So Let me explain...

Last Thursday, we received about seven inches of rain over 36 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't have one of my downspouts channeling water far enough away from the house. Thus, our basement was flooded, including our very nice family room. The carpet was destroyed by the seeping water, but we saved most of the furniture.



Unfortunately for us, a call to my insurance agent yielded disappointing news. Our policy (an HO-3) does not cover water seepage and associated damage. Now if a tree limb had fallen on the roof and punched a hole in it allowing water to enter the home, that would have been covered. We called ServPro, and they arrived late in the day to rip out the carpet, spray for mold, and set up their drying systems.



That morning, I also wasn't feeling well. I've been experiencing soreness in my belly button area for some time now. It comes and goes. I'm not sure when it started, perhaps six months ago...maybe more. Moving furniture on Thursday, however, really sent the belly button ballooning. I tried to take it easy as we emptied the contents of the basement into our garage and shed, but by the end of the day, I was feeling pretty intense pain.



The pain continued as I went to school on Friday. So I called the doctor. The doctor was quick to diagnose an umbilical hernia. She said that I need surgery as soon as possible. This doctor, who hails from somewhere in Africa I would expect, had a great smile and quirky sense of humor. I asked her what caused my hernia, and she replied, "Look at you! Look at what you're carrying around the middle. " "You're right," I replied. :)



So I'm in waiting mode now. The kind people at the surgery place are trying their best to call me to schedule a surgery with some surgeon. They haven't managed to complete that call yet. The ServPro people, after stellar initial work, have done an excellent job leaving us alone as their machines blast away in the basement.



The dog, forced upstairs at night thanks to the muddled basement, smells bad.

Not so good

Have you ever had a not so good week?

Seeking Dragon Lady

Seeking Dragon Lady

Soon after moving back to Roanoke back in the late 1990’s, I began working BINGO in support of one sports endeavor or another for my children. Soon after that, I met “The Dragon Lady.”

She sits by herself and is always there. BINGO is a weekly pastime for her. My BINGO life moved into my family life the first time we went to visit The Red Palace Chinese Restaurant at Tanglewood Mall. As we walked in to the foyer of the restaurant, there she was, “The Dragon Lady,” dressed is a silk gown –smiling and ushering us firmly to our seats, “You sit here.” In the few times we’ve been there since, she’s always been there ushering us to our seats with a regimental precision. Every time I work BINGO, she’s there, sitting alone in a corner.

A few times, I’ve crossed “The Dragon Lady” and found her to be surly and combative. These were times when the BINGO caller may have misspoke a number or when the program may have been edited unbeknownst to her. “She not call N42. Then she call N44. But she no call N42. So I get BINGO. No call.” Yes, I’ve brokered such conversation with “The Dragon Lady.”

Today, I went to BINGO as an outsider. My daughter graduated from high school last June, and I no longer have any children that require me to have a BINGO obligation. Yet today, I went anyway because I thought there was a need. It turns out that there were a lot of people there, so I wasn’t really needed. But before I left, I decided to go out on the floor to sell a few instant scratch tickets.

There she was…”The Dragon Lady.” She was just unpacking her stuff for the long evening of BINGO ahead. So I decided to engage her in conversation.

“Hello! How are you?” I asked.

“Okay. Long time no see.” She replied.

I explained that I don’t get to work BINGO so much these days.

She then launched into her litany of complaints.

“These people are driving people away by raising prices on the games. I pay $130 to play today. These computers cost too much (computer BINGO machines) and they keep making them cost more and more. It’s not right and people talk. That’s why this place got no people here no more. People whisper and talk.”

“I hear you.”

I work at “The Red Palace. And we know how to treat our customers.”

“I know…I’ve been there. You were the hostess at the Tanglewood restaurant?”

Yes, but we sold it so we have just Valley View restaurant now. That one bad food but use our name. Not good. Valley View good Red Palace.”

“I’ve been to both. I didn’t realize that they both were from the same people.”

“I own it.”

“I knew you worked there, but I didn’t realize you owned Valley View and Tanglewood Red Palaces.”

“Sold Tanglewood. They use our name. Not good food. Go Valley View. Snow crabs on Thursday and Friday. Very good.”

“I really didn’t realize that. “

“Yes. Grandson start restaurant in Moneta called Jonathan’s.”

“No way…Jonathan’s? I had no idea. Jonathan is your grandson? My mother-in-law lives right there. And everyone there knows about this restaurant.”

“Jonathan’s good place to eat.”

I guess it just goes to show you that even though you may be acquainted with someone for a long time, unless you actually engage him or her in a real conversation, you most likely won’t uncover his or her story. I feel like I’ve only just scratched The Dragon Lady’s story. Where did she come from? How did she get to America? How often does she play BINGO?

It’s possible that I’ll never find out.

Anthony Ryder and Dorothy Ryder

This evening, I mark the passing of two great people. Anthony Ryder and Dorothy Ryder.

Uncle Tony died on Monday at the age of 95. He was my father's oldest brother and an amazing man. I have many great memories of Uncle Tony. My favorite happened back in 1984. My wife and I had just married and we went on an adventure across the country in our affordable Ford Escort (no air-conditioning). Our first stop was at Uncle Tony and Aunt Bea's house in Massilon, Ohio.

We had never been there, and Uncle Tony was anxious to show us his town. First he drove us in his plush sedan, by Massilon Tiger football stadium. He explained that high school football in Massilon is something of a mania with over 14,000 people showing up for Friday night games. Then much to our amazement, he took us onto his golf course, in his luxury sedan...I mean right down one of the fairways! He said that he could do whatever he wanted since he was a charter member! I'll never forget driving down that fairway and Aunt Bea saying, "Tony...what are you doing." he pretended not to hear her.

Aunt Dot was my Godmother. She was preceded in death by her husband, my Uncle Stan. Aunt Dot and Uncle Stan were quite close to my mother and father. In fact, when my mother got her first job teaching, she and Aunt Dot became fast friends. They went to dances together and enjoyed hanging out. My father was the youngest in the large family and Stan was the next oldest. Unfortunately, he passed away in the late 70's from throat cancer.

Aunt Dot (82) was always fun to visit. As I got older, the cooler she became. She would take me dancing at the local American Legion Post. Sometimes, she'd just sit me down and talk to me and find out how I was doing as a young teenager. I'll never forget her.

Richard Thompson Favourites

Richard Thompson Favourites

I came to Richard Thompson rather late in life. I had never really listened to his stuff until 2003. My sister gave me a copy of Mock Tudor. I loved it. Since then I’ve gone back and listened to all of his solo work. I still haven’t delved back to his collaboration days with Linda Thompson nor have I listened to very much Fairport Convention from the early 70’s. I saw him when he came to The Jefferson center a couple of years ago, but I missed his appearance with Loudon Wainwright in Charlottesville last week.

A friend of mine saw him in 1988 at Roanoke’s Iroquois Club. That was a unique concert. He had just started a low-key tour of America and was playing very small venues in very small cities. At the concert, he worked alone playing his new electric guitar. It may have been one of his first electric guitar concerts. My friend ended up with the soundboard recording, and I treasure listening to it to this day.

These are a few of my favorite Richard Thompson tunes by album. I found a lot of them at Grooveshark and Sonza

Daring Adventures 1986

· Valerie

Amnesia 1988

· Waltzing for Dreamers

· Jerusalem on the Jukebox

· I Still Dream

· Turning of the Tide

· Can’t Win

Rumor and Sigh 1991

· I Feel So Good (Top 100 Hit)

· 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

· I Misunderstood

Mirror Blue 1994

· Beeswing

· Easy There Steady Now: One of my favorites.

· I Can’t Wake Up to Save My Life

· I Ride in Your Slipstream

· Taking My Business Elsewhere

· MGB-GT

Mock Tudor 1999

· Cooksferry Queen

· Hard On Me

· Crawl Back

· Hope You Like the New Me

· Bathsheba Smiles

· Sibella

The Old Kit Bag 2003

· Gethsemane

· A Love You Can’t Survive

· I’ll Tag Along

· Jealous Words

· Outside of the Inside

· She Said It Was Destiny

Front Parlour Ballads 2005

· Let It Blow

· When We Were Boys At School

Sweet Warrior 2007

· Dad’s Gonna Kill Me: This is a true protest song for the modern age. Thompson delves into the Iraq war.

· Mr. Stupid

· Poppy-Red

· Johnny Far Away

Miscellaneous Tunes

· Dear Janet Jackson: A complete goof on Janet Jackson’s “Wardrobe Malfunction” -warning it may not be save for radio.

· Oops I Did It Again: Laugh if you must. This song, popularized by Britney Spears is brought to life by RT.

· Woodstock: The song by Joni Mitchell is mournfully sung by RT. This one may only be available on video.

· Smiffy’s Glass Eye

My Mother Just Called

My mother just phoned. It was a simple "Hi, how are you? Where have you been lately?" call.

We chatted about this and that for about ten minutes. Then she said goodbye. As I hung up the phone, it occurred to me that I am so very lucky to be a fifty year old man and still get calls from my mother.

Mom and Dad haven't been doing especially well over the summer and into the fall, but my mother called me today.

Sigh

Sigh. You know what? We live in unfun times. It's at professional times like these that I like to draw on a monologue by The Firesign Theatre's "Waiting For An Electrician of Someone Like Him" album.

Hey, man! Don't let him bring you down, now. There's a lot of young people in this country, just like myself, who really know where the Indian's at. And don't worry. Soon we're all gonna be out here on the Reservation, livin' like Indians, 'n' dressin' like Indians and doing all the simple, beautiful things that you Indians do. Hey - got any peyote?

Please understand that I personally don't subscribe to the physical manifestation of the ideas presented in that thought, I just dig it.

Belfast, Maine is a beautiful town. I could live there...soon.