Thoughts of a Common Man

Years and years back I received a letter in the mail. It was one of those kidnap ransom letters...each letter cut from a magazine and glued to a piece of paper. Except it was a love letter. I thought about my brother Jeff... ...called him. “I got one too!” We got together and compared them. They were virtually identical. “Don’t say anything,” Jeff said. “We don’t react and they’ll show themselves.” Then the phone calls started. Obviously I only had a phone in my apartment and I got a call from a girl... ...she pretended it was a wrong number but we talked. Her calls to me went on for weeks. Jeff was receiving the same calls. We wondered what she looked like. There were planned meetings that never panned out. We couldn’t figure it out. “It’s Tomasina,” Jeff said. “I found out.” We laughed about it... ...she had catfished both of us before it was even a thing. At the time we were playing softball with her brother Jason as well. We’d found a family of f

Michael Cohen is going to jail. He has a wife and kids, and along the way he took money to do all sorts of ungodly things. He got caught lying, and he was yanked into the special counsel’s office... ...where he cooperated. “Flipped,” Trump said. “Rat.” Well, the rat will be in the house tomorrow. He’s going to stand up before Congress, and everyone is chomping at the bit. The taxes, the porn stars, the rumored abortions, the Trump tower meeting, the negotiations, during the election, to build a tower in Moscow. It’s going to be pretty wild. One of the congressmen on the Republican side actually sent a tweet that threatened Cohen last night. It’s almost comical at this point. Threatening a witness, on twitter, the night before he’s to show up to testify? When I saw the tweet I looked to see if it was a parody account. That’s the thing about all of this crap over the past two years... ...no one cares about breaking the rules. They’re all above the law, it seem

Every year it seems we see Robert Kraft up in his suite, celebrating a championship. He’s 77 years old, and was a media darling because he lost his wife... ...and he has billions. “Mr. Kraft this and Mr. Kraft that.” I’ve told my boys that you can erase years of respect with one stupid move. It appears Mr. Kraft will be looked at differently from this point on, but it isn’t really about him, is it? “They should make it legal,” one guy said. “They’re both consensual adults.” Unless they aren’t. If those girls were holed up in that place and performing acts over and over again because they were immigrants to the country and treated as such to survive. Well, that’s awful. There’s a huge story bubbling under the surface right now about Epstein, Acosta, Trump, Dershowitz and Clinton. Allegedly, it’s a horrendous story about filthy, perverted men and underage girls. Severely underage. Allegedly Despicable behavior. So, it sickens me. Kraft hasn’t been charged yet.

“He’s unrepentant and if he ever gets out he will break the law again.” That is the sentencing statement that was prepared for Paul Manafort. A fascinating story. Yet, it amazes me. There are so many people out there who can muddle through without a conscience. How do they do that??? The nuns did a number on me. I make myself feel guilty over things I’ve never done! I’m a firm believer in the idea that you should earn every nickel that slides through your hands, but I marvel at these rich bastards who amass a fortune by taking advantage of loopholes, and stepping on the necks of everyone. When will the rage of the masses be turned in their direction? I stepped onto a job last week. It was on the rooftop of a downtown building that hasn’t yet been closed in. It was 3 degrees. The wind was whipping across the extremely, dangerously slippery deck. “Whoa!” A young kid who was working up there said. “Why are you here? Most safety dudes are sitting in a warm office.” “Y

33 years ago, I worked with Zane Conway, a really bright guy. He was my laborer partner who eventually made it to every country in the world. I only knew Zane for a summer, but he taught me a lot, and I recall a lot of conversations in detail. “I want to be a writer,” I told him as we stripped concrete forms. “So shut-up and write,” he answered. And a little while later.... “What time is it?” I asked. “Ten-thirty.” “Damn, I wish it was noon. I’m starving.” “Don’t ever wish time away,” he answered. “Some day you’ll be begging for that hour and a half.” Well, old Zane never spent a February in Buffalo! Is it almost over yet? 70 mph winds today...back to single digits next week...I passed a golf course and saw the greens under a tarp...had to pull over to weep. I’ve tried to enjoy it a little. I’m doing a lot of speaking for my job. My voice is cracking like a pre-pubescent teen. “Anyone have any questions?” I asked. “Are you going through puberty?” A very funn

Was hard at work, entertaining a large group in a safety training session when I picked up my phone. “Roger Stone gagged.” “Jussie claims innocence.” “R. Kelly to be charged.” “Kraft caught in prostitution ring.” That was the “breaking news.” First, Kraft: Are you freaking kidding me???? He’s worth $6 billion and he’s in a strip mall with women who are being exploited for the pleasures of ‘entitled’ rich men. R.Kelly has been flaunting his garbage with underage girls for years. Roger Stone? He’s a moron. The theme of the Friday news: Degradation. Horrible behavior. I’m so sick of the story about Jussie the Empire actor... ...he’s a world class idiot. We need wall-to-wall coverage? A man was also arrested as a terrorist threat. He was targeting who he considered to be political enemies. I rooted for Tom Brady and Hoodie in the super bowl so my kids were all over me. “How about your buddy, Kraft?” “The lengths that people will go to to destroy th

Nick Cafardo was a baseball writer... ...which made me really like him. He wrote for the Boston Globe... ...which was tough for me because he loved the Red Sux. Yet, I kept following him, and reading his stories, and arguing with him. He was that good as a baseball writer! Yesterday, at the age of 62, he died of an embolism. At spring training. Obviously, that’s way too young. It’s way too tragic. It makes very little sense. I thought about how much I’d miss reading his stories as he gloated about the Sux winning it all. I considered how I’d miss his column this year, just before the big Yankees-Red Sux Series. Earlier this year he was bragging about the Sux beating the Yankees in the division series and I made a comment about Boston having the “highest payroll in the history of the sport.” (That’s absolutely true). Nick answered me: “LOL...a Yankees fan talking about payroll!” We had a couple of other exchanges through the years... ...as Yankees-Red

What an odd story. I never watched the Empire show and I wouldn’t know this Jussie actor if he walked into my house and tried to get me to watch it. Yet, there’s a live story associated with him. Supposedly, he received a hate letter and turned it in and didn’t get much of a reaction, so he may have allegedly set up an attack that he would use as a vehicle to bring attention to how he was abused. This is the story: Jussie, a gay, black man was coming back from Subway at 2:00 in the morning when he was attacked by two men who chanted ‘Make America Great Again’, beat him and threw bleach on him. The Justice for Jussie crowd came out in force. Jussie went on Good Morning America. The world felt horribly for him. The battle lines were drawn. Jussie got a whole lot of attention... ...maybe too much for his own good. The investigation showed that maybe it was all bullshit. Did he set it up? What an odd story! And Justice for Jussie should include charges. Ther

For Manny Machado!! He played in the World Series last year... ...got one hit! He made waves during the playoffs because he stepped on the first-baseman’s foot, on purpose. Then he caught grief for not running out ground balls. Said: “I ain’t ever gonna’ be Johnny Hustle.” At the start of the off-season the Yankees kicked around signing him. I didn’t care one way or another. He is a good player with a lot of power. The Yankees have enough good players to keep him in line. Yet, they have Andujar as well, and he is also a good player who makes $299, 400 less. He runs hard too. It’s the highest contract in professional sports... ...ever! And he’s on the San Diego Padres. No World Series to worry about! (And the Padres have a good farm system so maybe it’ll work sometime in ten years, but man! Here’s the kicker: Bryce Harper will beat that contract by the end of the week. Hope it ain’t the Yankees there either. Harper has had 1 good year so far. $300 milli

My siblings and I have always had a good time with the Daytona 500. It goes back a whole lot of years. Chuck, Jim & John (along with my Dad) were the big racing fans. Jeff and I used to make fun of it all. “Mix in a right turn!” “It’s all about the crashes!” Yet, we watched and we usually bet. Corinne joined the pro-race team a long time ago. She knows it well. Last year, we all picked a driver. Simple rules. Top two drivers got a free dinner courtesy of the bottom 2. Me and Chuck lost... ...Corinne and John made sure that we paid up quickly. We had a great time... ...ate 40 pounds of meat at a Brazilian steakhouse. (That’s 40 pounds apiece). “I got Harvick and Corinne has Logano,” Chuck texted on Saturday. I hadn’t even studied yet! “I’ll take Menard,” John said. “I got Elliot,” Jim chimed in. I found an article on a website. I was in trouble. “Brad Keslowski is 8-1,” the article said. I took him. During the race, I was watching golf, but

Don’t you love the half-assed holidays where most of us work, but the government and the banks shut down? Feels good, huh? We get a mattress sale out of it. And President’s Day is particularly galling when you know it gives the mad, orange dude another day of golf. His golf days are fun because he rips off 9 mean tweets... ...tees off... ...is silent for 6 hours... ...3 more hate tweets before dinner... ...5 more nasty ones at night. And they’re impossible to miss! Yesterday, he wrote about the crooked judicial system, the rigged media, how great we’re doing, how awful Obama was, and how not funny SNL is. All during a National Emergency! Speaking of the National Emergency, these are trying times, right? The kids were going to go out this weekend but I reminded them about how we were all in danger due to the coming caravan. We can’t just pretend to live a normal life here! There’s real danger!!! So, President’s Day appears to be a bit of a joke. Stay sa

February has lived up to its reputation. Hate it!! I knew I had a challenging week coming... ...should’ve thought about it being February! Monday, I worked in Buffalo. Tuesday, I decided that I should leave a little early for the 100-mile drive to a safety training session. It took me three and a half hours! White knuckle driving, never actually going over 50. When I got there the client said: “Can’t believe you came!” Wednesday was work there and drive home... ...the hundred hours took me just two and a half hours this time and I wondered if the car was going to get blown off the road. (White-outs Suck!) Hung out during the day in Buffalo on Thursday and then (How’s this for scheduling?) drove back east, heading to Syracuse to work there on Friday! I arrived home to my loving family, eating the take-out food they had ordered. “What am I eating?” I asked. “Huh. We forgot about you.” It didn’t matter... ...I was home. A lot of hours, 15 hours on the s

I spent too much time on Thursday reading about and listening to the parents who lost a child at the Parkland school on 02/14/18. Kids shot to death. Know what has changed since that day? Bump stocks. Everything else is set up for it all to happen again. I don’t even want to bring up the number of shootings since then. Suffice to say that a whole lot of people were shot. One of the kid’s mothers wrote a long recap of how horrific that day was for her and her husband and son. Every day since has been horrific for all of them. Her husband went to the White House for the “listening” session. In the days immediately following the shooting there was hope that the ball would get rolling. “They’re going to make changes,” Kathy had said when they were all in front of Trump. “Nothing will change,” I said. “The kids are going to make the difference.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it played out... ...some of those children were actually pretty roughed up in social media

There have been so many sad moments from the political rallies. On Monday night a reporter was attacked. Trump lied about democrats and abortion saying that babies are being born and then aborted. Just a misinformation tactic to try and inflame an already flammable issue. (For the record, doctors don’t perform late-term abortions unless there is a valid, life-threatening issue) Why let the truth stand in the way of a lovely bout of hatred. Yet, I had the misfortune of hearing Junior talk. “Donald Trump Jr.: Donald Trump’s son.” Is what it says on his resume. That’s it. He went on a rant, talking about how conservative children had to keep fighting, and he punctuated it by pleading with them to not listen to the “loser teachers.” How embarrassing is that? Teaching is a tough profession. In some areas of the country, teachers are in a battle with their students. They battle with students who are looking for a reason to disrespect them. They don’t need to be belittle

My beautiful wife likes coffee crisp candy bars. I stop into a deli downtown where they have them right there by the register. I always grab a few for her. She also likes the mini $100,000 Grand bars and the Dollar General has those for a buck a pack. I toss those in the ‘fridge. “What are you getting me for Valentine’s Day?” I asked the other day. “Nothing,” Kathy answered. “Isn’t that nice?” A few minutes went by. “What did you get me?” She asked. “I always buy your favorite candy,” I said. “So why do we need a stupid day?” She asked. “So you buy me something,” I said. “Well, you ain’t getting nothing.” Perfect! I don’t care, obviously. If I want a candy bar I’ll buy one, but I think about the Valentine’s Days of years gone by. In 2nd grade I had a crush on a girl. I bought her a present. She gave me the same thing Kathy is going to give me this year. Nothing. As a much older romantic I bought a more expensive for the girl who I crushed on in high

February is the month where there’s not much happening on a Sunday afternoon because baseball hasn’t started and Tom Brady is still celebrating a title before he gets to work on going back to the next super bowl. Kathy went to Bingo. Jake went to work. Sam was lost in his college basketball studies. “The Rolling Stones: Ole, Ole, Ole: A trip through Latin America” “That looks promising.” I flipped it on. Awesome!!! The Stones shows of 2016 in Argentina, Peru and Cuba were featured. Mick & Keith sat on stools and did a country version of ‘Honky Tonk Woman.” But they showed the band behind the stage. They’re just old musicians now. There weren’t any drugs, women or bottles of booze. Just men doing their jobs. Keith and Ronny can play those magical riffs in their sleep. No one moves like Jagger. He knows all the words to some of the greatest songs ever written in rock and roll. Charlie is still there, keeping the beat. Just incredible that they’re still doi

A twitter post asked: “If you could only listen to 5 musicians for the rest of your life, who would it be?” The first answer was easy, of course: The god of music. Springsteen. Number two was easy as well. I love Mark Knopfler’s guitar, and his solo records are spectacular. I get his Dire Straits stuff two. Number 3 was also a no-brainer. The Stones were my first love in music. I couldn’t live without Memory Motel or anything off Exile on Main Street, Some Girls, Tattoo You or more and more and more. I crank that up. Then I started thinking. Number 4, after I thought about it a little more, was also a choice I had to make. Mellencamp. His new stuff is also very worthy of millions of listens. A ton of good work. Then I got a little nervous. Only one spot left. I thought about The Beatles, Bob Seger, The Cars, Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, The Who, Billy Joel, Roger Waters, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart... ...love them all. But there’s just one spot! Who ha

Elizabeth Warren seems like a good woman. I’m afraid that her goose is cooked as far as being president because of the weird story about her Native American claims from long ago. I have no idea why she’d make that claim, but it’s sort of a nothing story, but she’s already earned a horrible nickname and Trump bashes her at every turn, even making fun of genocide of Natuve Americans back in 1838. You can’t even hear what she has to say because her name is dirtied by all of it. I don’t know why some things stick and disqualify some candidates while others can live a life of absolute lives of degradation and somehow survive. Gary Hart was a leading candidate when a marital indiscretion destroyed him. Jeb Bush was obliterated by the ‘low-energy’ nickname. Hell, Howard Dean was hammered because he screamed. Meanwhile, I heard a ‘religious’ leader say that Trump is orange because it’s ‘the Holy Spirit running through him.’ How???? He lied about paying off porn stars, made

A friend of mine is in a health battle. We’ve worked together for more than 20 years and have climbed ladders, scaffolds and the iron. A lot of winters ago, he stepped off the ladder onto the icy deck and said: “Watch out, it’s real slick.” Then he promptly fell on his ass. I snapped a half dozen photos of him on his back. He’s been going through some nasty treatments and he’s a guy who never missed a day of work. He’s been spending his time watching Gunsmoke and Bonanza. We got together with another buddy and went to lunch just as we’ve done about a hundred times in the last 20+ years. “We were in our 30’s when we met,” he said... ...”now look at us.” Life is weird. You just don’t know that you’re living the good old days when you’re living them. “I may not come back to work,” he said. “I can’t do the ladders anymore. Hell, it’s ten steps to my office. I’d drop there and you’d be snapping photos.” We laughed. Had a big burger, talked about work, my book, and th

My love of baseball began at an early age. I actually remember watching the 1970 and 1971 World Series that involved the Baltimore Orioles. I was rooting for them! Because my Dad always went with the American League team, and because they were a good team with some real colorful players like Brooks, and Boog and Frank. The O’s won in 5 games in 1970, but lost the ‘71 Series in 7 games. Dad liked Brooks, John liked Boog and I was a Frank fan. He was just so big and strong, and I grew up knowing that he’d won the MVP as a member of the Reds and then years later with the Orioles. Still the only guy to win the MVP in both leagues. Frank also became the first black manager in the game. He managed the Indians. Was always open and honest about his love of the game. He was a well-deserved Hall of Fame choice, and was always right there on the list of the greatest homerun hitters of all time. (Until everyone started cheating!) But, what I thought of first when Frank died?

Politicians say the same old things over and over. There are so many turns of phrase that I hate because I have to hear them repeatedly! “I’m laser-focused in helping the American people.” That sentence has two annoying phrases. How come everyone is always focused like a freaking laser? And “the American people” wants.... ...dumb! Some other annoying phrases: “Irregardless” There’s no such word! “At the end of the day.” People who say that say it constantly! “I literally ate a hundred pounds of food.” You “literally” didn’t! “Think outside the box.” Ugh!!!! “Run this up the flag pole and see who salutes.” I should be able to punch someone for saying that. “You have 2 choices.” Then they lay out 2 options! Which is one choice!! There are some politicians who do absolutely nothing but talk in cliches. “I just want the American people to know that I’m laser focused, irregardless of what they’ve heard, that at the end of the day we have just two choi

Whole lot of embarrassing stuff going on. Hard to believe that the Virginia governor hasn’t quit yet. The story broke that he was either a guy under a white hood, or he was the one in black face. He apologized but wouldn’t quit. The next day he said he didn’t do it... ...but that once he put on a little shoe polish to win a Michael Jackson contest cause he learned how to moonwalk. And then he actually thought about moonwalking when they asked him to. I honestly don’t know how some of these dopey bastards get elected! Now, I grew up in a time when there was a whole different set of rules in the comedy world, but in 1984 a guy studying to be a doctor should’ve had more sense to know that you don’t put on black face. Yet, I went to college in the early 80’s and we hung out with some buddies who happened to be black. We weren’t racist in any sense of the word, but when we busted balls, well, nothing was off-limits. I caught up with one of those guys a year or so ago. “You

I had a good day on Tuesday. Up and out and felt all right. I still have an ache in my hip, and it acts up once in awhile, but I was ready to go. Planned the work and worked the plan. It all went as I had anticipated. No surprises. (I’m not a fan of surprises - even good ones throw me off the plan). Got home and got dinner going... ...finally sat down 12 hours after I woke up, and decided to read through the highlights of the day on Twitter. (I’ve started ignoring the news on the radio - Bruce, Howard Stern & Dan Patrick). The first story I read was about a bunch of people who were stunned to find out that they are getting killed on their taxes. That story went hand-in-hand with the recap of all the stock the corporations are buying back instead of increasing employee wages. (Personally, I haven’t tried my taxes yet, and I worked for a good company but a lot of people are crushed by the news that means a lot of lives are hanging in the balance and the rich got r

Someone leaked Donny’s schedule and it appears that he’s got a pretty easy go of it. He comes down to the office around 11:30, has an hour lunch, shuts it down around 2:00. Good work if you can get it. They say that part of his executive time includes “getting ready”. He need to get his air blown out, takes an hour a day. He watches a lot of television news... ...tweets about that. He sent 20 tweets the other day. There has to be time for the tanning booth, right? They asked the White House staff about it and it was said that he’s that beautiful shade of orange because: He has good genetics. Sounds legit. There was another report that said that he doesn’t read the intelligence briefings. Why would he? He thinks that the intelligence agents are dumb. And today is the state of the union address that had been postponed. I saw part of an interview where they asked him what was the general theme: “Unity,” He said. That’s good news, right??? Everyone is going

So, the Super Bowl was lame, huh? A defensive struggle was hardly anticipated, Maroon 5 didn’t exactly set anyone’s heart fluttering, and the commercials were nothing special. Yet, the game was tied at 3 in the 4th and everyone was being lulled to sleep when the Patriots picked up 8 yards on a pass to the flat. The next play was run quickly and picked up about a dozen. It felt different than the whole rest of the game. “They’re scoring a touchdown really soon,” I said to my beautiful wife. 3 plays later it was 10-3. And if you watch that drive it’s the only one that doesn’t fit. The tempo was way different. Caught Rams on their heels. But game wasn’t close to being over. “Now he brings pressure and gets a pick.” I felt like Romo because it’s exactly what happened. I get that people are really tired of seeing the Patriots win... ...not much of the country was thrilled, but I’m fascinated with their journey. I thought Father Time had caught Brady. When the Bills p

Today is the big day. No one wants to see Tom Brady and the Patriots.... ...they will be there. All those people who dumped the sport over the flag controversy... ...they’re watching! The refs absolutely blow calls, costing the Saints a trip to the game... ...they’ll blow it again today. Concussions? A dozen lost-time injuries every game? Wife-beaters? A highly diminished product? None of it matters! The money will pour in!!! Beer will be consumed, along with wings and nachos and pizza. Every television set will be tuned to the game, and we’ll argue about who had the least offensive commercial. The Patriots will be in the confetti again, breaking the 98-day Boston title drought. It’s amazing, actually. The ratings for the Pro Bowl were 9 times greater than the Stanley Cup Finals. It isn’t even a real game!!! No big deal!! Pitchers and catchers report in 11 days. We’re less than 60 days away from the 27-Time World Champion Greatest Franchise in th

He wasn’t  professional athlete, or a movie star. He wasn’t a famous politician or even a local hero. Larry Bierl was a 69-year-old homeless man... ...who was found dead in a bus stop shelter. They’re awaiting the autopsy results, but the frigid weather may have been a problem for the man without a home. Bierl was kinda’ famous, I suppose because he worked his way up and down Main Street every day. At the bus stop someone left a message: R.I.P. Larry It was carved into the ice on the wall of the shelter where the NFTA police found his body. That’s a horrific story, and one that brings me horrible dread because Larry Bierl isn’t a anamoly. There are homeless men and women all over the streets of every city in this country. We shame ourselves to watch people like Larry live... ...and we just push it away. Hide it from ourselves. There’s a lot of talk out there about billionaires and socialism and wealth inequality. A homeless guy like Larry is just a drop in the

“What God wants, God gets, God help us all.” - Roger Waters It’s a haunting song. I thought of it after Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “God wanted Trump to be president.” First off, that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Of all the people in all the universe God chose a man who thrives on chaos and division? God was all about spreading a message of mockery, pu**y grabbing, porn stars, and racially toned garbage? Why? To show the world how NOT to behave? Secondly, how do you dispute such nonsense? Did God come to Sarah in a dream and say: “This might be odd, but I need you to lie to the American people on a daily basis to defend the chosen one who may seem like a total nut job?” Do you refute it by saying: “God told me that he didn’t want Trump.” And if that’s what God wanted don’t you think he would’ve let him win the popular vote? Did God want Obama for two terms or was he not paying attention then? God wants a wall? Maybe... ...Roger Waters