Rant #4,022: One Toke Over the Line

Heck, I don't know if I am cursed or not, but boy, am I upset.

Let me tell you about what is going on with my eye problems, and it ain't pretty.

As scheduled, I went into surgery on this past Monday, but the surgery was never completed. It was only done partially, and I still sit here with a detached retina.

The reason the surgery was not completed was due to the incompetency of the doctor and more directly on her staff, who clearly have their own agendas and don't listen to what the patients has to say about his or her own care.

When a staff member spoke with us prior to the surgery, I told this ignoramus that I have been listed as what is called an "Uncooperative Patient," based on an incident that happened 19 years ago when I had my gall bladder removed.

I woke up in the middle of the operation, tried to pull out whatever they were using to remove the gall bladder, and had to be held down by six male nurses to complete the operation.

I was told that henceforth, when I have an operation, I must alert the doctor and staff about this incident, and they would proceed with anesthesia accordingly.

So I told the staff member about his, adding that I wanted to be completely "knocked out" when the ye surgery was performed, and she assured me that I would be.

So, last Monday, as I was being prepped for the surgery, I was told that the first "part" of the surgery would have me completely knocked out, but that for the second part of the surgery, I would have to be awake so that the doctor could ask me to turn my head in a certain way while she was repairing the retina.

I said that I was told that I would be fully under anesthesia for the ENTIRE procedure, and I, again, told them why.

They told me not to worry, that they do "hundreds" of these procedures every day.

I was already prepped, I was scared and nervous and crying--literally--about this change of events, but I tried to be a good soldier and go through with it.

The next thing I knew, I was drinking apple juice and eating cookies.

The doctor told me that I was moving around so much that she could not perform the surgery. She did not want to cut my eye, which would have led to total blindness.

DUH!

So I went home with part of the surgery done, and part of it not done. 

I had bandages on the eye, and I had to see her the next morning.

When I met with her, I told her my concerns, and I swear to you, she said to me this:

"So."

I was not a happy camper, because her robotic reaction to my experience was uncalled for.

I told her that her staff did not handle me correctly, and quite frankly, neither did she.

She sent me to another doctor apart from her own practice, who then passed me on to yet another docotr.

We met with the doctor this past Thursday, and my case is not as "simple" as the original doctor made it out to be.

It seems that after the doctor examined me fully, he discovered that the tear is on the back side of the eye, which makes it a much more complicated surgery--

So who knows if the original doctor could have done the surgery to begin with! She never mentioned that fact to me, never let on that it was something way worse than normal.

I am now scheduled for surgery on October 13, which is going to really cut it short for my daughter's wedding.

But yes, I can be repaired, although there is absolutely no guarantee that my full vision will be restored.

And yes, I will get the full anesthesia from the first moment of the surgery until the last moment of the surgery.

This is devastating news for me and for my family.

What did I do to deserve this?

I just want the procedure done and over with.

And the recovery ...

Let's just say that it isn't pretty.

The original doctor and her staff did not listen to a word I said, just went along procedurally without listening to what I had to say, and now I am in a mess.

I have to cancel several other medical visits that I was to have during this period leading up to my daughter's wedding, and this whole thing is making me upset, depressed and beside myself.

But at least I trust the new doctor, who gave me as thorough an eye examination as possible to determine that my case is not so atypical.

Woe is me, what did I do to deserve this?

As far as the blog, it was a trying time even typing this entry out, so I will probably be in and out of her for the next few weeks.

I have forced myself to work, to hand in stories, but it is not an easy task.

So I will be speaking to you intermittently, and if I make a few spelling or punctuation errors, just understand that I am really working with about one and a quarter eyes right now, and I am not up to my total competency.

Have a nice weekend, and I will speak to you sometime down the line.

And pray for me ...

I need it.

Rant #4,021: Eye Do!

The rehearsal dinner is over, and now the wedding is being held today.

I wish my nephew and his bride the best!

And when that is over, on Saturday, my son starts his bowling league again as a member of the team that is the league's defending champion, and then he has a 30th birthday party to attend for one of his teammates.

When that is all over and done with, on Monday morning, I get the absolute pleasure of having my slightly detached retina repaired!

It is a pleasure, take it from me!

Not the type of pleasure you might think it is, but I guess you have to look at it that way if you are in my shoes.

It has to be done, it has to make my vision better, and I have to get it done NOW, on Monday.

The surgery will probably force me from atop my perch here for at least a week, if not more.

And how I am going to do my work is another story.

I don't know what my limitations will be as I heal, but hopefully, I will get better quickly and be able to come back here and write about all these things that are important to me, and hopefully, interesting to you.

And get back to work.

But I don't know how long that will be, so this might just be my final Rant for some time.

I hope it isn't too long a recovery, because I just have so many things to do, that even a day off will be like an eternity.

Once I get the bandages off my right eye, I will begin the healing process, and I have all sorts of eye drops to use to get me better as quickly as possible.

So I am just going to have to wait, and I am just going to have to be patient.

My daughter is getting married next month--on Halloween--so that is my goal, to be at least good enough to see her take the plunge, so to speak.

And in between all of that, I have the pleasure of having another colonoscopy, which hopefully will go well.

Let's not forget that I also have an appointment with my urologist about my kidney stones ...

And I still have to make sure that my mother's grave is being properly attended to.

Yes, I have a full plate ahead of me, and hopefully, all will go well.

I have to be positive, because how else can I be at this point?

The eye operation will be my fifth operation this year, and hopefully, it will be the last during this calendar year and into the near future, at least.

I am also having the surgery on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar ...

I mean, why not? 

I am supposed to suffer that day as I pay penance to God and my religion, so I guess I will do the ultimate suffering on that day.

I have to show that I am worthy to live another year, so I hope God can "see" that I should not be crossed off in his book.

Funny, my paternal grandfather came from Poland to this country in the early 1900s, and he came with no records of his birth, so nobody really knew how old he was and when he was born.

I think we kind of thought that he died when he was about 90 or 91 or 92, but we had no idea about his birthday.

He didn't either, and when the subject would come up, he said he was born on--

Yom Kippur, the ultimate day on the Jewish calendar for suffering.

I guess if that is true, my great grandmother truly suffered that day when she had him, but we never knew if that was a true story, and furthermore, Yom Kippur is a different day every year, so who knows when he was actually born?

But I loved him--as I did all of my grandparents--miss him to this day, and whatever date he was born on, he lived a full life.

So to my Pop Jack, happy birthday in heaven, and I know that you are getting thrown out of another pinochle game up where you are ...

Another story for another time.

As for me, I have another surgery to go through, and I just hope I have a good meld and hit a double pinochle and get through all of this well.

Wish me good luck!

Have a great weekend, have an easy fast on Yom Kippur if you are Jewish--

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And I will speak to you again when I can see clearly again.

It is just that simple.

Rant #4,020: The Secret of My Success

Today is the beginning of a really crazy period for myself and my family.

It features a lot of highs, a lot of lows, and a lot of in-betweens kind of blending into each other.

My nephew on my wife's side of the family is getting married on Friday, and today, we have a rehearsal dinner to attend.

I have absolutely no idea what a rehearsal dinner is, and why some people have them.

That is not a knock against them; I just don't know why such an event is held, especially since the marriage ceremony and reception are the very next day.

I think it is a kind of a "get-to-know-you" event, perfect for situations where those going to the wedding don't necessarily know each other very well, and it creates a nice, friendly environment right before the wedding.

I think it is held right after a run-through of the wedding ceremony, and is only attended by those in the wedding party and other relatives.

I backed up these thoughts by visiting The Knot website (https://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-rehearsal-basics?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic) where they pretty much echoed what I thought a rehearsal dinner was.

Here is the site's brief description:

"Traditionally, the rehearsal dinner is a meal following the practice run (or rehearsal) of the wedding ceremony. It takes place on the eve of the wedding day (less commonly a day or two earlier, depending on your schedule) and is the final pre-wedding event before the couple is married. On top of giving the couple some quality time with loved ones, the rehearsal dinner is a chance for both families to gather and kick off the wedding festivities—an ideal way to introduce relatives and friends who haven't met before."

So, based on my assumptive summation and the description of the event on this site, it should be a fun, and interesting, event, one I can check off my list of things that I have never done.

Then tomorrow, we have the actual wedding, something that I am really looking forward to.

It is a traditional wedding, and the glitz and glamor--and the food--should be exciting.

It is going to be a great affair, and I wish my nephew and his bride all the best--

They deserve it!

My son is in the wedding party, and we have seen him in his tuxedo, and he really looks sharp!

He may never get to wear a tux again, so he should live the moment, because the very next day on Saturday, the tux goes back to the rental place.

And on Saturday, my son's bowling league starts up again, where his team is the defending champion, so that should be fun.

Later in the day, he was invited to a friend's 30th birthday party, so it really should be a nice--and busy--day for my son.

Sunday is a day really for us all to rest up, because on Monday--

I am scheduled for my eye surgery, right on the day of the most solemn holiday on the Jewish calendar--

Yom Kippur.

It just worked out that way, as it was the first day that my doctor had open to do this surgery.

Yes, I have had surgeries and procedures on other holidays and on my birthday, so why not on Yom Kippur?

You have to fast on the holiday to show your solidarity and penance with God, and I can't eat, anyway, before the surgery, so it kind of all fits together like a piece of the puzzle of my current life.

Yes, I am a bit nervous about it, but it is something that has to be done.

It might lay me up for a period, but I will get better and be myself within time.

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

We have a rehearsal dinner to go to today, and that should be a lot of fun!

And the wedding--

Congrats to the bride and groom, and we wish them a successful union.

I think that I am going to choose the word "success" as the theme for the next few days.

Because everything that is happening into next week will be just that.

And I don't need any rehearsal to fully believe that.

Rant #4,019: You Make Me Sick

About the Macklemore controversy, where the well-known anti-Semitic, anti-Jew and anti-Israel rapper made his gig at the Ed Sheeran concert tour into a pro-Palestinian political demonstration, I have several things to to say about that.

Free speech is sacred in this country, and even Macklemore--as vile a public figure as there is, and this wasn't the first time he has thrown his views on Jews into the fire--has a right to voice his opinions.

But you don't shape an innocent concert into your own personal pulpit, spouting pro-terrorist views, taking many concert-goers by surprise, like he did on this tour.

And Ed Sheeran ... completely silent on his behavior at first ...

Then stating he would never put the clamps on someone speaking out for "oppressed people" on his tour, it was the promoters who put the kibosh in this rancid behavior.

As if he didn't know that there was at least a possibility that this was going to happen, based on the anti-social history of the rapper.

So he is part of this too ...

Helping to foment anti-Semitism for those who get their repulsive news through lies on social media.

I doubt Sheeran learned a lesson when corporations and individuals who own the venues that the concert tour was held in--including Robert Kraft, who also owns the New England Patriots--said either get rid of Macklemore based on his performance, or the tour cannot be held at these venues.

And then you have those who deride Macklemore's right to say what he wants during his performance ...

Very few Hollywood types--including Hollywood Jews--have said anything about this controversy, which is pretty much what you would expect from this completely out-of-touch group.

But one Hollywood dissenter stood out from the rest, quickly noting her displeasure with what the rapper was doing on this concert tour.

That dissenter is Pink, the popular singer who just happens to be Jewish.

I applaud her standing up about this whole thing, but let's take a deeper dive into what she said, what she implies, and what she actually means.

I have to be very careful about what I say here. I am happy that she spoke when few did, but there is more to thus than mere words.

Looking at, and deciphering what she said ...

Pink: "Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations."

Although she acknowledges that Hamas is a terrorist organization, she speaks about the lifestyle that Palestinians deserve, but she doesn't understand how this group is a terrorism-supporting people who would go after her, as the Jew that she is, if they could.

Palestinians deserve their situation based on who they allow to rule them; they voted for Hamas to be their leaders, they teach their children to hate Israel and all Jews ... typical Hollywood double talk nonsense from the singer.

Pink: "I was born a Jew. I didn't pick it, and I've never hidden it. And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I've ever said or done, because a repost and the word "Jew" were apparently enough to fill in the rest. But let me fill it in... myself."

And she speaks about her Jewishness as if it were thrust upon her. She had no choice ... wah, I am Jewish and no one asked me if I wanted to be Jewish! Wah!

There is something wrong here, isn't there? I am Jewish myself, but please, don't you see the problem with what she said? 

And remember, when Trump was running for the presidency the second time, Pink told her fans that if you vote for him, you aren't true patriots, and don't come to her concerts or buy her music. 

She supports the anti-Semitic Democrats, the party of Omar, Mamdani, AOC, and Sanders, among the most virulent anti-Semites in the country, and she also supports movements such as Black Lives Matter, one of the most anti-social and divisive movements that exist in this country.

When she derided fans who just happen to support Trump, she politicized her own music, just like Macklemore did during this and previous concerts. The pot calling the kettle black, as they say.

Pink is a phony talking out of two sides of her mouth, and I wish people would stop making her into some type of hero. 

She might mean well, but I don't think she understands the incongruities in what she says and what she does and what she believes in.

Sorry, I applaud Pink for stepping out from the pack, but quite frankly, she is, herself, part of the problem, and while she and others can't see that--

I do, and I don't like it, I don't like her double-talk ...

But heck, I expect it at this point in time.

Talking to hear yourself talk is all the rage in Hollywood, as is the deafening silence from those who should know better, but don't.

Sorry, Pink makes me see red.

Rant #4,018: No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

Back to the cemetery ...

I went back there again yesterday to see if any progress had been made on making my mother's gravesite presentable--

And nothing had been done, even though we were told that something was going to be done quickly when my sister and I complained about it last week.

This time, it was not a holiday, so I went into the office, and complained.

I was told that my mother's gravesite--as well as many others--were ready for the planting season, and that her site would have bushes planted on it soon, but they could not give me a date.

After I enquired even further about why there were no bushes on the site to begin with, as there should have been, I kind of figured what they were going to say to me.

The person I spoke to said, "There is a question of payment."

"We never received a bill," I replied. "I will pay for it now, if you want me to."

The person said, "No, you don't have to pay for it now, just wait for the bushes to be planted again." 

I said, politely, that I don't want to cause a problem, but why were we not billed for all of this?

"Look, our post office is terrible. We sent the bill out, but you probably did not receive it."

"So can you email me the bill, or I can pay now."

"We are thinking about sending bills by email, because our post office is so terrible."

So where this stands now is, no, there are no bushes on the site.

I have been told that bushes will be planted during their planting season cycle, which is now, but the bushes won't be planted there possibly into October.

I was told that I would be notified by email when they are planted, and that they would contact me when payment was needed.

Why they didn't take my payment right then and there is beyond me, and this is now the third somewhat different story I have heard about why there are no bushes on my mom's gravesite.

I called my sister and told her all about it.

I don't trust this cemetery, to say the least, but what can I do?

I can't say I will take my business elsewhere, nor can I ask them to exhume the grave so I can bury my mother somewhere else.

This is a cemetery, and I have to trust that a mistake was made, and that it will be rectified soon.

I really wish I could have gotten there sooner, but again, not to excuse myself for not going to pay my respects to both my mother and father, but this has been a very, very rough year for me.

I do blame myself, but I also blame the cemetery, because there is no excuse for not contacting me about this.

If they did, in fact, send out a communication to me, I never received it, so since they have my phone and email address, they could have contacted me that way too, to make sure I received the message.

But, as usual, nothing goes smoothly when it comes to just about anything I do, so I have to go through extra layers to discern what is going on--

And to rectify it.

My mother deserves better.

Honestly, I just don't know what I did to anybody to deserve all of this, but if God is testing me ...

I hope that I have finally passed this latest test with flying colors.

Rant #4,017: Let Freedom Ring

The 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was a day of remorse ...

For some people, I guess.

New York City Mayor Mamdani and his cohorts attended the ceremony at Ground Zero, but by all accounts, they were there because they had to be there, not because they wanted to be there, as they were seen laughing during the reading of the names of the deceased.

Yes, there is often some laughter at funerals, because that is human nature, but based on what I have seen and what was reported, there were points that this garbage mayor and others were having a grand old time at the ceremony.

In fact, the mayor attended a march held beforehand that I had never heard of, one where marchers make their way to Ground Zero while stopping at churches, synagogues and mosques along the way so they can pay their religious respects to those who have perished.

Rather than marching all the way through, Mamdani only appeared at the mosque visit.

These incidents simply reinforce the fact that this guy is evil, what he stands for is evil--

And New York City deserves this garbage because they voted him into office.

Shame on all of them.

What did I do on Patriot's Day?

I worked.

I took my son to work, and brought him home when his workday was completed.

I saw some of the ceremonies.

I also did something that I had vowed to do for a while--

Nothing important in the grand scheme of things, but it was important for me, personally, that I get this chore done.

I worked to rearrange my 45 RPM singles collection using the two new holders I bought, originally to hold my CD collection, but now repurposed to hold singles.

Look, when you have 5,000 singles, it is quite a chore to do this, a lot of lifting, bending, and moving around.

It was time to do it, because once September 21 comes around and I have my eye operation, I can't do that stuff for at least a few weeks, if not a few months.

So I did it on September 11.

I moved everything, and while I don't feel that I am 100 percent done with the task, at least I have gotten off to a good start.

It will do for now.

In the early evening, it was the first night of Rosh Hashanah--the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days---and while I did not attend shul then or over the weekend, I do hope for renewal--personal and otherwise--this new year.

I also watched baseball.

Baseball was thought to be a healing force during the aftermath of that horrid day, and 25 years later, the two New York baseball teams faced each other to signify the importance of the day, the importance of what happened in Manhattan that day, and the importance of our national pastime as an agent for healing. 

It was the Yankees versus the Mets, and I saw all the pre-game ceremonies unfurl, remembering the day 25 years ago.

Yankee Stadium was packed, and while there were Mets and Yankees fans there, fans of the U.S.A. eclipsed everything.

But we were brought back to the current normal--which is far from it--when a so-called "fan" ran onto the field and unfurled a Palestinian flag.

He ran out of the stands onto the field at exactly 9:11 p.m.

He was tackled and taken away.

Yes, most reports listed him as a "fan," once again showing their bias against the U.S. and Israel and yes, the free world.

His actions didn't ruin the game, but it also signified that there is a rancid boil that is festering in this country and around the world--

A lesion further inflamed by the likes of Mayor Mamdani and his evil, anti-U.S.A. minions.

It was September 11, 2026, not September 11, 2021, and yes, many of us seem to have collectively forgotten about what happened that day.

It is looked at as ancient history to some, but to others, that wound will never heal.

Some even say that Patriot's Day should be a national holiday, a day that we get off from school and work and honor those who died by the hands of terrorists.

We have to be really careful here.

We do not want the day to morph into a day that we go to the beach, have sales in our stores and online, have barbecues and take it easy, like we do on other holidays.

That would respect our American lifestyle that these terrorists tried to take away from us on that fateful day, but it would also disrespect those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

So leave the day as it is, teach our children about the evils that happened that day, hold those responsible fully accountable for what they did, and make sure we are all on the same page when it comes to that day.

"U.S.A. ! ...

U.S.A. ! ...

U.S.A. ... !!!!!!!!

Rant #4,016: Live

Today, on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, I am going to rerun Rant #2,490, which ran on September 11, 2020, because it is still fresh, and it is one of the most important Rants I ever wrote.

Things are not what they once were pre-September 11, 2001, and they certainly are quite different than they are today.

Some look at this day as ancient history, as if we were talking about the Civil War or other conflicts in our nation's past.

Some scoff at it by voting into public office people who should be shunned for their beliefs and actions toward our country.

Some are just plain ignorant, and quite frankly, stupid, about this day and what it means to this country, and the world.

I am not the "some people" that I am talking about.

This day changed everything for us as a society and as a country, and it didn't change things for the better.

I have my own story to tell about that day, a day I spent at work telling military people from all over the country and the world what was happening, what we knew, what we didn't know, and trying to help them find out the whereabouts of loved ones.

I have told that story before, but not today.

Please read what I had to say seven years ago about this day and what it means.

There really is nothing more to say.

"Today is Patriots Day, where we honor those who perished, and those who were the first responders to the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks.

So many of us seem to have forgotten that day--or at least put it out of our minds--and some of our young people--many of whom weren't even born when the tragedies occurred--look at it as ancient history.

But that horrid day weaves in and out of our current environment, our current problems, and yes, our current solutions, too.

And yes, my father had a story to tell about that day, a story that proved that there is a God in heaven, who was acting in his behalf when what happened happened.

As he told the story, he was at work that day, a day that started out like any other.

He woke up a 4 a.m. or thereabouts, got dressed, and did what he had to do to get ready for just another workday.

He was still young and strong that day--he would turn 70 on November 30 of that year, so he was doing exactly what he had been doing for all the years and years prior to this day.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

He took his cab, drove it into Manhattan, and started his workday, picking up passengers here and there for some relatively short jaunts around the city.

At sometime before or around 8:15 a.m., or so a fare took him to the World Trade Center, where he dropped off the passenger and immediately picked up another one, who wanted to go to a destination in Harlem.

That fare saved his life.

He drove that passenger to his destination, and at approximately 8:46 a.m. or so, he could see through the car windows that the World Trade Center was being hit by aircraft, and also through those windows, he could see that life would change forever in our country.

My father tried to get home, but it was a nearly impossible task that day.

Manhattan had pretty much gone on lockdown, and there was nowhere to go but to go into New Jersey and try to do an end around back to New York and to Long Island.

Cellphones were still in their infancy back then, and my father did not have one to call my mother about his whereabouts ... and even if he had one, as many who tried to do the same thing soon found out, cellphone service was extremely limited or non-existent throughout that day due to the rubble and carnage that ensued.

So throughout the day, my father simply tried to get back home, but we had no idea where he was, or even if he was safe.

He maneuvered the cab through New Jersey, and sometime around 8 p.m., he finally arrived home, so it took him approximately 11 hours or so for him to get back to Long Island and back home.

It must have been a harrowing day for him, as it was for all of us. But to be so far away from home, and finding his way back in increments, must have been incredible.

And that fare to Harlem ... that gentleman was my father's guardian angel for sure.

As we look back at that day, and I, personally, look back at my father's life, that was a signature day for both him and humanity.

We discovered that, if we didn't already know this yet, that human beings can be the most vicious and violent creatures on earth to justify whatever path they choose to take.

But human beings can also be accommodating, they can also be peaceful, and they can also go about their jobs with the utmost of respect and reserve and resolve to do the best job they can do.

We saw all of that on what we now call 9-11, or 9/11, whatever you prefer.

And on this day, we look back on the good, the bad and the ugly, and I do mean the very good, the very bad, and the very ugly.

We must never forget what happened that day, and work to never let it happen again.

I know that my father was only a minuscule piece of the puzzle that happened that day, but his drive and determination to find a way to get home was demonstrated by not only him, but millions of others on that dreadful day.

It once again proved that family comes first, whether it is your own personal brood or the family of humanity.

Family comes first, everything else comes in afterward.

So as we look back at the anniversary of that tragic day, let's remember that though all of our differences, through all of our highs and lows and in-betweens, we are all part of a single family, the family of humanity and human kind, and that we can get through everything if we do it together as one.

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

And Happy Rosh Hashanah--which begins at sunset this evening--to my Jewish family and friends.

Rant #4,015: Wonderful World

Don't get me started ... 

Don't get me started on Lindsay Clancy, Luigi Mangione, and the like.

They are all guilty as charged ...

But in this toxic environment we live in, the perpetrators are being painted as the victims, while those innocent people who they cast their scorn on are considered villains ...

Or at the very least, collateral damage.

Mangione has already pleaded guilty, and quite frankly, he deserves the death penalty for what he did to that health insurance executive.

He planned the whole thing out, shot the guy in the back, and yet ...

Mangione has so many adoring women at his beck and call that you would think that he was this generation's Paul, John, George and Ringo ...

Or at least Davy Jones and David Cassidy.

Clancy's case is just so insipid that it demonstrates what a sick world we live in.

She is as guilty as can be for killing her three kids in a fit of rage, which was underlined by her realizing this and trying to take her own life.

God saw to it that not only would she suffer for this attempt--she is paralyzed from it--but that she would be alive, and seemingly coherent, when standing trial for the severity of what she did.

But her defense claims some type of post-partum depression was the reason that she killed her kids, and thus, she was not fully culpable for her actions.

This is the worst type of baloney, even worse than Hebrew National cold cuts which have spoiled.

She can get the most severe charge--first degree murder--or the lesser charge--manslaughter--or be ruled not culpable for her actions due to reasons related to her depression.

Evidently, it has come out that one juror--one single male juror--did not go along with the other jurors' views that she was not culpable for her actions due to her mental condition, so there was a mistrial because the jury could not come to a full, in unison, verdict.

And then Clancy's lawyers asked President Trump for a pardon!

You cannot make this stuff up.

Let me tell you, Clancy is guilty of the most severe charge, and I am going to tell you why.

She had three children ... three kids ...

So you are telling me that this post-partum thing was a buildup from having three young children to care for?

I want to tell you something that I only found out about a few years back.

When my mother gave birth to me, she experienced what we now know is some level of post-partum depression.

She gave birth to me, and she really did not know how to take care of me.

She never harmed me, never did anything untoward to me.

Doctors didn't know that this type of malady exists, so I guess the doctors simply thought that she was a new mother, and that she would figure it out on her own.

My mother knew something wasn't right, and she did the right thing--

She called in my grandmother, her mother, who helped my mother through this thing, until my mother could stand on her own two feet and take care of me.

My mother did the right thing; Clancy obviously did not.

And all of the family members that attended this trial to support Clancy--

Where were they when she was going through all of this?

And again, this is not one kid, it was three kids.

Yes, Clancy is guilty of the top offense, and she should get the death penalty like Mangione, but neither will.

And again, Clancy has hordes of admirers, who look at her as a hero ...

And most of these, like with Mangione, are middle-aged women.

I always thought that women were the stronger and brighter of the two sexes, but I am beginning to have my doubts.

Many women born from the 1980s on are not the same women who were born earlier.

They are petulant, delusional, and I do think the reliance on the Internet has a lot to do with it.

And many of the men are no better.

So they can support Clancy, and Mangione all they like, but their blue hair and nose rings don't hide the fact that they are among the dumbest human beings on the face of the planet.

Making those that perpetrate these horrid crimes into heroes is just so abominable.

I don't know what these women get out of this, and a few commentators have postulated what these women need to get their feet planted on the ground again, so I won't get into that here.

And when we talk about Clancy and Mangione, and how cults have sprung up around them, don't get me started on another instance of perpetrators of horrid crimes being made into the victims--

Just look at what is happening in the Middle East, where Israel--and the U.S.--has become the villain and terrorists like Hamas/Palestinians and Hezbollah are looked upon as the victims, even though their crimes are horrid.

We live in such a strange world now, and level heads must prevail.

And that goes for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which I will talk about in tomorrow's Rant.

Yes, the world has lost its collective mind.

Rant #4,014: Wrong

As I spoke about in yesterday's Rant, I called the cemetery office about my mother's plot not being taken care of, and the woman I spoke to said this to me:

"A mistake may have been made," relating to my mom's gravesite being totally devoid of care and full of weeds.

She said that the greenery which had been earmarked for my mother's grave might have been, instead, placed on someone else's nearby grave by mistake.

She said they would send a caretaker out to see the state of the site.

Again, this is not the world I was born into.

This is a world of complete ineptitude, one where this type of behavior seems to be accepted.

And when my sister called the cemetery, she received a com0letely different story.

Again, this is partly my family's fault, as we hadn't visited the grave to pay our respects in some time.

Again, I can make the excuse that we have been busy with so many other things, which we have, but that is not a good excuse.

We dropped the ball as much as the cemetery dropped the ball.

The only thing that is different is that the cemetery told us two different stories, neither which made much sense.

Now, we have been told that the site will be cleaned up, and bushes put where the weeds are.

So I have to say, I learned another life lesson, and I learned it the hard way:

You can't trust anyone or anything--not even a cemetery--to do the right thing.

In this bizarro world that we live in today, you have to be on top of everything, or nothing will get done.

Even to keep a gravesite in presentable fashion.

I don't even know how I feel right now.

Sure, I am upset with myself for not visiting the site and not making sure that our original wishes for greenery there were carried out.

But I am also upset with the cemetery, which should have done whatever they could to to make sure that my mother's gravesite was not a site of weeds.

So there is fault on both sides, making me kind of dizzy from the whole thing ...

Maybe even a bit numb about this episode.

Again, my father's site is fine, with nice greenery standing proudly right in front of his gravestone.

My mother's site ...

The gravestone stands out proudly, looks brand new--

But the actual grave site is nothing but a gaggle of weeds.

That is not what we intended it to look like, and whatever mistake that was made must be rectified ASAP.

The Jewish High Holy Days, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur, begin later this week, ironically on September 11, the evening of the 25th anniversary of one of the worst days in our nation's history.

I am not likening what happened that day to what happened to my mother's gravesite, but it all seems to be rolled into one, in sort of a strange way.

I believe that my mother deserves way better than this, and yes, I do blame myself for not going to the grave and seeing what was there, and not there, sooner.

My fault. My fault entirely.

I hope my mother, in heaven, forgives me for this obvious oversight--

And I hope that in the coming days, her gravesite will be something that looks presentable, is full of greenery, and something that she deserves for a long life well spent caring for her children and grandchildren.

She simply does not deserve this, and no matter whose fault it is--individually and/or collectively--my mother deserves much, much better.

Period.

Rant #4,013: Don't You Care

Labor Day was a "labor," what can I tell you.

Things are supposed to slow down that day, but for me, they revved up.

I decided to visit the cemetery where my parents are buried.

I, personally, had not been there in quite a while, but I decided to go on Labor Day because my father died on Labor Day, the same exact September 7 in 2020, when he passed, that Labor Day was on this year.

So I figured that I would visit both of their graves--they are not buried together, as this is an Orthodox Jewish cemetery, and men and women are buried separately--one, and then the other, just a few steps away from each other.

Admittedly, although I had a map of the place, it was still difficult for me to find the graves, but through trial and error, I finally found them, to my relief.

I found my father's grave first, and I have to tell you, it looked pretty spiffy.

It was taken care of with perpetual care, and everything was neat and tidy.

I said what I had to say, put a rock on top of the gravestone to signify that I had visited, and moved on to my mom's grave.

During her burial service, I am about 99.9 percent sure that we asked the cemetery for perpetual care for her site, but since we never received a bill from them for this service, I had a sneaking suspicion that our wishes were never applied--

And to my dismay, they weren't.

The site was full of weeds, and while the stone was immaculate--she passed away on Sept. 5, 2023, so it is only a few years back--the plot where it sits was awful.

I said what I had to say, put a stone on top of the gravestone to signify that I was there, and I left, to go to the cemetery office--

Which I found out was closed, at least when I was there, as again, it was Labor Day, a national holiday.

So I vowed to call them today--which I will do when the office opens at 9 a.m.--and get this thing figured out.

Look, when we buried my mother, the day was obviously an emotional one, and the unveiling of the stone some time later was also very emotional.

Perhaps things didn't get done that should have been done, but I am pretty sure that we did ask for perpetual care for my mom's site.

I believe my mother, when she still was cognizant before her mind went, might have paid for "forever" perpetual care for my father's grave, as we have never received a bill for that either, and his site looked very well kept.

But for my mother ...

I even remember talking to my brother in law about this, and we said we would alternate the payments, he paying one bill, me paying the next bill, and on and on into perpetuity.

But we never received a bill, so we were each at fault for not following up on this until now.

I could make every excuse in the world, but I won't--

We dropped the ball on this, and the results were disturbing.

There is no moral to this story ...

Just that when a loved one like a parent passes, the survivors have to keep up on things like this, and quite frankly, we simply didn't.

But at least now, we will start to take care of it, giving my mother the proper burial site that she deserves.

As the song goes, "Sorry seems to be the hardest word," but all I can say to my mom and dad after visiting them yesterday is--

"SORRY."

Rant #4,012: Reflections

Labor Day is coming up on Monday, and as I explained yesterday, I have a lot of mixed feelings about the holiday--

Nothing to do with the holiday itself, but with the fact that my father died on the holiday a few years back--yes, on September 7, 2020--and my mother passed away a few years later around the same time. 

Much less in my mind in 2026 is that for many years when I was working full-time, I worked on Labor Day, and honestly, it was just so unnecessary.

Those feelings have dissipated over time, as I am almost at the seven-year mark for when I lost my job on October 10 when the company I worked for went out of business right before the pandemic.

Things have been very difficult for myself and my family since then, and it isn't getting better anytime soon, but that really has nothing to do with Labor Day.

Compound all of this with the Jewish High Holy Days, which are right around the bend.

Ironically, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 11, and this year, that day takes on added significance, as it is the 25th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

So, at least for me, this is a pretty somber period, and again, it has absolutely nothing to do with Labor Day per se.

Labor Day honors the American labor movement and is a federal holiday in the United States.

It is really a joyous occasion, and since it is a federal holiday, most people, ironically, have the day off from their normal work labors.

People go to ballgames, have fireworks, there are barbecues and family get togethers.

And Labor Day is also the unofficial end of summer, although it actually ends about two weeks later.

For me, I will hand in some work that day, although the federal government--and the association I work for--will be closed to honor the holiday.

I will probably write up and edit some work for them, so I have it handy when everything gets back to normal the next day.

There won't be any family gatherings or anything like that, at least with my family.

Both my son and wife have to work that day, so if I have a barbecue, it will be mainly for myself, although I could heat up some things for them as they arrive home from work.

But otherwise, it will be just another day for me, really nothing more or less than that.

However, I am going to take the day off from writing here at the Blog, so it feels like the holiday it really is.

But more importantly, it will give me time to think about my parents, and think about my future good health.

I will rev it up again on Tuesday.

So enjoy yourself on the holiday, have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Tuesday.

Rant #4,011: All Those Years Ago

As you are reading this, I am getting my latest medical test done--

And I hope that it puts me in the clear, at least in that part of my body.

I really and truly wish that I didn't have to go through all of this stuff, but that is not my reality at this point in my life.

How about in the past?

Let's do something I haven't done in quite a while, which is to look back at what I wrote about on this date years ago.

I certainly could not possibly foresee the sorry state that I am in now, but it might give some insight into what I was into some years down the line.

And with so many significant dates coming up--Labor Day, the Jewish High Holidays and the anniversary of the passing of both of my parents--it might be nice to look back on what was on my mind on September 3 during the past several years.

Let's go--

Phil Spector's Pleasant Valley Jail Day (Rant #80, September 3, 2009): Phil Spector, the prolific music producer and music legend, had fallen on very hard times at this point, incarcerated in jail for murder. The guy simply had lost it, but the crux of this entry was the name of the facility that he was living out his life in: Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California. And since the name reminded me of the Monkees' hit "Pleasant Valley Sunday," I took that and ran with it, with new lyrics to that song related to where Spector's digs were. Heck, you have to have fun with such things, because they are so absurd.

Country Rock Legend Passes Away (Rant #1,505, September 3, 2015): I bemoaned the loss of someone who was not in the same pantheon as Dolly Parton, but still had his little iota of importance in the world of country music: Boomer Castlemen first came to some notoriety as a member of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, an act which shared the same Colgems label as the Monkees did, and featured Michael Martin Murphy as a band member. They had a few charted singles, never hit it that big as sort of a country/rock version of the Monkees, and Castleman's fame was that he was the inventor of the "palm pedal," a device allowing guitar players to execute pedal-style string bends, which became integral to the sound of country music.

Work Work Work Work (Idle Hands Are the Devil's Playground) (Rant #2,215, September 3, 2018): It was Labor Day on September 3 of that year, and I lamented the fact that I was laboring on that day, not having the day off from work like most people did. I acknowledged that the company I worked for was going down the tubes--it did a little more than a year later--but even though we were going into the abyss, I still had to labor on Labor Day, Well, it ended up being just one more Labor Day of work, and then, that was that.

Simply the Best (Rant #2,485, September 3, 2020): Again, I looked at the career of another legend who had just passed away. I was never a Mets fan, but even as a dyed-in-the-wool Yankees fan, I had to hand it to Tom Seaver, probably one of the greatest pitchers of all time and certainly one of the best I had ever seen; I think Bob Gibson was probably a slight notch better, but Seaver was certainly a strong 1A on my list. Rubbing salt on the wound, he won his 300th game as a member of the White Sox on Phil Rizzuto Day at the old Yankee Stadium, but whatever the case, "Tom Terrific" was just that.

A Time of Remembrance (Rant #2,726, September 3, 2021): I was lamenting the upcoming Labor Day of that year, not so much for what Labor Day means, but for the new significance it had taken on for myself and my family. My father passed away on Labor Day 2020, which was on September 7, so I link the holiday with his death; but since Labor Day takes place on a different date each year, it kind of makes the holiday an odd one for myself and my family, because while he died on Labor Day, that day is not the same each year.

"Julia" (Rant #3,775, September 3, 2025: In this Rant, I wrote about actor Mark Copage, who you might remember was one of the stars of the groundbreaking program "Julia," which starred Diahann Carroll, one of the first TV programs with a black female lead. Copage played her son, but when the show ended after a few seasons, Copage kind of fell into obscurity. the reason I wrote about him was that I found one of the couple of records he had made, a bubblegummy 45 "Will It Be Me," and I found it with a picture sleeve. When I found it, I decided to dig into his life and career, and that was the direction of the Rant.

So there you have it.

Fun, sadness, reverence ... September 3 encompassed all of those categories here over the years.

I can say it was fun to look back, but it actually forced me to take a step back ...

And really look into what I wrote about all those years ago.

Sort of like a scrapbook of my thinking during different periods of my life.

I am happy that I have the resource to do that, and the Blog stands as my testament to my life and/or where I was at a particular time in my existence.

All those years ago ... .

Rant #4,010: When I Was Young

Yes, I did go to the skin doctor to get rid of that pre-cancer on my head.

Supposedly, I don't have to worry about it anymore.

But I did ask the doctor why I keep getting these things, and he told me the same thing I already knew.

It might have come from the sun against my scalp from 50 years ago or even more than that, or it could be hereditary.

It could also be because of age, and that is what we are leaning to.

I was never a sun worshiper, and if you knew me way back when in Rochdale Village, you know that I always had a baseball cap on my head, and that baseball cap stayed on my head when we moved to Long Island.

Did I go to the beach and/or to the swimming pool during those years?

Sure I did!

We went all the time, especially when I was in Rochdale Village Day Camp, but I always wore a cap on my head ...

But you never know.

Maybe one day I didn't, and more than 50 years later, these lesions are the result.

When you get older, things get you that you would have never dreamed of when you were younger, and I think that is what is happening to my body now.

All of these things that my body was able to fight off when I was younger are coming out now, and again, you never know what is going on in your body, even when you feel fine, like I do.

Tomorrow, I have to go for an ultrasound test to see if I have any further kidney stones to take care of, and I sure hope that I don't.

I have to drink 24 ounces of water about two hours before I get the test--I am getting the test at 7:30 a.m., so I have to do this at 5 a.m. or thereabouts--and I cannot pee during the period when I do the drinking and I have the test.

That should be so much fun!

I also have to get allergy shots that day, and at least with those, I have known I have bad allergies my entire life, so there are really no surprises with that type of health care ...

Or at least I don't think there are, but again, who really knows?

At this point, I am prepared for just about anything ...

Just about.

And again, I don't want any surprises.

Surprises are supposed to be fun, but as I get older, my surprises are just the opposite.

And all of these things are hitting me all at once, which makes the whole thing even worse.

Those carefree days of youth are definitely done.

But why do my later years have to be so difficult?

Rant #4,009: The Time It Is Today

Look, in the grand scheme of things, what I am going to relate to you is pretty inconsequential, but even with all the other major problems I have that I have described to you over the previous weeks and months, what I am going to tell you now is annoying at least, and frustrating beyond all understanding.

As you know, my son is into professional wrestling. It is his thing--we all have our own things--and he just loves to watch these shows on TV and in person.

AEW is the new kid on the block in pro wrestling, but they have made great leaps and bounds during their few years of existence. They are not WWE, but they are as close as you probably can get.

Anyway, as we customarily do, when a new pay-per-view (PPV) event comes up, my son and I order the event through our television.

It usually takes less than a minute to do, and when it is done, we get ourselves ready to watch that show.

No muss, no fuss.

Two weeks ago, AEW All In from England was the next PPV event on the list, so as we always do, we went into the PPV section of our service and tried to order it.

For the very first time, we had a problem.

Each time we tried to order it--for $49.99, for a six or seven hour show--we came up with a screen saying that there "was not enough credit" on our account to make the purchase.

First of all, I had no idea what they were referring to by "credit," and secondly, there should not have been a problem with "credit" or anything else, because we pay our monthly bill the day that we receive it, and have been doing that with our service since day one during the past 19 years we have used this particular service as our TV/phone/Internet provider.

The service is Verizon.

So after repeated tries to purchase the PPV, I called Verizon's customer service, which at one time was excellent, but now has fallen into the garbage pail of customer service, as I have had a lot of problems with them since moving to our current digs.

Anyway, I was passed back and forth from one department to another, and was told that they would have to call me back during business hours, because this was a billing department malfunction.

So last Monday, they did call me back, and the operator told me that not only would the problem be fixed, but that he was manually going to add the PPV into our account, so we wouldn't have to try to order it again.

Everything was supposedly hunky dory.

On Sunday morning, my son and I turned on the living room TV and were preparing to watch the show.

Just so you know, AEW's "All In" is what "Wrestlemania" is to WWE. It is AEW's biggest show of the year, an international event that takes place at England's famed Wembley Stadium.

So we maneuvered to the channel it was supposed to be on, and lo and behold, it wasn't on.

I tried to order it again, but the same thing came up, about our credit.

I called Verizon again, and I might as well have been speaking to Moe, Larry and Curly when trying to get this thing fixed, as once again, those I spoke to--including a supervisor--had absolutely no clue what the problem was, and once again, they told me that I would have to wait until the next business day to get this thing resolved.

So with it not being resolved, we could not watch the PPV through Verizon.

On Monday morning, for some reason, I slept through until 8 a.m., when I was awakened by a call from Verizon's customer service.

Trying to address this problem, I was put on hold several times while the operator tried to process my request, but then she told me that the office she was trying to contact was not open yet, and that she would have to call me back--

Which elevated my blood pressure even further, as I was on the phone for about 20 minutes to hear that once, again, my request had been passed onto another department.

I do not appreciate lip service, and I let them know very clearly that I was perturbed, and that their customer service was terrible.

They told me that they would call me back at 9 a.m.--

Which they did, but at 9:05 a.m., and for the next hour, I was on the phone, trying to get this thing resolved.

I was passed on to another operator, who had absolutely no idea what she was doing, once again trying to contact yet another department without resolving the problem, and then she told me that a work ticket was going to be put out, and this would be dealt with in a few days--

When I heard this, my boiling point had reached its limit, and I asked to speak to a supervisor.

I finally spoke to the supervisor, who basically reiterated what the operator said, and I told her that that was not good enough.

I wanted action now, right now, but she explained to me that it would take longer to fix the problem, and I had no choice but to wait a few days for the problem to be resolved.

I again told her that that was not good enough.

She explained to me that the "credit" situation has to do with clients generally with younger children who don't want their kids constantly ordering PPV events without their knowledge, so they put a credit cap on their system so the kids cannot order anything without the parents knowing about it until they get their bill.

However, they admitted that I had no such credit cap on my account, and that the credit cap can be as high as $1,000, so even with a $49.99 PPV, it should not have impacted my ability to get the PPV--

So once again, they had absolutely no idea why I was getting this message about "credit," and that I would have to wait a few days for it to get fixed.

As you can imagine, my blood was boiling at this point.

I told the supervisor that I have been a Verizon customer for 19 years, and that unless this thing was resolved, I would not make 20 years with them, as I will find another provider for these services.

"I have been working here longer than you have been with us," was her very cavalier reply.

She told me that I would have to wait, but that she would call me back on Monday to tell me how they were progressing with the problem.

Since she copped an attitude with me, I told her that if this thing was not resolved, I would go to the next level, with her the target, which I don't think I have to spell out to you--

She said she understood, and that I would get a call from her later that day.

And that was that.

After spending about 90 minutes of my two hours up after sleep on the phone with Verizon, nothing--

And I mean nothing--

Had been resolved.

What a complete and total waste of time.

It made the very busy week that I described to you yesterday even more frustrating.

I do not like being lip-serviced to death, and that is what has been happening to me for the past two weeks about this problem.

I have been around the block ...

I know incompetency when I see it.

And here it is on grand display.

Then late in the afternoon, I got the first of two calls from Verizon, one trying to assure me that they situation had been resolved--

But not being able to see it put into action, and I had/have my doubts.

The person on the phone told me to order any PPV event, and when it went through, he would immediately wipe it out.

The problem was that there were no PPV events to order, so that was for naught.

I told him that I will click on a sporting event, and see if it worked, and after clicking on it, it took me right to the channel, so I did not have to go through any payment levels, which makes me even more suspicious about whether this thing was fixed or not.

The person told me he would wipe out that event and the AEW event on the bill--I had been told previously that the AEW event has already been removed--and that was that with him.

I received another phone call an hour later, and to make a long story short, I reiterated the entire thing to this woman on the other end, and she said that she would actually call me on September 23, or right before the next AEW PPV event, to make sure everything was copacetic.

And then I got a message from my dermatologist for today's procedure I have to have done early this morning, and I don't want to get into that, because their artificial Intelligence-generated phone system is equally as incompetent as Verizon's customer service system is ...

And yes, never getting the information I needed from them because there was a glitch in their system, I let them have it too ...

In my usual polite, but very ticked-off, manner.

And yes, I spoke to the business manager in the office, and she agreed with everything I said about their phone system.

Big deal

And here I sit, with nothing to show for my efforts.

What a waste of time.

If I have said it once, I will say it a thousand times--

This is NOT the world I was born into.

No way, no how.