Help

Some time ago I already wrote about this subject, but I have to update it because things are getting more and more ridiculous. Charities are an important part of our lives. We give because we can, and it is a moral obligation. It should not matter if it is to help people or animals in distress. And when we do it should make us feel good.

But the problem is that once we give it opens up the way to countless of charities bombarding us for help. Every day we get in the mail 5-6 letters from various charities asking for money. Animal groups are running head to head with people charities.

We got mail and brochures from groups protecting horses, draw horses, dogs, cats, donkeys, elephants and lately bees. I am sure there are animals I forgot to mention. Oh, also ASPCA, Humane Society, Audobon Society and every other animal protection group. It is now taking ridiculous proportions. Once a person gives in good faith the name must be listed in a major database because since the firs donation they are coming out of the woodwork. 

Unfortunately, the same applies to human charities also. We gave once and since then the asking for contributions never stopped. Indian schools, hospitals, veteran groups and many others are regular members of our mailbox.

I feel sorry for all these but there must be a limit to what people can give. And in today's world where scam artists flourish how can one tell what is real and what is a scam? The only solution in my opinion is not to give any more. It is not right but it is safe.

Horses

Draw horses

bees  donkeys  elephants  dogs  cats  

Cemetery

The largest Jewish cemetery in Budapest was opened in 1891; It claims to be the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. Christian cemeteries (at least in Hungary) keep a grave for 20 years if no payments are made and then exhume what is left and sell the site again. In Jewish cemeteries the gravesite remains until the end of time.

Now very interestingly the Budapest Jewish Cemetery survived the holocaust pretty much with no damage to it. But the damage done to the people is irreparable. Entire families perished and that meant that graves were left without any living member caring for it. This cemetery would not touch a grave unless care is paid for, and even then, their involvement was questionable.

There are sections there that are impossible to approach because lack of the decades of care created jungle like environment. Sadly, no living family members were around to care for this. Why do I know this? because my parents. my grandparents and other family members are resting there.

This lack of care created a class of entrepreneurs/gardeners who divided up cemetery among themselves for pay-for-care. I found a very nice gentlemen who took care of my father's grave whenever I asked him, And. then there was nice, not bashful Erzsi who took care of my mother's grave. I used to drive out there and she always, mysteriously appeared from the bushes to greet me. I used to telephone her maybe a month before my trip and asked her to fix up the gravesite. When it came to price, she was not too bashful, but she did good work.

Now, I have not been there for years, and I can not imagine what it must look like. The mother of a friend told me that she paid for a grave's maintenance to the Budapest Jewish Organization who is responsible for this cemetery but besides taking her money nothing else happened. Thus, the entrepreneurs. My wife visited my parents' graves and told me about the positive changes they were making there.

A few years ago, some group called the Friends of Budapest Jewish Cemetery, based in New York came to life. Their purpose is to restore the cemetery as much as possible. They keep sending me newsletters and photos and I have to admit they do remarkable work. Clearing jungles and restoring old, damaged monuments. They take donations and I guess they have enough to do this work. I am happy that finally somebody took the reins to take care of this very sensitive issue. The bad thig is that it had to come from afar because the local Jewish group couldn't care about it!       

Sorry

 Sorry, again!

Sad Times

According to statistics Columbia University has 36,649 students. Out of this number, 20,321 are international students. Now only either the remaining 16,328 American students are demonstrating, or the foreign students are also involved. If this is the case, then I ask what business is it for them what this country's foreign policy is.

They came here to study and hopefully take their knowledge back to their home countries and not to take parts in demonstrations and fight police. This is a free country. If they do not like what is happening here they are free to back to their own countries like India, Pakistan, Liby, Iraq or whatever they came from because I am sure over there their dissents will be greatly appreciated.

They already said that the demonstrators are not all college students. There are instigators mixed in who are not students at all. This is very disturbing. But as far as the foreign students, why not to cancel their visas and make them go home? Actually, I already heard a senator say the same thing. All the news stations are showing nothing but these happenings and every commentator agrees that they are very disturbing.

Apparently, our president does not think so because there was no official comment from the White House and he did not say anything so far. But the day is not over.

Really Good Country America!?  

 

The life we live

On May 4, 1970, in Kent, Ohio, 28 National Guardsmen fire their weapons at a group of anti-war demonstrators on the Kent State University campus, killing four students, wounding eight, and permanently paralyzing another.

This is what happened in 1970. Now the new approach is sucking up to the demonstrators instead punishing them for breaking the law. Bunch of students took over a building at Columbia University, barricading themselves inside. In the process they were destroying University property. But the authorities are not doing anything.

It that was when we were having laws and law enforcement agencies. Now it seems these agencies are afraid to do much because of the uproar that follows every step they take. This the typical "you are damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

And in the meantime, lawlessness prevails. Anti Israel, antisemitism and what else? Are pogroms following these political outbursts? I certainly hope not. We had enough of those in the 1940s and we all know where it led to. Unfortunately, today's young people have no idea where such behavior might lead to.

I ask if they really think that such behavior will force this country or Israel to change their policies? I don't think so. What it will lead to is that people will say that a bunch of spoiled American youngsters have no idea about the seriousness and of the consequences of their acts. They don't care about being dismissed from college, they don't care about ruining the future of other students who just want to study. I can fathom what they really care about. 

Time will tell and I am curious to see how this debacle will end.

Good country America? 

Living

Saturday I ran out of time to write my daily contribution. And I had a very good reason. It was not for laziness or forgetfulness. It was simply because I was busy. Yesterday was the perfect example of apartment living versus living in your own home. 

I live in an apartment building renting a nice comfortable apartment. The building has a live-in superintendent who supposed to be around 24/7. Everything in the apartment with the exceptions of the furniture and our belongings are owned by the landlord. If anything goes bad it is his responsibility to repair it, fix it with no cost to us.

And that was what happened Saturday. Abigail cuts her hair every week and that hair goes into the bathroom sink. By Saturday it got so bad that it was impossible to drain the sink, it was all clogged up. My wife and I both tried to clear it with a plunger, but that didn't work. Then she decided to take the pipes underneath apart. That did not help either. We were forced to go to the last resort, ask the super to come up.

Saturday is his usual day off, so he was not very happy, but since we have a good relationship with him, he did come. He took everything apart and came to the conclusion that the clogging was in the portion of the drainpipe that was in the wall. He had to bring up his electric snake and that eventually did clear up everything. He also confirmed that the culprit was hair (Abigail's).

This work lasted quite some time aside from the mess that it created. His efforts were generously rewarded but it was still cheaper than calling a plumber which would have been the case had this home were owned by us. We told Abigail if this happens again, she will have to pay for the labor. She doesn't believe us.

After years of living in apartments I maintain that the most important person in an apartment building one should be friendly with is the super. He is the one who can fix anything and if one is on good terms he even comes to help fast. This just proves that money is the solution to most problems.

Sunday

 Short and sweet: it is Sunday!

Sorry

 I had a very busy day yesterday and had no chance to write. Sorry!

Scam

Every two weeks or so I get a copy of the AARPBulletin. This is a publication of AARP and usually it contains a lot of interesting and useful information. They usually range from medical to scams. However lately they give an enormously large information about scams that exist and take advantage of the elderly. 

P.T. Barnum supposedly said that ther's a sucker born every minute. Scammers always find their target in the elderly and clueless. It is sad to read the stories where these heartless beings take every penny they can put their hands on. I read these articles and try to be very cautious and watchful about every email and telephone call I get.

But here is something I find peculiar. Today I received an AARP membership renewal letter requesting to renew our expiring membership. The letter was real, not fake. The problem I am having with this that our memberships do not expire until October 2024, six months from now. Why trying to collect money six months early?

I tell you why, because in the next six months there will be several reminders in the mail. AARP is counting on that us, old and forgetful people will not remember if we already paid and will pay again and again. As far as I can see it this is a scam! AARP should be ashamed of themselves.

Medical

Last week I had my annual physical. Abigail and I went together since we are using the same family doctor, a Russian lady. The exams went well. At the end she ordered ECGs for both of us and those were done immediately. Thank God both our results were fine. I looked at my chart and it was beautiful with nice even graphs.

Today Abigail and I went for the requested blood tests. Those were done in the morning on an empty stomach. My technician had a problem finding blood. She said I have "wiggly" veins. She jabbed me but no blood came out. So, she jabbed me again and then it flowed. I was tickled pink being jabbed over and over again. Then at the end she gave me a jar and told me to fill it. Well, to do it on order is not easy. I was really not prepared for such request. But I put my mind to work, and I succeeded! It is a good thing this was not a fertility clinic because I would have been in serious trouble! 

In a day or so the results should be coming in.  This establishment has a patient chart where all results are automatically downloaded to. Sometimes the patient sees the results before the doctors do, so I will probably see them before she will. Actually by 6:45pm my results came in, and they were all disgustingly good for a 87 year old "youngster".

When I know that there will be blood tests involved, I usually ask the doctors to request it before my visit this way the results are already in. At this visit I forget to ask, now I have to draw my own conclusions. I hope if something is that bad, she would ask for a new visit. But I also hope there is nothing bad. I want to be around for a while!

 

Jokes

An elderly couple is sitting at each end of the dining room table, having dinner. The wife says to her husband: "you know Josef, I still feel a warmth in my chest about you". The husband responds: "you know Maria, your left tit is hanging in the bean soup and that's what you are feeling".

Madeline and Charles are two nice elderly couple in their eighties. Both are residents in the same nursing home. As time went by, they developed romantic feeling towards each other. This was resulted in heavy pettings whenever they were alone. Madeline has five children and 12 grandchildren. Charles had four daughters and eight grandchildren. During one of those hot and heavy moments Madeline remarked that Chrles should be very careful because she did not want any more children. "I can not deal with any more babies, I had my share," said she. Charles added that he also had enough and said he couldn't handle any more graduations and weddings!

Dying wife is asking her husband: "darling when I dye will you look for a new woman for yourself?" "It is possible" says the husband. "And is it possible that she will move into this house?" said the wife. "That is also possible" says the husband. "And will she use my pots and pans?" asks the dying wife. "That is also possible" answers the husband. "And will she also use my golf clubs?" asks the wife. "That is impossible, she is lefthanded". 

 

Union

I always loved construction. This is what I learned in school, this is what I was aiming for as a career. My father and his brothers were all engineers rand related to different types of construction. Since this was in my blood, that was what I was aiming for. Coming to this country changed my plans a little bit but after four years of different jobs I did land a job in building construction.

Granted, it was a low level job but still I was able to get my feet wet. I was an assistant to a field engineer, but it gave me a chance to learn the ropes. After this job I moved around to different construction sites gaining more experience. I was brave enough to sell myself as a field engineer and I must say that I was not bad.

But construction had the bad habit that if that particular company did not have a job immediately after yours was finished, they had to let people go. And more than once I fell into that category. Being a field engineer did not provide stellar pay, but it was more than being a dishwasher, which I was at the beginning of my life here.  

Since every larger construction job had at least one field engineer unionization came into the picture. Larger companies signed up, smaller ones did not. Unwillingly I became a member. My salary was increased, I got benefits I did not have before, so things were looking up. But not for long.

I was the engineer on a very nice and interesting job in the 1964-1965 World's Fair in New York. I worked there for almost two years. The company liked me and kept me busy. But this eventually came to an end. Towards the end of the project when the construction was in its last stages and the number of employees were reduced, I was told that I was too expensive to keep.

The union did not help me to get a new job, I had to think for myself, and I did. After a few short term jobs, I found my new home with an engineering company where I stayed for 40 years. This was not the construction I had planned for myself, it was design but eventually I did wind up for many years being involved with construction. As they say, "all's well that ends well".

But this whole thing made me being disenchanted with unions. As far as I am concerned it did not do anything to make my life better to reach the American dream. It forced me to go out on the street looking for work which I did. I did succeed on my own to a point without any of their help. Actually, unions do not want you to advance. That is not their policy. Companies rarely promote members because it upsets the apple cart.

So it is hopefully understood why I am not a big proponent of unions. I am not against them, I would support them but within reason. As far as I am concerned there are work categories that should be unionized but there are some that should not be. I will not go into details now, just wanted to open up about my feelings. It is personal and based on my own experience.

Censorship

I don't know if it is a government censorship or is it self controlled one but I am certain that there is one existing here. I don't want to keep beating on an old subject but it is Ukraine, again. Listening to various American newscast we hear one side of the story, but listening to some other country's comments they are different from ours.

I was listening to another language newscast about Ukraine and that painted a different picture than the ones American news reporters give. That country is not unconditionally friendly, more realistic and thus their news reporting paints a different picture. They also show Russian advancements about which we know nothing. 

They show in detail the brutal way people are being grabbed off the streets and hauled off to be conscripted into the military. They want to conscript people who are cgs wurrently in prison. Men are endangering their lives to escape from the country in order to avoid the draft. 

In another news item people are saying that their government is stealing everything from them. Their lives are difficult and there is hardship everywhere.

Now these things we never hear about. The only thing we hear about that Biden is giving them another $60.8 billion. And at the same time we have homeless people here.

Good country America! 

Sunday

 All day Sunday. I am resting. Boy, I'm lazy!

Columbia

In recent days there were anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University. Young people, the "future of America" were demonstrating on the side of Gaza and the Palestinian people. This demonstration as shown on television really turned my stomach. This garbage that calls themselves educated behaved like a stupid mob.

There was a scene were they were trampling an Israeli flag, wiping their shoes on it. In another a white woman wrapped in that rag they were all wearing was heard screaming that "I am Hamas, long live Hamas". Something like this just make one sick. Ok, the police did arrest over a hundred demonstrators but only because they did not heed to their instructions. Freedom of speech was used liberally and that does not count as breaking the law. 

I don't know how many of these demonstrators were really students of Columbia, but it is sad that with such thinking they get admissions to one of the country's most elite universities. If it were up to me I would kick them out of school and blacklist them so potential employers would know what kind of people they are dealing with.

Unfortunately, whenever there is an anti-Israel demonstration there are also a surfacing of antisemitic feelings. Antisemitic feelings is like the common cold. There is no cure for it. It was there and it will always be there. Except sometimes it is below the surface while at other times it is out in the open.

The way I see it antisemitism is nothing more than jealousy. People are jealous at the Jewish people because of their successes. Israel became a state in 1948, 76 years ago and in that time it created a thriving country without the help of oil money. The Arabs lived in that same area for thousands of years and created nothing, until the arrival of oil money. And even then, it is less than what Israel did. 

Before this current war, every morning thousands of Arabs entered into Israel heading to work in Jewish owned businesses. I wonder how many Israelis went into the opposite direction to work in Arab owned businesses! Doesn't that say something? Naturally, this can create jealousy and thus the antisemitism. But the Jewish people are strong, and they have thousands of years of experience dealing with hate. They will prevail and this Columbia scum can go and stand in the welfare or unemployment line for food stamps.

Just a side note. Ilhan Omar is a Somali born representative from Minnesota in Washington DC. She is Muslim and anti-Israel and antisemitic. Her daughter goes to Columbia and was arrested by police during these demonstrations. Like mother, like daughter! 

  

Sleep

In my younger days and also while I was duly employed and a useful member of society, whenever I had the chance, I was able to sleep really long hours. On weekends if there was nothing pressing to do, sleeping 'till noon was not unusual. The rule used to be, to listen to the 11 o'clock news (half an hour) then go to sleep. When I worked, I used to be up around 6:30am. And I did love to sleep.

Now things are changing. At first we used to stay up until after the 11 o'clock news, then we took Robin for his night walk around the block. By the time we got to bed was usually past midnight. Then up around 7-8 in the morning, depending on Abigail's school schedule. This gave us 6-7-8 hours sleep.

But this is not the current situation. Now, we watch the 10 o'clock news for about 15 minutes, take Robin on his walk and in bed just around 11 o'clock. Still up around 7-8 in the morning. This is not bad but it has its drawbacks. 

For one I am not a long distance sleeper I used to be. Going to sleep early makes me wake up really early. Last night I went to sleep a little after 11 but by 5 in the morning I was wide awake. My wife was still asleep so I just laid there looking at the ceiling and thinking of all kinds of things. While I was already dying for my morning coffee I did not want to disturb her so I just suffered. 

I came to the conclusion that for my advanced years I do not need that much time to sleep as I used to. I don't know if this is a trend, but it certainly is with me. Which is a shame because now I do have the time every single day. Maybe nature tells me or us that our time is limited, don't waste it on sleep!

This is the end of my sleep story. I hope you are still awake.

The Prez

I get a kick out of watching the leader of the free world on the public stage. I have a feeling that every morning when he wakes up he says to himself what now. He is probably asking himself, why can I just not sit on the sofa and watch television all day like many other old people do? Why do I have to play president every day?

It appears everything is a drag for him. He always looks tired and slightly bored. It is interesting to see that on certain events he dresses up in formal attire while during campaigning he wants to show how much he is one with the people, like appearing in open neck shirts. Sorry, but showing up in open neck shirt will not make him one with the people.

Here is another thing. A while ago he described his telephone call with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He wanted sound like they are good buddies thus he was referring to Netanyahu as Bibi, his nickname. Well, they are anything but good buddies. They sorry to say have a very strained relationship. So, to pretend that they are friends is a little too much.

Now that Trump has to sit in a courtroom and listen to another frivolous lawsuit, he is using it to his own advantage and campaigns (in open neck shirt). I just hope that the uncommitted voters see through his charades come November.

Amazon

As it is known I am living in an apartment house. Several months ago, Amazon placed two huge steel cabinets in our lobby. No explanation, nothing they were just suddenly here. Since I am not very well versed on "world affairs" I had no clue what they were for. Until one day I saw something in a movie we were watching. It turned out they are to store packages that are being delivered.

Until now Amazon either brought packages to our doors or just left them in the lobby. This last solution led to several complaints about stolen packages. But now we hit the 21st century.

Upon delivering a package they place it in one of those niches then notify the recipient. We have to stand front of this monster, press a few buttons on the cell phone and one little door will snap open. You can't tell which will open so it is not advisable to stand close because it can hit you in the face. The box sizes are different so even large boxes can be placed inside.

This is a good invention because it supposed to reduce theft. The flip side as I understand it is if a package is not removed in three days, Amazon will take it out and it will go somewhere. What happens if a person travels and can not collect his packages?

Maybe FedEx and UPS will co-work with Amazon and make use of this creation in the future. So far the thieves still have the choice between FedEx and UPS.

The interesting thing is that this is based on the fact that one has a cell phone. What happens if I don't have one? I will not be able to take my packages? I assume there are still people around, maybe real old people, who do not have call phones. Stuck in the 20th century. 

USPS

The United States Postal Service should be renamed USSSPS - United States Snail Space Postal Service - for their lack of speed. I don't know what is wrong with them but for a while now they are more unreliable than ever. 40-50 years ago, I was admiring how reliable they were. Since then, they managed to erode that confidence. 

Now, they are the designated worse than I can imagine. Mail disappears without explanation, it is impossible to contact anybody. Mail arrives in the designated location but instead of being delivered it sits in the post office for days and I am not talking about weekends. When there is a time sensitive piece of mail is in question that kind of handling is not very good.

I did complain and they just found different excuses. But yesterday's mail topped it all. My friend sent a birthday card to my wife and this envelope was stamped on March 30 in Wilmington, Delaware. It got to our mailbox yesterday, April15. 17 days it took to get here from Wilmington, Delaware to our address. It could have been walked in less time.

I think the post office takes it upon itself that what they consider unimportant mail is just not being delivered. Like for years our overseas Christmas cards never get to their destinations. We usually send them to Hungary and to Australia. None of them ever reach there. But all the overwhelming requests for donations (political or others) without fail reach us.

Because that is money mail it seems more important than the regular stamped personal mail!

Good country, America!

Attack

Over the weekend Iran attacked Israel with drones and rockets as a retaliation for Israel's bombing their consulate building in Damascus, Syria. The Iranian reason for this weekend's attack was retaliation. Piss poor excuse if you ask me, but here it was. They attacked but fortunately no lives were lost and all their rockets and drones were shot out of the sky.

Sunday so called anti-war, left-wing activists in Chicago held protest gatherings where they praised Iran for attacking Israel, cheered Iran, chanted "death to Israel" and "death to America". Very brave people doing this here where they know they can get away with such show of discontent.

But I would like to know how they would feel if rockets would fall on their heads and on their homes originating from Iran. Would they still cheer those people if their lives were at stake? According to Fox News the "Death to America" movement is growing. Very interesting. Let's just think about it for a moment.

Let's say America dies as they wish, and a so far unnamed power takes over. Different authority, different rules. Do these people honestly believe that they would be able to chant similar slogans, would they be able to show their discontent as freely as they do it now? No sir, no way!

They would tried and convicted at their first beep. Then they can complain!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Sunday

 Sunday, all day.

Birthday

Today is my wife's birthday. Accordingly, the day is filled with non-stop celebrations. Music, dancing, partying and eating.

Then I woke up and realized that that is not what's happening. It was just wishful thinking. The reality is that Abigail pre-paid a day at a spa for her mom and herself. (I stay home and ugly.) I bought a nice bunch of flowers and a tiramisu cake. And at the end it turned out very nice.

I always hated my wives' birthdays. Never knew what to buy. If they really liked something they never waited until their birthdays but bought it. So, at the end nothing was left for me. Also the most difficult thing is to buy a piece of clothing or jewelry for a woman without consulting with her because by nature they are very opinionated and choosey.

I remember long time ago when I was a young boy, my father bought a pocketbook for my mother for her birthday. It was too fancy for her and she didn't really like it. It wound up on the top of the cabinet. When I asked my mom she told me the same thing. I was very upset that my father bought her such a nice present and she didn't like it. But I learned that this is the way women are and in all the ensuing years I never bought "surprise" presents. And that is the case now.

So, finally I wish a Happy Birthday for my wife, with love! 

Friday

It is Friday evening, and I am very tired. I did some heavy paperwork today and it used up all my mental and physical energy. So I am skipping today. I am the boss (of myself) and I do whatever I want.

War

In my country in the middle ages when there was a threat of war they carried a bloody sword around the country. This served as a notice to the nobles and others that the king requested their help in preparing for war, As time changed and technology came to the forefront there are other ways now to warn the people about an impending war.

First the hype. The media is the leader in building up the hype to a crescendo. They love nothing more than be the leaders in this. The ones who can save their credibility by saying "we told you so".

Then the politicians who don't know what side to take. They rattle the saber, but I am convinced that they are not prepared for the consequences, this country never had a war on its own territory so they are really do not imagine what it would entail if it had one. Using big words and warning others is easy. Putting an entire population in the line of danger is another thing. 

A war now would be totally different from any previous wars. With today's armaments wars could be "fought" in a very short time but create immeasurable damage. There will not be North Korean or Russian troops marching down the streets. There will be ruins and loss of lives. Governments will collapse and either new ones or just plain chaos will emerge.

They can take the president to a bunker for safety but what about the tens of millions of people who will perish or become deadly ill? There will be plainly no winners in such a war. With the technology of today there will only be losers and those will be us, the people. 

I lived through the Holocaust, the Second World War, the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and 9/11. I had enough and I do not wish it on anybody, politics or no politics. The winds of war should be blown out of this world and the danger of such event should not hang over our heads. Looking forward to boring eventless days.

Good country America!

  

Opinion

Today it was in the news that the other day there was an anti-Israel demonstration in the US Senate cafeteria and at the same time somewhere in Michigan (I think) somebody made a speech saying "death to America".

I may not agree with everything this government does but I find this attitude disgusting. In my opinion these people do not realize how lucky they are that they live here. Because here they can say these things, they can burn the flag and get away with it all. If they were living in Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, China or any of those and many other countries they would not see the next day after such expression of opinion. 

They would be prosecuted and sentenced at best. But here they can express their hate and their want for a change. I think this country is too soft on certain type of disagreement. Such as these should not be tolerated and furthermore it should be prosecuted. Democracy is nice but not without any restrains. 

Free speech is one thing but "death to America" does not fall into that category, in my opinion.

Good country, America!

P.S: RFK jr is speaking on the channel I am listening to. He is getting on my nerves. He can not speak, his voice is annoying, and he is not saying anything important. The reporter asked him something and he is stuttering.   Will not get my vote, for sure!  

Retribution

MSNBC is news channel owned by NBC. This is the channel that broadcast the Morning Joe commentary every morning. I don't like them and very rarely watch this channel. It is totally anti-Trump and totally biased against him.

Today they came up with an article, God knows what it is based on that Trump and his camp are planning retribution against his detractors once he is in power. In short: I certainly hope so!

Years ago in an interview, before he became president, he said that he never forgets people who wrong him and when he gets the chance he does get even. Well, when he becomes president, I hope he plans to get even with the people who turned against him. 

Even a blind person can see that there is a conspiracy going against him. Him being republican there must be the democrats who want to destroy him. The fact that they are destroying the American values really do not matter to them. They are using the slogan the American people as a blanket for everything they do. The claim they know what the American people want, and everything is for our benefit. 

Pelosi and company were foaming at the mouth when Trump was elected, and they tried everything in their power to destroy him throughout his four years. When that aging clown with that stupid smile on her face ripped up his State of the Union speech it was not any kind of victory but a kick in the balls of the people of this country.

I fervently hope Trump will win and will use every power at his disposal to destroy the people who turned against him. That will be good for the American people!

Eclipse

Monday is the day for this year's solar eclipse. I am writing this before it happens here and the hype on tv is unbelievable. Like if people have nothing else to do but watch the sun being blacked out with the shadow of the moon. If people are employed, how come that 50,000-60,000 people can fill a stadium to watch this event? Ok. this is something interesting. I did see one on 2017 and it was cool. But I couldn't get overly excited about it.

To see the northern lights would be a lot more interesting than this, as far as I am concerned. Maybe I am getting too blaze for my old age but it is getting more and more difficult to find something to get really excited about. They say the next full solar eclipse will be in 20 years in 2044. Now, that is something to look forward. 

That I can really be excited about. To be here and see it 20 years from now! Wow! My wife might not be so overjoyed about the prospects of me sticking around for 20 more years but I think I will be a little selfish about this. I just hope that our world will still be around at the next solar eclipse. Maybe the war in Ukraine will be over by that time and Israel will live in peace and harmony with its neighbors. Want to be here and see it!

P.S: I did go out and see it. I tell you the hype was bigger than what it looked like. First, it was not a complete eclipse here in our area. Second, by the time most of the sun was covered it became cloudy and there was no clear visibility. But I shouldn't complain, it was free. You get what you paid for! Maybe next time it will be better, ha? At least there is something to look forward to.

 

Sunday

 It is Sunday, the day before the rarely seen solar eclipse.

Boring

Whenever I said to my mother that I was bored, her response was that only simple-minded people would find themselves bored. When she said that to me, I decided even if I were bored, never announce it. Abigail likes to keep herself busy. Busy means studying or entertaining herself. If these two situations can not happen, she is bored.

In a few weeks spring break is starting in her school, and she already announced her desired programs for that time. She must be kept entertained because she said that she did not want to be home and be bored. Whenever I hear her saying she is or don't want to be bored I remember what my mother said to me. But I keep my mouth shot because if I say something an argument will break out and that is the last thing I want.

Some of her friends are going away, some will not be available, so she is desperately looking for things to do and people to do it with. The boyfriend is ok, but he will not be available every day besides even though he is the love of her life (she claims) she doesn't want to be with him every day. Some relationship, I say!

We are not available to entertain her on a daily basis. My wife has certain commitments, and I am not a partner in that. She has to figure out what is it that she wants to do so not to be bored and that has to be without involving us. I don't remember if I ever had that kind of problems when I was a young lad at my parents' house. I had my friends and I also read books. There was no tv and no electronic games but still, never bored.

This is the 21st century! Different life.

Weird world

I don't want to blow our good luck but so far, after a few days of problems, Verizon is working fine. There are no issues with it. We are slowly getting used to the channel numbers so there is nothing to complain about. Too bad, because I do like to complain. Comes with being an older person!                                        _____________________________________________________________________________________

On March 26 a bridge in Baltimore collapsed because it was hit by a giant ship. Six people died who were workers. The ship that hit the bridge lost control that was why it ran into the structure. The entire bridge collapsed and fell into the water. This is the short version of what happened.

Today it is April 5, and it took the leader of the free world ten days to go and visit the site. Why? George Bush visited the World Trade Center site many days after it collapsed. What is that these people think is more important than show their faces at the sites of such tragedies? If they care about the country as they claim they do, isn't their responsibility to put everything aside and visit these places? The governor of Maryland was at the site hours after it happened and so should have been the president.

Speaking of the president. He came to New York for a star studded fund raising at the Radio City Music Hall. At that same day was the viewing of the New York City policemen who was shot. He chose not to go to the viewing, rather he went to the fund raising. He could have done both. Trump did visit with the families. Biden sent his sympathies with the mayor who by the way was uninvited by the family.

Weird world we live in! 

 

April 4

In the Soviet ruled years in Hungary, April 4 was a national holiday. According to history, April 4, 1945, was when the last German troops were kicked out of Hungary by the Soviets and the war was over in that area. Always huge celebrations, military parades marked this day. No school, no work. And people liked it, I guess.

When the regime changed in 1989 and it included kicking out the Russians, April 4 was no longer observed. The fact that their kicking out the Germans was not looked at gratefully any longer because with that move they stayed on for many years and also there was always that not so quiet antisemitic feeling prevailing in Hungary.

Anyway, the regime changed, and April 4 became a regular day just like the other six. Except!

I mentioned it earlier that my family and I were in the Budapest ghetto. This place was enclosed with wooden walls all around the area. The few entry/exit placers were guarded by armed Hungarian nazis. One day in middle January we woke to an eerie quiet. Some brave souls went out to look around and came back saying that the guards are gone, the gates were left open.

So, we slowly and very carefully went out to look around to see what was happening. Suddenly out of nowhere a Russian military track showed up fully loaded with bread and the soldiers began to hand those out to us, poor souls. At this time we haven't eaten for a few days so you can imagine how well the breads were received.

Shortly after that episode we decided to leave the ghetto and go home to our own apartment. As we were leaving, we met with a line of soldiers (Russian) standing across the road with knives in their hands. Naturally we got scared not knowing what to expect. What they did was surprising and well received. They cut off the yellow star of David we all had on our clothings. 

These are the two things that stayed in my memory of those days. It is my opinion that if the Red Army didn't come when it did, we would have been all killed. As far as I am concerned April 4 is my liberation day.

    

Rain

Rain, rain, rain. For two days now it has been raining here. Not just raining but really pouring. It supposed to be spring but instead it is chilly and wet. How can one enjoy life in these conditions? It is just depressing. I don't go out if I don't have to. The only reason I go outside is when it is time for Robin. Usually, my wife takes him out but lately I also volunteer. 

These are very short outages. We step outside, he does his thing then he turns around and heads back inside. Robin hates the rain and wind and if there is no reason to go out, he is perfectly happy to stay indoors. So am I! Maybe this year we will not have a spring and just suddenly go into summer. Happened before, won't be the first time.

It is a good thing I am not a politician campaigning because it would be no joy to have a campaign thing outdoors under these conditions. Actually a good politician could make people believe that it is to their advantage to get soaked through.

Politics

Now we have a new player in the presidential race, and he is a Kennedy. RFK jr, the son of Robert Kennedy decided that he wants to be president. A lifelong democrat he very conveniently last year changed his colors to independent and other that is how he wants to run.

The man has absolutely no political background except that as a Kennedy he got politics with mothers milk. That is a political family everybody knows it. So now, he wants to be president. He is an environmental attorney with no political experience at all. But that was the way with Trump when he got elected and then grew into the job.

As I see it this Kennedy has the charm of a doorknob. I do not see anything inviting with him that I should give him my vote. Independent is a nice word but unfortunately in today's politics the independents always vote with the democrats. Meaning an independent president is a democrat president. Then things will not change. 

There is a big possibility that his entrance into the race might upset the applecart. People might get drawn to the Kennedy name and without knowing much, vote for him. If that happens, we will be in deep doodoo. This morning the polls showed that he was in the front, ahead of the other two. I think if he wins, he will be more surprised than anybody else.

This whole presidential trace is becoming more and more interesting as time goes by. 

Time

About a week ago was my father's birthday. In August will be my mother's birthday. Knowing my age one can deduce that neither is alive now. If they were it would be a miracle. My father was born 125 years ago, in 1899. My mother 120 years ago, in 1904.

My father was born not even in the 1900s but in the end of the 1800s. My grandparents were born sometime in the 1860s and I knew them also. Well, I am old, so it is not a miracle that I knew them. But what is interesting is that knowing my parents and grandparents those long gone years do not seem such a long time ago.

I know that the world changed a lot since those times. We had two world wars and an armed revolution to mention something. Technology changed or rather improved a lot. Here is an example. When my mother was born, in 1904 there were no airplanes to speak of. Air travel was unheard of. As time went by the airplane was invented and air travel became a popular way of moving around.

My mother never ever flew but had no reservations about flying. So, in 1962 she came out to New York to visit me, and she flew. The first time in her life she flew on a transatlantic, long flight to New York. She loved it. And after that she flew a few more times. My father never came to the US, but he also flew. 

Budapest where my family is from is an old and developed city. The building where my father was born and grew up still stands. I think when he was born it was already an old building. These old apartment houses are withstanding time and still give homes to many people. Budapest did not change much from those early days. Every time I visited, I never had any problems finding my ways around. Same old streets, same old buildings. It even held up against WWII.  In some older building shrapnel marks from WWII are still visible. 

The only reason I mention this to show how much our world changed or not since we are in it. Not everything is for the better but most of it is. 

Easter Sunday

 Happy Easter to all!

Trump

I am not a hard-core Trump fan, but I do like his approach to certain things. I think he does not care about politics, he is trying to do what he thinks is right. And I mean right for the people and for the country. Without being a Republican or Democrat. And that is why the professional politicians, like Nancy Pelozi are popping up and hate him.

Nobody can make me believe that these lawsuits against him are not organized by anti-Trump forces and primarily Democrats. How is it possible that for years nothing and suddenly now lawsuit after lawsuit are coming up into the open?

I always thought that in this country one is innocent until proven guilty. Yet starting with Colorado they wanted to lock Trump out of the primary roster because of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol building in Washington. He was never proven guilty but still they went ahead and tried to exclude him. Is this the American way? Get rid of the popular opposition leader who might win the election the other side does not want him to?

Putin does similar things, maybe a little more drastically and we are criticizing him. But whatever happens here is ok. We are very good with double standards. Criticize the other guy while we are doing the same thing in our own house. 

The lawsuits against him in New York City and New York State, in Georgia and God knows where else are part of a conspiracy I believe to block him from running for the presidency. He is popular and well liked and if he wins again, it is a giant slap on the face of the Democratic party. Hardcore democrats who blindly follow their party will vote for this 82 year old man who forgets his words, has to use cue cards for everything and can not give a straight answer to any question he is asked.

These people do not realize or do not care that their acts make America the laughing stock of the world. Nobody is looking at them as the leader of the free world but as a joke. And this what hey want!

Good country America! 

 

Sorry

Sorry, sorry, sorry for my tardiness. But as always, I do have a legitimate excuse. 

In our home we have Spectrum cable service that provides tv, internet and fax line services. When we signed up with them, years ago their monthly fee was not very high but slowly as time passed it kept increasing. Aside from that a few times a month we woke up to no service at all. It necessitated several rebooting, disconnect and reconnects to get service moving again.

When asked they said these things happen. So, when finally, Verizon wired our building we decided to give them a chance and switch over to them. That switch over took place this Thursday. We had an appointment for a technician to come and do whatever they do to ensure the Verizon service. He worked almost four hours doing the connections and setting up everything. We have three tvs, internet and a fax line and all were supposed to work. At the end of the day, they all did.

Eureka! A new dawn in our house. Now we have to learn new channel lineups and how to use our new remotes.

One of the complications we had to deal with was that my wife decided to rearrange some of the furnitures before the Verizon thing. That meant moving some fairly heavy pieces, and also move some pictures on the walls. Not much but they added up. This was done on Wednesday.

Today is Friday. This morning, voila! The new tv connection did not work. Suddenly, no internet connection. I was on the line with their technical support for over two hours but to no avail. They decided to send out a new technician to look at the problem. The technician came, smiled and said there is really no problem. Stayed for less than an hour, fixed it and left.

Now, we are in a state of scare if it will happen again. We hope it will not but who knows. We can hope!

Russia

It is terrible what happened in Moscow last weekend. More than 130 people were killed by four terrorists who fired into the crowd and killing young concertgoers. People innocently go to a concert and wind up shot to dead. This happened in Israel and now in Moscow. There is no place in the world that is safe anymore?

The four in Russia were caught by the authorities and on Monday they were shown to the public when they went to court. It was obvious that their treatment was anything but gentle. And in cases like this I agree with them. Unfortunately, in this country the bad people have more rights than the victims. They can hide behind those rights if they don't want to talk and human right advocate swill immediately stand behind them.

The Russians in this case did not believe in such nonsense. They got confessions the hard way and that was right. These people should not have any rights since they did not give any to their victims. If these four had any brains they should have killed themselves and go to heavens where 70 virgins (each) were waiting for them. Now what is waiting for them is a lot worse.

In this country they put them in prison, get three meals a day, tv, daily exercise and lawyer visits. After the Iraq war the American intelligence services tried to get away from the restrictions and set up interrogation locations in I think in Turkey, Albania, Romania and even in Hungary where the American restraining rules did not apply.  They worked for a while but eventually they had to be closed down and only Guantanamo in Cuba remained. 

I don't think the Russians are worried about public opinion about the methods of their interrogation. As I see it. these people do not deserve any soft treatment! And if they tell everything then the end justified the means.

Impossible

My cronies and I, all in the same age category are living in a very restricted world. This world is full of "not possible" categories. If we look around there are not too many things we are allowed or say permitted to do.

Let's look at a few examples:

It is not possible to make babies any more. Even though some Hollywood characters claim they became fathers at a very late stage of their lives. I don't believe them. They probably had a very good and virile friend who did the favor.                                                                                                                                We can not take out a 30-year mortgage any longer. As a matter of fact, I don't think we can take out any mortgage at all.                                                                                                                                              We can not get life insurance at all. 80 or 85 years is the upper limit (I think) and we are easily passed that. According to the insurance companies we are on borrowed time! Nice, right?                                  I  just saw today that we can not rent a car any longer. Their age limit ends at 75 in this country. So, if I want to go somewhere alone, all I can get is a bicycle (if I steal one).                                                          I have a feeling that health clubs will not let us sign up as new members because they don't want us to drop dead on their property. 

This world is a wide open space except for us old-timers. No matter where one looks there are restrictions or exclusions. I wander if that is for the reason that they want to protect us or protect themselves against possible liability. I think it is the latter one.     

So, what is that left for us to do? Sit home on the sofa, watch tv and wait for the boogey man to come for our soul or stand up and say, "hell with all this, I want to live my life the way I want to"?                  I am choosing the second one. I am not ready to give in, yet. 

Even though I gave this article the title Impossible, actually nothing is impossible!

         

     

Sunday

                                                                                   SUNDAY

Sorry

So, I missed one day. I am the Basa of this blog and it runs by my rules. But I do have a legitimate excuse. Friday evening, we went to Manhattan for Sabbath services to the Temple Emanu-El synagogue and after that we went out to eat.

The service as always was nice and elegant. They always have a guest speaker and this time it was some Muslim guy because of Ramadan. He spoke of the joint past and the hope for cooperation and friendship between them and the Jewish people. The congregation listened and applauded him at the end. People must have thought that the only way cooperation and coexistence may happen when one of the parties do not exist any more. And that is not in the future.

After the service there was a table at the entrance with some cheese, crackers, fruits, soda and wine. Before the pandemic they had this but not since. I think they just started this costume again. As non-paying participants I think this is a very nice way to treat the fellow Jews.

The dinner was in a Turkish restaurant my wife likes a lot. For meat they only serve lamb and chicken but but those in many varieties. So, we ate well, got home late and I skipped writing. God will forgive me so better if you do, too.

Sorry!

Tik

Today's excitement was that this morning we noticed a little reddish spot on Robin's neck. My wife looked at it and made the diagnosis that is must be a tik. Last Sunday Abigail took Robin to the park and it is possible that he might picked something up there while rolling in the grass.

I called his vet's office, but they said they were very busy and couldn't take him until next week. This really riled me up and I gave them a piece of my mind about being unprofessional and money hungry, but it was of no use. 

My wife looked it up in a Hungarian web page where it was advised to rub the place with pork fat and after about half an hour try to remove it with a tweezer. The pork fat supposed to soften up the skin.

So, after a half an hour she tried the removal process but since the tik was not really visible there was not much to remove. Robin behaved very civilized during the attempt. Now we will wait and see if there is any negative sign that would show up.

Never a dull moment in our household.

Spring

Spring 2024 begins on March 19. I don't understand why but if they say so then it must be so. They say it is a day early because this is a leap year. When I learned the seasons in school, I was told the change is always on the 21st so that is what I am used to.

But as they say that was old school and this is now. But I am old school so I will wait until the 21st for Spring to start. I wander if the plant world knows that the new season start a day early? Now Spring supposed to be nice and warmish but we are having none of that. Right now the temperature is 44 degrees Fahrenheit, the heat in the apartment is on. To me that feels more wintry than springy.

In case anybody wants to know 44 degrees Fahrenheit is 279.817 kelvins. Figure out what kelvin is. This just to flaunt my wide range of knowledge. Abigail may know chemistry, but I do know my Kelvin! Anyhow, we just walked Robbin and I almost froze my arse off. It is cold outside.

Robin is funny, when the weather is not to his liking he just don't want to be out. He takes care of his things and heads inside. He likes the comforts of a nice warm room. And he is not yet retired.

People

There is something to say about people whose parents were not born in this country and their offsprings made impressive careers. There are many men and women in government positions with obvious middle eastern or oriental facial features. Watching news and governmental broadcasts one can see a multitude of people in high positions or working behind the scenes as support staff.

Hilary Clinton's long time assistant was Uma Abedin. She was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indian and Pakistani parents. The head of FCC is Ajit Pai. He was born in Buffalo, New York to Indian parents. Bobby Jindal, former governor of Louisiana from 2008 -2016 was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Hindu parents. The recently in the news Robert Hur is an attorney, born in Buffalo, New York to South Korean parents. And there is Nikki Haley! The former head of the Congressional Budget Office was Peter Orszagh. He was born in New York City and his paternal great grandparents were Hungarian.

I thought I add this last one just for good measure.

This shows that first generation children generally do better than their peers. What is the reason? Is it that their drive to succeed is stronger than the rest or just that they are plainly smarter? I believe that these people are just smarter than the average American youngsters and also, they take their studies more seriously than the rest.     

This is a trend we will have to get used to. Racial prejudices will have to be put aside because one can not walk out of a doctor's office just because the doctor's skin color, accent or origin. In this country that is not the way to survive. I already mentioned that I go to a medical center where Russian is the predominant language spoken. It is in a Russian speaking neighborhood and the operators of the center try to appease the residents by hiring Russian speaking staff and doctors. 

The staff is ok, but the doctors are usually better than the Americans. I told my wife that sometimes I feel like I am sitting in a Moscow medical center. But as long as they cure me it is all right. I have to note that the doctors here are not first generation. They all brought their basic education from Russia, but they all completed the necessary American medical education, and they are very good.  

  

Purim

Next Saturday is Purim. This is a Jewish holiday and while most holidays are somber this one is quite happy. It is not a carnival, but it is being celebrated by singing, dancing and not least of all eating. My wife decided that to celebrate this holiday we will go to the synagogue on next Friday night.

She also promised that after the service we would go out to dinner. Now, this is all fine with me. I have nothing against going to the service and have nothing against going to eat out. But two weeks in a row to dress up is more than what I signed up for. For me to put on a pair of normal pants is a very stressful exercise. My waistline is used to my elastic friend. But really, I can not go to the temple in warmup pants, can I?

Maybe I should buy me a pair of pants they sell for expectant mothers. These pants adjust to the constantly changing (growing) waistline. This is not a bad idea, I'll look into it. This is very upsetting. When I used to work, I was able just to take anything from my closet without worrying if it would fit. Slacks, jackets, shirts, anything. Now I have to try on at least three items before I can find a good one. This is very depressing. And I am not even overweight or obese.

The last solution is to buy larger sizes, but that cost money and who knows how long before they don't fit any more.

Sunday

This week went with lightning speed. It seems it just started and now it is over. Well anyway, it is Sunday again.

Clothing

When I worked and went to work regularly, I always used the subway. It was fast. convenient and in those days safe. Since my office was in Manhattan it was logical to use this mode of transportation. Lacking anything useful to do on these 45 minute train rides I had ample opportunity to watch people.

Around this time of the year when winter is not really gone, and spring is not really here I used to get a kick out of seeing how people dressed. Mornings were always cooler but during the days it warmed up considerably and that created the weird dressing habits.

I used to see people dressed in warm winter clothing with fur collar, hoodies against the chilly winds, then later in the day when the temperature went up into the 50s or 60s, they all looked silly and out of place. But people never learn. They keep doing this year after year and being uncomfortable. Maybe they like to suffer, I don't know.

Oscar

Last Sunday it was Oscar Day. ABC TV made a whole day of this Oscar presentation. All their good programs were postponed because this event. As far as I am concerned Oscar is nothing more than their self-adulation, sucking up to the producers, looking for more work.

The women strut down the red carpet in their designer dresses that their get for free and the loaner jewelry they have to give back later on. Interestingly, years ago they were always asked what (or whom) they were wearing and at that point they mentioned the designer's name. But recently they stopped this practice. I am sure it eventually comes out.

Made up by cosmeticians, hairs done by professionals. There is nothing real with these people. They should come to these events looking the way they look when they wake up. That would be interesting to see, and scary. 

With the short life of movies some of the nominated movies are not even around anymore. I recognize the very recent ones but not the ones from a year back. That's ok, I don't count what is important that they remember. There were some interesting movies mentioned, I will wait until Netflix has them for free. 

Wednesday

I honestly admit that I skipped yesterday because I just had no time to write. It was a crazy day with things to do around the house. It happens occasionally. But what made the day exceptionally busy was that there is a lady in our building who is a fairly well-known harp player and yesterday she had a concert in Manhattan. We saw two of her previous concerts and yesterday was the third.

It started at 7pm, doors opening at 6pm and no reserved seats, so we left early to make sure we get good seats. Well, we did get a very good table. This was a night club like environment, sitting at tables. The show was good. This lady is a very good harp player, she had a small band with singers accompanying her. She played popular songs and that way the atmosphere was very enjoyable.

My problem was that I had to dress a little more than I usually do. Bottom line was that my pants were very tight. I haven't had other than my warmup pants on for a very long time so when I tried to dress up yesterday it was a shock. I didn't think I was gaining weight, but reality said it differently. Pants and jacket that were comfortable the last time, now were tighter. This was a culture shock.

But regardless of the pain, I did enjoy the show. And that is what counts.

Wikipedia

It is hard to believe that Wikipedia was not around ever. It is such a good source of information. I can think of any subject, turn to Wikipedia and there it is in details. Many times a lot more than I really want but still. Some know it alls claim Wikipedia is not that good or accurate but from where I stand or sit it is pretty good.

If I were going to school now, I would certainly rely on them. I am sure many young people make ample use of the information they contain. Come to think of it, how do they collect all that information, knowledge. They must have thousands of extremely smart people available to do this.

In addition, they are also available in many languages. I read the Hungarian Wikipedia and that one is also a bottomless pit full of information. I don't recheck the information, but I am sure they are correct. 

Wikipedia came into existence in 2001 and in that time it became the (I think) the most popular source of information. One interesting thing is how up to date they are in many things. A death announcement comes on the tv and a few minutes later Wikipedia shows that information.

With my wide range of knowledge I sometimes feel I am Wikipedia personified (ha, ha, ha).

Social etiquett

I have a lady friend who is a hairdresser. She has the habit to offer to fix, adjust, do her guests' hair just as a nice gesture. I find this very friendly and warm act of hospitality. I see nothing wrong in using a friend or guest's profession for help or advice when people are in their company. It should be done tactfully without overdoing it.

If I would have a plumber friend and he is in my house as a guest, I would have no qualms asking him about let's say a leaky faucet. Or an electrician friend about maybe an overheating wire. Naturally there are limits to these things. I couldn't ask a bricklayer to lay brick when he is over for a drink, or an executioner to execute me as a favor, right?

But these things are done, and most people do not mind giving limited professional advice or help to friends. If I had a friend who is a tax expert, you can bet that I would grill him on what can and what can not be done as far as taxes.

However, there is a profession who is not giving all it could and those are the doctors. I think it would be nice if and when a doctor invites friends to his or her home would give a physical exam to the guests as a goodwill gesture as long as it is not a colonoscopy. People would appreciate this, and it would also make this doctor very popular amongst his friends. Just think about this! 

Sunday

 SUNDAY!

Mysteries

Mysteries of life:

When a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound?

When a man (or woman) takes a shower and there is nobody around, does he pee in i

Flatulating (farting) in public is a no-no. When there is nobody around, do you fart out loud?

Does fart smells bad only when there are others (like your wife) around or in total privacy it has no smell at all?

My wife accuses me of slurping when I eat soup, so I keep controlling myself until she gets up and goes out to the kitchen, then I slurp. Are other people in the same boat?

One has a toothache and goes to the dentist. While sitting in the waiting room the toothache stops. Why?

In the area where I live there is not a single gas station with chargers for electric cars, yet I see electric cars parked on the streets, not in garages. Where do they charge their batteries?

Kosher food costs more than non-kosher. Why, because the rabbi so expensive?

My wife claims that I snore so loud that neither her nor Robin are able to sleep. I don't believe this. How come that only she hears it and I hear nothing?

SOTU

SOTU means State of the Union. And the SOTU is in fantastic shape, according to the POTUS. Well, maybe where he is. Look at it this way, he is living for three years now rent free. He gets free meals, free transportation and $400,000 a year salary. He also gets $50,000 non taxable expense account and $19,000 for entertainment. Naturally he would see everything through rose colored glasses. 

Thursday night he gave his annual SOTU speech in the joint session of congress. Lacking any other entertainment on the telly we watched the old man going through his presentation. Here are a few of my observations.

The entire gathering looked like the ones we can see in newscasts from North Korea where the attendees hysterically applaud at every word of their great leader. That was how the democrats behaved last night.

If our vice president would ever find herself in the need of a job she can always apply for cheerleader. Yesterday she was jumping up at almost every sentence POTUS made and was leading the Democratic cheering section. I never knew she was so talented.

The esteemed New York Senator Chuck Schumer was so far up Bidens's ass that he was practically looking out his mouth. He was always near him grinning like a proud father. 

Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House was very busy shaking his head and making faces at the president's claims of his successes. Well, at least he did not tear up the speech like that hag Pelosi did when Trump was making his report. 

Interestingly, he started his speech with Ukraine (understandably) and spoke very briefly about Israel much later. And even then, he made the people of Gaza the martyrs, the suffering ones. He spent more time saying that Israel should slow down, start a cease fire and also should assist in providing humanitarian aid to those poor Arabs whose one goal in life is the destruction of the State of Israel.

What a world we live in. Anyway, this morning everything looks different. There is no inflation, prices are going down, there is no unemployment and everybody (should be) happy. We are living in a democratic utopia!

Good country, America! 

    

Birthday

Today, Thursday is the birthday of my bestest friend in this whole wide world. We grew up together, our past is kind of intertwined. there is a lot of things common between us. We came to this country together and kept in close touch ever since.

He is not just my bestest friend we are somehow also related. But that is secondary because a person can not choose his relations but can be very selective with whom he becomes friendly with. I am very happy that he is the selected one.

He is two months younger than I am and that makes me the older but not necessarily the wiser. On many things we think alike and even we might not communicate for a long time, at out next conversation it always seems we just spoke. Scary, isn't it?

This weekend we are planning to visit him and his wife and since we didn't see each other for quite a while I am pretty excited. Hope the visit will turn out fine.

F.T.

F.T. is short for Food Terrorist. This is my new name and designation for Abigail. Every day we are having serious discussions about what is for dinner. This girl is so selective, so choosy about food that it is impossible to agree with.

My wife is a very good cook. Many times, she makes good old fashioned Hungarian food that lasts for three or even four days. These foods get better as they age. A good Hungarian goulash is a lot better in its second or third day than on the first day. Abigail never eats anything after the second day. When she finds out that on the third day, we might have some leftover that is when the sh.t hits the fan. Then either she orders something from some exotic restaurant like Japanese or Mexican or my wife cooks her something different.   

Her list of I don't like those is long. She is not too friendly with Hungarian food even though there are a few that she likes, but the majority she dislikes. Japanese Ramen soup, Mexican from Chipotle, Thai and Korean foods are her favorites. I don't know where she picked this crazy habit up.

The reason I call her the Food Terrorist is because regardless of what we like, she practically forces her mom to make what she likes. She doesn't like peas, she doesn't like bell peppers. She will not eat grilled salmon on the second day and the list goes on and on.

I always tell her that she is having it too good, and she will not be able to live like that once she goes off on her own. But this kind of talk falls on deaf ears because I can never win. I am the best customer for food. Whatever my wife puts front of me, I eat. I learned a long time ago never criticize a wife's cooking if I don't want to wear it. So, I learned to keep my criticism to myself. I am a pacifist! 

Medications

I never denied that my main current "occupation" is watching tv. It is comfortable, it does not use up any energy and last but not least it is not educational. Since I learned all there is to learn in life I am not open to any new education. They can talk, they can force any issues, but I will always stick to my gum.

Any given day on any given channel there are a myriad of drug advertisement. They pop up, they impress upon the innocent tv watcher that they are the answers to their so far untreatable ailments. Ok, maybe so. Now the patient is supposed to go to the doctor and request that particular medication, right? Or the doctor is now expected to change the medication because of what the tv ad said? I really don't think this is what happening.

Then what is the point for these advertisements? The other interesting thing that crops up each time is the small print at the bottom of the screens. There is always a lot of writing and always made sure that it could not be read. I'm sure these are legal notes, protecting the advertiser but wouldn't it be nice to be able to know it?

The other thing is and if one reads fast enough can see it is that at most of these medications it is noted what kind of harm or disturbing side effect it has. The list includes suicidal tendencies, depression and many other not very pleasant symptoms. So, while it might cure a specific ailment it might create a list of other problems. This is the part that I noticed and got upset about.

The problem is that doctors do not always know about the side effect and medication interactions. If one questions it their answer always is, ask the pharmacist. 

Israel

On October 7 of this year Hamas terrorists without any provocation attacked Israel killing innocent civilians including women and children. Israel was caught off guard by this attack and very shortly got its act together and retaliated by attacking the Hamas strongholds in Gaza. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Arabs too over 200 people as hostages.

Israel started to bombard Gaza while also sent in troops. In the retaliatory attack civilians lost their lives in Gaza. Hamas did not care about the lives lost and the damages their action caused in their own environment, they just kept up fighting and resisting.

It was interesting to see how fast world opinion turned against Israel and made the people of Gaza the innocent victims of this war. Demonstrations in every country broke out on the side of the Palestinians but never on the side if the Israelis. Governments all over, including this one are sending aid packages to the poor suffering Palestinians who would at their first chance turn against Israel.

Yes, many Palestinians died as the result of this engagement but that is the price of every war that is what they call collateral damage. During WWII the Americans or the British or the Russians regularly bombed Budapest. There was absolutely no military force in that city so why bombing? After some of the air raids I did see the bombed out apartment buildings where people died under the rubbles. How come the world never complained or demonstrated at that time?  

We live in a very interesting time. People protest against any thing many times just for the sake of protesting without looking at the morality of the cause. This is disturbing but there is nothing anybody can do about it. 

Israel probably is strong enough on its own but since the US and many countries always announce that they are the friends of Israel and stand ready to help it would be nice to see some unconditional help. The way I see it any cease fire just help Hamas to reorganize themselves and get ready for the next invasion. Short of wiping them off the face of the earth there is no solution.   

Sunday

 Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

TV

I don't like boring tv shows. I do very much like action movies and tv shows. Because the ladies in my house don't like them this way many times I am forced to watch these by myself. Just recently I finished watching a British series by the name of Peaky Blinders. I liked it very much. It had all the necessary ingredients: gore, sex, violence, rough language.

This show ran for six seasons, six episodes each. That is 36 episodes and I watched them all. It was very realistic and to a point scary. The storyline begun in the 1920s and ended in the 1930s. This is a gangster story with some (maybe) historical undertones. 

The scary part was the implication that in the 1930s in England there was some sympathy towards fascism and Hitler. They implied that there was even an English Nazi Party preparing for taking over the government. Now, this could have been just plain fiction or historical truth. I don't know but if it was the truth, it is scary because it shows what lurks in the minds of the people when they let their thoughts run wild.

From the lower working class all the way up to the aristocracy these sympathies were there and who knows where they are now? History proved it that it did not take much effort to stir up abnormal feelings in people.

In this so-called democratic country, they sent Japanese people into concentration camps during WWII just because they were Japanese. The rounding up and the eventual locking them in was not done in the most humane way and what is scary again they found people who were willing to assist in this shameful act. 

I just pray and hope that no such discriminative act will ever happen in our and in our children's lifetime.

Abigail Continuing

On February 15 I wrote about that Abigail was notified by Columbia University that her application for their masters program was accepted, and she may start her studies in the next fall. Naturally she was overwhelmed about this news not counting the fact that one has to take out a second mortgage to cover the costs. Understandably, I was a little reserved with my overjoyment.

This week she received a letter from New York University, her second choice that she was accepted there also. I understandably was totally overjoyed by this news because what that letter also said.

Full scholarship plus all costs, fees and expenses and $18,000 a year stipend. Now, isn't this something to be overjoyed about?

While Columbia is a one year very congested and full program, including Summer, NYU is a two year program with a little more breathing room. Now, her mom and I are trying to get her to accept the NYU offer even though she thinks Columbia is much more superior.

I keep saying to her that it is not always the schools that make a person. It is the person that has to show the want and the energy, the willingness to learn and what to do with that knowledge. Just running around and screaming that I am a Columbia graduate, I'm a Columbia graduate will not make people falling on their faces and will not make companies stand in line to join them and pay humongous amounts of money. 

But anyway, today Abigail and her mom went off to Columbia because they have an open house for prospective master's students to listen what it is they have to offer.

Like a good Jew that I am, I asked Abigail if it is possible to haggle with these universities. I asked if she could ask Columbia if they might be able to match the NYU offer? She said it is usually not done. too bad. Anyway, NYU is just as respectable as Columbia.

Interesting side note. I was reading the NYU PHD program. Did you know that it is totally free and in addition they pay an annual $40,000 stipend? No wonder there are so many PHDs around. It is a great thing not to do anything but just study and getting paid for it. It is almost like welfare!

Good country, America! 

Older

This old(er) age is beginning to be a pain in the butt. Actually, not just in the butt but everywhere else. Anybody saying that these are the golden years is shamelessly lying. When one is younger, quite younger some ailments, discomforts creep up slowly. So slow that we don't even know about them until they are here. And then, being as I said younger, we hope that our stronger bodies can deal with these.

Now, this is a different story. We can go to sleep feeling good but next morning when we wake up there are pains, new symptoms and a myriad of yet experienced discomforts. Some of this I experienced myself. I had no issues with my waist. Then from one day to the next it started to hurt so bad that I had real problems bending down. I was thinking about everything that could have caused it but then I just let it go. Three days later it is gone. I don't know what it was, probably just came to annoy me.

I noticed on myself that my walks are not as steady as they used to be. I am starting to walk like an old man which I really am trying not to be, even though I am. I walk with a cane, and I am very conscious of where I put my feet since I do not want to fall. For a long time I really did not have any permanent need for it but lately I rely on its support more and more.

Now I have a moral question that I touched on before. Being at an advanced age, should we run to the doctor at every sign of discomfort, pain or ailment or if it is tolerable should we just let nature take care of it?

Would doctors be trustworthy enough to tell us the real truth or what we would like to hear? Would they prescribe necessary and possible long term and costly treatments for the ailment? Or are there some secret insurance company guidelines about wasting money on older people's medical expenses? 

I'm just curious!

More Ukraine

The letter here was written by me to Senator Schumer after I heard him on tv idolizing the Ukrainians. I do not expect a response and I know I will not change his views. As a good politician he could probably defend Hitler if it was politically advantageous. That's why I always say that politics is a dirty game. 

Dear Senator Schumer,

I am one of your constituents, and I did vote for you. I will not hold it against you that you are a Democrat, but I will hold against you that for a Jew you are idolizing Ukraine. 

Dear Senator, do you realize how the "poor" Ukrainians behaved during the German occupation? They were worse then the Germans. The Germans actually stepped back and let the Ukrainians do the work for them because their cruelty toward the Jewish population exceeded theirs. And now, you a Jew yourself are going around trying to whip up support. Does this mean that politics forgives past sins if it is for the national interest?

Apartments

I find it very interesting that every advertisement on television, every prize to be won on game shows are aimed at people who live in houses. Nothing is ever shown to people who live in apartments. Can anyone imagine winning a 300 gallon jacuzzi hot tub and living in a one bedroom, third floor apartment? Or winning a nice outdoor barbecue set when living in an apartment building? They never have anything tailored for us poor apartment dwellers. I wonder why?

According to some statistics there are 21.3 million apartments in this country with 36.8 million residents living in them. Not a small number, but not a number to ignore. Yet, we are being ignored. The accuracy of these numbers can be argued but still, it would be nice to see things on tv that us, poor apartment dwellers can also use.

When they advertise exercise equipment, they always show apartments with a room large enough to be a gym by itself, and also with views to a river or something similarly spectacular. With today's apartment prices people who live in such environment must earn about a half a million dollars a year. This already exclude a large percentage of those 21.3 million apartment dwellers. Just like advertising a Rolex or a Bently for the average populace.

The average pople will not notice these advertisements and the well off ones will not follow them either. So what is the point?

I love those personal elevator chairs for older and handicapped people. I thought I would have one installed when I realized that I live in an apartment with all the rooms on the same level. Bad luck! I also like those window replacement ads by Anderson. Very impressive stuff they have. So, I thought I would have all my windows replaced when I realized that I live in an apartment building with about 500 similar windows. Again, bad luck!

Now, I just have to wait until I see something practical and interesting suitable for an apartment. I have time (I hope).

Ukraine

I am sick and tired of Ukraine. That war is going on for two years now, and they are nowhere. Except the billions of dollars they received from friendly countries. From countries that are so blind to reality that they honestly believe Ukraine can come out as the winner. They are also blind due to their hate and being afraid of Russia.

Don't they realize that Russia is huge, and nobody will be able to beat them? Napoleon was not successful, Hitler was not successful. Now they think that the Ukrainians will succeed? But in the effort, they are destroying their own country. They are probably counting on the international community to step up (again) and help out in the rebuilding.

I said it before, and I am saying it again. The leadership is dishonest. It is well publicized that from the top down large amounts of the aid money find its way into pockets of the people who hold the power. The villas in other countries, the luxurious vacations while the war goes on seems to be the accepted norm for these people.

Mr. Z. is great on going around the world in his tailored war getup and beg for money. He is very convincing showing that it is never enough because some naive European countries are still falling for his crocodile tears and give money. Nobody take notice that the Ukrainian leadership from the top down is one of the most corrupt in Europe.  I guess they need it for the next Riviera vacations!  Finally, there are some in the American Congress who are against any further aid. And that is good.

But the president feels obligated to grant some to the Ukees. Probably because as a gratitude for the business his family was (or maybe is) doing with them. 

Here is another thing that nobody brings up. The Ukrainians were like wild dogs against their Jewish population when Germany occupied them. In many instances they were worst than the Germans. Actually, the Germans let the Ukrainians do their dirty work they were so bad. And we are helping these people? I know that war was 80 years ago, but still. As far as I am concerned them and the Russians deserve each other and the Ukees can rot in hell! 

Sunday

 Time flies, it is Sunday again.

Theory

I honestly believe that there is a conspiracy in this country against Donald Trump. This conspiracy started right after he became the Democratic nominee for the presidency. I don't know who the leader is or are but I am absolutely sure that Nancy Pelosi and Schumer are at the top. After he won the election, it bugged the hell out of them to see that an "outsider", a non-politician became the president of this country.

Once his presidency was over the democratic machinery went out full blast to destroy him. It is not coincidental that right now there are about six or seven lawsuits pending against him. It is not coincidental that several states or their attorney generals decided that he could not be on their ballots. It is unbelievable that all these people come up with the same idea at the same time.

A blind person can see it that this is being orchestrated. And that can only be by the Democrats. He is campaigning for the 2024 election. He is very popular and this time the leading candidate. The Democrats are trying everything in their power to have him found guilty in some of the lawsuits because that might disqualify him from running. But it doesn't seem that they would succeed. 

While his lawsuits are cropping up left and right at alarming speed, our president son's charges are moving at a snail space/ Biden is very successful getting the affairs of his son buried in the bureaucracy and swept under the rug. Interestingly all the media already showed the shady side and doings of his son, but the prosecutors don't seem to find anything. Now, don't tell me that there is no influence peddling in this case. 

The Democrats are concentrating on a conspiracy theory to overturn the previous election results and are blaming Trump that he orchestrated the whole thing. What about the Democratic orchestration to disqualify Donald Trump and force on us a demented old man at the head of the American government. The government is so eager to chastise Putin for what he does but are we any different?  

Good country America! 

Working

I don't understand the big uproar about returning to work. When I worked my place of employment was in our New York office. Unless I was out on a construction site it was expected of me to be there five days a week, eight hours a day. Sometimes we worked six days a week and ten-hour days, depending on our workloads. There was never any question about where we would work.

We had one employee who had about two hour train ride each way every day and he was the exception. He left early but did all his writings on the train and next day he delivered what was needed. But nobody ever worked from home.

Because of the Covid thing, workplaces closed down and people were allowed or required to work from home. Naturally, this depended on the type of work, can it be done through computers and did these people have the necessary computers. This appeared to be a very comfortable if not totally practical solution. It was difficult to keep track of deliverables and timeliness of such. People usually get paid for eight hours of work. Working home in pajamas or nightgowns that is not always trackable. But it was very comfortable.

Now that the pandemic is over, companies want to see their employees back in the offices. Not just because that is the normal way but also companies are paying big bucks for office place. To have empty offices because everybody is working from bed is just not practical.

Being real Americans. people are complaining about everything. Now, employees complain about being required to go back to their workplaces. Companies had to give ultimatums for people to return. Come back or face dismissal!

Now because of that people are upset. They upset that they have to go in and put in an honest day work for a day's pay. I think an employer has every right to require for his employes to work at their original workplaces. But if things will remain normal, no matter how they fight eventually that will be the norm again. 

This is the typical American way. Protest about everything.