Classic Rant #218 (March 24, 2010): Baseball Tickets Strike Out (Part 3)

Not to bore you with this continuing saga (even though I probably am), but here goes anyway ...

I did not receive a confirmation of my five ticket purchase, so I called the ticket broker once again.

I called them right when they began their day of business, so I waited just a few minutes to reach someone.

I explained the situation, and the person on the other end of the phone was cordial and pleasant.

He told me that my order was being processed, and that he would send me an email confirmation, which I received about a half hour after speaking with him.

So I guess this story is over ... but I haven't received the tickets yet, and won't get them until, I was told, mid April.

Until I have those tickets in my hand--and really, until I go to Yankee Stadium and pass through the turnstiles with my family--this story will not be over for me.

I don't trust these brokers, I don't trust those who sell their tickets through these brokers, and I don't trust the process that puts an honest, hard-working person who wants to take his family out to a ball game into such a mess.

There has to be a better way.

I can think of just one way to obliterate this situation.

And that is to stay home.

Rant #1,565: The Root of the Problem

On Tuesday afternoon, as I was eating lunch, a felt a sharp pain in one of my upper teeth, and the discomfort, although not as bad, continued throughout the day and into the evening.

The next day, I made an emergency appointment with my regular dentist, and thus began the saga of, at least for me, the mother of all root canals.

I went to the dentist, and after trying for at least a half hour--in which time my mouth was prodded and pulled as it had never been before--he told me that he could not find the "proper" canal for my discomfort and for him to work on.

He handed me a card for an oral surgeon, told me to call that dentist, and that was that.

I made an appointment for first thing yesterday--8 a.m.--and went there with my father, just in case.

It was a good thing he came along for the ride.

I made out the necessary paperwork, and finally, I was called into the room to have my problem looked at.

I had X-rays, the dentist looked at them, decided that yes, he could do a root canal on the tooth, and away we went.

I have had root canals before. Prior to yesterday, I had had, I believe, three of them, the first when I was a teenager by my dentist in Brooklyn, so I was a couple of years older than I was in the accompanying photo when I had my first root canal.

I am certain it was a joy to behold..

But I have never had a root canal like this one that I had yesterday.

If I twisted and turned and contorted like never before with my own dentist just a day before, well, yesterday, I even twisted, turned and contorted in more positions that I knew I could possible turn into.

The problem was, as the dentist told me, that I have long roots on my tooth--I think I mentioned sometime to you that I have "black man" roots in my tooth, where the roots are longer than are generally found in white people, leading me to believe that there was some co-mingling generations ago in my family--and there was a long-ago filing deep in this tooth, probably dating from my early teen years.

The filling was thus probably about 45 years old, and was stuck in the tooth. It prevented my regular dentist from finding where my problem was, and it impeded this dentist, too, from getting to the "root" of the problem. More about that later.

Anyway, after about 45 minutes, he evidently did get to the problem, I had my root canal done, but he told me the following:

"Because of the severity and deepness of the root canal, a part of one of our instruments actually broke within the tooth. It won't greatly impact the root canal or the tooth, and it will actually act as a post once the crown gets put on your tooth."

So, I now have a piece of dental tool stuck in my tooth. I almost feel as good as when I was told during gall bladder surgery that I have a number tattooed somewhere inside me to alert future doctors as to what I had done to me.

Anyway, a temporary crown was not--repeat, was not--put on the tooth. So right now, it is exposed, I cannot eat on that side, and I have to wait until Tuesday afternoon to get a new crown put on the tooth, or at least a temporary one.

The anesthesia that I was given yesterday was unlike anything I had ever had, three pin pricks in my mouth that not only numbed the gums and my teeth, but also did a total number on me.

I knew that this was intense, but when my eyes started to tingle as he applied the needle to the upper middle region of my mouth, I knew I was a goner.

Somehow, my father and I got home, and all I wanted to do was to go to sleep. I felt horrible--the worst I felt in years, just like I was sick and had the flu or something akin to it--and I was as woozy as can be. The side that had been worked on also hurt like hell, which the dentist told me it would.

I somehow called work, told them I would not be in, and proceeded to march to my bed, sleeping for three hours.

I felt much better when I got up, finally ate something, and really felt like myself the rest of the day, especially after taking Advil.

Now, this morning, I woke up, feeling more like myself, but my mouth hurts like hell. After typing this out, I will take some more Advil.

So, this, to me at least, was the mother of all root canals. Having had three previous ones, I had never experienced much in the way that I just described to you with them, but those long roots of mine finally did me in.

Let's hope that by Tuesday, I will feel better when the crown is put in.

That will be the best Hanukkah gift I could get at this point in time.

And yes, Hanukkah begins at sunset on Sunday, so if you follow the holiday, have a great one.

Mine will be just that, tempered by the fact that my bite isn't what it normally is, and I mean that literally.

Speak to you not on Monday, but on Tuesday.

Believe it or not, I have to go to another doctor for a minor procedure on Monday morning. Nothing with nothing, but I want to rest up for it, so I will speak to you next on the morning of my crowning.

Hopefully, that crown will make me a king that day.

Wish the best for me. Speak to you then.

Classic Rant #217 (March 23, 2010): Baseball Tickets Strike Out (Part 2)

Just when I thought things were getting back to some type of normalcy ...

I received an email from the ticket broker saying that the ticket holder--whom I supposedly got tickets from for the Yankees game through a broker--had rejected my offer! I have never heard of this before, but I guess the person got a better offer somewhere else (I guess, I can't think of any other reason).

Anyway, I was told that I had to call the ticket broker back "because they had a comparable deal for me." It even gave me a name to contact, with an extension.

Well, I contacted the broker and the extension, and the person was unavailable.

Not knowing what to do, I contacted the broker again, and actually got someone on the line.

After a few minutes, the whole thing was taken care of, and I got tickets--and five of them, not four as the other person told me about "multiples of two."

But wait a minute, is it really over? I checked my email today, and there is no confirmation of this latest transaction!

I am really upset about this. I don't know who is at fault here--the Yankees, for having their Web site become unmanageable when they released single game tickets; or the broker, who I am starting not to trust, although I have used them before without problems.

Right now, I am in kind of a holding pattern. I simply do not know what to do.

I guess I will call the broker again and demand a confirmation, or I will stop payment.

What else can I do? All I want to do is to take my family to a Yankees game.

It shouldn't be this way, should it?

Rant #1,564: Repeat ... Repeat ... Repeat

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is in our rear view mirror, the major end-of-the-year holidays are coming upon us.

Christmas, as it always is, is on December 25, and Hanukkah this year begins after sundown on December 6, this coming Sunday night.

Every year I post the following message--or a variant of it--on Facebook, but this year, it seems that this message is needed more than ever.

Some people think there is a definite, overt attack on the Christmas holiday, what you should do to celebrate the day and what you should say to people during this time of the year.

Personally, I think that there is actually a veiled attack on Hanukkah going on in this world today, but really, it is way more than that: it is an attack on Jews across the world for what they stand for and what they believe in.

And if you read Facebook, it is really the Wild West there, and I read posts that are really, really disturbing, blatantly anti-Semitic in nature, and those that are much less threatening, those that simply portray any non-Christian holiday--Hanukkah in particular--as being unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

So I decided to post this message on Facebook once again, and I am going to post it here, too. It is only controversial because many of us--Jew and non-Jew alike--refuse to acknowledge that what I am saying is true, in particular, in this PC World where everything is beautiful in its own way, as the song goes, just as long as you go along with the majority.

Here goes:

"OK, here goes my yearly diatribe about the holidays.
Believe me, I am unhappy that I have to repeat this year after year, but I feel that I must.
Christmas is a beautiful holiday, with all its pageantry and lights.
And food.
Hanukkah is a beautiful holiday, again with all of its pageantry and lights.
And food.
Other than that, the two holidays share nothing, except for the approximate time period they are celebrated, at the end of the calendar year.
I am Jewish.
I have a menorah in my window.
I do not have a Hanukkah bush in my house--there is no such thing.
I do not celebrate Christmaskus, or whatever some people refer to the inappropriate blending of the two separate holidays.
If you know me well, do not send myself and my family Christmas or Season's Greetings cards.
Send us Hanukkah cards or send us nothing at all.
It takes no energy to move down the aisle and find a Hanukkah card for us.
I would never send a Hanukkah card to those I know who celebrate Christmas.
If you don't know me well, it is highly appropriate to wish myself and my family "Merry Christmas."
If you do know me well, it is highly inappropriate to wish myself and my family "Merry Christmas." It takes no extra energy to say "Happy Hanukkah."
And do not knock me for saying "Happy Holiday" to people I don't know well and "Merry Christmas" to those I do know well, and know celebrate Christmas.
'Nuf said. Have a great holiday, but do not confuse the two holidays. Please."

And that is just the way I feel. Sorry if it offends you, but it is heartfelt, and I mean no offense to anybody, even though I take offense at some of the behavior of people during this time of year.

As you might imagine, this message has gotten little response. One person actually gave it a like, which I appreciate, but I didn't even expect that.

Here is some of what I said about the message in total, summarized:

"I think that occasionally, people have to be reminded of this. Christmas is all consuming, and with people claiming that the holiday is being attacked by certain events, I think some of these people have to be reminded that we all don't celebrate their holiday. I enjoy Christmastime, but to me, it is simply a day off, nothing else.

"Further, I did not think too many people would comment on and/or like this post. We are in such a PC world, that anything that breaks from the norm seems to rile people. They agree with the thought behind such a post, but refuse to back it ... ."

And please, don't tell me about Hanukkah being a minor holiday. I know all about that, but here in America, it is a major holiday, so it must be treated as such, and respected by all, just like non-Jews fully and completely respect Christmas.

Anyway, if you disagree with what I have to say, please, read the message again. Put yourself in my shoes, and perhaps you will get it.

I just wish some of my brethren would wake up and smell the roses.

It ain't that pretty during this time of year, and if Facebook is a gauge--and I do believe it is in our society today--it isn't just not pretty, it is pretty ugly, to tell you the truth.

P.S.:In late morning, something came up that I will have to attend to tomorrow, so I won't be writing anything on Thursday. I hopefully will be back on Friday. Speak to you then.

Classic Rant #216 (March 22, 2010): Baseball Tickets Strike Out

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you know that I am a huge Yankees fan. I have been with them through thick and thin, and this past season was one of the most memorable I can remember, as they won the World Series for the first time since 2000.

The new Yankee Stadium, while a beautiful park, is really just a facsimile of the original park. It has all the bells and whistles, but it just doesn't measure up to the old Stadium. And since it is nearly a twin to the grand old park, why did they tear the other one down, anyway?

To cut to the chase, my family and I went to one game last year, and we could barely afford that one. Not only are ticket prices ridiculous, but travel, parking and food can add up to a very, very expensive day ... and it did for us.

We sat in the nosebleed seats because, for starters, I couldn't afford anything else, and second, even if I could, the seats were pretty much bought up already.

After a championship season, I would expect tickets would be hard to come by, but I had no idea that they would be as hard to come by as I experienced them to be on Friday.

Finally, after a long wait, the Yankees put single-game tickets on sale this past Friday. I diligently waited for the day, and when it came, I--and probably thousands of other people--pounced on the team's Web site, hoping to grab something before it was all gone.

Well, I waited an hour, and still, I had nothing.

Again, I was going for the cheaper seats, because that is still all I can afford. I simply can't afford $100-plus a seat for a family of four, nor could I justify it even if I could.

Well, folks, those seats, at least through the Yankees, are gone. They were taken early by either season ticket holders or other lucky people, so I was shut out totally.

I was so desperate that I went to a "secondary site"--a legal scalper--and I got four tickets there ... or at least I think I did.

I actually wanted five tickets, for my family and my son's friend, whose mom has taken my son to Broadway shows and things like that. I really wanted to take this kid to a game. He is really nice, and my son loves him like a brother.

Anyway, I ordered five tickets for a particular game, and when the total came back to me, I saw that only two tickets were purchased, even though I ordered five.

I contacted the ticket broker, and finally, after a long wait, I hooked up with an operator. The operator told me that they only sell tickets in even numbers; in other words, I could not purchase five, I had to either purchase four or six. I begrudgingly said four, and he said he would change my order.

However, my email confirmation came back as two tickets.

So, after hours of trying, I may have only two tickets for a Yankees game.

Just in comparison, my family and I vacation in Orlando where we have a time share. This year, like last, we will be going to a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game--against the Yankees. When their tickets went on sale about a month ago, it took me about two minutes to choose my tickets and proceed to checkout. No hassle, no bother, no nothing.

And I paid less for those seats than the seats at Yankee Stadium, and we are sitting in the middle section, not the nosebleed section.

There has to be a better way to purchase tickets. I have to chide the Yankees for making it so expensive, as well as so impossible, for an average guy to take his family out to a baseball game.

It really stinks.

Rant #1,563: The First Annual 45 RPM Record Day

Surprise!

As I told you yesterday, I wasn't supposed to be here today. I had some personal business that had to be attended to, and I was taking the day off from work and from this column.

But lo and behold, my wife's "good" fortune saved me.

Her work gave her off today--she does have to work Saturday, I am sorry to say--so she can do what I had planned to do, so I can go to work today, and write up another Rant for you to ponder.

Since I learned about this late yesterday, and had nothing really planned for today--that often happens, by the way, that I come in here with nothing really planned, then I crank out a pretty good column--today, I have declared December 1, 2015 as the First Annual 45 RPM Record Day.

There is no reason that I have declared it as I have, other than the fact that I really have nothing in mind to write today, I have lots of 45s that I have scanned recently from my collection, and I would like to share some of them with you.

Personally, I have always been fascinated by those little 7-inch wonders, many of which really aren't singles, per se, as they do contain at least two songs, sometimes three, and sometimes even four songs, making those records extended play disks.

But even in this CD/digital age, the fun, wonder and amazement of these 45s can never be duplicated. They are not being re-released as many LPs have been, and even if the single versions of these tunes are released, they simply aren't the same as the original record, as the probably have been remastered.

And the original record had art of its own, sometimes exactly the same as the LP it might have been put out to boost, but oftentimes much, much different. So as an art form, it is an entity unto its own.

These singles are still being produced to this day in the U.S., but usually to commemorate something, like this past Friday's Black Friday Record Day or Record Store Day in April.

Anyway, sprinkled through this Rant are a number of my latest finds, and I have to say, I still love these records.

So see what I have posted, enjoy the memories of the tunes that they are highlighting, and you see, I have made something of a day that was going to be a non-appearance day here.

The First Annual 45 RPM Record Day--get out your own 45s and listen to them, and go back to another time and place ... .

Classic Rant #215 (March 19, 2010): Shootout At the Less Than OK Corral

What can you say about the Sandra Bullock case?

This perky, effervescent actress, the recent winner of the Academy Award for her performance in "The Blind Side," recently found out that her husband, reality TV star Jesse James, had been fooling around with a tattoo model/stripper while she was filming this movie.

She has moved out of their house, and although James is apologetic, their marriage seems headed for the rocks.

Well, this appears to be one of those cases where you can take the white trash away from the boy, but you can't take the boy away from the white trash.

Why James was even attracted to this piece of garbage, who appears to have every spot of her anatomy covered in tattoos, is a mystery. Perhaps his wife didn't have the requisite number of tattoos the overly tattooed himself James has. He goes for women like this; his second wife, Janine, is a hugely popular porn star with huge breasts and equally huge tattoos all over her body.

Anyway, this seems an inopportune time for Bullock to have to deal with this mess.

After years of not being taken too seriously as an actress, the ever popular actress finally hit her stride with this movie. Now, her memories of this film will also include the "when the cat is away, the mice will play" scenario, which might ruin the experience, taking her off the high she was probably on when she filmed the movie and months later, was presented with this award.

Let's face it; Jesse James, like Tiger Woods, Steve Phillips, David Letterman and the like, is a piece of trash who can't keep his pants on. Why he chose this piece of garbage over Bullock is beyond my comprehension, but he made that choice.

It's not the first time a husband has strayed, and it certainly won't be the last.

But when it happens to an All-American girl who is firmly in the spotlight right now, I think it hurts her, of course, but I think it also hurts the general public, too.

If this cad cheated on her, our vision of the All-American family, with the mom, dad, kids and white picket fence, is shattered, and shattered for good.

And that is really the tragedy of this whole thing.