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.

This year's garden

The garden this year is better than ever, particularly the area next to the front walk.

Here's a close-up of one of what Bobbie calls "the bully plants." She tells me this one is quite invasive, so she planted it right next to the steps, but with enough room for control.

The lower photo from a month ago tells the story. This plant is behind the large iris, not the purple blooms on the right. This plant had not bloomed when the photo was taken. Now this one is in full bloom and the astilbes in the foreground are pretty well spent.

But that's the fun of a well-planned perennial garden. While one plot is beginning to bloom, another is at its peak, while a third is spent.

VBS 2009

Our church held a daytime Vacation Bible School two weeks ago. While Janine is the only one who still qualifies to participate, Sarah and John like to help out as part of the youth group, both in their respective areas of interest. For Sarah , that's acting, so she got a part in the skits that started out each morning's session. These skits are part of the themed teaching materials the church purchased for the event.

Here's Sarah between Morgan and Phil. She is playing Gizmo the robot. The idea of playing the robot was proabably more appealing than the reality of wearing the costume. The costume itself was built by a member of the congregation who had some extra time as he was mending from recent heart troubles.


In the past few months John has become immersed in the sound board at church. He is fascinated by the process of hooking up microphones, mixing the sound and producing a good mix. Ken on the right, is an added blessing. Ken is an advanced amateur sound man who has been willing to teach John even lending him equipment for the sake of practice.

Janine actually got to bring some of her friends. Here she is between Katie from Girl Scouts and Abagail from the neighborhood. Funny how at one time in our family VBS was a big event. It took a lot to get everyone out the door each morning. Now they ride their bikes over to church and come back when they are done. It's a low maintenance event that we all like.

Johnny Pilot

John got a radio controlled mini-plane from Grammie and Gramps for his birthday. Click on the video to see how quickly he caught on. Not bad for an RC plane with no control surfaces. It uses the difference in the thrust between the two props to steer.

Yesterday we took the plane over to the park next to our house and had a great time. We did find that even with full power we are still weak on the launch. So we got on top of one of the small hills in the park to launch the plane. You can see this small hill at the end of the video.

We shot the video on John's small Nikon and roughly put it together using Windows Movie Maker that came with Mommy's new Vista PC. It was fast and easy, but not even then not as versatile as iMovie 2003 on the iMac upstairs.

The "landings" have been a little hard, but thankfully the plane is up to the task. We have also reinforced the nose with clear tape.

Sandcastle for John's Birthday

At John's request, we went to Sandcastle water theme park for his birthday.

Here's the slide that John and I went down at his request. Well we actually raced each other on the orange slides not the yellow one. As you know Galileo proved that gravity has an equal effect on items of differing weights, but not necessarily on the run-out at the end of a water slide.

So while John stopped in the first 15 feet, I continued on for another 30 at least. The ride was a lot of fun because there was no wait. So there was no time to think before you got on the slide. On this ride, it's best not to think before you go.

Like most Pittsburgh area attractions, one is never far from a river or the woods. The area has been very nicely reclaimed from US Steel's Homestead works where Bobbie's dad worked until he retired about 1980. Thirty years ago it was a very different place.

Here is a view from one of the three swimming pools. This is the area where adult beverages are served, hence the name. Interestingly, the train is as much of an attraction as a nuisance. It is fairly quiet because it is slow and carries small loads, unlike the Norfolk Southern line on the other side of the park.

More from NYC

Now that Sarah has cleared some of her photos from her camera, we can share them.

Here they are just off the ferry. You may recognize the base in the background.

Due to ticket demand and personal preference, they bypassed the Statue of Liberty for the Ellis Island Immigration center. From the number of photos John and Sarah took, we gather they found it interesting. Witness the photo below of word origins.

NYC Trip

Here's two great symbols of America in the wrong proportion.

Bobbie and the kids took a trip to New York this past week and left me at home. Well that's OK because they have been taking an after school road trip for the past two years.

After staying north of Boston two years ago, they ventured to Washington DC and Gettysburg last year. A bargain hotel rate attracted them to New York then Newport, RI this year. Here's Sarah at the Newport pier.

John was the somewhat official photographer, but most of the snaps are of the inside of the car and the hotel rooms. Thankfully he took some of others subjects as well.

Then here's Janine at the Life Cafe where the play Rent was conceived. I think Sarah has more photos, but that is for another post.

They left home on Sunday morning and drove through the Lincoln Tunnel by 4:00 PM. The hotel offered parking nearby, which sealed the deal on top of the $135 room rate including breakfast. Sunday night they got last minute tickets and saw Chicago on Broadway, a close walking distance from their mid-town hotel.

Monday they visited Sarah's friend who is spending most of the summer at the School of the American Ballet Theatre. Tuesday they visited Ellis Island next to Lady Liberty. That evening they got to see our old friend Janine after work.

Wednesday morning they headed up to Newport for a day's visit. There they had the best meal of the entire trip. I think Bobbie's attire tells the story. Thursday morning they were headed back facing holiday traffic on I-95. Crossing the Tappen Zee Bridge in the late afternoon, they wisely decided to stop for the night in central PA. They arrived home late Friday afternoon tired and happy.

Sarah after Saltworks

Sarah attended both weeks of Saltworks this past fortnight. After the last class each Friday afternoon the gang gathered at King's to celebrate.

Here's Sarah looking a little tired after two weeks of all-day rehearsals and Friday performances. "Cat ears? What cat ears?"

Last night her close friends got together for a post-Saltworks party. It was a late night (in relative terms), but they all had fun.

Photo credit: JCP

Saltworks 3

Here it is, Sarah tormenting her brother instead of the other way around. I hope she isn't enjoying herself too much!

Saltworks 2

Last week all three went to Saltworks drama camp. Here's John as well, John, in a scene from Peter Pan. Rather fierce wouldn't you say?

It gets better because Sarah played one of the pirates and they got to go at it with one another.

This week it's Sarah only over there. She worked hard to earn the money for week two. We hope that will provide some inspiration for her siblings as well.

Portrait by Isabelle

Janine's friend Isabelle has a good eye for composition and form.

Witness this portrait taken a few weeks ago at 'Belle's house.

Great shot especially for one taken on a cell phone!

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day here's a photo of my Dad at 22.

Handsome devil isn't he?

Much was in front of him at this point, surviving combat in Korea, starting a career in banking, not to mention meeting Mom.

Nonetheless the solid foundation is there, his intrinsic honesty and courtesy, as well as an unwavering devotion to his family.

Remind him of these things and he will say, "your mother did most of it. I am just catching up."

But today is your day Dad. While it's true that one can't pick one's parents, it's hard for me to imagine making a better decision than the one God made for me.

Happy Father's Day!