Thoughts of a Common Man

I headed to BJ’s this morning because we have a tee time tomorrow, and I’m not sure short pants will work, so I needed a pair of pants. My sweatpants are embarrassing.  As a matter of fact, as I was looked through the selection of pants, a wife scolded her husband. “Once we buy these,” she said. “We are no longer going to wear clothes with holes in them.” “I’ll try,” the poor bastard said. I found some pants, and turned around, and there it was. ‘Revenge Prey’ the just released book by John Sandford. My heart jumped. “No way!” I said. I all but skipped home, and excitedly explained that: “SANDFORD HAS A NEW BOOK OUT!” “Good Lord,” Kathy said. “He’s going to be all geeked out for a couple of days.” It’s the absolute truth. I’ve been reading Sandford’s ‘Prey’ books for well over 30 years, and the last book I released, ‘The Crime’ was written in Sandford’s style. (I nailed it by the way). Damn! I’m all fired up. Thanks to John Sandford… 💥 …Hope he’s halfway thru the next one. “You’re...

Another cold morning here as we approach May, and I visited a huge site where a data center is being built. I have no idea what that means other than there are about 7 buildings, a number of tower cranes and about 700 employees. “What goes in a data center?” I asked. No one knows, but there’s millions being spent. It was a long ride and my mind began to wander. “I want a big steak,” I thought. I stopped by the butcher and noticed that the porterhouse section was empty. “We have some,” the butcher said. “Just have to cut them.” “I’ll take two,” I said, “Cut them thick.” I had a strip steak for Kathy. Both Sam and I would get the porterhouses which were cut about 2” thick. “Geez, how much does that way?” Sam asked as I took them out of the oven. “They have to be 30 ounces each,” I said. Now, there was a day when I could eat a 30-ounce steak, but not anymore. Sam couldn’t finish either. “How much were the steaks?” Kathy asked. “I didn’t ask,” I said. Sometimes you need a steak. Was a long...

I followed a Yankees fan page on Facebook figuring I’d get a little information and a few updates about my favorite squad. Every article - written by a ‘fan’ of the team was ridiculously negative. “Boone should be fired for this lineup.” That was before the game (which they won by the way) and I skipped it. Then I noticed that the ‘fan page’ was 98% negative. I’m a newbie to the NHL playoffs. The city of Buffalo has fallen hard for the Sabres, so you’d think they’d get some love, right? “Their power play sucks!” “Someone needs to get Power off my team!!” And my favorite… …3 games into the playoffs that you’ve been waiting on for 15 years… …”I’m done watching! This team can’t win the cup!!” There are fans who scream bloody murder every time their ‘favorite’ teams lose a game. Some people send death threats to the players and coaches. Just nasty. I’m an optimistic Yankees fan. I know the game is hard. Guys don’t want to strike out. Enjoy the game… …you don’t have to hate the team you lov...

We’ve needed a vehicle for a while. Well, not really, but the Jeep spends a lot of time on the disabled list and while we were sharing the black Ford Escape, with Kathy making appointments for when she figured I’d get home… …whatever. I grew weary of changing the mirrors every morning. “We should get a new car,” I mentioned on Sunday.  It was a throw-away line, said halfheartedly. On Monday I got a text during the work day: “I found a new Escape.” This is where I mention that I HATE change. I’ve had 5 straight Ford Escapes because I don’t like a different look. “Really?” Kathy also knows that I don’t want to talk to a salesman - ever - and that I don’t want to see an endless photo shoot of vehicles. By the end of the day on Monday she’d asked when I wanted to sign the papers. She sent me a photo of the vehicle. By Wednesday afternoon, after just ten minutes with the sales guy, I drove the red Escape out of the lot, and that’s when there was angst. The seat was different. The music ...

I’m not a guy who likes to attend meetings, or conferences, or luncheons or dinners after work. I like to do my job and go home. Which is why my friends in the safety community - which is a tight-knit group of people who are genuinely concerned with making the industry safe - needed to put in a colossal effort to get me to show up to receive what amounts to a lifetime achievement award for my years of work. First, they lied to me. Told me that the award was going to a lifelong friend.  They also involved Matt and Jake, and then mostly subtly avoided me so they didn’t have to continue to make up stories. Their cover story was a good one because I had to go watch my decades long friend get an award. And as another close friend started the introduction, it didn’t take long to figure out that he was talking about my resume. It’s an odd thing to receive an award because we all live our lives trying to do the best we can (or at least I hope so) and being recognized for it is a little wei...

The Sabres played their first playoff game in 15 years on Sunday night, and for more than 2 and a half periods the Sabres couldn’t score. The arena wasn’t exactly quiet, but there was nervousness. I felt badly for my boys - especially Jake who texted me during every game all season long. I watched the first two periods on the big television - Boston had a 1-0 lead - but decided to go to a smaller screen for the 3rd period. Boston scored early in the third and I figured that would do it for game one, but I sent an upbeat text to Jake. “Sabres are dominating them. Just have to get one and the floodgates will open.” They got one. They got two just two minutes later. They got three two minutes after that. Then an empty net goal. “Holy shit!” Jake responded. The crowd in the arena going insane was incredible. The crowd standing outside the arena in 38 degree weather was in an absolute frenzy. They held on. “Geez, that’s only game one.” Imagine if they went to the cup final. Dream about winn...