Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned in Curleyworld. I once again left the house first, and headed directly to Lee. I cut dear old dad's postage stamp size grass. Dad wasn't home at the time, and I am guessing that he was socializing with his friend's at the local McDonalds' in Lee.
I then went to the nursing home to visit dear old Mom for about an hour before returning home and doing some yard work. Mom was in good spirits, and like I always say, she definitely recognizes her son. When I walked in the room, the television was on. The program that was on the television was one of the Sportsmen programs where they were hunting Whitetail Deer. I don't know why this program was on because she never hunted in her life time.
Before I departed for home, I put on an old time western with the closed caption on.
As I arrived home, Linda was heading off to the Lilac Park Crafts' Fair in downtown Lenox. None of her girlfriends were available, so she went alone.
After a couple of hours of poking around in Lenox, she did a little recreational shopping before she arrived home.
We had a quiet evening alone. We had some hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn on the cob which I cooked on the grill (side burner for cooking the corn) before I settled down and watched the Red sox in the screened in room on the deck while Linda watched her previously recorded programs in the family room.
Observation -- We did make a telephone call last evening to our Lt. Colonel son who is a pilot, and who begins his journey to Afghanistan. He will be deployed for 3.5 months if those plans don't change. How do parents tell their son, who will be in harms way, to be safe during his deployment in a war zone? The A-10 Thunderbolt (nicknamed the Warthog) airplane, which he flies, is being used on a daily basis in Afghanistan in support of the troops on the ground. If the troops on the ground are in a fire fight, and they call up for ground support, the A 10 pilots fly in and do their thing.
As all of you know, the bad guys have weapons which can put these brave pilots in dangerous and life threatening situations.
So as Linda and I are doing fun things like going to the beach, or going to a cookout, having a few beverages at a Pub, etc., there are some brave men and women putting their lives on the line on a daily basis. Whether you agree or disagree about the United States being involved in these military conflicts, it really hits home when it is your own loved one that is right in the middle of it.
Note -- Our daughter-in-law Danielle, our military son's wife, went through the same thing when she was flying missions in her A-10 during the Iraq war.
Danielle is currently a stay at home mom and she will definitely have her hands full taking care of a one year old and a three year old on her own.
Social Calendar -- While our son is being transported to Afghanistan, Linda and I will be heading off to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. A bus trip was organized by the Italian American Club which we are members of. We meet at the Italian American Club at 7:15 AM for some coffee and doughnuts before the bus departs at 8 AM. It will be a fun day for us before this day is over. We always hope that either one or both of us come back as big winners, but Casinos wouldn't be in business if there were too many winners.
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Hello on Saturday
Dear Friends,
Our Westerly, Rhode Island Beach adventure ended after we had breakfast on Friday. The skies were cloudy, the heat and humidity started rolling in, and we packed up and headed home. The forecasters predicted thunder storms, and scattered showers, but we left before they ever arrived.
We arrived back in Pittsfield in time for me to squeeze in a nap. I unpacked half of the car when we arrived home and the other half after I awoke from my nap.
For supper, we headed off to the Shamrock Restaurant & Pub. We sat at the bar, and played Keno, and socialized with some former students as well as with some total strangers. We sat next to one couple who happen to live on our street. We haven't socialized with this couple since they got married 5 years ago. The wife was a former student of mine who manages an optician's office, and the husband has been a UPS driver for 29 years. The husband's dad was a print shop teacher at my school when I first started teaching in the late 60's / early 70's. The conversation flowed so nicely that eventually we got a table and dinned together. As we left the restaurant, we promised to socialize more often, or at least have a cookout together. It turned out to be such an unplanned pleasant evening.
Sports -- The Red Sox and Yankees both lost their respective games. The major talk in New England has not been about baseball, but the newest acquisitions of the New England Patriots' football team.
I did see where Tiger Woods will be playing in a couple of tournaments after overcoming some physical disabilities. I know he will be a bit rusty when he returns to the professional tour. I do hope that he can keep his head in the game after all that he has gone through even though his fall from fame was his own fault.
Social Calendar -- Linda wants to be left alone today, and do things at her own pace. She does have plans to head off to Lenox for their weekend festivities, but I will not be accompanying her. She has already lined up some girlfriends to go with.
I have a whole bunch of yard work to take care of. The weeds are starting to out number the flowers. I am going to give our lawn a trim too. I also should go to Lee and visit with dear old dad, and see what chores need to be done at his home.
I normally would be playing golf on this day. There is a Pethitory Memorial Tournament in Adams, Massachusetts for a soldier who lost his life several years ago in combat. The profits go to scholarships for student graduating from the same high school that the soldier graduated from.
My leg issue was the stumbling block.
Speaking of my leg, it has not healed completely. There were times at the beach when my leg was bothering me, and I wore the boot. My strained Achilles feels good when I first wake up, but then it sometimes starts to ache as the day progresses. Oh Darn!
Politics -- The deadline is approaching as the budget wrangling still goes on. The Stock Market didn't like the "lack of budget" news, and took some severe hits this week.
Well, I have to do some quiet activities before the Queen wakes up. I hope that her friends don't call before 10 AM. Linda seemed so exhausted after our 2.5 day beach adventure that I think that she can sleep to almost noon.
Have a great weekend.
The weather today is supposed to be picture perfect.
Get out there and enjoy it!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Our Westerly, Rhode Island Beach adventure ended after we had breakfast on Friday. The skies were cloudy, the heat and humidity started rolling in, and we packed up and headed home. The forecasters predicted thunder storms, and scattered showers, but we left before they ever arrived.
We arrived back in Pittsfield in time for me to squeeze in a nap. I unpacked half of the car when we arrived home and the other half after I awoke from my nap.
For supper, we headed off to the Shamrock Restaurant & Pub. We sat at the bar, and played Keno, and socialized with some former students as well as with some total strangers. We sat next to one couple who happen to live on our street. We haven't socialized with this couple since they got married 5 years ago. The wife was a former student of mine who manages an optician's office, and the husband has been a UPS driver for 29 years. The husband's dad was a print shop teacher at my school when I first started teaching in the late 60's / early 70's. The conversation flowed so nicely that eventually we got a table and dinned together. As we left the restaurant, we promised to socialize more often, or at least have a cookout together. It turned out to be such an unplanned pleasant evening.
Sports -- The Red Sox and Yankees both lost their respective games. The major talk in New England has not been about baseball, but the newest acquisitions of the New England Patriots' football team.
I did see where Tiger Woods will be playing in a couple of tournaments after overcoming some physical disabilities. I know he will be a bit rusty when he returns to the professional tour. I do hope that he can keep his head in the game after all that he has gone through even though his fall from fame was his own fault.
Social Calendar -- Linda wants to be left alone today, and do things at her own pace. She does have plans to head off to Lenox for their weekend festivities, but I will not be accompanying her. She has already lined up some girlfriends to go with.
I have a whole bunch of yard work to take care of. The weeds are starting to out number the flowers. I am going to give our lawn a trim too. I also should go to Lee and visit with dear old dad, and see what chores need to be done at his home.
I normally would be playing golf on this day. There is a Pethitory Memorial Tournament in Adams, Massachusetts for a soldier who lost his life several years ago in combat. The profits go to scholarships for student graduating from the same high school that the soldier graduated from.
My leg issue was the stumbling block.
Speaking of my leg, it has not healed completely. There were times at the beach when my leg was bothering me, and I wore the boot. My strained Achilles feels good when I first wake up, but then it sometimes starts to ache as the day progresses. Oh Darn!
Politics -- The deadline is approaching as the budget wrangling still goes on. The Stock Market didn't like the "lack of budget" news, and took some severe hits this week.
Well, I have to do some quiet activities before the Queen wakes up. I hope that her friends don't call before 10 AM. Linda seemed so exhausted after our 2.5 day beach adventure that I think that she can sleep to almost noon.
Have a great weekend.
The weather today is supposed to be picture perfect.
Get out there and enjoy it!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Hello on Tuesday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned in Curleyworld. I did squeeze in the lawn cutting before the well deserved rains fell. The temperatures in the Berkshires dropped which meant that our air conditioners were able to be shut off.
While doing my outside chores on Monday, I was listening to my blogger friend who is a radio talk show host. He gave me a new name on the radio. I now have two names: "The Liberal Weenie", and he gave me the second name of "Captain Liberal!"
Observation -- One of his guests couldn't make the program because of a death in the family, so the "fantastic" radio show host decided to just to open the telephone lines. The usual callers flooded the air waves. One of the discussions was the fact that the two public high school bands didn't play or march in the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade (which was part of our 250th Anniversary Celebration of the formation of Pittsfield) because the teachers and been in a long and protracted contract negotiations which included "Work to Rule." This means that the teachers did only what the teacher contract called for. They didn't do any of the extras. Marching in the Parade was considered an extra. Well, my radio talk show host expressed his anger during a multiple minute rant of how wrong it was for the bands to not participate in the Parade. Even though I never liked the "work to rule" tactic, we had used that tactic when I was President of the Teachers' Union. Teachers don't have much leverage when it comes to negotiating. There are very few tactics which can be used to wake the public up to our plight. No Union President and no Union members wanted to anger the taxpayers, and use the students as pawns during negotiations, but we have to do what we have to do to get things settled. Teachers are not greedy people (and we are taxpayers too), and all we want is a piece of the economic pie like everyone else does. When economic times are tight, the public wants city workers and teachers to "bite the bullet", and solve the crisis on the backs of us workers. The give and take aspect of negotiations gets "thrown out the window", and the management team wants to take away many of the gains that we have negotiated over the years. The public wants us workers to feel sorry for the financial situation that we might be in, and take the few "crumbs" which the management team offers us.
The people in the administrative contract love it when we do all the protesting, walk the picket lines, use work to rule, etc. because whatever hard fought gains we teachers secure, the administrators get the same contract raise. The only problem is that a percentage gain of a teachers' salary is not the same as what an administrator gets. In the latest contract, the teachers earned a 1% raise. Well as an example, 1% increase of a $40,000 teacher salary, and 1% increase of a $90,000 administrative contact can show you who the real winner is.
My Red Sox lost a 14 inning game last night to a team which is in last place in their particular division. The Yankees won their game as they inched closer to the Red Sox who have a slim lead in their division. Oh Darn! We Red Sox fans can hear the Yankee footsteps.
Social Calendar -- So far we have two other couples who will be going with us to the Steely Dan Concert at Tanglewood this evening. We will be partying on the lawn until the concert starts at 7 PM, and hopefully no rain is in the forecast. We will be there when the gates open at 4 PM. Do you think that three hours is enough time to party before the concert? There will be much food, fun, and merriment before this day is over. I better squeeze in an afternoon nap since I am up so early.
Dumb Things which I do to get myself in trouble -- I spray painted the lamppost several weeks ago. Linda was wondering why the Clematis plant next to the lamppost had black leaves, and not too many flowers this year. I admitted the error of my ways to Linda.
I even bug Linda when I am taking an afternoon nap. I came downstairs after my nap yesterday and saw that Linda had one of those neck devices which you heat up in the microwave before using. I asked Linda how she strained her neck. She said that someone (which might be me) always fails to remove change from their pockets before washing clothes. Being the short person that she is, she tried to reach in the washing machine and take out the loose coins. She strained her neck reaching for the coins. Oh Darn!
Well, I have to take care of some quiet activities, and make sure that all the stuff which we are taking this evening to the concert is ready to go. We are going to try and pack light for the concert, but it never happens!
Have a great Tuesday!
You know that the Curley's will be having a fun on Tuesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned in Curleyworld. I did squeeze in the lawn cutting before the well deserved rains fell. The temperatures in the Berkshires dropped which meant that our air conditioners were able to be shut off.
While doing my outside chores on Monday, I was listening to my blogger friend who is a radio talk show host. He gave me a new name on the radio. I now have two names: "The Liberal Weenie", and he gave me the second name of "Captain Liberal!"
Observation -- One of his guests couldn't make the program because of a death in the family, so the "fantastic" radio show host decided to just to open the telephone lines. The usual callers flooded the air waves. One of the discussions was the fact that the two public high school bands didn't play or march in the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade (which was part of our 250th Anniversary Celebration of the formation of Pittsfield) because the teachers and been in a long and protracted contract negotiations which included "Work to Rule." This means that the teachers did only what the teacher contract called for. They didn't do any of the extras. Marching in the Parade was considered an extra. Well, my radio talk show host expressed his anger during a multiple minute rant of how wrong it was for the bands to not participate in the Parade. Even though I never liked the "work to rule" tactic, we had used that tactic when I was President of the Teachers' Union. Teachers don't have much leverage when it comes to negotiating. There are very few tactics which can be used to wake the public up to our plight. No Union President and no Union members wanted to anger the taxpayers, and use the students as pawns during negotiations, but we have to do what we have to do to get things settled. Teachers are not greedy people (and we are taxpayers too), and all we want is a piece of the economic pie like everyone else does. When economic times are tight, the public wants city workers and teachers to "bite the bullet", and solve the crisis on the backs of us workers. The give and take aspect of negotiations gets "thrown out the window", and the management team wants to take away many of the gains that we have negotiated over the years. The public wants us workers to feel sorry for the financial situation that we might be in, and take the few "crumbs" which the management team offers us.
The people in the administrative contract love it when we do all the protesting, walk the picket lines, use work to rule, etc. because whatever hard fought gains we teachers secure, the administrators get the same contract raise. The only problem is that a percentage gain of a teachers' salary is not the same as what an administrator gets. In the latest contract, the teachers earned a 1% raise. Well as an example, 1% increase of a $40,000 teacher salary, and 1% increase of a $90,000 administrative contact can show you who the real winner is.
My Red Sox lost a 14 inning game last night to a team which is in last place in their particular division. The Yankees won their game as they inched closer to the Red Sox who have a slim lead in their division. Oh Darn! We Red Sox fans can hear the Yankee footsteps.
Social Calendar -- So far we have two other couples who will be going with us to the Steely Dan Concert at Tanglewood this evening. We will be partying on the lawn until the concert starts at 7 PM, and hopefully no rain is in the forecast. We will be there when the gates open at 4 PM. Do you think that three hours is enough time to party before the concert? There will be much food, fun, and merriment before this day is over. I better squeeze in an afternoon nap since I am up so early.
Dumb Things which I do to get myself in trouble -- I spray painted the lamppost several weeks ago. Linda was wondering why the Clematis plant next to the lamppost had black leaves, and not too many flowers this year. I admitted the error of my ways to Linda.
I even bug Linda when I am taking an afternoon nap. I came downstairs after my nap yesterday and saw that Linda had one of those neck devices which you heat up in the microwave before using. I asked Linda how she strained her neck. She said that someone (which might be me) always fails to remove change from their pockets before washing clothes. Being the short person that she is, she tried to reach in the washing machine and take out the loose coins. She strained her neck reaching for the coins. Oh Darn!
Well, I have to take care of some quiet activities, and make sure that all the stuff which we are taking this evening to the concert is ready to go. We are going to try and pack light for the concert, but it never happens!
Have a great Tuesday!
You know that the Curley's will be having a fun on Tuesday.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Monday, July 25, 2011
Hello on Monday
Dear Friends,
It was another quiet and calm day for the Curley's on Sunday. The heat and humidity really creates an atmosphere of procrastination when it comes to doing outside chores and activities.
After reading the Sunday newspapers, Linda decided that it was time to see a chick flick. Knowing that my motivation level would be low, she called a girlfriend, and they went to an afternoon show at the Beacon Cinema. I decided to call the woman's husband, and asked if he wanted to join me in a Chicken Novena while the wives were at the movies. We watched the Red Sox and golf while I cooked a bunch of chicken leg quarters on the grill along with all the fixings for supper. Our wives went out to supper as my friend and I partied in the screened in room on the deck.
Both the Red Sox and Yankees won their respective games so the Sox are maintaining a three game lead over the Yankees.
The wacko home grown terrorist from Norway who caused so much death and destruction over the weekend didn't like all the foreigners which now make up Norway. The purity of the race certainly has Hitler like overtones. Good thing that this guy didn't live in the United States. If this guy didn't like diversity of races and different cultures, we in the United States would be in a whole lot of trouble.
I see where the militants in Afghanistan kidnapped and hung an 8 year old boy whose father was policeman. The Afghan policeman refused to supply the militants with police cars so that the bad guys could do their dirty work.
Politics -- The Budget crisis still is in Limbo. The August deadline is a week or so away. The World is watching and waiting for the Americans to do the right thing. Stocks opened lower in Japan already because of a lack of the American budget. Oh Darn!
Social Calendar -- A 7 AM Therapy session and a 6 PM meeting is the only thing on my social calendar today. I am going to give our lawn a trim at some point today too.
Even though Linda doesn't have anything on her social calendar, we will be deciding what we will be bringing to the "Steely Dan" Concert at Tanglewood on Tuesday evening. Our goal is to pack light with respect to food and beverages, but that usually never happens. My Physical Therapist made fun of me the other day when I said that we were going to the Steely Dan Concert. He said that the band was ancient even though he like the Curley's has vinyl records of the band. Our local newspapers had pictures of three of the band members, and they did look like they were quite mature. Let us hope that they haven't lost their voices as well as their youth.
July certainly has been flying by. I am so glad that we are not still teaching. Many schools throughout the nation will be heading back to school starting around the 15th of August. We in Massachusetts still use Labor Day as our back to school guide. Teachers usually have to go to school before Labor Day. Some districts have their students reporting to school before the Labor Day weekend arrives.
I have been retired for 7 years now, and I don't miss teaching at all. I am in the retirement phase of my life when I often don't know what day of the week it is. It is like having a clock or a non digital wrist watch with the hands of the clock missing.
I count my lucky stars because during those 7 years I have been attending a lot of wakes and funerals for my baby boomer friends. Other baby boomer friends are currently fighting life threatening illnesses like breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart problems, lung and kidney disease, Alzheimer's, etc. I didn't want to retire, and die a couple years after retirement like several of my teacher colleagues have done.
On a happier note, "Life is Good" is still my motto even though there are a few minor bumps along the road which I will have to overcome.
Have a great week at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
It was another quiet and calm day for the Curley's on Sunday. The heat and humidity really creates an atmosphere of procrastination when it comes to doing outside chores and activities.
After reading the Sunday newspapers, Linda decided that it was time to see a chick flick. Knowing that my motivation level would be low, she called a girlfriend, and they went to an afternoon show at the Beacon Cinema. I decided to call the woman's husband, and asked if he wanted to join me in a Chicken Novena while the wives were at the movies. We watched the Red Sox and golf while I cooked a bunch of chicken leg quarters on the grill along with all the fixings for supper. Our wives went out to supper as my friend and I partied in the screened in room on the deck.
Both the Red Sox and Yankees won their respective games so the Sox are maintaining a three game lead over the Yankees.
The wacko home grown terrorist from Norway who caused so much death and destruction over the weekend didn't like all the foreigners which now make up Norway. The purity of the race certainly has Hitler like overtones. Good thing that this guy didn't live in the United States. If this guy didn't like diversity of races and different cultures, we in the United States would be in a whole lot of trouble.
I see where the militants in Afghanistan kidnapped and hung an 8 year old boy whose father was policeman. The Afghan policeman refused to supply the militants with police cars so that the bad guys could do their dirty work.
Politics -- The Budget crisis still is in Limbo. The August deadline is a week or so away. The World is watching and waiting for the Americans to do the right thing. Stocks opened lower in Japan already because of a lack of the American budget. Oh Darn!
Social Calendar -- A 7 AM Therapy session and a 6 PM meeting is the only thing on my social calendar today. I am going to give our lawn a trim at some point today too.
Even though Linda doesn't have anything on her social calendar, we will be deciding what we will be bringing to the "Steely Dan" Concert at Tanglewood on Tuesday evening. Our goal is to pack light with respect to food and beverages, but that usually never happens. My Physical Therapist made fun of me the other day when I said that we were going to the Steely Dan Concert. He said that the band was ancient even though he like the Curley's has vinyl records of the band. Our local newspapers had pictures of three of the band members, and they did look like they were quite mature. Let us hope that they haven't lost their voices as well as their youth.
July certainly has been flying by. I am so glad that we are not still teaching. Many schools throughout the nation will be heading back to school starting around the 15th of August. We in Massachusetts still use Labor Day as our back to school guide. Teachers usually have to go to school before Labor Day. Some districts have their students reporting to school before the Labor Day weekend arrives.
I have been retired for 7 years now, and I don't miss teaching at all. I am in the retirement phase of my life when I often don't know what day of the week it is. It is like having a clock or a non digital wrist watch with the hands of the clock missing.
I count my lucky stars because during those 7 years I have been attending a lot of wakes and funerals for my baby boomer friends. Other baby boomer friends are currently fighting life threatening illnesses like breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart problems, lung and kidney disease, Alzheimer's, etc. I didn't want to retire, and die a couple years after retirement like several of my teacher colleagues have done.
On a happier note, "Life is Good" is still my motto even though there are a few minor bumps along the road which I will have to overcome.
Have a great week at work or play!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Hello on Sunday
Dear Friends,
It was quiet, but pleasant day in Curleyworld. We did a couple of errands in the middle of the afternoon. We went off to the Rainbow Restaurant for supper with our Dalton friends. After supper, we went back to our own homes. Linda watched her previously recorded programs, and I proceeded to watch the Red Sox in bed while reading a book on Linda's kindle. After about two minutes on the Kindle, the low battery signal came on. Oh Darn!
The Red Sox did win their game, and the Yankees lost their game so the Red Sox have a three game lead over the second place Yankees. If the Red Sox team can stay healthy, only good things can happen.
As I skim the CNN news report, there are not a lot of nice things going on in the world. We have the Norway mass killings, the killing of many people when a couple of bullet trains collided in China, the guest of honor at a party at a roller skating rink in Texas goes into a shooting rampage and kill 6 guests, Amy Winehouse dieing most likely with a drug overdose, continuation of the budget wrangling process, etc.
I can see why my friend stopped the delivery of most newspapers. There is a lot of depressing news that we can see on television or read about on a daily basis.
It is better to direct my positive energy toward family and friends than to get involved with too many outside activities.
We have another quiet day for Linda and me for today. This is very good because we have another full schedule from Monday through Friday of this coming week. Some days we even have more than one event.
Well, I am going to read the Berkshire Eagle and the Sunday Boston Globe, before I do any quiet activities.
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
It was quiet, but pleasant day in Curleyworld. We did a couple of errands in the middle of the afternoon. We went off to the Rainbow Restaurant for supper with our Dalton friends. After supper, we went back to our own homes. Linda watched her previously recorded programs, and I proceeded to watch the Red Sox in bed while reading a book on Linda's kindle. After about two minutes on the Kindle, the low battery signal came on. Oh Darn!
The Red Sox did win their game, and the Yankees lost their game so the Red Sox have a three game lead over the second place Yankees. If the Red Sox team can stay healthy, only good things can happen.
As I skim the CNN news report, there are not a lot of nice things going on in the world. We have the Norway mass killings, the killing of many people when a couple of bullet trains collided in China, the guest of honor at a party at a roller skating rink in Texas goes into a shooting rampage and kill 6 guests, Amy Winehouse dieing most likely with a drug overdose, continuation of the budget wrangling process, etc.
I can see why my friend stopped the delivery of most newspapers. There is a lot of depressing news that we can see on television or read about on a daily basis.
It is better to direct my positive energy toward family and friends than to get involved with too many outside activities.
We have another quiet day for Linda and me for today. This is very good because we have another full schedule from Monday through Friday of this coming week. Some days we even have more than one event.
Well, I am going to read the Berkshire Eagle and the Sunday Boston Globe, before I do any quiet activities.
Have a great Sunday!
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Friday, July 22, 2011
Hello on Friday
Dear Friends,
The throngs of residents and tourists did come out to the downtown Pittsfield Third Thursday event. Our Irish Sister City booth was hopping after a slow start. The event started at 5 PM, but when we looked north and south at that time, the streets were deserted except for vendors. We thought that the oppressive heat was going to keep everyone away. Well, as the time approached 6 PM, the streets became alive. There was some form of music every few blocks from one another including an Irish Band at our booth called "Dublin Porter".
I was wearing my boot last night. I brought a chair so that I could get off of my feet. A new member, who is good at working a grill, and who is also ServSafe Certified, allowed me to do more supervising than working.
We did have one technical problem from an electrical standpoint. The musician's electrical equipment, two electric griddles to cook the Irish Bangers, and the air conditioner in the store where we plugged into the outlets couldn't handle all the devices. The circuit breaker kept on switching off. Luckily, the taking care of details kind of guy that I am, had guessed that we might have electrical problems. I just happened to pack my propane "Grill to Go". We shut down one griddle, and the air conditioner, and we were able to cook the bangers.
One of Neville Brothers who lives in New Orleans, who has a summer home in the Berkshires, was on another stage. Most people came to the Third Thursday to listen to Liam Geddes belt out tune after tune. Liam, who is 19 years old, is from our Irish Sister City in Ballina, Ireland. Some of the Irish Sister City Committee Members took turns working our booth, and going to hear him sing.
After the Third Thursday ended, and we packed up our gear, a bunch of us walked over to Spice for a little reception for Liam. A local band called Xavier was playing in the room where the reception was being held. Liam sang a couple of songs while the band was taking a break.
Despite the heat, the evening turned out great for Linda and me.
Liam has two CD's out now which can be purchased at Pasko Gift and Frame.
The potential Politicians were out in force getting their nomination papers signed. Linda and I signed four or five for sure. I started to lose count!
While chatting with a lot of people throughout the evening, I found out more of our baby boomer friends have developed all kinds of life threat illnesses. I can't go into details because of privacy issues, but I get kind of leery when I ask people; "How are you doing?" It seems that all of my sayings really turn out to be true --> "Life is a crapshoot", "Life is too short", "Enjoy every moment that you are on this earth because you never know what each day will bring", "Don't sweat the little stuff", and most of all tell you family members that you love them. Also surround yourself with a network of good friends so that if disaster strikes, you have someone to comfort you besides you family.
Politics -- The budget battle continues as the August deadline is just around the corner. Our President doesn't like the Republican proposal. Compromise on certain issues doesn't look like it will happen in the near future.
Weather -- We are in for another day of heat and humidity before the weather changes. Today is supposed to be the opening day for the Saratoga Horse Race Track season. There was some rumor of track association postponing the start. I wouldn't want to be a race horse with the current heat and humidity. I would think that the PETA organization would begin protesting at the track.
Social Calendar -- We are socially engaged this evening!
Well, I have to clean the grease laden grill that we used last night. It is one quiet, but messy task.
Have a great weekend, and pray for some relief from the heat.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
The throngs of residents and tourists did come out to the downtown Pittsfield Third Thursday event. Our Irish Sister City booth was hopping after a slow start. The event started at 5 PM, but when we looked north and south at that time, the streets were deserted except for vendors. We thought that the oppressive heat was going to keep everyone away. Well, as the time approached 6 PM, the streets became alive. There was some form of music every few blocks from one another including an Irish Band at our booth called "Dublin Porter".
I was wearing my boot last night. I brought a chair so that I could get off of my feet. A new member, who is good at working a grill, and who is also ServSafe Certified, allowed me to do more supervising than working.
We did have one technical problem from an electrical standpoint. The musician's electrical equipment, two electric griddles to cook the Irish Bangers, and the air conditioner in the store where we plugged into the outlets couldn't handle all the devices. The circuit breaker kept on switching off. Luckily, the taking care of details kind of guy that I am, had guessed that we might have electrical problems. I just happened to pack my propane "Grill to Go". We shut down one griddle, and the air conditioner, and we were able to cook the bangers.
One of Neville Brothers who lives in New Orleans, who has a summer home in the Berkshires, was on another stage. Most people came to the Third Thursday to listen to Liam Geddes belt out tune after tune. Liam, who is 19 years old, is from our Irish Sister City in Ballina, Ireland. Some of the Irish Sister City Committee Members took turns working our booth, and going to hear him sing.
After the Third Thursday ended, and we packed up our gear, a bunch of us walked over to Spice for a little reception for Liam. A local band called Xavier was playing in the room where the reception was being held. Liam sang a couple of songs while the band was taking a break.
Despite the heat, the evening turned out great for Linda and me.
Liam has two CD's out now which can be purchased at Pasko Gift and Frame.
The potential Politicians were out in force getting their nomination papers signed. Linda and I signed four or five for sure. I started to lose count!
While chatting with a lot of people throughout the evening, I found out more of our baby boomer friends have developed all kinds of life threat illnesses. I can't go into details because of privacy issues, but I get kind of leery when I ask people; "How are you doing?" It seems that all of my sayings really turn out to be true --> "Life is a crapshoot", "Life is too short", "Enjoy every moment that you are on this earth because you never know what each day will bring", "Don't sweat the little stuff", and most of all tell you family members that you love them. Also surround yourself with a network of good friends so that if disaster strikes, you have someone to comfort you besides you family.
Politics -- The budget battle continues as the August deadline is just around the corner. Our President doesn't like the Republican proposal. Compromise on certain issues doesn't look like it will happen in the near future.
Weather -- We are in for another day of heat and humidity before the weather changes. Today is supposed to be the opening day for the Saratoga Horse Race Track season. There was some rumor of track association postponing the start. I wouldn't want to be a race horse with the current heat and humidity. I would think that the PETA organization would begin protesting at the track.
Social Calendar -- We are socially engaged this evening!
Well, I have to clean the grease laden grill that we used last night. It is one quiet, but messy task.
Have a great weekend, and pray for some relief from the heat.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Hello on Thursday
Dear Friends,
Another day went as planned in Curleyworld! The funeral and receptions after the funeral for the son of an Irish Sister City Committee Member went as well as could be expected. No mother every wants to bury their children. It is against the laws of nature!
Linda had fun at her Knitting group gathering at Panera Bread. The Knitters were together for almost three hours. Since my Red Sox won an afternoon game, half of which I missed because of my afternoon nap, I didn't have many sporting contests to watch last evening. I decided to start reading another book on the IPad. I did turn on a sporting contest, but I turned the volume on low as I watched the professional soccer match. I am not good at reading while the television is on at the normal volume setting.
Today the only thing on our social calendar is the Third Thursday which takes place in downtown Pittsfield from 5 PM to 8 PM. Our Irish Sister City group begins setting up our two canopies in the 3:30 PM range. The oppressive heat will be the only thing that we will have to deal with. The temperatures today will be in the mid 90's, but the heat index will be in the 104 degree range.
The heat wave moving across the country has already caused 22 deaths.
How about the horses which will be racing at the Saratoga, New York Race Track beginning this weekend? Could horse racing be considered as animal cruelty during this heat wave?
When day light arrives, I am going to water all the flowers. I hate to say it after a wet spring, but I wouldn't mind a little rain (of course not on our Third Thursday). The weather which we have been having for the past few days is a reminder that I could never be a year round resident in any of the Southern States.
The world is waiting for the budget crisis in the United States to end so there hasn't been a whole bunch of political stuff to discuss. When you spend most of the day trying to figure out how to stay cool and hydrated, it is difficult to get motivated to do much of anything. Days like we have been facing for the past few days would be a good reason to have beach front property.
It is hard to imagine that the month of July is almost gone. Our summers are so short in the Northeast that we have just about enough time for corn to go from seed to full grown corn on the cob. The local corn is just starting to come in. Pretty soon we will be overdosing on corn!
We do have a day or two free coming up, but it is even too hot to have a cookout. I have no desire to hover over a hot grill when the outside temperatures are in the 90's.
My ramblings about the crazy drivers on the roads no matter where you are did hit home for one of my email recipients. He said that parking lots in places like grocery stores, Home Depot, Walmart, etc., scare him the most. Getting to and from the vehicle when you are at one of these stores could be quite challenging. When drivers are trying to secure parking places closest to the entryway to a store, these drivers don't even see people walking to and from their cars.
Well, I have to do some quiet activities one of which is to clean and sanitize the Herb AeroGarden. Linda has some herbs growing on our deck, so we won't need the AeroGarden until the fall.
Have a great Thursday.
If you live locally, come and join us for Third Thursday. Sample some Irish Bangers, Irish Whiskey Cake, and some cookies too.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
Another day went as planned in Curleyworld! The funeral and receptions after the funeral for the son of an Irish Sister City Committee Member went as well as could be expected. No mother every wants to bury their children. It is against the laws of nature!
Linda had fun at her Knitting group gathering at Panera Bread. The Knitters were together for almost three hours. Since my Red Sox won an afternoon game, half of which I missed because of my afternoon nap, I didn't have many sporting contests to watch last evening. I decided to start reading another book on the IPad. I did turn on a sporting contest, but I turned the volume on low as I watched the professional soccer match. I am not good at reading while the television is on at the normal volume setting.
Today the only thing on our social calendar is the Third Thursday which takes place in downtown Pittsfield from 5 PM to 8 PM. Our Irish Sister City group begins setting up our two canopies in the 3:30 PM range. The oppressive heat will be the only thing that we will have to deal with. The temperatures today will be in the mid 90's, but the heat index will be in the 104 degree range.
The heat wave moving across the country has already caused 22 deaths.
How about the horses which will be racing at the Saratoga, New York Race Track beginning this weekend? Could horse racing be considered as animal cruelty during this heat wave?
When day light arrives, I am going to water all the flowers. I hate to say it after a wet spring, but I wouldn't mind a little rain (of course not on our Third Thursday). The weather which we have been having for the past few days is a reminder that I could never be a year round resident in any of the Southern States.
The world is waiting for the budget crisis in the United States to end so there hasn't been a whole bunch of political stuff to discuss. When you spend most of the day trying to figure out how to stay cool and hydrated, it is difficult to get motivated to do much of anything. Days like we have been facing for the past few days would be a good reason to have beach front property.
It is hard to imagine that the month of July is almost gone. Our summers are so short in the Northeast that we have just about enough time for corn to go from seed to full grown corn on the cob. The local corn is just starting to come in. Pretty soon we will be overdosing on corn!
We do have a day or two free coming up, but it is even too hot to have a cookout. I have no desire to hover over a hot grill when the outside temperatures are in the 90's.
My ramblings about the crazy drivers on the roads no matter where you are did hit home for one of my email recipients. He said that parking lots in places like grocery stores, Home Depot, Walmart, etc., scare him the most. Getting to and from the vehicle when you are at one of these stores could be quite challenging. When drivers are trying to secure parking places closest to the entryway to a store, these drivers don't even see people walking to and from their cars.
Well, I have to do some quiet activities one of which is to clean and sanitize the Herb AeroGarden. Linda has some herbs growing on our deck, so we won't need the AeroGarden until the fall.
Have a great Thursday.
If you live locally, come and join us for Third Thursday. Sample some Irish Bangers, Irish Whiskey Cake, and some cookies too.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad
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