Upstairs, Downstairs

Our house was built in 1908.  Not old from the standpoint of our community, which got going in the 1840's, but it does represent an interesting moment in time.  The Lumber Baron era was just over.  The modern age - indoor plumbing, electricity, telephone lines - had arrived.

It was also a time of class distinctions.  Oh, not so much as in England, but there was a definite expectation that people of quality lived on the top of the hill, while smaller houses full of working class folks were further down the slope.  

I should really know the story better, but evidently our house was built by a guy who worked in a bank during the lumbering era.  His daughter lived there after he passed.

It's a nice enough house.  But today's focus is on the Upstairs-Downstairs world of early 20th century servants.

They were mostly women, mostly recent immigrants.  Usually from Scandinavia or perhaps Germany.  They were probably some combination of maid, cook, nanny.  I don't know a lot about the woman who lived here as a servant.  I've seen her name on a census.  My "office" a small room where I am allowed to set up computer, files, random junk, used to be her bedroom.  When we were new in the house it still had a sink.  This was pretty handy when we made it the nursery for our three kids.

Downstairs there is one room that was a bit fancy.  A dining room with decent woodwork.  On the floor there is a metal plate that used to have a button.  When the Man of the House, or perhaps the Woman of same, pushed a button with a toe there'd be a buzzer or bell that would sound.  I think we found a few remnants of this system's wiring during an early remodel.

And going from the kitchen to the Dining Room there was a swinging door.  You certainly would not expect people of quality to see pots, pans and dishes!  The door swung on a hinge.  Specifically, here:

I did say it was not all that Grand.  But lets focus on a little area down at the bottom of the doorway.....

There is a little square of wood there that does not quite fit with the rest of the flooring.  There used to be something else there, something that could be removed. leaving a gap between first floor and basement.  Small people used to like to yell things and drop messages down from above.

What used to be there was a very fancy hinge, the sort of thing that would articulate a nice door.  I could see the Servant Girl gently pushing it open while carrying in platters full of whatever upper middle class folks dined on back in the day.

And as it happens, I still have that hinge.  It's more interesting than most bits of 126 year old hardware...

OK, that's only mildly interesting.  Let's flip it over to read:

BOMMER FLOOR HINGE  PAT. DEC 25 1900

I've seen other things patented on Christmas Day.  It must have been a thing back then.  Certainly the Patent Office would not have been open on December 25th, so they must have had some sort of paperwork gimmick to make this the patent date.*

The Bommer Company is, remarkably still around.  HERE'S their story.

Alas, on a closer read of their website it appears that in the summer of 2025 they decided to wrap up the business, no doubt in the face of overseas competition, and it looks as if they are selling off remaining stock.  😔

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* The most famous patent date of this sort is on the "Christmas Coke" bottles that are the classic shape for CocaCola when it came in glass.

Portraits

Me, about age 3.  I had a sort of impish charm back then.

Me, age 25.  Good lookin' if in part by association.....

Me, a year or two back.  In case you can't tell I'm the one on the right.  Hey, what happened?

Illogical Measures

There are times when the world seems particularly illogical.  Among the many reasons people give for this, our system of measuring things gets the occasional mention.  Why, if only we used logical metric stuff everywhere!

In large measure the system you use on a daily basis is what you are used to.  When in England I get acclimated, so to speak, and know that a 30 degree day there is sweltering hot, while the same 30 degree day back home (in my usual excavation time of April/May) is dreary and has a nasty chill.  

If used regularly any system works.  Perhaps not for scientific endeavors but just fine for staples of conversation like the weather.  Some of the old measures actually have a basis in our daily lives, or at least the daily lives of our predecessors.

One foot used to be the length of, well, one human foot.  Logical, although people have always had feet of variable sizes.....

Consider the "Big Foot" Roman shoes unearthed at the Magna site recently...

In fairness this specimen is being held close to the camera, in the manner of proud fishermen everywhere, but its pretty darned big.  There's a whole video on these guys....

An inch derives from a foot.  In Roman times an "uncia" was one twelfth of a foot.  Uncia gives us the word inch.  Efforts in later times to standardize it as say, the width of a thumb, encountered obvious difficulties.

If you are having a hard time fathoming these off hand measuring units, well, a fathom is simply the distance of the outstretched arms of a good sized mariner.  That's about six feet.

Early folks were big on measurements that related to their daily lives.  Most of them were farmers.  So an acre - although initially just a term for forest land - evolved into the amount of land a team of oxen could plow in one day.  Distantly the word might have a joint origin with agri as in agriculture.  

And of course we have miles.  As I have documented previously, one Roman mile was one thousand strides of a soldier, or mille pacem.  As measurements go its pretty useful.  As are yards, the rough distance of one such stride.  I'm still using the latter getting ready for deer hunting season where distances to sight in rifles and crossbows are not given in meters.

The meter of course is a French construct.  But lets not let them off the hook entirely.  If you go back to define an acre it once was considered one furlong (660 feet) by four rods (66 feet).  Rods are an almost entirely extinct form of measurement but weirdly portages in the Boundary Waters Canoe area are still given in rods.  Why? Well its a bit obscure, but I blame the French.  That part of the world was explored and mapped by Voyageurs, who were using canoes about one rod (16.5 feet) long.  So a canoe length as a standard of measurement made as much sense as anything else.  Considering that most of these guys were traveling light and not bringing along the marking chains to survey a furlong!

 

 

 

 

Well This Seems Like a Bad Idea

A sign along a rural road.

 Oh, surely you remember the Morlocks from H.G. Well's Time Machine????

These guys:

Cannibalistic troglodytes of the, or at least of a, distant future.  Living in dank caves I don't expect their home decor skills would be much.  And if you brought them a deer carcass the best case scenario is that they'd eat it.  Worst case, they'd eat you too!

Kidding aside I'm sure this family of Morlocks are swell folks.  The name btw is German and translates loosely to "black haired one".  Kinda the opposite of the Wellsian version.

A four star review.

Consider this a pair of "product reviews".  One for something that has always been good and is getting better.  One that is going the other direction.   

Always good to start on a positive note.  Carhartt.  They make work clothes and have done so for generations.  My "gear head" son favored these when he was in high school.  Since then the brand has oddly become popular in unexpected ways and places.  I forgot to take a picture of their store in Lyon, but ye gads 'n kitty cats, here's just one of their stores in Paris, center of the Fashion World!

See also Milan, Rome, London.  And Moscow?

Generally when a brand goes global and upscale it loses its original focus.  But Carhartt has stayed true to its workwear origins, and in fact has gotten better.  I do all of my clothing shopping at one of the "guy stores" in our area.  And every time I'm looking for something sturdy and a bit "niche" I find it.  And with the Carhartt tag.  Lightweight dirt and tear resistant pants for overseas digging trips.  Got it.  A nice looking and durable rain jacket.  Likewise.  I'm wearing a Carhartt winter jacket to near extinction having picked it up five years ago and worn it on every cold day in Wisconsin.  Of which there are many.

All three of my sons also seem to have Carhartt as an increasing part of their wardrobe.  I think I've seen some on the daughter in laws too.

So how has Carhartt managed it?  I think just by paying attention to the basics.  They've established the brand and not gone cheap on the quality.  Some of their stuff is apparently still made in the US, but most of the things I've bought in recent years come from elsewhere.  Given the history of the company as a major contractor for US military uniforms over many conflicts you have to marvel just a bit at the tags announcing Made in Vietnam.  Huh, those who say we lost out on the chance to save 'Nam from communism must be scratching their heads at the rampant capitalism that has taken hold.

Although I suppose the stuff about ALL HARDWORKING PEOPLE is just a bit Bolshie....

My next review..... not as happy....

 

Sneezy, Sleepy and ???

I was at Walmart.  Yes, even I go shopping on rare occasions.  And I saw this:

It is a display of allergy pills that have "branding" associated with the recent Snow White remake.  Movie related marketing is not new, but seems to have been in decline of late, along with the general fragmentation of entertainment and the decline post Covid in movie theater attendance.

Snow White 2025 looks to be on track to become a major money loser, and to some marks a sea change in how movies will be made.  Others have commented at length on the recent trend to just take old ideas and mix them up by swapping in actors of different race, gender or some such.

Well, tickets are expensive and audiences of late ain't buyin'.

Only two "dwarves" are shown.  Sneezy and Sleepy.  Suggestions for the other five?  Obviously Floppy, and depending on your take on society I guess you could go with Wokey.  I spent all of 90 seconds trying to dream up a few more but decided that's about all this question merited.

Detritus - 2025

I shall at least start the new year of writing with good intentions and a plan.

FIRST Robotics kicks off at the end of this week.  So for January, February and March expect one robot post per week.  More than one on occasion, certainly for tournaments and if anything unusual happens.

I recently stumbled into an interesting local history tale.  It has forced me to start a new "tag", True Crime.  This is not a genre I generally peruse, but it appears to be of some interest.  I'll spin this story out over the next few weeks. 

Back to Vindolanda in May.  The usual stuff.  Dry stones, dry British wit, ale moistened evenings in the pub.

The year going forward will have more of my "Silly Grandpa" schtick, as helping out a two-jobs, daycare is pricey family is useful.  I'm relying more on guile than endurance than five years ago with the first batch of grands, to say nothing of several decades back with our own kids.  

I should go fishing more often.  

I certainly will attend a lot of baseball/soccer/hockey/dance events.  

Probably no Florida this spring.  We bring a curse to areas down there we visit...hurricanes keep clobbering them.  Maybe Alaska this year or some year soon.  The unofficial standard is whether our fishing grandson would be bigger than the fish!

So, Happy New Year a bit early.  We are now past Solstice, the shortest day of the year.  Yes, I know, the increase in daylight is miniscule for a few weeks, but I cherish those few measly photons and enjoy them out of proportion to their actual numbers.  

After all, from now on every day gets brighter.  Enjoy each one.

Shifting Gears

I've been doing this since 2011.  Almost 2500 posts.  Sometimes they are abundant.  When I'm off on fun travels they almost write themselves.  Other times the ready to go inventory is minimal.  

Off the cuff writing is like riding a bike (something I actually seldom do).  There is a sort of "muscle memory" to each activity.  I'm very glad I was the only guy in typing class back in High School.  I can sit at the keyboard - which is much handier than the old IBM Selectric - stare into the middle distance and think.  The fingers just produce a sort of live stream.

Writing is also like riding a bike in that it is hard to stop.  If you don't keep up a certain momentum you'll wobble and tip over.  Is it reasonable to post three times a week, with more on special occasions?  Of course not.  But I think if I reduced frequency it would be the first wobble, the first sign that Detritus of Empire would become, well, detritus.  Blogging was just past its peak of popularity when I started.  Most who were active then ran out of things to say.  

Well that would be a major change, and I think its not time for that yet.  But the seasons do come and go.  

Looking back on the most frequent topics over the years, I see some that will keep rolling, others not so much.

Archaeology at 390 posts leads the way.  I figure to have a few more digs in me.  Americana is second at 309.  Lots to think about there. FIRST Robotics (210) will keep going too, although I'm in more of an emeritus role.  That should actually give me time to better chronical the mad journey.  Generations (198) is a big topic but I'm mindful of the privacy of family members, so I've never done more than the surface of that great story.  

But some categories are just in eclipse.  Sure I did 138 posts on the arcane subject Forgotten Brewery Caves, but there are few opportunities to expand on that one without considerable travel.  And even then, I won't visit or publicize sites that might lead to an arrest report or worse.

Well it is change of seasons time.  Robot School is done, the main FIRST build and competition season is still a ways off.  Deer hunting is less of an event this year, the shortage of local tags has the more serious members of the tribe looking elsewhere and scoring earlier.  Other fun stuff is over the horizon, but in the cold months ahead I will be thinking of warm, green England.

And perhaps there will be some new adventures.  No idea what just yet.  See you along the way.

 

Help Wanted President (and VP) 2024 Update

Well it has been an unusual Presidential election cycle.  Seems like just a few weeks ago I had a few things to say about it.  Time for an update.  As the players have changed it's time for me to give a revised scorecard.  I do this every four year, basically outlining what I think would be reasonable qualifications for being either Leader of the Free World/Commander in Chief, or to be the next in line for same.  To review, my point system still is:

Been President before: 5 points

Been Vice President once 3 points.  No bonus for being second banana more that once.

Been elected to US Senate.  2 points.  Served more than one term 3 points

Been a Congressperson 1 point.  Multiple terms 2 points

Governor of any reasonable state (sorry Alaska and Louisiana) 2 points. Elected more than once 3 points.

I give one point for military service, one for meaningful business career, one for being a significant cabinet officer, and in a somewhat discretionary fashion one point for unusual or unique life experiences.  That's it.

Now, this is not to say whether a candidate is likeable.  Or competent.  Joe Biden for instance would weigh in with 11 or 12 points.  This just means they've had various roles where they should have learned useful things if they were paying attention.  And I admit that some elected jobs are more suitable for the Oval Office.  I favor executive experience over legislative.  Running a mid sized, politically mixed state should prepare you better than some other options.

So here goes:

Donald Trump.  President, business career, I think its fair to say he's had some unique experiences: 7 points.

Kamala Harris.  VP, one term Senate, I'm feeling generous with the bonus point today.  6 points.

Tim Walz.  Multi term congressman, two term governor, military career, albeit in National Guard.  6 points.

JD Vance.  One term Senate, military experience, business experience.  If growing up dirt poor is not worth that life experience point I'll stop issuing them.  5 points.

So on paper the two tickets each tally 12 points.  

I guess there ya go.  Make your choices as seems good to you.  Oh, and I like silly signs.  Here's more in what I hope is a non partisan selection.....

Messages from The Before Time

I can't help it.  After years of dumpster diving projects I still look at piles of stuff on the way to oblivion.  This batch of stuff was behind the high school.

Just an ordinary filing cabinet.  With storage going up into "the cloud" I suspect fewer are needed any longer.  The names seem vaguely familiar.  True, it is a small town, but I'm pretty sure I've had one or two of these in robot classes.  Or maybe their siblings.  But it is the dates that grabbed me.  All from 2019.  Probably the cabinet was turned to the wall at that point.  And soon after that the world shut down for covid-19.  Maybe this was the first time anyone has looked at it since.

It seems longer than five years ago.

British Columbia - Acute Contrasts

Of course BC is a big place, so I'm only talking about part of it.  We spent our "off the map" time in the mountainous central part of the province, around Kelowna.  And there were contrasts aplenty.  Huge picturesque lakes....with dry parched hills all around.  

Very beautiful country, and lots to do recreationally.  Skiing, biking, hiking, and in our case various water related activities.  It's a recreational paradise and very hip 'n trendy.  The median home price is $900,000.  At that price level it does not matter if it is US or Canadian.

So yes, a place of contrasts.  

The tent city of homeless people has grown since my last visit.  As even more new condos rise above them.  A place on the top floor of one of these is over 2 mill.  At highest price range you get the lake view.  Half a step down the economic pinnacle you'd have to look out and see the tents.

I'll admit to occasionally being peeved when our Northern Neighbors scold the US for its problems.  But I was gentle in my questioning the locals here.  "How do you resolve this situation personally?"  "Does the obvious inequity bother you?".  There is a general sense of wishing more could be done, a cheerful perspective on how many "tiny houses" they were building Somewhere Else, but no actual answers.  I wondered.... who are these people?....both the ones on high and the ones pushing pilfered shopping carts - that painful symbol of economic impotence - around down in the dirt.

About 300 yards from this spot is the craft brewery district.  Great pizza.  Good beer (too much trendy IPAs for my taste).  The tent people wander past a custom Cheesemaker, an Ethical Butcher, and I believe a nearby warehouse is being converted into an indoor water park.  Better than the muddy ditch you see in the foreground.

Canadians appear to be very invested in US politics.  But my best efforts notwithstanding,  I was able to understand very little of theirs.  So I'm not sure what to make of this:

Maybe this sums up Canadian social mores as well as anything.  A swank looking boutique on the main street....

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PS.  For the reader wondering about the Capybaras, there is a Kangaroo Ranch near the Kelona airport.  You can go interact with assorted critters.  This is better than the alternative but plausible explanation which is that drinking a few cans of that Scrumpy will have you seeing giant rodents no matter where you live.

Officer Hank, and Signs of The Times

No trip to England would be complete without my needing to puzzle over/marvel at various signs I run across.  

The hound shown here is a dead ringer for my dog Hank.  I'm pretty sure he would not be able to get a whistle into his big lolling mouth.  Also, he's not scolding the dog shown on the sign, he's giving him a "high five".  "Oy, good one pal, so smelly it's glowing incandescent red!"  I ran into another Hank related sign at the Hexham Car Boot Fair:

Another item from the Boot Fair....

I think this ends quite badly.  A voice activated face squeezer?  It would probably strangle you when your spoken command came out a little muffled because you had your jaw already held shut with a foam rubber noose.......  "Bhlvxv"...."BHHVOLLES!............xxxxxxxx"

And finally from Chillingham a far more practical safety notice:

American Scene - May of 2024

It's Drive your Tractor to School week here in rural America!

Tractors large and small.  They all have flags on them.

Here, blowing in what I suspect are winds of change....Old Glory and the flag of Mexico.

Axman Redux

It's been a long time since I went over to Axman Surplus in St. Paul.  I've been trying to reduce the amount of random stuff in my basement, and Axman has serious Hoarder potential for those of us who like gadgets and kitsch.

I had heard that the place was broken into during the unrest a few summers back.  Looters in search of items that could be swigged or re-sold probably stood there a moment in silence, then went on to more productive targets.   

Is Axman still the King of Surplus Stores in 2024?

Without filling up my basement workshop (which I do refer to as Area 51) I can still enjoy the creative, ironic signage...

On that last one I think they missed a Cerberus reference.....

A few items at Axman are not for sale, being more permanent décor.  This emotive Jesus has been there for a long time.  His sign used to say "Go Easy on Jeezy".  Still Covid Days in his corner.  Guessing that raising Lazarus is harder than it once was...

Sometimes things get a little dark.  This looks to be a sort of pull over doll's head wig,.  Probably it went with the mannikin heads you often find staring at you from a top shelf.

Not that the Kitty and Shark masks for kids directly adjacent are all that much better.

Yes, Axman is still The King, at least by the standards of shopping entertainment per dollar spent. And I always enjoy the odd stickers and signs slapped on the outside of the building.  I've long suspected they mostly represented local bands who appear and disappear like May Fly hatches.  But I'm never quite sure...

DOGS Should VOTE.  (said to be a reference from a video game called Second Life.  But maybe also a band?)

I actually think this last one is Peak Axman.  A band called PathosMosfet would be pretty cool.  Combine a Emo sort of vibe with the name of an electronic component.  Or is it a reference to a specific brand of Italian made Amp?  Or both?  This time internet gives no answers...

New Wheels

Over time your vehicles evolve.  You start out with a student days junker.  Then comes a mini van with car seats for the kids.  Then something a little smaller and snazzier that can still transport a grand kid or two.  And then what?

Of late our transportation needs have been under discussion.  We still have various members of the family to haul about.  Some have two legs, some have four.  Sometimes trailers get involved.  Perhaps a defunct deer now and again.  So when my wife and I discuss trading something in and getting a new vehicle it gets complicated.

Starting with "whose turn is it for new wheels"?

I'm lobbying for a smallish pickup truck for me.  So far the lobbying campaign is going poorly.  But recently I had a Sign, an Omen, a Portent.  Surely a nice little truck will make me more efficient in all that I do...

In case you can't make it out the small red lettering on the door says:

"Accelerate your Productivity"

Long Shadows

Fall is in the air and you can perceive it in subtle ways.  On our morning walks the sunlight has a steeper angle and a different quality to it.  It makes for some interesting perspectives.

Does one become a Mighty Forest Wolf just because you found a good stick?

Do you become a Giant just because someone looks up to you?

Public Health Department Rises to the Occasion...

I was at the County Courthouse recently on an administrative matter.  I walked past the Public Health office and saw that they had some swag sittin' out.  Hey, I like little individual chocolate bars......

Problem number one, those little square foil packets do not contain chocolates.  Problem number two would be much worse, if somebody took the clean/used containers for the pens literally....

Signs of the Times - Summer in Wisconsin

 Faith on display and perhaps half price Men for sale....?

A Day of Victories

It's not the things you can't remember, its the things you remember just a bit wrong....

As we headed out the door to fly overseas in late April I realized I had my house and car keys with me.  I recall where I was at that moment and that I commented to my wife that I had better leave them at home.  We both remembered that I put them down somewhere between the garage where I was setting our bags and the kitchen.  On our return they were nowhere to be found.

Since older people losing their car keys is short hand for losing their wits this has bothered us both to the point of a substantial bounty being placed on the keys.  Today my better half picked up a pair of jeans I had hung up, evidently when I switched to traveling clothes, and of course there in the pocket...

My next task of the day was to figure out why there was a dead mouse smell in my car.  Traveling might have something to do with this as well.  When you leave your vehicles in the garage for three weeks the little rodent deadbeats figure out they are a nice place to live.  We'd cleaned out a nest of chewed up paper from my wife's car.  Fortunately the occupant decided to climb into a trash can and expire.  So this was a smell I knew all too well.  As it turns out there is an alternate explanation.  Not a mouse.  Three mice.  

Pretty nasty but now cleaned and bleached.  Given their abilities to get in and out of places I have no idea why these guys decided to just stay in their nest of shredded insulation under the spare tire.  Could they not have just left?  Perhaps that stuff about not leaving animals in cars on 90 degree days has something to it.  Or maybe it was some sort of weird Rodent Death Cult.  Band Name of the day right there....

My assignment in payment for car key finding was dealing with the local Department of Motor Vehicles.  Where might be the tabs and registration paperwork we paid for online?  Not in our possession good bureaucrats.  I showed up prepared for a long tedious wait as the System decided whether it would hear my request and act.  I was prepared...brought some reading material.

In I went clutching, among other things the previous mouse chewed registration.  I was back out in under ten minutes and not only with the tabs but a nice tomato cage that was just sitting on the curb next to their sign.  True, the actual registration seems to be in some DMV-Postal Service limbo, having been mailed to us when we were out of town and sent to the wrong Mail Hold destination, but I could only take so much winning in one day.

Easy Street

 In a stretch without major responsibilities.  Doing a bit of fishing.  Hanging out with the grandies.  Easy Street.