Rant #3,369: Roll With the Flow

Yesterday was a pretty good day.

I did not get thrashed, as I thought I would, when i went to get my car inspection yesterday.

One thing needed to be fixed--my windshield wiper blades needed to be changed--but other than that, the car passed the yearly inspection without any problem--

And my wallet is intact, which makes it all that much better.

Afterward, I had a better physical therapy session than I had experienced the last few times, as I was able to pedal at 17/18, but with a little pain.

I could not get back to that level the past few times that I tried, because my leg just was hurting a bit too much.

Yesterday, with the urging of my wife and the physical therapist, I started out at a higher level and as I got my confidence, I was able to get it down to 17/18 again, which I had not been able to do for a few sessions.

I had some pain, but it was manageable.

So I was happy for myself, and maybe next time, I can get it to even a lower level.

Otherwise, kudos go to the Israeli Defense Forces, who proved once again that Hamas is doing its business in residential, school and hospital areas.

The IDF rescued four Hamas prisoners after about eight months of captivity.

They did it during the day, and proved once again that Hamas does not operate on the same plane as groups who truly care about its people.

Now we know for sure that Hamas uses the Palestinian people as human shields, breaking every rule of international.law to reach its goal, of the annihilation Israel and all Jews worldwide, a goal that it will never reach.

They also refuse to sign a truce that Isrsel has pretty much signed off on, so the supposedly civilized world can turn away if they like, but Hamas has proven that it is a terrorist organization, and not the humanitarian group that much of the world believes that it is.

Yet Israel will continue to get the blame for everything happening in the Middle East now, but it is all too obvious why they are being treated this way.

The Hamas groupies can continue to idolize these thugs, but anyone with a brain realizes that Hamas is far from a group looking out for its constituents.

So congrats to the IDF for their actions in freeing some more hostages, and it is time for Hamas to be blamed for civilian casualties.

Today, I have a very tough day, as for work, I have to summarize an eight-hour meeting in about 2,000 words, which is not an easy thing to do.

But even though it is an all-day exercise, it is something that I have to do.

However, in the middle of everything, we are getting our air conditioners delivered and installed, so my work is certain to ne interrupted, so I am just forced to roll with the flow today, and like I told my work, "Do the best I can."

So the next time we will talk will be Thursday, as I will simply be too busy with writing up this meeting to put up a blog post on Wednesday.

I will skip tomorrow and speak to you again on Thursday.

Take care ...

Work, work, work, work--

It's the devil's playground--

But I have to work, work, work, work ... .

Rant #3,368: That's Life

I had a pretty quiet weekemd, as we did our normal stuff and one thing we don't do too often--

Which is to eat out.

We decided to eat out to celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary,.

We went to a great Italian restaurant near where we used to live, so rather than being five minutes away like it used to be, it is now maybe 10 minutes away, so we didn't have to go far to find a good restaurant to celebrate the occasion.

The place was packed even though it wasn't yet 5 p.m., and it was as noisy as it could be.

The food was excellent, but the next time we go, we will eat there during the week, when it is less busy--

And less noisy.

Again, we don't eat out much, as it is just so expensive.

Prices have even risen to ridiculous levels for fast food, so eating out isn't something we do too often.

Ironically, we are probably going to eat out next week for Father's Day, but then we probably won't do so for a couple of weeks, until we feel like doing so for a special occasion or holiday.

Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet weekend, but the week is going to be a busy one for me.

As you are reading this, I am having my car inspected, and the car will also get an oil change.

When they find things that need fixing--you just know they will--heaven knows what today is going to cost me.

I also have one of those interminable meetings to cover for work, and the fun begins tomorrow, so my week might be a bit tangled st best.

I will let you know how that all comes out.

So this weekend was a true calm before the storm, but that's life, there really is nothing you can do about it.

I am just happy that at this point, I can just get it all done and shrug it off, moving on to something else.

A few months ago, I had my doubts that I would ever reach that point again, but here I am--

I do believe that I am up to the challenge.

I will definitely speak to you tomorrow, but let's see how this meeting goes and whether I will be here again this week or not.

Hopefully, I might only miss a day at my usual perch, but we shall see what we shall see.

Rant #3,367: Frustrated

It looks like my Facebook mini-ban is over, as yesterday, I was able to put up whatever I wanted to, including a Rant about my 31st wedding anniversary.

I am just happy that it is over, and honestly, I don't know why it was put in force to begin with.

I am a little dismayed at physical therapy, because I seem to have hit a wall in my recovery.

I reached a certain point on the stationary bicycle, and not only can't I get past thst point, but it is so extremely uncomfortable when I have tried to pedal at that point that the physical therapist had to put me on a higher level so I can get some bike work in.

As you know, my doctor/surgeon warned me that the situation I was currently in might be "as good as it gets," and I did not believe him, but when I get on the bike, my frustration level rises when I do my pedaling, and I remember what he told me.

I am doing well with everything else in my exercise regimen, but the bike is a big one, and I just can't progress like I would like to ... at least right now.

I haven't given up, but I am a little frustrated.

I know I can do it ... but I just can't do it right now.

I can do more in the house, and I am very near the point where I am 100-percent back to normal in the apartment, although I am not quite there yet either.

Nearer rather than farther away ...

I just wish I was there already ... but then I have to force myself to remember that the timetable I was given was seven to 12 months in recuperation time, and I am right in the middle of that.

My wife is looking for a part-time job--no sales-- and at age 67, she is running into exactly the same thing that I did when I was looking for a full-time job after I lost my job nearly five years ago.

She gets some feelers, has had a few interviews, but so far, nothing.

Some of the jobs she has applied for probably don't exist, which I found out the hard way when I was looking myself.

Companies like to see the talent that is out there, so they advertise jobs thst don't really exist just to collect resumes and see what is available.

She also feels her age has been a big part of this.

Companies give lip service interviews to older workers, just so they can say that they do not discriminate and going by the rules as they interviewed an older person.

In my wife's case, they have no intention of hiring her, but this way they can say to whatever measuring organization that looks into who they are interviewing that they did interview an older worker.

Other times, the job has been misrepresented to her, and she knows she has wasted her time, while at the same time wondering why they interviewed her in the first place.

Let me tell you, from personal experience, ageism is the most difficult work problem to prove, and unless it is blatant, fuggedaboudit.

My wife does not give up, but she is also running into a brick wall in her pursuit.

Anyway, as far as my work, I do have a meeting to cover next week, but right now, I am unclear about what exactly I have to cover and for how long.

So I will speak to you again on Monday, but it might be a little patchy on what days I will be here and what days I will not be here.

So have a great weekend, and I will definitely speak to you again on Monday.

Rant #3,366: Happy Anniversary

Oy vey!

Yesterday, my Facebook ban allowed me to post on my sites but not in the overall site.

I cannot figure it out, but can anybody really figure out Facebook?

On to more important things ...

Today is a great day in my life, as it my 31st wedding anniversary.

The time has gone quickly, my wife and I have been through so much together, and we are finally settling down after more than six months of utter turmoil.

But through it all, my beautiful wife has been there--

Without her, I simply do not know where I would be.

Here is what I had to say about our wedding anniversary, in edited form, in Rant #2,157, June 6, 2018:

"Years may come, years may go ... I cannot believe where the time has gone.

I remember the day so well, it really was like yesterday.

It was a sunny day, but it was windy to what seemed like near hurricane proportions.

We had an outdoor ceremony, and everything was blowing about, but we made it through the whirlwind to the huppah, I stepped on the ceremonial glass, and we were husband and wife."

And I do mean it was windy ... I thought all the little kids there, including my daughter and my two nephews, were going to blow away, Flying Nun style, into the cosmos.

But the fierce wind did not blow us away, but my new bride did.

She was and still is beautiful, has a brain in her head ... and all these years later, we are as perfect a match as can be.

We don't agree on everything, we have our own personalities, but when it all comes down to it, we have a great marriage.

i married a Queens girl, which i think is definitely part of our success.

I was a Queens boy, but we are both so many years removed from our original roots that we both are firmly Long Islanders now.

We are parents to a great son, we both have strong family roots, and we are there when the other needs us--

Which was put to the ultimate test when i injured myself late last year.

We persevered, and made it through the worst of that storm.

We will go out to a local restaurant to celebrate the occasion this coming weekend.

I dearly love my wife, so I have said to her the following:

"Happy anniversary, and let's try for st least 31 more!"

In comparison, it makes all that Facebook stuff into the utter nonsense that it really is.

Rant #3,365: My Mistake

Well, I done did it again.

As many of you probably know by now, my G-rated post was banned by Facebook yesterday.

I guess I riled them by talking about what is happening in the Middle East, but a good portion of the Rant was about various problems my family and I are currently facing.

That gets banned and worse--and I do mean MUCH worse--gets by on Facebook?

The explanation is that the post went against the seemingly all-inclusive "community standards" reason, which is questionable, at best, when I see what posts slip by.

Completely ridiculous, but I have been down this road before.

You might remember that after my mother passed away last September, my posts were blocked, again because I went against "community standards" when I spoke about her.

And since I had the nerve to question it, I was banned entirely for about three months--

All over mention of my deceased mother.

(You might remember that they also banned me for supposedly putting up lewd photos on my sites, which, of course, I never did, and they actually rescinded that part of the ban when they found that they were wrong about this.)

So this time, I won't question Facebook's decision to not allow yesterday's post to go through, but I will monitor the situation again, and then see if I can do something about it.

I probably can't do much about it, so I am just going to have to take my poison--

And like it.

Hopefully, the ban lasts just one day, but I am going to tell you, it won't derail me from saying what I feel needs to be said.

Funny, I just told you that I put up a comment about inappropriate posts on certain sites, and right away, I was cited for a G-rated post thst fits the littany of topics that I regularly talk about.

And again, I go through Facebook and see what they consider to be OK, and I just don't get it.

I guess the target is on my back, but the arrow being shot at me is completely misdirected.

Rant #3,364: Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard?)

Physical therapy went fairly well yesterday.

"Why?"

My leg hurt a bit, but I did everything I was supposed to do, but I did it slowly.

I was told that I can wear shorts during the hot summer months, but if I am outside for a long period if time, I should prevent my left leg from getting sunburnt, because while the wound has healed, that six inch wound is still visibly there, so to get burnt wouldn't be too good.

I usually cover up if I am at a pool or outside for a long period of time, so that won't change.

Our air conditioning problem continues.

I think we have decided to throw caution to the wind, and buy two units, have them set up in our bedrooms, and find someone to remove them.in the fall--

And then find someone who can put the units back in the windows next summer.

"Why?"

It just gets so warm here, and a living room air conditioner simply doesn't make it comfortable in the warmer back rooms, which are our bedrooms.

I woke up pn Sunday nightat about 2:30 a.m. or so, and put on the living room air conditioner because I was overly warm and sweaty in the middle of the night.

Last night, I just put the living room air conditioner on at about 8 p.m., because the apartment was on fire.

Not a good situation at all.

The post I told you about yesterday was not taken down, and I am getting many more likes the longer thst it remains available.

"Why?"

It doesn't surprise me that so many people agree with me; and if you say what you have to say nicely ... I am learning that even if you disagree with me, you have to go with my opinion because I said what I had to say so nicely.

Now, let's look at the world we all live in, not just my own personal world.

I watched a bit of Sunday's Israel Day Parade on TV, and happily, it went on without a hitch.

But then I hear that Columbia University has once again been overrun with Hamas groupies, with even larger tents being erected on the campus than were put up a few weeks ago.

"Why?"

Because Columbia itself is allowing this to happen.

I never agree with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but what he said several weeks ago about these protests is something that the higher ups at Columbia obviously are ignoring.

What he said when pro-Hamas encampments were showing up at so many campuses was pretty much this:

"The way you stop the spread of these encampments is that when the first tent goes up, it is also the first tent to come down."

In other words, you don't let this fester right at the get go.

Columbia University simply doesn't get it at all, and at this point, the question is, 

"Why?"

Hamas rejected the latest peace proposal, and Israel doesn't fully buy into it, either.

"Why?"

I have heard a few versions of this story.

One, that Isrsel came up with the original proposal, but the Biden Administration took credit for it and amended it to a point thst Israel had severe doubts about it.

And Hamas simply doesn't want to sign amy peace proposal, period, because it goes against their reason for existence: the annihilation of the Jewish State. 

At any cost.

But the world still puts the whammy on Israel, blaming them for the failure of this proposal, which was anended to the point that it gives Israel absolutely no reason to buy into it.

if the supposedly civilized world would have galvanized behind Israel and helped them put the kibosh on Hamas after their brutal attack last October like they should have done, we would not be at this point now.

But they didn't do that.

"Why?"

It is pretty obvious, don't you think?

And as me move along to the mid-point of 2024, everything happening in this crazy, bizarro world we live in can be queried with the question "Why?"

And that fact should make all of us nervous.

"Why?"

This is not a funny "Who's On First" routine.

"Why?" 

I will let my educated readers figure that one out for themselves.

Rant #3,363: Too Much Talk

I am going to preface this post by stating that the Ranting and Raving Blog has spoken about a litany of topics during its 15 years of existence, and I never believe that any topic is completely out of bounds here.

That is here, where as moderator, I make the rules.

But for some reason, others believe thst they can take over various forums to espouse their own political beliefs, forums which really have absolutely nothing to do with politics.

I belong to one such forum, related to one of my passions, which is record collecting.

This Facebook site has delved into any and all topics related to the hobby, and I really enjoy reading--and posting myself--to like-minded people about a hobby we all cherish.

June has come, and to many, this is sort of a warm-weather Christmas, as it is Gay Pride Month, a month-long celebration of that lifestyle.

OK, that is all fine and good, but at this Facebook site, posts related to Pride Month have overrun the site, both positive and very negative.

Some people feel that the coming of Pride Month gives them license to overrun such a non-political site with things like Pride playlists and the like, and others have taken great offense to this overruning of a site with what amounts to posts with overly political, non-topic themes.

And yes, some of the posts are crude and lewd, and some are offensive.

But most of those against politicizing a non-political site asked the same question:

"I thought that this was a record collecting site?"

The moderator has had to weed out the good and the bad, and some of the respondents have taken others to task, on both sides of the coin, for the existence of this site and what its purpose is.

I don't feel such a site should be overrun by politics of any kind.

It is like I don't watch "Leave It To Beaver" for political themes, and I don't visit this particular site for political themes, either.

If you want politics, there are plenty of sites to visit and to post your views.

I certainly do it here, and I do it elsewhere, too ... but I do not post political views at a non-political site.

I responded to all the havoc at this site with the following post.

I have received several likes, and happily, the post has not been removed, although the moderator has closed down the thread to further posts as the Pride posts continue unabated.

I believe my post said everything fairly without ruffling anyone's feathers, because I believe it is a fair way to look at this situation ... and it goes for all non-political sites on Facebook or otherwise.

Here is what I said:

"Gay, heterosexual or otherwise, I don't really think this should be a forum to promote one's sexuality.

This is a record collectors' forum, and i am sure we have people with all different backgrounds who are members here, and politics really shouldn't be its focus.

This is not a forum run by me, so I don't make the rules, but I simply don't think that this page should necessarily be used by some to promote such a political Pandora's Box.

That is the nicest way I can say this. It was not meant to offend anyone, but I really do believe it gets this forum way off topic 

I run a couple of music-related groups myself, and the last thing that I want is for my groups to get political, because it gets the group way off topic, and most importantly, doesn't serve it's members well.

Just my opinion, and I did not want to offend anyone by posting my view.

This is not an anti-gay post; it is more a pro-all-record-collectors' post."

The topic just happened to be Pride Month, but what I said really does relate to the handling of any political topic on a non-political site.

What do you think?