Well it's the last os summer holidays.  Where did it all go?  I really have nothing new to tell about Ronn.  He is still hospitalized.  Thanks to everyone for all of your kindnesses.

I really don't have much to post tonight; Ronn remains hospitalized, but they appears to some improvement with his nausea.  He was able to keep some liquids where theybelonged.     For those of you who have experienced the demise of your impatents, today in the local newspaper telling us that there is a blight which came to us from Europe that has attacked them.  At least one of life's solved!

It's Bob again tonight.  Ronn remains hospitalized at the Harrisburg Hospital.  He is still having problems with pain management and he is nauseated to the point that nothing stays put.  We met his oncologist today.  He seems able and has ordered some scans for tomorrow.  We both like him and his demeanor because we believe that he will "tell it like it is."  The store remains open, thanks primarily to Mark, so stop in.  We just got in some really nice things today.  Thank you to all who have sent messages of encouragement to both of us.  It is appreciated.

This is Bob tonight because Ronn is spending the night at Harrisburg Hospital for observation.  He became weaker than usual, nauseated,and dizzy last night and this morning.  His doctor thought the hospital to be where he needed to be; so after several hours in the emergency room, it was decided to keep him at least overnight---an idea that both Ronn and I agreed with.

Too headachey to type tonight but I have several more telephone exchanges that I will share with you tomorrow . . .

I fail to understand why certain factions object to the government investing in businesses which will provide blue collar jobs for the middle classes paying forty thousand a year but insist the government erect stadiums so that the ten million dollar salary earner will have a nice place in which to play . . . Fred Imhoff has shipped in a really nice collection of glass jewelry, For the first time you can purchase the pendant separately. Earrings $29; necklace $43; set $70 . . . Judy Robinson remembers that one of the old telephone exchanges was WAlnut . . .

My new medicine lulled me to sleep in the middle of the NASCAR race last night and I forgot to make yesterday's post. Sorry . . .

I have spent many many months looking for something nice that can be said about city hall. Today is the day! . . . Bob and I had business at Citizens' Bank on Market Square this morning and as we walked across the plaza we were greeted by beautiful pots of flowers at the entrance to the seat of government. I had never seen such a nice display there before. During the Reed years the containers generally were stuffed with dead vegetation that hadn't been tended for a couple of years at least. When I mentioned this welcome change to friends I was told that it was a project of school students, Bravo for them . . .

I miss the days when we had telephone exchanges scattered about the city--the ones with the romantic (?) wordy prefixes like Call Northside 777 or Pennsylvania 6-5000. Mine was CEdar 6-8504, supposedly for the little street that runs between Liberty and North to the east of the Grayco Apartments. I don't recall any of the others; maybe some old timers will recall theirs . . . E-mail me . . . the health news is not very encouraging these days so I will wait for a better report . . .

Sad to report the passing of Betty Emmers . . . the chubby owls featured a few days ago have been sold . . .

Kathy MacNett reports there is a charging station for electric cars at the new building on State and North Second . . . Another vehicle was broken into in the 700 block of Green on Sunday night . . . Betty Holmboe back safely from a family visit in Rhode Island . . . New soap shipment today and it includes French eau de toilette in linden, lavender and sweet almond. $27.50 . . .

Confused my pain pills in the middle of the night and took the wrong one, then suffered in bed  for most of the day. Missed a visit from Claire and Ann, sisters from Ohio, much to my regret. Think I am back on track now, but I probably won't make it through the football game tonight , , , Hospital scan tomorrow so we probably won't open much before noon . . .

A lazy uneventful day. I could use some more like it . . .

Lots of foot traffic today in the neighbor-hood attracted by a car show on State Street and one of the Art Asso-ciation's soirees at the home of Kevin Sheets and Kevin Hancock . . . Another tree came down in the neighborhood today but I guess it was not a major environmental loss since it was an ash and already dead . . . Have another scan at the hospital on Tuesday just as we are expecting two major shipments . . . Friends of Midtown have been thanking the William Penn Social Association on North Third  Street for its financial contributions toward repairing street lights in the area. The club has given over $1500 . . . I have been remiss in not thanking Janet Foreman for her encouragement and advice while dealing with medical issues. Her concern is most appreciated . . . This cute chubby ceramic owl stands about eight inches high and is $26.00 . . .

Belated birthday wishes to Erica Gordon; I am a day late . . . Our condolences to Dr. Bob Coldren whose mother passed away this afternoon . . . Today's TripAdvisor couple was from Hagerstown, Md. Their major objective was a visit to the Broad Street Market; but it had been closed to the public because of rodent and cockroach issues. I sent them to the West Shore Market instead . . .

This is a landmark day that should be noted in the annals of the Historic Harrisburg Association; JACQUIE KIRBY HENSEL has retired from the real estate business . . . back in the early seventies our efforts to gentrify the Midtown area under a historic district banner were met with widespread skepticism; Jacquie was our one steadfast friend who worked hard to attract new people into the neighborhood and to encourage the rehabilitation of our old housing stock. Other realtors shied away and so Jacquie's signs were everywhere. I assume it was worth her while, but that is not the point; without her promotion of the area we may not have gotten HHA off the ground as swiftly as we did. We joked at the time that Jacquie had been in every bedroom in Harrisburg, and she took that as a compliment good naturedly . . . So today we offer our congratulations. Jacquie says she is looking forward to being a volunteer for several organizations, perhaps, even, The Bare Wall. We are apt to take her up on that . . .

Nothing new on the neighborhood streaker . . . Visited the doc who ordered new tests, scan and biopsy . . . Received a new shipment of autumn merchandise. Lots of fun things to see this time around . . .

The new medicine I got on Friday was not as effective as we had hoped and I spent a restless weekend with little sleep. Early Monday morning I called the doctor's office to see if I could take it every eight hours rather than every twelve; the nurse said she would get back to me and that they had not yet reviewed the x-rays . . . I decided to bathe and dress. Unfortunate that was when I found the lump that should not have been there. I called the office again and they said get to the emergency ward PRONTO. Bob grabbed the car keys and we raced to the car. The motor made its grinding noise; yes, the battery was dead! Bob rushed up the street to Pastor Ed Zook who quickly got me to the hospital . . . I signed in, happy to note on the call board that there was only a 15 minute wait. False hope. The sign changed to one hour, thirty minutes and later to two hours, thirty minutes. I am there before ten and it is now after twelve. Worse, I am dressed in shorts and freezing in the air conditioning. Finally, I asked the nurse for a blanket (granted) and started a stampede. Everyone in the place wants a blanket! . . . Meanwhile I remember that our friend Ned Hoffer works there so I manage to get in touch with him; his task, kindly undertaken, is to find Bob and let him know where I am and what is happening . . . Bob, of course, is on the hunt for AAA and then a battery to fit our Saturn. That is another funny and prolonged tale altogether . . . Thanks to Ned, Bob and I are reunited about one o'clock, I finally get a room about two, and not having had a single thing to eat, send Bob out to find a pack of cheese crackers . . . We see the doc about four and he quickly contacts the team at Urology of Central Pa. It is determined that while the condition is cause for concern, it is not a true emergency; all in good time. So it took seven hours for a ten-minute consultation . . . The store had been closed all day and not a lick of work got done . . . 8:15 p.m. BULLETIN: who is the naked man streaking the sidewalks and gardens in the 1600 block of Green? The police will find out since he left his clothes and cell phone behind . . .

Except for the pains, an absolutely hilarious Black Comedy Day in which I spend seven hours in the hospital emergency ward. Will detail the adventure in a day or two . . . too exhausted to do so at the moment . . .

A quiet do-nothing day except for a visit from the kids who were as antimated as usual . . .

Happy birthday wishes go out to Bob Coldren for tomorrow's celebration . . . Harrisburg must have gone to the beach this weekend. We saw nary a soul all day and the street was empty . . . Nursed my pains but got a lot of work done. Loads of new things on order for the fall . . . Olympics winding down. Reporters tell us it doesn't matter if one wins; it is just a privilege to participate. Then they launch into the medal count and who is the best. Personally, I think that should be done on a percentage basis. Are countries who send 600 representatives really that successful with 60 medals? What about the country that sends one player who wins one gold? Isn't that a greater success? . . .

Just another day of medical emergencies. I am tired of reporting those, and you must be just as tired reading about them . . .

The big noise these days is about chicken sandwiches but does anyone remember ten or so years ago when Cracker Barrel fired everyone they thought might be gay? . . . UGI has removed its heavy equipment along Green so perhaps our street is now open again . . . This ceramic owl vase is an eye catcher. It stands eight inches and sells for $27.50 . . .

Catching up with birthday wishes for this week, most belated--Diane Neiper and Robert Murray, Monday; Rick May, Tuesday, and Dan Miller, Friday . . . Our street may be closed off for the next several days as UGI makes major repairs to the Green Street line. We will be open through the lunch hour until one or later. but if the street is shut by heavy equipment we might as well close early as there will be no place to park . . . I am at the age when newspapers can bring sad news all too often and today was another instance. Augusta Duffin has passed away. You may not know the name but she was executive secretary to the state librarian during most if not all my tenure there. What a wonderful classy lady, cheerful and efficient. Her obit states that she and her parents were the first black family to live in Hershey . . .

Up most of the night in anticipation of the trip to the hospital. Procedure was late but came off okay. Came home and slept for five hours--the best sleep I have had in some time. Too much of a good thing, however; when I  finally crawled out for a bathroom visit I promptly passed out; the medicine warning said that could happen but who ever believes those things? . . . Sorry to miss Night Out. Englton group sharing casseroles at Harris Street Church . . . Well, think it is time for another nap . . .

Delightful visitors and nice sales today. Off to the hospital early tomorrow morning but I have to awaken at two a.m. to take a preparatory pill. Just hope I can fall back to sleep for a few hours . . . Heard there was a daytime break in in our neighborhood but I haven't details at the moment . . .

I was saddened today to learn of the passing of Dick Vanier, a former president of the Harrisburg Chapter, Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, and an early chairman of the Greater Harrisburg Arts Festival back in the days when the event took place at the State Museum . . . It was Dick and his late wife Phyllis who helped get The Bare Wall off the ground in 1972; it was he with his truck who carted in the display shelves, tables and jewelry cases while Phyllis helped plan the displays . . . Dick was an excellent silversmith who designed wonderful pieces of jewelry; he was among the first group of craftsmen that we represented. (Phyllis was a weaver for her own pleasure but her first love was acting. She had a few lines in the TV movie Playing with Fire that was photographed in part at Ft. Indiantown Gap. But fame came at a price: the Screen Actor's Guild union dues were more than she was paid for the part.) . . . . Phyllis' brother was Tony Arms, society editor of the Pat-News and, after retirement, part time clerk at The Bare Wall . . .

Bob and I were honored to be included in the party celebrating Tom Leonard's  sixtieth  birthday . . . Sorry to say goodbye to our neighbor Matt Hall who is moving to  New Jersey . . .

It appears that there are plans afoot to convert the Barto Building on the southern corner of State and Third into condo units with parking in the South Street garage. While I would like to see the structure being used again, I would prefer it to be a hotel as originally projected. More rooms would enhance the city's chances of attracting more convention business. Harrisburg was known as Convention City when I first came here in 1962. The Penn-Harris, Harrisburgher, Governor and Senate were the major hotels . . . Larry Kirkhuff back safely from a San Francisco trip . . . Things are heating up again so we could be closing an hour or two early if temps are in the nineties . . . Was pleased that a nurse from Mr. Jones' office called to see if the shot I got yesterday had provided any pain relief. Don't usually get that kind of personal attention. Happily I could say that I was 80% better and still improving . . . Received two more big shipments of merchandise this afternoon. Things are looking good . . .

Off to the doctor this morning to get some relief from a painful arm that kept me awake for the past several nights. As I suspected, it was bursitis and I was given a shot which should provide some comfort . . . Ordred more items for our autumn display. The store is going to look really neat so I hope you will be checking us out later in the month . . .

We have received the shipment of old-fashioned peg puzzle games which have fascinated youngsters (and oldsters) for years. These are made by Channel Crafts in Charleroi (Western Penna.)  The company was one of those featured on ABC-TV News last December during its "buy American" campaign. You may have seen these games before because they frequently show up in restaurants as a diversion while you await your order. ($9.50) . . . Since much of our merchandise is handcrafted, we are over half (at least) stocked with Made in America items . . .