620 - the real cost of the scooter.

$2620 / 4400 miles = 59 cents a mile.

$2620 / 12 years = it cost $218 a year.

Indeed lots of cars are cheaper to own - even if the Vespa gets 100 miles per gallon.

I hope we have as good luck with the new Vespa as the old one - particularly owning it 12 years! I hope I live that long.

Mexico City Trip Afterglow and Reasons

Me and my lovely wife at the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico City

Many folks have asked me - why the quick trip to Mexico City of all places. I thought I would write this story to explain it - and also talk about things we learned.

Usually when we travel - and we do that a lot - it is because Lulu is being paid to go somewhere. This year alone - we spent time in Germany - England - Denmark - Greece - Scotland - Washington - Philadelphia - Richmond - Orlando - Tampa - and now Mexico. Lulu usually is doing a presentation - teaching - or consulting. She is usually paid - plus has her expenses covered. I only have to pay for my plane ticket - and most of the time it is paid for by FF miles.

But even though the above picture does not show it - Lulu is approaching retirement age. I retired at 55. It seems unfair that she is working so much longer than I did. The difference is - she loves what she is doing. She loves being an FSU professor and all the perks that go with it. She loves following her Seminoles - and wearing the garnet and gold. She also loves the paid travel.

I decided that we would take a pleasure trip to a place we both had never been - and Mexico City filled the bill. It would be like we were both retired. For 6 days we were just pleasure travelers - with no clocks running. Lulu teaches her class every Tuesday. So we left on a Wednesday and came back on a Monday. 6 full days. Sort of a long weekend.

A second reason is we changed our phone service to T-Mobile. We wanted to see how well it functioned on the planes and in foreign countries. The service passed with flying color - 4 bars all the way.

From the moment I said go - within an hour - Lulu booked flights and hotel. She had looked over the top 10 things to see in Mexico City. I looked up the vital statistics of the place. It is at 7300 feet altitude - and has 21 million people.

Lulu got flights for $400 each - round trip thru Atlanta on Delta. She got us a 4-room Le Meridien Suite for $125 a night for 5 nights. We were all set.

When we got there - we were very surprised with how nice the city and people were. We enjoyed Uber cars because they were so cheap to get around. We could go anywhere for $3 to $4. There were so many good place to eat - cheaply. We even went to one fancy restaurant to please our son - Keith.

We visited the Pyramids of Pre-Columbian America. We visited the famous Templo Mayo. We went to the Mexican National Ballet - and shopped like crazy. Lulu does not buy much - but she loves to look. She had to claim a dozen bottles of vanilla at customs.

But what we enjoyed most was just touring together by the seat of our pants. We woke up when we wanted - ate what we wanted - and rested when we wanted. There was no hidden agenda. We had no one to impress but ourselves. We spent very little money.

Outside of being tired the first day for altitude - we did not get sick - no Montezuma's revenge. The hotel gave us plenty of bottled water - but we slipped a few times using local water - we did not die. We walked a lot and ate what we wanted. To our surprise Lulu came home one pound lighter - and I was 2 pounds lighter.

On the way home we volunteered to be bumped - they said they needed our seats. They wrote us new tickets and we were already spending the $2000 in our heads. At the last minute - they put us on the plane anyway - no bump. They did upgrade Lulu to first class - and I had 2 seats in comfort class to myself - since Lulu moved. We got home 2 hours earlier than planned because we caught an earlier flight home from Atlanta to Tallahassee. The whole trip was 5 hours - from Mexico City to our home.

So - how did we feel about the trip? Mexico City has beautiful places and much poverty. Our hotel was on the main boulevard downtown. We saw high fashion and real estate. We could shop in fancy malls or in the street bazaars. In all our travels I have never seen more streets full of shopping - blocks and blocks. I loved shopping in a 9 story tall Sears. The people were very sweet and helpful. They love their country. We visited historic ruins from way back to 100 BC.

We climbed the 2000 year old - Pyramid of the Sun.

For 6 days - we enjoyed what it would be like if we were both retired - for about $2000.

$2000 a week x 50 weeks = it would cost us $100,000 a year to be retired!  :-)

The Mexican National Ballet - Sunday Morning

This is the curtain call for the Mexican National Ballet. These dancers are the best of the best in the country. I took this picture from our seats in row 3. Click on the little box to make it full screen - it is very clear - I used my new iPhone Xs Max. All pictures and videos are free to use - no credit necessary.

The Palace of Fine Arts
and the old Olympic sign from 1968

A mural by Diego Rivera in  the
National Palace

I loved this tile restaurant by the ballet

We bought ballet tickets the first day we were here. We were lucky to get the center of the third row for $50. I was never to a ballet before - I only saw it on TV. I expected a bunch of guys in tutu's and tights. I did not know quite what to expect.

The Mexican National Ballet performs mostly Mexican Folk Dances. Folk Dancing is a mandatory course in the public schools. The best of the best end up here. The musicians are fantastic - the dancers beautiful and talented. The costumes are vividly colorful. The show goes non-stop for two hours. I kept my camera away most of the time - expecting to video a couple pieces in the act after the intermission. There was no intermission. 

After the piece that was the finale - they had a curtain call number that I videoed. Many of the kids in the audience were all eyes and ears - because they learn the steps and routines at school. Some of the songs reminded me of River Dance and Flamenco. We did see Flamenco dancers in Madrid two years ago. 

One nice thing being in the third row - we had an excellent view - because all the people in front of us were short  :-)

After the ballet we went for drink and pastry. Lulu had latte and I had hot tea. We picked 5 pastries - the entire bill was $5 plus a $1 tip. The line went out the door people waiting to eat. We waited. The service was excellent - and about 5 different wait people struck up conversations with us. Gringos stick out. :-)

After that - we walked thru the bazaars to the National Palace. Admission was free - but they kept my drivers license as hostage. when we left - they gave it back. 

I was worn out - we caught an Uber car and headed home for $3.

We turned on the TV - the second version of "The Parent Trap" was on TV in Spanish. We watched and laughed. Lulu said room service was cheap - so we had supper in. Now before bed - I type this story - and will pack a little. 

Monday - we have a 9 AM flight home. We have been upgraded to comfort class - but the planes are pretty full. We hope for a bump.

Teotihuacan - Largest City Before Columbus Came to America

We hiked up the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan

The Pyramid of the Moon - was newer and smaller

Half way on our climb to the top

$50 for a big mac - 50 pesos equals about $2.50

We spent most of our third day going to Teotihuacan. This is considered the place where Mexico started - the Gods were born there. I have to cut and paste that name - I can say it better than spell it. Te-Ih-Too-Ah-Can. It existed from around the birth of Christ to about 500 AD. This was before the Aztecs. It had about 150,000 people - similar in size of Tallahassee today. It was the biggest city in the Americas - 1000 years before Columbus arrived. At the time it was the 6th biggest city in the world. 

Mexico sits on a plateau in a high valley. The city is about 7300 feet high - with mountains around it going up to 17,000 feet. The elevation keeps it cooler than you would expect for being in the tropics. It is 60s and 70s here - sunny - breezy. 21 million people live here today - but the city does not have as many skyscrapers as NYC. It is spread out for miles. Most homes are one or two stories. Our hotel is in a rich section - but we saw tons of poorer areas on the highway to Teotihuacan.

We got an Uber car to go out to Teotihuacan - but on the way we cut a deal of $100. For that we got unlimited driving - about 5 hours - tolls - admissions - etc. He could not speak English - but he would talk into his phone - and it would translate for us. We would talk back and it would translate. He was very happy. An average secretary makes $700 a month here! We are big spender Gringos.

Teotihuacan is dominated by two pyramids. The largest is the Pyramid of the Sun. It is 230 feet tall. It has original steps to the top. The base is about 700 feet wide. It is solid volcanic rock - no rooms inside. The steps are steep and bumpy - roughly one foot up and one foot over. A cable hand rail protects you from falling - but I am sure many people roll down. My elevation sickness passed on day two. Not sick but I tired easily. I am good now. 

The Pyramid of the Sun was built around the birth of Christ. They are not really sure why they were built. It is interesting that this pyramid is at 20 degrees north and the Great Pyramid of Giza is at 30 degrees. Also - the Great Pyramid is twice as high. This pyramid had an angle of 34 degrees of climb. 

The Pyramid of the Moon is only 150 feet  tall - but seems better preserved. It was built 200 years later. Both pyramids were covered with smooth limestone plaster. The plaster has weathered away or was taken by looters in the last 2000 years. We chose not to climb the second pyramid :-)

After Teotihuacan - we met our driver and drove the 40 miles or so back into town. I tried to take pictures of the urban sprawl - zooming along at 160 KPH (100 MPH) on the toll way. We were in a silver VW Vento with Jose. He was a great driver and wonderful host. 

We were dropped of at the National Anthropology Museum in a beautiful park area. Our driver wanted to wait for us for free. We decided to go on our own. The museum really tired me out - but we decided to walk the 1.5 miles down the tree-lined boulevard to our hotel. Lulu knew there was a big mall along the way. The Reforma 222 Mall rivals anything in America. She shopped and we ate - and it started raining - so we grabbed the first pink and white cab we saw. He charged us $5 back to our hotel. An Uber would have been $2 - but it was raining. He drove us within 2 feet of our front door.

We are impressed with the hospitality the people of Mexico have shown to us. Saturday is Day 4 of 6. I am waiting for the FSU game to start - Lulu is shopping. 

Delta has upgraded us to Comfort Class for the way home - our planes are pretty full. Wouldn't a bump make this a just about perfect trip? 

Dinner For Two For 500 Pesos

20 pesos is roughly $1 - 500 pesos is roughly $25.

When traveling from country to country - it is neat to see and use their money. You are always doing the math in your head to figure out what something costs. In Mexico City - they use pesos. Yes - they the American Express and Visa cards work. And yes - Apply Pay works on your iPhone. But seeing and feeling the different bills makes you feel that you are living like a resident.

One US dollar is worth about 17 Mexican pesos. I just divide the peso price in my mind by 20 - to give me a rough estimate. Each bill is a different size and color. The 20 pesos bill above is worth $1. The 500 pesos bill is worth $25. What confused things more - the "$" sign here mean pesos.

Last night we had a nice supper for 500 pesos - that included the entre - side orders - drinks - tax - tip.  Still it is hard to throw three 20's on the table as a tip  :-)

This best value here is the Uber car ride. Uber cars are all over here - there might be 8 of them circling our hotel at one time. You use the uber app on your phone - type in where you want to go - and it says "a silver Volkswagen Vento driven by Arturo will pick you up - he has 5735 rides." He takes you directly where you want to go - you get the bill on your phone. You can give him a tip on the phone. The cost of our rides have been $2 to $3. I give him a $1 tip - big spender here. If you want to talk - the driver talks. If not - silence - you just get out.  Uber cars save your legs - especially if you are having "jet lag" or "altitude lag."

Today we are going to the Pyramid of the Sun. We plan to take the bus. There is a subway that is state subsidized - 1 peso a ride. Yes that is 5 cents.

Lulu loves all the shops. She does not buy much. But she loves the unusual items and the prices.

Today is Day 3 of 6. They say altitude sickness only lasts a day or two - I will let you know how it goes. Oley!

Mexico City - Day 2 - We Visited Templo Mayor - And Shopped A Lot

Mexican National Cathedral

The Ballet from Sears.
The scooter was $1500

The God of the Underworld - 

liver hanging out

Day 1 of our trip was uneventful. We left Tallahassee at 6 AM. We flew to Atlanta and caught a straight flight to Mexico City. It took about 3 hours. As our plane landed our phone got a message from T-Mobile welcoming us to Mexico. It said our iPhones would work exactly like they do back in Florida. They actually worked better here. We have gotten 4 bars of signal everywhere here. First thing we did was get an Uber car to the the hotel. Uber rides are cheap here - most of them falling in the $2 to $3 category. 

Le Meridien is a world wide hotel chain. We have a little suite of bedroom - kitchen - living room - bathroom for $126 a night. It is downtown and central to everything. We have  2 big screen TV's and receive some USA stations - CNN - etc.

I did experience little "altitude lag." It is like "jet lag" - but your body must adjust to the thin air. Tallahassee is at 200 feet - Tamaqua is at 700 feet - Denver is at 5200 feet - and Mexico City is at 7300 feet. The lack of oxygen made me tired and weak. I read about  it and it is supposed to go away in a couple days. The sangria we had for supper did not help :-)

Thursday - Day 2 - I was feeling much better. I still got tired a bit on steps - but it was much better than the first day. We ate breakfast in our hotel. 

We took an Uber to Templo Mayor. Admission for this giant museum was like $4. This temple was built by the Aztecs around 100 AD. The culture lasted until about 1500 - when the Spanish came with guns. They easily the Aztecs and plundered the place. They sent all the gold and silver back to Spain. Many of the ships wrecked off the cost of Florida - and they are still finding the booty. 

Mexico City is in a valley on top of a high plateau. The 7300 feet elevation alters the weather here. We have experienced 60s and 70s - pretty cool for being so far south. At 19 degree North - it is farther south than the Tropic of Cancer. At one time the plateau had a giant lake - but they easily drained it over the edge of the plateau. 

21 million people live in this city and valley. It is the second largest city in the world next to Tokyo. They spend the peso. One peso is about worth 5 cents. 20 pesos to a dollar. It is hard getting used to the big number prices. I saw a Christmas Tree in Sears for $19,000. In dollars - it is less than $1000. Making it even stranger is the symbol $ means peso here. 

Food prices are cheap. Lulu and I have had full meals - with desserts - drinks - sides - and the bill with taxes and tips is under 400 pesos or $20. We went to Walmart here - and milk is less than $1 a quart. Uber rides are usually $2 to $3. 

The people we met are nice. They are shorter than you expect. Maybe the diet makes them a little more plumb - not that Americans aren't. They dress nicely - very few of them smoke - and main streets are litter free. Our Meridien Hotel is as nice as anywhere else we have visited. The people are super helpful - although not many speak English. Admissions are low priced. 

We bought tickets for the ballet Sunday. We have been told to not miss it. There were 3 categories of tickets - 3 levels. We bought two tickets in the third row center of the bottom section for $50 each. The theatre is beautiful. 

We found a big Sears downtown - 9 stories tall. We shopped on each floor. They even sold motorcycles and scooters. Fire codes are light - all 9 floors were open - and the escalator goes down thru all layers. 

We got cash out of an ATM machine - our American cards work fine. They have McDonalds - Walmart - Kentucky Fried Chicken - Chilis - and dozens of their own chains. There are lots of places to eat all kinds of food. 

Tomorrow - Day 3 - we are taking a bus to the Pyramid of the Sun. It is the third largest pyramid in the world. Again - it was built by the Aztecs. It is 230 feet tall - and 700 feet wide at the base. There are steps to the top and we plan to climb it. 

Our iPhones Work in Mexico City on T-Mobile

This is the first message we got when we landed the plane. We have excellent cell phone coverage and internet.

The Hero Of Our Home And Three Day Trip to Philly - This Honda Tri-Fuel Generator

Our Honda 2000 Tri-Fuel Generator

It is 6:00 PM Sunday and we just got home from a three day trip to Philadelphia to visit with family.

Last Wednesday - Hurricane Michael hit Tallahassee and knocked out power to 95% of the 185,000 residents of this lovely tree-lined Southern city. Several years ago - I bought this wonderful Honda generator - so what - big deal. Everybody has a generator. But not like this one. This one is adapted to run on 3 fuels - gasoline - propane - and natural gas. The large regulator on the side is for natural gas. You run a hose directly to a natural gas tap on the side of our home. We also use that tap for our gas grill. While running on natural gas - you have no smelly fumes - you don't have to be filling it up with a gas can every 5 hours. It just runs and runs and runs.

Our Honda trike has been running straight for 5 days! It has been powering our refrigerator - television - lights - phones - computers - and even a hair dryer. 2000 watts is a lot of power when using LED light bulbs.

While away we had a house sitter - but she said everything went well. She was ready to shut down the generator when the power came on. Alas - power is still off. We are still pretending to be a third world country here. Not to make too much light of it - many people are suffering west of us because the storm steered left away from our town and home. They are living in a war zone - and will be for months and years.

I bought the generator here -
Honda triple fuel generator
Central Maine Diesel
29 Carey Circle
Hampden, ME 04444
Phone: 1-207-941-1188
Fax: 1-207-941-1189
E-Mail: sales@generatorsales.com
I think I paid $1250 for it - 6 years ago.

If any of my neighbors want to come over and check it out - you are welcome. It sure beats paying $9000 for a whole house generator.

Wonderful Weekend In Philadelphia With Grandson And Historic Townhouse

The hurricane had just knock the power out at out home in Tallahassee. So Friday - we hopped on a plane and escaped to family and familiarity. My son - Keith - and his wife - Liz - were attending a wedding at Penn's Landing. Our assignment was to take care of Max.

Friday - one of my best students - Steve Simchak stopped by to visit. My lifted a cold one at the Wooley  Mammoth. I bored him with two hours of old stories - and hearing about his adventures.

Saturday we enjoy walking to the Liberty Bell - Independence Hall - Carpenters Hall - the Firemen's Museum - the First and Second Banks of the United States. We enjoyed Philly Soft Pretzels - hoagies - pizza. We haunted a few playgrounds in South Philly.

I had chicken potpie at the Amish counter in the Reading Terminal Market. That market has the best selection of food in the world for me. I could eat every meal there for the rest of my life and die early at 500 pounds.

This morning we went to the the wedding breakfast at the Hilton - then ubered to the airport after picking up our bags back at the townhouse. As always - it is hard to leave everyone behind. It took us less than 30 minutes to go from Hilton to our townhouse - to the airport - security - and at the gate. Plenty of time to type this - and post the video.

Side note - I always loved the tune "Forget you" - the FSU band is always playing it. In the Uber cab - our driver had it on the radio - I saw the name on the screen. I quickly downloaded it to my iPhone. I have been playing it all the while I am typing. I never knew it had lyrics :-)

Leaving The Storm Mess For Philadelphia

The power was off for a total of 6 days. We ran our Honda generator the whole time. We had a date with our family in Philadelphia. So we left the house with a sitter and the genset running - from Friday to Sunday. We got home and the genset was still running. We had power back on Tuesday after the trip.

Just town the street - tree takes down power lines

Little House on the Prairie in Tallahassee

No power for days

Camper Made It Safely

Monday Morning 8 AM

A Fewer Branches - Lights From Honda Generator

Wed 6 PM - we are good. Power failed at 2PM - Storm passed us. A few branches down. No damage. Googbye Michael.

Getting Ready For Hurricane Michael - With A Honda Natural Gas Generator

When Tallahassee gets hit by hurricanes - the first thing to go is the power. The town has too many trees and they overgrow the power lines. A branch goes down and so does the power - sometimes for as long as 3 weeks.

We handle that with a Honda natural gas generator. Honda makes great quiet generators in all sizes. The one I have produces 2000 watts. That is a lot of electricity when you have none. The refrigerator uses less than 150 watts. The TV uses about 200 watts. LED light bulbs use about 10 watts. Add it up and you can run a lot of appliances on this generator.

The generator cost about $1250. Honda does not make them to run on natural gas. A company in Maine takes the gasoline model and put a gas regulator on it. It is a very nice professional conversion.  I put an outside tap on our gas line for our gas grill. It serves double duty by running the generator. The generator also runs on gasoline or propane - so it is called a tri-fuel generator.

Unlike gasoline - natural gas is a much cleaner burning fuel. Still I would never run this generator inside the house. Often times during hurricane - there is no gasoline available. The city has never had a natural gas outage.

We expect Hurricane Michael to hit town Wednesday around noon. Hopefully it will be calmed down a little from its present 120 MPH winds.

A whole house generator can cost $7000 to $9000. They are really nice and can even run you air conditioner or heat. But $1250 to me - makes more sense.

Wednesday at 7 PM - Michael Visits

Monday morning - as I write - Lulu is driving home from a week of fun with the cousins at Cocoa Beach. I just brought in the morning paper and here it is. We are getting a visit from Hurricane Michael on Wednesday at 7 PM. I hope he can stay for dinner. It is supposed to be a Category 2 by the time it hits the our coast. Since we are 40 miles inland - I am guessing it will be a Category 1 by the time it hits our town.

Our house is built to withstand storms greater than this. My only worry is damage to our camper. I can move it away from trees or try to find a garage that can take vehicles 8 feet 4 inches high. We have a Honda generator and also a second generator  in the camper. We are up on a hill so there is no chance of flooding.

In Tallahassee - because there is so many trees - we have lots of power failures during hurricanes because soft soil and lots of rain make quick work of shallow roots. Lots of wind and wet ground = downed power lines.

Last summer when a hurricane was coming toward town - we fled in our camper west - and the hurricane went east. We returned to an untouched home.

Update - at noon Monday - classes at FSU called off for Tuesday and rest of the week.

Check Out The Wireless Phone Charger

In a moment of weakness - I bought the new iPhone Xs Max. My old iPhone 7 was fine but - since I use the phone so much for many things - I wanted the new one.

The main features are a bigger brilliant screen - more memory storage - a better camera - wireless charging - and face recognition. With face recognition - if you look at your iPhone it opens up without pressing keys. The "max" part of  it just means a bigger screen. I got it because it was named after my grandson Max. :-)

Apple seems to release a new phone every 6 months. Lulu already has the iphone X - so I had to catch up. Back when they were giving away free cellphones for signing up - I would have told you to shoot me if I paid $1343 for a cellphone - when my old one was perfectly fine. Time marches on. These are the good old days.

Cousins On The Way To Cocoa Beach

Lori - Mary Karen - Ruth Ann - Cathy

Lulu is in the Honda van on the way to Sanford FL to pick up these Coal Crackers. They are in the Allentown Airport on the way to Sanford FL. Mary Karen is an old Tamaqua friend - she is flying to Florida for a birthday visit to family. I just saw that she was at the same airport. 

Lulu is on the highway right now - she says she is stuck in traffic. 

The cousins will spend 6 days at Cocoa Beach. Lulu is rushing to the airport to pick them up. 

We Sailed to Dog Island Saturday

Dog Island is about 4 miles off the coast of Carrabelle FL
There are about 100 homes out there.
You can get there by sea or air.
There is a grass landing strip there. 

Four days after we made this trip to Dog Island - Hurricane Michael hit and destroyed almost every house out there.