“Give Me A Number And I’ll Give You The Guts”

 

Jackie Robinson

“Give me a number and I’ll give you the guts” turned out to be a promise hard to keep.  When Branch Rickey , the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers made the unprecedented and momentous decision to bring a Negro ball player into the major leagues, he altered the future outcome of American baseball.  Rickey had it in his mind to change the game, prove that he still had it, and assuage a gnawing age-old guilt he harbored from his college days.  And of course baseball was his life and his business and he knew the way to infuse life and money into it, was to win and win big.  His eye was on the prize of the World Series.

But back to the promise…Branch Rickey planned on adding a black baseball player to his farm team, the Montreal Royals with the intention of bringing that player into the Dodgers.  But not just any player;  The man would have to be good, he would have to be strong, he would have to have courage and conviction, he would have to have a thick skin and he would have to want the prize as much as Rickey did.  He found these characteristics and qualities in Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, a short stop playing for the         Kansas City Monarchs.  Rickey knew that the road ahead for this player would be fraught with every kind of discrimination that was still prevalent in our country at that time.  He knew and hoped Robinson who was known to have a temper, would be able to withstand the pressures and pain that came with the number.  All that Branch hoped for was, Promises made, promises kept.

In the 1940′s post-war era, baseball became and has remained as The National Pastime of the American public.  People of all ages flocked to the games;  It was an inexpensive and entertaining way to spend the afternoon and could also be a family affair.  There were two  white leagues (AL + NL) and the Negro league, each with their own style and fans and never the two to mix.  That is until Branch Rickey decided to break the color barrier.

Brian Helgeland directed this film based on the significance of Jackie Robinson’s role in baseball.  He extracted an excellent performance  from Harrison Ford.   Although at times, one might say Ford’s portrayal of Branch Rickey bordered on caricature, he was entirely believable and best of all, you forget that you are watching the former Indiana Jones.  I thought there were notable performances from John C. McGinley who played the Red Barber, T. R. Knight as Harry (Harold Parott), Rickey’s right hand man, and André Holland who portrayed Wendell Smith, the sports writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, and Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese.  Chadwick Boseman embodied the moody and guarded reticence of the angry young Robinson and showed us a deeply moving  display of pent-up anger and frustration when Robinson was being horrendously taunted by Ben Chapman, (Alan Tudyk), the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

42 brings the injustice and ultimately the absurdity of racial discrimination  once again to the forefront of our consciousness much in the same manner as The Help.  We are collectively ashamed and cheered by the triumph of those oppressed characters, once again confirming the age-old adage that good triumphs over evil.  Rickie predicted it himself when he said, “ We can win only if we can convince the world that I’m doing this because you’re a great ballplayer, a fine gentleman.”

I found myself tearing up during many scenes, it was emotionally moving.  I Loved It!

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RADICALIZED? EMBEDDED?

Flag of the United States on American astronaut Neil Armstrong’s space suit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having spent a good part of last week and this weekend listening to the news channels practically all day, the word radicalization kept popping up.  This is not a word we use in our everyday conversation and so its use stood out in broadcast.  Of course its use and application in this instance made it all the more prominent.

It got me thinking about another word that is used again and again in news broadcasts: Embedded.  You hear this word whenever the news is about a war or war zone.  It refers to a journalist or reporter who is traveling along with a platoon or regiment and he or she are embedded with the troops.

Interesting that these two words stand out to me and I am trying to think of some more words that have been co-opted into a use other than perhaps their original meaning and intent.  Sadly, these two words apply to our state of the world where terrorism, unrest, war and strife are often front page news.

I grew up in the 50′s and other than listening to war stories from my Dad, I don’t remember any new words creeping into our vernacular.  Well let me amend that by adding astronaut, cosmonaut, sputnik and muttnik were certainly words I had not encountered up to the point when the USSR and the USA  began to race to space.  

The next influx of terms and words that I remember coming into everyday use, came as a result of the Vietnam War.  Napalm, Agent Orange, guerilla warfare are just a few that come to mind (it was a long time ago).  Again the language of war!  So sad that it is under severe circumstances that the new words appear or the old ones take on a nuance, we’ve not acknowledged before.

Of course the technology of the late 70′s and 80′s and 90′s has brought us not only words but a whole new language.  Gigabytes, megabytes, micro chips, HTML, beta, VCR, CD, DVD, Tivo, hard drive, software, hardware, firewall, spam, and on and on.  I know a whole blog post could be created just with the language of technology – I could start with Hi-Fi !!

Other than the slang of youth, their own mis-use and/or decision to re-invent a meaning of a word (i.e. like, random, down, sick) and so on, I wonder what other words have come into our daily vernacular?  What words do you know or remember as taking on a new meaning or were or are being used on a much more regular basis?  PLEASE let us all know.  I just dashed this blog post off this morning without much aforethought and no research so would greatly appreciate reader input!!

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The Friday Finale – Au Revoir Quebec – A Bientôt

The Friday Finale – Farewell Quebec – See You Soon

The last day of your vacation always comes too soon, whether you’ve been gone two weeks or 4 days!  We planned this trip with that i mind so we booked return flights just after 5:00pm with the thought that we would have a good part of the day to continue our exploration of the charming village of Vieux Quebec.  

After a breakfast of crèpes and the usual assortment of toasts, bread, ham, cheese, a pork breakfast paté, and about 100 jams, jellies and spreads – whew! We went back to our rooms and packed. Marjorie graciously allowed us to store all of our belongings for the rest of the day and so out and off we went!  

The day was significantly warmer than it had been all week but there were some clouds so it was hard to decide what to wear now and on the way home because everything else would be packed.  By now you must know what our first stop was – Yes we went to the Starbucks in the Frontenac.  The Chateau is clearly the focal point of the town, if not by its sheer size then certainly by its magnificent facade.  Each side of this historic structure is different and impressive in its own right.

Looking Up, Up, Up

The Morning Fix

We took a different route to Starbucks this morning and passed by a beautiful Art Deco building.  Known as the Price building, we discovered it was the very building that we had admired for the past several nights.  In the evening, it was lit up and bore a striking resemblance to the Woolworth Building in New York City.  The Price family was in paper and in the dazzling lobby were some plaques depicting the industry.

Logging is the backbone of the paper industry

Matt and Stacey wanted to walk up to The Plains of Abraham and I had had it with walking up any more hills so we accompanied them part of the way and then we meandered through some of the more residential streets of Old Quebec.  From the top of the hill on the Plains, Matt captured some beautiful photos of the city below and beyond.

View from the Plains of Abraham. The south side of the Frontenac is in the distance.

A closer view:

A bust of Samuel Champlain in the forefront

All good things must come to an end and so we joined each other for lunch at a restaurant we had discovered the first day we were in Quebec but had not frequented.  Restaurant 1640 proved to be a great place to have our farewell meal.  The cream of vegetable soup was delicious and my quiche was just the right size.

Farewell lunch at Restaurant 1640

So it’s au revoir Quebec, à bientôt!

All photos courtesy of Matthew Weinstein

THIS IS MATTHEW!

 

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THURSDAY- Mais évidemment, il pleut de nouveau!

THURSDAY – But of course, it’s raining again

The weather did a 360 and went from sunshine to clouds with the threat of rain and the temperature dropped a bit.  Already totally acclimated as true Québécquois, we didn’t let a few clouds and raindrops deter us from our mission.  Today’s sojourn was to be a walking tour of the Upper City;  Quebec City consists of an Upper City and a Lower City.  Hardly surprising as I’ve tried to relate to you the many ups and downs of the town.  Armed with umbrellas we set off;

“Neither snow nor rain nor dark of night…”

We headed straight to the Starbucks located on the Grande Allee for a shot of caffeine and warmth.  Note the girls are wearing gloves today!  The Upper City is outside the walls of Old Quebec and the size and magnitude of  the buildings was a far cry from the stone houses in Vieux Quebec.  Below is a photo of the street and doorway of our B & B.

Chez Marie-Claire
64 Rue Sainte Ursule

The Ursuline nuns are a real presence in our neighborhood.  There is a museum devoted to their order, they run a school and there are several plaques in the area with historical information regarding their historical contribution to the town.

As I said, the Grande Allee is home to several government buildings, the largest being The Parliament (pictured below).

The Parliament of Quebec

The ediface is adorned with multiple life-size bronze statues depicting the heroes, statesmen and other historic figures.  We went inside just to see the lobby and went through a security check just a shade less than an airport.  Built in the late 1800′s it’s 8 stories high and quite elegant inside.

From there we took a quick look at The Plains of Abraham which on this day looked rather dismal and empty and certainly it was windier there than on the streets where the large buildings buffered us from some of the wind gusts.  We passed a very large castle-like building which was the Mènage Militaire.  

Time to eat again (quell surprise)!  This afternoon we seem unable to make a unified decision as to where and what to eat!  Everyday, I say I don’t care because I don’t usually eat lunch, however in the end I try to find something on the lighter side.  Since we couldn’t agree on a restaurant or an ethnicity, we opted to go to Epicerie Europeenne, which was essentially a small market with a superb cheese and olive selection as well as pre-prepared sandwiches.  Good choice for all!  We decided to pick up some local cheese, a baguette, some olives and some gin and Bloody Ceasars for a pre-dinner at home cocktail hour. Another good choice!

Au Revoir!

All photos courtesy of Matt Weinstein

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Wednesday – Le Soleil Est Sortie Et Nous Aussi

“Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day...”  and we’re not in Oklahoma!  Wednesday has dawned sunny and bright and we  joined  Stacey and Matt for a delightful le petit dejeuner  of delicious French toast and fruit and fromagee et jambon and we were introduced to Maple Butter.  A basket of bread and toasts and about 8 different jams, jellies, butters and honey were on the table. Maple butter is yummy on toast or on your spoon!

Breakfast Is Served

Animated Conversation Between Brother and Sister

Marjorie gives us some ideas as to where to go and what to see on this lovely day.  We are going to go to the Lower City and explore the many boutiques on Rue Petit Champlain and then walk to the street where there are many antique shops.  Quebec City is a multi-level town.  I think our hotel is somewhere in the middle and it’s a long way down!  I say let’s take the Funicular, if not for the ease then at least for the experience.  Of course it WAS an experience.  The four of us are in this rather small green metal and glass box 193 feet up and on our way down the track WHEN all of a sudden it lurches to a stop 2/3 of the way down. Oh boy!

193 Feet Up!

Uh, We’ve STOPPED

Eventually it began again and we don’t know why it did or why it stopped and when we got to the bottom and saw the ticket-taker at the other end, he apologized to us that our car was suspended for 3-4 minutes!

Stacey and I discovered a fantastic kitchen supply store and saw so many gadgets that we had never seen in the USA.  We each bought a pair of scissors that will chiffonade herbs – I can’t wait to use them on basil to make a fabulous Sunday sauce.    We meandered our way through the oldest part of Vieux Quebec admiring the architecture and reading the numerous plaques provided by the government informing us of the historical significance of the buildings and places.

This is the Place Royale, the original centre of Vieux Quebec

Our foursome spends considerable amount of time discussing when they’re going to eat and where they’re going to eat and here we are in a Vietnamese restaurant – with me slurping up a delicious soup.

The hostess instructs me in the art of eating this soup.

No trip to another country or state would be complete for us if we didn’t find the antique section or at least a flea market.  Stacey dons a hat and strikes a pose.

Combien ca coute?

More walking and eventually we are looping back towards home and that means what goes down must now go up but we’re not near the funicular and I groan as I look up at the stairs and the elevation we need to reach to get back.  We walked through the ramparts amidst more cannons than I have ever seen before.  As we climbed higher and higher the views were amazing, and one of the most surprising would be below!

The Port of Quebec is FROZEN still!!!

It was good to get home and sit down and curl up in my overstuffed armchair.

All photos courtesy of Matthew Weinstein

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We Gotta Eat – Et Encore Il Pleut Toujours!

Gite Chez Marie-Claire has a delightful second floor living room with a huge TV and a wall of bookcases and big comfy furniture;  It was a cosy comforty refuge from the cold wind and rain.  I tucked myself into a huge armchair, legs propped up on an equally large  ottoman, computer on lap and happily playing Scrabble online.  I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE!  But we gotta eat….

And it’s still raining, yuk!  Well Stacey and I have umbrellas but our coats are still wet from this afternoon.  Being typical New Yorkers we wonder out loud if we can order in Chinese food.  Apparently not.   Having already read about and experienced first hand the not-so-reasonable price of dining out in Old Quebec, we searched online for someplace nearby and not outrageously expensive.  That’s pretty much an oxymoron since if it’s nearby it would be in the heart of the Old City (where we are) and therefore in the heart of tourist center of Quebec.  So it was to the Canadian YELP we turned.

Les parapluies de Vieux Québec

Reading the reviews was a bit disheartening since the majority of them noted the overpriced and only average food and often slow service.  There was one place we considered but when we read the reviews we were shocked that they were still in business.  Don’t the restaurant owners in Old Quebec ever check YELP?  Maybe they’re not looking for repeat business because there’s such a steady influx of tourists.  We finally settled on a restaurant named Parmesan restaurant which was close enough and we headed out delighted that it wasn’t raining.  We didn’t even get to the corner when the drops came down

Restaurant Parmesan graciously welcomed us and we stepped out of the rain into  a warm and lively and busy restaurant.  We had a great corner table affording us a view of what was going on and the intimacy that comes from sitting at a table just a ways apart from the others.  There  were wine bottles with candles stuck in them, strings of red peppers  and garlic cloves hanging everywhere, red walls and even an accordian  player!

Bella Musica

Needless to say the combination of music and martinis made us forget the rain and we had a great time and ate a lot.

Martinis Make Everything Nice

Bon Soir!

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Parlez-vous Quebecois? Pete and Lori, Matt and Stacey’s Excellent Adventure

Many of my readers are personal friends and they know that we often travel with Peter’s sister and her husband.  We have been on some really great adventures with them and some,… well let’s just say I don’t always make great choices.  I say “I” because usually I am  the one that comes up with an idea of where to go.  Matt gets the ball rolling by asking “When are we going to go on a trip again”?  It’s not that they don’t travel a lot because they do and we  do not.   Once we bought the cottage we were financially obligated to it and our travel wings were virtually clipped.

In the past we have gone to South Africa with them, to an island “…who shall not be named”, to the Bahamas and now we are in Old Quebec City.  In December I got the idea to come up with a trip utilizing the miles I had accumulated on a credit card.  I had to book a trip by the end of  December or they would expire.  I didn’t have A LOT and wanted to get two tickets, go to a place that wouldn’t require traveling all day and would be interesting to all of us.  We are not resort people.  Why would I  go to a beach resort when I have my own cottage by the sea?  And also, we like to explore cities and experience their culture, which is why we always opt to stay in a Bed and Breakfast.   Quebec seemed like a great place for us to go.

Stacey agreed and when we booked this trip in December for April, I had visions of spring-like days where we would be able explore this ancient walled city on foot.  Well here we are;  It’s presently 48 degrees and pouring rain!!!  We’re used to being pedestrians and in fact that was one of the more attractive features of Old Quebec for us:  We would be able to walk everywhere  and not deal with renting a car.  Walking in the rain is a whole other story.  We arrived around noon and it was pouring  and it has been steadily raining ever since.   We ventured out, looking for a nearby place to have lunch;  Peter wanted an omelette.

Mous arrivons Chez Marie-Claire

YES we are having omelets

Photos courtesy of Matt Weinstein

We stopped at a cute little place called Cafeé Bistro L’Omelette. For a tourist city (read trap) the prices were reasonable (sort of) and lunch for the four of us was $50.  Not so reasonable after all and that was only lunch!  We walked around a bit and lo and behold what did we find but a Starbucks! What a spot they have – in the lower level of the Chateau Frontenac and on the  promenade overlooking the St. Lawrence Seaway.   From there we explored some of the shops and the beautiful lobby of this grandest of grand hotels.  It was virtually empty and one of the shop owners confirmed this is the very slow season.  I guess this  was one reason the room rates seemed attractive.  Duh ya think??

Not only is it raining, there are also mounds of snow here and there around the city.  Every time we have gone on a trip I’ve managed to find at least one place to visit that is unique to the country we are in and often off the beaten track.  I don’t know about this time.  So far all I’ve discovered is a street outside the walled city that is renowned for its Canadian cheese shops AND that would require us finding a cab and traveling outside of Old Quebec.

Gite Chez Marie-Claire (our B & B) is charming as are the owners, Marjorie and Pascal.  Our room is on the third floor and I have never been in a B & B with an elevator.  Oh well, I need the exercise.

The Grandest of the Grand Hotels The Chateau Frontenac

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What Came First? The Egg, the Frog or The Human?

Harking back to my blog of a few days ago when I shared the wonderful news of the impending birth of my third grandchild, I was sent something I thought you all might get a kick out of.  For those of you who are mothers and grandmothers, I think you will be laughing till tears come to your eyes.  I know I was.  My friend, Sarajane sent this to me and I’m reposting it here for all to have a good laugh on this not-so-sunny Saturday.  It is about 10 minutes long and hilarious so sit yourself down and enjoy!  For all you new moms out there – watch, listen and learn – YOUR DAY WILL COME!

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It Wasn’t All Trauma and Drama After All

I know I have been amusing my readers with tales of trauma and drama in Florida, however we did have some good times too!  Of course we NEVER got to the beach and we DIDN’t go in the pool because somehow the days were filled with pre-planned activities as well as the daily chores of running a big household.  Not sure if the highlight of my trip was the fact that I did 3 loads of laundry in a washer and dryer that was right in the house! Yes I know that sounds silly to all of you who own homes but in NYC, washers/dryers in apartments is not all that common so it’s down to the laundry room trying to figure out when all the cleaning ladies won’t be there taking up all the machines.  I’ve become a late night washer lol.

We made cookies; Finley mixed all the dry ingredients and she blended the butter and brown sugar in a bowl and she cooked the caramel.  Francesca broke up the pretzels and eventually it came together to make Caramel Pretzel Bars.  BUT…somehow I had the wrong temperature on in the oven so the crust burnt, Chiara didn’t have a candy thermometer so I don’t think I ever cooked the caramel long enough or hot enough because it was soupy.  Frankie didn’t break up the pretzel rods small enough and we were supposed to use small twists which are significantly thinner and would break into odd size pieces – instead we had thick sticks that lined up like Lincoln Logs on the crust.

Look Mommy, Gigi lets me sit near the open flame!

I’m cooking the caramel

And we had quiet time too…

Quiet time in the kitchen

I got stickers!

And we went to a great Easter Egg Hunt and event at the Delray Beach Historical Society. It was a gorgeous day and the ladies had done a spectacular job creating and coordinating the events. There were T-shirts you could design, sticker puzzles, carrot baseball and carrot golf (don’t ask) the egg hunt and a big pinata for the kids to try to break open. A table was set with tiers of mouth-watering shortcake cookies and mini-cupcakes and they served Arnold Palmer‘s (iced tea and lemonade). Chiara told me to dress the girls in their elephant dresses;  She had bought them matching dresses in Thailand last year and they were the HIT of the event. I don’t think there was one person there who didn’t come up to me and remark about how cute the girls looked in their dresses and how adorable the dresses were and where did they come from.

Finley Ray (4 years old) knocked the pinata off the tree! She also got the most eggs in her age group but the prize only went to the girl who found the Golden Egg!  No matter, when we got home and emptied out the two bags of plastic eggs, each one contained candy! Wow just what we needed!

Batter up

Francesca and the Hula Hoop

Whack that egg!

They do look adorable don’t they?

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A Wholly UNHOLY Easter Sunday – Gen X You Win!

Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny

Well, if you thought my Not So Good Friday story was something, let me tell you how we spent Easter Sunday…  The fact of the matter is that in a way it was more traumatic but of significantly shorter duration and it ended with a funny episode. 

Finley was up before 7am and I think she went downstairs even though I had told her not to do that, the night before.  She came into my room and I gathered her up and put her in bed beside me foolishly thinking  just maybe she would rest a bit and I could catch another 15 minutes or so – NOT.  She began to weave a long tale about how she had seen the Easter bunny and he had told her she was special.  Then she told me that she knew the bunny had put one of the baskets in the office (and he had!).  That had me a bit worried  so I asked her where did he put the other and she said the closet – Whew! The other was hidden in the kitchen.  We got Frankie up and down we went in search of the Easter loot.  Sure enough Finley made a bee line to the office and snatched the pink pail off the shelf.  We got Francesca to look in a couple of rooms but basically she just kept asking Finley for some of the candy, so I guided her into the kitchen and pointed to the pail.  Happy smiles all around.

They each bit the head off their chocolate peanut butter rabbits and Finley ate at least half of her solid chocolate bunny I had brought from NYC – it was a gift from my friend, Alice.  Frankie was still chomping down the Reese’s rabbit. Well I guess breakfast is out of the question now!

We were going to take the girls to the playground in downtown Delray Beach and then to lunch at Crepes By The Sea.  Things didn’t exactly go down that way.  We almost got out the door and into the car but …..If you follow this blog you know that I made a pact with the family that my blog would not be a platform for letting the world in behind closed doors.  So having said that, here’s the upshot of what happened.  We ended up taking Francesca to the ER. YES SHE’S FINE!  It was just a situation where we thought it best to make sure all was ok. AND all is ok.  

However, making my way to Bethesda East on Easter Sunday was somewhat disconcerting, considering how we spent Good Friday!  I carried her in and stood there at the reception area while I watched one of the two nurses laughing and playing on her computer.  The other one looks up and says, “May I help you?”  Let’s see now, I’m holding a small child in my arms wrapped up and  even though it was Easter we didn’t come to trick or treat!!!  ”I have an emergency with the baby”, I say.  OH! So I was ushered in and given a wheelchair to sit in because I couldn’t keep holding her.  

Francesca was such a good girl;  The nurse put a bracelet on her wrist which we all admired and told her it was her special bracelet.   She (Frankie) wasn’t keen on having her shoe removed and something wrapped around her toe so they could check her heart rate.  Then Finley announced that the machine in the room was a blood pressure machine and that she once had to have her blood pressure taken and it squeezed her arm so tightly that it hurt.  Thank you Finley for announcing that to Frankie.

The best part (for the kids) was that each little curtained-off room had its own TV screen and we all got to watch Tom & Jerry cartoons.  Things move slowly even in an ER, so I would say we were there close to two hours.  Because Francesca had been such a good girl, we were going for ice cream.  She wanted strawberry which was probably because Finley wanted strawberry.  I had to convince them both that we should have some lunch first and didn’t everybody want to go to Crepes By The Sea?  

After lunch, we headed to Orange Leaf which is one of those places where you can fill a cup with your own choices of frozen yogurt and toppings.  The entire room was filled with double pump stations with flavors ranging from chocolate to banana to coconut and red velvet BUT NO STRAWBERRY. You coulda guessed it, right?

Gen X You WIN!   Everything in Chiara and Tom’s house is highly technological and complicated. Did I ever tell you how the night that Finley Ray was born and all the grandparents (that would be 5 of us) were staying at the condo, NONE of us could get the TV on!!  Well, the night I stepped on the glass,  Peter was out;  He had taken Tom’s new BMW to go visit a friend.  He almost didn’t get there because he couldn’t get the car started. The key didn’t turn it on!  He thought the dashboard looked like a rocket ship and no matter what he did, he could not turn the car on.  I’m not sure if it was Peter or Theresa the cleaning lady, who finally discovered the button that actually turned the car on!  Coming home the gas light went on and Peter stopped to get some gas. BUT how to open the gas cap?  Can you believe he couldn’t find out how to open it and the guys in the gas station couldn’t figure it out either.  He drove to a second station and again the attendants didn’t know how to access the gas tank.  Really now! He just drove home, parked it in the garage and threw up his hands in amazement. Gen X You WIN!

On Sunday, we thought it would be a good idea to put some gas in the Truro for the morning run to the airport.  Peter is not a fan of self-service gas stations to say the least.  In fact, he downright dislikes the whole idea of them but hey here we are in Florida and this Shell gas station has only self-service.  He pulls up to a pump and turns to me and says I have no idea how you open this gas tank.  In our car, a RAV 4, there is a lever on the floor clearly marked with a gas pump symbol.  No such lever here, no symbol on the dashboard or the console.  Mmmm well the car is still running and I suggest we look at the manual.  The fact that two adults who have over a 100 years of driving experience between them can’t open the gas cap is ludicrous.  I looked in the index and there was nothing about where the cap was or how to access it. We looked at the page that identified all the things on the dashboard and there was NOTHING about the gas tank there.   We started going through the manual page by page – still nothing.  Meantime,  we are sitting in the car with it running on Easter Sunday.  I thought just maybe the guy in the building might know because after all it was a fairly common car.  Peter looked at me like I had two heads and said, “You mean the guy who is selling cigarettes and gum?” Ok maybe it was a dumb idea. Five more minutes and fidgeting in the car, I suggest Peter go out and locate the gas tank. Now he looks at me like I have 3 heads and says, “Oh and you think it opens manually?”  One minute later, Peter opens the car door and says, “I have the gas cap, it opened manually”.  I burst out laughing, uncontrollably.  I couldn’t stop and neither could he – it was one of those crazy times when ALL the stress and tension you’ve had about a complicated problem(s) is resolved in the simplest silliest way.  We just laughed and laughed, tears rolling down our faces.  It was then that I thought perhaps the guy selling gum and cigarettes was sitting in his booth saying to himself, “those two guys can sit out there with the car running all day, I’m still not going out there.  Can’t they read the sign that says Self-Service”?  And that brought more gales of laughter.

Gen X you win!!!!

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