November 22 - Here are some photos of the snow storm that left john and joyce without power for 12 hours and did major damage to their Bradford Pears:

December 3 - john stepped outside this evening just after dark. A very large bird flew from the nearest tree. It looked like an owl to john. If so, that would add another type of visitor to zenpond.

While watching Fineliving.com on television, john found an universal remote that really works and eliminated the five remotes john and joyce had to control all the components on their main tv. This remote is the Harmony Remote U659. john purchased his from tigerdirect.com and it arrived in 3 - 4 days. john told his computer what types and model numbers of the components in his system and the software programmed the universal remote through it's USB port. No more separate remotes! It works as advertised! It costs about $109 from tigerdirect. You can read more about it at www.fineliving.com.

December 5 - john and joyce had a birthday party last night for their best friend jerry. 21 people came in from around the country. The furtherest couple coming from California. john had made up an album of 8 x 10 pictures of jerry from when he was two to the present. Everyone signed the front and back inside covers and made some comments. It was all great fun.

It is a rainy day here in Overland Park. That is just perfect for john and joyce to get over their colds that john brought back after attending a bachelor party for his nephew in St. Louis. joyce caught it from john. john got to feeling better after staying on a new product called "Airborne", invented by a school teacher, for three days. Just before they left, a major snow storm left john and joyce without power for three days. During that time, john and joyce could hear trees snapping from the 8 inches of wet snow on them. john spent the day he felt better to clear the war zone left by broken Bradford Pears. This brought back john's cold as he really didn't have the energy to clear all that away. So, today, john and joyce are in recovery mode. By the way, a great toddy can be made with 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/4 teaspoon Smart Balance, 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar Twin, ... and two ounces of Bacardi Vanilla Rum!

December 12 - john is over his cold. He attributes that recovery to a sufficient quantity of toddy ... and to "Airborne". Today is sunny and clear, but rather cold. It stayed just above freezing, but very windy. Last night, joyce dreamed the roof was coming off the house. john didn't dream that, but did think the same thoughts about 1:30 A.M.

john did have a surprise while backflushing the filtration system on the big pond. Suddenly, john started seeing black bubble beads in the site guage! When he looked at the end of the discharge hose, there were about 20 gallons of bubble beads out on the ground. john immediately shut down the backwashing and knew something was wrong. The black bubble beads look just like caviar. john called Fluidart and Jay told him that the union on the discharge line had probably come loose. john checked and indeed this was the case. john is still trying to reach into the filter chamber and find the PVC line that came loose. He is having very little luck, but will keep trying. The problem is that it is near the freezing point and either john has to find this piece and restart the system soon, or drain the entire system for the winter. Jay is sending john replacement bubble beads.

john saw a movie called "Sideways" which was great. Maybe not for everyone as there is language and sex in it and probably R-rated. john saw in the paper today that it just won two film critics awards: one in California and one in New York. Really funny movie! Meanwhile, several people who have gone to see "Oceans 12" say not to see it. john just finished reading "Ben Franklin" and is now reading Jimmy Buffett's new novel "A Salty Piece of Land". he says it reads good so far. There is a CD that comes with the book, but it has only one song on it and last about 3 minutes. They advertise it like you are getting a "real" CD. Not! The one song is great, however.

The sunsets have been running great for the last few days! john thinks there is a meteor shower tomorrow night.

December 15 - john, joyce and the tuckmeister wish you a very happy holiday season.

December 29 - joyce and john know a dear friend and his family living in Thailand. We hope they are safe after the 9.0 earthquake and 30 foot tidal wave, which killed 30,000 people! john sent Ronachuck an email this evening trying to find how if they are okay. Ronachuck and john would discuss Buddhism for hours while Ron was here in 1982. Ron is partly responsible for the creation of zenpond because of those talks. Ron has spent the remaining years in the military in Thailand and is now a lieutentant general there. john and joyce send their love and best wishes to Ron, Wannapa and their children.