Saturday 9

Saturday 9: There'll Be Some Changes Made (1962)

On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Ann-Margret sings that she's going to change her way of living. If you could simply snap your fingers and change something in your life, what would it be?

My back… lower back is becoming chronic.

2) She tells us she's going to change her name. Have you ever changed your name, or asked people to refer to you differently? (Example: "Don't call me Betty anymore. I want to be Elizabeth.")

Ha… I got you all beat!

3) Ann-Margret was born Ann-Margret Olsson in Sweden and when was 5, her family moved to Winnetka, Illinois. She is fluent in both Swedish and English. When did you last converse in a language other than English?

Um… never. I don’t even know any other language than English.

4) Olivia Newton-John was a big Ann-Margret fan. When she was cast in the movie Grease, Olivia asked that her character's name be changed from "Sandy Dumbrowski" to "Sandy Olsson" in tribute. Grease is one of the most profitable movies ever made. Have you seen it more than once?

On a date I saw it when it first came out. And a couple of times on TV.

5) Ann-Margret celebrated her 85th birthday earlier this year. Back in 2024, Ann-Margret told a reporter that she planned to celebrate her 83rd birthday with a spin on her motorcycle, a lavender Harley-Davidson. "I love speed," she explained. Do you always observe the speed limit? Or have you been known to zip along a little faster?

I try not to go over 5 mph over the speed limit on local roads and no more than 75 on the interstates.

6) This week's song was written in 1921 and over the last 100+ years it's been recorded more than 400 times. Before today, had you heard it?

Nope… never.

7) The lyrics were written by William Weldon Higgins, who was better known as vaudeville comic Billy Higgins. When did you most recently laugh out loud?

I don’t usually mark down when I laugh… but it was recently.

8) The music was composed by William Overstreet. In addition to writing music, he was a respected director aat Chicago's Grand Theater. When did you last see a live performance (concert, play, etc.)?

A decade ago. I went to see a Broadway play on Saturday October 01, 2016, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical you can read about the trip here.

9) Random question: Do you have more or less than $20 cash in your wallet right now?

More.

---

What a wild and crazy day the Fourth of July was!

It all started in the morning when the central air went out. It was 95°F outside and getting hot fast inside—with no AC! Originally, I was 20th in line for a repairman, but then I played my ace card: I mentioned that I’m 77. Just like that, I moved up to first on the list! I hadn’t even planned on using my age, it just popped into my head, so I said it.

The real "fun" began three or four hours later. Around 7:00 PM, I was sitting under the deck overhang listening to my audiobook when it absolutely poured. It came down in buckets for about five seconds, and then the sun popped back out, sending me retreating indoors.

A bit later, I was in the atrium listening to my book again when the weather went totally insane. Extreme winds hit, hail started bouncing off the skylights, and stripped leaves blew past. It felt exactly like the opening scene of The Wizard of Oz. Branches flew by, the hail pounded, and then—in less than two minutes—it was completely over. The sun came back out and the birds started singing, looking just like an ordinary Saturday afternoon. Except for one thing: trees and limbs were down everywhere, and the power was dead.

The weather forecast had only predicted a slight chance of a severe storm, so it took everyone completely by surprise. It turned out to be a microburst with straight-line winds clocked at 60 to 70 mph.

Eversource initially promised the power would be back on by 6:00 AM Sunday. Instead, it finally kicked back on at 3:19 AM on Tuesday.

To charge my phone and survey the damage, I took a drive around town. The aftermath was textbook microburst: a linear path of destruction about a mile wide and three miles long. Everywhere outside of that strip was completely untouched and had power. At the end of my road where it meets the state highway, the top of a telephone pole was dangling from its wires just five feet above the asphalt. Looking both ways, trees were down in every direction. Trying to navigate my way to McDonald’s for breakfast and a hot coffee was like trying to get through a maze. Every single street was blocked by downed trees and live wires.

The repair process itself was fascinating to watch. First, an assessment guy walked the lines with a tablet. A few hours later, the tree crews arrived—I could hear the chainsaws and woodchippers roaring. Next came two full line crews. Optimistically, I guessed I'd have power back in an hour. (Ha! That was a bit conservative... try three days later!)

Now, the politicians are screaming about how long the cleanup took. But this literally came out of the blue. Unlike a hurricane, where you have days to preposition utility crews, everyone here was just sitting around a holiday cookout when—WHAM! They had to mobilize and bring in emergency workers from all over the Northeast.

Looking around today, just a week later, you wouldn’t have a single clue what happened last Saturday.