My Parent's Friends

When I think of someone being seventy five years old, I think of them as being my parent's friends. After all, aren't I still a kid? I think like I am in my thirties and in my mind have not aged at all. This afternoon I am going to a surprise party for a woman I originally met at my son's nursery school. Her son was one year older than mine but all of the mothers knew each other from pick up and drop off time. The celebration is for her 75th birthday. I cannot fathom that I have a friend who is turning 75. While I am 14 years younger than her, she is in my circle of friends. I am looking forward to celebrating with my friends this afternoon.

What I See

My sister in law's father had an expression, "What you see, they see". I am not sure if I have the quote exactly correct, but the meaning is there. After spending months trying to open my bosses eyes about what was happening with the new girl she was forced to hire, I finally gave up, sat back, and decided to let the scenario play itself out. Finally, what I saw, she now sees. While the girl is nice and very competent, she lacks focus and attention to detail. She was responsible for a government application that I normally fill out. She did it and when the confirmation did not show up, I questioned it. She seemed a bit defensive about being asked about the status. I let it go, emailed my boss that I was not responsible if the deadline was missed and went about my regular business. A week later when the confirmation still had not shown up, my boss asked me to make a call and track it. It seems that the application was not completely filled out and never submitted online. Pandora's box has now been opened for all the world to see. I will mop up the mess, because that is what I do, but now the girl will now know to never have an attitude with me again.

Jenga

What is going on in Hollywood is like a game of Jenga. One person pulled out one piece of the structure and it quickly became unstable. Another piece was pulled and another and soon the structure fell to the ground. It has become a show that many people are watching. Once powerful people no longer have any value. Friends and family are running from them. It just goes to show that our perception of life is not always true. I do believe in the concept of fake news. We are told things third hand and expected to believe them at face value. Then when the false reality crumbles, we are expected to believe another third hand story. People we never met but had trust in are no better than the criminals sitting in a jail. The only truth is what we see, hear and evaluate for ourselves first hand. All the rest is up to interpretation.

Alphabet of Life

The alphabet is an order of letters. It starts with A and ends with Z. It is great for spelling words but not the best for living life. Life needs to have the concept of a deeper order. Some people live their life as an AB. I live mine as an AZ. The "A" part is always the action of doing something. The second letter represents what the reaction to your action will be. Most people do not look ahead and that is the problem. They do something without thinking how it will affect them or the person they are doing it to. They do not have foresight. I look very far ahead to the point where I have every scenario covered.

New Location

Yesterday I had my annual physical. I have been going to the same doctor for well over 20 years. He changed locations and I saw him in his new office. It felt strange driving to a new location. I did not know where the building was as the location is in a medical complex where one building sits behind another. The parking was terrible as it was one lot for a few buildings. Once I got to the office, I saw that the staff was different. No notices had been sent out to inform the patients that the practice had moved so each person that checked in had the same comments. Why weren't they informed? For some reason, charts were not allowed to leave with him, so all new paperwork had to be filled out. I am sure that we will all get used to the change, but I like things remaining the same.

Columbus Day

Today is Columbus Day. We celebrate the man who "discovered America". For many years this has been a holiday where the schools have closed, mail is not delivered and parades have taken place. Par for the course in today's divisive atmosphere, people are protesting Columbus. Agitators want to ban parades and remove statues. They say that Columbus was not a nice man and that maybe he did not really discover America. They want all recognition of Columbus erased. What is going on with this world? The holiday is a tradition of pride for our country. Italian Americans show their dual respect to both countries by enjoying a holiday that represents a land they came from and a land they came to. Why do "politically correct" people need to ruin this? Someone needs to put a stop to the attitudes that are destroying America. We need to stand together. Stand up for our country, stand up for our flag and stand up for each other. I just read that the Dallas Cowboy's owner, Jerry Jones, has said that when his team plays, any player that takes a knee for the flag during the national anthem will not play. Good for him. Finally someone playing football has balls.

Check In

This morning my sister and I are going to Brooklyn to visit my parents. I am bringing them lunch which should last for a few days. My sister is making her delicious meatballs. Always a crowd pleaser. She is also making enough for a few meals. My parents have had a good week but we just want to pop in and visit. I wish it was not raining, but hopefully the clouds will clear up.