Now That You Sold the Saturn - Where are you going to go? - We're Going to Greensboro!

Nancy just booked rooms at the fabulous Motel 6 in downtown sunny Greensboro. On March 9th to the 12th is the ACC basketball tournament and we expect the FSU Seminoles to make some noise. So Nancy went on the net looking for hotel rooms at the biggest event in ACC sports - the basketball tournament in the Greensboro Coliseum. She was surprised that "hotel rooms" could be gotten so cheaply - that she went back on and booked another room - just in case friends wanted to come along.

Now the hard part - finding tickets. This will be a challenge - finding cheap tickets at this event. Keep an eye on this blog to see if Harry and Nancy fall flat on their faces - and end up watching the games on their 19 inch hotel TV enjoying their free coffee maker in room.

Tickets will be at a "super-premium" because this is the first year where there are 12 teams in the ACC.

Who Do You Distrust More - Harry or a Used Car Salesman?

On Wednesday - our good friend Darrell (FSU professor with Nancy) - asked me if I would sell his old car for him. He bought a new car and just didn't need the old one. He told me what he paid for it one year ago and I was amazed. He asked me to clean it up and market it. He said I could keep any money I made over what he paid for it.

So I spent 3 hours - washing - scrubbing - shampooing - polishing - waxing. I put up a web page - and put an ad in the paper for $22. I also put a sign in it out in front of our house. On Thursday - when the newspaper ad appeared our phone was ringing off the hook. When folks called - I would tell them the pros and cons of the car. The second guy that came to drive it bought it - full price. He was so tickled that he beat all the others to the punch. So far - 26 people called about the car!

The buyer paid cash - one hundred dollar bills - Darrell signed the title -and the deal is over.

The car was a 1997 Saturn with 97,000 miles - it had a big dent in the hood. The car ran like a bandit - 5 speed - lots of pep - 30 miles par gallon. The neatest part was it had a fiberglass plastic body. It shined like new.

I got $1200 more than we expected in one day. Oh yes - and "thrifty" Harry called the newspaper up and got $9 back when he cancelled the ad. Now who do you trust more?

Do you remember the movie five years ago featuring Nicholas Cage called "Gone in 60 Seconds"? How about "Gone in 24 hours!"

Here is the Sales Ad

FSU Beat Georgia Tech in Last Two Minutes - GT led by as many as 14 in the Second Half

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Alexander Johnson led the Seminoles (14-6, 5-5) with 14 points, including a slam dunk that tied the ragged contest at 77 with 2:06 left.

Andrew Wilson's 3-point shot with 1:31 left capped a 24-9 finish Thursday as Florida State defeated Georgia Tech 80-79, handing the Yellow Jackets their eighth consecutive loss.

Neither team managed to score in the final 91 seconds and Jeremis Smith's desperation shot from midcourt bounced harmlessly off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.

Georgia Tech (9-12, 2-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) got the ball back for that final shot with 4.4 seconds left after Florida State's Ralph Mims missed two free throws. Mims had made 39 of 42 tries this season before the misses.

Wilson, a sixth-year senior from the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Ga., made 3 of 5 tries from 3-point distance and finished with 10 points.

Nancy and I attended on "complimentary tickets."

FSU Hosed at Duke by Refs

Alex Johnson - Florida State University's star power player did too good of a job of covering Duke's Shelden Williams. The refs - who often favor the Duke Blue Devils in close games - decided to retire Johnson early. After getting fouled to the floor - Shelden Williams got up and tried to pick a fight with Alex - Alex put his hands up and turned away - but it did not stop the refs from calling two fouls on Johnson - one for the hack - and a technical for fighting. Johnson fouled out at that moment. Duke went on to win the game in overtime without Johnson's help. The next day - the ACC suspended the refs for a game - but the damage was done. Duke - unfairly got the victory. The whole thing plays to a national consensus that referees favor Duke almost all the time. In this game Duke got to shoot 43 fouls versus FSU only shooting 11. If Duke did not get all those "free" calls - they would have lost by 20 points on their Cameron Arena home floor.

I like Duke - but fair is fair.

I predict that in the NCAA tournament - where you lose one game and you are done - that a couple of refs will decide to make a name for themselves - and unfairly end Duke's and Shelden's season.

....And unfair is unfair.

Florida A&M Band Performs at Grammys

This band practices less than one mile from our house. They are the only American band to be asked to perform in the Bastille Day Parade in Paris. Now they have gone to Hollywood. They are one of the top attractions here in the Capitol City.

LOS ANGELES - Members of the Florida A&M Marching 100 were more than a little star struck as they rubbed elbows with superstars like Jamie Fox and "Konyay" West on Wednesday at The 48th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

But when their curtain call came, it was time for business. If the Grammy Awards is the Super Bowl of awards shows, the guys were tuned up and tuned in. Just before leaving his dressing room at the Staples Center and after shining his tuba like his 1984 Buick Regal, Miami native Jean-Paul Ralph asked the production crew, "Are You Ready for Us?"

Ben Houser Staying With Jack Nicklaus in New Zealand

Ben Houser - my Macintosh buddy from Tamaqua - likes to go to New Zealand every winter to fish. Many years ago - he met Jack Nicklaus there at the Cedar Lodge - and they have been fishing together ever since. Ben sent this picture of his family and Jack's family at the dinner table in Cedar Lodge. Ben asked me if I knew the other guy at the table. I said no - but I noticed that Ben was on his third glass of wine. You may re-call Ben from when he was starring in "Weekend at Bernie's" on our trip to the Florida Keys.

See Ben in New Zealand

See Ben and Carol Houser's great pictures from New Zealand -

Ben's Pictures

Today Harry is Retired Three Years

It seems like yesterday that Nancy had my big retirement party - but it was three years ago. You all know the story of how Harry retired on his 55th birthday. Panther Valley School District - where Harry worked - offers Blue Cross Medical Insurance to retired teachers and their spouses for free when they retire at age 55. That was a great incentive.

Since then - Harry and Nancy sold their Tamaqua chalet and moved to Tallahassee where Nancy was recruited to be a professor at Florida State. Also during that time Drew and Robin were married in Balitmore. Drew earned his doctorate at the University of Miami and Keith earned his Masters at Florida State University.

During the past three years - Nancy and Harry have visited the following places - Hawaii - China - Korea - Thailland - Hong Kong - England - Ireland - Scotland - Italy - France - Germany - Denmark - Iceland - Sweden - Mexico - Canada - Bahamas - Washington DC - San Diego - Las Vegas - Boston - Orlando - Tampa - Durham - Syracuse - Death Valley - New Orleans - Alaska - Key West - and Castro. Most of the visits were related to Nancy's new job.

At 5:00 AM on the day I retired - I received an e-mail from Mr. Homer Hickam. He is the author of the book "Rocket Boys" and the movie "October Sky" was based on his book and his life. I had recently written to Mr. Hickam and told him how my life was similar to his. I told him how my Dad was a coal miner like his and also how I ended up teaching Earth and Space Science for 33 years and launching rockets at school. I told him how the launching of Sputnik inspired me and how I admired the work that Werner Von Braun did for our space program.

Homer told me that he worked for NASA for many years and he retired on his 55th birthday too. He said that "the five years since my retirement were the most exciting and best ever." He wished me five years as good as his.

Well Homer - so far you are a prophet.

Martina Navratilova Stopped By to Visit with FSU Tennis Team

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida State women's tennis team received a nice treat Sunday morning when they arrived to Scott Speicher Tennis Center and were welcomed by tennis legend Martina Navratilova. Navratilova, who showed up to practice on the tennis courts at Florida State while passing through Tallahassee, socialized with the coaches and players and posed for pictures. Here is Martina and the coach.

After the visit - FSU went out and beat Florida A&M and also Bethune-Cookman. The Noles are now 3-0.

Tonya Harding - One of My Favorite Athletes

She's one of the most controversial figures in professional sports, and now TONYA HARDING talks to ET's JANN CARL in a no-holds-barred interview about her past, present and future.

"I think it's about time that people see who the real me is," the 35-year-old Tonya tells Jann. "It doesn't matter how many times life brings me down to rock bottom; I'm not going to give up on life. It's too precious."

Tonya looks very different these days compared to the lithe young woman with the skater's body. What happened? "I had the beginning of pneumonia and, along with my asthma, I was put on prednisone," explains Tonya. "Everyone knows when you're put on it, it makes you gain weight ... I was easily 35 pounds overweight, and now I'm like 15 to 20 overweight."

So, if "Celebrity Fit Club" called Tonya, would she do it? "Absolutely," she says with a smile.

An Oregon native whose figure skating prowess and triple axle put her on top of the skating world, it all came crashing down in 1994 when Tonya's ex-husband, JEFF GILLOOLY, attacked Tonya's teammate, NANCY KERRIGAN, at a practice session during the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Tonya was implicated in the conspiracy, although she avoided any jail time, and was banned from the world of professional skating.

"It's been a really long time since I've talked about it because I've gone on with my life," says Tonya. "[Nancy] was my friend; teammate. Yeah, we were competitors, but, hey, I'm very happy for her and all her successes in life. It's just a really unfortunate incident that happened and hopefully other people out there will learn from the mistakes that I've made and realize that they should go on with life. But think about your choices that you make in life, because if you get going down the wrong path, sometimes it's really hard to make it back on the right path."

FSU Plays at Duke Saturday

Another "Everhart Bowl." This time the "other Everhart team" Florida State University takes on number 2 Duke University in Basketball. The game will be played at Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University. The game will be played on national TV.

Nancy got her doctorate at FSU in 1990. Keith got his masters at FSU in 2005. Drew and Robin got their bachelor's degrees at Duke in 1999 and 2000. I am guessing the Everharts are in favor of FSU - 3 to 2.

Construction Started on New Panther Valley Middle School - I worked in Old One 33 Years

Old PVMS








BY SHAWN A. HESSINGER
Pottsville Republican

SUMMIT HILL — As heavy equipment labored in the background Wednesday, Panther Valley School officials and students gathered to formally announce the beginning of construction on the district's new $15,580,500 middle school.
Sixth-graders wearing hard hats and carrying shovels helped with a groundbreaking ceremony behind the existing high school for a project officially begun Dec. 30.

"We felt that would be appropriate since they will be one of the first classes in the new middle school," said Panther Valley School District Superintendent J. Christopher West.

Maintenance Director George Krajnak estimated the completed structure, located northeast of the high school, would take up an estimated 80,000 square feet just outside the borough of Lansford in rural Summit Hill.

West said work on the new middle school is expected to be completed in July or August of 2007.

"So we would be looking at occupying the new school by the 2007-08 school year," West said.

He said the new building will also include connected administration offices where West and the rest of the district's administrative staff will also relocate from the current middle school in downtown Lansford.

The new middle school project stirred some controversy in the Schuylkill County portion of the district.

In April 2003, the borough council of Coaldale, the only municipality within the school district to be located within the county, voted by narrow margins in a special meeting to study joining the Tamaqua Area School District instead.

The move to leave the school district, though short-lived, was motivated by concerns over the new middle school and the possible new taxes that could result.

In October 2003, the existing three-story Panther Valley Middle School was granted Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone status, creating tax abatements to encourage economic development once the building is vacated.

Harry Everhart Implicated in Oklahoma Truck Bombing

When the Murrah Building was blown up in Oklahoma City - Harry Everhart was on the scene and a survivor. The building was blown up by a U-Haul Truck full of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. Ammonium nitrate is a harmless fertilizer used on the farms of Pennsylvania to raise crops. But when mixed with common fuel oil or diesel fuel - it becomes a deadly explosive and is used in the mines of Pennsylvania to remove overburden rock.

Harry Everhart in 1974 - then a science teacher in the public schools of Pennsylvania - wrote a story in a weekly newspaper concerning the dangers of an ammonium nitrate silo near the mining towns where he lived and taught - Tamaqua, Coaldale and Lansford PA. Is this just a strange coincidence?

Full Story of Everhart and Blast

Six Seminoles in Super Bowl XL

When Super Bowl XL kicks off, a total of six former Seminoles will be participating in the action. Florida State has the most players of any college in the Super Bowl this year, followed by Georgia (five) and BYU (four). Offensive tackle Walter Jones, safety Michael Boulware, wide receiver Peter Warrick and offensive tackle Ray Willis will suit up for the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. On the other sideline, safety Chris Hope and cornerback Bryant McFadden will represent FSU as members of the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

See Our Buddies - Ben and Carol Houser in New Zealand

Ben and Carol are spending some time in New Zealand. They have a few pictures on their blog of what they are doing besides fishing. Here is the web address -

Ben and Carol Pictures in New Zealand

Changing of the Guard at Tallahassee Apple Club

Past president Leewood Shaw receives an award from Flora Bennett - the new president. Leewood served Tapple for two years.

Wayne and Shirley's House - 5 Minutes Ago

I just drove by Wayne and Shirley's House. It is just a block or two away from ours. It looks like it is going to be done for their March move in. The house was designed to be a 1920's cottage - but with all the modern mechanics. It has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It is truly beautiful. Wayne is a library science professor that is in the office next to Nancy's. They claim to have bought this house just to be close to us - I think they wanted to be close to campus and the golf course. The picture is fresher than the bread on tonight's supper table.