Last week I shared a tale about a fellow that likes to stay on a budget and so cut, or at least tried to cut, the number of ringtones on his daughter's phone. Turns out there's another dad who might want to think about constraints he's placed on his daughter's cell phone.

Samantha Geary cannot send or receive text messages on her phone. There's no telling how much "news" Sam has missed because she cannot text on her cell phone. For a lot of the younger set, text-messaging is better than talking. Did you know there's an entire language just for "texting?"

This will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

LOL=laugh out loud, or lots of love.

411=information

CU=see you

CUL8R=see you later

FBM=fine by me

G=grin

TTYL=talk to you later

TY or TU=thank you

Now there comes a story about the teenager who was inside her house when burglars came in. This quick-thinking youth hid in her closet and sent her mother a text-message about the situation. Mom then called the cops, who promptly showed up and arrested the criminals. The teenager saved her mother's jewelry, china and all sorts of valuables.

If it had been Samantha hiding in the closet all her mother's good china and silver would probably be several hundred miles away by now. The good news is that Sam's dad, Lanny, would have all that extra cash he's saving every month from depriving his youngest child of text-messaging fun to buy some new stuff.

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Happy Birthday!

In case you missed it Leonard Younger celebrated the 90th anniversary of his birth last Thursday. The man who has fed many of us chicken wings for so long hung up his apron a few years ago and doesn't make the rounds in his pickup like he once did, but he's still kicking.

And just in case you did miss the opportunity to wish Leonard a "Happy Birthday," his daughter, Beverly , says the family is planning a drop-in reception on June 14 at Leonard's house on Highway EE.

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Mailbag

I received an email from Jay Rhew passing along something he received about earthquake safety. The writer is a Canadian by the name of Doug Copp who lived in San Diego at the time of the World Trade Center attacks.

Copp offers something he calls "Triangle of Life" survival tips for individuals who find themselves in an earthquake. A lot of what Copp claims has been disputed, but there may also be some good information in his email.

Jay suggested we do a story on "Triangle of Life" as well as the more widely known and practiced "duck and cover" method. I have passed that along to the newsroom, but just for fun go online and search "Doug Copp" and you'll find a lot of interesting information.

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Bright Lights

"Roller skating was taken lightly in those days and many oldtimers remember the keen rivalry that existed between the two rinks that were located on south main in the block immediately south of the square. If you were a patron of Mr. Lansdell's rink which was located where the Lentz Furniture Company is now, you could look derisively across the street at those bums who skated over in the Shelton building (McHaney's Paint Store down to the Kennett Lumber Co.) There were no partitions in the Shelton Building then and the maple floors still bear the marks of skating. Competition was keen and during the period that the two rinks were in operation some of the outstanding skaters of that day and time came to Kennett."

That blurb came from the DD edition of April 11, 1950 and was written by Whit Thrower. The "day" he was referring to would have been about 1910-1915. When roller skating was a big attraction and big business.

A big thank you to the DDD's unofficial, but much appreciated historian, Vivian Helton for passing the clip along. Given last week's good news about the Ely & Walker renovation, that news item was certainly timely.

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Follow-up

Last week we also shared the tale of a recently retired educator preparing to embark on his second career. We've declined to name him so as not to embarrass his former colleagues and family members, including grandkids, Devin and Holly.

His new career path has him headed toward the bright lights of Broadway after he debuted at The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. As last week's readers will recall, spelling is obviously not a requirement to succeed on stage.

Last week I talked to another man in town who also happened to be in the audience when our local would-be thespian was called to the stage. The review of our actor's performance was top shelf. And just like the rest of the folks who saw the play, he was also surprised that his fellow Kennettian couldn't spell "Mexicans."

There is quite a contingent that takes advantage of the offerings at The Orpheum. The fellow telling me about being in the audience said he sees several folks at the theater he won't see all week in town.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.