November 1 -

john, joyce and tucky are all enjoying the new Tempur-pedic bed. It surprised john and joyce that tucky approved of the new bed so fast. He hopped up on the bed and instantly started purring. This was better than getting the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

The only problem john and joyce had in getting the new bed was with its height. When it was delivered, it was 28 1/2 inches from the floor. It took a step ladder to get into bed. The foundation was changed, and now it is 24 inches from the floor. That is what john and joyce's old bed was, and tucky can again hop up.

john seldom gets to read in bed because tucky hops up and places himself next to john. He actually sleeps snuggled up on john's arm for 45 minutes - 2 hours. He tells john that he is getting down by meowing once. john is usually glad when tucky hops down because his arm has gone to sleep.

john is still painting the oil painting of Santa, and it is going well. There is still much work to be done on it. When the painting is nearly finished, john will add the wire-rimmed glasses.

This painting is being rendered from a photograph of a high school class mate, John Hayes. john plans to give John a geclee of the painting before the Holidays. In addition, john will send this out to a few people as john and joyce's holiday card.

john already has ideas for the next two paintings, and they are being kept under wraps because one of them will be a surprise to someone.

It is getting colder every day now, and the leaves are beginning to fall. It was a beautiful Fall this year due to the high amount of moisture during the rather cool summer. The problem now, of course, will be that all that moisture will turn into snow. There are already signs in other parts of the country that we may be in for an unusually heavy snow season. Denver has already had a couple of feet of snow as had parts of Nebraska. Can power outages be far behind?

john has been asked for the third year in a row to present a lecture for the "Meet The Mentor" day at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. It is entitled "Creativity, Innovation, and Invention". The "Meet The Mentor" day kicks off the beginning of the Greater Kansas City Science Fair. john has judged at the Science Fair for something like 16 -17 years. He usually judges the Senior Engineering division.

Please click here to obtain the lecture notes for his lecture at UMKC: Notes

November 6 - Here is john's painting of Santa so far. john still has to put the reading glasses on his nose: