INDEX

• WHO IS DAV PAULI . . . AND WHY DOES HE WRITE? • WHO THE HECK WAS FID HAWSER? • WHAT HAVE I DONE! • WHAT I MIGHT HAVE DONE • BORN IN FROG TOWN • UNCLE TOM • THAT TIME MY HEAD EXPLODED • WHEN JOHN AND I INVENTED A HELMET MOUNT FOR …

Who IS Dav Pauli . . . and why does he write?

I’m a retiree, now in my seventies, who has lived a full and varied life, some periods dull, yet others quite interesting. I may be on the Autism Spectrum. I have not had a brain scan to see if that confirms it, but I certainly have always had traits that indicate the possibility. If so, …

Who The Heck Was Fid Hawser?

…and who was Stewgod? I used to wear t-shirts and sweatshirts that I screen printed to read, “Who the heck is Fid Hawser?” They sometimes earned a puzzled glance, but rarely inspired a comment, especially the one I’d hoped for that would open a conversation, however limited, wherein I could say, “It’s my nom de …

WHAT HAVE I DONE!

Yeah, Huey Lewis said it, plain and simple: “I’m takin’ what they givin’ cause I’m workin’ for a livin.”  I’ve never talked about my first job, seldom about others, but learned from each. My first job was helping the Assistant Principal during the summer session after my Junior year of high school. He was inventorying …

What I Might Have Done

Sitting back, in retirement on a fixed income, I tend to beat myself up over questionable choices and bad breaks that have limited my (and my wife’s) level of comfort. What might I have done differently to yield a better end-result? I know it’s a waste of time and emotion, but it can be very …

Born In Frog Town

I drove the rental car with my brother into Illinois from his home in South St. Louis, near the River des Peres. We exited the I-255 at Moussette Lane and headed north to Market Street. A few blocks east I turned onto 55th Street and stopped. We sat silently for a few minutes, each deep …

Uncle Tom

I’ve never mentioned Uncle Tom here until now. He was one of Dad’s buddies who was not a veteran of the war. Tom was exempt from military service during WW II because he did crucial work, but I don’t know what that was. He had a “high forehead” and a beer belly, but he was …

That Time My Head Exploded

Well . . . my head didn’t really “explode,” but it sprung a leak with two sequels and this may not be for readers with a weak stomach. It was December of 2013 when a lump suddenly developed above my left eye. When it began to ooze the most disgusting goo I’d ever seen, I …

When John and I invented a helmet mount for video cameras

In February of 2007 I broke down and bought a small digital Nikon. I mentioned to my neighbor/friend, John, how I wish I could use its video function on motorcycle rides. One of us came up with the idea of fabricating a mount. Our discussions became exciting as we discussed where the best place would …

Double Time

I was not a strong runner in my youth. High School was my first taste of keep-running-until-someone-said-I-could-stop and it always ended with a stabbing pain in my side. Oddly, and to my surprise, running in Army Basic Training while wearing combat boots and carrying a nine-pound M14 rifle at “port arms" was not that bad. …

More Military Memories?

I know that, having written about some (hopefully) humorous episodes of my time in the Army, I may have given the impression that I didn’t take my enlistment seriously. In truth, I was and am very grateful that I was able to serve, especially when and where I did. One morning just before graduation our …

There Are Places I’ll Remember

Cahokia Mounds When we moved after my father’s death, Monks Mound was only a name I’d heard. It stands just outside our “new” neighborhood, State Park Place. Bennie, who lived in the next block, said the park had a museum that featured the “real skeleton of an Indian.” Of course, I couldn’t wait to see …