"I'm The Last Scion.................................Of A Movie House Mogul..................."

Good Evening;

Not a whole lot to mention since yesterday afternoon. I did not make it down to Annapolis, although I woke up at 4:55 am., I felt like 2 bags of dead mice, and lay back down until 8:00am. when both the kids and Tom began banging around. This feeling of having the symptoms of a hangover....when I have NOT been drinking sucks. Between this low grade whatever and the hot, dry, forced air heat at Jenn's, (I neglected to turn on the humidifier after the kids fell asleep on top of everything else), I feel like SpongeBob Squarepants stranded on the beach. I survived another day of Edward. The weather is so chaotic that the forecast changes from minute to minute, snow..no snow, 1 inch to 3 inches, 4 inches to 7 inches, unless you live on the even numbered side of a west facing street on the south side of town, on a Friday in a leap year in a month with an 'R' in it.....AARRRRRGGHHH!!!

I got an e-mail from my best friend in junior high/senior high, and for a few years after. For about 5 years we were pretty much always to be found together all weekend....the party didn't start until we arrived....in own cars of course, (once he and a whole bunch of our crowd learned to drive in my..[mother's at the time....lol]..1969 Chevelle)! I have to try to reach him by phone tomorrow.

Here is how close we were, I asked the girl he eventually married out on a date, only to be told that he had already asked her out, I was at his wedding, he was at mine to my first wife as my best man..Jenn's mom..and because we were the owners of slightly twisted senses of humor....and he was a Md. State Trooper at the time.....he brought me to the County Courthouse, into the chambers we were to wed in...with him in uniform, and me in handcuffs!!!.....of course this went over rreeeaaalllll well with my soon to be in-laws...LOL!!!!

There was a letter-to-the-editor in the JT:

This is an excerpt from it;

It is also sad to note that many professionals and lay people tire of reaching out to help when someone in need says “No” once too often. I discovered the value of respect and patience in providing new opportunities and am thankful that so many individuals have taken their recovery seriously. It is encouraging that some individuals are choosing life and hope when given the opportunity.
Dr. Howard Eisenberg, Baltimore

The portion in bold illustrates another point along side the one the Doctor is making; one that a lot of the people I have known and/or spoken with, both homeless and in shelters or recovery houses, those both in and out of recovery, and while in incarceration also.....it is similar to the attitude I mentioned when I wrote about why I tend not to go to 'Charitable Holiday Meals'. Some, again not all, of those who are in the business of assisting the homeless, have the attitude that we should not have opinions or desires, nor the ability to decide whether or not we want to accept one offer over another, or try to choose a better or more comfortable living situation. It is a case of "take what is offered or leave....now!". Many will not work with the individual to seek out pleasanter surroundings, their attitude being, "you are homeless, you should be on your knees for the opportunity to let me place you in whatever is available, regardless of where it is, or whether or not you have any ties to that community or neighborhood, or whether you'll stick out like a polar bear in coal mine".

I also want to touch on the situation of taking or not taking a job, sometimes there is an attitude that one can never say no. If you do, no matter what the reason, you are in the wrong. Well, what if you can't do the work anymore? I busted my ass off for less than $7.00 an hour,[and they deducted money for transportation and supplies], for less than 6 hours a day, because that is all the employer would authorize, when I was working through LaborReady, (and they were getting $11.00 to 15.00 an hour). That was all that would hire me, and I must have been doing something right because on the 2 long term jobs I ended working on, after the first 3 times I was sent to the sites, the contractor asked that I be assigned to him personally, and no other temp be sent out unless I was unavailable or a second body was needed. {You can see how the jobs turned out if you go to the Susquehanna Bank in Reisterstown, or the Royal Farms gas station and megamart in Owings Mills at Red Run Blvd.....LOL} After I ended up hurting my back for the final time, I realized I couldn't do the labor anymore, and then the economy tanked and the other available clients stopped using them, and I realized it was not worth the time, effort, and pain. Never knowing when I would be able to shower added to the decision also. When I went out to panhandle for the first time, and made more money than I took home in a week working for LaborReady....in 2 three hour blocks over 2 days, I said screw this, to the temp work. Can you blame me?

So, sometimes for some folks, it has nothing to do with laziness that they don't "work" in the traditional sense of an hourly wage job..it is merely good economics. How can some one making minimum wage, (starting on the street, with nothing), both find a room, eat, etc., AND put together enough for the usual first monthrent, last month rent, and security deposit needed to get a place. Subsidized housing is available...with a waiting list to get on the waiting list. And the time and travel time, and waiting room time needed to get assistance at some agencies make it impossible for some folks to keep the job they have. And some times the agency involved will not be flexible enough to meet with the person when the person can get off, not to mention the sometimes unneccessary and/or unrelated 'hoops' the person is required to jump through, before they will address an immediate urgent time sensitive problem..(which, in one such situation although I was not directly affected by these power game control antics....my youngest daughter was made technically homeless...though between relatives and friends she never was without shelter in a private home).

I admit that I have made certain choices regarding what I consider unacceptable places to stay, and my independence and 'freedom' of choice and access. I also have reached a point where I may be ready to re-evaluate my decisions. In the past 15 months of writing this blog I have changed, and think I am more willing to consider taking steps that were unacceptable to me earlier..(yeah, yeah, I know I built myself some wiggle room in that statement...but, hey,...babysteps....right?.....lol).

I'm done here tonight, but first I want to welcome 3 new Followers;

susi w......Elana Snyder.....&.....Baby Shrimp (great name, and I wish I could enlarge the picture without it getting all fuzzy)

and plug a really cool book;

"Motion Picture Exhibition In Baltimore"

by

Robert K. Headley

Fascinating history of the business, a listing of ALL the theatres in the area, from the late 1890's to the present, some great old and new photos....

AND

a whole boatload of history and information I never knew about my grandfather and his brother and their families, seems we were really big wheels in the movie house business, with not one, but 3 "Cluster" theatres in the city, 2 on Baltimore St., and 1 on Broadway....who knew? (well I knew about the one on Broadway, it was still there when I was a kid...lol), and a 'circuit' of other theatres and affiliated houses, and he formed a projectionists union, and taught the trade, and served on the certifying board...even had a small scandal about that, early last century...lol.

Well I gotta go, Jenn and Tom asked me to babysit tonight so they can both go to the store later

...................Dave