<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xml:lang="en"><title>Memoirs @ www.leastbest.com</title><rights>Copyright 2009 www.leastbest.com</rights><subtitle>(Memoirs) </subtitle><author><name></name></author><updated>2009-11-05T01:00:00Z</updated><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.leastbest.com/read/memoirs.rss"/><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2009:1</id><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2007-09-11:links.412039799</id><title>Of Memory and Jellyfish</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/of_memory_and_jellyfish.htm"><![CDATA[Memory is a funny thing.When I was eighteen my friends and I would pile into my car and drive a few miles out into the country and park on a country road.&nbsp; We&#39;d walk along a railroad track, across a trestle and down a dirt path back into the]]></content><dc:subject>jellyfish</dc:subject><dc:subject>summer</dc:subject><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/of_memory_and_jellyfish.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2007-09-11T12:32:00Z</updated><published>2007-09-11T12:32:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2006-09-18:links.411806213</id><title>Moving Memories</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/moving_memories.htm"><![CDATA[Moving to a new house forced me to go through boxes and boxes of junk.  Due to my hobby of genealogy I have become the family historian.  The family have been giving me photographs and movies that I never found the time to sort out.Going th]]></content><dc:subject>life</dc:subject><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/moving_memories.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2006-09-18T05:00:00Z</updated><published>2006-09-18T05:00:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2006-06-09:links.1658225</id><title>Dunkin&apos; Donuts Debacle</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/dunkin_donuts_debacle.htm"><![CDATA[I love Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  For the past twelve years I have gone there every working day and ordered exactly the same thing, an extra-large decaf with cream.  Two out of seven times I get the wrong order.   Last week I went th]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/dunkin_donuts_debacle.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2006-06-09T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2006-06-09T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-11-18:links.1551302</id><title>Prism</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/prism.htm"><![CDATA[Looking at my daughter is like looking through a prism.Right now she is typing on her keyboard and I see a beautiful, intelligent thirteen years old.  Other times I look at her and see glimpses of the woman she will someday be.Often I look at her an]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/prism.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-11-18T03:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-11-18T03:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-11-03:links.1537427</id><title>Halloween Walk</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/halloween_walk.htm"><![CDATA[Halloween week is always busy for me.  I always take my last week of vacation to be with the family.  My daughter is big into the holiday and we make the most of it.This year we started out by going to Carlisle Township and the Metro Parks Hallowee]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/halloween_walk.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-11-03T03:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-11-03T03:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-10-14:links.1512853</id><title>In Search of Roy Book Binder: part 2</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/in_search_of_roy_book_binder_part_2.htm"><![CDATA[My friend Tom called and invited me to the Philadelphia Folk Festival.  Being raised by an agoraphobic gives me an altered sense of distance and going to Philadelphia seemed equivalent to going to Afganistan.  He explained that since it was the for]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/in_search_of_roy_book_binder_part_2.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-10-14T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-10-14T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-09-18:links.1480520</id><title>the bmv</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/the_bmv.htm"><![CDATA[A few weeks ago I got another car and headed down to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  I was getting a twofer as I needed my drivers license renewed too.  I haven't been to the Bureau in Elyria in years as I normally go to Wellington.I walked in and w]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/the_bmv.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-09-18T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-09-18T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-07-28:links.1409952</id><title>Greektown</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/casino_royale.htm"><![CDATA[What a trip!]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/casino_royale.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-07-28T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-07-28T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-06-22:links.1352519</id><title>Father&apos;s Day Rag</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/fathers_day.htm"><![CDATA[A few weeks ago on a family outing we drove past a van selling wares on a vacant street corner.  It looked a tad seedy and had a large banner saying, &quot;Do-Rags $5.00&quot;  I turned to the wife and daughter and said, &quot;That's what I need. ]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/fathers_day.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-06-22T11:32:00Z</updated><published>2005-06-22T11:32:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-04-04:links.1176514</id><title>Lack of Pryor Restraint</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/lack_of_pryor_restraint_1.htm"><![CDATA[When I was a kid we only had three channels, 3, 5 and 8. Later we got UHF (Ultra High Frequency)and added channels 43 and 61.  Channel 43 was always snowy and had mostly reruns of old tv shows. Saturdays was Superhost, Marty Sullivan in real life, s]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/lack_of_pryor_restraint_1.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-04-04T16:33:00Z</updated><published>2005-04-04T16:33:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-03-21:links.1144204</id><title>Munchkin on speed</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/munchkin_on_speed.htm"><![CDATA[It's no secret that I talk very fast.  The reasons for this are a blog entry all its own.  My friend Paul told me once that I speak at 80 miles per hour with gusts up to 120!When I was in ninth grade the class had to do an oral report.  The report co]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/munchkin_on_speed.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-03-21T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-03-21T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-01-14:links.983316</id><title>Enchanted Luncheon Meat</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/enchanted_luncheon_meat.htm"><![CDATA[When I was a kid things were a little tough. My mom did a great job considering she had seven children ranging from two to seventeen. It was hard enough being a widow but having two year old triplets when my dad died must have been exhausting.Money w]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/enchanted_luncheon_meat.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-01-14T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-01-14T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2005-01-03:links.986077</id><title>Midgets and me</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/midgets_and_me.htm"><![CDATA[Now that the new year is in full swing I've been thinking of things that I want to do. I've gone through the yearly weight loss pledge and how this year I'm going to exercise more. I've resolved to pay off debts, get organized and a bunch of others.]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/midgets_and_me.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2005-01-03T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2005-01-03T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-29:links.978683</id><title>Recharging the battery for 2005</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/recharging_the_battery_for_2005.htm"><![CDATA[This time of year is very special to me.  Normally work at ETDS is brutal this time of year.  From Thanksgiving we work twelve hour days and with the commute it turns into fourteen hour days.  The weather is usually pretty bad and worst of all we]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/recharging_the_battery_for_2005.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-29T01:51:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-29T01:51:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-24:links.972952</id><title>My First Bra</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/my_first_bra.htm"><![CDATA[Christmas was wondrous when I was a child. With seven brothers and sisters it was a hectic and exciting time.By the middle of December the tree was up and glasses of fudge had been passed around. All of the presents were around the tree tantalizing u]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/my_first_bra.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-24T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-24T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-20:links.968319</id><title>Have a glass of fudge</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/have_a_glass_of_fudge.htm"><![CDATA[My mother makes the best cheesecake and her oatmeal cake is fought over by all the children but things were different forty years ago.  In the sixties it was the fudge.After Thanksgiving my mother would set up her kitchen like a laboratory.  She w]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/have_a_glass_of_fudge.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-20T17:22:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-20T17:22:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-15:links.958395</id><title>How I became a Cigarette smuggler (almost)</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/how_i_became_a_cigarette_smuggler_almost.htm"><![CDATA[In the mid-seventies I channeled some of my obsession from chess to the martial arts. Over the past few years I had made a conscious decision to break out of my overwhelming shyness and fear. The acting in high school hadn't panned out. In high schoo]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/how_i_became_a_cigarette_smuggler_almost.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-15T01:25:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-15T01:25:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-07:links.945986</id><title>My brother and sister</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/my_brother_and_sister.htm"><![CDATA[The holidays are different now that I'm older. My brother Brad died five years ago this week. His death affected me more than I could ever write here. A year and a half earlier my sister Debbie succumbed to a brain tumor. Her death was tragic but aft]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/my_brother_and_sister.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-07T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-07T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-04:links.936675</id><title>A stone in a field</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/a_stone_in_a_field.htm"><![CDATA[As a child we never traveled much. My mother suffered (and suffers) from agoraphobia. It is as though an invisible fence was drawn around our house and she cannot breach it. It is slightly better now but when I was young it was severe.On one of the f]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/a_stone_in_a_field.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-04T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-04T04:59:00Z</published></entry><entry><id>tag:www.leastbest.blog-city.com,2004-12-02:links.937270</id><title>What&apos;s in a name?</title><content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://www.leastbest.com/whats_in_a_name.htm"><![CDATA[I've had a few people ask me whey I use the name Leastbest.  As always there is a story.When I was a young driver for ETDS I was told my boss wanted to see me in the office.  I walked in and two supervisors were there.  I was told to sit down and the]]></content><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.leastbest.com/whats_in_a_name.htm"/><dc:creator>Randall Bott</dc:creator><author><name>Randall Bott</name></author><updated>2004-12-02T04:59:00Z</updated><published>2004-12-02T04:59:00Z</published></entry></feed>