Thoughts of a Common Man

Sunday was the final mass at Holy Spirit Church in North Collins, NY. Man, I spent a lot of time in that church, from about 1966 on. I was an altar boy for a lot of years. I did readings, sang songs, laughed with friends, and knelt for stations of the cross. My first confession was there. My first communion and confirmation as well. As a family we sat on the right side of the church, and there were a lot of laughs in the Fazzolari row. I recall a Mass when all eight of us were packed in and the  elderly woman in front of us went into a coughing fit, and in the middle of it, she farted audibly, I was seated next to my Dad and he and I laughed to tears, as Mom gave us dirty looks. I knew every corner of that church. Cried there plenty too at funerals of people that I loved. Yet, I thought I’d be a hell of a lot sadder. I really lost faith in the Catholic Church. That has nothing to do with what I believe, but organized religion has truly lost its luster… …yet it all comes flooding ba...

Saddened to hear about Jimmy Carter passing away at 100 years old. I wrote a blog on kindness yesterday. There’s the face of kindness. He was brilliant, soulful, Christian and he worked hard to help others. Now, there will be garbage spewed on his great name by the incoming mess. Ignore that. Read a book that Jimmy wrote. It’ll make your life better.

It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture. A woman who is a tremendous baker brought a tin of cookies to my Mom. When I walked in on Saturday afternoon my Mom immediately greeted me with the tin and said, “My friend brought these for me. They’re so good. She’s such a great lady.” I put the coffee on and Mom made sure that I had a couple of the cookies. We marveled at the beauty of her lifelong friendship. “She never forgets me,” Mom said. And I could mention her friend’s name, but that would embarrass her… …she’s just kind and that’s why she does it. Kindness. So simple. And yet, as the older, ‘Get off my lawn’ guy that I’ve become, I argue that kindness is lost. I try and be that way… …doesn’t always happen… …yet, I remember being a kid and it seemed that Saturday was the day reserved for kindness. We had a huge yard. I recall an uncle and a couple of cousins coming by to help Dad mow it. My Grandfather was always swinging by with vegetables. That same kind woman was dropping off cookies....

The buzz is that there is going to be a huge tax cut for the wealthy in an effort to… …I don’t even know! It ain’t trickling down, that’s for sure. But I saw three straight stories on Friday evening: 1). Homelessness has increased by 18% because people can’t afford to buy a home or even rent a place. 2). Teoscar Hernandez signed a 3-year, $66 million dollar contract to play baseball for the Dodgers. 3). 56% of people between 55-60 years old have less than $50,000 in their 401K because people have had to tap into it to get money to live. One of those stories doesn’t fit. I was sickened by a fact I heard the other day: Bezos makes $7.8 million an hour… …every hour of the year… …no 40-hour work week. Musk makes more and he is supposedly up in arms about people collecting their social security before they turn 70 years old because he wants a cut of that. Something has to give. The healthcare CEO who was gunned down… …that was wildly cheered. Eventually the income inequality equation will m...

I’m an all or nothing at all sort of person. I know there’s a balance, I see it when I swing past. And here we are in that limbo week between Christmas and New Year’s. A weird week every year.  There are way less emails and phone calls. The jobs are going, but the attendance is down and the people who are there seem to be going at half-speed. Even the Bills Stadium project seemed a little light yesterday and that place is an absolute zoo. I haven’t hustled out of bed lately, knowing that it’s dark later, and that I can go to less places, or even take a day or two. I was up and out yesterday morning. I got a couple of calls early on, and that got the blood flowing a little… …but it’s weird slowing down. I tried the heated jacket, and found that I liked it. I won’t need it when it’s a balmy 34 but it will be very welcome when it’s less than 20 degrees. What’s really weird is that it’s freaking Friday morning… …two more days coming up already. I’ll get through it, I’d imagine, and in ...

Caught a 3-episode documentary on Netflix about the ricin that was mailed to politicians back in 2013 by characters who were Wayne Newton and Elvis impersonators as well as karate instructors. It’s a wild story and one that owes its origin to conspiracy theories about body parts being sold. Whenever there’s talk about how weird the world has b become I say something along the lines of, “Good thing I only have 50 years left.” But our lives are already strange because of AI and computer generated stories that seem to catch the imagination of people who are a tad unstable. A morsel of truth sends an imagination running wild and next thing you know you have a portion of the population that believes a famous actor drinks the blood of children. Pure craziness. And it’s easy for those of us living in reality to dismiss it as the rantings of a loon… …but lines are being blurred. It’s not difficult for someone to make a clip that is absolutely fake to show their most hated politician saying som...

It’s amazing to me that the world pauses for a day to celebrate Christmas. Also annoys me that there is a false flag movement by a group who pretends that there was ever a war on Christmas. “We can’t say Merry Christmas anymore!” Garbage. We all have said it, year in and year out and on a day when there is cheer and good will. And there’s just a different feel to Christmas. Seems to be a huge day. We celebrated last night with my father in law. Made me smile when I realized that his most favorite gift was a box of Hostess Cupcakes that Sam gifted him. We make one long, large circle back to our very first Christmas gifts. He’s an 87-year old man. Still right there in every conversation, still driving and watching baseball and arguing politics, and still enjoying his family… …but his eyes lit up over a box of cupcakes. We talked about his golf game, and he admitted: “I can’t hit the damn thing anymore.” Wasn’t any regret. “I did play a long, long time. Loved every minute of it.” And I’m ...

There are some Christmas songs that make my skin crawl. Guess we’ve heard them too many damn times. I love the Bing Crosby-David Bowie ‘Little Drummer Boy’ and Seger sings it well too. I like Bruce’s Christmas songs, of course, but have heard them a lot. The George Michael and Billy Squier have great Christmas songs. The Paul McCartney song is one that makes me scramble for the stereo to shut it off and Mariah Carey’s song is WAY over-played. So, most of the songs don’t put me in the mood. We talked presents yesterday…my golf bag is up-to-date… …don’t need anything. Handing out presents is still fun, of course, but I don’t have to get up early to set up any train sets, and Kathy doesn’t want anything either. “I buy what I want.” That leaves dinners. I’m fired up about those. Sauce, meatballs, sausage and stuffed shells today. Surf and turf tomorrow. Yet, here’s the thing: I eat LESS now! We ordered subs last week. I ate half of mine! My buddy Jeff and I used to get two apiece! We’d eat...

Thinking of my Dad on the 87th year following his birth. He’s still missed and thought of every day by someone in the clan… …so he’s around, walking beside us, as we battle life. I love when I say something that he might have said in the heat of a day… …he taught us all well. He wasn’t big on presents, and the older I get the more I understand it. “What do you want for Christmas?” Isn’t a question I get, but my kids know that anything with the Yankees logo on it is safe. Jake bought me a book and gave it to me early. “Rolled the dice,” he said.  I hadn’t read it. So, he did great! We have changed the way we buy things too…for the last few weeks there were packages at the door every time I came home. Kathy shopped on-line. “Hey,” she said, one night. “Jake is working outside through the winter. I’m thinking of getting him a heated jacket.” I laughed. “Thirty-plus years I’ve been outside! This is Jake’s first year out there and it dawned on you that HE might get cold?” “I’m ordering ...

If Rickey Henderson were 29 years old and a free agent in 2024 he’d get a billion dollars. He was quite simply one of the top 5 players I’ve ever seen play, and I saw Aaron, Mays at the end, and every player from 1970 to now. Rickey did everything! If he walked to lead off a game he was on 3rd about 4 pitches later. No one will ever steal that many bases. He had power. When I heard he died I immediately thought of watching a Yankees-Indians game - late in the year - Yankees were down 2 with 2 outs and 2 on in the 9th. The stadium was rocking. The lowly Indians were about to beat the mighty Yankees. Rickey hit it about 450’. My brother Jeff was beside me. We were merciless to the Indians fans all around us. Rickey hit for average. He always batted around .325. Rickey had charisma. He made the snap catch. He told stories about how great Rickey was, and he always seemed to be laughing. Hall of Fame? Absolutely! Just an amazing athlete. When I heard he died of pneumonia at the young age of...

Every once in a while the text will land in my phone. “Who’s up for lunch?” The text is started by another safety guy. Our schedules don’t always line up so that all of us can make it, but Christmas is a lighter work load. We had six safety guys around the table. We’ve all worked together for more than 30 years. In that time we’ve found the best spots and I was the one who suggested our favorite Chinese place. “Red Pepper!” And it’s funny but whenever we have the get together my wife mentions: “You had lunch with the girls?” The conversation is free and easy. The laughs come quickly when we reminisce about  something once of us said or did. We don’t normally talk much about the bad incidents that we had to investigate. Every one of us has had the truly bad day. There’s a professional courtesy that we have established through the years that allows us to ignore those stories. It’s funny, but we all met back when we were just starting out in the business. The oldest of us was in their...

There’s not a whole lot to be excited about when the temperatures are low and Christmas bells are ringing. During this time of the year most of the people you chat up on the jobs are elsewhere, mind-wise. But the thing about life is it goes on. I still had to make my visits. My first gig was a bit of a drive away, and I talked myself into the walk-around knowing there was a scaffold stair climb to a high roof. The scaffold stair was gone. Replaced by a 40-feet ladder. “Bah!” I eyed the ladder from the parking lot.  Checked the time. “Just the thing a 60-year old man needs at 8:03 AM. A 40-feet climb with 28 degrees showing on the thermometer.” I find that the best way of handling such a task is going straight at it, and don’t look down. I got to the roof deck and the foreman laughed. “You’re a safety dude,” he said. “Can’t you sit in a warm office and pretend that you’re working on a program?” I laughed. He’s very perceptive. A lot of safety dudes definitely try that. “Just messing...

There are only a handful people in life who will show up for you every time. I have been blessed with a lot of good buddies and was reminded again when the heat at my Mom’s was acting up… …was working well enough but not on all cylinders. Now, as we all know by now, I know absolutely zilch about diagnosing such a problem. I was living here for about a decade before I knew where our hot water tank was. “There’s some shit like that in the room over there,” I told the repairman when he looked at ours. He gave me a weird look. “Yeah. This is it,” he said. “Do you want me to put a post-it note on it so you remember?” Anywhoha… …I was trapped in my own dizzy day when my sister asked me if I could see if my buddy could help. He didn’t hesitate. We have another great family friend who plows snow at Mom’s - down to the pavement. I ran into him one day and thanked him. “Oh, your Dad would haunt me if I ever let it go,” he said. And it’s Christmas time and I normally do a lot of reflecting during...

Years and years and years ago, a young man took a job working in a construction office. He learned construction at my Dad’s right hand. Years and years ago, I met the middle-aged man on a job and he asked me about my surname. “Is John your Dad?” I nodded. “Man, I love that guy.” I put my new friend in touch with my Dad and then I set into working with the guy who learned from my Dad. Dad mentioned that: “He was always love sick about a girl. I think he married her.” Years ago, the man retired and when he left, he put his phone on the counter and just left. I missed him, but I didn’t try too hard to get in touch with him. He was retired.  Enough is enough. He called me yesterday and his voice and his laugh were as strong as ever. “I got to thinking about you,” he said. “I’m a bachelor now.” I was afraid to ask. “My wife was diagnosed last December. She went fast. I’m okay.” I said all the things that people say when they hear such news. “It’s okay,” he said, twice more. He laughed n...

I knew, at the start of the NFL season, that it would be virtually impossible to stay away from all of the games - - I’ve done very well, but my friends and family are excited because the Bills are very good. There’s no getting  away from the NFL - they own Sunday and Las Vegas and every community that has a team. I do a lot of things not being emotionally involved in what I consider to be a barbaric game. I was always a big football fan. CTE ruined it for me. Junior Seau was a great player - he’s dead - he shot himself in the chest, hoping that they’d study his brain to show the damage done. They did study his brain and hid the results. Then the public found out and oh boy!!! Everyone shrugged. On Sunday, I cooked and played with Ollie and read a book. The game was on, and I looked at the screen when someone scored… …I also looked at the screen when the cart came out to get one of the wounded warriors. The announcer was whispering to show his concern for the badly injured player. ...

The Royals manager was Aaron Boone’s Dad. The Yankees were trying to replace Don Mattingly who retired at the end of 1995. Tino Martinez was the poor bastard who had to listen to people compare him to Donny Baseball. The starting pitcher and the starting shortstop and the starting center fielder were all rookies. Not a lot was expected of the kids who had unfamiliar names: “Who the hell are Bernie Williams? Derek Jeter? Andy Pettite?” Johnny Damon was the center fielder for the Royals - before the Red Sucks bought him to try and topple the Yankees years later, and way before he was on the Yankees 27th championship team. I thought about me… …I was 31 years old. Knew my wife as a friend who worked at same place as me. We’d go to lunch once in a while. I had just bought a house. Lived there alone with my dog, Max. I watched the game - it was the home opener, of course. It snowed. That’s why it’s a Yankees classic. Up to that point, the idea that this Yankees team could win a championship ...

The CEO who was gunned down in NYC had a salary of $10 million a year. He was bringing home roughly $192,000 a WEEK! Now figure out what Elon Musk - who is now worth $400 Billion - makes an hour. Couple hundred grand a minute! I know a whole lot of people who work harder than the CEO or Musk. And it’s not to say that I want people to be gifted money that someone else has… …but the reason why such fortunes are amassed is because the rules have been changed - by rich people - to take money from people who don’t have any. Tax cuts for corporations again??? How do they sell that to the gullible public and still get them to vote against their own interests? The same exact way they’ve always sold it! Trickle down. “We create jobs.” Punching down. “Those disabled people and those dark people are stealing from you.” It’s like the wonderful wizard of oz. “Don’t look behind the curtain.” The secret that isn’t secret anymore? When you cut taxes on the rich they buy back their own stock and enrich...

I haven’t really followed the drones over New Jersey story, but apparently, no one knows what the hell is going on. The fact that they’re flying over military installations is a little unnerving, but what the hell has been stable? Canada is threatening to stop sending energy to the northeastern part of the country because of the coming tariffs. Which is insane because we have been over-run by Canadian immigrants, evidently. Not to mention that grocery prices won’t be coming down because it’s hard to do that, and that most of the new cabinet members are billionaires who need a tax cut. And the last 4 years of the working Democracy hasn’t even started yet. So, we might as well say the quiet part out loud… …it’s Aliens from another universe. We are being invaded by little green men who have sent out the drones on a scouting mission. I mean, what the hell is the difference, right? The entire nation has been upside down since the trip down the golden escalator. Maybe the green men are bette...

Was the third straight Thursday that I didn’t work. It’s kinda’ nice. Thanksgiving was in there, of course, blanketed by two snow days. I tried to move around on Thursday morning and we were sort of spared as more snow fell south of us then in my stupid driveway, but the travel ban kept us anchored. This is different because the last few winters have been mild with a few huge snow events mixed in. “This blows,” a buddy texted. “I can’t do it every ten days,” I responded. Thankfully, I have great neighbors. The guy next door makes a habit of cleaning the end of my driveway as he does his. The neighborhood kids with their shovels also help out… …Ollie, on the other hand, just doesn’t care. Two feet, four feet, six feet…. …doesn’t mind at all. He goes and gets the football. We all know, by now, that I’m lost without routine.  I thought about it late on Thursday, knowing that the winter weather advisory was to remain in place through the early afternoon. “It’ll all be gone by Tuesday,”...

The healthcare system is a disaster. Deny claims. Make people jump through hoops or die trying while getting rich off the despair. Luigi Mangione is not a hero. Some people are making him out to be one.  He allegedly went to New York and gunned down a CEO. The world cheered the death of the CEO. Luigi was captured at a McDonalds in Altoona, PA., and he was ready for the arrest. He released a manifesto of sorts that spelled out the horrible treatment that he and his family received. Claims were denied. The kid’s Mom suffered for years. Luigi suffered. This wasn’t some dumb kid. He’s intelligent by all measures - well-educated, a member of a rich family. He planned and executed the man as a statement to wake up America as to the systematic destruction of human lives. There was a better way to handle such a protest. Murder isn’t the answer. Luigi will go to jail. No one will listen to what he had to say… …like the Unabomber… …he will be dismissed as a madman. Yet, there will more of t...

This is the portion of the year where you can score big bragging points by finding a series worth watching. We have a competition of sorts going as finding a good series allows you to say: “Hmmm, wonder who found this one,” as the show goes effortlessly into the next episode. I came up with ‘Cross’ which was a good detective show that held our interest all the way through. We are currently doing a few series that are nearing the season finales. 1). Shrinking - every episode has me saying the same thing: “I can watch this show all day.” Great characters, good acting, funny. 2). Landman - Billy Bob is great in everything. Seems that Taylor Sheridan has every hit series these days and Landman is the best of all of them. It’s funny, it’s sad, Billy Bob’s wife and daughter are comic relief and fun to look at. A whole lot of information about our dependency on oil is also spewed out. A dangerous work environment - and high drama. Great show. 3). Yellowstone - Costner’s character was killed o...

I truly enjoyed watching Juan Soto play baseball for the Yankees in 2024.  He battled his way through almost every at-bat all year long, and there was no doubt about his ability. A great player at 26 years old. He also seemed to really enjoy being a Yankee and being remembered as a Yankees legend is different.  When Aaron Judge was a free agent he was offered more money from the Padres and the Giants. Judge took the Yankees offer because being a Yankee legend mattered to him. I thought Soto would also eventually sign after being courted by others. Turns out, being a Yankees legend wasn’t worth as much to Soto. First off, the money is obscene. Baseball is the land of guaranteed contracts.  All the way back to Babe Ruth baseball players were making money that was weird to the general public.  When Ruth was told that he made more than the president he said that he had a better year. I started to get anxious when I heard that the number was over $600 million and more tha...

The Bills played late yesterday, and my job is to make dinner and get out of the way because the emotional investment is huge for the others at Camp Clifford. I passed the television long enough to hear a commercial for the ‘Official Cheese of the Buffalo Bills.’ I laughed. “They play football,” I said. “What the hell does that have to do with cheese?” “But you know how many people will buy that cheese because it has the logo in the commercial?” Sam asked. Which is true, of course. It could be the worst cheese ever made and I can see someone dressed in an Allen jersey putting it out with pepperoni and crackers and saying: “This is Bills cheese.” Not Asiago, or cheddar or baby Swiss. It’s Bills cheese! “And how does one become the official cheese?” I asked.  Is there a sampling by all the members of the organization where they sit around and try all kinds of food? “This is our official beer, these are our official garbanzo beans, and finally, after careful deliberation, this is our ...

Cleared the snow off the SUV and shoveled the snow. Moved the car and backed it in, satisfied that we could leave if necessary. Back to the warm house. Looked outside an hour later to see the mound right in front of the SUV, courtesy of the snow plow driver who had to do it on purpose. I was cursing him as I shoveled again. 4 kids came running up with shovels in hand. “Want some help, Mister?” “For sure!” I said. They cleared the snow in less than 5 minutes. “Hang on,” I said. “Let me get you some money.” “No,” the lead kid said. “Our Mom told us to walk around and help old people who were shoveling.” I laughed. Gave them some cash anyway - told them not to tell their Mom. And the fact of the matter is that everything takes longer this time of year. Extra shirts and socks.  Car is too hot or too cold. Jobs are slow or empty. People are irritated. “We gotta’ get the hell out of here in a few years,” Kathy said as I pulled onto the snowy road and tried to clear the dirty windshield. ...

Man, CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in the streets of New York where he was going from his hotel to a conference. I read the details of the brazen murder without having any idea who Thompson was… …saw that he had a wife and two children and lived in Minnesota. “That’s a shame,” I thought. And then I read the comments! Oh boy!! It seems that as CEO, Thompson’s policy was to deny all medical claims and put people - common people - in the poor house. One woman spoke about her husband’s heart attack and that the ambulance ride wasn’t covered because Thompson’s company couldn’t deem it as totally necessary. The overwhelming response to Thompson being shot in the public street was: “He should’ve suffered more!” I read a little more about the man… …he averaged about $9 million a year in base salary and that didn’t count his massive bonuses. All the while his company was totally heartless in regard to medical emergencies. The policies he championed evidently did tremendous damage. Still… …...

  There was a good crowd at Michael’s to celebrate the retirement of my sister, Corinne. I knew that I’d be proud of her and that we’d all be together around a table. I kind of expected to have a few laughs with my siblings, but I didn’t really expect to laugh until there were tears rolling down my face. In fact, I couldn’t stop laughing at one point, and the harder I laughed the worse it got. And then my sister Carrie took the microphone to pay tribute to Corinne, and proceeded to give one of the very best speeches I’ve ever heard delivered. It also caught me by surprise - when she was speaking about our family life - I got hit with a sob… …it brought tears again… …but you can’t sob in front of your brothers… …because they’ll laugh. So, I went from crazed laughing to stifling a sob, to laughing again. And that was a perfect evening to celebrate Corinne’s amazing work career and to wish her a happy birthday a day early. I’ve always known that I grew up in the Fuzzy family- a house ...

I have 1,845 songs on my phone. I use the shuffle to play them as they line up, and I rarely skip a song. I started thinking about my music year in review as Apple Music keeps track of such things and puts together a presentation every December 1st. I figured that this would be the year when Bruce might be toppled from the top spot as I listened to a whole lot of The Rolling Stones this year. That was spelled out by the album I listened to more than any other, Hackney Diamonds - the last Stones record, but it barely edged out Bruce’s Western Stars that I love. But I was shocked by the song that played more times than any other song in 2024: “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash! I heard it 29 times in 2024. It’s a great song. It’s also about the same age as me. So, I was curious as to how my top 5 artists played out. #5 - John Mellencamp - I’ve been listening to JCM since the 80’s and The Lonesome Jubilee is one of the best rock record ever made - I still crank every song. #4 - Rod Stewart ...

Joe Biden pardoned his son after saying that he wouldn’t. Good for him. Initially, I believed it was an honorable thing for Joe to stay out of it, but a plea deal was worked out and then suddenly dropped. He was sort of railroaded right off the bat, and while he certainly deserved to be tried… …have you seen the cabinet choices???? Patel is crazed, and that’s a conservative evaluation of the man. He has already explained that his plan is to jail left-leaning people. Hunter Biden was their number one punching bag during the election - even though he wasn’t running for anything. Without a blanket pardon they would’ve harassed Hunter for the rest of his life, resting only when he received the death penalty. And it’s his son! Joe Biden is a decent man. He lost a wife, lost a son. He has had his heartbroken by Hunter. I can’t imagine that he WOULDN’T pardon his boy. Of course, the irony is lost on all the right-leaning people, and the media is all over Joe for the pardon. I saw people who w...

The story of Mia going to the Bills game caught my eye before the game started.  I read the background story - she was wearing a Niners hat, but she loves the Bills equally. Mia didn’t watch the entire game. Seems someone pushed her down the stairs. The family left early. I don’t watch college football either, but my college buddy loves Michigan so I usually look for their score (so I can bust his chops if they lose). They were playing Ohio State - my buddy hates them - but Michigan hasn’t had a great season. They won the game in a huge upset. Then after the game the Michigan players planted their team flag at midfield. Of course, a brawl broke out between the teams and the athletes were pepper sprayed to break it up. What the hell is going on??? Most of the people I listened to on sports talk radio bashed the Ohio State side… …saying that they lost. They didn’t want a flag planted they should’ve won the game! That’s garbage! Of course they aren’t going to let the other team plant ...

Dude in that photo is the Bills offensive coordinator, Joe Brady. It was 27 degrees - tops - with 15 mph winds. What is the point of someone walking onto the field, dressed like that? “Look how tough our O.C. is?” Who cares? He ain’t playing! And did he go back to the heated suite and say, “It wasn’t bad.” Fake tough guy! And I didn’t watch the game but I imagine that some of the players were also out there sleeveless. Again, dumb! It’s cold. We all know what that feels like. Freezing to look tough isn’t owning anyone but yourself. Sam got dressed for the game. I can tell that he’s getting older because he was layered up and he grabbed my spare carhartt and put it on over the top. He borrowed a pair of thermal socks and a pair of gloves too. Zero chance he got dressed like that five years ago. He would’ve fake tough guy’d it then… …but he froze his ass off a couple of times. We are in the verge of getting heated jackets - it’s a little known secret as Santa Claus was asking questions. ...

That happened quickly. My first toss with Ollie was cold, but he was racing through the grass and leaves in the backyard. Our final session of the night had him digging through the snow to try and find the yellow ball. “You can’t miss any,” I announced, “Or you’re gonna’ lose the ball.” He took that as a challenge… …catching the ball out of the air before it was buried in a couple feet of snow. Sounds like fun, huh? I also had to drive through the snow-covered streets to have coffee with Mom. “Why the hell didn’t you stay home?” Mom asked. “It’s a mess out there.” We watched the snow fall. “Sucks,” Mom said. “I’ve always hated the snow.” “Me too,” I said. “It’s worse the older you get.” “Tell me about,” she said. But I made it safely back home and was done with the turkey - me and Sam had big porterhouse steaks. As I was preparing them there was a knock on the door. No one knocks on the door anymore. I swung it open to see a half-dozen kids in my driveway. “Can we shovel your driveway?...