Thoughts of a Common Man

When the boys were young they played with a kid who visited his grandma quite a bit. The kid was always at my house. Ate a thousand dollars worth of my food. Yet, each time he came by we got a little more of the story. His father and mother were always fighting. His father didn’t work. His father was mean. Even went to jail. I was careful not to say anything derogatory about his father, but I prayed that Grandma would get full custody. “That kid doesn’t have a chance if he doesn’t get out of that situation,” I mentioned to Kathy. The kid would pop in a little less frequently as the years went along, but I was really positive every time, hoping he was staying out of trouble. Then he disappeared. His grandma passed away. He had no reason to come by our neighborhood anymore, and I’d ask the kids now and again, but they hadn’t heard anything. Until last night. For one reason or another his name came up. “He’s in jail,” Jake announced. “Manslaughter.” I felt my hea...

It’s really weird to get out of bed before 4 a.m. and take the dogs for a ride before getting on a plane, and some 5 hours later, walking on a site in Shawnee, Kansas. “You ever have real burnt ends?” The supervisor asked me. “I’ve had burnt ends,” I said. “Not the real ones though.” He explained the beauty of real burnt ends and then took me to a hole in the wall place called Roscoes. It was a small sandwich. As I was eating it I mentioned that I could eat 4 more. What’s wild about this part of the country is that when there’s a storm, it’s a real beauty. I stepped into the parking lot and the lightning lit up the sky. Yeah, I thought of Dorothy, and the possibility of a tornado. “It’s fun to watch the storms,” one of the guys said. “You guys need to get a life,” I answered. But I must admit that I opened the shade and watched the storm arrive. I know it’s the same sky, but it’s always seemed bigger to me out here. And what’s funny is that I walked into the trail...

It’s supposed to be 99 degrees in Buffalo, on August 29th. It’s a little weird to think about, but Buffalo has never had a 100-degree day. May as well get there, right? I have not once complained about the heat this summer. I remembered how miserable I felt all through the winter. “God, this sucks,” one guy mentioned, on a site. “I’ve been sweating my ass off all day.” I enjoy the sun on my face, the girls in their summer clothes, and being outside. When the sun shines it’s hard to stay too down for too long. But here we are. “Who are the Bills going to start at QB?” Is the number one question being discussed. “Peterman, is my guess.” I may tune in to the first game just to see, but it’s going to be a long year... ...check this space tomorrow for my annual football picks! But I feel some sadness. “The farmers are saying it might be a mild winter,” another guy said. “I want some snow!” “You’re an idiot,” I answered. Yet, I did live in California one year. O...

John McCain died on Saturday evening. What a life, by any measure. A captured prisoner (which is highly honorable, no matter what the Orange dude thinks). He also ran for president and lost, but he only lost my vote when he brought Sarah Palin around. I, most certainly, did not agree with all sides of the agenda, but I think that he was a fundamentally decent human being. When he was running for president, a person that he met in a forum asked him a question about Obama being an Arab. McCain stopped it right there. When Obama won the nomination, McCain called to congratulation him. He championed repealing and replacing The Affordable Care Act. He was very vocal, but when the healthcare bill was presented... ...he punted. Because it was a lousy piece of legislation. A move that has been mimicked because he gave a thumbs-down sign. Was a good political message when it appeared that there was no heart at all in the plan. He also talked tough in some cases and cav...

Had a conversation with a Red Sux fan over the weekend. (Yeah, he’s a dopey bastard). “Yankees won,” I said. “Red Sux lost.” “Boston has a 9-game lead,” he said. “Oh, are you talking about the past?” I answered. “I don’t want to talk about the past,” he said. And the Yankees are having a tremendous season. They will, most likely, win over 100 games. That’s not a level they reached more than once when they won all those World Series. But Boston is on pace for 110 so there’s a real temptation to try and write the Yankees off. They have the 2nd best record in the game and they’ve done it on the backs of a couple of their own rookies. They can certainly win the series this year. Yet, what drives me nuts are the injuries. It’s a long season and I don’t want people trying to play injured, but man! A guy belches and the Yankees send him for an MRI. “He’s getting close to 100 pitches.” That drives me nuts too. I once saw Guidry lose a game in the bottom of the 9th i...

Melky is 12. Poor dog likes to run and bark at other dogs. She does it in spite of what it does to her. Limps all around. Jake’s need has been bugging him. Torn meniscus. “Where you going?” I asked him the other day. “Shoot hoops.” Limps all around. My own struggles are well-documented. Construction hums in the summer. Work beacons. Limp all around! But my beautiful wife has worse struggles right now. Her knee is also tore up. As a nurse, she’s on her feet constantly. She uses a cane. Sometimes two. “The Clavins are a sight,” my sister Corinne said. Just limping in through.

My Dad enjoyed telling stories about my first few days as a union laborer back on the job in San Francisco. Dad was the big boss and I enjoyed seeing him on the job. I was pushing a garbage tote, filled with drywall, when he walked by. “Hi Dad!” I yelled. Little did I know I was approaching the edge of the ramp. I went over the top of the tote I was commanding and I ended up in the dumpster. Dad denied knowing who I was waving to. Later on, I was asked by my off-the-boat Italian labor foreman to go get a tube of grease. After looking through the tool container for awhile I returned: “What is tuba grease?” I asked. He told my Dad and they laughed and laughed. On Thursday morning, Sam was moving around the kitchen at 6:30 a.m. “It’s going to be a long day,” he said. He headed for the door. “You want a ride?” “I’ll walk,” he said. Then he stopped on the stairs. “I’ll take a ride.” I’m the only person at Camp Clifford who is awake in the morning. I sing to t...