Rant #3,339: Another Brick In the Wall

I have spoken about some very serious subjects in this Blog lately, and I decided that today, I would speak about something a bit lighter.

And based on my viewing numbers, I think people would rather that I write about the lighter stuff rather than the intense stuff.

That appears to be true, but I will continue to write about things that rile me up when I feel it is necessary.

But today, let's dive right into the lighter stuff--

And I do mean "dive right in," because my birthday just happens to be this coming Sunday, April 28.

Another year if my life is just about over, and to that, I say "good riddance," because it has been without a doubt, the worst year of my life.

it sermed that everything thst could go wrong did, and did in a very big way.

I lost my mother, my car died. I lost the house that i lived in for more than 50 years, and i lost my mobility due to two very freak accidents.

I lost it all, and I quite nearly lost my sanity.

But things are definitely on the uptick.

The house was sold, my health is improving by the day, i am sleeping better--with a few hiccups--and i am just feeling better about everything.

1 am finally behind the wheel again, and that makes everything so much better.

So as I turm 67 years of age. Things are not as bleak as they once were. I have a long way to go ... but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

So let's look back at what I wrote, in edited form, in Rant #951, April 26, 2013, when things were just so much different in my life.

"Happy birthday to me.

Well, not just yet, but happy birthday to me anyway.

My birthday is on Sunday, April 28, and since I don't write any Rants on the weekend, I figured I would celebrate a little early.

It seems the years have gone fast.

My mother often told me that as a young child, I was clearly "Larry the Menace," getting into everything and being a real pain in the butt.

She told me a story that one time, she was shopping with me, and visibly pregnant with my sister, who was born at the tail end of 1959. I was so bad that she was standing on line to check out, and another woman actually had the nerve to say to her, "And you want another child?"

I could swear that only yesterday, I was playing in the mud in the grime of my old stomping grounds in Rochdale Village, South Jamaica Queens, New York.

Even though I haven't lived in New York City since 1971, I am a city kid at heart, always will be.

The suburbs have been my home since then, but you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid.

I have a great wife, a great family, so why complain?

So happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Larry, happy birthday to me."

That what I said all those years ago, and it still holds true.

I am older and wiser now, and even though I am currently under repair, I know that my wheels will be better, and I will ne rolling around as best I can leading up to me completely beating this injury to a pulp.

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

A year older, but still with that vim and vigor I have always had.

Onward and upward!!!!!!!

Rant #3,338: Stop!

The anti-Israel/anti-Semitic protests continue, and now I hear that Columbia University will be negotiating with students to somehow come to a meeting point which would allow the tent city encampment there to be peacefully removed.

Columbia will soon learn the facts the hard way: you cannot peacefully bargain with the terrorists themselves, so you cannot peacefully bargain with the supporters of terrorists, either.

This misbegotten cretins, like their terrorist idols, want all their insidious demands to be met, and if they don't get what they want--for these schools to pull all support, financial and otherwise, that the school participates in with Israel--they are not going to leave peacefully.

Columbia and the other schools should have nipped this problem in the bud immediately, and removed these thugs right away.

Now, the sore has festered, and just how are the school administrations going to rid themselves of this human garbage? Give into their demands?

These are supposedly "students," although we know from the past George Floyd debacle that many are outside agitators, and even more, while registered as being "students" at these institutions, are being paid off--in cash or class grades--for their participation.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, visited Columbia yesterday, speaking with Jewish students about what is happening at the campus.

Before meeting with them, Johnson said that Columbia's president should resign if she is unable to quell the commotion on her campus, and he also said the following, which is pretty much the only grain of sanity I have heard in this entire episode:

"Every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we have got to have accountability.”

You would think that this was a statement that would garner bipartisan support.

Think again.

Speaking about his trip to the campus, New York State Governor Kathy "The Yokel" Hochul, a Democrat, said Johnson being on the campus  is "politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this, is only adding to the division. A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything.”

??????????

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1979, and I earned my masters degree in 1982.

Now that I am nearly 67 years of age, I am as far removed from the college and university scene as I could possibly be.

I wonder how I would act, and feel, as a Jewish student today.

I really don't know for sure, but I can tell you that I knew right and wrong when i went to school all those years ago, and i still know right from wrong--

And what these hooligans are doing is just so wrong.

They have every right to protest, but they have no right to intimidate their fellow students, and they certainly have no right to be making demands, certainly when they don't listen to civil requests to stop doing what they are doing.

I mean, who are the students and who is the administration here?

Those who continue to rock the boat in such a hate-filled manner should not just be suspended--

They should be EXPELLED for their actions, which are disrupting their respective campuses and threatening the supposed civility of these campuses.

There are thousands of schools across our country, and I am sure that those who should be expelled will be able to find another campus that perhaps meet their own vicious agendas.

And where are these thugs' parents in all of this mayhem?

One can only guess, but one also knows where such hatred is learned in the first place.

Rant #3,337: Helter Skelter

I have spoken at great length about what is going on at campuses around the country regarding completely anti-Semitic protests related to the Israel-Hamas War.

These thugs have every right to protest, but their protests--and the encampments that have sprung up on many of the campuses--are reaching levels of harassment, with their very presence upsetting university policies and procedures to a very high level.

Hundreds have been arrested, and the schools sit on their hands basically doing nothing--or at least not enough--to stop this insubordination.

Beyond the fact that we all know why these schools aren't doing too much to rid themselves of these nuisances, the horrid behavior demonstrated by these supposed "students" has stretched beyond the school zone and is creeping into non-school settings, setting up innocent people and putting them in awkward situations due to the harassment.

The latest incident related to these protests involves actor Alec Baldwin, who was verbally assaulted by someone who called herself a "performance artist" named "Crackhead Barney and Friends."

The beleaguered actor was in a coffee shop nearby New York University paying for what he purchased when the harasser stalked him out and constantly demanded that he say "Free Palestine" while he was recorded on a cellphone.

He tried to ignore the person, and wherever he tried to go, the thug followed, shouting increasingly vulgar and anti-Semitic epithets at him while still pleading that he say "Free Palestine" while recording him.

He again tried to get away from this person, but the harasser persisted.

Both were asked to leave the coffee shop, but the thug blocked his way, continuing the demand.

The harrasser even brought up the incident in the "Rust" movie set involving the actor, saying that not confessing to murder was sending innocent people to jail.

Baldwin had finally had enough, and after the phone was again shoved into his face and the demand continued unabated, he then knocked the phone to the ground.

The harrasser told police that she had been assaulted by the actor, and both the thug and the actor refused to press charges against each other.

There is a video going around of this incident, and while I won't provide you with the link, it has been viewed more than 3 million times.

Yes, this is what it has come to, thugs walking around with complete entitlement, that they can attack innocent people with their anti-Semitic views without impunity.

The schools do little to nothing about what is happening on their campuses, while in the same breath, stating that their schools are "safe" areas for learning.

And these protests, these encampments, and the harassment of Jewish students, and professors, continues, without end in sight.

I mean, what can anyone expect from college administrators, whose brethren have actually testified before Congress that the calling for the genocide of the Jewish people has to be taken in context before it can be considered hate speech and prohibited by respective campuses.

This is where we are at now, and it is a very uncomfortable position to be in.

Even if the protesters had a legitimate beef--which I don't believe they do, as they have absolutely no understanding of the situation they are so riled up about--it is being lost in the quicksand of their anti-social and anti-Semitic behavior.

And i am sure Baldwin has better things to do then to get rocked up by some thug who finds this all so amusing.

These encampments must be removed immediately, any student willfully partipating in this harassment should not be suspended, but expelled, and schools should be held to a full level of responsibility for the continuance of this type of behavior on their campuses.

But this nonsense will go on, and on, and on, because the schools won't do anything about it.

The longer they go without doing anything, the shorter leash they will have, and their complicitness becomes even more obvious.

And finally, where are our prominent Jewish and non-Jewish citizens in coming out against this type of anti-Semitic behavior?

Nowhere to be found.

And those sounds of silence are getting louder each and every day.

Rant #3,336: No Fair At All

Don't get me started on the so-called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--

But I am already started, so there is no holding me back.

Yesterday, the latest group of inductees was named, and, well, it isn't even worth mentioning who the inductees are--

It is actually more important to mention who the inductees aren't, and who was left out at even being nominated for the HoF.

The situation happens each and every year, and sorry, it will continue into perpetuity until the HoF changes its nomination process.

Here is what I had to say about this latest fiasco on Facebook when a post was put about about the newest members of the HoF:

"No comment. 

And where are Chubby Checker ... Lesley Gore ... The Monkees ... Michael Nesmith (apart from the Monkees) ... Paul Revere and the Raiders ... Tommy James and the Shondells ... The Turtles ... ?

Nowhere to be found, and most probably never to be found in the Hall.

A joke that keeps on giving ... .

I understand that rock n' roll encompasses many music genres, including everything from country to hip hop. 

I don't necessarily agree with that, but what I am most concerned with is that because of past prejudices by HoF leadership, certain acts who fill in all the boxes of the criteria for HoF induction are being glossed over in favor of acts that will bring in more ad dollars.

Chubby Checker ... how can he not be in the HoF? Any dance, rap or hip hop act inducted owes him kudos.

Lesley Gore ... she fits all the criteria, both professionally and personally, and as far as women's empowerment, how can she not be in there?

Michael Nesmith ... say what you want, but his "Space Country " or whatever you want to call it, was a tremendous influence, certainly on what we call "country" today.

The others I mentioned ... don't get me started ... all of them check off all the criteria for induction, but it appears they have been blacklisted for reasons only known by the HoF.

And I would like to know who the supposed "experts" are who vote on the nominees ... are they "suits" or people who are really invested in the music?

Unfortunately, I think they are mainly "suits," and that irks me."

Yes, the entire situation irks me, but I am happy to say thst there is a solution to all of this, if anyone would listen to me.

Do what the equally controversial Baseball Hall of Fame has done to enshrine "overlooked" players into its hallowed environs:

Establish a rotating vote where overlooked acts from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s will get another look, and a second chance at enshrinement.

Have committees for these years convene in alternating years, and vote on deserving acts from those decades for HoF membership.

Unfortunately, it is quite clear that now that we are in the 2020s, acts from 50, 60, and 70 years ago are going to be overlooked and forgotten when it comes to enshrinement, and not only isn't this fair, it dilutes the HoF from being a real, representative HoF for popular music.

This is the only way to rectify past wrongs, because there have been so many wrongs that if you keep the nomination process the same, nothing will ever get done to enshrine acts that have earned and deserve enshrinement.

I mean, you can't have Mary J. Blige in the HoF without having Lesley Gore in there.

And I could go on and on and on.

The current process is not fair, and needs to be changed.

Look, I am not asking for the 1910 Fruitgum Company to gain entrance; all that I am asking for is for the HoF to act responsibly in its nomination and enshrinement processes, which I do not think they have done up to this point.

But being realistic, if nothing has been done yet to update these processes to make them fairer, I am not going to hold my breath about anything being done in the future.

They will say that the current class of honorees is "the most inclusive class ever," but in this fractured world we live in, the root word "inclusion" has a different meaning--

And actually leads to exclusion, leaving out those who richly deserve the honor but miss out because the HoF brands them as "not marketable" in the current environment.

And to that I say--

"Oogum Boogum."

Nothing I can think.of describes this rancid situation better.

Rant #3,335: Time of the Season

I had a decent weekend, especially now that I can drive my car and get out in the world.

I did get an after-market replacement car key, just in case, but my original key works just fine now that it was fixed.

(And as an aside, this particular car I have was bought used from a local Kia dealer, and originally, it did not come with a second key. The dealer later gave me such a key, which didn't work at all, but in the meantime, all this stuff happened to myself and my family, so I never got a chance to tell the dealer that the key didn't work.)

With that mini-nightmare over and done with, on Saturday, I actually did go to my local record store and participated in Record Store Day activities.

This time, I didn't wake up at 1 a.m. to be among the first on line. I got there sometime after 7:30 a.m., and I was about 14th on line, which was fine with me.

I didn't get everything I wanted, but what I got --besides the records I bought--was invaluable.

Waiting to get in, I spoke with a couple of people, one of whom had, a few years ago, suffered a similar type of injury that I had.

I asked him a few questions about his injury and his subsequent rehab, and what he said mirrored the way I am feeling right now, and I learned a lot about how the injury progresses as it heals.

I never got his name, but if he is somehow reading this, thanks very much.

I left there, got my allergy shot, picked up a few prescriptions, and came home in one piece.

In the afternoon, I digitized some of my recent purchases, and then, later in the day, I was able to pick up my family's dinner at two local fast food outlets, and then watched a wrestling pay per view event with my son.

I slept OK--about 6.5 hours or so--and even though the sleep was slightly broken up, I am feeling at least somewhat rested.

Sunday was a real rest day, and I didn't do too much, to ne honest with you.

Watched baseball, and that was about it.

In the evening, I slept about seven hours, but when you doze off at 8:30 p.m. and wake up at 3:30 a.m., you kind of feel like you didn't get your full money's worth from your sleep.

And today, I have physical therapy, and then, it is my annual "matzoh-palooza," as at sunset, Jews around the world celebrate Passover.

This year's celebration, with all that is happening in the Middle East right now, takes on some added significance.

Let's look back at Rant #1,185, April 14, 2014, and look at the holiday beyond all of that matzoh.

"For Jews around the world, tonight is the first night of Passover, which means tonight is the first seder that we have, the first of two during the eight-day observance.

Passover celebrates the Jews' flight from Egypt in Biblical times, and it also solidifies the fact that the Jewish religion remains a strong one.

It is a family holiday, one where young and old alike gather to go over the traditions of the holiday, first and foremost, and at the center of the celebration, the recitation of "The Four Questions."

Matzoh signifies the most visible link to the holiday.

When the Jews, who were kept in slavery by the Egyptians but were later expelled, fled Egypt, they had to do it quickly. Whatever foodstuffs they brought with them had to be used quickly, and thus, any materials that they used to create bread did not have time to rise, and became a cracker-like food known as matzoh.

So matzoh, rather than bread, is eaten on this holiday, and personally, I love matzoh, and for eight days, that is what I exist on.

Matzoh may be the most visible link to Passover, but the most important link during the holiday is known as "The Four Questions," when the youngest children attending the seder ask the adults "Why is this night different than all other nights?"

Actually, anyone can read "The Four Questions," but the younger people usually do it. It is the real centerpiece of the celebration, and it is something that all participants look forward to.

The first two nights are the seder nights, with families gathering to look at the Jews' flight from Egypt, and the modern seders are real family gatherings, with the traditions reinforced.

Modern influences are also included, and new Kosher for Passover foods are always being created to whet the appetites of all who are present.

And other things permeate the seder, including world events."

Yes, world events are going to punctuate this celebration, but it won't stop it.

The Israel-Hamas War has brought out the worst in people who do not fully understand the whys and wherefores of this situation.

Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head again, not that it ever really left us, and it is almost seemingly accepted today and extremely pervasive around the world.

On Saturday, I replied to a Facebook post about the constant protests happening at Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian protesters have been disrupting the campus for several days now.

They have been warned that they would be suspended if this behavior continued, but the point of my post was that these supposed "students" shouldn't be suspended, they should be expelled.

To that, one lady on Facebook made a reply that was so vulgar, so anti-Semitic, so anti everything that I won't post it here, only to tell you that it related to the Holocaust and Germany's leader during thst period.

I have reported her and her horrid reply, which I thought would probably lead nowhere--

Remember, my G-rated posts were banned on Facebook for no reason for more than two months, so what could i expect Facebook to do when something is truly vulgar?

Well, I was quite surprised that this morning, Facebook contacted me to tell me that they reviewed the post and removed it!

I am sure they gave a warning to the poster that even on Facebook--which allows just about everything to pass--something this horrid will not be tolerated.

Yes, anti-Semites are crawling out of the woodwork, and I will definitely bring this all up when I lead my family's Passover celebration.

We Jews are a resilient bunch, and such idiotic behavior thrust upon us simply makes us stronger.

So, to those who celebrate, have a great holiday.

And to those who are so ignorant that they say things that they think will scare us, think again.

We know who we are, and your stupidity simply adds fuel to our fire.

Rant #3,334: Brand New Key

I could have used one of those wishes I talked about yesterday.

Thursday was not a good day for me, and it had nothing to do with my bad leg.

Now that I am driving again, I am taking over some of the chores that I used to have, including driving my son back and forth to work.

So on Thursday morning, when the time came, I grabbed my crutches and went down the stairs to do just that.

I went into the car--which I am learning to do without hurting myself--and I put my key in the ignition--

And the key would not turn.

I could get the key in and out of the ignition, but I could not turn the key at all, so I could not get the car going.

I did not know what to do. My wife had already gone to the gym, my son needed to get to work, I had a physical therapy appointment later in the morning ... I panicked, period.

But I had my wits about me, as I postponed my appointment with physical therapy to today, and I called the car dealer to not only arrange for a tow but also get a new key ... which, in total, would have cost me about $500 when all was said and done.

But I had no car. I could not drive my car, putting me in the same boat as I was in when I could not drive during the past six months.

Only this time, it was mechanical rather than physical.

Let me backtrack ... my wife has driven my car many times during the past six months, and she even brought it in for an oil change a few weeks ago.

She has complained to me that the car's key fob is broken, as the key part of the fob often disengages from the rest of the fob, and if you aren't careful, this sliver of metal can be lost very easily.

It even happened to me when I first drove the car earlier this week. The key fell on the floor, but I easily retrieved it.

So what did I do?

I used some glue to better adhere the key to the rest of the fob.

It worked. The key wouldn't budge from the fob, and everything looked hunky dory.

But then I got into the car--

And nothing.

I was so depressed, starting to talk to myself and making myself nuts as I contacted the various parties that I mentioned earlier.

My wife arrived home, and she took my son to work, about a half hour late.

After about an hour's wait, the tow truck driver came, and asked to see the fob and the key.

He asked me if anything fell out of the fob when the key continually fell out during the past six months, and I told him that I didn't think so.

Then he asked me if he could break open the fob, and I gave him the OK.

I thought he meant literally break it open, like with a hammer, because no matter what I did, I could not open the fob after I used the glue.

He was able to get it open with his fingers ... and he told me that a piece of the mechanism had moved ever so slightly out of place, a piece that enables the key to snap into the fob when not at use--a feature I honestly never use.

He positioned the key in the fob, evidently repositioning this little piece that had been out of place, and lo and behold, the key worked!

He told me to "jiggle it" a little bit, and I did just that, and the key worked.

I later picked up my son and called the dealer to cancel my order of a new key ... although I am looking to buy an after-market key, which will cost me about half of what a new key would cost.

What an absolutely horrid morning I had ... but I just saved about $500, so I guess it could have been much worse.

The shackles returned for a brief spell but are off if me once again, and that is a real key at getting me better as soon as possible.

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

Rant #3,333: Three Wishes

Yesterday went just fine.

I took my son to work, drove to the local pharmacy to get my cholesterol medication, and yes, I did go to my local record store, where I had my very own Record Store Day, using the gift certificate my wife got me for Hanukkah to pick up some great items.

And later, I picked my son up from work, and my wife came along for the ride.

I am kind of sore, but I was able to do it all.

So with this success behind me, i know i am figuratively and literally on the right road.

I am in a pretty good mood right now, and I fell like being a little bit whimsical.

Let's dream a little bit ...

So, if i had a magic lamp and a genie came out of it, I guess he would reward me with the proverbial three wishes.

Of course, my first wish would go for world peace, my second would go for the health of my family, and yes, I would most definitely ask for an uptick in my finances.

Maybe I would be cagey about it, and use one of my three wishes to ask for an unlimited amount of future wishes.

So, if I received the extra wishes, what would I wish for based on everything going on in today's bizarro world that we live in?

As I said earlier, one of my original wishes went for world peace, so that would take care of both the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia conflicts, and all other conflicts.

So what would I wish for with my new wishes?

I would certainly wish for those saying that women's basketball star Caitlin Clark is being underpaid as the WNBA's first round draft pick, as compared to what the male first round draft choices in the NBA get paid, to just shut up.

It is like comparing apples and oranges.

The NBA has been around for 75 years, is well established and financed, and has yearly revenues that dwarf those in the WNBA--a much less established league--by billions and billions of dollars.

The NBA finances the WNBA, and the thought of these idiots is that the pay disparity is unfair, and that the NBA should kick in many millions of dollars to erase that disparity.

Why?

Sorry, the best WNBA team simply cannot draw as many fans, and as much advertiser interest, as the lesser NBA teams, and sorry to these naysayers, but the NBA is far more popular than the WNBA will ever be, so there is going to be a pay disparity today and into the future.

These dummies looking for a better deal for Clark include every woke commentator on TV and even President Biden, who you would think would have more important things on his mind than worrying about whether Clark can survive on her "measley" salary, one that dwarfs what most people make--like many blue- and white-collar workers--by plenty.

So I would wish that these people would close their mouths, and understand that except for just a few sports--like tennis--women will probably not be on a pay parity with men because the economics between the leagues are very, very different.

And then I would use another wish to shut up these pro-Palestine protesters, and the schools that seem to support this idiotic behavior.

(Of course, if one of my first wishes was to eradicate all wars, perhaps these dummies wouldn't have a chance to crawl out of the woodwork with their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views, but--)

Yesterday, the latest round of Congressional hearings taking on Ivy League schools for their anti-Israel and anti-Semitic tendencies took.on Columbia University and its president, who just happens to have an Arabic background.

That doesn't make her a bad person, and when she was asked, like the other Ivy League presidents who testified before her were, about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated the school's code of conduct, she and other Columbia representatives vehemently said thst it definitely did--unlike the drivel her predecessors said in response to the question.

But later, when asked if a vehemently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Columbia professor would be fired because he thought the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was a joyous occasion, the mush returned--

"Ah ... umm ... I ... well ... yes," Columbia's president said.

As of this writing, this professor remains employed by the Ivy League school.

My wish would be that anyone supporting terrorists, and proudly sporting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel beliefs, would see the light and just shut up.

On a lighter note ...

This fascination some of us have for everything related to Taylor Swift ... I would wish that they would go away too.

I mean, this infatuation with the singer has just gotten crazy.

In fact, with Passover beginning next week, this craziness has even encompassed this great holiday, where there is actually a "Taylor Swift Passover Hagaddah" being pedaled around by people who evidently are as stupid in the brain as even the very thought of such an absurd thing sounds.

Swift isn't Jewish herself, which makes the whole thing sacreligious to begin with. But even if she were, this is completely idiotic, a way to make a buck that goes against everything Passover represents.

So i would wish for these "Swiftees"--who don't appear to be too swift at all--to wise up a bit.

And lastly, I would wish that The Ranting and Raving Blog goes on for at least 3,333 more entries--

And unfortunately, this last wish is the only wish that, in the real world we live in, has even a chance of coming to fruition.

Rant #3,332: Drive

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!

This was the cryptic message I put up on Facebook yesterday.

Some people got it, some didn't, but if you read this Blog with any regularity, you know what "I DID IT!" means--

After nearly six months, I was able to get into my car and after doing that, I was able to drive my car.

This is a major accomplishment for me.

Roughly four months after my second left leg surgery, I am back in my saddle again.

And it felt soooooooo good!

With my wife acompanying me just to make sure, I drove the total 10-plus mile round trip there and back to my son's workplace without any incident.

This was after I practiced in the morning getting in and out of the car.

My car is kind of low to the floor, so using my crutches, I got to the door, opened it, and kind of swiveled into my seat.

Later, I got out of the car about the same way.

I had to push the seat as far back as it could go to do this, and for someone who prefers driving with my seat nearer to the steering wheel, it is a bit different to drive, but I adapted pretty swiftly.

I also have a "running board" built into the car, which not all makes and models of this car brand have, but I was able to use it to my advantage.

The running board is built into the floor, and is made so that your left foot is slightly elevated, maybe at a 40-degree angle.

It is quite handy on long car drives, because elevating your left foot even slightly makes these trips more comfortable.

And for me in my current condition, the slight elevation is kind of soothing to my left leg.

I also slightly push off of this thing to get out of the car, so it is "good to go" and "good to get out" of the car.

I had to refamiliarize myself with all the controls my car has; I also had to refamiliarize myself with the feel of the brake and accelerator.

My depth perception remains intact, so I was happy to say that that was not a problem.

All in all, even though I drove just a little more than 10 miles, it was as memorable a drive I have ever had, right up there with the first time I ever drove with my full license, in November 1974.

And remember, I had said from day one that I wanted to drive by my birthday on April 28, so I actually beat that goal by 12 days!

Look, I am not kidding myself.

I have a long way to go in my rehabilitation, with the original.prognostication of seven-to-12 months pretty much on target.

So while I am able to drive now, I probably have eight months--at the very least--to kick this thing through the goal posts.

As for driving, today will be the next test, as in the morning, I will be driving alone after I drop my son off at work.

I don't think I will have any problems, but it is another hurdle that I have to jump over.

There is still driving at night, driving in inclement weather, and driving longer distances, but I firmly believe that once you learn to drive, you never forget how to do it, no matter what the layoff is.

Now that I am behind the wheel, the shackles that have been restricting me are fully off.

And besides me, who is most pleased with this latest development?

My wife, of course!

If I had shackles on me, then she had a millstone around her neck, because for the past six months, she was forced to do 100 percent of the driving in my family.

Now, I can take that burden away from her, freeing her up to relax a wee bit.

And, of course, she--and our son--have supported me throughout this nightmare, so she is happy that I am doing better ... not quite there, but getting there by the day.

So all told, yesterday was a memorable day for me, today will continue that good feeling I have, and the days ahead are so bright that I have to wear shades ...

I am finally firmly planted in the driver's seat, and from that vantage point, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And it's about time.

Rant #3,331: On the Road Again

If you read yesterday's Rant, you know that I am finally rid of my leg brace.

I don't have to wear it anymore ... and the future at least looks somewhat promising for me now that I have lost that restriction.

Today is another huge day in my rehabilitation from this horrible injury that I suffered six months ago.

Today, without the brace restricting my movement, I am going to try to get in and out of my car.

If I can accomplish this relatively comfortably, I can finally get back to driving again.

As I have said time and time again, this is a major part of my rehab process, mentally, physically and emotionally.

If I can accomplish this, I will finally be free of the shackles that have pretty much chained me to our residence for the past six months.

Yes. I still have many months to go before I am whole, but boy, this would be a major step in the right direction!

I can finally do something to help out my family. And it will unburden my wife from doing all the driving, as she has been doing since day one of this nightmare.

I have been driving since I was 15 years of age, and I received my actual driver's license in November 1974, so this year marks 50 years of driving on my life's resume.

I have driven near and far, just around the corner to 1,200 miles--and back again--to Florida.

I love to drive, certainly inheriting that trait from my father, who was driving since he was 12 years of age--illegally, of course--and drove for more than 50 years as a licensed New York City medallion cab driver in New York City.

He loved to drive; in fact, a month before he passed away, I was in the car with him when he drove his last mile. 

And he drove just fine.

I definitely inherited the love of driving from him, and getting behind the wheel again is a major part of me getting better.

As I have said  numerous times, my goal is to be driving by my birthday on April 28.

If I can accomplish that goal, that will be terrific.

If not, I will do it, sooner than later.

I need to be able to drive again, but if I can't do it now, then I will do it within time.

I might be a bit disappointed if I can't do it right away.  

But it won't take away my determination to get back in the saddle again.

I had a great physical therapy session yesterday, actually making a breakthrough on the stationary bike--one full revolution around--that had the whole place cheering me on.

i did it six or seven times--not consecutively, but I will take what I can get.

I also walked with a cane--rather than crutches or walker for the first time--part if the regimen to get me to learn how to walk correctly once again.

These are all things that are part if my rehab, but even if i can somehow get behind the wheel again, i know i still have quite a way to go before i return to full normalcy.

But again, at this point, i will take what i can get.

Beggars can't be choosers, as the old saying goes.

And if you are wondering what I did with my brace ... I won't discard it.

I will keep it ... just in case something unforeseeable happens--

But more importantly,ai will keep it as a reminder for me of where I was, where I have been, and where I am at the moment I see this thing again, today, tomorrow and into the future.

For six months, this was part of my body.

Just because I don't need to wear it anymore doesn't mean it will ever leave me.

That being said, it is time to look ahead.

I am not going to say "eat my dust" just yet--even though I just said it--but today might just be one of the most important days of my more than 24,000 days of life.

Drive, he said ... I hope.

Rant #3,330: Going To a Go-Go

Today is a big day in my rehabilitation.

It is the final day that I have to wear my leg brace on my injured left leg.

I wore that brace continually for many months, because my injury was so severe, that my doctor felt that I needed the stability the brace gave me.

And I had the brace on when I tore my quad the second time, so it could only protect me so much.

But several weeks ago, my doctor allowed me to not wear the brace when I was at home, but I still had to wear it when I went outside.

I wore that brace continually for such a long time that even when the brace is not on, it still feels like I am wearing it.

It was on me so long that it felt like part of my body.

So after today, that brace is history, barring anything unforeseen.

Now beyond the obvious, what does not being restricted by the brace mean?

Well, first off, it means that I am getting better by the day, which is one of my main rehab goals.

Second, it brings me closer to the goal that I have had since day one of this nightmare--to not only get back to where I was before these horrific things happened to me, but on that path to normalcy, to be able to drive my car once again.

Being able to drive is paramount in my recovery. I won't basically be restricted to the house anymore. 

I will be able to do errands--like drive my son back and forth to work--and it will provide me a bit of freedom, which is very important--

Equally as important, it will help out my family--primarily my wife, who has been burdened with all the driving for the past six months.

Now, it isn't as easy as just going into the car and taking off into the sunset.

I still am not very steady on my feet, and I still need to use crutches and my walker to get around.

I have a very serious leg injury, and the very first thing I am going to have to do is to see if I can get in and out of the car.

If I can do that, then driving, even after six months of not doing so, should be a cinch.

So the very first thing I have to do is to practice getting in and out of the car, with my crutches with me in the car, helping me to get in and out of the vehicle.

If I can do that with as little discomfort as possible, that will be great!

But if I can't do it just yet, then I will push everything back for as long as it takes for me to be able to to this.

I want to do this so badly, and I have said from day one that one of my goals to my recovery is that I want to be driving by my 67th birthday on April 28.

I have been given the go-ahead by my doctor, so if it happens, it happens. 

If not by then, then it will happen sooner or later.

I have barely seen my car since I had the first accident.

I have not been in my car in six months.

Just the other day, for the first time since the accident, I went outside with my wife, opened up the car's trunk, saw what I put into it in the midst of moving to our new residence, and took these things up to our apartment, six months after the fact.

One benefit that i have--if there is one with a leg injury like I experienced--is that I injured my left leg rather than my right one.

Since you drive with the right foot, it might be easier for me to drive, since i will be using my normal foot to drive.

Others have told me that they have been able to drive even with the right leg injured, some using their left foot rather than the right one to drive.

Others have told me that they had no choice, and drove with the right foot even though the leg was injured.

I think anyone with these problems must be looked at as an individual case, so I am going to have to see if I can do this right away, or if I am going to have to put off this goal until I can safely and comfortably do this.

It is something I really, really want and need to do, and it will be the best birthday gift I can give myself if I can accomplish this.

So today is a very important day, and tomorrow--when I start trying to get in and out if the car--it will be an even more important day.

If I can do this, I will figuratively, and literally, be on the road to full recovery--

And I have the inner drive to get this done.

Rant #3,329: The End of the Road

Yes, we all heard the news yesterday morning.

O.J. Simpson has passed away after battling prostate cancer.

If I let it go at that, I guess I could probably get away with it, because really, the less said about him, the better.

But way back in Rant #1,943, dated July 21, 2017, I had plenty to say about Simpson.

So rather than wrack my brain, trying to figure out what more i could say about him, I thought I would rerun this Rant, because my feelings haven't changed at all.

So, here is what I had to say about Simpson nearly seven years ago.

"Yesterday, O.J. Simpson was granted parole after serving nine years of a possible 30-year sentence for armed robbery and assault.

His exemplary behavior behind bars, as well as him finding God and taking anger management classes, as well as testimony from even one of the people who he robbed, convinced officials that he had served his time and was ready for release.

He said he plans to go to Florida to live with his family.

The Simpson saga is just that, and Hollywood could never write a script like this.

He went from just another street kid to a college football star to an NFL Hall of Famer to a celebrity to a possible felon, and then to a real felon, in seemingly one fell swoop, and if this sentence that I wrote is long and convoluted, it isn't as much as Simpson's life has been.

The world was seemingly captivated when a jury found Simpson not guilty of the murder of his wife and one of her supposed friends, and all the hoopla surrounding that trial certainly made it one of the great cases of all time, one that is still being looked at, without any firm conclusions.

He was convicted in a civil trial, but in the real eyes of justice, he was innocent.

Simpson was one of the most likable people in the country in the 1970s and 1980s. He turned his prowess on the gridiron to success in the entertainment field, and he starred in numerous movies, TV shows and commercials playing off that likable personality he supposedly had.

But what we saw on the screen was, evidently, not the real Simpson, who had a troubled childhood generated by a troubled family, and he was a person with anger management issues that he kept well hidden from the general public.

And then came the high-speed road chase, the seemingly interminable trial, which was broadcast daily, and the aftermath, when he acted like he was the victim, not those who he had been accused of murdering.

Remember the pronouncements that he, himself was "looking for the killer" as he patrolled the golf links across the country?

But then Simpson got wrapped up in his own bravado, attacking memorabilia dealers who he believed had stolen memorabilia from him, and rather than go to the authorities with this belief, and challenge it legally, he took matters into his own hands, and he wound up in jail for his actions, with a sentence that if carried out to length, could have found him staying in prison into his 90s.

Now 70, Simpson has repented, said what he did was wrong, and he will be out of the pokey as early as this fall.

You can look at the Simpson saga several different ways, and whether you believe he had nothing to do with the earlier murders, they had nothing to do with the sentence, and the eventual parole, he received in the latest incident.

The guy has repented, served his time, and like any other inmate, he was due his due process, and he got what the law says he should have gotten.

My advice to Simpson is to keep his nose clean for the rest of his life.

When he gets out, don't galavant to local nightclubs or hot spots, because it will give the public the complete wrong impression of him, or at least the wrong impression that he should be giving out.

Lay low, stay with your family, enjoy being able to breathe again.

Stay with the values you learned in prison, and don't make the whole thing into a canard."

And that is that.

I really can't think of anything more to say about him, but according to accounts I heard about him from some people who knew him well, his final days were not good as the cancer ate away at him.

I am sure that some people would say "good riddance," and that he deserved his fate. 

i will simply leave it at that.

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a good weekend.

Rant #3,328: (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

We live in a crazy world, where up is down and down is up, with the seriousness of this situation horribly perpetuated by what I spoke about yesterday.

But today, we are going to look at the other end of this topsy-turvy angle ... and maybe have a little fun talking about what amounts to nonsense, woven into current events.

We have a "migrant" crisis in our country, where illegal aliens supposedly seeking asylum coming here in droves without much being done to stem the flow.

I was reading the newspaper yesterday morning, and I came across an article reporting that a copy of Action Comics #1--the debut of the character of Superman, the greatest superhero of them all--sold for a record $6 million to an anonymous buyer.

Well, as a former comic book collector--who sold my remaining collection this past summer when my family was in the process of changing residences--this completely boggled my mind ... remember, this comic book originally sold new for a dime.

Anyway, the newspaper also had an article or two about the migrant crisis, and I simply put two and two together, and this question arose:

"Is Superman an illegal alien?

And then, "Is Clark Kent a U.S. citizen?"

First things first, although both can kind of be answered in one fell swoop.

Superman is the ultimate immigrant, not coming from another country, but another solar system.

He came here as a baby when his planet of origin, Krypton, pretty much imploded in the sky.

He was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent--who go with other names depending on where you look--rescued from a miniature spacecraft that his blood parents--Lara and Jor-El--who sent their only child in to to save him from certain death.

Baby Kal-El was raised as the Kents' own child--again, in some accounts the baby was first put in an orphanage before the Kents legally adopted him--and Clark was brought up to understand thst he had a gift, one which he could use to benefit mankind.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the team that created Superman, said when they were alive that Superman's very creation paralleled the Jews coming to America in the early part of the 20th century, but again ... is Superman an illegal alien?

No. He is not.

In the comics, he became a universal symbol.of truth and justice, "and the American way," as the TV show has reminded us for the past 70 years.

His stories have been translated into many languages, his exploits are not just national, but international and interplanetary, and he is sort of in a category by himself: a citizen of the world ... so not only is he a citizen of the United States--although in more recent iterations of the character, he has renounced his American citizenry, but that's another story for another time--he is also a citizen of every European country, and really, every country on this planet.

So yes, Superman is an alien, but not an illegal one.

The second question intertwines with the first, and is a bit more complicated, although the number of words to describe my feelings on this subject will be much less, but each word will carry more weight.

As I said, I think Superman is recognized as a "world citizen " but Clsrk Kent is another matter.

I think that way back when, the Kents could have gotten away with saying that Clark was their natural born child, because especially in the rural areas of the country, hospital births were not as prominent as they were in bigger cities.

And the part of Smallville they lived in seemed to be very rural and secluded, so they could get away with it ... and remember, Social Security did not exist when the character was created in 1938, so the Kents did not have to bother with that facet of citizenry.

(I assume that Kent needed a Social Security number when that facet of our lives came upon us in 1940, when payments began and all Americans needed their own unique number, so he got his when, let's say, my parents and all citizens got their numbers.)

Thus, because of his parents' necessary white lies, Clark essentially became a citizen the moment he came to earth and the Kents found him.

This scenario could not happen in today's world, but way back when, it certainly could.

And if you go with the storyline that Clark was initially adopted by the Kents from an orphanage, then the Kents went through all the legal procedures to adopt this foundling, cementing the fact that he is a U.S. citizen.

I am sure that others might have different opinions on this, but I just provided you with my own reasons for thinking the way I think.

Now again, we are talking about a completely fictitious character who never actually lived.

But even though the character is popular around the planet, and thought of as a citizen of the world, Superman represents America ... the best of this country.

Although we are talking about a completely fictitious character, that character, in its own way, is George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King, all rolled into one.

So finally, is Superman an illegal alien?

No.

Is Clark Kent a U.S. citizen?

Yes.

And my feelings on this are, as they say, "more powerful than a locomotive ... ."

Rant #3,327: Shapes In My Mind

Now that all of this craziness related to the earthquake and the eclipse is over, it is time to get back to the real world.

As much as these two incidents supposedly brought us together as human beings, there are still major divisions among us related to the Israel-Hamas war.

And the rise of anti-Semitic incidents around the world shows us that there is much hatred when it comes to the Jewish State and Jews in general.

I posted the following on Facebook the other day, and it has been reposted by others, but I am going to post it once again here, simply because it is vitally important that as many people as possible see this, absorb it, and accept that what I wrote is true ...

Sad but true.

While folks show thst American Jews pretty much support Israel in its actions to rid the world of Hamas, there are some unthinking and very ignorant people who look upon Hamas as what they are not.

Blame who you want, but the world had its window of opportunity right after Hamas' vicious attack against innocent Israelis to do something important to rid the world of this terrorist organization.

We, as a worldwide human society, could have gotten together right after the atrocities of October 7--gotten together way more than any togetherness an earthquake or eclipse could ever produce--and show a unified stance in a statement that would dismantle Hamas better and quicker than any war could, but we dropped that ball with lots of talk, and little action.

In six months, some firmly believe that the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys ... it makes absolutely no sense at all.

Please read what I wrote, and please post any opinions that you have.

We must get together as a civilization on this matter, because our very existence--Jew and non-Jew--depends on it.

"You cannot deal logically with terrorists, but the world, evidently, and the U.N., without a doubt, do not consider Hamas terrorists, even though this is an acknowledged terrorist organization. 

This episode that Hamas perpetrated should have been condemned immediately by the U.N., and the following response from the rest of the world would have created a strong unified front, that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

This did not happen, and the window of opportunity is over.

Israel would gladly enact a ceasefire if the terms were fair,  but when Hamas constantly refuses any efforts to stop this by sabotaging the terms, you know that this cannot end peacefully nor any time soon.

The world must get into their heads two things: Hamas is not a humanitarian organization, and two, there is no chance of a Palestinian state when Hamas' basic tenet is to wipe Israel, and all Jews, off the face of the earth."

Read it, absorb it, and please let me know what you think.

Rant #3,326: I See the Light

So, we had the eclipse ...

I don't know if it was a completely nothing event, but I personally took it for what it was, and I simply stayed indoors and watched TV when we had totality. 

Now that it is pretty much over, that's the end of that.

I guess if you actually witnessed this thing in an area of totality, you received a bigger bang from the event, but personally, I just went about my business while this was happening.

I did some work, I watched TV with my son, and yes, did turn into a few of the news specials that were on to highlight the eclipse, preferring the local, New York reports to those produced nationally by CBS, NBC and ABC.

But the theme was clear on all of these shows: no matter our race, our background, our religion or anything else, this was an event that we all felt, that brought us together as one.

So even though that was a quasi-political statement--making a scientific event into one that satisfied an agenda--I really couldn't argue with that theme.

I mean, the same thing could be said about last week's earthquake, but that was an event that took us all by surprise and scared and worried many of us ...

The eclipse was more of a happy event, so if it brings smiles to our collective faces, who can argue with it?

If people think that this event brought us together, even for a brief moment or two or three, what's wrong with that?

I just hope that people listened to what they were told, and watched the eclipse safely.

But you just know that there will be reports of some people damaging their eyes by looking at the eclipse without protection.

I knew a fellow who damaged his eyes years ago by looking very briefly at a partial eclipse while he served in our military.

He was a victim of Agent Orange, had no idea what he was doing ... and it only took a second.

And what about the opportunists ... those who take advantage of the situation both legally and illegally?

Of the latter, those who were selling "counterfeit" glasses to unsuspecting people so they can ruin their eyesight-- 

These criminals should be apprehended and forced to watch an eclipse with their supposedly protective glasses.

And then you have the legal opportunists, like Newsday, my local.paper. They had the nerve to have a special eclipse insert in the Sunday newspaper. I thought they would have a few articles on the eclipse, mixed with ads, like they do in their baseball season preview each year, where they profile the Yankees, the Mets, and the upcoming MLB season--

But all it was was wall-to-wall, paper-to-paper ads, and had nothing to do with the eclipse.

One is illegal, the other is legal, but to me, they are all.opportunists, and a pox on all of them.

But now, the 2024 eclipse is nothing but history, a footnote on all of our lives.

Me, I pretty much took it all in in my own "totality" ... just pretty much totally ignore it while it happened--

And it happened, and left us, as quickly as it came.

And those glasses?

They go in a drawer now, safely tucked away, to be stumbled upon every now and again with a "I remember these things and the eclipse" as they get stuffed back into the same drawer and forgotten about--

Until the next time.

Rant #3,325: Shake, Rattle and Roll

A new week, new challenges, an eclipse coming up later today, and nothing surprises me anymore.

On Friday morning, I was sitting on my bed at about 10:30 a.m., watching a replay of a classic New York Yankees home opener from 2003, and preparing to go to my physical therapy session.

Now, I don't quite remember if the Yankees' Hideki Matsui--nicknamed "Godzilla"--had just hit a grand slam homer just before or right after this happened, but all of a sudden, the bed and our apartment shook for maybe a second.

I first thought it was the wind, which has been pretty fierce lately, but I quickly realized that this was much more than just a solid gust of wind.

I then went on my computer to do some work, and lo and behold, there was a banner headline on my Yahoo News feed saying that the Northeast had experienced a 4.8-magnitude earthquake, one that ran from Southern New Jersey all the way up through Maine.

Not everyone felt it--my wife was doing our food shopping in another part of our town and was surprised when I told her what happened, because she didn't feel a thing--but I looked on Facebook, and people felt it in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island, and into New England.

It is the second time I can remember such a thing happening.

Several years ago, on August 24, 2011, I was at work, eating my lunch, and all of a sudden, I felt the building move, and I held onto my desk.

That quake, while a bit more powerful than the latest one, also lasted about a second, and that was that ... until Friday.

And on Friday, when I got to physical therapy, the quake was the talk of the town.

The latest quake--followed by one or two after shocks, from what I understand but did not personally experience, although my wife said that this time, she felt something in early evening--wasn't reported to have done any major damage, but you just know that every municipality in the quake area will be checking their buildings to make sure these facilities are stable.

I don't know what you can do to prevent these quakes, but you can make sure that your buildings are structurally sound so that they can withstand these shakes.

I am just happy that I live where I do and not elsewhere, like in California ... when they get a quake, they get a real earthquake, and there is plenty of damage and lives lost.

And didn't they just have a devastating earthquake in Taiwan?

No, I will stay where I am.

I am not completely stable on my feet right now, and heaven forbid if I was standing with my crutches when we git our momentary shake, who knows what could have happened to me?

PLOP!

Oh, I would hope not.

Two surgeries is more than enough for me.

I like to walk on the floor, not fall onto it.

And please, protect your eyes today.

If you suffer damage from peaking at the eclipse without protection, the damage is irreversible.

Be smart, not stupid.

Heck, if you damage your eyes, you won't be able to read this Blog--

And that would make me very unhappy.

Rant #3,324: Here, There, and Everywhere

I am back!

I did what I had to do for work, and once again, audio problems held me up, but I was able to get the job done, thank goodness.

I am still not sleeping well, but evidently just enough to get away with it. My recent nuclear stress test came back fine, and every medical test I have had during the past few weeks has come back OK, so all of this must be in my head. It remains a major problem that I have, and I am working on it as best I can.

And after pretty much giving away a few days to get my work done, yesterday was a somewhat slower day, and I returned to watching some TV and relaxing a bit, which is something I could not do the last few days.

I watched the usual stuff, baseball, local and national news shows, and classic sitcoms, the latter of which I just find so much more satisfying than the sitcoms being produced today.

Those old shows were funny. There is no "funny" today, because we have forgotten how to.laugh at ourselves. 

But off my soapbox ...

One of the shows I watched was an episode of "Family Affair," the sitcom about the well-to-do bachelor architect who unwittingly inherits his two nieces and his nephew when their parents perish in a fatal accident.

The show was charming back then, giving the viewer a sanitized view of upper-crust New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a nice mix of actors, including grizzly Brian Keith as "Uncle Bill" Davis, and sweet as sugar kids Kathy Garver as Cissy, Anissa Jones as Buffy, and Johnny Whitaker as Jody.

And then there was Sebastian Cabot, who played the very proper English Gentleman's Gentleman who was so unique on American TV that at times, he made the show must-see TV as he somehow morphed into as much of a nanny as Fran Drescher was years later on "The Nanny" ... but in a much more dignified way.

Anyway, I just love sitcom "confluences," where a star best known for his or her role on anothet sitcom finds himself or herself on another such sitcom.

And it is even more interesting to me when this confluence is of child stars.

The episode of "Family Affair" that I watched guest starred Eve Plumb, later of "The Brady Bunch," appearing on the show.

This episode, which might be the best of the series, features Plumb playing Eve, a child with an unnamed disease which eventually proves fatal.

Anissa Jones--who in real life had numerous problems that led to her own early passing--as Buffy becomes friendly with Eve, and in her final days, they hold a very early Christmas party knowing that Eve has little time to go.

This is one of the few shows in the series that is pretty much straight drama, and the kids in the cast really seem to understand their roles in what ultimately was a very sad episode.

I have seen this episode so many times, and it still gets to me.

And this episode really pulls no punches in its presentation of severe childhood illness way before the Shriners and St. Jude really brought the reality of childhood illness to light.

But to the point, we have a quartet of the top TV child stars of the day on one show ... even though Garver is admittedly playing a character five years younger than she actually was in real life, playing 15 years old at 20, so compared with Jones, Whittaker and Plumb, she is kind of long in the tooth.

I just love these confluence of sitcom stars, and recently, I have seen "Dennis the Menace" Jay North playing Dennis on "The Donna Reed Show" with other top kid stars Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen, and then seeing an older, teenage North playing Chip Douglas' (Stanley Livingston) buddy on "My Three Sons" with other growing older kid stars Don Grady and Barry Livingston.

I have recently seen Butch Patrick of "The Munsters" on "My Three Sons," and Keith Thibodeaux, "Little Ricky" on "I Love Lucy" appearing in a gaggle of episodes.of "The Andy Griffith Show" as Opie's (Ron Howard) buddy. 

ln what can be characterized as "what comes around goes around," Howard himself appeared on a couple of early episodes of "Dennis the Menace" as Dennis' younger friend.

There are just so many of these to name, and older actors get into it too; I recently saw an episode of "Gomer Pyle USMC" that featured Al Lewis, "Grandpa" on "The Munsters," playing opposite sitcom all-stars Jim Nabors as "Gomer" and Frank Sutton as "Sgt. Vince Carter."

I don't see as many confluences after the late 1960s and early 1970s, but during this very fertile period for network sitcoms, I guess you could see anybody on any show as long as they had breath in their body.

Back to "Family Affair" ... I was always enamored with this show, and looking back, I think it had as much to do with the uniqueness of the French character as it had to do with the often vanilla images of late 1960s and early 1970s New York City as anything else.

(And during the New York Mets doubleheader yesterday, series star Brian Keith was mentioned by the announcers on the TV broadcast related to his last name being shared with that of a Detroit Tigers player and the first name of Mets' broadcaster Keith Hernandez... and yes, "Family Affair" was mentioned, and a picture of Keith was shown on air during the broadcast.)

But admittedly, being an older adolescent moving into my early teenage years, I know that my eye was kind of watching Garver as the supposedly young teenager Cissy.

I think I kind of found her cute in my own way, an older girl that was so straightlaced in the Mod 1960s; the only out-of-the-box thing about her was what her mane of hair looked like from episode to episode.

And today, Garver does commercials for telephones for the elderly and/or hard of hearing!

My, how we have all gotten older as the years have passed!

But those confluences never get old, at least not to me.

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

Rant #3,323: Just Another Day

In the midst of talking about April Fools' Day yesterday, I completely forgot to ask you this question:

How was your Easter?

Sorry about that.

But honestly, for my family and I, since it is not our holiday, it was just another day.

It is nice that the baseball season has started, as that is what I did on Easter Sunday ... watched baseball, as I would do on any Sunday during the baseball season.

So it was truly "just another day."

I would use "JAD," but for some reason, that acronym has never caught on on the Internet, like "LOL" or "IMHO" has.

Maybe "JAD" should, too.

Anyway, about me ... I guess I am doing better .... in small increments.

I am hopeful that I can lick this thing, upbeat about my chances and my future, but since I still have many months of rehab to go, I can get a little down on things here and there and everywhere as much as I can be on the positive side of things.

My left leg remains swollen, but it is more maneuverable than it was

I am getting closer to a 90 percent maneuverability rate, but of course, I have to be well beyond that to get back to where I was.

I still can't shower without help--it remains difficult to get in and out of the tub, and I can't dress myself--or undress myself, for that matter--just yet.

Getting on and off socks and shoes remains a problem ... I just cannot get my left sock and shoe on and off by myself at the present time.

I walk with the crutches and a walker, and when I go outside, I still have to wear a brace.

That period is, happily, coming to an end, because by mid-April, my doctor/surgeon says I can ditch the brace, hopefully for good.

That is when I can practice going in and out of my car, in preparation to start driving again by my birthday, April 28.

That has always been my first goal, and I am sticking with it.

I am not wearing the brace in the house, but even though it is not on me very much at all anymore, it still feels like it is on even when it isn't.

The only way to explain this is that we have heard that people who lose limbs still feel as if they have them even when the arm or leg is gone--

And I wore that brace for so long that the feeling of wearing the brace remains, even though I am not wearing it.

Thus, my leg feels a bit heavy--the brace does have some weight to it--and while I am not in pain, I still have the feeling of injury--it is not discomfort, necessarily, but it is difficult to explain.

The "feeling of injury" is still there.

Mentally and emotionally ... those have become the most difficult things to combat.

I still have a bit of anxiety about this entire mess that I am in, and some days are better than others, and some days are worse than others.

My sleep pattern still isn't great.

I cannot sleep in the bed at all--except for naps of short duration during the day--and at night, I still sleep two hours here, an hour there ... but all in the living room, often with the TV on as white noise.

I have started to use a small dose of melatonin, an over-the-counter drug which assists the user in sleep.

I guess it has helped a bit, because since using it, although my sleep is not continuous, at least I am sleeping.

For example, my most recent sleep had me dozing off in the living room while watching TV with my son at probably about 9:30 p.m., and while I did get up briefly once or twice, I finally got up for good at about 4:45 a.m.

This is obviously not the optimal time to rise for the day, but if you add everything up, I must have slept about seven hours, which isn't too terrible, and I was able to get back to sleep after briefly waking up once or twice.

I would prefer sleeping in the bed, but whether I sleep in the bed, in a chair or on the couch, it is quite uncomfortable, so I will, right now at least, take the sleep where I can get it.

And yes, I am still working ... and the past two weeks have been hellish with the amount of work I have had to do, and this week won't be any better.

I have another conference to cover, and it is going to be even more difficult to cover this virtually, because I won't be fully dedicated to it, as I have physical therapy and other things to attend to while this thing is on ... and hopefully, there won't be any of those audio problems I had two weeks ago!

So I will have to skip the next two days of Ranting, to give me time to write up the two-day meeting.

I will speak to you again on Friday.

Anyway, everything I said here today just revolves back to "just another day," or JAD again.

And I am going to say the following again, and I will say it ad infinitum into the future until things change, if they ever will:

What is retirement? This can't possibly be what retirement is all about--

Four-and-a-half years and running ...

This simply cannot be retirement, it just can't be.

JAD ... JAD ... JAD ... .

Rant #3,322: Fool (If You Think It's Over)

Today is April Fools' Day!

It is the day we are "allowed" to pull little, harmless pranks on our friends and family.

I remember that as a little kid, I would try to convince people that it was the next day rather than the day it was.

In other words, if I was going that route today, I would try to convince you that it was Tuesday rather than Monday, the day it really is.

Yes, I must have been a barrel of laughs way back when!

Today, I will look at my left leg and shout "April Fools!"

But I will quickly realize that my injury isn't a joke, and that I really am injured.

Oh, the pain!

But not only isn't it the same as an adult on April Fools' Day, it is simply a day that is as much a day of reality as any other day is.

In my neck of the woods, it is rent day ... so the reality of the day for myself and my family is that we have to cough up our rent check today.

But that's the way it's been forever, so it is nothing new.

I remember several years ago, I had fun with this blog by declaring, after doing the blog for several years, that I was giving it up lock, stock and barrel, as they say.

Some people believed me, but most people didn't, but it was fun trying to convince my readers that I was done.

And, of course, a few thousand posts later, I am still not done with this blog, and I won't be for the foreseeable future.

And that is no April Fools' Day joke!

I remember that many years ago, the then powerhouse radio station WNEW-FM pulled one of the great April Fools' Day jokes of all time.

The radio station's sports reporter told the radio audience--in between the spinning of records from the likes of the Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin--that the Steinbrenner family had sold the New York Yankees to--

Donald Trump!

Yes, the real estate magnate that was simply known as "The Donald" back then had purchased the Yankees, or so we were told.

It ended up being a load of April Fools' Day nonsense, but it had a lot of people going, including some news services, and yes, me too.

Back then, maybe it was plausible that the future president could actually purchase the Yankees ... but in the present time, with all of the judgments against him, Trump probably would come up a few dollars short.

But this is the fun of April Fools' Day, a day we can kid around and generally not be taken to task for it.

So if I say that the world is a good and safe place now, I could give you a little wink, and blurt out--

"April Fools!"

But given our current state of affairs, I don't think we would get much of a laugh out of it.

Rant #3,321: Music, Music, Music

I have not done this in quite a while, but it is time for some self promotion.

I run a couple of Facebook sites, and you might be interested in two of them that I am going to highlight today.

The first one is "Where the Action Is, Yesterday, Today ... and Tomorrow," a site that highlights one of TV's great, but almost forgotten, music shows of the past, the Dick Clark-produced "Where the Action Is," which ran on ABC for two sessons or so, from 1965 to 1967.

The show was a Monday through Friday cornucopia of the best in rock and pop music of the time--less the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and some other huge acts that never appeared--and made stars of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

But the show was so much more than just the Raiders, having its own team of regulsr players, including Keith Allison, Tommy Roe, Tina Mason, Steve Alaimo, the Hard Times, Don and the Goodtimes, the Action Kids, and many others.

Predating MTV by more than a dozen years, the show became a TV destination for Baby Boomers, and many of the artists featured on the show weren't on TV elsewhere or only in limited appearances, including Billy Stewart, the Razor's Edge, ? and the Mysterians, and many others.

I try to bring out the eclectic nature if the show on the site, with a daily rundown of artists who appeared on the show along with a rare video of a musical performance, either from the show itself or from other shows of the era.

You can access the site at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Wz8EJnMRYUkP9dRN/?mibextid=oFDknk

Then we have a site simply known as "45s," which highlights those 45 RPM singles that we all bought as kids and which I consider to be an art form in itself.

I have over 5,000 singles in my collection, and while the site isn't a daily one like the "Where the Action Is" site is, I try to put up new singles that I have added to my collection.

After a period of inactivity, I am trying to revive the site, and all are welcome to put up their own 45s or have discussions on this format.

This site can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/GPvr962aDAXwdyVJ/?mibextid=oFDknk

Both are fun, G-rated sites, and you might want to check them out.

Let's have fun!

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

And Happy Easter!

Rant #3,320: Be True To Your School

I have no idea where my high school.yerbook is.

As I have mentioned before here, those four years I spent in high school--newly moved to Long Island, away from my friends, and pretty much not fitting in for my four years of education there--are a forgettable part of my life.

Those unhappy days greatly affected me, and honestly, I have blotted out just about everything having to do with high school.

I remember things in general, but I don't remember much in specifics.

And again, my high school yearbook has been missing in action for years, and I when we moved, it didn't turn up, either.

My junior high school yearbook is an absolute gem, absolutely defining the neighborhood I grew up in, both the good and the bad as well as the very good and the very bad.

This also was lost somewhere down the line, and I was lucky to get a high-grade exact copy of the yearbook from a fellow classmate.

I cherish this yearbook so much that several years ago, I put it up, page by page, on Facebook.

I was able to find my college yearbook, and my undergraduate school did not make it a requirement that graduates get their photo taken for the book, so a lot of the people I hung out with in college--much happier years than my high school years--aren't even in the book, nor are some non-seniors I was friendly with in college.

Graduate school--maybe there was a yearbook, but I never wanted one, nor did I go to graduation; I just waited to get my diploma in the mail, and that was enough for me.

But back to the high school yearbook ...

i just happened to go on the classmates.com site--an address i had not visited in probably more than a decade--and you guessed it, i actually found the yearbook!

I scrolled through it, and my feelings haven't changed.

Those years were bad for me personally, and at least to me, this yearbook doesnt mean much, and to my eye, all these years later, the book is pretty sour.

i remember some of my fellow grads via their graduation photos, and I do remember one imbecile who pushed me so much to the brink during those years that I actually had a fight with him in the middle of the hallway.

(We had to share lockers back then, and he was throwing my stuff all over the place ... I had had trouble with this brat throughout high school, and the full story about this episode is much longer, and I won't go into it now.

Let's just say that i proved my point.)

As for my photo, it really exemplfies how much i hated going to high school.

My hair--yes, i actually had hair--is a mess, due to my remembrance thst they took the pictures during a very windy and very warm summer day.

i walked to school to get the picture taken--it was just a few weeks before i got my driver's license--and when i got to where the photos were being taken, i didnt have a comb to make my hair presentable, so the photo shows my hair all over the place.

Most importantly, my smile is kind of forced. I just wanted to get the whole thing--both the photo and high school.itself--over and done with, and it shows.

(i also remember that all the boys were told that we had to wear a suit jacket for the photo, but on this blistering hot and windy summer day, myself and just about every boy did not wear long pants that day, we wore shorts and sneakers.)

Did looking through the yesrbook--even electronically--spur any good memories of high school? 

Did I get a kick about seeing myself nearly 50 years ago in a picture from the 1970s?

No, not really. 

Upon seeing some of the teachers, I wondered how many were still with us all these years later ... and I also saw a photo of a teacher thst spurred a memory that I would have liked to forget--that being that just about everyone knew he was having an affair with a student when he was in her 30s and she was probably l5 or 16 yesrs old, and yes, they did get married when she was of legal age, if I remember correctly.

What would happen today if such a situation existed?

No, I don't have many memories of high school, certainly not too many good memories at all ...

And I am just so happy that I once again could close the book on this period of my life--

This time, with a simple click!