Dale Shipp wrote to Dave Drum <=-
Although at our age, we sometimes talk about the old days -- we are
glad that they are in our rear view mirror:-}}
I tell people that the "Best thing about the good-old-days is that
they're gone." Our rear-view mirrors do not often give us a clear
picture of what was. We tend to remember fondly the enjoyable parts
and elide the bummers.
A customer was griping about the price of gasoline yesterday.
Mentioning that when he began driving it was just 25c/gallon.
In the summer of 1963 I had my first real job on the economy. I worked for a research contractor near the Buffalo airport. My wife, Gail,
worked as a typist for Dun & Bradstreet in Buffalo proper. We rented
an apartment near her work and I commuted the 10+ miles to my job.
That summer there were frequent gas price wars. The price of gas would creep down from $0.26 per gallon to $0.13 per gallon, and then shoot
back up to $0.26. I noticed that the sudden price jump happened in Buffalo before it happened at the airport area -- and so I took that as the signal to fill the tank near the airport.
In this area fuel prices drift downward during the week a penny or two
at a time .... sometimes (not often) in biger increments. Then about
noon on Tuesday they all jump back up by a substantial amount. We've
learned, those of us who pay attention, that Monday evening is usually
the best time to tank-up.
So I asked him, "What were you making per hour back then? And how long
did your car last before it was junk?" Ooooops.
When we were young it was an exceptional car that lasted past 100K
miles. Today I am driving a car that has 235K miles on the odometer
and is still going strong.
Neither of our previous two cars reached 70K miles, but that was
because of low driving mileage and not any problem. They were 20
and 17 years old and still in great shape.
They are still going, though. Just not under your ownership.
The roads, of course, weren't as smooth back then - so they took a
toll on your machinery as well as your nerves.
That was very true when we lived in Pittsburgh. They still had trolley tracks then and they could do quite a job on the alignment and
suspension.
I've lived in/near cities w/trolley service but the crossings were, for
the most part, fairly smooth. Springfield, currently is crossed by no
less than five railroads. BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX, Illinois &
Midland, and the now defunct Illinois Terminal.
There is a multi-year, multi billion dollar, railroad relocation effort
nearing completion that will consolidat ALL rail lines into a single North/South corridor with viaducts or overpasses for nearly all grade crossings. Former roadbeds will be paved for streets or given over to
"green space" and tree hugging activities. And a major passenger
transport hub is being built which will serve Amtrak, metro bus, and intercity/state bus customers.
I have yet to learn what will be done with the current Amtrak station
with its Fred Harvey restaurant that has been in place more than 100
years. springfieldrailroad.com/newsite
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
Title: Fred Harvey Railroad Coleslaw
Categories: Salads, Greens, Vegetables
Yield: 18 Servings
3 lb Thin shredded cabbage
1 lg Bell pepper; fine diced
2 lg Onions; chopped fine
2 lg Carrots; shredded
1 c Sugar
MMMMM--------------------------DRESSING-------------------------------
1 c Oil
1 c Cider vinegar
2 tb Sugar
1 ts Salt
1 tb Celery seed
Heat to boiling oil, vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt
and celery seed. In large bowl combine cabbage, pepper,
onion, carrots and mix with 1 cup sugar.
Immediately pour hot dressing over vegetables.
Chill overnight.
RECIPE FROM:
http://www.cooks.com
Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
MMMMM
... "A roll of the dice will never abolish chance." -- Stephane Mallarme
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