You may not think you have a good memory, but you remember what’s important to you.
I was up and moving early this morning working n the computer room and watching/listening to Sue, who was still asleep. No more seizures, please.
Sue got up, and we talked a while. I decided to have some cereal to use up the milk. Well, I poured int he milk and then decided to add some frozen blueberries to the mix. See the picture of what I saw, disgusting!
Yuck! I thought the milk was spoiled and had curdled!
I carefully inspected the milk and finally determined that the frozen blueberries, coming into the liquid at zero degrees, actually froze some of the milk, creating iced-milk. It tasted pretty good once I was satisfied it was not spoiled. I guess the large blueberries had a lot of thermal inertia!
I was thinking about my father this morning, so I thought I would drop him a line (one of many letters to come this year).
Dear Dad,
For some reason today, I thought about you, mom, and me when we went to buy a new 1955 Pontiac. You liked the 1953 we had, but the 1955 Catalina Silver Star was unusual, perhaps it was the lighted Indian head hood ornament? Well, I remember you and the salesman NOT agreeing, and you walked out.
Dealerships were easy to find in those days as they would have multiple carbon-arc searchlights scanning the skies for customers. I remember being fascinated by the intense light they threw off and aimed skyward.
He expected you to return, but nope! You drove to Culver City and went to Bill Murphy Buick. Dad, did you know that Buick dealership, which he owned and operated until 1997, earned a reputation as the world’s largest Buick dealership from 1962 to 1967. Bill died at the age of 92 in 2005. The dealership is no longer in operation, but alas, many businesses we knew are no longer operating.
Anyway, you walked in and wanted to buy a car, so we selected a brand new 1955 Buick Special (a three holer) that was yellow and white two-tone. You made an offer and said, “That is my best offer.” The salesman did a rain dance, trotted off to the sales manager, and came back with an “OK.” You wrote a check, and we were out of there. We kept that car until you traded it for a 1959 Chevy.
That was about $3,100 as I recall, but OMG, it had “step-on self-locking” parking brakes, tubeless tires, rear-view mirrors, and even an AM radio! Dad, we were moving up-town! We drove the car home that evening after returning home and waiting for the car to get “prepared” probably meaning washed. Bill Murphy Buick was walking distance from our house.
Do you remember driving to Palm Springs in the sand storm, and Mom said, “Pull over and stop,” but you kept on moving, and when we arrived home, half the paint was gone, and the bare metal was showing underneath, and the glass was pitted until we could hardly see through the windshield?
Do you remember me drilling a 3/4″ hole in the trunk area so I could mount a ham radio whip antenna? I got that idea from the TV show Highway Patrol (they used 1955 Buick’s). You would drive with me around town while I talked “mobile” to people around the world.
Mom would take us guys to several ham radio stores on Saturdays, and she would sit in the car while we ogled the radios for sale at Henry Radio or J.J. Glass?
I have a color Kodachrome slide with you and Uncle Otis in front of that Buick. I had the slide scanned by professionals and keep it in my special collection. Remember this:
I remember the car well, and I remember you for walking in and paying cash for the vehicles, no payments needed.
You were and still are my idol.
Love you, Dad!
So today was easy going! We called Colleen and chatted for a while before lunch. For lunch, I cleaned out the frig, and whatever we didn’t eat, headed to the dump at 4:00 PM. I, keeping to my diet, had four ribs from the GG Elks.
After lunch, I headed to the wine store to pick up four cases of chardonnay. The errand took all of 40 minutes as the store staff knows me well now. When they spot me in the parking lot, they get my order, and paperwork is minimized because they have me initial one sheet, and I am on my way!
We watched TV and decided not to go to the Elks tonight. We will go tomorrow evening at Justus is playing, and we like their music a lot!
Just a thought to consider!
