USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Nosmo King]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

 

[Foxfyre]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

My cell phone remains blessedly quiet 95% or better of the time. All I use it for is to make and receive telephone calls, and I do turn it off when I'm at church or other places where it would be disruptive/rude if it rang. But I got one of the first affordable cell phones that came out because I needed phone access so much in my work and it was a real blessing to not have to find a pay phone every time I needed to make a call--especially during severe weather seasons, summer and winter.

I am now addicted to the security of the darn thing. I don't worry about being stranded or out of touch with those who may need me for whatever reason. If my car won't start, I can summon help immediately. If Hombre or I am shopping and we have a question, we can consult with each other immediately. All technology isn't a bad thing.

 

[Nosmo King]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

My cell phone remains blessedly quiet 95% or better of the time. All I use it for is to make and receive telephone calls, and I do turn it off when I'm at church or other places where it would be disruptive/rude if it rang. But I got one of the first affordable cell phones that came out because I needed phone access so much in my work and it was a real blessing to not have to find a pay phone every time I needed to make a call--especially during severe weather seasons, summer and winter.

I am now addicted to the security of the darn thing. I don't worry about being stranded or out of touch with those who may need me for whatever reason. If my car won't start, I can summon help immediately. If Hombre or I am shopping and we have a question, we can consult with each other immediately. All technology isn't a bad thing.

I don't believe that this technology is bad. I believe that it is too open to abuse. I miss the privacy of a telephone booth. I hate the private one way conversation happening in public spaces.

 

[Foxfyre]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

My cell phone remains blessedly quiet 95% or better of the time. All I use it for is to make and receive telephone calls, and I do turn it off when I'm at church or other places where it would be disruptive/rude if it rang. But I got one of the first affordable cell phones that came out because I needed phone access so much in my work and it was a real blessing to not have to find a pay phone every time I needed to make a call--especially during severe weather seasons, summer and winter.

I am now addicted to the security of the darn thing. I don't worry about being stranded or out of touch with those who may need me for whatever reason. If my car won't start, I can summon help immediately. If Hombre or I am shopping and we have a question, we can consult with each other immediately. All technology isn't a bad thing.

I don't believe that this technology is bad. I believe that it is too open to abuse. I miss the privacy of a telephone booth. I hate the private one way conversation happening in public spaces.

I do understand that though I don't miss the privacy of the phone booth. I HATED using pay phones. But I have been annoyed by somebody talking loudly on a cell phone in a public place so I try to keep that to a minimum. But I am probably guilty of being one of those folks you answer in the grocery store when I call Hombre to see if we're out of chili for the tamales or if we need a fresh head of lettuce. (Our grocery lists are always open to revisement and extension. )

 

[Grandma]

I hate like hell sitting in a room with someone, carrying on an important conversation, only to have it interrupted repeatedly by them exchanging text messages with their little friend.

We have one of those $10 gas station phones we carry with us. We use it to call for help if we get a flat tire or to let others know we're running late for an appointment, stuff like that. I think we use it maybe 5 minutes per month.

 

[Foxfyre]

I hate like hell sitting in a room with someone, carrying on an important conversation, only to have it interrupted repeatedly by them exchanging text messages with their little friend.

We have one of those $10 gas station phones we carry with us. We use it to call for help if we get a flat tire or to let others know we're running late for an appointment, stuff like that. I think we use it maybe 5 minutes per month.

Verizon tailored a special little program for Hombre and me because we have been customers for such a long period--we each pay $20 a month for up to 50 minutes of phone time per month. It is extremely rare that either of us exceed 10 minutes a month. About the only time that happens is if we are in a motel room and need to call everybody in the family about an impending or actual death in the family or something like that.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Good morning, everyone. Dark, dark. Chilly then in the sixties again. Strange fall continues.

Good morning Jakey and all coffee shoppers...

Rainy here too and in the sixties but forecast for sun the next two day. Strange weather patterns, indeed. This is November and it should be blustery and in the fifties.

I don't get it either, but I walked little more than a mile to the bank, to Chilis, to the Staples, to the market, and on home, and the weather was wonderful. I will take it.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Of fones. I have a Samsung on a tracfone set up. Amazing. Very, very little cost, no contract. I bet I don't avg 15 mins a day on it for conversation. I do like txting very much, saves a lot of time and face music.

 

[R.D.]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

On the up side, if you talk to yourself in the car people will assume you're on the phone

 

[Ernie S.]

Y'all come down to the Gulf Coast!

Cloudy and 77 here today with a 1 in 3 chance of getting some rain; pretty typical for this time of year. Damned good night at Doc's last night. We're on track to have our best week ever. The place, under the previous owners had a seedy reputation. It was dingy and dirty with girls dancing on the bar and frequent fisticuffs.
We've cleaned it up, removed that element and run a friendly neighborhood bar and more and more people are taking notice. We've been open for just over 8 months now and we're doing roughly 50% better than when we opened up.

I hope you get rich too. You work hard.

I likely won't get rich at this, but I would love to start drawing a salary.

 

[Ringel05]

Got back about a half hour ago, stopped off in Santa Fe for lunch and fill up the gas tank, I made it to the rest stop just north of Las Vegas before handing the driving off to the wife. Had a serious case of the nods and slept from the rest stop to just at the bottom of Raton Pass in Raton. Been doing that a lot lately on longer drives, don't know why, it's new.

 

[Foxfyre]

Got back about a half hour ago, stopped off in Santa Fe for lunch and fill up the gas tank, I made it to the rest stop just north of Las Vegas before handing the driving off to the wife. Had a serious case of the nods and slept from the rest stop to just at the bottom of Raton Pass in Raton. Been doing that a lot lately on longer drives, don't know why, it's new.

Do you snore? Enough to bother Mrs. R? If so, you may want to undergo a sleep test. Hombre was about your age when his sleep apnia began to affect him that way. The CPAP he uses is not restrictive or uncomfortable for him in any way and it has changed his life.

 

[Sherry]

 

[JakeStarkey]

I normally come into Raton from Clayton in the southeast of NM right across from Tx. That is some wide open miles and miles and no people of wide open miles and miles and no people. Some of that drive up from the Staked Plains is awesome.

 

[Ringel05]

Got back about a half hour ago, stopped off in Santa Fe for lunch and fill up the gas tank, I made it to the rest stop just north of Las Vegas before handing the driving off to the wife. Had a serious case of the nods and slept from the rest stop to just at the bottom of Raton Pass in Raton. Been doing that a lot lately on longer drives, don't know why, it's new.

Do you snore? Enough to bother Mrs. R? If so, you may want to undergo a sleep test. Hombre was about your age when his sleep apnia began to affect him that way. The CPAP he uses is not restrictive or uncomfortable for him in any way and it has changed his life.

I'm sure I have at least minor apnea, had it due to my sinuses being clogged up with polyps which we know will eventually grow back. The problem is VA has me doing the 3000 step program towards resolution.......

 

[Foxfyre]

Got back about a half hour ago, stopped off in Santa Fe for lunch and fill up the gas tank, I made it to the rest stop just north of Las Vegas before handing the driving off to the wife. Had a serious case of the nods and slept from the rest stop to just at the bottom of Raton Pass in Raton. Been doing that a lot lately on longer drives, don't know why, it's new.

Do you snore? Enough to bother Mrs. R? If so, you may want to undergo a sleep test. Hombre was about your age when his sleep apnia began to affect him that way. The CPAP he uses is not restrictive or uncomfortable for him in any way and it has changed his life.

I'm sure I have at least minor apnea, had it due to my sinuses being clogged up with polyps which we know will eventually grow back. The problem is VA has me doing the 3000 step program towards resolution.......

All I know is Hombre's personal physician, his cancer doctor, and the doctors in the hospital all missed the diagnosis. I finally insisted he see a specialist and sure enough, he was waking up hundreds of time every night--not enough to be aware he was awake or anybody else would notice--but enough to disturb his rest. Once he got the CPAP and a good night's sleep, he felt like a new man. He wouldn't even think about going without it now.

And it has been a blessing for me too. For years I would sneak out of bed and sleep elsewhere just to get some sleep. Now I can sleep all night with him as he is blissfully silent. At least now that I no longer check him to make sure he's still breathing.

 

[Ringel05]

Sorry but we aren't impressed with Albuquerque, it just doesn't "fit" us, if you know what I mean. If we move down to NM we would most likely choose Santa Fe, it has that "it fits" us feel to it.

 

[Nosmo King]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

On the up side, if you talk to yourself in the car people will assume you're on the phone

I often singe in the car. But I've been told I make a 'Joe Cocker' face while singing. It's white boy soul.

But if I'm making the Joe Face, onlookers might assume I'm 'making' something else!

 

[Ringel05]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

On the up side, if you talk to yourself in the car people will assume you're on the phone

I often singe in the car. But I've been told I make a 'Joe Cocker' face while singing. It's white boy soul.

But if I'm making the Joe Face, onlookers might assume I'm 'making' something else!

Soooooo, what do you singe in the car......? Do we need to do intervention.......?

 

[Nosmo King]

It's the kind of day that makes November infamous. Overcast and rainy and temps in the high 30s so life outside is just like standing in a refrigerator in the rain.

Tuesday night I drove up to Monaca, PA and the Beaver Valley Mall. It's an old mall, built in the early 1970s. I used to take high school dates there to eat, watch people and take in a movie at the Cineplex. Movies like Chinatown, The Sting, The Godfather, Being There. Real movies, not comic books on film.

Anyway, I was wandering the mall and I heard Carol King sing about how she felt the earth move under her feet and Eric Burdon and War tell the story of the Cisco Kid and how he was a friend of mine.

I realized that I had made it to the future, while surrounded by familiarity. Today's mall has cellular telephone company stores plying their trade. We had no such technology back in 1974. There were giant television screens advertising shiatsu massage therapy and tattoo parlors. The kids who are now in the roles of me and my high school girlfriends all had their necks bent toward the phone as they texted one another. We would simply speak without the aid of hand held, wireless telephony. I wonder what they are trying to say to one another?

I bought my brother the annual Lenox porcelain snowflake ornament for this year's Christmas tree. I have given him a Lenox porcelain snowflake each year for the past thirty years. I think he could pawn all those ornaments and buy himself a nice used car! Based on what the wide wide world of the interweb says, the replacement value of some of the ornaments can approach $400 or more.

I tried to buy my 2015 wall calendar for the kitchen, but the selection is still too sparse. On the other hand, three years ago I farted around until the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and could find calendars with kittens, professional wrestlers and the sketches of Thomas Kincaid and nothing else.

So my quest to document appointments in 2015 goes on, even as I found a way to go back to 1975.

Hombre and I have operated a business out of our home for years and when we finally closed it up and retired, we still spend a lot of our waking hours in the same home office where our big computers and other electronic stuff is, comfy office chairs, nice spacious desks--except that mine always looks like a recycling bin exploded on it--and we do mostly stuff we want to do now. And we're in the nerve center of the home--the front door a few steps away when people come--the kitchen just to my right where its easy to get up and check something on the stove, the large family room and big screen TV in full view of our desks.

But what you are saying fully hit me just recently. Our desks are maybe four feet apart with me facing northeast and him facing southeast so we really aren't looking at each other. But on a whim, he sent me an instant message on my computer, and I responded, and we communicated back and forth that way for maybe five minutes. Until it hit me.....what a sign of the times. . .

I'm not a luddite. I appreciate the convenience of the cellular telephone. I can see how it would be a useful tool with active teenagers in the house.

But I do not own a cell phone. I'm not convinced that our contemporary society is fully in tune with the etiquette needed with open, public communications. I've seen one girl take a cell phone call while standing before a casket at a funeral parlor. I've had dates take phone calls at the table at restaurants, making me as relevant to the scene as the salt and pepper shakers on the table. People seem to be talking out loud to themselves in grocery store aisles and I have answered their questions before I knew they had a phone attached to their ear. Pop wondered incredulously "What the hell do all these people have to talk about?" as he watched private conversations taking place in public spaces. I have never sent a message by electronic text.

Once a latter day Emily Post establishes some guidelines, maybe I'll get one of those phones. But that would mean constant contact, constant accessibility. I do not want that. Privacy and quiet are two simple pleasures we cannot afford to lose.

On the up side, if you talk to yourself in the car people will assume you're on the phone

I often singe in the car. But I've been told I make a 'Joe Cocker' face while singing. It's white boy soul.

But if I'm making the Joe Face, onlookers might assume I'm 'making' something else!

Soooooo, what do you singe in the car......? Do we need to do intervention.......?

Wacky iPad! I'm hairy enough to singe under dangerous circumstances. But I'd much rather sing.