Rant #4,000: Ready, Willing and Able

Congratulations to the Ranting and Raving Blog, having reached the 4,000 rant mark today.

Or, is it congratulations to me for getting this Blog that far?

I guess it is a combination of the two.

4,000 ... that is a lot of Rants, a lot of things to say, and most importantly, a lot of things to think about.

Since the spring of 2009, I have put up plenty of what I have to say, what I believe in, and what I feel you--my audience--might be interested in.

It has been a fun endeavor, and I have really enjoyed my time sharing my thoughts with you--

Even if you disagree, which is your right to do, as long as you do it civilly.

I never would have guessed that we would reach 4,000 entries, but we have.

Looking up exactly what "4,000" refers to beyond just another number, this is what I found throughout the Internet:

It is a natural number in between 3,999 and 4,001, and it is a decagonal number, meaning that it is, according to a definition posted on Wikipedia, "a figurate number that extends the concept of triangular and square numbers to the decagon, a 10-sided polygon."

This is all gobbledegook to me, so just let's say that reaching 4,000 Rants is a pretty nice achievement.

In the context of this site, we will probably reach 4,100 posts sometime early next year, and we will reach 5,000 posts ...

Sometime in 2030!

That is if I can last that long.

I sure hope I can.

This Blog is nothing but fun to me, giving me a direction each and every weekday ...

Or as many weekdays as my body will allow, and it hasn't been too cooperative this year.

I have eye surgery coming up in late September, which will certainly impede me here, but I just look at it as another speed bump--

Because even if I have to take a few days off, I will be back as soon as I possibly can.

I just don't know how long it will be until I can get back in the saddle again, but hopefully, it won't be that long.

Whatever the case, we have reached #4,000 here, andI think that that is quite an accomplishment.

And as far as the future ...

I don't know where the Ranting and Raving Blog is going, and that is all part of the fun.

I don't know if TikTok or OnlyFans is in my future--I sure hope not--but you never know.

Personally, I would just like to keep this the way it is, because it is small and very personal.

But I will never say never, just let's say that I doubt that this site will expand visually, in particular on those platforms, which I only mentioned in jest.

So lock yourself in for the next 1,000 posts, because I am ready, willing and able to do it!

Will you be with me?

That is your choice.

Rant #3,999: Stuck Like Glue

My family's vacation ended two weeks ago--

But due to modern technology, it actually ends today.

Why do I say this?

Because today, I have the sincere pleasure of paying a few tolls that we had while driving to and from our destination.

Rather than having the ability to pay the tolls right then and there--and get them right out of the way right then and there--due to modern technology, we get to pay them later.

Our license plates are read by an overhead scanner, and while this does speed along the traffic without any stoppage, it bleeds my wallet two weeks after we came home.

I know that the two such bills that we accrued during our travels are coming today, because I receive mail alerts from the post office, and those two bills are in there, according to the alert.

Honestly, I would rather pay the toll exactly when I accrue it, but that is not how it works related to certain tolls in and out of New York State and elsewhere.

Modern technology is nice, but it extends the cost of the vacation well beyond where it should be.

But I have to say, things have improved.

When they first instituted these overhead readers probably at least 10 to 15 years ago, I remember that it used to take months to get the bill.

It would come, and you really had to think about what it was all about, because it was so out of your memory.

Now I see that they have sped up the process, so I don't have to think about the bill--

I just have to pay it.

And these bills are often quite costly.

I don't remember what the cost of going over the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge is off hand, but I think it is something like $24 each way, so it is going to cost me $48 or so to pay this one off.

I accrued another toll bill due to an errant GPS direction--GPS is not always correct, this one taking me through a toll area rather than around it--and that one will be much less, about half the bridge toll at best.

That amounts to about $72 in total toll bills that need to be paid, not a small price any way you cut it.

So when I write the checks for these bills, our vacation will finally be over and done with.

You add up these costs, plus the cost of the other tolls we accrued that we paid right then and there as we moved through several states on our journey, and it all really adds up to a pretty penny as you arrive to, and get home from, your destination.

All told, it is nearly $100 in tolls.

And while modern technology allows you to speed through some of these tolls spots, you pay for that convenience with your wallet later on.

If I had a choice, even though I hate traffic like everyone else does, I would rather pay as you go rather than pay later on.

It puts a slight stench on a fun trip, but what can you do?

I guess I could get EZPass, but 1) it doesn't pay for me, as I only have to use it when we go on such trips, which is not regularly to warrant such an expenditure, and 2) New York EZPass is generally not accepted out of New York State--

So what would I be saving?

Not much, if anything, so it really doesn't pay.

I guess I am stuck ...

Stuck like glue.

What else is new?

Rant #3,998: I've Got the Music In Me

The weekend is over, and today is the first day of the work week.

For me, it is the first day of another same-old, same-old week.

Not that I am complaining ...

I have had too many weeks that are just the opposite ...

Featuring too many doctors telling me about what ails me.

I did get the final eye drops that I need for my upcoming eye surgery, and I did that this past Friday.

This week, I have to take my son to the dentist, and as for me, later in the week, I have to go to the dermatologist for another followup after that cancer was taken off my scalp several weeks ago.

If it is not one thing, it is another.

Hopefully, he doesn't find anything untoward, but if he does, let him take it off and hopefully, that will be the end of it.

I can't take any more of these health episodes ...

And yes, I feel fine, which I have learned does not necessarily mean that I am fine, it just means that I feel like myself, but who knows what is happening inside my body?

What do I do in the meantime, in between health journeys?

Lately, I have been digging into my CD collection, and digging down deep.

Now that it is all in order, I can really investigate what I have, and archive it onto my computer and a thumb drive so I can listen to these CDs in the car.

I don't like it that for the past several years, CD players are not built into cars, so you have to be creative in listening to your CDs there--

Just like if you want to listen to your records in the car.

I just digitize everything, so I can listen to my heart's content.

Getting back to CDs, I have been archiving a lot of stuff, things that you simply cannot get on vinyl record, or at least it is very difficult to get on vinyl.

It is just as fun as digitizing LPs and singles, and it goes much faster, because you don't have to listen to the music to archive it--

You just feed the CD into an exterior drive that I have, and you pretty much let your computer do all the work.

(And yes, I also don't like that computers don't have this drive built into them anymore, but again, you have to roll with the flow.)

It is fun, passes the time, and allows me to listen to this music in my car.

And lately, I have been listening to a lot of CDs this way.

I guess I simply like physical media a lot, and streaming does pretty much nothing for me.

I like to have something in my hand, and whether it is vinyl, CDs or even cassettes, that is preferable to me than just streaming something.

I can digitally transfer over just about anything to my computer and thumb drive--yes, I have a gadget that does this for cassettes--so it really is an easy thing to do.

So as I prepare for another examination--and another surgery--this is what I do to keep busy, in between work, of course, and all the usual things I have to do.

So yes, it is the same old, same old, but I try to make it all fresh and new.

I at least try to do that, but I don't always succeed ...

As I ponder my future, health-wise, and as I count the days for 2026 to end--

Hopefully, on a good note.

So, while I have no idea what is happening in my body at any given time, I do know that I have the music in me ...

And that, at least to me, is a reassuring thought.

Rant #3,997: No Fair At All

I swore that I would not talk about my eyes again for now, but this Rant has to do with my eyes, although peripherally.

It actually has to do with complete incompetence, a concept that has grown, and has become more accepted, since the pandemic. 

Due to my upcoming eye surgery, I was told by the doctor/surgeon's office to get three specific eye drops for the management of the surgery afterward, and the office put in the prescriptions to my local pharmacy--the one right across the street from where I live--so they could be processed.

The day after my last appointment--when my dilated eyes had returned to normal--I went to that pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions.

The pharmacy gave me two of the prescriptions, and told me that it would be a day or so for them to get the third one.

They told me to sign up for texts from the pharmacy, and they told me that when the prescription was ready, they would text me about its availability.

I signed up for the texts, and left the pharmacy with the two ready prescriptions in hand ...

And I waited, and waited, and waited some more for a text message about the third prescription, but heard nothing from the pharmacy.

On Wednesday, I went to the pharmacy to find out what the status was of the third prescription.

"I have not heard from you about the third prescription," I asked the front desk person at the pharmacy. "It was supposed to be ready a day after I picked up the other two. What is going on?"

She took my name, and looked me up.

"The prescription is on order," she said.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked.

"We don't have it here, so it is on order," she replied.

"Again, what does that mean?" I asked. "How long will it be before you have it?"

"I don't know," she replied.

As you can imagine, this "Who's On First" game was starting to get to me.

"Look, here is the deal," I said. "I am having an operation in September, and I need those eye drops. You gave me the other two that I needed, you said the other one would be here the next day, you asked me to sign up for text messages related to prescriptions, and I haven't heard a thing from you. So what is going on with the prescription?"

"I don't know," she said. "Go to [another pharmacy], and have the prescription switched there."

This complete indifference to this situation is appalling, at the very least, but it truly shows total incompetency--

And really bad customer service.

If they were having a problem obtaining the prescription, they should have texted me about this problem, but they never did, leaving me in the lurch and putting this all on my head.

If they would have at least texted me about this problem, I could have taken the proper action, rather than sitting here and not knowing what was going on.

I left the pharmacy in a huff, went back home, called my doctor, and had the prescription switched to the other pharmacy, which is about five miles away from where I live--

And the prescription was filled in about a half hour, and I have to go pick it up when I can get over there, probably by the weekend.

My doctor's office told me that it was not surprising that this pharmacy could not fill the third prescription, because "we have been having trouble with them lately."

I wonder why.

Total incompetency, total lack of customer service ...

They act like robots when it comes to taking care of the customer.

As you know, I have brought up similar situations in the past, where workers really cannot care less about the customers they are there to supposedly serve, and this type of inane behavior has heightened since the pandemic.

And as I have said many times, these incompetent leeches are working, and I am sitting here.

It seems every time I have had to have an operation, nothing goes smoothly leading up to the actual procedure.

I always have to extend myself beyond where I really should, because of incompetence--

Which seems to be accepted in today's world.

And it increases the anxiety level I already have related to the procedure, and everything around it.

I will certainly not ever go to the pharmacy again to fill a prescription ...

It is only a prescription for disaster.

Not fair, not fair at all.

That being said, have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday ...

With all three of my prescriptions in hand.

Rant #3,996: Shaving Cream

It is Thursday ...

The day of the week I dreaded for so many years.

Why?

Well, it is one day before Friday, so I still had one more day of school, or later, one more day of the work week, to get through before the weekend came.

It is also the say that for decades has been one of my shaving days, and I just hate to shave. This day hasn't changed whether I was going to school, working full time, or acting as a remote worker, so today is the day I shave ...

And I did just that this morning.

I hate to shave, and I am not a good shaver to begin with.

My father was a terrible shaver, always cutting himself and having to use a styptic pencil to mend his wounds.

Me, I use and electric razor, and even though I shave just twice a week now--also on Sunday, so on Sunday and Thursday each week--I have never really mastered the "art" of shaving, and I burn out electric razors at an alarming rate.

My son ... well, he takes after myself and my father, and he is not the greatest shaver either.

But I don't want to grow a beard--I have tried and it looks terrible on me, and itches like nobody's business--so I have to shave twice a week.

When I was working full time, I shaved three times a week, adding in Tuesday to the shaving mix.

So the one good thing about not working full time is that I have cut down on my shaving days, which is good for my face, and my razor.

And depending on the week, I can maneuver the days if I have to ...

For instance, let's say we are going out to a restaurant on a Saturday, I can shave on Saturday rather than on Sunday.

And there are weeks I shave just once, but those are few and far between.

Look, I am never going to be a member of ZZ Top.

Their classic lineup featured two members--guitarists Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill--who had long beards down to the middle of their chests.

And they had one member who didn't have a beard--

It was the drummer, and his name was ...

Frank Beard!

Well, I am no "Larry" Beard, but I am no "Larry" Gibbons or "Larry" Hill either.

I am me, myself, and I just hate to shave.

Such a waste of 15 minutes, such a limited return.

But I can't see myself with a full beard, which I probably could grow in about a week.

So shave I must ...

But no full body shaving for me!

It would probably take me at least an hour to do that.

While it doesn't grow on my head anymore, it grows everywhere else ...

I also hated to mow the lawn way back when, so mowing my body--

Out of the question--

And not by a hair.

Rant #3,995: Something In the Air

This summer has been a very warm one, and I read today that for the contiguous 48 states, we just went through the hottest July on record.

The average temperature was 76.89 degrees, which made it the warmest month ever in the U.S., less Hawaii and Alaska.

This temperature edged out the July temperature registered during the Dust Bowl, in 1936, so it broke a 90-year-old record.

Personally, I simply cannot take the heat, but my family and I wait until the evening to put on the air conditioning, because the price is simply too costly to do it during the day.

When I drive around, I do use the air conditioner pretty liberally, and during our recent vacation, I probably had the AC on about 90 percent of the time when driving.

And this has brought up some other interesting things, at least in my own mind.

As you know, I am a big Yankees fan, and my team has been flailing for some time, and their bats have been nearly silent, in particular, at Yankee Stadium.

The team has been very successful playing away on the road, but when it comes to playing at home--where they should be excelling, since the team is supposedly built around the stadium that they play 81 games at during the regular season--they are not doing well, and I think the weather has a lot to do with it.

Here is what I put up on Facebook the other day, and what do you think about it?

"Watching the Yankees since 1965, and watching them play in the new Stadium since 2009, I think the Yankees' current lack of offense has to do with the ballpark itself.

The current Stadium's wind pattern appears to be different than it used to be, and balls that would fly out of the Stadium in the past are just long outs today.

The wet weather New York has experienced this summer hasn't helped matters, making the ball heavier and harder to hit out.

I just feel that the changing atmosphere, while not the full culprit in their offensive malaise, is certainly part of the problem. I have never seen so many near misses at the Stadium as I have this season. What do you think?"

And the responses I received back were pretty mixed.

Some thought it was an interesting observation that they hadn't heard before, others scoffed at it, and others said that the opposing team has to play in the same conditions, so what I said doesn't make sense--

But those opposing teams don't have to play 81 games there, just a few games at a time.

In later posts, I pointed to the Mets' CitiField stadium, which used to be a downright pitchers' park, but now--and I believe also due to changing weather patterns--has become a hitters' panacea.

(Yes, I know they brought in the fences a few years back to make it more hitter friendly, but it is only being felt to a larger scale right now.)

I wonder why none of the professionals--weather, sports writers, and the like--have not brought up this point, but I do feel that the Yankees aren't hitting--

And not necessarily because their biggest guns, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, are injured and out of the lineup for months.

Look, I could simply be looking for a needle in a haystack here, but I think I am onto something.

Anyone have anything to say on this subject?

It could be a real grand slam of a topic if it proves to be true ...

And since Yankee Stadium is an open-air arena, I have no idea what can be done about it.

But I think it is an interesting thought ...

A perfect one for another hot summer day.

Rant #3,994: Eye Candy

Now that I got my eye thing off my chest ...

So to speak, of course.

I learned a little more about why it happened yesterday morning.

Coincidentally, I had to take my son for his yearly eye checkup at the same place that I used to go regularly, but now can't because of my impending eye surgery.

I mentioned all of this to the doctor, and yes, she said that the prescription might have led to the retina tearing ...

Because since I am so near-sighted, the eye strained to fit the new prescription I had, and after three years, it just tore very slightly.

She said it is a rare occurrence, but it does happen, so I guess I am once again God's chosen person to suffer this year.

Thank goodness my son's eyes are OK.

His examination went quite well.

Me, I am not too happy right now, but eye ... err ... I ... will get over it, I guess.

I also brought in my car for an oil change.

After driving 2,100 miles in about a week with one good eye, I figured it was time to get my car some new oil.

It was time anyway, so it all worked out, scheduling-wise, pretty well.

And I was expecting the worst here ...

You know, you go in for an oil change, and they tell you about 23 other things that are wrong with your car, and you have to fix them NOW--

And you come out with a bill eight or nine or 10 times what just the oil change costs.

It has happened to me many times in my driving life, and it happened to my wife about two or three weeks ago.

And I have a six-year-old car, one that I just refinanced, so I was expecting the worst.

Happily, I only needed the oil change, so that made me feel good.

At this point, I look for little things to make me feel good, and this was one of those things.

And I didn't get any further surprises during the remainder of the day, so I guess that made me feel good too.

I don't know if you know this, but the one organ in your body that stays the same size when you are born to when you leave this earth is the eyes.

That is why newborns have that "full," adorable face when you see them, with the eyes almost too big for their head and face.

But all your other organs grow with you, but the eyes stay the same.

I would have never thought I would have eye problems other than being near-sighted, but that is what I am facing right now.

OK, I said enough about my eyes.

No more talk about that part of my body for a couple of weeks.

Let's talk about my kidney, my prostate, my quad muscle, my butt.

How appetizing that kind of talk is!

But nothing more about my eyes ...

OK?

Say "eye" ... err ... "aye" if you agree.