Thoughts of a Common Man

Man, I don’t get it. There’s true hatred for Taylor Swift.  Most of the hate is coming from the same people who wear shirts that say “F**k Your Feelings”. This makes that crowd upset with Mickey Mouse, Bud Light, Target, Books, and now Taylor Swift. They also were all done with the NFL when Colin Kaepernick was kneeling, but they couldn’t stay away… …as a matter of fact now they’re all upset because the 6 seconds a game when they show Taylor Swift cheering has destroyed their love of the game. (Never mind that Bradley Cooper is at every Eagles game and Matthew McConaughey is a Houston Texans regular). So, that’s what I don’t get. Who cares if she’s cheering for the guy she’s dating? I’m not one to comment on other people’s relationships, but they seem like a decent couple. We watched a documentary on the Kelce brothers and they appear to come from good stock. Part of the problem appears to be Kelce-related. On Fox News, they referred to him as ‘Mr. Pfizer.’ A truly strange label consid

When I saw that Netflix was going to do a documentary on the making of the song, ‘We Are the World’, I basically started counting down the days. Man, it’s worth it… …was as great as I thought it would be. I was a senior in college when the song hit the world. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the song and watched the video for the first time. I was blown away by the group of talented musicians who came together to sing the song in an effort to raise money for starving people in Africa. Just an overwhelming, beautiful song and almost 40 years later, I still can’t believe they pulled it off. The documentary showed some of the artists here in 2024. They spoke of how they were a bit nervous. Bob Dylan looked like he wanted to crawl under the stage. Huey Lewis explained that he didn’t feel he belonged and that he thought his head might explode. Bruce was just coming off a show from the night before and he wasn’t sure his voice would hold up. They all nailed their parts. I laughed

Sometimes when I leave my Mom’s home I’ll take the scenic route home through downtown Langford and down 75. Driving through my hometown always affords me some great moments as the time passages take me through my memories. Happened on Saturday when I passed the field where our little league games were played, way back in 1974. I looked to the spot where first base used to be. Distinctly recalled my first ever base hit.  I was 9 and up to that point in my athletic career, I’d struggled to make contact. I was on the Mets - we were playing the Cubs. I even recall the pitcher - my soon to be lifelong friend, Digger - who threw really hard. I was down to my final strike when the impossible happened. I made contact! The ball went between the first and second basemen and into right.  I heard my Mom yelling for me, and I safely made it to first and people were screaming at me to keep going. I rounded the bag - well, almost - I tripped over the bag and went sprawling in the dirt. “Get back! Get

Way back in 1997, I started working with a steel erection company out of Syracuse. I was coming straight from a long stint with a steel erector here in Buffalo so I knew my stuff when it came to steel erection safety rules. On day one, I met with the safety director and he was just getting started as a safety guy, but man, he certainly cared about the guys he worked with. Dave was a good man from the start. He’d say things like: “You’re so full of beans.” Just a down to earth, hardworking guy who became a fast friend. We drove all around New York State setting up jobs. I always let Dave drive so that I could rest. One fine day, way up North of Syracuse, we passed a state trooper.  I glanced at the speedometer. “You’re screwed,” I said, and seconds later, the lights came on. Dave was beside himself.  The cop stopped by the window, grabbed the license and registration and headed back to his vehicle. “Here’s the thing,” I said. “You’re pissed, but you’re such a good guy that I bet you tha

The verdict was swift. The jury took about three hours to return to the courtroom and break the news that a Florida man, who was convicted of sexual assault, was also extremely culpable in the defamation of his victim. E.Jean Carroll will now get in line to try and get paid the $83 million dollars that he now owes her.  Of course, the courts have a hammer and he can’t just decide not to pay this time. Karma! In 1988, I worked for a Brooklyn-based company. I listened to the glee in the owner’s voice as he gathered all of us and told us the great news: “We are going to pour a lot of concrete for Trump!” It wasn’t a large company - most of the employees were part of the family. I wasn’t a family member, per se, but they were very good to me because my name happened to end in a vowel. Eight months later, the owner gathered us again and mentioned: “His name is never to be mentioned in my presence. If someone says his name, you’ll be fired!” He wasn’t kidding.  The company wasn’t paid for th

Ollie and I have returned to the backyard for our football reps. That’s hard to fathom. It was just last Friday that my drive was cleared enough to park all 3 vehicles. They pushed the snow into a 10’ high pile on my side lawn.  That pile is now about 7’ high. The icicles are nearly gone. And so are the Bills… …so all that we were worried about last week has melted away. The entire storm and all the aggravation feels like it happened to someone else. There has to be some sort of message that applies. ‘This too shall pass,” was something my grandmother used to say. And I’m doing a lot of classroom instruction now, which often lends me to talking about my days as a construction laborer, and how an entire career originated. “You’ve been doing this sort of thing for 32 years?” A kid asked.  He said he was 19 years old. “I walked onto my first construction site 42 years ago,” I said. “Seems odd to even say that.” That’s the thing about life… …it goes on. I think of Louis C.K. talking about

I had a safety training meeting at a client’s office. Now, I’ve worked in every kind of training ‘hall’.  This was a first. The owner is evidently a very experienced hunter and he doesn’t just shoot deer. The office looked like a taxidermy exhibit with stuffed elk, deer, bears, moose, raccoons, and a cheetah cat that I couldn’t believe he’d shot. “Isn’t it awesome?” A guy asked me. I nodded, while wondering what word I’d use as the opposite of awesome. I stood next to a bear that was much bigger than me. The poor animal had lost its life because this guy needed to shoot something. Worse are the people who shoot elephants or giraffes or even more majestic animals. I couldn’t answer, and I thought about being about eight years old.  My Dad and Grandpa had gone out with their rifles and there was wild excitement because they’d shot a deer. I didn’t know that they hung it in the garage. I wandered in looking for my basketball and there was the poor deer. Just hanging there! When I close my

Now, I know I’m supposed to be concerned about the GOP New Hampshire primary voting and the trouble in the Middle East and the court cases of the big, orange menace who put out a photo of himself praying in church… …his ‘photo’ showed his hands folded in prayer. He had six fingers.  The photo may not be quite legit! Yet, we still have fallout from the Bills-Chiefs game and a lot of it involves human emotions. Jason Kelce was at the game - he’s the Eagles player who is the brother of Travis who plays for the Chiefs and is dating Taylor Swift.  (Sounds like a made for television drama - probably is). He did a little drinking with the Bills Mafia and watched the game with beer and without a shirt.  Then he spotted a sign - a young girl was trying to get Taylor’s attention. Jason went out and got the girl and held her up high so that Taylor could smile and wave at her. The smile on that kid’s face was so genuine. I imagine that she’s going to meet her idol soon. For all the flack she takes

When my boys were young I made a deal with them - Mostly Matt who really wanted a pool in the backyard. “I’ll give you three sports teams. If they win a championship you get a pool.” He asked to think about it a while. Talked it over with Jake. “We’re taking the Bills, the Sabres and the A’s.” This was in 1997. “Don’t be dumb,” I said. “Take the Yankees.” They stood firm. The Yankees won 3 straight and 4 since the bet was made. No pool. And around the year 2000, I began taunting the boys with celebrations on ‘elimination day’. Three days - when Bills, Sabres and A’s are eliminated - during the year - as soon as I wasn’t on the hook for a pool. I vaguely mentioned ‘elimination day’ before the Bills game started on Sunday. I was roundly booed. And man, it was a depressing day around the job sites here in Western New York. Guys either didn’t even want to hear anything about the game… …and other guys talked non-stop. There was a lot of rage more than anything else. “We get buried in snow a

Here in Buffalo it’s insane how many times I hear the name Josh Allen. I think that’s what drives me nuts more than anything else. Of course, he’s a very good player but MY GOD there’s more to life! However, I was patient as the boys got ready to go - my son Sam and my nephew John got good seats and were all fired up. They were cautiously optimistic and I encouraged their fandom with talk of when I was fanatic about it. I also posed a question. “What if Taylor Swift wants to take you home?” I asked. “I’m going,” Johnny said. “She’s worth a billion.” “Okay, what if she says that the only way she drops Kelce for you is that you have to become a Chiefs fan.” “I couldn’t do it,” Sam said, as he wandered by. “I’m thinking I’d pretend,” John said. “But eventually I’d get loaded and ruin it by cheering for the Bills.” “You’ll probably get loaded and screw up something,” I said. They laughed. Of course, I didn’t think they were dressed warmly enough. Then I gave up my gloves… …which I need for

Nikki Haley made a statement that there is no racism in the United States. She said this after claiming that her life is a testament to courage because she overcame racism when she was young. Huh? She also changed her name because it’s an ethnic name that won’t play well with her party’s base. Let’s see: The leader of the GOP, and the entire party, really, talks about how the blood of the country is being tainted because not everyone is white. The fear over immigrants is most certainly rooted in racist tendencies, and good old Nikki herself forgot to mention that slavery was a reason for the civil war. Not to be topped, another GOP member said yesterday that slaves were escaping a worse life when they were brought over here to work. As the kids say: WTF! And one of the most interesting takes on racism came from my buddy Bruce who witnessed his band mate, Clarence Clemons being wildly celebrated while he was on a stage in the early days. The band hung around the bar afterwards and Bruce

Man, there was true excitement when I’d grab the mail and see my copy of Sports Illustrated. All through middle school, high school and even on through college, my copy of SI was waiting there for me. I read every word. You see, back then we didn’t have the access to athletes that we do now. We had to wait, to see the predictions, read the stories, and memorize the column written on the last page. Frank DeFord was a personal favorite writer of mine, and I told him that when I met him at a book event in New York City - he was gracious and signed a copy of his book for me. My wife was with me - didn’t get my excitement - “Never heard of him.” Rick Reilly took over the last page and I normally turned straight to what he was saying. Made me laugh. Made me think. I felt like I knew him. And man, we talked a lot about the dream job of being a columnist for Sports Illustrated. I wrote a lot of pretend columns back in those days. Here’s the sad part: It’s been years since I read Sports Illustr

The huge, orange menace is attending the court hearing on the defamation trial of the woman he was convicted of sexually assaulting. For all who are still undecided about voting against him, read that sentence again. During the hearing, he started ranting about how unfair the world is. Imagine another defendant doing such a thing. He’d be immediately cited for contempt of court and led out of the room. The judge, sensing that’s what Shitler wanted, simply mentioned that he could be asked to leave. “I’d love to!” The sexual predator responded. It made me wonder. Why is the department of justice treating him with kid’s gloves? There’s a theory that the man with 91-felony charges WANTS to go to jail so that his cult can rally behind him and make a martyr out of him. No way! He would lose his mind if he were incarcerated, and of course, millions are waiting to find out. He would certainly fund-raise off it and pocket the money. The case has been litigated already. The crime was committed o

 Snow. Mountains of snow. As far as the eye can see. That’s what I looked at outside my front door. I had cleared the first 4 feet. That landed on Tuesday night. I cleared a path for Ollie, but he simply stood there, barking at the snow. I had to pick him up and carry him out, and he glanced at me, wondering: “Why?” Once again, a kind neighbor made a pass for us, but a whole lot of snow still needs to be moved by hand, no matter what other equipment you might have. There’s truly no let up in sight as they’re forecasting another 2’ tonight. I don’t know where to put it. The snow banks in my front yard are seven feet high. I don’t have a lot of wisdom here. My back feels like a sheet of plywood. All work details have been set aside as my job is to travel to jobs. I’m banned from traveling. I do know one thing to be true: I’m going to have to get out of here pretty soon because Miller is on his last container of cat milk. There will be hell to pay if he runs out.

I opened my eyes on Monday morning and the title of the blog was my first thought. I’d spent Sunday not worrying about ‘keeping up’ with  the snowfall. I made a conscious decision to ignore it. Kept looking out the window though, and had a feeling it wasn’t going to be great. Opening the door was mind-numbing. Piles of snow that used to be our cars.  I waded out. The snow was to my waist, in my driveway. I don’t cry. I almost cried. I worked for 15 minutes. Headed back in, had a coffee, and went back out. I did that 4 times and had one car cleared. I pulled the car into the driveway across the street and as I headed back to the shovel one of my neighbors pulled up: Plow on the front of his truck. “Back away, Cliff,” he said. “I’ll hit it.” Right on time. I felt badly that he knew my name and I didn’t know his, but he works construction for someone and I definitely knew his face from the sites. He wouldn’t take the money I offered 5 times. He did what he could with the other two vehicle

Was extremely annoyed with the huge snowstorm and even more aggravated with the Bills. The team announced that they needed help to clean the snow out of the stadium. Isn’t that cute? $20 an hour for overnight work. What does Allen make? Von Miller?  I know that Pegula is worth about $5 billion. Just got taxpayers to kick in a half a billion for his next palace. Corporate welfare. What also aggravated me was the travel ban situation.  There was one exception noted: For the people to go shovel out the small business known as the Buffalo Bills. Sickening. And I know that I sound like the old guy telling the kids to get off my lawn, but when is enough, enough? How much money do we need to kick in? Slave labor…to clear snow out of their money machine. I wonder how the fans felt showing up - after paying $200 - to see a foot of snow on their seat. Those shovelers were told, “don’t worry about the seats, just clear the aisles.” Five billion dollars! $20 an hour for an overnight shift shovelin

My moron son was heading to work at noon on Saturday.  “Where’s your coat?” I asked as he got into the car. “Don’t need one,” he said. “They have heat.” “Dude, the forecast is horrible. What if you can’t make it home and have to walk somewhere?” “I’ll figure it out. What’s gonna’ happen?” We were hit with a travel ban by the time his shift was supposed to end. “What’s he doing?” I asked. “He can’t get home.” “He’s working a double. Not sure after that.” I went to bed. Woke to a text that read: “Sam is in a room at the Hyatt.” Perfect. No angst. We could safely scoop him up on Monday. Except…the brain that he and my wife seem to share was here. “He wants to come home,” Kathy said. “Check out is at 11:00.” “He can’t! He’s safe in a room. We’re living in a snow globe here!” I couldn’t see out any window of my home.  Pure white. I tried to call him and talk sense into him.  No answer. “He’s in an Uber,” Kathy announced. “Uber? It’s illegal to drive!” As it turned out, the Uber driver was w

Erie County and the NFL made the right decision to move the Bills-Steelers game from 1:00 today to 4:30 tomorrow. I didn’t think they would - the NFL hardly seems concerned with the safety of their players or even the welfare of the 80,000 fans heading to the game. Now I know a lot of people who will be attending and would’ve braved the blizzard to go. One such friend asked me how much it would cost to bribe me to go to the game. “Let’s see. It’s supposed to be 18 degrees with 65 mph winds and anywhere from 2 to 7 feet of snow. I’d go for five grand.” He laughed. “That might even be low,” I said. “I’m 8’ from a huge television screen if I want to watch. I’m also about 40 steps away from the meatballs.” I did go to cold weather games when I was a much younger man. Hated it then too. I recall sitting in the stands as the Bills marched down the field against the Vikings during one of the Super Bowl losing seasons. “They kick a field goal and we clinch a playoff spot,” my brother Jeff yell

Mike Lindell is the goofy rags to riches ‘My Pillow’ guy. He was a crack addict who wound up a millionaire because he sold pillows and his ads worked for him. A true American success story who lost all of it. Fox News just kicked him off their airwaves. His life started falling apart when he hooked his cart to the Trump train. Now, if you’ve ever listened to Lindell talk politics you’re well-versed on how nonsensical he is. He tried to bring proof of an election that was 100% stolen (it wasn’t). He was sued for about a billion dollars. Not to be outdone, Rudy was once American’s Mayor. He was still regarded as something of an expert in the field of criminal justice. He lost a huge judgement in Georgia for telling lies about the not-stolen election. Rudy is still spewing nonsensical but his life basically went up in flames when he hitched a ride on the… …you guessed it… …train to nowhere. And what is amazing to me is that there are still people willing to try to help the guy. They see t

It’s weird but I’ve seen a whole bunch of sports careers from start to finish. Derek Jeter has been retired for a few years and of course, I recall his very first game. Yet yesterday was monumental because we got news that Nick Saban was leaving Alabama. Then news came down that Belichick would not longer coach the Patriots. A whole lot of people hated both of those coaches because their teams won… …a lot. The day before we also learned that Pete Carroll was down in Seattle. When New England was winning super bowls - they were in the thick of things every year for two decades - it didn’t appear that it would ever end. Yet, that’s the thing about Father Time - it’s undefeated. Here in Buffalo the Bills are in a good window. They have a quarterback that allows them to compete at the highest level. Won’t last forever. Imagine 15 years ago if someone had told you that the Patriots were going to lose 13 out of 17 games. I don’t have a lot to say about Saban - something about him rubbed me t

Not sure how many more Buffalo winters I can take.  Yet, we haven’t even had much of a winter. There’s been very little snow to speak of, but these last couple of days? The winds were in excess of 70 mph in some areas. A steady, intense rain. Grey. Greyer. Greyest. The worst part being that I’ve had to do a lot of training, and I’ve always been of the opinion that a class will feed off of the instructor. If I’m down, they’ll be down, and the class won’t go like I want it to. Yet, I shouldn’t be complaining at all. The power stayed on here at Camp Clifford. A whole bunch of people suffered through a better than 24-hour period dealing with candles and extra blankets. Of course, I’m counting down the days to the golf long-weekend in a place where the sun will shine. And poor Ollie! He doesn’t like to get rained out and certainly couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t throwing passes to him. We did play yesterday, and crazily enough he adjusted to the wind. “You’re a psychopath,” Sam remarked as

Are people listening to the arguments being put forth by Putin Jr. as he tries to navigate his many criminal indictments? It’s astounding! 1). His lawyer is arguing that the Georgia “try and find me 11,000 votes” call shouldn’t count because Trump didn’t realize that coercion of that type was illegal. It reminded me of George Costanza being fired for sleeping with the cleaning lady and saying, “I didn’t know that was frowned upon.” 2). In Colorado his defense was that as president his job wasn’t to uphold the Constitution. His lawyer actually tried to sell the idea that he didn’t hold an office that was beholden to the very freaking document that is what the whole government operates under. 3). I saved his third defense plea as the most comical. His lawyer stood up and explained that as president he could commit crimes and not be held accountable as he was free of being prosecuted for something he did while president. Uh. Did they think it through? For example, if a president orders th

It seems that a 42-year old Alabama man had a mental episode. The man crashed his car into the parking lot and then stripped down to his birthday suit and took a dip in the Bass Pro aquarium. Of course, social media had a field day with it. There were hundreds of posts about the man’s naked body and it certainly appeared that everyone had a great time sharing the video clip. At first glance, it was comical. Yet, there’s something weird about laughing at a man’s mental breakdown, and it made me think about the people we see wandering around from time to time who are truly in some trouble mentally. Around our neighborhood there was a big, strong guy who just looked insane. He had wild, crazy eyes and a perpetual scowl. The first time I encountered him I went into the conversation believing that perhaps it was just an intense look. Nope. He was way out there! He spoke to me about aliens and how the government was well aware that we’ve been visited by other planets. While there are tidbits

Was watching an episode of the very funny series, Loudermilk - he stopped at a desk in a doctor’s office and the clock above the receptionist’s head read: 2:05 p.m. I looked at my phone. It was 2:05 p.m.! What are the chances of that happening? Did you ever notice that when a character on a show is woken up he yells out: “It’s 3 o’clock in the morning!” It’s always 3 o’clock in the morning. And, of course, we are all controlled by the clock. There are two kinds of people.  Those who show up early and on-time and those who are always ‘running late.’ I am never late. My wife is never even close to being on time. “Will be home by 4:00” most likely means she’ll be through the door anywhere between 4:20 and 5:15. “What happened to 4:00?” “I stopped for a drink.” And there is a lot of aggravation when time comes into play. I recently recommended one of my son’s friends for a job. A week into the kid’s new gig, I received a text from the guy who hired him. “Where is he?” I called the kid and

Lara Trump was on the campaign trail for her father-in law. “The thing we can’t deny is that we were more prosperous and secure at the end of 2020 than we are now.” Uh. 2020 was the Covid year - the stock market tanked. Jobs were lost. People were being stored in freezer trucks and hospitals were stuffed to the gills. So we CAN deny the prosperity talk. It’s a common theme. “The economy was the greatest economy ever!” Wasn’t. And I often think about how things went so wrong over the last 50 years or so. Here’s the one truth that can’t be denied. In 1950, the rich controlled 64% of the wealth in this country. There was 36% of the wealth available to spread out to the working class-types. A man could send his kids to college, own a car and a home as a guy who hung Sheetrock for a living. Most women stayed home. Know what the percentage of money controlled by the rich is in 2024? 94%!! That money is in tax shelters, or is going for a yacht or a summer home. The working class share - which

We used to all get our news from Walter Cronkite. The more elaborate of us would grab the newspaper and read it from cover to cover. Now? We’re in a mess! Everyone from Ass Crack Wyoming now knows how to put together a story that seems real. Even the photos are doctored. This Epstein list deal is mind-numbing. Depending on what side of the fence you’re on… …that’s who is there and who isn’t. There’s no way of discerning what is true or who is truly named. Remember the story about kids identifying as cats so high schools were being forced to put cat litter boxes in the corner so they could pee. That story went around the world. Isn’t true. The insurrection is being rebranded on a daily basis. It wasn’t peaceful. We watched it! Now we doubt what we saw? Aaron Rodgers started a grand conspiracy this week by talking about the colors of the logo for the Super Bowl. He claimed that the league is picking the winning teams before the season starts and that they are making the logo with the tea

The defendant who took a flying leap at the judge in the Las Vegas courtroom didn’t really think it through. You don’t attack the person who is deciding on your jail term. That’s kind of like being pulled over by a cop and answering his ‘Do you know why I stopped you?’ question by saying: “Because you’re an asshole?” Thankfully, the judge is okay. I don’t think that guy is going to see the sun much over the next couple of years. This week is also Epstein Island all the time sort of week. Jeffrey Epstein, was a rich guy who also was quite the pedophile. His island was a playground for other depraved rich guys… …at least that’s the word on the street. And the records are supposedly being unsealed so that the general public hears who was friends with the guy. Of course, it’s all along party lines. A couple of former presidents may be on the list including: Slick Willie? Orange Shitler? There are also names being bandied about including Hollywood types. A football player threw out the name

Any ideas I had about easing my way back into a work routine was blown away by phone calls, texts and emails as a whole lot of people must’ve thought about me during the break. “Are you available to do our training?” Now I normally do a lot of classroom work this time of year, but I was a tad overwhelmed… …two days into the new year as I tried to schedule everything. On Tuesday afternoon I received a message that said: “Try and get there by 6:45 tomorrow so you can sign in?” “Get where?” I asked. “Dude, we have 25 guys coming for training tomorrow morning. Don’t tell me you forgot!” “Of course not,” I said. “I was just trying to scare you.” (I had forgotten). “God! I almost had a heart attack.” And the thing about it, there’s not a whole lot that catches me off-guard. I’ve been doing this for a long, long time so I don’t need to do a lot to prepare. By 8:00, I had them in rapt attention with some of the same old stories I’ve been using in training for decades. My feet were cold. I clim

We had a game show on yesterday, of all things. The television was just on and whatever channel was on went to the show. I heard a commercial come on. An old white guy: “Are you going to heaven or not? Find out!” I laughed. Obviously they are making some money off such a question somehow. “Go check it out,” I said to Kathy. “No!” “You just know there are old people checking out, and paying money for this dude to tell him if they made the grade.” And of course, it’s all a scam, and it’s a garbage one too because it preys on the fears of people who are worried about their faith. “You going to heaven or not?” Kathy asked. “Depends on how hard they grade us,” I said.  And the commercial shows the view of above the clouds as though you’re in an airplane. The announcer sounds as if it is a dire question that you cannot afford to ask their experts. “I really want to check it out,” I said. “I want to see how they arrive at the answer..” Do they ask you how many of the Ten Commandments you brok

Made reference to watching the movie, ‘Oppenheimer’ on New Year’s Eve, and I was a little embarrassed because I didn’t know enough about it. Of course, I knew the main parts of the story - the destruction and death and the fact that an arms race of weapons that can wipe out large portions of the population isn’t ideal. There are plenty of atomic weapons available. Enough to blast us all to smithereens. Yet, I didn’t, and still don’t have much of a grasp on the whole ‘how the hell does it work?’ aspect of building such a weapon. They showed the brilliant scientists breaking down the calculations. “I never had a grasp on Science,” I said. “And my aptitude regarding building anything is well-defined.” “I did all right in biology and physics,” Kathy said. “I passed biology because I sat next to Sue Bevilaqua,” I mentioned. “She was smart.” “So you cheated?” “I didn’t get caught.” They showed Albert Einstein in the movie. We’d all heard that he was the smartest dude ever. I laughed. “What?”

2023 went into the books with the end date of 123123. We stayed healthy, for the most part. Had plenty to eat and a warm place to sleep. I don’t take any of that for granted so I didn’t spend a lot of time complaining about the past 365 days. The coming year will bring some changes. Matt is getting married. I am resolved to release a couple of the books that I have in the vault. I can see the end of my work career from here. And I’m going to break 80 this year. Oh, and the Yankees need to win one. Yankees fans have suffered long enough! Yet… …I’m worried for America. More in the coming year than ever. It’s interesting, but we watched ‘Oppenheimer’ yesterday and America working to end the war and to stop Hitler. There was talk about the importance of protecting national security, and the brilliance of those who worked together to build a bomb that may someday truly end the world. And I felt a little sick about it. Classified documents were being stored in a bathroom in a resort. Hitler’