Morbid

This morning when I got up and was having my morning coffee as usual I turned on the TV to see what happened while I was in lala land. Usually, not much, nothing earth shattering ever happens, thanks God.

But today, Friday it was on the news that Senator Dianne Feinstein of California died. For a long time she was not well, she was very frail and had all kinds of health issues. Yet, she did not want to resign but carried on as well as she could. The only concession she made that she announced that she would not run for reelection. She was 90 years old.

Senator Feinstein was born in 1933. Only four years before I was and that is very scary. Ok, people die every day but this one made the headlines, and her birth year is lit up and it is sticking in my mind. God willing, I will be 87 in a short three months. Is 90 a magic line? Will I be permitted to cross it? And if yes, how far will I be allowed to go?

Today I feel good. Will this stay that way or will just suddenly crash (healthwise)? These and many more questions come to mind. Can I plan further than end of this week which is only two days away?

I guess me and my buddies who are in the same boat just have to live our lives one day at a time.

Home country

In my opinion, professional athletes are like independent contractors. They sell their talents to the highest bidder and spend their time proving their worth. Nationalities go only as far as to show their birthplaces. But after they are free to play wherever they wish.

This system provides the weirdest combination of athletes in various sports. Big name soccer clubs spend stellar amounts of money to invite players from around the world. To see a soccer team's line up it is as mixed as the United Nations. Tennis players, soccer players are the real independent contractors.

A great number of them do not even live in their home country for various reasons mostly to avoid taxation. So, when a tennis player plays and fans waive their national flag, I find it hilarious. The guy was born let's say in Sweden and they are waiving the Swedish flag it is funny because he happens to live in Monaco to avoid taxes. Nationalities and home countries have very little to do with these sports.

Home countries do not help athletes in their quest. Either well to do parents, or good sponsors are the ones who will pick up the tab. In today's world of mixed marriages these athletes can take advantages of either of their parents' birthplace. 

Hungary had two world class short track speed skaters. They were both Chinese and were brothers. Father Chinese, mother Hungarian. For years they competed in the colors of Hungary. Recently they decided to go to China because it looks like the grass is greener over there. Many of Hungary's professional basketball teams have black players who have Hungarian citizenships even though none were born there. And this phenomenon is all over the world.

A funny world we live in. 

Debate

Short of anything entertaining on the telly, I was watching the second Republican presidential primary debate. I don't know how many clowns Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily on their payrolls but the seven that was on the podium today were just as amusing. 

These people are living in a dreamworld. They have minimal support according to the polls, yet they are still chasing the rainbow. I really can not understand that they still hope to get a nomination and then the presidency. They can easily make promises because they will never have the opportunity to realize them.

The most heard words were we will, we shall, we should. Nothing concrete, just promises. The former vice president kept telling us how much he did as governor of Indiana and as Trump's vice president. We all know that vice presidents don't do much just stand in the shadow of the president. Suddenly this bible toting guy says he did so much.

Chris Christie the former governor of New Jersey is on a personal vendetta trip against Donald Trump. He supported Trump early in his presidential campaign and as a reward was expecting some respectable assignment. When Trump realized that he is nothing but blubber he was sidelined. He became unemployed and eventually go a job with ABC News as a contributor. Do we want him as a president? NOOOOO!

Actually, none of these aspirants would make a good president. So where do we stand now?

But regardless, Good Country America!

 

Strikes

In my early days in this country, I worked in building construction as a field engineer. That meant I was laying out things outside for the ongoing construction, I was familiar with the plans and if there was any misunderstanding it was my job to explain it to the workers involved. I liked this work, and I was pretty good at it.

At that time there was no union for these jobs even though every larger construction site had at least one position like mine. I mostly worked alone. The prevailing custom was that when the job was finished they usually kept us until a next job opened up. This way there was a possibility to a long and nice career in construction.

But this thing came to an abrupt end when they decided to include us, field engineers into an Operating Engineer local. At first this seemed like good thing. Got a nice salary increase and great benefits. When the particular job was over, we were shown the door. We were too expensive to keep, so we were let go. The union did very little to help in finding a job, so we were forced to use our connections or rely on pure luck if wanted to work.

I was lucky enough to find a few jobs but my hopes to stay with a reputable construction company were over. Eventually I did change career path which fortunately lasted for over 40 years, and it did turn out pretty good. As a result of all this I am not much of a union supporter. Yes, there are many industries where lower educated (blue collar) workers are involved and yes, the employers are trying to take advantage of them, and these people do need some kind of protection and representation. But 21% salary increase and 32 hour work week sound a little ridiculous. I never receive 21% increase ever.

However, there are many professions where the individuals do have the means and possibilities to arbitrate for their own packages. Why do doctors, nurses, screen writers have to strike? Can they not speak for themselves? Can they not navigate their own path? If they are badly needed their employers will compensate them for sure. 

In 1963 New York newspapers got hit by a massive strike that lasted 114 days. They could not come to an agreement between the owners and the unions. Result was that four very good daily papers closed their doors and layed off their employees. Now, who were the winners and losers? All those employees found themselves without work and I am sure their unions were not able to help.

I am not saying that the auto workers should not be represented. But I am saying that their demands should be reasonable. They have to realize that most of them are trained just to do one thing on an ever moving assembly line. They have no trades that can be useful outside their plants. For an individual who worked there most of his or her life the so-called retraining is a myth. They can be retrained to work at McDonalds. It is very unfortunate that unionization is very close to politics. It was proven when our illustrious president visited the picket lines. I know he got a free baseball cap out of it but if this was not to garner votes than I don't know what was the point of his visit? Maybe he was bored in the White House.

Many years ago in New York City engineers, designers were trying to get organized. It did not succeed. Private engineering companies wanted to do nothing with unions. When I joined my company, I met a very nice and smart designer, older than I was. I found out that he was a former ill fated union organizer. Because they knew who he was, he was blackballed by the industry for several years. Eventually, my company hired him as a draftsman. He was glad he had a job because one can not live without money.

This is a free country but no matter how much they or we hate big business we can not live without them. They are movers and shakers of life here.

Yom Kippur

We, Jews just got over Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This day goes along with an all day total fast. No liquids, no solids. A very serious fast. By doing this and praying we are atoning for our misdeeds, sins we committed throughout the year. This is similar to the Catholics'. They go to confession, tell the priest what bad things they did, and the priest will tell them to say ten Hail Mary, and all is forgiven.

Difference is that good Catholics go weekly or monthly or whenever they think they should. Us Jews bear our burden all year because we only have one day set aside for our admissions. Also, a 24 hour fast is a lot more serious than ten hail Mary.

Anyway, we are done now for a year. All bad things are forgiven, and starting now we can be bad again. At least that is how I interpret this. Even though I was told that at my age I don't have to fast, I did it. From Sunday evening dinner until Monday 4:30 in the afternoon. It was easy, no headaches. could have continued but I thought it was enough.

Interestingly and historically on these High Holy Days the weather was always good. Nice and sunny was the norm. But what is lately normal? On Yom Kippur it was totally miserable. 61 degrees and rain all day long. I guess Mother Nature doesn't like Jews. For me it didn't matter, I stayed in and only went out when we walked Robin.

By the way, Robin did not fast.

Sunday

 Same old thing. It is Sunday and I am resting.

Women owned cars

We have two cars. An older and a newer model. Since I do not drive any longer those two cars are registered on my wife's name. So, they are her cars. As the undisputed owner of these two automobiles she makes the rules and us, simple passengers must obey them.

No eating in the car. That is the first cardinal rule. If we don't like it, we can walk, said she. The cars are always in spic and span shape. They are so clean we could eat from the floors if we could eat in the cars. The minute there is any dirt mark on the outside or inside, off to the carwash. These cars were washed more than any other car in history.

We are already regular visitors at the neighborhood carwash. Clean the inside, wash the outside, wash the floormats. This is the usual menu. Thankfully, the cars did not yet rust in spite of the frequent washes.

A wash with the vacuuming takes about 5-8 minutes. When all is done, and they wiped it dry we stay another 15 minutes because my wife goes over everything and wipes down the entire car, again. Women!

When I had my cars in recent 50+ years I never had them washed so frequently. But that is the difference between a man's car and a woman's car. The way I looked at it, the dirtier a car was it had more of a patina and character.

Words

Living long enough we see things going away from everyday life. That is mainly because the changes in technology. Yet the expressions stay with us and only us, oldtimers really appreciate their origins.

I am listing a few words that are still part of our vocabulary. I am sure there are many more but these are the ones that come to my mind.

Sailing         When they used ships with sails, many years ago this word was associated with their movements. Moved by the force sails projected to the ships. But today every ship, might that be an aircraft carrier powered by nuclear energy is using the terminology of sailing.

Dialing        Many years ago telephones had rotary dials. In order to call out we had to dial. That meant sticking one finger into the correct number, one by one and turn the dial. That was how we called in the "stone age". The word remained. Todays telephones are all push button operated but the expression remained. When prompted we have to dial the number.

Dial tone     This is the same as dialing. When the phone is activated, we are listening to the dial tone. That sound prompts us to "dial".

Hang up     Wall mounted telephones were used, to finish a call the caller had to hang up the phone. That is place the phone on a hook that automatically disconnected the line. In today's technology we do not hang anything up but still use this expression to finish a call.

Shipping     Before air transport became popular or overwhelming trans oceanic package transport was done by ships. Thus, the word shipping. Today this word remains and is being used for any kind of commercial transport.

cc                 In the days of typewriters in order to make copies carbon copying papers were placed between the sheets typed on that way producing carbon copies. In correspondences if carbon copies were sent to other parties the designation cc were used to indicate that fact. Today we do not create carbon copies. But email still has this designation (cc) if we want our emails to go to other addresses than just the original.

Now, writing this does not mean that I have too much time on my hands, it just means that I was thinking, and these interesting facts came to my mind.

Disney

Disney is a money grabbing, anti people company. Never liked them and never will! They establish these "fun" parks where families can take out a second mortgage on their homes in order to pay the admission, and then they have to stand in line for the rides. 

Naturally, the so called celebrities don't stay in line and that is why they can promote these places. There was a deadly hurricane in Florida called Idalia. Every employer had the decency to close for the protection of their employees. But not Disney. They are foaming at the mouth for money and because of that they stayed open. Hell with the employees, hell with safety, hell with the public!

Here is one for the "hell with the public".                                                                                                    On August 31 they closed all Disney owned cable tv stations on Spectrum cable network. This includes all ABC television, ESPN stations and many other stations. No US Open tennis, no new season American football, no sport events. 15 million subscribers are left in the lurch. And why?

Because they can not come to a financial agreement with Spectrum, one of the largest cable company in this country. So, they took the so far unheard of way to get what they want: shut off people from their favorite channels. Spectrum, supposedly offered a financial deal that would have not been a burden to the subscribers, but what Disney wanted was to be a hefty increase.

Disney showed it true colors. They really do not care about people. All they care about is money. And that is clearly reflected in their park admissions and cable services. Another interesting fact is that the media is not giving much attention to this. I am convinced they are quietly enjoying this turn of events because anything bad that happens to the competition is always good.

I am convinced that whenever they will come to an agreement it will cost us more in the subscriptions because it is always us who take the brunt of any price increases. I don't know how long this will last but I do know it is extremely inconvenient. I wish there was someone with enough capital to try to break up this company because the way I see it they are getting too big for their britches. With their hands in every pot, they can get to control people's everyday life. And no company should have the fright to do that.

It is time for some entities to start taking Disney apart. They are getting too big and too dominant. And no company should be so large as to affect people's lives.

Weapons

 A never disappearing political item is guns. Comments about gun ownership can make or break the career of a politician. There are numerous theories about gun ownership in this country and every time a mass shooting happens politicians come out for or against it.

NRA claims it is not guns that kill people it is people. With such idiotic statement they want to justify gun ownership. Every mayor, governor or president have their own beliefs about gun ownership. Each and every one swears that under their authority gun purchases are becoming more and more difficult. Yet, the shootings keep continuing. They are not taking under consideration that bad people will always have the means to get guns.

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." This was written in 1776. Today it is 2023.  247 years later we are still hanging on to an ancient document. I don't think this is normal.

The entire amendment should be stricken and outlaw all kind of firearms, except what is needed for hunting.

Mr. Z

I never made a secret about my feelings toward Ukraine and its people. I am not in love with Russia, but I am certainly don't feel sorry for the Ukrainians. I firmly believe that Mr. Z is playing on the sympathies of the western world, primarily of this country. Thus, receiving billions and billions of dollars in money, and in various forms of help. Regardless that by religion he is Jewish he is foremost a Ukrainian.

A little while ago I was listening to a non-American newscast where they introduced evidence that Mr. Z bought a multimillion-dollar mansion somewhere in Egypt. This house is in a ritzy neighborhood and was bought by his mother-in-law. Very interesting. Also this report showed high ranking military and civilian people having vacations in luxurious environments outside the country.

This is also interesting because there supposed to be a war going on and also there is some kind of restriction in place for men traveling out of the country. But I guess that does not apply to Mr. Z and his cronies. This report also noted that corruption is widespread there and with money people can escape military service among other benefits money can buy. 

Curiously, there is no mention of any of this in the American media. One has to look very closely on the internet to find any mentioning of this subject. I guess papa Joe is grateful for all the money given to his son and that is why he keeps rolling in the billions some of which find its way to Mr. Z's pocket.

Good country America!

Sunday 2

My wife and I this Sunday had a very busy day. It reminded me of bygone days when we (mostly me) were not sitting home twiddling our thumbs. Morning started with Abigail and my wife went off to the gym for a little workout, I don't know what a little workout does if it is not done regularly, but Abigail was the decision maker on this.

After that we went into Manhattan for brunch with a longtime acquaintance and a very good friend. The brunch lasted a good three hours. Talking, rehashing old memories, time just went by. Oh, by the way, the food was good, too.

On the way home we got tangled up with a huge demonstration that really crippled traffic in that part of the city, Because the UN General Assembly is here now, demonstrations were cropping up all over. Also this made parking almost impossible. My poor wife dropped us off near the restaurant and then circled around for 45 minutes until she found parking several blocks away. The avenues and nearby streets were all had parking restrictions so the famous and infamous politicians could move around without traffic hindrance.

The demonstration had to do with the environment: stop fossil fuel. Every Tom, Dick and Harry were there. It was a nice, sunny day so all had a good time. It took us quite an effort to finally get out of the City, but we did, on to home. At home we just recuperated a little then on to the next program.

We both like Andre Rieu very much. He is the Dutch musician who tours the world with his music and orchestra. Whenever he come to this area, we make an effort to see him. Sunday, he appeared in an arena with the capacity of at least 15,000 people and it was full house. The program was good. It just proves that there still are people who like good, sentimental music and not just today's loud and incomprehensible music. There were numbers when people got up and yes, they were dancing in the isles.

By the time we got home was 11 o'clock, the end of a full day. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired, but it was worth it.

Sunday

 It is Sunday and I worked long and hard, I do deserve a day of rest.

The Menu

I received complaints about not writing of the food we eat. Well, to eliminate any complaints here is the holiday menu my wife prepared for Rosh Hashanah.

Friday Night

 Matzohball Soup                                                                                                                                         Veal with Roasted Potato and with Mushrooms                                                                                       Sweet Carrot with Honey                                                                                                                         Wine and Pomegranate Juice                                                                                                                   Honey Cake and Cheese Danish

Saturday Night

 Matzoball Soup                                                                                                                                 Lambchops with French Salad and with Rice                                                                                           Sweet Cucumber with Chickpee Salad                                                                                                 Slivovitz, Wine                                                                                                                                         Honey Cake                                                                                                                                               Fruit

Food was great and very filling. I love these holidays!

Shana Tova 

 

 

Shana Tova

We are entering year 5784 in the Jewish calendar. Man. how time flies. Not long ago we were pulling stones for the pyramids then walked across the Red Sea and now we are still here in this the world! Life is funny. We are like the Timex watch, "take a licking but keep on ticking".

And that is what we are, the Timex watches of this world. In this ensuing 5784 years everybody was trying to eradicate the Jews from this world. Did they succeed? No! Every time they tried, we came back stronger and with more determination. Maybe one day the enemies will realize this and will stop trying to get rid of us.

Maybe one day Muslims, Christians and all other religions or beliefs will learn to live together in peace and harmony. It doesn't need Utopia just the lack of jealousy. Because jealousy is the root of most of the problems.

Jews built a strong, thriving country in the sand. Now everybody is looking at them askew. Why? Why neighboring countries don't get together and instead of trying to destroy each other, try to learn from each other and eventually live in peace. Interestingly and slowly more and more Muslim countries realize this and attempting peaceful recognition, acceptance, coexistence  and cooperation. Maybe in our lifetime we might see this coming to fruition and Utopia will become reality, even if  in a limited way.

Anyway, to all my Jewish and non-Jewish friends I wish a healthy and prosperous New Year, Shana Tova. 

By the way, today Saturday is the first day of Rosh Hashanah. 

Old age

I am not hung up on this old age thing, but I have to admit that I am old. As much as I don't want to believe it, I am old! There are symptoms that I did not have when I was younger but now, they are here, and analyzing them I came to the conclusions that they are caused by old age. Some appear occasionally, some are part of everyday life. Also, some things that were easy to do are now becoming more and more difficult, like bending down. Actually it is not the bending down it is the straightening back up that is difficult.

And that brings up an interesting question. A question that might be controversial, morally wrong or it could be right. Here it is: at this age should we run to the doctors with every unusual, uncomfortable feeling or just bear them, acknowledge them and put them aside with the self explanation that this is it, these things come with age. Why waste time and money on doctors when really there is no help?

Hate to bring up the old car parallel. Keep trying to fix the old machinery even when there is no more fix. It is very hard to admit that the end of the road is not far. Doctors generally will not agree with this scenario. They will attempt to correct whatever ails us, they will never say "why bother at this age" even if they think it. The problem is that they never look at the big picture.

It feels like swimming against the tide. It is a losing battle. Only question is how long the battle will last. Not the best feeling in the world not being able to make long range plans or as a matter of fact even short range plans.

I am not being pessimistic just being realistic. I am aware of my abilities, capabilities. Even if my brain thinks I can do certain things, my body will respond like: ho, not so fast buddy! This is not the best way to live to say the least.

Every day there are some deaths in the news and most of those arehbm in the upper 80s. Very scary, believe me. I do believe that even with the help of a cane I can walk. Occasionally we do go on longer walks and I would be lying if I said they are easy, but I do them. Recently I went to a gym with my wife. I think three times so far.

It is disheartening to experience that some things I used to do I am not able to perform now. The most difficult thing to admit is old age. Chronological age is not necessarily the mental age. Some people feel very old at 75 while some still feel young at 85 (or 87!). But reality is, that we can not cheat time. We can fool ourselves but can not fool time.

Life now is a hide and seek game. We are not able to tell what hides behind the next corner!

The ancient Egyptian sphinx asked: What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? The answer? Man, who crawls as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and uses a walking stick in his twilight years.

 

New Technology

The world is going crazier and crazier as time goes by. This telecommunication craze is becoming a serious sickness. People are getting hooked on their telephones in mostly ridiculous ways. This dependance is creating very dangerous situations.

Drivers are messaging while driving or just staying longer than necessary at green lights because they are pushing the buttons. Pedestrians walking on the streets, crossing intersections without taking their eyes off their phones. And when an accident happens, they are the upset ones.

Why is it necessary that we immediately respond to every message we receive? Why these responses can not wait. I am sure that most of the messaging are not business related but social. Will our friends be insulted if we do not respond right away?

How did life go years ago pre-cell phone? Back in the "stone age" people used the traditional telephones from home or office to call and back then life went ahead just as well.

I am sure I mentioned this before but here it is again: in Honolulu it is a violation to cross a street while looking at a cell phone. Police will issue a summons for it. Why other cities do not follow this? One night we took Robin out for his usual walk. Abigail and I went out. We circled our city block. Abigail had her phone in her hand and throughout the entire walk she did not look up once to see where she was going. All throughout she was sending and receiving. Now I am sure this was social an dnot business.

The other morning my wife took me to her gym. While I was on the treadmill, a gym employee was going around to clean the equipments. I was watching him. In the course of five minutes, he took out his phone from his pocket at least three times and looked at it if there were any messages. Now I am sure these were not business related messages.

Now what really throws me is that I can be on the street at 3am and I am sure I will see somebody having a conversation on the telephone. Who else is up at that ungodly hour? This just proves that this world is full of crazy people.

Ok, so I am old and as they say I am behind times. I accept that but please agree with me that what goes on is just plain idiotic. Not just through my eyes but through every intelligent person.

Water, water everywhere but not here

I live on a fairly wide street with normal traffic. Three lanes each way including one for parking. Including regular traffic is a scheduled city bus line. Addition to this there is a hospital behind us and ambulances go there day and night, right font of our windows.

I don't know how many water and gas lines run under our street but ever since we lived here which is about six or seven years now there are constant work being done with these lines. Not always front of us but somewhere along this street.

They dig up, replace some pipes, fill back, fix the pavement then for sure within six months it is being cut up and work begins again. That is not so bad, the problem comes when they shut of the main water line, and we are here without any water. This already happened a few times. Sometimes during the night but mostly at day times.

To make this work more interesting, they placed their portable toilet right outside our window. The whiff of this thing slowly waved its way through the air towards us. How inconsiderate and stupid these people must be not to think that a toilet should not be placed under anybody's window?

For people who go off to work this is not an issue but us, old folks who are stuck at home it is not the best scenario. That is what happening right now. The are digging up the street in several blocks, replacing some humongous water pipe and in the process shutting off the water. Our water was turned off on Saturday between 8am and 3:30pm. Uncomfortable, to say the least.

Because work was not completed there was another day without water. More nuisance.

Later on it turned out that our building's connection to the newly installed water main was a bad fit so there was another day when the landlord needed to have a new pipe installed. That meant another day without water.

On such days we were sitting in the house, doing nothing, relaxing. I was afraid to drink anything because can't even use the toilet. No water to flush.

This city is crumbling at its bases. The bridges are rusting away, the roads are cracking and barely staying up, the subway system is ancient and barely operational. The infrastructure is a disaster. And at the same time the leadership is syphoning off more and more of our monies under the pretense that it will be used for upgrading. What a lie!

This is the American way. Good country America!

9-11

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the 9-11 events. It is not a not a national holiday, but it is a day of remembrance. There is nothing wrong with it but what is wrong is how this is being conducted. I am a 9-11 survivor. I was there and I ran for dear life. God was looking after me and I survived while 13 of my co-workers perished.

As a survivor I give myself the right to comment and criticize these events. First I have to remark that whatever organization there is representing the survivors is not representing me as well as any other survivor that I know. So, who are they representing?

I agree that this thing should not be forgotten. But the hullaballoo that goes with the event should be stopped. It is enough, it is embarrassing. Right at the start they are embarrassing the politicians by inviting them. These are invitations that can not be refused even though the majority of  vip's would rather stay away. 

Reading the names of all who perished is distasteful. Some people are not able to pronounce the names correctly and that is insulting to the victim and family. They put young kids up there to read the names who are unable to pronounce them correctly. Also, these kids were not even alive when September 11 happened. They are nieces and nephews who never met their aunts and uncles yet, they make speeches about the cherished memories and how much they love those.

They should not provide platforms for these family members to make speeches about their lost family members. It is just not correct!                                                                                  Yes, the memory of the events should be kept alive but just the same way as Holocaust Memorial Day. A day with quiet contemplation. Don't force it on me what happened. I know, I was there. I don't force my stories on other people. As a matter of fact, I don't talk about it even if I am asked.

There is a memorial and there is a museum, there is a race (Tunnel to the Tower) for these memories. Our senile president chose to be in India and Vietnam rather than being at the 9-11 memorial (there was no money to be made here). In his stead his second in command, laughing Kamala was here. Big deal! She was standing next to chipmunk face governor Hochul. They deserve each other, all I can say. The leader of the senate majority, Schumer was also there. He really looked bored. He didn't know what to do with himself. Put his hands in his pants pockets then took them out, then back again.

Unfortunately, the anniversary of this tragic event is also used by unscrupulous politicians to advance their careers. Florida governor DeSantis was at the World Trade Center site this morning. As far as I know he never ever attended this even but now this will look good on his resume. How phony can one get?

All these politicians also wish they could be somewhere else but are afraid to reject an invitation. I wonder how long these meaningless events will go on.

Summer past

Labor Day is gone, Summer is over. The Fashion Police will arrest anybody who wears white, sockless shoes are a no-no, and bright summery colors are also out.

This was a very tumultuous summer. At least for me. Yes, it went fast but till there was enough time within to make sure it kept (at least) me busy. And, busy is not one of my favorite words.

My wife has a sister who lives in Hungary. They only see each other whenever my wife visits there. Even though they communicate frequently on the phone, face to face meets is rare. She has never been here before, and this Summer was the one she and her son decided to come.

As it can be imagined we prepared with excitement and anxiety. How will they like this environment, how will they like the food, how will the weather behave, how will we get along in closed quarters? And many more questions that gave reasons for anxiety.

There is family in Florida including my wife's granddaughter. This family visit included a lightning fast trip down south to visit them.

While in New York my sister-in-law was taken to see a Broadway musical, they also visited Times Square, on a beautiful and hot summer day we took the Staten Island Ferry back and forth, one day we also went to the beach. So, I think we were good hosts. 

At the end, time flew by fast and the time for departure arrived. Took them to the airport, kissed them goodby, and that was it.

A couple of weeks later, Abigail took off with her significant other for a one week trip to St. Maarten. This was her first such trip without the family and understandably she was a little apprehensive. So were we. Fortunately, the trip turned out good, they had a great time and are looking forward to the next one. Maybe Hawaii or Las Vegas?

While she was away, my wife and I, and Robin enjoyed the peace and quiet at home. For Abigail college will soon start. This will be her last semester and understandably she is pretty nervous. It looks like she will continue with her studies for an advanced degree. Good for her. I guess and hope eventually she plans to work and earn some money!

One of my highlights for the summer was to visit my friend/brother/friend and his wife on their 60th wedding (diamond) anniversary. We had a great time. Actually I was his best man at his weeding all those many years ago. The nice thing about this get-together was that I met his son and one of his three grandsons. Both guys are very lovely people, and I was very happy for the chance to spend quality time with them.

It is a shame that they all live so far away. It is not the distance, it is the terrible traffic getting out of and back to New York.