The Bulletin
Sunday, April 18, 2004

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Updates -

Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Johnson Farm


Egg Hiders: Lori, Weston, Beaver, Wyatt & Jolene
Photos By Wyatt Johnson


Egg Finders: Ty, Caity, Jayce, Hannah, Grant & Rylie
(Ty is a daycare visitor; Hannah & Grant are Rylie's visiting cousins)

Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN

We had six smiley children here yesterday for the egg hunt, and eggs enough for many times that amount! Needless to say, they had a VERY good time looking for eggs. It was a cool day for it, but not miserable at least. They didn't seem to notice as they ran around searching.

The egg "hiders" used a large area; all around the house, down to the barn and shed, down around apple trees and out the driveways a short distance. It took them a while to find what they thought were all of them, but I figured we'd hidden more than were found. Caity went out later and found another half a bucket full! She thought that was just as fun as the first go around! She and the little daycare girl went out and looked again today, but no luck ... she must have done a good job on her second time around.

Beaver commented that he thought we should have a drawing, so one adult should get to look also, so we'd get some of the "goodies." Hmm, we told him he'd be welcome to be the first to do so next year! (No drawing necessary!)

Remember, there is an open invite to any who care to join us!


Sedated Beaver Goes To Ihop
By Beaver

This is a footnote to last week’s account of my cardioversion. According to the Post-Sedation Discharge Instructions for the Adult, one is to not drive, operate machinery, or power tools, and not make important decisions, or sign important papers for 24 hours after being sedated. There should be one additional instruction, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

When the cardiac people were done with me, D and I stopped to see a friend who is in a hospital across town. Then D wanted to go to Sam’s Club, so we did that. By this time I was getting mighty hungry, having been forbidden to eat before the procedure. The nurse had taken pity on me and given me a piece of toast after, but by now it was mid-afternoon. We stopped at Ihop, where I ordered decaf coffee, which the waitress brought, along with several other items.

As D and I visited, I drank the first cup, and poured another from the pitcher. Ack! It tasted like somebody had dumped the whole sugar bowl into the coffee.

I flagged down the waitress, and started to explain. Chuckling, she said, "Oh, somebody does that every now and then. You got the hot maple syrup. The coffee is in the big pitcher. Usually I say something when I bring them, but you were busy visiting … she trailed off as she headed for the kitchen to dump my cup and refill the syrup."

It was nice of her not to say, "I thought you looked like a fairly competent fellow, but I was sure wrong about that." After a very good meal, I slunk out, leaving a generous tip, and we headed for home.

So … don’t you think they should add to the post sedation instructions, "Do not go to Ihop for 24 hours, as you will probably embarrass yourself by not knowing syrup from coffee?" 


Identity Fraud: Another Shocking Experience!

by Doris Anderson

When Lori accepted a new job with Auto Club of Southern CA, they did a background/ credit check on her. They obtained this info from the three major credit bureaus nationwide -- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This spanned from high school days to the present time.

They sent her a copy of the report, which surprisingly revealed stolen identity fraud, a past due unpaid telephone account of $2,000 while living in Corona, CA, and a false address. (The unpaid telephone account was assigned to a collection agency).

Accounts opened, closed, or current are reported, as well as addresses, etc. She spent a lot of time on the telephone and writing letters in an attempt to clear her name. She also had to file a police report. A sheriff's deputy had to come to the house to fill out a fraud report and assign a file number -- for the credit bureaus. The deputy told her that this is very common place now with computer technology. She had to provide copies of documentation, whatever she had, to verify or support her claim of fraud. It was time consuming and frustrating, but hopefully it is getting cleared up.

For those interested, for $30 you can get a copy of your own credit history at www.consumerinfo.com -- which is run by Experian. For an additional fee, and at the same source, you can get your credit history from Equifax and TransUnion.

Each bureau reports independent info from the other. Many entries match, others do not. With common first and last names, records also get mixed up. Before seeking new employment or prior to any major purchase (car, home), you might want to know what would turn up on your background/credit check -- it could cost you dearly if wrong information is posted!

The average John Doe may have his personal data listed in at least a half dozen databases. For starters, there are the three major credit bureaus listed above. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) collects health data on millions of Americans. You can write the company to find out if they have a file on you and correct information that is wrong: P.O. Box 105, Essex Station, Boston, MA, 02112. The Motor Vehicle Department for the state in which you reside also collects personal information. When you add the Federal Department of Social Security into the mix, that counts six databases.

There are a host of other facilities that collect and exchange personal information, including banking institutions, insurance companies, health agencies, passport applications, etc. It's no wonder that we have the present situation. Please take every means possible to guard against identity fraud.


Travelogue t

The Bolivian Beat
By Kjirsten

I'm in Cochabamba at the moment, and will be until super early Sunday morning. Yesterday my friend Ariel and her college friend Simon, who is visiting her at the moment, visited me in Morochata! We had a blast for the day and a half they were there. They visited me at school ... during recess a group of around fifty kids surrounded us and just stared for fifteen minutes. Simon is 6 foot 6 and weighs a whopping 146 pounds (we checked in the hospital) and is quite a sight. He positively towers over everyone in Morochata.

Today I traveled with them back to Cochabamba. I wanted to spend a weekend with my Cochabambina family so I can justify going straight from Morochata to La Paz without stopping over here later this month. I'll want to take advantage of the time I've got to check out Sorata, Bolivia's trekking capital, on the same trip. I probably won't have time to do very much hiking, but at least I'll know what is involved in order to prepare for later adventures.

Classes at the school are going well. This week we played bingo to practice numbers up to 100. It's hard for my students to hear and pronounce. English is completely foreign to them in all senses, but they're learning! Just over an hour per week means that progress will be slow, though. My "difficult" class of 50 seventh graders this week ended with several of the guys throwing macaroni (bingo markers) at each other and then grinding it into the floor...

In Bolivia the academic year starts in February and runs until December. The year is divided into trimesters, and in Morochata, at least, they have a 3 week winter break that begins June 18. So I've committed to teaching at least until then. I seem to be volunteering ... originally, they said they'd pay me something but I've seen no money and don't expect to. I wasn't going to ask for money anyway, but the priest in town is opposed to giving anything free. He insists the people don't value what they receive without cost. But teachers are funded by position through the state, and there is no funding for me. That would mean the parents would have to pay me, and I am not at all comfortable with that. Sending their children to school is sacrifice enough.


This and That
6
by Elaine Wold

5 simple rules to be happy..........

1. Free your mind from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
No one can go back and make a brand new start -- anyone can start from NOW and make a brand new ending.

*********************************************

Ann Landers once wrote, "there are 7 steps to stagnation" ... whether in the home, school, job or anywhere.

1. We've never done it that way.
2. We're not ready for that yet.
3. We're doing all right without it.
4. We tried it once and it didn't work.
5. It costs too much.
6. That's not our responsibility.
7. It won't work.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Week's Birthdays:

Alyssa Lynn Freesemann---April 23
Miss Kitty---April 23

Happy Birthday!

More April birthdays:
'
Duane Miller---April 2
Meryl Hansey---April 4
Lorella Grob---April 5
Dorothy Anderson---April 9
Richard Johnson---April 9
Brenda Hill--- April 10
Lisa Anderson --- April 10
Mindy Miranowski--- April 15

Troy Freesemann---April 25
Mia Nelson---April 25
Heidi Johnson---April 26
Peggy McNeill---April 27
Steve Rodriguez---April 27
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank You!

Thank you for the birthday greetings! It is nice to be remembered! Nathan and I spent Friday afternoon through Saturday evening in Fargo -- just the two of us! (Jazmine stayed with my mom and dad and Summer stayed with Jeff & Lynnette Krack's family.) We figured we went into about 24 stores those two days!!!! It was very relaxing and lots of fun! Of course, Saturday was topped off with my free birthday supper at Paradiso!

Brenda Hill

'Many Thankse
Everyone!

Miss Hetty


+ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Don and Dorothy,

Congratulations with the new car! Drive safe and enjoy every mile in it.

Been to work today, was very busy and the forecast is better, more sunshine and on Friday 20 degrees Celsius. That's what we call spring.

Day off tomorrow and have to do grocery shopping first -- my fridge is almost empty.

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Ary


Welcome back, Mavis! Congratulations on the new car, Dorothy! (Dwight wants to know what year it is??) Glad your "shock" worked, Beaver...

Janie


Hello, Dorothy. I see by your newsletter you had a birthday yesterday. Hope it was enjoyable. What a beautiful car! Your little garage must be pretty deep to accommodate it. It looks like a Lincoln, is it?

Love, Dan

Oops! The caption: 1997 Lincoln Town Car -- for the "Wonderful" photo in the last issue of The Bulletin -- missed the boat. Sorry about that! (It was restored in the archived copy.)

The editors

What a MARVELOUS Bulletin! LOVED Doug's story and the illustrations and colored title were such a fun addition to it. Enjoyed each of the other pieces too. Glad Melanie shared with us, good pictures, too! Kjirsten certainly does not live "inside the box" as most of us tend to do! Thanks to all for their contributions ... keeps those good Bulletins happening.

Donna


Wowee!

What a show stopper! I think that was the best edition I have seen for awhile, and I was proud to be part of it!

It was interesting to read about Brian in Kosovo. I guess there are worse places in the world to be -- Iraq, Afghanistan, Alabama ... but still, it sounds pretty intense. Hope he doesn't have to throw himself in front of a bullet -- talk about job-related stress!

Your new car is a dandy! You look like proud parents. What's wrong with naming your car, anyway? Yours looks like a Cheryl ... or maybe Loretta.

Brianna was mucho excited to be in the Bulletin! She is so impressed with our Bulletin, and I have a feeling that we will be collaborating more in the near future. She has a degree in graphic design, so that might come in handy!

Speaking of, we are headed out to Lake Maria for some fun in the sun.

Happy Easter and I hope your day is wonderful!

Doug


CHUCKLES

by Donna

Last night, after leaving your place, Jayce was asking about going to Target or Walmart to buy a toy. Becky told him he needed money to do that, but he didn't seem to think that was a problem . I assumed he planned on using hers. Which she seemed to think he meant, too. and therefore asked him, "Do you have a job?" ... with both of us figuring that would be the end of this discussion.

However, his retort was a quick, "Yeah, I do." We were both a bit taken aback that he'd even think so. He did arouse our curiosity though.

Becky took the bait and asked, "And, where would that be?"

He answered, "In my brain!" with the most confident voice ever!

(Needless to say, he found out that didn't buy many toys either. :-)


QUOTATION FOR THE DAY: A desk has been defined as a wastebasket with drawers. --Baxter Lane


EDITOR'S POLICY: If you wish to subscribe to The Bulletin, simply send me a statement of that fact. If you wish to keep receiving it I hope you will contribute to one of the columns that are running in this family epistle (at least occasionally!). My e-mail address is dma49261@juno.com


This Bulletin is copyright Dorothy M. Anderson; the contents are also copyrighted by the authors and photographers and used with their permission, and the contents are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the explicit consent of the creators.