Fair is Fair
Hello World,
Happy Labor Day weekend! In the spirit of the holiday, I do hope that you have plans that include good food, good friends, good weather and also resting from your labors. After all, even God rested from his labors on the seventh day, although if He had only asked me, I would have been able to give Him a list of things that should have been included while He was busy doing everything else, instead of knocking off a day early, and let's just say that the power to levitate objects would just be the tip of the iceberg. In any event, the Labor Day weekend is upon us, and recognized as the unofficial end of the summer season, so it's a bittersweet observation at best. Not that this summer had a whole lot to recommend it, not just in this area, and that's putting it mildly. In fact, a change of seasons might do us all a world of good.
Speaking of the changing seasons, at work we got a catalogue from our friends at the Greenwoods 2005 Holiday Collection of greeting cards, and if you don't get catalogues of business greeting cards, you don't know what you're missing. Because they don't want to offend or exclude anyone, they tend to shy away from reds and greens, not to mention candy canes, Christmas trees and the jolly old elf himself. Most of the cards are gold or ivory, with shiny snowflakes, doves, stars or globes, and say things like "A World of Best Wishes" or "Happy Holidays." (Although I have to wonder about the cards that include not only Santa, but his reindeer, red and green packages, candy canes, Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly garland and lights, and then go ahead and wish me "Season's Greetings!" You've kind of limited that to only one "season" that I can think of, pal.) The ones I really hate, and that are so prevalent nowadays, are the navy blue ones, because they just strike me as so maudlin for holiday cards. Yuck. Anyway, I was flipping through this catalogue and came across a card, navy blue of course, with the arresting message: "The friendship of those we serve is the foundation of our progress." And I thought to myself, that doesn't even make any sense, even though all the words are in English, it simply has no meaning. It would make just as much sense if you said instead, "The progress of those we serve is the friendship of our foundation." It sounds to me like the horoscope computer from the newspaper has gotten into the greeting card business, and not for the better, I can tell you that.
While we're on the subject of better things, we had a fun time last weekend, visiting our friends from upstate and going back to the Dutchess County Fair in Rhinebeck, where we hadn't been for a while. Not much had changed, although it did seem a lot more crowded than we remembered it. It all began innocently enough, as these things so often do, when we left later than we wanted to on Saturday morning, and experimenting with new and untested directions, which we assumed would not only take more time, but get us hopelessly lost besides. Instead of Daffy Duck showing up and saying, "Shoot me now! Shoot me now!" we actually got where we were going, and early to boot. Naturally, our friends were therefore late, so getting there early turned into a mixed blessing. We had a wonderful lunch, as usual, at the delightfully atmospheric Eveready Diner in Hyde Park which we love. We were staying overnight at the nearby Super 8 Motel, so we decided to check in and leave our belongings before going to the fair. I suppose that not much changes at the fair over the years, although if I said that now, I would just be talking through my hat, because we really didn't see much of the fair while we were there. The weather was nice, if a little too hot, but it was so unbearably crowded that we just didn't make any headway in getting around the place. We did see some of the exhibition hall, where they have booths selling everything from jewelry to gutters and grandfather clocks to life insurance. We also strolled past rows of vendor tents outdoors, where we could buy tractors, speedboats, sheds, heating systems and hot tubs. No thank you very much! It didn't take long for us to have our fill of the fair, and half of us were lucky enough to sneak out the back of the parking field and beat it back to the motel, while the other half got stuck in the gridlock at the front, and took more than an hour just to get out of the fairgrounds.
After that, we headed for something called Pete's Famous Diner & Restaurant, also in Hyde Park, where we had never been before. I can't tell you what they're famous for, but the food was good, although I found it somewhat expensive for all that. As often happens when we go anywhere with our friends, we managed to clear the room out, and even though it was a Saturday night, pretty soon we were the only people in the place. Honestly, you'd think no one had ever seen six people doing impressions of White Fang from the old Soupy Sales Show before. Then we went back to the motel and had a little party in our room, complete with ice cream and brownies, not to mention crepe paper and streamers. We even had little party poppers, and I think it says something about the Super 8 in Hyde Park that you can shoot these things off all night that sound just like gunshots, and not one single soul comes to investigate. Apparently they have little caps in them, like cap pistols, and we were surprised that the smell and the smoke didn't set off the smoke detectors in the room. I must say that my idea about the usual clientele of this motel has changed considerably since our visit, and not for the better, I don't mind saying.
On Sunday morning, we scarfed up the continental breakfast that was provided in the lobby, which was more convenient than going out to eat first thing in the morning. Then we scooted up the road a piece and spent hours meandering through the wonderful Hyde Park Antiques, a gigantic old house filled with rooms upon rooms and display cases upon display cases of the most intriguing items. Unlike most antique stores, this building housed a wide collection of different dealers, each in a separate room or display case, so there was a huge variety in the types of items, like jewelry, furniture, silverware, dolls, books, paintings, toy trains and even coins. It was fascinating, upstairs and downstairs, and every time we thought we had seen it all, there was another hallway going off in another direction. We finally had to leave, more out of exhaustion than anything else, but we were glad that we went. Of course, they weren't so happy to see six people doing their impressions of White Fang, but anyone can tell you that retail sales is not the place for sissies.
Could it be possible that we went back to the Eveready Diner on Sunday for lunch? You bet! In fact, we had the same waiter as at brunch on Saturday, and he laughed and said that he had been there all night. We had another delicious meal, but all too soon, it was time to bid our friends farewell and speed them back on their way to the northern climes that they call home. Our trip home was blissfully uneventful, and even though our cats hadn't set eyes on us since early the day before, they greeted our return with nonchalance bordering on boredom, which helps to keep us humble if nothing else. It's true that we always have fun when we get together with our friends, but I would have to say that I found the fair disappointing, and I said to Bill that it's gotten like that place that Yogi Berra complained "It's so crowded that no one goes there any more." For our next get-together, we're thinking of just staying at a nicer motel with a pool, and cutting out the fair completely. After all, we can do our impressions of White Fang anywhere.
Happy Labor Day weekend! In the spirit of the holiday, I do hope that you have plans that include good food, good friends, good weather and also resting from your labors. After all, even God rested from his labors on the seventh day, although if He had only asked me, I would have been able to give Him a list of things that should have been included while He was busy doing everything else, instead of knocking off a day early, and let's just say that the power to levitate objects would just be the tip of the iceberg. In any event, the Labor Day weekend is upon us, and recognized as the unofficial end of the summer season, so it's a bittersweet observation at best. Not that this summer had a whole lot to recommend it, not just in this area, and that's putting it mildly. In fact, a change of seasons might do us all a world of good.
Speaking of the changing seasons, at work we got a catalogue from our friends at the Greenwoods 2005 Holiday Collection of greeting cards, and if you don't get catalogues of business greeting cards, you don't know what you're missing. Because they don't want to offend or exclude anyone, they tend to shy away from reds and greens, not to mention candy canes, Christmas trees and the jolly old elf himself. Most of the cards are gold or ivory, with shiny snowflakes, doves, stars or globes, and say things like "A World of Best Wishes" or "Happy Holidays." (Although I have to wonder about the cards that include not only Santa, but his reindeer, red and green packages, candy canes, Christmas trees, mistletoe, holly garland and lights, and then go ahead and wish me "Season's Greetings!" You've kind of limited that to only one "season" that I can think of, pal.) The ones I really hate, and that are so prevalent nowadays, are the navy blue ones, because they just strike me as so maudlin for holiday cards. Yuck. Anyway, I was flipping through this catalogue and came across a card, navy blue of course, with the arresting message: "The friendship of those we serve is the foundation of our progress." And I thought to myself, that doesn't even make any sense, even though all the words are in English, it simply has no meaning. It would make just as much sense if you said instead, "The progress of those we serve is the friendship of our foundation." It sounds to me like the horoscope computer from the newspaper has gotten into the greeting card business, and not for the better, I can tell you that.
While we're on the subject of better things, we had a fun time last weekend, visiting our friends from upstate and going back to the Dutchess County Fair in Rhinebeck, where we hadn't been for a while. Not much had changed, although it did seem a lot more crowded than we remembered it. It all began innocently enough, as these things so often do, when we left later than we wanted to on Saturday morning, and experimenting with new and untested directions, which we assumed would not only take more time, but get us hopelessly lost besides. Instead of Daffy Duck showing up and saying, "Shoot me now! Shoot me now!" we actually got where we were going, and early to boot. Naturally, our friends were therefore late, so getting there early turned into a mixed blessing. We had a wonderful lunch, as usual, at the delightfully atmospheric Eveready Diner in Hyde Park which we love. We were staying overnight at the nearby Super 8 Motel, so we decided to check in and leave our belongings before going to the fair. I suppose that not much changes at the fair over the years, although if I said that now, I would just be talking through my hat, because we really didn't see much of the fair while we were there. The weather was nice, if a little too hot, but it was so unbearably crowded that we just didn't make any headway in getting around the place. We did see some of the exhibition hall, where they have booths selling everything from jewelry to gutters and grandfather clocks to life insurance. We also strolled past rows of vendor tents outdoors, where we could buy tractors, speedboats, sheds, heating systems and hot tubs. No thank you very much! It didn't take long for us to have our fill of the fair, and half of us were lucky enough to sneak out the back of the parking field and beat it back to the motel, while the other half got stuck in the gridlock at the front, and took more than an hour just to get out of the fairgrounds.
After that, we headed for something called Pete's Famous Diner & Restaurant, also in Hyde Park, where we had never been before. I can't tell you what they're famous for, but the food was good, although I found it somewhat expensive for all that. As often happens when we go anywhere with our friends, we managed to clear the room out, and even though it was a Saturday night, pretty soon we were the only people in the place. Honestly, you'd think no one had ever seen six people doing impressions of White Fang from the old Soupy Sales Show before. Then we went back to the motel and had a little party in our room, complete with ice cream and brownies, not to mention crepe paper and streamers. We even had little party poppers, and I think it says something about the Super 8 in Hyde Park that you can shoot these things off all night that sound just like gunshots, and not one single soul comes to investigate. Apparently they have little caps in them, like cap pistols, and we were surprised that the smell and the smoke didn't set off the smoke detectors in the room. I must say that my idea about the usual clientele of this motel has changed considerably since our visit, and not for the better, I don't mind saying.
On Sunday morning, we scarfed up the continental breakfast that was provided in the lobby, which was more convenient than going out to eat first thing in the morning. Then we scooted up the road a piece and spent hours meandering through the wonderful Hyde Park Antiques, a gigantic old house filled with rooms upon rooms and display cases upon display cases of the most intriguing items. Unlike most antique stores, this building housed a wide collection of different dealers, each in a separate room or display case, so there was a huge variety in the types of items, like jewelry, furniture, silverware, dolls, books, paintings, toy trains and even coins. It was fascinating, upstairs and downstairs, and every time we thought we had seen it all, there was another hallway going off in another direction. We finally had to leave, more out of exhaustion than anything else, but we were glad that we went. Of course, they weren't so happy to see six people doing their impressions of White Fang, but anyone can tell you that retail sales is not the place for sissies.
Could it be possible that we went back to the Eveready Diner on Sunday for lunch? You bet! In fact, we had the same waiter as at brunch on Saturday, and he laughed and said that he had been there all night. We had another delicious meal, but all too soon, it was time to bid our friends farewell and speed them back on their way to the northern climes that they call home. Our trip home was blissfully uneventful, and even though our cats hadn't set eyes on us since early the day before, they greeted our return with nonchalance bordering on boredom, which helps to keep us humble if nothing else. It's true that we always have fun when we get together with our friends, but I would have to say that I found the fair disappointing, and I said to Bill that it's gotten like that place that Yogi Berra complained "It's so crowded that no one goes there any more." For our next get-together, we're thinking of just staying at a nicer motel with a pool, and cutting out the fair completely. After all, we can do our impressions of White Fang anywhere.
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 7:44 PM
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