Rant #3,960: Sound Asleep

I guess you can say that I am feeling somewhat better ...

But I am just not right yet.

I am stuck in the house--out of necessity, take it from me--for the next few days, and I hope to improve enough by then to get out of the house, even for a brief spell.

I have set Sunday afternoon as my goal--when I plan to drive my son to work--and if I can do that, I can pick him up later that day too.

But that is simply something to think about right now, because if I had to do it today, I don't think I could do it.

I am still recuperating from Monday's major surgery, and I am just not there yet.

Next week is a big week for me.

On Monday, I will have my KUB scan to see how the area responded to the surgery, and on Tuesday, I have to have another procedure--this one is minor ... I keep on telling myself--so that I can really get back to where I should be.

This stuff never ends, but I hope I am on the road to real recovery by the middle of next week.

Now, as for the New York Knicks ...

I mean, what can you say about them that hasn't already been said?

They put on a remarkable comeback in Wednesday night's Finals game, where they were down at the half by 27 points, it got up to 29, and then, they pulled off a history-making comeback, and won the game by one point to take a 3-1 lead in the series over the San Antonio Spurs.

And where was I during all of this hoopla?

Asleep in my bed, that's where--

And that is why I know that I am not right just yet.

I hope to be able to watch the game, in full, on Saturday night, but I won't make promises ...

I just had two major surgeries, plus some major procedures, in the past 90 days or less, and I am just not there yet.

The body has to heal, and it is knocking me out for a loop, it really is.

What happened is that at halftime of Wednesday's game, I just decided I could not stay up.

I am under a lot of medication, which is probably making me whoozy to begin with.

So I went to sleep at sometime after 10 p.m.

I woke up at about 2 a.m., and the first thing I did was to go on my phone, looked up the score and--

BAM!

I had to find out everything I could about the comeback, read a story, looked up the stats, the usual stuff ...

And I don't think I nodded off again until it was probably 3 a.m., and I didn't wake up again until past 7:30 a.m.--

Only to get my daily newspaper, which didn't have the final score in it.

That is my life right now.

I am doing the best I can, but I simply cannot stay up so late with all this stuff going on inside me.

Yes, it is frustrating, it is depressing, and most importantly--

It is not me.

I have had a hell of a 2026--with the key word being "hell"--and as we approach the midway point of the year, I just have to hope that things get better in the year's second half.

I can't think any other way.

Have a great weekend, hopefully the Knicks will close this thing out on Saturday--I predicted the Knicks in six games, by the way--and I will hopefully speak to you again on Monday.

I have one more thing to say--

Go New York--

Go New York--

GO!!!!!!!!!!

Rant #3,959: Bits and Pieces

Yes, I have returned!

I feel lousy, but more about that later.

I just felt it was time to come back, and bring back "Bits and Pieces" as I return to this perch.

As some of you know, I have been posting some things on Facebook since I had my latest surgery, and I can now post them here too.

So without further ado, here is the latest installment of "Bits and Pieces."

President Donald Trump Attends NBA Finals Game At Madison Square Garden: To those who are getting completely bent out of shape at the President's invite to the Knicks game, this is what I have to say to you:

If Obama and/or Biden was invited, you phoneys would say nothing, and probably applaud the gesture.

We know why you are so "aghast" at this invite, don't we now?

And before you imbeciles bring it up, I am not MAGA, did not vote for Trump, but what I am is a realist, and some of you are just so ignorant.

Trump was a Knicks fan before anyone knew who he was, so this is just whining.

And remember, Mayor Mamdani, a real, honest to goodness piece of garbage, was there too. 

What do you have to say about that?

Riot Ensues After Knicks Loss In NBA Finals Game At Madison Square Garden: What did anyone expect? 

This generation has no respect for anything, and when you get so many of them together, mix it with a loss, this is what can happen. 

We are better than this. 

And if the Knicks win it all, the NYPD will have their hands full. 

If this happens again, ban public watch parties, period.

[Note: The city banned the watch party at MSG for Game 4, which was the right call. Other watch parties around the city went on as scheduled.]

On the World Cup: The media has been falling all over itself to get the U.S. into soccer since the late 1950s.

It simply hasn't worked.

They are continuing to go head over heels for the World Cup since it is being played here, but really, most people don't give a hoot about this.

It is being directed at foreign nationals who live here now, who live here and yet root for their country of origin team over the U.S. team, and once it is over and done with, it will be like the Olympics; nobody will remember winners, losers or stars.

Soccer will always be a niche sport here, but the media is looking for the next bandwagon to jump on.

We don't need soccer here; it is a true mix of sports and politics, which should never mix to begin with, and it almost gives license to bullying, violence and anti-Semitic behavior.

We have enough of that over here already; keep it overseas.

My Health Situation: It really isn't too good right now, as after my latest surgery, I just don't feel like myself just yet.

This was a more involved surgery, because what they couldn't get out in the previous two surgeries they were hell-bent on getting out now, and they did it.

It has just left me feeling quite a bit out of sorts, hurting a little bit, and certainly not myself in the very least.

I am kind of stuck in the house for the remainder of the week, as I do not feel up to going out, nor should I in this condition.

My wife is doing most of the heavy lifting this week, and my son is "the man of the house" in my current condition.

I have to be patient, and I know it will be a couple of more days until I get back to somewhat normal.

So just please bear with me.

I might be in and out of here, I just don't know yet.

I have been doing work--in fact, I did some editing/writing after I returned home after the surgery--and that kind of takes me away from everything for a few moments.

I have been barely able to make 9 p.m., so my watching of the Knicks games has been severely hampered.

But if this is how I have to progress to retain my good health, then so be it.

So there it is.

I said what I said, and I don't take back anything I said, even if it isn't "Politically Correct" in the climate that we are in right now.

Someone has to say it, so I did.

And I have one more thing to say ...

Go New York ...

Go New York--

GO!

Rant #3,958: Happy Anniversary

Today, I am getting prepared for my upcoming surgery on Monday.

It is my third surgery in the past three months or so, and no, I am not looking forward to it at all.

However, once I get it, I was told that that will be it, at least for now, so I have to have faith in my doctors that what they are telling me is true.

And as seems to be the norm lately, my surgery comes up just after a very important day in my life.

On Saturday--or just two days prior to the surgery--my wife and I will celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary.

The time has gone quickly, but suffice it to say that looking at my life, it was probably the greatest thing I ever did.

I met the girl of my dreams, married her, had a child with her, and here we are, still together after so many ups and so many downs.

Lately, the part of the vow that says "in sickness and in health" has applied, as I have not been at my top form health-wise.

My wife has been my Rock of Gibraltar, never losing faith in me, even when I have lost faith in myself.

I simply could not have gotten through any of this without her--and without our son, for that matter--and I know that if there are any speed bumps in my recovery, she--and he--will be there for me.

I just wish it was under better circumstances this time around.

Since our son works the entire weekend, we won't be going out or doing any celebrating just yet.

Maybe when I recover, we can do something, but right now, we will lay low as I heal.

Who would have thought I would have been in this situation 33 years ago, in 1993?

I certainly couldn't, that's for sure.

And when I say happy 33rd anniversary to her, and give her a big kiss, I will add "and another at least 33 more," which would make us 102 years old when that time would come in 2059, so it is not out of the realm of possibility.

But let's take one step at a time.

Let me get through this abomination first, and then we can start counting to 2059.

That being said, I won't be at my usual perch here at the Blog for a few days, but I hope to be back later next week.

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

?

Rant #3,957: Dream Weaver

Welcome to the latest Rant at the Ranting and Raving Blog.

We are approaching 4,000 Rants, and we should hit that--my health willing--in September or October.

I am pretty proud of that number.

And as I am writing this, this second version of this Blog--the first one was taken over by hackers--has reached hit number 888,888.

That means that since this version of the Blog has been around, the site has recorded 888,888 visits.

Look, I know that a lot of those hits are mine--I mean, I do have to visit the site to create this material, and I do have to visit now and again to see how many people have visited--but I just thought that that was a bit of a significant number, so I brought it up today--

And knowing how the site works, that number will be way outdated by the time you read this entry.

In all honesty, the site could have even more hits than it actually has.

I post the full Rants each weekday on Facebook, so people don't even have to visit the site to read what I have to say.

But that is the way I like it--

Spread the word any way you can.

I don't make any money off of this site, I just do it for fun.

I wish I made some money, but alas, that is not meant to be.

In fact, Google has alerted me that since I don't make enough money from the site--it is monetized--that they are cancelling my ability to make money from it any day now, if they haven't already done so.

I didn't set up this site to make money, so I really don't care what they do.

As long as you can read what I have to say, that is payment enough for me.

The Blog draws a diverse group of readers from around the world, and that is most important to me.

In fact, yesterday, I received a Facebook message from someone who came across my Blog post from yesterday.

He, too, grew up in the same neighborhood as I did--Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, New York--and he agreed with my recent post about Jaxson Dart of the football Giants and the controversy around him and President Trump.

So stupid, so infantile, so baby-like ...

And this person agreed with what I had to say.

If he didn't, that would be fine, too, as I welcome all opinions here.

But he agreed with me, so I know that the Blog's purpose is being satisfied, and that people I don't even know exist are reading this Blog, and visiting this site.

That is really all the payment I need.

I did some research on number 888,888, and according to www.sunsigns.org/angel-number-888888-meaning/, the number does have some relevance in the astrological world.

The site says 888,888 means the following:

"You have people around you who care about your well-being and will do all they can to ensure that you are on the right path. Do not let any negativity take you out of the game. Number 888888 is a message from your guardian angels that you should work on your spirituality."

Wow!

It all kind of plays into what I am going through health-wise.

See how things align even when you don't realize it?

And as I am typing this out, the Ranting and Raving Blog has registered additional hits.

We are already up to 889,159 in a blink of an eye.

Before you know it, we will be up to 1 million visits!

Not bad for a site that started its existence on nothing but a whim and a dream.

Rant #3,956: King Nothing

I never talk about football in this Rant.

I don't like the sport, don't like what it has become, and it means nothing to me.

Then this latest controversy came up, and it has nothing to do with athletics ...

More about politics than anything else.

Jaxson Dart, the young and talented New York Giants quarterback, made an appearance with President Donald Trump at a rally, introducing him to a crowd the other day--

And one of Dart's teammates became just so horrified at what Dart had done, and let him know about it through social media, where the story spiraled into a national headline.

A teammate of Dart's, Abdul Carter, took great horror at Dart doing this, and posted his feelings on social media, stating that he "thought it was AI," and used some other filthy words to describe what he felt.

They subsequently met, and I believe it was all ironed out, but that really isn't the story here.

The story is that this is not what sports is all about.

Sports brings together people from all different backgrounds, all different ethnic groups and all different beliefs, and puts them together, where nothing else is supposed to matter but what goes on on the field.

Dart is allowed to have whatever political leanings he wants to have, as does Carter, but Carter's inappropriate reaction to what Dart did really was bewildering.

Is Carter saying that he can't play with Dart anymore because he is a Trump supporter?

What does that have to do with what the Giants do on the field ...

And yes, the Giants are one of the NFL's worst teams, so don't you think Carter should be on the same sports page as Dart, as Dart is the team's starting quarterback?

What does politics have to do with anything?

Well, this story, of course, spiraled into a major firestorm of controversy, and yes, it wound up on Facebook.

I recently was friended by someone from my old neighborhood in Rochdale Village, someone I kind of knew way back when.

Well, he jumped into this controversy, and as a liberal, of course, he took the side of Carter in this mess--

To which I pretty much replied in the way I did here, where sports should have nothing to do with politics.

He then put up a message that is probably the most heinous, most racist thing I have ever read on Facebook ... and I have read plenty.

He replied to the extent that since the NFL is a predominately black league, with most players being African-American, for Dart to do what he did was a slap in the face to most of the players in the league.

I could not believe that he said that, and let him know how racist what he said actually was.

I said that with that thinking, why should any Jew bother to criticize anti-Semites here, there and everywhere, since we make up such a small percentage of the population both here and worldwide.

Just go with it because we aren't the majority ... just go with the flow.

I guess I took this "friend" by surprise with my response, and he eventually said that maybe now was the time to unfriend me due to having the audacity to disagree with him--

Which, of course, led me to tell him that he could do what he wanted, but evidently, he shields himself from any opinion other than his own by having "friends" that agree with him on hating Trump, who he called some vicious names on Facebook, none of which, in my estimation, are true, and I told him so.

I am no MAGA supporter of the president, did not vote for him in the last election, but he attacked Trump viciously and unnecessarily, in my estimation.

I also told him that I welcome views from all sides of the ledger, which as you know, I do.

You are probably wondering why I am not putting up the exact quotes from him and me, but he has since either blocked me or taken down the post, which is fine with me--

But then his bluster came to Facebook messenger, and here is where you are going to read some exact quotes.

"You are a bit of a coward, aren't you you?" I wrote. 

I had sent him my story in Newsday as an example of what sports is really all about.

"Did you read my story? Can't take that someone has the audacity to disagree with you? And by the way, I did not vote for Trump. [By blocking me] you are one less fool for me to deal with, and put in their place."

His reply:

"No, life is too short to deal with a-holes."

He used the full term, but since this is a family blog, I won't use it, and it gets worse.

I replied, "Oh, because I had the nerve to disagree with you, you call me that word? Demonstrates that you cannot take the heat, and act infantile when someone disagrees with you. 

"Funny, I have friends of all backgrounds, ultra-liberal to ultra-conservative and everything in between. We agree to disagree on some things, but we remain friends ... and I don't mean Facebook friends, I mean real friends.

"Your behavior is ridiculous. Did you bother to read my story [which I posted to him]. That is the true essence of sports, and politics has nothing to do with it.

"And you speak about being a racist; re-read what you said about Dart not doing what he did because the NFL is a predominately black league. That is a racist thought, my friend. And you call Trump racist? Takes one to know one, I guess.

"You can't come up with something better than I am absolutely an a-hole? God gave you a brain; it is time you used it."

My 'friend" then put up two memes--both the exact same thing, stating, "You are nuts."

I replied, "That is the best you can do, using a meme twice to speak for you? You can do better than that. Like you tried to say, if I am nuts, at least I am not a racist and not delusional. I fear that you are both.

His next volley: F-off! [Yes, he used the full F word.]

My reply, "I expected so much more of you. Notice, I used no filthy language to address you, but you did in addressing me. How sad you are."

"Stop bothering me," he replied, and evidently, he turned on something called "disappearing messages," which allows messages to vanish 24 hours "after everyone has seen them."

My reply: "Don't make me laugh! You asked to be bothered by your idiotic responses here, rather than talking it out like an adult. Speak to you later, friend."

I guess he went to sleep, but I heard from him bright and early Sunday morning.

"You're not my friend, and I definitely won't speak to [sic] crazy person here."

My retort was, "No loss on my end, friend. So I am "crazy" because I disagree with you, and you simply are unable to have an adult conversation about it. See you, friend."

And that was that.

Yes, I could have dropped it early on, but this guy just went on and on, he knew I painted him into a corner, and he comes back with vulgarity.

Typical phony political imbecile, and I would say that if he was on the other side too.

To attack me because I had the absolute nerve to disagree with him ...

Goodness, how did we grow up in the same place at the same time?

Maybe I am able to process differing viewpoints a little better because I am a writer, but I am not that smarter than anyone else--

Or maybe I am.

Rant #3,955: What's Going On

I simply cannot win.

I cannot stand up for falling down.

I brought in my car on Monday to get an oil change and have an inspection.

The inspection went fine, but a monkey wrench was thrown into the oil change.

They could not get my car's front hood open.

Try as they could, the thing would not pop open, so the oil change could not be done.

They told me to take the car to a body shop, and have them look at it.

Totally disgruntled and defeated, with everything bad happening to me, I took the car to the local body shop that I used when I was in a car accident several months ago--

I originally figured that it somehow had to do with that accident, but whatever the case, they are local, do good work, so that is where I took the car to.

I explained the problem to them, they looked at the car thenselves, couldn't open up the hood, either, and took it right into the shop.

What they think happened is that unbeknownst to me, the car might have been hit from the back while parked, and propelled into a cement block that are at the front of many parking spaces.

Who knows when it happened, but they found cement pieces in my bumper, where the wiring for the hood opener is--so they think that that is what happened 

They fixed the car for free, I gave the mechanic a tip, and I was told that once repaired, this thing will probably break again sometime in the future 

Well, I can't worry about that now, so I brought the car back to get the oil change.

I am going to tell you, there is a black cloud over me that just won't go away 

In fact, when I first brought the car in on Monday, they had my appointment for the wrong day!

A bad omen ...

I just cant win. 

And then, when the car had its oil change and was ready to roll, the person at the desk never told me that it was done--

I was so bored that I got up to look out the window, and there it was, just sitting there.

I asked the attendant why she didn't tell me that it was done, and she said she was dealing with another customer.

Yup!

Later in the day, I received an invitation in the mail for my daughter's wedding, and there was a card that I had to return, stating that we would be there, myself, my wife and our son.

I got a pen to fill in the card, and as I put pen to paper, this pen--which I have used dozens of times without incident--literally fell apart in my hands, so broken that it will never be used again.

Nothing is going right for me, and this has been an ongoing problem for me for months, if not for years.

Hopefully, when I have my latest operation on Monday, they don't tell me the wrong time to be in the hospital and they don't have trouble opening my own "hood."

I am trying to be funny about this, but I just can't.

Rant #3,954: Ups and Downs

I went from being on the highest of highs to plummeting to the lowest of lows, and all of this happened in just a scant few hours. 

On Friday, I woke up to find that a story I had written for the local Newsday newspaper--the one linking my bar mitzvah with the New York Knicks' very first championship in 1970--was printed, and what made it even more fun is that they decided to use one of my bar mitzvah pictures--

Featuring myself and my sister.

It was just so much fun to see the story and the photo in the newspaper--

It made getting up from sleep early that morning all that more sweeter.

I had to wake up early that day, because I had to go to the doctor to check up on how my latest surgery went--

Did it do what it was supposed to do?

Well, I found out loud and clear when I got there and was seen by a doctor.

The catscan I had taken 10 or so days after the most recent procedure showed that what was there was evidently still there or replaced by something else--

And I have to go for another surgery to get it taken care of.

What's worse, at this moment as I am writing this, I have absolutely no idea when the surgery will take place.

I have the date, Monday, June 8--which I found out late on Friday afternoon--but I have absolutely no idea about the time.

The doctor's office said they would get back to me on this, but it leaves me in total limbo.

And if you remember what I told you several weeks ago about the initial surgery, this office originally gave me the completely wrong time for the surgery, and I had to find out for myself when I should be at the hospital and would be operated on--

Which is not standard procedure, and yes, I complained about it, and was told that while my doctor is top-notch, his office staff is anything but.

A nurse in the hospital even told me that.

And now that I have pretty much caught up with my bills, I have another bill that I just paid, and it leaves me in the lurch once again, not on the long side, but on the short side, if you know what I mean.

So I went from total euphoria to total dismay, and it did not take long for this downward metamorphosis to happen.

So here I am, in nowhere land again, not knowing anything, and I just hope they tell me sooner rather than later when this thing is going to take place.

I am supposed to be alerted to the time on the day before the surgery, late in the afternoon, but the day before the surgery is on a Sunday, so am I going to have to call the hospital myself again to find out information that I shouldn't have to be foraging about to find out?

I hope that this uncertainty isn't prolonged, and I hope that the hospital calls me this time--they didn't the last time, so they were just as culpable as the doctor's office was.

Goodness, back in 1970, when I was bar mitzvahed, I was sick right before the event took place, but heck, nothing like this.

I could not have imagined back then where I would be in 56 years' time, but here I am, and it isn't a good feeling to have.

I told my wife that I am going to look at it as a positive, because I was told that once I had this newest procedure, I would be over and done with this problem--

But I truly thought the first surgery would have done the trick, then the second, and now, I am on to the third surgery ...

Is there a real, true end in sight?

I just don't know, but again, if Willis Reed can limp onto the court all those years ago and do his thing and lead the Knicks to victory, then I know I can do the same thing with my own health--

I read that the Knicks' Mitchell Robinson has a broken pinky finger, and his appearance in the NBA finals is questionable, just like Reed's was all those years ago--

So I can go with that ...

Nah, it is simply not the same thing.