Sunday

 Never on Sunday

Snow

Today is Saturday, January 29, 2022. The first " monster storm" of the season arrived, as predicted by the weather people. This morning we woke up to about 30" of snow covering everything and still snowing. My wife took Robin out for his health walk, and he needed to be carefully watched. That dog is so small that he can easily disappear in a 30 inch deep snow pile.

It is a good thing that he hates snow and as soon as he paints the nice white snow yellow he turns around and heads home. The temperature is about 17 degrees Fahrenheit, so the snow is staying for now. Nothing is moving outside excepts the snowplows are going back and forth. Our cars are covered with tarpaulin, and we have no reason to go anywhere.

Besides, today is Sabbath and most of the stores in this neighborhood are closed. Yesterday we stopped in a supermarket and saw people shopping like the end of the world was coming. It is unbelievable that every time something like this happens people shop like this was their last chance in this world.

I was watching news shows this morning and the weather forecasters were practically dancing on cameras from happiness that this time they were right and what they forecasted actually did come true. I never had such an easy job!

Here is the snow outside of our door.

Olympic Games

In 1896 Pierre Coubertin revived the ancient Olympic Games. His dream was to have the yout of the world meet in healthy competition. These games went ahead for a long time keeping the amateur spirit alive, meaning that professionals were not permitted to take part.

Well, this line of thinking is now out the window. If one is not a professional, there is no way to stay in shape and make a living at the same time. Sadly, the Olympic Games are now in the hands of the politicians. Their thinking and behavior is controlling these games. 

To protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Now what did they achieve by it other than screw up the lives of all the American athletes who were training for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Now, the politicians are getting their noses sticking into the Olympic thing. The Winter Games are starting in China on February 3 and to protest certain anti humanitarian things by China, the US decided not to send a government level representation to the Games. Good, at least they will be no freeloaders there from my tax money.

But some politicians are calling for the total boycott, and I just hate that. These people have nothing to lose. The only losers would be the poor athletes who gave up a lot to be in form and be able to compete. But nobody is thinking about them, and that is a shame. I still don't understand what would they achieve if the US decides not to attend?

Jeopardy

I am a huge Jeopardy fan. Have been watching for more years that I really care to count, not all 38 years but a lot. I remember when Alex Trebek was not yet gray, so it was a long time ago.

I always believed that this show was as straight as an arrow. Questions asked then answered by the fastest button pusher and the contestant with the most money eventually won. The only thing I thought they might be able to manipulate was who pushed the button the fastest. But this was just my thinking.

This Wednesday was the end of Amy Schneider's run of 40 episodes. More than two seasons of any tv show. She won a total of $1,382,800. Not bad for an engineering manager!                                                  This woman was unbelievable. Any subject, any question she knew the answer. She must possess an enormous wealth of knowledge.

I liked her, I liked her attitude. No showoff, kind of shy. Seemed like nice person. But this Wednesday she met her match. I did read some negative comments about her long tenure on this show, and I fervently believe that her loss was not an accident, not lack of knowledge. I fully believe that she was asked to throw in the towel. She had to be, since the final question was so simple that even I knew the answer. How come she did not?

Ken Jennings, the current host is the reigning champion with 70 or 74 appearances. He eventually lost to a woman who lost right after beating Jennings. Don't tell me that Amy Schneider's loss was just a fluke or being burnt out. I don't believe it. They are managing the show from behind, that is obvious.

Cars

There supposed to be a new car shortage in this country. Well, I am not questioning this, but I am not a 100% accepting it either. Late last year, when we went to Florida we drove. Down south and then back to the north. I-95 is a major north-south interstate highway running from Maine's Canadian border to Miami Florida. As such it has considerable commercial traffic.

I noticed on our trip that there were numerous car carriers on this road. Looking at them closer I did see that many were new cars, obviously destined to dealerships. I do now that many people have their cars transported to Florida, rather than driving them themselves they could be distinguished from the new ones.

So here is my question, is the automobile shortage real or is it the result of some business/political manipulation? Like the microchip shortage. Cars are the "backbone" of this country. Without cars life will stop. People who live outside of metropolitan areas depend on their cars because they are the lifeline. Fuel shortages can be tolerated to a certain point, but new car shortage can not.

How can a functioning government permit such a thing? A few weeks ago, I was talking to my dealer, and he said the dealership had only 27 cars on their yard and 14 of those the type nobody wants. This was unbelievable. They were taking names for a possible March delivery but even that was not guaranteed.

Now, how come new cars were heading south and there is nothing available here in the North?

Bear arms

We are living in a very weird world. In 1788 the US Constitution was ratified by nine states and became the supreme law of the land. In 1791 the 2nd Amendment was accepted and became part of the Constitution. And what did this 2nd Amendment say amongst other things? It said that the people have the right to bear arms.

Back in those years people loving live within big cities or outside of cities were equally exposed to violence. There were the natives, the settlers and the strong took from the weak. So, it was the accepted norm that the people had arms to protect themselves.

But now it is not 1791. What civilized European country permits its residents to bear arms? And we claim to be civilized! weapons create lawlessness and lawlessness needs weapons. Eastern Europe, Western Europe. As far as I know there is no country where bearing of arms is an accepted norm.

Arms are becoming a political issue in this country. Any politician who is against arms is a dead duck as far as his political career is concerned. NRA and other extreme organization carry enough weight that no politician dare to come up against them.

The explanation that weapons don't kill, people do is so stupid that it does not even merit an explanation. There are states in this country where people can walk around in cities with a revolver strapped on, and that is legal. It is idiotic!

They are up in arms to repeal Roe vs Wade, the law that permits abortion. How come no politician suggested to repeal the 2nd Amendment? This is 2022 and not 1791. There is law enforcement everywhere in this country that supposed to protect the people of this country. We are not relying on ourselves for protection.

In New York it is not legal to own a weapon, yet every criminal has owns one. Where do they get them from? This past weekend two policemen were shot and killed by a criminal. In Texas a policeman was shot and killed on the street. Crime is everywhere and nobody is doing anything about it. Very sad, and scary!

The virus , again

I hate when stars or lesser personalities are so afraid of this virus thing that they are literarily shaking in their boots. They talk big, they show photos of their activities but when it comes to showing themselves to the real world they chicken out.                                                                                                                        Case in point the singer Adele. She is so scared of her life that just a day before starting her concerts in Las Vegas, she postponed them. No real reason just postponed them.

In one of my local new stations, it happens to be CBS the two news persons used to sit next to each other, now they are about six feet apart. If they come into the studio and are willing to work, what are they afraid of? Because if they are, why they don't just stay home?

There is a kind of talk show every morning on my ABC station called Kelly and Ryan (that's Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest). Up to a couple of weeks ago they performed front of a studio audience. Now, they are doing their show from their respective homes. I guess they are really scared!

There are reporters and reportees(?) who just don't want to leave their homes and work from home. I don't understand these double standards. TV is full of talk show programs and the majority are being done front of a live audience. How come some of the stars are such scary cats that don't dare to come out of their homes? And why are they allowed to do this?

Such behavior is not showing too much confidence about the soup we are in right now. I am not saying they should be guinea pigs, but they should show the public about a kind of normal life since many other tv people do that. 

Sunday, again

 Today happens to be Sunday, and I rest!

The Booster

My wife and Abigail yesterday received their booster shots. Congrats! This was done under pressure and because we thought it is any good. Abigail university required the booster shot from all returning students after the winter break. Meaning, no shot, no school. My wife took it out of solidarity. I decided not to take it until it will be absolutely necessary.

Right now, they both feel a little uncomfortable. Their arms hurt and my wife feels a little tired and her back hurts. I hope these symptoms will go away soon, because I hate to see them uncomfortable. Nobody knows what these boosters will do or not do. I find that disturbing that even though they warn people of possible unpleasant aftereffects, yet they offer no advice when those become too uncomfortable. 

It seems more and more establishments require it now. For example, the Metropolitan Opera now requires all staff, performers and audience to have the proof of the booster shot. I guess I will just skip Traviata this time.

I know that this virus is a big thing, but I am sick and tired of hearing nothing else on the news but the covid thing. Mask or no mask, booster or no booster. This what the arguments are centered on, and nobody has a credible answer. And that is the saddest thing. We don't know who to believe.

Bottom line, we don't believe anybody. Not the president, not the politicians and not even the doctors.

Softie

I realized that the older I get, the softer I became. Now when we watch certain real soft movies together it is not rare that I shed tears. I have never ever done this. Either there is a lot of dust in our living room or I am just a softie.

In a past few days, I watched My Fair Lady on Netflix. I watched it alone and in installments. I have to tell you honestly that even though I saw this movie a million times this time I did shed tears at the beauty of it. My wife and I watched a romantic movie last night and again I shed tears at the ending. 

This is terrible what is happening to me! Are all old(er) people feel this way or this is just me? Are we becoming wussies? Because if we are, I don't want to be old anymore!

My wife loves horses. When she was a young girl, she used to have a horse that she rode. Now we are just watching horse related movies that are usually are romantic in subject. They are pretty interesting because they invariably show some exceptional horsemanship.  

But at the end I always ask about the dust in our living room!

65

Today is January 20, 2022, 65 years from January 20, 1957. Why is that important, at least for me and my closest friend? Because on that day our lives dramatically changed. That was the day when in the early morning hours, we got on a train heading to the south of Hungary, towards the southern border of the country. 

That was the day when we took our first step toward a new life that fortunately turned out to be not so bad. There were the five of us. My friend, my girlfriend and another couple. It was winter, and there was snow everywhere. The train took us as close to the border as it was possible, leaving us to find our own way. We did! We walked through deep snow, not knowing which direction to walk to but eventually we were lucky and found our way on the other side of the border.

That morning I was kissing my parents goodbye in Hungary, late night I was in a different country not knowing what the future was holding for me. We were 20 years old, had no clue about the outside world, we just knew that for us young people it was ok to leave. My parents were heartbroken about my leaving, but they agreed that there must be a better life waiting for me away from home.  

Interestingly, we had no idea where we wanted to go. We had no real knowledge of any western country except false propaganda and that made choosing a normal country pretty difficult. One thing we all agreed on, staying in Europe was not an option. So, we chose Canada. We all found relatives (maybe distant ones) who were willing to sponsor us for getting into Canada, but for some reason this did not work out. Leaving only the US as the remaining choice.

And lo and behold, this country excepted us with open arms. It took nine months living in refugee camps but eventually we found our way into this land of milk and honey. I am not saying it was easy, but I do say that ever since I got here not once did I think about throwing in the towel and return to Hungary. I am glad I am here and as interesting and turbulent as these 65 years were, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Maybe the next 65 will be less interesting and turbulent. We'll see!    

Politicking

It amazes me the bullshit the sanctimonious politicians are trying to feed us, I like to listen to the C-Span broadcasts from the Senate and House of Representatives. Sometimes these are more entertaining than the regular tv programming. But it always surprises me the way opposite sides present their cases. Each side make us believe that they are the saviors of this country and the guardians of the galaxy.

The most used designation in all their speeches and statements is the American people. They all claim to represent the American people, they all claim they know better what the American people want and need. I do believe that their only interest is getting to be reelected. They are so far removed from reality that they have no clue what the American people want or need.

Representatives are elected by a small congressional district. These districts do not represent the people. Neither do they make their elected representatives authorities of national or world events. Yet, they talk as they were the saviors of the country or the world. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House is representing a small district in San Francisco. Yet, she wants to be a president maker or unmaker. These people can barely settle in their seats when they already have to worry about reelection. Two years go by very fast.

Senators get their cushy jobs for six years. They can feel fairly comfortable in their positions. They can into controversies and have enough time to talk their way out of the quagmire they caused.

In my mind there is no real difference between the two parties. They just exist so the minority could oppose the majority and vice versa. The third party, the so called Independent is blatantly democratic, so why bother? The congressional voting process is a carbon copy of the communist system, except that there were just on party, the ruling party. Here also they are strictly following the party line. Anybody who steps out of line is being retaliated against.

The American people are the dumb mob who are being led by their nose to the watering hole. They believe anything their elected representatives feed them. Once in a while they receive some site specific federal assistance and that is enough to assure that office holder's reelection. Dirty politics seems to be the way America is being governed. And, they have the balls to criticize countries where bribery prevails. Why this double standard? Our politicians are not being bribed one way or another?

Covid again and again

It is so obvious that covid is a political malady that even a blind person can see it. The constant fight about mask or no mask is taking ridiculous turns. This country has 49 state governors of either democrats or republicans. Each governor has a different view of the federally mandated mask guidelines. Their views are not governed by scientific facts but by strictly politics.

Some made decisions to disregard Biden's instructions or wishes while some decided to follow them. Neither group has any deep knowledge of what is happening, they just do what they do hoping to get the popular votes when the time is here. Florida governor is feuding with the California governor about their acts related to the covid thing. While the newly elected Virginia governor is issuing his own executive order about not mandating masks in schools.

If all these governors are so frigging smart, why don't they form a scientific group with Fauci and Biden at the lead and figure out how to fight it?

This entire thing makes one think about the seriousness of Covid-19. Is this a serious pandemic or is this a condition created by hysteria? I am not saying that something like this does not exist, but I am questioning it legitimacy. Yes, people got sick, yes people did die. But so also happened from the flu, and that did not create such a panic. Maybe the Black Death did way back then but that was not created by the politicians, that was a legitimate pandemic. 

Clean

I already mentioned a few times that my darling wife is an obsessive cleaner. Occasionally her cleaning enthusiasm reaches such heights that all I can do is smile.

Here is an example: we are busy all day, doing stuff. Get home late in the afternoon, tired. I hope against ho[ppe that maybe today we will forgo cleaning. Little naive, me. We get inside the apartment when the command sounds: cleaning. And not just a little cursory run through, but a total dusting and vacuuming. What can I do? I obey.

The other osession she has is a clean car. She doesn't understand that a dirty car has a certain charm and a macho look. No, the car has to be spic and span. And that makes visits to the carwash a frequent event. She doesn't care about weather forecast. They might be forecasting rain or snow for the afternoon but that has no meaning to her. She will go to the carwash before the bad weather rather than wait until it is over and go after.

This is typical feminine behavior. Men will never do things like this. Let the car get dirtier and dirtier. That way it will have some prestige.

Never on Sunday

Today is Sunday and as the movie title says Never on Sunday! 

Technology

Technology is something that really baffles me. Even when I worked, I was not a techno person. I used the computer because I had to but whenever anything new came up, I had real problems. I was never happy to learn new things. I was glad when I was able to master some older methods and never understood why they needed to be changed or so called upgraded.

Now that I am at home I am totally without outside help, except Abigail who treats me like a total amateur. Even when my Windows is upgraded, In I am lost because it comes with certain changes that are strange to me.

In the late 1960s when I started to work at the engineering company where I stayed forever, I remember the young Chinese design engineers were using the abacus. We used the slide rule, but they claimed their abacus was better and faster (for them). Slowly we changed over to calculators and computers and even to mechanical drafting. Pencil drafting went out of style. All drafters had to learn how to do computerized drafting. Some could not handle it and they fell by the wayside.

Computerized calculations, spread sheets became the norm. And I had to go with the flow to survive. But at least at my workplace there were always some who knew more than the rest of us and they were willing to help out us, the slow ones. But at home I am alone. My wife knows a little more than I do, and Abigail probably knows more than the two of us together but what about when she is not here? I did not ask Robin but probably even he knows more than I do.

I used to know Lotus123. That was a good program for my purposes. I learned it and used it a lot. Then my office introduced Excel. To me that was a disaster. I had to learn things from scratch, and I wasx not happy about it. But I did it. Now at home I have Office. That is neither Lotus nor Excel. A mixture of the two and I have to figure out how the damn thing works. Slowly I prevailed but I was not happy in the duration.

There is an old saying that if it ain't broken don't fix it! It seems to me that they purposely break it so they can fix it.

Motto

It is always sad to lose close friends, acquaintances and people in my age category, but one can say this is the way life is. When we were born, we did not receive a written guarantee about long life. We just stuck our heads out and somebody pulled us out by our feet and here we were.

It is sadder when we hear passings of people who are quite younger, like in their 60s. My wife's best friend was only 62 when she passed away not long ago. Today we heard two more people who were in their 60s and are no longer in this world. This is sad and at the same time frightening. It makes me believe that we, my age group are here on borrowed time. 

I don't want to sound very pessimistic about life but when one is surrounded with sadness and bad news there is not much room and reason for optimism. My Father was 62 when he passed away, my childhood best friend was in his 50s. These things happened a long time ago, and back then they did not hit me as they do today.

But I don't care. I don't give in. I want to live as long as I can and as long as Social Security will let me. Us, oldtimers probably used up our entitlements a long time ago. But I don't care. I worked long and hard, paid all my taxes, let the new generation support me. That is my motto.   

Covid again

Just to go back to the Covid thing. No matter what time of the day I turn on a news station on TV or on the radio I always hear covid, covid, covid. It seems nothing happens in this country but the Covid-19, the vaccines and the booster shots. Newscasters talk about nothing else but the virus, the vaccines and newer and newer strains. This entire thing is a news bonanza for them.

If they can not find anything interesting, like a juicy murder they just turn to the virus. As far as the news people that is a godsend. It will fill out any space in a slow news day. The flip side of this is that I realized that they have absolutely no clue about this virus. They are interviewing all kinds of experts from all over the country who are just quoting statistics, but not a singular one came up with an acceptable solution.

The media is brainwashing the public. They are achieving what they are instructed to achieve. Let the population believe that there is a pandemic, and it is decimating the population. With that information in hand, people will not walk but run to the nearest vaccination station to receive the popularly believed antidote.

Pfizer and the others made out like bandits. Governments of the world are ordering vaccines in the trillions and that is all revenue and very heavy profit for these pharmaceutical companies. All the vaccines are free for the population, but at the end somebody have to pay for it. Pfizer et al. are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They are making the vaccine and booster shots to make money. 

And money is the root of all evil!

Booster

We are debating if we should get the booster shot or not. If it weren't for Abigail's school requirement my wife and I probably wouldn't have gotten the virus vaccine at all. But she had to get it and then we decided that as might as well we should also get it. So, we did.

Now, she is in winter recess, but the school announced it that upon return to the Spring session at the end of January, evidence of the booster shot will be required. So now la Famiglia is getting ready for the next move. The final decision is that Abigail and my wife will get the booster shots. I will wait. I wait for the Second Coming. I don't know what I am waiting for.

I spoke to a few of my friends, same age as I am, and each experienced considerable discomfort after the booster shot. Well, this what I don't want. I do not want any discomfort. Not at this age for sure. I will wait to see how my family deals with this, and I will make my decision then. 

First, I am not totally convinced that there is a virus and not some form of chemical interference with the population. Second, I am not totally convinced that the vaccines we all received have any positive effect against tis so called virus. Thirdly, I am not totally convinced that this so called booster shot is not a supplemental injection to achieve the results the powers hope to reach.

There are a lot of people inhabiting this Earth. There are great number of older people inhabiting this Earth. If this goes on too long not there will not only be no room for parking cars, but there will also be no room left to be anywhere. There will be wall to wall people everywhere. There will be no room to grow crops and there will be not enough food to feed the population.

And that is not tolerable. Something needs to be weeded out, and that is people. This huge number of people will become unnecessary for survival. I don't want to speed up my eventual demise, I will just wait with my booster shot.   

Cold

Today is Tuesday, and this morning we woke up to brrrr low temperatures. At 8am it was 16 degrees Fahrenheit (abt. -9 degrees C).  This the coldest we had so far this winter. I am sure it eventually will get colder but right now this is the news. The weather people just love to present record regardless if that is heat, drought or cold. Just let it be a record.

Fortunately, the apartment building is a warm building, meaning we have ample heat.  Actually, sometimes it gets so hot we have to open the windows to cool off a little. Not complaining. I always say that it is easier to cool off the apartment in the winter than heat it up. Besides heating costs nothing, it is part of our rent.

Last week's snow is gone, thanks to a short melting period, but ice patches are still remaining here and there. This is the start of the winter season. I am curious to see what kind of winter we will have. Weather ofrecasting is a crap shoot. They are either right or not. I always say this is one of the few gut based jobs where one is either right or wrong. And, without any consequences.

WWII was held up because the weather people could not agree on the weather over the English Channel to begin the Allied landing in Europe. What kind of a nonsense that was? Weather people put everybody on snow alert because they think a major snowstorm is coming, but on the end, nothing materializes except it cost a fortune to the City and the Sanitation workers make extra money for being on alert. 

If I could have worked on my jobs this way, maybe like this or maybe like that, it would have made my life a lot easier. But in serious businesses that kind of judgement calls don't fly. Can we imagine a doctor treating a patient such a way? Maybe you have a cold or maybe you have pneumonia or lung cancer. Could be either one.   

When I grow up, I want to be a weatherman!

The Joys of 85

To be 85 years old is (to me) a big deal. I'm sure any 90 or 95 year old I ask would say it is no big deal, but to me it is. For one, I think from my family I am the only one reaching this age. My Father died at age 62, my Mom at 73 and my Grandparents in their 70s. At least this is what I remember. But what do I know? I am a senile 85 year old man.

85 is a good, respectable number. This is the age when some of us are leaving middle age and entering upper middle age! A lot of my friends are of the same vintage as I am, and most of them function pretty well. Some of them still work, some of them have good hobbies, some of them just do absolutely nothing. I, belong to this last category. I do nothing. I worked long enough before retirement, and I figured if I don't have to work, why bother.

I spend my time with my family, and my lovely wife makes it sure I don't lack for free time. I have some former colleagues of the same age as I am or a little older who still keep working. Their minds are clear, they like what they are doing, and their consciences are clear about collecting their Social Security without contributing to it. I have no problem with this. I worked long enough, contributed enough now it is my turn to collect.

Now, what are the joys of being 85? I thought about it long and hard, and really could not find anything that would fit into the plus category. But the negative column is pretty long. Without depressing anybody I will list a few of my observations. But before that here is a short note. 85 is just a number. I f one stands on his head 85 will become 58! Now, that is a good number. On to the negatives.

Our minds might not be old, but our bodies are. I look at activities and say to myself that I can do this. My mind can, but my body will not be able to. This is what is hard to accept. But we do because we have no choice. Healthwise we are a testing ground for medicine. Unknown maladies, undetermined pains and mysterious symptoms are raising their heads forcing doctors to scratch their heads in disbelief.

I found that my mobility is a little restrained. I have no problem bending down, but I do have a problem straightening back up. Maybe I will just stay bent down! Memory is another issue. I believe I have a clear mind, but I do know that some people at this age already have serious memory problems. This is scary. Is this thing lurking in the shadows? Not remembering certain things in one's life is not always a curse. Many, many bad things happened to a lot of us and not remembering some of them is no great loss. There are enough bad memories remain.

I find it frightening that most of time a known person dies that person is between 80 and 95. Being 85 does not give the secure feeling for a long and prosperous future. Actually, the current oldest person in the world is a 119 year old Japanese woman. My ideal!

You might have noticed that I omitted sex. I don't remember what that is!

Sunday

 It is Sunday and that should be self-explanatory. Also today is my 85th! So, I rest.

Carwash

My wife is a typical "girl car owner". That means the car has to be spic and span clean and always, or at least as much as possible protected from the elements. It is totally useless to tell her that too many car washes are not beneficial to a car's surface. This would be a total waste of time.

Oil changes are to be made at exactly at 3,000-mile intervals, regardless of what the owner handbook says. We bought tarpaulin to cover the cars in case of snow. So, the other day when snow was forecasted one car immediately was covered. I really don't know what this does but hey, I am just a pretty face!

When the car is taken to a wash, she is giving very particular instructions to the staff on what is needed to be done. Oh, she also always asks for all kinds of vaxes to be applied. When I had my own cars in the past, I did take them to be w1ashed but never ever asked for vax. And they did survive many happy years. So, I don't know what the was vax is doing, except costs more money.

In our area there are carwashes that give you frequent wash cards. After ten visits they give one for free. Also, most carwashes do provide oil changes that most of the time cost less than what the dealers charge. These also include in the frequent programs, oh after an oil change one can get a free wash. A good wash cost at least $20, plus tips. Any given time there are at least three or four people working on the car. They prepare it, vacuum the inside, then it goes thru the various machines where the different waxes are added and at the end about four men hand dry the car inside and out. 

They work fast because this is a conveyor belt type operation where cars are coming out of the wash nonstop, and they have to be cleaned and dried pretty quickly. We like this one particular place. Service is good and fast. I personally don't mind a real dirty car. To me that car has a certain charm, but my wife looks at it differently. Yea, what do women know?  

Snow

The weather people must be very satisfied with themselves. They forecasted snow from Thursday night into Friday. And boy, they were lucky. We did get a lot of snow. For Friday the City was buried under some serious snow blanket. It did look good at the start of the day but then it started to melt and became slushy. Melting and freezing slush are not a good combination, but we have no choice. This is winter.

There is a very interesting situation that prevails when it snows. People, mainly ones living in the outer suburbs scare very easily and do not go to work. They use every excuse, like trains are not running, the roads are not passable, their driveways are snowed in etc. to stay home. And most of the time these excuses work. If this day happen to fall on a Friday, I bet half the workforce stays home. I am saying this from experience. This was the way it happened in my office. 

Now interestingly, as the day goes by these people find ways to come up for air, to go out. Their streets get cleaned, the driveways get dug out and life will go on like nothing happened. They will go out to the stores and do shopping.

Curiously they will get upset and angry if they find their stores closed, or merchandise lacking due to the weather. They will not accept that other people whose purpose in life is to "serve" them might also have the same traveling difficulties as they do. Don't do as I do. Do as I expect you to do. Is their slogan.

I can not go to the train station in my Mercedes, but I expect the supermarket clerk to get to the store on his bicycle. This is their thinking. Nice, ha?

A little background. At one time I worked as a construction manager at a construction site in upstate New York. Wasn't too far from home, I used to drive there every day. I think it was in 1981 or '82. One winter we had some real heavy snow. I did get a company car to drive to and from work which I parked on the street at home. In one winter, there was a very heavy snow crippling the streets. My street was totally blocked by the deep snow making me unable to use the company car. So, I stayed home for about two days.

But my car was kept in the building garage and that garage opened to a main road that was cleaned pretty early. Next day that I was home I decided to go to skiing, which I did without any problems. When I told them at the office, they questioned that how come I could go skiing but was not able to come to work. I explained that my car was in the garage and the company car was in the blocked street. Lame explanation but they bought it.

Jan 6

Today is January 6, 2021. This is the one-year anniversary of the Washington demonstration when some elements attacked the Capitol. It was a major thing to watch and to see the results of such an action. First and foremost, it was wrong that things deteriorated to such event. To demonstrate, to show unhappiness with things is a right of every American. To become violent about it is not. But then every demonstration has participants who are professional troublemakers, who seek to create chaos and confusion.

I am sure that no matter what people demonstrating about, one can find the same individuals present just for the sake of creating chaos.

But this event had a different outcome. First, the demonstrators achieved nothing. Second, they behaved like an unruly mob, attacking police, breaking and entering and vandalizing things. They posed for stupid photographs and behaved childishly.

Now, the politicians got into the picture. First, they were running scared for their lives. They were afraid getting caught by this mob. Actually, only the democratic politicians were scared. Nancy and her pals. They were afraid that they might get the same treatment Marie Antoinette got from the people of France when she said if there was no bread then let them eat cake.

Now, the democratic establishment is up in arms trying to put the blame on Trump and conducting a witch-hunt against the demonstrators. A tv commentator noted today that very interestingly when a few years ago a democratic sympathizer shot a republican lawmaker on a playground there was no such an outcry as there is one now. Is this democracy or autocracy? 

Biden made a lame speech today about the January 6 events. He wanted to sound strong and determined but instead he sounded week and confusing. He said this was not the American way to act. What is? Cheating at the polls, bringing a crooked family into power? Is that the American way?

The world is no longer taking America seriously. They are laughing at us. The Us is losing its allies and its influences. Nobody believes its promises. The Ugly American is raising its head again. 

Trip 3

It doesn't cost any money to be friendly. That is a fact. I can not understand why some people are unfriendly, and continuously grouchy. I am not talking about myself! I am talking about people we came across while we were in Florida.

Maids, who clean our rooms and really only see the dirty and disgusting side of the visitors are going out of their ways to be helpful and friendly. I know that is the basics of the hospitality industry, but when you are the maid, day in and day out you are just the maid. I have a favorite motto: if you are not the lead dog, the view never changes!

I had the chance to talk or ask people around the resort and found each and every one to be friendly, including the visitors. Try that in New York. Unfriendly and curt. They would rather push you under the subway than give you the time of day. I have the tendency to talk to people in the elevators or in the parking lots and I never came across anybody with an unfriendly attitude. Maybe the weather contributes to this. Constant sunshine, bright and pleasant days make pleasant people.

So, our vacation lasted a few, action filled days, then it was time for the marathon trip home. I can not say it was a breeze. We left around 11 am and drove relentlessly until we got home which was around 3 am next day. In many places we hit unexplainable traffic that reduced our progress to stop and go but we prevailed and made it home ok.

In my personal opinion this is not a pleasant trip. It is long and tiring. My wife is used to it because she made this trip more times than I but it is still long. I used to drive to the south, Florida or Georgia but we always stopped for the night. Actually, for Florida we used to stop for two nights. But with Robin with us, stopping at a motel is not that easy. And since Robin is an essential part of the family, leaving him home is not an option.

Still, now that we are back in dreary New York we are ok, I am ok, and the trip is now a memory (until the next time).

Trip 2

While we werde in the tropics, we had the opportunity to visit a very good, dear friend and his wife. It was very good to see them. They live in Florida, not exactly in the area we frequently visit. I know him from almost the day I left Hungary, and fortunately we never lost contact. He is a very good friend, and I am sorry we don't live closer to each other.

Interestingly, he lived most of his life here in the Northeast but moved to Florida some years ago. Growing up and living in this northern climate he had to get used to the no winter seasons. I guess man can get used to anything as long as they have to. But now, he is a real Floridian with the permanent tan. He has a nice sailboat, a beautiful house, loving wife. In short, he is living the life of Riley.

My only regret is that he is there and I'm in cold and dreary New York. But it was very good to see them!

After the visit, on the way back to our place of stay, we drove through some back roads and were able to see beautiful countrysides with cows in the fields. Miles and miles, acres after acres of country. The road was almost empty with no traffic at all. I never imagined such environment in Florida. But I guess they have to grow things somewhere.

Here is an observation. We drove about 3,300 miles and with the exception of an overturned 18-wheeler we saw no traffic accidents at all in spite of the general 75 miles per hour speed limits. Here in New York, as soon as we got on our nearby parkway there was a car that smashed against the sidewall while another car was stuck on the middle divider. I guess they were racing and lost control. Idiots! __________________________________________________________________________________

Speaking of luck. Yesreday, Tuesday there was a very bad snowstorm south of New York City. Here they were in total panic about it, but nothing happened, just cold. But down in Virginia it was terrible. I saw on the news that I-95 road vas shut down for about 50 miles between Richmond and Washington with cars and truck stuck on the road. 

This is the same road we came up on. And I complained about slow moving traffic. How about not moving all night traffic? I do believe somebody was looking out for us by delaying this storm!

Trip 1

To drive to Florida is a phenomenon ride. It took us 18 hours and a lots of gas. We crossed nine states, lots of tolls, and got into a lot of traffic. It took 18 hours because of the traffic. From Virginia to the Georgia state line traffic was moving extremely slowly, sometimes crawling or totally stopping. Such a thing is a phenomenon without reasonable explanation. When traffic eventually started there were no traces of any reasons why the slowdowns occurred. There were no accidents or restricting road constructions.

For us I-95 is the best road to drive on. It has a general speed limit of 70 miles per hour and under normal conditions driving should be easy. But no such luck this time. Because of the slow movements we lost about two hours from our projected arrival time. But we made up this time loss by getting up a little earlier the next day!

My wife, her son and Abigail visited Epcot Center and had a great time. Because Robin came with us, and the resort had a no pet policy he was smuggled in and could not be left home alone, so I stayed home to pet sit. I didn't mind, because I was really not too interested in the Disney parks. They, on the other hand had a great time. The weather was perfect, in the 80s and mom and two of her kids were together.

Abigail made out like a bandit. She also visited Animal Kingdom with her sister who also lives in Florida.

We were in Orlando. The Disney capital in Florida. People, people everywhere. And they say there is no money. The admission to these parks is forbiddingly expensive. For a family of four it is a fortune. Disney is shamelessly expensive! Disney aims their ads to children, using them to bully the parents to take them to these parks. Tickets to a Disney Broadway show in Manhattan start at over $150 each. And for that one sits up, up in the top.

But people are coming in droves. If they are willing to spend, why change?   

2022

It is early January 2022. Good wishes are never late or early or out of sync. They are always appropriate. So, because of this very wise thinking, I wish everybody a Very Happy, Healthy and Lucky New Year!!!!

The problem of taking a hiatus is that one (I, mostly) can get used to have no obligations, not to do anything. Going back to commitments is not as easy as it sounds. The thing is that I am lazy. I love to do nothing. I worked enough in my life and have nothing to do, at this age is not terribly bad. But with the new year there will be issues, new problems and hopefully new resolutions. 

I hope and wish for good health and good luck for all!

Back to my hiatus. I took a few days off because this was my Christmas vacation. Abogail's college is closed until the end of January, a lot of businesses closed for the time between Xmas and New Year, so I figured why not me?

My wife decided that because this time was her son's 30th birthday, we would properly celebrate it. That meant going to Florida and be there for a few days. It was a nice trip. Tiring but nice. Tiring, because we drove from New York to Florida without stopping, except for gas. 18 hours in a car creates more togetherness than one really craves for. This was not the first time we made this trip but each time it is just as hard. Since I don't drive any longer, my poor wife had to do all the driving. Fortunately, she likes long distance trips she performed admirably.

On the way down we left at 5am, we got to our destination around 1am the next daydegrees,. On the way back we left 11am and got home around 3:30am the next day. Long, long trips. Going South we left in 40 degrees Fahrenheit and arrived in 84 degrees, Going home was the reverse, leaving from 84 degrees and getting into 40 degrees. Very interesting. I love palm trees and when I saw the first palm tree, I was very happy. Conversely, I was sad to leave sight of the last one on the way up north.  

I will write about my observations about our recent trip next time.