Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
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Happy Mother's Day to all and to all those who may not have been a mother, you have one to celebrate today whether here or in eternity.
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We have beautiful weather again today, cool and sunny. I will take a long walk.
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Good morning, Ladies. It is warm and sunny. Good for my morning walk.
Yesterday was the first Mother's Day without my mother. I talked to my brother, who was feeling the same. We are lucky and blessed to have her as long as we did.
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It's supposed to hit 92 today, way too hot. But the last hurricane shutter is going up now. Our roll down was to be hand crank, but just found out it needs to be electric. Said it's really too heavy to hand crank, we wouldn't be happy, split the cost. Now to be completed on Wednessday.
Sandy - during social distancing we saw a good documentary on Kutsher's in the Catskills. It enlightened me to NY antisametic feeling back then. It even mentioned Saratoga, our famous horse racing town, no Jews. I'm 60, born in '59, and really didn't know the extent; sheltered & ignorant. Even Mrs. Mazel on Prime, all going to the Catskills for the summer, the reason was lost on me.
B&W tv - my dad knew a guy who knew a guy, we had a color tv pretty early on. In a wooden cabinet, a piece of furniture, on spindle legs. Dead end street, I think we were the talk of the neighborhood, if not that than the talk of my neighborhood friends. Every one wanted to see a show.
But in my bedroom we had an aunts old b&w. It was a giant 2' wide box, estimate 3' high (little girl eyes it might have been taller, or shorter!). The tv screen may have been 4"x8", it "rolled" more than it didn't, and when it did roll - you got up and smacked the side of it! Because my sister & I had this in our bedroom, you'd have thought we'd won the lottery. Loved it.
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If I am walking with two other people, each of them will serve as my
teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them,
and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
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Sunny here today and cool. We will be minus the high winds. Thought it might blow up a storm ( likely did somewhere ) but any moisture blew right past us. Seems to happen a lot here in our odd little corner which I call a part of southern Illinois because we are just on the border of the southern part. Whatever, it does seem they we can be easily by-passed generally by the worst weather.
I was ignorant about black people Cindy. Living in a town of 200 with my first real trip away from home - going to Anniston, Ala. The only place then where WACS were trained. I was shocked to find that black people not only had to go to the rear of busses ( found that out later actually ) but that rest stops had separate drinking fountains and bathrooms. I was always afraid I would go into the wrong one. The weird thing was -- got to the army post in Anniston. Ft. McClelland ( now closed ) and NO distinctions were made. Before I could get used to such an extreme change, a separate 'anything' it all went back to normal on the army post. Of course, I didn't fare a lot better with any knowledge of Jews. Where I grew up the only thing that made a difference ( and it didn't garner all that much ) was who needed some assistance and who went it alone -- whether because they could, or because they were too proud to want to be put in a category like that. We were poor as church mice but no assistance. You could ( if you were thrifty and careful ) do okay. As kids we never knew how poor we were because so many were just like us.
Nothing planned for today. Bath day for my friend in town and a few chores later.
Hope you all have a good day. Stay healthy and safe.
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The first b&w television I remember was a large wooden piece of furniture with a small screen. I remember watching Howdy Doody & Captain Kangaroo. The next one was a big box on spindle legs, I think the color tv came after that. The color was terrible. It blew out during an electrical storm and we went without for what seemed be a very long time. As a family, we played many rounds of Monopoly. By the time we had another TV, color had improved greatly.
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I'm enjoying this discussion. I turned 74 this weekend. I met my first black person and first Jew when I went to high school in a Chicago suburb in 1960. Red-lining was certainly alive and well as my suburb was white and Christian. My BFF in high school was Jewish and her parents provided a home away from home when I went to college. I had great second thoughts when I found out the night before initiation that Andrea couldn't have been a sorority sister. But then, my Dad, who subsequently changed his mind, thought my sister and I should train to a nurse or a teacher (I did although my younger sister didn't and actually majored in math). On a related issue, the man who got hired when I left my last job, was paid $25,000 more to start than I was making. We've come a long way but certainly not far enough.
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I was in an independent sorority in college that while mostly Jewish was open to all races and religions. The oldest national sorority, Kappa Delta, was Christian but by default (most of the others were Jewish or mixed). When their national president came to visit them, she demanded the chapter president sign a pledge to keep it "white and Christian." The chapter president replied that she was half-Black (not true) and half-Jewish (true)--and the chapter (by unanimous vote) seceded from the national became an independent.
What led to the demise of the Catskill resorts (the last one standing, Hudson Valley Resort--formerly The Granit, became a private corporate retreat for visiting Japanese businessmen) was progress. Restricted resorts became extinct. Air conditioning became the norm in NYC. And air travel became affordable enough for people to vacation all over the country (and eventually the world). Bungalow colonies died out when women realized that cooking in rudimentary (sometimes even communal) kitchens and housekeeping in tiny cabins 7 days a week all summer was no "vacation," mountain air and swimming pools notwithstanding.
1950s TV memory: "Winky Dink." It was a Sat. morning kids' show in B&W, the highlight of which was its DIY segment: you sent for a kit with a special piece of clingy clear film and erasable crayons; you put the film over the TV screen at the appropriate time and traced over stuff with the crayons--voilà: color! Then afterwards you wiped off the film and put the kit away till next week. Unfortunately, there was such a run on the kits that most of us had to make do with Saran Wrap and Crayolas--and we didn't have to erase.
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Sandy, Did you see where 2 boys in Houston started making masks from yarmulkes? They just add elastic for the ears. It said they found 35 in their house and asked their temple to help and collected 700. They're giving them out for free to people who need them.
We had a big huge unit with a BW TV and a record player when I was a kid. We didn't have a TV after we were married until my parents gave us a little portable one in 1963. It was also black and white. I was so glad we had it when Kennedy was assassinated. We watched for 3-4 days straight. He had been in Houston for a breakfast that morning, so it felt really close to home.
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Wren, interesting that you mention portable TV and the Kennedy assassination. We, too, had a "portable" TV (so named because it had a handle, it was a heavy dude that I called luggable) which I took into work so we could watch the funeral. Can still see the image of a group of us huddled around that relatively small screen.
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I'm a bit younger than you two--I was 12, in 9th grade; home that day with severe cramps, and watching TV when the bulletins broke in. I later watched as Jack Ruby murdered Lee Harvey Oswald. It was the first time I saw anyone shot (for real), and die. Of course, we watched the funeral--and I can still remember the exact rhythm of the drums as the horses pulled the catafaulque bearing JFK's coffin.
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i was 13 when Kennedy was assassinated. We were glued to the TV getting the news and updates. My father took my brother and I downtown for the inaugural parade and we saw Kennedy go by and my father took me downtown to pay honor to him when they took his body by caisson from the White House to the Capitol. They are memories I’ll never forget. It was a very somber moment to see the caisson withthe casket draped in the US flag being drawn by the four horses with Black Jack as the riderless horse with boots turned backwards, and the sound of the muffled drums.
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More often than not, when we hear the word "courage," we think of heroic acts in times of crisis. But in our everyday lives, we shouldn't overlook the courageousness of simply being there. Lives are changed when we faithfully provide for our families, care for the elderly, or lend an ear to a troubled friend. Persistence in making this world a better place to live—for ourselves and others—is definitely a form of courage. - unattributed
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I graduated high school that year, and I do recall feeling a real emptiness of having lost something ( someone ) the world really needed. Other assassinations' were just read about, but Kennedy's was watched by the world at large -- as well as seeing Lee Harvey Oswald meet his end. I still wonder how things might have gone if Jack Ruby had not shown up that day.
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I remember watching the funeral in B & W. Everyone kept saying that poor little boy as he saluted his daddy's casket. I was in class at the time of the assassination. A TV was rolled in the classroom, so we could see the news. School was let out early. I rushed home and didn't wait to walk with my friends. Long ago memories.
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You all are making me feel very old. I was in a sociology class at Beloit College when Kennedy was killed. The professor was late and made the announcement when he came in. Classes were cancelled until after Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I had my friend, Andrea's house to go to, as my parents couldn't afford a plane ticket to Boston two months in a row.
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I'm with Taco and the older group. I was a sophmore in college when Kennedy was killed. I'm also with the group who's family didn't have color TV - even in 1963. When I got married in 1966 we had a one of those small portable B&W TVs.
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Yeh, I'm older. Was out of college, had my first child and was in my first year of teaching nurzing.
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Sandy, it seems as if you did all the right actions re Happy’s overstimulated, let’s say, love bite.
Have been packing plunger, dust buster, everything you can think of to move from probably virus infested congregate independent living to unfurnished rental lovely little ranch house 20 minutes north on Friday.
So just some odds and ends. Strange to call it that- when Kennedy was assassinated, my DS, 3 years old screamed at me to turn Bozo the Clown back on- it was on at noon in Chicago and, of course, got interrupted.It was, I believe, the first( of many) times Tony’s been completely disappointed and disenchanted with me. I was helpless to switch Bozo on.
Turned on to Nailtiques by Sandy, I will not ever go back to gel. May never go again for a manicure. I like the clean, short look now- more befitting than a French manicure. Think “ less is more” these days. And that may carry over to scans, Doctors’ visits...
Speaking of which my dentist’s office texted that they opened for routine care today and asked me to come in for my regular cleaning. There’s a $15 per patient charge for the PPE the hygienist and dentist wear to protect us. I can’t imagine going to the dentist now except for an emergency. It sounds as dangerous as extreme skiing
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OK now I'm the young one, I was over 4 yrs old when JFK was assinated. Playing outside, cooler weather, my mom crying the presidents dead, me asking: who's the president? Spent the rest of the day sitting in my "dads chair" as we awaited his return from work. I think I was more scared to see my mom cry. A sadness enveloped the neighborhood.
Stephen King wrote a book "11/22/63" it's not his normal thriller, it's more of a "what if." Stepping through the rabbit hole, if you could go back and change history. It came out in 2011, I loved the book. But I digress...I'm addicted to books.
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Judy, have you gotten the cable TV/internet situation figured out at your new digs? Oddly, my son Gordy and his girlfriend down near Wrigleyville just got a landline (well, actually VOIP, since nobody is installing true "land" phone lines any more). I joked that just like that GEICO commercial, they're turning into us!
Did you catch the Blue Angels today? Evanston was the northern turnaround point. I stood on my deck (as did all my neighbors on theirs) and saw them fly north and then loop around southbound over the Sheridan Rd. highrises (we could hear the clapping & cheering 1/4 mi. away). Bob saw them fly directly overhead as he stood on the roof of Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn (near where they began their Chicago flight).
Okay, another "memories" check: where were you during the Saturday Night Massacre and then later when Nixon resigned? I was in law school in Tacoma, WA. The "massacre" happened when I was at a Women in Law conference in Salt Lake City as a 2L; later, the hearings took place during the daytime (preempting the soaps & game shows), while I was at home in Seattle before driving down to summer session classes (Suretyship and Professional Responsibility, aka Ethics), which were held in the evening. As I sat watching, when Alexander Butterfield mentioned that WH conversations were taped, I dropped my coffee mug on to the carpet (which, luckily, was brown). The 18-minute gap was fertile ground for jokes in the student lounge. (When I accidentally ruined a cassette, I pulled out a handful of tape and thumbtacked it to the bulletin board with a note reading "I found it! Regards, Rosemary"). The night Nixon resigned, a big console TV was wheeled into the Ethics lecture hall, as we all watched. After that, class was adjourned across the street to the Beef & Brew, where we drank pitchers of beer and played pool with our professors...all except our Ethics prof., who had been Egil Krogh's Ethics prof. at Univ. of WA and was in no mood to party.
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Sandy - I actually have an "old fashioned" hang on the kitchen wall ATT 210 phone that is a true land line. My contract is still with ATT and they still service my needs. Yes they'd love me to go digital, but I live where there are hurricanes. Amazingly when everyone looses power, I still have a hard wired phone & people line up to take turns, especially when the cell towers are out too.
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Minus we have a hard wired phone too; learned the importance of that when we lived in earthquake country! Each of us also has a "smartphone".
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We switched from our AT&T landline to RCN as part of a phone/internet/TV bundle from the latter (the bundle was cheaper than the AT&T landline). We never thought to ask if it was a landline, and by the time we found out it was VOIP it had already been installed and our landline de-activated it was too late to go back. We do have it hooked up to an uninterruptible power supply (supposedly 12 hrs. worth). We also have excellent cell coverage here in the city.
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Nixon and the Saturday night massacre, I was 14 - 15 years old. It was a blip on my time line. Self centered teen, more interested in hanging with my friends. I've seen more on historical PBS stories than I remember from the time.
I'm packing to head back to NY. I take more things back and forth than necessary but it is what it is. I'm semi packed but need to leave out the things you use every day right up until you walk out the door. The last thing stuffed in the trunk is our wall calendar - all our appointments w phone numbers are listed on it.
I'm racing to finish the Erik Larson book "The Splendid and the Vile" before we leave. I met him at a book signing down here before COVID hit the US hard, in fact he called it the COVID tour. Its just over 500 pages w 80+ pages of footnotes and indexes - I don't want to pack it!
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Good morning, Ladies. It is bright and sunny. Yesterday was nearly a pre-shut down day, with the exception of wearing a mask. I went to Bealls shopping with one of my friend that I had not sent since March 9. One of my other friends had me over for lunch. It had been over 2 months since we got together. Jim (husband) and I closed on one of our properties we sold, finally. No binge watching TV. It was so normal. LOL
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Hello, everyone. We had B&W TV from the time it 1st surfaced. My dad was working at a TV/Radio store at the time, so we were on the frontline, so to speak. Distinctly remember being in 4th grade in 1963 and my teacher announcing the JFK assassination along with dismissal of school. Recollect watching the funeral procession as well and the stoicism of young John, how elegant Jackie was and of course, Caroline.
FYI, Hulu has a miniseries 11/22/63 based on Stephen King's book.
In re: Nixon - I was in college at Kent State University (ironically, since it was the site of "4 Dead in Ohio") when he resigned and can only remember a lot of beers and cheers to celebrate his resignation.
Does anyone remember the song "Abraham, Martin and John"?
On another note, our HVAC system is being replaced today. Very noisy. Goodbye to $6,000, although it add 6,000 Delta miles for future travel. Glad it is happening today instead of tomorrow when the high will be 81.
Sandy - Glad your lovebite is healing up. keywestfan & CindyNY- good luck on your respective moves, hope they go smoothly.
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It's not the length but the quality of life that matters to me. It has always been important to me to write one sentence at a time, to live every day as if it were my last and judge it in those terms, often badly, not because it lacked grand gesture or grand passion but because it failed in the daily virtues of self-discipline, kindness, and laughter. It is love, very ordinary, human love, and not fear, which is the good teacher and the wisest judge. -Jane Rule
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I'm on the next page so sorry if I don't address things well. Rained here last night. Yesterday we had a new roof guy come out. The old two guys just gave up on it. Anyway, we are hopeful. The new person went up and totally swept all debris from the roof. He found some places ( new ones that the other two people never seemed to have noticed ) and filled them. The grand total of all that was $35.00. I was amazed. I think I expected a higher price, due to the other men seemingly unable to cure the problem. It seemed like it could be a really serious issue.
Won't be able to know too much until we have a real soaker of a rain. Last night's was a bit too gentle. Still, if it rained ( I don't know ) long enough there should have been some evidence in the screen room and it was dry as a bone. Another harsher, stronger rain is predicted so we will see. I have hopes that he found the actual areas that may have been the actual culprit. If so he would certainly get more work from us. He is affordable at this point for sure.
Hope you all have a great day. Stay safe and healthy.
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