The 1940’s station I listen to on SXM has changed to Christmas music already.
Bah.
The neighbor guys say they should get to my corn this week. Well, we’re running out of week. I heard recently the grain elevators are full and they may not be taking corn anymore. Great. I wanted something else to worry about.
Waiting on a road repair on the township road that goes into our place. The ONLY road into our place. I’m sure they’ll do that the day we start combining. Mumble mumble mumble…
The 630 tractor I’ve been repairing on and off for 2 years now. I had it running; I got the main hood back in place and got the air cleaner and muffler installed.
And then the starter, which some times acts up, started acting up again. I knew there was a bad wire down underneath, so I pulled the flywheel cover off, got underneath the tractor and took the cover off the starter and disconnected the wires, pulled them up and out of there, pulled the four bolts out and removed the lower dash, disconnected one more wire, took out the four bolts for the upper dash and gauges, disconnected a second wire, built a new wire harness, taped it all up with heat shrink tubing to make it look all professional like, put it all back together and installed the starter cover while that voice way in the back of my head said ‘You didn’t test this yet’ but heck, I know it’s fixed. And I touched the ground wire to the frame and the starter starts to spin. Crap. Key on or off doesn’t matter, the starter spins all the time. It’s not supposed to spin until I push the start button. It doesn’t engage to start the tractor, it just spins.
Sigh.
I took the cover off again and tapped on the starter with a hammer. GENTLE taps. Nope. Still spinning.
Sigh.
OK, it’s just three bolts to get the starter out; will take it to the starter repair guy.
The lights down in the feed room haven’t been working. I replaced the bulbs the other day and they still didn’t work. Hmm, it’s dark early these days you know, I’d like to have lights in there. The barn lights work. I trace a wire and know they should be powered by the barn lights meaning it’s not a breaker. There’s a box in the barn that maybe is the problem, but the box is covered with 17 layers of whitewash.
Anyone remember or know of whitewash? Tom Sawyer was probably using whitewash on that fence he got the neighbor kids to do.
When we were milking cows, we had a guy come out annually to white wash the inside of the barn. Whitewash is a mix of lime and a few other things mixed with water. Evidently it has mildly antibiotic properties. And it dries to a hard surface that will still rub off on your hands or clothes. In the barn, it was a nice finish the milk inspector would approve. Applying it was messy and we had to cover the pipeline (or wash it off when they were done). And once dried, it sure looked nice. Back to this electrical box; it’s covered with 17 layers of whitewash (which is also mildly corrosive on metal) and I don’t want to start digging into that electrical box because it’s gonna turn into a whole big deal.
The next option was to see if there’s power to the switch in the feed room. I got a handful of tools and the gator since I knew it will be more than one trip back to the shop. Pulled the cover off, took the wires off, and when I touch them together, the lights come on. Yay! Back to the shop for a new (used) switch and I have lights again. That project took longer than expected.
I finally got the drain finished in the new concrete. Only took 4 trips to ‘save big money’ to get this glued together. I haven’t finished the outside portion yet, but that’s easy; it was the inside that was the priority.
I’ve got concrete ordered for the 18th now.
I was doing some research about concrete and cold weather. I know you don’t want it to freeze. Research shows that’s only for a day or two while it is curing. Cover it with a tarp and some straw and it’s all OK at these temperatures. Concrete gives off some heat while curing anyway. Whew!
My schedule lately has been busier than usual. Got through the college show, then lit a small show in Mantorville (not a melodrama. Are you familiar with melodrama’s? The audience is expected to boo and hiss the villain and cheer the hero. Back in my youth ((1985)) I was the Hero’s buddy and I won the coveted Golden Oink Oink award for my performance. A big ham in other words.) Then I have another show to light at the Rep. And some outside rental events at the college in the evenings. It will be Thanksgiving soon, then it’s into Holiday concerts at the college. Plus my forensic chemistry class, and pouring concrete, and random stuff to do at home. And IF THEY EVER GET MY CORN OUT I’ll want to get some tillage done this fall before the ground freezes or it gets too muddy. I’m not stressed. I’M NOT STRESSED I SAY!This is pretty normal for fall. Kelly knows she doesn’t see me much between the first of November and middle of December. Some how it all works out. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
You may remember we have this Joseph at home. He was rescued from a ditch and we decorate him for the holidays.
The Mantorville show has these plastic figures sitting on the side of the stage.
I sent a picture to Kelly. We laughed, This is Joseph’s twin, Jedediah, and his wife Bertha. Jed to the family. Jed has had a much more bourgeois life… “No ditch life for him” as Kelly says.
GOT A TWIN OR A DOPPLEGANGER? WHO HAVE YOU BEEN MISTAKEN FOR?
EVER BEEN BOOED?
Trail Baboon 
“Some days are like that, even in Australia .”
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One of my avocations in retirement (In addition to a daily blog at http://www.aboksu.wordpress.com hint, hint) has been answering questions in K-12 courses at Khan Academy. The grammar course there was created by David Rheinstrom back while Barack Obama was president. I answer questions using my own name, David Alexander. You might (or might not) be surprised at how often the children taking the course write back to me, “Are you the REAL David from the videos?” I’ve taken to responding to that question with something along the lines of “he is not me.” This kind of thing happens more than once a month.
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I apparently have a doppelgänger somewhere in or around Carol Stream, IL. A woman I had never met saw me and mistook me for someone else. She was so sure I was him. But I said I’ve never been in that Jewel grocery store where you saw him. That was back in the late 1990s.
My best “mistaken fors” have been looking vaguely like Bruce Springsteen (in recent years, not back in the day); and a couple I played golf with 30+ years ago said my golf swing reminded them of Fred Couples’ golf swing. That’s my fave compliment because I idolized Couples when he was in his prime. LOVED his swing! And he had the most laid-back demeanor on course. Something I wish I had.
Chris in Owatonna
**BSP . . . sort of. Just want to let you know that all my books are on sale from now through the end of 2025. Two dollars off each of my thrillers (print or ebook). Three dollars off LMBT print and $2 off LMBT ebook. The anthology is also discounted by $3, but only if you buy it from me IN PERSON.
Sorry, but no deals if you order directly from my website because I already cover the shipping costs. I’d lose money if I put those on sale because they already are “sort of” on sale seeing as how you save about $5 on shipping costs.
It’s a good time to buy if you’re looking for unique/special gifts during your holiday shopping. Also, I’m trying to sell more than 300 books before year end to reach a self-imposed goal of 5,000 total career sales. So even if you’re not interested, please spread the word to book lovers or shoppers you may know. Thanks.
**END . . . sort of BSP**
Chris
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I spent many a day like that with my father Looie. He seemed to think the important response was to get mouth-frothing angry. Took me a few years to get over that model.
55 years ago there was a man who frequently visited the publishing company where Sandra worked. On his first visit, she thought it was me and was about to kiss him. Most of the people in that office on every visit thought it was me. I never met him.
A sort of mistaken identity. I have explained before there are two large apartment buildings side by side. Our address is Dublin Court. The other is Dublin Road. You can imagine the confusion. A woman with my last name must have just moved in or just started ordering lots of things delivered. Yesterday three times a delivery person fond my name in the name scroll and called me to tell me they had a delivery. I went down to the door all three times, not a long walk, and politely pointed at the building where they needed to go.
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Someone told me I looked like Yoko Ono once. I disagree. Someone else told me I looked like Janis Joplin. That one is maybe a little closer, but still, nah.
I’m grateful that I’ve never been booed, but sometimes being completely overlooked, unseen, maybe even invisible, is worse.
I went to a fun concert at the famous Faribault Cathedral last night. It was a group of local musicians with two well-known female singers who played and sang hits from Simon and Garfunkel. It was called “Feelin’ Groovy.” It was nice to see some familiar faces. https://faribaultcathedral.com/
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I was wondering if you might have gone to that concert, Krista. I saw a poster for it on FB.
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Yes, it was nice to see members of the Over and Back Band playing together with Steve Jennings, Pauline Jennings, and Barb Piper. I sang with Barb once at a concert called Downhome Divas at the Bothy Folk Club in Mankato. It was fun, and the Cathedral is always amazing.
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Cool header photo, Ben!
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Thanks!
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Sometime in the late 60s, a few years after I had moved to the US, my sister wrote and asked whether I had made a visit to Denmark without visiting my family. She had seen me riding by on my bicycle near the train station in Lyngby, she said. Same strawberry blonde short haircut, same glasses, same turquoise bicycle, same clothes; she couldn’t believe her eyes. Alas, I was cooling my heels in Cheyenne and had been nowhere near Lyngby in years.
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Most of the Baboons have heard the story of how my trail handle, PlanJane, came about, but since we have a few newer denizens on the trail, and few older ones who might have forgotten the story, I’ll tell it again. If you’re one of the older Baboons and you do remember the story, go ahead an skip the rest of this.
During the summer of 1968 I was a waitress at a small steakhouse in Carbondale. Rosemary’s Baby was playing at the local theater just down the street. For weeks it was a daily occurrence that someone I was serving would tell me that I looked a lot like Mia Farrow. I’d go home and look in the mirror, and the only resemblance I could see was the haircut, a cut which I had been sporting since i had worked in Moscow and had accidentally given myself a too short haircut. Nevertheless, I was flattered because I thought Mia Farrow was cute, so I’d just say thank you and go about my work.
One night a young man who was not a regular came in and sat at one of my tables by himself. It was a weeknight with a steady stream of guests, so I was fairly busy, but as any decent waitress does, I kept an eye on my tables to be sure everyone had what they needed. Every time I looked at this guy I caught him staring at me, and he’d quickly look away. When he finished his dinner, I gave him his check and asked him to please pay at the cash register. When he came back to pay he looked at me and said “I know you must have heard this a million times before, but I know what I’m talking about. I’ve just come back from California where I was staying in the same hotel as Mia Farrow. You’re taller than she is, and she has more freckles than you do, but without makeup on, she’s a real plain Jane too.” It took a few seconds for that to sink in, but when it did, I cracked up. To this day, I’m still not sure what the appropriate response to that comment would be.
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PJ, ever since I first heard you tel this, I’ve wondered if this guy was just totally insensitive, or did it seem like he was being mean? !
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My sense at the time was that he was trying to distinguish himself from all of the other people who were telling me that I looked like Mia Farrow. Whatever his intentions were, I chose to laugh at it rather than be offended. After all, he was right. I have always thought of myself as pretty average looking, so no great harm done.
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I’m glad you have a sense of humor, and could laugh at him.
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No mistaken identities.
Not booed but very little clapping at a stand-up comedy event. Mostly because I went overtime and failed to recognize the flashing lights signaling “Get off the stage.” Humiliations galore!
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I would enjoy participating in a Jewish reading of the Bible book of Esther. The congregation makes noise to drown out the villain, Haman’s, name. As I understand it, non-Jews are not allowed to participate in that part of Purium festivities.
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Joseph and Mary
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Yes, I remember when whitewashing was a maintenance performed on old houses and had nothing to do with covering up the misdeeds of dirty old rich men.
Our house in Stubbekøbing was whitewashed every year. First dad would sweep the entire surface of the house with a stiff brush to remove any loose chalk. Then each surface would be hosed down with water before he’d apply the white slurry with a short-handled thick brush.
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I have never been booed, but I have been part of two melodrama audiences in the Opera House in Central City, Colorado. We were a most enthusiastic bunch of hissers, booers, and sighers.
The first melodrama I saw was “She was Chaste on the Plains, and Won in the West,” subtitled “The History of Sweet Shy Anne.” I don’t recall what the second one was.
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PJ – My family got to see an opera there in maybe 1959, on a side trip when we were doing our summers in Greeley, CO. (I may have already told you this…)
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Yes, I recall you mentioning this. My visit there was in 1967, so quite a few years later.
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I used to direct melodramas held in the bandshell every Friday night in July. We would buy a script but do lots of rewriting to localize it. Twice we did at Gooseberry Park as well. We raised lots of donations for the food shelf.
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I occasionally get m mistaken for someone in Winona who apparently looks similar, but nothing dramatic or memorable.
I don’t remember being booed, but I’m sure there has been disapproval of some things I’ve done… Will try to remember something.
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As an elected supervisor on the townboard, fortunately there’s been just a couple decisions where people didn’t agree. I don’t recall being booed, but I remember being threatened with being voted out of office next election. Funny thing is, next election rolls around and those people are no where to be seen.
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No doppelgangers or boos for me either.
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Krista mentioned the fabulous header photo – how many baboons saw some northern lights this week? (Maybe you’ve already told this and I missed it… )
Tuesday night I saw some red, even from here in our alley. Others from more outlying areas here (SE Minn.) posted fabulous photos on FB…
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We had bright lights here–a beautiful deep red. Myson could see them in Minneap9lis.
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Even here, in the heart of the city, we got to see the northern lights. So beautiful.
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Ooh, remember that blog about Optical Illusions a couple of days ago?
Dog and cat:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1277125894185364
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I am my father’s doppelgänger. I don’t know if I’ve told the story before so I’ll try to keep it short. When I was five, we lived down the street from the Woods family in St. Louis. After we moved, we did not keep in contact with them for more than a couple of years. Fast-forward 40 years – I was at the Desert Zoo and Museum outside of Scottsdale with clients. A woman who had on a docent badge walked up to me after a little bit and she said “Are you Joe Bill Carter’s daughter?” It was Barbara Woods – the wife from that family that we had known 40+ years earlier. A little surreal!
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Son was a little disturbed on a trip to Amsterdam to see all these men in old paintings in the Riksmuseum who he so closely resembled. I told him that this what comes from being northern German and Frisien.
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i used to get told i looked like ed bradly on 60 minutes. always thought it was funny. phil the chicago bulls la lakers basketball coach too
never booed but i keep feeling like im about to be
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