Thoughts of a Common Man

We didn’t really go out of our way to celebrate Halloween when we were kids. I remember sloughing you and down the street, of course, a whole bunch of us, getting candy. But mostly we thought wearing costumes was kinda’ dumb. My kids were the same way. We’d almost half to force them to go knock on some doors. Yet, there are people who really get off on it. Houses are decorated. Selling pumpkins is big business. This is where I go on record and state that anyone eating or drinking something pumpkin flavored... ...is a little off. There’s pumpkin freaking everything!  Everywhere!! I got a pumpkin flavored coffee, by mistake one morning, and I tossed it after one sip. The ghosts and ghouls and all the scary stuff is a tad odd too and we always talk about the Saturday that we shelled out ten bucks apiece to go on a haunted hay ride and about a minute and a half in... ...we were headed back to the car with three hysterical kids. There hasn’t been a kid at our door looking for candy in about

In February of 2020 I was invited on a golf trip with some great friends. Just 4 days in Florida, but I remember thinking: “What a great start to the year!” That honestly feels like it was 10 years ago. And here we sit, Halloween. Sixty-two days left in this eternity of a year. And I can’t believe how down and out I’ve felt during some of these long-ass days. I watched the dueling political rallies yesterday. One was held at a social distance with people in masks and cars. The other a old-time rally. Mask less and totally ignoring the facts. Shake my damn head. How is it even possible? The science. All these sick people. So many Americans dying. No plan. No empathy. Defiance and division. Got a text from a dear friend. “What do you do when you feel down?” Then a text from an old friend. “I’m positive for Covid. I’m so sick. Fever broke, but I haven’t been able to stand up since Monday.” “Oh God!” I wrote. “You’ll beat it. Rest. Stay hydrated. Good thing you’re an elite athlete.” (I was

I didn’t watch a single pitch of the World Series. Not sure why. I wasn’t that upset about the Yankees getting beat, but a few factors came into play. 1). Other than Kershaw I didn’t care about seeing the Dodgers win. I’ve always liked Kershaw though, and I’m happy for him. 2). Baseball is on too late. Now, it’s only 8:00 when the game starts, but why bother if my team isn’t in there? The Rays change pitchers every other inning, and neither starter went more than 6 innings. Didn’t want to invest a couple of hours in watching a game when the end was still 2 hours away and 2 hours into my sleep time. 3). The shift and the bullpen use  Even during the Yankees-Rays series I was put off by the entertainment value of the games. Shifts are taking away all base hits other than Homers. One relief pitcher after another is killing the pace and they’re all throwing 100. Strikeouts reign! 4). Umpires They stunk in the Yankees series. Okay, I was a little mad. So, congrats to the Dodgers - first tit

Saw a photo of the White House yesterday. There are about 6 fences in front of the place. Can’t even see the front door. Trump said this yesterday during a stump speech: “So, three weeks in, Biden is shot, and they say Kamala you’re in! Can’t happen. A woman socialist president!” Wait. What? He said: “Biden is shot?????” Come on, America. A candidate saying that about another candidate??? And then you stand up and sing, “I’m proud to be an American”? What happened? At the debate they were speaking about kids in cages and Biden said, “These kids are separated from their parents.” The answer? “Good.” Trump said, “Good.” The rich man pays no taxes. It’s brought up: “That makes me smart.” We lost our way. It didn’t all happen over the last 4 years, but it’s disintegrated fast. Kindness and empathy? Equal rights regardless of race, color or creed? 225,000 dead? “Ah they were old anyway????” Will the election that’s just 6 days away solve all the problems? Definitely not, but man, we gotta’

I can’t imagine that there are many undecided voters, and I am loathe to stuff my political opinions down anyone’s throat, but I’ve always been honest about my thoughts, and I believe that faithful readers of this blog are well aware as to how I voted. What I think those who might be wavering should truly think about: 1). Who is mentally fit. They’re both old white men and I often hear about speaking gaffes related to Biden. Do me a favor, though, just listen to a Trump rally. Tell me what, if anything is true.  2). Working as United States I have never heard anyone govern - out loud - in favor or against a state based on whether or not they voted for you. Blue states and red states? That’s not a way to go. 3). Covid response  The virus doesn’t have any idea who is a democrat and who is a republican. My question is in regard to who can best solve this, or at least control it. We don’t have cases and deaths only because we do a lot of testing. That’s simply NOT why it’s spreading. Liste

The frost pushed back the tee time. When we hit our first shot - down the middle - it wasn’t 40 degrees. The course was set to close for the season following Sunday’s final round. Had a great time and me and JC both made long putts on the final hole... ...which was apropos for a good year. We are now just 8 days away from the most horrendous election ever. When that is over... ...maybe there will be relative calm. (Probably not as one candidate appears keen on a scorched earth approach to how the Democracy rolls). Could it be that the world may calm down? (Of course not). Yet, for me and the other three guys I hung with every Sunday morning in this god forsaken year, the question remains: Now what? I know the time will get filled - I’ll write a little, make some breakfast, hang with the dogs & cat. Try and stay warm. But what I will miss most of all is the looking-forward to the 4 hours of relaxation. We all have enough golf balls, but I enjoyed going into the woods to find a few m

I wasn’t planning on voting early, but after discussing my scheduled trip with a work client they let me know that the cost of flying out on a Wednesday as opposed to Election Day Tuesday was an extra $700. “Can you vote early?” They asked. Even sent me the link to where the early voting was being held. And like everything else, it became a recurring thought. I NEEDED to vote early and I wasn’t gonna’ put it off. I found the closest place - voting started at noon - so I decided to head over a little early - got there at 11:30. Was a hundredth in line. “Wow,” the guy behind me said. “People are making sure they vote in this one.” We watched the line grow behind us. ‘Wow’ is right. The line snaked down the sidewalk and all the way back to the baseball diamond. We started talking baseball and then we chatted about work. Turns out three straight of us made our living in the construction field and we knew all the same people. They were in unions. I was a long-time union member. “I’m glad I’

It’s been a trying year. A trying four years, actually.  I know a lot of people who have been ridden with extreme anxiety through the last four years of absolute chaos and 2020 has been extremely difficult. I’ve spent a lot of the last 48 hours in a Springsteen fog as I’ve dug into the new batch of songs and the documentary that they made as part of the release, and Bruce didn’t pull any punches. He made it clear that your life matters. It matters to the people who love you, and work with you, to your family and your children. There are moments on the record that are breathtakingly beautiful and the beauty in living is the beauty in living right. I know a guy, a good friend of mine, and his calls and texts and even work conversations are always uplifting for me. He’s always in a good mood, is always smiling, and since he’s whip-smart he brings joy to every situation. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like him. I thought of him because how he carries himself does matter. On the contrary w

The Bruce record is out today! Yet, the documentary on the making of the record dropped yesterday, and it’s crazy, but I’d only heard 2 of the songs before settling in to watch. If you have an hour and a half to watch something in 2020 - ‘Letter to You’ - is the thing to watch. And I’m biased, the music is astounding, but how it’s shot is also breathtaking and Bruce’s words, as he speaks of death and loss and grieving and aging... ...brought tears to two sets of eyes here as I watched with Kathy. The talent of each and every band member is on full display and we had a conversation about how impossible it seems that someone can play the harmonica and the guitar at the same time while also singing when the harp playing ends. The music packs a wallop as the photos of the band in much younger days flash by. The bones of all of it is in the summation that Bruce offers near the end of it. About how the beauty of life is in the living life to the fullest each day. He mentions taking pride in

My nephew Johnny sent me a text on Tuesday evening. “You listen to this?” He asked. He had included the cover photo of the coming Springsteen record, ‘Letter to You.’ “Of course!” I answered, “but only two songs so far. We have to wait until Friday.” “I love ‘Ghosts’,” Johnny wrote. He’s 18-years-old. He lost his Dad. Bruce releases a song that is so intensely beautiful in the face of loss. “It’s just your ghost, moving through the night, spirit filled with light. I need, need you by my side, your love and I’m alive.” “I have a theory,” Johnny said. “I think that my Dad put those words in Bruce’s mind so he’d sing them and help me.” I dropped the phone. “Bruce always seems to write the record we need to hear,” I answered. “I’m blasting it!” Johnny wrote. “Can’t wait until Friday.” Then. Wednesday afternoon my phone rang: “Mom”. That’s a call that’s always answered. “Cliff, I know you know but Bruce is on Colbert tonight. I can’t wait to see him. I haven’t seen him in a long time.” Mom

2020 just keeps on giving. Jeffrey Toobin is a writer and a political contributor.  On Monday he was on a zoom call with a whole bunch of people as they did a hypothetical court show. He was role playing a judge and a whole bunch of big-wigs were in on it. Somehow he believed that he was off-camera so he took a little break. He decided to masturbate during his break. He believed his camera was off. It wasn’t. He immediately began apologizing to his wife and family and viewers and friends. He’s a 60-year-old man who is always on television and always in the public eye. I always liked his writing and reporting! Now he’s taking a leave of absence, but how does he live down such a thing when he’s back on the air? I won’t ever look at him again and wonder why. Are you freaking kidding me??? You throw away your entire career? Your family and friends that you referenced? How do you face them?? “Uh, I was bored.” “I do that once a week on Monday’s at 1:00. I knew I shouldn’t have booked that.”

So, there’s been a bit of controversy in Bruce-land this week. Springsteen is set to release a new record on October 23rd. We’ve known that since about mid-September and two songs have been put out - love them both. Yet this past week the entire album leaked out, and that’s when the storm started. Actual long-time, supposedly huge Springsteen fans were giddy with excitement. They’d somehow stolen the record before the official release. I say ‘stolen’ because that’s what they did. They didn’t pay for it, and they all passed it everywhere. I haven’t heard anything other than the two songs that have been officially released and while I certainly WANT to hear it as soon as possible, I know what it’s like to create something. The fact that Bruce’s work is stolen almost every time is truly aggravating to me, and “fans” were justifying it by saying that Springsteen has enough money. So he’s supposed to create for free? I’ve spent hour after hour after hour in an effort to create something. It

Let me introduce the 4-some: Pops: The long ball hitter of the group. He spent a lot of years hitting drives that went from line-to-line. One of the original Grape Apes 🦍 he often chipped and putted with the same strength of his drives. J.C.: His ball would often start right and end up at the car path on the left side. His control with woods is amazing. He can tailor the swing to hit it 200 yards or 120. The king of par 3’s. Scotty: The best looking swing of the group and the best putter by far - he can actually read greens. But he’s often pretty beat up and has to battle through pain. Me: I hit it straight. Almost always. I also have Chippy and he saves me a lot of strokes per round. In 2020, we had no idea what the season would be. We golfed with just one guy per cart a few times. Then we got in a groove. 25 rounds. It’s time for the awards: Most Improved: Pops!  He slowed everything down this year and those errant shots were a lot less common. He owned the 10th hole - a monster of

Caught John Mellencamp’s great song, “Cherry Bomb” yesterday.  Thought about when I first heard it. I was 23 years old.  Mellencamp is singing about the past and in the song he says, “17 has turned 35. I’m surprised that we’re still living.” I used to marvel at how far away 35 seemed at the end of that line. I was 23! 35??? Yesterday, I waited for the line...and I sang it proud. “17 has turned 56. I’m surprised that we’re still living.” First off, it was great to listen to JCM again. I followed up Cherry Bomb with Human Wheels and marveled about how great an artist he is.  Secondly, I thought a little about the 33 years since I first heard the song. A lot got done! Wife, kids, a lot gained and certainly some horrible losses. Today is birthday #56. I’m starting to accept it. Not a whole lot will change from another Sunday: Golf Pasta Family Pets Same things I was chasing at 17.

The town hall “debates” are over. It was supposed to be a virtual debate because one of the candidates supposedly had the virus, but he backed out. So, the other candidate booked a town hall... ...and then the baby, bully, idiot candidate decided that he would also book a town hall... ...so he could brag about how much higher his ratings were. And they were lower! Hahahahahahahahaha! And it’s funny because it’s all Trump cares about. He was a game show host on a program that garnered high ratings as he developed the con that has destroyed us. He owes one billion dollars, according to the latest reports. Savannah Guthrie grilled him on it... ...and he did his best to avoid it. Then he said that none of it was fair because he got hard questions. There are 18 days left. Then people will line up to vote. I’m still laughing about the ratings... ...but one simple question for those who may still be undecided: Are you nuts???? This dude owes a billion dollars! What would he sell to reduce som

It always seems to hit me a few days before my next birthday. Fifty-freaking-six? That’s the new number in 48 hours, and of course, you always want to see the number get bigger, but honestly? Fifty-freaking-six? I have been blessed with a crazy memory. Go ahead and pick a golf hole from my last round. I can recall each shot. I’ll do it for you: Thirteen - par 5: Long drive to the right side, inexplicably hit the 5-wood about 8 yards, then hit the 5-wood about 180 yards. Was 90 yards out and inexplicably hit a perfect 9-iron 110 yards. I used chippy to put it within a foot, tapped in for a bogie. Should’ve parred it. Dumb. 3 great shots. 2 horrible ones and always good when I don’t have to stand over a putt. (Love you, Chippy). Yet, I give you that little exercise to let you know that I can remember a lot! And when you’re fifty-freaking-six, you remember the great things... ...but the painful things too. And the only thing that bugs me about having less days left than what I’ve already

Man, what a year. In baseball the deaths have come one by one: Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Jay Johnstone, Al Kaline  Like a roll call of an All-Star Game. We already spoke of the rock and rollers: Ric Ocasek, Eddie Money, Eddie Van Halen. I can’t even remember all of them. It seems like every few days.  And there are people walking around saying: “Well, it’s 2020,” as a way of explaining all of this chaos. The year has appeared to be about a decade long already. How you making out? I’m thinking by that just surviving the year will make it an epic success. I’ve truly been lost in a fog of confusion the last week or so. I’m seeing crowds of people at the rallies. Trump is asking if there are any other COVID-19 survivors out there. Their new plan appears to be to make sure everyone gets it. “Hope we all get it,” one rally guy said. “So we can be done with it.” That won’t work out very well for about a half a million people in 2020. A thousand deaths a day with no end i

Every once in awhile we’ll catch the story of a con man on one of the crime shows. It’ll be about a guy who swindles money from well-to-do women or elderly people.  The schemes are usually elaborate and involve tremendous detail. Then when the guy is caught there’s absolutely no remorse.  The penalties don’t seem all that much either and the guy usually gets out and moves to another city and starts over. It’s crazy. Of course, there have been great cons pulled off right in our faces these last four years, but this ain’t about him. A few months back I was introduced to a new supervisor on one of the jobs. I only spoke with the man for about three minutes, but after he walked away I asked, the guy I knew well: “Something off about that dude?” “Maybe,” he said. “He has been talking a lot about God. He wanted to set up a prayer circle. He asked one of the laborers, who was a little dirty, if he wanted to use the shower at his hotel to clean up. The guy was a little weirded out.” So, I forg

I had a very tumultuous kindergarten.  You see, there was a kid who lived up the road from us, and way back, more than 50 years ago, I had my first play date at his home. “Mom, he can write on the walls,” I announced when I got home. “You aren’t writing on the walls,” she said. My fascination with Dom’s life continued to grow. He actually swore. Even at his mother. It made me laugh. On my first day of kindergarten the teacher paired us together to share a locker. Evidently, I was excited by this. I jumped on Dom’s back. He hit the corner of the locker and there was a lot of blood and plenty of stitches. I always felt badly about that and had a sort of kinship with Dom through the years... ...even as our lives went in completely different directions. I know that he had a lot of problems and suffered a lot of loss in life. His health wasn’t great. But I thought about him time and again... ...and then...on Wednesday afternoon I got a notification of a friend request: Dom. I accepted it. E

Saw a photo of an absolutely packed stadium in New Zealand.  They have zero concerns about the coming flu season because they had a nationally mandated program, based on science and facts. Also saw a rally in the Villages in Florida where Pence was speaking about the ‘exquisite job that the task force has done. Masks were optional. The elderly were stacked, side-by-side. A thousand people a day are dying here. 50,000 new cases every day. “It’ll all be over after the election,” day the dumbest people you know. The NFL is trying their best to change games to fit the teams who don’t have positive cases.  It’s gonna’ get worse. I’m out there every day. I don’t see very many construction guys wearing masks. Some come up to me extending their hands after if to shake. “Get away from me with your diseases,” I respond. “It is what it is,” I guess. Instead of following the science and trying to rid the country of a viral infection that has no political affiliation we turned it into a partisan fi

I usually have to be dragged into accepting that summer is over and that fall is upon us. I’m starting to gradually accept it, but I’m also cautiously optimistic that we can get 3 more rounds in, counting today, and next week on my birthday. Golfing on my birthday is as good as it gets! Because it will be followed by any kind of pasta I feel like making. Yet, I felt that old twinge of sadness on Saturday morning when I was chasing the damn cat across the back yard. Cats don’t have to go outside! It’s on of their best traits... ...but I trained him like a dog, so every morning the cat gets everyone moving by screeching loudly to go outside! And now he has a new game. He doesn’t come in when I open the door and let Melky and Paris in. Instead he hangs out by the back fence and waits for me to start towards him. Then he makes a beeline for the door, yelling back over his shoulder at me. Miller is kind of a d*ck. Anywhoha... ...I felt the chill in the breeze on Saturday morning as I follow

Writing this blog with Yankees-Rays starting the top of the 7th inning. It’s 1-1. There have been 5 hits so far. Each pitcher who has entered the game has thrown 95+. Most can reach 100 mph. That’s one way the game has changed. Not for the better. Back in the 4th inning Judge came up and the Rays put 4 guys in the outfield. On every single pitch there are guys all over the diamond taking away the open spaces where guys used to get hits. The shift sucks. The game is now at two hours and 31 minutes. Lots of swing and misses and very little contact. You have to set aside 4 hours. At least this one started at 7:10 but most begin at 8:15. There are no off days this year, which is ridiculous for pitchers. Lots of guys going to be hurt trying to win. I’m still firmly in the Yankees better win this game camp, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking about not sleeping much next week should they win. Helluva’ way to sell the game to kids by having games finish after midnight. A Rays player flew

Does anyone know what the hell is going on? Trump and Pence look sick. Trump is doing his level best to say that he is 100% healthy and beat Covid in 3 days. Every time he’s seen he’s either breathing like me trying to climb a scaffold stair to the top of one of the big jobs. Pence had pink eye and a fly landed on his head. He started canceling things yesterday. Chris Christie checked into a hospital a week ago and rumors are flying. Meanwhile there was an FBI raid on people who were plotting to kidnap a governor, and Trump went off on Kamala Harris calling her a monster and a communist. The last few days he’s been back to talking about Clinton’s emails. The polls have it as a 16-point lead for Biden. This is going to get even more crazy.,. ...they’re talking 25th amendment after Trump has sent out tweets saying that there won’t be any Covid relief talks until after the election and then he immediately says: “The deal is close.” My favorite moment was this gem: “I’m gonna’ talk about t

October is my birth month. Some of my favorite memories reside in October’s gone by. Reggie hit 3 out on my 13th birthday to close out the Dodgers in ‘77. Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, Derek Jeter, Bernie, Paul O’Neill and a hundred other Yankees have been stars in my October memories... ...and the one thing I recall about a whole lot of those October days is being really, really tired during the work days. This week has been a mess of sleep depravation. You see, the Yankees always get the night game because they’re the biggest draw. I’ve made peace with that, but they also play really long games. And now I have Miller the cat who has decided that his job is to now wake me up each morning. He doesn’t have to go outside! But that’s why he’s waking me up. To top it off, I got my hip steroid/cortisone injections on Monday and much like the President I’ve been operating under a bit of a mental steroid fog. You know when you yawn and make that long drawn out noise? I did that about 30 times on T

Damn, so the way to get a break from the stupidity and cruelty of a rudderless government is to say goodbye to another rock legend. Who didn’t love how Eddie Van Halen shredded that guitar? In the late 70’s and early 80’s Van Halen was on top of the rock pile. Their videos were must watch events and their records were always on the radio. I actually always wanted to see them live back then and never really got a chance. And then they went through some dissension. Eddie and Valerie Bertinelli split. Eddie and David Lee Roth split. Eddie and Sammy Hagar split. And there were always rumors about how they were going to get back together again. Damn. David Bowie, Prince, Eddie Money, Tom Petty, Ric Ocasek, Neil Pert, John Prine, Eddie Van Halen. They were rock royalty. Now, he will live on, of course, all those guitar licks will never change, but just 65 short years. Live every minute. Do what you want to do and what you love to do. I’m thinking Eddie enjoyed himself a little... ...but one

I’m trying so hard to NOT write anything about Trump every day, but look at it this way; This is a blog that I write each day, not for me, but to record my personal history for my kids. I’m trying to capture a moment in time for them so they know what the old man was thinking. Don’t laugh. They might read some of it! But capturing 10/05/20 is difficult. Let’s just try and tell it simply: The leader of the free world, sick from a viral disease that has killed 210,000 Americans in 7 months time checks himself out of one hospital, flies onto the White House lawn in Air Force One, steps out, mask on his face and huffs and puffs his way onto the balcony, his face painted bright orange, his yellow toupee blowing in the wind. He promptly removes his mask and goes to video to tell the world that as a leader he had to dominate Covid-19 so he could let Americans know that they shouldn’t let it dominate them. That’s what happened. I have questions. 1). What he actually did was check out of one ho

If you believe that Christ is the guiding influence in your life, you probably shouldn’t make a pretzel out of yourself to condone bad behavior. What drives me absolutely crazy sometimes is when people who claim to be dead set against something because of a true set of values just looks the other way when the guy is on their team. You abhor Jeffrey Epstein and his life of depravity? Then you should condemn all of his friends and not just the ones with the D or R by their names depending on which way you lean. You don’t like liars or crooks? You shouldn’t back them. If you don’t care for people who abuse the welfare system on the low end of the scale... ...someone in the billionaire bracket stealing every single dollar should annoy you as well. You have to stand for something... ...or you’ll fall for anything. If you didn’t much care for a president having an affair while in office back in the 90’s... ...paying off porn stars while cheating on your wife should also get your gall. I ofte

This has been the most surreal week - news-wise - in my lifetime.  It’s not even close! The tax story was this week! Followed by the debate and then the COVID-19 invasion of the White House. “What’re we watching?” Kathy asked. “People are talking about Cobra Kai,” I said. “I have no idea what it is.” “We’ll try an episode.” Much to our surprise it’s Karate Kid some 36 years later. The music is great. The story is so familiar. Ralph Macchio is back and it’s really well done. “Man, the music was so great back then,” I said.  I miss those times musically. And who do you know who didn’t see the Karate Kid movies back then. “Wax on, wax off.” And we kind of got lost in the show. The boys were all away for the weekend. I got dinner going and the sauce started for tomorrow. And we watched the show. At dinner we finally took a break and the news was back on for a few minutes.  Is Trump all right or on the verge of death? And here’s the thing... ...there’s no way of knowing what is true. The di

Big news, right? It is what it is. Quite a few things with the “shocking” news that Donny T and the Classy-‘F**k-Christmas-First-Lady’ tested positive for COVID-19. 1). Is it true? Has to be asked.  There have been so many lies and so much disinformation that I’m reminded of the boy who cried wolf. He’s coming off a story about not paying taxes and an epically horrendous debate showing. The poll numbers tell us that he’s going to be unemployed soon, and with a $421 million debt coming due... ...well a virus diagnosis might bring sympathy from some corners. 2). Too many tests! If they didn’t test him he wouldn’t have it. Duh!  No masks? Maybe they should’ve been used. How does it infect a group of people who have the best in testing, the best medical team (not counting Ronny Jackson), and are protected at every turn? Science! That’s how! I’ve been saying it from day one through Herman Cain’s death and into last night. The virus doesn’t care. 3). Prognosis There were a lot of prayer chai

On Sunday morning, on the way to the golf course, I felt a little like there was something going on. A cold? Covid-19? That’s the first thought every time you sneeze these days. I shrugged it off and then put in a long trip across the country...got to bed late, up early, a 14-hour day. When I went to bed on Monday night in Wichita, I knew it: I was sick. Felt worse by morning. Spoke to my boss. “Just take the day off. Call your client and mention that you aren’t feeling well.” I laughed. “My day consists of visiting a site, driving 240 miles and flying home. Hard to call in sick on that.” So, suck it up! Yet, I actually did something smart. I stayed home on Wednesday and Thursday, and I rested (except for during the Yankees games). “I gotta’ get back to work,” I said, on Thursday evening. “Yeah, except you aren’t better,” Kathy said. “Just lay low. Take the weekend. Monday is a better target.” Lay low? It is certainly the smart play and I have stayed clear of everyone else. Even not fe

The debate never had a chance of being anything than what it was... ...a shit show. Coming off the taxes revelations it was certain to be a mess because Trump was angry.  And he has nothing to stand on in regard to the handling of the virus, the economy and the unrest in many major cities. His only defense is to lie or punch his way out. I honestly didn’t think he’d actually show and when it became apparent that he would, I had one thought; “Stay clear of all of it!” That’s virtually impossible in this day and age. Even if you’re watching something else, it’ll get in your face somehow if you have a phone in your hand, and truly, who doesn’t have a phone in their hands? I was happy. The Yankees were drubbing the Tribe. I was home and surrounded by my animals and wife and kids. Who wants to deal with the nonsense of a debate? I’m kinda’ clear on which way I’m going to vote. But there was pure nastiness being spread. I did it. I flipped over. Chris Wallace, who was being roasted on Twitte