The "What are you having for Breakfast?" Story

It was an ordinary day. Having my Quaker Oats instant oatmeal. Easy to make. Open a pack into a bowl, heat 1/3 cup of water in the microwave, pour the water into the cereal, add a small serving of light brown sugar to the mixture and stir. I buy the variety packs so I don't have to eat the same flavor every morning. Like the peaches and cream the best. Sometimes I will have my second favorite cereal, Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch. And then again, I sometimes eat a huge, fattening Butter Rum muffin dunked in hot chocolate. Eat the whole thing all by myself. And then I feel guilty about it. But, that lasts only until lunch when I eat again. Someone sent me a quiz to take called "The Great Cereal Quiz." Did pretty well on it and thought I would pass it along so you can see how well you do on it. Does help if you are 50 or older in order to remember some of the cereals that are part of the quiz. Here goes - answers are at the end.

1. Which slogan is considered the most memorable?

a. Cap'n Crunch:"Stays crunchy ... even in milk."

b. Wheaties: "The breakfast of champions."

c. Frosted Flakes: "They're GR-R-REAT!"

d. Kix: "Kid tested, mother approved."

2. Who was the first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box?

a. Bruce Jenner

b. Mary Lou Retton

c. Michael Jordan

d. Lou Gehrig

3. What was the first fruit flavored cereal?

a. Trix

b. Fruity Pebbles

c. Fruit Loops d. Strawberry Shortcake

4. Which doctor, who preached the wonders of a healthy diet, invented the first ready-to-eat cold breakfast cereal?

a. Robert Atkins

b. James Caleb Jackson
c. John Kellogg
d. Mehmet Oz

5. What special equipment was created and patented by Dr. Alexander P. Anderson to make Puffed Rice (a precursor to puffed-corn cereals like Kix)?

a. an air gun

b. a tire pump

c. a steam pump

d. a conveyor belt

6. Which cereal below was created before 1900?

a. Grape-Nuts
b. Shredded Wheat
c. Toasted Corn Flakes
d. all of the above

7. What was the first certified organic cereal on the market?

a. Corn Flakes
b. Sunrise
c. Rice Crispies
d. Shredded Wheat

And the answers:

1. C. Frosted Flakes - slogan has been used for 60 years.

2. D. Lou Gehrig - graced the box in 1934.

3. A. Trix - introduced in 1954.

4. B. Jackson - created the ready-to-eat stuff with just flour and water.

5. A. Puffed Rice - made with the air gun.

6. D. All of the above - the birth of ready-to-eat cereals started in the mid- to late- 1800s.

7. B. Sunrise - this sweetened corn cereal was on the market from 1999 -2001.

How'd you do? I got 1, 2, 3, and 6 right, but missed the rest. I think I will stick with the instant oatmeal and the raisin brand, but more likely with the muffins. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Threads With Meaning" Story

It was an ordinary day. Friday! Cleaning day, laundry day, grocery shopping day! Very seldom do I work on Friday anymore. That is, real work! No, no, I better not say it that way. I mean work that I get paid for, since cleaning the house, doing the laundry and shopping are more energy consuming than watching a press run paper through it or standing in front of a bench putting canvas and paper pictures in a frame. Since my wife works, I do the housework weekly. I like to get up early and do the upstairs bathroom before she gets out of bed to take her shower, that way I can have the entire second floor finished by 9:00 AM. Then, after her shower I can put the wash in the machine and get ready to start the first floor. Eventually I fit the shopping into the schedule and still get home in time for "The Price is Right." Afternoon is devoted to dusting, finishing the laundry and putting it back in the drawers and closets. Organization is the name of the game and that's one thing I'm good at. I'm really better at organizing than cleaning, washing and shopping. Well, while putting the wash away today I decided to get my short-sleeve shirts out of the bottom drawers and place them in the tops drawers in preparation for the coming season. Looked at each one and it brought back many fond memories. Oh yeah, I bought that shirt while sailing on the "Tiami" in Barbados and that shirt I got when I went for breakfast in Red Hook on St. Thomas. All of my shirts have meaning to me. Felt like I was taking a trip around the world just organizing my shirts. The photos below will show you some of the shirts I have collected over the years and the meaning they have for me. Hope you enjoy the explanations as much as I enjoyed buying them and wearing them. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

These three shirts are some of my oldest. Date back to the late '80s when my son played baseball for Villanova University. The #20 sweatshirt is torn around the top and the sleeves are ragged, but I still wear it all the time. The blue shirt was sold for a fundraiser and the old faded orange t-shirt was from a Major League Baseball sponsored summer team that he played for in Quakertown, PA.
Two of these sports related shirts I got when my son-in-law's football team played in the annual "Battle for the Cure" game in Maryland. He started the game to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes, to help benefit his daughter, my granddaughter, Courtney .
Car shirts are always great for guys and I have more than a dozen Vette shirts that I got when I entered shows, but my most favorite I found in Wildwood, NJ. It features a pix of my first car, a '53 Henry J.
These are all from St. Martin. Top right I bought at a store in the airport, bottom two came from the open air market in Marigot and the blue one from Orient Beach.
Some of the more colorful shirts I have come from (top) St. Martin and (bottom) Sint Maarten
From the islands of: (top) Antigua, (middle) Anguilla, and (bottom) Turks and Caicos
Colorful shirt on top is from a pub in St. Thomas while the one on the bottom I bought from the crew of the catamaran Tiami.
Some of the "Hawaiian" shirts that I have purchased on various islands over the last 10 or so years.
My latest which I got when I had an operation for trigger finger on my hand.

The "Guavaberry: Legendary Folk Liqueur" Story

It was an ordinary day. But, this story really starts as darkness arrives ...... every evening when Carol and I head up the stairs to bed with our cat Otis, we pass it. We bought it at a market stand in the center of Marigot, on the island of St. Martin. The vendor rolled it up for us and after returning home I stretched it, wrapped it around the edges, and put a few staples in it to hold it tight. Those nights when the spotlight is on as we reach the top step, it looks so neat. Other nights when the stained glass table light that I made is on, it has a soft glow to it. We have had the canvas print for maybe eight to ten years now and never tire of it. The painting features locals harvesting Guavaberries to make the national liqueur of St. Martin/Sint Maarten. It was painted by a St. Martin islander by the name of Francis. St. Martin is the French side and Sint Maarten is the Dutch side of this rather small island in the Caribbean with dual national ownership. The liqueur was first made centuries ago in private homes and soon became a part of local culture and tradition and was a featured drink during the Christmas season. Guavaberry liqueur is made from aged rum, sugar and naturally Guavaberries. The Guavaberry fruit is found primarily in the hills near the center of the island where there are more Guavaberry trees than anywhere in the world. At times the fruit rots on the trees, unharvested, because the Guavaberry is not as popular as it was 100 years ago. The fruit, which is about the size of a cranberry, is anywhere from yellow-orange to dark-red and has the tanginess taste of a guava, but also has a fair sweetness. I have found that you need to acquire a taste for the Guavaberry, but when you do, it will be a favorite. The Guavaberry fruit is hard to harvest, there is no traditional harvesting season, even though the Christmas season is when most harvesting is done, and the berries have very little flesh. The berry also has a very small or no stem and grows attached directly to the branch. Filling a five-gallon bucket during a picking day is a real chore. The Guavaberry is used to make jam, drinks, and for medicinal purposes. On the Dutch side of the island lies the capital of Philipsburg. It is here on Front Street that the Guavaberry Emporium can be found. Here they sell the rare "island folk liqueur" that was originally made 100 years ago in private homes on the island. At the Guavaberry Emporium you can sample the varieties that they sell in square bottles; flavors such as the original, lime, and mango. To me, the original has a fruity, smoky, bittersweet tang. I enjoy it better when added to coconut as a Guavaberry colado. The Emporium is a charming Creole cottage painted in bright red, white, and yellow colors with a huge square Guavaberry bottle featuring Old Man Guavaberry by the entrance. Inside you will find Claudine who was featured on the Family Living Network show "Three Sheets." Neat lady who can tell you anything you want or need to know about the Guavaberry as well as sell you a large variety of products that are featured in the store. If you're ever on the island, look for me at the Guavaberry Emporium and I'll treat you to we can toast a Guavaberry coloda. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: our painting of Guavaberry harvesting on Sint Maarten by Francis, the Guavaberry, bottle and glass of liqueur featuring Old Man Guavaberry, LDub in from of the Guavaberry Emporium on Front Street in Sint Maarten, and Claudine posing for a photo in front of her shelves of liqueur. Following are two YouTube videos: first one is a promo for The Guavaberrry Emporium and the second is an original song recorded on July 17, 2010 on the island called "Guavaberry Rum"

The "George Costanza Effect" Story

It was an ordinary day. Looking at the Sunday News Parade insert story talking about "Your Body's Mysteries Solved." 16 snippets that try to explain our most curious quirks about our body. I read them and found them intriguing enough to share a few of them with you and let you know why your body reacts the way it does to certain situations. Here goes .........

(1) Why do our toes and fingers wrinkle in the water? Your skin's top layer absorbs more water than the layers beneath it, increasing its surface area. Since the new baggy skin is still attached to it's layers under it, it reveals the wrinkles that we see on the surface. Our fingers and toes are more prone to this phenomenon because of their thicker shell of outer surface skin. When I go to the beach and go for a dip in the ocean, I usually know it is time to get out of the water when my fingers start to shrivel.

(2) Why do I have gunk in my eyes when I wake up in the morning? That gooky stuff is really dried tears. Your tear glands constantly water to help flush out irritants. During waking hours, your blinking will help wipe the tears away, but during sleep you don't blink, so the dried tears accumulate in the corner of your eyes.

(3) Why do men, as the age, get more hair in some places and less in others? This is caused by dihydrotestosterone, a sex hormone. When men become sensitive to the hormone, it sometimes causes hair follicles on the head to shrink and follicles on the back, ears and nostrils to become stimulated. This is known as the "George Costanza effect." And, since I can't imagine that anyone never watched Seinfeld on TV, I don't think I need to explain why it's called that.

(4) Why does your nose run when you go out in the cold? Your nose performs temperature controls for your body so that the air you breathe will better match the air that is in your warm, moist lungs. Glands in your nose produce secretions that add moisture and blood vessels in the nose dilate to warm the incoming air. When the air you breathe is extremely cold, the excessive warming and moisturizing causes your nose to run. Another reason is that the cold air tends to be drier which causes the glands to produce more secretions and when you exhale warm, moist air out into the cold, some of the moisture condenses into droplets of water which collect at the tip of your noise.

(5) What is ear wax and why do we need it? It is made of moisturizing oils, infection-fighting enzymes and dead skin. And, we really should leave our earwax alone. Hey, no problem with that as far as I'm concerned. When you use a Q-tip or even your finger, it's like packing the wax in tighter and tighter. It eventually will harden and get stuck. Best way to get rid of it is while showering, tug on your earlobes, which straightens your ear canal and allows water to wash away excess wax.

(6) Why do I cry when I chop onions? Pretty important question for me, since I enjoy cooking and love to use plenty of onions in my cooking and I always cry when I peel onions. According to Harold McGee, food author, the tears are caused by the release of a chemical called a lacrimator which is expelled into the air when you cut into the onion. The chemical then enters your eyes and nose and breaks down into the irritating compounds that attack the nerve endings there. Your eyes will produce tears and your nose will run to rinse away the compounds. If you pre-chill the onion in ice water for half an hour before you cut it, it should eliminate most of the release of the offending chemical. That, or you could wear a snorkel and breathe through your mouth. That way you could taste the onions while you are chopping them.

(7) Why do fingernails grow faster than toenails? Fingernails grow three times faster than toenails and no one seems to know why. Also, your fingernails on your dominant hand grow faster than those on your non-dominate hand. Experts think that the reason may be that the body tries to repair whichever parts of the body that are undergoing the most "trauma" from activities as texting and digging for the car keys.

(8) Why is it impossible to tickle yourself? Answer lies within the brain's cerebellum, which helps to monitor body movement. Scientists have found that the cerebellum can predict how self-administered touches will fell and alerts other tickle-sensitive areas of the brain. Since a truly successful tickle requires an element of surprise, this early-warning system makes self-tickling an exercise in futility.

(9) Why do people ache more as they get older? Wow, if i could only find the answer to this before I age any more, it would be great. Osteoarthritis is the most common ailment that affects people as they age. It is caused when the cartilage, the connective tissue that cushions our joints, begins to break down. Without this protective padding, bones can rub together causing stiffness and pain. Another ailment that is associated with getting older is called bursitis, in which the bursa, the fluid-filled sacs that reduce friction where tendons slide over bones, becomes inflamed. They best way to help this condition is to increase your activity to help make your symptoms milder. Really is h#*l getting older!

Well, what do you think? Did you see yourself in any of the paragraphs? Help you with a problem of two that you may have. The snorkel and mask were my idea and really does work when you are chopping onions. May have to patent it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Basement Tales" Story

It was an ordinary day. A few days ago I posted a story called The "Cellar Tales" Story which was a reflection of my memories from the first house where I grew up as a child. Well, today my story will relate a few tales about the house at 925 Janet Avenue in the Grandview Heights area of Manheim Township where my family had many unusual stories about what went on in our basement. The lower level of our house was more than a dungeon or cellar as in some houses, it was one of the living areas of the house. Continue on and you will see what I mean. 925 Janet Ave. was a semi-detached home that was where Carol and I raised three children on a teacher's salary. We had a living room with wood-burning fireplace, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, ONE bathroom, full-size third floor and basement, and a detached garage. It was rather small, so we needed all the space we could gather. I eventually made the third floor into a bedroom for our two sons and added a bathroom up there for them. I also made the basement into a family room so we could enjoy TV and the children could play with toys so our living room would not contain all the clutter that goes with children's activities. The basement had a poured cement floor so I glued 1"x 1" wooden strips to the floor and put Styrofoam insulation between the strips. Put 1/2" plywood on top of that for the floor. We had a hot-water, oil heat system so there were pipes that lined the ceiling of the basement. I removed the asbestos insulation from the pipes so the basement would remain warm, and it worked nicely. I made a room, using 2" x 4" studs, at the bottom of our steps and covered the studs with walnut grained plywood. The dropped ceiling was 2' x 4' tiles. Around the sides of the room were spaces for: (1) my home darkroom, which I used to make prints for the high school yearbook and to make samples for my lessons for my photography class, (2) the heating oil tank, (3) oil burner which had a hot water heater built into it, (4) laundry sinks sitting next to a washing machine and dryer, (5) the house's electrical panel, (6) my work table, (7) storage, and (8) a small hole in the wall that connected our house to our neighbor's house which used the common wall in the semi-detached house. OK so far? The darkroom was very light-tight, but since it wasn't near the laundry sinks, I had to transport water with a bucket to the darkroom for developing the photos and film. I had quite a few safelights rigged to the ceiling for light to work by. Now, to the hole in the wall. When we moved to the house, after the first pouring rain, we noticed water running from the wall to the drain in the rear of the basement. Evidently water would come in from somewhere in the rear of the house, fill the openings in the interior of the cement blocks, until the water was high enough to come thorough the hole in our wall, which was about the size of a pencil. Would shoot water about two feet through the air from about three feet off the ground till it landed on our basement floor. So, I made a special 1/4" drill bit that had a foot long shank and drilled the hole the entire way through to the neighbor's basement. I them filled the hole in my basement with caulking and 'viola',the water was redirected! End of that story. My work bench was used for general household repairs, much like the workbench that my dad had built at 929 N. Queen St. My kids learned about electrical repairs, building with wood and metal, and small appliance repair at that bench. They now have work benches of their own at their homes for the same purpose. I built a TV console in a wood shop class at Millersville State Teacher's College for the family room which held the TV, tape player and other junk which accumulated in the basement. We had one sofa for lounging and another that we called "Arnold's sofa" which belonged to our dog. He liked to hump the arms of it and chewed almost every corner of the cushions. I would grab the needle and thread and restitch them, then he would do it again. they looked terrible, but it was a great conversation piece. Arnold also liked to work with us at the workbench and when he closed the door leading from the "finished" part of the basement to the rear part where the workbench was located, he at times would try to scratch his way under the door. The floor of the family room was covered with orange shag carpet I purchased from my friend Barry who helped his father run a carpet store. Arnold, with his scratching to get through the door, at times ruined the carpet under the door. I had some remnant scraps from the orange shag carpet, but eventually ran out of them so I moved the cedar chest which was at the rear of the family room, cut a piece of carpet from under it, replaced the cedar chest, and used the cut piece to repair the dog damage. Actually, when we moved there were pieces cut from under both sofas as well as the cedar chest. That pretty much covers our basement EXCEPT ........... the laundry chute. Yep, we had a chute that went from the second floor to the basement. Eliminated the need for a clothes hamper in the only bathroom we had. Take off your dirty clothes and drop them in the chute. The chute also had an opening in the kitchen, but when I renovated the kitchen, I covered it with a cabinet. At times the chute would get jammed with items such as sheets or towels and I would have to open the door in the basement and use a long, collapsible rod to un-jam the chute. Pretty neat and a real good selling point when we moved. It kind of made of for all the holes in the carpet in the basement. Well, everyone probably has a few tales to tell about the special parts of their house that they don't share with visitors, and you now have heard mine. In the "Beach House," where we now live, we don't have a basement. It is open to our first floor and we call it our lower level. Pretty neat, huh. But there are still tales to tell about the lower level, and luckily you don't have to hear them now. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

To use for placement; not to scale.

The "Bringing Back The Boyhood Memories; The Vienna Boys Choir" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just wrapped up helping my wife with the fundraiser for the Parish Resource Center (PRC) where she works. This year's fundraiser for the PRC was sponsoring The Vienna Boys' Choir. Watching them perform has been on my "Bucket List" for over 50 years. When I was in the Boys' Choir at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, PA, from the early 50s to the late 50s, I always admired the Vienna choir and hoped that some day I would hear them in concert. Well that day came on March 10, 2012 when they appeared in concert at the Hempfield High School Performing Arts Center in Landisville, PA. Every year the PRC has a fundraiser that benefits their mission of "Serving Congregations in Central Pennsylvania since 1976," and they were lucky enough to have one of the four touring choirs make a stop in Landisville. The choir is the modern-day descendant of the boys' choir from the Viennese Court, dating back to the late Middle Ages. The role back then was to provide musical accompaniment to the church mass. The composers Jacobus Gallus and Franz Schubert were members of the choir at one time. In 1920 the choir was disbanded, however the rector at the time sought a continuation of the tradition, so in 1924 the "Vienna Boys' Choir" was officially founded and has evolved into a professional music group. They adopted the now-famous blue and white sailor suits to replace the imperial military cadet uniforms that had existed. Since 1948, the Palais Augarten in Vienna Austria, has served as their rehearsal venue and boarding school for the Vienna Boys' Choir. The choir is a private, not-for-profit organization. There are approximately 100 choirsters between the ages of ten and fourteen. The boys are divided into four touring groups, named for Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, which perform about 300 concerts each year before almost 500,000 people. Each group tours for about nine to eleven weeks. The choir is one of the oldest boys' choirs in the world and for nearly 500 years has been one of the enduring symbols of Austria. One of those four touring groups made their only Pennsylvania performance in front of about 1,200 lucky people, and I was one of the lucky ones. For me, the day started when Carol and I traveled to Lititz mid-morning to greet them with Scott, the President of the PRC, as they arrived by bus at the Linden Hall School for Girls. Few knew about the stop, since it was pre-arranged by the leader of the boys' choir and the choir director of the school. Carol, Scott and some of the members of the girls' choir from Linden Hall waited for the bus in the brisk weather along Main Street. About 10:15 AM, the bus pulled to a stop and the door opened. At this point I should tell you that the contract that was signed by the PRC and the Vienna Boys' Choir does not allow any video, audio or still photos of the choir to appear in any publication or on the Internet. Only those photos taken from their website may be used for publicity. So, I have honored that and only will add photos that I am permitted to add.The boys' filed from the bus and were taken to the chapel by the girls, who were mostly the same ages as the boys. I counted 22 boys, the female leader, a few chaperones, and Manolo Cagnin, the Choirmaster. One of the boys was from New York while the others were from all over the world. A few pieces were performed by two different choirs and then their Choirmaster rose and told the sparse audience that the boys would like to perform for them. Bravo! The applause, even from such a small crowd, was tremendous. And, I was sitting ten feet from them! Words cannot describe how I felt listening to the two compositions they performed for me, as I felt that since this was on my "Bucket List" for over 50 years, they were doing this for me. Then, the applause was overwhelming. It filled the chapel and spilled out into the street. The boys took bow after bow as did the Choirmaster. Carol later told me that the boys don't try to please the audience or themselves, they try to please their Choirmaster. And, they certainly did, judging by the huge smile he had on his face. Gifts were presented to all the choir boys by Linden Hall members and the boys were ushered to the stable to view the horses that live at the school. I got to talk to a few of the boys, the ones that I could understand, and to Manolo. I told him how happy I was to be able to be with them today. We talked about choral music and about my experiences as a boy and then he asked me if I played any instruments. I was so embarrassed to tell him I had played the accordion at one time and now I only attempt to play the harmonica from time to time, when I can find where my wife hides it. The boys loved the horses, touching them and feeding them carrots, as the girls laughed and showed them how to hold the carrots. Then it was gym time for the boys and absolutely no one other than the boys and Choirmaster were allowed in the gym. We left for home to prepare for the evening. Early afternoon and we were at the Performing Arts Center preparing for the 7:30 PM concert. The auditorium holds 1,300 so we knew we would almost fill the place. Tickets were priced at $28 and $42 dollars. Shortly after we arrived, the leader and Choirmaster arrived to "scout" the place. They were pleased and after unloading the boys' uniforms and

the Choirmaster's materials, Manolo sat at the Baby Grand piano that was in the center of the stage. For over two hours he practiced. I sat and listened for most of that time. When the boys arrived they dressed, ate, and went on stage to practice for an hour. The doors opened at 7:00 PM and the large crowd filed into the auditorium. The Boys' Choir offered selections from a repertoire that included motets and lieder (German word meaning songs) written specifically for the boys as well as the choir's own arrangements of Strauss waltzes and polkas. Then they performed a medley of songs from the musical comedy "Sister Act." Time after time the audience applauded and the boys' and Choirmaster bowed. Most of the concert was offered in German, with a few English performances. An encore naturally followed with an approximately 10:00 PM completion to the evening. A huge success! I can hardly wait to see what the PRC will offer next

year. May have to make sure they have a copy of my "Bucket List" so they can plan accordingly. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: The Palais Augarten in Vienna, Austria; Carol, Scott and the girls wait for the boys to exit the bus; sign outside the Chapel at Linden Hall School for Girls; program cover for the PRC's Vienna Boys' Choir Concert; Hempfield's Performning Arts Center as it begins to fill for the concert.

The "Surfin' The Fence: PJIA Thrill Seekers" Story

It was an ordinary day. For years Carol and I have travelled to St. Maarten for vacation and have landed at the Princess Juliana International Airport on the south-west side of the island. PJIA has one of the shortest runways in the world and the plane has to land as soon as it passes over Maho Bay beach. People gather daily at the beach to watch the planes land and take off. I know, because I have been there many times myself. It is a truly remarkable experience and one I never miss when on the island. On the fence at the start of the runway are signs warning you of the danger involved with standing behind the fence on take-offs. The wind created by the jet engines can easily knock you over and throw you into the water. I have seen it happen many times. Even have seen people walking with their luggage across the beach and having the luggage ripped from their hands and thrown out into the sea. The large 747's, with their twin-jet engines on each wing, produce so much turbulence and noise that if you stand in their path you will get a free sand blasting. And, it hurts!! Well, I just read on the St. Maarten Island Time website that two tourists were injured this week while trying to hold onto the fence while a Jet Blue aircraft was throttling up to depart the island. A male tourist suffered a broken leg while a female tourist suffered a deep cut on her head when she was blown from the fence and hit a cement wall that separates the narrow roadway from the beach. Both were taken to the St. Maarten Medical Center for treatment. Evidently the signs mean nothing to most people. I must admit I have often been tempted to try fence surfin' as it is called, but realize that if it can tear young, strong bodies from the fence, what would it do to me. Really don't want to ruin my vacation by spending it in the medical center. I have included a few YouTube videos showing a plane landing, one taking off from the far end on the runway and lifting off just in time before it hits the fence, and the video of the two people who were injured when the Jet Blue took off from the end of the runway directly behind the beach. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Father of Motion Pictures" Story

It was an ordinary day. Saw the "Google Doodle" yesterday was a series of boxes with horses in them. Placed there to celebrate Eadweard James Muybridge's (EJM) 182nd birthday. Never heard of Eadweard? Then you were never a student of mine in photography. I used to teach, as a part of the year-long high school class, a section on photo history, and Muybridge was one of the photographers we discussed. A quick synopsis for you would be: Expatriate Englishman EJM was born April 9, 1830, gained worldwide fame photographing animal and human movement imperceptible to the human eye and was considered the father of motion pictures. He was hired in 1872 by railroad baron and former California governor Leland Stanford to settle a question that there was a point in a horse's full gallop when all four hooves were off the ground. By 1878 he had successfully photographed a horse in fast motion using a series of fifty cameras. Each of the cameras were arranged along a track parallel to the horse's, and each of the camera shutters were controlled by trip wires which were triggered by the horse's hooves. This series of photos, taken at what is now Stanford University, is called "The Horse in Motion" and shows that, indeed, the hooves all leave the ground, although not at the point of full extension forward and back, as contemporary illustrators tended to imagine, but rather at the moment when all the hooves are tucked under the horse, as it switches from "pulling" from the front legs to "pushing" from the back legs. So that's the quick synopsis of why he was famous. A few more facts about him tell that he was originally born with the name of Edward, but changed it to Eadweard to match that of King Eadweard of England. He changed his last name from Muggeridge to Muydridge and then Muybridge after he had emigrated to America. He started his career as a publisher's agent and bookseller, but developed an interest in photography while recovering from a near-death stagecoach accident in England. He started gaining a photography name for himself in 1867 with photos of Yosemite and San Francisco. This was where he met Mr. Stanford. Then, in 1874, while in the bay area, he discovered that his wife had a lover by the name of Major Harry Larkyns and on October 17, 1874 shot him to death after saying to him, "Good evening, Major. My name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife." He tried to get acquitted because of his stagecoach accident years before, but was incredibly acquitted on the grounds that it was "justifiable homicide." EJM left the US and traveled to Central America for a time to photograph, but returned again in 1877 and eventually finished his assignment for Leland Stanford the following year. It was at this time that he invented the Zoopraxiscope, a machine that projected the images he would take of aminals so that the public could see realistic motion. The system was a precursor to the development of motion pictures by Thomas Edison. In the summer of 1983, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to fund his investigation into animal and human locomotion which was carried out on the grounds of their new Veterinary Department at the University. A Smithsonian Virtual Exhibition now feaures Muybridge's investigation of animal locomotion. In 1887 he published Animal Locomotion which are 781 prints of his investigative animal movement. EJM returned to England in 1894 for the last time. He died in 1904 in Kingston-on-the-Thames at the home of his cousin Catherine Smith. In my photo class's examination of Eadweard Muybridge, we briefly discuss his life and I show them a series of his experiments with human and animal movement. I have included two "YouTube" videos for you to see the work of Eadweard J. Muybridge. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "I've Been Duped!" Story

It was an ordinary day. Until ........ I won an Apple MacBook Air! Carries a value of $1,389.00. And just how did I win this laptop you want to know. Just by opening my email this morning. Hey, I'll show you a copy of the email .........

Greetings LDub,

Hi there, I am Jim, Ceo of Craigslist .org. We a short while ago combined with The apple company involving a one time advertising event as of late, we are now giving away totally free MacBook Air to randomly selected individuals who have published an advert that use Clist. You've been selected as one of our latest winners for this week, for the ad you posted "Metal Ikea bunk beds with mattresses". We now randomly find digits to match up with advertising on C-list and your posting matched with this latest drawing.

Sorry if you missed out on our last Drawing, but here is your chance once again

We now have combined with Apple to promote their hippest program yet, the Apple MacBook Air. Keep in mind, were managing this event for a day only. All you have to do is ‘Just Click’ Here to see our site intended for this promotion and key in your email address and get yours absolutely free. Be sure you you enter your email address so that we can find our archives to make sure that we've set aside one for you personally. That's it!

Well done on winning a 100 % free Apple MacBook Air (valued at $1,389.00). If you get any concern or issues, feel free to e-mail me back. Of course, be sure to claim your free MacBook Air 1st to guarantee 1 is set aside for you personally before the deadline finishes. We do realize that you could potentially not get this e-mail message till after the due date, nevertheless, we advise you have a look at the web page and type in your email address to find out if I still have yours on hand, which we in most cases do as a result others haven't claimed their own on time.

Jim

Chief executive officer, Craig's list

See! I really did win. But, I started to reread the letter and knew that it was too good to be true. Not only that, the grammar, punctuation and spelling was terrible, even worse than mine. Besides, no one is going to give me a new laptop. So do I click on 'Just Click' or do I do some research before I ruin the computer that I am reading the email on. I "Googled" CEO of Craigslist and there in big letters was this:

SCAMS

No, The Craigslist CEO Is Not Sending You A Free iPad

I KNEW IT WASN'T TRUE!! I never won anything, except for a dog lamp that I won in a Kennel Ration dog show when I was about 12 years old, and my dog actually won that. Seems that the CEO uses a Hotmail address and changes his name from Jim Buckmaster to Herman Fisher to just Jim. Evidently many people got the same same letter as me and there is no Airbook or iPad. Just a scam to get you to give them your pertinent information so they can rob you blind. If you ever get anything in the mail or by email, please do as I did and so some research first. May save yourself a ton of money and a lot of aggravation. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Whoops ...... That Senile Easter Bunny" Story

It was an ordinary day. Easter evening and my wife and I survived. Actually survived the entire Easter weekend. Some of the highlights I recorded with my camera are shown below for you. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary day.

Easter weekend started late Friday afternoon with the arrival from Maryland of our daughter Brynn and her husband Dave as well as our two granddaughters. Courtney, seen here on the right, celebrated her tenth birthday two weeks ago and we knew she wanted an electric scooter as a gift sometime. We found the toy store had them on sale for 30% off and with the new in-store credit card I applied for, we added another 10% off and therefore Courtney got a new scooter for her birthday. And ...... while we were at it we purchased one for her sister Camille who will be eight years old next month. Thought she might as well have it now so she can get an extra month of cuts and scrapes before the summer is over. They were both extremely surprised and thankful.
Saturday arrived and my wife, Carol, decided that her, our daughter, and the granddaughters would make chocolate peanut butter eggs. Hadn't made them in centuries and Carol forgot how complex it really was. Photo shows the four of them shaping the peanut butter into an egg shape. The eggs turned out great and I happen to hide a few for later consumption.
Grandson Caden, who lives about 20 minutes away, celebrated his 7th birthday Saturday evening with a big party at his house. He wanted a desk for his room so his Amah and Tampah (Carol and LDub) got the desk and chair for him as a present. Plenty of food as well as laughs accompanied the party. Neat having all the grandkids together. Oh yeah, Caden's Aunt Joy got hurt when the three grandkids accidentally ran into her with their electric scooters while she was watching them ride them. At least they said it was an accident! Below Caden spits on the ice-cream cake.

Well, my story title goes like this ........ Santa Claus/Easter Bunny, while stuffing the Easter baskets, got a few items in the wrong basket. Santa blamed the bunny and vise-versa, but anyway, when our granddaughters awoke Easter morning, they saw that their cousin, who was not present at the time, had a "Lip Smacker" and a Disney nail decorating kit in one of his baskets. Santa looked at the bunny and vice-versa. "Someone is getting senile," the one said to the other. And then Amah and Tampah told them that the Easter Bunny was so overworked that he must have gotten the baskets mislabeled, so we all agreed to change the items to another basket. The overworked part is no exaggeration ...... it is Easter evening and we are totally exhausted from the long Easter weekend.

My wife, Carol, gave our grandchildren and me the neatest idea for place settings for Easter Dinner. We took a few of the marshmallow "peeps" and "rabbits", sliced them with a scissors, and added the names to them before we put them on the plates around the table. Really turned heads as well as helping everyone to their seats. My daughter, Brynn, just had to take a pix with her phone and add it to her "Pinterest" favorites.
Another one of Carol's extremely creative food expressions. She made the traditional deviled eggs to look like "peeps" and put them in a ceramic boat. The "peeps" were the talk of the meal and were gone before they got to my end of the table. Darn!

The "Keep on Smilin'" Story

It was an ordinary day. Reading online that Lancaster, Pennsylvania has been picked by Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index as the best city in the United States as far as resident's satisfaction with their life, health, work and community. But, I knew that Lancaster was a fun and happy place for years. That's why I have never moved to the Caribbean, yet! Lancaster topped cities such as Honolulu, San Francisco, Boston and Boulder. Wow, playing with the bigboys, aren't we? We won because of the reasonable cost-of-living, quality of our schools, being able to experience all four seasons, and family values. We have it all; city living and shopping, country farmland and smell, art galleries for everyone, pro baseball and neat names for some of our small towns such as Blue Ball, Bird-In-Hand and our most famous, Intercourse. I have lived all my life here and can't seem to leave. Actually don't want to leave. I often thought I could enjoy myself on a Caribbean island where the weather is 85 degrees year round and the water temperature matches that. But, family and friends can't all move with me, so I remain. I do try to simulate the beach surroundings as much as I can in my house and furnishings, but it's the weather that is a killer for me. As I read more of the story I see that Harrisburg, our state capital, is the next PA city listed, with a listing of #49. 190 cities were ranked across the country and is based on US Census Metropolitan Statistical Areas. 781 residents were polled for the survey. I may have been #782, but when my phone showed Gallup Poll in the ID window, I just let it ring. The survey measured 6 areas of well-being: life, emotions, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment and access to services. Are you happy with your job? Are you stressed out or do you smile a lot? Do you feel well-rested? Suffer from headaches? Can you afford food, shelter and health care? Do you have clean water to drink? Do you feel safe at night walking alone? The survey even said that young people who go away to college are glad to come back home to Lancaster to live. Hey, you can't beat that. The online story was accompanied with a photo taken at Park City Shopping Mall where all the walkers go early in the morning to get their morning exercise. And, the more I studied the photo I recognized the one guy in the photo. What a big smile he has on his face. Gordie and I coached little league baseball together years ago against each other. Years later my son pitched for the high school while Gordie's son was the catcher, so we both have many fond memories of Lancaster. That's why we almost always have a big smile across our faces. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Gordie is the one with his arms around the two girls in the photo. Just like old times!!

The "Changes Are Coming - Part 2" Story

It was an ordinary day. If you read my story from yesterday you will see why it is tough to decide if the changes that will eventually happen in the near future are for the good or bad. I have added a few more items that are expected to change in the future. I will pick up with number 6. Parts of the list were found in an email I received, and I have added my two cents to the story. Here goes:

6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading, because of the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. But, you know, to me most of the current music is junk. Just my thoughts! I still am living in the "Rock and Roll" era, when music was good and the lyrics didn't have to be bleeped out all the time. And you know what, my kids and grandkids love most of the same music that I grew up enjoying. That would explain why over 40% of music sold today is probably from when I was a teenager.

7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV, such as writing stories on blogs. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix. Now, the paragraph after the word Television was copied from an article that I was reading. I agree with part of it and disagree with other parts. I agree that most of the TV viewing is junk today. Where are all the good shows like Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, and all the other great sitcoms. I would rather, no I do, watch reruns of these shows instead of all the new reality shows. Who cares about Kim Ks.family! And I agree that cable rates are growing faster than the quality of the programing. But, for me to sit in front of my computer to watch a TV program or movie ....... You can't snuggle up with your wife or whoever on the sofa and watch a computer monitor. At least I don't want to.

8. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again. All we will have that can't be changed are memories. And, the older I get the harder it is to remember the memories. But, that's why I am writing all these stories, so I can read about them and know I was one lucky fellow!

9. The Deindustrialization Of America. The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II. But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America ... Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our second biggest export is today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us. And why is this happening. Everyone seems to have an answer, but evidently no one does. I wonder what my children and grandchildren will do in the future. Kind of scary, isn't it. Oh, for the good old times! I have listed 18 facts about the de-industrialization of America that are really frightening.

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.

#2 Dell Inc., one of America’s largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

#4 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs next year.

#5 As of the end of July 2011, the U. S. Trade deficit with China has risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#6 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#7 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#8 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#9 Ford Motor Company recently closesd factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately 800 good paying middle class jobs are lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#10 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#11 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#12 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#13 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#14 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#15 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#16 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.

#17 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#18 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

Do you buy American whenever you can? Do you own an American car? An American made TV or computer (is there one you can buy?). I know, everyone has opinions about our problems, but it is still scary. Be nice if we could do something about it. I recently saw on TV that they built a house somewhere that contained only items made in the USA. Found out that it was only 1% more in cost than if they had used imported products. So there, you can buy American and only have to pay approximately 1% more for the product. I look for better times to come, but then I'm an optimist. How about you! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.