Thoughts of a Common Man

So, it took me 6 games to finally watch. I had caught a couple of at-bats of the first five games, but I certainly wasn’t excited about watching Altuve, or Bregman or any of the Astros do something positive. I was absolutely thrilled when the Nats won the first two, but I had no dreams of a sweep. And the Astros came roaring back, winning all three on the road. So, how did I get roped in to watch Game 6? I mean, I certainly didn’t want to watch the Astros celebrate. But I was on a plane. The game was on without audio. Bad news: By the time I landed the Astros were up 2-1 and Verlander was in my face. Then I landed. By the time I got to my car (with my bag this time) the Nationals had grabbed the lead and their great young player, Juan Soto had carried his bat to first base to answer the cocky bat-carry of Bregman. Then all hell broke loose. A throw hit to first resulted in a terrible call that really screwed the Nationals. And I don’t know what’s going on in sp...

Life seems long sometimes. The road isn’t always smooth. I love shots of the railroad tracks. When I was a teenager I walked the railroad tracks a lot. We used to pick them up behind the cemetery at the end of the street, and we’d take a long, slow walk to the grocery store or to the bar. I’d walk and talk and we’d have a chew and a few beers. Walked with a whole bunch of great friends. We’d talk about the girls we liked, our dreams, what life would be like when we were finally adults. I think of those buddies and it all went pretty well for all of us. I used to be afraid of heights, which was pretty scary at the one part where we were exposed to a fall to the ground below. I climb all over the place now... ...learned how not to look down. I miss those days of dreaming about what is in front of me. At 55 years old, well, the page is pretty filled up. There are a lot of days left, hopefully, and there are still things I want to do. But have you ever walked a g...

“Lock Him Up!” So, the World Series Game 5 featured a visit from the president, the First Lady and 4 or 5 of his biggest co-conspirators. Trump didn’t throw out the first pitch. The Nationals owner did not invite him to sit in his box. But there was an announcement made and Trump and Melania were shown on the scoreboard. It didn’t go well. Loud booing was soon followed by a “Lock Him Up!” chant. A dozen hours later, the house announced that there would be an impeachment vote and then the hearings would be held in public. I don’t know if I’ve ever booed at a sporting event. I was at Yankee Stadium one year and Jeter started real slow one year. He was like 2 for 30 or some such nonsense. The Yankees had won the series the year before. Jeets got booed! So, if he was booed, Donald should’ve expected it. He’s had a much worse year than Jeter ever did. (My God! I’ve put them two in the same sentence). The thing is, I was always of the opinion that the office of the ...

On Sunday morning, no less, the orange dude took the microphone. An empty wagon makes a lot of noise. He started it all with a tweet on Saturday night: “Something big happened.” And the head of ISIS was killed in a military operation. Great. There was absolutely zero chance that he didn’t stand up and accept praise. Things I didn’t expect: 1). Russia was thanked first. 2). Not all of OUR government was in on the plan! “Couldn’t trust end!” If that’s how things are being run now, we’re in big trouble. 3). A canine is a dog. He actually said that: “The canines, I actually call them dogs.” 4), And speaking of dogs: “He died like a dog.” “He whimpered like a dog.” “Dumb as a dog.” There were so many dog references that I wondered if he was chasing a pack of them rather than a terrorist who he exclaimed was more dangerous than Bin Laden. “Bin Laden was a big one. My terrorist is bigger than your terrorist.” I’m skeptical of all of it. He’s had a f...

I’m reading the new John Grisham book, ‘The Guardians’ on my phone. The book is good, but now, every two days, I get a message, from my phone, that I’ve ‘reached my reading goal’ for the day. On Saturday, I got a congratulatory message because I had made my quota for the week. Go me! The thing is that we can’t do anything anymore without someone asking us how everything went for us. There’s a truck in front of us: “How am I driving? Call 1-800.” Has anyone ever called that number to say: “Your driver is exceptional”? It’s not only there. Go to the post office. After the spiel that they give every single customer they hand you the half-a-mile receipt and let us know: “There’s a little survey for you to fill out to let us know how your experience was.” Seriously? Everyone is in a constant search for instant approval. “How was our service?” “If you liked your waitress, tell us.” “Go on line and write us a review!” My God!! I read a lot of books. I do...

We had a strange moment as the nurse gave Kathy her discharge instructions. “You probably shouldn’t try and do any laundry for awhile,” the nurse said. “Like 23 years?” I asked. “You shouldn’t be thinking about grocery shopping or doing the dishes or cooking for some time.” “She won’t,” I said. Now they both looked at me. “He does that stuff,” Kathy said. Yet, the first couple of days here has been a tad rough. Take Friday morning for instance. I was on the way to the hospital with the idea that there’d be a quick conversation and we’d be on the way back home. The phone buzzed. “Can you bring me some scrambled eggs?” Scrambled eggs??? They don’t just have a scrambled egg store. “Does McDonalds have them?” I asked. “I don’t know, but find me some because they brought me some and they’re disgusting. They’re all runny. I haven’t eaten in two days!” I had to change directions completely. There aren’t a whole lot of McDonalds near the hospital. Found a Mickey...

I really despise hospital life. I feel a lot of sadness behind the hospital walls. I was stuck at Kathy’s bedside as we waited for surgery. We originally slated to be there at 9:30. Instead, they asked us to show up by 7:30... ...which meant up by 6:00. It’s been a long, long week with precious little sleep. Kathy slept! From 7:30 when we got there until 10:30 when they actually got her. She also slept a long while in recovery and was nodding off all evening Thank God it went as planned. Me? I listened to a woman named Cheryl talk about her husband, Rico, who had his bowel reconfigured because it was wrapped around his hernia. “I told him weeks ago! He wouldn’t listen!! I was right all along!!!” I saw an old couple, holding hands. “A father shouldn’t be this worried about the health of his child,” the man said. “He’s going to be fine. He has a great doctor.” I thought about the doctors a little. Someone finished last in their class. I hoped the guy who was...