Peter Fischetti News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

By Peter Fischetti Special to The News Herald | USA TODAY NETWORK In response to last week’s column about the bowl I made at woodworking class, I received a nice note from Crissy Heath. She wrote: “What a beautiful bowl!!! So if I’m not old enough and want to attend the Senior Center, do I need to disguise myself as an old lady to get the discount? Just checking.” I’m glad Crissy, who’s in her early 50’s, checked with me. The short answer is yes. (It’s also the long answer, but I don’t have time to get into that.)

By Peter Frischetti | Columnists I picked up the car keys, kissed my wife, and told her I was driving over to the pawn shop. “You’re going WHERE?” “There’s no way you’re going to write about a porn shop.” Huh? Oh. She thought I said something else. “No, not that, I’m going to the pawn shop. P-A-W-N.” I’ve always been fascinated by pawn shops, and on my visit the other day I discovered why. On the back wall of Panama Pawn and Jewelry were a dozen or so guitars. Musical instruments are one of the staples of pawn shops, and the least expensive one, a Yahama priced at $69, r...

Not so the feral cats. But what were we to do? That’s right, we need a Dog Barking Alarm Motion Detector, and it was delivered the other day by our friends at Amazon for $27. This sophisticated hardware provides a number of sounds to deter burglars but what appealed to us were the sounds of a dog barking three times. (I guess when it gets dark, Three Dog Night comes on.) It’s far too early to share results of this purchase (free returns, of course), but let’s assume the barking will discourage cats from future visits. That would be great, although I worry that the sound of dogs will att...

When a second update estimated the death toll at 900, I called our managing editor at home for guidance. Do we keep the pressroom guys, delivery truck drivers and carriers waiting while I move a few stories around to allow room on Page 1 for the Jonestown story? Might be some overtime there. Or do we proceed with the press run? It was an easy decision and the right one. The paper was late but we were the only paper in the city with the Jonestown story. The New York Times led with the Shah of Iran resolved to save his throne. The Daily News front page told of a stove explosion that killed two ...

While the drugs would bring relief, they made him hallucinate, and now he was standing before St. Peter at the Gates of Heaven. “I’m looking over your bio,” St. Peter was saying. “Pretty dull.” The old man nodded. Early in his life, he would fall asleep every night dreaming of doing something special, of making a difference. He would score the winning touchdown, marry the prettiest cheerleader, raise a son who could be President and, what the heck, discover a cure for cancer. Yes, a cure for cancer. He’d certainly be feeling a lot better at this moment had he done that.