All quiet on the home front

     Having a dishwasher in every bit as wonderful as I expected. I spend about 2 minutes loading dishes in each day, and then once every three days I press a button and like MAGIC clean dishes appear. I know people complain that the labor-saving devices promised in the mid-twentieth century never appeared, but I think they have forgotten how utterly delightful dishwashers are.
     Speaking of the mid-twentieth century, I was ripping off the fake wood paneling on my living room wall (as one is wont to do on a quiet Thursday evening) and uncovered a message from the previous occupants.

If you can't read the penciled message among the glue lines, it reads:

This job was done by William Henry Anonsen

November, 1967

11-11-67 Veteran's Day 

Job Started

Helped by

Barbara Anne Anonsen

An adjoining panel reads "Craig Robert, 5 2/3 yrs, old" and "Dale Kevin 2 1/6 yrs old". 

     I feel like I learned a little bit about this couple, undoing the work they did almost precisely 49 years ago, when wood paneling must have seemed so modern and cozy. They had two small children (one of whom sold me the house). His wife probably helped him lift the panels - they're quite hard to move around by yourself. I know that William was a man who did things right, as evidenced by excellent craftsmanship in the home repairs. And he was a man who always reduced his fractions to least common denominators.