| January 5, 2005 Musing about this "new" little tea pot.... (This isn't a photo of the little teapot. I scanned in one of my recent bottle acquisitions. It is a British poison bottle. It says, "Not To Be Taken" on the side.) |
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If this month we are in, is spelled, J A N U A R Y, then why in the world isn't the second month spelled, F E B U A R Y? (Feb You Arie) Nobody pronounces the first R in FebRuary. Imagine it, Feb Roo Arie. Sounds strange doesn't it?
I was just writing my cousin. At the end of the E-mail, I was writing about this little green tea pot I got recently. "Trying out the 'new' teapot I got in Canada on my birthday. Can you believe that the Salvation Army was having a half off sale on my birthday? This is a Canadian made tea pot, which is heavy restaurant 'china'. It makes about one cup of tea. I think it is cute. If I still had all those books in here, and the floor bounced up and down, then I might feel like I was on a train journey. Too bad that Amtrak doesn't go to Amarillo anymore. (At least that is what I heard.) The tea doesn't taste too bad out of this little pot. Does this mean that I have a pot to.... No! I don't guess it does. Ha!"
The history channel had one of their "Modern Marvels" on tonight. The subject was "containers". I have always had this fascination with containers. I have always had a "thing" for bottles. I always liked purses too. And now I have developed a "thing" for tea pots. Of course I always liked old dishes. Then there's the old suitcases I collected so I could decorate (decoupage) on them.
I have this vague memory of riding on a bus from Missouri, to Texas with my grandmother. I don't know how many days it took us to get to her home in West, Texas. I know we took two days to drive that way by car. I don't know if they bus went the direct route we normally went. Then there were the "air plane rides" I took as a kid. That was from Texas to Missouri or from Missouri to Texas. There was this fascination with the little lights above the seat. Then there was the little "facilities" on the bus and the plane. They had lights, and little places to put things. And the wash basin was small as well. The "galley" where the "stewardess" (flight attendant) put the lunches and drinks together was "cute". Some how it all reminded me of the ash tray and cigarette light in the back seat of the Cadillac cars my grandparents owned. There was this fascination with technology normally found inside the house but yet found in small places in the car, plane or buss. I also liked the "train case" (suitcase for make up) that my grandmother took with her on trips. It had this neat mirror on the inside of the lid. Her cars also had this mirrored light on the passenger side visor. (I think in psychology, they would call this some sort of "association".)
I don't know why I have the fascination with travel. Really I like to be in one place. We moved around a bit when I was a child. I have been here in Michigan more than 10 years. It is just exciting to have all that you need in a small container, and to be packed up cozy in the car, plane or whatever. I hate flying though (I am not afraid of it) but that story is for another day.
I saw a movie once with Dean Martin as a spy. He went in his car as if he were having it fixed. They hoisted it up and he and another spy were still in the car. They watched a "movie" in the rear view mirror. I thought that sort of thing was very "neat oh". Then some of the gadgets that James Bond was famous for, were cool too.
I know my stepfather's mother had this vanity that held old makeup and jewelry. You lift the lid and it had a mirror and storage inside it. Way cool! We have this little "niche" upstairs in the "naughty pine" (knotty pine) of the paneling. It is a little desk or vanity built onto the wall. It has a nice drawer in it. There is a neat light above it. There isn't a mirror there, but you can hang one on the wall there if you want to risk the brittle paneling. You would have to be a toothpick or a Munchkin to actually use it.
The idea of having a place for everything and everything in it's place, seemed "neat" to me too. For instance, there was this purse advertised on television once, that was the height of organization. It had everything, including a pencil in it's own holder. I didn't buy one because I knew that in two days time nothing would get put back where it belonged and all the "little stuff" would end up at the bottom of the purse in a big jumble. It was a great idea though. Upstairs I have some compacts. They are for putting face powder in them. (That's the brownish powder that women put on their faces, not gun powder or talcum powder.) One of them even has a holder for a lipstick. The whole thing has a chain on it. I guess you are supposed to take it along instead of a purse. Which wouldn't work these days. A woman has to have her three cell phones and everything else she drags with her when she goes somewhere.
This is leading up to something... I know I have seen people in the "Pullman" cars in old movies. Those are the cars where they slept and it looked like the passengers were sleeping in moving bunk beds. (one bed on top of another) I have also seen movies where the train passengers slept in their own compartment. I would really enjoy taking such a journey. I have dreamed that I have done that---sort of. I dreamed once about this motel room --- or was it a large train compartment? It was vintage 1930's. There were lots of chrome or mirrored cabinets (cupboards) that opened up into lighted mirrored storage. They were probably places where you put your make up on. It was very cool! There was a niche and place for everything you could imagine---probably including the lipstick.
If anyone wants to take a train ride with me to Chicago.... Douglas and I went to Chicago twice. We were going to a sort of Biblical "conference" and they got group rates. So we stayed at the Chicago Hilton. It is a great place. I bet if we went during the "off season" and we booked a head, we could get a good deal to stay there. Maybe? I still have the restaurant guide they gave us. It listed restaurants as to price of the meals. We ate at some really legendary places that weren't horribly expensive. (depending on what you mean by "horribly expensive") ("Olive Garden" is the most expensive we do on a regular basis. And we don't eat there but maybe two to four times a year.) I want to go back to this one restaurant that is apparently a legend in Chicago. I forget the name of it. If I remember correctly, Douglas' friend Duane said we should have ordered the "prime rib" in there. We didn't.
Duane knows all the best places to eat. When we went to Chicago the second time, Mom and Tom came down from Peoria and took me back to Peoria. I rode a train home. I forget which town I had to go to get to the train. Chillicothe maybe? I know one town was the one people in Peoria liked to leave from and the other one they liked to arrive in. Then there was another time I went to Peoria from Dearborn by train. I had to change trains in Chicago. People take the train to Chicago for shopping trips and then they fly home. At least they used to do that back in the 1990's. The train from Dearborn to Chicago basically follows Michigan Avenue all the way there. That used to be the only road from Detroit to Chicago. U.S. 12 pretty much stays Michigan Avenue the whole way from Detroit to Chicago. If you start out at the Detroit River in Detroit, and you follow Michigan Ave. west, you end up in Chicago (supposing you don't loose it) and the street you end up on is Michigan Avenue. I have had two dreams where I was in Chicago and I was trying to find Michigan Avenue all night. I was lost and I knew that if I could just find Michigan Avenue, I could head east and find home eventually. If you want to go to Chicago for a long weekend or whatever, let me know and maybe we can arrange it.
I really want to visit Toronto when my pen pal moves there. Of course I would give them time to settle in first. But if you want to take a train to Toronto, let me know and we can figure that out too. I don't know if they still have it, but you could take a train from Michigan to Toronto, and then from Toronto west across the Rockies. They had special cars that allowed you a good view of the Rocky Mountains. I would really, really, really enjoy that one!!!!!!!! Can't wait to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I have to find me an "Elmer" now. An Elmer is someone who helps a person study for an Amateur Radio (Ham) license. I got my first book, "Now You're Talking" that is the book to study in order to get the first license. There are different licenses for different things people do. It is late and I don't want to explain it now. Of course I don't understand it 100% anyway. The book says the info should be good for a year. That is unless the FCC decides to change the regulations or rules. I did find a guy who could help me before, I just didn't pursue that. I need to get back in touch with him I guess. I got a very nice expensive radio from someone we know. I can't believe it, but they gave me a basically brand new radio for free. I just have to learn how to use it. It is a radio for using in a car or truck. But you can use it at home on a table too. You can read about it in the "radio pages" on the "radio favorites" page. I need to add this book and another book that I ordered to the listings on "Radio Favorites" page. Will write more as things progress.
Oh!!!!!! That's what I wanted to tell you, I remember now!!!! Duh!!!!!!!! Radio... this book shows illustrations for using a hand held transmitter radio. There are small amateur radios that are hand held. In order to protect the user from RF Radiation, they recommend that the antenna be pointed away from the user. It should be pointed away from the head especially away from the eyes. They recommend that the radio be kept so much distance from the user. I find this very puzzling. Is the RF Radiation from this type of radio greater than one would find in using a cell (mobile) phone? I do not like using the cell phone. I would recommend that you don't keep the cell phone glued to your ear. A cell phone is a radio transmitter! In the U.K. they recommend that children limit their use of cell phones. (growing brains and all that)
Enough ranting I guess.
Thanks for reading. Robyn in Michigan
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