The coffee machine is slow to wake up today. A check of the vitals shows no problem, but the command buttons, once pushed, seem to have no effect on performance. Thinking back to the day when working a farm, the most reliable way to motivate a recalcitrant piece of machinery was a sharp physical rap with a heavy wrench.
In the kitchen, the meat mallet is the moral equivalent of a heavy wrench. One quick blow with the wooden mallet morphed the sleeping genius into a veritable fountain of hot, aromatic, nerve-quieting elixir. The triumph was mine.
After a few sips, the clock caught my attention. Turning it to August 12, 1877, setting the location for Menlo Park, New Jersey, and the time of two hours, we are off.
We arrive at the Menlo Park Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison. He has just put the finishing touches on his tin foil cylindrical phonograph. He waves us in and explains that he has figured out how to take a stylus and replicate the human voice on a rotating cylinder covered in tin foil.
He believes that this kind of machine will revolutionize the way offices will dictate letters. He envisions the worker putting the thoughts on the cylinder and then someone transcribing the words into letter form. Although my mouth was sealed, Edison will face a formidable challenge from the stenographers who will no doubt be put out of work with this scheme. Perhaps he is a little early with that phase of the office revolution and will stick to music instead. Speaking of music, the alarm sends us all to the couch, and luckily for her, no one landed on Twiggy.
My phone signals the arrival of a test. Yes, it is from Linda Hill and says, Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with or contains “ph.” Find a word with the letters “ph” in it and use it as your prompt. Have fun!
To see how other bloggers handle this prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2023/12/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-30-2023/
PH by John W. Howell © 2023
“Phenomenal.”
“What?”
“Your PH words.”
“Didn’t notice.”
“Oh sure. You just happened to select phonograph and 1877 by random.”
“Oh that. I read about Edison and wanted to go there.”
“I see. Means nothing that the prompt is words with ph in them.”
“Well maybe a little.”
“You are so busted.”
“I suppose. How about hitting the pub for a couple of Voo Doo Rangers?”
“You change the subject so nicely. About that couple of Voo Doo Rangers.”
“What?”
“If I can’t have all I want then no use going.”
“A figure of speech. A commom phrase.”
“Okay then. Theres our ride.”
“I’m afraid to look.”
“It is right up your alley. Look by the curb.”
Photo – Beverly Hills Car Club
“What is that?”
“A 1929 Ford Pheaton. Get it?”
“You are too good to me. Let’s go.”
Fiction Favorites 
Bonus points for the Pheaton!
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Yay. Thank you, Liz. I need them.
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You’re welcome, John. 😀
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😊
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Well done, John. Right down to the car.
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Thank you, Dan.
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“When you think you’ve exhausted all possibilities, remember this, you haven’t” T Edison. Tom was a good friend of G Eastman (KODAK) and visited him often, here, in Rochester, NY.
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I interviewed with a company in Rochester in the winter of 1991. An ice storm had stripped the trees. It was an amazing sight landing at the airport.
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We’ve had our share of snow and ice storms. That storm, if it was the March one, put us out of power for 11 days, took out our beautiful white birch which snapped in half and crushed my Kevlar canoe. It was March so still cold.
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That must have been the one.😊
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Only you could find a car whose name starts with PH. After a few VooDoo Rangers, you might like this…
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Happy New Year to you as well, GP.
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So that is where Phaeton came from – A phaeton (also phaéton) was a form of sporty open carriage popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Drawn by one or two horses, a phaeton typically featured a minimal very lightly sprung body atop four extravagantly large wheels.
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Thank you, John. The Ford took its name from the carriage you describe.
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Wow, the Pheaton is beautiful. And your story is a fun one, John. I solved the coffee machine problem a few years ago with a Keurig. Now hubby can have his flavored coffees, while I enjoy my organic selection. It’s a coffee truce. 😄
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Good that you worked that out, Gwen. I could imagine discussions over the Mr.Coffee. 😁
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I hope the coffee machine does not Sue you or even worse retaliate! I love that car it’s a beautiful machine! ….Yup you’re too clever for this .💜💜
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Than you, Willow. The machine has a mind of its own. I hope it doesn’t figure out how to hire a lawyer. 😁
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Could be scary !!
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Yup.
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I was still using my high school shorthand in the 70’s, John, so Edison didn’t change the dictation thing right away. Then again, shorthand feels about as old as 1877, same as me some mornings…lol.
I had lunch at a local restaurant the other day and Voodoo Ranger was part of their list of beers. Suddenly, I had an urge to watch the cartoons of my youth. Strange.
Happy New Year!
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Voo Doo Ranger has that effect for sure. That’s even before you drink it. After drinking is a whole different experience.
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Quite imaginative, John, traversing from Edison’s phonograph to the classic Ford model. 🙂
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The PH tie there made it easy. Thanks, Tim.
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How did you know that was my first car and also was that color? WOW!
I need a Voodoo Ranger!
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Lucky you. Way more than a coincidence.
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Serendipity!
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I love the car! If you took someone from the 1800s and put them in 2024 we would appear to be magicians. Kind of scary thought. What will the world be like in 2224?
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I think Edison would be amazed. 2224 woud amaze us as well.
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Love the car.
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I do too. Would love to have one.
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My first ‘real’ job out of school was at Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals in Menlo Park, NJ. I live 10 minutes in Colonia.
Egad! Please don’t sit on Twiggy!! She might have to sic those wild pigs on you.
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I LIVED not live. Moved from that job down here to FL.
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I knew you lived in Fla so I overlooked the “live.”
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I think she would. Middlesex County is beautiful. Back in the 80s I relocated to the east coast. I remember going into a reality office in Short Hills and was laughed out of the place. I finally located in Connecticut
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Short Hill was $$$. Montclair, Caldwell, too. My parents had friends who lived there. We could only afford to visit.
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I was laughed out of Upper Montclair too.
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So much for ‘welcome to Joisey!’
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I actually picked up a company car at Teterboro airport with Jersey plates. The folks in Connecticut hated me until I got Connecticut plates.
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What a great story. What struck me most was how differently his invention changed the world in a way he never imagined. Hugs, C
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So true, Cheryl. In fact he sold the company and then got it back when the owner took ill.
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Well done, John. I enjoyed the story while counting how many “ph” words you slipped in.
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I’m glad you liked it, Pete. Thanks.
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I visited Menlo Park many years ago, an area that really does have a phabulous history. (In other news, thank heaven no one phell on Twiggy!)
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Ha haha ha. She would have been phlatened
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🤣
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This Uber doesn’t come with satellite radio, I’m guessing . . .
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Pretty good guess. I think crystal set is standard.
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Well done with the prompt, John. Great story, finished off with a phabulous (oops, fabulous) Uber car.
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Thankj you, Jennie. So glad you liked it.
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You’re welcome!
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😊
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Awesome car. I hope your driver is Ellie Mae and not Jethro.
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Yeah me too. Thanks, Craig
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A for effort John… loved it and I was one of the stenographers who had to translate the mangled mutterings of several bosses who umed and aahed through their letters lol.. Happy New Year
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Read that back. “Dear Sir, um, ah, hurrump, er.”
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Quite… usually they would have left for the day… or dictated after a boozy lunch! hugsxx
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😁
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Bonus points indeed! Well done, John. Happy New Year’s Eve.
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Thank you, Monika. Happy New Year.
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You sure packed in a lot ph’s.
I had to look up that car. I like the 1920’s cars.
Then the 60’s cars.
I enjoyed the history lesson. Thank you! I could go on one every week with you.
Although I do miss the cartoons. Hey, you could go to July 27, 1940!
Whatever, whenever, it will be Phantasmagorical!
🐂 🐂 🐂 🐂
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We would witness the first appearance of Bugs Bunny. Great Idea. Stay tuned.
🐂 🐂 🐂 🐂 🐂
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Yayayay!
🐂 🐂 🐂 🐂 🐂
Wish there was a Bugs emoji!
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Now THAT is a ride! I think I’d want to go round the block a couple of times before going inside for the VooDoo.
And you played a trick on us by not going back 100 years to the day. That phonograph changed how things were done, that is for sure!
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I did play a trick. There was no ph anything 100 years to the day.
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Oh no, eh? Good on you for doing a proper search 😉
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😊
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