Wiser’s Wramblings-Veteran’s Benefits Big and Small

A trip to the Bonnies game with Allegany County veterans plus a peak into the next year of wrambling

By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels

Oft-times I go to sleep the night before or wake up early in the morning before my customary Wramblings, with topics or intentions for those days Wrambling to be published. I did so last night and this morning.

Three hours ago, I “began to start” this writing, and commenced to gather the items I planned to use in this article. I guess my aspirations, if not inspirations were a little too ambitious as it would likely take most of the day to complete the task. My wife would ask: “What else would you be doing?” She would have a point. None-the-less however, I am postponing that undertaking for now, to allow me to get this week’s “formal” edition underway.

Here’s a “teaser” about my future intentions. As we approach the end of 2024 and are on the brink of 2025, my planned writing includes going back to the beginning of 2024 to compile a short “history list” of the Wramblings shared with you throughout the year. To do that I had to, or would have to now, pull up the files of posted articles published earlier this year. That isn’t going to be as simple as I thought. When I compose an article, I save a copy with a title that is somewhat indicative of that week’s content. Occasionally I would preface the “title” with the date the piece was written. In hindsight, that would have been the way to go had I done so with each piece.

I have pulled the hard-copy folder out with the intention of sorting them chronologically, if not “recall-logically.” Despite filing my hard copies in the same folder adding each week’s writing at the front of the file folder, they may have been pulled to look something up or may be missing all together. I DO intend to write that, and may even do it between now and next Thursday’s scheduled Wrambling citing what my wife said…” What else would you be doing?”

This idea isn’t 100% of my own thought process as the Olean Times Herald has a daily inclusion of “Turning back the clock…” and shares a summary of selected topics on a 25 year incremental basis from 25 years to 125 years. If I do as planned, at the end of the year, which is upon us now, I will cover the past year on a weekly basis. It sounds like a lot, but each month’s Wrambling will only be snippet of the entire piece.

On the 21^st of this month I, and a guest, were invited to watch a St. Bonaventure Bonnies men’s basketball game. This was the Veteran’s benefit noted in today’s title. The AC Dwyer Program, which subsidized attendance at this Bonnies game, was organized to share Veteran’s benefits. Several future endeavors are planned.

The inset picture shows us seated for a complimentary lunch prior to the game. I announced, and forewarned the group, that I would be sharing a picture of them in my next article. I heard no dissent.

Some faces may be recognizable to you but the only one I will single out is my son Todd Wiser seated at our table furthest-most back. A couple of others in this group were also noteworthy.

As Harold (Bobby) Budinger distributed the game tickets at this pre-game luncheon, he called out my name. One of the other guests asked if I was the one who wrote the Wramblings. I admitted to same, and a short discussion followed. Showing just how small and close-knit our county is, the lady who asked about the Wramblings, shared the last name of one of my former CE Air Preheater work colleagues from the 60’s. as she confirmed when I asked about her last name.

I don’t always participate in organized events such as this one, despite the free meal, but the lure of attending a “Bonnies” game against their old “Little Three” foe Niagara Purple Eagles was all it took. The opportunity was fantastic, the meal was great, and the Bonnies won.

Recently, or more correctly stated “lately,” digital media activities have become extremely irritating and frustrating. The more “enhancements” they dream up, supposedly to make these options more powerful, and/or user friendly, have done exactly the opposite. First off, they change the apps, under the disguise of making them more secure. I had to delete my email account that I use to open a suggested communication link with you, the readers, and for other miscellaneous communications. Upon trying to change the account I had to provide a new username and password. One of my devices works well with that but my Office Computer will not recognize the “Username” and “Password” stating that the Username has already been used previously on another device. The apps that keep trying to worm their way onto or into my devices are at a minimum a nuisance. Google Chrome, Co-Pilot, Facebook Messenger and others continue to attempt to convince me to sign in, sign up, or make their most recent version of anything and everything, my “default” app.

The necessary procedure to achieve a working connection often requires a code to validate or confirm your identity. That is troublesome in two major ways. First off, it is assumed that you are operating from a cell phone rather than a fixed station computer or laptop. When they send you a code and you are working from your computer they will have sent the code to your phone. Now, I did not list my phone number for my convenience, I listed it at their insistence. Secondly, even after I’ve picked my phone up, turned it on waiting for the code, it eventually flashes on my phone screen and then disappears so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to write it down. A six-digit number is “memorizable” but only if you are prepared for it or have a mind that is empty enough to recite the code the couple of times necessary to have in memorized.

Scanner Chatter: Without going into detail or further description, the scanner activity has been busy with calls to locations frequently mentioned here. Within the past two days there have been numerous calls to: Irons Road (Scio-Amity), Back River Road (Scio-Amity), Intersection of County roads 31 and 31A (Friendship), County Road 20 (Friendship-Amity) and more. These calls are more often than not, made to “repeat” residences or intersections in the case of “property damage accidents.”

A recent report told of some unexpected deaths caused by “bat guano” suffered from inhaling the poisonous odor or eating produce harvested from gardens where it was used as a fertilizer.

With apologies for the crudeness of the statement, I always wondered where the phrase “Batshit Crazy” came from.

IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com may work if you want to get in touch.