Sunday morning we had a Legion function. We had a request from the family of a veteran who was not a Legion member.  He had passed away in Las Vegas and was buried there. With family in this area his wife requested that a service be provided so that those in the area could say their good byes. We provided the typical color guard to fire weapons and a chaplain as well as a bugler to "play" taps.  As a confession we do not have a bugler.  In the past we used a cut off a CD on a boom box, very tacky.  Very few buglers are left although there is a society of live buglers that play for some larger events.  Here in Orland for village events the task is handled by a music teacher at Jerling Junior High, a member of our Post and band leader of an Army Reserve military band.  To take their place at smaller events a new bugle has been produced that has a
recorded copy of many military tunes on effectively a computer chip.  The chip is encased in a circular unit which fits nicely in the bugle.  The bugler need only turn the unit on and press play. Five seconds (time to move the bugle to your lips) later the music plays.  Anyone who looks and acts a bit military can be a bugler.
After the service I returned home for a quick change of shirt before Mary and I moved on to the Orland Park Veterans Commission 9th annual Steak Fry.  The Steak Fry is held each year to thank area veterans for their service.  All veterans living in Orland Park are eligible to buy tickets.  Out of town veterans are also eligible to attend providing they are a member of  the local VFW or American Legion Post.  There was a wonderful menu of steak, baked potato, salad and dessert and of course with steak one needs a beer or a glass of wine.
   Monday I stopped at the Legion coffee and then headed for Fox's Pub to say hello to a fellow Legionnaire who was tending bar. The St Julie bulletin arrived in my email box and I did the preliminary work of  converting it to pdf before creating this weeks link on the bulletin page.  I also sent pdf copies to a few members of the web team so they could perform their duties.  I then save it until Tuesday when I send it up to the server.

    I had purchased some old used shortwave radios on ebay and Tuesday afternoon I went to Radio Shack to look for some tuner cleaner.  It was advertised on their web site as tuner cleaner.  I had used it in one of my former lives to clean old TV tuner contacts and volume controls etc.  To indicate how out of touch I have become the first clerk looked at me like I was from another planet.  I chalked that up to a new clerk (not unusual at Radio Shack). However, when no one seemed to know what I was talking about I knew I was in the wrong era.  However, one of the clerks directed his colleague to a shelf where we found a can of contact cleaner behind the tuner cleaner sign.  Apparently they changed the title for the new era (all TV tuners are now digital and mechanical contact tuners called detente tuners (oops there is my age again) are long gone. I returned home for dinner and the disappointment of a rained out CUBS game.  All of a sudden I can't miss a game.  Before calling it a night, I uploaded the St. Julie bulletin to the server.  Since I did not yet have the St. Terrence bulletin there was no danger of repeating last weeks error of putting up the wrong bulletin.

    Wednesday morning I received the St. Terrence bulletin.  Yesterday I had received a file from the St. Terrence Men's Club Golf League that he had forgotten to send previously.  Today, in addition to the bulletin, I received this week's golf league updates.  I did my thing with the bulletin and the golf files before heading out to get an oil change on Mary's Explorer.  I always joke that it is Mary's wheels until broken or in need of service. then it is mine.  Makes sense right?  One rarely goes for and ends up with charges for only an oil change (I think I did last time) and this time was no different.  Since it had sat out all winter while we were in Florida the service writer suggested the tires be rotated to which I agreed.  So I went to the customer lounge to wait.  The service writer also recommended  a battery check since they had not done one and found me to state that they should change what is a weak battery.  We agreed that to be the way to avoid an unpleasant breakdown I also agreed to that suggestion.  So needless to say I did not get out for the cost of an oil change.
Before leaving to get the car serviced I had done most of the St. Terrence work while watching the CUBS. I listened on the radio and arrived home to see the ninth as they beat Atlanta 10-2. The afternoon game was a reschedule of last nights rainout.  Tonight after dinner I watched the completion of a double header sweep (I can't remember when I last watched a double header or most of it.  It probably happened when I was a kid.  Again, I date myself.  Very seldom are doubleheaders played (except for rainouts).  Nobody will give you two games for the price of one.  Even today's "twin bill" was a day night affair to avoid a freebie. Tonight the CUBS completed the sweep of the doubleheader, is this the year?

   Thursday I had a visit with my urologist to schedule a prostate procedure for Sept.  The recovery from this will take about 6 weeks putting the calendar into October.  This would make getting the hip corrected out of the question before we proceed to Florida for Thanksgiving and probably the rest of the winter.  I am not looking forward to putting it off until Spring.  As I left the house a wonderful encounter took place. A young lady stopped in the middle of the street and said hello.  Then she asked if I remembered her and I said I was sorry but I did not.  She responded "I am Jeanie West and as she turned into the driveway I immediately knew that this was the young girl who had grown up right across the street.  Jeanie went off to college, got her degree and took a teaching job in the northwest suburbs.  I believe that was about the time her Mom and dad moved to Eagle Ridge nearby.  Jeanie took a leave to take care of a little bundle of joy adopted from China. I met a smart little girl named Mary Kate riding in the back.  As Jeanie and I talked further Mary Kate put her window down and suggested I might wish to come around to the other side to see her better  Jeanie mentioned that had moved to Frankfort Square.  She also told me that her Brother Brian, now married with three little ones was now a Sergeant in the Orland Park Police Department.  A quick reunion with a lovely young lady who no doubt makes Grandma and Grandpa proud. I know I would be and I was happy that she came by to look at the house where she grew up which she mentioned she does often.   Tonight the CUBS competed the 3 game in Atlanta.

  On a glorious Friday I opted to skip the Legion coffee and after my morning TV I went into my cave (computer room) to continue to wade through the paper and old mail that had accumulated.  The old mail was nothing earth shaking, almost all of which were requests for donations from the few charities that I support.  There was no way I could answer them all so I grabbed the most recent of each and proceeded to write the checks. Right now as I prepare to upload this to the server I am switching between the CUBS game at Miami and the NFL game which has Oakland at Tennessee (Nashville).  Holy smoke is it fall already?  Not quite but not far off.  As I close this out the CUBS, on a pinch hit three run homer beat the Marlins 6-5 for their first win in Florida this year and the first time they beat the Marlins in Florida since 2005.