Recent Comments

1. 14 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   My four used the hook over the front seat type of car seat (1970s) with no ill effects. I remember some of the seats had toy steering wheels. Benefits: Kid would pass drivers training with ease, as he/she had observed the driver and already knew the routines, such as what the signs meant, car controls, etc (and how to spot a “smokey in a plain wrapper”) Plus, it was rare to forget a kid, because he/she was right beside you and not hidden in the back seat. Then, it was decided that kids should be secured in the back seat – better survival in an accident – but easy to forget on a hot day with dire consequences. All boils down to one of Murphy’s Laws: Today’s problems are a result of yesterday’s solutions.

2. 16 days ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

   A bus in Turkey (1964) was equipped with a record player, but it didn’t play well due to the roads of that era. Also, saw a phonograph where the turntable rotated in opposite direction and tone arm played from the bottom of the record.

3. 16 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Re English: They’re over there by their luggage———-She too had to try on two tutus——-Aye, I hurt my eye——-etc

4. 17 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   And when my wife was in the hospital (1971) with our second (now a N. P.) the lady beside her was giving up her baby, seeing it for the last time, and smoking. Always wondered what happened to the baby.

5. 17 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   And on the other hand, there was a woman that delivered in the elevator on the way up to the maternity ward. Told the attendants “Oh, this is so embarassing!” And one of the attendants said “Think nothing of it. About a year or so ago, a lady dropped a healthy baby boy right out on the front lawn!” “Yeah, I know – that was me too!!”

6. 22 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Do teachers really bother to actually read the papers they assign? My son was assigned a twelve-page essay. Suspecting that he did not read these essays, we put together a paper with the first four and last four pages as assigned, but filled in the middle pages with a combination of copy from Spanish, German and Turkish literature I had on hand. It passed. (His younger brother is now a teacher, and he says he doesn’t assign anything that he doesn’t read – if he assigns it he reads and corrects it)

7. 22 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   A coherer (sp) was a glass tube filled with iron filings. It worked on the principle that the filings would cohere in the presence of electromagnetic energy. A tapper was needed to separate the filings for the next burst. Needless to say, this device was not very selective or sensitive! The crystal set was a vast “improvement” (The cats whisker was used to find a sensitive spot on the crystal) The coherer was up to date in the 1929 World Book! Thank heavens for Popular Electronics.

8. 23 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Aside from history, ency’s are useless. When in grade school, I was interested in how radio worked. Folks had a set, so soon learned how coherers worked and how to build them. However, that didn’t seem quite right. To be up to date, magazines (now the internet) are the tool. Still have the first three issues of Popular Electronics (1954) where I got a real start in electronics. (Note: Coherers predated even the crystal sets!

9. 24 days ago on For Better or For Worse

   Not quite like that in our area, but it was not unusual, years ago, when corn was shucked by hand, with horses and wagon, to wrap up the baby, and put it in the wagon and do their best to throw the ears into the other end of the wagon. When my daughter was born (1971) we were at a party the night before, and no sooner got home than the water broke. And the delivery was in time for the morning news! Surprised several at the event!

10. 30 days ago on For Better or For Worse

    Life’s biggest lesson; It can take a man 3 years to get the courage to ask a girl for a date. (And her 10 milliseconds to say no!)