Rant #3,876: Truth or Consequences

We have all heard about, and seen the video footage of, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota being sprayed with a substance during a town hall.

The guy who did this was sitting in the front row, got up, and sprayed her with what was later described as apple cider vinegar.

He was led away, and I am sure he will get the book thrown at him and serve some jail time for this episode--

If, in fact, it was a real attack, and not staged.

As much as I detest Omar--who is anti-Jew, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-American, and I could actually go on and on--she is an elected legislator in that bizarre state, and she doesn't deserve to be attacked like this--

And I would say that if she was Republican, Democrat, or whatever her party affiliation was.

An attack against an elected official is an attack on our democracy, period.

But I would also say that the attack was kind of a skivy one ...

One that so many people are claiming was staged.

This guy--who seems to be a low-level thug with some alcohol- and drug-related arrests on his resume--was sitting squarely in the front row of the room, pretty much right in front of the legislator.

I would think such seats would be reserved for those of a higher level--like her aides or other legislators--and not for such "common folk" as this idiot.

Some say she gave some type of hand signal to this guy, so he knew when to start spraying.

And her reaction--essentially that nothing was going to stop her from doing her thing, Minneapolis-strong and the like--was of such a bad actor that you could see right through it.

And what he sprayed her with--which had something of a foul odor and was thought, originally, to be urine--was something that while ridiculously used, couldn't harm anyone, except if you are the one in about a billion people who have allergies to apple cider vinegar.

What was sprayed on her was not initially known, yet she was not escorted away by her security detail, the room was not emptied of people who could have also been impacted by the spray, and rather than change her clothes right away and provide them to the FBI for further analysis, Omar just kept on going as if she spilled a bottle of water on herself.

Omar continually complains that she is oppressed, she has kind of a strange background herself--lots of rumors about her that I won't go into here--and that she might have staged this for sympathy or to deflect focus on more immediate, impactful issues.

The guy will get some time in the clink, but when he comes out, he might have a nice, fat paycheck waiting for him.

Again, all of this is speculation; I certainly don't know what really happened underneath the surface, if anything happened underneath the surface at all.

But if it was an actual attack, I don't care if you are Omar or President Trump or any other legislator, it cannot happen.

Our President was shot at, and it really is a miracle that the shooter just missed taking him out.

And through the years, we have had other legislators attacked, often with fatal results.

Again, I have no idea if this thing was real or staged.

What reason would this guy have to attack Omar?

Of course, it came out right away that he was a Trump supporter, but the guy has something of a criminal background, is not an upstanding citizen, so who knows what his real leanings are, and if they even matter at this point in time.

But if it was real, throw the book at the guy.

If it was staged, throw the book at Omar and get rid of her.

Will we ever know what really happened?

Right now, it is not being treated as something that was staged, but that does not mean that it wasn't.

So it is generally being looked at as an attack, an attack against a legislator, a member of Congress.

There have been other completely real attacks like this, things that could not be questioned, but this one is at least a little fuzzy in the reality department.

I don't even know what to think at this point; I lean one way or the other the more I see of the video and the more that I read.

Omar is, in my view, a despicable human being based on her views--even more so on our country in general, a country where she has risen to the highest ranks in our government--but she, or anyone else, should not be attacked like this.

Sure, some people even say that the attack on Trump months ago was also staged, but that has absolutely no credibility whatsoever, and both Democrats and Republicans expressed outrage over this unfortunate incident.

But I have to tell you, I believe what I said, that no one should be attacked like this, but this latest incident is very, very shady, and I, personally, haven't made my mind up on whether it was real or staged.

It is being considered to be real, so I will go with that for now, but that doesn't mean that if something comes out leaning the other way, I won't change my mind.

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

Maybe by then, we will find out more about this incident.

Rant #3,875: Count Your Blessings

Just to give you an update ...

I am still mending, I am still not 100-percent myself, but I am as good as I can be under the circumstances.

I will be getting the staples out of my head late next week, and then, maybe, I will feel a bit better.

It hasn't stopped me from doing the things I need to do, like working and driving, and on Tuesday afternoon, I actually had to clean off my car's windshield myself because an inch-thick layer of ice had formed on it, and the defroster could only do so much to melt it off.

I wasn't supposed to do anything strenuous, but since I had to pick up my son at work, I really didn't have much of a choice.

The ice came off in pizza-slice-sized pieces, so I guess I might have gotten a bit lucky that it came off in pieces rather than in small jigsaw puzzle pieces, but whatever the case, I did it myself.

One thing that I haven't mentioned is that I am unable to do my daily exercises, something I have been doing since I injured my left leg three years ago.

I hate exercising to begin with, but these exercises helped to save the use of my leg, so not doing them--even though they aren't strenuous--has been a big change in my life.

I will have to speak to the doctor and find out when I can resume them ...

Probably get back to doing it after I get these staples taken out of my scalp.

And, as I described to you earlier, I did have some troubles with the medicine I was taking, have since stopped it, and while I don't feel 100-percent physically, I do feel the medicine was adding to it all because it didn't agree with me or my system.

That is the first time that has ever happened to me in my entire life. 

I have always been very good with medicine, but not this time around.

In between doing work--and I had a work meeting yesterday too, and plenty to do after it--I have even started to digitize my records again.

Honestly, early on in this situation, all I wanted to do was to do what absolutely needed to be done, and then put on the TV and fall asleep, but now, my stamina has increased, and I have gotten back to doing some things I enjoy doing, like this fun exercise.

And I have no bleeding from my head anymore, which is a good thing.

Before you know it, I will be fully back in the saddle again--

And be forced to move on to the next health issue I am facing, one thing or another that I have been putting up with for a while now.

Whether it is the partly detached retina in my eye or issue related to my prostate, it is clearly never ending for me.

I just want it to get back to the way it was, which at this stage, might be asking for way too much.

And then we have the next thing to deal with, which is not a health thing but which can, in fact, impact your health.

Taxes.

They say that only two things are guaranteed in life--death and taxes--and while I believe I am far, far from the scrap heap, it is coming to the time of my annual tax cataclysm, where my family and I always owe money one way or the other no matter what we do to minimize or erase that situation.

We are getting the proper documents we need in the mail on an almost daily basis, so we will have everything in line for our annual tax session come early February--

And personally, I just like to get it done ASAP, out of the way, no matter how much money we owe, so I can have a clear mind and don't have to focus on this idiocy for more time than I am forced to.

Now I hear we might have another snow storm come Sunday, which will pile a still-undetermined amount of snow on top of what we already have.

These piles of snow that stand tall now will probably be around until the summer heat melts them down and away, but first, we have to get through winter--

And it is just January ...

We still have February, March and the beginning of April to go.

By the end of winter, my health should be back to normal, I hope.

But let's not put the cart before the horse.

Let's get through winter first.

And just think ...

Yesterday, I turned 68 years, nlne months old.

Three more months until 69!

Sixty-nine is supposedly a happy number--

And I plan to be happy leading up to that momentous occasion.

Let me count the days!

Rant #3,874: I Can't Explain

In Monday's Rant, I spoke about responsibility, something we have instilled in our son, whether it be to your workplace, your team, or your family.

Evidently, this is not a universal concept, or at least it isn't a universal concept anymore in this bizarro, very sick world we live in now.

The situation i am going to describe to you is not a cataclysmic one; it didn't change the world in any way, but in its own way, it demonstrates the level of total dismay that our culture has fallen to.

In fact, I will bet that it isn't an isolated incident.

During my son's bowling match on Saturday morning, I saw a complete lack of responsibility exhibited not by one of the bowlers, but by the parent of one of the bowlers.

And I was later told that I am not the only one noticing this, not by a long shot.

What happened is that my son's team was bowling another team in what was a pretty enjoyable back and forth meeting that ended up being decided by a handful of pins.

My son's team won both games, but the other team seemed lackadaisical, completely out of it, and not acting as a team.

When someone did well--getting a strike or a spare--there were no high fives, and even in between everything, there was no talking on the team, no enthusiasm, no nothing.

My son's team only had three members present--the other team had all four members present, if not fully there, if you know what I mean--and it was a good time on our side.

Look, my son's team wasn't perfect, but they high-fived when it was appropriate, talked up the place as they usually do--my son is quiet, but his team gets him going--and the three of them had a good time, win or lose, at bowling.

The other team ...

I can't tell you how many times I or one of my son's team members had to tell them that it was their turn to bowl, with only maybe one member of that team not having to be told it was his or her turn on the lane.

This holds up the game, with an ebb and flow non existent, and it does impact the bowlers.

Anyway, my son's team squeaked by in the first game, winning by two pins, and we moved on to the next game of the match.

Both teams were competing--it was up and down the entire game--but again, the other team looked like they wanted to be somewhere else.

The teams approached the ninth frame of the second game, and it was still anyone's contest.

It was one of the other team member's time to bowl, and the person could not be found.

Finally, someone on the lane saw her, and everyone is telling her that it was her turn to bowl.

She had her jacket on, which was kind of curious, but being that Saturday morning was pretty cold, you couldn't really question it.

Anyway, when she was seen, she acted as if she was "caught" for doing something, and she did not return to the lane.

Her mother--who was nowhere to be seen during the entire match--finally emerges, and says, "Oh, I promised my daughter and someone else that I would take them out to lunch."

I heard the head of the league say, "Look, you just can't walk out in the middle, if you have somewhere to go you have to tell someone."

"Well, I promised them--"

And she and her daughter left, without a care in the world.

This fouled up the two teams, as the scoring had to be updated to reflect that the bowler wasn't there anymore.

And since she wasn't there, whatever she had bowled was negated, and her average, minus five points, was used to replace what she had bowled, likely costing her team the game.

This threw everyone for a loop, and I have to tell you, if I would have had my wits about me, I would have said something to the parent, but I didn't.

I spoke to the head of the league, and I said, "We were in the ninth frame ... 10 more minutes, and she would have been out of here."

"I know all about it," he said. "We have had problems with this woman for a long time. She does this all the time. When I saw her daughter with her jacket on, I kind of knew we were going to go through this again."

He told me some other things about the parent that I will not repeat here, but there is evidently something out of whack when you have someone 40-something-going-on-10 years of age as the parent of someone with special needs who needs some direction, and can't get it from her own mother.

Without going into detail, I have seen this mother from afar, and I have wondered about her.

Again, I won't get into specifics, but just let's say that this woman might have some problems of her own that she needs to deal with--

Just from, let's say, her own "presentation."

I even apologized to the head of the league for being so concerned, and he said to me, "No, you are right about it."

So, because of a parent who doesn't seem to know what she is doing, she adversely affected her daughter's team, showing absolutely no responsibility at all.

And suffice it to say, my son's team was finishing up bowling in the 10th frame--where they did well and won the game right in that frame, that is how close it was--and not one member of the other team was present to see if they won or lost.

They finished their game, and had all gotten up and left way before my son threw his 10th frame.

Ridiculous.

Irresponsible.

Idiotic.

Maybe it was a good thing I did not have my wits about me, because if I did, I might have said something to this woman that I would regret later.

Maybe not regret, but felt I could have said in another way--

Or better yet, not at all.

But as a former Little League coach myself, I mean, you just don't do things like this.

As a kid in Rochdale Village, we used to call people like this "flat leavers," and I think, 60 years after the fact, that term still applies.

Rant #3,873: Truth

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, where we remember the atrocities committed by the Nazis and Adolph Hitler during World War II, and vow that nothing like it should ever happen again.

Eighty years later, we are witnessing what is possibly the early indicators that this actually could happen again, what with levels of anti-Semitism at their all-time highest levels not just in the United States, but worldwide.

And the level of anti-Semitic, anti-Jew and anti-Israel rhetoric on social media is growing by leaps and bounds--

And what's worse, the number of posts blatantly denying that the Holocaust ever happened, with so many actually believing that this atrocity was nothing but something of a publicity stunt to bolster Zionists' justification of a true homeland, is absolutely appalling.

I have seen this rising tide myself, where praise for Hitler and the Nazis exists--

And not only exists, but is thriving.

This can't be, but it is.

I have answered many of these imbecilic posts, but it is really amazing that while I am receiving more likes for what I have to say to these idiots, i am also seeing more and more people agreeing with these imbecilic posts being put up by the most ignorant people.

Yesterday, I had had enough, so I put up a post about this situation and my feelings about it.

Look, this stuff is nothing new.

When the Nazi crematoriums were uncovered by the Allies, Gen. Eisenhower--who had Jewish blood--ordered that as many photos as possible be taken by his troops as these camps were liberated.

He knew that visual proof would be needed not just then, but through the ages, to prove that these atrocities actually happened--

Because without visual proof, nobody would believe what took place at these camps.

And now, through the decades, we have people who are so ignorant that they believe the camps were simply propaganda to make the Jews look good, to gather sympathy for them.

As far as I know, my family was pretty lucky.

I believe that all my family was able to get out of Eastern Europe before Hitler took over, but they had witnessed many atrocities in Poland, Russia and elsewhere that happened to them simply because they were Jews.

But growing up, my father told me never to mention to my grandmother about one of her brothers who never came to America.

I knew my grandmother had one brother here, but there was another brother who was unaccounted for, and I do believe he perished during those horrible years.

He was never talked about, never spoken about, and I was told not to bring him up.

And I didn't, but I was curious.

Yesterday, Israel finally brought home the final hostage, which Hamas didn't help to return, as they had promised, and Israeli forces located.

There is a sense of relief that his remains are finally home, but the Internet remains filled with an increasing amount of vile words and imagery related to the Holocaust and the current Israel-Hamas altercation.

So like I said, I got fed up with trying to answer these imbeciles, and I posted the following.

If you haven't read it yet, please read it, and if you saw it yesterday, read it again.

Those who deny the atrocities committed by the Nazis and Hamas are sick people indeed.

"I have never dealt with such ignorant, stupid people in my life as I have recently when it comes to Israel and the retrieval, finally, of the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, an IDF soldier whose dead body was taken hostage by Hamas, and never formally returned to Israel as Hamas had been instructed to do by the ceasefire plan.

Some imbeciles I have dealt with say it was actually Israel's fault that it took so long ... some say that Israel prolonged the retrieval so that they could bombard the area once again ... some said he was not a real "hostage," because he was a member of the IDF.

One even said his body was buried under the tiny bones of babies killed by the IDF during their strikes on the area.

Yes, I know I am dealing with pro-Hamas groupies and the completely uninformed and uneducated here, but I think that this proves once again that since the world--except for the United States--pretty much abandoned Israel after the October 7, 2023, massacre, and still does, that Israel had to do what it had to do to get back the hostages and fight against this terrorist organization that so many imbeciles seem to love.

Has the United Nations ever officially condemned the actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023?

How many countries have backed Israel in its efforts, amid all the nonsensical propaganda that Hamas has thrown out to the world since that fateful day?

One person even said, on Facebook, that the Holocaust never existed, "or maybe 270,000 Jews perished, not the 6 million, that has been reported."

Another fool said that Anne Frank never existed, that she was basically a creation to add sympathy to the Jewish "plight."

This makes me angry, and the world should be angry, too ...

Even though it is obvious why they really aren't.

I could go on and on about this subject, but I will just stop it right here.

I wish I could stop all the hatred right here, too, but that is a task that is way beyond my capabilities.

But posting this message, it is perhaps my only way to describe what a very, very sick world we live in right now."

Rant #3,872: It Hurts

Snow.

I hate it as much as I hate anything.

But we finally got hit over the weekend.

I could be sad or angry about it, but I am neither right now--

Because i am alive and healthy enough to experience it.

I had my cancer surgery on Thursday, and the doctor told me that they got it all out.

I have staples in my head, and they won't be coming out for around two weeks.

I am very sore on the left side of my body; it feels like there is a knife in my back.

I have soreness--or something red-- under my left eye-- 

I can see, but it is making me feel bad about myself--

What did I do to deserve all of this?

I hurt, and I am about 75 percent myself, pretty much tired all day with the medicine I have to take.

(Note: I was able to contact my doctor via text and he told me to stop using the medicine--

It is the first time in my life that I had a negative reaction to medicine.)

But it hasn't stopped me, at least not that much.

I helped my wife do food shopping, and I took my son to basketball and bowling.

And as promised, I am back here at the Blog.

Due to the weather, my retinologist appointment was postponed until March, so hopefully, my detached retina will continue to heal on its own--

And that soreness I am feeling under my left eye goes away as quick as it came.

Honestly, I don't think my body could have taken two surgeries, one after the other, so it is all for the best.

And then we have this lousy snow ...

Due to my present condition, I cannot exert myself too much--

No exercising, no lifting, no bending ... pretty much no nothing for several weeks.

So guess who is going to have to dig my car out from the snow?

My son is going to have to do it.

His workplace closed early on Sunday, so he did not have to go in, but he lost a day of pay when they closed at 1 p.m. and his shift began at 3 p.m., so he did not have to go to work.

But now he has another responsibility.

He knows his responsibility, and he is ready to go.

And with my wife and I getting a bit older, our son has some new responsibilities, too.

After my wife and I did our food shopping on Friday, he had to help us up with all the full-to-the-brim grocery bags, in addition to bringing up a carton of water, something that he normally does anyway.

We have stairs up to our apartment, and I simply have been prohibited from doing anything like this, at least for now, so he is going to have to do it.

So right now, I am down but not out, and I am really happy that I went to my son's basketball and bowling.

Being there took my mind off of things for a few hours, and my son did well in basketball and did even better in bowling, leading his team to victory against their opponent, where a situation occurred which I will talk about with you later this week.

But I am cancer free, which is a great feeling.

And yes, I know that I am a broken record about this subject, but if you see something on your body that doesn't look right, please, please, please see a doctor about it.

Ninety-nine times out of 100 it will be nothing--maybe a wart or a simple blemish--but that one time that it is something, getting it removed as quickly as possible can actually save your life.

I found this thing myself, went to the doctor, he removed it, but then, later, I was told that a more drastic measure was needed.

I am in pain now, but I would rather be in pain than to have cancer.

So get these things checked out--it doesn't matter about your ethnicity or anything else--but it is treatable the earlier it is taken care of.

Please get these things checked out.

Even though I am not 100 percent, I am 100 percent happy that what I had was removed, and removed in the nick of time.

Do it for yourself and your family.

And if anyone needs a good dermatologist, I have one and I can recommend them to you.

I might have staples in my head, my I don't have marbles or rocks in there too.

Get this done now!

Rant #3,871: Today's the Day

Today's the day I go under the knife and have that procedure done on my scalp.

I don't know why this procedure was put off for so long in the first place--I thought that any cancer should be gotten rid of immediately--but I have to put my faith in my doctor--

And lately, I have had mixed results doing that with other doctors, so I guess I have to take a wait and see attitude on this--

And simply assume that they know what they are doing.

I don't like to assume things--you know the saying, so I won't repeat it here--but I guess I don't have much of a choice.

Let's get this thing done and out of here, and then I have my detached retina to take care of, and I will be like new--

To a certain extent.

I have some other physical problems where I put my full, 1,000-percent trust in my doctor(s), and it simply did not work out, or at least hasn't worked out for nearly a year and a half at this juncture.

But this is a different doctor, treating a totally different malady, so maybe this one knows what they are doing and will rid me of this for good.

I hate to be so negative, but I have had an up-and-down relationship with my doctors over the years, and it culminated with my original urologist, has moved on to my current urologist--the latter of which I am most disappointed with, since he was highly recommended--and I guess it has made me paranoid with my doctors.

I do have a great GP, and I just got pretty much a clean bill of health from him earlier this week, as all the tests they did on me came out well.

And I did have a great surgeon, whose mastery of his craft allowed me to walk again after two major surgeries on my leg in the course of a month.

So as you can see, it has been very up and down with myself and my doctors, so I am hoping that today goes well, and I can add this doctor onto my list of those who did what they said they were going to do, and did it well.

My agita with doctors stretches back years.

You might remember that I was the patient of a doctor who was caught red-handed giving out drugs illegally to underage teens, and he was locked up for a while, never to be heard from again.

I was also the patient of another doctor who was jilted by his fellow doctor partner in their practice, where the partner evidently stole money from the practice, and this practice went out of business.

When I tried to get my medical records from each of these doctors that I was a patient of, I could not get these records for one reason or another, or could not get them without paying for it, which I refused to do.

The jailed doctor, I was told by the attorney general's office, was incarcerated, in jail, but still held his medical license in New York State, which makes absolutely no sense to me or to anyone--it should have been taken away while he was in jail.

Anyway, being that he still had his medical license, he still "owned" my records, and there was nothing I could do to get them--

And much later, I was told that they were thrown into a dumpster, and I could sift through the dumpster if I really wanted those records.

No way was I going to do that.

Then the other doctor, who lost his practice because of he evil deeds of his partner, would not give me my records, even though it was advertised that he would.

You had to go through his wife to get them. I contacted her three times via regular mail, as I was told to do, and I never received anything from her.

Nothing.

So you can see why my trust of doctors is at a very low level, and hasn't been lifted up an iota by recent actions of some of my doctors.

But today, I am praying to God that everything goes OK, that I can fully put my trust into a doctor that knows what they are doing.

I have other stories to tell about doctors and my family--one eye doctor could not get the cataracts fully out of my father's eyes and my father left the office with one literally hanging out of his eye until it could be fully removed by another doctor--and there have been some other instances where I have to wonder how these doctors got their licenses to practice--as when I was going through a root canal with a dentist, the power went out, and I was sitting there with all these appliances hanging out of my mouth and without a clue about what was happening since the dentist decided to coffee-klatch with other dentists while all of this was going on and until power was restored 45 minutes or so later--but I won't go into all of that right now with you.

Just let's say that I hope for the best, because I deserve nothing but the best--

I have been through too much to think any other way.

So the blog will be shut down for the next few days, as on Monday, I have that detached retina appointment ... if the weather holds up.

We are supposed to have a major snowstorm this coming Sunday into Monday, so the appointment might have to be postponed.

If everything goes well in both instances, I will be back in the saddle pretty quickly, and even if it all goes well, I might need a little time to recuperate and heal.

So have a great weekend, and I hopefully will speak to you again next week.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

I think I am going to need it.

Rant #3,870: Family of Man

The next few days are going to be a bit dicey for me.

I had a work meeting yesterday, have work to do, and on Wednesday, it is just a usual day for me. 

But beginning on Thursday, I have a whirlwind of things to do, and things that need to get done.

The most important of those things to get done is to get myself fully healthy, and it begins on Thursday with the removal of that cancerous growth on my scalp.

I have already had something there removed, but evidently, it went further beneath the surface, necessitating a bit more work to be done to get it fully removed.

It is apparently an all-day affair, and I have to go from one doctor to another to fully get the thing removed and taken care of.

I have Friday to rest up a bit, and the weekend to really get back to speed--

But then on Monday morning, I have to go to my retinologist to see about the slightly detached retina in my right eye.

It actually improved the last time, improved to the point that I didn't need the procedure done to correct it, so it was put off by the doctor for a month.

Now, I have to get checked out again, and hopefully, it will still be improving, and I can hold off anything for at least another month--

But if not, I have to have a surgical procedure done to correct the detachment.

No, I am not looking forward to any of this, but if it has to be done, let's get it done so I can live my life at the best level that I can.

I have some other ailments that I guess I can live with, but these are maladies that need to be taken care of--

One immediately ...

The other one, we will see.

Literally.

2026 has not been the greatest year for myself or my family, and we aren't even out of January yet.

If it is not one thing, it is another.

But the year has 11 more months to go, and I believe that the year can redeem itself into a good one for myself and my family.

That being said, with all of this agita that I have had, I have found comfort from my family.

My family has supported me through thick and thin, and without them, I really believe that I would be in a far worse situation than I am in now.

But with them, I am like Superman.

I have my kryptonite, but my family represents my lead shield against it.

My wife and my son have made me bulletproof--

No matter what comes my way, I know that I can jump out from under it in leaps and bounds.

I might not be able to change the course of mighty rivers or bend steel in my bare hands, but I can do things that I thought I couldn't do, or would never be able to do again.

Doing these things alone would be nearly impossible; but with the strong backbone of family, I really feel that anything is possible.

So I feel that I am the luckiest guy on the face of the earth for having their support, and I am determined to not let them down in any way.

As for the blog, it also represents a lot of comfort to me, but I might have to take a little time off to get these things done and to mend.

I think that I might have to take off on Friday and Monday from the blog, but we will see how I feel.

I might put up some "reading" blogs, or not put up anything at all.

So please, stay with me and keep me in your thoughts for the next week to 10 days or so.

I will have a blog entry tomorrow on Thursday, but that might be that for a little while.

So I will speak to you tomorrow, and I hope that everything turns out OK.

I am sure that I will let you know one way or the other.

Rant #3,869: I Really Wanna Know

As most of you know, i am all over the Internet, in one form or another.

I am extremely prevalent in Facebook, where not only do I regularly post on a variety of subjects, but I also run a couple of groups abd I also put up the daily Rants each weekday.

So it really doesn't come as a surprise to me when someone disagrees with me.

As I have said over and over and over again, as long as the repartee is civil and doesn't go off on unnecessary and uncalled for tangents, I am OK with it.

But as you know, some people do manage to cross the line, and those people need to be dealt with, and dealt with quickly 

I have no patience with such people, who should really know better, but somehow, don't.

That is why something that festered this past weekend was so confounding to me. 

Again, I put up comments on Facebook on a variety of subjects, and you do not have to agree with me at all ... just keep it on an adult level.

Well, I must have posted something that completely threw off someone into a complete mental abyss, because someone, who I do not know nor who knows me, went off on a tirade on Facebook messenger, a tirade to a level that I have never experienced before--

And to a certainbmoment, I had absolutely no idea what this person was referring to, what post i made that threw him into such a tizzy.

Here is what transpired:

"Does it suck being so awful and hateful? I feel sorry fir you," was his initial message to me.

I replied, "How so? What did I do to throw you into such a tizzy? What post are you referring to?"

He responded: "You fat idiot."

I knew i was getting into some bizarro world with him after this reply, but I still had no idea what he was referring to.

I messaged him: "You haven't answered the question, and I am not fat, by the way. What did I say to offend you?"

When he didn't reply, I messaged him: "Cat caught you tongue? You sure you got the right guy?"

He later replied, "You stupid fat zio."

To that, I replied, "Again, I have no idea what your rant is about. You should see a doctor due to your anxiety against a person you don't even know. Let me know what you are so upset about. And what is a "fat zio?" Takes one to know one, I guess."

Yes, I shouldn't have pushed it this far, but my curiosity got the best of me.

To that moment, and I had absolutely no idea why this person got so irked at me, and I just wanted to know what I posted that made him get this crazy.

But let me tell you, I was really dying to know what a "fat zio" was.

I even went so far as to look up the term, and AI told me that it "likely refers to NBA player Zion Williamson, known for his powerful build and past struggles with weight, prompting nicknames and discussions about his fitness."

Nah, I don't think he called me that for that reason--

But anyone know what a "fat zio" is?

Please let me know ...

But I kind of found out what he meant later in the afternoon.

This simpleton finally replied to me, and quite frankly, he said all that he had to say:

"You idiot zio simp. You love killing babies."

Yup, I think you get it now as much as I did.

I replied to him the only way I could:

"Really. You are nothing but a Hamas groupie. Now I think I get you. A loser who has nothing better to do than go after me for absolutely no reason. You are a sick person, and really need some type of psychiatric help."

I mean, what more could I have said to him at this point?

Anti-Semitism runs rampant on Facebook, without check.

Beyond this fool, I received some other rather "nice" posts in reply to things I had to say, and I won't reprint them here, because they aren't worth it.

Yes, anything goes on social media, and I have been attacked left, right and center, and yes, I am fed up with it all, but since Facebook only kicks off people selectively--I know that because, you might remember, I was removed for a period of time after I announced my mother had passed away and put up the funeral information, and then removed me for several more weeks after I complained about it--there really isn't very much one can do.

But I really cannot just sit here and take it all in--the stuff that has been directed to me is absolutely vicious in nature, and the people directing these missives at me probably wouldn't do the same in person, so they use the digital shield to say whatever the heck they want.

These people are sick, but let's be honest about it, the world is sick--and I mean, very sick--right now.

Social media gives these psychos with pent up viciousness a platform to release whatever nonsense they have, and I won't take it lightly.

And yes, I blocked this imbecile. The end.

And now we find out that Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, a Jewish Democrat, was asked some pointed questions about his allegiance and loyalty to our country--and whether he was also working as an agent for Israel--when Kamala Harris' team interviewed him for the vice president position in the last presidential election.

I will bet Harris will end up denying this, end up saying that she didn't personally ask such a question, but it came from her camp, and  I do believe Shapiro.

Why would he say this if it was not true? What did he have to gain by putting this explosive tidbit into a book he has written?

And don't you think that Harris should've known better, since her husband, the former "First Gentleman," is--

JEWISH.

I will say one more thing about all of this.

'NEVER AGAIN ... and that means in 2026 too."

Rant #3,868: The Pledge of Allegiance

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

I never had this day off when I was working full time, and I mean NEVER.

My "day of service" was working at my job, and even six years removed from that job, that is what I plan on doing today.

I will be sending in material to my workplace, and I will be writing/editing other stories too.

That is how I celebrate the day, and the man.

I work.

On Sunday, it snowed for a good part of the day here on Long Island, making me think of the warmer weather that is coming later this year.

We are still a ways away from July and August, but it keeps me warm thinking about it.

And this July will be a special one, as our country will be celebrating its 250th birthday on July 4.

Lots of events and other stuff is planned for this day--with an official name of "United States Semiquincentennial"--but I get the sense that this celebration is going to sabotaged with politics.

There was a big story in the local Newsday newspaper on Sunday about how Long Island will be celebrating the big anniversary, and honestly, I was a little dismayed at what I read.

It seems that various entities which have been created to promote our nation's birthday have a common goal: as described in the story, "to correct cherished but incorrect stories of the region's past that spread around the 200th anniversary in 1976, including some acts of patriotic heroism that were more legend than fact."

What I remember about the beauty of the Bicentennial celebration 50 years ago is that it was a real celebration, and it was as "un-political" as it could possibly be.

Now, we have these people saying that during the 250th celebration, they are going to "right wrongs," and you just know what that means--

Rather than present us with the "correct" history, that history will be twisted and turned into measures that are seen through 2026 eyes, not what really happened, even though the goal is to right those wrongs.

And with the Internet and social media, so much is twisted and turned anyway that even if this goal was a legitimate one, you just know that it will be obliterated by what imbeciles say on these social media networks.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the occasion of our nation's 250th birthday should not be used to further the gulf between us, but should be used as something of a rallying cry for all of us to get together, and get together as one--

One nation, one country, one day to celebrate our birthday.

Back in 1976, I was 19 years old, early in my college days, and working part time at a public relations company which promoted Long Island.

I don't remember July 4, 1976 being a day of politics.

I remember lots of promotions related to the day, lots of contests and great things to do.

I have to tell you, I honestly do not remember exactly what I did that day.

I might have gone to a ball game at either Shea Stadium or Yankee Stadium with friends--

My family and I could have had a simple barbecue--

But as I am thinking about it, I seem to remember seeing fireworks wherever I was, even though I am not a big fan of firecrackers and the like.

I just don't clearly remember, but what I do remember is that it was a day where politics were not that prevalent.

People weren't at each others throats as they are today about everything related to politics.

It was a very different time.

We, as a nation, seemed to be on the same page that day, even if it was just for the one day.

People handled politics differently back then, and I think they handled it the right way.

There is a time and a place for everything, and that includes the discussion of politics.

Today, anything and everything goes, and nothing is sacred anymore.

I just hope that the 250th birthday of the greatest country in the world is one that we, as a nation, can all rejoice in, at least for that one day.

However, that is a day that, unfortunately, our police forces and others are going to absolutely have to be on the highest alert, because you just know there are people and groups, from both without and within, whoch are planning to ruin such a day for everyone.

We cannot let that happen, and I am sure that measures are already--and have been--taking place to ensure that all Americans can celebrate the day and have fun doing it.

And let's keep politics out of it as much as possible.

Maybe this is one day we can put down the placards, curb our tongues, and just resonate together on this great occasion.

I certainly hope so.

Rant #3,867: Relax

Well, my Rants about my doctors are pretty much behind me, and I hope to have a "normal" time from now through the weekend.

Late next week, I have to have that cancer off my scalp removed, and then early the following week, I have to see if my detached retina continues to mend itself; if not, I have to have a procedure on that, too.

I hate it all, I am not looking forward to any of it, but if it has to be done, it has to be done.

From here on in, all I want to do is relax, and take it easy a bit, which in my life, is not an easy thing to do.

I have to work, which keeps me occupied, so that is a good thing.

I have my son's basketball and bowling all ready to go, and that is a lot of fun.

And I have my hobbies and other things I like to do, and I plan on doing them all in the coming days.

One thing I like to do is to go to my local record store, which among other things I had to do on Thursday, I managed to do.

This record store is more than a record store. 

It is a meeting place for like-minded people of all ages and persuasions, a place where we can browse the aisle for goodies while we talk with the owners and other customers about anything that comes to mind.

It is a very social atmosphere, and I can describe it a little better for you ... if you watched "The Andy Griffith Show" back in its black-and-white heyday, you have to remember Floyd's Barber Shop.

This place was more than a barber shop; it was a place where Andy, Barney, Gomer and the rest of the gang would gravitate to, not just for haircuts, but to fraternize, talk over their daily lives, and sort out a lot of things that were on their minds.

Well, this record store I frequent is the same way, and serves the same purpose for me.

Sometimes I talk a lot there while going through the offerings, sometimes not, but it is a place I feel comfortable in, a place where I can really relax in while shopping, something I ordinarily do not like to do, let's say, for food or clothing shopping.

But this place is different.

Yes, I shop there to supplement my hobby, but it is a bit more than that, at least to me.

I can talk about anything with anybody there, and believe me, I have done that on many occasions.

I have talked about work, my physical condition, my family and so much more there.

The owners are very nice, very knowledgable, and sometimes, they are the ones that start the conversations.

It is a nice place to spend some time, and yes, some money, but it is all worth it.

The whole is the sum of its parts, and this place fits that description.

Like Floyd's Barber Shop, it is one part retail establishment, another part gathering spot, another part social place, and another part, a vinyl watering hole ...

And I could go on and on.

I have been frequenting this place for years, and really missed going to it during the pandemic and when I had my leg problems.

When I was finally able, I even went there on crutches!

So it is part of my monthly relaxation ritual, allowing me to "get away" for a couple of minutes each month.

On Thursday morning, after I did things that I had to do--including picking up medicine for myself and my son--I ventured over to the record store, and spent a few minutes--and dollars--there.

With everything coming up in my life, I thought it was the perfect place to spend just a little time, and in addition to the conversation, I bought some nice things to add to my collection.

I hope that everyone has such a spot to relax in, and whether it is Floyd's Barber Shop, your local record store, or somewhere else, it really doesn't matter, as long as the place, and the people who are there, are enjoyable to you.

I have such a place, and I am very thankful that I do.

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

Rant #3,866: The Beat Goes On

I had another altercation with a doctor's office yesterday morning.

I contacted them the other day about medication I was taking, pills that I was having a negative reaction to after months of taking these pills daily.

I told the person who picked up the phone to speak to me that I had, on my own, stopped taking the medication, I told her the reasons I stopped taking the pill, and I wanted to speak to the doctor if that was the OK thing to do and if there was anything else I could do.

The woman took down all of my information, and said that someone would get back to me. 

Two days later, no one had.

Usually the doctor at this office doesn't get back to you directly, but he has an assistant who does, but I had not heard from them in any way in the two days since I placed the initial call.

So yesterday, I called them back.

I spoke to the same receptionist that I spoke to the other day.

I told her my problem again, and I asked her why no one had gotten back to me.

She said that she needed a moment to go through some things, and she did find a response to my initial question, that yes, I could stop the medication, and that I should make a followup appointment.

I thanked the woman, but then I said the obvious:

"Why didn't anyone call me up, text me, email me or contact me in any way with this information?"

"Stopping a medication can be a very major decision; it can affect other things. Why did I not get a call from someone in the office about this?"

And finally:

"Why did I have to call you back to find out this information? The office was supposed to call me back, and they didn't. If I didn't call you back, I would still be sitting here not knowing an answer to my question."

I told the receptionist that I was angry, but not with her ... with the office.

"This is why I left the previous doctor I had [who handled this malady] and went to the current doctor, because the other doctor was superfluous to whatever I asked him about my situation. The current doctor knew that, so I find it odd that no one called me back and that you had to provide me with an answer to my question."

I already have a followup appointment with this doctor scheduled for March, so the receptionist said I could keep that appointment, but then I said to her:

"This can never happen again. I don't know if you are the right person to do this with, but I want to register a formal complaint with the office, so that it never happens again. Someone needs to be accountable for this error, and I want them to know that I am not very happy about this."

The receptionist supposedly took all of this down and said she would let them know, but I severely doubt that anything will happen related to this complaint; this doctor has a very lucid practice, lots of patients, so if one patient is upset, why should they care?

Of course, they should, but I have found lately that incompetence is the way to go with just about everything.

I don't know what it is, but since COVID, customer service has fallen to absolutely new lows.

And related to a doctor's office, it doesn't give me any confidence in our medical providers if I ask a simple question and get nothing but double talk, as a described in my post to you about my doctor's visit on Monday and now, this repartee I had with another doctor's office that I use.

I won't tell you what doctor this was, or the malady I was experiencing from my medicine, but it has been ongoing for now more than a year, and I thought this doctor was better than the previous doctor I had.

Maybe not.

But the main crux of this blog post today is that incompetence is key, and it seems to be a disease or a malady worse than anything I have--

And remember, I supposedly have cancer on my scalp.

So yes, incompetency in the workplace is a cancer, one which is easily fixed with competent staff--

But I am sorry to say that since no one is doing anything about it, it is spreading throughout the workplace, just like untreated cancer can spread throughout your body.

I am sure I am not the only one who has experienced this--I mean, the incompetence in the workplace--and it really bothers me, not just because it puts me in a bad position, but because heck, when I lost my full-time job, I couldn't even get arrested, much less get a job--

And these imbeciles are very gainfully employed.

Maybe employees are looking for incompetency, maybe that's why I never got anything.

So be it, but I won't and can't sit still when their incompetency impacts myself and my life and my family and their well-being.

No way, no way at all.

Rant #3,865: Fun

Today is the 14th day of the new year, and I already can't wait for 2026 to end.

Too much going on, too much still to go on--treating that cancer on my head, my vision problems and some other health things--and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My wife went for a job interview the other day--it came totally out of the blue--and then they baited and switched her, with her going there for one job and them telling her it was for a totally different, unrelated position.

As you can imagine, that interview might have lasted five minutes, if not even less.

My son's job situation is still progressing, but I don't like the direction it is going in.

They promised him a certain amount of days and hours, they reneged on that even after I spoke with his employer about it, and go prove it, but I do believe he is being taken advantage of because he is a special needs person.

He also gave up a lot to take this job--including a 401k plan at his previous job--so I do believe that not only did they tell us tall tales about this job, but they kind of fibbed to him.

And he still awaits a job coach ...

Who knows when he will get one.

I have spoken to the supposedly appropriate parties about this, and they double talk beyond belief.

So who knows when he will get one--the job coach could help him in my son's current situation--

I have acted as his advocate, but he really needs someone to help him with a little more "thump" than I have.

Heck, I am only my son's father.

As for me, while I await my medical issues being taken care of, I actually feel fine, physically, mentally and emotionally, but I know that that is not the case, at least physically.

I would never know it if doctors didn't tell me that I have these things to take care of.

I had my yearly physical on Monday, so let's see what comes out of that.

Again, I feel fine, but I have learned over the years that one never knows what is percolating inside of them at any given moment.

Other than the things I have described to you the past few days, nothing much is really happening with myself or my family to talk about.

I re-reconnected with one of my old friends from Rochdale Village the other day.

We had previously reconnected a few years back, then somehow, I could not get in contact with him, but happily, he made himself known the other day to me, and we have re-reconnected with a couple of posts on Facebook.

He is a nice guy, a good person, and I do not think I will have the same problems with him as I had with that guy I knew in college.

Let's see what happens, but I am always open to reconnecting with anyone I knew from my childhood, or from any time in my life.

Not only do I still speak with people from my Rochdale Village years, but I do speak with one or two from other chapters in my life, too, so I am open to just about anyone reconnecting.

I think what happened the other day is an anomaly, and probably won't happen again.

It is just one of those things that you have to experience, and then take care of--

And I think I took care of it in the proper fashion.

Even in today's world, you have to be careful about such things, but I think that over the years, I have proven myself to be very loyal to people I was friendly with in the past.

And again, you can vehemently disagree with me on just about any topic--Mets or Yankees?--but as long as it is friendly and civil, it is OK.

When it crosses the line--as it did the other day--one has to do what one has to do--

And I did what had to be done.

Other than that, it is pretty much the status quo with me ... working, keeping up on things with my immediate family, and trying to stay busy.

Not the complete retired life, but as close to it as I can possibly come.

Fourteen days into the first month of the year, I am a bit dismayed about things, but we still have 351 days to go!

Maybe things will change, and change for the better.

Rant #3,864: Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning.

Here is what happened as I signed in at the front desk.

Me: I am signing in, but when your office called me the other day, they had the wrong time listed for my appointment. It was at 9:30 a.m, but the caller told me it was at 10 a.m. 

(I pulled out an appointment card from my wallet.)

Here, I have the card that was made out for the appointment, and it clearly says 9:30 a.m.

Receptionist: Well, it says here your appointment is at 10 a.m.

Me: But you can see that it actually was scheduled for 9:30 a.m., and that is why I am here now.

(At 9:15 a.m.)

Receptionist: Just sign in and we will get to you.

(I signed in, sat down in the waiting room, and it proceeded on to 10:15 a.m., and I got up to walk up to the desk again.)

Me: Look, my appointment was at 9:30 a.m., and I am still sitting here, What is going on?

Receptionist: Well, we have it at 10 a.m.

Me: Look at the card. It says 9:30, that is why I was here at 9:15, and it is 10:15 a.m., so I have been sitting here for an hour for a 9:30 appointment.

Receptionist: We will get you in now.

(I waited, and it was past 10:30 a.m. I walked up to the front desk again.)

Me: You made a mistake, so I have been sitting here for more than an hour.

Receptionist: We will get you in now.

Me: Thank you. Wonderful!

(A few minutes later, I finally was called in. It took the doctor about 10 minutes to get to me.)

Doctor: How is everything?

Me: Well, let me begin with a problem I am having with your staff.

(I proceeded to tell him about the mixup with the visit time.)

Doctor: (whispering) Let me tell you something ... my staff really is not that good. They are pretty inept.

(I had my exam, and then I had to make another appointment for six months. One woman makes the appointments at this doctor, so I told the story to her.)

Appointment Lady: Well, if that is the worst that can happen to you, you are pretty lucky.

Me: But now I fear that the appointment you make for me for six months will also have a mixup in the time. Please make sure that the time is correct.

Appointment Lady: Well, if that is the worst that can happen to you, you are pretty lucky.

(I walked out of the office.)

Funny, nobody knows how to say, "I am sorry" anymore, even when the evidence shows that they were clearly at fault.

Yes, the wrong time isn't the worst thing in the world ... I could have cancer.

(Oh, that's right ... I already have that.)

But the inability of people to use the word "sorry" is bewildering, perplexing--

And heck, I just simply do not understand it.

Do you?

Rant #3,863: I Walk the Line (And You Crossed It)

Well, boys and girls, no sooner did I put my post up on Friday about being civil on social media that someone crossed the line with me, and I had to dump him as a "friend."

I went to college with this guy all those years ago, he and I worked on the school newspaper together, and we have had some nice conversations when we reconnected on Facebook.

I saw a couple of his posts on Facebook, and while I didn't agree with him politically, it didn't really matter to me, because we reconnected not because of political stance, but because we did have a history together on the school newspaper for a short period in college, and I respected the guy for his work effort on that publication.

I put up a post on Facebook on Friday about the ICE incident in Minnesota--where a woman died in an altercation with an ICE official--which I stated was unfortunate, but I also put up my opinion on why it happened and the fact that I didn't think the woman was as innocent as the media made her out to be.

I stated that her partner was taking videos of her, that this situation was manufactured by the woman and her partner, and that neither of them should have been there.

OK, that is my opinion. You can agree or disagree with it, but if you take the other side, do it in a civil fashion.

What happened is that after several people agreed with me, this guy made his own post, which I could have just taken as an opposing view, if not for the final sentence he wrote:

"If she were protesting Jews [being deported, added by me for contextual explanation], you would have been right there with her."

This comment was so out of character for this guy--or at least I thought it was out of character--that I really had to look over it more than once to try to understand why he posted such a thing.

Yes, it was caustic and within the context of the subject, was kind of anti-Semitic.

I gave the guy several minutes to explain himself--not his beliefs, but exactly why he injected my religion into all of this--and he said that I "put words in his mouth" and thought that as a smart person and as a writer, he was surprised that I did not side with him.

Of course, he was the one who put his own words up, so I don't think I put any words in anyone's mouth.

Look, I am sure that not everyone agrees with my stance on this incident, and that is fine; as I have said, I take no offense at differing opinions--

AS LONG AS THEY ARE CIVIL.

I gave him some more time to respond, he didn't, so he is gone.

Sorry to do it, but I cannot be attacked for my religion by anyone: Jew, non-Jew, pro-Hamas, atheist ... I don't care who it is, I will not tolerate it, and what is worse is that it had absolutely nothing to do with the discussion--

Which makes me wonder about this guy, his beliefs, and his thoughts.

Is he another one of these closet anti-Semites who just let it slip all of a sudden because "WAH WAH!" I didn't agree with him?

How infantile, how childish, how insipid.

You disagree with me ... fine.

You disparage me because of my religion ... not fine at all.

And the amazing thing about this whole shebang was what this person did afterward.

After he saw that I "umfriended" him, I guess that somehow got to him because he sent friend requests to me--

Not once, but twice.

My reply was the following:

"You must be kidding."

And then, I fully blocked him.

I gave him every opportunity for an explanation, and he hung himself with his own rope by not responding.

So that is the end of that.

I am the lord of my own manor, and if you are not going to follow the rules--and you are going to unnecessarily inject religion into it--you are done.

The end.

Rant #3,862: Worryin' Kind

Thank God it's Friday!

Moving onto the end of another work week.

I had plenty to do work-wise this week, including a couple of meetings ...

Nothing crazy, but I kept busy.

Now, things really get back to normal for myself and my family, starting tonight.

My son's basketball get-together starts up again, and then on Saturday morning, he has his bowling season all revved up.

These things keep both him and me busy, and that is always a good thing.

I have one doctor's appointment next week, and then, the following week, starts my odyssey--

Does my right eye need surgery right now, and that cancer on my head is going to be removed.

Stuff to not look forward to, but at least I will get both of them out of the way--

Hopefully.

It has been a bit nerve-racking knowing that I have these medical things that need to be taken care of, but if I have to get these things done, I want to get them done and over with, not have them linger over me like a Sword of Damocles over my head.

I just want to be as well as I feel, and I do feel pretty good, even though these things, as long as I have them, really aren't making me a "well" person.

And all the negativity in the world is not just making me feel bad, but I think it reflects a very sick world that is getting more ill by the day.

I don't expect happy news all the time, but the stuff going on in the world, and in our own backyards, is really repulsive.

We all need to find some common ground, something we can all get on the same page with, but I don't see anything coming down the path right now, or in the near or even far future.

Social media, or course, fuels all this, on all sides of the particular equation, and again, social media and the Internet can be wonderful things if used properly--

But I don't think that most people use these things the right way.

We can all have our opinions, but when it gets to the point that we are being stupid about things--on all sides--it is time to take a step back and look at what we are posting and what we are saying.

When we are arguing this thing or that thing, I ultimately think to myself:

"Is this really that important to go on and on about? There are more important things in the world, aren't there?"

Look, I go off just like we all do on social media, and sometimes, I really have to temper myself and just hold my thoughts, which I often do but just as often, don't do.

Recently, I posted in a record collecting site on Facebook about re-listening to a certain extremely popular act's LPs after many, many years, and finding their albums disappointing, with each record having one or two good songs--generally, songs that were also released as singles--and the rest being dreck, in my opinion.

I got a really nice response backing me or going against what I said, and you know what?

It was refreshing.

The give and take was nice, nobody got crazy, and this civil discussion was really what Facebook and the other social media sites should all be about, but most often aren't.

Again, I am as guilty as we all are at going off on Facebook and even here at times, but the one thing in my favor, a capacity that evidently a lot of people do not have or want to have, is that I will listen to what the other side has to say, even if I firmly disagree with it.

I will continue to have opinions, and some of you won't like what I have to say, but I do read every post that comes my way, and in my own way, try to learn something from these posts.

I guess it is just me--

Or maybe that cancer thing on my head is getting to my brain.

And before I forget, the latest issue of the online publication that I write and edit for is available.

I think it is pretty good, something to be proud of, something that makes me happy.

You can access it at https://online.fliphtml5.com/bbzqm/ylgi/#p=1

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