Thoughts On Travel, Books, And Life
It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I have been writing this blog for a whole year. When I started it, I had no idea where I might go with it or how often I might write it. All I knew is that I didn’t want it to become a divisive platform.
As you know, each week has been something different. As you also know, I love writing about history, books, travel, and just quirky things about life. Thank you for bearing with me. Continue reading “My One-Year Anniversary”
After feeling under the weather this past week, I’m just going to make this short and sweet with two of my favorite pictures.
One of the photos that brings back so many good memories is from our trip to White Sands National Park in June, 2019. We had arrived there during the afternoon when the temperature was soaring past 100 degrees. There were gusts of wind at times. After trudging up a few sand dunes, we decided to leave, get some dinner, and then return in the cooler evening for the sunset. Continue reading “Wind, Sand, and Stars”
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew there was a good chance that there wouldn’t be much left of the Weedpatch Camp aka the Arvin Federal Government Camp. But Tom and I decided to locate it last week on our return home from a funeral near Bakersfield.
The first use of the word “hello” goes back to 1827, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It was not used to greet people, but to attract their attention. Examples would be “Hello, stand up straight” or “Hello, look at that.”
The usage of the word “hello” changed after the telephone was invented. There was disagreement between Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell about how phone conversations should begin. Edison thought people should begin a conversation with “hello.” Alexander Graham Bell thought “ahoy” would be better. “Ahoy” was an older word that Bell felt strongly about and used for the rest of his life when beginning a phone conversation.
“Hello” succeeded, people say, because of the phone book. In the first days of the telephone, people referred to written instructions to help them figure out how to use the phone properly. In the first phone book published in 1878 in Connecticut, users were advised to use “Hello” when beginning a conversation and “That is all” when ending one.
The first phone book contained only the names of fifty people and businesses having access to a telephone. There were no phone numbers or addresses on the card since the telephone operators knew how to connect people with each other. The directory, or “phone book,” was actually just a piece of cardboard.
Individual telephones were identified with numbers because of an outbreak of measles in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1879. The fear was that the four operators would get sick and not be able to connect people with each other or to a doctor. It was Dr. Moses Parker who suggested the use of assigned numbers. Lowell, Massachusetts, then, became the first city in the U.S. with individual phone numbers.
The first yellow pages phone book was published in 1886 for businesses in Chicago. Almost a hundred years later in 1981, the first electronic phone book was created in France. Online phone directories didn’t become available in the U.S. until 1996 with the advent of Yellowpages.com and Whitepages.com.
By the beginning of the 21st century, printed phone books were on the wane. Many people saw them as a waste of paper and resources, and they required space to store. The computer and the smartphone were reducing the need for a printed phone directory. Gradually, the printed phone book exited the scene in most cities of size in the U.S.
So there you have it – a short history of the phone book. “That is all.”
There are some days when I’ve asked myself, “Where have I been? How come I didn’t know about this?” This past week was one of those times. At Ralphs, I stumbled upon Cotton Candy grapes, distributed by Grapery of Shafter, California. They are seasonal, but so delicious. Continue reading “What Fascinates Me This Week”
In frivolous news, the pandemic affected the world of French fries in interesting ways this past year and a half. As you already know, more and more people purchased food via drive-thrus or takeout. Wendy’s customers, in particular, complained that their fries were cold and soggy by the time they got them home. With more people in line to order, it became understandable, but not acceptable. Continue reading “News on the French Fries Front”
Sorry, but I have been a bit preoccupied this week. On Monday, Tom had an aortic valve replacement if you hadn’t yet heard. The surgery went well. He is recuperating and will be taking it easy for a good week. My job is to hover, which he tells me I am doing very well. Hope to see you next week.
The Townley family of Fullerton and their volunteers have erected a very heartfelt memorial to those who perished twenty years ago on 9/11. There are hundreds of very carefully placed, personalized flags, crosses, and display boards on both the front and side yards of the Townley home. There is almost no empty space left. The Townley family has offered this memorial to the public for many years. Continue reading “Our Local 9/11 Memorial”
Last Thursday evening, we received the unexpected news from David that Annie was beginning labor and that they would be on their way to the hospital. Although Annie’s due date was August 29, I was pretty convinced that the baby wouldn’t arrive until later in September. Continue reading “Quite A Week!”
At a memorial service for our beloved Aunt Gladys, I learned that both she and one of Tom’s cousins worked for a short time at the Hawaiian Punch plant in Fullerton many years ago. Tom had mentioned a while back that he thought the recipe for Hawaiian Punch had originated in a garage in Fullerton. Continue reading “Fullerton’s Hawaiian Punch”