TV’s last stand

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

One of the first purchases I made almost 46 years ago when I obtained my first job and my first apartment was a television set. That necessitated purchasing a stand on which to sit the TV set.
Across more than 45 years, I’ve replaced a number of television sets, but the stand has always survived. From my bachelor apartment, to our apartment as newlyweds, to our first home, to our current house, the television stand has always found a purpose to remain part of the family.
Last week the TV set we had in the bedroom went on the fritz. I purchased a new, flat screen set to replace it. That’s when I realized I had a problem: the much smaller base of the thin, new television set was too small to catch the cross pieces of the metal TV stand and sit securely on it.
Because of modern technology, the veteran television stand had outlived its usefulness.
Rather than place it in our already filled basement, I made the painful decision to part with the stand. Placing the brass-colored piece at curbside for either scavenger or trash pick-up, I ran my hand across its top railing.
“Goodbye, old friend. You served us well.” Hopefully it will find new life in someone else’s home … or eventually be melted down, reincarnated in another form, and become part of some other family’s history.

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A ‘Captain America’ tax?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

In the mood for some escapism fare on Sunday afternoon, we went to the movie theater to see “Captain America: The First Avenger.”
I remember “Captain America” from my comic book days and the film has received some positive reviews. We opted for the non-3-D version.
What I was not prepared for was the sign on the box office window that said because of the demand for tickets there would be an extra charge for tickets for the first two weeks of selected, popular films that were being shown.
Say, what? A surcharge — or tax — because a film will be popular because of all the hype surrounding it?
In addition, only reserved seating tickets would be sold. That was probably a passable idea, except for the folks in the theater where we saw the film and had reserved tickets for seats number 11 in each row. There are only 10 seats in each row in this theater. Apparently the mix-up came from buying tickets on-line and in advance.
You could see the folks with seats number 11 look for their seats in each row, get a bewildered look, and then head out to the lobby to figure what the heck was going on (there were no ushers in the theater to assist patrons with the problem).
Eventually the seating situation was resolved and we enjoyed the film — which is part “Superman,” part “Star Wars,” part “Indiana Jones,” and a lot of revisionist history.
However, the theater management may want to use a “Captain America” shield to deflect criticism over the 50-cent per ticket tax and the seating hassles.

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A pinch of Pinchot does a body good

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

Too often we York Countians can’t see the forest for the trees. Literally.
We ignore the unique beauty York County has to offer residents and visitors.
It has been many years since I visited Pinchot State Park, so we decided to take a ride to revisit the place.
It’s a straight shot up Route 74 to Pinchot State Park; a pleasant and beautiful ride as we drove through the countryside north of Dover.
Getting to the park was as easy as finding a wide-open parking area overlooking the lake.
Pinchot Park, named for the former governor of Pennsylvania, is 2,338 acres of land with a 340-acre lake at the heart of the park.
As we sat on a bench along the lake shoreline taking in the beauty of area, you could hear the sounds of laughter drifting across the water as families engaged in activities ranging from picnicking, walking, boating, to swimming.
It was a refreshing and renewing visit. We’ll definitely be back — but next time it won’t be years until we return.

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York County’s Stonehenge?

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

We visited Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area on the afternoon of July 4th.
There was only other car in the small parking area when we arrived. We followed the 112-foot ascent from the parking lot to the top of the hill. Along the way, we passed six “Waystops” — viewing areas.
At the summit, there is a commanding view of the Susquehanna River — and something else. Arrayed in a circle at the top are big chunks of rocks for seating. The circle of rocks looks like a flattened version of England’s Stonehenge.
It is worth the walk up the hill to see the spectacular view of the Susquehanna River — and the stones … and the compass rose.
Highpoint is located near Wrightsville. If you go, wear comfortable walking shoes to reach the top. You can always catch your breath at the top by sitting on one of the “Stonehenge” rocks.

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I didn’t have the remotest idea

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

When my wife spoke at a high school graduation ceremony, her remarks were captured on a video disk.
The other evening, we decided to play the disk.
There was only one problem: being somewhat electronically impaired, we could not figure out how to switch the television set from its TV mode to play the DVD.
We have three remotes sitting near the television set: The Comcast remote control, the DVD remote control, and the television set remote control.
When our flat screen was hooked up, we depended on our son and son-in-law to make the connections between the cable box, DVD player, and the television set. They very patiently told us, “When you want to play a DVD all you do is ….” And the rest sounded like “Yadda, yadda, yadda.”
So what to do? I have no recourse but to e-mail my son in Philadelphia that evening and say: “How do I do this?” Two minutes later the telephone rang. “Push the input button,” he said. “Uhhh. All three remotes have ‘input buttons,” I responded, while looking at the remotes in my hand. “The one on the television remote,” he explained. “Oh. Okay. Now what?” “Move the cursor to ‘Video.’ ”
“It comes up ‘Error’ on the DVD player,” I told him. “Which side of the DVD do you have facing up?” “The shiny side, of course.” “Wrong,” he said. “Put the side with the writing on it facing up.”
And, magically, the DVD appeared on the screen.
“That did it,” I told him.
“Now, how do I get it back to the TV mode when we’re finished looking at the DVD?” And, somewhat patiently, he led me through the steps to return to the TV programming.
After I got off the phone, I said to my wife: “Write down these instructions so we remember for the next time” and I rattled off what our son had told me.
It’s always nice to have a resource at hand when you don’t have the remotest idea on how to do something.

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Conquering ‘Mulch Mountain’

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

Who was the first person — back in the era of the Flintsones — who said: “I’ll take this old, fallen tree … grind it up … and sell it to some schnook to spread around his garden”?
We have fallen into the peer pressure trap of putting out “fresh mulch” — if that’s not an oxymoron — around our home every summer. Allegedly, it is supposed to keep the weeds from invading the landscaping and hold moisture in the ground.
How much is too much mulch? We had five cubic yards dropped in our driveway on a Thursday morning. It was a small mountain.
It took two of us Thursday evening, Friday evening, and Saturday morning to conquer the mountain and spread the shredded wood around our house. The only thing that broke the monotony of heaving the mulch into a wheelbarrow and then emptying it by hand was the discovery of a large meat bone mixed in with the mulch. “Quick. Call ‘Bones’ or ‘NCIS’,” I yelled to my wife. “Very funny,” came the reply. “Keep working.”
But, somehow, I can’t help imagining that somewhere there is a very sad dog — like the one on the insurance commercial — wondering what happened to that bone he buried in a pile of mulch.

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Do I get an i-diploma?

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

As much as I resent the intrusion of cell phones into our daily lives, you have to go with the wave or drown in a sea of advancing technology.
While visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Alexandria, Virginia, she had — unkown to me — signed me up for a cell phone tutorial. Basically I use my phone to make emergency calls (imagine that) and check my e-mail when I’m away from the office.
I know there is a lot more a cell phone can do, I just didn’t care about it.
The tutorial involved three students of varying degrees of cell phone abilities and two very patient instructors.
After an hour, I took away some useful information plus a new, free app I had seen on a friend’s telephone.
It is a Zippo lighter that you can flip open, flick the wheel, and see a virtual flame dance across the telephone screen.
Why did I want that? First I thought it was cool and, second, you never know when you’re going to be caught in a time warp and transported back to a 1960s concert and singing along to Kumbaya!
I’m sure there’s much more to learn about the i-Phone than can be crammed into one-hour session. But I’m hoping there’s an app for that, too.

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Ticked off looking for a graduation gift?

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

The old Timex ad stated: “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” But a Timex may not be able to lick modern times.
When my father graduated from high school, his parents gave him a watch.
When my brother and I graduated from high school, our parents gave us watches.
When my children graduated from high school, we gave each one a watch.
Watches may have met their match — and their doom — in this age of technology.
The next time you are around a group of young people, note how many of them are NOT wearing watches. If they want to know the time, they check their cell telephones. Sort of a modern version of a pocket watch, I suppose.
It’s a good thing the modern generation is made up of job-hoppers. If one were to stay with the same company for 50 years, what would you give him/her as a gift? A gold cell phone?

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40,000 people walking for a cause

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

The Susan G. Komen Race/Walk for the Cure in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 4, was a sight to see.
There we were, all 40,000 of us, walking or running to help raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. (The 40,000 people estimate comes from a television report. The Sunday edition of “The Washington Post” that I saw did not carry a line about the event or the amazing turnout of people.)
The 5K (3.1-mile) walk was around the National Mall.
It’s a great way to help a very worthwhile cause and get a different view of the monuments and building in the heart of the a magnificent city.
Which gave me the idea: perhaps a York not-for-profit should consider a 5K walk around the York City core area to raise money. What a great way to see our city “up close and personal” and help a worthy organization at the same time.

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York’s efforts on behalf of a Goode cause

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Gordon Freireich

York Countians are promoting a monument to Rabbi Alexander D. Goode and 13 other Jewish military chaplains who died in the line of duty. It would be constructed at Arlington National Cemetery.
Allan Dameshek — a founder, co-chair, and active coordinator of the Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast for the past 19 years — has been quietly and effectively lining up local support for such a memorial to Rabbi Goode. For several years, Allen has talked to many organizations and individuals encouraging them to write letters of support to their representatives in the U.S. House and Senate on behalf of the Goode memorial.
The Alexander D. Goode Elementary School in York City is dedicated to his memory and an outdoor mural of The Four Chaplains in in the 100 block of West Market Street. There is also a painting of The Four Chaplains inside the entry to York City Hall.
In another connection, Rear Admiral Rabbi Harold Robinson, director of the Jewish Welfare Board’s Jewish Chaplains Council, who was quoted in a recent article on the topic,was the guest speaker at The Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast in 2004 here in York. He was the chaplain who conducted the national memorial service for the Columbia space shuttle astronauts in 2003.
This would be a most appropriate year for a monument to Rabbi Goode and the other Jewish chaplains. May 10, 2011 would have been Goode’s 100th birthday. The annual Four Chaplains Prayer Breakfast here in York pays tribute to Goode and the other three chaplains who died aboard the USAT Dorchester in February 1943.

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