The East Branch Dam

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I was recently at the East Branch Dam which happens to be located just a couple miles from our camp.
The East Branch Dam is a great place to do boating, fishing, camping and other summer time activities. There is really not much to do in the winter time months except maybe for ice fishing if it is frozen over.
The dam area has no swimming or beach area for use in the summer months though.
For swimming, the area has Bendigo State Park which is located just several miles from the dam. A very good and informational web site for Bendigo can be found HERE.
The East Branch Lake campgrounds is also open for camping in the summer months. There are 16 electric sites, 16 non-electric sites and 9 "walk-in-tent" sites are being planned for the future. There is also a restroom/shower facility within the campground.
The East Branch Dam is currently under study for what I believe has been stated as a erosion problem and some local people are concerned that the dam could fail and break. Meetings about it's condition and what is being done about it were held by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Also at the corps web site is a Rumor control button that shows asked and answered questions about the current operation and condition of the dam. The Wikipedia web site gives a great deal of information about this popular recreation area located in Elk County.
Below is a 8 minute video I have made and put on YouTube showing the dam as it is in December of 2008. The below video version on this blog is the low resolution version and a much clearer and higher resolution can be seen by going to the YouTube link by clicking HERE and then clicking on the "watch in high quality" link to the lower right of the video window and by visiting my actual YouTube channel HERE, you can view other videos I have made on other subjects.
I hope you enjoy this small video and it gives you somewhat of an idea of the East Branch Dam.

YouTube

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It's been a long time, but I finally decided to add a new post to this blog. While away, I recently purchased a new HD camcorder with which I have made a few videos and posted them onto the world famous YouTube web site.
YouTube lets anyone upload 10 minute videos of any type as long as they are clean.
The HD camcorder that I recently purchased is made by a company called Aiptek. The exact camcorder is a Aiptek Go-HD (720p) and is very tiny in size compared to camcorders of even just a few years ago. It also has a built in 3, 5 & 8 mega pixel still digital camera built into it. This makes for a very compact unit.
This camera is great for amateur videos which people like to upload to YouTube.
YouTube is great for for all kinds of clean videos. Musicians, TV networks, producers and even politicians upload videos to YouTube for their own reasons.
You will find a very wide variety of videos on YouTube ranging from very professional looking short videos, advertisements and even "for sale" items such as on eBay, which people make videos of to sell a product and want you to see it working.
Hoz's Home has a home page channel on YouTube which is named "TheKaneGuy". You can view this channel and keep track of videos made by Hoz on this channel by clicking HERE.
We hope you enjoy the videos and after viewing them hope you will find great enjoyment in looking at all the thousands of videos that can be found on YouTube.
You can type in a local area name and find videos in your area that relate to your area and made by others for your entertainment. Also type in a particular subject or location and see videos made about that subject or location.

Miss Us? We Will Return Later In The Summer

Greetings...No I haven't given up on this blog.. Like most people, we are busy during the summer and will be back later in the summer or early fall. In the mean time, enjoy the warm weather!

ShortNews.com

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Today I wanted to bring a unusual news web site to attention. It is called ShortNews. I have been a member of ShortNews for about 6 years. ShortNews is a different kind of news web site.
The web site lets members find news articles from different sources on the Internet, then re-write the news article in their own words instead of copying it directly from the original web site.
You may ask what is unusual about that. Well you will find a very wide and diverse listing of almost any kind of news story on this planet ranging from present day news articles to technology features to really odd, strange and sometimes offensive news articles to political to entertainment, sports and just about anything else you can think of all on one web site.
Members can rate all news articles written or I should say re-written by members and critique the articles.
As kind of a competition amongst members, there is a ranking system as well and is done by the amount of articles a member submits. I personaly am ranked in the top 25 all time high points leaders on the web site.
Re-writing news articles may not be of interest to you, but check out the ShortNews RSS news feed to the left on this site for current submissions or visit the web site to get a full view of ShortNews stories all on one web site. http://www.shortnews.com/

Let's Talk About eBay

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Today, I thought I would mention a little about eBay for visitors to this blog who may not be familiar with it. eBay is world famous for auctions, bidding, buying and selling almost anything you can imagine.
Many people still have never purchased or bid on items on eBay and many have never sold anything on the site either.
People do not realize that you can sell or buy your next car or house on eBay as well as sell any household items you may have. It’s kind of like having a yard sale without setting items in your yard.
Many people that have never visited eBay are under the impression that what is sold on there is all “used” or second hand items. Nothing could be further from the truth.. There are thousands of online stores on eBay where you can either bid, or Buy It Now on new factory sealed items.
When using eBay, you need to register and set up an account so that you can purchase and bid and pay for items you have obtained from the site. If you are somewhat familiar with eBay’s site but have never actually purchased or sold a item on the site, you may notice different ways to pay for your item.. The most popular and most recognized payment method for obtaining any item is thru an eBay company called PayPal. Cash, money orders, check, debit & credit cards can be used as well.
It is a good idea to go to PayPal’s web site and set up or register an account with them also.
eBay has many HELP sections on their web site to get you going in this interesting way of obtaining almost anything you can think of and also many HELP sections and a Learning Center to get you up and going with registration and bidding, buying & selling anything.
If you live in this local area and have something your interested in bidding on, or buying or selling and do not wish to go thru the hassle of using eBay yourself, Hoz has a eBay ME page and can sell or purchase items for you.. It is not done as a business, but just a way to help out friends.
Enjoy the eBay experience! :))

Our Camp

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This weekend we will be spending time at our camp. Some of you may know we have a camp and some of you have never seen it, so this post will give you an idea of what it looks like.

The camp is located about 3 miles from the East Branch Dam in Elk County. It's actually on the Rasselas Road which is located near the village of Wilcox. Most people say it does not look much like a camp. It does not have a "outhouse" which most camps in this area do have. It has complete indoor plumbing, a full septic system, water well, a full kitchen, bathroom, living room and 2 bedrooms. Two years ago we had new siding and side porch added to it plus a new septic system. We also added a Amish built shed to store items in since there is not much storage space. The camp has a fuel oil forced air heating system in it and a full fire place in the living room. The basement is not a full basement but is about 5 feet high.

(click on any picture for full size view)

The camp is located in Elk County about 3 miles from the East Branch Dam and near Elk State Park and also near Bendigo State Park.

The camp is located about 25 miles from our home in Gifford so it makes it easy to get away without traveling.

Planet Smethport

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Today's post will be about a web site that was brought to my attention by a reader of this blog. Actually I had known about this site and had used it on several occasions in the past but forgotten about it. The web site is called Planet Smethport. The web site is an ongoing project by a local school teacher who is the Smethport History Project Director, students of Smethport Area High School and citizens of Smethport and the surrounding areas.
This site has all the history that a person could ask for and is a very informative site with maps and interactive pages relating to many of the old small towns located around Smethport in McKean County.
If your a older citizen looking to find information about Smethport and the surrounding area from the past or a younger person just looking to find information and learn about the history of this county, then this is the web site for you!
Plan on spending some time at this web site because it is such a vast wealth of information about the local area and you will not be able to cover it's entire contents in a short amount of time.
You can go to the Planet Smethport web site by clicking HERE or going to the following web address if you would need to type it into your web browser. http://www.smethporthistory.org/
Enjoy the memories! :))