Rant #3,607: Try Too Hard

Well, I did the best I could do.

I told you the other day that somebody near and dear to me wished me a "Happy New Year" via text, and I had high hopes that the door was at least slightly ajar with possibilities.

I contacted this person back via text, I even tried to call the person, but this person simply makes no effort at all to reconnect with me.

On Wednesday, after texting this person earlier in the day, I simply decided to call her, because I did not want to have a conversation via text.

I could not even leave a voicemail.message, as the message I received simply said the person was not available, and I "should call back later."

I texted this person that response, and the person claimed, via text, that since she is on vacation, the person had turned her phone off.

The person said, "I will call you in two weeks" when the person's vacation was over, kind of a strange response to someone I have not heard from or seen in six months ... and it definitely shows that that person really has no intention of changing their ways.

I have already waited six months to hear or see this person, and now I have to wait two more weeks?

Sorry, that does not compute, and more importantly, I do believe that this person is simply putting me off and really has absolutely no intention of speaking to me.

I texted the person again, and the person continues to be impossible to deal with, refusing to tell me where she is vacationing--I thought that perhaps the person's voicemail was not working correctly if the person was vacationing abroad ... but the reason was simply that the person's phone was supposedly turned off.

Late yesterday afternoon, I called the person, and again, the person did not answer my call.

I then texted the person, saying thst I had called.

This person is 36 going on 12, has absolutely no common sense, and has some idiotic idea thst I will be willingly strung along like this, waiting with baited breath for two weeks for a call that I don't believe will ever come.

Nope, I have been around the block, so to speak, and I am not thst stupid.

As I said, I tried, but my efforts were for naught.

One day, maybe, that person will learn thst this is not the way to act, but right now, this person is someone I wish I knew better, but I am being prevented from knowing by this person's behavior toward me.

And what's worse, I have absolutely, positively and completely no idea why the person is treating me this way ... NONE.

I tried ... .

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

Rant #3,606: My "Quiet Village"

I watched TV all day about that horrific incident in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year's Day.

What happened is truly sickening--15 people dead and many more injured when a pickup truck drove through a crowd on Bourbon Street a 3 a.m. in the morning--and I am sure the FBI will get down to the bottom of this.

And they had better do it quickly, because two major sporting events being held in New Orleans--the Sugar Bowl and the Super Bowl--and people need to be protected from such insanity.

And Mardis Gras is coming up too.

The Sugar Bowl was postponed from yesterday to today, and it might have to be postponed again, because possible accomplices to the driver of the truck remain on the loose.

It all spells out to a terroristic attack, and a very bad way to begin 2025.

Let's move on to something a bit lighter ...

Chanukah 2025 is over, and I had a much better holiday this year as compared to last year.

I was able to really participate, able to walk over to the menorah to say the prayer and light the candles, and able to enjoy the holiday to its fullest.

Among the gifts I received from my family for Chanukah were a couple of gift cards, and I have started using them to fortify, and add to, my record collection.

One of the records I purchased using the gift cards was a single by someone who just about everyone knows--

But knows as a child, not for what she did as an adult.

The single is by Darla Hood, the lead female in the middle Little Rascals/Our Gang group of movie shorts.

Once she was too old for the series and left it in the late 1930s, she was in a few movies, got married and raised a family, and pretty much became a lounge singer, releasing nine singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

I had heard that one of these singles, "My 'Quiet Village,'" was a strange, yet interesting record, so I figured that using the gift card on it was a no-brainer.

I found the 1959 recording for a good price, purchased it, and it came in the mail earlier this week.

Yes, it is a strange song, what they call "exotica" or "lounge" music, but if nothing else, it is one of the most atmospheric records I have ever heard.

Here it is on YouTube ... tell me what you think. 

https://youtu.be/GxHn7DppYME?si=El8Q7A2z0RlwBPgZ

The B side, "Red Dress," actually sounds like Hood is channeling one of her contemporaries as a child and as an adult, Judy Garland.

Hood died at an early age from complications stemming from surgery, but she lives on in those wonderful shorts.

(And as an aside, no, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, the off-tone singer of the troupe, never released a record under his own name.)

Anyway, I sure hope that things get back to normal in New Orleans.

My wife and I honeymooned there in 1993, and we have great memories of that city and the people there.

Here is my personal wish for a quick rebound!

Rant #3,605: It's the Same Old Song

How was your New Year's Eve?

Ours was pretty quiet.

We had Italian food from a local pizzeria--pizza, shrimp parmigiana sandwich and salad--and that was pretty much it.

The three of us worked on the last day of the year--in fact, I had to rewrite a story I had already handed in with an update, which due to its timeliness, I did at 7 a.m. in the morning--and other then having to slam on my brakes when a car moved into my lane but never saw me, it was a pretty nothing day.

I don't even remember if I watched the ball drop ushering in 2024--remember, I was only a few days out if my second leg surgery when we went into 2025--and once again, I did not watch the ball drop going into 2025, either.

In fact, I fell asleep at 8:45 p.m. ... yes, I am getting older, and I just can't stay up anymore.

I did get a text message from my daughter wishing me a happy new year, but I was fast asleep when it came. 

I answered it this morning ... maybe that is a good sign. We shall see ... .

I noticed thst we were given our Social Security payment on the last day of 2024, and i also noticed that my big cost of living increase won't even buy me a tank of gas each month.

Let's hope the new president keeps to his word of removing the taxes from Social Security--it will mean a lot to people who really depend on that money each month.

But otherwise, the final day of 2024 was pretty much like the 50th day of the year, the 209th day of the year, and just about any other day of the past year: pretty much the same old, same old.

I hope 2025 is a great year, but it will probably be, again, the same old, same old.

After what my family and I have been through lately, I will settle for that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!