Thoughts of a Common Man

Companies are quick to hand out PTO days. Problem is there’s so much work to do that you can never, in good conscience take one. So they can literally give you a million hours in PTO. Doesn’t mean a damn thing! I truly know that such days are important for mental health, but I also suffer from the fact that I can’t just DO NOTHING! The sun was shining on Friday morning as I was headed off to start a busy, busy day. I checked the temperature: 50 degrees. Sent out a feeler. “Anyone want to golf today?” I got a taker! We had a tee time inside an hour. I hustled through a number of visits. Even wrote and sent the reports.  I essentially was taking about an hour off (during a week where I’d already put 60 in). We played 18 holes in about 3 hours. I returned home sore and tired but in a considerably better frame of mind. “You should do that more often,” Kathy said when I got home. For sure. As for the golf? I keep hitting it well and I continue to putt horribly. Aggravating! But still be...

I went to a private college back in 1982. That first year, I took out a student loan, and paid most of one semester. My Mom and Dad covered the rest. The second year, I paid for the entire tuition cost because I had spent every break working as a union laborer. I made more than $20 an hour. Unheard of wages for a young man back then. A union laborer, 40 years later, now makes the same wage that I made then! Years three and four were paid out of 3 pockets. Mine, my unbelievable parents, and a couple of more student loans. When I was done I owed a total of $7,500. I had a Bachelor of Arts Degree that allowed me to adapt to where I wanted to be… …back in the construction field, but not lifting blocks onto a scaffold. I also started writing books, and I almost immediately began repaying those loans. It took me ten years, but I paid back every nickel. If student loan debt is forgiven now… …I won’t begrudge anyone who catches a break. Because of a number of factors: 1). America has bailed ou...

Did I dream that I played golf just a few days ago? Woke up to a blanket of snow. Slipped on a roof top at the first job. Visiting the deck of the roof isn’t any fun for a 57-year-old man. I popped right back up and was no worse for the wear, other than my hand ended up snow-covered. One of the guys made a snowman. “Did you enjoy your summer?” He asked. The next guy was humming ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and we all laughed a little… …until the wind picked up and froze our faces. It’s just about May. We broke the record for snow on this date. We have a tee time for Sunday and there’s a better than even chance that we’ll get to the first tee, but if this is winter’s last gasp… …I didn’t enjoy it. They’re worried about the lack of offense in baseball. They’re cold! 🥶  🥶  🥶  “So much for global warming,” one guy said. “It’s climate change,” another guy said. “Something is wrong.” Maybe. Snow. Give me a break.

I don’t know what I think of Elon Musk and his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion. I’m not a big fan of rich people getting tax breaks and subsidies. He has certainly been handed a lot of hand-outs. I’m also reading a lot of stories that said that he could have ended world hunger with a measly $6 billion plan, but that he declined to help. All of it is just plain crazy, but we peons who get up and go to work every day won’t ever understand. I’m seeing a whole lot of reports that also refer to “Crimes being committed” but that “Charges may not be pursued.” Kushner reportedly got $2 billion from the Saudis… …they might look into it. And at the same time, I watched the police in Syracuse grab an 8-year old, black kid and toss them in their car… …traumatizing the kid forever… …because he took some candy. “Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you a king.” Dylan said that a long time ago. Couldn’t be any more accurate. It’s amazing to me that so much money ch...

Sore today. Back is barking a little. Twinge in the knee. A little tired too. But man, the sun was out! Over 80 degrees! Relatively little rust in my golf game. I woke up yesterday with one thought: “I’m golfing today!” Listened to the Stones on the way to the course and had ‘Tumbling Dice’ blasting as I pulled into the lot. An older guy was walking by and he shook his head at me. Could imagine him thinking, “Kids these days “ Song was written in 1968! The first tee. Put my tee in the ground, couple of practice swings, hit it well but a tad right. Wonderful. Looked around a lot. Looked up at the sun. They say it’s gonna’ get cold again, but man, I took advantage of a great weekend. It’s coming! Cleaned the garage when I got home. Sore! It’s a great soreness.

The high on this coming Wednesday is listed at 43. It’ll be in the low 30’s when I rise. So, we ain’t out of the woods yet, but yesterday morning I made my way to the car without a jacket or even a hoodie. The sun was shining! As I took Paris around the block I looked at my front yard which has been absolutely ravaged by the winter.  I made a decision. Off to Home Depot. I grabbed 10 bags of black mulch and 5 bags of top soil. Later in the day I went back for 10 more bags of mulch. I’ve always enjoyed that kind of work. I absolutely love the transformation and the clean look. Problem being, that work no longer loves me. I took a long break and we watched a movie. Sciatica was barking at me… …and so were the animals. They moved all around the backyard, making their voices heard as the other neighborhood dogs also emerged from their homes. They were all asleep on the floor for a little while too. There were six holes in the backyard, courtesy of Oliver. He is a stereotypical pooch as...

I distinctly recall the afternoon when I bought the John Mellencamp record ‘The Lonesome Jubilee’. It was released in 1987 and I drove from North Collins to the McKinley Mall and bought the music on a CD. I listened to it on the way back to town and then had a few beers with my buddies, Scott, JC and Jeffy. I kept thinking about the songs, knowing that I had a lot of work ahead of me in reading the lyrics. Mellencamp had mentioned that he’d written a lot of it by reviewing Bible verses. I don’t know what made me think of it yesterday as I drove home from Syracuse, but the music was all there on my phone. I had ordered it with a couple of clicks. Would it hold up? 35 years later? My first thought was that the record was basically a Greatest Hits record with ‘Paper in Fire’, ‘Cherry Bomb’, and ‘Check it Out’. But there are hidden gems that are among my favorites, ‘Empty Hands’, ‘Hard Times for an Honest Man’ and ‘Real Life.’ Mellencamp was writing about people struggling to live a good l...