A Real Phenomenon

I’ve been sitting at this keyboard for about fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to start a Blog about a phenomenon. For many years now my brother has been insisting that Marge and I attend a Paul McCartney concert. On his last tour I found enough excuses not to join him at each venue until the tour ran out. Trust me, it’s not because I dislike McCartney, quite the contrary, but at 74 years of age I don’t look at myself as a concert type. I personally abhor crowds. His enthusiasm finally won me over this year and I agreed to have him get tickets for his performance at Citi Field in New York. How can you continue to fight someone who has, to date, attended 17 McCartney performances?

Was I sorry? Hell no! I was finally witness to a phenomenon. Think about this. Thousands of fans, old, young, and middle aged like me…..lol, standing, swaying, singing and screaming to the music of a 67 year old man. And sing and sway they did to 33 songs for two and one half hours. And this after doing two other concerts two days ago. What other 67 year old could draw that much attention and, yes, even reverence? Unbelievable! And all this in a rainy mist on wet seats. I must say I was greatly impressed and, yes, I really enjoyed myself.

It was interesting talking to the people around us; some were McCartney virgins like me and others like my brother who had followed Paul all over the country on his tours. As I looked around me, the mix of the audience was really something. In the seats right in front of me was a young couple, who knew the music and words to every song. And sing and dance they did. My only downer for the evening was having the bad luck sitting next to a fellow who was larger than me and was as excited as a 60’s teenager to be there. He spent the entire evening bouncing his naked legs (he wore shorts) up and down to the music as well as singing. In case you don’t know, stadium seats are not that wide. Not the kind of thrill I was looking for, couldn’t it have been the girl in front with the purple mini skirt hah!

Never one to show any degree of being hip, I did, however, have my moments. One of them occurred during the performance of “Let it Be”. I began to feel people poking me in the back. I looked turned and saw that the young women in back of me were saying something as they continued to poke me in the back. I finally realized that I was wearing a shirt my daughter bought me that had “Let it Be” emblazoned on the back. Man I really felt with it then! Back at the hotel lobby where we stayed, a man stopped me and was quite impressed with this old fart wearing his “Let it Be” shirt.

I had another interesting thing happen on the way from one of my bathroom trips. I had forgotten that I was wearing my NCIS cap (I’m a big fan), and a fellow stopped me and asked if I worked for NCIS. I said I wish I did then I could meet all the cast (Ziva and Abby especially). Well anyway it turns out that this guy is friends with Donald Bellisario, the creator of the show. What a small world. Some day you can ask me about another “small world occurrence”.

Stressed for nothing!

It’s been raining now for about two hours, although the word rain doesn’t seem strong enough to describe the downpour. It almost looks as though the velocity and size of the water drops are enough to put dents in your skull (notice I called hem water drops not that gentle work “rain”). I’ve been sitting watching TV and trying to relax, but I just know I’m not going to be happy at what I see if I look outside. We have a pool and paved deck and patio area right outside of the family room and I just know I will be witnessing a flood. I finally got enough courage to turn on the spots and go outside. Well, of course I was right, pool totally filled and overflowing, entire deck area under a couple inches of water and believe it or not it is still pouring. I know that many people have much bigger problems with this storm, but for me, it is my little hell. Great timing, twenty nine people coming for a July 4th picnic and swim. What to do now?

Well first order of business is to get some water out of the pool. Set the backwash on the filter and let it rip for over a half an hour. Dropped the level a little and created a new stream flowing down Hidden Hills Drive. Now I can only hope all the water drips down the seams in the pavers……fat chance of that.

My first glance at the pool area early this morning proved one thing to me….I worry too much and should learn to take things in stride. Water had all seeped into the ground and bricks had begun to dry. Let some more water out, dead headed all the soaked plants, and swept up the junk that washed into the pool area.
Looked like new again and I’m all set for the next downpour which seems to be the norm this past year in Connecticut. Now I need a sunny 4th. Twenty nine people don’t fit well indoors and there is no way I can eat all that prepared food by my self

This Modern World

This past Father’s Day one of my Granddaughters came and asked me, “Poppi, how do I turn the TV on”? When I was her age all we did was walk over to the set, turn the off/on knob and flip the channel selector to one of the two or three stations available at that time. I told her how and then thought about the whole TV thing. I must look pretty foolish when I sit in the recliner watching TV. A remote in my left hand, one in my right hand, another nearby on the end table and even one more in case I should ever use the VCR. Oh yes, one more in a basket for the air conditioner. Ridiculous, but necessary. One remote that came with the set, then another added for the new updated Digital and HD box, and let us not forget the Bose surround sound, need a remote for that too.

Have we gone too far in this electronic age? What have we gained for all these so-called advancements? Now I don’t even get any exercise getting up to change the channels, but I’ve got terrific muscles in my thumbs, created by my futile attempts to avoid the dumbest commercials every created in the past fifty years. Seems to me we were not annoyed by them in the “old days”, and they weren’t so damn long. The sad thing is that we are paying dearly to watch hours and hours of commercials. Just have one sleepless night and try to entertain yourself. Entertain with what? The beloved infomercials. Think about it……paying nearly $100 a month to be annoyed most of the time.

And don’t even get me talking about cell phones, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and all the other electronic means of communication. Text this! What’s the matter with talking to each other? Ok, I’m done for now.

Southwest National Park Tour

1. Eight days and 217 pictures later we're back in New England. For years we talked about making a trip to the Grand Canyon, but always seemed to procrastinate and never got there. I am so happy we finally decided to go. We took a Caravan Tour that began in Phoenix, Arizona, headed North to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. I'm someone who is normally difficult to impress, but this week every day managed to amaze me. The sights are mind boggling, no words or pictures can do them justice. I recommend that you grab a pen or pencil and immediately put a trip here on your "Bucket List". You really have to see it before you die. I wish I were able to show you all 217 pictures here. If you want to see the rest, let me know, I'll email them to you.

We were also very fortunate to have an excellent Tour Director, Bruce Gilbert, who had a vast knowledge of the area and passed it on to us at every opportunity. Additionally everything went like clockwork with not a hitch in the program. I must say that even the airports were tolerable. Many who know me have a good idea of how I detest airports. This trip proved to be so good, we're already planning the next one.
Top picture is of Marge at the Grand Canyon. We even got some pictures of Marge standing in front of three huge Elk and Mule deer feeding on the lodge lawn. We're told they come out every day. Second picture is called the three sisters. This was take in Monument Valley (Navajo Reservation land). Third and fourth were taken at Bryce Canyon, probably the prettiest of all the stops. By the way, those little dots in the third picture are people who made their way down a hiking path.
I think I'll stop. Have always tried to keep my Blogs short so as not to bore you, but I can't promise not to write some more about it in the future.

1. 

Rhino's Recipes

I can’t believe that it’s been two and a half years since I started this “Blog” site, October 2nd to be exact. At that time I thought I would be able to sit down and put to paper my thoughts and happenings of the day, but thinking more about it I said to my self, “Self”, who the hell wants to know what I did each day. Not exciting for me, why the hell would it be exciting to my friends? That’s when I began with a few “Blog bitch entries”. But how long before all of you tire of hearing me bitch.

Ok, now what? Let’s wait till I have something interesting to write about. You’re kidding right? When is that going to happen? So here I am still waiting since the beginning of April for something to write about. I really do feel bad about it because, strange as it may seem, a few of you actually told me you enjoyed them.

Many of you have told me that I have too much time on my hands and I should get a life. Probably because of this Blog site and some of the other, I guess weird, things I do at the computer, like laying out spreadsheets for so many things such as breakdowns on all our annual family expenses, inventory sheets on all the food stuffs on our cellar storage shelves, and even an inventory of all upstairs and downstairs freezers. Even have one with breakdown for tax filings. Why I save my accountant all that work is even beyond me, especially since he still charges me the same.

Now I’ve probably really gone off the deep end. Most of you know that I enjoy cooking and as a result have collected copies of many recipes that I have either tried or wish to in the future. Also wrote up a few of my own creations. Laying around in drawers were also a few family recipes from my mother, my mother-in-law, our own kids and friends who had been kind enough to give me a copy. Decided to make a cook book out of the collection and pass a copy on to family. Here's a sample from my daughter. By the way, great tasting recipe.

Salmon with Mustard Sauce – Karolin Palko

2 pounds salmon fillets
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup white wine 2/3 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 shallots, finely chopped Juice of one lemon
1-1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Arrange salmon in single layer in a large baking dish. Drizzle with butter and lemon juice. Cook uncovered in 400 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. In a small saucepan, simmer shallots and wine together on low heat until wine has evaporated and shallots are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in cream , mustard, salt and pepper. Pour sauce over fish, return to oven and bake for additional 5 minutes or until fish is glazed but not browned. Serves 6

So now they will all have a cookbook called “Rhino’s Recipes” nicely bound and indexed. This way they are stuck with a reminder of the old guy even long after I’m gone……lol, lucky them.

For a personal copy of this masterpiece please send me a check for $149.95 plus $6.00 shipping and handling.
P.S. Will also autograph for additional $25.00
Only kidding!!!!

Basketball and Pressure

I’m so very happy that our Uconn girl’s have taken the National Championship. It’s sad though, because it’s all over and we have to wait seven months to see them again. On the very bright side, my wife, Marge, can now experience normal blood pressure readings. We watch the game with a blood pressure machine right next to her. I’m not joking, even with our team leading by twenty, any short run by the opposition will require a pressure reading. For Marge she will only breathe easy if we lead by thirty.

The girls have provided us with so much pleasure over the past fifteen years or so, that donating money to CPTV is actually a pleasure. In fact we have blankets, shirts, license plate holders, CDs, jackets and books to prove it. This year our complimentary gift was an autographed copy of Mel Thomas’s book. Good reading by the way.

Over these past years, we’ve attended three final fours, which gave us the opportunity to see Atlanta, New Orleans, and Tampa, Florida. We decided not to get tickets this year because we definitely did not enjoy the finals in Tampa. Not so much because they lost, but because our lottery tickets were absolutely the worst seats in the entire stadium. Seats were in the top row of the third deck in the corner of the stadium, seats against the wall. An oxygen mask might have helped the trip up and down the stairs. Issuing us a parachute might have also been advisable with how steep the damn stairs were. We were so high that we ended up pretty much watching the game on the big screen on the ceiling. Would have been better in a bar with a drink in hand….loss also might have been easier to take. We were not going to take another chance with the lottery. Actually two recliners facing a large flat screen did the trick for me this year. Might try it again for next years, or go there and buy them on the street. San Antonio sounds like a great place to spend a few days.

Well now its golf time, we’ll see what the year brings. I’m sure there’ll be plenty for me to write about after a few trips to the course. Till next time.

Back from the Beach

Well, the long awaited 27th annual golf trip to Myrtle Beach has come and gone. Truly unbelievable how quickly a week passes. We drove down this year so we had thirteen and a half hours of camaraderie. Surprisingly, even after 27 years doing this trip we still find a way to enjoy each others company.

Trip itself was pretty much a carbon copy of so many others. We seem to gravitate to many of the same golf courses and restaurants. Golf was a real challenge this year. Drives mostly down the middle, approaches adequate, but putting horrendous, at least for the first few days…….could no remember ever having as many three and four putt greens. Finally came back a little on the fourth day and managed to win some of my money back. In fact total loss for the week was only $6.00. I guess you can even call that a good week all things considered.

The attempt, however, to maintain the great diet program didn’t meet with the same success. Although I tried real hard and ate quite a few salads, the ever present exposure to beer and other libations made it nearly impossible to behave 24/7. The condo fridge supplied with Mud Slides, Margarita’s, Tequila, beer, the cart girls on the course and the ever present pitchers of beer during lunch and dinner tested me all week (in private I’ll give you some figures).

Food also tested my resolve as we visited many of the haunts of the past, Hamburger Joes (best fried bologna sandwiches ever, topped with cole slaw, chili and cheese), Hooters for wings and Cobb Salad, and Shuckers for Oysters on the half shell. Even introduced the group to some great German Food at Horst Gasthaus. Some had red cabbage for the first time ever along with various veal dishes……German Beer and music of course. In between all this we were able to enjoy a show at the Legends in Concert where we saw Jerry Lee Lewis, Louie Armstrong, Reba McEntire, Blues Brothers and Elvis Presley flawlessly imitated. Believe it or not we even went shopping at Broadway at the Beach.



Not having a scale in the place probably made it a little easier to avoid the guilt. Came home and didn’t dare weigh myself until I had a few days to again acclimate my body once again to a life of moderation. Finally hit the scales and was disappointed to see that I brought back four pounds of South Carolina pleasure. A few additional days of good behavior brought me back to my weight before the trip……yippee, now I can get back to working on it. Yes, I know, no more diet talk, I’m done.

And the fun begins again. We find it necessary to conduct many meetings during the year to plan our visits to Myrtle (we even had one to determine what time of the morning we were going to leave..lol)……you can imagine what these meetings entail.

Addiction

The playing card symbol shown here is aptly named “Freecell Addiction”. I must confess that I probably have suffered from this addiction. When I was still working, I would take a few minutes at the close of the day and play a few random games to relax a little. We eventually purchased a computer for the house and continued playing an occasional game or two. The computer we purchased came with the old Windows 95 operating system which offered 32,000 Freecell games. In checking it out on the web I found that there were some people on this planet that actually claimed to have played all 32,000 games. I could not bring myself to believe they were able to do this since I felt they would have to be playing 24 hours a day. But what a challenge that must be? I decided to start playing games sequentially beginning with number 1. Well, I have to admit, it did become somewhat of an addiction.

During the course of this Freecell marathon I decided that when I reached 5,000 I would quit. Well, 5,000 was eventually reached, but I was unable to stop, next target 6,000 and so on. As the thousand figures came, I tried to stop each time, but stubbornly carried on after Marge said, “why not keep going”? Well on and on I went till this week I completed my 15,000^th Freecell game. Since I’ve been told by my friends many times that I have too much time on my hands and that I need to get a life, I’ve decided that I’m going to go cold turkey and stop right now. I must admit that I did have ideas of doing them all, but if anything convinced me to call it quits it was the fact that the new xp operating system in this computer has 1,000,000 game possibilities. Since my first 15,000 took several years, I don’t plan on living long enough for the next 985,000. Wish me luck in keeping my fingers off the keyboard. I guess if I was able to quit smoking cold turkey, this should be a snap.

Valentine's Day - 2009

I sat down at my computer this morning with the intention of composing an addition to my ”Blog” site. When I keyed in the date I realized what day this was, the “High Holiday” of romantic gift giving to wives, girlfriends, mistresses, and teachers. Oh Oh, here we go again…….nothing really against the day, but after being married for fifty four and one half years, do you have any idea how difficult it is to make yet another day memorable.

Think about it, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, Birthdays, that’s four a year times 54.5. Two hundred eighteen unique, thoughtful gifts. Mind boggling isn’t it. What should I do? We’ve already not given ourselves gifts on a few occasions like this last Christmas. Can I get away with another one even though it is the one romantic one that reminds your loved one that you still care? Well I guess that statement pretty much gives me my answer, but what do I get for the 55th time? Candy, no we’re on diets, jewelry, no, done that one many times, don’t forget this is the 55th time.

Well, I guess it’s going to have to be flowers. Price Chopper here I come. My God look at all the flower displays, roses everywhere and such beautiful arrangements, but look at the “freaking” prices, forty and fifty per dozen, not like it was fifty five years ago. At today’s prices I could have bought an entire garden. Well, stepping away from all those high priced (perfect for the young guy trying to impress) ones, I ventured into the old guy’s section. Look at that…..I was immediately attracted to three pretty yellow roses with fake diamonds inserted in them and accompanied by baby breath and some additional unidentifiable piece of vegetation. Actually it was very pretty for the modest price of $9.99. Well, naturally it came home with me. I found a great little vase, trimmed the flowers and made a valiant effort to arrange them perfectly. In doing so I proceeded to almost knock the head off one of the roses. Really a bit of a disaster when you only start off with three, but I neatly propped it up, at least until Marge had a chance to see them.

All’s well though, I really think Marge liked them and was a bit surprised that this old fart made the effort.


Happy Valentine’s Day to all my women readers.

Winter Misery

This year’s golfing trip to Myrtle Beach will be our 27^th consecutive trip. All of them except two were to Myrtle Beach and only one that was without our regular foursome. Can you imagine, that many years with no arguments, in this day and age very few marriages last that long. After so many years, anticipation of the event each year has on occasion diminished, but this year I can’t wait to get going. Winter has become a tremendous bore. These past few weeks I feel like a prisoner. The recent ice storm has confined me to this desk so much that I’ve begun to search for some ointment to get rid of what I think are calluses developing on my posterior. Trips down the driveway to get the mail or paper have been bad enough with the snow storms, but virtually impossible after this coating of ice. I have to drive my car down to get them, and forget trying to get the rubbish down for the weekly collection. I'm even bring that down by car. I spent $12.00 on a bag of some kind of miracle stuff to melt the ice. I should have just thrown it down the toilet for all the good it did trying to clear the glacier good old Mother Nature gave me for a present.

Oh well, it is winter and it is New England, and I’ve probably just lived through too many of them. I’m not a hot weather person, but this year I don’t think it would be too difficult to make the change. So I guess you can see why I’m looking forward to the trip this year, and by the 7^th of March I might even be able to fit in my shorts again ( 15 lbs so far ). Ya, ya, I know I wasn’t supposed to talk about the diet anymore.

The other downside to this lousy weather is that nothing is going on in my life that is interesting or exciting enough to put in a Blog. Even my damn toast has been ok……lol. The other problem is finding things to occupy myself. The refrigerators, freezers, and cabinets have all been organized (Check out the picture of our downstair’s freezer). I'm even starting to bake bread and stocking up on homemade soups. Talk about being anal, it’s even starting to scare me. Hurry up Myrtle Beach before this guy really cracks up ( only kidding, but I do need to get a life ).

The Golden Years

Well a trip to the eye doctor this morning confirmed my suspicions, I am getting old!! When I saw him two years ago he said, Bill you can still go with the same glasses. Change was only minor, but this year they’re setting up an appointment to measure up the eye for cataract surgery. I’m still fifty percent though, only the right eye needs it ….......at least for now. Oh well at least I now know why my putts keep going to the left……lol.

For all you youngsters out there I have to let you know that there are very few advantages to getting old, an occasional discount here and there and being able to hit from the senior tees when playing golf. I suppose reduced hearing at times can be considered an advantage. At times you can block out things you have no interest in hearing, but believe me, the negatives far out way any of those exaggerated claims of the “Golden Years”.

The Golden Years are greeted with new aches and pains every day, more wake up calls every night, and repeated trips to doctors to make sure you’re around long enough to experience even more of them. There might, however, be some advantage to those trips. Look at all that exercise we get from walking back and forth to the bathroom during the night.

I really should stop moaning, because the Big Guy upstairs has blessed me with some real decent health over the years, but with another one of those birthday things coming up in February I start thinking about some of these things.

"HOTDOGS"

I guess that being on a diet makes everything I do lately revolve around food. I’ve even turned my food thoughts into a church event. As President of our church Men’s group I’ve even scheduled a “Hotdog Night” after one of our Masses in February. It appears to me that almost everyone loves a hotdog. A dog with ketchup satisfies us when we’re young, then a graduation to one with mustard and even some relish. Finally the big steps we take to dogs with chili, onions and even sauerkraut. Today there are hour long documentaries on the Travel Channel showing nothing but visits to hotdog places and extolling the virtues of their sometimes strange toppings. PS., I love them all. But how did this frankfurter craze begin.
In 1852, a butchers' guild in Frankfurt produced a spiced, smoked sausage product which they named frankfurter after their hometown. It was slightly curved in shape and was often called the dachshund sausage. The product was brought over to America by Charles Feltman and Antoine Feuchtwanger. Feltman sold frankfurters and sauerkraut from a pushcart in New York's Coney Island. He opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand in 1871. Shortly thereafter, he started selling the frankfurters with milk rolls, which were the precursors to hot dog buns. The buns that we use today were probably first introduced in St. Louis by Feuchtwanger in 1904. He was a sausage concessionaire who loaned white gloves to his customers to hold the hot sausages. Since most of his customers did not return his gloves he worked with a baker to develop a bun, which people could use to hold their sausages.
You’ll notice that everything I’ve written so far refer to the sausages as “frankfurters”, but when did they become “hotdogs”? The term "hot dog" is credited to sports cartoonist Tad Dorgan. At a 1901 baseball game at the Polo Grounds in New York, vendors began selling hot dachshund sausages in rolls. From the press box, Dorgan could hear the vendors yelling, "Get your dachshund sausages while they're red hot!" He sketched a cartoon depicting the scene but wasn't sure how to spell "dachshund" so he called them simply, "hot dogs." And the rest is history.
If all this hotdog talk has made you hungry, you’re welcome to stop by my church around 6:00 PM this coming February 21st and scoff down a couple.

Progress Report

As I write this on January 7^th it has been only five days since I bit the bullet and finally decided to do something about my ever expanding body. Already I feel better. Not that there has been any great physical change in my body, although I have lost 5 pounds, but it’s a mental thing. I just feel better about myself……it’s like hurray for me, I finally did it. Surprisingly even those few pounds have made today’s pants a little looser. The real shocker is that I already feel like moving around and doing “stuff”.

The only negative is that thoughts of food seem to invade the mind and completely take over all conscious thought: What should I have for breakfast, what’s for lunch, supper, can I have a snack? Where’s the calorie book? Can I fill myself up without over doing it? Will I be eating too many carbs?

Now menu planning becomes mathematical. Let’s see, body needs 15 calories per pound of weight and for every 5oo calories we eliminate daily I’ll loose a pound in a week. Hell, to maintain my weight I have to eat 4,223 calories. Wow, if I restrict myself to 1200 or 1500 calories I’ll lose 5 or 6 pounds this week. S—t, this is going to be a snap. Not an easy task for someone who enjoys food, doesn’t dislike anything and loves to cook. I’ve accepted the fact that this isn’t going to be a walk in the park, but I’m determined to make it happen. At my age, if I’m ever going to do it, it better be now.

Unfortunately it’s going to be costly for me on the golf course. One of my golfing opponents has made me promise that I have to reduce my handicap one stroke for every ten pounds I lose. For some strange reason he thinks my game will improve if I’m lighter……I hope he’s right. It’ll be worth it. I won’t even mind paying off the bets. I’ll keep you all posted on the progress whether you’re interested or not.

Hello 2009

Procrastination is a type of behavior which is characterized by deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. We all procrastinate to some extent, and all though I have a few bad habits of my own, I never felt that procrastination was one of them until I gave some thought to something I’ve avoided most of 2008. Most of you are well aware of my healthy appetite, love of food, and love of cooking. Well, 2008 has been loaded with all three loves and I’m really well aware of what it has been doing to my body these past months. I’ve been able, however, to retreat from the inevitable by never looking into the mirror especially when emerging from the shower, but this is the beginning of a New Year. Well I’ve now joined the multitude thinking they will be able create a new person with resolutions that in most cases never see February.

I woke up today actually not feeling hungry or having any desire for food. The Holidays had taken their toll on even someone like me. A huge Christmas Eve buffet dinner followed by a sumptuous brisket dinner Christmas Day, followed by a roast beef dinner at friends began my inevitable collapse. Even that was not enough; all this was followed by New Year’s Day dinner of stuffed shrimp, beef Wellington and baked potato.
Wow, even writing this down is getting to me. Well I took a deep breath, took all my clothes off and starting with eyes tightly closed stepped in front of the mirror. Slowly I opened my eyes and to my surprise I saw those eight tiny reindeer from the poem, but they all seemed to be huddled in the area above my waist line…..my God!!!.....what a terrible sight. Well I think you can guess what my New Year’s resolution is. Probably a great decision, since I’ve just about run out of clothes that fit and with closets full clothes from years past that still do, the diet is a must. Diet, what a crappy word, just look at those first three letters. It’s telling me I’m going to die if I don’t and die from starvation if I do (certainly an exaggeration, but humor me).

Actually I’m not afraid of New Year’s resolutions since at 73 I’ve already given up most of life’s pleasurable things. Giving up being a pig shouldn’t be too tough, although a prayer or two from my friends might come in handy………….wish me luck.

PS: I do hope all your resolutions are met with success.

A LOOK AT THE SITUATION

I walked into the garage this morning and happened to look in the corner and saw it. A bag holding a bunch of useless metal and graphite sticks. Why useless? Well if you were here with me when I opened the overhead you would know why…….piles of snow, the results of a typical 12” New England storm….yuck. Yah I know, it’s pretty and soooo New England, but its times like this when even this warm blooded Pollack would prefer a swaying palm tree and lush green fairways. Why the hell did my grandparents settle in New England? Didn’t they know about the Carolinas in Poland? And how come my parents didn’t have enough adventuresome spirit to get the hell out of here?

I take another good look outside with the hope that the pretty winter scene will make up for the wind and 15 degree weather, but looking at the abandoned swimming pool the dried up flowers and the birds and squirrels struggling for a few seeds in the feeder bring me back to reality. I think it’s time to become one of those “Snowbirds” and go down south somewhere for a few weeks until Mother Nature comes to her senses. Guess it’s time to convince my wife that the four kids, spouses and eight grandchildren will survive without our company for a little while.

On the bright side, in a couple of days we’ll all be getting together to celebrate what the Polish call “Wigilia” or Christmas Eve. This day along with Thanksgiving and Easter were my big cooking days. Over the last few years my daughters, evidently feeling compassionate, have taken over these holidays leaving me only an occasional dish to prepare. For Wigilia it will be a pot of mushroom soup which has been a family tradition. I’ve created a few different recipes over the years, but this year I’m doing it the way my mother used to make it. For many years I would make a few excursions to the woods and pick mushrooms which my mother, wife and I would string and let dry in the furnace room. My mother would reconstitute them and use them in our Christmas mushroom soup. It was usually a great tasting soup, although we occasionally ran into some mushrooms that had a very strong laxative effect……lol. Not deadly, but the methane they created might be called deadly by those who were in the same room after dinner. Well enough potty talk. I’m really looking forward to enjoying our Polish Wigilia customs and food.

It’s too bad we can’t have some sort of Christmas type holiday each month. That way we would think about our friends and family and wish them well every month instead of only in December. My thanks to all who make the effort to read my Blogs……I extend to you my best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a happy, healthy 2009.

A Few Thoughts

My desire to enter only Blogs that I feel are either interesting, funny, enlightening or informative creates a major mental writing block for me. I’m afraid that if I merely report daily events of my current, rather mundane life I will lose my huge (lol) audience. Hence, with so little to write about I feel a need to apologize for the sporadic entries to this site.
I have, however, had some recent thoughts about television. I realized that it has a hold on me. Although I have enjoyed reading books in the past, not an avid reader, but I’ve gone thru quite a few books in my time, I find that I only look at them now to see of they’re still standing straight on the book cases. What a shame! The minute I sit down in my recliner I grab the remote and begin my journey up and down thru the numbers seeking that one elusive channel that satisfied me long enough to stop and watch. I continue to do this even though I’ve been convinced long ago that most of them stink. My channel surfs usually end up on the Travel Channel or the Food Channel which is at least something I can relate to.
Besides the junk they send us twenty four hours a day, just try to find something besides infomercials during the wee hours if you happen to have an insomniac night. And speaking of commercials (might be something I’ve already ranted about) have you ever seen so many? They must be giving them away, think I’ll make one myself, use it as my personal “Bitch Channel”. Do you really want to be annoyed, just start paying attention to the canned laughter on the sit-coms or listen to the constant loud barrage of background music on the commercials and shows? Ever notice that the sound level you chose is not valid when the commercial comes on. Boy, they really want you to hear it. Even with my age produced impaired hearing I have to turn it down.
Well folks, I’m kind of happy I started to write these thoughts down, because I’ve convinced myself that those lonely, unread novels on the shelves are finally going to get my attention. My daughter loaned me several Stephen King novels about four years ago which will now replace a few hours of useless TV watching. Mary Ann, I promise you’ll be getting them back shortly.

A calm day at the course

The #4 Utility Wood flew out of the 18^th fairway like a July 4^th rocket. It looked as though it’s final resting place might even be the middle of Savage street, but alas, it hit an upper branch and began a trickling descent to the ground. Landing unharmed, it was soon to be subject to another terrible swing. This club was one of two that hit the air this past Saturday. The other was a nine iron that took a gentler path, traveling no more than four feet off the ground.

I thought my club throwing days were behind me, especially after a near disaster several years ago in Myrtle Beach (that’s another story), but I’m embarrassed to say that I’m still immature enough to let my golf game develop club throwing anger. Perhaps going from a nice round of 86 a couple of weeks ago to a sparkling 100 this week might have been a big part of it. I suppose there will come the day, I hope, when I can take this game lightly and totally accept the fact that with advancing age comes a shitty golf game.

Thank heavens I can handle the nineteen hole with ease. I’m a scratch drinker and eater in the club house. Heinekens and Chili Dogs go down so smoothly that there are never any forks or knives hitting the air.

I think it’s about time to consider letting the clubs rest until March and find something I can handle calmly till then.

Newport

Just thought I'd give you all an opportunity to get a look at our summer home. I'd invite you all over for Thanksgiving, but the place is a beast to heat and the weather's getting a little cold. Seriously though, this is a picture I took of the "Marble House" during a recent weekend we spent in Newport, Rhode Island.

Did you ever agree to something and then have some serious reservations about doing it? Well, recently our friends invited us to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with them in Newport. Sounds good, but there was a catch, nineteen of their family, children and grandchildren, were also going. Now really, doesn't that sound like we might have had a minority presence? Well surprise, surprise, we had a marvelous time. No bad meals to bitch about, no car or driving problems ( I didn't drive ), no hotel problems, fabulous weather. The whole weekend gave me no fodder for my usual negative blogs.

Friday was spent only with our friends, rest were coming on Saturday. Did one of our usual Winery stops and followed with dinner and a great play at The Newport Playhouse. Play was "Pajama Top" and we were able to watch it from the theater's front row. Even this old guy with advancing impaired hearing was able to hear all the words. The play was followed with a cabaret performance by the cast members.

A pleasant trolley tour provided us with a great history of the city (tour guide was a very enthusiastic retired history teacher), and some great scenery during a shoreline ride. The Trolley trip was topped off with a tour of the Mansion shown above.

As I'm writing this, I'm still amazed at how well the whole weekend went.

Even our trip home on Monday had some pleasant surprises. One more winery stop and a stop at the Mohegan Sun Casino brought an end to our trip. At the Casino we ate at The Dubliner Irish Pub for a second time and was surprised by another good meal. A sandwich of tender Corned Beef with Whiskey Onions, Hot Cabbage & Bacon Slaw, Swiss Cheese and lathered with Guinness Stout Mayo or Spicy Brown Mustard. All this on a nice toasted grinder type roll and washed down with a pint of Harp and Bass Ale. My God, what could be better? I certainly have no idea, because I think it was the best sandwich I have ever had in my seventy three years, and it was only $9.00 ( at a Casino?). The slots didn’t treat me as well as the Dubliner, but one out of two isn’t bad.

This little treat was the culmination of a long, but great weekend trip to Newport, Rhode Island.

Connecticut Wine Trail

There are nineteen vineyards in Connecticut, and Marge and I, along with our friends, Bill and Lee , have visited them all. For the past three years we've participated in what the Connecticut Wineries call the Passport Program. As you visit the wineries, a pass book is stamped by the winery indicating your visit. After you have visited fourteen of them, the book is turned in for a drawing. Lucky winners in past years have taken trips to France, Germany, California, and Canada. This year's first prize is ten days in Spain along with many other weekend trips. We're anxiously waiting for our book to be picked.
Win or lose the program has been great for us. The winery visits and tastings have taken us to some of the most beautiful and scenic areas of our State. Places we would normally not think of visiting. A recent trip this past Sunday found us in Goshen, Connecticut. We drove a stretch of Route 63 North that reminded us of back roads in Vermont. Miles of beautiful scenery without a gas station, convenience store, restaurant, nothing, only a Connecticut few people know exists.
Part of the charm of these trips are the nice, interesting people you meet at the wineries. You are able to use their picnic facilities, buy a bottle, buy a glass or partake of all the wines they produce at a wine tasting. Price of the tasting includes their monogramed glass. On many of our trips we pack a lunch and enjoy the view and wine. Pictured here are the picnic and scenery at Gouveia Vineyards in Wallingford, Connecticut. Quite a view, don't you think? We cap off these days with a nice dinner at one of the restaurants in the area. Surprisingly we even have some nice vineyards in Connecticut's shoreline area. North Stonington boasts a couple and Clinton has Chamard Vineyards. I've pictured Chamard here for a very good Canadian friend who has enjoyed Chamard's Chardonnay. At least he told me he did, when I would bring him up some on visits........lol I'm sure he wasn't lying, because, their Chardonnay has been voted best in the state for many years. I know you think that people who make these winery visits are either old farts like us or alcoholics, but we meet more and more young people making these trips. It's a little late to do the wine trail this year since the Passbook drawing takes place in early November, but you might consider it for 2009.
By the way, we are working real hard to empty some of these barrels, but so far the wineries are filling them quicker than we can empty them.

“BEE” lieve it or not.

Believe it or not the little bastards came back and screwed up another night out for us. We had a business meeting this past Friday afternoon and when we responded to the doorbell and opened the front door to greet our guest, their he stood with fear in his eyes and arms ready to protect his face. Couldn’t figure it out until we saw the yellow jackets swarming our house again and coming into the same place we had previously sprayed. Our exterminator must have used a generic or these damn things have begun to mutate and develop an immunity. Well, I wasn’t too worried since their previous entry hole was plugged up. Figured we could enjoy the play we were going to see that evening and call him back in the morning, but unfortunately, or fortunately Marge is gifted with the hearing of a freakin deer and said listen to this. She dragged me into the dining room and said listen. Appears she now could hear them in the dining room ceiling. Well, with my hearing declining dramatically as I work thru these so called golden years those bees would have to be shooting off cannons for me to hear their buzzing. Well, for me that called for a trip outside to see if they were indeed coming in. I didn’t have to search long, the north side of our house looked like a landing strip on a world war II aircraft carrier.

Now what do we do, to see the play or not to see the play, that is the question. The answer came quickly, call our now regular visiting exterminator and kill-um quick before they eat thru another ceiling and we come home to thousands of uninvited guests. Here's a picture of our first invasion.

Won’t bore you with all the details, but begging got him here from Old Saybrook, Connecticut and it appears the problem is solved…….hopefully.

Saturday and Sunday turned out a hell of a lot better. Golf was good, my partner and I beat our opponents three ways with two greens and a birdie. Sunday it was on two our winery visits.

Great stop in Wallingford at the Gouveia Vineyard. Gorgeous place high up on a hill overlooking some great scenery. Cheese, crackers, a bottle of wine, what could be better. Then it was off to Chamard Vineyard in Clinton, CT. Nice bottle of Chardonay and some more cheese and crackers. Finally a trip to Lenny and Joes Fishtail for a good New England Lobster roll with melted butter. Stress relieved, bees a forgotten issue.......maybe.