Rant #3,677: The Fall

I have had it.

This move has simply wiped me out.

I did get to Record Store Day, but it was Saturday afternoon rather than early Saturday morning 

I just couldn't do it any earlier..

This move has been something else, and today, we will just about be fully in.

I hope the Internet is fully functional, so I can get back to business, figuratively and literally.

And I hope that my wife is back to business, too.

What you don't know is that about a week ago, she took another fall, on her head, and she was rushed to the first of two hospitals.

My wife suffers from vertigo, and once again, it got her.

They put a staple in her head, and happily, her stay in the hospital was only about a day and a half.

So for a while, the shoe was kind of on the other foot; the last time we moved, I was bed bound, this time, she was kind of incapacitated for a while.

She is up and about now, but she has to have the staple removed and go for some tests in the next two weeks or so.

The scariest part of this is that for a few moments, she had no idea we were in the process of moving--

She didn't even know what year it was.

But thank God, that did not last long, and she is much, much better.

Not entirely out of the woods, but as out of the woods that you can be with a staple in her head.

So by the next time we speak again, we should be fully moved in, but I cannot guarantee anything, so the Rant might be spotty this week.

In fact, I have seven straight weeks of conferences to cover for work--one each week--so it isn't just due the move that I will be in and out here, it is also work related.

Happy Passover to all, and to all, a good night (or good morning, or good day, depending on when you are reading this).

Speak to you soon--

But I don't know exactly when.

Rant #3,676: Beat Surrender

Yesterday, we were finally able to move some of our possessions over to the new apartment, something we will be doing during the next couple of days as we prepare for our official moving day.

It was tough doing this, but we moved over a lot of the lighter boxes and bags, and while we still have some more lighter stuff to move over, the movers will be doing the moving of most of the rest of our stuff.

So many emotions go through you when you make a move like this; I missed those emotions the last time, but I am definitely feeling them now.

And by next week, we will firmly be in our new dwelling, and all these memories will pass over us ...

All as the Jewish holiday of Passover comes to us, beginning Saturday night at sunset.

I am not going to lie; the holiday is not the same with my parents gone, and it is a bit more somber.

I will still eat my matzoh every day of the holiday, and I will do the best I can to keep the Passover spirit alive.

On Sunday, we will celebrate with my sister's family, and while it isn't the same without my parents, we will have a good seder, with the highlight, as usual, being the recital of The Four Questions, which explain much of the holiday.

And this year, there is an extra layer to the holiday, something that came about us quite unexpectedly--

And no, I am not talking about our move--which itself was unexpected--but I am talking about a great surprise, certainly one of the great surprises of my life.

As many of you know, my daughter has kind of been in and out of my life for the past 20 years or so.

I love her dearly, but there has been some type of disconnect between her and me, and I can't, for the life of me, explain why it exists.

I often do not hear from her for long stretches of time, and it truly bewilders me why it is the way it is.

Anyway, last week, I received a great shock through a text message she sent me.

The message said something to the effect that while she couldn't talk at the moment, she just wanted to tell me that she was engaged, and that she would talk to me later.

Remember, this was a text message, not a phone call, and she kind of left me hanging, so I subsequently texted her back, called her, but still, no response.

Finally, she did speak to me, calling me as I was driving back from a local hospital.

No, I won't get into why I was driving home from the hospital, but yes, I was, and my daughter just happened to call me when I was in the car with my son.

I asked several questions, she answered what I asked, and she told me about several of the details, which I won't spill here, other than she is looking at about a year-and-a-half engagement before she actually ties the knot.

I have met her future husband a few times. He seems to be a nice guy, and I truly hope they have better luck than my daughter's mother and I had during our brief marriage--

And both her mother and I have had successful second marriages, so I hope my daughter does better than we did, and gets it right the first time.

And yes, as the details unfolded, I told her just that.

What's more, my sister invited the newly engaged couple over to her Passiver seder, so we will get to congratulate them in person.

It will be the first time since Fathers Day that I will have seen my daughter in person, so I am looking forward to seeing her again.

So yes, my head is still spinning as all of this is unfolding, but at least I can end the week with some good news for a change.

So, have a great weekend, have a great Passover for those who celebrate the holiday, and again, I might be in and out next week here at the Blog due to our move, so bear with me, and I will try to post something else on Monday.

Mazel Tov!

Matzoh Tough!

Rant #3,675: Time Is On My Side (NOT!!!!)

My family and i are coming up to our final days in our current apartment.

We are beyond busy, and let me tell you, you don't know the half of it, because I haven't told you everything.

All that I will say is that history often repeats itself, and there is really nothing you can do about it.

Deal with it!

Anyway, the next few days are going to be very spotty as far as this blog; I will try to post something, but there is absolutely no guarantee that I will--

I simply don't have the time.

As it is, I won't be going to Record Store Day this Saturday for a variety of reasons, and there really isn't much I can do about it.

Beginning today, we can actually start to move some of our stuff over to our new apartment, and what that means is that we will literally have one foot in/one foot out of our new dwelling, slowly getting much of our stuff to the new place this weekend.

It is fun, daunting, nerve-racking, annoying, and any other description you might want to use.

It is also tiring, and if we have our way, this is going to be our final move ... my wife and I are just getting too long in the tooth to do this.

Our son is taking it in stride, but I can tell that he is a bit nervous about the whole thing as my wife and I are.

And again, i haven't told you the entire story about this move, but I will in due time.

And I haven't forgotten about that other surprise I have for you.

If I get time to breathe, I will soon spill the beans on that too.

I won't breathe a word on that one just yet.

Maybe tomorrow.

We shall see.

Right now, I am too pooped to pop the ...

Nah, just to pop.

Like I said, maybe tomorrow.

Rant #3,674: It Ain't Necessarily So

Yes, these boxes are all over the place, and they are eating me up.

And, I bet that unless you work in a supermarket, you didn't know thst boxes have become something of a political.issue.

All of the supermarkets' products come in boxes of one size or another, and when all of the contents of these boxes is removed, the boxes often get broken down, or cut apart, so that they are easily disposed of.

Having gone from supermarket to supermarket to try to get boxes for our move, I have found that some stores are more than willing to give you as many boxes as you can carry, while other stores won't give you anything--

And it doesn't matter what store you go to within a supermarket chain, because I have discovered that some of the chain's stores can be more than willing you give you boxes, while another of the chain's stores will refuse your request.

And I found out the reason, and yes, it has to do with not just finances, but what type of help that they deploy in their respective store.

Evidently, some stores get money back when they return the distressed boxes, so they are less apt to give them away for nothing.

And I also found that some union stores won't give them up because they have night crews, who not only stock the shelves, but are tasked to cut up the boxes.

I am simplifying all of this, and I am sure supermarket workers have a better bead on this than I ever will, but I found this to be true as I went from supermarket to supermarket 

I went to one store, asked for boxes, and was put through the ringer about all of this being true throughout that particular chain.

I told them that I had just been to one of their sister stores, and that they had given me some boxes.

"Well, they weren't supposed to do that!" I was told.

"What can I say," I replied. "They gave me boxes."

"What store was it?"

I told them, and I immediately thought that I shouldn't have.

"Well, they aren't supposed to do that," was their reply as I was leaving the store empty handed. "We have a union work crew here, maybe they don't, but if they do--"

No, I didn't wait to hear the full reply, as I was already moving on to the next supermarket 

We ended up getting plenty of boxes from one store or another, but I never thought that this was such an issue.

Every time I have moved throughout the years, we have always gone to the supermarket to get boxes.

It was like an unspoken-about free service that these supermarkets provided to the community they did business in.

In today's world, it ain't necessarily so anymore.

When something is monetized--even an empty box--these things, which were nothing more than garbage at one time--seemingly all of a sudden have become precious coomodities, and you just can't gave them away anymore.

I guess I could buy boxes from Staples, but that would simply add to the cost of our move, which, believe me, is costing us enough without this added expense.

I could think outside the box, but my mind is so frazzled right now, that I don't want boxes to add another brick to my already very heavy load.

Who would have thunk it?

Not me, bad English and all.

Rant #3,673: Movin' On Up

I am so busy with the move that I don't have any real time to write a proper Rant.

Boxes on top of boxes on top of boxes ... our current apartment looks like who did it and ran, but that is how it is when you are moving to a new dwelling.

I can't find anything now, even though all the boxes are clearly marked.

I will find everything when we meticulously empty each box, but right now, it's like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will this new apartment look like it should for some time.

At least I can help put a bit more this time.

Next subject ...

And then we come to a whirlwind that can make any living space into utter chaos.

"Dennis the Menace" remains one of the most popular comic stripes of all time, and the character of Dennis Mitchell epitomizes the kid in all of us.

The TV show of "Dennis the Menace" was one of the most frenetic comic strips-to-TV adaptations ever, and the show had probably the best casting ever, with the actors, by and large, looking just like their comic strip counterparts.

And the TV cast was led by Jay North, one of the most talented--and we later found out, one of the most tortured--child stars of all time.

North died at age 73 the other day, so another Baby Boomer hero has left us way too soon.

When the show had its four-season run from 1959 to 1963, North became a huge star, paired with Joseph Kearns as Mr. George Wilson initially and then Gale Gordon as Mr. John Wilson later on when Kearns died.

We laughed at the antics of Dennis and his buddies and their relationship with Mr. Wilson, but evidently, there was much more going on behind the scenes than anyone knew at the time--even to most of the cast.

North, according to appearances on TV shows like "Donahue" decades later, was an abused child, pretty much forced into acting to be the high wage earner of those who were supposedly responsible for him in lieu of his actual parents.

Years later, as an adult and away from show business, he still couldn't handle the abuse he had endured years earlier.

With the help of therapy and former show biz kids like Paul Petersen of "The Donna Reed Show," he was able to get his life together.

He married, became a correctional officer, and yes, was even able to appear at numerous TV-related conventions and events.

North was just 73 when he passed away, but he had exorcized his demons.

To him, he would probably say that the second half of his life was way better than the first half, but that first half lives on in countless TV reruns for all to see.

Jay North, R.I.P.

Now, back to packing ... . 

Rant #3,672: Gone, Movin' On

It is time to reveal my little secret ...

Which has actually ballooned into two little secrets, but I am only going to talk about the first one today, because I have very little to say about the other.

I am not trying to be dodgy, but honestly, I do not know too much about the second secret, which isn't really a secret, it is a surprise.

It certainly was for me!

Anyway ...

Last week, as I mentioned to you, I went to the storage facility where we have a lot of things stored.

The reason my wife and I went there is that we received an email message that our monthly bill for storage was increasing by about $100 starting with the next payment.

This is ludicrous, to be paying nearly $400 a month for storage, or about $4,800 per year.

We spoke to the management there, and they gave us a slight senior citizen discount, but it all still works out to well more than $4,000 a year for storage 

Wouldn't we prefer to take the money we are paying for storage and use that for a larger apartment where we can store, display and enjoy all of this stuff?

As a lark, we asked the management where we live if they had a larger apartment available in the same development, and yes, they did have such an apartment available.

We looked at it, and it is really something.

It is about three times the size of what we have, with enough extra space to fit in everything.

The apartment is also the only one on the development with a terrace--and yes, barbecuing is permitted, albeit with an electric barbecue only.

And yes, the rent is a bit more than we had been paying for the smaller apartment.

But my wife, son and I spoke about it for a few days, and we decided that we are going to take on the new apartment--and we move in on April 15.

So the three of us are packing away everything, readying to move just a little further into the development.

And this time, in addition to doing the phone and Internet work to changing our address to the new one, I can actually do some of the heavy work, too, although I did promise my wife to limit what I can pick up and move.

It is exciting, it is exasperating, it is headache inducing and it is fun, all rolled up into one.

It has kept us up at night, and all the work has also knocked us out.

This has to be the final move, as we are getting older and it is just so difficult to do this all over again.

We were very happy with what we had, but now we are moving to something better.

With everything going on, we are really going to watch ourselves regarding our expenditures from now on, not that we haven't already been doing that.

My wife and I are going to have to continue to work for the foreseeable future, and our son's job status is still up in the air.

But sometimes, you have to take a big step to better yourselves, and we think we have done just that.

So for my family and I, April 15 is not only Tax Day, it is our Moving Day.

And we just can't wait!

Now, for the second secret ...

I can't tell you anything yet, because I simply don't have much to tell.

I will let you know when I find out more.

Promise.

Rant #3,671: I'm On the Outside Looking In

What has happened to our country?

And by the way, the Republicans and the Democrats are unified in finding new ways to destroy the United States of America.

But today, after the Democratic fillibuster--or whatever that idiotic display was--let's focus on the Republicans, and squarely on our president, Donald Trump.

I posted this on Facebook yesterday, and it pretty much speaks for itself.

"There go my wife and my retirement savings.

These tariffs are killing the stock market, and taking away everything the two of us worked hsrd for for decades.

Tough times for people like us, at least short term, until the market rejiggers itself. Who knows when that will be, if ever.

But everything we have gained, we have now lost.

There are only so many hard times we can endure.

The idea is a good one--to boost U.S. manufacturing--but this is NOT the way to do it, on the backs of people like us.

Are you listening, Mr. President?"

Disgraceful. Totally disgraceful.

And I wasn't quite done yet.

"The Dow dropped 1,200 points. Last month, my wife and I lost quite a bit of money in the market, and now this. We aren't wealthy, so it is a huge hit for us."

It was the worst day in five years, and whatever "gains" our country experiences, if any, will take years to realize.

And I had plenty more to say.

"The president said on his social media site, "The operation is over. The patient lived, and is healing. The prognosis is that the patient will be far stronger, bigger, better, and more resilient than ever before.'"

Time shall tell, but right now, my wife and I aren't too happy."

And I summed it all up with this last missive.

"They are great fears. We are barely managing as it is. We have cut lots of corners to even get to that point, but there are just so many corners you can cut before there is absolutely nothing to cut anymore.

And where are we with the president's pledge to rescind Social Security taxes?

The honeymoon, I'm afraid, is over."

Wall Street is one thing, but all of this stuff is hurting the general population on Main Street.

Whatever buying power we have is totally negated when everything costs so much more than it did a year ago.

And you just know that the cost of all of these tarrifs is going to be passed down to you and I, the general consumer who can't afford much anymore with what little money we have.

Yes, I do get a pittance from Social Security, but let's be honest about my salary; I am making maybe one-third of what I should be making at this point in time from my remote job compared to if I was working full time.

Both my wife and I are supposedly retirees, me not by choice. My wife is forced to work, I am forced to work, and we are probably going to have to work until we expire.

My son can't find a job doing anything, and what is a family like us supposed to do?

Again, what the president wants to do is not a bad idea, but what he is doing to reach his goal is destroying our international friendships, making us appear to be tyrannical, and is destroying the backbone of ths country--

The middle class.

If this type of direction goes on any longer, that class will not exist anymore--

There will be the "haves" and the "have nots," and most people will be in the latter category.

And that's just not right.

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

Rant #3,670: Some Like It Hot

It's Earth Month!

Everyone complains about the weather, and I certainly do.

It is certainly the craziest during the spring, when temperatures can range from the high 20s to the low 80s overnight.

We had a day like that last week, when one day, it was in the 80s and the next day was in the 30s.

People went from shorts and then right back to winter jackets in one fell swoop.

Yesterday, it was in the 40s, and as busy as I was, I still felt it, having the heat on in the car for at least part of the time that I drove from here to there.

Mother Nature has it all on us, and we can't control the weather--

We can just experience it, and do the best that we can.

Some people believe that moving south is the solution, but that isn't necessarily true.

And if it isn't the weather, you have hurricanes and other weather disturbances in Florida and other southern states to contend with.

For me, the south is a nice place to visit, but I don't know if it is a place where I want to live full time.

There are plusses, and there are certainly minuses when you compare the north with the south.

On a post that spoke about the crazy weather we have experienced in the winter and the spring this year, some of the posters put up that they want to move south to experience more warmth.

Yes, I have been in Florida and Georgia many times since 1975, and yes, during those 50 years, I have enjoyed the heat like anyone would.

But the first time I went to Florida, in 1975 or so, I did not feel the heat at all.

Here is what I wrote:

"My first trip to Florida was in 1975, and that was the Spring Break where for the first time, temperatures in Miami Beach reached only 32 degrees.

My friends and I were in a room with air conditioning that you could not shut off, and we put towels over the air conditioning and slept in our winter jackets.

All the coconuts froze up, so you couldn't even get one that was good without a lot of trouble. 

It did warm up, but I think over that week, we went to the beach maybe once or twice."

Shiver me timbers!

And that happened a half century ago, when the term "climate change" wasn't even around.

Look, before you know it, it will be plenty warm up in the north, so we just have to bide our time and wait for that to happen.

At least let's be happy that we didn't get too much snow this past season.

I think that threat is over, but Mother Nature generally doesn't care what the date is--

And she may still have an April Fools surprise for us up her sleeve.

Rant #3,669: Don't Breathe a Word

Yesterday was an extremely busy day, and today will be even busier.

I have several things related to employment that I have to do with my son, and I have a ton of other things to do, including work.

I am really busy for another reason, but you will just have to wait a couple of days before I let you in on that.

Don't breathe a word ... but you can't, because you don't know about it ... but if you figure it out, please don't say anything.

One hint: 

No, it has nothing to do with hair suddenly sprouting on my decsdes-long bald head.

That is all you are going to get from me.

But it is all good.

Otherwise, not much has changed with my family and myself, only that I am another day closer to my birthday on April 28.

Twenty-six days, and I finally catch up with my wife in age.

Pretty neat being the young-un here ...

But not really, because our son isn't even 30 yet!

His turn comes in August.

We have to do something special for him, but we haven't decided on anything yet.

I don't remember what I did on my own 30th birthday.

That was way back in 1987; it seems like it happened another life ago, and for me, that is just what it was.

Heck, I wasn't even a father yet!

That is all I am going to say about it.

It is funny that as you get older, you can definitely break down your life in stages.

I will call that era "My Adult Training Wheels" stage, but it didn't last too long, and I was on a two-wheeler stage pretty quickly.

But fast forward to today, almost 38 years later.

And I am as busy as I have ever been.

I guess it is better to be busy than bored.

Rant #3,668: Damn the Torpedoes

Torpedo bats.

April Fools!

No it isn't.

This is the latest, real controversy revolving around Major League Baseball, and it is just a tempest in a teapot.

On Opening Day weekend, the New York Yankees not only bear the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, they nearly obliterated them off the face if the earth.

The Yankees hit a total of 15 home runs during the three games, with four by Aaron Judge alone, including three on Saturday.

I mean, they don't call them "The Bronx Bombers" for nothing, but some think there is much more to it than that.

They point to the bats that some of them used, which are shaped a little bit differently than other bats.

The shape of the bats was supposedly created by individualized information gleaned by the team's analytics department about where certain batters are more likely to hit the ball on their bats.

Each of these bats is a little thicker around that area, and the theory is that if it is thicker, the ball will propel harder off each batter's individual sweet spot.

Not all players are using these bats; Aaron Judge, who hit 58 homers last season, isn't, but Jazz Chisholm, who hit three Homer's this past weekend, is.

So you just know some players believe the team is cheating--

But MLB has quashed that talk, saying the bats are 100 percent legal due to its rule book.

One player from the Brewers said that since it is the Yankees who have benefited from their use of these bats, MLB is letting it go because, "They are The Yankees."

All nonsense.

Maybe the Brewers' pitching staff is really that bad.

Maybe the weather had a lot to do with it, as it was very warm in the Bronx this past Daturday afternoon, the wind was blowing out, and the Yankees were facing their former pitcher, Nestor Cortes, so they were very familiar with his stuff.

That day, they hit nine homers, which isn't a record, bu the way.

All of this probably contributed to the weekend outburst, and maybe the bats had something to do with it.

Other teams are probably a bit jealous thst the Yankees one-upped them and used modern technology to design a bat that can pummel 90-100-mph pitches.

Funny, two points that have to be taken into account, but aren't:

1) The Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton used a variation of this type of bst during the 2024 postseason and World Series, and,

2) The bat was actually at least partially designed by soneone linked to the Florida Marlins' coaching staff ... yes, the same team that is traditionally one of the worst teams in the sport.

So the Yankees were just onto this quicker than other teams, and other teams' players--including the New York Mets' Francisco Lindor--already use the bat (he is still looking at his first hit of the 2025 season, through the first three games).

You just know that other teams will now jump on this bandwagon, and you just know that when one of the users goes 0 for 5 in a game, he will bemoan the moment he tried the new bat.

And that's baseball.

Rant #3,667: Leaving It All Behind

Being confined to bed for such a long time forced me to put off various activities until I was ready to move about as my left leg strengthened.

Over the past year or so, I did just about everything that I couldn't do when I was laid up, everything from driving a car to going food shopping to seeing my son play basketball and bowl.

But as I checked off things from my list of things I wanted to get back to doing, there was still one thing I hadn't done, all these months later.

I had never been to our storage unit, where we are keeping a lot of our "stuff" because the apartment we moved to was way too small to hold everything.

Well, I can now cross that activity off my list, because on Friday afternoon, I finally visited our storage unit, going there with my wife.

The storage building is just about a mile away from where we currently live, but it may as well have been on the other side of the world, because I hadn't seen any of the things stored there for the past 18 months or so.

We have so much stored there that is very important to us, including my LP collection, books, photo albums, larger photos, family heirlooms, etc.

And I hadn't seen any of them in a long time.

So close, yet so far.

The place where we have all of this stuff stored is quite modern and quite nice.

You need a code to get your car in through the gates, and once inside the building, you need a key to get into the unit.

And the whole place is climate controlled, and the air conditioning was on when we were there.

When we moved to our apartment, we had a major problem with the original movers, and with our original storage facility.

We had to move our things to another facility, and our things ended up where they are now.

The original movers damaged or destroyed some of our things--including the plastic receptacles that many of these things were placed in--and we also believe that some of the things that we had decided to store were, let's say, pilfered, although we would have to go through everything piece by piece to ascertain that.

Anyway, my wife warned me thst I should be prepared for what I was going to see, and as I turned the key in the lock, I was prepared for the worst.

Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought, but yes, it was pretty messy.

I went through a few boxes, and it was like I was meeting up with old friends I hadn't seen in years.

The first thing I saw were framed pictures of my sister and myself, probably from about 60 years ago.

I rediscovered numerous books, photos, and other things, and it is really heartbreaking that this stuff is stored away, just sitting there, and not being enjoyed.

When we moved, we threw out bags and bags and bags of different things, and, in fact, I was first hurt lugging a bag of junk down the stairs to the curb.

We spent about 15 minutes there, and I took three small things back to our apartment:

A book of Monkees cards--don't laugh, these are very valuable.

A scrapbook of articles I wrote for the old Island Ear publication and for other publications--the beginning of my professional writing career.

A book on The Little Rascals/Our Gang short features series, a book that is long out of print and very difficult to find.

I wish I could have brought home everything, but I was happy with what I was able to bring back with me.

With these three things in tow, we locked the door behind us and we left the building, having to use our code to drive out of the place.

It was a nice place to visit, but I do wish we had the room to bring all of it back with us.

But alas, that just wasn't meant to be.

Rant #3,666: Maybe Tomorrow

I am so tired.

This week has been a busy one, what with work and everything else I have to do.

I am bushed ... I could use a couple of days where I don't do very much.

This is not retirement ... it simply can't be.

I think I need a retirement counselor, if there is such a thing.

This person would need to instruct me about "how to enjoy retirement without any money."

Is it possible?

Not in the environment we are in now, that's for sure.

But getting back to time management ...

I barely have time to write this blog five days a week.

I sleep pretty well, but I have slept better.

I seem to do a lot of thinking in my dreams.

So I'm not counting sheep ... I am going over things that bother me, and there is plenty that gets my goat right now.

I have to tell you, I have a lot to be thankful for, but there are times that my personal situation hits me right between the eyes.

I am brought back to reality each and every morning, when i prepare for the day.

I am so much better than I was, but the stark reality hits me when I shower and get dressed.

Not that either is a struggle anymore ... it is just so much more difficult to do these things than it once was.

It sounds crazy, but putting on socks is the worst.

i do it, but when i put on my left sock, i have to contort myself a bit, and it just brings everything bad back to me.

Yes, I am whining, and i am very thankful to all who got me through this ... but it is still difficult.

In general, I wish things were better all around for myself and my family, but I guess you could say we are holding our own, or maybe just treading water.

But there's always hope.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

And while I contemplate all of this gobbledegook, how about ending the week by reading the next installment of my novel?

I would appreciate it.

And while you are doing it, have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

22

The students filed back into the classroom pretty quickly after the lunch break, and as usual, they were led by Melissa, who took her usual seat, the first seat by the door in the first row.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Abraham,” she said, with even more of a perk in her speech than normal. “It is so good to see you again after a nice lunch break.”

“It is good to see you, Melissa, and your classmates here,” “Mr. Abraham” replied. “We have plenty to do this afternoon, so let’s dive right into it.”

Melissa nodded over to another student seated next to her, and whispered, “Sure, he is going to be taking a dive, all right.” The other student smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Mr. Abraham” began the afternoon lessons, and the day went quickly for Abraham Lincoln Panim, as the clock quickly got closer to the 3 p.m. end of the school day time.

During the arithmetic part of the lesson, “Mr. Abraham” turned to the class as he finished writing on the blackboard.

“Does everyone understand this?” he asked, looking around the room. “It is getting late in the day, we only have a few minutes left, so if there is anyone not understanding this, we need to talk about it—“

“I’m not sure about it,” said Melissa as she raised her hand to get “Mr. Abraham’s attention. Responding to her plea for help, Abraham Lincoln Panim walked over to her, anticipating her questions.

“What seems to be the matter, what’s the problem?” he asked, as he bent down to see Melissa’s work.

“I don’t know, what is the problem?” Melissa asked, as she yanked on Abraham Lincoln Panim’s scarf, which went from being held tightly around his face to falling on the floor, revealing his secret to the entire class.

“My brother said it was you!” Melissa screeched “You are that rat-faced guy that my brother told me about. You have a rat face! And you hate cheese!”

The class laughed, and Abraham Lincoln Panim bent to the floor to quickly retrieve his pulled-off scarf.

And as he was doing this, he realized … Melissa Hartung was Brandon Hartung’s younger sister, the very person who had terrorized him when he was in nursery school and when he was in college.

“Not only did my brother warn me about you, but Mr. Sedall said you were the rat-faced guy!” Melissa bragged to the class. “They both knew what they were talking about—you are a rat face!”

“Rat face! Rat face! Rat face!” the class yelled almost in unison, and Abraham Lincoln Panim was only saved by the 3:00 p.m. bell that rang.

The class filed past him as he was still on the floor, trying to cover his face with his scarf.

He sat there as the last child filed out of the room.

Rant #3,665: Start

Today, the 2025 Major League Baseball season begins ...

Although it already began, when the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs played a two-game series in Japan last week.

So, the Dodgers are 2-0, the Cubs 0-2.

And yes, Shohei Ohtani--the very marketable/highly unmarketable star--has a home run already under his belt.

Ohtani is an enigma, and MLB really doesn't know what to do with him.

He could be the game's most highly marketable star, as he is not only a great hitter, but also a superior pitcher, the first such bombastic combination since Babe Ruth, who did what he did a century ago.

But the Babe became the true face of the game because he was, by far, its most marketable player, appearing in ads, movies--

You name it, and he was there.

Ohtani--and MLB--have a problem, and that is that while he is highly marketable, he speaks no English, so that kind of stifles his marketability.

Don't get me wrong, he DOES speak English, understands it, and even with a strong accent, could use the language in a variety of merchandising tools.

The problem is that it is something of a "badge of honor" for Japanese players not to speak English to reporters and the public, instead relying on personal.interpreters to get their message out.

The Seattle Nariners' Ichiro Suzuki certainly laid the groundwork for this during his Hall of Fame career, and the New York Yankees' Hideki Matsui followed suit--

Only to be outed by teammate Derek Jeter years after both of their careers ended, at one point telling the press that Matsui spoke and understood English as well as anyone.

Don't get me wrong; Ohtani has been in a number of commercials, but he has scant little to say.

Compare that to, for instance, the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, who is a marketing goldmine for the NBA, and often has too much to say.

Ohtani makes a goldmine from sales of his shirts and other things, but he woukd make even more if he spoke English.

This is a conundrum that MLB has had to deal with since Ohtani has been in MLB, and while the game has the Yankees' Aaron Judge as something of a substitute, can you imagine if Ohtani could be persuaded to speak English?

As it is, like Ichiro and Matsui, Ohtani has made baseball-crazy Japan even wilder about their adopted national pasttime--

Brought to those shores by none other than Babe Ruth when he barnstormed in Asia prior to World War II.

Whatever the case, the 2025 season officially begins today, with Ohtani and Judge leading the way.

Play ball!--

Or in Japanese--

プレイボール

Pureibōru

Rant #3,664: Fun, Fun, Fun

Yesterday, our local Newsday newspaper had a great story in its pages, all about Bill White.

You don't know who Bill White is? 

Let me fill you in.

White was an excellent ballplayer during his career--a five-time All-Star and a World Series champion in 1964 for the St. Louis Cardinals-- perhaps not a Hall of Famer, but an excellent player nonetheless.

In 1972, with the New York Yankees radio/TV broadcast booth in a bit of turmoil, the team took a chance on this newbie to broadcasting, doing something no team had ever done up to that point--hire a black broadcaster.

That chance latest 18 years, and opened the door for many professional sports teams to hire minority voices.

White--a smart guy who actually aspired to be a doctor--fit right into the broadcast team which was manned by sports broadcast lifer Frank Messer and Yankee all-tume great Phil Rizzuto.

The duo eased White into his new role, and White became a mainstay on both Yankees broadcasts and on national baseball broadcasts.

When he joined the broadcast team, the Yankees weren't very good, and hadn't been for a number of years.

Messer was the pro of the group, and his demeanor never changed, win or lose.

But Rizzuto--who himself was trained on the air by Hall of Fame broadcaster Mel Allen--kind of fell off the ledge during these years, paying less attention to the game at hand, and more attention to birthday wishes, his wife Cora, and cannolis.

And the fans loved it!

With White as the straight man, Rizzuto went off on tangents having nothing to do with anything, and the game almost became secondary to Rizzuto and White's Johnny Carson/Ed McMahon imitation.

Or maybe it was their Abbott and Costello imitation.

Holy cow!

The stuff that went on on that booth--a lot that we don't know about, according to White--was stuff of legends, and could not happen in today's woke world.

Goodness, I remember such things--Rizzuto's "guinea" segment ... getting White's name wrong and saying "all you guys look alike" ... covering for Rizzuto when he left games early ... I won't rehash a lot of this, but suffice it to say that you absolutely could not get away with any of this stuff today.

Yankees games on WPIX became "must-see TV," even if you didn't like baseball and/or the Yankees, because you never knew what was going to come out of Rizzuto's mouth--

Or how White would respond.

White became an excellent broadcaster, and when the Yankees regained their excellence, he demonstrated how great he was too, as when he described Bucky Dent's big home run against the hated Red Sox in 1978.

After leaving the Yankees, White became the first black league president, of the National League.

After leaving that post, White has laid pretty low, writing his autobiography several years ago but generally staying out of the spotlight.

And White, in his early 90s, said thst he misses his old partner to this day.

It was good reading about White, and yes, he is doing pretty well, although he lost his wife a few years back and resides in an assisted living facility.

It was a nice read, and if you enlarge the photo, you might be able to enjoy it as much as I did--

A great baseball story right before the 2025 season is getting ready to begin tomorrow.

Play ball!

Rant #3,663: Dirty Water

This passing didn't make the obituary section of my local newspaper, but I found it kind of personally important.

Larry Tamblyn, brother of actor Russ and the leader of The Standells rock group, left us the other day.

A lot of people looked at the Los Angeles-based band as something of a one-hit wonder and little more, but I looked at them a bit differently.

Sure, their "Dirty Water" hit single pretty much defined what garage rock was 60 years ago, but many of you might remember that the band guest starred on "The Munsters" TV show as the band that took over the ghoulish family's home with other hippie/beatnik types of thst time period.

It is a classic episode from a classic TV series, and it really typified the time when rock and its long-haired types were starting to be coming into our living rooms on a regular basis.

Things were changing, and TV was a major cog in that change.

The Standells recorded a number if LPs and singles during their most prolific time period, and they were featured on numerous TV variety shows during that period.

For the psst 50 years or so, there have been various incarnations of the band continuing to perform all over the country, and Tamblyn continued to keep the flame going into the present time.

Another reason that Tamblyn's passing hit me was that The Standells actually had a couple of side projects during their heyday, producing some recordings that are really difficult to find.

One was "The Sllednats"--Standells spelled backwards--which produced one single to my knowledge.

I don't have that one in my collection, but the next one I do have.

"Larry" was another side project, named after Tamblyn himself.

One song--"Summer Clothes"--came out of this project, and this 1967 tune is a bit of whimsy, certainly not the greatest record ever produced but a great addition to my collection when I found it several years ago.

(Heck, for this Larry to actually have a record by "Larry" kind if puts a cherry on top of my record collection.)

There are several Standells music compilations out there, and they are well worth getting.

And you can always see their appearance in "The Munsters," and on YouTube.

So, thanks to Larry Tamblyn, and to salute him, I am going to use a song title by Del Shannon, which I think fits the bill:

"Hats Off To Larry."

https://youtu.be/6qCRTtQ4XaU?si=bN-X9xSyHvhL9fU1

Rant #3,662: It's Not Right

As I have told you many times, there is a rift in the handicapped persons' community that one can only see if they are in it or somehow attached to it.

I am attached to it because of my son, and when I see it, it hits hard.

This rift is multi-level and multi-faceted, and with all of the prejudices unfairly hoisted on this community by the non-handicapped world, it is really almost blasphemous that prejudices also exist within the handicapped world.

Let me begin with a prejudice thst the non-handicapped world places on the handicapped world, perhaps doing it unwittingly, but it still stings.

The first one is between the physically handicapped and mentally handicapped, and this one really is one that the outside world promulgates by its actions, in particular in its hiring practices.

There are two levels of handicapped: those who are physically handicapped, such as thise whose limbs do not work properly, and they are often confined to wheelchairs; and those who are mentally handicapped, such as those whose thought processes might not be up to what society considers to be the norm.

Many companies do hire handicapped workers, because they do get a tax credit when they do so.

But I have noticed that companies lean toward hiring those with physical handicaps rather than thise with mental handicaps, because I do believe that these companies believe they can get more out of those with physical handicaps than mental handicaps.

And when they do get hired for menial jobs, those with mental handicaps get taken advantage of in the workplace; case in point being my son's situation at his job, where his already measely hours were cut by 75 percent, evidently because of the increase in the minimum wage.

These workers are taken advantage of, because they don't have the capacity to speak up.

The entire situation is truly upsetting.

Rant #3,661: Think

I put this post on Facebook on Wednesday.

Please read it and see what you think.

"You know, since I am independent voter, and could care less about the Democrats and Republicans, I don't see any positive vibes coming from Washington about coming together and making our country the best that it can be.

Absolutely nothing seems to be working right in our country, and it is hurting people like myself and my family.

That is just a blanket statement, but it is a heartfelt and honest one.

I would love to hear what anyone else has to say about this, because right now, I feel that people like myself, and my family, are being led and dumped into a thick fog created by people who think they breathe a more rarified air than we do.

Any thoughts on this?

A "like" is nice, but I really want to know what you feel about this, so please, post your thoughts.

Thanks."

I have to tell you, I received very little feedback on this--

Just two people posted replies.

The replies were good, but I would have thought that my post would have gotten much more response than it actually did.

I can't be the only person who feels this way, can I?

The president makes an executive order, and it is stopped by judges.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by a billionaire who acts harshly without any feelings, finds efficiencies which need to be made, but also lops off thousands of workers without any reason, other than a filtering of the force.

The Democrats sit on one side of the aisle, the Republicans on the other, and you would think we are in a real, honest to goodness civil war with the way they act towards each other.

Anti-semitism is surging, no matter what the president tries to do to quell it, with the courts seemingly taking what amounts to the adversary's or foe's side at every turn.

Me, I just was attacked on Facebook again, with my ethnicity and photo made fun of, and a swastika drawn on my face--all because I disagreed with someone who posted something that I took issue with.

(Yes, I reported all of this to Facebook, but the last time I looked, the image was still up for all to see.)

And the president continually fans the flames of disunity by acting like a "king" rather than as a "president."

With all of this, I see no unity at all, and I don't see any side taking measures to make us a unified country.

And yes, even though I agree with the president on some things he has done--certainly not all--I do believe things have gotten worse--much worse--since the new administration has taken power.

This is not meant as a knock against the president, who I believe is doing a much better job than his predecessor did or his adversary would have if she attained the presidency.

But I simply do not see us as a unified country, more of a group of factions doing all it can to thwart the enemy--

And the enemy appears to be within.

The greater problem is that I see this continuing into the foreseeable future.

And that is not good.

Just something to think about as we go into the weekend.

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

Rant #3,660: Alone

Yesterday was the calm before the storm, and today, my son has that job fair to go to, and I sure hope it is a fruitful exercise--

Because once again, an organization that is supposed to help him is dragging its feet while my son sits here and watches TV.

I called them like I said I would, and again, I think I got his counselor at a bad time, because she, once again, had no clue who my son was.

And when she finally figured it all out, I asked about an assessment--which she said he needed before the organization could help him--and she said that he needed to sign some document--which has not yet been sent to us--and then some outside entity could proceed.

How long does all of this take?

"Oh, you have to understand that I have a large caseload, and it is something that isn't immediate, and there is no telling how long this process will take--

And--

And--"

Well, I could have told her that I don't care about her large caseload, and I could have said that Christmas is coming too, but I simply didn't.

I knew I was wasting my time right then and there.

This is a situation that needs quick, steady action, and when you are dealing with what amounts to a pencil pusher, the pencil evidently isn't going to be pushed too quickly.

The only thing I did was ask her if she had the proper mailing address and email address, because she supposedly sent us some communication a while back, and we never received it, as it went to the wrong address.

So I just said, "Thank you," and that was the end of that.

I will never call them again, and I won't count on them for anything.

But now is the time to out them, because, like Popeye, "I have taken all I can stand and I can't stand no more."

If you know anything about these organizations, this one is Access VR, and I was led to believe that all roads lead through this group, and no other group can help you if you aren't overseen by Access VR and are in their system.

So, another dead end, another waste of time, and as I told my wife, "These people are working, and I am sitting at home"--related to the fact that these incompetent people have jobs, and after I lost mine, no one would hire me to do anything.

Incompetency is valued; good, responsible workers ... what's that?

And most importantly, my son still sits here.

So after his big, four-hour workday today--remember, he was cut down from four days/16 hours and is a victim of the increase in minimum wage--we will go over to this job fair, with our heads held high.

And maybe, just maybe, something good will happen.

But as I said, with all of these organizations set up to help people like my son, we are on our own in the goal of finding him a new job.

Totally, completely, on our own.

Rant #3,659: Tattoo You

Yesterday, I had a couple of stories to edit for work.

One came my way in the late morning, the other in late afternoon.

The second one spoke about a new tattoo parlor that was opening on the Hickam AB, Hawaii, military installation, the first such business that the Army & Air Force Exchange Service opened on a Pacific Region base.

Tattoos have always been a big thing in the military, and certainly during the past 20 years, it has become equally a trendy thing in the civilian world.

So to cash in on this popularity--and to try to keep this business regulated and on base-- during the past couple of years, more and more tattoo parlors have opened on militsry bases.

Yes, it is a money thing--to keep the money spent on tattoos on base, to be funneled back into the military community--but it is also a health thing.

Tattoo parlors off base are often unregulated, and there are health concerns related to the ink offered by these places.

When a tattoo parlor is on base, not only is the money kept on base, but certain, very stringent health regulations are set up, in this case, by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service and the Air Force, and they must be met to the letter.

(Although it is not spoken about in the current time, the military also used to run their own brothels for the very same reasons, including health reasons.)

And it also allows the military to keep an eye on what tattoos are being put on arms, legs, and elsewhere on the body.

And by the way, these parlors are not just open to service members.

These shops are also open to the entire military community, as long as they are over 18 years of age.

At one time, the stereotyped "Drunken Sailors" were the only ones getting tattoos--

But now, they have gone mainstream, and everyone gets them.

Personally, I don't get tattoos.

I don't know why anyone would want to put pictures on their bodies, ruining God's perfect creation, but that is just me.

And women ... don't get me started.

And, of course, Jews are not supposed to get tattoos; we are supposed to leave this earth the way we came in, which tattoos would not allow.

Also, during World War II, Jews who were rounded up and put in concentration camps--simply because of their religion--were often marked by the Nazis with tattoos of numbers and names.

But this is 2025, not 1945, and plenty of Jews have tattoos all over their bodies.

Some of my nephews, and my daughter, have them, so that thinking is pretty much out the window.

I don't get tattoos ...

But if you are of age, it is your skin, your body, and if you want to mark it up, that is your right.

I actually was told that I have a tattoo--

But it is a medical tattoo, inscribed in my body when I had my gall bladder removed nearly 18 years ago.

So that really doesn't count, not like putting "Mother" across your chest, or something akin to that.

So service members get tattoos, your next door neighbor gets them, and your kid's teacher gets them.

There is no stigma to doing this anymore, unless the ink crosses the line ... and I don't think I have to tell you what that line is.

So that was one of the stories I worked on yesterday, and it left an indelible, but not visual, mark on me.

How does one get rid of a tattoo thst they don't want anymore?

Me, this mark on me disappears when I move on to the next story--

But if you want to remove your old girlfriend or boyfriend's name from your body, well ...

How do you do it?

The pain ... the pain ... .

Rant #3,658: Keep On Pushin'

I took a pause on talking about my son's job-seeking adventures for a day while I focused on St. Patrick's Day--

But if it's Tuesday, it must be another day of looking for something better.

My son had an interesting job interview this past Friday, which I had to do an end-around to even get his foot in the door.

As I told you last week, the first person I spoke to gave me nothing but doubletalk, so I called her bluff, helping my son apply for a job he simply can't do.

Incredibly, he received a job interview from this, and although the specific job he applied for was brought up very briefly during the interview, he ended up applying for a job he can do, a job that his interview was switched to because he was already there.

I hate to do stuff like this, but they were the ones to put themselves in such a hole.

But whatever the case, my son had a good interview, but they never tell you right then and there whether you have the job or not--but since they didn't advertise the position, were they giving us lip service or is he actually up for a legitimate job opening?

Who knows?

We are going to a job fair on Thursday afternoon, where there will ne a number of companies that he can work for.

It is being put on by the state's Department of Labor, so let's see if my son can get some interest by a company or two or three that are hiring special needs people.

All he needs is a chance ...

A chance thst appears to be elusive, even when it comes to organizations that are supposed to help him.

I told you about the one he was just approved for. And no, they have still not called him to set up anything for him--he needs an assessment--although they said that they would call him this week.

It is only Tuesday, and I think I will give it until tomorrow before I call them again.

While they are dragging their feet, we are trying to move full steam ahead, but it isn't easy when there is a brick wall directly in front of you.

But we have to move on ...

It is our own personal "March Madness," and it is not about winning a basketball game, it is about winning a chance to do a good day's work.

That is our goal, and we are going to keep on pushin', no matter what.

Rant #3,657: The Unicorn

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am not Irish, nor do I imbibe, so it is just another Monday for me.

But ...

I guess we are all "Irish" today.

If you celebrate the day, have a good one.

Personally, I have some really good--and some really bad--memories of the holiday, and I spoke about them in Rant #2,854, March 17, 2022.

"In school, in P.S. 30, Rochdale Village, Queens, we drew leprechauns and pots of gold, and we looked for four-leaf clovers in the grass and gave each other cards to celebrate the day.

On TV, the leprechaun in the “Lucky Charms” commercials stood out as we ate that cereal on the holiday ... I mean, that was HIS day, wasn't it?

But as I got older, I saw the bad side of the holiday become  a bit clearer.

 My father, a New York City medallion cab driver of 50 years' standing, always told me that this was the absolute worst day of work for him during the year.

 He picked up lots of drunk people who often spit up in or on the cab, you could not get through the streets because of the parade, and it was just a mess to drive the streets of Manhattan and the other boroughs on this day.

If that wasn’t bad enough, then I saw the whole thing unfold myself.

 When I worked in Manhattan when I was younger, I literally saw every stereotype you could see about this holiday unfold before my eyes.

 First, going into Manhattan from Long Island was a bit scary, as people were openly drinking from the moment they got on the Long Island Railroad train to get to work in the morning through all times of the evening.

And if one didn’t have a drink on their person, they could easily get one from just about any conductor, who were also drinking their pants off while on duty … and let’s not forget the drinking and smoking cars at the time, which happily furnished anyone who wanted a drink with one.

And when I got off the railroad at Penn Station, I would then walk to work, and along with all the usual winos and drunks and other dregs you would normally see laying on the street at that time, you would also see others with open cans of beer, tanking up before even getting to their workplace.

And then the parade … sorry to say that such a joyous celebration of New York’s Irish community was laden with lots of problems, too much drinking, and too much of too much, if you get what I mean.

I know I have told this story many times but I am going to tell it again.

I worked right off Fifth Avenue at the time, at a building and at an address that no longer exists, 14 West 40th Street, in the shadow of the New York Public Library.

I had gone to lunch, and barely escaped back to my building, as the parade was dispersing, and I was offered every substance known to man as I went to lunch and came back to the building from lunch.

I just got into the building, and as the door closed behind me, a young girl who was probably my age—early 20s—pushed open the door, fell to the ground in our hallway, and proceeded to throw up her guts as she lay on the floor.

I have never seen a sadder thing in my life, and finally, and fortuitously for me, the elevator finally came, and took me to where I had to go.

I am sure I must have told someone in my office about this, and I am sure the building maintenance people were also alerted, because when I left work a few hours later, the hallway was pretty much cleaned up, although there was still a stench of vomit in the hallway.

And that was the very day my father came home from work and told us that someone literally flung themselves at the front of his cab while he was navigating the streets, drunk as a skunk and not knowing what they were doing.

Yes, those things happened literally 40 years ago, and I know that there was a point in time that New York City recognized how out of hand things were getting on this day, and clamped down on the rowdiness that this day regularly produced.

Things are much better now, people are more responsible, you just know that this year’s parade and celebration will be the best ever."

Yes, things have changed, and St. Patrick's Day has returned and rebounded to be one of the funnest days if the year.

But honestly, the day does not begin for me until I hear the song "The Unicorn" by The Irish Rovers.

It was a hit record back in 1968--#7 on the Hot 100--and the song has become directly linked to the holiday over the past nearly 60 years.

The tune was actually first released six years earlier, and was written by a nice Jewish boy, Shel Silverstein, who was about as Irish as I am.

It is more a folk song than anything else, but once the Irish Rovers had a hit with it, it became forever linked with St. Patrick's Day.

So to make it easy, just click on the link, and here it is!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

https://youtu.be/qfhZ4rw6R4g?si=ykaRFEp3k6eMdbtN

Rant #3,656: Gimme Little Sign

My son has a job interview today.

I would be happy about this, but the store manager double-talked me about my son and his capabilities, and honestly, if she was the one interviewing him, I would be even more apprehensive than i already am.

Happily, someone else is interviewing him, so perhaps this person will have a different take on all of this.

I sure hope so!

Onto other matters ...

Protestors are still doing their thing defending that human garbage who led the Columbia University protests, and this time, they took their rancid protest to Trump Tower, where security wasn't able to stop them from entering and causing trouble, and the NYPD was called.

Nearly 100 of these protesting vermin/Hamas groupies were arrested, and there were reportedly no incidents.

And I noticed in the video showing them inside Trump Tower that the Hamas groupies were all wearing matching T-shirts ...

Leading me to believe that all of this garbage are paid actors by groups looking to incite trouble on our soil ...

And that includes that human excrement they want freed.

Onto other matters ...

Nothing much else is doing in my neck of the woods, other than the weather has been really nice lately, not like winter, but more like early spring, which will actually be here in just a few days--a week or so.

And thus, my birthday is right around the corner, 45 days away.

And the baseball season will begin in two weeks, so hope springs eternal.

Maybe my son will even start a new job!

Who knows?

And in the meantime, please read the latest chapter of my novel.

Maybe it will bring him some good luck!

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

21

The weekend went by quickly for Abraham Lincoln Panim, and the glow of his first real workweek was still as bright as could be.

Once the school reopened, he and Mrs. Panim went to school together, as they had the previous week, and the mother and son both went to the office together as they had the previous week.

As they entered, Mr. Panim went directly to the front desk, as her son strode in behind her.

“Oh, it looks like you have the same assignment as last week, as the regular teacher is still out,” she told her son. “He might be out just today, but whatever the case, it’s your class again.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim smiled under his scarf, because he knew if he could handle the assignment one week, he certainly could do it again, for however long it took.

And this time, he went up to the room himself.

He opened the door, and as has been the norm from his first day, the students were milling about the room. As “Mr. Abraham” walked into the room, Melissa, who had a crowd around her, opened her eyes even wider than they normally were.

“Good morning, Mr. Abraham,” she said. “I guess you are going to be our sub again?”

“That’s right, I am going to be your teacher again,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said to her as he confidently strode to the desk, and started to read the roll call of students in the class, one after the other.

“Melissa—“

“Oh yes, Mr. Abraham, I am here. I wouldn’t miss today’s class for anything with you here,” she said in a snickering tone, as the rest of the class giggled along with her.

“Mr. Abraham” simply passed by her remark and continued to read off the roll. When he was finished, he began to write some lessons on the blackboard, turning his back to the class.

As he turned his back to the class, Melissa quietly turned to the rest of the class, shook her head, and nearly all of them shook their own heads too.

The morning went quickly for “Mr. Abraham” and his class. He did all the lessons that needed to be done, collected some homework he had given them, and it quickly reached the lunch hour.

“OK, class, we will pick up on this after lunch,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said as the bell rang for the lunch break. When the bell rang, all the students got up from their seats and left the class pretty much in unison.

“See you after lunch,” Melissa said, laughing with some of her classmates as they left the classroom.

When no one was in the class except for him, Abraham Lincoln Panim took out his lunch and began to eat, and think a bit.

“Maybe I can make a real go at this,” he said. “Maybe I have found something that I can do for a long time.”

Rant #3,655: Have I the Right

I pretty much thought that the deportation of terrorist protest leader Mahmoud Khalil was pretty much a slam dunk, but I guess that in a country where anti-Semitic activities are growing at an alarming rate, even garbage like this has rights that have to be defended.

This trash is an activist who led pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University, targeting Jewish students and the very day-to-day functions of the university.

President Trump wants this rabble rouser deported, but he has a green card and is married to an American woman, so it isnt so easy to get rid of this human refuse.

He has not yet been charged with anything specific. As his case is being argued, he will remain detained in Louisiana following a brief Wednesday court hearing. 

In this country, everyone has the right to protest.

No one is arguing that point in this case.

However, this human excrement led anti-U.S./anti-Israel/anti-Jewish protests on the campus, which were targeted st harassing Jewish students and totally disrupting university operations.

He led protestors--how many of these were actual students is unclear, and this garbage, and many other protestors, might have been paid for their actions--to take over buildings, destroy campus entities with graffiti and other methods of defacement and destruction, and was a very visible presence on campus when the protests gained national attention and spread to other campuses.

And he did all of this on a student visa, and now he has his green card.

The president said that he and others supposedly coming here for an education, but turning to thuggery instead, are not welcome here, and in this case, the person is fully supporting Hamas, which is an organization that the U.S. and many other countries consider to be a terrorist organization--which they certainly proved when they massacred hundreds of Israelis and those from other countries in the episode that provoked the Israel/Hamas war.

Yes, this individual crossed the line, but evidently some imbecile judges believe that that line is a thick one.

So even though this person violated every term of his student visa--be on your best behavior when being allowed to study in an educational institution in the host country--and his green card--do not support terrorists and enemies of your new country--he evidently has rights, and you just can't remove him from our country in one fell swoop.

As his case is being argued, protests have erupted on his behalf, again supporting a terrorist organization and a leader of protests supporting that organization--protests that are anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and anti everything that makes our country great.

There has been talk that he was on the payroll of some group to do what he has been doing, but so far, that is unproven.

What is more important is thst the vetting of the student visa process has completely broken down, allowing people who do not have any intention of following the rules attached to those visas to enter this country on false pretenses.

I think we must continue to make attempts to remove such trash from our soil. They are taking advantage of our lax system for their own benefit, and they are terrorizing students who actually want to learn in the process.

And yes, they are Hamas groupies through and through, having no clue what they are supporting--and it is bad enough that males support this terrorist group, but the females ... sorry, I don't get it at all.

Do they have any clue how Hamas treats women? As garbage, simply used for procreation purposes and little more ...

And that is at best.

And since this is Women's Month/Women's Empowerment Month, why hasn't the women's movement fully come out against Hamas, how they treat their own women, and what they did to women during the events leading up to the war?

Rape, pillage, torture ... and the women's movement is silent.

Please explain that to me.

This world is sick, very sick, and when terrorists are supported in a democracy by anyone who is here through the graces of our country, you just know that this sickness is widespread--

And the president has the right idea --and also has the right idea about pulling federal funding from Columbia University because of its imaction related to anti-Semitism on campus--even if some people might think what he is doing is wrong.

So as far as I am concerned, this garbage and his followers absolutely have rights--

They have the right to be deported for their actions, and that's about it.

Rant #3,654: Long Day's Journey Into Night

Still feel a bit out of sorts from Monday night, but I have slept well, so I really can't complain.

On my son's job front, I discovered that a major retailer is opening a new store back in my old neighborhood right across the street from the high school.

I called around a bit to the company's national headquarters, and was directed to a local outlet, which transferred me over to another store.

The new store is not yet on the company website, so I was told to contact an existing store and speak to the manager.

I was told the manager would call me back, but aftrr waiting several hours, she never did.

I called them back, finally got to the manager, and she gave me the usual song and a dance about applying online, but in this case, the store isnt even listed, so it is impossible to do.

But I did go on one of those job sites, found a position at that store, and applied for it--at the very same website where nothing, at least to the naked eye, was listed.

Hmmm ... .

I will also give that organization my son is signed up with a few more days to respond, but I know I will have to call them, too.

Somebody else gave us some leads, which I was told had to start with filling out an online application, which of course we did, but it led to nothing.

Another person who is actually in retail told me that no one is hiring right now, and yes, the increase of the minimum wage has something to do with that.

Surprise!

Anyway, that is all that is doing on that front, so all that it translates to is that there is absolutely nothing doing.

Yes, I am tired, and yes, the good feeling experience of the other evening hasn't entirely worn off yet, but like I said in the previous post, it is back to reality now--

And the future doesn't look too promising.

As it always has been, the burden falls on the job seeker to find employment, the job sites generally only advertise a smattering of real jobs, and when you are a special needs person, it is just so much more difficult.

I guess hope springs eternal, but it is nearing spring, and hope is only springing dead ends.

While Elon Musk is firing people left, right and center, my son can't even get a part time, minimum wage job.

There is something way out of kilter here, but what more can we do?

I simply don't know.

I am running put of ideas as my son cuts a deeper rut on the couch.

We haven't given up, but it is so hard to keep one's spirits up in the face of such ignorance.

Been there, done that myself, and it is very, very difficult.

But we are in it for the long haul ...

And it is getting longer by the day.

Rant #3,653: Back On My Feet Again

Attending a WWE event in 2025 is like going to the circus when we were kids.

There's plenty of family members in the audience, and we witness acrobats, clowns, heroes and  villains, all in one ring instead of three.

About the only thing that is different is that the tickets are at least 20 times the price that they were way back when.

And yes, my son and I had a lot of fun at the WWE Raw show at Madison Square Garden last night, just like I had more than 60 years ago when my father and grandfather took me to the circus--

At Madison Square Garden.

No, today's MSG is not the same MSG I went to see the circus in way back when--it is actually the third incarnation of what is called "The World's Most Famous Arena"--and back then, I brought home a little turtle from the circus--

Which my mother promptly flushed down the toilet when we arrived home.

Last night, my son brought home something safer, a wrestling T-shirt, actually two of them ...

Something that my wife won't flush away like my mother did with that poor, little turtle.

I still cringe when I think about it.

But whatever the case, we had a fine time at the WWE show, the first one we had been to in some time.

Even the Long island Railroad station at Penn Station had changed tremendously since we were last there, but once I got my bearings, it was full speed ahead.

I havent walked up and down so many stairs since my injury, never ran so much either, but my physical therapist would have bern proud at how I navigated everything--

Holding onto the bannister, of course, often for dear life.

The show was fun, my ears are raw from all the yelling and screaming and screeching by other attendees around us, but we came out of it relatively unscathed.

Being there, in person, gave us a little time to breathe, exhale, and take it all in.

It was a nice time away from our problems, but now, it is back to reality again.

Pro wrestling isn't reality at all, but it is a nice place to visit every once in a while.

Would I want to live there, though?

I can't pin that answer down yet ...

One, two, three!