Rant #3,896: Bits and Pieces

Yes, it is that time again--

For Bits and Pieces, where I comment on several subjects that do not require a full-length Rant to get to the nitty gritty of what I have to say about them.

After the snow we have been getting, I figured it was time to rev up Bits and Pieces again, because all we have been getting is a snow job this past week ...

On a number of levels, the first being--

The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping: This story gets weirder by the day, and the latest that I heard about it is that a 911 call was supposedly put in by a woman who was in distress right around the time of the kidnapping, and it could have been Guthrie herself making the call, but the authorities aren't sure about that.

And Guthrie's family has put up a $1 million reward for their loved one, which again shows that no matter how horrid this story is--and it is extremely horrid--yes, again, it all has to do with money--

But the odd thing is that nobody has taken the family up on its offer, at least not yet, so if the kidnappers were intent on making a windfall from this, they have yet to cash in.

I still believe what I have believed from the very beginning, that this is an inside job--a family member, or someone that the woman recognized, such as hired help, a landscaper, even the paper deliverer.

But something else came to my mind about this sad situation.

The woman was kind of sickly, and we were told that she had mobility issues--

Not that she couldn't get around, but that she had trouble doing so.

Isn't it possible that she may have, for whatever reason, wandered out of her home, and perhaps stumbled in the thick brush surrounding her home, and that she--or her body--can be found there?

There is a lot of thick brush around her home, and I mean, from all accounts, very thick brush, and maybe she is there?

I know, they have that video, but I have to wonder about it ...

Maybe she was, in fact, taken from her home, but maybe she was dumped in the surroundings around the house.

And as for the police there ...

Maybe they aren't telling us everything--and they probably aren't--but would even the Mayberry Police Department had done a better job than these suburban yokels have thus far?

I don't get the whole episode, I don't think anyone else does, and I don't think the police there get it either.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: The announcement on Wednesday demonstrated the worst, most inept list of nominees to date, in my humble opinion.

In fact, I would say that just looking at the list, my first thought was that not a single performer on it deserves induction--everyone from Pink to Mariah Carey to The Black Crowes.

And even the performers I have liked in the past--Billy Idol, INXS--are they really worthy of induction?

What's more, an era has finally been bypassed completely, as acts from the 1950s and the mid to late 1960s have been shunned again, and seemingly shunned for good.

I have my own picks for the HoF, but let me just harp on one that I have been harping on forever.

Lesley Gore was a pioneer in the rock field: a singer whose songs were not the usual girl meets boy type of stuff that girl singers put out in the early to mid-1960s, including "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me."

They were mainly about empowerment, doing what a girl wanted to do when she wanted to do it, and were more forceful than material put out by both female and a lot of male artists during her heyday.

Her music was produced by Quincy Jones, marking his entrance into pop music, and honestly, Gore fits every criteria for enshrinement--success, influence, and even her background checks off all of the boxes.

How can Pink even be discussed without Gore already being enshrined? Would Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett even be mentioned if it wasn't for Gore opening the door for them?

With its current list of nominees, the HoF is clearly moving away from the genre of rock into a more pop area, and that is shameful, because there are just so many real rock acts that should be enshrined but will never be in there because of a lot--and I mean a lot--of politics.

I put up my views on Facebook under another person's posts, and I was called every name in the book--none complimentary--because of my opinion.

That is another story for another time, but this is the low-reaching level that the HoF has fallen to with its nominees, and I hope that it is proud of itself for its kind of cancel-culture choices.

As for me, as one of the people who actually put up some money to get this thing built, it is a place that I will never visit because it doesn't reflect music that I enjoy, and performers that I believe should be celebrated.

More Snow Forecast: I couldn't leave this story alone.

On top of what we already have--more than two feet of snow after Wednesday's latest dropping--the weather forecasters are saying that we might get several more inches between now and next Tuesday.

This might directly impact me, because on next Tuesday and Wednesday, I have very important doctors' appointments set up, first with the retinologist about my partially detached retina and second, with my urologist about the various problems that I have had in that area.

Any postponement of these appointments sets me back quite a bit, especially the meeting with the retinologist, where I might need to have a procedure done to correct the retina problem.

None of these doctors are around the corner, so they will take a bit of travel to get to, and if there is more incessant snow, I might have to further postpone these appointments ...

Which is not a good thing for my mind, my body, or my soul, to be honest with you.

But let's see what happens--

And I hope if we do, in fact, get more snow, it is not anything too bad.

Not another two feet bad, if you know what I mean.

And with that, I wish everyone a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Let's see how the rest of next week pans out.

Rant #3,895: More, More, More

Well, we got hit again in my neck of the woods.

Yesterday morning, we woke up out of our deep slumbers to find that the snow was really coming down, falling on top of the two feet we already had a few days earlier.

It was supposed to stop by 10 a.m., but it continued pouring down a little beyond that time.

I would say that all told, it was worse than the weather forecasters predicted, and when it finally ended, I would say we got about two or three more inches, at the very least, of new snow--

New snow to clean off our cars ...

New snow to dig ourselves out of ...

New snow that will be old snow by today and into the weekend.

This new snow will become old snow because we might get more today, and forecasters are predicting that we might get another pummeling on Monday or Tuesday, another big snow to open up the month of March.

Some say that we really should not be complaining, because we have not really gotten much snow during the past few years, so we were due.

I say that any hint of snow is a time of disappointment, because I simply hate the white stuff.

And what makes it worse for my family is that my son has to work outside in it.

It seems that every day he works is another bad snow day, and yes, he worked on Sunday and he worked yesterday.

I don't know how many shopping carts he can gather and maneuver when the ground is full of the white stuff, but that is his job, so he has to do it.

And, of course, working outside in this type of weather, he is going to be more open to getting sick, but happily, at least right now, he has been able to stay healthy.

We live in a 55-and-older community, and let me tell you, there are people here who have not been outside since we got that two feet of snow the other day, and they certainly did not venture out into the new snow yesterday.

So their cars are pretty much buried, and who knows when they will get outside into the fresh air?

I went out early yesterday to clean off my wife's car, because she was taking our son to work.

She goes to the gym when she does this, so it just makes it easier for her, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I also cleaned off my own car, but I didn't use it until I had to pick my son up from work later in the day.

I did as best as I could with my wife's car, and at one point, I almost slipped on the ice, but let me tell you, my left leg held up pretty well ...

As long as I didn't fall, which I didn't.

I cleaned my wife's car off, and it was ready to go, but the problem was that there was a smaller snow plow parked about 50 feet behind her--

Which made backing out of her space a bit more difficult.

But after a little bit of maneuvering--there was also a car looking to move forward coming at her as she did this--she got out of the space, and was on her way to drop off our son at work and go to the gym.

At this point, the winter of 2025-2026 is going to be a memorable one, but for all the wrong reasons.

The snow doesn't stop, and now that we are entering the last month of winter, it doesn't seem to be letting up at all.

I feel the worst for our son, who has to work in the midst of all of this white stuff.

But he will get through it, my wife and I will get through it ...

We will also all get through it, and you know what is going to happen--

Once the summer comes, we will almost forget about this winter, and complain to no end about how hot it is outside.

That is human nature--

And more importantly, that is how Mother Nature works her mysterious ways.

Let me count the days, and the inches, until we can fully dig ourselves out from all of this mess.

Rant #3,894: Money (That's What I Want)

Enough with the snow. We are still getting hit, but let's talk about something else--

We all heard that late last week, the Supreme Court voted down President Trump's tariff plan.

I say "big deal," because it really doesn't impact the consumer. 

You will not be getting a rebate on what you have already purchased that were affected by the tariffs.

Prices aren't going to automatically go down; they will pretty much stay the same, or even rise.

The Supreme Court decision has absolutely nothing to do with new cars or on metals, so if you are planning on buying a new car sometime in the near future, you are still going to be paying higher prices.

And the President has alternative tariff plans, so he isn't done trying to enforce these taxes on foreign countries.

Just prior to his State of the Union address, he enacted a worldwide tariff of 10 percent. He wanted 15 percent.

The Supreme Court decision did impact the stock market, or least right away, with a huge rise upon closing on Friday afternoon, so if you have money in there, you did benefit to an extent ...

And then a few days later, the uncertainty with the tariffs pushed the market down.

But you know the stock market--

One day's rise is wiped out by another day's plunge.

So what does it really all mean for the average consumer?

Not too much, really.

It really is more important that the President lost in the Supreme Court with a 6-3 margin, meaning that some of his own Supreme Court appointees voted against him.

This proves that the President does not control the voting in the Supreme Court, and that the body can vote on its own independently of the President, even if they were appointed by him.

And that is the way the Supreme Court is supposed to work to begin with, and that is the Supreme Court that we all want.

I think that that is more far reaching and interesting related to this tariff business, that a couple of the members of the court went against the President, the very commander in chief who appointed them to this role.

But back to the dollars and sense of the tariffs ...

Do you really think that manufacturers are going to automatically reduce prices because the President's original tariff plan went kaput?

There is still so much concern with the tariffs, especially since the President has said he is pivoting to Plan B.

He hasn't given up on this plan just yet, and probably, you just know that if Plan B doesn't work, there will be a plan C and D and ...

That is how a businessman works, and Trump is, first and foremost, a businessman.

I understand why he imposed these tariffs to begin with: to try to equal the base of trade with our trade partners, who he claimed had had the upper hand when it came to the manufacture and trading of goods for decades.

But I think that putting so many tariffs on so many countries at once completely backfired, and it did so because the people paying the price were average consumers, who saw prices skyrocket at the grocery store, among other places.

When the general public feels it in their own personal pocketbooks, they aren't going to be too happy, and whether the move was right or wrong--or somewhere in the middle--the little guy was getting it, and getting it you know where, and that is never going to sit right with the general public.

NEVER.

So with one tariff plan scrapped and another--and possibly even others--on the way, so many of us remain in limbo on this thing, and it is not going to ease--

Now or in the near future.

So don't let it all tax your mind too much--

We are going to pay for this, and pay for it one way or another.

Maybe the President can figure out a way to put a tariff on the snow ...

Mother Nature ...

Are you listening?

Rant #3,893: Dig the Foundations

Eek!

Now, we have to dig out from under this mess.

We must have gotten about two feet of snow, and yesterday, it was cooler than predicted--it was around freezing--so a lot if the snow froze overnight.

It got so bad in my neck of the woods that a snow plow got stuck in the middle of the street here, and it took well over an hour or two to get the truck off the ice and moving.

And being that this is a 55-and-older community, people aren't that quick in cleaning off their cars, so this area is really at a standstill.

My wife and I looked out the window a couple of times, and while we saw the snow plow trying to move out of his winter quicksand, there was really absolutely no one out at all.

Just a day to watch TV, sleep late or go onto the computer--

The latter if which i did, because I had plenty of work to do.

Again, the beauty of my job is that i don't have to venture anywhere to do what I need to do--

It is all there online.

My son was supposed to have a dental appointment on Monday morning, but, of course, that was deep sixed because of the snow.

I did try to call the office a few times about this, but no one was there, so I left a message.

I am really surprised that someone did not work from home to contact those with appointments and make new ones, but no one did.

In fact, I received an automated message that my son had an appointment on Monday, but that was that.

So, hopefully, I can get him another appointment.

Funny, but over the weekend, I didn't have much to do, so I watched a couple of baseball spring training games--

Where the weather was at least in the 70s or 80s, and the thought of snow for those attending these games wasn't even part of the equation.

As I have often said, once baseball begins, hope springs eternal, and even with several inches of snow on the ground, we just know the warmer weather is coming.

That being said, we really have gotten pummeled this winter, with one snow storm after another slapping us around.

And I just learned that we have more snow coming this week, not as bad as the last one, but bad enough.

But back to baseball ...

The warmer days are coming, as the proverbial "Boys of Summer" are getting their strokes in there as the snowflakes hit us here.

The end is near ...

We just have to be patient.

And this winter ...

We have to be VERY patient.

Rant #3,892: Winter Wonderland

Goodness, I do hate the snow. 

And we received plenty of it Sunday and overnight into Monday morning--

And it is supposed to last all day.

The weathermen kept on pushing the time when we would finally get snow, and after a relatively peaceful day on Saturday, it took until mid-afternoon to get the snow machine blowing on Sunday.

And yes, my son, the cart attendant, had to work through all of this.

When I drove him to work, there were dozens of carts all over the place.

On Sundays, he usually works alone, so the carts were not only in the stall, but in the middle of the parking lot and really, all over the place.

When people see snow, they panic, and within that panic, they get awfully lazy, and they just place the carts wherever.

At a little after 5 p.m. on Sunday, I texted my son, asking him if and when the store would be closing due to there being at least an inch of two on the ground at that time.

He said he did ask his manager, but they simply didn't know when--or if--they would be closing early.

Whenever they would close, I would have to pick up my son, so I really needed to know.

But like my wife said, all these places care about is the all-mighty buck, and if people are stupid enough to do food shopping in a blizzard, if the store is already open, they aren't going to close so quickly.

So with a couple of inches on the ground--and with the authorities begging people to stay off the roads--I had to go out and get him, about two hours early.

I really felt bad for him, bad that he had to work under these conditions--

But at least he got paid for working, so when this snow is just a memory--temperatures are supposed to rise and we are slated for a couple of rainy days later in the week--at least he will get a paycheck for his efforts.

But anyway, I went to pick my son up, driving through some of the worst conditions I can ever remember.

Visibility was near zero, the snow was coming down so steadily and hard that there were no lanes on the road, and although a normally short trip, it seemed like it took me eons to go back and forth.

The snow ...

For this reason and for many others, I simply despise the snow, and I have hated the white stuff every since we moved to Long Island, and I had to clear our walk when we lived in a house.

Now, I am only responsible for my car, but I hate it even more than I did when I was younger, because as you get older, this stuff gets even more annoying than it was when you were younger.

I can't be bothered with this nonsense, but I guess that I have to be bothered by it, because that is the way it is.

I just love when people get interviewed on the local news and they say that they absolutely "love" the snow.

These are people who never picked up a shovel in their lives, never used a snowblower, and certainly never had to clean off their car.

They certainly wouldn't "love" the snow then ...

They would abhor it just like I do.

I don't know how much snow we are getting--as I am writing this, it continues to snow, snow, and snow some more--but we could get upwards of two feet of this stuff.

I sure hope not, because it will bury us in but good.

And my son has a dental appointment later today, but you just know that that ain't happening.

In the early evening on Sunday, the local Newsday newspaper sent out an email message to subscribers that they would not be delivering today, instead combining delivery of the Monday and Tuesday newspapers into one delivery tomorrow.

Funny, when I was an adult deliverer more than 30 years ago, there was absolutely no such thing, and we had to pick up the newspapers at the depot and deliver them in the most horrid circumstances.

I remember a little more than 30 years ago, we had a similar blizzard in January--I think we received 26 inches of the white stuff back then--and I had to deliver each and every newspaper to each and every home on my route.

It took forever, but I did it--

And people complained that they received the early edition of The New York Times, without the scores from the previous day of sports, and I heard back from them with complaints like you would not believe.

Heck, they got a newspaper ... give me some slack for that, why dontcha!

But that was then, this is now, and I absolutely despise the snow.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain--

But no more snow!

I have had enough, so please, Mother Nature, have some pity!

Rant #3,891: All Those Years Ago

Well, we finally got to Friday.

Hip, hip hooray!

Nothing much is going on in my neck of the woods, to be honest about it.

I have been fairly busy with work, so the week has kind of passed by pretty quickly.

And with my son's athletic activities put on hold by the break, the only real responsibility I have to fulfill for the remainder of the week is to do our family's food shopping with my wife--

And that is today, this morning.

That is it.

So I have a pretty dull couple of days coming up, with not much doing later today or on the weekend.

When that happens, I try to stay away from the TV, because once I sit down to watch for too long, I invariably end up taking a nap.

I almost cannot help myself.

So I have to find other things to do.

Lately, I have been getting into my record collection again, digitizing records I hadn't listened to in 40 years or more.

Some of the artists I have been digitizing--and invariably getting into again--including Devo, Cyndi Lauper and Gary Numan.

Devo was very popular on FM radio back in the day. Led by Mark Mothersbaugh--who later was very involved in the music used on "The Simpsons"--the band put out catchy pop music using electronics, such as "Whip It."

Before becoming a darling of Broadway--and way before she admitted to having skin maladies--Lauper was quite the pop princess in the 1980s, putting out one hit record after another starting with "Girls Just Want To Have Fun."

Like Devo, Numan used electronics in his pop music production, and while he was extremely popular in Europe, over in the U.S., he put out a couple of catchy singles, only one of which was successful here, and that was "Cars."

In my opinion, music from the early to mid-1980s doesn't really hold up; it is simply a product of its time, often very mechanical and robotic, and these three artists certainly were mainstays during that period.

The use of synthesizers and electronics seemed to be the next level of pop music, but honestly, listening to these artists and tunes in 2026--more than 40 years after the fact--nothing really holds up, everything sounds kind of tinny, and I have to wonder how I got into this stuff in the first place.

But I was in my mid to late 20s when this stuff was popular, so listening to the old WNEW-FM in New York, this is what they played, so this is what I was into.

Even back then, I preferred the earlier pop and rock of the 1960s through the early 1970s, but you can't knock the popularity of Lauper, Devo and Numan during the 1980s.

And that I hadn't put these records on my turntable for decades shows that at least to me, they were just a passing fancy--

But I am still happy that I have these records in my collection.

I digitized a lot of their stuff, and the true measuring stick is listening to this music in the car--

Because that is where this stuff was originally delivered to the masses, on stations like WNEW-FM, so this is where these songs were probably heard first with my ears.

This digitizing frenzy won't last long.

Baseball is stirring, so there will be plenty to watch as the 2026 season begins in spring training and unfolds in games shown on TV.

My responsibilities--to myself and to my family--pick up in March, where I, personally, have several doctor appointments as we get back to normal after the break.

And I always have work, which gives me something to do, and sometimes too much to do.

But for now, I will continue to digitize music so I can listen to these tunes in the car, and remember--and wonder--where I was at more than 40 years ago.

Certainly in a different place than today.

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

Rant #3,890: Drive My Car

Enough about people who don't really deserve to be covered by me.

Let's move on to something else.

How about driving? 

I know that New York State has increased the points one will get for certain driving offenses, such as drunk and impaired driving, and passing a stopped school bus.

That is fine with me; it might make people think a bit more before they do these very stupid things.

Me, I am driving so much less now than I ever have, and it makes me feel good on one side, bad on another.

When I was working full time, I was putting on at least 1,000 miles a month on my car, between going back and forth to my job and other things I was doing during those years.

Now, as a semi-retired person, I am lucky if I put on 400 miles a month, which I mainly put on the car for my son, whether it is driving him back and forth to work, or to his sports activities.

I enjoy driving, I always have, and like my late father the cab driver, I don't mind driving long distances.

I have driven back and forth to Florida on any number of occasions, and it doesn't bother me at all.

On the bright side, less use of the car means less maintenance, less gas usage, and less wear and tear, so I am saving money by driving less.

Our insurance is still pretty high, and my wife and I are looking for a cheaper insurance that gives us the same protection that we currently have.

I have been driving for more than 50 years.

I got my learner's permit when I was 15, passed the driving test the first time out, and this year, I will celebrate my 52nd year of having my full New York State drivers license.

I love sitting in the car, driving around and listening to the radio, listening to music that I want to hear through my thumb drive that I have plugged into the car.

I also enjoy satellite radio, which I listen to on the weekend.

But again, I am driving so little now, especially compared with what I had been doing, that driving has almost become something of an afterthought, something I do when I have to, but that is it.

Look, I am not complaining at all.

I like the fact that I don't have to fill up with gas each and every week, and that the car's maintenance can be extended because I am simply not driving as much as I used to do.

But I kind of miss the times when I was in the car on a more regular basis.

Just look at this week.

On Sunday, I took my son back and forth to work.

On Monday, I drove to the doctor's office to get my catscan.

On Tuesday, I didn't drive at all.

On Wednesday, my wife drove my son to work, so I just had to pick him up.

Today, on Thursday, I won't be driving at all.

On Friday, I will drive with my wife to the supermarket. There is no basketball this week for my son due to the break, so I don't have to drive him back and forth to the gym.

On Saturday, I will drive somewhere to pick up dinner for myself and my family. There is no bowling for my son due to the break, so I don't have to drive him back and forth to the bowling alley.

So for this week, I might drive a total of less than 50 miles, maybe even in the high 30s or low 40s.

Such is my life right now, and as I said, I have mixed feelings about it.

I think being in the car and driving is relaxing to me, a place where I can get away from things, even for a short time.

But now, with my lack of needing to drive every day, I kind of miss it all.

Being behind the wheel is fun, and I still love doing it, but it is seemingly a diminishing part of my life right now--

Unless we go on another car vacation later this year, which is a possibility.

Whatever the case, I just feel there is nothing like getting in the car, starting it up, and driving to wherever you have to go.

And I hope that one day, my son will be able to have the same experience; we are going to look into that possibility again in the spring.

I am convinced that he can mechanically drive a car, but passing the written test will be a mountain that I hope he can scale, even through his learning disability.

I, myself, am the son of a professional car driver, and my father, then retired, drove until about a month before he died.

Me, I think my destiny will probably be very similar.