Monthly Archives: June 2008

Rags to Riches = Nouveau Riche

  By Dr Saxe | June 29, 2008 - 5:25 pm | Associates, business, entertainment, family, Food, life
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Do you remember the show called “Queen for a Day” which was on in the 40′s, 50′s and the 60′s. This show has been called a forerunner of “reality television” and started out on the Radio in 1945. Now that show was a classic case of Nouveau Riche which is defined as a person who is newly rich.

The tearjerking factor was always part of the show’s appeal and I remember thinking how horrible it must be to have to go on the TV and tell the world how bad off you are, along with 3 other women with their own sob stories and hope that they are picked out of the group for being the worst off, to win the opportunity of being a Queen for a day. The winner was always given a beautiful boquet of a dozen long stem red roses, and then she wore a red velvet cape along with a crown that placed on her head before heading down the runway with her face always streaked with tears of joy at being able to then have a fully paid for night on the town with their husband or other escort, along with other fabulous prizes that were selected to help her make her life better.

I always felt so sorry for these woman and I didn’t watch the show very often as it would put me into a depressed state of mind for the rest of the day/evening.  

Who, what, where and why?

  By Dr Saxe | June 29, 2008 - 4:45 pm | Associates, entertainment, family, Food, internet/computers, life, politics, sports, technology
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Still not sure what my plans are for the 4th of July and my parents are asking what I have planned because they would like to get together for some type of meal and watch the firework display that we have always enjoyed so much in the past.

I’ve made a few phone calls and emails to a couple of lady friends, seeing if I could work something out with one of them for the evening, I have to be careful as to which one to include since my parents will be involved. My folks usually like my friends, male and female, but on occasion there will be somebody that I introduce them to that just doesn’t seem to “float their boat” and then I have to hear all about their issues that they have with that particular person and usually I’m not in the mood to hear their concerns and criticisms. I imagine that is the case for most people’s relationships with their parent(s), no one wants to hear their parents say bad things about their friends and other types of relationships that we acquire through life.

The 4th is creeping up on me quickly, guess I need to put forth more of an effort so as to put my mother at ease for a bit. I’m sure that my father couldn’t care less about where we go and who we go with, although I know he does enjoy it when I bring a really good looking lady along, he likes the ones with long legs that make him think of a “nice tall drink of water!”

Nephew does report on Portland Cement for summer school class

  By Dr Saxe | June 29, 2008 - 4:27 pm | business, entertainment, family, internet/computers, life, technology
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Email has made is possible for me to have a good relationship with several family members that I’m sure that without the Internet ,that things would be very, very different for most people these days. I really like that my nieces and nephews keep in constant contact with me and their other aunts and uncles and even their grandparents are kept updated frequently and pictures are very appreciated by all, of course.

I have one nephew that I have the pleasure of knowing very well, it too bad that he now lives to far away that it makes it hard to see him often, but we make every attempt that we can to get him for visits when possible. He is a good kid, and smart too, but he does struggle with school a lot and has landed himself in summer school this year, which he is not very happy about. He tells me that he was really looking forward to getting a part time job of some sort and having fun spending his paychecks on summer fun in the sun, it’s too bad, but that hopefully will happen next summer.

It seems that he had to do a report for one of his classes on the subject of Portland Cement and since he does most of his homework on the computer, as most kids do these days, he sent me an email with his report as an attachment in order for me to read and report back to him my thoughts about it before submitting it to his instructor. That’s cool, I don’t mind a bit, any thing that I can do to help this kid is my pleasure.

A brief summary follows:

Portland Cement was first patented in 1824 by Joseph Aspdin an English man, but the mix that was truly successful, and is that is still used today, was designed by William Aspdin, his son, around the year of 1843.

Portland Cement is the most widely used typed of cement in the world these days, it can be found in concrete and mortar, along with stucco and some types of grout, where it acts as a binding agent. This is a fine powder that consists of a minimum of 66% calcium silicate, with the remainder largely being a mix of aluminum, and iron. This is a hydraulic material that needs the addition of water in order to form exothermic bonds, and it is not soluble in water.

I found his report to be interesting and nicely written for someone his age, and I replied back to him that he deserves a pat on the back for his effort and told him to feel good about what he has done, and by all means turn it in as soon as possible and hope for the best. I also told him that I appreciated him thinking of me and sharing this with me and that I learned a good amount about Portland Cement that I didn’t all ready know, and that I love learning, so to keep the reports coming my way anytime he wants to! I really hope that he gets a good grade in this report.

Opening a business online?

  By Dr Saxe | June 28, 2008 - 12:18 am | antiques & collectibles, Associates, business, internet/computers, marketing, technology
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It’s been mentioned a time or two that I ought to try opening an on-line store for some of my merchandise. I’ve been told that it isn’t all that difficult, once you learn how that is. What I do know is that I’ll need some serious help in getting started on such a venture. I’d have to set up some sort of catalogue for my inventory before even thinking of jumping into it of course. I’ll also have to have the best in on-line shopping cart software to have any kind of success at it. I’ve been reading up on a company called “ezimerchant” that offers sound solutions to getting started in Internet commerce. I’ve been told their software is the easiest and quickest way to get started selling products on-line. I may have to venture into such an endeavor sooner rather then later if things don’t pick up at the flea markets and collectible shows. Seems more and more people are turning to shopping for all their needs and wants by computer these days. Putting us “touch and feel” guys out of the loop so to speak!

 

Some people!

  By Dr Saxe | June 27, 2008 - 11:16 am | Associates, business, entertainment, family, life
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It’s rather amazing what a girlfriend can get you to do sometimes. Now one of the girls I’m dating wants me to come over to her house and put up some kind of bunk bed slash computer stand thing in her kids room. I asked her why she didn’t just have the delivery guys put it together and she said she didn’t ask about that sort of service. I swear, you’d think a person would plan out these things before they dish out the cash to buy it. I apologized for not being able to rush over to her aid, and I tried to explain to her that I was in my truck and on the way to a show at that moment. I don’t think she believed me, but what the heck was I supposed to do, blow off the show and run right over just to put her kids bed together? I swear, women can be a bit self absorbed sometimes.