trying to stop pilferage

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

How things are wrapped!

Including packaging have sure changed. When we had our toy store, a blister package was a thin sheet of plastic over the item, and you would pull it apart as easily as peeling a banana.

Today, not so. It's just about the hardest chore on my schedule these days. However, I have a wonderful friend...Virginia, who lives right next door to me. One day she walked over with a present for me....a good pair of scissors made for slicing into todays's blister pack.

When she brought it over, I thought I would never have occasion to use it.

Well...this gift returned me from insanity to being very functional.

My old cell phone wouldn't hold a charge....so I made a new purchase of an upgraded one. Not only was the phone in rigid heavy-duty plastic....but the battery also came locked in a blister of it's own.

I wonder if the manufactures over in China giggled as they constructed these...............saying those stupid Americans will be cursing over this.

Anyway, back to Virginia and her magic shears.....cut right through all those heavy layers...and finally after cutting this way and that way.....hooray, I was able to retrieve my purchase.

Now....all I have to do is study the instructions. Help Virginia!!!!!!! And while I was struggling to open this...Jeff and Donna were on Skype with me...watching...and I don't want them to know how weak I am.

They were exchanging the $300. that they had entered into my old phone and putting that amount into my new cell.

Now I have to wait for someone to call me! I gotta use up some of that money!

Senior learning!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Senior learning!

Last week my friend Harriet and I decided we'd  like to join a group of seniors on a trip to St. Petersburg, Fl.  on a venture called Grandedventures.

It's a little pricey but we enjoyed our vacation at a new Hilton Hotel which was beautiful and our home away from home for a week.

We both felt we needed a little time away from our reservation  here at High Point to see new faces and study new people and courses.   There was a so-called religious man who came with a pretty woman whom I assumed was his wife.   He wore 4 different colored skull caps every day and he was constantly quoting from the Bible.   During one of my gossip sessions, I found out they were shacking up together.   I still get shocked!    What's wrong with me!   He  changed yarmulkes (skull caps) like a woman switching earrings.

The classes we attended were very interesting...and some of the speakers were familiar to us...the Russian Orthodox priest talking about his wife and their belief in the Trinity.   We also were happy to reunite with our music lady talking about Cole Porter...and the next day showing us clips of Gene Kelly and that he came from Pittsburgh where I come from and that he had a dance studio where he gave lessons early on.

We spent New Year's eve listening to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.   I have never seen such a huge stage..and we didn't just listen to the music of the masters...but we watched magical ballet and heard lots of opera.   I was entranced.   Perfect.   My only complaint...everything was in German...and I still haven't forgiven them for the Halacaust.

The food at the hotel was all right.   We all got served the same menu and there weren't too many complaints .   Anything served to me is good.   Let's face it...I'm getting very lazy.  All the deserts were sugar free which wasn't such a great idea because to some people the artificial stuff is poison in their bodies.

Our week was good...went very fast.   We were very cold so we wern't able to take the boat ride offered...but we did get to see the Barnum-Ringling Bros. Circus Museum.

One man spent 50 years  building a matchbox scale of the circus....and that really interested me...such detail....  He included all the trains, animals, performers, tents, and even how they prepared their food....and the dishes they used... a view into their lives and how  hard these people worked to install the tents and then a day later...take it all down again....and do it in another city.

In those days, many of the artists were considered freaks of nature...the bearded lady...twins joined together,,, Siamese and which they're able to separate today.....dwarfs and very tall people over 7 feet.

All that is changed today.   I do remember the day the circus would come to our town and we were all excused from school to watch the circus parade with their big elephants and Arabian Horses.   What a treat that was.

I recall that one year they were selling periscopes for 25 cents.   That was a lot of money when you're 8 years old...but the vendor promised that I would be able to look behind me to see the homework of a classmate.   I fell for it..and was I ever disappointed.  But that was decades ago.

/Returning home from our trip we experienced a massive blowout on our bus tire.    Not every garage can accommodate a bus....so we waited almost 3 hours.   The bus company sent another bus from Miami...but in the meantime a garage came....so we were rescued.

While all this excitement was happening,  Seth who owns Grandedventures brought all of us wine, crackers, cheese and little veggies.   There was such a feeling of camarderie on that bus that we hadn't experienced all week....so everything serves a reason.  When Seth, his wife and son boarded our bus while we were delayed he was received with such applause...he'd come to save us!

I'm glad I went...I'm glad I'm home!

It's called HOME

Watching well-built million dollar homes on TV  makes me aware that I have everything I want and need owning the little home where I live.


It has every conceivable thing  anyone could ask for.  Granted I don't have a stainless steel refrigerator, but what I have keeps my food ice cold....and the outside wall holds  all pertinent information such as my living will.   I want it where everyone can see I want no hookups.


I don't have granite countertops, but I love the formica  that I have.


My flooring, made of of laminate is so enjoyable to my feet that I walk around barefooted and content.


My two bathrooms are one more that I  need but I enjoy having it....with a shower and a bathtub....take your choice!


My extra large bedroom is where I live with my big flat picture screen, my computer and my queen size bed....and a leather recliner.  .


I also have a loft if anyone needs an extra bedroom.


I'm so happy here...and content...and feel very lucky and grateful.

I LOVE MY HOME!!I\\

New Kensington residents take to the streets in hopes of reviving the downtown scene

New Kensington residents take to the streets in hopes of reviving the downtown scene




My town and they're trying to revive it.   Like many towns across the United States, they are boarded up and reduced to what used to be known as a ghosttown.   




I remember when it was booming....before progress took hold.   Before K marts and Cosco....before malls replaced these mom and pop stores.




When we didn't know what to do with ourselves we would go window shopping...downtown...and that was fun.   Then we'd go to Woolworth's or Murphy's, or Isaly's and indulge ourselves in a milkshake.




Later, my husband Allen and I owned a toy store...Gordon Toys on 4th Avenue....but then after years...everything halted and our town literally 'died'.




  Now the do gooders are trying to revive it.   Can they???   Will they???   I sure hope so. 


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New Kensington’s future on display for a day

October 16, 2015 12:00 AM

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By Tim Means

In its heyday around 1950, New Kensington was a bustling town of 25,000 people, considered the gateway to Westmoreland County. It had its own brewery, library, dairy, railroad station, newspaper, opera house and fire department.
Half a century later, after the decline of industry in the region and the loss of half of its population, today’s downtown New Kensington is full of empty storefronts and faded signs. A few small businesses struggle to bring in new customers.
On Saturday, however, visitors can get a glimpse of what the town might become.
From noon to 8 p.m., downtown New Kensington will be transformed with pop-up businesses in empty storefronts plus food, art, music and lights as part of a revitalization initiative called Better Block.
Better Block is a community improvement project that began on one block in Dallas, Texas, in 2010 and has spread to dozens of cities across the country, including San Francisco, Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio. The project focuses on bringing together city officials, local nonprofits, businesses and residents to clean up, repaint and restore a commercial downtown area.
“This is a downtown makeover to show what New Kensington could be,” said Jessica Levine, ReStore manager for Habitat for Humanity of Allegheny Valley and an organizer for the second Better Block event in New Kensington. “To showcase the town’s potential, we have a pop-up dog park, two stages booked with live music, a beer garden built from pallets, a pop-up winery and art gallery, and dozens of food and craft vendors.”
The now-defunct Hart’s department store building will hold a vintage wedding show, displaying dresses from the ’40s through the ’80s, some bought at Hart’s, complete with stories from the women who wore them.
“We want to show a safe and wonderful downtown in the evening hours,” Ms. Levine said. “A dozen different people will give you a dozen different reasons why New Kensington has changed. What will bring it back is young people who see the potential. It takes people with energy and commitment.”
New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo praised the people working together to create a vision of the future for a single day.
“It creates a certain kind of buzz. This is the second Better Block event we’ve had. The first was in May, and we had over 2,000 people turn out. From a city perspective, it is great to see that much life and energy come back to the downtown area. It allows us to transform downtown and show what it can be,” Mr. Guzzo said. “This is done mostly by volunteers all pulling together.”
The city will provide some services and allow the use of some public properties, he said, but the cost is not significant. A $3,500 grant from the Greater Alle-Kiski Association of Realtors is paying for insurance and the use of public facilities for the day.
Public art projects are planned by art students from Valley High School, the Pittsburgh Office of Public Art and local artists, who are working to connect new and nostalgic imagery of downtown.
In one empty storefront, a team from the Penn State’s New Kensington campus will offer a pop-up tech/entrepreneur shop.
The event will take place along Fourth and Fifth avenues and Ninth and 10th streets. Streets will not be blocked off, but sidewalk areas will be expanded for seating. Temporary crosswalks and bicycle lanes will be installed by local university students.