No talk of politics on Election Day, just funny stories
MIDDLEBURGH — It was a lot nicer to drive over to the Middleburgh Diner in the early morning daylight this week. Only have to suffer through losing more daylight for another month and a half until the days start to lengthen.
But first we must mow the lawn one last time, then put the snow tires on, get the snowblower ready, have fires in the fireplace, and enjoy some homemade stew. The fireplace and the stew sound good to us; you can keep the rest.
Last week, the OMOTM had a discussion about how many of us owned motorcycles at any point in our lives and how many still ride. Turned out that probably 50 percent or more rode cycles at one time or another, and around 25 percent still do. Which, as you remember, surprised me.
During this past week, I received some additional info from some OFs and one of them even sent along a really nice photo of his scooter. It looks just like a classic motorcycle except smaller, sorta like a scooter.
Election Day
Election Day! Finally! The OMOTM have only a couple of rules, which are followed pretty closely. They are: We stay away from talking about politics and talking about religion.
Even with this particular election cycle with all of its twists and turns, I never heard any comments, pro or con, about any of it at our breakfast get togethers. I'll go out on a limb and venture a guess that most of the OFs are relieved it is finally over.
Several OFs have served in various capacities on election days gone by. One of them was part of a two-man team, one from each party, that were ready to address any problems that might have occurred with the machines on that day.
He said they had to go to school and learn all about how the machines operated and what to do if this or that happened.
These machines were the old type with the levers. He said they were “bullet proof” and foolproof; you couldn't mess with them.
Other OFs talked about taking the results to the police cars to be taken to the counting stations and all the precautions and cross checks that were in place to prevent mistakes in the counting.
There were always some funny stories connected with some of the strange things that happened along the way. But they were always just natural funny stories that happen to all of us at times. Nothing bad, nothing illegal, just funny.
Varied careers
All of this talk got me thinking about the backgrounds of my fellow OMOTM. They are all from the Hilltowns, but what did they do for a living while they had young families growing up? What did they do to put food on the table and pay the power bill or make that car payment?
There were many farms, mostly dairy I believe, throughout these Hilltowns in the Helderbergs. For many reasons, the number of farms today is a much smaller number than yesterday.
The state of New York and the federal government with all its many departments, provided employment for several OFs. One was a professional engineer with the Department of Transportation for over three decades.
Another OF was in the IT industry with the state, also for decades. I commented to him that he witnessed the whole transformation from before computers were invented to what we have now. Same industry, but totally different. If he retired 25 to 30 years ago, can you imagine the changes?
Speaking of how the computer industry has changed the workplace landscape, how about the OF who's career with the Department of Environmental Conservation also spanned many years.
For many years, one of the OFs earned his living writing computer programs. Another was a machine operator; another, a lineman for Verizon.
Two or three OFs present on Tuesday morning worked in different sections or plants of General Electric. Remember NIMO [National Incident Management Organization]? Yup, we were there as well.
A couple of OFs said they married very well and didn’t worry about it. (We laughed and didn’t believe them. Great idea however.)
Another OF said he has been retired for so long that he forgets what he did for a living. (We laughed at that as well, but this time we believed him.)
The most unusual occupation found around the tables was that of a chimney sweep. One of our OFs started and ran a successful chimney-sweep company. He had to have a license to be a chimney sweep. He had his employees wear the uniform of top hats, white gloves, etc.
The only problem he had was, it was very seasonal. What to do with the rest of the year?
Another longtime OF worked for AT&T. He was totally involved with the switching stations that without them working correctly, your phone call to your neighbor could end up with you talking to someone in California! Just kidding. I think.
He was also very involved at the supervisory level with the laying of the transatlantic phone line. Cell phone anyone?
So now you begin to get the idea of where our Scribe Emeritus, John Williams, got his ideas for his OMOTM columns in The Altamont Enterprise for all those years. With all this diversity of working backgrounds, coupled with the commonality of us living and growing up in the Hilltowns and mountains of Albany County, John, who was a commissioned artist in his own right, could have written the column for decades to come.
One of the constants throughout the years is the final paragraph listing who got together that week for breakfast. Here is the list: Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Miner Stevens, Ed Goff, George Washburn, Wm Lichliter, Roland Tozer, Frank A. Fuss, Gerry Chartier, Jake Herzog, Frank Dees, Jim Gardner, Russ Pokorny, Warren Willsey, Herb Bahrmann, Lou Schenck, Gerry Cross, Lack Norray, Dick Dexter, and me.