Reminds me of a few years ago: I was walking out of school, and saw a truck with the hood up in the lot, and a student looking at the engine. I asked if he needed help, and he pointed to an intake filter that had come loose. He said that he’d tried to hot-glue it back into place, which worked about as well in a car engine as you’d expect. Well, I saw the large hose clamp, figured out how to work it back onto the edge of the filter, and re-tightened it.
later…
Glenn Gould?
I haven’t heard him complain since, jeez, 1982 or so.
Thanks, what a lovely discovery!
My feel-good story:
Sitting in a restaurant, my wife says to me : “turn around, you have a visitor”. I look behind me, and yes, there is a charming young fellow approaching me.
He’s not-quite-a-toddler, but trying his best to become one.
Unsteady on his little legs, he has invented a system: take two steps forwards, then pause until his upper body catches up to where his feet have moved. Repeat.
So far, his journey has taken him half the distance across the chasm from his starting point-two tables away- to my table.
I reach out my arm and say "Ooooh, Look at you, you’re such a big boy now! You already had your birthday, and now you’re a year and one month old!
He continues his expedition, proudly reaching out for my hand, and then finally reaching his destination–, placing both hands on my knee to keep himself stable.
Then, he raises his arms up high, with his little hands barely reaching over his head, in the universal language that means “pick me up, Daddy”.
So I put my hands under his armpits, lift him up and turn him around 180 degrees so he can sit on my knee and see where he came from. And I say, "but ya know something? I’m not daddy… That’s your Daddy, over there, and I point at the smiling parents.
The kid looks at Daddy, then twists his head and looks at me, then looks at Daddy again, then twists his head and looks at me again…his brain is clearly working hard to analyze what has happened.
And, yes, he figures it out!! Oh, how the world has changed!
Mommy and Daddy are now over there! And this stranger holding me is not who I thought.
So he wiggles his little body and slides off my knee. I keep holding him under his arms for a full 5 seconds…giving him support until he stops swaying, remembers how legs work, and figures out where his feet are.
He toddles back to Daddy,(making two steps at a time with many pauses) and completes his journey with a squeal of delight.
His mother looks at me and says that’s the farthest he has ever walked. Then she asks “How did you know he was exactly 13 months old?”
I pointed at my grey hair, and answered: “Experience”.
Smiles were shared all around.
Yup, I, too, have had the experience of having once been 13 months old.
I’m not sure how much of that I retain, though, so kudos on your memory!
I hope this gift link works, because this is a seriously fabulous, feel-good story!
I love the part where Sotheby’s sent an armored truck to the kid’s house to pick up the jacket for their auction, and then packed it into a safe in the back of the vehicle! Woo-hoo! 
He spotted a sports relic in the thrift store. It’s about to make him rich.
An Oregon teenager paid $3 for a vintage uniform worn by one of basketball’s all-time greats. Sotheby’s thinks it could be worth $250,000.
Spoiler: “How had a Wilt Chamberlain warmup jacket from the 1972 NBA finals ended up in a suburban thrift store?”
Here’s another great story.
His doctor’s prescription for his unbearable pain seemed absurd. It worked.
Gregory Maassen was nearly bedridden by a burning sensation that was later diagnosed as a rare form of neuropathy. He has found relief riding his e-bike across the country.
The burning sensation started near the top of Gregory Maassen’s left arm. It quickly spread to his upper back and chest, and within a month, his whole body was burning — from his ears to his feet.
Maassen, 51 at the time, spent most days in bed but struggled to sleep. He visited doctors who administered tests, including blood draws and an endoscopy, but none could pinpoint his medical condition. One doctor, Maassen said, thought the pain was due to mental illness.
He got sicker and sicker over a few months. He feared he was going to die.
More than a year after his symptoms began, Maassen was losing hope of ever identifying his medical condition when he found Ahmet Hoke, a neurologist in Baltimore.
After a quick look at Maassen’s symptoms, Hoke correctly diagnosed him. The recovery plan Hoke gave Maassen in the following months changed Maassen’s life and unexpectedly led him to a therapy that became his passion: cycling.
…
Some of the bikers were riding electric bicycles, which Maassen had not seen before. E-bikes come with a battery and a motor that can make cycling less taxing and reduce resistance on hills, but bikers still get exercise by pedaling, balancing and steering. Maassen thought he found the perfect solution.
Still, after buying an e-bike in September 2019, Maassen felt exhausted on his first few rides around his neighborhood in North Cleveland Park and to-and-from local parks. But he said exercising improved his mood, so he kept returning to his e-bike. After a few weeks, his pain began to subside. His body felt better the more he rode.
…
He had cycled thousands of miles and stopped taking his pain medication by the time he had a more ambitious idea in 2021: He would e-bike from D.C. to San Francisco over four months in 2022 by riding along the Lincoln Highway. Meanwhile, he would fundraise money for neuropathy research.
…
And it continues from there. I hope the gift like works. I love this story. Very inspiring!
Followup on this one.
Teen’s thrift store find earns him nearly $90,000 at auction
Quinn Brown discovered a warmup jacket worn by Wilt Chamberlain during the 1972 NBA Finals.
So not nearly as much as the predicted $250,000.
Hey, Mr Buzzkill, considering he spent three bucks for the jacket it’s still not a bad deal.
I couldn’t open the Washington Post articles in spite of the gift links, but I found the story on another site: Wilt Chamberlain Lakers jacket found at thrift store auctioned – NBC Los Angeles Wilt Chamberlain Lakers jacket found at thrift store auctioned – NBC Los Angeles
And a great story of cartoonist Neal Adams speaking out for the creators of Superman, who were living in poverty: How Neal Adams Saved the Supermen | by Blake Scott Ball | Medium Medium
That kind of thing drives me nuts.
Help me out here. Did the link not go anywhere or open at all? Or were you asked to create a free account so you could open the article? Did you get some kind of message?
I post WaPo gift links rather a lot here and I hate to think that no one can ever open them…
Someone told me that the story was on the CBS Evening News today.
This.
Oh, okay. Thanks for the clarification..
I have a Yahoo address that I use for junk like that. I know some people feel put upon and that they shouldn’t have to go to any extra trouble, but … well, reality, don’tcha know. A throwaway email address is a handy thing to have.
I try to quote enough of an article so going to the original isn’t absolutely necessary. And if it’s a big enough story, it can usually be found elsewhere.
Carry on.
The Wilt Chamberlain jacket is a nice story for its financial side…but what impressed me MUCH more is the personal side.
That 15 year old kid has great character!
He’s a hard working guy with a lot of initiative, running a successful business.
We hear so much bad news about kids tbese days who are so clueless.addicted to their doomscrolling, unable to concentrate,can’t work Mcjobs because they don’t know how to count change,etc.
This kid and his friends give me hope for the future.
I would love to have been at this wedding reception.
People: Bride ‘Couldn’t Believe’ What She Was Hearing When Maid of Honor Played Old Voice Memo During Wedding Toast
A clever Beatles salute.