Thank you...

...for donating to Toys For Tots last night. A number of you generously donated... THANK YOU!

Today's musings...

1. The common cold... I'm guessing my allergy shots are working in more ways then one. I haven't had a really bad cold since January. I feel a slight one coming on now... so I rushed down to the store to get Zicam. It's worked well before. I got the mist that you spray every three hours. We'll see how well it works, and if I'm better for the weekend.

2. Christmas Music... I don't mind it. In fact, we have it playing in the back office. The only part I don't like is hearing the same songs by the same artists on this all-Christmas station. I understand that Bing Crosby's White Christmas etc. are standards that shouldn't be ignored. But give me something different every day... I don't wanna hear Auld Lang Syne every day... save that for December 31st.

3. There is no #3.

4. Happy Birthday, Courtney. She's 27 again.

Buckle up,
TS

Toys For Tots

Tonight, I'll be at the Schuylkill Mall from 5:00-7:30 for our first Toys For Tots stop.

I'll have a chance for you to win some goodies if you drop off a new unwrapped toy to Centre Court at Schuylkill Mall while I'm there.

Dave Smith will be on longer today, until 8:00. Then I'll be on after 8:00.

Stop by the mall if you get a chance on your way home from work and donate a toy to those less fortunate.

Buckle up,
TS

A full plate of catching up...

1. Health Update: The pipida scan came back normal. I ended up lying flat on my back for about 90 minutes with limited movement. The nurse first injected me with saline solution, then watched as everything functioned the way it is supposed to. Next was the CCK enzyme, which naturally makes the gall bladder contract. I didn't feel anything abnormal, and the results proved that. Next step comes in January with a visit to the gastroenterologist.

2. Thanksgiving: It's one of my two favorite holidays because it combines four of my five most favorite things... family, football, food, and napping. Ha! I saved the bowling for the weekend. I highly recommend getting Wegman's to handle all the fixins, because everything was sooooo good. My uncle stopped a Cracker Barrel to get an Apple Pecan Streusel pie. I think I ate half of it. I fell asleep during the second half of the Cowboys game. It just felt good to eat meal at a table. I'm looking forward to doing the same at Christmas.

3. High School Football: Hats off to Hazleton Area... hell of an effort against Parkland... too bad someone had to go home afterwards. Salute to Marian, who played the best game of keepaway I've seen in a long time. They'll have to duplicate that effort against a strong Bloomsburg team.

4. Horse Racing/Gambling: The next state to get slot machines could be Maryland. The state legislature voted to let residents vote on whether or not to install slots... that vote will be in November 2008, the same as the Presidential election. Chances are that if the referrendum fails, horse racing in Maryland could be in serious trouble. Some are even wondering if Pimlico could still host the Preakness with slots. There just isn't enough money to fund a full schedule of racing in Maryland at all levels. If it hadn't been for slots, PA would have the same problems that Maryland and Ohio are having.

I could go on and on about the problems with racing in New York, the OTB's and their 20-cents-per-winning-ticket takeout, synthetic surfaces, the V75, owners retiring horses too early, and the high prices at tracks... but I'll save that for later.

Looks like February will be when Hollywood Casino at Penn National will open. There will be racing through December 21st, then a few weeks off until everything is readied at the new facility... should be an exciting winter in Grantville.

I'm heading to Charles Town this Saturday night... it's the one year anniversary of my big superfecta ticket. Maybe I'll get lucky again.

Buckle up,
TS

School Newspapers

20 years ago, I made my first foray into journalism. My father was the advisor of GAR High School's newspaper, the Blue & Gray. I did just about everything with the paper over the next six years... editing, pasting, gluing, taking pictures, folding, and distributing. I had a lot of fun, especially working with Dad every month in copying it and putting it together. In all three of my senior high years, we were a small operation... 5 or 6 writers helped me out when I was editor. Desktop publishing was in its infancy in those days... daisy wheel printers, Radio Shack/Tandy computers, and Deskmate (Tandy's version of Microsoft Works in the late 80s)... couldn't live without it back then.

I thought about all that as I'm browsing the internet and looking at all the high school newspapers online... Pottsville's Tidelines (http://www.pottsville.k12.pa.us/tidelines) always has very good content.

I haven't seen any other local school papers online yet... including on www.myschooljournalism.com. Let me know if your high school's paper is online, and I'll post the address.

The more kids who know how to effectively write, the better! As Charlie Brown said, "I before e, except after c." Wait, wasn't it Linus?

Buckle up,
TS

Nockamixon Township

Yes, there's a place in Bucks County called Nockamixon Township. It's somewhere on Route 412 between Bethlehem and Ottsville... not Pottsville, Ottsville.

It's where Palisades High School is, the only high school in District 11 in Bucks County. I have to give them two thumbs up on being very good hosts for the Wilson/Palisades playoff game on Saturday night.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. Parking wasn't a big problem if you get there early. The barbeque stand in front of the school was excellent. The field (frozen turf) was across the street from the school. In the north end zone stood a nice big pirate ship. These are the Palisades Pirates... and an Ottsville Fire Truck stood guard next to it.

The school declared a "blackout." All the Palisades fans wore black and waved white towels. The uniforms were black jerseys with yellow and purple numbers and black pants. Neat combination, but hard as heck to see from the press box.

Palisades ended up winning a wild game, 46-28. Both teams combined for about 800 yards in offense.

Buckle up,
TS

Health Update

Well, the ultrasound was "unremarkable"... so the source of my abdominal pain is still unknown. The next step is a pipida scan. Doing online research, I see they inject a radioisotope into me and follow it around for at least an hour. If I feel acute pain anywhere, that's where the problem is. That's next Friday afternoon.

Gas is over $3 a gallon here in PA. In NJ, it's $2.79 a gallon. If you know how sneak out of NJ back into PA without paying tolls, it may be worth it... but only if you're in the Lehigh Valley this weekend. The free bridge on Northampton Street in Easton is one of your best bets. If you try to get back into PA on 22, or I-78, you'll pay at least 75 cents. I'm not gonna uproot and move to NJ anytime soon. What you save in gas, you spend in car insurance.

I just finished producing the T-102/WPPA desktop calendars. I'm awaiting the proofs from the printers. More details to come and how to reserve yours.

Buckle Up,
TS