Mr. Softee

When I was a kid, there was not a sound more beautiful than than the ring-a-ling, ting-a-ling of the ice cream truck. We kids would be hard at play when when a faint sound came drifting in on the wind. We would all stop what we were doing and perk up our ears. "Shhhh! I think I hear the ice cream truck". Then the unmistakable sound of the pre-recorded jingly song would reach our straining ears. "It is! It is! It's the ice cream truck!" "Run home! See if mom has any money!". "Please, Mom! Puh-leeeeeeeeeze can we get some ice cream?" Most of the time we were disappointed with our parents' denial of our request, but every now and then we would catch them in a weak moment, we were giving the green light for frozen treats. Then the race was on. Money in hand, we would run out to the street and hope the truck hadn't driven out of sight.

Back in the day, the ice cream truck was called Mr. Softee. Mr. Softee was basically a rolling Dairy Queen. Soft serve cones, malts, shakes, sundaes, and banana splits. Today the ice cream truck is a shell of its former self. These new ice cream trucks sell nothing but frozen ice cream bars. They are all basically the same... just different colors and shapes of the same crud. It's something that barely resembles ice cream and with the wide availability of anything kids want nowadays, these frozen treats are hardly a treat at all. But back in the day, getting ice cream was rare and it was indeed a treat. A rare and always unexpected treat. Mr. Softee didn't drive down the street every day of the summer. He only came around every once in a while. Given the infrequency of his trips to our neighborhood and given the rare occasion our parents said, "yes", an ice cream from Mr. Softee was like hitting the lottery.

Fast forward to today. I hardly ever see the ice cream truck anymore. It's not surprising considering the fast paced, instant gratification nature of the world today. When kids want ice cream, their options are nearly limitless. It is readily available and kids know how to get it. Mr. Softee is obsolete. The world has passed him by.

However, there is hope! Check out the photo below. If this truck came jingling down the street playing Mexican Mariachi music, I would bolt out of my house, money in hand, just like I did when I was a kid. Mobile margaritas? Are you kidding me? Sign me up! I'm in!

Happy Birthday, Dad.

My dad passed away in 1990 at the young age of 47. Today would have been his 73rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad. I still miss you a lot!

The Grill Doctor

A few months ago my daughter, Jessi, asked everyone to keep an eye out for a used gas grill. She and Barry were in need of one, but did not want to buy a new one. I can't blame them for that. Gas grills are expensive!

As we were driving home from church on Sunday, I noticed someone had put a grill out to the curb for trash day. I asked Tami to stop and I got out to inspect the potential reclamation project. The first thing I noticed was that it was a Weber. Webers are Cadillacs in the grill world. The second thing I noticed was rust... lots and lots of rust. It was mostly the innards that were rusty. The exterior was in rough, but workable shape. I made up my mind quickly. This was going to be Jessi and Barry's new grill. It would take some elbow grease, but with some TLC this grill could definitely be functional.

As you can see in the first photo below, this grill was stored outside and it was not covered. There was algae on the plastic parts. The cabinet doors had fallen off because the lower cabinet had completely rusted out and no longer formed a frame that could support the doors. You can see see the grease covered doors laying in the cabinet. Under those doors, the floor of the cabinet had completely rusted out.

The restoration began with EVERYTHING getting a good scrubbing with Dawn Detergent. That stuff cuts grease like nobody's business! I repaired the cabinet frame and put the doors back in place. I cut a piece of plywood and made a new floor for the cabinet. Tami painted it black to match. Tami also painted the plastic parts silver to match the black and chrome already on the grill. The cooking grates and burners are in decent shape, but they will be the first things that get replaced. Jessi and Barry can do that sometime in the future. For now, the grill looks terrific and it will cook food just fine.

The other photos show the finished project. Not bad for an amateur!

By the way... we were at Home Depot yesterday and decided to look at the Weber grills just for kicks. A grill very similar to the one I restored sells for $400 brand new.

BEFORE

AFTER

Well Duh--- Part 2

Well DUH!

As I read these signs, I can only say, "Well DUH!"

This blog's name

I'm a quiet man by nature. The title of this blog was well thought out when it began nearly 5 years ago. I just don't see the point in talking if I really have nothing to say. Being quiet doesn't mean I'm mad and it doesn't mean I'm stupid. It simply means I'm quiet.

Kids

How did this happen? My kids are all grown up and I have no idea where the time went.

It's funny when something difficult is happening. It seems like it will never end. Changes happen so slowly, yet time passes so quickly. Aging is a strange thing and the only people who will know what I'm talking about will be the people who have gone through it. Time is flying. My kids are all but grown and out of the house and I'm a grandpa three times over.

Sleeping in?

I believe my days of sleeping in are over. As a teacher, sleeping in every day is one of the things I look forward to when summer vacation arrives. Here's why sleeping in is no longer an option.

The conversation goes a little something like this:

Me: Yay! It's summer. I can sleep in and really get some good rest.

My bladder: Hahahahahahahahahaha!

Sit In

I'm sure you've all heard about the democrats in congress staging a sit-in protesting the lack of a vote on gun rights. Look, I'm not opposed to people feeling passionate about working for change on an issue (even when I disagree with them). But this so-called protest being staged by the democrats is ridiculous. These are supposedly well-educated, cultured, mature people who have been elected by the people to represent them. Quite frankly they are acting like a bunch of toddlers who don't want to take a nap or eat their green beans. Here's a photo taken on the floor of the Capitol. Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Tag. You're it!

On the last day of school I like to jokingly tell the parents of my students, "Tag. You're it!".

I'm just going to leave this here.

Food Nostalgia Part 2

More memories from childhood. However, it must be noted that mom and dad didn't buy us about 90% of this stuff. We just didn't have disposable income and most of these items were luxury items. (at least from a kid's point of view). As an adult, I can easily see why mom didn't grab these items at the grocery store. They were expensive and drastically increased an already high grocery bill. We never bought stuff like this for our kids either. When money is tight these types of things just don't fit the budget.

No Squeezits--- Kool-Aid was cheaper.
Pre-packaged cheese and crackers? Nope! Regular cheese and crackers was much more cost effective.
Planters cheese balls? No way! Large bags of cheese puffs were much more economical.
Pizza rolls? Out of the question!
Bubble gum? Find a pop bottle, cash it in, buy your own gum.
It was a different world back then.

Food Nostalgia

I made a recent post about getting older and becoming more nostalgic as I grew older. I ran across this list of food items from the past and it brought back a lot of memories. Maybe you will remember some of these too.

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there. There are several days during the year when I miss my dad most. Obviously this is one of those days. He's been gone for nearly 26 years now and though the pain dulls, it never completely goes away. I am thankful today for my step-dad, Cliff. He's such a good husband to my mom and a good dad to two boys of his own. I'm also thankful to the many men in my life who are good dads. In today's times good dads are unfortunately the exception rather than the rule.

Happy Fathers Day, guys!

Isn't it ironic?

Oh the irony!

Renewed!

As an educator I am required to renew my teaching license every 5 years. Along with the cost of $200 (that's a gripe for another day), I have to take 6 semester hours of graduate courses in order to renew my license. These courses are SUPPOSED to keep teachers current on educational trends and basic knowledge. I find them to be a waste of time and money (but that is also a gripe for another day). I have have been working on my coursework lately and just recently finished it. After numerous steps in the process and a lot of red tape, I finally received my new license today. HALLELUJAH! It is really a load off my mind. Obviously I could not teach without a license, and without it my livelihood would be cut off. I only say that to lay out the worst case scenario. I never, ever would let that happen. But the process is long and arduous and I am so happy and relieved to finally be "legal" for another 5 years. The icing on the cake is I only have to do this one more time in 2021. After that I will retire. In August I begin my 27th year of teaching. That blows my mind!

Takes me back!

I didn't realize as a young man that growing old would be such a bizarre experience. As I prepare to turn 50 years old next year, I find myself reminiscing more and more about the past and finding enjoyment in nostalgia. I see something that brings back a memory or hear a song that brings a flood of thoughts and emotions out of nowhere. I think this is why I have come to appreciate the genius of the movie, "Back to the Future". Marty McFly gets the opportunity to go back in time and see his parents in high school and to see what his hometown was like before he was born. How cool would that be? Aside from all the time travel and nostalgic feelings this movie evokes, I also love the subtle jokes in the movie. One of my favorites is when Marty auditions for the school talent show with his rock band. They play the song, "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. The principal then interrupts the audition and says into a megaphone, "I'm sorry fellas. I'm afraid you're just too darn loud!" The subtle joke is the principal is played by Huey Lewis himself. The photo below brought that memory back for me.

Barking Dogs

When we lived in Finneytown many years ago, we had a neighbor whose dog barked all the time. Day and night for hours on end. This neighbor, Tom, kept Boomer, a large white St.Bernard dog in his yard. What made the situation worse was that the fence between Tom's yard and ours was only about 15 feet from our bedroom window. Ol' Boomer may have just as well been in bed with us. He had a low pitched, growling, loud bark. It took about two seconds to wake you up in the middle of the night. I remember one time in particular when Boomer was barking constantly about 2 or 3 in the morning. Tami was fed up and called Tom to tell him Boomer was barking and needed to bring him inside. Unbelievably Tom claimed Boomer was not barking. Tami didn't take that very well. She asked Tom if he thought she would be calling him in the middle of the night if he wasn't barking. How can anybody be that oblivious? The whole neighborhood can hear your dog barking and you say it ain't so? Geez!

The photo below reminded me of Boomer. I wish I had thought of this all those years ago.

You're Late!

Attendance in my school is a HUGE problem. Student absences and tardies are out of control. I had 22 students in my class this year and the photo below is the stack of tardy slips for those students only. Each time a student arrives at school late, they receive one of these slips. Also keep in mind many of these tardy slips represent times when students were hours (not minutes) late.

Fishing

I was born in the wrong era. Check out the snippet of an article from our local paper. This kid got a scholarship to go to college for bass fishing. BASS FISHING?????? I took cruddy courses like psychology, sociology, philosophy, English composition, British literature and anthropology. This whippersnapper gets to go to college for fishing???? Where oh where did I go wrong????????

Here's a small piece of the article:

A Lawrenceburg High School student-athlete will soon be angling for fish in collegiate waters.
Hunter Schneider, 18, signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to compete in bass fishing at Adrian College in Michigan. Hunter is the son of David Schneider and Lisa Jones, both of Lawrenceburg.
Schneider is one of 16 members of the Lawrenceburg High School bass fishing team. Although the sport is not yet sanctioned in Indiana, he is one of the best anglers in the state.

With the explosive growth of high school bass fishing tournaments, young athletes are making a name for themselves in an organized sport quite different from traditional games like football, baseball and basketball,” said David Schneider. “Now there’s a program that offers national recognition for outstanding young anglers, just as there is in each of the “stick-and-ball” sports.”
Schneider will receive a “hefty” scholarship to join the Adrian College bass fishing team that is among the best in the nation.

Grandkids

Since school has been out, Tami and I have had several opportunities to babysit the grandkids. It is exhausting work, but we LOVE every minute of it. We have the absolute best grandkids in the whole world. We enjoy the grandkids so much because we get to have fun with them and then go home. This is so much different than being a parent when you have to deal with the tough stuff and it's not all fun and games. Being a grandparent is what happens when you're a good parent and then you get promoted.

T-shirts

Whoever created this graphic meant it as a joke. But I must confess this totally describes me. I've never been one to turn down a free t-shirt and I rarely ever get rid of t-shirts (even ones with holes in them). My rationale for keeping shirts with holes is using them for mowing or yard work. When they become completely unwearable, my old shirts become rags. Waste not, want not.

I have way more shirts than any human being would ever need. Ask my wife... she'll tell you. When we got married, I probably had over a hundred t-shirts (and that's no exaggeration). Nowadays I don't have a hundred, but I'm willing to bet I have more than 50. Crazy, huh?

I would live here

I would TOTALLY live here! Are you kidding me? A three boat garage and fishing anytime I want. Yes, please!

A sign of the times