Brevity, Brevity

The trend today in communications is to keep it short whether texting, instagram or observing the limits of Twitter - forget salutations or felicitations - there is no time for those niceties - and it is a shame. While I have been out of the market place for some time I do recall the overflowing in-box and can sympathize with those of you on the treadmill. Some years ago much of our commercial exchanges were via Western Union. I seem to recall they had a simple rate structure that graduated after ten words so even back then there was economy in keeping the verse terse. Circa 1915 my mother was working for a firm in Kensington - most employees walked to work or took the trolley. One winter day there was a severe snow storm that shut down the trolleys and prevented pedestrian traffic as well. But one persevering fellow made it in to the office and seeing an opportunity for brown-nosing recognition,  sent the following message to the boss via Western Union: "IN THOUGH SICK - FEW OTHERS HERE." - Succinct and self-serving!
tjs
Next - A Double Life

Let'em Eat Cake

Last Sunday, July 14th was Bastille Day commemorating the French Revolution. If I were in Cape May N.J. I would have run the tri-color up the flag pole beneath the Stars and Stripes.My first trip to Paris was in 1964 on a Thomas Cook tour and I hit all the tourists spots. (I opted out of the "sewer tour". But fifteen years later I was back there on company business and they put me up in the Meurice Hotel which I learned had been the Nazis' headquarters during WWII. Hitler had ordered the city to be torched but his officer corps were enjoying the fruits (and vines) of this fabulous city from 1940/1944 and dragged their feet and Paris was preserved.  LeHavre was our port of call for the cargo ships and also for the fortnightly visits of the S.S. UNITED STATES from 1952 to 1969. At the entrance to the breakwater there were the remnants of a German U-Boat "pen." Check the movie CASABLANCA for a stirring rendition of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise" or on You Tube.
tjs
Next -Brevity, brevity.

Criminal Pursuit

The Mob is back in the news - one of the old New York families. There was a time when their activities consisted of loan sharking, extortion, "protection", intimidation and the like. But now they are coming into the 21st century and "upgrading."  The current indictment involves a multi-million dollar online sports betting operation in Costa Rica and also plans to sell pills for E.D. i.e.  Viagra type for $5.00 each. The Manhattan D.A. said "Times have changed since Jimmy Hoffa disappeared."
But he doesn't seem to go away. Anyway, the photo in the NY Times was right out of "Goodfellas".
tjs
Next -Brevity, brevity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/nyregion/new-charges-against-bonanno-family-suggest-it-controlled-a-union.html?ref=nyregion

Doe, a Deer

The east bank of the Hudson River is dotted with charming river towns one of which is the village of Hastings-on-Hudson - all 2.2 square miles- sandwiched between Yonkers to the south and Dobbs Ferry to the north. I once lived in Hastings from 1976 to 1985 and never once saw a deer. All this has changed as the town is being overrun by deer and the deer tick is causing many cases of lyme disease.
Shooting them is out of the question in such a concentrated residential area. To the rescue comes the scientists from Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine offering "birth control" - immunocontraception by vaccine. This is in keeping with the village's "strong character of nonviolence."
tjs
Next - Criminal Pursuit
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/nyregion/providing-birth-control-to-deer-in-an-overrun-village.html?_r=0

The Corner Man

The resurfacing of the Jimmy Hoffa mystery recalled to mind the following:
Some years ago we put on the pier payroll a young man named Arnold G. as a combination gofer/chauffer. He grew up in South Philadelphia and his boyhood friend became a prominent middleweight boxer going by the name Joey G.  Arnold would disappear for weeks at a time and the next time we would see him would be on TV from Las Vegas working the corner at one of Joey's fights - wearing the white sweater and carrying the bucket and sponge - he was advising! By and by Joey retired from the ring but Arnold kept his hand in the business and we had heard he was managing several Puerto Rican fighters. One day Arnold disappeared for real and they found his Cadillac at the Philadelphia Airport. The rumor was that something had gone "awry" in the ring and that our friend had taken up residence in the Tinicum Wildlife Preserve near the airport. Baffling and chilling. The Arnold I knew wouldn't hurt a fly.
tjs
(Reprinted from The Eagle Blue Chronicles No. 28 - April 27, 2006)
Next -Doe, a Deer.

A Friendly Game of Golf

Some years ago my colleague Doran was assigned as the U.S. Lines sales manager in Japan. As he knew the Japanese were avid golfers he invited several of our clients to a friendly foursome at a local club. Normally, at the first tee players will exchange truthful handicaps and make some nominal wagers to make things interesting. But this day one of our guests went over to Doran's golf bag to count the number of clubs in his bag. Officially, the maximum limit is fourteen - more than enough to weigh down the caddy. But he could sense that this was not to be the friendly outing he expected.
Banzai!
tjs
Next - The Corner Man

Local Color

Some friends are planning to move to Brooklyn, a borough of neighborhoods. Many apartment dwellers there socialize in rooftop settings. My first summer in New York our offices were located down in the Battery and most of the secretarial staff came in from Brooklyn on the subway. One Monday morning our secretary arrived bearing a considerable week-end sunburn the kind you might get out fishing on the water or at the local pool. When asked where she was she replied "Tar Beach".
That was the first time I learned of the rooftop activity in such heavily populated locations. It just proves "Ya gotta know the territory."
tjs
Next - A Friendly Game of Golf