Wondering about a Bottle Factory

I posted before about Foxburg and the first town down the Allegheny River, Parker, Pennsylvania.  Since both sets of my Grandparents lived along that River (one set in Phillipston and one set in Foxburg), I got to see both places and the near by towns quite often.  When my Dad drove us to Foxburg, we went through Parker.  Parker was sort of divided in two.  The upper part started way up on the river hill and extended down and along the river.  There was a glass plant along the river that made bottles and, I think, jars.  That was the days before everything came in plastic.  Back then, plastic was the exception other than the rule.  I was back there a few years ago and took some pictures, but I don't have any of the old factory.  This factory is the Wightman Bottle & Glass Mfg. Co.  It is located on the lower part of town along the river.  That area was called Parker's Landing.

By the way, Parker had the distinction of being the "Smallest City in the U.S.A.  Parker was incorporated as a city on March first, 1873, back during the Pennsylvania oil boom.

Sorry I am so late getting this posted but I have been really sick.  It started on Friday and kept getting worse up through today.  If I don't start feeling better in a few days I will have to go to the doctor.  My hematologist told me to see him or my family doctor if I even got a sniffle, since I was diagnosed with a form of leukemia.  Well I got more than just a sniffle or two and, no, I haven't called the doctor.  I am not one to be running to doctors.  Guess I am just stubborn.  What can they do for a bad cold, anyway?  Hope all of you are well and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering if Santa will upgrade his sleigh?

In this day and age, maybe old Saint Nick should think about updating his sleigh.  For one thing, he needs all the money he can get to acquire supplies for toy making and if he could save a little on fuel costs for the sleigh, with all the miles he travels, it would be a significant amount.  Let's take a look at the options he has opened to him.

We will look at these options and then compare the costs of operation to his "old school" reindeer powered sleigh, or should I say his sleigh pulled by reindeer.

1)   The rage today is for electric powered cars, so lets look at that option first.  American electric cars use liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries.  Since the sleigh flies through the air and there is no road friction or such, we will estimate that he would get the equivalent of 105 mpg and at a cost of $0.125 per kilowatt-hour, doing the math, it would cost him four cents per mile.  Not bad, but where will he find a charging station?

2)   Since we are on the topic of electric powered, how about solar.  To fit up the sleigh with solar panels that would do the job, it would cost from a hundred grand up to a million.  But then Santa would have to fly in the day time.  Not a good option for him.

3)   So now, lets look at the good old internal combustion engine.  Well, let us say he would get 50 mpg and would require 92,000 gallons (magical sleighs have huge fuel tanks) at $3.75 per gallon, that would be 7.5 cents per mile.  Of course, that depends on the fluctuating cost of crude oil.

4)   OK, let's go nuclear.  Cost of fuel used per mile would be negligible, BUT, the weight of the shielding required would make this choice of fuel impractical.

5)   Let me see, oh yes, how about a balloon?  The balloon would be expensive and you would be totally controlled by the wind direction.  I have heard that sometimes it is best to go with the wind, but not for Santa.

6)   I can't forget coal power, since both my grandpas worked on the railroad back in the steam days.  Anyway, Santa already carries coal on board for all the bad boys and girls, and he just wouldn't have room for any additional coal to use as fuel.

7)   As promised, here is the cost of a reindeer powered sleigh.  The fuel is basically just vegetation which comes to about 0.006 cents per mile.  But, they also have to be fed and cared for all year long.

Well, which fuel do you think would be the best and which one do you think would be the worse choice?  BTW, this blog was based on an article in Discover by Jim Sullivan.  Now you all be good boys and girls and let Santa save the coal for someone else, you hear?

Wondering about a Fishing Story.

I suppose that every one who has ever tried to catch fish has some stories to tell.  Whether it was the one that got away, or the one mounted on the wall, or the lunker that you ate.  I got lot's of stories but I think, to save all of you from reading all my many exploits in the sport of fishing, I am just going to tell you about the big bass that thought he got away.  Now, this is true story with no embellishments added.  I couldn't make up a story like this.

Back many years ago when I lived in Pennsylvania, a family that were friends of mine, went camping at Kinzua Dam and lake at a boat only access camping spot.  There they pulled a canoe behind their motor-boat and set up a huge tent and made a comfortable camp to fish from.  I was very happy and felt privileged that they invited me to go with them.  One day, I took the canoe and went out fishing around the bend.  Boom, I got a fantastic hit from a big bass.  I was using ultra light gear so had a real fight on my hands.  I thought that I was winning the battle when all of a sudden the line became taut.  What the??  I kept it tight and pulled the canoe toward where the line went.  I went very, very easy so as not to break the line.  In still water, it doesn't take much effort to move a boat and even less for a canoe.

The water was so clear in that lake that you could see quite a ways down.  So, I could see the submerged tree and that big bass and the line wrapped around multiple branches.  That ole bass just zigzagged back and fourth and up and down through all those limbs.  No way was I going pull him (or her) out of there.  So I broke the line and went back to camp.  I didn't mention what happened.  After a short break, I changed into my swim trunks and told them I was going back out in the canoe and catch a fish by hand, since I couldn't get one with a pole, line, and lure.

To shorten this story, I dove down, got the bass, brought it back to camp at the amazement and awe of my friends.  We had it for supper and it sure was goooood.  The next day I broke down and admitted to what really happened.  Now, this IS a true fishing story.  Now, you all stay warm and keep your powder dry and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about new bills.

The bank gave (not for free, of course) me new hundred dollar bills.  I thought they were giving me play money.  I asked the teller if they were really real.  She assured me that they were but they have been redesigned.  They sure have been, and redesigned is an understatement.  Completely changed would suit a lot better.

The first thing I noticed was the bright blue raised line running vertical near the center of the bill: 

 (Note: these are sample pictures of low quality so they can not be used to counterfeit any bills.)

This blue ribbon on the front has three dimensional images that move when you tilt the bill back and forth.  It is really neat and would be hard to counterfeit.

The inkwell just to the right of the blue ribbon has a picture of the Liberty Bell imprinted on it.  The bell will change color when the bill is tilted back and forth:

 On the far right, if you hold the bill to the light, you will see faint image of Ben Franklin.  You can see this image from either side of the bill or note or what ever you call them:

There are other security features that are on the older bills that have also been used to secure this new bill.  I still say that the look and feel of it reminds me of play money or foreign money.  Maybe once they get circulated and folded and crumpled and dirty and just plain used, they will get the old "feel" back.  What do you think?  Now, you know that you readers are worth a million of those bills to me, so have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about The Bermuda Triangle.

I started wondering about the Bermuda Triangle mysteries.  Why?  Well, because on today's date, but back in 1945, was when the squadron of five Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers never returned from that area, thus helping to cement the legend of that area where strange disappearances had been happening.  It was a training crew and even though the leader was lost and disoriented, a garbled radio transmission overheard one of the students ask, "why don't we just fly west?" .  So, why didn't they?


Did you notice that I used the phrase "cement the legend"?  The reason is that strange things and disappearances have been going on in that area for many, many years.  Sailing vessels have disappeared and some found just sailing on their own with no crew.  

 Also, a DC3 passenger plane disappeared in that area.


When did this phenomena start?  The earliest event that I could find was in 1918 when the Cyclops disappeared without a trace.  This was no little boat, it was 542 feet long.

So, do you believe in a curse or evil or whatever going on in that area?  I don't.  I believe it is a dangerous area, but not because of any super natural or evil spell.  The water is relatively shallow, compared to ocean depths, and there are severe, fast forming storms that can come and go very quickly.  This combination can be very treacherous.  So, let me hear your thoughts on the subject.

BTW, when I got up this morning it was in the 70's and now it is down to 52 and dropping.  Now, you all keep dry and warm and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering about my school locations.

When I was growing up we lived in the country.  When I first started to school, although they had a school that had all the modern conveniences, the first three grades started out in the old one room (converted to three room) school house with no plumbing and with outhouses (one for the boys and one for the girls) out back.  I went through all 12 grades in the same school system but in three different school buildings.  All three of these were located in interesting and/or historical places.

The location of the schools where I attended from first through ninth grade were located in the town of Nixon.  No, it wasn't named for the infamous president.  (but he did visit the little town one time.)  It was very small, but had an airport and I remember DC-3s just missing the chimneys on the school.

Then after the school systems in the area consolidated and built a new high school, we were bussed to just outside of Saxonburg.  That little town had quite a history.  The inventor of woven wire cable and the suspension bridge, John Roebling, founded Saxonburg.  I attended a class reunion a few years back that was held in Saxonburg at the museum and learned a few things about the town that I didn't know.  It had artifacts from KDKA's transmitter (large tubes and equipment) which was broadcast from that area.  The area was also home to a nuclear research facility where they built a 450 MeV proton synchrocyclotron in 1946 which stayed active up into the mid 1970's. 

After graduating from high school, I was off to Penn State for a couple of years.  OK, that was just a little history of where all I went to school when I was growing up.  I enjoyed school and now I want you to enjoy yourselves and have a great day, you hear? 

Wondering about the "Consumer Age".

Have you ever thought of the consumer age and when it began?  I have lived all my life in the consumer age.  So, what really is the consumer age and how do you define it?  It began when most families could afford to buy things other than necessities.  Radio to some extent, but mostly television is what gave the consumer age a kick start.  Advertisement and selling on the air quickly did away with the door to door sells people.

When I was a young boy, I can remember sells people coming to the house.  Vacuum sweeper salesmen seemed to be everywhere.  They would come in your house and dump a pile of dirt in the middle of your living room floor and then demonstrate their state of the art cleaner that was way better than their competitor's units.  One story I heard back then was one of those guys came to the old farm house where a widow lady lived and started off by dumping that pile of dirt in the middle of her rug and stating that he would eat it if his unit couldn't clean it all up.  She just asked him if he would like mayo or ketchup with it, since they didn't have electricity at the farm!!

I do believe that it especially was the advent of the TV that spurred consumerism.  The potential customers could actually see, in their own homes, the stuff being used in an environment that resembled their own homes.  What do you think?  Do you know that there was a commercial TV station broadcasting in the U.S. in 1941?  Heck, I wasn't born until 1943.  OK, let's all go to the store and buy something and I sure hope you have a great day, you hear?