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.
...He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'll come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather~~~I Dreamed a Dream; Les Miserables
On Monday, 24 January, I've just settled into my desk now having come back from lunch, to get cranking on some more 'editing' tasks. It is about 13:45PM, when the Fire Alarm goes off. And as it is sounding off, it is changing its cadence. Of course, I'm new to all this so I don't fully understand the cadence implications.
At this point, all I'm trying to do is get myself out of the building. And even as I'm grappling to get my coat and gloves on; its 10 degrees outside, the two Office Managers are already nicely encouraging me to get myself together and board my scooter. With us being on the third floor, everybody is going to use the stairwells to get out of the building. I'm looking to use the elevator. As we, like our grade-school counter-parts are trained to do, make our way to the egress areas, I have Dan & office-appointed fire-marshal Scott, staying close with me. Their concern speaks volumes; is above reproach. We get to the elevator and encounter one hell of a TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY. When the fire-alarm goes off, the elevator is programmed to go into AUTO-LOCK. What did we do!?!? Scott grabbed a nearby fire-ax, busted a window, and Dan & Scott hurled me, and my scooter~~~out, from the third-floor-window!!!
No!! No!! Just joking!!
Now keep in mind~~~the alarms are still whaling-away. We are on the third-floor of an older office building in downtown Buffalo, NY. In other words, there are huge distances between floors. Such distances that usually have these spread-out landings intermittent, to give added support to the stairwell area. Well this building was no different. What was I do?? I abandoned my scooter, grabbed my two-canes and with Scott, Dan, Tanya, and Sandy in tow, we started down the stairs.
Sandy needs help too, so Tanya was her aid. But they didn't 'run' ahead. We stayed together, making sure we all were alright. I thank God that at least I have gravity working in my favor as I'm declining all these stairs and navigating these two landings. Keep in mind~~~this is a fire alarm. We have no idea what we are up against. But we all stayed together. If we had 'smelled' the real thing, I would have to believe we would have went 'boy-scout' to get me out of the building.
So check this out!!!
This is how long it took me to get down the stairs; along with the lives of everybody else whom were with me---still on-the-line. As we stepped onto the first-floor from the stairway, two fire-fighters, from the fire-truck that had to weave through downtown Buffalo traffic to get to our building~~~were ALREADY INSIDE!!
We were told to stay-put by the fire-fighters; that everything was alright---no need to be standing out in the cold. Of course if there was a fire, one of the fire-fighters would have just tossed me over his air-tanked back, and got me out-of-harms-way because with no scooter, I would have had no way of getting to the safety-perimeter timely with my canes.
With the excitement over, and all-the-resets put back into place, the elevator was once again, working. Rob was good-natured enough to go up to the third-floor and retrieve my scooter for me.
So we all make our way back to our work-stations; back to our tedium.
At 1600 hours; 4PM for the uninitiated, the fire-alarm goes off again!!! This time, we have a contingency-plan. This time Tom, my fire-buddy, and myself with my scooter, use the turn-of-the-twentieth-century freight-elevator to get out of the building. This elevator does not have any of the bells & whistles that the passenger elevator does. It is hand-eye coordination to operate. The operator has to watch where to stop so the elevator matches the floor level!! Of course, Tom has done this a thousand times already, so this was old-hat for him. So with my scooter, I was able to migrate across the street with everyone else until we got the clearance to go back inside~~~to punch out!!! Truly, a Monday to remember!
On Tuesday I went to finish a bureaucratic task that was already almost two weeks in the making.I decided to do this because a few people have suggested to me that it would be a more practical and evident way of having my vehicle identified so that I could have more access to better parking and not have to worry about manually remembering to place my mirror handicap tag every time I egress my van.
I decided to get an actual handicap license plate. Keep in mind, this is the dead of winter, in Buffalo, NY. I figure all I had to do on Tuesday 18 January, was sign a form because I already have a valid HANDICAP MIRROR TAG. Not a prayer's chance, in hell. The DMV has a special form that the Doctor must fill out to document the handicap. The DENT CLINIC has gazillions of clients, so it is not likely that the form is going to get filled out---while I wait. So, I reloaded the scooter from the DMV, to go to the Dent Clinic~~~and drop the form off. By the way, my van thermometer, at 2 in the afternoon of this day, shows 10 degrees. With the wind swirling around the DENT CLINIC, it felt like -10 degrees.
The DENT operative assured me she would have it ready by Friday, the 21st. I go there on that date; no Denise, no form. GGGRRR.
Thank God, the form is filled out and in Saturday's mail. So Tuesday, 25 Jan, I head over to the NorthTown Plaza DMV, to get my Handicap Plates. I ended up with a nice DMV clerk!! I currently have these VANITY PLATES; DGNIFIED, so yes---there is a sentimental attachment to these. Without me making the suggestion, after the monetary transaction, the clerk asks me if I wanted to keep one of the plates as a souvenir??? Delightedly, I, of course, said yes!! As she is about to hand me my New Plates, she slips one of the DGNIFIED plates, in-between!! I felt, whole Again!!
Thursday, 27 January, 1991~~~a bitter-pill-anniversary. Twenty years ago, Thursday is the Anniversary of Super Bowl XXV, and the infamous "Wide-Right" moment. That is the ICONIC coined expression that sums up how the Giants outlasted the Buffalo Bills---to win Super Bowl XXV. Most everybody has their story, recalling that ignominious moment. And we have ours, too!!
As so many people do, we had a mini-Super Bowl party as well. The game is a nail-biter all the way through. Everybody is sitting at the edge of their seats. New York, employing its ball-control offense, had possession for 40 minutes, 33 seconds, a Super Bowl record. The Bills, who scored 95 points in their previous two playoff games leading to Super Bowl XXV, had the ball for less than eight minutes in the second half and just 19:27 for the game.
Fourteen of New York's 73 plays came on its initial drive of the third quarter, which covered 75 yards and consumed a Super Bowl-record 9:29 before running back Ottis Anderson ran one yard for a touchdown. Buffalo's Thurman Thomas ran 31 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter to help Buffalo recapture the lead 19-17. Matt Bahr's 21-yard field goal gave the Giants a 20-19 lead.
By the time Kelly is navigating the Bills down-field,on an Elway-like-Drive with less than two minutes to go, nobody is sitting anymore. Everybody is up and standing like Nervous-Nellies. Then comes the moment. There are only seconds left; time to go for the field-goal, to win GAME, SET, and MATCH!!! The kick is to be executed by Scott Norwood, a very reliable field-goal kicker. It will be a 47 yard attempt. As the Bills are about to line up to effect the kick, the Giants call a time-out~~~to try to psyche-out Norwood.
It is during this time frame that I become afixed to my memorable-moment. To my left is my 9 year old son Andrew. He has no clue about the Bills, football, or anything to do with sports. But somehow, in that 9-year-old mind of his, which is always tempered with thoughts that has him thinking of concerns and apprehensions, he is pacing back and forth somehow knowing that this is a moment of epoch proportions for this Buffalo Community. He can't articulate this, but I know, he knows this.
Now, the play is about to unfold; both teams are at the line of scrimmage~~~when my Mother-in-Law quips...don't you just LOVE, close games?!?!?! GGGRRR!!!!
My most favorite play-off/championship type score was the Bills drubbing of the Los Angeles Raiders 51-3, the week previous---Sunday, January 20, 1991 at Rich Stadium.
Friday would be the 25th Anniversary of a most tragic moment in American History.
On January 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into flight, killing all seven crew members,including "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe, on board. It was the first time NASA had lost astronauts during a spaceflight.
Few who were alive 25 years ago, will forget that day, nor the iconic footage and photographs of the pale, corkscrewing plumes in the clear blue morning sky where Challenger had just been. The failure of a pressure seal in one of the two solid-fuel rocket boosters was later identified as the cause of the shuttle's breakup.
It is the "Teacher-in-Space" component that adds to the tragedy. Manned space flights were getting so routine~~~nobody was watching them anymore. The reason why this was set to launch in prime-time, was so the kids across-America could be watching this live---from their classrooms because Christa was a teacher. Yes~~~the 'throttle-up' remark from Mission Control, and then---seven lives horribly taken.
I was between sales-calls, and in a Sears store getting some items for my Chrysler Cordoba(you know---the one with the Corinthian Leather!!). Those whom know me well, know that I'm a Manned Space Program aficionado, so I went to their TV sales area, to watch the launch. I couldn't believe~~~first of all---what I had just witnessed, live!!! I was like~~~OMG(before FACEBOOK made that a colloquial expression!!), with my eyebrows raised in disbelief. And secondly, I was miffed at Mission Control!! Instead of just calling it as it was; an explosion, a tragedy of monumental proportions---seven lives are on the line at this moment---we were hearing this technical mumbo-jumbo gibberish, instead. I mean~~~there was nothing left but this plume of smoke still ominously visible in the clear blue morning sky, and Mission Control is still talking about trajectory loss. Gee!! You think!?!?
I'm running errands on Friday, 28 January. In this weather situation, I am especially careful as I get in, out, and around the van and getting from van to house, or any other type of enclosure. So I get inside the house, and I let my 'guard' down. I'm making my way across the kitchen area to the kitchen table & chairs. Having just come in from outside, my cane rubber pads are still wet. I ended
up wiping out. I'll tell you what, it was the hardest fall I had taken in awhile. I suppose the heavy grocery bag w/handles, that I had in my one caned hand didn't help.
The fall shook me up, but given time, I shook it off~~~and started my manuscript~~~for this week's Web Log!!!
Find the energy to overcome, and win~~~everyday!!
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday; 20 January, 1961~~~Inauguration Speech
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.
Ooh, her love is heavenly;
when her arms enfold me,
I hear a tender rhapsody...
but in reality, she doesn't even know me
Just my imagination -- once again --
running away with me.~~~TEMPTATIONS; Just My Imagination
It's remembered as a day chilled by "a Siberian wind knifing down Pennsylvania Avenue" and illuminated by "the dazzling combination of bright sunshine and deep snow."
On Jan. 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy began his presidency with a speech at once soaring and solemn. Fifty years on, we have not heard an inaugural address like it. Tethered to its time and place, it still challenges with its ambition to harness realism to idealism, patriotism to service, national interest to universal aspiration.
The above prose is so riveting, I had to borrow E. J. Dionne's opening remarks from his column dedicated to a moment in American History that today, still holds a captive audience. He, in effect, captures the very essence of this landmark moment in American history, and draws me in, to share his sentiments.
Fifty-years ago, this last Thursday was the anniversary of JFK's Inauguration Speech.
I can still recall, as a ten-year-old, the excitement; the anticipation. I mean---while I had no clue as to all of its significance, I can remember phrases like Camelot, being mentioned.
A big part of the excitement from a Roman Catholic standpoint, is that~~~John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the first, and so far only, Roman Catholic to become President
of the United States. And know that this was something that was made a contentious point of, during the election campaign.
Heavy snow fell the night before the inauguration, but thoughts about canceling the plans were overruled. The election of 1960 had been close, and the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts was eager to gather support for his agenda. He attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown that morning before joining President Eisenhower to travel to the Capitol. The Congress had extended the East Front, and the inaugural platform spanned the new addition.
Going to a Catholic grade school where the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur were overjoyed that there was a handsome, young, Catholic boy now President, the sisters were very willing to bring this history right into the classroom.
I can't speak for the other 10; 11 year-old's around me, but I was thrilled, on this Friday, when the good Sister Mary Elizabeth, our Fifth Grade instructor, wheeled the cart with a TV on top, into the classroom. We were going to watch the Inauguration Speech~~~live!!
The speech was as rich with content and context, as anticipated. Its prose, its imagery, and its theme was at once~~~Branding & Defining this man.
We all can still recall...And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. This quotation will prove to be timeless.
The remark that I felt revealed His Presidency was...Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
These were not idle words; no grandstanding.
He put a blemish on his presidency early-on by taking bad Pentagon advise and committing a group of crack para-military personnel to the Bay 0f Pigs area of Cuba in a failed attempt to foil the overthrow of the Batista Regime in Cuba by a group of rag-tag revolutionaries lead by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
In the last two weeks of October of 1962, we saw this man reach near invincible stature. Kennedy deftly defused a dispute with the cold-war arch-rival---The Soviet Union, that had global conflagration written all over it regarding the Cuban Missile Crises.
And~~~in the midst of the infamous, divisive Berlin Wall, on June 26, 1963, he made his famous, "ich bin ein Berliner" speech.
While I was still so young, I had a sense that I was attached to a very profound moment in time; a sense that this was a pivotal moment in history. And just as Winston Churchill called on his Brits to show courage and defiance against Hitler as Germany was turning London into a holocaust with its bombing raids; the Brits heroism was being defined as England's Finest Hour~~~I think this Inauguration Speech could be heralded as one of America's Finest Hour's as well.
The below is the column that E. J. Dionne devotes his personal perspective to Kennedy's 1355-word epoch oratory. The column in effect, crystallizes it's meaning for me, and its significance for posterity.
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
It's remembered as a day chilled by "a Siberian wind knifing down Pennsylvania Avenue" and illuminated by "the dazzling combination of bright sunshine and deep snow."
On Jan. 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy began his presidency with a speech at once soaring and solemn. Fifty years on, we have not heard an inaugural address like it. Tethered to its time and place, it still challenges with its ambition to harness realism to idealism, patriotism to service, national interest to universal aspiration.
Theodore Sorensen, the speech's principal architect, was always modest about his own role, less so about the inaugural itself. "It certainly was not as good as Lincoln's second or FDR's first," Sorensen wrote in his memoir, adding that Kennedy thought it not as good as Jefferson's first.
By acknowledging what their joint product was not, Kennedy and Sorensen defined the historical company it still keeps.
A great speech includes lines so memorable that pedestrian orators eventually transform them into cliches. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This muscular call for sacrifice has launched a thousand lesser speeches.
"Civility is not a sign of weakness" and "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate" - staple references whenever politics becomes particularly vicious.
"The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans." And the torch gets passed again and again, whenever a younger politician is marking out generational territory.
It was a compact speech - at 1,355 words, it was less than twice the length of this column. Kennedy, wrote the historian Robert Dallek, insisted that it be brief because "I don't want people to think I'm a windbag." He needn't have worried.
Right and left still battle over Kennedy's words. Were they a call for resolve before the communist threat ("we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty") or were they a plea for negotiation as the answer to nuclear annihilation?
ad_icon
Probably both. The classic realist's declaration that "only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed" was followed by this:
"But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course - both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
"So let us begin anew."
And so have we remained a nation forever in search of new beginnings, invoking, by turns, Lincoln or Kennedy to bless our fresh starts.
All writers take heart: Kennedy and Sorensen wrote and rewrote, often accepting changes proposed by friends. One fortunate fix came from John Kenneth Galbraith. The final address read: "United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures." The original draft referred to "joint ventures," which Galbraith thought sounded like a mining company.
They also took columnist Walter Lippmann's suggestion, changing "enemy" to "adversary." The less hostile word fit better with the speech's wish that "a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion" - a line the self-critical Sorensen saw as "a metaphorical stretch."
And Kennedy advisers Harris Wofford and Louis Martin won the insertion of six words and helped change history.
In the original draft, Kennedy declared that the new generation for which he spoke was "unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today."
To which Wofford and Martin got Kennedy to add, "at home and around the world," thus marrying the struggle for freedom abroad with the cause of domestic civil rights. There would be no turning back.
Perhaps I should acknowledge that I fell in love with this speech when I was young, purchasing a long-playing record of Kennedy addresses for 99 cents at the supermarket and listening to it over and over after Kennedy's assassination.
You might say that I still hear its trumpet summoning us again. And when Kennedy said, "I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation," I knew - millions of others felt this way, too - that he was speaking for me.
I thought I saw him[Robert] walkin' up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.(Dion)
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
Ooh, her love is heavenly;
when her arms enfold me,
I hear a tender rhapsody...
but in reality, she doesn't even know me
Just my imagination -- once again --
running away with me.~~~TEMPTATIONS; Just My Imagination
It's remembered as a day chilled by "a Siberian wind knifing down Pennsylvania Avenue" and illuminated by "the dazzling combination of bright sunshine and deep snow."
On Jan. 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy began his presidency with a speech at once soaring and solemn. Fifty years on, we have not heard an inaugural address like it. Tethered to its time and place, it still challenges with its ambition to harness realism to idealism, patriotism to service, national interest to universal aspiration.
The above prose is so riveting, I had to borrow E. J. Dionne's opening remarks from his column dedicated to a moment in American History that today, still holds a captive audience. He, in effect, captures the very essence of this landmark moment in American history, and draws me in, to share his sentiments.
Fifty-years ago, this last Thursday was the anniversary of JFK's Inauguration Speech.
I can still recall, as a ten-year-old, the excitement; the anticipation. I mean---while I had no clue as to all of its significance, I can remember phrases like Camelot, being mentioned.
A big part of the excitement from a Roman Catholic standpoint, is that~~~John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the first, and so far only, Roman Catholic to become President
of the United States. And know that this was something that was made a contentious point of, during the election campaign.
Heavy snow fell the night before the inauguration, but thoughts about canceling the plans were overruled. The election of 1960 had been close, and the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts was eager to gather support for his agenda. He attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown that morning before joining President Eisenhower to travel to the Capitol. The Congress had extended the East Front, and the inaugural platform spanned the new addition.
Going to a Catholic grade school where the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur were overjoyed that there was a handsome, young, Catholic boy now President, the sisters were very willing to bring this history right into the classroom.
I can't speak for the other 10; 11 year-old's around me, but I was thrilled, on this Friday, when the good Sister Mary Elizabeth, our Fifth Grade instructor, wheeled the cart with a TV on top, into the classroom. We were going to watch the Inauguration Speech~~~live!!
The speech was as rich with content and context, as anticipated. Its prose, its imagery, and its theme was at once~~~Branding & Defining this man.
We all can still recall...And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. This quotation will prove to be timeless.
The remark that I felt revealed His Presidency was...Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
These were not idle words; no grandstanding.
He put a blemish on his presidency early-on by taking bad Pentagon advise and committing a group of crack para-military personnel to the Bay 0f Pigs area of Cuba in a failed attempt to foil the overthrow of the Batista Regime in Cuba by a group of rag-tag revolutionaries lead by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
In the last two weeks of October of 1962, we saw this man reach near invincible stature. Kennedy deftly defused a dispute with the cold-war arch-rival---The Soviet Union, that had global conflagration written all over it regarding the Cuban Missile Crises.
And~~~in the midst of the infamous, divisive Berlin Wall, on June 26, 1963, he made his famous, "ich bin ein Berliner" speech.
While I was still so young, I had a sense that I was attached to a very profound moment in time; a sense that this was a pivotal moment in history. And just as Winston Churchill called on his Brits to show courage and defiance against Hitler as Germany was turning London into a holocaust with its bombing raids; the Brits heroism was being defined as England's Finest Hour~~~I think this Inauguration Speech could be heralded as one of America's Finest Hour's as well.
The below is the column that E. J. Dionne devotes his personal perspective to Kennedy's 1355-word epoch oratory. The column in effect, crystallizes it's meaning for me, and its significance for posterity.
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
It's remembered as a day chilled by "a Siberian wind knifing down Pennsylvania Avenue" and illuminated by "the dazzling combination of bright sunshine and deep snow."
On Jan. 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy began his presidency with a speech at once soaring and solemn. Fifty years on, we have not heard an inaugural address like it. Tethered to its time and place, it still challenges with its ambition to harness realism to idealism, patriotism to service, national interest to universal aspiration.
Theodore Sorensen, the speech's principal architect, was always modest about his own role, less so about the inaugural itself. "It certainly was not as good as Lincoln's second or FDR's first," Sorensen wrote in his memoir, adding that Kennedy thought it not as good as Jefferson's first.
By acknowledging what their joint product was not, Kennedy and Sorensen defined the historical company it still keeps.
A great speech includes lines so memorable that pedestrian orators eventually transform them into cliches. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This muscular call for sacrifice has launched a thousand lesser speeches.
"Civility is not a sign of weakness" and "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate" - staple references whenever politics becomes particularly vicious.
"The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans." And the torch gets passed again and again, whenever a younger politician is marking out generational territory.
It was a compact speech - at 1,355 words, it was less than twice the length of this column. Kennedy, wrote the historian Robert Dallek, insisted that it be brief because "I don't want people to think I'm a windbag." He needn't have worried.
Right and left still battle over Kennedy's words. Were they a call for resolve before the communist threat ("we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty") or were they a plea for negotiation as the answer to nuclear annihilation?
ad_icon
Probably both. The classic realist's declaration that "only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed" was followed by this:
"But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course - both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
"So let us begin anew."
And so have we remained a nation forever in search of new beginnings, invoking, by turns, Lincoln or Kennedy to bless our fresh starts.
All writers take heart: Kennedy and Sorensen wrote and rewrote, often accepting changes proposed by friends. One fortunate fix came from John Kenneth Galbraith. The final address read: "United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures." The original draft referred to "joint ventures," which Galbraith thought sounded like a mining company.
They also took columnist Walter Lippmann's suggestion, changing "enemy" to "adversary." The less hostile word fit better with the speech's wish that "a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion" - a line the self-critical Sorensen saw as "a metaphorical stretch."
And Kennedy advisers Harris Wofford and Louis Martin won the insertion of six words and helped change history.
In the original draft, Kennedy declared that the new generation for which he spoke was "unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today."
To which Wofford and Martin got Kennedy to add, "at home and around the world," thus marrying the struggle for freedom abroad with the cause of domestic civil rights. There would be no turning back.
Perhaps I should acknowledge that I fell in love with this speech when I was young, purchasing a long-playing record of Kennedy addresses for 99 cents at the supermarket and listening to it over and over after Kennedy's assassination.
You might say that I still hear its trumpet summoning us again. And when Kennedy said, "I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation," I knew - millions of others felt this way, too - that he was speaking for me.
I thought I saw him[Robert] walkin' up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.(Dion)
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
Saturday, January 15, 2011
He Ain't Heavy; He's My Brother
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.
...That's all I'm gonna spend
And I think,
It's gonna be alright
Yeah,
The worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shining
Like a red rubber ball~~~Cyrkle; Red Rubber Ball
Fridays are good days!! And Friday, 14 January 2011, was exceptional!! This is because of something that had come out of the clear blue~~~a week previous, would come to fruition. From the initial conversations, to the end result, it all materialized~~~on Friday!!
My brother Victor customarily visits our household on Sundays. We'll watch TV; usually sports, have a little supper, and then watch some more TV. In a family of 8 siblings, he is second-in-command~~~a year and one-half younger than myself. And while, because of the closeness of age and rank, there may have been some disagreements and misunderstandings throughout these many years, he is still~~~my Brother.
How much of a brother??? Well~~~when he came over last Sunday 9 January, 2011, he came with some literature in hand. Literature that, in effect, was discussing apparatei that would help to once again~~~have my house, become my HOME.
For those of you whom may not be aware, I am walking-impaired. The severity is now such that I only use the flight-of-stairs to access the Master Bedroom, once a day. It is not so bad going down the set of stairs in the morning. But going up the set of stairs, that includes a landing, is getting to be so laborious that it is almost prohibitive. To address this issue my good brother Victor, came over with some literature from Sheridan Surgical featuring the BRUNO power Elite chairlifts. These come in a couple of styles, as well as stock versions and the customized edition.
I looked over the literature, and called a contact I know at Sheridan Surgical. We had him come in and detail choices and pricing. While the customized TRACK was the most efficient consideration from a usage standpoint in that one would stay on the one seat as one would go up the first set of stairs, coast the short landing and then lift the rest of the way up the short second set of stairs, there was some other bullets to consider. Being customized, this was the most expensive version. And, it would take up to seven weeks to manufacture, and then be installed.
With the pricing difference that did exist between Standard and Customized, here is what we decided!!! For the staircase leading up to the second floor, we decided~~~a SLIP-SEAT OPERATION!! With the Standard Product in stock, Sheridan Surgical would be able to install by Friday, instead of waiting seven weeks. Because the landing is a 'small-sized' transition area, we decided the we would have the first-floor chair ride a rail up to the landing, slip-seat into a second chair waiting for me at the landing, and then go up the short second set of stairs~~~to the second floor.
And~~~with the difference in the price, between the custom package, and the BRUNO ELITE standard version, we decided that we were going to put a third CHAIRLIFT at the side-door set-of-stairs to get me up into my HOME, from the outside!!!
And I'll tell you what folks. These three Bruno Chairlifts~~~combined to become a major investment; a major expenditure. God blesses your life when He places Angels in your midst. My brother Victor became a guardian Angel as he blessed me with his generosity and covered the expenditures on the purchase and installation.
I humbly thank you Victor, for your considerations.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
NB: So we are having a Saturday Evening Family get-together. It is centered around Erica going back to the University of Mississippi from her Christmas break, Philip having 'more' of his Birthday celebration, and having Victor included because of his very-giving generosity. At one point my wife Donna and USMC veteran son, Philip decide to do a trial-run on the Chair-lifts. As the conversation continues, Donna mentions that the service men 'recommended' using the seat-belts, but what the user does---after 'we' leave---is up to the customer. So Philip retorts---well I know Dad doesn't use the seat-belts; he doesn't use them when he's barreling 45 MPH in his van. To which Donna responds; "...his friend Maria, told him he has to wear a seat-belt, and he wears one."
...That's all I'm gonna spend
And I think,
It's gonna be alright
Yeah,
The worst is over now
The mornin' sun is shining
Like a red rubber ball~~~Cyrkle; Red Rubber Ball
Fridays are good days!! And Friday, 14 January 2011, was exceptional!! This is because of something that had come out of the clear blue~~~a week previous, would come to fruition. From the initial conversations, to the end result, it all materialized~~~on Friday!!
My brother Victor customarily visits our household on Sundays. We'll watch TV; usually sports, have a little supper, and then watch some more TV. In a family of 8 siblings, he is second-in-command~~~a year and one-half younger than myself. And while, because of the closeness of age and rank, there may have been some disagreements and misunderstandings throughout these many years, he is still~~~my Brother.
How much of a brother??? Well~~~when he came over last Sunday 9 January, 2011, he came with some literature in hand. Literature that, in effect, was discussing apparatei that would help to once again~~~have my house, become my HOME.
For those of you whom may not be aware, I am walking-impaired. The severity is now such that I only use the flight-of-stairs to access the Master Bedroom, once a day. It is not so bad going down the set of stairs in the morning. But going up the set of stairs, that includes a landing, is getting to be so laborious that it is almost prohibitive. To address this issue my good brother Victor, came over with some literature from Sheridan Surgical featuring the BRUNO power Elite chairlifts. These come in a couple of styles, as well as stock versions and the customized edition.
I looked over the literature, and called a contact I know at Sheridan Surgical. We had him come in and detail choices and pricing. While the customized TRACK was the most efficient consideration from a usage standpoint in that one would stay on the one seat as one would go up the first set of stairs, coast the short landing and then lift the rest of the way up the short second set of stairs, there was some other bullets to consider. Being customized, this was the most expensive version. And, it would take up to seven weeks to manufacture, and then be installed.
With the pricing difference that did exist between Standard and Customized, here is what we decided!!! For the staircase leading up to the second floor, we decided~~~a SLIP-SEAT OPERATION!! With the Standard Product in stock, Sheridan Surgical would be able to install by Friday, instead of waiting seven weeks. Because the landing is a 'small-sized' transition area, we decided the we would have the first-floor chair ride a rail up to the landing, slip-seat into a second chair waiting for me at the landing, and then go up the short second set of stairs~~~to the second floor.
And~~~with the difference in the price, between the custom package, and the BRUNO ELITE standard version, we decided that we were going to put a third CHAIRLIFT at the side-door set-of-stairs to get me up into my HOME, from the outside!!!
And I'll tell you what folks. These three Bruno Chairlifts~~~combined to become a major investment; a major expenditure. God blesses your life when He places Angels in your midst. My brother Victor became a guardian Angel as he blessed me with his generosity and covered the expenditures on the purchase and installation.
I humbly thank you Victor, for your considerations.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
NB: So we are having a Saturday Evening Family get-together. It is centered around Erica going back to the University of Mississippi from her Christmas break, Philip having 'more' of his Birthday celebration, and having Victor included because of his very-giving generosity. At one point my wife Donna and USMC veteran son, Philip decide to do a trial-run on the Chair-lifts. As the conversation continues, Donna mentions that the service men 'recommended' using the seat-belts, but what the user does---after 'we' leave---is up to the customer. So Philip retorts---well I know Dad doesn't use the seat-belts; he doesn't use them when he's barreling 45 MPH in his van. To which Donna responds; "...his friend Maria, told him he has to wear a seat-belt, and he wears one."
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Oases, Below-the-Radar, Culture, and Fireworks
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.
...And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection~~~Hips Don't Lie; Shakira
An interesting week; no doubt. And of course, Fridays always seem to put an additional slant on perceptions and perspectives; especially those that may exist in a tickler-file. Now certainly, that is probably a term one hasn't been seen. or heard of, in awhile~~~tickler-file. In the pre-INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY days, that was a format to identify projects and initiatives that were in suspended-animation.
So check this out!!! I get a call Friday afternoon from 'Chris' of the Niagara Falls Airport. Some time ago I had sent them a Resume & a Cover Letter. They are looking for an operations specialist and were offering me the position. I thanked Debbie and Chris for considering me. I went on to advise them that I am already involved in an endeavor~~~and respectfully declined the offer.
It is interesting how that works. One is scrambling for over two years to try to find something that one can hang their hat unto. And one is just grinding it out in this lonely and desolate desert. The grinding is taking such a toll, that it is starting to affect one mentally, spiritually, and physically from a health stand-point. Just as one might think that they are about to expire; lo-and-behold~~~three oases become evident.
So in this new endeavor that I am involved with, I'm in a public-service office-setting. And there are many, many people that conduct business here. Some are full-time, and some are part-time capacity. Some have been with this operation for a long time and some have come on board more recently. And it is a mix of males~~~and females; young and older. Through all of this, I'm just trying to stay below the radar screen as I am trying to figure, and then fit into, the culture.
A close friend very recently cautions me on personal-computer use while on duty. I am cautioned to not be leaving any 'paper-trails'. Over these past three weeks involved in this endeavor, I have learned enough navigating skills that I have been going on the computer for a couple of brief moments to check email~~~and then CLOSE-out the internet connection. And I haven't even gone into FACEBOOK. Keep in mind what I just said. I don't TAB the internet connection, so that in effect, it is up and running all day~~~I OPEN it; thence CLOSE it.
So I come into my endeavor Thursday morning. I'm in early; not even all the lights are on yet. I dutifully crank up my data-entry sites that are assigned for me to do my editing with. I get started on a few of these NR applications and since it is still quiet, I minimize my data-entry sites, and open the Internet. I answer a couple of emails, and delete my spam, and CLOSE the internet. By 9:30AM, the place is at full-throttle. At this point one of the Office Managers; we have two, wants to discuss with all the office personnel a VERBAL-WARNING, in a discussion format. The office is laid out with a series of quads, whereby four people are together, separated by shortened dividers. What quad does she come to first??? Our quad. As she begins her 'discussion', which divider does she slip into to 'embrace' our group??? Right!!! Mine!!! Keep in mind, while she is discussing, she is also smart enough to recognize what activity is evident on the computer. Boy did I look good!!!! No internet TAB existed.
Check this out!!! She informs us that we MUST KEEP OUR INTERNET ACTIVITY TO WORK-RELATED CIRCUMSTANCES ONLY. We are to open the internet, google our needs, and CLOSE the internet immediately. Apparently, because some people open the internet, and then TAB it open for the rest of the day, the public-service IT gurus are interpreting that the internet is being used all day---instead of working. And guess what; our public-service area is apparently one of the most abusive areas regarding this alleged excessive internet activity. Needless-to-say, the two commissioners that oversee this public-service entity, are upset. The office manager spends the morning conveying these instructions and concerns to everyone.
The morning moves along to the lunch-break time. As I mentioned earlier, I'm too new to know the personalities, and the deep-seeded reasons~~~but two of the veteran associates, blow-up at each other!! I mean, it is the beginning of the New Year, for crying-out-loud. These two are going toe-to-toe with verbal diatribes, and I actually thought at one point, that they were going to come to blows. But they at least were heads-up to walk away from each other.
The two office managers intervene and try to talk 'some-sense' into both of the gentlemen. And now, a certain pall; chill, a sudden numbing dread falls over the whole place. One could have certainly heard a pin drop.
So what does the guy whom sits in the divider quad next to me do???? Keep in mind, he is now on his lunch so he THINKS it is alright. He opens up the INTERNET on his computer, and finds this NEW YEARS FIREWORKS jingle with this youthful voice doing this incantation~~~Three, Two, One---Happy New Year!!!!!!! To add insult to injury, he decides to turn-up the volume!! The Office Manager, who had lectured us just this morning on casual internet use is just getting back from lunch, and is taking off her coat~~~and is now freaking-out. She screams to shut it off, and springs over to his station to remind him of the early morning discussion regarding casual internet use. I thought she was going to send him home. She didn't, but I'll tell you what---the rest of the afternoon, was the most quiet afternoon, I had witnessed up to this point.
The end of Thursday, couldn't get there quick enough, for me!!!
I'll tell you what!!! I'm staying under the radar screen for as long as I possibly
can.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
...And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection~~~Hips Don't Lie; Shakira
An interesting week; no doubt. And of course, Fridays always seem to put an additional slant on perceptions and perspectives; especially those that may exist in a tickler-file. Now certainly, that is probably a term one hasn't been seen. or heard of, in awhile~~~tickler-file. In the pre-INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY days, that was a format to identify projects and initiatives that were in suspended-animation.
So check this out!!! I get a call Friday afternoon from 'Chris' of the Niagara Falls Airport. Some time ago I had sent them a Resume & a Cover Letter. They are looking for an operations specialist and were offering me the position. I thanked Debbie and Chris for considering me. I went on to advise them that I am already involved in an endeavor~~~and respectfully declined the offer.
It is interesting how that works. One is scrambling for over two years to try to find something that one can hang their hat unto. And one is just grinding it out in this lonely and desolate desert. The grinding is taking such a toll, that it is starting to affect one mentally, spiritually, and physically from a health stand-point. Just as one might think that they are about to expire; lo-and-behold~~~three oases become evident.
So in this new endeavor that I am involved with, I'm in a public-service office-setting. And there are many, many people that conduct business here. Some are full-time, and some are part-time capacity. Some have been with this operation for a long time and some have come on board more recently. And it is a mix of males~~~and females; young and older. Through all of this, I'm just trying to stay below the radar screen as I am trying to figure, and then fit into, the culture.
A close friend very recently cautions me on personal-computer use while on duty. I am cautioned to not be leaving any 'paper-trails'. Over these past three weeks involved in this endeavor, I have learned enough navigating skills that I have been going on the computer for a couple of brief moments to check email~~~and then CLOSE-out the internet connection. And I haven't even gone into FACEBOOK. Keep in mind what I just said. I don't TAB the internet connection, so that in effect, it is up and running all day~~~I OPEN it; thence CLOSE it.
So I come into my endeavor Thursday morning. I'm in early; not even all the lights are on yet. I dutifully crank up my data-entry sites that are assigned for me to do my editing with. I get started on a few of these NR applications and since it is still quiet, I minimize my data-entry sites, and open the Internet. I answer a couple of emails, and delete my spam, and CLOSE the internet. By 9:30AM, the place is at full-throttle. At this point one of the Office Managers; we have two, wants to discuss with all the office personnel a VERBAL-WARNING, in a discussion format. The office is laid out with a series of quads, whereby four people are together, separated by shortened dividers. What quad does she come to first??? Our quad. As she begins her 'discussion', which divider does she slip into to 'embrace' our group??? Right!!! Mine!!! Keep in mind, while she is discussing, she is also smart enough to recognize what activity is evident on the computer. Boy did I look good!!!! No internet TAB existed.
Check this out!!! She informs us that we MUST KEEP OUR INTERNET ACTIVITY TO WORK-RELATED CIRCUMSTANCES ONLY. We are to open the internet, google our needs, and CLOSE the internet immediately. Apparently, because some people open the internet, and then TAB it open for the rest of the day, the public-service IT gurus are interpreting that the internet is being used all day---instead of working. And guess what; our public-service area is apparently one of the most abusive areas regarding this alleged excessive internet activity. Needless-to-say, the two commissioners that oversee this public-service entity, are upset. The office manager spends the morning conveying these instructions and concerns to everyone.
The morning moves along to the lunch-break time. As I mentioned earlier, I'm too new to know the personalities, and the deep-seeded reasons~~~but two of the veteran associates, blow-up at each other!! I mean, it is the beginning of the New Year, for crying-out-loud. These two are going toe-to-toe with verbal diatribes, and I actually thought at one point, that they were going to come to blows. But they at least were heads-up to walk away from each other.
The two office managers intervene and try to talk 'some-sense' into both of the gentlemen. And now, a certain pall; chill, a sudden numbing dread falls over the whole place. One could have certainly heard a pin drop.
So what does the guy whom sits in the divider quad next to me do???? Keep in mind, he is now on his lunch so he THINKS it is alright. He opens up the INTERNET on his computer, and finds this NEW YEARS FIREWORKS jingle with this youthful voice doing this incantation~~~Three, Two, One---Happy New Year!!!!!!! To add insult to injury, he decides to turn-up the volume!! The Office Manager, who had lectured us just this morning on casual internet use is just getting back from lunch, and is taking off her coat~~~and is now freaking-out. She screams to shut it off, and springs over to his station to remind him of the early morning discussion regarding casual internet use. I thought she was going to send him home. She didn't, but I'll tell you what---the rest of the afternoon, was the most quiet afternoon, I had witnessed up to this point.
The end of Thursday, couldn't get there quick enough, for me!!!
I'll tell you what!!! I'm staying under the radar screen for as long as I possibly
can.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
