The Summer of '71

Girls

I was reading my copy of AARP magazine today and saw a reader commented about the fun he had the summer of 1971 when he and a friend rode their motorcycles across the U.S.

It reminded me of part of my summer of 1971. My friends Scott (Rasico) and Steve (McCoy) and I drove my 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 to Atlanta for a week to stay with my mom and sister Jean. The summer before, dad and I went down for a visit and Jean and I went to a concert at the Atlanta Auditorium and saw Jefferson Airplane. 

So, this summer we wondered who we might get to see while we were there. After we arrived, we headed to a local head shop/record store to check out their album selections and see what groups were in town that week and bought some tickets while there. On back-to-back nights we saw Humble Pie (featuring a young Peter Frampton), Rod Stewart and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. We had heard of Humble Pie and Rod Stewart before, although both were just emerging as big stars. We had never heard of ELP before so we bought their album to listen to before heading to the concert later that week. I think there was a 4th headliner but I've forgotten who it was. 

Scott took in a tape recorder and recorded some of the Humble Pie concert. A few months/years later I listened to a 'live' album they recorded at the Fillmore East and it was basically the same concert we saw in Atlanta. If you ever hear that album, "Humble Pie, Live at the Fillmore" you'll hear some great rock-and-roll. And ELP put on a fantastic show. It was a great concert week for us.

We also spent a day at Six Flags, played cards until the wee hours every night and ate some good cooking from my mom.

We had a dynamite week, and either Scott or Steve came up with the idea that we should pool some of our remaining money and leave it under the rug in our room for Jean to find after we left. Since neither of the 3 of us ever had much money, it probably wasn't much, but I'm sure the intent was appreciated. 

Unknown to us at the time, mom would soon be diagnosed with breast cancer. She and Jean made a trip to Indiana that fall for Thanksgiving at aunt Joan's and mom died a few months later in January. 

I had a lot of fun with Scott and Steve over the years of high school, and the summer of  '71 was one of them.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dad   

My Greatest Christmas Gift

Girls

I may have told you this story before but I'm going to repeat it, as it is fresh in my mind. Mainly because as I write this, it is Christmas Eve 2021 and I'm watching Christmas Story on TV for maybe the 100th time...maybe 200th...but I so enjoy watching it. 

So many events that happen in the movie remind me of my days as a little boy in Owensville. Just like in the movie, we too had a coal furnace at our house. I can still see dad going down the stairs to shovel coal in this humongous monster of a furnace with arms reaching up through the floor (the heating ducts leading up to the rooms in the house). There is a smell from that burning coal that I can still imagine smelling to this day. 

We also had an old car like so many of them that they show in the movie. Also like the movie, the downtown of Owensville was the active part of town, even though it was much smaller. The hardware store where dad worked was right on the square and was a busy place. Even the old school building in the movie looked just like the school that we walked to from our house about 6 blocks away.

And just like the movie, when I was 6 or 7 years old, I got the present that I still remember as one of my favorite presents to this day. It too was a rifle. Different from Ralphi's B-B gun, my gun only used caps that I could load in the gun and when I fired it, it gave the sound of a bullet firing. In those days in the early 1960s, there was a cowboy show on TV called The Rifleman that we watched when it was on. It was based in the 1800's and was about a single parent farmer raising his young son out on the prairie. The dad had a rifle that he'd rigged up with a special handle that made it a rapid-fire rifle. The gun that dad got me that Christmas was a replica of that rifle and from that day I was the king of the cowboys in the neighborhood. Even before I got that rifle, I wore a cowboy hat all the time and our neighbors, the Presnell's, always called me 'Cowboy'. I'm guessing that new rifle only reinforced my nickname in those days.

Like Ralphie says at the end of Christmas Story...that gun was one of the greatest Christmas gifts I had ever received or would ever receive.  

I hope you have Christmas stories in your memories that remind you of happy times.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dad

Life Insurance Policies

Girls

I've decided to dedicate this site to you, telling stories or events that come to mind that you can read some day. If someone else reads them...oh well...but it will be meant for you.

As we've probably told you recently, mom and I have updated our will, POA and associated documents. Since we're closer to 70 than not...we wanted to get some of those things in place so you wouldn't have so much to worry about years from now. In the process of looking through our file cabinets and safe, I found a couple of old life insurance policies that mom and dad took out on me when I was little. After some research I found out some interesting info.

One policy was taken out on January 11, 1954, when I was 10 days old. The value of the policy appeared to be $176 and the premiums cost mom and dad 10 cents per week. I found out that back in those days, insurance guys would come by the house, knocking on your door, trying to sell policies and if they did, they'd come by every week or so to pick up the premium. I suppose back in the '50s, $176 was enough to bury a child if they died. A second policy was taken out in 1964 when I was 10 years old with a value of $400. Both of them were taken out with Western-Southern Life, a company that is still around today, in fact there is an office down the street near the IGLOO. I stopped by last week to have the agent see if the policies were still good and had any value to them. It took them awhile to look back in records that were 60+ years old but they found it at last. 

For some reason, one of them had been turned into the Ohio unclaimed funds in 2013. I later called them about it and was told that I would be getting a check for $365 for the policy what had a value of $176. I guess all those pennies in interest over the years added up. The other policy did even better and has a value of over $1000 with a current cash value of $884.93. 

To keep you guys from having to mess with all the paperwork of trying to get the $1000 after I was gone, I decided to cash it in so I will also be getting a check for that in a few weeks. 

I hope that mom and I can use the $1000 from the two combined policies to help pay for the motor home we'd like to rent this spring or summer to do some traveling with friends.

Hopefully, mom and dad will travel with us in spirit as we spend their money on foolish things (ha!) 

Be talkin' to ya.

Dad  

TIME FLIES.......FASTER THAN YOU THINK

 

Back in 2016, one of the consultants who came to our workplace every quarter was in for the day. He and I got to talking about how long each of us had worked for our current employer. For me, I would soon be starting my 40^th year working for the same hospital organization I started with in 1976. He too had worked a long time for his consulting group. I asked him how much longer he was going to work before he retired and he reached in his pocket and got out his smart phone and showed me an “app” that he had downloaded. It was a countdown app. 

Some time back he had decided what day he was going to retire and had entered that date in the app and it began a countdown, showing the days, hours, minutes and seconds until his retirement date arrived. I don’t remember the exact number of days on his countdown clock but it was less than a year. I kept thinking about that over the following days and since I’ve always liked playing with numbers, I decided to download the app onto my phone. I entered what I thought my retirement day would be and the app clock showed right at 1000 days until that day. 

Holy cow, 1000 days seemed like a lot, and it was, but either way, the countdown began. 

Not every day, but every once in awhile, I would open the app and see that I had reached a new milestone…now it’s under 900 days…now it’s less than 2 years. Some days and weeks and months seemed to take so long to pass…but they continued to pass none the less. Before I knew it…it was less than a year…then it was under a 100 days…then a month…then into single digits. On that last day of work, the app was counting down the hours left…and suddenly…like I passed through a time machine…it was at 0 and I was clocking out for the last time. 

Some months after retirement, I was looking at my phone and realized I had not deleted that countdown app and saw that it was still keeping count of the days…but this time, it was the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds SINCE I had retired. So I just kept the app and occasionally would look in amazement to see it had been THAT LONG since I had retired. 

Tomorrow, ironically…it will be 1000 days SINCE I retired. I started the countdown to retirement with 1000 days to go, and now I’ve been retired for 1000 days. Like it or not, 2000 days have passed since I first started the countdown. 

Time indeed flies by…faster than you think. 

REMEMBER: We act like we are going to live forever but we don’t. We think we won’t get old but then we do. Life is short. Enjoy the ride. Make the most of each day. 

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

 

A FAVOR FROM DAD

With the recent 90 degree weather during the day and 70s-80s at night, it’s not surprising a thunderstorm would make its’ way through the area. Recently a noisy thunder and lightning storm passed through one night while I laid in bed and once again it took me back to my days as a kid in Owensville and thoughts of my dad. 

Owensville is a little farm community of about 1000 people. When we lived there, we lived about 2 blocks from ‘downtown’. Dad worked at Smith’s Hardware Store and was the Chief of the volunteer Fire Department. We had a special phone at the house (maybe the other volunteers did too) that was specific for the fire department. On any given day, at any time of the day or night, that phone might ring and dad would answer it if he was home. He'd listen to the caller and then take off running to the fire station, 2 blocks away. We could then hear the alarm go off to warn the other fire fighters. I assume other volunteers would then head to the station if they were available. Soon, the truck would take off for the fire with one guy driving, a few in the seats inside and others hanging on to handles on the outside of the truck. 

The thunder and lightning storm that was passing through this night reminded me of a night in Owensville when a storm was raging outside. The special phone rang and we knew dad was about to get called out to respond to a fire, probably due to a lightning strike on a barn or home in the area. 

On this particular night, my sister Jean and I were home with dad and we were scared out of our wits at the storms intensity and asked...no…begged…dad to not go on the run. I seem to recall him stepping out on the porch and waving the fire truck and crew on by the house while he stayed with us. I am certain he was frustrated with us as with most storms...after a few minutes...the worst of the storm likely passed by and simply became a heavy rainstorm. But dad being dad, chose to stay home and take care of his kids. That was our dad.

REMEMBER: Be a reflection of what you’d like to see in others. If you want love, give love. If you want honesty, give honesty. If you want respect, give respect. You get in return what you give.

Be talkin’ to ya. 
Dan

HALF PAST

 

In the quiet hours of the morning, the chiming of our grandfather clock caught my attention. It chimes 4 times on the quarter hour, 8 on the half hour, 12 on the 3/4 hour then 16 times on the hour. In addition then on the hour, the chiming is followed by a different tone of chimes equal to the hour it is on the clock. 

We’ve had this clock nearly 15 years so Cindy & I have heard it chime a ‘million’ times over those years. For some reason this morning, the chiming made me think of my dad. 

Dad was born early into the 20^th century so he grew up in a much different way than me. I recall his stories of growing up in those days and the sayings that were from that era. As I thought about that clock this morning, it reminded me that dad didn’t say it was “6:15” or “6:30”. To him, it was always “quarter-past six” or “half-past six”. Certainly either way is correct, 6:30 IS half-past the hour of six, but I believe it’s one of those ‘generational’ terms. 

Dad’s been gone a long time…and it’s been a long time since I’ve heard anyone say…”it’s half past six”. Funny how a simple thing like the chiming of a clock, took me back all those years ago, to good memories of my dad.

REMEMBER: Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.

– Mother Teresa

Be talkin’ to ya.  Dan

THOSE HOT INDIANA NIGHTS....RECALLED

In the wee hours of a recent morning, I heard it raining outside. Being a long-time lousy sleeper who
needs some kind of distraction to keep my brain occupied so I can sleep, I opened the window in  our bedroom so I could hear the soothing sound of the rain. 

Seeing as the daytime temps were nearing 90 degrees lately, it was probably in the low-to-mid 70s and humid as I opened the window. There was a little breeze...very little...but I enjoyed listening to the sound of the rain falling. Instead of making my brain go to sleep, I was taken back to my days as a kid in Owensville and those memories made me smile and kept me awake. 

Like many folks in the early 60s we didn’t have air conditioning in the house. The best we could do on those hot-and-humid Indiana nights was to turn on a fan dad bought at the hardware store where he worked. 

On those miserable nights, I remember wearing as few clothes as possible, kicking off the sheets so there was nothing on me, lying in bed by the window praying for the slightest bit of a breeze. I wanted dad to turn the fan towards me to blow the air across my sweating body but he always felt it better to aim the fan at the opposite window to blow the hot air out so it would PULL air IN through the window beside me. 

I don’t remember feeling like that trick ever worked. 

Dave and Jean were in the next room suffering with the heat as well, and poor Jean’s bed wasn’t even by the window. I’m not sure there weren’t times that she got in Dave’s bed with him, also praying a little breeze would come through his window. 

I don’t know that our kids and grandkids will ever have any idea of what it was like on those hot Indiana nights.

REMEMBER: There’s 2 ways to build the tallest building in town: Simply build the tallest building in town...or build a small one and tear everybody else’s down. Do you, and respect the competition.

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

ARE SMART PHONES REALLY THAT SMART ?

I was challenged by a friend to give my thoughts on an article they had recently read. The article centered on a teacher’s experiment held in one of her classrooms. For one class period on one day, she allowed those students who carried a cell phone with them to keep their phones turned on with the volume turned up. Their responsibility in the experiment required them to walk to the white board at the front of the classroom and put a tally mark down every time they got a notification on their cell phone. The notifications included whether they received a text, an email, a phone call, a Facebook notice, an Instagram photo or a tweet on their Twitter account. Whatever the notification, upon receiving it, they were to mark it accordingly on the white board. Per the article, by the end of the class period there were well over 1000 tally marks on the white board. Presumably, the teachers’ intent was to stress that every tally mark meant a distraction, an interruption in their education. That interruption involved not only the student who was getting the notification, but also the students around them. The ‘pinging’ and ‘buzzing’ was a distraction for all. 

A separate study done in 2018 found that students who use their devices in class tend to get lower exam scores. It also found that the interruption tended to cause lower test scores for their peers as well, the ones who were not using their devices but were trying to study. 

The study's conclusion was that constant, mindless distraction prevents people from developing authentic relationships and suppresses deep thought. 

I would bet every one of us has felt the frustration of having our phone go off, whether for a call, text or other means, at an inopportune time, and if not our phone, someone we’re with, or someone nearby. Those distractions are not only frustrating but sometimes deadly. How many times a week do we see or hear an ad on TV or radio or see a highway billboard reminding us to NOT text and drive? Odds are some of you may have been affected from an auto accident caused by someone who was paying attention to their phone instead of their driving. How many of us have been out to eat, at a sporting event or walking through the mall and noticed the number of people who are staring at their phone? Maybe you’ve even been in your own home and noticed everyone looking at their phone instead of talking to one another? I once saw a photo of a teen and their grandparent sitting at a table and the teen’s face was in their phone, totally disregarding their elder. The caption on the photo said, “Someday, they’re going to regret that.” 

I found our nearby high school has a pretty relaxed policy regarding cell phone use in the classroom. It is left up to the individual teacher as to whether students may have their phone accessible during class. Some allow them for use to look up class subjects or take a photo of notes or lecture slides. They are not to look at notifications until the end of the class time. I asked if there are abusers of the policy and got the response…“every day”. With 1500 students and many of them with phones, the administration feel they would spend all their time addressing those abusers. They instead focus on trying to drive home the principle that there is a proper time to use the cell phone and a time to not. Use common sense and do the right thing. 

I remember when the iPhone first came out and several of our kids got one. At the time I was using an old flip phone for the obvious use of making and receiving calls. I was amazed at how often the kids were mesmerized by the phone and their attention was directed solely at it. I said at the time that I wasn’t going to get one of those phones because of that reason, but as time passed, I too joined the masses and eventually found myself mesmerized by their capabilities. They are indeed helpful in many aspects of our lives, one tool taking the place of many, but letting them become our main focus can be distractions from living a purposeful, sincere life. They have their place…but at what cost? Do we talk face-to-face with people anymore? Do we get outside enough for simple exercise and relaxation? Do we read a book to stimulate our thinking? Would we rather send a text to someone so we can control ‘when’ we want to be done with the conversation, instead of calling, or visiting them in person? Have we allowed 'social media' to so affect our thoughts that we can't form our own opinion? How many friendships, and even lives, have been lost because of a post on social media? 

I recall the simple days of my childhood in my old hometown. Back then many home phones used a party line, meaning multiple houses shared the same phone line. It might ring once for your house, twice for the house down the street. We rarely used our phone. Our black-and-white TV reception brought in 3 channels on good days, but 2 channels on most, so it was play with siblings and friends, or be bored. What I remember instead is being outside…riding a bike and being gone all day from home with siblings, cousins or friends. We were playing basketball, baseball, wiffle-ball, red rover, hide-and-seek, inventing games on the spot, making bracelets and necklaces out of the clover in the yard. When the weather made us retreat indoors, we found games to play to occupy hours upon hours. 

It’s a different world today. Today’s TVs have hundreds of channel options to pick from and the games are on the devices the kids hold in their hands and don’t require interaction with someone else in the room. Why be outside when we can lose ourselves in our devices while relaxing in our gaming chair in front of our 70” TV? 

It would be unfair to point our fingers at just the kids. We adults, many of us, are equally guilty. I’m again reminded of the study’s conclusion: Constant, mindless distraction prevents people from developing authentic relationships and suppresses deep thought. 

We need to do better. All of us. I’ve read about some families having a rule that when they get together for a family gathering, the TV is turned off and all phones are put away until the meal is over, or the gathering has come to a conclusion. I think we need to start that at our house. It’s a small step…but it’s a step in the right direction.

REMEMBER: One day, you’ll wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted to do. Do it now.

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

The Coin Holder

 

As long as I can remember, my dad ALWAYS carried two things in his pants pocket…a pocket knife…and a coin holder. 

You know…one of those rubbery football-shaped things that when you squeezed the ends, it opened up and you could drop coins in, or take coins out. 

It had a good purpose I think. If you had a pocket full of change along with car keys or that pocket knife and reached in your pocket to pull your keys out, it kept your coins from flying all over. 

Anyway…as a 6-7-8 year old I walked home from school every day and I always stopped at the hardware store where dad worked. It was about 4 blocks from the school to ‘downtown’ Owensville where the hardware store was located. Just a few buildings away from the hardware store was Bates Drug Store where there was an abundant supply of 'penny' candy of every sort. From the drug store, it was about 3 blocks to our house. 

So anyway, I’d stop at the hardware store, reach in dads’ pocket and get his coin holder, find a dime, walk to the drug store, get my 10 cents worth of candy that penny candy that they’d put in one of those ‘little’ brown paper bags, and head home. Probably more times than not…the candy was gone before I ever got home. 

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one of those coin holders since dad died. I rarely have coins in my pocket for very long these days. If I do get change, I usually put it in our piggy bank when I get home. Then once a year I’ll cash the piggy bank in and we’ll use the money to buy something we’ve been looking for. 

That was never an option for dad. If he had change…I found an immediate need for it. The candy store! And it all started...with that coin holder.

REMEMBER: 

In life, it’s important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong. 

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

Spring Chores are Callin'

The weather is warming up. The snow has melted and spring rains have started. All the water combined with the fertilizer I put on the lawn on a warm day last month has turned the lawn green and the growth has begun. Lumps of grass here-and-there need leveled off.

My mower needs a spring overhaul…change the blades, change the oil, air the tires, level the deck, put the battery back on and hope it still holds a charge. 

Then there’s the mulch that needs touched up. 

The winds have brought dust and dirt onto the windows so the screens need taken out and windows cleaned. 

The deck didn’t like a month worth of snow sitting on it and needs power washed and re-stained. 

The driveway needs some cracks filled and then re-sealed. 

The garden needs tilled and ready for some flowers to be planted. 

I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.

REMEMBER: 

If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person. ---Mr. Fred Rogers

Be talkin’ to ya.

Dan

The WORK Dream

 
About 18 months before I retired, Cindy and I were at our grandsons’ baseball game and we ran into an old workmate who had retired about 6 months prior to that game. Her grandson and ours go to different schools and, on this day, were playing baseball against each other. They both also play AAU basketball and have been teammates for several years so they have a competitive but respectful friendship. 

Anyway, while talking to Michelle she told me she recently had her first ‘work’ dream...that is...a dream about being back at work that she had retired from 6 months before. 

Flash forward about 2 years and Michelle and I met up again at a sporting event and I told her that I too had had the ‘work’ dream after retiring. I asked her if she still was having any work dreams and she said no. I, however, continue to have them several times a month. Each one is a little different…explaining a procedure to a patient…starting an IV… telling a doctor what I found…are just a few I recall. I guess after 42 years, it’s difficult to totally forget your old routine. 

Funny...nearly 50 years after finishing high school...I still have a dream every year or so about being back in high school. As I remember, they’re kinda stressful dreams…like trying to find my locker but not remembering which one is mine…or being in class, having the teacher pass out test papers and thinking…I haven’t studied for this! 

The nice thing about those school dreams is that my classmates and I are still 18 years old.

REMEMBER: 

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan

A Million Dollars.....gone

A recent news article states quarterback Tom Brady’s rookie football card sold for $1.32 million. 

Sadness overcame me as I read this and thought back to the 1960s when I was buying baseball cards. For a nickel, you got a pack of 5 cards with various baseball players and a slab of bubble gum that chewed like a Michelin tire. I didn’t really collect the cards for any purpose other than to chew that gum, tell friends I had somebody’s card and to use the card to put on the tires of my bicycle to make it sound like a motorcycle when the spokes rubbed the card. 

Some of the baseball stars from those days included Mickey Mantle, Lou Brock, Harmon Killebrew, Hank Aaron and Pete Rose among many others. I have no doubt that I had a card for most if not all of those guys that simply got tore up in my fake motorcycle. 

Had I only had the knowledge that they would be a good retirement investment I would of put them away instead of throwing them away. 

Water under the bridge I guess.

REMEMBER:
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan

Doin' the Mess Around

 

I was listening to the oldies station this evening and the song ‘Doin’ the Mess Around’ came on…and I had an immediate flashback to one of our fun movies from years ago…Trains, Planes and Automobiles. 

There’s a scene in the movie when John Candy is driving a car with Steve Martin asleep in the passenger seat. That song comes on the radio and Candy proceeds to play along with the music and the car driving gets a little crazy. 

For Cindy & me, there were many funny scenes in the movie and we had a great weekend watching it multiple times. This was back in the day when you rented a VHS movie at a rental place and brought the movie home to put in your VCR. 

Cindy and I watched it and thought it was hilariously funny. We then invited our neighbors over to watch it with us and we all belly laughed. The next day we drove to Vincennes for the weekend and had Cindy’s parents watch it with us. Then Cindy’s brother and his wife came over and we all watched it again. 

Cindy & I got to the point we were laughing at the scenes in the movie but also laughing at the reactions of our neighbors and family as they watched it too. 

We sure got our money’s worth on that rental. I think we eventually bought a copy and have watched it a number of times since then and still laugh. 

REMEMBER: 
Take pride in how far you have come and faith in how far you can go. 

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

 

Mercurchrome and Methiolate

 

I’ve got a sore thumb. With this winter weather and lots of hand washing, I’ve developed a split in the skin near my thumbnail…and it is as sore as the dickens. And I seem to bump it all the time or pull it open when I reach in my pocket for my keys, or change. 

The pain this morning made me think back to the days as a kid when I’d wreck my bike (which I did a lot) or fall down and rip open a place on my knee or elbow or hands and dad would head me to the bathroom and clean me up and then reach for the medicine cabinet. I knew what was about to happen next. 

He was reaching for the orange stuff…the Mercurochrome or Methiolate. While one hand was reaching for the Methiolate…his other hand had a death grip on me because I was trying like crazy to get away. But dad was so strong...I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. So then, I switched to crying mode (if I had even stopped yet) and begging mode. The begging mode consisted of making him PROMISE…to start blowing on the injury BEFORE he even put the first drop of Methiolate on…because I knew it was going to burn like hell and I wanted a head start on the blowing. Sometimes my brother and sister were there as well to see what I did this time...and I'd tell them to blow too...the burning was that intense. They did what I asked...but it still didn’t help…it still burnt like hell. 

As I got a little older, one thing I grew to appreciate was that the burning and pain seemed to only last for a few minutes….then it was all better. I began to realize that if I DIDN’T have dad put the Methiolate on….the injury seemed to burn all day and maybe into the following days too. I grew to appreciate getting the burn over with. 

Those of us in the baby boomer generation, remember in the 1950s and 60s, playing with our group of friends, and if you saw one of them with a red/orange knee or elbow…you knew their folks had Methiolate at their house too. 

So why don’t they make that 'orange fire ball miracle medicine' anymore? Well if you dissect the name…Mercurchrome…you see it has the name mercury in it…and sometime in the 70s I guess someone decided that mercury was bad for us. 

To tell you the truth, I’m ready for Cindy to put some Methiolate on my thumb right now. Heck with that mercury stuff. I know it’ll burn…but just for a little while…then it’ll be all better.

REMEMBER: 

The overwhelming majority of what is stressing you today will be irrelevant in a year. Don’t lose sleep over petty things. Get over it, move on. 

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

The BEATLES Part 4 George Harrison

 
The last of the 4 LEGO Beatles photos courtesy of the Christmas gift from my daughters. 

George Harrison was born at home in Liverpool England on February 25, 1943, the 4^th child to go along with 2 brothers and a sister. He was blond at birth but his hair turned brown around 10-11 years old. He started smoking at age 11. His mom bought him a used guitar at age 14, one that he soon took apart and couldn’t put back together, so he hid it in a cabinet hoping his mom wouldn’t find out. His brother managed to put the guitar back together and showed him a few chords that someone had taught him. 

The first time he heard Elvis ‘I was riding my bicycle and heard Heartbreak Hotel coming out of somebody’s house. It was one of them things I’ll never forget, what a sound, what a record. It changed the course of my life.’ He began to practice hour after hour, day after day with his moms encouragement. 

At age 14 he booked his group to play at a British Legion social club nearby, then went home to tell his mom to which she said, ‘you don’t have a group’. George said, 'don’t worry, I’ll get one'. He got his brother and two friends to join him, one playing the tea-chest bass, the rest were guitars with no drummer. They played skiffle songs under the group name The REBEL's. 

George first met Paul on the bus to school and they became friends after talking music and guitars. Although friends with Paul, it wasn’t a perfect relationship as Paul liked to remind George that he was 9 months older than him. 

One of the things John liked about George after they met, besides his guitar playing, was that George was a fighter and though small in stature, he could handle himself in a fight. When John threw out his frequent barbs, George threw some right back, which won John’s approval. 

From that early meeting, George became the lead guitarist for the world’s most famous band. 

After the Beatles breakup, George began doing the music he wanted to do. He did a number of charity events including the Concert for Bangladesh. In the late 80s he formed a group with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison and called themselves the Traveling Wilburys, creating 2 top selling albums and several hit singles. Showing George’s sense of humor, he asked the group to name the second album, Vol. 3, 'just to confuse the buggers'. 

In 1998 George was diagnosed with throat cancer, likely contributed to his chain smoking since he was a teenager. Although he went into remission from that cancer, in 2001 he was diagnosed with lung cancer that metastasized to the brain. George died at age 58 on November 29, 2001 at a home in California previously owned by Paul McCartney. He had long followed the Hindu religion and according to his wishes, his remains were cremated and the ashes were scattered according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India.

REMEMBER: Some of the rather unique things that George said about his career were:

In their bid to tell what they know, sometimes people tell more than what they know.

I wanted to be successful, not famous.

I remember thinking I just want more. This isn’t it. Fame is not the goal. Money is not the goal. To be able to know how to get peace of mind, how to be happy is something you don’t just stumble across. You’ve got to search for it. – George Harrison

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan

The BEATLES Part 3 Ringo Starr

 

Photo number 3 of the LEGO Beatles Christmas gift from my girls (see prior posts for images of John and Paul). People that casually know of the Beatles know they are John, Paul George and Ringo, but it didn’t start that way. Here’s a little info you may not know. 

A 16-year old John Lennon (born John Winston Lennon October 9, 1940) of Liverpool England got his first guitar in late 1956, and began playing using banjo chords taught to him by his mother. In November of that year he formed a group with his friends and called themselves the Quarry Men. They played a type of music called Skiffle, popular in England at the time. 

One of group members introduced John to a boy named Paul McCartney (born James Paul McCartney June 18, 1942) at one of the Quarry Men’s gigs on July 6, 1957. Paul, also a guitar player himself, watched John with interest during the show, not quite able to follow the chords John was playing since they were banjo chords, but he could see John was quite the entertainer. The two talked after the show and Paul showed John a few things he knew on the guitar and even though John felt a little threatened by Paul’s ability, he thought it’d be better to have Paul as a bandmate than as a rival in another band. The following day, John asked Paul if he’d like to join the group. Paul played his first official gig with the Quarry Men on October 18, 1957. John and Paul were together almost daily now and began writing their own songs. 

In February 1958, Paul introduced John to a friend, George Harrison (born February 25, 1943). John wasn’t too keen on hanging around with such a young kid, (George was not yet 15), since John was all of 17 at the time, but he could see George was a more skilled guitar player than either he or Paul. Soon, John asked George to join the group as well. 

By this time, skiffle was on its’ way out and rock and roll was in. Elvis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly and the Crickets were making music that teenage kids wanted to hear. The band, featuring the three guitar players would sometimes play under the name Quarrymen and Johnny and the Moondogs through the fall of 1959, including an event in August where they played at a newly opened venue, the Casbah Club, run by a woman named Mona Best. 

In early 1960, one of John’s friends from art school, Stuart Sutcliffe, won an art contest and John convinced him to use his winnings to buy a bass guitar. Even though he had no skill at playing, Stu bought a bass guitar and amp on January 21, 1960 and was now a member of the band, now with 4 guitar players and no drummer. The boys taught Stu a few chords for the bass but he was so shy about his lack of playing ability that he often played with his back to the audience. The band would occasionally pick up a drummer here and there but no one seemed to click with the rest of the band. 

A club owner and manager, Allan Williams, helped get more playing dates for the boys including a booking in Germany in August of 1960, but he told the band they must add a drummer to be recognized as a complete band. Their minds went back to the Casbah Club owner, Mona Best, whose son Pete had a drum set. Pete didn’t play them often and wasn’t very good, but needing a drummer badly before they could head to Germany, they auditioned Pete on August 12, 1960. 

Meanwhile, John, Paul, George and Stu had talked of names for the new band and since they enjoyed the music of Buddy Holly and the Crickets they toyed with the Beatals, Beetles, Silver Beetles among others, but John, with his love for word play, made the final decision, and on August 17, 1960, the 5 boys headed to Hamburg playing under the name of The Beatles. Their agreement for their first season at a seedy nightclub in Hamburg was to play for 4 ½ hours a night Tuesday through Friday and 6 hours a night on the weekends, for the next 48 nights. When that gig ended in October, they signed on with another venue up the street for another 58 nights. The demanding schedule only helped to sharpen their skills...all except Pete...but he was a favorite with the girls in the audience who swooned over his good looks. The rest of the band didn’t know how to dump him, so he stayed on. 

During one of their rare nights off, they took in a show at another Hamburg club where Liverpool’s top group at the time, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes was playing. They had a unique playing style and a very good drummer. He wasn’t flashy, but he was able to keep the beat and had an outgoing personality, much like John, Paul and George. His given name was Richard ‘Richy’ Starkey (born July 7, 1940). Richy had a passion for rings, one that his mom had given him for his 16^th birthday, another being the wedding ring of his recently deceased grandfather. When he added a third ring, people started calling him ‘Rings’, and over time Rings became Ringo and Ringo Starkey eventually became Ringo Starr.

After more than 3 months in Hamburg, the boys, returned to Liverpool with improved skills and were a big hit with the locals. In April 1961, they returned again to Hamburg for a 13-week engagement and while there, played backup musicians to a singer named Tony Sheridan, and were credited as the Beat Brothers on his record, ‘My Bonnie’ when it was released in August. By this time, Stuart had decided to stay in Hamburg with his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr and resume his artistic career. Paul became the new bass player for the band. 

Once back in Liverpool, the four remaining Beatles fame and following continued to grow and on October 28, 1961, one of their fans stopped by a record store, owned and ran by a man named Brian Epstein, and asked if he had a copy of ‘My Bonnie’ for sale. Brian’s policy was to obtain any record a customer ordered and set about to find it. In the process he heard that the musicians the kids wanted to hear were playing in a nearby venue called The Cavern. The Beatles first gig at the Cavern was Feb 9, 1961 and when Brian stopped by for a lunchtime show on November 9, 1961, the Beatles had a fan base that was nothing short of electric to be a part of. Brian was impressed by their musical skills but moreso by their personality and the way they interacted with their audience. Brian was mesmerized and soon set up a meeting with the band and offered himself as their manager. They were impressed by Brian more than with previous managers and agreed. 

Brian increased the number of play dates and cleaned them up, getting them out of their leather outfits and sloppy clothes into suits and ties. On January 1, 1962 the Beatles got an audition track recorded for Decca Records but neither Decca nor other record producers were interested in the boys. In fact, one executive is famous for saying, ‘groups of guitarists are on their way out’. While Brian continued to find a record company that would audition the boys, they kept a prior agreement to return to Hamburg in April 1962 for 13 weeks and upon their arrival, were met by Astrid who told them their friend Stuart had died of a brain hemorrhage just a few days before. 

Days later they began their 7-week residency at the nightclub, this time playing 7p-2am weekdays and 8p-4am weekends. Their skills continued to improve with this heavy playing schedule and they became as popular in Hamburg as they were back in Liverpool. While in Hamburg, Brian sent a message for them to begin working on new material as he had secured a contract with EMI records in England for an audition. 

On June 6, 1962, they arrived at Abbey Road Studios to meet with record producer George Martin. George thought their music was fair, it had potential, but their charisma and charm was off the charts. The one band member he didn’t like was the drummer Pete Best who he felt just couldn’t keep the beat and threw the rest of the boys off. A follow up session was scheduled in August but the boys were told Mr. Martin would supply a session drummer because he didn’t want Pete Best. Brian was given the task of firing Pete and two days later Ringo joined the group for their first concert. 

The new Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘PS I Love You’ as their first single and it was released in Britain on October 5, 1962, eventually rising to #17 on the record charts. On November 1 they started another 14-night engagement in Hamburg and upon their return recorded ‘Please Please Me’. On December 18 they made their final return to Hamburg for a 13-night engagement while their single Please Please Me became their first Number 1 hit.

On February 2, 1963 they began their first British tour and their album titled Please Please Me debuted on February 11. As they toured more of England intermixed with more recordings with George Martin, their fame exploded across England, yet they were unknown in America...until their song 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' was released in December 1963 in America and quickly rose to Number 1. Based on the excitement their music and personalities created, Ed Sullivan signed them to appear on his weekly Sunday Night entertainment program and on February 9, 1964, the Beatles were seen by 73 million viewers on The Ed Sullivan Show…becoming worldwide sensations. And...as they say...the rest is history.

REMEMBER: 

Be a reflection of what you’d like to see in others. If you want love, give love. If you want honesty, give honesty. If you want respect, give respect. You get in return, what you give. 

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan

KARMA - TV

I’m not much of a TV watcher anymore…there are very few shows and movies that hold my interest. I bet our radio is on and playing oldies more than the TV is on. I have decided there IS a TV show that I would watch…faithfully…and I think lots of other folks would too…so I think I’ll create my own TV show. I’m going to name it KARMA-TV. 

The show’s format it going to be about KARMA catching up with people who make me upset. Here’s some examples of the shows we’ll have. 

As you likely know from a previous blog, I get angry with people who don’t use turn signals. So on one week’s episode of KARMA-TV…there will be cameras installed at or near all intersections. When a driver doesn’t use his or her signal as they turn at an intersection, the camera will have the ability to kill the power to their car battery. The car will slowly coast to a stop and will sit there for 5 minutes before the camera will switch the power back on to their battery. During those 5 minutes, we’ll be able to watch them cuss and throw hissy fits and kick their tires and listen to bypassing motorists honk and yell and make gestures at them for messing up the traffic flow with their stalled car in the middle of the lane. I will be glued to my TV every week laughing and pointing my finger at the screen and yelling…”serves you right…jerk.” 

The next weeks’ episode will take place at all grocery and department stores. Cameras are already installed overhead at the checkout counters so we’ll be able to watch the action. Here’s the scenario…when the customer has had all their merchandise scanned and the cashier is telling them how much they need to pay…if that customer reaches for their checkbook to start writing a check…the cashier will push a little button on their register, a trap door will open up and the customer will fall into a hole in the floor and be flushed out into the parking lot. I’m going to be in my chair watching and laughing and yelling at the TV saying…”It’s 2021 people…lose the checkbook!” 

Other future episodes would include telemarketers…when they get home at night after a long day of calling and hassling innocent people…the telemarketers’ phone will continually ring…all night long…they will try to turn it off but the phone will ring anyway…they won’t be able to get a minute of sleep all night…they will be non-productive at work the next day and the boss will fire them…and I will laugh at my TV screen until I pee my pants. 

More episodes will include those morons who have their bass boom speakers turned up so loud in their cars that your house windows rattle when they drive by. Karma will have the ability to gradually turn their speaker volume up to 11…12…13…14…15 until the windows blow out on their cars and their speakers are nothing but a pile of melted, smoking plastic. Oh, I will joyously laugh and laugh. 

Yet one more episode will be about those professional football players who feel they have to do their little dance routine for the fans after every play they make…”look at me, I just made a tackle…I just ran for a first down…I just scored a touchdown.” Hey moron…that’s your job…you get paid handsomely…some of you millions of dollars to make those plays…shut the hell up and get back in the huddle and do it again. Do you think every nurse does a big dance down the hall of the hospital saying…”I just gave a shot to the guy in room 6”…or the teacher says…”woo hoo…I just gave the kids a spelling test?” No you goof ball…that’s their job…that’s what they are paid to do…that’s what they love to do. So KARMA-TV will deduct one days’ pay from that football player for every little prank they pull…and that pay will be deposited in a designated nurse or teacher account. Let’s see you dance that off…you jerk. I will gut-laugh every time I see it happen and yell at my TV saying…"CHA-CHING…a teacher and a nurse just got a pay raise!" 

Maybe you have some ideas to add to KARMA-TVs list of shows. What frustrates you? What episode do you wanna see next week?

REMEMBER: 

When angry, count to four. When very angry, curse. – Mark Twain  

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan

Self-Storage Units

Going to my softball game today on the west side of town (we play at an indoor facility in the winter), I saw a new Self-Storage Unit has opened at the intersection where I turn. When Cindy and I were out yesterday we drove by the old Toys-R-Us store on the southeast side of town and saw they are refurbishing it. The rumor mill has it that it too will become a storage unit building. 

We live on the south side of town and within a 1-minute drive to the south and north of us, there are Self-Storage units. I’m spit-balling here, but I’d guess there are 15 such businesses within our city…downtown, north, south, east and west. 

If I go down to our basement, I see that Cindy and I have our own self-storage unit down there. We were sure that the girls would want their dolls and games and baby blankets and pictures that they grew up with when they got older…so we saved that stuff for them…lots of it. 

The short answer to the question do they want that stuff, is…NO! 

It’s all interesting to them and it brings back fond memories when we talk about it or when they see it…but they don’t want to be burdened with having it at their houses. So it just comes down to the fact that Cindy and I have too much stuff that we need to start getting rid of. And apparently, based on the fact that there are so many storage units in our city…places that you have to pay money for them to keep your stuff…we ALL have too much crap. 

Well for us, that’s gonna stop. We’re gonna start getting rid of that stuff. It’s gonna be a lot of hard work but it’ll be nice when it’s done. I think we’ll start on that tomorrow…or maybe next week.

REMEMBER: 

Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.

Be talkin’ to ya. 

Dan

The Beatles Part 2

The LEGO building continues. 

If you missed one of my prior articles, my kids got me a Beatles LEGO set for my birthday. I finished the John Lennon photo (look at prior blog) and today I post one of Paul McCartney. 

The slow part of the process was taking the 3000 Lego pieces off the board from John’s picture, a job which took several hours over 2 days. Putting them back on for Paul’s seemed to go a little faster. 

Cindy and I saw Paul in concert back in the '90s (nearly 30 years ago). It was a wonderful concert with a chance to see and hear him play and sing many of the Beatle tunes we grew up with. I felt a little nostalgic at times...my mind going back to those early years of hearing those songs. He played many Beatle’s hits as well as some songs from his post-Beatle years. He spoke fondly of his Beatle mates and played a song dedicated to John with whom he wrote many of those great Beatle hits. 

Cindy and I had an opportunity to see Paul again in 2019 but chose not to go. It was about a 3 hour drive on a weeknight and the tickets were about $1500, but those weren’t the reason I didn’t want to go. I was afraid after 30 years, his voice wouldn’t be as good as when we saw him that first time (those were the stories I was reading from those who had attended his recent concerts), and I just didn’t want to be disappointed. I didn't want to spoil our memories of that wonderful time we had before. 

Silly thinking probably...and if I had another opportunity...I might chance it.

REMEMBER: 

Don’t let someone change who you are, to become what they need. Live so that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dan

Chick-Fil-A and Hercules

Every few weeks we have to have our Chick-Fil-A fix at our house. They seem to have the best chicken sandwich among the fast food restaurants in our opinion. 

For those of you who have never been to a Chick-Fil-A, their system is pretty amazing…not just the sandwich, but the service they offer. If you happen to pull up to a Chick-Fil-A and see a long line of cars, don’t worry, you’ll be through the line and on your way before you know it. They have a system that speeds their customers through very quickly. 

Rather than driving to a box with a microphone to place your order, then drive to a window to pay and then another window to pick up your order…CFA has a different idea. 

When you pull into line, soon a person with an iPad in hand is going to walk up to your car window and ask you what you’d like to order. As you proceed through the line, another person will come to your car to get your money for your order. As you continue to proceed, someone will bring your order to your car and tell you thanks and have a nice day. It’s a pretty smooth business model. 

I read a tweet the other day that Cindy and I giggled at. With the recent challenges they seem to be having in getting the Covid-19 vaccine distributed and administered across the country, the tweeter suggested they turn the distribution over to the people at Chick-Fil-A. By using their system, every person that wants vaccinated would be taken care of in just the next few days. There may be some truth to that. 

On a personal side-note, when the person at Chick-Fil-A comes to my car window to ask my name for my order, I tell them Hercules, which always gets a giggle from the employee. Hey why not have a little fun? I mean, tonight when that employee gets home, they’re not going to remember much about their busy work day. They won’t remember how many Steve or Dave or Susans came through today, but they’ll remember they had a Hercules come through their line…and smile one more time.

REMEMBER:

Everything will work out exactly how and when it is supposed to, regardless of how and when you may want it to. Let your faith in the journey be stronger than your doubts and fears. Be patient with yourself and your growth, knowing that good things always take time. Give yourself time and space to try things and explore different paths. You will get there one day, so don’t forget to enjoy the journey too.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dan

No new BEATLE t-shirt this year

 It’s common knowledge in my family and among my friends that I’m a long-time Beatles fan. At one time I owned about 25 Beatles t-shirts, all gifts from Cindy or the kids for Father’s Day, Christmas or birthdays. Many of them now hang in the basement in my little Beatle memorabilia corner along with books, records and miscellaneous things I’ve gotten over the years. 

This year, rather than another t-shirt…my kids got me a Lego Beatles kit for my birthday. Imagine nearly 3000 small, circular Lego pieces about half the size of a dime, coming in 15 different colors, that when all put together in a pattern on an 18 inch x 18 inch Lego board, create an image of each Beatle. 

It took about 3 days for me to put together the John Lennon image and it looks pretty dang cool. The sucky part is that when I want to create images of Paul, George or Ringo, I have to undo all the pieces of the John image and then reposition them over another 3 hour session to create the new Beatle. I’ve told the kids I may wait a month before I tackle making the next Beatle and just enjoy the completed picture for awhile. Besides I need to let my arthritic fingers heal and my eyes to get uncrossed. 

REMEMBER:

I tell you, Larry, there is no other band, there will never be any band like them ever, for eternity. They are the best, I say to you Larry here in 1965, that the children of 2000 will be listening to the Beatles. And I sincerely mean that.—Brian Epstein

FYI: Brian Epstein was the Beatle manager and Larry was Larry Kane, an American journalist that traveled to every stop on the Beatles 1964 and 1965 tours of America. He is the author of multiple books including “Ticket to Ride” about his travels with the Beatles, and “When They Were Boys, the True Story of the Rise of the Beatles”.

In reality, the children in 2021 are still listening to the Beatles.

Be talkin' to ya.
Dan

BRICKHOUSE

I was driving to the bank recently when one of Cindy and my favorite songs came on the radio…Brickhouse, by the Commodores. 

Oh she’s a brick.....house 
She’s mighty mighty...just lettin’ it all hang out 

Oh she’s a brick.....house 

That lady’s stacked...that’s a fact...ain’t holdin' nothin' back 

Years ago one of Cindy’s friends served on a committee that held an annual benefit party and we were invited. Besides a great meal, they had a band for entertainment and the band did a great rendition of Brickhouse. I’m a terrible dancer (I got no rhythm) but even I got into the dancing and singing mood as the crowd partied to Brickhouse. 

Oh she’s a brick....house 

Well we’re together...everybody knows...this is how the story goes 

She knows she got everything...that a woman needs...to get a man 

How can she lose with the stuff she use 36-24-36 oh what a winning hand 

Cause she’s a brick....house. 

As I got closer to the bank, those words brick house kept playing in my head and I got to thinking about a term my dad occasionally used…”built like a brick shithouse”. I seem to recall him saying it when we would be in the car and pass a pretty lady walking down the sidewalk. Now don’t get me wrong, my dad was not a dirty-minded man, but he, like any man, appreciated the look of a pretty woman. As a kid, I didn’t understand what dad meant when he’d say “she’s built like a brick shithouse”, but as I got older, I figured it out. 

As I write this, I even googled the term and it’s actually listed in Wikipedia. It says those words are slang meaning either a man who is very muscular and strong or a woman who is very buxom and curvaceous. A shithouse is slang for exactly what you think it is…a toilet, or from my father’s era, an outhouse made of brick rather than wood. 

Now if I were to use the term brick shithouse in front of my grandkids, the only thing they’d pick up on was that papaw said a bad word, they would have no connection to it having to do with a well-built outhouse, just like I didn’t get it at that age either. 

I recall my granddad having an outhouse that we used out on his farm in southern Indiana…an old wooden 2-holer outhouse. (Never quite understood why you would want to sit there WITH someone). My kids know what an outhouse is, and maybe have used one but I doubt it. My grandkids probably wouldn’t know what an outhouse is if I asked them, let alone understand the term “built like a brick shithouse”. 

Dad had a number of terms he used when I was growing up and most of them would not mean a thing to kids these days...the times were just so vastly different. But for me…hearing those words brickhouse the other day brought back fond memories from times with Cindy….and times with dad.  

REMEMBER:
Know your worth. You must find the courage to leave the table if respect is no longer being served.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dan 

The FLAG

While at our grandsons basketball game recently, we all stood before the start of the game for the playing of the National Anthem. As I listened and looked at the flag…I got to thinking about the features of the flag…and how many times we all have looked at that flag over our lifetimes…and I wondered if we were all asked to describe those features without looking…how many of us would get them right. 

After all, it’s an icon that we see probably every day, but don’t always notice it. It was in our classrooms in every grade level of school…it likely flies in front of your workplace…many homes and businesses fly it out front…we stand for it at the beginning of every sporting event…but can you describe every part of the flag? Besides knowing it is “Red White and Blue”…with white stars…can you be more specific? 

For example, how many red and white stripes are there? Are they equal in number or are there more red stripes or white ones? Is the top stripe red…or white? And the bottom stripe? How many stars are on the flag…and how are they organized? Are there 5 rows of ten stars? Are there 7 rows of 7 stars with an extra star in the middle row? 

Got your answers? 

There are 13 stripes on the flag to represent the thirteen original colonies that became the first states of the United States of America. There are 7 red stripes and 6 white stripes, with the top and bottom stripes red. The blue rectangle is referred to as the union with 50 stars arranged in nine rows, with 5 rows of 6 stars (at the top and bottom) alternating with 4 rows of 5 stars. The 50 stars represent the 50 states of the United States. 

The current flag was adopted in 1960 and is the longest-used version of the U.S. flag, in use for over 60 years. There have been several stories of what the colors represent. Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the Continental Congress, gave symbolic meanings for the colors, with white signifying purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue signifying vigilance, perseverance and justice. Other interpretations have included that red is for the blood of patriots, spilled in the fight to protect the country. 

My wife’s dad was as proud of that flag as any man I’ve known in my lifetime. For one of his birthdays shortly after we were married, Cindy’s brother and his wife, and Cindy & I bought him a flag and a 15 foot flagpole. We dug the hole poured in concrete and set it. Every day, he raised that flag in the morning…let it fly all day...and at dusk would lower it and take it into the house for the night. He proudly did this every day he was at the house until he became so ill that he could no longer get outside to do it. A veteran of WWII, he fought for that flag and was proud to wave it. 

Next time you’re looking at that flag, take time to notice the features and honor the men and women who have served it.

REMEMBER:

Be the reason someone believes in good people.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dan

Roundabouts

My recent blog on ‘Turn Signals’ prompted a response from a friend in Florida. She felt if turn signals were a problem for me, we probably wouldn't like the issues she has in her community...roundabouts.

We actually have quite a few roundabouts in our city too. I admit, it took a little bit of learning on my part to know how to use them but I eventually did and they are tolerable to use…what isn’t tolerable is the people who don’t know how to use them, and that’s probably what Brenda was implying about the roundabouts in her community. 

The idea behind the roundabout is two-fold as I understand them. 

First, they are felt to be safer than the usual 2-way or 4-way intersection. Often at 2-way intersections a car pulls out thinking that traffic to the left and right have to stop…and sometimes they don’t have to, and an accident is about to happen. Then there are those that run the stop sign either intentionally or accidentally. Accidents at those type intersections can be quite damaging to the vehicles and even fatal to drivers and passengers as the cars meet at 90 degree angles. In a roundabout, cars enter the intersection at a 45 degree angle so if there is an accident, they are more like glancing blows rather than direct hits. The damage to the vehicles is less and the risk of severe injury is lessened. 

The second advantage to the roundabout is traffic flow. If there is no oncoming traffic as you approach the roundabout, you simply proceed through the intersection without stopping, keeping the traffic flow moving. This also means less wear-and-tear on the automobile as you don’t have to bring it to a stop, and then restart. If there is oncoming traffic at the roundabout, the idea is to slow down and slowly enter either in front of or behind oncoming vehicles without stopping. 

If everyone does their part, it can work safely and efficiently. However, once again, the frustration lies in those who don’t know how to use the roundabout, those that will stop without any oncoming traffic or will stop when they could proceed between oncoming spaced vehicles. 

If people would just learn to use roundabouts…it’ll make life easier for them and others…and help lower my blood pressure.

REMEMBER:

Luck usually finds those that are the hardest workers.

Be talkin' to ya.

Dan