Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,

Another day in Curleyworld went very well. I left the house at 10 AM to visit dad before heading off at 11:50 AM to the Veteran’s Tree Ceremony at the Veteran’s Monument off of South Street in Pittsfield. The Dwyer Funeral Home Family was in charge of arrangements. The plan was to have family members hang an ornament on the tree (which the Dwyer’s donated and staked to the ground) as the name(s) of a loved one was read. Well, things changed, and a few of us Irish Sister City Committee members hung some glass ornaments with the name of the loved one on the ornament. The speaking ceremony was short, and this was very good since it was quite windy and cold before and during the ceremony. The starting time for the ceremony was 1 PM. We Irish Sister City Members were there to help set up, and pass out coffee and doughnuts. I did hang two ornaments: one for my Uncle Bernard Curley (U.S. Army), and my brother Michael Anthony Curley (U.S. Marines) who are both deceased.

I couldn’t stay after the ceremony concluded because I had promised Linda that I would go shopping with her for a few last minute items. Shopping with Linda turned out to be quite an adventure. I started to fade after about 3 hours. We ended up at the Shamrock for supper, and we just missed the start of the luminary / Christmas Parade down the main street in Dalton. We socialized with several people at the bar before we got seated. I said hello to a couple whom we know through our Dalton friends. The husband decided to go back to work after he retired. He is enjoying a job at as custodian in an elementary school as opposed to sitting at a desk during a large portion of his former life’s work.

Could Linda and I be weird because we like not being employed? Maybe we could get a job as life coaches, and teach people who are thinking about retiring how to plan and what to do during retirement. Working after retirement is the farthest thing on our minds. As a matter of fact, Linda received a telephone call the other day and was asked to coordinate a Middle School Science Fair. When it came down to paying her, the person on the telephone said that she would receive a $2500 stipend. To someone unemployed that might sound like a reasonable fee, but unless you have gone through the process of running a science fair, the fee would not pay for how difficult it is to do the job correctly. It is worth at least $10,000 to do the job. When people ask teachers to do such things, they think that you love children so much that you will take the few crumbs that they throw at you. Not! A few years ago, an educational administrator retired. The school system paid that person over $220 per day until they found a replacement. This was not a bad rate of pay for the several months that she worked.

We ended up having the Prime Rib special at the Shamrock which we thought was overcooked even though we ordered it medium rare. I think that we will stick with the Shamrock’s seafood on a Friday nights.

I will be leaving the house first once again today. I am heading off to Carr Hardware, and purchasing a second bag of black oil sunflower seeds (40 pounds). If you spend $25, you get $5 off with a coupon that you can print out on your computer. The price of bird seed has sky rocketed during the past year. Carr’s has the best deal in town at the present time. This is a local homegrown hardware store that has survived the assault of the big box stores.

When I arrive aback home, we will be heading of to B.J.’s Warehouse for a few food items in the appetizer section of the store. I have the 1 PM Patriot Game to keep me occupied until we head off to a 4 PM house party at a friend’s home. These appetizers are for another party, and not the one which we are attending today. I might even wrap presents while watching the football game.

Linda and I have an extremely busy week coming up, and we have no days of rest. Both of us doing something every day during the day. We are going out as a couple or sometime alone during the evening. One day we can’t attend all the events that we have booked in. Like I always say, no moss has a chance to grow under our feet.

While we were in the stores yesterday, I didn’t see a downturn in our economy. People had shopping baskets full of stuff no matter which store that we went into.

The world is in its usual turmoil. Our troops are abandoning the U. S. base in Pakistan. The killing of innocent people by a Drone pushed Pakistan over the edge.

Well, I have to cut this email short, and do some things around the house (Quietly) before I head out the door.
Have a great Sunday.
As you see, the Curley’s have a busy one for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad