A Crummy Commercial

No, NOT this Toyotathon: This Toyotathon: For some reason I found this picture really amusing. source: https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/north/2025/01/02/car-falls-into-whitefish-bay-sinkhole-driver-ignored-road-closure/77405334007/ This picture reminded me of one summer day working at the Village of Fox Point, Wisconsin.  I am standing on the back of a stopped garbage truck (AKA: "a packer").  We are on some road east of Lake Drive, in other words, the fancier part of Fox Point.  The driver is a fellow named Bugs, I don't remember the name of the other summer kid on the back of the packer.  We are picking up yard waste by the side of the road.  All of a sudden the back wheels of the packer sink into the road.  We are good and stuck.  The pavement must have been softened by the summer heat and there was a rusted out culvert pipe under the road ? Working along with the packer we had two village crew guys driving Cushman three wheeled scooters w...

I saw this photo of Don Ameche and Frances Langford recently in connection with an OTR stream of their show featuring the Bickersons skits.  And it triggered a memory from my summer job in college, mentioned previously: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2023/08/trashcan-full-of-dirt.html https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/getting-hired-at-village.html I remember one fine summer day we are working (sorta) east of Lake Drive in Fox Point - this is the wealthiest part of town.  There were still lots of large elm trees then but unfortunately they were getting cut down.  Basically working on the chipper meant following the tree cutters and then standing around until they started cutting the elm branches.  So we are standing at the side of the road in front of a Tudor style mansion a few hundred feet away.  There is a small group of people standing in front of the house talking to one of the village crew.  The village crew guy driving the chipper that day was a guy we...

 I've heard this phrase: trashcan full of dirt as a description of a particular NFL lineman.  Very colorful and descriptive: basically someone who is hard to move: Jack Heflin - "trashcan full of dirt" https://sports.yahoo.com/packers-signing-dl-jack-heflin-170152227.html But as the literalist let me say that I once did encounter an actual trash can (think it was a Roughneck) full of dirt.  I worked at the Village of Fox Point during 3 summers in college.  As I recall (in the mid 1970s) we got $2 per hour and there were no deductions, not even for Social Security. One day, must have been a Friday or a Monday, I was working on the back of a packer (a garbage truck not a football team) picking up yard waste left by the homeowners at the side of the road.  The actual household rubbish was picked up by 2 regular Village guys with little Cushman 3-wheelers.  The packer was driven by another regular, Rich. I was hanging on the back of the truck with another summe...

 About this time in 1973 (June 7) I was graduating from high school, 49 years ago.  Seems like yesterday.   how can 49 years pass so quickly ? But that summer I was still 17.  I got a part time summer job as a janitor at a local restaurant.  My first real job.  Perhaps previewing the future of employment in general I didn't work for the restaurant itself but for a janitorial service.  And I earned $1.65 an hour.  It didn't end well (the restaurant guy didn't like the job I did and the janitorial service was sometimes late with my pay). But the next summer I was 18.  Some friends told me about a full time summer job (you had to be at least 18) at the village where we lived, $2 an hour and they didn't take out for social security or any taxes so we got the whole $2 (this is why I have a 3 year gap in my social security earnings :)  I went with my friends to the village hall where we had a brief audience with the village manager.  He w...