Odd Jobs

The American premiere of "Odd Jobs," a whimsically humorous import from Canada by Frank Moher that touches poignantly on important social issues, is on stage at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring through Feb. 17.Round House is a professional company employing members of Actors Equity Association. Directed with sensitive insight by Jeff Davis, this excellent production never bogs down in cheap sentimentality. The characters are portrayed with such simple clarity the audience should have no trouble relating to the universality of their problems.

Charles E. McManus Jr., a retired Crown Cork and Seal Co. executive and longtime Towson resident, died Thursday of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 98. The son of the chairman of Crown Cork and Seal Co. and a homemaker, Charles Edward McManus Jr. was born and raised in New York City, and also raised in Spring Lake, N.J. He was a 1932 graduate of the old Barnard School for Boys in New York City and earned a bachelor's degree in 1936 from Bard College. After college, Mr. McManus went to work for Crown Cork and Seal Co. in its machine shop.

Linda Cassity needed some window panes replaced, along with a few other odd jobs done around her Glenwood home. She called a contractor who had been recommended by one of her friends. But he was too busy. She tried several other companies. "Nobody called me back," she said. It took her a while to realize that she needed a handyman. Experts said homeowners may get their telephone calls returned sooner if they channel their requests to the right professional. Handymen generally work on smaller projects that often take a few hours or days and cost less than $1,000, building experts said.

Clifford Elmer Hughes Jr., a retired manager who learned to play the piano at 83 and wrote his autobiography three years later, died Jan. 14 of pulmonary fibrosis at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 89. Mr. Hughes was born at home in Baltimore on South Macon Street and raised in Highlandtown. After graduating in 1941 from City College, he went to work as a draftsman at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point plant. He studied marine design at the Maryland Institute College of Art and also at the Johns Hopkins University's McCoy College.

"Girl 6" actress Theresa Randle is a hot number this month. The safely sexy phone operator of Spike Lee's latest movie gives out the 411 in at least three magazines. Essence and YSB put her on their covers, and Vibe gets in the act with a quickie feature.Although these are mostly cotton-candy pieces, we do get a few interesting details about the actress who grew up in South Central Los Angeles.She will do anything for her craft. For the "Girl 6" role, she remained in character during the 11-week shooting schedule.

Charles E. McManus Jr., a retired Crown Cork and Seal Co. executive and longtime Towson resident, died Thursday of heart failure at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 98. The son of the chairman of Crown Cork and Seal Co. and a homemaker, Charles Edward McManus Jr. was born and raised in New York City, and also raised in Spring Lake, N.J. He was a 1932 graduate of the old Barnard School for Boys in New York City and earned a bachelor's degree in 1936 from Bard College. After college, Mr. McManus went to work for Crown Cork and Seal Co. in its machine shop.

Colene Daniel's education began with hope, determinationWhile other corporate executives talk a good game about coming up the hard way, few could match the odds Colene Daniel faced.A vice president at Johns Hopkins Hospital currently oversees a $32 million budget and 700 employees. But 30 years ago, she was an 8-year-old sent to live at the Colored Orphanage of Cincinnati. Ms. Daniel spent four years at the orphanage, then three years in various foster homes before running away and striking out on her own.At 15, she was living in a basement apartment and working odd jobs to support herself.

We're not all cut out for the corporate world. And that's a good thing. But finding a dream job that pays you well might take some creative thinking. "There are thousands of ways to make money," says Abigail Gehring, author of Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck. Gehring encourages people to think outside the box. Way outside. She says her book can be useful to new graduates who have been under pressure in college to choose a career, find a job with insurance as quickly as possible and stick with it for life.

Isaac B. Hancock, 53, a well-known figure in Baltimore's homeless community, died from a combination of the subfreezing weather and alcohol, the state Medical Examiner's Office said yesterday after an autopsy.Hancock's body was found by police yesterday morning in the back of the 1200 block of E. Fayette St. His only protection against the cold was a thin jacket, police said.Hancock was an Army veteran, a relative said, and he usually sought protection against the elements in one of the city's shelters for the homeless.

To Robert Sisselberger, working at a police station is a dream job -- so much so that he spends three days a week at the one in Pasadena as a volunteer maintenance worker.The 25-year-old Pasadena resident, who has Down syndrome, has been volunteering at the station since 1992, doing odd jobs, such as cleaning the community room and sweeping the halls and front stairs.An occasional game of peek-a-boo is part of the fun Mr. Sisselberger brings to the job. "Robert can hide behind a broom whether you know it or not," said his supervisor, Vanessa Turner, the Eastern District station custodian.

We're not all cut out for the corporate world. And that's a good thing. But finding a dream job that pays you well might take some creative thinking. "There are thousands of ways to make money," says Abigail Gehring, author of Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck. Gehring encourages people to think outside the box. Way outside. She says her book can be useful to new graduates who have been under pressure in college to choose a career, find a job with insurance as quickly as possible and stick with it for life.

During the 1940s, photographer Arthur Leipzig produced hundreds of pictures documenting the lives of ordinary New Yorkers. Now 70 of the artist's images have been gathered in On Assignment, an exhibition at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Leipzig, now 85, explored an astonishing variety of subjects. His photo essays have ranged from children, rural laborers, winter fishing in the Atlantic and cellist Pablo Casals to southern Sudan, Mexico, pediatric hospitals and Jewish life.

Linda Cassity needed some window panes replaced, along with a few other odd jobs done around her Glenwood home. She called a contractor who had been recommended by one of her friends. But he was too busy. She tried several other companies. "Nobody called me back," she said. It took her a while to realize that she needed a handyman. Experts said homeowners may get their telephone calls returned sooner if they channel their requests to the right professional. Handymen generally work on smaller projects that often take a few hours or days and cost less than $1,000, building experts said.

For 20 years after his military service in Vietnam ended in 1968, Morgan Monceaux roamed the country working odd jobs -- short-order cook, gas-station attendant, janitor. When he got bored, he'd pick up and move to the next place. He wandered from Washing-ton state to Florida and to points in between. He hitched rides and slept wherever he could lay his head. He dug meals out of dumpsters; for a while he was homeless. Then in 1990, when he was 43, he began to paint. He was living in an abandoned building in the South Bronx in New York City.

For Barbara Bates, it's a Friday night ritual: She takes home the beloved but sweaty head of her school's mascot, a wolverine, and gives it a sudsy scrub in the laundry. The sink is off-limits during a long soak, which is followed by an air dry. "There are a lot of duties that athletic directors are expected to do that are not advertised in the job description," says Bates, who heads the athletic department at Western Tech in Baltimore County. At schools throughout the area, the position of AD is all this and more: custodian, concessionaire, seamstress, purchasing agent and groundskeeper.

People do the strangest things -- sometimes for a living.Some years back I worked in a small office where a woman showed up every two weeks to clean the telephones. She'd walk in unannounced, pick up the receiver and spray the mouthpiece with some kind of disinfectant, then wipe it with a cloth. She sprayed only the mouthpiece, never the earpiece. I wondered for the longest while if this was neglect, or if the human ear was less easily penetrated by germs.We had two telephones, mine and Michele's; she was the assistant.

During the 1940s, photographer Arthur Leipzig produced hundreds of pictures documenting the lives of ordinary New Yorkers. Now 70 of the artist's images have been gathered in On Assignment, an exhibition at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Leipzig, now 85, explored an astonishing variety of subjects. His photo essays have ranged from children, rural laborers, winter fishing in the Atlantic and cellist Pablo Casals to southern Sudan, Mexico, pediatric hospitals and Jewish life.

Clifford Elmer Hughes Jr., a retired manager who learned to play the piano at 83 and wrote his autobiography three years later, died Jan. 14 of pulmonary fibrosis at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The longtime Ellicott City resident was 89. Mr. Hughes was born at home in Baltimore on South Macon Street and raised in Highlandtown. After graduating in 1941 from City College, he went to work as a draftsman at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point plant. He studied marine design at the Maryland Institute College of Art and also at the Johns Hopkins University's McCoy College.

"Things are getting ugly here. I need a lawyer badly. My nerves are shot."Six days after sending that message about her disintegrating marriage via electronic mail, Vera Case, 31, was found slain in her Mount Airy home.Police say her husband, Dwight E. Case, 44, stood over his slumbering wife, who was curled tightly in her blankets and comforter late Jan. 24, and shot her with a shotgun.The slaying ended the promising life of a compassionate yet risk-taking veterinary technician trying to start anew in a home she purchased only two months ago."