Monthly Archives: March 2022

time passages

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My husband loves Al Stewart’s music. I have always liked it as well. So every once on Spotify, I turn on some Al Stewart. One of his songs is running in a loop through my brain. Has been since I received some news that kind of upended me yesterday and today. The song is Time Passages. So that is why the video is in this post. Another song too has been in that loop. Supertramp’s Lord Is It Mine. Both my husband and I also love Supertramp. Also added a favorite Genesis song and a Steve Winwood too. Might as well do the full music I liked then and today. Music helps.

But…..Damn my age is showing. The music is all from “back in the [proverbial] day”. And this really has nothing to do with what I have been trying to write since this morning. It’s like if I write it out, it becomes more real. Music cushions the thoughts.

I have been sitting in front of my computer screen. I know what I want to say, but have been somewhat stuck in my own head since last evening when I received completely unexpected news.

One of my favorite people, a friend who feels like he’s been around literally since almost forever has died. Forever meaning I think we met circa 1976 or so. I know this is something I have to write about because it just needs to leave my brain. The memories need to settle and go back to happy, not swirl in my brain like an unhappy tornado.

Yes, a lot of tears have been quietly shed today.

He was hit by a car while walking. Just a freak accident a fluke. He wasn’t sick, he loved his life, was in the prime of his life, nice career, nice man. The kind of person you want in your life until we are really old and gray, only that won’t happen now.

Somewhere in a trunk I have photos from when we were teenagers and older. So many memories. Damn it David, I am not grown up enough for this.

I will start with one a friend reminded me of last night. Sitting in the middle of my parents’ driveway and David shouting “To the airport and hop on it!” when a VW rabbit went by. And that day multiple VW rabbits drove down our then quiet road. It was a hot car then. We laughed and laughed.

Another memory sitting in my parents’ library with him and three or four other friends. Don’t know why. It may have been after JDA (Junior Dancing Assemblies.)

Ahh what were the Junior Dancing Assemblies (“JDA”)? They were formal by invitation dances. The Senior Dancing Assemblies (‘SDA”) followed. They were held at the Merion Tribute House in Merion Station. Every time it was my father’s turn to drive us kids, he got lost. I still get lost going there.

Girls in long dresses or long formal tartan skirts and an appropriate top. Note that appropriate those days was NOT short skirts or skimpy tops or even spaghetti straps or strapless. Somewhere I have the original invitation that had the dress code. It was a tradition starting to wane by the time we went. Sometimes it was a bad cover band, other times a D.J.

A few years ago, David and I had some serious giggles over JDA and SDA and that Gold Lamé dragon Mrs. Farber. She was the one who ran the dances. Seriously, she seemed to have an endless supply of Gold Lamé dresses that had these almost bullet bra tops and didn’t move anymore than her Aqua Net cemented hair do. She was terrifying. She dragged me into the service kitchen at Merion Tribute one night and called my mother on the kitchen phone to report that I wouldn’t dance with someone she picked out for me to dance with. Fortunately, David and another friend rescued me. I remember coming home that night and my mother wondering why THAT woman called her. And of course a resounding chorus of “Don’t do that again, you were lucky to be invited.”

We would camp out during JDA and SDA intermissions or breaks and hangout on the window seats at Merion Tribute House and the other seating areas and shove stale pretzels down the heater grates as we drank our slightly warm and slightly flat Coca Colas out of Dixie Cups. During those intermissions we would think up grand schemes never executed to torture Mrs. Farber. Mostly we wondered how her bras were so pointy, how big was that closet of Gold Lamé dresses, and what was actually in her hair.

And then there were our mischief night escapades. One year we took apart a split rail fence and created an obstacle course on the road. We almost got caught that year as we also toilet papered several trees. Another year someone (David) magically re-painted the tops of someone’s wrought iron fence from gaudy gold to black I think it was.

Another thing we did once in a while? Roaming around the back of the estate known as Dolobran in Haverford. Why? So we could peek in the windows of the ballroom. It was so cool. At that point I believe there was just one tiny old lady living there. That was back when said little old lady gave me a $20 bill for Halloween one year back then. I had dressed my dog up as a cat to go trick or treating.

During the high school years we all went to different schools. So there were parties at Kip’s house or Adam’s house. Then there were the Philadelphia Charity Ball Years. David rescued me a couple of times when I did not have a date and my mother said I could not go with “just friends.” So he really wasn’t my escort, but covered for me and another friend so we could go.

Eventually we all went our separate ways and wouldn’t see each other as often. While I stayed pretty much in the Philadelphia area, David and other friends were spread out all over the east coast, out west, down south. So then there was Christmas.

Christmas Eve for decades meant one Christmas party in particular for many of us in Gladwyne. So I always saw David and his family there. When we were younger, we would be with the kids downstairs in a big rec room for the most part. As we got older we migrated upstairs and would take over the hosts’ study.

Then at some point, we all stopped going. In recent years, David and I would connect by phone, email, and like so many others Facebook. We would occasionally see each other when he was up from Florida to see family still in the area.

David did things liked sent me little gifts sometimes for no reason. A couple of years ago it was a set of whimsical kitchen towels he thought I would like.

The last time we connected was his birthday….barely a month ago.

Hopping around: I remember when his mother died. April, 1978. Not too long from now is the anniversary. I remember when he called me. She was the first parent of someone I knew who passed away. His dad remarried a few years later, and his father and stepmother and siblings and family and friends all survive him. His stepmother is truly lovely. And I remember that was not easy coming into the world of three boys of various ages who had lost their mother.

My head is calmer now as I have written down some of these memories and allowed the memories of laughter wash over me. Today has been full of phone calls from some of our old friends, which is comforting for all of us. It gives us a chance to quietly remember someone who was just a wonderful person, one of our life long friends.

Telling my mother was no fun. She always adored David. My past is her past here. And his stepmother and father are still alive and such nice people. She said to me no parent wants to outlive their children.

Now David wasn’t someone who would want us to be endlessly sad. So I am celebrating him right now with a post traveling down a meandering multi-decade memory lane. The meandering includes music. What I have shared plus a favorite playlist from Spotify.

David gave his friends a precious gift one last time. And that gift is allowing some of us to reconnect. We will honor that gift and remember him. (Umm he also gave me his grandmother’s pound cake recipe and THAT is priceless.)

David, we will all miss you, and when I have my next glass of Rosé, I will lift a glass in your honor. Thanks for the memories, but it just wasn’t time enough.

The older I get, the more I realize loss is not for sissies.

Goodbye, old friend.

you will want to check out this sale – which won’t be repeated!

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Tonight I went to my friend’s studio for a prop house sale. And another friend facilitated the sale. I realized tonight how long it had been since we all just had fun. Like pre-COVID fun.

We were invited to the sale preview, and it was amazing. The space is fabulous and there were nibbles and laughter….and a giant space full of new, vintage, antiques, and everything in between. China, crystal, glassware, pottery, fabric, mirrors, linens, furniture, art, rugs, Dansk Kobenstyle Dutch ovens, and more!

Even better? It was this amazing well lit space that was filled with light and had high ceilings. Maybe it’s just me because I always love to see how loft spaces are interpreted.

The regular open days of the Maximalist Studios Prop House Sale are tomorrow and Saturday, March 25 and 26 10 AM to 2 PM each day. 501 W. Washington Street in Norristown. You can find out more information on the Sales By Helen website.

over in a park in west whiteland

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When the coroner comes calling it’s never a good day. A couple of days ago I noticed a post which popped up on NextDoor about police activity in a West Whiteland park. Then this morning West Whiteland Township Police posted a notice making a park off limits because of police/coroner activity.

Now there are helicopters circling everywhere. So what’s up? I do not know. But if the coroner is on site they must have found human remains. A lot of people are hoping that finally Anna Maciejewska has been found, although I will comment that that is complete conjecture at this point. I also personally think that if Anna is found, it will be somewhere near where her car was dumped. Not Miller Park in West Whiteland.

I don’t know who was found, although I wish they would put this effort into finding Anna Maciejewska who has been missing since April, 2017.

And people are also commenting that the police haven’t said anything much . Well if it’s an ongoing investigation and the coroner involved, just let them do their jobs and they will tell us in due course what this is about. I have been told there are divers involved and drones and you can hear the helicopters, but they might be news helicopters or just from the helicopter museum.

I hope whatever is going on today, that it brings a family closure. Because if a family member goes missing that has to be a special kind of hell.

pi (π) day and other fun tales

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Yesterday for Pi (π) Day, I made a dinner pie. I made a chicken sausage pot pie with a mashed potato top crust.

Now that we have the pleasantries out-of-the-way, let’s dive into the Stepford wives for totalitarianism. They don’t love me this week because I kind of object to their gender phobias when it comes to kids in school along with everything else they are phobic or rabid about.

There is an issue going on in the Great Valley School District. It was highlighted by a website.

📌If you are the parent of a child questioning their gender identity in the Great Valley School District, their teacher is not allowed to tell you.

In fact, under district policy, the teacher is required to keep that information secret from parents. And the teacher must also call your child by the name they choose and refer to them by the pronouns they wish.

“It seems to be a very disturbing thing to me, keeping this information from parents,” a long-time Great Valley school teacher told Delaware Valley Journal. DVJournal is withholding the teacher’s name at their request, to allow them to speak freely without the fear of backlash.📌

I don’t have a child who has dealt with gender or questioning their sexual identity. But I am not closing my mind to it, just because we didn’t experience it. Our child did have a classmate in high school who did work through gender identity. The school and the class were very supportive. I know it was hard for this kid even with support.

I have friends whose kids are figuring it out. Two identify as non-binary. They are both lovely kids, one of whom I first met when they were a toddler. These are kids who are lucky because their families are supportive, and their schools seem supportive.

I also don’t pretend to be a person who can get all the pronouns and how they relate straight. I screw them up all of the time because it’s not something I’m familiar with. It’s beyond my realm of personal experience, and I don’t see the world that way. However, I’m not going to criticize anyone who sees things via different gender identities and or sexual preferences. And learning about it doesn’t make me a bad person, because to some if you are tolerant with regard to these issues or try to be understanding that makes you the enemy. But a lot of these people are the same ones who don’t want special needs kids mainstreamed, either.

However for any of these children school can be a very hard place. Home can also be a difficult place. I remember years ago back to when I was in high school. I had friends who are gay who were afraid to come out as such back then. It was very hard for them to feel accepted in this world and to learn to speak their truth. None of us ever loved them any less. As their friends we supported them and we figured when they were ready to tell the world, they would. And eventually they did.

The problem I have with this whistleblower teacher is they don’t even understand these kids nor do they seem capable of trying.

This whole informing the parents issue has missed a rather large point. Legally speaking, certain occupations are mandatory reporters (ie medical personnel in an ER must report a dog bite, teachers must report abuse.) They want teachers to be required to report gender issues? Perhaps consider that FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ) exists to protect students privacy? The relationship is between the student and the teacher is it not?

Also if they (a teacher) did report gender issues to the parents and it led to any type of abuse at home then the school district could be held liable in a civil case. And if a teacher doesn’t actually know how mandatory reporting works, that’s a little frightening.

So now that they have their Pyrrhic victory over masking in schools they have moved on to basically thinking it’s OK to belittle people who are still wearing masks because they are still uncomfortable after the two years of living with La Vida COVID. They are also working on their book banning list, which also has a lot to do with their fear over gender identity and the sexuality of teenagers essentially.

To these parents who live in this fear is it because you think you will be less of a person somehow if you have a kid who has a different gender identity or sexual preference? Are you saying it’s bad to be gay or to identify as other than the traditional male/female? Or are you just saying it’s bad to be different from what you are or understand?

I have to be honest and say I don’t understand these people. We all try not to judge them but they feel free to judge us and tell all of us that their rights supersede ours always. And we are supposed to just sit there while they spread misinformation and prejudice?

At this point because my views are uncomfortable for these people, I take a daily flogging or stoning. I am a bad woman, I am evil, I’m nasty, I am unhappy, I have problems. Essentially they bully and harass me every single day. But I am the one who is doing the bullying and harassing if I stand up for myself or something I believe in. (Pretzel logic.)

OK we all have problems. No one‘s life is perfect, but honestly? I’m not an unhappy person and it is quite all right if I do not think the way everyone else does. It makes me an individual. I am not mean, unhappy, or troubled because my thought process does not mimic the Sheeple.

I am also not going to apologize for posting about a dysfunctional national group trying to infiltrate every school district and community in our area in hopes of controlling them. Most of these people in these groups are not from our area. And for all the locals that belong to their local “chapters” they don’t even realize that they are the ones being indoctrinated and literally brainwashed. If you look at those groups the national group keeps a hand in every local chapter. These people worry about control and undue influence and they are perfect studies of the topic.

We are put on this earth as individuals, capable of independent thought. We live in a messy world and given all that we are facing globally now, I kind of can’t get over these people who are literally concerned about what the neighbors might think if their children don’t identify exactly as little mini me versions of who they are.

I remember a time when everyone used to be able to coexist a little better. We didn’t always agree, but it wasn’t a death star battle if we did disagree. And again I remind these purported adults, that when they complain to their school districts about bullying in their schools, this is where it comes from: THEM.

Try to go out and enjoy the sunshine today.

verizon, can you hear me now?

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So remember a couple of weeks or so ago when I wrote about this tree on the wire near the Home Depot on Phoenixville Pike in Frazer, Pennsylvania? In East Whiteland.

It had been reported twice to PECO and after this post appeared someone from PECO reached out to me to let me know that it is actually Verizon wires that fallen tree is sitting on. They told me at that point in time that they had told Verizon about it, and essentially Verizon did nothing. PECO had gone out to the site to inspect it, and then notified Verizon.

Now I do not believe I am incorrect in saying that if it had been PECO‘s problem they would’ve had that tree removed weeks ago.

I know East Whiteland Township has been in contact with Verizon as well. They have had no luck thus far with Verizon.

This morning I heard back from Senator Carolyn Comitta‘s office. They finally pushed and had Verizon go out and look at this. And guess what? Verizon doesn’t see a big tree dangling on their wires not attached to the ground in anyway as a problem.

Can you imagine if we said to Verizon we didn’t feel like paying our bills right now? they would have absolutely none of that. Yet when it comes to actually doing something for people who use their services and people that just drive by something potentially unsafe every day, they don’t give a crap.

Verizon is kind of like Energy Transfer aren’t they? They just want to make money, they don’t really care about anything else.

The thing is eventually that tree is going to hit the road so will it take down wires? Will it hurt people? And if the wires snap how many people who are Verizon customers inconvenienced?

This reminds me of years ago when Verizon was first rolling out FiOS. They were putting up those beige boxes that had FiOS stuff in it on poles everywhere. They put one at the then end of my driveway where I lived before moving to Chester County. My driveway was on a slight curve, which made it difficult with the box where it was placed to get out of the driveway safely. It literally blocked sightlines. It literally took weeks to just get them to come out and move their stupid box a few feet up their pole. And at that time it finally took the intervention of the State Senator where I lived to get it done.

Calling Verizon as a consumer is a time consuming and frustrating process. Much like their competition Comcast. You can barely if ever get a real person on the phone. They should be accountable. They should take this tree down.

Verizon do what’s right. For once. Stop being a potentially negligent POS of a company.

breaking news: haverford school goes big for an additional school home

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I get the most interesting tips at times. This afternoon I found out as folks involved with The Haverford School currently (parents, staff, or other) or attended (alumni) that Haverford School has seemingly accomplished what Agnes Irwin couldn’t do a few years ago in Easttown.

What am I talking about with Irwins? See:

What Does a Sprawling Berwyn Estate, a Hollywood-related Socialite, a Private Girls School and a Planning Commission Have in Common?

Supporters of Agnes Irwin School Using Scare Tactics in Berwyn Neighborhood Over Land Development Plans

Yes I digress, and what makes what I am about to disclose that Haverford School is doing is different because Haverford School was SMART, they sought a property to expand with a land use that was pre-existing and conducive to a school. So it’s apples to apples, not apples to oranges.

Haverford School apparently has had their bid accepted in Radnor Township for what locals remember as the Presbyterian Children’s Village on South Roberts Road. It was once the estate of Samuel Robinson (ACME Markets – same family as Crebilly, correct?) and called “Glencoe”.

Presbyterian Children’s Village: the former Glencoe Estate from Radnor Historical Society on Vimeo.

Presbyterian Children’s Village (now known as “The Village” if it still exists, not sure) was founded in Philadelphia in the 1870s as an orphanage. (See this article in a Wayne Presbyterian Church Bulletin) In 1926, Samuel Robinson, then President of ACME Markets bought the Glencoe Estate in Rosemont, which had originally been owned by Thomas McKean, Jr who had a similarly named relative who was a a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The estate was the creation of George Bispham Page. Mr. Robinson bequeathed Glencoe to the Presybyterian Church in 1959, and that is how the Presbyterian Children’s Village came to be there.

In recent years, until it closed, I vaguely recall negative press when it came to the Presbyterian Children’s Village. I found this: click HERE, click HERE, click HERE, click HERE. I actually knew someone once who was a children and youth social worker. Worked at Presbyterian Children’s Village for a few years. Did not like it and left

email-_-Webview-_-A-message-from-the-Head-of-School_-Exciting-newsDownload

It is remarkable Glencoe has survived. And no matter what my mixed feelings about The Haverford School are at times, one can definitely say they respect the historic structures on their campus in Haverford, and I think they will undoubtedly continue to do so. Expanding their campus here I feel is a good thing. They are landlocked in their current location and that has always been a burden to their neighbors among other things.

I found a cache of the listing when it was on the Financial Times website. See screenshot:

I also found the listing lingering HERE , HERE, and HERE. Mostly the listing appears taken down. So here are screenshots of what I got a copy of (or you can refer to embedded PDF above):

Hopefully Radnor Township residents around this location on South Roberts Road are pleased. They should be. They have been saved the unpleasant fate of a housing development, apartments, condos, townhouses, etc.

I wonder how they will weave in the existing campus in Haverford, which sits in both Lower Merion and Haverford Townships. Hopefully it all works out.

another curious case of conduct unbecoming a public or elected official in west whiteland?

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Sent to a random person on Facebook last evening.

When you run for elected office you become not only a politician but a public figure. Some are better than others.

Last evening was a West Whiteland supervisors meeting. Other municipalities pretty much run their meetings fairly civilized these days, but West Whiteland is swirling in controversy, so they’re a bit rocky.

Last evening’s meeting (3/9/22) was the most civilized they’ve had in a while. And mostly it was civilized because one supervisor, Theresa Hogan Santalucia, for once didn’t act out. Well that is not quite true, she spouted off on why they shouldn’t get a camera in the West Whiteland board room to record PUBLIC meetings. Something about distorted view, can’t see faces, etc. She referenced West Goshen Township which was kind of funny because unless they are having technical challenges, you can see everyone clear as a bell: supervisors, staff, even people who go up to speak at the podium. Ditto with East Goshen Township and East Whiteland Township, and a whole host of other municipalities whose meetings I have seen either live streaming or recorded. I think she just doesn’t WANT meetings recorded because it is easier to pretend bad behavior doesn’t happen at public meetings and not all resident comments are positive, can’t you agree?

Theresa Hogan Santalucia does act out for lack of a better description, kindly reference an apology tour screenshot from the not so distant past:

And yes Theresa, we all can have opinions on you, how you govern, how you behave because you are a PUBLIC official, a politician/elected official. I can also have the opinion that I think you are unsuited for public office and should resign for any number of reasons.

My reasons go back as far as sidewalk chalk, or when someone was made to feel bad (and publicly skewered) for putting sidewalk chalk drawings on a sidewalk outside the township building on Election Day. I will note back then that I don’t recall any signage saying “no sidewalk chalk.” Is there such signage today? I don’t know. I never knew in suburbia there were rules on sidewalk chalk.

Then we have the recent occurrences of making a unilateral decision to send out a fairly large check to someone who’s contract or agreement or whatever you want to call it hadn’t been renewed, correct? You’ve been a sitting supervisor in a fairly large municipality for not a year, but several years yet you oopsies it and claimed you didn’t know you could do that? Municipalities and businesses alike always have a system of checks and balances for checks over a certain dollar amount or should, correct? I think with 2nd Class Townships like West Whiteland, this is something the board has to decide and vote upon as a governing body, correct?

Doesn’t that just beg the question of what other things she has done that maybe she shouldn’t have done but she claims she didn’t know you couldn’t do as an elected official? And again, she’s a public official, an elected official, a politician so anyone can ask these questions.

And do not forget, this politician makes a big hairy deal about going to PSATS things. PSATS is the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. Don’t they offer seminars to help elected officials and appointed officials and employees in municipalities learn to be better?

Here is what Theresa has had to say on social media about PSATS things:

And then there’s the whole thing of performing Rights to Know on your fellow elected officials using your West Whiteland email address and that also meant private citizens and their rights were being targeted? And how about invading the privacy quite literally of your fellow supervisors with that and why is that? Are they not allowed to have friendships and relationships outside of the township building?

We live in communities where we elect our community members to represent us and elect local government so once you get there or you’re not supposed to have any friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers?

Which brings us to last night. For once Supervisor Theresa Hogan Santalucia made an effort to look fairly presentable for the meeting. Another opinion anyone can have. A screen shot was taken and it was posted with a tongue in cheek quip about a “glam squad.”

Truthfully, it wasn’t a very active post, only a few people saw it and about five or six people laughed at it because when you mention a local politician and a glam squad it is actually funny. Women use glam squads for so many things today. Wedding makeup, party makeup, pre-photos makeup, just for fun with friends. But I think why people laugh at it is if you watch any of the reality TV shows on Bravo, I think every single one of those women on the majority of those shows have a glam squad. And they talk about their glam squads like it’s a regular everyday thing…you know when they have their people call your people?

So yes, poor me the evil blogger made a funny. I made a funny about a local politician who hasn’t been very nice all of the time, has she?

Fast forward to today when I logged onto my computer and I had a message from one of the people who thought the post was funny and left a 😂. Literally that is ALL they did. No comment, just a laughing like to the post. Here is the message to me (and no they didn’t respond to this, what would be the point?):

The person’s query to me after receiving and unsolicited message from a West Whiteland Supervisor they do not know.
The initial message sent to this person. By a local politician no less.

Your eyes do not deceive you, she contacted someone who laughed at the post. I have no way of knowing if it’s a constituent or not, but if any of you received these messages I’d be interested in hearing about it. It’s just downright odd, isn’t it?

One of Saint Theresa’s biggest issues as a politician isn’t just the lack of playing well with others in public, it is how she is on social media. No one is being mean if they suggest least said, soonest mended to her. She has in fact a nasty flannel mouth as one of my grandmothers would have said.

Also….No politician likes being lampooned. But that’s actually an age-old tradition in this country. Like Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall. The Boss Tweed lampoons still resonate today.

They lampooned and cartooned and generally poked fun of people, royalty, etc. in the 18th century here when we were divorcing ourselves from the United Kingdom during the revolution.

They did it in Europe when Bonaparte was waging war in Europe.

Before I finish up this post, allow me to circle back to that PSATS conference. I don’t know if Saint Theresa will be attending, but there are definitely some seminars which might be good for her. One is even being led by her Township Solicitor’s law firm in fact. You know that guy she said was so terrible at the reorg meeting? The same reorg meeting where she said terrible things about new Supervisor Brian Dunn? Anyway, some of the following may be helpful to here:

So here we are. I have to ask did any of these politicians or public figures back in the day write letters to people laughing at these lampoons historically? Do you know any others who do so now? Do you know any other politicians locally or otherwise who private message people well into the evening about what they’re liking on Facebook?

Theresa Hogan Santalucia, like it or not, is a politician. She has a choice. She can own her political mistakes and whatever else as an elected official and move on, or she can do West Whiteland a favor and resign. I say resign. As a politician she has gone well past tsk, tsk she shouldn’t do that. And it actually is sad, because when there are women like this in politics, even in such a local capacity, it makes it harder for women in general to run for office no matter what their political persuasion.

#ResignTheresa

on international women’s day remember tatiana poladko and her family and the women of ukraine

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Video courtesy of Atnreakn Alleyne Facebook Page- Refugee area outside Ukraine

Here I was today, wondering what I would write about on International Women’s Day. Some of the women around here I find lacking, seriously lacking. They say they are all about freedom, yet they are Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism. They are LGBTQIA+ phobic in general, racist, suspicious and hyper-critical of anyone who does not fit into their narrow world view. They chase phantom CRT (still not being taught in our public schools), still going on about masks as masking lifts, and are developing book burning/banning lists.

These “Wifies” are all led around by the nose via social media and fake news being directed at them and they THINK they are helping their communities/schools, only they are pawns in a nationwide political game attached to 1/6/21 and Trumpublican politics. And they don’t even get they are being used. They call themselves conservatives, yet actual conservatives abhor and avoid them so what dies that say?

And then I started thinking and wondering if these not so slick chicks could survive in the Ukraine now. Short answer: NO. Real totalitarianism live and up front in the form of Putin’s Russian terroristic troops? Oh hell to the no. They wouldn’t be able to touch up their gel nail wraps or whatever. Besides they are blamers, not doers.

Then an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer Stopped. Me. Cold.

Walking to Poland: A Philly-area family escapes a Ukraine under fire
The couple never imagined that when they decided to spend a couple years in her homeland, they would be undertaking a dangerous, frozen trek to Poland.

by Jeff Gammage
Published Mar 8, 2022

Each day the war grew closer and more ferocious, said Tatiana Poladko, a local woman living in Ukraine. And on Friday she set out with her husband, their three small children, and her elderly father to seek safety in Poland.

A stranger with a car offered to drive them most of the way. Then they started to walk.

The kids, Zoryana, 7, Nazariy, 3, and Taras, 2, kept their winter hats pulled low against the cold. Her father, 81, struggled to keep up, and at one point fell down.

They crossed the border on foot….“So many people, babies, children, elderly, everyone,” Poladko said. “Ukrainian people with just a suitcase or two who never thought they’d be in such a predicament.”

Nor did she.

Poladko and her husband — Wilmington residents who run a Delaware-based college-access program — never imagined that when they decided to spend a couple of years in her homeland, they would be undertaking a dangerous, frozen trek to the Polish border as Russia shelled Ukraine.

They only wanted their kids to experience their Ukrainian heritage, to see the country and learn the language.

Now, as war rages, Poladko, a Ukrainian national, can’t return to the United States because of federal immigration laws. And her husband and children, all U.S. citizens, won’t leave without her.

They plan to apply for emergency visas that could permit Poladko and her father to enter the United States, but it’s uncertain if those will be approved….In Przemysl, Poladko and her family were able to board a train that was taking refugees to Warsaw.

They found a hotel. Now they’re trying to figure out where to go and what to do.

~philadelphia inquirer 3/8/22

This article. It moved me. I was in tears by the end of it. A young family from Wilmington, DE. Trapped in a war zone. Tatiana Poladko had been here legally for years studying and making a difference. I point out the legally part, lest the Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism start building her a wall. Obviously she had put down roots, fallen in love, started a family. She and her husband Atnreakn Alleyne started a wonderful non-profit called TeenSHARP which helps Black and Latino kids get to college and succeed and thrive. They have two sites (New Jersey and Delaware) serving many areas and communities in those states, as well as Philadelphia.

Refugees arrive in Poland from Ukraine
Photos courtesy of Atnreakn Alleyne’s Facebook Page








So how do we get this young family home, safe and sound? Tweet, email, phone, Facebook your elected official of choice. The areas you should contact people would include the greater Philadelphia region, New Jersey and Delaware. Also contact the White House. Get more reporters to pick up their story.

Do I know these people? No, but they are the kind of people you want to know. And Tatiana’s poor father is the age of many of our parents, and his home area is being devastated by war as Putin and his Russian stormtroopers imitate Hitler and ever evil dictator who has preceded Putin inside and outside of Russia. He already lost his wife, let him live out his days with his daughter, son-in-law, and beloved grandchildren here.

Video from fighting in Ukraine, circulating Facebook

What is happening to Ukraine made me think of a growing up friend whose mother is Ukrainian. I remember my mother telling me the stories of my friend’s grandmother carrying her mother as a baby out of Ukraine to escape Russians, Germans, and who knows who else. The grandmother fled with a baby in her arms taking whatever work she could get until she could safely get her daughter to the United States. From there, they became citizens, and had a lovely life.

This Ukrainian grandmother, my friend’s Baba, still spoke very little English even when we were teenagers. I thought she was warm and lovely. Her bedroom suite was on the first floor of their house behind their kitchen. I seem to remember her cooking Ukrainian dishes, and we use to see Baba at our church (Catholic.) I remember the beautiful Ukrainian Easter eggs in the house.

I can’t help but wonder what my friend’s grandmother would think of what is happening to her birthland today? I know what friends of my mother’s who ran from the Nazis and hid from the Russians feel because they lived this in World War II. I know what my friend who is Romanian by birth feels, and three women I hold dear who emigrated to the U.S. from Poland and remember as Europeans what Ukrainians have been through.

So today on International Women’s Day 2022, let’s celebrate Tatiana Poladko and the women of the Ukraine.

And please, contact your elected official of choice and the White House if the spirit moves you to ask that Tatiana Poladko and her husband Atnreakn Alleyne, her elderly dad, and their 3 small children receive safe passage back to Wilmington, DE. Let not another family be separated. As Americans, we should do better.

#StandWithUkraine

#InternationalWomensDay

#TatianaAndAtnreakn

#PuckFutin

happy monday, sounds like a scam dinner….at red lobster

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So we got this postcard in the mail. It was a no obligation event limited to a select group of timeshare owners. Only one problem, we’re not timeshare owners. No one in our family is a timeshare owner.

I love a good scam, don’t you?

It did not list company and we all get these postcards in the mail all the time for insurance, brokerage, money managers and so on. It’s a come on to sell you something. It’s Marketing 101. So I wanted to know what company was doing this. And yes, I am that consumer who will call and say Whatcha’ Talkin’ ‘Bout ‘Willis.

So I called the phone number which is 1-800-245-8993. Here’s the first woman (give it listen, very entertaining):

She was special, yes?

So she says they are calling on behalf of Molfetta Law in Langhorne, PA. There is not Molfetta Law in Langhorne PA. There is one in California. So I called. They didn’t know what I was talking about.

So I called Red Lobster in King of Prussia. Poor kid who answered phone was just confused by what I was asking. Couldn’t find any large reservations for the dates and times on the post card. She was kind enough to give me the number of Red Lobster Corporate. So I called. They could find any large reservations in their system so they said if was probably a scam.

I found another post card on the internet listed as a scam:

Then I did a little Facebook searching. Found another one:

So I do not know what the thing is using Red Lobster, but it seems to be the fake timeshare dinner of choice.

So I called back number on post card. Here is call #2:

IMS in Scranton is some marketing place. So how whomever found these people to call and send out a coupon escapes me.

I found a video from yesterday about this someplace else, again at a Red Lobster:

The toll free number when you put it into Google says it is a scam. That is 1-800-245-8993. Of course, it all comes back to one small detail: we don’t time share and no one in our family or extended family does.

So happy Monday, this is your scam entertainment for the week.

Is there a scamalot song? And they are cheap scammers. Red Lobster is all they can do?

so whose wires are these in frazer?

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Reported this to PECO a couple/few weeks back. It is near the Home Depot in Frazer, PA. This is in East Whiteland Township.

Reported this to PECO again, and someone in the community says they may be Verizon’s wires?

So I don’t know whose wires they are, but this is dangerous.

Whomever is responsible can they just take care of it please?

Utility companies expect us to pay our bills promptly, so maybe they can actually take care of things regarding safety promptly too?

If it ends up being Verizon, it doesn’t surprise me because they have old wires from one of their poles up in a neighbor’s tree. They are sloppy.