Thoughts of a Common Man

Companies are quick to hand out PTO days. Problem is there’s so much work to do that you can never, in good conscience take one. So they can literally give you a million hours in PTO. Doesn’t mean a damn thing! I truly know that such days are important for mental health, but I also suffer from the fact that I can’t just DO NOTHING! The sun was shining on Friday morning as I was headed off to start a busy, busy day. I checked the temperature: 50 degrees. Sent out a feeler. “Anyone want to golf today?” I got a taker! We had a tee time inside an hour. I hustled through a number of visits. Even wrote and sent the reports.  I essentially was taking about an hour off (during a week where I’d already put 60 in). We played 18 holes in about 3 hours. I returned home sore and tired but in a considerably better frame of mind. “You should do that more often,” Kathy said when I got home. For sure. As for the golf? I keep hitting it well and I continue to putt horribly. Aggravating! But still be...

I went to a private college back in 1982. That first year, I took out a student loan, and paid most of one semester. My Mom and Dad covered the rest. The second year, I paid for the entire tuition cost because I had spent every break working as a union laborer. I made more than $20 an hour. Unheard of wages for a young man back then. A union laborer, 40 years later, now makes the same wage that I made then! Years three and four were paid out of 3 pockets. Mine, my unbelievable parents, and a couple of more student loans. When I was done I owed a total of $7,500. I had a Bachelor of Arts Degree that allowed me to adapt to where I wanted to be… …back in the construction field, but not lifting blocks onto a scaffold. I also started writing books, and I almost immediately began repaying those loans. It took me ten years, but I paid back every nickel. If student loan debt is forgiven now… …I won’t begrudge anyone who catches a break. Because of a number of factors: 1). America has bailed ou...

Did I dream that I played golf just a few days ago? Woke up to a blanket of snow. Slipped on a roof top at the first job. Visiting the deck of the roof isn’t any fun for a 57-year-old man. I popped right back up and was no worse for the wear, other than my hand ended up snow-covered. One of the guys made a snowman. “Did you enjoy your summer?” He asked. The next guy was humming ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and we all laughed a little… …until the wind picked up and froze our faces. It’s just about May. We broke the record for snow on this date. We have a tee time for Sunday and there’s a better than even chance that we’ll get to the first tee, but if this is winter’s last gasp… …I didn’t enjoy it. They’re worried about the lack of offense in baseball. They’re cold! 🥶  🥶  🥶  “So much for global warming,” one guy said. “It’s climate change,” another guy said. “Something is wrong.” Maybe. Snow. Give me a break.

I don’t know what I think of Elon Musk and his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion. I’m not a big fan of rich people getting tax breaks and subsidies. He has certainly been handed a lot of hand-outs. I’m also reading a lot of stories that said that he could have ended world hunger with a measly $6 billion plan, but that he declined to help. All of it is just plain crazy, but we peons who get up and go to work every day won’t ever understand. I’m seeing a whole lot of reports that also refer to “Crimes being committed” but that “Charges may not be pursued.” Kushner reportedly got $2 billion from the Saudis… …they might look into it. And at the same time, I watched the police in Syracuse grab an 8-year old, black kid and toss them in their car… …traumatizing the kid forever… …because he took some candy. “Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you a king.” Dylan said that a long time ago. Couldn’t be any more accurate. It’s amazing to me that so much money ch...

Sore today. Back is barking a little. Twinge in the knee. A little tired too. But man, the sun was out! Over 80 degrees! Relatively little rust in my golf game. I woke up yesterday with one thought: “I’m golfing today!” Listened to the Stones on the way to the course and had ‘Tumbling Dice’ blasting as I pulled into the lot. An older guy was walking by and he shook his head at me. Could imagine him thinking, “Kids these days “ Song was written in 1968! The first tee. Put my tee in the ground, couple of practice swings, hit it well but a tad right. Wonderful. Looked around a lot. Looked up at the sun. They say it’s gonna’ get cold again, but man, I took advantage of a great weekend. It’s coming! Cleaned the garage when I got home. Sore! It’s a great soreness.

The high on this coming Wednesday is listed at 43. It’ll be in the low 30’s when I rise. So, we ain’t out of the woods yet, but yesterday morning I made my way to the car without a jacket or even a hoodie. The sun was shining! As I took Paris around the block I looked at my front yard which has been absolutely ravaged by the winter.  I made a decision. Off to Home Depot. I grabbed 10 bags of black mulch and 5 bags of top soil. Later in the day I went back for 10 more bags of mulch. I’ve always enjoyed that kind of work. I absolutely love the transformation and the clean look. Problem being, that work no longer loves me. I took a long break and we watched a movie. Sciatica was barking at me… …and so were the animals. They moved all around the backyard, making their voices heard as the other neighborhood dogs also emerged from their homes. They were all asleep on the floor for a little while too. There were six holes in the backyard, courtesy of Oliver. He is a stereotypical pooch as...

I distinctly recall the afternoon when I bought the John Mellencamp record ‘The Lonesome Jubilee’. It was released in 1987 and I drove from North Collins to the McKinley Mall and bought the music on a CD. I listened to it on the way back to town and then had a few beers with my buddies, Scott, JC and Jeffy. I kept thinking about the songs, knowing that I had a lot of work ahead of me in reading the lyrics. Mellencamp had mentioned that he’d written a lot of it by reviewing Bible verses. I don’t know what made me think of it yesterday as I drove home from Syracuse, but the music was all there on my phone. I had ordered it with a couple of clicks. Would it hold up? 35 years later? My first thought was that the record was basically a Greatest Hits record with ‘Paper in Fire’, ‘Cherry Bomb’, and ‘Check it Out’. But there are hidden gems that are among my favorites, ‘Empty Hands’, ‘Hard Times for an Honest Man’ and ‘Real Life.’ Mellencamp was writing about people struggling to live a good l...

  I spotted the sign on my way by. Now, you have to understand that I’ve been eating like a bird. I was feeling a little lethargic late on Thursday morning. The sign on the side of the place claimed that it was the “best pepper and egg” sandwich. My mind played a trick. I was part of the concrete crew in California. That morning I had complained to my Dad (who was the BIG, BIG boss on the massive project) about being starving because we’d start pouring at 6 a.m. and wouldn’t take a break until 2 p.m. That morning around 10:00 I heard him call my name. There were 25 guys as part of the concrete pour, but he was the boss… …I headed over. He handed me a pepper and egg sandwich wrapped in tin foil. “I can’t eat that,” I said. “None of the other guys have eaten either.” “None of them are my son,” Dad said. “Hide behind the column and eat it.” That was the best peppers and egg sandwich I ever had. Pok-A-Dot didn’t have a chance! But, let me tell you, they make the second best peppers and...

I like to wake up a half hour before I get out of bed to go over things in my head. It’s kind of like the ‘half hour of hope’ as the plan formulates on the day. I find myself hoping for things and wondering if this is the day when it all comes together. Is this the day when the outside temperature rises above 40? I’m not quite sure! Is this the day when the Yankees win their 3rd straight and they finally appear capable of scoring double digit runs? I’ll know early as it’s an afternoon game that I will listen to on the radio. They’re still playing in the frigid Northeast though where it hurts to actually hit the ball. Is this the day when I won’t hear bad news about a friend, cousin, relative or work buddy? Seems like it’s been every other day with a health scare or tragic early death. Life has been weird since Covid started. Is this the day when I will sail through my work assignments with ease and feel satisfied at the end of the day? No. Running lean here. Seems the more I get done, ...

I knew a brick mason named Jim.  I met Jim back in the mid-1990’s and man, I watched the man work hard.  Up and down the scaffold, carrying blocks and bricks and climbing ladders and scaffold stairs. He was dirty a lot of the time. Jim was usually in a great mood too. He’d groan audibly and say, “What do you want?” every single time he saw me. He called me to help a few times when OSHA came knocking. Over the summer our conversation started with a number… …the number of days until he retired. The countdown started when he hit the 50-day mark. “You’re going to stay another year,” I’d say each time he talked about it. “Nope. I have it figured to the penny. I figure I have a good 20 years left. I have my union pension and all the social security I can get. I’m gonna’ sit on my ass.” “You’ll miss it,” I said. He just laughed. Jim died yesterday. His wife found him on the kitchen floor. The coffee freshly brewed but he didn’t get a cup. Just three and a half months after he took hi...

I don’t do lethargic. They gave me meds to control my blood sugar and I’m supposed to see how it works for a month or so before I get another check-up. I feel lousy. I’m all right when I first open my eyes, and then I take the med, and I get that malaise. Which doesn’t work for me. To top it off, I’m not eating much of anything at all because I’m kind of lost at what I should do. But here’s the thing: Everyone is seemingly on the same medication! I talked to a buddy at work and he gave me some pointers: He eats right through it! “Instead of 3 pieces of pizza I eat two. Instead of 10 chicken wings I eat 5.” Pizza?  Chicken wings? I’ve been eating nuts and berries. And I wonder about the lack of sugar/carbs after having it in my diet for all my life. Is that why I’m suddenly tired? The thing about talking to that particular guy is that we had a friend in common who died of a sudden heart attack at just 52 years old. “Half of me wants to say, ‘Screw it! Life is short’”, he said. “The ...

The Easter celebration was promising with a nice menu laid out. We caught up on ‘Better Call Saul’ so we’re ready for the new season, and then the Yankees were on against the hapless Orioles. And they didn’t even bother to show up which was enjoyable because I heard from the Baltimorons (people from Baltimore). Three of us ate the food that I prepared for 25 and I put most of the rest away… …and we looked for another show/movie. Netflix recommended one for us: “Catch & Release” Jennifer Garner was looking awfully young. “How old is she?” I asked. “She looks like she’s 20. Isn’t she like 50?” I googled her age. 50 on the button! “Maybe it’s an old movie.” I checked that. “2006!” “So what,” Kathy said. “I bet it’s good.” Let’s just say, she would’ve lost that bet. Horrible! In the bottom 20 of all-time. I complained all the way through. So, there’s an Easter for the books. So much promise. Yankees and a 16-year-old Jennifer Garner movie… …pooped all over it.

Wasn’t quite ready for a white Easter, but here we are! We worked on the dinner menu and I spent some time thinking about God and religion and all those days spent in church during Holy Week back in my altar boy days. Stations of the Cross. The long Palm Sunday reading where I thought it was cruel and inhumane to have to stand that long. I drove through the hills near my childhood home on Good Friday and thought about every residence that I passed.  There was my little league ball field in Langford. The Johnson House where we went for ten cent wings in high school. Passed the golf course where we learned to play the game. And I could tell you who lived in each home back about 40 years ago. Some of those people have passed on. Way too fast. All Of it. But Easter speaks of rising again. Redemption. Right through the blanket of snow.

Saw a news headline yesterday that stated that more Americans died in 2021 than any other year in history. It was noted that Covid was the 3rd leading cause of death. I’ve lost a number of acquaintances in the past six months and many were way below the life expectancy. Makes me feel weird when I see obits of people my age and younger. I bring this all up because I stopped and had lunch with a buddy who suffered a heart attack and a number of other health challenges. He got lucky, and a bunch of us who know him professionally were quite concerned. I wasn’t quite ready for the first look at my recovering pal. He’d lost a lot of weight. His hair was grey and his color was off. He’d also lost some of the timber in his voice and I said the first thing that came to mind: “You look good,” and I meant it. I was happy to see him. Lunch was easy conversation, a few old stories and a number of laughs, and in the hour or so we drifted back the 25 years that we’d all known one another. As I drove ...

So, my blood work, for the first time ever told me that I couldn’t just eat every meal as if I were going to the electric chair. But the doc didn’t say much! And me, being obsessive compulsive and a bit of a mental midget… …well, put it this way, I haven’t had a piece of bread or potatoes since and the dogs are having cookie time without me. I ate fish. A few bananas. Some protein bars. What else? “You can have wheat pasta,” Kathy said. “Thy will NEVER happen!” And I have had pasta, but I have eaten way less… …not because I didn’t want more but because I felt guilty eating it. So, I don’t know what to think. My blood work may have been off because I didn’t fast beforehand. But who knows! “My wife gives her self two shots a day and takes 2 pills,” one guy told me. “What does she eat?” “She eats some garbage,” he said. “Meds control it.” I don’t want meds to control it! I want steak and pasta and potatoes and cookies now and again. Maybe the doctor will offer some advise. Not holding my ...

Baseball is a marathon. I’m beginning to dread April’s games because people who haven’t watched the sport through the winter are excited to see games… …and man, they live and die with the losses. When I was a kid, my Dad (who loved the Yankees) would always talk about what they weren’t good at. “Their pitching stinks!” “They need to rehire Billy.” And even if they held a lead late in a game he’d say something like: “I got a bad feeling.” I often referred to him as Doctor Doom. My mother-in-law was worse! She was not a Yankees fan until my boys started rooting for them. Then she wanted them to win every game. By a lot! If they lost back to back games she’d say: “What’s wrong with your Yankees?” The best was when they took Game 1 of the 2000 World Series over the Mets. “They only won by one and it took them extra innings!” Grandma wanted them to go 162-0 and win by at least 5 every night. Now, I realize that every team in the league is going to win 55 games and lose 55 games. There will ...

  I was deeply saddened by the loss of Norm McDonald. This one might hurt even more! Gilbert was a constant guest on Howard Stern back about 20 years ago. He would get going with Artie Lange, and I’m telling you, I didn’t want to get out of the car. Every time he made me laugh to the point of it hurting. And if Gilbert was on a panel for a roast, forget about it. It didn’t matter who else was on the panel… …he crushed it. He was absolutely filthy. Didn’t care. He got fired from his job as a spokesman from an insurance company because he told jokes that were deemed insensitive after a natural disaster. Which was ridiculous because Gilbert didn’t have a malicious bone in his body. The other comics told a lot of jokes about Gilbert taking the soap and shampoo from every hotel room he ever stayed in. He once told an ethnic joke about an Asian that made me spit my coffee all over my windshield. Then I told it to my Asian buddy and we have laughed about the same joke for the last 20 year...

Things went according to planned on Sunday night. I fell asleep at the usual time, which is somewhere between 10 & 11, and I thought I slept all right, but I woke up at the usual time - between 5:30 and 06:00 - and I was groggy. I immediately thought of a conversation between Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone. “Come on, Barney!” Fred said. “Where’s your get up and go?” “It got up and went,” Barney said. And that line and the grogginess hung around most of the morning. What’s off about life these days is that I finally got my blood work done and the doc called to tell me that my glucose was high. So, I haven’t been eating a hell of a lot! I’m not sure what is good to eat - carbs are definitely the culprit but the bakery that opened near the house has sponge Candy cheesecake. So…anywhoha… I felt good until they told me and now I feel sluggish! But I pressed on. “How’s it going?” I asked the first guy I saw at the first site. “It’s Monday,” he answered. “It’s still about 35 degrees an...

Okay, we’ll that’s the best movie I’ve seen in years! Coda won the Oscar for best picture and the best actor award was also well-deserved so I am a little late to the party. There’s a reason why. I’m a tad sensitive to stories about the deaf because my buddy and his family have been afflicted. Another friend of mine had deaf parents and battled a whole lot of ridicule. Hearing Loss is a sad, sad thing, and those of us who can hear every little pin drop… …take it all for granted. I always talk passionately about hearing protection when I am doing my safety training classes. So, I was a tad sensitive going in… …and Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’ was prominently featured. It was song so beautifully. I looked over at Kathy at a highly emotional part and she was crying. “Why you crying?” I asked. “Shut-up,” she said. Five minutes later, I was doing my best not to sob all over the living room. I was just praying that she didn’t look over… …but she didn’t cause she was still crying. Beautif...

A few years back I painted the interior of the house, but truth be told, I didn’t do very well at patching the holes, and it has bothered me for awhile. We also had three rooms - one for each boy that we didn’t paint then. Holes everywhere! Thankfully, I met a real painter, and he’s a good kid with two infant children at home. He’s just starting out in life and I asked him if he did side jobs. He jumped at the idea and came by and did a great job on the boys rooms. This spring I asked him about patching things up and he was good with that idea too. He laughed when I explained where some of the holes came from. Jake pushed Sam through the drywall in the hall. Jake threw something to make a dent in the kitchen wall. I don’t even know where some of the other nicks came from, but there were also two holes courtesy of Bills close losses. A lot of living. “What’s up with the baseboards?” My painter asked. “That’s where the cat scratches when he gets nervous. He’s nervous a lot.” The kid laug...

My main thought on Friday was on hitting as many sites as I could before 1:07 p.m. when Cole would throw the first pitch to start the Yankees season. I was up and out by 6:30 and covered a lot of ground. Even skipped lunch, or any sort of break. I still didn’t make it back to the office in time and listened to the first inning on the radio. Boston scored 3 and my heart sunk. Didn’t want to hurry to watch that! But Rizzo hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the first. Perfect! Was going to be a battle. I made it home and went straight to my office. Turned the television on and… …and nothing! We had switched television providers. “Where’s the YES Network?” I yelled. “One minute,” Kathy said. I put the radio on again. Didn’t hear anything from downstairs. “What channel is it?” I called down again. “We don’t get it,” Kathy said. I thought about the past 26 years. When I met Kathy I was a man who played softball, rec league basketball, drank a bit, hung out with friends, ate with reckless aba...

I didn’t think there was any possible way that we’d ever hear about Tiger Woods playing in another major golf event. No way! His leg was destroyed. They were talking about possibly amputating his leg. On that day when he lost control of his car and crashed, I felt sad. If watched him hit so many crazy shots, and win so many great matches. Certainly the greatest golfer I’d ever seen… …but he was done. He played the first round of the Masters yesterday and was one under par for the round. Unbelievable. “He’ll never finish,” a golf buddy of mine said at one of the job sites. “Those dudes are built differently,” I said. Of course I have watched the rise and fall and rise and fall and rise of Tiger since the start. I have really wanted to like him, but had a hard time watching the documentary of his career. It’s not for me to judge him, but as they recounted his marital troubles and his weeks in Vegas away from his kids, I had trouble truly liking him. But that doesn’t matter! All eyes are ...

The Yankees and the Red Sox were scheduled to play at 1:05 this afternoon. It’s cancelled. Isn’t that perfect for this messed up year? It’s actually a good thing for me because I have a work thing scheduled for today and tomorrow is Friday - will be a little more leeway. Yet, opening week has always seemed magical to me. It would be better if the Yankees were going today, but there’s baseball and a day with baseball is way better than a day without it. I have some buddies who appear content to bust my chops about the pace of baseball. “It’s sooooo boring,” is the classic response, and it does get under my skin because what I love the most about the sport is it’s leisurely pace. I tried to remind them that football has about 10 minutes of action and that all their games take 4 hours… …but they see the replay of the play 5 times before the next play so it seems like more is happening. I can watch a full baseball game. I’ll watch about a hundred this year, and I know that the Yankees will...

I started the day with a hoodie and a jacket. Then I dumped the jacket. A little while later, the hoodie went, and the truth of the matter was that it was a tad chilly, but man, it felt great! Sun on the face! I got home and saw all the pets coming for me. “Who wants to go outside?” They all would’ve yelled: “Me! Me! Me!” If they could. So, I let them go and opened the door a bit so they could come in if they wanted. I was working on reports when the old dog came up the stairs. She’d had enough. It’d been a half an hour, though, so I went to check. Before getting to the door the cat was there: Bitching about something. “Where is he?” I asked. “OLIVER!” I ducked outside and saw it. A brand new hole under the fence! Panic! “OLLIE!!” He came around the corner, in the neighbor’s yard. Looked at me, and then… …ran! Its gonna’ be a long summer! I grabbed him and carried him back to the house. He was panting heavily. If he could talk he’d say just one word: “OUTSIDE!!!”

Time for an update on the puppy, right? Ollie, Oliver, Ed Oliver, Ollie Berry, Muhammad Ollie, Edward James Oliver (Kathy yelled that in anger one day), Ollie Ba-Ba, Ollie Burton, Ollie Boo-Boo, and Oliver Wendall Holmes… …is a pain in the ass. He’s cute, and that has saved him because he’s mean as hell to Miller the cat… …and even more nasty to Pair-Pair, our nearly teenage dog. Ollie’s most annoying traits include: 1). Digging holes in the backyard. 2). Hiding the bones - in every corner of the house and in the cat litter, or on the stairs (almost broke my neck) 3). He opens the gate. My neighbor called me, laughing. “Your dogs are in my yard.” 4). He watches television. I always wanted a dog that kept an eye on the shows. He seems partial to ‘Modern Family’ reruns. 5). I’m his favorite. He follows me from room-to-room… …which wouldn’t be such a pain, but the other two do as well. It’s like I have an entourage. 6). He loves to cook. Well, he loves when I cook because I drop stuff for...

The weekend had a shooting rampage in Sacramento.  Six dead. Scores more injured. It hardly made the news. There wasn’t wall-to-wall coverage, but I did see sadness from the father of one of the victims. So many lives utterly destroyed. And perhaps we aren’t paying attention to that particular horror because of Ukraine. Mass graves. Rapes at the hands of Russian soldiers and it makes it even more disgusting when you realize that there is a fraction of the political spectrum still rooting for Putin. Tucker Carlson declared that he was definitely on the side of Russia because they never did anything to him. Hitler didn’t either, but that isn’t a sound reason to root for him, is it? And I never truly understood war. I distinctly recall the second grade and being told that one of the commandments was: “Do not kill.” Three simple words. I asked the nun: “What about during a war? If you kill someone then do you go to hell?” The nun didn’t give me a good answer. In fact, I recall her stum...

We are watching the series, “The Dropout” about the woman who was CEO for a fake company and became a billionaire. It’s all right, but the key to the last episode was that they showed a corporate event where everyone who works together, plays together. Made me think of such an event from about twenty years ago. It was a beautiful summer day and we were told to wear casual summer clothes.  One of the team-building events was a tug of war over a pit of mud. Anyone who wanted to participate had to put their weight down on a card and you were pitted against someone of similar size. I weighed about 225 at the time. I wrote 180 on the card. They called out my name and then called out the name of my opponent. Glen was one of the partners at the insurance agency. On the way to the pit he asked again: “What do you weigh?” “180,” I said. “You?” “175,” he answered. “Should be a good matchup.” It lasted about 8 seconds. I yanked him directly, face-first into the mud. I was surprised it had bee...

I remember it like it was yesterday. Brad May had scored an overtime goal to win a playoff series for the Buffalo Sabres. “May Day! May Day! May Day!” The Sabres terrific announcer, Rick Jeanneret screamed. The guy who lived in the apartment above me was screaming and evidently jumping up and down. So was I. The goal was terrific and the call was exhilarating. RJ was the best in the business. Now, my love for hockey has certainly waned in the last 10-15 years, but I heard all of RJ’s great calls because my sons absolutely love him too. For 51 years, he’s been the voice of the Sabres and last night, he was honored at the arena. He made a great speech that was funny and filled with emotion. The man is an absolute legend and I hope that he enjoys a long, restful retirement because he brought a lot of joy to millions of fans through the years. RJ was an unashamed homer. If a Sabres laid out an opponent he would scream about the wonder hit. If a Sabre got laid out he would scream, “And no p...

The Buffalo Bills are getting a $1.5 billion home… …right across the street from their current place of business. Taxpayers are on the hook for about $820 million. I’m one of the taxpayers given that I live less than 2 miles from the joint. I’m not excited. And the problem isn’t the taxpayer end of it. We were still going to pay taxes and it was still going to be wasted one way or another. At least now there will be a stadium there, I guess. And the Bills are currently good so it was the right time to break the news… .,.here’s my problem. Pegula is supposedly worth multi-billions. He’s kicking in less than us, but when the stadium is up and running, who will make their money back when tickets are double what they are now and when it costs $100 to park your car? Not the taxpayers. Pegula will make that money. He’ll need a rake to collect it and it will come straight out the pockets of people who can’t truly afford such extravagance but will do it… …because they love the Bills. Some peop...