What Would Jimmy Do?

How do you spell relief? p-o-r-t-a—p-o-t-t-y. For all of those holding their breath in anticipation (including me) — the porta-potty is here!! 
It’s even more beautiful than I remember and this year, its been moved to a more prominent location so we get even a better view. 
America’s birthday is sure to be a success this year….
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Since it’s now July and we’re waiting on the porta-potty, I thought we might talk about what July might have been like in 1776. When the colonies convened a Continental Congress in Philadelphia during the summer of 1776, the conflict between the colonies and England was already a year old. During a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later named Independence Hall,) Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with these famous words: “Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Lee’s words were the driving force for the drafting of a formal Declaration of Independence. On June 11, consideration of the resolution was postponed by a vote of seven colonies to five, with New York abstaining. But — a Committee of Five was appointed to draft a statement presenting to the world the colonies’ case for independence

Members of that committee included John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The task of drafting the actual document fell on Jefferson.

Then, on this day in history (July 1, 1776) the Continental Congress reconvened. The following day, the Lee Resolution for independence was adopted by 12 of the 13 colonies — New York not voting. 

Discussions of Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” resulted in some minor changes, but the spirit of the document was not changed. The process of revision continued all of July 3 and into the late afternoon of July 4, when the Declaration was officially adopted. 

Of the 13 colonies, nine voted in favor of the Declaration, two — Pennsylvania and South Carolina — voted no, Delaware was undecided and New York abstained. John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence first… a famous story says that John Hancock signed his name “with a great flourish” so England’s King George could read it without his spectacles. 
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Here it is July and while I’m getting a little concerned, the countdown for the arrival of the porta-potty is still on — I expect its arrival at any time now.

The July 4 celebration will certainly be different than last year. This year, many/most Americans will not only celebrate not only July 4, but also being able to gather safely after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. The center for Disease Control and Prevention has release guidelines saying fully vaccinated U.S. residents can attend gatherings in homes or other indoor settings without wearing a mask or practicing social distancing.

Keep checking back here on the porta-potty status — I’ll let you know as soon as it arrives.
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A few days ago, someone I know had commented that the minimum wage rate should not be raised. He said (and seemed proud) that the minimum wage when he started to work was only $6.25. I’m not sure what his point was — maybe that if he got by on $6.25, everyone should be able to… or maybe he was making the point that he was so old that the minimum wage was “only” $6.25 back then.

Of course, neither one of those “arguments” holds much water. When I first started to work, I never heard of “minimum wage.” I suppose that when I was young, employers just paid what they considered a fair wage, or just ignored the fact that there was a minimum wage set by law. 

The minimum wage in the United States is set by U.S. labor law and various state and local laws. The first federal minimum wage was created as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt — however, it was later declared unconstitutional. In 1938, the year I was born, the minimum wage was established at $0.25 and hour by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Over the years, the minimum wage purchasing power peaked in 1968 — at $1.60 an hour.

In 2020, there were 29 states and the District of Columbia with a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum. The latest statistics I could find (May, 2019) indicated that the average amount for minimum wage earners is $11.80.

A report released recently by the Congressional Budget office estimated that incrementally raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 would benefit 17 million workers, but would also reduce employment by 1.4 million people. It would also lift 0.9 million people our of poverty, possibly raise wages for an additional 10 million workers, cause prices to rise, overall economic output to decrease slightly, and increase the federal budget deficit by $54 billion over the next 10 years. It’s easy to see why this is such a controversial issue. 

I never worked a job that paid minimum wage — I suspect that when I was young, I worked a few jobs paying less than minimum wage. Life is not easy and it seems to be getting more complicated.

I’ve heard it said that the minimum wage should be a living wage and I’ve heard some say that instead of focusing on this sort of defeatist mentality where we’ve gotta up the minimum wage, why don’t we focus on creating better paying jobs? I guess I agree with both statements.
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Well, we’ve passed the Irish Twins birthday for this year and we’re over half way to Christmas, so the the next big celebration is the great American holiday — the 4th of July. The 4th of July, America’s Independence Day, is filled with traditional pageantry… barbecues, hot dogs, picnics, fireworks and porta-potties.

In 2020, things were not normal — we all missed out on a lot of traditions. The pandemic took its toll on all our traditions and holidays. Here on Field Crest Court, it was like a punch in the gut to step out our front door and not be greeted by the porta-potty. We all made sacrifices last year, but for Field Crest Court residents, not having the porta-potty just seemed to add insult to injury.

I’m happy to report that the countdown for the porte-potty’s arrival for this year has started. We should expect delivery any day now and the excitement is building. When the porta-potty arrives, we can look forward to up to 12 to 14 days of enjoying the view.

I’ll let you know when it arrives — needless to say, that’ll be the highlight of the summer….
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Today we’ve reach an annual milestone — six months from today, it’ll be Christmas. Of course that’s not what we celebrate today…. it’s also two of our kids’ birthdays. Dave and Chassie were both born on June 25th — one year apart, making them our “Irish Twins.” I’ve mentioned it before, but that term is used when two people are born on the same day and month but one year apart. 

So let’s talk about that date… one year apart:
Dave was born on Wednesday
Chassie was born on Thursday
Both their zodiac signs are Cancer
The President was Jimmy Carter when Dave was born
The President was Ronald Reagan when Chassie was born
Margaret Thatcher was the UK Prime Minister when they both were born
Pope John Paul II was leading the Catholic Church when they both were born
When Dave was born, the number one song in the US was Coming UP (Live At Glasgow) by Paul McCartney
When Chassie was born, the number one song in the US was Betty Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes

So how old are Dave and Chassie?
Today Dave is 2138 weeks and 5 days or 15971 days old
Chassie is 2086 weeks and 4 dats ir 14606 days old

We missed celebrating with them last year and we didn’t make it on time this year, but we’ll get it done. Happy Birthday to our Irish Twins, Dave and Chassie!!!
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First off, Happy father’s Day. This year, it’s also the official start of summer. The June, or summer, solstice will occur at 11:32 p.m. (our time.) That’s when the sun reaches the point at which it is farthest north of the celestial equator. The sun reaches its highest and northernmost point in the sky and must travel its longest path — meaning it will take longer to rise and to set, which is why today marks the longest day (and shortest night.)

If this isn’t enough, on Thursday (24th) the full moon (this one will be the Strawberry Moon) will appear. And we’re just about half-way to Christmas. So enjoy the day — tomorrow the days will start getting shorter again….
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In addition to Father’s Day, there’s another reason to celebrate here in West Virginia. On June 11, 1861 delegates met in Wheeling and nullified the Virginian ordinance of secession and proclaimed “The Restored Government of Virginia,” thereby refusing to secede from the Union as part of Virginia. 

West Virginian statehood was approved in a referendum and a state constitution drawn up. In April, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the admission of West Virginia into the Union effective June 20, 1863

When Virginia decided to secede from the Union, West Virginia became the only state to declare its independence from the Confederacy and the only state to gain statehood by Presidential proclamation. 

Happy 158th Birthday to the state where “Mountaineers are always free.”
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Talk about one busy day!!! Today, June 20th is Father’s Day, the State of West Virginia’s birthday, and — it’s also the summer solstice, making it the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. 

There’s just so much stuff here, I decided to address the events separately in short blogs rather than trying to cram it all into one entry. So happy reading to both your faithful readers….
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Some time back, when going through a closet, I found an old Chinese Checker game board made of plastic. It was in pretty sad shape and since Emily sometimes likes to play Chinese Checkers, I made a new board out of wood. I built a drawer into the board to keep the marbles. In case anyone doesn’t know, Chinese Checkers is played with marbles. Each player needs 10 marbles of the same color.
We had some marbles from an old game and we bought some at a local general store. 

This got me to thinking about marbles. When I was growing up, any self-respecting boy had a marble collection. In grade school, during any recess, the playground was full of kids (mostly boys, if I remember) playing various marble games. 

I would never have thought of going to school without some marbles in my pocket. I suppose it would be considered gambling these days, but we usually played for “keeps.” That basically meant that if you knocked (“shot”) someone else’s marble out of the ring, you got to keep it. 

I can’t remember the last time I saw kids playing marbles… a lot of games we used to play, such as marbles are considered old fashioned by many people these days. Many schools don’t allow children to bring their toys from home anymore, so that would include marbles. I guess the fear is that some younger children might swallow a marble and choke…. so — they’re no longer allowed at school. It also seems that recess is more supervised that it was when I was little, so marbles probably aren’t one of the “approved” activities. But time moves on and some things, like marbles, are just left behind due to progress.
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