Thoughts of a Common Man

The Yankees traded for the hitter who leads the National league in OPS. Desperately needed a bat and picked up a good one. There will be more coming by Monday afternoon as the Yankees always go for it. Of course, the Dodgers stole the headlines by getting Skubal and all fans of baseball are tired of the hedge fund team over paying for every player that hits the market. I’m a Yankees fan and of course, the Yankees aren’t playing in the shallow end when it comes to paying their players, but even Yankees fans are tired of the Dodgers. The problem I have is in their deferring money. The have signed Ohtani, Snell, Tucker and others - deferring a huge portion of the salary. Baseball does have a cap of sorts. If your payroll exceeds certain limits you have to pay a tax. The Dodgers, by deferring money, are circumventing that tax. Ohtani’s annual salary is $70 million a year. They are deferring $68 million of it! But trade deadline is always a big day because now it’s game on for the stretch r...

“I can end the Ukraine-Russia war on day one of my presidency.” That didn’t happen. “Mitch is in rehab working hard for the citizens of Kentucky.” No he isn’t. He’s either dead or totally incapacitated. “We are in a little excursion in Iran. Will be a 4-6 week event.” We’re months into it. No practical way to end it. “The GDP will be 4.0 next quarter.” It’s 1.5 and when asked about it they stated: “It’s because we are building factories all over the land. Soon there will be a golden economic age.” The number of factories being built has decreased. “We’ve taken in trillions and trillions in tariff money and DOGE saved a trillion dollars.” Neither happened. “We will release the Epstein files for all to see.” That didn’t happen. “They cut a 300-feet gash in the reflecting pool.” Even arrested a man for that one. Charges were dropped because: It didn’t happen. “Grocery prices will come down on day one. That will be easy.” That turned into: “I don’t care about affordability, it’s a hoax.” A...

NYSEG is straight up robbing people. I said it. Through the years, we paid about $150-$180 a month on electricity. For some reason, these are our last 3 electric bills: $395 $390 (At which point, we called to ask what the hell is going on). We were told that it was the balanced budget billing working itself out. So, when I opened the bill this month: $496 was quite the surprise. I decided to talk it through with the guys I see on construction sites. Turns out, we are all being balanced budget billed out of our minds. “My last bill was $1,080,” one guy said. “I lost my mind. Went crazy on the poor lady who answered the phone.” “Did they work with you?” I asked. “They shut it off!” He said. “Two days after I made the call. I didn’t have a grand sitting around…I’m going to be paying it off over the next 3 months with whatever they charge each month.” We weren’t the only two guys talking… …the other three guys stories similar to what we’ve been charged over the last 90 days. “We are all be...

Kaitlan Collins is a very good reporter, and someone I’ve admired in a media that has become a freaking cesspool. She was in the news last week because at the White House Correspondents Dinner she was targeted by a bully who happens to be a convicted sexual predator, and an assumed pedophile, who is also the president because he executed the greatest con in the history of the world. It was downright embarrassing. Of course it was below the dignity of the office, but that ship has sailed long ago. As he spoke, making fun of Collins because she doesn’t smile enough, calling her fake, and being as nasty as one can be, Collins simply sat there. She didn’t react. I wondered how she felt in that moment, and a couple of days later, I heard her saying that she expected it. She also said that she basically felt nothing because she knew that what he was saying wasn’t true. And then she stated that she will continue to ask him tough questions and take his non-answers, and his verbal abuse, withou...

People often ask me how an idea for a new book hits me.  It’s usually a lightning strike! I started working on the book that will be my 20th published work after my oldest sister, Corinne, sent me a simple text: “What’s up, Clit?” It made me laugh, but it also made me come up with a new character, whose name happens to be ‘Clifford’. That had to be his name so I could work through the opening chapter. A story needs good characters. I started with ‘Clifford’ and his sister, and then I thought about the Blizzard of ‘77 and how we spent those days.  As a kid, I wondered how more than 25 people died in that storm. The Blizzard kicks off the story of a group of friends, a love interest and playing on the high school basketball team. Playing on the team in high school was the absolute best - we had a lot of fun - and one year we were good enough to make the playoffs. So, now we had, a nickname, the blizzard and the basketball team. I needed tension, and a memory played a part. ...

My friend Reggie always had a huge smile on his face. He had 5 kids at home. He was born with lungs that didn’t quite work right, and he had to be careful about where he worked, and was often simply hurt by breathing air. Yet, our conversations were always so upbeat. When I asked him about his health he would often say: “It’s all right. I just have to deal with it.” Outwardly, he always looked healthy and strong and he hated to miss a day of work. “I have five kids, man!” Reggie was so happy to be a Dad. He had a photo on his phone that he would show everyone. “World’s Best Dad!” was written on the mug. We became friends as Reggie ran some jobs and he’d ask me for help in setting up the safety. I would greet him with the old Bronx chant: “Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!” And he’d flash that huge smile. We spoke about the race riots years ago. A black man working in an industry where ignorance can run rampant some days. “Some people just ain’t right,” he said. A coworker of Reggie’s texted me: ...