I am the first person in my family that I am aware of that was a bicycle messenger for Western Union. It was my first paying job (except for some neighbors who would occasionally ask me to help with yard work, etc.)
Back in a day (I don't know if it can still be done) people used to send important messages by Telegram. Western Union was the predominate telegram company and I needed a job, so I worked for two weeks as a bicycle messenger for them. The problem was that the weekday bicycle messenger positions were already filled. I was therefore relegated to working Saturday and Sunday. That's one reason it only lasted two weeks (actually that was the main reason but for two sub-reasons).
The first sub-reason was that it required Sunday work.
The second sub-reason was that the weekday positions for messengers were not only filled with bicycle messengers, but also with motor messengers (guys old enough to have a chauffer's license so they could drive a commercial vehicle). So, the motor messengers delivered the far-out stuff (not weird and strange (as far as I know), just far away), and the bicycle messengers delivered the in-town stuff. But .... on the weekend, guess what? No motor messengers, so the bicycle messenger(s) had to deliver the far-out stuff. Since I was w.o.o.s (way out of shape), had access to a car, and had a heavy bike with full fenders, a coaster brake and only one gear, I resolved upon a stratagem.
I would load the bike in the car, drive and park somewhere downtown, and ride the bike to the office. Yes, I was cheating - not a good way to start on my very first job. But ... really, I had one telegram that I had to deliver way out at about 3300 East and 4500 South. Even though they gave me an hour and a half to deliver it, there was no way ... and they would yell at me. So, I rode the bike to the car, loaded it in, drove to a place near the delivery address, un-loaded the bike, rode the bike to the home, delivered the telegram and . . reverse procedure . . back to the office. Now I admit that the process didn't take one and a half hours, so what did I do, I rested a while and felt guilty about the whole thing.
I wish I could say that thats the worst thing I ever did.
Well, that's all for today.
Thanks for who you are!!!
Take care,
dadoo
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Walmart Inaccessible in Bozeman
Well, it has been a while huh? So here goes.
Between the severe rain/hail storms in Bozeman, MT today, I hiked up a little canyon. The trail was mostly just wet, but not gooshy-muddy. I did have on my grippy shoes. It took about an hour to get to where the trail comes out on a ridge and you can look down on the valley. It was sunny and nice (kinda humid sometimes) and mostly cool. On the way down, I could see the dark cloud bank to the South and West. It was still nice, but clouding up when I got back down to the car. Before I got back to town I could see a sand-blizzard ahead - swooping up the road. I turned off onto a side road and waited as the rain began to fall, and then small marble-sized hail. It was falling mostly sideways so I drove forward a bit to be mostly under a tree. The hail was still pretty loud on the car, but most of it was slowed down by the leaves and sprigs that were being knocked down.
After the storm let up, I headed over to Wendy's for a baked potato and cup of chili. After dining, I drove back to the hotel and walked over to WalMart. Pretty much the only way to avoid the small lake in front was on the shrubs and curbs near the entrance. There were a few cars parked in the deeper parts. Probably in about 12 to 18 inches of water.
And now about the margarine. Maybe you heard this before. When margarine first hit the marketplace, you couldn't get it in yellow. It was white and came with a dye pack for you to mix in to make it look like butter. I think that the dairy industry was able to get the legislature to pass a law against yellow margarine. My mom had a margarine mold into which she would mush the newly died (OK dyed) margarine. It would then be placed into the refrigerator, chilled and pushed out of the mold. I can't remember what she kept it in after that.
Love,
dadoo
Between the severe rain/hail storms in Bozeman, MT today, I hiked up a little canyon. The trail was mostly just wet, but not gooshy-muddy. I did have on my grippy shoes. It took about an hour to get to where the trail comes out on a ridge and you can look down on the valley. It was sunny and nice (kinda humid sometimes) and mostly cool. On the way down, I could see the dark cloud bank to the South and West. It was still nice, but clouding up when I got back down to the car. Before I got back to town I could see a sand-blizzard ahead - swooping up the road. I turned off onto a side road and waited as the rain began to fall, and then small marble-sized hail. It was falling mostly sideways so I drove forward a bit to be mostly under a tree. The hail was still pretty loud on the car, but most of it was slowed down by the leaves and sprigs that were being knocked down.
After the storm let up, I headed over to Wendy's for a baked potato and cup of chili. After dining, I drove back to the hotel and walked over to WalMart. Pretty much the only way to avoid the small lake in front was on the shrubs and curbs near the entrance. There were a few cars parked in the deeper parts. Probably in about 12 to 18 inches of water.
And now about the margarine. Maybe you heard this before. When margarine first hit the marketplace, you couldn't get it in yellow. It was white and came with a dye pack for you to mix in to make it look like butter. I think that the dairy industry was able to get the legislature to pass a law against yellow margarine. My mom had a margarine mold into which she would mush the newly died (OK dyed) margarine. It would then be placed into the refrigerator, chilled and pushed out of the mold. I can't remember what she kept it in after that.
Love,
dadoo
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Where in the World?
So, here is the picture. Where is it? What is it? I only know of 3 members of the Fam who have been there. Me and two others.
One is obvious. Third question - who is the third person??
dadoo
One is obvious. Third question - who is the third person??
dadoo
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Ford Truck Starter
Greetings,
Another weird thing about Eddies truck was the starter pedal (yes, pedal). It was a little above and to the right of the gas pedal. How it worked was that you would turn on the ignition (I think it required a key), and press your right foot (the end where the toes are) hard against the round, metal head of the starter pedal as you would perhaps pump the gas pedal with your right heel. Hopefully, the engine would then start and you would be double-clutching your way to wherever.
The reason for this strange engine-starting behavior is that starter motors with solenoids were just beginning to be implemented. The starter solenoid is a large coil that, most often, sits on top of the starter and engages the Bendix drive with the flywheel and sends power to the starter. Without the solenoid, your right foot (the toe end) would provide the action that the solenoid currently provides in your modern car, truck, suv, etc.
I don't think that the cars in our basement had starter pedals. Instead, after turning on the ignition, you would press a round metal button on the dashboard to activate the starter. I am not even positive that Eddies old truck had a starter pedal, but I know that I have seen and used one.
Yes, we had two cars in our basement.
Take care,
dadoo
Another weird thing about Eddies truck was the starter pedal (yes, pedal). It was a little above and to the right of the gas pedal. How it worked was that you would turn on the ignition (I think it required a key), and press your right foot (the end where the toes are) hard against the round, metal head of the starter pedal as you would perhaps pump the gas pedal with your right heel. Hopefully, the engine would then start and you would be double-clutching your way to wherever.
The reason for this strange engine-starting behavior is that starter motors with solenoids were just beginning to be implemented. The starter solenoid is a large coil that, most often, sits on top of the starter and engages the Bendix drive with the flywheel and sends power to the starter. Without the solenoid, your right foot (the toe end) would provide the action that the solenoid currently provides in your modern car, truck, suv, etc.
I don't think that the cars in our basement had starter pedals. Instead, after turning on the ignition, you would press a round metal button on the dashboard to activate the starter. I am not even positive that Eddies old truck had a starter pedal, but I know that I have seen and used one.
Yes, we had two cars in our basement.
Take care,
dadoo
Friday, May 2, 2008
Friday Today
Hi,
So, I almost have everything I need to put up the Bat House. I am a bit worried about the wind, blowing it over. The pole is about 18-20 feet tall, and will be attached to the front of the chicken coop at about the 5-1/2 foot level. If you think about a lever and it's fulcrum, that gives the wind hitting the upper portion of the pole (especially with the box attached) a lot of force against the fulcrum and where it is anchored at ground level. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Another thing Eddie and I did years ago was with his '49 Ford pickup. The body and front bumper were like armor. It had a standard transmission without synchro-mesh. To the transmission illiterate crowd that means that when you shifted gears, the gears would grind unless you went through the following procedure: 1 - Push in the clutch. 2 - Move the stick to neutral. 3 - Let out the clutch and push it right back in (that makes things spin inside the transmission so it won't grind). 4 - Move the stick to the gear you want to be in. 5 - Let out the clutch and push on the gas. This technique is called double-clutching and works fine when you are up-shifting. If you are down-shifting, you need to rev the engine a little when you let out the clutch in neutral to spin the stuff faster so it won't grind when you move the stick to the lower gear. None of this has much bearing on the story.
Anyhow, one winter when things were thawing out a bit, Eddie and I chopped some blocks of snow off from the snowplow piles and stacked them up in the middle of the road - kind of in a wall. They were stacked 2-4 feet high, and when we would hit them with Eddies truck they would really fly. The weird thing is that there were no dents in the hood of the truck. Like I said, it was more like a tank. I suspect that it probably weighed more than most any modern pickup truck.
Well, take care and have a great weekend.
dadoo
So, I almost have everything I need to put up the Bat House. I am a bit worried about the wind, blowing it over. The pole is about 18-20 feet tall, and will be attached to the front of the chicken coop at about the 5-1/2 foot level. If you think about a lever and it's fulcrum, that gives the wind hitting the upper portion of the pole (especially with the box attached) a lot of force against the fulcrum and where it is anchored at ground level. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Another thing Eddie and I did years ago was with his '49 Ford pickup. The body and front bumper were like armor. It had a standard transmission without synchro-mesh. To the transmission illiterate crowd that means that when you shifted gears, the gears would grind unless you went through the following procedure: 1 - Push in the clutch. 2 - Move the stick to neutral. 3 - Let out the clutch and push it right back in (that makes things spin inside the transmission so it won't grind). 4 - Move the stick to the gear you want to be in. 5 - Let out the clutch and push on the gas. This technique is called double-clutching and works fine when you are up-shifting. If you are down-shifting, you need to rev the engine a little when you let out the clutch in neutral to spin the stuff faster so it won't grind when you move the stick to the lower gear. None of this has much bearing on the story.
Anyhow, one winter when things were thawing out a bit, Eddie and I chopped some blocks of snow off from the snowplow piles and stacked them up in the middle of the road - kind of in a wall. They were stacked 2-4 feet high, and when we would hit them with Eddies truck they would really fly. The weird thing is that there were no dents in the hood of the truck. Like I said, it was more like a tank. I suspect that it probably weighed more than most any modern pickup truck.
Well, take care and have a great weekend.
dadoo
Monday, April 28, 2008
Well, Here goes.
So I was thinking that since I set up my glob, I haven't done anything (ok - at least not with my glob) so, I thought I would share a few memories.
Back in High School, I had a friend named Eddie. He and his brother Glen and I would sometimes go joy-riding in his old VW bug. It had sort of a sunroof and you could stand on the passenger seat and catch insects in your mouth if you wanted (we didn't), but Glen could also wail like a siren and one time, the car in front of us acutally pulled over. So... there you go.
So, what does this thing "Moderate Comments" do? If someone leaves a really rude, crude, or un-refined comment, then it will make it warm, fuzzy, and nice?? Or maybe I have to fix it myself so it is nicer?? Or maybe I can just delete it?? --- OK, I just clicked on it and it has a bunch of stuff I don't want to think about now (OK, 'cuz it's over my head). Thanks anyway.
“Do more than belong; participate. Do more than care; help. Do more than believe; practice. Do more than be fair; be kind. Do more than forgive; forget. Do more than dream; work.”
William Arthur Ward
Take care,
dadoo
Back in High School, I had a friend named Eddie. He and his brother Glen and I would sometimes go joy-riding in his old VW bug. It had sort of a sunroof and you could stand on the passenger seat and catch insects in your mouth if you wanted (we didn't), but Glen could also wail like a siren and one time, the car in front of us acutally pulled over. So... there you go.
So, what does this thing "Moderate Comments" do? If someone leaves a really rude, crude, or un-refined comment, then it will make it warm, fuzzy, and nice?? Or maybe I have to fix it myself so it is nicer?? Or maybe I can just delete it?? --- OK, I just clicked on it and it has a bunch of stuff I don't want to think about now (OK, 'cuz it's over my head). Thanks anyway.
“Do more than belong; participate. Do more than care; help. Do more than believe; practice. Do more than be fair; be kind. Do more than forgive; forget. Do more than dream; work.”
William Arthur Ward
Take care,
dadoo
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
How come the name - Rev 5?
Well, I guess it's about time I got into this glob thing. I like words. I also like making fun of words sometimes, so ... The long form of the word "glob" is "globule" (actually, that's not really true - "globule" means a small spherical mass or something like that) anyhow, when I contemplated "globule" I thought of "pilule". This will likely be a small glob (globule).
Some years ago, Mahoney and I were at a party with my co-workers at Sperry Univac and we played this cool game using unknown words from the dictionary. It was a team game with each team trying to identify which person on the other team was giving the real definition of the word. Pilule actually means "a little pill", although the guy who got the most votes for giving the real definition said that pilule meant "wetting the bed" (at least that is the definition I remember the best because he was so matter-of-fact about it).
Anyhow, it's not really globulinpilule (although missionaries who have served in South America might have fond memories of gamma globulin). It's full name is "Globule and Pilule" (globule_n_pilule for short and globulinpilule for really short 'cuz they won't let you put the _ things in the web address. And 'cuz the really word globulin is spelled with an "i", not an "e"). Even though this glob is nothing about globulin, or pilules.
That's all I can stand for today.
Take care!
Some years ago, Mahoney and I were at a party with my co-workers at Sperry Univac and we played this cool game using unknown words from the dictionary. It was a team game with each team trying to identify which person on the other team was giving the real definition of the word. Pilule actually means "a little pill", although the guy who got the most votes for giving the real definition said that pilule meant "wetting the bed" (at least that is the definition I remember the best because he was so matter-of-fact about it).
Anyhow, it's not really globulinpilule (although missionaries who have served in South America might have fond memories of gamma globulin). It's full name is "Globule and Pilule" (globule_n_pilule for short and globulinpilule for really short 'cuz they won't let you put the _ things in the web address. And 'cuz the really word globulin is spelled with an "i", not an "e"). Even though this glob is nothing about globulin, or pilules.
That's all I can stand for today.
Take care!
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