Selmer makes the finest brass instruments. You can't get better.What a sweet story. So wonderful that he got to play for her.

I have been taking shots of one kind or another since I was 5.But, a shot in the eye?eeek. When I was a little kid, running around as little boys do, I ranunder the hand of an uncle who was holding a cigar.Hot ashes fell into my eyes burning them and blinding me for a week. Ever since then just the though of anything touching my eyes drives me up the wall. I can't even stand putting anything in my eyes except eyedrops. I virtually quiver as if I just saw a demon about to drag me to hell. Other than that, I'm fearless about needles or medical procedures.

Good thing we never met on the highway, before you have up driving and feared unexpected jerking, while I still had curvy road lines. Good thing Galt bunch are responsible. Nothing else would have driven me to instrument eye surgery, during which I woke up! I have resigned myself to the shots in the eye every six weeks or so, to halt the progression of the disease. Just hope it continues to work, but I am not sure I will pass the vision test next renewal of my license. It is what it is.

I remember Buddy Morrow, that was good style. After mom died when I was a teen, Dad and I used to stay up for the Tonight Show, he really liked that band, and Morrow was part of it. He later liked Doc very much. That show was classic, unlike the trash today.
When dad got cancer, I knew he would not be there for our daughter to see grandpa on the bandstand. Weak, but wanting to share with her, he dug out the horn and played just for her. She was delighted, and holds that memory. I had been at his ballroom gigs, tucked in the balcony at 15, eating up the music and talent. He was with the Chuck Selby Orches., beside his day job in music store mgt. He died not long after he played, making it that much more special to our daughter.He played tenor sax and clarinet.
I know how it was with your horn. When dad died, I was torn between keeping his horn, but knew it would deteriorate and pads dry out. I wanted to remain connected, but also felt that the horn should go on making music, as it had for him. It was a Selmer, which he had taken to the factory to be re-laquered at one point . It went to a musician who very much wanted it and was pleased to have it. I can still recall the smell of the case, as I remember from childhood. The freedom of those jam sessions in our basement were what USA is about, freedom to make music, to express hope, to be their best, to delight in who they were and where they lived, a free country.

I know how your Dad felt. I traveled with Buddy Morrow's band but could only take it for about 6 months. I quit and settled down. It's nice that he can get out the old sax and play. I played trombone. but after over 20 years of not playing I no longer had any lip and any notes abve treble clef F were gone. Anyhow I gave my horn away to a teacher to give to a kid who showed promise. About a year ago a friend loaned me a trombone that he picked up at a pawn shop so I could play "When the Saints Go Marcihng In" with a Dixie land band he put together, and to my amazement, I was able to swing right along. He jokingly told me, "See, you can play as well as the average High School kid. Thanks a lot.

In my case its not the eyes, but because of various types of nerve degeneration my reflexes and reaction times are shot. As a result, whenever I drive I'm in a sweat as to what might happen if some jerk cuts me off or swerves when he shouldn't. I don't know about other areas, but here in Flowerland they are either young and reckless or old and unpredictable.Fortunately, the eyes still work. But as long as I can see my computer, I'll survive.I hope you can get your eyes to continue to function any way you can. Good luck.

So sorry to hear about your eyesight, it is a problem which is taking several of our senior group off the road. I have macular degeneration, and get the shots in one eye. I dread renewal time, as I always know my license may not get renewed. Somehow I did not prepare for that eventuality in my mind, but started giving my husband eye vitamins to make sure one of us is still good to go. IMeanwhile, I enjoy every bit of behind the wheel time. A few years ago, I had surgery when the lines in the road started looking wavy, and telephone poles were bent, luckily, that they could fix.

Recordings of the band dad was with were originally reel to reel. Dad and I converted to cassette while he was still alive. In his last years he got his sax out so our daughter could hear him play. Then after his death, I put all his music on CDs via computer, for each grandchild. Our daughter still loves "grandpa's music" and the era of big band. I like Jackie Gleason Orches. to this day. With computers, we can mix and created our own playlists of this fine music. Dad was invited to join Dean Martin's band back in the 50s, but did not want to uproot the family, but we all loved Dean. That music can blend well on a playlist, with Boz Skaggs from "Urban Cowboy", maybe Huey Lewis' bluesie "He Don't Know You", or Bon Jovi's "I'll be there for you." I even have one wall switch wired to play Dean martin's "You're nobody till somebody loves you" when you turn it off. Kids today have lost such connections to their parents, very sad/

I enjoy using the computer to make music, too. We entertain at retirement homes, and I sing and make "big band" (and small jazz combo) arrangements using Reaper DAW and lots of sampled instruments.
(My aunt sang with the band on Milton Berle's radio show in the 50s, but I don't know of any recordings of her- except the one she made as a wedding gift to my parents in '51.) I enjoy Harlem Nocturne, too.

No such thing as slow cars, only slow drivers. I had a Metropolitan, a British built cheap 2 seater which often needed help to get up steep hills, but going downhill with the accelerator floored I could squeeze it up to 65 (barely) but it got me to work on an eye dropper of gas. So you might say I've had them from the slowest to the fastest. Those lefties who hate seeing people enjoy themselves can go to hell.

My first job was in the Dairy Research Dept. at OSU, where we processed cow records for the whole state. I felt at home with the computer, but learned a lot about cows! Next was a CPA firm where I met my husband (now a CPA), where they were just setting up their computer dept. , I completed acctg.studies while there. After I quit, I was their consultant for the transition of county real estate records and billing onto the CPA firm's computer. Then I spent 9 years at the corp. hdq. of a tool and die company with branches in three US locations and an office in Germany. The finance dept. was not computerized, and after a few months in cost acctg., including reading blueprints to get costs right for things like heat treating outside services, my boss and I converted the general acctg. dept.to computer before we both moved to the general accounting with him as Treasurer. I did A/R, set up programs so my sale tax information was computerized for me to do the returns quicker, did collections, and general ledger recons. Then I quit and went back for four year degrees in English and Philosophy, with minors in Biology and Political Science. Then I worked in a US Representatives Office, and ultimately, at a newswpaper. Every job involved computers. Now, we still do accounting from home (small business in retirement), but mostly just have fun with computers. We have five PCs, laptop and smart phones. Sometimes keeping it all working is a challenge, but the joy of making it happen is fun. I also like converting music from way back onto the PC, including my dad playing with a big band. I so love "Harlem Nocturne", and have that band off private tapes playing it. Of course, being in the Gulch is a high point of my computer day as well.

I no longer can drive as well as I would like.Rather than risk my life or the lives of others, my wife has taken over. She never drove a powerful car, but now she is tooling around in a Ford Taurus with 288 horses. She is learning this late in life what fun it is to be driving a fast car.

Our daughter loves her Charger, and she has had her share of tickets as well. I loved my first car, '57 Chevy Bel Air, what a car. Next favorite was a '78 Camaro with racing rear axle set up. It was faster than the 1983 Corvette we had at the time. Now, I am devoted to my 2010 Camaro, but also enjoy our 2002 Corvette. Husband adore his 2009 Challenger, and it drives me crazy he gets more compliments on it than the other cars!

The first two jobs that I got after graduation from college were awarded to me because of my computer experience in my "day job" at the CPA firm where I earned enough for college tuition. (No one knew anything about computers, so as the rookie on the staff, I got to figure it out for them.) The third job was due to programming experience (business forecasting) in the 2nd job. I had one computer class in college and designed systems most of my career. But the things I learned in college (and in working through college) did help me in understanding the businesses that I designed systems for. Traveling all over the US and working 60-80 hours a week doing what I loved to do was a great experience. I still love solving systems problems, but I have no interest in doing it in a big enterprise. (This is not the droid you are looking for. Move along.;^)

'69 was a great year for muscle cars. I had a '69 Chevelle convertible that was way too quick for its brakes (and handling was like a boat compared to the MX5's I have had since '89 ;^)
I have loved driving almost every car I bought in my life. It's still fun ;^) (Only the traffic is a drag. Get those slow Hondas and Camrys out of the way!)

True, not everyone is A.R. but everyone can train themselves not to act before thinking. If not possible, then run away. "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day."The stigma of cowardice is attached until the final battle is fought Entrapment is one of the classic battle strategies.

My all-time favorite car was a '69 Dodge Charger with the 440 V8 Powerful, but smooth as a limo. My only problem with it was that I'd get too many speeding tickets.

Humans have it, theoretically. But it takes volition to turn it on. Most humans live on the default setting of animal reactions. When in flight or fight mode, there is no time for musing and reflection. That is why most people let their emotional apparatus run the show and don't bother looking for the volitional part to turn on the deep process of rational consciousness. Most people are not even aware of this process, even though they have the potential. In brief, you can have it and not use it. That's the tragedy of human evolution. Not everyone is an Ayn Rand.

The status quo should always be challenged until such time as all the questions are answered.

Sounds like a smart and fun family! Our daughter always was into SciFi, including the aliens, both real and movie. She loved the Godfather and can still quote lines! We are all into cars, but she has gone to the Dodge side with a Charger, after he dad got a Challenger. I am a GM loving Camaro driver. We are all into computers. I can remember sitting up in the middle of our 1 1/2 acres with her when she was in high school, watching the high tension electric lines across a field, hoping to spot a UFO, which we heard were drawn to them. None there, but once did see lights in a triangle which suddenly flew out of sight in the middle of the desert outside Gallup, NM. Her older daughter is just like her, open to any possibility, but always with questions.

Machines have no nerves, synapses or any other possible logic intruders.If emotion were to somehow become instilled in them, I think they'd all melt down.

The Einstein quote was from a speech.

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac....

Even in classical physics, math is used in a non-exact way with respect to reality. All measurements are approximate to some degree of precession. Then mathematics from some theory is applied to the measurements. So math becomes somewhat fuzzy in that the errors in measurement end in a range of possible values for what is being measured. In quantum physics, the results of mathematics are probability ranges for results. Probability theory, as such, gives exact probabilities for a variable in a sample space but in reality, the sample space is gotten from a sampling of a variable in some ensemble of existing material things, including electro-magnetism's photons as being material things.
Metaphors about wave functions collapsing from measurements to produce real things are just an attempt to reify mathematical concepts.

I love your attitude! We have a group of seniors who meet almost daily for coffee, and they are a defiant, but good natured bunch of rogues! I sense several of us grew up challenging things from an early age however, esp. one former Marine.I almost died at 8, out of body thing and all, so I don't worry to much, since I have had a sense of that. Living a life that was not authentic and true to self seemed the worst that could happen to a healthy person. As one philosopher said, "politics is the grandest form of slavery", how do they live it? RFK's quote on seeing life as it should be and asking why not, was good also. Sometimes the status quo needs to be rattled, esp. if it is just plain irrational.

But, you nailed the problem.They CAN make you participate. There is no freedom without power used for self defense. There will always be someone who envies you and wants what's yours.Here's an insight into that mindset. As a teen I worked as a soda jerk in a drug store in the heart of one of the roughest neighborhoods in Detroit. Here's what it looked like. First the freelancers, Numbers guys, prostitutes, scammers, car thiefs, purse snatchers and Quick change guys. One guy I knew whose nickname was "Chnky" because he had somewhat slanted eyes was the assistant godfather of 12th street.Here's his scam.He'd open an account at a bank telling them he had a string of vending machines. The bank was in Canada. He would regularly get rolls of quarters from them. And he had accounts a Detroit banks as well. (Windsor Canada was 5 minutes away from downtown Detroit). He would take apart the 25 cent rolls and mix inthe Canadian quarters wchic at that time were only worth around 18 cents American.Then he'd show up at one of his American banks and cash them in. No one was the wiser. So, one day, I asked him, "Chinky, as hard as you work, if you applied the same effort to a legit jobe you'd probably make even more. You know what his reply was? "What! And, go straight?"

We are both SciFi fans and so is his wife and son.
Daughters, not so much. We do have lots of fun discussing whether or not this or that writer is full of it -- or not. Yet to discover Grandson's fiancee but she likes horror flicks, which is a start.