Rant #2,645: If

I am still busy as a bee over here.
 
I have at least one more story to do in my remote job, and I saved the best (worst) for last.
 
I got a little blindsided yesterday, because I was given an extra story to put together, and once again, I sat for hours in front of my computer writing it.
 
All I want is to have a day to loll around, but that day likely won’t be today.
 
What’s a poor boy to do?
 
Just put my nose to the grindstone and get it done.
 
I feel that I have aged 10 years this week, but in actuality, it was just one year, but I am burnt out for sure.
 
But let me try to reignite the flames with you here by looking back to 50 years ago, to what we were listening to on the radio … the music, that is.
 
Sure, there were strong messages in the music back then, but we didn’t have to shudder when a song came on the radio … there was no vulgarity to deal with, nothing was untoward, and truly, the music was the message.
 
Not to editorialize here—which I am going to do anyway—but I know that there is some controversy this year with the high-falutin’ Billboard Music Awards.
 
They have banned some popular country crooner who is up for several awards because he had the audacity to say the “N” word, so he wasn’t invited and he was banned from the show—even if he wins.
 
Funny, that very N-word is prevalent in much of the rap music that is popular today, as is every four-letter word in the book, and every word that you would get slapped in the face if you said to any woman in the past.
 
But this white guy has the nerve to say the “N” word … well, heavens to Betsy, do I see a clear double standard here?
 
Today’s supposed “music” allows every sort of misogynistic mention, but the poor white guy slips and he is banned?
 
And it is not like he never apologized for using the same word that can be heard on so many rap songs, but I guess being the wrong color, at the wrong time, has doomed him to a musical life in purgatory.
 
God, please get me to May 1, 1971 in a hurry!
 
That year, like during most of the early 1970s, there were plenty of one-hot wonders on the chart, and residing at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week was just such an act—Daddy Dewdrop with “Chick-A-Boom.”
 
The Temptations scored at number nine with the classic “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), which demonstrated how strong Motown was into the early 1970s. This was a former number one hit for them a few weeks before.
 
The Beatles were no more by this time, and individual members were putting out very interesting music to fill that large gap. Paul McCartney registered with the two-sided hit “Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why,” which reached number eight on the chart this week.
 
The Bells was a Canadian act that placed a few singles on the chart but had really only one hit, and “Stay Awhile” hit number seven this week.
 
At number six was “If” by Bread, an act led by David Gates, who had recorded under a number of names, without much success, during the previous several years but had written some popular songs for a variety of acts, including “Saturday’s Child,” the oft-recorded song that was best known as a tune on the Monkees’ debut multi-platinum LP.
 
And talking about the Monkees, their third-party influence on this week’s chart could also be found in the number five song on the chart this week, “I Am … I Said” by Neil Diamond, who wrote some of the Pre-Fab Four’s biggest hits including “I’m a Believer,” and who ventured out on his own because of his success with them.
 
Perhaps the greatest of all Motown hits was in the fourth position this week, Marvin Gaye’s topical “What’s Going On.” Ironically, this great tune never hit the top spot on the chart, settling for a number two position for a few weeks prior to this one.
 
Another Motown hit came in at number three this week, just another great single form possibly the hottest of all recording acts during this period. The Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” occupied that spot on the chart, and this was the original version of the song, which has since been covered by numerous other artists.
 
Another certifiable one-hit wonder came in at number two this week, with Ocean’s religiously-themed “Put Your Hand In the Hand” tapping into the “Jesus Freak” vibe of the period.
 
And the number one song on the chart this week was—
 
“Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, which was not only number one this week, but was the top song on the chart for a total of six weeks, making it not only one of the top songs of the 1970s, but one of the top songs ever on the Billboard Hot 100.
 
And the Monkees; vibe was there with Three Dog Night, as the story goes that Peter, Micky, Mike and Davy had helped the then-fledgling act to get going inn the late 1960s, an act that featured Danny Hutton among its lead singers, another fledgling singer who had tried out for the Monkees a couple of years prior to hitting it big with Three Dog Night.
 
The highest debut single on this week’s chart was “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones, which came in at number 40 and within a few weeks, would supplant “Joy to the World” as the number one song in the country.
 
The biggest mover on this week’s chart, or the song that moved up the most places last week to this week, was “Don’t Knock My Love” by Wilson Pickett. This song jumped 35 spots, from number 96 the prior week to number 61 this week. It ended up being one of the singer’s most popular hits, getting up to number 13 and earning him a gold record.
 
So there you have it, the top songs of the week of May 1, 1971, certainly a different time in our lives, and certainly a period where the music we listened to was more than simple sound bytes filled with gutter language and other vulgarities.
 
Now, let me get back to the grindstone, and I will speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend … and I will certainly exclaim “Joy to the World!” with the exclamation point, when I have finally finished what I am doing, and can just relax a little bit.
 
Take a deep breath and exhale … . 

Rant #2,644: Smoke On the Water

I am now 64 years of age.
 
Bully for me.
 
And as the cake and the gifts came my way, what did I do to celebrate my 64th birthday?
 
Work. That is what I did. Work. And nothing else.
 
That’s right, I sat in front of my computer the entire day and worked.
 
Unbeknownst to me, the company I do my remote job for had scheduled several industry meetings this week, and I had to cover them.
 
I was told at the last minute to do this, and right at this moment, I am part way through the third meeting, with still another one to go.
 
The meetings are virtual, broadcast through WebEx, and I have to tell you, they are long—yesterday’s was nearly three hours in length—and they are tedious.
 
I record them all through an app on my tablet computer, and then I have to transcribe them, which if you have ever done this, you know is a long and tedious process.
 
I hated doing these things when I was working full time but it made the day move quickly and once the end=of-the-day work bell struck, I was done for the day and could go home and relax.
 
Working from home, there really is no work bell, but I do set a limit for this—I stop at 8 p.m. each day, so I am working something like 12 hours a day on this stuff.
 
So yes, on my birthday, this is what I did, this is how I celebrated my special day.
 
Not the optimum way to use my time on that special day, but I have been covering these things off and on since I got this job, but except for the company’s  major convention in October, these have been one-shot things here and there, and not one after the other in one week.
 
In fact, there is another one of these things today, but I simply cannot cover it for them.
 
I have too many things to do outside the house today, and I still have these two conferences to get to them, so I am really bogged down.
 
And yes, I have to admit, I have thought about chucking the whole thing, just retiring and doing nothing and enjoying the retired life I was forced into, but right now, that is a no go.

And honestly, I was thinking about that way before this week from hell came to be.
 
My wife is set to retire in November of this year, so I might decide then whether I have stretched myself enough, and to just live the retired life fully.
 
I just don’t know now what I should do, but let me see what my mindset is a few months down the road.
 
The truth is that I don’t dislike this job when I am not burdened by it, but this week, I am, and it came at precisely the wrong time for me.
 
Honestly, I knew about the conference I had to cover yesterday a few days before, so I kind of knew my birthday was going to be a wash this year.
 
But I had no idea about the other ones. If it was just the one, I would just grin and bear it, but pile on the others, and well, I can only handle so much at a time.
 
And today, I really can’t handle too much, so let’s see where the day takes me.
 
Right now, I have to tell you, I am very burnt out, barely getting this Rant out to you today.
 
These things I am covering are pretty intense, people speak very quickly, and it is sometimes hard to follow what they are saying.
 
But I am doing the best I can, but yes, I do question myself.
 
I like the money I am getting from this job, not that it is a lot, but it is like getting a double Social Security payment each month, 

I really respect the fact that they sought me out for this job when nobody wanted me, and I have a great allegiance to them for giving me a chance to show my worth at my lowest hour.

Believe me, I am greatly appreciative of that, I really am.
 
But now, I am thinking that perhaps I should just RETIRE, just collect my Social Security and live the retired life, where the living is supposedly easy.

It is something I have been thinking about anyway.
 
But when I am at the grindstone doing this, real retirement is the furthest thing from my mind.
 
As I said yesterday, I do, in fact, feel good, and this is not a ”sour grapes” thing—I know it sure sounds like one—it is just a personal thing.
 
So in a few months, I might just hang it all up for good, and join my wife in full retirement.

I will never stop writing, but doing it for pay like this ... I might be at the end of the line.
 
But for now, let me get back to what I am doing, because if I don’t get back to it, I will be fully retired—FIRED!—from this job.
 
And that won’t sit well with anyone, not me, that’s for sure. 

Rant #2,643: When I'm 64

Today is my big day, the day I look forward to all year, the day where I am the center of attention in my family, whether I want to be or not.
 
Today is my birthday.
 
I really can’t believe that I have hit the big 6-4, but I have, and I hit it today.
 
It doesn’t seem possible that I am that age, but I am.
 
I still am too young to collect Medicare, but here I am, 64 years of age, and I have to tell you, like James Brown once screeched, “I feel good!”
 
Sure, I have the usual aches and pains related to age, but honestly, I feel great! Knock on wood, as they say.
 
I really cannot complain, and what a difference a year makes.
 
Last year at this time, I celebrated my birthday under such a dark cloud, that of complete and total uncertainty about my job status and my future.
 
We were just settling in, if that is what you want to call it, into our pandemic life, and things were so up in the air that while I celebrated a birthday last year, it really was almost a “smoke and mirrors" birthday, because I—and we as a culture—was in such a sad state that how could one fully celebrate such an occasion?
 
We are still in a pandemic, but things are looking up. I am fully retired, or semi-retired if that is what you want to call it, but maybe this pandemic is running its course, and maybe things are looking up.
 
Heck, maybe it isn’t a pandemic at all, but that is another story for another time.
 
Today is my birthday, and that is most important to me today.
 
April 28 is a great day, and I share my birthday with a number of others, some who have become celebrated, others who are infamous, to day the least.
 
I looked up some famous people who share my birthday—not my year of birth—and I came up with a very interesting list.
 
Here are some other people you might know who also have their birthday on April 28:
 
Harper Lee (1926), the reclusive writer, whose best known work is “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
 
Carolyn Jones (1930), movie and TV actress who played Morticia on “The Addams Family” TV show.
 
Pedro Ramos (1935), the Cuban baseball player, who played for numerous teams during his career, including the New York Yankees. (He was the only baseball player at the time who had his birthday on that day—or at least the only one I knew about, so I became an immediate fan of his.)
 
Saddam Hussein (1937), the infamous Iraqi general who ruled with an iron hand and whose regime was responsible for thousands of deaths of his own people.
 
Ann-Margret (1941), actress, singer, dancer, and all-around star, certainly one of the world’s most beautiful women, and one of my first crushes although I didn’t know it (see “Bye Bye Birdie").
 
Jay Leno (1950), comedian, actor  and former host of “The Tonight Show.”
 
Elena Kagan (1960), lawyer and justice of the Supreme Court.
 
Barry Larkin (1964), one of the top baseball players of his time with the Cincinnati Reds and a Hall of Famer.
 
Bridget Moynahan (1971), beautiful actress who is one of the stars of the long-running TV show “Blue Bloods.”
 
There are others, but these people come to mind, so I guess you can say that I am in good company in sharing my birthday with some very interesting people, both good and bad.
 
My family and I ordered in from a restaurant this weekend, so I had my birthday meal a few days earlier. It was just too difficult to have it on the actual day, so Saturday was easier for all of us.
 
I will have a cake later today, and I will blow out my candle(s), and I will make my birthday wish.
 
I will get some gifts, and I will really appreciate them.
 
And I will thank everyone for wishing me “happy birthday.”
 
“When I’m 64” … well, that time is now, and like I said before—
 
“I FEEL GOOD!” 

Rant #2,642: Roll With the Flow

I’m back!
 
Yesterday was a bit of a tough day in the morning, and tomorrow should be likewise, but sometimes you just have to roll with the flow, and tomorrow, I will be able to rant and rant and rant some more.
 
Yesterday was just a little impossible, and that is why I was not able to do what I love to do on Monday morning.
 
So today is April 27, the weather is getting warmer, and the living supposedly will be easier now that a lot of restrictions are being lifted all around us.
 
Yesterday morning, after the major task I had to do was completed, I decided to bring in two bags of cans and bottles that need to be recycled, so I went to my local supermarket to do that.
 
The recycling area in this particular supermarket is enclosed, with little or no ventilation, as it always smells like, well, beer and soda every time you go in there to use the machines.
 
When I arrived, there was no one there, so I went about getting rid of all of my bottles and cans, and things were going pretty smoothly, as the machine I was using was working pretty well.
 
When I was about 90 percent done, a fellow came in with a shopping cart full of cans and bottles—he must have had about 1,000 of them in that cart.
 
The sign on the door says that you can only recycle I believe 140 cans and bottles at a time, and this guy had seven times that amount in his cart.
 
I told him that he could not recycle all of those things at one sitting, and I also told him to put on a mask, because he wasn’t wearing one. It was around his neck, but not on his face.
 
He put on the mask, but he continued to put one bottle in the machine he was using after another, as if I hadn’t said a thing to him.
 
Then about two minutes later, another person came into the recycling area. He had a bag full of cans to get rid of, but he had no mask on, and it was nowhere in sight.
 
I told him to put on a mask. He started to get irritable, yelling at me in the filthiest of language that I am not going to repeat here, and he actually came up to me and cocked his arm, ready to punch me in the mouth.
 
I looked at the guy, and almost had to laugh.
 
He was probably in his late 70s or early 80s, and I promptly said to him as he got in my face without his mask on, “If you touch me I will sue you for every dollar you ever made. Put on your mask.”
 
And he did, and as he did, a few minutes later, I was done, and I left.
 
When I went into the supermarket to cash in my receipts, I told the manager behind the counter about what had happened, and they dispatched someone to the recycling area to see what was going on.
 
I wiped my hands of the entire episode and moved on.
 
We are in a period where rules to some people evidently mean nothing, whether you were in a situation like I was, or even if you are in a confrontation with police, and you are obviously resisting arrest, or you simply don’t want to follow store rules by not wearing a mask.
 
I don’t like wearing a mask either, and I am sure people don’t like to be picked up by police for outstanding warrants, but hey, that is the law, and it has been proven time and time again that you will get in trouble one way or the other if you don’t follow the law.

After all, this is not an anarchy, although some people evidently think that it is just that.
 
Look, I am tying two things together that really have no link at all, but they really have to do with breaking the law, at different levels, of course.
 
At least in the instance of mask wearing, I have noticed that the trends have changed a bit during the past few months.
 
At one time, younger people were the ones not wearing their masks, and that still continues, but I have noticed an increasing number of older people not wearing face coverings, and being brazen about it too.
 
Why is this?
 
I guess that many of them have gotten their shots, and they feel that once they get the shots, they are done following any rules related to mask wearing, because they are fully protected, or at least they think that they are.
 
Of course they aren’t, but after months of being told what to do, they have had it up to here with rules, so they take it upon themselves to ignore them.
 
Me, I’m a rules guy, and although I don’t like wearing a mask, I do it because at least in New York State, you cannot go into a retail establishment without one.
 
That is the edict, that is the law, that is the mandate, whatever you want to call it, but you have to wear a mask in certain situations in the state, whether you like it or not.
 
So I do it, not to make a political statement, but I do it because I feel that at least right now, not only is it the law, but it is the right thing to do.
 
And if I have to do it, you have to do it too.
 
Look, you don’t have to believe everything we are being force fed about the virus—I certainly don’t—but wearing a mask is not a political statement, it is just the right thing to do now.
 
So when I see people flaunt their “independence” and their indifference right in front of me, it bothers me.
 
And like I told the gentleman yesterday who was ready to punch me, you should know better.
 
As I have said time and time again, I wonder whether I did the right thing in allowing a vaccine to enter my body that has not had ample testing done to it to make sure that it is safe.
 
I read now that the Pfizer vaccine is being questioned in Israel for a rise in heart problems among those who have taken it over there.
 
There have been some problems with the Moderna vaccine, too, and don’t get me started about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
 
When we had that last major pandemic 100 years ago, it actually took scientists 25 years to approve a vaccine—the latest vaccine won approval in just a few months.
 
Did I do the right thing to get my vaccine? What did I put into my body?
 
And those commercials we are seeing about the safety of the vaccines … well, I question the safety of stating that they are safe, when they might not be.
 
So did I personally do the right thing in getting the vaccine?
 
I still don’t know. The jury is out on that, and I would never tell anyone that they must get the vaccine.
 
But as long as we are in the situation that we are in, I will tell people to put on their masks.
 
Like I said, I roll with the flow, and the flow now is to mask up.
 
It is so easy to do, there is no reason—other than mental—not to do it.
 
So just do it, whether you believe it is doing anything or not.
 
It is the right thing to do right now, and hopefully, with lots of rules being lifted by the day, we won’t have to wear these horrid things that much longer.