by Dianne
One stormy night many years ago, an elderly man and his wife entered the lobby of a small hotel in Philadelphia . Trying to get out of the rain, the couple approached the front desk hoping to get some shelter for the night.“Could you possibly give us a room here?” the husband asked. The clerk, a friendly man with a winning smile, looked at the couple and explained that there were three conventions in town.“All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said. “But I can’t send a nice couple like you out in the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not exactly a suite, but it will be good enough to make you folks comfortable for the night.”The couple declined, thinking the clerk’s actions were far too kind. But the young man pressed on. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll make out just fine,” the clerk told them. Amazed and deeply touched, the couple agreed to stay the night.As he paid his bill the next morning, the elderly man said to the clerk, “You are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States . Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.”The clerk looked at the couple and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh.As they drove away, the elderly couple agreed that the helpful clerk was indeed exceptional, in a world filled with selfish people, finding someone who was both friendly and truly helpful was indeed rare.Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled that stormy night and enclosed a round-trip ticket to New York , asking the young man to pay them a visit.The old man met him in New York , and led him to the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street . He then pointed to a great new building there, a palace of reddish stone, with turrets and watchtowers thrusting up to the sky.“That,” said the older man, “is the hotel I have just built for you to manage.”“You must be joking,” the young man said.“I can assure you that I am not,” said the older man, a sly smile playing around his mouth.The old man’s name was William Waldorf Astor, and the magnificent structure was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.The young clerk who became its first manager was George C. Boldt.
26 comments:
Barb As I was telling you, my dog has been having a tough time. Last Thursday was fine and played a rigorous game of fetch in the backyard. That day she also slipped on the deck while chasing a squirrel and landed on her left hip. Friday she went out with her dog group and had a very hard time keeping up with them and even turned around in an attempt to return to the car. For the next couple of days, she was unable to get up on all four legs with my help. Sunday the vet put her on two pain pills, one of them is Gabapentin and the other is a controlled drug. I discontinued those after a few doses as it was making a bit unstable when walking on my hardwood floors. She seemed much better yesterday and even played a little bit. Today I let her go down to the backyard which means going down 12 steps. That was okay but she really struggled to climb back up. She's been acting sore since then so I've given her another Gabapentin. I don't want to give her one of the controlled drugs, though, as I think that's what mostly made her a bit unsteady. It's difficult for me to help her get up on my bed as she weighs 80 lbs so for a few nights I have slept on the sofa so she'd stay in her dog bed. Okay, so I gave her a Gabapentin 1 1/2 hrs ago and when I asked her if she wanted a treat, she galloped towards me. So I guess Gabapentin and treats are the magical combination. I don't mean to be flippant, but maybe that combination would work for you. It would be worth a try.
I'm totally not into cooking lately. Today I bought one of those roasted chickens from Safeway and I will share it with the dog. I also plan to have Stove Top stuffing, frozen peas, and cranberry sauce. I'll make a dry mix gravy; turkey because I like that better than the dry mix chicken. I'll have the same thing tomorrow so that will be easy for me.
Dianne Thanks for always keeping us in blogs. That was a nice story but a bit exaggerated. In reality, it was a very nice hotel and it was the manager who let the Astors stay in his suite.
I guarantee you that I would never find $305 any place in my house. I might find a forgotten $5 or $20 bill in a pocket but I would never forget about $300. What a nice surprise for you, though. Like you said, it's especially nice and it will be fun money for gambling. I wonder if it was gambling winnings in the first place. Do you recall where the money was from?
I haven't been into SF so I don't know how geared up they are for the Super Bowl. I've seen a few 49er flags flying around my neighborhood, though, and some on the occasional car. If we win, there will be lots of explosions around here and I am not looking forward to that part. I'm already stressing out about my dog without having to deal with her fear, too.
Mary Happy anniversary! I hope you had a delicious dinner to celebrate.
I'm glad my dog doesn't have long hair. Your poor puppy was NOT happy about that trim she just got. I hope that doesn't make her colder. She may need a jacket. :)
I really think you should get a generator. Since everything in your house is run on electricity, it really puts you at a disadvantage when the electricity goes out. I think it would be a good investment for you.
It's foggy today. I really hope it isn't foggy on Saturday as I will be picking my friends up at the airport. I'm already not thrilled about driving on the freeway at night, as the lights bother me, but fog would make it stressful for me. I never did like driving in the fog but age has made it worse.
Today I went to the pet store to get my dog a toy. A lady was in there with her dog who was barking constantly. When I went to the toy section, the dog could see me and was then barking at me. The woman had the dog on a leash but she walked in towards me, allowing the dog to jump up on me while she said, "Don't touch him". WTF? If looks could kill, she would have fallen on the floor. I couldn't believe she did that.
JL......Well dang.....my gabapentin has not exactly made me gallop but maybe if treats were involved. ...I’d gallop right up and forget all about this back pain! Some days I think it gives me some relief but not all the time. I hope your dog is feeling better. I’ll tell you what ..if I went in a store and some big old dog jumped up on me, I would not be happy camper...and then to tell YOU not to touch him! I’d Be pissed! No, I don’t have a clue why this $ would have been in my dresser. I think it’s been there a long time too. It will be added to my gambling money. I need a lot of it for 15 days! At least casino will be closed when we port during five of the days but then it will open again at night. I’ll be very poor when we come home. I think I’m ahead of the game for packing this time as I’ve already tried my clothes on.
We’re meeting a gal I met on a cruise ten years ago In LA. We tried last time but she got sick so hopefully it will work out for dinner this time. It would be fun to see her. We talk on the phone from time to time. She came here about five years ago and we met for dinner. Tmrw I’m meeting our car guy and buying my lease car. It will lower my payments about $60 a month and I’ll own it. I like my rav 4 a lot. it’s a 2017 limited..red.
Anyone doing anything for Super Bowl? I invited Tammy and James And WENDY and Andy. Tam and James have plans and no word from Andy which I think is rude when tmrw is Friday. I really don’t want company. I told Louis I bought a few snacks for us to have our own party.
Mary...i think a generator sounds like a good investment for you also. you seem to lose power a lot. Who are you cheering for Sunday? We’re for the 49ers. How was your anniversary dinner? We’re going on ours next week. We will probably celebrate Shan on the ship but we will be on there for Valentines Day too. I’m thinking they will probably have that be a formal night.
Barb, how are you feeling? I hope better. I picked up a lady today that doesn’t drive and took her to the other end of town to meet a mutual friend for lunch. They were so glad to see each other and they are fun to be around. Thank goodness the weather was decent. .whats Chad fixing for super bowl?
JL#2...don’t you like the gravy in a jar? I think it’s pretty good. I made a good potato soup in the crockpot on Monday. It turned out quite tasty.
Dianne The woman's "Don't touch him" was a warning to me as if the dog might bite me. I stood perfectly still while the dog was on me. The woman is lucky that it didn't bite me. I'm still pissed about it just recalling it now.
JL....Haven’t galloped yet! Still waiting
Hope you all like your super bowl presents
Dianne I do like my Super Bowl present and I hope you will be cheering hard for the 49ers on Sunday.
BTW, it's been many years since I had a jarred gravy so I don't really have an opinion about them. I usually make my own gravy but I find the dry mixes to be handy to have on hand, especially to extend my gravy when having leftovers.
JL.....I will be cheering loud. Louis and I are having our own snack party. The pre-bowl party starts here at noon on tv. Doubt I’ll be tuned into that whole show. Never heard from Andy. Irritates me but glad I didn’t hear from them today. Hope I don’t tmrw morning either. The gravy has a pretty good shelf life or sometimes I’ll keep a can of gravy on hand. Monday I’m making that seven can soup. Glad you liked your gift. Now you’ll think of me when storing things! Lol
Just got home from that movie. It was pretty good and funny but we’re glad we only paid $3 for it today. 72 degrees tmrw and -1 Tuesday night! Crazy weather. I’m for the 72...perfect.
Dianne, thanks so much for the surprise!! It was fun trying to figure out who sent them!
You definitely brightened my day :)
I don't have a favorite in Sunday's game. I just root for the score/numbers and hope they make me some money lol!
JustLin, I avoid driving in the dark,rain, and especially fog!! I remember my girlfriend an I driving home from work in Lansing on the free-way. It was so foggy, that we couldn't see the hood on our car. I had to hang my head out the window while she drove , so I could tell if we were on the right side of the road! It was horrible!
I checked on the generator prices. It would be at least $8,000! Jim can't see spending that kind of money for something we may only use a couple of times. He forgets when we were out of power for over a week last winter. We also lost power for 5 days in the summer and were miserable without the ac, although we do have a small generator to get us by.
Barb, I hope you are alright!
It has been a quiet week. Jim has met up with his brother in law, Ken, a few times since the funeral. He tells Jim that he doesn't know what to do with himself all day. He feels so lost. They talked about finances and all the paper work involved with death certificates,ins., etc. Jim came home and told me he probably should put my name on the house title! It is paid for, but he never put me on the title.
I have paid dearly for his first wife's actions! She left him for another man. He was left with two sons to raise. Yrs later she came back, took him to court, got the kids back with child support and left him a very angry mistrusting man. After we were together a yr, he got a vasectomy, I am guessing to make sure I didn't get pregnant, and take him for more child support! Yrs later he wished we would have had a child together. I am telling you this so you can understand why he is the way he is. I have been with him for over 45 yrs and I am still trying to figure him out lol!
Where are you all at?
Pretty boring week so far. I did have an appt. with my eye specialist today. He was going to do a laser job because the drops weren't working. I had to quit using the new drops he prescribed because I was having a bad reaction to them, not to mention they were over $200 even with the discount! He was surprised to see that my eye pressure had actually dropped a bit, so he is having me come back in a month in hopes it keeps dropping :)
Have fun on your cruise Dianne!!!
Mary......IM HERE. I’m starting packing. We leave next Tuesday. I’m just praying for no snow. They. canceled flights on Monday here with the weather. We were supposed to meet our mountain friends down here yesterday but they were pretty much snowed in up there. I wouldn’t like to live there. I had a few errands yesterday so had Louis go with me and do both our errands and have lunch. We came home and organized my closet more ..the shelves...and now it’s all done! I cooked crockpot seven bean soup yesterday and it was really good. That’s for dinner again tonight. We’re going out tmrw night for our anniversary which is sat but not so crowded on Thursday. Friday is hair, Sunday nails. I want to wait until last minute for nails. Glad your eye pressure is getting better. I hope it keeps getting better. Yes. I can see why Jim is a little gun shy. Let us know when you have him all figured out. Lol. I feel bad for your brother in law. Well mary, sounds like no generator for you. Tell Jim you want one for your Easter present.
JL, sorry about the Super Bowl. I was cheering hard. I thought they were going to win up until the end. Darn it! It’s a letdown. KC is pretty excited. I think they had a parade today. What have you been doing this week. How was your trip to the airport the other night? My friend is taking us to airport and Andy will pick us up. I sure don’t like the coming nome part.
Barb..where are you? We’re about to send out a search party.
Hello my friends. I am so sorry I have been MIA. I have been a little busy and I just keep forgetting to check in. We had company for a couple of days and it wore me out. I was so tired, but haven’t been sleeping well. It turns out I can fall asleep in my computer chair better than my bed. However, my lower arms and hands fall asleep, also, and wake me up. So, there it is! My life in a nutshell!
J/L, I’m glad your dog is feeling better. Maybe the gabapentin and a treat is the trick for me! LOL I am going to ask my doctor about it.
Dianne, are you getting excited about going on another trip? I used to make a taco soup that had six different beans, canned corn, canned tomatoes and ground beef. The family liked it, but Chad said he’s not a soup person. He only ate it when he was young because we made him eat it. I may make it anyway and freeze it in individual portions. It’s good winter food.
Mary, I can see why Jim doesn’t want to get a generator. That’s a lot of money, but it seems the weather is getting worse all over and in the long run, it may be a good investment.
Dianne 2, Thanks again for the Super Bowl present. When the Amazon package arrived, Chad gave me a look like, “what did you get now!” I don’t think he believed me when I said I didn’t order anything, like he thought “she’s getting old and doesn’t remember what she ordered.” That actually has happened around Christmas when I do a lot of ordering. But when I opened it, I was positive I didn’t order it. Then I called Amazon and they wouldn’t (couldn’t) tell me anything except it wasn’t charged to my account. I even called Kathy and asked her if she sent them. Then I saw Mary’s post. Believe me, I never thought you would buy ANYTHING Raiders! Good to know Amazon protects their customers’ identity.
Barb. I recd two pair of men’s Texas Longhorn socks from amazon yesterday. I’m telling you I’d never order them and who for I thought. I went on my Amazon site and it showed delivered for $26. I went to amazon site and put in “ordered by mistake” and Louis took it across the street to ups with a code amazon sent me and they packaged it up and sent it back free and I already recd an email from amazon that my refund was in process. They r so good about returning things. Be sure when you talk to dr about the gabapentin you ask about the treat part as my back is hurting me on 900 mg. He said we might have to go up. I love that taco soup and it’s very low in Ww points too. I’m a soup person. I thought you’d for sure know it was me receiving you raider bags. You know Kathy doesn’t order from amazon! It shows how much I like you to spend $ on raider things special for you! Yes, I’m getting excited for trip but nervous about getting out of here between snowstorms. We’ve had two this week and got a foot last night. Another one due Sunday and then Thursday. We leave Tuesday. We’re taking extra medication just in the far stretch something would happen like the China Quarantine cruise. I doubt Hawaii but just to be safe. Those China cruise people are quarantined for 14 days. I can’t be without my diabetic meds plus others for 14 day’s so all prepared. I’m not packed but a few things so starting to stress as you well know, it’s hard doing things when your back is killing you!
Well....I think I’m all packed up ceptva few last minute things. Sunny today, snow predicted late afternoon and tonight. Everyone please cross your fingers that we an get out of here in the morning! I’m so ready and so sick of the snow. My back still hurts bad!
Packed up except a few last minute things.
Dianne When your surprise gift first arrived, I was at a loss trying to figure out what I had ordered. As soon as I opened the package, I knew it must be from you. That was a really cute thing for you to do. I have had to return things to Amazon and they do make it very easy to do.
I feel really bad for the people who are quarantined on the ships. That would be terrible, especially for the people in inside cabins. I always get a balcony cabin so at least I could step outside on my own little area. I always take extra medication with me but usually only a few days worth. Are you all ready for your cruise?
I only gave my dog a Gabapentin a few times and then stopped. I didn't like that it made her a bit unstable on her feet. I thought it was helping her that one day but later I found it in the living room where she had spit it out. Apparently, she was having a better day by not taking it. LOL Thankfully, she's all back to normal now.
Barb Did you watch the Oscars last night? My friends John and Jane came over and brought John's delicious chili for our dinner. We always watch together and have John's chili. It's become a tradition. Jane and I fill out ballots before the awards start and enjoy seeing how many we predicted correctly. Neither of us picked Parasite for best picture so now I will need to watch it when I'm in the mood to read subtitles. Oh, and did you see the Bachelor commercial they ran during the show? LOL Very fun and clever, I thought.
I was watching an episode of the old British show, Inspector Morse, which takes place in Oxford, England. At one point, they were watching people come out of a Safeway with their groceries. I had no idea that they Safeways over there.
Mary Ooh, that's great news about the pressure in your eyes reducing. I hope that continues more. Why do you think that happened? Did you stop a prescription that could have been causing it? Is it tied to blood pressure? I definitely wouldn't want to be paying $200 for a little bottle of eye drops.
I'm glad Jim is taking time to visit with his brother-in-law. Losing your life partner leaves a really big whole in your life. Perhaps he should move into a senior housing unit. They usually have quite a few social activities and that helps keep them engaged in life. Of course all of this is very new for him and he's still grieving so probably shouldn't make any life changing decisions right now. I hope he has hobbies and/or maybe a pet.
JustLin, Ken (bil)is too young to be in senior housing. They have a nice home * lake cabin. He has a lot of friends & family keeping him busy.He did just join the "MOOSE". They have a lot of activities.......... He also helps at our VFW. Jim's sis Shirley had been ill for a long time so he was not able to do many things for fear of leaving her alone. I think he will adjust in time. I have no clue why my eye pressure came down, except that I have been squeezing a bit more in my eyes. I think I have been unconsciously and sometimes consciously being stingy with my drops to make them last longer. Dumb lol!
Dianne. Packing is the worse on my back! I am glad you have finished with it. I am hoping and saying prayers that you are not snowed in! You are smart to take extra meds. Did you pack extra panties lol!!!
Barb, you cracked me up when you wrote about the look Chad gave you when you opened the Amazon pkg lol!! I hope you are getting some sleep!! I have nights when I can't get to sleep until after 2 am.
I have to tell you something funny about Zoie.
She has two bowls, one for water and one for food. Both silver aluminum. Well, sometimes when she finishes her food, she keeps licking the bowl until it is all over the kitchen. She was all excited the other day when I was giving her a treat. I broke it up and put it in her bowl....the full water bowl! She had reversed the dishes! Well, I was going to take the treat out and Zoie would have non of it! She dove into the water and ate the treat and drank all the water in the process!
I told Jim that she drank more than her little bladder could hold! In a few minutes she was ready to head out and did so every 10 minutes until she was exhausted lol! Poor baby!! I look twice now before putting anything in wither bowl!!
Mary, I have been feeding my cats in my bathroom ever since Chad and his cats arrived since my two didn't like his two. Even tho his two are gone now, I have just continued to feed my two in my room. They have been eating dry food and I was giving them each a big scoop and they graze all day and sometimes in the middle of the night I hear one or the other crunching. Chad mentioned that they both are looking a little portly, so I have been giving them a little less. So, yesterday, when I got up, I found one of the food bowls outside the bathroom, in front of my closet. I guess it was a hint that it was empty.
J/L, I did watch the Oscars and I remember there was a Bachelor commercial, but now I can’t remember the details. I swear, My memory is going fast.
Chad and I have been devising a plan to talk my sister into moving into a Senior complex. She hardly leaves her house, and doesn’t do any housework. Her house is a mess and I worry about her tripping over something. Chad smoked a pork butt on Friday and I picked her up to take her to my house for dinner. Chad volunteered to go over and clean her house and we both thought she would be offended, but she was very receptive to it. So today I was talking to her on the phone, and She was saying how she just hates to do housework. She is 89 years old. I mentioned that she may want to sell her condo and move into the senior place where our Mom lived, and she wouldn’t have to worry about it because the rent includes weekly housekeeping. To my surprise, she wasn’t adverse to the idea. So, we are going to continue to work on that.
Dianne, So I hope the weather was kind to you today and you are cruising. I always take extra meds when I travel just in case I get delayed or want to stay longer.
I have never had to return anything to Amazon, but one time I ordered two power surge protecter extension cords and after a week, I checked my orders and it said they were delivered two days after I ordered them. So, I called and they said the package was delivered, but if I didn’t have it they would send it again. I got the second package in two days. Then about a week after the second package arrived, a neighbor from two blocks away brought my original package to me. I have no idea why he kept it so long, but I called Amazon to tell them what happened and that I would send the original package back, and was told to just keep it. They do have good customer service.
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