Rant #3,981: Blue Morning, Blue Day

I had something very frustrating happen to me this past weekend.

It had to do with those plastic holders I am using to put away all of my CDs in order.

I went from store to store--real brick and mortar stores--and could not find what I wanted, so I relented, and ordered a few of these online.

I have to tell you, I don't like ordering online, but there are times where the only place you can find things are online, and in this case, I couldn't find these storage bins anywhere, so my hand was kind of forced.

I ordered the items on Amazon--a site I rarely order from, for three reasons:

1) They weren't charging shipping.

2) They were cheaper than anyone else.

3) They said I would have these items the next day, meaning Saturday.

So I ordered from them ...

And that started my odyssey of frustration.

They gave me regular updates, and stated in one of the updates that my items were with the deliverer and on the way ...

So I waited a good part of Saturday for the items to be delivered, but they never came.

There was someone in our apartment the entire day, and at 4 p.m., with the items still not delivered, I went out to get my family and I some food, as I always do on Saturdays.

My son was at work, my wife was at home, and I arrived back home at 4:30 or so with the food.

My wife and I ate the food, and then, at 5:30 or so, I checked my messages, and lo and behold, I got one about my merchandise.

"Tried to deliver at 5:08 and there was a problem with the delivery. Will try again."

What was the problem? 

I have no idea, none at all.

My wife and I were home at 5:08 p.m., and there was no knock at the door or a doorbell ring to tell us the merchandise was delivered.

Heck, I was back watching the Yankees game at the time, so I was at home when they supposedly tried to deliver the merchandise.

We live in the main building of our development, upstairs, and we have found with other deliveries by other carriers that some of the deliverers either refuse to walk up the stairs--we have found several deliveries, and not just ours, in the hallway near the mailboxes and laundry room in the building--or they cannot find our apartment--whose number is right on our building.

This all comes into play because the next message I received said that yes, there was a problem.

"Wrong address. Tried to deliver at 9:08 p.m."

The problem was that I received the message at 8:38 p.m., or a half hour before 9:08 p.m., so either the deliver's watch wasn't working, or he/she is a liar.

I will go by the latter explanation.

I sent Amazon a message relating all of this displeasure I have just described to you--and then some--to tell them how unhappy I was with their service.

I supposedly was to receive the merchandise on Sunday.

I tried calling the deliverer--UPS--on Sunday, but they were closed, of course.

And, predictably, nothing came on Sunday.

This is not the first time I have had problems with an Amazon order.

Just two weeks ago, my sister sent me something via that service, and not only didn't I receive it when they said it was delivered, but when my sister questioned them, they gave her some baloney reason for this nonsense--

And she reordered the merchandise, and even though she stopped payment on the first order, a couple of days later they delivered it, and then the very next day, they delivered another one of the same item to me, so I had two of the same item--although the colors were slightly different!

My sister told me that she has been ordering from Amazon for years, and all of a sudden, there are problems with their deliveries, and she claims that the reason is that they have gotten "too big" for their britches, so to speak.

Again, I rarely order anything from them, so I will go by her word ...

And I also learned, and learned the hard way, that buying things from and brick and mortar store is still the best way to get the things that you want and need.

And if Amazon send me another notice to review my order ...

They will get a review, all right--

It won't be a kind one, you an bet on that.

And today, I will drown my sorrows--

At the dentist.

This situation is like a toothache that won't go away ...

And I hope I don't have to do a root canal to take away the frustration I have at this whole shebang.

Rant #3,980: I Don't Know Where To Start

We have finally reached the last day of the workweek.

And as I am sure you have heard, that "ceasefire" we had with Iran has kerplunked.

Like Gomer Pyle would say ...

"Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

Is anyone really surprised that this thing fell through?

You simply cannot deal on a level plane with terrorists--

They claim things and do things and say things, and then, like I said--

Kerplunk!

This whole thing is costing all of us a lot of money, if not at the gas station, then at the supermarket.

And this is all while our president has told us how much money he is making off crypto currency.

I put this up on Facebook on July 1, and I didn't get a single response to it, but let me tell you, it is truer than true, in particular now that the war has supposedly restarted:

"This crypto currency thing might be the last straw in any popularity the president has with the public.

While presidents are generally exempt from such conflicts of interest while in office, his husking for the crypto industry is somewhat questionable, and his admittance that he has done well financially while he has been our commander in chief--while so many of us are suffering--reeks of a "let them eat cake" philosophy.

Even more importantly, he is making it awful difficult for the future Republican candidate for president to gain any traction with the public.

Yes, his bragging and his questionable--although not illegal--business practices will only create scorn for the Republican candidate--

And Trump will certainly distance himself from that candidate if he or she loses, because of this scorn the public has on the previous president prospering when the general public is suffering.

This could be the final nail in the coffin, although that coffin may already be firmly nailed shut."

And did I tell you that I am worried not only how this is going to impact my purchases at the gas station and at the supermarket and elsewhere, but I am also worried about my money, my supposed pension money, which is in the stock market?

The stock market has been in a rut since oil prices are up, and it will stay in a rut if we go to war again.

Look, I am not arguing about why we went to war.

It was the right thing to do--Iran simply cannot be trusted--but from the get go, I had my doubts about the impact that this situation would have on our country.

Here, in edited form, is what I wrote in Rant #3,925, April 14, just about three months ago:

"And did anyone really think that the U.S. and Iran would come to any sort of agreement?

I am afraid that this conflict is one we can't win, but we can't lose either.

I think that we, as a nation, have to understand that the Arab Middle East is not the West in any way, shape or form.

We desire them to have Western values, but these are classic third world countries, governed by one thing, and one thing only:

Their religion, and their abject hate of all Western values.

This is a different enemy that we have fought in the past.

This is an enemy that doesn't care if it dies, because in death, they consider themselves to be martyrs, giving themselves up to Allah.

And their people, and those Arabs throughout the Middle East, are not people that will rise up in unison and stage uprisings to rid their government of its rulers and become more Western.

It is not happening with the Palestinians, it is not happening with the Iranians, and it is not happening with the Lebanese.

They voted in Hamas, they voted in Hezbollah, and they are OK to be governed by terrorists.

And if they are so comfortable with this leadership, we have to be mindful of that, that Western values aren't coming to the Arab world in these Middle Eastern countries anytime soon, if at all.

As much as we want it to happen, it simply isn't, and we have to understand that.

The fight that we--and Israel--are fighting is a good fight, a correct fight, but I am afraid it is going to lead nowhere, or at least not to the result we want it to come to.

Without help from Europe and our allies, and without any help from any of the Arab countries, we seem to be fighting a war not only with Iran and Lebanon, but amongst our own people and the world.

And with rising inflation, gas prices rising and everything going up exponentially each and every day of this war, it is a conflict that I am afraid, even though it is just, is simply going to lead to an uprising among our country's citizens.

I have said it before, and I am going to say it again:

To play on an old phrase we all learned in high school, "The pocketbook is mightier than the sword."

And when average Americans like you and I are spending more dollars than we can afford to simply get through each and every day, we are losing the battle amongst ourselves.

How much longer can we take it?

We have weakened this enemy, but we have not destroyed them; and their people are simply too weak to take over where we started.

I am sure if we had our druthers, at this point in time, we would love to push that button and totally annihilate them, but that isn't happening any time soon, or at all.

So we have to prepare for our endgame, and Israel--which would love to push that button, too--must prepare for its endgame, too.

That does not mean giving up, it means understanding the situation, while continuing to monitor it and take action when necessary, and plan to move on.

The threat will still be there, but it will be weakened ...

Mightily weakened.

The American public has just so much patience, and that patience is getting thinner by the day.

And our allies should absolutely be ashamed of themselves at their behavior during this time when we all should be pulling together.

In their future times of need, we should act in kind.

We are in a world where things are topsy turvy, where good guys are bad guys and bad guys are good guys.

We--the U.S.--are the good guys here, but you wouldn't know it by our allies' reactions to what we are doing to rid the world of these terroristic regimes.

So be it.

We have a great friend in the Middle East in Israel, all the other supposed friends we have there really aren't that at all, and like the old song said,

"United We Stand, Divided We Fall."

So, although I stand by what I said about this conflict being the right thing to do, it is a conflict that we really can't win, figuratively or literally.

Was it a total mistake to get involved in this in the first place?

I simply don't know.

But what I do know, and have known since the beginning of this conflict, is that it is a real mess, a mess that we thought we cleaned up, but it has simply gotten worse.

I honestly don't know what to think anymore about this conflict, but when I look in my wallet, my wallet talks to me.

And it is talking very loudly right now.

And it isn't too happy.

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

Rant #3,979: Hubble Bubble

As you know, due to my health problems, I have had to cut my intake of soda down to next to nothing--

And my doctors have told me that I need to drink as much water as possible.

I have done just that, and in the process, I have lost 20 or so pounds.

That is all fine and good, but I just don't like drinking water.

Never have, never will.

It is great in short spurts where you need to hydrate, but as a choice of beverage, it never has really registered with me.

My father used to say that water "is for peasants" ...

His only drink for years was water, as he had an ulcer, and during those days, doctors felt that you would irritate the ulcer if you drank anything but water.

He hated it, but abided by what his doctors said, and he eventually went back to sugar-free/caffeine-free soda, which is way worse than drinking the real thing.

But back to me ...

I am not a water drinker, although I am getting used to it, in a funny way.

If I have to drink water, I much prefer seltzer.

I like the fizz, I like the carbonation, and I guess it makes me think of soda, even though it doesn't have that flavoring in it--

And no, I don't drink the flavored seltzer, because to me at least, it has a bad aftertaste.

It is kind of in my veins, because I used to drink seltzer a lot as a kid, when we used to get it delivered in those old-fashioned bottles with the spritz lever at the top of the bottle.

That was REAL seltzer.

Few places offer that type of seltzer now, but you can get seltzer in bottles and cans just about anywhere.

I have chosen Poland Spring seltzer as my go-to beverage, as it gets as close to the old type of seltzer as anything I can find in a supermarket--

Until recently.

If you drink this seltzer, you know that they changed the label on the bottles--both the larger and smaller bottles--and with that change, evidently, came a change in formulation, as the seltzer simply doesn't have the pep--and pop--that it used to have.

When you open the bottle, you used to get a rush of carbonation, but that seemingly is gone after the first sip.

The carbonation that the product once had has been lessened, and after a sip or two, you can barely taste the bubbles.

I don't know why they did this, but this seltzer is as flat as the other seltzers on the market, and it is very disappointing.

The last time my family and I were on a cruise, I asked for seltzer, and they offered me, I think it was Seagram's seltzer in a can, and that was the best over-the-counter seltzer I think I have ever had.

The carbonation kept going and going until you drank the final drop.

The problem is that you can't find that seltzer anywhere--believe me, I have looked--so I had to settle for the Poland Spring seltzer, which at the time, wasn't as good, but it was good enough.

Now, it simply isn't.

I wonder why they changed the formulation when they changed the bottle labels ...

Maybe they found that most people prefer less carbonation, but I don't, and if the bottle sits in the refrigerator after you open it, once you drink it, it tastes like heavy water, not seltzer.

Has anyone else had this experience with Poland Spring seltzer?

It simply does not have the pop it used to, and when I want to bubble up--

It appears the bubble has burst. 

Rant #3,978: Cold As Ice/Hot Blooded

Yesterday was another day where the temperatures got back to temperatures somewhat lesser than they had been.

It wasn't as nasty as Monday was, where the rain came down from the heavens in buckets, but it wasn't what I would call a nice day ...

But after temperatures in the 100s over the weekend, I think we all can accept two days like we had yesterday and on Monday.

On the other extreme, I remember as a kid--a really little kid, as my remembrance was from when we lived in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens--we had a day where it was zero degrees, maybe even slightly less than that.

I must have been three or four years old, so it must have been in 1960 or 1961.

All I wanted to do was go outside, and my mother was hesitant, as the temperature was just so cold.

But she finally relented, dressed me up as warmly as she could, and I went outside to play with my friends.

For whatever reason, I remember that there was no wind at all, and while it was cold, I must have spent a good hour, if not more, outside that day, because to me, it didn't feel like it was zero degrees.

You react to things differently as you get older, and, of course, I could never do that today, nor could I spend hours outside when it is 100 degrees or more at 69 years of age.

But at three or four years old, you can do things that you simply cannot do when you get older.

Ah, the follies of youth!

As you know, I hate the snow, but when it snowed when I was a kid, I just loved it.

I took my sled, went to the nearest hill, and did my thing there.

Now, when it snows, the last thing I want to do is to go outside.

I remember that when my son was a little kid, I took him sledding a couple of times, and to me, it was laborious, and I couldn't wait to get home.

Funny, I don't think he was into it, either, and the sledding never lasted that long--

Or he saw how I was, and it just took the fun away from him.

Today, he works outside in all weather--frigid to the recent 100-degree days--and he takes it all in stride.

My wife and I are very proud of him for his work dedication and in his reaction to the elements, and I think his work appreciates it too.

He has to work today, when the temperatures kind of get back to summer normal, but I know he will be OK ...

Because if he didn't tank last weekend--when he worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday in less than ideal conditions--he will be OK when the temperatures only get into the 80s.

Again, he is 30, so who knows how he will react to the weather when he is my age?

But for now, he is OK ...

And he stays hydrated, which is a major part of him being able to withstand the elements.

Me, I have heat prostration, so I really have to watch myself.

Three times I didn't, and I am really lucky to be alive.

Once, at age 14 or so, I passed out in junior high school in Rochdale Village, Queens, while running during gym class.

I didn't know how to regulate myself, so I went all out at first, and I just passed out after a couple of runs around the gravel pit, where we did our running.

The second time was the scariest time.

We had moved to Long Island by then, and at age 15 or so, I had my bicycle and was crossing Sunrise Highway to get to a friend's house on the other side of town.

It was a really hot day, and I know I completely blacked out crossing the highway, which is really a three lane thoroughfare back and forth with lights.

To this day, I have absolutely no idea how I got to the island in the middle separating the six lanes--did I get there myself and pass out or did somebody drag me onto the island seeing that I had passed out in the middle of the road?

I have absolutely no idea.

The last time this happened to me I was in my early 50s, and my family and I went to a game at Yankee Stadium where it was really, really hot.

I remember taking care of my son, pouring water on his head and getting him water to drink, but me ...

I didn't do anything to help myself.

I soon felt sick, went to the bathroom, and passed out there.

My son accompanied me to the bathroom, and he called security when I didn't come out, and I just remember them dragging me out, spraying water on me, giving me something to drink, and taking me to the members-only club that the old Yankee Stadium had to cool down.

My wife had to drive my car back home because even a few hours later, I was in no shape to drive that day, even though I felt much better.

They even checked on me days after the incident to make sure I was OK.

These things are frightening, and hopefully, these three incidents are the only three where I have suffered like this.

(I think there was another incident in summer camp when I was about 10 or 11 years old, but I simply don't have a clear remembrance of that, so I might be wrong.)

Happily, my son has never exhibited any of these things, so I can rest assured that he is OK, whether it is frigid or steamy.

Mother Nature can be unforgiving ...

And during those 100-degree days we just had, she was as brutal as can be.

Rant #3,977: Digging Your Scene

Wow, we seem to go from the ridiculous to the completely absurd when it comes to our weather the past couple of days.

We went from historic more than 100-plus degrees days this past weekend to what we had yesterday, which was monsoon-type rain, at least in my neck of the woods.

We also dropped in temperature by about one-third, which means that it was 108 degrees on Saturday afternoon, and on Monday, it was in the 60s.

Nothing brings us all together more than the weather, and we really got hit on Monday.

There were, happily, no power outages in my area, but in other places, they weren't so lucky.

Also, there is a bug going around that my wife actually has right now, and no wonder ...

When you have temperature differences like this, people tend to get sick.

And then there are people who are just sick, period ...

As a family was shot at in Coney Island in Brooklyn, and several children were hit.

On Monday, my wife and I went to the doctor for the beginning of our annual checkup, and I have to say, so far, so good.

We will hear about how our blood work came out later in the week, but right now, everything else came up roses, thank goodness.

Our blood pressure is very good, everything else appears to be good--I even lost another pound or two--so we just await the results of the blood tests we had and if that comes out good, well, then ...

We are good to go, at least for six months, when we have our followups.

I, personally, have had enough negative health news this year, and maybe, just maybe, I can report something a bit better now that I am done with that trio of operations that I just concluded a month ago.

I sure hope so.

It just takes a lot out of you when you have such uncertainty swirling around your very being.

I need some good news on the health front.

As I have told you, I still need to get things done, but for right now, everything looks OK.

Time to move on.

After fasting until about 12:30 p.m. so that the blood work is genuine, I went right to work, wrote and edited a story, did some digitizing of my records--an endless job that I will, quite frankly, never finish because I have so many records to do--and I just took it a bit easy on Monday.

I am still in the middle of the "CD shuffle" I told you about the other day, but that is going to have to wait until I can get more storage units to put the letters L-Z into.

I decided that I had to clean out the trunk of my car, since it has basically been in the same state of mess since 2023, or when I first hurt myself.

I was doing it back then as we were moving to a new dwelling, but I got hurt, and it has remained the same way since then.

Now, it is time to clean it out, as honestly, I was using it as a storage space for some things as we prepared to move from the house I lived in for roughly 50 years.

Some things were added to the mess since then--like the brace I wore on my left leg for six months or so--because we had no place to put this stuff.

So now is the time to clean it up.

I kept shopping bags in there, too--New York State forces you to shop with vinyl bags and you have to pay for anything else--and when I finally clean out the trunk, there should be plenty of room to put the bags back in there.

But other things--like my son's first laptop computer from about 20 years ago and which doesn't work--remain in there, ready to be discarded.

It is truly amazing how much stuff you can squeeze into your car's trunk, but the time has come to clean it out.

Who knows what I will find in there?

Money, other riches, a pot of gold?

I doubt it, but the more you dig, the more you find.

Rant #3,976: He's Got the Whole World In His Hands (Not)

How was your 4th of July? 

Mine was pretty quiet, even with hearing the fireworks in the distance.

My son worked--in the second straight day of more than 100 degrees of oppressive heat--so I had to take him to work and pick him up later on.

My wife and I had a quiet barbecue--just hamburgers and hot dogs--and that was pretty much it.

I digitized some records--honoring the holiday, I digitized some Paul Revere and the Raiders stuff, and getting into a New York groove, I did the same for Dion and the Belmonts--and I also watched some baseball--which I quickly turned off, as the Yankees were getting firecrackered by the Twins.

And that is pretty much it.

On Friday, it was 108 degrees, and on Saturday, it was 101 degrees, so my neck of the woods was frying.

These are not official temperatures, as the official readings come out of Islip, which is in central Suffolk County, many miles away from where I am--

But I go by my car thermostat, and where I am, it was what I said it was.

We are a bit more wide open where I am, so the readings are going to be higher.

I don't know how my son works in such weather, but it is his job, and he does what he has to do to keep cool.

He is drinking plenty of water--I think on Saturday, he said he drank seven bottles of water during his five-hour shift--so he is hydrated.

Sunday was just another day--and another day of work for my son--where the temperature finally fell.

In the morning, it was in the high 70s, but the problem was that the humidity was about 100 percent yet it wasn't raining.

It got into the low 80s in the afternoon, and still no rain.

It was warm, but Mother Nature was a little more reasonable in the heat department.

And people were parked all around where my son works, as the air show took place on Sunday afternoon.

Cars, trucks, people all over the place!

And today, we all come back to reality--

And I certainly do, because for the first time in a few weeks, today, I have a doctor's appointment.

Nothing major, but I still have to go to the doctor to begin my annual physical, so I just hope that the doctor doesn't find anything else wrong with me.

I still have up and down days related to my last surgery--not even a month ago--but I am feeling better.

I still have my eye problem, which is going to have to be taken care of later in the summer.

So I am not 100 percent--which is my ultimate goal--but perhaps I am getting there.

And that is that.

I go to this latest doctor's appointment with some hesitancy, but not with complete and utter fear like I had during the other such appointments and procedures and surgeries.

And today begins work again, not that July 4th stopped me, as I still handed in work and also edited/wrote something that I handed in today.

It's July 6th, and this mixed-up world we live in continues to revolve--

And you and I are just minor pieces of that puzzle ...

A puzzle that needs to be put together, and put together with every piece in its correct place.

Rant #3,975: Ain't No Stoppin' US Now

It is Friday!

Tomorrow is Saturday!

It is another summer weekend of 2026, and let's all take advantage of this and have a good weekend!

And this weekend includes, on Saturday, July 4, our nation's birthday!

This year's Independence Day is going to be somewhat different from other July 4 holidays because we will be celebrating our country's 250th anniversary--

Its 250th anniversary as the greatest country in the world.

Funny, back in 1976, when we celebrated our 200th anniversary, I seem to think that there were simply more things happening to honor our country on that day than there will be on the upcoming July 4.

Maybe that has to do with the fact that that was the 200th anniversary--

The Bicentennial.

This is only the 250th anniversary--

The Semiquincentennial, also called the Bisesquicentennial, the Sestercentennial, or the Quarter Millennium.

Too many names, not enough focus on what is happening during the celebration.

There will be baseball games, barbecues, parades, and lots of other events, but I think there was much more hoopla surrounding the 200th anniversary.

Maybe I feel that way because I was younger when we had the Bicentennial--19 years of age-- and maybe my eyes were more wide open then than now.

I have seen some mentions of the upcoming 250th, but a lot of them are on snacks and soda packaging, sporting American flags and bald eagles and a lot of other symbols of our culture.

But nothing to the extent of the 200th anniversary.

Whatever the case, there should be plenty going on during the 250th celebration, and while I most likely won't be around for the 300th celebration--the Tricentennial--this is going to be a day that is significant for myself and all Baby Boomers.

Me, I will most probably have a barbecue for myself and my family.

My son has to work, so he will make some money on this special day, but it will force my wife and I to stay close to home on the holiday.

That is OK with me.

July 4th has almost always signified not only our country's birthday, but also one of the major family days of the year, so we will be together in a funny sort of way.

And then on Monday, July 6, I have to again go to the doctor after a respite of a few weeks.

Nothing to worry about, but another doctor's visit keeps me shivering in my own skin, as I just hope that nothing else--or nothing new--is found to be ailing me.

I have had enough of that, but if you gotta go, you gotta go.

So tomorrow, we will be celebrating a major anniversary of our country, and as I said, through everything, this is the greatest country in the world, bar none.

And at 250 years, we are still relatively young--in a country's anniversary years, at least--and there is still no stopping us now, or in the future.

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

Ain't no stoppin' US now!