“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Happy Saturday Morning – as I am sipping on my fresh and glorious mug of Starbuck’s Pike Place coffee. While thus sipping, Dinah and her team members from Syracuse University women’s rowing team are in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the Wolverine Double Dual. She’ll be going against Ohio State at 9:00AM and then against the University of Michigan at 1:00PM.

Were hoping we’ll get real-time updates since Marcia and I have on site representation – Jason and Cathy are there.

Should you spot a few ‘fat-fingered’ errors here and there, excuse me. For dinner last evening I set out to make fancy hamburgers for our dinner. These are only proper dinner fares if properly fitted with all the ‘bits’ that make it so, i.e. tomato slices, onion slices, greens, etc.

Here is where I ran into difficulty. I had a great looking red onion and proceeded to make some thin slices. It was while doing the slicing thing on my mandolin that I proceeded to move from just onion slices to add a slice of my right thumb.

I was impressed by the efficiency of the Tri-Health Urgent Care facility I got treated at, especially CNP Eliezar Agaran who ‘addressed’ the issue. My health record shows that I had my last tetanus shot back in 2017, so all is good. Now, let the healing begin.

Skyline: Sad Day in Naples – This week, after several decades, the one and only Naples Skyline Cincinnati Chili parlor is closing. It would not surprise me in the least if my Naples brother is wearing black garb as a sign of grief for the remainder of the month; this I see as an opportunity for all of his ‘Naples-Pink’ shirt collection to get a ‘deep’ cleaning.

George claims that the area where the parlor is located is in a transition area where new are replacing old and rents are increasing substantially, i.e. franchise ownership couldn’t keep up with the times.

Skyline: Happy Day in the ‘Nati – For a limited time most Skylines, by popular demand, will be bringing back the: the Skyline Dip Chilito. This ‘beast’ is a combination of a chilito and Skyline Chili dip — cream cheese, chili, cheddar cheese and Fritos wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Hum that ‘80s advert jingle; “Tumm-tum-tum”, for the rest of the day after eating.

Aging, a mind thing? – This week the Boston Marathon was run. As expected, the Kenyans won (both men’s and women’s). But that is not what this bit is all about. This piece of Rambling is about an event dating back to 1966 and fast forwarded to 2026.

Her name is Bobbi Gibb (born Nov. 1942). In 1966 running the marathon was a men’s only event. That year 24year old Gibb hid in some bushes near the starting line. After the starting gun fired, she dashed out and embedded herself into the throng – running the race unofficially.

The next year (1967) a change was made when Katherine Schwitzer was allowed to register and run (bib # 261). One hiccup, a course official spotted her and tried to physically get her off the course.

But Dirk, you say, this piece is about aging. True, therefore the reference Gibb. This year a statue was unveiled showing a female runner in honor of the occurrence in 1966 and the beginning of both men and women participating. Not only did Gibb do the unveiling, but it was also Gibb herself (an artist during her adult years) who designed and crafted the statue. Her age? Merely a young 83 years!

Duck Tape? – Ohio has some craziness, one of this is the annual Avon Duck Tape festival by Cleveland. At the other side of the state is the ‘Nati and we feed into the Avon Festival with our very own Duck Tape sculpture display in Washington Park across from Music Hall. This year, to celebrate our 250th anniversary the sculptures will be on view in Washington Park from May 8 to 18 as part of the Art Academy of Cincinnati’s annual “Duck Tape® at the Park” exhibition. All right, here we go…….

Testing the New – I had an idea. This week after months of minimal activity I did a solo 5K – with my earbuds in and music playing. That’s when it came to me, why not introduce the music I enjoy to my (at least 3 or so) readers. Introduce just enough (1-minute) to keep it legal and give a flavor of what I enjoy.

I’ll post the artist’s name and the song title at the bottom of the Rambling to first allow you to try and guess what you’re listening to. Likewise, if anyone has a favorite you’re dying to share send me a note by clicking below with the song title and I’ll research and get it. Then, rather than just a boring read you can sit with bated breath waiting for your music to appear.

I’ll ‘give it a go’ as my British friends would say and see if this Ramblings add-on should be something to keep.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

This last week 41 years ago a new product was introduced. This new product became the worst marketing disaster of any new product to date. Which company introduced that disaster:

1. Coke
2. Anheuser Bush
3. Ford
4. General Motors
5. National Cash Register
6. 3M
7. IBM
8. Kodak
9. Hayes

Last week Bonus Points answer – #3
Music: Gerry Rafferty (Scottish, 1947-2011) – Baker Street