[ 01/04/24 ]: I was looking for library book sales online yesterday and came across the online site for the Chapel Hill Library (friends) bookstore. I saw there was a pickup area where book purchasers could come to pick up the books they had bought online. *I did drive all the way to Chapel Hill and drove into the Staff Parking area, where there were a couple of “pickup” parking spots for the two days designated. I then drove around and parked in the Library parking area and made a call to the Publix in Fayetteville to reserve a “Roasted Chicken – Original.” I told them I would stop by to pick up the chicken at about 4:30 pm, and within a few minutes of that time, I was there. They were busy, but I saw what I wanted on the hot counter. I took the bag with the roasted chicken in it and went to the Service Desk, where I was able to pay and where I asked them to notify the “Prepared Foods” section that I had already picked up my order.
While looking online, Google Maps, for the Chapel Hill Library location, I viewed the aerial view of the location where the old Southern Seasons store was located. But, there was nothing there, or very little. The store was gone, or a good portion of it. I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a view from a long time ago, or something more recent. But, when I actually drove by this location later in the day, “Yup, it’s gone.” And, I just checked online and they started to demolish the Southern Seasons building back in March 2023.
I liked visiting & shopping at Southern Seasons. The store was large, had a cafe/restaurant section accessible from inside, but maybe not a part of Southern Seasons proper. There was a large coffees/teas section, cheeses & deli meats, a wall of candies, a wine and spices section and a large area of kitchen utensils. I think this is where I first purchased “Grains of Paradise.” They also had “tongue” baloney. They had the Hot “Chinese” Mustard that you could add water to, for egg rolls.
Once, I seem to recall buying the various ingredients to make a sandwich lunch in my car. I had a tongue baloney sandwich and I think I bought a single serving bottle of special ginger ale.
As it was.As it is.
On my way up to Chapel Hill, I stopped by Golden Hex in Cary, walked up and down the various isles, past the cheese and deli meats section, and only ended up buying some pickles. As I am watching more closely what I am eating, I know I don’t need the fatty sausages and deli meats. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the different flavors, but I know at this time I don’t need to buy any more. I wish Golden Hex well though!
After Golden Hex, I drove over to the Cary Wegmans and went in. I had been thinking of buying a single Miami Onion Roll (@$1.10) but when there decided against it, and although a large blueberry bagel would have been delicious, I didn’t buy one of those either. I looked at the Andouille sausages, but didn’t buy those either, although an Andouille & Lentil soup would be good (today is much colder than yesterday).
I did buy a puck of Bucheron (semi-soft, tart, goat cheese) and also some yellow/orange grape tomatoes. I looked for unsweetened dried cranberries, but they only had sweetened ones. I did buy dried Currants that were supposedly unsweetened, but later noted that they had a bunch of natural sugar.
I walked out to my car and drove to a less crowded section of the Wegman’s parking lot and ate the lunch I had brought with me, along with a little of the Bucheron cheese. I had carried my homemade Greek Salad, with dressing, a cooked hamburger patty, a slice of sweet onion and a slice of wheat bread, cut in half and dressed with my mustard/horseradish/sweetener on one slice and Duke’s Mayo on the other. I had a couple of the rice crackers I like with my salad. They don’t become soggy, but these had become tougher to chew.
This Wegmans is in the flight path for RDU Airport and it is amazing how many large jets fly overhead in a twenty minutes period of time. There must be at least two runways, set slightly askew, because all the jets took one of two different angles toward the airport.
After going by the Chapel Hill Library, I headed back through the UNC Campus & Chapel Hill on a slight “scenic” tour. I drove past my old dorm (Aycock), who’s name was changed a few years ago because Charles B. Aycock was racist. But in his day, he was the next Governor of North Carolina after Lindsay Russell (Republican and distant relative). But, they had a mutual respect for each other, and Russell left the Governor’s Mansion better kept and stocked for his successor.
When I lived in Aycock Dorm in the early 1970s (1972-74) it was a standalone three level building (4 if you count the basement). I lived on the 3rd floor, 318 I think. But some years ago they built a connector to an adjacent dorm and completely got rid of the small courtyard and bicycle parking area at one end of these dorms. Oh, there was a Lewis Dorm at that time. Probably still is. But, I had a slightly younger roommate that would call out from our 3rd floor window and say, “Lewis. Leewisss…, Lewis.” And someone from Lewis Dorm would inevitably say, “What,” to which my roommate would reply, “Eat Shit!” *This roommate also taught me the art of cussing.” I think to that point my cursing vocabulary only consisted of “shit,” “damn,” and the occasional “fuck.” But this roommate would string together a bunch of dirty words in a quite artistic manner.
I don’t recall the name of this roommate (he wasn’t Keith Smith, my first roommate at Carolina, and Keith a Senior), but he was a very good tennis player and had nice rackets. I was never interested in tennis while there, but only a year or so later when attending Campbell College (it was a college then) did I take up the sport of tennis, and after several years was an okay player, and even taught both youth and adults (through Onslow County) tennis.
I had been working at Fayetteville State University in their computer department for a couple of years (August 7, 1995) when I asked to go to the Spring Internet World ’97 Conference in Los Angeles. Leo Taylor, was my boss, and my friend so he approved this trip, but those above him bawked at it, and there was foot dragging almost to the last minute and I was signing travelers’ checks at First Citizens on the morning before I flew out of Fayetteville. The majority of these checks were used for me to pay for the conference, once I arrived. The foot dragging had meant that they didn’t send the payment, in advance, like they easily could have.
As I recall, the flight there was without connecting flights, but I think the return trip had one connection where on the last leg of my return I boarded a prop-commuter that seemed a little “iffy” to me.
The conference was held in the LA Convention Center, which was also used as one of the filming locations in the SciFi movie, “Starship Troopers.” The facility structure has a lot of metal beams, all painted white.
I’ll hopefully come back to fill in more details later, but I wanted to mention that a short time before this conference trip, and that may have only been a week or two, I had gone down to Georgia to visit my half-sister, Donna, and attend her wedding. She had her wedding at a beautiful Baptist church, with tall ceilings, white walls and shiny brass lighting. A dream setting for her first wedding. The boy loved her, but ultimately she was damaged emotionally and had a needful personality and after several years she divorced.
But, I wanted to mention that I met some of my sister’s relatives during this wedding. I don’t recall their names, but there was a man who lived in California and who either had worked or was working for Boeing. It may not have been Boeing, but it was one of those largest companies that build commercial jets. The gentleman generously invited me to stay at his home a few days while I was out at the conference. *Hope I’m not making that part up. I remember the hotel I stayed at, which was something like the Hollywood Hilton, but it wasn’t a new, upscale destination. but something that might have existed since the 1950s. Small rooms, but obviously well worn. At some point we got together and he drove me around and we even visited Nixon’s Presidential Library, where they had moved his childhood home. The choice that day was either the Nixon Library or a trip to a Monastery (don’t recall which religious group, but I think it was Oriental, or maybe Buddhist). We also drove from above the Malibu Pier down to Venice Beach. So, in a very short time, I visited a few of the many iconic locations around or near LA and I dipped my toe in the Pacific Ocean. *I grew up on the Atlantic coast, but have also dipped my toe in the Gulf. I have been to Detroit, MI for about a week, a long time ago, and visited Chicago twice. I don’t recall if I ever dipped a toe in one of the Great Lakes, but I had to cross at least one to visit the Canadian city, Windsor, across from Detroit.
On my Chicago trips, I did go up the Sears Tower both times, but at night both visits. Perhaps the more interesting visit was to an old mansion that was being used for a Battered Women’s Shelter. This was a sprawling old home, multi-story, and even unused, unfurnished, dusty rooms. I recall seeing a very small old elevator, that I’m not sure was even in working order still. But the most interesting part of this old home was a half sized gymnasium. I say gym, but it had a small indoor basketball gym that had a glass superstructure that looked out on the Chicago skyline.
I’m enjoying my retirement (about 4 years into it now), but I am aware that I am an old man, and even if you are good, changes, bad changes do occur.
I love cooking, and trying new things but I just thought the other day that I could become incapacitated and lose all the wonderful freedom I currently enjoy. Two things: not to be able to cook for myself, and not to be able to get in my car and drive, where I want, when I want.
I got in my car yesterday and headed up toward Dunn, the back roads crossing over the Cape Fear River near Linden, and then instead of heading down to Dunn, I headed up toward Buies Creek and Campbell University. As I got there, Campbell, I drove past the dorm in which I lived in my only year there, 1975, Sauls Hall. Then past the new Student Union, around the traffic circle near the new gymnasium and past the running Camel statue. *I did think of an attractive student who had “smiled at me” shortly before (days) getting a new boyfriend. I went past the old Post Office building, and that sparked the memory of the day, in the Spring, I think, when several of us (in another student’s car) drove down to Fayetteville and went to the new Mall. It was so new that there were still a few businesses completing the construction work before they opened.
The other thought was that every day, at Campbell, I would go to the Post Office looking for a letter from Debbie. We weren’t a couple at the time, but I had such a hard time letting her go in my heart & mind. But on this day when we went to Fayetteville, it was a time where I forgot about my longing for Debbie and enjoyed the activities. We returned home late and I went to bed, and this was the first day in a long time in which I did not make it to the Post Office.
What do you know? Yup! The next morning I went to the Post Office and there was a letter from Debbie.
[ NOTE ]: Another thought was that I used the same Accounting Book (Intro to) at Campbell College as I had used at UNC-Chapel Hill, although my accounting professor at Chapel Hill had helped write the textbook. But, the mental image I just had was that at the end of the year, when I no longer needed the Accounting book, I tried to sell it to the Campbell Book Store. Whatever amount they offered me was so little that instead of selling it to them, I kept it and seems like I was outside, on campus, when I ripped the Accounting book apart.
But, that also reminds me of a little brown Bible that I owned. It had been given to me by Piney Grove Baptist Church as a Senior Graduation present, and because I wasn’t attending church much my Senior Year at Swansboro, the pastor stopped me and said something to the effect, “I think we have something for you.” He went up to the pulpit and the little Bible with my name imprinted on it in gold letters, was laying on a shelf there. He gave it to me. *I think I was near the end of my college life, at UNC-Wilmington, and I found myself standing next to a bookshelf in my bedroom, cleaning out my old books. I took the little brown Bible off the shelf, holding it above a trash can, and thinking whether I should throw it away or not. I said something to myself to the effect, “Well, I don’t believe this stuff, but I might be able to get a quarter for it, if I sell it.” I kept the Bible, and perhaps in six months was reading it, “in the Spirit.”
I stopped at the Harnett County Library, but the door was locked, and it was about 30 minutes before the listed closing time. I’m guessing it might be because of the holidays.
I then drove over the Cape Fear and went down to the IGA. I was actually looking for some of the canned Smoked Oysters (that I like with my homemade hummus), but didn’t find any. I did note how beautiful the vegetable section was displayed, and mentioned this to a girl who was working in another section. She said she would let the guy in charge of that area know. I did buy a cabbage, and I took several pictures of the veggies.
One thought was that a lot of joy would go when I am no longer able to drive myself around.
But, another thought came, and that would be when I could no longer cook for myself. And, I guess with the cooking comes the going out and buying all the ingredients. I currently visit about seven or eight different grocery chains/stores a week, and almost every day am going to a couple to pick up things that I specifically buy at that location. IGA, Food Lion, Walmart, Harris Teeter, Pate’s, Publix, Sprouts… and out of town maybe Whole Foods or Wegmans or the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh, in season. Publix has good bread and also imported lamb (round bone) chops. Sprouts has nuts & dried fruits, selected veggies and Pomegranate juice. Pate’s in season has fresh okra, corn on the cob and sometimes seasoning meats for flavoring beans, etc. I like the Campari Tomatoes, but also get some of the yellow or red grape tomatoes at several stores.
I don’t know if I will lose my mind or my mobility first, if not both, before I die. But just sitting at home, or in a nursing home, not able to “get out” and galavant, or be able to get up and plan and prepare the daily meals will be extremely disheartening. Galavanting about the country is something that my Aunt Sis (my mother’s sister, Carrie Kellum) instilled the joy of, in me. Through the years, I often would prefer to get in the car and drive around, not necessarily stopping or going anywhere in particular, instead of watching a movie or TV. Although, I do love watching TV & movies.
MyFitnessPal is a web site that I found a little over a month ago, and it is replacing the FitDay site that I use for several years to track my weight, blood glucose readings, and list my meals & foods. FitDay eventually stopped doing its thing and I didn’t find a replacement immediately. But then I found the MyFitnessPal web site, and it had enough of the FitDay elements that I started religiously tracking my food intake again, and weight & Bgl resting levels. And, it’s working! I have lost about 10 lbs. in a little over a month, and my Bgl resting levels have dropped and are now averaging just below 140. This morning was exceptional at 125 but lately they have been in the mid-130s range. *If I can keep them where they are now, I shouldn’t have to go on Insulin, which I have agreed with my PCP Dr. Norem, that I would start taking the shots if she told me to, if I hadn’t brought my A1C down significantly.
But with me tracking my intake, and planning days in advance what I would be eating for each meal, both my weight and Bgl resting levels have begun to dive, downward.
Oh, and I have just started my 4th Harry Bosch (Michael Connelly) novel, “Dark Sacred Night.” I’ve put the books in the basket near my toilet and read a few pages each time I go. I did start to read, “The Wrong Side of Goodbye,” but realized the storyline from having watched the Bosch series on TV, and stopped reading that because I just wasn’t interested in that story again.
I don’t notice it in Bosch Legacy episodes, but the early Bosch shows did something that I found quickly odd. Odd compared to almost all TV shows & movies that came prior. The locations were real, and street signs were real, with a few exceptions where an actual location was used for a different purpose, such as, a bank and it’s parking lot being used as a restaurant and “shoot out” scene for the story. But, for the most part, if you paused the video and looked at a street sign, then you could actually google for that location in Google Maps (Streetview) and you could usually find it. I do recall one house that I couldn’t find on my own in this way, but that was because there was only a house number showing on a gaudily painted house, and nowhere in the scene was there a street sign visible.
So, I have never read a Stephen King novel (that I can recall), but I have watched the myriad of movies which have been made from his writings & novels. Until recently, I could say the same about the author Michael Connelly and his Bosch (and Lincoln Lawyer) novels. I rarely read fiction, and for most of my working life only read technical manuals & industry related items. The exception might have been in reading various works regarding education.
But, I am now almost 180 pages into reading “The Crossing” by Michael Connelly. I’ve cheated, and looked, and there are 388 pages of the actual novel. Why? Well, this is about the third book that I am reading because of my experience with the Little Community Lending Libraries that I took on as my own project, of being a “book bee” (my term for moving a few books from one location, area or even city to another). I normally don’t take a book or two to actually read, but only to cross-pollinate these little book drops. Two exceptions have been “Fig Pudding” and “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” which was the late Matthew Perry memoir. I will attribute “The Crossing” to these little libraries, but not because I actually found it there, but because I’ve started collecting these Connelly novels to add to these lending libraries starting this coming spring. *I’ve stopped my “book bee” process since it’s gotten colder, because I am guessing that fewer people walk around to these locations in bad weather, and I also don’t want to leave a book, “out in the cold” during stormy winter months. Oh, and I settled on Connelly novels because I had enjoyed the Bosch series on TV. And it was an added bonus that I had independently liked the Lincoln Lawyer series, before I ever knew the connection between Haller & Bosch, and Connelly, the author of both. At the last Cumberland County Library Book Sale, I found a whole shelf of the Connelly-Bosch novels and that was the second day of the sale. No telling how many had filled the shelves on Day One.
I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable. First, I know most of the characters mentioned, and have probably even seen the story line on TV first, but I do see where an event where Haller is “set up” by crooked cops on a DUI bust… so the cops can view the files he is carrying in the trunk of his Lincoln, after he is carted off to jail, actually happens to Honey Chandler in the TV episode. And I’m not sure of how a fictional event in a book, or a fictional event in a TV episode can “actually happen.” I guess it’s just poetic license.
But all of the previous writing above, was just to get me to the point so that I could mention that the novels apparently echo that of the TV series. Places mentioned in the book are many times, actual places that you can find in Streetview. I’ve skipped over a few locations already mentioned in the book but plan to go back and include them in my Streetview searching.
So, Harry Bosch is meeting another character at a local bar. The book mentions the name of the bar and even describes a large mural painted on the side of the building as being of an old Mariachi. This was the trigger for me to finally go to Streetview searching for this bar & location. Sure enough I put in the bar name, “Eastside Luv” and quickly found it and yup, there was the grizzled old Mariachi musician portrayed on the side of the building.
As another aside, I will miss Lance Reddick, the actor. I liked him in everything I saw him in. Enjoyed his character in “Fringe.”
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I came across the Matthew Perry memoir in one of the little community lending libraries about three days before the actor died. I snagged the book because I thought someone would like to read it. However, less than a week later, as I was viewing one of those online tributes to actors & other famous persons who have died in the current year, I saw a picture of Matthew Perry. My thought was that I didn’t know he was dead, and when did it happen. I quickly found that he had actually died, very recently, and just 3 days after I snagged his book.
So I told myself that I probably will have to read it now. And, I started slowly, but then picked up speed and finished it, except for the last half page, which I superstitiously left unread. He was a tennis player in his youth, so I had that in common, although I started much later in life. He made $80 millions mostly from “Friends” but he also spent $7 millions on therapy. By the end of the book, I was thinking another title might have been “Self-Inflicted Wounds.” Catch-22. Without the holes in his soul, he probably wouldn’t have been talented enough to be on “Friends” and make millions & millions of dollars… and with the holes, he was so “fucked up” that he could never be happy, and would put himself through more pain than almost any enemy would have thought “too brutal” to foist on even the most hated foe. And ironic. From the start of the book he is saying, “I should have been dead by now,” ”many times.”
I got “Fig Pudding” from a LCL in Benson, NC. It was one of many (perhaps 15 or more copies) in the little hut on a stick. I’m guessing this many copies might have been purchased for a Sunday School class, or other group reading project, perhaps at a school. In any case, the read was quick and enjoyable. Not really religious themed, but a family story with ups and downs, and one of the downs being really down. The sudden death of one of the children. It’s not a real family or story, but an entertaining look, that makes the reader want to participate in that kind of cohesive unit.
[NOTE]: On the actor, Titus Welliver… ”Mullholland Falls” from 1996 is still fun to watch, and in it Welliver, a much, much younger Welliver, plays a letch, who is about to screw a young, naive girl, even if it means doping her up beforehand. The Nolte character, a policeman, steps in hard, and kills the Welliver character with his own dope filled hypodermic syringe. But none of that keeps the bad guys, other bad guys, from throwing the Jennifer Connelly character from an aeroplane. And, I don’t know if Michael Connelly and Jennifer Connelly are any, if even, distant relation.
[ A LATER NOTE ]: ”I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable.“ Funny, since now I am on my fifth Bosch novel, “the 9 Dragons,” and may read more. I am finding “9 Dragons” to be a little slower reading than the previous four Bosch novels I have read, and enjoyed. I think this may be the novel where Harry has to fly to Hong Kong to rescue his daughter, Maddie. Not sure if his ex-wife, who Maddie lives with all but two weeks of the year, (is it Eleanor Wish) is killed in this story. In the TV series, his ex-wife is gunned down in an L.A. parking lot, and I don’t think that Harry flies to Hong Kong in the TV series.
*I enjoyed the first Bosch TV series, and the latest, “Bosch Legacy,” but having started to read Connelly’s Bosch novels, I really like the author’s stories better than the TV adaptations, and part of that is because I like the Mickey Haller, his Lincoln Lawyer half-brother, character. I think I read that it is licensing agreements that limit the Bosch-Haller interaction on the TV series, and that is probably why the Honey Chandler character was prominent in the TV series. I haven’t read if she even exists in the novels, or if she does, probably plays a much smaller mentionable role there.
[AN EVEN LATER NOTE 04/02/24]: Having mentioned above that I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, I am now reading “The DROP,” and I have already read about 15 other Bosch novels, and have a couple more ready to be read after the current one I am reading. I haven’t read them in order, and there have been some interesting insights because of the timing & order of reading that I have made. That is one reason for why I wrote a brief article called, “Harry Bosch, that lying sack of shit.” [end of NOTE]
[NOTE 07/04/24]: The 4th of July, 2024, and I am at home watching part of the “Twilight Zone Marathon” on the SyFy Channel. And the current episode is, “Time Enough At Last,” which stars Burgess Meredith. This is the episode in which Henry Bemis, a bank teller, who is a voracious reader with thick glasses is repeatedly stymied at both work and home by “non-readers.” One day, while reading on his break, in the bank vault, an H-Bomb goes off killing everyone else on Earth. Bemis emerges from the bank vault into a world of twisted metal and ashes. He walks the earth and finds that there is enough canned goods and other food in a demolished grocery for him to survive. (I know that canned goods, most of them, have a shelf life, and eventually will spoil, even in a well sealed can. So, eventually he would need to figure out how to reproduce food by “tilling the soil.”) And then, just before deciding to put an end to his aloneness with a bullet, he spies a fallen pillar with the words “Public Library” written on it. And here he finds and starts to compile his readings, sorted by months, as stacks of books on the front steps of the demolished library. And here’s the twist. While bending down to pick up a tome, his glasses slip from his face falling to the concrete steps and completely shattering the lenses. He cannot see to read, which seems to be the most important obstacle for the rest of his life. And the episode ends, “in the Twilight Zone.”
So, I’ve read all the Bosch novels except for “The Burning Room” and “The Wrong Side of Goodbye.” I am a little over 50 pages into “The Burning Room,” which I thought would be a story about the death of a young girl, killed by smoke inhalation during an apartment fire started by a fire bomb. The “bad guys” were trying to get tenants out of this apartment complex so they could build something bigger. *That storyline was from several Bosch episodes on TV. **But that hasn’t happened yet, and we are focused on a Mariachi player, who having been shot ten years prior has suffered and finally died of blood poisoning, due to his original injury. Thus this becomes a homicide which is now handed off to Harry Bosch and his novice Spanish speaking protege, Soto. This is Harry’s last year, not many more cases left in his LAPD detective career before the DROP (not the Bosch novel).
Mariachi Plaza
The shooting occurred at the crowded Mariachi Plaza and was for 10 years thought to have been a “drive by” shooting. But now, with the player’s death, an autopsy has produced a rifle slug that had been lodged into his spine. And the bullet, having been fired from a rifle, was proof (if not positive) that the shooting had been deliberate and not just random.
There is a description, from a store security camera located across the street from the Plaza, of the actual shooting. I suppose from the current Google Street View that that store no longer exists.
The Corner of Boyle and 1st Street at Mariachi Plaza.
As I explored Mariachi Plaza via Google Maps & Street View, I came upon a surprise revelation. I was just looking to find a concrete table, like the one described from which the Mariachi player had fallen after being shot. I found several concrete outcroppings, not quite where I thought they should be, but that made me go to Street View to get a different angle on Mariachi Plaza. And, that is where I looked in the opposite direction from the Plaza. There it was, a view that I was familiar with, from a long ago Bosch novel, “The Crossing.” And here it is,
Eastside Luv Wine Bar
I just checked the publishing order for the Michael Connelly’s novels and see that “The Crossing” was published directly after “The Burning Room.” But, I read “The Crossing” a good many books ago, so it seems at a much different time. ***There has also been a description of a drive-by shooting regarding the “White Fence” Gang. Not sure which novel this other vignette comes from, but there was a shooting into the walls of a garage, in which, at a much later time, LAPD tried to recover the slugs, but unsuccessfully. ****I mention this because I put “two and two together” between two other novels, that I had read, “out of their order.” I read about an Oriental shop/store keeper (wine shop?) who had been shot and killed in his store. Bosch finally reveals that the store owner’s daughter had actually killed her father. But, now I was reading another novel in which Harry drives a crooked detective into hostile territory, during the LA Race Riots, and this detective is pulled from the car and beat to death, while Harry managed to drive back to safety. On safe ground, Harry walks over to a looted wine shop to get cigarettes and some matches and finds the Oriental store owner cowering down behind his cash register. There was something about this description that made me look further, and I realized that this was when Harry first met the store owner that some years later was killed by his, the owner’s, daughter.
Another note. If you look in the opposite direction from the Eastside Luv Wine Bar, up 1st Street, you are looking a short distance to downtown LA.
I came across one of those Hacks slideshows online and started looking at them. Surprisingly, I saw several suggestions that I decided to act upon. *Actually, my recent order from Amazon, for a couple of fire extinguishers , for the kitchen & car was because I had read the “Life’s Little Instruction Book” by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. I said to myself, “Yeah, that would be a good idea.” **Unfortunately, the Novete 2-pack of small fire extinguishers arrived with some leakage, which discolored the package, and smelled of ammonia. I got a full refund from Amazon.
One of the items on the hack list wasn’t actually a hack, but a simple awareness. Not sure how many years this has been the case, but the little “Gas” icon on your dashboard actually has a little arrow, which points in the direction of your tank. Not actually the tank, but the side on which you would go to put the gas nozzle in your car. The picture above is for my Camry and sure enough, the little arrow is pointing toward my driver’s side..
A hack I liked showed a large plastic cereal storage container, with a flip top. They showed someone who had put a plastic grocery bag as a liner for this container. You can then use this container as your auto trash can.
Another hack that I intend to explore more thoroughly, and tried out a little already is, to use a cloth and olive oil to wipe down your dashboard and doors, or where dust collects inside your car. I had a microfiber cloth that I wasn’t using and I put a little olive oil on it and tried wiping my dash. It sure looks like it works. Not just after you wipe, but later, there appears to be no dust.
NOTE: I used just olive oil and a microfiber cloth to clean my dashboard. That appears to work really well. The dust hasn’t reappeared by the next day (today). But I also read online that combining some distilled water, baby oil, white vinegar and a few drops of Dawn dishwashing soap makes a really good cleaner/dusting concoction. I’m guessing you could substitute olive oil for baby oil?
This wasn’t a hack, but I actually bought a 4-pack of Box Cutters. Four colors of the plastic holder and a safety switch to lock the blade, either when it is out, or when it is retracted. I had a black box cutter that I keep by my easy chair, and often used it when an Amazon package came in.
But, I have already put one of these in my kitchen utensil drawer, and one in my car. *Don’t cut yourself! These are really sharp, and are useful for opening various plastic bags. Having it handy, means instead of fiddling with a difficult package, I just slice it open. And, for resealable packages, these cutters make a straight cut.
I’ve ordered a dishwasher basket for small items. I have some little plastic bottles that seal well, and I carry various sauces (wasabi, horseradish mustard) for use at the restaurant. But, they are difficult to clean by hand. If I can put these in a basket, then the dishwasher can do it’s thing and I won’t lose them to the bottom of the dishwasher. *And, stupid me, I threw away two of these small capped vials just a day or two before I ordered this dishwasher basket. They could have been cleaned by throwing them in the dishwasher in this basket.
NOTE: I’ve used the dishwash basket once and put a few of the little snap-top bottles in it. The inside of these containers wasn’t cleaned out completely, so I am going to run them again, next time I use the dishwasher.
NOTE [03/24/24]: These box cutters have been very useful. I use one to cut into the protective layer of my prescription medicines. I cut the bacon packages so that I can fold the clear plastic away from the bacon. I sometimes have something (seeds) in a plastic bag, and twist the top and then use the box cutter to remove most of the plastic. This makes it easier to pour the seeds out into another container. I slice the outer skin of the liver pudding to make it easier to peel away from the inner sausage. I slice the outer plastic package for both the polenta and the Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate. Oh, and the box cutter is excellent for opening an Amazon package or box. [end NOTE]
I have made baked beans at home at least once, on the stove top, and they turned out pretty well. But, that has been a while ago.
I got in the mood to make another “mess of beans” at home, and have just put them on. I found the following recipe online, which I modified, and will note the changes below.
Instead of using the already prepared Bush’s Grillin’ Beans, I substituted one 15 oz. can of Cannellini beans and one 15 oz. can of Great Northern Beans. I used garlic powder instead of raw garlic. I didn’t have any Dijon mustard, so I used regular yellow mustard. No brown sugar, so I used some Splenda and some Agave Nectar. I did add some molasses for flavor. I think my previous beans had included molasses.
If I had some jalapenos, I probably would have sliced them up and added them as well. Which reminds me of Floyd Lewis and his “Beans of Death”. I think I had his recipe once, but maybe not. The only things I remember distinctly were the beans, strips of bacon and the jalapenos. They were sweet, and hot… and delicious!
Floyd was a “good guy” whom I met at Enon Chapel Baptist Church. He worked at Marine Federal Credit Union as an administrator or manager. Floyd’s life ended horribly. He and a few others from MFCU had flown in a small plane to Charlotte for some type of training. On the return flight from Charlotte, their plane experienced difficulties and crashed and burned. He was burned so badly that there was no viewing of the body. I think I was living in Fayetteville, NC at the time of his death, and drove all the way to Jacksonville where there was a “viewing” (not) at Jones Funeral Home.
Two employees and one member of the supervisory committee of the $288 million Marine FCU here died on June 6 in a plane crash. Supervisory Committee member Gregory Russell, 51, was piloting the plane when it crashed. On board were Floyd Lewis, 49, CFO, and Devonnya Greenfield-Burks, 35, accounting supervisor. The three were on their way home from a Federal Reserve meeting in Charlotte. The plane went down near the Monroe, N.C. airport. “It’s just such a loss. We lost three members of our credit union family,” said Wendy McGill, vice president of marketing for the CU. Russell was a pilot in the Marine Corps. for 20 years.
FAA Accident Report (basically crash caused by pilot error, but I think it was probably equipment failure that couldn’t be determined after the crash):
The connection that Floyd and I had, or one of them, was that we both had said, “No” to God at some point in our lives. For Floyd, God had wanted him to be a minister, and Floyd hadn’t followed that direction. Floyd was active in church, was a leader, I believe a deacon.
I’ve noted when visiting the MFCU headquarters on Bell Fork Road (maybe that is Gum Branch Rd.) that there is a short hallway, back where the bathrooms are located and on a wall are the photos of various staff members that have died. Floyd is noted on this wall, as are several others (Ben Marsh, ) that I knew from either MFCU or Enon Chapel.
These baked beans turned out well also. Playing with the spices and the BBQ sauce could make them more distinctive.
The Hinnant Vineyards website. Hinnant Vineyards is located a short distance from Selma/Smithfield, North Carolina. I’ve tried their Muscadine/Scuppernong wines, but this time I tried their non-alcoholic Muscadine grape juice. Chilled, this juice is delicious.
Camelia Lady Cream Peas
I don’t recall from where I bought these dried peas originally. I probably had the pound package (Camelia Brand) in my cupboard for a year. But, the mood hit me and I probably googled to see how to cook them. They are flavored and shaped like a black eyed pea, but don’t have the black eye and they are much smaller in size. And, they hold their shape after being cooked, but are “melt in your mouth tender”.
I used some country ham to flavor these beans and they turned out well, but their tenderness became an annoyance. Odd! The next time, I decided to cook two types of beans together, choosing some Green Split Peas along with the Lady Cream Peas, and some seasoning meat and a little onion. I had forgotten that the green split peas would break down on their own, and both beans took a short time to cook, about 40 minutes. The split peas formed a bright green broth, and the Lady Cream peas were little white islands floating in the sea of green.
I have also added carrots to this soup, and I guess those colors: green, white and orange could represent the Irish flag. What I haven’t tried yet, but think would also go well, would be adding leeks and seasoning with tarragon. *I have a garden pea & leek soup that is flavored with tarragon that I know is distinctive and delicious.
As I said, I don’t recall where I first purchased the Lady Cream Peas and then found that I couldn’t find any more locally. The Camelia Company sells various types of dried peas, but even in stores selling the Camelia brand, there were no Lady Cream peas. I finally had to go online and found that I could buy Lady Cream Peas at Amazon.com. Perhaps their availability is seasonal, even though they are a dried bean. Camelia Lady Cream Peas at Amazon.com
Camelia Green Split Peas
Nothing special about this pea other than its “earthy flavor” and bright green color. Seasons well with ham bits. Camelia Dried Green Split Peas at Amazon.com
Suncrest Farms Country Ham Chunks
I’ve found this brand at Food Lion and the company offers what I might call a pork knuckle, and country ham with bone and without. I do use other seasoning meats, but this is good in black eyed peas, lima beans and the lady cream peas. Suncrest Farms Country Ham Chunks at Food Lion
Claxton Fruit Cake
Claxton Fruit Cake was a standard Christmas icon when I was growing up in eastern North Carolina. I’m not sure I even had another brand of fruit cake until I was much older, and then I was spoiled by my “first love”. *I am aware that these heavy, fruit & nut filled logs are the brunt of jokes and that some people definitely don’t like a Claxton Fruit Cake.
I have been in Claxton, Georgia twice and visited the Claxton Fruit Cake Company both times. Vidalia, Georgia isn’t that far away but famous for those sweet Vidalia Onions. But I found that there was no reason to go to their place of origin for either Claxton Fruit Cakes or Vidalia Onions. You can get either at WalMart for a good or even better price.
The price of a Claxton Fruit Cake has gone up severely due to Covid, but I recently found Claxton Fruit Cakes for a really good price at Harris Teeter.
Season Anchovies
I originally bought the Season Brand of Anchovy at WalMart, and then they discontinued Season Anchovies. These were so good that I ordered the Season Brand online. I hope these are as good as what I tried several years ago.
Many people would never try an anchovy, but I like them on pizza and I have added them in cooking various things. They do “break down” and don’t have a fishy flavor. I think the term is that they add an Umami flavor. Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter taste sensations.
I think I was watching an episode of Emril Legasse Basil Pesto or Basil Anchovy Pesto. This Legasse recipe doesn’t include anchovies, but the one I saw did include anchovies, pine nuts, garlic and basil. When this is blended the pesto is a bright green. This goes really well with a steak. Not something I would expect with a steak, but deliciously different! Season Anchovies at Amazon.com
Walnut Oil
I’ve not tried this oil, but saw it as a “close out” at Lowe’s Foods in Southern Pines. I find this grocery chain to be expensive. I would guess that this would be a good oil for “finishing” a salad, or some other uncooked dish. I googled and it said that this has a mild walnut flavor. *I know that Avocado oil might be used for a similar purpose, or one that imparts almost no flavor to a dish.
Coconut Sugar
One of the grocery stores I shop at regularly is Sprouts. A few weeks ago I noticed an Organic Coconut Sugar in one of their bins. I tried some.
Even though this sugar is made from coconuts, the flavor in coffee, reminds me of cocoa. But, this is sugar and not cocoa.
I have also added a little of this sugar, along with some extra cinnamon to Egg Nog. It definitely heightened the flavors.
[01/01/25]: Sprouts no longer sells the Coconut Sugar, but I did find it sold in packages at the local WalMart. That works for me.
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Murray River Salt
I don’t have much use for this salt, but it is unusual because it is in “flakes”. That way you get more salt because instead of grains you have small salt flakes. I’ve read this salt is best used in “finishing” different dishes, at the table. Murray River Pink Salt Flakes at Amazon.com
Long Pepper
As with many food items, I probably purchased this (at the Savory Spice Shop in Raleigh) because I had never seen this before and wanted to try it. My last couple of visits haven’t turned up anything new that I want to try, or try for their price. I came across a small packet of these Indian Long Pepper and decide to google for what to do with them. They are long and hard and need to be ground before using. I have a small mortar-n-pestle that I purchased several years ago. I rarely use it, but for grinding these Long Peppers, it was a good tool. Still had to cover the top with my hand so that the pepper bits wouldn’t jump out onto the counter.
*A small coffee grinder would be great for this because this is a good, intense pepper flavor, that you wouldn’t want to grind too much in advance. Indian Long Pepper at Amazon.com
[01/01/25]: After writing the above comment, I found the Microplane grinder on Amazon, which works fine for grinding the Indian Long Pepper. I’ve written about this grinder elsewhere in detail.
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Everlasting Pencil
I think I’ve seen this item advertised as both a pen and a pencil, but since it doesn’t include any ink, and works on the same principle as a pencil, I will call it a pencil. I’ve also read that each writing nib (comes with a nib and a replacement nib) is the equivalent of 22 No. 2 pencils. So that is 44 No. 2 pencils worth of writing. You don’t need to sharpen this pencil, so it never becomes shorter to hold. It does come with an eraser, but you have to unscrew the pencil to get the eraser out. Everlasting Pencil on Amazon.com
NOTE:
I was watching a cooking episode of Jamie Oliver in which he suggested trying these Borlotti/Cranberry Beans. I found a Borlotti Bean and Chard recipe online which I tried. This turned out to be a delicious, savory dish worthy of being tried repeatedly. *Surprisingly now that I am aware of these beans, I see that they are also called Roman Beans and can be purchased in a can at WalMart, or as dried Cranberry Beans at IGA.
I had bought a bunch of Swiss Chard at Fresh Market, which was an unusual purchase for me, but the red color in the spines of the green leaves was attractive.
[NOTE 05/07/24}: Early May at the Farmers’ Market in Raleigh at Moore’s, I bought a bunch of Red Velvet Sorrel and a single stimmed live Basil plant. The plant was $5 which I thought was a little expensive since I had seen a multi-stimmed plant at Publix the previous day. The Sorrel looked as if paper had been painted with the red and green design.
I bought a small bag of mixed, dried beans at Sprouts. Actually, I bagged a scoop of these dried beans, that were in a large barrel (post-COVID). I think the label said there were 10 different varieties of beans in this mix. But, when I got them home, and was about to start soaking them, I added a few more varieties. I found that I had saved the “Speckled Beans” in a jar, so I added some of them. I added a few types of lentils, red, brown & green. I added a few Cranberry beans. I found a little “wild rice” and added that. Rarely do I soak any dried beans that I am going to cook, but this time, I started soaking the mixed beans, and even added salt & baking soda (saw an article online).
The next day I realized that I had soaked too many beans, and had to google to see if I could freeze the extra “soaked” beans. An online article said it was possible, but one article said they would last 4-5 days, and the other article said they would last 3 months. I ended up freezing about half the beans I had soaked. *I may try a different type of sausage (Andouille or Kielbasa) and maybe spicier herbs or maybe several types of hot peppers with the remaining beans.
I started cooking the beans in the morning. As colorful and distinct as the beans are when they are dry, as they cook they lose their distinctive markings & colors and become a drab, although flavorful cooked bean. I added a little vinegar as had been suggested when cooking any type of bean. I added the diced fresh ham from its package and a little later, I added some chopped carrot, some chopped chard, and also some of the white potatoes, quartered.
Even though I was trying to be careful with the done-ness of the potatoes, they eventually became mushy, and later, after everything was done, I fished out all the potato chunks and threw them away. I had rolled up the chard leaves and chopped them, forming what is called a chiffonade (I think.). I would chop differently next time because the cooked chard came out stringy hanging down from my spoon.
I think it is the chard that adds a distinctive “earthy” flavor, but the ham chunks did not detract from the flavor. And, the next day (today) I had some of the bean soup along with a lamb chop, rotkohl, and some German Potato Salad for lunch. Once again, the rotkohl is sweet & cold, the potato salad, sweet & warm, and the soup was warm and savory.
I have found that Sprouts has a good “Multigrain Baguette” for only $1.99. I have bought this several times from Sprouts, and at least once they didn’t have any when I was looking. *Later note:I bought a French Baguette at Whole Foods in Raleigh last week. It was so long that I cut it in half and took half to Jeff & Robins. Wasn’t sure they would want it, but Jeff took it and put it on his kitchen counter. But I really enjoyed the flavor of this baguette. I had some with an egg salad for breakfast, but I also microwaved a slice and ate it with some Wegman’s White American Cheese. Just those two ingredients were so delicious together.
This morning, I boiled four eggs and then used two of them to make an egg salad. I add a little margarine, some Dukes mayo, celery seeds, garlic powder, and S&P and mash/mix it altogether. I also cooked 4 strips of bacon in the microwave. I sliced a little of the Multigrain Baguette into 4 small slices. This was a real “comfort food” breakfast. A fork-ful of egg salad, with a little bacon & a bite of bread… heavenly. In the end, sopping up the last egg salad from the bottom of my bowl and the last bite of bacon. I had coffee. Finally found a coffee that I really like… Starbucks brand. I don’t think I have ever been to a Starbucks. Bought this ground coffee at Walmart.
As my mind works, I still have two hard boiled eggs in my refrigerator and recently had reminded myself about a curry remoulade that I had on a Shrimp Po-Boy sandwich, when I was at the Waterside Restaurant in Charleston, SC. But, what I was also reminded of was that I had a “wilted spinach salad” at the Waterside on another occasion that was really good. Spinach leaves wilted with hot olive oil and crumbled hard boiled egg are the two ingredients that come to mind.
I actually think Mary Ann was with me when I had the spinach salad. *This was probably the time when I met Mary Ann in Charleston, and then we went down to St. Simons Island to visit with Yvonne. As I recall, both Charleston & St. Simons Island were in a very oppressive heat wave. I think Mary Ann was in Charleston for an education conference tied to her being a School Board member from Onslow County.
Having just googled, and all the things I had forgotten about wilted spinach salad… vinegar & sweetener, onion, bacon, almonds, cannellini beans.
The above picture was taken for and appeared in a local Myrtle Beach business promotional booklet. It came out weekly. The publication’s name was “Coast”. *Not sure if it was for this publication, or whether we were running ads in the local newspaper, but I recall wrestling with creating small ads for TWL. When you have limited space, every word and image counts, and that provided creative fun. How do you catch someone’s attention with the fewest items? Which words or images need to be bigger, smaller or left out completely?
I see that the above COAST Magazine from 1985 had a $2 price on it. I thought the magazine was a free publication, sent out as advertising for the various Myrtle Beach businesses.
I had graduated from UNC-Wilmington the previous year (1976) and was playing a bunch of tennis, living with my mother in Jacksonville, North Carolina. I don’t recall how I met Doug Echols, but he was the Wilmington businessman who purchased the name, “Tennis With Love” from some ladies who had a small tennis specialty shop, with that name, in Wilmington, NC. I interviewed with Doug and he selected me to be the manager of “Tennis With Love” located in the Rainbow Harbor shopping center in Myrtle Beach, SC. *I thought TWL had closed in Wilmington until I was googling this morning and found they had moved down Oleander Drive into a small house. I drove by this location just yesterday & didn’t see the sign. Might try to stop by sometime now that I know they are still active. I thought it was just a women’s tennis shop, but I see by visiting their current web site that it is not.
I often had questions as to whether Doug really wanted “Tennis With Love” to “work” or whether he was intending to use it for a tax write-off. I wish you could have seen the above picture in color. Behind the two girls in the picture, on the wall, was painted a large frog with a great big tennis ball for a stomach. *The picture of the frog had been drawn directly on the painted divider wall. And, because Tennis With Love did not last very long, when it came time to clear out, the ornate frog had to be left behind. I’m guessing that it was probably destroyed when the divider wall came down.
Rainbow Harbour c2022Don’t recall which store location.
I say “two girls”. The girl in the white pants was a secretary for the “Rainbow Harbor” shopping center. I don’t recall her name, and the first of two Myrtle Beach “malls” hadn’t been completed yet. *I seem to recall that Doug had been negotiating with someone for a spot in the first mall in Myrtle Beach, but something had happened and I think it was “Foot Locker” got the advantage and went in the mall. Doug had to settle for second best. And that probably was the death knell for TWL. You see, the shop looked great. I was an avid tennis player (would later teach tennis to adults & youth on a “city” level), and I knew the language and game in 1977, so I was a good match for TWL.
“Death knell?” Well, the thing about being in a mall, or not, was that if it was a rainy day at the beach, what do people do? They go to the mall to eat or shop, and that provides “foot” traffic, which at Rainbow Harbor there might be several hours where no customers (or potential customers) came into the store.
The other “girl” in the white tennis dress, and I recall that even for her ultra thin frame, it was a tight fit to get into this dress (just for the picture), was Janice McDonald. I’m guessing that she was probably a Sophomore in college, and this was her summer job. A couple of years later (1979) Janice would win the Miss South Carolina USA contest, and go on to be a world traveler, and television producer (CNN), and even a writer (The Varsity).
There was a deli next door to the tennis shop and I had many good sandwiches there, including Blutwurst. I had even worked out a deal for a discount on the meals I had at this deli. *I do recall that as TWL was “folding” it came time to pay my current tab, and they didn’t give me the discount;-) Still, I think I came to love blood sausage and those other specialty meats from this time.
During my short time in Myrtle Beach, I joined the Myrtle Beach Tennis Club, and got to “call lines” for an exhibition tennis match that included Roscoe Tanner. I don’t recall who the other player was (Stan Smith?), but he was as probably well known. *My memory, not their notability. I do recall that during the exhibition match, I called a ball “out” and I think it was Stan Smith that came over, looked at the spot, and marked it by circling with the edge of his tennis racket. **Now, I might guess that I called it wrong, but he said nothing, and went ahead and finished the match, and I called it as I saw it. ***Not fun calling lines, because if you do it properly, you can’t spend time enjoying the match.
I do recall that the Inter-Coastal Waterway butted up right next to the courts, and at least once, I saw a large boat passing close by, just behind the court fencing.
Doug Echols
I think this is the Doug Echols that was a little older than myself (b.1948), and who died in 2006.
1971 Pontiac Lemans1975 AMC Pacer Butterscotch
I don’t recall what car I was driving in 1977. Could have been the 1971 Pontiac LeMans that mom had bought me for my high school Senior year present. We did have a butterscotch colored AMC Pacer around this time. I did live in Socastee in a shared mobile home.
I think I bought, at wholesale, a pair of Fila tennis shorts & a shirt. I do recall that even at wholesale prices, they were very expensive. It would be amazing to see how small the shorts were, since I have been a “fat” man most of my life, but then I was probably in my prime.
I had one of these that I called a “Red Head”. This was my favorite racket because it combined power with control. Not too long afterward, the larger headed rackets came out and made this an inferior racket because it had such a small “sweet spot”.
I loved opening a new can of tennis balls, listening to the whoosh sound as the compressed air escaped. The “fresh” smell. I preferred playing with Wilson tennis balls because they had less knap than did the Penn balls.
One time, I wore out a brand new pair of tennis shoes in one month. They weren’t poorly made, but I was playing a bunch of tennis. I might play so much tennis that when I went home to rest, my big toes would hurt, and they might still be sore the next day as I was going back out to the courts. I did use Shoe Goo to temporarily repair my worn out shoes, but found that the price of Shoe Goo and the length of wear it provided meant I could buy a new pair of shoes about as cheaply as continuing to apply the Shoe Goo.
My favorite courts were located across town at the Jacksonville High School. At some point, I began to bicycle across town to the courts, even though I had a car. Surprisingly it took only a short time to go across town. Maybe 15 minutes or less, so this was a disappointment as far as getting any real exercise.
During my tennis days, I did go to Richmond, VA (I think.) to a Tennis Vendor’s convention. I also saw Roscoe Tanner, a left-hander, and recall that although his left arm was extremely developed, his right arm looked weak, as though he had suffered some disease in it like polio.
And, I bought a professional quality tennis racquet stringer. I think it cost between $200 – $400, which was a good chunk of change, back then. This was a large, floor model. I don’t recall the name of the company that made it, but probably will. *Googled, and the company was “Wingfield”. Stringing machines are now small, table top models.
Many of the same parts as a Wingfield.I think this is a Wingfield machine.
John Merritt gave me a couple of white Prince tennis racquets (for free because he felt sorry for me) and I think it was one of those I was using when I blew out the ligaments in my right knee.
*John was sort of a Neanderthal, stocky, muscular man who drove a vintage Corvette convertible. He was a few years older than me, and had “student taught” at Swansboro High School, but not taught me, and I think he was J.V. Football coach at least one year at Swansboro. But, that would have been about 1970-1, and several years later we would meet again and become tennis buddies. For a long time, when we shook hands he would squeeze my hand incredibly hard making me cringe. And finally, one day I decided that I wasn’t going to cringe. I decided that if he broke my hand, I was going to make him pay for the medical bills. When I didn’t cringe, I said something to the effect, “You break it, you pay for it,” and from that time onward he never put the mega-squeeze on my hand;-)
Of the racquets shown above, my favorite was the Red Head. The Head racquet with the brown plastic throat piece is hauntingly familiar, so I must have had one of those. I know I had a Pancho Gonzalzes signed wooden racquet, that I eventually painted solid blue. I strung it with fishing line once, and it only took one swing of the racquet for the ball to slice through the fine string. But, I also strung it properly, but unaware, I began to have incredible shoulder pain. It finally dawned on me to stop using this wood racquet because it was injuring me. I hit a few times with a T-2000 racquet, but don’t recall if I actually owned one, but remember stringing one and hated the extra effort it required on the Wingfield stringer. I hit with the green Yonex that someone else owned, but didn’t like it. I think the aluminum frame was too light and didn’t give me power on the ball.
Hauntingly now, I have an image of an oversized headed racquet that I must have owned and enjoyed using, but I can’t seem to find an image of it online, and I’m not sure who made it. Could have been a Head racquet, maybe even an early Prince, but it had a light greyish plastic throat and I “have the feeling” that I enjoyed hitting with it. May have been what I was using when John Merritt gave me the two white Prince composite racquets. It wasn’t an Arthur Ashe racquet. *I eventually gave the two Prince racquets to Jeff Mitchell.
Finally found it! It was a racquet made by PDP (Professional Design Product). I think I had the grey throated version with the orange decal in the throat. Note the similarity between the Red Head and these PDP racquets. *Yes, for me, before going to the oversized headed racquets, this PDP racquet was my favorite. I was always looking for power & control because I had small wrists and hands and had to play a lot of tennis to have enough strength.
I think I read somewhere that you had to hit 350,000 tennis balls before you could become “good”. And, between the playing, and hitting against “the wall,” I easily surpassed that 350K benchmark. I was never that good at the net, because I had small wrists and didn’t have a lot of strength to block shots at the net. I had a decent backhand and forehand, and I enjoyed putting English on my serves. I liked changing up speed and slice or top spin, on my opponents, and trying to move them around, forehand and backhand.
NOTE: I’ll mention this other, slightly tennis related, note here. My second year in college, at Chapel Hill, I had a Freshman roommate that replaced the previous roommate (who came from Liberty, North Carolina, and had a girlfriend in Sevierville, Tennessee) who dropped out of college during the school year. The replacement guy was from Raleigh and he knew how to “cuss up a storm.” In fact, he was the first person I heard that used more than one cuss word in a single sentence. Not verbatim, but he might have said something like, “You motherfxxxing asshxx cocksuxxer.” A string of profanity. Unfortunately, I thought that was something to be emulated. I don’t recall his name, but he was an experienced tennis player and had a couple of gray Arthur Ashe composite rackets. I recall picking one up from off his bed in the dorm room. I wasn’t interested at all in tennis at that time, and he could have provided me with an excellent introduction to the sport, but I never asked. It would be the next year, when I was attending Campbell College, that I would start to teach myself how to play on their tennis courts that were located behind the Campus Post Office. *That building is no longer the current Post Office, and the tennis courts are no longer located there.
Our dorm room (318?) was located in Aycock Dorm (that dorm name dropped many years later because of that Governor’s racist tendencies). Most of the year, our room window would be open because we had really good heat from the radiator, and the room would just get too hot if the window was closed, even on most cold days. Well my cussing roommate had a game he played with the people that lived across the quad in Lewis Dorm. He would go to our open window and yell out across the way (not even sure you could actually see across because of the trees), “Lewis, Lewis, Lewis…” waiting between each time he said the name “Lewis.” And finally a reply would come from someone in Lewis dorm, “What.” And he would always say, “Eat Shit!” He did that over and over again, and I don’t know why anyone in Lewis Dorm would have ever answered him after the first half dozen times. “Lewis?”
Many years after my stay in Aycock Dorm, the open area between Aycock and it’s neighboring dorm were joined adding extra internal dorm space. Where we had parked bicycles was now part of the inside of this conjoined double dorm. *I did try to visit Aycock once, and got up the stairs at the one end of the 3rd floor when the warning bell, closing the dorm to outsiders, rang. It was then that I realized that Aycock was no longer a men’s dorm, but had been changed to a woman’s dorm. I turned around quickly and headed down stairs.
I recall that one time I flew high above Aycock Dorm in a Marine helicopter. The Marines were doing a recruiting stunt at Carolina, and were offering helicopter flights to students. To my chagrin, the immediately previous flight to mine, they had flown the helicopter all the way back down to the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) at Jacksonville, North Carolina. That would have been a really fun trip. Not sure how quickly you could have made that trip, since you might be able to go 150 miles an hour, and fly mostly in a straight line. But on our flight, we flew high above Aycock Dorm, so much so that the utility trucks, that were painted Carolina Blue, were smaller than my little finger nail. *I’m sort of surprised that I actually took that helicopter ride. Apparently, I’m not deathly afraid of flying, or I would not have taken that trip.
I recently drove down to Washington, North Carolina and between Wilson and Greenville, on Highway 264, there is a sign for the birth place of “Charles B. Aycock,” the North Carolina Governor. He was a contemporary of Governor Lindsay Russell (a distant relative of mine) who immediately preceded Aycock in the Governor’s Office. Aycock & Russell were both lawyers, but different Parties, but both respected one another. When Russell left office, he left the Governor’s Mansion well stocked with food, and in a nicer condition than his (Russell’s) predecessor had, with empty alcohol bottles strewn about the place.
NOTE: I took the AMC Pacer with me to Seminary, in Lousiville, KY in 1981 (the year after my mother’s death). The Pacer eventually had problems with it’s “rack and pinion” front steering mechanism. I think it was explained that one or more ‘teeth’ had broken off, which would mean steering the front wheels, when turning, would “skip a beat”. I think I spent $600 to get this fixed on the Pacer, and then drove it down to Georgia and gave it to my dad. Not sure when I came back to visit my dad, but by that time, the Pacer was acting as storage for some of his junk, and sitting lifelessly in his yard. *At one time, I think I counted about 14 derelict vehicles in this yard… and a partially constructed garage. Both the garage and his sprawling house were both deteriorating as my visits spanned several years.
When dad died I told Donna (my half-sister) that all I wanted was his last driver’s license. He had collected an enormous amount of “junk” throughout the years (tools, knickknacks, etc.) and all this stuff cluttered his domain. But, I also gave Donna and Sara (his last wife that he had divorced before his death, but they were still living in the same house together at the time of his death) a bit of advice, that they chose to ignore… I said, “If you arrange for someone to come in and clear off the lot, make sure that the arrangement is for them to take everything. Don’t let them ‘pick -n- choose’ over the best stuff and leave you with the junk to get rid of.” Sometime later, I think it was Donna that mentioned that ‘they’ had come in and took all the good stuff, and now she & Sara were having to pay to get the junk removed. **I tried.
Not sure how I came across this deli, but was probably looking online for a place that served a Pastrami Reuben. I had looked at their menu online, and saw they had both a Reuben on Rye (corned beef) and they had a Pastrami on Rye (with mustard & no sauerkraut). I figured they would probably have no problem making me a Pastrami Reuben (Rachel), and fortunately there were two clerks at the counter where I ordered. The older man knew how to ring up my special order and showed the younger woman (girl) how to do it.
I arrived about a quarter to 12, busy but not overcrowded. I ordered fries and water with my sandwich. They gave me a small plastic cup for the water, and a black electronic disk which would buzz when my order was ready.
Pastrami Reubenwith fries
Before I sat down, I walked around into the next small room, and there was a long hallway that ended. The drinks, ice, napkins & condiments were along the inside wall of the hall. I got my ice water, some napkins and went back into the other room (where the registers & pick-up area were located), and sat at a small table that had two chairs. I sat facing the register area.
After I picked up my order, I walked around into the other room and got some ketchup. The large ketchup dispenser ran out of ketchup and I grabbed a few packets of ketchup and went back into the larger room and sat down.
The sandwich was good, and in fact it was too much for just one meal (although I ate most of it). I could have shared the sandwich & fries and ordered two drinks. My meal with water was $14+ with tax.
Between the two rooms, there must have been a small condiment bar, which I just failed to notice. I had to walk past it several times, and didn’t even take note of it as I was leaving. *A young woman sitting to my right, had gotten up and gone to this condiment area to get some ketchup. I had laughed to myself for not noticing it.
The clientele were mixed: working singles in ties, small families with child or children, older families, and older couples & singles. Some in shorts, some not, but all comfortable in their various garb.
Okay, this Pastrami Reuben was not as good as the first one I had at “Macados” in Salem, VA, but it was probably as good as the one I had at “East Village Grille” in Asheville. This did have Thousand Island Dressing, Sauerkraut and a Dill Pickle. I think my homemade Rachel is as good as this, and my homemade Thousand Island Dressing is definitely better.
Bill Gibson, II 