Air conditioner

I fell for an advertisement. I rarely do but this time I did. As I noted before they ara working on our building and because of that we are unable to have our window air conditioners installed. The outcome of it is that our apartment became almost unbearably hot. We bought two portable vents from Home Depot which did very little except mixed the already hot air.

So the other day I saw an ad about a wonder cooler by the name of Chill Well. According to their ads they are the answer to everybody's prayer for cooler rooms. Humongous ad campaign. No matter where I turned, they were. They also had a 50% sale. Their ads swore on a three-day delivery time. I thought this was too good to be true, so we ordered three units.

The three day delivery time turned into eleven days and their customer service line does nothing but plays classical music. I called them several time and not once was I able to get through. Now that I have their stuff, I am convinced that this is a scam. They talk about good return policy but don't tell you how to return the merchandise. Now that is on and working it or they just don't cool as well as expected. 

My wife got impatient while we were waiting for delivery and ordered three similar units through Amazon. The Amazon stuff we got next day. The Amazon ones are working well (knock on wood!) but no ice cold air anywhere.

I mention the name Chill Well in case somebody is thinking buying from them. Scam, scam, scam! Live and learn!

Illusions

When one lives long enough, he or she sees many things change. Some changes are for the better while so are for the worse. Unfortunately, right or wrong we have to accept all of them. But there is a tghhing that is hard, at least for me to get used to.

In my years I did see a lots of movies, tv shows. I had my favorite actors and actresses, and I got used to what they looked like in those years. Years later, when I did not hear about them, I suddenly had some opportunity to see current pictures of them, in all honesty it scared the pants off me.

At award shows they always pull out some older performer for some self-gratifying presentation. Like at the recent Oscar ceremony they brough Liza Minelli on stage in a wheelchair. The woman could barely speak, she was a sorrowful sight. I used to love Ann Margaret. Now, she is 81 years old and nearly not as beautiful as she used to be. The same goes for Sophia Loren. Now she is 87 years old and... The same goes for many other performers from the old times.

I watch older movies and see these beautiful people and then the bubble bursts. All my illusions are gone when I see what they became. Child boy actors from years ago became bald, paunchy guys, while girls became barely recognizable old women. The trouble is that some of these people can not deal with age. They do not want to accept that they age. Just recently I saw a Sylvester Stallone movie, Rambo, last blood.

There was plenty of violence Rambo style, but Stallone should stay away from front of the camera. He wa never a good looking guy but now he looked terrible. 75 years old and in that movie, he looked at least ten years older. Thankfully this was the last of the Rambo series because he died at the end.

Fortunately, I look good for my age (says me)! 

Begging Republicans

In the 2020 election I voted for Trump. Not because I am a republican, I just voted for him because I liked what he stood for. I am a real independent. I don't vote for a party I vote for the individual. I emphasize that I don't belong to any party. And that means that I would have never voted for commie Bernie, even though he is an independent.

The independents in congress are just like Ukraine being a sovereign country during the soviet times. In the UN they never voted against their rulers just like the independents never vote against theirs, the democrats.

Now why am I writing this?

Ever since I showed my sympathizing with Trump, the Republican Part assumed that I am one of theirs. And as such the mail does not stop. Every day I get a ton of mail where the bottom line is that they ask for contributions. At this time their mails go directly to the shredder because I am fed up with this constant begging. They have more money than God, what do they need my hard-earned dollars for? I wonder if the democrats do the same thing?

Sunday

 Sunday!

Chimney cake

My wife loves chimney cake. In Hungarian it is called kurtos kalacs. This something that can be found in Hungary and in nsome neighboring countries. When a few years ago we went to Hungary, we sopped for a few days in Prague. In the center if the city this delicacy was very available and naturally my wife had a great time.

Here in New York, it is very difficult to find. This is a cake and making it is not very difficult except the special equipment needed. Thin dough strips are rolled tight onto a cylindrical surface and that form is then rotated over heat thereby baking the dough. Various stuff is used for filling and also for flavoring the surface. The end product can be very tasty. I never heard of it until my wife introduced it to me and I liked it.

We found an outdoor market where this stuff is being sold and tonight we plan to visit it. Not fat from us in the old World's Fair park there is a weekly international open-air market on Saturday nights and my investigative powers found that at one stand a Romanian baking company sells this cake.

Now we have tonight's program. We are going to chase chimney cake. I'll let you know how it turned out.

Mystery

When I was a young lad back in Europe and also here in the US I was very interested in the French and Italian movies. I was very impressed with scenes where I could see scenes where many people were sitting in cafes and restaurants during the days as the story line went on. In my mind and experience, during the day we were either in schools or at work. I never knew anybody who could sit in a restaurant or cafe during working hours.

My father worked all day from morning 'till around 6 and had no time to sit in such places. When I started to work and later on, I worked from morning 'till evening and couldn't imagine being anywhere else but at work. Those Italian and French light movies always showed crowds of people who were free to do whatever during the day.

When I go to this country and occasionally had time during the day (like when I was unemployed) I noticed that plenty of people were occupying the restaurants and cafes. I always wondered how come that I had to work, and those people did not. And how did they make their living. 

Yesterday I had a 2:30pm doctor's appointment in Manhattan. We drove in early to make sure we get there in time because of traffic. On the way, around 1:30 we drove by a restaurant, the same one we went to last week and I was stunned by the number of people sitting at the tables outside. As I coukld see it was a full house. This is what amazes me. What do people do for a living that they have all this time, in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day to sit around in restaurants?

This particular one is not the type of restaurant where workers just go for a bite to eat on their lunchtime. This was an upscale eatery. The bottom line is that people cry about no money, no work yet, in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day it is very difficult to m ove around because of the people.

Good country America! 

lots of people in restaurants

Comparison

I live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. Russian and Jewish. Because of that on Saturdays the area is dead quiet. Almost all the stores are closed with the exception of a Russian (not orthodox) gourmet store, a Chinese kitchen and a couple of pizza places, and a few smaller stores. There is also a large Chinese restaurant that is kosher and is closed from Friday through Sunday.

The Jewish stores are all kosher or Glatt kosher. Just because something is kosher it costs more than the non-kosher designated item. Why? Because the rabbi is charging more for his time to certify the kosherness of the item? Because many times we don't feel like going to a supermarket further away, we are forced to subsidize the good old rabbi.

Interestingly in more Jewish neighborhoods there are Halal stores, also. Halal is the Muslim version of kosher. They are there and they thrive. Their meats and other food item are just as clean as the kosher ones. The difference is that they are less expensive as the kosher. Maybe the imam doesn't charge as much as the rabbi? Makes one think which place to shop.

In my area there are food trucks on the streets that sell Halal certified food. They are reasonable and very tasty. They sell lamb, beef and chicken items. We all love their lamb on rice and salad. It is filling and don't cost much. I call it street food because that is where they are selling it. They are very popular. The vendors are mostly from some formerly soviet territory, and all Muslims and don't mind the Jewish clientele. And they work seven days a week, so they are very reliable. Actually, this is what we are having for dinner tonight, inshallah.

Summer?

Speaking of Summer. Until now we are having our prayers answered. The weather is crummy, the temperatures are low, rains on and off. Today is the first day of Summer 2022 and the temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. That is not a very summery temperature. Two days now the sun is only in our imagination.

Since the beaches are now open, I can just picture the poor lifeguards sitting out there in their warm, winter clothing and praying that nobody is crazy enough to go into the water. Or at least if they go in they don't drown!

Like I wrote earlier, I am not very upset about this. We don't go to the beach, we don't have too many outdoor programs where the weather plays an important role so being indoors is ok with me. Also since our air conditioners were not installed being indoors is more tolerable during the days and nights. The contractor is working very diligently mostly every day if it doesn't rain. And what is most important, he is making progress. The end is not in sight yet, but we have hopes.

The only one in our family who really depends on the weather is Robin. The little guy goes out five times a day, and he hates rain, wind, cold and snow. When any of those are around he finishes his things very quickly and hurries back to the apartment. Smart cookie. Like me.

Father's Day

Sunday was Father's Day. Even though I am not a real father I do have Abigail to look after. As much as I criticize her, I still love her as if she were my own. And it seems she also loves me. She gave me a greeting card with such a sweet handwritten text on it that I was very moved. Never knew how close to me she is. My wife's other daughter also sent me a very nice card. The son, well he is a man, and he probably doesn't think of me as a father figure. I'll live through it.

Abigail announced it that Sunday she was taking us out for some sweets which was very sweet from her. The boyfriend was not available, had to be with his family so good old Abbi was forced to be with us.        Unbeknown to me there is an old fashioned ice cream parlor near where we live. We decided to go there.

In short it was great! This place serves ice cream sundaes, banana splits, ice cream sodas, malteds, egg creams and other stuff that we used to be able to get at any soda fountain or Howard Johnson. 4pm we went in and got a table. We all ordered sundaes, I a strawberry sundae, my wife coffee and blueberry (2 scoops) sundae and Abigail something else. After all these calories and sugar we also ordered a vanilla ice cream soda that we shared. This place has homemade ice creams but the best part was the whipped cream. I was just floored by how good it was. Not out of the can but very fresh.

Today's generation has no idea what they are missing. It is a good thing that we still remember the good old stuff. These ice cream parlors were extremely popular in the 50s through the 70s, just like in Happy Days tv show. But, the Carvels, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts and other fast food establishments made them obsolete. It is good that a few venturous businessman kept some of the old things alive because now I know where to go if I have the urge for a good ice cream sundae.

It was a good Father's Day outing.

 

Money

Today is Monday and we had a nice day. It is some kind of holiday that I don't think too many people know about. It is one of those holidays that privat businesses don't observe but federal and other government agencies have to observe. So, if one works for the City where there are already about 47 holidays, now they have 48.

Abigail had no school, she was home all day and this afternoon the family decided to go shopping. We drove out to Long Island and went to Macy's. Both girls needed certain stuff very badly and Macy's is the best for these emergencies. Now, Macy's is not well known for its low prices. Actually, Macy's is brand crazy and not too ashamed for the high prices. 

Actually, there are lesser quality merchandise that one can find sometimes as low as 80% off retail but one has to be careful and knowledgeable about the stuff. But that is not the point. The point is that regardless of the higher prices and the fact that today was a normal workday the store was packed and people were shopping like it was the last days before some major event.

I don't understand people. Everybody is crying about high prices, high gas prices yet the roads are packed, the storers are full and people are spending. If money goes out money also must be coming in. That is a plain fact. So why is everybody crying? Do these cries have any believability?

Sunday

 Sunday, sunday!

Memories

There are foods that I just love and there are foods I can do without. Married more than once, adjusting became the lead word for my life. There are foods that I just love but my wife hates, and it works the other way around also. I love anything that comes from the waters, sea or fresh water but my wife draws the line at fish.

I really like oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels and garlicky frogs legs. With the exception of fish my wife wouldn't touch any of these fine things. She doesn't realize what she is missing! Abigail is the same way. If I offer a taste to her she would try it but at the end she doesn't like any of these. Like mother like daughter.

I used to ate many of these goodies but I learned to adjust. I always believed that we humans can adjust to anything. Being married multiple times I am the living example to this adage.

I also like exotic foods. I had the opportunity to eat ostrich meat. If prepared well it can be very tasty. I had it in the Caribbean where it tasted great. I had here in the states where it tasted terrible. I also had turtle soup which I liked. That I also had in the Caribbean. In St. Maarten I had goat stew several times and I loved it.

I also love raw fish. Sushi and sashimi are raw fish. If prepared right it can be very tasty. Once we bought tuna and when it was on the kitchen counter I sliced a very thin piece and ate it. It was great. I will not make a habit of eating raw tuna at home abut occasionally it is good. Actually, oysters ad clams are raw, too.

Since my wife is not a great fan of these what remains for me are the good memories.

Harp

In my building, on the same floor live a young(ish) lady and her husband and their dogs. The lady is a professional harp player, she also plays four or five other instruments. Doesn't belong to any orchestra, she is freelance. Well known in some circles as I understand. Because of her dogs and our Robin, we are pretty friendly.

Thursday night she had a concert in Manhattan and my wife, and I decided to go and see. This was our first outing in a very long time, and at the end I was glad we did it. The show was in a small nightclub like setting, we had a good table for the two of us, ordered two drinks and sat back and enjoyed the show. 

There is a British songstress by the name of Kate Bush and this program was about her songs. We never heard of her, have no clue about her but I guess a lot of people did know her because there was a full house. The presentation was fairly elaborate, sometimes ten people on the stage. The songs were not the type one hums after leaving but still pleasant. Our friend played on her harp throughout, and she was very impressive with it.

The show lasted a little more than an hour. It was in Downtown Manhattan and getting there took almost two hours because of traffic. Because I did get a handicapped parking permit from NYC, parking was not a problem except to decide to park right front of the building or a half a block away.

Being in Manhattan like this is an event and after the show we went out to dinner to a wellknown restaurant we visited before. Couple of Moscow mule drinks (yes, they still serve it) then my wife had the roasted salmon and I a bowl of mussels. Both of us enjoyed it. After dinner, home by 10:45.

My comment: people cry about prices, the high price of gasoline etc. If the gas is so expensive why are there so many cars on the road? If people claim life is so expensive and people have no money, why is it so difficult to get a table in an upscale restaurant in the middle of the week? This restaurant and most in the area were filled to the brim. It is because people like to whine and complain!

I forgot to mention, Abigail and Robin stayed home this time. Maybe that was why we enjoyed ourselves so much.

Quiet life

I like the quiet life. But living in a metropolis that is not possible. There are noises a person can get used to than there are noises that may annoy us to no end. I noted before that we live on the first floor in a garden apartment like setting. Because of the ongoing exterior building work, we were not able to install our window air conditioner units. The warm, summery weather made it necessary to open our windows to ventilate the apartment. 

In the bedrooms our windows are slightly ajar and that is where all the noises come in. Bus noise, truck noise, motorcycle noise, people talking and because we are on the landing pattern for one of the major New York airports the constant plane noises. These are that make it almost impossible to sleep much past 7am.

I read somewhere that airplanes have a three-minute separation before landing. I timed these before and they barely make one-minute separations, and they come straight over our building pretty low.

New York City had its first black mayor, David Dinkins between 1990 and 1993. He was a tennis fan and one of his very few accomplishments was that he had the landing pattern to LaGuardia Airport changed during the US Open tennis tournament in order not to annoy the players. Today, nobody cares. In my building there was a Chinese woman who went around collecting signatures for requesting such a change. I told her, good luck, this is a waste of time.

I think if I would live on a farm in a total country setting, I would find the quiet deafening. I would miss the city noise, I'm sure. 

We are never satisfied with what we have.

Good Country America

It was shown on tv on Tuesday morning that the most expensive gasoline in this country is somewhere in California, north of San Francisco. One gallon of regular gas was sold for $9.49 a gallon. This is ridiculous to say the least. Filling up a tank will now cost more than $100? Who can afford that?

The national average now is $5.01 a gallon and even that is high. We will get back to the times of the gas shortages when people were syphoning gas out of other people's cars. You watch it, this will happen!

And besides talking, nobody is doing anything about it. That crooked bunch in DC are busy telling us how good we are doing, and they have nothing else to do but investigate January 6, 2021. This imbecile in the White House has no idea how to run the country. He isolates himself in his ivory tower, afraid to face reporters and doing absolutely nothing to alleviate the situation we are in except telling us much better we are now. This is a joke.

When I was growing up in Europe during the soviet regime, there were food/fruit items were in very short supply. My mother had a friend who worked in a vegetable/fruit store, and she used to call my mom when they had lemon delivery. At those times my mom ran down to the store and bought whatever the quota allowed. With general merchandise shortages which due to happen if trucks would stop delivering, we might get to that point. 

A trucker was interviewed who owns three trucks said that his weekly gasoline bill is about $20,000. In his opinion this can not go on forever. This will result in trucks stop delivering and then there will come the shortages.

I better look for some friends in my neighborhood stores.

Good country, America!

Life

8, 8:30 am I wake up. Usually sleep well with the exceptions of a few bathroom trips. I have my morning coffee, listen to the new and around 10 I make myself presentable (?). I do not want to look like an old man, unkept, unshaven and not dressed.

I usually feel pretty good in the first half of the day. I can move without any problems, I am not tired and my mind is still with me. But come late afternoon, things slowly change. Getting up from the sofa is more of an effort as the day goes by. As far as I know my mind is still there although my family does not always agree with me.

By later in the evening I am becoming very sleepy. I have to add that I don't take afternoon naps unlike some other lucky people! Around 10 while we are watching tv I very frequently fall asleep but my "loving" family always wake me up. We usually take Robin out for his last walk for the day around midnight. It is a real effort for me to stay awake that long. But once that is over and I had my shower I have no difficulty falling asleep. 

Late afternoons and evenings my walk is becoming a little more uncertain, I find that I am relying on my cane for balance, and actually by our midnight walk with Robin my cane is my most reliable friend.

The question is, is this typical of old age? Because if it is I am not very satisfied with it. But what can I do?   All I have left is just to grin and bear it!

Electric cars

I am all for energy conservation. I realize that this earth's buried treasures are limited and there will be a time when they will be depleted. No more oil, no more coal. This might not happen in our lifetime but eventually it will and the powers to be should plan for that eventuality.

Also, to keep our air tolerable changes must be made. It seems that the electric car is a step in that direction. More and more car makers come out with their versions of the electric ergo gasless cars. Sounds like a good idea, but I don't believe in it.

We don't have a high performance car but when we fill it up the gage indicates we have enough fuel for about 400 miles. That is a comfortable number. I saw ads on tv and I think it was Volkswagen who advertised their all electric model that makes about 200 miles per charge. Now, there are parts of this country where just to go to the store and back takes about that much. Even 300 miles per charge would make me very unsure of going on a trip. What if the car gets stuck in a bad traffic jam and runs down the battery?

On a longer trip one has to keep thinking about the distance the car can cover and then start looking for places that provide charging possibilities. In back country I doubt that there would be many such possibility. The other thing is that when one lives in the city and parks the car on the street, where can he charge it. I do see plenty Teslas parked overnight on the streets and none of them are connected to a charger. With a private garage this situation is different because overnight the car can be connected to a charger.

These and many other doubts come up when we talk about electric cars. So for the time being I just stick to the good, old and proven gasoline driven cars.

Sunday

 Sunday is my day of rest!

Thinking out loud

 Just the continue yesterday's thought about the supermarkets I have a little more to say.

There might be two reasons for the empty shelf syndrome that is experience not just in on location but at several stores. One that we might be having serious shortages of certain merchandises. If that is the case than that is pretty bad. We are not in a wartime economy and there is no explainable reason for any shortages. Ukraine is a small country and not everything can be blamed on Ukraine. The Covid pandemic is kind of over (for now) and that is a lame excuse. So, this does not work.

The other reason is the manpower shortage. It is plain and simple. There is a level of work people just don't want to do. And working in a supermarket stocking shelves, or washing dishes, or be a delivery person, or work the night shift wherever is just not that people want to do. And this creates a general shortage.

I don't blame those people. Working for minimum wage, around $12 to $15 per hour is not a moneymaking situation. They are probably getting more in some kind of benefits. Who blames them if they don't want to work? In shopping centers, the majority of the stores have help wanted sign on their windows. That indicates there is plenty of opportunity around but there are no takers.

Maybe when Biden will let those thousands of immigrants into the country there will be sufficient "under the table" workers. But until then we will have to stand in line for toilet papers.

Good country, America!

Supermarkets

Yesterday my wife and I had some business to take care of in wetern Queens. The business was Robin's beautification. I mentioned earlier that the lady who does him used to work for a very large pet store but after giving birth to her baby she decided to go private and work from home. She is very good and we are one of her followers, so is Robin.

After we dropped him off at her house we had about two hours to kill. Supermarket shopping sounded like a logical thing to do and noy far from her in Bayside, Queens we found a Stop and Shop supermarket. I have to add that Bayside is an upscale area and Stop and Shop is also a better than average supermarket, not inexpensive. We like the brand and there is one not far from where we live so we bravely went to this one.

You can not imagine our surprise and horror and disappointment when upon entering the store we found empty after empty shelves. The place looked like it was going out of business. No fresh fruits, no vegetables, no salads, no meats and there must had been a lots of other nos but we just couldn't stand it. Turned around and left. Let the people of Bayside deal with this store.

On another part of Long Island and nat far for us a Lidl German supermarket is slated to open on June 15. For us, Europeans this is a well known name and we are anxiously waiting the opening of this store to see what they have to offer. We know Aldi, and shop there frequently but they say this one will be better and different. 

We also like Shop Rite. I am convinced that Lidl, being new and European will give the American stores a run for their money. People like change and the new.

January 6

Today the United States House of Representative started a prime time hearing on live tv about the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol building. These people have no shame. I always knew that the only thing that interests them is how to keep their power. They will do anything for the sake of keeping their seats.

Today, when gasoline prices average $5 a gallon, food prices are rising, we have an inflation they are concerned about something that nobody really cares about. Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic cohorts are foaming at the mouth when Trump's name comes up. They will go to any length to discredit his presidency and prevent him from running again.

They think that their stupid hearing is more important than fix the economy, to lower gasoline prices, have sufficient quantity of baby formulas available and stop escalating prices. No, they would rather claim that since they represent the American people this what the people want. Recent polls proved that the people don't give a damn about January 6. January 6 when all the representatives with pelosi at the front were hiding under their desks and filled their underpants.

What were they afraid of? Those were their own people, the people they claimed to represent every time they open their mouths. Now they are showing their true colors. Right now the democrats still have a majority in the House and they want to make use of it. Come November that majority might just disappear and they will have a very hard uphill battle.

Watching that so called committee I thought they would perfectly fit in North Korea's system. Whatever Kim Un Pelosi says they obediently perform.

So for now it is circus time in Washington.

Sentimentality

Many many years ago, when I was really younger and was traveling to Europe, I was hung on memorabilia or any artifacts from my country. For one, Herend Porcelain, Zsolnay and Hollohaza are world famous names Hungarian porcelains. At least as far as I know.

These go back in many years and to find a real old piece was and is not easy. But I prevailed and built up a little collection of these and succeeded to bring them out with me on my returns to the US. Thanks to my parents and their friends they all had a few real old pieces and were happy to give some of them to me. In addition, in my travels if I found some pieces in other countries, I always made an effort to buy some.

My parents also had other old, old pieces of decorative items and paintings that eventually found a home with me.

And that is where my problem starts. As much as I love and value these pieces, I am alone with this interest. My wife is not much into them, our kids including Abigail do not know which end is up. They have absolutely no interest in old relics. They don't even see sentimental value to this much less artistic value.

So, what do I do with them? Once I am no longer around, I will not worry about them but while I am still here this knowledge really bothers me. I don't think I am alone with this kind of issue. Our kids have no interest at all in our past. They grow up here in this country and they have totally assimilated into this culture. Our past history, our mementos, our relics are gracefully accepted while we are around but upon our demise, they are slated to wind up in an attic storage space.

That is very sad. With our goings we are slated to disappear from the family's memory with everything that we held dear and with our personal history. 

Boyfriend

The quoted text is from an article about why fathers do not like their daughters' boyfriends. This just prove that I am not alone in my feelings toward Abigail's guy. This text is close to my reality even though Abigail is not my biological child. Living with her for all these years, I got used to her, I worry about her and when I see her accomplishments, I am very proud of her. 

The bond between father and daughter is one of the most important relationships in a girl’s life. She is not hesitant at all to pour her heart out to her dad, and of course, fathers tend to be extra protective of their princesses. From the clothes she chooses to wear to the people she hangs out with, fathers seek to have a say in everything. For a dad, his daughter is his angel. In such a case, if any other guy comes into her life who claims that he will take care of her just as well as the former does, it can give rise to some conflicts of opinion.

The consensus is that a father cannot approve that his daughter has a boyfriend, no matter how intelligent and capable he may be. He is always greeted with scorn. While this is a generalization and there are always exceptions to every rule, this is proven to apply to most cases.

So, it is natural that I can not stomach her current, and first boyfriend. Unfortunately, she made up her mind and there is no criticism that she will accept. This guy is her god and when he says jump she asks how high. Abigail is convinced that she found her love of life and this relationship will last forever. (I am ready to throw up when I hear this.)

I have a very good relationship with Abigail but criticism she will not take. Very stubborn and there is only one way, hers. She is even molding this prince of hers to see things her way. I really feel sorry for this boy. If we even mention the subject of future boyfriends, she shuts her ears and don't want to hear about it regardless that we tell her that she is young and there will be others. Not for her is the answer.

The boy is a year older, almost, studying accounting. Lazy as anything. Only thing he likes to do is sle2ep in late. Doesn't do any sports, can't swim and he only likes to come over to our house, sit in Abigail's room and watch videos. I don't think I spoke to him more than ten words since he is in our life. What am I to talk about? Useless as far as I can see it.

My wife has a good rapport with him but I think only for the sake of Abigail. I believe that his laziness is a very bad influence to Abigail who needs someone to keep her moving. But what can I do? 

This is Abigail's life and if this is what she wants that is what she will get. I just hope later she won't be sorry. 

Light summer

A light summer. That is what everybody in my building hope for. A light summer with no record breaking temperatures. no heat waves. If I would be a regular beachgoer, as I used to be I would pray for the heat. But under these circumstances I am not doing it. There are two main reasons.  

One, I am paying the piper for spending all those previous decades under the sun. All those beautiful tans I had resulted in skin cancer. Thank God, not a serious type but still cancer. They say skin cancer is one of the easiest to cure. We'll see. Every time I go to the dermatologist, and he/she finds something not very kosher their explanation for the cause is simple: sun damage. So, I am being very understanding to my situation and not wanting to cause any more problems, I am staying away from the beach as much as I can.

Also helpful that neither my wife and Abigail are much beach fans. Sitting under the sun or umbrella and venture into the water for 5-6 hours just don't sound very inviting to them. I just don't understand these people. Don't they realize how good that is? They like the beach as much as I like to wander around a mall for 4-5-6 hours!

The second reason why I hope for a light summer is that all our window air conditioners were removed or not allowed to be installed because the exterior work being done on the building. If we are lucky that work will be completed by late fall and then the air conditioners will not be needed. So we are praying for a light summer.

Now, was this not an interesting little article?

Sunday

 Sunday. again!

Ancestry

Ancestry.com is a company that claim to search out and present us with our family history pretty far back. Well, far back in this country it is only maybe 200-300 years if at all. Where I come from that is nothing, because my country is over a thousand years old.

I keep getting (unsolicited) mail from these people telling me that they can dig up and informed me of my family's history. I am a good guy and don't want to tell them that they have no chance doing this. I was not borne here, I came years ago and in the process I altered my name. My parents and all other relatives stayed in Europe so there are no traces of them anywhere on this side of the globe. I'm sure if I would pay them they would present me with a family history of someone with the same name from Nebraska or Oklahoma wit absolutely no relation to me. 

Watching their commercials I came to the conclusion that anybody who came with the Mayflower or are decendents of black slaves or Irish or Italian emigrants who came through Ellis Island are the only ones who might hope for a detailed family history. If they would expand their services worldwide I might take them upon it. Since I have no living older relative (my mom knew everything) I have no way of knowing my family's history. Since I have no offspring all my knowledge will just stay with me. Sad! 

More innovation?

I will talk a little more about innovation. Moving with the times is a normal thing. Work methods are continuously improving. More mechanized, less people needed, more modern etc. In the ancient days there was the Church that frowned upon certain modernization. Somehow, they instilled into their faithful that changing the old ways were against God. And people believed it.

Today the unisons play a similar role. They are against any change that would cause their members to lose their jobs. I do know the construction industry, at least building construction. Their work methods did not change probably in the last 40 to 50 years. I worked on construction in the early 1960s then in the 1980s. In that 20 year span I did not see any improvement at all. Now, I am just a sidewalk superintendent but what I see things are still the same.

It is fine that unions look out for the employment of their members but at the same time they should not stand in the way of progress. When the steam locomotives were phased out the railroad unions forced the railroads to place the now defunct firemen on each train and called them brakemen. This the price of modernization. When New York City was trying to use driverless subways, the union argued that what about the now unemployed engineer? Now, we don't have driverless subway trains.

Innovation

Life is a continuous improvement. What was new yesterday is old and obsolete today and by tomorrow it is ancient. Years ago, I bought a computer, and I purchased a guarantee with it. Granted the guarantee came handy because in its first year its hard drive had some problem, and they replaced the computer without any argument.

I renewed this guarantee for the second year and by its third year they only offered telephone consultation. When the fourth year came by and I heard nothing from the company I called them. They said they were not offering any guarantee or warranty any longer. At my inquiry their response was that my computer was old. Four years old and they consider that old? this is ridiculous. Who will go out and by a new computer every three or four years and goes through the hassle of setting it up?

I am sure businesses are not replacing their computers that frequently. The one I had in my office, I am sure was more than four years old. But this a gimmick. This is how they force us, the defenseless poor consumer to spend more money. Nowadays there must be at least one computer in every household. This world is built on email communication. Lack of computers make life much more difficult. It was proven during the pandemic when schools were holding classes online. 

The families of every student at least in New York had to have a computer in order for their children to participate in class. The computer companies are salivating at these numbers and when they say that a four year old equipment is too old they just want to make us feel defenseless and bad. The other thing is that just when an old bloke like me gets used to my computer an upgrade comes about and starts to make my life more complicated. Oh, they also let you know that these upgrades are standard on the newer models.

The American way!

Texas

It is terrible what happened in Texas a week ago. 19 innocent children, two teachers killed by a maniac, for what? The good thing is that he was also shot dead at the scene. T. he bad thing that they are making a political issue of this catastrophe. Politicians have no shame. That is a known fact. Instead of uniting and work on gun laws they are immediately pointing fingers at each other. The democrats want to come up as the good guys and blame the republicans to be the bad guys and the republicans vice versa.

This is ridiculous. While they are arguing people are getting killed. And that thing in the White House instead of making an angry and strong speech babbles on and on without making any sense. He is visiting Texas, will promise the world and then will forget to deliver. This country must admit that the NRA is stronger than any federal agency. No matter what happens the NRA lives on and fights for the availability of guns. No matter how many kids get killed the NRA will not see it as something bad. Their slogan that guns don't kill people do is a shame and irresponsible.

I would like to know how many civilized European country have such gun laws as the United States has. What European country permits its citizens to walk around with guns on their hips. And most of those countries are much older than we are, and their constitution is also older than ours. But none of those say that the population has the right to arm themselves. Only the US with its 200-year-old constitution is still sticking to that chapter. Shame, shame.

How many people will need to be killed before they realize how wrong that Constitution is. Maybe another attack on the Capitol will open their eyes. That January 6 attack had them running scared like chickens. Can they imagine how little, innocent children must have felt? I wish it upon them to experience that same fright. 

Mars

The other day I read an article where it was aid that NASA is taking Mars very seriously. They seems to have a timeline which is rigorously followed, and according to that schedule the first human trip is to take place in the late 2030s.

This is what made me think. The late 2030s are 2037, 2038 and 2039. At 2037 I will be 100 or 100+ years old and then on and on. The trip is to take about 500 days, that is another year and a half. So, what are the chances that I will be around to see a Mars landing? Probably slim to none. And this made me very sad. In today's time planning 20-30 or more years ahead is no big deal. No big deal for Abigail, but some of it is impossible for me and my friends.

Look at it like this, I can not get a 30 year mortgage. Banks know that I will not be around to see the end of it. I am at a very peculiar age. Impossible to plan for the future. When I buy some contraption and it comes with a lifetime warranty, I ask whose lifetime, the contraption or mine? Thinking about he future I ask, what future? For me next week is the future.   

I know that a favorite question of human resource people of new job applicants is "where do you see yourself in five years?"  If I were asked that question my answer would be: hopefully alive! And that is why I did not volunteer for the Mars mission.

 Landing on Mars in late 2030s makes me very sad