Tag: Disney

Weather Only A Mother (Nature) Could Love

What was snow overnight has waffled between snow and sleet and rain. Sometimes we’ve gotten two or even all three at once! It’s the chef’s platter of weather.

sfcplot.CT-large.pngThe word “unpleasant” was front and center in my forecast last night. That’s not a standard condition in the forecaster’s lexicon. It seemed to fit then and it’s verifying right now. It is unpleasant!

What was snow overnight has waffled between snow and sleet and rain. Sometimes we’ve gotten two or even all three at once! It’s the chef’s platter of weather.

Helaine flies home from SoCal tonight. She’s due in just before midnight at Bradley Field¹. I anticipate the flight will be fine. The weather will not.

You have no idea how much I miss her. I’m glad she visited Stef. I’m doubly glad she’s coming back. California can be very alluring. Malibu, Westwood, Melrose and Disney in just a few days.

Hopefully she won’t read this entry until she’s back in Hamden. The attached photos might be too much disincentive. She might not get on that plane!

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¹ – Allow me to use its old school name from a more genteel era when we could meet friends to the gate and wear shoes everywhere.

The 23&#162 Check

Hidden away somewhere, Helaine and I have 300 shares of Disney stock.

When I first came to New Haven, WTNH was owned by Capitol Cities Communications, which bought ABC, which was then bought by Disney (or maybe it was the other way around – who remembers). We thought it was a well run company, we bought some shares.

Today we received a notice. Disney has sold their radio station holdings to Citadel Broadcasting. Since Helaine and I are among Disney’s de facto owners, we will benefit.

Our 300 Disney shares gets us 23.038839 shares of Citadel stock. They won’t let you own fractional shares, so our stake was rounded down to 23 shares. We got a check to cover the rest.

It’s a check for 23&#162!

It’s surely just boilerplate, but on the check is the inscription, “only twenty three cents.” “Only!” Don’t you think that’s a little judgmental?

I know this stuff happens all the time. I remember, thirty years ago, my friend Peter Mokover’s parents had a 1&#162 check from LILCO hanging on the wall of their beach house on Fire Island.

What is the real cost of our check? It surely cost more than 23&#162 to print and stuff it in an envelope. It cost more than 23&#162 for postage. It will cost my bank more than 23&#162 to process it. Citadel’s bank has processing costs too.

The check comes attached to a form explaining the whole thing. It says “Retain for your records.” Yeah, I don’t want to serve time if I forget to declare this.

I hate to propose anything that might smack of corporate welfare, but maybe it’s OK to let companies off the hook for this little stuff. We are going through the motions and no one actually gains in this transaction.

Actually, let me take that back. I got a blog entry out of it.