Consider the lowly phone booth

Think about it, living in our world of cell phones, texting, tele-communications, Twitter and Facebook, when was the last time you saw a phone booth? Well we have one right in downtown La Crescent, right across from the post office and outside our local phone company office. I've never noticed it, but while CA grand daughter Janine was visiting this past week, it caught her attention. "Grandma, what's that little building on the sidewalk?" To which, I could reply, "Huh", really unaware of what she was talking about.

So we drove by the post office on our way to one of our shopping expeditions. "Oh, that's a Phone booth!" She said, "A what?" I began to explain pay phones and phone booths. She was so fascinated at her young age of 18, that we had to visit it and take her picture to post on her i-phone or whatever that magic device she carries.

Really here is a young lady, in her first year of college who knows nothing of pay phones and certainly not of phone booths. How will she ever understand the comedy of Maxwell Smart? How will she ever get the jokes about Superman changing in the phone booth? We have now an upcoming generation deprived of such experience. While we progress in technology and other rapid changes in our society consider the lowly phone booth. No more college pranks stuffing it full of as many of us as we could.

We returned home to explain this phenomena to our other family guests including a 10 year old niece from CA, Sophia who is quite advanced and well read. Certainly she had heard of phone booths. And where? In Harry Potter! But her parents took her by the same phone booth from which she called our house just to be able to say she used a pay phone booth--another part of disappearing America.

When we visit Decatur, Indiana we go to Arnolds's, a local diner 50's style, which has survived from the 50's and still serves the greasy burger, real Cherry cokes and thick malts. We remember those times and can experience them in places like that. Not a faux flip to the 50's but a real survivor of the ages.

So many things are changing and so much we roll along with taking no notice until we engage with the younger up and coming generation and find ourselves explaining what's become obsolete in society. They can no more imagine pay phones and life without i-pods, cells, texting than they could imagine life without TV. While we grew up in the midst of phenomenal changes, we studied history and knew of such things as horse and carriage pre-automobile. Today without the study of history only by visiting Grandpa & Grandma in the Heartland will they know some of what they might otherwise miss.

Stimulated

Today my monthly retirement remittance advice arrived....it seems I've been stimulated courtesy of Ob(s)ama & Co. Jerry had checked our direct deposit the other day and said, "I think you got a raise." I thought that curious because I know I get no cost of living raise until May. But I went on my merry way paying not other attention. Until today when the remittance copy came in the mail.

I'd wondered how us retirees were going to receive our stimulus. I believed we would get good old fashioned Polish "Huvno" (sp?) Actually I've been using the term, Polish Huvno, a lot ever since the inauguration of the socialist Muslim who now is in the White house. But, lo there it is, nearly an $70 monthly increase with a decreased amount in federal income tax withholding.

Our accountant told us that "they" would adjust the federal withholding amounts for wage earners to give the tantamount stimuli we have all read about. Ob(s)ama's further attempt to run our country into socialism is alive and well. I've read all about the $8-$13 per week folks were to benefit by. So since I have a substantial amount withheld from my retirement check to cover the heinous federal income taxes that we owe each year, I wondered if I would benefit the same way. It seems I have. My monthly net increase is about $68.

What bothers me is, while they stimulate those of us who must always pay federal income taxes, what happens at the end of the year? I mean when we calculate the amount we owe the government will the tax tables be reduced by the amount of these stimuli? Will we owe the feds more at the end of the year by this artificial stimuli through the year, making us think we have additional $ to spend when we do not? There has been no mention of a tax cut for us poor jerks.

Then again maybe this is a good thing--after all if most of us taxpaying Americans are behind on federal income taxes in 2010 for 2009, courtesy of the Ob(s)ama stimuli, will that qualify us for appointments as Secretary of Treasury? I feel that after my career I'd certainly qualify for Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Ob(s)ama appointees seem to have one unifying thread, none of them pay their income taxes on time or "appropriately."

Perhaps in addition to this faux-stimulation this is now an employment recruitment effort. Think of it, what better way to change DC than to get the likes of you and me to be the new appointees. I dare say we could do as good or better than Tiny Tim of the Treasury or Kathleen Sibelius of Health and Human Services. Maybe this is the other side of the coin, give them money to spend with a false assurance that it is theirs and then months later when they don't even recall how they've spent their $$, whack them with a tax bill. When they can't pay those income tax levies, seize them and transport them to DC to work as bureaucrats for the likes of the teleprompters.

Aaahh who said Ayn Rand or George Orwell wrote fiction? It may have been predictive. We are living in Gault's world indeed!

Remembering and paying attention

Recently on our American WWII Orphans web we have been chatting about testing and VA benefits we received for college as a "gift" from the government to us war orphans. Most of the folks recall intensive VA testing and some were turned away as not qualified or not college material. I truly do not recall any separate VA testing for my benefits...I wonder if perhaps they accepted my school grades and tests for college to determine that I was college material. I know I'd have remembered an all day test and a trip to Pittsburgh at the time because that was the big city to me, a New Kensington girl. I do recall that at our senior awards when they mentioned scholarships, etc. that my VA $$ was mentioned. I know there was no one else in our high school class with a dead WWII father so someone must have known about the benefits and decided it was worth mentioning.

But this makes me think how it takes more than one's self to recall memories. It takes family and friends. I recognized this in November while we were in CA when Steve was in the hospital. He and Jerry both recalled my escapades in the white Toyota which I'd totally blanked out on. It took me a good week to remember that car but to both of them it was very clear. Funny who recalls what.

I've always been known to have a very good memory, especially remembering names of people, etc. People would ask me, how do you remember them? I don't know I just did. When I was giving details to the police about some unfortunate episodes, they questioned my clear memory but Jerry advised them, "best believe her she has nearly total recall." But these days I don't pay as much attention as I did in my career days to names although I've had to learn all in our move here to MN. I'd embarrass myself by not remembering some one's name. I decided I needed to just begin to pay attention, like I used to when I worked. After all these people are now around in my life, more so many than the career ones.

I was talking to one of my long time school/hood friends and she remembers different things than I do from our growing up years. But when we talk the memories return. It takes someone else to trigger those old memories. This is very different from my 92 year old MIL who remembers vividly the way back thens but doesn't know what she did an hour or day ago.

Memory is important to me. Maybe because my mother had Alzheimers and I listened as she forgot most things about life. I was so down hearted when she could not recall things from my childhood or even her trips to CA. That's an insidious thing to be robbed of memories and recall.

Maybe paying attention is the secret. I know for sure that when I don't pay attention to what I'm doing I often have troubles. Focus rather than meandering mind.

I just talked to Dorothy, who asked for my support as state Deputy party chair. I'll likely be attending our state party convention this year as I'm alternate delegate from this county and the delegate is not attending. Dorothy called me yesterday and I'd not yet returned her call. Well it was more important to her than to me. But when I said goodbye today I nearly called her Kathy. Where was my mind--well on a wander. As I said, it was her call not mine. I'd told her that I really hated these convention meetings--or most meetings which are a flash back to the bureaucracy. This is an all day meeting. I mean who meets for all day but politicians. You can bet my mind will be meandering then!

One of my mentors in my state career once commented that I have the attention span of a cocker spaniel. He knew that if I became bored in a meeting my mind would wander. Face it most meetings were boring and there were always those who had to say something ever so trite just to hear themselves talk. I often said, "I have nothing to add" to help a meeting close. Well wandering attention, served me well in the bureaucracy. Kind of like Senator Hiyakawa who used to sleep, giving the attention that the issue deserved. We'd be better off today if our congress slept--wait a minute they kind of do as they are brain dead anyway and do not read the legislation.

Back in that day, as a defense (entertainment) to meetings, I created my own cartoon--Delilahbert. I was a Dilbert fan, and decided there must be a female counter part. Wish I'd saved some of those sketches but I didn't. This was pre-cellphones where I could have been texting or web browsing. I will have the opportunity again to bring back Delilahbert and now that I've remembered her, I will have a way to amuse me in meetings. Aahhh remembering is a useful thing.

It's Spring at last, I think

Exactly a week ago today on March 10 we saw the first robins of 2009. In fact it was about 5:00PM and our front yard from which the snow has melted but the ground is still not thawed hosted flocks of robins. Looking out the front window, I spotted their orange breasts. the robins are not our favorite birds here in MN. In fact, we have decided they are kind of nasty. Two days before the robin spotting I noticed a pair of doves on the ground at the bird feeders. That was my first clue of spring.

We have become amateur bird watchers here in MN. It's easy to do, just look out any window to spot cardinals, sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers of all varieties, robins, crows, hawks, grackles, red winged black birds, juncos, wrens, buntings, etc. Well the variety depends on the season. The eagles are back along the Mississippi, fishing, standing on some floating ice and observing the water, then soaring with a catch. It's a marvelous sight and so common here that people pay little attention. For us though, the eagles are intriguing magnificence. One photo here from 2 years ago...Trouble is I can't get a photo because there is no pedestrian walkway on that highway bridge. Even I am not foolish enough to stop on a 65 mph roadway and pull over to get a photo. The same reason I can't get the best photos of our bluffs in all seasonal dress. Also along the river we see the returning egrets, cranes and herons. And all this just on our way to La Crosse.

At our bird feeders, though we have had a different species partaking this year, deer known as Mama and Bambi. They knock the feeders around to loosen the grain and seed and then come up and graze. Bambi is quite indifferent to me as I open the back garage door, step out onto the walkway and still keeping a respectable distance, calling "Bambi, get out of there..." Bambi looks at me non-chalantly, puts his head down and continues to graze, "oh, it's you, harmless." This severe winter brought the deer up to our doorsteps, to nibble on evergreens. While it's quaint it's not a good thing. There are many piles of deer do-do, aka scat all over the yards. And they are rude enough to leave scat in a drain pipe that Jerry'd set along the front to drain the melting snows into the farther part of the yard. The other day we chased Bambi and Mama from the feeders three times. Now when they see Jerry they must know that he used to hunt their cousin's in CA because they flee immediately. But me, not.

The last several days have been gorgeous and balmy in the high 50's and 60 degrees--sunny and warm enough for shirt sleeves. Walking weather and time to get out and patrol the neighborhoods. There are many homes for sale across So. 11th St. Several are by owners and one of interest to us is Jerry's cousin's. We have no interest in buying or moving from our home, but we are just observing. Their home is small and a good starter or a small enough for an older person, but no takers so far. It's been on the market since last fall. The cousins plant to vacate the north and head south to Texas where some of their adult children live. Funny thing is they lived there before and she, Shirley, didn't like it. but then Shirley doesn't like anything so that's no gauge. Another cousin also has one of the houses on his property for sale in an effort to evict a non-paying renter. The renter is his god-child who has never paid rent for 6 years, so why it's become an issue with him now, who knows. It has been a long winter.

But for now we know that spring is on it's way. The daylight savings time change brings us light to nearly 7:00PM here in the north. The downside of that is the sun shines so intently in through the kitchen and dining room that any dust on table or floor is readily observable. Really Friday, March 20th is the first official day of spring. So we look toward departing tundra and warmth ahead bringing tons of outside chores.

One read and a flop

Continuing to post my reads so that at the end of this year I will know what I read and hopefully not buy the same book when I see them at a sale.

BIG FLOP: Red River by Lalita Tademy
I read her Cane River novel a couple years back and thought it was ok. So I picked this from the sale table of Barnes & Noble. Big Mistake. Supposedly based on the true story of what happened in April 1873 in Colfax, LA but slow writing. About the newly freed black residents during the beginning of Reconstruction. With friends in Alexandria, La. and having visited Colfax Parish I thought I'd enjoy this. Pure torture to get through 92 pages. I thought it would get better. This goes right into the donate bag.

Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury is one of those fluffy women's books that took only a couple sittings to breeze through. Karen is a well known Christian writer who is very popular with lots of women, and some men too, I guess. This book will be the first in the Baxter Family Sunrise series and introduces Dayne Mathews, the returning lost son from Hollywood to the Indiana Baxter family. It is an easy read and enjoyable enough and one of those books to set with when not wanting to concentrate too much. Family and faith triumph and all is well. And no 4 Letter words to worry about. No big language either .

The Preacher and the Presidents by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, published 2007 the true story of Billy Graham and his years as counsel to all the presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush. It's an excellent book and a keeper for my library and one I will only loan to those I absolutely trust to return it. I have this idea that grand daughter and niece can help me catalogue all these books when they visit in April--wonder if that will work. I can use their help to read titles, authors and enter into a data base. But back to this great book which I bought at the Christian book store using the gift certificate our departing minster gave me last year. I loved every page and reading the history of different events. Over the years I have developed more respect for Gerald Ford though I was very against his pardon of Nixon. I came to understand why Ford took that action and agree it needed to be done. This book contains other information about that in Ford's own words invoking his belief in God. As I read through the JFK era I realized how far we have not come as voters. Graham predicted that with the election of a Catholic president "never again would religion prove so divisive. I think that is a hurdle that has been permanently passed." How wrong, think of those who spurned Mitt Romney because he was a Mormon in 2008!

I especially liked reading the different episodes with the different Presidents as if I were reading short stories. I never lost my train of concentration because the chapters are distinctive. This is the kind of book that does not have to be read at one sitting and is still so enjoyable. From the skepticism of Harry Truman to the embrace of Nixon each presidential encounter is different.

It shows Billy Graham's humanity and weaknesses too as he gets drawn into some political areas where he vowed he would not be drawn. I was fascinated by the LBJ interactions with Billy Graham. The chapters on Nixon demonstrate Graham's devoutly helping his friend and yet even Billy Graham is manipulated and deceived by Nixon's shenanigans and perhaps distrusted by some of the Nixon colleagues. Billy Graham never admits that but trusts. The reader perceives that from the writing . This book shows Grahams's remarkable character and conservative leanings, but never reveals his political party. Perhaps it intrigued me because I too started out a Democrat.

There is interesting perspective about the disagreement between Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham and a mention of William Randolph Hearst. Billy Grahams's famous crusades are slightly mentioned this book. The real focus is interaction with the presidents and his determination to keep their trials and quests in confidence.

Some quotes to give a flavor of the writing: From the authors, "We knew that there were millions of people inclined to see Graham as a saint: we'd also encountered those who dismissed him as a showman, a sycophant, or a pawn of powerful men, with a mass-market message too silky and simple to merit further study. Graham agreed to talk to us without any conditions or control over what we would write. He had one challenge to us as we set out:"I hope it will just be fair and honest and tell the bad and the good." The book does that!

"Of the 11 presidents he'd known, 10 became friends and seven of those close ones. They entered into an unspoken covenant of private counsel and public support..."

"That still left the problem of election years. Again and again he vowed to stay out; again and again he was drawn back in. He always reminded people he was raised a Democrat and had friends in both parties and while this was true, it became clear long ago he had the soul of a mainstream moderate Republican...."

"His reluctance to challenge presidents privately or chastise them publicly reflected his conviction that the truth that mattered most was the gospel truth;..."

Reading this book left me much more curious about Billy Graham. And I have pulled his autobiography "Just As I Am" from my shelf and placed it out front on the To Be Read shelf.

Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown, who is one of my favorite mystery, thrill writers is a typical Brown book. Burke Bastle is the cop with nothing left to lose and Pinkie Duvall is the corrupt attorney who would make him lose it all. It's a quick read with fascinating characters including a Madame of a New Orleans bordello and the former cop who becomes a recluse running a fishing resort on the bayou. My only quibble with Sandra Brown is that despite the intrigue and great stories she cannot write without including sex scenes. While some find these steamy I guess I show my age by being bored and skimming past that. However, this is another good read worth taking along on a plane ride. It's paperback and easily left behind once read.

That's the catch up on my 2009 reads so far.

More to learn all the time

Lately we have been hearing a lot about Twitter. Jerry, who thinks I'm an up to date techie on most things, asks me, "What's Twitter?" Well I think it's another search engine but then I hear Martha Stewart talking about Twittering, asking her guest, "Do you twitter your friends?" Sounds obscene to me. Well time to take a break from Martha too, I think--her last few shows have featured rap guys (I hesitate to use the term artists) doing crafts with her....."Hey Martha girl, I mean ya know, this be 'de way to do "dat?" I suspect this is her attempt to draw in viewers. Well that draws out viewers like me who have less than no interest in rap, hip hop or whatever they call themselves. Or maybe this is to play to the players in DC as she touts Obama the Hero. Yech! Is everyone in the east a liberal?

Anyway do I need to now learn to Twitter? My cuz, Diane tells me I have to Tweet if I Twitter. She thinks she's funny! I do too!

Shoots, I have just mastered Facebook after nearly a year. It's where many of my friends and relatives are congregating. Yet I admit to being a bit cautious there too---I don't use my primary email for it and never play their games nor purchase through it. I'm just not that comfortable there yet. But yesterday while it snowed (again and still!) I downloaded Facebook to my Blackberry. So see I am capable of lots of techie stuff.

A compliment from a friend via email about how smart I was in a reply I wrote cautioning people to be careful on the 'net made me recall how being known as smart was the highest compliment folks could pay me. Then in my career days when we did a lot of personality profiles and assessments. Mine invariably revealed that I valued intelligence, smarts above all else. I still do value intelligence. And that is why I don't do stupids!

I have a low tolerance for dummies. But they are all around us. Boxes of rocks. The entire dumbing down of our schools has brought us to where today's high school graduates are clueless and need at least a couple years of college to achieve some smattering of education...well that supports the constant need for higher education till we have an entire society of people educated (using the term loosely) far beyond their level of intelligence.

Now I've been around long enough to know that my idea of stupid is often someone else's idea of a jewel! Else why would the voters have elected U NO Who in November? I continue to be disgusted with those who are led as lemmings and who are unable or unwilling to think, research or even ponder. Just taking media's word for it. and there we have the Obamas leading us along the path of the pied piper. Oh I know he has his fans, why some of my friends and family are Obamanites. OBAMA= One big ass mistake, America!

But dummies and stupids. When I get annoyed one of my long time friends in CA reminds me, "you never did do well with stupid." So why would it be any different today? And then lest I join them I have to continue to learn and I suppose that means researching and exploring things like Twitter.

Different worlds of communication

I've just spent several hours tidying up my project room, which is the big downstairs bedroom that is off the study and that also serves as my work out room. I love being able to just leave my projects in process out in what may appear disarray in that room. That way when, the mood strikes me I can go in there and start to work on sorting photos, scrap booking or whatever the pending project may be. I don't have to pack it back into a box and put it away because that room doesn't get any other use. And it's downstairs and not visible to guests when we entertain upstairs. Lucky me!

But, something needs to be done sometime soon, so I chose today. Janine, one and only grand daughter is coming for a week in April. She will be here the same week that Jerry's brother, Rod and family will be here. Rod & Katie are teachers in So. Calif. and Janine is a college student in No. Calif. but every one's spring break is at the same time. So we will have a houseful for that week.

This bothers no one least of all, Janine, who announced she would be taking over the downstairs--this is our finished basement. I agreed she could have the bedroom down there but Grandma would have to tidy up her projects--some of which are strung across the bed. Janine likes the big screen TV & the rec-room and so fancies herself to be in charge of the lower floor. While I can keep my sewing strewed across the coffee table in the study I could not leave the bedroom in it's mess. So now things are packed up and into the closet. Trouble is, I won't likely get to doing anything with those photos, etc. for who knows how long now--out of sight out of mind.

Today while tidying I sorted and threw out some things. I started with a small box of photos and trinkets from my grandmother. She had saved these and I brought them from PA in 2004 when mom died. I did toss out photos of people no one knows. I have asked the only two who might--Aunt Jinx and Uncle Carl and they could not identify the people, so no need to keep these. Old black and white photos from how long ago. I found wedding photos of my cousin Roland who lives in Madison, WI and will mail those off to him. Another treasure which I'll pass along to him are photos of my aunt and 2nd cousin, Stella's, trip to visit them when they lived in Milwaukee. These show he and his folks and his brother and he should enjoy them. It was always a big deal to the Polacks in PA to take the train to Milwaukie...I made that trip every other summer with my grandparents. Rollie can pass them along to his daughter or one of his son's. Those are in an old black and white photo book, remember how the old photos were developed into these spiral photo books? They'd charge us who knows how much for such a thing today!

What I find very strange is how well the old black and white photos have lasted. Some of the photos are from the 1940's and 1950's, yet they are just as clear and certainly better than the color photos we took in the 1970's.

What brings me to the blog now is a telegram that I found. My grandmother had saved a Western Union telegram which Uncle Carl sent her in maybe 1944 or so, when he was in the Army. And there it is today in 2009! A telegram wishing her and all Happy Valentine's Day. Way before cell phones, texting, Facebook and/or email. Hey, this must even be prior to Hallmark cards in all their glory which are used to celebrate and greet today!

I wondered if it scared her when she opened it, because telegrams were not a good thing in World War II. She kept it a long time, so I cannot part with it in 2009. It will go into the Ostroski-Kochanowski Family scrapbook. That is when I get back to the projects! A historical relic of communication from the past. How different it is today.

So here it is, the scan of the telegram and photo of my grandparents and me. That's Teofil Kochanowski (Grandpap) and Rose Ostroski-Kochanowski (Baba to me) , me and Carl Konesky, their son and my uncle. He changed the Polish spelling to something more Americanized Konesky then he and the siblings all began to use Konesky.

I was the star of every photo. On the right, is Uncle Carl home on leave from the Army. There was no date on this photo, but I guess it about 1945 sometime. The clothes were out on the line which shows in another photo taken the same time, and yet in another there I am in the wash tub outside. So it must have been nice weather. And I know this was when they still lived on 2nd Avenue in the old row houses. They and Mom bought the house on Catalpa St. when I was about 2 years old, so here we are prior to that.

I just noticed that an old factory smokestack which would have been across the river looks like it's coming right out from my grandmother's head. Funny. The 2nd street row house was near the river and I know they were all too happy to move up the hill onto Catalpa St.

From Party line to bluetooth/Ipod

I receive copies of my friend's father's poetry from time to time and today he emailed the one below about Party Line. Well, that brought back memories.

I remember our telephone in PA was a party line for a long time while I was growing up. My mother knew who the others were on the line. So she would watch her conversations, because she said some of them didn't have anything better to do than listen to everyone else. This was before afternoon soap operas on TV, heck it was before TV. I still remember that phone number--748R. The trivia that sticks in our heads!

Mom never really trusted the phones but continued to carefully watch her words when talking, years later. She said, "You never know whose listening in." I remember picking up the phone to use it and there would be someone already on it. By the time I became a teenager we had a private line. But unlike today I was not allowed to talk as much as I wanted on the phone. That used to tick me off. Talk about a world so different from today.

Anyway, my mother must have learned something from party lines,or from B-grade detective movies because she'd pick up the downstairs phone if I was nervy enough to sneak upstairs to talk "in private." So when I wanted to yak with my friends we had to go to each other's houses--within a block down the street anyway. We really lived in challenged times.

Then a day came when one friend got her own phone in her room. Her older sister worked and lived at home and gave that to her as a present. We thought she was quite lucky, unlike the rest of us. But it didn't matter because she was the only one with real privacy. The rest of us lived in phone restricted households, so she had no one else to yak with anyway! But we sure envied her phone.

Now with the ipods, cell phones, blue tooths, etc. that kids have attached permanently to their ears I wonder how we made it! And imagine these kids can talk freely about whatever and no Mom's ears to fear! Then again, their freedom comes at a steep price with such creatures as Internet predators, etc. I still think we were better off. Besides we were always walking to someplace or another and so spent lots of time outside--that was where we got our privacy!


Party Line

Hello! What are you doing today?
Well, I just called up to say ---
What's that? She DID? How'd you hear?
No! Wait, this line's not very clear.

Did you say she ---? That's what I thought.
Well, that's the first she ever bought!
What time was that? I mustn't forget;
Hold it 'til I get a cigarette.

Why, they were here until after eight.
Well, gossip's one thing I simply hate,
But I told her more than a thing or two.
O - Oh! Someone on the line, or was it you?

Of course! I know just how you feel,
(Quit clickin' this phone, you lousy heel!)
No, not you, but the way some act,
It's a pity they don't use a little tact!

I'd like to see it. How's it made?
But where did you put the rick-rack braid?
Bet it's cute. I'd like to see her in it;
Oh! Before I forget, have you tried Pinit?

No, I didn't. Never said a word.
Well, that's not the first, so I've heard.
That's what I say --- like an open page,
It's a wonder she wouldn't act her age!

Well, just thought I'd give you a buzz;
Wish I knew who that guy was,
Didn't you hear him try the line?
Yeah, been doin' it since almost nine!

Where were we? Oh, now I remember,
Didn't you hear? Nine, next November!
I thought so last week on the street.
Yeah, everybody thought her so stinkin' sweet.

You don't mean -- ? That awful clown!
Well, I did hear he left town.
You know that other, -- yeah, skinny legs,
Looked like a dog caught suckin' eggs.

Did you see --- Oh! That makes me mad!
If that guy needs the phone so bad
Looks like he'd get another line,
I pay this bill so this one's mine!

I guess that'll hold HIM, -- now, where was I?
Oh, if you're gonna be home, I'll drop by;
If there's any one thing that'll make me balk
It's some guy cuttin' in when I wanta talk!
Bye, see you in a few minutes!

Written by: Coleman Lee Williams
4/28/1900 - 5/5/1988