Archive » February 2016 » Columns

by John R. Williams

It looks like one of our biggest concerns is coming true — this is going to be a year where the bad weather will fall on a Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Your Way Café in Schoharie and the roads were not in great shape.  One OF thought there was a temperature inversion, because the temperature on the Hill was in the 40s, and the temperature in the valley at 6:45 a.m. was 27 degrees.

The parking lot at the restaurant was solid ice and very slippery. The OFs hung on to each other as they did their Tim Conway shuffle to the restaurant. The plows were out doing their thing, so the OFs were pretty sure that, when they left the Your Way Café, the roads (like the week before) would be in better shape. (Scribe’s note, at least for those in our vehicle, the roads were better.)

Stained-glass reverie

The OFs touched on an unusual topic for them; it was stained-glass windows. The real old-fashioned stained-glass windows cost and arm and a leg, plus maybe a scalp, an ear, and an eye to have cleaned and repaired.

Of course, this is depending on the size of the window. The cost, which may be understandable, is prohibitive in many cases and small churches simply cannot afford to have this done.

What many churches are doing is covering the stained glass window with clear glass, or storm windows, in order to protect the stained-glass window. The way the OFs understand it, the new stained glass windows are regular colored glass, which is generally applied over a pane of regular glass, not like the old-fashioned stained-glass window that was cut and then leaded to separate the colors that were fitted like a jigsaw puzzle.

The OFs thought the old-fashioned way must have been painstakingly slow and meticulous. First, a sketch to fit the opening; then, locating or making the colored glass; then, cutting; and now it is time to make the window.

Red-winged scouts

Two OFs have reported seeing red-winged blackbirds in our area already. One OF saw the birds in Colonie, and another right in the town of Knox. This is a little early for these birds to make a showing.

Those birds may have had a few scouts in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and reported back that the fury rodent said spring would be early this year. Now they are hauling butt back north to take advantage of the seeds that should be on the ground from last fall.

The OFs know that, when the birds first show up, they attack the backyard feeders by the drove. It is only mid-winter and we could get a ton of snow between now and April, but maybe these birds know something we don’t.

The better half wins out

Most of the OFs who are still married are easy-going types. These OFs acquiesce to their partners on many occasions. More often than not it costs the OF time or money.

One OF reported that recently he picked out tiles for under their woodstove that were effective, would do the trick, and looked good. These tiles were 12-by-12 inches and only 97 cents each.

The OF and his wife piled in the truck and headed to the one of the big-box stores that have everything for the home DIY, OF. They were ready to purchase the tiles when a salesman suggested a different tile to the wife that he thought might work better.

Then he went on to show them other decorative tiles. The original selection the OF and the better half decided on when they left the house were 12-by-12 inches and 97 cents each; the fancy ones they came home with were 6-by-6 inches and $7.37 each.

A simple little job that would have cost about 16 or so dollars, wound up costing the OF over $450. You gals are lucky to have these OFs to lean on. We acquiesce to prevent days of whines and pouts.

No throw-away culture

Our normal patter about old stuff generally pops in the conversation at one time or another at every breakfast. Tuesday’s breakfast was no different.

The OFs compared old tractor engines, and engines in general, to the newer ones. This topic was geared to how good the international engines were in the Farmall tractors. (These tractors are the red ones).

One OF mentioned that he was using his Farmall cub tractor when he heard a loud bang. The OF said nothing looked out of place, the tires were fine, and tractor ran great so he had no idea what it was.

The OF told us he used the tractor for three days around his place and it started and worked as it should. Then the other day he walked by it and noticed that the whole top of the battery had blown off, but the cables were still connected. If that had happened on one of the newer tractors or in your vehicle, there would probably be one heck of a fire.

Back in the day, there was a product most every farm kept on hand which was like tar in a can. This product was used to repair cracks in batteries, and this scribe can attest to this invention because on our farm we had an old GP John Deere tractor that had a patched battery and it was the only battery that tractor ever had that this scribe can recall.

The OFs remember filling the batteries with distilled water at times and even adding battery acid. Today, changing batteries is rather routine, and they are not cheap, Magee, just part of our current throw-away culture.

Those OFs who made it to the Your Way Café in Schoharie, and sat at their tables without falling down on the ice, were: Bill Lichliter, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Roger Chapman, Roger Shafer, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, John Rossmann, Gerry Irwin, Jay Francis, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Wayne Gaul, Jim Rissacher, Ted Willsey, and me.

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February 29, 2016

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by Dennis Sullivan

Circa 1935: Dennis Sullivan’s family visited Coney Island and had this portrait taken. His mother is the woman in white, third from the right in the second row, and her mother is in white all the way to the right. Four of the author’s aunts and one uncle are in the photo as well as lifelong family friends.

The presidential candidates are out on the trail again and the topic of “family values” is back on the agenda, if only slightly. I like that. I like talk about the family.

When I’m in conversation with folks at a coffeehouse or casual-dinner setting and the topic of family comes up, I invariably ask the person who’s sallying forth about it: What does your family stand for? And invariably I get: What in the world does that mean?

And I say, well: Do you come from a creative family or maybe a family that likes to laugh and, when it does, the pain of life is relieved somewhat? Does your sense of humor provide perspective when times get rough?

“What does your family stand for?” is a kind of Rorschach test. Someone connects with one of the inkblots and says: Oh, look, that’s me, there’s my family, we’re into power; we love money; we thrive on prestige, privilege, and things elite. Our Sermon on the Mount is: Do unto others before they do unto you and then cut out.

There are people who say their family has believed (and practiced) for generations giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. They say they’re “into” justice, standing up for policies that meet the needs of everyone.

Asked to give an example they say: Well, every person on Earth has a right to full health care from the day they’re born till the day they die, no exceptions. And when you ask why they say: Because Health and Healing are inalienable rights.

I’ve talked to people who come from laissez-faire families who care about nothing and it makes no difference; they say they want to keep stress down.

With respect to “What does your family stand for?” it should be pointed out that this is not a niche or boutique question designed for a certain few. It pertains to everyone, and anyone interested in bettering personal development and mental health must answer it, and do so through serious self-reflection. Become an Ancestry.com for the genealogy of morals.

Secondly, the question in question is not academic because the family — and that includes everybody who has a say in it — wills you something.  And you’re willed not just proteinic DNA but social DNA as well. In some cases, it means the row assigned you is easier to hoe; in others, it entails seeing a therapist for 30 years to peel off layers of familial gunk.

Thus, answering “What do I stand for?” has to do with finding out what you were “willed” and how your legacy affects your standing in the world. It’s a sad game because it involves our forebears saying: Here’s a little keepsake, I hope it works out for you — we are never consulted.

Some people get left holding the bag. They’re willed racism, hating black people and Jews and demeaning women, Muslims, and people whose sexual being requires complex solutions for well being.

If a family’s traits are based in aggression — perhaps from a fear of scarcity — those traits can erupt when the family comes together. Every year, hordes of articles are written during the winter holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, et al.) advising people how to emerge from family encounters with their hide in tact. 

The great Irish lyrical poet, Michael Hartnett (1941-1999) has a poem called “That Actor Kiss,” which speaks to his relationship with his father especially during the father’s last days.

His father is in a hospital or nursing home and Michael, as he’s looking at his father in bed, leans over and kisses him; later over a drink he realizes that was the last kiss he ever gave the man, and also the first.

He says the shame is that that “kiss fell down a shaft too deep/to send back echoes that I would have prized.” And what did the father leave him?

(he willed to me his bitterness and thirst,

his cold ability to close a door).

Hartnett says he was given an acerbic tongue based in loss, a fondness for the drink, and a revenge that gets even with people by shunning them.

I teach, maybe “facilitate” is a better word, a course at the Voorheesville Public Library called “Writing Personal History for Family, Friends, and Posterity.” People in the group write stories about what they were willed, where it’s gotten them, and how they feel about the deal. It’s self-analysis and writing your own obituary rolled into one.

One inventive member of the group, Jim Corsaro, says in a story “Family Closets” that his garrulous Italian-American family in Niagara Falls were forever gabbing, talking about everything under the sun.

But he said he never heard a word about his brother being gay, which everyone had to acknowledge when he died of AIDS in a far-off land. Jim said he got the job of telling his mother about the death and the way his brother died. Much to his surprise his mother said she always thought her son was gay.

But what kept the family from acknowledging a sexuality that was different from theirs (presumably) and required a dose of empathy?

In conjunction with the publication of his memoir, “But Enough About Me,” the actor and movie star Burt Reynolds said growing up he always said his father was his hero but when Burt came to be an actor the father kept saying acting was for sissies. Plus he would not acknowledge his son was a going concern and, no matter how big Burt got, he refused to see him as a “man.”

As in the case of the Corsaros, Burt’s father could not stretch to meet the unique needs of a kin. Their scales of justice were skewed, unbalanced, exclusionary, discriminatory, callous — and toward a son, a brother, someone they once loved as a child.

Someone told me recently that if he starting talking about “What does my family stand for?” he’d wind up writing a book. And I said: Well, what’s holding you back?

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February 18, 2016

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by John R. Williams

On Feb. 9, the Old Men of the Mountain met at the Country Café in Schoharie. This was a Tuesday, and on Tuesday, December 29, the weather was a tad nasty, and then on this Tuesday, the OFs had to content with about two inches of nuisance snow. Is this going be a year where the bad weather will happen on a Tuesday? Maybe.

Well, the Country Café was warm, and cheery — a welcome place to be early on a Tuesday morning.

The first topic was an OF’s complaint: Why did Time Warner jack up the bill by as much as 30 bucks? How do they get away with that?

One OF said that is not so much; it is a buck a day.

The other OFs said, you may be made of money but we aren’t. One OF said, if everyone thought like that and jacked up their prices only a buck a day, it would take only 10 suppliers of this, that, or the other thing to do this and, by the end of the year, we are talking big bucks, like $3,650 for the year. How do you make that up on a fixed income?

This scribe does not know how or if the subject transitioned at this time to if things are better now or when we were young. The OFs thought not, but the scribe said, yes, in most cases things are better now than then. So this scribe did a little checking, the key word here is little.

In 1970, when the United States had 203 million people, there were 16,000 murders, 350,000 robberies and 28,000 rapes.

A decade later, with a population of 225 million, there were 23,000 murders, 565,000 robberies, and 83,000 rapes.

The following decade, in 1990, there were 250 million people, again 23,000 murders, 639,000 robberies, and 84,000 rapes.

Skipping to 2014, the most recent since 2015 isn’t yet tallied, there were 319 million people, 14,000 murders, 325,000 robberies, and 84,000 rapes.

So you can see how crime in all major categories, with 116 million more people now than then, is considerably less crime than when there were fewer people. Tires last longer, cars run better and last much longer though they are nowhere near as stylish, and homes are constructed better. Medicine is better by leaps and bounds.

Conservation is beginning to take hold. Back in the day, sewage was untreated and dumped in the rivers, lakes, and streams — and winding up in the ocean. Factories dump what we now know is called hazardous waste anywhere because there were no controls stating they couldn’t.

Even based on average income, cars and houses are relatively proportionate. Food is a tad higher, but two items are way out of whack — tuition and health care cost much more than in the 1950s and proportionately so. 

This is one way to look at then and now; however, stats can be bent anyway to prove anything but is some cases facts are facts.

News skews 

The reason most of the OFs think times are worse now than in the past is the immediate assimilation of news from all over the world, and most of the reporting is of bad news. Naturally the OFs are going to think everything is bad because that is all they hear today, almost hourly when it happens.

There is TV, Skype, cell phones, and computers. No wonder the OFs think the world is coming to and end and, if you believe the media, it is.

This scribe says: Sit back and relax — this ole sphere has been around a long time and it still will be for a long time to come. There is only one person who knows when it will end and he isn’t telling or leaving any clues.

Talk opens with wallet

This conversation opened up when one OF took out his wallet to leave a tip, and one OF ran to get a fly swatter to swat the moths as they flew out of that wrinkled, old piece of leather. That topic was where some people kept their money.

One OF said that this guy ran a junkyard and did not trust banks so he did everything in cash, and used his money as insulation in the walls of his home. When he retired, he sold the junkyard, and had what the OF called a fire sale, and sold all the junk he could.

There must not have been a clause in the contract that said he couldn’t, and it did happen a while ago, according to this OF. The new owner was really upset when he found that many of the walls in the house were all torn apart with an ax.

Another OF said this same kind of reasoning applied in a story he had heard about an OF who hid his money in a wall behind the stove and, when he finally went to get it out of the wall, all he had was confetti because the mice had gotten into it and made nests.

Highway hazards

The OFs also discussed some of the places where they had worked. Those who had worked on the Thruway said it was dangerous.

The OFs who used this road quite a bit also mentioned the close calls they had on this stretch of highway. One said that it was people not being used to driving at 65 miles per hour, and dealing with the wind that was a big problem. Another problem was inattention of drivers not realizing how much ground is covered going this speed with a machine that weighs on the light side one ton.

The OFs who worked on the Thruway mentioned pulling the steering right or left to adjust for driving with a side wind is one of the problems. After driving at a good clip with this constant pressure on the steering wheel and then coming to a bridge that stops the wind, the vehicle will then dart right or left and, if the driver is not concentrating, the vehicle will smack right into a bridge abutment. 

The Old Men of the Mountain who found their way to the Country Café in Schoharie and did not need to drive the Thruway to get there were: Roger Chapman, Bill Lichliter, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Chuck Aelesio, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, John Rossmann, Harold Guest, Roger Shafer, Mace Porter, Lou Schenck, Gerry Irwin, Wayne Gaul, Jack Norray, Ted Willsey, Mike Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.

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February 18, 2016

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by Linda Miller

Community Caregivers Inc. is hosting a workshop series to help individuals and family caregivers understand and navigate the changing world of health care. It’s called the Health Engagement and Literacy Project (HELP).

Expert panelists and guest presenters will offer important information for older adults, family members, and advocates on the following topics:

-- Friday, Feb. 26: Trend and Patient Rights gives an overview of developments in the healthcare landscape shaping new directions in patients’ role in their care. Patient rights include your rights as a hospital patient and accessing your medical records. The guest presenter is from the Statewide Senior Action Council;

-- Friday, March 11: Talking with Your Doctor explains how to communicate effectively with health-care professionals. The program will be presented by the Community Caregivers team, including an Albany Medical College student volunteer.

-- Friday, April 8: Hospital to Home -- Part One. The first part on transitions covers what every patient and caregiver need to know for successful hospital discharge. The program will be presented by a guest expert panel and includes an overview of New York’s new Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act.

-- Friday, April 22: Hospital to Home -- Part Two. The second part on transitions covers what happens once you are home from the hospital, to plan for a successful recuperation. The session will be conducted by a guest expert panel.

-- Friday, May 6: Advance Health Care Directives covers planning to make choices that are right for you. The session will go over how to choose a healthcare representative to ensure that wishes for your care are known and honored. The guest speaker will be announced later.

All sessions will begin at 10 a.m. at the Hampton Inn (formerly Holiday Inn Express) at 1442 Western Ave. The one-hour sessions are free to attend, but advance registration is required. Please call 456-2898 to register or for more information.

Community Caregivers Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that provides non-medical services, including transportation, and caregiver support at no charge to residents in Guilderland, Bethlehem, Altamont, New Scotland, Berne, Knox, and the city of Albany through a strong volunteer pool of dedicated individuals with a desire to assist their neighbors. To find out more about our services or our volunteer opportunities, please visit www.communitycaregivers.org or call 456-2898. Editor’s note: Linda Miller is the Outreach and Education coordinator at Community Caregivers.

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February 11, 2016

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by John R. Williams

This Tuesday (the day the Old Men of the Mountain met) was the same day that, that rodent weather prognosticator in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (I got the spelling from the Internet; I ain’t that smart. This is similar to people not being from this area who try to spell local names, like Schenectady, or half the towns on Long Island) was going to advise the whole Northeast what the rest of winter was going to be like.

The OFs say that rodent isn’t necessary because his predictions are generally wrong. Just ask any of the OFs who have lived on the mountain for years; they can tell what the winter will be like right down to number of snowflakes that are going to fall just by looking at the color of hills across the valley precisely at 11:36 a.m., on Jan. 10.

That will be as correct as any rodent shaken out of a great nap by a bunch of Norman Rockwell-type old goats, in tall hats can predict. Howeve,r that groundhog is a lot like a construction worker because they whistle at perspective mates. When the groundhog is awake that is.

Treacherous ice

This brought the OFs to talking about the ice on the ponds and lakes this year, specifically how little there is of it, and, if there is any, how treacherous it may be. One OF reported that there were some ice fishing shanties out on Thompson’s Lake and the ice is so thin at the shoreline that planks are laid down so those stupid enough to go out and fish could go across open water to get to their shanties out on the lake.

One OF said they had better be pretty good swimmers if they do head out to fish. It has been a very open winter so far, and the OFs are hoping we do get substantial snowfall sometime before the winter is out because the wells and reservoirs will need the water.

One OF did mention that, a couple of years ago, we had plenty of snow and still there was a water shortage the following summer. The OFs couldn’t argue with this OG because they were unable to recall this particular weather event.

More than one way to fry an egg

Many of the OFs are good cooks, some because their moms taught them how when they were young, and others by necessity, and some because they went for beauty instead of brains and were forced to learn how. One OF started giving a brief lesson on how to take care of the pots and pans especially when making fried eggs and bacon.

This OF said, “Keep your eye on the bacon and don’t let it burn because once that starts the eggs will stick to the pan where the bacon burned.”

One OF said he didn’t have that problem because he uses two pans. What? Now you have two pans to clean.

Start cooking the bacon first, then throw the eggs in after the bacon is cooked some, that way the bacon grease is used for the eggs.

“Nah,” was a reply. “That way, everything is too greasy.  I take the bacon out and put it on some paper towels to soak up the grease.”

“That spoils the whole thing,” came a response. “By the time the eggs are done, the bacon is cold.”

“No, it isn’t,” was the answer.  “I cook the eggs in another pan.”

“Not another two-pan job for simply frying up two or three eggs and bacon for breakfast,” was the comment.

“You guys have it all wrong.  I throw in half a stick of butter, then the bacon; when that is about ready, I crack in three eggs, and there is about an eighth of an inch of grease in the pan.  After that, I put my plate over the pan for a little while (that warms up the plate) then I take the spatula and wave some of that grease over the eggs. When the eggs are the way I like them, I take them out, and the toast off the back of the stove and I am ready to go.”

“All that fat, what about your cholesterol?” was asked.

“What about it?” the reply was. “My last check-up it was 150 which is not that bad.”

“When was that check up?” an OF inquired. “When you were ten years old?”  

Droning on

The OFs discussed drones again, and how in the Netherlands the Dutch National Police are training eagles to hunt down drones and attack them.

One OF said, if he sees a drone over his property, if he can’t get his shotgun in time to shoot it down, he will throw rocks at it.  If this OF brings down the drone, he better hope that it doesn’t land on someone’s head.

The subject came up again how most technology, not all, but most, generally is an improvement.  Tuesday morning, the discussion was on tools. It was mentioned how much safer most tools are these days, and how much easier they are to work with.

One OF mentioned the Hougen magnetic drill and cutters. The OF said they used to have to climb poles and drill holes in steel for the appropriate fastener. This process took two men and a boy to handle the drill to drill the hole, and, when the hole was about through, the bit would catch and the drill would spin and twist your arm, or snap your wrist, or could even knock you off the pole.

Along comes this Hougen tool, and one guy carries it up with little effort, sticks the drill to the steel and just feeds the cutter in and the tool does all the work.  No more dangling from a harness because the drill has twisted the OF around and dislodged him from the pole.

Those Old Men of the Mountain who are lucky enough to escape the pitfalls of farming and heavy industry, sundry wars, and the occasional whack with a frying pan and make it to Mrs. K’s Restaurant in Middleburgh were: Harold Guest, Bill Lichliter, Dave Williams, Roger Chapman, John Rossmann, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Miner Stevens, Glenn Patterson, Chuck Aelesio, Mark Traver, Roger Shafer, Mace Porter, Wayne Gaul, Lou Schenck, Bob Fink, Bob Benninger, Jim Rissacher, Ted Willsey, Bill Herzog, Ellwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.

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February 11, 2016

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by Michael Seinberg

Well, the holidays are officially now past (unless the Super Bowl is considered a holiday) and I observed something this year. I seemed that, on those rare occasions when I did have the TV tuned to a broadcast station, there was an extraordinary amount of advertising that advised people that the best possible holiday gift they could buy would be a new car or truck.

Considering the state of the economy (slowly improving), the cost of getting a tree big enough to fit a car under it or conversely, the cost of getting a huge bow for the top of the car, I just wonder what these companies are collectively smoking.

In our family, at least, we purchase a car only once every 10 or 12 years after we have paid off and driven the current car into the ground. If I bought into these ads, I’d view buying a new car as no more of a deal than getting a new toaster or maybe some jewelry. And just to be very specific, many of the cars that were being pushed as gifts, cost more than my first house.

The message was always pretty much the same. Images of people zooming through a winter wonderland, snugly belted into gleaming vehicles that didn’t show a speck of road salt, snow, rain, or even dirt.

Is that a new feature I missed? Self-cleaning cars that always look new?

Obviously they didn’t shoot these commercials in the Albany area where a quick trip out after a snowstorm can leave most cars looking like they just drove through the Dead Sea followed by a mud bath followed by rust setting in.

But to get back to my initial question, how can these companies suggest with a straight face, that most people can, or should, buy a $30,000 to $80,000 car as a holiday gift? Do most families have large piles of cash lying about so they could just buy such a vehicle outright? Is long-term debt considered a great secondary feature? The gift that keeps on taking? Or are these companies appealing to a “different class” of people than most of us belong to?

I do wonder about such things. I also wonder about the implied importance of an expensive vehicle in one’s value system.

In one of these commercials, a family was gathered around the front of their brand new vehicle and the father moved his young school-age son out of the way so he wouldn’t block the car’s logo in what was obviously the family holiday-card photo.

If you’re wondering, this was a commercial for an expensive foreign car brand. The vehicle in question would likely cost the same as the son’s first year or two at a private college.

So what message was the company sending there? “Screw your kids, you need this SUV to complete your life!” Or maybe something like, ”He’ll thank you some day for teaching him about disappointment early in life.”

Yeah, that’s got to be it. Sorry kids, you don’t get to go to college but think of how great it was riding around in all that heated leather!

I found a lot of the car-for-holiday-gift ads to be pretty awful from a values standpoint. But then again, high levels of debt have never really been an accepted family value in our home.

So, in the future, when it does finally come time to buy a car, I’ll be avoiding certain foreign car companies (and a few domestic ones too) because I just don’t think we share the same values. I get that companies all need to make a profit to survive, but, when that mission overrides common sense, smart financial decisions, and true family values, then I’m hopping off that greed train.

And, if you are one of that tiny group that did get a new vehicle for the holidays, then I suppose congrats are in order. But you have to tell us all, did you have to renovate your house to make enough room to get a 60-foot tall tree in and then install a garage door as a front door, too, so you could get your new gift in and out? How’s that working out for you now?

Editor’s note: Michael Seinberg says he believes in buying holiday gifts based on common sense and a sane budget and not on what the Fortune 500 would have you do.

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February 4, 2016

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by John R. Williams

OK, the clock starts again! The Old Men of the Mountain were at the Middleburgh Diner in Middleburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 26, and we start the restaurant round again. Right now it takes eight weeks for the OFs to run through our round-robin clock of restaurants.

This can, and has, been changed by adding or deleting eating establishments, but for now it is eight. The OFs like to call it spreading the wealth, and keeping the wealth at home.

The OFs began talking about themselves this morning and commenting on age itself. Age is a relative thing, according to this group. The OFs say your attitude means a lot.

It is possible to be a real OF, 90 years old cranky, and grumble about everything or be 90 years old, smile with your teeth, fake teeth, or no teeth, but take everything in stride and be like a 60-something 90-year old.

The OFs are first to admit getting old brings a lot of baggage as parts of the body decide they don’t want to work like they used to. Many doctors reply to some of the OFs’ complaints by saying, “Well, you are getting older; there is nothing really wrong with you except you are getting older and there is no pill for that yet, so suck it up and live with it.”

Believe it or not, many of the OFs, when they hear this and know their situation is not life threatening, do suck it up and go on about their business.

That doesn’t make it any easier but it is all attitude, and most of the OFs do not escape the maladies of getting older; they just mention these woes as part of their conversation and then go on to something else. Some of the OFs really hurt, are really sick, or have rea,l serious problems but at the breakfast one would never know it.

Age is relative, not a number, which is evidenced by the OMOTM.

Hot air will melt snow

The OFs discussed the storm Jonas that came up the east coast last week, and walloped the major cities along the way. What do they do with all that snow? Miles and miles of streets have to be plowed and where do they put it?

One OF who moved here from Long Island said they are not allowed by law to dump the snow in the river or the ocean. Hey, they are not playing ball: Why not use Yankee stadium, Citi Field, or Central Park? Another thought would be to gather all the politicians and have them stand on the corners of the streets and make speeches on how they are going to help us. All that hot air will melt the snow in no time.

Waitress watch

Last week, the column mentioned some of the waitresses and this week the OFs read the column and expanded on how effective the waitresses are in all the restaurants on our clock.

One OF mentioned that he bumped into one of the waitresses just the other day; she now isn’t on the shift of the OFs’ attendance on Tuesdays. She asked him how we were doing.

The OF mentioned that sometimes waitresses do change and they really do not get to know the OFs, and sometimes the OFs see the same ones for years. One such waitress used to bring her baby to work; the OFs have seen that baby become a toddler, and now he is going to school. The OFs who hang in there long enough may see the same young man wait on them for pin money as he proceeds through high school, maybe even beyond.

Parrott House preserved

The OFs discussed the ongoing work being done at the Parrott House in Schoharie and now this effort is at a standstill because it has to be in compliance with allowable work as authorized by the Historic Preservation authority.

The OFs mentioned places where work done had to be removed and redone to satisfy the Historic Preservation demands once the building is on the Historic Preservation registry. Some of the rules seemed pretty silly and harsh if the OFs understand the demands of the authority correctly.

But the OFs guess the key word is “historic,” and to change what a historic building looked like would not fit the word historic. The OFs assumed that, as radical as it may be, they do have a point.

Pampered pets

Most of the OFs have a cat or a dog, some have a cat and a dog, and some have cats and dogs. Taking care of these animals as the OFs become older is like taking care of kids. Most of them are pampered pets.

On the farm, the OFs remember, the cat or cats, dog or dogs were rarely taken to the vet, and they seemed to have gotten along very well. Today the OFs are running the same animals to the vet more than the OFs are running to the doctor.

The OFs spend good money purchasing fancy food for their pets, and, back when they were on the farm, the animals ate what the OFs ate — scraps from the table. The cats might have a mouse for dessert, and the dog might have a rabbit.

The OFs remember the fur of the animals being shiny, their teeth and claws being sharp and in good shape. Now the OFs say some even brush their dog’s teeth. Say what?

One OF commented, “If you tried brushing my dog’s teeth, you would be missing a few fingers. Our barn cats never saw the inside of the house; they were out when it was 20 below and were more healthy than those pampered pets are today.”

An OF did say, if they really became ill or hurt, it was off to the vet then and they would patch them up. Sometimes, one OF said, if the vet was coming to the farm, he would have the vet check out the dog or dogs while he was there, maybe the cats if he could round them up in one place and keep them there.

The old saying that it is impossible trying to herd cats is very true. The best way to handle a bunch of cats is grab one at a time and stow it in a box until all the cats that might need attention are caught. The OFs say, don’t try to catch a cat; coax that feline to where you can catch it with food.

An OF remarked that he should rename his fat cat “Useless.” That says it all.

The OMOTM who were coaxed to the Middleburgh Diner by food were: Robie Osterman, John Rossmann, Harold Guest, Chuck Aelesio, David Williams, Roger Shafer, Glenn Patterson, George Washburn, Bill Lichliter, Miner Stevens, Roger Chapman, Gerry Irwin, Wayne Gaul, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Don Wood, Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher, Bill Herzog, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.

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by Alice Begley

The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer

Papers from the 1800s shed light on Guilderland’s past.

 

More historic yellowed papers keep finding their way to this historian's desk to keep her busy in the snowless winter we are having. Aged documents, much different than the 2016 modern computerized tax forms, reveal the lifestyle of early Guilderland officers and residents before the multi-group operations of government of today.

Evert Van Aernum “Solemnly and Sincerely swore that in all things in the best of knowledge and ability,” he would “faithfully and impartially execute and perform the Trust imposed” on him as an overseer of the highways of the town in April 1812.

Previously, on Dec. 23, 1809, the same Evert Van Aernum had called a special town meeting at the home of Henry Apple for the purpose of electing a new town clerk since the former town clerk had removed himself out of town and county. Eleven town officials — with the last names of Sharp, Featherly, Clark, Van Patten, Wergann, Ogsbury, Jacobson, Bogardus, Apple, Combs, and McGinn — voted to make Peter Van Patten the new town clerk that year.

In 1868, in Knowersville, which is what Altamont was then called, Supervisor Hiram Griggs authorized paying Ambrose Saddlemire $40 for services as a qualified teacher in District 1 of Guilderland from Dec. 2, 1867 to January 1868.

In November 16, 1892, W.B. Mynderse, the town clerk, filed an act to prevent the spread of a disease known as the “black knot” in plum, cherry, and other trees. “I hereby appoint Loring W. Osborn, Joseph Roe, and William Brinkman as Commissioners to carry out the provisions of said act in the Town of Guilderland, Albany County, given under my name on November 1892. Howard Foster, Supervisor.

At a meeting of Guilderland’s supervisor and clerk on March 3, 1810, for the purpose of making out a jury list for the town, they accordingly report that the following persons are qualified to serve as jurors since last year: Jeremiah VanAuken, Matthias Hallenbeck, Henry W. Stern, Wihelmas Becker, Jacob Phele, Thomas Olsaver, Adam I. Syver, John Van Waggoner, Frederick Wormer, Noah Wood, Samuel Carmull, Andrew Ostrander, Andrew Scrafford, and Markus Sytle. 

Persons not qualified were listed as: John Vine, Henry Van Wormer, James Shard, Garit G. Van Zant, William Wagoner, John Douglas, John Sharp, Phillip Sharp, Matthew Van Drubuch, David Wormer, Loyal Dave Runor, Thomas Mesich, Christian Scafford, and Ludwick Featherly.

“We the Supervisor and Town Clerk do certify that the above is a free list of the persons Qualified and disqualified in the Town of Guilderland to perform as Jurors since the previous year. Given under our hand this 3rd day of March 1810,” reads the document signed by Supervisor Conrad Crounse, Assessor Henry Shaver, and Town Clerk Peter Van Patten.

This historian believes that persons were not qualified as a juror for reasons such as not being a landowner or a homeowner, for having been a juror in a previous year, or for not being a valid town resident.

All of the above official acts were handwritten on special papers. There were no typewritten or computer-written papers. And no secretary to write them.

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