The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[Duleigh]

Just back from Europe, wondering if this thread is a good place to post pics?

This is primarily a discussion forum but the occasional snapshot isn't turned down.

 

[MrPixel]

That sound you hear in the background is the coffee pot gurgling. Pour yourself a cup and have a seat. Prosit!

 

[Rustyoznail]

I don't know if other people see it, but this is page 500 of Room 9.

Cheers to all, and in memory of all who are no longer with us.

 

[MrPixel]

Heh. Not a brag, but an expression of appreciation. I must've tickled Laurel's funny bone, 'cause the three-part story I posted this morning a little after midnight have all three chapters approved and marked "NEW" for publication starting Saturday. Thanks, Laurel!

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Hope everyone in the Florida area stays safe tonight. Cat 4 is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[MrPixel]

We are in the process of decluttering in prep for moving to a house we hope to start building next year. We've ever-so-slightly passed that "Where in the F do we start?" stage, finding bite-size chunks of 37 years of accumulation to dispose of.

First line of attack was inherited clutter. C had a collection of "silver" from her BFF who passed 30 years ago, and we spent an evening sorting through it. The box weighed 35 pounds, so if it was in fact sterling silver, we were looking at a fair sum. Turns out two-thirds of it was stainless-steel flatware, which was carted off to Goodwill. The remainder was a very nice, very heavy coffee service. The hallmarks looked right, so we were still seeing dollar signs. Story shortened, it was high-quality silverplate. Worth essentially nothing, so it, too, was given away.

One box down.

Next box was gewgaws and trinkets given as "cute" gifts over the years. Some was kind of nice, some was clever, some was artsy. Both real and sentimental value were zero. Easy: Goodwill.

Now we get to the residue from her mother's estate; she passed 10 years ago. The first box was old photos, which C keeps opening, rifling through, and closing the lid to put back on the shelf. She cannot get past the notion that these uncaptioned, undated prints (first half of 1900s?) are of possible relatives she never met, and she is the last of her line. "For heaven's sake, throw them away, dear!" Still, back on the shelf.

Now we get to Mom's bank statements and processed checks. They are all well past any sort of statute of limitation or tax record retention rule. It's at least 25 years' worth, yet C is opening every envelope and - heaven help me - reading every check to see what her mother was up to in the last third of her life. What we have determined is Mom bought a lot of self-help books, clothes out of a catalog, and vitamins from some charlatan. C's emptied the paper shredder three times, yet is not even halfway through the box. Her station for doing this is taking up half the office.

Lordy.

 

[Duleigh]

She cannot get past the notion that these uncaptioned, undated prints (first half of 1900s?) are of possible relatives she never met, and she is the last of her line.

I know exactly how C feels. I have become the repository of the family's photographs for 3 very good reasons
1. I love history (I do better at identifying cars and farm implements than the people in the photos)
2. I once took photography in school
3. I have no one else to dump them onto

The stuff that I want to preserve, my great Uncle's photographs from his days as Station Master at the majestic New York Central station in Buffalo, another great-uncle's photographs from when he was an engineer on the Wabash Railroad in Buffalo, my maternal grandfather's 16mm movies of the B&O RR in the southern tier of NY, my paternal grandfather's classic pre-war Lionel trains, my dad's Lionel trains... nobody seems to know where all of that went.

 

[MrPixel]

3. I have no one else to dump them onto

Therein lies the rub. C worked for a big-city history museum many years ago and knows the issues. Yet she cannot bring herself to toss the majority which cannot be curated.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Therein lies the rub. C worked for a big-city history museum many years ago and knows the issues. Yet she cannot bring herself to toss the majority which cannot be curated.

A lot of small town museums can't get volunteers to help, and there's a lack of interest by younger tourists in visiting. Conversely, people would like to donate items their parents or grandparents had that are relevant to the town.

It's a big problem.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09...olunteer-visitor-numbers-struggling/104389470

 

[MrPixel]

It's a big problem.

C's professional experience aside, it's a universal big problem. I was president of the local (small) history museum for several years. Damn tootin' everybody retiring to Florida (literally!) determined we absolutely needed the mementos of their lives living here. We couldn't turn anything down out of fear they'd stop sending money, some of it considerable. I mean, for crissakes, what are we going to do with five pianos, two of which were player pianos that needed overhauls?!

There was near-fisticuffs with the curator - another volunteer - when I quipped, "The third floor looks like a thrift shop without price tags." She was a - well, you know, to begin with, anyway - and rallied her Q-tip friends to push back. At that point I resigned from the board, and haven't been back. It was bad enough just trying to keep the place from turning into the town dump, and her "curation" consisted of how much Scotch tape to use, but the rancor this biddy and her buds engendered had become intolerable.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've got a little time before he starts college.

Yes, this is where they learn to socialize and take their first steps at counting and learning their colors. Much needed skills for the modern University setting.

 

[Duleigh]

This is a red tail hawk we found in Sawyer ND, just at the edge of town.
The hawk is scanning the Souris River Valley for mice or gophers
(also known as Dak Rats)​

 

[MillieDynamite]

So, that's where my guard hawk got off to, so send him back!

View attachment 2398970
This is a red tail hawk we found in Sawyer ND, just at the edge of town.
The hawk is scanning the Souris River Valley for mice or gophers
(also known as Dak Rats)​

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I've got a little time before he starts college.

Less time than you think, sadly. Carpe diem!

 

[Duleigh]

So, that's where my guard hawk got off to, so send him back!

You sure he's yours? He says his name is Steve.

 

[MillieDynamite]

My day was seazed for me.

Less time than you think, sadly. Carpe diem!

No, mine pronounces his name, Screeeeeeeeeeech.

You sure he's yours? He says his name is Steve.

 

[Oldermom935]

Hi everyone. Hope your day or night is well.

 

[Duleigh]

Hi everyone. Hope your day or night is well.

Hi OM935
Welcome to the coffee shop! Relax, there's always fresh coffee and a hot pot of tea

 

[Duleigh]

I hear that old piano from down the Avenue
I smell the pine trees, I look around for you
Oh, my sweet, sweet, sweet old someone coming through the door
It's Saturday and the band is playing
Honey, could we ask for more
​

What an amazing show!
82 years old and Garrison Keillor did an entire two hour show without a break
He's an incredible author, singer, and comedian.
It's been years since A Prairie Home Companion went off the air, but he got the whole gang back together and put on an incredible show this evening.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Dad had a lot prairie home companion on CDs (Y'all remember them don'tcha?) and in one he told a story from Lake Wobegon, in a woman walked into her backyard, barefoot, one night. She put her foot down felt something slimy squishing under her foot, and then it jumped away croaking. She fell back, screaming for her husband. She'd stepped on a frog. That's one I remember, but only that story. Oh, I remember the second grader joke, "why are the larva upset?" "I don't know why are all the larva upset?" "They just found out all their uncles are ants."

"Don't call his belly a beer gut, it's a liquid grain storage facility."

And loved the song, "Sam and Janet Evening."

 

[Oldermom935]

 

[Oldermom935]

 

[Duleigh]

Dad had a lot prairie home companion on CDs

Your dad would have loved the show, it was the same show as we heard on the radio with a more adult twist. He recited a poem about sperm which was hilarious. When he said "It's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone, my home town" the normally staid and uptight Norwegian crowd I was in went crazy, he had to wait 10 minutes for the gang to settle down. (It was a sold out auditorium, maybe 8,000 people which is huge for North Dakota) But the news from Lake Woebegone was sad, so many closed businesses, Bunsen Motors, Krebsbach Chevrolet, the Powdermilk Biscuit Plant, Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery (If you can't find it at Ralph's, you can probably get along without it) all closed. It was a visit to your home town after being away too long. It was still funny but sad so much has changed in a town that doesn't exist. Even the Statue of the Unknown Norwegian and the worlds biggest ball of twine are gone.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Maybe show time or HBO will run one of them as a special.

 

[Duleigh]

Maybe show time or HBO will run one of them as a special.

There's a lot of PHC full episodes on YouTube going back to the 80s