Thoughts of a Common Man

I'm starting to kind of like Iowa. When I first started coming here for work I would cringe at the long, boring drive from Kansas City to Ankeny. "Nothing but barns, 'Jesus loves you' signs and corn. I'm begging for a cow." But maybe it's the green, or passing an intersecting road and being able to see for 20 miles. Perhaps it's the laid-back attitude of the workers. Or maybe it's the loose meat. But the place has grown on me. And I had a fleeting thought yesterday as I passed by a beautiful field with an old solid barn on the property. "America is pretty great." Like anything else, life is about perception and how you feel at any given moment. There was a terrorist attack in Turkey. I don't really understand Brexit. The clown show presidential election is in full swing...but life looks okay just outside the window...in Iowa! One of the neat things about the area is that you can see the whole sky. The incoming storms...

Guess I'm going with old basketball war stories this week. Let's start by saying I loved playing that game. As a kid I practiced shooting every day. Even in the winter I would shovel off the court and go out and shoot. I have three boys who do that sort of thing now. Yet I should have also worked on dribbling...especially with my left hand... ...ah well...next life. Yet I played enough and was on teams through high school, in rec leagues in college and logged quite a bit of court time after college. I could shoot. I stunk at everything else. Yet the death of Pat Summitt made me think of women's basketball and my brush with that world. I was living in Baltimore and I had the sort of summer that movies are made about. I hung with great friends (and family) and went to O's games. We'd cook out by the pool and play tennis and hoops. Well...the lifeguard at the pool at the complex was a beautiful girl and we became fast friends. She'd beat me in t...

First off, I know the photo is sideways. Cause that's how the game went. North Collins High School brought in the players from the Buffalo Bills. I'm not sure who arranged the exhibition game, but I was honored to be asked to play... ...and we thought we could win! We had Chris Heinold and Big Wif! We could handle their size!! We also had a whole bunch of guys who were still playing rec-league ball on a regular basis. We were all less than 30 years old and we were deep! My buddy Chris sent me the photo yesterday and my mind immediately clicked to the first play of the game. Chris would most certainly win the tip and we would be ready. We sent my brother Jeff down the wing and his job was go nail the 3 and get the pro-Bills crowd on our side. I drew up the play and it worked perfectly. Chris tapped it to Joe who made a great pass to Jeff as he headed for the spot in the corner. A perfect air ball! Chris and I were laughing so hard that we had n...

Every so often there's a speech. After the speech there's this thing called "fact-checking." I always read those recaps. Trump made a speech the other day that was 90% inaccurate. 90%!!! During the recap there was a throw-away sentence that said: "We all know that all politicians lie." Why is that acceptable? And 90%??? Of course, that article could've been filled with lies too. Yet what is horrible about all of it is that people listen to those lies and then pass them off as truths. I plan on fact-checking Hillary too... ...who is mostly known for being dishonest. And you know what is even more dishonest than all of that is? The hypocrites who tweet out their "Thoughts and Prayers" after a mass shooting. If you're thinking and praying... ...do something!!! Any damn thing!! You don't think there's a gun problem than do something else! There's some kind of damn problem!! There is a mass murder ...

The major frustration of a really frustrating week was that I couldn't be where I needed to be on Friday afternoon and evening. I missed my buddy Emily's graduation party! Yet, there are some of the Cataldo's for you! It's funny, but I distinctly recall the first time I met John. His parents were visiting my parents back about 45 years ago. We played some sort of goofy game, running all around the big house on Shirley Road...and I told my brothers: "He's a good guy." During the crazy fun years immediately following college we all hung out and Mary was always my drinking partner. We all watched one another start our families. Just living. Great, fun living with lifelong friends. Cut to last July... ...I'm leaving the Stones concert when Emily shoots me a text about how great the show was. We talked Rock and Roll. We have talked politics. She saw Bruce and immediately understood the passion... ...and I'm fond of tellin...

Sam doesn't care for being included in the blogs because: "You make us sound wimpy." We all know it's because my kids are all a tad wimpy, but that's neither here nor there. It's Sam's 16th birthday! And did I tell you how tough he is???? He's a rough and tumble guy. Men fear him and women want to be near him! Yet, Sam has had a rough week on this, his birthday week because: Derrick Rose got traded from his favorite team, the Chicago Bulls to the New York Knicks But did Sam cry? Hell no! Cause he's tough!! He scares the hell out of me! I'll tell you that much. We all cower in fear when he enters a room! But Happy Birthday, boy. Despite how much you frighten me with your undeniable feats of strength, I must tell you that we all appreciate all you do around here... ...for all of us. For the dogs. You're a great kid and we're proud of you. Now... ...please don't beat me up! Tough guy. Happy Bir...

I see that the House Democrats are having a sit-in to protest the inaction on gun control. Not willing to get into that whole debate, but it seems to me that the sit-in isn't all that much different than the sit-ins that have been going on in congress, by House and Senate GOP since about shortly after the 2008 elections. There are just some signs for this one. There have been a whole lot of people doing a whole lot of sitting on their asses for a long time now. The Supreme Court judge died. "We ain't doing nothing!" They announced that! Perhaps we can take another 'Vote out Obamacare vote.' And whatever...it's our fault...we let them all get away with all of it! I'm here to talk about getting paid for a job where you basically are paid to sit there. I remember a buddy who took a job testing mattresses back in the day. Evidently they tested his brain as he relaxed. He got fired. He kept showing up in stages of intoxication and ...