Who, or what's to blame for lake's problem smell? - Local History ...

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We Xers
are fit to
be tied
I've been thinking lately
about ties - those paisley
things men hang around their
necks. And apparently, so have
a lot of other people.
"You hate ties" read the ad
In USA Today's weekend magazine.
The picture was of a
young, highly muscled Generation
Xer sitting In hiS sWInging
pad In his underwear, peenng
mtently into the screen of a
laptop computer.
"Your first tie felt like a
noose," the copy read "That
feeling never changed You
don't wear one anymore. You
work at your place. You work
your hours. You work for you"
a'm wondering if the ad
wnter intentionally used short
sentences, small words and that
tired noose cliche because the
ad was aimed at simpletons
who take undue pride in the
fact that they think ties are
uncomfortable.)
The ad was from Ameritech
phone service for people who
work out of their home The ad
leads you to belIeve that you
can work out of your own
home, never get dressed, pump
iron all the time, and never
miss a phone call, fax or computer
mall memo It failed to
say how you'd pay their bills.
I would have blown nght by
thiS ad, if it weren't for "Melrose
Place," a terrible mght-
ISay
Ronald J. Bernas
time teleVISIOn soap opera
which raised my tIe-consciousness
One of the characters In the
show, which IS aimed at the
much mahgned and oft misunderstood
GeneratIOn X, drones
on episode after epIsode that
he's "Just not a tie man"; a
trait Intended to pamt him a
romantic rogue and excuse the
fact that he can't keep a job.
All thlb brings up one, very
obvIOUSquestIOn Is anybody a
tie man?
When was the last time you
heard a guy say, "Oh boy, I get
to wear a tie "
If they were comfortable,
we'd wear them to mow the
lawn Or play football We'd
sleep III them, even
Newsflabh to any future ad
wnters or mght-tlme soap pro.
ducers Nobody likes wearmg
ties It's not that they're difficult
to tie - although some
mornmgs they are It's not that
I never know If they match my
pants and shirt It'" not even
that most men's ties are ugly
It's that they Just seem to be a
waste
The Wind blows them over
your shoulder They fall m your
soup You tuck them Into your
pants after gomg to the bathroom
And If you Ube them to
clean your glasses, people thInk
you're odd
TIes tend to be good convel'
satIon starterb, though Two recent
examples are "You know,
that tie really doesn't go WIth
that shIrt" and "DId you get a
free bowl of soup WIth that
tIe?"
TIes are, to men, what pantyhose
are to women - they're
too expensIve, you'd never wear
anyone else's and when they're
not on properly, you can't feel
comfortable They're part of the
umform. You'd prefer to go
WIthout them, but If you can't
you don't It's as SImple as
that
So before we Scart holdIng
demonstratIOns to burn our tIes
and read msplratlOnal Robert
Bly poetry to each other,
there's somethmg to be saId
ASIde from bemg SIlly and useless,
there's nothing Inherently
wrong WIth a tie or Wlth people
who wear them, or occasIOns
whIch reqUire them
But there IS somethIng very
wrong WIth those who define
themselves by what they wear,
and WIth compames whlch still
can't seem to grasp that Gener.
atlOn X 18 not as easy to clas.
slfy a1:>an Item of clothing
Grosse Pointe News
July 21,1994, Page 7A
The Op-Ed Page •
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Proiect goes down the tube
Work is enriching. Work IS a
moral good. It authenticates:
Hands-on labor hke weeding a
vegetable patch puts you in
touch with the Earth and your
own bemg. Work is even holy.
That's what they say.
And if what they say is true
(and it must be, because I see it
written here in black and
white), then we're holier than
thou just now.
Last week we Installed our
very own passive solar lighting.
Somewhere on the package it
probably said the job would be
easy. It always says that, of
course. We're used to not being
able to do easy things like file
our Income tax, but somehow
we always think the engmeering
jobs can be carried off.
Which they can, but certamly
~ot easily
. The company sald it would
install our solar lighting tube
for $30. But it's a simple Job,
basicaly like putting in a stovepipe:
just make holes in the
ceiling and the roof and stick
the pipe through.
RIght.
Start with the roof hole. We
lug the dome, the flashmg, assorted
screws and nalls, drills,
hammer, a shovel to pry off
some of the old shingles, a
stack of new shmgles, and -
oh, yeah, a saw - up the ladder
and pile them on the roof
Then we take a break and get
our sweatshirts off.
We measure everythmg
agam (a follow-up to the 27 prelIminary
measurements taken
over a period of weeks), rip off
some shmgles, rev up the saw
- and cut a hole. Hey, there s
our good hammer, viSible in
the attic through the new hole,
only inches away. We need it.
Bob fishes through the hole
with his measure. That challenge
sets us back 10 mmutes
before we give It up and go
down the ladder and up the attiC
ladder to get it.
We fit the new shingles into
the space and start pounding
naIls Ss.shllh! There's a pI
leated woodpecker on that tree
by the stream Look at the
wood chips fly.
The roof job finished,- solar
collector aimed south, we lower
our tools and bag of debris to
the ground, clean everything
up, and break for lunch, a bIt
disgruntled that we're only half
done. But not too disheartened
to spend our break reading up
on the yellow~bellied sapsuck~
ers we saw in the birch tree
earlier They're known to consume
the sap of 246 different
natIve trees But birch is their
favorite.
OK, thiS project IS getting serious
now. Up In the attic, we
find the Joists, align the hole,
and rev up the saw agaIn. But
what's thIS? A board numing
across the Joists, nght in the
middle of our hole! It seems
that the tile ceIling of our cabin
is the only ceiling, just tiles
hung on cross PieceS That sys.
tem doesn't provide any support
for our sun tube. And we
definItely can't cut through the
tIle support boards.
Time out for engineering.
DISCUSSIOn, diagrams, argument,
pondenng, measurmg,
handwrmgmg, swearing Work
doesn't feel all that holy just
now.
We're used to working together,
but It isn't always
smooth. Now we're both
stumped Stumped, with a hole
in our roof, and it's starting to
ram. We try ideas, fall, get
mad. We have some Iced tea.
Bob has a theory - but I
can't visualize It We get mad
agam. "I'd like to see that company
put thIS In for 30 bucks,"
Bob grumbles "They'd have to
charge $300 "
Finally we create a support
piece to fit between the boards
We saw another hole, m the
nght piace thIS tIme. Now we
have a large oval with a small
CIrcular sun pipe to stick It In
SIgh
We're used to
not being able to
do easy things like
file our income
tax_
We struggle to assemble our
tube, which refuses to fit together.
As a last resort, we
read the mstructlOns again.
They stIll don't make sense.
"Hey, what's thiS?" Bob
groans, sighting a foam CIrcle
lying on the floor It isn't even
mentioned III the instructions
We figure out a place to put It
that actually enhances the fit
At 6.30 I gIve up on ever fin~
Ishing and go out and buy
some pasties for dInner. Bob 1S
stJlI fightIng WIth the tube.
WhJle the pastles bake, we
wrap the JOlllts to seal the sun
hght inside and check the In
structions once more
"Step 21: You can now elljoy
the benefits of your Sola *Tube
and the high performance natu.
ral lightmg It provides"
So we could - If the sun
would come out. And we could
say we did It all ourselves.
From page 6A
the Sunday l1mes should get a
medal.
•
Blue lIght speCIal: Pnncess
DIana fell afoul of traffic poltce
for her Illegal use of a blue
flashmg polIce lIght DI was
bemg chauffeured to Heathrow
III her offiCIal Jaguar when
they hIt a traffic queue on the
motorway. Not wanting hiS
boss to miSS her plane, the
chauffeur stuck the pohce lIght
on the top of the car as motor.
ISts pulled aside to let the princess
through Buckingham Palace
sald DIana and the staff
have been adVised on the
proper use of the lIght
•
Mr Spock may have dared
Hexagenia club:
small but proud
The 1994 fish fly season was
III full swing when I happened
to mentIOn to Pointe raconteur
and man.
about-town
Dan Beck
that I once
madvertently
ate one
while zoom.
Ing out
Lakeshore
back in my
wild motorcycle
days.
On that
fateful summer evening long
ago I had just opened my
mouth when the wmged creature
destmed to become part of
me flew down my throat I
gave a reflex gulp and swallowed,
noting a rather dry texture
and a distinctly fisby finish
to this culinary surprise -
whIle somehow managIng to
stay on the road.
"The society of fish fly gourmets
probably has a pretty hmlted
membership," I told Dan,
and he inunediately one.upped
me by revealmg that a few
years ago he downed one on
purpose
"My lIttle grandson was complaining
about the fish flies all
over our bushes and I told him
they deserved more respect be~
cause they were an Important
food source around here," Dan
saId "He looked like he dIdn't
believe me so I pIcked one up
and Impressed the heck out of
him by eatmg it."
How did he find the taste, I
asked "Vastly overrated," said
Dan, almost WIth a straIght
face
Sanders isn't
in hot water
Customers were wondenng
last week whether recentlyscotched
rumors of Sanders'
store on Kercheval closmg thIS
month were true
For seven days startIng Fn
day July 8, the store's staff was
unable to serve food because
the hot water heater was broken
and the dishwasher wasn't
work mg. "If you can't clean the
dIshes and sIlverware, the
board of health won't let you
operate a lunch counter," says
Minnis::::::.:::;;::;:::::;:::;.;:.:;:;:;:;:::;:::;.;.;.;:;:;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;-;.;.;.;.;.;.;.:.;.:.;.:.;.;.;.:.;.:.;.
"to boldly go where no man has
gone before" (the world's most
famous split infinItIVe) but he
can't get mto England, The
Times reports That's because
the famous "Star Trek" Vulcan
Isn't quite human
Spack IS bemg banned because
of a 44.year.old mternatIonal
agreement settmg quotas
for the type of toys that can be
Imported In an effort to protect
European toymakers. Under
the system, CaptaIn KIrk toys
can be Imported at warp speeds
because he's human, but nonhuman
toys (yes, includmg Bar
ney) are caug-ht In a worm hole
The Department of Trade
and Industry said, "Mr Spack
will have to find some other
way to beam hImself In "
manager Mary David.
People who wandered m saw
dishes stacked all over the
counter and many thought the
worst, she reported.
By 6. p m. thIS past Fnday,
everythmg was OK and a sign
on the door now says, "Our restaurant
IS back in full swing.
Give us a try." The water
heater and dishwasher are
brand-new and there's even a
new toaster.
"It's a wonderful feelIng to
see things up and runnmg
again," says a very relieved
Mary. "A lot of people put a lot
of effort mto keeping Sanders
going"
Stay tuned for word of the
new owners
Unsolved
mystery? .,
, . A crew, from the TV show
"Unsolved Mysteries" recently
filmed at the POinte's neighbormg
St. John HospItal and Med.
Ical Center, FYI has learned
Subject of the segment, set to
air this fall, IS a re-creatIOn of
the seemmgly mIraculous dJs~
appearance of breast cancer af.
flIctmg patient Joanne Witkop
after her husband prayed
to Father Solanus Casey, a
CapuchIn pnest who dIed at
the hospItal In 1957 There is a
plaque at the hospital in honor
of the priest, who has been con.
sidered for samthood by the
CatholIc Church.
"Father Solanus was a very
SImple, holy pnest, and many
people were drawn to him,"
says Sister Suzanne Zieske,
VIcepreSident of miSSIOn effec~
tlveness at St John. "They
sought hIS blessmg when they
were ill, and many who prayed
to him after hIS death feel they
were cured through his mtercessIOn"
InCidentally, Father Solanus
mmlstered from the east side's
Capuchin Center and soup
kItchen on Mount EllIott, now
the natIOn's oldest prOVider of
shelter, counsehng, clothing
and food for the needy
And tomorrow (Friday, July
22), the Pointe's Edmund T.
Ahee family wIll host their
13th Annual Capuchm Souper
Summer CelebratIOn at the
Roostertal1, with all proceeds
donated to the center.
My hat IS off' to the jewelry
famIly volunteers who work 80
hard to bnng this fundraiseI'
about: Along With dad Edmund
and mom Bettejean, the philanthropIC
Ahees are Edmund
Jr., Greg, Chris, Lowell, Peter,
Pamela and John
If you have an FYI tip, calI
Ken Eatherly at 8224OfJ1.
Swim show
Grosse Pointe Farms Pier
Park hosts a country/western
hoedown synchrOnIzed swim
team show at 7 p m Friday,
July 22
The team is coached by Jeanme
Schrage and Sarah Booher.
This event IS for Farms resIdents
only
3-on-3 hoops
The seventh annual three-on.
three basketball tournament
takes place Saturday, July 30.
The cost IS $16 a team Game
tImes WIll be avaIlable two
days before the tournament.
For more informatIOn, call
the Farms parks and recreatIOn
department at 343-2405
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