The Pin Ball Machine

In the early 70’s (and many decades preceding ) , before the dawn of modern technology, we had strange mechanical devices for amusement, such as the pinball machine. These behemoths were heavy, clunky and a wonderful source of entertainment and sometimes gambling devices.
My old friend Jerry Rubin was the repairman etc. for his father in his pinball machine and juke box business. Jerry was the only friend I knew who had a beeper, and more than one Saturday night Jerry would get called out of a dinner or movie to rush to some bar to make emergency repairs to one kind of machine or another.

There were some rich people we would read about who actually owned their own machines, but that would have been some weird dream.

So, one summer day in the 70’s, being an adult with a small bit of extra cash, I asked Jerry if it would be possible to obtain a machine of my own. I wanted a 5 ball, flipper style pinball machine, and since I knew Jerry, I figured age was not a big problem because Jerry had already proven he could fix anything including replacing the master cylinder outside in a snowstorm the year before.

He called around and found one for me for $75 cash, and arranged for a van so we could go and get it. I think the transaction took less than an hour from call to installation in my house!

It remained downstairs in my family room until we moved a few years later, and then it lived in my living room for a few years. Jerry bought it back from me some years later for $75, and took it to his house. It could still be there, I don’t know.

My oldest son said, when I asked if he remembered the name of the machine, “It was an integral part of my formative years. It would be like asking you for the recipe for meat blintzes”.

We had it from about 1972 until somewhere in the 1980’s I believe. We had removed the nickel slot device early on so there was no charge for the games. It was used by all three kids, all their friends, all of our friends and was the focal point for at least the guys at all dinner and cocktail parties from that time until the end. We did keep the counter on and we racked up 15,000 games during the time we had it.

Now if we had kept the nickel thing and had done all the games (never would have happened) we would have an intake of $750 for our $75 machine.
It was a mind blowing experience that everyone loved and is as clear in my mind today as it was when we had it.

The poster for this machine (left) today costs $20.



The machine was a Bally "Trio":

Manufacturer: Bally Manufacturing Corporation (1931-1983) [Trade Name: Bally]



Project Date: July 27, 1965


Date Of Manufacture: November, 1965


Model Number: 768


Type: Electro-mechanical (EM)


Production: 750 units (approximate)


Serial Number Database: View at The Internet Pinball Serial Number Database (IPSND.net) (External site)


Theme: Happiness - Music - Singing - Dancing


Notable Features: Flippers (2), Pop bumpers (4), Mushroom bumpers (4), Slingshots (2), Kick-out hole (1). Right outlane ball return gate.


Build bonus on playfield to open free ball gate and light Special out lane. Ball through free ball gate advances backglass lights for bonus at 10th light.


Maximum displayed point score is 9,999 points.


Tilt penalty: game over.


Design by: Ted Zale


Notes: Some Trio games were made as an "Added Ball" version. In this version, the credit wheel in the backbox was removed and replaced with a larger reel showing the 'added balls' to be played. This "Added Balls" feature functions the same as the well-known "Add-A-Ball" feature; only the phrasing is different.


Bally provided production run data indicating they made 750 of these games. Their serial numbering during this time period usually started at 1001 which meant their last game would be stamped 1750. However, a number of Trio games have been located that carry serial numbers beyond the expected final number of 1750. We list a few of them here:


TR 1787 - "Added balls" version, located in the USA, Feb 2009.


TR 2106 - standard credit version located in the USA, Jan 2004.


TR 2333 - located in Italy, May 2003.


TR 2355 - standard credit version located in Italy, Sept 2002.


Photos in: Encyclopedia of Pinball Volume 2, page 238


Mike Pacak's Pinball Flyer Reference Book S-Z


Pinball Machines (Eiden-Lukas), page 82

The TV Set

These are not the same 60's RCA metal cabinet 21" TV sets but they come close.

In the early 60’s I was working at the Hecht Company in Baltimore, one of the May Company stores. I was just beginning a teaching career, and continued to work there through college and beyond to earn extra money. I worked in the record department most of the time I was there, and worked next door to the major appliances and electronics and worked with those guys when they needed help.

While I was out one day, during a TV sale, an older couple came in and wanted a “French Provincial” model TV console that we had on special. These were white and gold colored and really in pretty bad taste when I think about, but at the time it was high end decorating in my area. These people lived in a huge new apartment building, a very expensive residence for sure, and we had a trade-in sale going on at the time. We offered $1 a screen inch as a trade in for your old TV on a new model.

They had a 21” table model RCA TV to trade and told my friend Len it was almost new, but they wanted the French provincial look in their new apartment. He offered them the deal and they took it. He asked them if they would be willing to let me have it for the $21 as I was a young father and this would be great for us. They were happy to oblige, and I went to the fancy apartment house and retrieved the 21” RCA, metal cabinet TV. It must have weighed a ton as I remember, and there was a cart in the place I used to transport it to my house.


I probably wouldn’t have remembered much of this story but as people remember where they were when major events happen, I remember watching the Kennedy assignation films and the actual Lee Harvey Oswald assassination the next day on that same TV set.

As I wrote yesterday...

Yesterday I wrote before doing the recipes:


When I grew up, going out to dinner usually meant going to a deli. We had a favorite deli nearby, on Garrison Boulevard in Baltimore, called Paul’s.

On Friday evening we often would go there as a family, my parents and I, and even later on I would go with my parents and my wife and kids.

One thing I loved that they had on the menu was meat blintzes with mushroom gravy, something I have been thinking about for the last 40 years or so and thought this would be a good time to make them.

After this appeared, my old friend Joel Cohen in Denver wrote to send me a photo of Paul’s, as it stands today, the Supreme Oasis Bakery and Deli.  Time has done much damage to Paul’s and to the area. I was saddened by the photo and sadly can find no photos on the net of the “good old days” of Paul’s.

The Traditional Meal

I had another opportunity to cook today, not just my usual Tuesday, and even with the use of one and a half arms, as my right one is still a bit useless, I was able to get together a great meal, full of nostalgia for me.


I wanted to make a traditional Jewish meal because I miss my grandmother’s home cooking, and I like to recreate some favorites. As a matter of fact, both of these were never made by either my mother or my grandmother, but traditional they are.

When I grew up, goin g out to dinner usually meant going to a deli. We had a favorite deli nearby, on Garrison Boulevard in Baltimore, called Paul’s. On Friday evening we often would go there as a family, my parents and I, and even later on I would go with my parents and my wife and kids. One thing I loved that they had on the menu was meat blintzes with mushroom gravy, something I have been thinking about for the last 40 years or so and thought this would be a good time to make them.

Along with that I made kasha varnishkes, another traditional dish made of bowtie pasta and buckwheat.

I searched through lots of recipes and made up with this one and it was a winner.

Meat Blintzes

Filling:

1 pound lean ground beef (I used kosher beef because I was being traditional)

1 sweet onion, mostly (3/4) grated and some (1/4) chopped bits

1 carrot, grated

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon flour

½ cup water

In a large frying pan cook the meat along with the onions, carrots, Worcestershire, spices, flour and the water for at least ten to fifteen minutes on medium high, until it’s cooked through. Cook covered for a few more minutes on a lower heat. Let sit covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and blend in a beaten egg to the mixture. Turn off the heat, cover and let it rest for five more minutes.

Blintze Batter (batter recipe from Jennie Grossinger’s cook book)

3 eggs

1 cup milk or water

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

¾ cup flour

Butter or oil for frying

Beat the eggs, milk, salt and oil together. Stir in the flour. Heat a 6” small fry pan and add a little oil or butter. Pour about 4 tablespoons of the mixture into the hot pan, tilting the pan to coat the bottom and a bit of the sides. Use enough batter to make a thin pancake. Let the bottom brown and turn it out, bottom side (brown) up onto a paper towel. Make all the pancakes. This will make about 8-10.

Spread a heaping tablespoon or more of filling over the top of the blintz, and turn and roll up like a jelly roll, browned side on the inside.

You can pan fry them at this point or bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes until brown. You can sprinkle a bit of paprika on them if you bake to insure browning.

The blintze batter is a crepe recipe and can be used for fruit and cheese blintzes as well.


Kasha Varnishkes

In 1925 Wolff Brothers of Paterson, New Jersey, published a Yiddish English cook book with recipes culled from a kasha cooking contest run in all the Jewish newspapers throughout the country. "Recipes of thousands of Jewish dishes were sent us," they wrote modestly, "but we selected only the very best among them and these are listed here." The recipes included buckwheat blintzes, vegetarian buckwheat cutlets, and "a tasteful grits soup" made from their Health Food (merely unroasted buckwheat groats), green peas, and potatoes. The varnishke recipe was basically a kreplach-type noodle stuffed with kasha, buckwheat groats, and gribenes.

Packaged bow-tie noodles,large and small, quickly replaced the flat homemade egg noodles in the American version of kasha varnishkes. The trick to a good kasha varnishke is to toast the whole-grain buckwheat groat well over a high heat for 2 to 4 minutes until you start smelling the aroma of the kasha. This will seal the groats so that there is a nutty, crunchy taste to them, a good foil to the soft taste of the noodles. You can add fresh parsley and sometimes coriander. Although traditionalists use bow-tie noodles for this, try rigatoni, shells, or any other kind of noodle you like.

Wolff Brother’s Recipe (My version)

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 to 3 tablespoons margarine or oil

• 1 large egg, slightly beaten

• 1 cup medium or coarse kasha

• 2 cups water or bouillon

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• 3/4 pound large or small bow tie-shaped noodles

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (optional)

1. Sauté the onions in 2 tablespoons of the margarine or oil in a heavy frying pan with a cover until golden. Remove to a plate.

2. Beat the egg in a small mixing bowl and stir in the kasha. Mix, making sure all the grains are coated. Put the kasha in the same frying pan, set over a high heat. Flatten, stir, and break up the egg-coated kasha with a fork or wooden spoon for 2 to 4 minutes or until the egg has dried on the kasha and the kernels brown and mostly separate.

3. Add the water or bouillon, salt, and pepper to the frying pan and bring to a boil. (I added a few sliced mushrooms just because I had them around.) Add the onions, cover tightly, and cook over low heat, steaming the kasha for 10 minutes. Remove the cover, stir, and quickly check to see if the kernels are tender and the liquid has been absorbed. If not, cover and continue steaming for 3 to 5 minutes more.

4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the bow-tie noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain.

5. When the kasha is ready, combine with the noodles. Adjust the seasoning, sprinkle with the parsley and coriander. If desired, add a bit more margarine or oil.

I will admit that I used two packages of prepared brown gravy mix, two cups of water and added that to a package of sliced mushrooms that I had sautéed.

We served some veggies on the side and this made quite a feast! Definitely give this one a try!

I can't get it up (my arm, that is)

I had just written about my big fall last Friday, and making fun of myself as usual, when another week went by and lo and behold, here it comes again! I am the king of self deprecating humor.


Standing at my construction site, in my sparkling new (embarrassingly so) steel toe boots and wearing an appropriate hard hat I was prepared for anything, anything except ice, that is.

As I stood and watched people doing actual work, nursing a bad right shoulder left over from last week’s fall and grab (the banister), I slipped on the ice. I fell to the earth snapping my right shoulder against a short brick decorative wall and falling on the shoulder. My first thought after the embarrassing moment ended was that I broke something and I gradually checked each visible appendage to see that they all worked. The problem seems to be that my right arm was not working. I was able to move it, albeit with my left hand, not always a convenient way to shake hands etc. I had much pain, and was sitting on an ice bank with wet knees, a wet seat and lots of arm, shoulder pain.

The guys with me wanted to help me up but I declined, knowing it would be a painful event. I knew if I worked at it, over time, I might be able to stand. I didn’t want to take the time to go to the hospital as I was waiting for someone and didn’t want to disappoint my guest.

Over the course of the rest of the day, going out last night, sleeping, waking, walking Max and making breakfast I have realized that I may be ambidextrous or that overnight God has made me left handed.

I have full use of my right hand as I am sitting and typing into a computer. I can use my arm in a downward position, and do not need help (THANK GOD) in the toilet. I just can’t raise my arm above my hip. I can move it there with minimal pain using my left hand, but not a long term solution.

My mother was still right, as I said in yesterdays post, and I do bounce. For an old guy I can fall and not do too much damage but this sucks! I may actually have to see the doctor on Monday and seek some relief.

I hate this crap! I want to be healed! I need a miracle cure!

I need to send $5 to some radio preacher guy out there for a healing prayer cloth.

Taking A Header

The start of my father in laws down fall was precipitated by a fall down his front hall stairs. It’s not unusual for a series of medical events to be started by an accident, and his, although he clearly was having troubles with Alzheimers before the fall, was exacerbated by such an event. So, given my advancing age and my general health, I move more slowly than I used to. In terms of stairs, I definitely take it a bit slower, and I am always aware when I am on the stairs of my situation because I don’t want the same kind of thing to happen to me.


Saying that, last week on Friday morning after my father in law’s funeral, at 4:20 a.m., I had awoken and decided to go downstairs (down the same stairs at his house where he had fallen) and watch some TV. I had a long drive in front of me that day and I guess I was a bit keyed up after the funeral and didn’t sleep that well. I carefully walked to the top of the stairs, started down very slowly, one bare foot at a time when I slipped.

I started down, caught myself by my hand on a banister and ended up turning somehow in the air and turned completely over on to my stomach, my right hand on the banister. My shoulder felt like it had been ripped up a bit, I fell about four or five stairs, made a huge noise but my prayers were answered. Nothing was broken!

My wife who always worries that I may have died in some way or another came running out loudly whispering (stage whisper) “Arthur, are you all right?” I just laughed so hard.

I quoted my late mother who said, “Arthur, when we fall on our fat asses at any age all we do is bounce!”

The Coffee Grinder (revisited as promised)

On January 3, 2011 I wrote:

I received a few pounds of whole bean coffee for my birthday, and I decided it would be fun to grind coffee myself, A few friends of mine and my brother-in-law all do it, and I figured it was worth a try.


My options were limited. I guess I could have gone to somewhere that had a grinder and beg them, or surreptitiously sneak in to the super market and grind my coffee in their grinder. I could have rescued our hand cranked coffee grinder from my basement storage, a 19th century model, beautiful and antique, and probably great for coffee you boil for a while. Instead, I decided to buy one.

I knew we used to have one, a blade model, which had been used for spices and would impart a bad taste for coffee at this point. My brief investigation on the internet gave me the new concept that a burr grinder was necessary if I was going to be a player in this new world. I was getting hooked!

I looked around on the net and found models ranging from about $100 to several thousand. I was getting unhooked!

I needed a deal. Looking around, I found a Black and Decker model that sounded like what I wanted and retailed for $35 to $40 in Canada. Things are more expensive here and less is available. Sending things here from the US is often difficult or very expensive. Often, I send stuff to my mother-in-law and pick it up when we’re in New Jersey. But, I wanted to use this one now, so I bit the bullet and went out and for $35 plus all our taxes, I got the Black and Decker.

What I should have done before I bought it was looked at reader’s experiences, but I didn’t.

One of the web sites I looked at recommended a small Cuisinart one that was their version of a “Best Buy”; low end, (around $100) and good quality. My brother-in-law had one of these, I believe.

The Canadian Tire web site had a few readers’ comments which weren’t too bad. I hadn’t looked at Amazon.com yet, not until after I purchased it. I read these and my heart was stilled. There were 93 of them! This is a record for consumer’s comments in my world; this is only done if something is hated! Here are just a few edited versions, not all the bad ones:

*What this is not: a highly precise burr grinder with a wide range of grind settings


What this is: a very good alternative to a blade grinder that grinds at a lower speed (as all burr grinders do), and thus won't burn the beans and is relatively quiet


I think it's safe to say that the manufacturer didn't intend this grinder to compete with high-end burr grinders, like the great one from Kitchen Aid. This grinder sells at the same price point of blade grinders, albeit with a slight premium. And, for good reason.


This grinder provides a relatively consistent grind size (there's even a mod listed in these reviews that promises to help). The size of grind on the smallest and the largest settings really is not that different - it clearly does not have the range of a serious burr grinder. But, as a casual burr grinder, this thing is great.


*If you need an occasional grinder, like if your friend gives you beans occasionally or if you want to get started in grinding without a large investment - this grinder is a great value. If, however, you want a grinder capable of grinding coffee beans into the almost-flour-like espresso and the large almost-pebble-size-grind for your French press, and you expect this grinder to do all that - what are you thinking?


Someone included a”how to repair” the new item (why bother?)


*Paid $19 at Target and was dismayed at the random grind it produced. Realized it was a good design, just poorly executed. Here is how to fix it:


1. Pop out the top grinding head as per the cleaning instructions.


2. Carefully unscrew the two screws securing the grinding head to the plastic insert.


3. Trace the circular grinding head on a business card.


4. Cut this out to make a gasket that will fit between the grinding plate and the plastic insert.


5. Re-assemble and insert into the hopper as per the cleaning instructions.


Now it will grind your coffee beans consistently to whatever degree you want.


I'd give it 5 stars for value, but it should have been made right in the first place!


*coffee aficionado friend who roasts his own coffee once told me that for uniformity of ground size, mill grinders generally were considered best, followed by burr grinders, then blade ones. Not wanting to spend over $100 for a mill, when I saw this Black & Decker burr-mill grinder at a reasonable price, I figured, "Why not?" My current blade grinder was old; was it time to upgrade to a better grinder? This does look a lot better on a countertop than the round conventional blade grinders. The answer, I discovered, in summary, is "No," because THIS IS A DISASTER MASKING AS A COFFEE GRINDER.


*I've learned that with my blade grinder I get the most uniform grounds, as fine as I want, by holding and shaking it while grinding, counting to a given number, depending on the amount of coffee. Usually about 20 seconds is sufficient. Leaving it on the counter sans shaking still gives decent grind uniformity, but I am a perfectionist where possible, so I suspend and shake while grinding. With this burr grinder, it takes 30 seconds to grind 4 rounded tablespoons of beans, about 60 seconds plus for making enough for a pot of coffee. As with all home grinders you have to hold the switch on. Say a prayer while waiting for this to finish grinding.


*With the Black and Decker Burr Mill Coffee Bean Grinder, I ran several test grindings, with the adjustable grind control on various settings. I learned quickly that the only usable setting is on the "finest" grind, because the other settings made a grind so coarse as to be unsatisfactory even in percolator coffee makers. The knob and adjustment no doubt was put there to improve marketability of the product.


*READ THIS: with the B&D burr mill grinder a UNIFORM grind is impossible, regardless of fineness. A FINE grind is impossible; a MEDIUM GRIND without uniformity requires a second pass of the first grinding. It does, however, do a great job of making a non-uniform medium-coarse grind. Thus, the grounds will work OK in a percolator coffee maker, which uses a coarser grind. Do you use a drip coffee maker? Forget it.


What's more? Convenience and cleanliness. Never thought these would be issues with a simple machine? They are. The grinder comes with a brush, NEEDED to clean the spout and the dust particles that stick to the insides of the deep receptacle for the grounds. If you don't use it, the spout will ultimately clog with old grounds, and, even if it doesn't clog initially, per the instructions the oils in the residual grounds around the spout can become rancid. Moral? Cleaning is necessary. Further, the grounds receptacle is in two parts. Thus, to use the grounds you have to take the cover off and not misplace it. When you do, often a few grounds find their way to the countertop. Ergo, cleanup. Remember that you have to keep track of the brush and store it, also. More? Yep. The manual says the receptacle for grounds must be hand-washed; it's apparently not top-dishwasher safe.

*This grinder is a waste of money.


It does not grind with any uniformity, large chunks mixed with fine grounds


Not suitable for espresso or Turkish, or any fine grind requirements.


Spend a bit more and get a quality product with good reviews


I wish i had stayed at home........


*This is a good looking coffee grinder and doesn't take up a whole lot of space.


The bad:


1) No variation in the grind settings. It seems to grind the coffee the same at every setting.


2) Noisy. I owned a prior brand that just hummed. This one is loud.


3) Dropped lid to the grinder box and it shattered. Now looking for a replacement box and lid. Durability. Poor.


*Over the years I had heard that conical burr grinders are much better than blade grinders, but I always thought it's proponents to be gullible. My blade grinder worked just fine. It didn't "overheat" my coffee as far as I could tell, so what did I care if it used a blade or a burr? In fact, what the heck is a burr? But then I got into roasting green coffee beans myself, which puts one immediately in touch with the very upper-class coffee snobs. I soon started to get ridiculed by my fellow roasters: "What, you roast your own coffee but still use a blade grinder?" So, being the cheap fool that I am, I went to Walmart and bought one of these inexpensive Black and Decker burr grinders. It took me about a half hour with it to discover that even on it's finest setting it can only obtain a very very course grind and therefore results in a very thin, blah cup of coffee. So I stuck the brand new Black and Decker in the garage and put my old blade grinder back on the kitchen counter and my coffee tasted good again. I would never have bought another burr grinder myself, but my brother ended up giving me a Solis Crema Maestro burr grinder for my birthday. Well, I love it. I think the coffee does taste better, but who really knows since every pot of coffee tastes different to me anyway. But this Black and Decker thing is not to be taken seriously. It's a step backwards, not forwards. Don't make the same mistake I did. Keep using your blade grinder until your brother gives you a real conical burr grinder or you save up for a real conical burr grinder. Or just keep using your blade grinder; it's ok, I won't tell anyone.

*I bought this about 2 weeks ago. I think I got about 3 grinds worth before it clogged and smoked.


I was able to unclog it, though that was not easy, and I got another grind out of it before it died completely. It's not really serviceable, I threw it away. I feel like my money was outright stolen from me. I would be ashamed to put my name on a product this bad.


*If I could give negative stars, I would. Apparently, the container does not fit correctly into the grinder, resulting in coffee dust and grids that cover EVERYTHING in about a three-foot radius. I'm contacting the manufacturer to find out what to do.


*Like everyone else here, I found the B&D CBM210 grinder to look great and work like crap. It's Turkish/espresso grind was too big for a drip coffee maker. The coarsest settings were too fine for French press.


BUT...a guy on here came up with a solution...take the 2 screws out of the removable grinder part; trace the circle on a business card (or paper with similar thickness), cut it out and place it in the bottom of the grinder and place the top burr on top. Replace the screws. The whole process will take you 5 minutes.


What you will get is a grinder that now can grind perfect espresso grind. I bought as an espresso grinder...so I did not try the other settings.


I was going to return the unit, but thanks to that guy, it works and I love it now. To the guy that took the time to figure out the problem and the solution...THANK YOU!! You should be working at B&D :) You are brilliant! Thank you so much!


*This product was horrible. I saw it on the shelf at Wal-Mart and decided to buy it. I thought that a burr mill grinder for under 30 dollars was too good to be true....It was. I bought it to use for espresso, which requires an extremely fine grind of coffee. The grind came out the same no matter what setting you put it on. Everything came out from coffee dust to (literally) whole coffee beans. This machine is useless for almost every type of coffee. Too coarse for espresso and drip coffee machines. There are many fine coffee particles that would slip through the filter of a French press. I returned this product the next day. This is a lesson, never buy something that sounds too good to be true until you read the reviews.

*When I first purchased this grinder I loved it. It was inexpensive, small, and seemed to operate just fine. I tried different grinder settings to maximize the grind for my automatic drip coffee maker. After using it I realized it had several significant shortcomings. You have to use a minimum of 50% more beans to get the same strength coffee. This "hidden expense" make this a long term very expensive grinder. And even more important, the quality of the coffee from this grinder is notably inferior to the coffee made from beans ground with the grinder I replaced it with (Infinity Conical Burr model 560 - which I LOVE). Another problem with the Black & Decker grinder is the chamber where the ground coffee collects has a lid which when placed on the counter while you are making coffee makes a notable mess. I was constantly cleaning up after the Black & Decker grinder. The Black & Decker Burr Coffee Grinder is expensive to use, makes inferior coffee, and makes a mess.


*This grinder looks good, but most coffee fans don't want coarse grounds coming out of an aesthetically pleasing machine. Take my advice: Don't waste your money on this contraption. Either settle for using a hammer on your coffee beans or consider another manufacturer. This model is a piece of junk. My new BW is going into the garbage and I'm going back to the store -- for a European model. The folks at BW need to either stick to making drills or bring their development department up to speed.


They were all right! It was horrible. I tried it three times, and the coffee was terrible, thin and not drinkable. All the grind sizes were the same, coarse and not usable. I tried to regrind the ground coffee to no avail. It was a mess.

I returned the unit as unacceptable and went on my way.

I wasn’t going to accept defeat.

I ordered the $100 Cuisinart from Amazon for $43.54 with free shipping and no tax and sent it to New Jersey. Whatever happens, we’ll know in March when we’re back from March Break!

I just came back from New Jersey with my coffee grinder and it's a wonder! It grinds quietly, evenly and with a minimum of noise. Four stars to Cuisinart! It works just as it was supposed to!

Mystery Revealed "The Gonifs"

On January 3, 2011 I wrote:


We believe the photo was taken in Russia. The writing on the back, from which we thought we could derive a clue, leaves us clueless. Several scholars (my mother’s words when she was alive and involved with this) have looked at it and could not make a determination as to what it says.

We assumed these were cousins of my maternal Grandparents, or so my mother seemed to believe, and these were her parent’s photographs

I believe, after several attempts were made, that the postcard is written in phonetic Russian (or even Lithuanian) but with Hebrew script characters, the same way Yiddish is written with Hebrew characters.

The only person capable of translating this would be someone who can speak both Hebrew and Russian. So far, I’ve not met anyone.

So. If you know these guys, drop me a line…….


My cousin Sherry took up the cause and brought forth the postcard to her Rabbi. She said, “Rabbi Kosman will see if he can translate the letter.”

He worked very hard on it and declared it to be written in Yiddish, just poorly written. He worked at it and even though a word or two is still a bit of a mystery, here is the text:

" Best to Uncle. Since I have an opportunity to write, I’ll write you a few words. I’ve been this week as a guest by mother’s. From you came a letter with 10 dollars. That is too bad. At one time it was $10. Today it’s not more than $5. It has fallen 50%. First of all mama thanks you very much. But, mama is not at all satisfied. You can’t have anything against her. She is a weak woman and if it is possible we wish you would send more money. The business is very bad.

As you know I am working on getting ready (making preparations) as a pioneer and after Passover I need already to go away to Israel. And with my leaving my economic condition will improve and at the same time also my mothers. But, in one matter lies the difficult point of things. That is money and things. One time you also sent a package. Today it’s what I need immediately you didn’t send it to me. I’ll see you later in Israel. I’m finishing my writing. Stay well. Feel my longing quickly. I’ll see you in Israel. This is also with my friendship from the kibbutz."

My “cousins” were gonif’s!

The Thesaurus says a gonif - (Yiddish) a thief or dishonest person or scoundrel (often used as a general term of abuse)

ganef, ganof, goniff

Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script

offender, wrongdoer - a person who transgresses moral or civil law

I am offended by the tone of the letter but maybe you had to be there to understand. I am surprised my grandparents kept the post card unless they couldn’t read it either and saved it for someone else to translate later on. My cousin Sherry and I assume that somewhere these relatives, or perhaps their descendants are living, and we hope they don’t find us, as they will probably ask us for money!

Needless to say, ain’t comin’ from here!

Greg's Eulogy

I have been away for a few days attending a memorial service for my late father in law, Gregor Hetzel. I was able to give the eulogy, and was so pleased to be able to do it.



It was hard for me to do and I did have a problem getting through the beginning and the end parts especially, because those were the serious parts and the hardest to say. However, I had fun with the middle stuff and treated it like any other talk I would do, with humor and respect.


After the service itself, my wife played the piano with a loving redition of "Pennies From Heaven", a song she explained, that her father sang to her as a small child, my sister in law read a piece she wrote about her father that brought me to tears and after that (two tough acts to follow) it was my turn.

Here’s the text and I hope you can enjoy the piece, even if you didn’t know him, and maybe you can get some insight in to the man:



Thank you for freeing up some time out of your busy schedules to come here today.

I’m sure Greg would have appreciated it.

All of you here may have known Greg as either Sandy or Margot’s father, or Nancy’s husband; and some of you may have known Greg as an uncle, or as a cousin, or as in my case – a father-in-law.

But, I think, out of all these relationships, the common denominator which everyone in this room will agree on, is contained in the most descriptive title, friend.

Greg was a friend to everyone he met.

He had an irrepressible desire and ability to make new acquaintances wherever he went, even if for a short time.

When I suggested to Nancy that I do a eulogy, my wife and my daughter strongly reminded me, “Dad, remember, this is a eulogy, not a roast”.

So, in keeping with that spirit, I will say that I knew Greg for 26 years, and all but the last few were an array of wonderful, crazy experiences. Seldom was anything “just the same old, same old” with Greg. Every day was often a new adventure.

When I met him, he was already moving away. I don’t remember how long he stayed in Michigan after I met him, but it wasn’t more than a few months! But even those months were an experience.

In those days, when we first met, he was fully into his photography experience. He was the Paparazzi before we even knew the word. He was the ultimate intrusive photographer.

There was a table full of us eating dinner in Greektown, in Detroit. Greg was there and decided to memorialize the experience as only he knew how. Dissatisfied with the photos he could take standing in the aisle looking at us, he walked up another level, explained to the patrons at the other table that he was a photographer from the Detroit Free Press and asked if he could use their table. They reluctantly agreed and he moved their things out of the way and stood on their table to take the photo.

Margot tells me a story that when her parents went to see them in New Zealand, they traveled to the South Island by car, and the car had a sun roof. They had driven to the top of a mountain and stopped, in the middle of a cloud bank. Greg stood up through the sun roof, and went about photographing the insides of the clouds.

Greg would always visit us with tools. He was well equipped to fix his car, the plane or my house, any time he arrived. He also loved shopping for tools and other hardware store items.
Every time he had a new job to do he would go off for an unknown amount of time to the hardware store to look for something. When I fist met him I realized I had seen him many times before and it took a while until I realized, because we lived so close together in Michigan, only about a mile apart, we shopped at the same hardware store. So the source of my recognition of Greg was Damman’s Hardware Store in Birmingham, MI.

I rebuilt the inside of our closet in 2000. Greg and Nancy were visiting and he offered to help me with the construction phase, just basically installing some new rods, some shelving and painting the place. He had his tools and he was with me.

We were in the closet and I already had the parts. I began to mark the walls and he stopped and looking at me, very confused. When was I going to the store? When did we go off and get stuff? He could not imagine we simply had everything already, and were just going to put it all in.

I completed the job that morning, and a very disappointed Greg helped me, of course, but really saw a week long adventure dwindle into one and a half hours of direct, purposeful experience.

He loved to save things and put them in the basement or the garage.

Greg loved to collect things...

But, I never could figure out the theme of what he was collecting...

Nancy called me and said, “We have 500 ties!” I assured her we’d take of it when I arrived, thinking she had exaggerated. However, I was wrong, there were 500 ties!

He was interested in everything... and knew a little bit about everything he was interested in, and he shared his knowledge and experience, freely, with all.

That’s the kind of Man Greg always was... a helpful man... One who was always willing to lend me a hand, even when you didn’t need one.

We went out to dinner shortly after we moved to Calgary, Alberta, and had our bonding experience.

We parked my car and walked several blocks to the restaurant. The dinner was wonderful, and Greg and I said we would walk back and get the car, as it was -20 Celsius, and we didn’t want Nancy and Sandy to freeze.

Neither one of us could find the car for an hour or so, and we had no real protection beyond a light weight coat and he had a hat and gloves. I believe one of us fell down although at this point in history I can’t remember which one of us it was, but we bonded. Nancy and Sandy were planning on going home with the restaurant owner and calling the police later, but we arrived with a bit of frostbite, joined as brothers of the arctic.

We were together in Anaheim California at Disneyland on Christmas Eve, 1995, for my son Josh’s wedding. My family and I were in the pool at about 4:00p.m., right after we arrived, and Greg and Nancy appeared. We were in the pool our bathing suits (having just come down from the Alberta deep freeze) and I can still see Greg with his wool jacket, scarf, hat and gloves, staring at us. It was then I knew we were form Mars and Greg and Nancy were from Venus.

In running around Disneyland for a day or two, it was fun to see how Cruella DeVille took a liking to Greg. She picked him out of the crowd, and he of course became her friend immediately. She was a costumed actress playing the part of the mean woman from a Hundred and One Dalmatians, but Greg clearly melted her heart.

He always did erratic and unpredictable things, and one of my favourite ones was how he would disappear for periods of time and we would discover afterwards that he had gone to get a haircut somewhere or another. His excuse had to do with wanting a different barber but not wanting to hurt his barber’s feelings by telling him or not going, but he could justify all this by having his hair cut in strange places, usually near my house

For Greg, breakfast was always a buffet, if possible.

Many of my best memories are going to restaurants for breakfast with Greg, and his ordering five or six different items which was easier than trying to settle on any one thing. He would have some hot cereal, and egg, some bacon, some toast and a coffee. This was often the kind of breakfast Nancy served him, just not in the giant restaurant sized portions he received at his own personal buffet!

He often would order what I called the wrong food in the wrong place; He was the one who ordered the fish sandwich at White Castle!

He was kind, warm and loving. He was caring and charming. He was the king of conversation.

One night in Calgary he spoke to me about his retirement investments with Fidelity. He wanted to discuss these investments, and of course I was not the correct person to talk to but he had an 800 number to call. He assured me they had a 24 hour hot line with people just waiting to answer your questions.

When I went up to bed at about 11:30 p.m., he had called Fidelity. When I came down in the morning at about 7:00 a.m., he was still on the phone! Now I will admit there was the possibility that he had gone to bed and woken up and called again, but I don’t think so! He was the king of conversation.

He was a most honest man and always assumed others were the same. This was a wonderful trait that also sometimes got him into trouble. He was the only person I’ve ever met, and you will have to pardon the ethnic stereotype I am about to continue, he was the only person who knowingly purchased a used car from a Gypsy, an orange Volvo with striped seat covers!

Toward the end of his life, when we were visiting him in the nursing home, our group came into his room. He seemed happy to see us, smiled at Nancy, wasn’t quite sure who Sandy was, sort of recognized the girls and said, right off the top of his head, “Oh, hi Arthur, good to see you!”

In my last visit, when he could not remember my name, he said, “You’re the guy that fixes the houses!”.

He was a loving husband, father and grandfather, a wonderful father-in-law, and he is surely missed.

He gave of himself freely; a friend to all he encountered.

I believe Greg wanted to be needed....to help.....and he was always there when he was needed.

Greg can rest easy. He has helped us all.

We’ll miss you friend.

Recipe Fix

I had to do something, so I made mini crab cakes in a small frying pan using the recipe from the side of the Old Bay can. I put them aside.

I used the same pan to cook  carrots, celery and onions in equal proportions and added three garlic cloves. After it all sautéed down a bit I added sliced mushrooms, about half a pound and cooked them into the mixture. I also added several types of peppers, including one small chopped up hot one. To this I added a half of a large box of spinach , a lot of chopped parsley, and half a jar of left over spaghetti sauce, left over from last week. I used some salt and pepper.

I heated yesterday's shrimp and pasta, added all the aforementioned ingredients. I mixed very carefully and had quite a large bowl, larger than I had when I started a few days ago and have already had three meals from it.

I put a portion in a separate bowl, added Romano cheese on top, topped all that with three mini crab cakes and had an incredible meal!

I now have to deal with a huge amont of additional leftovers.

I probably would have been better off letting my dog have the original leftovers and been done with it.

I made a great save!

I will freeze the stuff and the six remaining mini crab cakes (I made nine out of half a pound of Maryland crab meat).

I hope my family will eventually appreciate the entire journey.

My friends, I am taking off for a few days but look for me again on Saturday or Sunday. As McArthur said after WWII, "I will return!".

The Wrong Recipe

I’m home alone for a few days and it becomes my pleasure to be able to cook for myself. I will admit there are some challenges I face when this happens, different from my Tuesday night opportunities. I have not the ability to cook for one!

When I first was without my family and lived alone, in 1985, it was already a problem trying to buy the correct amount of food and cook the correct amount. I just don’t get it!

So, I was faced on Saturday with making my Saturday evening meal, and doing it well. I knew my local supermarket had medium sized shrimp on sale for $5 a pound! I knew I was going to do something with that and went on line for shrimp and pasta recipes, which is always a winner, and I wanted to make something new. I found the following one with a great title and went for it.

Buca Di Beppo Shrimp Arrabbiata

3 ounces olive oil

1 pound fresh shrimp

2 1/2 ounces garlic, peeled

4 ounces whole shallots, peeled

5 ounces white wine

2 1/2 ounces lemon juice

8 ounces tomatoes, chopped

3 ounces Calamata olives

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon red pepper

1 1/2 ounce butter

2 1/2 tablespoons sage

1 1/2 ounce ricotta salata cheese

10 ounces butter

1 1/2 ounce garlic

2 ounces Romano cheese

1 tablespoon red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 pounds angel hair pasta

Directions:

Coarsely chop the shallots. Pull butter to soften. Cook the angel hair al dente and lightly oil. Finely chop fresh sage. Halve the pitted black olives and portion to 3 ounces, cut ricotta salata in 1/4 inch cubes and portion to 1 1/2 ounces.

Heat olive oil in sauté pan and add shrimp. Saute for approximately 30 seconds. Add the garlic and shallots for 30 seconds. Add white wine, lemon juice, fresh chopped tomatoes, black olives salt and crushed red pepper. Cook until the shrimp are just cooked through. Remove pan from heat an add 1 1/2 oz. room temperature butter. In a large sauté pan place 10 oz. butter, 1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper, salt, finely chopped sage and 1 1/2 oz chopped garlic. Place heated pasta in sauté pan and toss well to incorporate all ingredients thoroughly. Toss with romano cheese and place on a large platter. Top with shrimp and sauce, garnish with cubed ricotta salata and serve to delighted guests.

This recipe serves 6

I quickly went through the ingredient list and wrote down that which I did not have and went shopping. The only thing I couldn’t easily get were shallots, as the store was out so I used sweet onion instead.

I never looked at the amounts and bought pretty much what I normally do and when it came dinner time, I got started cooking.

I was alone. I know a pound of shrimp was too much for me but I thought I’d use the leftovers. As well, a pond of angel hair was too much and I intended to make less. All in all, I started with a good attitude, never really reading the damn recipe.

The two outstanding ingredients that gave me pause were the butter and the pasta. I had seen the 1 ½ ounces of butter listed without reading further down and finding another listing for an additional 10 ounces of butter! This is enough to kill a cow! This is a weird recipe because it lists butter twice rather than listing the entire thing at once. As well, I know now it’s for 6 people but still, 2 ½ pounds of angel hair pasta would be enough for a village!

I made a huge bowl of this stuff trying to follow a sort of new version of the recipe and it worked with one pound of pasta and about two tablespoons of butter. It’s pretty good and will provide about 4 meals for me. I will add to it with more veggies and less pasta now that’s it’s down a bit (two more meals) but it wasn’t all that great.

I could have easily made up my own version (which I sort of did anyway). I looked online for the recipe and found all versions are the same recipe copied. Most often people copy recipes and never test them, a fatal mistake!

Often I run into a printed recipe in a book that clearly no one has ever made because it doesn’t work! All of mine that were published by me or by others, have been kitchen tested!

There’s too much of this stuff to throw away, so I will make it better. But, one pound of shrimp, 2 ½ pounds of pasta and 11 ounces of butter is not a healthy diet for anyone.

FM Transmission

Product Code :


FM2000

Description : CAR MULTI-FREQ.FM TRNSMTR w/SD/USB/REM-NEW

Price: $7.77

Warranty Information: New - 90 Days factorydirect.ca Depot Warranty

Warranty Upgrade Option: To 1 year $0.78 factorydirect.ca Depot Warranty

To 2 years $1.55 factorydirect.ca Depot Warranty

To 3 years $2.33 factorydirect.ca Depot Warranty

Packing Details : Retail Boxed

Detail Specifications: CAR MULTI-FREQUENCY FM TRANSMITTER w/SD/USB/REMOTE


FEATURES:

-FM Transmitter

-Car MP3 Player - Simply insert a USB flash drive with loaded mp3 files

-Fully adjustable head positioning

-SD Card Slot, USB port for MP3 Player / CD Player / DVD Player and USB Flash Drive

-Full FM channels, volume control, LCD display, audio in/out jack

-Includes multi-function remote control and audio cable

A few weeks ago my FM Transmitter died. I live with this thing in my car as I gave up radio a few years ago because of my MP3 player and recorded books downloadable from the library. Just like in the old days of radio where I could listen to the stories (soap operas) every day, I am able to drive along and listen to books in a continual drama. Great for road trips! I always have about 15-20 books in my player, ready to go. I only listen to one at a time but every now and then one finishes and I need to have the next one ready. The original library downloads would not work on an IPod, so I use a Creative Zen. I’m on my third one now, and several FM transmitters as all things die eventually. My music is on my IPod.

Looking around for one I found several bargains on eBay, but didn’t want to wait for a new one and so I found this one at factorydirect.ca, a chain of Canadian discount stores. It was a ridiculous price, $7.77 and I thought it would be junk but I was wrong, it is amazing! It seems to do everything. I just needed the plug in for the MP3 but it came with two other plugs, a USB and a SD card holder and it has a remote! I tried all these and I can’t believe it. You load up an SD card and/or a flash memory stick with music and it plays everything, albeit in a random order, it shuffles. I don’t seem to be able to get it not to do that, but there are buttons on my remote yet to try.

The directions are ridiculous and have no meaning, but for my less than $8 I am having fun!

I didn't spend the $.78 on the one year warrenty, why tempt fate!

One Spot

In the early 60’s through 1970, I taught at Waterloo Junior High School on Howard County, MD. This became Waterloo Middle School somewhere along the line and dropped the 9th grade and added the 6th.

In my drive from my home in Randallstown, MD to Waterloo, many times I used old route 1, the original road between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and a bit beyond my school, if I was going out the other way towards Washington, I would see One Spot Flea Killer. This was an amazing structure, long gone, but one of Americas great roadside attractions. It was a huge, larger than life building shaped like a dog!

In 1945, a tourist attraction in Elkridge Maryland was the HOME OF ONE SPOT FLEA KILLER.

It was the world's largest 'dog house'.

Here is also an actual tin container of ONE-SPOT FLEA KILLER

The advertising postcard for One-Spot Flea Killer, features an image of the World's Largest "Dog House" which was a roadside attraction on Route 1 in Maryland until the 1950s. The card has text all over it, along with measuring tools that cover inches, centimeters, degrees of angles and a way to draw circles.

There is a comic question and check box section that reads "I'm in the Dog House _Again _Yet" and "R U in the Dog House _Again? _Yet?"

There is also a description of the "Dog House": Of the 20 residences on One-Spot Farm, this 3 story (not including basement) dwelling was sandwiched between concrete road signs 40 ft. high on U. S. Route 1, between Baltimore and Washington, (One-Spot Co., Elkridge, Md.) Ablaze with 655 feet of neon, it was seen by an average of over 20,000 auto drivers a day.

Divided back one cent postcard, unused, with advertising copy on the back that reads "Ever Use One-Spot? It's called 'One-Spot' because it only has to be applied on one spot to kill the fleas all over the animal. It KILLS 'em. Also kills ants, lice and bedbugs." Here’s a card that's useful. Copyright 1940 by One Spot Co., Elkridge, Md. Printed

The instructions on the top of the can say to 'press the sides of the can' and to cover the hole with adhesive tape and prick with toothpick'.

. and it is covered with a piece of tape.

It kills bedbugs, bean beetles, tobacco worms, head lice, crabs, ticks on dogs, cats foxes and poultry. (I can hear the FDA now). My favorite instruction on the can is: TOO STRONG FOR CANARIES AS THEY SLEEP WITH HEAD UNDER WING!.

There were also some philosophical tracts delivered by One Spot, the religious kind, but I can’t seem to lay my hands on that information on the net.

RAVIOLI WITH ARUGULA, TOMATOES AND PANCETTA

This was a really great dinner last night. I will admit that the recipe itself was adapted from Giada De Laurentiis. It was so good, although I made some changes. It was so full of flavor, and a good thing to eat while we watched “Biggest Loser”. On Tuesday nights, as usual, I get to cook, after my wife and daughter come home from yoga. It’s my chance to shine in the cooking department.

I highly recommend this dinner!

RAVIOLI WITH ARUGULA, TOMATOES AND PANCETTA

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen cheese ravioli

• ¼ pound (200 grams) pancetta, diced into little cubes (I purchased this at an Italian market and had it fresh cut, which allowed me to choose mild or spicy. I chose spicy and it was great!)

• 1 (15-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes (she drains them, I use the liquid for a much saucier dish)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for seasoning

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning

• 3 cups arugula

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, divided

• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ravioli and cook for 7 to 9 minutes until tender. Drain.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the pancetta and cook stirring frequently, until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain. Add the tomatoes, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook for 2 minutes until tender, roughly chopping up the tomatoes in the pan as it cooks. Add the arugula and 1/4 cup basil and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Stir in the butter and melt.

Add the ravioli and cooked pancetta and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the ravioli to a large serving bowl.

Garnish with the remaining basil and serve.

"He's cheating on you" my neighbor said......

Funny thing is, when you hide something, and you forget it’s hidden, the sudden finding is a big surprise, even to you!


My wife and I were discussing the fact that our 25th wedding anniversary would be coming up in 2012, and she was wondering if I would like to go to Chicago with her for the event, as it was where we spent a brief weekend honeymoon. I thought it was a great idea and concluded we didn’t need the kids going as well, as it would be nice to just go ourselves, and the kids would be just as happy not to go.

I told her that we soon would be wed longer than I was married to my first wife. Once we passed 24 years we would be ahead. She asked me, if I had stayed married, how long it would be. I said that in 2012, we would have been married for 50 years!

She asked me what date our wedding anniversary would have been, and I smiled and said May 1. There was a pause, “I didn’t mean our anniversary, I meant your first one”. “I know”, I said,” That’s what I meant.”

So here was the problem. The easiest date for me to remember for an anniversary was May 1, since I already had that one committed. So, 24 years ago when planning a wedding date, I helped to choose May Day, a wonderful date. I simply failed to mention it was my first marriages anniversary. It was not a lie, it was a side step. A simple action allowing me not to have to remember another date or phone number or address! OK, I never expected to get caught! Also, I never assumed I’d have to tell.

My neighbor down the road, and my wife’s dear friend says, “He’s cheating on you!” I think this is a bit of overreaction.

It’s never gotten in the way and I’ve never forgotten the date!

A Day in the Life

Funny, I was just looking for a photo when this one came up. It is my oldest son, (the lawyer) in 1963, sitting on his bedroom floor “reading”.


I am pleased to say that beyond his lawyer position, he is a lead guitarist and singer in a highly respected Washington D.C, area cover band. Not that it is a surprise that he maintains his musical “career”, but when I look at the photo it’s clear to me that this little two year old was absorbed (perhaps) in the guitar music book from “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” Album.

He told me years ago that he thought it was unusual that he knew the words to so many Beatles songs, almost as if he came out pre-loaded with the lyrics. I realized that among the things in his room were the words to “A Day in the Life” in poster form, framed on his wall.

It’s funny how much influence parents (unknowingly in my case) have over eventual life decisions. Clearly one single book experience does not a musician make, but this two year old child was already on a path perhaps determined by his environment.

I had forgotten about this photo until tonight.

Back Away From the Drink....

I was always getting into the paper with some kind of PR shot, or awards ceremony and didn’t think much of it, but being a normal human being, I always sent those photos to my mother. She was proud of her son and as long as they weren’t police head shots, they were good for her!


One day she complained to me that even if I didn’t realize it, every time I was in one of those shots, I had a drink in my hand! I had never thought about it, but reporters and photographers appear at events where one is often drinking and therefore, I usually had a drink in my hand.

This is exemplified by this photo from 1985 or so (I'm a whole lot thinner and younger!), at some function at CCS in Detroit (I can tell by the walls). I am standing with Jerry from Penn State having a glass of wine and talking about something. I don’t remember if it was ever published or not, but because I have a large copy of it, I think it was. If not, it’s published here on my blog!

I will admit to feeling bad about not remembering Jerry’s last name, but I’m pretty sure I have the right institution. As well, he was the first husband of one of our faculty members who will remain anonymous at this point. Any CCS people can email me separately if they’re interested, but I’m not exactly blowing anyone’s cover.

By the way, after my mothers comment, I try to always put down the drink if a photographer comes by. The reason I bring this up was that yesterday, while surfing the net, I was looking for anything about my oldest son and there it was, a photo on some company newsletter, with a group of people smiling and happy, and my son was there holding a drink in his hand!

Now I am not with MADD or anything, but I immediately wrote to him and warned him about my mothers warning! It doesn’t look nice!

The Hulk That Broke the Chair!

It was about ten years ago and we were shopping at a local supermarket when I spied Resin Muskoka Chairs on sale for cheap! Now for my US readers, this translates as Adirondack Chairs. Different places, same chair.


They were just out and were $15.99, a very good price fro a cheap plastic chair for the back patio.

I ran over and put my 300 pounds plus frame into the first one I saw if just to make sure I could lift myself out without any help when “CRASH”, it flew into a million pieces, and I landed hard onto the floor!

An older couple standing near us, looking at the same chair, quickly moved away while the wife said, “I told you these were cheap!”

Another person, less embarrassed and for sure of a smaller frame would have stayed there waiting for help, and probably sued the store for allowing an inferior product to be placed in our way. We chose to RUN!     I got the hell out of there as fast as I could! I was not only embarrassed, but felt like the kid caught stealing the jelly beans! My first dumb thought was that they were going to make me pay for it!

I no longer sit on patio furniture anywhere unless it’s clearly solid. I don’t want to be pointed out as the hulk that broke the chair!

Hot Tub

This image, believe it or not, is from Stanford.edu

As always, I never know if I wrote this at some other point, and I can’t find it in the stories I have, so, here goes:


In the 80’s, two of my friends in Detroit went for a free visit to a new men’s health club. It was an invitation, as I remember, for them to try it out because they wanted new members.

They used the equipment for a while, and after wards went into the change room, and saw that there was an adjacent hot tub area. So, before going home, they undressed, went through the doors to the hot tub area, took a seat and pressed the bubbler.

They had never been there before and had no way of really knowing, but there was a women’s club attached to the men’s club. While they shared no exercise facilities, the only thing they shared was the joint hot tub.

So as they sat in the bubbling tub, two women came out in their bathing suits and sat down. They all enjoyed their visit, and the women warned my friends about staying in the hot tub too long, as they continued to press the bubble thing until the ladies went back in.

When the women were gone, they removed themselves from the “human soup”, and ran back, slightly overdone, to the dressing room!