In the air, there's a feelin' of Christmas

 

It’s a Small World.

 September 3, 1942- Sinatra sings his last show with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Where?

Indianapolis, Indiana at the Circle Theater. A venue still open. It is the home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. 

How Sinatra got out of that contract is the stuff of legends, and perhaps even great gangster movies. 

Funny enough, the next great singer who was a cultural phenomenon was Elvis Presley. He too played his last concert in Indianapolis. 

Here we go

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Thanks from the bottom of my heart to each of you for taking time to read my drivel over the years. I appreciate it more than I can say.

Wednesday check in

 

The big Thanksgiving holiday will be upon us tomorrow. If you are traveling, stay safe. 

The wife is in the middle of changing the house into a winter wonderland. As always the place is beautiful, classy, and elegant. We crossed paths this morning as I stumbled downstairs to get my morning coffee and she was heading to bed, content after a night of decorating. 

The weather has made a big change. It is windy and cold. Temps are not expected rise above the thirties for the next several days. 

I am determined not to work at all today. So far I have put on over six hours of work this week. “So what?” you mutter. I’m supposed to be on vacation. 

Yesterday was my grandson’s birthday. He would have been eight. 

My Wife

 

I could put up some more Momas and Papas but I wont.

Monday. 

Like I care, I’m on vacation all week. I hoped to sleep in, but sometimes life moves at its own pace. 

I may be on holiday, but I will work a few hours today anyway. I have stuff that cannot wait a week. So it goes. 

Besides, I don’t want anyone at the government to decide I’m not a professional. 

All the leaves are brown

 

If the summer change to winter, yours is no disgrace.

 I guess it was sometime in 1975 when I started working. I made a whopping $2.10 per hour. I got s raise to $2.30 the next year.  I saved up every penny plus the money I got for mowing my grandmother’s lawn and went out and bought a brand new Pioneer receiver. I hooked up a pair of big Utah speakers I purchased on credit from my brother. I was able to listen in on the distant rock stations from Indy, first the locally famous WNAP and later WFBQ. 

Several months later I was able to add a Pioneer turntable. I soon started buying albums. I borrowed from my brother’s extensive collection, always taking care to use the “discwasher” system every time to keep the sound clean and clear. 

At some point I acquired a copy of the Yes live album Yessongs. My life was changed. I discovered the virtuosity and complex world of progressive rock. I have loved the band since. I’ve seen them live several times and I own almost every album (not tho the last few). 

I’m listening to the Yessongs album as I type this. I suspect I have listened to all or parts of this album at least once a week since 1975. I still listen to Yes most nights as I drift to sleep. 

You do the math. If I have listened to this album every week for 50 years; that means I have listened to it about 2500 times. I would guess that figure is low. 

Is there any music you have listened to for fifty years?

Ahhoooga, ahhoooga

 Sound the foghorn! 

A thick blanket of fog lies heavy on the neighborhood this morning. The neighbor’s front lights are fuzzy bright spots in the distance. 

I don’t know why you would care. I only mention it as a means to a post. Yes, that is where we are now on our mostly daily conversation around here. I initiate things and my words disappear into the ether. It’s the same way when I contact potential prospects for work. 

Tap, tap. Is anyone there? 

I know you are.  My visitor logs prove it. You have to admit this strange hobby where I throw up words and sentences about random stuff in some vain hope someone somewhere reads it is a bit weird. 

Enjoy your Friday. 

Holiday musings

 I have looked everywhere for this ornament. 

<rimshot>

Le sigh

Sure, I am going to complain. I’m good at it. Friday afternoon I raked up all of the leaves on the front lawn. So it goes. As the wife reminds me I wanted all of those trees. 

After a windy weekend the yard was covered again on Monday. I fired up the mower, chopped and bagged them. The lawn looked great. 

I woke yesterday morning to rain and wind - and a carpet of fallen leaves. This batch was double what I removed just 12 hours prior!  @&$?!%#. 

If it dries out this afternoon I’ll do the mower thing, providing the layer is not too thick. Otherwise it is back to the old rake. 

Political logic

 Let me see if I have this straight. Tariffs are great and wonderful and in no way increase prices for Americans. 

We have to reduce the tariffs on select goods to make them more affordable for Americans. 

Got it. 

Sunday Music

 

DePauw Sucks

It looks as if today will be another great “September”day, with temperatures reaching near 70F. I’m certainly not complaining. 

In other news, after way too long, the first draft of my second novel is complete. Now comes the editing, rewriting, and the rewrite of the rewrites. 

In any case it is a very different novel from my first. This one is more action and adventure.  

Perspective

I remember distinctly the wife’s reaction when we looked at this house.

Her: I love this house. Let’s get it. 

Me: Me too and it is in our price range. 

Every fall the discussion changes.

Me: There sure are a lot of leaves.

Her: Hey, you wanted all of those trees. 

But I do

 

Where was this girl when I was in high school?

I think a day in the stocks is appropriate punishment

I was pushing my cart out of Walmart and saw the aisle between the cars that led to my vehicle was blocked by an abandoned cart. I shook my head at the jerks in life. Then I noticed the car next to the shopping cart was backing out. 

A quick glance at the buggy and behold, the entitled driver had left her purse in the cart. Surprising even myself I positioned my cart to the side and waved at the driver. When I got her attention I pointed at the abandoned cart. She gave me a dirty look, you know, the “mind your own business “ frown. I gestured one last time at her cart and went around the long way to my car. Screw it. 

I saw the lady pull her car back in the parking slot. She rolled down her window, grabbed her purse and drove off. 

After I loaded my groceries I walked over and grabbed her cart and pushed both carts into the cart coral. 

I have a lot of faults, but I never leave my cart loose in the parking lot. 

If you do, rethink your life choices. Be aware there is absolutely no argument you can make that will change my mind. If you abandon your shopping cart you are an unmitigated self-centered jerk. EOS. 

Eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month

 

The bells rang 29 times

 

Le Sigh

 

The smell of burning leaves is indelibly printed on my brain as the enduring memory of fall. As a kid you had to be careful about riding your bike through the piles of leaves beside the curb, lest the bottom of the pile was smoldering. Alas, for decades  burning leaves has been outlawed everywhere I’ve lived. It’s probably a good thing. But I can still smell it in my brain. 

This is my front lawn this morning. It was 100% clear if leaves yesterday. I spent the afternoon raking and bagging.  Now I have a new carpet of leaves. 

Most of the tree is still covered, so this exercise will be repeated. Besides neither of my adjoining neighbors ever rakes their leaves so I often think clearing the leaves at all is a waste. 

In the back yard it is the same story, but the three Bradford Pears won’t drop their leaves for a month. 

Saturday music

 How about some more by The Romantics?

Yeah? You don’t get to vote. My blog, my rules. 

Enjoy it anyway.

The post is done. I have no title

It looks like we will have a wet weekend. A bit of rain is supposed to pass through this morning. If it dries out this afternoon I might run the mower over the lawn to chop up the early leaves. That is fewer leaves to rake later. 

The weather forecast calls for cold to start the week. We might even see a few flakes of snow. 

Christmas decorations have sprung up on a few houses in the neighborhood. The wife mentioned we could put up our tree Sunday. Rain will keep me from doing the outside lights. I have long experience translating wife speak. “Maybe” means definitely (unless it relates to nekkid wrestling, then it means ‘nope’) and “we” means I will do it. The current tree is not hard to put up, it is pre-lit and pops open in three sections. If she wants to jump into Christmas season I don’t care. The house is beautiful when she gets it decorated. 

In any case, go forth and survive your Friday. 

When you close your eyes and go to sleep

I’ve had somniloquy most of my life. Don’t worry, it is neither contagious nor fatal. It simply means I talk in my sleep. Apparently I mumble gibberish for the most part. I remember my college  roommates jarring me awake by trying to engage the sleeping me in a conversation to discover what I was talking about. My wife has done the same thing over the years. Apparently it is great fun. 

The wife was downstairs Tuesday night watching TV (she goes to bed late) when she says she heard me shouting something. She could not tell if I was angry or scared, just excited about something since she could hear me over the TV clear from the bedroom. 

I don’t even remember dreaming Tuesday night. 

I have always told the wife I remain on the straight and narrow out of fear I will confess in my sleep. 

Bread and Circuses Indeed

 Has everyone in New York gone nuts? Are there stupid pills in the drinking water? Are history and economics not studied in school? 

What the heck is wrong with you people?

Oh noes

 People are showing up on the news crying they are starving after one day without SNAP benefits. 

The government has warned for weeks that if the Democrats do not vote to reopen the government then this would happen. Did any of those people set aside money or food to get through the temporary shut off?

Look, a few years ago I found myself out of work. Unemployment was a fraction of my previous salary. My mortgage and car payments and other bills were at a level to match my previous take home pay. Things were tough. 

What did we do? We ate pancakes. We ate biscuits and gravy. We ate frozen pizza. We ate grilled cheese or peanut butter. Is that what I wanted for dinner? Nope, but it is what we could afford. We cancelled every streaming subscription we cancelled cable. No more beer. No movies. No more visits to the expensive hair salon. 

If you need food then sell your designer purse. Pawn your tools. Sell your cell phone. Do what I did, go get a job, even a crappy one in retail. 

Loss of your SNAP benefits doesn’t mean you are starving. It means you need to change your taxpayer supported life style. 

Can we just stop with the clock changes already?

 Here we are on a Sunday morning. I don't know what time it is. I haven't finished the stupid change the clocks routine (I deleted a 500 word rant on that subject here).

You are welcome.

I stayed up on watched last night's MLB game seven. What an epic baseball game. I did not care if Toronto won, but I sure was rooting against the Dodgers. The pitcher Yamamoto was the man. He went out there after pitching the day before and threw another couple of innings to close out the game. His arm had to feel like a painful wet rag but he got the job done. The dude truly was the MVP.

Saturday Musings

A glance out the window shows the neighborhood trees awash in russets and golds. It is a little late, but leaf raking season is upon us. As my wife frequently reminds me, I wanted all of those trees. 

In other news, I am recovered from my long road trip this week. All went well. I even managed to catch up on my work emails yesterday and my sleep last night. 

Our attention will now shift to Thanksgiving then Christmas. As the Starks frequently told us, winter is coming.