It's A Living - Part 2

   In 1972, after serving in the Air Force for four years, I got a summer job driving a fish truck, which comprised of making deliveries to hotels and restaurants in the York County, Maine area, or driving to Boston to pick up fish from the wholesalers.  If I wasn't driving, I was filleting fish in the shop.  Needless to say, I smelled very fishy at the end of the day.  That job lasted well into the fall (I did a good job so Bob Preble kept me on longer).  Very soon after that, I found work as a carpenter's helper with Nick Kingsbury of Cape Porpoise,  Maine.  I had experience working with carpenters as a teenager during summer vacations (see: If I Were A Carpenter...) and learned even more from him.  These skills paid off later.  During 1973, I was an electronic lab technician with Maremont Corporation in Saco, Maine.  That was very interesting work where I built and tested prototype alternators following the designs made by the engineers.  In 1974, a friend of my wife's needed help in a business he owned.  Dick Lemke had a small cash register company and he needed a repair technician.  I knew nothing about cash registers so he trained me and a week later, he went on vacation and I was on my own for awhile, it was sink or swim!  That, my friends, is how I got into the cash register game, and I have enjoyed it ever since!  Fair warning, more to follow!.....

It's A Living - Part 1

Lorenzo

Frank

  My great-grandfather, Lorenzo, had a grocery store in Canton, Maine.  My grandfather, Frank, was in the grocery business most of his life.  After he graduated from high school, he worked in a grocery store in Peru, Maine for three years.  In 1923 when he was 26, he started working in a grocery store in Dixfield, Maine.  A year later he bought the business, that is what I call moving up the ladder! He was a butcher and meat manager for many years in First National Stores and Sampson's Supermarkets around Maine.  He should have retired but because he was raising me, he continued to work as the butcher at Towne & Clark, a country style general store in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Lastly, he was the butcher at the Arundel Market in Arundel, Maine until his passing.  It is said that his motto  was, "I won't sell any meat that I wouldn't put on my own table!" 

  My Uncle Frank was in department store management for many years, starting with J.J. Newberry's as store manager for ten years (where he was the youngest manager the chain ever had) and then he owned and operated Small's Department Store in Derry, NH for three years. Next he was with Mal's Department Stores for nine years starting as a store manager and finishing as the General Manager for the chain. After all that, he couldn't just retire, he bought a little general store in Troy, Maine, which he owned and operated until his passing. After which, his son, Joe, continues the tradition and adding a heating oil business to the mix.

  My Uncle Joe was the Postmaster in Harrison, Maine for many years. So all of these men on my dad's side of the family were very retail oriented, well, a post office is sort of like a store! My profession is also of a retail nature but with a different slant. For over thirty years, I have been servicing and installing cash registers, something you always see in the retail trade.

  More to follow.....



I Wish Perry Mason Was Here.....

  Well, it happened again.  Something has slipped into my head and is bouncing around until it finds a way out.  I was watching a film yesterday, titled True Grit with Jeff Bridges.  By the way, I think I like the John Wayne version better.  I have to admit, the new one has such realistic dialogue to fit the time period, I found myself listening very carefully to understand all they were saying.  Anyway, in one scene, Mattie is talking about Natural Law, a deep subject for a fourteen year old.  I decided to look into it further....

  Natural law or the law of nature (Latin: lex naturalis) has been described as a law whose content is set by nature and therefore is universal.  As classically used, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior.  Although natural law is often conflated with common law, the two are distinct in that natural law is a view that certain rights or values are inherent in or universally cognizable by virtue of human reason or human nature, while common law is the legal tradition whereby certain rights or values are legally cognizable by virtue of judicial recognition or articulation.

  The U.S. Declaration of Independence states that it has become necessary for the United States to assume "the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them". Some early American lawyers and judges perceived natural law as too tenuous, amorphous and evanescent a legal basis for grounding concrete rights and governmental limitations.  Natural law did, however, serve as authority for legal claims and rights in some judicial decisions, legislative acts, and legal pronouncements.  Robert Lowry Clinton (associate professor and director of graduate studies in the department of political science at Southern Illinois University) argues that the U.S. Constitution rests on a common law foundation and the common law, in turn, rests on a classical natural law foundation.

That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Blast From The Past - Part 4

You are probably thinking, "oh no, not another Blast From The Past!" Yup, since it is my show, I call the shots. 

When I was quite small, I am going to guess about four years old, I had a little child's record player. It was one of those old portable kind that was bright red.  Actually, it looked like the one depicted on the right.  I remember playing whatever records I could find.  Mostly they were yellow and red, plastic, 78 RPM Disney records about Goofy, Dumbo, and Davey Crockett.  But I do remember a couple records that I probably misappropriated from my parents.  The first one was Jambalaya by Jo Stafford, that came out in 1952.  The second one was

Mr. Sandman by the Chordettees that came out in 1954.  That was a great song with great harmony.  Linda Ronstadt did a great version of it as well.  Heck, her songs are always great (I am a bit biased).  I would have linked Linda Ronstadt's version if I could have found one, but alas, I could not.

Deep Thoughts......

  If I ever find that I am getting caught up in myself, thinking I am a pretty smart guy, all I have to do is dwell on Quantum Mechanics for a moment then I realise how dumb I really am.  I will leave that kind of thinking to people like Stephen Hawking.  One thing about the subject that I really find absolutely fascinating is Quantum Entanglement.  Quantum Entanglement is when two particles will act together and become a system. They behave like one object, but remain two separate objects. It is as if they sit on the same teeter-totter seesaw. No matter how long the seesaw is, even if it is one million miles long, if one end is down the other end must be up, and this happens instantly.  When I say 'instantly', I don't mean at the speed of light (which is over five seconds for a million mile seesaw!), I mean at the very same moment.  The two objects have sympathetic movement at the very same moment, no matter how far apart they are.  Of course this activity is happening at a subatomic level.  There is so much we still don't know!

I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy. - Max Born

Joys Of Being A Dad - Part 6

  It has been a standing joke, since Stephanie was born, that she is my favourite daughter.  Fortunately for me, because they are so rare and special, she is my only daughter.  She has always been a joy to me and while she was growing up, I often told her that she couldn't leave home until she was forty because I couldn't bear to part with her.

  When Stephanie was small, we had a tradition that I would carry her to bed and tuck her in.  At bed time, no matter where I was, she would seek me out with arms stretched.  As a teenager, for a laugh, she would sometimes want to relive the tradition.  Stephanie had umpty-nine stuffed animals that she would meticulously arrange each morning on her bed after making it.  I would sometimes stand each one of the critters on their heads for fun. 

  Her grammar school had a reading program called 'Book It' (it still operates!) which provided Stephanie with coupons for Pizza Hut.  When her turn came around for Saturday lunch with Dad, that is where we often went, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

  Being outnumbered 5 to 1 by her brothers didn't bother Stephanie too much.  She did pretty well holding her ground while she was growing up and the boys did a pretty good job of watching out for her.

  When it came to gift giving, Stephanie would often give me very nice, comfy, plaid flannel shirts.  One day, when she visited me a year ago, we were talking about this and I asked her why the shirts were always plaid as opposed to some other colour.  Stephanie replied that many years ago, she asked me what my favourite colour was.  Now, I make a joke of just about anything, and this moment was no exception.  I said that because I am a person that cannot make decisions, my favourite colour was plaid.  Well, her young mind accepted this as fact and it has been plaid ever since!

  One thing that I have always been grateful for, was the fact that no matter how difficult or easy life was for Stephanie while she was growing up, she could and would talk to her mom and dad about it. 

  Now she is all grown up with three favourite daughters of her own and a devoted husband.  Seems like yesterday I was building a toy stove for her and now she is a fantastic baker of goodies.  Stephanie is very talented and determined and can do whatever she puts her mind to, so don't get in her way!

  Yes, I am a lucky dad to have been blessed with a very special daughter.

Blast From The Past - Part 3

  Music has fascinating power, a certain song can immediately transport you to another time and another place.  Sometimes when you listen to a song, you can feel the sentiment that the writer or the singer are trying to convey.  One song I enjoy listening to is Come Softly To Me by The Fleetwoods from 1958.  Click on the song name to listen.

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. - Aldous Huxley

Happy MMXI

2011

 A new year and a new start.  Here is hoping the Human Race is a little bit smarter then last year and that we all get along.  Listening to myself, I feel like a peaceful demonstrator from the sixties!  But instead of speaking to the collective, I speak to the individual and hope your new year is a happy one.

  The United Nations has designated 2011 the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry.

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. - Charles Lamb

Joys Of Being A Dad - Part 5

  I always found it interesting that six children raised under the same roof can be so unique from each other.  As Spock would say, "Fascinating!"  All of the kids had 'pet' names that I suspect most do not want to hear in their present stage of life.  Among other 'cutsie' names, Bobby will always be "Bobby" to me, even though he prefers being referred to as "Bob" now that he is an adult.  Hmmm, I am 61 and some people that I have known all my life still call me Bobby.  That's OK, I like reminiscing on the past!
  One interest that he had from an early age, that we shared, was computers.  That was way back in the days of MS-DOS 6.3.  One day he was on the family computer and decided the files needed cleaned up and organized so proceeded to delete files he felt was unnecessary.  Unfortunately, he deleted some important ones like AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS.  So the next time he turned the computer on, it was a no go.  "Help, Dad!"  Fortunately, since it was DOS 6.3, I was able to do UNDELETE on the files he took out.  I still have a leg up on him in regards to hardware, but when it comes to software, he now has me beat.
  His talent in almost anything he endeavors is something he and anyone that knows him should be proud of.  I admire that he imparts his 'thinking outside of the box' and his creativity to his children....and to me.

All I Want For Christmas.....

  Here is an interesting bit of info,  about the Regency TR-1, transistor radio:
  Two companies working together, Texas Instruments of Dallas, Texas and Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A.) of Indianapolis, Indiana, were behind the unveiling of the Regency TR-1, the world's first commercially produced transistor radio. Previously, Texas Instruments was producing instrumentation for the oil industry and locating devices for the U.S. Navy, and I.D.E.A. built home television antenna boosters, but the two companies worked together on the TR-1, looking to grow revenues for their respective companies by breaking into this new product area.  In May 1954, Texas Instruments had designed and built a prototype and was looking for an established radio manufacturer to develop and market a radio using their transistors. None of the major radio makers including RCA, Philco, and Emerson were interested. The President of I.D.E.A. at the time, Ed Tudor, jumped at the opportunity to manufacture the TR-1, predicting sales of the transistor radios at "20 million radios in three years".  The Regency TR-1 was announced on October 18, 1954 by the Regency Division of I.D.E.A., was put on sale in November 1954, and was the first practical transistor radio made in any significant numbers. One year after the release of the TR-1 sales approached the 100,000 mark. The look and size of the TR-1 was well received, but the reviews of the TR-1's performance were typically adverse.  The Regency TR-1 is patented by Richard C. Koch, US 2892931 , former Project Engineer of I.D.E.A.  (Thanks Wikipedia!)
  Click here for a video of the manufacturing process of the TR-1.  Very retro!
  I wish I had one to add to my little collection, but they are valued up to $600.00.  I don't think so.