Thoughts of a Common Man

If I’m still home at 7 a.m., I normally watch Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie to get some news (fake or not fake). I was stunned by yesterday’s news. Lauer got fired. Caught up in the sexual harassment triangle. I immediately wondered if it was a quick trigger. Did he get fired for simple remarks? Was he a serial problem child? They didn’t say much early on, and I got into a chat with my text buddy. “I worry about not being able to joke around anymore,” I said. “Men have been acting like idiots for centuries. The tide has turned.” “There’s a line that can never be crossed,” I answered. “If you don’t know the line, you’re probably a scumbag.” I thought of a dinner with a coworker years ago. A fun filled laughfest where we all spent time making fun of one another. She eventually gave me her phone number so I could text business opportunities. I immediately sent a text: “What are you wearing?” She was sitting across from me at the restaurant. We all laughed. She ca

I’ve worked with a number of Native Americans as there are a number of men of that particular heritage in the ironworker field. One of my favorite people of all-time was my buddy Kimball. He taught me so much about life because he caught me between the ages of 25-35 and he tried to get me to aim my arrows instead of just firing them all over the place. Kimball died way too young, but I think of him a lot, and I know that hundreds of his buddies do too. I saw one such buddy the other day. Another Native American ironworker. “Cliffy!” He called out. I was walking with a few management guys and one laughed and said: “That Indian Dude is calling your name.” I headed over and we exchanged two hand slaps and a hug. “How you doing?” He asked. “I’m good,” I said. “Are you tying off when you get off the ground?” “You know I’m not,” he said, with a laugh. “Yeah, yeah, only the weak fall,” I teased. “Thinning the herd!” I hoped he was joking, but I wasn’t sure. Hardworki

So, John Flynn’s lawyers are no longer speaking with Donald Trump’s lawyers, which might signal that Flynn has now flipped and may be singing like a canary. What that leads to is anyone’s guess. Uncharted territory. There was also a story circulating about a tape that further compromises Donald. Was he caught with an underage girl? Did he pull a Ray Rice? Many have supposedly seen the tape, including Tom Arnold. Will it all come out soon? Stay tuned. What is true is that Trump made a claim, on Friday night that Time Magazine contacted to let him know that he’d probably be ‘person of the year’, but since it involved an interview and a photo shoot, probably wasn’t enough because he’s busy... ...then Time came out and said that the claim was inaccurate! Kind of like People calling me to let me know that I was most likely going to win ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ but I’m too damn busy. Was it just a distraction? Donald doubled down on Sunday morning. He explained that the De

It was a project that took an awfully long time. The owners were promising that the Curtiss Hotel would one day be a luxury hotel, but when those projects begin, it is hard to visualize. I visited the site plenty of times. It was a good project that seemed to take forever. As it gets close to being done, I often move onto the next big one, never actually seeing the finished product. I still have not been back to 716, the Pegula Project next to the hockey arena. That job was a particular pain in the ass. Yet, on Saturday night we booked an evening away at the Curtiss Hotel. The place was jumping. People were heading in and heading to the rooftop lounge. There was also a bar on the ground floor. When we were checking in there were a half dozen young girls in the lobby, wrapped in towels. They’d just got out of the hot spring pool that went from inside the building to the outside. We were certainly down for that experience. Mind you, my day started with lobster for lunch wit

Social media is a double-edged sword. For every stupid tweet or post that is meant to inflame... ...there is a great shot of someone showing love in some fashion. Thanksgiving is a good day to peek in on the lives of your friends, because it shows them with their families. I like to check out the shots of the food, the sharing, and the laughter. My brother Jim did all the work for us. He had way too much food again, but everything was perfect, and there’s no shame in leftovers... ...especially when it’s Mom’s stuffing! “We don’t eat like we used to,” I mentioned to Jim, and we missed Carrie and Corinne and of course, Jeff and Dad, but we shared and laughed a lot. The memory of all the past Thanksgiving celebrations are right there too. And it’s so much fun to see the smiling faces of friends from all across the country. Hanging with spouses, children, grandchildren. Just living. That’s what all the work is for. And, of course, you feel for those who don’t have

In the new book, The big D, (available through Amazon.com, or by messaging me your address), I wrote about The Carpenters, and how the Mom in the story loved their music. I thank Mom (and Dad) for introducing me to all sorts of artists. Mom also brought reading into my life. We still trade books. On Thanksgiving Day, the first thing she said to me was: “I’m reading the new book. It’s a great story so far.” She reads a lot... ...so that’s a great compliment. And conversation has always been easy with Mom. We talk about everything from sports, to politics, the past, present and future. On her birthday today there will be Lobster! She loves it... ...and a bunch of us will take her out... ...share some more laughter. Happy Birthday to my Mommy! Thank you for all you’ve done, and all the love! Every time I finish a book she should also take a bow because I’d have never been an author without her. Not a chance! (Shoutout to JC too. Happy Birthday, buddy).

He got 83 years. Isn’t that a kick in the head? All those days for a man who was basically the face of evil for all of my life. I was just a kid when all those murders went down. I actually remember a little of the news coverage... ...just snippets on the news and my parents talking about it. They kept us away from it. You could do that back then. I wonder how such a massacre would be covered these days. Certainly we have grown accustomed to some of the violence. Manson was no more of a monster than the guy in Vegas, was he? But I also wonder how many books, movies and films have been made about Manson. I’ve seen plenty. I’ve read all about it. Still shakes me a bit. Manson and Helter Skelter are synonymous. He was a failed musician. A failed prophet. A complete nightmare... ...and he had a following. When you read the books or watch the films you’re struck by the men and women who got trapped into a way of thinking, and did things that they would not

What’s not to like about Thanksgiving? Food. Nap. Family. We have plenty to be thankful for here at Camp Clifford. We’ve had another productive year. We’re still here. We still all get along. We could certainly use better legs around here, but we keep battling... ...and that’s worthy of being thankful. I hope that your day is filled with laughter... ...good food... ...and kind thoughts. Seems there’s way too much fighting these days. Americans arguing with other Americans about what does or doesn’t make us great. You know what would be really great? Just being grateful for what we have. Don’t worry or feel bad about what don’t have... ...feel great about what you do. Happy Thanksgiving!

“We played king of the mountain out on the end. The world came charging up the hill and we were women and men.” I have a lot of trouble listening to Springsteen sing “Blood Brothers.” It came on E-Street Radio the other day, though, and I thought of my brothers. I listen to my boys play now... ...they can all make each other laugh. Every once in awhile they get pissed at each other. “Let ‘em Go. They’re all right,” I’ll say to Kathy. “They’re screaming at each other.” “So what,” I’ll answer. “They’ll be fine.” And they will. They’re really tight. Like I am, with all of my siblings. Yet, life came charging up that hill. It does for all of us. Today is John’s Birthday. My first, best buddy. We did play king of the mountain (he won). We had boxing matches (he won). Ran foot races (he won). And did so many other things together. Day after day, year after year... “I’ll be moving through the dark... ...with you in my heart... ...my blood brother.

My boys were fired up! The Bills has laid two eggs in a row, but there was hope! They were starting Nate Peterman... ...a guy who’d throw it down the field instead of tossing screen passes. Jake was soundly for the idea. Sam was against it, but by game time was leading the “Nate! Nate!! Nate!!!” Cheers. I just wanted to see the kid do okay. He didn’t. He threw an interception on his third play.  “It wasn’t his fault,” Jake said. And it wasn’t. “What if he throws 7 picks?” I asked. Both boys looked at me with fire in their eyes. Three plays later he had #2. I didn’t see the third or fourth. When the kid threw his fifth I was truly feeling bad for him. Historically awful. I thought about it in the context of being a Dad. If that kid were my kid, why would I say? Turns out my kids were fine with it. “It blows to be a Buffalo sports fan,” Jake said. “We can still go 11-5,” Sam reminded. Poor Peterman. Poor Jake. Poor Sam. Poor Buffalo! Yo

Roy Moore was said to have stalked teenage girls. He wasn’t even allowed into a mall because he was creeping out too many of them. He called one of them (according to her) when she was in her high school trig class. Story after story about his bad behavior, but he wants to be a senator so that he can bring about change and make sure that people follow the laws of God. And there’s plenty of people on his side! I heard one guy try to explain it away by saying that one of the girls was 14, but was nearly 15 and the age of consent in Alabama is 16. So? He didn’t miss it by much???? He was in his 30’s! He was, allegedly, trying to pick up children!! For sex!!! Isn’t that enough? People are coming out of the woodwork to talk about what a creep Moore was. Fake news, the Democrats and the GOP in Washington are setting him up! What an amazing conspiracy, huh? And a couple of weeks ago I wondered aloud how anyone could possibly vote for the guy with such a shadow hang

Recently, I purchased an autographed copy of a John Green book, "Turtles All the Way Down." John Green isn't a long name. His autograph is just a 'J' and a 'G'. Must've taken him all of a second. I was signing copies of the new book on Saturday morning. I like to add something to the signature. I don't want it to be a yearbook signature, but something! A couple of words. Then signing my name. My handwriting has never been great, but you can see all the letters in my name. And I bring it all up because signing books is one of the neat parts of actually writing a book. I like to think of the person reading it. Hoping it makes a little bit of a difference, or entertains, or brings an emotion. The other thing is that I am a person who is constantly driven to do the next thing. The next job, the next book, the next, next, next, next... ...drives me crazy. I was in the middle of signing a number of them, and I was addressing one to a go

Two members of Congress got into a shouting match on Thursday. Hatch versus Brown. It was pretty ugly. The argument was over who the tax cut (the most massive, awesome, tax cut in maybe ever) would benefit the most. It's being hailed as a tax cut for everyone, but under further scrutiny, it appears that it will benefit the highest 1%. Shocking! But the good news is that those who save millions...will kickstart the economy... ...and share their money with the struggling middle class and the poorest among us (who may actually get a tax hike). So, how to pay for this, because we don't want to add to the deficit... ...so, let's roll that healthcare thingy into it. I can imagine it. "Tax hike on the poor, take away their healthcare, stop paying teachers who pay for students supplies out of pocket, fix the estate tax so Ivanka and the two creepy sons keep the money that I've never paid taxes on (cause I'm smart), give the middle class some out f

1). Geez, raise your hand if you haven't sexually assaulted someone. What kills me about it is: It's fine if the guy is R/D or it's horrifying if he's D/R. Make up your mind! You're either horrified by it or you don't care. I've said it before, I was shocked that Bill Clinton and Trump both did not lose their base... ...accusations didn't seem to matter. On the other hand, Cosby, Weinstein and Spacey are cooked, and Louis C.K. might be too. Franken and Stallone on Thursday... ...who gets lit up on Friday?? 2). Big story in Buffalo as Tyrod lost his job as starting QB. The family was split on it. I agreed with Jake in thinking, "Why not?" Kathy and Sam were against the move so we touched base with Matt. "Stupid," he said. So, there you have it. Jake and me are on the right side of it because no matter what the sports subject is, Matt is always on the wrong side. He's a Bills, Sabres, A's and Pelicans fan

At least a couple of times a week I'll swing by the Dollar General store to grab a few things. Melky and Paris like their dog bones, Sam likes the bags of popcorn and Kathy likes the small 100 Grand bars. A quick stop to break up the day a little, and make the people around here a little more comfortable. On Tuesday, at one such Dollar General Store a 53-year-old man was shot, by a guy who had an arsenal of weapons, and seemed intent on killing a whole bunch of people that he didn't know. I've stopped at that particular store a few times as it was right beside one of the active jobs. The store is less than 8 miles from my home. The guy who got shot was 53... ...maybe he just stopped in to make his family's day a little better. And thankfully the Cheektowaga police department intervened and saved lives. The guy had vests, additional guns...all the stuff necessary to kill. Struck me down sad the more I thought about it. In these shootings we hear about

The guy who ran on the field at the Ralph or Rich Stadium or New ERA or the cap or whatever the hell they call it... ...was the best Buffalo performer of the week. The Bills got absolutely hammered (as they usually do in November) and late in the game the guy ran out Buck naked. He went about 90 yards, got into the end zone (the Bills hadn't yet) and then tried to head back out. He was tackled hard. Of course, I didn't see it on television, but his run was captured on video and flashed on all the social media outlets. He was roundly congratulated for his efforts, but as per usual I took some time to think about his motivations. His name isn't important, but he's 29 years old. He's also in good shape and has tattoos. I'm not sure how endowed he is. I saw the g-rated video. But, at 29, I wondered what sort of profession he was in. I'm not sure, but I think my boss and my company might frown on my participation in such an event. Wife? Kids?

They're becoming routine. I feel so beat up by the end of each week that most of what I do is in an effort to just get off my feet. I limp into each weekend all worn out and hope to find some relaxation for the tired mind and body, and in an effort to do that I've found that I've turned into my Grandma and My Dad. My job is to now make sure that everyone has something to eat. "I can make you some eggs," I'll say to the first person I see. Because I also get up hours before anyone else. Sunday was the day of the big dinner. Jake was home from school, Sam was kicking around and Kathy and Mom were heading to Bingo. I planned on sleeping until 7:00 (which is considered sleeping in) and then getting what I need for steak, and shrimp scampi over linguine. There was a hiccup though. I woke up at 5:00! So, by the time everyone else woke up I'd already eaten two meals and was ready for bed. The Bills were on, so the kids took the big televisio

So, we're all good now, right? Judge Judy often says: "If it doesn't make sense than it's not true!" She often yells it. Let's try and grasp the Russia "Hoax". "The F.B.I. Is lying. So is the C.I.A." The New York Times and Washington Post? "Fake news...run by liberals." The Clintons and Obama? "Liars!" Comey, Brennan, Clapper??? "Political hacks!!" Mueller? A lifelong Republican is now a shill for Hillary because they sold uranium to Russia? Speaking of Russia... ..."never had anything to do with them!!" Campaign manager indicted and charged for making deals with Russia. Papadopolus? "Never heard of him!" Kushner and Flynn... ..."hardly know the bastards." But Putin??? The KGB spy???? "Seems like a straight-up guy. I believe him. We could all be great friends!" Does that make sense to you??? If you voted for him... ...do

My son, Sam, has a lot of hair. He's not sure what to do with it, but he likes to wear it a whole lot longer than I might like... ...if I had a choice. The thing is, my hair has been pretty much gone for a long time. I was in my 20's when I had this exchange with a pretty, young girl who was cutting my hair. "Will I be bald or grey?" I asked. "It'll be a good race," she said. And it was. The little hair I have left is grey. The thing is, I mentioned to Sam that I had the same crazy hair back in the day. I actually had a whole lot of angst about how I should wear it. I'd part it in the middle. I'd try to tamp it down. I wore it long. I tried it short. I didn't know what I should be doing. So sometimes I looked ridiculous. And then it fell out, and all my problems were solved. Sam has endured a lot of teasing lately. He kind of rolls with it. "I have great hair," he mentioned to me when I said something t

There are a whole lot of uncomfortable men out there. In Hollywood, in Congress, in work places all across the country. It appears that the downfall of Harvey Weinstein has allowed victims to find the strength to step forward and obliterate those who once left them powerless. Well. It's about time, isn't it? Way back I felt amazed when Bill Clinton sort of skated through his episode. Yes, he was impeached. He certainly was hammered on a lot of fronts, but I heard a lot of people say: "What he did had nothing to do with his job performance." The Access Hollywood tape of Trump just locker room talking also surprised me. He received a lot of votes from women. It was a shock to me. I've worked in a lot of places. I can certainly tell you that there has been a cultural shift since the 1980's and 1990's. But, certainly there is still a lot of room to improve. I've witnessed women being verbally abused by their bosses. I have also kn

I went the entire week without writing about the massacre in Texas. There's nothing to say. "It is what it is," as they say, but as the week went along I was absolutely horrified by the reaction. "Prayers work," Paul Ryan said. That's the response???? Prayers? I've been a good catholic boy all my life. I learned all the prayers as a kid. I still say them. But that's the answer? Why don't we have morning prayers before the start of the day... ..."Dear God, please stop all Americans from shooting one another today. We especially ask You to make sure that the mentally ill people with a hundred guns only shoot cans today. Thank you!" Paul Ryan think that will work? I'm skeptical! And Facebook and Twitter were alive with the debate. People arguing for the rights of the shooter. The president checked in: "Not a gun issue! A mental health issue." The mentally ill were reinstated as gun owners by

Back in 1978 a young outfielder with the California Angels, Lyman Bostock, was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity. I was just 13 years old at the time, but was as big a baseball fan as you could be. I'd seen Bostock hit a homer at a game between Toronto and Minnesota at exhibition stadium. Bostock had been with the Twins then. It was the first homerun I'd ever seen live. So, his death shook me. Was the first wave of thinking about death, in what has become a lifelong dance. The new book is called The big D. The dance continues. My son, Jake, texted me during the day on Tuesday. "Roy Halladay died." I was on a shuttle bus on the way to the airport in New York. I hadn't seen any news of the day. (No wonder my mood was good). "WHAT!!!" "Plane crash. Man, Doc was great," Jake wrote. And he was a great pitcher for Toronto and Philly. Not good... ...great. He caused the Yankees fits, but as a baseball fan, I enjoyed wa

I had a bright idea. I'd handle the 3 New York City area jobs by flying out, renting a car and flying home. Promised to be a long day, and it was, but it's awfully odd to be in New York and then be home to the same bed you woke up in. And no matter how many times I've been there I'm always surprised by how big it is. We were flying into LaGuardia and the city was right there to be taken in. From up above, you can still see how massive it is, but it also seems a whole lot less intimidating. You make up for that when you get on the ground. "Where the hell is the rental car station?" I kept asking myself as I wandered around. I finally asked a man who looked to be in a uniform of sorts. "Purple," he said, and was gone. Think of that: "Where the rental car station?" "Purple." Moments later a bus pulled up: "Purple Route," it said. "Where you going?" The driver asked. "Rental car,"

Was watching a rerun of Law & Order on Saturday and a commercial for the ASPCA flashed on the screen. Melky & Paris were hanging out with Me. Both were snoring, up on the couch. "Look at the doggies," I said. But the dogs on television were sad. The woman was speaking softly, letting me know that many of those dogs needed to be saved. "You two had steak scraps for dinner," I told my dogs. There was a boxer with big eyes in a small cage. "You went for a ride in the car." A German Sheperd looking emancipated. "Melky took a late morning nap on a heated blankie." The narrator was reminding me that just $19 a month would save those poor dogs. I think I spend $19 a day on these two. The commercial was really working on me though. I love dogs. "There's no one singing songs to those poor dogs," I said. Melky and Paris didn't even look up at those poor dogs in the cages. They've won the doggy l

It's so aggravating to me that I've become so wrapped up in the daily drama. I absolutely hate writing about politics. But there's so much there every single day. On Friday, Trump woke up and started tweeting. He sent out about 20 of them. One nastier than the next. The majority taking aim at Crooked Clinton, Screwball Bernie and Pocohantas. He wants to throw them all in jail again over the democratic primary deal and a uranium deal with Russia that Clinton may or may not have participated in as a member of a panel. The uranium never left the country and was not to be used for nuclear weapons, but nuclear power plants. Details. He straight up lies. He calls people names. He starts fights, goes golfing, and whines, whines, whines. Exactly what I expected. Could there have been ideas that might have worked? Certainly. He could have advanced the changes through policy, by including everyone, and by offering reasoned arguments that led America "back to gr

My job can be cool. You see, wherever I go, I usually know between 5-10 people on every job. In some places, it's a lot more. Many of the men I've known for years and years. I know a little about their families and home lives. Guys who immigrated here. Others who've been here all their lives. Republicans and Democrats. Black and white. Hundreds and hundreds of men and women who work hard. Last week, I was on the road and after walking the site with the superintendent we headed to the job trailer as he wanted to show me some photos of the storm that passed through and hammered the project. We looked at those and then a photo of him and a woman and  couple of children filled the screen. "Sorry," he said. "No, that's a great photo," I said. He went back to it. "That's my wife and my niece and nephew. My wife passed away last year." I had known that. She'd been lost to cancer. "It's a great photo," I

You could feel the excitement building in Buffalo. The Bills were actually looking good! Playoffs? Hell no!! Super Bowl!!! And the one son who's left roaming around here was counting up the wins left on the schedule. (At least 11) and the son off at college was texting me. I was encouraging them, but I was also cautionary. "Gotta' keep working. Don't read about how good you are. You do that and you can get embarrassed quickly." "Not these guys," Jake responded. "They're well-coached." Welp, they read their press clippings it appears. And in Thursday's Buffalo News the writers recapped the Bills long history of going belly-up in prime time. We actually read through the games and Sam was getting highly agitated hearing about ones that got away. "They have a history," I said. "Different team," he answered. "I'm a little nervous, but they'll win." They were manhandled. I on

An interesting week that started with a Sunday trip to beautiful Iowa. Then a 15 hour day that started in Iowa and ended with me stopping at 4 hotels looking for a room in Rhode Island. There was a power outage and at 11 p.m. I was being told that there was no room at the inn. Kathy ended up finding me a place by looking around on the Internet as I drove aimlessly. "Who's your savior?" She asked. So, long days. And with the rain pouring down on Thursday morning I decided to start slowly. I put on the Today Show. First story was about a guy who went into a Wal-Mart and starred shooting customers. Second story was about the ISIS idiot who ran over people on bikes in NYC. A month ago a man shot people at a concert as if he were at a fair shooting yellow ducks. And as it happened, I heard my boy close the door as he went out into the world. My wife works at a hospital where one of their doctors shot a receptionist a few years back. Stopping for a coffee th

So, the World Series is over. I watched here and there, but didn't much care for either team. The celebrating made it a miserable experience for me. Yeah, yeah, I know... ...get with the times old man! But did you see Correa jump out of the dugout to greet his teammates? Or how about Joc Pederson doing pirouettes as he got between third and home? The guy on the mound certainly noticed. And I thought about some of the pitchers from my youth: Bob Gibson, Roger Clemens, Pedro, Nolan Ryan... ...when I considered Ryan facing Joc on the day after he pulled that little dance... ...I smiled. Ryan would've smoked him as many times as he could before getting tossed. If Pederson would've challenged him Ryan would've pummeled him at the mound. And I know. The kids don't mind it. Baseball supposedly needs excitement. Not to those of us who enjoy it anyway. To us the celebrating is absolutely annoying. Bat flips... ...I don't like em bu

You see I picked the Buffalo Bills to be bad. I'm thinking I said 6-10 on my official blog entry. If they win tomorrow night they'll be 6-2 and they won't have clinched a playoff spot for the first time this century, but they'll see it from there. And every win they get is a reason for me to get lambasted by Bills fans and most especially, my boys. I have no one to blame but myself. I've had a lot of fun over the past 17 years just torturing people while they're down, and they can't win any of the arguments. "The Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2009," some clueless bastard will try. "Ah, but they've won 5 and played in 7 and they've made the playoffs about 17 times since the Bills last won a playoff game." This year the Yankees were eliminated one win away from the series and some Bills fans jumped me. "Nothing to be embarrassed about," I said. "They won 7 playoff games. They weren'