Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Wednesday was a quiet but pleasant day for the Curley's. Therapy, some chores, and afternoon nap, and leftovers for supper, and a Red Sox win kept me happy.
Linda did some errands, and shopping for some paper products for our August 9, 2011 Irish Sister City Cookout on the Curley Deck as well as attending her Panera Bread Knitting group gathering which made her happy.

We are busy once again, but we are going in different directions this evening. I will be representing the family at a dinner party. Linda is off to her one a month BONCO gathering at a friend's home which is located on beautiful Pontoosuc Lake. Originally I was going to be cooking for one of two book clubs which Linda belongs to, but many of the members were unavailable, so Linda cancelled the dinner meeting.

I have a few quiet chores to take care of, and I will weave in another afternoon nap before heading off to the dinner party. Linda has a body maintenance procedure this morning, and she has to whip up an appetizer for her BONCO gathering.

I skimmed the CNN news, but I didn't find anything that really jumped out at me. The world is in its usual turmoil, and you can all read about it your local and national newspapers. Bubba Smith the former NFL Star turned actor in all those Police Academy movies appeared to have died of natural causes at the age of 66.

Politics -- Jobs and the economy are the number one priority of President Obama, and should be for our congressmen and congresswomen. There are enough roads, bridges, and National and local parks which would provide and keep a large segment of our population employed for many years. Stopping the wars which we are involved in, and stopping the financial aid which we send to countries who don't manage the funds well could help pay for these jobs.

Observation -- My Radio talk show host friend has been stressing on his talk show program that Massachusetts is not small business friendly. As I look at the collection of permits that our non profit groups like the Irish Sister City Committee, UNICO, and Ethnic Clubs, etc., have to have just to sell a few food products, run a small raffle, it is amazing. On the other hand, the health department permits are to protect the organizations which we belong to as well as the public which purchases our products.
It is the paper work that kills small businesses.
Just think of what happens when any of us need medical care. The process which the hospitals and doctors have to go through to get paid is unbelievable. We had a friend who used to be a pediatrician. Her liability premiums were so high that she left the medical field to be a science teacher at a local Community College. Linda actually was a mentor to this doctor / teacher before she became a full time professor.

Sports -- The Red Sox and the Yankees both won last night, but the Sox did it in dramatic fashion by winning the game with a homer in the bottom of the ninth with two men out and no one on base. The Yankees used their bats and scored 18 runs to win their contest.
The Yankees come to Fenway this weekend, and we will see who the better team is!

I have been communicating (by way of email) with a baby boomer friend who has had a not so good time with a fusion operation on his back. My friend has to have his shoulder replaced in the very near future too. Playing college football years ago has pretty much decimated his body. When one body part gets fixed, another damaged body part rears its ugly head. This is another case where the care giver wife is definitely using the "for better or worse" part of their marriage vows. I told his wife that my strained Achilles is so trivial compared to what my friend is going through. We both retired in June of 2004.

Well, I have to do some quiet chores. Yesterday the telephone rang at 8:30 AM and woke Linda up from a deep sleep. It was a telephone call from my orthopedics guy's secretary. They had to reschedule my August 10 appointment because the Physician's Assistant will be out of town next week. I see him at the end of the month. It seems that I continue to bug Linda even when she is not in the same room as me. Oh Darn!

Have a great Thursday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad