Shades of Joanne.

    Joanne's college roommate and good friend, the late Jenine Jordahl, lived in Decorah, IA. When they wanted face to face conversation they'd meet for lunch. The meeting place was a restaurant in a small town half way between Decorah and Minneapolis. On one of these occasions they had their lunch and continued the conversation. Eventually they noticed the restaurant was refilling with people. They discovered, to their surprise, that this was the dinner crowd assembling for dinner. Conversation had carried on through the afternoon.

   Reprise today: M came to join mefor breakfast at 8:30. As the conversation continued, Jim, the food services manager appeared with lunch menus. It was 11:30 and the beginning of the lunch hour. 😀Obviously we had a lot so say. As M left I went downstairs and had my lunch in the Bistro.

   Some more data on Dad's camera. It was sold between 1912-15. The film is #122, and no longer produced. There was some film for sale online for $200. a toll! The pictures produced were post card size. It's not functional because the cable for the trip wire is split. 

Takk for alt,

Al

Someone has attempted to repair the cord housing the wire that trips the shutter, see the white tape.

It Takes a Woman...

        Of course it was never talked about!  But, piecing together it appears that my Dad was quite progressive and probably relatively wealthy until the financial crash in 1929.  His money in the bank was lost but he kept the farm through the Depression. 

     He bought his first car in 1914, an Overland. It must have been one of the first cars in rural Brooking County, S.D. But, this post is about another of his early purchases; a Kodak Camera.

    That camera is in my possession. (It's pictured below.) Open the case, slide the focus lens out, peer down through the aperture and squeeze the plunger on the cord to take the picture. Recently I was looking at the camera and puzzled over how it opened. After a bit of trial and error I decided to wait for Tom, my cribbage partner. Tom has a definite mechanical bent. When Tom and Anita came to play cribbage I presented the camera, with its dilemma, to Tom. Immediately intrigued he rose to the challenge of opening it.

   As Tom and I puzzled, maneuvered, wondered, tried this and that with no success Anita went online. She soon discovered that there was a secret button on the side that opened it. It takes a woman.

   This was long prelude to what I am going to write about. Because Dad was the owner of an early camera he's seldom on any pictures. One of summer's favorite times for me was when the relatives would gather at our farm on a Sunday afternoon. Uncle Oscar and Aunt Julia came with several of their eight children, Uncle John and Aunt Susie came with their family, Uncle Alfred and Ragna with theirs and Holters came with six kids. Before the afternoon was over they all lined up for Dad to take a picture. Day would say "Smile." When the picture was taken he'd say "Now resume your previous expression.." 😀

    Every year, on our birthday, Dad would take a picture of each of his four children. Very often we'd be in front the large cottonwood tree in the yard. Both the child's and tree's growth was recorded.

Takk for alt,

Al

Dad's camera in which the latest patent date is 1909.

The first birthday photo, I've always been cute.

Unscheduled Day!

     One of the gifts of the OFH is laundry apparatus in the apartments. The washers and dryers are very large. Very short persons complain that they can't reach the bottom of the washer. Not a problem for me. So, an unscheduled day like this is a good day to catch up on laundry,  The only down side is that the dryer spooks Kaia. Consequently, we stay as far as we can from the dryer when it's running. That means the bedroom but,. because it's where the computer resides, there is activity for me. Two closed doors, the laundry room and the bedroom, helps her a bit.

   Here's an OFH story. Bob, an inmate told this at men's coffee. When he was being considered for the position of president of the University of Texas, there were 9 men on the University's selection committee. He was chosen on a 5 to 4 vote. Later one of the nine men said that he voted for Bob because he was tall.  

   Mostly I've liked being tall but there's been exceptions. Airplane seats are not designed for tall people and I've flown a lot. Then there was boot camp. One of the most trying exercises involved doing calisthenics with utility poles. Lined up by height by the poles I always was on the heavy end. Ed is convinced that many recruits weren't really doing their part. These exercises were done in loose sand which added to the difficulty. Do not try lifting utility poles over your head at home!😀   

Takk for alt.

Al

An old four wheel drive Fiat tractor spotted in Greece. Random enough?

Minnesota Women Win!

      It was a nail biter but the Minnesota Gophers won with a basket at the buzzer. They beat Ole Miss 65-63, and go to Sacramento for the Sweet Sixteen!  Makes me glad!

Takk for alt,

Al

Amiya Battle, number 3, made the basket at the buzzer!

Basketball O. D.

      Both the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments are on. That's led to a day of watching multiple games.  Typical experience as I channel surf between games is switching from advertising on one channel to advertising on the next.

   The University of Minnesota women won their game against Green Bay yesterday. After three lackluster quarters they ran away with the game in the 4th. Tomorrow they will play Ole Miss, also at the Barn. Gives Minnesota fans another game to watch in person. The OFH cable package didn't allow me to watch yesterday.. In April we get another 100 channels, lets hope they're not all Spanish.

Takk for alt,

Al

Today's random photo is of a cheese shop in Amsterdam. 2008

Happy Vernal Equinox!

     Perhaps it would fit under the law of unintended consequences. Blood pressure medication (Amlodipine) prescribed for me caused issues with my gums. I was back at the periodontist this morning for a deep cleaning.  He also did a bit of surgery. Tongues have minds of their own, and not only around speech. With no conscious thought the tongue continually goes to investigate if the sutures are still there. Yes. they are. It's all a bit of a nuisance but I'm grateful to have teeth.

   At age eighteen, this would be in 1918, my mother got false teeth. Now, here's the remarkable part. She was still using those teeth when she died in 1989. They never gave her any significant trouble. 

   The University Of Minnesota women's basketball team made the NCAA playoffs. Not only did they make the tournament they did well enough to host the first two games. As I write, Ole Miss is playing Gonzaga at the "Barn", the University's Fieldhouse. Minnesota will play Green Bay at 5:00.

Takk for alt,

Al 

It's soon time to cut the cedar trees that I spotted last fall when I was hunting.

Disembarking!

     Both readers of this blog know that my memory often retreats to Marine Corps experiences. Some brain pulse triggered thoughts about disembarking from ships. Perhaps it was seeing the picture below of our aircraft carrier through the door of a helicopter. 

    The least favorite method of leaving a ship was over the side and down rope nets. This method was only done while in full battle gear. That meant a pack with half tent,  another Marine had the other half, ammo belt with canteens and bayonet, rifle and helmet. Taken together the weight was over 100lbs. Naturally neither the ship being departed nor the landing craft waiting below were stationary. The ship rolled from side to side and the landing craft bounced up and down. Marines in the landing craft would pull the net away from the ship so descending Marines didn't get caught between the vessels. It was critical that the descending Marine drop the net the moment his foot touched the deck. Hesitate a moment and the craft might drop ten feet down and then the Marine would have a fall. 

   Descending a gang plank, about three feet wide, with railings on either side, was the usual method of leaving the ship. Typically one end of the plank would be on a dock. The exception to this was in Hong Kong Harbor. There was no dock space for the aircraft carrier so it anchored out in the harbor. A gang plank was lowered hugging the ship. Its terminus was a platform few feet above the water, From that platform we stepped into a harbor taxi to carry us to shore.

   The USS Princeton, on which I travelled, was a World War II, aircraft carrier built after the original Princeton was sunk by the Japanese. It had been re-fitted as an helicopter carrier. Flying off the deck was an easy, but noisy, way to disembark but it always meant training, not liberty.

Takk for alt,

Al

Our ship pictured from a helicopter.

 

Anchored in Hong Kong the top part of the gang plank is visible. Note the helicopter on the deck with its rotors folded.

Marines going down the net four abreast. Don't try this at home!