Primed for Thanksgiving with Aleta's Family

After having brought my industrial grade mine dry washer blower to help with the leaves now I can relax!!!
The turkey fryer is cranked up and the stuffing is in the oven with stuffed sweet potatos on the stove and two pecan pies waiting in the wings. Aleta has decorated the dining room to look very festive.
And since the fryer is all set up I found a delicious recipe for fried crab cakes for supper...like I need to eat more tonight ha ha ha.

Leaves at Aleta's - Fall Colors PHOOEY!

So in order to earn my Thanksgiving dinner, I have to get all the leaves to the curb. While Aleta runs the leaf blower, my only reliable helper since she could walk has been Ella. My 'leaf plow' is more efficient than people anyway. This years efforts made a 4 ft high pile 10 ft wide and 120 ft long for the local vacuum truck.

And Bernanke Said There Was No Inflation????

Do You Ship For Christmas    
"Dear UPS Customer...

...Effective January 3, 2011, UPS Daily Rates will increase as follows: UPS Ground services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 5.9% increase in rates and a 1% reduction in the UPS Ground fuel surcharge; UPS Air and International services will increase a net 4.9% through a combination of a 6.9% increase in rates and a 2% reduction in the UPS Air and International services fuel surcharge...

...In addition, effective January 3, 2011, the dimensional weight divisor used to calculate dimensional weight will change from 194 to 166 for domestic U.S. UPS Ground and Air services shipments, and from 166 to 139 for U.S.-origin export shipments..."

• That, incidentally, is a ~16% increase in price on dimensional weight packages. If your box is light and large, you're going to get reamed by 16%.

Too Much Excitement Right Now

St. Lucia Prime Minister Stephenson King told a local radio station that an American tourist drowned at Cas En Bas beach in the island’s north. St. Lucians were deluged by 21 hours of sustained rain starting Saturday morning. On Sunday, dead animals floated in swollen rivers and people in the capital of Castries took to streets to clear fallen branches, broken glass and other debris. High winds ripped the roofs off a hospital, a school and a stadium and blew a large concrete cross from the roof of a century-old church, officials said. A landslide blocked a main highway.