Can we extend Christmas just a bit? Good, as I always love to do that. Birthdays, holidays, special times. Make them last. For all the things that are good in life, we need to keep them alive.
Now, I'm not one much for this linking thing, but I'll give it a shot. If it fails, do this. Google:
"Christmas Memories Syracuse you tube Mevec."
Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1w6EIC1bYE
Just a little video trip down memory lane for all you folks in Syracuse, NY. Enjoy.
Last post of the year 2014. We'll see.
Mark Twain Quote: "My memory was never loaded with anything but blank cartridges."
Monday, December 29, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Only at Christmas
This Christmas end a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, replace it with trust. Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Try to understand. Flout envy. Think first of someone else. Appreciate. Be kind: be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence. Take arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once again.
Merry Christmas....keep it going.
Mark Twain Quote: Sam Clemens did love a good drink. On Christmas Eve, we shall allow him that pleasure...he has the night off.
Merry Christmas....keep it going.
Mark Twain Quote: Sam Clemens did love a good drink. On Christmas Eve, we shall allow him that pleasure...he has the night off.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
To All The Ships At Sea
Having a MAJOR operation certainly elicited a flood of
thought and reflection, an examination of life, and an appreciation of all
things dear…. if for no other reason than I woke up. But truly it is more than that, for in a
sense I experienced death, or dying, or something close to it. And that, trust me, will grab your attention.
I replay that day like a syndicated tv rerun. Talking to the anesthesiologist on my not so free
ride to the operating room, I ceased to be.
For over eight hours, I was suspended in nothingness. I vaguely remember returning to the living,
mumbling some nonsensical drivel to anyone within range. In my long nap, I
didn’t have any “near death” revelation. I wasn’t perched on the wall near the ceiling watching
and listening, and I certainly saw no white light that seemed to beckon me
forth, only to turn me away with a wave of the wand. I was just….gone. Blackness…nothingness…..no sense of
existence. Now I wonder if, well, that’s
just the way it’s going to be folks. Oh
well, food for future pondering fueled by a wine or two. But for now, now that
I have a deeper appreciation of just how close we all are to the big sleep, I
feel a renewed urge to be close, in presence, or word, or thought, to the many
people whose lives have touched mine in some fashion.
So this is to all the ships at sea, and all the ports of
call, to those I hold dear and here, and to all friends, those fresh and those
weathered, those close by, and especially those so far away. Each of you has left your fingerprint on my
spirit, and given me things that hopefully have made me a better person, or at
least one trying to be. Thank you. Merry Christmas to you all and a wonderful New Year. :)
Mark Twain Quote:
“The xmas holidays have this high value:
that they remind Forgetters of the Forgotten, & repair damaged
relationships.”
Friday, December 5, 2014
Syracuse - Part 2
And now for the second ten most amazing
gizmos ever invented…right here in good
old Syracuse, NY.
The dentist chair
This one was a surprise! In 1848, one Milton
Waldo Hanchett of Syracuse, NY gave to the world … the dental chair. Wild speculation has it that the chair was
adapted for use in the dental office.
Prior use? Recliner, torture, or
hmmmm, another, nobler purpose?
State Fair plus first ferris wheel
in the US
The New York State Fair is the longest
running state fair in the country. For
real. And at the 1849 fair the first
Ferris wheel was built by two Erie Canal workers. It was 50’ high, made or iron and oak and
four adults or six children could fit in the wooden buckets that were attached.
No data on the number of severe or fatal accidents. Or just how it worked.
First drive-thru
In 1949, the Merchants National Bank (where
my mother used to work, at the drive in for a time when she first started
there!) created the very first automobile “drive-in bank.” Syracuse, it appears, was the test tube for
lots of new marketing ideas throughout the years. Others soon copied the idea that swept the
country.
The time clock
A jeweler named Willard Le Grand Bundy (no
relation to Al) got a patent in 1888 for a mechanical time recorder for
workers. And skipping work and padding
hours and other pranks disappeared from the face of the earth. Correct that, they just morphed to beat the
new “technology.”
The shot clock
In a bowling alley, on James St. in Eastwood
(should be hallowed ground, but noooo, it had to be demolished to make room for
a drug store. God forbid there isn’t one
on every corner in America), the owner of the Syracuse Nationals (now known as
the Philadelphia 76ers) had an idea.
Danny Biasone thought NBA games were too boring as teams would stall, or
slow up play if they were ahead. He
invented a clock that he called the “shot clock.” The clock started at 24 seconds and counted
down…by zero, a shot must be taken or the other team got the ball. This was in
1954 folks. It’s been with us ever
since. Thank Fred. You think NBA games are boring now, just
think if there were no clock.
Sani-grip
Charlie Vinal worked in a lot of
restaurants. I guess he saw how “lovely”
some of the rest rooms could be, so he had an idea. He invented this gizmo that would attach to
the toilet seat so you would not have to touch the seat to raise it. Better things have replaced this old
technology, but I guess we have to pat Charlie on the back for starting the
ball rolling. Or the paper, or gloves, or whatever.
Magtite magnetic tape holster
Stephen Potter graduated from F-M and
attended SU, then launched a career as a bartender at Pastabilites. Always good
for a laugh, no one took him seriously until 1991 when he invented, patented,
and brought to market the Magtite, a magnetic holder for a carpenter’s tape
measure. Contractors everywhere began
using this tool belt staple. Who’s
laughing now?
Arm and Hammer baking soda
OK, these guys single handedly destroyed
Onondaga Lake and made it the laughing stock of the nation. One can not
overestimate the damage they wrought upon this once pristine body of water, but
as a parting gift they did give the world baking soda. What would mankind do without it?
First synthetic penicillin
Right here in Syracuse, the world was, in no
small measure, saved. Synthetic
penicillin was safer and more effective than previous forms of the drug. In 1948, three chemists developed this life
saver and they deserve mention – Frank Buckwalter, H. Leo Dickison, and Amel
Menotti. Thank you gentlemen.
The first literacy volunteer
organization
Ruth Johnson Colvin founded Literacy Volunteers of
America, Inc., in 1962. It is a
national, educational, non-profit organization with staff at the local, state,
and national levels. Spreading the
priceless gift of reading, this group has advanced and made better the lives of
thousands upon thousands of people. There are few gifts as valuable as the gift
of being able to read. Bless ‘em all.
Clinton Square in Syracuse NY |
Mark Twain Quote: “I
have, as you say, been interested in patents and patentees. If your books tell how to exterminate
inventors send me nine editions. Send them by express.”
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