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