Thoughts of a Common Man

I have annual books filled with my daily activities back to 1973. 50 years of notes that document my days. As Sam once told me: “We aren’t going to be left wondering what you were thinking, ever, because you wrote everything down.” Yet, I opened the suitcase where I have stored all the journals and it crossed my mind to just get rid of them. Why am I holding onto them? No one will ever want to read what I did with my day back in 1989. It’s funny though because every once in a while, we will have a debate on when something happened.“I can look it up,” I’ve mentioned more than once. But now? There isn’t much of a reason to look back on my days. I know where the idea came from… …back in the 4th grade I was looking ahead. “If I write things down now, when I’m an old man I’ll have material to write a book about my life.” It was a real thought and I was disciplined in writing each day’s recap… …for 50 years! Still, here we are at the end of the year, and I don’t have to worry about that book...

Was listening to the baseball network on satellite radio and the hosts talked about how it was ‘raining cats and dogs’ out there. The first host wondered where the phrase originated and the second host said: “ah, who cares? No one says it anymore.” I cared, and it occurred to me that some still say it. I had to look it up. The phrase’s origin is from 17th century Europe - heavy rains would sometimes result in dead animals being moved down the street in flooding. Made me think of words that have been forgotten. They used to say: Groovy: Simon  and Garfunkel sang a song that had feeling groovy as the chorus. We don’t say groovy much anymore. Davenport: My grandma used to say. “Go sit on the Davenport.” She was talking about the couch, of course, but by the time she was telling us, no one knew what the hell a Davenport was. Snazzy: “Why, don’t you look snazzy?” When we were kids if we dressed up that was why we might hear. I wonder what my kids might say if I told them they looked sna...

A reporter asked Republican presidential hopeful, Nikki Haley. a question about the civil war. She didn’t mention slavery as the main cause. Instead she said that it was about people fed up with the government having too much power and that people got sick of the interference and rebelled. When the reporter asked: “What about slavery?” She said: “Next question.” Evidently, Haley didn’t pay attention in history class, or like many others - there is a real attempt to downplay what the blacks went through. They’re banning books that even mention it in some states. Haley was lambasted for her idiotic answer so she doubled down on her moronic answer saying that Americans don’t want the government telling people how to live their lives… …she’s not pro-choice… …doesn’t she realize that her stance on abortion contradicts her whole anti-government interference position? What is even more confounding is the media’s reaction to Haley’s gaffe. She has to be wondering: “What about the big orange du...

I have to do my best to stick to my routines. It keeps my head clear. The rest of the world isn’t really cooperating. I visited a few jobs, and even the construction guys were moving slowly. I sent an email.  Got an immediate response. “…is out of the office and will be returning on January 2nd. Please leave a message.” So, it stands to reason that I should relax a little and try and take my time during my visits. The problem being, Miller didn’t get the memo to relax. He started my morning by singing Christmas songs. As far as I can tell his entire first purpose of every day is making sure that I don’t sleep too long. To make matters worse, football was canceled yesterday as the rain turned Oliver’s playing field into a mud puddle. Try explaining the game is called off. And Camp Clifford was quiet as well… …everyone is starting to feel better, but there wasn’t a whole lot of movement. “Ugh,” I said, as the day ended. “What’s up?” Kathy asked. “Days are too slow this week.” “Just g...

Political races are usually hotly contested and when it’s for the highest office in the land, the race starts a couple of years before the votes are actually counted. The politicians who are facing one another have their lives examined through the most powerful of lenses and usually it’s hard to differentiate who said what when it comes to wishing their fellow Americans a Merry Christmas. Not this time around! The incumbent candidate went the: ‘From my family to yours we wish you a loving, peaceful, healthy and Merry Christmas.” The challenger: “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL!” Was how he chose to close his heartfelt message. When is enough enough with this dude? Read the message: “Everyone is doing me wrong! It’s not fair! I did everything right!!” When I read it I thought of a petulant child complaining to his parents about how tough his life is because people are unfair. And to be of the mindset to tell someone to ‘rot in hell’ on Christmas Day when you’re being touted as the second coming of...

It was 58 degrees yesterday. Last Christmas we got absolutely blasted and the blizzard kept us in our house for 3 days. Illness changed things this year. I cooked. Jake was my only consistent eating partner. Kathy and Sam slept a whole lot of hours, and we had a great visit with members of my side of the family, but there was a quiet - again - about Christmas. As I was tossing the ball for Ollie it occurred to me that I could be golfing! Then I thought about the last two Christmas weather days. “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas?” Or 58 degrees and playing with the Big O. No contest! “Who in their right mind would look out the window on a day like today and sing about dreaming about snow?”  Sam laughed. “Yeah. This is better.” Christmas was different. I rested and read and cooked and listened to people sleep. Work will be another exercise in sleep-walking as a lot of people phone it in this week… …but I’m ready to roll… …and when everyone wakes up, we’ll do a little more in the way...

Welp. Christmas 2022 was postponed by a major blizzard that kept us in the house. No chance at moving anywhere. Christmas 2021 was put on hold because Kathy was recovering from a hip replacement of her left hip. Christmas 2020 was curtailed because of Covid. We didn’t see anyone. Christmas 2019 was cancelled because Kathy was suffering from a broken hip which resulted in her having her right hip replaced. So, we were a tad fired up about this year. Kathy got sick on Friday. Sam got sick on Saturday. Jake’s girlfriend and Matt’s fiancé are both sick as well - all Covid tests are negative but I’m hearing things like Strep throat and bronchitis. I’ve been around all of them… …not so much as a sniffle. Through this morning, it’s been a lot of sleeping - by all those around me - and very little else. Jake and me are eating well. The presents will be opened. Ollie is getting his reps in. “I’m sorry,” Kathy said at one point. “Not much of a celebration again.” “Eh, we’re all here. We have foo...