Founded December 17,1912 Ceased Publication Thursday
February 1,
1951
Book 1 Volume 25
Original Volume 25 republished using
KompoZer
Recently
son, George, and grandsons Andy, and Jason, encouraged me to turn this
from a
letter into a web page. A web page offers a vast new opportunity to
also
display pictures along with text. They set it up and instructed me how
to put
it on line every week. Bear in mind, for this old geezer, this
represents
rocket science.
I do
have an agenda. I try to write an
upbeat page, with a bit of humor and not get too confrontational in my
opinions. I do have some very firm opinions that have a way of
working
their way into these pages. I am also very much computer oriented and
try to do
as much as I can to encourage their use. I do regret that most of the
pictures
have to be reduced in size, due to space limitations from Prolog, thus
limiting
their quality.
I
hope to reach out to former Palmertonians,
as well as other friends and relatives, with whom I would like to
maintain
contact. We may not agree on everything, however, my intentions are
honorable.
I suppose the
on going saga of the adventures of
Queen and Bobby is about as fascinating as watching paint dry or grass
growing.
We don’t lead a very fast paced life. However, with us what you see is
what you
get. I really must say that there is a lot of love in this house.
Our Butternut
Saturday, May 08, 2004 7:20 AM 52 deg at LVIA and 50.1 in the bus stop
Here it is the eighth of May. The spring weather sure looks so much more inviting that that drab cold winter stuff. It is a joy to be out with the dog on a day like this. I will be out there as soon as the coffee is ready; the blood glucose this morning is 136 and the weight 202.
I
saw Marline and Lee Bollinger walking this morning. They are darn
faithful to
their exercise regime. That's good. Last evening son George was here
and
taught me how to do what I had not properly learned about using the FTP
server. So far so good. I have to do it for a while until the proper
process
penetrates my thick head. However it will come. I will practice taking
excess
web pages off the Prolog site. I would love to keep them all on it but
it
doesn’t take long to fill up 15 MB of data space particularly when I
utilize so
many pictures.
I think we will be going flower shopping, or at least to some garden center, for a look around.
Queen is buying Celosia.
Some close up pictures of Petunias
The pansies are just beautiful.
Well big surprise! The two drunks found a twenty-dollar bill in front of the liquor store again. Sheez!!!
We also have strawberries growing in the pot Jim gave us.
I recall my sister, Dot, talking about being able to take their sleds all the way up to Towamensing Cemetery and sleigh riding almost all the way down to the park without hindrance. She said many of the houses here did not exist then. Unfortunaly, I can no longer ask her for details.
Granted these pictures were taken in 1915 and that was too early for her to sleigh ride since she was born about 1916, but I can see how it was possible. The pictures do not show the down slope of the terrain but it is considerable. Our house is right next to the Little White Church on 3rd Street hill. What I call the Hostetter house did not exist then and they could cut through a bunch of vacant lots nearly all the way to the park.
The Aquashicola area. Notice the tall smokestack at the tannery near left of picture. The stuff that can be seen on these pictures is amazing.
Bob:
The
picture you had labeled 400 block of Franklin Ave. in your most recent
epistle is actually of the 500 block where I grew up in the 1920s and
into the
1940s. Of course when I lived there, most of the "vacant" lots
in your picture had houses on them. However, I am attaching a
"reworked" version to which I have added a "legend,"
showing what I can identify as of my childhood and youth. I hope
you find
it interesting. By the way, I lived at 562 Franklin Ave. during
those
years.
Sincerely,
- Dave
Engler, Phila., PA
(SSPHS Class of 1939)
PS - I agree, the "fidelity" of that old picture is amazing!
“Hi Bob, Played golf with Roger Nanovic, senior, and told him about you and the Palmerton Press. He said he wished he could be on your mailing list.”
Well I sent it and got this in reply:
“Dear Bob
George Gilbert told me yesterday how interesting your dispatches were and so when I looked through my Email this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find them and agree they are. Thank you for adding me to you mailing list. I'll try to catch up over the weekend.
You may not recall that I'm an alumnus of the "Kleintop Chicken Coop Gang.” We were always fascinated by what Dick and Bob were doing next door. Were you the first guys with TV in Palmerton?
I think I told you before how my Uncle John Nanovic never ceased regaling us with stories of his days at the Palmerton Press and how grateful he was to your Dad for giving him a job (which ultimately led to his career in journalism).
Please keep me on your list. Gilbert and I will critic each dispatch on the golf course.
Best regards, Roger.”
Golly but this is really grist for the old mill. This opens a can of worms. Indeed I do remember the Chicken coop gang; Roger, the Kleintop brothers, Bill and Bob, Jim Gruber up at the end of the block, Kako, [Clarence] Leibenguth and there may have been more.
”My Uncle John
Nanovic never
ceased regaling us with stories of
his days at the Palmerton Press and how grateful he was to your dad for
giving
him a job (which ultimately led to his career in journalism)"
If my memory serves me at all I recall every Thursday when the Palmerton Press was being made ready to take over to the Post Office my job was to operate the label machine containing the names and addresses of the recipients of each copy going out. I recall his name on that list. I think he lived in Plandome, NY. He worked at Street and Smith publishers for a time. He knew my Dad liked cryptograms and frequently sent him stuff.
Another thing comes to mind. My Dad helped many folks on their way through life. I can’t help but recall that he also helped Sidney Webb earlier in life. Sid would have been very proud that his son, Richard, is now on the bench as a Judge here in Carbon County. Now here is Roger in similar circumstances with his son also as a Carbon County Judge. It must be a proud point in their lives. However Roger now has the luxury of being here to relish it. Both men could justifiably be pleased with their sons.
“We were always fascinated by what Dick and Bob were doing next door. Were you the first guys with TV in Palmerton?” Well we may or may not have been the first but it was close. My Dad was still alive and he died in 1949. We had television for quite awhile before that. In the early days we had quite a crowd for Gillette’s Friday Night Fights up in our shop. The picture was on a Hallicrafters T34. It had a 7” screen. In fact it had a channel one on it. There were pushbuttons across the front of the set. I still have the cover plate of it upstairs.
Sunday, May 09, 2004 7:23 AM 48 Deg at LVIA and 51.6 in the bus stop
It is a decent day outside now but thunderstorms are predicted today anytime. Butternut and I were out. We saw Marline and Lee walking.
Today is Mother’s Day. I often think of my Mom and how she shaped the lives of all of her children. Both she and my Dad tried to instill into us all a sense of values that have lasted as long as we still draw a breath. It is wonderful the memories we all have. I certainly do.
My mother lived to be 89 years and had a clear head all of her life. She was always someone to whom I could confide and always get good sound advice. Now, I see my wife Ruth, my Queen, and the love she shares with all of us. We are all her kids. We as man and wife have been through a lot but now for me particularly since she has developed congestive heart failure, the most important thing is to be here to comfort her, to be at her side if needed, and at the same time be comforted by her. Hers is a deep and quiet type of love. She is not like me, a puppy dog, constantly licking one’s face, but her love is always there and solid as a rock.
Last winter I had a piece in here about a man’s love of the snow. This is almost diametrically opposite. I think it is great from Anne Keiser, KO3M. Delivered-To: ko3m@localnet.comApril 30th:
Florida is fantastic! Just got here and love it already. Now this is a state that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! Watched the sunset from a park lying on a blanket. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.
++
May 14th:
Really heating up. Got to 89 today. Not a problem, live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I'm turning into a real sun worshipper.
++
June 5th:
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing for me. NO MORE SHOVELING SNOW EITHER! Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
++
July 1st:
The temperature hasn't been below 90 all week, not even at night. Where are those ocean breezes we heard about, still seems hot. Getting used to it will take awhile, I guess.I sure miss my LP collection, though. I'll have to remember not to leave anything made out of plastic in my car.
Got one of those fuzzy steering wheel covers, Cheaper than the burn ointment for my hands. I always wondered what burnt flesh smelled like.
++
July 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.) Missed two days of work, what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though: got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.
++
July 20th:
I miss our cat, Tabby. He snuck into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got out to the hot car for lunch, he'd swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and just as I opened the door he exploded all over $2,000 worth of leather upholstery. I told the kids he ran away. The car now smells like Kibbles and poop. No more pets in this heat!
++
July 25th:
Ocean breezes, my butt. Hot is hell!! The home air conditioner is on the fritz and AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.Only hope for a break in the heat would be a hurricane.
++
July 30th:
Been sleeping outside by the pool for three nights now. Swatting the swamp mosquitoes that are as big as B-52's. $1,500 in darn house payments and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?
++
Aug 4th:
100 degrees. Finally got the air conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to about 90. The electric bill is almost as much as the house payment. And two old lady drivers almost ran me off the road. I hate this state.
++
Aug 8th:
If another jerk say's to me," Is it Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to tear his head off.Damn heat. By the time I get to work the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like roasted Garfield!!
++
Aug 10th:
The weather report might as well be a damn recording: Hot and sunny. It's been too hot two ******* months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. And who came up with the statement "it may be hot, but at least you don't have to shovel it" should die from heat exhaustion. Doesn't it ever rain in this God forsaken place??
++
Aug 14th:
Welcome to Hell !!! Temperature got to 102 today. Forgot to crack the window and blew the windshield out of the Lincoln. The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail.
++
Aug 30th:
Worst day of the summer. I'm not leaving the house. The monsoon rains finally came and all they did is to make it muggier and drove the damned roaches out of the ground. I wasn't aware they could fly! The Lincoln is now floating somewhere in the Caribbean with its new $500 windshield.
That does it, we're moving back to New York where all you have to worry about is getting mugged, I hope this state breaks in half and floats down to Cuba!
This afternoon we got our "got home safely" call from George and family. Earlier I took my satellite control box down to George's house on Lafayette Avenue hooked it up and it works just fine. At least that is one less variable with which to concern myself. With that in mind Tommy came over this morning and we tried re-orienting it. Still nothing doing. I still like the music available on it. Now Radio Shack is pushing the "Dish" system. That means one source of support is gone. When I was up there they were less than helpful. Sheez!!
We invited Tommy over for supper tonight. We had a ham slice, baked potatoes, green beans, the rest of the cake, coffee and a small dish of ice cream. Then we adjourned to the front porch for an evening of good conversation. We all enjoyed it. Later that evening we got a welcome call from Belva wishing her Mom a Happy Mother’s Day. It was good to hear from her.
These are some of the azaleas that are just starting to bloom.
Monday, May 10, 2004 7:14 AM 59 deg at LVIA and 59 deg in the bus stop
It is a warm almost muggy day this morning. Butternut and I will be heading out soon. The blood glucose was 140 and the weight 203.
It was very comfortable out there this morning. Marline and Lee went by and waved. This caused Butternut to have a conniption but all was well. I am trying to figure out what I am going to do outdoors work wise this morning. There is plenty to do.
Queen
This morning I delivered Dr Nicholson’s letter and saw George Ashman there. He must have had an appointment. Then it was down to Rite-Aid and my prescription. After I got back Queen and I went up to Country Junction to get topsoil. We put six 5-gallon buckets of the stuff into plastic garbage bags. I shoveled the stuff and she held the bag and helped me lift it into the trunk of the Chevy Corsica. That is a wonderful car but it is just too damn small.
At her suggestion when we got it home I lifted the bags on a tarp and dragged them down from the alley to the yard below. However it was the old Bobby work awhile and loaf awhile trick. I had portable chairs set up at either terminus so the old geezer could have a place to rest as he worked. Hey the pay is the same no matter how long it takes. Ha!!. The boys over in the cemetery didn’t care how long I took.
I am just glad that I am able to do as much as I do. Having a cemetery in our back yard can be a sobering experience. I know I have written similar thoughts before but it isn’t until we go farther down life’s pathway that we begin to see the true value of things. All our lives we have worked at accumulating wealth but our real wealth is not measured by our bank account. Sitting counting ones money is not nearly as much fun as counting our blessings. A little thing like Belva’s phone call last evening meant a lot to us both. The coin of the realm is not gold but love. Love of life and those who love us and those we love who are around us. They are not all relatives. Friends mean so very, very, much. We have some wonderful friends.
Later this afternoon we went back to Meyster’s Greenhouse and got the flowers that Tommy wanted. Of course we managed to get some for ourselves. Ha!! Coming home we looked like a hearse. We has every nook and cranny of the car filled with flowers. Sheez!!
Poor Queen almost had to walk home!
We finally got it all out and put away. These are Tommy's Flowers.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 7:30 AM 63 deg at LVIA and 64.3 in the bus stop
This morning the blood glucose is 136 and the weight 202. Good old spaghetti!
This morning we went for our walk early. Now I started the Mantis tiller and I am “plowing” the garden. I am going to plant lettuce and parsley. The rest I shall plant in grass. I want to finish this before it gets hot.
This picture made possible by the camera's self-timer and a convenient tombstone.
Geez it went better than expected. I roto-tilled the garden and planted the butter crunch lettuce and parsley. The grass will have to wait. Then I tilled the small flower plot where Queen wants to plant some of her stuff. After that I took the car and went for gasoline for the lawnmower. By the time I got back gassed it up and started to cut the grass it was 10:30 and was starting to really get hot. Therefore I quit. Besides I was out of steam for Bobby’s boiler. I have had it. Sheez more concessions to getting old!!
Meanwhile Queen planted some of her verbena and petunias in the spot I tilled and she too had to quit because of the heat. We are both tired now.
Tonight for supper Queen had strawberry shortcake once again. Her homemade shortcake biscuits are superb. That with milk and a slab of cheese can’t be beat. Golly I wonder why the weight loss has slowed down. Ha!!!
Tonight after supper I finished cutting the grass that I had started doing late this afternoon. By the time I was on the last roundup it was in the shade and quite a bit cooler. Once again the place looks darn good. While I was doing that Queen planted some more of her flowers. The place is shaping up now.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004 7:11 AM 63
deg at LVIA and 63.5 in the bus stop
This morning
the blood glucose is 142 and the weight 200. It looks like another very
warm
day today. We will have the muggies and uncomfortable weather for quite
awhile
I suspect.
We went for
our walk this morning before it got hot. It was nice out walking with
my girl.
Dr. Nicholson stopped by as we were walking and asked us if we saw the
sun come
up this morning. He said it was a huge red ball. It looked very large
as it
appeared over the mountain. No we missed it.
Then we were
busy watering our plants. I potted two hanging baskets of pansies
before it got
too sunny to work out there at the new potting bench. The loss of that
other
pine tree has made a big difference in shade.
I got the car
out and stopped downtown at the T.N. for a quickie visit. Pattie
enjoyed the
pictures in last week’s web page.
After I got
home Queen asked me if I wished Sharon a happy birthday.
Sheez! No I never thought of it. Hey Happy Birthday Sharon.
Later
in the morning the woman from Beltone called and the new hearing aid
had
arrived. So this afternoon after Queen gets out from the hairdresser
we will
go and have it fitted. I hope for the best. I took Queen
to the hairdresser and now am back waiting for a return call. On the
way back
I stopped by PMPA and noticed that there is water in it and the
benches are
placed about the periphery of the pool. It is not yet full but it is
close.
This is indeed good news.
I picked her
up in Bowmanstown and we went from there. She really looks nice.
Tonight for supper Queen had the last of the salmon patties she had in the freezer, a baked potato each, fresh spinach and a tomato cottage cheese salad. It was very good. Coffee and a shared ice cream bar finished the meal.
We are both tired tonight. It is still quite warm.
Thursday, May 13, 2004 7:17 AM 63 deg at LVIA and 63.8 in the bus stop
It feels like another hot one today. The blood sugar is 140 and the weight 202. After Queen came downstairs we went for our walk. It was a good time to go for it. On the way back Queen saw a baby rabbit in what used to be Judge Heimbach’s yard. Since I had the camera along I took a picture.
This morning I planted the impatiens we got yesterday under the viburnum bush. They look nice in that spot. We never did get too much accomplished in the planting department.
This afternoon about 4 PM we went to IGA and out for gasoline for the car. The time-temperature sign at Keystone said 103. That couldn’t possibly have been correct. It was hot but not that hot.
The following is from business week on line.
“Can Gasoline
Jump-Start Hydrogen?
Researchers
say a gizmo called a reformer can extract the clean fuel from
good old unleaded and give fuel-cell cars double the
mileage.Environmentalists dream of energy-efficient cars that run on
hydrogen, with tailpipes
spewing out nothing more noxious than water vapor. Judging from the
popularity
of Toyota's (TM )
Prius
hybrid -- a kind of car with both an electric motor and a gasoline
engine -- a
fuel-cell-powered all-electric car that gets equal or better mileage
from
hydrogen would seem a surefire hit.
The big
drawback: Where do you go to fill 'er up with hydrogen? How about any
existing gas station. Gasoline has plenty of hydrogen locked up inside
it, and
researchers have developed so-called reformers that can extract it.
There's a
hitch, however: Reformers take 15 minutes to produce
enough hydrogen to
back
the car out of the garage. Nobody wants a car that takes that long to
start.
What's
needed is a hydrogen-age version of the automatic starter
invented by
Charles Kettering. It quickly replaced those antique hand-crank
starters,
starting with a Cadillac in 1911.
MOLECULE
CRACKING.
Researchers
at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory think they have it. They're
developing
an under-the-hood steam reformer on steroids. "It can produce large
amounts of hydrogen from gasoline vapors in only 12 seconds," says
chief
engineer Greg Whyatt. The key: pumping a vapor-and-steam mixture
through myriad
microchannels. In those tiny, confined spaces, catalysts work their
magic
extremely rapidly, cracking the molecules of gasoline and water to
release
hydrogen. Even more magical: The extracted
hydrogren actually has a higher energy value
than gasoline, thanks in part to the extra hydrogen atoms liberated
from the
steam. That means a big bump in mileage. In fact, says Whyatt,
"compared
to an internal-combustion engine, we're projecting that a
fuel-cell-powered car
with our steam reformer would get at least twice the mileage" from the
same amount of gasoline. Since fuel
cells generate clean electricity through a chemical reaction with no
combustion involved, fuel-cell cars could substantially reduce global
oil consumption while drastically curbing pollution. Steam reformers,
however,
do use auxiliary combustion: Carbon extracted from the gasoline is
burned to
heat water and generate the steam. This produces carbon dioxide, which
goes out
the tailpipe -- but only half as much per mile driven as a conventional
car. So
reformers won't satisfy all the environmentalists' dreams. Still, says
Whyatt,
"reducing CO2 by half would have huge impact if widely implemented."
SHRINKING ACT.
The first
microchannel reformer won't show up in a car, though. Detroit doesn't
make such
fundamental changes quickly -- and startup Velocys Inc. is about a year
away
from unveiling a giant steam reformer. Velocys was spun off by Pacific
Northwest Lab in 2001 to commercialize big reformers for
industrial-scale
fuel-cell generators that squeeze enough juice from hydrogen to light a
factory
or small town. Shrinking a microchannel
steam reformer into a bread-box-size system for cars
has been a lot tougher, says Whyatt. Ultimately, he adds, a reformer
that can
supply hydrogen to a 50-kilowatt fuel cell should take up less than one
cubic
foot. It may take a couple years to perfect. But by yearend, Whyatt
expects to
have a small prototype -- sufficient for a 2-kw fuel cell -- ready for
Detroit
to check out. “
I have been using my new hearing aid now on a full time basis. This morning I did as the woman instructed and read thoroughly the literature that came with it.
As usual I have been extremely angry at it and what I thought was poor performance. Well for once the information made me realize that the problem is me. I have had hearing problems for so long that I now must learn completely new speech and sound patterns. As an example I can hear myself breathing [sometimes wheezing Ha!!] Other sounds that are going to be there like it or not. I must learn to live with period!! In effect I must rewire my brain patterns. I am not sure if I need an electrician or a plumber. Ha!!!
Friday, May 14, 2004 7:11 AM 61 deg at LVIA and 62.7 in the bus stop
This morning the blood glucose is 136 and the weight 202. It is a gray warm morning today.
<7:54 AM> I just got back inside after watering everything we planted. In addition I planted six pepper plants that I got yesterday at Shea’s.
It is a murky looking day out there but it is not nearly as warm as yesterday morning. This morning we plan to do our shopping. First we went for a short walk. I dropped off at Ashman’s a CD ROM of some old pictures of town. There were just tests. They can inform me as to specific areas they want later. We started out on our shopping trip but called it off at Bowmanstown. Queen is still suffering the effects of yesterday’s over exposure to the heat. I know it can really knock you down for several days. She is just going to take it easy today. We won’t starve.
We came back home and Queen rested in bed awhile. After checking the e mail I went out and started planting. Since there was no sun out it was quite good for that kind of work. By noontime she was up and came out to see what I was doing. Since she was more rested we decided to finish our shopping after lunch. We did so with no problems. After we returned and a rest period we both went back to planting. Tonight for supper we had some of the salmon we got at Giant. It was on sale at $2.99 a pound. We got four small fillets. I froze the other two and we ate one.
Well, it is time to send this on it’s way.
Please, Love one another, Mom and Bob, [Queen and Bobby]
