Thoughts of a Common Man

We didn’t get much of a break weather-wise over the three-day weekend. It sucked because going into the weekend, I thought about some of my Memorial Day memories. Growing up, Memorial Day weekend was the weekend where we were dragged from our beds on Saturday morning to plant the garden. We had a big garden, and we were rudely awakened by my dad who wasn’t messing around. Five minutes after we opened our eyes, we were in the dirt. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, eggplant… …and on and on. Of course, there was plenty of banter. Sometimes there were fights. There were a lot of laughs. And by noon, we were usually free. We’d swim, and play hoops. When we got older, we introduced beer to the event. The Yankee game was on in the garage. And then the grill got going. My father was an excellent cook, and his chicken and ribs were standard fare. I have no idea how much money he spent on food, but there was always plenty. The neighbors would stop by and by the time we sat down for dinner there were us...

Back when I was a kid I used to daydream a little about a scenario where I would bravely stand up and save lives. Perhaps it was the storyteller in me, but I’d invent elaborate schemes where I’d escape by the skin of my teeth. A natural thing for a child to do, and inventing drama and then being the hero doesn’t do much for you as you try and navigate being an adult. Unless you’re part of the White House security team. There have been five shootings at the White House in the last ten years. There weren’t any during the years 2021-2024. When there was a real President living there. Assassination attempts? Seems like we have one a month now. Quickly followed by social media posts asking for a billion dollars for a ballroom and a bunker. Back in 1963, Kennedy was assassinated. In the 80’s Reagan was shot. We know more about who was responsible than we know about the thing that went on at the correspondents dinner. That one flopped so badly that it was out of the news in a single day. Wres...

Kyle Busch passed away this week at just 41 years old. He was a highly decorated NASCAR driver, and his death shocked the sports world. A sudden death in such a manner is horrible. Turns out Busch had pneumonia, and missed a few chances to save his own life. He developed sepsis, and it killed him quickly. Tragic. And news like this shakes things up, mentally. He was doing interviews, and racing just a couple of days before. One minute you’re here. The old saying, “Be where your feet are,” is something that I’ve reminded myself about. I’m throwing the ball for Ollie - and I get caught up in his enthusiasm (he’s at 23,600 catches for 2026). If I’m walking on a job site, I’ll take it all in, knowing that I’m fortunate to be able to climb ladders and scaffolds. We talked about Busch’s death here as I marveled at how quickly it happened. “That’s why it’s important not to ignore the warning signs,” Kathy said. “If you get sick, you have to rest.” Of course, men are well known for just barrel...

The end of the week brought the end of Steven Colbert as a late night host because CBS was pressured by the obese, orange pedophile, over jokes Colbert told about him. That’s scary stuff. Another freedom lost for all those who are happy to see Colbert go. I haven’t watched late night shows in years, but there are always clips on line, and I thought Colbert was funny enough. Evidently, Colbert got under that bright orange, thin skin, but let’s think about the late night hosts who like that mess. Kimmel despises him. Letterman can’t stand him. Jon Stewart is not a fan. The people behind Saturday Night Live have made fun of him for a solid decade. Every president has taken the heat from the late night comedians. Chevy Chase pretended to fall down every week as he played Gerald Ford. And no one was ever fired for poking fun at anyone… …until now. We are being told: “We are the hottest country in the world right now,” by the slob and his people. The truth is, the economy is in shambles by e...

Back in 1991 I worked with the best boss I ever had. We were in Baltimore on a fast-paced job that was like a little war each day. We dealt with ironworkers, boilermakers, operators, engineers. It was a frenzy every day, and was a hell of a lot of fun. In the middle of all that - after a long stretch of 60 hour weeks, my boss was heading to vacation. That day, all hell hit the fan, and I drive to BWI to get him to sign some papers just minutes before his flight was set to leave. I found him in the bar where he was having a beer or ten. I immediately started telling him about the problems of the day, and he couldn’t have possibly cared less. This was a guy who busted his ass and handled every detail. Now he was completely out of touch. “I’m on vacation,” he said. “I don’t give a flying…. I just stood there. “You gotta know when to take a break,” he said. “I’m on break.” I might need one now. I didn’t know it was memorial day weekend! Kathy was talking about the weather and the best day ...

We had an 85 degree day. Two days later we were back in the 40’s for a little while. Shit load of rain coming this weekend, and there was a lot of grey on Wednesday. I want to be able to ride to my ball soon… …it’s been cart path only so far. And man, I can’t watch the news anymore. They’re talking about the 2028 election and they’re talking about blowing off the constitution again. There aren’t any rules anymore. Remember the ‘assassination’ attempt? That was so fake that they stopped reporting on it. And how do we get there from a blog that started out talking about the weather? That’s how it feels right now. We are trying to get through our lives and think about other things and the crap just keeps coming at us. We need the summer. “That’s peanuts,” the pedo pig said when he was asked about the high gas prices. “I don’t even think about that.” That’s quite the strategy on America First. “Loyalty over law,” was another unbelievable statement. In other words, the law doesn’t matter an...