Reaching out and the world reaches back

This is going to read more like a memoir, whatever that is, rather than
the usual 'this is what happened to me today' kind of crap...

I was thinking of ways that I reached out to the world through a letter
or other in some way and how the world replied in some form.

Two times when I was young - There were a series of specials that were
animated. It was some religious thing that featured this boy named Benji
and some of the stuff he did. The specials then had some address you
could write to, and for some reason I did. I wrote a few letters, and
got replies each time. Then I think the last letter I wrote, I asked for
"Benji" to sign it. And you know what? I got one! I still have that
letter. I don't know why I never wrote another letter back. I kinda
figure today there was this place where bunches of people for this
company or whatnot getting letters from kids and answering them. Anywho,
that letter was my proof as a kid that "Benji" was real. I even got a
comic book in the mail (this must have been around 1976) called "Freedom
Is". A lot of the Benji specials were some word and the word 'Is' in the
title. I still have the comic book and the letter 'Benji' signed.

Then I remember writing a letter to a Cleveland TV station over the
cancellation of the 1970s version of the Mickey Mouse Club. Imagine me
watching that! I think that was my reason as a kid at the time for
wanting a "leisure suit" outfit. I even have a photo somewhere of me
wearing it. Anywho, I think the TV station knew the letter I sent was
from a kid, and I got a very nice letter back explaining why they
couldn't show it anymore. I think that was one of few times an adult
respected the opinion of a young person and did a very good job
explaining things. I appreciated that letter a lot. I still have it.

There was the time I wrote to TV Guide chiding the review of the movie
Xanadu by Judith Crist. She panned the movie. I wrote with concern of
bad reviews given to some things to the point of people not wanting to
watch something. For some reason I thought Xanadu was a good movie. I
have the vinyl LP from it. This was the early 1980s mind you. Anywho,
Crist replied that while my concerns were valid, it was her job to write
reviews and comment as appropriate. I then noticed some years later she
no longer wrote for TV Guide, and the tone of their reviews have changed
since then.

There was the time MCI called my mom about trying to sell their service
to her. I had heard bad things about MCI, and after she got done telling
them NO but hadn't hung up yet, I got on with a string of epithets
worthy of a truck driver. Keep in mind they called my mom by name, she
had answered the phone and said NO, and the phone book listing is in her
name. A letter from MCI arrived about a week or so later with my name on
it. Talk about harassment and intimidation. I didn't ask for the letter
- and how did they know I lived there, too? I consider that a legally
sue-able situation. I think I tossed that one years ago.

Then there was the time while in 6th grade that I attempted to enter a
TV station's contest to guess the date of the first measurable snowfall
one year. WEWS in Cleveland had this with Don Webster. That was a wierd
year for me. I also had seen a classmate's shirt with the picture of a
horse's butt with the words "Kiss My" above it. Wow! In a 6th grader's
mind, that's the funniest thing I had ever seen. So... I drew a very
nice and wonderful picture of that on the back of the envelope. I
thought it was a masterpiece. I put my prediction of the first
measurable snowfall inside, and mailed it off... I got it back a while
later with a note saying the entry was unacceptable. Buh what??? It's
not like they have to SHOW the freaking entry on the air or anything!
For years after that, I refused to watch WEWS because of that. A shame
they refused the entry, because I was correct. ^_^ The prize was a snow
blower, btw. I think Don Webster also doesn't work at WEWS anymore. I
could be wrong.

And finally... In 1995, I had been taping Sailor Moon off WBNX in Akron,
and sent them a gift of Japanese Flower's Kiss plum candy, thanking them
for showing the series. I got a nice letter back, thanking me for the
candy and that it would be shared amongst the staff at the station, as
well as thanking me for watching WBNX. I still have that letter, too. I
heard from friends that after the first-run of the syndicated episodes,
WBNX took it on themselves to edit some content from the episodes. I had
taped them uncut, more or less.

I remember as a kid trying to get a penpal from Canada through the show
Big Blue Marble. This was before I Knew Anything. I tried writing a
letter to Canada, even mailed it off. Never got a reply. That was before
knowing anything about international postage, so I guess the letter
never got to Canada.

I did it myself!

Getting online tonight at this hour was a pain and a half. Let me
explain...

Ever since we moved in, we've had problems with the phone line staying
clear. At least for the putrid picky modem in my mom's Dell desktop.
WebTV doesn't seem to mind the bits of static very much but it can knock
the Dell offline more than it needs to. I guess the modem should be
replaced by a better one - my younger sister has a Dell that also does
dialup access and they rarely have a problem with it.

Anywho, mom emails Verizon support to have a tech come out and look at
things - essentially to put a new box on the line. He comes out, finds
out there's a box on the line, one that should be there. But then I show
him the little one that's much like the ones they used to use all the
time until some time ago. So he opens that up, starts checking the
wires. He notes there's red and green wires, and then there's one
connection with blue white. He says the blue white pairing is the new
standard for wiring phone lines, but as long as you keep things
straight, using them interchangeably isn't a problem.

So he goes, cuts off the blue-white pair from one wire, splices things,
and goes on his way. The phone line seems to be clear again. Yay. So I
get to doing things on the Dell tonight. Still had at least 3 dropped
carriers, and the usual ISP doesn't respond and "server cannot be found"
thingies which requires hanging up and redialing.

I get done with that, go upstairs to do some email on WebTV, and
suddenly... No dialing sound. I check the wired plug in phone. It's
dead. The blue white pair for upstairs he cut out and there ya go.

So I figure out the blue and green are one connection, the red and white
are the other. Ignore the orange and the white wire with a yellow streak
on it.

Get my wire cutters / strippers, do the necessary cutting, stripping,
and twisting, and with the use of the cordless, I am able to determine
I've reconnected the upstairs plug correctly. I find one of my ceramic
wire twist splice thingies and use it. I will get another soon, but the
line is clear again. seems that the little box was being used, but that
was creating static.

That was about an hour and a half ago. The things I go through to get on
WebTV...

Former boss spotted?

A few days ago, I believe I spotted my former boss in a car with his
wife in the parking lot, and after having noticed me, were talking about
something, and had grins on their faces. His wife was driving a silver
car of some model, and left the parking lot and went south on Route 44.
He's got some nerve showing his face around there, and even bigger nerve
having a grin on his face, more or less seeing me get a rack of carts to
bring back into the store. The abuse he put me through trying to get me
to quit...

I also know certain family members read this blog, and for them - STOP
READING THIS BEFORE I AM FORCED TO MAKE THIS BLOG PRIVATE. This is NONE
of your concern - you have no right to tell me what I can and cannot put
here, so there. Bug off!