"OH, MY PA-PA"
One of my favorite singers died last week at the age of 82. If I had missed the obituary in the Boston Globe I wouldn't have learned of Eddie Fisher's death. Didn't see anything about it on TV and none of my friends mentioned it either.

LOS ANGELES—Entertainer Eddie Fisher, whose singing career was overshadowed by scandals of his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died. He was 82.

His daughter, Tricia Leigh Fisher, told The Associated Press that Fisher died Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from hip surgery.

Fisher sold millions of records in the 1950s with hit songs including "Thinking of You," "Any Time" and "Oh, My Pa-pa."

His singing and good looks brought him a devoted following with teenage girls.

He married movie darling Debbie Reynolds in 1955 and they were touted as "America's favorite couple." Their daughter Carrie Fisher later became a film star herself.

But amid sensational headlines, Fisher divorced Reynolds and married Taylor in 1959. Taylor dropped him a few years later when she fell in love with Richard Burton.

Eddie got his big break in radio, television and records when the comedian Eddie Cantor adopted him as his protege.

When Cantor promoted Eddie Fisher I paid attention because I admired him and respected Cantor's opinion. It turned out, he picked a winner. Even though I was far from being a teenager at the time I still took a shine to Fisher's looks and his dramatic voice.

I read that one of the promotional gimmicks was to hire girls to scream and swoon when Mr. Fisher appeared on stage. They did that when Frank Sinatra appeared at the Paramount Theater in New York - I don't know whether that was before Eddie or after - anyway it created a lot of excitement and it worked.

I can still hear him singing songs like "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "I'm Yours," and my favorite "Oh,My Pa-pa."



Unfortunately his personal life shattered his stardom and even though he attempted a comeback, it was unsuccessful.

I think it had to be somewhere in the 80's when I saw Eddie Fisher at the Newport Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. That had to be the time he was trying a comeback tour. Well I tell you I still remember that performance! He was Great!!

Remember when Ingrid Bergman had a child out of wedlock - she was banished from this country. Look what's going on today!!

The times they are changing, I wonder if what happened at that time would turn the fans off today. What do you think?

posted by millie garfield @ 6:56 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 10 comments

 
NOTHING STAYS THE SAME - NOT EVEN MATTRESSES
SHOPPING FOR A MATTRESS

Recently a local store has been advertising a "huge " mattress sale so I thought, "I've had my mattress for a very long time, this might be a good time to buy a new one."



What an education I got! I had a very well informed and helpful salesperson.

The mattresses are much deeper and higher then what I have. They also do not have handles on the sides which makes them easier to flip . When I asked him about that he informed me that since 1999 they do not make them with handles because these new models do not need to be flipped!

Every mattress I tried felt very soft but firm at the same time. I could see where a commercial could say, "It's like sleeping on a cloud." I was thinking, "These are wonderful, I should buy one"

Then I asked the price - mind you, there was a "huge sale" going on.

The price of a twin mattress and box spring averaged about $600.00 not including tax and delivery. The charge for delivery would be $80.00!

It so happens I live across the street from this shop and questioned the salesperson about such a high charge. Well, he explained that the company has a delivery service do the delivering for them but since I live across the street he would adjust the price to $40.00. By the time he totaled up the charges it would cost me close to $700.00.

By this time I was thinking differently and told him I would "sleep on it."

FORGET BUYING A NEW MATTRESS

After I left the store I was still thinking about what I could do to make my bed more comfortable. I remembered seeing an ad for a pillowtop mattress pad. If mattresses have changed so much, maybe mattress pads have too.

Sure enough, they are a lot different than what I have now, they are very well padded, maybe that will give me what I am looking for so I decided to buy one and give it a try.



Since the pad is so thick I had to buy a twin sheet set, since the old ones wouldn't go over such a thick pad. The salesman told me that the sheets that are available today are made to fit the thicker mattresses.

PUTTING IT ON

When my cleaning lady comes I'll have her put on all this new bedding and just in case it doesn't work out I'll have her fold and put everything back in the packaging they came in.

You know how hard it is for me to "open things" - it would equally hard for me to handle the bulky pad and get everything packed up in their original packages in case it doesn't work out!

Have you replaced your mattress in recent times? What was your experience?

posted by millie garfield @ 5:03 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 10 comments

 
I Can't Open It - Certified Frustration Free Packaging


Millie encounters Amazon.com's Certified Frustration Free Packaging.



posted by Steve Garfield @ 12:42 AM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 7 comments

 
MEMORIES of HIGH SCHOOL - 1940's
Recently a new Newton North High School opened up in the wealthy community of Newton, MA. When they first started working on the project the estimated renovation cost was $40 million, but because of the many problems they ran into it was decided to start fresh. The total cost was a cool $197 million!



The new high school features two theaters, an Olympic-size pool, a print shop, an auto body shop, two gymnasiums and a student cafe. (for all that dough, I'm sure there are many more features) Lucky for the students, but tough on the tax payers.

Reading about this new high school got me thinking about the high school I went to in the 40's.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG, I HAD TO WALK A MILE TO SCHOOL, UP HILL
First off, I had to get there - It was probably at least a mile away. In those days the girls wore skirts and ankle socks - I don't even remember wearing a hat or a hooded jacket in the winter.

Today kids can take the bus or drive to school and park their cars in the school lot.

LUNCHTIME
Then there was the relaxed experience of "lunch time." I'm saying that just to be funny! There were two reasons I was not happy with "lunch time." First reason - I had to rush down to the cafeteria because if you got there too late you might not find a seat and the second reason was, before you turned around you had to rush all over again so you could show up on time for your next class.

THE GYM EXPERIENCE
Then there was "the gym experience." Oh, how I hated gym! After the class which was held in the basement, you had to take a shower. That wasn't so bad, but my next class was on the fourth floor!! You couldn't cheat on the shower because Miss Brenner, I still remember her name, would check the students by feeling the back of their necks.

By the time I got to my next class I could have used a shower!

DON'T RUSH ME
Re-reading what I just wrote, I realize that I never liked to rush, it's just not my nature.

When I have an appointment I plan ahead and allow enough time so I don't feel stressed.
In high school I could not control the situation and had to go by the rules.

Some adults who should know how to manage their time still end up "rushing." How about you?

posted by millie garfield @ 9:07 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >> 12 comments