Years ago.......

.....At the Mighty Mezz.
I was responsible for reporting the Canandaigua lake-level (“cannon-DAY-gwuh”), the level the lake was above sea-level, which varied per run-off input and outflow.
Every morning the guys at the Canandaigua city sewer department, which was at the lake outlet, would call and tell me the lake-level.
We’d run that in the daily on the weather-page, along with what the lake-level was supposed to be. The lake-level went up and down maybe three feet over the year, higher in summer.
Since I was lake-level guy, an angry caller was referred to me.
“We gotta do something about that lake-level. It’s too low! I can’t get my boat outta the water. I can’t even get it to shore!”
“Ma’am,” I said; “I don’t actually control the lake-level. All I do is report it.”
“Well I never! I wanna speak to your supervisor!”
I set about switching her to head-honcho.
“Better yet,” she screamed; “I’m friends with George Ewing (“you-ing”). Lemme speak to him!”
George Sr. is an earlier owner of the Messenger, the one that hired me.
“He retired some time ago,” I said. “He’s no longer here.”
What happened after that I don’t remember. But all this reminds of what happened to me on “Connor-Jeans.”
“Connor-Jeans” (a takeoff on “genes”) is a private Facebook my brother-in-northern-DE set up where members of my mother’s family could post memories and old photos.
My mother’s maiden name is “Connor.”
My parents were stridently religious. I have a hunch my mother’s brother Walter made a snide anti-religious remark that got my parents, especially my father, upset.
They were extremely judgmental.
As a child I was told the uncle, and his wife and family, were unsavory.
Somehow that feeling made into “Connor-Jeans,” getting that uncle’s children justifiably upset.
I felt badly, and tried to apologize — which crashed mightily in flames.
Since I was the one reporting, and was still alive, I could be loudly excoriated by that uncle’s children.
Suddenly I no longer could view any “Connor-Jeans” posts by that uncle’s children.
“I don’t actually control the lake-level. All I do is report it.”



• The “Mighty Mezz” is the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper, from where I retired over 11 years ago. Best job I ever had — I worked there almost 10 years (over 11 if you count my time as a post-stroke unpaid intern [I had a stroke October 26th, 1993, from which I recovered fairly well]). (“Canandaigua” [“cannan-DAY-gwuh”] is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” —It’s about 14 miles away.)