Rant #3,686: With a Little Luck

Oy!

Today is the day that I begin my every-Wednesday-for-the-next-couple-of-weeks coverage of meetings for work.

I am hoping the sound quality is much better than it was for that conference I covered last week, which was nesrly impossible to cover--

But I did my best.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

And there is also something called luck, and something else called skill, and with that story, I had to use a bit of both.

I heard that Dick Barnett passed away, and thus, another part of my childhood is gone.

Barnett was one of the sparkplugs of the only two NBA championship teams that the New York Knicks ever had, and after his playing career, he went back to school, eventually earning a doctorate degree.

His flashiness had a great influence on the style of Walt Frazier, and his demeanor on the court also had a great influence on Clyde.

For the basketball Hall of Famer to pass during NBA playoff time makes his story even more poignant than it already is.

"Fall back baby" will live forever, and certainly will live on in my personal memories.

And through all the hubbub that my family and I have been going through lately, I haven't forgotten that the next big day on the calendar is Mother's Day, which comes a bit early this year, on May 11.

I even know exactly what I will be getting my wife during that day.

Usually, when it comes to celebrations where my wife is the center of attention, I never know what to get her, but this year, I know precisely what she is going to get--

And it is directly related to our new apartment.

I, obviously, won't be revealing what it is to you right now, but I think it is something she is going to enjoy.

Otherwise, I am still as busy as I can be, and I think that I am going to have to skip some time here, so I can get this conference story done and in the books.

I hope to be back on Friday, but let's see how things go this time around.

I sure hope that it goes better than the last time, because listening to this meeting, and writing it all up, should not be torture.

What I need is a little luck, and maybe a leprechaun to lead me to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Yes, St. Patrick's Day is in the rear view mirror, but I need as much luck as I can get NOW.

And did you know that the "Lucky Charms" leprechaun actually has gone under three different names since the character was created in 1963?

The names are "L.C. Leprechaun," "Sir Charms" and "Lucky."

Well, I will take any of those names as my own if I can get through today and the next couple of Wednesdays unscathed.

Wish me luck.

Rant #3,685: Good Day Sunshine

I had a very quiet birthday yesterday.

I did some work, I went to the bank, I purchased a new watch online--my watch totally gave out a day earlier after only about 18 months of use--and I bought a bottle of milk locally.

I also sold one of the air conditioners that we purchased last year when we were in the other apartment; we don't need it, or the other one we purchased anymore, because our new apartment has air conditioners in each room.

I put the money I was given for this unit right into the bank.

The teller in the bank knew it was my birthday; I guess it came on her screen when she went into my account.

She said to me, "Happy birthday ... and you are spending part of it in a bank? You have to have something better to do."

I told her that i didn't ... and I also told her that I would rather be in a bank than where I was 18 years ago on this day--

When I celebrated my birthday by having my gall bladder removed.

We both laughed, but I certainly meant what I said.

No one wants to be in the hospital any day, but in particular, on your birthday.

I did it when I turned 50 yet.

I guess it was an early precursor of what I would be going through less than two decades later.

I just remember that they were go8ng to send me home due to a bad stomach sche, but that was no stomach ache that I had that day.

Finally, after a lot if haggling, they found that my gall bladder needed to be removed, and thst ended up being the best birthday present I could ever receive--

My good health.

I wish I had that now, but I don't. 

I will find out more about that in June, and I hope that I can be in good health again.

Anyway, this time around I received plenty of well wishes on Facebook.

At home, I got some nice gifts and nice cupcakes to help my family and I celebrate 

My sister wished me well, as did my daughter.

I also received a couple of cards in the mail from friends.

So all told, the day went well, and other than the work I had, it was a pretty stress-free day.

I even digitized some records--

Not actual records, per se, but soundsheets--remember them?

I hadn't listened to these flexible records that you would often find in magazines in some 40 years or so, and yes, most of them played without skips, so they held up as well as some of my actual records have fared over the decades.

So really, yesterday was all it could be, as I prepare for my every-Wednesday-for-six-weeks mini-conferences that I have to cover for work.

Based on whst happened during the all-day conference I covered last week, I think I am looking forward to these conferences as much as--

Getting my gall bladder out on my birthday all over again.

Rant #3,684: When I'm 68

I am 68!

I made it!

There were points where I doubted whether I would reach the next year of my life, but I made it!

Like I told a friend of mine, I still feel that I am too young to be this age, but I am too old to fight it.

So, happy birthday to me!

As I reach this latest plateau in my life, I still have a lot of things to figure out in my life, i have a lot of things that I want to do and have to do,  and I still have many goals to reach and to exceed.

This might seem trite and inconsequential, but over the past week, I can finally maneuver my left leg to a point where I can put on my socks the "normal" way.

And my shoes too.

It is still a bit of a struggle, but this is something I couldn't even dream of doing for the past year and a half, since my injury.

That is a huge step for me, and it just demonstrates what a lot of hard work can do when you experience an injury like I had, and it's aftermath.

And then we have work, the type that you get paid to do, and I definitely have a love/hate relationship with my job.

I honestly wish that I was really retired, but that simply isn't the case ... and probably will never be.

I saw someone the other day who I hadn't seen in a few years, and she congratulated me on my retirement.

I had to slow her down with the kudos, and bring her up to speed on the nuts and bolts of my supposed retirement.

It isn't easy to do, and I wish I didn't have to do it.

So, as I hit this new high water mark in my life, I have to look at the good things.

I have a great wife and a great son, who have stood by me through everything.

I have a daughter who I love dearly but who I do not understand at all.

I have an extended family that have been through their own trials and tribulations, but almost always seem to pull through.

I have friends who have also stood by me, no matter what.

I could say I have my health, but I am continuing to deal with some hiccups, and until they are stifled, I am not satisfied.

And I have a nice, new, and more expensive apartment, a place where I don't really ever want to move from--the last two moves were my final ones, I hope.

I have memories that will last me a lifetime, and already have--

And there are more memories to be made.

That's a good thing, and I know and believe that I will have plenty more years to experience them.

So, to sum it all up ...

Happy Birthday To Me!

I'm 68, and I feel great (sort of).

And thanks for reading these Rants for the past 15 or 16 years or so ... I know this Blog's birthday is also coming up in a few days.

And happy birthday to everyone else celebrating a birthday today.

It's really a great day in the neighborhood!

And I am one day closer to 69.

Let's not put the cart before the horse ...

I have to get through 68 first!

Rant #3,683: All Ears

What an absolutely horrible three days I had related to that conference I covered for work.

Not only was it long, boring and tedious, but the audio was nearly impossible to deal with, certainly the worst ever since I have been working post-career for this association.

I have to give them credit; their technocians did all they could, but the audio was atrocious. I would say that 75 percent of the two eight-hour days was unlistenable, either sounding like the speakers were under water, or not there at all.

It is an impossible situation when you are covering a conference like this and much of it is completely inaudible.

How can I write this thing up if I can't understand a lot of what the speakers are saying?

What you have to do is take whatever you can get out of this and do the best you can with it.

Yes, much of it was like kfkfudkggkfkkbh, and other parts if it was like.          .................., but I have been in this situation before trying to do a transcription, and you really have to get at it and do the best that you can.        ....

I told the proper people about this as it was unfolding, and I did use a transcription for part of my coverage of the first day's events.

But transcriptions are quite a bit unreliable. They can also be gobbledegook, but at least you can try to de lcipher it and rewrite it with the little it gives you.

But alas, coverage of this event--8:30 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday--was nearly impossible, and then I spent much of Thursday getting it ready--

So, essentially, three days were flushed down the drain.

It is very frustrating.

I take pride in my writing and editing, and my final product was not up to my usual standards.

And now, I face one mini-conference a week for the next six weeks or so--every Wednesday--and I shutter to think what coal I am given, tasked to make it into diamonds ...

God help me!

Have a good weekend, I will speak to you again on Monday, which is my birthday.

At points during the last three days, I wondered if I would make it that long, but I think that now, with this past horror show out of the way, I will be there with bells on.

And hopefully, the ring of thise bells will be loud--

And clear.

Rant #3,682: ABC

Today begins my back-to-back day of meetings horror, so I am going to sneak this Rant in before I have to join the meeting at 8:30 a.m.

These are my final days of being age 67, leading up to my 68th birthday next week.

I finally catch up to my wife, who turned 68 five months ago.

I don't mind being the young'un in our marriage.

My father was in a similar position with my mother, being eight months younger than her--and their union lasted nearly 65 years.

I hope my wife and I can duplicate that, or at least come close.

It should be a fun ride as we strive for 65 ... or something close to it.

In the meantime ...

I went from box to box today, trying to find the next section of my records as I try to get them in alphabetical order, box by box, as I prepare for my record rack to cone and be set up.

I have everything from Abbott and Costello  through the Boomtown Rats all ready to go. 

But I cannot yet find the next box, which would be the remainder of the Bs and the beginning of the Cs ... including my David Bowie collection.

It's here somewhere, packed in a box that is buried under another one, and probably another one.

I am trying to save myself some time when the record rack comes, because if I have to alphabetize this one by one, it is going to take forever.

I am hoping against hope that the records were put in some type of order when they were originally packed away during our first move--

When I was incapacitated and others packed the records away.

I just hope they did it in some type of order ... if not, I am sunk.

It is not just getting them in alphabetical order by artist; it is putting them in order by release date.

You can't have "Meet the Beatles" coming after "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," If you get my drift.

I will figure it all out.

I did it when i set up my albums in the racks I had in the old house, and I will do it now with the racks that are coming to the new house

But first things first--

I have a conference to cover, and I better get a move on.

Speak to you later this week.

Rant #3,681: I've Gotta Be Me

Well, Passover 2025 is over and done with.

With the move and all, my family and I had two short, impromptu seders, but we did what we could do under the circumstances.

And this year, I don't know if I had "matzoh stomach," or maybe it was "moving stomach," or most probably I had a combination of the two.

I went off my diet a bit, but I have hopped right back on it with the holiday in the rear view mirror.

If the last few weeks were busy due to our move, this week is completely impossible.

Today, I have to go to the dentist and get a temporary crown put into my mouth.

I don't know why they can't put the actual crown in my mouth, but I guess it ramps up the price if they do it this way.

Later in the day, I have to drive my son to his friend, who also recently moved, and i am not sure where he lives, although I know it is pretty far away from us, in northwestern Long Island.

And I also have work to fit into all of this.

Talking about work, Tuesday and Wednesday are going to be two tough days.

I have to cover meetings on those days for work, each being eight hours in length. 

It is going to be really tough to do and to write about each day, and it basically kills both days for me, as I am basically attached to my computer both days, between the meeting and the writing.

Thursday is catch-up day, where I can catch-up with leftover stuff from the previous two days, as well as do whatever work I missed during the previous two days in between what new stuff I get.

I also have to take my son back and forth to work, and I have an annual appointment with my allergy doctor.

I am looking ahead to Friday, because other than doing food shopping, I can relax a bit, and look forward to taking my son to basketball in the evening and then into the weekend, when I take him to bowling.

And on Monday, April 28, it is my birthday, which has almost become an afterthought with all the hubbub going on.

The problem, though, is that for the next month and a half or so, I have a conference to cover each and every Wednesday, so that day is shot into June.

As I have said many, many times, what I am going through cannot possibly be what retirement is all about.

I will be working until I drop, and yes, it bothers me that I have to do this, as the rewards really aren't there for working like this.

But at least I can do this in a nice, new apartment.

And did I mention that my wife went back to work after her accident--

And that our son still is looking for a new job?

And that I am still suffering from the after effects of the prostate procedure I had a few months ago--and have been told by my urologist that they might last for well into the fall?

I gotta be me, which means I gotta be honest, and right now, I am wondering if I will ever get on the other side of the rainbow.

Right now, it ain't happening.

No way, no how.

So I might be in and out of here this week ... and the next several weeks might be a bit sketchy.

Wish me luck.

Rant #3,680: Crazy

I really don't have time to write a formal Rant today.

Too much work, too many other things to do, too much of too much.

But I guess where there's a will, there's a way.

I found two old TVs that we had in storage; one I got for free when I signed onto Verizon all those years ago; the other was one of the early smart TVs that we bought several years back.

The former is without a power chord to put it into an outlet, the latter is a good backup TV if our bedroom TV goes.

That TV in our bedroom is about 27 years old or so, and it still works pretty well. We have made it a smart TV by attaching Chromecast to it, and I think it is far from done.

So many boxes, so many more treasures to find!

And this coming weekend, I hope to have my Yankee Stadium chair back again.

I had stored it at my sister's house for about a year and a half since we left our house, because the apartment we had had no room for such a relic.

Now, we have the room ... and I might just sell it anyway, to pick up some cash.

Yes, the move wasn't cheap.

Anyway, next week is more of the same craziness for me: I have a two-day, eight-hours each-day conference to cover, and thst is on top of getting a new crown in my mouth at the dentist and all the other stuff I need to do.

Suffice it to say that I will be in and out of the Blog the entire week, so I might just miss a day or two next week.

So have a great weekend, a happy Easter, and I hope to speak to you on Monday.

In the meantime, please read the next chapter of my novel. 

I wrote the novel during the pandemic, and while I was busy then--try looking for a job during such a horrid period like I did--it doesn't compare to the busy-ness I am going through right now.

23

“Mom, I can never, ever go back there,” Abraham Lincoln Panim told his mother that evening. “How can I face the kids, now that they know I have a rat face? How can I go back?

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, I just don’t know,” said Mrs. Panim. “Maybe it will be better that they know what you really look like and who you really are. You won’t have to disguise yourself anymore. It is all out in the open now.”

“But mom, the shame … the shame of it all. They will constantly make fun of me. And Melissa Hartung … I will never hear the end of it from that girl, never. And I won’t ever hear the end of it from Brandon Hartung, either. We seem to always meet up, one way or the other. Having his sister in the class—“

“Look, the regular teacher of that class has pneumonia. We just found out about it today. We have no one else to cover for that class for as long as he will be out. We have you. We have so few substitute teachers with all the budget cuts we have been through.

“You are competent, you know what you are doing. We haven’t had one single complaint from either the kids or the parents about you.

“Son, we really need you to continue teaching that class, at least until their regular teacher returns. I mean, I cannot imagine what you went through, but we absolutely need you to cover that class.”

“But mom—“

“Please give it some thought. You are doing so well that maybe, just maybe, you can even become a regular teacher.”

“With my rat face, I can’t do anything right.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim grabbed his coat and his scarf and abruptly left the house, slamming the door on the way out. He needed to think, and since it was nearing the evening, he decided to take his usual walk, this time alone.

“I just don’t know what to do,” he thought to himself as he neared the usual area where he would take his evening walk.

He sat down at his usual bench, and the moonlight framed him as he sat, and sat some more, more sitting than most times when he ventured out of the house during the evening.

He closed his eyes, not to sleep but to think.

After a long while, with his eyes still closed, he heard some footsteps approaching him, and after opening his eyes, he saw that it was the blind girl that he had met at school with her dog. She sat down on the bench, and she and Abraham Lincoln Panim began talking.

“What’s your name? Funny, all the times that we have met here to chat, and seen each other in school, well, I never got your name.”

“Oh, sorry, it’s Ariel.”

“That’s a pretty name. My name is—“

“And my dog’s name is Snuff.”

“Oh, that is nice. I … my name is—“

And just then, Abraham Lincoln Panim could see in the moonlight a figure coming toward them, a male figure, who was walking and then started to run as he got closer to them.

“Hey Ariel, who is this guy? Is he bothering you?” screamed the man as he approached the bench, not seeing clearly who it was.

“Is this the guy who has been hitting on you for the past couple of weeks?” the man said, as he got closer and saw that it was Abraham Lincoln Panim.

“So, it is old Abie, the rat-faced boy,” the man said, and Abraham Lincoln Panim could now see clearly who it was.

“My sister told me all about you in school, when she pulled off that idiotic scarf you had on, and that the entire class knows that you have a rat face.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim could now clearly see that it was Brandon Hartung—along with his right gloved hand--in the moonlight.

“Well, stay away from my girl,” Brandon said, as he pulled up Ariel from the bench with his left hand, and as Snuff scowled.

“No, Brandon, no … he isn’t bothering me … stop, you’re hurting me!” Ariel protested.

“Sorry, ‘Eddie Munster,’ you aren’t getting my girl. Stay away and stay away for good or your rat face will meet my fist!” Brandon yelled as he dragged Ariel away from the bench. “Maybe once my fist hits your face it will be an improvement!”

Abraham Lincoln Panim watched Brandon and Ariel and Snuff move on into the distance, moving further away from him as he watched them fade into the mist.

He shook his head as they faded into the distance, and once again, he saw the older woman sitting down a few benches down from where he was. He saw her, and then when he got up-from the bench, and he looked again, she was gone.

Rant #3,679: Lost and Found

We are still settling into our new digs.

Lots of stuff still needs to be put away into the proper place, but I did do some small things today, including setting up the PlayStation for my son--

And for my wife, who can finally watch all of her DVDs on that device.

I also found something which I knew was stored away, and I finally came upon it.

I have spoken about meeting "Our Gang"/"Little Rascals" member Spanky McFarland on several occasions here, so I won't go into that story again ...

But there was a part of the story that I don't think i told you.

VHS tapes were the hot thing back then, and when I met him, including having my then toddler daughter in my arms, I also brought with me a then-brand new VHS tape of the Gang.

Spanky was more than happy to sign it for me, taking out a marker and putting his signature on the tape box.

I had almost forgotten about this, but I kind of thought I had his signature, and lo and behold, I did.

I found it today and rushed it over for my wife to see.

I also found books of all my early published stories, and while I might cringe at a lot of this stuff today, this is where I began my writing career, so it is kind of fun to find and look over all of this stuff.

I am missing some of these early things that I wrote, but one major thing I found is the history of The Monkees thst I wrote for my sociology class at Dowling College in 1978 or 1979 or so.

Remember, there was no Internet then, so I had to do a lot of real research on this, and I do remember I received an A+ on this paper.

I found all the things I wrote for the Dowling College newspaper, The Lion's Roar, and I found a lot of the stuff I wrote for The Island Ear entertainment newspaper.

Heck, I even found my very first celebrity interview, with Russ Meyer's "Up" star Raven de la Croix, which I had as a PDF file but now I have it in its original newspaper form.

There are still so many boxes to go through, and I am wondering what other "buried treasure" I might find--

But today, I have to put all of this to a temporary halt, as I have a webinar to cover which will take up the whole day to write about.

From Raven de la Croix to covering a webinar, I have had an interesting writing career, and it shows no sign of coming to an end.

Whatever the case, we will have to see how this goes today, so I might not be able to post a Rant tomorrow--

So if I can't do it, I will wish you a great Friday and a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

And have a happy Easter, too.

Rant #3,678: Life

We are in!

The above photo was taken the final time I was in our old apartment. I wrnt back for the last time yesterday morning, just to make sure we didn't leave anything there.

Right after exiting the apartment for the final time, I went to the office, handed the keys over, and our new life officially began.

I also found out that our newly redirected mail takes 10 business days to find its way to our new address, which is something I honestly didn't know, so our mailbox might be relatively empty for the next two weeks or so.

Yesterday was officially our first day in our new apartment, and although we are in, my family has much work to do to get everything ship shape and the way we want it.

We still have plenty of boxes containing one thing or another, and we will have them until everything can be put in its proper place.

We ordered a bookcase for my son's room, and that is where his multitude of wrestling videos will go.

The bookcase was delivered yesterday afternoon, and once it is assembled, we will get all of that stuff out of the way.

My son is a real chip off the old block, but his collecting habits pale in comparison to me, his dad, who has boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of record albums to go through.

We ordered something to hold at least a portion of these LPs, and once it is together, I will have to go through and alphabetize some 5,000 records.

Thank goodness that my 45s are fully alphabetized and ready to go, as they were moved via the same three- and four-draw plastic holders that they were kept in in the other apartment we had--

And way back, in the house we lived in.

And my wife is no slouch in the collecting department, either.

She has records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, and lots of other stuff that we are slowly finding places for.

And then we have to find places for the "important" stuff ...

I will leave that to my wife, who has a much better sense of where things go than I do.

I did put together my computer and all of the things attached to it, and everything is A-OK with that.

For some reason, all of the wires attaching things to the computer--those for the printer, scanner, and turntable, among others--got tangled in the move, and it ended up taking me at least 90 minutes or so to untangle everything and plug all of these things into the computer.

The untangling took forever; the plugging in and getting everything set took no time.

I also found various sports trophies, photos and other stuff that I hadn't seen in ages.

But every time I open and empty another box, it seems another one pops up, waiting to be opened and emptied.

But at least yesterday, we seemingly started to make something of a dent, but there remains much to be done.

I will try to post another Rant tomorrow, but there is no guarantee.

As I mentioned in an earlier Rant, I have meetings to cover for work--one meeting a week for the next seven or eight weeks or so--and the first one is tomorrow, so my availability might be interrupted and limited into June.

I am just so tired, but at least the move is behind us.

It is difficult moving at any age, but my wife and I agree that this, God willing, will be our FINAL move.

I figured out that during my nearly 68 years of life, I have moved a total of eight times, and I guess you can call me "Larry the Eighth, I Am," because the eighth is going to be the last.

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.