Thoughts of a Common Man

I can’t complain. I haven’t seen much snow this winter. There was a storm while I was away playing golf, but other than that: Nothing! Until Thursday. “Bah!” I said as I cleaned off my car. “This sucks!” I cried out as my forehead froze as I headed towards the construction site. There were four guys huddled around a little torpedo heater eating soup that they plucked off the coffee truck. “Having fun, old man?” A youngster asked. “This blows,” I said. They laughed. “Imagine working in it,” one of them said. They’re so funny. Thing is, most of them enjoy doing things in the cold. They hunt, ski, and ride snowmobiles. Dopey bastards. “You don’t ride a sled?” Another guy asked. I told them my story of the last time I got on a snowmobile. “I was riding with my brother and I was freezing. They were all driving way too fast and I was hanging way back. I finally caught up to them and my brother handed me a mason jar filled with beer. It was frozen. “I asked...

A long, long time ago in a small town not so far away, I took a job working as a stock boy at Avery’s Bells. Howie Shuck, who was two years older than me, was my boss that first night. I found him seated in the back room. “What do you want me to do?” I asked. Howie gave me a list. I was looking to make a good impression...I hustled away...he called me back. “Chill,” he said. “Take a breath. I’m not gonna’ fire you.” And that summarized all the work I ever saw Howie do in the time I worked with him. He was chill. In fact, I remember him calling me over to him one day...he was seated in the same spot. “Relax with that girl,” he said. “You’re making it way too apparent that you love her.” I tried to deny my crush. “I’m not in love with her.” “Dude, everyone knows it. I heard two customers talking about it.” “What?” I asked. “Seriously, two old ladies were discussing it in the soup aisle. They were talking about the sad sack sack boy.” But he wasn’t picking on...

“It sounds a lot like the flu. Might be better than the flu in some ways. Might be worse. Anyway, it’s contained. No bigly, we’re doing a great job. So, please Mr. Stock Market go back up because I’m scared.” And that about sums up the Coronavirus update. Feel better? Then, like an idiot, I went on the CDC page and those dumb scientists said that it might not be quite as easy-breezy as it sounds. (Sarcasm was used in the above sentence). One of the stats said that 10% of the American population may become infected and 2% of the 10% may actually die from the virus. What are the odds, right? Any idea how many deaths that would be??? Ah, hell, I’ll tell you: 654,000 If that’s the number it won’t just be those who were already sick and old people. (I have an AARP mailing so....) It made me think of the outstanding book, “The Stand” by Stephen King. It’s a book that is front and center in my bookcase and one I’ve read at least 4 times (even though it’s 1,200 freaki...

Man, Bernie has some rabid fans. In fact, some of it seems a little cult-like. I have always looked at Bernie a little skewed. It’s not that I find his ideas so radical. I know enough about his agenda to believe that he’s not gunning for total socialism but that he kinda’ wants to see things evened up a little. He’s not much interested in the rich getting richer at the expense of everyone else. Honestly, that’s an honorable goal. I have always been interested in what he’s saying whenever I’ve heard him speak. (He does remind me of Larry David though). What I honestly have trouble with... ...and it’s a problem I have with more than a few candidates... ...he’s 78 years old! His goal for the day should be a long nap after a big lunch. (I think that’s going on now, but the chefs are playing ‘Hide the vegetables’ in the mashed potatoes). I’m old enough to recall Reagan’s second term... ...it was like ‘Weekend at Bernie’s - no pun intended). My Dad built huge hote...

I figured I’d give these two sicknesses a shared blog. First the really disgusting one: Old Harvey. He was on the top of the heap for a little while, wasn’t he? He couldn’t control his urges and he stepped all over his own... ...as they say. A real scam artist. He used his “power” to control, demean, and debase women. He hurt a whole bunch of people. Ruined a lot of lives. And he was remanded into custody. “Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go to jail. Directly to jail.” He has even more trouble coming. There are cases upon cases being heaped on his head. He entered court each day using a walker. He was searching for sympathy. He didn’t get much. Adios! But even old Harvey couldn’t slap the coronavirus from the news. I saw a whole bunch of people wearing nuisance dust masks on my flights and at the airport. One of the religious freaks is selling a drink to keep the virus away from his parishioners... ...just $300 a glass. Yet, it is not quite contai...

It’s becoming impossible to plan something and then work the plan. I take a beating on my trips to the Midwest because it’s a lot to do in a short span of time and there are four flights involved... ...so I’m usually wiped out all week. I thought ahead... ...scheduled my flight earlier in the day so I could get to Kansas, settle in, get a good night of sleep and stay rested. Got the first text two hours before my flight was leaving: “Your flight is moved back 45 minutes.” Ah well. At least I’d make my connection and still be in the hotel at the same time. Another text: “Your flight is being bumped back 35 more minutes.” Ah well. My layover was gone but I’d still have 25 minutes to make the connection. Another text: “Dude, your f***ed. We’re bumping that first flight back another hour.” I got to the airport to leave 3 hours later than planned. Checked in at the desk. “What happens to my connecting flight?” “That’s delayed too. You’ll get to Kansas City just...

It was the first spring training game of the year, but I was already a little worried about J.A. Happ. He pitched two clean innings. The Yankees fell behind in the later innings... ...guys I’d never heard of were in the game, but that wasn’t the important part. It was all about watching men swing the bat and throw the ball. From now until November 1... ...baseball will be an option. When my eyes open I will think of the Yankees first. If they won the day before, I’ll savor it. If they lost, I’ll think about who the starting pitcher is for that day’s game. When I was a kid it was fairly easy to handle: Everyone under the roof in the big house on Shirley was a Yankees fan. It hasn’t quite gone as smoothly here... ...Matt became an A’s fan and then Jake followed his lead rather than mine. (Sam has enough sense). I have been known to randomly walk by Jake or Matt and say: “The Yankees won.” Or “The A’s lost.” They return the favor. We know are all set ...

Every month I make a trip back and forth to Syracuse. I spend a Friday afternoon driving home from 4:30 to 6:45. Twenty-two straight years... ...every month. Talked to a buddy just before leaving. “What’s happening in the world?” I asked. “Same garbage,” he said. “I was going to catch up on the happenings.” “Don’t bother. Hate tweets and crazy rants.” So, I listened. I put on the library of tunes. Jake had sent me a song by Post Malone. “I think you’ll like this one.” I did. Then an old Tori Amos popped up. My sister Carrie and I saw Tori Amos from a front row seat back when Little Earthquakes came out. Great record. Then Bob Seger. “Down on Main Street.” Impossible to not sing every word. And I was off and running: Bruce with the “Price You Pay”. The Stones, “Between A Rock & A Hard Place”. Tom Petty, “The Waiting.” Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up In Blue.” The Pretenders, “Middle of the Road.” And then I got a blast of high school, The C...

“Wakey, wakey, hands off snakey,” Earl used to say in the highly underrated, “My Name Is Earl.” In one episode, his dim-witted brother was waking up Earl. “Wakey, wakey, get your hands off your penis,” Randy said. That’s the exact line I use to wake my kids up, and out of all of us, I’m the only one who doesn’t need an alarm clock... ...and the reason is that I’m the only one who goes to bed and gets up at the same time most days. Bed at 9:00, read until 10, up between 5:30 and 6:00. On the weekends I try to push it all back an hour. Of course, Melky wants none of that weekend crap... ...regardless of the day of the week, she starts crying at 8:00 and doesn’t stop crying until we’re in bed. And the rest of my family??? Different bed time and different wakey, wakey time every day. Sam has the worst habits of all of us. He gets home from work and he’s about 20 minutes from sleep... ...doesn’t matter the time of day. Enough time to make and eat chicken fries do...

Eleven people had their sentences commuted or were fully pardoned. Trump is declaring himself the chief of law enforcement. Mr. Anti-Corruption is pardoning corruption. The idea to drain the swamp is to empty the prisons of men who deserved to be there. Rod Bagdouchavich sold a senate seat. He was indicted by a grand jury and found guilty on all counts. He earned his sentence. Trump thought it was excessive. Same with Roger Stone... ...he stepped in on that one before it all came down. The Department of Justice is no more. They are falling in line and now are firmly in the cult along with the entire GOP. I have stopped paying a lot of attention because it was bringing my every day life down, but make no mistake... ...the lines aren’t just being blurred, they’re being erased. The president isn’t the chief law officer. We have co-equal branches of government... ...or we had. No longer. The constitution is no longer a working document. We’re in Trumplandi...

Everyone in baseball is piling on the Houston Astros... ...and as badly as it reflects on the game that I love... ...I’m all for it. The Houston Astros deserve to hear about it, from every fan, every time they take the field. Their cheating enterprise was all-encompassing. The entire organization. Top to freaking bottom. And they got off pretty easy. Lost a few draft picks, five million and not much more. None of the players were suspended. The manager and general manager were suspended and fired. A slap on the wrist, really. Players get ten games for having too much pine tar. So, all they had to do was put on a sad face and talk about how sorry they were and how they’d never do such a thing again to compromise the integrity of the game. They couldn’t pull it off. They were arrogant a**holes when they won... ...why wouldn’t they be arrogant about being caught? Bregman and Altuve had their smirks. Correa said the right things on day one and then crapped all o...

Was a weird couple of days... ...a wake and a funeral do that to you and I am always keenly aware of things around me on those days. It’s just when life is the most raw, right? On the way to the wake, the Cat Stevens song, “Father & Son” came on the radio. It’s a song that I loved back in the 1980’s. That was when I identified as the son who was trying to let his Dad know that he had dreams and visions and that what Dad may have wanted for the son wasn’t exactly what the son wanted for himself. It was a touching song when I was the son. It’s even more powerful when I listen to it as a Dad, some 30+ years later. In fact, it kind of blew my mind! “There’s so much that you don’t know,” is a powerful theme when you listen to it as a Dad... ...and I didn’t know any of those things as a boy turning man. And, I’m not sure Cat Stevens thought it out quite that far. Did he realize that he was writing a song that was devastatingly powerful for a boy coming of age as wel...

My mother-in-law was a mighty lady. She was fiercely loyal in defending her family and her city. I wish I had a dollar for every time that she mentioned that she hated Tom Brady or Sidney Crosby. She wanted to see the Bills and Sabres win... ...but she also wanted to see my sons win every game they ever played in. I was seated next to her at a little league game when she yelled, “Drop it!” as a kid settled under a pop fly that my son hit. The poor child dropped it, and may have pooped a little. My mother-in-law loved her grandkids. She was in my house more than I was when my children were young, and my boys are going to really miss her. As will all of her grandchildren and beautiful great grandchildren. My mother-in-law loved her children fiercely as well, and I learned the hard way... ...she defended them. Years ago, my wife and I would banter back and forth using the following, good-natured call: “You shut your mouth!” We forgot to let Mom in on the joke. ...

Much of my frustration in life comes from broken routines. One plan after another is fouled by life... ...getting in the way. And life is about struggle and a certain dose of pain. It does little good to wait for the other shoe to drop so we wait for things to even out. They rarely do. We were getting ready for bed on Thursday night. Another busy day planned for Friday. When a shoe dropped. “Mom is going to the hospital,” Kathy texted. “I’ll keep you posted.” But I know enough about life to know that you have to be there for the people you love. I also know that work will always be there. I called my client and postponed my early morning meeting, and then I got out of the warm bed and went with Kathy and Sam and we headed to the hospital. And that’s where life happened. The room was filled with brother and sister in-laws, all three of our boys, nieces and nephews and my father-in-law. There aren’t many more lonelier places than a hospital waiting room. Fear ...

So, what do you know about the origins of St. Valentine’s Day? It’s a quaint little holiday all about love, right? Or is it a Hallmark holiday? Turns out I didn’t know much about it... ...just that we’d have to make out a Valentine for everyone in our class in grammar school. Then in high school you might grab some candy for the one girl you had a crush on. Now? “What’re we doing for Valentine’s Day?” Kathy asked. “Nothing.” “Will you be my Valentine?” She asked. “Oh for God’s sakes, I’m just trying to get through the day.” We both laughed. But then I thought about the origins. It was about beheadings and France celebrations of murder... ...there were at least 2 Saint Valentines. They were both beheaded. And now it’s all about love? How’d we go from getting your head lopped off to chocolates and Cupid? Seems like a bit of stretch. But who the hell knows? There’s a fine line between eternal love and a simple beheading. Buddy of mine was talking ...

A young girl wrote the following on a Twitter post: “I have all the information at the tips of my fingers and I just watched elephants walking through the jungle in Africa, so tell me how great it was to drink water out of a hose, boomer.” I laughed at that. She has a point, but she’s missing out too. I’m not quite sure having all the information in all the world has helped much. There’s a whole lot that I feel nostalgic about. Like drinking water from the hose, and hearing my Dad call for us to all come in the house because “that’s enough.” And it’s true, we’d get home from school on a warm day and leave the house. We’d play ball in our yard or other yards or we’d run into the woods and swing on a grape vine. My kids have never swung on a grape vine. We’d walk through a creek and look for salamanders. It’s not quite like watching elephants on a cell phone screen. There wasn’t the wealth of information at our fingertips, that’s for sure. We had to look it up in an enc...

Have you ever walked by a total stranger on a quiet street and have this scenario play out? Me: Good Morning. Stranger: —————— Nothing! Not a wink, or a nod, or a “you too!” I swear, it’s seemed to happen more and more lately. I’ll usually handle it by saying, loudly: “Good morning to you, too. How are you doing?” The person will often look at me as if I’m crazy. My other favorite is when you’re walking in a crowded area and suddenly the person in front of you stops and decides to go in another direction. That happens a lot in airports. Hard not to barrel the dude over. Speaking of airports, as I got off the plane at 1:15 a.m. because they decided to get me home a few hours late, I was following a woman up the ramp. She was pushing a wheel chair and talking to its occupant. They must have left something behind because the woman pushing the chair was now backing up and pulling it. She never glanced behind her... ...and she drove that chair over my foot. The...

Started the day hearing the following quote from one of the guys in the foursome: “Damn! It’s humid.” I checked the temperature then. 82. (Don’t ask about day 4 golf - every shot hurt). Hours later we were working our way back to reality. I had planned to travel in shorts... ...that plan didn’t make it out of the airport because I started thinking about getting off the plane in Buffalo. (Don’t get me started on the plane ride! Suffice it to say that every flight was delayed and I had to run through the airport like Orenthal in the old Hertz commercials - I ran at approximately a half a mile per hour). Finally, I broke through the doors and stepped on Buffalo ground. Damn! Invigorating!! It’s always so weird to end a day states away from where it started. Was it just this morning when I made par on a hole (I didn’t fare quite as well on the next hole). “Why did I come back?” Then I saw Kathy and Sam and then the dogs saw me. Melky cried tears of joy. Th...

Needed to be reminded of home a little bit... ...offered to make sauce before we hit the links for the third time. My back and legs were surprisingly good, but the hot tub and stretching was making a big difference. Time to eat a little of my own cooking. We made a trip to the grocery store and I got pork and meatball ingredients. It only took a half an hour to get the sauce on and we were out the door for another unbelievable round. I’ve been struggling to hit the ball out of the fairway because the grass on the fairways at the spectacular courses is like the grass on the green at the courses we usually play... ...I grew a tad frustrated, but it’s hard to be mad at anything when you’re hitting a ball in 82-degree weather, surrounded by beauty. “Had eggs Benedict and creme Brulle at brunch,” I texted to Kathy. “You’re eating creme Brulle now?” “It’s 82 here,” I sent to Jake. “What’s it like there?” “Not 82!” And it’s a 4-day trip... ...Sunday sauce was my cha...

There’s just something about feeling the light on your face. I was on the green waiting for my cart mate to hit it out of the sand. He finally did, but was swearing as he joined me on the green. “Check out that view,” I said. “Yeah, great,” he said. “I just took 3 hacks to get it out.” I laughed. That’s golf. The most calming, aggravating hours you can spend. It touched 80 degrees. I reported that back home. “It’s 23 here,” Kathy said. And I concentrated a lot on the fact that I was sweating and that the sun was riding high. I don’t think about Donald Trump when I’m golfing. After we played a young kid came by to wipe down my clubs. “Don’t wash the 5-wood,” I said. “I’m mad at that bastard.” “Did you have fun?” The kid asked. “Because that’s all that matters.” “I’ll let you know.” But I did have fun, and it had little to do with the sand shots, the couple of balls that went in the drink... ...it was fun because of the sun. More on tap for tomorro...

The little vacation break that I’m on is absolutely amazing. A beautiful place to stay in a wonderfully warm client. We started the day with a putting contest... ...I came in last. Then we lined up for the first hole of the year... ...I hit my drive straight up in the air. Awful! A double-bogey to open things up. The sun was on my face as I hit one drive poorer than the next... ...then the driver came around and my chipping eroded. Thankfully, the drives came back... ...on the 9th hole I hit a good drive, had a good second shot and then chipped to a foot off the green where I could putt. I sank the putt from 30 feet. That’s all I needed for the day. We have tee times set for the next three days. The weather is supposed to be even better. And it’s just 4 days away, but I miss Kathy and the boys and my dogs... ...but I’m gonna’ be just fine. Good friends, great food and golf. Perfect! I’ll keep you updated.

So, Mittens voted for impeachment... ...a truly historic vote. The first time that there was a partisan vote against a president of the same party. He’s a financially wealthy guy and he’s in a pretty decent spot to not lose his seat, but he went against the grain and that took some guts. The members of his party ripped Mitt hard. Donald Jr. wants him thrown out of the Republican Party. It’s kind of funny because during the trial there was a report that said that any Republican that strayed, well, Trump would have their head on a pike. Now they want Romney’s head on a pike. This is all crazy. Trump ignored Pelosi’s hand. Pelosi tore the copy of the speech to shreds. The speech was filled with division and fabrication. And one day later, they voted along party lines, with the exception of Romney. And he had to know that... ...a chance to be known as the only one who had enough guts to put country above party. A number of other GOP senators had some things to s...

I received that news on three straight alerts on my phone. “Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer.” I’m not a fan of the man’s work. He joked about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer, he said that Michael J. Fox was faking Parkinson’s, he laughed about Eric Gardner choking to death. Does Rush deserve sympathy as he struggles with cancer. The short answer is no. I didn’t read beyond the headline. But I DID feel for the man. I know and love a lot of people who have heard the cancer diagnosis. It should never be cheered. And for his sake and for the sake of those who love him, I hope that he does not suffer. That’s the only true answer to hearing such news... ...to call someone a faker, or to laugh at someone who was choked to death, to wish harm on a political opponent... ...that’s despicable behavior, and answering despicable behavior with despicable behavior results in despicable behavior. We are all facing something somewhere along the way... ...very few of us are...

The Kansas City police department was pretty funny as they tweeted about the celebration following the Chiefs Super Bowl win. One tweet referenced the fact that streaking laws had not been suspended. A second said, “we’re celebrating a super bowl win, this isn’t the purge.” I laughed at both. Back when the Bills were making their annual appearance in the super bowl my buddies and I would talk about all the things we’d do if they did put one in the win column. Running naked was definitely one of the things we talked about... ...and as I wrote that sentence I remembered that I actually did streak once... ...at college... ...about 6 of us (highly intoxicated) decided that we would run up one staircase and down the other in the townhouse where we lived. It was a low risk move as the night security guard was lined up 3rd in our little chain. It was all great fun until one dude fell down the stairs. Anywhoha... ...there were more than 150 reports of guns being fired in ...

I had zero rooting interest, really. I didn’t have any squares, but I also got up on Sunday morning and had to help Kathy down the stairs so I knew I was staying close to home. So, I did the next best thing. Made a brisket, cooked up some wings and a pizza. The boys and a buddy were in and my brother John stopped over. We worked on watching Homeland season 2 over again and spending a few hours with Claire Danes is always good... ...then the game got going. It was weird. Cause I really didn’t care... ...just wanted to see a good game, and it was really good. Two teams who were evenly matched and about halfway through the second half I started thinking about the poor people who are fans of the team that would lose. “Imagine how terrible we all felt when the Bills lost the super bowl games,” I said. My boys just grunted. But as Kansas City took the lead late, I finally thought about how happy the people I know out there are going to be. The commercials? Bill Murr...

I don’t have a square for today’s game. I really couldn’t name more than 3 players on the 49ers and have never actually see them play a game. I know the Chiefs better and their quarterback is really good. They have Sammy Watkins too and he was on the Bills, and was good to my boys when he was here. I also spend time in Kansas City and I like it. I lived in San Francisco though, and was actually there when they won a super bowl. Joe Montana was the QB that year. I don’t care who wins. I think the 49ers win though... ...have no reason for that... ...just a gut feeling. But, here’s the intellectual reasoning for that... ...the Bills were a much better team than the Giants back the first time they played. The Bills offense was overpowering. The Giants kept them off the field all day. They worked the clock, converted on 3rd down and kept Kelly and Thurman and Reed sitting on the sidelines. Won a one-point game. From what I read the Niners can really run the ball and ...

America had a good run. The constitution, as we all knew it, is null and void, and if you think I’m being dramatic, think about this: There is no longer oversight of the executive branch. The senate wasn’t even interested in hearing the information... ...they hurried to let the world know that Trump was guilty, but they decided to NOT hold him accountable for failing to abide by the rules of the constitution. So, it’s worthless. Was a lot of fun while it lasted and the power grab was going to eventually destroy us. Greed is a horrible thing. Democracy was a good idea until greed got in the way, and the very symbol of greed is plopped in the once distinguished White House, writing hate tweets and claiming that he’s been fully exonerated. That’s what disturbs me. I knew his election as president was epically bad. I had no idea it would be this horrendous. Because I thought there’d be checks and balances. Think I’m being dramatic??? Look at Graham, McConnell, Cru...