Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

I accomplished everything on my list activities yesterday. I even added an extra item because my dad wanted me to go to his home in Lee and pick up a couple items for him and bring them to the nursing home.
All my appointment went well. All follow up visits, procedures, CT Scans, etc., will be taking place in December which is when my Medicare program kicks in. Two of my appointments yesterday were $30 co-pays each. There are no co-pay( or very little) costs when I am on Medicare. Don't you just love those Federal programs which will take care of me for the rest of my life?
My younger wife has some time before she gets on Medicare.

The REAM luncheon went well too. The food and socialization which took place lasted until almost 3 PM. The guest speaker was a retired secondary teacher, and current board member of PRIM. This organization invests all the State, Municipal, and Teacher employee pension funds. I asked the question about:
"Did our pension fund take a hit because of the Madoff scandal." This PRIM board member said that we took a $12 million dollar hit. The hedge fund director of this particular investment was fired. PRIM has now instituted safe guards so that this debacle will not happen again. Keep those monthly pension checks coming in!

The last activity of the day was the strangest. There were about 12 of the UNICO golf committee members at the Heritage Tavern in Lenox at 6 PM. We were there for about 15 minutes. We all ordered our first beverage, and I even filled out a KENO slip, when all of a sudden the electricity went out in the town of Lenox including the Tavern. A few battery operated emergency lights go on in the Tavern, but the place was pretty much dark. It was like we were back in the Colonial days. The staff at the Tavern put candles on every table which really didn't offer us much light. Luckily the ovens in the kitchen were gas fired so we were able to get some pizzas made for our table. We split four pizzas at our table. The pizzas were delicious. The bar was able to keep the beverages flowing. By the time that my neighbor / childhood friend and I left the tavern, the battery operated emergency lights ran out of juice. The electricity in Lenox was still out as we left the Tavern at 8:50 PM. As we headed back to Pittsfield, all the highways and signal lights were out. Some people were driving like there was no problem.
Some people were going through intersections and not slowing down for anything. As we crossed the Lenox / Pittsfield town line, the electricity in Lenox went back on. Pittsfield was not involved with the electricity being out. The food, fun, and merriment occurred even in these extreme conditions.
This Golf Committee meeting is surely one that I will never forget.

Social Calendar -- Linda has a couple body maintenance procedures today. I think that she has a book club meeting at a friend's house this evening.
I have to decide when to go to Retro Fitness. I need to do some more things for Dad today; bring him a newspaper, put his mail on hold for him at the family home in Lee. I also have to start packing either physically or mentally for our trip to Georgia next week. While Linda is at her book club meeting, I will have a Chicken Novena for my supper which will be the high light of my day. For my dose of sports, every Thursday night there are several programs from 7 PM until 8:30 PM which discuss New England Patriot Football. I all am savoring another book.

Speaking of sports, my friend Albert asked what does an athlete's personal life have to do with performance on the field, court, etc. When you are playing a sport like baseball for example, and you have to focus on a baseball coming at you at 95 miles per hour as you are up to the plate, and your wife just kicked you out of the house for being unfaithful, can you truly shut off your family problems, and just go on as usual. I for one couldn't do it!

Yesterday, I had won of those "Life is too short" moments. A friend, who is still teaching at the school which I retired from, has been diagnosed with ALS / Lou Gerhig's Disease. This friend is from the Baby Boomer age group.
He is a Williams College graduate who started teaching later on in his working career. He currently is a physical wreck. He has a teenage daughter who attends the school which he teaches at. Every day my friend seems to deteriorate physically. His days on this earth are numbered. We all know that there is no cure for ALS. I feel so sad for him and his family. When he does pass away, it will be the second baby boomer friend that has died from this nasty disease. Enjoy every moment on this earth because you never know what each day will bring!

Well, I am going to end this email on this sad note.
I am going to enjoy this damp and dreary day a little more as I think about my friend and the death sentence that he has.
I am going to give all of my family members, including the grandchildren in Tewksbury and in Georgia extra hugs as our paths cross next week.

Have a great day!
Don't sweat the little things in life.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad