Rivalry

 

With November winding down, this is the time for college football rivalries - in days gone by there was Penn vs Cornell followed by Army/Navy weekend. One of the oldest was Boston College vs Holy Cross - both Jesuit institutions in Mass. Eighty years ago, Nov. 28, 1942 they had suited up with BC heavily favored with  their All-American halfback, Mike Holovak.

BC fans were so certain of the outcome that they planned a victory party at the Coconut Grove Supper Club after the game. But Holy Cross upset the favorites causing them to cancel the celebration. 

That was the night of the famous "night club" fire that killed nearly 500 occupants. WWII was underway and Mike Holovak and many of his team mates went off to war. tjs

Keep it simple

 As Big Blue - Michigan continues on their winning ways it brings to mind the predicament of Joe the Plumber from Grand Rapids, Mich. who was approaching a complicated operation and needed to know the effect of sulfuric acid on lead. He decided to write the U.S. Labor Dept. in D.C. - they would know!

Their reply came in five days "Thank you for your inquiry - please know that sulfuric acid is contra-indicated for the use you intend." Joe thanked them and said "I have ordered a carboy of acid - it is due any day."

The agitated response from Washington read "Sulfuric acid is deleterious (?) to lead". Joe replied that the acid was due in two days.

Next came a Western Union telegram reading "DON'T USE THE ACID - IT EATS THE HELL OUT OF LEAD."

 

A.C./D.C.

 If you are planning the purchase of an electric vehicle, consider the experience of this Ohio family. The wife was in love with her Volkswagen ID4 and planned a trip from Columbus to  Toledo to ferry her daughter back to college.

She had planned where she would need recharging during the four hour trip but by overloading with school equipment and a tall husband in tow, the battery drained faster and they had to stop at a small Ohio town that had only four chargers which will describe below:  

- #1 was behind a locked gate. #2 was with a Toyota dealership who refused to charge a VW. #3 would only charge Teslas and #4 had just been installed and not yet working.

So the family spent the night in a hotel and proceeded with a rental car. tjs

                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   

The New York Subway

 

Nov. 6, 2022

Some people bad-mouth the New York City subway as being unsafe, yet my two grandsons - 5 and 2 - love the "A" train made famous by Duke Ellington. In the late 1970s (pre Bernie Goetz) I rode the Lexington Ave. train daily between the Battery and Grand Central Station. The only nuisance was a few harmless panhandlers and a few happy drunks. One evening on the northbound train a tipsy fellow got on and called out a riddle to all assembled - "What has four legs and chases cats?" He happily repeated the question and as he alighted at the next station, called out "Mrs. Katz and her lawyer!"  I can still hear him laughing as he walked down the platform.