Thoughts of a Common Man

The construction safety community was rocked this week by a fatal accident at a local construction site. It’s one of the calls you get that makes your skin crawl. Every day, there are safety guys walking sites, talking to people, checking site conditions and doing our best to protect the workers. Usually it is one of four things that results in a fatality. Struck by a moving vehicle, caught in between, falls from elevation or electrical shock. Unfortunately, I’ve had to participate in every one of these types of accidents, and the struggle is in speaking with the guys who’ve worked with the man, or hearing about the people who are simply devastated by the loss. Each of the incidents sticks with every guy who does this for a living. There are about 4,500 workplace deaths every year these days. Back when OSHA started in 1970 there were more people dying at work than people who were dying in Vietnam at the height of the war. I get so irritated when I hear that we need less regulation, or ...

I hate February. I start thinking about how much I hate it around November. Almost done. Think of it. Sports is fairly quiet as we wait for March Madness and baseball. The weather stinks. And I’m doing a lot of training. Couple that with the pedophiles seemingly get away with things and it’s just blah. Hope springs eternal! The Yankees are now playing every day, and we are looking at mid-40’s next week. The doldrums have been rough for another reason too. I know of three men who have suffered heart attacks in the last two weeks. Two of the three passed away. Both guys were in their late 50’s. Just horrific! And I read an article that said that the drop dead stage for men is precisely that age… …if you make it to 60 without dropping, you’re kind of home free. I’m past that number. Freaking February! All done in a matter of hours now. Bring on the madness of March.

I’m saddened for my son, who is a huge Buffalo Sabres fan, and especially likes their best player, Tage Thompson. Tage was on the gold medal winning USA squad, and he went to the White House. My son, is not a fan of the current administration, but he allowed the players a little rope, figuring that it’s an honor to be invited to the White House, no matter who is in power. I can also see why those kids may have gone. They won a gold medal for the first time in almost fifty years. But, it got more complicated for ms son when Tage appeared in a photo wearing a MAGA hat. “That’s a bridge too far,” he texted. “You can’t back that guy, unless you don’t care about women at all.” We didn’t talk politics as our boys were growing up, but we did discuss respect and morality and making good choices. All three kids arrived at their own conclusions. Their thoughts mirror ours. Yet, I hate the absolute division that is a real, vibrant thing in this country. It may be the worst of all of this. There a...

I’ve been around for a long while now. The state of this union is dismal. There was no chance that I was watching a second of it. We’ve heard it all before. Crying about the 2020 election.  (It wasn’t stolen although 2024 probably was). Saying the current economy is the greatest of all-time. (All indicators show that we are not booming). Making a case for a war in Iran. (It’s to distract from the Epstein files). He’s been totally exonerated. (He’s a pedophile). There was a report that stated that Oompa Loompa is now the least popular politician of all-time. Epstein victims were there last night. A whole bunch of Democratic Politicians did not show up. “He’s taken ten years of our lives,” a longtime friend mentioned the other day. Without a doubt. And there’s no way to escape it. It’s part of our lives now. Despair. Tariffs. Lies. Money being stolen hand over fist. American citizens killed in the streets. Families being destroyed. Racism. That’s the state of this union. Not quite su...

As the USA won the gold medal yesterday, I mentioned that the Oompa Loompa would claim credit in about ten minutes. It was more embarrassing than that. There was an AI video that showed him, in a suit, skating by the Canadian team- even checking the professional athletes into the boards, before he scored, what I guess, was a golden goal. Not to be outdone, the FBI Director crashed the locker room party, and appearing to be loaded, screamed obscenities into the phone, whilst wearing a gold medal. The White House posted a photo of an Eagle killing the national bird of Canada. Then the icing on the cake. A congratulatory phone call to the men’s team ended up in Oompa taking a shot at the women’s team. They also won gold. The women immediately turned down the invitation to go to the White House. The Seahawks also turned down their invite. “If you’re invited to the White House you have to go!” MAGA cried out. Not a chance. If I were invited and guaranteed a 2-hour slot to speak, steak and l...

46 years to the day the United States Miracle on Ice played out as the underdog American team beat the mighty Russians. The USA hadn’t won gold since. Until yesterday morning. I wanted to watch the game that was to start at 8 a.m., and my roommates, Miller and Oliver made sure that I was up in plenty of time. My cat and dog don’t understand the concept of the weekend. They will make sure that I’m not late for work, that’s for sure. The cat is extremely annoying as he will get right in my face and yell at me. So, I was up, and the first USA goal sent a chill up my spine as it was a great play. Now, of course the game wasn’t quite the same as 1980. Every player on both teams is an NHL player. Not quite the underdog story, but man, it was a great first period. In the second, Canada took over, and tied the score and would’ve taken about a 5 goal lead had the goalie not been a brick wall. I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t going to work it out. 46 years of it not working out brings doub...

I got the notification that the Yankees game was about to start. The second spring training game of the year, and the first where some of the regulars were in the lineup. I wanted to watch Aaron Judge’s first couple of ABs just to see the big guy. He flew out to center his first time up, and then homered in both of his next two at-bats. The Bronx Bombers hit a half dozen and put 20 runs on the board. It means nothing, of course, but it was great to see the sunshine and hear the crack of the bat. Real games don’t start for another month, but I do know that the Yankees will be good again. In a day and age where teams tank and lose in an effort to get ahead, the Yankees have finished each season with a winning record since 1993. I hear people saying: “They haven’t won a title since ‘09 “ True enough… …but in the 33 years where they’ve been in the running every year, they have won five titles, and I have a great memory. So, I’ll take it! The people busting on me about the lack of titles si...