Mostly True Tales

I arrived back in St. Louis Monday afternoon. It was a great trip. It went fast and was far too short, but it’s good to be home. As usual, the visit with Peter and Jackie was non-stop Amazing!

The very first full day I was there we went rug shopping. I was on a tight budget this year, but couldn’t resist bringing home a few extraordinary values. For the most part I stayed under control and set a new record low for spending while shopping for rugs. I absolutely love oriental rugs and don’t think I’ll ever own enough.

I bought the rug in the middle shown above and a few other smaller rugs. Pete zoomed in on this rug like a hawk on a mouse. It certainly was the deal of the day, all three of these were marked down to ridiculously low prices (so low, I can’t say how low). Looking at this picture while I type, I wish I had bought all three.

This place is like a candy store for rug-aholics. There are rugs everywhere, hanging, rolled, and stacked. The picture below shows a stack of rugs that are similar. The top rug has been pulled back, like a page in a book. Note how the back of the rug looks as good as the front.

Here is a style of rug I haven’t seen before, tanks, grenades, pistols, and helicopters. I guess this illustrates what the people of Iran have on their mind. Pete wanted me to buy one of these, simply because they are quite unusual, but it’s not really my style.

Here is a picture from the second floor of one of the rug rooms. Rugs everywhere, every size, color, and pattern conceivable.

One of the many reasons I went to Virginia this time was to pickup my Traveling Magician statue. After nearly 10 years of searching for one, I had just about resigned myself to the fact that I would never own one, but Pete located one at a very good price and I was able to obtain it with his help.

The statue is in unbelievable condition and the finest specimen I have ever seen. It is a true find. Pete and Jackie were genuinely excited to find it for me. Honestly, I don’t know how I got so lucky.

The statue was made in 1877, almost 130 years ago. I was very nervous transporting it back to St. Louis, but managed to do so without mishap. This Traveling Magician has found a new home, my living room.

There is much to do here at home and I am hard at work. With Thanksgiving just days away and Christmas closing in fast. I’m going to have to be extra Amazing the rest of the year. I started it off yesterday by cleaning the garage.

Today I leave for Virginia to visit my good friend and Magic Mentor, Peter Monticup. It’s quite a drive and can be done in one day, but I usually break it up into 2. I hope to take some pictures along the way of the many rivers and mountains I cross on the way there. Once there it will be non-stop Amazing! Magic, Magic, Magic. A little work a little play.

I am very excited. This trip is always very good for my sole and has been long over due. There was little argument from Marcia when they called and asked me to come, she knows I need this and it will be good for me. I think my moods as of late have been driving her crazy and I usually come back from this trip completely re-energized, so she is probably relieved to see me go.

When I was a little boy, growing up in upstate New York, my best friend was a girl namd Susie Rush. Susie lived next door. Like most little girls, Susie had parents, their names were Mr. Rush and Mrs. Rush.

Down the street a little ways lived another friend, Danny Thiel. Danny, of course, had parents too, their names were Mr. and Mrs. Thiel.

Later in life, as a 10 year old in the city of Chicago, I had a good friend named Joshua Gerrick. Josh’s parents were Mr. and Mrs. Gerrick.

Still later, as a teenager in St. Louis, I had many friends, and their parents all had the same first name, Mr. or Mrs.

The parents of my little Brother’s best friend also became close friends to my parents. They were Mr. and Mrs. Young. Now, 30 years later, I still run into the Young’s from time to time, and their name hasn’t changed, it’s still Mr. or Mrs. Young.

A little over 20 years ago, I was just out of the Navy, and had been around the world. I certainly felt all grown up. Somehow I decided, I wasn’t going to address my Parents as Mom and Dad anymore. I was grown up now, so I was going to call them, Donna and Jim. My parents put up with it a few days, until one night at dinner, I wanted a little salt and I said, “Pass the salt, Jim.” I remember it like it was yesterday, my Mother had had enough. “I don’t like that!” she remarked, “it’s disrespectful!”

That was the end of that.

Almost 6 years ago, we moved back to my teenage neighborhood, Mom, lives down the street, Mr. and Mrs. Young just a little further. Mr. and Mrs. Lasker live just around the corner. My old Social Studies teacher lives a couple of blocks away, his name is Mr. Kopolow.

Shorty after moving, my oldest daughter began to make friends with the other kids in the neighborhood, but suddenly a new trend in names was beginning to appear. The 8 year old child next door was addressing me as Brian, not Mr. Kessel, just Brian. I thought this was pretty strange.

It wasn’t long before I noticed my 8 year old referring to her friends parents as Nancy and Mark, or Gerald, or Brad, etc., etc. Early on I made the comment at breakfast, “Bonnie, I don’t like you addressing these grownups by their first name. You should call them, Mr. Sophir or Mrs. Sophir.”

My Wife responded for my oldest Daughter in her defense, “Oh, it’s OK, all the Kids call them that, Nancy doesn’t mind.”

Now looking back on that moment, I can’t believe I didn’t come up with the old adage, “Well, if everyone is jumping off a cliff are you going to as well?” but I didn’t.

Now it’s just commonplace, Mr. and Mrs. don’t exist anymore. Mark and Nancy are just fine in my liberal, PC neighborhood where anything goes.

Last night, on the way to my oldest daughter’s soccer game, I heard her refer to her coaches as Brad and Gerald. She’s 14 now and it’s a casual first name world.

My daughter has one friend that I often have my doubts about, and yet, she stands alone. She is the only person I know that calls me Mr. Kessel, and I love her for it.

Courtesy and respect are the foundations of moral behavior. I think it’s a terrible mistake to teach children it’s OK to address adults by their first name.

I’m 44 now and about a year ago, I ran into my old Social Studies teacher, Mr. Kopolow. After greeting him he said to me “Call me Jeff.” I couldn’t do it.

“You’ll aways be Mr. Kopolow to me.”

Well, I was wrong. It looks like the Democrats now control the House and possibly the Senate. I’m sure the terrorists are dancing in the streets.

It’s also a sad day for Missouri, as we now have a lying crook for a Senator.

I am seriously disappointed and worried for the future of this country. I think it’s ironic that the end of Democracy, as we know it, will be brought forth by the “Democratic” Party.

Finally! The day has come to vote. Hopefully, the 20-50 pollsters calling my house each day will now give it a rest. I don’t watch much TV, but I am sick of the political commercials I do see, and hear. I am amazed at the level of ethics in politics today, it’s sickening. Many of these commercials, that are designed to sway my opinion, actually solidify it by presenting their morally starved, distorted misinformation.

I think the Democrats will be in for a surprise this time around. They will play dirty, and they will loose poorly. They are getting pretty good at both.

The primary reason I haven’t been blogging the past few days is, I’ve been busy with an election of my own.

In a very similar situation, our condo complex, Parkview Bay, recently had an election of their own. The purpose was to fill 4 of 7 positions on the Board of Directors. I had been planning for quite sometime to run for one of those positions and had convinced 3 other friends to join me in the race. My plan was to actually take control of the board.

I worked quite hard in recent weeks beating the bushes and gathering proxies. Many were obtained in the final hour. The vote took place this last Saturday morning, in Osage Beach. The night before the election, a good friend suggested that my little election would be an omen representing the outcome of today’s race.

I hope he was right. Not only did I get elected, but so did my 3 friends.