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More phone calls during the day, mostly from relatives. And jump into the car before noon to hear CHYM jock Vern Rombough with â€" you guessed it â€" famous birthdays. Always knew I was born on the same day as my hero, former Maple Leaf great Frank Mahovlich. But, check this out, also boxer Larry Holmes, rock diva Pat Benatar (she‘s 39 too â€" what‘s the last thing you‘ve heard her do?) and Rod Stewart. Rod, you the man! All in all, it was pretty hard not to start having fun with the fact it was my birthday, and yes, I turned 39. Low profile, high profile, just go with the flow. Besides, after Beth announced it would be a ‘"nonâ€"golf" Christmas, you can imagine my delight when it was declared a "golf" birthday in the presents department. "Least I could do for a poor guy who‘s turning 39," Beth chortled. Oh, ha, ha. "As old as I‘m going to get," was my terse reply, "Cut into the cake will ya," barked Gerry Mattice, surely the troughâ€"meister of all time. "The rest of us are starving. If you‘re too old and tired to get up from your seat, maybe we can get someone to bring a piece of cake to your office." Ah, Gerry, the wit. Bad memory, though. Performance review Friday Plans all askew to sneak through the day, I cut the cake and it was delicious. Barely had time to sit down however when the phone jangled "Happy birthday, feel any older, Rick?" Bruce Anderson of Delion‘s, and longâ€"time resident of the new street we live on. It was his birthday, too. Never did get around to asking him how old he is, but loved the spirit. Naturally, as the office gang filed in, they saw the cake, with the ohâ€"soâ€"appropriate postâ€"it note attached. "Rick‘s birthday." ©$00000, your birthday today, eh Rico?" sneered Cudhea. "No, Heather‘s just practising for the real day later this year." "How old, big guy?" asked Teresa, too young to be told of Jack Benny Waterioo Chronicle Second Class Mail Registration Number 5540 Published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group Incorporated 215 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. January 15, 1992 Wonni e t ts man es Aca e a® Loo c I turned the corner to my office and there it was. Carrot cake, cream cheese icing. One of my faves. Of course. Heather also bakes a birthday cake for everyone this side of the Masonâ€"Dixon line PAGE 4 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, "Well, uh, thanks, I‘m uh, sure it will be. Good of you to remember " Thinking that was it, I hustled off to work, grabbed my briefcase, scooted across the street, up the flight of stairs, into the office, enthusiastic as ever, especially for an old grunt in his 40th year I managed to get one foot inside the door before it started. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy 39th BIRTHDAY Dear Riâ€"iiiick, happy birthday to you." Heather. Our receptionist and lounge singer. Yes, the one with the super cheery disposition, the jewel of the office, the kind of employee you want 364 days a year. But not on your 39th birthday, Accompanied, no less, by reporter Deb Crandall, not as much singing but thinking it every bit the hoot. "How did you know it was my.." "Heather knows everyone‘s birthday this side of the Masonâ€" Dixon line," chuckled Deb. "And 39 yet. Whoa." l td s 1 Well, yes I am, and I make no jokes about it. This is serious stuff, fully the last birthday I ever intend to acknowledge. From now on, I am, in Jack Benny fashion, 39 and holding. Of course, the low profile I had hoped to keep for the day lasted about 12 seconds past the morning alarm. In her cheeriest of voices, Beth cooed "good morning, man of my dreams, and a happy, happy, 39th birthday. I hope it‘s a wonderful day for you This, from a woman who is usually hardâ€"pressed to utter the word "ugh" before she downs at least two Tim Horton large cot‘fges in the morning. As birthdays go, I had ample reason to let my most recent one last Friday pass with minimal fanfare. Yes, I have reached the year that greeting cards joke about. wWHAT? YOU SAY YOU‘RE 397 For the 39th time | wasn‘t bugged by my birthday THAT‘S LIFE Pop lmpl More Intere®® THE BEST CHOICE FOR YOUR RRSP IS HERE! Planning Your Retirement Can Be A Piece of Cake FINANCIAL SERVICES 620 Davenport Rd. (at Northfield) Waterloo 746â€"8448 Just Remember . ..