Bruce's Smorsasborg

 Lessons I Didn’t Understand Until My 60s. What Retirement Really Feels Like – the difference between how it’s imagined and how it is. Guess I really didn't imagine it. The stroke I had in 2019 brought down the curtain in pretty fast order. I'm thankful I landed pretty much on my feet and able to get around and do things. There are those who've had more severe stroke than me. The Lost Art of Face-to-Face Conversation – reflections on how connection has changed. I've been doing pretty well in that regard. It helps me keep on an even keel being able to converse with people. Growing Older Without Growing Boring – how to stay curious, funny, and relevant. Again, doing pretty well in this department. Researching topics that interest me, keeping a daily journal, etc. On Keeping a Journal Fresh Start with a witty or surprising observation: “Somewhere around sixty, people stop asking what you want to be when you grow up. That’s a shame — because I’m still figuring it out.” Or a...

 By Bruce Shawkey How did we ever survive before Starbucks? Here is their abbreviated history from their website: We’ve come a long way since our original store opened in 1971, but our founders’ vision is still alive and well. Friends since their University of San Francisco days, Gerald Baldwin, a former English teacher, Gordon Bowker, a writer, and Zev Siegl, a history teacher, were three 20-somethings who were passionate about the arts, fine food, good wine and, of course, great coffee. They started Starbucks because they wanted Seattle to have access to the delicious dark-roasted coffee that they loved – but had to go out of town to find. Investing $1,350 apiece and borrowing $5,000 from a bank, they took a name from classic literature and opened our first store on Mar. 30, 1971. Under the watchful gaze of an enigmatic mythological figure, Siegl scooped beans for customers; in the beginning, he was the only paid employee. The others kept their day jobs. Today, Starbucks is worth...

By Bruce Shawkey A recent article in the Watertown Daily Times about the Gobbler Supper Club triggered memories of eating there with my family during the '70s and '80s. My cousin Pamela, whose family lived in Watertown at the time, worked there as a waitress. Here is her recollection of the place: "I worked there for several years in high school.  Started as a bus girl, then waitress.  The decor was purple and pink. We wore pink and black polyester uniforms that reflected the times; short and form fitting, and fishnet stockings. If you didn't have short hair you had to wear a wig or a fall/hairpiece. Carrying drinks up to the other lounge area was sometimes a challenge with the purple shag carpeted stairs.  We had to pay close attention to details about our customers who sat at the rotating bar as they were in a different location by the time their food and/or drinks were ready to be served." One memorable visit in the 1970s was when our family took my Aunt Bea ...

 By Bruce Shawkey Great article on Dunkin' Donuts on the Internet. I used to love going to Dunkin Donuts when I lived in Janesville, Wis. I would get a couple donuts and a cup of coffee and maybe spend an hour in their store, munching away and reading the free newspaper that was often left there by another patron. I remember some of their early TV commercials, where the donut maker would rise at 4 a.m. and lament, "Time to make the donuts." That would become a catch phrase for me for any formidable task, from going to work on Monday mornings, to mowing the lawn. Making the donuts has become a secondary or even tertiary task for Dunkin employees, as most donuts arrive pre-made, and all the employees have to do is fry them, and add frostings and/or fillings. I would guess a good portion of their income comes from breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and fruity sugary cold drinks aimed at children and non-coffee drinkers. Still, when all is said and done, I get a hankering for donu...

 By Bruce Shawkey Interesting story in the New York Times about people who "churn" credit cards. The idea is to earn maximum rewards and perks. I did something like this myself back in the day. I even kicked it up a notch as a credit card merchant for my online business, brucesvintagewatches.com. I would take a cash advance on one credit card to buy a batch of watches for my business, masquerading it as if it were a purchase by one of my customers. If I timed it right, I had 60 days to repay the balance, all for a minor merchant charge of around 3 percent. OK, here is the article: They Each Own 50 Credit Cards. Should You? A number of Americans are making thousands by exploiting credit card reward offers. Every few months, Mr. Palm, a 57-year-old freelance television producer who lives in Illinois, goes online and applies for a new credit card. He opens only cards that come with a sign-up bonus: a reward of a few hundred dollars in points for new customers who reach a modest ...

 By Bruce Shawkey Who remembers the Whitman Sampler candy box? I do, and as I recall, they weren't especially good. Short on nougats, nuts, toffees, long on whipped fluffy creams. I found an ad for Whitmans in a 1941 Life magazine: Note the prices: As low as $1, and as high as $7.50 for the one on left. Now, the boxes are as high as $50 (from Russell Stover.)  The company's history began in 1923 when Russell and Clara Stover started a small candy business, Mrs. Stover's Bungalow Candies, from their Denver, Colorado, home, eventually becoming one of the largest boxed chocolate manufacturers in the United States. The company was sold to Louis Ward in 1960, who then sold it to the Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli in 2014. 

 By Bruce Shawkey Submarines have long fascinated me. My father-in-law was a coxswain aboard the Bonefish and had tales to tell. Subs played a major role during World War Two. Many movies have been made about subs, from the old diesel powered to the latest nuclear subs which can remained submerged indefinitely. The only reason they need to come up is to restock food for the crew. Here's a summary from Wikipedia: The history of the submarine goes back to antiquity. Humanity has employed a variety of methods to travel underwater for exploration, recreation, research and significantly, warfare. While early attempts, such as those by Alexander the Great, were rudimentary, the advent of new propulsion systems, fuels, and sonar, propelled an increase in submarine technology. The introduction of the diesel engine, then the nuclear submarine, saw great expansion in submarine use — and specifically military use — during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. The Second World War use o...