Thoughts of a Common Man

Springsteen has an unbelievable song on the great Nebraska record. Reason to Believe is my beautiful wife's favorite song. I think it's right up there for my sister-in-law Dana and my buddy Pops as well. It's definitely in my top ten. The lyrics are astounding: Seen a man standin' over a dead dog, lyin' by the highway in a ditch He's lookin' down kinda' puzzled, pokin' that dog with a stick Got his car door flung open He's standin' out on highway 31 Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run. Struck me kinda' funny Seemed kinda' funny sir to me Still at the end of every hard earned day People find some reason to believe. That first verse is unbelievable, isn't it? I was shocked to my gills last week. I was behind the wheel of my car, driving back and forth, trying to figure some things. I just kept thinking: Life is just ridiculous. Ridiculously sad. Ridiculously cruel. I knew ...

The thing about the court ruling this week is that the country has changed colors on the gay community. My thinking has certainly changed as well. Let's take it back about 33 years. When I was 18 years old if someone called you gay you were supremely insulted. In fact, during those years, teenagers from all over used gay as a way to start a fight...there were a whole bunch of other names that went along with that. All of those names are now considered horribly offensive. When we said them...we were just looking to be hurtful...to guys we figured weren't really gay...but may have seemed less than masculine. Still. It didn't appear that I actually knew someone who was really gay back then. At least, if I did, they kept it quiet. Cut to college. During my freshman year I decided that it might be fun to be in a couple of plays. Yeah...I wanted to do some acting! Gannon University had a great theater community and I believe I received class credits for my st...

One of the escapees was shot and killed. There were terror attacks on 3 continents. The Affordable Care Act was deemed constitutional again...after about the 30,000th challenge. And same-sex marriage became the law of the land. Quite a week, huh? It's a funny thing about history...it doesn't seem historic at the very moment when it's happening and in this fast-paced world...our attention span is sort of short. Everything is the greatest this or the worst that... ...but this week will linger, I believe. On the healthcare and same-sex marriage decisions alone there will be long-term ramifications. Good or bad? That's up to you, I guess. It's also up to history to show us what way the cookie crumbles. But you know what? I basically missed all of it. I spent the week in my own sort of turmoil as the worst part of my job reared its ugly head. I had to assist in an incident review that cost a man, a good man, his life. An accident. And I ca...

I am not in the South. I don't know the significance of the confederate flag. I mean...I know what people are saying...but I don't feel anything one way or another. So I should probably keep my mouth shut, right? Wrong! I think everyone talking about it, debating it, spewing hate over it, crying over it... ...are the D.B's of the Week. But don't get this wrong, the debate is raging. Wal-Mart and Amazon won't sell them anymore. South Carolina is no longer going to fly it at the capital building. But the fight isn't over! They're taking our rights away! Here's the thing: I don't get pissed off when American people burn the American flag. (Now I have you yelling, right?) You know why? Because Americans through the years have fought for the freedom to protest; to burn the flag. I don't particularly like it, mind you...but I like that those dimwits have the right to protest. Got it? I think it's stupid to burn...

I work at a job where safety is the main thought of my day...every day. I go to one site after another, speaking to guys that I've known for years and years. A whole bunch of guys seek me out to get information regarding OSHA Regulations that are applicable to their work. Most of the times it's a great job. I go from site to site...talking to guys, documenting the controls and making observations. I have loved the job for a long time. I get up and go...no matter how I feel. I believe that I need to be there...every day...just in case someone needs information. I really want to save these guys from harm. And that just can't happen. Through the years I have had to talk to men about their co-workers who suffered horrific, tragic injuries. No matter how hard everyone seems to try... ...bad things happen out there. This week there were three fatalities. Three men lost their lives... ...just getting up and going to work. Mistakes may have been made. ...

To my buddy... ...he's gonna' win $ in fantasy baseball! I see Ted 2 and a big steak in his immediate future! The Yankees will win tonight for you. Sam is the spirit of the house! Send him a message today... ...now if I can just talk him out of wearing his Shady jersey. We love you, buddy!

Alex Rodriguez was considered the best player in the sport at the start of this century. He was also hated throughout the sport because he seemed arrogant...he took little time for fans...and he signed a $250 million contract before that was the norm. Many people forget that it wasn't the Yankees who paid him that money, but the Texas Rangers. I remember thinking that they overpaid and that I didn't really care that A-Rod wasn't a Yankee. And then he was...in a trade. He wanted to go to New York. Except in New York there was a player already at short. Derek Jeter was everything A-Rod wasn't. A winner. A fan favorite. A good guy, by all accounts. And that crushed A-Rod. He acted like a child sometimes. Evidently he cheated as so many had before him. But when A-Rod cheated...the world took notice. He became the poster boy for bad behavior. Yankee fans booed him. He owned up to the cheating the first time but no one forgave him. Cause Jeter was st...

The two men who escaped from prison were spotted all over the state, evidently. The truth of the matter is that they probably haven't traveled very far, but man, if you read the social media sites you'd come up with a whole bunch of information. 1). The Cops Suck. This is a really hot subject. There are people out there who really hate the police. From the incompetent morons who allowed the escape to the bumbling idiots who are policing the state...if you read the social media banter...it's just one miscalculation after another. The cops just don't have a clue, and the guy who is typing the message would have grabbed the escapees in about three minutes. The other bash-the-cops topic includes the overtime they're getting and someone ALWAYS jumps in and says Cuomo or Obama are to blame! 2). The State is Just Trying to Gather Information for Future Use. I'm not of the opinion that someday the government is coming after me. I don't think that the...

Written by Henry Scott Holland in 1847. Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I and you are you and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched unchanged. Whatever we were to each other that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference in your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play. Smile. Think of me. Pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It's the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am ...

Any fool can be a Father, but it takes a real man to be a Daddy!! Fathers Day Quote by: Philip Whitmore Snr "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." Fathers Day Quote by: Unknown Fathers are angels sent from heaven. Fathers Day Quote by: Unknown Fathers, be good to your daughters. You are the god and the weight of her world. Fathers Day Quote by: John Mayor "Father I will always be that same boy who stood by the sea and watched you tower over me now I'm older I wanna be the same as you" Fathers Day Quote by: Yellowcard A father is someone that holds your hand at the fair makes sure you do what your mother says holds back your hair when you are sick brushes that hair when it is tangled because mother is too busy lets you eat ice cream for breakfast but only when mother is away he walks you down the aisle and tells you everythings gonna be ok Fathers Day Quote by: Unknown My father gave me t...

Dylann Roof doesn't deserve grace. He walked into the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and sat down with a whole group of people who didn't know him, but they accepted him with nods and smiles. Moments later he gunned a lot of them down. Roof wanted to start a race war with his actions. For a long time, on Thursday, America digested the news and certainly prayed that it wouldn't happen. I even wrote a blog yesterday that said: "This is it. It doesn't get any better." Then I read the CNN post for the story on Friday: You hurt a lot of people, but God forgives you and I forgive you. That was just one of many quotes from people who heard the news that a loved one had been killed. May God have mercy on you. These aren't leaders of the church... ...these aren't government leaders calling for peace... These are people consumed in grief...in the courtroom...standing in front of this kid...and saying: We forgive you. Th...

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Charleston, South Carolina." I suppose that we have resigned ourselves that this is all that can be done. Okay. That's it, right? Move on to the next one???????? I listened to the news anchor on the morning news show say this: "It is unfathomable, in today's society, that people praying in a church can be gunned down." Really? It's unfathomable? In today's society?????? Actually, I think it is entirely fathomable. It all changed when the 5-year-old kids were slaughtered in Connecticut. There was no going any lower after that. There was no way that I could ever be surprised again. So what's the answer 'Mr. Know-It-All-Blog Writer'? Gun checks? Mental health checks? Suppress our freedoms? Re-write the constitution? Do you know that there are people who are willing to defend this mentally-ill kid's rights? There are!! Even now. Millions of people will defend ...

Donald Trump is a repeat winner of the D.B. of the Week Award and this week he gets it for simply announcing that he is officially running for president. I'm not against him running for president, mind you, but he has already stepped in it a few times. First: He announced his candidacy while playing Neil Young's Keep On Rocking In the Free World. It's a great song, but was also a song written in protest (listen to the words) in regard to the first George Bush presidency. Neil Young is a liberal from the word go and he hates all things GOP. As soon as I heard the song playing I said: "Uh-oh!" It took about an hour for Young to denounce the use of the song and announce that he is all for Bernie Sanders. Then the Donald stepped up and started to talk. Second: Donald said that it's sort of ironic that the prison where the escape happened in New York State is the Clinton Correctional. Really? Is that suspicious to you? I'm thinking...

Now I've heard everything. This woman, Rachel Dolezal, was on the Today Show acting all victim-like because she always thought she was a black woman. Are you freaking kidding me? She threw the term trans-racial out there! Trans-racial ? Listen, I have no idea why anyone might decide that they suddenly want to be a different color, but her interview smacked of one thing: Bullshit. Matt Lauer asked her point-blank if she thought, growing up, that she might actually be a black person. She said she used the brown crayon instead of the peach one when she drew pictures of herself! Obviously she's gunning for the Bruce-Caitlyn type of sympathy...trying to be a hero to all the other people before her who decided that God made them the wrong freaking color! Come on, now! And do you know what the best part of this story is? The crazy hairdos that she was trying out. Did you see the photo of the wild beehive one? How was she not laughed out of the office on t...

Yesterday was the last day of school for Jake & Sam. You know what is really weird? We now only have one more kid left at high school age. I still cut their meat for them! (That's including the recent college grad). I still peel their oranges if they appear to be having trouble. (They all still have trouble). Who the hell is going to do that when they're adults? Answer: Me! Why would they leave Camp Clifford? And it will be good to have them around the house a little. Well...Sam...anyway...he looks around a little at least - fills a water bowl, mows, gets the laundry going. But don't for a minute think that Camp Clifford will be rough for any of them! This year we are featuring something new, evidently: It's called: Eat A Couple of Pizza's Immediately Following Dinner! The other night I called them to dinner - their friend Quinn was with them - and they headed to the table carrying 3 pizza's! I'm not kidding. "...

Man...I still miss seeing Gandolfini act. What would make you help two murderers out of their cells? That woman who assisted in the breakout doesn't strike me as a Rhodes Scholar. Not only did she help them...she then had a change of heart and spilled the beans about all that she did. It's also amazing that they eluded capture so long...I've been up to that neck of the woods...there are plenty of miles to hide out. If they hurt someone before they're captured that dipshit woman is really going to spend some time in a small cell. You hear some crazy stories, but there's always another crazier one... ...have you seen the woman who is accused of pretending that she's a black woman? The photos are astounding. She allegedly lived most of her life as a white person, became enamored of black culture, and changed herself into a black woman politician who was a champion for blacks in her community. Crazy old world. Jeb Bush versus Hillary Clinton for presid...

Once again the Queen Team raised a lot of money for the Susan G. Komen foundation. The queen even got congrats from the Mayor of Buffalo. Jake celebrated his birthday by being one of the first Queen Team members back to the tent. (How that kid runs so fast should be no great mystery since his Dad is a world-class athlete). But this year...again...my heart was a little heavy with the thought of cancer as my cousin Jacqui lined up and began the walk. She's fighting back right now...and to get out there and make her presence felt is an amazing thing. Truly inspiring. Like all the rest of the good people who showed up. It does a heart good to participate. It's even more special when you know how many people work so hard to try and make the cure a reality. For those who are in the middle of the battle... ...there are a whole lot of great people right there with you. A beautiful morning.

We forget the miracles. It's weird, but Kathy mentioned just a couple of words last night when she was thinking of Jake's early days. "Remember how sweet he was?" Well, that set me off...thinking...about the day of Jake's birth. The moment when the doc handed him to me and thought about the miracle that I was actually witnessing. His tiny, perfectly formed feet. I'm not a man who cries. At that very moment, I did. I recall the very thought in my head: If someone witnesses the birth of their child and doesn't believe in miracles, or God, that man is an idiot. And as a new Dad I thought about all the things I'd share with my boy as he grew. Family, sports, my love of reading and writing, the traditions handed down by my parents. The good things. Jake caught me as soon as I walked through the doors yesterday afternoon and we talked about a few things real quickly. I had some work to finish, but one of my promises (to myself and m...

American Pharoah won the triple crown. I'm surprised the horse didn't get to the podium to announce: "I'm the best." But it's weird. We like to see things in our lifetime, right? Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown in baseball in 1967. I can remember thinking that it was going to be really tough to see someone do that again. Who would ever lead the league in batting average, home runs and RBI's? But it happened when Miguel Cabrera did it a few years ago. The horse racing Triple Crown was last done in 1978. Year after year a horse won the first two legs only to lose the Belmont. Well...we have a winner! Did you watch any of the races? Me neither. I remember going to one of those horse thingies in Richmond, Virginia a long while ago. The horses weren't running around the track, but were jumping and showing... ...What the hell do you call that? Anywhoha... "Aren't they beautiful?" the girl I was with kept ...

“This is what Sarah Palin wrote on her Facebook as she tried to explain away the Josh Duggar, 19 & Counting , molestation of his sisters: "HEY LENA, WHY NOT LAUGH OFF EVERYONE’S SEXUAL ‘EXPERIMENTS’ AS YOU HAUGHTILY ENJOY REWARDS FOR YOUR OWN PERVERSION? YOU PEDOPHILE YOU.” “Radical liberals in media who have total control over public narratives are disgusting hypocrites."” Where to begin with this woman? First off, the molestation she is referring to with Lena Dunham (whom I don't know as a liberal, or don't even know at all) was in Dunham's own autobiography. It refers to Dunham saying that at the age of 7 she touched her 1-year-old sister because she was curious. Dunham was 7. Dunham self-reported. It wasn't a cover-up by a family of people who were claiming to be at the right-hand of God while they were hiding what had happened. Big difference. Also...Sarah has no idea what 'radical' means, does she. Thirdly... Sarah Palin ...

What is it that makes us nearly root for people to break out of jail? Why is the daring escape of the two men from the New York prison near the Canada border so glamorous? It's the Shawshank Redemption factor, isn't it? But the two guys who broke out of the prison are really dangerous men. One of the guys shot and killed a police officer. The other was a career criminal who tortured, killed and then cut up his boss. Horrendous. Yet the newspapers and the rest of the media are all over the story. Some of the anchors have reported the escape as if it were a Hollywood script. I'm thinking that some people are truly hoping that they get away with it. You know...sticking it to the man, sort of deal. But make no bones about it...it's a dangerous situation. About a half dozen years ago a man was on the run here in New York State. Bucky Phillips was a man who ended up shooting and killing a New York State Trooper. Right up until the time that he did that t...

I've been seeing a really alarming trend lately. "I think I'm the greatest of all-time," LeBron 'Floppy the Crybaby' James. "I'm the best running back in the league," LeShon McCoy. "I'm the best player in the draft," Jack Eichel. Then check out the buzzer-beating shots in the NBA Playoffs. The guy who hits the shot...whether it's LeBron, or Paul Pierce, or Derek Rose... ...they all have scowls on their faces. They're mad! Now I'm thinking the trend is coming from a society where hip-hop music is all about themselves. "I'm this and I'm that." But I always think about a story that I heard a long time ago from a guy who clearly could have said 'I'm the greatest' a time or two...but never did...Derek Jeter. Jeter was a rookie with the Yankees and he had a great game. He was interviewed and following the interview the captain of the team, Don Mattingly, called him over and t...

There's a book making the rounds, written by an Upper East Side of New York wife. The author, who many are saying made up everything and called it true, claims that women get paid a bonus for doing such things as: Taking care of the kids. Keeping the house clean. And Making love to their husbands. Seems to me that this story makes the rounds every few years and there are a whole bunch of social media twists on it that say a stay-at-home-Mom would earn a salary of about 100 G's a year if all her tasks were broken down. Dopey. As luck might have it I've discovered the Jenny McCarthy show on satellite radio and good old Jenny chimed in on the subject, also figuring that the bonus plan was a little weird. These women, with their husbands usually make a decision on a family, right? How do you think it's going to go in such a situation? The man isn't going to stay home...pregnant...for obvious reasons. And Upper East Side? Don't most of these...

An excerpt from one of the coming stories...getting there...I hope... Everything I Know About Deconstructing We begin our lives as blank slates. Little by little, we learn. We learn how to stand, how to walk and how to eventually run. Moment by moment we start putting together a plan. We try to improve every single day, hopefully, in all kinds of ways. Our golf score gets better because we take a lesson or two. Our relationships grow because we learn of understanding, and trust and commitment. We live our lives in a never-ending quest to learn, and that is if we are doing it right. Yet there comes a moment when we tip to the other side. The scales go out of balance and we start to go the other way. There was a time when I wanted to become the greatest baseball player in the history of the world. As a little league player I figured out what it took to stand in the batter’s box and not be afraid. Soon enough I figured out that I could get a single to right field if ...

Read the story about a parent backing over their child in the driveway. Thankfully, the kid is going to survive, but that's a story that happens way too many times. It's heartbreaking. You spend your days just worried, worried, worried about your kids... ...my kids are getting older. You know what? The worry has gotten worse. Now they're out there in other people's cars, or driving around...and you're home...wondering...hoping...checking in. Last week Jake had prom and then he went to spend some time with his buddies on a camping trip. I thought it was a horrible idea. Until I thought about the fact that as a kid we went camping nearly every single weekend...Friday to Sunday...without ever checking in! We didn't have a phone. We weren't worried about calling home. Evidently our parents weren't worried either. Yet on Saturday night Jake sent a message to Sam that his phone was dying and that he'd turn it on and check in when...

Have you heard about Bruce Jenner? He's now Caitlyn Jenner. I'm not sure if you heard that news or not. Holy crap! Let's say it all together now: Who Cares? And here I go now... get ready to be offended somehow ... But there are points to be made here. 1). It does not deserve the congressional medal of honor for bravery. Sorry. I get that it is shining light on the issue of transgender equality. I also understand that he was a well known person before she became a well known one. I also get that standing up in front of the world to make such an announcement could be nerve-wracking, but at the end of the day...there were a lot of folks who did it first. While it may be important to the acceptance of transgender people...it is not the bravest thing ever. Give me a soldier who saved fellow soldiers...or a doctor who saves lives...or Jackie Robinson. 2). It does not make me weep that Caitlyn is now happy. Bruce Jenner was just one person out of billi...

You remember Adrian Peterson, right? He's the All-Pro running back for the Minnesota Vikings. He didn't play at all last year because he was arrested for beating his kid. He thought it was discipline. Well, the NFL graciously reinstated him to his high-paid job, figuring that finishing your community service and saying you're sorry is good enough. (Who doesn't love a feel good story?) How is Peterson this week's D.B. of the Week? Well...he wasn't happy with how he was being paid. He felt that the Vikings weren't showing him the right amount of respect. Are you kidding me? Peterson is the highest paid running back in the league. He has already received $53 million in guaranteed money! He is set to get $12 million more guaranteed for this upcoming year. The money that he is set to receive...if he does his job in 2016 and 2017 totals more than $31 million more!!!! But he's upset. He wants more guaranteed money... ...he was se...

Did you happen to see the video making rounds of the 82-year-old man cutting the tires of an 88-year-old woman because she was sitting in his seat in the local Bingo Hall? The guy wasn't exactly a great criminal. He was captured on video - Strike 1. He left footprints in the garden around the woman's car - Strike 2. He also rested his full palm on the woman's car as he braced himself to bend down and slit the tires - Strike 3. Yet...I kind of laughed. Why is it that elderly folks causing trouble like that are kinda' cute? The guy is in trouble, of course, but I'm wondering if the woman will take the seat again. We are living in a weird society. The weather has sucked again the last few days. I've been mentioning to people that we are only about 50 days away from the possibility of snow flying and while that is certainly an exaggeration... ...it hasn't been a whole lot of fun. It was 45 degrees on Monday morning. Throw in the gra...

Cousins having fun with cousins. Nieces and nephews battling each other and... ...laughing a lot. Remembering grandpa...and grandma and grandpa and grandma. Laughing at the old stories and the old one liners: "Leave the door open! The flies ain't been out all day!!" Just being together. Blood on blood. Remembering the heroes we had as we grew up. Like Uncle Jim. And Dad. June the 2 is all about family. Celebrate it! Eat 6 pork chops!! They're good for you!

Yeah. I received a speeding ticket a couple of months back. Usually I know when I have one coming. This particular time, however, I don't think I deserved one. I was in a pack of cars heading up Route 5 in the Town of Hamburg. There is a stretch of road where the speed limit shifts from 55 mph to 45 mph...all for no reason, mind you...other than to catch speeders. I worked the cruise control. I had the cruise set at 55 and worked it down to 45 as I passed the sign. Moments later there was an unmarked car behind me with the lights going. "You know why I pulled you over?" "No clue," I said. "Speeding," he said. "57 in a 45." "I don't believe so," I said. "I was using the cruise to change speeds. Where did you clock me at 57?" He pointed down the road! I'm not kidding. "Back there a ways," he said. I almost laughed. "Do what you gotta' do," I said in anger. He ...