Before I let go of too many of my Jersey memories from our recent trip there, I have to tell you what I consider a cute story about my granddaughter Brylee.

One day, we had a heavy thunderstorm that moved into the West Orange area. We heard on the TV weather that at the height of the storm, there were more than 1500 lightning bolts in just 15 minutes in Essex County. That’s where West Orange is located. One struck a transformer in the area and the power was off for a little over five hours.

I was sitting in the living room on the couch with Brylee when the power went out. We were coloring when suddenly she asked me, “Can I ask you a question?”

I gave her a positive answer.

“Grandma told me you have wires in your head and a battery in your chest”, she said.

I told her, “Yes, that is true. I have a disease called Parkinson’s and the battery and wires were installed during an operation at the hospital and they make my body work better.”

She thought for a moment and then asked, “Grandpa, are you a robot?”

I assured her I wasn’t.

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That was some rain we had last Tuesday. At least it was true for the south end of town. We had 1.5 inches in the rain gauge at the office. I had 2.65 inches at my home near Monterrey and Saguaro. Reporter Barb Charzuk didn’t get a drop of rain at her home in Rio Verde. My mom lives in the same house I grew up in in west-central Phoenix. She had 3-1/2 inches and it came down in less than an hour.

Here is an interesting thing about her house. It cost $9050 when they bought the home in 1958. She recently replaced five windows on the house and the bill came in at just under $10,000.

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Friends and family gathered at the home of former Mayor Jerry Miles last Friday evening to help him celebrate his 80th birthday. Jerry is looking more like his old self after having a serious bout with pneumonia several months ago.

He and his wife, Jackie were honored last February 20 with a tribute dinner held in their in their honor for all of their civic contributions since moving here in 1990,

His son, Doug, and his family flew in from Hawaii for the celebration, as did their daughter, Judy, an attorney who lives in the Bay area of northern California. Happy Birthday, Jerry.

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For you oldtimers in the community can you believe it has been 25 years since the murder of Julie Patterson?

She was a popular mortgage broker, and community volunteer who was found dead in her home by friends.

She had been hit over the head with a blunt object

Sheriff Joe Arpaio told me Friday night at the Miles party that he pledged to find Patterson’s killer when he first took office and he stands by that pledge to this day.

He said that one big problem with solving the crime is that it took place on the same day as the high profile murder case in the West Valley eight Buddhist monks were killed.” All of the detectives on duty were assigned to that case.