Short story

I wrote this short story back in high school for a creative writing class. That was either 1979 or 1980. It was published in the high school literary magazine, Andromeda, in 1981. I rediscovered it last night while looking for my copy of The Lord of the Rings.


The Quota

The mobile guillotine slid down the street. The metal sluices shined in the early morning light. The police had to get their weekly quota, and they were still 237 short. If they didn't make it, the force made up the remainder.

The guillotine was used for such offenses as jaywalking, spitting on the sidewalk, and other misdemeanors. It replaced the chamber--quicker, cleaner, and generally more efficient.

Its photo-electric eye spotted someone leaning on a sign. It sped up to the loiterer, told him the charge, and asked him to lie down flat. The culprit, knowing that he had no other choice, lay down and it was over in an instant. The head was put into a collection box on the corner, and the body dropped into a incinerator nearby.

"Only 236 more," screeched the voice speaker in the police lounge.

"God Bless! Its Thursday and 236 more to go by Saturday midnight," gruffed the commander. "We haven't been this far behind since that one week in '93."

"Yeah, think maybe we could pick some of 'em up, Binky, huh?" asked a sergeant of his commander.

Binky slowly smiled. "Yes, yes. It looks like we'll have to get them one way or another. Too bad."

The electronic listening device sent this and all other conversations to the main computer. It was listened to and then sent to the data bank for police corruption.

After listening to it many times and analyzing voice inflection and sincerity, the computer commissioned a force of guillotines to the station.

Listed in the file for the weekly quota: "Due to the abundance of criminals this week, there will be no need to send out the mobile guillotines next week."

Not a Fan of the Fan, but a Fan of the Man

Here's a story about my ceiling fan. There used to be a light fixture. It came with the house, but it wasn't quite us. So I took it out, with the intention of putting up a ceiling fan that we bought at Lowe's some time ago when they matched the price of any Home Depot sale. We got fans. And a light kit. And bulbs, and stretcher bars that you hang the fans on. One for the office area and a very cute one for Caroline's room. Thinking that having had them for about 2 months and not putting them up wasn't a good use of resources, I was determined to install the fan for Caroline's room on Saturday. One thing lead to another, schedules got weird, mowing had to be done. Okay, maybe not Caroline's room, because that is her only source of light. I'll do the office one. We were to be over at Jim and Nancy's for dinner at about 6:20pm. Angie leaves with Caroline at about 5:40pm. Not quite enough time to get started, but I start to pull together tools, step stool, etc. I come home with Caroline and get her bathed and in bed by 9:00pm. I'm tired, but got to get it going. I take down the light fixture. Here's what I have...


So, got to put up a fan brace bar. My boss is overkill man, when it comes to construction. So, I got the Super Fan Brace. See below.

There was a stamped metal fan brace already installed. I can take that out. Wait. Notice the air vent just beyond the hole in the ceiling? You know how all modern construction is usually set at 16" to center studs? Except when they use 24". Like this house's ceiling joists. Great. The stamped metal fan brace is nailed into the joists, a little over 11" away from the hole, in a 7' ceiling. I fight with a claw hammer until midnight when I declare victory. The old brace has been defeated. I'm too tired and frustrated to continue.

Sunday afternoon, I resume. The instructions call for the blue wire to go to the blue wire, black to black, white to common, ground to ground. Except that I don't have a blue wire from the house. Only on the fan. I read and re-read and re-read the instructions. I've got it figured out.

Light kit goes on, just fine.

Then I need to change out the rotary dimmer. I've been doing all this work with the light switch turned off, but the breaker on. Spare me the lectures. I've heard them. Tonight. Twice. I go to the breaker box, turn off the dining room, because that is where the light is. Nope. It is on the Living Room circuit. Know how I found out? Zap! I then turn off the Living Room circuit, finish changing out the switch. Ah. The fan works. The lights don't. I start taking it all apart, checking the wires carefully. I disassemble the whole thing. It looks right. I call Jim, the best father-in-law in the US. (Runner up might be my dad to Angie, but I don't get to decide that.) He comes over. Looks at it. "Well, here's your problem, blue should go to black and black should go to black and white should go to white and bare should go to ground." And he said it in a way that didn't make me feel more foolish. He taped them up, we tested things and they work. He then handed me fan blades and screws and stuff.

Jim's a good man.
Thanks, Jim, for everything.

Books

Over the last few days (mostly evenings), I've been chatting with my friend, Tali, in São Paulo. The conversation winds from school studies, to family, family vacations, food, friends, music, movies, and books.

She introduced me to a few new (at least to me) authors. Malba Tahan. That's Tali's great-grand-uncle. Another author is Gabriel García Márquez. He wrote One Hundred Years of Solitude. The third author that she mentioned was João Guimarães Rosa. I've already ordered one of Malba Tahan's books from a neighboring county library. I look forward to reading it.

Yesterday, Tali said that she read two books in five days. "It was good for the soul." Reading is good for the soul.

It made me review what I've been reading recently. Here's what I've read in 2007...

• Dan Patrick's Outtakes
• Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo 's Baseball Confidential
• Harry Shearer's Man Bites Town
• Mike Greenberg's Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot
• John Mortimer's Rumpole and the Reign of Terror
• James Lincoln Collier's Rich and Famous
• Elliott Roosevelt's The President's Man
• Alan Ross's Echoes from the Ballpark
• Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone's Warmly Inscribed: The New England Forger and Other Book Tales

I'm just finishing up Murders' Row, a collection of original baseball mysteries, edited by by Otto Penzler. I'm also slogging my way through Alberto Manguel's A History of Reading.

I should probably move away from the lighter fare and dig or re-dig into some meatier books.

Thank you, Tali, for having this discussion with me. Now, if I can just get Angie to read The Hobbit.

Twin Sons of Different Mothers?

Caroline's Art

In the past few weeks, Caroline created some art at Parent's Day Out.

Here they are without comment, except to say that the gray blotches are where the wet paints warped the paper and the scanner picked them up as shadows.

Enjoy.

Music I've been listening to lately

For Father's Day, I got an mp3 player. Just a simple 2GB Sansa. It works very well for music.

So, I thought I'd let you in what I've been listening to lately...

Right now, it is Robert Randoph and the Family Band. Archive.org rocks for this sort of thing. I couldn't tell you exactly which show. March 6, 2004 in New Jersey, I think. This is RRFB's Official Site.

I also synced up some James Gang. Joe Walsh. Jaco Pastorius. Paul Shaffer. Michael Omartian. Steely Dan. Boston. Bill Watrous. Fairport Convention. Chuck Mangione. Will Ackerman. Hem. And a few others.

Yes, this music entry is link heavy. I did manage to stay away from Wikipedia, though. All links, except the first, point to the official site for the musician(s).

Blast from the Past

This was probably taken in 1989 in the Chicago are. That is the Don White Trio at some gig. More photos of Don and friends can be found at Doug's photo gallery. Do things really look better in color?

Real Life is Good

I play an online game called BattleMaster. My friend and coworker, Bill, turned me on to it. It is a team-oriented browser game merging strategy and roleplaying. I've been playing it for about 8 months now. Angie calls it "your luser game." Actually, I jokingly call it that.

One of the absolutes in the game is: Real Life comes first. You miss a turn because you had to study for finals, no problem. Sick? take a few days. Gone on holiday? No problem (my paraphrase).

About a month ago, a new character emerged in our realm. She was from the game region that my main characters were from, so I strike up an in-game conversation. There are mechanisms for being anonymous in the game. So, I had no clue who was on the other end of the ether. I try to be a good gamer, offering to help. We have some game mechanic exchanges, then it turns into a bit of a Role Play (RP). No, nothing weird or strange. Just two players in a game interacting. Because the game has time and space constraints (you only get so many hours a turn and characters can be in two different regions), to effectively RP, it is good to have the two characters in the same region at the same time. With wars happening and armies moving about, it is sometime difficult to accomplish this (see why Angie calls it a Luser game?). So, in game, Willem and Ilya make arrangements to meet in Menedor.

Conan O'Brien (in a nerdy voice): “Fear not, Gandalf is on the way!”

The player of Ilya is named Talita. I call her Tali. She lives in Brazil. São Paulo. Near where the Fifes live. Well, near is a relative term with 18 million people in the metro area. It was suggested that we collaborate on a single document, each having editing rights. We spend some time working on this. Remember, RP is generally done in real time. Coordinating the editing and posting in game presents a problem. We can't make deadlines. Why? Real Life. Her dog is not doing well. I think the phrase "puking all day" was what she used. The dog still isn't doing well. Two different timezones. Her grandma called. "Excuse me, my grandma's on the phone." "I've got to give Caroline her bath." "My boyfriend's taking me to the movies." (That last one was Tali.) Real Life says spend time with your family. "I'm really tired and didn't get my nap on Sunday. I've got to go to bed." (Me). Real life.

We've started IM'ing using GoogleTalk. I never thought I'd be a fan of the IM. Angie can whip around in about six of them at one time. I'm still learning. The conversation drifted away from, "So, what's Willem going to say or do now?" to, "what did you have for dinner?" to "I can't RP tonight, I'm taking Caroline to her first ballgame." With an explanation of why we went. It turns out that Tali's aunt has Ds as well. Somewhere in there, I introduced Tali to Angie's and my blogs. She's seen us and read of our quirks. The conversation last night turned to her flog. Photolog. (I didn't know what it was, either. See, this is a learning experience for us all.) She showed me a picture of some of her family and friends during a post-Christmas vacation. Then she showed me a picture of her grandmother. Her mom's mom. Her aunt's mom. She passed away a little over two years ago. She had some of the kindest eyes that I've seen in a person. Then for the next hour or so Tali and I talked of her grandmother, and how she started two schools for exceptional children, like her daughter. When she did this in the 1970's, there was only one other school like that in São Paulo. She wanted to make a difference. And she did, because no one else was. I told her some of Caroline's story and pointed her toward the YouTube video of Caroline. She was moved by the video and commented, "It'll just keep me smiling for a long time^^"

When Tali stopped the RP chat to spend time with her grandma on the phone, it made me realize even more that Real Life is important and good. When she stopped the RP because Alex (her boyfriend) wanted to spend time with her, it reinforced the grandma call lightbulb moment. Real Life is important and good. Savor life for what it is at the moment. Sometimes you don't get a second chance with moments like that.

I put it into practice yesterday when Bill came through the office asking if I wanted a brownberry cherry tomato. I said no. I don't like tomatoes. But I chased him down and ate it. It was mostly good. Is that a great example? No. I took a walk with Angie and Caroline last night after grilling salmon steaks. Better. Having Edison say, "I love you, dad" when he called from a church youth group outing was very nice. Having a new friend in cyberspace is also nice. Not as nice as the cheesecake pie Angie made on Saturday, but still very nice. :)

Real Life is Good.

Caroline's First Baseball Game

Last night I took Caroline to Smokies Park to see the Tennessee Smokies host the Mobile Bay Bears. The evening was hosted by Marvin, Ray, Mark and a few other CVS managers and employees. For a few years now, they've been involved with local charities. This is the second year that they've taken some of the DSAG families to the ball park. We had excellent seats. Marvin and crew really took care of the DSAG families. Caroline had a great time. The Smokies lost, 10-3. We saw an inside the park home run. Actually, the scorer listed it as an error. I don't want to tick off the purists, but when a player hits the ball and it doesn't leave the playing field and the batter makes it safely around all four bases, it is an inside the park home run. We stayed until the last out. This is just a nice photo from the game.

Happy Birthday, Steve

Happenings in History for July 06:

1747 John Paul Jones naval hero ("I have not yet begun to fight")
1796 Nicholas I Russia, Tsar (1825-55)
1818 Adolf Anderssen Prussia, world chess champion (1851-66)
1884 Harold Vanderbilt NY, America Cup (1930,34,37)/inv contract bridge
1918 Sebastian Cabot London, actor (Mr French-Family Affair)
1923 Nancy Davis Reagan NY, 1st Lady (1981-89)
1924 Robert M White pilot (X-15)
1925 Bill Haley Mich, (& the Comets-Rock Around the Clock)
1925 Merv Griffin San Mateo Calif, TV host (Merv Griffin Show)
1927 Janet Leigh Merced Cal, actress, She's in the shower (Psycho, Harper)
1927 Nicky Hilton heir to his father Conrad Hilton's vast international hotel chain.
1927 Pat Paulsen comedian, presidential candidate (Smothers Bros Show)
1932 Della Reese Detroit, singer/actress (Della Reese Show, Royal Family)
1937 Gene Chandler [Eugene Dixon], Chicago, rocker (Duke of Earl)
1937 Ned Beatty Lexington Ky, actor (Deliverance, Repossed, Network)
1945 Burt Ward LA Calif, actor (Robin-Batman)
1946 Fred Dryer Hawthone Calif, NFLer (NY Giants, LA Rams)/actor (Hunter)
1946 Sylvester Stallone NYC, actor/director (Rocky, Rambo, Cobra)
1949 Shelly Hack Greenwich Ct, actress (Tiffany-Charlie's Angel)
1954 Allyce Beasley Bkln, actress (Agnes Dipesto-Moonlighting)
1959 John Keeble rocker (Spandau Ballet-True)
1959 Steve Aubrey brother (Aubrey family)

---

Deaths which occurred on July 06:

1189 Henry II King of England (1154-89), dies at 56
1415 Jan Hus burned for heresy by the Church at Constance, Germany
1535 Sir Thomas More executed in England for treason
1971 Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong jazz musician (Hello Dolly), dies at 70
1980 Gail Patrick actress (My Man Godfrey), dies of leukemia at 69

---

On this day...
1483 England's King Richard III crowned
1687 Newton publishes "Principia"
1699 Capt William Kidd arrested in Boston
1776 Dec of Ind announced on front page of the "PA Evening Gazette"
1777 British Gen Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans
1785 Congress resolves US currency named "dollar" & adopts decimal coinage
1798 US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained,... &
removed as alien enemies"
1885 1st inoculation (for rabies) of a human being, by Louis Pasteur
1886 Horlick's of Wisconsin offers 1st malted milk to public
1892 Striking steelworkers in Homestead, Pa fire on scabs, killing 7
1894 Cleveland sends 2,000 troops to Chicago to suppress Pullman strike
1903 George Wyman arrives in NYC by motorcycle 51 days out of SF
1908 Robert Peary's expedition sails from NYC for the north pole
1912 5th Olympic games in Stockholm opens
1919 British R-34 lands in NY, 1st airship to cross Atlantic (108 hr)
1924 1st photo sent experimentally across Atlantic by radio, US-England
1928 1st all-talking motion picture shown, in NY (Lights of NY)
1932 1st class postage back up to 3 cent from 2 cents
1938 NL beats AL 4-1 in 6th All Star Game (Crosley Field, Cincinnati)
1944 170 die in a fire at Ringling Bros Circus in Hartford Conn
1945 Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to formally accept UN Charter
1945 Pres Truman signs executive order establishing Medal of Freedom
1953 J Churms discovers asteroid #1701 Okavango
1957 Harry S Truman Library established in Independence, Missouri
1958 Alaska becomes the 49th state
1960 Dr Barbara Moore completes a 3,207 mile walk from LA to NYC
1964 Beatles' film "Hard Day's Night" premiers in London
1965 Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms
1971 White House Plumbers unit formed to plug news leaks
1976 Soyuz 21 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 5 space station
1978 Israeli jet fighters swooped over mostly Moslem West Beirut
1983 Fred Lynn of Angels hits All-Star game 1st grand slam (AL wins 13-3)
1989 After 9 years, WHOT (Bkln pirate radio station) is busted by the FCC
1989 US marshals & FCC sieze pirate radio station WHOT in Brooklyn
1990 "Jetson's the Movie" with Tiffany, premiers

Info taken from ANYDAY

The good old days, when Cornflakes were new...

While looking for some genealogy information in an old newspaper (circa 1910), I came across this advertisement...

Genealogy Humor and Animal Crackers

Yeah, that should catch your eye.

Years ago, I found a great parody piece of The Empire Strikes Back. The Modern Humorist site produced it. Very funny. And not edgy.

Warning ... some of the other humor at the Modern Humorist site is quite edgy (read: rude). I gave you fair warning.

And now to the Animal Crackers. Caroline (and Angie and I) have taken quite a liking to Stauffer's Animal Crackers. My aunt Shirley sent a container of the mini crackers. Caroline will say, "Baby Crackers, Baby Crackers!" We indulge her.

Nostalgia

Last post was a short trip down a very cluttered lane.

This one will be much (c)leaner, I promise.

This morning on the way to work, I heard some babbling radio psycho(therapist) discussing school lunch boxes. So I started to think about the lunch boxes that Steve and I used.

Mine was ...
Steve was much cooler. He had ...


We took them to Beekmantown Elementary School ...

That's all.

Eclectic Music - Part 1

I have some diverse tastes in music. I like classic rock, fusion jazz, Gregorian chant and a lot of stuff in between.

Yesterday I listened to the Yellowjackets self titled CD. I first heard of them at a Glad concert back in about 1986 or so. Their sound guy was playing it before the concert started. I had to go find out what it was. Now I know. Then, after lunch, I put on Asleep at the Wheel's Greatest Hits "Live and Kickin'". I was introduced to them at NAU in the early 1980s. It is funny how one remembers music and how it relates to a specific time or event. Similar to aromas, but with your ears.

Right now I'm listening to Chuck Mangione's Fun and Games. My brother got Feels So Good on cassette when it came out in 1976. He played it on a red cassette player. Steve introduced me to some other music, whether he realized it or not. Yes's Fragile, Frank Zappa's Hot Rats, Santana's Caravanserai, The Carpenters, Wings. Most were played on the Philco monster piece of furniture in the living room.

His first rock concert was Blue Oyster Cult. I think that Angel opened for them.

My first rock concert was Emerson, Lake and Palmer. SUNY Plattsburgh. I recently found a review of that show. Similar to what I remember oh those many years ago.

After moving to Arizona, the local FM station, KTAZ, was on on a tape feed, 4 hours of rotation. You could hear The Knack and then Little River Band and then KC and the Sunshine Band and then Donna Summer. 4 hours later, you'd hear it all over again.

Tim M., introduced me to the James Gang. Joe Walsh. What a guitar playing wizard. He also introduced me to Styx, Kansas, The Tubes and Billy Thorpe.

My senior year in high school I was playing bass for the Show Band. We were a working band, usually 2-3 gigs a months. We'd do shows at the Officer's Club at Ft. Huachuca mostly. We had 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 6 saxes, a rhythm section and about 4 vocalists. We did play the Tombstone Centennial Ball. That was fun. Lots of Chicago, The Association, Earth, Wind & Fire. That sort of stuff. Was introduced to the music of Maynard Ferguson. Not just his disco remix hits, but the older, late 1950s and early 1960s work.

Dan and Jeff M. played some 2nd Chapter of Acts. Mansion Builder, I think. Keith Green started to show up in my album collection as well as some Phil Keaggy.

On to college, it was more of the same, making new friends, and being exposed to their tastes in music. Paul T. liked The Cars and the Eagles. Jeff W. liked anything New Wave (Devo, B-52s) or Punk (Vom). And Jethro Tull. Steve O. (who was my roommate for my sophomore year) opened my ears to Bill Watrous, The Doors, Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Crack the Sky, Starcastle, Brian Eno, Fred Frith, and more.

I saw Doc Holliday and Loverboy open for April Wine at NAU. Yes, I sunk to a low there. But, my wonderful wife, Angie, also admits to having seen Loverboy in concert.

But this post wasn't supposed to be about concerts. That can be another post - who I've seen and who I'd like to see.

As I finish this portion of the post, I'm listening to Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus.

I should get back to work. I'll be back to link in some more of the bands later.

Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football

Updated to include the first of the two 2008 games.

I put this together sometime last year. It came out of a conversation with Ron, one of my vendors. I now post it for Mike and Barry, two Steeler fans.

1970-2008

Monday Night Football - Pittsburgh Steelers
Winner First, Home team in CAPS

Nov.  2, 1970   PITTSBURGH 21, Cincinnati 10
Oct. 18, 1971   KANSAS CITY 38, Pittsburgh 16
Nov.  5, 1973   PITTSBURGH 21, Washington 16
Dec.  3, 1973   MIAMI 30, Pittsburgh 26
Oct. 28, 1974   PITTSBURGH 24, Atlanta 17
Nov. 25, 1974   Pittsburgh 28, NEW ORLEANS 7
Nov. 24, 1975   Pittsburgh 32, HOUSTON 9
Oct.  4, 1976   MINNESOTA 17, Pittsburgh 6
Sep. 19, 1977   PITTSBURGH 27, San Francisco 0
Oct. 17, 1977   PITTSBURGH 20, Cincinnati 14
Oct. 23, 1978   Houston 24, PITTSBURGH 17
Nov. 27, 1978   Pittsburgh 24, SAN FRANCISCO 7
Sept. 3, 1979   Pittsburgh 16, NEW ENGLAND 13 (OT)
Oct. 22, 1979   PITTSBURGH 42, Denver 7
Dec. 10, 1979   HOUSTON 20, Pittsburgh 17
Oct. 20, 1980   Oakland 45, PITTSBURGH 34
Dec. 22, 1980   SAN DIEGO 26, Pittsburgh 17
Oct. 26, 1981   PITTSBURGH 26, Houston 13
Dec.  7, 1981   OAKLAND 30, Pittsburgh 27
Sep. 13, 1982   Pittsburgh 36, DALLAS 28
Oct. 10, 1983   Pittsburgh 24, CINCINNATI 14
Oct.  1, 1984   PITTSBURGH 38, Cincinnati 17
Nov. 19, 1984   NEW ORLEANS 27, Pittsburgh 24
Sep. 16, 1985   CLEVELAND 17, Pittsburgh 7
Sep. 30, 1985   Cincinnati 37, PITTSBURGH 24
Sep. 15, 1986   Denver 21, PITTSBURGH 10
Oct. 13, 1986   CINCINNATI 24, Pittsburgh 22
Oct. 29, 1990   PITTSBURGH 41, L.A. Rams 10
Oct. 14, 1991   N.Y. Giants 23, PITTSBURGH 20
Oct. 19, 1992   PITTSBURGH 20, Cincinnati 0
Sep. 27, 1993   Pittsburgh 45, ATLANTA 17
Nov. 15, 1993   PITTSBURGH 23, Buffalo 0
Dec. 13, 1993   Pittsburgh 21, MIAMI 20
Oct.  3, 1994   PITTSBURGH 30, Houston 14
Nov. 14, 1994   PITTSBURGH 23, Buffalo 10
Sep. 18, 1995   MIAMI 23, Pittsburgh 10
Nov. 13, 1995   PITTSBURGH 20, Cleveland 3
Sep. 16, 1996   PITTSBURGH 24, Buffalo 6
Oct.  7, 1996   Pittsburgh 17, KANSAS CITY 7
Nov. 25, 1996   Pittsburgh 24, MIAMI 17
Sep. 22, 1997   JACKSONVILLE 30, Pittsburgh 21
Nov.  3, 1997   KANSAS CITY 13, Pittsburgh 10
Oct. 26, 1998   Pittsburgh 20, KANSAS CITY 13
Nov.  9, 1998   Pittsburgh 27, Green Bay 20
Dec. 28, 1998   JACKSONVILLE 21, Pittsburgh 3
Oct. 25, 1999   PITTSBURGH 13, Atlanta 9
Oct. 29, 2001   PITTSBURGH 34, Tennessee 7
Sep.  9, 2002   NEW ENGLAND 30, Pittsburgh 14
Oct. 21, 2002   PITTSBURGH 28, Indianapolis 10
Dec. 23, 2002   Pittsburgh 17, TAMPA BAY 7
Nov. 17, 2003   SAN FRANCISCO 30, Pittsburgh 14
Oct. 10, 2005   Pittsburgh 24, SAN DIEGO 22
Oct. 31, 2005   PITTSBURGH 20, Baltimore 19
Nov. 28, 2005   INDIANAPOLIS 26, Pittsburgh 7
Sep. 18, 2006   JACKSONVILLE 9, Pittsburgh 0
Nov.  5, 2007   PITTSBURGH 38, Baltimore 7
Nov. 26, 2007   PITTSBURGH 3, Miami 0  *
Sep. 29, 2008   PITTSBURGH 23, Baltimore 20
Nov.  3, 2008   Pittsburgh __, WASHINGTON __  **

*   Lowest Total Score MNF to date
** (game not yet played at time of update)


    Total    Won     Lost    Percent
    -----    ---     ----    -------
Home    25     22       3      0.880
Away    33     14      19      0.424
All     58     36      22      0.621

Longest Win Streak = 6  (1992-1994)
Longest Lose Streak = 5 (1984-1986)


             times      Pitt.
Opponent       met       W-L    Percent
--------      -----      ---    -------
Cincinnati      7       (5-2)    0.714
Houston         5       (3-2)    0.600
Miami           5       (3-2)    0.600
Kansas City     4       (2-2)    0.500
Atlanta         3       (3-0)    1.000
Baltimore       3       (3-0)    1.000
Buffalo         3       (3-0)    1.000
San Francisco   3       (2-1)    0.667
Jacksonville    3       (0-3)    0.000
Cleveland       2       (1-1)    0.500
Denver          2       (1-1)    0.500
Indianapolis    2       (1-1)    0.500
New England     2       (1-1)    0.500
New Orleans     2       (1-1)    0.500
Oakland         2       (0-2)    0.000
San Diego       2       (1-1)    0.500
Dallas          1       (1-0)    1.000
Green Bay       1       (1-0)    1.000
L.A. Rams       1       (1-0)    1.000
Tampa Bay       1       (1-0)    1.000
Tennessee       1       (1-0)    1.000
Washington      1       (1-0)    1.000
N.Y. Giants     1       (0-1)    0.000
Minnesota       1       (0-1)    0.000

By Decade:
   games     W-L   Percent
   -----     ---   -------
1970s  15     (10-5)  0.667
1980s  12     (4-8)   0.333
1990s  19     (14-5)  0.737
2000s  12     (8-4)   0.667

By Month:
    games    W-L   Percent
    -----    ---   -------
Sep.    13    (6-7)   0.462  +
Oct.    22    (16-6)  0.727  ++
Nov.    16    (12-4)  0.750
Dec.     7    (2-5)   0.286

+ Pittsburgh had a 4 game L streak in the month of Sep.
(1985-1995)
++ Pittsburgh has a 9 game W streak in the month of Oct.
(1992-2005)

Some Food That I've Loved...

I love food. I like the way it tastes, the way it is presented, the way it smells. I don't gorge myself on it, I just like food. I like the food that Angie makes. I like the food that my Mom makes. I like comfort food. I like some restaurant food. So, I'd like to share a few photos of food and perhaps a few comments about them. No fancy alignment for the photos, just some good food.

This is a Michigan and fries from The Homestead Restaurant in Chazy, NY. I was up in Clinton County two years ago with Mom and Dad, Steve and Bettie (brother and sister-in-law). What's a Michigan? Here's the answer. Toot and Tellums, Nitzi's, Clare and Carl's. Those were the places to go to get a Michigan. I remember Toot 'n Tellums having a great selection of pies. The Homestead Restaurant also has some good ones. Mom had the lemon meringue. I think that I had chocolate pie. Someone else had butterscotch. Bettie?

We went to Arnie's Restaurant in Plattsburgh, with Jack and Janet for some pizza. I ordered bacon and onions. Too much onion.

Here's Steve getting a slice.

Then it was to Jack and Janet's for an evening of stories and ice cream.

We also got some apple pie from Rulfs Orchard. I've got photos, but so do they. We shared it with my grandmother. She like it. She also made some great Michigan sauce. Angie's learned from my mom. Three generations of great sauce makers. Can't beat that. My grandmother was a great cook. Actually, both of them were, but we lived closer to Grammy Aubrey, so we ate more of her food.

Then it was time to fly home from Burlington, VT. The folks took us over and we ate at the Parkway Diner. A real diner.

We had lunch and breakfast for the noontime meal. The Blueberry pancakes and bacon are mine. Mom had soup and a sandwich. Dad had pancakes and a malt or a shake. He always gets a malt or a shake (if they don't have a malt). If the spoon can't stand up, then it doesn't get full points on the George-ometer.

They were having a jazz festival while we were there. I found a hole in the wall place that served gyros. Very good. I don't have photos of the food handy, but it was very good. Another diner the next morning because storms on the east coast shut down airports, so we had to stay for the night.

All that, and more, two years ago. I still remember the sights, sounds, tastes and conversations.

But it was good to get home.

Unidentified Baseball Player

I was perusing ebay and came across this auction. It is described as a cabinet photo of a 1900's baseball player. The photo mount is labeled "Blair and Webber Plattsburg". Don't know if it is Plattsburgh, NY or Plattsburg, MO. Here are the photos. It is not my intent to 'steal' these from the seller, I just didn't want them to get lost to the ether when the auction goes away.



Edit - for those of you who don't like to read the comments, I've been informed that the location is NY. Blair and Webber still has a studio on Peru Street in Plattsburgh.

Bookmark this

I like to read books. Sometimes magazines or newspapers, but mostly books. I try to read some every day. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Currently I'm reading (among other titles) Elliott Roosevelt's The President's Man and Elfrida Lang's The History of Trinity Evangelical and Reformed Church. Gripping stuff. To keep my place, I use bookmarks. Sometimes they are the dust jacket slipped over the cover between the pages. Sometimes, I'll grab a baseball card, or a business card. Sometimes I'll just remember what page I'm on. Apparently, other people use stranger things.

I've run across an interesting essay about bookmarks from The Believer website. Simon Quicke has a blog about books and such. Some of his posts are about bookmarks. Although not bookmarks specifically, there is a wonderful blog called Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie. Lots of images. Let them load.

Enjoy books, not only for the words that they contain, but also for the family and friends that gave them to you or suggested that you read them. Remember that teacher you had in school, how he or she encouraged you to read. Delight when your children pick up a book. Delight even more when they carry it to you and say, "Daddy read." Read for knowledge. Read for pleasure. Read to take your mind off the pressing issues of the day. Escape into a different world for an hour. You'll be the better for it.

Noshville

NOTE: original text has been edited and photos added.

So, since this is now an edited version, I can get it to look better and tell you what we ate and why we like Noshville.

Angie and I are in the greater Nashville area for the Tennessee State Down syndrome Conference. We are representing the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of East Tennessee. For dinner we went to one of our favorite Nashville restaurants, Noshville. Since pictures are worth a thousand words and I'm tired, here are some photos. And no, we didn't eat any desert.

In 2004, Caroline had to go to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for heart surgery. It was a very long three weeks. Angie spent most of her time with Caroline. I, being the lover of all things medical, spent much of my time away from the hospital, but did come up to see them every few hours or so. That's a story for another time. When you're in Nashville for three weeks, and you want to stay close to your daughter, you eat at the Subway in the hospital food court. While staying at the Ronald McDonald House, you eat spaghetti for the third time that week. Then you find a pizza joint down the street. Then KFC looks good at 11pm. Then you venture out and find a Turkish restaurant with rose jelly. Then you find Noshville.

I think, in reality, that Angie had found this place before I went out in search of food. She took me to it. Actually, I think that the night that I drove over with my folks and Edison, there were many people that took me to it. During our stay, we went to it with Debbie and Nancy, two women from our church small group that came over to visit. What I remember from when they came over was the fluorescent green garlic dill pickles that they serve up, like bread sticks, almost. I think that I tried one that day. Just to say that I did it. I don't remember. Dill and I don't go together. They gather the pickles from a big tub and what you don't eat, goes back in. Yum.
This night, Angie had the Reuben and I had a BLT. My sandwich must have had a 1/2 pound of bacon. I couldn't finish it. I had the chocolate malt (see above). That I did finish.


The fries are wonderful. Just enough crisp to bite into and just enough mush to feel good. Very tasty.

One other time that we went there, we saw Jackie Mason. Yeah, Harry Hartounian from "The Jerk." He was in town doing his act. If it's good enough for Jackie...

Their deserts are wonderful. Normally they have cheesecake from some deli in New York City. They didn't have them while we were there. Very good, though. We had some when we went back for Caroline's post surgery visit. I walked over to Noshville. Angie got a Reuben. I got a tuna salad sandwich. And cheesecake.

So, enough about the food, already. When you visit Nashville, you must go to Noshville.

The funniest people I know

We all like to laugh. Some of the people that make me laugh are Bob Newhart, David Letterman, Joel Hodgson, among others. But I don't know them. I like to watch or listen to them, but I don't know them.

So, who are the people that I do know that make me laugh? In no particular order ...

1. Don White - accordionist / entertainer
2. Doug White - Don's youngest son / piano tuning school friend / musician / tech geek
   
3. Tim Berry - marketing bigwig for major theme park in the south
   
4. Tim Mize - high school friend / dialysis technician
5. Karl Allen - former co-worker / programmer
6. Dan Marchant - high school friend and college roommate / programmer
   

These are all guys that have made me laugh. And still do. I think back on experiences that I've had with them, jokes they've told, things we've done together. Even though it has been almost thirty years since I met some of them, I still laugh.

Thanks for the fun.