The "A Little Bit Of 'THIS & THAT'" Story

It was an ordinary day. Trying to come up with a story title for a few small items that I thought were interesting. Items don't deserve a full story written about them, so I thought I would put them all together for today. Finally decided on a title that I got from my friend and reader Just Sue from State College, PA. Hope one of the shorties has some interest for you. It was an extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The Cuffs - We have been reading about Joe Paterno's pants and his glasses for the last few weeks. Was wondering if most all of you know why he rolled his pant cuffs up during his Penn State football games. Just in case you don't know ...... Years ago, after getting married to Sue, she noticed that he would get mud from the field (that's when they played on REAL dirt and grass) on his wool pants. Had to be dried cleaned to remove it from the wool pants. She suggested to him that he roll up his pants to avoid that from happening. Worked! Years later, when he changed from wool to Khakis he continued to roll up his pants because he was superstitious.

Universal Serendipity - Saw in the paper that Lancasterian Ted Stoltz has a new book that is for sale as an e-reader as well as hardback and paperback. Book is entitled Universal Serendipity and is a collection of essays and short stories that came about because of the blog that he wrote from 2007-2009. "Holy cow," I said to my wife. "There really is hope for me after all." Not knowing what I was reading in the paper, she said, "I don't thing so!" Well, his 308-page book is an incentive for me to start to pick out some of my favorite stories and plan for the future.

You could shoot your eye out! - Shortly after Christmas this past year a young Lancaster City mother was putting her 5-year-old in his infant's seat in the rear of her car when she heard a 'whoosh' and then felt pain and a burning sensation in her right shoulder. She immediately knew she had been shot so she hopped in the car and drove to the nearby police station. She found out at the station that another person had also been shot near the same location. After investigating the police found out that two 13-year-olds were shooting an air rifle at pedestrians from a third-floor window. BB guns, pellet guns and air pistols are easy for any age to buy it seems and they can cause severe damage to humans. Seems this was the case. Later that evening I was talking to my mom on the phone and telling her about the story from the paper. She said, "I can't believe that people still do that?" This was in reference to my dad who lost an eye when shot in the face as a 12-year-old.

PST - Shortly before the viewings for Joe Paterno, all the former players were notified that the first viewing would be held on Penn State's campus at 11:00 AM. Everyone who ever played football for JoePa knew that when they got the call for the viewing, it really meant be there at 10:45. Fifteen minutes early; Paterno Standard Time. The ex-players had adhered to that when they played for their iconic head coach, arriving at meetings early, lest they incur his screechy-voiced wrath. I never played football for Joe, but I always follow PST in my life.