Rant #2,985: Cold Turkey

I had a weird day yesterday.
 
Notice I did not say a good day, just a weird day.
 
My allergies had been really killing me, or so I thought, for about the past two weeks or so.
 
On Wednesday, it kind of reached a head, and I figured that I had to have something other than allergy problems for the past two weeks—
 
Maybe it was COVID???????
 
I went through this scenario in my brain for several hours … even though I received three shots of the so-called “vaccine,” perhaps after all this time, I finally got stung.
 
Since no one in my immediate family—my son, my wife and my mother—have gotten COVID, I figured that the prudent thing to do was to go to the nearest walk-in medical place at 8 a.m. in the morning and get tested.
 
So that is what I did.
 
And I am happy to say that I don’t have COVID, but what I do have is your average, garden-variety cold, something that I haven’t had in several years.
 
(I guess all the mask wearing did have a protective effect on me.)
 
So, at times, my nose is running like a faucet, I cough here and there, and my sneezes are pretty vicious, but the funny thing is that this cold is a weird one … I pretty much generally feel fine, no fever at all, and believe it or not, I can taste everything.
 
Usually when I get a cold, I can’t taste a thing, and I am a little off kilter, but this time around, I have to say that this is one strange cold I have had, beginning probably two weeks ago when I thought it was my allergies and finally coming out the other day.

(Are the COVID shots mitigating the effects of the cold? Could be ... ?)
 
Sure, the full COVID test still has to come back, but even the medical person who administered it to me told me flat out that I had a cold; all my other vital signs are fine, my lungs were clear, and I don’t have COVID.
 
Now to get rid of this thing, which honestly comes and goes during the day—I notice that some periods of the day my nose is running like a faucet, but I can go hours at a time without blowing my nose at all.
 
Sometimes I am a little hoarse, other times my voice is back to normal.
 
I have a good appetite, and like I said, I can taste everything.
 
Very strange indeed.
 
So after that diagnosis, my wife and I went food shopping, got sicker at the prices than this cold or anything else could ever make me feel, and I came home, ready to do my freelance job, and found out right before the fact that they wanted me to cover a virtual conference, which is exactly what I did for the next few hours.
 
Between the listening to what was going on and the writing up of this thing, I did not finish work yesterday until right before 8 p.m., but in the middle of all of this, I was sent another story that I have to do, a long interview, so that will bind me up for a good portion of the morning …
 
And I guess the large scads of money that I am making from these endeavors is keeping me going, because even though I do have this nagging cold and feel OK with it, I am running on fumes at the moment, and I am really looking forward to the weekend.
 
This cold has affected my sleeping pattern, and if I get a few hours of sleep each night, I am ahead of the game.
 
Today, I woke up at about 4 a.m. after about six hours or so of sleep, but on other nights, I am up virtually all night, so I have to say that today was better in that regard.
 
As I am writing this, it is near 6 a.m., my normal waking time, and my wife will soon be up, with my son to follow at 8 a.m. as he gets ready for work, which I will take him to and pick him up from like I always do.
 
Then he has basketball tonight, bowling tomorrow, and I personally won’t fully slow down until tomorrow afternoon at about 3 p.m. or so.
 
Hopefully by then, this cold will have subsided, and I will be on the road to recovery, but who knows … this is one strange cold I have this time around.
 
I just hope that I don’t/haven’t infected others here, and that this thing that I have goes away as quickly as it came, and it has already stayed around way too long.
 
I guess it is just another notch on this horrid year that I have had … I thought I was turning the corner as summer ended—we finally closed down the pool, thank goodness—but the bad luck that I have had simply continues unabated.
 
But Yom Kippur is coming up, I will probably fast as I always do, and maybe the coming and going of that holiday will help me to wipe away any sins I made during the previous year, and I will kick this thing and be on the road to better health.
 
I sure hope so, because even though I guess what I have could have been worse, it isn’t much fun as it is.
 
Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday … hopefully closer to a full recovery by then.
 
Wish me luck ... and even more luck to those being directly impacted by Hurricane Ian in Florida and the rest of the Southeast. 

Rant #2,984: Do You Believe In Magic?

Aaron Judge finally did it!
 
He hit his 61st homer at Rogers Centre in Toronto last night, and I can guarantee that if you asked him about the homer, he will tell you that the Yankees won the game, and that is all that really counts.
 
But in tying Roger Maris’ single-season home run record for the American League—and what some say is the real single season home run record versus the supposedly tainted efforts of Mark McGwire, Sammy Soda and Barry Bonds—Judge has done something completely incredible by keeping the American League home run record in the Yankee family.
 
Babe Ruth had 60 homers in 1927, Maris had his 61 in 1961, and now Judge shares the record with Maris, and a good bet is that he will break that 61-year-ols record during one of the Yankees’ remaining games.
 
What’s more, not only does he lead the Yankees into the postseason, but he has a definite shot to win the Triple Crown, meaning that he will lead his league in homers, runs batted in, and in batting average.
 
He has had a simply incredible season, and hopefully the Yankees can sign him to a contract this off-season, so he will remain a Yankee during his entire career.
 
And any team with Judge on it has to be a favorite to get to the World Series, and the Yankees not only want to get to the World Series, but they want to win it all, and who would bet against Judge leading them there?
 
Another interesting thing about Judge’s pursuit of the American League home run record is that it has shined a light on Roger Maris, one of the greatest players of his era—the late 1950s and early 1960s—who I don’t think has ever gotten the respect he deserved for his accomplishments during that era.
 
He wasn’t a home-grown Yankee—he played for the Kansas City Athletics and the Cleveland Indians before he came to The Bronx—and he played in the shadow of the “golden boy” of baseball at that time, Mickey Mantle.
 
Mantle came up to the Yankees in 1951 as Joe DiMaggio’s replacement in centerfield, and he himself was not looked at too kindly by Yankee fans at the time.
 
But over time, he became what is now called a “generational player,” won over the hearts of the Yankee fans with his incredible talent and gregarious “country boy in the big city” persona, and honestly, Maris could not compete with Mantle in a popularity contest.
 
Maris was ultra-talented, but he was shy, did not get along with the press, and in 1961, when Mantle and Maris went at it to break Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record, the fans backed Mantle.
 
But “The Mick” was prone to injuries, and while he fell short at 54 homers, Maris just kept on going, and broke Ruth’s record in the final game the Yankees played that year.
 
Baseball purists did not accept the record at the time, saying that Maris had extra games to secure the record—1961 was the year that the schedule was expanded to 162 games, from the 154 games that teams played in 34 years before when Ruth hit his 60.
 
Some wanted an asterisk applied to Maris’ new record, but although it was talked about, the record, over time, became accepted, and Maris—who went though tons of cigarettes and lost some of his hair as he pursued The Babe’s record—had the undisputed single-season record until the steroid era in the 1990s.
 
Judge is much like Maris, a great hitter and a great right fielder, but their personalities are a bit different, although they both downplayed their records in lieu of the team winning—which the Yankees did, winning it all in 1961.
 
Just looking over Maris’s career, although he played just 12 seasons, he hit 275 career home runs; he was a two-time Most Valuable Player in the American League (1960 and1961); he made seven World Series Appearances--more than any other player in the 1960s—with the Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals; he played in seven All-Star Games; and he won a Gold Glove Award for his play in right field in 1960.
 
And no, even though he was a dominant player during this era, he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, which really is a major omission, as he both led the Yankees to five World Series appearances when he was a dominant player, he also lhelped the Cardinals to two World Series appearances when his body pretty much broke down and he couldn’t play much anymore.
 
And he hit just .260 during his career, and baseball purists say that he doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame because of his 12 seasons, “only” seven of them were outstanding, even though his teams went ot the World Series seven times and he earned three World Championship rings.
 
I hope this new focus on Maris makes Hall of Fame voters cast a new eye on the player, and perhaps one of the oldtimers committees can vote him into the place he should have been voted into years ago,

Look, if the focus needs to be on Maris' one super season.then if he finally gets into the Hall of Fame, he will be baseball's version of Percy Sledge.

Sledge had a steady career as a top rhythm and blues singer, but he was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pretty much for his incredible performance of "When a Man Loves a Woman."

If Percy Sledge can be voted in basically for this one accomplishment, Maris should be voted in for his 61 in '61.
 
Maris hit his 61st homer off the Red Sox’s Tracy Stellar; Judge hit his 61st homer off off the Blue Jays’ Tim Maza, so the pitcher automatically becomes an answer to a trivia question … but if Judge hits 62 or beyond, the pitcher that throws Judge’s final homer of the regular season will be even a bigger trivia question—and if it does happen,, it will be thrown by a pitcher on the Orioles or the Rangers, the Yankees’ last two opponents of the regular season.
 
You can say what you want about all of this, but we have been through a really rough time during the past three years or so, and Judge’s pursuit has taken some of the focus off of the reality of what is happening in our country and the world right now.
 
Even non-sports and non-baseball fans have taken notice, and what better way to get away from the rigors of life than to watch this All-American superhero—all six foot, seven inches of him—hit homer after homer for the most famous sports franchise in our country, if not the world.
 
Congratulations to Aaron Judge, congratulations to the Maris family—Roger died at age 51 in 1975—and congratulations to Major League Baseball, which proved once again that it was, is and will forever be our National Pastime.

Rant #2,983: Gimme Some Truth

Good morning.
 
I am back at my usual weekday perch today, and everything went fine while I was away.
 
And to top it off, today I am 65 and five months years of age, if one celebrates such things.
 
I usually don’t—one birthday a year is sufficient for me—but I just happened to look at the calendar, and there it was, so I figured I would bring it up to you.
 
I bring it up because I was born into a world that does not exist anymore.
 
I was born into a world where certain standards—personal and otherwise—were accepted, and people did the best that they could to meet them.
 
Today, our standards are as low as the bottom rung on a broken ladder, and we simply accept too much as being “normal.”
 
And everything—and I do mean everything—is political.
 
Now, even buying a car has turned into a political statement.
 
Have you seen the latest Toyota commercial?
 
It has nothing to do with purchasing a car, and at the same time, it has everything to do with purchasing a car.
 
It is a commercial that proclaims that the company is pro-gay, with the LGBTQ flag unfurled and present during the entire commercial, and way more prominent than the American flag, which is only seen for a split second.
 
Now for a foreign-based company that really only cares about the green, why is this commercial coming out now, during Hispanic Heritage Month and not during the period where some of our citizens parade around as if they were in their own personal Disneyland?
 
I haven’t the slightest idea, to be honest with you.
 
Toyota has evidently come out with gay-oriented ads in the past—one clearly featuring a gay couple buying a car—but this is the first time they have put out an ad where their cars are not featured at all during the minute-long ad.
 
It is their right to support whatever cause they want, but again, since when did buying a car have anything to do with one’s sexuality?
 
And why is the viewer constantly being assaulted with these beliefs?
 
You see it in more and more in TV commercials, where the advertiser conveniently sneaks in gay images into commercials—some subtly done, some not—for everything from the newest drug to take to quell whatever ailment you have to ads touting jewelry and even fast food.
 
Maybe I am being an old fogey about this, but to me, one’s sexuality is their own personal business.
 
I really don’t care about one’ sexuality at all, and my displeasure with the ad, and other event ads like this, has nothing to do with the gay community; it has more to do with the pandering being done by Toyota and other concerns related to this subject to reach the ultimate goal ... which is to get your green whether you are gay or straight or whatever you want to call yourself.
 
If you are a good person and handle yourself the right way, you can be any sexuality you want to be.
 
But today, everything is in your face, you are being forced to look at sexuality in a different light, simply because … well … you are being forced to do so, now even when you purchase a car.
 
I really don’t think most people really care about who one chooses to sleep with, but we are being forced to care because everything today is riddled with such politics.
 
Some subjects are better left alone, but the current generations believe that everything should be out in the open, and they have no shame about parading around this subject, and hitting you over the head with it.
 
It is not just this subject that has hit be bottom rung of our society.
 
Just look in your Yahoo News today—which, unfortunately, is the only news that many of us get during the day—and you will see numerous supposed female celebrities who celebrate one thing or another by putting up nude or semi-nude photos of themselves.
 
Today’s list includes Gwyneth Paltrow—celebrating reaching the ripe old age of 50—and Shania Twain—celebrating  her latest music video release.

And I can give you a short list of such female celebrities each and every day, who don't want you to look at them, but kinda do.
 
We have other celebrities talk about being raped at an earlier age, and some other sordid stories are right there on your daily feed ... putting coverage of the impending Hurricane Ian story to news oblivion.
 
Is some supposed celebrity posing nude really that important in the grand scheme of things?
 
It is about as important as a car company which has been rife with problems during the past few years declaring that they are “one” with the gay community.
 
Sorry, people, our standards are really low now, and no, this is not the world I was born into.
 
And that isn’t a political statement from me--that is a fact.

Rant #2,982: Say a Prayer

Happy Rosh Hashanah to those who celebrate this holiday.
 
It is the beginning of the Jewish New Year, and it time to atone for one’s sins during the previous year.
 
You hope that God treats you kindly, and that he turns over the page in the book devoted to you, and that you go on to live another year.
 
But the High Holy Days are just that, days, so we still have to get through the entire holiday, which culminates with the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, which commences at sundown on Tuesday, October 4 and lasts until sundown on Wednesday, October 5.
 
That is the biggie, and one atones for his sins by fasting for an entire day, to demonstrate to God that you are worthy.
 
It is much tougher to get through these holidays if you attend services at your synagogue than it is to do it at home.
 
Synagogues are packed during the High Holy Days, with most people there only attending their local shul for services during this time of year.
 
I can tell you from past experience that the dovening during these holidays, and particular on Yom Kippur, is difficult while attending services, as the constant up and down of the service—when the Ark is opened, everyone stands, when it closes, everyone sits—makes it tough.
 
Those days are apparently over for me.
 
Since my son had his bar mitzvah 14 years ago, and we were not treated well by our fellow Jews when our synagogue merged with another temple, we have not joined a temple as a family, so we don’t go to services.
 
It does not mean that we renounced our religion—in fact, I feel that my faith is stronger than ever—but we do not attend services anymore.
 
We reflect on the holidays at home, and I continue to fast during Yom Kippur at home.
 
Funny, being away from the synagogue all of these years has made my faith that much stronger, inwardly if not outwardly.
 
I am Jewish, my wife and son are, too, and we know who we are and what we are, with our without synagogue attendance being in the mix.
 
I have learned that you can make your own synagogue without actually being in one, and that is what I do during the High Holy Days.
 
Sure, some people will say it is a copout, but that is not the point; this is the way I have decided to handle my religious life, and it is my personal choice to do so.
 
It is better than being there while not being there, which happened when I was a kid, attending the services with my father and friends, and we spent more time outside the shul than inside of it as the services went on.
 
Sure, I suffered with everyone else when I was inside the shul, but we used to spend so much time outside that it almost gave us a break to our suffering.
 
So I almost believe that we are on equal plain now with those days past.
 
And when I fast for Yom Kippur, I know why I am still doing it and will continue to do it for as long as my body will allow.
 
I do it for myself, for my family, and for God, and it will suffice—and yes, I do feel so much better after the fast is over, as if the time I have not eaten or had anything to drink has given me new energy to begin the new year on the right foot.
 
There are similarities between the Jewish New Year and the New Year we all celebrate on January 1.
 
Both are times for renewal, both are times to look back at the past year and try to do better during the dawning of the new year.
 
The similarities pretty much end at that, but the self reflection part of the two equations is really essential as we move into the respective New Years.
 
How can I be better this new year than I was last year?
 
That is a question for the ages no matter what New Year you are talking about, and it is up to the individual to come up with an answer to that weighty question.
 
Right now, I personally do not have an answer to that question, but none of us are perfect, and we can all improve our beings from one day to the next, from one week to the next, and from one year to the next.
 
Jews are contemplating this question right now, so maybe it gives us something of a leg’s up on the rest of the world.
 
So when you wish “Happy New Year” “L'Shana Tovah” to both your Jewish friends and your non-Jewish friends alike, it is really a direct greeting for your Jewish friends, but for your non-Jewish friends, it is really a head’s up on what they may be contemplating for the future, three months ahead of time.
 
Everyone have a good holiday!
 
I will not be at this perch tomorrow, as I have an early appointment, but I will be here bright and early on Wednesday, so speak to you then.