During 40 of my 76 years on the planet, I was called Lord Boyle, not because I was related to royalty, but because I was a rental landlord. We read about a lot of nastiness between tenants and landlords. My relationships with most of my tenants were both positive and friendly. Years ago, an Army […]
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Westside Story – Has Our Marriage Lasted Too Long?
It is a giant blessing in one’s life when a young man meets a young woman, and they fall in love, which is what happened with my wife and me. Often marriage follows sometime after that first date. My marriage to the beautiful young woman I met in high school occurred four years after I […]
Corn on the Cob from Ear to Ear and Year to Year
The night before the Soroptimist Club of Tacoma has their scholarship fundraising golf tournament at Oakbrook in Lakewood, the members will gather to shuck a hundred ears of corn for the tournament dinner and auction. Corn on the cob will accompany the meal, which usually includes BBQ ribs and chicken, salad, and apple pie with […]
Westside Story – Inaugural Famous Fun People Day
On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, I celebrated my first ever Annual Famous Fun People Day by inviting three famous people to join me for espresso and fun conversation. The invitees were: Clint Eastwood – Movie and Producer Magnet of worldwide fame. Clint sent his regrets. Clint Eastwood admitted he has never had one of Joe […]
Back Alley Reveals – Curb Appeal or Alley Repel?
If you are selling your home, you definitely want to have curb appeal. Curb appeal is the drive by attraction of a home to potential buyers who might be touring a neighborhood looking to purchase. The initial appeal of a home often results in an appointment to see a home and the purchase. Generally, people […]
Letter: The best thing about toasting marshmallows
Today, August 30, is National Marshmallow Toasting Day. Seriously. If you missed it there is a National Toasted Marshmallow Day Countdown Clock that shows the number of days, hours, minutes & seconds until the next gooey event. Relatedly, there is an opinion expressed by the editorial board in one media publication that recommends school not […]
Across the Fence: Tomatoes
Nothing spells mid-summer as boisterously as a berry coming in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but is mostly known for its red and its tangy-sweet flavor, the tomato. As a child, I wasn’t really keen on it; I belonged to the cucumber fraction rather. But today, I wish I had cherished those summer nights […]
Letter: Watering the flowers
Sometimes my granddaughter of now nearly eight months will help me water the flowers on our porch. It gives me yet another reason to hold her. Occasionally she’ll accompany me to get the mail but mostly it’s the flowers. Sometimes we’ll use the sprinkling can since that takes longer and gives us a chance to […]
Tea with Ron White – Mr. Tater Salad himself
When you visit St. Vincent’s (St. Vinnies) on South 56th Street, you just never know what you’re going to find. It’s a house of treasure and a house of hope. It’s a nice combination. Peg and I visited St. Vinnie’s to get a donation for Soroptimist International of Tacoma. Some of the members live in […]