Gas prices have been steadily coming down the past year. However, they have a fluctuation factor that is difficult to understand. 

Within the past week, gas prices in Key West were around $3.33 a gallon. Yesterday, $3.55 a gallon. 

How does a 2o cent raise come about that swiftly? Even a 10 cent one?

Ran into a dear friend I have not seen in a few years. I was early to Publix the other morning when I heard “Louis!” It was Christine Cordone. Singer and artist. A woman of dual talents. She and husband Larry Smith have returned to their Key West home for the next several months. They have been going back and forth in recent years between Larry’s Pennsylvania family and Key West.

It was good to see Christine again. A uniquely wonderful person!

“Antique” collecting has its value! There are four pairs of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. One went on auction sale recently. Sold for $28 million! Wow! The shoes became the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia auctioned. Marilyn Monroe’s white dress blowing upward over a subway grate was previously highest. However, its sale price a meager $5.52 million.

The other three pairs of Dorothy’s shoes are in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and privately held. Two pair in the Smithsonian and one privately owned. I saw a pair in the Smithsonian in a Washington visit several years ago.

Man flew for the first time this day in 1903. The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville flew while Wilbur ran alongside the plane.

Baseball’s spitball pitch. Outlawed today. Not so back when.

A spitball involved the pitcher wetting the ball with a foreign substance. Generally, spit or petroleum. Such gave the pitcher certain control over the ball.

The spitball came into being in the 1800’s. It was finally banned in 1920. However, there were 17 pitchers who regularly threw a spitball back then. The ban did not apply to them. They were permitted to continue throwing it till they retired.

On this day in 1957, the last episode of “The Nat King Cole Show” was aired on NBC. The show had been cancelled. It could not get a national sponsor. Why? One of the greatest singers of all time! Was it because he was colored?

Key West’s St. Mary’ Star of the Sea formally dedicated its new high school friday. A return for the high school. St. Mary’s last one closed in 1986.

The recent school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin was by a student. A 15 year old female. She killed a teacher and student and wounded 6 before killing herself.

Confidence in U.S. courts has plummeted dramatically in recent years. Unusual. Strange and worrisome. The drop has been especially deep since the Dobbs case which eliminated a woman’s Constitutional right to an abortion.

In the past 4 years, confidence in the courts has dropped 24 percentage points from 55 percent to 35.

Only 35 percent of Americans have faith in our court system today!

Such a low number places the U.S. in line with countries like Myanmar, Venezuela and Syria.

The guy who killed the President of United Health Care, the 2 persons who tried to assassinate Trump, and the teenage girl in Madison who recently killed a teacher and fellow student were not immigrants. They were Americans!

Trump cries immigrants are criminals! Lets start listing them and their crimes. Compare them to those committed by Americans. Lets see if the “immigrants are criminal” representations are correct.

I close with…..This is tuesday! Means The Grand for Happy Hour with my friend Steve Thompson. Hope it will be a different tuesday this week!

Enjoy your day!

Getting old is a benefit in itself. However certain negatives attach. One is falling. All the time.

Nancy Pelosi fell down stairs last week in Luxembourg. A few days later, she had hip replacement surgery in Germany. 

I fell frequently till my heart attack in late January. Three heart surgeries followed. I have only fallen once since. Tripped over furniture on my way to the bathroom 3 in the morning. Fortunately, no fractures. I suspect my new heart valve is the reason I no longer fall as I did prior to getting it.

North Carolina got hit big by Helena. Major damage. Yet only 30 percent of the people have applied for FEMA benefits. One reason is they fear the government will take their property if they do. Stupidity based on false rumors. Many MAGA inspired.

I feel sorry for these people. They are ordinary folk who deserve the care the government can give them in their time of serious need. Yet they are convinced they are doing correct in not taking FEMA benefits. One women said she would take them if they came from her local government. She knew the municipal folk and trusted them. She did not trust the federal government.

Elon Musk is one of the smartest, if not the smartest, U.S. citizens.

He jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Still there. Can’t blame him. He donated $277 million to Trump’s election. His wealth increased by $200 billion over the same period of time.

In some port towns, it’s residents vs. cruise ships. People saying: “We’re going to eradicate them.” People across the U.S. are using their voices and the law to preserve their communities.

Key West took a shot at it several years ago and met with some success. Cut back on the size of the cruise ships permitted. However the big shot corporate bought legislators in Tallahassee gave them a hard time and still do.

Spoke with Buffalo’s Tom and Fran Dixon yesterday. At the end of our conversation, Tom advised he was off to his club to watch the Buffalo/Detroit game. I envied him. There is no more fun than watching a sporting event with those who want your team to win! And Buffalo did. The Bills defeated the Lions 48-42.

Male and female clothes change a bit each year. Not radically, yet just enough to make a difference.

The most notable change this year was in jeans. The newest thing are sweatpant jeans. Look like regular jeans, but supposedly feel more comfortable.

A great American cry for freedom in the Colonies in 1773. The Boston Tea Party!

I do not believe Presidents or leaders of countries should use their position to make money. I believe Trump abuses the policy.

A new user of his position for financial gain has come to light. Makes Trump look like a kid. Syria’s Assad. The man was recently deposed and ran off to Moscow and Putin’s protection.

Many Syrian plants closed under Assad’s regime. Their owners put out on the street. The plants were turned into drug labs. They manufactured drugs which were then sold on the streets of Syria. The primary beneficiary of the drug trade was Assad himself.

Alexander Smirnov is an early 40’s attorney and occasional FBI informant. He was the man who claimed Joe and Hunter Biden received a $5 million bribe each regarding the Ukrainian company Burisma. The bribe was allegedly paid sometime in 2015. Smirnov brought it to light in 2020.

Both Bidens denied the charges. A lengthy investigation proved there was no merit to them. They were phony. Nevertheless Republicans screamed impeach the President. Nothing ever came of the charges.

Smirnov pled guilty recently in federal court acknowledging the bribery scheme was a lie and phony.

My blog late today. Hospital tests this morning and then a late neurophysiotherapy session at noon. My back and pelvic region have been painful since tuesday night when Steve got sick. Not related. Steve is better. Fortunately. I am still hurting, however.

Enjoy your day!

Syracuse blew another basketball game. Will the pain ever end?

Georgetown beat Syracuse 75-71. A close game throughout. Twelve ties and 15 lead changes along the way.

Syracuse lost the game in the last minute. Took 3 shots at the basket. Missed each time. Georgetown recovered the ball and scored.

What a difference a week makes. Last week Syracuse lost to Notre Dame. I was very down on my team afterwards. They sucked! Took few 3’s, made less. Could not make foul shots. I wrote of other negatives also.

Syracuse played much better this week. Made a few 3 pointers. Made foul shots. Could have won. It was that last minute.

Georgetown played well, also. Georgetown is now 8-2, Syracuse 5-5.

Syracuse’s next game is against Maryland at Barclay’s in Brooklyn next Saturday.

The game was emotional for me. The 100th meeting of the two teams. The game played at the Dome. As mentioned in previous blogs, I had a box at the Dome from 1980 on when the Dome opened. Never missed a football or basketball game. Watched special shows like Frank Sinatra. 

My family grew up at the Dome. The only way to describe it. My children were already adults when I first got it. However their kids, my grandchildren, used to join us frequently at the games. From 2 years on. They would play on the box’s carpeted floor as we watched the games. Syracuse became their school also. One went there undergrad, two to law school.

The Dome and box were our home away from home many Saturdays.

I remained at Brady’s following the game for dinner. Prime rib. My first steak/beef meal since getting my teeth. A huge cut, $27.95. No way you can get a prime rib for that price downtown. 

The meal was par excellent!

I caught photos of Trump in a box at the Army-Navy game yesterday. Part of his appointee entourage were with him. Scared me. Made me uncomfortable.

Beware of RFK Jr. Now he’s after polio vaccines. He’ll be after measle vaccines also.

Children and adults will get sick. Many, big time. Epidemics will occur if he is successful in banning these two vaccines and others. Rampant epidemics.

Someone in this morning’s Washington Post suggested “all RFK needs is a wild doctor getup.”

There is an Opinion piece in this morning’s New York Times titled: “I Don’t Want a Pardon From Biden. None of Us Should.” The writer says we should trust the fairness of the justice system.

No way! You forget many judges are political hacks today. No longer can we depend on Justice being blind. If you do, you are naive as hell. Additionally, if Trump has all the 60 odd persons he suggested indicted, think of the mental pressure and legal costs involved.

Wrong!

Biden will fail to have done the correct thing if he does not preemptively pardon those 60 plus.

He pardoned his son. “True pure innocents” are entitled to pardons also!

The first U.S. law school was established this day in 1791 at the University of Virginia.

Surprise! A personal one. An article on the internet. A New York State Park and its lake was described as the “Caribbean of New York.” The Green Lake State Park located just east of Syracuse.

As a youngster, I visited Green Lake often with my parents. While courting my wife, with her parents. Finally, a few times when our children were young.

Beautiful! But then again, all New York State Parks were beautiful. Nevertheless, I am pleased that Green Lakes received the “Caribbean” designation. Its water crystal blue.

Some Key West.

Key West shrimp beds were discovered in 1949. Resulted in the birth of a new Key West industry!

On yesterday’s day in 1888, the construction contract for the Custom House was awarded. The complete construction $107,955.96. It took three years to construct. A short time back then. I have to believe it would take longer today. Why, I’m not sure.

Key West was once a “paradise.” No more. We’ve become a typical Florida waterfront community. “Old Key West” a thing of the past. Little slices remain here and there. Lets keep them.

The Planning Board will on December 19 consider whether to increase maximum height from 40 feet to 60 feet.

Say “no.” Shout it from the roof tops.

Makes me wonder what the Planning Board has to do with the issue. I thought the City Charter specifically required a voter referendum to adjust the building height requirement.

Conchscooter (nickname) and his wife Layne write an exciting column “The Golden Van” which is carried in Feelspot. Yesterday’s column carried an opening statement that amused me. Actually nothing special. A simple sentence. But, it grabbed me. Titled Outdoor Ships: “When Layne told me there was an outdoor ship museum I asked what kind of people use indoor ships? She was not amused…..”

I close with my friend Theos in Greece.

Theos cell phoned me from Greece a few days ago. Just hello, how are you…..that sort of thing. Love the guy! Never forgets me.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Basketball history will be made today. Two  powerful basketball giants meet for the 100th time. Syracuse and Georgetown will go at it beginning at 2:30 in the Syracuse Dome.

Their first game almost 100 years ago in 1929. Of the 99 games played thus far, Syracuse has an edge in wins 54-45.

Georgetown on paper appears the better team this season with a 7-2 record. Syracuse is 5-4.

The Dome will be packed. There will not be an empty seat. Wish I was there. I will be watching from Brady’s Irish Pub in the back room in a kitchen chair. Me alone with a sole TV set. My back cannot handle bar stools yet.

The competition between the two teams has been fierce for many years. The ferocity began at the beginning of the Big East Basketball Conference in 1979. Syracuse and Georgetown were members. The Carrier Dome opened in 1980. I had a 16 seat box with a bar in the new Carrier Dome. My interest in the Syracuse/Georgetown competition began in 1980.

Even the coaches disliked each other. It was referred to as a mutual feeling of hatred. Jim Boeheim and John Thompson never talked in all the years they competed. Their dislike for each other was common knowledge.

They became friends a couple of years after Thompson retired. Boeheim was still coaching. They ran into each other at a coach’s convention and started talking. Out of that conversation developed one of the closest relationships in the sport. The two could not even figure out why they had disliked each other. They became as close as peas in a pod as the saying goes. Did personal and basketball things together thereafter.

The game is on the ACC Network. I am anxious for 2:30 to arrive.

Enjoy your day! I am mine, win or lose!

Love springs eternal!

Marjorie Fiterman and Bernie Littman reside in a Philadelphia nursing home. They are 102 and 100 respectively. Their long time spouses have died.

They married. Turns out Marjorie and Bernie are the world’s oldest newly weds! Bless them! May they enjoy the time they have left.

Steve slept in his own bed last night. He was discharged from the Miami hospital early evening and he and Cindy drove back last night. 

I spoke briefly with him on the telephone last night while they were going through Key Largo and spoke with him at length this morning. The diagnosis was to the effect the doctors did not know what caused him to pass out, etc. He said they tested the hell out of him. Did a ton of things. The bottom line they have to have had at him while he was experiencing the problem to come up with a diagnosis. They told him to see a neurologist in Key West.

He feels terrific. Sounds vibrant.

My advice to him was to get his ass to a doctor in Key West.

Today is Friday the 13th. There was a time people were concerned with the day. Superstitions ran high! Does the day affect you?

Cool today. Six am and 65 degrees. High will only be 74. My cut-off temperature. Anything below is cold. You have to live in Key West year round to appreciate what I have written in this regard.

The government appears to be screwing around with Social Security. Not even waiting for Trump to do so.

Effective January 1, 2025, if a person opts to take early payment, the age continues to be 62. However, the benefit will be reduced by 30 percent.

The full retirement age will be 67.

However, please check with Social Security directly as to the details involved. There are more I suspect. It is complex. Even I could not understand the variances.

In Key West, the Social Security office in the Federal Building on Simonton street is extremely cooperative. I have sat with them several times over the years.

On this day in 1636, the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three militia units to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians.

The first days of organized Indian abuse in the New World.

The Colonists cut off Indian heads and used them as bowling balls.

James Dean was a nobody this day in 1950. He got his first professional job. He appeared in a Pepsi advertisement.

Class act. The 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers traded Jackie Robinson to the New York Giants for a pitcher and $35,000. Robinson retired rather than be traded.

On this day in 1942, Joseph Goebbels complained of Italian treatment of Jews: “The Italians are extremely lax in their treatment of Jews. They protect Italian Jews both in Tunis and occupied France and won’t permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David.”

A local problem requiring an answer. Drones. Drones in New Jersey? Large ones. The size of a car. They have been in the news for days. What are they? What is the government doing about them?

No news is not good news. People are getting nervous.

Some Trump items.

Time Magazine has designated Trump as Man of the Year.

Trump campaigned on the cry he would bring grocery prices down.  Now he is backtracking. Slowly, but without question. His position now is it is hard to bring grocery costs down fast.

The last President to ring the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange was Ronald Reagan. Trump rang it yesterday.

What is this bullshit the FBI had only 3 informants at the Capitol on January 6? The Inspector General issued a report yesterday there were 29.

Game playing by MAGA Republicans? Lies?

Strange. Trump wants to pardon January 6 rioters on day one. What does that say to those of us who saw what we saw on TV and believe January 6 was not a righteous event? It was wrong, it was an insurrection. There is no other way to view it.

I close with a local occurrence which gives me concern.

Brian Barroso was selected as Key West City Manager yesterday. A close vote. He was elected 4-3.

Barroso is presently a banker. He has been one since 2004. From 2004-2014 in Key West. For the past 10 years since 2014, in North Carolina.

When in Key West, he was a Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority board member and treasurer, an adjunct professor at the College of the Florida Keys, and a Key West Chamber of Commerce board member.

He obviously has connections in “high places.” Does that qualify him to be City Manager?

Beginning salary is $215,000. 

Enjoy your day!

Taylor Swift’s two year tour has ended. The Eras Tour. One hundred forty nine shows. Attendance 10,168,008. Ticket sales $2,077,618,725. The best selling tour of all time! Double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history!

Swift took care of her help. It does take a Village! She gave out $197 million in bonuses to everyone working on her tour. Everyone means exactly that. Included truck drivers, caterers, instrument techs, , lighting, sound production, staff and associates, carpenters, dancers, band, security, choreographers, pyrotechnics, riggers, hair, make-up, wardrobe, physical therapists, and video people.

When I dropped Cindy off at the Keys Hospital at midnight, she and I thought Steve was going to Mount Sinai. Turns out not to have been the case.

I spoke with Cindy late yesterday afternoon. Steve is at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami. Why there instead of Mount Sinai, Cindy did not know.

Steve being constantly tested. Tired, otherwise ok. Cindy tired also. She rented a car. No motel room, however. She has opted to sleep in a chair in Steve’s room.

They have not been told anything yet as to the cause of Steve’s problem.

A Citizens’ Voice item yesterday: “Looks like half of America prefers a king to a President.” Seems so. Don’t wait for an abdication. It will not happen.

George Washington said: “He would rather die on his feet than live on his knees.” I hope it does not come to that in the U.S. 

Christopher Wray announced he will resign before Trump takes office. His call. The option was resign or be fired when Trump became President.

I have respected Wray. I respect his judgment. My sense is twofold. One to refrain from seeing the FBI being dragged into a disgusting fray. The second, why put up with the bullshit!

I am disappointed with Senator Grassley. An old man being used. A political foe of Wray’s for years. However, his letter listing his claimed Wray deficiencies and errors over the years beneath a man of his purported dignity. Time for him to resign his position!

Ever wonder why Elon Musk has become so government involved in recent times? He now sits at the right hand of God. His function in the new administration is to reduce government costs. Most of which affects him personally.

Musk’s latest cry involves the IRS. He says, “Delete it!”

The guys who make the biggest bucks do not want to pay their fair share. Successful corporations pay no or very slight taxes.

The U.S. government is run on the taxes paid by the middle class. The middle class carries the Nation on its back.

Trump’s “poor picks” continue. He advised Kari Lake will head Voice of America. She will sell the U.S. negatively worldwide!

Cheerleaders were not always ladies. There was a time when they were men. Only men. Women were excluded. Cheerleading was considered “a masculine sport.” 

Cheerleading became “female” during World War II when men were off fighting. The ladies took over the “sport” in the 1960’s similarly as they began taking over or getting involved in most other things.

Four Presidents were cheerleaders during their school terms: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush.

People seeking a better way of life are not only trying to reach the U.S. Other countries face the problem also.

Italy is one. 

A rickety boat carrying 45 migrants from somewhere in Africa and heading for Italy sank off the island of Lampedusa during a storm. Only one survivor. An 11 year old girl. In a life jacket. She was clinging to a pair of inner tubes for 3 days. Her voice was heard by a steamer going by at 3:15 in the morning.

Tuesday was going to be a big deal for me. My back was improving. I was going to meet Steve at The Grand. Steve never showed as you are aware.

I sat at the bar for 1.5 hours. I am not supposed to sit on bar stools. Screws up my spine and pelvic alignment. That is why I use the back room at Brady’s to watch Syracuse sports. Can’t handle bar stools. The fun at The Grand is at the bar, however. So I sat at the bar.

When I left, I knew I had made a mistake. I walked out bent over. Back and pelvic area hurt. Got worse as the night progressed.

Yesterday was my regular neurophysiotherapy session. Explained what happened to my therapist. She understood as soon as I told her the cause. Properly chastised me. Then said you threw the alignment I gave you off. She measured my feet to be sure. She was correct. One leg was shorter than the other.

She spent an hour doing the manipulations to make my feet, etc. even again. When she was done, they did. But I hurt like hell! I knew I would. Also knew by the end of the day I would be better. 

My pelvic area was without pain by last night. My back still sore, though less. I sit with a lumbar brace as I work. 

No more bar stools for me! If I am motivated to do The Grand again, I will have the stool removed and stand.

I close with what was a special evening last night. A very special one for me. Unexpected.

No, I did not have sex.

Around 5 pm, I was searching the internet for a movie to watch. Came across one starring James Garner and Julie Andrews. Never saw it before. Did not know about it. Titled “One Special Night.”

Fantastic film! Garner and Andrews play two mature persons. Late 50’s, early 60’s. Spouses dead. Meet and fall in love. A long way to the “love,” however. Both actors terrific. Garner played  a hard ass at the beginning. Different for him. Andrews her usual sweet self.

The film left me in a comfortable mood.

What followed was even better!

Three musical shows. The first two honoring the works of Oscar Hammerstein. The first staring Julie Andrews. The singing done by Broadway stars primarily. The reason being the show was intended to convey the mood of a Broadway musical which is more subdued than the film version.

Hammerstein’s great lyrics from 1943 to 1959 filled the TV. Oklahoma, Carousel, Showboat, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, etc.

What could be better.

The next show was the same. Without Julie Andrews, however. It was based on music from the movies which had a bigger bang to them.

My night should have been over! What more could I ask for? I got it! Barbara Streisand and her first show after 20 plus years. What a tearjerker!

The evening must have been good for me. I slept soundly till 6 o’clock this morning. I have not had a good night’s sleep since the heart attack. I feel like a new man at the moment.

Enjoy your day!

My dear friend Steve Thompson had a bad time last night. He was rushed in the middle of the evening to Mount Sinai in Miami to determine the cause of his problem.

Steve, Cindy and I were to meet at The Grand at 4 for Happy Hour. I was there on time. Steve and Cindy never showed.  Suddenly there were ambulance and other emergency sirens. They could be heard loud and clear in the bar.

I had a bad feeling in my gut. Steve? He’s on in his years and has his problems. He has passed out 3-4 times this past year. Never diagnosed. He treats with the Vets facility in Orlando.

As he parked the car on Duval near The Grand, he had another. 

I went out. They had Steve on a stretcher. He was out cold. He was being placed in an ambulance.

I finished my bite to eat and headed up to the Key West Hospital. I was concerned. Knew he was facing a couple of hours of testing in the emergency room. Also knew they would not let me in to see him since I was not family. I was correct. The emergency room staff would not get word to Cindy I was there either. I was told I should connect with her by cell phone. Problem was I did not have her number. Only, Steve’s. And no one was answering his phone.

No big deal. I was only there for moral support. Assumed Cindy for some reason might walk into the emergency room waiting room.

I waited 1 and 1/2 hours and then left. Everyone sick. Coughing, sneezing and I don’t know what. Others looked like they were ready to die.

I am fearful of illness since my heart problems earlier this year. I admit it. I am paranoid. I could not stay. Had to get out of there. Did not want to get sick!

I was wearing a face mask. I carry one in the car for infrequent needed use. The waiting room was one of those times.

About 10, Cindy telephoned. Steve was sleeping. They shot him up. He was having bursts of being out of control and fighting everyone. They thought his problem was neurological. They were sending him to Mount Sinai in Miami by ambulance as soon as Cindy was ready.

Cindy was on the way home via cab to get some things. Their car still parked on Duval. I told her I would drive her back to the hospital. It became a midnight trip. Cindy was concerned, but under control. I got home sometime after midnight.

I will keep you up to date as I learn more.

At the moment, I am tired. I am generally in bed by 9 and asleep by 9:30. Last night, also. Cindy’s call woke me and of course I dressed for the midnight run to the hospital. I am tired at the moment. Exhausted. No longer accustomed to late hours.

Steve is in the best place. I know from my heart experience. They will figure out what is wrong with him and fix him up.

My blog is short this morning. For obvious reasons. I have to move. Neurophysiotherapy at 9. Do not want to miss it. It is helping.

Say a quiet prayer for Steve. The older I get, the more I come to believe in these things.

Enjoy your day!

Pray tell, what happened to Key West and One Human Family? It exists no more. Gone! For years now.

Why? The “new” folks who began visiting and buying in Key West. “Jerks” who did not comprehend Key West was more than a Florida sunshine place. They did not understand.

Key West has changed. Dramatically. 

Can we change it back?

The Christmas Parade saturday was a winner. People who attended claim it was the best ever! The largest parade wise and attendance wise.

I missed it because I cannot stand that long. 

All of Key West’s parades are terrific. There is something inbred in Key West that makes them so.

I recall the years when Robert and Ally were small. I used to watch the Christmas Parade with them and Lisa and Corey. Two things always excited me. The look in the children’s eyes when when Santa Claus finally appeared. There was only one in the Parade back then. Now, many.

Also the kids “racing” for the candy. The floats would throw candy to them. The kids all had bags and would scurry into the street to pick up the goodies and put them in their bags.

Bing Crosby introduced “White Christmas” in 1942. It still resounds with us today. There is no Christmas without it.

O. Henry’s best known and most beloved short story, “The Gift of the Magi,” was published this day in 1905. It tells the poignantly ironic tale of a poor but devoted couple who each sacrifice their most valuable possession to buy a Christmas gift for the other. Both had very little money otherwise.

They both sold something of value to themselves so as to be able to by a Christmas gift for each other.

The wife had lovely long knee length hair. She had it cut and sold. For $20. Seven hundred dollars in today’s money.

Her husband’s most prized possession was a watch. The band was worn leather.

The wife purchased a platinum fob band for her husband’s watch. The husband bought a set of ornamental combs for his wife’s hair.

The husband sold his watch to buy the combs for his wife’s hair. She had cut and sold her hair, however. She had cut and sold her hair to buy the platinum clasp for her husband’s watch.

Each sold the best they had to pleasure the other. A sadness and beauty in the result. Great love represented by each’s actions, however.

The reasons for the killing of the United Health President are not as simple as initially thought. The sense initially was the assailant was an aggravated individual who himself or someone close failed to get adequate medical care.

This morning’s New York Times lead article spells out something different.

The killer came from a life of privilege and promise. Affluent family. Expensive education. His high school education alone cost $30,000 plus per year. Well educated. He suffered however from physical and psychological  pain due to a spine problem. It made dating and being physically intimate impossible.

The story will prove interesting as it develops further.

Mark Twain’s the “Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” was first published this day in 1884 in England and Canada. Due to a printing error, U.S. publishing did not occur till February 1885.

Contrary to the “mood” which seems to be swinging in Hegseth’s favor, he will not be Secretary of Defense. Trump is setting him up for a fall. Trump’s daughter in law Lara Trump, wife to Donald’s eldest son Eric, wants Rubio’s Senate seat desperately. Trump will dump Hegseth, appoint DeSantis to the Defense seat in return for DeSantis appointing Lara to Rubio’s empty Senate seat.

How “shady” government is!

We have been made aware cable TV is on a cliff. MSNBC is rocking. Now comes a change. A surprising one.

Jonathan Lemire has been hosting Way Too Early. It was announced that effective January 6, the position will be taken over by Ali Vitali. Lemire will move to the 9 o’clock MSNBC slot as a co-host.

Robots popping up everywhere. Now with pets! Specifically cats, dogs and birds.

I did a little home work. The new type robots are popular. The cats look like, feel like and act like cats. The dogs did not appear to me as doggish as they should be.

Cost anywhere from $15 to $175,000. Cheaper in some instances to buy a real pet.

I want to go out tonight. My back determines whether I will.  The back seems better the past few days. Bar stools a problem, however.

Two options tonight. A Syracuse basketball game or The Grand.

Syracuse plays Albany. Does not mean Syracuse necessarily the winner. Albany consistently improving the past few years.

My grandson Matthew did his undergraduate work at Albany. Also was captain of the basketball team.

Matthew was a terrific player in grammar school, high school and college. He played guard. He “could see the floor.” A Talent. 

Also a great student. Graduated fifth in his class at Syracuse Law. Got him an outstanding job with a major New York law firm. His specialty merger and acquisitions. A genius! He has been at it several years now and must be earning $1 million plus a year by this time.

My other choice is The Grand with Steve. It has been a while.

I have decided to do The Grand. The Syracuse game does not excite me. It has been several weeks since I have been at The Grand. Time to see old friends again.

Enjoy your day!

In Flanders Fields is a World War I poem. Written early in the battlefield Flanders Fields by soldier, physician and poet John McCrae. His friend, a fellow soldier, had been killed on Flanders Fields the day before. McRae deeply disturbed. Sat before his friend’s makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross. Poppies blowing in the breeze. Took out a piece of paper and pencil and wrote In Flanders Fields.

McCrae’s poem was intended to give voice to his friend and all others who had similarly died on the battlefield. It speaks of their sacrifice and serves as their command to the living to press on.

In Flanders Fields appeared on yesterday’s date in 1915 in PUNCH magazine. It was published anonymously. McCrae did not think it was very good. His friends published it on his behalf.

In Flanders Fields has stood the test of time. Still popular more than 100 years after written. It will still be popular a century thereafter, if not longer. It is one of those special works that lives on.

The poem is short. I share it in its entirety with you.

                                                                                                                IN FLANDERS FIELDS 

“In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row, / That mark our place; and in the sky / Scarce heard among the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago / We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, / Loved and were loved, and now we be / In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be yours to hold it high. / If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders Fields.”

A closing thought. God bless all who sacrifice their lives for our Nation and those who understand not be damned.

Trump on a sunday TV show said he would keep the U.S. in NATO. His words shrouded conditionally of course: “If their paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, absolutely, I would stay with NATO.”

Trump always sounds like he is negotiating a construction deal.

His words too weak, too general. The item that concerns me most is “if I think they’re treating us fairly.” An economic response meaning they “take our cases” and “food product.” Trump argues NATO nations “don’t take anything” from the U.S.

It’s always dollars with Trump. He fails to see other benefits.

Trump really wants the U.S. out of NATO to please Putin. NATO is the one organization that keeps Russia in check. Trump appears blind to this, or just doesn’t care. Pulling the U.S. out of NATO will save the U.S. billions, if not trillions of dollars. However, it would also expose Europe to more wars and perhaps someday make it possible for Russia to invade the U.S.

Typical of Trump, again he really doesn’t know or care. Everything is money and his continued friendship with his autocratic friends worldwide.

The Syracuse Bowl location was announced yesterday. It’s the DirecTV Holiday Bowl in San Diego. The date December 27th.

Syracuse’s opponent is Washington State. Syracuse is 9-3 and ranked #21 nationally. Washington State is 8-4 and unranked.

I woud have preferred Syracuse playing a ranked team. The better the opposition, the sweeter the victory!

Saw a movie yesterday I have seen several times in the past. However not in recent years. One of the finest movies I have ever viewed. Solid in content and acting.

The movie is 1968’s “The Shoes of the Fisherman.” Anthony Quinn starred as only he can. He plays a Russian priest who ends up Pope and takes a significant step to save the world. I refrain from telling you more. Want you to watch the movie. That good!

Another movie comes into play today. The movie and book upon which it was made.

Sophie’s Choice. Involves the Holocaust and a mother’s decision. The movie starred Meryl Streep. 

Read the book, watch the movie, and weep.

I close with a Robert and Ally tale and the College of Key West’s swimming pool.

Robert and Ally learned how to swim when relatively small at the College of Key West pool. They continued to swim at the pool a number of years and swam competitively in a College sponsored program.

Recently the number of tiles were all replaced in the pool. An extensive job. It took 2,620 tiles.

The College pool is home of the CFK Tugas, the Key West High School Conchs and continues to be a busy hub for community members seeking swimming lessons, fitness and fun.

Enjoy your day!

If a person cannot do a job, such person should not pursue the position in the first place. Especially a Judge.

This really happened in Syracuse, N.Y. recently. A female Syracuse City Court Judge elected to a 10 year term and in her fourth year on the Bench, refused to marry a female couple. The situation occurred on November 16. Two weddings were scheduled before the Judge. The first couple heterosexual. The second a same sex one.

The Judge Felicia Pitt Davis. She married the first couple. Walked out of the room refusing to marry the second. Later, she said she did so because it involved two women and violated her religious beliefs.

Unquestionably a violation of federal and state law. She should be fired! The matter is before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to determine the guilt factor and punishment.

As a retired lawyer who practiced in Central New York, which includes Syracuse, let me tell you something. Certain judgeships are an easy free ride. Considered “retirement” in the profession. The everyday pressure of practicing law gone.

There are hard and easy judgeships. City Court is not one of the difficult ones. The Judges primarily deal with traffic cases and misdemeanor criminal cases. Do their job quietly and efficiently and their initial 10 year term turns into several more leading to retirement and a nice pension.

The difficult judgeships are all federal trial and appellate ones and all state appellate judgeships.

Judge Davis should be defrocked. Let her return to the pressure packed daily practice of the law. She bought it by refusing to do her duly charged judge job.

A pompous ass! Not yet even in office, Donald Trump said thursday that he’s already accomplished more than President Joe Biden did in his entire term. So spoke our “next President to be” at a FOX Nation Annual Patriot Awards event on Long Island. Trump was honored at the event.

It irritates me Trump is behaving like he is already President before he actually is. He still has more than a month to go before he is sworn in. I can recall no former Presidnet-elect in my lifetime behaving in such fashion.

He is in “transition.” He has yet to be sworn in.

We still have another person who is President. His name is Biden.

Unfortunately, Trump does not comprehend “respect.” He wants to receive it, but fails constantly to provide it to others.

He played it big yesterday in Paris at the reopening of Notre Dame. Like he was the President already. He played “President” with Macron, Zelensky and others. His presence had to make Jill Biden uncomfortable. The man has no class nor does he understand good taste. He is clueless.

What ever happened to the milkman?

Today, we buy our milk in the supermarket. Generally in a cardboard container. Back when, milk came in one quart glass bottles which were delivered to the home.

So it was when I was in law school. I was a milkman in 1959. Arrived at the dairy at 4:15 am. Packed my delivery truck. Glass milk bottles in cases. Was on the road delivering at 5.  Required to move my ass. Had to be in class by 9.

Driving a milk truck STRANGE. Very much so. You drove standing. Only one pedal. Served both as clutch and brake. Half way down was for shifting. All the way, braking. Had to be very careful in so doing.

No air conditioning. Ergo the vehicle had to be driven with the doors shut so the milk would not heat/overheat. Became awful hot inside nevertheless. The milk was kept cool with blocks of ice put on by me at the dairy and chopped up before leaving.

The one thing I learned as a milkman that I love even today as I recall it was the ability to carry five bottles of milk in one hand while running up and down driveways. The carrier took too long to load, etc. Time was of the essence. Yes, five bottles of milk in one hand. Could be done. Fingers, thumb and palm of hand all required.

I close with my review of the Syracuse/Notre Dame basketball game yesterday.

Watched the game at Brady’s Irish Pub. Quietly in the back alone. Just me and the TV set.

Syracuse lost 69-64. It was a close game all the way. Notre Dame generally ahead by 2-4 points. Syracuse had the lead in the second half three times by 2 or 3 points for about 20 seconds each time.

Syracuse sucked. Coach Adrian Autry sucked. My feelings simply expressed.

Both teams were without their best players due to injuries. So that is no excuse for the Syracuse loss.

I thought Autry was not equipped for the job when he was appointed head coach. My thinking had not changed. His coaching leaves much to be desired. A Jim Boeheim he is not. Not even close. Never will be.

I saw Syracuse play activity in the first half I have never seen in a college basketball game. In any basketball game. Could not believe my eyes. I am noy going to waste time going over the items since in the second half Audrey had the team playing normal basketball again.

Obviously a close game. Every point counted. Notre Dame shoots threes. I think about 24 attempted. Only 8 made. Eight enough however in a close game where the opposition shot few and made even less. The stats say Syracuse attempted 8 or 9 threes. Made none. I thought Syracuse made 2. Whatever, those eight threes my Notre Dame provided the 5 point edge plus.

Then there were foul shots. Syracuse couldn’t find the hole in the basket much of the first half. They did better in the second half. Missed foul shots also contribute to a loss in a close game. 

A few more threes and some more foul shots made and Syracuse would have defeated Notre Dame going away.

Another Syracuse negative is they failed to cover the offensive board. Seemed to already be running down the court while the Syracuse attempt was still in the air. Such gives away a couple of baskets also.

There was one place where Syracuse played outstanding ball. Impressively so. They occasionally exhibited an expertise, a magic, in driving the ball to the basket with short skillful passes and a lay up. Need more than that to be a good team, however.

Yes, I was unhappy with the result for the reasons specified. The team should be kept longer each day practicing foul shots. Three point shots should become part of their program. No team can win without them.

Enjoy your day!