Thoughts of a Common Man

I can’t fix anything. It’s actually kinda’ sad, to tell you the truth. Got home from work with a chance to write reports and be done at a decent hour. Wrote and sent the first one with no problem. Wrote #2 and went to save it and I got a message that said, “I don’t have permission to save to that directory.” What? I was doing the same thing, the same way as I’ve done it for years... ...now I don’t have permission? I called maintenance. “I’ll fix it, but you have to help with dinner.” So, she went to work and I cut the roast. After dinner, with the computer fixed and the reports out, we watched the show Chi. “I’m going to bingo,” Kathy said. “When the show is over just hit the input button, switch to HDMI 1 and turn to the YES network. Yeah. I couldn’t do it. I had a black screen. She texted me and I explained my problem. She tried to talk me through it. “Forget it. I’m done.” Me and Melky headed up. Plugged the phone in... ...the charger was in and

It’s hard to believe that the firefighters and police officers had to basically march on Washington to make sure that the funds were there for all those who suffered through sickness and death. It was 9/11! Remember to ‘Never Forget’? And it even took Jon Stewart and a couple of brave firefighters to go to Washington to embarrass the ‘leaders’ to do the right thing and make it permanent. No begging for money every year. So, it was a good day... ...and then the big liar ruined it. “I was down there. I wouldn’t call myself a first responder, but I spent a lot of time with you down there.” He didn’t. By all accounts he never set foot at ground zero. Even the lies he’s told don’t add up. He saw the Muslims celebrating on roof tops in New Jersey, right? He also called in to a television show and bragged that he now had the largest building. I don’t know why we let him ruin everything, but he does. What matters, I suppose, is that it actually passed both houses an

My poor dog, Paris, has battled Addisons Disease for more than 5 years. She gets a shot each month and takes a prednisone tablet each day. The poor dog drinks water like a madman every day. And she’s usually racing around the house, chasing her tail, stealing bones from Melky. She got sick on Friday... ...just stopped moving. Sam sent me a text. “She’ll feel better when I get home,” I said. And Pair-Pair did respond to me, but she was definitely out of energy. She got her monthly shot and we hoped that would get her moving. On Saturday morning, in the middle of a conversation about her coming death, Paris came racing into the living room and jumped onto the couch. A little while later, she jumped into the truck and I took her for a ride around the neighborhood. Yet, she was only up for a little while, and since everyone else was out... ...it was up to me to keep an eye on her. It was also a good excuse to get off my feet, and get some rest. I got her to eat,

I like Elijah Cummings. I find him to be a voice of reason, and he cuts through the bull crap when he speaks. He’s the real guy who tells it like it is... ...as opposed to the guy who gets credit for telling it like it is as he lies about everything. Someone should take the phone away from Trump on Saturday mornings because his ‘telling it like it is’ is blatantly racist lately. He called West Baltimore ‘infested’ and said that no human being wants to live there. In fact, he blasted all of Baltimore in a long-winded rant. I lived in Baltimore for about ten months. Had a blast. My cousins live down there. My sister and a couple of my college buddies call the area around Baltimore home. It’s a city that is rich in tradition, and the people are good and the food ain’t bad. Of course there are bad neighborhoods... ...there are bad neighborhoods in every city in the land. But there are most certainly human beings living in Cummings district. People who work, love t

First off, cancer sucks! If I see or hear of one more person I know and love has been told the bad news I might throw up. I have a couple of old friends battling hard and one guy I’ve known for about 22 years is really struggling to catch his breath. I try and make him laugh a little. “How you feeling?” I asked when I saw him on Friday. “Sleep is rough and I can’t walk more than 50’ without gasping for breath. I hate cancer.” “You’re still whining about that?” I asked, and he laughed. And I’ve battled sore and tired and painful legs and hips, but it’s nothing compared to what he, and others are going through. “Just keep punching back,” I told him. “If you stop punching you’ll lose.” “I’m punching,” he said. “And when I swing my fist I’m outta’ air.” I played a round of golf on Thursday with my good buddies. Played lousy again with some great shots sprinkled in. Had a blast and forgot about leg pain... ...until the round was over and I was walking to my car. “W

Every year, every baseball team gets beat badly on any given day. Yankees lost 19-3 to the hated Red Sux last night and that’s troublesome only because the Sux fans, who haven’t said much this year are suddenly awake. Now I’m forced to talk about the ten game lead... ...or the 27 titles... ...or the 86 years that went by where Boston won zip. And it’s all in good fun, I suppose, and there’s no Yankees love without Red Sux hate... ...but I’ll take a beating all day. I think back to my Boston buddy Joe Pugliese. We went to a Sux-Yankees game together at the old stadium. Dwight Evans hit a 3-run homer as I was buying us 4 hot dogs and 2 large beers. I got back to the seat and Joe was looking like the cat that ate the canary. “Know what happened when you were gone?” He asked. I had watched the bomb on the television monitor at the hot dog stand. “I know,” I said. “You look a little pale,” he said. “That’s because I’m worried,” I said. “Worried about losing?”

Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about his affair with an intern. He deserved it. So what has happened since? Adam Schiff: Russia attacked our election. Mueller: yes. Schiff: and the Trump campaign attempted to cover it up. Mueller: Yes. And no impeachment? Someone else asked Mueller straight up: Was this a witch hunt? Mueller: No. And the poor man... ...sat there for 7 hours answering questions about a report that no one read. Mueller didn’t answer a lot of questions. The lawyers asking the questions did their usual lawyer bull crap to the point of disgust. I wanted to punch my radio. Mueller wasn’t dynamic. He didn’t stray much from the report he wrote, and it was a report that was pretty open about the fact that Trump was trying to do whatever he could to obstruct the investigation. In the evening, the tweets started to fly. “The truth is a force of nature,” Trump wrote. I laughed at that. “Witch hunt!” And then the all caps:

10 years ago a 18-year-old kid went missing. He was a little troubled, but his family was sick with worry. Turns out they had every reason to worry. For ten years, they searched. The police were involved, of course, but there was little to go on. Eventually everyone moved on. The kid was declared dead. His family mourned him. Well, they found the kid a couple of days ago. He was stuck between the freezer and the wall in the back room of the grocery store where he worked. Seems that back in 2009 the employees used to go up on top of a compressor where they could hang out on break. Somehow, he slipped. Ended up wedged behind the wall and the freezer and that’s where he died. They figured that the noise of the compressor drowned out his cries for help. What a way to go! I read the story in the New York Post so if you want names and stuff go and check it out... ...but it got me thinking about how there are a millions of ways to die. About a hundred people a year d

Woke up in Buffalo at 3:15 so I could get out of the house by 4:15 to catch a plane that was leaving at 5:15. I was in Chicago before I even knew what was going on. By 9:00 I was walking on a site in Shawnee, Kansas. What a world! I visited a couple of jobs and had lunch with the client, walked one of the sites again, and headed back to the airport. Yeah. Trying to do Kansas and back in one day... ...thing is, I make my own schedule! “It’ll be a miracle if four flights are on time,” I mentioned to Kathy, but by 7:45 pm I was eating a cheeseburger in Washington D.C. And then I got the text. “You’re now leaving at 10:50 p.m.” Worst part was that we were going to board a bus that would take us to the plane. And there were a dozen loud women, cackling at everything! At one point, as we were standing in line they looked at me and tried to draw me into their conversation. “I go to bed at 9:00 most nights,” I said. “I don’t even know what the hell you’re talking ab

We set our weekly tee time for 7 a.m. Given the hot weather it seemed like a grand idea, but at 6:15 one of the four bowed out because Saturday night went a bit long. Ah well, we’d go with three... ...but luck was on our side. When we got to the tee there was a man standing there. “This is Bill,” Scott said. “He’s going to be our 4th.” I must be honest that my first thought was, “he’s an old guy. I hope he doesn’t hold us up.” Bill stepped to the tee and answered my question with a straight, long drive. He shot par on the first two holes and then nearly aced the par 3, settling for a birdie. Meanwhile, the early start was killing me. My drives were off, my putting was horrendous. “The old guy is kicking our asses,” Pops said. On hole 4 we had to wait before we hit. That’s when Bill stunned us. “I’m 87 years old. Was born in 1931.” We stood staring in disbelief as he hit another shot down the middle and fairly long. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “That’s my

Fifty years have passed since my Mom made us all sit quietly in the living room and watch the moon landing. I was only 4-and-a-half years old. I didn’t much care for sitting quietly, but I do, distinctly recall, Mom saying: “This is important.” I also am flashed images of the grainy photo, and Mom and Dad being amazed. Me, my brother and my sister were less impressed. We got to go play. 50 years later? I’m kind of amazed that they made it there and back, especially in the little ship that they used. There’s renewed talk of a space force. Maybe go back to the moon? Perhaps a trip to Mars?? It’s hard to imagine that we’d get all the Americans ready to get so excited to go. We can’t agree on anything anymore and all the money is being squirreled away by the people who have all the money. One of the people who hung back in Houston and helped land the space ship 50 years ago was interviewed about it, and he was more than a little annoyed. We made it and then we

Camp Clifford has been open for awhile. We had a fairly non-existent spring so I kind of forgot about camp opening up this year, but having a guest camper brought it all front and center. The regular campers know the rules: No dishes in the sink. The television set so I only have to hit one button to turn it on. Doors locked. Non-essential lights off. Simple rules, really, but ones that allow me to relax for a little while before work. On Tuesday, I was heading for the shower, and I heard noise coming from the living room. It was only 5:30 so I was actually wondering if they were still awake. They weren’t, but this was what I found: The television on! Every light in the house on. Dirty dishes in the sink and about a half a bottle of hot sauce on the counter... ...not in the bottle. (Frank’s Red Hot sauce is bright red, especially on the white counter top. All the doors were unlocked and the back door was actually open. And finally, the downstairs toilet

I don’t want to talk about politics. I don’t want to ever really think about the president. He’s just supposed to be there, taking care of things, making us feel secure. We should only really think about them every now and again when we see them in the news or in the paper. When Trump got in, the gaslighting was too much to take. They lied about the crowd at the inauguration and off we went! About a month in, I mentioned to a buddy that I was exhausted just listening to all of it. I thought that it would have to even out a little. It didn’t. It’s been one long, horrible day. One scandal leaks into the next, and people are in jail because of it. We are back to the rally stage! Hillary isn’t around this time, so now we need a new villain for the next election. Trashing minorities and fanning the racial fire worked once, right. “Send her back!” That was the chant that broke out. Trump stepped back and basked in the glow of the hateful rant. For 13 seconds he stoo

It was disconcerting. Good old Pops sent me a couple of photos of me as an old man. There must be an app going around. I didn’t look great. Scary, huh? Pops looked worse... ...and I’m not sure that anyone actually thinks they look better aged 20 or 30 years, but I’m sure we’d all like to get there, given the other option. And then it got worse... ...someone on twitter ran the app on Springsteen who is nearly 70... ...showed him at about 90! It made me sad. It also made me think of how quickly it all goes. I already have grey hair, but I don’t have much in the way of wrinkles. They’re coming! Seeing myself at that age is almost as alarming as seeing photos of me that are now 35 years old or more. In Mellencamp’s song he sings, “17 has turned 35.” I was 24 when that song came out. My 17 has turned 54. As quickly as Mellencamp sang it. Will 54 go to 84 just as quickly? Not sure, but there’s an app for it! And man, it’s disturbing!

Welp. Seems there’s an absolute war on the horizon. Trump has quadrupled down on what the world believes are racist statements. He’s also told the rest of the Republican Party (which is unrecognizable now) to get in line... ...and they did. McConnell, Graham, Hannity, Limbaugh, Kellyanne and Giuliani all fell in line. They defended the indefensible. Which brought us straight into the hell of a crazy day. The house wanted to get it in the record that Donny is a racist. They presented their argument and all the high-paid politicians argued about it all day. Which is crazy to me! That’s what they got out of bed to do. Argue. About something so stupid. Is he or isn’t he a racist? “I don’t have a racist bone in my body!” He yelled on Twitter. When we have all watched him do one racist thing after another. It started with his ranting against Obama. Actually, it goes back to when they wouldn’t even think about renting to blacks. “Go back to where you came from,” co

The morning following the 2016 election my son Jake asked me a simple question. “How bad is it going to be?” I didn’t lie to him. “Pretty bad. We’re white. This is going to be really sad for gays, blacks, women and Mexicans.” Man, was I wrong! It hasn’t been pretty sad, it’s actually been terribly horrific. It reached a new low on Sunday. The tweets were flat-out racist. There’s no other way to look at them. And the media jumped all over it, as they should have. Yet, as they are prone to do, they played it up into a moral discussion of sorts. Would the Republicans stand up and condemn the nasty words? The very first guy went in another direction. “I haven’t seen the tweets,” he said. “I was busy.” My dog was aware of the tweets. Pretending that you don’t know what he said? Coward. Then Geraldo tried a different tact. He half-assed it by lecturing Trump a little and then saying: “You’re better than this.” He’s not. So, we needed to wait. Would Trump a

I played golf this weekend. Had a little pasta. Watched some movies and a couple of shows. Cut some weeds. Hung out with the family. And thought a lot about men, women and children in cages at the border. I may not have wasted a lot of time and energy on that, but I couldn’t shake the image of Pence, Graham and a pack of white men who are representing this administration, standing there looking at hundreds of humans in cages. “The stench was overwhelming.” “There’s not even enough room to lie down.” “They keep the lights on all night.” “Some of the captured haven’t showered in 40 days.” The vice-president, a guy who thumps his Bible in every conversation... ...was all good with the arrangements. The video shows Pence standing there with a bored countenance, didn’t say a word to any of those gathered before him, and he turned his back. His first tweet attacked the media. By Sunday, the dialogue had shifted because Trump sent a tweet telling the four Democra

When I was 15-years-old I played on a softball team that was a group of great friends. Our shortstop, Danny Alff, was sadly struck by a car while riding his bike. Man, I remember a lot about the days that followed. I recall my buddy, Al, who was kind of the captain of the Lions calling to break the news. A couple of days later, Al called again. “Let’s do a benefit for Danny’s family.” Our small town was great at helping people. We were just kids, but we worked hard to put it together. We ordered shirts, secured the park, got the other teams signed up, bought a trophy and printed and sold tickets. We started the game, without a shortstop and I remember that the first couple of guys hit it in the hole. We were losing when we came to bat. I remember thinking about Danny (and I still think of him every time I hear the Elton John song) when I got up to the plate. His Mom and Dad and sister were there. We had worked so hard, and we were all so sad. I lined a single over 2nd.

See the story about the dude running for governor in Mississippi? Robert Foster, the GOP candidate, got a lot of publicity because he refused to allow a female reporter accompany him, alone, as he traveled the state. He seriously asked that a male join them because he’s concerned about being alone with a woman who isn’t his wife. Seriously. He’s seriously concerned about it because he doesn’t want to be tempted. Pence, who may lead the league in creepy weirdness, has the same policy. He doesn’t want anyone to tempt him away from his love of “mother”. He calls his wife, “mother.” Now, I don’t pretend to know anything about anyone’s marriage. I thought OJ and Nicole were getting along, and I’m certainly not Dr. Phil, although we can go to the same barber, but... ...I have been married for 22 years (seems a tad longer) and I HAVE been in rooms with women who aren’t my wife, and I know this is hard to believe, but I’ve been able to control my primal urges. I heard Foste

We don’t want this border war! That was the chant that was being screamed in the streets of downtown Buffalo. I was meeting a buddy for lunch on Thursday at the Mexican joint where they have big burritos and great hot sauce. Parking was rough because there were at least a hundred people standing on the corner. I spotted a few signs: “Close the camps!” “People are not illegal!” Not a red hat in the crowd. I didn’t bother to investigate. (I had a burrito calling my name). “What the hell was that about?” I asked. “A protest,” my buddy said. We had a casual lunch and I headed back to the car. The police had shut down Delaware Avenue. The cops seemed highly annoyed. “One, Two, Three, Four...we don’t want a border war!” There was a kid in the center of the circle holding a megaphone. “Close the camps!” The guy yelled. It kinda’ fascinated me. There were young people, old people and people in the middle. They were angry. “I didn’t think I’d see this in

The Yankees last played on Sunday. They don’t play again until Friday, and each year I take these few days off to regroup and get ready for the second half. This year, the Yankees are six and a half up, and they’re definitely in the running for #28. It will be a lost year if they don’t win it. Still, I enjoy the break. Of course, I watched a lot of the HR Derby and a few innings of the all-star game, but that was just to see how the Yankees players were doing. Sanchez doubled, Tanaka was the winning pitcher and Chapman locked it down. One of the things that drives me nuts though is that baseball is the one sport where all we ever hear about is: “What’s wrong with baseball?” Over the last few years it was all about shaving a few minutes off the game time. Evidently a two hour and fifty-eight minute game is better than one that goes three hours and 2 minutes. This year the bellyaching started with Justin Verlander who leads the league in giving up homers. “The ball

The USA Women’s Soccer team got it done. Which thoroughly excited the people who take great pride in American dominance. They’re really good, and fun to watch, I’m told. But. It started with Megan telling the world: “I’m not going to the f****ng White House.” And baby-in-chief took the bait and went off on her. Other members of the team echoed the sentiment and then there was kneeling for the flag... ...well, all hell has broken loose. It’s kind of comical. I’m on the sidelines for this one, mostly. The next soccer game I watch will be my first. (Still smarting over the own goal I notched in high school). The flag stuff is tired. The crying orange dude is even more boring. Equal pay? All for it, but the next person who shares money will be the first. The fallout is what I’m here for: People like Rubio, Conway, Scaramucci and Giuliani talking about American pride... ...”we have problems but you don’t disgrace our country,” Scaramucci said. He’s a Tr

So, Jeffrey Epstein was taken into custody. He’s a billionaire who stands accused of some pretty nasty things. Possible pedophile action... ...with other famed politicians and billionaires. Epstein was charged and received an unbelievably light sentence related to these sorts of crimes. There was talk that the judge was ridiculously light. And the other names that creeped in? Clinton was a friend? Trump actually joked about Epstein’s love of women, staring that he liked them in the young side. Dershowitz was brought into the conversation. Big, big names of rich, rich guys... ...and here’s how it has to shake out. They need to pay. All of them. Big time. “The I never met the woman defense” shouldn’t work when there are photos of you standing next to them. The story about the savage rape of a 13-year old by someone who may or may not now be the president has to come out. And then a price must be exacted if the evidence is there. The “women” involved were

One of the pitfalls of being a man who thrives on routine and an obsession with trying to live the same day every day is that life often gets in the way. In the last two weeks: Car crash. Sick dogs. Sick parents. Bum knees. Sore backs. “Bah! What the hell is going on?” Sometimes there’s too much life, and there’s a great desire to try and get things back in order. I truly envy people who don’t care about order. I don’t know how they survive, but I envy them, from time-to-time. The old, “whatever will be will be” crowd. And my beautiful wife has been at the epicenter of all of it. She can barely walk after getting smashed in the car accident, she’s tried her best to work through it, and help out her family... ...and try to deal with insurance and doctors. And me! “What’s the plan?” I texted one morning. “I don’t have a plan! I’m trying not to drive into a bridge abutment.” Okay. “I’ll get dinner ready.” How else do you answer that? Sometimes, life c

I lived in California for about 15 months total on two separate jaunts. Never felt even a tremor. Then there was a massive one during the World Series and I was worried about my friends from there. “Nasty,” my buddy, Zane said. “But was kind of cool to help people.” Seems like Southern California has been shaking pretty good for the last few days. Fires, aftershocks, things falling, and people running around thinking: “This is the big one, Elizabeth!” Like Fred G. Sanford. It has to be a really weird thing. We had a bit of a shake here a few years back, but I wasn’t paying attention to that either. When it’s happening you have to think ‘this is it!’ And it’s 90 in Anchorage, Alaska... ...there’s a massive heat wave in Europe. We have had once in a lifetime storms about ten times in the last twenty years... ...but we’re all right! Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump Have let us know that climate change is a hoax. And who knows? Scientists are just working on a

Was on the 13th hole on Friday and got an idea to dig a little ice out of the cooler. Put it on the back of my neck and then in my cap. The heat felt good. The sweat was all over. I was hitting my drives straight, and still putting fine. That’s what celebrating the 4th feels like... ...Americans are good at enjoying their days off. I didn’t watch any of the Washington D.C. celebration. I did see a clip about how Americans controlled the airports back during the revolutionary war, and I thought of Leslie Nielsen trying to sing the National Anthem during the ‘Naked Gun’ movie. “And the rockets red glare and there were bombs everywhere.” The TelePrompTer went off, evidently so Donald had to ad lib and of course, you can’t win a war without taking control of the airports. I wasn’t big on the idea anyway... ... in fact, I’m going to say something controversial: I hate fireworks. They scare my dogs. They hit the vets who suffer from PTSD. People blow their han

Tyler Skaggs was a 27-year-old, professional athlete, and by all accounts, was a good guy. He was found dead in his hotel room. It’s always a shock when a young person is cut down in the prime of their life. It’s also a true surprise when a seemingly healthy person just expires. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not how it’s supposed to be. Immediately we found out that foul play and suicide were out. I thought of Pistol Pete and Reggie Lewis and others who had an undetected problem with their ticker. “Overdose!” One moron without info posted on Twitter. Yet, it’s not out of the question ever these days. It makes me really wonder why my heart sinks when I hear of a random death, and someone else just displays zero compassion for anyone. “Wow! He was pitching well,” one guy wrote. “You think the Angels deal for a starter now?” Heartless. Skaggs was newly married. He suffered some rough injuries and battled back. His confidence in himself was something everyone spok

I love the 4th of July... ...always have. The weather is great, there’s always at least one day off, and this year it falls on a Thursday, so the possibility is here for a 4-day weekend. There should be great excitement as we celebrate the country and our independence. I feel different this year. The people stacked up in cages. The trial of the member of the armed forces who’d been charged with the murder of a citizen of another country. Putin and Kim Jong Un are now considered lovely, perfect guys. And the show. Money was diverted from the parks department so that tanks could be rolled in and planes could fly over as Trump makes a campaign speech talking about witch hunts, fake news and all the losers and haters. I’m not watching. The fake love of the troops and the vets. Smacks of something that a 3rd-world country might do. Will the soldiers all march in step and bow to the big, orange, clown? How much of the taxpayer money will go straight to the Trump

I’m too stubborn to go to one of those sleep study deals. I think that most people probably have a sleep disorder of sorts, and I’m pretty sure I fall into that camp, but I ain’t doing it. I don’t want to wear a Darth Vader mask to bed. I can’t even wear my wedding ring... ...how the hell would I sleep with something over my mouth and nose. Thing is, some days, I wake up more tired than when I went to bed. How the hell does that happen? And it doesn’t happen all that often, but it happened yesterday. I was beat all day! Woke up around 5:15, and my first thought was, “Damn, I’m tired.” I repeated that thought about 600 times through the day. “What’s for dinner?” Jake asked, when he saw me 12 hours later. “You’re on your own.” And I don’t know the answer, actually. Go to bed earlier? It doesn’t matter, actually, There are nights when I sleep less and feel better. Who knows? Ah well, at least I don’t have a mask on. Sweet dreams!

“And then, we fell in love.” That quote may go down as the saddest line of a tragic presidency. Trump said it about Kim Jong Un. Here’s the thing: The world knows about the murders of his own people, his family members and poor Otto. None of that matters now... ...cause of the love. There was a treaty with Iran that actually stopped them from working on their nuclear program. That was ripped up because there was no love involved. North Korea has zero intention of stoping their program now. “We’re making progress cause we like each other.” So, that is our foreign policy now. You can have nuclear bombs if you send Trump a letter that says you like him. Does anyone actually trust Kim Jong Un? Find him trustworthy? It’s amazing, actually. If you were to poll the clan of people who show up at a MAGA rally is there any doubt that they would now find the murderous leader of North Korea more lovable than say, Nancy Pelosi? There’s a very telling meme that has ma

I had a really rough week last week, but knew that I had a 9:20 tee time on Sunday and the weather report was good. We all started out well enough, and then on the 4th hole I had a long putt that I needed to get close. It went in! Three holes later, I made an even longer one. Then it got ridiculous. I knocked it 2 more, really long putts... ...I’m usually a mediocre putter. We arrived at hole 12. “I love this one,” I said. “It’s two easy shots to a wide open green.” Then I proceeded to chunk it. And the next one. The one after that wasn’t much better than that. “What the hell is going on?” I took a 7 on the par 4. We have another guy who had either birdies or parred every par 3 for a couple of weeks. He dribbled a drive on a 165-yard hole. Tried it again. Dribble. We have a long hitter in the group. He can spray it a little. He was lining one up. “He’s going to clobber this one,” I said. Just had a feeling. He hit it and the three of us watchin