NO CHILD LEFT

Suze Orman was interviewing a recent college graduate who is struggling with debt from a student loan. She is now a teacher and her monthly student loan payments are eating up much of her teacher's salary, and with no end in sight. All her life, she aspired to attend NYU. So she followed her dream, and enrolled there. Sadly, when she took out the $88,000 loan, no one told her that she would be responsible for paying back about $265,000, counting interest. Suze asked her, if knowing what she knows now, she would have made a different decision. "Yes, " she answered, "I would have went to a public college."

A Passing Fad

Little Boy Who

The little toy doll was covered with dust
Tucked fast away in her night stand.
Who, during that year, was considered a must
To make Christmas a true toyland.

Time was when that Cabbage Patch lad was new
A fad she was eager to share,
In case that a child who she knew and loved
Would want it and lavish their care.

That day never came, as is often so true
With the fickle requests of the young,
So she put it away without giving a clue
And the price of her purchase unsung.

Now three decades later, the doll still awaits
For whatever that fate may decree
Vapid grin of a toy which was meant to bring joy
From a gift that was never to be.

Lovelorn #2

This one postmarked either Mar or May 20, 1956, at 8a.m. from Valley Falls, with typed address and letter also typed, this time on regular typing paper, neatly centered too.

Dear Miss Madigan,
For some time now, I have been admiring your beautiful red hair from a distance. I have noticed recently that you have it trimmed somewhat shorter. Hair like yours should be let grow until it sweeps the streets. Would that I could run my fingers through your lovely locks. It would be worth much to me and it would profit you some also. If you are at all interested meet me in front of the Valley Inn, this Wednesday night between 10:00-10:15 P.M. In any event, please do not have your hair cut again.

Really, except for our father's concluding that the writer was an adult, no one paid much attention. Pretty creepy since she was only 16 at the time. I remember she and Sandy went down to the assignation, but nothing transpired. I'm sure they were laughing and giggling like crazy. Remember those days when everybody we cared about was alive, and we could laugh at just about everything.

So they say...

Politicians, doctors, lawyers, and others say they aren't able to quickly and simply solve a problem or resolve an issue because they "don't have a silver bullet." And I just heard one say he doesn't have " a magic bullet" (whatever that may be); sometimes they phrase it as they don't have a crystal ball. Excuses such as these seem a little lame and counter-intuitive, don't they, because when is the last time you heard someone claim to have an answer because they possess a silver (or magic) bullet or a crystal ball? They may as well say they don't have an easy answer because they don't own a vintage Mercedes or they were never in the kitchen with Martha Stewart.

For real?

Today on the news, some financial analyst was trying to put a positive spin on the economic picture. She offered this advice: "Look ahead, not in your rear-view mirror. You use your rear view mirror to look back and see where you've been. You need to look forward." Now, I don't know about you, but I drive almost every day and use my rearview mirror multiple times every drive, and I have NEVER used it to see where I've been. I use it to see what is coming at me from behind.

Cleo of Chaucer Place

The cat next door's name is Cleo, short for Cleopatra and she is Himalayan. She lives with Betty, who says both of them are senior citizens. Betty says Cleo is not a cat, but a lawn ornament. Cleo either sits on the lawn or the deck and stares through the sliding glass door. She keeps her eyes looking downward, even when we speak to her. I believe she is still looking for Chelsea: Betty says she used to visit them every day. Cleo is still a good looking cat, and must have been a beauty in her day. I'm not sure about Betty; she looks a lot like Mary Reilly.

Myth Busted

I felt like a criminal, tooling along on the NYS Throughway, as if all eyes were on me and recognizing me for the lawbreaker I was. I'd been to a staff meeting at Herkimer BOCES and was driving home late in the day by myself. Usually a friend and co-worker rode shotgun, and since she is OCD, she is very conscientious about directions, and I came to depend on her. I always drove, and she gave directions. Sometimes the directions she gave were very obvious , but I didn't care. I like somebody to tell me where to turn, and which lane to be in, etc. (kind of like an early GPS, but they can go crazy at times,) But now I was alone and determined to be in the proper lane in order for me to be sure I was heading home. I knew I needed to stay to the right, and the entry ramp in Herkimer is or was or was about 10 years ago, toward the left and in a rather rural, remote, and even deserted-looking area. Or so it seemed at the time. Anyway, I stayed right, the toll booth was toward the left, and I missed it. I didn't see anyone in it either, but I suppose I could have overlooked someone slumped in the booth, not much business at the time.
So I'm on the Throughway, with no ticket, and feeling as if my car has a flashing sign on it, identifying me as an illegal trespasser. I envied all the cars whose drivers were smart enough to have taken a ticket. A few troopers passed me and I felt like they must know I was ticketless. After the first half hour or so, I started thinking how I was going to get off the Throughway. (This was beforre EZ Pass,or at least well before we had it.) If I said I hadn't seen anyone in the toll booth, and thought there might be another booth a little farther down the ramp (which was true), and hadn't wanted to go to the left instead of right (which was also true), the attendant would probably think I was nuts and unfit to be driving. I thought about saying that my ticket had blown out the window (which was not true, but seemed more believable). Unless, I worried, they could check and know it was a lie. I remembered people saying that if you did not have your ticket, you would be charged for the entire length of the Throughway, and I hoped they would take a credit card.
I decided to get off the Amsterdam exit instead of at Albany because I figured it would be less busy, and I didn't want to tie up traffic on top of everything else. Still not sure of what my story was going to be, I pulled up to the window of the booth. I said "I don't have a ticket." He, a young man, asked "Where did you get on?" I said Exit 34. He said $2.40, and I paid him. The end.