Happy 2024!!!

Greetings, readers. A Happy New Year to you all! I am feeling very melancholy today. There are several reasons for this, which I shall now elaborate upon. Besides missing my mother, father and grandparents, I had to make one of the most important decisions of my life. It’s going to hurt some people very badly, but in my heart, it is what I had to do. I shall now elaborate on this. 

For those of you who do not know, I had not been going to the Presbyterian Church for about three years or so. Recenty, I have been attending a Mormon church with some friends of mine. Also, with two very excellent Sister Missionaries, and others before them, just as good. After many weeks of pondering, doing my homework, listening to friends and family, I have decided against joining the Mormon Church. It was not a popular decision to the sisters, I can assure you. They were quite devastated, as was I inside. I tried to put on a brave face, but I was just as hurt in my gut. I told them that I had to do what I thought was the correct thing for me. Whether it will be or not, we will find out when I die. 

All last evening. I should have been happy, but I was not. I crushed two young ladies whom I like very much. If I live to 110, I shall never forget the look of devastation on their faces. My sincere apologies. Also, there are others who do not yet know of my decision. My job of hurting people is far from over.

On to a different subject. My mind and soul is filled with thoughts of watching parades on TV when I was a child, followed by college football bowl games. Oh, the old days. I long for them. However, as many people have told me over the years, the only thing constant is change. I might be repeating myself, but I am young enough to remember when you had to search hard for a business to be open on a Sunday or holiday. Now, you must look hard to find one that is closed.

Until Wednesday, I again bid you a Happy New Year, love one another, forgive one another, and as always, happy reading.

70 degrees on March 18? Wowzers!

Greetings, readers. Another Friday has rolled around, and I’m excited for the weekend. After two weeks of having to watch church on their YouTube channel, Sunday morning looks doable for walking. Even though it’s supposed to rain on tomorrow, the forecast is just for cloudy skies with a high in the 50s. I’ll take it.

We’ve had warmish weather here in central Pennsylvania all week, but on Monday it will begin a week-long cool off with temperatures in the 50s and low 60s. After this blog entry goes live, this writer is going out for a brief walk and a stop at the cafe.

Yesterday, I thought this brain of mine had finally flipped a cog when I heard bagpipes! Oh, wait a minute…, yes, it was St. Patrick’s Day. Now it made sense. I get to keep what’s left of my sanity a little while longer. 😉

I called Thursday night bingo, and that was fun. For our two special games, we played the ‘Big F’ and the ‘Big Z’. I just wanted to try two different games seldom played. I think my choices were well received. In between, we played rounds of ‘everybody wins with all games in play’. A great time was had by all.

Lastly, I bid everybody a fantastic weekend. I hope all of my local readers take advantage of this warm weather. Please do take care of one another, give a loved one a hug, pray for a person, and until Monday…, as always, happy reading.

I hope you are having a good Memorial day weekend

Greetings, readers. So far my Sunday has been wet! It was pouring down rain as I walked home from church. I do have plans to go to a neighbor’s party later, where I will have fun and stay dry. After that, I think I will take a nap, so I decided to get this blog entry done before the party.

I have a fundraiser I am doing for a friend of mine, who is about to lose her apartment. I hope to raise enough money to keep her in her home for at least another three months. If you feel like donating, the link is here. Thank you.

I want to say thank you to all the military people who have served our country. My prayers go out to all of you who have lost loved ones in the service of this country. Thank you for your sacrifice.

I will be back on Wednesday with another entry. Until then, have a good week, take care of each other, and happy reading.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms & I’m enjoying my DVDs

Greetings, readers. Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, grandmas and Aunts. This is your day, so enjoy all the pampering, the cards, and hopefully the lunches that you are taken out to. As many of my regular readers know, my mom passed away in 2003. However, I took my friend Smith, who is mom, grandma, and aunt all rolled into one, out to lunch at Panera café after church. The church sermon was wonderful, coffee hour was very enjoyable, and our lunch could not have been better. Smith said that I really made her day special.

Let’s see what else is new. I have been thoroughly enjoying my Charlie’s Angels DVDs, but I’m a little bit worried that part of season four is missing. There should be twenty discs; two per packet. I’m going to count them this afternoon. It just so happens that season four is my favorite season. Yes, readers, I did like the Shelley Hack season. Was she the best actress in the world? No. Nonetheless, I thought that season had a lot of good stories. Miss Hack went on to star in the short-lived series, Jack and Mike.

What is the weather like today you ask? It is raining, cool, and positively miserable. It is not good for Mother’s Day plans here in Central Pennsylvania. Hopefully moms don’t have picnics or any other such activities planned. I would dare venture to say that folks took a look at the weather forecast a day or two ago, and made plans accordingly.

Finally, I will be able to cross off this task from my new weekly to do list. I’ve done my banking for the week, almost finished the blog entry, and one other thing that I can’t even remember what it was. Lol. what I still need to do is start work on two chapters for the new camp book. I was going to do that Monday afternoon, but a friend of mine asked me to go to a movie. Perhaps I can get some writing done in the late morning, or the early evening. I must keep this project moving forward.

There is this Sunday’s blog entry. Rebecca and I will be back at it on Wednesday. So, until then, I bid you a fantastic few days, take care of one another, and as always, happy reading.

It’s holiday time again :-)

Greetings, readers. In just a few hours one of my favorite days will begin. I love Thanksgiving because it has a number of traditions I took part in as a kid and I continue to do to this day.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. I’ll get up fairly early, have my morning coffee and take my meds, and get ready to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Then, a relatively new tradition, if I’m at home, I’m invited out to dinner with Traci and her family. Some years I’m invited to my best friend, David’s, house to take part in their celebration. That is always enjoyable, because I either go by Zipcar or Megabus and make a weekend of it.

After I get back from Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I will watch what is left of any football games, and take a nap. After I wake up, I will turn on Spotify music and play my hand-selected Christmas Trax. I’d have to say of all the songs I have on that playlist, Earth Kitt’s Santa Baby is my favorite. I performed that at my last show; it was a hit. Please, if you have Spotify, find me, follow me, and subscribe to that playlist, or any playlists of mine you wish.

To me, the Christmas season, even though it might start earlier or later for other people, was always from Thanksgiving morning until the day after New Year’s. At home as a child, I would watch my parents put up the tree, most years a live tree, decorate it and plug the lights in; it was so much fun to watch it come alive, as I used to say. There are holiday parades and bowl games during this part of the year, the town is decorated with pretty lights and lit wreaths and a big Christmas tree, and yes, even those first snow storms are pretty. Once the car tires get into it and turn the snow black, well you can have it. Black snow might be the ugliest sight in the world.

I always get a tiny bit depressed on January 2nd. Some people in my building will already be taking down their holiday decorations and the season will be over. What’s left is three months of trees with no leaves, grass that does not look green, snow, cold, and wind. Oh joy, oh bliss. And yes, readers, I am being sarcastic.

With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I will let you know what I am thankful for. I am thankful to have a roof over my head and that it is downtown close to many places I need to go, such as shopping and bus stops. I’m also thankful for my many friends and people I call family. I am especially thankful for Rebecca who has been my trusted friend, typist and editor for all these years. In the last year or two she has actually graduated to a title of personal assistant.

I am most thankful for Tasha, my former co-worker at my fast-food job, and her mother for providing me with a wonderful kitty cat. Princess Josie has become most affectionate and loving. We are really getting to know each other’s habits, and believe me she knows that when I wake up, it is time for her breakfast. She’ll make a mad dash for the kitchen. So again, thank you Tasha and mom.

If anyone would like to, please leave in the comments below or on Facebook what you are thankful for. I would love to compare notes. As always, I wish everyone a safe holiday if traveling, give your family members plenty of hugs, and as always, happy reading.

I wish everyone a very happy 2017! :-)

Greetings, readers. This blog entry is going to be rather short one. I want to wish everyone a very happy new year. I have had many personal ups and downs this past year, and am looking forward to 2017. The highlight of the year was, of course, getting engaged to Traci. My marriage proposal to her during my latest show was a special moment for both us. The lowlight for my apartment building and its community was the loss of a number of residents this past year. It is always a shock and we miss them.

On Monday afternoon, the Penn State Nittany Lion football team will play in the Rose Bowl vs. USC. A friend told me that two players on the Penn state team have been suspended. That is not going to help our chances of winning the game. However, I applaud the coach for taking action if it was truly necessary. That takes guts.

I shall be doing all of my traditional things on New Year’s such as watching parades, football games, and, on New Year’s Eve, watching the ball drop from Times Square.

After the holiday season is over, Rebecca and I will get back to work on a fairly regular schedule. This coming Wednesday, however, I need to take Traci to an appointment, so Rebecca will do a blog entry from here at the office.

A most joyous and happy new year to all my loyal readers and friends. Please leave a comment if you wish and let us know what some of your New Year’s Day traditions are.

As always take care, have a great holiday weekend, and happy reading.

Merry Christmas everyone

Greetings, readers. As my regular readers know, I love Christmas and this time of year. I try to keep up with as many family traditions as I can. I have my decorations up, but not as many as I would have liked. I did my annual Christmas light ride with Traci, who is now my fiancé, and we both had an excellent time. Just as we had given up all hope of seeing the Santa Firetruck, there it was, returning to base. They must have begun a bit earlier than in years past.

I hope you and your family are having a great holiday, too.

Until next week, take care, have a great weekend, and happy reading.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone

Greetings, readers. It is the day before Thanksgiving 2016 and I am in a happy mood. My anger earlier this week from my Zipcar debacle has faded and thoughts have turned to the holiday season. As I’ve mentioned before this is my favorite time of year. I love to watch my Thanksgiving Day parade, enjoy a scrumptious turkey dinner with all the trimmings, take a nap and then begin to decorate the apartment.

Decorating will be a slow process this year because I have to find where some decorations were stored. My manger set’s box came apart last year and I have forgotten where I put the manger pieces. I’m sure I will find them. I know exactly where my lights are; they are in a big bag in the walk-in closet. Unfortunately, I think all four strands are together in a tangled mess. If I cannot untangle it, or if too many bulbs are broken, I might just go to CVS and buy new ones. Other small trinkets, such as stockings, wooden houses, and glowing snow globes are easy to find and put up.

Yummy holiday delights such as candy canes and eggnog are in stores for the offing. I’m not too big a fan of candy canes, but I love eggnog. I have to watch how much I drink because it is very rich, not to mention fattening. Hell, it’s once a year, I don’t care.

When I was much younger, my family would cook a turkey and the house would smell wonderful. As all of you know, I don’t cook, so Traci and I are going to go with her family friends to the Nittany Lion Inn for their buffet dinner. That means no leftovers, but I can deal with that. If there are any football games left to watch when I get home, I will sit down and do so. That is also part of my family holiday tradition.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is always the day when I begin playing Christmas music. I know some restaurants have already started, but I wait until after Thanksgiving. I don’t want to rush the year away.

That’s my holiday tradition in a nutshell. I bid you all a wonderful happy Thanksgiving. We’ll see you next week. Take care, and as always, happy reading.

Happy New Year to everybody

Greetings, readers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my readers for coming along with me on this ride during the last four years. It’s been more fun than I could have ever imagined. I’m looking forward to a great year of blogging in 2016. I’m going to try to spread my wings and discuss political topics, since the general election is less than a year away. I have plenty of opinions about said topic, but that doesn’t mean I’m always correct.

Throughout the coming year, you can expect blog entries dealing with what is new in my life, video game reviews, my famous top ten lists, and a follow-up to the extremely popular post on the show Air Crash Investigation.

On a personal note, I’m a little bit sad today and I feel like taking my Christmas decorations down before the new year begins. I’ve never experienced this before. Mom and Dad would always keep the tree up through the first week of January. I don’t have a tree, but Mom’s manger set and candles are on prominent display. When it does come time to take the manger set down, I will have to acquire a brand new box and use plastic ziplock bags for the figurines. The set was my mom’s and is very fragile. Great care will have to be used to put it away correctly. With my bad hand, great care and precision are not my strong points.

Kitty cat Keekee got an unexpected present last night, as nine cans of cat food were on the community room swap table just as her daddy was out of food. I was quite pleased to get them.

On Wednesday, we’ll be back from the holiday with a top ten list on an as of yet unknown topic. So once again, happy New Year, have a safe and healthy 2016, and happy reading.

Merry Christmas eve and Christmas

Greetings, readers. This will be a short blog entry today, because I have a gazillion things to do before tonight’s Christmas Eve light ride and tomorrow’s Christmas festivities. As has happened in the past, things that I need to find disappear into the black hole that I call my apartment. The latest lost item is my electric shaver charger cord. There are two places that it may be hiding in. If it’s not in those two places, I’ve got a problem.

I was listening to lots of Christmas music yesterday and I’ll be sad when the season is over. Somehow it just seemed to go quicker this year. I feel like Traci and I just got back from Thanksgiving a few days ago. In actuality, it was really three and a half weeks.

Some time next month, I hope to begin my new budget as planned, though the beginning of a new insurance policy year may blow up my expenses for medication and co-pays until my deductible has been reached.

Finally, I will let everyone know that the first blog of the new year will be my annual New Year’s resolutions. I’m going to choose resolutions that are realistic and that I can attain. Spoiler alert: One of my resolutions will be to keep up with old friends better than I have been. So to my Facebook reader friends, you might just get that invite for coffee sometime.

Again, happy holidays to everybody, and here’s to a great 2016. Until Wednesday, take care, enjoy, and happy reading.