Bits and Pieces for Oct. 24 Oct. 24, 2009 How about this weather?
Spring was cold, summer was cold and dry, fall was simply cold and now it is cold and wet. What a global warming year we’ve had here in central Wisconsin.
One of the problems with miserable fall weather is that some things must be done before the snow flies, and I fear that one of these days, snow will be here to stay.
My yard has a number of leafy mature trees, and while many of those leaves are still hanging in there far in the air, those that have fallen are wet and plastered to the ground.
And as I said, the time to rake them up is fading fast.
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I read just about every letter from our readers that comes in the door, some aimed for the editorial page, others to complain or offer compliments but not for publication. You can certainly imagine which are my favorites — they would be those that land on page four that often offer insight, information, some misinformation, ideas and every now and again, excitement.
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We’ve got a few recently that were downright exciting — at least to me.
In both cases the authors started out making what I thought were valid points and the letters seemed to be printable. But then things got out of control.
Instead of having creative juices flowing these guys were in a flood zone.
After making the valid points, they were off to the races. The handwriting in one case got bigger and sloppier and soon we were having a discussion about aliens invading Antigo from the skies, and worse.
The point that one writer made at the start of the note, obviously, was not valid anymore.
The other author was a little off beam to start out — but not bad. But quickly it got very bad with a few threats and some pretty foul language.
You won’t be seeing either of these pieces in the Antigo Daily Journal.
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I got an invitation to a farewell party last night for Major Todd Mayr, who will be leaving for a one-year mobilization to the Army Medical Headquarters at Fort Sam Houston in Texas.
The major is a fairly regular speaker at events I cover and it never fails, when the address is done he walks up and hands me a copy of the speech.
For the past few years, he has inspired the crowd at the American Legion’s Memorial Day program at St. Joseph Cemetery in Phlox and I get all of the information I need without scribbling a word.
I can’t tell you how much I’ll miss that, and I wish Todd all the luck at Fort Sam Houston.
It is a sure thing he’ll enjoy active duty and miss his community, friends and family here in Antigo.
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It’s always fun and economical to go shopping and not buy anything. I do it all the time.
For example, the Wall Street Journal came the other day and there was an ad for a three-day Red Baron Auction, I assume taking place in Atlanta Nov. 6, 7 and 8.
The first of three items featured in the ad was a 1960 flying boat, a concept by Brooks Stevens, a legendary industrial designer from Milwaukee. He did this project for Evinrude Motors, another of those good old Milwaukee companies that is no longer with us.
The second was a 1926 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 and the third, a 1958 Plymouth Tornado concept car.
I’m sure that the flying boat never flew and the Tornado is absolutely ugly. It looks like the designers of the TV Bat Car were having a very bad day.
The Phantom 1 didn’t cross my radar screen because it would be so outrageously expensive it really wasn’t worth the attention.
Red Baron didn’t have much information in the ad or its Web site, so a catalog is coming my way from Atlanta. When it arrives, we’ll have some fun — just imagine — a flying 1960 Evinrude.
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For a guy who isn’t going auction shopping, there will be some deals kicking around out there.
As Christmas looms, I’m told that there are already and will be even more bargains.
Smart shoppers have found that electronic gadgets will be a great deal this fall.
The average price of a flat panel TV dropped from $900 a year ago to $630 heading into Yuletime. The average price for a camcorder was $363 and it appears that the price now will be around $277.
A GPS system for the car, a feature that I thought was a little nutty until I got one, dropped in average price from $242 to $189.
Of course, finding someone cruising around with a few hundred extra dollars for a video camera or a TV is getting to be a little more of a challenge this year, I think.
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If TV sets and camcorders are not your fare, how about a house and some property in the Minneapolis area.
An auction house is offering the original Pillsbury estate on Lake Minnetonka for sale on Dec. 9.
It features 1,300 acres of land, about 1,700 feet of frontage on the lake and is located on a peninsula. If interested, you can jet over to the Twin Cities and make the bids in person. Telephone auction services are provided.
The main house, a brick structure dating to 1918, has 40,000 square feet, which was restored in the early 1990s after the death of Mrs. Pillsbury at the age of 104.
There are nine bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and nine fireplaces.
And who knows, at an auction just about anything can happen. There could be a bargain.
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Antigo Community Theater is staging “Damn Yankees” opening Friday, Nov. 6.
It is a great story and I certainly hope that everyone can turn out for the show — it will be fun.
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