{"id":86208,"date":"2021-08-25T07:55:37","date_gmt":"2021-08-25T11:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=86208"},"modified":"2021-08-25T07:55:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T11:55:37","slug":"merlin-lessler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/","title":{"rendered":"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The nannies were on TV again today. The network calls it news; I call it a chat with the busybodies.\u201d They don\u2019t have a very high opinion of the general public; they think we need their advice, and a lot of it. The theme this time was hot summer weather. Beware!\u201d Most of us can tell when a heat wave arrives; some of us look forward to it. But in case we are too stupid to figure out what is going on, the media comes to our rescue to clue us in and to help us handle this \u201cdifficult\u201d occurrence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They started today\u2019s segment by parading out two pale-faced dermatologists to tell viewers to stay out of the sun. They acknowledged that we couldn\u2019t always do that so they listed the steps we should take to prevent wrinkles, age spots and skin cancer, the one-two-three punch. We should wear hats, long pants, shirts with long sleeves, light colored and light weight clothing, wraparound sunglasses and most important of all, glob on tons of sunscreen. One doctor suggested that carrying an umbrella was also a good idea too. Then, the screen faded as a commercial on diet pills took over. It makes me wonder how our species survived for hundreds of thousands of years, working and playing in the summer sun.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After the commercial break a nutritionist took center stage. He kicked off his segment with new commandments to supplement the original ten: \u201cThou shall not eat barbequed red meat \u2013Thou shall eat no bratwurst or anything with wurst in its name \u2013 Ye shall eat fish and be happy \u2013 Do not taketh soft serve ice cream into thy digestive system, nor soft pretzels and cheese.\u201d I don\u2019t know about other viewers, but he ruined my summer. I left the room. I couldn\u2019t bear to hear him speak ill of hot dogs, hamburgers, speedies and potato salad. I then put skinny, pasty-faced nutritionists on my \u201cdo not listen to\u201d list.<\/p>\n<p>The nanny show concluded by introducing a fashion consultant who specializes in bathing suits. Volunteers from the audience marched in front of the cameras so she could explain why they were wearing the wrong swimsuits for their body types. One by one, she did a critique: \u201cYour gut is hanging out; Your bulging thighs look worse because your suit bottom is too small. Blah, Blah. Blah. Then came the advice: \u201cBuy a suit that\u2019s one or two sizes larger than you usually do &#8211; avoid low rise bottoms \u2013 mix a red top with a yellow bottom; it will distract from your body issue. On and on she went. By the time she finished with her \u201ccover up and distract\u201d advice, she might as well have pushed back the fashion clock to the 1890\u2019s when people went swimming fully clothed. She didn\u2019t say anything about men\u2019s beer bellies or Speedo suits. We escaped her critical eye. The entire show was depressing; I think I\u2019ll spend the summer boycotting the nanny shows.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The nannies were on TV again today. The network calls it news; I call it a chat with the busybodies.\u201d They don\u2019t have a very&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":82349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The nannies were on TV again today. The network calls it news; I call it a chat with the busybodies.\u201d They don\u2019t have a very...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-25T11:55:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/\",\"name\":\"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-25T11:55:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg\",\"width\":225,\"height\":225},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"The nannies were on TV again today. The network calls it news; I call it a chat with the busybodies.\u201d They don\u2019t have a very...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2021-08-25T11:55:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":225,"height":225,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/","name":"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg","datePublished":"2021-08-25T11:55:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2020\/11\/Old-Coot.jpeg","width":225,"height":225},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2021\/08\/25\/merlin-lessler\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Old Coot has the Summer Blues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}