Rant #2,482: Surrealistic Pillow

Weird.

Yes, this past weekend was kind of weird for me.

Not that my life hasn't been weird for the past many months--as it has been for everyone--but this past weekend, at least for me, was weird.

Maybe even put a capital "W" on it.

It was Weird.

On Saturday, it was Record Store Day, or at least the first of three such days scheduled this year. It was supposed to be as it always is in April, but most record stores were closed back then due to the coronavirus, so it has been split up into three separate days, the next one being in September.

I hadn't been to my local record store since they reopened in, what was it, early July or something like that, but after trying to do something beforehand without any success--cashing in my bottles and cans at my local supermarket, but the redemption centers opened after the actual stores were open--I moseyed down to my local record store--where I found a line of people forming to get in.

I thought to myself, "The bottles can wait," and I went on the line myself.

People were social distancing, to an extent, everyone had on a mask, and once they let us in, we were only let in one or two at a time, and we were asked if we were comfortable when more people were ready to be let in.

I didn't buy much of the Record Store Day fare, but using my gift certificate that my mother got me for Hanukkah so many months ago, I was able to buy some other records, so I was happy.

And then I went to the supermarket again to cash in my bottles and cans, and the machines were very uncooperative--constantly breaking down--so somehow, I cashed in two of my three bags of bottles and went home getting my arm exercise for the day.

But not quite.

It was a depressing rainy day by me on Saturday, and I had promised that I would take my son to the bowling alley for his personal "spring training" of bowling, preparing for his league to begin on Sept. 19.

So we went to the alley, but this time, I bowled too--the first time in at least 15 years that I did so.

I found my bowling ball--dating from the mid-to-late 1970s--in the basement, but it was not with its bag or my shoes. I have no idea what happened to the bag and shoes, but the ball was laying there without any protection for those 15 years, so it had a lot of dust on it and looked a little ragged.

And when I picked it up, I knew that I was not in my 20s or 30s anymore; it felt like I had picked up a boulder.

But my son gave me one of his extra bags, and off to the alley we went.

It felt so weird bowling after so many years of not doing so.

And when I bowled, my ball had no power behind it, but I was able to get the ball down the lane and I did the best that I could/

A 1970s-era ball rolling down a 2000s-era alley and hitting a 2000sera set of pins ... bring back the disco ball--I am back!

I will say that the first frame I bowled, I actually got a spare, and the last frame I bowled, I actually got a strike.

What was in between was a bit less than that, but I enjoyed the experience ...

And I think my son did too, bowling with me. And the enjoyment was reciprocal.

Then on Sunday, I went on the unemployment sites and tried to register for the past week, basically letting them know that myself and my son were still not working, an exercise that might take 10 minutes to complete if even that.

But yesterday, being the weird day that it was, I had trouble putting in my circumstances first, I finally got it through, but when I tried to do my son's stuff, the site was completely down. I tried several times on three different devices, but I could not get into the site--the New York State Department of Labor site--at all.

Panicking and with sweat dripping down my back, I called up their phone filling number, and I was able to file for him over the phone.

I don't trust it, so I will check the site again today, and refile for him, and both of us, if necessary.

my family and I traveled out to a beer festival in Jamesport, which is on Long Island, and is more than an hour away from our home.

It doesn't even look like the Long Island I know, you would swear you were in another state, but yes, there are parts of Long Island that are still in the sticks, and Jamesport is one of those places.

It probably won't be for long, though, because of the influx of city dwellers who have tired of the chaos in New York City and have decided to move permanently as far away from the five boroughs as they possibly can.

Anyway, me going to a beer festival is like a diabetic going to a candy convention; I don't imbibe at all, and I mean, I don't drink anything but water, milk, seltzer and soda.

But my wife has an occasional drink, and she likes beer, as does her brothers and their wives, so we all met out east for a nice time.

And, along with my nephew and his wife, we had just that, even though we were social distanced--they had strict regulations about that--and we could not sit together, only a maximum six to a table.

So while the others drank, my son and I had our respective water and seltzer as our drinks, and the day went by swimmingly.

At about 3 p.m. or so--or maybe it was later, I don't remember--I checked my phone to see the score of the first game of the doubleheader between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets.

Honestly, I have not been so invested in this season as I have been others. There is too much swirling around myself and my family to actually have the time to sit down and watch a game, and when I do, because of the lack of fans and the changes to the game that have been implemented this year, I often think I am watching a Strat-O-Matic baseball game rather than a real one.

Anyway, I checked the score of the first game of the doubleheader--two seven-inning games--and the Mets had bases loaded with no outs in I think the fifth inning, and they would eventually pad their lead to 7-2 after they scored a few runs that inning.

I went over to my brother in law and my nephew--Mets fans, natch--and conceded. With the Yankees just breaking a seven-game losing streak and looking awful in doing it--and having already lost one doubleheader during this five-game series to the Mets--I figured that this game was a lost cause too.

About an hour later, I decided to check the score again, just for kicks. I knew the Yankees had lost, but I guess I just wanted to experience the finality of another horrid exercise in futility.

I checked the score, and I did a double take. I actually had to look at the score again to make sure I wasn't reading it incorrectly, or completely losing it.

The Yankees came back and won the game, 8-7 bolstered by a five-run outburst against the Mets' bullpen.

I went over to my nephew and told him the news, and he took it very matter of factly.

"It's the Mets," he said, and that was the end of that.

And later, in the nightcap, the Yankees won again, this on a pinch hit grand slam from their catcher, Gary Sanchez, who is hitting like .130 or something like that.

Surreal ... I tell you surreal ...

And then my son and I watched a pay-per-view event from the WWE, which has its own weirdness even on a regular day, which yesterday was not.

So yes, yesterday was weird, very weird ...

Will this week follow suit.

Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.

I wonder if I should open my eyes.

Rant #1,331 (November 26, 2014): Happy Thanksgiving

Today's Rant is going to be short and sweet ...

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

What more is there to say?

The best holiday of the entire year is tomorrow, and while we all have to get through today, can't you just about, almost, smell that bird?

We will be spending the holiday with family, and I, personally, will also spend at least part of my day with some other "things" that are almost part of the family: "March of the Wooden Soldiers," the Raiders' song "The Turkey," and my computer, which I just got back and on which I have a lot of work to do to bring it up to snuff, so to speak.

I won't be shopping, happily.

So have a great holiday, and don't eat too much.

I will speak to you again on Monday.

Rant #2,481: Everyday I Write the Book

Well, I have come to the end of the road.

No, no here.

Even though I suffered some type of writer's cramp the other day, this column will be going on for a while yet.

I am nearing 2,500 posts, and I want to go well beyond that number if I can.

As long as I have something to say, I will keep writing/

What I am talking about is my other blog site, the one I set up to try to promote my novel, "Rat Face (The Strange Tale of Abraham Lincoln Panim)."

That novel took me a few months to write, and I wrote it when I was really at the depths of my unemployment, right in the middle of the 10 months that I really, really suffered from the lack of work.

I think the story is a good one, and I put it up on its own blog site, and during the past 40 days or more, I put it up piece after piece, chapter after chapter.

Yesterday, I put the entire thing up in its entirety, so you could read the first chapter and not have to click to the next chapter and the next chapter after that.

And today, I wrote a final message on the site, which you can access at https://ratfaceabrahamlincolnpanim.blogspot.com/

Here it is, in answer to the question "What's Next?":

"Good question.

I don't really know.

I have put up my novel in pieces by chapter and in its entirety in one fell swoop, and I have no idea what I am going to do next with it.

I have tried to push it to publishers, but although a few of them said they liked at least part of what I wrote, nobody had committed to me, and nobody probably will.

This is a bad time for anything new, and I guess I picked the wrong time to write my first novel.

I still would like it to be published, but my only route might be self publishing.

I have to check into that, but right now, I have so many other things going on that I do not have the time to do that.

So that is an option for the future.

I mean, I didn't write this so only I would read it.

I think the story is a good one, and perhaps with a strong editor, I could make my story perfect.

This site will remain up and available in perpetuity, and maybe I will get lucky, somebody with influence will see the site and what I have written, and maybe they will reach out to me.

Maybe, maybe not.

We shall see.

I am happy that you stopped over here to look at what I have done, and I hope you enjoyed my little fable about Abraham Lincoln Panim, the boy with the rat face.

I certainly enjoyed writing it!
The question really is "What's Next," and I really don't know what the answer is.

I would love for the masses to read this thing in book form, but this really is not the time for a new author--and an author whose work is geared to readers 12 years old to 15 years old--to make his debut from a legitimate publishing house.

It just isn't happening.

So I might have to self publish, and market the book that way.

Self-publishing houses used to be called "vanity" publishers, and their work and product was greatly looked down upon.

But now, self-publishing companies are not frowned upon, and their product even occasionally shows up on best-seller lists, in particular from venues like Amazon.

Self publishing also costs money, which I do not have right now, so maybe a GoFundMe cmapaign might be the way to get this done.

I just don't know right now, so I am going to hold tight for the moment, sit on what I have, and maybe sometime in the future go to the next step.

I am so busy now doing one thing or another that I need a little time to breathe and plan my strategy.

If you  have any ideas, please let me know.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Classic Rant #1,330 (November 25, 2014): Shop 'Til You Pop

Well, things are looking up.

Our broken sink will be fixed today, and my computer was fixed, although I have not hooked it up just yet ... I was way too tired to do it when I came home from work yesterday, fell asleep at about 8:45, and so, maybe later today, maybe tomorrow as we go into the Thanksgiving holiday and weekend.

And that leads me to the theme of this Rant, which happens to be shopping on the holiday and on this weekend.

My feeling is the following:

Go ahead, shop until you drop, or more precisely, until you pop.

See if I care.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a family holiday, a time when we get together with our loved ones and talk, have a nice meal, and take it easy.

It is the best of all holidays, because no gifts are warranted, just your presence at the festive meal.

However, a new wrinkle has been thrown into the mix in recent years: shopping on the holiday.

I, personally, would never do gift buying on the holiday.

But evidently, many people love to shop on the holiday, so many major retailers are staying open on Thanksgiving, or at least on part of the holiday, so those who want to shop can do just that.

Many other people are in an uproar over this--how dare retailers ruin the sanctity of the holiday!

How dare people shop on the holiday?

But let me ask you, have you shopped on the holiday?

Maybe not for a large-screen TV, but I am willing to bet you have spent at least a little money on Thanksgivings past.

I will bet you went out to get some extra cranberry sauce at your local supermarket, or filled up with a tank of gas if you were traveling.

You might have even gone to your local bakery to pick up a nice, freshly made pie for the occasion.

We crab and worry about retailers' workers losing their holiday by working on it, but what about the people who work in the bakeries, the gas stations, the supermarkets? What about their holiday? Isn't that sacred, too?

And what about all the restaurants that are open on the holiday? Their employees have to work, too.

So let's get past this sanctity nonsense,

It is called "supply and demand."

Stores are open because customers demand it.

If there were no customers, big retail stores would not be open.

And further, if you order online--as many closed retailers are suggesting you do--what about those fulfillment workers taking your orders? What about their holiday?

So this belching and moaning about stores being open on Thanksgiving is a load of PC garbage.

Think about that when you run to the supermarket on that holiday Thursday morning because you ran out of stuffing.

Think about that cashier who has given up at least part of his or her day to serve you.

YOU are the reason that cashier is on duty.

Don't blame the retailers, who are open to satisfy your every shopping whim, whether it is for stuffing or for a large-screen TV.

Me, I won't be shopping at all, and don't get me started on Black Friday ...

Rant #2,480: All Together Now

Heck, are we in the middle of a cataclysm right now or what?

The coronavirus is still as rampant as ever, and kids still don't know if they are going to school or if school is coming to them, at home.

High school sports are OK if you live in Suffolk County, but if you live in neighboring Nassau County, it is a no go--so kids in Massapequa can't play high school soccer but two miles away across the county line in Amityville, they can.

We have what appears to be a senseless murder in Wisconsin, but, of course, people are so quick to pass judgement before the entire story is told, which means that our world leaders in the NBA and MLB decided that without knowing anything other than a black man was involved, they would not play their scheduled games.

Then we have Hurricane Laura, which is set to eat up the Gulf Coast of our country like we haven't seen since Hurricane Katrina--but this storm is supposed to be much, much worse.

And we have the Republican National Convention, which, of course, is being ripped apart by Democrats, but let's face it, both this convention and the previously held Democratic one are more "rah-rah" events than anything else, and they are always both ripe for criticism.

And with all this going on, my family has its own cataclysm, one that has ripped us apart at the very seams:

Animals attacking our full garbage pails.

This has been happening for a generation, and it has been done by feral cats, which according to New York State law that goes back to the current governor's father when he was in office, you cannot do really anything about.

In New York State at least, feral cats are permitted to wander around aimlessly, do what they want to destroy property, and exist in sort of a nebulous lifestyle; we generally do not see them, but once night comes, they go out and perform their acts of destruction.

The only thing you can do with feral cats is to have them rounded up by Animal Control, spayed and neutered, and then they are let out on the street again.

You cannot poison them, you cannot act upon them, you cannot do anything to them to stop their lust for not only food, but procreation among their herd.

Yes, they mate with their own family, so there is absolutely no way to stop them from creating a next generation from the current generation, and this has gone on and on for generations of these animals.

And when they want food, well, they are as vicious as cats can be.

They topple over garbage pails--often destroying the plastic pails with their teeth and paws--and rummage through these pails for any scraps of food they can find.

So when you go outside in the morning to pick up the newspaper, as I regularly do, you also have to pick up the debris strewn around by these vicious animals.

Heck, I admit, I would poison each and every one of them if I could, but these animals have the law behind them, and they also have many human backers who obviously think that cats roaming the neighborhood causing destruction is a good thing ... or maybe they haven't had to pick up the garbage strewn around their own homes after these cats' dinnertime.

There are several ways to handle this. One, you can purchase over-priced garbage bags that give off an odor that these animals supposedly cannot stomach. We have tried that, and it works to a certain degree, but when these cats are hungry, even they can hold these noses and get what they want and remove themselves from the situation, so those types of bags only help minimally.

You can purchase contraptions to keep the cats out, to fence the pail area in so that the cats cannot possibly get in, but if you have $500 spare cash to give us to do that, maybe we would welcome it with open arms.

What my family and I are going to do for now on is such a simple thing to do that it is incredible that we did not think of it before.

We are going to put the garbage pails in the garage. There is nothing in the garage now--all of our cars are outside in the driveway or parked in the street, so there is nothing in that garage other than remnants of my father's days as a cab driver, barbecue materials, stuff like that.

Sure, placing the plastic garbage cans inside the garage might smell it up, and while the garage is connected to the house, there is no direct connection to the house--no door, just structurally--so we don't think the smell will enter the house.

We have to give it a try, because once again, at 6 a.m. this morning, I was picking up a wave of garbage that was strewn all over the driveway.

Using my feet and the top of the can that was ripped off, I think I was able to pick up just about all of it, but you know what? This is not something that I will ever get used to doing at 6 a.m. in the morning or at any other time of the day or night.

It is enough already, and if we cannot permanently remove these felines, we will do the next best thing, which is to remove at least some of their food supply.

Dinnertime is over for these pests, and that starts NOW.

Classic Rant #1,329 (November 24, 2014): Old Goldies

And I thought Bill Cosby was having a bad few days ...

This was another strange weekend for myself and my family, pretty much on par with many of the weekends we have had this year.

In the middle of everything, our kitchen sink pretty much broke.

The faucet cracked after many years of use, and now, water spouts out of its side through the crack.

Hopefully, we will have a plumber come in and fix it ASAP.

Then, my computer broke down.

It would not boot up when I wanted to use it on Friday night.

I brought it into a repair shop, and hopefully, I will get it back tonight.

Right now, I am typing this on an old Mac, which is also ready to go, and my allergies are killing me, to boot, so you will have to pardon me if i make any mistakes in my typing here.

Anyway, between the faucet, the computer and my allergies, I was really fit to be tied this weekend. All of these "old goldies" just don't perform like they once did, but my family and I did see some old codgers this weekend who really are just about as good as they ever were, only showing some minor wear and tear.

On Saturday night, we saw the "Hot Autumn Nights" tour at Westbury Music Fair--NYCB Theater, or whatever it is called now--and we saw some acts that are oldies, but definitely still goodies.

The Buckinghams and the Grass Roots--with two original members and zero original members, respectively--opened the show, and they did their perfunctory hits.

Pretty good, brought back lots of memories, but they were true opening acts, paving the way for the headliners.

Peter Noone was one of them, and his "still in perpetual motion" act is as engaging as ever.

He makes a real connection with the audience, whether he is singing his massive catalog of hits as Herman of Herman's Hermits or joking with the audience.

Still youthful at 67, and his voice pretty much hasn't changed in 50 years, so when you hear "Mrs, Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," they sound as authentic and energetic as ever.

Tommy James followed, and what can you say about James that hasn't been already said?

His act isn't as high energy as Noone's was, letting the music pretty much speak for itself.

He can still perform, still sing, and pushing his book and future film, he can still rock in between.

Incredibly, James' music holds up very well more than 40 years after the fact, and that is why so many modern rockers cover his songs.

"Crimson and Clover" ... heck, even "I Think We're Alone Now" sounds fresh.

So, some oldies do hold up, even after years and years of use.

I just wish that my computer, kitchen sink and body could say the same, but hey, you really can't have it all, can you?

Rant #2,479: Nothing From Nothing

Today is Wednesday, August 26, and I guess it is going to be a fine day for all of us.

Me, I feel burnt out, and I have little to say today.

I just feel like I have little to say today.

I tried to think up a topic, but unfortunately, it was not working for me today.

Too much going on in my life to talk about now, but it has definitely put a damper on my thought processes.

Sorry about that, but it happens every once in a while.

There are a couple of birthdays today to note, including Branford Marsalis and Melissa McCarthy, but I really don't have a need to report about them beyond what I just told you.

I guess that I have the Summertime Blues, or these are the dog days of summer, and my brain simply isn't working right today to put something down on (electronic) paper.

It happens, what can I tell you?

Looking back on what I wrote here on past August 26s, last year, I wrote Rant #2,433, "Press" where I spoke about a personal war that I was having with Newsday, the Long Island newspaper.

No, it is not like today, where I have spoken about how twisted and biased this newspaper is, even with its usage of "Black" versus "white," but last year, I was enraged because our delivery person haphazardly delivered the paper wherever he wanted to deliver the newspaper, seemingly purposely throwing it in puddles or anywhere to make it more difficult for us to receive our newspaper.

I will tell you that after constant complaints, the deliverer finally acquiesced to our demand that he place the paper in the right place--in the driveway--and make it soil free--it is at least single wrapped now, and often double wrapped.

Case closed.

In Rant #1,743, dated August 26, 2016, in a piece called "Garbage," I spoke about just that, and how I hated to do the garbage, taking out it out of my house and putting it in a receptacle and out to the curb.

I likened my current chore to when I was a kid, when my family and I lived in Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, New York, and taking out the garbage was fun, because we simply dumped it down the incinerator chute, which was in the hall of every building.

Occasionally, they would be burning the garbage downstairs, and if you hit it just right, you would plunge your garbage down the chute and see the flames arise from the building's basement. We lived on our building's first floor, so it made it even more exciting to see the flames rise.

Compare that to what I have to do today, and well, there is no comparison.

In Rant #1,499, date August 26, 2015, in an entry entitled "Goodbye Wrangler Jane," I wrote about the untimely death of actress Melody Patterson, who played Wrangler Jane Angelica Thrift on the classic TV show "F Troop."

Her story of how she got cast on the show is Hollywood history. The very beautiful actress was only 15 years of age when she got the role, but somehow passed herself off as being 18.

Thus, every time she fawned after Captain Parmenter, so ably portrayed by Ken Berry, she was kind of doing something that in real life she shouldn't have been doing, and Berry's character usually played the part, unwittingly getting into hugs and lip smacks with her.

I could go even further back into the archives, but I think the three examples I gave demonstrate that August 26 isn't always a burned out day for me.

But due to some things that are going on now in my life that I won't tell you about just now, I simply feel bereft of any ideas for stories for today.

There is really nothing that I want to talk about, at least not here, not right now.

So there you have it. I have written many words about nothing much, and I actually have a column today.

What can I say?

I am wearing my Superman T-shirt today, and what did he say as he jumped into the skies during those late 1960s-early 1970s cartoons that were on CBS on Saturday mornings?

"Up, up and away!"

Classic Rant #1,328 (November 21, 2014): Be Cos I Care

OK, so what do you make of this whole Bill Cosby thing?

Just in case you have been out of commission the past few weeks and need a recap, allegations of rape have come up again against the entertainment icon, assaults that supposedly happened years and years ago.

Evidently, some two-bit comedian made some comments about the Cos in his act, the comments went viral, and all of a sudden, more than a dozen women came out of the woodwork, saying that the comedian had sex with them under some very mysterious circumstances.

If it was one woman, you could probably discount these allegations, especially since they supposedly took place years and years ago.

But more than a dozen women have claimed that he attacked them, had non-consensual sex, and some of them have evidently kept quiet until now.

Cosby has been an arbiter of righteousness, especially in the black community, since the mid-1960s. He has stood for everything that is good about being a celebrity. He has made millions, but given millions back to the community. He has chastised those who have abused their power as celebrities.

We have loved his work from seemingly the get-go, from "I Spy" to his own comedy shows, to his standup routines to his comedy albums.

I know I certainly did. I have been a fan of his for decades. His comedy albums sit in a very good place in my record collection. I have enjoyed his TV shows, and yes, he has made me laugh--and think--since I was a kid.

But things have changed.

Now, he is being taken down bit by bit by bit by women who alleged that he attacked them eons ago.

Due to the hub bub, he has lost current opportunities, such as with NBC and NetFlix, and his shows have been removed from the air.

This is not the first time that the Cos has been accused of doing the nasty in the wrong places. Evidently, he settled one suit that was lodged against him in a civil case, and then there was the more recent case where he was led to believe that he fathered a young girl with a previous paramour, only to later find out that he was not the actual physical father of the young lady.

So, yes, this arbiter of everything good has, in fact, been a bit bad during the past 50 years, all of which time he was married. He has had affairs, but were these latest strikes against him of the consensual nature or not?

Whatever the case, why did these women take upwards of more than 40 years to claim that Cosby assaulted them? Why are they ganging up on him now?

Yes, the statute of limitations has clearly run out on these cases. Evidently, the comic has been a good guy for the past 20 years or so.

But I bet that there is something else going on here, something that nobody could even fathom could be happening until now.

Cosby is worth many, many millions of dollars. During his heyday, he was probably one of the richest men in the country.

I will bet that he had been paying some of these ladies off for years to keep their mouths closed, and others he didn't pay a cent to at all.

He probably ceased these payments at some point in recent time, or the payments were made in a lump sum and were made years ago, and those that were getting them or got them were upset, and those that weren't probably found out that they were missing a great payday all of these years.

I believe, that is why the initial women struck back at him, and that is why the others joined the line later on.

Sure, we now can figure that the comedian has been talking out of two sides of his mouth the past 50 years, on one side preaching goodness, the other side being something of a predator.

"Do as I say, not as I do," has probably been his maxim.

But there is fault on the other side too.

Why, in heaven's name, has it taken these women so long to come forward? Sure, money can quiet the tongue, but one woman was supposedly attacked in 1969, and others in the 1980s, the ones who probably weren't paid for their silence.

Why has it taken them so long, when really nothing can be done about it now?

And, why and how did these women put themselves in a position to have this done to them?

These are just my impressions of the whole thing, but the sad thing is that Cosby is being made guilty of all of these wrongdoings--I thought in this country, you were innocent until proven guilty.

But the Internet has changed things, and the onus is on him to prove that he didn't do these dastardly deeds.

His silence only make matters worse.

He should come clean, admit that yes, all these years of goodness were spotted with incidents of not so much goodness, or at least missteps, and move on from this.

But unfortunately, he probably cannot do this, because his lawyers most assuredly have told him to shut up, it will all go away in time.

I don't think that Cosby is the American version of Jimmy Saville--the British music celebrity who upon his death, it came out that he had raped perhaps thousands of young men over the years--but I do think that Cosby has had a dark past that we haven't heard that much of until now.

The Jello is wobbly, for sure ...

Whether he did all these things or not, his reputation has been completely destroyed, and if he is innocent, that is just plain wrong.

If he is guilty, these women should have come out years and years ago and told their story.

Not now.

And that makes them as guilty as he supposedly is.

Rant #2,478: Play the Game

The coronavirus has greatly impacted every facet of our lives.

Whether we have gotten it or not, it has impacted everything, and I do mean everything.

If you are two years old or 92 years old, it has put a crimp in your life.

It has impacted the serious things we do--like work--and the fun things we do--like play sports.

Look what has happened to Major League Baseball.

No matter what precautions have been taken, players and those affiliated with the teams have gotten the disease, and it has shut down teams for days.

Just this past weekend, tow members of the New York Mets' entourage--one player and another person with the team--tested positive for the disease, and an entire series with the New York Yankees was postponed.

On another level, this scourge not only threatens the school year, but also threatens school athletics, including the fall season.

Whether schools will open and have kids in the classes or not is another issue, and is a much bigger issue than whether the fall sports season will happen.

Several school districts around the country have opened for classes, and are going ahead with school athletics as part of a rounded school year.

Other districts are waiting for word about how classes will be held, if they will be held, and how remote learning might fit into the equation.

Again, school athletics really means nothing when maybe 10 percent of the students in a school participate, but it is still an important facet of students' lives.

New York's Governor Cuomo just gave the go-ahead to some high school sports to be played during the fall season, including soccer and tennis.

But no football right now, which means that even down the line, there probably won't be basketball played, wither, unless something miraculous happens.

And yes, student athletes receive scholarships for tennis and soccer and some other of the "permitted" sports, but football and basketball are "king" when it comes to scholarships and interest.

Those two sports are also where the money is, whether we like it or not, and without these two sports in action, student athletes looking for scholarships are going to have to go another route to gain those scholarships.

Some people would tell these teens to "enter the real world, nothing is given to you in the real world on a silver platter," and I might even do that too, but the whole "game" of recruiting and the granting of these scholarships has been thrown on its ear by this scourge we are battling.

But it is really a slippery slope, kind of putting the cart before the horse.

First, let's concentrate on the schools, because let's be honest about it: 100 percent of students go to school, while only 10 percent or so (my estimation) play high school athletics.

Let's get the school thing straight first, because if the schools don't even know how they are going to proceed this fall semester, how can we even give an iota of worry about school athletics?

Get the schools straight first, and then move onto school athletics.

I saw a couple of high school coaches interviewed, and they were generally overjoyed at the governor's message about some school athletics.

But to a coach, these coaches are from school districts on Long Island that have no idea, at this late date, how they are going to handle their primary duty, which is education.

Will they have full classes, split schedules, some mix between in-school learning and remote, at home learning?

How can you even think of athletics when these issues haven't been sorted out yet?

New York City is thinking about having outdoor classes, one of the most insipidly stupid ideas I have ever heard.

It puts an extra burden on teachers, who now have to worry about kids deciding to wander off under their watch, and even beyond that, what happens when summer turns into fall and then turns into winter? Are you going to have classes outside in the middle of a snowstorm?

School athletics are important, but education is what the schools are here to do.

Focus on how schooling is going to be handled, and then think about school athletics.

We must stop putting the cart before the horse, and education of our children must be paramount.

Without proper secondary education, high school sports mean NOTHING.

Classic Rant #1,327 (November 20, 2014): ? Part 2

I posted this yesterday on Facebook, and I received some valid feedback about this whole business I spoke about revolving around my liability for my car accident.

This post basically followed up on what I told you yesterday, so I am going to run it here, too.

Maybe you have something else to say about it?

Personally, I can accept it, but boy, what an explanation!

"Anyone in the insurance industry that can read this? Today in my blog,  I speak about my May 10 auto accident, where a young driver shot out of a side street, never stopping at the Stop sign, and T-boned my car, totaling it. The car turned over on its roof, and ended up on the sidewalk.

Anyway, we are lucky that my family and I came out of this unhurt.

However, the other insurance company claimed that I was liable for a portion of the accident, and an arbitrator ruled yesterday that I was liable for 15 percent of the accident.

I just called my insurance company, and while they are still listing me as zero percent at fault for the accident, the reason that I am 15 percent liable for the accident--and will, thus, only get back 85 percent of my deductible--is that they attribute that I had a failure to notice my locale properly, not realizing that it was an "accident situation" before the actual accident occurred.

They were also unable to determine if speed was a factor in my loss.

It was starting to rain. I had my lights on and my wipers on. Everyone was in their seat belt in the car.

What more could I do to "notice my locale properly" and "realize that it was an 'accident situation' before the actual accident occurred?"

Was I supposed to pull over to the side of road, and wait until the rain ended?

This proves to me that the insurance industry is nothing but vultures. The whole thing stinks. I was the one who was hit because a kid went through a Stop sign at an accelerated rate and never saw my car. My car was totaled, and they don't know if speed was a factor?

Like the adjuster told me several months ago, "You are going to be partially to blame because you were where you were at the point of contact."

Ludicrous, but if somebody in the industry, or outside the industry, has another take on this, I am all ears (and eyes).

So basically what I was told that since I was where I was at the point of contact, I am at least partially at fault for the accident.

Have you ever heard such hooey in all of your life?

Even the woman at my insurance company who told me about this agreed with me.

An arbitrator made the ruling so I have no recourse, but boy, in what other field would an explanation like that be valid?

I don't pretend to understand the insurance industry, but if this is an example of the parameters that they use, we are literally all sunk before we even turn the key and start the car.

At least my insurance company believes me, and my rates will not rise due to the accident.

But let me tell you, my opinion of the insurance industry has just been crafted due to this ridiculousness, and it will take a lot for me to change my mind about this industry.

Rant #2,477: Whatcha Gonna Do

My son had his birthday weekend, and I hope that it soothed him a little bit.

He has been through a lot during these past months, seemingly on permanent furlough from his work, not being able to participate in his social/sports activities, and seeing his grandfather being so sick.

He is a sensitive person, but he usually has a bit of a poker face when it comes to all of this.

So perhaps this weekend made him feel better about himself, even for the moment.

It all began on Saturday, when we finally got back to the bowling alley to roll a couple of games.

We went there just when the alley opened, and we got in and got our lane just about right away.

He bowled four games, and while the results were not spectacular, I kind of liken it to his own personal "spring training," where he gets into bowling shape to prepare for the real thing ...

And the "real thing" is happening, as this weekend, we found out that his bowling league is going to start up again in about a month, so not able will he be able to participate in a sport that he likes, but he will see people he has not seen in seven months or so, his peers who are basically in the same boat that he is in.

That evening, we watched the first of two major WWE wrestling events scheduled for this weekend, NXT Takeover, and while i fell asleep for a good hour in the middle of the show, my son loved it, so my falling asleep wasn't even part of the equation for him; if hew liked it, it was a success.

Sunday was the big day, for more reasons than he could have ever imagined.

Not only was it his actual birthday, but we had a surprise for him that was many weeks in the making.

He received his presents from my wife and I and from his grandparents--another one is in the mail and will be coming any day now--and we had promised him that he could pick his favorite restaurant, and that we would order in food for him.

And, of course, what is a birthday without a cake, and we got him something special, ice cream cupcakes, to celebrate the occasion.

What he did not know was that something else was going to happen that day to celebrate the day.

Several weeks ago, I contacted the Police Athletic League, the organization that oversees his bowling and basketball leagues and dozens of other programs for youngsters and special needs people, to ask them if they could help us organize a car parade to celebrate his birthday.

I told them of all the circumstances our son was under, and that he really needed some cheering up, and they thought it was a great idea and jumped right on it, putting out the necessary activities to make this thing a go.

And at about 1 p.m. yesterday, we herded him outside, didn't tell him anything, and led by a police car from the local precinct, a caravan of about 10 or 15 cars--including one driven by his sister--made their way to our house, sporting placards celebrating our son's birthday.

I think he was a little dumbfounded at first, but as the cars went by the house, he really got into it, waving on each car while staying socially distanced from them.

Afterwards, he was presented with a new bowling bag by a parent and one of his fellow bowlers, and I know that he felt really good after that, as he told us that the parade was "fun," while he kissed both my wife and I, thanking us for setting something like this up for him.

One problem: I started to record the parade with my phone, and I somehow must have grazed into the "stop" button, so while I thought I was recording all of this, I got all of seven seconds of the parade, so we have no video of it.

But my son has the memory of it that will last a lifetime, and that is what counts.

We later ordered in our food from a local eatery, and then it was time for the second major WWE event of the weekend, WWE Summerslam, which is normally one of their biggest events of the year, and even this year, it was a huge event, with no fans in the stands but all the usual hoopla.

I managed to watch the entire show, to the glee of my son.

Don't ask me how i did it, but I did it.

But that wasn't the end of the day, as we got another surprise--even a surprise to me--just as the WWE show began.

As I was out picking up our food and later doing some other things, I left my cell phone in my bedroom and didn't have it on me when i got a call from a parent who could not be part of the parade.

The parent said they had wanted to participate, but could not for one reason or another.

The parent said that he wanted to come over and deliver a gift to my son, and I said that was fine, but the parent said he would try to get over to our house, I told him where we were, and that was that.

Some time passed, and I figured that they simply could not make it ... until the beginning of the WWE show, when I thought I heard something happening outside, ran to the window, and saw that the parent had parked his car in the driveway.

My son and I went to the door, and met up with two boys--twins--that he knows and has been bowling with for years.

They spoke with my son for a few minutes, invited him to be on their team this coming season, and handed him a birthday card.

We thanked them for coming, said that we would see them in a few weeks when the league started up, and we went upstairs to continue to watch the WWE show.

I asked my son if there was anything in the card, and there was: a $50 gift card.

We were so pleased, and astonished, by this act of generosity. I texted the parent and told him and the boys "Thanks."

I was floored, I really was.

I honestly don't know if I was more impressed with the bit of chit chat the brothers had with my son or the gift, but being human, the mix of the two really was incredible.

We watched the rest of the WWE show, and when it was over, I pretty much passed out.

So the weekend went well--very well--for my son, and I hope that it proved that all is not lost, even in this horrible time that we live in.

There is always something good happening maybe not to you, but around you, and humanity does exist.

Sometimes you have to look for it, but it is there.

I want to thank the PAL for all they did to set this thing up, I want to thank all the participants, and I want to thank my son for being the very best son a mom and dad could ever have.

We saw our son smile, and I mean really smile, yesterday.

That was worth the world to us.

Classic Rant #1,326 (November 19, 2014): ?

Yes, that is the title of today's Rant.

I know no other way to put this better, so the question mark it is.

I received a call at my home yesterday while I was at work that pretty much startled me, and I need an explanation, which I hope to get today.

My May 10, 2014 car accident--where a young driver went through a stop sign on a rain drenched road at such force that when he hit my car, it tumbled over once, and its occupants are only alive because we were wearing our seat belts--has finally been closed.

We were found to have been 15 percent liable for the accident, which means I will get 85 percent of my deductible back.

That is all fine and good, but my question is the following: based on what happened, how am I 15 percent liable for the accident?

Heck, how am I even a scintilla of a percent liable?

I will call my insurance company today, to find out the actual reason(s), but to say I am perturbed is putting it mildly.

Right now, to me at least, this case proves that all insurance companies are crooks, because let me tell you, if it wasn't for my driving, my wife, my son and I would have been killed.

We had witnesses saying that the kid did not stop at the stop sign when he pulled out of his street. He T-boned my car, and being that this is in a residential area, we are just so lucky that nobody was on the sidewalk where we ended up.

Yes, he hit us with such force that that is where the car stopped, rolled over, after he hit us.

After seeing him for a split second, I did what I could to avoid contact, but it was to no avail. Perhaps doing this actually saved us from greater harm--we will never know, but I do believe that it did.

Let me tell you, the other driver's company has been a horror on this case from the get go.

They have given us nothing but trouble, and for this to take more than six months to resolve ... well, I thought that this was pretty much a cut and dry case.

But you know what? In the back of my mind, I kind of knew that there is no such thing as a cut and dry case when it comes to auto accidents.

The adjuster who worked on my case told me flat out that I would probably get some liability in the case.

He told me that just by being there, I was liable, because if I wasn't where I was at that exact moment, I would not have gotten hit.

Yes, that's right. I was where I was--driving along, minding my own business, with my lights and windshield wipers on--and that constitutes liability in the car insurance area.

If you can explain that to me, you must be a heckuva lot smarter than I am.

The guy was speeding, he never saw me, and BANG!, he hit me.

I did not hit him, he hit me.

I guess I should be happy that we came out of this alive. Lots of people in similar circumstances don't.

We just had some minor scratches, which have healed.

However, the mental scratches haven't healed so quickly, and probably won't for a long time.

I still think of that crash all the time, and while it is in the history books as far as I am concerned, it still lives on in me.

It also forced me to buy another car, which I am reminded of each month when I get the bill.

I had a premonition that this wasn't going to be easy, just a few minutes after what happened happened.

I was put on a gurney, ready to be transported to a nearby hospital.

I was cognizant, awake, and I guess everything hit me at that moment, a few minutes after I physically was hit.

I said to the EMT, "I'm screwed."

You know, I was right.

Rant #2,476: Good Day Sunshine

It is finally Friday.

Or is it Friday finally?

Whatever the case, it is the last day of the work week.

Or is it the final weekday of the week?

Whatever the case, it is Friday, and in my family, it leads up to a very big weekend, a respite for everything that has been going on for a seemingly interminable time.

On Sunday, August 23, it is my son's birthday, and it is a BIG one, as he turns 25 years old on this day.

I cannot believe it. I remember then he was born, and I could pick him up with one hand.

Now he is a good looking, strapping 25 year old, full of life, full of vim and vigor ...

But with no place to spit it all out.

Things are looking up though.

As I mentioned in yesterday's Rant, bowling centers are opening in New York State this week, and that means the sport that he most loves to play will be available to him once again.

And yesterday, we received information that his bowling league--his main source of social interacton--will be starting its season on September 19, so he will have something to look forward to after the season ended abruptly nearly seven months ago.

Maybe he will go back to work in due time ... that remains the great unknown.

But he turns 25 on Sunday, so I decided to look back to another memorable birthday, his 18th, and here is an edited version of what I wrote in Rant #1,027, dated August 23, 2013:

"Today is my son's birthday.

But it's not just any birthday.

Today he is 18 years of age.

In this society, he is now considered a man, with all the responsibilities that go along with being an adult.

He can legally smoke, drink, vote, and go to war.

So he has many responsibilities now, although I seriously doubt that he will do any of those things I named above, except to vote (I hope).

I remember the day he was born.

My wife, who I must say really looked great when she was pregnant, was just about ready to go, but I almost had to force her to go to the hospital.

We got there, and they determined that she wasn't ready just yet, and we had to walk around to get her so.

We did, the doctor proclaimed that he was going on vacation so "this baby will be born today," since he was a couple of days late in making his debut.

And he was born.

And he was so, so tiny, I think he was even smaller than my daughter was when she was born seven years earlier.

Anyway, he has grown up, and now he is a man.

He just completed his first paying job this year, working in a local camp as a video game expert, where he played video games with the campers.

I told him that that job might be the best job he ever had, doing something all day that he loved. It was like getting paid to pursue your hobby.

Since my son is a special ed kid, and has a learning disability, this is his last year of formal schooling.

He will be looking for work once he gets out of school, and I know it will be difficult, but my wife and I are convinced that he will succeed.

We wish him the very best. He is somewhat immature--I think most kids are today, mainly because of their reliance on the Internet for social activity--and he has that disability, which does hinder him in many ways.

But he is going to make it.

Wow, 18 years old.

I can't believe it.

My wife and I are very, very proud of him, and look forward to his future accomplishments."

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

We continue to be proud of him and proud of his accomplishments.

He has been having them seemingly since he came into this world.

Do you know that he was on the cover of a magazine when he was like three years old--from the back with another child, but here is that cover:

He has been piling up accomplishments since he was as little as he was then.

And seven years removed from his 18th birthday, he continues to have numerous challenges to address and to hurdle ... and we are convinced that based on past experience, he will do just that.

This is going to be a special weekend, and I should have plenty to tell you about it on Monday, so speak to you again that day, and you, yourselves, have a great weekend.

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

Classic Rant #1,325 (November 18, 2014): Car-Niversary

I was relieved of my duties of being a potential juror yesterday.

I sat for hours, and then finally, they called about 30 of us into a room, and dismissed us.

Now I don't have to worry about this for six years, but on the federal court level, I could be called next year.

Something not to look forward to.

Anyway, today is an anniversary of sorts for me.

Forty years ago today, I received my actual driver's license in the mail.

I was 17, and as ready to drive as anyone possibly could be.

At that time, in New York State, you could get your learner's permit at 15, so in 1972, just a few weeks after I became that age, I took the written test, I think a got one or two wrong, but that was enough for me to get my learner's permit.

Every weekend, I would go out with my father to a desolate parking lot, and we would go through the various driving scenarios with the car that would be mine when I got my permanent license, my dad's old yellow Impala cab.

It was beat up, had a big dent in its side, but that was my first car, and I never painted it. I like it yellow.

Anyway, I also took driver's ed in school one summer, where my instructor was none other than actor Alec Baldwin's father.

Anyway, once it came time, I took my actual road test.

It went very well, as I recall.

I did exactly what I was supposed to do, and I remember that the officer in the car told me to park the car, parallel park it.

I started to do that, and in the middle of the action, when I was just about halfway done, he said to me, "OK, that's enought, you passed the test," and I brought him back to the origination point--and that was that.

Then, a few weeks later, the actual license came. I was overjoyed.

Just to get a feel for what I now had the power to do, I went with my mother on my first drive as a real, New York State driver--to our local bowling alley.

Every Saturday, I bowled in a league, and rather than ride my bike there--as I had done for the prior couple of years--I could now drive there, so that was a good place to go on my first drive.

We went there, and as I was coming home--maybe a block away--a stray dog darted in front of my car.

I slammed on the brakes, and I am sure my mom and I almost went through the windshield, as this was prior to the law where you had to wear seat belts while driving.

From that moment on, I vowed that if that situation ever happened again, it would be the animal, not me, who would get it.

Anyway, 40 years is 40 years. I have had numerous cars, I have had some accidents, I have traveled thousands and thousands of miles--to school, to work, to vacation spots, on emergencies, on pleasure driving, driving right after being married, bringing home my kids after they were born, etc.

It has been fun.

I have had my life flash before my eyes due to a horrific accident, I have had great times in the car too.

I have even helped teach my daughter to drive.

My son is another case. Due to his disability, right now, he cannot drive, but one day in the future, I am hoping that he will be able to have the same pleasure that I have had, behind the wheel of his own car.

We shall see.

But anyway, I now can say that I have 40 years of driving under my belt.

I guess I have a right to congratulate myself for this accomplishment, and looking ahead, I hope I have at least 40 more years of driving to celebrate.

Rant #2,475: Keep the Ball Rolling

Bowling is back in New York State, and it couldn't come at a better time.

After around six months of strikes and spares abstinence, bowling centers were given a pardon this week by Governor Cuomo, and bowlers were able to go to their local lanes starting this past Monday, with many centers opening later n the week.

I can't wait to go back and bowl a game--even though I have not bowled at all for at least 15 years or so.

My son is a bowler. He has an average in the 120s, and it is the one sport that he has loved to play since he was a little kid.

More importantly, through the league that he bowls in, it is essentially his only source for social interplay with people his own age, young men and women with varying levels of disabilities.

The league he is in is ultra-competitive, and some of the young men and women there are actually excellent bowlers, regularly rolling in the 200s.

The kibosh was put on my son's league way back in February, when the pandemic hit, and bowling establishments have been waiting for a reprieve, and they got it this week.

Of course, things will be different in the alleys now that they can be open.

Every other lane will be used to reinforce social distancing, and equipment that is used from the alley--namely balls and shoes--will be sanitized after each use.

Temperature checks will be taken at the door, and your party cannot socialize with other parties while bowling.

Some of the food areas in the alley will be in use--such as the snack bar--but there will be various rules and regulations governing the ordering and eating of food on the lanes.

And as far as I know, all bars within the bowling establishments will be shuttered, again to reinforce social distancing.

At some alleys, you will have to make an online appointment to bowl, while at others, you can just walk in and bowl whenever you want.

But i do believe that every alley has installed both a cashless payment system and barriers between the lanes.

Why did it take so long for bowling alleys to get the OK to open?

They were somehow lumped together with gyms and movie theaters, and while I can see the connection to a certain extent, I can't see why it took this long for them to get the "Go" sign.

Bowling is one of the most socially active of all the sports. Whether playing one on one or as part of a team, bowlers fraternize with others probably more than any other athletic participants, going from lane to lane, eating, having a beer, needling others ... and that is part of what the sport so special.

Gyms and movie theaters are also social places, in a different way, so they all were lumped together as one entity. But this week, the governor loosened the restrictions of bowling alleys and gyms, but in New York State, you still cannot go out to a theater to watch a movie.

Back to the lanes ...

The bowling alleys now being open gives me hope that the bowling leagues will begin again in the fall. My son needs the league, not just for the bowling, but for the social interaction.

My son is very quiet, doesn't speak much, but when he sees his fellow bowlers, he will be in such a better place than he is in now. I mean, he hasn't seen these peers for going on six months right now, and by the time the league starts, if it does, it will be going on eight months.

It will also give us something else to do outside of the house, a fun athletic pursuit that we can do together.

I haven't bowled in years, and I went into our basement to find my bowling bag, which contains my ball--nearly 50 years old, from the early 1970s--and my shoes.

We must have thrown out both the bag and the shoes, but I found my ball, all dust covered and really old looking, but I put my fingers in it--I have gained weight since I was a regular bowler--and it fit perfectly. So although my stomach expanded during the past nearly 50 years, my fingers did not.

I am going to try and bowl and few games with my son sometime soon. There are so many things swirling around our house right now that I can't say when we will get to our local lanes.

But we will get there sooner rather than later, I hope, and I really don't care how I do; I care about the smile on my son's face when he gets to the lane and throws that first ball.

That will be better than bowling a 300 game for me, and especially for him.