Saturday, February 23, 2019

CHESCO: A fit elected official

The Wall Street Journal does a regular feature on people's exercise routines, and on Feb. 19 they profiled Michelle Kichline, who chairs the Chester County Board of Commissioners. Because she attends so many food-intensive social functions as part of her job, she explained how she watches her diet (no bread or cocktails) and works out regularly (in the early mornings at a gym near her home in Berwyn). "Fitness for a Serious Schmoozer," read the headline.
I was startled at the reporter's description of Chester County as "almost as large as Rhode Island" and promptly Googled to find out if it was true. Chester County is 759 square miles; Rhode Island is 1,212.

UNIONVILLE: Inside these four walls

The other day I noticed some unusual activity on my brother's Facebook feed. Actually ANY activity on my brother's Facebook feed is unusual, as he normally keeps himself to himself. Finally, when he shared a podcast about how we should not worry about death so much and should live fully in the moment, I texted him, asking what on earth was going on.
He promptly replied that he'd been sick with a cold for the past five days. In other words, he was climbing the walls.
Now I know: next time he updates his profile, I need to start cooking up some super-nutritious healing soup.

KENNETT: Mystery solved!

Every Friday at about 5:15 p.m. I drive by the Episcopal Church of the Advent en route to the Kennett Y, and for the past several weeks I've seen a truck parked there, with a line of waiting cars. At one point the cars were backed up all the way across the parking lot.
What, I wondered, is going on?
I found out when I was having breakfast with a friend who's very active in local Girl Scout activities. The truck contains cartons of Girl Scout cookies, and the cars contain cookie chairpeople picking up their weekly allotment of delectable Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, and Shortbreads.
Dearest Partner loves Girl Scout cookie season. He says he appreciates how each box is conveniently apportioned into two servings.

TOUGHKENAMON: On the runway

Talk about dangerous! Somebody has been vandalizing the approach lights at the New Garden Flying Field on Newark Road. Airport management is asking people to "keep an eye out for any unusual activity, most likely in the evening, on the west side of the airport."

Friday, February 22, 2019

COMPUTER: Sign of the times

This has nothing to do with Unionville but I'm offering it in hopes of preventing a reader from wasting 15 minutes poring through Word's disorganized, unsearchable, un-user-friendly Symbols menu like I did this afternoon, searching for a simple multiplication sign.
Where is it hidden? Between a capital O with an umlaut and a capital O with a diagonal slash through it. Of course! Silly me, thinking it might be in the "mathematical operators" part of the menu.
But wait! I found a shortcut. Just go to where you want the times sign to appear in your document, call up the Symbols menu, click on "More Symbols," type 215 in the "Character Code" box, and hit "enter."
You're welcome.

WEST MARLBOROUGH: A brush fire

The volunteers from the Po-Mar-Lin Fire Co. in Unionville were quick to extinguish a smoky brush fire on the afternoon of February 19 on the road bank along Clonmell-Upland Road (Route 842) between Ryan and Thouron Roads, near the old African Episcopal Methodist Church cemetery.
Station 36's website gave this account:
"Chief 36 quickly arrived on scene and gave an on-scene report of a brush fire on an embankment approx. 6' x 100'. Rescue 36 arrived on scene a few minutes later and the crew immediately went to work with hand tools and the booster reel. Brush 36 arrived shortly after the rescue and used its front turret for final extinguishment. The fire was put under control in just 8 minutes after arrival of Chief 36."
The charred embankment will be quickly covered by green weeds and vines as soon as spring gets here (on March 20!).
Po-Mar-Lin returned to West Marlborough the evening of Feb. 22 when a Waste Oil Recyclers truck overturned on Route 82 near the old King Ranch feed lots. The driver wasn't seriously hurt. Motorists were detoured onto a narrow rural road to get around the accident scene. 

EXERCISE: It's transporting

"The Crown," the Netflix drama that follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her early years, has received huge amounts of praise for its wonderful acting, writing, costumes, and music and its stunning production values.
Yes, yes, all of that is true, contends a friend, but best of all the show is so engrossing that she forgets that she's in her basement, working out on her stationary bike, an exercise she despises.
Other series she nominated for "best way to get through an hour of pedaling" are "The Sopranos," "Six Feet Under," "Rome," and "Breaking Bad."
"Boardwalk Empire," not so much.
For the upcoming Season 3 of "The Crown," Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over for Claire Foy and Matt Smith as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, with Helena Bonham Carter replacing Vanessa Kirby as the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret.