Neanderpundit

I groaned as I saw who would be celebrating mass this morning, but Marty actually got it right, and I was impressed. “it’s easy to fall into the “familiar routine” trap.” he said. ‘Those moments when we break out of our routine and do something special for, or with, the people in our lives, are the times when we remember, the special memories.” He’s right. Do something different. Maybe not this very moment, but break out of your routine. Do something you’d never expect. Take your wife horseback riding- or to see an art exhibit, or just for a long drive with a picnic at the end of it.

Routines are the asassins of memory. Don’t let yours flourish.

So sue me.

Home depot. Lowes. Menards. Ace Hardware. True Value Hardware. Farm & Fleet. Tractor Supply store. These are the places I went to find a filter for my Troy Bilt.

“We don’t have parts for that old off brand equipment”

Off brand? Troy Bilt is the best known name in tillers.

One place, one lawnmower supply store has one filter on the back shelf, covered in the dust of ages. (in the bag; the filter was nice and clean)

“That’ll be sixteen eighty three” For a filter the size of a beercan. I could probably make my own cheaper.
“Okay. Here”
“oh, I’m sorry. We don’t accept American Express”.
‘What? My PAPERBOY accepts American Express!!”
“Sorry”

Retards.

Same problem I have every year with my mower. Sure, my mower is 43 years old. I’ve taken care of it and it’s in good shape. Yeah, my tiller is 40 years old. it works like new- WHEN IT HAS A CLEAN AIR FILTER.

Whatchagonnado.

M Porretto is reminiscing about the impact Gordon Lightfoot had on his life, and mourning that while Gordon is still around his voice has slipped off to the Great Beyond.

This is an interesting thought to hold in your mouth, roll around your tongue, press up against the back of your front teeth.
A lot of my heroes- in music, in print, in film, in person- have left pretty solid witness marks on me, and when I rub up against those old worn spots I often reminisce about the way that person changed me.

My course has been steered by some pretty unlikely pilots. Sure, Dad is responsible for a lot of my current behavior, then mom, then many of the people who have taught me the ongoing value of decent ethics in the workplace and in my personal life.

I haven’t got the gene that makes me capable of playing music, so I don’t have the same connection that Fran has; my talents lay elsewhere. I have had the privelege of meeting and sometimes working with people like W Edwards Deming. Joseph Engleburger. Dean Kamen.

While those who are my heroes have passed or will pass, the work they do remains. And affects millions. Just as the music of Gordon will live on.

What is important is not the life of the men, but their work. Their work exists outside of time.

On a lighter note, I once took the wife to see Roger Whittaker, another “easy listening” type. I was the only man inthe audience with any hair. I stepped out to one of the side exits to have a smoke, and was accosted by a gaggle of old broads, some in wheelchairs, who had also come to smoke. Most of them sounded like Lucille Ball in her late years. Some were actually smoking through their tracheotomies. “You’re a fine looking young man” they said. “Do you have a ride home? I have a new caddie”. “Not too many young men come to see the finer performers like Roger”. I finished my butt and made a polite, and hopefully not obviously hasty exit. Roger was himself in fine form- and i believe as of this writing still is. As it was, I took the wife. Me, I woulda preferred Steely Dan.