The "An Adventure With One Of My Former High School Students" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my easy chair looking at a calendar titled 2024 AFRICA, Photography by Keith Grebinger.  I taught Industrial Arts at Manheim Township High School (MTHS) in Neffsvillle, PA.  I had graduated from high school at MTHS in the early1960s and went to nearby Millersville State Teacher's College to become a teacher.  When I graduated from Millersville I found that there was an opening at MTHS in the Industrial Arts Department.  Didn't take long to apply, receive an interview, and begin teaching at my alma mater.  I eventually asked the school district if I could begin a course in photography and they were more than willing, providing that I provided them with a curriculum for the course I wanted to teach.  One of my early students was a young man named Keith Grebinger.  At the time, I was teaching photography and he had selected my course as one of his minor subjects.  Great student with a real knack for taking photographs.  After he graduated from MTHS two years later, with two years of my teaching under his belt,  he opened his own picture and frame shop in nearby Neffsville, PA.  And....to top all this off... I eventually  retired from teaching, and asked Keith if I could work for him at his photography and frame shop!  Seemed a bit odd, being the worker and not the boss, but we worked together just fine.  I learned probably as much from him about framing and mounting as he learned from me about the art of photography.  I worked part-time for Keith for close to 10 years before I  finally called it quits and totally retired!  Recently made a visit back to Keith's shop in nearby Neffsville to see what he was working on at the time and found his latest photographic masterpiece...A calendar of photographs that he had recently taken in Africa of the wildlife of Africa.  13 remarkable calendar photographs that he had taken of the African wildlife and African scenery!  I talked about his trip to Africa with he and his wife Cindy and how much fun it was to take the photographs of all the wildlife.  Today, he and Cindy own and operate Grebinger Gallery / Lancaster Picture & Framing in Neffsville, Pennsylvania which is between the towns of Lancaster and Lititz.  So, if you want or need a professional photographer or a professional framer, just give Keith a call at 717-569-9335.  I'm absolutely sure you will enjoy Keith's work as well as Keith, himself!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Keith Grebinger

A few of Keith's selection of frames

Keith and his wife Cindy

A design showing logo's of all the professional football teams

Framed Michael Jackson design

Yours truly, when I worked for Keith...cutting a few mats.....and 
No! I didn't ruin the mat cutter!

Having Enough...The difference between desires and needs was a lesson she never forgot.

It was an ordinary day. Reading an article in my "Good Old Days" Magazine titled "Having enough."  Story is about the difference between desires and needs and a lesson that the young girl never forgot.  Story began with..... I awoke to a familiar sound of dishes rattling in Mother's kitchen and to the scent of coffee wafting through the air.  I glanced out my bedroom window.  The neighborhood was lit by the first rays of the day shining through a thin layer of gray clouds like sunshine through a stained-glass window.  The trees, no longer wearing their virescent hues of spring and summer, were draped in scarlet, gold and copper.  Mesmerized, I watched the leaves falling off the trees as they gently swayed in the November wind.  A sign rose in my throat as I thought about all that was lacking that Thanksgiving Day.  I joined Mother in the kitchen, mildly curious about the Thanksgiving brunch she'd planned for us at an undeveloped park on the outskirts of town.  Instead of busying herself cooking the usual Thanksgiving fare, Mother prepared a thermos of hot cocoa for my brothers and me and another thermos of coffee for her and Father.  "This will be fun, sweetie.  It'll be a Thanksgiving to remember. Wait and see."  I smiled to cover my disappointment and helped Mother pack a box with the utensils she needed - a cast-iron skillet, tin plates, silverware, charcoal briquettes, matches, a spatula and two wooden spoons.  Dad loaded the box into this truck while my brothers and I clambered into the truck bed.  he pumped the gas pedal several times until his cranky jalopy sputtered into action.  On the way to the park, Dad pulled into the parking lot of a local grocery store.  Through the rear windshield I watched my parents cull through their pockets, the seat cushions, and the glove box, gathering all the loose change they could find.  "This should be enough," Mother said in a thrilled voice.  She scurried out of the truck and into the store.  Minutes later, she emerged smiling, with two dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, and a small loaf of bread in her arms.  Once at the park, my brothers and I bolted from the truck, frolicking in the leaves as we made a pathway that led to an old, abandoned farmhouse tucked among some trees.  While they explored the farmhouse, I sat on a log and closed my eyes, reminiscing about previous Thanksgivings and yearning for a piece of mother's pumpkin pie topped with a dollop of whipped cream.  I inhaled slowly, taking in all the crisp autumn air my lungs could hold before slowly expelling it.  The smell of sizzling bacon drifted by, and in the distance I heard Dad whistling and Mother singing as they fried bacon and eggs over a crackling fire, seemingly oblivious to the fact that our grim financial situation prevented us from celebrating Thanksgiving as we always had with turkey, dressing and all the trimmings.  "Come and get it!"  Mother hollered, clanging her spoon on one of the tin plates to get our attention.  We dashed toward them and sat on the ground, warming our hands on the open fire, its flames curling and swaying as they burned the dry wood.  I looked at the fried eggs and bacon mother scooped onto our tin plates, focusing on the meager amount she'd given each of us.  "Let us give thanks, for we have enough, "Dad said, his face beaming.  Enough?  How could this small amount of food possibly be enough?  I was irritate and wanted to snap back and complain, but resisted the urge to do so.  Rather than quickly devouring eggs and bacon as I usually did, I bit into the bacon, letting it slowly break over my tongue, relishing it as if I were eating it for the very first time.  In was perfectly prepared, crispy and salty.  The eggs, too, were cooked to perfection with the slightly runny yolks intact and no raw parts remaining.  Maybe it was the fresh air.  Maybe it was m dad's words.  But without warning, tears misted in my eyes.  These were not tears of lacking; rather these were tears of sheer joy in realizing that the eggs and bacon tasted better than the turkey and dressing I would've eaten if circumstances head been different.  Despite my tender age, my heart softened, and the lacking I had felt vanished, replaced with love, appreciation and thankfulness for my parents, their attitudes, and their willingness to make an ordinary Thanksgiving meal a memorable one despite their difficulties and financial woes.  Mother was right.  The day was a memorable one, and I remember it as if it were yesterday.  Having enough that Thanksgiving was a blessing in disguise -- a lesson in gratitude that to this day helps me focus on the differences between my needs and my desires.  having enough has diminished many of my life's disappointments.  It has also given me grit, grace and an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness, even in the face of my own adversities.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Area (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) Again Under Red Flag Warning

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article in my morning newspaper titled "Area Again Under Red Flag Warning!"  Seems the risk of wildfires is up as drought conditions in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania continues to parch county and region.  The story in my morning newspaper reads: Lancaster County will be under another red flag warning today, indicating an increased risk of wildfires as warm, dry conditions persist.  Last month was the second-driest October on record, with just 0.04 inches of rain falling in the county, and this week the county reached record high temperatures.  The National Weather Service issued the red flag warning to let people know strong winds, low relative humidity and dry conditions could make any small fire, such as a backyard trash fire, spread out of control.  The weather service says the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires is high and recommends residents refrain from outdoor burning until the warning is lifted.  The warning runs from 8 a.m to 6 p.m. Winds this past Thursday were blowing west at 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 30 mph with relative humidity falling as low as 38%.  Forecasters said today's high temperature likely will be near 70 before dropping into the high 50s Saturday and Sunday and rising into the mid-60s Monday.  Lancaster County is experiencing a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and neighboring Berks and Chester counties are in a severe drought.  The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection placed Lancaster County under a drought watch Nov. 1.  Drought conditions have led several county municipalities to ask residents to voluntarily conserve water and have been a factor in recent brush fires.  The red flag warning covers nine counties in south-central Pennsylvania.  The county may be in for a small measure of relief Sunday, as forecasters say there is about a 75% chance of light afternoon rain.  LDub says, "I'll believe it when I see it and feel it!"  And...I just might have to stand outside in the rain just to see what rain feels like once again.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.       

Taming Adult ADHD

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article in my morning newspaper written by Dr. Mike Roizen titled "Taming adult ADHD."  Interesting article that I thought I would share with you, just in case you may wonder if you might have ADHD and don't realize it.  Dr. Roizen writes...Can't focus?  Are easily impatient?  Hate dealing with multitasking?  You may be contending with adult ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder).  Join the crowd!  More than 15 million American adults have been diagnosed with ADHD (many more go undiagnosed) and have to deal with the work, relationship and internal conflicts that can arise as a result of the disorder.  So, what can you do to tamp down your symptoms and lessen your risk for associated health problems such as alcohol dependence, obsessive-compulsive disorder, drug abuse, intermittent explosive disorder and - yup - obesity?  Stimulant medications such as Ritalin and Adderall can be useful - around half of adults diagnosed with ADHD have been prescribed such drugs.  But fully 71% of them report that they have trouble finding available medication.  Fortunately, there are non-drug therapies that can ease symptoms.  Establish routines.  You can help yourself get organized by making lists for different tasks and activities and using a calendar for scheduling events.  Break down large projects into smaller, manageable tasks.  Enjoy daily aerobic exercise.  It can reduce impulsivity and hyperactivity and improve executive functioning.  Yoga and meditation are also calming and improve executive functioning.  Plus, research indicates that neurofeedback (a kind of biofeedback that teaches self-control of brain function) can help control impulsivity and agitation.  Consider various supplements.  Research shows that there are potential benefits from taking melatonin (ADHD can disrupt sleep cycles), pycnogenol (French maritime pine bark), green coffee bean extract, and caffeine or caffeine and L-theanine.  For more ideas, read "The Best Supplements for Boosting Focus and Attention" at iHerb.com/blog.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.         

Warm Temperature Breaks Local Record

It was an ordinary day.  Lancaster County's unseasonably warm autumn continues as temperatures reached record levels this past week.  The thermometer at Lancaster Airport topped out at 81 degrees Wednesday, the highest temperature ever recorded for. November 6.  According to Millersville University Weather Information Center, that's a full 4 degrees hotter than the previous record of 77 degrees, set in 1978.  Temperatures were 20 to 25 degrees above normal this past Wednesday afternoon.  John Guseman, a forecaster with th National Weaher Service in State College, said the region's warm temperatures are a result of southwesterly winds from a high-pressure system in the Atlantic bringing warm air into the region.  Wind from the high pressure system has kept storm fronts to the west of Pennsylvania, contributing to drought conditions in the region.  Guseman said there will be moderate relief at the end of the week.  The National Weather Service does not forecast rainfall accumulations more than three days in advance.  Last month was the second-driest October on record.  Only 0.04 inches of rain fell in October.  In the past 110 years since meteorologists began tracking that data, only October of 1963 was drier.  No rain fell that month.  On November 1, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection placed Lancaster County under a drought watch.  Drought conditions have led several county municipalities to ask residents to begin conserving water and have been a factor in recent brush fires.  It was another extraordinary day the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "I Know A Story" Column In The Lancaster Newspaper" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading yet another "I Know a Story" which are local stories posted in Lancaster's newspaper on a weekly basis.  The story today was titled, "His Nephews Were Excited To Have Planted 'Cereal Tree'".   It was written by Lee R. Bowman and was published in my Lancaster Newspaper on Sunday, November 3, 2024.  It read:

My brother Dennis, his wife Sheila, and their two boys, Dennis, 6, and his brother, Wesley, 4, bought an old fieldstone house with a barn and a couple of outbuildings on the property.  The house also had something that my brother always wanted: a small garden area to grow vegetables.  Not long after they moved in, I stopped by for a morning visit and, not to my surprise, my brother and his two boys were out working in their new garden.  While by brother was planting vegetables, I noticed that the two boys were planting what I thought were seeds.  I went over to talk with them and asked them, "What kind of vegetables are you planting?"  The older one said, "We are planting a cereal tree!"  Well, it turns out that they had saved some of their breakfast cereal from that morning and decided to plant a cereal tree.  I looked over at my brother, and he just shrugged his shoulders.  On the way home after my visit, I had an idea.  I stopped at our local supermarket and bought two of those small-box variety packages of cereal.  When I got home, I went into the woods behind my house and found a small tree with about 15 limbs on it.  I cut it down and took off all the leaves and used some Crazy Glue to attach one small cereal box to the end of every limb.  The next time I knew that my brother and his family would be visiting our mother, I drove over to their house and planted this "cereal tree" in the garden where I saw my nephews "plant" their cereal.  The next day I got a phone call from my very excited nephews, telling me that their cereal tree had come up and they got boxes of cereal!  Each one got on the phone and told me what kind of cereal they got.  Before I hung up, I asked then what they were going to grow next.  "A money tree!"  They were only slightly disappointed when I told them, "You know money doesn't grow on trees!"  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Brain Zapping May Boost Memory!

It was an ordinary day.  Just got finished reading a story in my Saturday Evening Post titled "Brain Zapping May Boost Memory" which was written by Douglas Zipes, M.D.  Story goes like this:  My wife and I frequently have difficulty recalling names and recent events.  Often, the conversation goes..."What was the name of the guy we met at the mall?" ... "What was the restaurant we ate at yesterday?" ...  "What were we watching on TV last night?"  Yet, we can easily remember the name of our third-grade teacher or Grannie's phone number when we were eight years old.  I still remember where to send four Cheerios box tops and 25 cents to receive the whistling ring that saved the life of 1950s radio cowboy star Tom Mix when he whistled for his horse, Tony: Tom Mix, Box 808, St. Louis, Missouri.  Forgetting the name of someone you just met, misplacing keys, or having trouble remembering directions once in a while -- these memory slips can happen at any age.  As we get older, though, we may wonder whether these slips signal a more serious problem, such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.  Forgetfullness is often associated with a decline in cognition, which can have a serious impact on a person's ability to conduct activities of daily living, such as interacting with friends and colleagues, managing medications, making financial decisions, scheduling activities, and navigating the complexities of daily life.  As the global population continues to age, the prevalence of cognitive decline and dementia is expected to rise, which presents significant challenges for healthcare systems, economies, and societies worldwide, and exerts considerable personal, social, and economic costs on individual and families.  Developing and providing innovative, safe, and effective therapies and treatments for our aging population is a pressing need.  Neuroscience has made substantial progress identifying the brain circuits and networks that underpin learning and memory. New research shows that rhythmic activity in the brain may be key to storing memories.  Reinforcing those activities artificially may protect or even enhance memory for older adults in an inexpensive and sustainable way.  In one recent story, 150 people (ages 65-88) received noninvasive electrical brain stimulation for 20 minutes over four consecutive days, while researchers read to them a list of words.  They then tested participants' immediate recall of the words, as well as their memory of them one month later. The stimulation produced boosts in recalling the words two to four days later, as well as one month later.  The scientists found that applying extremely weak high-frequency electrical current safely and non invasively to the front part of the brain selectively improved long-term memory without changing short-term memory, while applying the same kind of specialized alternating current farther back in the brain at a low frequency selectively improved short-term memory without changing long-term memory.  Thus, transcranial (across the skull) stimulation, depending on its location and frequency, could improve either short- or long-term memory because of the brain's ability to re-form and develop new neural connections throughout an individual's life.  Before we all run to the hardware story for wires and generators to stimulate our brains, more extensive controlled trials are needed to replicate these results in larger an diverse populations and evaluate the long-term effects and safety.  More research will also help determine the optimal parameters for stimulation to endure the longest lasting and most substantial benefits.  However, these preliminary results offer hope to memory-impaired older populations worldwide.  Oh yeah, I remember now -- we were watching Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird" after we ate a delicious dinner at My Neighbor's Grill last night.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "In Flight Humor" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Occasionally, airline attendants make an effort to make the "inflight safety lecture" and other announcements a bit more entertaining.  Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported.  "Your seat cushions can be used for flotation, and in the event of an emergency water landing, please take them, with our compliments."  Pilot:  "Folks, we have reached our cruising altitude now, so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off.  Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay inside the plane till we land.  It's a bit cold outside, plus, if you were on the wings, it affects the flight pattern."  After landing, "Thank you for flying Delta Business Express.  We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."  On a Southwest flight, the pilot said, "We've reached our cursing altitude now, and I'm turning off the seat belt sign.  I'm switching to autopilot, too, so I can come back there and visit with all of you for the rest of the flight."  As a plane landed and was coming to a stop at Washington National, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker, "Whoa, big fella.  WHOA!"  "Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area.   Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting children and or adults acting like children."  "As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings.  Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants.  Please do not leave children or spouses."  From the pilot during his welcome message, "We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry.  Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight."  On an American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas on a particularly windy and bumpy day and an extremely hard landing, the flight attendant announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo.  Please remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened while the captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate."  Another flight attendant's comment on a less-than-perfect landing, "We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."  From a southwest Airlines employee:  "Welcome aboard Southwest Flight #### to YYY.  To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight.  It works just like every other seat belt, but if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."  "Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but they'll try to have them fixed before we arrive.  Thank You, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines."  An airline pilot wrote that on a particular flight he had hammered his ship onto the runway really hard.  The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline."  He said that in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in th eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment.  Finally, everyone had gotten off except a little, old lady walking with a cane.  She said, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?"  "Why no, ma'am," said the pilot. "what is it?"  The little old lady said, "Did we land or were we shot down?"  After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the flight attendant came on with, "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your sets until Captain Crash and the crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt up against the gate.  And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silent, we'll open the door, and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal."   Part of the flight attendants's arrival announcement: "We's like to thank you folks for flying with us today.  And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you think of us here at U.S. Airways."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.    

The "It Was Snoring Versus Clapping In Training Program" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a story in my Sunday News titled "It Was Snoring Versus Clapping in Training Program.  Story began with....I was working for Communities In Schools (CIS), a national organization whose mission is to empower students to staying in school and achieve in life.  In 1977, CIS founder Bill Milliken came up with the idea of bringing community resources into public schools.  "It's not programs that are transforming young people's loves, it's relationships,"  Milliken said.  "A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children.  Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community."  In the 1980s, I was part of a team of Communities in Schools trainers, and our role was to help create new programs and to help grow existing programs.  One of the ways we did this was through what we called Multi-Track Trainings.  During a training, we would bring several hundred people together with 15 to 20 trainers and conduct sessions on how to start and run a CIS program, how to create a strategic plan, etc.  We were doing a training in Monterey, California, and trainers had to room together.  Charles and Henry were in the same room.  The first night together, Henry was loudly snoring and woke up Charles.  Charles said, "Henry, Henry, Henry," each time a little louder, trying to wake up Henry so he would stop snoring.  But this didn't work; Henry continued to sleep and snore.  Now, this took place during the time when The Clapper (a sound-activated electrical switch whose tagline was "Clap on, clap off") was very popular, so Charles decided to clap his hands as if he was activating a Clapper; clap, clap.....clap, clap.  Henry looked up, rolled over and stopped snoring.  A few hours later, Henry started  snoring again and Charles again yelled, "Henry, Henry, Henry."  Again, nothing.  Charles tried The Clapper again: clap, clap .... clap, clap....clap, clap.  Henry looked up, rolled over and stopped snoring.  This happened several times throughout the night.  In the morning, Charles said to Henry, "You've got a problem, and we have to do something about it."  Henry responded , "Well now that you bring it up, you have some crazy habits yourself, Dude.  I was not going to say anything, but I woke up several times over the course of the night to see you sitting straight up in your bed clapping as loud as you could."  Henry was dead serious. The author of this story was Marty Thomas-Brummé.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "7 Wonders Of The World" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading my latest edition of "The Fishwrapper" which I picked up at my local Stauffer's of Kissel Hill.  "The Fishwrapper" is a weekly "newsletter" that is usually about 8 pages long and contains a bit of everything from advertisements to entertainment to want ads to moving and religious stories.  Some stories may be just a page long while others may carry the viewer through a few pages of the 16 page bi-weekly newsletter.  One small one column story in the latest "The Fishwrapper" was titled "7 Wonders of the World" and it read...  Junior high school students in Chicago were studying the Seven Wonders of the World.  At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to list what they would consider to be the seven wonders of the world.  Though there were some differences, the following received the most votes: 1.  Egypt's Great Pyramids, 2.  The Taj Mahal in India, 3.  The Grand Canyon, 4.  The Panama Canal, 5. The Empire State Building, 6.  St. Peter's Basilica, 7.  China's Great Wall.  While gatherng the votes, the teacher noted that one student hadn't turned in her paper, so she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.  The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little.  I can't quite make up my mind, because there are so many."  The teacher said, "Well, can you please tell  us what you have on your list so far, and maybe we can help."  The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the seven wonders of the world are.... 1. To Touch, 2. To Taste, 3. To See, 4. To Hear....she hesitated a little, then added... 5. To Feel, 6. To Laugh, and 7. To Love.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room.  May this story serve as a gentle reminder that the things we over-look as simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful, and we don't have to travel anywhere special to experience them.  So...Enjoy your Gifts!  I know I certainly will!  It was another extroradinay day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Every Obituary's First Paragraph" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My oldest son recently stopped by my house to say Hi! and to drop off a few magazines that he had around the house and thought I might be interested in reading before being discarded.  He works for a magazine distribution company and gets to read just about every magazine imaginable.  Well, one of the latest magazine's that he dropped off was the New Yorker.  Interesting magazine that sports a page titled "Shouts & Murmurs."  I just love to read the page which features just about anything imaginable!  Today's page was titled "Every Obituary's First Paragraph."  Thought you might enjoy the humor as much as I did...so here are a few of the "EVERY OBITUARY'S FIRST PARAGRAPH." 

Doris E. Doris, an entrepreneurial drum majorette who shot to fame for her distinctive baton work in the 1968 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade -  but whose subsequent attempt to launch the Ross Dress for Less Arbor Day Parade met an ignominious end when a Snoopy balloon collided with a stoplight, cementing Macy's monopoly on department-store pageantry - died on Wednesday.  She was seventy-nine. 

Jacques P. Jacques, a marine biologist who set out to photograph ever sea urchin in the Aegean Sea - an effort that took seventeen years and culminated in the 1978 coffee-table book "Take Me To Urch," which our reviewer called "disturbingly erotic" - died on Thursday.  He was ninety-two. 

Melvin F. Melvin, a soft-spoken product designer whose impact on the American household spanned tissues, towels, and paper cups - but, whose most lasting contribution was his notoriously ineffective "Do Not insert Swab into Ear Canal" warring on Q-tips packaging - died on Friday.  He was ninety-eight.

Clara V. Clara, the widow of plastic-fastener magnate Alfred T. Alfred, whose triumphant resurrection of her late husband's plastic-fastener empire made her the toast of Seattle society - but who never shot allegations that she had rigged his fateful badminton game to enrich her lover (a theory popularized in the film "Bad Minton") died on Wednesday. She was eighty-one.

Stanley P. Stanley, the Olympic bronze medallist who abanodned a burgeoning speed-skating career to pursue his pop-music ambitions -- but whose only song to reach the Billboard Hot 100, "No More Mr. Ice Buy," focused on the very sport from which he had sought to distance himself -- died on Tuesday.  He was ninety-one.

Phyllis C. Phyllis, whose discovery, in 2007, of a mysterious message in a bottle at the Santa Monica Pier set off a brief nationwide effort to decode the missive -- until an M.I.T. chemistry professor concluded that it was a waterlogged Pizza Hut menu -- died on Monday.  She was seventy-eight.  

Edna A. Edna, the enigmatic oil heiress whose expressive butter sculptures reënergized the medium and tantalized the Indianapolis art scene in the eighties -- but whose signature work, "Dairy Todd Lincoln," melted while on view at London's Tate Gallery, inspiring a wave of regulations on space heaters in museums -- died on Sunday.  She was eighty-six.

Rutherford M. Rutherford, the Washington health-insurance executive who won plastic-fastener tycoon Alfred T. Alfred's riches in a high-stakes game of badminton -- but who lost in esteem what he had gained in wealth when he played himself (opposite Susan Lucci, as Clara V. Clara) in "Bad Minton," a role for which he received the Razzie Award for Worst Actor and a lifetime ban from the Seattle Badminton Club -- died on Wednesday.  He was ninety-four.  

And...so it goes!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

Farewell To Local "Keeper of Christmas" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My story today is rather lengthy... but, I felt like it was well  earned .... so read on.... Jim Morrison, known to generations as "the Keeper of Christmas" in his role as founder and former curator of the beloved National Christmas Center, has died.  He was 85.  Morrison died Oct. 13 of natural causes at Kadima Rehabilitation & Nursing Home in Lititz, PA, where he spent the last two years of his life, according to those closest to him.  The National Christmas Center opened its doors in 1998 in a 20,000-square-foot building in Paradise Township, where it remained for the next 20 years.  During that time thousands of people made their way through the museum to marvel at the antique decorations from Christmases past.  That included "Yours Truly"...many times!  The center now operates seasonally in Dauphin County near the county line.  The center had been a lifelong vision for Morrison that first developed as a child in New Jersey, when his mother drove him to Philadelphia the day after Thanksgiving to see the holiday-themed store displays.  "Everybody flocked to see the start of Christmas," Morrison told Lancaster Newspapers.  "My mother did so much to make Christmas great."  In the days after Christmas, a young Morrison would roam neighborhood streets lined with discarded Christmas trees and plucked from them any ornaments he could find.  "As a teenager, if there was snow on the ground on Christmas Eve, he'd put on skis, then take them off to walk up to the front doors of others in his neighborhood, so when kids woke up the next morning, it would appear as though Santa had been up and down the street."  Morrison's Christmas collection grew through his years of serving in the U.S. Army.  He was a model-maker, crafting items like a wooden gun case that held a pair of pistols the Texas Rangers gifted to President John F. Kennedy, and 250 sets of bookends that president Lyndon B. Johnson gave others as gifts.  "He also made models of the terrain in Vietnam to help the military in planning whatever actions they were doing over there," Miller said.  Morrison later ran a small company that restored historic houses in Washington, D.C.  Along the way he sold antique postcards, and one of his customers was the former Gotham Book Mart in New York City.  The connection led to Morrison putting up a Christmas tree on the store's balcony decorated with antique ornaments that could be purchased by customers, with proceeds going to help the needy.  He opened the Christmas Center in Lancaster County in order to bring back the true spirit of Christmas he felt had been lost in commercialism.  There was a reason behind the center's location, as the area has historical ties to Christmas.  "The first documented Christmas tree in America was in Lancaster (city) in 1821," Morrison was quoted saying to the Lancaster newspapers in 2018.  "It was the Germans that started the tree.  Possibly Martin Luther by putting candles on the tree.  So many things happen with immigration.  They brought their traditions to Lancaster.  They would wrap the tree in cotton to look like the new-fallen snow.  All the references came from Lancaster and those trees.  it's just a strong Christmas tradition in this area.  And I wanted people to learn about that."  For 20 years, Morrison estimated tens of thousands of people made their way through the museum each year to marvel at the antique decorations that took visitors on a journey through Christmas history; the center was featured in national magazines and on the Travel Channel.  I must admit that my wife and I made many trips to the Center to see the ornamentation and trains running.  Morrison and co-owner Dave Murtagh closed the Christmas Center on January 7, 2018, largely because of their ages.  About a year later, Morrison and Murtagh sold the contents of the center to David Abel for an undisclosed price.  Abel is the steward of Stone Gables Estate in West Donegal Township, where he led the reconstruction of the iconic Star Barn and surrounding outbuildings.  He plans to put the Christmas collection in the reconstructed Belmont Barn, which was dismantled along Fruitville Pike in 2015 and is currently in storage. The center still operates each Christmas season in a leased warehouse in Dauphin County that's about 5 miles north of Stone Gables Estate.  A celebration of life to remember Morrison, open to the public, will be held at the Star Barn, 1 Hollinger Lane, West Donegal Township, 2-5 p.m., Nov. 20.  Morrison will be buried in a private ceremony at a cemetery in his hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey.  Before his death, Morrison approved the engravings for his headstone.  Etched on the headstone, in descending order, will be his name, birth date, and the title by which he most enjoyed being called: "SANTA".  RIP Dear Santa!   It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "50 Most Common Passwords" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an article that listed the most common passwords that people use to open whatever they may have secretly created.  Article said that if you use one of the most common passwords, you're an easy target for hackers.  So...just in case, here's how to stay safe.  First...stop me if this sounds familiar:  You're setting up (yet another) online account when you're prompted to enter a password.  It's just easier to go with one of your most common passwords, am I right?  Maybe you'll include the word "password" in there - no chance of forgetting that! -  and "123" if numbers are required.  Or perhaps you go with your kid's or pet's name and an easy-to-remember date, like a birthday or anniversary.  Done..and...done.  NOT SO FAST!  If a password is frequently resued or easy to guess, bad actors can more easily gain access to email, banking and social media accounts, resulting in identity theft and financial loss.  Recent examples, like the Microsoft and 23and Me breaches, illustrate the consequences of weak password use, with attackers employing password-spraying and credential-stuffing attacks using easily guessed or reduced credentials respectively."  Easy-to-remember passwords are convenient, but their potential downsides can be devastating.  A weak and predictable password is easy to crack.  Hackers may use software that guesses the most common passwords, and other freely available tools on the dark web (a hidden part of the internet notorious for criminal activity) may comb through your social media profiles to look for important names and dates that are likely to appear in your password.  Even if your password is long and strong, using the same one is a bad idea.  If a company experiences a data breach - which happens more often than you may realize - cybercriminals won't just have access to one of your accounts; they'll be able to access many.  Makes sense, no?  Unfortunately, the logic hasn't convinced most of us to use unique, complex passwords.  The importance of selecting strong passwords is clear...right?  It begs the question:  What is the most common password in the world?  After all, if you know hackers' first guess, you can avoid it at all costs.  As a surprise to no one, perhaps, the most common password is 123456, according to Nord Security, a company that makes cybersecurity products, including NordVPN virtual private network software to browse the web anonymously and a password manager app called NordPass. So, I will list the 50 most common passwords so that you may choose NOT to use any of them for yourself:  123456, admin, 12345678, 123456789, 1234, 12345, password, 123, Aa123456, 1234567890, 1234567, 123123, 111111, Password, 12345678910, 000000, admin123, 1111, P@assw0rd, root, 654321, qwerty, Pass@123, 112233, 102030, bunt, abc123, Aa@123456, abcd1234, 1q2w3e4r, 123321, qwertyuiop, 87654321, Eliska81, 123123123, 11223344, 0987654321, demo, 12341234, qwerty123, Admin@123, 1q2w3e4r5t, 11111111, pass, Demo@123, azerty, admintelecom, Admin, 123meklozed.  So there you have the 50 most common passwords.  If at all possible, don't use any of them for you have to realize that if someone wants to solve your password to get into your information...they will most certainly try each of those 50 passwords to get into your account.  Now...I also found another list of most used passwords from NordPass, but many are the same as I already listed and I'm sure you aren't ready to look at yet another huge list of passwords.  An increasingly popular alternative to a password is a passkey.  Major tech companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Google, have already adopted the technology.  To access a website or app, a passkey relies on a string of encrypted data stored in your phone or laptop and verification from you via a face or fingerprint scan or a PIN code.  "Passkeys also ensure a user-friendly and secure alternative to traditional passwords. Passkeys are device-based authentication methods that do not require the user to remember any credentials, significantly reducing the risk of phishing and credential theft."  Hope some of this helps you escape being hacked!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.