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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A Special Thank You To My Readers

Last night, I ventured forth from the bunker to meet two of my readers - one at a fancy steakhouse and the other at her Lower Macungie home. I want to thank both for their hospitality and wonderful conversation. I am fortunate so many people are willing to share their insights here. I learn far more from them than they do from me.

My first rendezvous was with Retired ASD Teacher, an interesting and humorous man who has devoted most of his adult life to Allentown's youth. Like the manly men we are, we both devoured steaks at Shula's American Steak House and solved all the world's problems in about ten minutes. He gave me a real education on what it's like to be a teacher in Allentown's schools. That would be the subject of a great post. He had high praise for Mrs. Dottie, who he knew as a teacher in Allentown. He tells me she always put in the extra time with the kids, trying to reach them after school with all kinds of art projects. He also admires Michael Donovan, the only locally elected official I know who started a blog after he was elected. Best of all, he paid for my steak!

After saying my goodbyes, I lingered a bit until Retired ASD Teacher was on his way. I didn't want him to have to listen to my Jeep. On my way over to meet him, the muffler suddenly failed. It now sounds like a motorcycle. It's old and loud, just like me.

My Jeep is also air conditioned. The floor is completely rusted and I sometimes put my foot right through when I get in. So people gawked at this guy with his feet coming out of a Jeep that sounds like a motorcycle. I just waved, looking around for cops. Then it started raining.

In addition to being rusted on the bottom, my Jeep also leaks. So by the time I made it to Arlene's home in Lower Macungie, I was pretty wet. Her cat didn't mind a bit and actually come over and laid on my arm. Arlene is a brilliant woman, but her sole source of income is social security. She has a fascinating story, and I'll share it with you in the next few days.

I have very little money myself. Most of the time, I'm barely a hundredaire. That's about to change, thanks to Miss Letisha Aisha, who hails from Sierra Leone. She wants to drop $9.5 million in my bank account. God told her, and who am I to argue with His Divine Will? I may be poor, but can't help feeling enriched with readers like the ones I met last night.

17 comments:

Bill said...

I have benefactors in Nigeria, and I have been assured that the check is in the mail.

I was fortunate enough to accidentally receive an e-mail from a Prince who needed help from someone in the states.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Bill, You are indeed a fortunate man!

Anonymous said...

Hey, the hole in the floor worked for Fred Flintstone... hard on the feet!

Bernie O'Hare said...

I was just outside trying to fix the muffler myself. Now it sounds worse than ever!

Anonymous said...

Bill, I can top that - I got one a few weeks ago, alerting me that the guy from Nigeria is in fact a scam, and that I should only deal w/ this guy (from Paraguay) instead!

Funniest one I've seen yet!

Angie Villa said...

BernO,

Tell Retired ASD thanks for the kind words, and please give him my e-mail, I will keep his identity a secret.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Your wish is my command.

donmiles said...

Bernie: I suspect that Sierra Leone "dollars" are worth $0.00006 U.S. cents, so don't go replacing your Jeep with a Hummer yet :-)

Bernie O'Hare said...

Thanks for the free legal advice, Don. At least I hope it's free. If not, please send your bill to Michael Molovinsky.

Anonymous said...

Bernie,

Whenever you want to come to D.C. to meet more readers; just let me know. We always need an excuse to have liberty to go out of the house.

~~Alex
Washington, D.C.

concerned said...

Bernie you would have money to fix
the Jeep if you would stop getting parking tickets......

Anonymous said...

I thought I was the only one trying to meet the people behind the e-addresses. I have done pretty good too. Last week, Valima came by my office and we chatted for a while. I am always amazed that people are as fascinating in peson as they are on the blogs. Oh, and if anyone is interested, since we are talking about education, tell me what you think about this :
Dear Alfonso,
Good Schools PA has organized an “EYES ON EDUCATION” action day in Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 17 to show support for the Governor’s proposed education and reform of the public school funding formula. Because of the level of interest shown at a legislative breakfast/panel discussion event several weeks ago and numerous supportive editorials, including a pair from Mayor Pawlowski and Dr. Karen Angello and Mayor Callahan and Dr. Joe Lewis, Good Schools PA has arranged for a bus from the Lehigh Valley to bring supporters to Harrisburg for the Action Day.
I thought this event would be of interest to you, and – if it is at all possible – your attendance and participation would be tremendously helpful. Also, please share the information on the event with any friends/family/co-workers/organizations/etc. you think might be interested. What we need are people – as many as possible - who want to see equitable, adequate school funding for all children in Pennsylvania.

The bus will leave from the Allentown Farmer’s Market (plenty of parking at the Fairgrounds) at 8:30am and will return at 5:00pm. Attendees should plan to arrive by 8:15am to sign-in and board the bus.

For further information or to RSVP, please contact Good Schools PA at (866) 720-4086 or info@goodschoolspa.org.

If you have any questions for me, please let me know. Thanks very much (in advance) for spreading the word about this event.

Best,
Kevin

Kevin Conrad

Campaign Coordinator

Renew Lehigh Valley

1337 East Fifth Street

Bethlehem, PA 18015

Office: 484.893.1060

Fax: 610.691.6582

kconrad@renewlv.org

Alfonso Todd

Bernie O'Hare said...

Concerned, You're right. I do have trouble with those tickets.

PavlovsDog said...

Wow Bernie! This is great! I'm glad inquiring minds continue to inquire. (what was that commercial'Inquiring minds want to know?'..Dianetics?)

Glad you are able to meet your fans? :)

Bernie O'Hare said...

Valima, I only had two fans. Now that I've met them, I have none.

WhetherVain said...

I have it on good authority that Mayor Pawlowski was dining unnoticed in the booth across from you - and observed that not only did you get a free meal ... you didn't leave a tip!

Bernie O'Hare said...

It's true, I confess.