Up way too early for me this morning; blood work at the hospital . . . Spent another half hour on the phone trying to give back the $500 that Citizens' Bank gave me in error over a week ago. This is getting to be a pain in the checkbook. Bet if I spent it they would wise up soon enough . . . Say Happy Birthday to Craig Peiffer tomorrow . . . Three fully-armed black men mugged a neighbor Sunday night around eleven p.m. at Green and Boas Streets, taking a wallet and cell phone and flooring the victim with a fist to the jaw. Some moments later another mugging took place at Third and Calder and the descriptions were the same. Response to the first incident was delayed two hours when the two calls for help were mistakenly regarded as a single event by the police department . . .

Deb Miller in town to visit brother Rick who will undergo surgery later this week . . . Jaime MacLeod celebrating her Master's degree from Penn State Harrisburg . . . Mark Stevens back from Cape Cod for a few days . . . Erica Gordon attended her class's fifth anniversary at F&M this weekend . . . Angela Lawson home after a week in the Caribbean. One of the highlights was a visit to the Bobsled Bar where the sled used by the Jamaican Olympic team was on display . . .

Hot, humid and very slow day. Our lone customer was teacher Frank Hummert who has two days to go before retirement. Our congratulations to him . . . Again, please note our discount offer on the left. Temperatures are set to recede next week so we hope to see a lot of you here . . .

Well, it looks like we forgot to mail the June Sale card. Just noticed the entry in last year's financials. So we will try something new. Look to the left. Come in, spend $15, mention the blog, and we will knock 15% off your total. Sorry, items on sale do not count. This offer continues through the month of June, so shop often . . . Several people have asked what the ArtsFest attendance was and how much money was raised. Thus far we haven't seen an accounting ourselves. Hopefully there was so much money that they are still counting it . . .

Was enjoying my coffee and was on the computer about 8:30 this morning when there was a big BOOM and the house shook. It sounded as if a huge armoire had toppled on the first floor. A quick check of the building top to bottom revealed nothing. Some time later I consulted with my neighbor Crash Webb and his house had been shaken too. He thought it might have been a delivery service dropping off one of those huge dumpsters. It wasn't until much later that we learned there had been an earthquake in the Dillsburg area big enough to have been felt here . . . Our neighborhood is under attack by dog owners who refuse to clean up after their pets. Several of us are alert and armed with cameras but the culprits have eluded us thus far. Trouble is, so many residents are insulted by this offense we are at a point where the signs telling owners to scoop are creating more litter than the dogs . . . Told you in January about my new Maytag dishwasher that Bob bought as a holiday gift. Today the company announced a major recall because of a fire hazard, but if I am reading the numbers right, my model is still safe . . .

Noticed on my walk this morning that the linden trees are wonderfully fragrant and I paused for a few deep breaths. Mistake. My nose was running and my eyes nearly closed by the time I got back to the store. Took a pill and drowsed off and on all afternoon. Thanks, Bob, for manning the fortress . . . UGI is still digging in the 800 block so Green Street is closed at Forster. For that reason, unfortunately, Bob didn't have much "manning" to do . . . John Zimmerman back from a vacation in Provincetown and environs. Encountered Mark Stevens, our holiday employee, who is house manager at the Shire-Max Inn there . . . An old customer and friend, Kaitlin (Kate) Mussomeli was in town over the weekend and spent some time with Bob. Kate is considering a return to the Harrisburg area, and the news couldn't be more welcome. Her holiday cookie baskets are spoken of fondly every Christmas . . . When I wasn't napping I was following the shootings in Cumbria, UK, through the foreign media on the Internet. Tragic. "Just like in America," one bewildered villager said . . .

Happy birthday to Charles Fetterhoff . . . Our thanks to Kim and Erica for bringing us goodies from their beach holiday . . . According to Wall Street pundits, Harrisburg is now the "junkiest" city in America meaning that all our promissory notes and bonds are all but worthless . . . From our Who Would Have Thought It file: I was speaking with friend Ed Freed over the weekend about the local railroad footage I had found on YouTube and he wondered if there might also be something on the state's historic canal system which passed through Harrisburg. So I dutifully searched "Pennsylvania Canals." I got a mention or two of the tourist attractions in the Bucks County area and one about the portage of boats over the Allegheny Mountains. But what I got most were Pennsylvania dentists advertising their "root canal" expertise . . . Still lots of chat on PennLive about the $5 admission fee for ArtsFest. The Greater Harrisburg Arts Council has yet to announce just how much they collected. Based on past numbers and their promises to vendors on their website, I am betting the figure should be in excess of $1.2 million . . .