by jphilo | May 7, 2012 | Family, Out and About
Life takes unusual turns now and then. We’re reminded of this daily during this visit our daughter and new son in Ohio. Every day, when we drive from the relatives we’re staying with (they have a big house) to our daughter and new son’s digs (a tiny apartment), we drive by an impressive, three story, turn-turn-of-the-century brick building. A prominent “for lease” sign graces the large, grassy front yard, and another proclaiming “office space to let” covers the space where I suspect the original name of the building is engraved in stone.
After driving by a few times, I asked Hiram, “Do you think that’s the old orphanage where your grandma took your dad and his brother Cassius to live?”
Neither of us were sure, so we asked Hiram’s step-mom when we saw her. “Yes, she said. “That big three-story building on Wooster St. That’s where those boys lived when their mother didn’t have the means to care for them.
This morning, when we drove by the former orphanage, the words from “It’s a Hard Knock Life” came to mind…
It’s the hard-knock life for us
It’s the hard-knock life for us
No one cares for you a smidge
When your in an orphanage
It’s the hard-knock life
It’s the hard-knock life
It’s the hard-knock life!
…and thought the lyrics aren’t nearly as carefree and humorous when you know someone who was an orphan. Like Hiram’s father. Who had a hard time his entire life demonstrating love to others. Partly because he was a quiet, non-demonstrative man. But also, perhaps, because he was sent to an orphanage when he was ten. And he felt like no one cared for him a smidge.
I think of my father-in-law, and I think of our children as we drive the few short blocks between the orphanage he entered at age 10 and the grad school apartment where my daughter and new son live. My heart aches to think of that lonely man who felt unloved. But it delights in our children who know we love them dearly.
Why this strange turn of events?
Perhaps to remind us of the blessings God has rained upon our family.
Perhaps to create compassion for a man who never knew them.
Perhaps to make me realize “widows and orphans” aren’t theory but fact.
Perhaps to make me cry.
by jphilo | Apr 24, 2012 | Out and About, Top Ten Tuesday
Over the weekend, I attended the McLean Bible Church’s Accessibility Summit. The trip was a short one, rendered even shorter by a 6 hour delay in the Southwest flight out of Omaha. The Omaha airport is small, and Terminal B, where we were trapped because our boarding passes had already been collected and the staff wasn’t forthcoming with new ones, is even smaller. Determined to polish my perky, Pollyanna image, I spent the 6 hour delay refining the following top ten lessons list:
10. The delay was the perfect opportunity to guess which men and women, during their childhoods, knocked fourth grade classmates out of the way in order to get to the front of the line.
9. The second thing to do when a flight delay is announced (the first thing is to knock people out of the way so you can be first in line at the customer service desk) is to find an electrical outlet, plug in your phone, laptop, or iPad, and camp out.
8. This spring’s top color combo for infant girl clothing is brown and pink.
7. Much as I love my kids, I am thankful we no longer need to travel with young children.
6. Janet Evanovich books on an iPad make the delay much funnier.
5. When the only food vendor in the terminal is Godfather’s Pizza, people with a dairy allergies go hungry.
4. Customer service people are trained to be courteous and patient, but not particularly forthcoming with information. On the flip side, riding herd on fourth graders is easier than dealing with irate airline passengers facing a 6 hour delay.
3. 6 hours is long enough for the most technologically-challenged person to fall in love with an iPad 3.
2. 6 hours is not long enough for a person to master the art of spreading the sanitary cover on the toilet and perching before the automatic switch flushes it away.
1. 6 hour delays are to be expected when you accidentally pack your deodorant in your checked luggage instead of your carry on bag.
Now it’s your turn. What lessons have you learned during flight delays? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Apr 20, 2012 | Out and About, Uncategorized
Hmmm…maybe flying Southwest Airlines to the Accessibility Summit (to take advantage of their 2 free bags policy to haul books & book table stuff) wasn’t such a good idea. Our plane is sitting on the runway, we’re packed in here like sardines, and the pilot announced a problem with the electrical system. The first attempt to solve the problem was unsuccessful.
A technician is on his way.
Call me crazy, but I’m developing a Southwest Airline/Accessibility Summit phobia. Last year while at the Summit, again arriving there via Southwest, the airline announced one of their planes developed a crack in the fuselage. My return flight was one of the few not grounded, so I returned home without a problem.
Though I was on fuselage crack watch the entire time.
But, back to the present problem. We’ve now been deplaned which means I won’t make my Chicago connection. The customer service representative says there’s a “good likelihood” I’ll get to Dulles tonight.
But when tonight remains a mystery.
All this trouble to take advantage of SW’s 2 free bags policy. Which I probably will need since I won’t be in the Accessibility Exhibit Hall to sell books tonight and may have a bunch to cart home on Sunday. If SW planes fly on Sunday.
I’m not holding my breath.
by jphilo | Mar 30, 2012 | Out and About
iDid iT.
On Tuesday, iBought an iPad 3. The news may shock peeps who read Monday’s post about feeling like an iPad iDiot. However my trip to the Apple Store was a rousing success. Much better than anticipated, thanks to the weekend’s frustrating research, which resulted in the right list of questions to ask Doug,* a friendly iGenius in his perky blue shirt with a white apple on the front. iEven understood the iGenius’ answers and made my purchase immediately for one reason.
The Apple Store has an iPad Set Up Bench.
The bench was manned by Jon,* another friendly iGenius in a perky blue shirt, whose job was to help crazy middle aged women who think they can learn to use an iPad savvy consumers get their iPads up and running. Jon was patient, kind, and encouraging to me and the other two hopelessly confused middle-aged women savvy consumers trying to follow his directions. A wild look came in his eye shortly before he said it was time for his break and Ben,* a third iGenius in a perky blue shirt relieved him. Shortly thereafter, Ben shook my hand and said iWas ready to roll.
He wasn’t all wrong.
Once home, iRemembered how to turn my iPad 3 on. And iPanicked for only a few minutes when iCouldn’t find the iPad User Guide, which Jon and Ben downloaded while assuring me would answer all my questions. It’s taken me two days to get to page 53. Out of 238 pages. At this rate, iMight finish the manual the day before Apple releases iPad 4.
If that happens, iGive up.
*According to my informal research, iGeniuses are required to have one syllable names. Probably so their brains have room to remember important stuff like how to humor delusional middle aged women savvy consumers while downloading iPad User Guides at the iPad Set Up Bench.
by jphilo | Mar 13, 2012 | Out and About
Saturday I made a roomful of new friends, thanks to Kevin and Patty Hardin. They’re the owners of the Corner Market in Wapello who invited me to speak at this year’s customer appreciation luncheon. They held the luncheon in the meeting room next to their deli/meat market/catering headquarters.
If Kevin and Patty had been the only friends made on Saturday, my cup would have been full and then some. They’re good friends to have – the kind of who plan a luncheon for their customers, round up enough door prizes for every women attending, and decorate the room so everyone feels not only appreciated, but pampered.
Before the afternoon was over, I felt like every woman in the room was my friend. Maybe because of the atmosphere Kevin and Nancy created. Maybe because so many of the attenders were retired school teachers, so we had plenty in common. Maybe because small towns in Iowa always feel like a favorite, comfortable coats that fits perfectly. Whatever the reason, I would like the world to meet my new friends from Wapello, Iowa.
Next time you get to Wapello, stop in at the Corner Market and have a look around. It’s really easy to find and full of friendly people. Here’s a map link in case you need it. Just remember, if you end up in the Iowa River, you’ve gone a block too far east!
by jphilo | Mar 7, 2012 | Out and About
The first day back after vacation is such a jolt – the tedium of unpacking, laundry, planning meals, grocery shopping, sorting mail, answering emails, and getting back to work – after a week of wandering aimlessly in the sunshine and eating out. I thought the biggest jolt would be the temperature outside the airport. But Minneapolis was an unseasonable 60 degrees when we landed, almost identical to Atlanta when we left.
Instead, the biggest jolt has been the brown lawns and bare shrubs after a week in green and flowering Georgia. To combat the dreary scene framed in the window, I downloaded my vacation photos. They were so cheery, I decided to pass some faves on to you.
And just in case you aren’t convinced spring is coming…
Well, I’m feeling a whole lot better.
How about you?
