Wednesday, August 31, 2011
BATTLE PLANS
WE HAD AN APPOINTMENT THE NEXT DAY WITH SHIRE LAW FIRM IN MONESSEN PA. I HAD PREVIOUSLY GONE TO THE WESTMORELAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN GREENSBURG PA. FOR MAPS AND WITH MY SURVEY MAP, I WAS ABLE TO SHOW MR. SHIRE THE SITUATION. ARLENE AND I WERE GIVEN AN OPTION, WE COULD CHANGE OUR DRIVEWAY, MAKE A SHARP LEFT, THEN A SHARP RIGHT. WE DECIDED, NO, THAT'S NOT THE WAY THE DRIVEWAY WAS AND WITH THE WAY THE GROUND SLOPES THAT COULDN'T WORK VERY WELL. MR. SHIRE SAID HE WOULD FILE OBJECTIONS TO HAVE THE SUIT DISMISSED AND IF THEY REFILE WE WILL COUNTERCLAIM THEIR ENCROACHMENTS. WE TALKED ABOUT THE WORSE CASE SCENARIO.......6 INCHES. I TOLD MR. SHIRE THAT I CONTACTED THE ASPHALT CONTRACTOR AND HE WAS COMING OVER MY HOUSE. THAT I CALLED THE SURVEYOR AND HE SAID HE WILL BE COMING OVER TO LAY-OUT THE GARAGE ROOF OVERHANG ENCROACHMENT. MR. SHIRE SAID WHAT ARLENE AND I HAD WAS A " PRESCRIPTIVE EASEMENT ". HE SAID THEIR LAWSUIT SAYS NOTHING. WE LEFT THAT MEETING FEELING HOPEFUL AND IT SEEMED WE COULD COUNTER ATTACK. BUT, I ALSO FELT IGNORANT, ....THIS IS NOT GOING TO WORK,...." PRESCRIPTIVE EASEMENT" WHAT'S THAT? THERE'S NO EASEMENT MENTIONED IN OUR DEED. THIS WAS A LAWSUIT FILLED AGAINST US. AND I DIDN'T LIKE NOT KNOWING . IT WAS NOW TIME TO LEARN SOME LAW AND NEIGHBOR LAW SPECIFICALLY. I HAD THE WHOLE SUMMER OFF WORK AND I WAS GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I COULD TO NOT ONLY SAVE US MONEY, BUT ALSO WIN THE GAME!
DAMN, THOSE WERE THE DAYS
IMAGINE BEING BORN IN 1957 AND GROWING UP IN THE 60'S. AMERICA AND HER KIDS STILL DREAMED; MERCURY, GEMINI, APOLLO AND THE MOON. GROWING UP IN ELIZABETH TWP. AT THAT TIME WAS THE BEST. MANY NEW HOMES WERE BUILT, SO THERE WERE MANY OTHER KIDS TO PLAY WITH, AND PLAY WE DID.
MY DAD WAS EMPLOYED BY WESTINGHOUSE AT BETTIS ATOMIC POWER LAB., WHICH WESTINGHOUSE RAN FOR THE DOE TO DO ATOMIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. I STILL REMEMBER HIM BRINGING HOME " OPTICAL ILLUSIONS " TO SHOW MY BROTHER AND ME. LOOKING BACK NOW, HOW IRONIC THAT WAS. ALSO, HOW MUCH AN AIRPLANE HAD TO DO WITH THE OUTCOME OF THIS LAWSUIT. MY BROTHER AND I GOT TO GO FOR AN AIRPLANE RIDE WHEN WE WERE KIDS BECAUSE OF A FRIEND OF MY DAD. HOW EXCITING. AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY A PICTURE TAKEN DURING THAT PLANE RIDE. HOW PROFOUND THAT WAS.........SO WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS?
MY DADS FAMILY MOVED TO MONONGAHELA PA. WHERE HE AND HIS BROTHER JIM CONTINUED PLAYING BASEBALL. MY DAD SERVED HIS COUNTRY DURING THE KOREAN WAR, SERVING IN THE NAVY, AND WAS STATIONED AT THE NORFOLK NAVAL BASE. I'M TOLD THEY HAD AN UNBELIEVABLE BASEBALL TEAM. I KNOW MY UNCLE JIM WHO WAS YOUNGER THAN MY DAD PLAYED ON THE AMERICAN LEGION TEAM FROM MONONGAHELA IN 1950, THE YEAR THEY TOOK THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. I ONLY FOUND THIS OUT BY ACCIDENT WHEN I WAS EXPERIMENTING ON MY COMPUTER .......WUJCIK, CATHERS = WUJCIK,CATCHER.....GO FIGURE. MY DAD IS HUMBLE AND DOESN'T TALK MUCH ABOUT SUCH THINGS, BUT I THINK I NEED TO START PUMPING HIM FOR INFORMATION. I REMEMBER IN 6TH GRADE AT CENTRAL ELEMENTARY, THE TEACHER, THE FIRST MALE TEACHER I HAD, OH JOY, TELLING ME THAT HE READ SOMETHING IN THE NEWSPAPER ABOUT MY DAD. THE WORK I HAVE AFTER THE LAWSUIT STORY. AS MY DAD SAID, YOU CAN ONLY GET OUT OF A COMPUTER WHAT HAS BEEN PUT IN. WHEREAS IN THE PAST I MAY HAVE LOOKED AT THAT AS HAVING LITTLE VALUE, NOW I'M DREAMING , WHY NOT. IF I CAN GET THIS COMPUTER TO COOPERATE I'M GOING TO PRESERVE WHAT LITTLE I HAVE FROM THE 60'S PERTAINING TO WHAT I'VE MENTIONED.
BACK THEN BASEBALL WAS BIG FOR US KIDS AND A LOT OF GOOD PARENTS GOT INVOLVED. WE LEARNED THINGS THAT WOULD LAST THE REST OF OUR LIVES. MY DAD COACHED THE TEAM I WAS ON MY FIRST YEAR IN MINOR LEAGUE AND I'LL NEVER FORGET ALL US KIDS STUFFED IN HIS 1965 MUSTANG TO GO GET ICE-CREAM. WESTINGHOUSE WAS ALSO BIG BACK THEN AND ALL THE DIFFERENT PLANTS HAD SOFTBALL TEAMS AND OBVIOUSLY I WENT TO WATCH MY DAD PLAY. WE DIDN'T SPEND MUCH TIME IN THE HOUSE, NO GADGETS, WE HAD SUMMER OLYMPICS, WINTER OLYMPICS, BASEBALL, FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL. WE WOULD MAKE TRAILS IN THE WOODS AND RUN, WE CLIMBED A GIANT APPLE TREE AND HAD APPLE BATTLES. IF WE GOT BORED, WE USED OUR IMAGINATION TO MAKE UP SOMETHING NEW. IF WE WERE BAD WE USUALLY GOT SPANKED, IMAGINE THAT, AND THAT USUALLY MEANT WE LEARNED SOMETHING. BACK THEN WE WALKED, RAN OR BICYCLED A MILE WITHOUT GIVING IT A THOUGHT. WHEN I FINALLY GOT A MINI-BIKE AND TOOK A SHORT-CUT ON THE ROAD, AGAINST ORDERS, AND WAS ESCORTED HOME BY THE POLICE, THE MINI-BIKE WAS GONE THE NEXT DAY.......IMAGINE THAT HAPPENING TODAY.
MY DAD WAS EMPLOYED BY WESTINGHOUSE AT BETTIS ATOMIC POWER LAB., WHICH WESTINGHOUSE RAN FOR THE DOE TO DO ATOMIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. I STILL REMEMBER HIM BRINGING HOME " OPTICAL ILLUSIONS " TO SHOW MY BROTHER AND ME. LOOKING BACK NOW, HOW IRONIC THAT WAS. ALSO, HOW MUCH AN AIRPLANE HAD TO DO WITH THE OUTCOME OF THIS LAWSUIT. MY BROTHER AND I GOT TO GO FOR AN AIRPLANE RIDE WHEN WE WERE KIDS BECAUSE OF A FRIEND OF MY DAD. HOW EXCITING. AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY A PICTURE TAKEN DURING THAT PLANE RIDE. HOW PROFOUND THAT WAS.........SO WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS?
MY DADS FAMILY MOVED TO MONONGAHELA PA. WHERE HE AND HIS BROTHER JIM CONTINUED PLAYING BASEBALL. MY DAD SERVED HIS COUNTRY DURING THE KOREAN WAR, SERVING IN THE NAVY, AND WAS STATIONED AT THE NORFOLK NAVAL BASE. I'M TOLD THEY HAD AN UNBELIEVABLE BASEBALL TEAM. I KNOW MY UNCLE JIM WHO WAS YOUNGER THAN MY DAD PLAYED ON THE AMERICAN LEGION TEAM FROM MONONGAHELA IN 1950, THE YEAR THEY TOOK THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. I ONLY FOUND THIS OUT BY ACCIDENT WHEN I WAS EXPERIMENTING ON MY COMPUTER .......WUJCIK, CATHERS = WUJCIK,CATCHER.....GO FIGURE. MY DAD IS HUMBLE AND DOESN'T TALK MUCH ABOUT SUCH THINGS, BUT I THINK I NEED TO START PUMPING HIM FOR INFORMATION. I REMEMBER IN 6TH GRADE AT CENTRAL ELEMENTARY, THE TEACHER, THE FIRST MALE TEACHER I HAD, OH JOY, TELLING ME THAT HE READ SOMETHING IN THE NEWSPAPER ABOUT MY DAD. THE WORK I HAVE AFTER THE LAWSUIT STORY. AS MY DAD SAID, YOU CAN ONLY GET OUT OF A COMPUTER WHAT HAS BEEN PUT IN. WHEREAS IN THE PAST I MAY HAVE LOOKED AT THAT AS HAVING LITTLE VALUE, NOW I'M DREAMING , WHY NOT. IF I CAN GET THIS COMPUTER TO COOPERATE I'M GOING TO PRESERVE WHAT LITTLE I HAVE FROM THE 60'S PERTAINING TO WHAT I'VE MENTIONED.
BACK THEN BASEBALL WAS BIG FOR US KIDS AND A LOT OF GOOD PARENTS GOT INVOLVED. WE LEARNED THINGS THAT WOULD LAST THE REST OF OUR LIVES. MY DAD COACHED THE TEAM I WAS ON MY FIRST YEAR IN MINOR LEAGUE AND I'LL NEVER FORGET ALL US KIDS STUFFED IN HIS 1965 MUSTANG TO GO GET ICE-CREAM. WESTINGHOUSE WAS ALSO BIG BACK THEN AND ALL THE DIFFERENT PLANTS HAD SOFTBALL TEAMS AND OBVIOUSLY I WENT TO WATCH MY DAD PLAY. WE DIDN'T SPEND MUCH TIME IN THE HOUSE, NO GADGETS, WE HAD SUMMER OLYMPICS, WINTER OLYMPICS, BASEBALL, FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL. WE WOULD MAKE TRAILS IN THE WOODS AND RUN, WE CLIMBED A GIANT APPLE TREE AND HAD APPLE BATTLES. IF WE GOT BORED, WE USED OUR IMAGINATION TO MAKE UP SOMETHING NEW. IF WE WERE BAD WE USUALLY GOT SPANKED, IMAGINE THAT, AND THAT USUALLY MEANT WE LEARNED SOMETHING. BACK THEN WE WALKED, RAN OR BICYCLED A MILE WITHOUT GIVING IT A THOUGHT. WHEN I FINALLY GOT A MINI-BIKE AND TOOK A SHORT-CUT ON THE ROAD, AGAINST ORDERS, AND WAS ESCORTED HOME BY THE POLICE, THE MINI-BIKE WAS GONE THE NEXT DAY.......IMAGINE THAT HAPPENING TODAY.
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