Hello on Saturday Morning

Dear Friends,

Life is good!

We were so fortunate to escape with rain for two days instead of ice. Both Massachusetts, and the Albany, New York area were hit pretty hard. My friends who live in the hill Towns of Berkshire County had just as much destruction as the people who were in the news on the various television stations.

We were supposed to have our Make-A-Wish Children's Christmas Party (sponsored by UNICO) at the ITAM Lodge on Sunday at noon. The organizers scrambled to find a different venue since the ITAM lost its power during the storm, and it can't be worked on until Monday morning.
The organizers were lucky enough to change it to St. Mark's School Hall, but we will have to work through Meals on Wheels, a Rosary Sodality meeting, CCD classes, before we can set up.
The ITAM lodge is in Pittsfield, but a neighboring town, which is at a higher elevation, was hit by the ice storm, and it affected the power to the lodge.

On a happier note, our Friday went very well. The beef stew was outstanding! It was so good that I wish we could sell it commercially. Linda even whipped home some homemade biscuits. She is my spice girl!

Today should be a quiet day. I will be going to visit my parents in Lee. I am going to prepare lunch for them. I haven't decided what to cook yet. I am leaning toward cooking them steak with all the fixings since they enjoyed it so much the last time that I prepared such a meal.

We might night reach 20 degrees today in the Berkshires today. All the people, who hoped that their ice laden trees and power lines would lose their coating of ice, will have to wait until Sunday. The temperatures are supposed to reach the mid 30 degree range on that day.

Politics, etc. -- I am still waiting for the auto bailout. The Republicans really are intent of busting up the labor union, and they want the workers to take a pay cut. I hope the pay cut reaches the management level too.

How about the free agent baseball players signing multi million dollar contracts when we are talking about people losing their jobs as companies are going out of business?

We now have Manny Ramierz whining about no one wanting to sign him to a 6 year contract multi-million dollar contract at age 36, which is old in terms of playing baseball.
It is amazing that we pay these athletes so much money for their athletic ability, and nothing else. A good number of these athletes can just about read, write, and speak English. Us Americans sure do have our priorities all messed up.

Yes, I know that I contribute to this stupidity by having season tickets to the Patriots. I guess that I am a slow learner too.

Who is going to be able to afford to go to the new Yankee Stadium, and pay outrageous prices for food and beverages, and parking a car? Maybe people should start tailgating at baseball games, and eat their own food, and consume their own beverages before going inside the ball park. At Least us football fans deal with 8 regular season games, and not the 162 game schedule that baseball has.

How about athletes taking a pay cut? Auto workers produce a product! What product do athletes produce?
How about actors taking a pay cut?
How about politicians taking a pay cut?

See what we are really do here? It is like "we are eating our young."

One of Linda's friends just got laid off from KB Toys. No severance pay! She has the unemployment line to look forward to, and that is only temporary. She is over 60 years old. Do you think that she really cares whether Manny Ramirez signs an multi-million dollar contract or not? Do you think that she is all excited about the $170 million dollar deal that the Yankees made to sign a pitcher is a wonderful thing?

Well, it is time for me to end the lecture.
I hope that I gave you some "food for thought."

Have a great Saturday and Sunday.
Start adopting the "Less is more" philosophy which is what the educational administration tried to "shove down our throats" every year.

Talk to you soon. TheCurley Lad