Monday, February 18, 2013

An email I received from a friend today:

Remember this Lady?
Irena Sendler
Died: May 12, 2008 (aged 98)
Warsaw, Poland

During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a
Plumbing/Sewer Specialist. She had an ulterior motive.

Irena smuggled Jewish infants out in the bottom of the tool box she
carried. She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck, for larger
kids.

Irena kept a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi
Soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.

The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking
covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500
kids/infants.

Ultimately, she was caught, however, and the Nazi's broke both of her legs and
arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she had smuggled
out, in a glass jar that she buried under a tree in her back yard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and tried
to reunite the family.

Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes
or adopted.
In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.

Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

Later another politician, Barack Obama, won for his work as a community
organizer for ACORN.
In memoriam - 65 YEARS LATER

I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider doing
the same.

It is now more than 65 years since the Second World War in Europe
ended.

This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million
Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic Priests who
were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated!

Now, Iran, and others, claim the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth.' It's imperative to
make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do
it again.


Saturday, February 16, 2013

This and that and other stuff


My gym in Dansville is also a physical therapy business. Thursday, as I'm leaving the locker room and making my way to the workout section and the treadmills, one of the physical therapy assistants comments as I walk by wearing an ARMY tee-shirt, "I expect to see you doing a lot of push ups wearing that Tee shirt."  I replied, " you haven't been watching these past weeks have you?"  When I challenged her to a push-up contest, she declined; even after offering to let her do knees down female push-ups.

*****

I'm interviewing a patient for an emergency surgery.  She is a couple years younger than I.  In the course of the interview she mentions having been a nurse's aide some years ago and seeing patients with the same condition she is currently being operated on for.  I asked her when that was. She said it was in the early seventies.  I asked her if she ever met a male nurse by such and such a name.  She said, in surprise, that yes, she'd worked with said nurse back then.  Said nurse and I graduated from nursing school together: File under, small world.

*****

We decide to go out for dinner.  We dress up; you know coat and tie etc..  When the hostess seats us, lo and behold we are seated next to friends of long standing and the ensuing dinner was accompanied by meaningful and lively conversation.  When it's time to leave, a young man and his date stop my wife and I, as we walk by their table, to compliment us on being dressed up for dinner and how distinguished we look and decrying the fact that he and too many people today fail take the time to dress for dinner.  We've discussed the same trend in the past between ourselves and for just that reason, decided to dress for dinner.  It was nice of the young man to stop us and make that comment. 

*****

The new car drives comfortably and I'm still learning all the bells and whistles.  Oh, didn't I tell you that I bought a new car?  Well the Trailblazer developed this quirky little trait of shutting off, for no foreseeable reason, while driving seventy miles an hour down the 90 (NYS Throughway).  The mechanics could not reliably pin-point the problem or even recreate the event that had occurred while I was driving it on 6 separate occasions.  So I bought a Chevy Traverse.  So far it's a delight to drive.

That's it for the moment.....  Stay tuned I'll be back in a few days, or months or perhaps by next year.

Saturday, February 09, 2013

I get up early (0330) to exercise and to write.  Well that was the original plan and and it worked quite well until I got addicted to the Internet.  Fortunately I still managed to stick to my exercise regimen but my writing practice fell away to nearly nothing with the exception of daily Face Book updates; that, in itself says a lot does it not?

Now I'm in a new place, literally; a new community to reside in and a new facility to ply my trade within.  The move was in January, the month for new year resolutions.  What better opportunity to establish new routines to accomplish floundering goals.

I still wake up early. I get up and I still troll the net.  I go to work early because nothing else is open.

I go to the gym from work; so that I'll work out.  If I go home first, I'll surf the net and more than likely skip the workout.

From the gym, I go to the library so that I'll read, and perhaps start writing again.  If I go home after the gym I'll..........................  well you know!

Two or three days a week I visit the grocery store and on Fridays, if the weather prevents a journey home, I stop at Jack's for a fish fry and some bar-room chatter.

My time on the Internet is decreasing.  That's a good thing.