fbpx
Advertisement

It’s A Failure!

A failure of Social Studies Education, I calls it. The recent election, that is…failure of turn-out, failure to understand the way government works(whether it’s supposed to work that way or not), failure to be informed on the issues and the candidates, failure to pay attention to the down-ticket contests…a whole bunch of things that we should all be thinking about but don’t. AND a prevailing, parsimonious attitude that makes a virtue of trying to do everything on the cheap. There’s a powerful big difference between wishing to do things in the most cost-conscious and efficient manner possible to do the best we can for the most citizens and trying to see how much we can get away with before the dreadful consequences which we have been outrunning finally catch up. The difference is the difference between “What’s the best we can afford?” and “What’s the cheapest we can get?” Strangely enough, there are cases in which quality actually does count.

Feline APB (All Points Bulletin)

Well, IBM (Irresponsible Bad Momma) has just had her call letters, so to speak, changed to RFPM (Retired Front Porch Matron). Having had “the Operation” just this last week, she seems to be perfectly happy to not be putting up with the various traveling salesmen who have been showing up forever around here with a line of goods that...

Is it Spring yet?

Yeah, yeah, I know, we’re not quite there yet, but I can hardly wait. Know why? Thereby hangs a tale. A small but intrepid group showed up for the first annual (?) Make A Difference Day work event on Saturday, October 27. Not exactly surprising, since it was plenty chilly and plenty rainy and not looking like your standard “Hey,...

News Flash!

Here’s a news flash : Tbilisi, Georgia (the former Soviet Union region, not the Peachtree State): “Sausage-wielding extremists” (There’s a phrase to ponder, right?) invade a vegan café –Café Kiwi--during a film festival in the neighborhood and proceeded to fling  meat and fish at the café patrons.  The ten to fifteen men, wearing sausages around their necks and waving skewers...

Maintaining a Clear Drain: Seven Foods to Never Put Down Your Sink During the Holidays

The holidays are here, and many of us are spending time in our kitchens preparing tasty meals and treats for family and friends. It can be tempting to allow food scraps to go down the sink drain, but there are many types of foods that should NEVER go down your drain, even if you have a garbage disposal. Preventing...

Biscuits and Beyond

All right! Consider yourself warned. If you missed the Chicken and Biscuits Extravaganza at the Garrettsville United Methodist Church last week, you will have another chance in the future, because it got such a good reception that there will likely be a rematch and the dessert table will feature a Greatest Hits tour with...

Casey At The Bat

Er…actually, it was Grimmy—Grimalkin, to be more formal—who was , so to speak, “at the bat”, and I don’t mean any kind of ballgame, base or soft. No, no it was a real bat, die Fledermaus, as Richard Wagner put it, and it was in my shoe (Plenty of room in there). Grimmy was after a bat. And here’s...

When Investing, Make The Best Use Of Time

When you’re investing for retirement, it’s best to have time on your side. The sooner you begin investing, the more time your retirement fund has to potentially grow. Case in point Jill begins investing in a retirement account when she’s 30.* She invests $200 a month in the account for 35 years, until she’s 65, for a total investment of $84,000....

Hug That Tree!

Awww, g’wan...hug the tree.  It deserves a little attention. After the bushwhacker weather situations we’ve had around here the last couple of weeks, maybe we’d ought to pay a bit more attention to  the greenery instead of taking it for granted all of the time.  Many real estate agents will tell you that one of the things that will sell...

Quick, check the calendar! Is it winter yet?

Wholeeee Snowleee!  When the real thing hits, It’s gonna be “Bessie bar the doors!” if this is just the preview.  Wouldn’t you know that this exercise in inclemency--weather division--happens in the year that the powers-that-be down in Columbus, where the sun never sets, have decreed that there will be only three snow days.  Kiss the early end of school...

April Showers…Spring Flowers…

“The flowers that bloom in the Spring—Tra-La!”…or words to that effect. At least some of the bulbs and roots that I have planted around here did not fall prey to the squirrels’ depredations during the rather severe—for squirrels, at least—winter we have only lately emerged from. There are blossoms that I don’t recognize from last year and some that do...

Trying To Embrace The Dating Dot Coms Part 4 of a Series

How many times has it happened that I am notified that an attractive lady with a moniker such as NANNAN69 has just favorited me and would like to talk with me. The posted time is 7:15 PM. At 7:16 PM I respond and immediately a screen flashes that, “NANNAN69 is no longer available but here are 8 more people just like NANNAN69. Give them a response!” Now, tell me how, in 60 seconds, NANNAN got swept off her feet, married off and managed to get the Dot Com to take her out of contention when the rest of us can’t seem to even get the Dot Com to respond to us.

Look!!! Up In The Sky!!!

Remember that one? “Look !!! Up in the sky !! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! “It’s Superman !!!” Nah, never mind, It’s not Superman, it’s a whole bunch of super people–The Fraternal Order of Eagles, to be exact. And what set me off on this tack was the sign out front of the local aerie ( That’s ornithologist talk for...

“Paw-toe-graphs”, Anyone?

The Porch Kitty Fan Club is still alive and well. The Fabulous Felines’ more-or-less annual Christmas gift arrived just the other day(Since it came on the 5th, I gather that the group belongs to an Orthodox faith and were celebrating the arrival of the Three Kings. They skipped Kwanzaa altogether.) Anyway the package contained a pouch of Crunchy Treats...

The Old Farmer Says….

The Old Farmer says of the month of March (and I quote), “In like a sea lion, cold and wet with fishy breath. Rain to snow and snow to rain—di-si-do and back again!  This month can’t be trusted; the hinge of spring has rusted.” Well, D’ya think? Good Grief!  If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.  The bit of doggerel above...

The Return of Champ

“Home is the sailor, home from sea, and the hunter home from the hill.” With apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson, I believe that we can remove the sea from consideration in this case (Camp Creek down behind the back yard hardly qualifies as anything like “the bounding main.” It doesn’t even come up to the level of Lake Erie.),...

Curiosity and Caffeine: Flight 93 National Memorial

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists in an organized attack against the United States hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City -- one at 8:46 am and the second at 9:03 am. A third plane was purposely flown into the Pentagon in Arlington,...

Memorial Trash

Another Trick-or-Treat for adults? I am referring, of course, to the semi-annual trash pick-up in the village—not to be confused with the weekly services provided (paid for on an individual residence basis) to dispose of our pitch-worthy household detritus and garbage.  Garbage Eve is observed every Wednesday night; no carol-singing or candles in the windows that I know of. The Trash...

Favorite Son

This commonly-used political term came to mind the other day when my mom sent me a clipping from our local newspaper back in Wellington (Lorain County, west of here on St. Rtes. 58 & 18), either the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram or the Wellington Enterprise—I really didn’t check. In politics, the term usually refers to an up-and-coming sort that has aspirations...

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

“Imagine looking professional but feeling like you’re wearing pajamas.”

A Few Good Men!

It’s not just for the Marines, ya know. The Masons have been seeking good men, here in Garrettsville and around the world, for quite some time now, and doing pretty well at it, as a matter of fact. The Masonic Lodge–the Free and Arch Masons, along with affiliated groups such as the Shriners and the Knights Templar, have been derived from...

Well… That Was Fun

No, Really. I enjoyed myself immensely. Not everyone would enjoy having people–some known, some unknown–coming through their home for seven hours a day, looking around, commenting on everything in sight, wondering about what’s not in sight, asking questions about stuff that had been answered back when they hadn’t been listening. But I’m not everyone, and I had a fine...

“Sometimes when I’m online, a website will ask me to type in a bunch of weird letters and numbers, or pick out all the pictures that have a car...

“Sometimes when I’m online, a website will ask me to type in a bunch of weird letters and numbers, or pick out all the pictures that have a car or a street sign, or just click box that says ‘I’m not a robot’ before it lets me go any further. Why does this happen?”   These are a few different examples...

WWJD – Your Package Will Arrive Tomorrow

That may be true for now if you are a “Prime” member but I predict that soon a more costly “Prime +” will be available when Amazon no longer has the resources (workers) to deliver “RIGHT NOW”! This is only a prediction on my part; Amazon will extract a high price for that service but there will always be...

Lost in the Digital Wilderness

I had been intending to do this particular piece on my laptop, thus ending its long retirement from meaningful operation, but that just did not happen, for a number of reasons. See, I have had this device for quite some time, not forever, but long enough, but it had mostly served as my access to the Monday edition of the...

It’s About Time

Perhaps you have a loved one in an area nursing home. Perhaps you love live music and frequent the many venues in the area, including some of the Open Mics. Perhaps you attend flea and farmers’ markets around Portage County. If any of the above fits you, then you have likely heard ‘It’s About Time-Duo.’ Comprised of Pat McIntyre...

Vernal Pools: Murky Puddles of Fascinating Life

The word vernal is Latin from “vernus,” meaning “belonging to spring.” Vernal pools refer to any wetland that fills annually from snow melt, spring rains and rising groundwater. They usually do not have an outlet stream and therefore most years dry out during the hot summer months or early fall. But don’t let these vanishing pools fool you. Vernal pools...

Life, Art and Cookies

Recently, I heard an interview with a writer in Nebraska, who compared this winter’s polar vortex conditions to the ninth circle of hell mentioned in Dante’s “Inferno”. That reference brought to mind a quote by writer Oscar Wilde, who said, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Lately I’ve realized that this is not the case, at...

“I’ve heard the expression ‘like white on rice,’ but I’m not really sure if I’m correct in understanding what it means. Can you find me the information?”

English has some very unusual phrases that the patrons and staff of the Newton Falls Public Library have found to be interesting. Our search began in the library’s reference collection.  On the cover of Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green, which is, according to Evening Star Standard  reviewer Jonathan Meades says “. . . a terrific piece of work...

Law & Government

A friend recently had a fire at her home.  Fortunately, no one was injured.  It did cause lots of damage and has left our circle of friends all pitching in to untangle an insurance claim.  Few things in my legal career have been as frustrating as insurance claims.  The following should help if you ever have a claim. 1. The...

Advertisement

Recent Articles