another slice of wry

[W. Gray]

In 1951, in most families a long distance call whether dialed or operator assisted was an absolute no-no unless someone was dead or dying.

[larryJ]

   I can remember when Southwest Bell dug a trench along the front of our yard and piled all the dirt on the corner.  My friends and I played a lot of "King of the Mountain" on that pile of dirt.  That was the beginning of dial service in that town.

Another story:  When I was a kid, my older brothers had gone away to college and the Army.  It was just my mother and me.  We lived in Artesia, NM, some 400+ miles from Howard.  One time she got very ill and ask me to call my grandmother in Howard and tell her that she needed someone to come and stay for a while.  (Get ready, flint).  I picked up the phone, waited for the operator, asked for the long distance operator and told her I wanted to place a call to Howard, Kansas.  She asked me what number in Howard did I want.  I was young, didn't know no numbers, so I told her I just wanted to speak to Howard, Kansas. She was frustrated with me, but did ring the main switchboard in Howard.  What she didn't know was that my Aunt Bernadine was the operator there.  I got my message through and another aunt and my grandmother were on the next bus to us.  Even in my old and graying years, I can still remember our phone number...............J508.  The phone company assigned numbers with the first letter of your last name and the street address number.

Larryj

P.S.  If you would have told me then that I would be carrying a smart phone in my pocket that I get e-mail on, arrange my calendar on, play games on, use a navigator to tell me where I am and where I want to go, keep in touch with people by texting, I would have asked the local loony bin to lock you up.

[W. Gray]

I can recall that on those mounds of construction dirt that the phone and other utility companies left on roadways were marked for nighttime safety purposes with small round black smudge pots. These pots were filled with a fuel of some type and had a small leisure flame coming out the top to warn motorists.

On weekends when the workers were off the pots would naturally burn during the daytime. Some young neighborhood idiots would toss the pots over into the ditch.

This inconsiderate action left motorists vulnerable to hitting the dirt mounds during the next night.

[Ms Bear]

When I moved back to Arizona in 1959 we still had to go through the operator to place a call to anywhere and the phone that was closest to the ranch we were on was Horn 1 and Horn 2, the next closest was Palomas 1 and then the service station on the highway was Dateland 1.  Always had to argue with any operator out of Arizona to get a call through.

[Diane Amberg]

I believe yesterday was also the anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald with all 29 on board in 1975.

[larryJ]

(I seem to remember those smudge pots having a mixture of oil and kerosene, maybe)

Today's-------------------Questions to ponder

Since bread is square, why is sandwich meat round?

Why do you "put in your two cents" but you only get "a penny for your thoughts"?  Where is that extra penny going?

How important do people have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

How is it that we put men on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why do people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up and cry every two hours?

Why do actors appear IN movies, but ON television.

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

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In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for a "body politick."

In 1831, former slave Nat Turner who'd led a violent insurrection, was executed in Jerusalem, Virginia.

In 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany.

In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding.

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Today---------------Dancer-choreographer Nicholas Royce is 86, Comedian Jonathan Winters is 86, Jazz singer-musician Mose Allison is 84, Author Carlos Fuentes is 83, Actress Bibi Anderson is 76, Country singer Narvel Felts is 73 and Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller is 60.

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November 11th is:  Death/Duty Day and Veterans Day.

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Larryj

[larryJ]

Today's----------------what?.........wait............huh?

Little Billy's mother Mary was an English teacher who always cautioned him against ending a sentence with a preposition.

Mary believed in the importance of books and reading, and she made it her practice to read a bedtime story to Billy each night.  One day, though, Billy was extra tired and said he would skip the bedtime story that night.

But Mary forgot.  While Billy was brushing his teeth, he noticed his mom ascending the stairs with a book in hand, preparing to read to him.

And Billy forgot everything he ever had learned about ending a sentence with a preposition.  He said, "Mom!  What did you bring a book I told you I didn't want to read to out of up for?"

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In 1815, American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, NY.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., giving the green light to traffic.

In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began.  (The Allies ended up winning a major victory over the Japanese.)

In 1977, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial, the winner of a runoff.

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Today----------------Rhythm-and-Blues singer Ruby Nash Curtis is 72, Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 68, Singer Brian Hyland is 68, Rhythm-and-Blues singer Jimmy Hayes is 68, Rock musician Booker T. Jones is 67, Sportscaster Al Michaels is 67, Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 66, Rock musician Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser is 64 and Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 61.

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November 12th is:  National Gaming Day (Libraries), Domino Day and National Donor Sabbath Days (12-14).

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Larryj

[larryJ]

Today's--------------well, okay............

Two women were discussing this and that.

Said one, "Dumb blondes?  Please!  The dumb blonde in my family is my husband!

Said the other, "What do you mean?"

The first replied, "True story.  One day he decided to do some laundry.  He wanted to wear his favorite sweatshirt and it was in the dirty clothes hamper.  So he puts it in the washing machine, adds detergent and turns on the water.  A few seconds later, he shouts at me, 'What setting do I use?'  I call back, 'It depends.  What does it say on your shirt?'  He shouts back, 'OHIO STATE!'  Can you believe it?"

The second woman laughs and says, "That's the funniest dumb blonde joke I've ever heard."

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In 1849, voters in California ratified the state's original constitution.

In 1909, 259 men and boys were killed when fire erupted inside a coal mine in Cherry, Illinois.

In 1940, the Walt Disney animated movie "Fantasia" had its world premiere in New York.

In 1974, Karen Silkwood, a technician and union activist at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, died in a car crash while on her way to meet a reporter.

In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

In 2001, President George W. Bush approved the use of a special military tribunal that could put accused terrorists on trial faster and in greater secrecy than an ordinary criminal court.

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Today------------Actress Madeline Sherwood is 89, Journalist-author Peter Arnett is 77, Producer-director Garry Marshall is 77, Actor Jimmy Hawkins is 70, Country singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard is 65, Actor Joe Mantegna is 64 and Actress Sheila Frazier is 63.

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November 13th is:  International Tongue-twister Day and World Kindness Day.

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Larryj

[larryJ]

Today's------------story time again, and I think I have heard it before............

Whether or not it's true it's a good story.

Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill once found himself in a heated debate with a female member of the Parliament, the story goes.

The lady MP ultimately became so irate with Churchill that she declared, "If you were my husband, I would poison your tea!"

Churchill replied, "Madam, if you were my wife, I would gladly drink it."

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In 1851, Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale" was first published in the United States.

In 1881, Charles J. Guiteau went on trial for assassinating President James A. Garfield.  (Guiteau was convicted and hanged the following year.)

In 1910, Eugene B. Ely became the first aviator to take off from a ship as his Curtiss pusher rolled off a sloping platform on the deck of the scout cruiser USS Birmingham off Hampton Roads, Virginia.

In 1944, Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded "Opus No. 1" for RCA Victor.

In 1969, Apollo 12 blasted off for the moon.

In 1970, a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 crashed while trying to land in Huntington, West Virginia, killing all 75 people on board, including the Marshall University football team and its coaching staff.

In 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 1,000 level for the first time, ending the day at 1,003.16.

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Today-------------Actress Kathleen Hughes is 83, Former NASA astronaut Fred Haise is 78, Jazz musician Ellis Marsalis is 77, Composer Wendy Carlos is 72, Writer P.J. O'Rourke is 64, Singer-musician Buckwheat Zydeco is 64, Britain's Prince Charles is 63, Rock singer-musician James Young (Styx) is 62 and Singer Stephen Bishop is 60.

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November 14th is:  National Girls Day, Spirit of NSA (National Speakers Association) Day, Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day, National American Teddy Bear Day, Universal Children's Day, World Diabetes Day and World Orphan's Day.

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Larryj

[larryJ]

Today's----------------good one............

A woman brought her motionless duck, Cuddles, to the veterinarian.  The doc examined the duck, then said, "I'm sorry, but Cuddles is dead."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?  Are there other tests you can do?"

The vet left the room and returned with a Labrador Retriever.  The dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck.  He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet led the dog out of the room, the returned with a tabby cat.  The cat delicately sniffed the bird from head to tail, then shook his head, meowing softly.

The vet wrote on his clipboard, then presented the woman with a bill for $300.

The woman, still in shock, protested, "$300?!  Just to tell me my duck is dead?"

The vet replied, "I'm sorry.  If you had taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the lab report and the cat scan it comes to $300."

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In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pike's Peak in present day Colorado.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In 1966, the flight of Gemini 12 ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. splashed down in the Atlantic.

In 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.

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Today--------------Judge Joseph Wagner is 92, Statesman Howard H. Baker Jr. is 86, Singer Petula Clark is 79, Comedian Jack Burns is 78, Actress Joanna Barnes is 77, Actor Yaphet Kotto is 72, Actor Sam Waterston is 71, Classical conductor Daniel Barenbolm is 69, Pop singer Frida (ABBA) is 66 and Actor Bob Gunton is 66.

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November 15th is:  America Recycles Day, I Love To Write Day and National Bundt (Pan) Day.

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Larryj