Hello on Monday from East Boston

Dear Friends,

Our Sunday went as planned. We arrived at our son's place just in time to watch
the Patriots do battle with the Ravens. The Patriots were victorious, but it
went down to a final play for the Ravens. A perfectly thrown ball was dropped by
a Raven's player --> game over! If the guy caught the ball, it would have been
game over for the Patriots. Good teams seem to win the close ones.
The Patriots seem to be getting into a grove. Tom Terrific is still a little
rusty, but as the season progresses, the other teams better take notice.
The Dallas Cowboys are disappointing. They better turn things around soon, or
their coach might be fired.
My brother-in-law is a diehard fan of the Cowboys. He can't be loving how the
Cowboys have played so far this season!

Our grandchild, Max, is growing rapidly even since the last time that we saw
him. He likes watching football too. I must have passed on those genes.
We slept on a different air mattress last evening. Kevin found a hole in the
other one which we used the last time we slept over. This one did stay inflated.
I think that Linda and I are getting too old for being on the ground anymore.

Speaking of being on the ground, we haven't gone camping with our friends for a
couple years. It might be time to pass the gear on to the younger generation.
Portable toilets in the middle of a camping ground, and communal showers are
starting not to appeal to us right now.
I am not ruling out completely the camping experience. When Kevin, Kyla, and
Max decide to try it as a family, we would probably like to go with them.
Linda and I took our kids camping shortly after they were born. There were some
great times and great memories which the younger generation should experience.
Yes, we know that we can purchase a frame and inflatable mattress so that we
will be off the ground. A few years ago, we did purchase one at Walmart, and
went off to Burlingame State Park Camping ground in Rhode Island with some
friends. The air mattress had sprung a leak in the middle of the night, and we
ended up trying to sleep in our car. This was the last time that we went
camping.

Fun and Merriment-- Besides the usual game time munchies, Kyla prepared and
cooked a meat loaf in the crock pot. It was wonderful! We are going to try and
cook a meatloaf in our crock pot when we get home.
Kyla's is working on being a domestic goddess in the kitchen. I say "working"
because she has a kitchen full of new appliances, and they are finally getting a
good workout.

Observation -- As I watched the Patriots, and other games too, I realized that
football is not a game for wimps. These guys, who play football, are like
gladiators. Every weekend there is a chance that they will get knocked out of
the "ring". I couldn't even bare to watch the reruns of a players getting hurt.
They even had to helicopter in a Raven player to Mass General Hospital because
they thought he might have broken his neck during the game. The guy was so big
that he couldn't fit into the MRI machine in the hospital. X-Rays indicated that
nothing was broken. The guy wanted to get on the airplane with his teammates,
and head back to Baltimore. I am not sure if the hospital discharged the guy.
The average player usually gets beat up so bad that by the time he is in his
early 30's, he is considered old, and ready to retire.

Politics -- It was a deadly weekend for our troops in Afghanistan. 8 of our
soldiers got killed in a fire fight. This doesn't include the two who were shot
and killed by a bad guy dressed up as an Afghan soldier.
Can we win this conflict even if we send off 40,000 more troops who have been
requested by the military commanders?
If you remember, the Russians saw such a conflict as a "no win" situation, and
they just quit the battle.
I don't want us to put our "tails between our legs, and run", but I would like
someone to tell me the strategy of how we can win this struggle!

Have a great week at work or play.
Linda and I are off to a good start.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad