Day Trip

Today is Tuesday and I had a great day. Today was the first time that I went to a further distance away from home to meet friends.

I have a very great friend whom I know practically from the day I left Hungary. That would be more than 57 years by now and counting.

She is a lovely lady who had her own shares of problems in life and I went to visit her. I had to go to New Jersey southbound from New York and travel on the New Jersey Turnpike. My Google map plotted her place about 99 miles and one and a half hour trip.

In reality it was more than 110 miles and took me well over two hours to get there and I only had one short stop.

But no matter how long the trip was it was worth it. First it was a beautiful day, good for traveling. Second she is a lovely person and I loved and love being in her company. We talked and talked, exchanged miseries and at the end I think we both felt better.

New Jersey Turnpike is not a bad road. Most of the time the speed limit is 65 miles per hour but if one drives "only" at 70 miles per hour he is being pushed off the road. The only thing that makes the trip long and tedious are all the various construction areas where signs advise you to reduce speed to 45 miles per hour. That is not very easy when everybody is flying at 70 plus. So, in the 45 areas speeds are reduced to 65!

The town she lives in is a beautiful little town nestled against the Delaware River. Beautiful and tasteful homes on the waterfront, no McMansions at all.

We had a very pleasant late lunch, talked some more than went back to her house for a little more chatting. After six o'clock I got ready to go home.

I figured by the time I get to New York rush hour would be over and it would be an easy sailing. And exactly that happened. The trip home was not that long, traffic was not existing and 65 miles per hour speed limit was all the way. I put on the cruise control and let the car do what it does best while I took a nap!

Stopped once, ate some and was home by 9:30 in the evening. I know that when I go again, now knowing the route it will take less time.

All in all I had a very good day! I think I deserve it.

Cleanliness

I take a shower whenever it is necessary which is usually every day. But I do skip a day once in a while. I also shave regularly which is also every day, most of the time.

When I worked there was never any question about when to shower and shave. Every day was the rule. Also my wife was here to remind me if I inadvertently missed a day.

Women love to bathe, might that be a bath or just a shower but with them it is always a major undertaking. Since they like to pamper themselves it is natural that it takes a lot longer than for men.

Me? I go into the shower and by the time the commercial is over in my shower radio I am done. No pampering for this dude. I live with what god gave me.

Now that I am alone things are a little different. With my wife we used to go out every single day. Never stayed home. Might that be just to walk around some stores but still went out.

Now I don't go out if I have no reason to. I don't go to stores just to look around because frankly, they bore me. So, since I do not go out I have the tendency to skip some routines. Who will complain? Sometimes I do stay in two or three days, except for going to the gym.

Sometime early last week it just happened that I had no reason to go anywhere and I decided that I would not shave until it was absolutely necessary.

That lasted about four days. Even though it was great for my face but when I looked at my reflection in the mirror I got scared. And, when I took a selfie of me I got even more scared. I looked like somebody on a police wanted poster besides the fact that I looked ten years older than I really am.

So very quickly I shaved and got nice and clean and suddenly looked only as old as I really am.

This does not mean that I will not skip a day here and there with my shaving which I will but never as long as it was the last time.

But pampering is still out of the question.

Sleep or No Sleep

I could not sleep this morning. Proof of it is that right now it is just before 8 am and I have been up since 5:30.

I went to sleep a little after midnight Saturday, got up at 4:30 then back to bed but couldn't go back to sleep. I don't know why. I was nervous, I was tossing and turning and sleep just eluded me. So, by 5:30 I said heck with this and got up.

Even my coffee maker was still sleeping. Set for 7 am I had to start it manually. So, what does one do at 5:30 am when the rest of the world is still asleep on a Sunday morning?

I started up my computer and was on it for a while, then at seven I took a shower and after that I made my first telephone call.

Not for here in the US but to Hungary where by that time it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon. I talked to my cousin for almost a half an hour. Thanks to a good telephone plan a half hour of overseas conversation costs only 30 cents. And me being a big spender we just talked!

Today is Mother's Day in Hungary (first Sunday in May) and he was very depressed. Lost his mother, my aunt, about sixteen years ago and he misses her a lot.

He also had a minor stroke a few months ago and now he is afraid of everything. Afraid to go out alone, afraid to take medications, afraid not to take medications, afraid to do anything and plus he is not a young man. Bottom line is that he is extremely depressing. He lives alone because he is a confirmed bachelor and now he is lonely, now he misses family.

Right now I really do not need somebody who is very depressed. I have enough on my plate to deal with but the nice guy I am, I wound up trying to cheer him up.

I also told him I couldn't sleep this morning, he said neither could he. He always tries to up my misery with his. Do I really need this?

He is my father's brother's son thus my first cousin and I love him as miserable as he is.

Whenever we visited Hungary he was a great companion,loved to go out to restaurants and eat whatever we dreamed up. Right now I am thinking going there next year for a visit and I am looking forward to seeing him and spending time with him.

Oh, yeah and, going out to eat with him.

To Tell The Ttruth

In the 1980s there was a quiz show named To Tell the Truth. I think it was once a week in prime time. Seemed to be very popular at the time.

The synopsis of the show was that there was a fairly famous person and two impostors. The famous person was not physically known so nobody really recognized him or her. The two impostors also claimed to be the famous person and the panel had to find out who was the real person.

For any incorrect vote money was awarded. In the panel at the time as I remember was Peggy Cass and Bill Cullen. Both well known TV personalities. Bill Cullen was actually the original host of the Price Is Right TV show.

To make it short, this was a very popular show with a large viewership and it ran continuously from 1956 through 1981, I think.

Well to get to the point, through some acquaintance at my office I volunteered and was accepted as an impostor for the show. The big problem was that I was supposed to be Pete Gogolak a very famous place kicker for the New York Giants amongst other teams. He played between 196 and 1974 so by the time the show was being taped he was already retired.

He was Hungarian and he played soccer in Hungary. His claim to fame was as I remember that he was using the European style soccer kick that was very new and achieved good results.

So I and another fellow had to pretend that one of us was him. That seemed fairly easy, me being Hungarian right? But the problem was that I had absolutely no clue about American football. I didn't know any players, didn't know any of the teams and didn't any of the rules.

When they started asking me I was trying to make up some answers but it became very obvious that it wasn't me who was the football player.

When I found out, a few days earlier, who I was supposed to be on the show I was scared out of my wits. I tried to learn as much as I could about football in a very short time but the information was overwhelming. So, I figured I'll just wing it. My life didn't depend on this except my reputation.

The day of the taping was a whole day affair and it was fun. They taped several shows and I met a few very interesting people. One that stands out was the man who was the first to enter into the nuclear plant in Three Mile Island after the explosion.

My fiancee and my future mother in law were there cheering for me. The taping was in the NBC studio in New York's Rockefeller Center. There was food prepared for us and we were allowed to come and go as we liked and were treated as important people. The only ones isolated were the celebrity panel. We only met them once the show got under way.

It is interesting when we see these game shows now they give the impression that everything is very spontaneous. No way, everything was very controlled down to the color of my jacket I worn.

Anyway due to my ignorance of football I was found out fairly easily and Mr. Gogolak won. I received a check for $25 for my appearance which was more than nothing. Oh the show was taped in November 1980 and broadcasted shortly after.

One day I got a phone call from my niece from Pennsylvania that she saw me on television. I was very grateful and proud that somebody who knew me at least saw me.

If a tree falls in a forest...

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" is a philosophical thought.

This is the question that baffled mankind for many years. I have other similar philosophical questions that might not have baffled mankind but they certainly baffled me.

When one drives on the road and gets to an intersection and there is nobody around, meaning no cars, no people and the person wants to make a turn is it necessary to signal?

When one drives on a highway and wants to change lane and there is no car in view anywhere is it necessary to signal?

When one parks into a very tight spot and there is nobody in the car next to his and when he opens his door that door hits the car next to his, does he say "sorry"?

When one backs into a very tight spot and there is nobody sitting in the car behind does he hits that car or try not to?

These are very important questions that affect or driving techniques.

Speaking of driving techniques, I wonder how many of us old time drivers would pass a driving test today. Probably none of us.

I got my drivers license in 1961 and I passed my driving test at the first try. In those days we had to use hand signals. Signals for turning, for slowing down and I don't know for what else. Today there is only one hand signal every driver is familiar with and that one is not using the entire hand. It is using only one finger!

A few years ago I got a ticket from a very "friendly" policeman for making an illegal left turn. I live in this neighborhood for over fifty years and I made thousands of turns at the same spot with no problem.

So this Erich von Stroheim look a like waved me over and asked me if I knew what I was doing. I said no. I was making a left turn in a business district which apparently is illegal in New York City or State. I told him that I was living here longer than he was alive but to no avail. Smilingly he still gave me a ticket.

I fought the ticket and eventually went to traffic court. This jerk of a cop was there with a bundle of tickets. He must have surpassed his quota because in that courtroom almost everybody was his victim. I argued with the judge and eventually I won! But she asked me very interesting question. She asked me how did I get my license if I didn't know that no left turn was permitted in a business district.

That made me think that what do we know of today's driving regulations. All I know is to go forward, park, stop, go, turn and a few equally important things. Oh, yeah, and don't go over the speed limits (by much).

May 1

Today, when I am writing this it is May 1 or May Day. When I lived in Hungary this day was always a big holiday. Besides having a political significance it was always the official start of the summer season. Even if we froze our asses off the pools opened up, amusement parks became fully functional and summer was here like it or not.

I think the observance of this was inherited from the Soviets because they always had big May Day parades. Well if they had it Hungarians had to have it, too. Actually I do know the history of May Day but I don't want to show off how smart I am.

In Budapest all the party and government big shots showed up at the official reviewing stand and the faithful and happy workers marched and waved and sang and danced and everybody was deliriously happy.

The only reason people were happy because on that day nobody worked. And if Hungarians loved and still love something that is not to work.

Most of the time this day was combined with a possible long weekend or at least another off day. Maybe give time to the delirious people to sober up.

This year May Day falls on a Thursday. So what do the good Hungarians do? Make it a four day weekend. Isn't that just natural, right?

Even though capitalism replaced socialism and capitalism is rampant there some good old habits are hard to shed. Like May Day and August 20. August 20 was the celebration of the new constitution after WWII. Now it is called Saint Stephen day and still a holiday. Saint Stephen was the first christian king of Hungary for those who care.

April 4 used to be a holiday too. It was celebrating the liberation of Hungary by the Soviet Army in 1945. For obvious reasons that day is not observed anymore. Mainly since the good old Hungarians would have preferred the Nazis to stay and finish what they started so there was nothing to celebrate on April 4.

But going back to good old habits hard to shed. My former countrymen hate to work. They will grab at any opportunity to shorten the workweek by extending holidays and at the same time also getting paid. No dummies!

I can say one thing. May 1st is not the beginning of summer here where I am no matter how I look at it. It was raining, cold and we had heat in my building.

But just to show my solidarity with the working proletariat, I did a lot of work today. It was cleaning day at my household. Actually, I am getting to be pretty good at it. The fact that every bone in my body hurt is another problem but I'll get used to it.

It is a psychological issue. I keep telling myself that the cleaning is just an exercise and no pain, no gain. It really works at the end.

I am so gullible, I believe anything!

Another Sunday

I know it is Thursday when this is published but I just had to write about my last Sunday.

Two weeks ago I drove into Manhattan to Macy's to exchange a belt that was my birthday present for another size. Well, this Sunday I drove in again to exchange that same belt but this time to another color. The original belt was brown and I realized I have oodles of brown belts and only one black belt. Now, I have two black belts!

You see, I may not know how to cook but I can think for myself when necessary.

The drive in was pleasant just like the last time but parking this time was a lot more difficult. Macy's is between 34 and 35th streets and I finally parked in 43rd Street. When one is looking for a parking spot it is very easy to go further and further away from the place one wants to be close to.

The good thing was that the weather was pleasant and I didn't mind walking. I crossed Times Square and walked around like a tourist.

I haven't been there on foot in years and I found the area very interesting and busy. I walked up and down 42nd street and gawked at the signs and curbside vendors. I was glad that I was not a tourist. I would have been totally lost. As a New Yorker I just looked at things and kept saying to myself that these things are for the tourists.

No self respecting New Yorker would fall for any of the come ons.

Two weeks ago I saw an Iranian New Year parade. This time there was a remembrance on Times Square for the 1912 Armenian genocide. I watched that for a while then I realized how much politicians love to hear themselves speak so I left.

This is a big city, every week something is happening somewhere.

I had lunch at Macy's again, this time it was for $18. Man, nothing is too good for me!