Sunday

This is probably all I can write about today. We had a lovely day. Didn't do anything we wanted to yet, the day turned out fairly well.

We bought a new DVD player since we don't have one, spent about an hour figuring out how to use it and wound up looking at a cd for about four hours. It was five one  hour shows of season one of a show we really like and had no chance seeing before.

So we just sat front of the TV and watched them one after another with no commercials.

This package came with five cds and we have four more to see. Now that the weekend is over we will watch them at a slower pace.

Interestingly, it was not us who got the DVD player working but Abigail. We were not able to make heads or tail out of the stupid machine. She walked up to it, pushed a button here a button there on the remotes and lo and behold the damn thing worked.

Ain't technology great? It needs babies to operate it.

Saturday

Abigail keeps saying that when she grows up she wants to be a chef. Her long range plans include a fancy restaurant with a yet undecided theme.

Since there is a long list of foods she hates, at least that is what she says when her mother puts dinner on the table, I would be very curious to se how this chef business will turn out. As far as I am concerned there is nothing wrong with being a chef.

The only problem with this plan as I can see it is that she wants to start immediately at the top. She doesn't believe in working your way up.

But, she does have a talent to cooking. More than once she cooked us dinner. Granted, she makes a mess in the kitchen and also asks Mom too many questions but still she likes what she is doing.

Tonite she made us chili. It is not a complicated dish, I probably couldn't make it but she did. And it was pretty good.

Since she know that I really don't like very spicy food she made an effort not to make the chili hot. Tonight she set the table and served dinner. We all had two or more helpings because the food was so good.

At the end I congratulated her on her effort and told her everything was very good.

The scary thing (for me) is that she left her cookbook on the kitchen counter implying that there will be more cooking forthcoming.

Friday

Just a short note. Last night after long and unnecessarily long conversation with the airline my claim has successfully was resolved. Haven't seen any more returned but they promised and the sucker that I am I believed them. We'll see.

Something else.

There used to be a very nice and large bookstore chain called Barnes & Noble. They had stores everywhere a few close to where we live. Due to the fact that people gave up reading many of their stores were closed.

I can understand that. Can't make more from people who come to the store, pull a book off the shelf, sit down and read it. Then return it to the shelf and leave.

Why do I know this? Because I used to do that too.

There is no such bookstore in my area at all. But my wife wanted to see the first season of a particular TV show that we just begun to like in their second season.

According to their website they had the dvd in a store just outside the City line in Long Island. So, this afternoon we drove out fighting rush hour traffic. Got to the store and were told that they were sorry but stopped selling dvds some time ago.

Cursed, got back in the car and drove home. Then started to search to se where that particular dvd is available. Found a few stores (Target and Best Buy) where it is available so now we have tomorrow's program already set.

Wo says life is dull?

Thursday

All day today I was fighting the establishment. It is unimaginable how tiring that is. I spent hours on the telephone and hours on the computer. So far I have no idea if I won anything.

I am fighting with the car dealership for some administrative thing they still owe us. They try to make us look like idiots for asking but we will not give up. I wrote a certified letter to the owner of the dealership requesting his help. Time will tell.

The other thing I am fighting with is an airline. We have their credit card, a new one and their promise is that first time users will get a 50% companion ticket discount. Tuesday night we bought two tickets and there was no discount anywhere.

Today I was handed over to about a half a dozen people who one after another was not able to answer why there was no discount. I spoke to low level people and I spoke to supervisors. The bottom line was that nobody really knew how to handle or resolve my problem.

It is amazing how many people are working at jobs they have no clue about. Maybe they are hired on the basis that they are handicapped.

Stupidity is a handicap.

Wednesday

Today I had a very important task to do. I pride myself to speak and understand English pretty well. Maybe not as well as I did when I worked years ago but still good enough.

Let's say I understand menus and pretty much everything important. Important is the key word. If I don't understand it it is not important.

Anyway, today I had to translate something from Hungarian to English in an official format. Man, that is hard work.

Those Hungarians use weird words and more than once I had to look in the dictionary to find their equivalent in English. And then use my judgement which word was the better.

After the translation I have to get a notary public to sign a statement that says I translated it and I am good at this.

Actually, the subject was not that interesting. It was my birth certificate.

Tuesday

Just a short note about how time flies.

This past Sunday was October 23. Why is it an important date for us Hungarians? Because 60 years ago on that day most of my friends' and acquintances' and my life had drastically changed.

To most of us it changed for the better but it is hard to judge to say what would have happened if that fateful day didn't arrive.

On October 23, 1956 Hungary rose up against the Soviet Union and for a few days it enjoyed unbelievable freedom and world sympathy. On November 4, 1956 the Soviets had enough and returned with a vengeance. They brutally broke the revolution and reinstated a new government under their control.

This was the beginning of the exodus that saw tens of thousands of Hungarians flee the country. Most of my friends left around that time or a little earlier. I left in late January of 1957 and by that time many were already here in the US.

Thinking back for the past sixty years it just does not seem like such a long time. Maybe because it was not uneventful. We all had to start a brand new life with no knowledge of the language, no parental support, no financial base and many other nos.

But most succeeded to various extents. Most of my friends have nice families, good jobs, nice homes.

Only God knows how we would have fared had we stayed back in Hungary and tried our life there. Yet, I have old schoolmates who as I understand did pretty well for themselves.

But all in all just speaking for myself and for anew very close friends I can surely say that we are glad that we took that first step in 1956/1957.

As I alway say: good country, Amerika.

Monday

This is a total un-American statement but I do think that football, the American type is one of the world's dumbest sport, next to baseball.

American football as I see it is a stepchild of soccer and rugby with rugby having the stronger gene.

In this country it is extremely popular but in other places they look at it as a joke. Immigrants who come to this country pick t up just to show how americanized they became. It is also a huge moneymaker for both the owners and the players and that drives the game.

Years ago they tried to establish a league in Germany and I think in England but they all floundered.
Now the NFL players some games in London probably to gain some popularity. Yesterday two teams played there front of a nice crowd, probably mostly Americans.

Why in the world they have to pack up two teams and take them to England, alter a normally nice playing field just to play there for one day? What do they hope to gain, fans?

England has ticket that they find exciting and they have soccer (or football as it is called in the civilized world) and rugby that is a real man's sport. Why would they need American football where they have more waiting time than playing time?

One thing is sure, when I am in London and there is a football (American) game there I will not rush out to the stadium to see it.

Sunday

Here is a little Abigail story.

She came to us that some of her girlfriends found out that some store in a neighboring mall was giving out gift cards valued up to $150. I could be $5 or $150.

This was to be Saturday at 10am. She asked if she could go with them. Going was to be us getting up early and driving her to and wait until her majesty decides to come home. This was in a mall and the girls naturally wanted to wander around for a while.

We didn't like the idea but were not totally against it either.

But Friday night there was an argument between Abigail and her Mom where she was very disrespectful. The result was that she was told she couldn't go Saturday.

Saturday morning came and there was so much crying and drama that it was unbelievable but she stayed home.

She told us that all the girls got some cards but none of them any major amount. At the end we gave her $25 and told her that the store sent it to her.

But before this she called us unfair, terrible people, annoying etc.

After she got the money she did calm down and we had a fairly pleasant day after all.

This just proves and old saying that money can buy you happines.  

Saturday/Sunday

Women claim that childbirth is painful, women claim that their monthly cycle is sometimes painful and is always uncomfortable.

But these don't come near to a man size cold! When a man gets a cold it makes him feel like a baby. And I am saying this from personal experience.

I didn't write yesterday because all day I was fighting this nasty cold. It came on during the day of Thursday and been sticking to me like glue.

I write this every year because I get a cold every year. I'll be lucky if this is all I'll have for the season. But who knows.

My throat hurts and scratchy. I feel like I am burning up yet, have no fever at all. My nose, my God given nose has been running all day long and with the constant blowing it is now red and big(ger).

Overall and in short I feel like crap.

My patient and darling wife is trying to keep up with me but it is not easy. She raised three kids so she knows a little more about home remedies. She makes me stuff that do make me a little more comfortable but the bottom line is that there is absolutely no remedy for a cold.

One just have to let it run its course which is about three to five days. I am now in day three and it doesn't seem to let up.

Maybe it will just feel sorry for me and suddenly leave my body. I can dream, no?

Thursday

It is Thursday and the house is upside down. We are getting ready to receive friends for a late lunch. They are coming to our house the first time and we are anxious to show them a good time, good company and good food.

My wife got up early this morning in order to start cooking. I took Abigail to school so now we have a more relaxed environment and that will permit the preparations to go easier.

But like every housewife my wife also wants to make good impressions and wants to make sure everything is perfect.

Abigail got her orders not to accept any invitations from her friends to go over their house after school to play but come straight home. This morning she asked me if she would have to talk to these people.

I told her that they would very likely bring her some presents but she said that was expected but she still wanted to know if she had to talk to them.

Wednesday

Tonight was the final debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. I'm sure most of America watched it because as they say there have never been a presidential race in American history like this one.

It was very interesting and anything but boring. As I said throughout the campaign this is the best entertainement around. It is live, unrehearsed and frank.  Maybe just Don Rickles is better than these two.

Anyway we watched it but I don't think too many people were affected by it meaning were made to change their vote. We might be looking forward having the first woman president in this country.

It is a shame because woman or not she still is a politician to the core while Trump is a businessman and it would be refreshing to have a non-politician in the White House finally.

They have two and a half weeks to go before it is all over and I'm sure they will try very hard to change the minds of the undecided.

In the morning of November 9 we will see which way the country is turning.

Tuesday

I am sitting front of the computer and it is around 11:30 am. Abigail is off to school and there is just the two of us home. It is quiet and relaxed. It is almost a quiet before the storm. But there is no storm on the horizon.

This environment lasts until four in the afternoon when school is out and the second act of the day starts. Today we will  make one more effort a finding the right type of shoes for her. She was told that this was going to be.

Abigail and her currently purchased boots are like an arranged marriage. In time they will get used to each other. There might be no love but they'll learn to live with one another.

After the shoe saga ends the Halloween preparations will begin. At this time Abigail knows what she will dress as and her stuff is ready but I wouldn't put any money on that it will not change in the eleventh hour.

After Holloween Christmas is just around the corner. I'm so grateful for the quiet life we have!

Monday

Today my wife and I took a trip into Manhattan. After dropping Abigail off to school we got on the subway and rode into the Big Apple.

I keep saying that the best mode of transportation during the week is the subway system. We were lucky, the train came on time, we got seats and the car was air-conditioned. Today it was summery warm and an air-conditioned subway car was essential to our well being.

We went into midtown to the big Macy's store. My wife wanted to buy a jacket and wanted to looking at shoes.

That store is humongous. Today we had a chance walking through and through and saw a lot of changes everywhere.

Being a weekday the place was still fairly crowded. I guess it is also a touristy place.

My wife wanted to buy a pair of shoes for the winter instead bought a pair for the summer. These shoes she was looking for all summer long with no success but today she found it. She also bought a beautiful little jacket.

But the heartbreak was that she found a gorgeous leather blazer that was not available in her size. We asked the sales staff for assistance but to no avail. She was very sad and now we will try to get through the internet.

Technology might triumph over conventional sales methods.

Sunday

There are many companies that sell clothing and other stuff. These companies exist nationwide and can be found all over.

One thing that we always expect is to find the same merchandise wherever we go. But that is not always the case.

I know stores that revise their inventories to suit the local population. There are neighborhood where there are a lot of Russian people live. Now, Russians have a very peculiar taste. The women like loud colors and styles other people would not wear.

Today we went to a Macy's outlet store in our search for Abigail's boots and were surprised at the peculiar styles and colors they had until we realized that we were in the middle of a Russian neighborhood.

My wife is a very conservative person who would not wear anything that screams out loud. Therefore she was not able to find anything she could use.

But, next to this store was an soft ice-cream place so the trip was not a total loss.

Ps.  I naively thought that Abigail would like the boots she got yesterday. But the reality is that even though we have that she is still actively searching.

Maybe by the time she finds a pair she likes her feet grow in size.

Saturday

The saga of shoe buying for Abigail continued today.

Abigail decided that the stylish wear for fourteen year old girls is a combat boot type footwear. But not any kind only the kind that is cool and in vogue. So what did we do today? Continued the hunt.

Unfortunately Abigail's shoe size is 4 which is kind of small and shoe stores and shoe departments don't carry such a small size. In most department stores we were directed to the children's department where the election was pretty merge.

Finally we found at DSW a good looking pair size 4 black combat boots. Having only one pair we urged Abigail to accept it. It was not exactly the style she wanted but grudgingly she gave her permission for us to buy it.

She should be happy now but instead she is angry for why she has such small feet.

She naturally blames her mother.

Friday

Russian president Putin ordered the families of all diplomats outside the country to return to the Motherland shortly. This involves all the children who are attending school and adults who are being employed outside the diplomatic force.

As far as I read it there was no explanation just a command. And a command that must be obeyed.

Interestingly I didn't see this anywhere in the newscasts but by looking on the Internet it can be easily found.

One can wonder what causes such an order. Many political analysts say that Putin is getting ready for some kind of war. Unfortunately in today's nuclear age there is no such thing as a small war. It is all out or nothing.

I was watching the European and US markets and there was no sign of any kind of panic and that put my mind more at ease. The last thing we need in these days is another war.

I lived through the Second World War, I escaped my country in 1957, I was almost drafted into the Army during theVietnam war, I lived through September 11. I don't need anymore excitement.

Mainly not an excitement that would annihilate half the world. Some excitements I am too old for and this one is one of it.

Thursday

We survived Yom Kippur with not eating a whole day. Fasting is not such a bad thing. I wouldn't want to do it regularly but once a year it is doable. And it is for a good reason.

Now the Jews are preparing for Succoth.

Not far from where we live there is a good middle class area where a lot of semi-orthodox Jews live.
That means that all the stores on Saturdays and Jewish holidays are closed and the bank is open on Sundays.

Today the sidewalks where all the stores are were crowded with tables where "fast money making" merchants were selling Succoth stuff.

That included equipment to build the such but primarily the citron (etrog) and palm fronds.

The citron is an Israely lemon that has religious significance. It is quite larger than the regular lemon and edible.

Anyway the more knowledgeable people were examining these fruits with magnifying glasses because the good ones have to follow some ancient rules. I think it has to do something with the ridges.

The palm fronds were also meticulously examined because they also have to follow the ancient rules.

Right now none of these things are cheap but I think as the holiday approaches so will there prices go down.

The holiday comes in on Monday so we will check the prices again Monday afternoon.

Wednesday

We took our car today for its first service. I'm saying it like we took our baby to his first doctor's visit.

Well, a car is like a baby. It is helpless, needs attention, needs direction and its upkeep costs money.

I know that today is Yom Kippur but we had no other opportunity to take the car than today. It is a school holiday and this way we had no need to go anywhere.

The service visit was short since there is nothing wrong with the car and we had no complaints. The entire device took less than an hour and the best part was that it was free. I just love when they say it will cost nothing. I love it so much I might just go back tomorrow again.

My wife and I are both fasting as it is customary and time is going ahead very, very slowly.

But soon enough it will be time to break the fast.

Tomorrow I will be a new man, void of all sins.

Go Donald

Here is a little politicking.

Sunday night we were watching the second presidential debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Now, for the record I am a Trump supporter. I believe in him and I am convinced that this country needs a non-politician president.

However, after watching the debate I agree with some of the critics that he didn't answer much of the questions. Unfortunately he is in the habit of skirting the issues and coming up with the same rhetorics all the time regardless if they are within the scope of the questions or not.

Still, if he is elected he would be reigned in to deal with subjects at hand.

His past life.

He is a businessman who became extremely successful and as such he earned the wrath of many. I don't think businessmen who achieve success always play fair. In this world if one does play by the rules he will be left behind.

I am convinced that Mike Bloomberg who became the mayor of New York City for 12 years had some bodies buried here and there. But for whatever reason they were never brought to the surface.

Donald Trump is not a lilly white politician but more like an ordinary man. There might be nothing ordinary about him but still he achieved a lot more in life than Hilary Clinton. If Hilary's husband would not have been a two-term president she probably would still be a country lawyer.

Anyway, this country had nothing but politicians for president and I think it is time to have one who is anything but a politician.

Go Donald!

Monday

I am so tired that my eyes are crossed like they were on Clarence the cross eyed lion from the Daktari TV show.

Today we had a morning doctor's appointment in Manhattan that necessitated our driving in. Driving into Manhattan is never easy but the beauty of it is that at the end we get to go home in Queens.

After the doctor that took about two hours we went to the Hungarian restaurant for a light lunch then home to our home turf.

Today is Columbus  Day and as such there were no public schools. Kids go back tomorrow then on Wednesday it is a holiday again, Yom Kippur.

Anyway, Abigail decided that she needs a pair of combat boots for the winter so now we are in the combat boots search mode. If anyone thinks that is easy that person is wrong.

Wrong size, wrong color, wrong style, I hate this store, too cheap must be crappy. And these are just a few of the exclamations from good old Abigail.

All I can say that it is exhausting. I count to ten and smile.

Debate Sunday

I skipped yesterday because I was very-very busy. I don't remember what I did but I'm sure I was busy. Lately every hour of my day is filled with things to do.

I think when I worked I did less than now. But don't think that I am complaining. It is still better to be busy than just sit around and wait for the full moon each time.

Something else.

Thank God Hurricane Matthew passed Florida and our family survived it without a scratch. We sat front of the Weather Channel and watched their live broadcasts from the area and were hoping that nothing would happen.

Our prayers were answered because my wife's daughter and her apartment complex survived it without any problems.

Something else.

Tonight is the second presidential debate and there is so much hype about it I think it will be the most watched show on television history. Even more people will watch it than the last episode of Mash.

The negativity about Trump and to some extent Hilary Clinton is mind boggling. In my opinion all the negativity might just turn more voters to Trump because it will show that he is just like any other guy and not like those phony two faced politicians.

But as one interviewee, Rep. Charles Rangel, said today,  the polls don't mean anything. People will decide when they stand front of the lever they are supposed to pull down.

Friday

Thursday was a nice day but instead of enjoying the beautiful weather we worked our behind off.

As I mentioned it earlier we have a lot of stuff we keep in a storage facility. This facility just notified us of a price increase, the second in a year, commencing in October.

So what did we do? Found another place, nicer, that is less expensive and guarantees the price for a year. And, yesterday was the day we moved. Rented a U-Haul truck and with the help of my wife's son packed up the truck and moved everything to the new place.

It sounds easy but it was a lot of work. Some of the boxes were really heavy, filled with books and old documents.

On the pretext that the minute one discards something it will be needed we don't throw out anything. And that fills up a 5'x10' storage cubicle.

We started around 10 in the morning and by 1:30 we were finished. Not bad. But I really don't want to do this too frequently.

Maybe next year when they will raise the price.

Thursday.

Today is the day when hurricane Matthews will hit Florida.

My wife's eldest daughter lives in Daytona Beach and according to the forecasters Daytona Beach is on the track of the hurricane. We are in constant touch with her and understandably are very worried and concerned.

My wife lived through a few hurricanes when she lived in Florida so she has some understanding of the dangers involved but I have never except a few close calls in the Caribbean.

What makes this hurricane worse than many others is that it is huge and it carries a big punch. It came up from the Caribbean and left many dead people in its trail.

So it is totally understandable why we are worried but beside offering a lot of advice there is very little we can do from here in New York.

We pray and hope that nothing will happen to her and her environment.

Wednesday

After seeing the Amish now about the third time I am still amazed at the simple life they live. I don't know how happy they are but I am sure they are content.

They are living at the edge of civilization but are not permitted to use many things civilization offers. Like electricity, TV, radio, cars, computers, telephones, bicycles and I am sure there are many other things.

But they are no dummies because there are many exceptions and exclusions. Like can not use electricity from transmission lines but can use electricity generated from 12 Volt batteries or from solar or wind sources.

They can use washing machines but no dryers. They can not have cars but can use public transportation.

We went to stores where there were Amish people working and saw that it was necessary for them to use telephones, computers and cash registers.

So, there are exceptions and they take advantage of them.

But still from the outside they seem to be nice people and I see nothing wrong with their lifestyles.

Not that I want to live like that but probably their lifestyle is a lot more relaxed than ours who are surrounded with the comforts of civilization.

Monday/Tuesday

This a combined accounting of the events of the last two days. As I mentioned it earlier we decided to spend Rosh Hashanah with our friends.

My wife decided to cook dinner and dinner would be transported to their house. She got up early Sunday and by noon all dinner was done.

We packed it into the car and started off to their house.

Three hours later we arrived and the girls prepared dinner.

Not because my wife made it but it was fabulous. We all enjoyed it and just had a good time. Stayed up until about midnight and just talked and talked.

Monday morning got up at a reasonable time and we all took off to Amish country. We just love that area and it is fairly close to our friends' house.

Since my wife loves antiques we again visited a whole bunch of antique stores. One has to be careful with these stores because some of them sell stuff that is not local and likely made outside the country while the real Amish stores sell local antiques. These were the ones we were looking for.

Found a few things we liked and bought a few things we liked.

One of the highlights of the day was the family style lunch in a local restaurant. Five of us sat at a table, two more people were added later, and were served non-stop with food. For me the star was the fried chicken. Very well made, crispy and plenty of it. But there was roast beef and other things, too.

After lunch we walked a little more to walk off the added calories then said our goodbyes and took off for home.

Trip home was easy and by around nine we were in our apartment. All in all it was a very nice time because as far as I am concerned there is nothing better than spend time with good friends. Actually for me the only better time is to spend time with my wife.

Sunday

Today is Sunday, it is morning and we are getting ready to go to our friends' house and stay over until tomorrow.

My wife is busy getting the Holiday dinner in shape and ready for travel. Me I have nothing to o so just to stay out of the way and trouble I'm writing. This is always a relaxer for me. Not that I would have too much to be upset about but there is nothing wrong for a person to be relaxed.

Situation report.

The weather is Fall like. Cool and overcast. Since  we have about a three hour drive ahead of us I think this is a perfect driving weather.

Driving!

My darling wife is convinced that too much driving is no good for me and on that pretense she starts bugging me to hand over the driving chores soon after we leave the house. She doesn't care that I love driving and used to drive a few hundred miles on one sitting.

In order to avoid any arguments I hand over the chore of driving about half way to our destination. The argument is usually based on my definition of half way. As far as she is concerned ten blocks from home is almost half way.

We are going about 160 miles. Ten blocks do not constitute 80 miles no matter how one looks at it. But I usually win and half way there I gracefully give up my driving.

Anything to keep the peace and make my wife happy.

Saturday

Moving into a new place and combining the furnitures from two fully furnished apartments is not easy.

It is not easy because the need is there to create one cohesive and comfortable home and it is not easy because there are always things that wind up not needed.

It takes a lot of willpower to decide to discard things that have been around for years and served their owners by providing comfort.

But that is why storages were invented. To help us through the pain of parting with certain belongings.

My wife and both had a lot of stuff we didn't know what to do with and decided to put in storage. The facility is not far from home and we had no difficulty filling up a 5x10 cubicle with things.

These storage places are not cheap but not expensive either. They are doable.

Next week we have to spend a day emptying out our current storage place and move to a new one because the bastards raised the rent about the third times this year. They just send a notice advising us that the rental fro October 1 will be higher.

Now, that is a helluva way to make money. But I heard that a lot of people were moving out of that facility because of their pricing policy.

During the week we looked around and found a place, not far from home where the one year rent is guaranteed and it is lower than we are currently paying.

So, I am very anxiously looking forward to day of heavy physical exercise that will involve moving our stuff from one place to another.

Friday

Rosh Hashanah is coming. For those who don't know what that is it is Jewish New Year. This Holiday is not celebrated as the other New Year is with drinking and partying but a little more solemnly.

The religious people celebrate it with praying and a nice dinner. I for one stick to dinner. We usually eat good stuff and lots of it.

I know that my wife will prepare some really good things. The Holiday comes in on Sunday night and since it is a two day holiday and the New York City public school system observes it there will be no school Monday and Tuesday. Meaning that Abigail is having an extra long weekend.

This time we plan to visit a very good friend and have holiday dinner at their house. There is nothing better with any holiday dinner than to spend it with family or with good friends.

So, I am looking forward to a great time. Hopefully 5777 will be a good year for all of us, our family and for all our friends.