Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned on Tuesday. Everything that I had on my “To do” list was accomplished.
Linda’s two Mah Jongg sessions went well; one she hosted, and the other she was a substitute player. The Tuesday lunch and afternoon gaming playing went well. The ladies always enjoy when Linda hosts this regular Tuesday session. I think that they like the various snacks which she provides.
I have a mid morning doctor’s appointment, and Linda has her Wednesday evening knitting group gathering a Panera Bread.
While she is at her knitting group gathering, I will be in my man cave watching the Boston Bruins do battle. It will be another party with myself, but this is fine with me during the week.
I did visit dad in the nursing home on Tuesday. The therapist came in about five minutes after I arrived, and took him off for a two hour session.
We also have to decorate the 3 foot tree in the living room, and the 6.5 foot tree in my man cave. She also has to put some limited decorations around the house. My only job will be hauling labeled buckets to and from the garage into the room which she is decorating.
Politics – I didn’t see much on the national news worthy of my comments except for the Herman Cain troubles which keeps surfacing. The lady claimed that she had a 13 year extramarital affair with Mr. Cain. He claims that no sex was involved. Yeah Right! Well he did call his staff in and said that he was going to reassess his campaign, and possibly makes some decisions as to whether he should continue campaigning or not. This is a corporate version of Tiger Woods for sure.
I was listening to my Radio Talk show host friend while setting up the artificial tree in my basement when I heard my friend say that Mr.Cain’s political views on the issues are more important than his personal life. I was going to call up the radio show, and respond to my friend’s comments, but I didn’t do so. I think a candidate should have some strong family values. If a candidate is married, and he is unfaithful to his marriage vows (multiple times in the Herman Cain situation), I can’t trust him in political matters. The unfaithfulness becomes a way of life after a while. Rich people (even like the Kennedy clan) always seem to want to have their cake and eat it too as the saying goes. Most powerful people want control of everything, and they think that they have the freedom to do so.
How come female candidates for political office have fewer issues related to sex than the male candidates? Males must have two brains, and the second one is located below their waists.
If we lived in a society where having multiple wives was the norm, all of my comments above would be meaningless.
Observation – While I was on the highways and byways yesterday, I got behind some timid drivers. I am not aggressive like some people, but I really did get the feeling that some of the drivers which I observed were afraid to be on the roads. Can a cautious driver actually cause an accident? I say yes! I like it when I am on roads where a minimum speed is posted. On the other hand, are these timid drivers a preview of the way I will be driving as I get older? Oh Darn!
I fired up the crock pot this morning. I put in a small pork rib roast, sliced up some apples, and added a little white wine along with some spices. Later on, I will roast some potatoes, carrots and onions to compliment the meal. A nice meal, and the Boston Bruins, can anything be better than that?
I put the trash out at the end of the driveway last evening. The wind knocked over the buckets. I hope that some of our trash didn’t go rolling down the street.
Have a great day at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Hello on Monday
Dear Friends,
Our Sunday went as planned. I left the house first to drop off Dad’s favorite newspaper, and visit with him for a while in the nursing home.
Linda read the Sunday newspapers while I was with my father.
When I arrived home, Linda had me set up the combination of lighted and non lighted figurines on the deck. These are her friends that she can look at through the sliding glass doors onto the deck when I am in my Man Cave watching a sporting contest.
I decided that I needed an early afternoon nap, and Linda decided it was time for her to go off and use some Macy’s coupons at the Berkshire Mall.
I woke up from my nap and did a few last minute preparations for a Patriot’s Party. 17 people attended the party, and a great time was had by all especially since the game was won by the Patriot’s. People brought the correct amount of covered dishes so leftovers were a minimum. We had three crock pots; one had sausages, onions, and peppers in it, and another had meat balls, and a third had Kapusta. Someone bought a tray of a tortellini salad. Another person brought a stuffed bread with Italian delights inside. Other people brought some interesting dips. There were a couple sets of desserts. One set was from an Italian Bakery in Brooklyn, New York. There were no leftover Canoli’s for The Curley Lad.
Since the Patriots had the football game well in hand, we decided to play some games. Some people played a couple rounds of team cribbage, but the big hit of the night was the game which I talked about before in previous emails called “Left Center Right”. The volume of noise around the table of about 14 players got louder and louder as the game progressed. I kept behind my bar, and made sure the players always had fresh beverages.
As I was observing the interaction between the LCR players, I go to thinking how great it was to have a party, and have a “Man Cave” full of guests. There were some new guests at this party, and they asked when the next party was going to be. They have already been invited to the next event.
If you are wondering why everyone on this blog list didn’t get an invite, my Man Cave is only so large. I would invite the world, but we do like a manageable size number of people. I did invite a little over 20 people some who I thought were coming. Some people responded that they were unavailable, but many did not respond to my e-mail invitation at all. The six people who attended our party for the first time might replace the non respondents.
A first timer and I were chatting at my bar about being invited to parties, and we both agreed that life is too short to pass up a party invitation. This first timer and his wife had come from a covered dish affair at the Polish Falcon Hall before arriving at our home. He and his wife found the time and energy to come to our Patriot Party.
Today has been set aside for me to put out the outside decorations, and then we will begin working on the inside decorations. I can manage the outside decorations without any help. With respect to the inside decorations, I am the gopher person! I have to get the outside decorations done completed today because some inclement weather is coming into the Berkshires.
We have nothing on our social calendar at all today. The business for both of us begins on Tuesday.
Today is the first day of the shotgun deer hunting season. I should be out there for a couple of hours, but I don’t trust my legs completely yet. My Achilles aches a little this morning from going up and down the cellars stairs so many times during the setting up and cleaning up the Man Cave. I have some leftover beverages in coolers to deal with, but every other party item in the Man Cave has been taken care of. I will use some of the beverages while I watch Monday Night Football in my Man Cave this evening. It is a party with myself once again.
Vending Machines – They now have vending machines that can make you a small pizza in 3 to 4 minutes. There are vending machines in some airports which can make you Welcome Home Banners. There are other vending machines that can give you gold for the cash you put in the machine. One of the machines can even give you a bicycle to use like you are renting a bicycle. There is another machine that you put the bicycle back in when you are done using it. Don’t we have some creative people out there who have some great ideas to make life easy for all of us?
What I would like someone to invent is a Match Box car picker upper. When we baby sit for our grandchildren, I would like to have a device to pick up those multiple Matchbox cars that are all over the place at the end of the day. Yes, our sons and their wives work hard at training their children to pick up their toys, but sometimes the adults might need a little help.
The Syracuse assistant basketball coach scandal is still making the morning headlines. The President of the college fired the assistant coach. It would appear that what he did were not just allegations. I wonder who else will lose their job.
Well, I have to put on work clothes, and move the cars out of the garage to get at the Christmas decorations. As soon as it is daylight, I will begin setting up the Christmas Decorations. I only have to put lights in two bushes, the lamp post, and garland around the front door. I also have the artificial lighted deer to put in the front of the house. I do remember some lighted snow flakes, and some lighted trees which line one side of our sidewalk to the front door. I hope that they still work. I don’t want to think of the electrical bill for the Christmas through New Years season. The decorations on the deck stay on all winter long.
Have a great week at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley lad
Our Sunday went as planned. I left the house first to drop off Dad’s favorite newspaper, and visit with him for a while in the nursing home.
Linda read the Sunday newspapers while I was with my father.
When I arrived home, Linda had me set up the combination of lighted and non lighted figurines on the deck. These are her friends that she can look at through the sliding glass doors onto the deck when I am in my Man Cave watching a sporting contest.
I decided that I needed an early afternoon nap, and Linda decided it was time for her to go off and use some Macy’s coupons at the Berkshire Mall.
I woke up from my nap and did a few last minute preparations for a Patriot’s Party. 17 people attended the party, and a great time was had by all especially since the game was won by the Patriot’s. People brought the correct amount of covered dishes so leftovers were a minimum. We had three crock pots; one had sausages, onions, and peppers in it, and another had meat balls, and a third had Kapusta. Someone bought a tray of a tortellini salad. Another person brought a stuffed bread with Italian delights inside. Other people brought some interesting dips. There were a couple sets of desserts. One set was from an Italian Bakery in Brooklyn, New York. There were no leftover Canoli’s for The Curley Lad.
Since the Patriots had the football game well in hand, we decided to play some games. Some people played a couple rounds of team cribbage, but the big hit of the night was the game which I talked about before in previous emails called “Left Center Right”. The volume of noise around the table of about 14 players got louder and louder as the game progressed. I kept behind my bar, and made sure the players always had fresh beverages.
As I was observing the interaction between the LCR players, I go to thinking how great it was to have a party, and have a “Man Cave” full of guests. There were some new guests at this party, and they asked when the next party was going to be. They have already been invited to the next event.
If you are wondering why everyone on this blog list didn’t get an invite, my Man Cave is only so large. I would invite the world, but we do like a manageable size number of people. I did invite a little over 20 people some who I thought were coming. Some people responded that they were unavailable, but many did not respond to my e-mail invitation at all. The six people who attended our party for the first time might replace the non respondents.
A first timer and I were chatting at my bar about being invited to parties, and we both agreed that life is too short to pass up a party invitation. This first timer and his wife had come from a covered dish affair at the Polish Falcon Hall before arriving at our home. He and his wife found the time and energy to come to our Patriot Party.
Today has been set aside for me to put out the outside decorations, and then we will begin working on the inside decorations. I can manage the outside decorations without any help. With respect to the inside decorations, I am the gopher person! I have to get the outside decorations done completed today because some inclement weather is coming into the Berkshires.
We have nothing on our social calendar at all today. The business for both of us begins on Tuesday.
Today is the first day of the shotgun deer hunting season. I should be out there for a couple of hours, but I don’t trust my legs completely yet. My Achilles aches a little this morning from going up and down the cellars stairs so many times during the setting up and cleaning up the Man Cave. I have some leftover beverages in coolers to deal with, but every other party item in the Man Cave has been taken care of. I will use some of the beverages while I watch Monday Night Football in my Man Cave this evening. It is a party with myself once again.
Vending Machines – They now have vending machines that can make you a small pizza in 3 to 4 minutes. There are vending machines in some airports which can make you Welcome Home Banners. There are other vending machines that can give you gold for the cash you put in the machine. One of the machines can even give you a bicycle to use like you are renting a bicycle. There is another machine that you put the bicycle back in when you are done using it. Don’t we have some creative people out there who have some great ideas to make life easy for all of us?
What I would like someone to invent is a Match Box car picker upper. When we baby sit for our grandchildren, I would like to have a device to pick up those multiple Matchbox cars that are all over the place at the end of the day. Yes, our sons and their wives work hard at training their children to pick up their toys, but sometimes the adults might need a little help.
The Syracuse assistant basketball coach scandal is still making the morning headlines. The President of the college fired the assistant coach. It would appear that what he did were not just allegations. I wonder who else will lose their job.
Well, I have to put on work clothes, and move the cars out of the garage to get at the Christmas decorations. As soon as it is daylight, I will begin setting up the Christmas Decorations. I only have to put lights in two bushes, the lamp post, and garland around the front door. I also have the artificial lighted deer to put in the front of the house. I do remember some lighted snow flakes, and some lighted trees which line one side of our sidewalk to the front door. I hope that they still work. I don’t want to think of the electrical bill for the Christmas through New Years season. The decorations on the deck stay on all winter long.
Have a great week at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley lad
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Hello on Sunday
Dear Friends,
Today is another one of those days that will go from early morning temperatures in the 30’s to 60 degrees for the high of the day. It is difficult to believe that December is right around the corner, and we haven’t had to take out heavy winter gear. People keep on talking about not getting too complacent with these mild temperatures, but there has been a steady pattern of a few cool days followed by warmer weather. We had that October snow storm, but it has been pretty mild every since that storm.
I am a believer of Global warming affecting our weather, but many of my friends do not agree. These nonbelievers still use the words cyclical when referring to the weather. Tell that to the Polar Bears!
Black Friday update – The sales on Black Friday hit sales records. On-line purchases surged by 24 %. The experts are expecting the cyber Monday will be a record breaker too. They did say that televisions were what the people purchased the most on Black Friday. Linda and I are part of this fact because we purchased three televisions. When we eventually replace all our old clunkers television sets with flat screen ones, the problem is what am I going to do with the disposal of the clunkers. A friend said that Best Buy would give you $10 gift card per television if you bring them to their store. I will be bringing in four old television sets if that offer is true at our local Best Buy. If I take them to Good Will, I have to pay $25 per television to get rid of our relatively small sets. For bigger televisions, you pay $75 per set. Our recycling plant will not take any televisions at all.
I had hoped that Black Friday would be incident free. In the Berkshires it was, but not nationwide. The Pepper Spray person did turn herself into authorities in California. Some person was shot to death in a Black Friday incident.
Where are people getting the funds to do so much shopping on Black Friday? I thought that we were in an economic downturn!
My Man Cave has been returned to its pristine state. Good thing that Linda helped out because I was using incorrect cleaning chemicals on several items in the Cave. Also, women have this innate ability to see dust and clutter that we men seem to ignore. I decided to put some plastic table cloths (which I purchased at the Dollar Store) on serving tables and a coffee table. I was trying to create the Red, White, and Blue colors of the New England Patriots. Linda asked me why my color scheme was Red, White, and Purple. I am the one who purchased the table cloths. My color blind eyes thought that I was purchasing a blue tablecloth. I should have asked the clerk what colors that I was purchasing which I often do, but not this time. I was convinced that I was purchasing a blue table cloth. Can you visualize me doing clothes shopping for myself, or loved ones? If I wanted to replace my wardrobe, I have to take Linda with me. As Linda always says; “Dealing with me is like with a child (at times)!” Good thing that I have such an understanding wife? I almost get the feeling that when two people decide that they want to be a couple, they probably should have a checklist of some possible deficiencies that either partner might have. Of course, Linda has no deficiencies whatsoever!
Speaking of purple, the 30th Anniversary of The Purple Plume being in business went well last evening. Linda and I remained there until a little after 8 PM. The appetizers were great. The White wine, Red Wine, and Prosecco (Italian Champagne) was flowing freely. Judie Culver’s mom and some other Worcester relatives made the 1.5 hour trek to the Berkshires to join in the celebration. There was a good deal of people whom we know at the celebration. Actually, every where we go we run into people that we know.
After cleaning the Man Cave for half of a day, I needed an afternoon nap. I am up so early today that I will need another one today. This morning, I also have to go off and visit with my dad in the nursing home and bring him his favorite Sunday newspaper.
Sports – I was able to catch the third period of the Boston Bruins Hockey game when we arrived home from The Purple Plume. I did ask Linda if she wanted to party on at another establishment, but she said that she was tired from helping me with the Man Cave cleaning. While I was napping yesterday, she went off to the grocery store. She worked her magic with the store coupons, but she came home a bit exhausted.
The New England Patriots play a nationally televised 4:15 PM game today. Since my Man Cave is ready to have guests, I might not be watching the game alone. One of the couples who will not be coming is having a family Turkey Dinner. It is a going away party for their two daughters; one who will be going back to college in Boston, and the other daughter will heading out West to college in Montana. The male of the family is a New York Giant’s fan so the Patriots don’t excite him.
Fresh Turkeys at Stop and Shop are now $.68 per pound. The price was reduced because of the expiration date on the Turkeys. We stopped at the nearest Stop and Shop on the way home from the Purple Plume Party. We were looking for one in the 10 pound range. They only had the 24 pound plus ones. I don’t think that we need one that large for just Linda and me.
The NBA is back in business. Christmas Day there will be a triple headed. The Boston Celtics will be part of that triple header. They play the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
I did set up one of the three televisions which we purchased on Black Friday. We now have a 19 inch flat screened television in the kitchen. What a difference compared to the 9 inch one which we had there. The only problem is that we can’t open the large wooden bread box. Maybe this is a sign that we should lower our bread intake.
Speaking of white bread, I disposed of the two dead mice in the garage, and re-baited those two traps with more white bread. Some of the 5 other mouse traps had the bread missing, but no mice caught in them. I had to refill those mouse traps.
I still laugh at a friend who lives in the other end of the state who prefers using those “Have a Heart” mouse traps. She would capture the mice, and take them out and release them in her back yard. The same mice ended up back in her house, and back in her traps. For the mice, they probably treated the situation like a game. They knew where there was a warm home and food. The lady had a cat, but I think that her cat was afraid of the mice.
Well, I have set up two televisions today. Monday is supposed to be pleasant day weather wise. I will take care of putting up the outdoor Christmas Decorations. I imagine that Linda might be working on the Christmas decorations inside the house. She did say for a second time that she is going to do a limited version of Christmas decorating. Yeah Right!
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Today is another one of those days that will go from early morning temperatures in the 30’s to 60 degrees for the high of the day. It is difficult to believe that December is right around the corner, and we haven’t had to take out heavy winter gear. People keep on talking about not getting too complacent with these mild temperatures, but there has been a steady pattern of a few cool days followed by warmer weather. We had that October snow storm, but it has been pretty mild every since that storm.
I am a believer of Global warming affecting our weather, but many of my friends do not agree. These nonbelievers still use the words cyclical when referring to the weather. Tell that to the Polar Bears!
Black Friday update – The sales on Black Friday hit sales records. On-line purchases surged by 24 %. The experts are expecting the cyber Monday will be a record breaker too. They did say that televisions were what the people purchased the most on Black Friday. Linda and I are part of this fact because we purchased three televisions. When we eventually replace all our old clunkers television sets with flat screen ones, the problem is what am I going to do with the disposal of the clunkers. A friend said that Best Buy would give you $10 gift card per television if you bring them to their store. I will be bringing in four old television sets if that offer is true at our local Best Buy. If I take them to Good Will, I have to pay $25 per television to get rid of our relatively small sets. For bigger televisions, you pay $75 per set. Our recycling plant will not take any televisions at all.
I had hoped that Black Friday would be incident free. In the Berkshires it was, but not nationwide. The Pepper Spray person did turn herself into authorities in California. Some person was shot to death in a Black Friday incident.
Where are people getting the funds to do so much shopping on Black Friday? I thought that we were in an economic downturn!
My Man Cave has been returned to its pristine state. Good thing that Linda helped out because I was using incorrect cleaning chemicals on several items in the Cave. Also, women have this innate ability to see dust and clutter that we men seem to ignore. I decided to put some plastic table cloths (which I purchased at the Dollar Store) on serving tables and a coffee table. I was trying to create the Red, White, and Blue colors of the New England Patriots. Linda asked me why my color scheme was Red, White, and Purple. I am the one who purchased the table cloths. My color blind eyes thought that I was purchasing a blue tablecloth. I should have asked the clerk what colors that I was purchasing which I often do, but not this time. I was convinced that I was purchasing a blue table cloth. Can you visualize me doing clothes shopping for myself, or loved ones? If I wanted to replace my wardrobe, I have to take Linda with me. As Linda always says; “Dealing with me is like with a child (at times)!” Good thing that I have such an understanding wife? I almost get the feeling that when two people decide that they want to be a couple, they probably should have a checklist of some possible deficiencies that either partner might have. Of course, Linda has no deficiencies whatsoever!
Speaking of purple, the 30th Anniversary of The Purple Plume being in business went well last evening. Linda and I remained there until a little after 8 PM. The appetizers were great. The White wine, Red Wine, and Prosecco (Italian Champagne) was flowing freely. Judie Culver’s mom and some other Worcester relatives made the 1.5 hour trek to the Berkshires to join in the celebration. There was a good deal of people whom we know at the celebration. Actually, every where we go we run into people that we know.
After cleaning the Man Cave for half of a day, I needed an afternoon nap. I am up so early today that I will need another one today. This morning, I also have to go off and visit with my dad in the nursing home and bring him his favorite Sunday newspaper.
Sports – I was able to catch the third period of the Boston Bruins Hockey game when we arrived home from The Purple Plume. I did ask Linda if she wanted to party on at another establishment, but she said that she was tired from helping me with the Man Cave cleaning. While I was napping yesterday, she went off to the grocery store. She worked her magic with the store coupons, but she came home a bit exhausted.
The New England Patriots play a nationally televised 4:15 PM game today. Since my Man Cave is ready to have guests, I might not be watching the game alone. One of the couples who will not be coming is having a family Turkey Dinner. It is a going away party for their two daughters; one who will be going back to college in Boston, and the other daughter will heading out West to college in Montana. The male of the family is a New York Giant’s fan so the Patriots don’t excite him.
Fresh Turkeys at Stop and Shop are now $.68 per pound. The price was reduced because of the expiration date on the Turkeys. We stopped at the nearest Stop and Shop on the way home from the Purple Plume Party. We were looking for one in the 10 pound range. They only had the 24 pound plus ones. I don’t think that we need one that large for just Linda and me.
The NBA is back in business. Christmas Day there will be a triple headed. The Boston Celtics will be part of that triple header. They play the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
I did set up one of the three televisions which we purchased on Black Friday. We now have a 19 inch flat screened television in the kitchen. What a difference compared to the 9 inch one which we had there. The only problem is that we can’t open the large wooden bread box. Maybe this is a sign that we should lower our bread intake.
Speaking of white bread, I disposed of the two dead mice in the garage, and re-baited those two traps with more white bread. Some of the 5 other mouse traps had the bread missing, but no mice caught in them. I had to refill those mouse traps.
I still laugh at a friend who lives in the other end of the state who prefers using those “Have a Heart” mouse traps. She would capture the mice, and take them out and release them in her back yard. The same mice ended up back in her house, and back in her traps. For the mice, they probably treated the situation like a game. They knew where there was a warm home and food. The lady had a cat, but I think that her cat was afraid of the mice.
Well, I have set up two televisions today. Monday is supposed to be pleasant day weather wise. I will take care of putting up the outdoor Christmas Decorations. I imagine that Linda might be working on the Christmas decorations inside the house. She did say for a second time that she is going to do a limited version of Christmas decorating. Yeah Right!
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Monday, November 21, 2011
Hello on Monday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned for the most part. We even wove in a wake for the deceased Mom (ALS) of a former colleague of Linda and me!
The day ended with a meal at a local restaurant which had a special price for Sunday only, but the special didn’t go well for one of us.
Our first stop of the day was in my home town of Lee, Massachusetts. The former Catholic Elementary School, which I attended in the 50’s, was transformed into a Crafts Fair. The vendors were set up in the same classrooms which I sat in those many years ago. The highlight of this adventure was the lunch time meal that they served in the cafeteria located in a portion of the school gym. Linda went home without purchasing a single item. I think that this weekend of me attended crafts fairs might have come to an end. Linda will have to find a new crafts fair buddy.
We came home to freshen up, and put on semi wake clothes, and headed out the door once again. We drove directly to the Nursing Home to visit dad before we departed for the 2 to 6PM wake. The Dwyer Funeral Home is located a couple of minutes from the Mt. Greylock Nursing Home. This is a quite a convenient fact!
Dad was in good spirits. My sister brought him his 27 inch flat screened television from his home which made for better viewing than his out of date television supplied by the nursing home. This was Linda’s first visit to this nursing home, and Linda said that this nursing home didn’t have that awful nursing home smell. Linda waited a while before visiting my father because she didn’t want to pass along her cold germs to my dad.
The wake went well. We socialized with many former colleagues of ours before we took a little break at home. The break at home allowed Linda to compile a list of baking items which she will need for today’s baking duties. All the ingredients for her pumpkin cookies, two different kinds of pies, and a lasagna for tomorrow’s supper time meal at Kevin and Kyla’s. When she finished her list, we went of to Price Chopper, and picked up all the needed ingredients. We once again came home, and put away our groceries before we headed out the door for the final time.
The “Over the Rainbow” Restaurant just started a limited menu, Sunday only, special at a cost of $15 person. The meal started off with bread, soup of the day, a salad, the main meal, coffee and dessert. The main meal for Linda was when the trouble started. Linda ordered a pork dinner, and I ordered a chicken dish. There were about 5 items on the Sunday night special to choose from. We went through the soup and salad portion of the meal, and there was quite a lull before the main meal arrived at our table. The head chef comes out to tell Linda that they sold out of the pork. He asked her if he could whip up a meal with portions of meat from a prime rib. Linda hesitated, but agreed to the change. After about 20 minutes our main meal arrived. We both though that the chef would give Linda a couple of thin slices of a prime rib. The plate was filled with fatty beef, and gristle. It was presented like you would take table scraps from everyone’s plates, put the scraps on one plate, and then feed it to the family dogs. Well, the waitress got the manager once again. She aired her complaints in a calm manner, and the manager charged her nothing for her less than perfect meal. I don’t know what it is, but Linda always seems to be the person who has the less than perfect meal. Linda was actually upset from the meal the evening before at “Flavors” because she made it quite clear to the pregnant waitress (who was due to have her girl baby on Sunday) to not rush us and to let us finish one course before serving the other. At the Malaysian restaurant the main meal and the salad arrived together which just set her off once again. Oh Darn!
As mentioned above, today is baking day, and Lasagna preparation day. I will be her assistant, cookie dough stirrer, apple peeler and slicer, and her clean up person after I drop of dad’s newspaper off to him in the nursing home. Since I am up so early, I will be with the 4:30 AM crowd at Retro Fitness. I also will need an afternoon nap because my Patriots play at 8:20 PM in the Monday Night Football game, and I want to be able to stay up and watch the whole game which will end around midnight.
Speaking of Retro Fitness, while at the gym on Sunday at 6 AM, one of the body builder type of guys, who grunts a lot, was doing his thing. It is embarrassing when he leaves one of the machines that I work on which he sets for up to 200 pounds of weight, and I reset the weights for 30 pounds. I always make sure that no one is around when I change to the lower weights, and the grunter goes back to the bar bells and weights of over 350 pounds. My whole purpose is not to talk about the grunter, but I did start thinking about these guys who have muscles beyond muscles. I started wondering if every body part grows as their muscles grow. I was wondering that if you had a body builder type of body whether you would ever have a need to use a product like Viagra. Should I go over and ask these over muscled guys? Do these guys get more dates because these guys have muscles protruding for whatever type of clothes that they wear?
I see where Mayor Bloomberg of New York announced that they caught a home grown terrorist / Al Qaeda sympathizer who was planning on setting off pipe bombs. His targets were going to be the Postal service, and veterans who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I saw the Spanish looking name of the American citizen turned sympathizer, and supporters of the terrorist, the article said that he was born in the Dominican Republic. Good thing that we have a segment of our government who is ever vigilant for such Wacko’s, and what they are planning to do. Please don’t cut this budget!
We also had one of those “Enjoy life every moment that you can because you never know what the next day might bring”. While at the wake yesterday, people were buzzing about a rumor someone had heard. A person that I know went off to check on his buddy for an early morning round of golf. The guy, whose is usually early, happened to be late. My friend went to his home to see if there was a problem. When the friend arrived at his friend’s home, the garage door was open; the trunk of his car was open, the driver’s side door was opened, and his friend was on the ground in the garage. His wife was still in bed sleeping. His friend was on the ground because he had a brain aneurism, and he died instantly. Oh Darn! There will be no joy on Thanksgiving Day for this family.
Well, I have to select my workout wardrobe.
Have a great day!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned for the most part. We even wove in a wake for the deceased Mom (ALS) of a former colleague of Linda and me!
The day ended with a meal at a local restaurant which had a special price for Sunday only, but the special didn’t go well for one of us.
Our first stop of the day was in my home town of Lee, Massachusetts. The former Catholic Elementary School, which I attended in the 50’s, was transformed into a Crafts Fair. The vendors were set up in the same classrooms which I sat in those many years ago. The highlight of this adventure was the lunch time meal that they served in the cafeteria located in a portion of the school gym. Linda went home without purchasing a single item. I think that this weekend of me attended crafts fairs might have come to an end. Linda will have to find a new crafts fair buddy.
We came home to freshen up, and put on semi wake clothes, and headed out the door once again. We drove directly to the Nursing Home to visit dad before we departed for the 2 to 6PM wake. The Dwyer Funeral Home is located a couple of minutes from the Mt. Greylock Nursing Home. This is a quite a convenient fact!
Dad was in good spirits. My sister brought him his 27 inch flat screened television from his home which made for better viewing than his out of date television supplied by the nursing home. This was Linda’s first visit to this nursing home, and Linda said that this nursing home didn’t have that awful nursing home smell. Linda waited a while before visiting my father because she didn’t want to pass along her cold germs to my dad.
The wake went well. We socialized with many former colleagues of ours before we took a little break at home. The break at home allowed Linda to compile a list of baking items which she will need for today’s baking duties. All the ingredients for her pumpkin cookies, two different kinds of pies, and a lasagna for tomorrow’s supper time meal at Kevin and Kyla’s. When she finished her list, we went of to Price Chopper, and picked up all the needed ingredients. We once again came home, and put away our groceries before we headed out the door for the final time.
The “Over the Rainbow” Restaurant just started a limited menu, Sunday only, special at a cost of $15 person. The meal started off with bread, soup of the day, a salad, the main meal, coffee and dessert. The main meal for Linda was when the trouble started. Linda ordered a pork dinner, and I ordered a chicken dish. There were about 5 items on the Sunday night special to choose from. We went through the soup and salad portion of the meal, and there was quite a lull before the main meal arrived at our table. The head chef comes out to tell Linda that they sold out of the pork. He asked her if he could whip up a meal with portions of meat from a prime rib. Linda hesitated, but agreed to the change. After about 20 minutes our main meal arrived. We both though that the chef would give Linda a couple of thin slices of a prime rib. The plate was filled with fatty beef, and gristle. It was presented like you would take table scraps from everyone’s plates, put the scraps on one plate, and then feed it to the family dogs. Well, the waitress got the manager once again. She aired her complaints in a calm manner, and the manager charged her nothing for her less than perfect meal. I don’t know what it is, but Linda always seems to be the person who has the less than perfect meal. Linda was actually upset from the meal the evening before at “Flavors” because she made it quite clear to the pregnant waitress (who was due to have her girl baby on Sunday) to not rush us and to let us finish one course before serving the other. At the Malaysian restaurant the main meal and the salad arrived together which just set her off once again. Oh Darn!
As mentioned above, today is baking day, and Lasagna preparation day. I will be her assistant, cookie dough stirrer, apple peeler and slicer, and her clean up person after I drop of dad’s newspaper off to him in the nursing home. Since I am up so early, I will be with the 4:30 AM crowd at Retro Fitness. I also will need an afternoon nap because my Patriots play at 8:20 PM in the Monday Night Football game, and I want to be able to stay up and watch the whole game which will end around midnight.
Speaking of Retro Fitness, while at the gym on Sunday at 6 AM, one of the body builder type of guys, who grunts a lot, was doing his thing. It is embarrassing when he leaves one of the machines that I work on which he sets for up to 200 pounds of weight, and I reset the weights for 30 pounds. I always make sure that no one is around when I change to the lower weights, and the grunter goes back to the bar bells and weights of over 350 pounds. My whole purpose is not to talk about the grunter, but I did start thinking about these guys who have muscles beyond muscles. I started wondering if every body part grows as their muscles grow. I was wondering that if you had a body builder type of body whether you would ever have a need to use a product like Viagra. Should I go over and ask these over muscled guys? Do these guys get more dates because these guys have muscles protruding for whatever type of clothes that they wear?
I see where Mayor Bloomberg of New York announced that they caught a home grown terrorist / Al Qaeda sympathizer who was planning on setting off pipe bombs. His targets were going to be the Postal service, and veterans who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I saw the Spanish looking name of the American citizen turned sympathizer, and supporters of the terrorist, the article said that he was born in the Dominican Republic. Good thing that we have a segment of our government who is ever vigilant for such Wacko’s, and what they are planning to do. Please don’t cut this budget!
We also had one of those “Enjoy life every moment that you can because you never know what the next day might bring”. While at the wake yesterday, people were buzzing about a rumor someone had heard. A person that I know went off to check on his buddy for an early morning round of golf. The guy, whose is usually early, happened to be late. My friend went to his home to see if there was a problem. When the friend arrived at his friend’s home, the garage door was open; the trunk of his car was open, the driver’s side door was opened, and his friend was on the ground in the garage. His wife was still in bed sleeping. His friend was on the ground because he had a brain aneurism, and he died instantly. Oh Darn! There will be no joy on Thanksgiving Day for this family.
Well, I have to select my workout wardrobe.
Have a great day!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hello on Sunday
Dear Friends,
Our Saturday went as planned. Besides me visiting dear old dad in the nursing home, I was Linda's Crafts Fair buddy. Since Linda didn't have any friends to go with, the guilt was too strong for me to say "No". We went off to three Crafts Fairs before I announced "Drop me off at home because I am all Crafts Faired out!" I must admit that I saw multiple friends to chat with at every crafts fair, but I felt like I was working the crowds trying gather support for some political office which I was running for. At least some of the Crafts Fairs had some man chairs so I could rest my weary legs at times. The foods at these crafts fairs were wonderful. The Lutheran Church served a great lunch time corn chowder. One of parishioner's brought in fresh corn from her garden to the kitchen staff as the base for their homemade soup. The soup was spectacular. They were actually selling quarts of soup at the Lutheran Crafts Fair. I can see the Curley's making a corn chowder in the Crock Pot soon. I think that Linda is hosting the next Tuesday's Mah Jongg Session. Corn Chowder might be on the menu.
We had fun last night before and during the Comedy Show. If our friends from Atlanta were with us, they would have enjoyed dinner at Flavor's (Malaysian style food), and the Comedy Show at the Crowne Plaza. The three comedians were great, and we laughed until our sides ached. Linda and I and our friends would go again in a heart beat. The next one takes place on March 10, 2011 which will present a real conflict. There are two other events on that same night. UNICO is preparing a meal for an Italian Serenade night at the ITAM. There is also an Irish Night at Sacred Heart Church on Elm Street in Pittsfield. I want to attend all three events, but I haven't figured out how I can do so.
I am up early because I have a lot of things on my mind. My crafts fair buddy and I are heading of to a Crafts Fair at the Catholic Elementary School which I graduated from in Lee, Massachusetts. I hope that I didn't have the wrong date for the Church Crafts Fair.
I didn't see anything on the political front that was worth noting. The word is that the Super Committee might not complete that task that they were assigned to. Oh Darn!
I was also wondering where the Occupy people were going for Thanksgiving? To give you an idea who some of these Occupy people really are, the New York Daily News focused in a 31 year old Florida woman who abandoned her husband, and two children to participate in the Occupy New York event. The reporter found that this woman had a male tent mate, but she claimed that her and her new tent mate were only pals. Yeah Right! This lady must have been bored with her husband and motherhood! I think that she is a real nutcase!
I also woke up at a pretty early time because Linda and I have baking on our minds. Linda has the urge to make her favorite Thanksgiving delights. She was scouring through her 100's of recipes as I was napping on Saturday afternoon. Even though there are a lot of football games on today, my Patriots are on Monday Night Football. Since we have a television in the kitchen, we can bake and I can at least listen to a couple of games. Linda does have to communicate with the host of Thanksgiving Day dinner, our daughter-in-law, because we don't want to bring duplicates of food items. The current generation has a tendency to let the supermarkets do the dessert cooking, but we baby boomers like to make some of the epicurean delights ourselves.
We are still on schedule to depart for Tewksbury on Tuesday morning. I am still psyched for Thanksgiving Day dinner. As mentioned before, we will be departing the day after Thanksgiving because we have to be home on Saturday for the 30th Anniversay Celebration of the opening of The Purple Plume in Lenox. The 5 to 7 PM party takes place at the women's specialty shop. There will be appetizers and beverages that someone has to consume. That someone would be me (and Linda). The event is open to the public. Of course we have a social conflict. There is a Habitat for Humanity Music Concert at the Methodist Church (7 PM) in Pittsfield which we have attended before. We could show up a little late for this event, or we could walk about 50 paces to the Heritage Tavern continue on with The Purple Plume celebration. The Curley's always seem to have these "approach / approach" conflicts (a term that I learned in those mandatory Psychology courses that we had to take in College).
Our military son in Valdosta, Georgia is experiencing what his wife experienced those many months when he was not home because he was on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Danielle is off to a multi day conference related to work that she was doing for the Air Force when she was in the military. The task of taking care of an almost 4 year old girl, and energizer bunny like one year old male is not an easy job when you are the only parent. We baby boomers "have been there done that!"
On a lighter note, I didn't realize that there were 124 little people in the original Wizard of Oz movie. This past week, one of the three remaining little people passed away. I believe that he was 92 years old.
Since I used the word "little people", you see that I used the politically correct description of what we used to call a midget. This politically correct way of doing things now has even filtered down into our preschools. The headliner comedian pointed out that we can't say to the preschoolers to "sit down in an Indian position". I was wondering if some of the more persons on my daily blog know what the teachers say now to get the preschoolers to sit on the floor, and cross their legs. As I have said in the past, I like to learn something new every day that I am on this earth. Well, I learned something new at the Comedy show last evening as the comedian was talking about his own family.
I also realized that much of the material of the headliner comedian was right from his family experiences. When I talk about the sometimes strange happenings as Linda and I interact on a daily basis, I would have a wealth of material for a comedy act. Maybe I should give "stand up comedy" a try. After living with a woman for over forty years, I have an endless supply of material for a comedy act. Linda might want to stay home as I picked on her if I was doing my own comedy show.
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Our Saturday went as planned. Besides me visiting dear old dad in the nursing home, I was Linda's Crafts Fair buddy. Since Linda didn't have any friends to go with, the guilt was too strong for me to say "No". We went off to three Crafts Fairs before I announced "Drop me off at home because I am all Crafts Faired out!" I must admit that I saw multiple friends to chat with at every crafts fair, but I felt like I was working the crowds trying gather support for some political office which I was running for. At least some of the Crafts Fairs had some man chairs so I could rest my weary legs at times. The foods at these crafts fairs were wonderful. The Lutheran Church served a great lunch time corn chowder. One of parishioner's brought in fresh corn from her garden to the kitchen staff as the base for their homemade soup. The soup was spectacular. They were actually selling quarts of soup at the Lutheran Crafts Fair. I can see the Curley's making a corn chowder in the Crock Pot soon. I think that Linda is hosting the next Tuesday's Mah Jongg Session. Corn Chowder might be on the menu.
We had fun last night before and during the Comedy Show. If our friends from Atlanta were with us, they would have enjoyed dinner at Flavor's (Malaysian style food), and the Comedy Show at the Crowne Plaza. The three comedians were great, and we laughed until our sides ached. Linda and I and our friends would go again in a heart beat. The next one takes place on March 10, 2011 which will present a real conflict. There are two other events on that same night. UNICO is preparing a meal for an Italian Serenade night at the ITAM. There is also an Irish Night at Sacred Heart Church on Elm Street in Pittsfield. I want to attend all three events, but I haven't figured out how I can do so.
I am up early because I have a lot of things on my mind. My crafts fair buddy and I are heading of to a Crafts Fair at the Catholic Elementary School which I graduated from in Lee, Massachusetts. I hope that I didn't have the wrong date for the Church Crafts Fair.
I didn't see anything on the political front that was worth noting. The word is that the Super Committee might not complete that task that they were assigned to. Oh Darn!
I was also wondering where the Occupy people were going for Thanksgiving? To give you an idea who some of these Occupy people really are, the New York Daily News focused in a 31 year old Florida woman who abandoned her husband, and two children to participate in the Occupy New York event. The reporter found that this woman had a male tent mate, but she claimed that her and her new tent mate were only pals. Yeah Right! This lady must have been bored with her husband and motherhood! I think that she is a real nutcase!
I also woke up at a pretty early time because Linda and I have baking on our minds. Linda has the urge to make her favorite Thanksgiving delights. She was scouring through her 100's of recipes as I was napping on Saturday afternoon. Even though there are a lot of football games on today, my Patriots are on Monday Night Football. Since we have a television in the kitchen, we can bake and I can at least listen to a couple of games. Linda does have to communicate with the host of Thanksgiving Day dinner, our daughter-in-law, because we don't want to bring duplicates of food items. The current generation has a tendency to let the supermarkets do the dessert cooking, but we baby boomers like to make some of the epicurean delights ourselves.
We are still on schedule to depart for Tewksbury on Tuesday morning. I am still psyched for Thanksgiving Day dinner. As mentioned before, we will be departing the day after Thanksgiving because we have to be home on Saturday for the 30th Anniversay Celebration of the opening of The Purple Plume in Lenox. The 5 to 7 PM party takes place at the women's specialty shop. There will be appetizers and beverages that someone has to consume. That someone would be me (and Linda). The event is open to the public. Of course we have a social conflict. There is a Habitat for Humanity Music Concert at the Methodist Church (7 PM) in Pittsfield which we have attended before. We could show up a little late for this event, or we could walk about 50 paces to the Heritage Tavern continue on with The Purple Plume celebration. The Curley's always seem to have these "approach / approach" conflicts (a term that I learned in those mandatory Psychology courses that we had to take in College).
Our military son in Valdosta, Georgia is experiencing what his wife experienced those many months when he was not home because he was on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Danielle is off to a multi day conference related to work that she was doing for the Air Force when she was in the military. The task of taking care of an almost 4 year old girl, and energizer bunny like one year old male is not an easy job when you are the only parent. We baby boomers "have been there done that!"
On a lighter note, I didn't realize that there were 124 little people in the original Wizard of Oz movie. This past week, one of the three remaining little people passed away. I believe that he was 92 years old.
Since I used the word "little people", you see that I used the politically correct description of what we used to call a midget. This politically correct way of doing things now has even filtered down into our preschools. The headliner comedian pointed out that we can't say to the preschoolers to "sit down in an Indian position". I was wondering if some of the more persons on my daily blog know what the teachers say now to get the preschoolers to sit on the floor, and cross their legs. As I have said in the past, I like to learn something new every day that I am on this earth. Well, I learned something new at the Comedy show last evening as the comedian was talking about his own family.
I also realized that much of the material of the headliner comedian was right from his family experiences. When I talk about the sometimes strange happenings as Linda and I interact on a daily basis, I would have a wealth of material for a comedy act. Maybe I should give "stand up comedy" a try. After living with a woman for over forty years, I have an endless supply of material for a comedy act. Linda might want to stay home as I picked on her if I was doing my own comedy show.
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Hello on Saturday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned in Curley World.
I joined the female Pittsfield High School Retirees for breakfast yesterday morning at The Misty Moonlight Dinner. Good thing that I went with Linda because only three more retirees showed up. I fit in very well with the ladies conversationally wise. As many of you know, I am never at a loss for words.
I left breakfast and the women since I had my own car, and visited with dad in the nursing home. He was once again in good spirits. He had just come back from therapy. We chatted for a little while, and a second therapist came in to get him for another round of therapy.
While I was taking an afternoon nap, Linda went off to a late afternoon matinee with a friend who is very difficult to catch up with. Her friend is always on the move, taking Salsa Dance Classes, sculpting, working out at the gym, volunteering on various boards throughout the State. If she is not doing that stuff she is traveling somewhere in the world. If you ever tried showing up at her doorstep, she would mostly likely not be home.
After the movie was over, she headed off with an Irish Sister City friend to the Shamrock Pub in Dalton.
When I came home from the UNICO Hall of Fame Dinner, and told her that people were asking where she was, how great the food was at the event, she wasn’t a happy camper. I told her that it was going to be mostly men attending the event even though we have several women in UNICO right now. Well, this wasn’t the case. She will be with me next year for sure!
Toward the end of the evening , which was just about the time that the wait staff brought out dessert, one of our members at another table passed out. He fell out of his chair and fell on the carpeted floor at the ITAM. The UNICO brother is a few years younger than me. Someone called 911, but he was sitting in his chair when they arrived. I left before they EMY finished dealing with him. I do hope that they let the ambulance crew took him to the hospital. If it was me, I would have wanted to know if I had the beginnings of a serious medical issue. I would have wanted to have EKG done on me. Sometimes it is a simple thing like an electrolyte imbalance which can be fixed, but there could be some blockage issues in the arteries.
National and Political news is pretty calm on all fronts. The Super Committee will be working this weekend in Washington to hopefully bring the upcoming budget issues to a conclusion. I am sure sure if they will finish their business before the tentative deadline!
I am in my Retro Fitness clothes and I will be heading out the door for the 6 AM opening time on the weekends. I will once again bring dad his favorite newspaper when I visit him in the nursing home.
Linda had her eyes on a bunch of crafts fairs in the County. I am not sure if she expects me to accompany her to these fairs.
I will need an afternoon nap if I am going to last through dinner, and the 8 PM Comedy Show at the Crowne Plaza. We will be attending this UNICO sponsored event with our West Stockbridge Friends. Our Irish Sister friends are attending a function at the Polish Falcon Hall otherwise we would have gone with them. I thought that Linda and I were mostly Italian and Irish, but for some reason we are now attending Polish functions too.
Well, as we approach Thanksgiving, I am really psyched. It will be so nice to be with Kevin, Kyla, Max, and Kyla’s dad who lives in downtown Boston. If we ever get bored, we can go one street over from their house and sample some of their desserts at the Brodeur’s.
A vegan would not have like the roast beef dinner that we had last evening at the ITAM. The fork tender beef was piled high on each plate. Linda would have asked for a to go container. I better stop taking about the dinner last night because this just upsets her even more.
I put out 7 mouse traps in the garage the other day. I am losing the battle. This batch of super mice eats the bait, but don’t seem to be eliminated in the traps that I am using. I might have to tie the bait to the trap. These mice are making fun of me, but I am going to win this battle.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned in Curley World.
I joined the female Pittsfield High School Retirees for breakfast yesterday morning at The Misty Moonlight Dinner. Good thing that I went with Linda because only three more retirees showed up. I fit in very well with the ladies conversationally wise. As many of you know, I am never at a loss for words.
I left breakfast and the women since I had my own car, and visited with dad in the nursing home. He was once again in good spirits. He had just come back from therapy. We chatted for a little while, and a second therapist came in to get him for another round of therapy.
While I was taking an afternoon nap, Linda went off to a late afternoon matinee with a friend who is very difficult to catch up with. Her friend is always on the move, taking Salsa Dance Classes, sculpting, working out at the gym, volunteering on various boards throughout the State. If she is not doing that stuff she is traveling somewhere in the world. If you ever tried showing up at her doorstep, she would mostly likely not be home.
After the movie was over, she headed off with an Irish Sister City friend to the Shamrock Pub in Dalton.
When I came home from the UNICO Hall of Fame Dinner, and told her that people were asking where she was, how great the food was at the event, she wasn’t a happy camper. I told her that it was going to be mostly men attending the event even though we have several women in UNICO right now. Well, this wasn’t the case. She will be with me next year for sure!
Toward the end of the evening , which was just about the time that the wait staff brought out dessert, one of our members at another table passed out. He fell out of his chair and fell on the carpeted floor at the ITAM. The UNICO brother is a few years younger than me. Someone called 911, but he was sitting in his chair when they arrived. I left before they EMY finished dealing with him. I do hope that they let the ambulance crew took him to the hospital. If it was me, I would have wanted to know if I had the beginnings of a serious medical issue. I would have wanted to have EKG done on me. Sometimes it is a simple thing like an electrolyte imbalance which can be fixed, but there could be some blockage issues in the arteries.
National and Political news is pretty calm on all fronts. The Super Committee will be working this weekend in Washington to hopefully bring the upcoming budget issues to a conclusion. I am sure sure if they will finish their business before the tentative deadline!
I am in my Retro Fitness clothes and I will be heading out the door for the 6 AM opening time on the weekends. I will once again bring dad his favorite newspaper when I visit him in the nursing home.
Linda had her eyes on a bunch of crafts fairs in the County. I am not sure if she expects me to accompany her to these fairs.
I will need an afternoon nap if I am going to last through dinner, and the 8 PM Comedy Show at the Crowne Plaza. We will be attending this UNICO sponsored event with our West Stockbridge Friends. Our Irish Sister friends are attending a function at the Polish Falcon Hall otherwise we would have gone with them. I thought that Linda and I were mostly Italian and Irish, but for some reason we are now attending Polish functions too.
Well, as we approach Thanksgiving, I am really psyched. It will be so nice to be with Kevin, Kyla, Max, and Kyla’s dad who lives in downtown Boston. If we ever get bored, we can go one street over from their house and sample some of their desserts at the Brodeur’s.
A vegan would not have like the roast beef dinner that we had last evening at the ITAM. The fork tender beef was piled high on each plate. Linda would have asked for a to go container. I better stop taking about the dinner last night because this just upsets her even more.
I put out 7 mouse traps in the garage the other day. I am losing the battle. This batch of super mice eats the bait, but don’t seem to be eliminated in the traps that I am using. I might have to tie the bait to the trap. These mice are making fun of me, but I am going to win this battle.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Friday, November 18, 2011
Hello on Friday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned in Curley World.
A visit with Dad in the nursing home after an hour at Retro Fitness is how my day began. My sister showed up shortly after I arrived at the nursing home. My sister showed dad some old family pictures which were scanned into my sister’s IPad 2. I guess I forgot the way we dressed in the 50’s during the cooler weather. Dad continues to make progress with respect to gaining his leg strength back. My sister is working on having Dad over at her house for Thanksgiving Day. I am betting that once that he has a several hour visit away from the nursing home that he won’t want to go back there. He can’t be discharged from the nursing home until several health issues are resolved. I am also guessing that some form a home health aide spending time wherever he gets discharged to might be in his future.
After the visit with my dad, and a quick visit to see Aunt Ruth on the second floor of the nursing home, I decided to start working in the garage. Working in the garage meant loading up the Subaru to the maximum, and being charged $20 for the size of the load that I had. When I make these runs to the energy producing plant, I am not allowed to tell Linda what I threw away. She did know that I threw away the 1000 light artificial tree that served its purpose for many years. The tree lasted longer than the K-Mart which we purchased it from in North Adams, Massachusetts. In the spring, I am going to attack the 35 to 40 buckets in the garage, and throw out everything that we haven’t used for a while. Linda is good a labeling buckets noting the date and contents of the buckets. When a bucket is labeled living room stuff 2005, do you think some of the items in that bucket could be thrown out? Linda doesn’t want to part with anything. She thinks that our sons still want their tee shirts from the CYC basketball days when they were in elementary school. Yeah Right!
During my trip to the resource recovery plant, I left a half eaten apple on the roof of my car. I heard some strange noise as I headed down the street, and then I remembered that it was the apple that caused the noise. I bring this to your attention because Linda says that I spend too much time in my blog picking on her, and never mention the dumb things that I do.
I was telling my UNICO brothers and sister in the kitchen the other day about me going to a Fiber Festival with my wife. They all thought they both Linda and I were having some internal plumbing problems in our digestive track. Like I always say, you have to laugh at yourself and do more laughing in life. If you don’t believe those words of wisdom, all you have to do is go with me to the nursing home each day.
Speaking of Basketball, I did read where an associate basketball coach from Syracuse University might have been sexual abusing a couple of step brothers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. What he alleged did to a couple of “Ball Boys” sounds a lot like what the assistant coach Sandusky did at Penn State. This is so similar to the abuse carried on and covered up by some of the priests in the Catholic Church.
I also read the controversy in a town called Turkey, Texas. The animal rights / PETA people want to change the name of the town to Turkeyfu, Texas. Is this another case of the minority trying shove their ideas down the throats of American who want to leave things just the way they were for generations. If you are a vegetarian, there should be enough foods at a Thanksgiving Day dinner so that you don’t have to eat any meat products. In Berkshire County, we have a vegetarian organization that organizes a Vegan Dinner at a Church Hall so that you don’t have to look at the poor turkey that I am going to consume. We are several days away from Thanksgiving, and I am salivating over the thought of that beautiful bird that gave up his life so that I can have Turkey on Thanksgiving. I am going to send all my Vegan friends prints of the Norman Rockwell painting of the father bringing the cooked turkey to the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day. Actually, Linda and I don’t have too many friends who are totally Vegan. I will respect their wishes, but this boy is having Turkey on Thanksgiving Day!
Speaking of poultry, I didn’t stay home last night. I decided to watch the Boston Bruins barley win their 7th game in a row at Patrick’s Pub with some Irish Sister City friends. It took the Boston Bruins a shoot out secure the victory, but it is still a “W” in the win column. While watching the Bruins game, and listening to an Irish Band at Patrick’s Pub, I might have had a few chicken wings. There were no Vegans at our table last evening.
Speaking of Patrick’s Pub, I arrived at 8 PM, and the place was packed. It was two to three deep at the bar. We Irish Sister City friends had to wait over 30 minutes to get a table that one of our members had reserved. If you walked in that Pub when I did, you wouldn’t be observing any downturn in the economy. It seemed like all the Occupy Wall Street people were Occupying Patrick’s Pub. Do you think those Occupy Wall Street people have made a dent in the wallets of the rich people in the country? We are still a country of the “haves, and have nots.” It has been that way since we have become a nation, and I don’t see it changing in the near future. The Occupy people should be expending their energy in the classroom or working. If it takes more than one job to survive in this day and age, then so be it. These Occupy people should do a little family history, and see how difficult it was for their ancestors when they arrived on the shores of America. My Italian and Irish ancestors occupied the factories, created their own gardens, built our schools and Churches with their bare hands. They did what they had to do to survive. They didn’t have time to Occupy any financial district because they were too exhausted at the end of the day providing for their family. I heard some female New York protester saying that she should have her rights to do this or that. She was so young that she hasn’t put any time or effort into the system (even if it is flawed), and to me she has to earn her rights before she can say anything.
While at the Pub, there was a little birthday celebration for a friend who actually turns 65 next Tuesday. Jeff W. was at a table of his Republican friends. One the guys started beating up President Obama the second that I started talking politics. I told the people at the table that I will be “Liberal Weenie” until the day I die. This label was given to me by my talk show host friend who is on the daily blog. I did point out to the group that the Republicans vying for the nomination to take a run at President Obama provide a lot of media fodder on a daily basis.
I see where the cougar like marriage between Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher is coming to an end. There are some marriages which do survive between two people when there is a great difference between the ages of the two people. I can see where Ashton might be realizing now that the aging process catches up to all of us. He was probably thinking now that maybe I shouldn’t have a married person who was old enough to be my mother. He also might have been thinking about starting a family and having his own children. How would that happen with a woman who is long past her baby making years. This is all conjecture on my part!
U.S. Postal Service – I have been reading about the financial crisis in the Postal Service. The American Public and technology has caused much of the problem. When was the last time that any of us have hand written a letter and sent it to someone? My Aunt Lil is one of the few people who still write me letters even though she is on my daily blog. Her hand writing is right out of the Palmer Method of handwriting that we both learned in a Catholic Elementary school. Even though she a few years older than me, she still hasn’t lost the touch. What do most of us do when we want to communicate? We take out some form of technology. When we pay our bills, some of us pay the electronically. Linda and a couple friends still like to spend a couple hours writing out at least half of our bills, but some people pay all of their bills on line. Every time you don’t use the postal service to communicate, pay bills, send packages, something has to give. We still are able to send mail the cheapest of any country in the world. In the United States, if the stamps go up two cents all you will hear is people complaining saying when I was growing up it only cost so and so to send a letter. Get real! Many of the Curley relatives worked for the Postal Service, and my cousin Jimmy still works their now. I would never vote against a Union Shop!
Social Calendar – Linda is starting her day with the monthly Pittsfield High School female retirees’ breakfast. I might go just to spice up their lives. A visit with dad will take place after breakfast. In the evening, Linda is going out with the girls while I attend a UNICO Softball / Baseball Hall of Awards / Dinner Meeting at 6 PM. Two of the four recipients were former students of mine from Taconic High School. A third one was a Lee High School Wildcat who graduated two years after I did. It should be a great night at the ITAM. What is nice this evening is that the meal is being catered by the ITAM Caterer, Richy Powers, instead of being prepared by my UNICO brothers and sisters. The event is open to the public at a cost of $25 per person. For us members it is part of our dues.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned in Curley World.
A visit with Dad in the nursing home after an hour at Retro Fitness is how my day began. My sister showed up shortly after I arrived at the nursing home. My sister showed dad some old family pictures which were scanned into my sister’s IPad 2. I guess I forgot the way we dressed in the 50’s during the cooler weather. Dad continues to make progress with respect to gaining his leg strength back. My sister is working on having Dad over at her house for Thanksgiving Day. I am betting that once that he has a several hour visit away from the nursing home that he won’t want to go back there. He can’t be discharged from the nursing home until several health issues are resolved. I am also guessing that some form a home health aide spending time wherever he gets discharged to might be in his future.
After the visit with my dad, and a quick visit to see Aunt Ruth on the second floor of the nursing home, I decided to start working in the garage. Working in the garage meant loading up the Subaru to the maximum, and being charged $20 for the size of the load that I had. When I make these runs to the energy producing plant, I am not allowed to tell Linda what I threw away. She did know that I threw away the 1000 light artificial tree that served its purpose for many years. The tree lasted longer than the K-Mart which we purchased it from in North Adams, Massachusetts. In the spring, I am going to attack the 35 to 40 buckets in the garage, and throw out everything that we haven’t used for a while. Linda is good a labeling buckets noting the date and contents of the buckets. When a bucket is labeled living room stuff 2005, do you think some of the items in that bucket could be thrown out? Linda doesn’t want to part with anything. She thinks that our sons still want their tee shirts from the CYC basketball days when they were in elementary school. Yeah Right!
During my trip to the resource recovery plant, I left a half eaten apple on the roof of my car. I heard some strange noise as I headed down the street, and then I remembered that it was the apple that caused the noise. I bring this to your attention because Linda says that I spend too much time in my blog picking on her, and never mention the dumb things that I do.
I was telling my UNICO brothers and sister in the kitchen the other day about me going to a Fiber Festival with my wife. They all thought they both Linda and I were having some internal plumbing problems in our digestive track. Like I always say, you have to laugh at yourself and do more laughing in life. If you don’t believe those words of wisdom, all you have to do is go with me to the nursing home each day.
Speaking of Basketball, I did read where an associate basketball coach from Syracuse University might have been sexual abusing a couple of step brothers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. What he alleged did to a couple of “Ball Boys” sounds a lot like what the assistant coach Sandusky did at Penn State. This is so similar to the abuse carried on and covered up by some of the priests in the Catholic Church.
I also read the controversy in a town called Turkey, Texas. The animal rights / PETA people want to change the name of the town to Turkeyfu, Texas. Is this another case of the minority trying shove their ideas down the throats of American who want to leave things just the way they were for generations. If you are a vegetarian, there should be enough foods at a Thanksgiving Day dinner so that you don’t have to eat any meat products. In Berkshire County, we have a vegetarian organization that organizes a Vegan Dinner at a Church Hall so that you don’t have to look at the poor turkey that I am going to consume. We are several days away from Thanksgiving, and I am salivating over the thought of that beautiful bird that gave up his life so that I can have Turkey on Thanksgiving. I am going to send all my Vegan friends prints of the Norman Rockwell painting of the father bringing the cooked turkey to the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day. Actually, Linda and I don’t have too many friends who are totally Vegan. I will respect their wishes, but this boy is having Turkey on Thanksgiving Day!
Speaking of poultry, I didn’t stay home last night. I decided to watch the Boston Bruins barley win their 7th game in a row at Patrick’s Pub with some Irish Sister City friends. It took the Boston Bruins a shoot out secure the victory, but it is still a “W” in the win column. While watching the Bruins game, and listening to an Irish Band at Patrick’s Pub, I might have had a few chicken wings. There were no Vegans at our table last evening.
Speaking of Patrick’s Pub, I arrived at 8 PM, and the place was packed. It was two to three deep at the bar. We Irish Sister City friends had to wait over 30 minutes to get a table that one of our members had reserved. If you walked in that Pub when I did, you wouldn’t be observing any downturn in the economy. It seemed like all the Occupy Wall Street people were Occupying Patrick’s Pub. Do you think those Occupy Wall Street people have made a dent in the wallets of the rich people in the country? We are still a country of the “haves, and have nots.” It has been that way since we have become a nation, and I don’t see it changing in the near future. The Occupy people should be expending their energy in the classroom or working. If it takes more than one job to survive in this day and age, then so be it. These Occupy people should do a little family history, and see how difficult it was for their ancestors when they arrived on the shores of America. My Italian and Irish ancestors occupied the factories, created their own gardens, built our schools and Churches with their bare hands. They did what they had to do to survive. They didn’t have time to Occupy any financial district because they were too exhausted at the end of the day providing for their family. I heard some female New York protester saying that she should have her rights to do this or that. She was so young that she hasn’t put any time or effort into the system (even if it is flawed), and to me she has to earn her rights before she can say anything.
While at the Pub, there was a little birthday celebration for a friend who actually turns 65 next Tuesday. Jeff W. was at a table of his Republican friends. One the guys started beating up President Obama the second that I started talking politics. I told the people at the table that I will be “Liberal Weenie” until the day I die. This label was given to me by my talk show host friend who is on the daily blog. I did point out to the group that the Republicans vying for the nomination to take a run at President Obama provide a lot of media fodder on a daily basis.
I see where the cougar like marriage between Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher is coming to an end. There are some marriages which do survive between two people when there is a great difference between the ages of the two people. I can see where Ashton might be realizing now that the aging process catches up to all of us. He was probably thinking now that maybe I shouldn’t have a married person who was old enough to be my mother. He also might have been thinking about starting a family and having his own children. How would that happen with a woman who is long past her baby making years. This is all conjecture on my part!
U.S. Postal Service – I have been reading about the financial crisis in the Postal Service. The American Public and technology has caused much of the problem. When was the last time that any of us have hand written a letter and sent it to someone? My Aunt Lil is one of the few people who still write me letters even though she is on my daily blog. Her hand writing is right out of the Palmer Method of handwriting that we both learned in a Catholic Elementary school. Even though she a few years older than me, she still hasn’t lost the touch. What do most of us do when we want to communicate? We take out some form of technology. When we pay our bills, some of us pay the electronically. Linda and a couple friends still like to spend a couple hours writing out at least half of our bills, but some people pay all of their bills on line. Every time you don’t use the postal service to communicate, pay bills, send packages, something has to give. We still are able to send mail the cheapest of any country in the world. In the United States, if the stamps go up two cents all you will hear is people complaining saying when I was growing up it only cost so and so to send a letter. Get real! Many of the Curley relatives worked for the Postal Service, and my cousin Jimmy still works their now. I would never vote against a Union Shop!
Social Calendar – Linda is starting her day with the monthly Pittsfield High School female retirees’ breakfast. I might go just to spice up their lives. A visit with dad will take place after breakfast. In the evening, Linda is going out with the girls while I attend a UNICO Softball / Baseball Hall of Awards / Dinner Meeting at 6 PM. Two of the four recipients were former students of mine from Taconic High School. A third one was a Lee High School Wildcat who graduated two years after I did. It should be a great night at the ITAM. What is nice this evening is that the meal is being catered by the ITAM Caterer, Richy Powers, instead of being prepared by my UNICO brothers and sisters. The event is open to the public at a cost of $25 per person. For us members it is part of our dues.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
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