I am not a vicious person. I don't wish bad on anybody without a good reason. But I don't feel sorry for people who really don't deserve to feel sorry for.
We had a huge snow storm on this past Thursday. According to the news reports this was one of the biggest this area ever had. Thousands of people lost power because of the wet snow weighing down trees and power lines.
Westchester County is an upscale county in the New York City area. Chappaqua, Bedford Hills are ritzy neighborhoods with higher than average income residents. Yet, the newscasts want us to feel sorry for those people because they are without power for a few days.
First, why didn't they buy generators to provide power in case the main power is lost. My friend lived in Connecticut in a nice town, yet he bought a generator for just in a time like this.
Second, all the these people who lost their electric power can afford to check in to the Waldorf Astoria from their bonuses (or buy the Waldorf Astoria). So why don't they?
I really don't care if they are without electricity until Summer!
Another thing.
As I said we had this huge snowstorm. On Friday our neighborhood was very very quiet. There were very few cars on the road, a lot of people chose not to go to work.
We went down around lunch time since driving was not impossible. Went to a few stores near us and heard the same story over and over again.
These stores all opened a few hours late since their owners and employees had difficulty getting here as well as they had to clean their shares of the front sidewalks before opening.
But they told me that people were complaining about their late openings. These complainers were the same people who claimed they couldn't go to work because of the excessive snow.
Thursday morning the news was showing some parking lot in a shopping center. There were no people, there were no cars. Most of the stores didn't or couldn't open. But in the background there was a Pepsi truck making its deliveries.
Can you imagine how much these "I couldn't go out of my house because oi the snow" people would have complained if there were no Pepsi?
All I can say, we have it very easy. No wonder I like animals more than people!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
February 27, 2010
I just want to continue my trip down memory lane that I started yesterday.
Since I wrote yesterday about things that changed and advanced in my lifetime a few more items came to mind.
Going back to ice skating. When I started skating I was about five years old. Yes, we did have ice back then.
My parents took me to a rink that was natural ice even though Budapest had an outdoor rink with artificial ice even back then!
Anyway I wore high top leather shoes and the skates were fixed onto the sides of the soles of my shoes with the help of some special keys that tightened a few clamps. Looking back now it was primitive but that is what we had.
Eventually I "graduated" to skates that were permanently mounted on to the shoes and I thought they were the coolest things in the world.
Back in those early years instead of long pants I think I wore britches. That was the style kids of my age wore than. Looking back now, they looked pretty stupid but, that's what my parents bought me.
In New York City they use adjectives about older apartment buildings as Pre-War, meaning built before World War II.
The apartment building I was born and grew up in was built either in the very early 1900s or the very late 1890s. It was a real old building. But it was very sturdy, with thick brick walls and good solid floors.
Our apartment was large and was on the second floor with no elevator. Actually, we did have an elevator but it was destroyed during bombings and never rebuilt.
There was no central heat, we had specially built wood burning tile stoves in every room that were very comforting in the cold months. There was a cellar in the building where my Father used to go down to collect the heating material for the week and brought it up to the apartment. When I became a teenager I took over that chore.
Our building had a special room in the cellar where all the residents went down whenever there was an air raid during the war. We were in the mistaken belief that if our building were ever hit by a bomb that room was the safest place to be.
Fortunately, we never had the chance to find out how wrong we would have been. We had the opportunity to use that room again in November 1956 when the Russians came in to Budapest after the Hungarian Revolution and were shooting at buildings with the cannons of their tanks.
I never saw television until I came to the US in 1957. I heard about it but never saw one. My relatives had one, black and white though, and I really liked it.
We didn't buy one until 1960 but didn't take long to get used to it. My Mother got her first TV in 1964 and she also liked it a lot even though programming in those days in Hungary was very limited to say the least.
Being ruled by a Soviet type regime the government wanted to make sure that the viewing public is not being corrupted by so called immoral programs.
The happiness of the lathe operator, the joys of sharpening the scythe and similar enlightening programs were the daily norm. And people were watching these things because there was nothing else to watch.
Oh, don't forget the synchronized version of the Soviet movie about the loves of the female tractor operator.
We had no school lunches in my days. My Mother made me a sandwich and I ate that in recess. Sometimes we exchanged sandwiches with each other if we were not very happy with our own foods.
And we still grew up as fairly normal(?) and successful people. Kids here in this country don't realize how lucky they are!
I used to see my Grandfather shave with a straight razor. He didn't know any other way to shave. My Father used safety razors, he never mastered the use of the straight razor. Speaking of my Grandfather, he was so good shaving that he never saw him cut himself.
There is a small shop in one of the shopping centers near us where they provide shaving with straight razors. In reality that is the best shave one can ever get, but it's too much hassle.
Maybe if I get invited to the White House for a state dinner I'll get a shave with a straight razor.
In my early days movie theaters had pre-set show times and tickets were priced according to the location of the seats. Every ticket sold was for a reserved seat and for a particular showtime.
There was a movie theater in Budapest that showed nothing but newsreels continuously all day long. I thought it was very cool that one could see the same thing over and over again.
Due to the darkness of the theater and the non-stop performances and due to to the non existence of hourly rated motel rooms this movie theater became a very popular place among the young and the restless.
In the mid 1950s my Father had a company car which we used sometimes for weekend excursions. I remember the gas stations in those days. They were manually operated. The attendant pumped the gas continuously from one transparent cylindrical container to another and somehow that is how the gas got into the car.
It was extremely primitive but that's what we had back than.
Looking back, those were very primitive days but they were also very uncomplicated.
Since I wrote yesterday about things that changed and advanced in my lifetime a few more items came to mind.
Going back to ice skating. When I started skating I was about five years old. Yes, we did have ice back then.
My parents took me to a rink that was natural ice even though Budapest had an outdoor rink with artificial ice even back then!
Anyway I wore high top leather shoes and the skates were fixed onto the sides of the soles of my shoes with the help of some special keys that tightened a few clamps. Looking back now it was primitive but that is what we had.
Eventually I "graduated" to skates that were permanently mounted on to the shoes and I thought they were the coolest things in the world.
Back in those early years instead of long pants I think I wore britches. That was the style kids of my age wore than. Looking back now, they looked pretty stupid but, that's what my parents bought me.
In New York City they use adjectives about older apartment buildings as Pre-War, meaning built before World War II.
The apartment building I was born and grew up in was built either in the very early 1900s or the very late 1890s. It was a real old building. But it was very sturdy, with thick brick walls and good solid floors.
Our apartment was large and was on the second floor with no elevator. Actually, we did have an elevator but it was destroyed during bombings and never rebuilt.
There was no central heat, we had specially built wood burning tile stoves in every room that were very comforting in the cold months. There was a cellar in the building where my Father used to go down to collect the heating material for the week and brought it up to the apartment. When I became a teenager I took over that chore.
Our building had a special room in the cellar where all the residents went down whenever there was an air raid during the war. We were in the mistaken belief that if our building were ever hit by a bomb that room was the safest place to be.
Fortunately, we never had the chance to find out how wrong we would have been. We had the opportunity to use that room again in November 1956 when the Russians came in to Budapest after the Hungarian Revolution and were shooting at buildings with the cannons of their tanks.
I never saw television until I came to the US in 1957. I heard about it but never saw one. My relatives had one, black and white though, and I really liked it.
We didn't buy one until 1960 but didn't take long to get used to it. My Mother got her first TV in 1964 and she also liked it a lot even though programming in those days in Hungary was very limited to say the least.
Being ruled by a Soviet type regime the government wanted to make sure that the viewing public is not being corrupted by so called immoral programs.
The happiness of the lathe operator, the joys of sharpening the scythe and similar enlightening programs were the daily norm. And people were watching these things because there was nothing else to watch.
Oh, don't forget the synchronized version of the Soviet movie about the loves of the female tractor operator.
We had no school lunches in my days. My Mother made me a sandwich and I ate that in recess. Sometimes we exchanged sandwiches with each other if we were not very happy with our own foods.
And we still grew up as fairly normal(?) and successful people. Kids here in this country don't realize how lucky they are!
I used to see my Grandfather shave with a straight razor. He didn't know any other way to shave. My Father used safety razors, he never mastered the use of the straight razor. Speaking of my Grandfather, he was so good shaving that he never saw him cut himself.
There is a small shop in one of the shopping centers near us where they provide shaving with straight razors. In reality that is the best shave one can ever get, but it's too much hassle.
Maybe if I get invited to the White House for a state dinner I'll get a shave with a straight razor.
In my early days movie theaters had pre-set show times and tickets were priced according to the location of the seats. Every ticket sold was for a reserved seat and for a particular showtime.
There was a movie theater in Budapest that showed nothing but newsreels continuously all day long. I thought it was very cool that one could see the same thing over and over again.
Due to the darkness of the theater and the non-stop performances and due to to the non existence of hourly rated motel rooms this movie theater became a very popular place among the young and the restless.
In the mid 1950s my Father had a company car which we used sometimes for weekend excursions. I remember the gas stations in those days. They were manually operated. The attendant pumped the gas continuously from one transparent cylindrical container to another and somehow that is how the gas got into the car.
It was extremely primitive but that's what we had back than.
Looking back, those were very primitive days but they were also very uncomplicated.
Friday, February 26, 2010
February 26, 2010
If one lives long enough he'll see a lot of changes in the world. If one adds his parents' lifespan to his own the changes are phenomenal.
Here is one. My Mother was born in 1904, in Hungary. I do know that at that time there were no airplanes there and I'm sure there were no airplanes in the US either.
In my Mother's lifespan the airplane was invented, developed and eventually air travel became very popular in the world. My Mother, who never flew in her life, came to visit me in 1968 and flew from Budapest to New York alone in a huge jet plane. And, was never scared of the flying experience.
Actually, she flew about three more times and loved every trip.
Just looking back at the tremendous changes in technology in our time is mind boggling. Since I am familiar of the times my parents lived in I also count those years.
When I was growing up we already had telephones. Even in Hungary. We gave up smoke signals years before that.
Our telephones were rotary but so were all the phones when I came out to this county. Now, if one sees a phone with a rotary dial he will ask the question "what is this?"
In the late 1960s I saw mobile telephones but there were almost as big as a shipping trunk. Large and uncomfortably heavy. Now, the mobile phones are about 1/8th of an inch thick and weigh only a few ounces.
I remember automobiles, trucks that had to be cranked in the front in order to get their engines started. This was back before World War II and before the invention of the automatic starter, at least in Hungary.
My parents grew up in the silent movie era. In my Mother's time they already had color, wide screen and 3D movies with stereophonic sound.
There is a ski shop not far from where I live. In their window they exhibit some ancient wooden skis with real old bindings, bamboo poles as well as leather ski boots with lacing. They do this to show how much the sport advanced in years.
I am looking at these and saying it to myself that "hey, I used to ski with this type of equipment." Does that make me ancient, too?
My Mother used to have an iron made from cast iron. This iron used charcoal to heat it. She never liked to use it because it was heavy and generally a nuisance.
I think we threw it out. Now they are selling this as an antique item for a lot of money.
When I was growing up we never had an electric refrigerator. What we had was an ice box. The ice man came (cometh) and we bought ice from him, put it in the ice box and kept it there until it melted. She bought her first electric refrigerator in the 1960s.
Direct dialing long distance calls was unheard of. There were the good old switchboards with their corresponding operators.
A very good friend of mine lived in an Upstate New York community and in the mid 1960s when I visited them I noticed that their telephone had no rotary dial. When I inquired I was told that they couldn't dial out. They had to ask the local operator to make the connection. Can you imagine living like that today?
We get upset if in the middle of the Sahara Desert we can get four bars on our cell phone.
Just to note, I grew up in Hungary, lived in Budapest. Budapest was a cosmopolitan city equipped with all comforts money could buy. So it was not out in the boondocks where the fruits of civilization were slow to grow.
They liked the comforts the West could offer.
But to think back how much the world changed in our lifetime is staggering. It is almost like going from walking on all fours to walk upright.
The only thing really never finding a fertile soil in Hungary was the sport of golf. But don't worry about Hungarian men. They don't go around in circles looking for a little extracurricular activities.
I'll write about old things that we had, like wood skis
Here is one. My Mother was born in 1904, in Hungary. I do know that at that time there were no airplanes there and I'm sure there were no airplanes in the US either.
In my Mother's lifespan the airplane was invented, developed and eventually air travel became very popular in the world. My Mother, who never flew in her life, came to visit me in 1968 and flew from Budapest to New York alone in a huge jet plane. And, was never scared of the flying experience.
Actually, she flew about three more times and loved every trip.
Just looking back at the tremendous changes in technology in our time is mind boggling. Since I am familiar of the times my parents lived in I also count those years.
When I was growing up we already had telephones. Even in Hungary. We gave up smoke signals years before that.
Our telephones were rotary but so were all the phones when I came out to this county. Now, if one sees a phone with a rotary dial he will ask the question "what is this?"
In the late 1960s I saw mobile telephones but there were almost as big as a shipping trunk. Large and uncomfortably heavy. Now, the mobile phones are about 1/8th of an inch thick and weigh only a few ounces.
I remember automobiles, trucks that had to be cranked in the front in order to get their engines started. This was back before World War II and before the invention of the automatic starter, at least in Hungary.
My parents grew up in the silent movie era. In my Mother's time they already had color, wide screen and 3D movies with stereophonic sound.
There is a ski shop not far from where I live. In their window they exhibit some ancient wooden skis with real old bindings, bamboo poles as well as leather ski boots with lacing. They do this to show how much the sport advanced in years.
I am looking at these and saying it to myself that "hey, I used to ski with this type of equipment." Does that make me ancient, too?
My Mother used to have an iron made from cast iron. This iron used charcoal to heat it. She never liked to use it because it was heavy and generally a nuisance.
I think we threw it out. Now they are selling this as an antique item for a lot of money.
When I was growing up we never had an electric refrigerator. What we had was an ice box. The ice man came (cometh) and we bought ice from him, put it in the ice box and kept it there until it melted. She bought her first electric refrigerator in the 1960s.
Direct dialing long distance calls was unheard of. There were the good old switchboards with their corresponding operators.
A very good friend of mine lived in an Upstate New York community and in the mid 1960s when I visited them I noticed that their telephone had no rotary dial. When I inquired I was told that they couldn't dial out. They had to ask the local operator to make the connection. Can you imagine living like that today?
We get upset if in the middle of the Sahara Desert we can get four bars on our cell phone.
Just to note, I grew up in Hungary, lived in Budapest. Budapest was a cosmopolitan city equipped with all comforts money could buy. So it was not out in the boondocks where the fruits of civilization were slow to grow.
They liked the comforts the West could offer.
But to think back how much the world changed in our lifetime is staggering. It is almost like going from walking on all fours to walk upright.
The only thing really never finding a fertile soil in Hungary was the sport of golf. But don't worry about Hungarian men. They don't go around in circles looking for a little extracurricular activities.
I'll write about old things that we had, like wood skis
Thursday, February 25, 2010
February 25, 2010
When a person accidentally steps on the toes of another person he says "I'm sorry." When a person accidentally shoves another person on the subway he says "I'm sorry."
These and similar occurrences are the accepted reasons for apologies.
But when the head of a corporate giant, the head of one of the world's largest automaker says "I'm sorry for the mistakes we made and I take full responsibility for them" that sounds very fishy to me.
That apology is as phony, insincere and unbelievable as the one mumbled by a famous athlete last Friday who apologized for his sexual escapades.
I just hate when grown ups who happen to be public figures apologize for various indiscretions they committed.
And it is a fairly long list that includes former state governors, a current state governor, presidential hopeful, senators, professional athletes and God knows who else.
I can not believe that these people, most of whom possess above average intelligence, ever imagined that they could get away with whatever indiscretion they were doing.
Let's just go back to Toyota. The head of the company apologized for the problems caused by his company's products. Too bad! He will go back home to his nice cushy job and I am sure will not lose a moment's sleep over what happened to those people who got killed in their car.
He apologized and as far as he was concerned he said what was expected of him.
But this seems to be the fashion today. People do things that they are not supposed to do and when they are caught they apologize and as far as they are concerned the slate is wiped clean.
Is this what today's kids are supposed to learn? Don't worry about what you do because you can always apologize for it?
Most of these hapless souls are supposed to be important people. I am sure they thought they could get away with whatever they were doing because of their status. But they were wrong, they got caught.
I would hate to think how many important people get away with stuff simply because they are well connected.
It seems that the most important English word today is: sorry.
These and similar occurrences are the accepted reasons for apologies.
But when the head of a corporate giant, the head of one of the world's largest automaker says "I'm sorry for the mistakes we made and I take full responsibility for them" that sounds very fishy to me.
That apology is as phony, insincere and unbelievable as the one mumbled by a famous athlete last Friday who apologized for his sexual escapades.
I just hate when grown ups who happen to be public figures apologize for various indiscretions they committed.
And it is a fairly long list that includes former state governors, a current state governor, presidential hopeful, senators, professional athletes and God knows who else.
I can not believe that these people, most of whom possess above average intelligence, ever imagined that they could get away with whatever indiscretion they were doing.
Let's just go back to Toyota. The head of the company apologized for the problems caused by his company's products. Too bad! He will go back home to his nice cushy job and I am sure will not lose a moment's sleep over what happened to those people who got killed in their car.
He apologized and as far as he was concerned he said what was expected of him.
But this seems to be the fashion today. People do things that they are not supposed to do and when they are caught they apologize and as far as they are concerned the slate is wiped clean.
Is this what today's kids are supposed to learn? Don't worry about what you do because you can always apologize for it?
Most of these hapless souls are supposed to be important people. I am sure they thought they could get away with whatever they were doing because of their status. But they were wrong, they got caught.
I would hate to think how many important people get away with stuff simply because they are well connected.
It seems that the most important English word today is: sorry.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
February 24, 2010
I always knew that sport is big business. But when the pride of a nation is in question it is very peculiar to see other than their native sons on their teams.
I know that I already complained about this but I can not help it. It is more and more obvious as I am watching the Winter Olympics.
The Chinese women's curling team has a Canadian coach who naturally can not speak Chinese and communicates through an interpreter.
I was watching women's figure skating last night. One of the interesting thing I noticed that the Korean star figure skater is being coached by the Canadian Brian Orser who himself was an Olympic silver medalist for Canada.
The guy who stood on the podium several times and watched his country's flag being raised now was wearing the Korean team's jacket as he was rooting for his pupil. I guess the mighty dollar is the ever encompassing reasoning behind all this.
Most of the coaching staff in figure skating are Russians. Either former skaters themselves or just very good coaches who have the knack developing talents. This applies not only for the American skaters but to skaters in other countries too. Oh, and most of them live and practice in the US with their pupils.
I can understand that countries are selling citizenships to serve their own interests and, athletes are recruiting trainers from all corners of the world. All this because sport is becoming a worldwide business of huge proportions.
I think the Opening Ceremony should be the same way as the Closing Ceremony usually is. Athletes should come in in one large group and not by countries since being part of a particular country has no meaning at all anymore.
I know that I already complained about this but I can not help it. It is more and more obvious as I am watching the Winter Olympics.
The Chinese women's curling team has a Canadian coach who naturally can not speak Chinese and communicates through an interpreter.
I was watching women's figure skating last night. One of the interesting thing I noticed that the Korean star figure skater is being coached by the Canadian Brian Orser who himself was an Olympic silver medalist for Canada.
The guy who stood on the podium several times and watched his country's flag being raised now was wearing the Korean team's jacket as he was rooting for his pupil. I guess the mighty dollar is the ever encompassing reasoning behind all this.
Most of the coaching staff in figure skating are Russians. Either former skaters themselves or just very good coaches who have the knack developing talents. This applies not only for the American skaters but to skaters in other countries too. Oh, and most of them live and practice in the US with their pupils.
I can understand that countries are selling citizenships to serve their own interests and, athletes are recruiting trainers from all corners of the world. All this because sport is becoming a worldwide business of huge proportions.
I think the Opening Ceremony should be the same way as the Closing Ceremony usually is. Athletes should come in in one large group and not by countries since being part of a particular country has no meaning at all anymore.
$$$$
It seems that the media and others perceive today's children, primarily toddlers and their parents as idiots.
They are constantly occupied with child safety things. The car seat has to be a particular type otherwise the child falls out of it. The crib has to be a particular type of construction otherwise the baby might kill himself.
Electric outlets must be covered because the toddler will stick his fingers in them and gets electrocuted. Kitchen ovens must be protected in such a way that children might not be able to turn them on.
And this list goes on and on and on.
I don't understand all this. Maybe because I don't have any children.
But when I was growing up or any of my friends were growing up our parents never got a manual on how to raise us safely. And none of us ever got electrocuted or killed by our monster cribs.
We were allowed to sleep on our backs or on our bellies whichever we liked. We never had certain rooms barricaded so we might not enter. We never fell out of the windows and always got our shots without argument.
In our time we never had smartass mothers who thought they were more knowledgeable than the rest of the world. When they told us to get our shots we got them otherwise we were not permitted to attend school. We complied, never argued. End of story!
The so called experts are convincing everybody that today's parents are not up to raising children without a manual. And they are also convincing everybody that the babies and toddlers are on a mission of self destruction.
Somehow this world survived all these years without a safety manual and Baedeker.
Look at China. 1.3 billion people and I am sure they were not given a How to handbook every time a baby was born. The same applies to India with its 1.18 billion population.
At the top of these problems are the parents. Everything depends on them. Parents supposed to care for their children, they supposed to train their children for social etiquette. They are not to leave the basic values to the schools.
A well mannered child is not well mannered because he learned it in school. He is such a way because of his home life. Because the parents are willing to spend time with the child.
And since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, bum parents probably will have bum children. But there is no excuse for good parents to have bum children.
Hate to repeat myself but I will. Just look around. Our parents turned out to be pretty good people and their offsprings aren't that bad either.
If I may say so myself!
They are constantly occupied with child safety things. The car seat has to be a particular type otherwise the child falls out of it. The crib has to be a particular type of construction otherwise the baby might kill himself.
Electric outlets must be covered because the toddler will stick his fingers in them and gets electrocuted. Kitchen ovens must be protected in such a way that children might not be able to turn them on.
And this list goes on and on and on.
I don't understand all this. Maybe because I don't have any children.
But when I was growing up or any of my friends were growing up our parents never got a manual on how to raise us safely. And none of us ever got electrocuted or killed by our monster cribs.
We were allowed to sleep on our backs or on our bellies whichever we liked. We never had certain rooms barricaded so we might not enter. We never fell out of the windows and always got our shots without argument.
In our time we never had smartass mothers who thought they were more knowledgeable than the rest of the world. When they told us to get our shots we got them otherwise we were not permitted to attend school. We complied, never argued. End of story!
The so called experts are convincing everybody that today's parents are not up to raising children without a manual. And they are also convincing everybody that the babies and toddlers are on a mission of self destruction.
Somehow this world survived all these years without a safety manual and Baedeker.
Look at China. 1.3 billion people and I am sure they were not given a How to handbook every time a baby was born. The same applies to India with its 1.18 billion population.
At the top of these problems are the parents. Everything depends on them. Parents supposed to care for their children, they supposed to train their children for social etiquette. They are not to leave the basic values to the schools.
A well mannered child is not well mannered because he learned it in school. He is such a way because of his home life. Because the parents are willing to spend time with the child.
And since the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, bum parents probably will have bum children. But there is no excuse for good parents to have bum children.
Hate to repeat myself but I will. Just look around. Our parents turned out to be pretty good people and their offsprings aren't that bad either.
If I may say so myself!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
February 23, 2010
To show off my superior intellect, the quote "I could a been a contender" comes from the 1954 movie On the Waterfront and it was said by Marlon Brando to Rod Steiger.
Click on the link and you'll see a five minute segment of the scene where these words were spoken.
It is not very easy to be so knowledgeable. My head is bursting with all the stuff stored in it.
That's why I have a swollen head which is far better than to have a shrunken head!
Click on the link and you'll see a five minute segment of the scene where these words were spoken.
It is not very easy to be so knowledgeable. My head is bursting with all the stuff stored in it.
That's why I have a swollen head which is far better than to have a shrunken head!
###########################
Today it is a miserable, dark, rainy day. By English standards it is probably a fine day for a walk outdoors but by our standards it is just plain yucky.
Since we have no business anywhere we decided to stay inside all day. Staying home is not the worse place in the world. Gives one time to catch up with things he wanted to do and kept postponing again and again.
For a very long time I wanted to do absolutely nothing and today I finally had the opportunity to do just that. This writing is about as much as I would do all day long with the exception that I fixed a scrumptious lunch earlier for the two of us.
Since we have no business anywhere we decided to stay inside all day. Staying home is not the worse place in the world. Gives one time to catch up with things he wanted to do and kept postponing again and again.
For a very long time I wanted to do absolutely nothing and today I finally had the opportunity to do just that. This writing is about as much as I would do all day long with the exception that I fixed a scrumptious lunch earlier for the two of us.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
In physics classes I learned that ether evaporates almost instantly. Now I know something that evaporates even faster.
It is called consumer confidence.
The Market opened up at 9:30 this morning and five minutes later prices were up very nicely. Commentaries said that futures showed an uptrend and things looked good since several major companies came out and reported higher than expected earnings.
By 10:00 consumer confidence disappeared and the Market plunged and stayed that way for the rest of the day, closing at -100.97.
What would it take for that darn consumer to rebuild his confidence?
Maybe some tangible proof for a better economy to look forward to in our future!
It is called consumer confidence.
The Market opened up at 9:30 this morning and five minutes later prices were up very nicely. Commentaries said that futures showed an uptrend and things looked good since several major companies came out and reported higher than expected earnings.
By 10:00 consumer confidence disappeared and the Market plunged and stayed that way for the rest of the day, closing at -100.97.
What would it take for that darn consumer to rebuild his confidence?
Maybe some tangible proof for a better economy to look forward to in our future!
Monday, February 22, 2010
February 22, 2010
It is 10:30 am or for my European friends it is 10:30 in the morning.
We Americans are extremely intelligent people. We can't hack the metric system but insisting on using latin description for before noon and after noon.
The day is just beginning. The weather is nice but they are already forecasting some nasty things to come. I wanted to go skiing on Wednesday but with more snow in the forecast I think I am postponing it.
Just to change the subject I want to mention that at the end of next month a very good friend of mine and his wife are coming to New York for their annual visit.
We know each other since elementary school, we practically grew up together (if we can call this status of our life grown up) and in the past several years see each other once a year when they visit here from good old England.
At these visits them and another very old, dear and good friend and his wife we get together and reminisce about the old times (or tymes), exchange gossips and in the meantime stuff ourselves with Hungarian soul food.
We always enjoy and look forward to these get-togethers.
It is nice to meet people from our old lives. We are so far from our roots and there are so few of us left that it is very refreshing to talk and remember about our younger (and unquestionably wilder) days.
Since the Winter Olympics is on I can't help but remember when my friend and I used to go ice skating practically every day in the winter.
We probably put in more ice time time than any serious competitive skater. As the saying goes "I could a been a contender" applies to both of us. However, our interest was far far away from the sport. Well, sport as it is commonly known.
Our single minded devotion was to meet girls. That was the only reason why we were willing to freeze our teenage arses off on the outdoor skating rink. I also think this was before the invention of recreational sex. At least for us.
This was an outdoor rink. In those days, and I am talking about the 1950s, there were no indoor ice skating rinks in Budapest.
We actually never met anybody nice out there but we always had a great time.
Getting together with friends from the old days is such a comforting way to spend time. Meeting these people always give me a warm and fuzzy feeling and I am looking forward to it.
Anyway, here is a life changing story.
Yesterday I received from my other friend an e-mail with a photo attached to it. The story is that he is going through old slides and digitizing them and he keeps finding stuff he gets very sentimental about .
This particular photo shows a grocery store in our neighborhood. The story goes that he went there one day in January 1957 to buy something. The store was almost closing and the woman in charge would not let him in and in addition made some antisemitic remarks.
Next day my friend came up to our house and told my Mother and I the story. He said this was the last straw and this was what made him decide to leave the country. My Mother agreed with him and together they convinced me to leave also.
OK, looking back in the past fifty three years I am not sorry that I left. I have a good life, a loving wife and this is not the worse place to be in the world.
But the funny thing is how sometimes something insignificant can have a life changing effect. If that little scenario did not happen between my friend and the woman in the grocery store him and I would be two retired gentlemen still living in Budapest.
We Americans are extremely intelligent people. We can't hack the metric system but insisting on using latin description for before noon and after noon.
The day is just beginning. The weather is nice but they are already forecasting some nasty things to come. I wanted to go skiing on Wednesday but with more snow in the forecast I think I am postponing it.
Just to change the subject I want to mention that at the end of next month a very good friend of mine and his wife are coming to New York for their annual visit.
We know each other since elementary school, we practically grew up together (if we can call this status of our life grown up) and in the past several years see each other once a year when they visit here from good old England.
At these visits them and another very old, dear and good friend and his wife we get together and reminisce about the old times (or tymes), exchange gossips and in the meantime stuff ourselves with Hungarian soul food.
We always enjoy and look forward to these get-togethers.
It is nice to meet people from our old lives. We are so far from our roots and there are so few of us left that it is very refreshing to talk and remember about our younger (and unquestionably wilder) days.
Since the Winter Olympics is on I can't help but remember when my friend and I used to go ice skating practically every day in the winter.
We probably put in more ice time time than any serious competitive skater. As the saying goes "I could a been a contender" applies to both of us. However, our interest was far far away from the sport. Well, sport as it is commonly known.
Our single minded devotion was to meet girls. That was the only reason why we were willing to freeze our teenage arses off on the outdoor skating rink. I also think this was before the invention of recreational sex. At least for us.
This was an outdoor rink. In those days, and I am talking about the 1950s, there were no indoor ice skating rinks in Budapest.
We actually never met anybody nice out there but we always had a great time.
Getting together with friends from the old days is such a comforting way to spend time. Meeting these people always give me a warm and fuzzy feeling and I am looking forward to it.
Anyway, here is a life changing story.
Yesterday I received from my other friend an e-mail with a photo attached to it. The story is that he is going through old slides and digitizing them and he keeps finding stuff he gets very sentimental about .
This particular photo shows a grocery store in our neighborhood. The story goes that he went there one day in January 1957 to buy something. The store was almost closing and the woman in charge would not let him in and in addition made some antisemitic remarks.
Next day my friend came up to our house and told my Mother and I the story. He said this was the last straw and this was what made him decide to leave the country. My Mother agreed with him and together they convinced me to leave also.
OK, looking back in the past fifty three years I am not sorry that I left. I have a good life, a loving wife and this is not the worse place to be in the world.
But the funny thing is how sometimes something insignificant can have a life changing effect. If that little scenario did not happen between my friend and the woman in the grocery store him and I would be two retired gentlemen still living in Budapest.
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