Thoughts of a Common Man

Got a great friend who, with his beautiful wife and son, makes the most out of every single day. They are always doing something fun, somewhere with someone! I get tired looking at their social media feed. And through the years I’ve become something of a home body, but I certainly share Gag’s enthusiasm  for life. My body has cost me a bit of my sense of adventure, and my beautiful wife also has trouble moving around as she has a bad knee, and spends a lot of her day on her feet. So, we rest a bit. Yet, if at all possible... ...we find time to stay upbeat about our ride on the planet. The boys bring energy too, and there isn’t a whole lot of angst or angry words. We have spirited conversations and encouraging texts throughout each day... ...and that’s half the battle! We also spend time shocked by people who live their lives mad or depressed or just plain nasty. Years and years and years ago I was on a bus coming back from a basketball game and I saw a man, wh...

Bought a cup of coffee on Sunday morning and even though I wanted to drink it 3 minutes after I purchased it, I had to wait 20 because it was so damn hot. That’s annoying. One of my all-time biggest annoyances is the driver who sits in the first slot in the right lane when there is an open lane beside them. They aren’t turning right on red, and neither am I because I’m behind them. That makes my blood boil. Those two things got me thinking. What are some of life’s little annoyances that drive you up a wall? The guy buying lottery tickets who picks his numbers while standing in front of you, saying, “let’s go with my son David’s Birthday. Maybe he’ll be lucky.” Or how about the guy at the airport walking around with the blue-tooth in his ear, talking loudly, laughing, and using power words to show us that he’s important. Those guys are rivaled by the ones who walk around with their heads down, staring at their phone, and then they just stop walking. Phone etiquette i...

Boy, bad week for Donald, huh? Cohen releases a recording showing that he knew about paying off a woman who was caught up in an affair. There are reports that there were at least 3 more payoffs and that one of the women may have been pregnant for a little while (pro-life, much?) and that there are a lot more tapes. Then his chief accountant was subpoenaed by Mueller, and they explained it by saying, “he not only knows where the bodies are buried, he knows how much was paid for the shovels.” Then there was more proof offered on the idiotic, treasonous meeting set up by one of his dumb sons. Yet, the media coverage drives me nuts!!! “Does Cohen having recordings hurt Trump?” Was an actual segment! We’ve all watched it go from: “I don’t have any dealings with Russia.” To “Okay, we had 82 meetings we didn’t report, I asked them for the dirt during a speech, we got caught with the computers that accepted the dirt, we lied about a meeting about adoption, Putin loves me an...

I was honored to speak at Mary's funeral on Friday. The words came easy as her life was a great success! "Life is hard. Think about it. We have to battle every day. Up for work, the kids need braces, what are we having for dinner, 'Did you hear what happened to who?' Life is harder when you don't do some of the daily things with a smile on your face. A couple of days ago, I learned of Mary's passing, and my heart sunk.  Death does that.  It's one of the hardest things about living.  I thought of the Weiser kids - lifelong friends - and then I thought of the hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of people who knew and loved Mary. And I thought of her smile. I thought of her laugh, actually. Didn't she have a great laugh? My Dad and Ward could really make her laugh. Then I thought of some of the things that planted that smile on her face. Ward was the love of her life, and her constant companion. When we lost him, I felt pain for ...

The cell phone craze is well-documented. Yet, the other day I was holding a training class and I let the attendants have a ten-minute break. Every head went down to their phone. It was kinda’ sad, actually... ...30 people sitting there. None of them talking to the next guy. And my phone vibrated. It was a number from California. “I’m calling you about the repayment of your student loans.” “I paid my student loans off in 1993,” I said. “Oh, we can help you with that!” I ended the call and blocked the number. But there were more. What’s truly annoying is that now I’m getting calls from the 7-1-6 area code. “We can help you secure a loan!” “Do you think I’d negotiate a loan with a person who’d cold-call me?” I asked. And it’s been really nasty lately. Calls coming in at all times of day and night. The other day I got a text! Some guy named Austin. He had answers to secure my financial future. I just keeping blocking them... ...but then... “Did you...

“Trust none of what you hear and less than what you see. This is what will be. This is what will be.” That’s a lyric from Springsteen’s “Magic” and it was written regarding the leadup to the Iraq war and the wool that was pulled over the eyes of a lot of people. Fair enough. It’s a great song. Yet, yesterday the “president” of the United States told the citizens that what’s being reported to them  is “crap.” “Trust us”, was the message. They have a counter on the number of provable lies told by this administration and we are to trust them? They are big lies, little lies, dumb lies and smart lies. They only constant is that they keep coming. “I don’t know these women,” has been short-circuited by cash payments for silence. “I don’t know Putin. I’ve never had any deals with Russia,” has been thoroughly trashed. “The biggest inauguration ever. Period!” Check the photos. The comment was actually stunning. “It’s all crap,” is something that my kids used to sa...

Maybe it was the steroid packet for the bee sting. Perhaps it was the backache from the hip injections. All I know is that “This Is Us” got me. You see, when my beautiful wife was talking me into watching the series I was already well aware that it made all the women cry. Especially her. “Every week I cry,” she said. We made it all the way through season 1 and halfway through the second season. I KNEW Jack died. They don’t hide that. So, how sad could it be??? Well. The bastards got to me. In the pivotal episode, I’d already kinda’ guessed how it would go down, but they still GOT ME! The story line was believable. The acting was superb. They flashed from the present to the past so expertly that when Kathy asked: “Wasn’t that great?” I couldn’t answer! I knew that if I tried, I’d have tears in my voice. I took a sip of water... ...told myself that it’s just a show. “Was all right,” I said, in my normal voice. No one ever told me that steroids ...