Tom Purcell stories, Page 4

Changing communications technology is one of life’s never-ending annoyances, and now we have a new agitation: voice messaging. Voice messaging allows smartphone owners to record their voice and send the recording to others as they would a text or a chat. According to the Wall Street Journal, some people consider...

With the “fall back” clock change coming soon, one thing makes me especially grumpy and confused. Last March, the Senate passed a bill that would make daylight saving time a year-round standard and end the “fall back” and “spring forward” clock changes that make Americans even groggier and crabbier than...

I used to love the first weekend of autumn. Now I loathe it. Maybe I better explain. I used to wait until the nicest week in spring to organize my taxes, but now I wait until the nicest week in autumn. Autumn officially begins this Friday, Sept. 23, which is...

“No problem.” That is how I used to reply to people who thanked me for holding the door open for them or for offering some other small gesture. I don’t know where I got into the habit of saying this to people, but I do not say it anymore. My...

I’m confused. I got the flu a few months ago, the worst flu I’d ever had. It wasn’t covid — I have never tested positive for covid — but it was a humdinger. For more than a week, I was a lump on a bed, completely unable to move or...

“Half of that goes to the bank for your college fund!” That’s what my father told me in the eighth grade, when I got my first paycheck for waking up at 5:30 a.m. to ride my bike a few miles to Cool Springs Driving Range before school, where I plucked...

I trekked to St. Germaine School every morning in my sturdy Buster Brown shoes. Designed for rough-and-tumble boys, these heavy-duty shoes could take a scuffing and, with a good polishing, keep on shining — pretty much the way rambunctious kids like me were able to do in our elementary school...

A long time ago, I watched a documentary about poet Emily Dickinson’s life and writings. One thing that I never forgot about that film is that she lived at a time when death was regrettably common — and therefore the subject of many of her poems. “How are you doing?”...

I bought my first lottery ticket recently. It was a $20 scratch-off that paid me a $40 prize. Winning produced a nice little thrill, so I bought another $20 ticket right away. And lost. I put out $40 to win $40 that day. I’ve bought three $20 scratch-offs since then...

Comedian Carl Reiner was good at living well — and he lived well until the age of 98. I recently watched his 2017 HBO documentary, “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast.” It introduces viewers to several people who are flourishing in their 90s — running races at 100,...

My father is turning 89 this week, and he’s getting especially sentimental of late. The other day, from his hospital bed, he said he hoped he’d been a good father. He said these words with a hint of doubt in his voice. But he got the question backwards. The question...

It’s been hot outside the past few weeks. The grass is turning brown. The hornets are angry. The dog days of summer have arrived. The origin of “dog days” actually has nothing to do with canines lazing on the porch because it’s too dang hot to do anything else. According...

I’m going to the drive-in this weekend — for the first time in 42 years. You see, the covid pandemic has disrupted and rearranged our lives forever, but it has also given birth to some wonderful trends, such as the comeback of the drive-in movie theater. According to CNN Business,...

I sure could use a vacation about now — but I have no plans to take one this summer. That’s the breaks for self-employed people like me who do not enjoy paid-­vacation benefits. When I do not work, I do not get paid. However, nearly one in four American workers...

It’s been way too long since I lit a sparkler as the sun goes down on the Fourth of July. I’ve enjoyed many daylong celebrations with friends and family on the Fourth in many different ways, but they usually end with a gathering on a hill or a parking lot...

Sitting in my home office, I am greeted by a cool breeze coming through my open window and the sweet sounds of summer outside. It’s late June, which used to be peak bike-hiking season for kids — but now it’s mostly adults who go on long rides on their expensive...

My dad isn’t doing so well. His wife of 65 years and six kids could be doing better, too. He’ll be 89 in July and his body is showing its age. His legs don’t work so well due to stenosis of the spine, plus he’s been in and out of...

Americans are so angry about so many things — with partisan politics topping the list. Politics is important, to be sure, because as we know from experience the ideas and policies implemented by our highly fallible government leaders can have beneficial and/or grave outcomes. But in the social media era...

The only worry I had was that Old Man Miller might be hiding out behind the shed trying to catch us running through his garden when we played tag in our backyards. If you grew up in the ’70s in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, you know exactly what I’m talking...

Should you invest in the stock market now or wait? That is the tough question the money experts are discussing. Stock prices continue to fall, and NASDAQ.com says, “Even more unnerving is that nobody knows how long this downturn will last or how far prices will fall before the market...

Prom season is upon us. It’s wonderful to see the excitement on the faces of young people as they pose for photos in their front yards, dressed up in their finest duds. I hate to admit it, but I feel bad for these young people. As they stand there being...

After all these years, my dad inspires me still. As I write this, the almost 89-year-old fellow is fighting to get back onto his feet as stenosis, bad knees and general old age are wearing him down. But though his body shows wear and tear, his mind remains as agile...

I started my first business in the fifth grade when I convinced a neighbor to allow me to cut her grass with her electric lawn mower. That project ended in immediate failure. The mower was powered by a long extension cord — a cord I ran over and sliced in...

“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.” Those are the clever words of British humorist Terry Pratchett, who couldn’t have explained the aging process more succinctly. I know his words are true because I am turning 60 today. It’s a heck of a thing to have...

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain but death and taxes.” That quote is often attributed to Ben Franklin or Mark Twain, but whoever said it, no truer words have ever been spoken. I filed my annual income tax extension April 18, the last day of this...