Grandsons back for fair week

This marks the fourth year straight that grandsons Alex and Louis have come to Kansas for the Marion County Fair. That means they were 6 and 8 when they first flew as unaccompanied minors. And their mom and dad either came with them or came later and took them home. So this is the first time they are traveling solo both ways.

Everyone who has grandchildren understands what a big deal this is to have grandkids stay for a while.

n

The boys really like the city pool, the fair parade and the demo derby. Dad wants them to bring him a demo derby T-shirt.

n

We?re having a hard time believing Carl Long will be retiring at the young age of 70. How can he be 70?

We wish Jane and him well as they move on to other things. Both have made many contributions to our community and we will miss their steady hands in the volunteer roles they filled.

n

When we picked up the boys at the airport last Tuesday, we learned their dog Wolfie is too smart to be trained. I had never heard that one before.

They explained that the dog misbehaves on purpose just so he can then do things right and receive a dog treat.

n

I haven?t written lately about hubcaps, but was thinking about them the other day when we drove by a barn where I know there were, at one time and maybe still are, many hubcaps hanging on the walls.

In past times, hubcaps would invariably would come off when you hit a curb, pothole or some other hazard on the roadway. How could they stay on when they were fastened only with tension from a clip or popped on over a ridge on the wheel?

A whole new industry was born. For a while you could find a hubcap replacement at a salvage yard if the price wasn?t too steep?and it was for me.

As people looked for a better option, plastic replicas entered the market for a price where you might as well buy four new ones instead of just one.

I think that?s where inkjet printer manufacturers got the idea for selling a printer and then making people keep buying toner to enhance profits. Each new printer (car) needed a different kind of toner cartridge (hubcap).

Thankfully, none of my current vehicles have hubcaps.

n

We headed to the Sedgwick County Zoo last Thursday night to check out as many exhibits as we could before the concert started and the gates to the exhibits were closed.

The monkey exhibit was our first stop. Not much action there because of the heat, but one chimpanzee was quite entertaining. As we were watching the chimp?s antics, a retired keeper of the exhibit showed up and started talking to ?Marbles,? who was one of the original animals there and is 37 years old.

n

If you want to get a funny reaction from kids, try yelling at them for doing something they are supposed to do instead of something they aren?t.

I yelled at the boys the other night, ?Who put the cap on the toothpaste?? and got very incredulous looks on their faces.

They admitted right away who did it.

n

The new football/track complex is coming along well. I was told the other day that it will be closed to everyone while they finish surfacing the track. It?s hard not to be curious, though.

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