She's having problems logging in. This is the rest of the above update. 5/21- PT 5- avg 12 - miles 64 Surf City to Cedar Point. great day, rode strong. Got a LOT hotter !! Rode past part of Camp Le Jeune. The firing range. Great Great late breakfast. had ab OJ/mango drink in camp and a bagel and canned pears and coffee. Then we stopped and I had 2 sunny side up eggs and 2 slices of ham and 3 buttermilk pancakes...yum. We passed three little girls on the way here with a lemonade stand. It was $1 a glass...cute sweet gals and we all had a glass.... No lunch stop...not sure why I would need MORE food :) Stopped at a Lowes Grocery on the way and got a HUGE salad bar and an Arrogant "Bleeped out" Ale for dinner in camp..yum. Did laundry...I do the laundry for everyone every day...more on that some time in the future, Great forestry campground here in Cedar Point. If you ever get this way do check it out. Oh and we WAITED for the Rapture...what happened ????? 5/22 PT 5- Avg 12- Miles 73 Cedar Point to Ocracoke Island rode alone to mile 30. Met up with Bob and Pete and we rode to the ferry. Had a mediocre meal as we waited for the ferry. It is a 2 1/2 hr ride. The ride to the ferry is lots of marsh and bridges over the estuaries. Very beautiful but HOT and windy. We were glad to get on the ferry. We all slept most of the way...laid down on the long bench seats. Very nice. Staying at Black Beard's Lodge. Every thing here on the island is called Black Beard. Edward Teach was his name and he was notorious in these parts. Had dinner at the Jolly Roger grill and it was a great burger and fries and beautiful sunset pics...then the mosquitoes came out...ouch ! 5/23 Ocracoke to Cape Hatteras PT3- Avg 15 !!!! ( tail wind ) miles 53 SMOKINg speed. I looked down and was doing 23 mph at times !! Whew....had a bagel and cream cheese and coffee. Pete and Bob and I looked at the lighthouse and then walked out to the point where BB was killed by a Navy officer. supposedly anyway. We then got underway. We stopped at Pop's on the way finally to get some food. There was nothing for a long way. This is a most interesting bar. It was amazing the amount folks were drinking so early in the day...oh well. Had a burger and fries...great fuel !! Nice campground tonight. Walked on beach. Great pic with Blue the dog. 5/Cape Hatteras to Kitty Hawk PT 3:12 avg 12.3- miles 39 ate peaches and ripe banana in camp and 2 tiny donuts. Rode over BIG bridge. Stopped at a little store and had to get a Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit and microwave it in the store....not too bad but have had better :) Went on to Nags Head. Very large pretentious homes for most of the town till you get all the way in. walked around Kitty Hawk and listened to a presentation. Took two pics. Very interesting brothers. There is a peat bog fire in the area and the wind blows the smoke here at times and the air is very bad and then it clears. We are leaving tomorrow and part of the group ( two other women) are staying behind. It is hard but for the best. It will be me and the 3 guys....we get along so well and will all be better for it. We had lunch at Goombays and it was WONDERFUL !! Fantastic grouper sandwich. Also owner called and got us a great price on a motel. The holiday is coming and prices are up but we got a great place cheap. Pete and Bob and I went to the Red Lion and got supper fixings...you guessed it am sure...I got a pint...of Haagan Dazs...not Gentleman Jack!! Hasn't been that kind of trip this year....we are excited to be going on tomorrow...as a group of 4. Stayed at the Sea Ranch motel . Stopped and saw the Bodie Island lighthouse on the way here. TODAY !! 5/25 Kitty Hawk to Elizabeth City. Avg 13.4 Miles 52....we RODE fast. Felt so happy and light...all the guys are smiling and laughing now that we are 4 . Enough of that...it is over and done.

There are many problems. Retail stores have long hired relied on part-time help. Thirty years ago, that worked better. Our local mall hired a lot of high school kids and Airmen's wives. Gas was under a buck a gallon. A Filet-O-Fish and a shake came in under a dollar, too. Many women didn't *have* to work, and worked because they wanted to, and if the job didn't work out, it wasn't a huge deal. Now, if someone is working, it's likely she needs the money. Many retail jobs are seasonal, so people quit when something better comes up. Or they find something in the off-season that isn't seasonal. Or they find that a seasonal job plus collecting unemployment in the off-season is more lucrative than looking for (and traveling to) another job. Gas is near four dollars a gallon, so if you're not scheduled for a full shift, you may feel as if some money is wasted. All this makes it hard to find good help these days. The managers are under the gun to make plan and come in under payroll- so the minimum number of people are scheduled. The problem isn't the the size of the cutting area, it's that there aren't enough people scheduled. Additionally, the number of people who still sew is rather small. Few people will apply for a job in a fabric store knowing nothing about sewing and crafts - and if they get hired, aren't going to be knowledgeable for a while. And to be honest, the work ethic isn't what it used to be, either. The managers are hiring the best people who walk through the door. Who did you contact in the head office? And does McCalls know of Joann's policy? Last time I felt strongly about something, I looked up the name of the president of the corporation, and sent the letter to him, by name. Personnel changes were made in five weeks.

Mini-review: I've just finished a "tour de force" memoir by renowned William Shirer: "Love & Hate: the Stormy Marriage of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy." For anyone with a deep interest in old Russia or Tolstoy, this is a must-read. Shirer is a brilliant author. Normally, I would not choose to read such a depressing story of a long but doomed marriage but there is so much here that touches on timeless topics: women's rights, the foreshadowing of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Tolstoy's influence upon Gandhi, his revolt against the Russian Orthodox Church, because he took the side of the peasants against the Tzar, etc. Tolstoy was excommunicated, although he constantly preached his version of the love of Christ to his serfs on his estate. To them, he was a hero. Tolstoy prefigured the ideas of Marx, that ultimately fomented the Revolution that overthrew the Tzar. He was prescient, loved by many,hated by his intelligent wife, who copied all his manuscripts by hand, as well as his diaries. Sonya also bore him 13 children and ran his estate. The couple were larger than life, in their strong personalities. Ultimately, matters became so bad between them that their grown children had to physically intervene. Tolstoy fled his home and died in the cottage of a stranger at a railroad station. How his death plays out is fascinating, in a bizarre way. Reading this, one gains perspective re a vast Empire on the cusp of great change. This was Shirer's last work, written in his late 80's. Frieda, I think you might like this....

Kathy I only put a capital 'C' to emphasise the importance to the UK of the Old Empire. ;-) When we were children we thought bugger was the naughtiest word there was. Of course there is far worse flowing from the mouths of infants these days . . . Check out on youtube with 'Toyota ad' + 'bugger'