Back to School

According to the folks at Staples, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Their clever TV parody commercials feature an ecstatic parent in the store aisles, pulling the family sofa containing two very bored junior high youngsters.
-- For parents, it probably IS the most wonderful time, as they can hand over their youngsters to the teachers at the local school.

Old Cars -- Eerie Happenings

Do old cars KNOW that they’re about to be traded in?
I will present some strong evidence that they do. (The brand name has been omitted to protect an investigation!)
This summer, we decided it was time to trade in our nine-year-old sedan, which had provided excellent service, but was running out of time.
We looked for a small SUV among a number of dealers, and had two criteria: Could we easily store my folded walker in the trunk, leaving room for luggage? and,

R.I.P., Kemp Ross

Kempie Ross, a childhood friend, died this Spring. He, with his older brother John, and I, were pals throughout grade school and junior high, in St. Peter's, Cape Breton. He led the inaugural graduating class at the Canadian Coast Guard College in Point Edward, serving on a number of training voyages to the North on ice breakers, and never looked back. Kemp became a mariner and teacher.

Cadet training at the College includes an interesting twist in language training; for any given two-week period, the language on campus is French -- for everything: classes, study, meals, recreation -- followed by a two-week period, of communication completely in English.

Bonne fête acadienne!

Fewer Keys

Have you noticed, dear reader, especially if you are of a “certain age,” that you / we are carrying fewer keys than before?
When you were a youngster, you might have been given a key to your house and to your mailbox. It was a minor rite of passage. Later on, as you bore more responsibility, you needed a key ring, for your vehicle’s ignition and entry keys, perhaps a key to a garage, and then keys to your place of work, file cabinets, etc. Perhaps you even had a key chain. Your keys jingled, and your toddler-age friends were often fascinated by the sounds from your key ring,
But after you retired, you suddenly noticed that your key ring suddenly became a lot lighter. You no longer needed workplace keys, and your vehicle uses one of those pocket mini-consoles that operate the locks, lights, horn and -- even the engine!

Right now, I'm down to two keys: my house and my vehicle.
And they’re probably going to have to take those away from me, some time in the future!

Loss of Services 1

The Age of “Get-it-Yourself” seems to be fully installed in our culture. The service component of selling gasoline, we must only assume, became too expensive, so the “Self Serve” sign was introduced. Let me explain that, because of physical limitations, we are unable to neither remove / replace the gas cap, nor operate the gasoline pump.

At first, there was some lip service given to the old system, with one set of gasoline pumps showing “Full Serve” signs. Even those have disappeared.