Rest Well Teddy

Well, they laid Senator Ted Kennedy to rest.

The rainy day scene outside the old Mission Church in Boston as the mourners arrived, dressed in black and sheltered with almost identical large black umbrellas reminded me of one of my favorite French paintings of a rain scene, circa 1877 in Paris.

Painted by Gustave Caillebotte the people in this painting are walking down a cobblestone street in a fashionable section of Paris. Many are dressed all in black and they all carry large black umbrellas to protect them from the rain. The cobblestones glisten with light as the rain seems to be stopping.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/20684

I wondered as I watched the crowds arriving at the Kennedy funeral "how did the hundreds of mourners, mostly dressed in black, know to carry almost identical large black umbrellas.
"Who got the memo out) ;)"

The events of the day went almost perfectly until the end when darkness descended over Arlington National Cemetery as the final minutes of the graveside service were plunged into almost total darkness.

The day's services and the transport from Boston to Washington D.C.had run long past schedule as night fell on the longest day. And yet, it was hauntingly lovely and powerful when the lone trumpeter outlined darkly against the sky played taps; the lighted Robert E Lee Mansion in the background.

The poignant voices of four of Ted's young grandchildren saying good bye to "Grampa" at the grave site was touching.

Now I have watched all 3 Kennedy brothers funerals. Remember Jack's sad cortege with the riderless white horse down Pennsylvania Ave. John John and Caroline.Bobby,Ted and Jackie.

But despite times of self destructive behavior in the ensuing years, Ted endured. He was a father figure for the 10 young Kennedy children who were lest fatherless after the murders of his two remaining brothers.


Teddy survived his brain tumor for almost fifteen months and he was mercifully given time to prepare for a "good ending."

Every detail of this day and last night's wake was planned by Teddy Kennedy himself and carried out with grace and dignity by his widow Victoria Reggie Kennedy.

SMOOTH SAILING TEDDY
AND
REST WELL.

Old Time Radio and TV

Suzzwords
Laughter is one of the best parts of life.It's what makes the hard parts easier to endure.
Friday, August 14, 2009

Suzz at Suzzwords struck a cord of memory with her post about an old time local radio show "Daddy Rabbit" I did not remember that show but I did remember this one:


MY MEMORY

I don't remember Daddy Rabbitt. But DO I remember Miss Debbie. She was a TV local children's show hostess in the Atlanta market. My four old daughter watched Miss Debbie everyday and was especially thrilled when Miss D looked in her magic mirror and, looking straight at the camera said....I see little Mary and Sammy and Joyce and Betty.

Oh how Jan ,my little girl, yearned for Miss D to speak directly to her thru the "magic mirror.

Well what do you know. Hubby and I went to a New Year's Eve party at a business associate's house. Lo and behold who should be there but Miss Debbie in PERSON. Nice attractive gal.

Early in the evening I spoke with Debbie and asked her to look for Jan in the "magic mirror "on tomorrow's show. she graciously said yes she would.

A good time was had by all.

Around eleven pm we missed Miss Debbie and we heard crying and moaning in the kitchen.There sat MISS DEBBIE DRUNK AS A SKUNK and slobbering all over her date.

I told hubby on the way home Miss Debbie won't even make it to her show tomorrow she will be so hung over.

The next morning we. (Jan, hubby and I) turned on the TV to Miss Debbie. There she was chipper, and perky and looking great as she held up her Magic Mirror and said

"I see JAN."


I guess"The show must go on"

Dog and Cat

WHERE DOG AND CAT CAME FROM

A newly discovered fragment from Genesis 3:25:

Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me every day. Now, I do not see you anymore. I am lonely here, and it is difficult for me to remember how much you love me."

And God said, "No problem! I will create an animal who will reside with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how often you are tempted to forget me, or be selfish, or how unloveable you behave, this companion will love you as I do, in spite of yourself."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam, and it wagged its tail.

And Adam said, "Lord, I have already named all the animals in thr kingdom, and I cannot think of a name for this new animal." And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, its name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call it DOG."

Dog lived with Adam and was a companion to him and loved him and obeyed him. And Adam was comforted. And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged its tail.

After awhile, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and preens like a peacock, and he believes that he is worthy of adoration. Dog has, indeed, taught him that he is loved, but perhaps too well."

And God said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. This companion will remind him of his limitations, so he will know that he is not always worthy of adoration." And so God created CAT to be a companion to Adam.

And Cat would NOT obey Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he is not the supreme being. And Adam learned humility.

And God was pleased. And Adam was greatly improved. And Dog was happy, and wagged its tail.

And the Cat didn't give a shit one way or the other.

Bummer

Are you ready for a vent.

If not then read no further!!!

In addition to my two bum knees I have been having a problem with balance and pain and stiffness upon arising after sitting for any length of time. My internist, the best doctor God ever put on this earth,recommended I see an arthritis specialist. I went today.

This arthritis doctor was a real dud. His Physicians Assistant took all the info. Then Doctor came in with this greeting:

"Hello young lady and young man" ( I hate that condescending tone)

Within 3 minutes he determined that I did NOT have arthritis. He basically said that I was "OLD and OUT OF SHAPE" Duh !!!!!

He wrote script for physical therapy. He must have mentioned old or aged or in your 70's and 80's a dozen times.I was hopping mad before I got out of there.(I will be 80 in December)

DOPE!!!!

Will not go back to him..At least I don't have arthritis. How he could make a diagnosis in 3 or 4 minutes I don't know.

Holier than thou and abrasive.
Couldn't wait to get out of there.

I have an appointment to see another knee doc in September and between now and then I will work on loosing weight, walking and try to"heal myself"




PS:
I am going to drink the gin and throw away the gin and raisins.

Cheers

Reading jag

I have been on a marathon reading jag recently. I don't know why but at times reading seems to go smoothly and I just sail through books of all kinds.

I recently picked up several paperback books at our neighborhood library's $6 bag o'books sale. All the books you can stuff into a plastic grocery bag for just $6. What a bargain, eh?

In my bag I included an old classic that I had never read. "The Grapes Of Wrath". What the heck, I thought, even if I don't read it I had room in my bag.

The next book was "Revenge of a Middle Aged Woman" by Elizabeth Buchan.

Then there was "A Man In Full" by Tom Wolfe" which I had read a few years back but had forgotten most of the story.

The next book was also a paperback, "Durable Goods" by Elizabeth Berg. Another book, a hardback, was "The Commoner" a fictional inside look at lives of the last two Japanese women, both commoners themselves, who married successive crown princes of Japan and the hardships they both faced in adjusting to the cloistered life.

I included a few clunkers which I could soon see I would not enjoy. But later I will regift them to our library and they can be resold.

I was blown away by John Steinbeck's "Grapes Of Wrath" The story of the Joad family who were displaced from their sharecropper farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl of the 1930's. As they made their way by truck with all their worldly possessions they encountered misfortunes. one after the other. But the hope of work and a better life on some golden farm in California kept them going.

From Amazon

"What can I say about the Joads that has not already been said in the past sixty-odd years? How could I have missed knowing them earlier? I read this story, with its "country speech" and "country ways" and wanted to take them all in. I wanted to comfort them all"

and "Revenge of A Middle Aged Woman"

"Living wisely is the best revenge for a London book review editor who loses both husband and job to her conniving assistant in this sophisticated and satisfying novel. Rose Lloyd is in her late 40s and has been happily married for 25 years when Minty, her "glossy free-ranging" young assistant, brusquely shoulders her aside. Husband Nathan, who is a deputy editor at the same newspaper, is decent and remorseful, but determined to start a new life, and Rose must pick up the pieces-which she does with commendable energy and resolve"

"Durable Goods"

"Durable Good's" is Elizabeth Bergs first book(she has since written many more) which is amazing when you read the stellar quality of this effort. Katie, a tender, blossoming 12 year old, steals your heart at first page and never let's go. Berg writes effectively in choppy paragraphs the feelings, the observations, the problems, the joys, the experiences of our Katie"

A Man In Full"

"The "man in full" of the title (the phrase comes from an old song) is Charlie Croker, a good-ole-boy real-estate developer in Atlanta whose sprawling South Georgia plantation, massive mansion in the best part of town, half-empty skyscraper tower named after himself, horde of servants, fleet of jets and free-spending trophy second wife have left him terribly vulnerable to bankers deciding the party's over."

What are you reading?

Slugs

Continuing with the theme of unusual uses for alcohol:

We had slugs that ate our hostas a few years back. At that time I was frequenting a current events chat on Yahoo. I commented about the slugs and an avid gardener from the UK gave me a plan to rid the hosta bed of slugs.

Cut a Coke can in half. Fill the half with beer. Prop the can up in a small hole in the hosta bed. The slugs crawl up to drink the beer and they get drunk and cannot crawl out. ;)

Cheers

(use cheap beer)

I wonder what other off beat uses of alcohol there are?

Addendum

I will NOT need fireworks tomorrow on the fourth of July. All I need do is open the fridge and take out the gin and raisins concoction, take a hearty tablespoon full and stand back as the fireworks go off in my mouth. "Stars and Stripes Forever" resonates behind my eyeballs.

Potent is hardly the word for it. the longer the mixture sits, the heartier it gets.

OLE!!!!!

And Happy July 4 to y'all.

Gin and Raisins

A while back Millie Garfield had a video on her blog "My Mom's Blog" which showed her preparing a "sure fire arthritis remedy". Gin Soaked Raisins. Since I have been having a problem, after I sit for any length of time, with walking and really bad stiffness and some pain , I decided to give Millie's remedy a try, thinking my problem might be arthritis.

I bought some golden raisins and a pint of Gordon's Gin. I put the raisins in a glass jar, just enough to cover the bottom of the jar. I poured in the gin. Just enough to cover the raisins and have about 2 inches of the gin over top of raisins. I shook the mixture and placed it in the refrigerator where it stayed for about a week until the raisins had plumped up and absorbed the gin.

In the meanwhile having the gin in the pantry and deciding that it smelled good and reading that gin is made from juniper berries, I thought, what the heck, I will take a tablespoon of the gin while I wait on the raisins to plump up. Hum, Not bad. Tastes like cough syrup. The next night I got out a small Waterford cordial glass, filled it with crushed ice and put in 2 tablespoons of the gin and sipped it. Not bad. And also the next night too, but added a lemon twist.

Meanwhile I researched the gin and raisins remedy on the internet and I came up with this information:



"Juniper Berries
Aunt Sophie came by a while ago with her secret remedy to vanquish arthritis. Aunt Sophie is, how can I best put it, of a certain age. This is a certain age that often has much in common with walkers, canes and wheel chairs; but Aunt Sophie is in great shape and is full of, as the expression goes, piss and vinegar, or, as I found, in her case, raisins and gin.“Have a few of these, every day,” was her command as she handed me a hand-packed container of her favourite concoction—raisins plumped to almost the size of grapes, redolent and swollen with Beefeater’s best. “Another bubbe-mayse,” I thought, as I munched some—a tale from the old country. But after a little research I decided this one might not be so far-fetched.The flavour of gin comes from juniper berries. These come from conifer plants, evergreens common in Europe and North America. New berries appear in the fall and can take two or three years to ripen. They are rich in vitamin C and terpenes, the essential oil which, in large quantities is manufactured into turpentine. During the Middle Ages the berries were kept in nosegays to help block the scent of the plague. For centuries, medicinal usage favoured using them in anti-inflammatory prescriptions. Hence, perhaps, Aunt Sophie’s arthritis remedy."

So here I am about 10 days later,(crossing my fingers for luck) feeling much better and able to sit awhile and then get up and walk without pain and stiffness.

Is it the gin and raisins.The gin. Or a combination including the 3 Advil a day I also started taking? Or is it just dumb luck?

All I know is, I hope it lasts.

Cheers, Millie

UH OH---

(this from our local paper. At least no one was living in it. But still.....what if you had gone shopping and came back to this.......

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, June 11, 2009


"Al Byrd of Sandy Springs got a phone call Monday telling him that his family home in Carroll County had been torn down. The steps remain.The three bedroom house was on a little road bearing Al Byrd’s family’s name.

It’s where all 10 Byrd children grew up, where they gathered to pray, where they lined up youngest to oldest for Christmas gifts, where they recall dad dispensing life lessons from the front porch. It’s where neighbors would walk over to eat watermelons, peanuts and sweet potatoes, and rehearse for the choir.

Now, all that’s left of the house are those memories — and a pile of questions — after the Carroll County home was mistakenly reduced to rubble Monday afternoon.

“It’s incredulous,” said a still-shocked Byrd, a retired Xerox executive who lives in Atlanta. “It’s not about money. This is about family.”

The man who did the yard work at the home, which no one was living in, called Byrd late Monday with the news. Byrd immediately hopped on I-20 and called the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department. He turned onto Byrd Trail — named for his family — in disbelief. Even the mailbox was no longer standing..

“Why did you knock this house down?” Byrd said he asked members of a Marietta demolition company Tuesday morning.

Byrd said a representative of North Georgia Container told him the company was hired by another company, Southern Environmental Services, to raze the home. And that company was hired by Fore Star Property, according to the sheriff’s department report.
None of the three companies responded to messages left Thursday afternoon.

Byrd was told paperwork and GPS coordinates led the demolition crew to 11 Byrd Trail. He said no company ever contacted him before leveling the house.

“If we were going to get rid of it, we would have done it after my father died in 1998,” Byrd said.

He suspects a house on the opposite side of railroad tracks was the intended target of demolition. It’s a wooden home with a green roof — substantially different than his three-bedroom family home.

Vernice Parham, who has lived on the street with two of her six sisters for more than 40 years, was home when the demolition began. “It hurt my heart,” she said. “I wasn’t raised up in it , but I was raised up near it,” Parham said. “I know we got a heavenly home. But we’ve got a Earthly home there.”

Byrd has hired a lawyer, but he isn’t sure what his next step will be yet. His only daughter is getting married on Saturday, and he doesn’t want to be distracted for the big event.

“I’m trying to compartmentalize this,” Byrd said Thursday afternoon. “I don’t want to put a pall on the wedding.”

Possessions

Today as I was reading the New York Times I ran across an interesting question:If you had to leave your home in a big hurry what one item would you choose to save. Or stated another way, what one possession do you love most of all ?

As I thought about all the "stuff" we have accumulated in almost 58 years of marriage in over six different houses, I wondered what one thing is most precious to me.

Not any of the books or knickknacks. Paintings collected over the years. Jewelry. Computers. Furniture. Silverware. Etc etc. It is all just stuff.

The one thing I would grab on my way out in a hurry would be:

The small, black and white photograph of my mother that sits in a silver frame on a bookshelf in my living room. It is a formal studio portrait type popular back then. She sits in a decorative wooden chair. There is a painted landscape background. She is pictured in a white dress, white stockings, her dark hair pulled back in a bun. Her own mother, a farmer's wife but an accomplished seamstress, made this dress with fine tucks adorning the bodice.

The date of the photograph would be about 1915 or so. At this time my mother would have been about 22 years old and teaching school in a one room schoolhouse in rural Georgia near Madison, Georgia. She was single, having not yet met her future husband, my father.

Many times since she died at age 91, I touched this photograph and blew her a kiss saying "Goodnight Mother"

I wish I had just an hour or two to sit down with her again and tell her I understand so much of what she went through as she aged. Now that I am approaching age 80, I better understand the aches and pains; the joys and trails of enduring to old age she talked about back then.

What would you choose to save. What one material possession do you love most?

My Cup Runneth Over

Remember the drought?



The one that enveloped the entire southeastern part of the US. The one that started the water wars between Georgia, Alabama and Florida? The water cops were out in full force. Neighbors were ratting on neighbors for watering lawns, gardens, flower beds.



Articles were written about conservation. Some even went so far as to collect the water in their showers in buckets and reuse it for outdoor watering. And many had expensive wells dug in their yards to bypass the official water sources and watering restrictions. Lush, green lawns were suspect. Signs went up "This lawn is watered using "WELL WATER"



Plans were made to plant cactus gardens.



Lakes Lanier and Allatoona were 12 to 15 feet below average levels. Florida said they needed MORE water released from Lake Lanier so the snail darters could survive. (We human Georgians wanted to survive also). Polititians fumed and fought.



Lake front lots were dry docks. It was HOT and DRY. PARCHED. It went on and on. Year after year. Almost to "dust bowl" proportions. the "Okies" among us were considering loading up the pickups and heading for California.



Then March, April and May 2009 came:



"Unusually active weather pattern brings frequent torrential rains to the Southeast. The last week of March and first week of April brought a shift in the large-scale weather patterns across the Southeast U.S., characterized by an active pattern with frequent low pressure systems moving across the northern Gulf Coast. Several of these systems were slow-moving, allowing soaking rains and thunderstorms to dump heavy accumulations of rain over the two-week period across most of Georgia, Alabama, and North Florida.. The widespread nature of the heavy rainfall has resulted in flooding of low-lying or poorly-drained areas and record or near-record floods on some Georgia and North Florida Rivers."



And according to WSB-TV Channel 2 meteorologist David Chandley



"Finally, the drought is OVER!.
As I track showers and t-storms across the southeast, I found this little nugget on the computer. For the first time in more than 2 years, the state of Georgia is drought free!! "







Oh. And by the way. about a month ago we had a soaker system installed for our tiny front yard and new shrubs.

Probably that did it and the heavens opened up and blessed us all with



Rain.

Beautiful Rain.

Wet wonderful water.

Rain.



cloudburst, deluge, drencher,flood, liquid sunshine, monsoon, pouring, raindrops, rainstorm, sheets, showers, sun shower, torrent, wet stuff.



Whoopee!!!

Twitter?

I don't have a clue. I do not know what Twitter is or what Twitter does or what I could do with Twitter. Why would I want to Twitter? Would Twitter show up on my cell phone? If it did who would Twitter me?
What would they say. What would I say?

Might I Twitter this:

Watched "The Office" and "30 Rock" tonight.
Watched new detective show "Southland"
Good show..hard to follow
Relatives coming for holiday.
Dick Cheney is making an a** of himself.
Again.
Your time is up Dick.
Went to library.
Checked out"Me Talk Pretty One Day"
Sprinkled rain today
Windy yesterday
Blew fern off deck.
Shocked that Adam lost American Idol
Chris cute but no star power
Kara almost did striptease on Idol
I hate tattoos.
Played bridge on net tonite.
Getting sleepy
Going to bed and read.
Nite.






.

US Senate.

Ok.
I know I have been pushing myself too hard for the last few weeks.

Maybe it is the spring time "nesting instinct" or perhaps I am a bit manic also.

Whatever is the cause, recently I have been on a house cleaning, fixing up, having repainting done, new landscaping in our tiny front yard. Activities which have me near exaustion


But today as I was reading the Yahoo News I realized I absolutely had passed the point of no return when I read this headline:

"CHRIST RUNNING FOR THE US SENATE"

what???

of course it read

"Crist running for US Senate" Crist being the present GOP Governor of
Florida.

But then I thought about the field day the press would have with rumors, scandals, inuendos, and so forth if CHRIST" were running for the US Senate. What a time for "swift boating" that would be.

In today's atmosphere even the most holy are not immune from slander.

Spring is for the Birds

Recently I have noticed numerous blog posts about birds building nests near the house. On porches, decks, garages, lampposts and so on.

For instance :
Golden Days Ginnie had this to say about her most recent bird nest find on her front porch:

"a bunch of leaves seemed to have blown together on top of a 3-tier wrought iron piece where I usually put fresh flowers in season.Imagine my surprise when I tried to move it and a startled little Carolina Wren flew out. She had been protecting her eggs and I quickly realized it was her nest."


This made me recall one of the most unusual spots birds have chosen near my home for their nest.

Once some years back my husband had left one of his golf caps on a baker's rack in the open garage. A bird built a nest in it and that tickled us. And hubby lost his golf hat for the duration.

Then another time prior to that I had gotten one of those KiaPet things as a joke gift for hubby. It was of a bald head with seed on top. I watered the KiaPet and the {hair) seed came in green and plentiful.We left it outside on the same rack. After the grass dried out another enterprising bird kept picking the dry grass from the Kia head to use for a nest.

And believe it or not we kept seeing a little bird flying in and out of a small hole in our gas grill on the patio. Yes. It was building a nest in the grill. And of course we couldn't grill until the wee ones hatched. Then we cleaned out the nest and covered the hole. We did not want grilled bird eggs for dinner.:(

Do you remember any unusual or fun places birds have nested near your home?

moirologist

This week's theme for the email "Word A Day" is, "There's a word for it".

I never thought about "hired mourners" but yes,
they do exist, and there is a word for it:





"A.Word.A.Day
moirologist
PRONUNCIATION:(moy-ROL-uh-jist)
MEANING:noun: A hired mourner.

NOTES:There are some things in life money can't buy, for everything else, there's Mastercard. With the right credit card you could even hire mourners for your funeral or find the right sentiment. While researching this word, I came across websites that offer "eulogy packs". One such site lists a "Mother's Eulogy pack" that includes "9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus". Only $25.95 -- have your credit card ready. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97.

. Professional mourners are not a new thing either -- there's a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners' strike in Paris."
------

What do you think? Sounds like an easy job and there would NOT be age discrimination so even I might qualify at age 79. And then I could attend the reception afterwards and enjoy the company and the food?

Or perhaps "wedding crasher" might be a more upbeat hobby? Just drop by the country club or hotel and find a wedding reception in progress and blend in for the food, wine, dancing and mingle either as "distant relative of bride or groom"

Life is dull around here ;)

FAST FORWARD

FAST FORWARD

I am all the ages I have ever been:


The little girl
with the buster brown haircut
who
adored her big brother.
He came
in the house
whistling and calling her
pet nicknames.


I am the teacher's pet
in grammar school
who loved poems
and
stories
and daydreamed
about movie stars
whose films
she saw
at the Palace Theater.
in Athens,Georgia
.
I am the
sister who
waited
for three brothers
to come home
from the war.


I am the distraught
young girl
whose pet dog
was run over
and killed
when he followed her
to town on
an ordinary Saturday.


I am the young woman who
went to work
at age
seventeen
at Southern Bell.
in Atlanta,
starting as an
operator
and progressing
to service representative
in four years.


I am the 21 year old
who met
the love of her life
on September 13
and married
him
on November 22,1951


I am the young mother
of a daughter born
in 1956
another daughter
in 1964
and
a son
in 1965.


I am the mom who
drove carpools
baked cookies
attended school plays
helped with
homework


I am the wife
who traveled
with her
successful businessman
husband
all over
the world

I am the daughter
who cared
for her own
mother
as she aged
and died
at ninety one

.
I am the grandmother
of six
who are
the light of her life


I am the 79 year old
woman
who loves
her husband
of fifty seven years
and wonders
how
in the
heck
did
she
get
so

OLD

and how
did
the
time
go.
whizzing by
So

DARN FAST

I am all the ages I have ever been.

The Free Spirit

Brownies for breakfast,
Her mom told her to eat brownies
for breakfast.

WOW

What a neat
mom.
Most practical moms would say:

"Of course not!!!


You certainly may NOT
eat
Brownies
for
BREAKFAST.
eggs,
cereal,
toast,
oatmeal,
orange juice,
but NOT
BROWNIES!"

But her mom said
eat brownies
for breakfast
cause you may be
too full
later in
the day
for dessert

(chancy)

Answering robots

( So many times when we call a business we get these dumb, impersonal answering robots. so turn about is fair play.)

"Subject: 86-year old lady's letter to bank...... Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman."


Dear Sirs:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month..

By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it.

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.

Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH

#1. To make an appointment to see me
#2. To query a missing payment.
#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping
#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home
#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier .
#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7
#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service .

#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English.

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call..

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client"

The Bobby Soxer...Me

A lonely teen age girl sits in the dark listening to the new sensation, Frank Sinatra, as he croons a soft love ballad on his nightly radio show.


He signs off every program with these lyrics:


“Put your dreams away

For another day,

And I will take their placeIn your heart.


Wishing on a star

Never got you far

So it’s time to make

A new start”


She turns off the radio, takes out her bobby pins, dampens each strand of her Toni Home Permed brown hair. Then rolls it up in small, flat, pin curls.


She arranges her books for the next school day. Says a prayer for her three brothers who are serving overseas in the war.


Soon she goes to sleep hoping to dream of Frankie.




.

Tomorrow

I loved the musical "Annie" and especially loved the feel good song the little redhead sang:

"The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

Bet your bottom dollar

That tomorrow

There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about

Tomorrow

Clears away the cobwebs,

And the sorrow

'Til there's none!



When I'm stuck with a day

That's gray,
And lonely,



I just stick out my chin

And Grin,
And Say,



Oh! The sun'll come out

Tomorrow

So ya gotta hang on

'Til tomorrow

Come what may



Tomorrow!

Tomorrow!

I love ya Tomorrow!

You're always

A day

A way! "



It's a beautiful, sunny, spring day in Atlanta, Georgia.

The daffodils are blooming their bright yellow

Heads off

The flowering crab apples

Are tossing their pink petals

On the ground like a spring snow.



AND



They're all gone.

The plumber is gone

The washing machine

Repair guy

Is gone

Carpet reinstallers

Gone

Carpet cleaner
Gone.

Finished and gone.

Just in time

As I was

Too tired to chew.

"Tomorrow" finally came for us and we lived through it all.
:)