16 Days of Pure Fun

In sixteen wonderful, fun-filled days I recently visited four countries and enjoyed the sights and sounds of London, France, The Netherlands and Germany. I joined throngs of people visiting Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to visit the State rooms (where official receptions are held). Some of these individual rooms are larger in size than my one bedroom apartment at Franke.

A boat from Portsmouth in Southern England took me to the Normandy peninsula and my first stop was at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, a place of remembrance and reflection where 9387 American servicemen and women lay at rest, many of them killed on D-Day 1944. 

I went on to other places that many Americans know only from movies, e.g. Omaha Beach (“The Longest Day”) and Point de Hoc (“Saving Private Ryan.”) To stand there and try to imagine what it was like on June 6, 1944, is to take a deep breath and let it out as you feel your eyes water.

I traveled to Der Hag in The Netherlands to sit in on the trial of the war criminals from Yugoslavia, however, arrangements to enter the court needed to be made in advance.

Moving on by train to Hamburg, Germany, my first stop was the “Miniatur Wunderland,” the world’s largest model railway and, most recently, airport, exhibition. The major purpose of my trip was to see this famous creation of varied scenes adapted from Switzerland, Scandinavia, America, Germany, and Bavaria complete with miniature trains, airplanes, vehicles, and representations of people.

A tour boat around the amazing harbor enlightened me me why Hamburg is the world’s second largest port. Only Rotterdam is bigger, I was told.

In addition to visiting the palaces in London, I rode the London Eye, a Ferris wheel with sealed cars which lift the visitor for a fantastic view of Parliament and the entire city. I also took in a major exhibition of the Cecil Beaton's wartime photography 1939-1945. 

Because of my previous work background and long-time personal interests I visited the headquarters of MI 6, the British Secret Intelligence Service. I asked a Londoner to take my picture outside the building (dedicated by the Queen in July 1994) on the bank of the River Thames at Vauxhall Station and he said, “Sorry mate, I can’t take a picture of that building.” (

I had less trouble taking a picture at the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street.

The trip was great, but I am happy to be home.

(For the complete blog click here.)

Operation R&R

(Published, October 6, 2012.)

 

Letters to the Editor
The Post & Courier
Charleston SC

Dear Sirs:

The vacation gift Operation R&R extends to active duty military families means much more to me this week. I just returned from a trip to France where I visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer near Omaha Beach. 

Dedicated in July 1956, the cemetery is the resting place for 9,387 American servicemen and women who gave their lives on D-Day or shortly thereafter. It is impossible to look out over the headstones, both Latin crosses and Stars of David, without feeling love and admiration for those young people who gave so much for all of us. 

I am not ashamed to admit that as I stood silent and said a prayer tears came to my eyes thinking about what life would have been for these fallen warriors.

The volunteers, merchants and home owners who contribute to Operation R&R are doing a good and well-deserved thing for this generation of servicemen and servicewomen who have been deployed in the past 12 months, are married and still on active duty.

The local chapter of Operation R&R can be supported by going to www.charleston.operationrandr.org.

Birthday gift of a lifetime

Today, October 2, 2012, I turn 81. Yesterday I selected a birthday gift for myself that I have never had before. I bought the first bedroom suite which is new and personal to me in my entire life: a three-piece Cherry finish bed frame with trundle for storage, a five-drawer chest and nightstand.  

When I was a boy, I slept in an iron bed with a brother who was a couple of years younger. There was a dresser for clothes but they didn’t match. I suspect each piece was handed down from somewhere else in family, most likely grandparents. When I became a teen-ager I moved to a single iron bed (another hand-me-down) in the room and my two younger brothers shared the bigger bed. These were the great depression years followed by WWII, and my single-parent mother did her best.

I went in the Air Force shortly after high school and slept on a variety of bunks, cots and beds. After almost three years, I started to live off-base and shared furnished apartments in Washington with another Air Force investigator.

When I married Mary in 1954, we also lived initially in furnished apartments in Washington, D.C., and later in Charleston. In 1955, rentals in Charleston were hard to come by and mostly consisted of apartments carved into big homes where these were full of furniture from generations past. In Charleston, no one throws anything away until it disintegrates.

When the children started to come along we set up in houses and were given some basic furniture from relatives, mostly Mary’s family. My paternal grandmother gave us a great wooden table we used in the kitchen for years and later re-did and continued to use. Some furniture we bought second-hand. I don’t recall three or four pieces of bedroom furniture that were part of the same set. It didn’t bother us. We were young, making our way and had a roof over our heads and a comfortable bed. (Mattresses were the most important thing and were always ours.)

After a couple of years in a starter house we bought a larger house in 1964 that would be our home for the next 44 years. We began with a kitchen table and chairs where we took our meals and concentrated on furnishing the living room. Then we worked on the dining room, although we reserved its use for holidays and special occasions, like when family or out of town friends came for Sunday dinner. There were five children and multiple bedrooms to outfit in one way or another, piece by piece, but ultimately we started to talk about “doing over” our bedroom. Before we could bite the bullet Mary’s mother passed away in 1976.  A couple of years earlier she had purchased a five-piece bedroom suite and we inherited it. It was quality furniture, looked great, served us well and saved us money.

By 2005, the bed frame from the inherited suite was on its last legs and we replaced it with a Scandinavian style bed and foam mattress. Now, we had a new bed and three older pieces, which blended fairly well. A not uncommon state of affairs among middle class families in South Carolina.  

In 2007, Mary was in an assisted living facility and I closed out our house six months later.  I gave away, sold and threw out all kinds of furniture. I kept the bed and two inherited pieces. I moved these into a one bedroom apartment on the same campus with Mary. About a year ago I replaced the inherited nightstand.

And then Friday night, September 28, 2012, I turned on the lights in my bedroom, looked and laughed: a chest of drawers going back almost 40 years, a bed and a nightstand that were close but not really a matched pair. Three separate pieces whose only connection was holding my body, some of my clothes and my accessories. It looked like the bedroom, which also holds a comfortable wing-back chair and floor lamp, had been furnished from separate garage sales. This goes beyond even Southern acceptance, I said.

Delivery is Thursday.

To correct the record

Last week I wrote about the National Do Not Call list for cell phones. I relied on a usually most reliable source for my information. Today I learned there is no separate National Do Not Call list for cell-phones.  There is just one National Do Not Call list. You may list your cell-phone on this list. Sorry for the confusion.
A lengthy explanation of all this is available at the Federal Communications Commission web site.

Do Not Call Registry

Your cell phone number is going to be turned loose this month and telemarketing companies will be able to call you (at your expense) and make a hard sell pitch.A note in the most recent issue of AFOSISA Global Alliance, gives this Federal government web site where you can list your phone numbers, including cell numbers, on a "do not call" list. I went there this morning and listed my land line and cell number. I found it straight forward and easy to use. There will be a couple of e-mails you have to respond to; these are to assure someone is not playing games with your phone numbers and desires.

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The Myth of the Gunfighter

Remember when you sat in the movie theatre on a Saturday afternoon and watched two men walk slowly down the dusty street toward each other. Merchants shuttered doors. Women whisked children off the street. The bad guy was unshaven, snarling and he wore a black hat. The good guy was tall, handsome and looked magnificent in his white Stetson. The music came up in the background and you stopped putting popcorn in your mouth as the bad man's hand moved toward the pistol on his hip.

Great stuff from Hollywood (and pulp novels), but far from factual, Joseph G. Rosa tells us. Gunfighters of the old West were more imagination than fact. Of course, the code of the entertainment world is, "When the legend is greater than reality," print the legend.
  
Joseph G. Rosa is a historian of the Wild West, author, and the chief biographer of Wild Bill Hickok as well as several other figures of this period.

Mr. Rosa makes his case for setting the record straight in his new book:

Age of the Gunfighter: Men and Weapons on the Frontier, 1840-1900. by Joseph G. Rosa. University of Oklahoma Press. Paperback

 

The first Medicare Card

Do you know who got the first Medicare card? Harry Truman. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson moved the Medicare bill signing from Washington, D.C., to Independence, MO. so former President Truman could be on hand for the signing and receive the first card. This was a tribute to Mr. Truman's efforts 20 years earlier to create a national health insurance plan. (The President's Club, Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2012.)
 

ABA awards hghest honor to Morris Dees

Morris Dees receives American Bar Association’s highest honor

Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, was recognized Tuesday for a legal career dedicated to seeking justice and equality for all when the American Bar Association presented him with the ABA Medal – the organization’s highest award.
Dees, honored during the association’s annual meeting in Chicago, received a standing ovation from the ABA’s House of Delegates, the association’s policymaking body of more than 500 members.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award from the American Bar Association,” Dees said afterward. “But this award isn’t just about me. It’s also a tribute to the talented SPLC employees dedicated to ensuring that what began as a small civil rights law firm I helped found four decades ago will always be there for the disenfranchised.”
The ABA Medal, which recognizes “exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence,” is given only when the ABA Board of Governors determines a nominee “has provided exceptional and distinguished service to the law and the legal profession,” according to the ABA.

SPLC Founder Morris Dees accepts his award from the ABA.

“The presentation of the ABA Medal to Morris Seligman Dees Jr. represents our profound admiration for his personal courage and incomparable leadership as one of the greatest civil rights lawyers of our time,” said outgoing ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III. He said Dees is “an outstanding example of a lawyer who, case by case, is moving our country toward tolerance and equality.”
Previous ABA Medal recipients include Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter, Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr. and Sandra Day O’Connor. Other recipients include Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski; Judge Patricia Wald, a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and human rights activist the Rev. Robert Drinan.

No applause at horse shows

Ever wonder why there is little to no applause during horse shows, and what there is is often subdued? 
Several years ago I went to a horse show in Vienna, Austria, where the famous Lipizzaner Stallions  were performing. During this fabulous performance I was a standee in the second balcony looking down on horses and riders. When the performance was over the audience remained respectful as the riders and horses gracefully retreated to the stalls. Without warning I was seized with a loud burst of repetitive sneezing and several really loud ah-choos rocked the hall. I made so much noise the horses bolted, reared up and almost threw riders. The audience on the first level instantly turned their gaze my way; I thought my fellow standees on the balcony would throw me into the arena. I tried to apologize silently with an embarrassed face but that did not go over well with anyone. Although I could not understand all the comments I got the message to exit quickly and quietly. After the horses had cleared the arena, loud applause showed appreciation for, I am sure, the performance, and not my sneezing. 

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Government workers

Many of the men and women who put Curiosity on Mars on Sunday are federal government workers who often are criticized. Hope some of the critics will pause to admire and praise this magnificent accomplishment. And to think most of the equipment and parts of Curiosity came from the lowest bidders...
Well done!

Women's breasts

A new book is out dealing with women's breasts. (Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, by Florence Williams).
A delightful review of this new book may be found here. About six hundred years ago, according to the review, Henri de Mondeville wrote to the King of France, "The reasons why the breasts of women are on the chest, whereas other animals more often have them elsewhere, are of three kinds. First, the chest is a noble, notable and chaste place and thus they can be decently shown. Secondly, warmed by the heart, they return their warmth to it so that this organ strengthens itself. The third reason applies only to big breasts which, by covering the chest, warm, cover and strengthen the stomach".
Also, according to the review, men viewed large breasts as a sign of a desirable woman for breeding. It is not recorded how women over the ages have looked upon that premise as a basis for mating. Also when women started having breast implants they had the last laugh on the men. As George Carlin used to say, "Women are crazy. Men are stupid. And men are stupid because women are crazy."

  

 

 

A dear friend - Dot Ruotolo

I was saddened this morning to read in the local paper of the passing of a dear friend, Dorothy J. Ruotolo, at age 84. Our relationship goes back several decades. In the early sixties my wife and I were attending Mass on a beautiful Sunday morning. Mary was not then a Catholic. She was struggling with the Catholic missal and keeping up with the service when a lady in the pew behind us reached over and pointed in the missal to where the service was and helped Mary stay connected. Later, she told us she had similar problems earlier in her life. Very quickly we learned Dot was also a teacher in the Catholic school and would be the one to introduce our boys to the first grade. We formed a friendship on that Sunday morning and it continued for years. At one point when her son joined the Air Force, I talked to Dot about my eight years in that service and helped to ease her mind that her son had made a great choice. He would go on to a fine career and be honorably retired. Dot also had a daughter who worked at the Naval Supply Systems Command Center where I was the security director. She was a fine young lady and excellent employee. Dot spent many years teaching in Catholic schools and was a friend to thousands of families in North Charleston, Hanahan and Goose Creek. She will be missed by all, including her many students who got a great start on their education in her first grade. She was preceded in death by her husband Michael, a fine gentleman.

Franke Flyer

The FRANKE FLYER arrived in the Trailside lobby on the day after the annual national holiday completely without fanfare.  It just showed up. A copy was hung on the bulletin board (like stockings by the Christmas fire) and extras were laid on the table to be taken at will by any resident.

This is another example of how residents in Franke at Seaside want to know what is happening to whom, where and when. Why being optional. It brings to mind the effort our former neighbor Ned Hogan put forth to get a bulletin board in Trailside (and ultimately in the three apartment houses.) Ned started putting notices on the walls of the elevator, scotch taping such items as came to his attention and needed (in his opinion) to be distributed. There was of course, the usual objection (someone always objects to something) but resistance gave way and this lead to a bulletin board on an easel in the lobby for a couple of weeks. It became a major hit in the Trailside lobby so much so that it was hung on the wall and remains there, although Ned has moved on to his new home somewhere in Texas.

I thought a similar bulletin board in the Burges Center near the in-house community mail rack (not USPS controlled)  would be a good idea. But the one that went up has a lock on it and is used only for “official” notices. My original thought was how can a cottage dweller tell others what is on his or her mind? What if a cottage dweller wants to sell a sofa, buy a used sauce pan, or donate a computer? How would they get the word out? Print flyers and distribute them to every slot in the community mail boxes. Not very cost effective. Would a resident’s bulletin board be tacky?

Sometimes we have to relax and live a little. Instead of fretting about what something might turn into, why not let it happen and see where it goes. If it gets out of control it can be corrected. In all too many ways we are besieged with information and someone’s idea of what is news. All around us there are daily and weekly newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, newsletters, books, radio and TV, the internet, gossip, and plain old verbal mischief (aka:BS). The information age is upon us ad infinitum. All of this is information coming down on us. It is not information going up or among us. It does not satisfy the un-yielding urge, the passion if you will, to communicate among each other.  

Long live the FRANKE FLYER. May it flourish and one day takes its rightful place alongside the printing press, the computer and the wagging tongue.

  

The purpose of a vacation

Did you ever go on vacation and catch a cold and then spend three precious days medicating with hot tea, aspirin and a lay-down while the rest of the family cavorted on the beach and at the fun park? I had a similar moment on my recent trip to Maine. While driving on I-95 at around 80 mph - with other cars passing me as though I was standing still, I took to biting and chewing an apple and damn near bit the side of my tongue off. I mean the teeth on my left side did a job on my tongue. If I had not been driving, I would have found an ice cube and put it on my tongue.
After a couple of days of living with a tender tongue I went to a drug store where a friendly pharmacist sold me some child's allergy medicine and a bottle of antacid liquid. "Mix them together, one for one, and swish it around in your mouth." I did that for a day or two but on the trip back to South Carolina my tongue still hurt and I stopped at the University of Connecticut medical center to get a doctor's opinion. He told me to buy a mouth wash and swish it around. So much for the second opinion.
So what is the point of all this? When you were on vacation and got sick, you sucked it up and at the end of the vacation period you went back to work. That's the way it was and is. But NOT FOR SPANISH WORKERS.
The European Court of Justice recently ruled that a Spanish employee who got sick while on vacation was entitled to another vacation period to cover the days when he was under the weather. The purpose of a vacation, ruled the Court, "is to enable the worker to rest and enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure," something the worker cannot do if he/she is under the weather.

 
 

Trailside Anniversary - 5 Years On

Yesterday the residents of Trailside Apartments celebrated the 5th Anniversary of the opening of the second apartment house at Franke at Seaside,Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Two residents actually moved in on May 29, 2007, but the real intake began in June.

These are some snapshots taken at random of the wonderful residents. Most of these are unposed pictures and presented to show people enjoying themselves, each other and the happy occasion. (The pictures may be enlarged by clicking on the Slideshow link in the left corner of the site.)


We paid our respects to those former residents who have gone on but who were once part of our family. We acknowledged those who have arrived recently to bring new life and new ideas to the residence. 

Many of the families and the individuals living alone made and brought covered dishes. No one eats better than when a number of women put their hands to the skillet and turn on the stove. A bit of wine and adult beverages were enjoyed by most. Deserts were plentiful and delicious.  


Whether it is an apartment house in a busy metropolis or a quiet place like Franke at Seaside it is the residents who make a house a home. It is the spirit of camaraderie, of working together and simply being a good neighbor that makes the Trailside Building such a special place.

We give thanks to the women and men who organized the party (it is always the women, God bless 'em, who take the lead) and we look forward to the 10th Anniversary of Trailside. And we hope all the current residents will be on hand for that joyous day.
 

Reunion of Anna's Children - 2012

I want to share some pictures taken on the trip to Maine. Suffice to say I had a good time when I got there, but the devil was in the getting. I will never drive from Charleston to Maine again. It has changed 1000 percent from years ago when we used to make the trip and Mary kept a jar in the car for the boys to pee in so we wouldn't have to stop. Now stopping was a way of life. The traffic starting about 25 miles South of Washington is insufferable and I do not know what keeps New York people mentally sound. From now on I will forgive anyone who has lived there and has a "New York attitude." 

My siblings, Walter, Barbara and Carol, all looked fine and are in good health. Walter and Carol had their "Charlie drama" stories, which they can laugh at now but were not a laughing matter when they were lived. My only regret is that I could not have been of more assistance to them last year in Charlie's final days, but Mary was my first concern for a long time. I believe they understood then and now.

The Haven by the Sea in Maine was the same fine place we have been before. John and Susan are outstanding hosts. While we were there an association of B&B owners sent a check team in under cover and it was not until the next day they revealed themselves. Walter had saved the day the evening before when he showed the check man how to turn on the fireplace. He said John had told him how to do it. This was a very good sign as to John's efforts on part of his guests. The Inn received a rating of 198 out of 200 points. Two points were lost because of plastic glasses in the bathrooms. These are individually wrapped. John uses them because all the bathroom floors are stone and a broken glass would pay havoc with guests feet. He took the loss of 2 points with a grain of salt.

I enjoyed the trip and got to give my 2005 BMW a good workout. It performed most satisfactorily. This was the first time since I bought it last fall that I took it on the road any distance and wanted to see how it would perform. It rode silently and smoothly. A couple of times the speedometer was hitting 100 mph. I slowed down. The car just crept up on me without any exertion. Anyway, after a couple of those experiences I tried to keep it around 65-80. Many times others past me. I like the laws in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and all the New England States. They prohibit trucks buses and trailers in the far left lane and this makes driving safer and smoother for auto drivers. All things considered, it was a good trip and it felt good to see my sisters and brother again. We are going to try and stay in touch a bit more in the future. All in all, a good reunion of Anna's Children. 

Family reunion

I am excited to be traveling to Wells Beach, Maine, this coming weekend to visit with my two sisters and brother. It has been a few years since we have been together. We will stay at Haven by the sea on Church Street. This is a delightful bed and breakfast where we have stayed before and is always a joy. Along the way I will visit with two sons in their homes. Will see you all when I return.

Essay: Yesterday's news today

The Post & Courier – Less news, higher price

The monthly price for daily home delivery of The Post & Courier (Charleston, S.C.) is rising to $20 from $17.50 effective May 1, 2012.

At the same time the paper has fewer pages per day than a year ago or even two years ago. It is going to cost more to have less news delivered. Example: the kid’s page in the tabloid section published on Thursdays is gone. The paper does not carry reviews of local theater and other performing arts. National and international news have been cut back gradually and it is difficult to remember when we use to get more.

According to the paper, some of the $2.50 price hike will go to the carriers, but we don’t know how much. It is a good bet most of it will go to burnish the bottom line and keep the owners eating regularly.

Circulation of the paper is about 82,300, according to Mondo Times (worldwide news media directory.) The on-line Wall Street 24/7, reported readership rates for print newspapers are falling across the board, and the country’s younger generation has abandoned the medium the most. 

As of 2010, only 7% of 18- to 24-year-olds reported having read a print newspaper the day before, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

About two years ago a young man startled me with some off the wall views on a then current event. I asked him where he got his information. “The Jon Stewart” shows, he replied. 

The May 2012 Harper's Index reported $23.9 billion in ad revenue for the U.S. newspaper industry in 2011, while Google earned $36.5 billion. 

Newspapers are not the only part of the news media losing customers and revenue. The daily network television news broadcasts, local and national, are suffering the same fate.

The late George Carlin said the news media was “a sort of bulletin board and public relations firm for the ruling class – the people who run things.” He was not a big fan of television news outlets.

“On the ‘Five O’Clock News,’ they tell you about the ‘Six O’Clock News’; at six O’Clock, they tell you about eleven; at eleven, they plug the morning news; the morning man promos the noontime lady, and, sure enough a little after noon, here comes that empty-headed (expletive deleted) from the ‘Five O’Clock News’ to tell you what he’s going to do …on the Five O’clock News.”

Maybe the 18-24 year olds know something the rest of us don’t. Meanwhile, it is going to cost more to have the comics and obituaries delivered to your door each day. Tune in The Jon Stewart shows for the rest of the news.

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We miss you Mom

My mother died ten years today (March 30)  in Lowell, MA. Anna Mary (Wynn) Archibald was born December 16, 1909.

She had five children and cared for and loved us throughout her life - even in spite of some things she may not have approved of. We loved her back - in spite of some little things that didn't please us as we were growing up.  As we grew in that love, life's little irritations faded away and became too few to mention. 

May the Lord continue to enjoy your company Mom. We miss you!

Anna's Kids, Top circa 1940-41

Barbara, Walter, Francis,

Charlie and Carol

Bottom April 2, 2002

Walter, Francis, Barbara, Charlie, Carol