Busy Tuesday

Today is Tuesday, almost six o'clock in the afternoon. I really had a busy day. This morning I went to the gym for a little workout. Well, morning is really my morning. I got there at 10 and left around 11:45. It was a "grueling" workout but I liked it. Actually, I went yesterday, too. But that was not what made the day busy for me.

Now comes the $64,000 question. When do things get old and when are they supposed to get thrown out? I really mean paper things. Bills, statements, mementos, letters, cards etc.

The way I did it at the beginning of each year I threw out previous year's statements except bank documents. But this didn't do much to my existing quantities of other papers.

Now I decided to review my situation. I am going through systematically each drawer and it is amazing the wealth of history I am finding. I have a shredder that I bought a few years ago and right now it already earned its cost (actually it was pretty cheap).

Yesterday and today I filled bag after bag with the results of the shredding. And, I have a lot more to do.

But the question is at what point one decides what to get rid of and what to keep. This is not a business so I don't have to worry about record keeping. The stuff that I am sorry to throw out is primarily sentimental. They have no value to anybody else but me. I am looking at them and remembering. I don't know if that is good or not but it certainly feels good.

I have nobody to share these with but even if I had children they couldn't care less, they wouldn't appreciate it. Actually, my wife didn't care much about the old things. I was more sentimental than She was. She always told me to throw all that junk out.

It is a funny thing. The way I see it the older we get the more we try to appreciate the older things. Maybe because we are the only one appreciating the old. Nobody else is!

My Bathroom

I live in an apartment house on the third floor. Above me is the fourth floor which is obvious, right? About six months ago the toilet in the bathroom above mine had some problem and subsequently it flooded mine. The ceiling was all wet through, there was water on the floor everywhere. Thankfully, it was just clean water and not any other stuff if you know what I mean.

The good thing is that since this is a cooperative building and the tenant above me is a shareholder she is responsible for the repairs. I am a renter which means I don't have to pay for anything. Being poor has its advantages!

The building superintendent came up a few days after the big flood, knocked down part of the ceiling and repaired it, meaning re-plastered it. Now, it looks like shit because the bathroom walls are a kind of light yellow and the plaster is white. But I really don't go into the bathroom with my eyes fixed on the ceiling, so it doesn't bother me.

The super asked us several time when we wanted the bathroom painted because he was prepared to do it. For obvious reasons we were not really prepared for that job.

Now, last week he stopped me in the hallway and asked when could he paint the bathroom. I mumbled something that sounded like soon.

The problem I'm having is that I will supply the paint because the house brand is pure crap, and I have to buy the right color. COLOR is the problem word!

There are eight million varieties of yellow and I will have to pick the right one otherwise I have to live with the consequences. You see my dilemma? That is why I am not anxious to get this job done.

Life is full of hurdles!

Saint

Right at the beginning I have to mention that whatever I say here is my opinion and mine only. If it insults anybody I am sorry, it is not intentional, please believe me. I respect everybody's opinions and believes and I am not trying to influence it in any way.

Well, here it is!

I am not a religious person by any means. I am Jewish by birth and I am not denying it but I am not a practicing Jew. Actually, I really don't need to practice, I have been Jewish long enough.

My wife was Catholic but like me She was not a practicing Catholic either. We both had our believes and life was easier this way.

Usually, when I needed something I used to pray. I prayed to whomever was listening. I prayed to win on the Lottery. You all know how that worked out, right? But I used to pray for little things and sometimes I was lucky other times not.

When my wife got sick I did some serious praying. As She got sicker the intensity of my praying increased a thousandfold. I was not fussy. I asked everybody for help, from Allah to Buddha to Tao to the Dalai Lama to God. I prayed that She would get cured, I prayed that Her condition would improve, I prayed for everything under the sun that would help Her.

If I saw a church in my walks regardless to its denomination I went in, I also used the chapel in the hospital even though I knew that God supposed to hear me regardless where I was, and what religion I belonged to.

Unfortunately, my prayers were not answered and She did not get any better.

I do realize that God is busy with everything going on in the world and my prayers were probably lost in the avalanche of current human tragedies.

Now, why am I writing all this?

I am writing it because a while back I read that Pope John Paul II cured some Costa Rican woman who claimed to have brain aneurysm. So I prayed to him. I prayed every day for his intervention, his help but to it did not come.

Why not? Why could he not help out? Was he so busy that he couldn't help out a very ill person? What was he so busy with? Not that he got so much work up there that he couldn't take a second and help my poor, sick wife. Why did he help somebody from Costa Rica and not my wife, too?

I guessed he figured he already got his points for sainthood so why bother!

If I were a staunch believer this was the time when my believes would have floundered. This was the time to give up all hope for miracles to happen in this lifetime. I am very angry, very disgusted and totally disappointed.

As far as I am concerned he is not a saint, he is useless and he is just another old Pollack who just made a name for himself.

So, there it is! This is how I feel.

Computer Games

I love to play various games on my computer. I like Solitaire, I like various Mah Jong games, I play Bingo occasionally, I like Blackjack and I like crossword puzzles.

I don't play for real money, I just play for the glory. If I can beat myself I'm satisfied. The problem with all these games is that playing any one of them eats up time. Once I get involved with one game I find myself going and going to the next steps and before I realize it hours went by and nothing useful was done.

My wife always said me that I could sh.t away time like nobody else. Now that there is nobody to chide me I am realizing how true that was.

In the morning when I get up I turn my computer on. I check the financial situation, check the news and just to unwind I play some games. That's when my troubles start. Before I realize half the morning went away and nothing was done. Didn't go to the gym, didn't have breakfast, didn't make up the bed.

That is the problem with these games that they are really habit forming. Like right now when I am writing this.

It is almost ten o'clock at night. There is nothing interesting on TV, I was out all day and I am really tired. But I know that when I finish this writing I will start playing some game and will keep playing for quite a while.

So on that note good night world, I am going to unwind now.

Robert Moses

This is a short description of how I met Robert Moses at the New York World's Fair.

For those who do not know who was Robert Moses this it: he was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. This straight from Wikipedia.

Many of the facilities used today, including roads, bridges, tunnels, parks and beaches were the creations of Robert Moses. He was also the brainchild behind the 1964 New York World's Fair.

As I mentioned before I worked on the construction of one of the pavilions. Seeing various visitors was not unusual since this undertaking was not something one could see every day even in New York.

I was the engineer and my boss was the construction superintendent who was a brash, know it all very impatient person who drove a Citroen. Him and I got along very well.

I was 27 years old, seven years in this country and my English was far from perfect. So, one day when a group of suits showed up and wanted to see the project it was not surprising that he didn't want to have anything to do with them. He told me to show them around since I knew the project as well as he did.

At the time there was little more than a very big mud hole with some foundations. Well, I go out and meet the group and introduce myself. Can't tell you how surprised I was when the group of people separated and in the middle stood a little guy who was Robert Moses.

I was introduced and the tour began. Everything went fine. He was charming, asked good questions, accepted my smart answers and eventually we parted on very good terms. As nervous as I was I tried to speak as good English as possible with my limited knowledge but it seemed it worked.

After they left I went back to the office and asked my boss: did you know who was here, he said who. Robert Moses I replied. He got really pissed at himself for passing up such an opportunity and leave it to a guy like me.

Well, that's life: full of opportunities and disappointments!

World's Fair

This week, on April 22 was fifty years ago that the New York World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadows Park. That was in 1964, a lifetime ago.

There were some remembrances on that day in the Park with people who were involved or were interested in this event.

I did not go to this event for two reasons. I did not know about it and then I really don't like these gettogethers.

Even though, I could have gone since I did work on the construction of the 1964 Fair and then before the opening in 1965 the second year.

I had a great time there during the construction. I worked on the construction of one of the pavilions. It was called the Festival of Gas. Its main exhibit was showing how natural gas can be used to generate electricity. I had nothing to do with that but I was the construction engineer for the construction itself. I was involved from foundation to past opening day.

There were many days when I almost froze of my yingyang it was so cold but I made it through. End this was my first job where I was the engineer on the construction site.

It was extremely interesting to see how the entire World's Fair became a reality, hot the exhibits got built and at the end they all functioned as planned.

Towards the end we the workers were allowed to go in the various exhibits and see them without the throngs of tourists present.

If I don't forget it next time I'll tell how I met Robert Moses.

Since I was an employee I had a pass and that way I was able to visit the Fair throughout the whole time.

After they closed my company put me back into the Fair because they were to build the Florida Water Ski exhibit.

This was a steel framed container with stadium seating around it where the were holding water skiing demonstrations. I liked this job, too. It was very interesting. Didn't last as long as the first one because this exhibit had to be ready for the second year opening. But we did it.

The sad reality about the whole thing is that everything I worked on were not meant to be permanent. They had to be demolished and totally removed.

All I am left with is some mementos and my memories. Just like life itself.

Politicians

I came from a communist country where the politicians lied, cheated and stole whatever they could. And this was the expected way of life because there was nothing anybody could or dared to do.

The politicians always told the people that everything that was done was for the benefit of the people. To help the working people and families. And we believed it. Hook, line and sinker! And if things were not perfect, well that was to be expected.

Now I am here in this country where democracy rules, everybody is free and changes could be made if we don't like what we hear.

Except that nothing changed. The politicians lie and cheat and tell us that everything they do is for the benefit of the people. But the question is what people.

The democrats are swearing that what they do is good for us. The republicans are swearing that what the democrats are saying is no good because only they, the republicans know what is good for the people.

Are they talking about the same people? Because it seem this country has two classes of people. The democrats and the republicans.

Politicians go for the photo op. They will show up wherever they can get their pictures taken or talk on TV. New York's democratic senator Chuck Schumer is visible on Sunday night television. That is when he comes to New York and adopts some issue making sure that it is on the nightly news. Where is he during the week?

After the storm Sandy all the politicians were there hugging people and crying with the people and promising they would do everything to get federal money to help rebuild.

I used to do business with state agencies and the people in places all wanted something for just doing their jobs.

My question is now, why are we any different here than the political system we are or were condemning for years saying that was evil?

It is well known that that didn't work out as promised. People are still living in hotels or with friends two years after the storm. Where are these huggers and criers now?

Another thing is that this government makes such a big deal out of other countries being corrupt. They should look at their own backyard first. It is a well known fact that Washington is as corrupt as any other country in this world. Maybe not blatantly corrupt but every politician in Washington and all municipal localities has his own price.

Maybe not at the highest levels but further down the food chain the people are buyable!