Neither borrower nor lender be...

Sarah played the fair Ophelia in the Saltworks production of Hamlet this past weekend. She did a good job at least measured by the discomfort her character's descent into madness and death caused her parents.

Here she is on the right reacting to Polonius' platitudes delivered to Laertes before he departs for England. Because the current Saltworks kids skew female, most of the male characters, even Hamlet, were played by girls. The director handled the issue very well avoiding awkward moments for both the actors and the audience.

They all enjoyed themselves but more importantly put on a fine show. The script is a 75 minute adaptation using the original language. They used a limited set, modern costume and music to set the scene.

John was on crew. He operated the sound system, cuing the music and opening the surface mikes on the stage to catch the nearest dialog.

It was all good, that is once Mom and Dad got over seeing their oldest daughter as a crazy woman and lying on a gurney!

The Earl Scheib of driveways

Please have patience with me on this one...

Late one afternoon last week I went outside to get the mail and there was a truck with a trailer full of tar behind it. The little man next to the truck asked me if I would like to have my driveway sealed. He added that he would give me a good price because he was sealing two of my neighbors driveways. (Most driveways in this part of the country are asphalt.)

"I don't know. Let me think about it. I have some work to finish."

"Well I can see that you recently resurfaced your driveway but look, here are some cracks. When did you have this done, two years ago?

"Why yes. But I have to get back to work. I have a conference call in 10 minutes." (True)

"Look, I will give you the same price as your neighbors, $X."

"Great, but I need to wait until the boss gets home. She's the one with the checkbook. Besides, I gotta get back to work."

"No problem! I can do it for you for $X-50."

"Fine, but..."

"When she gets home tell her $x-75. Can you call her?"

"No. (True, Sarah had her cell phone) I already have people waiting for me on the phone." (Partly true)

By this point I am beginning to think that if I stay at this long enough, he would eventually pay me to seal my driveway! The conference call went well and Bobbie came home about 45 minutes later. We agreed that the driveway DID need to be sealed and the price was good (estimated cost of materials plus $50-75).

When we told the guy we wanted him to seal the driveway, he asked me what price he quoted. I told him the truth then Bobbie asked if there was a cash discount. I was not suprised when he said yes and we got another $50 off. It was 5 PM.

That evening at 7PM there was a parents meeting about youth group at church. I went to it in Bobbie's stead while she cooked dinner and held forth with the drivewaymen.

When I returned the driveway cracks had been sealed, but the job was unfinished. Bobbie told me she gave them some of the cash in the understanding they would return tomorrow.

"YOU DID WHAT???"

"Well we do have the guy's card and they just ran out of sealer. They will be back at noon Friday."

"YOU DID?? Fair enough..."

They didn't show up until 2 PM Friday after Bobbie called him. But he finished and did a good job...on the driveway part.

Now you may wonder about the title of this post. But as I was dealing with him all I could think of were the old Earl Scheib ads featuring a photo of Earl with a voice ballon saying "I will paint your car for $29.95" (1974 prices) So this guy will seal my driveway for $x-175. (But you better keep asking.)

Those in the know said that if you left you windows down, Earl's crew would paint the interior of your car too. As you can see on the edge of the driveway, we got the grass, myrtle and daylilies for free.

Stamp Show

Here's Janine and Bobbie at the National Philatelic Society show this past Friday here in Pittsburgh. They are making their way through a pile of stamps looking for categories they like, mainly pictures of authors. John and Janine were looking for stamps from countries attending the G20 summit that will take place this September here in Pittsburgh in the same venue.

Dan, my business partner, is an avid stamp collector so we got a personal tour of his Vietnam collection. The collection is quite comprehensive following how Ho Chi Minh created a mail service to legitimize the nascent communist independence movement in the 1940s.

The collection contains US State Department correspondence from FDR's administration and continues though the fall of the French in the 1950s. It moves on with letters from both sides of the conflict, from early US military involvement through the Vietnam War. There are even letters home from Soviet and Chinese advisers whose existence was denied. It ends with a returned letter dated April 30, 1975, the fall of Saigon. It even contains a letter Dan wrote as a Marine lieutenant in 1967.

Dan worked with people both here in the US as well as Vietnam to create this collection.

While we all were impressed with Dan's collection, as an old time Pirates fan, Bobbie really liked the Roberto Clemente collection. There must have been 100 covers in that one!

Taking it all in, in Chautauqua

Last weekend the ballet ladies took a road trip to Chautauqua, NY. Bobbie (second from left) drove them all up there in our van. Yes, they are all very good friends and I think their friendship survived the cramped quarters for the three hour drive.

They enjoyed the performances they saw as well as the summer lakeside lifestyle. (The prices were a little steep however.) This photo was taken on the porch at one of the old lakeside hotels.

In typical ballet lady fashion they brought along their own supply of wine, cheese and other victuals for the occasion. Thankfully they didn't finish it all, so we had a nice after dinner cheese plate when Bobbie returned late Sunday afternoon.