Thoughts of a Common Man

Made my early morning visit to the Buffalo Bills Stadium Project and immediately remembered that there was going to be a party for the setting of the last piece of steel. The topping out party. There were about a dozen police cars set out front, and barriers were set up. The final beam was in the parking lot, and there were a bunch of workers stepping up to sign it. I didn’t bother, mostly because it called to mind a few topping out parties that I’ve gone to, where I deserved to sign it. I’m not at the Stadium every day - there should be room on the beam for guys who are there every damn day. And the politicians and Bills brass and Erie County reps should also step aside for the workers, who are dirty, sore, tired and just plain beat up. It fascinates me to watch people all dressed up for the show looking down their noses at the men and women who get dirty every day, and piss in rancid boxes and eat off trucks. The brass referring to the workers as hardhats. I did my walk and worked my...

Bruce announced that he’s releasing 7 albums from work that he had in the vault over 25 years. Seven new Bruce records! More than 70 songs that I’ve never heard and while there are a couple of his songs that I skip (I always apologize to him when I do so) the chances are good that I’m going to love the music. Should be excited. The Yankees are hitting a lot of homers. It’s the first week of the season. I absolutely love baseball and reading box scores and following all the teams. Should be in my glory. Work is fine. The family is good. Golf is around the corner (I freaking hope) And yet… …I get home each day after not following anything in the news and I try to catch up on what happened in the country… …and I feel a knot in my stomach. We are headed towards a recession for no damn good reason. No matter what one might say, the economy was in very good shape back in November. The new administration took an absolute blow torch to it. I speak to business owners. “I’m not sure how much bui...

The turd that is making economic policy bankrupted a casino.  In fact, he went bankrupt 6 times. We all knew that. He was elected anyway. Stock market is in the tank. Tariffs across the board will raise prices on all imported goods - 10 to 50%! People have their retirements tied to their 401k and those are being destroyed. One of the GOP pinheads said that old people who are worried about their retirement are just going to have to ‘suck it up.’ Why???? What is the payoff at the end? We all get to suffer for the good of the country because this economic genius - WHO BANKRUPTED A FREAKING CASINO- has an idea? Do you trust the man who has lied more than any other politician ever??? I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him and I’m not getting close enough to pick him up. I can’t believe that his suckups are having much success with their constituents. I’m genuinely concerned, of course… …worried about social security and the 401k. Frightened for business owners who won’t be able to ...

There are a lot of things to trip over on a construction site like cords, hoses, rebar. Every safety guy I know has hit the deck at one time or another. I was side-by-side with an OSHA compliance officer when he rounded a corner and stepped into freshly poured concrete. He tried to retreat, and tripped, and ended up on his back in the concrete. I snapped a photo. “Dude,” he said. “If you share that photo anywhere I’m going to hunt down all your clients.” I’ve never shared the photo, but every once in a while I’ll send it to him and laugh. It was a good dozen years since I took a flop. My streak is over. The site was muddy. I walked with two other guys that I was meeting for the first time. We checked out the framers and turned to face the site guys. I assessed the mud in front of me as we headed in the direction of the concrete pour. “Looks solid,” the guy behind me said, and I took a step into what felt like a bowl of soup. I knew my boot was sucked down into the mud, and there truly ...

On Saturday afternoon I settled in to watch the Yankees 2nd game of the year. I mentioned to Kathy that it was odd that I could just sit on my ass and watch a game on a Saturday afternoon, but there aren’t any kids around anymore. There’s time to relax! And I was looking for the Yankees to win and play well, but my God! They hit homers on the first three pitches of the game. Three different guys homered in the first pitch they saw. A fourth player homered in the first inning. “They hit like that and they’re going to score 20,” I said. They did. Judge hit 3 homers. They won 20 to 9. During the broadcast, Michael Kay noted that a couple of guys on the team were using a new style of bat that pushed the barrel down towards the label. The bat was a little odd looking, but as Kay mentioned, it is within the rules and other players on other teams were using it last year. Well. The story blew up!!! “The Yankees are cheating!” MLB reiterated on Sunday that the bats had been reviewed and that th...

Watching the Yankees (or any other sports team, for that matter) makes you feel as though you know the players a little bit. Brett Gardner was a Yankee for more than a decade and was on a World Series winning team, so I got attached. Gardner wasn’t the biggest or most talented guy, but man, he played hard every day, and fans appreciate that. He retired a few years ago, but hasn’t been back around the team because he wanted another year, I suppose. But retiring in your mid-30’s, financially set for life seems like a good deal. Brett has a wife and a couple of boys so he was available to hang out as a Dad. Good stuff. The family was in Costa Rica on vacation at a resort.  It seems they went out to dinner, and for one reason or another, they all got sick - gastrointestinal stuff - nightmare when you’re on vacation. Away from home. Everyone throwing up. Not sure how to treat it. Well, the nightmare turned horrifically tragic The Gardner’s 14-year old son, Miller, died overnight. The fa...

Spoke to a farmer who voted for the orange blob. The farmer is worried because, “most of my employees are immigrants here on work visas. They’re good, hardworking people. They’re scared. I’m scared. Will he throw them out?” Also spoke to another guy who definitely is an outspoken fan of Shitler. “I applied for social security because even though I’m not ready to retire, I want to be on the docket in case he rips it away.” Read an article about food being kept from food banks in big cities. The article stating that it won’t be given to the poor. It will, instead, be thrown out. Saw another bill from Florida as they try and strip away protections for child labor. They need children - as young as 14 to work as many hours as they can because (see above) they’re booting immigrants. Speaking of which, the Supreme Court will soon decide whether or not due process will be required, or will this administration, headed by the bloated golfer, be able to throw out anyone who doesn’t look right to ...

I can’t lie. Opening Day is one of the best days of the year, and I got a few texts from my good buddies early on.  I have always loved baseball and of course, the only sports team that I’ll ever be emotionally attached to are the Yankees. Yet, it was 28 degrees when I got in the car this morning. Not exactly opening day weather! I busted my hump to make my site visits and get to the computer (and the television) by first pitch. Good thing I did too because the Yankees first AB of the year was a homer to right by Austin Wells. There was a sweaty moment in the 9th as the new closer - with a beard!!! - almost coughed up the lead. The game ended with a Yankees win and I had enough time to flip over to watch Juan Soto (the traitor) come up with 2 on and 2 out in the 9th. He struck out. 😂 😝 😆 😂  $765 million doesn’t buy you anything these days. And Soto struck out in time for me to flip over to the NCAA Tournament… …but wait! There’s more!! I have a baseball draft to tend to th...

So, they put out plans about a strike on an APP that included a journalist. There were boxes of classified documents stored in a bathroom. They’re all using their personal cell phones and still they chant: “Lock her up!” every chance they get. The hypocrisy is astounding. Greenland printed hats that spell out MAGA with a couple of changes: “Make America Go Away.” Canada is not amused by the 51st state garbage. Yet the real trouble is the tariffs. 25% tariffs on cars that aren’t made in America. Tariffs on lumber and steel. It all sounds like great fun, and there are wild claims about swimming in a pool of money… …that money is coming from only one place: The American consumer. It’s a flawed plan and is conceived by a bunch of truly dopey bastards. I spoke with an owner of a company who uses immigrant labor to run their company “I’m getting worried that we aren’t going to have any employees.” Another man told me that he applied for social security because he’s afraid it won’t be there w...

It’s already started. Musk called social security a Ponzi scheme. DOGE has identified it as wasteful and they are cutting the staff. They’re telling people that if you want to apply for social security it will be a matter or months before you can get through. People who want to collect the money that they paid into for decades will have to report in person. Imagine the elderly trying to log into a system that is basically shut down… …and then having to shuffle off to an understaffed office. There are also reports that SS checks will be missed by some. The most vulnerable of all citizens are now being threatened. People collecting social security aren’t living high on the hog… …they have a fixed amount of income in a world where inflation threatens their ability to even eat three square meals a day. Skip a check or two??? And how about someone who is 60 years old, with weak legs and a sore back who is tho long about not climbing ladders ten years from now? Will SS be there for those of ...

On Sunday I felt a twinge in my back. Despite rest and exercise and a dose of the massage gun, it didn’t clear up. By the time I headed for bed on Sunday night, I had a full on backache. “Hopefully it’ll be better in the morning.” Turned into: “Ah, damn, I can hardly stand up.” “Stay home,” Kathy said. “And lay around? Nah, it’ll be better if I move around.” It wasn’t. And I kept thinking, all day long, that it’ll come around. Then I had a stray thought: “What if it doesn’t come back?” There will come a day when what ails me doesn’t just come around. Now, I’m not thinking that this back ache will last forever. I have a massage scheduled and that usually does the trick, but I’ve been lucky. There are people who suffer with things that don’t ever go away. I have a couple of weeks to go before I have to swing a golf club, but I’ll be ready to go. Hope so anyway!

My boys all enjoy the NCAA tournament. I do too, and since Kathy has had to deal with it for decades, she didn’t fight it. She joined in. “What games are on?” I asked on Sunday morning. “Florida first, and then Duke and then Kentucky,” she said. So, our day was set. “Are you still watching?” The television asked, halfway through the Duke blow-out. My bracket is kind of on life support - I didn’t blow too many, but the favorites have won so just being a few points off the lead felt insurmountable. The texts were flying with the boys. We all had a good laugh remembering that Matt had written a term paper entitled: “Why Missouri will win the NCAA Tournament.” They were a two-seed and were highly regarded. Matt broke down all the reasons why they simply could not lose. He turned his paper in on Friday morning- the same day that the two-seeded Missouri team LOST to fifteen-seeded Norfolk. “What an idiot!” We proclaimed all these years later. It was a perfect weekend to lie back and watch ho...

An old friend called me recently.  We hadn’t been in touch much, and I wondered why he’d disappeared. “Ahh, my wife passed away,” he said.  He filled me in on his horrible loss, and he kept saying, “But, I’m doing okay.” I have a sneaking suspicion that he isn’t and I made a mental note to put him on my ‘to call’ list. Around the same time, I heard of another friend who’d been dealing with some serious health issues. Parkinson’s was part of his affliction and I thought about all the time we played golf together. It wasn’t all that long ago! I felt so bad about his troubles, but by chance, I ran into him, and while he certainly is battling, he is still here and I was happy to see him. “I’m sorry you’ve been putting up with so much,” I said. “Yeah, hell, what can you do? It happens when you live long enough. I mentioned that I had turned 60 and that I met him when I was in my 20’s. “You were fatter then,” he said, and I laughed. He’s still in there. The ride back home after a lo...

Man, George Foreman was an unbelievable boxer and always seemed to be such a good guy. The George Foreman grill was a huge deal when he finished boxing, but man, I saw the big man fight plenty of times. Foreman came on the scene in the 70’s and he was so damn powerful. His battles against Ali and Frazier were legendary, and then Big George went away for a while. My favorite fight of his was when he came back in the early 90’s and went up against Moorer, a much younger man. George was in his early 40’s and the boxing world was against the comeback, swearing that he was going to die in the ring fighting men who were so much younger and in much better shape. I watched that fight in Baltimore with a whole bunch of people and man, I was rooting hard for Foreman, but it wasn’t looking good. He was slow and looked old and was way behind on all the cards. I’m not sure who the girl was who was watching with us, but she was horrified. “That old man is going to die!!!” Yet, with George he was jus...

It doesn’t matter that I didn’t watch a whole lot of college basketball this winter. I also barely had time to fill in my three brackets as it was a busy week and since the time change I haven’t slept through the freaking night! Still, I was ready! I had the games on as I wrote reports, and then as I drove to Syracuse. In the hotel, I watched the 7:00 set of games and followed my pools on-line. And it dawned on me that I miss printing out the paper brackets and circling the winners and losers. I thought of all the years gone by when we would draw names out of the hat. There were papers flying all around and I usually ended up with red and black markers on my arms. My son, Sam, took his vacation this week… …this is his Christmas and he took after my brother, Jeff, who loved the tourney. My sister put a bracket in, and my lovely wife put three in and visited Sam at his apartment to watch one of the play-in games. It certainly has changed for me over the years, but I still enjoy the hell ...

Elon Musk was all over the media yesterday as he tried to fix what he blew up. Too late, I think. The key investors in Tesla have asked him to step down as he has most likely absolutely destroyed the brand. I don’t root generally root for people to fail, but when I saw him whining about what a good guy he is as he cried about Tesla properties all around the country being targeted, I had one thought: “Boo-freaking-who, dude.” He was the one jumping around with a chainsaw, laughing about how he was firing people. He’s the one gunning for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security “I’m just trying to save the country, and get rid of fraud,” he whined. So are we. That’s why Tesla is in the crapper. That is also why people are chanting, “Tax the Rich!” At Republican town halls in the Midwest. There are a whole lot of sob stories by people who voted for the cuts and the mob mentality of Musk and his obese orange friend. Cutting waste? So far there has been $22 million paid for golf outings. Musk...

Sports take off this week with the NCAA tournament and the half-ass start to baseball season. The Dodgers - who have a free agent in every roster spot and a payroll that’s more than $100 million above all others - open the season in Tokyo (as they should as they own every Japanese star because they are deferring money and cheating the system). Okay. I may be a little irritated over that World Series loss. But Ohtani homered this morning - (wonder if he bet on that). I’m going like this for division winners: Braves, Cubs, Japan in the NL Wild card winners will be Phillies, Arizona and the Mets (with the traitor Soto). In the AL the Yankees, Royals and Texas will win the division with Red Sux, Orioles and Tigers as wild cards. I know that the Yankees lost Cole for the season but the best part about being a Yankees fan is that they are always going for it. Now, what to do about the freaking Dodgers? Hoping the Phillies or Braves knock them off. But enjoy the start of the REAL sports seaso...

I hate clutter. It drives me crazy, and while I may not be the clean freak that Felix Unger was, I’m certainly not Oscar Madison either. My son, Sam - and sadly, my wife - don’t much care about what goes where. By the time Sam settled his stuff into his new apartment, I was already halfway through the cleaning of his room. The funny thing is Oliver has toys all over the house. I have to clean those up each night before bed. And having a pretty healthy dose of OCD allows me to keep my emails orderly and all the books in my room properly stocked. Of course, Sam popped by for a visit and headed into his newly cleaned room. “That’s ridiculous,” he said, as he walked out. “Why don’t you try keeping your apartment clean?” I asked. “My room was always clean,” he said. “We just have different definitions of clean.” My God. Well, at least the house is cleaner… …and all three boys have been here every day.

Buddy sent me a list of the top 10 television series according to someone. Got me thinking about mine, and I may have done this before, but, it goes like this: 1). The Sopranos - Gandolfini is impossible to look away from and Edie Falco is almost just as great. We’ve watched it 4 times from start to finish and we will do it again. 2). Breaking Bad - Cranston was awesome - they did drama so well. Loved every episode. Especially ‘The Fly’. 3). Succession - everyone was so disgusting - it was funny and the drama was also well contrived. 4). House - another great actor - Hugh Laurie - and he reminded me of someone - especially when someone asked him a dumb question. 5). Better Call Saul- Saul Goodman is one of the best characters ever. 6). Modern Family - it’s our go-to show when there’s nowhere else to go. We still laugh at jokes we’ve heard a bunch of times. 7). Landman - Billy Bob is another great actor. Could have picked Goliath too. I could watch him recite the alphabet. 8). Bosch - T...

Sam and his buddy Ben decided to get an apartment. It’s right around the corner from our home, and I don’t quite understand why he’d want to pay huge rent, but I do get it. It’s time to give life a try, and we are hoping that it will force him to not depend on us for everything. Yet, on the way out the door, he asked about a lot of our stuff.  He took a bed, a microwave, pots and pans and plates and silverware. He also asked about the Ramen noodles in the pantry. “I’m not eating them,” I said.  “Chicken patties too?” “They’re all yours,” I said. There will be a bit of an adjustment. Dinner won’t be much of a battle. Late night parties won’t be here. Of course, I made sure he had a little bit of pocket money too, and I did that because for a second there I was feeling guilty because I was looking forward to cleaning out some of the clutter. I’m all fired up about cleaning his bedroom and the other room that he used as a storage space. It was impossible to sit in the house with ...

In 1982, I was a senior in high school and just 17 years old.  I was a stock boy at a grocery store, and the two best parts of working there were: 1). All the pretty girls worked there. And 2). My buddy Tom, who lived four houses away, also worked there, and we often worked the same shift.  We often refused all offers of rides to and from work. We would walk it, through the woods to the store and back. Usually, on the way back we’d have a few beers. We always had great conversation and most of our chatter was filled with girls we loved, and dreams of our future. On that day long ago, we were drinking Miller Lite ponies and it was a warm day. We walked and talked about those girls we were crazy about, and in those days, they were the only girls who would ever matter. The more beer we drank, the deeper our conversation went. We talked about the Stones and the Who as well - our favorite bands. Then we looked down the long road ahead. We had a lot of empty pages in the story of ou...

That’s better. NCAA games are starting to catch my interest and the Yankees open up in just 13 days, and it was seventy-five today… …which felt great for the few minutes I was outside. Training season is winding down and I have this year’s act almost perfected, hitting all the punch lines at the right moment, and running through the subjects in a timely fashion. I’ve seen a lot of people over the last couple of months and in the last couple of weeks the mood has grown bleak. In the class today there was a lot of anxiety because members of the group are hanging on to get to their retirement and social security. One woman, who is retiring before she wants to because she has to help care for her Mom, and who is frightened by what might happen if she doesn’t enroll in social security… …was scared. “I’ll be on the street,” she said, tears threatening her eyes. “Worked all my life, and if they mess with it, with my family and health concerns…” Her voice faded and she definitely had tears in ...

There are so many writers that I admire. John Feinstein was certainly one of them. I enjoyed so many of his stories including, “A Season on the Brink”, “The Punch”, “The Last Amateurs” and “A Good Walk Spoiled.” He was prolific. Brilliant too. Years ago, I was at a book signing in NYC and I had the chance to shake hands with Frank DeFord, another great sportswriter who died about a year later. When we were young, a couple of us swapped books. Through the years, we have continued to talk about good writers and great books. John Feinstein entered our lives, and made them better. He was just 69 years old. Not enough time because if he had been blessed with another ten years he might’ve written ten more bestsellers. The year of 2025 might be the year that brings reading back to epic levels. I’ve read about a dozen books so far, and I’ve talked to a number of my geek reader friends who are also in double figures already as we all try and escape the reality being brought to us by the clown s...

Know when I loved sports the most? Yeah, as a kid, of course, when I didn’t know what the players made. Oh, it helped when I didn’t know that they were jerks either. My first sports hero was Wilt Chamberlain.  Wilt was massive, and he was great. I’ll never forget seeing him play live at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. He didn’t look like a regular man. He looked like a superhero! And then there was O.J. Every kid in Buffalo adored O.J.  He ran like a deer. He smiled constantly and he talked about how much he loved our city. And then, he stopped showing up for work! Yes, O.J. was the first star I was worried about because he sat out before the season started. He wanted more money even though he was under contract. The Bills were standing up to him, and it got close to the start of the season. I’m not sure how much O.J. ended up getting paid to return to the team, but he did, just before the season started. Then he hurt his knee. What I remember most was my Dad’s reaction to th...

Unfortunately, I had the distinct displeasure of talking to a guy on the job site who started our visit by telling me that the tariffs are a stroke of genius. “There’s going to be a lot of extra money flowing through the country,” he said. “Where is the money coming from?” I asked. “Other countries paying the tax,” he answered. “So, they send us veggies that they were going to sell here for $10. They get hit with a $5 tax to sell the veggies here. Do you think it will still cost $10 when you buy it?” He looked at me weird. “The ten-dollar vegetables will be sold to you for $15,” I said. “I don’t have to buy them!” He said confidently. “Well, where are all your billions coming from?” I asked. He looked confused. “Here’s what will happen,” I said. “Either they will stop sending goods here, or the consumer will pay more for their goods.” “Maybe,” he said. “We just have to grow the veggies here.” “Sounds good,” I said. “Who’s picking the vegetables?” “They’ll get picked.” He said, and I co...

Okay, let’s take stock: 1). The stock market is tanking. People think, well, it goes up and down. The problem is that most people have their retirement in the market through the 401K.  Losing your retirement wouldn’t be so bad except: 2). They’re gutting social security, Medicare and Medicaid in an effort to make enough money to cover a tax break for the ultra-rich. A typical worker will work until death. 3). Veterans are suffering. Recall how he hugs the flag? His words about brave vets don’t match his actions. Then again, he did call them losers and said that he liked the soldiers who weren’t captured. Every general who has worked with him has called him a traitor. 4). Ukraine will be destroyed. There’s no way they’ll survive without our help. We aren’t helping. We’re on the side of the nation that invaded, and is murdering people without thought. Are we great yet? 5). All I’ve heard from the GOP side of things is that the last four years have been horrible. When pressed for an a...

I mentioned to a buddy that at this age it seems like it takes Friday a month to get here each week. Then there is Saturday and the chores that come with a ‘day off’. I cleaned Miller’s litter boxes, washed muddy clothes from playing ball with Ollie, played ball with Ollie, and made two dinners including a huge pot of sauce for Sunday dinner. Then I took a long, slow ride to visit with Mom, and we had coffee, a Rice Krispies treat or two and watched ‘Mike & Molly.’ We talked about the family and called my sister Carrie for her birthday. A nice visit that always makes me smile. Back to the homestead where we caught up on series that we are watching on one paid channel or another. We like ‘White Lotus’ and kicked around the idea of moving to Thailand. I thought a little about golfing and did the math on how many more weeks need to pass before I can swing a club on Sunday morning. Six?  Seven? That’s going to pass slowly too, as the news out of Yankees spring training has been hor...

It’s bad enough that all of the United States is reeling as the citizens worry about their jobs (government employees), their homes (children of immigrants born in the USA), their healthcare (Medicare threatened), and their retirement (social security). We kind of earned it by voting for an absolute maniac and his wealthy sidekick who is also basically insane.  I say, we ‘earned’ it because a large portion of our population can’t see through the con. All the money will be transferred to the wealthy. That’s the goal.  Citizens be damned. Yet, I’m also feeling horrific for our neighbors to the north. I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada at baseball games, Springsteen concerts, and at Happy Jacks - a Chinese restaurant that my Mom loved. I have seen the Falls from the Canadian side. I may have visited a gentleman’s club up there too. Canadians have a reputation for being overly nice. They are! Always very welcoming and they were welcomed here. Just a great neighbor that is now booi...

It appears that Gene Hackman’s wife died of a disease transmitted from rodents. Days later, Hackman passed away from heart disease and his final days, as his wife was dead on the floor was likely spent in confusion as he had Alzheimer’s as well. That’s a little strange, right? I don’t know exactly why it captured so much of my attention, but it kind of blows my mind that someone so famous could die in such a manner. It always calls to mind the most powerful scene in ‘The Sopranos’ when Uncle Junior is in the nursing home home and Tony just can’t grasp his beloved Uncle’s mental state. “You were the boss of New Jersey!” And Junior says: “Oh, that must have been nice.” I think of that because as I get older I think about all the crazy work that I’ve done through the years. I can imagine a day not so far off in the future when I am sitting back thinking about all the construction sites I have visited.  Every day. Every week. Every month for a whole lot of years. “That must have been n...

We have played football in 8 degree temperatures with winds howling that made the ball dip and turn and fly off in every direction. We’ve even played in a drizzling rain and of course, we ran it back a number of times when the temperatures were up in the 80’s. But since my backyard is an absolute disaster because Oliver has runs and runs and runs, we have a bit of a problem following heavy rains. “We can’t play in the mud,” I tried. I checked out the field conditions on the side lot. Plenty of grass and still a blanket of snow. The only problem we have there is that the neighbors sometimes like to swing by and catch the show. “He’s amazing,” a man on a walk said. “Does he ever drop one?” I laughed. “I usually throw him 30 at a time,” I said. “He’ll drop one or two. It’s usually a bad pass.” As my neighbor watched, I counted it out for Ollie. “So, you call out what number throw it is?” He asked. “Yeah, and believe it or not, he knows when we are done.” My neighbor was enthralled.  O...

There was zero chance that I would watch the State of the Union. I have not even heard a single clip of it, but I did read about the garbage spewed. 1). I’m tired of hearing that $350 billion went to Ukraine. That is demonstrably false, and easily proven false. Yet, it is the number that is said over and over and over again, and as a result all MAGA Maniacs are in a lather over it. “We need to keep that money for our Vets!” 2). Vets weren’t mentioned because their healthcare has been stripped and thousands are being cut from the V.A. so there goes that dream. 3). He spoke of Democrats spending money to make ‘transgender mice’. The term is ‘transgenic’ mice and it is for research on Alzheimer’s. How in the world can someone not see that on the teleprompter and say: “Hey, dummy.” 4). Social Security is not paying out to 300-year old, or even 150-year-old people. Not “millions of millions” of people. They’re coming for social security. Musk called it a Ponzi scheme. All the compromised th...

I try not to mark the date on March 4th. I lost my brother on that date in 2009. A whole lot of people lost a man who we all recall as a ‘walking celebration.’ I said, I try not to mark the date, but as I got in the car this morning I thought about it. I was wondering what Bruce song my phone would flip me first to mark the day. I was going to lose my mind if it was ‘American Land’ which was his favorite. It wasn’t. It was WAY worse. ‘The Last Carnival’ was the last song on the record that Bruce released on the day Jeff got sick. The last time I listened to it was in March of 2009 because it is a song that I simply couldn’t handle. Bruce wrote the song for his band mate, Danny Federici who died the year the record came out. The lyrics were way too much, and the last time I heard the song was the day of the funeral. “I won’t ever listen to that song again,” I thought back when I heard it in ‘09. I finally listened to it this morning. Sixteen years later, and I have to admit, it still hi...

Yesterday we spoke about training season and I’m glad it’s winding down because my voice is hoarse and my back hurts from standing in front of everyone. It comes just as spring training gets going and we have three Yankees players already are hurting. Stanton showed up with tennis elbow in both elbows. Gil has a shoulder strain and he has to sit for six weeks. DJ was held out to stretch out before he played a real game. He had two at-bats and left with a calf strain. It’s the reason I hate spring training! Of course, they have to get going so it’s part of the gig, but how do you rest all winter, stretch out and immediately pull a freaking calf muscle? The worst part of it all is that teams are real conservative at the start of the year because a long stretch at the beginning of the year allows for the player to come back way before the playoffs. In Stanton’s case - after all the homers he hit in last year’s playoffs - take all the time you need. But seriously, tennis elbow in both frea...

One of the people in my training session last week was born in 2006. My God! Some of the stories that I was telling to make my points were older than the kid sitting there. I had four sessions last week. I have another one tomorrow. It’s a little like doing a Broadway Show - the same lines, in the same place, over and over again. Training season is also a bit of a pain because lunch is always brought in. Pizza and wings is the boring, usual choice… …but the one tomorrow will be a lot better. That’s how bored I am with it some 33 years into this gig. I know which client is serving what for lunch! On the 21st I have a class in Canastota - which is three hours from here - they always serve pasta and the sauce is damn good. But then I have the drive home! So, January, February and March are a pain in the ass weather-wise and I have to listen to myself talk for hours and hours and hours. I’m down to counting how many I have left. Only four left. I’ll be done by the time baseball season star...

The backlash from the Oval Office beat-down will be felt for a long, long time, and it depends on where we go from here. I took a deep breath this morning. Part of the game being played is the flooding of the zone to enrage and divide. It’s only been five weeks! We’ve watched the FAA destroyed. Vets are being laid off in droves, government employees are being fired or are being forced to sing for their supper. Immigrants are being flown to Guantanamo where they’re being kept in cages. There are cuts that threaten Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The EPA and FEMA are being gutted, and it’s all in the name of saving money, while the new budget proposal will result in billions upon billions being added to the deficit. The coming tariffs are going to cripple small town businesses. Whoooooooooo! All in five weeks. All by design. Musk is on X calling people ‘retards’. There were 9 rounds of golf in the first 20 days besides! But, my plan to ignore it all and shrug my shoulders as thos...

Most people don’t know what is in the constitution. We are no longer using it as an operator’s manual. I received a text message from a friend around 3:30 in the afternoon. “Oh my God,” was the simple three-word post. “Now what?” I asked. “They berated Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.” “I don’t even want to look,” I answered. But I did, and listened to the rantings of a straight-up Russian asset, disguised as the president of the United States. Let’s recap: Ukraine is an ally. Russia is an enemy of democracy. Three years ago, Russia attacked the people of Ukraine and Europe and the United States threw their support where it belonged…. …backing the nation that was invaded. All of that ended this afternoon as two idiots berated Zelenskyy, shouting over the man who is only trying to save his country. Ukraine did not ask for the fight. They’ve lost so many men and women. People are forced from their homes, buildings are destroyed. Putin and Russia invaded a country! We are America… …we haven’...

There are moments in time that stick in your mind. I was at the Javits Center in NYC, signing copies of ‘Counting On A Miracle’ beside Henry Winkler. A weird coincidence for sure. Henry was positioned next to me for the one hour that we were asked to sign. Of course, the line was long - to get Henry’s children book - but I was handsomely benefitted by being beside the Fonz.  Everyone was spilling into my line and I was signing plenty of books. I was also chatting with Henry and when I hear that he’s the nicest guy in Hollywood, I know it’s true. He was great. I made him laugh a few times and as we finished signing, he looked out over the crowd and yelled, “Hey, Gene, you gotta’ meet this guy.” Gene Hackman - who was pretty damn tall - strolled over, a bright smile on his face. I shook his hand while saying, “It’s Lex Luther.” Gene and Henry chatted for a moment and then they were both gone, out of my life.  Henry signed a book that I gave to my sister, Corinne, and I signed on...

The number of veterans who have recently lost their paycheck is staggering. The budget bill seems to include a gutting of Medicaid where about 72 million Americans get their healthcare. SNAP benefits for working people who need food stamps to get by is going to be swept up and one of the GOP’s finest said that people are going to have to get off the couch and put down the popcorn and contribute. A large percentage of people who get food stamps are working long hours at jobs that pay little money. Most of the people who work at Walmart are on Medicaid because they are kept as part-time employees so that they don’t GET benefits! I’m not on Medicaid but I feel for those people who won’t have healthcare. I paid back my student loans before the mafia interest rates destroyed the lives of all who took a loan - those people who paid for decades and still owe more than they borrowed were preyed upon. Car insurance is now downright criminal. Corporations and the rich hide money to avoid paying ...

For a mere $5 million (payable to Drumpf/Musk I assume) you can buy an American citizenship. Seriously. The group throwing out children born on American soil are now selling citizenship to anyone who can meet the price. “Would that include Russian oligarchs?” A reporter asked. “Sure, why not?” Was the response. Wonder how the MAGA crowd, who wants to send everyone back to their country, feels about that? I’m absolutely sickened by the news. Medicaid appears to be gone. Poor people who depend upon Medicaid for health coverage are now kicking back to 8 billionaires who control more wealth than 90% of the country. Read that again. 8 people control more wealth than 90% of the population of the country. Those 8 people will get a massive tax cut. We’ve been sold. The tragic thing is that I’m seeing a lot of posts from people who backed this administration through three elections. They’ve lost jobs, funding, financial assistance, and their healthcare and they’re writing letters to President M...

I was doing training for a client that I’ve had for more than 20 years. It was a great session as we laughed a lot and had a great debate about safety. I mentioned that I’d been checking sites for about 34 years, and looked at a real young kid sitting in the front row. “What were you doing in 1991?” I asked. “Wasn’t even a gleam,” he said. “Well, construction was a lot different back then,” I said. “There are some guys in here who remember, right?” I glanced all around the 40+ people in the room. It kind of dawned on me. “Who here is at least 60?” I asked. There weren’t any hands raised. “Come on!” I yelled. “I’m the oldest guy in the room?” Yet, I didn’t dwell on it. Instead, I felt it in the center of my chest. The oldest guy in the room???? After the class was over, on the ride home, I thought back to my first day on a construction project. I was the kid. I spent years as the kid on the sites. Blinked. And now, the oldest guy in the room? Thing is, I take my job as a veteran serious...

I know a lot of guys who’ve worked for the Federal Government for decades. They’re good guys and conscientious workers. We’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder in the safety field. I spent part of my Saturday night exchanging texts with them about the memo sent out by President Musk, asking them to write down five things they did last week. Failure to answer the demand would be met with the employee’s termination. My friends with the government didn’t much care for the demand. Much as they didn’t much care for the ‘fork in the road’ letter that asked them to quit. “All the years I’ve worked have been reduced to this. Like nothing I ever did mattered.” That would be how I would have taken that first letter too. As far as reporting what I did last week? I’d also be aggravated with that request as I’m sure there is accountability within each department. Sending a report to an unelected billionaire who ran around with a chainsaw and laughing about firing people? I’d have a hard time answering it...

Ollie made the trip to see Grandma and it was a rousing success. Ollie, unlike any dog I ever had, is not a fan of car rides, but we played a couple of games of football in the morning and rather than let him rest up for a few more, I led him to the car. “Let’s go see Grandma.” I brought the green football and pinky along for the ride, and he absolutely loved running through the backyard. My Mom has always loved dogs, and I saw how happy seeing Oliver made her. They played with the ball, and shared a Rice Krispies treat. Ollie brought his toys to her and dropped them at her feet as Mom had a coffee. “He’s beautiful.” I knew the end of the visit would be a problem.  “Leave him here,” Mom said. “Oh, he’ll come back.” Then I told Ollie to give Grandma a kiss goodbye, and since I have the smartest dog in the history of dogs, I knew he was all over it. Ollie actually kissed Mom goodbye a couple of times. Such a good boy. I opened the door and Oliver ran outside and immediately made frie...

It’s been a hard, cold winter. This afternoon the Yankees beat the Rays 4-0 as Goldschmidt and Bellinger both got hits. I saw the photo of them lined up along the first base line and it made me smile. There has been news too: 1). Aaron Boone was extended as manager. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Boone is a good dude. He handles the media well and his players like him. He’s also very thoughtful, and charitable. In interviews he’s funny. He hit the homer off Wakefield in 2003! Yet, he makes goofy pitching decisions!!! Game 1 of the World Series he went with Nestor over Uncle Tim Hill to get Freeman out. Freeman hit a grand slam. He also yanked Clay Holmes in Game 5 and went to Kahnle - a horrific decision that  I was screaming about because Kahnle had to face a minimum of 3 batters. They all got on base! I believe that Boone is a lot like the Bills coach - good leaders of men. Good guys.  Maybe not great. Then the news came down that the Yankees will now allow well-groomed...

I can’t even begin to imagine what it might be like to be a prison guard. Well, I can imagine it a little. Last summer one of my contractors had a project at the prison where there is a strike currently taking place.  Every two weeks, I had to be there early in the morning so I could be part of the crew that walked through the gate with a few of the guards. Hated it! Had to leave my phone in the car. I couldn’t take any photos and had to be sure that I didn’t have anything on me that could eventually be used as a weapon. The gate procedure took an hour every time. The job was about 2,500 square feet…took me ten minutes to look at…and then I had to begin the lengthy process of begging a guard to walk me back out through the gate. Usually they were having coffee and didn’t want to be bothered. “Buy us a pizza for lunch and you’ll get out faster,” one guy told me. I can’t tell you my answer. As for the prisoners, they spent a lot of time calling me a few names as I passed by. At a dif...

Eight years, ago I boldly declared in this blog that Agent Orange was a Russian asset. Haven’t seen a single thing since that sways my opinion on that, and what he said about the Ukraine-Russia war just verified what so many now believe. In case you missed the dumbest thing said yesterday (and there are plenty of dumb things to choose from each day) the portly pig said that Ukraine shouldn’t have participated in the war. They were invaded!!!! They were trying to defend their homeland and thousands upon thousands of their citizens were slaughtered. To make it worse, the Russian asset explained that Russia should be able to keep the land that they invaded because Ukraine killed a lot of their soldiers. Maybe their soldiers should’ve stayed the hell home! There are so many ways to illustrate that this is a horrible opinion. Imagine Pearl Harbor… …Japan attacks the United States who responds. In this example, Fat Hitler believes that Japan was wronged. “I don’t know how to ignore it,” a bu...

Twenty-eight more days until I feel like I’m ready for Spring. The NCAA Tournament will begin and all will be forgotten. Not sure I can make it! Six degrees when I got in the car this morning, but at least the sun was shining. I continue to read novels, but time is passing slowly. Trapped in horrible imaginations as I think about social security being robbed… …so I went back in time. I picked up the autobiography written by Yankees legend, Mariano Rivera. What a great story it is. Rivera was a fisherman who was aspiring to be a mechanic when he was spotted by a Yankee scout in a tiny little village in Panama. Rivera was an outfielder in amateur ball, who made his pitching debut on the very day that the scout showed up. He threw nothing but fastballs, and admitted that he had no idea how to pitch. The Yankees gave him two grand, and the rest his history.  He is, without a doubt, the greatest relief pitcher ever and the only man who was a unanimous choice for the Hall of Fame. Really...

The nuns beat it home when I was a kid. “Treat others as you’d like to be treated.” My Mom reinforced the idea. “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Thought of some of that over the weekend when I read a story about a trans man being beat to death about 90 miles from here. It’s also coming off a talk with a guy on a site who told me that “we’re allowed to say ‘retard’ and ‘faggot’ again?” I answered him with a “Seriously, dude?” He said, “Musk loves those words.” Easy to dismiss the guy as a one-off, but it’s like the Nielsen ratings… …there are a lot of people who are thrilled that they can use those words again. And then… …I read about the people who have lost their jobs via letter. Many of the termination letters have language in them that say that people are being fired because of poor performance. A group of academics lost their jobs because their jobs were considered part of the ‘woke’ movement. They were helping blind students. Want to talk about...

I don’t know how people deal with life in places that are forever cold and dark through the winter. Buffalo is bad enough, but I’m thinking of the people who live in Alaska, or the town where Jodi Foster was the sheriff in True Detective. Ollie caught 348 passes this weekend, and that’s no small feat because I have to throw them. This dog is too much and he finds it easy to get fired up. “When this episode is over,” I said, as we started watching ‘The Night Agent.’ As the credits rolled, I noticed that Ollie was asleep on the floor, but the start of the new episode brought him to my seat. “Damn, how does he know when the episode is over?” I’m trying here: I made two big dinners, which allowed me to spend some time working on things. I did a little paperwork, finished reading another book, and started the next one. There’s not a lot happening, sports wise and I completely overreacted to Giancarlo Stanton’s sore elbow - 6 weeks before opening day. I also read an article about the Ravens ...

On Friday night, in an effort to be entertained, we watched an episode of 20/20. A story as old as life itself. Man meets woman and they fall in love. We hear about what a perfect couple they are, and we see photos of them in their happiest moments.  Shortly after the wedding, we try and figure out which one murdered the other. I lost this week as I thought the man did it. Yet, this wasn’t one of the run of the mill episodes. The woman set up a business that was a Ponzi scheme, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her family and friends. She allegedly stole money from a little league! Then, in an effort to cover up her fraud, she shot her husband up with insulin because he was about to figure it all out. “My God!” I yelled out. “She’s pure evil.” Kathy was simply shaking her head. “Seriously,” I said. “They oughta’ hang her up in the public square and tell her family and friends to come by and have at her. Punch, kick, spit….whatever!” For some reason, my wife and many ot...

I know a lot of people who are liberals. I also know a lot of people who are on the conservative side of the political aisle. Know what we have in common? We all want the same things! People on both “sides” of the divide just want to go to work, raise their children, have a place to hang their hat, and a little extra money to go to a game, or fish or hunt or golf or go camping, or to the beach. We want our kids to have a chance. Yet, instead of just enjoying our days, we are spending our off hours fighting about stupid things that we are fed to keep us on one side or the other.  Wages have been virtually stagnant for decades! But we argue about: Trans athletes? There have been about 10 instances of that in the last ten years or so. Colleges being denied federal funds if they back Covid vaccines? Absolutely zero universities or colleges are in that camp. Plastic straws? Who cares!!! Yet there endless social media battles about such things. Know what the ‘Have Yachts’ are doing? Buil...

They should let us know when we AREN’T under a winter weather advisory. It just keeps coming. The latest is a storm starting Friday night and running through Sunday. Four to eight inches possible. But we will be fine on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday when the temperature will not rise much above 10 freaking degrees. Last Friday I struggled through a front 9 that saw me yank a couple of drives, and top a few fairway woods. I was aggravated, but not even one-one thousandth of how aggravated I was yesterday afternoon when I walked directly into the howling wind. I screamed! As loud as I could.  Just one simple word. My head was instantly frozen!🥶 🥶 🥶  I texted one of the guys who was in the trip. “Last Thursday, at this moment, we were at the restaurant, tired from our round, waiting for the lovely waitress deliver our crab cakes.” “This week has been shitty,” he answered. Valentine’s Day. Yippee! Means that there are two more miserable weeks of February left, and my optimism o...

Last week, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about the downfall of the democracy as I was more concerned with finding my ball and hitting my approach shot straight. I also purposely ignored the news and the demolition of our government from inside the government. Reality is a nasty concept as I had to return to: 1). Miserable weather And  2). Absolute idiocy. Elon Musk trying to speak from the Oval Office as his kid wiped boogers on the desk and told the orange blob what we all were thinking was a Saturday night live skit come to life. Someone last week mentioned that Musk is a genius. Well, he speaks at a 3rd grade level - his kid was more coherent. And the ideas that are being presented are scary, at best. 1). Government workers are being pushed out of their jobs. 2). Greenland is going to be Red, White and Blueland when we steal it? 3). Canada is going to be the 51st state. 4). We’ll go to war to take the Panama Canal? 5). Gulf of America? 6). No more Department of Edu...

I have three Kendrick Lamar songs in my collection on my phone, and I listen to them every time they pop up. In fact, one of them ‘I’ has a great hook, and I turn it up and sing along. The songs were sent to me, by Jake, as something I might like. Jake was just looking for my approval with a few songs he enjoyed. So, when I heard Kendrick Lamar would be the featured act at the Super Bowl I was curious. I was also curious to see what those at the party thought. I was at a table with 5 guys who grew up listening to Frank and Dean sing songs. They liked Elvis and the Beatles as high schoolers as well. “What the f*ck is this?” One mentioned as Kendrick got started. Try as I might, I couldn’t make out the lyrics. “Is he singing in English?” Was the second comment, and later on, another man asked: “Is this just one long song?” “Do they even call it a song?” Another asked. We all watched the halftime show all the way through, and I mentioned that I had a few Lamar sings, but that I hadn’t rec...

  Man, the ravioli and sausage was great. In fact, every meal we had was amazing. I thoroughly enjoy the sitting around the table each year, and that’s when the conversation really gets going. Just don’t make a mistake!  Don’t stutter, or trip over a word. Don’t say something that is wrong or every single person around that table is going to pounce. We laughed a lot, as we went over some of the errant golf strokes. As usual, every golfer had a bad hole, or a bad few holes, and no one got away with it.  Every shot is noticed and analyzed. And of course, so are the good ones, and we catch up on each other’s lives, and talk about our kids, our work, and our future. A couple of those guys I hadn’t seen for a year! We had an epic putting contest one day that resulted in tiny bits of money changing hands. If you owed someone four bucks they rode you hard until you paid up. The contest helped on the course. And I must let the world know that Chippy was straight up incredible on ...

My buddy owns a very nice place and is extremely generous in hosting us to play golf each year. There are enough places for all of us to sleep, but the last two years I’ve taken the cot out into the screened in portion of the house- next to my hot tub - where I sleep under the stars. It’s great, and I also enjoy waking up to the sounds of the birds.  Rough round yesterday as I got off to a horrendous start, but settled in nicely on the back 9. Speaking of backs! Starting to tighten a little, and truth be told, I’ve felt a little of my Catholic guilt because I know it’s miserable back home weather-wise, and we’ve had two absolutely perfect days. We’ve had some great food as well and today continues with the sauce I’m making. A week ago, trapped in the snow and ice, I couldn’t have imagined sleeping under the stars, and a week from now… …don’t even want to think about it. Oh, congrats to Josh Allen… …I’m sure he’d rather be playing tomorrow.

 I had to hit the first drive down the middle! Felt a lot of pressure and my buddies were certainly hoping I topped the first ball. Nope! Split the fairway, but missed the par putt. Which became a theme… …but I didn’t care. So great to feel the sun. Heard it was icy back home… …made me sad!

The sun blasted through the plane’s window shade as we landed. I picked up about 60 degrees in the time I was on the flight, and it just struck me that I went from a world of black and white to living color. And it’s just a short little trip with good friends, and we will eat, drink, laugh and play mediocre golf in the brilliant sunshine. The last week was a real battle as I struggled to get work done, knowing that I’d be out for a few days. Ollie and Miller? They knew it! While Ollie’s intellect is widely established, I was struck by the fact that the cat knew I wasn’t just going to the store. He spent all morning rubbing against my leg and looking for attention. “Don’t go outside,” I told him. “No opening doors!” Kathy and the boys gave me a “See Ya’ salute but damn, the pets love me! And I’ve been imagining that first tee shot for a couple of weeks now… …my muscles are tight from the cold, and I haven’t swung a club since that last round in November. Hard to believe that only 75 day...

The Department of Education. OSHA USAID All getting axed. Not through congressional hearings, but via the rantings of a madman and the richest person in the world. The opposition party has written strongly worded tweets in response. When they come for social security and Medicare and Medicaid… …the Dems will progress to wagging their fingers emphatically. Back when we were kids there was a cartoon bill sitting on the steps of Congress, singing a song about how a bill becomes a law. Yet, that was through times that weren’t absolutely lawless. How’d you enjoy the tariffs? 25% to Canada and 25% to Mexico… …pick a fight with our allies. Then the market tanks and there are a couple of pretend phone calls and the tariffs are called off… …causing the market to rebound and to enrich all those who had inside information and know how to play that game. It doesn’t get much more corrupt than that… …and here we sit… …unable to do anything to disrupt the destruction except to wag our fingers and spe...