Yummy life

When we go to the supermarkets to do our food shoppings, the empty shelves are more and more noticeable. This reminds me of the times after World War II back in Hungary. Even though I was only 8-9-10 years old I still remember that food stores had all kind of shortages. People were telling each other when they found out that certain butcher shop had meat or similar events.

Eventually the government instituted rationing coupons. The purpose was to prevent hoarding. Because people have the tendency to stock up on things they don't even need. Here, some stores put signs on certain items limitig purchase to a certain quantity by costumer.

Now that we are heading toward socialism, food rationing might not be too far in the back. The government will use that as an excuse to make sure that the supply chain is not interrupted nd everybody can get a little bit of everything  Why not to do it? Soviet Union had it, Cuba had it, North Korea had it. Or these countries might still have it. There is nothing wrong with rationing. It will give the government total control over our lives and OC and similar lefties will have everything to say about what we can do and what we should think of. 

Just think about it. Kids will not have to agonize over what career path they should pursue. Adults will not have to tink about which job offer should they accept. Housewives will not have to worry about what to cook for their families because the government will issue weekly guidance menus to follow. There will be no room for extravagant foods and deserts.

Life will be yummy, because we will not have to think any longer.

Are we old?

Are we old?

This is an eternal question, at least in my mind. What is being old? Is it the number of years we live or lived or the way our bodies behave?

Are we old for ourselves or are we old because other people see us that way and they communicate this observation to us.

My mind does not want to believe that I am old but my body tells me otherwise. Bending down is not that easy (actually bending down is easy it is the straightening up what's difficult), I walk with a cane because I have a slight balance problem, I am not as strong as I used to be and I don't (can't) run any longer. There are a few more things but I don't want to bore my friends. They probably have the same or more.

Now, are these symptoms of aging or they are just issues? I look into the bathroom mirror and don't see an old man but just me who didn't change in years. There are people who are much younger than us but behave as real oldies, and then there are people with a lots of years behind them who behave like youngsters.

When I reached age 50, AARP started sending me their publication and was offering membership. This was the first sign for  my aging. Actually, the membership fee was quite cheap so I took them on.

Ok, I look at things that I would have liked to do in life and then realize that they will not be done and I just have to accept that there will be no time left. Just because they were not done in the first 80 years they might still get done in the next 80! But that also can mean that I am just sensible, I also have to accept that by all logical thinking, I have less ahead of me than behind me.

So again, are we old because others tell us that we are old?

Sunday

To get back to my old ways, it is Sunday so I will take the day off. I will not overwork myself.

Why hiatus

Why the hiatus?

I have - according to my wife - weird sleeping habits. I snore and toss around in bed. Plus I do get up frequently to go to the bathroom. Well, this is me, and I can not help it. But my wife did.

She decided that we will sleep in separate beds. So, we went out and bought a new bedroom set, two twin beds and dresser that were delivered on September 23. This meant the existing set had to be disassembled and cleared out to make room for the new things.

For a while our apartment looked like a warehouse. On October 1 we rented a U-Haul truck packed in these things and drove them to a nearby place where they were packed into a U-Pack container for delivery to Ohio. Thanks to our building super's help because he did most of the work with my wife. But I had to be there, watching the truck and help with the small stuff. At the end of the day I was still tired.

A week later the container was delivered on site and that meant we had to be there to unload it. At the crack of dawn or earlier we started off and got to Ohio by 9am. My wife, Abigail, Robin and me. This was followed by an all day of unpacking the furniture. The two girls performed heroically, while I stood guard. By the end of the day the container was empty and even as exhausted as everybody was we started off to our return to New York.

It seems that a seven hour trip is getting to be nothing for us. During this entire process I realized that my strength is not what it used to be, and standing for a long time is ok, but after I usually can barely walk because my feet hurt so much. I guess this is where the mind and the body are not in sync.

On these long trips my wife drives alone. I am not allowed to drive any longer. But I have to give moral support to her. That means I sit in the passanger seat and keeping her awake. I am not allowed to sleep or even do doze off while Abigail sleeps through an entire trip on the back seat. Not driving and just sitting there and staring out the window while making "stay awake" conversations is not easy. 

But, that is what husbands are for. To provide support. 

Color blind

I am officially color blind. I have several times flunked the Ishihara test. My eyes were bulging out and still couldn't tell the hidden numbers or letters. In 1961 I was drafted but the same day was sent home because of this. Not that I am sorry about that but since the Vietnam war was raging at the time, God knows where would I be today.

But I am not color blind when it comes to see what is happening in our society today. There are whites, blacks, browns, reds and other hues and discrimination is raging. The problem is that certain races are given more freedom than others.

Here is an example. A few weeks ago the news was full with the disappearance of Gabby Petito, a white girl from Florida. Sadly, her remains were eventually found. It was a sad story and every media picked it up and carried it.

MSNBC's Joy Reid said Gabby Petito coverage is systematic racism: "missing white woman syndrome". Joy Reid is a black woman and it seems she can say anything without causing a furor. As for freedom of speech, if a white person would have said something similar about a black person that individual would be looking for a job by now.

Blacks have the thinnest skin I ever heard of. Anything negative and they get up in arms. But it seems that the rules are varying by races. A black can say anything about the whites, Jews, Chinese but this does not work in reverse. This is totally unfair. Their attitude is what creates racism and discrimination, but they don't want to see it.

It is ok for homeless or just crazy black men or women to go around and attacking Chinese or Jewish people on the streets but if this would happen in reverse there would be hell to pay.

This is a weird and upside down world we live in!   

MSNBC’s Joy Reid says Gabby Petito coverage is systemic racism: ‘Missing White woman syndrome. 

64 years

October 31 is my 64th anniversary of arriving at Idlewild (now JFK) airport. Boy, how time flies. I spent the better part of my life here, actually more than two thirds of of it. I saw a lot, lived through a lot, experienced a lot. If I knew how to write I would write book about it, but that is a lot of work and I am not up to it.

I lost friends, relatives, family throughout the years and that is sad. But life goes on, and I always say tomorrow the sun will come up. So, I just chug along and wait for what is waiting for. I am a fatalist, que sera sera as Doris Day used to sing. There are things I can not change and I just have to accept them. But at the end another day will dawn.

I know I don't have as much ahead of me as I have behind me but I still want to enjoy life as much as possible. Naturally, I will not take stupid risks but there are other ways of enjoying life. Right now I have a family that love me and care about me. I try not to be too much of a burden for them which is not easy because according to them I am becoming a grouchy old man. Well, this comes with the territory. They have to accept that I am smarter and more experienced than they are. I have an opinion about everything and that always differ from theirs.

I picked up an old expression from an older colleague of mine who always aid that I forgot more than you'll ever learn. And this is one of my mottos.    

Lazy

Going on hiatus is a very time consuming thing. It takes up all the unused time, hard to get out of it and very easy to get used to it. It is easy to get used to not having something to do with a certain regularity, not to fulfill an obligation one made to others. To say that I take a hiatus is an excuse to get out of these obligations and just be lazy. 

Lazy is good! But being lazy is habit forming. Not doing anything is very comfortable, but there is a flip side of this. There are always things to take care of. Some are urgent some not. The urgent ones are usually handled without any delay but the not so urgent ones can be comfortably delayed until the last minute. Being lazy is when the not so urgent affairs are being just postponed.

When one is retired and no longer working, the sense of urgency about most things goes to sleep. Hurry up is no longer in our vocabulary. Why?

First, because why rush? What will I achieve by doing it immediately? What will I do after I took care of this item?

Second, by not handling that particular affair I have the feeling of being useful because that task is waiting for me, and eventually I will take care of it (or not).

Now, this analysis is my reentry into the world of blogs. I don't promise there will not be more hiatus going ahead, but I will try to limit those.