Thoughts of a Common Man

First off, I deserve it. I have, since I was a wee lad, reminded all of my friends that the Yankees are the “27-Time World Champion Greatest Franchise in the History of American sports.” Not so much thus far this year. They have been infuriating to watch because they’re stacked with good players and they’ve played so poorly for long stretches. When they hit the ball over the wall the fact that they play dumb is forgotten. Haven’t done it much. So, the calls and texts start coming, after a loss is in the books, and the next morning when a few idiots see the box scores. “Anyone know who won the Angels-Yankees game last night?” A long-time pal texted at 5:45 yesterday morning. “Angels 5-3,” I answered. “Oh! Geez. That’s 4 losses in a row, huh?” I gave him a two-word answer. The second word being, ‘off’. But, as I’ve said, I’ve earned it. “You’re going to tell me it’s early,” he answered. “It is early,” I said. “In ‘78 they were 14 back in July. They won the series.” “They didn’t look this...

Sweltering. That’s the word I kept thinking about as I limped around today (see ass, sore from yesterday). The heat didn’t help. And Buffalo wasn’t the only hot place in the country. Portland and Vancouver are breaking records. Brings back the old climate change discussion, and of course, we have people dig into both sides of that issue. All in all, the weather doesn’t have a lot to do with it anyway. Every winter, on the coldest day, someone will post, “8 degrees! What happened to global warming.” Doesn’t quite work that way. Just because you eat a sandwich it doesn’t mean world hunger is gone. My deal? I love the heat. The hotter the better usually, and the sun feels great. I was in Vegas once when it was 114 though and that’s a bit much. Also, Baltimore in the summer was way too damn hot. And of course, the reason why I don’t mind the summer heat is: Because I live in Buffalo! And I hate the cold!! Someone always complains about how hot it is. Never! Bring it!! I’m good. Stay hydrat...

My ass hurts to the touch. No one is touching it, fortunately. But it’s no laughing matter. It started out after a long scaffold climb at work, and then I swung the club for two straight days. But there are so many things you can try to work out the kinks. As an older gent, I know all of them. Ice was first. Then I tried the new massage gun that I got for Father’s Day. I couldn’t put the gun on the hurting spot. “Is this a muscle pull or something disc-related?” I asked anyone who might listen. Quite literally a pain in the ass! I went to the heat. Changed the heading on the gun and tried again. Got a little relief, and at this time in my life, I’ll take it. And finally, the Bio-Freeze. Slathered! A good night of sleep… …pray that I can stand up the rest of the week. There’s golf coming on the weekend!

 I love playing golf. Always have. That wasn’t golf!!! Johnny and Sam were swinging from their heels on every shot. I can’t even count how many times they swung and missed. Which is supposed to be a stroke, but we certainly weren’t counting all of theirs. They hit a few decent shots and even bogied a par 3. Usually if they got close I would grab their ball and toss it up onto the green… …and then they would hit their putts way too hard. I only got aggravated once… …they disappeared into the woods on 12 and were in there, way too long, in the middle of the hole. There were people behind us. “Let’s go! Morons!!” I was yelling. They came out laughing because they had found a dozen balls. And there was a single moment that was worth every nickel and all the sweat on that hot day. Johnny and Sam were flying by me on the cart. Johnny raised his eyebrows and gave me that mischievous smile that I recognized on his father’s face for years and years.  “You’re going too slow, sunshine,” ...

I’ve been in some awfully iffy buildings through the years. Recently here in Buffalo a couple of ton of material rained down off the facade of one of the buildings that was being worked on. Thankfully no one was injured, but it made for a crazy video of guys running away. What happened in Florida is absolutely mind-boggling. A full third of a building, packed with people, standing one minute… …rubble the next. Horrific and I pray for the lost and dead and their families. “No answers yet,” one article that I saw this morning said. Not hard to believe. But man, something went wrong! And in Syracuse yesterday a few of us were standing near the underpass of the ramp onto the 690. “This whole thing is going to come down,” one guy said as he pointed up at a long crack in the concrete supports. Just happened in the D.C. area. And that’s the danger of always playing politics. Infrastructure repairs are sorely needed. Or everything is going to collapse. One decrepit structure at a time.

My youngest is 21 years old today. That, in and of itself, is crazy. People told us, when they were young, to enjoy it because the days would just fly on by and they would soon be men. You know, it’s crazy to say but I worry about them more now than when they were little boys. Back then, my beautiful wife and my wonderful mother-in-law were always within arms reach. Now, knowing what it’s like to be a male in the second decade of life… …well, they’re kind of idiotic! I certainly was as well. But we managed to raise three boys who get out of bed and go to work. If I left an empty can in the hallway it might sit there for a week as they step over it, but they’re all right. And Sammy boy has always been the heartbeat of the house. As he goes, we go. He can bring the love and sensitivity. He can also bring the chaos and stupidity. But man, we love him and we worry for him, and we have one standing demand of him: “Get the clothes off the floor!” And tonight, I’ll worry… …as his best buddy, ...

I did something that I haven’t done in a whole lot of years… …read online reviews of some of my books. Now, I must say that I have great followers and the reviews that I read were mostly very positive.  There were a couple of stray thoughts that didn’t completely sing the praises of whatever book it was, but that’s okay, if I had to write a review of them years after they’ve come out, I’d probably nitpick some of the thoughts. But there was one review of my book “Nobody’s Home” that stuck with me because the reviewer - who was anonymous wrote: “The story was good, but the ending was terrible! I could never happen!! Don’t read this because of the unrealistic ending!!” I laughed at first because “Nobody’s Home” was based on a true story and the most true aspect of the book was the ending… …because it’s exactly what happened! I wrote the ending based on the news stories and the eventual resolution that led to there being nobody home! And I started to answer the guy or gal who wrote th...