Sunday, August 19, 2012
Is It Better to Buy or Rent? - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com
A decision making tool from the New York Times
World History : HyperHistory
All you ever wanted to know about World History: HyperHistory
- the Chart provides a superior overview of world history ;
- HyperHistory provides depth and connections to other web sites
The two versions combined form an integrated part of the popular World History Project, thus serving as a model of how the printed & electronic media can complement each other.
World History : HyperHistory
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories (95 of 562)
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories (95 of 562):
I guess it has not changed much!
TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: "In the winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and being honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership at Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were ushered into the presence of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he waved his hand for me to stop at a given distance from him, and then put these questions, viz.:
"'Did you serve three years in the army?'
"'I did, sir.'
"'Were you honorably discharged?'
"'I was, sir.'
"'Let me see your discharge.'
"I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
'Were you ever wounded?' I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1861.
"He then said: 'I think we can give this position to a soldier who has lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then said I looked hearty and healthy enough to serve three years more. He would not give me a chance to argue my case.
The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then dismissed from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of War. "My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my countenance that I was not successful. I said to my father:
"'Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more satisfaction.'
"He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln's reception room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
"My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said
"'Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with your business, as it is growing late.'
"My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. Lincoln then said:
"'Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as possible.'
"There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to sit, while I stood. My father stated the business to him as stated above. He then said:
"'Have you seen Mr. Stanton?'
"We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
"'Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton's business; I cannot interfere with him; he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot help you.'
"He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man, and who was a staunch Republican.
"Mr. Lincoln then said:
"'Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands of applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all for this reason, that these positions are like office seekers--there are too many pigs for the teats.'
"The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of 'Old Abe' put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence of the greatest and most just man who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.'"
I guess it has not changed much!
TOO MANY PIGS FOR THE TEATS.
An applicant for a sutlership in the army relates this story: "In the winter of 1864, after serving three years in the Union Army, and being honorably discharged, I made application for the post sutlership at Point Lookout. My father being interested, we made application to Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War. We obtained an audience, and were ushered into the presence of the most pompous man I ever met. As I entered he waved his hand for me to stop at a given distance from him, and then put these questions, viz.:
"'Did you serve three years in the army?'
"'I did, sir.'
"'Were you honorably discharged?'
"'I was, sir.'
"'Let me see your discharge.'
"I gave it to him. He looked it over, then said:
'Were you ever wounded?' I told him yes, at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1861.
"He then said: 'I think we can give this position to a soldier who has lost an arm or leg, he being more deserving; and he then said I looked hearty and healthy enough to serve three years more. He would not give me a chance to argue my case.
The audience was at an end. He waved his hand to me. I was then dismissed from the august presence of the Honorable Secretary of War. "My father was waiting for me in the hallway, who saw by my countenance that I was not successful. I said to my father:
"'Let us go over to Mr. Lincoln; he may give us more satisfaction.'
"He said it would do me no good, but we went over. Mr. Lincoln's reception room was full of ladies and gentlemen when we entered.
"My turn soon came. Lincoln turned to my father and said
"'Now, gentlemen, be pleased to be as quick as possible with your business, as it is growing late.'
"My father then stepped up to Lincoln and introduced me to him. Lincoln then said:
"'Take a seat, gentlemen, and state your business as quickly as possible.'
"There was but one chair by Lincoln, so he motioned my father to sit, while I stood. My father stated the business to him as stated above. He then said:
"'Have you seen Mr. Stanton?'
"We told him yes, that he had refused. He (Mr. Lincoln) then said:
"'Gentlemen, this is Mr. Stanton's business; I cannot interfere with him; he attends to all these matters and I am sorry I cannot help you.'
"He saw that we were disappointed, and did his best to revive our spirits. He succeeded well with my father, who was a Lincoln man, and who was a staunch Republican.
"Mr. Lincoln then said:
"'Now, gentlemen, I will tell you, what it is; I have thousands of applications like this every day, but we cannot satisfy all for this reason, that these positions are like office seekers--there are too many pigs for the teats.'
"The ladies who were listening to the conversation placed their handkerchiefs to their faces and turned away. But the joke of 'Old Abe' put us all in a good humor. We then left the presence of the greatest and most just man who ever lived to fill the Presidential chair.'"
Today in History
To have an idea about where we are going, we need to know where we have been.
Click on this link:
On This Day: August 18 - NYTimes.com
Click on this link:
On This Day: August 18 - NYTimes.com
Sunday, July 8, 2012
My wife,
Adinete (the sequel)
Well, my
sweet wife, Adinete, did it again!
Since
November she had been telling that she was going to give me a great, wonderful
Christmas present but she would not give me a hint of what it might be.
Christmas
came and went, but no Christmas present.
I asked her about it several times.
She told me to be patient, that it was coming.
Then one day
we went to the Golden Corral restaurant in Pharr for the senior early bird
special. After we ate we started home to
Alamo. Adinete, who was driving,
however, took an unusual route to Alamo.
In San Juan, which is between Pharr and Alamo, she turned off the street
going to Alamo. Then she made another turn and pulled into the circular
driveway of a huge brick house.
After
stopping, she turned toward me and said, "This is your Christmas present.
My mouth
must have dropped open. Adinete told me
later that she had never seen me look so surprised.
As I wrote
earlier, she closed on other houses in Alamo during December with funds from
the sell of our house in Olinda, Brazil.
Consequently I had no idea that she would buy another one.
My sweet
Adinete is a astute business women. The
house had been repossessed by the Bank of America and she made a cash deal for
about two thirds of its market value
It is a two story house with three bedrooms and two baths upstairs. Downstairs we have a formal living room, a formal dining room, a kitchen, a breakfast/dining room, an office/computer room, a very large, informal living room, the master bedroom and master bathroom. We have all this plus a large two-car garage and a detached storage and workshop. All this sits on a double lot with a patio, deck with benches and brick barbeque grill on the west side of the house.
All I can
say is that I have a wonderful, loving wife who is full of surprises.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, October 28, 2011
I want everyone to know how proud I am of m wife,
Adinete.
We first met in Brazil in 1968 and we came to the
United States in 1971. At that time she spoke very little English and had less than a high school education in Brazil.
From that time until 1982 I managed (or
mismanaged) finances.
We were separated as a result of my stupidity in
1982. On January 31, 1993 we remarried after being apart for nine years.
During that time she reared our children, worked
at two and three jobs, and paid off a thirty-year mortgage we incurred in
1979.
When we remarried I turned the management of our
finances over to Adinete. Using the equity in the house she paid off, she
has acquired five additional houses. Since then two of the houses have been
sold.
We have been able to visit Brazil every couple of
years or so for periods of three to six months. She bought two houses: 0ne in
Olinda, Pernambuco and one in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte, where our son,
William lives.
On our last trip to Brazil Adinete arranged to
sell the Olinda house for an amount three times what she paid for it in 2000.
But Adinete did not stop there. This week she
leveraged the sale of that house into the purchase of TWO houses here in Alamo
and closed the transfers today.
Besides being a supreme wife, she is also a great
mother and grandmother. She never lets me go to sleep hungry. She
cares about my health. She always has a snack for the grandkids when they
come home from school. On my 69th birthday she gave me a new pickup and
recently replaced my old recliner with a new one.
Because of her natural intelligence, her innate
money sense, her loving nature, and all her other superb abilities, including
her determination and fiery temper, we are living a fulfilling life together.
And we thank GOD for this bounty every day!
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