Roger O Green

Serendipity at the bus stop

pleasant interactions

On a recent busy day in April, I experienced serendipity at the bus stop.

After my Bible study, I took the bus to the library. My pal Patricia was talking about her book about helping chronically ill people. This was much more interesting and affirming than you might think.

I walked down to the Board of Education building to get an absentee ballot for the school and library budget vote on May 16. Leaving the building, I saw the #18 bus rolling by, and there wouldn’t be another one for a half hour.

My friend David came by. I hadn’t seen him in a few years, even though he lives in town. That is until March, when he and his wife saw the Sister Act at Albany High School, as we did.

He was coming back from serving on a grand jury. I surprised him by knowing that there were 23 people empaneled. I didn’t realize that they only need 18 to make decisions. He’s been selected regularly for various petit and grand jury services.

This led to a conversation about my limited previous jury selections in 2007 and 2014. Hmm. If I were a betting man, I would guess I’d get called again this year.

The ‘burbs

I took the bus to Delmar to pick up two chicken dinners, a fundraiser for the FOCUS Churches. After picking up the meals, I got to talk with Fred, the executive director, and a former neighbor.

Fred recalled a specific incident from nearly two decades ago. He was walking his daughter, who was about a week old. Her name is the same as my wife’s. My wife was about four weeks pregnant then, though we didn’t tell him about that until some weeks later. It was a fond memory.

As I took the bus home, Rebecca, who I used to enjoy frequently seeing on my work days, boarded. Her son went to my college alma mater. We had a brief but lovely chat.

Sometimes, I have to pay attention to the good stuff. They’re not big, shiny events but pleasant interactions that hadn’t occurred as often during the pandemic. So I honor them.

Midnight, the demented cat

the perils of doing laundry

I have written before about our demented cat, Midnight. In some ways, this is not a great photo. On the other hand, it’s rather representative of his demeanor. His arm – OK, front leg – hangs off his loft as though he were Hugh Hefner holding a cigarette at the Playboy Mansion.

Notice the deformed window treatment? That’s the result of Midnight either chewing on the curtains or kneading them. And there are three or four of them in similar conditions. My wife has talked about replacing the curtains, but I said that there’s no point unless we get something made of stainless steel.

When we have people over, he goes to the basement. There are only a handful of people who he won’t harass. And when something I can’t quite ascertain sets him off, the target of his wrath is me.

Domestic chores terrorist

Back in October, I was taking a basket of laundry down to the basement. There was a bottle of TIDE detergent that was next to the doorway, so I grabbed it to take it downstairs. Midnight, sitting on a chair ten feet away, suddenly started yowling and hissing at me. I don’t know if it was the basket or the TIDE that ticked him off, but someone dubbed him a male chauvinist feline because he never bothered my wife or daughter when they transported the laundry.

For the next three days, I was his enemy. I avoided him when I could. My wife would feed him. And I started carrying around a tambourine. Why a tambourine, you may ask? Because carrying around a vacuum cleaner was too heavy. I tried to talk to him, but when he got too close and too scary, I’d rattle the instrument, and he’d run off.

Where’s the feeder guy?

But then, a few days later, he started missing me. “Where’s the one who usually feeds me?” First, he’d get proximate to me, then a little closer. I’d go downstairs to feed him, percussion in hand, and he’d be okay. Then he became desperate for my affection. “Pet me!” And “pick me up and scratch me under my chin.” He needs to be near me and hates it when I close the office door, but I can’t write and tend to him simultaneously.

And it’s all good. Well, except for the time I was walking toward the sofa, and he ran in front of me. He’s ALWAYS getting underfoot, but I usually anticipate it. This time, I must have stepped on him, although I didn’t feel him underneath. He yowled and dug his claw into my foot. But this was a short-lived irritation for him.

Still, when he’s on the sofa and someone is petting him, he’ll suddenly bite them. He did this to my wife and tried to do the same to me. He is a demented cat.

Sunday Stealing: Songs

NOT Constantinople

This week’s Sunday Stealing is right up my alley: Songs—links to all.

1. A song with a food name.

Lady Marmalade – LaBelle: “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?”

2. A song with an animal in it.

A Horse With No Name – America. America played at my college in late 1971 or early 1972. The charge was fifty cents, but I didn’t go. Weeks later, the song was #1 on the pop charts.

3. A song about a bird

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley. “Every little thing is gonna be all right.”

4. A song about a dog

Hey Bulldog – The Beatles. From the Yellow Submarine film

5. A song mentioning a cat

Cat Food – King Crimson. I sing it to my cats each time I feed them.

6. A song listing a character from Wizard of Oz

If I Only Had A Brain – Domini Forster. This was from a YouTube search.

7. A late-night driving song

Keep On Running – the Spencer Davis Group. This running song has a driving feel.

City of Brotherly Love

8. A song from a movie

Philadelphia – Neil Young. Bruce Springsteen received an Oscar for his song from the movie Philadelphia, entitled Streets of Philadelphia. But the Neil song, right at the end of the film, always gets me, and Springsteen intimated that he thought Neil’s song was better in his acceptance speech.

9. A guilty pleasure song

Waterloo – ABBA. Truth to tell, I don’t believe in “guilty pleasure” music

10. A song about friends

Friends – Elton John. This could have been the movie song as well.

11. A song that is about summertime

Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran. WAY back in 2006, I wrote a blog post about a mixed CD I made about summer. I own at least three versions of this song, including Blue Cheer and The Who.

12. A song that needs to be played more on the radio

Love In Them There Hills – the Pointer Sisters. That said, I don’t listen much to music on the radio.

13. A song about drugs or alcohol

Demon Alcohol – the Kinks, from the great Muswell Hiillbillies album

14. A song you would sing at karaoke

Take Me To The River – Talking Heads. I picked their version because I couldn’t do Cousin Al justice.

15. A song from the year you were born

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads. This was famously covered by They Might Be Giants.

1943 #1s: Helen Forrest

Harry James

I noticed that in 1943, Helen Forrest was the singer of three #1 songs with two big bands. Here’s a bit from Wikipedia: “Helen Forrest (born Helen Fogel, April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer of traditional pop and swing music. She served as the ‘girl singer’ for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era… earning a reputation as ‘the voice of the name bands.'”

Here’s a 1982 quote from her: I live for today, but it is nice sometimes to look back to yesterday. We did not know that we were living through an era – the Big Band Era – that would last only 10 years or so and be remembered and revered forever…it’s hard to believe, but the best times were packed into a five-year period from the late 1930s through the early 1940s when I sang with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James… They seem to symbolize my life…that was when the music of the dance bands was the most popular music in the country, and I was the most popular female band singer in the country, and Harry had the most popular band in the country. It didn’t last long, but it sure was something while it lasted. Everyone should have something like it at least once in their lives. I’m grateful I did.”

The songs

I’ve Heard That Song Before – Harry James with Helen Forrest on vocals, thirteen weeks at #1, gold record. Written by Styne/Cahn for Youth On Parade.

Paper Doll – Mills Brothers, twelve weeks at #1, gold record. The biggest hit by a vocal group in the decade.

Sunday, Monday Or Always – Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers, seven weeks at #1, gold record. From the film Dixie.

There Are Such Things – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers on vocals, five weeks at #1, gold record

You’ll Never Know– Dick Haymes and The Song Spinners, four weeks at #1, gold record. A Cappella! From the movie Hello, Frisco, Hello.

In The Blue Of Evening – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra on vocals, three weeks at #1

Comin’ In On A Wing And A Prayer – The Song Spinners, three weeks at #1; A Cappella!

Taking A Chance On Love -Benny Goodman with Helen Forrest on vocals, three weeks at #1. From the film Cabin In The Sky.

I Had The Craziest Dream – Harry James with Helen Forrest on vocals, two weeks at #1, gold record, From the film Springtime In The Rockies.

That Old Black Magic – Glenn Miller with Skip Nelson and the Modernaires on vocals. From the film Star Spangled Rhythm

Pistol Packin’ Mama – Al Dexter and His Troopers, gold record. “It is said that the massive popularity of this ‘hillbilly’ tune… that was also covered successfully by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, was a major factor in Billboard’s decision to begin publishing a weekly record chart devoted to the country music genre.”

Spectrum Mobile clusterf### redux

Yay, Discover card

One of the great sources of anxiety, not to mention a massive timesuck, is the online Spectrum mobile clusterf### I’ve been dealing with over the last two months.

Indeed, it’s been so exhausting that I can’t give an exact blow-by-blow, as I did three years earlier when a variation of the same damn thing happened.

This time, I got a phone delivered that I didn’t order. I immediately got a call from someone purporting to be from the company telling me that I received it in error and that I should ship it back to them via UPS to an address in Kissimmee, FL, which I did.

That was a fraudulent address. And Spectrum Mobile, I’ve since learned, always ships and receives returns via FedEx. After my initial call to Spectrum Mobile, after I got an email for two MORE phones, I was told to reject the package, which I did.

I talked to Spectrum’s customer service for at least five hours on four calls involving eight representatives since late February. Retelling the same stories was exhausting. The sixth person, in particular, read the script without thought. I’ll admit that I got irate on the phone. It’s something I rarely do, and I hate when that happens.

Only the last representative had a scintilla of what was happening. They recommended I not use the Spectrum app, and they disconnected it. I changed the account code.

The two phones I refused are still on my bill because Spectrum Mobile has not restocked them. For several days, all their systems said there was “trouble with the delivery.” An $843 account in my name is due to be paid before the end of the month.

Conversely

Meanwhile, I changed my Discover card number. The person I talked to there, Heather in Delaware, was great. She was going to pass me io to another department, but then she looked to see that another department had passed me on to her.

(When I was a business librarian for over 26 years, being passed from A to B to C, back to A was particularly frustrating.)

Discover card blocked bills from Spectrum Mobile, yet paid other recurring bills, even when I had not contacted those entities that my number had changed. So if the Mobile bill is still in the system, Discover will refuse it.

As I said, a massive and enervating timesuck.