warrin with an i

My Favorite Typewriter Whenever I hear or see the word typewriter my first thought is always of Jerry Lewis doing that pantomime to the song aptly named “The Typewriter”. Of course I love music so it's common for me to associate all kinds of things with music. My Mom had an old Underwood typewriter. It sat in our den. It must have weighed north of 20 pounds, or so it seemed. This was the typewriter I used throughout high school if I needed to type something up. That was a long time ago. Does anyone even have a typewriter any more? Do people under the age of 40 even know what it is? What happened to all those people who ran typewriter repair places? I was not good at typing, even though I took the subject in high school. I avoided it. Only typed papers when it was required. This, in spite of the fact that the American (QWERTY) keyboard favors the left hand and I am left handed. It was one of the few things related to school that was. Both reading and wri...

Fishing With My Grandfather I was planning on telling a story about going fishing with my grandfather but there's a problem. I never went fishing with my grandfather. My grandfather was a very good athlete when he was young. He played minor league baseball and basketball. He evidently was also a good dancer as he supposedly won some dance contests. He also was good at drinking but gave that up at 30. I loved baseball so he talked baseball with me, a lot. My other grandfather also never took me fishing. He collected things, told me stories of his youth, and later talked politics. Truth is no one in my family did any fishing as far as I know, even though we all lived on an Island. However I did go fishing with my Dad once. One of my Dad's co-workers, named McDonald, was part of a group that used to put together little work skits every once in a while. I'm not sure where and what they did this for, but a few times I remember seeing them. My Dad was a mus...

Who Am I Born 4:30 in the morning of February 20 th 1949 in Oceanside NY. I was the 1 st grand child of both my mother’s and father’s parents and of course I was male (this was considered a good thing back then). I was what I now call a "golden child". I was the center of the family’s attention, that was until my sister had to come along and spoil things two and a half years later. However, I was still the oldest and still male. Now when you couple my being a 1 st tier baby boomer (translation: self absorbed) and being a golden child it’s a wonder anyone can stand to be around me for any time at all. Three things I learned from my parents/family: 1 – Self-reliance: as in do things yourself and only ask for help if you are desperate and then only from family or those you trust. 2- "Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all." (I lean toward the latter choice). This was my Dad’s favorite saying. 3 – It is my task/responsibility to keep the chi...