The folks forty fives

The folks are long gone but one of the legacies they left is a brown case filled with singles. The presence of these records is a mystery to me because I never remembered them buying records when I was a youth, although I think my father paid for my purchase of Downtown and Pepino the Italian Mouse.

Going through them I have moments of "what were they thinking?" along with trying to guess which parent bought which record. I also can't figure out where they bought them. Perhaps Frankie's Market? Perhaps my father bought them in Times Square when he missed the bus and had time to kill waiting for the next one. Hard to figure.

I always remember the folks as middle aged people who wouldn't tear through the house with a new record in their hands. Myrtis! I bought a real hot track today! Seems out of character for the old man.

I do remember my father playing records on Saturday morning. He had the job of giving breakfast to the kids. Mother had been working til 11PM the night before at the hospital. I remember waking up to "Wake up little Suzie" and "How much is that doggie in the window".  It was a way of waking up the boys and a little treat that Mother slept through.

There were some country or at least country influenced records in the box. Pee Wee King did some square dances. Then there was Jimmie Rodgers and "Honeycomb".  Roy Rogers was represented too.I suspect that was Mother's influence.

My parents hated rock and roll. Yet Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry are represented in the box. How mysterious.

Later in the box, children's records start to show up. There's Dennis Day reading Snow White and Davey Crockett. Must be the influence of my big brother when he was a tot.

It's beer o'clock

The Oxford English dictionary has added some words to its online version. One of the more notable ones is beer o'clock. It means simply that it's time for beer. After one has been toiling at work or at a task and one is happily finished for the day, comes a moment of happiness.

"What time is it?" says Frank.
Joe, looking at his watch replies, "It's beer o'clock!"
Later at the tavern, the pair reminisce over the day.
"Boy we almost ran out of sheet rock!' says Frank.
"Well at least there was nothing left over, waste not want not" says Joe after quaffing a few.
"Let me get the next round", the bartender offers.
Suddenly, the mood changes. The door opens and a harried middle aged woman enters, accompanied by two crying children. She speaks to Frank.
"So here you are! You promised to take the kids to bible study and now I'm late for needlepoint!" She hands the whiny children over to the father.
Frank, the wife, and the kids depart the bar.
"Happy beer o'clock!" Joe shouts to his buddy.

Dismaland

Apparently, Dismal Land has turned out to be a huge hit. Thousands of people are lining up to see what is apparently a Britisher's image of a good time.

It's almost as much fun as owning Asian stocks.

Putting socks on with wet feet

I was recently discussing the merits of work versus retirement. I said the worst parts of going to work are getting up and trying to get to work on time. Especially when you are in a hurry and :
1) Not having time to dry your socks after the shower so you find yourself putting socks on wet feet. The socks cling to your feet and become immovable. The absolute worst thing is when they tear and you don't have time to put on a different pair of socks.

2) Getting outside and there is a sheet of ice on your windshield. You are too late for work to let the defroster do it's thing so you scrape your windshields, back and front.

3) You hear on the radio that there is a traffic jam on the highway. You figure, "Oh they are always behind. By now the roads are smooth sailing."  Then you get into a traffic jam exactly where they said it would be.

The best parts of getting to work are:

1) When you wake up in time and are able to have a second cup of coffee and maybe even eggs.

2) When you are late to work but none of the supervisors are due in. Coming in late can be like a tree falling in the forest.

3) Getting to work and you hear a fresh piece of gossip. Gossip at work makes the entire day worthwhile.

So there they are. The pros and cons of going to work everyday versus retiring.

Male menopause

I have watched the Republican debate and had been perplexed about what all these older and seemingly wealthy men have to be so angry about. The Donald may be everyone's cranky uncle but they all seem a little cranky.

Here is a summary of what I see as the main policy statements of the evening. The assembled gentleman want to:
Kill Obamacare.
Burn Planned Parenthood to the ground.
Dump the Iran agreement and replace it with boots on the ground in the middle east. In order for America to win back it's place as a world leader we need soldiers on the ground in Syria, Iraq, and Iran. 500,000 millenials in uniform is one way to get them out of their parent's basements!
Put a Berlin type wall between Mexico, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Make abortion illegal once again.

I don't know. Sounds like they are aiming at older white men who are suffering from male menopause. Time for another Pabst.

Back scratching, airports, tunnels and foreign policy

Back in the day, Lyndon Johnson would grab a Senator by the arm and say,
"You know I landed in Memphis Airport last week  and was thinking, my they could use a new runway and a terminal down here."
"My thinking exactly Mr. President."
"You know if you could help me on this here civil rights bill we might find some money to help pay for your improvements in Memphis", the President would say.
Next month the civil rights legislation was passed and the next summer federal funds would became available to double the capacity at Memphis Airport.

Now our president needs the help of Chuck Schumer on the Iran deal. Israel's close friend in the Senate is suddenly being enticed with money to rebuild LaGuardia Airport. Somehow Hudson tunnel money is surfacing again.
Somewhere in Washington Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer are talking turkey. I wouldn't be surprised if Senator Menendez gets out of legal trouble too. Everybody's back needs scratching once and a while.

Editor's note: Well it looks like my theory was wrong. LBJ had a complacent Congress unlike today. Schumer and Memendez are fighting the Iran deal and no federal money for the tunnel.

Vacuuming

Most of my unit is what can charitably be called "hardwood floors" and I am pretty good about maintaining them on a weekly basis. My bedroom and home office have "wall to wall carpeting" which requires the work of a vacuum cleaner. I have a powerful, if noisy, Eureka commercial vacuum that I bought eight years ago at the hospital auxiliary flea market. Every three months I whip it out, move stuff out of the way and put it to work. Once every season I vacuum.

Today I did my semi-annual emptying of the thing. It doesn't take a bag I just open up the bag and dump two years worth of crud out of the bag. Today I emptied the bag, the shredder, and vacuumed the rugs. I am a lazy vacuumer. I don't move the computer desk or anything too cumbersome. I figure on my upcoming ten year clean I'll clean the rugs. Perhaps when I retire.