Well, after yesterday's snowfall, I yet again awoke to a neatly shovelled drive and walkway!!! Yea!! I'm now pretty sure it's the kid up the way who shovelled for my last year, which means I'd better get some cashola for him on Monday!! As we are getting another dump tomorrow. White Christmas!!! As for payback, Memo: I'll get on my soapbox again!! I took a course, several years ago, on CPR and First Aid from the St. John's Ambulance. I suspect they or someone similar is in the US. I put my First Aid kit into my vehicle, along with a couple of wool blankets that were kinda moth eaten. When we took the course, it was suggested that we do this, as, amazingly, most accident victims do not die of their injuries, but rather of shock. The blankets keep them warm, and help to keep them out of shock. I am currently on my 2nd set of blankets, as the 1st ended up in an air ambulance helicopter and a regular ambulance. St. Johns, also, has these foil type blankets which take no space, but are even warmer than the wool. And way warmer than polyester. Sadly, you never find out if the recipients survive, but you know that you have done your very best!!! And if you slide off the road, you have these lovely warm blankets. If you don't have any you can part with - Sally Ann, St. Vincents, Value Village, not sure what y'all have in the States. And I'll get off my soapbox now - just put the blankets in you trunk!! Nancy.

Re being afraid to stop: Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. On several occasions I've seen a car stopped - sometimes on the side of the road, sometimes blocking a lane - on my short drive to/from work. The car is literally held together with duct tape and bungee cords. It's the most pitiful looking vehicle I've ever seen. There is always a man standing nearby who will be gesturing wildly, frantically trying to get someone to stop. He is genuinely scary-looking, and I do make it a point to not judge someone by their appearance (some of the wildest looking people I know are wonderful souls). However, there's something just not quite right about this whole scenario. The man's eyes are crazy and bloodshot. In the car sits at least two, sometimes three, women passengers. They all look completely derelict, and at first glance, you'd think they were just in a broken down car and asking for help. On one occasion when I saw this group, the man had managed to stop a couple in a van. I came upon them just as the person on the passenger's side was quickly rolling up the window and the van was getting out of there as fast as they could. The "wildman" spotted me and frantically attempted to flag me down, even approaching my car at a fast past. I sped off. That whole scene just reeks of scam, although a small part of me still goes out to those people who, for whatever reason, have a "need" to do what they do. Anyway, I do think that sometimes you have to gauge the situation carefully and act as your instincts tell you to act.

It's not hard (usually) to find a volunteer willing to take photos of gravestones at cemeteries surprisingly, though I don't do that myself. That seems to be the most popular volunteer activity. Having done extensive genealogy workups on a couple of Wikipedia subjects whose published backgrounds just didn't sound credible, I decided to volunteer in the areas I would have personally found very useful during that time. The local sources---which I've offered at Random Acts of Kindness---are old phonebooks going back to 1940, city directories from 1880 to 1944, probates, divorces, etc. (on microfilm) from the County Courthouse going back to maybe 1910, and San Francisco Bay Area newspapers going back to the 1880ties for obituaries. Fortunately for these activities, I live in the city of the county seat, so between our public library, the courthouse, the nearby LDS/Mormon Family History Center, and the commercial on-line genealogy sites such as ancestry.com & newspaper archives.com available to me, I can do---& do do---a fair bit of "ancestor sleuthing". Not everyone would be in that position. So if you sign up as a volunteer, consider all the areas of assistance that might geographically be available to you. It can be a more interesting, not to mention challenging, project.

I love RAKs! Out of the blue, unexpected, and so sweet. They put a smile on my face even when they're not for ME, but I was able to witness. I work at a thrift store and many of the customers are shopping while they wait for their turn at the food pantry next door. When I started, if someone was "short" a little bit I'd make up the difference. Over time, I learned I just cannot sustain doing that. Anyway, this past week, a lady who didn't speak much English was making a purchase and she was 55-cents short. She kept talking to her GF, who rolled her eyes and said it happened all the time as the first lady had trouble thinking in Dollars and Cents. Another food pantry customer heard the conversation, while the first lady was trying to figure what to put back and came up and paid the 55 cents. First lady was thrilled and thanked the stranger profusely. An hour or so later, first lady and her GF came back through and bought a little more. This time, the GF paid and she took all her leftover change and put it in our Donations jar. In my eyes, that was TWO people paying it forward!