Insight: Hi-fi remorse and new beginnings

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

Throughout my life, I’ve heard that you never really miss something until it’s gone. I’m here to tell you it’s true, and I’ve decided to do something about that.

A refurbished Sansui G-3500 receiver is the cornerstone
of Ed Pierce's new stereo system. COURTESY PHOTO

This story started a few years ago. A fellow who worked in the same building was creating a stereo system for the warehouse he worked in. I happened to have my old stereo sitting on my back porch for several years gathering dust. I asked him if he wanted it, and he said yes. I boxed it up and hauled it to him a few days later. He thanked me and I left.

The next time I saw him during the following week, I asked how the stereo was working for him. He told me it was not something he wanted so he had thrown it in the dumpster, and it had been hauled away. I was upset and it’s eaten away at me for two years.

About a month ago, I told my wife that I was going to try and rebuild my system if I could find the components. When I started looking online, I found a few good deals. Someone who lived about 10 minutes away was selling a Bose Acoutimass 3 speaker set. But instead of paying $1,000 like I had for the exact same set at Best Buy in 1991, this set was slightly used, but only cost $75. I then purchased the same model Sansui CD player as I had previously owned for $40 on eBay, and that’s also where I found the same model Sansui cassette deck that I had purchased in Germany in 1979. This time though instead of $250, I paid just $50.

Back in 1991, when I was relocating across the country, I had also made the decision to ditch my turntable as record albums were not only heavy to move but were becoming a thing of the past as CDs were all the rage. At that time, it was devastating to part with more than 500 record albums, but I gave them all away. I had been collecting albums since I was first in college and many of them are now considered to be classics and worth a considerable sum if I still had them. But I had made my decision way back when and after moving it was years before I saw new record albums for sale anywhere.

When I first obtained my stereo system from the Base Exchange while serving in the Air Force in Germany, a particular kind of turntable had caught my eye, but in 1978 I simply couldn’t have afforded it on my Air Force salary of $360 a month. It was a Technics linear turntable without a tone arm. The turntable’s stylus is contained in an electronic unit that sweeps across the album and senses precisely where the tracks are.

This time, however, I was able to find a pristine Technics linear turntable from about 1982 in near mint condition. That set me back $200, but when it arrived carefully packed via Fed Ex, I was over the moon. About the same time, my wife had found an old box left in the basement by the previous owners of our home twice removed or so. We opened the box and inside were about 150 old 45 rpm records from the 1960s and 1970s, including some from The Beatles, The Four Seasons, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, and Elton John. That led me to order a 45-rpm adapter for my new linear turntable.

The last piece of the component puzzle for me was the biggest challenge. I wanted to find the exact same Sansui receiver as I had previously owned. I searched for weeks on eBay without much success. That type of vintage Sansui receiver remains in hot demand from stereo enthusiasts worldwide and the few available on eBay were selling for $1,000 or more.

After a lengthy search, I found the one I wanted up for sale at a stereo shop in Massachusetts on a website called Reverb. The shop’s technicians had cleaned it thoroughly inside and out and reconditioned it to work as if it were brand new. I paid $500 and am looking forward to having it shipped to me this week.

Finding vinyl records to play on it is a different matter though. Since I last purchased a vinyl recording in the 1980s, the price seems to have almost quadrupled. What used to be $7.99 is now $29 and $30. I’ve recently visited two Goodwill stores looking at the vinyl albums they have for sale and found two that I purchased for a total of $2. One of those was a 1965 pressing of Gene Pitney’s Greatest Hits. But most of their selection on display were albums my father would have preferred such as Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass or the Ray Coniff Singers.

I plan on researching smaller nearby second-hand record shops to see what vinyl treasures I can find there. I’m also now looking for a stereo stand to put my components together and hook everything up.

Of course it may not be the same, but hopefully even better this time. <

Andy Young: A half-dozen hundreds

By Andy Young

Here’s the latest sign my eyesight might not be what it once was. I bought a book of stamps at my local post office one day a couple of months ago, but when I got home realized I didn't need them right away, as I already had an entire unused sheet. Eventually I used up the old ones, so last week I finally pulled out the stamps I had purchased back in late March. I couldn’t tell if what was pictured on them were the Northern Lights or a watermelon, so I put on my glasses. They were tulip bulbs.

Actresses Diana Rigg, left, and Natalie Wood
were both born on July 20, 1938.
COURTESY PHOTOS

Regardless of optical shortcomings, I enjoy having a platform on which to share my ideas, or what passes for them, on a weekly basis. But it isn’t easy to write exactly 600 words on any one particular topic. There’s a whole lot of subjects I know virtually nothing about. Take technology, for example. I don’t do any social media, and recently when an electronically adept individual I work with at school showed me an “app” that documents how much time a person uses their Smartphone, it revealed I’m on mine for an average of just under eight minutes a day.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson died earlier this month at age 86. Not 82-year-old Jimmy Johnson, who coached the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories in the early 1990s. The just-departed Johnson was a standout cornerback who played 16 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers from 1961 to 1976. Yet despite his impressive resume, the late Mr. Johnson wasn’t even the best athlete in his own family. That honor rightly belongs to his older brother Rafer, who was considered by many to be the world’s greatest athlete after winning the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Olympics.

It’s possible Rafer Johnson was destined to stand out. He was born Aug. 18, 1934, the same day of the same year as Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles deputy district attorney who successfully prosecuted 105 of his 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder cases, one of which involved the infamous Charles Manson “Family.” Also born that day: Roberto Clemente, the first Puerto Rican major league baseball superstar, who perished at age 38 when the plane he was on, loaded with relief supplies for the victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on New Year’s Eve in 1972.

Many famous people were born on the same day of the same year. Take, for example, Dec. 29, 1936, the birth date of entertainer Mary Tyler Moore and Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke. Or Jan. 30, 1937, when British actress Vanessa Redgrave and Russian chess champion Boris Spassky were born. Hall of fame hockey star Stan Mikita and professional baseball home run king Sadaharu Oh both began life on May 20, 1940. Actresses Diana Rigg and Natalie Wood shared a birth date (July 20, 1938), as do current entertainers Angela Bassett and Madonna (Aug. 16, 1958).

In my opinion no single event last week merited 600 words. However, having internet access made it possible to consult various reasonably reliable sources, which allowed me to further explore subjects ranging from declining eyesight to the Northern Lights. Reading about Jimmy Johnson led to Rafer Johnson, which led to Roberto Clemente and Vincent Bugliosi, which led to Mary Tyler Moore, Ray Nitschke and all those other famous people born on the same day. That ultimately generated six 100-word paragraphs, or a half-dozen 100-word mini-essays. All of which makes me wonder if perhaps I really am addicted to technology after all. <

Barbara Bagshaw: Legislature failed to address the needs of most Mainers

By State Rep. Barbara Bagshaw

The 131st Legislature has concluded its business. The general effective date for nonemergency laws passed in the Second Regular Session is Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. It has been a very difficult two years with the Maine Legislature breaking with its long-standing tradition of bipartisan budget work and taking Maine in a decidedly different direction.

State Rep. Barbara Bagshaw

In a few short years, the overall state budget has ballooned to well over $10.3 billion. During that time the problems facing Maine have gotten worse. My biggest disappointment is that with billions of dollars in excess tax revenues, the Legislature did not pass structural income tax reform to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn. I am also disappointed that the Legislature did not address the issue of skyrocketing electric bills.

The drastic price increases Mainers are experiencing can be absorbed by those who are well off, but they are increasingly troublesome to Mainers that live paycheck-to-paycheck or who are part of the declining middle class.

Maine’s housing situation gets worse by the day, yet tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to temporarily house economic migrants at the expense of our own homeless population, seniors, veterans, and young people seeking housing. I question whether Maine has the housing options to absorb the 75,000 new Mainers the Governor has pledged to attract to Maine.

I believe that citizens are best served when Democrats and Republicans are able to work together on solutions to make life easier for those trying to earn a living and raise a family.

A prime example of that was the Legislature’s adoption of a long-term funding solution to help improve Maine’s roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure. The law we passed last year created a sustainable source of funding for the Highway Fund by dedicating 40 percent of the 5.5 percent sales tax on vehicle purchases and 40 percent of sales and use taxes collected by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. It was expected to generate more than $200 million for infrastructure repair per biennium.

Sadly, even that achievement was almost eliminated in the middle of the night. I salute citizens that expressed their displeasure with taking money from the highway fund and raiding retiree pensions to fund additional spending. Cuts were restored with the exception of $11 million that has been taken from the transportation budget. That still means that, with the federal match, there is roughly $33 million less going to fix our roads and bridges.

I remain hopeful that the dramatic increase in citizen participation that we have seen this session will lead to a more congenial, productive, work environment that prioritizes the pressing concerns of all Maine citizens over special interests.

Representing part of Windham in the Legislature is an honor. If there is any way that I can be of assistance, please contact me at barbara.bagshaw@legislature.maine.gov. My office phone number is 207-287-1440. You can find me on Facebook. To receive regular updates, sign up for my e-newsletter at https://mainehousegop.org/ <

Insight: Tipping the scales

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

I’m always unsure each time I step up to the cash register at my favorite burger place and the display screen there asks if I want to leave a tip.

For years I’ve always assumed that tips were supposed to be a way to recognize personalized and exemplary service but now it seems it’s something that’s expected. The rule of thumb that my parents used was 10 percent if it was a restaurant meal, but that amount seems to have grown substantially with the popularity of digital payment processing.

On a recent visit to an upscale burger establishment, my keypad choices for tipping upon ordering were No Tip, 15 percent, 20 percent, 25 percent, or Other Amount. I didn’t know if the digital tip was for the employee taking my order or if it was to be split among the eight employees working there that evening. And I found it difficult to gauge the service in leaving a tip when they had just taken my order. I couldn’t know at that point if they would mess up the order or omit a condiment I requested on my burger.

Leaving a tip in an instance like that is always difficult for me. But I do feel for the employees preparing fast food and I want to reward their dedication to preparing and serving great food.

I’m also torn about tipping when my wife and I go out with family at a sit-down restaurant. When we went out to a restaurant during a visit with our oldest son, his wife and two grandchildren last summer, there were four adults and two children under the age of 5 at our table. Each adult meal was more than $20. The kids had small plates of fries and chicken nuggets under $12 each. Including drinks, the bill came to $144. I felt the service was outstanding, so I left the waitress a tip of $56 which amounts to about 38 percent.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, on average 92 percent of Americans report leaving a tip most often at sit-down restaurants and 76 percent of them leave a tip for food delivery employees. But less than 12 percent leave tips at fast-food restaurants.

When I was in high school, I worked as a busboy at the Cartwright Inn in Henrietta, New York. On busy Friday evenings sometimes, the waitresses were overwhelmed and on occasion a customer would ask me to bring them a glass of milk or cup of tea that the waitress forgot to bring to their table. At least twice when I did that the customer would leave a $1 or $2 tip for me when paying their bill, but the restaurant’s official policy was it was up to the discretion of the waitress to give it to me and I didn’t receive that tip either time.

It didn’t make me happy then, but in hindsight I know now that the waitresses were paid a minimal wage and most of their income was made through tips from customers for the service they provided. Busboys, dishwashers, and cooks received an hourly wage for their efforts, and it wasn’t much.

When it comes to haircare services, I can see first-hand the results of a haircut in the mirror, so it’s easier for me to calculate and leave a tip for my stylist when paying the bill before leaving.

I usually choose a hair stylist that I’m comfortable talking to and someone who knows how to cut my hair properly. After the first few visits, the stylist has a good idea of what I want, and I just sit back in their chair and let them do their thing without further instruction. When I lived in Florida, I had the same stylist for 10 years. When I lived in New Hampshire, we lived close enough that I could walk to the barber shop, and I always felt comfortable letting any one of the four barbers working there cut my hair.

My current stylist, Andrea, is the third person who has cut my hair from the shop I go to. The first two became friends and they have since moved on to other locations with that company. At first, I was apprehensive about having to choose another stylist, but Andrea made me feel at ease and has never given me a bad haircut. Each time I always leave her a generous tip equal to at least the same amount as the cost of the haircut itself.

Another sandwich shop that I go to every so often doesn’t offer the option of digital tipping. They have a large glass jar on the counter for cash tips only. Since I rarely carry cash with me these days, I feel bad when I receive great service but I’m unable to leave the workers there a decent tip.

As an adult, I’ve always been generous in tipping making pizza delivery people, taxi drivers, parking lot attendants and hotel concierge workers happy. But I’m always perplexed when it comes to tipping at fast-food places. Maybe I should stop at the bank for tip jar cash before I eat there. <

Andy Young: Big night at the card table

By Andy Young

Last week’s poker game was truly memorable. Sal, Kurt, Jaime, Dave, my cousin Steve and I were playing the evening’s final hand.

The game was Seven Card Stud, and its rules are simple. Each player antes up and gets dealt two cards face down, then one face up. Bidding starts with the player possessing the highest face-up card.

The other participants in turn either match the opening bid, raise it, or, if they’ve got bad cards, drop out. Once bidding is complete, those who’ve paid up get their next face-up card, and more bidding commences. That sequence of events is repeated prior to the dealing of the fifth and sixth cards, both of which are delivered face up.

There are no wild cards, and those electing to stay in the game until the bitter end get their final card delivered down and dirty.

After six cards had been distributed, the four lying face-up in front of me were a two, a three, a four, and a five. My two hole cards were useless (a seven and a jack), but my opponents didn’t know that, so I thought it was worth paying for a final face-down card, since a six or an ace would complete my straight.

The pot had gotten pretty significant by this time, and when Sal, who was sitting directly to my right and had a pair of kings showing, opened the bidding with a sizable bet, I matched it. Dave, who was sitting to my left, examined what he had, shook his head sadly, and turned his cards over.

Steve, sitting to his left, did likewise while uttering a single word: “Fold!” Across the table, Jaime, with a pair of queens sitting in front of him, matched Sal’s bet. When Kurt, who had been dealing, declared he was out, it left three of us contending for what was by far the largest pot of the night.

Kurt distributed final cards, face down, to Sal, Jaime, and me. Peeking at mine, it was clear there was only one sensible course of action. After Sal opened with a dollar bet, I raised my eyebrows, tried unconvincingly to conceal a grin, and pushed all my chips into the center of the table. That was too rich for Jaime, who folded.

As for Sal, he too declined to cover my bold, “all-in” wager, so I happily raked in a healthy pile of coins, bills, and poker chips.

Boy, were those guys upset when I revealed my final card: a nine! Sal had folded with a pair of eights in the hole to go with his kings, and it turned out Jaime had a third queen. I tried not to gloat over my audaciously successful bluff, but I’m not sure I succeeded in doing so.

Now for some interesting facts. I last saw Dave three summers ago, but it’s been more than three decades since I’ve seen our mutual friend Sal. Neither of them ever met Steve, who died last year, or Kurt, who has been deceased for nearly four decades.

Jaime, another good guy who I haven’t seen in a very long time, has never met Dave or Sal, although he was friendly with Kurt, and attended our town’s elementary school at the same time Steve and I did long, long ago.

It’s hard to say if there’s any significance to the event described above. All I know for sure is it emerged from deep in my subconscious one night last week. But it’s not my job to analyze and/or fact check these sorts of scenarios; I just dream them. <

Insight: Moon beams and big dreams

By Ed Pierce

Managing Editor

I sat in Miss Weaver’s second-grade classroom that day totally in awe of what was happening and the possibilities that a special event held for all Americans.

NASA astronaut Alan Shepard aboard
Freedom 7 takes off from Cape
Canaveral in Florida on May 5, 1961
on his way to becoming the first
American in space.
COURTESY PHOTO  

The date was Friday May 5, 1961, and it started out like any other normal school day at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Brighton, New York. Along with my classmates, we were quietly reading at our desks about 10:15 a.m. when there was a knock at our classroom door, and a priest wheeled in a large portable television set.

Miss Weaver instructed us to put down our books and watch the television because a special event was about to happen that we would remember for the rest of our lives. It was live coverage of the first-ever attempt to launch an American astronaut into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The astronaut aboard the spacecraft called Freedom 7 was Alan Shepard, one of the original U.S. Mercury astronauts. It was the first time I heard NASA’s Mission Control Countdown tick away “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff.”

We all cheered as the rocket took off and eventually reached a suborbital altitude of 115 miles. Shepard’s spacecraft traveled downrange for 302 nautical miles from Cape Canaveral. During the flight, Shepard was able to observe the Earth from space and tested his altitude control system. He also was able to turn the spacecraft around so its heat shield could protect him during atmospheric re-entry and tested Freedom 7’s retrorockets.

The flight itself lasted for 15 minutes and 28 seconds and reached a speed of 5,180 mph before Freedom 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Bahamas. Our class continued watching the recovery as U.S. Navy frogmen retrieved Shepard and Freedom 7 and flew them by helicopter to the aircraft carrier USS Lake Champlain.

With his successful flight, Alan Shepard became the first American in space and by 11:30 a.m., the large portable television was wheeled out of our classroom and our class got ready to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

It was a significant milestone for this nation and a few days later I was watching the evening news and saw where President John F. Kennedy welcomed Shepard to the White House. He presented him with the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in a ceremony and during his remarks, the president also saluted the work done by so many others for Shepard’s flight to be a success.

For days after that, all the members of our second-grade class pretended to be astronauts while out on the school playground. By the end of that month, President Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and challenged the nation to claim a leadership role in space exploration and to land a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s decade.

It was a source of pride and common purpose for Americans and each subsequent NASA manned space flight became must-see television, no matter what age you were. Americans were ecstatic when Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon in July 1969 and were worried and fearful when an accident crippled the Apollo 13 spacecraft on its mission to the moon but miraculously made it back to earth safely in April 1970.

Shepard had been grounded by NASA following his 1961 spaceflight after suffering from an ear ailment called Meniere’s disease but was restored to flight status following surgery to alleviate the issue. He led the Apollo 14 mission to the moon and at age 47 became the oldest astronaut to walk on the moon, and the only one of the original seven Mercury astronauts to make it there.

In 1994, my life came full circle when I met Alan Shepard while he was at a promotional event in Titusville, Florida. Shepard and two journalists, Jay Barbee and Howard Benedict, had written a book called “Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon.” I got to spend a few moments speaking to Alan Shepard and I told him about how fascinated members of our second-grade class were that morning in 1961 to watch his Freedom 7 flight.

He told me that he felt all Americans were part of his mission that day and he thanked me for watching. Shepard died in 1998 from leukemia and I was saddened to hear that news.

When I landed a job working for a newspaper in Laconia, New Hampshire in 2014, on at least several occasions I interviewed and met several people who had grown up in Derry, New Hampshire with Alan Shepard and had attended middle school classes at Oak Street School in Derry with him.

I also interviewed a U.S. Army veteran who resided at the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton who had been in the same Boy Scout troop as Alan Shepard. He told me the future astronaut loved building things and enlisted the assistance of his fellow scouts to construct a rowboat.

You never know where life will lead you and I certainly never dreamed sitting in my second-grade classroom in May 1961 that I would some day meet the first American in space. <

Andy Young: Surprises and expiration dates

By Andy Young

I love surprises.

Wait. Let me rephrase that. I love pleasant surprises. An unexpected letter, package, or phone call from someone I like is a pleasant surprise. So is coming home from work and seeing the dishes have been washed by someone else. And if that dish washer is actively preparing dinner when I arrive, that’s even better.

Other pleasant surprises I’ve received over the years include getting an unanticipated refund from an insurance company, unannounced visits from old friends, and finding 15 $20 bills hidden inside an old water bottle I had consigned to a trunk in the attic at least a decade before its discovery.

Some surprises I can do without. Lengthy power outages, mice scurrying out from under the refrigerator, and doctors, dentists, or auto mechanics uttering the words, “We found something else,” are three examples of unexpected occurrences that prompt consternation rather than joy.

It’s unsurprising my morning bowl of generic Cheerios is both tasty and nutritious, since the “Best if used by” dates (“Nov0724” on the cereal box and “June 24” on the milk carton) indicate the ingredients are reasonably fresh.

Figures printed on grocery items used to be called “expiration dates” until some marketing guru suggested “Best if used by” dates sounded less dire. Prior to expiration dates there were only two methods of determining food safety. One was seeing; if bugs were crawling and/or flying around the fruit or vegetables in question, you probably didn’t buy them. The other was sniffing; if the meat, fish, or dairy products smelled like rotting flesh, last week’s garbage, or the inside of someone’s stomach, you definitely didn’t buy them.

Sometimes those dates don’t matter. While reorganizing the pantry last week I found an unopened package of Wheat Thins with “13July21” printed atop the box. It turned out they tasted exactly like Wheat Thins. That was another pleasant surprise.

Imagine how much easier it would be to purchase a car, for example, if it had an expiration date stamped on the lower left corner of the windshield.

The same should go for other big-ticket items. Judicious consumers would love to have mandatory expiration dates printed on refrigerators, stoves, computers, washing machines, microwave ovens, furnaces, and similar necessities. If the product in question expired before its printed date, the consumer would receive a new one, free of charge. I can’t imagine anyone being opposed to this sort of radical reform with the possible exception of makers of refrigerators, stoves, computers, washing machines, furnaces, and similar necessities.

Commuters and vacationers could travel with far more confidence if airplanes, train cars, and ocean liners were equipped with expiration dates.

Maybe requiring expiration dates on the nation’s roadways, bridges, tunnels, railroads, and airports would be the most efficient way to keep America’s infrastructure safe.

But the ultimate spot for expiration dates is people. Imagine if everyone were born with an expiration date printed on their forehead? Scientists will probably figure out how to do that before long. But perhaps a “Best if used by” designation would be more appropriate for human beings. It would certainly make roster selection for professional baseball teams both simpler and more cost-effective. The same would go for employers filling key positions and also for those searching for long (or short) term personal relationships.

If every person had a visible “best if used by” date, this fall’s presidential election ballot would probably look very different. But if human expiration dates were a reality and each party’s presumptive nominee was still the same as it is now, that would be a surprise.

And not a pleasant one. <

nt one. <a pleasant one. <

Insight: 9 volts of pure magic

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

On my 10th birthday in December 1963, my parents gave me a gift that became an invaluable part of my life for the next few years. It was a Panasonic AM transistor radio, and it gave me an opportunity to experience music as I never had before.

By inserting the earplug, I could tune in late at night in bed without disturbing my younger brother and it just happened to be the era of the “British Invasion” of bands from England and of Motown, featuring soulful singers and performers whose songs endear to this very day.

My radio station of choice was WBBF in Rochester, New York because it played popular music of the day and rock n’ roll oldies, although many of the records that WBBF disc jockeys aired in those days were from 1956 and later. Some of the oldies’ records that were played on the radio were ones my older sister owned on vinyl before she had graduated from high school including “Venus” by Frankie Avalon, “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson and “Stagger Lee” by Lloyd Price.

But many of the new songs I first listened to on my new transistor radio were ones that came around after my sister had moved into her own apartment. Some of those tunes included “Sherry” by the Four Seasons, “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler, “If I Had A Hammer” by Trini Lopez, “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakamoto, “Heat Wave” by Martha and the Vandellas, and “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary.

The little 9-volt battery used to power my radio was only 29 cents in 1964 and would last for four or five months of daily use. Besides listening to music, I could tune in for the latest news and weather reports, or Rochester Red Wings baseball games. My transistor radio became part of my day-to-day world, along with the sports section and the comics page of the daily newspaper, baseball cards, 12-cent comic books and my Huffy Roadmaster bike.

Early in 1964, the radio airwaves were dominated by The Beatles, and the first one of their songs I can recall listening to was “I Want to Hold Your Hand” followed in succession by “She Loves You” and “Do You Want to Know A Secret,” then “Love Me Do,” and “I Saw Her Standing There” and “P.S. I Love You.”

Soon British bands and singers were everywhere on WBBF with The Dave Clark Five (“Glad All Over” and “Bits and Pieces”), The Animals (“House of the Rising Sun”)” The Zombies (“She’s Not There”), Gerry and the Pacemakers (“Ferry Cross the Mersey” and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"), Dusty Springfield (“Wishin’ and Hopin’”) and The Hollies (“Just One Look”) frequently played.

One evening in 1964, a song from a girls’ singing group called The Supremes was played and it was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was called “Where Did Our Love Go” and I quickly became a big fan of theirs. Their first radio hit was followed by “Baby Love,” then “Come See About Me,” and my personal favorite, “Stop in the Name of Love” which at the time I thought was simply the greatest song ever recorded.

As I started seventh grade in the fall of 1965, I was still listening to my transistor radio, although its leather cover had been chewed on by one of our family’s dogs. By then the Rolling Stones had released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and I was also listening to The McCoys (“Hang on Sloopy”), Herman’s Hermits (“Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” and “I’m Henry VIII, I am”), and The Temptations (“My Girl”).

My father and I had watched a program on television in February 1965 that included a performance of the top song in America that week called “This Diamond Ring” by the son of comedian Jerry Lewis. The band was called Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and I would turn the volume up each time one of their other songs was on the radio. Those included “Count Me In,” and “Save Your Heart For Me,” “Everybody Loves a Clown,” and “She’s Just My Style.”

As I was finishing up junior high school in June 1967, I first heard on my transistor radio what has since become one of my all-time favorite songs “Love Is All Around” by The Troggs. It’s probably the last song I can recall hearing on that radio.

The very last thing I do remember listening to on that radio was Game One of the 1969 World Series. I was on the sidelines of our high school’s football game in October and my friend Mike Wilson, who was playing in the game, had asked me during a timeout what the final score in the game was. It was Baltimore 4, New York Mets 1. He bet me that the Orioles wouldn’t win another game in the series, and I took the bet. The Mets swept the next four games and I lost $5 to him.

I don’t know what happened to the transistor radio after that but my memories from it remain strong more than six decades later.

Andy Young: Taking $tock and finding per$pective

By Andy Young

I’ve had good days and I’ve had bad days. Given the choice, I prefer good ones.

However, the last Monday of April didn’t qualify as good.

On my way home from work the display on my car’s electronic dashboard suddenly began flashing. Several warning lights came on simultaneously, and the odd response I got when I tapped the brakes indicated this was not a test of the car's emergency warning system, but an actual mechanical malfunction.

Fortunately, the large dealership where I purchased the car was just two turnpike exits past the one that I customarily take, so I drove there and cautiously pulled in.

The attendant asked if I had an appointment, which of course I didn’t. I explained the problem. He listened sympathetically, went back to see his supervisor, and returned a moment later to mournfully report they were booked solid that afternoon.

No mechanic was available, but they’d try to diagnose the problem early the next day. He was clearly a keen student of body language, because he rapidly deduced that I wasn’t interested in renting a minivan for $100 a day. He did, however, offer to have the dealership’s shuttle service take me wherever I needed to go, as long as it was no more than 12 miles distant.

That’s when I got the first sign that my luck was about to change. My residence, it turns out, is precisely 11.78 miles from the dealership. The upbeat shuttle operator was just what the situation called for: an engaging conversationalist, a good listener, and best of all, a safe driver.

Once I got home. I arranged to borrow my son’s car so I could make the 75-mile round trip to work the next day.

The service people messaged me early the following morning. My car needed a wheel hub and bearing assembly replaced and also a new right rear ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) wire. The estimate had four numbers to the left of the decimal point, but I needed reliable transportation, so I gave the okay.

The cost, when combined with the mortgage payment that was due the same day, assured me of spending more during the month of May than I’ll bring home. From a fiscal perspective, that qualifies as a very bad day.

But then I paused, took a deep breath, and assessed the overall situation.

An unexpected four-digit expense is a bummer. But as a result of that misfortune, my son cheerfully let me borrow his car, just as his aunt gave him the temporary loan of hers. I was, after all, getting my reliable transportation back. I’m not food insecure, I’ve got electricity, and access to tap water that’s safe to drink.

My son’s tennis team is enjoying a good season. All three of my children are looking forward to continuing their education this fall.

Two special people I hadn’t heard from in a while, neither of whom knew anything about my car situation, reached out to say hello. I saw the long-since-graduated student who made me the special pencil holder that sits atop my desk at school for the first time in over a year.

An encouragingly large number of my current students are throwing their hearts and souls into their final project. And the place where I am currently house-sitting is 36 minutes closer to school than my usual residence is.

Given the choice of a good day or a bad one, I’d still opt for the good one. But I’m not 100 percent sure of that. Maybe it’d help if I could remember what a truly bad day actually feels like. <

Given the choice of a good day or a bad one, I’d still opt for the good one. But I’m not 100 percent sure of that. Maybe it’d help if I could remember what a truly bad day actually feels like. <

Rookie Mama: Kids in the kitchen, a culinary crusade

By Michelle Cote

What’s cookin’?

As parents, we take deep breaths and attempt to teach those life skills as thoroughly and as best as we can in the fleeting childhood years that blur on by faster than my youngest kiddos can zip around my kitchen island on their Big Wheels wearing grooves in wooden floors that have, for the past decade plus, really become a race track – one occasionally covered in flour.

Of my four little guys, the two littlest have been most fascinated by the idea of cooking, baking, getting hands messy like I get to do while creating something to soon fill bellies.

When they see me pull out pizza doughs, and flour my countertop, they recognize the cue.

The boys pull up big, wooden dining chairs to the counter, sidling up to participate, side by side with me and ready for action.

When this amusing trend first emerged, I was hesitant. Taking time to teach anyone anything any time while trying to complete a task – markedly anyone fewer than 6 years old – is in itself an intense exercise in patience.

And, after a full day’s work as I transition to dinner prep mode, that virtue bandwidth is much depleted.

But I quickly remember that children – young children notably – are darn curious types. When my husband and I mill about outside gardening or immersed yard work, our littlest ones are natural and intentional botanists, wishing to assist as they ask all the questions.

It’s become the same indoors. If I don’t foster their desire to participate while curiosity’s piqued, it will take all the more time to sell them on the idea of sharpening culinary skills later in life.

So, I keep calm and cook on, taking these opportunities to spark culinary excitement as we stretch and flip dough, spooning sauce and doling mozzarella.

Did I mention pizza’s the thing?

This meal’s my favorite to make with my little mini-me assistants.

Pizza’s relatively inexpensive – For the cost of a couple of dough balls, shredded cheese, sauce and toppings of choice, you’ve got yourself the easy makings of a delicious dish.

Accordingly, it’s a weekly meal staple.

Pizza’s also versatile – Really, most anything goes. There are countless options for meat lovers, vegetarians, gluten-free diners, and appreciators of most any dietary need. My crew really doesn’t tire with it, because there are so many ways to cook it up – Homemade pesto to sub for red sauce is also a favorite, and budget-friendly.

Pizzas are easy to make – 450 degrees for 12-ish minutes in your preheated oven, then slice and enjoy the divine goodness. And because the only slicing comes from the pizza cutter, it’s also relatively safe to make with little guys. And they know the oven is off limits to them – for now.

But most of all, pizza’s palatable to universally most kiddos, even the pickiest of the mac-and-cheese-and-chicken-nuggets-only crowd.

Pizza’s a fantastic dish to get your kids to eat their veggies, which balances beautifully with the pepperoni.

Perhaps the pepperoni is what truly incentivizes.

Not to mention that with pizza often comes homemade fries, and sometimes tater tots for my tots.

With or without my mini-assistants, I’m already making a mess in the kitchen, anyway.

So the potential for kids contributing to cuisine disorder is really moot –there will be pizza pans to scrub and flour to wipe down with or without my helpers.

And I accept that they’re sneaking pepperoni bites as they layer toppings with their cherubim grins as though I’m not fully aware of their antics.

They still don’t believe that mamas have eyes behind their head.

But more top of mind than toppings is that all this is borne of a desire to teach a life skill.

I want them to impress future dates with a homemade meal and know I played a hand in those learned lessons, just as I taught them to brush their teeth and wash their hands.

I want them to love preparing food as much as eating it.

But I also want to prepare them for the reality that they’ll one day need this skill for when they’re living solo – or with someone who perhaps doesn’t know tablespoons from turmeric.

I hope for them to carry on the handing down of beloved generational recipes stained, cinnamon-seasoned, and cursive-written.

I hope they’ll devour our own family recipes we’ve collected in a binder through the years, and one day perhaps understand why Mama made so many slow cooker meals during sports seasons. Soccer season is time to crock ‘n roll, after all.

So as you continue to nurture your little ones with food, feed them too with a desire to prepare it – a desire that will last a lifetime, seasoned with warm memories.

You can’t go wrong with pepperoni.

And if you’re lucky, tater tots on the side. <

­­– Michelle Cote lives in southern Maine with her husband and four sons, and enjoys camping, distance running, biking, gardening, road trips to new regions, arts and crafts, soccer, and singing to musical showtunes – often several or more at the same time!

Insight: The Name Game

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

I happened to be watching a baseball game on television the other evening and the pitcher for the Oakland Athletics in the game was named J.P. Sears. It made me wonder what the “J.P.” initials stood for and why he doesn’t use them in his professional career.

Actor George William Bailey has appeared on television
in 'The Closer' and "M*A*S*H and in films such as
'Mannequin' and 'Police Academy.' He is known
professionally, however, by his initials, G.W. Bailey. 
COURTESY PHOTO

After looking him up online, I found that John Patrick Sears is from Sumter, South Carolina and was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2017. He made his major league debut with the New York Yankees in 2022 and was traded that same season to Oakland. I still have no idea why he only uses initials instead of his actual given name.

Looking that information up led me to think about other celebrities, fictional characters or other entities who only go by their initials. I wondered if I could compile a list of such individuals with initials in their names using the entire alphabet.

A.A. Milne of England authored a series of books about Winnie-the-Pooh. His real name was Alan Alexander Milne.

B.O. Plenty was a scruffy and somewhat smelly villain in the old Dick Tracy newspaper comic serials.

C.S. Lewis was a British writer, literary scholar, and theologian who wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia.” His real name was Clive Staples Lewis.

D.B. Cooper is the alias used by a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 in November 1971 and is thought to have parachuted from the aircraft with a satchel of ransom cash. He was never seen again after that, and his identity remains a mystery to this day.

E.E. Cummings was a prolific American poet, painter, essayist, and playwright from Massachusetts. His real name was Edward Estlin Cummings.

F.P. Santangelo played baseball for the Montreal Expos, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics and a broadcaster for the Washington Nationals. His real name is Frank-Paul Santangelo.

G.W. Bailey is an actor who appeared on the M*A*S*H television show and was a dim-witted captain in the Police Academy film series. His real name is George William Bailey.

H.P. Lovecraft was an American author of horror and fantasy fiction, His real name was Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

I.Z. was the stage name of the late Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, best known for his rendition of “Over the Rainbow” while strumming a ukelele.

J.C. Penney created a major chain of department stores in 1902. His real name was James Cash Penney, Jr.

K.D. Lang is a Canadian singer famous for her 1992 hit “Constant Craving.” Her real name is Kathryn Dawn Lang.

L.C. Greenwood was a defensive end on the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl championship football teams of the 1970s. His real name was L.C. Henderson Greenwood with the L.C. initials being his actual first name.

M.C. Hammer is an American rapper known for his 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This,” and launching the parachute pants craze in men’s fashion. His real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell, and he’s thought to have taken the Hammer stage name after baseball superstar Reggie Jackson told him that he resembled ‘Hammering’ Hank Aaron.

N.C. Wyeth was an American painter and illustrator. His real name was Newell Convers Wyeth.

O.J. Simpson was a star football player and actor. He was acquitted by a jury after being charged with the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. His real name was Orenthal James Simpson.

P.T. Barnum was an American showman and promoter who established a popular traveling circus. His real name was Phineas Taylor Barnum.

QB VII was a 1970 novel by Leon Uris and later developed into a television court case mini-series starring Ben Gazzara and Anthony Hopkins in 1974. The name "QB VII" is an abbreviation for Queen's Bench Courtroom Number Seven, the site of the court trial.

R.J. Mitte is an actor with cerebral palsy who played the son of a chemistry teacher turned mastermind criminal in the television show “Breaking Bad.” His real name is Roy Frank Mitte III.

S.E. Hinton is an author who wrote the novel “The Outsiders” while still attending high school in Oklahoma. Her real name is Susan Eloise Hinton.

T.S. Eliot was an English poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic, and editor. His real name was Thomas Stearns Eliot.

U.L. Washington played Major League Baseball for 10 years as an infielder for the Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos and Pittsburgh Pirates. His real name is U.L. Washington and the initials do not stand for anything,

V.C. Andrews is an author known for writing horror-themed novels. Her real name is Cleo Virginia Andrews.

W.C. Fields was an actor, comedian, and juggler, who appeared in vaudeville shows and in Hollywood films. His real name was William Claude Dukenfield.

XR is a robotic space ranger character in Disney’s Buzz Lightyear film. His initials stand for “Experimental Ranger.”

Y.A. Tittle was a National Football League quarterback who played for the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Baltimore Colts for 17 seasons. His real name was Yelberton Abraham Tittle, Jr.

Z.Z. Top was a rock band originating in Houston, Texas and known for such popular hits as “La Grange” and “Tush.” The band’s name is thought to have come from member Dusty Hill’s nickname, ZZ.

Jane Pringle: Supplemental budget delivers on our commitment to Mainers

By State Rep. Jane Pringle

After many long days and nights working at the State House, the Legislature finally reached statutory adjournment for the two-year term. It culminated with my colleagues and I working throughout the night on April 17, considering and voting on measures that will improve the lives of residents across the state.

State Rep. Jane Pringle

One of our most significant achievements of the session was the passage of a fiscally responsible supplemental budget. This budget, built upon the historic investments we made in 2023, will allow the state to further address the challenges affecting communities like ours.

The supplemental budget provides a significant boost to our public K-12 education system. I am pleased that the state’s commitment to fund 55 percent of public education costs will continue.

Furthermore, the budget includes language to support future wage increases for educational technicians and other school support staff, ensuring more equitable pay for the professionals who are invaluable to our students’ success. This will fortify the academic foundation of Maine's youth and elevate the quality of education for all age groups.

With over 35 years of experience practicing medicine in Maine, I am well aware of the structural gaps within our behavioral and public health infrastructure.

Historically, the state has funded initiatives to address and close these disparities. The enactment of this supplemental budget is a testament to our continued drive to do better, securing further funding to enhance the health and well-being of all Mainers.

In the wake of the mass casualty event in Lewiston, the legislature made it a priority to finance mental health crisis intervention services, which will include 24-hour support for those in need. Additionally, grants will be distributed to ensure expanded access to behavioral healthcare, even in the most rural parts of our state.

As a lawmaker, my commitment to public health is unwavering, and I will work within the Legislature to continue striving for better healthcare for all.

Both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives agree that tackling Maine’s housing crisis is of the utmost importance for our state's future health and well-being. In line with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, addressing basic physical needs, such as safe shelter, is crucial and must be prioritized before other secondary needs can be met.

With this in mind, the budget has appropriated funds to support emergency housing initiatives like low-barrier shelters and housing subsidies for homeless students under 18 years old.

Furthermore, the budget includes grants to support affordable housing initiatives, including the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program, which will assist individuals in areas with low housing density to find and secure a comfortable place to live.

To encourage the development of more affordable housing, funds from the supplemental budget will be infused into the Low Income Housing Tax Program, providing subsidies to developers and incentivizing them to reserve a portion of rental units for Mainers with low incomes.

These initiatives highlight only a portion of all that the supplemental budget will accomplish. I am proud that we were able fund programs and services that will improve the lives of many folks right here in Windham.

I feel honored to serve our community in the State House and remain hopeful about the improvements that these investments will bring. I hope that we will be able to build on these programs in the future.

State Rep. Jane Pringle is serving her second non-consecutive term in the Maine House of Representatives, having previously represented Windham from 2012-2014. She is a member of the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee. <

Andy Young: Trying to make sense of English’s opposites

By Andy Young

On Feb. 10, 1990, Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract” hit number one on Billboard magazine’s top 100, where it remained for the next three weeks. Learning that made me glad I lived with a family of English speakers during my infancy and subsequent formative years, when my brain was at its most absorbent. I cannot imagine having to learn my long-since-established native tongue as a second language.

There is very little logic to English. Dough, tough, cough, plough and through all end with the same four letters, but dough rhymes with blow, tough rhymes with stuff, cough rhymes with off, plough rhymes with now, and through rhymes with two, even though it’s pronounced the same as threw.

At least some things about English are easy. Like opposites. “Small” is the opposite of “big,” “west” is the opposite of “east,” and “light” is the opposite of “dark,” except when it’s the opposite of “heavy.”

But deducing exact opposites can be challenging. The inverse of hard is easy, except when it’s soft. Used and old are both opposites of new, and the opposite of fast can be either slow or eat. To most people the opposite of safe is dangerous, but in baseball, safe’s opposite is out.

Some opposites are a matter of personal preference. Certain people think sound and noise are synonymous but more often than not, the two terms are polar opposites.

Sounds can be pleasant. Early risers know that some of the most pleasant sounds imaginable take place before the sun comes up. The predawn ticking of a clock in a space where it is the only detectable sound is both soothing and inspiring. The same goes for tweeting bluebirds in the springtime, or walking in the woods during a snowstorm when, if the hiker pauses, the only thing they’ll hear is an utter lack of sound.

Noise, on the other hand, is very often obnoxious, and in ways that run the gamut from mildly annoying to absolutely infuriating. While a clock’s soft ticking can be mood-enhancing, the shrill noise its alarm makes when it goes off can jangle an awakener’s nerves long after he, she, or they have achieved consciousness.

The chirping of robins is a sweet sound. However, the cawing of carrion-devouring crows is grating noise. And while hiking silently through the woods (remember, silence qualifies as a sound) is pleasing, a stick unexpectedly snapping under one’s foot is a noise, as is the growling, real or imagined, a hiker hears deep in the woods where various wild animals reside.

Circumstances often determine what qualifies as sound or noise. A baby’s laugh is a sound of pure joy, but the shrieks emitted by an overtired infant is noise, and ear-splitting noise at that.

“Early” and “late” are opposites. But they can also be the same, since 3:30 a.m. is late for night owls but early for people who have to make donuts or deliver newspapers.

One thing that’s certain: “same” and “identical” are synonyms. They have to be because they’re both the opposite of opposite.

Often the difference between pleasing sound and objectionable noise depends on the ear of the beholder, particularly when it comes to music. Some people love the sound of a country ballad, but others identify it as twangy caterwauling. The same differences of opinion exist between aficionados of rock, classical, hip-hop, and every other musical genre.

Paula Abdul is a fine singer, but her hit single was based on a false premise. After all, if opposites really do attract, how come the wealthy, intelligent and attractive Ms. Abdul and I haven’t gotten together yet? <