More Adventures in Selling/Buying a House

Photo: Maison Newton. This is the main photo from the real estate brokerage website. If I do say so myself (and I do), it is a pretty home. You can see the trees (bare now), behind the roof line in the back yard. This is not a McMansion of shoddy construction, and it is just the right size. Although built in 1989-1990 (I moved into the house on August 1, 1990, had it built for myself), the floor plan has held up very well. The back of the house overlooks the back yard. It holds the kitchen, a large dinette area with sliding patio doors to a deck, and opens to a 12.6 x 18 family room that has a service door to the garage and a utility closet that shares a wall with a 3/4 bath on the first floor, that could, with minor reconfigurations, be turned into a bath with shower over tub (right now it has a full size shower, but no tub). By running a narrow wall of closet space against the family room wall that backs to the garage, and adding a wall with a door, or perhaps some french doors to cut the space off from the dinette, a main-floor master suite could be constructed. Well, that was the original plan when I had the house built. I had envisioned a private and spacious retreat/bedroom for my parents on the first floor, in the event they needed to give up their house for whatever reason. Things did not turn out that way, but the possibilities remain. I believe I am not constitutionally designed to deal with the processes of selling/buying a house. Something must have significantly changed in my genetic make-up and/or my disposition that prevents me from dealing comfortably with all of the stuff and nonsense that must be dealt with - at lightning speed! The last time I did this was 19 years ago, and it was sure a different world back then. The fastest thing we had were faxes and overnight fedex deliveries! Now - it's all BANG BANG BANG - everything has to be done with 24 hours or less! That's b.s., frankly. The entire process these days is designed to short-circuit people's brains so they do not have time to really think about what is happening and what they are doing and what they are signing. The brokers are only out for their commissions, they don't give a flying f about you. When I actually pounded the table last Saturday after viewing the houses I wanted to see protesting about how fast the agents were pushing for everything to happen, and told the agent that I wanted to READ certain provisions in the purchase contract, she was shocked! SHOCKED! I could tell she was scared crapless that moment, because she made an excuse to leave the conference room we were in at one of her firm's conveniently-located offices. Perhaps she was making an emergency cell phone call to her back-up agent. Don't get me started about the back-up agent. I have already hung up on her, obnoxious pushy. I realize she has a job to do and she wants to earn that nice big fat commission she could earn by selling this house. But this is my life. Yesterday morning - a Sunday, mind you - since when has it become routine to transact business on a Sunday? - this really bothers me - it was stressed how important it was for me to obtain something called a "prequalification letter" and what an EASY process it is to obtain such a document. So, this morning at the office I attempt to locate a telephone number for the local branch of the bank that holds my current mortgage, figuring that it would be an easy process for it to issue such a letter since they already have all of my records and best know my payment history, etc. etc. Except - I couldn't find a telephone number in the phone book; online, there was no direct telephone number listed for the branch where I make my monthly payment, and if I did not live here, I would never have recognized 400 East Washington Avenue as meaning 400 East Wisconsin Avenue as the location of the branch nearest to me. Geez! So, I call the number that I got online and get a recording saying "hello, this is so and so. I am no longer at this number. You can contact me at blah blah." So I call blah blah, wondering if so and so is still working for MY bank, or if he works somewhere else? So, I get in touch with Mr. so and so, but he can't help me, he's not a loan officer! He gives me the name of another Mr. so and so, but no telephone number, and says he will have Mr. so and so call me. So - I dig out the materials I received from my real estate broker. That company as a subsidiary that is a mortgage brokerage firm. I call that firm. I get run around and finally connected to someone's voice mail and I leave a message. Forty minutes later I receive a telephone call, and after answering a few questions the person from the mortgage brokerage says oh, you have to talk to Ms. so and so, I will have her call you right away. Then, it's 10:30 a.m. I have been on and off the telephone and online attempting to track down phone numbers and in the phone book, etc., since 8:30 a.m. AND I STILL DON'T HAVE THE PREQUALIFICATION LETTER THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SNAP TO OBTAIN. Meanwhile, work is piling up on my desk. I am supposed to be working at my job, that is what I am being paid for. I am NOT supposed to be pissing away 2 hours trying to talk to SOMEONE who can get me the letter I need to take care of personal business! Mr. so and so from my current mortgage lender's mortgage branch calls me back on a cell phone which keeps cutting out - so we are shouting at each other and missing every other syllable. I do eventually understand that he is on his way to a closing and will call me "in the afternoon." Someone calls me back from the real estate company's mortgage brokerage firm. Fortunately, she is calling on a land line and I can hear her - and she me - perfectly well. She gets some information and says she will pull a credit report and let me know what's up. Of course I miss all calls, because I always manage to be away from my desk doing actual work when my telephone rings. Finally, I receive a voice mail from the real estate company's mortgage brokerage firm -- the needed prequalification letter has been done and sent to the less experienced of my real estate agents. I have excellent credit, a very high score. Well duh - they could have just asked me. But I know people lie about this type of stuff. Why they lie when it is so easy to be caught out, I have no idea, but they lie anyway. I don't waste my time lying, not even "social lies" any more. Now I just keep my mouth shut if I can't tell the truth "oh yes, Minerva, you look positively divine in that peplos that is supposed to cover all of your lumps and bumps but manages not to do so, and you've got a flabby-looking breast exposed, by the way. Gross!" Again while I am away from my desk I get a voice mail message from my current mortgage lender -- it is not yet afternoon when this call comes in. I take people at their word. If they say "I will call in the afternoon" that means after 12 o'clock noon. He calls before 12 o'clock noon. Call me back, he says. So, I do - after lunch. Again, the cell phone thing, with the call fading in and out. He does not sound too happy that in the meantime I had obtained what I needed from my real estate broker's mortgage lending company. and starts to go into all the reasons why their mortgage rates are better and less expensive closing costs, etc. I ruthlessy cut him short. I am in NO MOOD to hear anything other than "I will kiss your feet once a week on Friday evenings for the next 20 years if you give your mortgage business to our bank." Meanwhile, time is ticking away on receiving an acceptance or counter-offer from the sellers of the house for which I put in an offer. My real estate agent had been so confident that it would be accepted; I was skeptical. Turns out I was right to have an expressively raised eyebrow at the protestations of my real estate agent. I left the office at 5 p.m. without any word - not a call, not an email. It is remarkably amazing how silent the agents can be when they are not badgering you to sign sign sign RIGHT NOW! I arrived home, after a long, hard, difficult day, and cold to boot. We are expecting our first blizzard to hit sometime tomorrow evening before 5 p.m., and so I determined to stop at the supermarket and stock up on as much as I could carry: emergency rations of wine and chili fixings and milk. When I got home, there was an email waiting from my real estate agent that she had received word from the sellers' agent (on the house I offered to buy) that she thought they were going to counter to move up the closing date by 30 days. This proposed change has a domino effect on the offer that was made to buy my house yesterday. Those people now have to speed up their entire process by at least 30 days (probably more) and hope to hell they find a buyer for their house in early January who can sell their house and or come up with cash to close, etc. etc. Good fricking luck with that! Meanwhile, my real estate agents (I think when the younger one gets scared of me she brings the other one along for reinforcement) just cannot understand why I had, a few days before, called a halt to any further showings of the house until the end of January. They seem to be unable to comprehend the meaning of CHRISTMAS AND NEWS YEARS AND COMPANY VISITING ME, AND NOT ROUSTING MY GUESTS OUT OF THE HOUSE SO THAT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEITHER THE INTENTION NOR THE MEANS OF BUYING THIS PLACE CAN COME THROUGH AND GAWK AT IT. So, that's where we are at the moment. I can reject the counter-offer I am supposed to be receiving from the sellers of 110th Street, because realistically, there is no way I would be ready to close the deal and move out of this house into 110th Street. And if those sellers think they are going to receive a cleaner offer, for their price, who can close by the time they want - well - miracles do happen every day. Did I mention the basement issue? No, I didn't. The sellers of the house I offered for obtained a condition report on their own as part of their preparing for sale, and were alerted to a potential basement problem. Basement problems in Wisconsin are par for the course. In this area we have clay soil that holds excessive moisture long after other soils dry out and stay dry and shrink to extremes long after other soils expand with moderate moisture. This kind of extremism has a devasting effect on concrete block basements, which continue to be build all over the state despite known problems with our soil vs. concrete block. Oh well! By the way, a copy of this report has not been provided to me. I am required to spend $400 plus to obtain my own home inspection. Is it just me? Isn't there something grossly wrong and really fricking crazy about this whole process? I have also just realized that I have ZERO protection in the event my offer to buy 110th Street falls apart, but my buyers somehow manage to come up to scratch. I will be out of a home with no place to go by February 26th. NOT ACCEPTABLE. My listing agent, who is acting as a "seller's agent", but also signed a separate contract with me to act as my "buyer agent" neglected to point out this little blip, and stupid me, I didn't spot it until now. Hmmmm, now I am really pissed off...

Photos of Maison Newton

(These are photos of the guest bedroom, which had been my temporary bedroom (north end of the house, upstairs). I had taken over this room, which had been the former guest room, earlier this year. This newly constituted guest bedroom (moved from the center bedroom), is a dummied-down version of what the room looked like while in the center bedroom, before I decided to move it lock stock and barrel into the north bedroom, and move what had been my room back into the "master bedrooom" on the south side of the house last week Friday, several days after Kevin the Handyman completed the painting. What a nightmare. But I got it done). The guest room is now "showing ready" - which means stripped of almost all personality, including anything other than generic "art work" on the walls. Bah. Humbug. I took down much, but not all, of my personal photographs and art work. It looks okay, generically speaking, but I think it sucks. It is a pretty sad state that America is in if potential buyers cannot possibly imagine what a room would look like if they "make it their own" without it being stripped of almost everything that makes a home comfortable for the present occupant.

Not a good day

Today was set aside for looking at new houses to potentially buy. Mind you, my house has been shown now three times and no offers have been received. I was so certain that my lovely, beautiful house would sell at a snap of my fingers. That being said, even if I had received an offer the very first showing, I am now realizing, as earlier today I walked through perfectly adequate houses put on the market by other sellers, just smaller places, just how much I will be giving up if I sell this house, assuming I can sell it for the price I want (that is by no means certain). I have been in tears since I got home shortly after noon. I am in tears right now. This entire process has been infinitely more difficult than I ever imagined, not that I thought much about it before I signed the Listing Contract to try and sell this home. I thought I was a rational, logical person. My Goddess, how wrong I was about myself. I am not rational or logical at all. After viewing five houses today (the cream of the crop, I have to admit, from my list of seven potential), I put in an offer on a lovely one story brick ranch home, closer (much closer) to all the conveniences that I need than this place, and a much more managible yard than what I have now. Yes, it is smaller, but the bedrooms are large and have hardwood floors. The bathroom is acceptable, compared to the others I saw today (my repainted, refloored and re-mirrored bathroom with a quite ceiling vent van and no rotting wooden window over the bathtub now shines as an outstanding fashion icon and has nearly 2x the space of most of the baths I saw earlier today, oh my). The basement appeared buildable if I want to add a "rec" room. The kitchen is large enough to hold my 56" round table and four large chairs. The living room is large enough to host my massive front room furniture and my bookcase/breakfront. I'll just have to get rid of a sleeper sofa, a large wing chair, a large recliner, two large bookcases, a large entertainment center, and a sofa table from my current family room to make everything fit hunky-dory. The stove and fridge are much better than those in this house. It has a 2-car garage. The yard is okay - somewhat smaller than mine (that's what I wanted), but I will have to take out all of the shrubs newly-planted up against the foundation of the house (what were they thinking???) and place them out along the boundary lines to delineate my new yard from the public parkway. Because of the configuration of the house, there is no patio; there is no deck; no part of the yard is truly private. Not at all like my back yard here. That is, of course, if my offer (filled with contingencies, including selling this place), is accepted, and assuming I can sell this place for the price I want, which is by no means certain. So why am I sobbing my head off?

Goddesschess

Viewers please note: As of Saturday, Dec. 5/09 Goddesschess may be briefly offline while connecting with a new ISP account. Please be patient while this transfer takes effect. Your current bookmarks and favourites may also need refreshing afterwards, although the goddesschess.com address will remain secure. If necessary, further details will be made available here. Many thanks for your continued support! Now I'm off house hunting...

1st ACP Women World Rapid Cup

Final standings: Rank SNo. Name Rtg FED Pts. SB 1 1 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2517 RUS 10 48,50 2 11 IM Cmilyte Viktorija 2480 LTU 8 37,00 3 5 GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2522 RUS 7½ 34,75 4 6 GM Cramling Pia 2525 SWE 7 34,50 5 12 GM Socko Monika 2457 POL 7 27,50 6 4 IM Kosintseva Nadezhda 2518 RUS 6½ 26,25 7 2 WGM Zhukova Natalia 2465 UKR 5½ 20,75 8 8 WIM Yildiz Betul Cemre 2213 TUR 4 16,00 9 7 IM Klinova Masha 2305 ISR 4 15,00 10 10 IM Javakhishvili Lela 2482 GEO 3½ 12,75 11 9 WIM Ozturk Kubra 2177 TUR 3 9,00 12 3 Menzi Nezihe Ezgi 1847 TUR 0 0,00 Congratulations to GM Kosteniuk for her fine performance in this inaugural event. She's been on the road a lot the past couple of months and I'm happy she'll be home for Christmas! The Turkish Chess Federation is to be commended for aggressively seeking to bid on women's events and promote chess for women within Turkey. Intellectual challenge and accomplishment are not limited by one's gender. November 30 - December 4, 2009 Sponsored by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) and the Turkish Chess Federation Total prizes: $20,000 Winner USD 5,000 2nd place USD 4,000 3rd place USD 3,000 4th place USD 2,000 5th place USD 1,500 6th place USD 1,000 7th place USD 800 8th place USD 700 9-12 places, each USD 500

BNbank Blitz 2009

An extragavanza put on to showcase Carlsen. BNbank Blitz GpA Oslo (NOR), 28 xi 2009 cat. IX (2453) 1. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2801 5½/6 2737 2. Cmilyte, Viktorija m LTU 2480 4 2568 3. Socko, Monika g POL 2457 2 2326 4. Hansen, Pal Andreas NOR 2072 ½ 2178 A nice performance by Cmilyte, who is now playing in the First ACP Women's Rapid Cup in Konya, Turkey.

Famous Beauty Dies From Complications of Plastic Surgery

Unbelievable what some women will do to attempt to hold on to their "looks." Nothing else matters except the ever-increasingly desperate battle against the inevitable effects of time. This is a very sad story. MarieClaire.co.uk December 3, 2009 Former Miss Argentina dies after cosmetic surgery on her bottom The 38 year old Argentine was rushed to hospital a few days ago after developing severe breathing problems following her operation. Solange Magnano had travelled to a private clinic in Buenos Aires from her home in Cordoba to undergo a gluetoplasty; this normally straightforward procedure involves injecting fat, or an implant, into the buttocks to tighten and firm them. After winning Miss Argentina in 1994, Magnano had a highly successful modelling career, but in recent years she was apparently obsessed with retaining her good looks as she got older. The mother of eight-year-old twins, however, died in hospital last Thursday from a blocked lung artery after spending three days in intensive care. Her close friend, fashion designer Robert Piazza, said, 'Solange lived the life of a goddess. But she died because of her obsession with beauty.' Here's a more "tabloid" take on Magnano's death: Miss Argentina Solange Magnano dies pursuing perfect butt December 1, 12:39 PM NY Celebrity Fitness and Health Examiner Samantha Chang Solange Magnano, a former Miss Argentina, died Nov. 30 after undergoing a butt-lift surgery. Magnano, who was Miss Argentina in 1994, was 38, and leaves behind a husband and eight-year-old twins. Solange, a striking dark-haired beauty with long legs, suffered a pulmonary embolism Sunday after having undergone a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires three days earlier. The liquid that had been injected into Magnano's buttocks "went to her lungs and brain," Magnano's fashion designer friend Roberto Piazza told reporters. "A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he lamented. With the growing popularity of voluptuous celebs such as Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian, there has been a spike in cosmetic butt lifts or augmentation surgeries. Some experts suggest Solange's procedure may not have been performed by a licensed surgeon. In 2008, some 50,000 cosmetic surgeries were performed in Argentina, up 60% from 2003.The increasing number of foreigners heading to the country for inexpensive cosmetic procedures accounted for much of the spike. Some celebs such as Demi Moore deny ever having undergone plastic surgery. "[The plastic surgery rumors are] completely false," Demi, 47, said recently. "I've never had it done. I don't like the idea of having an operation to hold up the aging process. The scalpel won't make you happy." Meanwhile, other celebs such as Playboy model Holly Madison openly admit they owe their entire Hollywood careers to surgical enhancements. "Plastic surgery made it easier for me to get things I wanted in my career," said Madison, 29. "Without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. It made me more confident. And a lot of doors open when you look a certain way." Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

Northwest China Had Bronze Production Early On

We know the area around the Tarim Basin where the world-famous Urumchi mummies and others were discovered might not always have been a desert, because some of the grave yards were surrounded with wooden stockades, and many of the discovered graves were covered with wood. (See book cover, below, showing one such location).

In a desert, there would have been no wood. The most obvious answer seems to be that the people who became the mummies were there and were buried before the area became a desert. But then, how did they become mummies? As I understand it, the current theory says that the mummies were naturally dessicated by the sere surroundings. It would have been a process akin to what happened to bodies buried in the sand in pre-dynastic Egypt, before elaborate embalming and mummification rituals were created.


But, a climate that would have supported enough trees to supply the wood necessary to construct the graveyards would imply a climate that was not conducive to the formation of dessicated mummies. So, I am at a loss.

You can trace out the ancient northern route of the Silk Road by following the towns: Turpan, Korla, Urumchi, Kuqa, Aksa, Kashgar. Between the northern route and the southern route (which was a killer, with water stops few and far between, but the shorter route), a vast nothingness, quite visible even today on the modern maps.

This article, which presents important information about the early history of bronze smelting in Gansu Province in northwest of China, also indicates that research reveals that the climate once supported trees and farming, and that the people only left after the destruction of all of the trees, when the land turned to desert (I envision a process akin to what caused the Dust Bowl in the 1930's in the USA).

The ancient gateway city of Dunhuang, on the famed Silk Road (c. 200 BCE - 220 CE), which was travelled some 2000 years after the mummies of Urumchi were buried and 3000 years after the Beauty of Loulan was buried, was the last stop for travelers westward to stock up on supplies before venturing forth across the vast horrible stretch of the Taklamakan Desert. It is located on the western border of Ganshu Province.

China had bronze early on
Thursday, 03 December 2009
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

ANSTO research has shown that an area of desert in north-western China was once a thriving Bronze Age manufacturing and agricultural site. The new findings may help shed light on the origins and development of the earliest applications of Bronze Age technology.

Dating, using ANSTO’s precision techniques, was used to identify the age of seeds, slag, copper ore and charcoal at two sites. The findings show the material is up to 3700 years old, but that smelting was still being carried out as recently as 1300 years ago.

The research indicates bronze production may have begun as early as 2135 BC and that the modern mine location - Baishantang at Dingxin - was possibly the historical source of copper ore for manufacturing. ANSTO’s Professor John Dodson conducted the research in conjunction with scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology in China. A photo of the study site is on the November issue of the journal “Quaternary Research”.

“This research takes us a step closer to discovering the origins and development of bronze manufacturing in China,” said Professor Dodson. “Further research will look at whether bronze technology was invented in several places around the world independently, or whether the technology was transferred from a single centre of origin.”

“The aim of the study was to determine possible sources of ore and evidence of bronze production through analysis of artefacts (with copper and arsenic content) including analysing samples of slag and copper ore from two archaeological sites known as Ganggangwa and Huoshiliang in northwestern Gansu Province,“ he said.

The research used lead and strontium isotopic analysis to identify and age ornaments, knives, rings, hemispherical objects and spearheads.

The team discovered substantial areas of woody vegetation around the sites which is now dominated by sand dunes. The Bronze Age people of the Gansu area were farmers who planted cereals such as wheat and practiced animal husbandry. Horse and sheep bones are common. It is believed they may have abandoned the region when wood was exhausted and desertification took over.

Southwest Chess Club: Upcoming Events

Holiday Hootenanny High-Speed Swiss: December 3 & 10 4-Round Swiss in One Section. Two games per night. Game/45 minutes. USCF (dual) Rated. EF: $5. One ½-Point Bye Available for any round (except round four) if requested at least 2-days prior to round). TD is Fogec (tfogec@fogec.com); ATDs Becker & Grochowski. Note: The games will start promptly at 7:00 (with the 2nd round starting around 8:30; games will conclude by about 10:15 pm). Follow this tournament on the SWCC blog. Visit the SWCC website for a complete calendar of events. Some upcoming events: CHRISTMAS PARTY, December 17 Casual Chess, food and socializing. No entry fee! Ice on Lake Michigan Swiss: January 7, 14, & 21 3-Round Swiss in Two Sections (Open and U1600).Game/100 minutes. USCF Rated. EF: $5. (One ½-PointBye Available for any round (except round three) if requestedat least 2-days prior to round). TD is Grochowski; ATD isFogec. Ice Storming Swift Swiss: January 28 3-Round Swiss in Two Sections (G/30 Minutes and G/29Minutes). USCF Rated. EF: $5. (½-Point Bye available for only first round if requested prior to round) TD isBecker; ATD is Grochowski. This is a great way to work through our Wisconsin Winter! Spring will be here before we know it. And with the spring comes the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XII! Goddesschess will once again be sponsoring prizes for the chess femmes for this fantastic twice-yearly event that has quickly become a spring and autumn tradition in southeast Wisconsin. We will be implementing an entirely new prize structure that we hope will encourage all of the femmes who have played in the Reserve section in prior HCCC to register and play in the Open. As an additional incentive, Goddesschess will pay the entry fee to HCCC XIII for the top female finisher in each section. Stay tuned for further details as we get closer to the tournament date.

The Storm God

He's featured in the latest issue of Archaeology Magazine - there is an abstract of the article online. Image: Adda 14th Century BCE. Temple of the Storm God Volume 62 Number 6, November/December 2009 by Andrew Lawler A 5,000-year-old sanctuary emerges from beneath Aleppo's medieval citadel Various names were listed for this familiar god: Adda was known variously as Addu, Teshup, Tarhunta, and Hadad. Add Yahweh (Jehovah) to that list, and may as well add the Pharaohs of Egypt too, because the earliest depictions of pre-dynastic kings and the rulers from Dynasty One (Narmer, for instance) assume that same aggressive striding pose - one hand raised (ready to hurl a thunderbolt or a spear, or wield a club to smite the enemy). The Narmer Palette dates to the earliest days of Dynasty One (c. 3100 BCE, although some push that date back to 3400 BCE or 3500 BCE, to c. 2890 BCE). The image of Adda dates to c. 1599 BCE to 1500 BCE, and yet they share many similarities, don't they. The pointed headdress; the pointed beard; the short war apron; the raised right arm. My take: Adda is Dadda - the Big Daddy in the Sky who is everyone's "Daddy."

Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

From The Durango Herald 2 plead guilty to theft of artifacts Herald Staff Report Article Last Updated; Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12:00AM A Cortez man and a woman from Cañon City have pleaded guilty to illegally collecting archaeological artifacts in Canyon of the Ancients National Monument west of Cortez. Preston Waggoner and Dawn Laate were banned from entering the national monument for a year and each fined $2,500. All but $500 of their fines will be suspended if they comply with the order and write a letter of apology to educate the public about the importance of leaving artifacts where they're found. Each has written the required letter, she on Nov. 18, he on Nov. 27. The Bureau of Land Management, which manages Canyon of the Ancients, was notified Aug. 18 that two people were picking up artifacts on BLM land adjacent to Lowry Pueblo, a complex with standing walls and more than 40 rooms. A BLM ranger, who found Waggoner and Laate with numerous artifacts that they had picked up from the ground, confiscated the pieces for evidence. They were cited for misdemeanors and ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Durango, where they pleaded guilty to violating the Archaeological Resource Protection Act. They were sentenced Nov. 10. . . . The archaeological protection act dating from 1979 prohibits excavation, removal, damaging, alteration or defacing of artifacts on public land without a permit. A misdemeanor offense can bring a maximum $10,000 fine and up to a year in jail. A felony violation can result in as much as a $20,000 fine and up to two years in prison. A subsequent similar offense can be punished with a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment of not more than five years. Anyone who collects archeological artifacts from the ground also can be charged under the Code of Federal Regulations. The violation is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and one year in jail. Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, part of the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, contains 6,000 recorded archaeological sites representing ancestral Puebloan, Native American and Anglo cultures.

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I believe that it is vitally important, not only for the present, but for our future as a nation of immigrants, to preserve as much as we can of the precious relics of the past (that from 50,000 years ago and that from 50 years ago), to pass on not only to those who come after us but also as a testament for the entire world. We can do better to preserve our collective heritage in the USA.

The Incredible Blooming Geraniums

It's December 1st and here is a photo of the two Martha Washington geraniums still blooming away on my front porch! Forgive the poor quality of the photo - I didn't have it on the right setting to take the photo in the dark and my hands shake so I couldn't keep the camera still even though I thought I was. Oh well. Even with the proper setting, I don't have a tripod to hold the camera steady. Despite the blur, the pic plainly shows geraniums in full-summer mode! In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on December 1st! I wonder if I have stumbled upon the geranium equivalent of the Lightbulb that Pynchon wrote about years ago in Gravity's Rainbow? There was this lightbulb - in a factory or a storage facility? - who slowly discovered that "he" was immortal! I recall its name as Bernie, but that may be wrong. I still remember that ever-living lightbulb though, more than 30 years after reading Gravity's Rainbow for an English class in college. I don't know how much longer the Marthas will keep going. I have been covering them with a black plastic trash bag at night because it's been dropping below freezing. Today was a respite, it was 53 degrees F when I got out of work at 5 PM! But the temperature soon dropped as the sun disappeared altogether below the western horizon. Tomorrow and the next several days are forecast to be more seasonal. I may have to say goodbye to the Marthas.