Either I am getting real lazy about keeping up with this or my memories are fading faster than i anticipated. Never the less lets talk about Denmark. Why Denmark, because last night I had diner with some friends and Ann is from Denmark.
The first time I went to Denmark was really by accident I had bought SAAB while I was stationed in SHAPE and I arranged to pick it up at the Sweden. When I got on the train in Brussels, i asked for a ticket to Copenhagen. For some reason I was under the impression that Copenhagen was the capital of Sweden. When I arrived in Copenhagen I showed a cab driver the address of the dealer I had to go to to pick up my car. Through his howls of laughter he informed me that not only was I in the wrong city but i was in the wrong country. But he did take me to a ferry by which i could reach Sweden.
The second time I was in Denmark was the summer of 1989. We were on terminal leave and fulfilling a promise to Joshua to go to LEGOLAND. We drove from Italy to Denmark (in my Swedish SAAB).
That summer was very hot. On our day at LEGOLAND it was 98F. There is no air conditioning any where in Denmark, let alone our hotel. We went to a city swimming pool the next day.
In the pool playing with Josh I was slowly surrounded by a group of Danish kids. All of them giggling and pointing and saying something in Danish. A nice Danish gentlemen scooted them away with what sounded like some stern Danish words. I asked them what they were giggling at. He told me that because of my body hair they thought i was bear.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
June 24-27, 2013 Joseph,my brother!
As you can note I have not blogged for the past days. Today, my eldest brother Joseph retired after 43 years working for Con Edison. We are 14 months apart. We shared a bedroom as kids. In times of disagreement we would run a string down the center of the room to delineate our borders. Joe and I worked together as dish washers at the Queens Terrace and bus boys at Ricky's. We went to Boy Scout camp together. He enlisted in the Air Force serving most of his duty in South East Asia. He, like many Viet Nam Vets, came home to a nation who did not want to hire them. Con Ed did, so for 43 years Joseph commuted and trudged to work. Taking a bus, a train and walking to an office in Manhattan.
I remember the day of his marriage to Susan and the reception we had at the at the local VFW hall. He is the father of Joey and Gina and the proud grandfather of three. Joseph is my hero as example of a dedicated husband, father and worker.
I remember the day of his marriage to Susan and the reception we had at the at the local VFW hall. He is the father of Joey and Gina and the proud grandfather of three. Joseph is my hero as example of a dedicated husband, father and worker.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
June 22,23 2013 Work Experiences
Most of these days are spent trying to retain latin declensions and conjugations so my mind is never quite free for memories. However, since i received some news from the Alabama Department of Labor concerning my unemployment status let me remember my first jobs. From my freshman high school year i washed dishes on the weekend for a large catering house called the Queens Terrace. The Terrace was capable of seating and feeding 2500 people for afternoon events and then again for evening events. Has any one ever washed 5000 fruit cups, 5000 plates, 5000 cups and saucers etc etc. This was done all by hand, we had no machines. In the summer of my junior year of high school I was given a position with the NYC Department of Public Works. It was my responsibility to test the water in the final vats of a sewage treatment plant.
Friday, June 21, 2013
June 20, 21 2013 The Last Days of School!
Learned today that my great niece LLL finished 3rd grade and got promoted to 4th grade. Congratulations to her and to JJJ and DDD, my great nephews.
We were allowed to bring board games to school. No power source was required to play Parchessi, Monopoly, Scrabble, or Clue!
The last days of school were always somewhat busy. Not with learning but with helping the teachers and staff get the schools equipment ready for its summer hiatus.
We were "urged" to help in the closing days. There was much to be done. We cleaned, washed and dried the erasers. We washed the blackboards. Cleaned out the trash cans. Remove the brown paper bag book covers from the textbooks that were returned. Inventory and stack the textbooks. Applying furniture polish to the wooden desks.
The last days were great days!
We were allowed to bring board games to school. No power source was required to play Parchessi, Monopoly, Scrabble, or Clue!
The last days of school were always somewhat busy. Not with learning but with helping the teachers and staff get the schools equipment ready for its summer hiatus.
We were "urged" to help in the closing days. There was much to be done. We cleaned, washed and dried the erasers. We washed the blackboards. Cleaned out the trash cans. Remove the brown paper bag book covers from the textbooks that were returned. Inventory and stack the textbooks. Applying furniture polish to the wooden desks.
The last days were great days!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
June 18,19 2013 Anniversary Memories!!
31st anniversary , the first of the four greatest days in my life. the others being the birth of my sons Joshua (March 6) and John (March 14) and Ordination Day.
Paula and I were married in Belgium, on this day . The evening before was busy, being assisted by fiends to set up for the reception at the newly built German Parish Center. The German Catholic Chaplain was most accommodating allowing us to be the first to use the facility. In Belgium the couple has to marry before the civil authority and then before the church's minister.
We had made our appointment and the mayor of the city of Mons was to officiate. Paula drove herself to the city hall. She was late! Because of the narrow streets of the town she got stuck behind a double parked car whose occupant went into a shop for a prolonged period.
When she finally arrived she looked beautiful with a crown of flowers in her hair.
Remembering that the Americans had liberated the town from the Nazis The mayor was most happy to marry "two American soldiers". In fact he gave a rousing oration about how wonderful it was that day when the Americans got rid of the #$%^!&^** German pigs. It was a little bit uncomfortable since Paula was once stationed in Germany and we had some of her German friends as guests. Fortunately he spoke in French and the Germans did not understand it.
After the brief civil ceremony there was a prolonged period of document signing by us, our witnesses, the mayor and some advocate.
We then went to the post chapel where our sacramental celebration was presided over by a Irish Catholic military chaplain, the vicar Fr. Mc Ghee. The celebration was held at the German Catholic Pastoral Catholic Center. The food and drink was catered by an Army cook. The music was dj'ed by my best man Bruce Becker. He went so far as to pick out "our song" for "our dance". Neither I nor paula had heard it before.
The reception went well except for the fact that now our Belgium friends were hesitant to enter a building constructed by Germans because of their war time memories.
In the end everyone got along- I assume since there were no shots fired!
As the reception came to a close, we left for a honeymoon weekend. We drive up to a seaside resort on the North Sea- its Francophone name was "Coq sur Mer" (literally rooster on the sea).
We had a great time but had to return to work the following Monday.
Its been a great 31 years and look forward to more. We have established a "partnership of the whole of life".
Paula and I were married in Belgium, on this day . The evening before was busy, being assisted by fiends to set up for the reception at the newly built German Parish Center. The German Catholic Chaplain was most accommodating allowing us to be the first to use the facility. In Belgium the couple has to marry before the civil authority and then before the church's minister.
We had made our appointment and the mayor of the city of Mons was to officiate. Paula drove herself to the city hall. She was late! Because of the narrow streets of the town she got stuck behind a double parked car whose occupant went into a shop for a prolonged period.
When she finally arrived she looked beautiful with a crown of flowers in her hair.
Remembering that the Americans had liberated the town from the Nazis The mayor was most happy to marry "two American soldiers". In fact he gave a rousing oration about how wonderful it was that day when the Americans got rid of the #$%^!&^** German pigs. It was a little bit uncomfortable since Paula was once stationed in Germany and we had some of her German friends as guests. Fortunately he spoke in French and the Germans did not understand it.
After the brief civil ceremony there was a prolonged period of document signing by us, our witnesses, the mayor and some advocate.
We then went to the post chapel where our sacramental celebration was presided over by a Irish Catholic military chaplain, the vicar Fr. Mc Ghee. The celebration was held at the German Catholic Pastoral Catholic Center. The food and drink was catered by an Army cook. The music was dj'ed by my best man Bruce Becker. He went so far as to pick out "our song" for "our dance". Neither I nor paula had heard it before.
The reception went well except for the fact that now our Belgium friends were hesitant to enter a building constructed by Germans because of their war time memories.
In the end everyone got along- I assume since there were no shots fired!
As the reception came to a close, we left for a honeymoon weekend. We drive up to a seaside resort on the North Sea- its Francophone name was "Coq sur Mer" (literally rooster on the sea).
We had a great time but had to return to work the following Monday.
Its been a great 31 years and look forward to more. We have established a "partnership of the whole of life".
Monday, June 17, 2013
June 17, 2013 Delayed prison memories
Last Friday Paula and I visited the showroom of the Alabama Correctional Industries. There have prisoners who construct furniture and make them available for non profits. Paula was shopping for her new library. But it got me to think of my interaction with prisons.
As an New york EMT we were often called to the "infamous tombs" the central jail of the city. The endless locked cages were impressive. It would often take us 15 minutes to get to the patient. The sound of the locks resetting them selves behind you is truly an eerie sound.
As an anesthesia student in San Francisco we rotated to San Quentin Penitentiary. My first patient was a huge man who had been convicted for ax killing his wife and her parents. We had to take out his tonsils.
As an New york EMT we were often called to the "infamous tombs" the central jail of the city. The endless locked cages were impressive. It would often take us 15 minutes to get to the patient. The sound of the locks resetting them selves behind you is truly an eerie sound.
As an anesthesia student in San Francisco we rotated to San Quentin Penitentiary. My first patient was a huge man who had been convicted for ax killing his wife and her parents. We had to take out his tonsils.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
June 15,16, 2013 Fathers Day
so lets talk Fathers. Dad is now 93 years old. he became a Dad On February 12, 1947 with the birth of my elder brother Joseph.
My visual remembrance of Dad is his wearing of blue work clothes. His name, JOE, was embroidered on his right pocket. The name of his employer, McGrottey Chevrolet, was embroidered on the left. Part of his "uniform" was that he wore a "garrison belt" a wide black belt. The attempt to unloosen the belt was always a sign that you have transgressed some boundary. I don't recall the belt ever coming off, but it was a threatening act. Dad finished grade school and came of age during the Depression. He shone shoes to earn money. He was a hardworking auto mechanic for all his life. He would come home from his regular job and then work in our garage doing "side jobs" until late in the night. Dad was not a hands on Dad but he was provider. He managed to raise the five of us.
Dad's dad, my grandfather Donato, was an Italian veteran of the First World war. He and my grandmother emigrated to the US when my Dad was only three months old. He is listed as a shoemaker on his emigration documents. He was an emotionally distant grandfather, probably because he suffered from being "shell shocked" during the war.
Mom's Dad , Giuseppe, is remembered as having the shakes (parkinson disease). In spite of his tremors he shaved everyday with a straight razor. He drank his coffee out of a bowl dunking day old bread. He made his own wine and tenderly cared for his fig tree.
Both Giuseppe Paladino and Donato Laurita were part of our lives but not in any "intimate" way.
My visual remembrance of Dad is his wearing of blue work clothes. His name, JOE, was embroidered on his right pocket. The name of his employer, McGrottey Chevrolet, was embroidered on the left. Part of his "uniform" was that he wore a "garrison belt" a wide black belt. The attempt to unloosen the belt was always a sign that you have transgressed some boundary. I don't recall the belt ever coming off, but it was a threatening act. Dad finished grade school and came of age during the Depression. He shone shoes to earn money. He was a hardworking auto mechanic for all his life. He would come home from his regular job and then work in our garage doing "side jobs" until late in the night. Dad was not a hands on Dad but he was provider. He managed to raise the five of us.
Dad's dad, my grandfather Donato, was an Italian veteran of the First World war. He and my grandmother emigrated to the US when my Dad was only three months old. He is listed as a shoemaker on his emigration documents. He was an emotionally distant grandfather, probably because he suffered from being "shell shocked" during the war.
Mom's Dad , Giuseppe, is remembered as having the shakes (parkinson disease). In spite of his tremors he shaved everyday with a straight razor. He drank his coffee out of a bowl dunking day old bread. He made his own wine and tenderly cared for his fig tree.
Both Giuseppe Paladino and Donato Laurita were part of our lives but not in any "intimate" way.
Friday, June 14, 2013
June 14, 2013 Flag Day
in grammar school we had different kinds of monitors. there was the milk monitor that brought in the crates of mild and distributed them for snack time. there was the the audio visual monitor who helped set up the film strip projectors. there was the attendance monitor who gather the teachers attendance record to bring them to the office. there was the safety monitor who assisted at the crosswalks. But the highest monitor to be was the flag monitors. They were responsible for the unfolding, raising, lowering and the folding of the flag. This was daily routine in the school yard of PS 120. All the students were lined up in their respective places as the flag monitors did their ceremony. The all recited the pledge of allegiance and sang God bless america. at the conclusion of the day the monitors alone went out to bring down the flag and fold it in its required triangular form and was placed on the desk of the principle.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
June11,12 2013 Walls
Today was the anniversary of the speech President Reagan made asking for the Berlin Wall to come down. It was 1961 when it went up, I was freshman in High School. It was the current events of the time. Twenty years later I had the opportunity to view the wall. 1981 while stationed in Belgium I took the trip to Berlin. Special permission had to be made to board the train Frankfurt. It was an overnight train and as we passed through East Germany the window shades had to be drawn. There were no stops in East Germany until you were in West Berlin. In West Berlin you were pretty free to roam about, until you reached the area in front of the Wall. It structure itself did not seem that massive to me but the mine field on the other side was pretty impressive as well as the presence of the armed soviet troops.
Recently, on a trip to Israel I was also confronted by another wall. This was the wall that surrounded the city of Bethlehem. Another structure to keep people apart because of their ideologies and fears of the other. On this day I hope that a wall will never be built around my country. On this day I pray that walls will come down!
Recently, on a trip to Israel I was also confronted by another wall. This was the wall that surrounded the city of Bethlehem. Another structure to keep people apart because of their ideologies and fears of the other. On this day I hope that a wall will never be built around my country. On this day I pray that walls will come down!
Monday, June 10, 2013
June 10, 2013 Electrical Mischief
This is the day that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. So a mischievous electrical story. In my high school we were all required to take metal shop. we lathed metal products. As a result we produced a lot of metallic shavings. We would begin collecting the shavings toward the end of the school year. Most of us go to school by the GG subway line, the Flatbush Avenue stop. On the last day of school we would take pocketfuls of the metal shavings. While waiting for the train we would fling the metal shavings at the third rail. For those unfamiliar with the subway lingo, the third rail was the high powered electrical source that animated the subway.
When our shavings made contact with that third rail the sparks would fly, making for quite an end of school year "fireworks". One year, so many shavings made contact at the same time that we shorted out the power at the Flatbush Avenue GG subway stop. It took a few hours for the power to be reestablished and the GG ran again. Try explaining that as the reason for coming home late from school.
When our shavings made contact with that third rail the sparks would fly, making for quite an end of school year "fireworks". One year, so many shavings made contact at the same time that we shorted out the power at the Flatbush Avenue GG subway stop. It took a few hours for the power to be reestablished and the GG ran again. Try explaining that as the reason for coming home late from school.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
June 8,9 Belmont and a Road Not Travelled
Enjoyed watching the Belmont Stakes yesterday. Realized that today is the 40 th anniversary of Secretariats win of the Triple Crown. so what is the memory connected to that. Todays memory is about a road not taken. As a high school student I had a weekend job at a local veterinarian office. Cleaning dog cages, feeding the animals, assisting the doctor. The doctor had both a small animal practice and at the same time he was the vet for the two race tracks in NY- Aqueduct and Belmont.
He was also on the admission board of Cornell School of Veterinarian Medicine.
Being well connected he offered me a certain admission to Cornell and the vet school, if i were to agree to come back to his practice. Being altruistic, foolish and naive I turned it down because my youthful dream was to become a surgeon. I thought that entry into med school would be solely based on grades rather than political connections. I was wrong!
If i had accepted the vet's office I could have been the assisting vet at Belmont that day that Secretariat made history.
He was also on the admission board of Cornell School of Veterinarian Medicine.
Being well connected he offered me a certain admission to Cornell and the vet school, if i were to agree to come back to his practice. Being altruistic, foolish and naive I turned it down because my youthful dream was to become a surgeon. I thought that entry into med school would be solely based on grades rather than political connections. I was wrong!
If i had accepted the vet's office I could have been the assisting vet at Belmont that day that Secretariat made history.
Friday, June 7, 2013
June 7, 2013 National Donut Day
I have been good and have not consumed a dozen donuts today. But since this is a day to remember donuts her here are my memories.
Saturday, morning was donut day in our house ( actually we alternated between donuts and bagels) Two dozen were bought at Dunkin Donuts were bought by Dad. on these occasions one of us wold accompany him to pick out the flavors. I always liked the chocolate glazed cake donut.
24 donuts divided amongst five boys and their parents did not come out to a even number. There was always the issue of the 3 remaining donuts. The would go into the "breadbox" but by mid afternoon they were mysteriously consumed.
In fifth grade we took a class trip to Dunkin Donuts to "observe " the process. We were even allowed to operate the machine that filled the donuts with either jelly or cream. Control of a powered jelly extruder should not be given over to 5th grade boys. Just saying!
Of course my favorite remembrance was when my grandmother and mother would make "zeppole". Not quite a donut, more of a donut hole. It was a fried sweet batter, covered with powdered sugar!!
Saturday, morning was donut day in our house ( actually we alternated between donuts and bagels) Two dozen were bought at Dunkin Donuts were bought by Dad. on these occasions one of us wold accompany him to pick out the flavors. I always liked the chocolate glazed cake donut.
24 donuts divided amongst five boys and their parents did not come out to a even number. There was always the issue of the 3 remaining donuts. The would go into the "breadbox" but by mid afternoon they were mysteriously consumed.
In fifth grade we took a class trip to Dunkin Donuts to "observe " the process. We were even allowed to operate the machine that filled the donuts with either jelly or cream. Control of a powered jelly extruder should not be given over to 5th grade boys. Just saying!
Of course my favorite remembrance was when my grandmother and mother would make "zeppole". Not quite a donut, more of a donut hole. It was a fried sweet batter, covered with powdered sugar!!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
June 5,6 2013 D-Day
D-Day 1944, 6603 American lives were lost to reestablish liberty and freedom.
I have visited the Normandy Beaches twice. Standing on the cliffs near a now silent Nazi bunker, I was eerily impressed with the clear scope of sight they over the incoming troops. While over 40 years had passed when i was there one was able to hear the sound of guns hailing death down on the Allied troops.
From the beach it self you can look up to the bunkers. What was eerie at the top was frightening from the shore. The beach at Normandy does not invite you to frolicsome fun activities. The beaches of Normandy reeks of blood even decades later. There are no waves at this beach, there is a constant ebb and flow of water that remains cold all the days of the year.
Not far from the beaches there is the cemetery, Row after row of headstones and yet they are not all here. Some are under the sea.
An 18 year soldier that survived that day, would be 87 today. On that day he carried 80 lbs of battle equipment, today he probably walks with assistance. On that day he probably shook with angst today he probably shakes with disease. On that day he had a "questionable" future , today he has only the past.
D-Day brings memories of a "smaller" invasion I took part in on the shore of the Mekong river. The view was different but the senses are the same. Blood and gunfire always is acrid, it burns the soul.
I have visited the Normandy Beaches twice. Standing on the cliffs near a now silent Nazi bunker, I was eerily impressed with the clear scope of sight they over the incoming troops. While over 40 years had passed when i was there one was able to hear the sound of guns hailing death down on the Allied troops.
From the beach it self you can look up to the bunkers. What was eerie at the top was frightening from the shore. The beach at Normandy does not invite you to frolicsome fun activities. The beaches of Normandy reeks of blood even decades later. There are no waves at this beach, there is a constant ebb and flow of water that remains cold all the days of the year.
Not far from the beaches there is the cemetery, Row after row of headstones and yet they are not all here. Some are under the sea.
An 18 year soldier that survived that day, would be 87 today. On that day he carried 80 lbs of battle equipment, today he probably walks with assistance. On that day he probably shook with angst today he probably shakes with disease. On that day he had a "questionable" future , today he has only the past.
D-Day brings memories of a "smaller" invasion I took part in on the shore of the Mekong river. The view was different but the senses are the same. Blood and gunfire always is acrid, it burns the soul.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
June 3, 4 2013 Squemish
There was a drowned squirrel in the pool that i had to retrieve. So my memory goes back to my stint with the NYC medical examiner. The task was to go throughout the city to collect corpses. The worst task was when you were called to the waterways surrounding NYC to extract "floaters. The most popular place for bodies to come up was Jamaica Bay. Following that the pylons around the bridges seemed to be magnets for waterlogged bodies.
The bodies were difficult to handle. They were bloated, odoriferous and fragile. It was not unusual that when you lifted them parts would separate.
When a call to retrieve a floater came over the radio, the race was to see who could get their last.
The bodies were difficult to handle. They were bloated, odoriferous and fragile. It was not unusual that when you lifted them parts would separate.
When a call to retrieve a floater came over the radio, the race was to see who could get their last.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
June 2, 2013 Tacky memories
Just read two internet stories concerning disease. Michael Douglas confessed that the source of his throat cancer was HPV. Therefore, it was a sexually transmitted disease. Another report was about a woman who contracted herpes from using a public tube of lipstick. So what memory stems from this.
Public health training! Part of my education was in public health nursing with two organization. One was the NYC Department of Health. As students, we reported to a public health clinic where we spent our time doing STD cultures. If it came up positive, we gave the required two penicillin shots. We also had to do a "chart" of their sexual contacts, then had to contact the "contacts".
The second organization was the Brooklyn Visiting Nurse Services. We went into "public housing projects" where we confronted a number of different pathologies. The most prominent and most heart breaking were the victims of "tertiary syphilis" . You need to google that! We also saw tuberculosis and "plague".
Public health training! Part of my education was in public health nursing with two organization. One was the NYC Department of Health. As students, we reported to a public health clinic where we spent our time doing STD cultures. If it came up positive, we gave the required two penicillin shots. We also had to do a "chart" of their sexual contacts, then had to contact the "contacts".
The second organization was the Brooklyn Visiting Nurse Services. We went into "public housing projects" where we confronted a number of different pathologies. The most prominent and most heart breaking were the victims of "tertiary syphilis" . You need to google that! We also saw tuberculosis and "plague".
Saturday, June 1, 2013
May 31, June 1 2013 A non sequitor remembrance
Yesterday i once again was studying the latin subjunctive so i fell asleep before posting. This morning, June 1, i was studying the latin gerund and gerundive.
While all this was going on Paula was watching Star wars on TV. Now I am not a big science fiction fan but I do remember meeting one of their giants.
It was the summer of 1964 between my junior and senior year of high school. I was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to be a "Junior research assistant" at the Rockefeller Institute which was not far from Columbia University. That may sound fancy but I mostly washed lab equipment for a real research assistant and was a gofer. The researcher was studying hemoglobin. One day as I was cleansing test tubes a man walked into the lab. He had mutton chop sideburns. He asked me "what I was doing". to which a replied "i am cleaning these test tubes"?. "What was in them"? he inquired, I said "dried up blood". He then walked away. Later, I was told that I had a three sentence conversation with Isaac Asminov. Dr. Asminov was a noted science fiction writer. He concocted the three laws of robotics and wrote hundreds of science fiction novels and short stories. In addition he was a world renown biochemist and an expert on the protein molecule we call hemoglobin.
The segue from latin to having a brush with the famous is week. but this is what popped into my mind when!
While all this was going on Paula was watching Star wars on TV. Now I am not a big science fiction fan but I do remember meeting one of their giants.
It was the summer of 1964 between my junior and senior year of high school. I was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to be a "Junior research assistant" at the Rockefeller Institute which was not far from Columbia University. That may sound fancy but I mostly washed lab equipment for a real research assistant and was a gofer. The researcher was studying hemoglobin. One day as I was cleansing test tubes a man walked into the lab. He had mutton chop sideburns. He asked me "what I was doing". to which a replied "i am cleaning these test tubes"?. "What was in them"? he inquired, I said "dried up blood". He then walked away. Later, I was told that I had a three sentence conversation with Isaac Asminov. Dr. Asminov was a noted science fiction writer. He concocted the three laws of robotics and wrote hundreds of science fiction novels and short stories. In addition he was a world renown biochemist and an expert on the protein molecule we call hemoglobin.
The segue from latin to having a brush with the famous is week. but this is what popped into my mind when!
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