Speeding

I wrote earlier that I don't like young people because of the their lack of gray hair. I am expanding that definition to also include school kids.

Why do I have to look out when I am driving in a school area as not to hit a kid? Aren't these kid getting some kind of education that would teach them not to run under a moving car? Don't their teachers tell them to look left and right before stepping off a curb? What the hell are they learning in school? How to shoot, how to be discourteous and rude with adults and basically just how to be stupid?

The reason of my outburst is that today I got in the mail a $50 ticket for speeding in a school zone. It seems that I went ten miles over the posted speed limit (actually it was eleven miles but I am not picky) and their camera caught me. These cameras are so accurate that there is really no room left to argue. Without a doubt it was me.

But had there been any children on the street I certainly would have slowed down.

Something else.

In the Jewish Arab war there was an Israeli tank in hot pursuit of an Arab machine gunner mounted on a truck who was trying to destroy the tank with his machine gun but his bullets were unable to penetrate the steel walls of the tank. He was jumping all over the place with his truck but the tank just kept on coming. Eventually he ran out of ammunition. He then realized that there was nothing he could do but stop and wait for the inevitable end.

After a while the tank also stopped its top opened up and the Israeli solder emerged.

Hey, stupid Arab, you ran out of bullets?

Allah, Akbar, yes I did.

With that the Israeli reached back to the tank, grabbed something and asked the Arab:

Do you want to buy some?

Thanksgiving Parade

Yesterday for a while I was watching the Macy's Parade. It is so lame that only a five year old can enjoy it and I gave up after a short time.

People get up early in the morning to go over there and a have good vantage point. I don't know if anybody care that the whole thing is really made for television. They only need people as props and background. It is rushed because it has to be finished right on time so the stupid dog show may start. Because of that performers are not allowed to finish their numbers because they are being pushed to move on.

Singers are lip singing because they will not take a chance with their voices in the cold weather and that is understandable. All their performances are towards the TV cameras meaning that people who are sitting on the bleachers at Herald Square only see their backs. What is the fun in that?

Some of the floats and other performances are same year after year and if one remembers those they can be quite boring.

I usually don't watch TV in the morning but just because of tradition I turned it on yesterday. I'm sorry that I did.

The media is making such a big thing about this Santa Claus craze that is not funny anymore.

Wednesday when the New York Stock Exchange closed Santa and his helpers rang the closing bell. I can't imagine that those serious traders on the floor of the Stock Exchange who are only concerned with making money really cared about that bearded old man on the balcony. Santa is for the kids and that's where he should stay.

But yesterday turned out to be a very nice day after all. I had dinner with family in a very nice French restaurant in Manhattan. Regardless that it was a French place I still managed to have turkey as it is the custom at this time. O.K. I had escargot for appetizer but that was permitted. I don't know if the pilgrims had escargot but the French settlers surely had.

My family consisted my brother in law and my sister in law and we really had a good time. We drank, we ate then we drank some more then we ate a little more but at the end we all felt fairly comfortable.

The whole thing was nice because there was no traffic going into the city and there was none on my way home either and parking was pretty good, too.

Now, one event down one more to go then the year is over.

Thanksgiving

This is a little morbid and sad thinking out loud from my part. I would understand anybody if they decide not to read any further.

Thanksgiving is an American holiday that dates back to the days of the pilgrims. They gave thanks for whatever they were thankful for. I guess not to be killed by the Indians.

As it was handed down from generation to generation the custom stayed that people sitting around the dinner table gave thanks for all the good that happened to them during the previous year.

Up to last year I kind of believed in that and also gave thanks but my feeling is now changing.

This year I am not thanking anybody for anything except whoever is paying my dinner.

I have absolutely nothing to be thankful for since nothing good happened to me and to my loved one. Last year was one of the worst I experienced in my adult life. The love of my life was taken away from me and I can find no logical explanation to what happened.

Well, logical explanation I can find but I refuse to believe it and associate it with what people believe in. They say everything is happening for a reason. I can find no reason as to what happened. We both prayed and hoped for help that never arrived. So what's the use for being thankful.

To whom?

God, Buddha, Allah, Jehovah and everybody else turned away from us and didn't think it was important enough to offer their help. So, as far as I am concerned they can all sit around the table and have a good laugh at our sufferings.

Because of this, on this Thanksgiving I am not grateful and thankful to anybody and anything and I have a feeling that I will remain this same cynical person for a very long time. Actually, I will not even call Thanksgiving Thanksgiving anymore just plain turkey day. Come to think of it turkeys should be the last to call this day Thanksgiving.

Skinny and Gray

I came upon a prize winning solution as to how to lose weight without much starving.

Yesterday I paid a visit to my podiatrist because it was due and also I had some foot problem. He did what he was supposed to do then took a sharp (I hope) knife and cut a corn out of its nice warm nest.

Today I went to visit my dermatologist who also took a sharp knife (I hope) and removed some more stuff that was not supposed to be there. Actually this one cut and burned things off me.

Therefore, by all logic I should have lost some weight because these two doctors removed stuff from body that were previously there and thus added to may "previous" weight.

I figured if I go to a few more doctors in the near future and they all remove things from me I might become a slimmer person.

Right now I have appointments for December to see my dentist, urologist and family doctor. The only one I can't see what might remove is the urologist!

Something else.

Every time I watch TV I see these young male actors either acting in a role or just showing up as "civilians" to have that unshaven face. I guess that is now the style because a lot of young men are imitating that same unshaven appearance.

To me there is nothing stylish about it. It reflects a unkempt appearance that I absolutely not find attractive.

However my comment could be sour grapes, and I will explain why.

Since I now live alone and do not have a rich social calendar there are days when I find no reason to shave. So I just skip those days and let my face get hairy. Never more than three days though.

The reason I can not look stylish with my hairy face is that all my facial hair is white. Even though my hair is not all gray my facial hair is. So no matter how much I wanted to show I can never look the same as those young hulks. I would much sooner look like Santa than a stylish man, at least with my beard.

And just because of this I hate every single one of them! No discrimination, I hate all young men who are not yet gray.

But to my satisfaction, they will be!

Drinks

I love a good drink. But, I only drink mixed drinks. Nothing straight up, no wine. All these years in this country and never ever developed a taste for whiskey. Can't stomach it.

But I do like mixed drinks primarily with vodka but basically any mixed drink is fine. So the other day when I was in the supermarket I bought a bottle of cranberry juice and a bottle of V8 juice. The latter the spicy variety.

Adding vodka to cranberry juice makes a good refreshing drink with a little zing to it. Vodka and V8 and some other "my secret" additives make a great Bloody Mary. And unfortunately, I love them both.

Right now as I am sitting front of the computer and writing this I am also sipping my freshly made Bloody Mary. And since I haven't eaten yet it tastes even better.

So now with the holidays upon us I am in training as far as drinking goes. I make me a good drink in the afternoon just to get in shape. Is that training equivalent to going to the gym?

However with V8 one has to be very careful because my doctor told me that it is high in acids and that is very bad for the stomach. It seems that not the alcohol that is bad but the tomato/vegetable juice. So I will restrain my enthusiasm for that drink.

Maybe just plain vodka is the answer.

When we go to Mexican restaurants which now a days is happening fairly frequently I drink Margaritas. As many a restaurant I have visited until now they all have different kind of Margaritas and they all claim that these are their specialties. I can't seem to find one that I like more than another because they are all different and I like them all. Also by the time I leave these restaurants I certainly don't remember what I drank.

That's O.K., this makes going out more interesting.

I don't drink wine only if there is nothing else. I never developed an appreciation for good wine which means any good wine is wasted on me. I only like sweet and fruity tasting wines, the ones a serious wine drinker wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Like during the Jewish holidays I drink Manischewitz wine because they are sweet and fruity.

I wanted to say like me but, stopped because only half of it is true. I am sweet but nor fruity!

Monday

I don't think I have amnesia but there are certain things I just don't remember. So farI have written 426 articles in this blog, some probably boring, some I hope interesting. And, I am sure there are certain subjects that I am repeating. If I did I am sorry, it was done simply because something peaked my interest and that is why I wrote about it.

Here is another subject that I might have written about a while ago.

This morning I was driving to the gym to ease my soul about my current habit of eating when listening to the radio I heard hospital and doctor advertisements.

Years ago this was unheard of. Doctors, lawyers, hospitals did not advertise. I guess their code of ethics was changed because now a days whenever one turns on the radio all it can be heard is their advertisements.

For a simple person like me this can be very confusing. Every hospital that I hear claims to be the best in a particular field and insinuates that any mortal person is committing a grave by not bringing his or her problems to them.

The way I am running my life and that's the way I always had it was that if anything critical happened that needed hospitalization I relied on my doctor's advice on where to go and did not follow any lame advertisings. My doctor is affiliated to a good New York hospital and if needed that is where I go (hope it will not be needed).

I don't even know if one can just walk in any hospital and ask to be cured simply based on their advertisings.

The hospitals and doctors are pushing their services so hard that I wouldn't be surprised if they would offer Black Friday specials just so we would bring them our businesses. I wonder if people can take competitive bids from various institutions on how much they would charge for the cure.

But you know, nothing surprise me anymore.

Sunday

Today I had a very good day. Sundays I am usually home without any real plan to go anywhere or do anything useful. So when the opportunity came to meet with my best friend and his wife I really grabbed it.

Not because it would have been a long boring day but because I love the guy and I am always happy to see him.

This time they came to New York for a brief but necessary visit to a relative and I just grabbed the chance to spend some time with each other. We had lunch all of us together then they came over my apartment and some nice conversation.

The relative they visited I knew. We used to be friends about fifty years ago but then drifted apart due to peculiarities of life. It was very interesting (and sad) to see someone again after such a long time. But that's life. We all change except some of us don't want to accept it.

When we got alone we talked about our planned trip next year so all in all it was a very pleasant day (at least for me).

Like I said at the beginning Sunday usually is a quiet day for me with not much to do. One reason I don't go anywhere is that I have nowhere to go, the other reason is that Sunday every place is more crowded than during the week. As long as I am retired and have all the time in the world might as well take advantage of the workweek quiet. People are at work thus there is less traffic and stores or eating places are less crowded.

Anyway, tomorrow another week starts. When I worked I used to like this week because it was always short due to Thanksgiving and we always got the next day off.
It was easy to work until Wednesday and get paid for the whole week.

Now it doesn't make any difference for me because there is not much variety between the days. Except maybe that on Thanksgiving we are going out to eat.

As far as Thanksgiving goes I certainly feel that I have nothing to give thanks for!

Music and Antiques

Many years ago I was watching some band playing on TV and they also had somebody singing. I noticed that many of the characters had something looking like hearing aids in their ears. I thought that those people had hearing problems and that's why they were having hearing aids.

Later on I was informed and thus educated that all musicians and singers were wearing these "hearing aids" while on stage for a reason. I asked around and found out that it seemed they could not hear their own voices, their own music without these aids because of the other outside noises.

This is completely idiotic!

Recently I was watching a small group of musicians playing and in my opinion they all must have had degrees in computer science because every instrument was electronically connected to computers, tablets or some similar gadgets and that also included the singers.

I went to theaters here in the US and in Europe and most of the time the performers had some kind of microphone attached to their foreheads or the sides of their faces regardless how small was the theater.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned music where the singers belted out songs and the bands played non-electrified instruments? When they sang in those large auditoriums, theaters, operas they did it without any mechanical help, relying only on their voices and talents. I guess those days are gone because in today's technology singers can give concerts without emitting any sound and by mouthing the words they are relying on the talents of the engineers and not on their own.

Oh, where are the good old days when talents were really talents!

Something else.

A while ago I went to a coffee shop in Brooklyn where they decorated the walls by displaying antique items. I looked at those "antiques" and realized that if they are antiques then I must be antique, too.

Amongst those things there was an old typewriter, an old coffee grinder, an old charcoal heated iron and some other items that I recognized from my childhood. We had those things when I was growing up and today they are displayed as antiques. Boy this made me feel really old.

Wednesday Part 3

I don't want to dwell on this subject too long because it might become too monotonous to some people even if it is what I am living with every day and every minute of those days.

I call this Wednesday Part 3 because Wednesday's get together at Sloan Kettering awakened some things in me.

Tomorrow, Saturday the 22nd of November is my Wedding Anniversary. Thirty four years ago on that day we promised each other that we would be there for better or worse, through sickness and through health. And we were true to these promises and we were there for each other. And, we loved each other every day of these almost thirty four years.

Thirty four years ago we were full of hopes for a long and happy life ahead of us that was to be spent together. Little we knew what was waiting at this end!

Now I am left with the memories of those bygone years and the beauty of it is that I have no regrets. We had a great time together, we loved each other and we were getting along fantastically.

Actually, the one and only regret I have is that She is no longer here with me!

Wednesday Part 2

Just a little follow up on yesterday's subject and here I am referring to my visit to Sloan Kettering. The young lady who was really the main speaker/advisor was a psychologist who seemed to be well versed on the subject. And naturally the subject was how to deal with the loss of a loved one on holidays or in actuality on any other days.

For one, my problem was that she was very young. As you know I expressed my feelings in earlier writings that I have a major antipathy with young people in any kind of advisory position. May that be psychological, financial or any other subject. When I take my car to the shop for repair I would much prefer an older mechanic versus a young one. And, our souls are like a broken engine that needs fixing. It does not need a young whippersnapper but an experienced older person.

Even though this person was well spoken, seemed to understand the problems surrounding us, the "mourners", and she appeared to have answers to all the questions that were brought up, still it seemed to me that they were nothing else but textbook responses that somebody who just came out of school would give.

I know there is no magic solution to our problems but she still lacked the experience and for me also my confidence in her responses. Maybe if she were 25-30 years older and had a few more years experience behind her I might have given her more credit. But as it was she didn't say anything I didn't already know.

No psychologist or pastor or textbook can describe the pain a person feels when a loved one is lost unless they experienced it. The emptiness, the aimlessness, the lack of purpose of life is overwhelming. And nobody except another person in the same shoes will understand this. There is no psychologist or pastor who can reasonably provide any solution to this problem. This is not a pain that a Tylenol can fix. This is a pain that is deep seated and it permeates through every pore in one's body.

We function during the day, most of us socialize but when we are alone at home or wherever the pain hits with full force. The memories burst forward and there is nothing one can do to prevent it. But really, I don't think we would like to prevent this occurrence.

There is no solution and that's the sad reality.


Ps: I wrote psychologist several times and I am very proud of myself. It is not an easy word to write without screwing up the spelling!

Wednesday

Today is Wednesday and it looks like winter made an early show. Well, at least with the temperature. Last night when I was leaving from my friend's house it was 25 degree over there that's Fahrenheit). Not in the house but outside and on the way home it pretty much stayed at that same temperature. Thanks for the technology the inside of the car was nice and comfy.

This morning it was again very cold in New York but thankfully my apartment is nice and warm at least for now. I hope it will stay that way. I am exposed to the whims and desires of the building management as far as heat is concerned. They are cheap and they have a crappy boiler system meaning breakdowns are not uncommon except that unfortunately the boiler breaks down mostly in the Winter and not in the Summer.

But by the time the real Winter arrives we'll get used to its ups and downs.

Something else.

This afternoon I went to Sloan Kettering for the usual monthly bereavement meeting. I am kind of looking forward to these little get togethers. Today it was different. Today's subject was how to deal with the holidays. There was a woman pastor and a very young woman psychologist in addition to our usual own counselor.

There was a very large turnout because it seemed they combined other groups into today's session. Nothing was said that would lessen the pain or make it go away.
We were told the dangers of depression, how to deal with the sadness of loss and a few other things that we were all aware of. They were busy telling and discussing how to get smaller children involved with the mourning process.

Since I have no children of any size I was really not much interested in that part of the conversation. If by any chance somebody will show up and claims to be my "long lost" child that person will then just have to deal with my problems. But this happening is very unlikely!

Tuesday in New Jersey

Today I had a long but very satisfying day. Actually, I got home around 11:30 PM and was thinking that since nobody out there care about me, maybe I just don't write anything today. But then I also said hell with that, I write for me and I am here eager to read what I have to say.

So, here it is.

A little after 10 AM I left the house on my way to New Jersey to visit a very dear and longtime friend. She lives almost a hundred miles away, lives alone and we usually commiserate together. The drive took almost two hours but once I left New York it was very pleasant. Good driving weather, no traffic, 65-75 miles per hour speed for fairly extended time. What else can a man ask for?

Last night I decided to try my new GPS and I programed her address in the system. Well, that alone was a major accomplishment from my part. This morning I put the sound on and once I started the drive I started to argue with the voice because she directed me the way I didn't want to go and I knew it was not the best route. Eventually we made up and now she is my girlfriend.

At my friend's place we had a great time (at least I did). We talked, we laughed, we ate (she is a great cook). I really don't go to see her because of her cooking, I go there because she is a good friend and I like her. We came from the same city, we were together after we left Hungary and we came to this country almost at the same time. Meaning, we do have a lot in common.

Also, she has an extremely friendly and cute dog. If that friendliness and cuteness could be canned my friend could be a very rich woman.

I left for home around 8:30 PM and since again there was no traffic I got home just a little before 10:30. I programmed the GPS to take me home even though I knew the way and after a few adjustments in her planning she did take me to my garage entrance with no problem. This second programming didn't go any easier than the first one. And, I know that since I will not use the GPS too frequently I will definitely forget how to use it by the time it will be need it again.

But, since the car is on a three year lease I have three years to learn these gadgets.

I Am Back

Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! I (think) I am back.

I lost contact with my blog for all these days. I don't know what happened but suddenly it was just not there.

I used this blog on this same computer before and then next day, nothing. No response. And funnily when I tried to go through whatever help mode or step they were suggesting I always wound up at the same place where I started from. It seemed like I was going around in a circle. Felt like an idiot.

But now I just hope this works.

I was quiet for three days and I was really moved by the outpouring of care of my "faithful" readers. With the exception of ONE good friend who inquired about my well being nobody really gave a rat's ass that I went quiet. Thank you my adoring fans!

News

It is unbelievable how news programs live or rather thrive on panicking the public. If it is a slow news day they will find something that will definitely create apprehension if not panic. They can find the smallest no news item and blow it up to create problems. And all done under the pretense that the public has the right to know.

No, it is not the public it is the nosy news people, the nosy reporters who have to stick their noses everywhere even if it does not belong there.

Today all day long, every four minutes there was a weather forecast on an all news radio station because they were anticipating snow. Just before noon they announced that the Sanitation Department declared a snow emergency, whatever that means.

Actually what that means that a bunch of sanitation drivers throughout the City will be sitting in their warm sand trucks all night long drinking coffee and collecting overtime pay. A few more nights like that and Christmas will look pretty good for them.

I came home tonight around nine o'clock and it was raining with no trace of any snow. The funny thing is that these news stations cover such a large area that if it snows anywhere they can claim the "we told you so". I think if it snows in Colorado they will claim credit for it.

Unfortunately when a real tragedy strikes these news people are in seventh heaven. The more people die the more they like it.

I don't know which is better: be totally informed and live in constant fear or live being oblivious to anything that's happening in the world?

Each has its advantages. Individuals should decide which format they prefer.

Sirius Radio

I took possession of my new car on September 19 of this year. One of the gimmicks they have is a three month free subscription to Sirius XM Radio. Hyundai takes this so seriously (not Siriusly) that permanent buttons are in the dash front of the driver.

After three months the radio goes silent unless I subscribe to it.

For those who don't know what Sirius XM Radio is, that is a subscription radio system with over 200 channels providing every kind of programming under the sun. Since it is like the cable TV the programming do not fall under FCC rules. Meaning, adult themes, language are free to be used.

I don't have anything against normal vulgarity. Some jokes are really funny when they are described the adult way and in this radio system there are channels that do just that.

Anyway, I like the 40s music, the Elvis channel, the Metropolitan Opera channel and a few others.

My free subscription will expire on December 19 and from then on I will be pestered by these people to subscribe. I had this on my two previous Hyundais also and never subscribed to it.

One time I told a very pushy sales person that if he gives me a $1 per month subscription I will sign up. He hung up!

I don't drive that much that I should pay for special radio programs. Maybe if I would be on the road hours every day I might take advantage of it. Otherwise AM and FM radio is perfectly satisfactory for my needs. And they are free. No way, no how will I pay for listening to the radio. Bad enough that television is no longer free since the cable system was introduced.

I have another four weeks to go and I will enjoy them until then. After that time I will just gaze at those buttons until my lease period is up.

Trip

We finally took the first step towards our planned European trip. As I mentioned it before my cousin and I are planning a trip next year back to the Old Country.

I was there in 2008 the last time and back then the trip was pretty simple. There were non stop flights between New York and Budapest and we always took advantage of that. However, in 2012 Malev Hungarian Airlines went into bankruptcy and dissolve itself. Thus all non stop flights stopped existing. Now it is a little more complicated since it is necessary to change plane in some European city.

We decided that since neither of us have seen much of Europe we would find an economical (meaning cheap) flight and wherever we change plane we would spend a few days before continuing on to Budapest. Well, that's the plan but we didn't settle on any particular location yet.

Since our trip is planned for the end of May 2015 it is too early to buy our tickets just yet.

But we already reserved our place to stay in Budapest. Being two grown up men we really don't want to sleep ion the same bed and we didn't even want to sleep in the same room. We are all passed middle age (not by much) and we both have our bad habits that better stay private. So we found a (hopefully) nice two bedroom place with available parking in a nice part of Budapest. At least it sounds nice in their advertisement.

With this reservation we made the first serious commitment.

I told my cousin that we would have to go to some kind of a training camp to get in shape as far as being able to eat the good food we are hoping to find. It is not that easy to look at the menus over there and see that every single thing on them is a favorite. How does a person select in such case?

It is like being led into a harem and told that chose any one of the beautiful women. But only one!

This statement right now is academic but I just mentioned for comparison.

But like I wrote yesterday, I probably would still chose solet!

Solet (Cholent)

Now you will think that my life revolves around food. That's not entirely true but at my age there are not too many earthly pleasures that are still available. However food is one of them. And while I am vigorously trying to stay healthy I do occasionally immerse myself in the pleasures of eating.

There is a Hungarian/Jewish/Yiddish bean staple that goes by the name solet in Hungarian or cholent in Yiddish (I think). This is a primarily baked bean with a whole lot of think added to it. I think the kosher version had goose legs or other meat and eggs placed in the pot and when the whole think was prepared it was slow cooked overnight.

I remember my Mother used to have me take the pot down to the neighborhood baker who then placed the pot in his oven where it stayed until next day. By then it was baked all through and ready to eat.

I really love this thing. I could live on this probably forever or at least for days. The beauty of it is that every household make it differently and mostly they are all good.

The really good ones have pork in it. They are probably Jewish pigs that grew up in Jewish households. The ones with pork really taste good.

A friend who makes "world class" solet made me some and right now I have two great portions in my freezer waiting to be eaten.

Today we had some business to do in Manhattan and after that we went to the one and only Hungarian eatery in the City. On their menu they had this solet. And theirs is with pork. Naturally that simplified my food selection since they had two of my favorites: goulash soup and the already heralded SOLET.

Man, I was in seventh heaven! It was a good thing that we parked about two blocks away and that way we walked off the calories (I hope).

There is a well known kosher restaurant in Budapest that has a fairly extensive solet menu. Until going there I never realized that this food comes in so many varieties. On my next trip there visiting this restaurant is a must!

I love this food so much that if I would have to chose between very attractive young lady giving me a lap dance or the solet, I am pretty sure the solet would win!

Saturday

Yesterday was Saturday and as such I and we returned to our regular schedule of "events".

I bought gas, went to the supermarket and then went to eat. But before all these exciting things we made a stop at a JC Penney where earlier this week I saw that they had the kind of polo shirts that I was looking for. Polo shirts are all over the place except what I want. What they have are short sleeved with collar or long sleeved and no collar. I want long sleeved and collar and cotton or Marino wool.

Why is life so complicated? Why do they have to tell me what I want and not giving me what I want? The stores are filled with short sleeved polo shirts. For crying out loud it is November, winter is coming with blizzards and subfreezing temperatures. Why in the world would I buy now something for next Summer?

I guess I'll never understand the minds of the faggoty fashion designers. They also think they know better what I want instead of leaving the decision to myself.

Anyway, I found what I was looking for and bought three nice shirts. Originally priced for $35, yesterday they were priced at $14.99 and since I had a $10 coupon I did pretty well even if they were not a 100% what I wanted. Money talks!

After all the shopping was done we went to a late lunch early dinner as we always do on Saturdays. This time we selected a rib restaurant since we both like ribs. I had a full slab of baby back ribs without any smear, they called it naked. I thought it was to be served naked but the waitress was fully clothed and it goes without saying that I was totally disappointed!

But the food was really good. We both had a nice large Margarita to drink before dinner so we were pretty happy (and full) by the time the meal was over.

What puts my mind at peace about these large meals is that we usually park the car a little distance away so after eating we can walk off the calories. This time was no exception.

We parked at least twenty steps away and it was a considerable effort to get to the car!

Sport

This evening I was watching a peculiar sports program, mainly because there was nothing interesting on TV. I don't care about college football and tonight wherever I looked that's what was shown.

The program I started watching was the Trampoline and Tumbling World Championship from Daytona Beach Florida. There are a lot of stupid sports going around and this one is right up with the leaders.

They are jumping up and down on trampolines sometimes in pairs and synchronized and that is what they call the sport and that is what is now having a world championship. I can't imagine a little girl telling her parents that she will want to be a famous trampoline jumper when she grows up.

They keep coming up with more and more idiotic sports in recent years. It was so simple back in ancient Greece when they only had running, long jump, discus throw, javelin throw, running, some horse races and wrestling on the Olympic agenda. And they did it in five days!

Now every year they are inventing newer sports and hope to make them Olympic numbers. If rhythmic dancing is an Olympic number why ballroom dancing is not? That takes just as much grace and coordination as any similar sport.

I think finger wagging should be a sport. There are several ways one can wag his or her fingers. I will probably start the US Finger Wagging SC. and look for some sponsors. They will have a chance to dress up the fingers with all their advertisements.

How about drinking? Like in any other sport the winners will be the best man and women at the end who is still standing. Now what's wrong with this? Another thing, just like in any other sport it will be very easy to be a professional in this field. And it is a lot easier to find training areas in any city or town than to find a gym, and it is a lot easier to find good athletes in this field than in any other.

I'll keep thinking to see if I can find some good candidates for new sports for the future. maybe somethings for us older people, like sitting on a chair without moving or something like that.

Friday

I have a very dear friend whom I know at least for fifty-five years. Unfortunately his wife passed away bout ten years ago and now he lives alone. He is over his nineties and trying to manage life on his own.

Well, there are problems with that. He has some kind of balance problem and because of it he occasionally falls. Every time he falls, ambulance takes him to a nearby hospital from where he goes to a rehab place. There he stays for about three or four weeks then returns home and unfortunately the cycle repeats itself. Does not want to hear about going into a home, at least not just yet, because he wants to keep his independence. He has a car but can not drive it anymore since he is too week to stand and keep his balance.

He has no family, no offsprings the only thing he has is his friends and memories.

I try to visit him every week and it feels like it is becoming "Tuesdays with Morrie". But I love the guy, we have been friends for a very long time and this is the least I can do for him. I feel extremely sorry for him. He lives alone, I live alone and this way we can commiserate together. Even though we have a little of an bit age gap we still share a lot of memories.

So, I was with him this afternoon and had a fairly pleasant visit. The only sad thing is looking at him and thinking ahead and asking myself: is this what's in the wings in the years to come?

This is a terrible and sad way to finish one's life! My original hope was a lot better. Be in a plane crash and get things over with quick and fast!

I know I sound a little morbid but I can't help it. Visiting somebody like that leaves me in a psychological dungeon. But I guess I better get used to it.

Thursday

Today is Thursday and I had a and good eventful day. The first thing was that I cleaned the house. It sounds crazy but I really look forward to doing it mainly because at that time I feel really useful. And at the end I have that good feeling that I achieved something good.

It is very easy to postpone things, forget to do things or just plain not to do things. But I keep telling myself that there are certain things I must do in my life and this is one of them. So, there we go, cleaning is done for a week.

The other good thing was that I had a great diner tonight.

There is an event here called Restaurant Week when many upscale restaurants drop their prices and make it possible for poor slobs like me to visit them without leaving one's shirt there. This week is Long Island Restaurant Week and because of that my friends and I visited a very nice and good steak house in Long Island. I was there years ago and the place is really expensive.

But the food is great, service is impeccable, parking was available so it was worth the money. Because of this promotion they drop their prices on certain menu items which we took advantage of.

Bottom line is we all had a great steak dinner, good drinks and fantastic company. It was really pleasant and I am looking forward to the next such event.

I wrote so nicely about these two things that I really don't know now which was the winner. The steak dinner or the house cleaning?

Wednesday

It is 8:30 in the morning on Wednesday and I am contemplating what to do Today. I have been up since 7:30 and spent most of my time front of the computer.

I really like this bugger! Even though I lost some games or at least can not find them from the other computer I will deal with this inconvenience.

There was a Hungarian daily cross word puzzle I did every day just to practice my knowledge of my mother tongue and that thing does not come on in this program. But I'll manage this somehow. This should be my life's biggest problem, right?

Right now I am vacillating between going to the gym or not. Part of my brain tells me I should the other part tells me just stay home and be like a sloth (do nothing, just hang around). But since I have about an hour to make this serious decision I'll delay it for a while. I think I will go anyway. Love to cause pain and exertions on myself and that's what the gym does.

It clears my conscious and this way I don't feel so bad when I might eat a little more than I should.

A little politicking!

Yesterday was Election Day and as the results show we are heading into a Republican dominated Congress. The way I see it this country is great at criticizing other governments for their undemocratic attitudes, for their anti-American behaviors, for their corruptions etc. Now with the Republicans at the lead all this will happen here in Washington if it is not happening already.

The Washington Republicans were foaming at the mouth when Obama was elected president by a democratic system they are claiming to protect. How dare a black man become the leader of this country! From day one they did nothing but tried to discredit him and placed one roadblock after another front of his administration. If this not racist behavior then I don't know what is. They are absolutely convinced that they are God's gift to mankind (the American mankind). The Congress in Washington is the laughing stock of the world but they don't care and they don't seem to notice it. They are so engrossed in their self importance and self adulation that they really don't care about the people.

Now, the next two years will even be more problematic. The two sides will not come to any agreements and while each one will try to push forward of what they think is best for the people they think they represent in the meantime they will be stifling us with their "goodwill".

I think I heard that in Florida they spent in the neighborhood of a hundred million dollars on the campaign. That is totally criminal! People who do this should be prosecuted because this means they want to be in position so badly that they will do anything to get it. It is not for the good of the people it is for the good of the politician. That one hundred million dollars could have fed the hungry, could have created jobs, could have been used for medical research. Shame on them!

Unfortunately, today's politicians do not care about the people. They only care about themselves. They are just as corrupt as the ones they criticize in other parts of the world but they hide it behind false honest attitudes towards the people. The word people is nothing more than a banner behind they can all hide.

Bottom line is that it is a shame what goes on here. It used to be the best system in the world but slowly (maybe not that slowly) it is sinking away from the lead position!

Eureka

Eureka! said good old Archie Medes when he made his now famous bathtub discovery.

Eureka says good old me on the discovery that I know how to use Skype! Yesterday, after several tries I finally managed to get Skype under my control.

As the result of it I was able to spend over an hour and a half on it talking to good friends. The highlight of my use was when I got quickly connected to Australia and was able to converse with my dear friends whom I have not seen for many, many years and yesterday it was like they were here with me in my living room.

The picture quality was good, the sound was even better so over all we both had a great time.

Ain't technology great?

Something else.

Today, that I am writing this is Tuesday. I went into Manhattan because I had a doctor's appointment. I took the subway because the area I went to is not parking friendly. The subway trip was very pleasant mainly because I don't have to pay full price. I travel as a senior and that is half price. So, I get what I pay for. But really, it was good.

The doctor is a dermatologist and she gave me an overall checkup. She criticized my skin saying that my love of the sun really is not doing much good to my skin. I accepted that criticism and promised that I'll be more careful in the future. She also took two biopsies from my hand because she saw some growths she wasn't too comfortable about. I hope they are harmless. I can't deal with this kind of problem again.

Anyway, after the doctor I had lunch with my bro-in-law and the two of us had a good time.

Today, being Election Day, on the way home I went to do my civic duty. This was the first time in many days that voting in my district went without a hitch. In all previous years all these old geezers who worked there never knew what to do and they were chasing their own tails. This time all went quickly and efficiently.

I was in and out in less than ten minutes. Today I feel good because I added my twenty five cents to it. I know it is not twenty five but there is inflation, you know!

Sun-Mon

I am in a discovery mode with my new computer. It's not that I don't have enough problems understanding all the buttons and their functions in my new car, now I also have to deal with this new computer. I really don't know which is a bigger headache.

Anyway, this morning I discovered I have Skype. I was always against it but since I have it and I am getting a certain number of minutes free each month I as might as well use it, right? I really don't know how it works but I'll figure it out in time.

So, I activated it and listed a bunch of people I can pester or call without warning and maybe catch them when they the least expect it. LOL!

Not really, I'll be nice because I am a nice and polite person.

Something else.

Yesterday, Sunday, I had a very nice day. Because of some changes in the social calendar my regular Saturday "chores" were put off for Sunday. My friend and I did our usual supermarket thing yesterday and after that went out for an early dinner.

I found out that in the area we were in there was a Joe's Crab Shack. I saw it many times advertised on TV but never been to one. So we tried it yesterday. In all honesty, I was very glad we did. Even though I don't eat crab because it is a lot of work I still liked the place. They had all kinds of crab except soft shell which is the easiest to eat but they also had all kinds of other seafood.

I had some kind of lobster-shrimp-crab concoction that didn't need any work except just eating and it was very good. They also have some good drinks in those mason jars that one can take home. Since I had two drinks I now have a collection of two of those jars.

The atmosphere was good mainly because periodically the wait staff started in unison to sing and dance which, I think was a very nice touch. All in all I really liked the place and we had a good time.

It is very funny (or sad) that when one has really nothing important to do, days are kind of lose their meaning. This phenomenon is part of retired life. For me a Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday are all the same. So yesterday when we did our Saturday stuff I was totally confused. All day I thought I was Saturday.

But I am OK now. I know that Today is Wednesday!

Bucket List

Like a lot of people I also have a bucket list. There are things that I want to do, there are things that I would like to do and there are just things.

I don't write down my bucket list I just know I have one.

Today I have one less items in that bucket. I made another major purchase all by myself.

I bought myself a robe. A while back I was complaining that I was unable to find nice robes anywhere. But today I did found one and bought it right away.

Today it was miserable all day long but I decided to go out anyway. I had some business to take care of and I thought I might as well go and look for robes, again.
So I went. Because of the rain traffic was fairly light and I really have no problem driving in bad weather.

As good old Julie Caesar said it: veni, vidi, vici.

In short, I succeeded. Now I'm sitting on my laurels, in my new robe!

Conservative

I am becoming a real old fuddy-duddy. I hate everything new, I hate changes yet, I really like modern things. I guess I am a conservative by heart.

I don't like to buy anything not because I am cheap, although I do like money, but because then I will have to get used to the new things.

Actually, I do like new and modern stuff, what I don't like is replacing older and comfortable things with new ones. That covers everything from my shoes all the way to a newer car.

But I like my new car and I am slowly getting used to it. What right now is giving me the jitters is this new computer.

As I mentioned previously I bought a new one. I bought a Lenovo All-In-One 19.5" computer with Windows 8.1 in it. This is as far as my technical vocabulary will take me. That's it, can't go any further.

I went to the store, I selected this particular one, they gave me a box with everything in it and I was on my own. I had to set the whole thing up by myself with nothing but a very thin Manual helping me out.

But credit to me, I did it! I'm not saying that I was not nervous while doing it and even Today a few days later I still feel like I'm in the dark. I find things I am looking for but mainly by accident then next time I can not remember how I did that particular thing. Things I did in my previous computer I can not find and can not do. That's when the comfort factor come in. I am not yet very comfortable with this new gadget. Probably I will be in a while but right now I am still very nervous using it.

Can not understand why there is no manual available. The keyboard has about five thousand different uses, mostly not obvious because they are hidden, but how in the world one finds them out? OK, I can not remember all five thousand maybe just three (not thousand) but it would still be nice to know about them.

I'm sure what frightens me is that I have nobody to ask. At work I was surrounded with people who knew computers. Here now every question would cost me money. So I'd be better off solving my problems by myself.

Now I'm back in the circle where I started from, so I'm scared again.

Holloween

Today is the anniversary of my arrival here in the US. Fifty seven years ago today I "honored" this country and this great city with my presence.

I know it was Halloween because while we were taken by bus from the airport to our hotel we saw kids dressed in all kinds of "funny" dresses. Not knowing our asses from our elbows and none of us speaking any English we had no clue as what that meant.

Eventually we all agreed on that the Americans are a funny bunch!

We were in Yugoslavia for nine months in various refugee camps trying to get to some Western country. Eventually the US accepted us and we spent the last three or four weeks in an American collection or debarkation camp. Every week they posted a list of the people who were slated to go and about a week before this time we found our names on that list. We meaning my fiancé and me.

People can not imagine the excitement we all felt before taking the trip. Leaving the continent was no small feat for us. But eventually the day arrived when we woke early in the morning, put on our best dress (the only ones we had) and headed to the buses that were taking us to the Belgrade airport.

I don't think any one of us had ever been on an airplane before meaning the entire experience was totally strange to all of us. It was a two or four engine propeller plane chartered for this occasion. I don't think jets were very popular in those days. I do remember that propeller planes were flying over the Atlantic for many more years.

The flight was uneventful as far as I remember. We stopped at three different airports on the way where we were fed and had a chance to straighten our legs. The plane had stewardesses but none of them spoke Hungarian so there was really no communication between us.

At one point somebody saw some flames coming out of one of the engines and got all excited but the pilots thought nothing of it and we continued flying.

Not being familiar with the time zones I was trying to keep track the time because it seemed we were flying forever. I think we flew over twenty hours. But eventually we arrived in New York. Way back then JFK Airport was called Idelwild. Very few people remember that name now.

We were taken by bus to a hotel in Brooklyn where we stayed until collected by relatives or other sponsors. At the hotel we had our first taste of the American kitchen. By American food I mean tasteless, unsalted but we ate it anyway. There was a cafeteria there manned by very nice military people who really showed compassion towards us, and we all had a chance to fill our stomachs with decent hot food.

So eventually the day was over. After traveling seemingly forever we arrived at our final destination, into a New World and in the days to come we all had to face reality and start our new lives.

Thinking back fifty-seven years and seeing how much changed in this world, some to the better some to the worst I wonder if it would not be better to start all over again!