This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum in Elm Grove. The building which was used for many years as a school which I can attest to was purchased at an auction in March 1997 by Allan Miller who refurbished the entire building, made necessary changes this was going to be a tourist attraction such as a driveway so buses can park there. They used almost all local contractors for these jobs. The Toy and Train Museum opened in September 1998. The cafeteria once housed the Perk Avenue Cafe. The Museum rents to an Apostolic Church group Sunday afternoons. There is a video in which you can see the remodeling of the building. By the way, I have never been in the building myself. That would be a good place for me to propose marriage to Kim if that ever would happen.

   I weigh 180 pounds, unfortunately, the highest all year.

   With rain, something that we needed Wednesday, I used my smarts on my lunch break and stayed at the bank by using my Wheeling Park Patriots Insulated lunch bag provided as a gift for attending my 20th Reunion earlier this month and used two Ziploc plastic containers to put in vegetable soup and salad from dinner that my parents had Tuesday night and put in the refrigerator from 11:30 to 2:00. I sort of caught up because of a late night Monday night in which Pizza was purchased meaning I had Monday's dinner of lasagna Tuesday. They say an insulated bag like that keeps it cool.

   Wednesday night, WTAE aired it's 50th Anniversary special with no party, just interviews and highlights of the 50 years of the station. Joe DeNardo, for some of you who don't know that live in Wheeling, he graduated from Wheeling Central Catholic High School. DeNardo by the way was listed as one of the famous Central alumnis in the special Friends of Coal Football Classic being held Labor Day at Wheeling Island Stadium besides John Corbett. You have to pay $15 for everything, even if you just want to see Wheeling Central play and David Blomquist focused on this on his radio show Tuesday.

    Wednesday morning, a lady in a Buick Lucerne with an Ohio License plate stood sitting in her car for some reason I believe waiting for a relation to get on the bus to start school as I was purchasing the newspaper.

    I have to report sad news with ties to the Kruger Street school extended family, Bill Burrall, who was computer coordinator in Marshall County and the father of Chad, who I was a classmate with in 1981-82 died at 58 reportedly from cancer because they were taking memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society. Chad wrote a report that year for Written Communication Week of who a student wanted to be just like and it was Bill. I also remember Chad and Kim were recognized by the Elm Grove Eagles one time and I don't believe neither of the 2 were smiling in the picture. Actually the only one that did smile was Mary Jane Hopkins, the teacher.

    Those of you who want to relive Thom McKee's "Tic Tac Dough" appearances can turn to GSN at 9:00 A. M. for the next few days.

    A person was purchasing a can of pop and the pop didn't come out. On Thursday, I went to Coleman's Fish Market and I purchased a can of pop and noticed there was another can of pop sitting there. But it was not the brand she wanted.

  Very little will I make a mistake of names, this happened on Thursday when I called Melissa Deters, Leslie.

   Getting back to Coleman's, while in Center Market, It was one of those, "Oh, it couldn't be..." situations took place when if my eyes were deceiving, Andrea Anderson who almost became my girlfriend in 2005 was spotted at the Cheese shop in a black short sleeveless dress. Whether that was her is not known. I do remember in summer 2003, Stephanie Kazemka wore a similar black sleeveless dress. Both Kazemka and maybe Anderson on Thursday did wear hose, Kazemka wore black hose and had looked better than what Anderson may have worn. I've may have mentioned in a couple blogs about the red dress suits worn by Kim Kimmins when I officially named Kara the Panda Bear after her and Rosemary and Becky Crow's.

   With all 32 NFL teams cutting players to have 53 men on each roster on this day as the NFL starts it's regular season to share with you what I think needs changed, what needs left alone and such:

   1. Currently the NFL plays a 16 game schedule in 17 weeks. I have no problem with it. There is word they may cut it to 2 pre-season games and 18 weeks of games. I don't think this should take place if the regular season starts the weekend after Labor Day which it has been because it would go into as late as the third week of January, unless they eliminate the bye weeks and between the Championship games and the Super Bowl. I may warm to it if it starts on the weekend before Labor Day. They want to go to 18 weeks because of like it would benefit those who had great seasons a year earlier avoid injuries, but what about a rookie who is trying to make the squad and such, the 16 weeks should stay put and I agree with Pittsburgh Steelers radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.

  2. If a game goes into overtime, the first team that scores wins: Thanksgiving Day 1980, Dave Williams of the Chicago Bears returns the Overtime kickoff for a Touchdown and they beat Detroit. I don't mind the start with a coin toss. The first team that scores should be history. Be the same as college football, you start at the opponents 20 and each team gets a chance to have the ball and if it remains tied after that, then play a 5 minute Second Overtime with maybe starting at the 50 yard line and the first team that scores wins and if no one scores after that, it would go in the books as a tie.

  3. Time of the kickoffs: No problem here, as long as it stays 1:00 and 4:05 or 4:15 and 8:15 Sunday nights. I applaud the 8:30 start for Monday night when ESPN picked up the package from ABC.

  4. Head Coaches: They should at least get 3 years to provide what they were brought to do, win. Here is the thing though: In year one, the coach goes 4-12 and then in year two they go 6-10 and then in his third year goes 7-9. After that, the owner should evaluate and see how far improvement has been with the team before whether or not that coach should be let go. In Chuck Noll's first season in 1969, he was 1-13, year number two they went 5-9 and then in the third year of 1971, he was 6-8. The Rooneys kept Noll and the Steelers won 4 Super Bowls. Now if you were 4-12 in year one, 6-10 in year two and then went 5-11, then you replace the coach. Also, consider this, if you go 2-14 in your second season after going 4-12, then the owner should not give the coach a third season.

   5. Players who decide to retire should stay retired. I think a writer for "One Life to Live" was at Green Bay through the entire time that Brett Favre couldn't make up his mind on whether he should play another season or not after he announced he retired in March. I was considering collecting and hunting aluminum cans again after a 6 plus year absence, but I must consider the fact I don't want to have something be bad with my right ankle again.

   6. NFL Playoffs: Leave it at 12 teams. If they move to 14 teams, you'd be talking about games airing Friday night interrupting "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune". What would happen is one game in the wild card would play Friday night, three games Saturday and two on Sunday. Please be aware in until the 1960's or so, the NFL Season ended before you opened your Christmas presents and now the season ends before I send Kim Kimmins my Valentine's Day card to her.

   7. Always have an announcer for network games: NBC did a game in the final week of the 1980 season between the New York Jets, who had been the first victim of the New Orleans Saints, a week earlier and the Miami Dolphins, who was trying to get a winning season played without a Dick Enberg calling the game. Bryant Gumbel was there, but came on at halftime and explained about the silence bowl and he would work out the kinks.

   8. Player contracts: Every player should be told that you will play for a minimum at the start when you sign. If you do well, then you can get your contract to a improved total without the teams having to raise ticket prices and food and drink at stadiums, game programs and such especially currently with the gas prices and everything else. Some players from the 1986 New York Giants drove Chevrolet Blazers, not Red Ferraris like the one Tom Selleck rode on "Magnum P. I."

     9. Ending of a game: No matter if you lost by 21 points or more and the losing team scored a touchdown with no time left, the extra point has to be kicked. I feel that if with no time left a TD is scored and it's 2 points, it must be made. 1 points, it does have to made to go to Overtime or you can be daring and go for 2 and if the TD puts you in a tie, you do kick the Extra Point. In 2003, by the way Tampa Bay trailed 9-3 against Carolina and scored a TD on the final play in regulation, so the extra point was attempted and Carolina I believe blocked it. Carolina went on to win in Overtime 12-9. But if you are like lets say trailing by the score of 12-3 and scored a TD with no time left to make it 12-9, the Extra Point should not be attempted. my thoughts as some of you who are not NFL fans enjoyed the final weekend of no NFL games which those who have had withdrawal on Sunday can relax because there is one more Sunday of no NFL.