July 24, 2008 Issue
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Classified Chestnut Hill Local Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or Winner of Two |
From our readers“Free audit” was not free How many times must we be treated to another “opinion” piece by the same individual(s), before it begins to qualify as propaganda? Particularly if it takes advantage of most readers’ ignorance of the subject or situation. Case in point: The “free” audit (because a third party offered to pay the auditor for his time). The vast majority of our public has never personally undergone a business audit. They are unaware of the fact that the financial and executive staff of the business being audited will be compelled to lay aside most of what they are normally being paid to do, each and every day that the auditors have arrived, until the day they are finished. The paid staff members of our Community Association and Fund, whose salaries and benefits exceed $600 per workday, are no exception. There was no evidence, nor likelihood, of fraud. We trustees believe that our financing of a fishing expedition was an unjustified expenditure of our Association and Fund’s time and money. The proposed audit was certainly not free. Despite the resulting propaganda, we would make the same decision again. Stanley F. Moat Mr. Moat is secretary of the Chestnut hill Community Fund and a former member of the Chestnut Hill Community Association board of directors.
Wag the dog? What ever happened to the concept of curbing your dog? I asked this question of a woman whose dog was defecating on the sidewalk in front of my house. She looked at me as if I had asked her to fly to the moon on a broomstick. When I also noted that there was still excrement on the sidewalk after she did her hand-in-the-plastic-bag routine, she said “what do you want me to do?” as if I was expecting her to solve one of life’s great mysteries. (I cleaned the spot myself when she left.) Dog owners spend millions of dollars on dog training, but apparently teaching your dog to do its bathroom chores at the curb isn’t in the curriculum. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said that if someone from outer space observed people and their dogs, they’d think the dogs were in control instead of the humans. I once asked a dog owner not to let his dog urinate on my young and fragile tree (for the second time). “There’s nothing I can do about it,” he replied. I’m sure some dog owners will read this and dismiss my request to observe common courtesy as just another dog-hater rant. However, my problem isn’t the dogs, it’s the dog owners. Get control of your lives, people! Curb your dogs. Sam Gugino
“Bentley” story well-rounded Thank you for Kristin Pazulski’s well-rounded article on Bentley’s misadventure [July 10]. I appreciated the focus on dog (and people) education and resources instead of just on the incident. As an owner of two well-trained dogs, I still know how easily and quickly a mishap can occur, whether on leash or off. Let’s be smart about this. Mistakes happen. The Bartholomew’s seem like they will make great dog owners due to their willingness to educate themselves about their breed. I hope the neighborhood realizes this. (And I wish more dog owners would follow.) Thanks for taking the opportunity to educate and for refraining from adding fuel to the stereotype fire. Brooke Schmidt
Hospital went beyond call of duty On the morning of April 5, my wife suffered both respiratory failure and a heart attack. She was rushed to Chestnut Hill Hospital and, in the emergency room, the doctors and nurses there were able to resuscitate her. They performed professionally, even heroically. My wife was then taken to the intensive care unit of the hospital, where she remained in a coma for the next 13 days. My wife passed away on the evening of April 18, with her family and the medical staff of the ICU by her bedside. I want your readers to know that all of the doctors and nurses, working in the ICU at the hospital, attended to my wife with the utmost professional and personal care for almost two weeks, caring for her in a manner that genuinely comforted my family. Our children were treated with warmth, sensitivity and kindness. All of our questions and concerns were addressed honestly and patiently. The ICU staff consistently went out of their way to make sure that we were comfortable and well informed about my wife’s condition. Obviously, it was a heartbreaking ordeal for my entire family. On many occasions, I told the ICU staff and Dr. Kenneth Patrick, my wife’s physician, their thoughtful, professional and compassionate attention to my wife’s physical needs, as well to the emotional needs of my family, enabled us to find enormous comfort, simply by being with her during the final days of her life. They helped us to remain comfortably close with my wife as she died with genuine dignity. For their consummate professionalism, their personal dedication and their tireless attention to both my wife and our family, the staff of the Intensive Care Unit at Chestnut Hill Hospital has earned our utmost respect and admiration, as well as our deep and enduring gratitude. Peter C. McVeigh
Gilmore “captured heaven and hell of book collecting” As a self-proclaimed biblioholic (I admit I have a problem but I’m going to buy a book on how to cure it), I have to acknowledge how much I identified with Hugh Gilmore’s latest column, “The Space Wars of Ming the Merciless.” I always enjoy Hugh’s columns, but this one was especially apt because I spent last weekend playing Ming the Merciless myself. After going crazy Friday night trying to find a book I knew was somewhere in my home office, I went berserk and began a thorough culling of every volume in the house. My goal: no book left unshelved. Every single one of the tottering towers of books ringing my desk would be dispersed to their proper place, using criteria similar to Hugh’s. It took all weekend, but I did it. On Sunday, eight boxes of books were carted off to St. Paul’s Church (side note to other biblioholics seeking to stop the madness: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill is collecting now for their Rummage Sale on September 6. Call 215-242-2055 or visit www.stpaulschestnuthill.org for information). My office was pristine and organized, and every single book was on a shelf! For one glorious day. On Tuesday, I got packages from Amazon and ebay, with books I had ordered last week. There is no room for them on the shelves. They are leaning against a bookcase, trying to look casually decorative. But they are not happy. They want to be with their brothers, on a shelf. They will not stop telling me so, and they are driving me mad. In the meantime, as I search desperately for more shelf space, thanks to Hugh for his wonderful column that captures the heaven and hell of book collecting. Thomas Keels
RE: A Tribute to Yankee Stadium It was a summer day … “Come on, change your clothes … we’re going to New York” … So spoke my mom when I was 12 or 13 years old. (I’m now 73.) “Oh, why are we going to New York? I wanna go down the Wissey (Wissahickon) and play,” I replied. “We’re going up to see the Yankees play the A’s. Now hurry up,” was her answer. I couldn’t change my clothes fast enough. Even to this day I can remember going to see a game in a stadium where so many baseball immortals played. Thank you, Ivan Levingston for the great column. I watched the all-star game and the pre-game parade. Don’t mind telling you these eyes a mine … were more than a little moist. P.S. My mother was a lifelong baseball fan and watched the Phillies on TV until she past away in her ’90s. If they lost she would say, “Boy, did they play a dumb game.” If they won, “sure do have some smart players on that team!” Tom Woodruff
Medicare is in jeopardy On July 30 those who support traditional Medicare are celebrating its 43rd birthday. A few members, including myself, from Healthcare for All Philadelphia (HCAP) are going with a group of residents from this district to visit Rep. Chaka Fattah. We are bringing him a birthday cake to celebrate Medicare’s birthday, and we plan to talk to him about our concerns and hopes regarding Medicare and healthcare for all. Do you know that government-run Medicare — the program all seniors are eligible for through Social Security when they turn 65 — is in jeopardy right now? Conservatives are trying to impose a large cut in the reimbursement to doctors, which would make them unwilling to take Medicare patients, because it would imperil their incomes and in some cases their ability to practice. It would also lead to insurance companies lowering their reimbursements too. Fortunately, the Senate passed a bill repealing the 10.5 percent cut in provider reimbursement for Medicare. (It passed 69-30; Senator McCain was the only abstention.) This was a victory at the national level. President Bush vetoed the bill repealing the cut, but on July 15 Congress overrode his veto. The issues involving Medicare will not come up again for 18 months. When we go to visit Rep. Fattah on July 30, we will also talk to him about the reimbursement bill, and also tell him that we want traditional Medicare for All (and HR 676, a bill that would bring a universal not-for-profit national healthcare to the U.S., as well as HB 1660 and SB 300, single payer bills that would establish such healthcare in Pennsylvania). If you would like to join us, e-mail beckman5@verizon.net or call 215-242-3849. Linda Beckman
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