Found in my old stuff

As I was going through old boxes (full of mold, dust, dead spiders, etc), I ran across lots of "treasures" amongst the debris. It was disappointing that a large # of pictures were totally destroyed, although since I couldn't see what used to be on them, I guess it's hard to mourn their loss too much. It's hard to miss something you didn't know you had! Anyway, I was quite happy that most of the cards, letters, etc., were still able to be rescued. I have been putting them into a scrap book or other much safe locations as I find them. Following is a typed story that I found about my great-grandmother (I think). I have no idea where it came from, but it is obviously quite old, as evidenced by the form of typing. It reads as if it may have been copied from a newspaper article. As background ~ my mother's family had a ranch over on the Montana / North Dakota border, near Medora. It was called the TIX Ranch. This is, apparently, a story from there. I've re-typed it exactly as it appears with capitals, mis-spellings, etc., intact. Enjoy!

"A RATTLESNAKE, RABBIT AND SKUNK, in that order, were shot with her .410-guage shotgun recently by Mrs. Dan Connell, pioneer resident of the Medora area. Not a bad day's "bag!"
Happened like this: Mrs. Dan Connell, whose lively, though near 80 year old husband is nursing a bad heart, has to stick pretty close tot he ranch house, 16 miles south of Medora. She loves her baby kittens. Hearing a familiar RATTLING sound, she peered out the screen door, saw a big fat RATTLER on her very own porch, giving warning to the curious, fluffy kittens. They probably figured it was good playing fun.
Grabbin for her trusty old .410 guage shotgun, the ranch woman, the mother of Mrs. E. E. O'Hearn of Dickinson, calmly sniped Mr. Rattler, leaving the kittens startled but unharmed.
Later she heard some more ruckus in the ranch yard, bounced out, shot a rabbit. Little later yet and one of her favorite setting hens skeedaddled up to the kitchen door clucking a worried warning. "Hummm". mused Mrs. Connell, "probably another rattler!" So she grabbed her gun and took off again.
It wasn't a snake this time though. Just a skunk. So she shot him too! Who said anything about defenseless woman?
Reminds me o f pert young ranch gal, Alice Lebo, who is employed at the North Dakota state employment office here, startles a few town girls now and then. Speaking of rattlesnakes--a general topic these days---she can dip in her purse and whip out a little exhibit with a "Look at this!" order.
It contains nine rattlers and "the button" off a big rattler she shot a few days ago at the Leboranch inthe Medora vicinity.
And some women are afraid of angleworms!"


No, I don't know who Alice Lebo is and the words stuck together at the end are exactly like the typed sheet. Love the story though! Hope you did too!

Saga of a broken camera

A month or more ago, Jeff came in one day and asked if he could borrow my camera as he was headed off … somewhere… and might want to take some pictures. So, I kept my misgivings to myself and said “Sure”. Off he went with my camera “safely” stowed in his pocket. Upon his return, he handed it back to me, and it looked like he’d run it through the hay baler, and then dug it out of a bale.. The strap was totally gone, the camera was filthy and it wouldn’t work because it had so much stuff, dirt, hay, and who knows what else, crammed in every nook & cranny. (I asked Jeff what he’d DONE.. and he said “Nothing! I never even took it out of my pocket!” I said “What the heck is in your pocket??” He got his coat and started digging around & found: fencing staples, horse treats, hay, dirt, a pen, and miscellaneous other things).

I, understandably, was a little miffed. So, Jeff took and cleaned on it, and cleaned…. And cleaned… used the compressed air…. And cleaned. Eventually he got it working – mostly – except that a big ol’ piece of dirt had somehow gotten in between two of the lenses and so every picture I tried to take, had this big spot on it.

We checked out getting it cleaned (a LOT of money) and were debating if we wanted to pay that or just live with the spot. Well, last week, I headed down the road with the camera “safely” stowed in my pocket to get mail. But, when I stopped to get out, apparently I hadn’t actually zipped the pocket, and the camera fell out – INTO A MUD PUDDLE! I brought it home, dried it out and tried to clean it. It wouldn’t even TURN ON!! So, Jeff worked on it awhile and got it to kind of work, but nothing would show up on the screen. At this point, we knew it would have to be either a) totally dismantled and cleaned; or b) replaced. Since cleaning was MORE than the cost of a new one, I decided I had nothing to lose by trying to clean it myself …. Note to all you do-it-yourselfers out there… NOT a good idea.

I sat down with my tiny little screwdriver and a seam ripper (yes, like you use for sewing). And started dismantling. It went ok, until I got into where you can see the electronics… But, I just kept plugging away. I was able to clean some of it, but never did figure out how to get into the lenses to clean between them, and one of the little bus lines (is that right you technogeeks?) came umplugged. I went ahead & cleaned as best I could & started re-mantling. Overheard by Jeff a contanst mumble:

“Mmmm… what part goes in first? OMG… that TINY TINY little spring just came unhooked and disappeared inside. WHERE did that stupid thing go? Oh! There it is, unhunhunh… got it! ARGH, lost it. Oh! Wait! There, got it.. now if I can just…. Unhunhunh… ok, now if I hold this and hook… ok. Got that. Why won’t this screw fit? I thought all the screws on this part were silver? Why do I have an extra silver screw? Oh well.. next.. um… ok, let’s try this, add the screws.. Argh.. was supposed to put this part on before.. ok, take this off, put other part on… how the HECK does the end of that spring fit in here? I”ll just tuck it here & hope it works… Hmm… this little bus line came unhooked, hopefully it’ll reconnect if I just stick in there… I wonder if it matters that this plastic piece thing isn’t sticky to the electronics anymore? Ok, replace back, put in screws…. Hmmm… I have 3 extra screws.. wonder if that’s a problem? Let’s see if it works… …

*Repeat above 3 times*

After MUCH time and frustration and multiple re-do’s… well, lets just say it STILL won’t work. No idea why…..

So, we move on to option B… replace. But how? Where to get the money? Especially with the trip to Richland looming… WAIT… what about my “Rainy Day” jar? I’ll count that change & see what I get…

So, I dumped the jar on the bed & started counting. The quarters went ok, and then I did some nickels & dimes which were also ok. But THEN I started on pennies – and my OCD kicked in. I have this compulsion that I can’t get rid of any penny without making sure it isn’t old. (What defines “old” you may ask? Well, obviously it’s any penny that’s older than me!) I HAVE to look at every single one, unless they are very shiny and obviously new. Do you have ANY idea how long it takes to roll 1000 pennies when you have to look at every one? And, apparently my eyesight is getting worse, because it’s not just a quick look, I have to tip & tilt & squint & try to determine what the year says… It’s EXHAUSTING. But, I DID it! And it was very rewarding! I DO have enough to buy a new camera! So… on our trip, we’ll be completing the saga by going to a Best Buy to compare cameras and make a purchase. I’ll keep you posted of any “saga-worthy” moments.

The moral of the story: Don’t loan your camera and ALWAYS keep it in it’s case.