October 22, 2006

Settled In For The Night.

So I’m back from my little three day road trip and have settled in for the night. Earl is still on his way home from Tampa. His flight was delayed a bit. He told me he would call me when he landed; I just tried to call his cell phone and got his voicemail. Perhaps he’s airborne.

I’ve just finished watching two consecutive episodes of Wonder Woman. They were both from the second season, when Lynda Carter’s hair was long, but the budget was big enough that they weren’t taking any “shortcuts” with stand-ins doing to the wonder spin and whatnot. These things are important. One recurring them I have noticed about Wonder Woman is that twins are considered evil. There are a number of episodes in that second season where the bad guy or gal is flanked by a set of female twins. Always female, always blonde, always identical twins. I’ve known a few sets of twins in my time and I don’t recall them both being evil at the same time. Mischievous perhaps, but never evil.

Tomorrow starts a week of on-call but I feel like I’m ready to take it on. I have some projects to do, including website work getting through all the photos I took on this trip. Plus I have two nights of school which always does wonders for breaking up the monotony of on-call with the added bonus of an education.

I chatted with my sister in Russia a little while ago. She told me that I can let the cat out of the bag. You see, Earl and I have been holding onto a little secret for the past six weeks or so – we’re going to be uncles. That’s right, my sister and her boyfriend are going to have a baby. She finally let my Mom know today and I am just thrilled for the both of them.

As Earl likes to say: “Life is good.”

Anyone remember WT Grants?

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I kind of pride myself on this one. I remember the W.T. Grants department store chain, more specifically, the one in Northern Lights Plaza north of Syracuse, N.Y. Grants went out of business in 1975 (when I was around seven years old), but I remember shopping there with my mom and my grandmother. I remember my mother playing her Christmas albums with the “Grants” logo on the label on the GE Wildcat record player that was able to hold up to six albums at once. The retail space gave way to several department stores afterwards, including Two Guys, Zayre and Ames. Today it’s a Staples.

Apparently the family that owns the Grants Vegetable Farm near Oneida Lake (and not too far from Northern Lights) was able to snag the old Grants department store sign for their barn. I’ve seen this sign up on the barn for years, today I finally snapped a picture of it.

What’s even a little scarier is that the founder of Grants, William Thomas Grant, was originally from the city of Bradford, Pa. I drove through Bradford, Pa. on my way home today, just so I could get some pictures of some old road signs. Perhaps I brought his ghost along for a ride.