Hello on Thursday Morning

Dear Friends,



I was the first one to leave the house on Wednesday. I set my Garmin GPS device for Ken’s Steak House located in Framingham, Massachusetts. The device worked perfectly, and got me directly to the Steak House in 2.5 hours. Yes, this place is where the Ken’s Steak House brands of salad dressing originated from. This is also the place where Linda, whom I didn’t know at the time, had her 21st birthday. She also graduated from Framingham State Teachers College. The State has since renamed all the State colleges, and the word “Teachers” have been eliminated. Some of the State Colleges have now become Universities.

I was probably one of the youngest retired educators in the room of about 100 people. The guest speakers talked about all the different organizations available to help senior citizens.

After hearing several speakers, we then had a group of elderly people put on a singing program. I wanted to leave my table, and hide in the bar area, but there was no door on the ballroom where the meeting took place. There was a direct line of vision between the ballroom, and the bar. The singers also had a direct line of vision to the bar, and they would have surmised that I was trying to avoid their singing and the program in general. They would have been correct.

Lunch was very good. Every one at our table had beef. They must have reasoned like me that we are at a Steak House so that beef must be their specialty. The beef was wonderful. I sat next to a woman who works in the REAM office, and she said that she tries to not eat too much beef. She was a member of the clean plate club when our table finished eating.



I had my car all packed with a change of clothes, and I did have all intentions of going to North Tewksbury after the meeting to be with Kevin, Kyla, and Max for a couple of days. Linda was worried that I would hurt my problem leg if I had done some yard work during my couple day visit. I decided that she was correct, and drove straight home from Ken’s Steak House.



Linda wasn’t home when I got back to Pittsfield. She was at CVS processing some photos of all three of our grandchildren. The pictures of the grandchildren came out beautiful.

She needed to update her grandparent photo album which she was taking to BONCO last evening.

I do see a gift bag on the table which means she won something at BONCO. I was in bed when she arrived home. I fell asleep watching the Celtics who lost their first game of the professional basketball season which began on Tuesday. The World Series was on another channel, but I really didn’t watch too much of that game either.



Social Calendar – I have to get to some yard work today. I have been talking about it for days, and I have to stop the talking and get to work. I will be doing the yard work while trying to do several loads of my washing too.

Linda doesn’t have to move her body until this evening. She is out again with a different set of girlfriends. These sets of girlfriends are the ones who make their annual trip to Cape Cod in June.

Linda will be out again on Friday night too. She will be going to an art show at Massachusetts College of Fine Arts in Boston with Judie Culver. Judie’s daughter, Jillian, will be having her art work on display. They are stopping in Worcester to pick up some of Judie’s family members. They are going to do dinner and the art show. We husbands will miss our wives so much. Yeah Right! I feel a “chicken novena” coming on!



News – I did like the article where a newly appointed female detective was in getting her hair done at a salon New York. A robber made everyone get in a back room. Well, shortly after they were all in this back room, the detective came out with her guns blazing. The detective and the robber got in a gun battle, and she shot the gun out of the hands of the robber. The 19 year old robber was eventually apprehended. Score one for the good guys!



Observation – I did get zinged by a couple of my readers, including my son from Kansas, with respect to my political comments in my Wednesday blog. I can take the heat!

We have two important issues that will be voted on in Massachusetts on November 2, 2010. One proposal is to reduce the current sales tax rate from 6.25 % to 3%. The other proposal on the ballot is to eliminate the 6.25 % tax on alcohol which they started this year. While at the REAM (Retired Educator Association of Massachusetts) meeting yesterday, a person gave a report that if the above reductions do take place, the State will lose $2.7 billion dollars in revenue. This means that the cities and towns in Massachusetts will be hit hard. Educational and elderly programs will take a hit too. We already have a deficit in Massachusetts. The economy in the State hasn’t turned around enough to take such a drastic hit.

I know that my Republican or more conservative leaning friends on my daily blog are thinking that we have to tighten our belt, and tax less, and spend less. When the cities and towns have to start reducing the police, fire personnel, and teachers, garbage collection, and services in general, people will see what the reductions will do. We have gone through fire station closings or being opened on a part time basis, and we lost our sense of security here in Pittsfield when this occurred.



Well, I have to finish my morning routine, and get to some quiet activities before doing the outside stuff.

I can’t start washing my clothes because the washer and dryer are right below the Master bedroom, and I don’t want to wake up the Queen. Oh Darn!



Have a great Thursday!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad