A Fathers Gift

My first typewriter, a summers work.

As children growing up it was expected my sister and I would help out in the daily routine of running the family business. Somewhere in my mid-teens as school was about to come to a close for the summer months, I expressed an interest in finding a job for the duration. After all I was twelve, and if I could fly a plane, I could certainly hold down a full time summer job. My father; who I think after dwelling over the fact that he was about to lose half of his free labor force, came to me with an offer. “Work for me during vacation and I will pay you at the end of the summer.” He said. “Ah; money in the bank.” I thought. So work I did for nary a dime till summer drew to a close.


A week or so before it was time to go back to school, my father replaced the old typewriters In his office with the brand new style Underwood. As summer drew to a close and the time to return to school had arrived, as well as the long awaited payment for my labor. After finishing up the last day’s work ending my part of the bargain, I was called into his office to receive that long awaited compensation, which my father was holding in his hands. Proudly, if not somewhat reluctantly he passed on his old friend to me, along with a ream of paper, a box of assorted ribbons, paper clips, and my first stapler, well as well as the following statement. “This has served me well, and I know it will be with you for many years to come.”


Needless to say after expecting a pocket full of cash, not my father’s old typewrite; I was a little disappointed to say the least. However as fathers usually are, in his infinite wisdom he was right. His prized possession that could miraculously put word to paper by touching the right combination of keys, somehow without auto correct, or spell check Undy, always knew what I wanted to say, and had found a new best friend in me. Furthermore, as some friends often do she tagged along where ever I went. Undy followed me through High School, College, Flight School, Officers Candidate School, then eventually on to Cambodia and Vietnam, where together we wrote and published our very first articles. Because of the circumstances of war, Undy never made it home, however I hope she was able to find a new best friend and again will be putting words on paper, this time; perhaps in a new language.

THE BIG THREE

Well snails may be slow but given enough time they will reach their destination, and after a start again stop again journey that lasted sixty years; so has the Citroen 2CV Tin Snail. Designed in the 1930’s and ready for production 1n 1939, but because of material shortages due to the 2nd World War, it didn’t see dealers showrooms for almost another ten years. However, from 1948 on it would be produced for some 42 years until 1990, with minimal design changes. During that time several new models were introduced, including a pickup truck, and a four wheel drive version of the original CV2. (You can see photos of both vehicles at the end of this article.)

The vehicle was the brainchild of, Pierre-Jules Boulanger, since the French economy was, and for the most part still is, based on agriculture, his vision was to remove the rural farm peasants from the horse and buggy, and move them into the new age of the automobile, and do it at a price that everyone could afford. After interviewing 10,000 potential customers in what must have been one of the first ever examples of mass market research. Boulanger’s instructions to his engineers were simple. “It had to be able to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field, accommodate a tall man wearing a hat and be drivable by a farmer wearing clogs who had little or no experience of maintaining a motor car. As far as image went, Boulanger's memo added: "I confirm to you that the looks don't really bother me."

With a top speed of 37mph, this little gem got something just over 50mpg. I’m not sure if that was with, or without the basket of eggs, but a gas guzzler it was not. And according to, Auto Express UK, their about to do it again.

The redesigned Citroën 2CV, will be ready for the auto shows sometime in 2009, and will likely be a diesel-electric hybrid with high mpg and low emissions.

So you ask? What does all this have to do with the title of this article, The Big Three? Well for one, I simply got carried away with the snail. And two, I have a hard time saying “hello” in less than 350 words or so. However; there is a number three. Yep, You got it; The Big Three. Not so big now, are they? Although Ford seems to be holding its own for the moment, General Motors, and more especially Chrysler are all but finished as being associated with what is the saying? Chevrolet and apple pie? Now it will be more like, Crepes Suzette, and the American Tax Payer. Sound harsh? It is, but it didn’t have to be that way. And if you’ll pardon my French, where the hell are the Lee Iacocca’s when you need them?

There was a lesson to be learned from what Pierre-Jules Boulanger, did with Citroen, in 1949. His little auto for the peasants, bailed out a financially ailing Citroen, and put them in the black. Lee Iacocca did it again in 1979 when he approached The United States Government and asked for a loan guarantee, which he received and was able to repay seven years early than agreed to. Both did this by producing a line of vehicles for the masses. Vehicles that almost anyone could afford. Cheap to buy, and cheap to operate.

So what happened? The economy saw a few years of prosperity, and the lessons learned went by the wayside. Now they’re going to try and save it all by downsizing. Closing plants, laying off what will in the end be thousands of employees, and selling out to foreign auto makers. Why not do as Boulanger did, simply put the question to The American Auto Buyer? Ask them what they want, ask them what they need. They, (The Big Three) may be surprised with the answer. I know it’s too late for General Motors, and Chrysler, at this point if either of them come out of this whole it will be a miracle. And if they do, unless they remember the lessons of Pierre-Jules Boulanger, and Lido Anthony Iacocca, they will only be biding their time.

I don’t propose they build vehicles with a top speed of 37 mph, and canvas tops. But with today’s technology they can produce a car for the masses, cheap to buy, and cheap to operate, just as Boulanger, and Iacocca did. Only this time; don’t forget the lesson.

© 2010 J. Francis All Rights reserved

Green Tea - Click This Link

I received an email recently giving me the opportunity to either accept, or reject an assignment to write an article on the, Calming Effects of Green Tea. With over a dozen other projects in the works I put it off for a couple of days so I could catch up on the work I already had. I also wanted time to do a little online research to see if it was something I was even interested in writing. But as sometimes happens (and more often than not lately) I waited too long, and someone else beat me to the punch. Lucky them.


However, not wanting to let 30 plus pages, (already printed out) of research go to waste, and having material on what appeared could be a very interesting article, I decided to write the following account, and post it for all to see.


GREEN TEA & THEANINE


Okay, I know what green tea is. But what is Theanine? (pronounced; tea-anene) To begin with it’s an Amino Acid (Amino acids are critical to life, and play a variety of roles in metabolism. One particularly important function is as the building blocks of proteins,) that is found in all teas; as well as certain mushrooms, boletus badius, (I know what you’re thinking, but these are edible mushrooms, the type you would feed to your family) and is what gives tea it’s flavor. To quote Carolyn Pierini. “It is the predominant amino acid in green tea leaves, giving it it’s characteristic umami, or 5th taste. Besides sweet, salty, acid, and bitter.”


(Carolyn Pierini, CLS (ASCP), Nutritional Consultant CNC, is a Clinical Laboratory Scientist who specializes in Medical Microbiology, the study of microorganisms and their relationship to your health.)


I’m sure if you’re a tea drinker, you are aware of the calming affects tea has, as compared to that of an equal amount of coffee, that’s because of the caffeine, even though they both contain caffeine, (coffee about 80 milligrams per 5 ounce cup, and green tea only 20 milligrams per 8 ounce cup, or one tea bag) tea also contains, Theanine, which counter acts the affects of the caffeine and produces that calming effect. But it doesn’t stop there. According to Wikipedia: Theanine is related to glutamine, and can cross the blood-brain barrier. Because it can enter the brain, theanine has psychoactive properties. Theanine has been shown to reduce mental and physical stress, may produce feelings of relaxation, and improves cognition and mood, when taken in combination with caffeine.


I do like tea before bed, but since I am primarily a coffee drinker, and I like it strong, I tend to like tea the same way, strong; so I use two bags per 8 ounce cup, plus no milk or sugar. Although lemon and honey are nice at times, the sugar tends to keep me awake at night, undoing the calming affect theanine would naturally have. For those of you that like a glass of warm milk before bed; try the two together, and watch what happens. I’ve done it as an experiment and trust me, I slept like a baby.


I can also tell you that about mid-day when I have already been writing for six hours or so, and my brain has become somewhat soggy, a half hour break, a double strength cup of green tea, do a few stretches, and a ten minute walk, seems to realign the synapse and wakes me up enough to face the next five or six hours. However, on more than one occasion time has been in such short demand, the walk, and stretches give way to; just the tea, and I am pretty much back to my early morning self. Now I have no idea why it seems to have the opposite effect on me during the day, I’m just grateful it does. None of my experiments would be sanctioned by the scientific community, or the FDA, but green tea by itself, works for me.


Research (Real Research) has shown that it takes anywhere from 30 – 40 minutes after you drink a cup of green tea to see the results. As for myself I seem to fall in that 30 minute range, actually even less, 15 minutes or so and it has me calmed down. But I believe it is all related to our metabolism, and you own personal makeup. Even at my age, (65) yep I’m 65, I am an extremely hyper individual, with an over abundance of energy, so much so that I usually drive everyone around me crazy who is the opposite. Doctors in the past have prescribed various medications to calm me down, and calm me down they did, all of them following the same progression from; somewhat slowed down, to extremely slowed down, to unable to sort out my thoughts, and eventually slipping into a comma and not waking up for the next 10 – 12 hours. Then when I wake from this vegetative state, it takes the next 10 hours or so to regain my senses. Wow; I just lost an entire day. Now suppose for a minute I were to follow the directions on the bottle, I would sleep the entire week away. Needless to say I don’t like, or take prescribed mood enhancing medications, or over the counter for that matter, they all seem to have the same effect on me, so I’ll stick with my green tea, and the world will just have to deal with me as I am.


If you don’t like tea, but would like the calming effects that theanine produces, there are any number of companies producing in it in pill form, and with all the claims substantiated by Wikipedia. If you go to Google, or whatever search engine you use and type in, Theanine, you will get more than enough information, and advertising, which is sometimes difficult to sort out. I will try and give you some information on dosage as recommended by several studies I came across.


Again to quote Carolyn Pierini, “The intended use of L-theanine is that of a mental and physical relaxant that does not induce drowsiness. Although there is no set schedule for taking L-theanine, it may generally be taken at the first signs of stress. Based on the results of the clinical studies, L-theanine is most effective in the range of 50-200 mg, with the effect being felt within 30 minutes and lasting for 8-10 hours. Individuals with high stress levels may increase their dosage of L-theanine to at least 100 mg, with no more than 600 mg being taken in a six hour period. FDA recommends a maximum dose of 1200 mg daily, although the reason for this limit is not clear, due to its demonstrated safety. There are no known adverse reactions to L-theanine and no drug interactions have been reported. L-theanine is not affected by food and may be taken anytime, as needed. Because it has a mild taste, capsules may be opened and dissolved in water. Although it is probably safe for pregnant women and nursing mothers, we discourage its use by them pending conclusive research.”


Other studies say that dosages ranging from 100-200 milligrams are common, while still others recommend dosages from 200 to 400, however; all agree you should not exceed 600 milligrams in a six hour period.


Now at this point it might help to tell you that a cup of green tea from the west, (That’s Us) contains about 10 milligrams of Theanine, whereas a cup of tea from the east, (China or Japan) can contain as much as 5 times the amount. And scientific studies have shown that you need at least 50 milligrams to have a beneficial impact. Check out your local oriental stores, they should carry the higher grade of teas. As I stated earlier, when I make my tea I like it strong and use 2 bags; and also as I said, it does the trick for me. My only suggestion at this point is to experiment and see what works for you.


I hope I have given you enough information that you can decide for you self whether you want the tea, or simply buy the capsules. As I said, myself; I am not a lover of medicine, and prefer the results I get from the tea. Either way, if you need to relax, and calm down, get your daily dose of Theanine.
J. Francis

Flight of Fancy

“For The Pumpkin Princess”


Role Playing, there are any number of words and terms for it, just look in a thesaurus. A taradiddle, imagination, play-acting, pretense, make-believe, fantasy, daydream, castle in the sky, pipe dream, flight of fancy, sham, or even cloud-cuckoo-land; just to name a few.


Moreover, I have to admit that at one time I had no clue the expression even existed, or for that matter, that it was worthy of such handles. Which handles by the way, you can grab on to and have free reign, poetic license. The license used by a writer or artist to heighten the effect of their work. And according to our constitution, you are free to do or say whatever you want. In addition, should you go too far and offend someone, all you have to do is apologize by printing a retraction, buried so deep in the five hundred page Sunday edition of the New York Times, that no one will see it anyway.


Then why wouldn't the term carry a label? Everything else sports a tag of some sort. All the same, I digress and I am getting away from my flight of fancy. A memory I hope offends no one.
Ψ
On a crisp evening in the fall of nineteen eighty something, a night so well lighted by the radiance of the full moon that it caught the attention of my youngest daughter. Who so enraptured by yet another new discovery in her young life, found it necessary to have me join her on the front porch, and observe this wonder in tandem.


As she gazed skyward, I could tell that her attention was directed to a point in the heavens far beyond that radiant orb, known as the moon. The universe, another first discovery. I’m not sure which question came first. “What’s out there, or where does it end?” Followed by a torrent of questions, that made the water flowing over the Horseshoe of Niagara Falls seem small in comparison. However, it was her next statement, worded as much as a question that made me realize I had a thinker on my hands.


“Daddy, the sky is so bright, we should be able to see the flying saucers leaving the Moon tonight, shouldn’t we?


Well, talk about taking advantage of a situation. Then, on the other hand, she left herself wide open for what popped into my head. After all, she loved stories, weather read from a book, recited from memory, or conjured from the depths of my imagination. Now the opportunity presented itself for a story that would allow her to interact. (There we go, role-play.) What's more, is how she responded and beat me to the punch that took me by surprise?


I had discovered early on, Sharon’s off the cuff ability to improvise in a conversation. I only thought I would have a little fun and throw something out there, and find out how far she could run with it. I simply didn’t realize the depths to which her imagination reached, nor exactly how fast my little thinker could run. In addition, I certainly wasn’t ready when she took control of my little game of role-play, and ran so far out ahead of me that I was now playing a game of catch-up with a ten year old.




“Sharon, my love.” I would have said were I given the opportunity.
“I have to tell you something about the flying saucers, and I have to tell you now, because there isn’t much time left for me.”


That was my intended opening line. My intention was to tell her that my stay on this planet was fast drawing to an end; that the flying saucers would soon be coming to pick me up and take me back to my own planet. Then in anticipation of her next question, I would point skyward and say. “Somewhere out there Sharon, somewhere beyond the moon, somewhere past the second star to the right, and straight on till morning.” (I can still hear “Scotty” complaining even now. “But she’s gonna blow captain.”) However, that was not to happen. I lost control of the situation before I could get the first word out of my scheming oral cavity. Beaten at my own game by this mere child that somehow anticipated what I was going to say, and beat me to the punch.


“Daddy, I have something to tell you.” She started.
“Wait a just a minute; this was my part in the script, and it’s my script, not hers. Who gave her the lead role in this play?” I wondered.
With her mother, and my wife of sixteen years listening behind the screen door, and thinking we were both a couple of lunatics; (no pun intended) I was taken on a wondrous ride through the universe, past that second star to the right, and on till morning, finally landing on her home planet. Whose inhabitants as it turned out, looked exactly the same as we did. Which made me curious, and I posed the following question. “Why did you make the people on your planet, look the same as the people here on earth?”


“Well Dad, it just seems that if God created man, and Women, she added, in “her” own image, (woman’s lib, already at ten) and she created the heavens and the earth. Don’t you think she would make the people on other planets all look the same?”


Wow, here we go, my little thinker, and now she was going to throw the whole thing back in my lap. (She will grow to be a very clever woman I thought.) Creating another half hour debate, ending with my daughter making another new discovery. Daddy is not as smart as she thought, and doesn’t have all the answers. (Moreover, I do have to make an admission, at that time; I didn’t have all the answers.)


In addition to which the person listening behind the screen door, was by this time totally convinced that she should call someone in white coats. “Whatever gave her that idea?”


A story Rod Serling himself would have been intrigued with, and I am certain had he been the one standing behind the screen door would have found it worthy of at least two, half hour episodes of the Twilight Light Zone. What's more, all this from the mind of my ten-year-old daughter?


As we whiled away the evening without the aid of television, or other electrical devises, memories were created. Memories so precious, they cry out to be shared with whoever will listen. In drawing to a close, I hope this particular memory is as precious to my daughter Sharon, as it is to me.




“I’ll Always Love Ya Sharon!”
“Dad”


The best part of not being perfect is simply,
The joy that it brings to others.
J. Francis

Wadswoth Atheneum

A Visit to Hartford Connecticut
By: J. Francis




A visit to Hartford would not be complete without exploring one of its most famous landmarks. Built in 1842, the Castle like, Gothic Revival Structure, better known as The Wadsworth Atheneum, is located at 600 Main Street, and it’s less than a five minute walk from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in downtown Hartford to the oldest public art museum in the United States. Founded by Daniel Wadsworth (1771–1848) of Hartford, who was a traveler, amateur artist, architect, and arts patron. The museum opened its doors on July31, 1844, and has been in continuous operation ever since. The museum first opened its doors with a collection contributed by the Wadsworth family consisting of, 78 paintings, two marble busts, one portrait miniature, and one bronze sculpture. Today that collection has grown to over 50,000 objects, spanning more than 5,000 years of world history. The museum was the first in America to acquire pieces by Salvador Dalí, Balthus, Frederic Church, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Piet Mondrian, to name just a few. Also to be found are pieces including ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian bronzes; paintings from the Renaissance, Baroque, and French and American Impressionist eras, among others; 18th century French porcelains (including Meissen and Sèvres); Hudson River School landscapes; early American clothing and decorations; early African-American art and historical artifacts; and more.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, the $9.00 admission fee is money well spent to get lost in 5000 years of history.


Go to J. Francis Online https://sites.google.com/a/jfrancisonline.com/jfrancisonline/

Not enough time in a day?

Not enough time in a day? I feel exactly the same way!

I looked at the clock on my taskbar; 3:46 am? Are you kidding me? I’ve been either working on a new story , editing something else I had written in the past few days, straining my brain on ad content for a customer’s new brochure, researching the Web to see what that customer’s competition is doing, emailing pdf versions of work in progress for approval, (or Not) and a half dozen other things I can’t remember since I struck the first key at, 8:17 this morning. And that was after somewhere just under three hours sleep last night. Not a typical night I do have to admit. Fore I usually get at least; three and a half to four hours of uninterrupted slumber a night. Isn’t daylight savings supposed to give us more time in a day? Or did I miss something?

I have read everything that has come my way about organizing my time, my question to those who find enough time to write that stuff is. What time? I don’t have any. There isn’t enough time in a day to organize.
Oh; and did I mention? I forgot to eat, and my second cup of coffee had long ago become, ice coffee, not iced coffee, just stale, almost day old; cold coffee.
All this to pay the bills each month, as well as add a few dollars to the slush fund so I can get out once in a while for an evening’s entertainment. (A nice meal would be nice.) While the bills get paid, and the slush fund now looks more like the retirement fund I haven’t found time to start, the latter never seems to happen.
Family and friends are annoyed with me, customers are yelling at me, my first New York Times Best Seller is begging for a few more pages, (my editor as well) and I’m hungry.
How I found time to write this silly Blog I’ll never know. I should feel guilty for taking time away from a paying project. But I don’t. Plus I think I’m going to take even more time, and jog down the street to KFC. Nope; they’re not one of my customers, although I wish they were. But in the world of not so fast food, it’s one of my favorites. I just wish I could get them to deliver, I might eat more. But then, cold chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy aren’t all that bad. I can always wash it down with cold coffee.
So if you find a way to reorganize your day, and have a few hours left over; please find it in your heart to send me a couple of them.


J. Francis

Punctuation Anyone?

Here we go again. (Punctuation Anyone?)

To punctuate, or not to punctuate; that is the question. Or should it be; question? When in doubt, leave it out? How about? Read it the way I wrote it. Catch all those little inflections in my voice. Pause when I pause, ramble when I ramble. Short pause, long pause; longer pause,, even my grammar checker doesn’t like that one.

So what’s with the title of this Blog? And should the word blog even be capitalized? Hmm, I’m not really sure, but again; my grammar checker seems to think so. It says it’s a noun, but is it a proper noun? It’s a thing, I think; so perhaps it deserves a Capitol B.

However, and as usual; I’ve rambled on ahead of myself. The reason I am writing this silly little blog, (should there be a comma after, blog (or Blog)? Or should it be after,) is? Is; again I recently read a Blog by someone who seemed to be very upset with the author’s of several articles she had read and they hadn’t used a comma where she thought they belonged. What was that I said a few line ago? When in doubt, leave it out, or just simply read it the way I wrote it.

I know all the things we were taught about punctuating a sentence, I also know I don’t talk that way. Moreover, I don’t write that way. I write a story the way I would recite it. I take short pauses, long pauses; even longer pauses,, (I emphasize,) and I ramble. Furthermore, as you can see; (LONG PAUSE) I love to ramble. Rambling affords me the opportunity to write on and on for sometimes an entire paragraph without taking the time to take a single breath. Try it, it’s fun to try and find just the right combination of words that allow you to write on without a single comma or semicolon. See; (or is that see,?) no comma needed. At least not for me.

So don’t be upset with they way a particular writer, or author gets his point across, just read it the way they wrote it. (I say they instead of he so I don’t sound like a chauvinist.) That’s why they wrote it that way in the first place, for you to enjoy, not to grade. Sorry; it needed a comma there somewhere. (I only put it there out of fear of retribution from my peers.)

J. Francis

It's In Their Genes

“It’s in their Genes”

I recently read a Blog by what appeared to be the very distraught mother of several teens. In her Blog she mentioned things she had to give up, or put on hold, such as her writing career. Plus the additional duties she had to take on caused by the wants and need’s of her brood. So in answer to that Blog I would like to offer the following. As the Father of three well adjusted adult children now well into their years, and with families of their own. (Ha-ha; pay back time.) I have come to realize that everything we had to put on hold, my writing career included, has been paid back many times over. Children will be children, and teens; well they definitely will be teens, they do what they were born to do, drive you crazy; it’s encoded in their genes. They know what their job description is, and they do it very well. And I don’t think science is going to find a cure for this genetic deficiency any time soon. Also, contrary to popular beliefs, they do come with a set of instruction’s, unfortunately for us, only instruction’s they understand. Furthermore, these instructions are supplied with a built in self destruct mechanism, all you have to do is wait a few years and all memory of their prior behavior has been erased leaving them with a clean conscience. And You? Oh well.
In addition, as they progress further into their teen years and gain more experience, they become more adept and resourceful, allowing them do their job’s even more efficiently, and I might add; with a whole lot more finesse. But thank God, because as I look back on those formative years, I wouldn’t want it to have been any other way. (Yeah Right)
While they were growing up , and as I called them, “The Oh My God what now’s” would occur, I often thought, ah, a new episode; someone should write a story, this one could be a best seller, fore it sounds more like fiction than anything else.
But wait a minute; I’m the author, and as much as I have tried to forget, those memories still haunt me with twenty plus years of chapters, and short stories filed away in memory. Plus the fact that I don’t have to invent new characters, their lives were filled with plenty of them, I couldn't ask for a better cast. So a few embellishments, a little more fictionalization, and voila. So Girls and Boys, file it all away for the future, who knows; you may have a few best sellers, or at the very least several dozen short stories on your hands, all compliments of that goo called the genetic pool.


J. Francis

A Wake Up Call

Scotland’s, Susan Boyle rocked the world with her performance of, I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables on British Television’s, Britains Got Talent. But from the moment she stepped out on the stage, and until she belted out those first mesmerizing notes, if the reaction of the audience was any indication; then I’m certain those watching the program on their television screens at home as well; had pre judged her. As we so unfairly do to so many people when they don’t live up to our standards. What Susan Boyle did on that stage should have been a wake up call to the millions watching. Her performance was nothing less than sensational, and filled the eyes of more than one person in that audience with tears, including mine while it for the first time on You Tube. If ever there was a lesson in, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, this was it. How often do we do this? How often when someone doesn’t quite fit the bill, do we write them off without giving them a chance? I am as guilty of this, as so many others are. When a person doesn’t act, or present themselves as we think they should to fit into society, we tend to write them off as something less than perfect. Someone we wouldn’t want to be seen with because they may tend to embarrass us in front of our friends. Are any of us perfect? Perhaps do we not measure up to someone else’s standards? Do we even want to know what others think of us, what would happen to our egos if we knew? I think before we can judge others, we need to take a hard look at ourselves, and assess what qualities we have that make us fit in. What qualities do others see in us that would want to make them be our friend? What qualities do we have that would make us a good friend, and fun to be around. So before we judge others, as the world judged, Susan Boyle, take some time and turn a few pages, because we can’t really judge a book by it’s cover.

YouTube - BritainsSoTalented's Channel


J. Francis