Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

A Therapy session at the Medical Arts Complex, a visit with dad at the hospital, an afternoon nap, and attending a play at the Colonial Theater went as planned for me.

Linda on the other hand had an exciting time of writing out bills, doing some recreational shopping with a girlfriend, and attending the play called a Christmas Carol.

Let me start with an update on dad. When I arrived at 8:30 AM, dad was sleeping. His breakfast tray was next to his bed, and he slept through breakfast. When he did wake up, the poking and prodding began. He was one sore buckaroo. After I left near 11 AM, they had taken his blood, done an Ultra Sound on his ceratoid artery, given him his usual dose of pills, received communion, and was asked questions by a case worker. My sister, who had some business to take care of, was going to find out about his medical condition, discharge back to the nursing home, etc. I left the hospital after dad was given some pain medication so that they could change his bed while he was in it. Changing a bed while a person is in it is not a big deal except when you have a broken collar bone, and back issues because they have to roll you from side to side. I didn’t want to see my dad in agony as they rolled him from side to side. The nurses’ orders were for total bed rest. My father is not allowed out of bed for anything. I will be heading to the hospital this morning once again with his favorite newspaper.

I found out from the Brodeur’s yesterday that Jerry’s 90 something year old dad had fallen at his assisted living place in Tewksbury. His Dad was X-rayed and luckily no broken bones appeared on the X-Ray.

The joy of dealing with aging parents is endless!

The play was okay last evening. The set design was awesome. I am so glad that we paid only $25 per ticket for the first balcony seats. The seats on the main floor were going for $100 per ticket, and I would have felt shortchanged if I sat in those seats. The acting was good. I still like the old black and white movie that we baby boomers grew up with.
As I was watching and listening to the main character, Mr. Scrooge, I started thinking that this guy was a Republican who turned into a Democrat by the end of the play. For several of my friends, the reverse has happened.

Linda and I did stop for some wings at Patrick’s Pub before the play. The other couple couldn’t join us because of work commitments. Oh Darn!

Speaking of the other couple, I felt bad for the wife. She is into this physical fitness thing; Kayaking, hiking up mountains, walking briskly, Yoga, etc. Several months ago at Yoga Class she knew she strained something, but it didn’t seem so bad. She is experiencing back issues right now including a possible bulging disk. She is hurting so bad that her doctor told her to cool it with her exercises. Her not being able to do her exercises are hurting her more than the back pain. I am trying to think of a moral to this little story about us baby boomers and exercising. I guess we have to do things in moderation. We might have to adjust the statement which we grew up with about “No pain, no gain.” She sees a specialist at the end of January to determine whether she will need an operation or not. Oh Darn!

Linda and I are going out once again this evening. Today it is for an Irish Sister City friend. We will be celebrating her 80th birthday party the Berkshire Hills Country Club. If you saw this lady, who was born and lived in Ireland for 17 years before she came to the United States, you would never guess that she is turning 80 years old. There will be a lot of food, fun, and merriment before this party comes to an end. I better take an afternoon nap like I did yesterday.

Politics – I see where Bachman is trailing the pack of Republican contenders. I think that it might be time for her to fold the tent, and go home.

Watching the Republicans duke it out is like watching the Boston Celtics Basketball team play the first three game of the season. The Celtics are 0 and 3 for the first three games. The team looks old and tired just like when the Republicans do when they are debating.

I did forget to mention that our granddaughter, Isabelle, from Valdosta, Georgia turned four years old yesterday. Her Minnesota grandparents were there in Valdosta to celebrate Isabelle’s birthday. Linda and I chatted with Isabelle on the cell phone yesterday. She was happy like I always was because both of our birthdays are close to Christmas. We always seem to get a double dose of presents.

Kevin’s restaurant will be getting a little plug in the Berkshire Eagle next week. I sent an e-mail off to the staff writer who reviews restaurants as well as the night scene. She said that she would do a little write up of Dough East Boston. Even if it is a small paragraph, there are a lot of people who go from Pittsfield to Boston and especially to Logan Airport (which is 1.1 miles from Dough). This will be another dose of free advertising. So far Dough has been featured on the television program called “the Phantom Gourmet, Boston Globe newspaper, and next week in our local newspaper. There is one more program that he is trying to get on called “Billy Costa’s T.V. Diner.”

Well, I will read the local newspaper, and then go off and visit dad at Berkshire Medical Center right after he has breakfast. I chose his lunch, and dinner yesterday, and his meals for today. I hope that he likes what I chose for him.

Have great day at work or play!
New Years is almost here.
I can’t wait for the New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s home tomorrow, and the Sunday New Year’s Day brunch at different friend’s home.
The formal diet starts on January 2, 2012.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday

Dear Friends,


I hope that the second day after Christmas went well for everyone. All of my "To Do" list items did get done; Therapy, Bringing Dad his favorite newspaper, Surround system installed by a friend, Outside Decorations taken down, Taking an afternoon nap, Washing a couple loads of my clothes, Watching Boston Celtics lose a second game in a row.


Linda had fun at a friend's home playing Mah Jong. The most tiring part of her day was doing errands after Mah Jongg in the pouring rain and wind, and picking up grocery items at two different stores. She even whipped up ham / vegetable/ pea soup for the crockpot before she went to bed which will be our noon time lunch.


Linda is the only one socially engaged this evening with her Knitting Group gathering at Panera Bread, but she is not sure if anyone will show up, or if the group has disbanded.


We will be socially engaged Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will not be thinking about home cooked meals for any of those days.


I have to go out to Target, and get at least one Christmas tree storage bag for the 6.5 foot tree in my Man Cave that no one even observed. I suggested to Linda to leave the tree up, and make it a seasonal tree. Can you visualize a Valentines Day tree, An Easter Tree, a St. Patrick's Day tree, a Summer time tree, a Fall tree, a Halloween tree, a Thanksgiving Day tree, and then we are back to Christmas? When I think about all the work that this concept takes, I think that the tree is going to be taken down today.


News -- I see where people weren't just purchasing clothes and toys for Christmas. Gun sales were reported at the highest levels according to the FBI. Of course the NRA has already commented on the report saying that this is just a fear mongering tactic used by President Obama. I hope that the gun that the guy who shot and killed his whole family with over the holidays, including himself, was legally obtained. Yes, I am well aware that guns don't kill people, and it is the gun user.


I see where Sinead O'Connor's marriage lasted only 16 days. Her smoking too much "weed" might have been the cause of the breakup. I guess that I didn't realize that she has four children from previous relationships. Sinead might not be the greatest role model for females considering marriage, and for bringing children into the world.


Kyla update -- We were hoping that Kevin, Kyla, and Max would make it to the Berkshires this coming weekend! Not! The medical staff at Brigham and Women's hospital wanted her to be close to the hospital in case an issue arose. Oh Darn!


Kevin took Max to Dough East Boston on Tuesday,which is day off, to help get the restaurant set for a busy week. Kyla went off to her place of work in downtown Boston too. I think that she wove in a Doctor's appointment too. They were all home together during the middle of the afternoon. Kyla wasn't feeling her normal self once again. Oh Darn! She has more poking and prodding appointments before this week is over.


We have one of those days where the temperature will be the highest right now. By the time people leave work later on today, the winds will be howling, and the temperature will be dropping from the 40 degrees right now to the low 20 degree range.


I think that today is a normal Wednesday collection day for us. The recycle material is paper, and I am not looking forward to paper products flying up and down the street.


The fundraiser article in today's local newspaper said that they raised $4000 dollar last evening for the family which was burned out of their home just before Christmas. Another $2000 has been donated even before the fundraiser. Donations checks can be made out to a local bank which is processing the donations.


I missed watching the funeral for the North Korean leader who passed away at age 69 years old. I am trying to feel the love for this leader who always made the top 10 list of despots throughout the world on a yearly basis.


Well, I have to put out the trash and paper recyclables. I might have to spend some time in the garage cutting up boxes which I was supposed to cut up a couple of weeks ago. I did notice that when you don't have Christmas at your home, less trash is generated which is a positive.


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

Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

I am up early this morning because I had food preparation on my mind. I have to thaw and peel some raw shrimp which Linda will cook when she wakes up. I also have to cook some sweet sausages to render the fat before I crock pot them with some red sauce, onions, and peppers.

Yesterday went well for the Curley’s. We went to the movies instead of me making pizzelles. I might make a small batch of pizzelles after I finish my first two tasks of the day.

We went off to lunch at a downtown eatery next the Beacon Cinema called “On a Roll”. We saw the four star rated Mission Impossible movie which we thought was better than the Sherlock Holmes movie which we saw last week.

Speaking of lunch, there was a table next to us at which four women were sitting. One the four ladies is a friend of ours whom we see at the Shamrock all of the time. Since the place wasn’t busy, I listened off and on to their conversation especially when the waitress came over to take their order. “On a Roll” has a simple menu, and usually a couple luncheon specials for the day. Listening to four women order a meal is so puzzling to me. Every person just couldn’t have the particular food item listed on the menu. All of the women had special requests and variations from the food items listed. If was waiting on them, I couldn’t keep all the changes straight. We men are simple creatures. Most of us order and receive exactly what is on the menu. When the waitress took care of me I ordered a Chicken Quesedia, and that is what was delivered to the table. The waitress asked if I wanted any side dishes, but I declined. I did like one conversation which the women were talking about before the waitress arrived. Our friend from the Shamrock said that the “Liver and Onions” dish on the menu looked good. One girlfriend said that she would have to sit at another table if she ordered that particular dish. Linda would have had me sitting by myself if I ordered that dish because she can’t stand the sight or the odor of liver. When she was teaching there was an experiment that the students did in the biology lab. Linda would go to the store, and buy liver. The students would grind up the liver, and check the ground up liver for enzymes. Linda also would explain the function of the liver in the body. Our Liver acts like filter of all the stuff which we eat or drink whether it is good or bad. Linda couldn’t stand the thought of eating this filter. Needless to say, do you think that Linda ever cooked me a batch of liver and onions during the over forty years which we have been married?

After the movies, we did head off to Staples to laminate the article about our son’s restaurant which appeared in the food section of the Boston Globe on Wednesday. I copied the written article and gave my dad a copy. Dad thought the write up about his grandson’s restaurant was great. I visited dad for about an hour before the therapist took him away for the first of two sessions.

When we came home from Staples, I fired up the oven and made some cakes. One of the cakes required a glaze so I let Linda put that on when she came home from her Panera Bread Knitting group gathering.
No one showed up for the knitting group so Linda dined alone and drove home after eating supper there. I ate one person size portion of pot roast leftovers. Linda missed the last gathering because of a scheduling conflict. I am surmising the group decided to cancel yesterday’s meeting because it was too close to Christmas.

Iraq – Our troops left, so the bad guys in Baghdad set off 4 car bombs, and 10 roadside bombs killing 63 and wounding 185 of their own people. It doesn’t appear that there is much stability after our troops departed the other day. How would you like to be the political leaders of that country right now?

Well, I am going to cut the email short, and get to the food preparation. Peeling shrimp is the most time consuming, but it is worth the effort when the finished product is done. It is a matter of preferring firm or limp shrimp. We prefer the firm variety.

Have a great Thursday at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday

Dear Friends,

Another day went as planned in Curleyworld even though I didn’t do all the things on my “To Do” list. I would like you to note that I said “My” To Do List. Linda might ad a couple things to my list, but in general, I plan all my things that I want to accomplish each day. I (Linda too) have been so busy that I forgot what it is like to sit down and read a book.

I didn’t make the pizzelles, and I didn’t cut up the boxes in our garage on Tuesday. Oh Darn!
I guess I used a retirees’ tactic of “procrastination.” I did straighten out the bar in My Man which means that I could have an impromptu party in a heartbeat.

Linda had fun with her group of girlfriends as they played Mah Jongg all after noon on Tuesday.

When she came home, I had a crock pot dinner waiting for her. I whipped up a boneless beef pot roast with carrots, onions, and potatoes in a great gravy all cooked by my crock pot friend. The meal was superb. I couldn’t invite any friends to join us because the pot roast was a small one. Oh Darn!

I did visit my father in the nursing home after therapy. He wasn’t in the best of spirits because the medical staff at the nursing home said that they don’t want to release him to his home until his “fall risk” behavior has subsided. Oh Darn!

Politics – While the Republicans battle it out trying to get the Republican nomination to take a run at the President, it appears that neither of the top two candidates Mr. Romney or Mr. Gingrich are not fairing well. When 1 out of 10 Republican voters have chosen Romney or Gingrich as their two guys, the Republicans are in real trouble. President Obama is moving up in the polls, and if there was an election today, the President would still be in office for another term. This is good news for us Democrats. Of course, my independent friends, most who were raised in Democratic households, would have to make a decision. They keep telling me that they are independent thinkers, and that that have lost faith in the two party system, and they are going to vote for the best candidate. Yeah Right! Well, the best candidates are either a Democrat or Republican. The two party system hasn’t faded into the sunset that last time that I checked.

News – I see that thousands of the troops who will be home for the Christmas Holidays after they left Iraq have already received their marching orders, and they are heading to Afghanistan. We are hoping that our son doesn’t get another tour of duty to Afghanistan, but it looks like he might be deployed there too. I haven’t asked him, but when we were visiting them in Georgia in October, he and his squadron mates weren’t exactly twiddling their thumbs when they were at the Air Force Base during the few days that we were there.

Speaking of tour of duty, our local newspaper highlighted a soldier who did four tours of duty in Iraq. He surprised some elderly relatives as he wore a holiday mask the other day. His combat boots gave him away. This soldier was a former student of mine at Taconic. What they didn’t say in the article, which his mother told me after his first tour of duty, was that when he visited his parents, he slept with “one eye open”. If there was the slightest bit of noise in the house, he would wake up in a heartbeat and react. My student is going to leave the service and get married to a girl whom he met in the service. The article said that they will be living in the Midwest after they get married. I will remember my former student as a smart, and dedicated to his country type of person. When he was in high school, I can still see him playing a drum and being part of the Pipe Band that his parents belonged to. He went from a kid to an adult as soon as he went off to boot camp and eventually off to fight in Iraq.

Sports – I didn’t have any to watch on Tuesday so I tried to watch to watch a program with Linda. It was one of those police like murder mystery programs made for television. I lasted through this one program before I gave up bonding with Linda. She started watching a second program, but I couldn’t sit still. Watching the 10 PM news before calling it a night made me happy.

Social Calendar – Linda has her Knitting Group Gathering at Panera Bread this evening. I am going to try and do some of the tasks that I didn’t get to on Tuesday, but I might do another day of procrastination. Oh Darn!

Weather – We have a couple days of 40 degree weather. Santa will need a raincoat at some point during this mild weather. We might get a few snow showers on Friday, but it doesn’t look anything like Christmas should be as of this moment. Oh Darn! My wool sweaters have not been getting a workout so far.

Have a great Wednesday!
Christmas is almost here.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

The final piece of the football puzzle fell into place last night because the Pittsburgh Steelers was another team which was supposed to win during this weekend’s set of games, but they failed to do so. Their quarterback, Big Ben, was too beat up to play effectively, and this was before the game even started. Oh Darn!
Speaking of Sports – The Saturday Night Live Skit of God meeting Tim Tebow has gone viral. If you remember, I told you that Tim Tebow being on the front cover of Sports Illustrated was the “Kiss of Death.” If a person or a team makes the front cover of the Magazine, they will lose their next sporting contest. Well, that is what happened to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos at the hands of the New England Patriots. Go Patriots!

My father was sitting in his wheel chair when I visited him on Monday with a sling around his left shoulder to ease the pain of his broken collar bone. The nurse was trying to make an appointment for dad to see a doctor from Orthopedics when I left the nursing home. My father told me that he was told that normally the doctors don’t operate on broken collar bones like he has.
Dad was in good spirits even though he had a split lip, and was in pain when he tried lifting his arm. He didn’t take any pain medication, but I am surmising that he took something last night so he could go to sleep. I have two therapy sessions this morning with the first one starting at 7:30 AM. After my second one is done, I will bring dad his favorite newspaper, the New York Daily News! He has the Berkshire Eagle delivered to his room each morning. I will keep you updated!

It is a balmy 36 degrees right now, but the temperatures are going down instead of up today. The temperatures will hover around the 32 degree mark after this morning’s high of 36 degrees.

Linda was a Domestic Goddess on Monday, but she has more baking to do. She was so exhausted when she stopped working around 2:30 PM that every body part of hers was aching. I told her that she should be going to therapy along with me. She took a shower thinking that it would perk her up, but her body still ached. She decided to call a girlfriend up to do some last minute recreational shopping thinking that her shopping would help to distract her from the pain which she was experiencing. Her and her girlfriend ended the evening going out to eat. Linda wanted someone to wait on her for a change!
If we were both working, the bakeries at our local grocery stores would do all the baking for us.
Linda made Rum Balls for the first time from a recipe from one of her knitters’ blogs. I must say that they came out spectacular. She enjoyed making them so much that she might make another batch before this week is over. I did sample a couple of the Rum Balls, and they were delicious. These rum balls might be the new dessert that she will bring when we are invited to parties.

My UNICO membership meeting went well. The small room in the bottom of the Old Forge was packed with almost 80 members. This turnout is the largest one that we have because the food which they serve us is wonderful. A good time was had by all!

I think that I am going to make a batch of pizzelles tomorrow morning since I don’t have another therapy session until Friday. This is another task where I do not need to be supervised. We have an Italian made pizzelle maker that makes two of these epicurean delights at a time. Yes, we can purchase them at all the grocery stores, but I like telling people that they are homemade.

Social Calendar – Linda has her usual Tuesday Mah Jongg session where she leaves the house to be at the host’s home at 11:30 AM. They bring their own lunches to the host’s home, and then the women play Mah Jongg for about 4 hours.
I have a free social calendar today, but I have to cut up boxes in the garage because the boxes are taking up so much space. I also have to straighten out the bar area of my Man Cave because there is clutter everywhere. I always like to be prepared for impromptu Patriot Party especially this year since the Patriots have made it into the playoffs.

Politics – There is some last minute budget wrangling taking place to keep government running for a while. Could the Democrats and the Republicans actually be arriving at a mutually acceptable compromise?

Well, I have to end this email, read the local newspaper, and head off to my first therapy session.

Have a great Tuesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Monday

Dear Friends,



I would like to start this e-mail on a positive note, but it isn’t going to happen! I was in sleep mode last evening when the telephone rang at our house. Linda was still up knitting, and watching her favorite programs. My sister was on the telephone, and said that she was at the Emergency Room with dad. He fell in the bathroom of the nursing home and broke his collar bone, and so much for my sister and I getting my father back in his own home for Christmas. Oh Darn! After he was examined in the nursing home, my sister told Linda that dad would be sent back to Greylock Nursing home.



On a happier note the two parties which we attended on Sunday went well. There was much food, fun, and merriment at the parties.



Sports -- The Patriots putting a damper on Tim Tebow mania brought joy to my heart. This past Sunday almost all the teams which were supposed to win lost their games. The Green Bay Packers had a schedule in which they could have gone undefeated, and they even lost to one of the worst teams in football, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs fired their head coach last week, and the interim coach led the Chiefs to victory. This interim coach used to be one of the coaches on some of Patriot Super Bowl teams.

The Jets, Giants, and Ravens were some of those other teams which were supposed to win their games, but neither could get the job done. Oh Darn! Since these other teams lost, the Patriots clinched their division, and I think that they will have a bye week in the playoffs.



The Patriots have two games left in the season, and they both are home games for the Patriots; Miami during the day on Christmas Eve, and the following Sunday on New Years Day against the Buffalo Bills (who beat the Patriots early in the season in Buffalo at the game which Linda and I attended). This Saturday’s game I will be watching at my son’s home in Tewksbury, and on New Years Day I will be watching the game in my Man Cave.



I see where the 69 year old leader of North Korea passed away. The world is waiting to see if his son will be the next leader of North Korea. Wouldn’t it be great if North and South Korea under new leadership could bring the North and South Korea together like what happened between East and West Germany many years ago? North Korea can’t even produce enough food to feed its people.



I also watched a video of some Kayakers who purposely went over this huge water falls in Alabama. They had video camera attached to their equipment. These no fear males in their early twenties didn’t get hurt or freeze to death in the 40 degree water temperatures. Do you think that these guys could get life insurance policies? What company would insure these daredevils?


Social Calendar – Linda has baking on her mind, and no commitments on her social calendar.

I will be leaving the house first again, and I will be heading to see how sore dad is this morning after his fall on Sunday night.

I will come home and see if Linda needs help with all the items whcih she is planning on making. I will at least wash the bowls and cookie sheets, bunt cake pan, etc.

I am definitely taking an afternoon nap before heading out to my UNICO membership / dinner meeting at 6 PM this evening. I have two sporting contests to watch this evening; the Boston Bruins doing battle against the Montreal Canadians, and Monday Night Football. I want to be able to stay up and watch both sporting contests.


I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year since these holidays are right around the corner.

Have a great week at work or play!

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,



We had a quiet day on Saturday. I did make two batches of meatballs; some for Christmas Parties, and some for personal use. Linda did some errands after we attended the Italian American Club members’ party. The food at this event was spectacular, and it was a “diet buster” for sure. We arrived a little late, and they hadn’t even served any of the buffet line food. The hall was packed, and we sat at the last available table furthest from the buffet line. Since there were so many people, they called individual tables to come to the double sided buffet line. Our table was the third one to be called. We gorged ourselves so that we didn’t have any desire to make or go out for supper.

Linda decided to drop me off at home while she did some errands, and I made a half batch of smaller meatballs which could be used for a Swedish Meatball dish. I had the Boston Bruins game on while I was working in the kitchen. The Bruins win yesterday afternoon propelled them into first place in the Eastern Division.



Once Linda came home from some of her errands, and I finished my meatball making, we decided to stay home for a change, and we spent the evening together. We watched some previous recorded cop and lawyer type shows instead of me heading to my Man Cave to watch some sporting contests. I lasted until 11 PM before my napless body was ready to call it a night.



Speaking of my Man Cave, a Mall in our country created a Man’s Den so that husbands, and male significant others have a refuge to go to when shopping. For our small Berkshire Mall located in Lanesboro, the Bennigans’ bar is good enough for me.



Our son Kevin called last night, and gave us more information about the Boston Globe article which will NOT be in Sunday’s newspaper. He said that the Globe sent a crew to take pictures of Kevin and Dough East Boston. The article, hopefully with pictures, will be featured in the Wednesday Boston Globe in an article called “Cheep Eats”. If you don’t purchase the Boston Globe, you can find the article this Wednesday on the computer if you go to the Bostonglobe.com website. I will be at Palmer’s Variety this coming Wednesday to purchase multiple copies of the Boston Globe.

The good news for Dough East Boston doesn’t end there. Kevin’s partner was off to a restaurant last night with his wife, and he saw Billy Costa. Billy Costa has a weekly Boston based television program called “T.V. Diner”. He goes around the Northeast region and evaluates restaurants and diners. If Kevin and his partner are lucky enough, Dough East Boston might be featured on one of their shows. Kevin’s partner went up to Billy Costa, and told him about Dough East Boston. Billy Costa said that he and his crew might do a whole article on restaurants in East Boston which they haven’t done for a while. Do you realize how much that this free advertising is worth, and how it could help such a small operation like Dough East Boston? Dough has already been featured on the Phantom Gourmet program a couple of years ago. Every time they do a rebroadcast of the Phantom Gourmet program that Kevin was on, the telephone in the restaurant never stops ringing.

Like I said before in previous emails, Linda and I have a couple of talented sons. Kevin’s stars are nothing but looking upwards while our other son is flying with the stars as a member of the United States Air Force.



It is hard to believe that Christmas is only a week away. At this time next week, we will be in Tewksbury celebrating Christmas with Kevin, Kyla, and Max. I can’t wait for that day to arrive!



Social Calendar – I will skim the Sunday newspapers; visit with Dad in the nursing home, come home and get ready for two Christmas Parties which are timed perfectly. The ITAM Members party goes from 1 PM to 3 PM, and the Berkshire Hills Country Club members party goes from 3 PM to 5 PM. The Patriots game starts at 4:15 PM. I am hoping that the Patriots are able to put an end to Tim Tebow mania. Linda never did get to make any cookies on Saturday since I tied up the kitchen making and eventually freezing a double batch of meatballs. If she doesn’t do any baking today, her Monday looks kind of free. I have a UNICO Membership dinner meeting on Monday at 6 PM, and that is it on our Monday social calendar as of right now. Sometimes, Linda is called upon to be a substitute player for Mah Jongg for a different group of women.



I watch a video online about a cat inheriting $13 million dollars from it owner who passed away, and she had no relatives or friends to give it to. During the video, the person doing the show said that there was a dog in Germany which holds the record of inheritance dollars. This dog is worth $300 million dollars.



One of the guys at our table last night introduced himself to Linda and me. The man and I know each other by sight since we both belong to the Berkshire Hills Country Club. I finally got to know his name yesterday. He told us how difficult it was after his wife passed away several years ago. It took him four years to return to his normal retiree activities. He said the pain of losing his wife was still there. He told us that they would have been married for 61 years if his wife was alive today. I don’t know why I brought up this sad thing when my email day has all positive stuff in it today. I guess that I am observing things that none of us married people want to go through, but it is a fact of life. My dad will be going home possibly as early as next week. He too will be going home to an empty house because he lost his wife of 65 years.



Well, the Sunday newspapers will arrive any minute now. I will skim them and do some quiet activities before Linda wakes up.

Have a great day even though the temperatures in the Berkshires will not even reach the 30 degree mark.

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday morning

Dear Friends,

After my morning therapy, and a visit with Dad for a little more than an hour, I cam home to wash some soiled UNICO aprons and towels. Linda only had four people at her breakfast, and my presence was really needed to perk up the small group. Too bad that my therapy session and her breakfast were at the same time. Oh Darn!

While I was doing my thing, Linda went off to the grocery store to get some baking items, and the three ground meats which I am going to use to make meats right after sending this e-mail. Making meatballs is a quiet activity until the good odors start permeating the house and enter the master bedroom. Even if a person is in a state of slumber, you can sleep through the smell of someone cooking meatballs. Oh Darn!

We only have one social engagement today and two on Sunday. The Italian American Club has it members’ luncheon from noon until 3 PM. There will be a huge selection of epicurean delights for sure. I would love to take in a whole bunch of plastic containers and fill them up to the brim. This is frowned upon by the club. This is a no charge event which makes it even better! The club does allow non Italian to join, but you are classified as an honorary member, and as such you can’t become an officer of the club or can’t vote in any elections. You can participate in club activities, and be part of such things as the BOCCE leagues, attend Casino trips, enter baseball pools, and have beverages in the members’ lounge, etc. The dues for membership is $40 per person.

Someone asked if a non Italians can join UNICO, the answer is still “yes”, but the officer and voting restrictions are the same as the Italian American Club. Also if either spouse is Italian heritage, you can be a member of UNICO as a full fledged member. The dues for UNICO membership is $200 per year and $65 for an application fee. The $200 may seem high, but there are 9 meals throughout the year at Membership meeting nights at a cost of $25 per meal. Honorary members don’t pay the $200 per year, but they do have to pay the $25 per meal when they attend the membership meeting. We have a membership meeting at the The Old Forge on Monday night, and it is once of the best meals that we have all year. The largest number of members attend this December meeting because the food is to die for.

Do you see a little problem for the Curley Lad when the doctor told me to lose weight during my physical when all the clubs that we belong to have food related functions?

The ITAM (Sons and Daughters of Italy) charges $50 per year, and they too have honorary memberships for non Italians. The honorary members pay the same $50, and but they can’t run for office and can’t vote in elections. They can participate in all club functions.

The Irish American Club organization charges only $15 per year to become a member, and I think that you do have to have some Irish blood to become a full fledged member.

The Irish Sister City Committee charges $20 per year. At one point I thought that you had to have some Irish Heritage to become a member, but I found out that Irish descent was not a requirement. Even though I didn’t agree with the lack of Irish heritage to become a member, this organization has a restriction on how many people can be members we can have because of liability coverage.

Linda and I belong to all of the above mentioned organizations except Linda has not expressed a desire to join UNICO even though females are allowed to join. She has Italian and Irish blood running through her veins like I do.

I see where Kobe Bryant, the star of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team, and his wife are getting a divorce. Some of you may remember that a few years ago he got himself in trouble trying to get a sexual favor form a hotel worker. He bought a $2 million dollar piece of jewelry to repair the damage he caused to his wife and marriage. Well, he must be back to his old ways because his wife has filed papers for a divorce. Oh Darn!

Well, I have to cut this email short, and get mixing, and start cooking those meat balls after I read the local newspaper.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

I am moving a little slowly today because I over indulged in food and beverages on Thursday. I did accomplish everything I set out to do, but it was a long day.
The Pizza Party for Big Brothers and Big Sisters was okay, but not great because it wasn’t well attended. We UNICO members did what we were asked to do. The pizzas and make your own Sundays’ ice creams were great. The one Pizza made just for we UNICO members was spectacular, and half of the pizza had anchovies on it. Some members brought some home made wine, and one member brought his own Anisette (better than Sambuca), and grappa was its base. It could rival any store bought variety. Of course, I should have gone directly home after the Big Brothers and Big Sisters party, but I didn’t! I went off to Patrick’s Pub until 10 PM. I was with a few Irish Sister City Committee friends listening to our favorite local band called Rakish Paddy. As the 10 PM hour approached, I decided that my mind and body needed some rest.
Linda was supposed to join me at Patrick’s, but her and her girlfriends chatted the night away at Mazzeo’s Ristorante from 6 PM until almost 10 PM. Linda was too tired to socialize any more, and she went directly home instead of joining me and our Irish Sister City friends. She made a smart move by attending only one function.

We are both going out the door this morning at almost the same time. Today is the once a month Pittsfield High School Retiree breakfast at Misty Moonlight Diner. I attended this function last month and was all set to join them today, but I have hand therapy session today. As a matter of fact, the Pittsfield High School secretaries had their Christmas Party at Patrick’s Pub last night, and one lady asked if I was going to join them this morning for breakfast. I told her that I wanted to, but that I had an appointment. Oh Darn!
We have several things to do today, and it might be one of those go out to the groceries stores together. We also have to make sure that we have all of our cooking and baking supplies for next week. A lot of cooking and baking will be taking place. I am in charge of making meat balls, and freezing them after they are cooked in small batches. We are going to use some of the meatballs when we head off to the multiple parties which we were invited to. The rest of the meatballs we usually put a handful in the red sauce when it is pasta night in our house.

Pension Reform – I just received my monthly Massachusetts State and Municipal Retirees newsletter. In April of 2012, the Pension Reform Act III goes into effect. The new law says that you can’t retire before age 60, and you can’t get full retirement benefits until your 67 years old. I have a friend who has submitted paperwork so that he can retire at the end of this school year. I am wondering if he is grandfathered, or if he is affected by this legislation. My friend told me that he is ready to retire, but could he have to work two more years? Linda and I are so glad that this legislation was not in place when we retired. If we were bound by this law, I would still be teaching until age 67. I would have been in the classroom for 43 years. I think that the 36 years of teaching that I had when I walked out the door in June of 2004 was long enough. The seven years + of retirement that I have been enjoying has been wonderful. If I was 67 years old when I walked out the door, I would probably die soon after retirement from the stress of teaching. Could this be what the law and the State wants to happen so that they don’t have to pay a person’s pension for too many years? I can’t visualize trying teach 14 to 18 year old children for 43 years. I would probably have to be wheeled into the classroom during the last few years of my teaching career or at least be walking with a cane. What would a 67 year person have in common with a 14 to 18 year old student? This act is supposed to save the State $10 billion dollars over the next 20 or 30 years, but it is always on the backs of its employees. What motivation would a young person have to enter the teaching ranks knowing that the maximum pension benefits won’t be attainable until age 67? Teaching is a young person’s job!
I really do hope that my friend mentioned above can retire at maximum benefits this year when he will be 65 years old. He did have a chance to sign up for Early Incentive to Retire about 10 years ago, but he had children who were college bound so early retirement was the farthest thing from his mind. He could have signed up for it and still kept teaching, and could have gone out the door when he was mentally ready to do so. The early retirement incentive has also changed, and it is more difficult financially to retire when Linda and I did. Oh Darn!
This is another reason why I say “Life is Good”, and count my lucky stars that everything fell into place when Linda and I decided to call it a career!

Well, the wind is howling. The outdoor chimes are actually playing a tune. Our seasonal flag next to the front door is ready to snap in two.
I have to read the local newspaper, and get dressed. I am going to take dad his newspaper, and then go to therapy. The nursing home is 5 minutes away from where I go to therapy.

Have a great weekend!
Christmas is a little over a week away!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Another day went as planned in Curleyworld from the start of the day to the end of the day.

Linda and I are going in opposite directions once again this evening, but we might meet at Patrick’s Pub as the night comes to a close. I have a single Physical Therapy session, a visit with Dad, and aUNICO prepared Pizza Party / Christmas Party during the supper hour for the local Big Brothers and Big Sisters children and their sponsors. We purchase the pizza shells from a local bakery, and then we add the ingredients, and cook the pizzas in the oven. Of course we make some pizzas for the work crew. One for sure which we make is loaded with garlic and anchovies. There are a couple of us UNICAN’s that always having a craving for what Linda calls “those hairy little fish!” I love anchovies, but Linda is not a fan of them. We also provide a salad. For dessert we have the ingredients for a “Make your own Sunday!” I think that I might violate the request of my doctor to control the portion and the type of food which I consume. Are pizza and ice cream from the vegetable food group?

Linda and some girlfriends, who all had children at the same time that our son Kevin was born, will be at Mazzeo’s Ristorante while I am at the Italian American Club event.

The evening doesn’t end when the Big Brothers and Big Sisters event, and Linda’s dinner comes to an end. We are going to meet at Patrick’s Pub for more fun and merriment as we listen to a local Irish Band called Rakish Paddy. I didn’t use the word food because we should be full after attending both of our food related events.

I spent several hours writing out Christmas cards yesterday at a cost that I won’t tell you. While in the Post Office, I saw an Irish friend and author of a couple of books (which I have read). When he saw the stack of Christmas cards he gasped, but I tried to explain why I have so many. I didn’t send them out to everyone, but we have several friends and relatives who live alone or whom live miles away from Pittsfield, and I thought that it would be appropriate to send them a card. My Irish friend said that “ Curley, You are the Man!” I think that the money which I spent in stamps was worth the investment.

Warm temperatures and rain are in the forecast instead of snow. Linda and I want snow now and for Christmas, but I am not sure if it will happen by next weekend.

While I was in my car yesterday, I heard a report form the National Weather Prognosticators in which they admitted long term forecasts have not been accurate. They have been so inaccurate that they are going to stop making them. We might as well rely on the Farmers Almanac or count the rings on the wooly caterpillars in the fall. I could tell you one thing, my arthritic left knee last night told me that a change in the weather which was coming, and it is drizzling out right now.

It was good to see that our troops finally pulled out of the 8.5 year campaign in Iraq. Now we are working on getting our troops out of Afghanistan. I am wondering what country we will be sending our military next.

The rest of the news which I saw on the CNN wires was the same old same old! Our local news is not immune to violence. There was a front page article of two young 20 year old females beating up a 29 year old pregnant woman. They threw a blender through the window of the victim’s car. They purposely hit the woman in the stomach trying to kill the baby. I am surmising that the pregnant woman must have gotten pregnant by the boyfriend of one of the two other women. A person driving by came to the rescue of the pregnant woman. Of course, the two women are not in jail, and were told to stay away from the victim until their trial occurs. Did you see the warped mentality of the perpetrators? Instead of dumping the unfaithful boyfriend, they two women had to attack the pregnant woman.

Speaking of being pregnant, there also was a report that more women are bypassing the institution of marriage and are having children anyways. From the report, 4 out of 10 women are having children while in the unmarried state. It is one thing if the man and woman stay together and raise their children, but without a legal document, the man can walk out of the situation without blinking an eye. Who do you think will end up paying for all these children? My contention is that raising a child with one parent is an almost impossible task. Yes, I know that there some super single parent moms out there, but I would like them to tell me just how difficult it is to be a single parent. As an example of how nice it is to have a partner, the other day our son was home with his son on our son’s day off. His wife went to work as usual, and came home to a meal prepared by our son. How many single Mom’s would love for that to happen in their lives.
What if the single Mom wants to go out and do a little shopping or go off for a body maintenance procedure? She has to find some one to watch her child, or drop the child off at the Grandparents if they live nearby. You have to convince me that this having a baby and bypassing the institution of marriage is wonderful concept!

Observation -- While writing out Christmas Cards, I had the radio on with our friend who is the talk show host of the 3 hour program. They were discussing the Washington grid lock. One of the amendments to the latest bill was allowing some more oil pipeline work (submitted by the Republicans). The talk show host was ranting about enough with all the environmental studies, just get the pipeline project going. I really don’t trust any of the studies put fourth by the Republicans who support the oil barons. I don’t like companies messing up our environment one bit. I am not a fan of Fracking, and Windmills either. When reports are given about Fracking, I don’t believe that they are environmentally safe. I don’t want the beautiful Berkshire Landscape to be dotted with Windmills. The people who built homes in the middle of the woods did so to have piece and quiet, and to be surrounded by nature. Wind Mills are not quiet and natural. I would rather pay for the oil produced in other countries. If these countries want to take a chance in polluting their environment, then so be it. Destroying the jungles and rain forests to get at natural resources is another thing which I don’t support.

We had an unmarked Police cruiser sitting a few doors north of us for a good portion of the afternoon and evening on Wednesday. A man got hit by a car at the intersection of MacIntosh and Winesap the other day. A stop sign was put up several years ago to slow down traffic on Winesap. Many people on the street hate the stop sign and go right through it (not me). Our neighborhood watch president must have called the police to monitor the situation. The driver of the car turned himself in, and victim wasn’t hurt seriously, but I am not sure about mentally.

Our Pittsfield City taxes look like they could be heading for an increase. I can’t wait for today’s talk show callers ranting and raving about the increase. Can anyone name anything in their lives which hasn’t seen an increase? Even my sunflower seeds for my birds, which most people would consider a waste, have seen a $5 to $8 dollar increase.

I did get a chance to watch the Boston Bruins Hockey team win a game in Ottawa, Canada last evening.

My Sports Illustrated magazine came in the mail yesterday. Tim Tebow was on the front cover of the Magazine. Most of the time when athletes make the front covers of the magazine; it is the “Kiss of Death!” The next sporting contest is a loss for that player and his team. The Patriots do battle at 4:15 PM on Sunday against Tim and his team, the Denver Broncos. Let us seem if the “Kiss of Death” anomaly rings true!

Well, I have to finish reading the newspaper and get dressed for Therapy and a visit with dad.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Tuesday

Dear Friends,

Linda and I had another day go as planned on Monday. Almost everything on our “To Do” list got accomplished.

When I visited Dad at the nursing home on Monday, the therapist was whisking him off to therapy as I entered his room. I dropped off his newspaper, and said that I would return for a visit in the afternoon, but that didn’t happen. I went directly home and started another round of wrapping in my Man Cave, but this time I had Linda supervising me. We pretty much wrapped presents from 9:30 AM until 2:30 PM. Linda did make us a sandwich for lunch, but we quickly ate them at our wrapping stations in the basement. I had to go out to a store and locate boxes to put some of the wrapped treasures in. I was so exhausted that I needed an afternoon nap. My head hit the pillow a little after 3 PM.

When I freshened up after my nap, Linda and I headed out the door to the next event on our social calendar. This was a farewell party for our out going Mayor at the Lichtenstein Arts Center on Rennie Ave. in Pittsfield. This was a fun time, but we had to leave before this party had concluded. The party was sponsored by the Sister City Commission. The Mayor was given gifts / recognition from the Irish, Italian, and Nicaraguan Sister cities. There was much food, fun, and merriment that Linda and I had to give up before we left for our next social engagement. I went off to a UNICO board meeting which lasted for an hour and twenty minutes. Linda went off to a session of Mah Jongg at a friend’s house while I was at the meeting. I missed the Gnocchi dinner at the Italian American Club, but I had a leftover piece of Lasagna at home from the Sunday night house Party which we attended.

I tried watching the Monday Night Football game, but it was an awful match up of two teams which are going nowhere.
The Game that I can’t wait for is the match up between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots on this Sunday at 4:15 PM. Denver has been on this winning roll behind their super religious quarterback Tim Tebow. The game will be played in Denver, and it should be on National Television. Sunday is a two Christmas Party day for the Curley’s so I am trying to figure out how I will be able to watch the Game. I might have to record the game. Oh Darn!

Politics – I see where Dick Cheney was making comments about the Drone that was shot down by Iran. Dick contends that there were three options available for the President, one of which was to blow up the drone so that Iran couldn’t use the technology. Another was to send in military personnel to retrieve the drone, but Dick contends that our President did nothing. I imagine that there will be some Whitehouse response to the situation because of his comments.

Newt said that he would deal better with the fidelity issue in his life as he takes a run at President Obama. Oh Joy!

Observation – As I was wrapping presents, I got to thinking about the Christmas Holiday. For us Christians, the Holiday was supposed to be centered around the birth of Christ, and the focus on the family, and the joy as the family struggles through life. Do you think that we Americans might have lost our focus a bit? Record spending across the nation has been taking place for “things”, and we might have been caught up in it too. We might not have spent much for ourselves, but I think that our grandchildren might have been spoiled a bit! Isn’t that what grandparents are supposed to do?
As we celebrate Christmas with friends and relatives, we do realize that there is a large segment of our populations who have nothing. Survival is the only things that are on their minds.
Also there are some families who are experiencing the loss of a loved one, and there will be an empty seat or two around their dinner table.
We hope and pray that people can find some kind of joy no matter what their situation is.

Social Calendar – I have a full day on tap for this Tuesday; visit with dad, two therapy sessions, an annual physical, and the Annual Greylock Federal Credit Union Christmas Party located at their West Street Branch. I am not sure if I will have the stamina for the last event since my physical takes place during my afternoon nap time. Linda has her usual Tuesday Mah Jongg session at a friend’s home, and a book club Christmas Party this evening. This will be a second night where we will be heading in opposite directions.

Today is also a special day for our son Michael and his wife Danielle. On this day, in 2002, they were married for the first time in Las Vegas. They got married because Danielle was heading off to Iraq with her A 10 squadron from Pope Air Force Base. At the time, Linda and I flew out to Las Vegas and attended this Wedding Chapel event. Mike and Danielle got married in a Church wedding, which was postponed because of the Iraq war, a couple years later in Danielle’s home State of Minnesota. Not everyone gets a chance to be married twice to the same person.

Our son Kevin said that one day last week a person came into his restaurant when he was working, and this guy ordered some food. Kevin doesn’t remember the guy at all. Well, yesterday he gets a telephone call from the Boston Globe. The guy loved whatever Kevin served the guy. There might be an article this weekend in the Sunday Globe about Kevin’s Restaurant. Linda and I have the Sunday Globe delivered to the house. I can’t wait to read the review about Kevin and Dough East Boston!

Do the Curley’s have talented children; one is a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force flying A 10 Thunderbolts, and the other is making a name for himself in the restaurant business. Of course they have two talented wives and children to make their lives complete.

This is why I always say “Life is Good!”

Have a great day at work or play!
As the Knights of Columbus always say at this time of the year, “Keep “Christ” in Christmas!”

Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Sunday

Dear Friends,

Another day in Curleyworld went very well. I left the house at 10 AM to visit dad before heading off at 11:50 AM to the Veteran’s Tree Ceremony at the Veteran’s Monument off of South Street in Pittsfield. The Dwyer Funeral Home Family was in charge of arrangements. The plan was to have family members hang an ornament on the tree (which the Dwyer’s donated and staked to the ground) as the name(s) of a loved one was read. Well, things changed, and a few of us Irish Sister City Committee members hung some glass ornaments with the name of the loved one on the ornament. The speaking ceremony was short, and this was very good since it was quite windy and cold before and during the ceremony. The starting time for the ceremony was 1 PM. We Irish Sister City Members were there to help set up, and pass out coffee and doughnuts. I did hang two ornaments: one for my Uncle Bernard Curley (U.S. Army), and my brother Michael Anthony Curley (U.S. Marines) who are both deceased.

I couldn’t stay after the ceremony concluded because I had promised Linda that I would go shopping with her for a few last minute items. Shopping with Linda turned out to be quite an adventure. I started to fade after about 3 hours. We ended up at the Shamrock for supper, and we just missed the start of the luminary / Christmas Parade down the main street in Dalton. We socialized with several people at the bar before we got seated. I said hello to a couple whom we know through our Dalton friends. The husband decided to go back to work after he retired. He is enjoying a job at as custodian in an elementary school as opposed to sitting at a desk during a large portion of his former life’s work.

Could Linda and I be weird because we like not being employed? Maybe we could get a job as life coaches, and teach people who are thinking about retiring how to plan and what to do during retirement. Working after retirement is the farthest thing on our minds. As a matter of fact, Linda received a telephone call the other day and was asked to coordinate a Middle School Science Fair. When it came down to paying her, the person on the telephone said that she would receive a $2500 stipend. To someone unemployed that might sound like a reasonable fee, but unless you have gone through the process of running a science fair, the fee would not pay for how difficult it is to do the job correctly. It is worth at least $10,000 to do the job. When people ask teachers to do such things, they think that you love children so much that you will take the few crumbs that they throw at you. Not! A few years ago, an educational administrator retired. The school system paid that person over $220 per day until they found a replacement. This was not a bad rate of pay for the several months that she worked.

We ended up having the Prime Rib special at the Shamrock which we thought was overcooked even though we ordered it medium rare. I think that we will stick with the Shamrock’s seafood on a Friday nights.

I will be leaving the house first once again today. I am heading off to Carr Hardware, and purchasing a second bag of black oil sunflower seeds (40 pounds). If you spend $25, you get $5 off with a coupon that you can print out on your computer. The price of bird seed has sky rocketed during the past year. Carr’s has the best deal in town at the present time. This is a local homegrown hardware store that has survived the assault of the big box stores.

When I arrive aback home, we will be heading of to B.J.’s Warehouse for a few food items in the appetizer section of the store. I have the 1 PM Patriot Game to keep me occupied until we head off to a 4 PM house party at a friend’s home. These appetizers are for another party, and not the one which we are attending today. I might even wrap presents while watching the football game.

Linda and I have an extremely busy week coming up, and we have no days of rest. Both of us doing something every day during the day. We are going out as a couple or sometime alone during the evening. One day we can’t attend all the events that we have booked in. Like I always say, no moss has a chance to grow under our feet.

While we were in the stores yesterday, I didn’t see a downturn in our economy. People had shopping baskets full of stuff no matter which store that we went into.

The world is in its usual turmoil. Our troops are abandoning the U. S. base in Pakistan. The killing of innocent people by a Drone pushed Pakistan over the edge.

Well, I have to cut this email short, and do some things around the house (Quietly) before I head out the door.
Have a great Sunday.
As you see, the Curley’s have a busy one for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday

Dear Friends,

Another day in CurleyWorld went as planned. The best part of the day was the gala at the Seven Hills Resort in Lenox. The gala was to raise funds for a battered women’s support program. Our bids were not accepted on a couple of items of the silent auction. The regular auction was for people of considerable means which didn’t include the people at The Purple Plume table. This total open bar affair was great! Linda and I had the beef selection, and our beef was the type that I usually cook in our crock pot. The beef was from a boneless pot roast. The only negative was the food wasn’t that warm, but it was flavorful.

The ladies at our table were dressed magnificently. I wore a black tux like suit so I could fit in with the rich and famous. Some people thought that I was a high roller. The only thing I did was to roll up to the bar!

Of course I ran into a good deal of people who I grew up in Lee / Lenox area. One guy quizzed me before telling me his name because I didn’t recognize who he was. He is the owner of the Dresser Hull Lumber Company in Lee which has been in Lee for what seems forever. I told him that I didn’t recognize him because he didn’t have much hair. His wife took my side of the discussion. As we chatted, He told me that he is one of those guys who will work until he passes away. He told me that he could never retiree. I used my standard line that many for many people, retirement is not an option, and it is the daily routine of work that keeps him alive. He is a couple years older than me. He and his wife have four grandchildren like the Curley’s will soon have.

Linda ran into a woman while having a body maintenance procedure on Friday. As they were chatting, they both discovered that they were going to the same Gala. We met this woman and her significant other at the function. We found out that the woman is the sister of a former neighbor who moved to the high rent district in Pittsfield a couple of years ago. It definitely is a small world!

We are booked into only one event today. Our Irish Sister City Committee members are helping out with a tree decorating ceremony which will take place at the Veterans’ Monument located on South Street in Pittsfield. The Dwyer Funeral is sponsoring this Veterans’ event. The Dwyer Lad is also our Irish Sister City President, and an integral part of the family business. The Sister City group will be helping to pass out coffee and doughnuts at the 1 PM affair. The set up people will be meeting at 12 PM which is when I will arrive. I am not sure if Linda can make the event. She was so tired and stressed out from shopping, and purchasing presents over the past couple of weeks that she definitely needs some down time. I have to admit that I have not been an active participant. Also, if you saw our social calendar for next week, there aren’t many free days or evenings for either of us. We sometimes have triple events booked in each day, and we have to make some serious choices of which events that we just can’t make.

After the ceremony, I think that Linda have to spend some together moments shopping for some food items and some last minute gifts. Linda has been using those J.C. Penny and Macy coupons on a daily basis. Every day new ones come in the mail, and she just can’t throw them away. She came home with a bag full of Franny clothes yesterday at bargain prices, and I am not waiting until Christmas to wear them.

I slept until 7:23 AM this morning which is highly unusual for me. It could have been from the therapist jumping on my body while intending to straighten out my leg. Oops, this doesn’t sound right, does it? What I meant to say is that she was working my left leg that I have lost the ability to straighten our completely because of arthritis. The therapist said that with at least 6 sessions, the leg should almost return to its natural state. The hand & arm therapist was a different story. I felt like I was at a spa as she played with my fingers and right arm.
I once again ran into some former teachers whose bodies need a little work on. I am not the only one who needs the healthcare system at this point in our lives.

If you haven’t started shopping, you better get out there this week.
I know Kevin and Kyla are going out to find another 11 foot Christmas tree this weekend.
They would normally have one already in their home, but the trip to Disney last weekend, and Kyla’s conference in Orlando put a damper on their plans.
I did suggest to Kevin, when I was baby sitting, to get a smaller tree. I soon realized not to butt into the way Kevin and Kyla do things in their lives.

Well, it is little after 9 AM as I end this email.
Have a great weekend!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,



Another day went as planned in Curleyworld, but my body is aching right now from being on my feet from 12:30 PM until about 7:30 PM when the Pasta Fundraiser was over.

My car is loaded with UNICO supplies that we didn’t use that I have to return to our storage space this morning before I head off to my two sessions of Therapy. I have to bring Dad his favorite newspaper at the nursing home before I return home.



When I arrive home, I have to select an appropriate wardrobe for the Gala which we are attending tonight at the Seven Hills Resort in Lenox. I would like to be able to squeeze in an afternoon nap which I wasn’t able to do yesterday. We are meeting another couple at 6 PM.



The Pasta Fundraiser went well last evening even though it started off slow. At 6 PM the only people in the main hall at the ITAM were the hockey players for which the benefit was for. A little after 6 PM, the hall filled up with close to 200 people. We just about made it through serving that many people after we were told to expect 150 guests. If any of the workers wanted a meatball, there were none left when we shut down the kitchen. The white and red pastas were gone too. One lady got in line around 7 PM, and was really upset because there was no food left in the buffet line. Oh Darn!



I did leave the fundraiser and headed toward Patrick’s Pub, but I never went in. If I found a parking place in front of the Pub, I would have parked my car and gone in to listen to a band and party with my Irish Sister City Friends. I didn’t have the energy to park the car a little ways from the Pub, and walk to the PUB because my legs were going into shut down mode. I did catch a couple periods of the Boston Bruins losing their second game in a row. I think that I should have gone into the Pub.



Linda arrived home from her Book Club dinner meeting at a friend’s house a little after 9 PM, but I was too tired to communicate with her, so I went to bed and watched the last period of the game.



Sports – Another baseball player has entered the ranks of the super rich. Albert Pujols signed a baseball contract worth about $250 million dollars. The age of the player is supposedly 32 years old, and the contract is for 10 years. I used the word supposedly because people like David Ortiz from the Red Sox, who was born in the Dominican Republic, said that players from his country often could have a two or three year discrepancy in their actual age. The baseball players might be a few years older than they really are. Also, it is sad to say that when athletes reach the age of 35, their careers are on the downside. A 35 year old athlete can’t compete like he could when he was in his mid 20’s. Albert signed with the Angels which meant he will be on a team which will be playing against the Red Sox. We here in the Northeast will see if Albert is worth the money which they threw at him to leave his previous team.



It is a balmy 24 degrees here in the Berkshires right now. We are going to warm up into the 40’s before the temperature drop into the 20’s once again this evening. A friend’s sister is visiting her in the Berkshires. When the snow fell yesterday, and the cool wind was blowing for most of the day on Thursday, this woman was longing for her home in Florida. She longed to wear her summer weight clothes, and see the palm trees on her property. She was longing to sit by her pool and have a margarita instead of drinking a “Hot Toddy” while visiting in the Berkshires. This lady grew up in the Berkshires fighting the snow and the cold, but now she wants to live in warmth. She doesn’t want to go into a closet and dig out winter jackets, gloves, scarves, hats, and boots. Oh Darn!



We told the owners of the Shamrock Restaurant and Pub last Friday that we wouldn’t be there tonight. The Friday night bar flies will miss us for sure!



I was thinking about Christmas Cards since a few have been trickling into our house the past few days. At a cost of almost 50 cents each to send a card, some friends send an email saying that they are not going to send Christmas Cards, and they will donate the money saved to their favorite charity. I sent out 80 cards plus last year which meant that is about a $40 dollars cost in stamps. Maybe I should reconsider sending out cards this year. Could the people who said that they were going to contribute to their favorite charity instead of sending cards out, please send me a copy of the receipt of the charity which they sent their donation to? Yeah Right!



Well, I am going to read the newspaper, and then go in to the garage; sort the stuff in my car, and determine which supplies are mine, and which belong to UNICO.



Have a great weekend!



Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Wednesday

Dear Friends,

Well the garage door to the Curley home opened at 7 AM this morning by me. Do you think that I might have disturbed the peace and quiet that Linda was enjoying for the past day and one half? Oh Darn!

I slithered out of Kevin and Kyla’s home at a little after 4 AM. I hope that when Max wakes up that he is not too upset that his “Papa” is not there to play with and take care of him. I did say my “Goodbyes” to Kevin before I went to bed last night.

Kevin will be dropping Max off at Daycare this morning, and opening up Dough East Boston at 10 AM. The restaurant doesn’t open until 11 AM, but he has to turn on the ovens and he has to do some prep work before the customers arrive. Kevin did say that he was busy on Tuesday as I was at their home taking care of Max. I think Kyla flies back to Logan on Thursday around 1 PM if I have her flight times correct in my short term memory brain.

As arrived closer to Pittsfield, I was in range of some local radio AM stations. I couldn’t believe that I heard the word snow in the forecast with a “Watch” from 6 PM to 6 AM on Thursday morning. When I made a rest stop on the turnpike just after the Worcester exit, the temperatures were warm. When I arrived home and unpacked my Subaru, I really should have been wearing a jacket. I just got through skimming the local newspaper, and their weather information says that we could get 4 to 8 inches of the white stuff here in the Berkshires. When the locals read that forecast, they will be heading off to the grocery stores in droves thinking that they don’t have enough food in their homes. I know that in this two person home, we have enough food and grills to cook food that could help us get through a week of bad weather. This includes beverages of all types too.

I might take a morning nap so that I can keep the house so quiet that you wouldn’t even know that I was home.

As I was driving from Tewksbury, I ran into some rain which was heavy at times. It was also very dark. This got me to thinking that I don’t like driving at night time, and I am not quite 65 yet. There were a whole bunch of trucks on the highway too that thought that I wasn’t going fast enough. Well, I couldn’t see that great, so I just let these big rigs pass me. I am trying to get up enough mental courage to drive to places like Georgia and Florida where we have so many friends and relatives which reside there. Not! Unless Linda wants to drive, I am staying with travel by airplanes and renting a car after we arrive at our destination. Linda and I do have a friend that can make those 18 to 24 hour drives like he was driving 120 miles to Boston from the Berkshires. I guess that I am just a wimp! We do have some friends who don’t like to fly at all. I am not sure what I would do if I was afraid to fly.

I also see that our local newspaper didn’t spend too much print talking about this day being Pearl Harbor Day in memory of the June 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor which got us into World War II. There aren’t many of the Veterans both male and female still alive that could relive some of those war stories. Isn’t it amazing all the suffering that took place during the war years, and now we have military bases in Japan to help protect Japanese interests. When Japan has any type of natural disaster, we Americans are there to help in what seems like a heartbeat. One minute there was total hate between two countries, and now they are our allies. So I am still trying to figure out if shedding blood on both sides on a conflict accomplishes anything. Do we ever learn from past history? It seems like each new decade bring us into another war. They had an article in our local newspaper today of a bombing in Afghanistan. This bombing didn’t kill Americans, it killed fellow Afghans.

Linda is socially engaged this evening with her Wednesday Knitting Group at Panera Bread. I have a free day and I am going to enjoy every moment of it.

Have a great Wednesday!
Keep the snow shovels handy if you live in the Berkshires!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Monday

Dear Friends,

Hope that your Sunday went well. Even though Linda and I weren’t together for both of our social engagements on Sunday, everything worked out well.

My first stop of the day was to visit Dad in the nursing home, and bring him the Sunday New York Daily News. Linda was still sleeping when I quietly left the house. When I returned home from the visit, I packed up some clothes for this week’s adventure in Tewksbury before heading off to my friend’s home to watch the 1 PM Patriot Game.
The B.J.’s warehouse chicken was wonderful. For $4.99, for a good size rotisserie chicken, it is the best buy in town. I would have purchased the chicken at a non Box grocery store, but B.J.’s sells their chickens for about 2 to 3 dollars less than at the local grocery store.

The Patriots did win their game, but they did not beat the spread of 20.5 points. When the game ended, the Patriots won by only 6 points. The Patriots played like a team that will make it to the playoffs, but who will lose in the first round. Oh Darn!

Linda had a fun time at the Red Rose Restaurant in Springfield. All the Italian food came out in huge platters that Linda said was absolutely delicious. When Linda described the type of food that they ladies were served, my rotisserie chicken didn’t sound so great.

I see where a Hong Kong woman received a divorce settlement of $154 million. When the Rich will play, they will also Pay in such matters.

Social Calendar – I have two therapy sessions this morning at the Medical Arts Complex in Pittsfield: 7:30 AM, and 8:30 AM. The therapist and I will be working on body parts so that they will hopefully be working better than they are now. The doctor who referred me to therapy said that there are no guarantees that the Therapy will help, but I decided to give it a try. After therapy, I will be heading east to pick up Kevin and Max when they arrive from their brief visit in Orlando, Florida. They fly into Logan around 3:30 PM.

When Linda said “Good night” to last night, she had a twinkle in her eye. She was already thinking about 3.5 days of me not making any demands on her, or thinking of things for her to do. She won’t have to hear me clumping around the house in the wee hours of the morning. She won’t have to hear the opening and closing of the garage door at 4:15 AM on those mornings which I choose to go off to Retro Fitness. She will be using the Curley Principle of “Separation is Good!” She will be experiencing the same feeling that I did when she went off to the Mah Jongg tournament in Atlantic City.
Linda doesn’t have 3.5 days of a totally free social calendar because she has something going every day or night of the week (Mah Jong, Knitting gathering, book club, etc.) Friday we are off to a Gala of some sort in Lenox. I know that we have a house party on Sunday. Saturday might be our only free day of the week!

I did forget to tell Linda to put the trash cans on the curb for the Wednesday pick up as well as the bottle and can recyclables this week.
Even though we do like the separation is good approach to life, there are certain things that the women need us men around for.

Well, I have to make sure that I didn’t forget anything as I finish packing up the car. I packed the recharging cords for my cell phone, and the IPad. I hope that I have time to send out my daily blog when I am in North Tewksbury, but I might not send the blog to you in the morning because I will most likely be taking care of Max.

Have a great week at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Saturday

Dear Friends,

Another day went as planned in Curley World. Everything that both of us set out to do was accomplished.

There were about 50 + of us UNICANS who attended the wake for the father of one of our members. I liked the part when we UNICAN’s were allowed to cut into a massive line to do our brief prayer service. The number of people who attended the wake at St. Mark’s Church was unbelievable. This family made an impact on our community for sure. After the short prayer service, we went through and expressed our condolences to the wife of the deceased as well as several family members. When I gave the wife of the deceased man a hug, she asked how my Mom was doing. I hope that I didn’t make her feel bad when I said: “Mom died a month ago.” This saint of a woman had been dealing with her husband’s failing health about the same time that my father was dealing with his bladder infection. I distinctly remember seeing the son of the deceased man outside the emergency room a little over a month ago. I asked him what he was doing at the hospital, and he said that they just took his dad to the emergency room. His Mom had been taking care of his dad since the time that we met in the hospital (late October), so she never caught my mother’s obituary in the local newspaper.

After the wake, Linda and I headed off to the Shamrock for some fun, food, and merriment. I did have a few things that didn’t go well at the Shamrock. The first thing was that I filled out a KENO Card using a red pen that I had with me. The KENO machine rejected my KENO form because of the red ink, so the lady had to type in all my information. The second thing that didn’t go well was my attempt to help the female bartender to open up a bottle of Red Wine with a Rabbit Device bottle opener. I spilled wine all over my sweater, the bar, and my KENO ticket and I got the cork stuck in the bottle. One of the waitresses came to my rescue and got the cork out of the bottle with a different cork puller. When we finally decided to sit down and eat, we both ordered glasses of ice water. I decided to not drink the water with a straw. I dribbled water down the front of my sweater, not once, but two times before I went back to the straw.
My difficult night did not end after we left the Shamrock. The Kia needed gas, so we pulled into a Shell gas station so that we could get the $.30 off per gallon for shopping at Stop & Shop. You needed the credit card size Stop & Shop Card to get the discount. We had the Key tag size so we couldn’t get gas unless we wanted to forgo the discount. I decided to drop Linda off at home, and get the credit card size Stop and Shop Card. When I returned to the gas pumps and went through the various steps before putting gas in the car, I still encountered a problem. I am ready to start pumping gas, but I didn’t park close enough to the gas pumps so the hose couldn’t reach the car. I had to get into the car and move forward a little. Since the time was too great between the authorization to pump gas, and me actually pumping gas, the gas pump shut itself off. I tried to start the authorization process all over again, and the machine said to check with the attendant. The attendant had to come out of his booth, and help me out. Since I was the last customer, he asked if it was okay if I pump the gas into my car in the dark. I said it was okay! When it came to the part when the machine asks if you want a receipt, I pushed the “yes” button. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see what the receipt said. I just ripped it off, and drove back home. I gave the receipt to Linda, and it was all gibberish. There were all kinds of numbers, etc., but the price of what I paid for gas was nowhere to be found on the receipt. Good thing that I remembered the correct amount. When I got home I decided that going to bed was the best thing that I should do before anything else could go wrong. Even watching television in bed didn’t go well. I fell asleep while attempting to watch television. The loud noise from some sports’ program woke me up at midnight. I was glad when I finally got back to sleep.

I did see where a small Indiana Church banned a biracial couple from their Church. Since the vote was taken to not allow the couple in the Church was taken, a more tolerant Pastor is now in charge of the Church. The white woman was actually am member of the Church choir. The white woman and the black man were planning on getting married in this Church, but I don’t know if it will happen.

Politics – President Obama got some good news which should help his re-election bid. The jobless rate was lower this past week. A second bit of good news was that the Stock Market has its biggest gain since ‘09” during this past week. Positive news can help anyone running for office. We Democrats hope that his term of office is without any scandals.

Social Calendar – Linda has set the bedroom alarm so that she can get up and head out to the first of two Crafts Fairs this morning. She is going to arrive at the doors of the Sacred Heart Crafts Fair before the doors even open. She is going after the home made Italian cookies first. There are a lot of things besides foods. There is a Chinese Raffle, and we usually win some item almost every year. Linda loves it when we get a late afternoon telephone call that we won something. She will also be heading to a Protestant Church in Dalton which has their annual Crafts Fair. I will not be Linda’s Crafts Fair buddy today. I am going off to visit dad in the nursing home while she is attending the first Crafts Fair.
This evening we are free for the moment. If we don’t hook up with anyone, we will be using one of those Restaurant Radio Auction coupons. We have several of them to choose from.

Linda is socially engaged on Sunday afternoon into the evening. I will be watching NFL football games from 1 PM through Sunday Night Football. The Patriots play at 1 PM. It will be another party with myself in my Man Cave. I might get a rotisserie chicken from B.J.’s Warehouse, and snack on it all day and night long! For $4.99, and some vegetables which we have in our house, it will be one pleasant day for The Curley Lad.

Have a great Saturday!
The Curley’s will be having one for sure.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Friday

Dear Friends,

Another day went as planned in Curleyworld, and there were no bumps in the road.

I did forget that Linda had a body maintenance procedure at 10:30 AM, but everything else during the day went well.

My first task of the day was to straighten the small storage area that we have in the basement so that Linda could get at Christmas labeled buckets, and so that we could get at shelves which have household and food items. It took me close to three hours to do that task.

The next task that I attacked, before my afternoon nap, was to dispose of three televisions, and one VCR. I went off to Best Buy with the electronic items in the back of my car. I go in the store, and the customer service representative said that there was no coupon deal, but that he would take my stuff at no charge at all. A Best Buy person came out to my car with a cart. We loaded the electronic stuff on the cart, and that was it. I have two more televisions to dispose of, but I am going to wait until the spring to do so. I have an older television, but larger than the one which was there, in one of the spare bedrooms, and another clunker in the screened in room on the deck.

Linda did some recreational shopping after going to a movie with her girlfriend. The saw the movie about the life of Herbert Hoover.

Our pasta supper at home went as planned too.

It was just a pleasant day in the life of a retired couple.

Politics – There was a report that Mr. Cain’s wife never knew that he had a 13 year “friendship” with another woman. Aren’t the wives always the last ones to know when their spouse is engaging in extra curricular activities? I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Cain’s wife might file for a divorce one of these days whether he continue on campaigning or calls it quits.

Sports – I watched a rebroadcast of the acceptance speech for the new manager of the Red Sox, Bobby Valentine. He seems like a pretty good guy. In the minor leagues, I didn’t know that he used to be a roommate of the infamous Bill Buckner who inadvertently let a ground ball go through his legs during a World Series Game against the New York Mets which ultimately let the Mets win the World Series. I hope the new manager can turn around the attitude of the Red Sox players. Bobby Valentine was given a pretty talented team to work with.

Radio Talk Show – My radio talk show host had two days of what I call “Education Speak”. He had on some representatives from the one Catholic High which we have in Pittsfield as well as representatives from a Catholic Elementary school. Yesterday he had the Superintendent of the Pittsfield Public Schools, and representative from the School Committee. For several days this week, it has been a lovefest about education. Both systems do a pretty good job of educating children. I did want to call up when the Catholic representatives who were on the radio. I wanted to ask them what they do with students who don’t want to play by the rules set forth at the Catholic Schools. I know what the answer since I was a teacher in the Pittsfield Public Schools which is to “Send the child to the Pittsfield Public Schools!” The Catholic High School does a wonderful job for children who want to go off to college, but what if you are student who likes to work with your hands, and who are not into academics? The answer once again is to send him to the Pittsfield Public Schools which has a good deal of vocational education opportunities. What if you have children with special needs? Once again, the Pittsfield Public Schools have programs to deal with these children. The Catholic schools have the luxury of expelling children who don’t conform, but the Public Schools must deal with such children or create a program. Am I implying that Public Education is a dumping ground? You bet I am! I witnessed that for 36 years as a classroom teacher.

Continuing on with an education theme, I was in my car heading of to see dad at the nursing home when a caller to my friend’s radio program got on the line. This is a person who is blind, and has a “seeing eye dog”. The caller said that he and his dog were being harassed by middle school students as he walked by the school. He endured the harassment for several days before he called the Principal of the school. The principal of the school called for an assembly, and had to teach and chastise for the behavior of a few students. My first thought was don’t parents teach their children to respect handicapped people. We were taught at home to not mess with people like the person mentioned above. Harassing a special needs person is not part of my psyche!

Social Calendar – I think today might be the “Do nothing” day which she has been longing for all week. I am pretty sure she will be able function when she wants to function.

I will be attending a wake this evening. The wake is at St. Mark’s Church. It is for the father of a UNICO brother. The UNICO brother is also a City Councilor for the ward which Linda and I are located in. I am guessing that they are having the wake in the Church because of the expected huge turnout. The Italian Funeral home is too small to handle a huge crowd. Parking would be a real problem too.
My friend’s dad was a popular man, and he is the one who owned the East Side Café which is now run by his children. The obituary in yesterday’s local newspaper was a very enlightening one because I knew the man, but not much about his background. When I would see him at the East Side, or at the Italian American Club, he would always call me “Curley”. He always asked me how my mother and father were doing when I ran into him. We UNICAN’s will be having a prayer service at 6 PM. No matter how large the line is, our group will cut in and do a quick prayer service. Mario Capitanio was born in 1927 which means that he was a year younger than my dad.

Well, I am up early which means I will be off with the 4:30 AM crowd at Retro Fitness. I probably shouldn’t use the word crowd because at 4:30 AM there might be all of 10 people. The grunter is there every day at this time. I wouldn’t know what to do if I had as many muscles as he does.

Have a great weekend.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

Hello on Thursday

Dear Friends,

Another day went as planned in Curley world except for Linda waking up before she wanted to.
The telephone woke her up at 8:30 AM. I know that some of you are saying “poor Linda” because you were most likely at work or school, but retirees are not bound by hands of time.
The telephone call was not from one of our multiple friends, or not from anyone trying to sell us something; it was from a plumber. It wasn’t even our plumber! We have some friends who need a sump pump installed in their basement, but they are currently out of town. I have keys to our friend’s home. My job was to meet the plumber at our friend’s home so that he could take a look at what he could do to solve a problem of water in my friend’s basement when we have severe rains. I have been waiting for the telephone call fro several days, but I thought it would come after the 9 AM hour. Oh Darn!

The rest of the day went as planned for both of us; a visit with dad, a VENUS procedure fro me, opening of our friend’s home for their plumber, a nap, set up the third television in the Master Bedroom, pork dinner, and the Boston Bruins hockey game.
Linda wrote out the bills, did some internal Christmas decorations, did some errands, and went off to her knitting group gathering at Panera Bread at 6 PM.

The Crock Pot Pork rib roast turned out very well. During the mid afternoon, Linda was on the lap top which we have on the kitchen table, and I was puttering around the house. I heard this clanging of silverware and a dish. The wonderful smell of the pork in the crock pot got to her. She went into the crock pot and took off a few of the ‘fall off the bone’ pieces of pork. I caught her just as she put some pieces of the meat in her mouth. I ate the pork after Linda left for knitting. I didn’t want to eat in front of her because I didn’t want her to be like a dog and hover around my plate hoping that I would drop some food on the floor.

I went to bed a happy man because my Boston Bruins knocked off the first place team in their division. The Bruins are now in first place even though it is a slim one game lead.

My position on the sex life of candidates for office stirred up a little discussion on Wednesday. If anyone is a candidate for office, the media will dig up any less than perfect activities that the person has done in their lives. If the person does something of immoral nature or illegal thing, or breaks the trust of the American people while in office, the media will find out about that too. Could we have candidates who start off with squeaky clean backgrounds? Yes, Albert was correct that the rich and the poor do much of the same not so good things in life. I was trying to make the point that that the rich and the famous sometimes feel that it is their God given right to do anything that they want.

Social Calendar – I have to figure out what to do with the clunker, but working televisions, that I replaced with flat screened televisions. The storage area in the basement is out of control. I have to do some rearranging and the throwing out of stuff. Linda has to be able to get at things like the bucket of Christmas linens, pillows, etc. The hall closet has to be worked on too. It might be time to switch the light weight coats and jackets to the winter ones. There is also a visit with dad that I have to work in. I will most likely take an afternoon nap. This evening, I don’t have a sporting contest, but I have a couple hours of what Linda calls Blah, Blah, Blah as I watch and listen to the experts talk about the Boston Sports teams with an emphasis on the upcoming Patriot game on Sunday.
Linda wants to be left alone until she heads off to a chick flick with her girlfriend who will soon be off to three months in the warmth and sun of Mexico after the Christmas holidays.

Our military son sent a cute picture of his one year son climbing a set of wooden blinds in their Georgia home. Our son said that he was out of sight of his son for less than 30 seconds, and Gabriel was almost 6 feet off of the ground. Our son’s almost four year old daughter would never even think of doing such a thing. I had to remind my son that boys are wired differently than girls.

It is hard to believe that another month has come to an end, and December is already here. Today is the day my health insurance switches over to Medicare even though my birthday is not until the 23rd of December. My high school friend and neighbor up the street turns 65 years old next week. He won’t be switching to Medicare because I don’t believe that he has the 40 quarters which you need to collect Social Security and to be eligible for Medicare. He will stay on the retiree health insurance program that the City of Pittsfield offers since we spent our lives working for the Pittsfield Public Schools.

Tonight is Pasta night in our home for supper. A salad, Italian bread, a glass of red wine will compliment a penne pasta dish in a Red Sauce.

The doctor who did my VENUS procedure asked how my Thanksgiving went. After I explained what we did for Thanksgiving, he said that his three children and all of the doctor’s grandchildren were home for Thanksgiving. It almost brought a tear to my eye because I am not sure when that will ever happen for Linda and me. At least I get to hug one grandchild quite often in North Tewksbury, and soon he will have a new sister in mid February. As a matter of fact, I will be giving Max a hug next week because I will be doing a little baby sitting in North Tewksbury. The doctor’s oldest son and our son Michael went to high school together. The doctor’s son, Adam, is an executive for the Target Stores based in Minnesota. He has two children about the same age as our son. The doctor also has another son and daughter. The daughter is married and has a child too.

Well, I am really going to try and be extremely quiet. Linda has had no free time to do what she wants to do for the whole week, and she deserves to be able to sleep for a long time. I think that I will attack the storage room in the basement after I read the local newspaper. The storage room is two floors below the bedroom, and I shouldn’t generate too much noise in that room.

Have a great Thursday at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad

P.S. Don’t forget that if anyone wants to be dropped from my daily blog, just let me know.