It ain't over 'til it's over and it ain't over yet

It ain't over 'til it's over, and it ain't over. I apologize for not getting on the computer more often to let my faithful readers know what is up with the Barbers in NZ. We had a wonderful trip stateside in early April. We are finally settling down from that trip. A good friend from Kansas, and her mom, will be visiting in early June. Events of note - Emily's screaming girls late birthday party on May 9 that went off without mishap. She wants a living pet. Any suggestions? I thought snake, but those are not allowed into NX. Maybe a bird? No mice for me, thanks, and am allergic to cats, spiders don't seem friendly, possibly a gerbil/hamster if not a bird? Yesterday we had a brief hail storm, unlike our unfortunate neighbors to the East at Mt. Monganui, where I believe they reported 8 inches of hail and one shopping mall shut down because of flooding. Lows here are in the 40's, so we have lots of blankets on the beds. We had the carpet cleaned yesterday - thinking it would be prudent to wait until after the party to get it done. Joseph is working on a project related to NZ's part in the Vietnam conflict. Emily is designing a pocket plucker for science, a musical instrument of sorts so far composed to two 9 mm long old croquet mallet handle pieces with a rubber band or two or three tied to each, so when you hold one handle in each hand and stretch the band(s) you can pluck them with your teeth and make music. She is taking clarinet lessons at school and has to practice at home - sometimes when doing this she will hit a sour note and that sends Charlie the wonder dog skeedadling. She is pretty good. She also draws well. Does anyone in the reading group ever look at Wired on the web? Interesting article today about a guy who is trying to create a more powerful search engine than any available currently - ask it a question and it will tell you no lies. Cool. In NZ if the listener does not understand the speaker the NZ person will say "Pardon?" I also was asked to give two lectures on sound and its perception at the local uni - the first one was to me pretty bad, the second better - I do not know if I will ever be asked back or not. Will be interesting to see what happens. I learned a lot about the cochlea and organ of corti, anyway. I miss my old friends, and hope to be back for a visit in two years. We don't know when/where Joseph might go to college, and that may influence our travel plans. Well, it was so good to see old friends, and I wish all my readers well. Manford