December 31, 2009

I was at the computer in the early morning hours yesterday when I heard a thump, then a few scratching type noises, then more thumps. If I had been alone at night and heard this it would have scared me out of my wits. As it was, I went outside and looked. No one around. Back inside. Thump, thump, thump. I thumped back on the ceiling from inside. Whatever it is, it is undeterred. WHAT THE HECK?....is something having an orgy up there? Back outside....a smiling, mischevious squirrel peeked out at me from the space between the awning and the slide. Having no one else to talk to, I shoo him off, admonishing him "bad boy, bad boy." Hope he didn't leave any acorns to mess up our slide.

I'd like to say we had a Merry Christmas but in reality, it was the most dismal ever. To celebrate, I put up our five ornaments and bought a wreath. Wahoo! I missed everyone, missed the house, missed Champers. Thought often of Ellie, especially when shopping. Had one card as we haven't had the rest of our mail forwarded yet.

North Carolina was pretty. It was interesting to see peanut roadside stands and cotton fields. Probably haven't seen a cotton field since I was a small child. I'd forgotten how low the cotton grows - that truly was back-breaking work. Although we enjoyed our spot under the towering sweetgum trees near Lake Norman, I was ecstatic to get back on the road.

Now we're in South Carolina, parked at the Oak Plantation Campground. Good to see the massive trees and sphagnum moss that I associate with the South. This site was an actual plantation - pretty place but I have a personal space problem when all the RVs are lined up 20-25 feet away from each other. Not really what I envisioned but understandable when you think about all of the electrical and plumbing facilities that have to be installed and, when you close your blinds - your neighbors are forgotten.

I sent a Freedom Of Information Act request to the FAA on our magnetic car case. Nicky tells me that the denial has come through. We also learned that the FAA Operations Manual has been amended to list BAASS (Bigleow Advanced Aerospace) as the first place to file a UFO report and provides the telephone no. and e-mail address. The new order also mentions another civilian organization that is reputable but it doesn't investigate. I guess MUFON, which is the largest civilian organization, comes in under the "etc." What this means is that pilots are directed to file their UFO sighting reports with a private company that will not share its information and will not be subject to FOIA requests. Even though Robert Bigelow's company has been a corporate sponsor to MUFON, I find this highly disturbing.

We have been working an extremely interesting, albeit old, case that has been under wraps since 1981. More on that later.

We wish you health and happiness in the coming year.

Vicki and Chuck