The World is Upside Down

The other day there was a middle-age man in a suit standing at a bus stop at 6:45 AM. This is just not right. After all, standing at bus stops is only permitted for cleaning ladies in the late afternoon as they return home to their barrios.

Then there was this chubby guy riding a bicycle of all things, along a main road between the industrial city of Santa Ana and the residential/professional city of Irvine. He was wearing a brand new velour sweat suit. I guess he doesn’t understand that these roads as just for motor vehicles. Bicycles are for the parks on the weekends.

How about the people walking along sidewalks during rush hour? The injustice of it all! They create a nuisance for us SUV drivers trying to make a right hand turn as they actually have the nerve to use a crosswalk.

I must have seen several of these Vespa-like scooters out and about during rush hour. I try to run them off the road but they scamper about between the rows of vehicles as if they have some superiority over us traditionalists. I’ll get one some day if I just keep trying.

Then I hear there are people actually using old vegatable oil to run their vehicles. Make it stop!

Now we can see the results of all this nonsense. In May U.S. drivers drove 9.6 billion less miles that in the previous May. That’s about $2 billion loss in revenues for the oil companies. Now you see who is driving who off the road. I say abandon the bus stops, bicycles, scooters and walking shoes. Back into your vehicles you beatniks. Think what might happen to my equity investments in big oil. Think about my retirement. My children’s inheritance. Woe the injustice of it all.

Moderate Quake hits SoCal

A moderate earthquake occurred at 11:42 a.m. (PDT) on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The magnitude 5.4 event occurred 3 km southwest of Chino Hills, CA. The hypocentral depth is 12km.
This is about 20 miles as the crow flies from my home in Irvine. The shaking was quite severe for about 15 seconds followed by a slow rolling motion for about 30 seconds. No significant damages.

Must be Global Warming

Today we had three tornadoes in Southern California. Train cars and big rigs were tossed around. Dogs went missing in back yards. We also had snow about fifty miles west of Palm Springs - not in the mountains but in the desert! Here in Orange county we had rain and a few thunder claps. Five miles east of here where the fire burned last year we had mud slides from a cloudburst. Two weekends ago we had temperatures near 100. So, is snow in Southern California in May caused by global warming? Seems to be counter intuitive. How about exceptionally hot weather in May? Perhaps it's neither. It may be just the normal variation in short-term climate. No, that doesn't compute because it doesn't fit any political agenda.

The Renewal of Life

Spring has arrived at Elmcroft and the goldfish have survived yet another winter. It must be so boring for them to live under the ice for four months without even a book to read. Pictures courtesy of Suzanne's children who had the pleasure of frolicking on the grounds during the warm spell during spring break.

Politics Goes on - Even in Death

As the executor of my mother's estate, the address of the estate is my home address. Somehow, these mailing lists seem to go on forever, even after death. Hillary is needing to raise $3 million in the next three weeks to match her oponent's Pennsylvania campaign. Unfortunately, the estate of Adelaide is not inclined to help because the executor has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries. One of those duties is to be a part of preventing a tax increase for the beneficiaries.

Earthquake

"A minor earthquake occurred at 9:28:49 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.The magnitude 3.1 event occurred 3 km (2 miles) NE of Newport Beach, CA.The hypocentral depth is 8 km ( 5 miles). "

This earthquake was about 7 miles from my house. It was a quick short jolt that made the house creek but there was no wave motion. This is typical of a close earthquake - no rolling motion but just a sharp jolt.

"A" is my home on the map and "B" is the earthquake location.

Awesome bird's eye view of Elmcroft

This is on the Neighborhood Info tab of the Realtor.com listing for Elmcroft. It is a paid subscription from Microsoft Virtual Earth. You can go to http://maps.live.com/# and find your favorite spot on earth. Notice that in the images the wisteria trellis has been replaced. Also, the dead tree behind the carriage house has been felled. This must have been taken about November 2006. In one view (not shown) you can see the panel truck of the furnace service man parked up by the house. I remember that day but I had no idea someone was taking pictures from on high.

Virtual Tour of Elmcroft

The virtual tour of Elmcroft is now available. This will be updated in the spring.
http://www.circlepix.com/home/FVAVPU
Also on Realtor.com:
http://www.realtor.com/realestate/woodbridge-ct-06525-1096584821/
And, the Coldwell banker listing:
http://www.coldwellbankermoves.com/ID/797692

Google Earth image update for Elmcroft

The Google Earth data for Woodbridge used to be a winter scene, mostly brown color. It seems that the database has been updated with new imagery taken in the summer. I couldn't find any way to determine the exact date of the imagery so maybe some of you know how to do that.

Elmcroft Relisted

As of March 1 the Elmcroft Estate has been listed with Nancy Shattuck of Coldwell Banker. Nancy is a long time resident of Woodbridge and has a distinguished career in the real estate business. Previously, the property had been listed by Weichert Realtors from December 2006 through June 2007 and by William Raveis from August 2007 through January 2008. Look for a new listing on Realtor.com in the coming week.

It was Nancy who wrote a letter to the "Rumbold family" and left it in George's mailbox where I found it on November 15, 2007. In this letter Nancy tells the story of being contacted by the Seymour Police Department on November 13. It seems that the police were trying to locate some next of kin. Somehow they learned that George had a connection with the property on Amity Road. From the For Sale sign on the property, they naturally called William Raveis Real Estate. They were told that Raveis no longer had the listing - remember, they had it from 8/07 through 1/08. They were further told that Nancy Shattuck from Coldwell Banker now had the listing. It was very disturbing to me that someone calling the listing agent would be told they did not have the listing. This was, however, not the only reason why Raveis no longer has the listing.

Nancy took a great picture of the rear of the Carriage House, a picture that can only do the structure justice when taken in the winter. Remember my previous blogs showing the repairs to the rear upper loft gable which now shows beautifully.

After many failed attempts in 2006 at trying to find a contractor from referrals, I resorted to calling people advertising in the local weekly paper. Willis Maki was the one person I called who responded and was at the property within a day. I firmly believe that it was not just coincidence that Willis was the one. He proceeded to have custom clapboards and bead board fabricated to bring the structure back to its original condition. He also had custom windows made to replace the two on the stable. Willis has continued to exhibit his competence with the repairs to the bathroom floor, replacing the cellar Bilco door, correcting the clogged bathtub drain, and he will soon be repairing some loose floor boards in the attic.

We have also been blessed to have the able help of Dick Strong as the primary caretaker for the property and Tony Fonte as a grounds keeper. Our tenant, Suzanne, has volunteered to help with a garden planting day in the early spring to make sure that the gardens are beautiful as mom always did. More volunteers are welcome. Date to be announced.

Billy Joel in Concert

Saturday night Debi and I went to see Billy Joel at the Pond in Anaheim. Well, it's called the Honda Center now but I hate the renaming of these venues to the highest bidder. It was a one-time only event to a sold-out crowd. It was a great concert of old favorites interspersed with a rendition of Highway to Hell by Chainsaw with Billy Joel on guitar. You can see a similar rendition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLeEjOSYL78. Also you can read a review of the concert here: http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/billy-joel-honda-1986654-center-anaheim. What was surprising was the number of yount people in the crowd. Most of them were probably not born when Billy Joel's string of populare albums were released in the 70's.

Picture Identified

Click picture to enlarge
This is the picture that Karen found at George's house. It is a picture of my mother, Adelaide Congdon, with her grand uncle Kenyon Hampton driving. This was taken circa 1926 when my mom was about 11 years old. She was living in Glendale, California with her grand Aunt Grace and grand Uncle Kenyon. I sent a message to the Los Angeles historical society and they identified the building as the Los Angeles Amory. This is one of the last great city armories still standing. It is located in Exposition Park which includes beautiful rose gardens. The Los Angeles Coliseum is nearby. Today the Amory has been converted to a science museum and includes an Imax theatre. Notice in the picture to the right below the exact spot where the picture was taken next to the lamp post. I can only imagine that they were on a outing to tour Exposition Park. My mom used to say that they took rides into Los Angeles on weekends and that her uncle had many fender benders with that car. The car is a 1924 or 1925 Ford Model T with nickle radiator shell. This car cost $685 in 1924 and based on inflation, the price today would be about $8,300.

1924 Ford Model T and advertisement

Another Old Friend Passes On

I bought my HP Laserjet 4L printer in 1994 for $600. It was a major purchase but it has served me well with thousands of pages printed. I have repaired it several times over the years and parts are readily available on the internet. Recently it starting giving me trouble and after about 4 hours of work on it, I was unsuccessful in getting it back to life. I have been wanting to get a new printer anyway since the 4L only does 4 ppm. So, for $160 I bought a new Dell 1720 Laser printer that prints 27 ppm. This is about the only printer available that has a parallel port that I can connect to my printer server.

Old ........................................................................................... New

O-KAY! I give up!

Today I retired my 20-year old Ikea desk chair. I had the seat and back reupholstered about ten years ago but the arms had several layers of black tape. I took them to an upholstery shop today and was told it was hopeless. When I moved last January I had forgotten to give my Ikea chair to the movers. So, I put it in my truck and carefully transported it across country. This chair originally came from the Ikea at Plymouth Meeting, PA. This is going to be a difficult transition for me so please pray for me.

Out with the old ....................................... In with the new

Rose Parade 2008

A good time was had by all thanks to Ray Bowman's hospitality with his motor home parked on Colorado Boulevard. Ray, his son Brad and I arrived about 1 p.m. Monday afternoon to set up the RV at about the 4 mile point of the parade. We got the RV settled and then welcomed our two neighbor RV's on either side. We staked out a sidewalk location with chairs and the self-contained fire pit. Soon Ray’s friends began to arrive. In total I think there were about 17 of us. We spent the night staying warm by the fire, cooking hot dogs and marshmallows, and drinking heavily. The children occupied themselves with the tossing of marshmallows and crazy string attacks. Ray insisted on launching fistfuls of marshmallows with his giant slingshot to the partiers on the opposite side of the street for which he had to attend a meeting with the police.

The police were in full force all evening up and down the street in squad cars, paddy wagons and on foot. Strangely, just before midnight they all disappeared only to show up again at about 12:30 a.m. For sleeping arrangements, there were eight of us in the RV, three on the street in sleeping bags, and some of the women and children in a local hotel.

I was up at 6 a.m. to sit by the fire and watch the sun rise over Pasadena. The parade starts at 8 a.m. but we didn’t see the start until about 9:30 a.m. It was great seeing the floats up close and all the bands and equestrian teams - a real treat not to be missed in one’s lifetime.

Ray is the consummate host with everything prepared, including fresh roses for the ladies, lots of marshmallows, dozens of cans of crazy string, party favors and a great breakfast. Thanks man! We love ya!

Christmas 2007

Many thanks to Andy, Dorinda and Maya for hosting the Christmas get together for the Rumbold clan in Perkasie. It was a great week of gatherings. On Wednesday and Thursday Andy, Jonathan and I drove up to Woodbridge. I installed the low temperature alarm in Elmcroft and on Thursday Karen came down to take us to the cemetery to see the plot for her parents and to George's house to see the work that has been done to get it ready to market.
See Andy's blog for lots more photos of the Christmas gathering.

Thanksgiving Remembered

A very sad Thanksgiving today, knowing that George was not with us. He was supposed to be in White Bear Lake, MN having dinner with Laurie, Dennis, Alexis, & Timothy. Debi and I had dinner at my house with a prepared meal from Albertsons. Here is the Thanksgiving dinner from last year at Elmcroft. L-R: Emily Odell, George Rumbold, Dorinda Rumbold, Andy Rumbold, John Rumbold, Rachel Odell, Doug Odell, Karen Odell, Jacob Odell.

We miss you George.

Probe underway in reservoir accident

Woodbridge man who died in Seymour remembered as helpful community member
By Susan Hunter, Editor
Valley Gazette

SEYMOUR - Family and friends speak fondly of Woodbridge resident GeorgeRumbold, 66, who died Nov. 13 after his car skidded off the road and slid into the Peat Swamp Reservoir. Police are trying to piece together the events that led to the untimely death.

The state Medical Examiner has ruled accidental asphyxia due to drowning as the cause of Rumbold's death. He died at Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to Seymour police, hours after being pulled from his pick-up truck, which was submerged in the reservoir.

Police and fire department personnel and emergency medial technicians responded to the accident on Haddad Road at about 10:50 a.m. A passerby had called police after finding the fence down at the reservoir, which is operated by Birmingham Utilities, and discovering the truck overturned in the water. The passerby tried unsuccessfully to get Rumbold out of the pick-up truck and called 911. [This man, Marlow Tinari returning from New Haven, was first on the scene and called 911. He took it upon himself to jump into the water and up onto the overturned truck with hammer in hand. His attempts to break the glass were unsuccessful due to the resistance of the water. He could not see through the water due to the oil and gasoline floating in the water. George carried cans of gasoline for his chain saws. Bob Anastasio, George's good friend from the transfer station arrived shortly after but did not recognize his friend's overturned truck. He left the scene as emergency personnel arrived. - John Rumbold]

Police and emergency crews tried to pry the passenger side door open with crowbars, also without success. Then an American Automobile Association tow-truck driver, who learned of the accident while he was parked at a Seymour business, used the winch from his truck to hook onto the side of the pick-up and move it closer to shore. This enabled fire department responders to use the jaws of life to pry the driver's side door open, according to reports.

Ken Woodward, the tow truck driver, said the Seymour business owner heard about the accident over a police scanner and alerted Woodward. He said he had worked in the Amity area and knew the location of the reservoir. "I had a vehicle that could possibly help them," Woodward said, so he drove out to the accident site.

Using his winch cable and j-hooks, he pulled the pick-up truck out of the water so volunteer workers could free the driver's side door. When the pick-up truck crashed into the water, it turned upside down, crushing the roof and jamming the doors, Woodward said. "I was bummed out that he didn't make it," Woodward said. "I have to commend the Seymour volunteer firefighters. They jumped in and did what they had to do and put themselves at risk."

Rumbold was extricated from the truck and given advanced life support by Seymour Ambulance Association personnel. He regained a pulse after arriving at the hospital, police said, and was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit. He died late that afternoon.

According to a preliminary investigation, police said Rumbold's vehicle, a 1990 Ford F-250 pick-up truck, was traveling in a southeasterly direction on Haddad Road. For an unknown reason, the pick-up truck failed to negotiate acurve, said Seymour Police Lt. Paul Satkowski, and left the travel portion of the roadway.

It slid down an embankment, overturned and landed in about four to six feetof water, trapping Rumbold inside.

The road surface was wet at the time from recent rains and covered with leaves and pine needles. "Speed is not considered to be a factor at thistime," Satkowski said.

A familiar face in town
Rumbold's son-in-law, Dennis Blandino, said his father-in-law would have gone out of his way to help, as Woodward did, had he found someone in trouble. "He would have done something," Blandino said. "He wouldn't turn his back on anybody."

Blandino and his wife, Laurie Rumbold Blandino, Rumbold's daughter, live inWhite Bear Lake, MN.

In their grief, they are trying to make sense of the tragedy that took the life of the grandfather of their young children.

Rumbold loved his country, Blandino said, and wouldn't think twice before writing letters to government leaders about the loss of American manufacturing jobs and other issues.

His strong views were always tempered by tact and a good-natured acceptance of other people's viewpoints. "I don't know anybody more patriotic than George was," Blandino said.

Friends, family and acquaintances are struggling to understand how a man so familiar with Haddad Road, who typically drove slowly and was safety conscious, could have met with such a fate.

"He was a religious zealot about wearing a seat belt," said Joe Hellauer, administrative officer for Woodbridge. "I feel badly for him. It's a toughway to go."

Rumbold was well-known in Woodbridge for delivering wood, pruning trees and trimming hedges.

Because of the nature of his work, he often made several daily trips to the Woodbridge landfill and was probably on one of those trips when his car left the roadway last Tuesday, Hellauer said.

Rumbold had worked in a managerial capacity for U.S. Electrical Motors, formerly in Milford, Hellauer said, and for the past several years, he was self-employed as a handyman.

He did yard work for the Hellauers a few times a year, and was on their property just two weeks ago Sunday trimming apple trees.

A Seymour police department reconstructionist is investigating the accident, Satkowski said. There are no known witnesses to the crash. Anyone who was traveling in the area of Haddad Road before the accident or who may have seen something is asked to call the Seymour Police Dept. at 881-7600 and ask to speak with Sgt. David Parratt, the lead investigator.

A memorial service for Rumbold took place at Trinity Evangelical Church in Woodbridge on Monday. An obituary appears in today's issue of the ValleyGazette.

Accident Investigation

The cause of the accident in which my brother George died is still under investigation. The toxicology results of the autopsy will be another five weeks for determining if he suffered any kind of medical affliction although he had no history of any medical condition. The police are still conducting their study of the vehicle for possible mechanical failure. The speedometer was stuck at 25 mph so speed is being ruled out as a factor. When I visited the scene last Sunday, I noticed that the right hand tire skid mark in the pine needles was off the traveled part of the lane and it was very straight. This means that he was not trying to turn away from the reservoir to follow the curve of the road. It also means that he was not centered on his lane. However, as a careful driver he may have been giving a wide berth to oncoming traffic on this winding road. We found a small piece of metal which I am thinking could have been part of a motor mount. It was found over a hundred feet from the incursion down into the bank of the reservoir which is indicated in the photo below. My speculation at this time is some kind of mechanical failure or some medical problem causing him to loose control. In the photos you will notice that the wire fence had already been repaired. The family may look into possible legal action for the failure of the city and/or water company to install a guard rail on the road. We have been told that many vehicles have gone into the reservoir but this is the first fatality.
Click images to enlarge




Note that the fence has been repaired

My Big Brother

From the memorial service today:

My brother George was born three years and three days before me.
We were never very close growing up.
I knew why and he knew why but we never talked about it.
Our parents favored me over George and he resented it.
George was not a big brother to me growing up. I never looked up to him in those days.
He didn’t protect me or guide me as a big brother often does.
He looked to me as the smart one and himself as the not so intelligent one.
He completed junior college and I ended up with a masters.
George was the extrovert. I was the introvert.
He had many friends – I have few.
I can’t remember any friends from more than fifteen years ago.
George has five friends that he has know since he was fifteen.
And dozens more over the years of his journey.
I moved around a lot. He stayed put.
He was the lucky one. He had all the fun.
After all, George, it wasn’t me that shot out Miss Russell’s barn windows with the BB gun.
I never had a BB gun!
I was stringing a wire from the attic window across the lawn to the tall pine trees for improved reception on my crystal radio.
And, it wasn’t me that had to confront the Woodbridge Police at 1 AM in the barn loft to shut down the party.
I was probably sleeping and dreaming of trigonometry formulas.

In reality, I just had the knack to sit and read a textbook
He was good at sitting and talking with friends – and sometimes dancing wildly.

I always thought of George as an eccentric. A dear eccentric.
But he was much more than that;
George was ordinary and simple, complex and extraordinary.
A friend. Caring. Offering to help. Full of good humor. Always a patriot. Never taking advantage of anybody. Complaining and then looking the other way when somebody took advantage of him.

In maturity we became closer.
We had families to share – cousins to bring together.
During the last two years we became very close out of necessity to care for our mother.
After her passing last year we spent six months together in Woodbridge preparing mom’s property to market.

Sometimes, I helped him with his activities – riding in his truck over Haddad Road along Peat Swamp Reservoir to the transfer station a dozen times. He taught me how to fall a tree.
Since I returned to California, we talked once or twice a week. I missed our rides together.

We talked about mom’s property that George was caring for; or estate matters that I was handling. But, he would talk on about his client’s activities; trimming Mrs. So-and-so’s bushes, falling Mr. so-and-so’s tree, the so-and-so’s cellar clean-out, or the little annoyance he had at the town hall.
I had no idea who these people were. I got to know them through George. They were his clients. They are his friends.
We would talk on until he ran out of things to say. I never ended the conversation. I was absorbed.

I have my clients. He had his.
My clients and friends needed help with their financial lives. Businesses and individuals call me about their taxes or financial futures with question like defined benefit plans versus defined contribution plans. Or, what is the alpha of one mutual fund compared to another.
George’s clients and friends need help with their daily lives. A bush, a tree, a cluttered garage, some firewood. Maybe just a long talk about something on their mind.
I suddenly realized that there was no difference in what we were doing. We were both meeting the needs of people.
Except that his clients could understand what he was saying. My clients have no idea what alpha is or what cliff vesting is.
I may have book smarts but George had compassionate intelligence far above my learning.
I envied him.
I looked forward to our calls.
Many times I would call him but it was nice to see his name displayed on my ringing phone. What new adventure was he in today? Did I have enough time to share it all? I always made the time.

Finally, I had my big brother. Somebody to look up to.
Now, George is protecting and guiding me from on high.
I know that he is preparing the way for me.
Look after mom like you always did.
God be with you, till we meet again.
I Love you.