MR. FIX-IT (and my favorite skillet)
Written by Jean Steel Venrick (wife of The Wordwright)

"My little skillet won’t heat up," I called downstairs to Bill as he worked in the basement. "The switch seems to be the problem. It has screws in it so will you take it apart and see what is wrong with it?", I said. It never dawned on me he may not be able to repair it. Bill has fixed so many things around the house I just assume he can fix everything. He had the skillet up and cooking as good as new in a short time.

This little electric skillet has had a hard life for first I dropped the lid and broke the plastic knob. Bill dutifully took it to his workshop and put on a new wooden knob for the lid. I was so pleased to have it repaired.

Then the poor little skilled took another tumble to the floor and broke the handle completely off. The design of the handle served a dual purpose: a part was one of the feet as well as the handle but all in one piece. I just knew this was its demise. Once again to the workshop and Bill fashioned a new wooden handle with a leg -- and it was in business again. This was probably 2 or 3 years ago. I finally decided I had to be more careful with it and it has not been on the floor since. Incidentally the new wooden oak handle looks as if it was made in the factory. (Details for the other Mr. Fix-Its: Bill used a specific grain of an oak scrap in his shop, traced the old broken piece, sawed to shape, sanded and polished his creation with sandpaper(s) and finished up using a fine grade of Crocus Cloth to buff it smooth. bv)

A little history of this skillet may be of interest as it was not new when we got it. My little electric skillet came from Bill’s cousin who died in 1991. She had bought it from the F & R Lazarus store in Columbus, Ohio, where she worked for thirty years. (MACY is the name on all LAZARUS stores now. bv) Bill was privileged to have received a number of items from his cousin’s estate, among them this skillet which had been well cared for.

I did not use it for a while as I had plenty of pots, pans and skillets and this little skillet had low sides on it. I believe it is an omelet skillet. Once I started using it I found it very convenient for two people so got in the habit of cooking everything in it, not just omelets. (It fries the best eggs, so crispy around the edges.)

One thing I like about it is it’s not a non-stick surface. I have never been a fan of non-stick, rather I prefer stainless steel. When my little skillet goes out completely I will be very sad for I doubt I’ll be able to find one I like as well or better. Then I guess I will give it to Bill, my Mr. Fix-It, to try once more time to repair it or declare it dead.

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Posted by Bill Venrick at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Robert Layton

"I cannot vouch for the authenticity (specifically the authorship) of this essay but the message is indisputable. The first time I published this piece by Robert Layton was in the American Amateur Press Association monthly bundle; and I wanted to allow its message to reach out yet further through these pages of THE WORDWRIGHT." Bill Venrick

I was holding a notice from my 13-year-old son's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality. Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in an actual lesson presented exactly as it would be given to the students.

When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only about a dozen parents there. As we waited for the presentation, I thumbed through page after page of instructions in the prevention of pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned only in passing.

When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there were any questions. I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable part in the material. What happened next was shocking. There was a great deal of laughter, and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand.

The teacher and the nurse said nothing as I drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind had gone blank, and I could think of nothing to say. The teacher explained to me that the job of the school was to teach "facts" and the home was responsible for moral training. I sat in silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials.

"Donuts at the back," announced the teacher during the break. "I'd like you to put on the name tags we have prepared. They're right by the donuts and mingle with the other parents." Everyone moved to the back of the room. As I watched them affixing their name tags and shaking hands, I sat deep in thought. I was ashamed that I had not been able to convince them to include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials.

I uttered a silent prayer for guidance. My thoughts were interrupted by the teacher's hand on my shoulder. "Won't you join the others, Mr. Layton?" The nurse smiled sweetly at me. "The donuts are good." "Thank you, no," I replied.
"Well, then, how about a name tag? I'm sure the others would like to meet you." "Somehow I doubt that," I replied.
"Won't you please join them?" she coaxed. Then I heard a still, small voice whisper, "Don't go." The instruction was unmistakable. "Don't go!" "I'll just wait here," I said.

When the class was called back to order, the teacher looked around the long table and thanked everyone for putting on name tags. She ignored me. Then she said, "Now we're going to give you the same lesson we'll be giving your children.

Everyone please peel off your name tags." I watched in silence as the tags came off. "Now, then, on the back of one of the tags, I drew a tiny flower. Who has it, please?" The gentleman across from me held it up. "Here it is!"
"All right," she said. "The flower represents disease. Do you recall with whom you shook hands?" He pointed to a couple of people. "Very good," she replied. "The handshake in this case is intimacy. So the two people you had contact with now have the disease."

There was laughter and joking among the parents. The teacher continued, "And with whom did the two of YOU shake hands? "The point was well taken, and she explained how this lesson would show students how quickly disease is spread. "Since we all shook hands, we all have the disease."

It was then that I heard the still, small voice again. "Speak now," it said, "but be humble." I noted wryly the latter admonition, then rose from my chair. I apologized for any upset I might have caused earlier, congratulated the teacher on an excellent lesson that would impress the youth, and concluded by saying I had only one small point I wished to make.

"Not all of us were infected," I said. "One of us ABSTAINED."

# # #

The following piece appeared in the Columbus (OHIO) DISPATCH, March 20, 2000 and it fits the ABSTINENCE piece so aptly I had to include this as well. This was in the LETTERS to the Editor section on Page 2 of the DISPATCH:

ACCESS TO BIRTH CONTROL WON'T TEACH RESPONSIBILITY

"I applaud Angela Archer's concern regarding the teen-age pregnancy rate (letter, March 4). I wish to refute, however, the claim that making birth control available in high schools would solve the problem.

"Teen-agers, `still fresh in their learning experience,' need the truth. The truth is that there are consequences for engaging in sex outside of marriage. Archer focused on out-of-wedlock births. She failed to mention unwanted abortions, broken hearts, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. HIV and sexually transmitted diseases can last a lifetime, cause sterility and lead to death. One disease, the human papilloma virus, is incurrable, and the use of condoms does not prevent its spread.

"Archer's cavalier treatment of sex as a recreational activity undermines the ability of young people to make healthy choices when provided factual information. If the teen-ager has no involved parent or family, doesn't the school have a responsibility to teach the truth, rather than to enable and encourage teen-agers to engage in risky behavior?

"The they're-going-to-do-it-anyway argument doesn't fly. The truth is the teen-age pregnancy rate is declining; it is not at an all-time high, as characterized by Archer.

"According to a report by the Consortium of State Physicians Resource Councils, released in January 1999, the birthrate declined 11.9 percent for all female teen-agers from 1991 to 1996. Furthermore, this drop could not be attributed to condom use, which declined over the same period.

"Could it be that young people recognize the devastation caused by the myth of safe sex? Devotion to abstinence education is what is making a difference and what will continue to make the teen-pregnancy rate drop.

"Let's not promote physically and emotionally dangerous lifestyles. Let's educate, respect and protect our young people."

Written by JOYCE E. WILSON, Executive Director, Pregnancy Decision Health Centers, Columbus, Ohio.

# # #

"You can't test courage cautiously."

ANN DILLARD,
An American Childhood
(Harper Collins)

"EXAMPLE has more followers
than reason."

CHRISTIAN BOVEE

Posted by Bill Venrick at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Man is a real mix of metaphors. I suppose I could read quotations for hours but there comes a time when we have to do more than read. It was Thomas Acquinas who said, "Why do you seek rest? You were only created to labor." The moniker I have dared use on this website is a dangerous stance for me because what I really want to do is make it obvious that there is more than sufficient material surrounding us every day that any serious seeker will not lack for something to do. It was Dag Hammarskjöld, in his book, "Markings" who wrote, "The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others." Most who write want their material to be read. But then, even people who do something well, like Vincent VanGogh, often die without knowing they were appreciated let alone famous or renown. To live an entire life and not be appreciated has to be a real downer. It has been said Vincent VanGogh, on a starry night, had one hand full of his paint brushes and in the other was a revolver which he used to kill himself. Even in death (or an attempt to end his life) he did not manifest enough confidence or ability to do the job right because it took him two days to die. Today, paintings by this man who "struggled for sanity" can only be bought by the very rich.

Dag Hammarskjöld left behind the manuscript for his book, "Markings", to be published after his death. In this book he gave the only true profile of himself. In the Foreword, W. H. Auden pointed out that the book constitutes only half a portrait. Perhaps the other half of Dag Hammarskjöld was seen in his life in service to his country of Sweden and the United Nations. "The outer image of this man persisted and heightened the sense of loneliness, the severity with which he marked his own spiritual conduct and measured the integrity of his soul, his conception of life as a summons, and his premonition of death." Upon the death of Abraham Lincoln someone noted that the only true way to measure a man or a tree was after it had fallen. Are you, am I living a life that we would dare have published and not be able to annotate this act or that act as to why we did or did not do something? Unfortunately most of us like to hear ourselves talk and are not very good listeners because while others talk we are trying to think of the next thing we want to say. "Goodness is something so simple: always to live for others, never to seek one’s own advantage." Yes, Dag Hammarskjöld, even in his self evaluation strove to live for others.

June 14 is Flag Day. In 1945, five Marines and a Navy corpsman planted Old Glory on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Admiral Chester Nimitz remarked of the Marines on Iwo Jima, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue." Those who honor their country by displaying the American flag recognize such valor and virtue. On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key watched the valiant defense of Fort McHenry by American forces and saw "the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air" and wrote "the flag was still there!" and thus this 35-year-old poet-lawyer was inspired to write the poem which became our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

In the sheer physical workings of war, who is shot first? The one carrying the flag and sometimes the drummer who did what he could to instill courage in others. Are we willing to just carry the flag or beat the drum or do we crave to be noticed or heard by what we want to say? "We cannot afford to forget any experience, not even the most painful." (Dag Hammarskjöld) If you are courageous enough to lay aside the ordinary, whenever there is a parade, try going, and watch how many regard the flag; unfortunately often the only one (really) standing is a veteran in a wheelchair saluting the flag.

THE WORDWRIGHT

Posted by Bill Venrick at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone from Monday morning quarter-backs to the guy whose candidate did not get elected plays this game: The Blame Game.

"We Americans love to pass the blame. We can always come up with a reason to blame others for our own problems. Consider the following:

IF a woman burns her thighs with the hot coffee she’s holding while driving, she blames the restaurant.
IF your teenage sons kills himself or the next door neighbor, you blame the rock ‘n roll music or the musician he liked.
IF you smoked three packs a day for 40 years and died of lung cancer, your family blames the tobacco
company.
IF your daughter gets pregnant by the football captain, you blame the school for poor sex education…."

So goes the comments of a writer who hails from Tampa, Florida.

Some blame is deserving, and as such comes from all walks of life.

What do you do when your eight-year old refrigerator starts acting like it’s tired of doing its job? You begin taking the contents out and store them in your 60 year-old refrigerator you use as an extra in the basement; then start shopping for a new fridge. My Dad and his wife bought this 60 year-old refrigerator when they got married and both of them are gone now but their refrigerator lives on. (Admittedly they did have it serviced once.)

Blame cannot help but be laid at the feet of someone sometimes. "Built-in obsolescence" is a term being passed around but I cannot help but question such a "sophisticated plan". However, the sales pitch to "buy" an extended warranty does bother me a bit. If the manufacturer is that afraid their product wont outlive their ONE YEAR warranty on the compressor I cannot help but wonder about the quality of the other parts of the appliance. Isn’t it enough to have to buy a replacement for a refrigerator that is just eight years old? I cannot help but ask this question because the sales clerk informed me that such an appliance now only has a life-expectancy of 8 to 12 years and the guarantee is now one year on the compressor instead of the five year warranty formerly carried.

One other comment on this "retired" refrigerator and I will quit my blame game. The new refrigerator is just like the "old one" we just replaced – it is noisy. Fortunately the owner’s manual mentions this as a precautionary move to avoid a lot of mail or crank calls from new owners. Whatever their excuses, I am not convinced the "new is better" when the old refrigerators barely made a soft humming noise compared to the "clunk" "ching" and "chitty chitty bang bang" sounds like there is an ice-machine working overtime. Many years ago there was even a real quiet running refrigerator – and it operated using a GAS flame! I would almost bet some of those units are still quietly doing their job.

Among the interesting bits of pleasant words and information in the monthly bundle* of the American Amateur Press Association (of which I have been a member for 20 years), I found the following lines of rhyme which hopefully will provide a bit of humor to help forget our recent Catch-22 war of technology.

Bird legs bend backwards
It’s a strange sight to see
But their feet are on forward
Just like you and me.
I wonder what difference
It makes to our toes
To peek around knees
Or stare straight at our nose.

Poetry copyrighted by David A. George,
Santa Clara, California, 2006. Used with permission.

*(If link for AAPA does not work, please try this: http://members.aol.com/aapa96/index.html)

THE WORDWRIGHT - Thanks for visiting our website! If you want to read my wife's essays, just type in "Jean Venrick" in the Search Window (do not include quote marks). June 3, 2006 we celebrated our 55th Wedding Anniversary; for some reason close friends tell her she ought to receive an award. I'm not sure what they mean by such a remark.
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Posted by Bill Venrick at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)