Thoughts of a Common Man

The construction safety community was rocked this week by a fatal accident at a local construction site. It’s one of the calls you get that makes your skin crawl. Every day, there are safety guys walking sites, talking to people, checking site conditions and doing our best to protect the workers. Usually it is one of four things that results in a fatality. Struck by a moving vehicle, caught in between, falls from elevation or electrical shock. Unfortunately, I’ve had to participate in every one of these types of accidents, and the struggle is in speaking with the guys who’ve worked with the man, or hearing about the people who are simply devastated by the loss. Each of the incidents sticks with every guy who does this for a living. There are about 4,500 workplace deaths every year these days. Back when OSHA started in 1970 there were more people dying at work than people who were dying in Vietnam at the height of the war. I get so irritated when I hear that we need less regulation, or ...

I hate February. I start thinking about how much I hate it around November. Almost done. Think of it. Sports is fairly quiet as we wait for March Madness and baseball. The weather stinks. And I’m doing a lot of training. Couple that with the pedophiles seemingly get away with things and it’s just blah. Hope springs eternal! The Yankees are now playing every day, and we are looking at mid-40’s next week. The doldrums have been rough for another reason too. I know of three men who have suffered heart attacks in the last two weeks. Two of the three passed away. Both guys were in their late 50’s. Just horrific! And I read an article that said that the drop dead stage for men is precisely that age… …if you make it to 60 without dropping, you’re kind of home free. I’m past that number. Freaking February! All done in a matter of hours now. Bring on the madness of March.

I’m saddened for my son, who is a huge Buffalo Sabres fan, and especially likes their best player, Tage Thompson. Tage was on the gold medal winning USA squad, and he went to the White House. My son, is not a fan of the current administration, but he allowed the players a little rope, figuring that it’s an honor to be invited to the White House, no matter who is in power. I can also see why those kids may have gone. They won a gold medal for the first time in almost fifty years. But, it got more complicated for ms son when Tage appeared in a photo wearing a MAGA hat. “That’s a bridge too far,” he texted. “You can’t back that guy, unless you don’t care about women at all.” We didn’t talk politics as our boys were growing up, but we did discuss respect and morality and making good choices. All three kids arrived at their own conclusions. Their thoughts mirror ours. Yet, I hate the absolute division that is a real, vibrant thing in this country. It may be the worst of all of this. There a...

I’ve been around for a long while now. The state of this union is dismal. There was no chance that I was watching a second of it. We’ve heard it all before. Crying about the 2020 election.  (It wasn’t stolen although 2024 probably was). Saying the current economy is the greatest of all-time. (All indicators show that we are not booming). Making a case for a war in Iran. (It’s to distract from the Epstein files). He’s been totally exonerated. (He’s a pedophile). There was a report that stated that Oompa Loompa is now the least popular politician of all-time. Epstein victims were there last night. A whole bunch of Democratic Politicians did not show up. “He’s taken ten years of our lives,” a longtime friend mentioned the other day. Without a doubt. And there’s no way to escape it. It’s part of our lives now. Despair. Tariffs. Lies. Money being stolen hand over fist. American citizens killed in the streets. Families being destroyed. Racism. That’s the state of this union. Not quite su...

As the USA won the gold medal yesterday, I mentioned that the Oompa Loompa would claim credit in about ten minutes. It was more embarrassing than that. There was an AI video that showed him, in a suit, skating by the Canadian team- even checking the professional athletes into the boards, before he scored, what I guess, was a golden goal. Not to be outdone, the FBI Director crashed the locker room party, and appearing to be loaded, screamed obscenities into the phone, whilst wearing a gold medal. The White House posted a photo of an Eagle killing the national bird of Canada. Then the icing on the cake. A congratulatory phone call to the men’s team ended up in Oompa taking a shot at the women’s team. They also won gold. The women immediately turned down the invitation to go to the White House. The Seahawks also turned down their invite. “If you’re invited to the White House you have to go!” MAGA cried out. Not a chance. If I were invited and guaranteed a 2-hour slot to speak, steak and l...

46 years to the day the United States Miracle on Ice played out as the underdog American team beat the mighty Russians. The USA hadn’t won gold since. Until yesterday morning. I wanted to watch the game that was to start at 8 a.m., and my roommates, Miller and Oliver made sure that I was up in plenty of time. My cat and dog don’t understand the concept of the weekend. They will make sure that I’m not late for work, that’s for sure. The cat is extremely annoying as he will get right in my face and yell at me. So, I was up, and the first USA goal sent a chill up my spine as it was a great play. Now, of course the game wasn’t quite the same as 1980. Every player on both teams is an NHL player. Not quite the underdog story, but man, it was a great first period. In the second, Canada took over, and tied the score and would’ve taken about a 5 goal lead had the goalie not been a brick wall. I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t going to work it out. 46 years of it not working out brings doub...

I got the notification that the Yankees game was about to start. The second spring training game of the year, and the first where some of the regulars were in the lineup. I wanted to watch Aaron Judge’s first couple of ABs just to see the big guy. He flew out to center his first time up, and then homered in both of his next two at-bats. The Bronx Bombers hit a half dozen and put 20 runs on the board. It means nothing, of course, but it was great to see the sunshine and hear the crack of the bat. Real games don’t start for another month, but I do know that the Yankees will be good again. In a day and age where teams tank and lose in an effort to get ahead, the Yankees have finished each season with a winning record since 1993. I hear people saying: “They haven’t won a title since ‘09 “ True enough… …but in the 33 years where they’ve been in the running every year, they have won five titles, and I have a great memory. So, I’ll take it! The people busting on me about the lack of titles si...

I visited the hotel that I’ve always stayed at in Syracuse. I was second in line so the young girl at the counter went through the closing talk about breakfast and where the ice machines and vending machines were located. When I stepped up in line I mentioned that she didn’t have to tell me all about the place as I’d been staying there since about 1992. “Oh my God!” She exclaimed. “I wasn’t even born yet. What was it like?” I turned and looked at the lobby. “It was just like this,” I said. But I had obviously blown her mind. “I can’t believe you’ve been coming here since way back then,” she said. “Before I was born. That’s crazy to me!” I laughed. “There was a lot going on as we waited for you to arrive,” I said. She laughed. “But like all the bricks and stuff were here? Just like this?” I was a little confused by her reaction. Did she think that we lived in bamboo huts way back in the 90’s? “It’s been updated a few times,” I said. “But yes, it looked just like it does now.” She ran my...

The fact that ex-Prince Andrew was the first of what I hope are many dominoes to fall. He was all over the files, of course, but he’s mentioned about 75% less than the President of this freaking country. If they can arrest a Prince they can arrest a President. There are so many countries who are now reading the files and they aren’t redacted. Information is leaking out about 4 accusations of rape of a child… …the accusations were deemed credible and specifically mention one huge, orange guy. The file was yanked by the DOJ. So, don’t expect an arrest here. There are a lot of people blocking attempts at justice. What will happen? The people of Iran should be very afraid as bombs may be dropped there in an effort to change the discussion. The discussion won’t be changed. France, Poland, Europe, and many other nations are all over this. Bill Gates pulled out of his keynote address in India. Gates is also all over the files. Lutnick is shuffling, bobbing and weaving. Won’t help. And I’ve th...

Getting there. February is an absolute garbage month. Football ended. March Madness obviously doesn’t start until March. Baseball season (which is when life actually begins) doesn’t get going until the last week in March, and let’s face it, the weather stinks. Hearing rumors of a winter storm coming, but again, it will most likely miss Buffalo. In fact, it was 40 degrees all week. But a cold rain fell all day yesterday, making everything an icy and muddy mess. Which makes it hard to get enthusiastic about what one is doing. I had a long drive yesterday, and for the first time in about a year I put on a news channel. I listened for two hours. You know how much time was devoted to the Epstein files? If you guessed 3 minutes, you got it! Why is this not being discussed and reported on? Never mind, I know why. But I heard the dumbest thing ever in the MAGA echo chamber. There’s a growing consensus in the cult that Springsteen is a pedophile because he once sang; “Hey little girl is your Da...

Jesse Jackson passed away. Jackson was all over the place since the late 80’s, running for president a couple of times. He was polarizing to some, but he was about civil rights, so I was all for his messaging. Springsteen announced a spring tour, and he made no bones about what his message will be. Contrary to what people think, Bruce does not preach from the stage. He does it through his music. I’m sure we will hear, ‘Primised Land’, ‘American Land’, ‘Streets of Minneapolis’, ‘Land of Hopes & Dreams’ and ‘Born in the USA’. Bruce has been spreading his message for decades. The same message will be in full display and will be shared with Americans who believe in the constitution. Buffalo is not in the tour list, but Pittsburgh and Cleveland are. I will be attending! Ollie had to take a day. Weirdest thing ever. He didn’t want to catch the ball yesterday. We made our trips to Ollie Stadium but he caught 20, and quit. He never quits! Everyone needs a day now and again. As for the Epst...

Of course, I admired Robert Duvall as an actor - he was so great in so many roles. “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.” The Godfather. The Great Santini. Yet, the role that got me was “The Apostle”. Not sure that was his most watched movie, but I remember watching that one and thinking: “Man, that was one of the best jobs of acting I’ve ever seen.” Now, he was 95 years old, and he deserves accolades and a lot of tributes… …but the people who post: “What a horrible loss!” He was 95! He wasn’t acting anymore. “I’m shocked at the loss of Robert Duvall!” Really? Shocked? He was great, though… …and his performances will certainly live on. Watch “The Apostle” if you haven’t. It was a masterpiece.

Netflix has an Epstein series regarding his arrest back in the West Palm Beach days around 2005. Before each episode they run a disclaimer that “There are interactions with minors that some may find disturbing.” Some???? It’s hard to believe that so much was just let slide back then. Notes on telephone pads saying that one girl was running late because she had to stay in school. One of the first girls on the show spoke about how young she was and how she’d never even thought about herself in that way - she was only fourteen! - and how she never, ever thought of herself the same way again. Ruined lives. And I know there are a whole lot of people who are turning a blind eye to it. My wife doesn’t want to watch it. “It’s too insane.” Yeah, it certainly is. Some may even find it disturbing. I explained to a friend that we are in the stage where MAGA digests the sick information and processes it. In an effort to excuse it. Some have already floated excuses by saying the age of consent is to...

There was no crazy Valentine’s Day celebration here at Camp Clifford. No cards, or flowers or chocolates. In fact, we didn’t even mention it. I did bring my Mom a candy bar and some cupcakes, but I usually do that each week anyway. Kathy has never cared about any of the celebrations for any event - we forgot our anniversary one year, celebrating it, by going out to dinner, on the wrong day. In fact, the only memories I have about any sort of Valentine’s Day celebrations goes way back to grammar school when we’d be expected to bring a Valentine for all of our classmates. I do recall making sure that I gave the best one to the girl I had a crush on, but it didn’t have much of an impact. I certainly had a date or two on Valentine’s Day in high school or college… …but certainly nothing earth-shattering. Yet, it’s freaking February! There has to be something to look forward to. So, I checked out sone of the posts on social media. Flowers here… …out to dinner there. And there’s going to be d...

Pam Bondi made a complete fool of herself in front of Congress. She was belligerent, nasty and biased. The thing about her job is that she’s supposed to be impartial. She sure seems to be favoring the members of the administration and protecting pedophiles. At one point, she mentioned that they were ‘moving on’ from the files, and it was further announced that there would be no more arrests. All the while the information continues to be leaked. Listen, it’s the last thing I want to discuss. Rape of children. Murder. Even stories of possible cannibalism. That’s what they want to move on from? And imagine the men who KNOW what they did, and now realize that their crimes will see the light of day. Alan Dershowitz, who penned an opinion that the age of consent is too high. He famously mentioned that he received a massage but kept his underwear on. I read some claims made by victims who implied that he most certainly did not keep his underwear on, and that he allegedly raped children who ha...

Much of the country has been caught up in the story of Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old woman who appears to have been kidnapped from her home. The horrible story has demanded our attention because Nancy is the mother of reporter and news anchor Savannah Guthrie, who coincidentally enough interviewed the Epstein survivors. It’s a crazy story. A ring camera caught images of the person who may be responsible, but we didn’t see a lot because the person was dressed like an ICE agent. A ransom was offered. There have been tearful pleas from family members, and leads and clues, and hopelessness. And of course, it has turned into a social media event where the most nasty amongst us say things like: “Who cares? People go missing every day!” Or “They’re only looking for her because her daughter is rich!” Sad stuff. I’m hoping the woman is somehow safely returned. Imagine how terrified she is. Try and think about how heartbroken her children and grandchildren are. Empathy. Hopefully, we can find it...

I started writing on November 15th. Just a solid first chapter that centered around my sister calling me by the nickname she has for me. I started the story the day before the Blizzard of ‘77, and then included a story I’d heard, as a kid, about a man who’d taken his half of the house (during divorce proceedings) by using an excavator. Just writing for writing’s sake, and a funny thing happened: The characters took off. By December 1st, I was all in. Wrote into my phone, thinking about their lives. I knew I had something special because I was gifted the plot, and it held a message. Something I had to say. On Monday night, I went to sleep, knowing that I had to get out of bed around 5:00. Woke up at 1:00 anyway because I had the final few pages that I needed. I wrote them into my phone, and when I woke up, I wondered if what I’d written down out of a deep sleep was going to make any sense. It did. That afternoon, I typed the final few pages, and a book that I’d started writing on Novemb...

“We’re all done with that,” Karoline Leavitt said when she was questioned about the Epstein files. “We’re moving on.” Really? Patel and the DOJ came out and said that there was no evidence of a child trafficking ring. Meanwhile, they’re still hiding millions of pages of documents and videos and evidence of the most heinous of crimes. One of the senators who was allowed to look at the files that have not been redacted stated that the huge orange guy’s name appears more than a million times. No wonder they’re hiding it. And some are warning that the files must stay hidden or the entire world might collapse under the weight of the gross misconduct. They are threatening us with destroyed lives if we hold the rich bastards to account. I’m pretty sure that the outcry from the general public would be to let it all burn to the ground. The government is compromised because many of the people in the current administration are also in the files. “If we kick everyone out because they’re mentioned ...

On Sunday night, I asked Kathy if it was supposed to warm up. “For sure. It’s going to be 40 one day this week.” So, imagine my surprise on Monday morning as I left for work. “Damn, it’s frigid!” I yelled, as I dragged the garbage tote in from the road. And I play a game, guessing what temperature it is as provided by my car display. “Five degrees,” I called out, not believing that I missed by 14 degrees! -9 Minus-freaking-nine! That’s as cold as I’ve ever seen. We were up to zero by 9:00. And of course, it all brings havoc to my aching bones by the end of the day. Now, one might ask, how is Ollie handling this? On Saturday, I put out a text: “How many passes has Ollie caught in 2026? Closest to it gets $50.” Kathy, Jake and Sam all put their guesses in… …Sam was closest… …just 130 away. As of this writing, Ollie has caught 6,020 passes in 2026, averaging about 150 a day. Yesterday morning, at minus nine… …he had no interest. Can’t blame him!

As we watched the Super Bowl I couldn’t help but thinking about Game 7 of the most recent World Series. I didn’t care who won that game either - but man, that was great drama. The Super Bowl is the big television event of the year. The game itself was a snooze. There were a couple of interesting commercials. I liked the fake sitcom one with Ted Danson, Jennifer Aniston and Tom Brady. I was also curious about the halftime show because I knew Bad Bunny was going to be singing in a language that would make MAGA’s heads explode. I hear a lot of Hispanic music on the job sites. It’s an upbeat sound, and has never bothered me at all. I’ll usually mention something, and get a smile or two. As soon as the halftime show ended the pedo put out a post that condemned it, saying, get this: The dancing would be offensive to children!!! Imagine that! The guy mentioned in the Epstein files 38,000 times is worried about the kids! It was a positive performance and while it may have been interesting if t...

Our golf weekend was pushed up this year because there was a feeling that the Bills were going to be playing today.  They aren’t, and I tried to imagine what this day would be if it were Bills-Seahawks today. There’s no doubt that if the Bills ever win one, this city might burn to the ground. 30 some years ago, my buddy Jeffy and I made a pact to streak through our hometown if they pulled it off. To everyone’s great relief, it didn’t happen, and I don’t think either of us want to honor that pact anymore. I can’t run fast enough to streak at this age! Patriots-Seahawks is a yawner of a matchup unless you’re from Seattle or Boston, and yet, everyone will watch because we are all trying to pretend that the country isn’t going to shit. Of course, there is controversy because Bad Bunny and Greenday are the featured artists for the halftime show. MAGA is screaming because Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico, and they want a good old-fashioned American artist! Doesn’t matter that Puerto Rico is...

Every day I set a new personal record for consecutive days I’ve been alive. Every day this administration sets a new low in the ‘how low can they go?’ in this shit hole country. The pedophile posted a video that showed President Obama and his wife, as apes. My theory is that it was posted as an effort to remind his followers - who might be disappointed that he’s a pedophile - that he’s still a racist. Some people thoroughly enjoy racism so this might take the sting out of the sexually abusing children stuff. I’m only half-kidding. Posting such a meme is certainly an attempt to divert attention away from the Trump-Epstein files. So. Another low point. There were actually GOP members who were SHOCKED by such blatant racism. Really? Shocked? If there’s one thing that we can all agree on it’s that he’s a blatant, raging racist. It doesn’t matter that if a janitor at the local school posted this he would be fired. Everyone is held to a higher standard than this despicable human. And still, ...

The artists at the Super Bowl were announced quite a while ago. Of those two artists, I know one song: “American Idiot” by Green Day. It was a song that they wrote about George W. I’m told that Bad Bunny is a very popular artist who is from Puerto Rico. The uneducated masses want to know why we couldn’t find an American artist. Um, Puerto Rico is a part of the United States. “Yeah, but his songs aren’t in English! Can’t we find someone who loves our country?” Which is ridiculous. Artists from all over the world have played the Super Bowl gig. The Stones and Who and U2 and Paul McCartney were all from different countries. ‘Course they are white men. I don’t care about the halftime show. I don’t care much about the game either. I do care about my squares. But I hope that Bad Bunny and Green Day get under the skin of all those who are racists and fans of the pedophile portion of our current government. Go get ‘em!

Kaitlin Collins is an excellent reporter. She works at CNN and for years I’ve admired her work, as she always seems to be well-prepared, and she asks concise, detailed questions. Problem being that she is usually asking those questions to a pig. Collins asked about the survivors of Epstein. “You’re the worst,” Pedo Pig responded. “You should smile more.” Which is horrible. She’s supposed to smile when asking a question about pedophiles? And man, what are we even doing here?  There are sworn statements from the victims that clearly identify that disgusting human in the half-demolished White House as being heavily involved. The mainstream media isn’t touching it. Other nations are now threatening to expose everything, and here, in America, we have people in MAGA donning shirts that say: “I don’t care if Trump is a pedophile.” Seriously. Raping children is not a bridge too far for these people??? I’m not surprised. J.D. Vance, who calls to mind ‘Creep’ every time he appears felt compe...

My siblings certainly get a thanks for the dinner that I put together for the golf weekend with my buddies. Two weeks before I left for the trip, I met up with Jim and Scott, and we made a batch of sausage. I put the sausage in my golf bag, and it was still slightly frozen when I finally got my hands on my luggage. I had also stuffed Corinne’s recipe for sausage cacciatore in the book I was reading. Corinne detailed the recipe, and I followed it to the letter. I put it all together on Friday night, and on Saturday I set it to simmer as we played. When you’re feeding a group of people there’s a moment, as they’re digging in, when the cook wonders: “Is this good?” I’ve learned to start eating and make up my own mind about it. Two forkfuls in, I knew: “Nailed it.” One of the Italian guys, who I’ve shared a lot of meals with, kept saying: “Mmm, good.” As if he were a caveman eating for the first time. He kept saying those two words. By the end, I had to share the recipe, and as usual, ther...

It’s way past time we have a conversation about the billionaires (one soon to be a trillionaire) in this country. When one reads any of the documents in the Epstein files, the overwhelming feeling is one of depravity. Children. Some as young as four years old, collected and abused, and discarded. Normal human beings can’t understand it. There is an impulse to simply not believe the horrific events that unfolded. We can’t understand it, but billionaires can because evidently they got bored and needed to satisfy their disgusting, vile, horrific, inhumane, murderous, (insert any adjective you can think of) urges. Make no mistake. Hoarding money. Wielding extreme power. Denigrating others. It’s all a moral sickness that builds a billionaire. As normal human beings, we might sometimes fantasize what we might do if we suddenly become ultra-wealthy. Helping other people is often where the mind goes… …if you’re normal. Here in America and around the world the billionaire class appears to be ma...

- Played 4 rounds of golf. Played pretty well 3 times - putted horribly on day three. - Had the big crab cakes and the perfect omelets at the daily brunches. - Used my sister Corinne’s sausage cacciatore recipe to make dinner for the boys and it was a huge hit. - Slept outside under the stars, got some sun on my face. - Had 4 flights cancelled on the way down, but made it, and my clubs did too, but lost a bag for a little while, so had to buy a day’s clothes. - on the return my flight was delayed for hours on end, and the worst part was that there were 4 gate changes at LaGuardia that had me walking for miles. But I had a smile on my face because we freaking laughed a lot. We have so many inside jokes after decades of hanging out, and we bash each other over the head with them at every possible turn. And God help you if you misspeak. We have a very generous host who allows us to move about his beautiful home as if it were our own. The only price paid is that of laughter. Going to have ...

We played our final round of the getaway on Saturday n 62 degree weather. Which was fine with me. We had tee times for today and even tomorrow, but cold weather is going to end that dream. Yeah. Into the 30’s!!! And there are 7 guys here - we’ve all been friends for decades - and political talk - in 5 days - with everything going on this week - has never been discussed. The pig’s name has come up, as a joke, and there isn’t anyone in the group who believes that his continuing to be the leader of the free world is a good thing, but…. …there are a lot of heads in the sand around here. Also, the signs are gone. Not even a single MAGA sign… …and we are way down here. It seems that people in the neighborhood who were once fervent supporters may be trying to distance themselves from ever believing it was a good idea. Which, as more and more of his vile behavior becomes exposed, will be a problem. What do those of us who KNEW all along, do with those of us who will have to PRETEND that they d...