HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY TO DELBLOGGOLO!

SIX YEARS AND YOU’D THINK I’D LEARN?

Yes, it is the 6^th year of DelBloggolo, 6 years of making fun of myself, and 6 years of a lot of fun! But most of all it is 6 years of being grateful for you dear readers. You are what I think of when I write, because if you don’t read, I don’t write.

I'm my own man, she's just behind me!

Probably the only person I have to fear when I write is TLW (The Little Woman). I will let a personal secret out: we have been sleeping together. The reason I mention it is if I am found suffocated the police will need a place to start the investigation. She sends out weekly disclaimers, and some day when I really slip, she will actually perform: “Justifiable homicide”. But I will at least die with a smile on my face and deep gratitude that she loved me.

Along the way I have helped people remember their car keys and cell phone, along with any mistakes they make, including knowing me. If I single you out in a blog, it’s because I think you are a good person and I enjoy knowing you.

Six years is a lot of time and it went quickly! There are some new readers out there and the blogue seems to be growing everyday!  I have learned a lot during this wonderful time, and many things have and can happen in six years. I have tried to be my own best target of the fun, and not offend if I could help it. But I am human, and I do get angry, and I do stupid things, too. I have had arguments with checkout robots, made love to food, and praised everyone I found worth praising and talking about. The best thing that happen is my #1 Son finding a girl of his dreams, a girl that is very special to me, and she comes from a wonderful set of parents who made her that way to some degree. The addition of new nieces and nephews to the family as I marvel at what once was and now is in terms of the growth.

There have been moments of sadness for me, particularly on anniversary dates, but that has to be, because that is what it is and part of my life, it is also part of healing. But the best things are really noted, and appreciated, including my readers.

So, thank you TLW (The Little Woman), TLC (The Lovely Courtney), #1 Son, Anthony, #2 Son, Michael and my beautiful daughter Ellen, to the esteemed Mr. Walker, my SS-I-L Angela, and all my In-laws, none of which are out-laws, all my truly beautiful and fun filled sisters: Tessie my older sister (much older), Fran from Connecticut (This Joe, from New York), Mary Ann who flies on a plane too, and Joanne who is responsible for her husbands candidacy for sainthood. But there are my brother-in-laws John, Tom and as I mentioned Don, and all the vast number of nieces and nephews and their children, my friends from high school, college and places of work in my life and Mom who I saved for last because she started it all!

And so I wish you all a long life, a healthy life filled with only good things. Remember this: My door is always open, if you need me I am here and if we ever disagreed, my heart is open to reconciliation and a willingness to bury the past and live on because the disagreement doesn’t.

Thank you all and each and every one, I love you all.

Joe

A POPULATION BOOM

TLW (The Little Woman) preyed upon my conscience and asked on Sunday morning: “Are you coming to church with me this morning?”

“Yes dear.” She preyed so I’d prayed!

So off we go to instill a holy spirit in me, to help me find God, peace of mind and rid myself of mindless Godlessness. The church was packed. With a church that’s packed comes: kids. Little kids, big kids, crying kids, squirming kids and of course, rotten kids. Not to say I don’t like kids, I just don’t like; Little kids, big kids, crying kids, squirming kids and of course, rotten kids! You know the type, the kind that disrupt me when I’m trying to explain my case to Jesus, Mary and her husband Joseph.

There was one in particular, about a year in age, a little girl, that would have been happier at home. Instead the parent’s felt compel to pack her into a travel case and display her for cutesy consumption. As the tyke screamed, cried and squirmed, causing everyone around her to stop their meditation and look on. So rather than take the kid away they take her out of their suitcase and hold her up for display, where the child leans forward and smacks an old lady on the back. The startled lady is about to make a fist when she turns around and realizes it is a baby! So what does grandma do? She waves, gives a pathetic smile and turns around, probably to look for her missing teeth that must have flown out. The mamma is holding the God given gift to the whole world, and encourages her brat, (oops!) child to wave back. The brat (oops!) lets out a scream (primal).

Then off to the restaurant for breakfast, that sweet repast of scrambled eggs with French fries extra crispy, rye toast and coffee. Our happy waitress: who looked like she was still dressing, found us a booth so we could share and relate, seats us. TLW does the sharing and I do the relating.

Guess who shows up?

Go ahead, guess.

I’m not helping you guess, guess who.

Right! That blessed little event from the morning MASSacre, the screaming, back slapping, pacified sucker and disruptor of my worship of both God and eggs!

IS THERE NO JUSTICE? Here is the worst part of it, I actually listened to the sermon because I could understand it, the priest spoke English, and I left my sunglasses in the car on a rainy Sunday morning!

MY SISTER THE KICK BOXER

AUBREY ROSE & YOU KNOW WHO

There are strange things in this world for me to fathom, one of them is my sister, a kick boxer. How many of you have sisters, and how many of them are kick boxers?

Now Mary Ann or ‘Mariooch’ as I call her is my #3 sister, also known as ‘Mary, Queen of Mouths’ and ‘Motor Mouth’ had a penchant for talking a lot. In fact, before she was born, we told her to be quiet! In fact her grandson tells her to be quiet, and he’s only 2 years old!

Being a loving brother of Mariooch, I love to see her, love to talk (Mostly listen) to her and think she is quite a gal in many respects, even an inspiration, I tease the heck out of her. Why? Because it is my job, AND it is fun, PLUS, I’ve been doing it all her life.

MY MAN AL & MAMMA ANNMARIE

But a kick boxer? Couldn’t she be a member of the NY Mets staff where I get tickets to the game? NOOOOO, God forbid. Maybe learn to cook at the Culinary Institute of America in up state New York? NOOOOOO, a kick boxer. Gosh, she could have gotten a job with Mamma Lombardi’s so I could get a free lunch, but no, she has to be selfish and kick people.

Now when I see her grandkids: that I get a kick out of.

MONDAY WAS A BUMMER

Sometimes I think of this blogue as a diary, and I think that is the original intention of ‘Blogs’ as a whole. My intention is to not be too conventional or too predictable if possible. But it is about me in this world, and why I managed so far to stay alive.

Monday was a downer for me, so it became etched in my mind and I write about it.

AUBREY ROSE

It started well enough, visiting my younger sister (Slightly younger) and her two grandchildren who she is babysitting for. I tried to play with 7 month-old Aubrey and her older brother Al. Aubrey looked at me and wondered, and Al looked at me and then for the nearest exit.

From there I went to St. Sylvester’s RC Church to attend a funeral Mass for a classmate. As I sat in the back of the church, the casket was rolled in and I momentarily wondered who was in it. It seems since we’ve had our reunion, we must have lost about 12 classmates, and out of 160 I’d say about 45 are now gone!

THE EXIT COACH

If that wasn’t enough, I went out with TLW (The Little Woman) to visit a sick woman who lives alone in East Marion on Long Island. She is a woman who is dying quickly, and six months ago when we last saw her, she was getting around and living by herself. When we got to the house, an aide let us in, a wonderful lady from Poland who works in this country, and is a godsend for our friend. She cooks, cleans and medicates as well as assists our friend, 24/7.

When our friend first appeared, we saw for the first time a sunken, stooped and nearly blind and almost totally deaf woman, who needed to get into our faces to know who we were.

Jesus says we should visit the elderly and the sick, and this eighty something year old fits that description, but Jesus never said what to expect. I guess he figured if he told us we might not visit.

Our friend had invited us to come and to bring a typewriter, since she wanted to write a letter. She then went into a long discourse on how when it comes to money she trusts no one, and in particular her relatives one of which is helping her, at great inconvenience, distance and cost to him. But the letter was more to tell him off about a slight she perceived that he perpetrated on her.

I wrote a very conciliatory but to the point letter on my laptop that she agreed to. I said I would send it to her when I printed it. Then she thought about the letter and tried to decide if she wanted to comment on his haircut too!

Leaving her home for the over one hour drive home, we just talked about this old woman, her sense of  being betrayed by people who are trying to do their best for her, and how her suspicious nature seems to color everything. We also discussed how over-coming her appearance was and how it shocked us.

She probably won’t have long to live, maybe a few months, maybe a little longer, but it drove home a question in my mind. Do we live longer and into a state of mind that destroys reality, or do we leave the world too soon, destroyed by things like cancer? 

MOM AND THE MOB

I guess you can be very blessed like my mother, who will be 94 in May, still manages to get around, is strong-minded and uses it well. Other than poor eyesight, she can enjoy great grandchildren and a huge family and has friends, including her boy toy. She is always happy and always ‘UP’, and still wields a mean wooden spoon.

MY MAN AL

Maybe I should just concentrate on the joy of Aubrey Rose and Al, they give me hope for tomorrow, so I can ignore my own mortal destiny.

70 YEARS OF TESSIE

Or how I learned to appreciate people.

My older sister (much older) is celebrating her birthday today. I always felt that it is a bigger day than my own birthday. Why? Because she has always been there for me, when I was little and didn’t understand things, she reassured me. When I crossed a street, it was with her hand wrapped tightly around mine.

When we got older and didn’t always agree, we fought, just like any sibling would. But she was there, and I always knew she would be.

She knew Peter Sellers

I composed a Power Point of her life based on all the photos I could find. This presentation included her children, grandchildren and of course her husband John. It is a normal family that is very lucky that the parents are who they are, and Tess sits as the centerpiece.

She may be 70, but she looks a great deal younger, and always remains beautiful. Something the other 3 sisters also have.

When we were young, Dad would send us out with money to Piken Avenue in Brooklyn to buy cigarettes, candy and whatever else he needed for Olympia’s Gift shop, (In those days things were very much different), we would sometimes hop on the BMT and go to Manhattan too. We always completed our mission, because she was in charge. I was maybe 8 or 9 and she was 12 or 13.

She was a rock to my parents to this day, when Mom will need her assistance, no matter how busy Tess is. She will drop what she is doing and off she goes. But if you need her for any reason, she will come running, sometimes you don’t need to ask, like an angel she appears, in all her glory.

One of many she twisted off my shoulders!

I am lucky that she is my older sister, I couldn’t have survived without her, especially on the streets of Bed-Sty, East New York and Bushwick. She always threw a watchfilled eye over her younger brother.

Happy Birthday Theresa, I love you, and thanks for the best older sister  a guy could have.

Love,

Forever younger

Joe

THE KID’S BIRTHDAY

“Not to name drop -- okay, I'm totally going to name drop -- I shook Stephen Hawking’s hand today! Check out this pic... I'm kind of hiding in the back row, to the right.”

#1 SON

CAST AND CREW OF THE BIG BANG THEORY WITH STEPHEN HAWKING

 

Today is #1 Son’s birthday. We actually didn’t name him #1 Son, he earned it after his brother was born, and it kind of made sense.

SANCTIONED PHOTO

As you know he got married last July 3^rd, to The Lovely Courtney (TLC). They purchased a home in Burbank and things are fine, as he is working for The Big Bang Theory.

When he was born, I was already a father of my daughter Ellen, so it was old hat to me. Even when I drove through a thunder and lighting, torrential pouring rain to get to the hospital, ran up this big hill soaking wet to the door at 4:30 in the morning, only to find it was locked, I still took him and his mother home when it was time. (She could have waited until the storm was over!)

Anyway, by the time he was 2, people were wondering if I had a little person living with us. (We used to say midget) He spent his childhood correcting his old man, and once when he was 6 told me not to lose a hat he gotten me once before for Christmas. I had lost this denim cap he gave me as a present, and when I got a new one and said: “Gee Anthony, I’m really glad you got me a new one!” He said to me: “Good, don’t lose it this time.”

And so I began living a life of dealing with a sensible old man not even butt high!

As we get older as parents, our children seem to skip years and get even older, as we can’t believe they are as old as they are! I went to all his football, basketball and baseball games, not to mention arena hockey. If there was a roar of the crows and the clash of opposition, there stood my son in the midst of it.

STEPHEN HAWKING

Recently, he appeared on the Big Bang Theory and #1 was very excited. Apparently he ranks right up their with Michael Jordan, and if you don’t know who he is:

Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of A Brief History of Time, which was an international bestseller. Now Director of Research at the Institute for Theoretical Cosmology
at Cambridge, his other books for the general reader include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universe and The Universe in a Nutshell.

So I guess we can let him name drop. He did meet Buddy Hackett a few years ago and so he gets these opportunities. I met someone even more famous: his wife and his mother!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD MAN! It’s been a great life for your parents!

REMEMBERING TIMES PAST

Did you ever have the experience of momentary memory? That is a flashback due to some stimulus that occurred? Sometimes it’s a song, or a phrase, or even a smell or taste?

Once upon a time many years ago, as I sat in 4^th grade in Mrs. James class, there was a little gal who seemed to be the center of attention of all the class. She was a tiny little lady and as tiny as she may have been she was large in spirit, very large.

All the boys called her: “Half-pint”, but she was smart as a whip and sweet as a sundae, and could hold her own. The gals called her: “Kathy” and that was her name. Kathy always sat in front of the class and so I was familiar with the back of her head.

We teased her, she teased us back, we called her half-pint and she smiled. She had our attention, she reminds me today of the adage being that it doesn’t need to be good publicity, just as long as you are mentioned.

So the years went by and I lost track of half-pint, gone from everyday life: as I grew older, went off to college and married. Then 2 years ago I helped organize a reunion of our high school class. Who do I see that fate filled day but Kathy! She was taller, but still as charming as she ever was in 4^th grade, standing at the table. (She had actually grown some!)

I had seen pictures that she had sent me of when she was in high school that I used for a slide show of the class, and we had spoken briefly prior to the day. Each memory was a happy flashback, something special and still remembered.

Kathy passed away a few days ago, and in her passing I am reminded that if we don’t stop and think about what really is important, we each die a little, until one day we kill ourselves from what is not important in life. I'm sure she died smiling, and it reminds me that life is wonderful, so is friendship. We can forgive us our trespasses, and learn to forget our transgressions, and embrace each other as brothers and sisters on this earth as we pass through it.

There is no one I hate in this world, no one I don’t wish to see. If someone dislikes me, I’m sorry if I make you feel that way. I can only offer you a chance to make peace with yourself as not to waste your time hating me, life is too short. I would sit down with anyone, and discuss it and forgive.  I hope you would do the same.

So Kathy, say hello to Judy, Marlene and Dave, find Peter and John and Kathy and give them all wave, the many classmates that no longer grace this Earth, but remind them all that someday we will all meet together, and that will be the greatest reunion ever!

Kathy is gone, but with her passing, she has reinforced my memories of her and that special time so many years ago in Mrs. James class.

"We bid thee a fond farewell

though many a year's gone by.

Bellport, Bellport, Bellport High,

Parting is sorrow, parting is neigh."

TO A FRIEND

We pass through this life but once,
Like the wind: sometimes unseen.
Living our days one at a time
Spending them down to our last day.

Along the way we met one day
I don’t recall it well.
But there you were and gave a gift
Of friendship and memories.

Together we laughed and
Together, we cried spending
Days gone by that we shared,
Like apples from a tree

If I could have just one more day
I’d thank you for the past.
And adorn my remaining days
With your sweet memory.

I am glad you are at peace, Half-Pint, your memory lives on.
Love,
 all your classmates.

WE GO TO JAIL

Once you leave the Philadelphia Museum of Art, it’s time to turn yourself in, and what better place than the Eastern State Penitentiary, just a few blocks over from the museum. It is situated in the heart of the area on a busy city street of local establishments and was there way before anything else, being the oldest state prison in the US!

Situated on Fairmount Avenue, it is a massive stone complex built to incarcerate prisoners and keep them in. Built in 1822 and opened in 1829, its outer wall is a half-mile in length. It closed in 1971.

“Each cell was made of concrete and had a single skylight, and therefore the prisoner only had the light from heaven to work with, the word of God (the Bible), and honest work such as shoe making, weaving, etc, to lead them to penitence. The cells were also centrally heated, with running water and a flush toilet, which were better conditions than at the White House at the time. The thirty-foot barrel vaulted ceilings of the prison were designed to reflect a church-like atmosphere, and ESP was likened to a kind of forced monastery, a machine of reform. Many officials came to Philadelphia to study the prison's architecture and methods; more than 300 prisons around the world were adopted after its plan. Tourists also flocked to witness the prison as an architectural wonder (over 10,000 in 1858 alone), and many began to criticize the solitary confinement methods being used; most vocal were the arguments that the solitude was causing mental distress instead of helping the prisoner’s reform. Eventually ESP discontinued the system in 1913.”

-The ESP website

The main attraction was the cell that Al Capone resided in. With all the luxuries one could have for a prison, it was here he was sent when he feared for his life. In the photo you see the secretary, lamp, rugs and furnishing you won’t see in any of the other cells. It is only one of two cells that are located in a lesser-secured area. When he left the joint, over 500 people crowded the only exit, which served as the only entrance also, on Fairmount Avenue to cheer on the man responsible for murder, racketeering, and extortion, as he was released.

Tourist stand in front of the cell, to have their picture taken, eager to show they have been there. The cell entrance is as wide as a man, but very short, one must stoop to enter, so that standing in front of it you look like you are standing in front of a stone wall, blocking any hint that there is a cell behind you. But it is hysterical to watch them pose.

When I proposed the idea of seeing the prison, TLW (The Little Woman) wasn’t too keen on the idea but gave it a try, and she toughly enjoyed her visit. It is worth the time to go to, to picture what life is like behind bars and the sense of hopelessness one has once you enter the only entrance and exit at the place.

So we did our time in the big house, and unlike Barney and Clyde who never got to prison, we walked out free. If you have teenagers, this is a great place to take them to, it gives them an idea of what rebellion eventually brings.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, JENNIFER BOGDAN!
Sorry I forgot to mention it, but Uncle Joe is losing it. Hope you enjoyed the day.

GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD, PLEASE?

Philadelphia will not go away that easy. No, there are things I wish to say about Philadelphia.

Don’t go there if you expect to have a decent meal. All they serve in Philadelphia is hamburgers and French fries, or anything with a batter that they can deep fry or grill. I know because I spent a whole Sunday afternoon looking for an Italian restaurant that was open for dinner. What I found is they are all closed on Sunday, if they are open they sell pizza, and if one does do a dinner, it is either no liquored or no credit cards. One place was actually featured, a great menu and rave reviews, open on Sundays and Italian, unfortunately the owner had just been arrested and was spending his Sunday afternoon incarcerated!

One place we went to for dinner had an unusual policy, as I ordered mussels for an appetizer. They gave me one piece of bread, a thin slice of rosemary-flavored bread. They also gave me a card after dinner to tell them how I felt about things. J Indeed!

We did find an interesting idea for a café, bruscetta and wine or beer and cheese tasting place called Tria. The reason I choose the place for a light lunch of wine and cheese was that it is my Mother’s maiden name. On a corner in Philadelphia’s Rettenhouse Square district we found it sitting busy with a table outdoors and a crowd inside. It was a fun way to spend a few minutes before we were off to do something else.

It seems that after 5:00 pm, they close the city. Yes, you can walk in the park and still get a burger and fries, but they really close the city. Someone takes down the traffic light so it doesn’t get stolen over night, and a little cleaning lady comes out and cleans. Even the pigeons are rented from New Jersey daily and returned for the evening.

So if you plan to go to Philadelphia, bring a dinner, and an escape plan to get out. You don’t want to be lost in Philadelphia. It has a lot of beggars, and there are warnings about locking your car doors and not leaving valuables in them all over the city!

Tomorrow: We go to jail in Philadelphia!

SOMETHING ABOUT THE MONTH OF JUNE

This month, March is the month of birthdays in my family. I have two children with birthdays this month, and two sisters who have birthdays this month, not to mention nieces and nephews.

NEED I WRITE MORE?

I already highlighted one birthday so far, my daughter Ellen and today is another, that of my baby sister Joanne.

MY MAN DAXTON

Now Joanne is what we call a change of life baby; that is; she changed my life of one that fought with three sisters to one that fought with four sisters. A basketball fan, bigger than I am, and even a football fan, she has some moxie, plus she is a grandmother once and will be twice in May!

She and I go back a long way in retaliation, always tormenting each other with tongue in cheek, although it hurt her because she likes to talk too. We would poke each other and run, announcing: “I got you last!” usually accompanied with a wide grin. She even threatened to: Get me last as she says when I walked down the aisle to get married. Fortunately I was already up on the altar waiting for TLW (The Little Woman) when I did get hitched!

However the taunting never ended, as she was approaching puberty she was so skinny, I used to call her pencil, which riled her to no end and surprising she never took up kickboxing!

Her husband Don, currently under review by the Vatican for sainthood since I mailed in his application, is a successful businessman and obviously a survivor as well!

When she was born, my dad called with the news while I was painting the bathroom. Not believing my fate, (4 sisters) I tried to drink a gallon of latex semi-gloss (Benjamin Moore, only the best) but noting happened except cancelling a dental appointment to have my teeth cleaned.

And so she is another year older, and soon she will catch up with me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOANNE! ALWAYS REMEMBER: THE POWER OF THE PEN IS GREATER THAN THE POWER OF THE POKE.

SWEATING TH BIG STUFF

I renew my medications that Dr. Strangeglove prescribes by using my touchtone phone. The Rx numbers are long and they are in chronological numerical order. The lady that talks to me is very strange sounding.

“WELCOME to Friendly Drugs! Using your touchtone pad indicate if this is one a doctor calling, two a prescription renewal, or…” I punch in two.

“Using your touchtone pad indicate your eight digit prescription number, then press the POUND sign.”

Here is where I sweat!

Do you know how hard it can be for someone my age punching in little numbers I just about can see onto a touchtone pad? If you are in the middle of it, and there are not only 5 prescriptions, but also the pound key! You must remember that too. If you don’t you sit there waiting for something to happen, meanwhile you can run out of meds.  Ok, now say you are mostly through, say on your last prescription entering the lest few digits, when you hit a ‘4’ instead of a ‘7’, what happens?

I’m glad you asked.

YOU FRIGGING START OVER! THAT’S WHAT! It’s like picking up 99 marbles out of 100, you go for the last one and they all spill out again.

MR. DELBLOGGOLO IS LOSING IT

Something you always knew is happening, I’m losing it. It starts with the telltale signs like writing a facebook page about an old friend I haven’t seen in 13 years and mixing his name up with a friend I haven’t seen in almost 50 years! OK, in my defense they are both called Pete, both have Italian names and with vowels.

Pete Iacangelo

Now there’s Pete Iacangelo and there is Pete San Chirico who I wrote about a few days ago.

Pete San Chirico

I’m not good at remembering names, someone introduces me to someone else and I immediately forget their name. This is not good, especially at family reunions, and I only have 4 sisters. I do very well at board meetings, but then again, they all have nameplates.

I can do very well with my kids names, although in my haste to get their name out for some reason, I name all the kids, finally getting the right one.

And then there is this blog, which I wrote at 6:00 am today! Why? Because I totally forgot to write the blog, that’s why.

TLW (The Little Woman) has put more dates in front of me, and I have already missed one with my financial advisor, when TLW was sick and stayed home from work a week ago Friday.

So, I am removing any string tied around my finger because it has been sitting there for a while and I don’t know why and tying a new one on for some reason, I forget why. Pray for me.

THE BABY IS 40!

Our first baby!

Where did the time go? It was 40 years ago that I walked into my office in Manhattan, only to get a call from TLW (The Little Woman) that she was in labor with our first child! It was a Monday morning and she was scheduled to see her doctor for her checkup, so things seemed to work out.

We were just married a few months when I accompanied TLW (The Little Woman) on a visit to the doctor. I sat in the outer office as she went in by herself, and when she came out told me I was going to be a Daddy! Not that she was pregnant, or SHE was going to be a Mother, but I was going to be a Daddy! How’s that? And now she was in labor!

It is a very interesting if not sad adventure raising a child with a disability, but it does have it’s greater moments too. My daughter Ellen is an independent soul, full of life and spirit, but captured by her disability, which is in essence only her parent’s disability. It is not unusual for her to be recognized for an achievement that she thinks nothing of, and will express it in some way. For instance there was an award she won in her day program, and I think it was for letting her teacher live. She was escorted to the front of the assembly to get her certificate, one of which she was roundly applauded for, with the administration all smiles, Ellen get the award, and immediately tossed it on the floor.

Being independent, she is NEVER told what to do, like the day she decided she didn’t like the music at the local library and so we escorted her out, only then she decided to stage a Martin Luther King like sit-in and protest. There was no budging her, and when she was ready she got up!

She has as an infant helped herself to toys in stores that as I carried her out she has taken. Getting to the car I discover one day a doll in her hand, and I had to sneak it back into the store!

Then there was the day we discovered she was holding out on her parents! It seems we got this tape one day of her school program as a young child. In it there was some kind of show, and Ellen and her fellow participants each had something they had to do. If prior to seeing this someone had told us she could do it, we would have laughed at them silly. She actually got up off a chair on cue, picked up some large rings and placed them into a receptacle! TLW and me almost fell on the floor from the shock!

But perhaps the greatest chapter in her life came when she was a young teenager in Virginia Beach. We were on vacation, and hungry so decided to go to this famous restaurant that specialized in crab legs. She didn’t want to sit, so we decided to go somewhere else, and she got angry that we were leaving, and as we did she smacks this poor guy on the back of his head as he was about to eat from his plate. He never knew what hit him!

But Ellen is a loving person, she loves people, will give you hugs and pats on the back, will smile and try to talk to you, as long as you don’t tell her what to do.

Today she is 40 years old! Today she doesn’t have a clue as to what today is, nor does she care. But TLW and I do, and so we will celebrate it for us.

LUNCH

Dom, Me, Pete

There is nothing better than to see old friends and enjoy the days gone by once again. To see people from long ago and remember the things I said and did. The other day I had lunch with two old cronies from way back in the business world, and it was like seeing lost brothers. Two really great guys who, if you know them you are glad you do, a lot of laughs and we can relate to each other and the same things.

One fellow is named Pete, who currently still plies his art, that of a photographer, www.petersanchiricophotography.com who has worked for a number of large companies, such as Doubleday and Publishers Clearing House. Pete and I worked together on a few projects, and he never disappointed my company or me.

The other gentleman is named Dominick. Dominick I had the pleasure of working with in the late 90’s when he assisted me by assembling my finished designs and creating a prototype of what things would look like. He retired a production manager at the end of his career. When I called him after 13 years it went like this:

“Hello”

“Hello, Dominick?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s been 13 years, when the hell are my comps going to be ready?”

There was a long pause, then a laugh of recognition as he asked me

“Joe, how the hell are you?”

These two guys put some of the highlights to my career that would not be there otherwise. They are earthy souls, the kind of people that don’t bother with or care for, yet respect protocol. They are good people, my kind of people. They make me laugh and are interesting people.

Pete and Dom as I call him, are like a husband and wife team, bickering, teasing and correcting each other like they have for years, and if you sit there, you will be entertained by it all.

After 3 hours and a few Manhattans later (like the old days) the check is placed on the table:

Pete: “Dom, I left my wallet home!” (He had just taken it out a few moments earlier)

Dom: “Why do I always get stuck with the check? Joe he does that to me at breakfast too! Well I don’t have enough cash for you!”

Pete: “Well use your credit card!” He then takes out his wallet and pays cash!

This is all done to give agita to each other with tongue in cheek.

I heard stories they remembered about me that I forgot about, about people that I vaguely remember that they brought back to life. I guess you can say it was like visiting an old neighborhood after years away and it kind of chokes me up, because those days are forever gone. We used to go out for lunch for what we called: “Nickel Pasta”, actually a little place where you could get a great dish of pasta for $5, and a few drinks and you were happy.

We’d talk about the job, maybe a personality, maybe we would rib each other, and maybe, just maybe be serious.

OooH, OooH, Oww!

Recently I found out that a classmate from high school just lost his wife, a schoolmate of mine. It was sudden and another is on the ropes as I write this. It brought home to me just how fragile we all are.

People ask me or I tell them about my mother who is almost 94 and they say to me: “You are lucky you have good genes running in your family!” I know that that is not true and means nothing because my Dad died at 74, before my grandmother who died at 97. Nothing in this life is guaranteed.

BEFORE OLD AGE PAIN

So the other night I decided to try to figure out this contraption that is supposed to allow me to show something on the TV screen from my computer. TLW (The Little Woman) and I have spent a good amount of time so far trying, we can’t seem to solve it. We are both fairly intelligent people, she more than me I’m sure, but we are stymied.

TLW: “OK, here is what we’ll do, I’ll plug this into the ‘S’ output and you start to switch the three output modes.”

“OK”

“Darn, maybe if I try to connect this wire to the back of the DVD player?”

“Sure into the ‘video out’ and then I will start to switch again, ok?”

“OK”

She gets down on her knees OK and starts to look behind the DVD player to find the port.

“Darn, it’s so dark back here, I can’t see a thing!”

We go through the switching once again and still no prize. She starts to move further into the back to see if there is anything else she could try. Finally she is now on the floor, on her side, and says:

“This better work because I can’t get up anymore, I hurts to!”

This made me feel a little better that I wasn’t the only one feeling my age, as I had been trying up and down earlier in the day.

Misery does love company and she shouldn’t have had to be there, on the floor like that but she didn’t know how to work the program on the computer.

Recently I was looking at old pictures of family from over 66 years ago and remembering things in the past, I feel how fleeting time is, but the funny thing is I realize how lucky I have been to have all these wonderful people in my life, and that I better take stock of each of them from nieces and nephews to sisters and in-laws. These are remarkable human beings who all seem to have contributed something to the world in some fashion or form. I wonder why I am so lucky. I have in-laws from TLW’s side that are free and easy to live with as I have people that married into the family and became just like blood, all decent human beings, all I am happy to be part of. They are who I want to be.

My home life is tranquil for the most part, peaceful and serene, more than anybody could wish for, I so far have. For all that time spent with these people, I am ahead, no matter what happens today or tomorrow.

I wish that on all of you, too.

CUTTING EDGE

Yes, that’s what I am, cutting edge. TLW (The Little Woman) and my cutting edge wife just surprised me with a Kindle Fire!

If you don’t know what a Kindle Fire is, then let me tell you: it is the best library I ever owned. I can carry a ton of books around and it all weights only ounces. Pure and simple innovation, all in color, I can e-mail from it, write a blog and make a spreadsheet form this small portable computer-like device. I can even turn it upside down and it adjusts for me.

One of the things about technology today is you never catch up. Remember the bookmark for your book, how you might lose it, or find something temporary to use, maybe someone would give you one? With the kindle, you read your book, and shut it down. When you open it again, it will take you to the last page you read!

Swipe your finger across this beautifully backlit screen and the pages turn for you! How’s that?

Now here is the best part, you don’t have to leave the house to get a new book, you go on Amazon.com and you can download from there! Life is beautiful.

I’ve been researching the thing for a few weeks and testing out the Nook that I borrowed from the library, and discovered I wanted the Kindle Fire because it was the best buy for the money. You don't need to have a fancy Kindle Fire, you can have a Nook or Kindle in any of the varying degrees of affordability. If you just need it to read books, then just get the cheapest one there is.

What is nice is that you don’t lug around a fat book, these things are about the dimensions of a small booklet maybe 4 x 7 inches and less that an inch in thickness. I can even access this blog with the Kindle Fire!