Mea culpa: The scribe directs almost everyone to the right café, but not himself

This report is for Tuesday, April 23, at the YOUR WAY CAFÉ IN SCHOHARIE. This is very important to keep in mind.

This scribe has a lot of apologizing to do. This scribe does not know if it is because what hair he has is gray, or because his co-pilot was not with him, or it is just because he is an OF. The scribe and another OF arrived at the Duanesburg dinner about 6:40 a.m.

The OF and the scribe sat there and had a couple cups of coffee, waiting for the other OFs. The reason the one OF was there with the scribe is because he had been traveling south for about five weeks and called this scribe to see where the next breakfast was. The scribe told him the Duanesburg Diner.

This scribe on Monday even called the Duanesburg Diner to advise the diner that the OMOTM would be there. This scribe does that every Monday to alert whatever diner is next in line to prepare them for about 20 to 30 guys. When the OF and the scribe got to Duanesburg, the diner was all set up and ready for the OMOTM.

A little after 7 a.m. this scribe noticed none of the OMOTM were there and the scribe then realized that he and the other OF were at the wrong restaurant. WE WERE SUPPOSED to be at THE YOUR WAY CAFÉ in Schoharie.

To compound this apology is to admit that the Your Way Café was not alerted that it was going to be under attack from a gaggle of hungry OFs demanding to be fed. So this scribe publicly would like to offer his apology to both the Duanesburg Diner and the Your Way Café for being  victims of this scribe not reading his own emails.

Another duty the scribe does is to send an email to all the OFs (who have computers) to tell them where the next breakfast is going to be, plus the next two or three restaurants in line. The scribe does this so the OFs who didn’t make a particular morning’s breakfast will know where the next one is

At least the scribe knows the emails are read because all the other OFs were at the right place; they were at the YOUR WAY CAFÉ, which proves the email at least was correct.

To add insult to injury, the scribe was so sure it was the Duanesburg Diner that, at around 5:30 a.m. (a.m., that is morning folks; it is a good thing this scribe is an old farmer because 4:30 a.m. was “go get the cows” time), when the phone rings and it is the Chuck Wagon Diner advising the scribe that next Tuesday the diner would be closed for repairs, this scribe advised them that the OMOTM would pick them up on the next go-round because they follow the Duanesburg Diner, and thanked them for letting the scribe know, and the scribe would announce this at this morning’s breakfast at the Duanesburg Diner.

But (please pay attention) now the Chuck Wagon does not have to worry because next Tuesday it WILL be the Duanesburg Diner, and the week after that WILL be the Chuck Wagon. Now this scribe has to call the Chuck Wagon and advise them, “No problem, the OMOTM will be there as scheduled.”

You know maybe it is because this scribe is taking Benadryl to help him sleep that things are getting all screwed up — PHEW!

When the scribe and the other OF made it to the Your Way Café, the ribbing was not that bad. This scribe expected much worse.

On the other hand, the OF and the scribe were banished to sit at a table for two, and had to make more conversation between ourselves. We had been talking together for awhile by the time we made it to the Your Way Café but we managed to find a few suitable topics that we had overlooked. This fiasco left the scribe out of much of the conversation for anything new to report on this week.

The scribe has to admit conversational subjects were scarce Tuesday morning. It could have been about Easter (as something different) but you can bet the standard fare would have been — as it usually is — on trucks, tractors, cars, kids, gardens — topics like that.

One OF who is walking with a cane, and has missed a few breakfasts, was asked how he was doing (this is another standard topic with the OFs, aches and pains coupled with mobility) and he replied his hip operation went fine; there is no pain and the hip works like a charm, but his knees are giving him trouble now. This seemed a little odd because it was the hip that was the most recent bionic repair.

The OFs have always maintained that the guy who moves and does simple aerobic exercises daily, like nice long steady walks, swimming, or golf, will live longer and have less aches and pains in later life than the athlete who lifts weights, takes all kinds of supplements, gets on all these machines, and pushes his body beyond what it was designed for.

The Old Men of the Mountain that made it to the YOUR WAY CAFÉ in Schoharie, because they have stayed away from the gym instead of going to it were: Glenn Patterson, Miner Stevens, Roger Chapman, Dave Williams, George Washburn, Bill Lichliter, Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Lou Schenck, Mace Porter, Herb Bahrmann, Chuck Aelesio, Richard Frank, Mark Traver, Ken Parks, Joe Rack, Jim Heiser, Roger Shafer, Gerry Chartier, Mike Willsey, Elwood Vanderbilt, Rich Vanderbilt, Bob Donnelly, Harold Grippen, and me — SORRY DARCY!