Thoughts of a Common Man

The garbage cans are overflowing. Debris all over the lot. More disturbing are the full bottles of urine, tossed all over the pavement. The piss bottles are tossed out by drivers who are under strict time deadlines to deliver their packages. In the middle of it all, Amazon announced that they set a record for profits. It makes me a little sick. It’s only been a few years since they built the massive Amazon warehouse in Tonawanda. The construction of the place was rapid. It was fairly impressive. The men involved in the construction spoke about how quickly payments were made. The joint got up and running quickly. I’ve been on the property when the drivers leave in the morning. One truck after another, racing out of the lot. Drivers with blank stares. Piss botttles empty and about to be filled all day long as they struggled to make their deliveries. “How’s the job?” I asked one kid who was heading to his truck. “Horrendous,” he said. He pointed to the garbage all over the lot. He laughed...

Been thinking about the traditional school bully. Watched the Ted Lasso scene from season one when he talks about being bullied as he shoots darts. (One of the best television scenes ever). And we watched a trailer from the movie ‘Sid is Dead’ and it’s about a high school kid who stands up to the bully and gets the bully suspended. Led to the question from Kathy: “Did you get bullied?” I was 6’ tall, weighed about 110 pounds and had arms that were like twigs.  Not a lot of power. I also had a big mouth so, I was prone to the standard bully hate. The mean, angry guy in our class, who could have beat me up with his feet and hands tied together, took a liking to saying nasty things and every once in awhile pushing me as I walked by him. I had one thing going for me. My best buddy, Jeff, wasn’t small. He did not have twig like arms so I was rarely approached when Jeff was around. And we were always together so, I kind of forgot about my bully. Then, one day, during gym class, I scored ...

We’ve talked before about the power of music to work as a Time Machine and transport one’s mind back to a long forgotten day. There was a Sabres game. Back in 1981 or 1982. I begged my Mom to go. I didn’t have any major interest in the hockey, there was a rumor that the girl I had a major crush on was going to be one of the six people in that car for the long ride from North Collins to Buffalo. I had just enough money for the ticket. I wasn’t going with my usual buddies, but the guys with the tickets were good dudes. Mom relented, but she couldn’t help me with my cash flow problem. I could get the ticket, but when we stopped to eat, I was screwed! My crush would be crushed. Didn’t matter. She wasn’t in the car! And in those days, you couldn’t text and ask what happened. She was lost! I wouldn’t have any new information until the next day at school. As we made the long drive, I sat in the backseat. My nose out the window like a golden retriever as I looked for air and relief from the lo...

Was talking to the Head of the Department yesterday and he asked if I ever have a quiet day. “You write 10-15 reports a day,” he said. “Is every day intense?” And the question sort of caught me off-guard. You do things over and over and sooner or later it’s just your life. “I get tired now,” I said. “Sometimes I’m cranky.” He laughed. But there certainly are days when the output looks better on paper. Today, I felt a twinge in my back. Saw 39 degrees on the car dash. Rain for the weekend, putting golf in serious peril. And the phone rang at 6:44. “You up?” The customer on the other end of the line asked. “Yeah. I’m letting the cat out.” He laughed. “Cats don’t have to go out.” “What the hell do you want?” I asked. “Are you cranky?” He asked. “Yeah. And tired.” “There’s no time for that,” he answered. “And no one cares.” Exactly.

I must admit that I never watched a full Tucker Carlson Show on Fox. Seeing clips of him was quite enough. I must also admit that I was happy to hear that he was fired from his job, and it probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise as his organization had to pay out $787 million for telling lies on the air about the 2020 election. As far as I could tell, Tucker wasn’t about to tell the truth about what happened. He had video footage and he played it saying that those who invaded the Capitol were tourists and were actually meek and mild. How did anyone watch that show and not cringe all the way through. Yet, there are plenty of people who are upset about the firing. Don Lemon was also fired from CNN yesterday. Perhaps we are facing a swift change in how journalists do their jobs? I’m not sure why Lemon was fired, but make no mistake, there are media moguls (think Brandon Roy in Succession) who are making such decisions and morals and integrity certainly are NOT playing a role. The entire ...

The freaking facia has needed work for a few years. We had a squirrel in the walls a few years back and we did some patchwork but there was definitely more work that needed to be done. In the fall we were able to get half of it done, but I lost my workers to the weather before they made it around the back of the house. A couple of weeks ago, my two buddies showed up and got back to work. Yesterday they installed a new storm door, and then did the other side. There is one more window that needs to be replaced and they’re doing a great job, but man, it’s all so freaking expensive! And I was in on the cleanup work and my worker buddies stood in the backyard and watched Ollie catch one pass after another, laughing the entire time. “How many kids you have left in this huge house,” my buddy Victor asked. “One!” “Why?” He asked. “You’re fixing it when you should be selling it.” I guess! But man, it looks a whole lot better. Who fixes screens? Miller did a number on my screens. And I need to p...

It all started with a text from my nephew John on Friday night. He sent me a photo of his dinner. At least 35 ounces of steak, medium rare, a few rows of sushi and about a half-a-bushel of zucchini. It looked good. Ten minutes later he sent me a photo of a mostly empty plate. “Saved some steak and veggies for my sandwich tomorrow. I’m stuffed!” At 5:00 in the morning on Saturday he had sent me a photo of him biting into the steak and zucchini sandwich. “Breakfast!” I laughed, and I thought a bit about the Fuzzy appetite. Johnny didn’t grow up alongside me and my siblings, but he had devoured two meals much as we always did. Cut to 12 hours later. Just me and Sam for dinner as Kathy was visiting a friend. “How about steak and lobster?” I asked. Sam laughed. “You know the answer to that question,” he said. We both had 24-ounce steaks with a side lobster tail and asparagus. I don’t eat like that much anymore, and was struggling before I was halfway through. I thought of all the steaks I s...

There was a Dateline episode on last night about an absolutely crazy conman called Nicholas Rossi. It was a disturbing story about fraud and rape and all sorts of other nefarious garbage. What was mind-boggling about it is that the guy got away with it for years and separated a lot of people from their money. The man in the story claimed to be a Harvard graduate - he got people to send him money each month for PR work, etc… …and I was simply amazed by the con and the people who fall for it. There are millions of people who fall for the story that a conman tells, and I find that absolutely interesting. “People believe what they want to believe when it makes no sense of all.”  What I find interesting about it is that eventually there has to be a moment when someone who has been duped thinks: “Maybe this person is lying.” And the conman’s playbook is also interesting. “Never admit to anything even when you’re caught red-handed and when you’re accused of something, turn it back on the ...

Ollie caught 150 balls off the garage yesterday. He ate 2 hamburgers and 2 bowls of food. He had a go at humpy. We played with pinky and the football and then I had to make a couple of trips around the yard to get rid of the sticks because that’s what started this mess. He’s been my constant companion for a few days now and by the end of the night he was laying in my legs, just staring at me. (See above) And it’s only been 9 days since I thought he was in serious trouble. We have a great neighborhood for pets. On warm days there is an endless parades of dogs going for walks. My across the street neighbor feeds all sorts of animals. He has a deer feeder of sorts in his backyard and it’s not unusual to see a half dozen dear gathered around. Cats, squirrels, dogs, deer and here I am in the middle of it all, throwing hundreds of balls off the garage and cheering for Ollie as he leaps and makes grabs. It’s going to be a hell of a summer around Camp Clifford as Ollie and Miller play until I ...

During a playoff game the other night a hockey player caught a skate in the face. There were ten minutes left in the first period and the player skated off, got 75 stitches, and then returned to play in the game! 75 stitches! He did a post-game interview too and they asked him about his first thought after taking the blade. “Well, it didn’t get my eye. I was trying to see if the puck went in. I thought I scored.” Contrast that with a Yankees player who has been out a month because of a tight hamstring. After being massaged and sitting in a hot tub for 30 days he went out on a rehab assignment. He was DH-ing. Hit a double. After the game they announced that he was stopping all baseball activities for a couple of weeks because he felt a little grab in the hammy as he jogged into 2nd. The Yankees currently have about ten players on the injured list! They sneeze and they get 3 days off. While they’re off, they somehow get more injuries. One of their pitchers - who got a $160 million deal -...

So, Fox News has settled their lawsuit with Dominion and will have to cough up $787.5 million for lying about the election. It’s a disappointing result, actually, because Fox doesn’t have to go on air and tell the people that they were flat-out lying. Money buys Justice, I suppose. And while there are six more suits against people like Rudy and Lindell, it’s pretty clear to all who are members of a cult that Fox is not a news organization. Perhaps the judge should’ve forced them to change the name from Fox News to Fox Liars. And what’s disturbing about it is that Tucker and Hannity and the rest will spin it into something other than the truth. It’s hard to believe but the entire future of the country teeters on the precipice of lies or truth and what the masses somehow believe. I sometimes shoot the shit with a few guys who fully support the obese orange guy who doesn’t do anything but lie. “So, they settled the case about lying about the voting machines,” I said. “I still haven’t seen...

What a beautiful, perfect day for golf on Sunday. I played really well too and was amazed at how great I felt. Everything loose and pain-free on every swing. I was good and tired when I went to sleep on Sunday night. Yet, the older one gets, the more often you need to get up and hit the head. I was awake at around 2::40 in the morning and my first step brought a huge: “Oh no!” I stumbled to the bathroom on one leg thinking: “I broke my hip!” I made it back to bed and crazily back to sleep. Three and a half hours later I was hopping around wondering how I was going to get any work done. It felt muscular and I reasoned that the best idea was to move around on that painful leg. And I got through by replaying the entire round in my mind. I hit a beautiful 110-yard 9-iron on the 8th hole. It was high in the air, right at the green. Unfortunately I was only 95 yards out at the time. That’s golf. And my one thought was: “I need heat and ice and a massage.” ‘Cause I gotta’ be ready to play aga...

I’ve spent a lot of time in Kansas City. It’s a good city and reminds me a lot of Buffalo. It’s big enough to have some great restaurants and professional sports teams that a rabid fan base talks about endlessly. Traffic isn’t a problem there either. Like Buffalo it appears that you can be most anywhere in about twenty minutes. It’s just the Midwest sensibilities that scare me a little. On Sunday night I read a story about a 16-year-old black kid who rang a doorbell, thinking he was visiting a new friend’s home. He was at the wrong house. The man who lived at the home didn’t bother asking the youngster what he wanted. Instead, he shot the kid through the glass of the door. Then he opened his front door, stood over the kid, and shot him again. When the police showed up the owner of the home explained that the ringing of the doorbell frightened him and he shot the child, twice, because he feared for his own safety. Midwest sensibilities. And, it’s the guns, stupid. We have thousands of g...

 I was tired at the first tee. Wouldn’t know it. Hit it perfectly, and that was kind of how the entire 18 holes went. By hole 4 or 5 I was supremely confident with every club that I pulled out of my bag and Chippy was amazing. Every time I needed to nestle one up close, I did. But the best part of the day was the sun. Wiping away the sweat was straight up fun, and the regular 4-some was together. Laughing at the stupid shots, fist-bumping on the really good ones. The photo above was looking back out over 13 after freaking missing a par putt. The round ended with enough time to move some of the big garbage to the road and throw 25 off the garage for Ollie. He’s coming back slow, but he doesn’t know that. I had to break it to him that we can’t go 50 catches right off the bat. And then the Yankees were on and Cole struck out one guy after another. A glorious day. “Can’t wait to play again,” JC said as we headed away from the course. I thought about the days when me and Jeffy or Tom wo...

The golf courses opened all across Western New York this week. I busted my ass all week to try and get as many sites visited so I could hit the course at 2:00 on Friday. When my eyes opened on Friday I told Miller: “I’m golfing today!” Miller, if he had the power to speak, would’ve said: “Who cares? When is Ollie coming home?” That news came through just before I hit my first tee shot. Ollie was about ready and would make his triumphant return on Saturday morning. But I was too fired up. I hit the first drive off the toe and way right.  And then I settled in. Turned to my buddy Scott as we headed to the 9th tee box. “Man, this is fun.” “The sun feels great,” he answered. And I wonder would we feel such great relief if we lived in a place where the sun always shines. “It’s gonna’ be in the 30’s on Tuesday,” Scott reminded me. “Yeah, but we have a tee time on Sunday too.” So, things are going all right at Camp Clifford as the weekend begins. Ollie is coming home and the driver was hi...

Makes me happy. I thought about that today as the temperature touched 70 and I went from job to job. “This is the best job in the world when the sun is shining,” I said to a co-worker. I even completed my move ring for the day by 1:30 in the afternoon. I don’t know how many damn steps that is… …but it’s a lot! And Ollie is making a comeback as he is getting meds and fluids. (Can’t wait for that bill…but I’ll gladly pay it so I can have my baseball buddy back soon). And then we settled in to relax a little and we put on a movie from 2003 about the life of John Denver. “Sunshine on my shoulders, makes me happy.” That lyric will be stuck in my head for a long while. We watched the movie for a few reasons: 1). He had a few great songs. 2). We didn’t know much about his life. 3). It was there. And the movie was a little cheesy, but spending a day in the sunshine with our doggy on the mend. Was all right. And I’m going to have a golf club in my hand… …really soon. Hello, ☀️ sunshine 🌞 won’t...

It’s been a scary, heartbreaking time around here and was totally unexpected. Ollie - my buddy - and the best baseball and football player you ever saw - needed surgery to remove a damaged salivary gland. A freaking tonsil removal basically. He came home and was doing okay - a little lethargic but he was eating like a truck driver and hanging out. On Friday though, he started sleeping a bit more. His temp was high. He stopped eating. We took him to the vet for his checkup and they weren’t all that concerned. “Needs time.” My poor boy though… …he was in obvious pain. We took him in yesterday and he is now getting meds and antibiotics. Let me tell you: We are an absolute mess around here! I sent a message to Kathy as she dropped Ollie off. “Fix him! Whatever it takes! Or I’ll burn that place down.” And we are very hopeful as he is a young, strong dog and he’s getting good care now. “I can’t wait until he can eat,” I said. “He’s getting a $50 porterhouse,” I told Jake. “And he deserves it...

When I was 9 years old I went in for the eye exam that would lead me to my first pair of eyeglasses. They were the Clark Kent model that made me look a lot like that kid on ‘My Three Sons’. There are a couple of photos of me wearing those glasses and I once showed it to my Mom and asked: “Why? Did you hate me?” She laughed and doubled down on her thought that I was cute. I went for an eye exam last night. The doctor was a 30-something female and she put me in the chair with my chin on the rest and had me look on at the letters. I started laughing. She just looked at me, and of course, we held up the exam. I told her the story. “I was 9 years old and I had this really old guy doing my eye exam. He was breathing so hard and he’d look into my eyes and then hum. Well, I started giggling and I couldn’t stop. Every time we tried to get back to it, I giggled. My Mom was with me, and she started laughing too, and this old bastard just got so mad at both of us. He held up his hand and said, ‘Ge...

Louisville, Kentucky… …come on down… …you’re the next city in the spot light in the wretched game we call ‘Thoughts & Prayers’ and nothing else to be done. What destroys me about it is that the argument is always framed in: “They want to take our guns away!” Which will never be true. Or even worse: “We need more guns to solve the gun problem.” Which is absolutely ludicrous. If gun ownership makes a nation safer, we obviously should be the safest place on the planet. We aren’t. So, Louisville, you’re on the clock. Hopefully you get more than the two weeks than what Nashville got. I’d be surprised if we have two clean weeks. It’s beyond out of hand. It’s way beyond embarrassing. And may those who died yesterday rest in peace. It would be nice if we made changes in their names and we could immortalize them as agents of the change we need to keep the people of the country safe. But we can’t do it. And I’m so ashamed.

Did some reading about Clarence Thomas and the gifts bestowed on him by a benefactor. There’s no debating the fact that he knew better. At that level, the rules are pretty strict and there’s an expectancy that you will be above such temptation. You’re a Supreme Court judge! You know the rules! It’s a little like George Costanza getting fired for sleeping with the cleaning lady at his office job. When he’s called to the carpet for the event he says: “Well, if I would’ve known it was frowned upon.” Thomas knew it was frowned upon! And I blame the nuns for making my life a tortured, haunted question of: “Am I doing the right thing here?” And then battling the guilt when I inevitably do the wrong thing from time to time. How does someone live a life of bad things? And I’m not just talking about Thomas or being politically one-sided. There are a whole lot of people doing garbage things and just shrugging them off. People who lie, blatantly, every day and just go with it. How? Mellencamp had...

So, the Easter message is about rebirth, revival and rising again. Those thoughts are kicking around naturally so it was easy to decide to watch the Diane Sawyer interview with the actor Jeremy Renner. First off, we are Renner fans. He’s great in Mayor of Kingstown and he also plays a super hero in the Marvel movies (I didn’t see those). And of course, he was badly injured in a snow plow incident in the winter. He was on a huge snow clearing machine, helping to clean out the entire neighborhood when it all went sideways. Renner ended up crushed under the machine after saving his nephew’s life. His injuries were devastating - more than 30 broken bones. It’s amazing that he didn’t die. Yet, that’s not the important part. The important part is that he sat for the interview with Diane Sawyer and he opened up about all of it. The pain, the love, the amazing resolve to get up. I can’t even begin to explain how touched I was by the interview and the incredible super human strength he has show...

“As a kid, did you have to stay quiet between noon and four on Good Friday?” Kathy asked.  “I was most likely in church,” I said. Easter Week was big news for Catholic school students. I distinctly recall all the stations of the cross ceremonies where we were up and down and down and up as altar boys. It wasn’t the prime assignment because those masses seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t all work though. We played a lot of hoops and hockey in the gym. Those Easter week memories will stay with me forever. And I didn’t have meat yesterday although I’ve relaxed that rule in my life through the years. Yet I distinctly recall my brother Jim serving steak and eggs to all of us one Good Friday morning. Mom was halfway through her plate when she looked up and said: “It’s Good Friday, you dumb bastard.” And I thought a little about the Bible stories… …all committed to memory a long, long time ago. The suffering, the long walk with the cross, the nails, and the crown of thorns.” A fairly horr...

Two Tennessee lawmakers were expelled because they were involved in a protest regarding gun violence. I can’t even believe it. There was a mass shooting there a couple of weeks ago that left dead children in their classrooms. The children showed up to raise their voices, and two young Democratic representatives were removed because they were involved in the protest. I can't even believe it. Not to be outdone, in Kansas they passed a law that will allow someone to check to see if children are either boys or girls. I had to read that one about three times. Who will be doing the checking? Isn't that sexually abusive? I've been watching baseball, and listening to music. I don't do much more than read the news. Sometimes I just can't believe what I'm reading. What are they doing for the kids?

It started on Sunday when I got a text from my golfing buddies to tell me that one of the courses we play was open for business. I was sick so I knew there wasn’t a chance I was playing but the sun was creeping in through the window by my bed. “Tempting!” I responded. “It’s 28 degrees!” Was the answer I got. Yeah. I ain’t playing in that. Yet, the week has followed suit. 60 degrees followed by a 25 degree plummet, torrential winds and a hail storm. The Yankees game for today has already been postponed. I don’t know if I need a coat… …I have three different ones in the car. I have to defrost my car windows and then the air conditioner has been used. Add in this nagging cold and I don’t know which way is up. Making matters worse, Ollie is still struggling to get back to it after his surgery. I miss playing! He has another week or so of recovery… …we have a tee time on the books for the 16th. “Now we just have to wait on the weather.” No kidding.

While we’ve all been back in the O.J. in the white Bronco days as we watched the alleged criminal former president travel by plane from Florida to New York and back, there was a really important news story being completely ignored. Look at the anguish on the faces of those children who were refusing to enter the classroom because they’re afraid of being gunned down while they’re learning fractions. And the Democratic lawmakers who stood with those children were removed and threatened to be tossed out of the government and perhaps in jail. I say it again: Look at the anguish in the eyes of those children. Think about the fact that all they want is a chance to make it through the freaking 6th grade without bullet holes. And it’s way well past time to do something about it! It’s not a taking all the guns away from all the people. It’s about trying something to stop crazed, desperate people away from weapons of war. Those kids are yelling at the adults: “DO SOMETHING!” And you know what th...

Weird how the mind works. Was thinking of my older sister, Corinne, singing “We all live in a yellow stinking sock,” to the Beatles “Yellow Submarine. We were just kids so it was more than 50 years ago. Or my brother John saying: “Don’t point that thing at me, it has a nail in it,” every time someone extends a finger in his direction. And those little moments creep back into your mind from time-to-time. I had a college roommate who had a million of them. “I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous,” is one I use all the time. Or, “I’ve told you a million times to stop exaggerating.” And the brain seems to file away all those little moments. My son, while in the 5th grade, was asked by his guidance counselor what he wanted to do when he grew up. “I want to be a 5th grade guidance counselor,” he said. The guy said: “Let’s be serious!” Jake asked: “Is that not good enough?” The guy called me, expecting me to be upset with how Jake handled such a serious question to a 10-year old. I laughed....

I don’t understand it. There was a 60 Minute interview last night with MTG, and try as I might I can’t figure out why. For anyone who doesn’t know, Greene is a congresswoman who does absolutely nothing but try and make a spectacle of herself. She stalked one of the victims from Parkland who was on the Hill looking for sensible gun laws. She says one dumb thing after another and was front and center on January 6th. Divisive and nasty and the perpetual victim gets an interview on 60 Minutes? And of course, there was no way that I was ever going to watch that and I certainly won’t read about it - there’s nothing she can possibly say that would ever hold my interest - but it got me thinking. I know a man here in Buffalo who sold his company and went to work helping to feed the homeless. He no longer draws a salary. Instead, he uses his talents to try and help make food for those on the streets something that is attainable. Why doesn’t 60 Minutes devote a segment to him? Years ago I met a m...

I don’t get sick a lot. Knew it was starting on Thursday. Head cold, chest and sinus congestion. The thought of Covid crossed my mind. Felt worse on Friday. By Saturday morning I knew that I’d be spending some time on the couch next to the recuperating dog. Poor Ollie has been fighting the urge to play all week long. On Wednesday he picked up the football and dropped it in my lap. “Not yet, buddy.” So, I started in on some downtime and took a little cold medicine and felt enough energy to throw in some laundry, vacuum the dog’s area and watched the Yankees lose their first game of the year because the ump sucked. Only 160 more games! But knowing that it’s April now and we went from 65 degrees to 35 degrees with hail and rain and a threat of snow, I kind of tallied up what the hell happened in March: 1). Hip surgery rehab 2). Dog had surgery 3). Fatal accident at work 4). NCAA disaster 5). Bruce! 6). Yankees opened up… …and I finish it all with a nasty cold. (Home text negative). I can’...

As crazy as it seems I can recall my Dad’s reaction to Gerald Ford pardoning Nixon some 48 years ago. “He shouldn’t get away with it,” Dad said. “He ain’t no better than the rest of us.” That entered my mind when the big news came down. As of now the indictment is sealed but the word is that there are 34 items that are identified all stemming from the hush money paid to a porn star related to cheating affair. Just an unbelievable story for a former president. And of course, it’s a witch hunt and the perpetual victim is being targeted because… …blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Many Republicans are decrying the indictment as a political game, and are threatening a civil war of sorts. I didn’t get all excited when I heard the news. Of all the crimes he’s committed this one actually seems to be pretty tame, but he should certainly be held to account. “If they can do it to me they can do it to any American!” He screamed in bold letters. Yeah. Those are the rules. Break the law, face the conseq...