On Knox firings: ‘There is always November’

Hey! Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Old Men of the Mountain did not have to slip and slide on the roads on way to the Your Way Café in Schoharie. This day was cold, but clear and dry. Maybe it was the weather conditions that prompted some of the OGs to comment that the weeks are going by so fast that it seems like it was just Tuesday yesterday that we all gathered for breakfast.

The first topic of the morning was the dismissal of three of the transfer-station employees in the town of Knox. The OFs were generally upset about this and, as one OF said, for the life of him, he does not understand why.

One OF said it stinks of backroom politics. Another said all he knew was what he read in The Enterprise and it did have quite an aroma to it.

However, most of the opinions were from word of mouth and The Enterprise. As far as the scribe could ascertain, there was only one OF at the meeting of the Knox Town Board, but at least the OMOTM were represented. The discussion was closed when one OF said, “There is always November.”

Federal shutdown

The next conversation was on the government shutdown. This discussion had pros and cons, but was not political, even though it is the result of the circus we call the legislative body of our country and it is a circus.

The OFs have no idea how to get out of this situation. Some of the OFs remembered when they were young and lived hand-to-mouth, particularly those that were not farmers. Some brought up training from their parents on how to prepare for living six months ahead in case something went wrong.

One OF mentioned how, many years ago, a Chinese couple taught them how to plan a year in advance, and what they should purchase and store, “just in case.”

The OFs did commensurate with the younger couples. One OF ventured that suppliers, and financial institutions could show some compassion here and work with the people who aren’t getting their paychecks on time because, when the bubble bursts, these employees will get paid.

However, it is a “sticky wicket” and many of the OFs claim all these big legislators with their million-dollar homes pay hollow lip service to the plight of the workers so they can stroke their individual egos.

One OF just threw out a comment that required no answer, “Do you think any of the big-shot politicians care?”

As part of this conversation, the OFs also talked about General Electric’s situation with all of that company’s financial problems. Some of the OFs have worked for GE at times and some have GE stocks (or had GE stocks) that were purchased at good prices while they worked for the company.

The OFs are not financial whizzes but they think a lot has to do with mismanagement from the top, and the cost of GE’s big-ticket items on the world market. The OFs feel the company just could not compete, which may be the major problem. The OFs also feel that GE made good products so the OFs feel that was not part of the problem.

Map mishap

Recently, the news on television has been running a story about a lady who has had GPS and Google show her driveway as a road. Many people who rely on the GPS electronic guidance system, and the maps of Google, were trying to travel on her driveway as a road.

One OF who lives on the Hill had the exact same problem with Google’s recent mapping of this area. The map showed his driveway as a road that had a beginning and made a loop and ended back on the main road, when it actually ended at his home.

The OF had all kinds of visitors, and cars and trucks turning around in his yard. The OF said it took two calls for him to get Google to change its directions but it finally did.

This scribe checked it out on Google maps and it does now show his driveway as a dead end. The scribe does not know about GPS doing anything wrong.

Brain drain

The OFs started to talk about how the group as a whole is beginning to show some wear and tear in the memory department. One section of our breakfast table, which included about 11 OFs, were having a discussion about farming, and building or repairing equipment for the farm along with working a job, when really the OFs would rather be doing something else.

One OF brought up a statement one of his doctors told him. This doctor said he doctored as a hobby; he would much rather be on his tractor planting corn.

This brought up the same rationale of one of the OFs who knew a national celebrity who would rather be doing woodwork, and did do high-quality woodwork, and no one could remember his name, not even the OF who participated with him as he was exhibiting his craftsmanship in wood.

Eleven guys could not remember the celebrity! One OF said, it is in our heads, but as we age there is so much more up there it takes effort to drag some of it down so we can use it. The OF said it will come to most of us later on. We all hoped so.

The Old Men of the Mountain fortunately do remember where they are supposed to be on Tuesday mornings, and on Jan. 15 it was at the Your Way Café in Schoharie, and those who made it there were: Miner Stevens, Roger Chapman, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, Bill Lichliter, Roger Shafer, John Rossmann, Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Ray Frank, Chuck Aelesio, Joe Rack, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Marty Herzog, Rev. Jay Francis, Otis Lawyer, Karl Remmers, Mace Porter, Herb Bahrmann, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Wayne Gaul, Jake Lederman, Ted Feurer, Elwood Vanderbilt, Allen DeFazio, Bob Donnelly, and yes Harold Grippen, and me.