Guard your chargecard!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Charge Card

The year was 1967 and Mastercard came into being.

Is this a friend or foe? It's ruined many people who haven't the faintest idea of spending.

It's helped me out a lot. My husband Allen insisted I use mine every so often so that I could always have good credit.

And to this day, I carry very little cash. When I go into a restaurant or a small business, I pay cash.

For everything else...that plastic card is slid into the place where it checks to see if my card is usable.

Time was when it wasn't done electronically. When we had our toy store, we had an enormous thick book about the size of our Yellow Pages, and we had to check the number by looking.

I never told my husband Allen that I couldn't see such close print so I made a pretense of looking...then I accepted.

It worked! Never did we stumble on an over-extended card.

Some customers asked if we would give them the 4 percent discount if they paid cash.

It didn't matter to us...we agreed.

I just love my credit card and if you're in a pinch the ATM machines.

It's done much harm...but much good! You gotta weigh the card or the person using the card.

The Written Word!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Written Word!

We are so fortunate.


  When I go to the library, it's like a magnificent buffet...so many books just to entertain me and also to make me a little smarter.



I just got to thinking about books because when I was very young, my first enrollment was in our free public library.


  Also my son's first connection with the outer world was his library card.

When I pick up a book, I hold it reverenly in my hands. I look to see how heavy it is...how many pages...and then I wonder about the author. Did the author think long and hard about the storyline...or just sit down and begin writing. Did he spend much time searching for the perfect verb or adjective to give the sentence the punch desired. Was it put there for shock value.



So much to wonder about and what a thrill it is to open the flap and read a little bit about the story. If it's a thriller, I immediately return it to its shelf.



After I've finished reading and digesting a good book, I love to discuss it with someone...I like to lie in bed or in the bathtub and think about it some more...such enjoyment.



The earliest dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 CE. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date.


In 1041, movable clay type was first invented in China. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440). This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.




So..thank God for the printing press. The Egyptians used hierglyphics which is still preserved in the pyramids today.



I believe this is the greatest time in history for upcoming authors.



First of all...they can do all their research on the internet which really lightens their load. Now, all they have to do is weave a delightful storyline around it...and there you have a novel.


I make is sound so simplistic. Who am I kidding!! And I'm also grateful for paperbacks...so much easier to hold.

Number Please!

Monday, May 26, 2008

My telephones

Our first phone was installed when I was 3 but I remember it.

No more running next door to make a phone call or receive one.

It was one with 2 pieces...you spoke in the speaker part and listened with the the ear phone.

When you lifted the handset, a very pleasant, non-computer voice said 'Number Please.

We had a 4-party line and if we were on too long, we heard about it from the other parties...and then we hung up fast.

Later, we got a circular number dial phone and I thought that was really 'up there'. The word high-tech did not come into being yet.

When Jeff was on vacation from college on Chanukah, he said we're all going to Sears and he was going to buy us a 'push button' phone.

Well, I was against this but I went along. That meant he had to un-install the one we had and re-install the new one.

I really thought I would never have telephone service again...but Jeff and Allen worked on this project and when they were finished, we had a dial tone and I knew we were back in business.

Now I have 3 phones...land phone, remote and a cell phone, which Jeff and Donna have charged for me every year....and every year I have tons of minutes on it ... but I forget to use it. I just don't like the quality of it....seems like a toy phone to me.

The phone I have in my bedroom is really snazzy....it's an 'answering machine' which I think is a miracle in itself.

I have 'caller ID' which interrupts me if I'm using the phone.

I also have a 'speaker phone'....and an ID feature which lets me screen calls if I want to.

It also tells me what time the caller has tried to reach me and the day.

I think that even Alexander Graham Bell would be overwhelmed by the wonderfulness that he invented.

What a sensationl invention. And one other feature, I get to use a web-cam and to see and talk to my kids every Sunday when they give me computer lessons...all the things I screwed up with during the week. Because of the phone I have high-speed internet service...all for reading ythe silly jokes.

I'm not complaining...I JUST LOVE IT1

Our front porch glider

Thursday, May 1, 2008

lazy days on the front porch

One of the favorite pieces of furniture when I was growing up was our glider on the front porch. More interesting conversations took place there and that is the spot where we were able to feel complete happiness and delight with the world.

We would swing back and forth, either alone or with a member of our family and we would just enjoy.

My Sister and I bought song sheets at the 5 & 10, about 20 all different colored sheets...and with our girlfriends we would sing by the hour.

Now that I think about it, it's a wonder the neighbors didn't complain. I'm sure that it couldn't have been that enjoyable to them....hearing silly girls giggling and singing.

We really knew every lyric to every song. This is how we spent the depression years...sipping lemonade and singing ballads. One day a boy came a callin' and we were just sitting on the glider talking and laughing. Somebody's mother sewed me a broom stick skirt that was just the rage. I was about 16 and I was all dressed up entertaining on my glider.

I got up to serve him a glass of lemonade and when I got up, little did I realize he was sitting on part of my skirt...so as I arose, the skirt just slid down and I was in my panties.

I was too embarrassed to come out again. Eventually he left...probably giggling!

How I long for my glider sometimes. When nighttime came, it never occurred to us to turn on the porchlight. We just sat in the dark and rocked back and forth. People took walks and neighbors would stop in and swing on the glider.

That was an era gone by....but the memory lingers on.