October 21, 2021
Yesterday we drove to Black Mountain for some antiquing and wood-fired pizza. While wandering around town we met two interesting characters.
👉 Half of my favorite TV quiz shows is Jeopardy! Way back in the before time when Art Flemming was the host, and the first round started with $5 and went to $25 (and then there was Double Jeopardy where “everything doubles and the scores can really change”) I had an application to go to New York and be on the show. Many things kept that from happening and although I’ve done the online test several times, I’ve never been called. And yes, those who watch with me know that I used to prompt Alex and now Mayim, “Answer! Not clue!”
You know that Matt Amodio won $1.5 million over 38 days before he was dethroned by Jonathan Fisher. In a sickening, but not entirely unexpected development, the social media trolls have started attacking Jonathan (who became an 8 day champion yesterday).
Good Housekeeping reported that “Jonathan has been receiving criticism for his slow starts, making conservative bets and only answering clues he knows for sure.”
You Jeopardy! fans, how many people have you seen lose because they guessed?? Good grief. And they criticize him because he starts at the top of a category instead of the bottom. There was more, but to paraphrase William Shatner, “It’s a TV game show! Get a life!” And find something positive and constructive to do instead of being a social media troll!
Oh, the other half of my favorite TV game shows? Wheel of Fortune. But I hear it is harder in person.
👉 A trio of Blackouts:
👉 Referring to the last Blackout, here is a true story – Cub Scout’s honor. Way back in the before time I managed Taber’s Jewelers in the Augusta Mall (“Your jeweler with the 100 day money back guarantee”). Twice a year we had a 65% off gold chain sale. One time Friedman’s Jewelers, across the way, held a 75% off gold chain sale the same day. A customer came into my store, looked at a bracelet, got a price, and went to Friedman’s. A few minutes later he was back and told me he was buying the Friedman’s piece.
Trying to save the sale, I asked him to go back, learn the manufacturer’s name and the chain’s weight. Back he came. Same manufacturer. Same weight of gold. He bought Friedman’s because it was 75% off and ours was 65% off. Oh, yeah, Friedman’s retail price was higher so ours was actually cheaper, making ours was the better deal. He told me, “Yes, but theirs is 75% off so it is a better deal.” Never argue with stupid people.
👉 And a duo of “Ooo You’re Gold:”
👉 More strange city names.
First up, Booger Hole, West Virginia. Around 1883, Andrew Hargis, a stonemason who built chimneys, disappeared while traveling in the area. He had been carrying around $300 in his pocket when he vanished. In 1897, Joseph Clark, a watchmaker, had stopped for the night and slept at the local schoolhouse. He was never seen after that night, but a trail of blood led to the nearby creek. And there were 10 more, the last in 1917. Folklore has it that the community’s name derived from this violence – “booger” being a local usage for the “boogieman.”
There is also a good fishing stream in West Virginia that’s named “Pee Pee Creek.” No idea why.
Dull, Ohio probably is dull. Originally called McKee when it was founded in 1879, but the name changed because of one of first residents, J. M. Dull. A post office was established under the name Dull in 1880, and remained in operation until 1909. Dull’s sister city is Boring, Oregon, named for a man named Boring who homesteaded there in 1856.
And just so you’ll know, there is also a Dull, Scotland. That name comes from “dol” in the language of the early Scottish people, and it means “water meadow.” With a great deal of humor, the city is paired with Boring, Oregon, and Bland, Australia.
The last city for today is Accident, Maryland. About the year 1751, a grant of land was given to Mr. George Deakins by King George II, of England, in payment of a debt. According to the terms, Mr. Deakins was to receive 600 acres of land anywhere he chose in Western Maryland. Mr. Deakins sent out two corps of engineers, each without knowledge of the other group, to survey the best land in the area.
After the survey, the engineers returned with their maps of the plots they had surveyed. To their surprise, they discovered they had each surveyed the same tract of land starting at the same tall Oak tree and returning to the start point. Mr. Deakins chose this plot of ground and had it patented “The Accident Tract,” hence, the name of the town.
The area around Accident was laid out in military lots and was given to Revolutionary War soldiers in lieu of cash for services rendered. Most soldiers sold their lots and never lived in Western Maryland. Your favorite bloggers did live in Accident for 3 nights. We rented the apartment because we could find nothing in Frostburg, where we were going to college. Three days after moving in, we found one and moved – for the first of 21 times.
 |
Accident Main Street looking North, after 1903. The white house on the left is where we rented that apartment – it looked a little different in 1968. |
👉 And before we close, some menace from Dennis:
👉 Today’s close is by Phil Ware.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalms 51:12).
In the face of sin and separation from God, grace is a refreshing stream that restores salvation. But the joy of salvation is found only when we realize and accept the forgiveness, grace, and restoration God has given us – when we drink from the stream of grace. The joy of salvation is sustained in a changed lifestyle and an ongoing recognition that we walk with God.
Prayer:
Holy and Righteous Father, I long for the outbreak of the joy of salvation like I see in the Book of Acts. I pray for your Spirit to lead me into another era of outreach, conversion, and celebration. I pray for wisdom to know and eyes to see those around me who are most open to the Gospel. I want to be a partner with you in your ongoing work of salvation. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment