The Chris Moeller Archives

Employment update- Temping across the heartland

I'm been working in the ceramic tile trade for the last week, having found temporary, but gainful and honest employment up until the Thanksgiving holiday at the knee of a skilled tile craftsman- my father. We've been building a shower in an interesting farm house near Iowa City, IA, not far from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum (and Library?) in West Branch.

The woman who lives in the house had a book on her end table about the Underground Railroad, and I got to thinking about how I could have almost guessed that she would be interested in that topic just from the other clues I had collected snooping around the house. She works in a public advocacy position (small claims consultant or some such) and she lives in a generations old farm house with a cluttered basement and her husband's modern art work adorning the walls.

Would others be able to deduce my reading list based on some simple knowledge of my work experience and a handful of vital statistics? During my work "vacation," I've been reading a biography of 1930s populist politician, Huey Long, and I like to flatter myself that people could guess it (I've become a big fan,) but deep down, I think we all fear that we're one of Jerry Lewis' autobiographies.

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Last week, the National Toy Hall of Fame-- ?-- added the cardboard box to its list of enshrined items, joining other such items as Barbie, Lincoln Logs, and Play-Doh. "It's that empty box full of possibilities that the kids can sense and the adults don't always see," said museum curator Christopher Bensch. Not to mention a cost-effective way for the unemployed to Christmas shop for their baby siblings.

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I'm really in the dumper about "Arrested Development"'s diminished episode order and inevitable cancellation. I feel like giving up on network television completely. It's not that "Arrested" is the only good show on the big four networks. Then again, it might be. I just can't deal with being jerked around anymore. The show has been in a different time slot each of its three years. This year it moved to Monday at 7 pm central- a most ridiculously inopportune time for me, as well as the majority of the show's potential-- younger skewing-- fans. If I miss an episode, which, by the way, I haven't, I have no chance of seeing it again until that season's DVD is released. My anger is now getting occasionally misplaced as well. I found myself cursing Ron Howard and the show's entire production team recently for having sold the show to FOX to begin with. If "Arrested" had debuted on HBO or Showtime, I'm convinced that it would have been a gigantic hit by those networks' relative standards. Full season episode orders would be assured, at the very least, and you could watch any given episode at four or five different times during the week, beginning with a consistent slot on Sunday nights. Why bother anymore with the fossil networks? I deserve as much from my television as I put into it.

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Iraqi leaders in the Arab League-- Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds-- are now calling for a timetable for U.S. military withdrawal. What more are we waiting for?

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Finally, Happy 85th Birthday to baseball legend Stan Musial. Long before The Great Pujols reigned from his Redbird perch high atop the National League, or had become universally regarded as "El Gringo," Stan was "The Man."

Musial's presence was low-key at recent Busch Stadium retirement festivities because his salad days preceeded the ballpark, but I was thrilled to see Stosh pull off his old uniform number (6) in mid-September as part of the great stadium countdown. His health has had its ups and downs (as has each of ours,) but he was still quite spry, to my observance, as he leaped from a speeding golf cart that day to fulfill his duty along the outfield wall-- and from the side of Lillian, his blushing bride of more than 65 years.

My favorite Musial story involves Lil. They each have told the tale of how the affable Stan-- the Andy Taylor of baseball-- once had particular difficulty denying the request of one of his many legions of fans. On this evening, the swarm of admirers grew too aggressive, and a fan carelessly knocked Lil to the ground. She stood up and angrily pushed the fan in retaliation, shouting, "What did you do that for?" Later, when the Musials were alone, Stan admonished his wife, "You shouldn't have done that. That was my fan!"

Stan was the ultimate player for the fans. I attained his autograph in 1996 at the Iowa State Capitol when he was an honored guest of the Governor. Knowing the preceeding story, I got a boot out of the way he signed the card-- "To Chris, A Great Fan."

This is what I believe to be a biographical account of Stan's fabulous career, published in the Musial family's native language of Polish. And if that irons your shorts, take a look at this list of the honored guests at 2002's White House State Dinner for the touring President of Poland. Mike Krzyzewski was invited, too!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Musial-- and please accept this fondest wish-- from just one of your many fans-- for 85 more wonderful summers. Stanowi Musialowi, the Greatest Cardinal of Them All!

posted by CM @ 8:50 PM