SATURDAY

Don' fret some thing of interest to me will be up before noon.Sorry I am late but the cats are impatient.

TEASER

This 30+ year old picture was taken from a bus stopped on the bridge, The small size format was due to the half frame 35mm reflex camera I was using at that time.

What city is this? No prize offered not even a wet noodle. One clue, it is not one of the two most famous for the canals European cities. Send your answers and I will post the correct one tomorrow.

RANDOM TRIVIA THOUGHTS

One's font of inconsequential knowledge is never sufficient. Someday you mat be picked to play on Jeopardy. That is why I am sharing the contents of an email I recently received from one of my nephews. This also saves me from ranting about (a) the economy, and (b) Plainfield's emergency response system.:

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat

his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of

thumb'

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Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled

'Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden'...and thus the word GOLF entered into

the English language.

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The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and

Wilma Flintstone.

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Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.

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Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

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Coca-Cola was originally green.

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It is impossible to lick your elbow.

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The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:

Alaska

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The percentage of Africa that is wilderness:

28%

(now get this...)

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The percentage of North America that is wilderness:

38%

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The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:

$ 16,400

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The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour:

61,000

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Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

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The first novel ever written on a typewriter:

Tom Sawyer.

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The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar

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111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

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If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the

air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air

the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has

all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

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Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

A. Their birthplace

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Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name

requested?

A. Obsession

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Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you

would find the letter 'A'?

A. One thousand

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Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser

printers all have in common?

A. All were invented by women.

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Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?

A. Honey

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Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?

A. Father's Day

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In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.

When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer

to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'

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It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month

after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all

the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was

lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as

the honeymoon.

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In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England,

when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints

and quarts, and settle down.'

It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'

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Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim,

or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the

whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by

this practice.

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At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!

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Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can

read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The

phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde

Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the

olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit

pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a

porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by

istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe Amzanig huh?

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YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they

don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone

is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the

first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you

turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this, and nodding and laughing..

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this

message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this

list.

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want to!

Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it

once.

Doesn't Congress Care?

The market had another precipitous drop, two days straight! almost 12 % value. Do the Democratic leadership have a death wish for the economy now that they are firmly in place? Will Obama inherit a situation that is so out of control that the great depression will seem like a blip? I suppose the politicians have no concept of how much of our economy is dependent on the auto industry. Not only the big companies will fail and many workers will be without income , but the small supplier manufactures can not survive if the big 3 can't pay them. Every other industry even the Mama-Papa stores will go belly up. I am not crying wolf, that is why the 1929 crash didn't hit Plainfield until 1931.

Plainfield had 6 banks in 1930 the fact that five survived was due to the Plainfield Trust Company bailing out 2 of them. The Plainfield Trust became the United National in later years, same management different name.

Just a little more confusion

To add to the water alert confusion, the telephone number listed in the Courier has the wrong exchange it should be 1- 800-272-1325.
A call to the American Water Co revealed that the adjacent areas or perhaps all of Scotch Plains is also under the alert, however on their web site the town is not listed. Apparently "Plainfield City" is the new name for our community.

Water Alert Thoughts

Things that could cause me to lose sleep; Both local papers this morning report that the "boil water alert" is still in effect. Plainfield's Public Information Director, Jazz Johnson, is quoted that the public was notified via Channel 74, on Comcast only, also on Harvest Radio , 1070.

How many Households in Plainfield subscribe to Comcast. If those how many routinely watch Channel 74. Since the greatest listening to radio is in the car, how many are aware of Harvest Radio and listen to it. What if the emergency was real?

Since Plainfield is on the list where does the danger area stop. Does Greenbrook protect all of North Plainfield? Are the residents of Scotch Plains living on the south side of Cushing Road or those of Fanwood on the east side of Terrill Road safe from infection while their Plainfield neighbors across the street in danger? Or should those who think they are safe take precautions?

If the health director of Montgomery says that those who did not boil their water should not worry, was the whole alert a CYA action without justification?

If there is any type of emergency that Plainfielders should be made aware, is there any prescribed action in place? Is notification methodology determined by the degree of the emergency, and who makes that decision? I am serious, does a plan exist that will be followed or are we relying by operating by the seat of our pants?

SAINT-LOUIS-DU-RHONE

Saint-Louise-Du-Rhone, a medieval walled city at the mouth of the Rhone River was the site from which the Crusaders who travelled by sea set sail. There is a modern industrial city know as Porte-Saint-Louis-Du-Rhone which is not only an industrial town but the center for many marinas. Boats that have travelled from the English Channel or the Baltic through the River-Canal systems of Europe down the Saone-Rhone Rivers can now set up their mast and proceed by sail. Of course they now become subject to the weather quirks of the open sea.

One can not help but be impressed by the wall defences of the medieval towns. Cacarsonne is such a well preserved site that the city itself was used as the castle in the movie Camelot. Look for those pictures in the near future.

The road outside the city wall.Note the towers and the height of the wall. The cars are park here because only limited motor vehicles are permitted inside the old city

This is just inside the city wall. Note the arch of the city gate.Cars are allowed to be parked on the road against the wall.

This is on a street inside the town. The two men are looking at us from a window in the Hotel St. Louis

Just another shot from outside the wall. Obviously it had recently rained