I Just Hafta Brag

This handsome young lad is my soon-to-be Cretin Graduate and U 0f M Scholar.

Girls, he's available!

Remembering Bill Randall

Hi All!

1st of all, Blessed and Happy Easter to you and all, bunnies or not. Ask my garderner wife how much she loves the "Real" bunnies.

A bit of an "We Don't Know That," but despite the fact that these memories were collected by a grade school kid, I believe they would pass journalistic muster.

My family moved to 201 Montrose place, just south of T&CC, in 1963 and lived there for about 25 years or so.

Next door, directly to our south, was "Mrs. Randall's House."

The house was the very first built in the in the newly platted subdivison. I don't know the date, but the only other real estate was farmland and the golf course. Quite exceptional house -- it had a big 2-car garage which was very rare at the time. It was big and well designed. The Randall's built it and Mrs Randall was the last to live there (she was about 90 when she died so you can see where genes come in with her son Bill).

As a kid, I mowed the huge double lot and checked to make sure the furnace was keeping 50 degrees during the winter when Mrs. Randall was snowbirding.

The guy who paid me and spent alot of time visiting with me, imparting wisdom, was Bill.

I remember thinking who old he looked. Was shocked that he was still around until recently.

When I joined the GOP much later in my life, I always remembered my first Republican inspiration. "Conservative" was not a familiar term. You were either Democrat or Republican. My mom's family was fiercly DFL at the time and this was new learning to me.

I also remember his height, craggy looks and a basso profuno voice.

Mrs. Randall apparently didn't want Bill to run for Governor, and apparently he didn't campaign much for the endorsement. I think he was relieved to stay Ramsey prosecutor and leave the politics to Harold Levander.

Bill never had to do much if any campaigning to keep his position. But sometime in the early seventies a young DFL upstart named Tom Foley planted big lawn signs everywhere and Bill had to print a few little ones. Foley, by politicizing the position, kicked Bill's butt.

That is the end of my memories. Never saw him again, but assume he amassed a fortune in private practice.

RIP, William Randall

Cheers!

Wish I Had a Camera

Hi All!

Saw an amusing sight a few minutes ago on the way home.

A totally non-desript little tin machine sported a right rear quarter that was folded like tinfoil...or origami. Apparently it was good enough to pry the flimsy sheet metal away from the wheel.

Neatly conforming to the many bends and folds of this dreadful damage was a perfectly adhered Kerry sticker. Must have used good glue because it perfectly adhered to the mess.

Beyond that, this "speck" sported a euro-type oval sticker. I always put "D-schilders" on my German cars to brag about my heritage and that of my autos. The '72 Bug still has one.

This one had "DFL" in the oval. Hmmm...I was driving my 1989 Merkur Scorpio with a "GL" sticker that has been on the back window for 3 or 4 years. Do you suppose some DFLer was apeing Mayor Soucheray? Wonder if they were free, as were the Garage Logic ones.

Of course, the driver was going 45 in the 35 zone on Hamline and rolled thru the Roselawn stop, but I will attribute that to bad driving, not bad politics.

Cheers!

Apology Redux

Hi All!

I've gotten away from blogging again, although not for lack of ideas!

For the past 6 weeks or so there has been much too much occupying my attention.

The health thing, which is chronic for me and which seems to take me totally down for a day or two every couple of weeks, the scares with Laura and Drew take a toll.

There have been legal issues (no, I will not discuss them, nothing serious, just annoying).

Alex is preparing to graduate and he has chosen the U of M over my objections. There is a grad party to arrange, gowns and caps to purchase, which isn't much. But the U has many deadlines for anything from financial aid to orientation to actually making official his enrollment.

Drew getting his license yesterday and needing to put on insurance, unexpectedly expensive car repairs; Catie getting ready to grad from Middle School and prepare for Cretin; $300+ for a few lousy senior pictures; Enough--I'm even boring myself.

I wonder if there is a way to notify regular readers who volunteer their email addresses when a new post happens. Every time I get a bit of momentum, I lose most of it when readers get sick of checking in and seeing the same old post at the top?

Ah well, as Ray Davies and audience sang Sunny Afternoon, we now really have one going today! The song is particularly apt as it opens with the taxman taking all Ray's dough. Please click and read -- it's perfect for today.

Cheers!

Ray Davies - Holy Hannah! Much to Follow

Hi All you Ladies and Germs!

The title sez it all.

For now, I need to kick back and process the incredible (to me) story,

Here's a teaser.