Government snoops… or just weird?

Government “snoops” or just weird?

We’ve heard about the government possibly tracking citizens by collecting data on their cell phones.   

But when I was having trouble with my new smart phone, the tech guy I called explained he couldn’t “look in” or “take over” my phone.

I informed him that the internet server guys do this when I’m having a problem with my computer.  Having them take remote control is a wonderful option for me because then they can get my computer back up and running.

And I wondered out loud... “Where are the government snoops when you need them?”

You can see that I’m trying to figure out how to use my first smartphone.  Actually I was quite happy with my old cell phone but my husband needed a new one and he likes techie things.

The problem is he expects me to know how to use them.  And the whole family can tell you that I have a special “touch” when it comes to goofing things up electronically. 

Like cameras and computers.

I was told that my son who is an experienced salesman for National Camera &Video in the twin cities tells customers about his mother’s frustrating experiences with cameras!  So if one works for her it must be good.

And while the Genius Bar tech guy at the Apple store was trying to figure out my problem with my "Mac" he suggested that Apple should run their ideas by me first to see if there are any problems popping up!

So to prevent these frustrating experiences with my new phone, I ordered several books from the library. I hoped to find one that I could understand.

Actually, maybe the local elementary school could have a class where their students help some of the rest of us figure this all out!

Anyway, one Sunday I packed up my latest “Dummies” book and headed to the phone store to have the salesman figure out what I needed to do.  (Actually, it’s comforting to see a real person get confused by the antics of my equipment!)

And quite a while later I headed back home with notes, an updated cell phone and a warning: be sure you turn off your phone so you don’t accidentally press a button and make a phone call.  

OK!

But you realize that this isn’t the end.

Because later that day I got a call from my daughter in Ohio.  She asked, “Did you call Mom?”  Well, I hadn’t called her but my phone had.   

Thinking it was just a glitch, I cleared out all my recent calls.  

The next day I noticed I had only made three calls as I was heading outside with my cross country skis to check the fence lines.   I had seen that some of the electric fencing had been pulled out on the horse pasture.  Probably from the deer not jumping high enough to get over.  

But then my phone rang.  I dug it out and it was from my son in the twin cities.  He asked, “Hi Mom, did you call?” 

I said, No, I’m heading outside right now.  

Well he had just received a call from me.  I thought, “This is really weird.”  

He explained that like my daughter the day before, he had received a call but when he answered there was no one there.

I checked my calls and was grateful that my phone hadn’t called any one else.

I have no clue as to what is going on.

But I think my phone is pretty cool if it gets my kids to call me!

.

The music that didn't die...

Along the way... by Rosie

The music that didn’t die...

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  They were leaving Clear Lake, Iowa and heading for Moorhead, MN for their next gig.  It was February 2, 1959.

Instead of riding in a cold bus, Buddy Holly hired a private plane to get some of the band members there early.  

According to reports, Holly kidded a band member who had given up his seat on the plane by saying, “I hope your ol’ bus freezes up!”  And the band member shot back in fun, “Well, I hope your ol’ plane crashes!”  This joke haunted him thereafter because just after midnight, on Februrary 3, the airplane carrying Holly, the “Big Bopper” - J. P. Richardson and Ritche Valens crashed.

All on board died.  Buddy Holly was only 22 years old.

Holly was one of the first inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.  Rolling Stone ranked him number 13 among the 100 Greatest Artists of All time.

  Holly was one of the first in his style of music to write, produce, and perform his own songs.  Because of his poor vision, he had to wear glasses.  Soon they would become part of his image.

Recently, the Shepherd’s Center of Cannon Falls held a fund raiser inviting John Mueller, whose band does an impression of the famous musicians recreating memories of “The Day the Music Died”.  

The Cannon Falls high school auditorium was sold out.  Over 600 people bought tickets.  I couldn’t wangle a press pass either.

I got there 45 minutes early and was told that 200 people had been lined up earlier!

I found a place in the front row - not taken because you couldn’t see the whole stage!  Plus, the loud speakers for the sound system were about 6 feet away!

I thought - so what?  When I was a teenager I would turn up the stereo as loud as I could - so I could feel the floor vibrate... when my folks weren’t home of course!

I hadn’t been a Buddy Holly fan back then.  In fact, I really only knew one of his songs, “Peggy Sue”.  

But I thought I would learn something by going to the concert.

And the “beat” got to me!  It was the same as others I remembered.  And when the band invited folks to dance, I couldn’t resist!  

I wouldn’t have though if I had been in another town. But I had just passed the police chief, my friend, who was on duty watching the crowd to make sure things were safe... and my editor had taken my seat because I wasn’t using it... and so I threw my purse and camera to the gal in the next seat (it’s a small town and I knew her!)... and because the lights were focused on the stage and nobody would see me (yeah right!), Paul and I danced.  Later on, other folks would do so.

Like “Buddy Holly” said, it was music where you could understand the words!

But there were some other gals in the audience who were fans.  They call themselves, The Katfish Kittens.  They are 25 year olds from St. Paul dressed in ’50’s vintage outfits.  (Actually, I’ve probably got some of those still in my closet.)  

    Drea Warda will soon take her bar exams to be an attorney for international business negotiations, Andrea Geiger is a materials manager for a small medical device company and Crystal Doffing is a teller at a bank.

    But I wondered... did we really wear these clothes?  I remember having pony tails... and “saddle shoes”... but Buddy Holly glasses?

    And then I remembered this cute guy in history class at the University of Minnesota.  And those glasses he wore  were really “cool”!  

John Mueller as Buddy Holly.                                          

Paul Schluter as “cool” college student
 in 1960! 
                                                                                                                                And now it’s over 50 years later and I smile because I also took his last name for mine!

And as I recall those times I think that as long as there are people who enjoy these songs, their music will never die.

John Mueller as Buddy Holly, Linwood Sasser as the Big Bopper and Ray Anthony as Ritchie Valens 

along with Paul and me - 2014.

  

 

A "Good" mistake!

 A mistake... that turned out good!

Although she’d had a horrendous headache the night before, Natalie Thomas was feeling good enough to join her family as they settled down to watch a movie recently.

Former Cannon Falls residents now living in Hudson, WI,  Natalie, novelist and oil painter and her husband Brent, a photographer at Midwest-CBK were planning to watch one of Natalie’s late father's favorites, “Young Frankenstein”.  Along with their children Cassie, Nicholas, and Savannah they settled in for a relaxing family gathering.   

 

But a short time later, an unusual event took place.  

Natalie explained, “It was at the part of the film where the lightning flashes and Gene Wilder, playing Dr. Frankenstein, talks about mortality, being alive, etc. - and that’s when the beeping started.

Yes, that’s when the Thomas’ carbon monoxide detector gave off its annoying sound.   

Information from Wikipedia explains that since carbon monoxide is colorless, tasteless and odorless... detection in a home environment is impossible without such a warning device. 

But this style of detector didn’t give any information on its dial.   Brent searched their garage for a second device that displayed numbers.  When it was plugged in they were horrified to see that it registered nearly 100 ppm.  

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission website: 

As CO levels increase and remain above 70 ppm, symptoms become more noticeable and can include headache, fatigue and nausea. At sustained CO concentrations above 150 to 200 ppm, disorientation, unconsciousness, and death are possible.

Unknown to the Thomases, the exhaust stack of their furnace had been blocked by an ice build-up from the vapor freezing, which caused carbon monoxide to build up in their house.

With this warning news, Brent climbed up onto the roof, unclogged the vent and they watched the numbers go back down to zero.  

No more headache for Natalie.

They figured the ice might have been building up for a couple of days.

And they wondered what one more night would have brought them in their sleep.  

Natalie wrote on her Facebook page about another curious angle on this experience.  Remember the original CO detector that had warned them of the danger?   They found out the beeping hadn't been coming from that unit!  It was actually from the smoke alarm on the ceiling.  It was the low battery warning. 

Natalie concluded: “... if we had not made the mistake of thinking that the beeping was coming from the CO detector, we'd have never checked it with the second detector. Ummm... Divine intervention?... Happy to be alive, and that our family is safe.”

And with that comforting thought - that sometimes 

a mistake can turn out to be a good thing - we wish you a Happy New Year 2014!   

Holidays with the Thomas family - feeling good!  Savannah, Nicholas, Brent, Cassie and Natalie.  

Come see who we met this year!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot - not always "Merry"!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 

- not always "Merry"!

  What kind of card should we choose this year?

I sure appreciate receiving beautiful cards with scenes of winter...  sparkly, reminiscent of old days...  etc.

  And also the pictures bringing me up to date on friends’ trips, their joyous occasions, etc.  Sometimes they share their griefs, which is hard, but very kind to those of us who don’t get to see them often.

Myself - having done over 50 years of picture cards - I wonder if I can stop?

On the one hand, I no longer have to try to get the children to smile at the camera when they would rather be doing just about anything else.  I remember when our son was two years old and we had taken way too many pictures trying to find one that would work. As a last resort I gave him a large marshmallow to eat... and the result was that he looked like he was smiling... we settled on that shot.

Now, with kids and grandkids living apart from us it’s not possible to get a group picture - unless you know how to do some work with your computer’s photo program.  

 In the past our cards have featured the Little Cannon River valley... in its pristine snowy splendor.  That also was the year my sister died and the beautiful wooded trails gave me comfort in a quiet gentle way.   Other years we featured the critters who have shared our farm with us... they are “family” too.

This year I was stumped as I looked over the pictures stored on my computer.  Nothing seemed to fit a Christmas Card.  

But for some reason I kept coming back to one picture... maybe it reminds me of the popular Duck Dynasty family on TV!  They seem to care about each other and have fun.  (Although I hope I personally never have to watch all those fellows with their beards eating spaghetti!  Not a happy thought!)

But while visiting one of our kids and their family, they decided to have a “photo booth shoot”.  This is where you put on outlandish costumes and get your picture taken.  Actually, I thought some of my regular clothes would probably have fit in just fine.

It took me a while to get in the swing of it.  Actually I was not just hesitant - I was a little crochety until I saw how much fun everyone else was having!

And we got some pictures taken.  Although I’m not allowed to put names in, I think you’ll recognize Grandpa and Grandma!

Will I use this family picture on our Christmas card?  Maybe.. or not!  But you can see the video on Youtube “Da Funny Family learns to dance!” or find it on www.paulrosie.com.

    And a very Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays - to you!

Dave Mona - Sports Huddle

  Sharing memories brings a smile! 

            As a kid... did you ever hide a radio under your blankets at night  in bed because you were supposed to be asleep... but you wanted to listen to a baseball game?

            (Keep in mind that portable radios were clunky in size over 50 years ago!)

            Our town only had a minor league team.  But that didn’t stop us from being passionate fans.   In a book by Dave Mona, Beyond the Sports Huddle, I recall this radio sports talk show host explaining that some major league teams were only “liked” by their fans but the Minneapolis Millers were “loved” by theirs.

            And when I e-mailed him and told him how I had secretly listened to the Millers in bed as a kid, he wrote back that he had done the same thing.

            But Dave also wrote in his biography about so many other things that brought me back to those days in the 1950’s.

            You see Dave grew up a couple of blocks from my home.  He was the little brother of one of my best friends. His sister Judy was actually a bridesmaid in my wedding.

            But when we were teenagers, I rather ignored him!  I was overwhelmed by her dad who was the basketball coach at an opposing high school.  He taught me about coaching styles.  (My school won the state championship.)

            And Judy’s mother made the best “sloppy joes” for a slumber party we had.  I tried finding that recipe recently when we had company.  I couldn’t figure out why I was stressing out on this detail until our company came.  

            I mentioned my frantic search for the recipe and they explained that years ago they had worked with Judy and knew Dave!  Who would have thought there was a connection!

            But back to the memories.   How as a 13 year-old I carried a newspaper clipping of the Millers team standings in my billfold.  And how I was devastated when the New York Giants called our star player, Willie Mays, up to the Majors and would eliminate our chances in the minors.

            Today, by living in our time period of computers, I could “google” a  sports announcer of that day.  And I could listen to Halsey Hall for one more time!

            It was a coincidental moment when I read about Dave coming to WCCO for his first session of his present popular radio program with sports columnist Sid Hartman.   Dave found he had been locked out of the station.  It’s broadcast on a Sunday and that was normal procedure.  Dave had to find another business that was open to find a phone to call the station to let him in!

            Many years later I came to the same radio station to do an interview and sit in on his broadcast.  But I found myself also locked out!

            They hadn’t changed their policy I guess.  But I had a cell phone and that helped me contact them to let me in.

            Afterwards, leaving the studio and heading back down stairs to the entrance, I got lost.  Found places like a remote bathroom, etc., and I got some interesting video of places you probably don’t usually see.

            Then Dave wrote about the time he flew with the Blue Angels... upside down!   

            I don’t have any experience that dramatic.  And I’m grateful!  

            But it reminded me of the “fun” of flying as a reporter.  Depending on the group involved, I figured I would be put through tests.  But once you passed it was great!

            Like the time one pilot remarked,  “Oh, you know better than to watch the horizon!  And then with the Army - Company C manueuvers at Fort Ripley, the pilot commented, “The (other) reporter was throwing up at this point.”  I grinned (kind of) but made it!   

            And was treated like a friend.

            And I am grateful to my friend's little brother for sharing that time period and memories with all of us.

  

Items may be worth $2 or so...

   but the stories were “priceless”!

Their collectibles and antiques may not have been worth as much as they hoped... but the stories they told were “priceless”!  And like the old TV advertisements for MasterCard... our hearts were touched.

The Antique and Collectible Appraisal Event with Mark Moran was sponsored by the Cannon Falls library for three hours recently.  There was no charge to the folks bringing their items.  And if you didn’t bring anything, you still got to learn how things were valued and the stories of those who brought them.

Like Tom Meinke who had found a rocking chair with inlaid mother of pearl decoration.

Moran has been an antique and fine art appraiser for over 20 years.  He is co-author of over 25 books on antiques and collectibles.  He’ll be on the Antiques Roadshow TV program in the near future.

One thing he wanted the audience to know is that he never offers to buy or sell the items he appraises.  He just provides information.

Like the name of a website where you can check out the value of old books: www.abebooks.com.  

And the concern when looking at the matting of pictures if there is “mat burn”. This is a brownish color caused by acidic mats which can creep in from the outside onto the displayed piece.  Although I liked the effect, now I’ll know what it might be doing.
                                  

And then he showed how you can use a flashlight or magnifying glass when looking at a picture or a piece of sculpture. Here Moran and Heidi Helgren find the name of the artist of the nicknamed: “Naked Lady” sculpture, by Paul Gramlin.  Heidi explained that this piece had been in the library for 20 years but they didn’t know why.  Value: $400-500.

I didn’t get the values for every item because I was busy trying to take  pictures and mainly because I got so interested in hearing their stories!  

Al Johnson displayed a beautiful bisque vase he had purchased for his mother at the time of WWII when he was in Odessa, Russia.  How sweet to think of him as a young man buying something for his mother... because she liked vases... but how careful you had to be when trying to bring it back home!   (I think an afghan or wood sculpture would have been easier to trek around with Al!)

Ted Byrne showed a "turn of the century" mahogany Victrola along with a Casino guitar he bought back in 1961.  (We've got to hear him play it sometime!)

Lee Ellison showed a beautiful “turn of the century” silver overlaid vase from 1890-1910.  One of a kind piece.  Her husband inherited it.   

Unusual pieces were the walrus cribbage boards from Jim Flakne.   

 And then there was the cast iron peanut dispenser brought by Ray Meglic.

Helen Baughmann had oriental porcelain with a raised design that might be 100 years old.  Moran valued it at $20-$35.

Cindy Molenaar showed a silk screen 1967 “mid century modern” picture whose style is very popular now, Moran explained.   

Gayle Finne had a photo mechanical print made up of dots from around 1900.  Moran used the magnifying glass to see them.

Pete Otto brought an interesting piece called a “home shrine”.  Moran expalined that  today it’s “a tough sell”.  About $20 would be a fair price.

And then we saw the antique musical revolving Christmas tree stand from 1932-34 that another person's mother had bought.  Moran explained that one had sold recently for $500-$600.

I was fascinated when I saw it because it looked like the one I found in my uncle’s estate 40 years ago.  But I couldn’t get it to work and it got thrown away!  

What did I keep?  A small old brass tray.  The appraiser said it reminded him of one his grandmother kept ribbon candy in.  
It’s worth about $2.

I could only smile... it’s the memories that are “priceless.”

***