Sheathe Your Swords

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.

A little death
Without mourning
No call
And no warning
Baby...a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense~~~U-2; Love is Blindness


I received a call from the Buffalo News, Tuesday; late morning. I'm at the Buffalo Historical Society, watching my 2-8-8-2 articulated-mallet locomotive perfectly navigating the RAILBARONS.ORG, H.O. track, in a clockwise manner, when I get this phone call. It is like birds-of-a-feather-flocking-together. I'm doing something I thoroughly enjoy, and I get this exciting phone call, as well. Damned it!!! I should have been a train engineer!! The Buffalo News called to inform me that they will print, the editorial comments I had emailed over the week-end, to them. And they will be printing this sometime, over the next seven days. The below is the advanced copy.
If they do not edit, and do print "...Sheathe your swords," this will be a truly memorable moment. The expression just fit, so I had to use it. And I have to give Norb Warnes credit for this material!!! We were the early part of a get-together at Malone's in Kenmore, NY in the middle of November. Those whom know me, know I like to keep things lively. Hey!! Come on~~~why not!! If you want to do that in a lounge, bring up politics. I did!!! Of course, most of the readership is thinking~~~why am I not surprised!?!? The conversation that ensues is getting animated, spontaneous, and intense, when out of the clear-blue, Norb exclaims~~~'Sheathe your swords'!!!!

We all laughed, interjected some points about The Gladiator movie, and for the rest of the evening, just to throw a curve into the mix, sheathe-your-swords would be called out.

The BELOW is the editorial that will appear in The Buffalo News:

Dear Editors;

For a president, who predicated his election campaign on hope, change, and original thinking, I am dumbfounded at what appears to be his old-school reaction to answer N. Korea's unprovoked use of deadly force against their neighbors to the south.

The first reaction by Obama was to pull out-of-the-deck, the old Cold-War-tactic 'card' of demonstrating a very visible military show-of-force; in effect, doing some sabre-rattling.

Sheathe your swords!!

The Walton Family may have gotten miffed, but this is the first thing I would have done to get China's attention to put immediate pressure on North Korea to cease and desist. I would have put an immediate halt to any off-loading of container ships currently docked in U.S. ports, and any container-ships enroute; to return to China.

An economic leveraged response to such a military threat that China can influence, will get China's attention immediately. The success of China's economy is hinged on the American market, its exports cater to.

Lou Marconi

This portion of the essay represents some additional perspective on this topical subject matter. North Korea as a nation, is what it is, because of China. Yes, it has its million-man army, and they are motivated because they are getting 3-square-meals a day, while the rest of North Korea is literally starving to death. But it is because of China that North Korea is able to give off the military machismo, that it does. I had heard earlier in this week how a pundit on N P R's On-POINT, hosted by Tom Ashbrook, tried to frame North Korea as only able to survive in the twenty-first century by sustaining the impregnable image of the military-behemoth; that anything less would reduce them to a level of mediocrity that would be unacceptable; in effect cultural suicide. Let us look for a minute, at CHINA. Once upon a time, their image was Mao Tse-tung, The Cultural Revolution, and a hard-core communism that had Stalin blushing. Where is China today??? Changed; in that economically, they are trying to model themselves after many of the capitalist, trade, and investment, strategies of the western world. And in doing so China has become a curious hybrid, that has become one the rising powers of the global economy(and I'm sure our Dan Panzica can share volumes on this point).

Here is what China ought to do. Tell North Korea to stop being a bully. Tell North Korea to change their attitude, and give them a public spanking. Then encourage them to go back to the sand-box, and play nice with their South Korean kindergarten classmates.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise

Dark Fridays

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.


Gentle now A tender breeze Blows/
Whispers through The Gran Torino/
Whistling another Tired song/
Engines humm And better dreams Grow/
Heart locked In a Gran Torino/
It beats A lonely rhythm All night long/
It beats A lonely rhythm All night long/
It beats A lonely rhythm All night long~~~Jamie Cullum - Gran Torino Lyrics

Over the previous week-end of 20 November, I get in the mail this solicitation from one of these 501(c) non-profits, looking for a donation. It is a non-profit, it is local, and as I'm reading the solicitation that is gushing all over, about these great and wondrous projects that they are undertaking, the proverbial 150-watt-light-bulb goes off in my head!! Wait a minute, I'm thinking, they want my money. Instead, I'll give them something better~~~ME!!! So on Monday, I devote time to put together a cover-letter and resume, and I send it to the President of VOICE-BUFFALO, Ava White. I trimmed the sails of the cover-letter right along the lines of the one I sent to The Catholic Charities, the week previous.

Given enough time to have this seed take root, I'll follow-up on this with Ava White. Certainly with the disruptive element of Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, I'll earmark into the middle of next-week, for the follow-up letter.

On Tuesday, I visited my friends Greg Stein, and Charlie, at the Buffalo Historical Society's WWW.RAILBARONS.ORG meeting. I had with me, my flagship locomotive to be allowed to have operating on their layout. This time, I was ready to take all of this, to the next-level. I had, in-tow, and was allowed to place on the layout, a compliment of my coal-car rolling-stock. Everything, for the most part, went to plan. I am going to try something different though, the next time I attend. Up until now, when putting the train onto the layout, I do so, having the train run counter-clockwise. In running counter-clockwise, the front single-axle truck of the articulated-mallet becomes vulnerable to this one straight-away turn-out(switch). The front truck will sometimes develop a mind-of-its-own and will try to navigate the not-thrown, turn-out. A derailment ensues; gggrrr!! At the H-O gauge level, re-railing~~~is truly, TOILING!!!

What physically helps the lead-truck to 'take-on-a-mind-of-its-own' is that just before the turnout there exists an oh-so-subtle 'bump'. By going clockwise, the turn-out will now have been cleared by the lead-truck, and in navigating the soft bump, the lead-truck will only have the straight-away to navigate across. I'm expecting the lead-truck to stay true, and stay on its rails.

Wednesday, I had this one PRETTY COOL experience!! The sun was out and my van was recently cleaned. I was in a plaza setting, covering a couple of 'ERRANDS' and in going across this one storefront window section, the image I observed was pretty cool.
I had gotten to see my van, all bright and shiny, with the brand-new USMC vehicle-flags all-aflutter!!! The reflection, AND IMAGE, that CAME BACK to me~~~glowed!!

Thursday: THANKSGIVING; the celebration of blessings and bounty!! And I did send out a greeting~~~To all whom I consider my dearest family & friends, and to your families, I sincerely pray for a most bountiful and memorable Thanksgiving!!! And, that the bounty bestowed on all of you, this THANKSGIVING DAY, continues to be provided to you, throughout your life.

And of course, like so many Thanksgiving gatherings, ours had all the attributes of lots of people, a cornucopia of edibles, and pomp & ceremony. But our Thanksgiving had this side-bar, that is, in effect, putting together a string of these~~~whereby I'm redefining---the subsequent Friday.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, 2008, my 1997 Dodge Caravan, with 190,000 miles already under its hood, blows its transmission. With me just losing my Airborne/D H L job, and the tranny replacement coming in at almost $2000.00, I am hugely deflated. This just takes the Thanksgiving spirit right out of me.

The early Friday morning after Thanksgiving, 2009, we wake up to our hot-water($$$$$$$) plumbing line ruptured, and spewing water for, God-only-knows, hours in our basement. After shutting off the cut-off valve, and then scrambling to find, and then paying, a plumber on the Holiday, I again had this sunken feeling.

What am I getting at????
Yeap!!!
Check this out!!!

5:00AM, our time, The Friday morning after Thanksgiving 2010, my night-stand phone is ringing. Of course, the first thought is---well, I can't say it here. I pick the phone up, and it is our daughter Erica calling, from Oxford, MS; 1100 miles away. Having had Supper with her Aunt, my Sister, at their Oxford, MS residence, Erica is now at her residence, sicker than a dog. She has already brought up her supper, five times, and is desperate for some help. We of course go into scramble-alert to try to make 'something' happen. My sister, Rose, is a trained critical-care nurse, and we are able to successfully contact her, and have her go over to Erica's residence to help and provide corrective-action. It wasn't an issue with the food, because nobody else was sick. Erica must have developed some degree of the flu-bug, and it was enough to get the better of her. The fall-out!?!? She is still bed-ridden Saturday. What breaks Erica's heart is that Saturday is Game-Day for Ole Miss. And being a loyal collegian, she would want to be a very visible part of the extravaganza!! Go Rebels!!!

Black Fridays; try DARK FRIDAYS.


NB: Hi, Lou!
This is Barry's wife, Kathy. Barry is unable to read anything on the computer right now as he is having problems with his eyes. He has diabetic retinopathy and has had laser on both eyes as well as a vitrectomy on one eye. This surgery, while stopping the bleeding, caused a small cataract to become a large cataract. In the meantime, the other eye is bleeding again from the retinopathy. He will have cataract surgery on Dec. 6 and will probably end up having a vitrectomy on the other eye. We will see the retina doctor again on Tues.
Aren't you glad you asked! In spite of all this, he is hanging in there. Our phone number is 702 633-5785. We are planning on being in Buffalo for a month this summer. When we came last summer our original plans fell through ( a house exchange with a friend) and we ended up staying with friends and relatives - half of the time in Canada. That's why getting together never materialized. I need to contact Susie McKnight for Barry and explain all of this to her too. Thanks for keeping in touch!
Kathy Goodwin

I sent this out as a NewsLetter, on Friday, and I will include this in my Web Log~~~to once again implore prayers for one-of-our-own. As the many battles that our Barry Goodwin has already had to contend with, cancer being the most serious, he is now in the midst of another health-related battle. Continue to include him, and his very very SUPPORTIVE wife Kathy, in your prayers.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
Roosters

Internet Service Is No Longer Responding; GGGRRR

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.

Like the twilight in the road up ahead,
they don't see just where we're goin'.
And all the secrets in the Universe,
whisper in our ears
And all the years
will come and go,
take us up,
always up~~~~~Seals & Crofts - We May Never Pass This Way Again

Here is to you, John.
22 November, 2010, will remind us, once again, of one of the darkest days in American history. That, of course, is the day in 1963, when our President was assassinated. He was hardly past his first thousand days in office when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was the youngest to die.

In my age-group, we were 11, 12, 13 year-old children, at the time. And even at that age one could sense a freshness, a promise, a future, in the lives we were all looking forward to grow up in. Hell, in the previous October of 1962, this Man demonstrated leadership skills that had nuclear annihilation, narrowly avoided. Around this accomplishment, we sensed an almost deity level of influence that would bestow peace, harmony, and prosperity.

I still remember that Friday afternoon of 22 November 1963, in Sister Rachel's 7th Grade class at Annunciation when Sister Augustine got on the PA system to announce Our President John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been shot. And that he would soon die of those mortal wounds. That truly was...THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.
"...Anybody here, seen my old friends Abraham, Martin, and John!?!?"


Between the dawning of the decade and the halfway mark, we saw a man reach near invincible stature as he defused a dispute that had global conflagration written all over it. We distinctly remember what we were doing on that infamous day, approximately one year later when this same man was reduced to mortal frailty by way of an assassin’s bullet. "A Chronicle"

God, I love Fridays. This Friday was no exception. I had an interesting experience while I was really trying to 'pour-it-on' at the Buffalo Employment Training Center, on 77 Goodell Street in downtown Buffalo NY.

I had encountered earlier in the week, a very very interesting employment opportunity, to respond to. And the response cut-off date wasn't till the end of the November, so I had some time to put some doodles together on it; to put a different 'angle' on me, so-to-speak, as an attention-getter. Friday, I decide, that on my NOTE-TO-SELF, I'm going to go-to-town, on it!!

With the proliferation of the INTER-NET, writing and corresponding, now has universal application; everybody is writing something; somewhere.
Now, more than ever, if you want to get somebody's attention, creative writing has to be taken to new levels.

So check this out!!! I want to get the cover letter just right. I want the cover letter to sing in four-part-harmony, how my work-world experiences blend right in and, as a result, will take The Company, and myself, to new attainment and recognition levels.

I am given two options for submittal; email, and snail mail. I decide, I'm going to do
BOTH.

In doing both, that means for the internet version I will have to set up an email message, with a couple of attachments(resume' & cover-letter). Regarding the email, my mind starts to think~~~OK, do I just send the per-your-instructions; blah, blah, blah email, or do I take this to the next level, too. Here is where it gets maddening!!

I must explain firstly that I have two email accounts. Among my family, friends, lovers, associates, and curiosity-seekers, I'm known on the internet as CrazieLou. And most everybody knows why, or has a somewhat-understanding, of why I still use that as my user-name.

But~~~in the work-a-day world, I must step into the phone-booth, and take on the appearance of LouMarconi@gmail.com. So I crank up the gmail account, and start my flowing soliloquy of creativity, explaining why my 'attached' is all The Company needs to be looking at, as their primary candidate for the position. As I'm moving along; as the words are coming in as gazillion-dollar value-markers, this DAMNED dialogue box appears telling me the internet carrier is NO LONGER RESPONDING; and asking if I WANT TO SEND A REPORT~~~OR NOT. In haste, I clicked the NOT box, and everything DISAPPEARED. I'm in the computer-commons area of the BETC. I said a bad word. Lots of people looked at me!! I, of course, humbly and sheepishly said, sorry. Many thoughts were going through my head. Most of them centered around trying, on a rough-draft basis, to come up with some assemblance of the words, expressions, and flow of the email that I was near complete on. I mean, this email was gone!! Both the AOL tab, and the GMAIL tab~~~were no longer on the status bar. GGGRRR!!!

So I crank the GMAIL email account back up, and try to RECREATE, what I was trying to say, earlier.

Ok!! So check this out!!

As I'm starting anew with this recreation, the corner of my one eye, is noticing something!! As I'm typing, and then exercising pregnant-pauses to try to find the next million-dollar word, my minds-eye starts to think, in OVERDRIVE!! What I'm noticing, is something that raises my eyebrow, and puts a glee-smile on my face. I'm thinking OMG; OK, how do navigate this complicated GMAIL format to FIND IT!!

What I'm getting at is that I have come to see, realize, and translate as to what THIS might possibly mean. What GMAIL has~~~that the others don't have, is AUTODRAFT SAVE!!!!!!
So I'm thinking, this has got to be SAVED somewhere; but where??? There isn't a SAVED icon, like there is on the AOL account. But lo-and-behold, I found it!!! I found my original GMAIL, with the attachments, and the essay material still there!!!

So I tidied it up; put the finishing touches on the gmail, and sent it off!!

Even the little triumphs, can provide the fuel~~~for the little engine, that could!!

And incidentally~~~Sheathe Your Sword!!!!
Great Wednesday Evening get-together at Malone's!!! Annunciation, Fallon, and McMahon high school friends in attendance. As usual, it was lively!!! At one point, I was told...
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise

Week with the Frankie Valli Concert as the Capstone

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.



My eyes adored you
Though I never held a hand with you,
My eyes adored you
Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see
How I adored you:
So close, so close and yet so far away~~~somebody; doodling

I find myself, and the content of my journal for this week, in a bit of a quandary. I want this Web Log to act as a journal of my experiences; as an essay accounting for the aspects of my life, and to whom, therein, the hero might be determined. But damn it, I had a couple of experiences this week that, at least for now, must be kept sealed within my heart.

One of them took place on Monday, where, among other things, a set of 11/11's, came into play.
I see numbers as having an interplay with Fate, and life's experiences. Monday was Nov 8, 2010. November is one of the 11's in the first set, and~~~8 +2+0+1+0=11, which makes for the second 11, in the first set. And the time that I was involved in particular experience was at 11:11AM. For now, we will just put it as a beautiful day, with a beautiful landscape vista; with a
railroad track nearby, that just added to the aesthetics.

And Mikey J. called me in the afternoon. We are both checking notes and doing a 'little' follow-up on a project that I am working closely with him on. Here again, because I don't like to put a jinx on a bubble, to where it bursts, we will just say that
the 'project' seems to be, at least, in motion.

Tuesday AM, I went to the Buffalo Historical Society, and attended, as a guest, The RailBarons.Org meeting in the building-basement. As a 'guest' of the club, they allow me to operate my Appalachian 2-8-8-2 Rivarossi articulated-mallet locomotive on their layout. And that was a pretty cool experience for the two hours that I was there. I was pleased that everybody was
remarking how well the locomotive ran. There is a reason for that!!! Keep in mind that this locomotive was originally purchased, in 1967, from Sears, 1901 Main St. Buffalo, NY, in a post-Christmas sale, for $19.95. The locomotive is 44 years old!!! Why was it running so well?? Because, in effect, I almost bit off~~~more than I could chew!! About 4 weeks ago, on a Saturday, I set out to do a 'little' maintenance on the 'power' unit. Keep in mind that this locomotive is 44 years old. Included in that is the fact that the parts and assembly schematic, were lost~~~years ago. So as I'm disassembling, without my proper set of 'hobby' screwdrivers no less, from scratch, to properly grease the moving parts, and the screw-and-gear mechanisms, I'm beginning to panic. I'm looking at all of these little nuts, bolts, widgets, rods, and strange looking tongue-and-groove interlocking armatures, and I'm beginning to think~~~oh, oh---I'm in way over my head!!!! I stayed with it. Greased all of the moving parts, and did the reassembling. In the process, there was a couple of moments where I thought I was going to have to wrap everything up, and take the 'mess' to Niagara Hobby, and let them 'fix' it. As it turned out, I got it all lubed to run like greased-lightning, and run as quiet as if I had just pulled it out of its box. I have learned some short-cuts along the way, so the maintenance experience in the future should not be as hair-raising.

I may have to go back and edit this part, later. Something did develop in the PM, and for the life of me, I can't recall it right
now for my journal entry.

Wednesday had me down at The Belle Center, in the AM. I was there ostensibly, to pick up a box of peanut-butter-centered GIRL SCOUT Cookies. I had ordered them from one of the clients that uses one of the services of The Belle Center. I had actually kind of forgotten about the order, to be honest. But a phone call, from the client, brought it to mind, again. So along the way of picking up the box of cookies, I spend the morning making my rounds; trying to keep my networking contacts at The Belle Center still primed and ready to 'think' Lou Marconi, if YOUTH BUILD, or another similar project should materialize.

Thursday, I was all-day, at The Buffalo State College Butler Library. I was putting together material for a help=wanted ad that I had seen in WNYJOBS.COM. And on so many levels~~~but one, it was ME!!! Along with what I thought was a well-written cover letter, and resume, they were looking for a few examples of this one critical skill-set, as well. Electronically, I have these examples 'saved' all over the damned place!! So I'm going into all these different files to assess which will drive the point home, that I am the suitable candidate. Here is the one 'kicker'. I mean, like, whom are they looking for~~~Steve Jobs?!?!? Above and beyond everything else that this employer is looking for, they want somebody with WEB PAGE designer skills. So I put together 2 envelopes of a cover letter, resume, and examples~~~to pour it on!!! And I found some examples that had a 'Catholic' slant to them. It is said that when you write something, walk away from it for awhile to see if the effect you were trying to convey, did get conveyed. In this one example, when I originally wrote it over a year ago, now, it got me choked-up. I reread it Thursday, and I got choked-up, again!! So hopefully, they will see my assets, and realize they may have to hire an IT guy, as well.

And of course, Thursday: the 11th hour of the 11th day, of the 11th Month; November 1918, was Armistice/Veterans Day. So some time and effort was put into recognizing all those Veterans whom have served in our Armed Forces, and especially those whom have made The Ultimate Sacrifice, in the process.

Friday was a good day; a day with much on my mind, that at one point put me in such an anxiety-attack, that my spastic susceptible legs, went into spasticity-overdrive. I didn't want to take this one medicine that I have, because this medicine will make me drossy. Because of that, I normally take the medicine just before bed=time. Even though I had a Frankie Valli Concert at The Shea's Theatre that I was going to attend, and was going to have to drive, to get there, I took the medicine, anyways. I had to; I was in trouble, otherwise.

The Frankie Valli Concert was, in a word, incredible. As I posted on my FACEBOOK WALL: My Frank Sinatra; Frankie Valli!! Great Show!! Joe Rizzo, and his family are three rows in front of us!! Even as a kid, Joey already had a vinyl collection~~~to die for!!

The Buffalo News article below, pretty much covers every wonderful detail about the experience.

Hit-filled Valli performance combines history, artistry
By Garaud MacTaggart
CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER
Frankie Valli and his old cohorts in the Four Seasons are bona fide members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and “Jersey Boys,” the Broadway musical based on the early days of the Four Seasons, is a massive, globe-trotting hit.

Valli has one of the great falsetto voices in pop music and, by virtue of half a century of touring, knows how to work with an audience. All of this — the history and the artistry — came to Shea’s Performing Arts Center Friday night for what seemed like a reunion of a singer and his audience, with both sides drifting on the waves of remembrance.

Somewhere around the halfway point of the concert, Valli stopped for a bit to get cozy with his audience members and remind them that the Four Seasons used to hit Buffalo twice a year—playing Kleinhans in the winter, Melody Fair in the summer, and spending post-gig nights at places like the 747 Club. With each recitation of familiar names from the past, the crowd (and Shea’s was filled to the rafters) roared in appreciation.

As for the actual concert, it was a solid, well-performed, carefully crafted set that focused on the songs at the heart of Valli’s career.

At 74 years old, Valli was not moving around the stage with the same rhythmic grace of his youth, but that was part of the reason four young bucks were on stage with him, providing background harmonies and choreography. What Valli did have in abundance was a stage presence.

It wasn’t just that there was a historical figure up on the stage singing songs from the past; it was a legend commanding respect with succinct gestures that brought the audience along with him, reliving the lyrics and melodies that many of them grew up with.

Hit songs like “Dawn (Go Away),” “Working My Way Back to You” and “Who Loves You” from Valli’s days with the Four Seasons blended seamlessly with classics from his solo career like “My Eyes Adored You,” “December 1963 (Oh What a Night)” and “Grease.” He even did a mini-set of songs from the 1960s that were hits for other artists, including Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem” and a clever mash-up of the Temptations’ “My Girl,” with the Rascals “Groovin’.”

Toward the end of the show, Valli introduced the 10 members of his band (along with the five-piece, Buffalo-based horn section) and talked to the audience about music and life.

By the time he began the closing moments of his show by singing the very first hit song he had as a solo artist (“I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”), the fans in the house were in audible rapture.

It was a good gig.


One last reflection on the Concert. At one point, from the stage, he interludes his performance by way of having a conversation with the audience. He does this little routine where he spoofs hip-hop; then deadpans~~~how do you make love, to that?!?!? Everybody broke into laughter and applause!!

I wasn't going to put this in originally, but then decided to edit my Web Log to show this in my journal. Post-concert; and he showed me his VA Membership card with the VA symbol in the upper left-hand part of the vinyl card to validate his identity claim. A homeless Vet; a Marine from 1979, needed money so he could sleep for the night~~~in a warm bed, instead of out on the street. He needed 10 bucks to register into a hostel for a shower and a bed. I gave it to him~~~with my gruff voice; use it on the hostel~~~not on booz. He was so overwhelmed, that he gave me the can of Diet Coke he had stowed in his pocket, as a way of saying thanks. Moments; man!!! Moments!!! This is what Life is; moments. I can't even see what I am typing right now!!! My eyes are so blurry!!!!


Saturday, I went in for an oil change & an inspection~~~on a 2008 vehicle. I came out with an invoice a bit higher than I excepted!!! I have been trying to stay with the one dealership, and the one person in particular, that I have gotten to know.
May have to reassess a couple of factors, here.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise

November starts-up; Ebbs & Flows, But a Good Friday!

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.

Life is a beautiful thing
as long as I hold the string.
I'd be a silly so and so,
if I should ever let go---I've Got The World On A String~~~Frank Sinatra


The BELOW is inspired from a closing-out segment of a radio program I was listening to this Saturday morning. Weekend-Edition-Saturday, hosted by Scott Simon. where James Kaplan, author of the Book--- 'Frank: THE VOICE', was discussing in riveting detail of the early, and sometimes not-so-pleasant, years of Frank Sinatra's life. I found it, a gripping 'read'!!

It's 1941. Robert E. Lee Prewitt has requested Army transfer and has ended up at Schofield in Hawaii. His new captain, Dana Holmes, has heard of his boxing prowess and is keen to get him to represent the company. However, 'Prew' is adamant that he doesn't box anymore, so Captain Holmes gets his subordinates to make his life a living hell. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden starts seeing the captain's wife, who has a history of seeking external relief from a troubled marriage. Prew's friend Maggio has a few altercations with the sadistic stockade Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson, and Prew begins falling in love with social club employee Lorene. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor looms in the distance. Written by Ed Sutton

The above is the STORYLINE for the blockbuster movie, FROM HERE, TO ETERNITY.
This is the movie with the famous, and jaw-dropping, movie-trailer scene. The trailer
has leading-role actor, Burt Lancaster, and leading-role actress Deborah Kerr, in the
throes of enraptured kissing on the beach while the waves that are settling in, wash
the two passionate lovers in a glistening glow.

For his performance, as Angelo Maggio, in a supporting-role, Frank Sinatra is awarded an OSCAR.
By way of listening to Public Radio International; NPR, Saturday AM, I was privileged to learn
some fascinating material regarding Frank Sinatra~~~at least, up through the early 50s.

Apparently, by 1952, he was at~~~wit's end. His career was tail-spinning, fast. The MGM Studio
had dropped him, and his original record-label had dropped him. And there was a scene in NYC having to do with Eddie Fisher, where all the young bobby-soxers were enthralled with Eddie Fisher,
and this just tore Sinatra to pieces. According to this biographer on WEEKEND EDITION, Sinatra was so down on himself, that he was exhibiting suicidal tendencies.

A selection from the book discloses:
"...Though Sinatra was a major hit with women, his own relationships were often fraught with conflict, as was the case with Ava Gardner.

"Despair was built into the DNA of that relationship," Kaplan says. "I think that Ava had the dream that they would settle down, but deep down she never wanted to have children. And Frank was a born wanderer."

It was rumored that Sinatra had tried to take his own life over the dissolution of his relationship with Gardner.

"Let me put it this way: There were about three occasions, possibly four, when he made suicide attempts. One of the suicide attempts, and this was after Ava had left him in 1953, was extremely grave. He slit his wrist and bled a great deal, and could have died."


Sinatra would end up staging one of the greatest show-business comebacks of all time, playing the role of Angelo Maggio in, From Here to Eternity.

Columbia Pictures was involved in a project where they wanted to tell a story about military life, and the days leading up to Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941. The name of the motion picture is: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.

The response to the OSCAR success is captivating. He hooks up with a new record-label, and develops an instant rapport with musical arranger Nelson Riddle. In the process, he 'cuts'
"I've Got The World On A String"---and Sinatra begins doing it~~~his way!!!!!!!

So while Monday is by-and-large uneventful, Tuesday has some footnotes to it.

I take a phone call from Ursula Davis who is the Director of Operations, at VIVE la Casa. And of course, she is calling me---so I respect her willingness to disclose the information to me, rather than me having to seek it out. And I respectfully and appreciatively engage her in conversation throughout the interactivity. As discussed in earlier entries, the conversation
centers around the possible AmeriCorps Buffalo second term placement at VIVE. I'm not sure what to make of the explanation, as if to say; was it a facade, or was she being straight-up with me? As previously mentioned, VIVE has only ONE clear and present objective. It is to provide haven for the persecuted refugees that are short-term in America, until they can get the right paper-work to establish permanent residence in Canada.

Ursula explains to me that while I have 'assets', and because of that, they therefore are going to hold on to my application paperwork, they are not going to accept me at this time. I would not be a good fit because I am seeking a full-time type of term, and what VIVE is undertaking right now is more short-term, in nature.

Frankly, I have no idea, what type of program they are trying to undertake, that would be---short-term. Short-term!?!? Not likely. While I accept the reply at face-value, I'm also thinking there may be an underlying reason for the non-implicating explanation. VIVE, is the old turn-of-the-twentieth-century St. Matthew's three-floor school house. According to Ursula, the building is grand-fathered from ADA regulations. And while there is ramping to navigate a scooter to the administrative floor from the outside, they have not invested in an elevator to get a scooter to the different floors, once inside. I'm more inclined to think that the inability to 'work' the other floors, is more the 'concern' about me, than the 'new' project being 'short-term'.

I nonetheless, thanked her, and she did pass along that I could additionally use her as a reference.

And, like the little-engine-that-could, I went on to follow-up-emails, and networking-enhancements at the B E T C @
77 Goodell St. Buffalo NY!!!

After the VIVE experience, I went to vote. I'm able to park at one of the two curb-side Handicap parking slots just outside of the voting door entrance to Kenmore-West High School. One of the candidates, in suit and tie, was at the 100' mark, handing out his literature. As I'm disembarking my van, I call out to him; "You want my vote~~~help me!!!" He comes over to me and says, "sure, what do I have to do?" I tell him that once I get my scooter out of my van, he is going to have to get the 130# scooter up the eight-inch curb, so that I can operate it on the sidewalk. I added that when he gets elected he is going to have to contact the Town of Tonawanda Supervisor and do appropriate CUT-AWAYS.

Here is how mindless regular people are with the needs of those handicapped. Keep in mind~~~the universal symbol for HANDICAP, is the wheelchair. And as I'm off-loading my scooter, I'm enlightening the candidate to this irregularity. There are these parking slots, with an eight-inch-high-curb, to negotiate. Without an AID, the person in a wheel-chair or scooter, because there is no accompanying cut-away to provide ascending, must drive in the street, one-quarter-mile down the road, on Highland Parkway, to the intersection, to have access to a cut-away. I told the candidate~~~bombastic!!! While the candidate did, sadly, lose, he did give me his home phone number. He is well-known in the 'Town' and after the protocol grieving time, I will call and remind him of the issue.

And while Wednesday was by-and-large uneventful~~~
Thursday was an anniversary, that had to be recognized, if you will.

4 November 2010, is the Second Anniversary of Our USMC Corporal
Philip Marconi being home, safe & sound. A veteran of 5 years of service, and
three combat-zone deployments, we humbly thank God for His Blessings in the return. The combat zone deployments included Fallujah, Ramadi, and Helmand Province Afghanistan. Those whom were attentive, know these to be some pretty hell-hole places to be in, when having to cover each-others backs.

And Fridays; Fridays are always Good!!!!

I had a great supper with my son Andrew, Friday evening. We don't spend much time together, and when it blossoms to the level of quality-time that was realized, I relished it as a gift; a Present Moment forever treasured. I was so moved by the whole EXPERIENCE, and I hi-lighted the aforementioned, because I felt it an incredible experience, that I commented on it as a FACEBOOK wall posting. A special 'shout-out' goes out to my son Andrew, for treating the Old-Man to supper Friday Evening~~~at the STAR OF INDIA Restaurant, Delaware Ave Kenmore NY. Great food, and very spontaneous, and engaging conversations. A Father couldn't have it, any better!!!! Thank you, Andrew!

The cap-stone though, was our Daughter Erica. On Friday, she was celebrating a mile-post. She was no longer a teen-ager.
On Friday, she turned 20 Years Old. And here, as well, I had to be the good and insightful Father, that all Fathers try to be, and put something, of substance, for her to hold onto. And certainly I did, in her Birthday Card. I did not want to be remiss, so I also placed a greeting on her FACEBOOK WALL.
Erica!!! On this profound mile-marker; no longer a teen-ager, I wish you a most Blessed and Happy 20th Birthday!! It is my sincerest prayer that the bounty and blessings that are bestowed on you, continue to embrace you throughout your life. Your very essence cultivates hospitality and fellowship. Love, Dad



While I, in-effect, observed Erica's Birthday, in-absencia, her Mother was able to attend the festivities in the University of Mississippi community of Oxford, MS, in person. My sister Rose was very accommodating and opened her house and heart up to all the extravaganzas.

And Saturday!?!? Spent more time with Andrew!! This could be interesting; regular-buds!! Did the: Five-Points-Bakery, Lexington CO-OP, Wegmans; 621 Amherst St., and Home Depot---shopping circuit..
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise