By STAN STAPP

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now that we're moving into 2002 I have a few leftover items from 2001 that I should squeeze in.

For instance:

TAKE MY DENTIST, James E. Nash, who is conveniently located for me, within easy walking distance just two blocks away. On my last visit, I was so excited I only needed a cleaning job that I failed to notice anything unusual when I put on my coat. But as I neared home I began to feel something inside my jacket, touching my neck and shoulders. I felt around - and, of all things, found a wire coat hanger cuddled in there. Somehow I'd picked up both my jacket and coat hanger together. I continued on home, extricating the hanger when I arrived, thankful I hadn't had to pass security at the airport. I meant to return the hanger the next day, but hung it up in my closet and forgot. Sorry Dr. Nash. I'll return it when I come in for my next appointment. ...

SEATTLE DIDN'T WIN the World Series, but the Mariners beat New York in the third game. When the game ended I was thrilled to hear Kate Smith's voice once again singing "God Bless America." For many years she starred in movies, radio, and night clubs, her theme song being "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain." Another favorite, particularly during World War II, was "The White Cliffs of Dover." Kate died in 1986. ...

HOW NICE IT WAS to run into Morris Jellison the other day as my wife Dorothy and I were having lunch in the Emerald City Coffee Co., at NE 55th and 75th NE. Anzie operates the place, busily serving interesting meals and fresh roasted coffee to go. Dorothy and I first became acquainted with Morris some 40 years ago, through folk dancing and the University Unitarian Church. Morris is still active with the church, singing in the choir both sessions. ...

I NEVER READ THE WEEKLY TABLOID magazines, but I always glance at their covers - wondering what they are coming up with next. They certainly do produce some amazing headlines and photos. Recently, while most of us were concerned or fearful of the long-range threat of Terrorism the Sun tabloid headline read: "Startling vision heralds era of peace on Earth!" I wonder who fed them THAT information? Or a previous one reading:"Next Pope will be a U.S. woman." (A Congregationalist minister was passing by at the time, but I thought it best not to ask him for a comment.) ...

IT TAKES QUITE a lot of noises to run a household. A few that come to mind: Oven timer signaling Dorothy that the casserole is done; clothes washer asking someone to please move the clothes to the dryer; dish washer signaling "I'm done!"; furnace coming on; a ringing sound, is it from the doorbell, the TV, or the telephone? Is it a wrong number or a telemarketer?, and is that Dorothy yelling at me to "Get the Phone!"?; Kissi coming through her cat door; toilet flushing; a noise coming through our skylight, is it an airplane, or thunder?; me asleep in my easy chair sawing logs - you can think of several more! And our newest one, Dorothy's just acquired bread-making machine. It makes excellent bread, but can be quite noisy at times, chugging away when it mixes the dough. ...

I WAS PREPARED for a miserable wait in the Christmas gift line at the Wedgwood Post Office Dec. 10, and dressed for the weather: Rainy and Cold. I wore an undershirt, a long-sleeved shirt, two sweaters, and a jacket. I carted four gifts in a shopping bag. To my surprise it wasn't bad at all - 19 minutes from when I entered the Post Office to when I left. On the way out I gave some hope to several ladies near the end of the line. "I figured we were moving about a foot a minute," I told them. "just estimate how many feet between you and the head of the line and change feet to minutes and you'll know how long it will be." They seemed to appreciate my suggestion. ...

SPEAKING OF WAITING in line, Dorothy and I lucked out in getting our flu shots in Wedgwood Safeway. As we approached the two ladies giving the shots, the nurse said "we only have enough innoculant for the next 10 people." We were numbers 8 and 9. ...

I'M A CROSSWORD PUZZLE NUTwho has graduated from the Seattle Times Sunday puzzle to the Large Print No. 12, which comes in a spiral bound book. I first remove the spiral so that the pages are loose, then trim them down on each side with my paper cutter. This is so that I can use them on my homemade Magnetic Machine. It requires two pages at a time: the left page with most of the words, the right page with the puzzle and the rest of the words. They are held in place with six magnets attracted to the metal cookie tray that I picked up in a second-hand store. The four larger magnets hold the puzzles in place, the two smaller ones mark the word definition and the puzzle spot seeking an answer. For more details, inquire within. ...

ANYONE WANTING to get in touch with me should know that my e-mail address has changed. As a result of an impasse involving ATT&T and Excite we @home people lost our name and eventually became @attbi people - that is if we could figure out how to make the change. Luckily my son, Michael Stapp, stopped by for dinner and he solved the transition. The good news is that we get two days of free service for each day we were out of service. The first person to use my new address was my niece, Jerilee Stapp Ruiz of Fresno, Calif. She was glad to recover one of her e-mail friends as "a long time ago my computer crashed when attacked by the 'Love Virus'." My new address is: stanstapp@attbi.com. ...

I FIRST BECAME ACQUAINTED with Stan Soderland when he was a struggling lawyer in 1948 working on a case involving the Meridian Improvement Club, and I was covering the story. It seems at one time that the club had several hundred members, but dwindled down to 15 paid-up members. They had voted to sell the clubhouse at 2214-2216 N 56th, pay off its debts, and distribute the profits among themselves. Soderland lost the case. Years later when I was being sued and needed a good attorney I called him up and he agreed to take the case despite the fact that he knew I couldn't afford him, and billed me accordingly. He won my case, and I was forever thankful. He later became a King County Superior Court Judge. The last several times I ran into Soderland was on Shaw Island, where he lived for awhile, and at the University Village Burgermaster. He died Nov. 28, age 84. ...

WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID, I lived at 3915 Woodlawn Ave. N from 1921-22. That was more than 80 years ago. Recently, that home, which is across the street from the house my family later moved into and lived for several decades at 3916 Woodlawn, was good for a Seattle Times column by Erik Lacitis, with photo by Harley Soltes. The home, which is now occupied by Sharon and Fred Ehrig, was pictured decorated with some 14,200 Christmas lights. What a joy it would be for me to live at 3915 now, see all the lights across the street, and not have to have been the person who put them up. b