Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for May 02, 2017

Don’t worry Ethel, those drills will last longer than Fred’s arms.

You can never have too many inoperable electric drills.

I have to disagree with Dennis today. I think Edgar has done this before, possibly more than once. Note that Ethel says “another” motor. But I say NAY! What Edgar needs is a “Honeydo” list. Projects! Build an ark, Edgar!

Oh, I think Liverlips is correct….

Except that his name is Fred….

But Fred knows the drill, all right.

 

Fred has used up every drill ever seen in the Pottinger household except the fire drill….

and even that feels rather threatened.

 

Still, Ethel isn’t scolding….

I think she only means to warn him that those are currently the last two electric ones at hand.

I thought his name was Stanley. That’s what it says on his drills.

Edgar-Fred- Cord-Stanley Pottinger

His name is my name, too!

Whenever we go out,

The people always shout

There goes Edgar Fred Cord Stanley Pottinger!

da da da da da da da !

WhiteHeron….

Wondering where you guys live.

I’m an Air Force brat who grew up mostly in the Midwest…

where we all knew and sang those old songs.

Summer camp, Scouts, hayrides, adults and kids around the campfire….everybody knew the words.

You didn’t have to sing well…

it was just… I dunno… something you did.

Even families on road trips, or people on a bus stuck briefly in the snow.

 

But in California, nobody sings them ..

Maybe children do on elementary school field trips or something, but I wouldn’t know. And it would be teachers making them do it.

Four adults in a car spontaneously bursting into an off-key chorus of “My Gal’s A Corker” , “I woke up Sunday Mornin’” or even “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” would seem absolutely surreal and probably crazy to my California friends.

 

Funny cos Californians come from all over.

So why doesn’t anybody sing?

 

“♪ ♫ Oh you can’t get to Heaven… .♫

oh ♪ you can’t get to ♪ ♫ Heaven…

on roller ♫ skates…♪."

Another chapter in the story of the quest for alternative modes of personal flight on Ballard Streat.

Ballard does seem to have an inordinate number of retired engineers – easily recognized by the pens & pencils in their plastic pocket protectors, slide rules sticking out of their back pockets, their rather unkempt hair and mismatched clothing, and their frequency in the Emergency Room of Ballard Memorial Hospital and Car Clinic.

Are his Black & Deckers gonna make him black and blue?

Susan Sunshine, thanks for supporting the convention that the first commenter can name the characters. Otherwise it gets confusing.