It Is What It Is!

Not long ago we noticed a water stain around the base of our hot water tank and thought it might have a problem. We have had it for about 18 years. It is probably about time to replace it. To head off any problem we felt it is time to act.



We called a plumbing company with a reputation of being honest with fair prices.


Friday the person they sent showed up disorganized and he reeked of a smell that I relate to my Navy days when the same smell reeked from old Navy drunks.
But we didn't know he really reeked of alchohol and we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We let him sell us a hot water tank. His biggest sell ploy was that if he gave us a good deal he could sleep at night. He told us that so many times it was getting old. He was a braggart and scattered brain - why we decided to go with our first visit without comparison I have no idea. Were we just being kind to him? He was to report Wednesday morning between 8 and 9 and start changing out the hot water heaters.


Friday night at the concert that was on our mind. If he did have a drinking problem we did not want him messing with our gas lines to the tank. We decided to call him the next morning and cancel the order. There is a law call the "3 Day Cool-Off Period Law". It means you have three days to back out of a contract.
Saturday at noon Anna called him and said we wanted to cancel the deal and wanted to do some comparison shopping. He was very nice on the phone and said "No problem".
We made arrangements for someone else to look at the tank and how much it would cost and that person was about a grand cheaper.


On Wednesday morning at 10:30 Anna just left to get a haircut when the doorbell rang. At the door stood the plumber smiling and ready to go to work. I told him we called him Saturday at noon. He more or less said, "You did?" I told him we certainly did. I told him we cancelled the order, we decided to hastily. I asked him didn't he remember getting the call. He said a lot of people call him and he can't remember what everybody said. He ended the conversation by saying, "It is what is is!"


Then he went and sat in his truck for ten minutes. That got me a little concerned, but he finally drove off.
Whew!

IT'S A smal WORLD (AGAIN)

Tuesday I spent a couple hours in the Cancer Center of Wellstar Hospitals waiting area.  I wasn't the reason we were there.  It was someone else we carried.

In a chair near me was a small female, dark hair, and dark skin.  I thought she was probably decended from Far Eastern Indians.  But somehow she did not have the Indian humble speech roll.  Her speech pattern was very much New Jersey or nearby.  I thought she was about 12 years old.  She is 35.

We were sitting in front of a TV.  I commented on the fierce weather and hoped it wouldn't do any damage like Katrina.  She told me it wouldn't, as hurricanes go, it was the weakest.  She sounded educated and knew what she was talking about.

Because also the Republican Convention was also on the news, I told her I was outside the convention hall in Atlantic City, on the Boardwalk when Lyndon B. Johnson accepted the Democratic Nomination for President, and it was his birthday, I added.  She said her grandfather was there too!  Same place, and still talks about it.

Evidently I still do too.

I told her I was stationed in Lakehurst, New Jersey, only about 40 miles from Atlantic City.  She said her grandfather was also in the Navy then, she didn't remember where he was stationed, but it was in the middle of New Jersey.  Lakehurst is the only Naval base I know of in the middle of New Jersey.

Here is the clincher:

I mentioned I retired from the U.S. Postal Service - I knew it was coming:  Grandaddy did too.  She told me worked in central Atlanta and transferred out to a branch, but still part of the Atlanta Post Office.  I worked at the Atlanta Postal Service for about 13 or 14 years then transferred to Marietta, which was not part of the Atlanta Post Office.

At Lakehurst, New Jersey and the Atlanta Post Office  there is a good chance I knew this guy, if not by name, by facial recognition.  It is a small world.

Back to the 35 year old granddaughter:  It occurred to me that she probably has cancer.  I broke off our conversation and said, "How are you doing?"  

She said, "Great!"  She smiled most the time she talks.  I beleive her.

They called her name and she told me it was nice talking to me and she left.

About 20 minutes I got a call  on the cell phone to move the car around to pick up my passengers.  As I was leaving the little lady was walking out  same time.  We walked out together.  I asked her did they give her radiation.  She said they gave her a transfusion.  She said she comes in ever-so-often for a transfusion.  Maybe that is why she is so upbeat, she is happy to be alive.

New Cobb County Courthouse

Well, it is not all that new now.  It is at least a year old.

I took these two pictures from the top of the  Parking Deck, next door to 100 Cherokee Street.

It is nice, but jut not as regal (or gothlic) as:

The Old Cobb County Courthouse

Little Egypt The Belly Dancer

I have already blogged about going to the Georgia Symphony Orchestra Jazz Concert on the Marietta Square this past Saturday night.

What I failed to mention that others things were going on at the Square as well.  For instance on top of the Strand Theater on their lookout patio was a rock and roll band, which for a while we thought it was going to compete with the sounds of the jazz concert, but I think they stopped just before.

And next to the Strand a new Egyptian Restaurant opened up.  I didn't retain the name of it.  This location  has specialized in Eastern Mediterranean food for many years.  When it was Turkish we went there several times.  When we went then there was a belly dancer.  There is still a belly dancer at the current restaurant.

Once during the concert I had to pee badly, left my seat and went towards the row of porto- Johns.  On the sidewalk in front of the Egyptian restaurant was a belly dancer with her clicker in her hand. Her  belly and torso were dancing away.

With the visual mumbo-jumbo movement of the camera it looks like I may have joined her.  No, I just had to pee real badly and had to get around her without stuffing a few dollars down her waistband.

Back to the Square

Friday we went to downtown Marietta, aka The Square, aka, Glover Park to hear a rock & roll band concert.

Saturday night we returned. to hear Georgia Symphony Orchestra play some time proven jazz.  The words time proven and jazz are just about oxymorons - because jazz is by definition improvised, which can't ever be time proven because by theory it is a new variation each time you hear it.  Oh me, I'm confused. 

Here is a short video sampling of their music:




Also, I took some landmark type of pictures again:

Stay tuned - tomorrow:  Belly Dancer on the Square.

SUNDAY FUNNIES: LI'L LULU's TUBBY

This is the final Lulu I'll be showing unless I find another old Lulu comicbook cheap.  In this episode Tubby takes on a subject that most people have been afraid to touch (you just don't pick on bullies , it is the other way around) until fairly recent times - but the Li'l Lulu comics took it on many years ago.  The comic took on more social issues than most people realize.  They thought Li'l Lulu's job was to sell Kleenix in the SATURDAY EVENING POST.

One Giant Leap....

Neil Armstrong died today at age 82. 

Today is National Dog Day

Arf!

You know what they say, "Every Dog Has Its Day".  And today is the day.  Give your canine a furry animal to play with, like a cat.

We went to the concert on the Square Friday night.  If I have a camera in my hand I cannot walk by some of the landmarks in downtown without taking a picutre of it.

Of the thousands of people there last  evening I only recognzed two people and both their names were Terry.  Terry, a cousin, and Terry,
Anna's ex-coworker.  Isn't that strange?

The Ghosts Arouond Us

Yesterday at lunch Anna and I ate at Wendy's on Canton Road. 

Wendy's is on the corner of Canton Road and Chance Road. Anna's uncle and his family lived on the other corner of Chance and Canton Roads., where Frankie's Italian Restaurant is now. The first time after we were married we visited them we drove up in their driveway behind their house and I had to refocused - in front of me, hung up in the air somehow was a huge hog with his belly split open. They had just killed it and was ready to package the parts up. It was a cold mornng. It was a first time I saw a pig between death and pork parts.



As we were eating I noticed across from Wendy's parking lot is an office building that has been there a long time.

Back in early spring of 1979 there was a dentist office in that building.  I remember one day a deputy sheriff brought some inmates in to have some dental work.  One of the inmates grabbed the deputy's gun and started shooting.  A number of people died.

The inmate escaped and Canton Highway was locked down with police checking every place possible. 

Across from and down the street from Wendy's is a KFC.  Next door was a free standing shoe store.  That is where they found the escpaped inmate hiding in the shoe store's dumpster.  It is now a store that specializes in dance apparel.  I could see both stores from or table.

I remember the prison escape incident happened in early Spring 1979 because my son Adam was born in May 1979.  When the fugitve hunt was in full force Anna was attending a child birth class at Noonday Baptist Church.  The police came there looking all around.

Larry Miller Needs Our Help!

Have you ever faced a life-threatening illness for which there is no treatment or cure?


Have you ever become overwhelmed by the costs of your illness?

Have you ever had to rely on your family and friends to make a life-saving difference on your behalf?

Larry faced these conditions all at once. Larry was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis, Emphysema, and Pulmonary Hypertension. There are no treatments for these diseases and there was no hope for him without a lung transplant.


On May 14th Larry received the call from Emory saying they had lungs for him. His transplant was performed on the 15th with excellent results. Due to the generosity of the donor’s family, he received a very healthy set of young lungs (to use the surgeon’s words). Larry is recovering exceedingly well and was released to go home on the 31st of May. He is gaining strength each day by following his drug regimen very carefully and by following a vigorous program of Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

His recovery is great news, but with it comes enormous annual costs for post-transplant treatments and medications. I have known Larry and been his friend since the 5th grade (1953) so I offered to head up his fundraising committee. We are working to help Larry raise money to cover some of these costs. Fortunately, Larry qualified for a matched account in the Georgia Transplant Foundation’s (GTF) Fundraising Program, GTF will match every dollar we raise up to a maximum of $10,000, and then they will hold the money and administer the distribution for Larry’s medication expenses.

We need Your Support to reach the $10,000 Goal! Please consider making a donation to help us raise the funds Larry will need to buy post-transplant medications which will support the maintenance of his transplant.

How to Donate

Checks/money orders should be made payable to Georgia Transplant Foundation with Larry’s name in the memo section of your check. Please mail checks/money orders to Georgia Transplant Foundation, Attention: Transplant Fundraising Program, 500 Sugar Mill Road, Suite 107-A, Atlanta GA 30350. An envelope is enclosed for your convenience. Thank you for supporting this life-saving campaign.

The Georgia Transplant Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial, educational, and emotional assistance to Georgia’s transplant community, is assisting us in our fundraising efforts. If you have questions or want further verification, please see the Georgia Transplant Foundation website at www.gatransplant.org or email TFP@gatransplant.org.

If you have already made a donation, please accept our thanks.





Sincerely,

Paul Roper

Committee Chairman

GOBAG, August 21, 2012

What are the GOBAGs?  It is the Good Old Boys And Girls.  From time to time I feel the need to explain this when our viewership grows.  About 150 to 200 new viewers wandered in from the cold and have no idea.

This GOBAGs get-to-gether was Tuesday evening at the Horace Orr American Legion.  The Good Old People you see loosley grew up together so we have mostly known each since our formative years.

When it is not too hot or too cold Monty usually cooks out on the American Legion grill, which was the case this day.

 One asked me did I get someone's quote for this blog.  I said yes, which at the moment I made a mental note of it.  Later when the same guy pointed out that I just sat on a cement block covered with cement dust.  I thought: "SHIT!  These are new pants!" and forgot about the quote I was holding in my mind.

August 21, This Date in History

1873.  Jesse James robbed his first train.  I was told that one of the families they hid out with from time to time were Trammells.  Relatives no doubt.

Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899.  He was a great writer.  He wrote about rugged types of adventures and just about lived the same kind of drink-straight-from-the-bottle kind of life.  I have read only one of his books, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.  But I did see the FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLLED movie.  He made Key West a tourist spot. 

When I think of Earnest Hemingway I think of big game hunting, charging elephants, tigers, bears, and maybe even sharks with knives.  Earnest Hemingway also reminds me of the movie HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDA JUNE by Kurt Vonnugut, Jr.  It was first a play then it was made into a movie starring Rod Steiger - of course it had other people in it, but Rod Steiger's character is who I want to point out.  Steiger's character is very much like Earnest Hemingway.  His Manhattan apartment was decorated with mounted heads and stuffed animals that he had killed big game hunting.  Just like Hemingway, he was a man's man.  They went out and bought a birthday cake from a local bakery at the last minute.  The only birthday decorated cake the bakery had was one that had HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDA JUNE on it.  It was a cake that was not picked up.  It was to be Wanda June's 13th birthday.  She was ran over and killed.  Which had another story-line, Jesus and Wanda June watched the interaction of the birthday party her cake was from above making witty comments about it all.  It was sort of like a Greek play.  The grabber of the play/movie, was that the Hemingway-like character, the man's man, so to speak, was impotent.  Never trust a book by its cover.

Don Knotts was born in 1824.  I think he is best known for his character Barnie Fife and his one bullet on the Andy Griffin's MAYBERRY, RFD.  The first I noticed him was on the STEVE ALLEN SHOW and the first TONIGHT SHOW, MC: Steve Allen.  He had the nervous high strung type of character down-pat.  I don't think he had to research his character-type much at all.

Dave and J. Fred Muggs

Dave Garroway died in 1982.  Dave was the first TODAY SHOW host.  Dave was a very casual dignified type of guy.  It seems to me THE TODAY SHOW has been falling in dignity ever since.  After Hugh Downs I feel it took a sharper degree falling downward.  Boy, Dave Garroway and his partner J. Fred Muggs knew how to show some dignity - especially that time J. Fred threw a birthday cake in Dave's face.

Willow and the Hummingbird(s)

The title of this suggests there might be more than one hummingbird zooming around our heads on the deck and fussing at us, but who knows?

I'm just fumbling with my new camera, trying to learn something.

Click to make the picture bigger.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!! MAD's 19 CANE MUTINY

(psst! don't forget to click on each picture with your mouse to make it bigger)

This story was first published in MAD comicbook in the mid 1950s.  It is a lampoon on the movie THE CAINE MUTINY.  It is about a Captain of a Navy vessel going bonkers - and how his subordinate officers took over  his command to continue operations.  It is also about the trial afterwards.  It is also about a swabby kissing his girl on the dock before the ship lifted it achor's (you have to have at least some romance to sell tickets).  The  story was written by editor Harvey Kurtzman and illusltrated by the legendary comic book artist Wallice Wood.

My future boss at my Postal job was a Mr. Cain, and some thought he was MAD with a cruel streak.  He died recently.

Hey!  I was in the Navy too!

a Closed Krystal

The above was the Krystal dining room.  It looks haunted doesn't it?

This is no joke, as I was walking around this closed Krystal in downtown Marietta to find a good picture shot a young man was on top, the roof, walking around keeping an eye on me.  Maybe he thoughtI was keeping an eye on him.  When I got into the car I told Anna about the guy on the Krystal's roof and she said he had a camera also.