My Inner French

WHO KNEW???

I certainly DID NOT!

I was 39 years old in 1995. My mother was visiting, without my father, from the West coast, when she inadvertently let "the cat out of the bag"..... She mentioned that my parents had been in Normandy France the past Summer. I wasn't aware they had been there that Summer but what she said next really shook my brainpan....

she mentioned how they had gone back to see where my father had landed as an
American soldier who had fifty years earlier, participated in
America's invasion of Normandy ......"Operation Overlord".

Remember... "Saving Private Ryan"... well that was my father's outfit. The 116th Infantry Battalion part of the US ARMY 29th Division. The BLUE and GRAY! The one with the Yin/Yang symbol....and I never knew it.

He was a QuarterMaster...the equivalent of a Captain, though a non combatant,
he distributed Gas....and Body Bags!

He landed mid-day on D-Day June 6th, 1944 wading ashore amongst 3000 dead American bodies.....the majority of them from his own Battalion.....who suffered the worst defeat of any American Battalion in the War, having landed between 0600 and 1200 hours an historic moment at the Verille Draw on Omaha Beach that day.

He actually spent that evening on the Beach.....amongst all those dead....

My father really had it stacked against him.

                                                                   
He was from the North
He was an Officer's Candidate
He was Jewish....

He ran an all Black Squad.....
They wanted to shoot him for dragging them thru this war....

He slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow....

and he never said a word to me about it.........not......

one.........

Well of course NOW I had to know all about it....

I read Brokaw's The Greatest Generation"... and

I saw "Saving Private Ryan"...then

I read Balkoski's "Omaha Beach"....

Then his "Utah Beach"...

Finally my wife and I just went to France......We flew to Paris                                                

We visited the Caen War Museum  Memorial

The Beaches

The Beaches......

                                          Gold Beach

      THE Beach                                    Omaha Beach

 ...............

.                                                                     The Cemeteries....

When we came home I immediately enrolled in a French class
offered by the Brown Continuing Studies Department. Then I took another.....

I started listening to "Pimsleur" conversational french tapes. I went to

the Rock and armed with my French-American dictionary started reading LaMonde,

I had a French tutor for a short while...I started reading Prevert.....

and NOW I have been to France THREE times!!!

I read about the Maginot Line, of Petan, Degaulle, Joan of Arc, The "SunKing"... I have been to War Museums and War Memorials all over France....

and now after all of this...... I at least finally have just the slightest notion

of what my father went through, of what he had to endure.....

So NOW after all these years...

I am finally in touch with this ...

hidden dimensiion of myself,                Rodin Museum
House Boating on the The Canal Midi..................

I never knew existed.....

        


                                                                  "My Inner French"

                                                                  

RANT OF THE DAY

Who the Hell are these guys anyway???

It's been 7 years that I've lived across the street from the
Providence Engine Company #4 FireHouse......

I still don't know their names....

Not their proper names anyway....

I wrote to the city asking.....
They won't let me know who they are.

At first I jotted down their license plates....
now it's gotten so that I've had to hire a detective....

just so that I know.......
just to find out....
who these guys are.........


They call themselves the East Side Rovers.....

I have my own names for them though!

I call them The East Side Whiners,
The East Side Smokers, The ButtHeads

mostly.......

I call them the "JJJ", short for,

jerks, jackasses, juvenile delinquents.

You can't do much about a nickname!

Wayner's "Rant of The Day"

"Nothing Providence Engine Co. 4 does, has done, or will ever do, justifies their full scale assault
on the residents of the East Side. Community with their unregulated Sirens"!

Silence Is Golden, Sirens are Not

Rochambeau Ave. is a mess these days. Though the "Backbone" and "Centerpiece" of

Providence's Historical East Side District", the use of Rochambeau Ave as an emergency corridor has placed an unfair and dangerous burden on every household along the avenue. Wholly a "Residential Neighborhood" the presence of Providence Engine CO#4 Fire-House raises additional concerns. With expansion of Miriam Hospital complete and the city's enhanced emergency response center boasting 40,000 calls last year, the frequency and intensity of Ambulatory Sirens throughout the East Side has increased proportionately. Unrestricted use of these Sirens is affecting the quality of life for everyone. The perpetual use of these Sirens now permeate every corner of the community. Both Providence Fire and Private Ambulances wail their Sirens up and down Rochambeau Ave with total impunity, past One Hundred households, blasting their way through the most congested blocks on Hope Street in their stampede toward Miriam Hospital. The STRESS, ANNOYANCE and DISRUPTION that these Sirens cause are incalculable! There must be a quieter and gentler way.

Like "Bull's in a China Shop the "Providence Fire Department" allows these Ambulances to trample and parade themselves around as if "nothing or anyone else matters". Tooting their FogHorns as they go at all times of the day and night, no hour is sacred anymore on the "East Side". Rochambeau residents get the one-two punch as Providence Fire Truck and Ambulance's

are both dispatched at the same time.

The failure of contract negotiations between the Firemen's Union and City officials have created a bitter tension between the two. As a result poor planning, poor co-ordination and a lack of co-operation between a disgruntled Fire Department, and City Officials have left residents without recourse. This Fire Department has done everything in it's power to trip up this Mayor. From

threatening to strike during the Democratic Convention, through their last minute denial of a

permit for City Fireworks this past Summer. With a sense of entitlement that betrays the trust and authority given them, the Providence Fire Department has developed it's own protocols that fail to take to properly take into consideration the rest of the residents in the community. The impending budget restrictions remind us that the "party is over", especially in Rhode Island", for all of us. Unless this "Public Servants" stop their juvenile behavior and make some real concessions there will be "NO CONTRACT FOR THESE FIREMEN". The Providence Fire Department needs to be reminded that they "work for the city" and not the other way around. At present there is only one place for the Sirens and Antics of the Providence Fire Department,

and that's in back of the line at the Ancients and Horribles parade in Chepachet!

FINDING PROVIDENCE

Now during the Summer of 1999, I lost my job at State Financial Inc., a medium sized

Developer/ Property Management company. I was about to sell my condo, and figured I'd

go to Japan and try to retrieve a foreign exchange student I had dated and briefly lived with

in Jamaica Plain. Born a fraternal twin it has always been a life long quest to replace what I lost in the womb.....the intimate presence of another female body to curl up with, preferably in the most naturally appropriate fetal type positions! Despite my most earnest attempts I could not convince my Japanese friend to return to the states. I was however asked to stay with her and her parents in Saitama just 60 miles southeast of Tokyo......however I digress. You may read more about my times in Japan another day in my Chapter entitled "Twelve Steps to Marriage" where I will tastefully and anonymously discuss the most significant women in my life and how building upon my follies, interaction's and mistakes with these women, provided me with the lessons of life I needed to move toward marriage.

After I returned to Japan I sold a condominium I bought from the Developer I worked for

and made a COOL One Hundred Grand! I bought a Hot Red Jaguar, it was used but it was RED!

Read about it in my Chapter about Jaguars. I had money...... I had time, but there was a big

hole in my life and I knew I had to do something drastic and take action. Internet Dating! I had met some incredible fabulous women before on the Internet....but not in the Boston Area! After Five significant Boston bred relationships (see "Twelve Steps To Marriage") I decided to widen my search on J-Date to include cities within 50 miles.....and that made all the difference!

Her ad said "intellectual and unpretentious...easy going....family practioner..." Mine said

"SJM40 with interests that no bounds seeks kindred spirit...", and the rest is "History".

That's How I found Providence!!

"Fire Fights on Rochambeau"


One in the Right........"One in the right constitues a majority"........I've been saying that for a dozen years or so.....I believe it's mine......it certainly defines me.......all by myself......out on a limb.....taking a stand.......usually against the prevailing wind! My friends will tell you that "I am hard wired for controversy". It isn't true though......I would just as long , get along as peacefully as one can and often does. Yet I take exception with the prevailing "cultural DNA" that exists here in Providence, Rhode Island. That genetic disposisiton that allows one to look the other way.....and not get involved. I take exception with a lot of stuff people do, but my biggest concern here has caught me quite by suprise! Now there will be those who laugh and dismiss me immediately, as if "One "should have known better when living across the street from a Providence FireHouse. However nothing could have prepared me for the nonsense and disturbance I have had to endure these last 7 years as a result of living across from the Providence Engine Company 4 FireHouse. It is my hope to share with you this nonsense
and disturbance and provide an understanding of what fuel's my hearfelt and controversial contention that Providence needs to "Fire The Firemen"!