Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Chatty Kathy - and the "no good deed goes unpunished" phenomena

More than just a popular doll from 50 years ago, a "Chatty Kathy" is a person who won't shut up. I've really got to run, is one clue that you're being too chatty. The quick glance at the wrist watch is another. Oh, my, where has the time gone, I've kept you too long. That's another hint. And there's... Sign in to see full entry.

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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Vigil

Marie slept best in the hours between two and five a.m., curled on her right side. That was when Victor would settle in to spoon her, his left arm over her protectively. Sometimes he closed his eyes and remembered how it was when the only thing that kept either of them awake was the electric... Sign in to see full entry.

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Monday, July 8, 2013

W is for Walter

When we bought the house in the Leclaire neighborhood in 1966, Walter and Millie Abendroth lived next door. He was a retired carpenter, already in his late seventies. He often wore a battered old fedora and a plaid macintosh jacket during cold weather over his carpenter's overalls. He always had... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Reminder to myself

There's another Walter unlike the one we came up with before coffee. Write about him tomorrow... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 9:24 AM | add or view comments (1) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

W is for Walter

One spring day when I was in the eighth grade, the region was shaken by a pretty big earthquake. We were at lunch, had barely gone through the line at the cafeteria and found our seats when the bench began to heave and buck. At first I thought it was the boys getting up to rush out to play ball... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:51 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, July 6, 2013

V is for Vernon

Vernon, we never shortened it to Vern, was a big guy. In the startup days at SIU we had an in-house office supply warehouse known as "General Stores." If the Bursar's Office or the Art Department needed paper, pencils, typewriter ribbons, etc., they'd send a requisition through the campus mail to... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:40 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, July 5, 2013

U is for Uri

I can't say I really knew Uri. He worked at Seattle Central with me, was hired on a couple years after I started working there in '95. He was on the Safety Committee, and after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on 9-11-01, that suddenly changed from being an excuse to get out of the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:55 AM | add or view comments (11) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, July 4, 2013

T is for Tommy

I was racking my brain for a name beginning with T, when CCT mentioned "Tommy." And that's when I flashed on Tommy Snodgrass. Hadn't thought of him in years. Tommy was a friend of a friend, his family's riding stable and horse farm was next door to Grace Ivarson's cattle operation. Grace was a... Sign in to see full entry.

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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

S is for Stuart

If you could take the happy personality of a Labrador puppy and put it in human form, you'd have Stuart. He was close to six feet tall, light brown hair, blue eyes, and a ready grin - never flashy or pushy. He genuinely seemed to like everyone, and treated us all with a curiously formal politeness.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:55 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

R is for Roger

Roger Ellingham worked in the mail room at the phone company in 1953 when I was hired in. It was Pacific Telephone & Telegraph's home office, the accounting and administrative building on Eighth Avenue (if I remember correctly) in downtown Seattle. Roger had seniority on the mail room crew. I was... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:52 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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