Category: Life with Pratts

Phil Shepardson, R.I.P.

I owe Phil Shepardson a lot. When I was a senior in college he lined up an internship for me at the local radio station. I must have done all right, because it turned into a job when I graduated. By happy accident, that was how I met Bismo, who called the station when I asked a Star Wars trivia question. “What color is Darth Vader’s light saber?” Bismo said “blue” and I’ll never let him live that down.

Tonight I learned that Phil Shepardson passed away a few months ago. Here’s an obituary. Five years ago, I wrote a bit about Dr. Phil, as we called him at Westfield State College, before there was Dr. Phil.

“As Schools Match Wits” host dies: wwlp.com

You know the tirelessly upbeat, fun, and engaging personalities of Cousin Brucie and Stan Lee? That’s what knowing Phil Shepardson was like. He was a true multi-media man and a kindred spirit. Phil loved cartooning, and he would challenge me on my definitions of art vs. illustration, and films vs. movies. When The Empire Strikes Back came out, I happened to run into Shepardson at a supermarket, and he wanted to know what I thought of the movie. We had a lively discussion about the phenomenon of blockbuster movies merging with fandom, which he didn’t particularly welcome, and he wanted me to explain it to him. Was it a generational thing, or a commercial response to the excellent films of the early 70’s? That was the sort of discussion that Shepardson loved to have. Here’s to you, and farewell, Dr. Phil.

Avoid Precision Garage Door!

One of the garage door torsion springs broke. Yesterday I called the local office of the Precision Garage Door franchise. The technician is here now, and he seems like a good guy, but the price he quoted was outrageous. The whole job should cost about $250, taking into account that we live in an expensive area, but they wanted $350 just for the springs! None of the cars are in the garage, so the work doesn’t have to be done immediately. I told him I’d pay the $75 service charge and he could leave. He called his boss and I got a better price, and it’s still way too much, but I can live with it to get the work done on a Saturday. Anyway, watch out for this outfit. I’ll never use them again.

Irene and the blustery day

I’m self-deploying myself as an emergency response team, and I just completed a check of the perimeter. A lot of leaves and small branches are down, but knowing that Hurricane Irene hasn’t reached NYC yet, and watching the trees blowing here, hundreds of miles north, I can see the possibility of catastrophe in the making. I’ll consider us lucky if we only lose power and Internet access.

Update: It’s almost 3 in the afternoon and I think we may be through the worst of it. The rain has let up and the wind is dying down. There are lots of branches in the yard and I went outside to collect the biggest of them.

Say Goodnight, Irene

Hurricane Irene promises to cause us a lot of trouble here. I’ve been trying to line up some roof repairs and tree removal, and after this weekend it will probably be months before I can get the work done, because contractors will be busy dealing with the storm’s aftermath. I just hope a tree doesn’t come down on the house.

I have a summer tradition of taking Eric to a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and I have tickets for Sunday afternoon’s game, but because of the storm it’s been moved to 5 tomorrow. With any luck it will be over before Irene arrives.

Update: It’s Saturday, there’s a rain delay for the first game of the day, and from the way it’s coming down I’d be surprised if the second game is played. Even if it is held, I don’t know if I’m going to risk driving to Boston.

Update: I went outside to make sure the storm drain was clear, and there’s no way I’m driving into Boston, because there’s no doubt that Irene is here. I’m listening to the radio to see what Major League Baseball is going to do. If they say play ball, then I’m out 250 bucks.

Garage garbage

Spent most of the day with Eric, cleaning out the garage. It should have been a Spring job, but it’s done. We took everything out, including from the always interesting loft (looks like a mouse and/or a squirrel was up there), gave the place a thorough sweeping and shop-vac, threw out a lot of stuff, and got everything back in, nice and neat.

In the loft I found the kiddie-sized resin chair Eric used when he was little. He sat in it for a moment as a joke and said we could throw it out, but I said keep it, in case a family with small children wants it. A few minutes later, a new family in the neighborhood with two small children walked by, and I offered the chair to them. They were happy to take it, and the father put in it the wagon he was pulling. It was one of those moments, that Eric doesn’t always appreciate, when I was able to say, “See? I told you.”

Back inside, I’m playing with the Squeezebox Touch I got for half price on a special deal from Logitech. The software still needs a few fixes, but that’s always the way with Logitech, and I have no buyer remorse with this purchase.