Fight Boredom! Post a lounge thread - "12 things"

[franksolich]

13.  I've told this before -

My paternal grandfather owned half of the Southland Ice Company in Dallas.  He sold his half to his partner during the Depression for about $5000.00.  Today it is the 7-Eleven Southland Corporation. 

Oh well.  Ice could have been glamorous for me....but **Nuuuuu!**.

Wow.

My fourteenth.

(14) My paternal uncle, the younger brother of my father, was a grocer in northwestern Pennsylvania until 1961, when he and the family moved down to Arizona.  I believe they actually lived in Texas for a bit too.

They moved down there specifically because there was this company, this Southland Corporation, that had this really neat idea about "convenience stores," and he ended up being one of their vice-presidents.

This was in the 1960s and early 1970s; a long time ago, and as I was young, I was never told the details, or if the details were told me, I didn't pay much attention.

[Splashdown]

You're kind.

Btw. I have worked for an ice company. Not as glamorous as it seems.

Well, yeah, there's probably a lot of drudgery in it too, hauling all those bags around.

But undoubtedly one meets some pretty interesting people.

And one thing I've always been curious about--this however might be unique to the Sandhills of Nebraska, though--is that convenience stores sell more ice in winter, than in summer.  At least around here.

One wonders why this is.

I lived in a beach resort area at the time, so I can't speak to the winter months. Lots of strange people, though. I Worked with a former green beret sniper. Told me some crazy stories. To this day, whenever I see tube-shaped ice, I know it came from a Vogt-brand ice machine.  

[miskie]

Apparently I have "grown out of it", or so I was told.  I use to see and write words completely backwards, like a mirror image.  I could not read by the time I was in 3rd grade.  Apparently I didn't always see backwards which made it impossible to learn how to read.  When I type now I find that I will insert words that are totally different than the words I am meaning to type.  I'm not even thinking of the word and when I reread what I type I find it.  It's so weird.

I do that too ! Its the oddest thing - It part of why my replies take so long - I write, wait, then reread. If I'm typing via 'stream of consciousness' I find transposed letters, phonetic spelling, and seemingly random substitute words. The oddest thing though Is It has never stopped me from reading - I was literate by about age three. When my parents applied to place me in preschool, the teachers thought I may have been mentally handicapped, between the drooling and vacant stares - I suspect they were counting on autistic -. They gave me an aptitude test that they then couldn't grade, because I aced it. I tested with something like 5th grade level abilities at 4.

And thats where I still am at today

[Lord Undies]

13.  I've told this before -

My paternal grandfather owned half of the Southland Ice Company in Dallas.  He sold his half to his partner during the Depression for about $5000.00.  Today it is the 7-Eleven Southland Corporation. 

Oh well.  Ice could have been glamorous for me....but **Nuuuuu!**.

Wow.

My fourteenth.

(14) My paternal uncle, the younger brother of my father, was a grocer in northwestern Pennsylvania until 1961, when he and the family moved down to Arizona.  I believe they actually lived in Texas for a bit too.

They moved down there specifically because there was this company, this Southland Corporation, that had this really neat idea about "convenience stores," and he ended up being one of their vice-presidents.

This was in the 1960s and early 1970s; a long time ago, and as I was young, I was never told the details, or if the details were told me, I didn't pay much attention.

Creation of the Convenience Store: 1927-45

The company began as a brainstorm of John Jefferson Green. In 1927 Green approached Joe C. 'Jodie' Thompson, one of five founding directors of the Dallas Southland Ice Company, with a new idea. He wanted to sell milk, eggs, and bread through his retail ice dock. 'You furnish the items,' he suggested, 'and I'll pay the power bills.' Thompson agreed, and together they established the first known convenience store.

The newly formed Southland Ice Company was composed of four separate ice companies and operated eight ice plants and 21 retail ice stations. An early attempt at advertising occurred after one Southland manager visited Alaska in 1928. Upon his return to Texas, he planted a souvenir totem pole in front of his store. The pole attracted so much attention that the employees suggested placing one at every Southland-owned retail ice dock and naming the stores 'Tote'm Stores,' since the consumers toted away their purchases.

Southland decided to go with the new name; it unified the company's diversified stores and provided a distinct identity, a key ingredient in the successful operation of numerous retail outlets. Joseph Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Southland Ice, unified the stores further by training staff with daily sales talks. He also chose a company uniform for ice station service men. Thompson recognized early on that consumers should receive the same quality and service at every store. During this time Southland also began to experiment with constructing and leasing gasoline stations at ten of its Dallas-area stores.

The Great Depression plunged Southland into bankruptcy in 1931. During a period of receivership and reorganization, Joseph Thompson was named president, a move that ensured.....

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/7Eleven-Inc-Company-History.html

Jodie Thompson was my grandfather's original partner.  1931 was when grandpa sold his future.  Oh well.  Grandpa had two kids and a wife to feed.  What he lacked in vision, I'm sure he made up for in good intentions.

[BEG]

Apparently I have "grown out of it", or so I was told.  I use to see and write words completely backwards, like a mirror image.  I could not read by the time I was in 3rd grade.  Apparently I didn't always see backwards which made it impossible to learn how to read.  When I type now I find that I will insert words that are totally different than the words I am meaning to type.  I'm not even thinking of the word and when I reread what I type I find it.  It's so weird.

I do that too ! Its the oddest thing - It part of why my replies take so long - I write, wait, then reread. If I'm typing via 'stream of consciousness' I find transposed letters, phonetic spelling, and seemingly random substitute words. The oddest thing though Is It has never stopped me from reading - I was literate by about age three. When my parents applied to place me in preschool, the teachers thought I may have been mentally handicapped, between the drooling and vacant stares - I suspect they were counting on autistic -. They gave me an aptitude test that they then couldn't grade, because I aced it. I tested with something like 5th grade level abilities at 4.

And thats where I still am at today

Did you do well in math?  I excelled in math and was told that a majority of dyslexic people do.

[Flame]

Apparently I have "grown out of it", or so I was told.  I use to see and write words completely backwards, like a mirror image.  I could not read by the time I was in 3rd grade.  Apparently I didn't always see backwards which made it impossible to learn how to read.  When I type now I find that I will insert words that are totally different than the words I am meaning to type.  I'm not even thinking of the word and when I reread what I type I find it.  It's so weird.

I do that too ! Its the oddest thing - It part of why my replies take so long - I write, wait, then reread. If I'm typing via 'stream of consciousness' I find transposed letters, phonetic spelling, and seemingly random substitute words. The oddest thing though Is It has never stopped me from reading - I was literate by about age three. When my parents applied to place me in preschool, the teachers thought I may have been mentally handicapped, between the drooling and vacant stares - I suspect they were counting on autistic -. They gave me an aptitude test that they then couldn't grade, because I aced it. I tested with something like 5th grade level abilities at 4.

And thats where I still am at today

that sounds so much like my son....he has SUCH a hard time with writing!!

[miskie]

Did you do well in math?  I excelled in math and was told that a majority of dyslexic people do.

Geometry and related.. Algebra and related though makes no sense to me at all. I also have the ability to deconstruct objects in my head, and can estimate things like size, distance and time without actively thinking about it -and am usually close to accurate every time. Its a stupid human trick I suppose..

[franksolich]

Jodie Thompson was my grandfather's original partner.  1931 was when grandpa sold his future.  Oh well.  Grandpa had two kids and a wife to feed.  What he lacked in vision, I'm sure he made up for in good intentions.

While convenience stores may have been invented during the 1920s, remember, they probably never "took off," soaring, until the 1960s and 1970s.

[Lord Undies]

Jodie Thompson was my grandfather's original partner.  1931 was when grandpa sold his future.  Oh well.  Grandpa had two kids and a wife to feed.  What he lacked in vision, I'm sure he made up for in good intentions.

While convenience stores may have been invented during the 1920s, remember, they probably never "took off," soaring, until the 1960s and 1970s.

I was born in 1954 in Dallas and there were already 7-Elevens on every third corner.  Those stores started to boom right after WWII. 

My favorite 7-Eleven Store when I was growing up was in Wynnewood Village (shopping center).  It was built and opened in 1949.  I managed that store for a short time in 1972.   

[RobJohnson]

Much better, Rob.

I've always wanted to write about the salvage business, even though I know nothing about it.

UNLIKE common perception, I suspect there's a lot of good stuff to tell about that sort of business, like the ice business.

Really.

Much that is extraordinary in life dwells in mundane (or what one thinks mundane) things.

This was a used auto parts place...when my grandfather's rheumatoid arthritis got really bad (he could not even drink coffee from a cup, had not grip, but he could hold a bowl, so that was his coffee cup) my grandmother would fire up the torch herself and cut pistons out of engine blocks so we could "take them to town" for scrap.

[RobJohnson]

Did you do well in math?  I excelled in math and was told that a majority of dyslexic people do.

Geometry and related.. Algebra and related though makes no sense to me at all.

Same here.

[RobJohnson]

13) My brother in law and his five partners just lost 2.5M on a resturant in The Villages, FL. On top of having to pay $1000 a month for the next six years......he was always one of those "big spender types" he is now a changed man....he actually treats my sister right...so this loss was actually a blessing...of course, they did not ask for any "mortgage bail out" or scream "the economy"....they simply admit they took a risk and lost.

[Lord Undies]

Did you do well in math?  I excelled in math and was told that a majority of dyslexic people do.

Geometry and related.. Algebra and related though makes no sense to me at all.

Same here.

I too am dyslexic.  I forgot to mention thta. (< < that is an example of my dyslexia - my mind reverses the last two letters or numbers in a group)

[Red October]

1.  I met John McCain in Pakistan and had my picture taken with him.
2.  My sister aspires to be a prosecutor.  I can see her now... she'd be like Casey Novak from Law & Order.  
3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.  
4.  I've had guns pointed at me 3 times, and was chased by a gunman a 4th time, in Philadelphia.  In two GWOT deployments, no one ever aimed a weapon at me.
5.  When I was 9, my best friend accidently hit me in the head with a golf club.
6.  I'll drink Dunkin Donuts coffee any time of the day or night.  It MUST be D'n'D.  Starbucks and Krispy Kreme sucks.
7.  I've quit smoking cold turkey five times.  It's so easy, I could probably do it a few more times.  
8.  I highly enjoy visiting historical sites.  Yorktown & Colonial Williamsburg are cool-as-hell vacation spots in my eyes.  
9.  I'm a bit of a dork.
10.  I love trivia game shows.  Jeopardy and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader are my two faves.
11.  I hope to write a book one day.
12.  I like rum.  Beer is so-so.
  
  
  

[RobJohnson]

1.  I met John McCain in Pakistan and had my picture taken with him.
2.  My sister aspires to be a prosecutor.  I can see her now... she'd be like Casey Novak from Law & Order.  
3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.  
4.  I've had guns pointed at me 3 times, and was chased by a gunman a 4th time, in Philadelphia.  In two GWOT deployments, no one ever aimed a weapon at me.
5.  When I was 9, my best friend accidently hit me in the head with a golf club.
6.  I'll drink Dunkin Donuts coffee any time of the day or night.  It MUST be D'n'D.  Starbucks and Krispy Kreme sucks.
7.  I've quit smoking cold turkey five times.  It's so easy, I could probably do it a few more times.  
8.  I highly enjoy visiting historical sites.  Yorktown & Colonial Williamsburg are cool-as-hell vacation spots in my eyes.  
9.  I'm a bit of a dork.
10.  I love trivia game shows.  Jeopardy and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader are my two faves.
11.  I hope to write a book one day.
12.  I like rum.  Beer is so-so.
  
  
  

I am with you on #12....did not really drink a full beer in one sitting until about five years ago.....

As for #4...I have also had a gun pointed at me, and the trigger pulled....bullet went through my lower arm...I was lucky...just a fraction more towards my hand and I would of lost the use of my right hand...

[franksolich]

I was born in 1954 in Dallas and there were already 7-Elevens on every third corner.  Those stores started to boom right after WWII. 

My favorite 7-Eleven Store when I was growing up was in Wynnewood Village (shopping center).  It was built and opened in 1949.  I managed that store for a short time in 1972.   

Well, it's possible they were already thriving in one area of the country, before they took off; that's not uncommon.

My uncle was responsible for setting up, or if not setting up, some sort of major major expansion, of 7-11s in Denver, and that would have been the late 1960s, say about 1967-1968.

Convenience stores don't appear to have happened in Nebraska until construction of Interstate 80, the most vital highway in America, through the state in the late 1960s.

Chains, I mean; of course since the earliest times, in Nebraska there was always a small store tucked away somewhere in every town that stayed open later than other stores, and that was open on Sundays too.  But those weren't chains.

[Miss Mia]

3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.

I have an autographed photo of R. Lee Ermey that I got.
It says:
To Tamara
Semper Fi
R. Lee Ermey

[RobJohnson]

3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.

I have an autographed photo of R. Lee Ermey that I got.
It says:
To Tamara
Semper Fi
R. Lee Ermey

You have my autograph on the card that came with the flowers that I sent to you at work.

You did get them right?

[Miss Mia]

3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.

I have an autographed photo of R. Lee Ermey that I got.
It says:
To Tamara
Semper Fi
R. Lee Ermey

You have my autograph on the card that came with the flowers that I sent to you at work.

You did get them right?

That damned receptionist must have stolen them!

[Chris_]

3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.

I have an autographed photo of R. Lee Ermey that I got.
It says:
To Tamara
Semper Fi
R. Lee Ermey

You have my autograph on the card that came with the flowers that I sent to you at work.

You did get them right?

That damned receptionist must have stolen them!

Just like the ones I sent...

[Chris_]

Must have been that one that quit after two weeks.  Dang her!

[Miss Mia]

3.  I've got a small autograph collection I've been working on for ten years.  Mostly sports figures, a few Hollywood people.

I have an autographed photo of R. Lee Ermey that I got.
It says:
To Tamara
Semper Fi
R. Lee Ermey

You have my autograph on the card that came with the flowers that I sent to you at work.

You did get them right?

That damned receptionist must have stolen them!

Just like the ones I sent...

Must have been that one that quit after two weeks.  Dang her!

 

I'm gonna have to have a "chat" with someone on Monday.

[Miss Mia]

13.  I eat my hamburgers in a circle.  I eat all around the edge, and then move towards the center.  That way my last bite isn't just meat and bread or all bread, it's actually all the fillings too. I do that with regular sandwiches too, but not like a sub or hoagie. 

[Chris_]

13.  I eat my hamburgers in a circle.  I eat all around the edge, and then move towards the center.  That way my last bite isn't just meat and bread or all bread, it's actually all the fillings too. I do that with regular sandwiches too, but not like a sub or hoagie. 

Probably not a good strategy for a taco either...

[Miss Mia]

13.  I eat my hamburgers in a circle.  I eat all around the edge, and then move towards the center.  That way my last bite isn't just meat and bread or all bread, it's actually all the fillings too. I do that with regular sandwiches too, but not like a sub or hoagie. 

Probably not a good strategy for a taco either...

No, doesn't work on a taco either.  I always look to see, if on a sub or taco that one end is more full with fillings and which end is just bread or shell.  I always start at the crappy end, again so your last bite is full of filling and such.

I do it with candy too.  I decide what are good colors vs bad colors.  I eat the bad ones first, so I have the good ones at the end.