Reporters notebook

A strong enough wind causes something, somewhere on the exterior of the house, to squeak intermittently.

It might be a branch blown against something, it might be part of window moving – I have no clue.

I’ve gone outside and looked all around, but even though I could hear the noise, I couldn’t locate it.

The stupid sound not only annoys me, but also interferes with falling asleep. It doesn’t exactly startle me every time it occurs, but it’s more than enough to reverse whatever progress I’ve made toward slumber.

Over.

And over.

And over.

It’s like the so-called “Chinese water torture,” in which the victim is slowly driven insane by drops of water falling onto his head.

I often have a tough time falling asleep, even under the best of conditions. I use a fan to create white noise, which helps. But something about this demonic noise cuts right through the fan’s steady, soothing whir.

I bought some earplugs a while back. I need to find them. Maybe they’ll be able to stymie that satanic squeak.

Meanwhile, melatonin is my friend on windy nights.

Vanessa Pellechio Sanders

What a surreal week. I had the chance to interview five actors in “A Gettysburg Christmas,” and it was an experience I’ll never forget.

I spoke with Kelley Jakle, Jake Busey, Sean Faris, Tom Vera, and Sarah Burkett, who have roles in the movie currently being filmed in Gettysburg.

I remember seeing “Pitch Perfect” in theaters when I was in college. Jakle played Jessica in that movie, as well as the two following movies. Those movies shined a light on competitive a cappella.

In talking with Jakle, I learned she once chose to play basketball over choir back in eighth grade.

“That was a one-time thing,” she said. “I immediately went back to the theater and choir.”

I connected with Busey about his role as Bruce in the third season of “Stranger Things,” where he played a journalist for “The Hawkins Post” and did not treat female employees, including Nancy Wheeler very well.

Busey said a lot of people do not realize he was in the popular supernatural series. The character was memorable to me since I work at a newspaper.

In his free time, Busey enjoys hanging out with his 10-year-old daughter Autumn, playing word games and finding alternative melodies to songs together, he shared.

Faris and Vera did the interview together, which was nice to see the way they bounced ideas off one another.

During the interview, Faris shared he owns a home in east Texas that has 80 acres of land.

Vera also shared something not everyone knows about him – he is a geologist and has a love and passion for rocks.

Burkett, who plays Ryan’s girlfriend Emily, said she has been studying to become a private investigator through paralegal studies.

The actors were all so kind, patient, and friendly during the interviews. We laughed at certain points. It was really neat to see how Gettysburg made an impact on them in the short time they have been here.

John Spangler

After the “we don’t do that” fail at Lowes trying to recycle strings of Christmas lights that no longer work, my search continued. Some of you may recall an earlier notebook after my first online search, an unsatisfactory encounter with a chat bot, and finally, an online chat with a person at some remote Lowes office, saying “sure, you can leave them in a designated place by the door.” The “help desk” staff said, “nope, never heard of that.”

Back to the web, I found a post by Bob Vila, of This Old House fame, urging us not to throw them away, but to do one of six other things instead. Half of those suggestions are not supported, such as taking them to your local recycling service. But, he also included a couple of places where you can box and send them. I chose the option in Sussex, Wisconsin (www.holidayleds.com/free-light-recycling).

The Holiday LEDS recycling page also suggested I gather strings from neighbors and friends, which I did, (thank you Eddie Rankin and Megan Weikel) put them in the mail, and inserted the tracking number from USPS on the online form at the website as well. Tracking suggested that the lights made it to the Sussex Road location, at Door #12 by Friday (yesterday) and I consider this a success. It cost me about $14, and the box was recycled from Christmas deliveries. The destination “Door #12” makes it sound like a back alley in a mystery novel. It shouldn’t be this hard, dramatic or expensive to keep our aged-out Christmas lights away from landfills.

If I can fill a box without leaving my block, I bet that boroughs and townships could find a way to scale up. Why not include them in the electronic drop offs and ensure they don’t get tossed into the trash? And there must be a recycler closer than the Milwaukee area (750 miles from Gettysburg). We saw how Adam Michael pulled this off with bicycles. Next up is what to do with the corks left from emptied wine bottles.

Jeff Cook

Do we really need a rodent to tell us how long winter will last? The signs of an early spring are all around us.

Flocks of robins have returned to town before mid-January. Plants are budding. And many of the newly-returned Gettysburg College students are walking around campus wearing shorts. What more evidence do we need?

Sorry Punxsutawny Phil, you are trending toward irrelevance.