John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 36 - 08/18/99
Well, my car has pretty much dried out, and at least so far I have been spared the overpowering smell of mildew. I guess time will tell. I drove a couple of friends to lunch on Tuesday and neither seemed to get visibly ill. I'll be heading north for an extended weekend, and my wife is encouraging me to use her car
Speaking of trips, my ride home from work used to take about 45 minutes but ever since they began the construction on I-95 south at Penn's Landing, my trip has taken close to an hour and a half each evening. I just can't wait till they reverse the trend in the fall and force us all to get up at some ungodly hour to get to work on time.
As an aside, my friend Sue would like you all to know that the fellow on the highway has now stopped waving to her each morning. Clearly he cannot deal with the notoriety of being mentioned in this column - yea, right.
The drive from Point Pleasant to Mount Laurel has become much more involved for Sue. She has now taken to counting not only Wawa's (nine is the latest count), but also fast food restaurants, gas stations, as well as 7-11's. By the way, have any of you ever noticed that at your local 7-Eleven shirts and shoes are required attire?
We discussed this at lunch yesterday. How come no one mentions pants? It kinda conjures up interesting images of what would happen if you actually walked into a 7-Eleven wearing just a shirt and shoes.
So, what's new in Philly sports? The Eagles have finally waived their kicker Chris Boniol and picked up 39 year old veteran Norm Johnson. Boniol was never a fan favorite here nor did he never did live up to his reputation in Dallas as the most accurate kicker ever.
I don't know about you all, but I can't wait for football season to begin, but ask me after week five or six and I may tell you that I can't wait for it to end!
The Phillies gave us a great run but it seems that absent Curt Shilling their run for a wildcard may be over. They have been losing a lot of close games lately and it just seems that whatever drove them for most of the spring and summer is no longer there.
Penn State is a pre-season top five pick, but as in recent years you have to get past Ohio State and Michigan to get to the Rose Bowl and that has been a problem for Joe Paterno's teams.
Well, that's my spin on things. What's yours? You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
John Fischer's
Philadelphia 08/09/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/12/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/13/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/16/99