Long Distance Dedication

The self addressed stamped envelope inevitably returns.

As we approach the so called "dog days" of summer, it is important to keep in mind that you should drink plenty of liquids. I prefer fruit juices myself, and Al has been very good at keeping the warehouse stocked with Lemon Sunkist. Water works, as do most soda pops. I think most Americans enjoy a good beverage. Just do it in moderation. Which reminds me that next week we begin a brand new regular feature: a health column. Enjoy, and let's stay healthy out there...

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Apologies go out this week to Denise for our continuing misspelling of the word Northrop in her weekly concert summary. It's a long story but suffice it to say thanks to my brother, the former U of M marching band stud, I spent many a day down at the old auditorium. So when I saw Denise's list the word immediately jumped out at me. I was sure it was spelled, Northrup. I even looked it up in the Minneapolis phone book which verified my version of things. But upon further review, elsewhere in the very same source, the white page business listing has it spelled with an "O" and I have no ground left on which to stand. You see, last week I took the state's Consolidated Clerical Exam so that my recent promotion can become official. I flew by the math, the supervising, the alphabetizing and sorting portions of the test but when I got to spelling and proofreading I hit a wall. Despite my journalism degree, I absolutely struggled miserably on that part of the test. I'm sure it won't surprise a few (i.e. Nurse Jane), but after awhile, damn it, all the words looked wrong. I even began to think, was sure, there was a silent letter "h" in the word off. Sorry Denise.

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Elsewhere in this issue you will find a copy of Emmett's newsletter he gives to the employees of #71 every week with their paychecks. After reading last week's edition, I thought a lot of what Emmett includes would be pertinent to other stores. So I asked him if he wouldn't mind sending us a copy every week. In the future, we might not reproduce the entire thing but pick out the information that other store's employees might find useful. (Although Barb's layout is most pleasant.) The vision I see in the future is for each of the stores to do something similar, and then we can devote space in this newsletter to actual store news! What a concept!!! Anyway, thanks Emmett (and Barb) and a reminder to the rest of you: we would like to hear any store news that is important to others. This is the perfect place for that, don't you know. (P.S. Thanks also Emmett for the Dylan LP. It was much enjoyed and needed this week...)

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I've had a good weekend. Did what I'm doing more and more often: spent the weekend with my volunteer firemen friends and we got real drunk and tried to flush a canned ham down the toilet.

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An explanation of last week's effort in this very space- an inadvertent memory came into mind while I was writing my little letter to my newest nephew. I got on the subject of buses and into my head came a most fond memory of a most fond acquaintance who begins grad school soon. We were driving down University Avenue on a very snowy and slippery afternoon. She was a bit nervous as was I, over the driving conditions, and we weren't saying much to each other (as was all too common at that stage of our relationship). Out of nowhere I heard her softly say, "Bless the Lord." It seemed a very odd thing to say at that point, but I let it pass without questioning its meaning. When we got to her place, the curiosity finally was too much so I asked her why she had uttered her blessing. She began to laugh and said, "I didn't say 'bless the Lord,' I said, 'bus alert.' I was trying to warn you about that bus..." It was the perfect microcosm of our relationship: one of us thinking of something the other wasn't; spiritual yet day to day; all too often misfiring on the communication, yet deep down a humorous understanding of each other. Good luck Alex.