I don't know how many people show any interest on my scribblings, but I am grateful to all. Right now it is 2:55pm on the last day of 2022. I don't know where it went so fast, but it just flew by.
So here is 2023. Better get used to it.
To all my friends and acquaintances, I wish a Happy and Healthy New Year!
I hate when things are micromanaged. Stuff I learned and accepted should stay that way without any changes. Yes, as time goes by technology improves and things do change. But I am not a windmill that rotates with the wind. I go with my steady pace.
I was taught in school that in March, June, September and in December on the 21st of those months is when the seasons change. Those are Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. So, December 21 is the first day of Winter. That is how I learned it and that is how I pass it on to some believing youngster.
But in today's world this not so simple. I heard on the radio that to be precise, it is 4:47pm (in New York at least) when Winter officially begins. This is ridiculous. All day it was freezing wintry cold here. They mean to say that at 4:46pm it was still Fall?
How do they figure this out with such precision? I think it has something to do with the position of the sun. Which is funny because the sun here at 4:47pm is gone. It is already dark. But as I learned this is the shortest day of the year so from here on the days will get to be a minuscule longer every day. What a funny world we live in. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Comrade Z is in this country today. Met with the President and talks before Congress. He is on a "begging trip" looking for more money. I think it is $45 billion this time. That man has an appetite. I hate him for always wearing his military outfits. Reminds me of good old Fidel. He also wore his khakis, probably even to bed.
Fidel was also sympathetic to the US for a while until he turned and kicked Uncle Sam in the behind, as did the Afghans. I wonder how long it will be before Mr. Z turns and becomes anti American. Maybe when the banks run dry. But we never learn. Help the underdog but it will be too late to realize that under the underdog costume there is a hyena.
Kids are funny. They don't know what responsibility is. They will promise to sky in order to get what they want and once they get it, they slowly forget what was promised.
Case in point is our dog. Abigail was 16 years old when we got Robin. For years she was going on getting a dog. She practically swore on the bible that she will take care of him, feed him and walk him, just get a dog. To get a pet, any type of pet is a huge responsibility. It is a living thing that 100% depends on being care for and taken care of. Making promises and not keeping them is just not right.
The thing is now, that Robin is well taken care of, thanks to my wife. Abigail is relegated to advisory capacity and just occasional stand in. Her social life takes precedent over anything else and poor Robin has to learn to occasionally hold it in! Case in point is that the other day we took Robin to the vet for his annual checkup and shots.
He was found to be totally healthy and received his vaccinations (3). After the visit at home, he became very lethargic and quiet. No movement just laying down and sleeping. We naturally became very concerned about the little guy and even though the vet said this kind of side effect is not rare it did not ease our worries.
So, we decided that somebody will be home with him because that way he will not feel alone. But Abigail's social life always takes precedence over everything else. That left my wife and me. It was I at the end.
The unexpected health issues are passed. What happened was that I inadvertently picked up a stomach virus that made my night extremely uncomfortable. After it I was very tired and lethargic. Didn't eat or drink anything at all. But thanks to the good care of my wife, I am ok now. I think.
The flip side of this event, that my wife and Abigail caught this and for the weekend they also became ill. No explanation, just the symptoms. Good old Abi was worst off because she also developed a little fever. But thankfully by now the family is up and running as if nothing happened.
Robin is an Emotionally Support Dog and I think he had something to do with everybody getting better. He was here with us, didn't complain a bit.
I don't know where and how I picked up this virus but I guess it happened. I never had the covid, i survived the pandemic (so far) and now I got this virus. It is ridiculous. But the sad truth is that inadvertently I passed it on to my family which can happen in such close living environments.
I hope it is passed and we will be able to enjoy the holiday without any limitations.
Four years ago today, December 19, 2018, our lives changed. Nothing from here on went on as normal. There were daily unexpected events, our movements were curtailed, and our lives were just not the same.
What was the cause of this immense calamity? Robin came to our lives. I was against getting a dog. I had a cat for over 20 years, and I knew the issues, the heartaches that go with owning a pet. But anybody listens to good old me? No!
Abigail was going on for a long time that she wanted a dog, and my wife was not entirely against it. So, I lost out. Four years ago today normal took a new meaning in our house. Now we have a new family member and in reality, everything revolves around him. Our programs, our schedules are tailored to him.
The thing is, that I got used to him and I love the little guy. Cannot imagine our life without him. Sometimes he is a pain in the butt, but he makes up for it with his honesty and love towards us. He is extremely attached to us, mainly to my wife.
My wife was not feeling well over the weekend and stayed in bed. Robin sensed that something was not kosher and stayed with her all day and night. Didn't even go out to eat. He was so protective of her that growled even on me when I entered the bedroom. I told him hey, I live here but he didn't care. I took him out on his sanitary walks but after those back to the bedroom.
Now, four years down, hopefully many more to go!
Why do people guns at home? I can not understand the importance of having guns in a house. The way I see it is a very important political tool. Just as important as abortion is. Candidates are always asked about their feeling about gun ownership and their answers decide their political future.
The NRA and the gun lobby are two very strong forces in this country. I expressed my vies on this before but here it is again. When the Constitution was written it was necessary for people to be able to defend themselves against prevailing lawlessness, thus the right to own guns. But for God's sake, that was over two hundred years ago!
The American constitution was written by men of 18th century mindset. Some of them were slave owners who thought blacks should not have the same rights as white men. This constitution is not the Torah or the Koran. It is not a holy book. It can be changed or revised. And a revision could take out the right of gun ownership.
But unfortunately talking about changing or rewriting this document is a political suicide. England does not follow the Magna Carta. They created a more modern constitution, so why can we not do that? A new constitution might restrict gun ownership and hopefully would reduce crime. Every time there is a school shooting politicians wake up and raise the subject of gun control. And that is a joke.
While the NRA is active there will never be any kind of effective gun control in this country and senseless killings will continue.
I was watching the Croatia-Argentine World Cup football match today and thought about something. By the way, Argentina won 3:0 and they are going to the final with the winner of France-Marocco match. At the opening of these matches the teams line up and listen to their countries' national anthems.
Knowing that the majority of the players play for clubs in other locations than their own countries, some never ever played in their own countries I find it funny looking at them as they sing their anthems. They all think the louder they sing more patriotic they become. I am even surprised that they even know the words.
These national teams are a farce. Since the majority of the players come from other countries where they were playing for years, the success of the national teams does not represent the sport program of their native lands. It represents the individual players talent and love for this sport.
Hungary used to be a powerhouse in the field of football. It was back in the 50s. Since then, the progressively declined and now they are nowhere. They attempted to go for it but as it happened, they just couldn't qualify. Actually, they did not qualify since 1986. I don't know the reason, but they are just not that good, even though football is still the most popular sport there.
Maybe there is just not enough money to make it interesting to pursue it even though there are a few very good Hungarian players on the international circuit. But not as many as it should be, like the South Americans or Spanish have.
But that's ok, there is still baseball.
I really don't have anything against gays. Don't have much for them either. If this is a free country, then I have the freedom to choose whom I like and whom I don't like' Right? I certainly do not want to be pressed into liking someone or something because the think it so.
To watch a gay parade on tv just turns my stomach. Ok, so they like their own sex. Fine, but keep it to themselves. It is just not natural, but I guess we have to accept it. I go along with that but don't force it on me. This phenomenon is getting to be visible in many aspects of our lives.
To see same sex people walking on the streets holding hands, kissing is an everyday thing. But what upsets me is that popular tv shows inject such relationships to their shows even if they have nothing to do with the storylines.
There is this popular show called Hawai'i. It is a crime drame but two of the main female characters, agents are in a serious relationship with each other. The show never misses a chance to show them kissing or more. Hollywood sucking up to the LBTGQ community is similar to when they were sucking up to the black community. The black community complained that there were not enough black roles available. Now, they place token blacks in every show, needed or not. The same is with the LBTGQ people.
I don't know how young people feel about watching these shows and seeing men kissing men or women kissing women. I am not young, and I don't loke it!
There are things in this country that are typical American things. They are so successful that I am sure other countries are also adapting. These are not all good, they are mainly deal with how to mislead, cheat the public.
Start with robocalls. We get these calls from people wo barely speak Englis and trying to sell things they claim we need. Most of them are not even located within the US but thanks to the current technology that is no longer a necessity. Anytime they start their call with how are you or can you hear me well I hang up. I don't know if there are people who fall for their gimmicks. The sad thing is that these methods are being picked up by other countries and it spreads better than the covid did.
The other day I spent a long time on the phone with a bank whose credit card my wife obtained. This was as part of a promotion. It said you spend $1,000 within 90 days and you will get (I think) 40,000 miles for JetBlue. She fell for this and requested their card.
The time went by, money was spent but no miles appeared anywhere. That was the reason for my calls. It took forever and at the end they claimed there were no $1,000 spent so there were no 40,000 miles given. No matter how I argued, they did not give in. So here we are stuck with an unnecessary credit card and received no mileages. Some of these offers are as phony as a tree dollar bill.
This is the good American way!
The bad things about being old:
Thinking back, we realize that time went by very fast and what we accomplished is not even near of what we wanted to at the beginning Being well informed about funeral costs because the advertisements keep coming The aches and pains we wake up with every morning It is not very easy to get a 30 year mortgage Not very advisable to plan ahead into the future The word future is removed from our vocabulary I recently had a tooth pulled and the dentist never even asked me if I consider replacing it Not remembering everything that happened throughout our lives Not remembering what happened yesterday but remembering what happened 50 years ago Not accepting that our body is getting worn out and thinking we can still do things as we used to then finding out the hard way that we can not Realizing that everything you say is accepted with a curious smile from your family Being a tolerated member of a family without any positive contribution Living the rest of your life in warm up suits because there is no reason to dress up Cannot get life insurance any longer Don't remember what our favorite food is In conversations with other seniors we just compare our current ailments
The good things about being old:
In many instances getting seats on subways and buses (where they still respect older people) Getting senior citizen discounts (where they still apply) Doctors have ready diagnosis for every ailment it is old age Remembering only what we want to remember to Not remembering what happened yesterday but remembering what happened 50 years ago Believing that everything you say is accepted by the family as wisdom Thinking that you are a respected member of the family Living the rest of your life in warm up suits because there is no reason to dress up Now we have closes full of clothing we will never wear. Some people at the Salvation Army will be very happy Being well informed about funeral costs because the advertisements keep coming It is easy to converse with other oldies. Just compare our current ailments, the old ones we probably don't remember any longer
Somehow the bad is winning this list by 16: 11 against the good. It seems there is no great advantage in being old.
The ugly truth is that it is no great joy to get old.
I don't know if this typical old age thing, but here I am standing in the bathroom, no worries anywhere and think of something to do later on. It is not very important but something that I should take care of.
I come out of the bathroom, do a few things than suddenly I remember thinking of something else to do. Not earth shattering importance but something that came to my mind at that time. Now, for the life of me can not remember what it was. It was not connected to my cleanliness or anything bathroomy. Still have no idea what it was. This is scary. This thing leads to arguments because my wife will accuse me of not doing certain things that she asked me earlier to do.
I don't think that I am forgetful. I just have the tendency not to remember certain recent things. Old things I do remember (I think) but with older things there is nobody around to refute me, so my stories tend to exist as I say them (or imagine them).
I don't know if this is the beginning of amnesia/dementia, but it is certainly inconvenient. Maybe the cure is not to think in the bathroom!
It is becoming more and more obvious what dirty business politicking is. Now, that the elections are over, and the results are out it became official that the House of Representatives lost it republican majority and staring January 2024 the new Congress will have democratic majority. Unfortunately, the Senate stays the same as it was.
Nancy Pelosi as a major (sore) loser gave up her party leader position but stayed in Congress. She still does not want to be a stay home wife and grandmother. She is still holding on to some form of power.
Anyway, now that the republicans are taking over, they are preparing for the usual witch hunt that such changing of the guard brings forth. Standing committees change from democrat chairmen to republican chairmen. This means that most of the ongoing hearings, at least the ones that were anti-democrats will be discontinued and will take a different shape. I believe that idiotic January 6 commission will also be ending.
Its only purpose was under the Pelosi dictate to show Trump's involvement and leading up to impeachment. I believe instead of this they will investigate the DHS Secretary because the republicans want to impeach him for his mishandling the immigration crises.
Biden stays in office, but he is now stuck with a divided Congress. Now he can blame the republicans for whatever inefficiencies his administration produces. It will be interesting times. I can't wait to see it.
Right now, in Qatar the 2022 soccer World Cup is on. There are 32 teams in Qatar and they come from all parts of the world. Soccer or football is the most popular sport in the world. The only place where it is struggling for survival is the US. Here baseball, (American) football and basketball rule. I can not understand.
This country is filled with immigrants, most of them came from soccer countries yet, soccer is struggling for air. This is to show that Americans are just not smart enough to understand and appreciate a good soccer game while the rest of the world is. Soccer can work the fans into a frenzy. Frenzy that is not present at any baseball game or football game.
Baseball fans sit through 4-5 hour games munching on hot dogs and drinking beer. There might be a small amount of excitement if there is a home run, but nothing compared to what goes on at a soccer game. Football consists of separate plays. Each one lasts maybe 15 seconds then everything stops. Hard to get excited at that either. So, we are back at soccer. This is a 45minute non-stop activity that one can not help but enjoy even if he is not a fan.
The rule of this World Cup tournament is that members of each national teams must be citizens of that particular country. This is very interesting because most of their local clubs are filled with foreign players. Now they can not be used because the participating countries must use their own nationalities. But within certain professional sport circles citizenships are easily obtainable. Just have to be an excellent athlete.
So now I am watching a lot of football (soccer). All nationalities many different countries. Argentina, Spain, Brazil and Portugal have the most famous football players in their teams and that makes it interesting to watch. But tournaments like this are filled with surprises regardless of their stars. Like Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia 2:1 and Japan beating Spain 2:1.
The lesser countries make tremendous efforts in trying to win. Like Iran. They have no international players, and I guess public opinion is against them. But they put on a good game and beat Wales 2:0. Can't help but admire those guys. Wander what would happen if they would play Israel.
In the 1956 Olympic games the Hungarian water polo team played against the Soviet team. They said and I did see videos of it that it was a blood bath. The animosity between the two teams reached historic heights. This was after the Soviets attacked Hungary after the October uprising.
So, Israel against Iran would probably be similar.
Interestingly, US played against Iran and there was tremendous hype about this game. End result was 1:0 in US' favor. I saw the game and critics noted that there was no unnecessary rough stuff, and the game was fairly played.
This world is full of surprises.
