May 2025 - Page 2 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Lydster: credit cards abroad

United Airlines to EWK

The joys of using credit cards abroad. Shortly before my daughter went to South Africa for the college semester, I ordered another copy of my credit card with my daughter’s name on it so she could use it there. While it didn’t always work, despite my call to the issuing bank, it was a largely workable system. But then, I received an email from the bank in mid-March.

“We’re introducing new features for managing Authorized Users on your account. If you have Authorized Users, they’ll be issued replacement cards with a card number different from the number on your card. These cards will be sent to your address on file and should arrive by May 12, 2025, as long as your account is not closed.”

That’s a pain. I called them, told them my daughter is away and having difficulty receiving mail there. The representative said they could send her the card to South Africa via the shipping entity DHL. Okay, problem solved.

In early May, her card arrived at MY address. The problem is not solved. She has the account number, but using her card in person may be limited.

Newark

The other problem is that she’s supposed to fly back on United to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWK) in mid-June. Have you heard about the issues?

Is there a workaround? From here: “United Airlines — the largest carrier at Newark [which she flew going out, and is scheduled to return on] — is alerting customers through its app and website about ‘Newark flexibility.’

“You can reschedule your trip, and they will waive change fees and fare differences, but your new flight must be a United flight departing between two days prior to and two days after your original travel date.

“Tickets must be in the same cabin and between the same cities as originally booked, or LaGuardia Airport in Queens and Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia.”

Ultimately, the solution will be to fly to the DC area – only a couple of dollars to change it – and figure out how to get her home on the train.

Sunday Stealing — 8 Things about YOU

possum

http://www.weblogcartoons.com/2006/06/27/weight-of-the-world/

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. “These questions were inspired by a blogger named Becca. Back in 2007, Becca was asked to reveal eight interesting things about herself. We’re turning her answers into questions to learn a little more about YOU.”

8 Questions

1. What habit do you wish you could break?

Procrastination. I’m not talking about taking a break – for me, it might be playing pinochle or spades on my phone – but doing that in lieu of what I must do.

On Tuesday, a dead possum lay next to our back porch. It was the size of a large house cat, with a tail that reminded me a little of an armadillo. I called the state Department of Environmental Conservation to see if they would take it away for me; alas, no. I was told there were too many dead critters. So I played some cards.

Now, I MUST remove the animal before I take two buses to my dentist, and then go to the library for a book talk. I decided to put it in an empty box from a recent delivery. The spade shovel from the shed didn’t have enough surface area, so I had to retrieve a snow shovel. Getting the tail in was the most challenging part. Then I put it in the trash, but I decided I didn’t want the box to open, freaking out the trash folks, so I put the box in a bag.

I barely got to the dentist on time.

2. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

IDK, but I enjoyed going to Washington, DC with my family last year.

I do need some education

3. How many years of formal education have you completed?

My Master’s degree is two years of schooling beyond my Bachelor of Arts.

4. Have you ever had a job that required you be certified or licensed?

I needed a Master’s of Library Science to work as a librarian for 26 years.

5. Do you enjoy camping?

Categorically, no. Sleeping on the ground? Bugs?

6. Tell us about a time you got away with something.

Even though the statute of limitations has run out, I think not.

7. Where have you lived the longest, and what do/did you like best about it?

The house I live in now has built-in bookcases. It’s close to four bus lines.

8. When you were a kid, were more of your playmates boys or girls?

I remember being on the playground at Daniel S. Dickinson School when I was in fifth grade and realizing that girls were more interesting people than boys. This had nothing to do with romance or the like. It’s only been since I’ve been attending my current church and joined the Bible Guys and a dad’s group that the number of my male friends is even half that of my female friends.

Record Research Comparison Book

Billboard, Cash Box, or Record World/Music Vendor

I own a LOT of music books published by Record Research. A recent email reads in part:

“For more than half a century, Joel Whitburn’s Record Research has created the data trusted by history buffs and music preservationists worldwide.

“We’ve self-published 174 research books, authored the Billboard Top 40 Hits book series… [and] created the Billboard Hits series of music books…

“What began as a one-man hobby in the mid-1960s, became a thriving small business. By the early 1990s, we employed a healthy staff able to field a variety of projects.”

But with retirements and deaths, notably the passing of founder Joel Whitburn, “Record Research has a tremendous database, stock on several titles, and strong support from music lovers worldwide, like you, for which we are immensely grateful. To move forward and initiate new projects requires an influx of capital from those with deep pockets who concurrently have a desire to take up the mantle and enjoy the myriad of possibilities awash within our goldmine of data. If not, it looks as if the days of this mom ‘n pop shop are numbered.”

To keep the lights on, they are selling their books, DVD-ROMs, and T-shirts at 50% off a purchase of $200 or more with the MAYDAY code. I have nine of the 33 books currently for sale.

Comparison Book

I bought a few books and a couple of T-shirts. Most of the books were based on the Billboard charts, but the Comparison Book shows “Billboard, Cash Box, or Record World/Music Vendor: EVERY song that appeared on any of the main pop singles charts of the BIG 3, when these three periodicals existed together, from 1954-1982.”

Since most songs I’ve listed in this blog note the #1 songs from various Billboard charts, I thought I’d list the tunes that went to #1 on CB and/or RW/MV but NOT Billboard. The numbers represent the number of weeks at #1. This year I’ll concentrate on years ending in five. The songs with * I own in some physical form.

1955

Melody of Love– Billy Vaughn and his orchestra (Dot), CB 7

The Crazy Otto – Johnny Maddox and the Rhythmasters, MV 3

1965

Love Potion #9 -The Searchers (Kapp), RW 1, a Leiber-Stoller song recorded by the Clovers in 1959

*Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat – Herman’s Hermits (MGM), CB 1

Wooly Bully – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (MGM), RW 1

*Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan, CB 1 – the source of the title for the movie A Complete Unknown

A Lover’s Concerto – The Toys (dynoVoice), CB 1, RW 2. Based on the Bach Minuet in G, which I wrote about here

1-2-3 – Len Berry (Decca), CB 1

*Let’s Hang On – The 4 Seasons (Philips), CB 1, RW 1

*Taste Of Honey – Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, CB 1 – Herb just hit 90 and is still performing

As you can see, these are recognizable songs for the most part.

I should note that I have received no compensation for promoting the sale, only the joy of trying to help a company I’ve been enamored with for at least two decades.

Lithuania did it right

‘in very bad shape’ or ‘dead’

You may recall the story from Lithuania in late March 2025 about four soldiers, “part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division [who] were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle went missing, the Army said.

“Lithuanian, Polish, and U.S. soldiers and rescuers searched through the forests and swamps at the Gen. Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus. The M88 Hercules armored vehicle was pulled from a peat bog.”

From Radio Free Europe, which the regime wants to shut down: Hundreds Mourn At Farewell For Four US Soldiers. All four were based at Fort Stewart in Georgia and were identified as Sgt. Jose Duenez, Jr., Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, and Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins.

“Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausada, who attended the ceremony, expressed his condolences to the families of the soldiers and said the recovery operations, supported by international cooperation, were ‘the best proof of NATO’s invincibility.’

“‘Their readiness to be with us, as they say, in a difficult neighborhood, is the best proof of who our friends are today,’ Nauseda told reporters.

“‘We consider US soldiers in Lithuania as our own. The farewell ceremony once again demonstrated our society’s solidarity, respect, and gratitude to the Americans,’ the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a post on Facebook.”

Why?

But as The Atlantic and other media outlets reported, FOTUS “did not go to Dover, DE to receive the bodies of [the] four American servicemen killed in an accident while serving in Lithuania. He said he went to Florida, where he visited his Doral golf resort, which was hosting the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament, and stayed at his Mar-a-Lago club, where many tournament fans and sponsors were staying, as private business took precedence over the business of the nation.”

Back in August 2024, he noted: “The country’s top civilian honor [Presidential Medal of Freedom] was ‘much better’ than its top military honor [Congressional Medal of Honor], because the service members who receive the latter are ‘in very bad shape’ or ‘dead’ — the latest in a yearslong pattern of inflammatory comments the former president has made about veterans as barbs over military service are being traded by both campaigns during a heated election.”

Not a one-off

When he “canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that ‘the helicopter couldn’t fly’ and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.”

He “rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, [he] said, ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed.

This does not highlight the “greatness” of America.

So when the regime initially floated the idea of a military parade, possibly tied to FOTUS’ 79th birthday, it did not go well. Yet, it’s still on, at $25 million to $45 million during severe budget cuts, while selling VIP tickets.

He likes playing the soldier, though. “The pictures authentically show [him] wearing the uniform of the New York Military Academy — a private boarding school in Cornwall, New York that [he] attended for high school — at his 1964 graduation ceremony. [He] shared this image to his own Facebook page in 2013 with the caption ‘Myself with mother and father at New York Military Academy. See, I can be very military. High rank!'”

On this Memorial Day weekend, I would ask FOTUS: Be more like the Lithuanians.

Der Bücherwurm von Carl Spitzweg

The Bookworm

An 8.9″ by 11.8″ replica of a painting, Der Bücherwurm von Carl Spitzweg, or The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg (c. 1850), came into my possession recently. It had been sent to my late father-in-law, long before he was my FIL. It had been my MIL’s previous dwelling. My wife asked me if I wanted it. Sight unseen, I said yes. It had a caption in German.

“Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romantic painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era.”

It was sent to him by a couple in Germany; I can’t read their names. Grunhild and Harold, maybe?

But I can read the message: To Mr. Richard Powell – a small present from the other side of the ocean. Thank you for everything. It was dated 04-08-1985, which I ASSUME is August 4, as opposed to April 8.

The picture is an odd yet tangible connection to Richard. We shared a great interest in music, though I didn’t know the scope of his interest in jazz, country, and classical because he didn’t play his CDs in the house, only in the garage, out of earshot of his wife. It was most curious.

Of course, we shared an interest in baseball and attended several Oneonta Yankees or Oneonta Tigers games each year; he had season tickets.

He was also a librarian at some schools in upstate New York, and I was a business librarian. I appreciate books, but especially having them readily available.

Richard died five years ago, on April 22, 2020, after a six-month illness. Before that, he had been so healthy. He would have been 88 on May 23, 2025.