JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for November 10, 2024

♫ Far away places with strange-soundin’ names / Far away over the sea / Those far away places with the strange-soundin’ names / Are callin’, callin’ me ♫

LOL! I managed to shake off the constant mail from my catholic high school by the time I was 30 or so. (My parents wouldn’t give me up.)

A guy that I went to school with lived in the same neighborhood and was part of the third generation running an Italian grocery store/deli that I frequented.

At least once or twice a year he’d casually mention to me a school drive of some sort(Building fund raisers, old popes home, class reunions) and mention that the letter contained a list of people that graduated in our year that they had lost touch with and that my name was on it. He’d then ask if I wanted him to give them my contact info.

I’d then remind him that I knew where he and all of his family members lived and advise him against telling on me.

It was a running joke between us for 30 years, until his untimely passing. (RIP Paul)

Impressive postal service.

Whatta cute baby….

A few years ago, I was gifted with a one week visit to Paris, France. Bear with me, as this little fact will play a part in the present account.

The month before my trip, I attended one of our high school class reunions. It was all around a great experience, reconnecting with old friends and seriously reconciling with old rivals. The most melancholy moment was seeing the memorial display of photos of classmates who had died. In particular, one of my closest friends, one I had lost contact with was honored with a memorial photo. No one at the reunion was able to supply any information of his passing.

A month later, I was in the great cathedral of Notre Dame. I am not Catholic… but have great respect for the church. I saw people lighting candles and dropping donations in a box near the candle display. I impulsively put in a small donation and lit a candle and thought of my friend and how I wished I could speak to him again.

Long story shorter… once back home I got on the internet to try and find out details about him. What I found was that he was in fact not dead and had a fun website online!

We have maintained a connection since then, and I often reflect on the strange experience of mourning a friend and later finding that the report of his demise had been incorrect… and the odd sense that I had lit a candle for him and against all expectation found him to be not only alive and well but amused at my story about a tiny little shout out to the universe for his well-being.

I think I need to make a plan to visit him in Maine… from my present home in Georgia.

50 years and my Alma Mater is still wasting money asking me for donations.

I missed my 40th reunion (which was last weekend) because I had already been signed up for a CE conference for work..

May success follow you like your alumni newsletter!

That came in the mail along with the offers to buy Medicare Advantage plans

I’ll never attend a class reunion. That’s mainly because all my schools have gotten shut down.

About 30 years ago, I sent a check for Zero dollars and 00/100 to my alumni association, with the note: “This is 1000 times the support I received while attending and I’ll gladly give a similar amount every time you contact me.” They actually stopped bugging me.

How about a letter to renew your cars warranty…;)

Since they can afford to mail fat bulging envelopes they don’t need my money, same goes for the “gifts” they send. It gets me how they now ask for your “gift” when it is only friends and family that I GIFT to. Those places are functionally a business so call it a donation and not try to chummy up by calling your contribution a “gift”.

and yet the post office seems to find him just fine, weird… :\

I got one of those from my high school. I laughed as I threw it in the garbage.

or renewal of car warranty folks

Why is that traffic cone smoking?

We’d like to talk to you about extending your car warranty…

My bad… I thought it was going to be “Your car warranty is expiring soon”

Do you think they used Starlink to send this to him?

So yeah his son is literally putting his life in danger with his request to bring him home.

That and the extended warranty people will always find you.

I sent the last one back – deceased.

I got one of those last year. How they found my up here in the wilds of Canada I’ll never know. Oh, wait. We were in Vancouver in 2018 and of all the strange things we bumped into two of my old classmates who were up here on vacation. I’ll bet it was them. Wrote a letter to the Homecoming committee. Still getting mail from them.

I haven’t been in contact with anyone from my old high school in over30 years but somehow they managed to track me down and send me a reunion invite.

It used to be Readers Digest…

I got an invitation to my reunion, including a picture of the reunion committee; but they must have made a mistake and put in the wrong picture. I recognized all of the names, but the picture was just a bunch of old people, nobody who could possibly be my age :)

What a way to stay fit!

Does this mean that Carla was in the Shark’s graduating class? (I adore the punch panel in this one!)

Surprised it wasn’t about his car warranty expiration…

High Schools… They always find a way to reach you.

Hey,Shark,did you remember to vote?

Me too. Though why your alma mater keeps asking me for donations, I’ll never understand.