Category: Life with Pratts

Boston Pops

Yesterday we attended the Japan Festival at Boston City Hall Plaza. As you would expect at an event like that, there were lots of balloons and children… and a lot of popped balloons. With memories still fresh of the Boston Marathon bombing five weeks ago, I wasn’t the only who one jumped when balloons went *POP!*

The Japan Festival was incident-free but then, mid-afternoon, sirens could be heard. A lot of sirens. They were for a Japanese scientist who was the victim of a traffic accident while riding her bicycle in another part of the city. She was pronounced dead at the scene. As soon as I heard the news, I wondered if she was on her way home from the festival.

Ah… ah… ah… FLU!

Wednesday afternoon at work I felt something coming on. Couldn’t tell if it was a cold or what, then yesterday I woke up with a temperature of 100.2. This morning it’s 102.3. So it must be some strain of flu. I figure It’s my fault for going to New York to see the Monkees. I’m always punished for having a good time.

And now my right hip suddenly feels like it’s been hit with a baseball bat. Somebody please put me out of my misery. Suggestions include hanging, like the Bing Crosby song in my last post, or you can set the cats on me.

Ziggy and Alfalfa in Paris

This is Sunday’s Ziggy from a week ago.

My father got a kick out of this, because Paris, Illinois is his hometown. Paris is a small town and he knew a kid his age named Carl Switzer, who was more commonly called Alfalfa. Carl was a real hell-raiser when he was older. My father said when they were hanging out as teenagers every other word out of Carl’s mouth was f–k, but he always had girls around him, so he was worth having as a friend. Later, my dad went in the Navy and he was sent to Japan as part of the occupation forces. Carl kept trying for parts in movies, and he had a notable bit in It’s a Wonderful Life. My dad says Carl’s death in 1959 was stupid and tragic, but not necessarily a surprise to anybody who knew him.

Bye Five Guys

Mark Evanier may have excellent experiences at Five Guys, but after tonight I’m giving up on the fast food chain. For the second time in a row I’ve had a problem. The first time I didn’t lose any money but this time I’m out almost half the cost of the order. The food isn’t healthy anyway, so it’s just as well. It’s not like I’m going to patronize McDonald’s instead. I’ve had better luck in the past with another Five Guys location, but it isn’t convenient to work. I’ll just give up take-out burgers.

Stimulating the economy

Behold! My venerable and beloved Sony 32XBR100 has left the porch and is now being used by Eric for his “classic” video game setup. In its place is a Samsung LN40D630, and this one came without a vertical line of red pixels. The LN40D630 has received uniformly positive reviews, with the most comprehensive of them being at this link. The stand came from Target.