Best to All

2021 Christmas is here. Boy, time went by fast! I still remember last year's quiet, somber celebration with all the pandemic things going on. But as I always maintain, no matter what happen, the sun will come up next day. Time marches on, and this year is almost over.

I will now take a little Holiday hiatus. I will use this time to recharge my batteries. Will return in the new year.

Until then, I wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my friends and to all who might be lucky enough to find and read this blog.  

Manhattan

What is the magic about Manhattan? This the question raised almost in my house. Manhattan is the center of New York City, It is one of the five boroughs that comprises New York City. With the exception of Central Park, it is all asphalt. Various neighborhoods make up Manhattan, and with different neighborhoods come different people. The different people can be races, nationalities, income variations.

There are middle class, lower class and extremely high-class areas. There are stores, department stores, movie theaters, the Opera and then there is Broadway. The middle of Manhattan is made up of mostly office building where the multitude of the population work.

There used to be the flower district, the garment district, areas where printing shops occupied spaces and then there was the meatpacking district where New York's meat supply was prepared daily and sent out to merchants. Because of the exorbitant rents most of these do not exist any longer because they were pushed out to make rooms for high priced apartment buildings.

Now, why am I writing this? Because Abigail and her friends are infatuated with Manhattan. If they could, they would spend every free minute of their time there. I worked In Manhattan for 40 years and at the end of the day I could hardly wait to get home to my suburban, tree lined street. These young people think that Manhattan is the holy land. Abigail believes that when the time comes that is the only place she is destined to work. Any mentioning about moving to another city, state brings up tears, screaming and bad arguments.

Another thing. Life in Manhattan costs more than in the suburbs. These young people don't even realize what it would cost them to live there should the need arise. I and a other people I know didn't see anything nice and inviting about Manhattan. The streets are dirty, the people are unfriendly, everybody is always rushing, and then there is crime. That place is a magnet for crime. Every day we hear terrible things that happen on the subways. Traffic is terrible, parking is almost impossible. 

Now why would anybody in their right mind would want to live there? These young people look at life, for now, through rose colored glasses. But eventually reality will hit them and will realize that us, the old people were right. I hope I will be around to see it.

 

Abigail

Abigail finished her semester. All final exams were done, there are no more classes to attend. What is left now is the social life. Not that there was none before, but now she has to make up for all lost time. Saturday was the day for the last final. Sunday was spent with family, and Monday is blast off day. 

Monday she is going into Manhattan with her number one girlfriend for a day of wandering around, eating and shopping. It is cold today, but they are numb to the weather when they can be in the city. Tuesday it is another girlfriend who is on the schedule and Wednesday it is the boyfriend's day. I think he is down on the schedule because his school is not over yet. 

I am sure that Abigail will not be lacking things to do and people to see until school starts again, next year. In six months, she will be 20 years old. Helping her mom at home never ever occurred to her. This thing irks me a lot. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I do believe that girls should help out around the house to ease their mothers' workload. But when I say that she labels me as a sexist old man. 

Is this the way we were when we were at that age? Ok, most of my friends were boys, and it was not expected from us to help around the house. We spent our free time hanging out. chasing girls and not much else. But I think the girls I knew did help their mothers. The sad thing is that all Abigail's friends are like her. She is not unique. They all think they are princesses and look at housework as something demeaning.

My friend, who lived through this keeps telling me that this is a phase, and it will change. From where I sit time is not moving fast  enough.

Virus

What goes around, comes around, or history repeats itself. 

Last year this time we were in the middle of the pandemic and its restrictions. Then as the numbers slowly eased up so did the restrictions, at least in New York City. Restaurants, theaters, movies and all other public places opened up to give life a semblance of normalcy. I am not saying that we did not like it and were not eager to return to a life known previously.

The entire covid thing took a form of political ping pong. Some states believed it and adhered to the guidelines, some states did not and chose not to follow the guidelines. To true American form some people objected to the restrictions while others observed them. Nobody knew what was to come. My wife keeps saying this virus is not like train that comes and then leaves, this is here to stay.

Right now, it looks like she is justified in her comment. With the Delta variant and the Omicron there are new dangers lurking in the shadows. Nobody knows what vaccines work and what vaccines have no effect. Nobody knows if the booster shots are good for the current variants or not. Bottom line, nobody knows anything! It all depends on who is hollering the loudest. Unfortunately, this is still a political issue.

A week ago, we went into Manhattan for Friday night Sabbath Services. The temple was full of people, attendance was good, and we really enjoyed it. This time, a week later service was front of an empty house. Because of the virus the temple returned to the way services were held this time, last year. No worshippers and rabbis webcasted from home.

I really like soccer (football) and watch it whenever possible. There are lots of matches from England on tv. Lately they are all played in empty stadiums. Very depressing to see this.

___________________________________________________________________________________

With old age comes forgetfulness. At least this an excuse one can use. I, simply forgot to write for last Saturday. My apologies to the multitude of readers.  

Sunday

 It is the last Sunday before Christmas and that means I am not producing.

Robi the Robot

Some months ago, my wife visited her sister in Hungary. Upon her return she told me that she was surprised to see that her sister had one of these robot vacuum cleaners. She said if her sister had one, we must also have one. 

So, some weeks later she told me that I would be very pleased because she bought one on Amazon. And this would mean I will only have to vacuum maybe twice a week, other time we would use the robot, Sounded great.

But here is the reality. That machine is destined to the junk heap! So far, we used it maybe about three times, and each time it had some problems. It has a mind of its own. Does not go where we want it to go, gets stuck in tight spaces, and after a few minutes it takes a "sabbatical". We can't figure out how long that thing can run and what to do to make it run to our liking.

The book is pretty complicated, and it is primarily occupied with programming that damn thing. Forget about programming it. How about just straight running it? On TV commercials it cleans up the place. In reality this thing is going back and forth and not following the desired pattern.

Since I am the "chief" vacuum cleaner operator in this house I have not seen any benefit of this contraption at all. My lovely wife is a clean freak and that means we do once a year spring cleaning every day. 

So while this robot keeps on charging, I keep on vacuuming.  

New Mayor

New York City is getting a new mayor starting the first day of the new year. The current one was here for eight years and because of the term limit he can not run any longer, unless he has as much money as Bloomberg, who bought himself a third year. Ok, it is time that this mayor is leaving because he didn't do much for the City.

Even though the current mayor is a democrat as well as the mayor elect, he is going ahead showing that everything done so far was wrong and he is different, and he will change them. I guess it is required by protocol that the current leadership submit its resignation and whomever the new guy wants will be asked to stay on.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before that the new person is black. The current police commissioner already announced that he was retiring at the end of the year. He is an Irish American who came up from the ranks. Yesterday the new police commissioner was announced. An African American woman who comes from one of the neighboring counties. 

In the 1990s New York had an African American mayor by the name of David Dinkins. He was not good at all, and after one term of four years he was shown the door. He was a tennis fan, and as far as I remember the only good thing he did, he got the planes coming in and going out of LaGuardia Airport rerouted so they wouldn't fly over the US Open Tennis Tournament and disturbing everybody with the jet noise.

I don't know if this mayor will be able to come up with such a gigantic good for the people, but I am sure that if he does not perform, four years from now he can look for another job.

Relaxation

A quiet day in our house is anything but quiet. Like today. Today Abigail had to be in Manhattan, in class by 8 am. It was final exam in mathematics, and for some reason class started at 8 AM. Stupid!

For her to get into Manhattan by that time, and by subway it was necessary to get up at 6 and leave the house around 6:30. Since it was still dark, my wife decided to go with her, rather than letting her go alone. Taking the car into the City at that hour and then come back to our apartment because of the traffic was not an option. So, between 6:30 and 7 am they left. I was still asleep. That ungodly hour is not my time to get up.

I got up around 8. Had breakfast, cleaned myself up and got ready for the day. 9 am my darling wife walks in. She was lucky, the train came fast and got her home swiftly. A little time for relaxation then off to do errands in the area. By noon, Abigail is home and she announced that shew wanted to go to Macy's to do some shopping. Unfortunately, I was told that my presence was necessary. So, we go to Macy's to a nearby shopping center where we easily spent three hours. In these places there is absolutely no chance to sit down, and by the end of the three hours I was really tired. 

On the way home we stopped at a few neighborhood stores, picked up some Chinese food for late lunch and then really got home. At home I was told I had to clean the apartment while my wife started to prepare and cook dinner. I don't know about the dinner, but the apartment is spic and span. This is the forst time I finally had the chance to sit down and relax.

I am still waiting for the opportunity when I will be able to take an afternoon nap.  

Robin, again

On Monday Robin was taken to his beauty makeover. Every 5 - 6 weeks he gets a makeover. That includes bath, haircut, nail clipping etc. The young lady that always does him works for a big pet store company and that is where Robin usually goes. They know each other, they are used to each other so this never creates any problem.

The lady got pregnant and in November stopped working at the store, but she told us she would continue doing this from home if we wanted to. So, in early November we took Robin to her house. She doesn't live far from us, and this was no problem. She did a fantastic job, away from the high pressure of the salon, and Robin behaved admirably.

This Monday was the second appointment for the little guy. In the meantime, the lady gave birth to a boy, but she is already working from home. We went to her house at the appointed time. She said that her mom would come out and pick up Robin and take him into the house.

My wife got a little nervous because she was apprehensive Robin would not take to this person. Well, not to worry. He immediately licked the lady's hand and pulled her toward the house, with swift steps up about ten steps up to the house. Never turned around to say bye!

Sunday he wouldn't go up or down the stairs, this time he was pulling the lady after himself. Two hours later he was done, nice and clean and very happy to see us again. The lady who did her told us he behaved very nicely. Happily roaming around the house, not barking at all. In the salon when a dog is done, they put him in a cage until he is picked up. In this house he was allowed to roam free and that made him very happy. I was very proud of the little guy.

Yes, and this service also cost quite less than when it is done in the store.   

Visit

Even if I wanted to write on Sunday I couldn't because I wouldn't have the time. Sunday, we went to visit my friend and his wife out of town. He lives only about 140 miles away which is a little more than two hours of driving, still it takes some planning to decide the trip. The older we all get, the harder to decide on such an excursion. And that is a shame.

It was a very pleasant trip and visit. Fortunately, the weather was nice and that made driving pleasant not counting traffic. At the visit we talked about health and then changed the subject and talked about doctors. What else people of our generation talk about? Oh, we also ate. Our friends prepared a very nice and lavish lunch for us. Since I don't leave the house without my other best friend, eating was not a problem.

Who is my other best friend, you ask? My elastic waistband! Wherever I go it goes with me and makes my life easier. This waistband is like good dog. It does not ask for anything, it is honest ant it easily conforms to my demands.

Speaking of a good dog. We took Robin with us because we just couldn't leave him home for such a long time. I was very proud of the little guy. He behaved very well. After the initial sniffing around the house, it was like he lived there forever. The only thing he did not do is go up or down on the stairs. His attitude was "hey, I am an apartment dog, I don't do stairs". 

My friend and I are like twin brothers. We think alike, we talk alike, ok so we don't look alike. But these similarities make our relationship very easy. We are of the same age, and we go back a very long time (almost a lifetime). My wife and Abigail easily blended into this relationship, and now I can add Robin to it, also.

I cherish this friendship and want to keep it going as long as it is possibe! 

Sunday

 Sunday.  Sunday.  Sunday.

Stuff

There are a few things in life that I figured out the answers to. This will not make me a wise old man it will just make people believe that I am extremely bright.

Why is it that old(er) people vividly remember or recall things that happened a long time ago but can not remember what happened yesterday. The answer is very simple.

There is nobody around who was there at the time of the event, meaning there is nobody questioning the accuracy the story. The result is that people will admire the oldster for having a good memory. The only problem is that the same story may surface with different outcomes.

I mentioned it before that curling is an extremely boring winter sport. I figured out by myself why is it called curling. I was unlucky enough to see a curling game on TV this afternoon. The result was that I curled up and went to sleep during it. That's why it is called curling.

For over a week now weather forecasters were talking about snow. Idiots! Right now, the temperature is around 60 degrees Fahrenheit and for the entire week they are promising warm weather. White Christmas in this area is only a myth. It only appears in the movies and mainly in the Hallmark movies.

Years ago, they were selling special snow tires for the winter. I always exchanged my regular tires for snow tires. They were supposed to give better traction in the snow than the ones we used in the rest of the year. There was also a possibility to install studs into these snow tires to eliminate the danger of slipping in ice. I also had these. Whatever they offered, I had.

Now none of these are available, not even snow. I wonder if the lack of snow is related to the chip shortage!

Day Labor

 There is a class of work in this country, at least in the New York area that white Americans just do not want to do. Maybe they find the work demeaning, low paid or whatever else. But the work or job position must be fulfilled. This results in employing Hispanics. English speaking is not always a requirement!

You go into a vegetable fruit store the staff is always Hispanic. There was a Japanese seafood restaurant not far from us, the staff was all Hispanic. In the New York hotel industry, all lower-level jobs are filled with Hispanics. Dishwashers, servers, food delivery people, landscapers and many many other positions are filled with Hispanics.

There are neighborhoods where there are groups of men congregating on the streets waiting for an opportunity to do work. These are day laborers. People come with cars, pickup trucks and hire them for a day's work. These are without exception Hispanics. One time when we moved and needed help, we also hired two men to help us out. They told us what they wanted, we agreed, and I admit they worked very hard all day long.

But as I said at the beginning, one will not find white Americans looking for this kind of work. The question is why? I guess either they find the work demeaning and also object to the low pay. But the way I see it work is work and it is better than doing nothing. But unfortunately, the majority find that collecting whatever benefits are available is always preferable to work.

Good country, America!     

Car

Today we took our Hyundai back to the dealer for a recall service. I actually like recalls because the thing is their fault, and it costs nothing. So, for whatever complicated reason the car fell into a category that necessitated a recall.

We had an early morning appointment, but like any other appointments it meant nothing. First come, first serve is their motto. Well, they took the car and told us it would take about three hours. We kind of prepared for this. After checking the surrounding area, we realized that we were within walking distance to a Romanian meat store that we know. So, we walked over. BIG MISTAKE!

To go to a store on an empty stomach is unforgiveable. We bought so much goodies that we had a hard time carrying it back to the car dealership. The goodies included all kinds of cold cuts that are really appreciated by my Hungarian palate.

Back at the dealership I was talking to the sales manager, and he told me they have only about 27 cars on their inventory, and 10 of those are unsaleable. So, the situation is really critical. I really do not understand where our president is when he announces that unilaterally there are no shortages. The showroom was empty, there were no costumers, the salespeople were sitting around doing nothing. This is exactly the way it was back in the 1950s in the soviet ruled countries. Car showrooms were empty, one could sign up for a car and maybe six months later he got one. 

Interestingly, the area where this dealership is located is well known for all brands of cars. It used to be filled with car transports daily bringing in the new automobiles. We drove through it today, nothing. Used cars there are plenty of, new cars zero.

By way, we waited three hours for our car to get it ready. Just like at the doctors' office.

Day Labor

There is a class of work in this country, at least in the New York area that white Americans just do not want to do. Maybe they find the work demeaning, low paid or whatever else. But the work or job position must be fulfilled. This results in employing Hispanics. English speaking is not always a requirement!

You go into a vegetable fruit store the staff is always Hispanic. There was a Japanese seafood restaurant not far from us, the staff was all Hispanic. In the New York hotel industry, all lower-level jobs are filled with Hispanics. Dishwashers, servers, food delivery people, landscapers and many many other positions are filled with Hispanics.

There are neighborhoods where there are groups of men congregating on the streets waiting for an opportunity to do work. These are day laborers. People come with cars, pickup trucks and hire them for a day's work. These are without exception Hispanics. One time when we moved and needed help, we also hired two men to help us out. They told us what they wanted, we agreed, and I admit they worked very hard all day long.

But as I said at the beginning, one will not find white Americans looking for this kind of work. The question is why? I guess either they find the work demeaning and also object to the low pay. But the way I see it work is work and it is better than doing nothing. But unfortunately, the majority find that collecting whatever benefits are available is always preferable to work.

Good country, America!     

The Pres

Dear President Biden,

You are the perfect example of a communist dictator. The kind I spent my young years with. The propaganda you spit out is unbelievable. Except maybe you do believe it. 

First, you came to power under questionable circumstances. You do believe that the people love you and wanted you in the White House. You elbowed your way in and started to demolish whatever the previous administration accomplished. Immigration, Israel-Arab friendships, consumer prices, oil etc.

You tell the people what you want to hear. In almost 12 months you did not take any questions from reporters because you do not know the correct answers.

Last week you made a disgusting speech where you denied that there were any shortages. When was the last time you visited a supermarket without previous announcement? Please drop in on one and see yourself how empty the shelves are. Stop at a gas station and see how expensive the price of gasoline is.

You took the information of company CEOs who did not want to upset you and said what you wanted to hear. You are just as far from reality as the communist leadership of the European communist countries were. They also forced on us their policies and wanted to believe that it was for the better for us.

This is America. We did not come here to live in a soviet style state, but you and OC try to convert us into one.   

Traffic

Today is Tuesday, November 7. I had to get up early in the morning because I had a dermatologist appointment at 9:30 in the morning. What made this even worse that this appointment was in Lower Manhattan. Even though there is a subway stop just next to the doctor's office, my wife decided that we would drive in.

Driving into Manhattan any time of the day is a terrible experience, but during morning rush it is even worse. We left the house just before 7:45 and got to the office a little before 9:30. Even though the traffic lights favor City bound movement, because of the mass of cars and trucks it is still crawling. I in great favor of subway travel, since throughout my working years that was what I mostly used, but my wife just hates it.

I don't blame her. Lately the news is full of bad things that happen at stations or on trains, so not taking any chances is understandable. We usually park in a nearby garage, for about 45-50 dollars (with discount) but this time we decided that since it was to be a short visit, she would wait for me in the car nearby on the street. This worked out fine, I finished pretty quickly and by noon we were home already. 

The doctor visit was routine, no problem. I have one cancerous thing on my right hand that is needed to be surgically removed (Mohse). This is not a big thing, I had that procedure before. 

I never look forward to going to Manhattan. Spent most of my life there and that was enough.

Cloning

Hitler wanted to create the super race. People who were superior to everyone, smarter, better looking, and just better at everything than anybody else.

Well, I think there had to be a secret program somewhere, because I think this program succeeded. Watching Wheel of Fortune every night at 7:30 on ABC, I can not help but think of this. Every time there are three contestants. A mix of men and women and also a racial mix. Each has to introduce himself or herself an say a few words of their family situation.

Without fail, each contestant has the best mate/partner/spouse, the love of his or her life and the best children in the universe. Those people are the cream de la cream of society. It is a shame nobody knows anything about them. But maybe they should surface and try to improve this world we live in.

This game show runs about nine months a year. That is about 36 weeks, three contestant each total 108 participant. That means there are 108 superhuman living amongst us. This show has been on air for 35 years. That means about 3,780 wonderful families are living in this country alone. Unbelieveble!

We should clone them.

Sunday

What goes around, comes around. Life is nothing but a repetition of things of the past.

It is Sunday, again!!!!

Restaurant

My anniversary came and went. If I say the entire day was nothing but non-stop celebration, I would be lying. Actually, my wife's opinion of me is that I am a gigantic pain in the .... With this attitude there is not much room left for celebration.

But we did. After a very mundane start of the day, it was finished with a celebration. And how you ask?

I tell you. My wife, Abigail and I went out into the jungles of Manhattan for a very fancy dinner. But before dinner we went to Temple Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue for Friday night Sabbath service. The last time we were there was just before the pandemic hit and all such gatherings were stopped. At this time they were open to the public, so we went.

We like this temple. It is reformed, nice service, primarily in English and it only lasts about an hour. Our kind of stuff.

After the temple we went to the restaurant. Few days earlier I made reservation at the Smith & Wollensky steak house on the East Side of Manhattan. We got a good table and had a very good meal. We all had filet mignon with baked potatoes, a glass of wine (not Abigail). The steak was wonderful and a lot. The girls couldn't finish theirs, so the remaining is tonight's dinner. I was a good boy and ate whatever was front of me.

Interesting point. This restaurant is very expensive, yet it was totally full, they were fully booked. In the room we were sitting I was by far the oldest person. All the customers were young and younger people. So, where all the money is coming from? Why do people are crying that there is no money?                    Come to Manhattan, look into one of these expensive restaurants and see how money is being spent.      

Tony Bennett

Last Sunday there was a birthday concert shown on TV. It was Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga from the Radio City Music Hall. They celebrated Tony Bennett's 95th birthday and supposed retirement from show business. Even though his birthday was in August, it was shown now, in November.

Give credit where credit is due, he was surprisingly good. His age showed, walked with help but his voice was still fairly strong, and not unpleasant to listen to. On the other hand, Lady Gaga was very disappointing. She reminded me of a drugged up Liza Minelli. She tried to dance, but in my opinion, she did not succeed. She should not give up her day job.

Also, her fussing about Tony Bennett, like kissing his hand was pretty tasteless. Please, the man is not the pope, not even a cardinal. What is all this kissing?

Overall, the program was fairly enjoyable and had I known it in advance I might have tried to get some tickets.

Anniversary

On 2015, on this day, the 3rd of December I said, "I do". This was a small ceremony, held in the Queens Borough Hall, accompanied with a very small circle of family.

This was my third marriage for both of us. We figured the third time is a charmer. When I think back, I lived most of my adult life in holy matrimony. From 1957 until now, 2021 it is 60 years of married life, including about four years off between spouses.

This marriage better last for the rest of my life because I know that I found my perfect partner whom I unconditionally love. She is my wife, my best friend, my confidant and my nurse. Nurse, because I am a grouchy old man full of problems and complaints. She takes care of me, straightens me out and sends me to hell when I am stupid enough to upset her.

She is very temperamental which leads to several arguments, but most of the time I admit that she is in the right and peace prevails. 

I also have to admit that she is brighter than I am. It hurts, but this is the truth. My wife works, keeps house and runs her business. With all that she keeps Abigail and me in line.

I know that I am very lucky to have found her and to get another chance of life.      

News

American TV has a lot of stations that broadcast only news. But I have a problem with those. Understandably, they only broadcast what is related to this country. And, hours and hours are spent on commentaries, pro and con of this administration. Listening to those I get saturated with controversial information and filled to the top with repetitive news.

For this reason, we found two networks whose programming are more widespread. BBC World News shows interesting news from around the world. A few days ago, they even had a live interview with one of the Hungarian prime minister candidates. They are really global.

The other network we like is I24. This is an Israeli news channel airing primarily Israeli but also international news in English. I find it fascinating how the world changes, how past sworn enemies become friends and partners.

Case in point, the Israeli station is full of Dubai commercials and lately also showing commercials from some other Muslim countries. Not Palestine, though! Looks like Dubai and Israel are becoming good buddies. According to TV Israeli tourists are flocking to Dubai. 

It is funny how this Middle Eastern buddy-buddy thing started during the Trump era but somehow it was all forgotten. Whatever happen to his Nobel Peace Prize nomination?   

Women

Today was the perfect example about why women see things differently than men. There is something in their eyes that we lack. They see things we just do not or we do not care about.

We have a display cabinet with silver things in it. Nothing extravagantly valuable but we like them. They look nice, pleasant to look at them. My wife looked at the display and announced it that this stuff needs cleaning. I have no idea what did she see, what did she notice. For me they looked perfectly nice and shiny.

By the time I got up this morning she had the entire cabinet empty, all the pieces on the table and she was in the middle of shining them. Worked on it for almost three hours.                                                              But I have to admit they do look different. They are nice, clean and shiny, and even more pleasant to look at.

But still, I did not see that they were deteriorating in any way. As far as I am concerned, they could have stayed in their previous stage, without all that extra work. But I guess that is what separates us men from women.

We don't know what is good for us.    

Rabbis

 Friday nights we like to watch Sabbath services that are being televised from various synagogues. There are at least in New York that show their services and we like them. These are all mostly reform temples and maybe that is why their services really surprise me.

I am not a temple goer and I am not an authority on Jewish Sabbath services, but what I see is totally surprises me. I went to services in Hungary a few times in my school years when it was still allowed, mainly because it was mandatory to attend. Here in this country my attendance was limited to weddings. However, in recent years my wife attended a few Friday night services until the pandemic made them stop public attendance.

So, as you see I am not an authority at all. But still that should not stop me from being surprised. So why am I surprised? Because of the musicality of these services.

I know that there are cantors who sing, but I never knew rabbis needed to also sing. In one service we like to watch the rabbis sing and play the guitar, and also there is a small orchestra in the background. There are orchestras in every temple we like to see and we find that all rabbis sing almost as much as the cantor. This is very strange to me. I talked to a rabbi once and expressed my amazement and he told me, yes this is the new norm. Not for the conservative though. 

I can't imagine my old religious teacher, good old Dr. Izsak Smelcer to sing and play the guitar at the Sabbath service. But this is a funny world. What used to be unbelievable now is the norm.

Sunday

 A lot of people had this weekend off, being Thanksgiving on Thursday. But I "worked" diligently on this blog without taking off any time. However, today being Sunday, I collect my dues. I am off!

The dinner

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a roaring success. My wife and Abigail worked for hours preparing it.          To start it off we had turkey soup with necks in it. I love turkey necks because they have so much meat on them.                                                                                                                                                                  The next course was the meat, mashed potato, green beans, gravy and cranberry jelly. I got a drumstick that was fantastic. There was so much tasty meat on it and it was flavored with garlic that I just loved every bite.                                                                                                                                                          For dessert, we had pumpkin pie and apple pie. Very American! We also opened a bottle of Asti Spumante (very Continental) which was ultimately finished.

After dinner we had family time. The girls decided that we should play Monopoly. I really don't like Monopoly and that showed in my plays. In about two hours I went totally bankrupt. That much for my business acumen. On the other hand, my wife and Abigail profited from my shortcomings. Fortunately, this had no effect on the entire evening.                                                                                                                                            

Black Friday

Today is Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It is a common off-work day. Most of the New York companies give this day off since it does not make any sense to go in for one day. So, this became a major before Christmas shopping day. In order to get a leg up on the "frenzied crowd" stores used to open up just around midnight to get started.

This year the earliest opening I saw was 5 am. Even that is brutal for the ones who work there. It is very interesting to see, that no matter how much people complain that there is no work, no money and everything is so expensive, this time they still go and buy toys galore, TVs, electronic devices, etc. I guess when the family come into the picture being cheap or frugal is out the window. This is very nice.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful, sunny and mild. Today it is the opposite. Raining and cooler. But this will not slow down the frantic shoppers. Actually, the malls are all indoors and so is their parkings. This makes shopping that much easier.

In my working years when I was out in construction sites, I always worked on this day even though the home office was closed. The reason was that this Friday was not a union holiday. If management told the workers not to come in, they would have to pay them a day's pay. In order to avoid that we always said that this Friday was a regular workday. Interestingly, no worker ever showed up. Only the construction super and I, the construction manager was there. We stuck around a few hours, bs-d then went home.

This was fine with me, because in addition to the company holiday I did get an additional day's pay. Just for showing up. What a country!

The City at Thanksgiving

When I still worked, Thanksgiving Day was always a holiday, and the following day, Friday was always a non-working day. This gave us all a four-day weekend. Enough to digest all the food eaten previously. Very few people work on that Friday, except retail stores who plan to make big money for pre-Christmas shopping.

On this Friday the traffic is usually lighter than usual but, the City keeps regular weekday rules as far as parking. This misunderstanding leads to a record number of parking tickets. We, the regular drivers assume that because today is a non-official holiday the parking regulations are suspended. But oh no! Not in New York.

New York is absolutely non driver friendly. They instituted, this idiot mayor did, a very low speed limit where one literally has to hold the car back form going too fast. There are cameras everywhere recording speeds and then tickets are issued. The only good, if it is good, that camera tickets are just money penalties and there are no points involved. Still, they cost about $75 each time. 

Right now, as I am writing this, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is going on. It is interesting but extremely commercial. Last Year it was not held but today it is on. They are very lucky because the weather is great. Because the last float is Santa's arriving at 12 noon this thing is very much controlled by the TV. They have stars on some floats who sing (or lip sing) their popular songs. Because of the time control many times they have no chance to finish before their floats move on. It is crazy, but I guess necessary.

They used to have a Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia sponsored by Gimbels. But when Gimbels folded that parade also went by the wayside. I don't know if there are any cities in the US that hold such parades.    

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us. This year went by so fast it is unbelievable. Last year we were in the middle of the pandemic and even the traditional Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was cancelled. This year it is planned to be held. I am sure many families were not able to celebrate last year as they are used to. Hopefully this time, not that all dangers are gone, people will be able to enjoy this holiday.

We did not buy a turkey for a simple reason. There is only the three of us and a turkey would last for a week. Who wants to eat turkey for an entire week? In that line of thinking my wife bought some drumsticks and some breast and will make dinner from those. I am sure it will be a nice dinner. We already tasted our pumpkin pie and it was good.

We are not planning to go anywhere, just staying home and relax. That is what I need, more relaxation! 

To all my friends I wish a very nice Thanksgiving!

Who do you trust?

This week I went to see a dermatologist. This was a new doctor, one I didn't see previously but I needed to see one because it was impossible to see my usual doctor within a certain time period. It looks like every doctor is booked way into January or even February. Business seems to be booming.

Anyway, this young lady was willing to see me in a short notice, because unfortunately, I did not have the luxury of waiting a month or longer for an appointment. She did see me, we discussed my problems and I placed my fate in her hands.

Now, dermatology in my opinion is a gamble. They might find the cure or they might not. Most of the diagnosis depend on visually looking at the problem and hoping to come up with the solution. I used to have an older doctor, who looked at these things and almost immediately came up with his verdict. Not always correct but never wrong. The prescribed medication either worked or not. Then he tried something else. I tried to see him, but he was booked far into the future.

I talked to another doctor about older versus younger doctor. In my opinion there is not much an older doctor did not yet see, meaning he can easily come up with the cure. My doctor's opinion was that the younger doctor might be more up on the latest techniques in medicine, therefore would easier identify the problem.

This brings up the question: who do you trust?

I don't know. I trust the one who can treat me and cure me the easiest way possible. Do older doctors keep up with the latest improvements medicine has to offer, or just keep relying on their experience? I am sure a young doctor is aware of the latest things since that is what they pick up in their early years.

Years ago, we had the need for a certain operation. The surgeon told us this was to be a robotic process. The doctor was a fairly young man. Another doctor commented that young surgeons are good at the robotic surgery because they grow up playing all kinds of electronic games and are used to the controls, while older doctors get a short training in this kind of method of operation.

Again, who do you trust? 

LG Television

The other day I saw an advertisement on Tv from LG. They were shoeing a new type of television that can be rolled into a box type of furniture. It looked very interesting and what is most, space saving.

It looked like an old fashioned home movie screen that on could roll up after viewing. This is just before Christmas and I figured this is a new gift idea from LG. I like this company, they usually have good products.

I liked it, so I looked it up where, and how one can buy such a thing. Right now only LG has it but I am sure it won't be long before the other companies will invent this process and start selling it. Anyway, it is only available through LG, it must be ordered. The listed price is $100,000!

Now, I wonder how many people will go out and buy a TV that is not even a home theater for this kind of money? I guess just as many as who buy $80,000 Rolex watches just because their advertisements say they are good.

I called them and told them to take my name off their waiting list! 

Sunday

 Boy, time flies. It is Sunday again!

Labels

Did you ever buy pillows, bathroom mats, mattresses, blankets and other similar items and saw those large sawn in labels hanging out of them? Why are they so important that they say it is illegal to remove them? It is written on them that "Under penalty of law it is illegal removing this tag..."

I have pillows for years now, but I am scared to cut those labels off because one day the police might knock on my door. I am sure these labels have some kind of microchip embedded in them which would immediately notify the authorities if I do anything unlawful.

So, beside the secret microchip, what is the purpose of these labels? Why they can not just have a label like shirts or other clothing items have. Now, if they are sold in international markets there are notices in about ten languages, this way they are only made once for a worldwide market. 

The other ting is that they are so tightly sewn in that their removal is very difficult. Just to haphazardly cut them off will make the item look ugly. If one wants to have them removed with surgical accuracy one will have to be very careful because, at least I always cut into the material, and always got hell for it. 

Just a thought on something that is present in our everyday lives. ___________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday, on Friday, Biden was supposed to have a colonoscopy done. Nothing special, it was scheduled. Because of the procedure requires anesthesia, the presidency was transferred to the Kamala woman. I hope she was told not to get used to it because this was temporary. I heard that the doctors who performed the colonoscopy on Biden were sworn to secrecy for not telling if anything they might find. One of the doctors on the team was a brain specialist because they wanted to know if any unrecognizable material they find might that be his brain!

TV Show

On CBS Tv there is a crime series based on the FBI. It has three parts, first is called FBI, the second is called FBI International, and the third is FBI Most Wanted. They are shown right after each other and many times the stories intertwine.

Anyway it is the second, FBI International I want to write about. This is about four agents stationed in Europe to solve crimes there involving Americans. Interestingly, they are stationed in Budapest, Hungary. I like to watch and trying to identify the various neighborhoods. Now, these agent travel to different countries in the area to solve crimes. 

What I noticed, and probably other Hungarians also did that the folmmakers don't pay much attention to background details. For example in one show that was to take place in Paris, we could see the Eiffel Tower in right behind a fairly well known Hungarian bank's storefront. I checked, and that bank does not have Paris branch.

In another story that happened in Warsaw, street scenes were filmed with occasional Polish signs but Hungarian store designations were very visible. In my opinion, aside from far shots of a particular city they film all the stories in Hungary which is ok, but then pay attention to the backgrounds. The American viewers probably never notice these little flubs but Hungarians certainly will.  

If I would have done such shoddy job where I worked I would have gotten kicked out a long time ago. I know that Warsaw is a cosmopolitan city but I doubt that they have stores and streets with Hungarian names.

Chips

I am very disappointed in America. If I would have a written guarantee I would like to ask for my money back.

Yesterday, there was an announcement on one of the business stations that General Motors announced that due to chip shortage they will discontinue offering seat warmers in their cars.

This is a terrible news. A world collapsed in me. All my life hope was kept in me that one day I will have a warm ass in a cold car. And now, that hope went out the window. What kind of world we live in, where a person can not even have his bottom comfortably heated in a cold car?

I wonder if this only applies to the less expensive cars or to the higher priced one also? Hard to imagine that owner of a high priced Cadillac will have his arse just as cold as a Chevrolet Sparks.  

As far as I were buying cars, the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price was always a starting point in car buying. The game was how far one can go below that price and what extras can the dealer give with the car. I always loved this haggling, and at the end I always believed I made a good deal.

Not long ago we went to a Hyundai showroom and noticed that all new cars had an additional fee added to their basic prices. When I asked I was told that was because the chip prices went up. Never heard this kind of explanation before.

How big is a chip? How many chips can they put in a shipping container? Probably enough for all the cars in the world several times over.

Shortage

In the Soviet Union there were regular shortages in baily necessities. That included food and anything that the population needed. Even though they said it was the land of milk and honey, the milk was scarce and the bees left the country. Well, the good old Bolsheviks in order to keep the faithful happy and to keep the policy of equality, set up special stores that never lacked anything. They were fully stocked and even had better quality things than in the ordinary stores. This was very nice of them but the hitch was that these stores were only available to a selected few. To the ones in high position, to the faithful of the faithful. No wonder they were happy and well fed. These stores never had their toilet paper shelves empty!

I have a feeling we will be heading in that direction. They will set up special stores for the wealthy where everything could be found and the rest of us can just deal with the situation. My wife and I went to the supermarket yesterday and what we saw was unbelievable. Empty shelves and high prices. How long can this go on? That senile old man is sitting in his ivory tower, grinning like an idiot and does not realize what goes on in this country?

This is very sad. He thinks that his 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill will compensate for everything? There is still a shortage of toilet paper. 

I wonder if the White House lacks toilet paper. 

Doctors, again

I have some medical issues that need attention. And unfortunately some of these attentions should be given sooner than later. So, I make appointments believing that those appointments will be kept.

On Sunday night, Sunday not weekday, I got a call from one of those doctors' offices telling me that the doctor will not be in on this Wednesday and the earliest appointment I can get is December 1. This really upset me, because I do not want to wait that long.

I can understand that the doctor has other things to do, maybe play golf, but when he has hours only on Wednesdays in that particular office it is irresponsible to cancel all of them. And what is more that it is totally irresponsible for the staff not to try to accommodate the patient when help is needed.

Looks like doctors are doing extremely well. Lately we noticed that in order to get an appointment you have to look far ahead in the calendar because they are all totally booked. At least one business is flourishing.

In the old days it was commonly believed that doctors did not practice on Wednesdays because that was their day off to play golf. Maybe this custom is coming back and Wednesday hours will disappear. 

We'll see.

X-mas

Today is the 15th of November, almost seven weeks from Christmas and I am already fed up with the non-stop Christmas ads and other stuff. An apartment buildingacross the street from us already decorated its front lawn for the holiday. Ridiculous!

That idiotic Hallmark Channel is showing non stop Christmas movies for a few months now. Everybody is constantly grinning and their only preoccupation is how to get the biggest tree and what type of cookies to bake. Hey people, there is a real world outside with other problems. Oh yea, all the homes are decorated so richly that it turns my stomach. A tree in every room and every square inch of the house is hung with decorations. And on Hallmark hot chocolate is the national drink.

Stores are advertising their Christmas deals. The big question was if will there be a Black Friday this year with all the empty shelves and lack of merchandise? Do stores have enough merchandise to sell at attractive prices? Economists think that this year this will not happen, but only time will tell.

Anyway, I am bored with it.                                                                                                                          ___________________________________________________________________________________

Here is something interesting.

I always believed the US postal system was the best in the world. They were prompt and reliable. The emphasis in this WAS. Now, they are totally unreliable and without responsibility. Mail to other cities used to get in 2 or three days the most. Now if it gets there in a week we are lucky. 

It doesn't matter if it is express or certified it still gets lost or sits in a distribution center for days.

We sent an official letter to Hungary using their express service. It cost $64 and we were told it would take about five days. For days it was sitting in a New York distribution center when suddenly it showed up in Doha, Qatar. Then from Qatar it went directly to Hungary. Iy is there now, waiting to be delivered. 

Since that idiot country has no direct air service, it is difficult to send mail there. So I guess Qatar is the solution.

I love to send Christmas cards. I don't know if those will ever get there or Qatar will discard them because we are the infidel.  

Sunday

 It is Sunday, and you know the rest of the story.

Food

At the earlier stages of my working career in this country I worked in construction. Those locations were all over the city, in the outskirts, out of the city or not near any civilization. If the workers did not bring any food with them there were no places nearby where one could go and eat. This situation (I think) created the birth of the coffee truck. These were small trucks very well equipped to carry hot and cold stuff. Coffee, hot water, soup, sandwiches, cakes, cold drinks etc. 

they always knew where these construction sites were because they showed up around 9:30 in the morning and just before 12 noon, every day. I initially brought food from home (I was a poor refugee with no money) but later in the summer months it was not very easy to store the food, so I also started buying it.

The other day I saw such a truck on the road, so they might still be in use today. But what is becoming more and more popular are the food trucks. These trucks are almost as well equipped as a restaurant kitchen and they offer a large variety of food.

Near where we live in one city block, there is a Hispanic (I don't know what kind) truck, there is a Chinese food truck and there are two Halal (that is Muslim kosher) trucks. They seem to be very popular because there are always people lople liined up and they were occupying the same spot for quite a while. I know that in other parts of the city there is a Polish food truck and I'm sure there are Greek food trucks. And, God knows how many different types there are.

In Manhattan around the offices these are pretty popular because they have very low prices and people like that. Restaurants on the other hand are up in arms about these because they claim they take their customers away. I like the Halal food and we buy it occasionally. They have beef, lamb and chicken varieties and they are all good. There used to be a Hungarian truck but I think it evaporated some years ago.

Shortages

The land of "milk and honey" is going sour. Thanks to the "no clue" administration we are even short on toilet paper. It is a sad experience to go to a supermarket in these days where empty shelves are in abundance and merchandise is scarce. This is like wartime supply shortage.

As it turns out it hits us most in the supermarkets where everyday staples are the basic elements of our lives. But looking around a little more closely, there are shortages in every part of our economy. A basic American staple is the car. Every household have at least one car and in the past automobiles were never in short supply.

Now, there is a serious shortage of new cars. In the old socialist ways, in my country, one was able to purchase a new automobile. But the way it was done they put you on a waiting list for a particular brand (there were not too many) that could stretch to six months and when it arrived you had to accept it no matter what your choice of color was.

Here it looks like it is heading that way. The waiting list for certain cars is as long as six months. This is unbelievable. What causes this shortage? Are all new cars floating on those ships off shore waiting to be unloaded? Together with our toiletpapers?

It seems that we are totally dependent on foreign produced items. Nothing seems like being manufactured domestically. It is a crying shame that we got this far!

We have a president who is totally clueless about the goings on in this country. Price of gasoline is going through the roof. Why, if we are not depending on foreign oil? The "mighty" dollar is worth less and less and he is just smiling and trying to tell us how well we are doing. But when he is asked, he refuses to answer.

His second in command is not any better. She just laughs her way through every appearance. Now we have a farter, and a laughing hyena at the helm. No wonder everybody sees America as a joke.

Da prince

 I am not a grouchy old man who does not like anybody and hates everything. I am just very opinionated. That is all. I have rights to my own opinions. And if the bottom line is that I happen gto hate that particular person, item, policy or whatever else, let that be. 

So, without further ado, I hate that little English prince and his uppity black wife. I wrote about them before, and I already expressed my opinion about them, so this will not come as a surprise. They came to New York yesterday to a gala event to celebrate Veterans Day. Both showed up and mingled and played cutsey. Harry served time in the British military and that makes him a military expert. His wife served time in the mattress and that makes her an expert on mattresses not military.

This guy was and is thinking with his eleventh finger and blindly follows his wife. The wife thinks that she is better than the admired, loved and envied Royal Family. With that thinking she convinced her husband to give up his family, give up his unique royal status, give up money, and move away to the US and live like the (wealthy) common folk live. And that idiot followed her. 

He turned his back on his grandmother the Queen, his grandfather, his father, his brother and all his friends and moved to California where he is accepted only because he is (was) the prince. His friends, if he has any are around him only because of his name. And I am sure that will not last forever. 

I would love to see what will happen when his wife will get older, turn unattractive and to resist their temptations and lose whatever charm and hold she had over him. Knowing his celebrity status, he will not lack the attention of attractive young ladies. How long will he be able to resist their temptations? 

I would love to be around and see their future.

Small print

There are people who are in love with their own voices. They are the politicians and TV people. I watch enough TV to criticize this.

I love to watch congressional committee hearings. Those hearings are fairly entertaining. I love when a congressman puts up a question and there is a time limit on it. They have the tendency tu use up about 75% of the allocated time on themselves making useless speeches and then leave the remaining time for the response which is obviously is not enough. But they just love to hear their own voices. Most of the time the questions are so long that I am not able figure out what the particular question is.

The same goes for TV interviewers. They put for forth a question that is so long and convoluted that the meaning is lost in the packaging. And if the response gets too long or complicated, they just cut in and say well, that is all the time we have.

The other thing is the small print. Did you ever watch these questionable commercials where there are multitude of lines of small print on the screen? They make sure the print is there but they also make sure there is no time allowed to read it. Their contents are all legalese to protect themselves. We, the common people are not privy to what they say. It is nothing but just another way to rip off the naive public. 

This is very similar to the presents or freebies that are offered to us with no charge except shipping and handling (s&h) per each item offered. Just another way to gyp the innocent public.

The questions are longer than the answers

Ads

"Where is the beef?", "I don't believe I ate the whole thing!", "He likes it! Hey , Mikey!", "Time to make the donuts", "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" and many, many more.

These are unforgettable commercial slogans for years and years ago. Even though I am not a youngster I do still remember these. They were kind of funny. It didn't mean that I ran to the stores and bought these products it just meant that they were memorable.

It showed that back then there were advertising people with imagination because they created products that stayed with us throughout the years. Unfortunately, today's ads are lame, tasteless and easily forgettable. There is not a single TV ad that I would call memorable. 

While watching TV I see ads that make me wonder who was the idiot who designed it and who was or were the idiots wo approved it. Companies spend big bucks on tv commercials and at the same time they produce such idiotic messages that it is unbelievable. 

I guess working for an ad agency is easy. It does not need any talent, just the know how to sell your work to the client. And if the client, the advertiser, doesn't know any better they would buy and pay for anything as long as they see their name up there. 

And the public, as stupid as it is will buy it!

Spnsorships

Sunday was the traditional New York City Marathon held. This race encompasses all five boroughs of the city, starting on Staten Island and finishing in Manhattan's Central park. Usually there are 30 to 40 thousand participants from every corner of the earth. The various races are divided between the professionals and the amateurs. The pros, obviously are doing it for the glory and the money. That rest just for their own satisfaction.

Thousands and thousands participant come from different countries. I wonder that with today's travel restrictions how were these people able to manage that. Did all the 30 - 40 thousand had the required vaccines? Or at this time the rules did not apply?

What I find peculiar and I know I wrote about this before, but it bugs me, that who were the main sponsors of this race. Tata Consulting Services (TCS) is an Indian company with about a half a million employees, based in Mumbai and offices around the world. Good, god for them to employ all these people.

But why an American event in this country needs to be financed by an Indian company? Are there no American companies willing to pick up the tab? In my eyes this is a shame. Where are Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, the domestic airlines, Facebook, Microsoft and all other corporations that make billions of dollars a year. The sponsorship for such an event would not even show up in their profit list. I think they just don't care. They seem to want to keep their money a lot closer to their chests.

It is not unnoticeable that a multitude of sport events here and abroad are being sponsored by Emirates airline, Etihad  Airways and Qatar Airways. Their names, logos and their slogans are all over most of European soccer games including players uniforms and as well as in US teams. I guess when local businesses are not willing to support these teams the Emirates airline jumps in and help out.

Watching European soccer games I can not help but notice frequent ads by Gazprom, the quasi private Russian gas company. Is this to remind Europe that they are at their mercy as far as the natural gas supply is? 

  

Sunday

 It is Sunday and I do what I usually do on Sunday. TRest!

Medicare

Now I will give away my age. Ha, ha, ha.

Sometime in October I received a copy of the book titled Medicare & You 2022. I guess they know my age! The purpose of this book is to confuse us older people more than we already are. This is a thick book that explains the different type of Medicare coverages that exist and we might be entitled to.

An entire year goes by where I am convinced that the insurance, additional to Medicare, is good and satisfactory to my needs, and then this book comes out and totally confuses me. Through about 20 pages it lists various insurance companies in my state and county that offer different types of coverages, and I suppose to be the smart one to chose from them. 

This is all fine. Nowadays most doctors accept Medicare but they are very selective in accepting the various advantage plans. I might have a primary physician who accepts my plan and she sends me to a specialist who does not. Then what do I do? This is terrible that doctors chose insurance plans they want to affiliate with and reject some others. 

I am sure this is based on money. Some plans reimburse the doctors better and quicker than others and that is what effecting their choices. I guess doctors being individual businesses they have the right to work with whichever insurance company they chose to.

I usually go to doctors that are affiliated with one of the major New York hospitals. But even though their practice is through the hospital each one is affiliated with different insurance companies. That makes it necessary for me to check if my plan is accepted before I make an appointment.

This is an idiotic system that should be changed.

Commercials

I am sitting front of the TV and watching (forced to) all kinds of commercials and wander. 

Furniture store chain Raymour & Flanigan, Macy's, Walmart, Burlington and many others, too long to list. Every single one shows in their ads smiling happy, clean cut people helping out costumers. This is all fake, at least in New York it is fake.

I have yet to make a sales person who is happy to assist. Maybe at the furniture store because they get a commission on their sales. But the moment they find out you are just looking, they drop you like a hot potato. They give you their card and say call when you decide to buy.

Macy's have no people on the floors. It is impossible to find somebody to help you. Many isles have clothing fallen to the floor and nobody is there to pick them up. Look like a Salvation Army Thrift Store. And when you finally force yourself on a person, that person is unfriendly, grouchy and show very little knowledge about the product you are interested in. Or frequently will tell you that he/she is really not working on this particular department just there to help out. Help out how?

Walmart is terrible. They seem to hire anybody, and naturally they have no clue where certain merchandise can be found. The fact that many do not even speak English is another thing. Burlington, at least where I live, is a dump. No matter what their ads say they sell crappy merchandise. To find a floor  person if you need help is almost impossible.

Raymour & Flanigan ads show their furniture delivery to be don by smiling, clean cut people in uniforms. We had a delivery a while back and not they were not smiling they didn't even speak English. Brought the furniture, put it together, said "thank you" (in English) for the tip and left. I tried to talk to them but did not get through.

Does anybody remember the old times when the milk man wore uniform with a tie. That is now history. Today's delivery men are totally changed. We recently bought a new refrigerator. It was delivered by a man, woman team. Likely husband and wife. Didn't speak English. Cut the box open and left the fridge front of the door. I had to run after them to give them the tip. They didn't seem too happy either.

Boy, the world is changing.

Election

Yesterday, Tuesday was election day. We voted. We, in New York were electing a new mayor. The two leading candidates were Eric Adams a democrat African American, and Curtis Sliwa a republican known for as the founder of the Guardian Angels group.

Since Biden's election we were leaning towards the republican candidates whenever it was possible. Unfortunately, our candidate did not win. Adams will be the second black mayor of New York in its history. The first was David Dinkins who. thankfully, served only one term and did not enjoy great popularity. It looks like blacks are coming in major offices. Manhattan district attorney will be a black person (the first in that office). New York City public advocate is African American as well as the current state attorney general who just announced that she has her eyes on the governor's position next year, New York City's health commissioner is a black doctor. 

It looks like pretty soon, being white will be a disadvantage in New York. The current mayor Bill DeBlasio, is of Italian origin with an African American wife, is finishing his second term and currently not enjoying great popularity amongst New Yorkers, even though he is a democrat in a democratic city. People actually can't wait for him to leave. It is very funny that it was announced that DeBlasio who came from Brooklyn where he owned his house immediately after January 1 will move to Cambridge , Massachusetts. I guess he thinks there he will be liked. Maybe he will run for dogcatcher that way he can stay in public service.

I don't have anything against blacks. I just don't like the attitude some of them have when confronted with whites or any other race. I lived through a system that was built on race discrimination and I will be damned if I will let anybody treat me as a second class citizen, again!                                               

Let's just wait and see what is ahead of us. 

Oranges

When I arrived in New York. way back then we were picked up at the airport and were taken to a hotel (Hotel Saint George) in Brooklyn. The place was set up to receive us, the refugees. It was nice, we all got our private rooms, which was a change after living in dormitory style for nine months.

They told us to go downstairs to a large cafeteria where I think soldiers were helping out. There was food in trays and we just had go around and point and ask and were served. Interestingly, for most of the food we had no idea what they were and since nobody spoke Hungarian we couldn't even be told even though they tried to enlighten us. Regardless, we ate.

We were not locked in, and this was the first time we were not restricted in our movements. So, we just went out and wondered around (not too far) the streets. I think I had a few dollars in my pocket so we went into a little grocery store next to the hotel. Me, the big internationalist and linguist said "one kilo narancs", meaning one kilo oranges.

The guy was very friendly, I guess he knew whom he was dealing with, and patiently explained that here there is no kilo but pound. At least I think that was what he said. So, we bought two oranges. And, this was the story of my first American purchase.

2021 Halloween

As I mentioned it, my first day in this country happened to fall on Halloween. Neither I nor any of my traveling companions had any idea what Halloween was, what it did represent. It took a few years until I really understood the importance or rather the meaning of it. I purposely changed it from importance to meaning because as far as I am concerned it has absolutely no importance.

As I can see it this is a typical American event created to fill the gap between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. It is a chance for merchants to sell more candy, chocolates and silly costumes. I don't want to sound like a grouchy old man, which I probably am, but to me the entire Halloween thing is a waste of time and money. 

Some people go crazy about it and naturally go overboard, while some people really don't care about it at all. In our family, Abigail goes all crazy about Halloween. She thinks it is the holiday of holidays. Like this year, she dresses up as the black swan, went into Manhattan with her girlfriend who also dressed up like something else and were wandering the streets convinced that everybody was looking at them. If I dared to criticize Halloween I got rebuffed and called old and crazy. 

I bet if I ask anybody on the street about the meaning or origin of Halloween, not one person would be able to explain it. I know that Abigail has no clue.

I think that this year because of the virus the entire Halloween thing went flat. They had a parade in the Village but in our building for example there were no kids going around ringing doorbells asking for candy as it used to be done.

So, we bought a bunch of candies to give away but there were no takers. I think I will volunteer to help to reduce the backlog.    

Flying

Thinking back 67 years, it was an interesting experience flying. As I said before I don't think anybody ever flown a plane before. Traveling was not permitted in the old regime and even then since Hungary had limited air travel possibilities riding on an American airplane was a brand new experience.

For one, nobody spoke any English and thus we had no way understanding what the stewardesses (back then they were stewardesses) were saying. We were restricted to communicate with hand signals and loud Hungarian. People believe if they speak loud their language is more understandable.

When they gave us food we ate them, when they told us to go somewhere we did. Ailine food was something none of us experienced before. We sniffed and smelled the food when we couldn't figure out what they were. We all behaved like someone from a real third country.

At one point during the night, somebody looked out the window and thought he saw one engine on fire. In total panic, he called the stewardess over who in turn notified the pilot. Somebody came out of the cockpit, looked and said something to the stewardess, probably that these idiot Hungarians are getting on my nerve. Anyway, the fire turned out to be nothing, and we arrived safe and sound at our next stop.

At that time I decided that if I fly again and see anything outside my window I will keep it to myself. Let faith be at the controls.

Sunday

Now, regardless that I skipped a day this week, I will still take Sunday off. Any objections, complain to the management!

1957 Halloween

Here is something I did not write about for a year now. Exactly 64 years ago I was very nervous, excited and apprehensive. I think about a week ago or more we found out that we were on the list for the group of refugees going to America.

As I probably mentioned it before, I was in Yugoslavia in a refugee camp for nine months. We were moving around a lot but at the end wound up at the final camp for those who wanted to go to the US. Spent a few weeks there and while in this camp we were interviewed, checked and double checked before the final determination was made to allow us to leave.

It was extremely exciting to finally see my name on that list. Even though I was not yet 21 years old I did realize this was a big thing. I knew that America was not next door to Hungary and I will be quite a distance away but I accepted since it was my choice.

Coming out of WWII and the Hungarian revolution, my mother was not too keen on me staying in Europe. She was afraid that history might repeat itself. And, 64 years later the way sentiments are. I am not convinced that it might not happen again.

Anyway, on the 30th of October, we got up early in the morning and were taken by bus to the Belgrade airport where we boarded our plane. Back then, jets were not well known in civilian transport and our plane was a propeller driven one. I don't believe many of us ever flown so it was a brand new experience to everybody. Some got sick during the flight some not.

As I remember the flight took forever. I tried to keep tab on my wristwatch but because we crossed so many time zones I lost track. We stopped and disembarked in Frankfurt, Germany, Reykjavik, Iceland, Gander, Canada before arriving at New York's Idlewild Airport. I don't know how many hours the trip took but I do know it was the next day we arrived. 

And that was my first Halloween.

Travel

I am usually not a nasty person but there are things that make me lose my cool. Robocalls are one of these. I know that the people who call are doing their jobs and they are not responsible for what they are saying but still, since they are at the other end of the phone they get my outburst.

Lately we get call about travel. The introduction goes something like this: "Hello Mr. Whoever. I know that you are a traveling person and were traveling a lot with such and such company, and I would like to offer you a fantastic opportunity..."

At that point I interrupt the hapless person on the other end and tell them that first does he/she realizes that there is a pandemic in the world and traveling is not something people do frequently do and I also say that I don't like that particular company because they suck so please go to hell and don't bother me in future.

This usually works for a day or two but the calls just keep coming back. I wonder if anybody falls for their tricks and buys a trip from them. I always block these calls but they keep coming back with different numbers. Anyway, after I curse them out I do feel better! 

Every day I get on my phone about ten scam calls. Fortunately, the caller id on my phone flags them as Possible Scam and this way I just shut them off. But they keep coming back. Just like cockroaches, can not get rid of them. 

Language

After the October 23, 1956 events in Hungary, leaving the country became a national pastime. Hungarians, in huge numbers left and went to different countries (western countries) in the world. As a result, I don't think there is a country in the world that does not have any Hungarians living in. In those years,  for us being the "poor" refugees it was easier to find a home. And we all did. Settled in we all did and started our new lives.

Hungarians have a very good habit of assimilating. They try and succeed in fitting in whatever part of the world they live in. I wouldn't be surprised to find Hungarians in China who look Chinese or in any African country looking like the natives. One of the main part of assimilating is learning the language well. This is needed if one wants to be able to work.

The other mode of fitting in is to marry a person who is already living in that particular country, who has roots there and not necessarily Hungarian. Now, this brings up the question of language. Since the Hungarian person wants to learn the language of the host country, and the spouse is non Hungarian it becomes necessary to speak the foreign language at home. This unfortunately is reflected on the children.

They will grow up not speaking Hungarian at all, and their only familiarity with Hungary is that one of their parents was born there. I know several people who followed this exact prescription. Their children were born here and do not speak a single word in Hungarian. Their understanding of Hungary or its history and culture is minimal Even if one parent would have wanted to push this, very likely the other parent would have resented it. 

Unfortunately, with this attitude any ties emotional or otherwise we had with our native country will disappear and die with us (old-timers). I believe that later immigrants, not the '56 crowd, behaved a little differently. They tried to cultivate their relationship with the home country and they also made sure their children did practice and did not forget their mother tongue.

It happened to us more than once that when in public we were speaking to each other in Hungarian a stranger would stop us and inquired that was that in Hungarian we spoke. When we said yes, they said they recognized that because some of their grandparents were Hungarian and they heard the language spoken at home. When we asked if he or she spoke Hungarian they told us sorry, not a word.

This was very sad.  

October 23

This past Saturday was October 23, the 65th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution. 65 years ago when my and most of my friends' life changed. None of us knew what was waiting for us in the future because back then we looked at life one day at a time. No long range planning.

65 years went by, looking back, pretty quickly, but not totally uneventful. Lots of things happened, good mixed with the bad. Happy mixed with the sad. Many of our loved ones left this life ant to many of us new lives came to existence.

Most of my friends and I were not even 20 years old step. I am not sorryback then and I don't think we were seriously able to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. Every one of us lived through WWII and the bombing and shootings in Budapest. This just seemed another one of those.

Many took advantage of the early chaos and left the country in the first few days. Some, like me and my best friend agonized over leaving and waited a few months before taking the giant step. In hindsight, I am glad we took this step. I am not sorry about leaving the country, I am just sorry about leaving my family.

Honestly speaking, when we left Hungary I just turned 20 years old. I did not have a serious bone in my body. I did not have any plan in my mind what to do and how to do it. Didn't even know what country I or us wanted to go to. It was like whoever would take us. Very serious thinking, right?

But, as it turned out it ended well. I am not sorry for the big leap.

  

Color blind 2

This now is not a political writing. This is about the disadvantages a person has when that person is color blind. As I mentioned it earlier, I am pretty much color blind. Can not tell the difference between red and green, brown and green and a few other colors. On that mosaic like eye test I can not see a damn thing except a bunch of different colors.

This is the way I am since childhood. I was never able to learn colors. Being color blind is not a big thing but it could be a serious career breaker.

Here is a list of careers I was not able to pursue: airline pilot - I would have landed the plane in the parking lot because couldn't understand the colors of the runway markers;  butcher - I wouldn't been able to tell the good meat from the spoiled meat; house painter - couldn't advise the client about good colors; fashion designer - couldn't put good dress colors together; couldn't work in a supermarket fruit and vegetable department because wouldn't been able to tell good stuff from the spoilt stuff. And, the list would just go on.

I can drive because I know the red is always on the top and the green is on the bottom. If that changes I am careful but in all these years I never had any problem with this scenario. Anyway, in everyday life this not much of a hindrance except when somebody directs me to take the green or the orange colored something. Then I am in trouble and I have to tell them to be more specific, and sheepishly I admit that I am colorblind.

Like many other disadvantages in life this can also be overcome, and I did.

Sunday

 Same old story. It is Sunday and I rest! It was a busy week and I need time off.

The Book

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, if I did I apologize, that my wife wrote a book. The book she wrote is about life in the old  country, the healthy ways they lived and how the full richness of nature was used to cure ailments. Also healthy recipes were included in this book.

The book was written in two languages and is currently available in bookstores and through Amazon, practically in every country where Amazon is doing business. As we were told the book met with moderate success and interest. Did not hear anything negative about it, only positive comments. There is an American publishing company and a European publishing company doing the marketing.

The European publisher invited my wife to an upcoming book symposium to be held in Budapest in late November. Supposedly, at this get together she would have a chance to meet people from the industry as well as other writers, publishers and whoever else.

I am pushing her to go because I think this is a great opportunity, but she is very hesitant. You have to know that my wife is extremely shy. Hates publicity, hates public exposure. But if we want this book to really take off she has to shrug off these feelings. She went to Europe a few months ago and saw that traveling is not as difficult as it was made to believe. At that time she visited family and friends and had a good time.

This time this would be mostly business, helping the book to get off and fly. Ok, the family is there, and one can not avoid to see them, but this rime they would have to take second place. Right now she is working on her second book and this visit would be a great preamble to it.

It is a little difficult to make arrangements to a European trip because of the uncertainties caused by the covid-19. European countries have the tendency to close their border without much notice and something like that makes planning very difficult.

But, we remain optimistic about the future.

Friend 2

This an epilogue to my previous story about my English friend and how we met here in the New World. As I wrote we lost touch after the 1956 events, but because his mom and my were friends and talked to each other frequently, I kind of knew what he was doing and where he was. But still was surprised when out of the blue, about 25 or 30 years ago I got a call from somebody who knew my name, and spoke Hungarian and knew me from way back then.

I did not recognize his voice and that confuse me even more but when eventually he told me his name a light came on in my head. He told me he got my number from a mutual friend who also lived in New York, although we did not keep in touch with.

We agreed to meet next day in Manhattan in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the main lobby under the big clock. This was easier than done. My wife and I went there and waited and waited. Nobody approached us so we continued waiting. Honestly, I didn't see my friend for about 20-25 years and didn't know what he looked like. I was still remembering the young lad he was when we used to meet. Well, there was nobody who even vaguely reminded me of the good looking young man he was. So we just waited.

Eventually all the other people left, met their parties and just us and another couple remained. We circled each other for awhile until I think he, carefully asked me if I was whom he was looking for. And the rest is history.

The bottom line is as time went by I guess I also changed because my friend had the same qualms about me as I had about him.                                

Friend

A very, very dear friend of mine is living in England. He is a friend whom I have known for the longest time, about 75 years. We went to school together from elementary on. He lived just around the corner from me thus we kept pretty close contact with each other. In the winter we used to go ice skating together to Budapest's only open air artificial ice skating rink.

After the 1956 events our lives took separate roads. His to England mine to the US. In the UK he settled in London and eventually made a nice life for himself and his family. Maybe 25 or 30 years ago or longer I don't remember, we picked up our line of communication and since that time have been in close contact with each other. Him and his wife visited New York several times and that gave us a chance to meet and rehash the old times. By the way, he is the same age as I am but 21 days younger. That makes me the older and wiser friend! 

A few weeks ago he wrote me that his elder son just got married at their house in London. That is a very happy event, and I am really sorry that we couldn't be there to share in joy. But in today's world traveling is not as easy and uncomplicated as it used to be. Maybe it will never be!

My wife and I both wish all the happiness to the young couple and congratulations to my friend and his wife. 

Bread

I hate white bread. I would much rather eat a wet sponge than white bread. I just can not see the beauty of it. Yet, that seems to be the American staple. Whenever they show on TV people eating a sandwich that is always white bread. 

It is very soft, it has no body and also has no taste. Whenever I tried to spread something on a slice of white bread I always spread that thing on my palm. When I came to this country I was introduced to white bread and I did try it, but within a short time I realized that there were other choices in life. So, I became a rye bread enthusiast. Rye comes in different varieties, seeded or non seeded. I prefer the non seeded variety. 

Rye bread has more body and since I always spread butter on, it is more pleasant to eat. When we go to food shopping, bread buying is always a major undertaking because there are so many different kind on the shelves. I like a certain type my wife naturally, likes a different type. So, who is the loser in this competition?

When I was living in Hungary we used to by a loaf of bread that was fresh and crispy and never sliced. I don't even thin they knew what a slicer was. We sliced the bread by hand and those slices were nice and thick and pleasure to eat. Some stores sell loaf breads to be sliced or leaving them whole and once in a while we buy those. Eating them bring back the tastes of yore.

Yummy life

When we go to the supermarkets to do our food shoppings, the empty shelves are more and more noticeable. This reminds me of the times after World War II back in Hungary. Even though I was only 8-9-10 years old I still remember that food stores had all kind of shortages. People were telling each other when they found out that certain butcher shop had meat or similar events.

Eventually the government instituted rationing coupons. The purpose was to prevent hoarding. Because people have the tendency to stock up on things they don't even need. Here, some stores put signs on certain items limitig purchase to a certain quantity by costumer.

Now that we are heading toward socialism, food rationing might not be too far in the back. The government will use that as an excuse to make sure that the supply chain is not interrupted nd everybody can get a little bit of everything  Why not to do it? Soviet Union had it, Cuba had it, North Korea had it. Or these countries might still have it. There is nothing wrong with rationing. It will give the government total control over our lives and OC and similar lefties will have everything to say about what we can do and what we should think of. 

Just think about it. Kids will not have to agonize over what career path they should pursue. Adults will not have to tink about which job offer should they accept. Housewives will not have to worry about what to cook for their families because the government will issue weekly guidance menus to follow. There will be no room for extravagant foods and deserts.

Life will be yummy, because we will not have to think any longer.

Are we old?

Are we old?

This is an eternal question, at least in my mind. What is being old? Is it the number of years we live or lived or the way our bodies behave?

Are we old for ourselves or are we old because other people see us that way and they communicate this observation to us.

My mind does not want to believe that I am old but my body tells me otherwise. Bending down is not that easy (actually bending down is easy it is the straightening up what's difficult), I walk with a cane because I have a slight balance problem, I am not as strong as I used to be and I don't (can't) run any longer. There are a few more things but I don't want to bore my friends. They probably have the same or more.

Now, are these symptoms of aging or they are just issues? I look into the bathroom mirror and don't see an old man but just me who didn't change in years. There are people who are much younger than us but behave as real oldies, and then there are people with a lots of years behind them who behave like youngsters.

When I reached age 50, AARP started sending me their publication and was offering membership. This was the first sign for  my aging. Actually, the membership fee was quite cheap so I took them on.

Ok, I look at things that I would have liked to do in life and then realize that they will not be done and I just have to accept that there will be no time left. Just because they were not done in the first 80 years they might still get done in the next 80! But that also can mean that I am just sensible, I also have to accept that by all logical thinking, I have less ahead of me than behind me.

So again, are we old because others tell us that we are old?

Sunday

To get back to my old ways, it is Sunday so I will take the day off. I will not overwork myself.

Why hiatus

Why the hiatus?

I have - according to my wife - weird sleeping habits. I snore and toss around in bed. Plus I do get up frequently to go to the bathroom. Well, this is me, and I can not help it. But my wife did.

She decided that we will sleep in separate beds. So, we went out and bought a new bedroom set, two twin beds and dresser that were delivered on September 23. This meant the existing set had to be disassembled and cleared out to make room for the new things.

For a while our apartment looked like a warehouse. On October 1 we rented a U-Haul truck packed in these things and drove them to a nearby place where they were packed into a U-Pack container for delivery to Ohio. Thanks to our building super's help because he did most of the work with my wife. But I had to be there, watching the truck and help with the small stuff. At the end of the day I was still tired.

A week later the container was delivered on site and that meant we had to be there to unload it. At the crack of dawn or earlier we started off and got to Ohio by 9am. My wife, Abigail, Robin and me. This was followed by an all day of unpacking the furniture. The two girls performed heroically, while I stood guard. By the end of the day the container was empty and even as exhausted as everybody was we started off to our return to New York.

It seems that a seven hour trip is getting to be nothing for us. During this entire process I realized that my strength is not what it used to be, and standing for a long time is ok, but after I usually can barely walk because my feet hurt so much. I guess this is where the mind and the body are not in sync.

On these long trips my wife drives alone. I am not allowed to drive any longer. But I have to give moral support to her. That means I sit in the passanger seat and keeping her awake. I am not allowed to sleep or even do doze off while Abigail sleeps through an entire trip on the back seat. Not driving and just sitting there and staring out the window while making "stay awake" conversations is not easy. 

But, that is what husbands are for. To provide support. 

Color blind

I am officially color blind. I have several times flunked the Ishihara test. My eyes were bulging out and still couldn't tell the hidden numbers or letters. In 1961 I was drafted but the same day was sent home because of this. Not that I am sorry about that but since the Vietnam war was raging at the time, God knows where would I be today.

But I am not color blind when it comes to see what is happening in our society today. There are whites, blacks, browns, reds and other hues and discrimination is raging. The problem is that certain races are given more freedom than others.

Here is an example. A few weeks ago the news was full with the disappearance of Gabby Petito, a white girl from Florida. Sadly, her remains were eventually found. It was a sad story and every media picked it up and carried it.

MSNBC's Joy Reid said Gabby Petito coverage is systematic racism: "missing white woman syndrome". Joy Reid is a black woman and it seems she can say anything without causing a furor. As for freedom of speech, if a white person would have said something similar about a black person that individual would be looking for a job by now.

Blacks have the thinnest skin I ever heard of. Anything negative and they get up in arms. But it seems that the rules are varying by races. A black can say anything about the whites, Jews, Chinese but this does not work in reverse. This is totally unfair. Their attitude is what creates racism and discrimination, but they don't want to see it.

It is ok for homeless or just crazy black men or women to go around and attacking Chinese or Jewish people on the streets but if this would happen in reverse there would be hell to pay.

This is a weird and upside down world we live in!   

MSNBC’s Joy Reid says Gabby Petito coverage is systemic racism: ‘Missing White woman syndrome.