Dad (in uniform), home from the Army at the Hotel Casey, early 1950's.
Dad's grave, Fairview Memorial Park (Veterans Section), Elmhurst, PA.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Veterans Day
In honor of all those who honorably served in the United States military, including my father (U.S. Army/Korean Conflict), my brother Chris (U.S. Navy/1983-1986) and my uncle Frank (U.S. Army Air Corps/World War 2).
Thursday, November 10, 2011
A Message from PSU President Rodney Erickson
As received from the Penn State newswire service. Don't expect anything relevant here, other than an acknowledgement that more is to come.
******
A message from Interim Penn State President Rodney Erickson
This is one of the saddest weeks in the history of Penn State. It has been difficult to comprehend the horrific nature of the allegations that were revealed in the Attorney General's presentment last week. As a member of the Penn State community for 34 years, as a parent, and as a grandfather, I find the charges as they have been described to be devastating, and my heart goes out to those who have been victimized and their families. This is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved, and it will take some time to bring a measure of understanding and resolution to the community.
In addition to the legal process under way, Penn State's Board of Trustees has authorized a full investigation "...to determine what failures occurred, who is responsible, and what measures are necessary to insure that this never happens at our University again and that those responsible are held fully accountable." As those involved pursue their cases, I also urge you, as Penn Staters, to be patient, to avoid speculation, and to refrain from passing judgment until the facts are known.
As you are now aware, the Board of Trustees has asked me to serve as the interim president of Penn State effective immediately. I undertake these duties with a firm sense of resolve, and I ask for your support as we move forward. And move forward, we must and we will.
Penn State has a long and storied tradition that has endured for more than 150 years. Our roots are deep, our constitution is resilient, and the importance of our work is as vital today as it was last week - perhaps even more so in the face of such adversity. We are 96,000 students, 46,000 employees, and more than a half a million alumni. We are 24 campuses across the Commonwealth and a World Campus. We are a university that is committed to its core values of honesty, integrity, and community. We are a university that will rebuild the trust and confidence that so many people have had in us for so many years.
Through your conduct every day, you can play a role in restoring the integrity, honor, and pride that have always characterized Penn State. I share your anger and sadness in this time, but always remember that your actions reflect on the entire Penn State community. Please set an example that will make us all proud. Moving forward is the only responsible course to take in the coming months. I ask for the full support of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni, and in return I will do my best to lead this institution through the challenges ahead.
Thank you for being a part of Penn State.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/56307#nw44
Penn State Pride (and Shame)
Reference article HERE.
As a kid I wasn't the biggest sporting fan in the world. I was tall, very lanky and not particularly graced by any sense of coordination. Sure, I eventually learned to enjoy playing some sports, such as basketball and tennis, but by and large I was not ever someone who was a sports fan. I was always a Penn State fan though.
As I worked through my high school years, I really wasn't sure what I would be doing with my so-called life. Sure, my grades were good...I think I graduated in the top 10% of my class...but I wasn't particularly inspired for anything, other than maybe architecture. Well the architecture thing didn't work out, as you need great test scores to get into college for it, and my SAT scores were abysmal. In truth I think I had been drinking the night before the test, which probably had something to do with my shall we say "less than stellar" scores. My senior year approached and I applied to a few different colleges, but I was really only serious about attending one: Penn State.
My Penn State career began in 1982, the year in which the school won its first football national championship. Four years later, after stints at Scranton and Harrisburg, I left Penn State with a BBA and a job. It was the year of Penn State's second football national championship.
Interestingly enough, I had never been to State College (Pennsylvania) until a few years ago. That, however, never curbed my enthusiasm for the university. Over the years I've done my best to financially support Penn State, I've volunteered for events at Penn State Harrisburg and served on its alumni society board for two terms. I also, after years of paying for it, got my much sought-after life membership in the Penn State Alumni Association.
I mention the above, I suppose, as something of a way to give myself some "street cred" when it comes to Penn State. My time at Penn State really, truly changed my life, especially my last two years. I have been nothing but exceedingly proud to proclaim myself a Penn State graduate, up to and including the alumni license plate that graces my car.
Recent events have given my pause though as I think about how others view Penn State, particularly current students and supporters of Coach Joe Paterno. As I noted the other day, Coach Paterno made a grave error (or maybe errors) by simply following procedures when credible allegations of child molestation were made against a former coach. The "Paterno Way" was to never simply take the easy road, it was never simply to "just follow the rules", it was never just victory...it was "victory with honor". There is no honor in placing a football program's reputation above that of even the potential that children are being harmed.
To the Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University: I applaud your actions in immediately terminating Coach Paterno and President Spanier. I'm not proud that this had to be done, but I suppose you have done the best you could in these particular circumstances. Now take the text step by putting policies in place that will prevent an athletic program to become so important that it can run an entire university's reputation into the ground.
To the current students of Penn State: Imagine yourself being ten years old and being raped by an old man in a shower. Now tell me what the real issue is in this case.
I am not Penn State Proud at the moment. And my annual gift is sitting here un-mailed. It very well may stay that way for the rest of this year.
As a kid I wasn't the biggest sporting fan in the world. I was tall, very lanky and not particularly graced by any sense of coordination. Sure, I eventually learned to enjoy playing some sports, such as basketball and tennis, but by and large I was not ever someone who was a sports fan. I was always a Penn State fan though.
As I worked through my high school years, I really wasn't sure what I would be doing with my so-called life. Sure, my grades were good...I think I graduated in the top 10% of my class...but I wasn't particularly inspired for anything, other than maybe architecture. Well the architecture thing didn't work out, as you need great test scores to get into college for it, and my SAT scores were abysmal. In truth I think I had been drinking the night before the test, which probably had something to do with my shall we say "less than stellar" scores. My senior year approached and I applied to a few different colleges, but I was really only serious about attending one: Penn State.
My Penn State career began in 1982, the year in which the school won its first football national championship. Four years later, after stints at Scranton and Harrisburg, I left Penn State with a BBA and a job. It was the year of Penn State's second football national championship.
Interestingly enough, I had never been to State College (Pennsylvania) until a few years ago. That, however, never curbed my enthusiasm for the university. Over the years I've done my best to financially support Penn State, I've volunteered for events at Penn State Harrisburg and served on its alumni society board for two terms. I also, after years of paying for it, got my much sought-after life membership in the Penn State Alumni Association.
I mention the above, I suppose, as something of a way to give myself some "street cred" when it comes to Penn State. My time at Penn State really, truly changed my life, especially my last two years. I have been nothing but exceedingly proud to proclaim myself a Penn State graduate, up to and including the alumni license plate that graces my car.
Recent events have given my pause though as I think about how others view Penn State, particularly current students and supporters of Coach Joe Paterno. As I noted the other day, Coach Paterno made a grave error (or maybe errors) by simply following procedures when credible allegations of child molestation were made against a former coach. The "Paterno Way" was to never simply take the easy road, it was never simply to "just follow the rules", it was never just victory...it was "victory with honor". There is no honor in placing a football program's reputation above that of even the potential that children are being harmed.
To the Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University: I applaud your actions in immediately terminating Coach Paterno and President Spanier. I'm not proud that this had to be done, but I suppose you have done the best you could in these particular circumstances. Now take the text step by putting policies in place that will prevent an athletic program to become so important that it can run an entire university's reputation into the ground.
To the current students of Penn State: Imagine yourself being ten years old and being raped by an old man in a shower. Now tell me what the real issue is in this case.
I am not Penn State Proud at the moment. And my annual gift is sitting here un-mailed. It very well may stay that way for the rest of this year.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Joe Paterno
"Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good."
- Joe Paterno
If Coach Joe Paterno had evidence or allegations of wrong-doing and simply followed the letter of the law in addressing it, then he has failed to live up to his own standards. It has never been enough, for example, for Penn State to have a graduation rate that was acceptable to the NCAA; Coach Paterno saw to it that Penn State's graduation rate for student-athletes far exceeded the minimum required.
As an alumni of Penn State, I've been proud that Joe Paterno represented my university so very well over the years. Until now. I expected more, again, because he taught Penn Staters such as myself to expect more.
Coach Paterno should resign, immediately.
- Steve Albert, '86
- Joe Paterno
If Coach Joe Paterno had evidence or allegations of wrong-doing and simply followed the letter of the law in addressing it, then he has failed to live up to his own standards. It has never been enough, for example, for Penn State to have a graduation rate that was acceptable to the NCAA; Coach Paterno saw to it that Penn State's graduation rate for student-athletes far exceeded the minimum required.
As an alumni of Penn State, I've been proud that Joe Paterno represented my university so very well over the years. Until now. I expected more, again, because he taught Penn Staters such as myself to expect more.
Coach Paterno should resign, immediately.
- Steve Albert, '86
NEPArtisan Posting: O'Brien and Wansacz
My latest NEPArtisan posting can be found HERE.
I may not be making too many friends or influencing too many people, but what the Hell? Sometimes you just gotta call'm like you see'm.
I may not be making too many friends or influencing too many people, but what the Hell? Sometimes you just gotta call'm like you see'm.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
More Holy Family Church Pictures
Just a few more that I have snapped.
Mass schedule. The sign dates back to when I was a teenager (I think).
Anthracite Bridge Co, Scranton PA. This stamping probably hadn't seen the light of day for over a hundred years.
This is the structure of the church steeple. The Children of God (or whatever they are) folks stripped the copper off weeks ago.
What's left of the structure that supported the steeple. Note the rivets. It looks like the hull of the Titanic. I think it dates from about the same period actually.
The front of the church.
Decorative stone work that isn't so decorative any more.
Post script: Holy Family Church was built by Slovak miners from Scranton's Pine Brook section. The dedications on the stained grass windows were actually in Slovak. Rumor has it that the church, being built in a heavily mined area, was constructed on pylons that went down to bed-rock so as to avoid subsidence. In all the years that I attended Holy Family I don't recall ever seeing evidence of mine subsidence, so how knows?
In any event, I can't come up with anything more meaningful to say about the demise of something that really was a part of my childhood, so I'm going to leave this subject with the following...which seems strangely aligned to how I'm feeling.
Holy Family Church
A few pictures from earlier in the week, as Holy Family Church falls into the sunset.
Side view...you can see how they are stripping material from the steel.
Detail of the steel structure being dismantled. Some of the girders are stamped "Scranton Anthracite Bridge Company".
Rear view; note the ceiling art. When I was a child I would spend many-a-Mass looking at these beautiful pictures.
The confessionals, still in place at the rear of the church where they were when I made my first confession.
Detail of the structure holding up the plaster roof.
Steeple, sans copper and structure.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Road Apples, #115
Blame the 'roids...As I noted yesterday, I'm currently taking a large does of steroids to combat some asthma problems. The down side? I get this kinds slimy feeling about myself. As if I am always sweating or something. Or my pores are extruding olive oil. The up side? I get tons of energy out of the deal for some reason. I was up at 3:45am this morning and feel pretty damn good. The asthma is feeling noticeably better as well. Still waiting for my neck to swell though. Oh, just don't cut me off in traffic! (just kidding)
Holy Family Church...As noted by Andy Palumbo, Holy Family Church on North Washington avenue in Scranton is being demolished. I drove past there last night and, sigh, almost half of it is gone now. I'm going to leave for work early and drive by to take some final pictures with the Sony Alpha this morning. This was the church where I received most of the Catholic sacraments, a place that, at one time, looked so very big. Now, well it looks rather small. More pictures to come. Whenever I see visible changes like this...changes that signal that an era has ended...I am reminded of this great song "Hold Back the Years" by Simply Red.
I guess sometimes you simply can't hold back the years.
The Holidays...are coming, seemingly pretty fast. I also have a week's worth of business travel coming up. And then there will be some travel around Thanksgiving holiday. It's all good.
Greece...Proving that spineless politicians are not specific to this side of the Atlantic, the Greek government has decided that they will not take responsibility for saving their own economy (and for potentially dragging down Italy and Spain, not to mention knocking world stock markets) and instead will subject the recently approved EU bailout proposal to a beauty contest popular vote. This is bad. Greece is a test case in an economy where the wrong things were rewarded (massive numbers of public sector jobs, short work weeks, extremely early retirement ages) and the right things (hard work, industriousness, self-sufficiency) were discouraged. Proving once again that the Hell's Angels are right ("Ass, grass, or gas...nobody rides for free"), the bill for all the wrong things has come due. Unlike the United States, there is not a massive "1%" to blame it all on and tax the hell out of to fix things. This is bad folks, very, very bad. If the bailout is not approved, look for Greece to leave the Euro Zone and for financial markets to be rocked for months and years to come.
Herman Cain...has supporters who are now crying "the race card" at accusations he engaged in sexual harassment. But wait: weren't some of these same supporters deriding President Obama every time he even mentioned race during the last presidential campaign? I don't know if Mr Cain is guilty of engaging in sexual harassment, but I know he has supporters who are guilty of hypocrisy.
Holy Family Church...As noted by Andy Palumbo, Holy Family Church on North Washington avenue in Scranton is being demolished. I drove past there last night and, sigh, almost half of it is gone now. I'm going to leave for work early and drive by to take some final pictures with the Sony Alpha this morning. This was the church where I received most of the Catholic sacraments, a place that, at one time, looked so very big. Now, well it looks rather small. More pictures to come. Whenever I see visible changes like this...changes that signal that an era has ended...I am reminded of this great song "Hold Back the Years" by Simply Red.
I guess sometimes you simply can't hold back the years.
The Holidays...are coming, seemingly pretty fast. I also have a week's worth of business travel coming up. And then there will be some travel around Thanksgiving holiday. It's all good.
Greece...Proving that spineless politicians are not specific to this side of the Atlantic, the Greek government has decided that they will not take responsibility for saving their own economy (and for potentially dragging down Italy and Spain, not to mention knocking world stock markets) and instead will subject the recently approved EU bailout proposal to a beauty contest popular vote. This is bad. Greece is a test case in an economy where the wrong things were rewarded (massive numbers of public sector jobs, short work weeks, extremely early retirement ages) and the right things (hard work, industriousness, self-sufficiency) were discouraged. Proving once again that the Hell's Angels are right ("Ass, grass, or gas...nobody rides for free"), the bill for all the wrong things has come due. Unlike the United States, there is not a massive "1%" to blame it all on and tax the hell out of to fix things. This is bad folks, very, very bad. If the bailout is not approved, look for Greece to leave the Euro Zone and for financial markets to be rocked for months and years to come.
Herman Cain...has supporters who are now crying "the race card" at accusations he engaged in sexual harassment. But wait: weren't some of these same supporters deriding President Obama every time he even mentioned race during the last presidential campaign? I don't know if Mr Cain is guilty of engaging in sexual harassment, but I know he has supporters who are guilty of hypocrisy.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Your parents lied to you: monsters are real.
Warning...this is a graphic video that has disturbing visuals and language. If you are easily offended or if you are under age 18 you should NOT watch it.
Now I normally don't post stuff like this, but I think this one has to be shared. As a parent I was nearly brought to tears listening to this young lady scream and cry. In a world where we sometimes become desensitized by violence in video games and TV, this one really hits a nerve.
Coincidentally, I first saw this on, of all places (that love Texas and Texans) Fox News.
Video: Texas Judge beating his daughter with a belt.
Visit to the Doctors
It all started about three weeks ago: it was a cold, or maybe seasonal allergies. No bother, armed with the very best in store-brand-equivalent-OTC medications, I did battle with the ranging sinus pressure, nasal discharge and assorted problems when that kind of stuff runs down hill (make that "down throat"). Man, it took a long time though for the symptoms to abate. Hell, I still am a tad bit stuffy,
Then of course my new "friend" came to visit, Mr Asthma.
This is the friend who first came last Spring and insisted that I needed to check out the Emergency Room at Moses Taylor Hospital, at 7:30 in the morning. Gasping like a goldfish out of his bowl, Ms Rivers was kind enough to come over from work and haul my wheezing butt to the hospital. After an morning enjoying the staff at Moses Taylor and not especially caring what they did to me...as long as I could breathe...I came home to a follow-up visit with my primary care physician and a course of steroids that I was sure would end up making my head look as large as Rosie O'Donnell's.
Fast forward a month or two and I was symptom free. Until three weeks ago that is.
The latest fiasco took a bizarre turn on Monday night. Maybe it was the Pop Tarts I had before I want to bed. Maybe it was the book Inside Scientology I am currently reading. Maybe it was just stress. Maybe it was just bad luck, but regardless, I ended up sleeping horribly. I had all these strange dreams that kept waking me up...gasping for air. So Tuesday morning I send a note to my primary care physician asking for his advice. I got that advice in the form of a checkup yesterday: yes Steve, this Asthma thing is a problem again and let's be really aggressive in treating it.
So starting today I have 3 (cout'em 3) new medications to take.
...One which I apparently may be taking quasi-forever
...Another mega-but-declining dose of steroids
...Another inhaler
All of this begs a few questions.
Q: Will my neck grow to roid-sized proportions, you know, like certain well known athletes?
Q: Even worse, will I end up looking like this guy?
Q: Why, at age 47, why would I even develop Asthma?
Q: Why even write this post?
I can't really answer the first three questions noted above, but I can answer the last: because on some visceral level this bugs the hell out of me, and I tend to write about things that bug the hell out of me. I thought avoiding the whole 90's cigar smoking fad would have paid some dividends. Apparently not. Nor has a life of never even trying smoking, not working in an asbestos plant, not mining for coal and generally speaking trying to be healthy. Nope. Now in fairness my doctor does have a root cause in mind...it would be this guy...
Rant concluded. Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging nonsense.
Then of course my new "friend" came to visit, Mr Asthma.
This is the friend who first came last Spring and insisted that I needed to check out the Emergency Room at Moses Taylor Hospital, at 7:30 in the morning. Gasping like a goldfish out of his bowl, Ms Rivers was kind enough to come over from work and haul my wheezing butt to the hospital. After an morning enjoying the staff at Moses Taylor and not especially caring what they did to me...as long as I could breathe...I came home to a follow-up visit with my primary care physician and a course of steroids that I was sure would end up making my head look as large as Rosie O'Donnell's.
Fast forward a month or two and I was symptom free. Until three weeks ago that is.
The latest fiasco took a bizarre turn on Monday night. Maybe it was the Pop Tarts I had before I want to bed. Maybe it was the book Inside Scientology I am currently reading. Maybe it was just stress. Maybe it was just bad luck, but regardless, I ended up sleeping horribly. I had all these strange dreams that kept waking me up...gasping for air. So Tuesday morning I send a note to my primary care physician asking for his advice. I got that advice in the form of a checkup yesterday: yes Steve, this Asthma thing is a problem again and let's be really aggressive in treating it.
So starting today I have 3 (cout'em 3) new medications to take.
...One which I apparently may be taking quasi-forever
...Another mega-but-declining dose of steroids
...Another inhaler
All of this begs a few questions.
Q: Will my neck grow to roid-sized proportions, you know, like certain well known athletes?
Q: Even worse, will I end up looking like this guy?
Q: Why, at age 47, why would I even develop Asthma?
Q: Why even write this post?
I can't really answer the first three questions noted above, but I can answer the last: because on some visceral level this bugs the hell out of me, and I tend to write about things that bug the hell out of me. I thought avoiding the whole 90's cigar smoking fad would have paid some dividends. Apparently not. Nor has a life of never even trying smoking, not working in an asbestos plant, not mining for coal and generally speaking trying to be healthy. Nope. Now in fairness my doctor does have a root cause in mind...it would be this guy...
But as I told my doctor back in April, "the cat stays".
Rant concluded. Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging nonsense.
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