Monday Meanderings - 9.28.2015

So, how do you like Fall thus far? Around here it doesn't seem all that different than Summer.

Barb was cleaning out the freezer the other day, so I was poking around for something I could grill. I found some chicken breasts that said "Use or freeze by Aug. 2007." Barb says I can grill them if I want to, but she's not going to eat any of them. What? I'm sure they were frozen by August, 2007.

I'm always about 3 years behind the curve to adopt a new Microsoft operating system. In other words, I only upgrade when the Evil Empire stops supporting my current system. Sometimes that coincides with the need for a new computer. Sometimes it doesn't. With the release of Windows 10 it seems things have changed a bit. First of all, it's free - something Microsoft has never done before. Secondly, it's getting very good press - something Microsoft normally doesn't get.

So I upgraded an older system I keep around for back-up purposes, and surprise! It went smoothly and works well. Still not touching the computers Barb and I use heavily until much, much later.

My new reading project at Learning Ally is "The Spartan" - an old (written in 1912) somewhat glamorized book about an even older story - the battle at Thermopylae between Xerxes and Leonidas and his 300 Spartans (yes, they did make a movie about that recently). Problem with this book is that it's all Greek to me. Especially the 400 or so names of people, places and things that are from Ancient Greece. Anybody know how to pronounce Elaphebolian?

Nothing unusual about the Star Spangled Banner performed prior to a sporting event. The Texas Volleyball team sort of raised the bar, though. They had a string quartet perform the anthem before a recent match.  Pretty classy - especially for Gregory Gym.

And here's a novel idea. A kennel - excuse me, Pet Hotel - at the airport. Titled "Bark and Zoom" it combines an off-airport parking facility and a boarding kennel. Leave your car and pet, get dropped off at the airport and upon your return, your car and animal are waiting for you, 24/7. Gotta love this town.

Monday Meanderings - 9.21.2015

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegone - not much to blog about this week. Not that that's a bad thing.

Oh, the guys hired by the city to trim trees around the power lines finally showed up. They trimmed all the little stuff and removed a couple of wanna-be trees that would have eventually poked up into the wires, and then they stood around and studied a huge hackberry tree that had been red-flagged for removal.

 Apparently, after consulting the Woodcutter's manual (that's what the guy on the right is doing) they decided that a trim was sufficient, so the huge hackberry still stands.

Barb was clearing out some old messages on her phone and came across a text that I sent her last week that said, "Far west is facing RX." If you have any idea what that means, let me know. I don't have a clue.

Yesterday was "Selfie Sunday" at church. The on-line church directory needs a lot of photos added or updated, so we were instructed to pull out our phones and take a selfie, then upload it on social media so that it could be incorporated in the directory. I thought mine came out pretty good. What do you think?

Hadacol Boogie - stories for my Grandchildren

I have no idea what synapse misfired and the long-buried memory of Hadcol came to my mind, but it did. So, perversely, I need to share that memory with you.

Hadacol, for those of you who are unenlightened - and that would be virtually all of you - was a health elixir that was heavily promoted in the '50s as a cure for what ails you. The short story is that  four-term Louisiana State Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc, concocted a patent medicine that he marketed as a vitamin supplement. LeBlanc was not a medical doctor, not even a pharmacist, but he was quite the huckster.

LeBlanc promoted Hadacol as a "Dietary Supplement...formulated as an Aid to Nature in rebuilding the Pep, Strength and Energy of Buoyant Health when the System is deficient in the Vitamins and Minerals found in this Tonic..." Never mind that it was pure snake oil consisting of "a murky brown liquid that tastes something like bilge water, and smells worse." It also was 12% alcohol by volume, and that alone made it popular in the dry counties of the South.

So what was my association with Hadacol? I certainly didn't need a dietary supplement of minerals and vitamins, or a stiff drink; what I did need was a box top. Marketing was everything and LeBlanc came up with the "Hadacol Caravans" - the last of the medicine shows - that toured the country and featured some of the top Hollywood stars of the time. Roy Acuff, Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, Minnie Pearl, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Carmen Miranda, George Burns and Gracie Allen and Hank Williams, to name a few, all appeared as performers in the Caravans, and the price of admission was a boxtop.

I don't remember who headlined the Caravan that came to Breckenridge, Texas. I know it was not any of the stars above. Some lesser light, but still a draw sufficient for me to plead with my parents to shell out a buck-twenty-five for a bottle so that I could attend. After a great deal of begging and whining, my father finally agreed, but with the condition that if we bought it, I had to drink it.

That was more than 65 years ago, and I can still recall how vile that stuff tasted. The suggested dose was a tablespoon in a half-glass of water, but even that did not sufficiently dilute the taste, and you were supposed to repeat that dose 3 more times during the course of a day. That meant that 8 ounce bottle would produce 16 doses, or 4 days of misery.

I am pretty sure I did not take all 16 doses; I may have "accidentally" dropped the bottle, or poured it out and just pretended to drink it. And, as mentioned, I don't remember what "star" came to town to make me think this was a good idea, but I do remember the taste of Hadacol.

And the Hadacol Boogie? Take a listen.

Monday Meandering - 9.14.2015

I have posted before about that morning when you step outside and there is a cool, crisp promise of the end of hot, humid weather. To be sure, there will be more uncomfortable days, but this morning says, "Here's a preview. More to come." That morning was Saturday and has lingered through today, and it has been delightful.

We were watching the UT women's soccer team on TV the other night, and the camera focused on some critter slinking around in an empty section of stands across the way. In a bit it became clear that the critter was a fox, foraging for whatever fan-food might have been dropped in the stadium. The commentator evidently had seen this before and said, "They only come out at night but there's our friend the fox."

I understand that the specie has adapted to civilization quite nicely - we see them from time-to-time in our area - but there is substantial undeveloped acreage near us. The UT soccer stadium is nestled in between busy IH-35 and the DKR-Memorial Stadium, hardly a suburban area.

Speaking of watching TV, Time Warner kindly posts the telephone caller-ID on the screen whenever we get a phone call. The other evening, the phone rang and the little box popped up with the word "GOD" and a phone number! After a moment, we saw that it was actually "GAD" so we that took the pressure off. I'm pretty sure if God called us, we would want to pick up.

We went to a memorial service Saturday at a little church where the seating was in the style of an open room with movable chairs. Scattered around the room were several comfortable-looking rocking chairs and that struck me as a great idea. Even better would be some recliners, but they would probably need to be equipped with electrical lifts. And anti-snoring devices.

And our congregation began the introduction of a 20-year Vision with a video of various members, young and old, holding placards of how old they would be in 20 years and then they flipped them over to show what they envisioned they would be doing at that age. The placards ranged from age 22 and "I want to color" to a couple who would be in their late 60's and "Want to be with him/her." But the really outstanding placard was held by our beloved Miss Betty, whose age would be 108 and she wanted to be "Singing with the Angels."

And she will be.

Monday Meanderings - 9.7.2015

I hope that this Labor Day brings you a time of rest and relaxation with good friends and family - and perhaps good things to eat along with that.

I guess I'm going to have to work on my demeanor - my public persona, if you will. The other day we were standing in line at the Deli Counter; Barb was ordering some sliced ham and I was hanging out with the shopping cart a little ways behind her. It was not crowded, we were not in a hurry, and we had been served in a timely fashion, but I must have been scowling, because the clerk at the counter leaned forward to Barb and said, "If that man behind you is giving you any trouble, I'll call store security."

Other than appearing suspect, it was a good shopping day. About once a year Walmart gets new shopping carts, and for a few weeks, if you are observant, you can get a cart that does not go thump-thump-thump or veers one direction to the other. Sadly, the rest of the year you have to put up with bad carts.

While we were in California we got an urgent call from a representative of Austin Energy who was anxious and eager to get our permission to trim our back yard trees near their power lines. We worked out the permission issues and from his sense of urgency we expected to arrive home to find workers hard at it. It's been a month and the crews are not even in our neighborhood yet. Guess it wasn't that urgent after all.

I've heard about them and seen articles about them but not until the other day had I seen someone actually using a "selfie stick." We were in a rather nice restaurant and I kept seeing something hovering over a nearby table. At first, I thought someone was waiving a menu to get the staff's attention, then I realized what it was. It seemed to be a long drawn-out process; the photographer would hold it aloft, snap a shot, then reel it in and check the picture (because of course, you can't see how how the picture is framed), then she would hoist it aloft and do it all again. Several times. No wonder some places are banning these things!