Happy Festivus

Frank Costanza: "Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way."

Kramer: "What happened to the doll?"

Frank Costanza: "It was destroyed. But out of that a new holiday was born: a Festivus for the rest of us!"

Kramer: "That must have been some doll."

Frank Costanza: "She was."

It sure would be nice

With all the advances in technology in the automobile industry from computers and sensors that can tell you when your tires need air to a camera that looks behind you when you back up, why, oh why, can't they make steering wheels that are heated. They can heat your seat, which by the way is very nice. Nothing like a warm tush when you are driving. But how difficult can it be to warm a steering wheel the same way. Surely there must be some reason that it can't be done because it seems unlikely that one of the braniacs in the research department of the auto makers hasn't suggested this in some conference room. But, it sure would be nice.

WHOA!!!!! I decided before posting this to do some googling. It turns out that there are many patents out there for heated steering wheels and steering wheel covers. But then I found it. BMWs have them. Some other high end cars have them, like Cadillac and now Ford is going to start putting them in their cars and trucks! I hope Honda follows suit because I like my Hondas and hate to have to switch allegiances to keep my hands warm.

And a last thought. I guess it is a good idea for me to google first before going off on a rant.

What a fox!!!

My regular readers know that in the past I have posted about animals and road kill that I have encountered on my cycling excursions. Well today, despite it being November, I went out for a ride. It was near sixty so the calendar didn't really dictate whether I rode indoors on the trainer or outside. For those familiar with the area, I was at the intersection of Telegraph Hill Road and Bethany Road. I made a left off of Telegraph Hill and proceeded on Bethany. There is a small bridge that crosses a creek between Telegraph Hill and Hazlet Avenue. Right before that bridge I saw up ahead on the sidewalk an animal that I thought at first was a dog. But as I got close I saw it had a long bushy tail. A tail just like a fox. And as I passed this animal i looked at the face/head and darn if it didn't look like a fox. So, I came home, went to the internet and googled dogs that looked like foxes. I could only find one, a New Guinea Singing Dog, but pictures showed that it was nothing like what I saw on the sidewalk. So, my only conclusion was that I saw a fox. Where did he come from? Where was he going? Did someone have a fox for a pet? These questions will never be answered. At least by me.

I'm Not Ready!

Retailers have begun the blitz already, and it has been going on for a week or more. For me it is way too soon for Christmas ads and decorations. I can deal with it right around Thanksgiving, when the "official" start to the holiday begins. Well, it used to be the official start, but not anymore. Earlier and earlier in the year. Pretty soon we will be giving out candy canes to trick or treaters. But it was the Jeffersons that prompted me to write. No, not George and Weezy, but the neighborhood Jeffersons who always put up their decorations early. Two days ago we drove past and, not only do they have the lights on the house, but their tree is up. As I said, way too early.

I did not know that

My truck is due for an oil change. My last one was eleven months ago and I still have another eight hundred miles to go to hit the five thousand mile mark. I have had the truck for almost six years now and thought it might be a good idea to get the coolant system flushed and refilled while getting the oil change. But I didn't know what the maintenance schedule recommended for the procedure. So, I opened the glove compartment (I don't keep gloves in there) and checked the maintenance schedule. Well, much to my surprise, the coolant only needs to be replaced at, now get this, one hundred thousand miles. Wow. Things sure have changed.

Still alive

There is still hope.

Go Phils??

So, I am watching the game. Nothing else worth watching on the tube tonite. Pat is out and I sit here with a Yuengling and watch. And guess what? I am totally invested in the Phils. Is it because Pedro is pitching? Maybe. But as I said in my last post my dislike for the Yankees runs a lot deeper than it does for the Phils. Up until a few years ago the Mets main opponent was the Braves, so the Phils have only come on as a hated rival recently. But the Yankees, that dislike (spelled h-a-t-r-e-d) has been there for more than forty years.

Hours to go

A few hours to go til the series begins. I will not be watching, but will check in for scores. And I will be rooting against the Yankees. Not for the Phils, but against the Yankees. My dislike for the Phils is no where near as longstanding as my dislike for the Yankees. And as one caller into WFAN this morning said, "If the Yankees were playing Al Qaeda I wouldn't root for them".

And the dilemma is here

I went to bed last night at eleven with the Angels behind as well as Big Blue. This morning I woke up and checked the scores and found myself glad I didn't stay up for two losses. But with the series now set with the Yankees vs. Phillies I found myself leaning toward hoping the Yankees lose more than the Phillies. Notice I didn't say I want the Phillies to win. I think perhaps it matters that I live in the NY area and hear all the Yankee praise on the radio, tv and in the papers. If I were near Philly and was still a Met fan I might lean toward the Yankees. So, with all that said, I will not watch the series, but will hope for rainout after rainout until it becomes just too cold and too late in the year for there to be a series.

We mourn with Pookie

Yes, we mourn with Pookie, White Fang and Black Tooth. I am sure they will all be doing the Soupy Shuffle one more time in Soupy's honor. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, google Soupy Sales. Yes, Milton Supman passed away today.

I didn't watch but.........

After watching The Office and 30 Rock, and checking the score at commercials, I flipped over to the game to watch an inning. It was 4-0 and I turned it off and went to bed. Good thing I did because if I had started watching the seventh inning I would have turned it off anyway, not waiting for the Halos comeback in the bottom of the inning. Nothing new here so far that someone couldn't find in any coverage. But, in the morning I was in the car with the radio on and I heard that fans could start ordering World Series tickets. Jumping the gun? Being over confident? Now I know it is probably standard practice to do that for all teams, but I wondered if this was the jinx, the death knell, that would send the Evil Empire spiraling to another series debacle. Oh, to hope.

Oh crap!

A huge dilemma looms ahead. Both LCSes are three games to one. With one more win each it will be the Yankees and the Phillies in the World Series. For those who know me, you can see my dilemma if that happens. Who do I root for? Try to decide which team I dislike more? Try not to care? True, I will not watch, but only check in from time to time to see the score. But without a rooting interest that even seems unlikely. Whose loss will give me the most pleasure? If that were the only question to be considered I would have to say I would root against the Yankees; but that would mean rooting for the Phillies, which goes against everything being a Met fan stands for. Oh well. Maybe the Dodgers and Angels will pull it out.

Bad sports weekend.

It began on Friday when I watched some of the Rutgers game and watch them lose to a very good Pitt team. Then Saturday I watched the Irish lose a very close game against their nemesis, USC who they haven't beaten in eight or nine games. Then Sunday Big Blue got a dose of reality by being blown out by another undefeated team. Shows they might have been a bit overrated and overconfident after their first five wins against losing teams. And then......and then...... Gang Green reached an all time low. Losing to the Bills. Horrible game. Just horrible. But when the dust settled on the weekend and I checked the sports scores this morning I found that it was even worse than I thought. Not only is the Evil Empire up two games to none, but the hated Phillies are up two to one. Is there no hope?

59 days - 16 miles

[First let me say I wrote this post on Wednesday the 14th, but forgot to post it]

Today I finally got back on my bike after fifty nine days. Yes fifty nine days. This has to be my longest stretch without riding in quite a few years. Moving, painting, back ailments and California were the contributing factors that prevented me from enjoying a ride. And my first ride back today was a sixteen miler and it felt great. But it looks like rain for the rest of the week which will mean inside on the trainer. I want to get back to riding three times a week, and outside as long as the temperature is above thirty. That would be a calm thirty. With a bit of wind the temperature would need to be a bit warmer.

BWS

The first few days we were in CA it was too warm for the boys to go outside, and in actuality they haven't been out for a while due to the high temps and the smoke from the surrounding fires. But finally it was a nice day and everyone went out to sit and enjoy the balmy weather. Kevin took the cover off the water table and saw in the umbrella hole a spider. Closer inspection led to an identification; black widow. He shook the table so the spider dropped onto the ground where it was squashed like the bug it was. Following this execution Kevin and I began a search of the other outside toys, beginning with the picnic table. Underneath there was one in each corner of the benches. That makes five. Then to the slide, the push toys and sandbox. I lost count but Kevin said there were a full dozen. Welcome to California. After we came inside I did some Googling and found that the majority of people who have lived in California have seen at least one in their lifetime and such discoveries as we made were not uncommon. It is scary, but most information says that the widow is nocturnal and nonagressive. Still on the few days since then we have checked everything for the thin gossamer webs that identify the BW.

WiFi

So here I sit at Gate 83 waiting for boarding. Free WiFi, but only for twenty minutes, as a trial. $9.95 for a subscription to boingo wifi. I don't think it is worth it so I only have three minutes left on the twenty minute trial. I know some airlines have free wifi on board, but not Continental. It would really make the trip quicker if I could get online and google my time away. Two minutes left. Someone opened the door to exit and a chirping alarm is driving me crazy now. One minute left.

I killed a bird

Not deliberately anyway. I got up in the morning, put coffee on, and then went outside to get the paper in the driveway, unaware of the events that were about to be put in motion. If I had gotten up a little later or earlier, perhaps then things would have been different. As I walked between the truck and car in the driveway and approached the paper out near the sidewalk, a cat which roams the neighborhood, came out from under the car. I ran at it to scare it off our property. The feline ran down the sidwalk in front of the neighbor's house. Garbage and recylcling had been out in the neighborhood and there were birds around the neighbor's recycling walking and pecking around the curb. The cat, running down the sidewalk, veered to the left at the birds, and the next thing I knew he was running down the sidewalk with a feathered body in his mouth. I could only stand there and watch, being too far away to run at him in hopes he would drop the bird. I say "I killed a bird" only because I assume the bird didn't survive.

The Magic Number Is.........

Today the Mets' magic number to clinch a nonplaying spot in the post season is, I believe, 81. But for me the magic number is TEN. That has always been the number of games behind in past years where I automatically lose interest. And this morning I wake up and the Mets are ten games out. Of course you are probably saying that there is the wild card, and for that they are only 6.5 games out. Whoopee! There isn't a chance in hell that they are making the playoffs. I will stick with ten as my number to not care anymore. If they reach ten in the wild card then they will be closing in on twenty in the division. BUT, if by some miracle, as in 1969, when they came from ten back, they do get back in contention, I will be there. Fair weather? Not really. I still will follow them in the paper, and on the internet, but what I won't do is invest all the time in watching games that I have always done when they are in contention.

I need to get out more

I had an errand to run today and I opted to drive my truck. While sitting at a traffic light I looked at that small sticker they put in the corner of your windshield when you get an oil change. It is there as a reminder, but since it is always there I never really pay attention to it, and in many cases you can't even read what is written. But I could read it. It said that my next oil change should be at 43,000 miles. That meant that my truck's previous visit to the maintenance bay was at 38,000 miles. The fact that it is a five thousand mile span while some places put it at three thousand is not up for discussion in this posting. With the mileage on the small sticker it is sometimes accompanied by a date when you should bring it in, on the outside chance that the date should come before you drive the five thousand miles. After taking in all this information I looked down at my odometer. Not a true odometer, or at least in my mind, which is one that has numbers on a wheel and they roll over as your vehicle moves down the road. Today's vehicles have digital odometers. Mine said.... actually it didn't say anything ....... it read 40,298. Now that I had that information I could determine by simple subtraction, that I had driven 2,298 miles since my last oil change. BUT, I needed one more piece of information, and that was when did i get the last oil change. Then the light changed and I drove on. When i got to my destination I remained in the truck, opened the glove compartment (does anyone really keep gloves in there?) and pulled out the small pile of receipts from all my oil changes and vehicle services. The most recent one was dated 12/9/08. Again, simple calculations gave me the amount of time elapsed since then; seven months. I think it is time for another oil change because if I wait for the five thousand miles almost a year will have passed. But the gist of this entry is to state that in sieven months I drove my truck a mere 2,298 miles. Again, with some division, that is 328 miles a month, or extrapolated out, would be 3936 miles a year. Little old ladies don't drive that small amount of miles. So, I do need to get out more.

Mets Suck? Or....

Well, the Mets do suck. But is it what is supposed to be? There was a distinct hope prior to the start of the season that there would be the chance of winning the division or at least of capturing the wildcard. But all that is far in the rear view mirror now. Well below 500, mired in fourth place with only the hapless Nationals below them I can safely say that only a miracle can save this season. But my question was ,do the Mets suck, or was it something that should have been expected? Should there have been a suspicion of bad things coming once the real home of the Mets was turned into a pile of rubble? Sure Shea was a stadium well past its prime, but it was a place that held some great moments, great games, and one of the most notable plays in baseball history. To replace it with a homage to the Dodgers instead of a celebration of Shea, past players and teams must have angered the Gods of Baseball. They have decided that this will not be the Mets year. But what worries me is how many seasons will they demand of this organizaion before they are satisfied that the suffering is enough.

Hmmm?

So, I sit here watching Brian Williams and he is reporting about the deaths of Farrah and of Michael, Governor's affairs, Iran, and I feel I should have something to write about. But all I can come up with is .......... a dead squirrel, a dead bird, a dead mouse .......... and no ingested bug.

The Balance In Nature ..... or More Protein

Two rides ago I saw two dead squirrels, one dead rabbit and a live ground hog. Today I went for a twenty seven mile ride (irrelevant to this post) and saw two live squirrels, one live rabbit and a dead ground hog. Now you probably think I am making this up, and as I formulated the posting as I rode I was short a dead ground hog and was contemplating some fiction. But with about five miles left in the ride there he was, or she was, (I didn't stop to check), fresh road pizza.

And I ate another bug.

Words cannot express how I feel

Stunned disbelief is one way to describe it. Demoralizing is another. It was a brutally devastating loss, but it should come as no surprise, because that is what they do; find ways to lose. So, what time is the next Blue Claws game?

oh well

I went for a thirty mile ride today.  Ten minutes into the ride a bug flew in my mouth.  AACGHH!!!  .............  Nothing more to say.

Staff Sgt. Frankie Zoly Molnar

In my last post I linked to my latest books. One of those books was a story about men in the Korean War. This post, with Memorial Day weekend beginning tomorrow, is in a similar vein. In today's local paper, The News Tribune, there was a column by Rick Malwitz honoring Staff Sgt. Frankie Zoly Molnar. He was born in West Virginia but resided in New Brunswick when he enlisted in the Army. Thus he is listed on the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall. This entry is due to my never being able to understand how all the young men in the service, especially those that saw combat, in whatever war or conflict, did what they did. Selfless service. This posting honors all of them who served and are serving our country. While I was nestled safely in the hills of western Pennsylvania attending college, there were young men my age being put in harms way and doing the job they signed up for. This is not to question the reason we were in Vietnam. This is, as I said, to honor all those who served. Sgt. Molnar was one of those. He served and he gave his life.  He was given the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

Here is part of the article that appeared in the paper today. It is the citation that accompanied the Medal of Honor. The full article can be seen here.

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. SSGT Molnar distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry during combat operations. Shortly after the battalion's defensive perimeter was established, it was hit by intense mortar fire as the prelude to a massive enemy night attack. SSGT Molnar immediately left his sheltered location to insure the readiness of his squad to meet the attack.

"As he crawled through the position, he discovered a group of enemy soldiers closing in on his squad area. His accurate rifle fire killed five of the enemy and forced the remainder to flee. When the mortar fire stopped, the enemy attacked in a human wave supported by grenades, rockets, automatic weapons and small-arms fire. After assisting to repel the first enemy assault, SSGT Molnar found that his squad's ammunition and grenade supply was nearly expended. Again leaving the relative safety of his position, he crawled through intense enemy fire to secure additional ammunition and distribute it to his squad.

"He rejoined his men to beat back the renewed enemy onslaught, and he moved about his area providing medical aid and assisting in the evacuation of the wounded. With the help of several men, he was preparing to move a severely wounded soldier when an enemy hand grenade was thrown into the group. The first to see the grenade, SSGT Molnar threw himself on it and absorbed the deadly blast to save his comrades. His demonstrated selflessness and inspirational leadership on the battlefield were a major factor in the successful defense of the American position and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the U.S. Army. SSGT Molnar's actions reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the U.S. Army."