Congress

When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they set up a two-house legislative branch called the United State Congress. It comprises the House of Representatives and the Senate. The members are elected by popular vote. Senators, two per each state and for six-year terms. The representatives are elected for only two-year terms.

Two become senator is a huge accomplishment. It is a respectable position and there are only one hundred of them. 

In my view, to become a representative is something for the small minds. They are elected for two year terms understanding not to get too comfortable. Their seats are up for grabs very frequently. To become a representative all they need is a little popularity to be able sell themselves withi their election district. But they have to do this every two year. The ones who have been serving for several periods were able to sell themselves to their constituents or the constituents just got bored and did not care. 

These reps. believe they represent the people. They are wrong. They only represent themselves and the highest bidder. To be a representative is a direct road to a cushy job once they are not in the Congress. To be a Republican or Democrat is no difference at all. It just reflects who sits in the White House.

These reps are running around beating their chests, like gorillas and scream I represent the American people. The difference is that gorillas can not be trained while these representatives are trained like circus animals. When Nancy says jump all they ask is how high? A perfect example is their behavior in that January 6 commission. Nancy Pelosi is obsessed with Donald Trump's presidency, and she will go to no end to discredit him. That is exactly what this January 6 commission is supposed to do.

To be continued.

Driving

I live in Queens, NY and frequently we need to drive into Manhattan. That is not a small task. Aside from the never missing traffic conditions we also have to deal with idiot drivers. And idiots we have plenty of.

New york City has a mandatory speed limit of 25 miles per hour. That is pretty slow when the roads are not bumper to bumper traffic. Also, traffic cameras became major money makers for the City. Because of these cameras people are hesitant to drive faster. Getting a ticket with one's car photographed does not leave room for any argument. Just be quiet and pay is the attitude.

The worst drivers are the car service and taxi drivers. For one, in a 25 mph zone, they drive at around 18 mph speed. They just don't seem to be in a hurry. They also don't seem to know the city, their city. They are apt to make last minute turns, abruptly change lanes or just slow down while they check their GPS or talk on their cell phones.

It is unbelievable that some of the car service and taxi drivers know very little about this city. If and when we take a cab at the airport, we always have to give instructions how to get to our house. Once in Budapest I got into a taxi, gave the street address and the driver immediately asked me if it was in XYZ neighborhood or in ZXY neighborhood. Expect that here in New York, good luck.

America

Life in Hungary getting more and more difficult as days go by. Prices are skyrocketing, gasoline is in scarce supply and there are shortages in stores. Cost of living is increasing. Income tax is raised to16% and sales tax was raised by 2%. All these and many other rules make the population very unhappy. Unhappiness is reflected in several antigovernment demonstrations. But since the ruling party is in huge plurality, the government's actions and decisions are rarely questioned.

Interestingly, the government-controlled media blames the war in Ukraine for all the shortcomings. BUT the Ukraine war is blamed by the US. Hungarian media openly blames America for all their shortcomings saying the America instigated the war in Ukraine and it is in their (financial) interest to keep it going.

This kind of propaganda results in very strong anti-American sentiment. Our friends and family keep asking us why is this happening? They make us responsible for the American behavior. It is well known that now is not a good time to be in Hungary as an American. As far as I know there were no violent acts against Americans but there are many subtle ways to show dislikes. 

Personally, I would hesitate to go to a restaurant and order food while the staff knows where I came from. Even though they live off tourists, English speaking tourists are now the exceptions. I know as a fact that travelers who arrived at Budapest Airport and showed their USA passport were treated in a very unfriendly way.

I don't need such a problem. As much as I like that country and would love to go there, at this time I would hesitate! 

Hot

I mentioned before they are working on the facade of our building. To say that they don't make a mess would be lying. At the end of each day there is dust and small pieces everywhere. My wife and I usually go out and hose down our windows and walls to get rid of the dust. 

Yesterday, Monday they didn't work because it was a rain on, rain off day. I guess when they don't work they don't get paid. Today it was a slow start and later I didn't see anybody working again. Today it was the heat. I think when the temperature gets to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, they just don't work. I can understand that. It is not very pleasant working in that heat with the sun beating down on one's back.

Just wonder what these delays will do to our schedules. So far they lost about five days because of weather. The apartment is fairly comfortable. We have portable a/c units in each, and they keep every room pretty livable. Since these a/cs are going all day long I wonder what our electric bills will look like.

Everey day Con Edison sends out messages about the heat and how we should control the use of electricity. Air conditioners are to be used when it is hot outside and not when they are not needed.

Golf

I like to watch golf on tv. I really don't understand it but I know that they have to get that white ball into the hole as quickly as possible. Ok, that is enough to enjoy the intricacies of the game. I also know that there is a lot of money involved and golfers make a good living being pros.

Every week there are tournaments being broadcasted with a large number of different aspiring pros. I like the beauty of the American golf courses. The grass, the traps, the entire surroundings. They are very pleasant to the eye. Now, in the past few days they are broadcasting from Scotland from St. Andrew's golf course. This is an old course that celebrate its 150th anniversary and they are doing the British Open. The cream of the world's best are there. Sure, they are, the winner will get a $2.5 million paycheck. That is not bad for a week's work.

My problem with this is that this golf course is the ugliest I have ever seen. The grass is as manicured as a Neanderthal's hands, the traps are deeper than a man's size and there are no trees anywhere. It is next to the North Sea and there is a constant wind that makes it difficult for the golf balls to fly straight. I believe that most of the results are not because the players are so good but because of sheer luck. 

I don't understand what the charm of such a golf course is. Just because it is old? Ok, I go along with this because that would also make us all old people very charming, no?

Sunday

 Sunday, off day!

Dinner

For a wife, housewife, mother to come up with a daily menu is one of the most difficult things in the world. In our house we are three of us and each one likes different things. If my wife makes something I really like it is pretty definite that at least one member of the household will not like it. 

Hungarian cuisine.

It got to the point that I don't suggest any longer. She puts it front of me and I eat it. I also learned throughout the years that it is not worth criticizing. Years ago, I was told you ctiticize it, you will wear it! Keeping this in mind I just eat it. Occasionally my wife what would I like to eat, but this does not happen very frequently.

Abigail is not a great fan of Hungarian cooking. There is a long list of things she does not like. Weirdly, she likes Japanese, Thai, Spanish and Chinese foods a lot. I don't know where she picked up this custom. I could easily live on Hungarian cooking.

Yesterday Abigail said she would like to have Hungarian fish soup for dinner. The expression fish soup doesn't give justice to this meal. In Hungarian it is called halaszle. This is a soup with chunks of good fish in it. It is costumary to spice it up with hot paprika. The home of this meal is Szeged but there are many variations to it. Probably as many as many housewives are making it. 

Last night's fish soup turned out fantastic. We had two kinds of fish in it and I can't wait for tonight when we will have the leftovers. This is the kind of food that tastes better and better as time goes by, like goulash soup, stuffed cabbage and solet (cholent).

Vive la Hungarian cuisine!