Cape May

It is time for a sabbatical and a pause away from the keyboard. This blogger will be off to Cape May in a few days primarily for "The waters" and whatever else is on the menu. I won't reveal our favorite watering holes so as not to have them overrun by a "selfie stampede". Have a safe and sane vacation and I will see you after Labor Day which comes early this year.
tjs

Pampering

I read recently that the power house marketing giant Procter & Gamble was divesting up to 100 of its lesser known brands which still leaves them with 70/80 moneymakers. They sold Pringles to Kellogg and in 2001 they got out of the coffee business. During the 1980s I participated in a sales call on these folks at their headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. They hosted us at a five star French restaurant for lunch. To break the ice I mentioned that a bartender in New York had invented a new cocktail - he mixed coffee with Christian Brothers brandy - and called it "Onward Christian Folgers." They were somewhat amused to hear their brand mentioned and we returned to the appetizer menu. I remember the visit to this day and certainly felt "pampered" in the Maisonette Restaurant which closed in 2005.
tjs

It Suites me!

Joe Sharkey wrote in the NYT August 12th about an Abu Dhabi airline outfitting their Airbus 380 with a three-room suite they call "The Residence". This space has a living room with two couches, a 32 inch TV set, a refrigerator, a bathroom with shower, a bedroom with double bed and a private butler who is also a chef. The one way ticket runs $20,000 and initial flights will fly from Abu Dhabi to London and they say there is a market for such. The only trouble as I see it is that that leg takes 6-1/2 hours - hardly time to get the bedsheets warm. The last time I checked I had 35,000 air miles credit - about enough to get me from Philly to Newark with my knees tucked under my chin. Forget about a butler!
tjs

Improvisation

Like many of you I spent the last 36 hours revisiting Robin Williams on YouTube. His quick paced delivery brought tears to my eyes as did his untimely passing. He followed somewhat in the footsteps of Jonathan Winters who left us in 2013. Winters was 25 years older but both their inventive minds were riveting to watch in action. Each of us has a favorite RW bit - don't miss his appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House on YouTube. His appearance in Kuwait with a USO troupe was not gleaned from YouTube but I shared it on my F-book page yesterday. Such an incredible talent departing so soon. R.I.P.
tjs

State Fair

Summer is the time for State Fairs when the campaigning politicians can mingle with the folks and brag about their proficiency in castrating hogs - see Iowa. Mentioning State Fairs recalls the following story. When I was working the booking desk at USLines in Philadelphia some years ago I received a phone call from a Ma & Pa carnival couple wanting to send a trailer-load of stuffed teddy bears to Honolulu for the Hawaii State Fair. We agreed on a price of $3000. cash only - prepaid and on the appointed day they arrived at our loading pier and the Ma partner entered the chief clerk's office with a carpet bag and proceeded to dump 3000 crumpled dollar bills on his desk. The longshoremen present were bugeyed - it was a Friday - the banks closed at 3PM and the petty cash drawer could not accommodate this windfall, so the cashier had to babysit this pile over the weekend. Talk about money laundering! But there's nothing like "cash on the barrel" or on the chief clerk's desk.
tjs
(Above excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 12 - March 2, 2006)

Game of Thrones

The NYTimes Saturday ran an article on "What to do when a beloved porcelain throne needs parts." It featured the tank top which can easily be broken. It seems there are several plumbing suppliers in California who have several thousand replacements in stock. The article was very informative in comparing the seven gallons of water used prior to 1950 to the new energy requirement of 1.6 gallons. An executive with American Standard known as Professor Toilet said the low flush toilet had an image problem but with new technology it did not deserve a bad name. Replacing an old W.C. with a new one can run from $150. to $4200. for the "spa" toilet that "includes a seat that heats up, raises and lowers and that offers lots of bodily cleaning features." Unquote. I am blushing while I'm flushing.
tjs
 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/your-money/what-to-do-when-a-beloved-porcelain-throne-needs-parts.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A6%22}

The Bucket List

What I used to know as a "wish list" has been co-opted by the hip generation and is now known as a "bucket list". Andy Newman in Sunday's NYT has written about the "reverse" bucket list in which writers declare their least desirable wish.
-Being stuck in August rush hour traffic behind a garbage truck.
-Sitting on a crosstown bus watching pedestrians make better time.
-Asking Alec Baldwin for an autograph.
-Get kicked in the face by a subway performer.
-Sit next to someone doing personal grooming.
-Stuck in an elevator with Donald Trump.
Please sympathize with the citizens of Manhattan - I do as I rode their subway for four years.
Mentioning buckets reminds me of the old vaudeville joke:
A - I heard your grandma was ill...did she kick the bucket?
B - No, but she did turn a little pale.
Have a nice weekend........full moon Sunday August 10th.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/nyregion/in-new-york-city-bucket-lists-run-in-reverse.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A8%22}

Milestones

We Americans have a penchant for celebrating anniversaries and milestones.
-This year we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WWI - the war to end all wars.
-And it is the 70th anniversary of DDay.
-The 40th anniversary of Nixon's resignation.
-Our 33rd wedding anniversary.
-My 15th year of retirement.
-My 800+ blog posting.
-Our 30th month in our current residence.
-Oh, I almost forgot - it's been four hours since my last pill.
tjs

Family System

Our extended family will be gathering soon in Cape May for a wedding celebration. We will come from far and wide to be under one roof, bringing with us our differing diets, pills and potions, tastes and distastes. The introverts will outnumber the extroverts which is a fair balance. There will be snorers and non-snorers - early risers and late sleepers - beach goers and sedentary folks. Altogether, a multi-generational family mosaic. Then the married couple will go off to their new life together and we will anticipate the next reunion. Here's to togetherness - but not too often!
tjs

Holy Toledo!

Around the turn of the century - circa 1900 - my maternal grandfather used to carry draft beer home in a galvanized metal pail called a "growler". He always let grandma have the first sip. Because it was essential to get home quickly before the sudsy head was gone, the term was coined "rushing the growler." And now, decades later, I find the term used in the New York Times August 4th by Emma G. Fitzsimmons reporting on the water shortage in Toledo, Ohio.  It seems a local native is using a modern day growler - 64 oz. vessel resembling a moonshine jug - to haul precious H2O during the shortage. I was further informed that these updated growlers are very popular with craft beer devotees in New York and Brooklyn. As they say, "What goes around comes around!
tjs

No Sweat!

Great Britain is concerned that alcohol related crime is costing the economy about $22 billion per year, prompting the following datelined London: Londoners who commit alcohol related crimes repeatedly will be forced to wear "ankle tags"  that monitor their drinking by recording levels of alcohol in their "sweat" every half hour. The "sobriety tags" will send an alert to the offender's probation officer with dire results forthcoming. Article goes on to state that Britons age 15 and older drank an average of 2.5 gallons of alcohol per person last year - although not at one sitting. One presumes they were Imperial gallons. Is there any doubt that Big Brother is watching us - along with our parole officers, probation officers, ABC, Treasury Alcohol Tax men, IRS, et al?
tjs

Reconciliation

Am indebted to a facebook friend for this bit of Irish humor.
-The Irishman entered the confessional box after being away from the sacraments for a very long time. He noticed on one wall a set up bar with Guinness on tap.  On the other wall were several bottles of Jameson and a cigar thermador. Just then the priest arrived. The penitent said "Father, I've been away a long time but I don't remember the confessional being like this." The priest replied "Get out of here, you moron, that is my side of the box." But the priest did show mercy and gave him some Absolut-ion!
tjs