Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 27, 2008 BACK IN THE DAY!

Some serious archaeological work transpired yesterday...I unearthed the final box in the heretofore packed closet in the basement.

Prior to reaching the lowest level of the dig site, I discovered (and more importantly FINALLY discarded) boxes of canceled checks and old income tax forms from the 1970s and 1980s.

But...opening the final box revealed treasures:

• Official 1959 baseball yearbooks of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Braves, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals...all priced at 50 cents each!

• Official 1960 baseball yearbooks of the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.

• Official 1961 baseball yearbooks of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals.

• Official 1962 baseball yearbooks of the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals.

• Official 1963 baseball yearbooks of the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals. In addition, there was a collector's copy of "Four Dark Days in History"...a photo history of President Kennedy's Assassination, outrageously priced at $1.

• Official 1964 baseball yearbook of the St. Louis Cardinals. In addition, there was a copy of the May 1964 "Outdoor Illinois" which featured Cairo, Illinois in a 10-page article.

• And, finally, the official 1965 baseball yearbook of the St. Louis Cardinals...still at the everyday low price of 50 cents.

I've just got to learn how to do the eBay thing!!!

But, hey...all of the above was just a tease to the main discovery.

My eye caught a glimpse of a couple of loose canceled checks. When I picked them up and examined them, I was sure that I had received a sign! Only thing is, I'm not sure who's sending the sign, nor what it means.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I literally found boxes of canceled checks...must have been at least 25-30 boxes of checks. I opened the boxes to see what time period was represented and then pitched them without paying any attention to whom they may have been written or for what.

So why would there be a couple of loose checks in the final box to attract my attention? (Okay, actually there were four checks...two were to my landlord at SIU.)

Okay...is your curiosity aroused? What were the two checks? Well, since you asked...

For the sake of comparison...

• IEA dues for the 2007-2008 school year are $402.

• CAT dues for the 2007-2008 school year are $25.

And, if you didn't notice...there was no check to the NEA! Back in the day, you did NOT have to join all three organizations...you could pick and choose!

As for the "sign"...I'm thinking it's one of those "circle of life" things. Since I've found my first dues payments, then this year's dues will be my last!

I get butterflies just thinking about it!!!