What kind of sale?

Good Morning and let's enjoy the summer!

I was listening to the radio yesterday and a chain store (which should stay nameless) was advertising a pre-Back to School sale.
Huh?
It's not even the Fourth of July yet. I'm the first to celebrate the first day of school, but, come on, you have to enjoy the summer a little bit.
I understand some people like to get things done early. I know a person who gets all her Christmas shopping done for the next year by the end of January.
OK, that's a little nuts, but whatever.
Just don't shove it in my face. I don't want to hear the S word (School), until the end of July.
Of course, that's when we'll start seeing the Halloween stores pop up.

Moving fast

Good Morning and welcome to another steamer!

Sometimes you feel like frozen shrimp, sometimes you feel like steamed ones. For those complaining about the weather, well, complain somewhere else.
I was looking at the calendar and saw we are almost into July and I haven't been to the beach, swimming in a pool or seen any kind of fireworks.
Better get started this weekend.

Remember what Elvis did to that TV?

Good Morning and welcome summer!

I don't watch TV news. It's most likely because I'm inundated with all the news of the day while sitting here in the office.
I don't listen to news on the radio. I mean, the radio is for music and the Phillies. Besides, I get all the news all the time in the office.
The TV in the office is tuned mostly to news all day. It goes on at 5 a.m. and is turned off sometime after midnight. The cycle starts the next day and so on and so on.
One thing you notice is there are few new stories. The same ones are broadcast over and over again, especially if it rains or (HORRORS) snows.
I know, we do the same thing. I'm not making a judgement here.
One thing, though, don't insult my intelligence.
This morning one of the TV people said they put a call into the office of a government official. It hadn't been returned, the reporter said, and this reporter will stay on the story until there are answers.
It was 5:30 in the morning! Barely anybody is awake. I guarantee there is nobody in this particular government office.
I know we are all trying to get the same chunk of the advertising pie, but, come on. My guess is most viewers just gloss over such hyperbole, but it still goes out there and it hurt my ears.
I guess it's time to turn on soap operas.

Making the most of the lazy and the hazy

Good Morning and, my, we find ourselves at the same place today!

I never believed the old saying "lazy, hazy days of summer" until this year.
Yeah, I know, it's not 'officially' summer yet, but we are only a few days away.
For some reason, this spring has felt lazy and hazy.
I try to keep up the daily workouts, but the couch has been calling more often than not. I want to go for a long walk, but sitting out back with the radio playing feels like a better idea.
I want to eat better, but burgers on the grill taste so darn good.
The thought of a 2-hour workout just isn't holding the appeal it did in the cold of winter (maybe it had something to do with conserving heat).
Anyway, I know I have to get back out there.
Wait, is that a cardinal?

It's not even summer and it's a long one

Good Morning and welcome to the last week of Spring!

I'm one of those Phillies fans that looks at (seemingly) bright spots before the start of a new season.
This year, I was talking about health. Ryan Howard was finally healthy. Chase Utley would be back in true form. Jimmy Rollins was playing so well at the end of last season, this one could only get better.
You know, with a fast start and some luck, the Phillies will be right in the playoff hunt. I mean, the Braves lost Brian McCann (to the Yankees no less), so they will be a little short.
The rest of the division has had injuries. Sure, the Nationals would be better than last year, but, I mean, come on, the Mets? The Marlins?
I almost felt young again. It felt like I was talking about how Ricky Otero could be our answer in centerfield (1996. He was not). Ken Howell is healthy and will anchor a great rotation (1990. Somehow, that rotation of Howell, Pat Combs, Jose de Jesus and Jason Grimsley didn't bring a division title). Signing Lance Parrish is going to put the Phillies over the top (1987. Don't remember a parade that year either).
So, this year, bringing in Marlon Byrd will anchor the outfield. Dom Brown and Ben Revere looked like players last year.
We are back, baby.
Yeah, back to those days when it's more entertaining to watch the 100th rerun of "Man vs. Food" than anything the Phillies are doing on the field.

It's coming! It's coming! Everybody duck!

Good Morning and welcome back to the rain!

When I was, I think 12, my parent's took the family on vacation to Disney World. Back then, there was just one park. The Epcot Center was being built, but, really, who needs more than one Disney park.
My favorite was 'Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.'
It was basically as advertised. You sat in a dinky old car and went through some crazy turns, jostling back-and-forth against your ride partner. The highlight was at the end where your car suddenly jumped on train tracks and was careening right in the front of an oncoming train. Everybody ducked before crashing through the doors to the end of the ride.
Sadly, they replaced the ride in 1998 with some kind of Winnie The Pooh thing.
Anyway, I started thinking about Mr. Toad this morning when I looked at the calendar.
It's June 10.
That means there's only a week left of school.
That means summer is coming.
I have a feeling it's going to be another wild ride.

Black & Decker makes more than tools?

Good Morning and here we go with another day for ducks!

I have to get into the office early most days. What that means is pushing the snooze button as many times as possible so I just have enough time to shower and get breakfast.
A few years ago, I found out I could sleep a few more minutes if I just went the smoothie route in the morning.
Somebody gave me an old Vitamix. You know, that high-end blender they like to show off at Whole Foods and on those infomercials.
I loved it from the first day. It was able to grind up everything I needed into a refreshing breakfast drink. I eventually used it to make everything from soup to sauce.
Alas, though, it slowly stopped working. A couple of months ago, the speed control didn't work correctly. It stayed on high speed. It still worked for me in the morning, but I knew the end was near.
It was time to look for a new blender. Sure, I'd like a new Vitamix, but, you know, a $400 blender would be a little out of the budget.
I looked around and stumbled on something called the Black & Decker FusionBlade (OK, I was actually e-mailed by the company, but I still checked it out).
So, for the far more reasonable price of $50, I can now say I don't really miss the Vitamix. Seriously, I know we like to have the top-line gadgets, but I found out I can do just about everything with the FusionBlade.
I even made my first batch of spring gazpacho and didn't miss a beat.
The best part, and I know I can be rather silly about this, is what the company calls a "Personal Jar."
Basically, I can just load everything I need into the cup, screw on the blender part at the bottom, hit the Smoothie button and I'm ready to go.
I don't have to clean anything out after making my breakfast. I just hit the bottom and go.
You know, anything to grab another minute under the covers.

The zoo outside

Good Morning and welcome back to the 'Net!

There have always been rabbits running around the neighborhood.
I noticed them the first day after moving in three years ago. The rabbits would run through the back yard and disappear under a neighbor's shed.
They were kind of cute in a wild rabbit way. I made sure never to feed them. Running through was fine, but I didn't want permanent visitors.
Last year, it seemed like the number of rabbits had increased. I saw them on several front lawns sitting in the sun. I figured, well, you know, rabbits.
I've seen plenty of chipmunks, squirrels and birds as well.
Anyway, while take the trash out one time last summer, there was a new visitor. A skunk was walking through the yard. Not any skunk. To me, in the dark with my imagination running wild, it was about two yards long and was coming right for me.
I ran inside and didn't go out after dark for about a month.
OK, it's nature. We've actually invaded their space. As long as they don't bother me or my tomato plants, we can co-exist.
Sunday night I was standing outside and I heard some soft steps of something running along the curb. It sounded like a cat. I looked closer and it had a long, black & white tail.
This morning, three rabbits were sitting on the front lawn.
When are the bears coming?

Summer of ... what?

Good Morning and welcome to the sunshine!

OK, I'm a little worried about this summer and I have to do something about it.
I have to make sure this summer is more than just sitting in front of a computer and playing games.
That didn't go over so well with the group at home, but, darn, I'm going to make sure it happens.
If it means taking drives to far away parks, so be it. If it means finding an empty tennis court, we'll be there. If it means hanging out in the backyard playing RISK, well, that's going to have to be.
See, I'm worried about the constant barrage of electronics. Now, I'm not one of those who sits there and tells everybody about what it was like before cell phones (actually, not so bad).
I don't talk about riding my bike for hours on end or just throwing a ball against the wall.
I know it's a different time. Things change. Where I used to walk to a friend's house, they can now video Skype. That's fine, but sometimes it's just as much fun to walk over.
It won't be an easy task, but, hey, somebody has to do it.

More information we have, the less we learn

Good Morning and it sure feels like we've skipped to summer!

We were watching TV late last week (yeah, one of those stupid pawn reality shows) and a guy was trying to sell a pair of Dr. J's sneakers.
While the bickering went on between the TV guys, the teenager asked, "Who is Dr. J?"
Over the weekend, we took a trip to Washington D.C. and walked through the American History Museum. One of the exhibits contained Archie Bunker's chair. The 12-year old asked, "Who is Archie Bunker?"
My answer to both those questions was "Look it up and learn."
Technology has given us the ability to learn all about everything. Want to know what the Vikings ate while sailing to Greenland? Google it.
Want to find out the top song on May 27, 1972? Go online.
Who is Dr. J? Well, that question should never get asked.
The problem, though, is with so much information, I fear we are losing something.
When I wanted to learn about Jackie Robinson, I read books and watched the movies. Now, there's not investment. A quick search calls up a Wikipedia page and a scan of the text pulls in the information.
How much of it sticks, though? I mean, really, we've all be sucked into the hole where we start reading about something, click on something else, then something else and forget the original search.
All the info obviously is not bad, we just have to use it the correct way.

Gardening without a green thumb

Good Morning and can you believe it's almost Memorial Day?

So, I got the flowers and tomatoes all planted last week. I even picked up all the right fertilizer and dirt this year.
A week into growing, the plants haven't died yet. I call that a good season.
See, I have the opposite of a green thumb. I could take the heartiest plant and shrink it to nothing in a few weeks.
Heck, I've even had a cactus die on me and you don't have to do anything to a cactus.
This year, though, is going to be different. I'm going to water the plants. I'm going to make sure the rabbits (where did they all come from) don't eat the leaves.
I'm confident in my work.
Now, if only I could get a few tomatoes to actually ripen.

Oh those college speakers

Good Morning and it's way too nice out this morning to be inside!

OK, a little bit of truth here, I don't remember who spoke at my college graduation. I know he was some kind of judge or lawyer or something.
I probably should have been paying attention. I know that. I'm sure the class was told such good things as "make your mark" or "get out in the world" or "in 10 years this college degree won't be worth the paper it's printed on" or "remember the Alamo."
Maybe if the speaker was Bill Clinton or George Clinton or Clint Eastwood, the speech may have mattered to me. At the time, though, I was happy to be among family and friends and, well, didn't really care.
So, when I read about the controversies surrounding so many college commencement speakers this year, I began to wonder what I missed.
Maybe I'll go hang around a lawyer's office.

12 years of learning

Good Morning and welcome to the muck!

Here are a few things I've learned over the past 12 years:
If you play hide-and-seek, make sure you check all the boxes.
Don't walk past a candy store with somebody who has a sweet tooth.
When standing in line for Santa, make sure everybody stands with you.
Keeping the camera running on Christmas morning leads to some unexpected sweetness.
Minecraft is not only a game, it's life.
When you least expect it, something nice happens.
Being scared is OK.
Fighting with your brother and sister, well, not OK.
School days it's not so easy to get certain people out of bed.
Off days, they are up at 5 a.m.
A slow burn can turn into an explosion in a matter of minutes.
Missing school is easy if you can somehow convince everybody you are sick.
Sometimes, you need to miss school just because it's a nice day to miss.
Zombies can be terrifying. Vampires are kind of boring.
If it wasn't for Brendan, my life would not be full.

Sports? Yeah, that's not real life

Good Morning and welcome to summer!

Remember when former Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens was doing push ups in his driveway. Remember when he was saying he needed a raise to feed his family after making $9 million in 2004. He was set to get $4.5 million in 2005.
Yeah, that's not real life. I don't think any professional athlete can relate to real life.
Do they care if the minimum wage is raised? Only if it means the price of pizza is going up.
OK, here's another one.
Earlier this season, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable to pitch because he had worked three days in a row. He was unable to enter yesterday's game because he had a stiff neck.
Probably got that stiff neck carrying his $13 million check to the bank.
Sorry, it's not reality.
If I called work and said I was unavailable today because I had worked three days in a row, they would probably tell me to find a new place of work.
Sore neck? Now you are becoming a sore someplace else.
Then there's the whole flu-like symptoms thing. What the heck is that? How many times have we heard about that one? I mean Allen Iverson used to miss practice with flu-like symptoms every day.
Yeah, right. I have flu-like symptoms all the time. Not only don't I get any sympathy, but I also have to go into work.
So, I don't want to hear it. Next time you don't want to come into a game, just tell it like it is: you are a pampered prima donna who just wants to sit in the sun.

It's time to outlaw homework

Good Morning and welcome to Springtime on the 'Net!

I never really understood the point of teachers giving homework. I mean, really, we were just in school for nine hours, why do I need to do extra work at home.
As I moved through my school years, I pushed off enough homework assignments that many of my mornings were spent frantically finishing 100 division problems.
Now, though, it seems even more pointless.
It's almost like teachers these days feel like they have to give homework, because, well, they had to do homework. I very rarely see the point when the schoolies come home and pull out their stuff.
Sometimes, I feel like just telling them to put down gibberish and get outside.
School is different these days. Students are subjected to biased standardized testing and inundated with work, work, work during the day.
It's time to take a No Homework stand.
Who's with me?

The satisfaction, then the pain

Good Morning and welcome to another May day!

A few years ago, my brother was talking about training for the Ironman competition. Yes, that crazy, swim a lot of miles, bike a lot of miles and then run a marathon. He was talking about how tired he was, but was able to keep going because he was determined to get it done.
When his first one was over, he immediately signed up for the next year's race (or whatever you call it).
He started talking about how he thought anybody could do it. He looked at me and said, "You could do it. It's just swimming and riding a bike. Then you can walk the 26 miles if you had to."
Yeah, right.
Anyway, both my brothers were with me Sunday during the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia, the 10-mile tour of the city. Of course, it's a 10-mile tour you need to get done in 2 and a half hours.
We were among the 40,000 who decided it would be a cool thing.
You know what, it really was cool. It was exciting. It was a miracle.
Somehow, I was able to finish the whole 10 miles under the cutoff point (if my brothers weren't there, by the way, I wouldn't have lasted 2 miles).
Making it to the finish line was overwhelming. The pain later was just a bit of a nuisance. If we could have signed up for next year, we would have done it right away.
I finally understood what he was talking about.

Time to lace up the sneakers

Good Morning and welcome to the river!

In a couple of days, I'll be doing something I never thought about doing. I was pleasantly (if not healthy) happy with my sedentary lifestyle. I liked watching TV. I liked having a few (too many) beers in the backyard. I enjoyed pizza and burgers.
It was all fine with me until one day I did not feel well. I stood up and got dizzy and thought, "Hmm, maybe I should do something."
So, I joined the YMCA and started working out on the machines. I hadn't done it for years, so it was a slow go at first.
One day in November, another member was wearing a Broad Street Run T-shirt.
Once again, my brain started talking. "There's a goal for you."
So, I worked out. I ran on the street. I put in miles. I ate better. I had setbacks (my calves are still painful enough that I have a slight fear I won't finish). I started a Facebook page where friends have been offering encouragement and kept me going.
This Sunday, I'll be attempting to run (very, very slowly mind you) all the way down Broad Street in Philadelphia with about 40,000 other people. Most (if not all) will finish before I will.
It's not a race for me, though.
This is a change. I'm determined to show my children you can do anything you want. Don't let others bring you down. Don't let others say you can't do something.
Now, who wants to let me borrow their hot tub Sunday afternoon?

Birthday parties

Good Morning and welcome to another day on the 'Net!

So, I found out last week that having a birthday party in your house is kind of embarrassing.
See, I always thought it was a good deal because you had all your games, toys, whatever and could show them off for your friends.
Sure, I've seen the move away from house parties over the years, but I thought I could hold on to that tradition.
Guess not.
Now, anything less than laser tag or jumping off walls is passe.
Apparently, not even bowling is a good idea.
"Nobody likes bowling," I was told.
Unless, of course, they go bowling. Then you can't pull them off the lanes.
Maybe there's some place we can have laser tag bowling.

Running? More like walking

Good Morning and welcome to the new day!

For some reason late last year, I thought it would be a good idea to set a goal for myself. So, I thought, wouldn't it be great to train for the Broad Street Run?
I have never done anything like it. I was told by some I would never be able to do it. Of course, that meant I was going to do it come hell or high water.
So, the run (I won't call it a race, because I'm not racing) is Sunday. I have a week left and, as it turns out, a weak right leg.
I was so resolute in my training, I fear I may have overdone it. Last week, I started to get cramps in my calves.
It all came to a head Saturday night when I used the Haverford Twilight 5K as my final training run. Well, OK, it was a training walk. About a mile in, the pain in my legs started. I wasn't going to stop, though, and I still finished in 40 minutes (what I was really shooting for).
Of course, when the 90-year old with the walker passed me on the course, I thought I might be in trouble.
So, I'll use ice, I'll eat a lot of bananas (saw on the Internet) and I'll be ready Sunday.
Well, that's the plan anyway.

Cable TV? Hmmm

Good Morning and, man, it was chilly out there this morning!

I can remember when we first got cable TV in the house way back in 1981.
I remember watching a movie on PRISM just because I could watch a movie on PRISM (it was like a local version of HBO). They also showed Phillies home games, so, you know, so much for listening on the radio.
There was also this little thing called MTV, which showed music videos. So, you know, so much for listening to the radio.
In those heady days, network TV still had a stranglehold on programming. You wanted to watch a new show, you had to be in front of the TV at the right time.
Next came the VCR and, well, you could watch your favorite shows any time as long as you could figure out the damn clock.
We've certainly advanced since then. Now, there are 100s of channels and the networks don't always have the best option.
I think the end of cable is coming sooner than a lot of Comcast executives want to admit. Pretty soon, we'll be able to stream everything right from the Internet onto our TV. Netflix and Amazon are changing the game with movies and TV shows.
Why pay for 100 channels with nothing on when you can pick and choose for much less?
We are close to cutting the cable cord. It will be interesting to see where it goes.