Me and Dad's Brothers

Dad had four brothers and two sisters. He was the oldest. George, Joe, Ed, Jack and Kate were born to their father's first wife Katherine who died shortly after giving birth to Kate. He then had Charlie and Dot with his second wife Clara. Uncle Joe died from a ruptured brain aneurysm in1965 when I was in 8th grade.

This post is about Uncle Ed and Uncle Jack. I was 19 when my father died of a ruptured brain aneurysm in 1970. They both told me I was a man and should take responsibility for the family. I was in the Navy at the time and spoke with a chaplain about getting a hardship discharge to come home and be with the family. Mom was strongly against that and wanted me to complete my service so I could go to college on the GI Bill. She must have told Ed and Jack because they stopped bugging me to come home.

After my discharge in 1973 Ed and Jack continued to try to influence my life which was a good thing and I always appreciated their concern and love for our family but sometimes they were making recommendations based on religion and politics. Uncle Jack was particularly upset that I enrolled at Temple University instead of one of the local Catholic colleges like Villanova, St. Joe's or Lasalle. He knew I had the GI Bill to help with tuition payments but I needed to carefully explain to him that Temple as a state university allowed Vietnam Era vets free tuition and fees. All I had to pay for was my books and that was on top of the federal GI Bill money. Uncle Jack also wanted to know what church I was attending and how often I went to Confession. I really tried to avoid the subject but it went on for years, decades actually.

Later Uncle Ed spent a lot of time and effort trying to convert me to political conservatism. He was always very nice about it and was very low key about it. He also never engaged in an outright argument but rather tried gentle persuasion. We had communicated a lot through the 80's concerning family history research. We exchanged letters but eventually our correspondences were through email. I saved all of those emails from him in a special directory on a hard drive and eventually copied them to a disc. I really should dig them out and read through them sometime.

Uncle Jack has continued to harp on the religion over the years. He was thrilled when I started working at a Jesuit college and assumed I was immersed in the Catholic religion. Up until a couple of years ago he was still trying to get me to talk with him about religion when I called. He liked asking me about purgatory and who I was praying for. I never gave him my reasons for not being a Catholic since I was a teenager. I never talked to him about Tom and our experiences going to Catholic schools. He is a good man and I don't want to hurt him or make him feel bad. I would always be somewhat agreeable concerning his discussions about religion and then try to move the conversation somewhere else.

The picture above is from Uncle Ed's wedding in June 1950. Left to right, my grandfather, Nana, Elmer who was a good friend of my father and his brothers, two women who were probably friends or relatives of Aunt Carol the bride, Uncle Ed, Aunt Carol, Uncle Joe, another unknown woman, Dad, Aunt Carol's parents, and the priest. The little teenager further down the row is Uncle Charlie and across from him is Aunt Kate and Mom. 

40th Anniversary

Today is our 40th wedding anniversary.

In The American Grain

The What When Book List 1970 - 2020

In the American Grain by William Carlos Williams, 1925

I read this in the spring of 1978.

I'm not sure what motivated me to read this book. I had just finished with all my college classes and had been looking forward to reading whatever I want but here I was reading essays from the poet William Carlos Williams.  It must have been some interest I had developed from some of the American Studies courses I had taken the previous academic year. So whatever the reason I know I really enjoyed this book. I've always liked to read history and although Williams was not a historian he approached  the idea of what it meant to be an American in a unique historical manner.

It seems that Williams' attempt to define what it means to be an American is very relevant today and perhaps more people should be reading this book at this time.

This book is on a bookshelf upstairs and I should get it down and take a look at it.

Toilet Paper Story

In the early days of the pandemic, when people were first asked to stay home, when governments closed businesses and communities became frightened. There was panic buying and hoarding. 

Stores began experiencing shortages of certain items. One of the most notable of the many empty shelves was the lack of toilet paper. There were films and pictures in the media trying to hoard toilet paper and the images of panicky shoppers with carts piled high with toilet paper fed the frenzy.

There were other things in short supply or nonexistent like cleaning wipes but the run on TP captured everyone's imagination and concern. Some stores soon began restricting the amount of TP that could be purchased at one time. Soon it became a joyful moment to score a roll of toilet paper somewhere. People also began hoarding paper towels and tissue paper as backups. We ran around looking for TP too.

So what happened? There were many other supply issues around the country and in particular for medical equipment and masks which is more understandable but why toilet paper. It turns out that there were two different supply chains and networks for what was essentially two different products for two different markets. Who knew? 

There is a home market that is fed through the regular box stores and supermarkets. These rolls of toilet paper are usually smaller and softer and are used in people's homes. There is also a different industrial/institutional distribution network that supplies toilet paper to schools, colleges, office buildings, industrial plants, etc. These rolls are longer and thinner and come in very large packs. The pandemic disrupted both supply chains but in different ways.

When workplaces and schools closed and people stayed home the two markets reacted differently. The institutional market came to a halt and much of the TP in that supply chain stopped being delivered and stayed in warehouses around the country. It was the home market supplied by stores that quickly sold out. People who would normally be using much of the TP in schools and workplaces were all at home using TP from the home market which were smaller roles and available in smaller quantities. Then the panic shortages began and people began hoarding what they could find.

Eventually things settled down and TP no longer became an issue. However, we still have a large pack stored away in the basement in case another wave of virus recreates the problem.

El Cid

Matinees & Drive-ins

El Cid, 1961

Another Charlton Heston epic historical movie that I saw on a Saturday matinee at the local theater around the corner probably during the spring or summer of 1962. I loved it.

Knights in shining armor against hordes of Moorish Muslims with curved swords. Great ending with the corpse of Charlton Heston leading the charge.

PT 109

Another Saturday matinee movie I first saw at our neighborhood theater in 1963.

We were very excited as kids going to a Catholic school when John F. Kennedy was elected president. It was fun to see the heroic exploits of the president as a young man in war. Certainly a stark contrast to the current president bone spurs.

This was actually the first time a movie had been made about a sitting US president although he would be assassinated in Dallas five months after the film was released.

The day of the Kennedy assassination has certainly made in indelible mark on everyone's memories at that time. I was in 7th grade and I can still see the nun come into our class with tears in her eyes telling us the president was dead followed by the announcement on the loudspeaker by our principal. 

This movie made me want to join the Navy when I grew up...LOL.

The PT 109 movie trailer

PT 109 on IMDb

Cut Out Bin

Found it in the cut out bin.

The picture of trump coming off the plane following his dismal showing at the so called campaign rally in Tulsa where he was out conned by a bunch of teenagers illustrates his entire administration. 

His whole term of office and everything about him will be in the cut out bin of history.

Band A 'Uey - Glass of Beer

Enjoying another beer from my father's day assorted case that was delivered to my house the other day from a local brewery. Thanks Sean and Ashley. This one is a Bang A 'Uey, a hazy juicy IPA from Community Beer Works, Buffalo NY.

Pharma

The Book List: 1970 - 2020

Pharma: Greed, Lies and the Poisoning of America by Gerald Posner, 2020

After reading this well researched book I am appalled and angered that our country may be depending on these price-gouging deceptive companies to find and market a vaccination to end the current pandemic. The book clearly details that their excessive profit motivated promotion of antibiotics and opioids crossed the line into criminal behavior.

There is a chapter towards the end of the book titled "The Next Pandemic" which is a clear warning from pharmaceutical industry scientist that the next pandemic would be unstoppable because these companies put profits over duty to develop drugs for the public good and that there is no question of if there is a pandemic coming but only a question of when. Well we now know how true that statement has proven to be.

Rally