As the holidays rush towards us..

It is now November 12, 2015.  The day after Veterans Day.  Vetrans Day for me is a special day when I can say thanks to those you helped make America what it is today.  I pray for all Veterans, those that are with us and those that are no longer, that they and their families are well and that they never loose the hope for a better world and a better America.  If you are a Veteran than I salute you and say thanks.

Daylight Savings time has ended for the year and now I am back on Central Standard Time.  It gets dark at 5PM and it will take a bit to get used to that but I am coping.  The temperatures are turning colder, the leaves are falling and the house is a buzz with preparations for Thanksgiving. 

We are blessed to have a family spanning two nationalities and three colors.  We are all healthy and my wife is expecting her first great grandson in early December.  So we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to celebrate.  So I invite you to also celebrate your family and be thankful for what you have this holiday season.

As a freelance web site designer I enjoy a great deal of freedom and have a great deal of responsibility to my clients.  I always need to be cogniziant of what is best for the client and make decisions that align with their goals.  Sometimes this is easy and sometimes not so easy.  Sometimes inexpensive and sometimes costly.  But I always want to do what is right for the client and keep the project moving forward not to just a good conclusion but to a great solution.  Having satisfied clients is paramount to my success so I always strive to make sound decisions.

I specialize in working with Joomla as the foundation of my projects.  Joomla is in a period of change and I expect this will accelerate as a new board has been seated to guide the project into the next generation.  As these upgrades occur I feel it is important to keep client sites up to date when ever possible. Sometimes I run across compononets that are not in compliance with the newer versions and upgrading the clients site would break it.  

That is where our site maintenance services become most cost effective because the client can rely on my expertise to keep them out of trouble and to get them upgraded when the tools used in their site are ready.

Thankyou for reading this blog entry and I hope you have a joyus Thanksgiving!

And the seasons continue....

Well, we had to close the trailer as is necessary around the first of October.  If we were able to properly winterize it ourselves we could keep it open till late October but the companies that provide winterizing will not guarantee that they will get it done before the first freeze if you wait past the first weekend of October to have the winterizing done by them.  There are a lot of park models and very few providers of winterizing services.   So our visits there are now done for the year.

I got a 2nd monitor for my desktop at home and had to re-organize the office to accommodate  the expanded desktop space necessary.  After a day and a half the wife and I have finished the movement of furniture and I am working with two 23" monitors.  It is very nice when I can have both the source and the live view up on screens at the same time.  No more switching between browser windows for me.  It is an improvement and I am lucky to find the space necessary.  If you haven't tried to use two monitors I highly recommend that you jump in.  You will never go back. 

It is important to get the monitors together and to verify that they both display colors correctly.  Not all systems are dual monitor capable but a new video card is all that it would take to upgrade your system to allow two monitors.

Are you excited about Halloween?  My bride is going nuts trying to get the front porch ready to excite the kiddies when they come for their treets.  It is really cool what she has been able to create.  It even gets me surprised when I walk up onto the porch.  It will be fun to see the responses on the spooky evening.  We wish you and your family a fun and safe Halloween.

The days are getting colder now and it gets dark so early.  I can hardly wait till the time change when it will get darker even earlier.  My dog is dumb and will go after anything that looks like a cat - especially a skunk.  Skunks come out after dark and I need to walk the dog every evening and now it is dark when we are out for the nightly walk.  I carry a flashlight to see what is in front of us and try to avoid what ever critter may be there.  Once we have freeze the skunks will sleep more and come out less so the risk will be minimized but I will still need to be aware of our surroundings.  It is a major issue to deodorize a dog after an encounter with a skunk and in the winter it is even harder.

Well I think I have said enough for this post so I will bring it to a close.  I hope all of you have an enjoyable and safe fall and are able to enjoy Halloween.

Till next post - Be well and be safe.

Woodhaven Lakes - part 3

It is now August 24th, 2015 and the cleanup efforts are still underway at Woodhaven Lakes near Sublette, IL.  The EF1 tornado hit on Monday June 22nd and nearly destroyed the south west corner of the recreational facility.   Many families lost their RV's and or campsites and all of there posessions during the event.  It is amazing that it has been two months since the tornado and clean up is still continuing.

We all thank God that it happened on a Monday when there was a much lower level of attendance than is witnessed on the weekend and no lives were lost.   It could have been much worse.

Those who have decided to stay and rebuild their recreational lifestyles are by now well towards the realization of their goals.  But some have not been so fortunate and were wiped out to a point that is not recoverable.  These people may decide to leave Woodhaven Lakes and just let the Association take possession of their lots and the effort to clean them up.  Right now no one knows for sure what efforts will be brought to bear by the Association in this matter but it currently appears that they are not too compassionate towards those who decide to just walk away.

Here are the latest approximated stats:

• 15,000 trees either damaged or destroyed
• 9,500 dump truck loads of debris
• 50,000 + cubic yards of mulch created by shredding (so far more to come)
• 40 Electric pedestals destroyed
• 900 lots damaged to varying degrees (approx 50% of lots)
• 1,400 lots with tree damage
• 281 damaged RV's have been removed from the park

Estimated costs to date:

• $536,000 thru July 31st. 2015
• $473,000 on tree removal only
• $36,000 on garbage removal

The $536,000 reflects a $111,000 savings on the cost of use of barrel shredder by giving the owner the ownership rights to the generated mulch.

It was a major hit to the park the likes of which Woodhaven Lakes has never before seen.  It will take quite a while to fully recover from this event and the recovery efforts will extend into the 2016 season.  Many planned projects were placed on hold and some of those planned resources are being used to fund the recovery efforts. 

View my personal web site:   http://www.jdevtech.com

Woodhaven Lakes Web Site:    http://www.woodhavenlakes.com

Woodhaven Lakes - part 2

We went to Woodhaven Lakes over the 4th of July weekend to check out the property.   While our lot and RV were just fine many others weren't so fortunate.  There were areas of the park where access was still highly restricted.  But after viewing the areas we could it became clear that the damage was simply devastating.  Thank God that no one was seriously hurt.

The park set up a staging area behind Woody's market where a semi-trailer sized shredder was located to shred the debris into a mountain of wood chips.  We sat and watched the short bed dump trucks roll in one after another hauling debris from the south west sections of the park.  We estimate 100 - 150 truck loads a day were being hauled into the shredding area where they were loaded into the shredder and converted into chips.  

The cleanup event was started on or about the 25th of June and we were watching this on the 5th of July.  So it had been going on for 10 days and there are still area's of the park that are closed except to those who have lots in them.  I would be surprised if they finish this debris removal by the end of July.

It is sad that owners are unable to get anyone to start the clean up of their lots because everyone is involved in the clean up process.   We heard that about 40% of the lot owners did not have any insurance and for those that do the insurance companies will cover the RV but not the lot in general.  It is a real mess and we can't help but wonder just how many owners will just choose to walk away rather than face the extreme high cost of clean up and re-establishing their little piece of heaven.

Our prayers are with all the owners of lots at Woodhaven Lakes as we are sure the effects of this storm will last for a few years at a minimum.  Please keep active in your prayers any one going through an event such as this.  A tornado is incredible.   We hope you never have to experience one.

Update -  As of 7/19/2015 the chipping of debris at Woodhaven Lakes has generated over 200,000 cubic yards of mulch chips.  And it is still going.  My original estimate of 150 - 200 truck loads a day was low, the actual count is typically 400 + truck loads per day.  We will be going out on the weekend of August 8 & 9 to enjoy the Mendota Corn Festival and will report back after that relaxing weekend.  Hope it isn't too damn hot!

Tragedy at Woodhaven Lakes, Sublette, IL

When writing these entries I try to be light hearted and keep to subjects that emote happiness and pleasure from my readers.  But recently there have been some severe storms in Illinois that have caused my family some initial distress and then after finding out that we were unharmed, relief for us but sorrow for our neighbors and the residents of Woodhaven Lakes in Sublette Illinois who have suffered mightly from the EF-1 tornado that moved through the south and south west corner of the recreational park.

Woodhaven Lakes is almost 1,700 acres consisting of around 6,000 privately owned lots for RV or camping usage.   The park is or was heavily covered with trees mostly oak and pine and for those in the northern half the trees still remain.  But in the southern half most of the trees are either down or stipped bare of their leaves and branches as a result of natures furry that was unleased the evening of June 22nd, 2015. 

I am unable to really asses or confirm the extent of the damage due to what appears to be a communication blackout from the park but I don't know if this is intentional or simply a matter of the web site being overwhelmed by the over 4,000 owners trying desperately to get information.

The management of the park is elected and serve with little or no compensation.  This is fine in most cases but when a disaster happens I am sure they are completely out of touch with the management tools required to establish an emergency response effort,  especially with the widespread effects of this present disaster.  This evening it will be 48 hours since the tragedy and I would think that a statement to the owners is due.  They do have a website and what better way to post a statement than a static page on the Website.  

As an owner of a lot at Woodhaven Lakes I feel that we are due a response from the management - maybe not details yet but at least a response.

I do know that our properies are safe and relatively untouched from the storm but we are unable to enter the park to really determine the state of our RV because the park is closed until further notice.   I understand why it is closed, and I am sure that once it is safe to re-open it will be re-opened.  What we don't know is when and hopefully we will get some information on what is going on soon.

We will keep those who were injured or lost property in our thoughts as the details get sorted out over the next few days.  Pray for them and be diligently aware of the power of thunderstorms.

Thanks.

Summer - Yea Summer!

Yep.  Summer is almost here.  It is now the end of May and things are beginning to warm up.  It has been a rather cool and wet May but finally the trees are green and the grass is growing faster than the squirrels run from our lab on her walks.  We spent the Memorial Day weekend at our RV in Sublette Illinois and had a very relaxing albeit a busy weekend.   We were there for 5 days and only one - Saturday - was a rainy day.

Having a long quiet weekend was high on our wish list but it just wasn't about to happen.  On Friday morning my wife's mother passed away and that started all the emotions rushing to the surface.   Needless to say this event set the tone for the remainder of the weekend.  Since my brother-in-law was taking care of all of her mothers needs he made the final arrangements. 

We remained at the RV because the ceremony on Memorial Day was an annual event that has come to mean a lot to my wife.   The closing playing of Taps brings tears to both of us but it really causes my wife to cry.  It was her dads favorite memory of his military service to hear Taps at the close of the day.

Back to the weekend story.  She wasn't about to miss the Memorial Day ceremony.

Then on to cleaning up our little RV lot after a winter that always leaves things in disarray.  Branches down, leaves and other rubbish, the cleaning of the Shed which had been made a home by the mice, and the initial mowing of the grass kept us busy.   Those damn rodents can eat through most anything and there is always caulking to do to cover the latest entry point.  Next fall we will put out mouse baits to see if we can control it a bit better.

The spiritually  moving Memorial Service which included the changing of the Flags, a 21 Gun Salute by the members from the local 'Amvets' chapter and the playing of Taps made for a very memorable day.  I wish all of you could some day be part of such a simple but moving ceremony.


Our sympathies go out to those being affected by the floods in the Texas and other regions as the rains are really battering that area of the country.
So here we go into Summer.   And as the song says - 'The living is easy....'  (for some of us).   Keep your neighbors in your prayers.  God Bless You ALL.

Spring At Last

Spring - At Last!

Well the weather is starting to turn from the cold dreary days of winter to the brighter and stormier days of early spring.  It is amazing how quickly the seasons change once they decide to get with the program.

Along with spring come the holiday's and I want to wish all of you a happy Pasech on April 3rd and Easter on April 5th.  I sincerely hope you get to spend some time with your loved ones on these special days.

Do you have special plans for the spring?

I am really looking forward to the weather getting warmer so we can go to our little RV and spend some time under the standing oaks that cover our lot.  The RV is a small (12 x30 ft.) unit with one bedroom and of course indoor plumbing.  We really enjoy the peaceful quiet mornings.   If you get up early enough you can hear owl's hooting, wood peckers hammering away and of course you can enjoy the smell of clean air.

So what do you look forward to as the season turns?   Is there a special place in your life?  How about a special thing you want to do - fishing, boating, skiing, hiking, go to a ball game, etc.

Whatever it is that excites you about the exiting winter and the rushing in spring I hope you have something in your life to look forward to enjoying.  Share the time with those you love and create a special memory that will last much longer than you could ever imagine.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog entry and best wishes to you and your family