Paralympics

 2020 Paralympics Olympic Games are being held in Tokyo, right after the Summer Games. This is an assembly of handicapped athletes who overcame their difficulties and excelled in their chosen sports. I give them all my admiration!

I don't think it is very important which country wins the most medals, what is important what these people achieve. An also ran is just as victorious as the winner. I saw men in wheelchairs playing basketball, I saw swimmers with various physical imperfections swim honorable times.

But what stood out for me was a one legged Chinese ping pong (table tennis) player playing a first class game against an American. The man played with the help of a crutch and he was fast, he was strong and he was all over the table. I don't remember who won but to me it was not important. The human effort was more important than anything else.

And, I have to think twice if I am up to taking out Robin for his daily pee walk. Shame on me! 

Non-events

I can see camel races to be interesting, if one lives in the Sahara Desert, elephant polo if one lives in India or Thailand, hot dog eating contest if one lives in (intelligent) USA.

But next to the super exciting curling I found another hugely non-entertaining sport: beach soccer (football). I can see beach volleyball being interesting, mainly the women part, where good looking young females in itzy bitzy bikinis play the game on sand. Even the men tournament holds certain amount of interest.

But beach soccer to me is a poor effort at making a sport worth watching. Five men in each team kick the ball and sand at each other trying to score goals. I watched the other day and turned it of after a few minutes. There was a FIFA World Cup held in Russia just now. 

Japan is playing against Russia in the final. Both countries are powerhouses in this sport! These countries will try any sport just to get victories. I can see the popularity of this sport in Russia. They will probably set up large sand filled area front of the Kremlin for the whoever want to play this sport.

Another idiotic (if you can call it) sport is cornhole toss. This is totally American! This is a backyard game that is now gaining popularity. One tries to  toss a 16 ounce bag filled with corn kernels, I guess through a small hole cut in a wooden board about 30 feet away. Now, beer in one hand, and corn bag in the other this might seem a little complicated and confusing.

After three beers one might be a little confused which hand he is to throw. The sad thing is that TV is beginning to show this non-event. Spike ball joins the list of waste of time.

   

Sunday

 Today is Sunday and we know what it means. All day siesta.

Birdfeed

I mentioned it before that we live in a quasi garden apartment. The apartment building is surrounded with grass and various bushes meaning, that when we step out our front door ae are in the green. Well, a while back my wife decided that she would feed the hungry "wildlife".

Wildlife in our area is limited to squirrels and sparrows. But better than lions and tigers! So, she set up a few feeders for these living things, and fresh water (not necessarily bottled). The squirrels get a daily dose of roasted peanuts, the birds get bird feed.

I have to note that I love roasted peanuts, but it seems that the squirrels have an advantage over me. She fed them my jar of peanuts when she ran out of their portions. Now, that she is away it is my responsibility to keep these critters fed. But you know what? All the peanuts are gone so neither the squireels or I are getting any. Starvation time!

But the sparrows are luckier. A little while ago she bought a hanging bird feeder that can hold about 1 1/2 lbs. of seeds. In less than a week it was all gone. These birds eat until they can no longer fly because of their weight, I guess. Anyway, this morning, the good guy that I am, I filled the bird feeder. A 3 lb. bag of seed, and half of it is in already. I wonder how long it will last.

I wouldn't be surprised if one day they would start to talk to us like in the Dr. Dolittle movie.

Athlete

There was a political story during the Tokyo Olympics about a female Belarus athlete who defected to Poland because of her disagreement with decisions that was made about her at the Games. She was afraid to return home because of possible repercussions from the regime. Instead she asked for political asylum from Poland. which was granted. This is the short version of the events.

She is living somewhere in Poland with her husband in a government paid apartment. According to an article just published she does not know her own address and because of it she is unable to shop online. It seems she is lacking clothes because she only had whatever she took to the Olympics. Not knowing the address is a safety issue for her protection. As far as I understand, she is free to move around.

Living in a government supplied apartment, having a cook come in and cook one's food does not appear to me as a very bad life. They also taste her food to make sure it is not being poisoned.

Now I ask, don't they have street signs and house numbers in Poland? If one is really curious it is always possible to find out the location where one is living. How much intelligence one needs to find out his or her own address if one really wants to know? 

Academia

There might be an Afghan crisis, there might be a political crisis in Washington or in Albany, NY. There might be a covid crisis in here or everywhere else but they all take second place behind what is happening in our house.

On Tuesday, Abigail went to college the first time! I mean she finished her first year already, but never been inside the school, yet. Yesterday was the big event. Her mom being away in Europe I was the designated mother hen. 

She was asked to be there by 8:30 am, and that meant real early wake up call. She diligently took Robin out for his first pee stop, then got ready. The plan was that she would go into big, mean Manhattan by herself on the subway. This part made me a little nervous but it worked out fine. The only complain she had that the train was full and there were no empty seats. I explained that this was rush hour. But a full train is always safer than an empty one.

She was a little anxious before going because of the new environment and not knowing anybody but according to her that feeling didn't last long once she got to school. Abigail was always a very shy person, afraid of the unknown and unknown people. Yesterday, she got to school early and sat outside the lab waiting for the start of class. While waiting she surveyed the people coming and when somebody sympathetic showed up she addressed that person. By the time class started she knew a few girls. This is a huge step for good old Abi.

By lunchtime (they were served lunch) they were sitting together and at the end of the day she didn't walk to the train alone. I was really happy and relieved to hear this and I hope her other classes will turn out this well (socially, I mean).

Today, it is Wednesday and she is going in again. As far as I know she will have two days in school and one day at home classes. But that can always change.  That is three days a week, leaving ample time for socializing.  

 

Sport

Yesterday I was watching an extended showing of the World Athletics Championship U20 from Nairobi, Nigeria. U20 means under 20 years olds. It was very interesting tournament to see. Olympics caliber. Actually. many of the participants were in Tokyo before.

Looking at some of these under 20s reminded me of the eons ago Soviet female athletes, like Nina Dumbadze discus thrower in the 50s. As I remember she was huge, and very strong. Her femininity was questioned but the Soviets swore on Das Capital that she was a female.

Anyhow, yesterday's athletes might have been under 20 but most certainly didn't look it.  This event being held in Nigeria, every African country was represented and a smidgen of Europeans, Americans, too. It was interesting to see how much advantage blacks have in sprint and other distance runnings. Most of the time they just left the white participants in the dust. I guess that explains why very few of them are ever eaten by lions. They can outrun any swift animal.

Track and field is a total race separated area of activities. If it has to do with running the blacks rule. Other activities like high jump, javelin, discus throwing, hammer throwing, pole vault the whites have opportunities. There were a few Hungarian girls in the running numbers but they just did not finish very honorably. Not for the lack of trying.

Oh well, at least they had a chance to see Nairobi.

Mixed

During Sunday the main events on tv were the tropical storm Henri and Afghanistan. There were no local or nearby sport events because they all were halted due to the nonstop rain that fell all day long. There was so much rain on the street that Robin had to learn how to swim. That he did.

Fortunately for us this storm passed by us to the east and beside lots of rain dids not cause any serious damage. At least not in my neighborhood.

Afghanistan is another story. It reflects the absolute uselessness of the current administration. Instead solving the prevailing problem there it is multiplying and getting worse by the hour. Thousands of people, including Americans can not get to the airport and can not get evacuated. I saw in the news (Hungarian news) that 26 Hungarians were successfully evacuated to Turkmenistan.

What were those Hungarians doing there? I hope not running Hungarian restaurants. Hungarians are like the Chinese. They can be found in almost every country in the world. I guess eventually, we will take over this world!

Sunday

 It is Sunday and I have to rest.

Afghans

America had made itself the laughing stock of the world (again). This administration is very quickly losing its credibility in the eyes of their allies and sympathizers.20+ years ago the US vehemently supported the Taliban in its fight against the mighty Soviet Union, who for some political reason wanted Afghanistan. The US supported this fight with weapons and advisors. 

This war was the Soviet's Vietnam. Winning was not in their cards either, and eventually in 1996 they withdrew leaving the Taliban and their primary supporters, the US as the winners. This honeymoon did not last long. After about five years the world lost its enchantment with this regime and the US went back with blazing guns to create a law and order country.

This didn't work out too good either. The Taliban, using the weapons they got from the US resisted, and a long war ensued that technically just ended on August 15, with the Taliban taking over the capital of the country and the Americans leaving with their tails between their legs (like Vietnam).

Right now Afghanistan is in the headlines across the world. All eyes will be on them to see how their future will turn out. Now, only time will tell how this new system will work out. But, I do believe that within 5 to 10 years the major powers will find a reason to go back with guns blazing.

Police

Like I said before and before and before. My daily excersise regimen includes watching tv. And, watching tv also includes watching lots of news. Watching the news I noticed something that they like to show.  

Unfortunately, today's news is full of crime items. A shooting here, a murder there, a hit and run and other sociopathic events. But in every item they show the police presence.  Naturally, always afterword and not as preventative. But anyhow they show them.

It is noticeable that half of them are always on their cell phones. Who are they talking to? Home, friends saying they will be late for dinner because some inconvenient investigation, or asking for instruction how to investigate? On tv crime shows they always have one or two detectives who do the investigation. In reality at least a half a dozen are there and they all are on their phones.

The other thing is that they always show uniformed cops standing around talking. I will bet my last cent that they are not talking about the case. They are talking about pensions, coffee breaks or just about anything but the case at hand. This is not the best way to instill confidence int the police. At least that is my opinion.

New York City has lately became what Chicago was in the gangster days of the 1900s. Every day there are shootings and other terrible things happening. At least in Chicago all the killings were contained within the gangsters with no innocent bystanders getting hurt. In New York that is not the case. Every time there are innocent people getting hurt or killed, and that include children.

I think these gang people with the guns should start to work on their aims.

 

Weddings again

As I mentioned it before, I was my friend's best man on his wedding, 58 years ago. The service was at a roman catholic church.  Due to the archaic rule of the church, I as a Jew was not permitted to sign the wedding register. Thus, the bride's brother stepped in and did what had to be done. I guess the Vatican's animosity toward Jews prevailed.

This restriction was eliminated in later years, because my second wedding (17 years later) took place in a catholic church and my best man, who was Jewish was permitted to sign whatever documents needed it.

How the world changes with time.

As I noted I was married in a catholic church. Initially. I wanted a mixed ceremony with a Jewish rabbi and catholic priest (which can be done), but when I found out how much the rabbi charged and how much the priest charged, I said hell with the double event. Rabbi shamelessly had a high fee, while the priest and church use cost nothing. They said whatever I feel like to pay is ok with them. I liked this attitude.

At that time before a catholic ceremony it was required to attend a pre-cana class. This class explains the basics of Christian family life, regardless of the religion of one of the parties. We needed proof that we attended this class before proceeding with the service.

Participants were mostly bright eyed, bushy tailed young couples ant the beginning of their adult lifes. I think we were the only "veterans". The speaker was a young strapping looking priest in civilian clothes.

Interestingly, when he started to speak he looked around the room and said that he was wandering how many of those present would still be married in five years from then.

Thinking back at this 58 years is an unbelievable achievemant!

Wedding

My friend and I came to this country 64 years ago. I came with my girlfriend whom I married shortly after arriving, my friend came solo. Since he was strapping young man (then) he had no difficulty meeting the love of his life.

After an honorable courtship they decided to get married. I was not surprised, because his choice was a very lovely young lady. I was pleasantly surprised when he asked me to be his best man. Growing up in Hungary and never been to a wedding before I had no clue what the title best man meant. But I agreed.

The day of the wedding ceremony arrived, and I was there sharply dressed in my rented white tuxedo. The ceremony went on without a hitch. The banquet followed where I was seated a the dais. I was informed that during dinner it was customary for the best man to stand up and say a few nice words. This was when the sh.t hit he fan.

At that time my English was not as eloquent as it is now (!), plus I was still very shy (I outgrew that, too). Anxiety time was here. But as a good trooper I prevailed. At the right time I stood up, I clinked my glass and said something like this: let's all drink to the good health of the young couple. And they all did.This speech will not make the annals of great speeches.

Sidebar: at their 50th anniversary dinner I was asked to say a few words, and by that time few words were not in my vocabulary. As I remember my shyness was history. Besides, a few words are not enough to describe such a good friendship and such a wonderful couple. 

Television

I came to this country in 1957. When I left Hungary we, none of my friends and acquaintances had achannels. tv set. I knew what television was, kind of. There was a government owned electronics store in Budapest and in their windows there were TVs that played. Programming was sparse in those days. 

My Mom had her first tv set in around 1962 and, she loved it. I had my first set, a Zenith in 1960. There was a funny episode in the Honeymooners tv series with Jackie Gleason when he bought their first set. Him and his friend, Art Carney stayed up all night, at least trying to and watched the Late Show, the Late Late Show and on and on.

I don't know about others but we did the same thing in the first few days. It was such an event, a cultural revolution that we just had to watch everything that was broadcasted even if programming was not so hot back then.

Now, I can not imagine life without television. It takes the place of a good book, it substitutes for going to the movies and certainly it replaces newspapers. Watching tv news is cleaner than reading a paper. One doesn't get his fingers dirty from the printing.

Broadcasting is done on a gigantic scale. The Summer Olympics was broadcasted on at least seven channels. The Taliban captured Afghanistan and Kabul and it is shown live in living color. When the Palestinians were bombing Israel we were able to see it live as the rockets were falling on Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. There is no place in this world (except maybe N. Korea) where the tv cameras don't reach to.

The advantage of an advanced age is that one sees and lives through a lot and experiences many changes. Not all good, but in hindsight, necessary.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Today is my best friend's wedding anniversary. 58 years of wedded bliss! In today's world this is almost unheard of. I was his best man at his nuptials and I remember how nice it was. 

He is the best friend I ever had and hope to have for a very long time.

I will write about that wedding next time. This time I just want to wish them a long and happy life and congratulate them on this fantastic accomplishment. 

 

Monday

Today is Monday, the first day of a new week. What an excitement! What new challenges are waiting for me?

I forgot. The short answer is: none. I have trouble separating the days. One day is just like the other, and one week is just like the other. I am really not into asking what day it is today. When we parked our car on the street we had to keep watching the calendar because in New York they clean the streets and on those days cars need to be moved.

Since New York is wall to wall cars, don't ask where to move them. One day a week in our neighborhood cars have to be moved otherwise they give out hefty tickets. Magically, on those days everybody is able to find alternate locations. In Manhattan there are two days a week cleaning on each side of the street. I live in a "clean" suburb, thus the once a week moving.

Anyway, when our car was on the street we had to know what day of the week it was in order to avoid any penalties. Now, no more. We have a parking spot within the building property so, who cares abou the days.

I like when I don't have to think.

Lazy

The easiest thing in the world is to be lazy. With me, it comes without any effort. Since I retired, to do nothing is my second nature. This doesn't mean that I sit around doing nothing, but if I must I willt.

My wife makes sure that sitting around does not happen too often. If she sees me just to sit and contemplate my navel, she immediately finds a chore for me to do. So, my navel and I don't get together too often.

This is what happened over this weekend. My habit is to do some writing in the mornings and, that was my plan for Saturday. But by the time I got down to it I was occupied otherwise and the chance to write never showed itself. Sunday, was my day off from work.

The chores she finds for me are sometimes very tedious, sometimes are interesting that I don't mind. We go shopping, I help with cleaning (that is my exercise), busy with Abigail or with Robin. So, there is never a dull moment in this house. The advantage of it is that I am always busy and active (even if only mentally).

The other day I went to my dentist for my annual checkup. after a year and a half. He told me that for and old fart (not necessary in these words) my teeth are in pretty good shape. One necessary filling and that is all I need. I wish the rest of my body would be in such a good shape.

Robin, again

Robin gets a beauty treatment once a month. That includes shampoo, drying, haircut, nails, teeth cleaning and some other goodie. I wish I had that so good. These sessions take about two and a half hours or longer. We usually do some incidental shopping during that time. But because of the length of these appointments my days are usually done. It leaves no time for my usual daily activities.

Because today is Robin day this is all I have time left to do. 

Glasses

My Mother (may God rest her soul) was in constant panic about her glasses. She always had two pairs. One for reading even though her father, my grandfather had bifocals ever since I remember. My Mpom had the tendency to put one down and then go around the apartment crying because was not able to find them. "Oh my God, where are my glasses, I can not find them!" was a daily thing in our house.

When she visited us here in the US that trend followed Her. So, me the loving son bought Her those clip on things that help to hang the glasses around one's neck eliminating the constant search. Dis She ever used them? No, that would have been too easy. When She passed away, and I cleaned out Her apartment I found them in their original packages.

But now, years later I go through the same thing. I wear glasses for reading only and since they are not on me all the time I am looking for them all the time. I guess this is a not so favorite pastime of the eyeglass wearing public. I know that now they are wearing gadgets that electronically locate these glasses but I am not educated enough in today's gadget world.

But it is amazing that in an apartment how easy it is to misplace something. 

Abigail

Abigail is a social butterfly. Now that the summer portion of her college courses are over she jumped with both feet into the social scene. I don't think I blame her, maybe a little envy her. I probably did the same thing at that age. I have friends wo can vouch for it (if they remember).

Last Friday and Saturday with her current boyfriend. Sunday (graciously) with the family, Monday to Six Flags with the boyfriend. She is leading a charmed life.

Next Saturday she is invited to her best friend's birthday party. This seems to be a big thing. Interestingly, the friend insisted that all the invitees have current Covid tests so, Abigail must get a rapid test done before the party. It is interesting that the girls is insisting all her guests to have that test done. I wonder if she would not allow somebody in, if that person had no test done?

As they say one can never be too careful.

Me

It is amazing how fast a day can go by. The hours just fly away and before I realize it the day is almost over and it turns out I didn't do anything useful. I usually wake up around 9 in the morning, sometimes 8 and start the day.

My darling wife goes off to work, Abigail is fast asleep until 11, so I am all by myself. I am in my robe sitting front of the TV watching the news or sitting by the computer waiting for some interesting subject to write about. Either way I am sitting in my robe, and the hands on clock are moving ahead.

Before I notice it, it is noon and I am still in my robe. Half a day is gone by and not much useful stuff was done. Actually, I think I had a very useful time but it is my warped opinion of myself. My wife looks at it differently (they always do).

But then, at this age what else can I do? There are things to do around the house that I hate to do, but I must. And, I always thought it fair to help her in any which way I can, which I do even if I don't like it.

I try to be a good husband.

Sunday

 I created for six days, and on the seventh I rest.

Olympics, the end

I am very sad to see the Olympic games over. Sunday is the last day, the day of the closing ceremonies. and it is over. At least for a year, because next year is the winter Olympics. With this one year sliding the games the wait will not be that long. Instead the four year wait it will be only three this time.

I will miss it because it was very refreshing watching something original, interesting and mostly without politics. There were sports that I found boring, there were some I found interesting and refreshing.

The other day I was watching the men's 50km walk. It was held in Sapporo. What a nice city. The race took over three hours and I found it very interesting. Handball is fast and good to watch. So is waterpolo. Mountain climbing's speed portion showed wat a human is capable of. Those people went up on a vertical wall like spiders. 6-7 seconds and they were on the top. Unbelievable.

There was a little too much basketball and volleyball for my liking and conversely not enough rowing. But since NBC had at least six channels that showed the Games I was always able to find something interesting to watch.

Anyway, time moves on and another interesting and refreshing item is over.

Scandal

The media is not happy if they can not put their teeth in some kind of scandal. May that be political, entertainment, sport or business individuals involved they show no mercy. They foam at the mouth for the urge of reporting these things.

Claiming that the public has the right to know, they report even if it is maybe half truth or no truth. Half the time the public has absolutely no interest in these things but the media is stuffing it down their throats.

This happened with the most recent supreme court justice selection, happened throughout Trump's presidency and now they have Governor Cuomo to chew on. Cuomo is accused of sexual harassment. Suddenly young women are coming out of the woodwork claiming they were harassed, This makes me sick.

Where were these women until now? If it was so terrible why did they wait until now to report it? How come that when something like this happens women are suddenly coming from every direction but not one ever reported it when it happened? Maybe the political enemies are digging out these people, and encourage them to testify.

Maybe if those young women would have dressed less provocatively and showed less décolletage they might have been taken more seriously. But there is an old saying: it is easier to run with one's skirt up than with one's pants down. If these people resented the so called sexual harassment why they just did not walk away, if it was so terrible why they did not quit their jobs?

Maybe because they liked the attention from the governor, one of the most powerful man in the state. Now, they are all getting their 15 minutes of fame, and tomorrow nobody will ever remember them.  

 

Doctors

I have a dermatologist that I have been going to for years, now. I used to call his office to get an appointment and usually they asked how soon can I be there. Two days ago I called and was told nothing was available until August 31. But, he had an PA (physicians' assistant) working who can take me almost immediately. This doctor only works two days a week.

I have a dentist that I have been going for years. I called his office the other day to get an appointment and was told he only works three days a week. But I got one for Saturday.

It is a common knowledge that doctors make an above average living. Ok, they work hard, they studied hard and they are the final authority in life and death issues. I don't begrudge them. But it seems that because the pandemic they are reducing their hours, their involvement to help the sick. I know that it cost a lot of money to run a private practice, staff, insurance expenses. But to reduce their hours by about 50% or more and still be able to exist looks to me a little curious.

It looks like this is the trend, at least in New York. I don't know how doctors work in other cities, but if a doctor is afraid to see patients in these hard times we are in trouble. I only noticed this trend in private practice. Hospitals, clinics seem to operate the normal way. They probably have better precautionary methods than a private office. 

Still, what about the patients who can not get to see their doctors when it is necessary? 

Fate

Just a little afterthought to the other day's driving subject. For a couple of years my wife doesn't let me drive. I can understand her views about this. She does not feel safe with me at the wheel. Maybe I don't feel safe with me behind the wheel either. I can understand her point about this.

I just wonder, if she worries about our safety or that I might damage the car. I don't ask because I don't want to hear the answer.

But, I do miss driving. As a former driver I make a fantastic (my opinion) kibitzer. Sitting in the passenger seat is not my favorite place. When we go out with Abigail, I let her sit up front, this way I can easily snooze in the backseat.

New York State does not think I am too old to drive because I just received my new driver's license which is good for about ten more years. But, my wife thinks she know more than the state.

Driving is not the only think I come to miss, but like a good trooper I accept my fate. In my mind I look at things and can not understand why I am not able to do them. The thing is, that my mind is eager but my body is lacking the ability. But one thing I am very good at, seating on the sofa. I can outsit any smartass teenager.

Being Well

It doesn't matter how old you are, how smart you are, how much (life) experience you have when dealing with a teenager. In an instant they go to the internet and make a fool of you with their responses. Bottom line is: we don't know anything.

Why am I writing this? Abigail developed a bad cold. She was warned by her mom but she didn't listen and now she has a cold. At the onset she was thinking that may it is the Covid virus and not a cold. She does what every doctor hates, diagnoses herself. Yesterday she took the test and fortunately it came back negative. No virus!

Before getting the result, she was scared and compliant to follow her mom's instruction. Now that we all know the result, she is suddenly feeling well, reborn, not following her mom's instructions to get better. Her favorite (hair raising) statement is that "I don't feel that bad". I always ask, compared to what? She is saying this so she can get permission so she can go out, to be with her friends. 

These kids think they are indestructible, and we the old people don't know anything. But when that eternal doodoo hits the fan, whom they run to?

Good, old mom!

Driving

I find it very interesting the driving habits of people around here, in New York. I say here, because I found that driving habits are varying in different areas.

In New York people drive like maniacs. They don't pay attention to pedestrians or other drivers. Hit and fruns are happening too frequently. That is when a person is hit by a car and left on the scene dead or alive with the driver fleeing. Fortunately, they are eventually caught by the police.

Basic highway rule is that slow drivers to the right, passing on the left. Now, little old ladies, on the way to church stay on the left and drive 10 miles below the speed limit. Little old men do the same thing. They wouldn't change lane even if their life depends on it. This is very annoying.

The other side of the coin is that you drive about 10 miles over the speed limit and there are always some who push you off the road at the speed of sound. My 10 miles over is not good enough for him. The greatest satisfaction is when a few miles down the road he is on the shoulder with a flashing police car standing behind him. That makes my day.

When there is line squeezing because of construction, there are always some smart asses who know the trick how to get ahead without staying in the long line. Well, I know the trick too. Stay in the line that eventually disappear until the very end. This way you avoid letting other cars cutting i before you.

I taught this trick to my wife, and now she drives like a man.

 

Now

A person lives for 80+ years. Accumulates a lifetime of experience and knowledge and towards the end of the road wants to rest on his laurels. Because he had seen a lot, did a lot he thinks actually he is convinced that he knows everything.                                                                                                                              Actually, my belief is that I know everything and what I don't know is not that important.                    Now, as a know it all I have comments about most things that happen around me and around the world. As a senior citizen I am entitled to my opinion and I can advise people with stuff based on my experiences.

That is all well and good until...   Until a teenager comes along, and explains it to you that you do not know anything. You are old, things were different in the prehistoric days you came from, and the internet says it differently. For these teenagers there is one holy bible and that is the internet.

Why bother to remember stuff when it all can be found on line. When my wife and I tried to explain the multitude of things we had to memorialize in school we were told that was then this is now.

I don't remember how many poems we had to learn and know it by heart. Ok, I don't remember any of them now but I am sure I became such a good person because I memorized those poems! These kids don't even know what a poem is. Sad! If any of these kids would find themselves on a deserted island with no internet they would be totally helpless.

Our years of knowledge and experience means nothing. Our advice and wisdom have no value. There is only now and now.

                                                                                                                           

Sunday

 I am taking the day off!