MAILING CHILDREN / AN INFANT INDUSTRY

Pay the postage, affix the stamps, put a name tag on ’em, and mail them out! Children!

There was a time. Like 1913. The U. S. Postal system was looking for new ways to make money. Someone came up with the idea of parcel posting children. Babies and small children. They had to weigh 11 pounds or less.

Not an expense. To ship a qualifying child from Stratford, Oklahoma to Wellington, Kansas cost 18 cents for postage. The child was delivered to the post office and arrangements made. Thereafter the child traveled with a postman to the final destination.

The system did not last long. Fortunately, it was stopped before one of the “child packages” got lost.

I have to thank Ryno for this interesting piece of information. Ryno posted it on FB this morning. Ryno grew up about 15 miles from my hometown and is now a local Key West radio announcer. One of the best. When I started internet broadcasting several years ago, Ryno taught me. He took me into the broadcasting studio, told me to punch this then that, etc, and left me. I knew from nothing what to do before I arrived and after he left!

I am glad that for all intents and purposes the Syracuse basketball season is over. I could not take much more. Yes, Syracuse will be in the Big Dance starting next week. As a 7 or 8 seed. Not a #1 seed as anticipated as recently as two weeks ago. Syracuse has lost 5 of its last 7 games. The team went 25-0 before disaster struck.

The season has exhausted me. Wiped me out. Too many emotional games. I do not give Syracuse much hope in the big tournament. If the team wins two games, it will be lucky. I am of little faith.

Last night, Syracuse lost to North Carolina State 68-63. Syracuse was a 9 point favorite.

I watched the game at Lukas’ Sports Pub with Don, Chris and Ed. Don flew in from Korea thursday. Spent friday in South Beach. Now winding down in Key West for a few days.

Met Nancy last night. She is the owner of Salsa Loca, John Lukas’ new partner in the Big Ten Sports Pub. Nancy is the food end of the operation. A nice lady. However, we did not start off well. She is a North Carolina State graduate. I told her I would eat elsewhere after Syracuse lost!

I spent several hours yesterday editing some chapters from Growing Up Italian. Writing is easy. It is the editing that is a pain. Takes 3-4 times longer  than the writing. Necessary, however. Editing polishes the writing. Big time!

The MTV house sits across the water from me. In all its colorful glory.

There are college kids staying this week. It is Spring Break time. The MTV home and property are huge. A separate gym building, in addition. Tennis courts and a basketball court outside.

The college kids are all males. I counted 20 yesterday morning sitting on the deck, shoulder to shoulder. Who was fishing, who was chatting, who was sleeping, who appeared to be getting over a hangover, etc.

There is a large bus parked next to the gym. I assume the guys rented it for the trip to Key West.

One problem. No, they not noisy and rowdy. Actually, quiet quite. No girls. I have not seen one young lady since they arrived sunday. Highly unusual! I suspect the group may be part of a gay fraternity.

St. Patrick’s Day is monday. The Key West party started friday. Everyone doing the Duval Crawl. Wearing St. Patty Day tee shirts, green hats, and drinking green beer. Day and night. The party will continue through monday. The partiers having a good time. If it rains, guaranteed the sewers will overflow green.

I am perplexed by the loss of the Malaysian plane. In this day and age, how can a large jet with well over 200 passengers disappear. I read this morning that the Malaysian government has hired  a shaman to help locate the plane. A shaman is a person with extra mental and telepathy powers. They see, hear and feel where others cannot. Comparable to one who claims to be able to talk with the dead.

Modern science is amazing!

Enjoy your day!

 

SLEPT!

I finally slept. Last night Italian time. Nine to nine. Twelve straight hours. The sleep of the dead. I needed it!

I did an easy Sunday yesterday in Novara. That was all my body could handle.

I walked in the morning. For an hour. I am staying in an apartment in the old part of Novara. It is referred to as its downtown, also. The buildings are all medieval. Built between 1,000 AD and 1,500 AD. The fronts have been redone. Probably in the last 50 years. The interiors remain the same.

I am staying a few days with friends in the same apartment I was in last year at this time. The third/top floor of a medieval building.

The interior stairway impresses me. Wide, huge and attractive in its simplicity.

The apartment is 7,000 to 8,000 square feet. Many rooms. Ceilings 20 feet high. Marble floors. Baroque ceilings. From my bed, I look up at deer/stags, dogs, and flowers. All ancient. Circa 1,500 AD.

Electricity continues to be a problem. Italy is being devastated because of the euro. Everything cut back. Including power. I walk in the dark. I am required to keep lights out, only power the room I am in. Tough finding the bathroom in the middle of the night under these conditions!

However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do!

There is no vehicular traffic permitted on the roadways in this neighborhood. The wide streets appear ancient. Stones in concrete. Reminded me of the Appian Way. Old bricks in the middle.

The ground floor of all the buildings have high class stores. Even the one I am in. Top of the line. Women’s clothes especially Beautiful.

Day and night, the streets are full of people. Walking, talking, sitting at outdoor cafes, etc.

This year there is also entertainment.

Two nights ago when I came in, there was a crowd one block away. Noise and music could be heard. I investigated. A prize fight was going on. There sitting in the middle of the road was a ring set about four feet high. Two young fighters going at it. I enjoy boxing. Did a little in the past. I watched a while. I could not ascertain if the boxers were professional or amateur. My guess would be professional. They were too good to be otherwise.

Last night, I took a walk before bed time. On one street there was an area cordoned off. Inside, fencers. Young. Ten to thirteen I would estimate. Dressed all in white. The whole thing professional. The rapiers jabbing away, the feet equally fast.

I turned the corner and there was another ring type set up. Men and women dressed in dark blue from their necks to ankles to wrists. I suspect it was some sort of yoga demonstration. I never found out. It started pouring and I left.

My walk yesterday morning involved Church goers. There are three Catholic Churches in a three block radius. I visited all three while Mass was going on. I am Catholic and a former altar boy. The Latin Mass as I knew it is long gone. However, I have learned in my travels that an Italian Mass sounds just like a Latin one. So, I enjoy and was comforted.

I rested in the afternoon. The jet lag had the best of me.

Around 5, friends I met last year visited me. Antonio and his wife Miriam. Together with their children Sara and Elia. Antonio is a highway construction expert. Works for one of the major highway construction companies in Europe. Travels all over. Miriam is a chef. And a very good one! She cooked birthday dinner for me last year. A treat!

Sara is 13, Elia 8. Elia and I have bonded. We are buddies.

Antonia and Miriam are a modern world couple. He is Italian, she Moroccan.

Antonio had just returned from a one week vacation with the children in Elba. Miriam remained home. She had to work. Antonio had a lengthy video of the Elba trip. Fascinating!o

Elba is beautiful. The water clear. The greenery green. You will recall that Napoleon’s first exile was to Elba. I saw pictures of his home on the island, his bedroom, the household furnishings. Exile could not have been so bad!

I learned also that Elba is an hour boat ride from Tuscany.

Napoleon is a part of history and conversation in northern Italy. This year, last and apparently for all time. Some admire and respect Napoleon’s accomplishments. Others view him as a murderer, almost in the same vein as Hitler.

Napoleon conquered Italy and made himself King. Back in 1805. The Italy of 1805 was not the same as the Italy iof today. It was small and situated in the north central portion of present day Italy. It basically encompassed the regions surrounding Milan and Pavia.

Some speak of the good Napoleon did.

Everyone speaks of the bridges he built. They stand even today. There are many waterways in the area. He covered them all, thereby providing easy passage.

History tells us Italy was discombobulated as a nation till 1860 when Garibaldi united the provinces. Napoleon tried. He succeeded however only in the small area that was Italy during his time.

The area needed manufacturing. The French were famous for their cheeses. Napoleon arranged for factories to open to make cheeses. It was during this time and in one of these factories that the Italian famous gorgonzola cheese was invented/created.

Illness was particularly rampant. Especially diseases accessible/acquired from dead bodies. Churches were in the center of towns. Cemeteries immediately surrounded the churches. Apparently, the bodies were not healthfully buried. Napoleon ordered all cemeteries henceforth to be outside the confines of towns.

As to those who refer to him as a murderer, it is not attributable to killings which might have taken place in northern Italy. They refer to Napoleon’s conquests throughout Europe.

I thought I had everything set up to do my blog talk radio show from Europe. We tested it from Washington. Everything worked smoothly. Spent several hours afterwards with Verizon to be sure we had it. Spent additional monies and made more changes. Verizon has failed me this year as it did last. I spent two hours this morning with three computer geeks at the largest communication store I have ever seen. It is all too much for me. Tomorrow night’s show is questionable. I will know better in the morning if it can go forward and advise.

That is the end of yesterday in Novara.

Enjoy your day!