Rock On

Rolling Stone Cover

Rolling Stone Cover

This picture is the cover of the bio-book for Anne’s and mine 40th high school reunion. We were not proactive enough to submit our bios, but it was enjoyable reading those that did. Some were serious accounts of their lives, while other had their tongues firmly placed in their cheeks. Friend and groomsman Peter told a somewhat fanciful recounting of his career over the past forty years. He worked odd jobs from Pinto fuel tank designer for Ford, to navigator for the Exxon Valdez, with layovers as a consultant to the Ukrainian nuclear power industry and an election official in Florida. Certainly a storied, it not exactly a starry career. I guess his work in IT was just a cover?

The ‘high-five’ reunion speaks to the five Ann Arbor high schools that have joined in this reunion, Pioneer, Huron, Earthworks (also-known-as Pioneer II), Greenhills and Saint Thomas. Think of this weekend as a grand reunion tour, like getting the band back together. Ageist jokes aside like, “Still rocking, in spite of the gray”, “Can they remember?”, and “put to the test as they try to relive their glory years”, I must say that many of my classmates still look pretty good. Our mortality rate has been surprisingly low. This is all goodness for a population with a median age of 58 and a standard deviation of less than a year.

This book’s cover features Bob Seger, rock-and-roll musician and Pioneer High alum. Back in 1972 Seger had working as a Detroit area performer. He played a concert at Pioneer in January of ’72. He headlined along with the MC5. This show was Anne and mine’s first date. This was before he became more famous and successful, with such hits as Against the Wind, Night Moves and Old Time Rock and Roll. The ‘rumors’ of his rare surprise appearance seem somewhat fanciful, but stay tuned until tomorrow, to know for sure.

Last night was a dark and stormy night and tonight is shaping up to be a repeat. Anne had planned on wearing the same shear dress that she had worn at our 30th reunion, but with wind, rain and temperatures in the low forties, she has retreated to wool. Did I mention that tonight’s party is under a tent? 

Seagulls on the Rocks

Seagulls on the Rocks at the End of the Beach

This week I had a major breakthrough at work. It wasn’t really a breakthrough and only from my small vantage point could the words ‘major’ or ‘breakthrough’ become involved in the discussion. This was on Monday morning and I basked in the glow of my so-called success all day. At day’s end when Anne and I compared our respective days, I finally had something positive that I couldn’t talk about.

I had to brief management immediately after my noontime walk. Monday’s weather was steaming, so I was positively melting when I did the brief. That probably helped prevent them inspecting my results too closely. They had to look over my shoulder to see the screen. Afterwards, in the cafeteria, with piece of pizza in hand, one of the managers saddled up behind me and asked to the effect, had I already worked that piece of pizza off. Of course not.

I don’t feel that I can can really claim credit for any success here. Primarily, because I can’t explain it. It is like the bluebird of happiness had landed on my shoulder. I felt blessed. I have benefited from such luck in the past and I could try to exercise this luck again here, but like George Jetson before me, I had somewhat mindlessly just punched some buttons and like a lucky slot machine gambler come out a winner. This experience reminds me of Arther C. Clarke’s Third Law: ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ I’m just one lucky gull.

Paul R Tregurtha

Paul R Tregurtha

 DANGER! Go Back! Turn around! NO! … Not Here!

This picture of the lake freighter Paul R Tregurtha was taken last month at Goose Poop Park also-know-as Rotary Park. It is in the Soo, just south of Clyde’s and the Sugar Island ferry. We had just been to Clyde’s and had loaded up there for lunch. At the park, we were busy eating lunch and fending off voracious seagulls, think Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Then upbound comes the Tregurtha. The channel is relatively narrow here, so this big boat got very up close and personal. I got up to take its picture and so did my sis-in-law Jay. She said, “I’m going to stand by you, because you always take good pictures.” I thought, ‘YES!’ Not only was this a nice complement, but this gives me tacit permission to ‘steal’ shots from her sister, my wife. “Sorry, Dear, but your sister started it. Ba-wa-wa-wa.” 😉

The Tregurtha ran aground earlier this month. It was just a little ways downstream from where this photo was taken. Well, maybe more than my Missouri colloquialism might lead you to believe. It managed to get turned sideways in the shipping channel and ran a ground both fore and aft. It was eventually toad away. According to an online shipping news it has spent the rest of this month as a veritable Flying Dutchman, wandering from one repair harbor to the next. It first dry-docked in Erie, PA then sailed all the way to Wisconsin, for more repair work.