Category: Uncategorized

On this date in 1932, George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak committed suicide. This is one of those events about which I say “Did I know that?? The answer, I think, is no! Anyway, over the last years of his life Eastman suffered from chronic pain in this back. He could hardly stand and walked in a slow shuffle. So, on March 14, 1932, Eastman committed suicide with a single gunshot to the heart, leaving a note which read, “To my friends: my work is done. Why wait Read More

While December 21 may be Chester Greenwood Day in Farmington Maine, it was on this day in 1877 that Chester patented  earmuffs!  According to Wikipedia Greenwood:

 invented the earmuff in 1873, at the age of 15.[1] He reportedly came up with the idea while ice skating, and had his grandmother sew tufts of fur between loops of wire.[2] His patent was for improved ear protectors. He manufactured these ear protectors, providing jobs for people in the Farmington area, for nearly 60 years.[1] Read More Read More

On this date in 1934 a newspaper editor in Amarillo, Texas proclaimed the first Mother-In-Law Day.

Modeled on the celebration of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Mother-in-Law’s Day was first celebrated on March 5, 1934, in Amarillo, Texas, where it was initiated by the editor of the local newspaper. The observance was later moved to the fourth Sunday in October. Mothers-in-law have never enjoyed the widespread respect and devotion that mothers have received over the years, and the rising divorce rate has given the whole concept of in-laws a less permanent place in the national imagination. This may be part of the reason why Mother-in-Law Day has failed to catch on like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and even Grandparents’ Day. But many people feel that mothers-in-law deserve a special day of their own, if for no other reason than for their good humor in enduring the many jokes that have been told about them. (Source) Read More

For me there is something special about being on a college campus. During our trip this weekend to Boston Elizabeth interview for Graduate School at two universities. First at Northeastern in Boston City and then yesterday at Tufts University in Medford, a little north of Boston. While Northeastern appeared to be nice the urban nature of the University left the buildings square and sterile! Read More

So who knows who Klaus Fuchs was? I didn’t what I learned today was, that on March 1,1950 Fuchs was convicted of giving US and Allied information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. From Wikipdedia: Read More

So if Thursday night and Friday were hard on my family take that and multiply it about a zillion times and you may come close to how tough it must have been for the Marris and Warrington families. My daughter-in-law Meaghan summed it up when she posted on Facebook: Read More

Tonight while I was out running errands, my cell phone rang, my heart stopped because the call  was from my son Peter and the call could not be a good one. He asked if his mother was there, I said I wasn’t home and then he told me that his brother-in-law Will Marris had lost his fight against lung cancer and passed away tonight from complications from pneumonia. My heart sank Will has fought lung cancer for three years and we saw him beat everything it had thrown at him and you just thought he was going to beat this last illness too! But the fight was too hard and he lost it! My heart goes out to his wife Nicole and his son Aiden, his sister and my son Missy and Peter and his mother and father Bill and Dianne who now have to face a task that no parent should have to face burying their child and it comes less than a week after Bill buried his father. Read More

You know there are many times in life that I think that my life sucks, sometimes I am correct and other times I just have to look around and I can see that maybe I don’t have it so bad! Certainly over the last few weeks, being tired of being sick and then having my work not go as well as I’d like, mostly a result of my own doing, I have not been enthralled with my life. But over those same weeks I’ve been reading Jonathan Kozol’s Fire in the Ashes:Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America and like I said I realize that I don’t have it anywhere near as bad as others have it. At least I don’t have to worry that those rats that are making a racket in the walls will stay in the walls, or that my ten-year old son will soon be dealing drugs, all coupled with a school system that is broken! This morning was another one of those times when I realize that having a cold and cough coupled with a job I may not be happy with is nothing! My daughter-in-law Missy and her parents are dealing with the sudden death last Sunday of Missy’s paternal grandfather James Marris. I’ve only met Mr. Marris a few times but he was a really nice man and based upon the turnout at his viewing this morning I’m not the only one who holds that opinion! Looking at all the pictures and memorabilia at the funeral, you see that he had a happy life that was cut unexpected short. Now it’s enough to have to be dealing with the death of a parent at any age, but the loss of a parent and grandparent are not the only thing that the the Marris family is dealing with today. They are also dealing with a son Will who is battling for his life today! Will has been fighting stage four lung cancer for the last three years currently he is in Virtua Hospital in Voorhees battling PCP pneumonia, Found in patients immunocompromised like himself. He is waiting to be transferred to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where his doctors are, but it seems that they can’t get a bed for him! Yesterday, many Facebook friends and family were asked to call ABC-News and anyone else they could to get Will’s story out there and help to get him moved. This morning Will’s wife Nicole asked folks to stop because it wasn’t helping, but to continue to pray that Will will soon be transferred! Anyway, the point is that Will is only 31 years old with a young son a beautiful wife and should have a long life ahead of him instead of fighting for his life. In addition, Will’s parents Bill and Dianne should not have to face the possibility of losing their child especially when it’s added to the pain of losing a parent! So as I sit here and feel bad because I’m coughing and have to work tonight and tomorrow I realize I have nothing to complain about I’ve got a wonderful wife, four great kids and two wonderful daughter in laws! So my prayers go out to Will, wife Nicole, son Aiden, Missy and Peter, and especially Bill and Dianne as well as to people all over the world who are facing tragedies much worse than my puny problems! Whenever, I feel like this, this is the song that comes to mind is Phil Ochs “There But for Fortune” Read More