A good Saturday morning to everyone. Overnight Marcia and I became survivalists.

We had almost run out of coffee. The only place carrying out ‘go-to’ brand of White Castle coffee was Costco; and they informed me that it was now no longer being carried. The search was on.

That afternoon I came home with a 2.5Lb canister of Duncan Donuts branded coffee. Not bad, but it wasn’t White Castle restaurant quality.

Yesterday we were back at Costco and I felt like a Homing Pigeon heading for the coffee isle just to “have a look”. There, at the end-of-aisle display was a double skid of, you guessed it, White Castle coffee. I loaded three 3-Lb bags of the stuff into the truck. Last week we celebrated our 50th, our coffee stash will now last till our 75th.

“Coffee is the best medicine.” ~ anonymous

Even during the days of the Wuhan-Covid this quote has power.

Personal Injury Attorney – OK, I am not making fun of, or trying to create a SNL skit. It’s just a bit of, maybe call it; karma. Yesterday, Steve Barnes of the famed Cellino & Barnes law firm and one of the nation’s key personal injury attorneys died; he was killed while piloting his own small plane. “He was always a fearless advocate for his clients,” the statement from former partner Ross Cellino read.

I suspect his estate will now become a client of the firm he founded.

Wedding – Last week we had a great time watching niece Taryn Cody Pastoor & Alexander Scott Sun get married. And as I wrote last week; “this will be our first Covid mandated Zoom wedding”. After Marcia and I together with our whole Cincinnati gang had our, socially distanced, Anniversary Dinner we gathered at A & T’s place to watch the wedding on their large screen.

So, and this is the beauty of today’s technology, we watched their exchange of marriage vows. Only, some of the witnesses were physically there, some were watching from Taiwan, some watched from locations in Pennsylvania, some from places in Europe, and we in Cincinnati. “Plus one” you say? Yes “plus one”. Kirstin joined from Texas in a most unusual way.

She experienced difficulties joining in and ended up calling Adrianne. The solution those two came up with was brilliant. Kirstin was on Face-Time with Adrianne. She handed her phone to me. I held it close to the screen on my laptop (it was used to power Zoom to the TV) and framed it properly – and so she too was part of the ‘circle’ of friends and loved ones. It was lovely.

Anniversary Celebration – was magnificent. The dinner at Wiedemann’s Brewhouse with accompanying band and great weather was all we could have hoped for. Afterwards came the wedding. Then Kirstin in Austin joined in as she powered up a “Tribute” show of video clips made by family and friends, plus photos from over the years. The only problem being that it was too much fun and some of it was lost due to us laughing. That evening both Marcia and I, almost at the same time, made note that our bellies hurt from laughing as hard as we did. Thanks to everyone who participated, it was delightful, amazing, and fantastic; truly a wonderful surprise! To Kirstin, for the hours of work putting it all together – THANKS.

And, we cannot forget the wonderful Peach desert made by our Fourth-grade Viliami – magnificent!

Fini – For the past 4-years we’ve become used to condo living, especially this year when we couldn’t get to Northern Comfort in Canada. We complain on occasion, but there is also a bunch to appreciate. This week we looked out the front door and the carpets in the lobby and stairs were busily being cleaned.

Mentioning cleaning. Marcia ‘begged’ not to get her anything for her Anniversary due to our limited space. Anniversary day, to her delight, brought her a new Dyson ball vacuum.

This week, October 3rd, 1942 Germany launched the first V2 rockets into England. Many of these things were launched from the farm fields beyond the outer beltway (de singel) of my city in the Netherlands. These things were pre-programmed and pretty crude. Occasionally one would fail and begin to circle over the city until its fuel ran out, then crash and explode. I remember, that as a kid, playing on the pile of rubble of what had been a home less than a block away. Some of these events are still very real and very vivid.

On a much more positive note, also on October 3rd, but 1990, it’s The German Unity Day, the National Day of Germany. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification when the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were unified. For the first time since 1945 there was now a single German state. Remember President Reagan’s; “Tear down this wall!” line from a speech in West Berlin on Friday, June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to break the dividing wall between the west and communist east Germany. That began this change.

And, on this day in 1995, O.J. Simpson got acquitted after; “the Trial of the Century.”

And, this is now our best way to view the annual highlight of our regular season at Northern Comfort. Still, its a serious loss not being there.

Now back to my League of Women Voters newsletter to review my selections for later this week when Marcia and I will vote early — IN PERSON.

Make it great week, keep the peace, stay safe, and be healthy! All Lives Matter.

Dirk