Return to the Index for 2020

On this page I will be putting those pictures that I want to include in the photo album even though they don't have anything to do with a specific trip or event. You may also find pictures from the occasional trip or event where very few pictures were taken.

February 13: My Playing Card Collection

When I was traveling a lot (1974-2004), I was working on collecting three things. The first was Baskin-Robbins stores. Oh, I wasn't collecting the stores themselves, but consciously trying to have an ice cream cone at as many different locations as I could. You can learn all about this odyssey on my personal web page.

The second was little airline bottles of liquor. When I traveled First Class, I'd wait until the end of the flight and then see if I could get the stewardess (they were "stewardesses" when I started flying but "flight attendants" when my frequent travels came to an end) to snag me a few bottles of assorted stuff so I could stock my bar area at home. I didn't know that many drinkers, and so it would have been a waste to buy big bottles of five or ten kinds of spirits. I accumulated quite a few of them, but then it ended up that nobody ever drank them. Even though they were never opened, the alcohol eventually evaporated and I threw most of them away.

The third thing was playing cards. This, of course, was back when airlines carried them on board for the passengers. Again, I would wait until the end of the flight and again see if there was one left that I could take with me. I was usually successful, and so accumulated maybe forty or fifty of them each year- from all different airlines.

Recently, I thought that with sheltering in place a "thing", I would inventory the collection and see how many I actually ended up with (although I have used up or given away maybe fifty or a hundred decks over the years). If you are curious, the total ended up just over a thousand, with about two-thirds of them from American and United Airlines- the two airlines that I flew the most over the course of my career.

At left is my one deck from Air France. I flew them from Chicago to Montreal once in First Class, and for their passengers they give them double decks in boxes like the one you see here.

The other "odd" airline was British Airways. While all the other airlines gave away "regulation-size" decks of cards, British Airways was a bit more considerate of their passengers and gave them decks that were a little less than half the size of a regulation deck- ideal for playing solitaire on a standard tray table! I ended up with six or eight of these really cute decks of cards, and now they are a collector's item.

What I also found when I did my inventory was that I had many decks of cards from airlines that are no longer in business (and some that haven't been for a good many years). Braniff, Continental, Eastern, and Northwest Orient are just a few of the airlines whose cards I have in my collection.

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I have put images of all the different card decks that I currently have in the slideshow at left. I have a great many of some of them- like American and United. Where the same airline had decks with different backs (even if those differences were relatively small), I have included one of each different variety. Most of the decks have the airline's name on them, but Singapore Airlines chose just to use their logo- and it's an understated one at that. I have also included one deck that is from a form of transportation other than an airline; see if you can find it as you go through the show.

The slideshow begins with the one deck that I have the most of- the deck back used by American Airlines from the late 1970s through to the 1990s. To go from one slide to the next, just click on the little arrows in the lower corners of each slide, and you can see where you are in the show by referring to the sequence numbers in the upper right of each slide.

Collecting all these cards took quite a while, and inventorying them was an interesting exercise. Perhaps some of the airlines you will see in the collection will bring back memories for you.

Enjoy!

April 14: Springtime for Roses

Today, I've decided to record the show that the roses on the island behind the garage are putting on.

The variety of rose that Fred planted out there is called "Molineux" (which Fred is at pains to point out is not French). He says that it is named after a soccer team in England, and he may be correct, as there is indeed a stadium north of Wolverhampton with that name. Before I give you some additional details, here are some of the other pictures I took of the roses this afternoon:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)

As it turns out, the Molineux family first came to England soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Some family members assisted Duke William of Normandy during the Battle of Hastings, and were given land in Lancashire as a reward for their service.

The Molineux name refers the family’s original home in Normandy; Molineaux-Sur-Seine, near Rouen. The Lancashire family, who were lords of the manor of Sefton, became large land owners, and extremely wealthy. They built Croxteth Hall in 1575, which became their family residence. They also owned the Abbeystead estate in Lancashire, which was mainly used for hunting and recreation. Centuries later, they built Molineux House.

April 28: An Interesting Sight

I suppose there is no particular reason to make this picture part of my photograph album, but I thought I would do so anyway. Here it is.

At the Sam's Club Near My House

I remember growing up when gasoline was 19 cents a gallon, and I remember when it was 39 cents and you even got free glassware and such. That was when I was in Chicago, and I got a set of Chicago Bears glasses that I used until I moved to Dallas. But I also remember the oil shocks of the early 1970s when gasoline jumped to 70 cents and then quickly beyond that to a dollar or more. In subsequent years, it kept climbing and once it passed a dollar fifty it never looked back. By the turn of the century it was over two dollars, and just kept going up from there. In the 2010s, I often only found it for less than three dollars in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on our way to Florida.

But in recent years, fracking has increased the supply dramatically, and we sometimes saw it dip below two dollars. And then this year the pandemic hit, and demand fell off a cliff. When we left Florida in March, we saw it below $1.50 on the way home, and by early April, I was able to record a record- $1.17/gallon- a price I'd not remembered seeing for perhaps twenty years or more. So I just had to take this picture (and stop to fill up).

At the time of this writing, about a year later, the price has recovered a great deal, and it is currently hovering around $2.25. The Lord giveth bargains and the Lord taketh bargains away.

September 5: Steve's Birthday

Other than visitingtwo couples here in my townhome community, Fred and I have been to only one private home since we returned from Florida in March and began sequestering in place, and that house has been Steve and Mario's house out in Hurst. We were here last month for Mario and Fred's birthdays, and we are here this month for Steve's. Last month it was just the four of us, and this month there is only one additional couple- making six of us. Everything has been fairly sedate since the pandemic began, and this visit, while enjoyable, was also pretty low-key. Of the four pictures I took this afternoon, these are the two best:

(I would have told you the names of the other couple, but I'd not met them before and didn't write down their names.)

September 17: A Farewell

The last picture I have for this page is a sad one.

Henry and Justin

Our friend Justin asked me to be his driver today as he took his longtime feline companion, Henry, to the vet. Fred and I knew from Justin earlier this year that Henry had been feeling poorly, but it was only recently that the vet gave Justin an unhappy prognosis. Justin decided to spare Henry having to be uncomfortable and have him put to sleep.

Justin was understandably emotional, and didn't think he would be able to either drive or do all this by himself. (Gary was away for two weeks at dog shows.) So I picked Justin and Henry up in Irving, drove them to the vet in North Dallas, and then took Justin back home afterwards. I know it was a difficult thing for Justin to do, and I was honored when he asked me to go with him.

Those are all the miscellaneous pictures for 2020, and you can use the link below to return to the 2020 Index Page.

Return to the Index for 2020