rlfj: Blog

In Chapter 9, I referred to Judy getting her Regents Diploma. At the time, New York had a two-tier high school diploma system. You had the regular New York High School Diploma, but then you had a higher-rated diploma, with special tests and grades, that gave what was called a Regents Diploma. When I went to RPI and moved into the freshmen dorms (and it was all freshmen in the dorms then) we would talk about our lives back home. About half of us were New York residents, and they all bragged they had Regents Diplomas. The rest of us, from out of state, had no idea what they were talking about; we just had regular diplomas and that seemed to be good enough for our states. As far as I know, New York was the only state with this system, but I could be wrong on that. Since then, they have changed the New York rules several times, and now California has a two-tier system. Very odd to a Maryland boy.

When I wrote this story, I let my wife know that I had a new hero, one as great as Carl Buckman or the Grim Reaper. He was young, handsome, brave, hunky, and heroic! He was…a snowplow driver! She was not amused. They are not her favorite people. They are either not doing a good enough job, getting in the way when she is driving, moving too slow, or not plowing when she wants them to. Endless complaints! She has obviously never met Hersch Caparelli.

Would NYSDOT have used Hersch for an employment campaign? Possibly. In 1983 there would have been a lot of World War II and Korean War vets retiring from blue collar jobs. A lot of employers would be looking to replace them, and it was also the case that high schools would have been telling kids to go to college, whether they liked it or not.

Enjoy!

Lots of fun in Chapter 9 as Hersch and Judy keep fooling around. I remember finding books like the ones I describe in my own parents’ nightstands. Good Heavens! My parents had sex more than three times! Unbelievable!

Anybody else have a ‘77 Maverick? Worst POS car I ever owned!

Just like the Caparellis, my family went trick-or-treating in the snow, both in Ballston Spa and in Otsego County, NY. The only time anybody would see their costumes was when we took them to the volunteer fire house for the Halloween Party and Costume Awards. My youngest once went as a pregnant nun, but that was when she was a teenager, and we weren’t around to be embarrassed by her antics.

While I’m not completely sure of the costs of RPI in 1980, when I graduated in 1977 the tuition had just topped $4,000. That did not include room or board in the dorms, which could be another $1,200 or more. By 1980 tuition was probably $5k to $6k. Those figures seem ludicrously low now, but at the time it was a real scandal. Nowadays, it’s a lot more. The official tuition for 2025-2026 is $64,400 plus another $23,344 for room and board, fees, and everything else.

Enjoy!

One interesting response to Chapter 7. Apparently, Tommy Caparelli pushing his son against a wall counts as assault and child abuse. Maybe nowadays it is, but not in 1979. Don’t go judging historical periods by modern standards. I’d hate to admit the shit my father did to me back in the 1960s and 1970s. Somehow, I survived.

On the other hand, several readers with personal knowledge of adoption or unwed motherhood commented I got it right. Thanks. It seems there are a lot of family trees with some odd branches grafted on. For those who say Tommy and Mary should have told Hersch when he was a child, I reply that’s not realistic. Certainly, in the 1960s the whole situation would have been one of deep shame and social disapproval. What would be the odds that a young child would blab about it to friends, and that his friends would tell their parents? I guarantee there would have been repercussions from telling Hersch too soon as well as too late.

Enjoy!

Not much to comment on in this chapter. We learn that the sins of the father, or in this case the mother, can come back to haunt you. I was curious about the origin of the saying, so I googled it. Exodus 20:5 – “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” Three and four generations? This is going to be a real problem for more than a few of us! My maternal grandfather was a real character, as was one of my paternal great-grandfathers. I have a sneaking suspicion I am not going to Heaven.

Enjoy!

If you think international news doesn’t affect us in the US, think again. The person who is doing the illustrations for my recent stories lives in the Middle East. We are currently working on a new story, and today I got the following note: “A war has started here, so it will take me some time.” I immediately responded, ‘Stay safe’, and got another response: “I'm heading to family for better location with safe room/shelter etc.” Regardless of what you think about this war, it affects more than just the people in Iran, Israel, and the United States.

For those not familiar with New England and New York weather, Chapter 6 refers to nor’easters, a frequent winter storm in the area. A nor’easter is a cyclonic storm that forms off the coast of New England during the winter. While satellite photos make it look like a hurricane, it is different. It forms when warm Gulf Stream water hits cold Canadian air. While most winds in North America blow west to east, cyclonic storms swirl in a counterclockwise fashion, so the wind that hits the mainland is coming from the north-east – a nor’easter. These storms can pummel New England and reach as far inland as the Hudson Valley and the Adirondacks. Two or three nor’easters a year are not uncommon, and they can dump several feet of snow per storm.

Yogi and Boo-Boo refer to The Yogi Bear Show, a very popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon series from the Sixties. If you were around in the Sixties and early Seventies, you know who Yogi and Boo-Boo were. Our kids might have known; our grandkids haven’t got a clue! They were cartoon bears who inhabited Jellystone Park, where they avoided Ranger Smith and tried to grab ‘pic-a-nic baskets’ from campers; Yogi was “smarter than the av-er-age bear!" Even today, my wife and I joke that Yogi and Boo-Boo will come up on our deck and knock first.

Enjoy!