This and That

Cool New Beaumont Events Website
Click here for a great new website for Beaumont events. It's called CtheDs.com.

Connect the Dots
The name of the above website (CtheDs) stands for "connect the dots," which reminded me of how much I used to love doing "connect the dots" or "dot-to-dot" puzzles when I was a kid.

Can Catchers and Channel Changers
Thinking about "dot-to-dot" puzzles reminded me of a conversation I had with someone a couple of days ago. When we were kids, my brother, sisters and I used to fight for the "privilege" of being the can-catcher or the channel-changer.

What was a can-catcher you ask? A can-catcher was the person who would grab the cans in the grocery store as directed by mom and/or dad. Tough work, but somebody had to do it. I suspect this little job duty was created during one of mom's four pregnancies. Plus, having four children with an age range of only six years, mom had to come up with creative ways to keep us (well, Terry and Stuart) from running amuck in the store.

What was a channel-changer? In the olden days, there were no remote control devices for television sets or for anything else, for that matter. Every night, we took turns being the channel-changer. Mom or dad would tell us to either change the channel or raise or lower the volume or bang the side of the set when the picture got fuzzy. There were also the occasional vertical hold or "turn the big knob" issues to be dealt with.

Our parents also somehow convinced us that folding towels, dusting the furniture, washing the car or gathering coat hangers were fun activities. They constantly used the old Tom Sawyer trick on us and we never knew. Sneaky!