Remember This?

To me, this last holiday weekend was the best one I will experience this year. It's not every year that these two holidays fall back to back. Not having to buy presents, get dressed up or even plan a special meal or host a party are just added benefits of my favorite holidays.

Heck pholks, I didn't even have to buy a card. I just enjoyed.

When Daylight Savings Time and the "real" Opening Day of Major League Baseball season arrive one same weekend, life is great.

Easter, News Year's, Christmas, July 4th, Thanksgiving and even St. Patrick's Day are great holidays, but for the most part they are tiring and generally expensive. While the end of Daylight Savings Time is the worst day of the year, in my opinion, the first "extra hour day" is something to look forward to. Having a parade or exchanging gifts or sending flowers simply would spoil this great day. It's not so much of a "thing" but more of a "feeling." Sorta like the day you buy a new car, score with a new love interest, or get promoted to that special position you have been dreaming of. I would expect breaking 100 on the golf course would be comparable, but I can only speculate. Hopefully I'll let you know soon.

Two "official" games of Major League Baseball were played in Japan between the damn Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays several days earlier. Opening Day was last Sunday, the first full day of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.

I didn't have to explain to my wife, Kathy, why I was a little extra happy over the weekend. She knows me pretty well, to the extent that she likely will cut me a tiny, itsybitsy piece of slack when trying to get my attention during a radio or televison baseball broadcast. The garbage or the dishes will just have to wait until the end of an inning.

My dog also knows that she will have to give me an extra nudge or perform another trick before getting one of her treats. The new kitten is smart enough that he will learn real quickly.

And pholks the best thing about this year's back-to-back holidays is that they only cost one hour of sleep which I would have missed anyway due to anticipation. SPEAKING OF ANTICIPATION, I admit that I have had an eye on the calendar as the month of June and my birthday seems to be fast approaching. It is one of those "biggies' and one which makes a guy pause and consider some of the experiences of life.

A piece of ‘‘entertainment" a co-worker received on E-mail, brought those reflections of the past into sharp focus.

With the caption "Remember this?" the following is part of a list of comments reportedly made in 1957, although I think that year was just selected as a time period.

1-"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, its going to be impossible to buy a weeks groceries for $20."

2- "Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long when $5,000 will only buy a used one."

3-"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous."

4-"Did you hear the Post Office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?"

5-" If they raise the minimum pay to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store."

6-" Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they will be making more than the President."

7-"‘‘When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage."

8-"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."

Well pholks, I can't remember if it was 1957, but I do recall comments very much like those. Of course in those days the family sat around the dinner or kitchen table and had some good discussions-every night just before the good radio programs came on.

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