Stoppage

Since Word Press on August 1st ceased automatically publishing my blog on Facebook and on LinkedIn, I have been searching for a means to publicize my blog. I am losing all of my contact information and am very dissatisfied with this site after enjoying it for years. I have, since they stopped publishing, taken out a page on Facebook and am posting my bobosbest blogs there. I think you can find them if you search for bobosbest. However, those of you who have been reading my blogs on Facebook are no longer listed as readers on the WordPress site. If you do go to site, using http://www.bobosbest.wordpress.com, then you will be shown as a statistic.  Otherwise, I lose count of who and how many have read what I’ve written. Meanwhile, hang in there with me and comment every once in a while. When you comment, I can respond. Thank you for your loyalty.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to http://www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and on the bottom of the right hand corner you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you receive this blog every time it is published. Click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

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Telephone Scam

When I glanced at the caller ID, I was shocked to see my name and telephone number. How in the world could someone call from my phone (a home line) when I was holding the phone in my hand? The first time that happened, I ignored the call but listened to see if whoever was calling would leave a message. There was no message. The next time it happened was a day later, and I decided to answer the call. The Messager announced that Microsoft had been trying to get in touch with me and that if I failed to carry through…that’s as far as I listened before hanging up. How could anyone use my phone to call me on my phone number? I googled “telephone scams” and read that the thing to do would be to report this scam to the Federal Trade Commission, the first time I’ve ever done anything like that. The person with whom I spoke asked me questions and wrote down the information, giving me finally a reference number in case it happens again. I felt that it was important to have made that call in case I helped prevent someone else from carrying through on demands that would compromise their financial safety.

The Summer of 1959

In 1959, I was attending Furman University in Greenville, SC. I had spent previous summers working as a grocery clerk and decided that I wanted to do something more exciting. Because I was very much interested in music, I sought through the school summer employment directory jobs that involved not only working as a waiter but also entertaining. I was fortunate to land a job as a singing waiter at Sunnybrook Acres in Lake George, New York. The job requirement was that I would work with other waiters in producing and staging a music revue show. I rewrote songs like “There Is Nothing Like a Dame,” making them appropriate to our show. I played piano and did an imitation of Marilyn Monroe. The other guys were singers, comedians, and dancers. We were “celebrities” to the young girls who came to Sunnybrook Acres for relaxation, entertainment, and romance. My career as a singer went no further than that summer, but the memories will last forever.

My Ambulatory Coin Holder

Growing up, the only gender that put coins in a holder were ladies. They called this article a “change purse.” Now, in the twenty-first century, if men carry anything in which to store coins, it is called a change or coin holder. I have two of them, one for my American coins and one for my Greek coins (since I am married to a Greek). The American coin holder has begun to come apart and to pinch my hand when I try to put coins in it. I therefore decided to swap holders, since I only use the Greek coins when I am in Greece with Dimitris. The swap was accomplished quickly and without any problem. However, since I made the exchange, I have been unable to find the “new” American coin holder. I remember zipping it up and supposedly placing it in the place where I always put my coins and keys. When I last reached for it, it was not there. Now, since I don’t believe in auto-mobility by non-human objects, I must wait until I finally figure out where I put this item and why I made it so difficult to find.

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to http://www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and on the bottom of the right hand corner you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you receive this blog every time it is published. Click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.

Call It What It Is (repeat)

 

When my symphony partner, Mimi, was unable to use her ticket, I was able to take my Greek partner to his first symphony concert. I was a bit concerned as the program was highlighted by a violin concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Violin concertos are not necessarily the most exciting musical programs to introduce novices to classical music. However, the program also included “Dances from ‘Powder Her Face’” by Thomas Ades, a modern-day composer, and Symphony #5 by Sergei Prokofiev, certainly a well-known Russian composer. As we entered the concert hall, he whispered to me, “Is there going to be an interruption?” That remark threw me for a few moments as it first brought to mind scenes of an audience throwing tomatoes or eggs of displeasure. However, the problem was my partner’s shortage of English words. When I corrected him and assured him that there would be an intermission rather than an interruption, he was immediately reassured and handled the evening of music very well, even the violin concerto which was performed by a lovely young lady who played the romantic concerto with exceeding expertise.

17 of 26

Here’s what I wrote in my journal on August 2, 1974:

This summer presented me with new and challenging school problems. I taught summer school for the first time. Now I don’t know how it’s handled in other counties but, in Pinellas County, the kids meet in one room for four hours, five days a week with only one 15-minute break a day. I began with twenty-six 8th grade students who had failed English. Twenty were black kids. The obstacles appeared insurmountable and some were. However, I trusted it and them to God, and the outcome was favorable. I’m not at all sure that I taught them an 8th grade amount of English, but I did change some patterns that were preventing their accomplishing what they needed to accomplish. We had a short moment of meditation each morning. One day, after the devotional, everything seemed to go haywire–Tony got into a fight with Walter, Gideon couldn’t control his funny faces and extra curricular mouth sounds, and Rick said every sarcastic thing he could possibly have dreamed up. Then one of the kids said aloud, “He [God] didn’t help you out much today, did He, Teacher?” And you know, I let that get next to me, and I did challenge God for letting me down. It was only during the last week of summer school that I realized how foolish my challenging God had been for seventeen passed my class and all but one had accepted my authority, knew that I was a Christian, did their work and vocally expressed confidence that they would never again have to attend summer school to pass.

Connectivity

If you are a follower of “bobosbest,” you may want to become a “friend” of mine on Facebook in order to continue reading my blogs. Beginning August 1, Word Press is changing its policy so that my blog will no longer automatically be posted by Word Press on Facebook. I will, however, post it myself but, unless you are listed as a “friend,” you may not see the posting. I regret this change but continue to be grateful for being allowed to use of Word Press for free. In order to “friend” me on Facebook, please search for “Thom Cooper.” I greatly appreciate you, my 204 followers, and hope that you will continue to follow my blogs at “www.bobosbest.wordpress.com.”

Reader, if you are not a follower of my blog, I hope you will become one. Go to http://www.bobosbest.wordpress.com and on the bottom of the right hand corner you will see the opportunity to sign up so that you receive this blog every time it is published. Click on the word FOLLOW and enter your e-mail address. Thank you.