GOOD EVENING VIETNAM - ALMOST 50 YEARS LATER

AFRS Radio Saigon ...remember when some young Vietnamese lady  played rock at 6:00 each morning? Robin Williams is gone yet Good Morning Vietnam is forever in my mind. Better yet I received a notice from the Department of Veterans Affairs dated December 18, 2016 claiming I never cashed a government check for $366.46 dated 10/15! my pension check was screwed up for months on end and apparently one such check was returned, not cashed.Merry Christmas, Bob! I must contact the VA with my NBSB routing number, etc. I hope so. Can use the money for new rear brakes on Rhonda Honda.


I have been working assiduously all evening on tomorrow. My front office is standing tall. Being organized can be your secret to tomorrow. If you live in a mess, well, a mess you live in."A place for everything, everything in its place!" This great age we live in generates more in the way of paper and it seems it will only multiply. I am proud of my abilities to "pay on line." Expeditious and instantaneous ..OMG.


Yep, 50 years since 'Nam came into my life. By contrast I was much older..age 24.5 when I flew the beautiful Pacific Ocean. There was so much uncertainty about things yet worry wasn't one of the things I dealt with. Screw it. Being a Medic was one thing and being in a secure Camp was another. VUNG TAU was the Social Capital of Vietnam..Social Disease capital, that is.


There was a lot of action in Back Beach, Front Beach, French Beach and Son-of-a-Beach. Many of us had lives in our "year abroad" and few took wives. A couple of Medical Doctors married Nurses. One even married an Australian!


The Australians proved to be my salvation. Friendly, intelligent, curious and more, this Fall I lost my Mate, Rodney Bryar to emphysema. Having a 50 year friend with an  International flair gave me the reciprocal.I owe his widow Mattie a letter.Tonight is the right time to write.


As I watch Good Morning Vietnam I will say GOOD EVENING!

 

 

 

 

GET A 70" VIZIO HDTV FOR $799!

So what are you waiting for? Christmas? LOL Last night I watched 2 hours of National Geographic television all about the OCEANS. Without a doubt this was the most prolific showing of colors, fish and humans since my folks bought a used Philco TV from Robert T. Quigley Hardware aback in 1952. Amazing.


To give you further perspective I paid $1,700 for a 40 inch HDTV about 10 years ago and have owned a couple since. My point is this DO IT! Winter will be long enough.


Stubborn? Allow me to come by and point out the obvious. Made in Mexico... Vizios are cheap, cheap, cheap!

INFLUENCER

A new word for BLOG!

 

 

PAGEVIEWS YESTERDAY 286 - TODAY 285

A virtual tie! How might I get more traffic? See a State Cop? LOL

GET A HOBBY!

I once knew two Yankee Lawyers in Worcester: Robert C. and Stanley H. Milton! Located at 340 Main Street, these brothers were wonderful in introducing me to Casualty Insurance defenses. Better yet, they were complimentary to me and my interests.




Attorney Robert was a Philatelist. When we didn't talk insurance we talked about our great hobby of collecting stamps. Stanley was more the naturalist and even retired to Cape Cod. His interests was in collecting Crewell decoys.








When I retired myself from Aetna  in 1977 I recall Mr. Stanley  Milton's encouraging words: "When a man mixes his business interests with his hobbies he has the best of both worlds!" He was right!




In my soul-searching moments I found a "Henry David Thoureau " quote worth reporting:


IF ONE ADVANCES CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF HIS DREAMS
AND HAS ENDEAVORED TO LIVE THE LIFE IN WHICH HE HAS IMAGINED, HE WILL MEET WITH A SUCCESS UNEXPECTED IN COMMON HOURS Touche', Henry David Thoreau!


Your hobbies may be transformed into your business pleasures. Insurance adjusting provided me with the rudiments of the Business World. Specialized knowledge gave me a specialized vocabulary. As my purview of the world grew my interests grew.


Frankly, it was reasonably easy to glissade from insurance forms to Proof Sets. I was willing to make mistakes in my learning processes. My newly found love of antique-dealing brought many new acquaintances. I began to earn money and have fun... and yes, I worked my ass off in the meantime! Not only was I an antique dealer/auctioneer, I was an antique home restorer. I hedged all of my bets and that was 39 years ago.


Today, in the New World Order, my hobbies delight me in new ways. As it's always back to basics." Indeed, it is, and show me a hobby that wasn't healthy. Go for it, I say!


But I must credit one person in my quest to independence, in my Mid-life Crisis... It was college roommate Bill Gross who behest me "You should be an antique dealer!" Bill was right!

e saying goes

AGENT ORANGE BENEFITS FOR 2017

Every Vietnam Veteran owes it to himself/herself to stake a claim for Agent Orange disability benefits with the VA! One year ago I received my first monthly payment of $367.56; one year later I have collected my 20% Rating of  $4,410.72.




Fifty years ago, on January 31,1967, I embarked for Vietnam not knowing what lied ahead.Vietnam was obscure in my 24 year old mind. The war had been brewing and LBJ began his mantra of lies.You could tell from his tone of things Vietnam was not understood by anybody. USA had never met an enemy like the Viet Cong.


We thought, perhaps, Agent Orange would be a "solve-all end-all." Body bags increased and the media showed us "NEWS Live from Vietnam," our tragedy of tragedies.



We sunk in the sands and fought in the jungles. Our enemy was but 5'4" tall, wore black pajamas, and fooled us all. Our only retort in fighting the Vietnam War was the use of defoliants. We used many according to accounts but Agent Orange maimed both enemy, children and Americans and others.




The Federal Government denied the harm the Dow Chemical did. Last year I logged onto Professor Lisa Brady's accounting of Operation Ranch Hand on her YouTube story of Korea and Vietnam. This is a compelling show of teacher and class direct from Boise State University, Boise, Idaho.




When you get the professor's drift you will quickly be an expert on Agent Orange!




Your AO Benefits may be waiting for you by making a claim with the VA. I have to believe millions of dollars are waiting to be claimed. Service Organizations such as the VFW,AMVETS, American Legion and others are here to help you as they helped me. Put your pride in your back pocket and "ask."

TAKING THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

Screwing up seems to be part of everyone's life. For two days in a row I spilled my hot coffee on my Honda's console. Last night a Dream Machine Sony radio fell from a window sill in my kitchen...then late into the night a three legged  LED flashlight bit the dust scurrying batteries all around.


One of my favorite screw-ups came in 1970 while living in North Brookfield, Mass. The top of a giant spruce tree had died. I decided to climb to the top and cut off the tip at 12 inches. It was a daring move. As I leaned the dead remains to fall something magical happened! The darned tree tumbled below crashing onto a carriage shed roof! What a Dummy, I thought!


I think all of life can have its foolish moments. Yes, we are clumsy.. yes, we don't think things through and yes we have accidents. The morale of this blog is Never be in a hurry to make your next mistake as you will make it anyway! Have a nice day.. but be careful! LOL

 

 

 

 

APPROPRIATELY,"WE SHALL LOOK UPON A WORLD UNKNOWN"

John Greenleaf's poetry is beckoning this wintry December Thursday night  as the thundering snow plows of sparks and slush threaten my new mailbox.




More importantly and in great depth will be 2017's arrival at midnight Saturday/Sunday. PC'S will be one of our next antiques as Smart Phones rule the world more and more. Information from Pew Institute is both revealing as well as staggering. The phone phenomena has captured humanity's  imagination like Henry's Model-T once did.




'Going to the Moon' seems to be an old-fashioned idea. More folks know about Roy Rogers than Buck Rogers and yes, the Buck remains Almighty, only it's in the swipe not the Crane paper from Dalton!


In my view "All Bets Are Off" in so many ways. Do you dare to predict what 2018, 2019, 2020 will be like? All we must do is visit a Best Buy Store for some ideas.Today's technologies are steamrolling us into our World Unknown!  This advanced computer age is steamrolling or should I say "Stanley-Steaming" our pathways into oblivion. People complained as the cars replaced the horses...but that's more than 100 years ago.




I think we must shed some of our old ways of thinking! My God, just look around the

 

 

n look in your mirror! HELP! Lol.


So much for today's journalism. Nothing keeps me more on my toes than thinking! It's fun you know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MARTIN D. LEACH - A HUSBAND, A FATHER, A COACH & FRIEND

I had a chance to showcase some of my writings when I interviewed Mr. Leach for the New Leader in 1986. All of the stars were aligned..the Red Sox, The World Series and a 'yes' from Mr. Leach for an interview. His wife Eileen sat next to us as I interrogated a man who gave me so much from my boyhood years.


Camp Frank A. Day was a our competition and Mr. Leach's tug of his left ear lobe meant steal! Mr. Leach's avuncular ways melded with my growing up at the Convent. Then his invitation to N>B>H>S>..


But I'm going to go fast forward...last when I rung the Town Hall bell at his funeral! Uncle Luke Grondin, bell-ringer,was sidelined and I volunteered to help. There was deep meaning and purpose to the finality of Mr. Leach. The Leach Legacy was in tact with Billy, Marty, Andy and grandkids and I got to know a Mr. Leach in a very special way.


My Uncle's store was across the street on North Common. 'I would hear Spippy's keys gingle every Sunday morning. after Mass' Leach confided. Mrs.Leach further told of father and sons "playing baseball on the Town Common "for three hours at a time."
 Sports was imbued in the Leach spirit.


Hundreds and maybe thousands of boys benefitted by Mr. Leach's genuine caring. Coupled with Leo L. "Shammy DeLude" North Brookfield youth were heirs to more than an education... all except for Richard. B. Johnson! Johnson was the recipient of many a noogy  ( a Leach knuckle in Johnson's Scalp!  So much for "Johnson" who is now 73! LOL.


The saddest part of my decades of admiration and appreciation came in my final interview. Leach confided "You've gotta die around here to get some recognition, Bobby!" Wow.


Mr. Leach had bore his Brookfield/Holy Cross Soul to me. "I would have never seen the likes of the Ivy League if I wasn't a CRUSADER as a relief pitcher.Mr. Leach further said of a Roger Clemen's fastball..."it was like a little white pill coming towards you!"


Mr. Leach was my kind of guy...with his snapping fingers and slow to anger ways!

THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN ANTIQUES

By definition, an antique is 100 years old. As we turn another page in life's calendar, 1917 is what makes an antique. But wait. One hundred years ago the Ford Model-T automobile was the hottest thing around. Thomas Alva Edison, the Inventors inventor had cashed in many of his chips. Radios sported headphones and maybe, the American Yankee ruled the roost as Immigrants filled the borning rooms.


In my case four generations existed before me and none were antique enthusiasts. Nothing seemed "old enough" to crave. Maybe WWII was the turning point of enthusiasts? AS a young boy growing up in rural Western Worcester County, my neighbor as an Antique dealer! His father served in the Civil War. I distinctly recall mother saying "Rich people in their Cadillacs would drive into Mr.Wakefield's yard on a Sunday afternoon seeking treasures.


The quest grew as the US population grew. Post-war prosperity brought about a different breed of "Cat." Traditionalists sought Period furniture and furnishings. Old Sturbridge Village was born and old Henry Ford invested some of his fortunes in antiquity.


Then, mass-produced furniture to include Duncan Phyfe and Larkin Oak became popular. The hobby seemed to grow exponentially. Clock & Watch collectors congregated then Yard Sales were hatched.Amazing. No longer did folks pitch their antiques to the town Dump!


In the mid to late forties I used to pick the town dump with Mr. Wakefield. From a platform rocker to steamer trunks and oak umbrella stands to "all of the above" the antiques mix changed when folks realized money was to be had!


I retired my Aetna job at age 34. Gutsy and yes, rewarding... onward and upwards. In 1978 I founded Blair House Antiques! My Victorian abode was perfect! A Greek Revival embellished my efforts in everything. I was on my way.


Coupling antiques with auctioneering and rare coins gave me a everything a guy could ask for. But that was then. In meeting a Mr. Bosquet today at Sturbridge Antiques Shop I confirmed my perceptions: The world of antiques has changed and not necessarily for the better.


HAVE THE NEWBIES EVER DEVELOPED A SENSE OF HISTORY?


Connoisseurship comes to the sapient! from the get-go I have been a sponge in my learning habits. My first WARMAN'S was purchased at age 32. All of the Kopf Price Guides helped me immensely. As an appraiser for Shawmut Trust, Mechanics Trust, attorneys and individuals, I owed it to my clients to strive for Perfection. I never tried to be a "know it all." ... and today, with the PC I learn, I enjoy and I grow.


My advice to all, at any age, remains to study markets! The best way is right here in the the "Antique Belt " as the Late Nancy Lowe Gray, T & G Journalist used to espouse. Nancy was great and gave me some splendid media coverage "Potvin is a new breed of auctioneer!"... that was in 1984. Today, there are missions of  auctioneers, snipers and crooks.


It is a tough call when somebody  responds a profession of their love.


I think our Wild world of 2017 and the proliferation of stuff from the Orient and elsewhere has redefined "Antiques & Collectibles."  All you have to do is watch the PBS Video HUMANITY FROM SPACE! I have watched it 100 times.I know!

TIMEANDDATE.COM

If you are curious as I am, timeanddate.com is the place! Any place in the world, length of day, phases of the moon you've got it! By waging an offensive to life you may discover stuff you never knew existed. I do and I defeat being bored... and it is for free. Check it out, my blogging buddies!

 

 

 

 

SNOWFLAKES

 Today,Mother Nature has been showing off her finest dendrites.. snowflakes! It was like a million dollar display. Never have I seen such manner fall from my skies. They were silent. No winds wee seen or heard to make things more interesting.


The beauty is in the present moment!


Nature has been teasing us today. I'm satisfied with the tease. "Me no like winter."The Blue Danube fires me up in the absence of a "friendly fire." As far as the sno goes it is fine my me not to have to deal with it. The speculations by the "Arometer-heads" leaves me wondering..what thee hell do they know about forecasting weather? Richard B. Johnson, noted Everything meteorologically speaking. Me? I just got off of the boat!