Surgery

BTW...

I'm not being nonchalant about Dad's surgery.  I mean , I'm aware it's serious, but what can you do? Gotta be a good son, and be there w/ him while he has bypass surgery.

He's a tough guy, and will be fine. Something good has to happen to this family now!

I like doing this blog because it is very cathartic for me during this wacky time.

 

Kerry-Mania

I may be a bit over emotional, but I really found myself getting overwhelmed during John Kerry's speech during the Democratic Convention tonight.  Prior to his speech tonight, I really felt that he had to hit a home run of a speech, really say who he is, and identify where we're gonna go as a nation.

I felt he did all of those things w/ his speech.  He hit all the aspects that I was looking for... From humor, to talking tough about terrorism, from health care for ALL Americans, to his tenure as a Senator and Prosecutor in Massachusetts.  From his service record in Vietnam, to his relgious faith that he did not have to wear on his sleeve.  It was all there.

I don't think I have felt an election be so important since my first time voting in a presidential election in 1988 ( That was Bush vs. Dukakis for all of you old timers out there).  Let's all stand up and say that we do not a president who is controlled  by his God, and his appeasing the most right wing conservatists wack jobs.  Let's embrace a guy who wants to be president who says yes to scientific research, yes to healthcare for all,  yes to those struggling to make a buck in this country having the chance to get a bigger piece of the pie.  And,  let's have those who GET THE MOST OUT of our country financially put the most BACK IN w / their taxes.

Let's give John Kerry of Massachussetts a chance come November 2nd.

Ok, enough of my schpiel.

I'm off to Florida tomorrow to see my dad.  It looks like his surgery is Monday morning. I will try to update this from the library or something down there.

Do they even HAVE libraries in Florida ? :)

 

Y'know, I only thought you had to foster kittens for a LITTLE while :) This little gal is still available... 

Urban Legends

I always get accosted by the youth of Jersey City, NJ while walking Fred and Lulu Sincoff (the hippest of all dogs).  It is never the same kid, but they always seem to have the same questions.  Primarily, they're Latino kids, because if you are not in your 20's living here and white, you are Hispanic and your family has lived here FOREVER.

I was walking Fred and Lulu today, and this young Spanish family came walking towards us. Teenage Dad (with complete Blood (of Bloods & Crips fame) bandana and jailhouse style baggy pants), teenage mom, and little boy.

Fred being the friendly dog he is, approached the kid, wagging his tail. The closer that Fred got, the more the kid moved back. Finally the kid backed into the middle of the street to get away from Fred, who stood there wagging his tail quizzically on the curb

I turn into the little patch of Urban Greenery we call a park, and instantly several little kids surround us.  I got an:

1. Are those your dogs?   (they are on leashes held by ME!)
2. Are they boys, or girls? ( I tell them one of each)
3. What are their names? Why did you call them that (because Fred looks like a Fred, and Lulu is a Lulu!)
4. Do they bite? (usually by this time Fred has jumped up to say hello, and Lulu is running up to make sure she has a share of the attention as well)

I always try to make these conversations very short, because what kind of guy talks to kids by himself in the middle of the day? Aside from me, who is just lame, and out of a job right now? That's right, no Michael Jackson type stories awaiting me!

And then they trot their way, And I take my unemployed self home, along w/ my dogs.

Just trying to bring the community in my little place in the NY Area a little Closer together.

Hey, it takes a Village, you know? 

There is nothing Like

Having a phone problem when there is an imminent family  emergency going on.  Not to make this blog a personal thing to reflect EVERYTHING that is going on in my life, but  my dad was admitted to the hospital (as mentioned previously-in Florida)  w/ chest pains.

It now looks like he is going to have to have coronary bypass surgery.  He is on blood thinners, so they have to wait for those drugs to finish in his system before he can  go into surgery.  So I gotta go down to Florida. . ... Not an ideal visit.

I called him this morning, and he was like "hey I'm having some chest pains, why don't you call me back".. as casually as if he were asking me what I wanted him to get me for lunch.  Thankfully they gave him a nitroglycerine tablet, and he was ok.

Sucks when your parents get old, man.  Hopefully it'll be (semi) smooth sailing once I get down there --we shall see.  Maybe I'll buy some oceanfront property whilst down there.

You  never know.

It's tough being a Democrat sometimes 

Fred get's very angry after he takes a bath. Doesn't he look like an angry young man/er, dog type actor? 

In the Wee Small hours of the morning

I don't want anyone to get worried about my father.  I mean, obviously it  IS a concern that he has chest pains, and IT IS a concern that he is in hospital.  However I have spoken to him, and he is alert, and fine.  He is having some sort of cardiogram thingy tomorrow, more news then.  He has been in that hospital soo many times this past year ( it's called Holmes Regional Medical Center) that they should rename it the Elliott Sincoff Hospital. At least name a floor after the guy.  So don't worry.  As they used to say on The Great Space Coaster when we were kids: "No news is good g'news w/ Gary Gnu". (we all know what happened to him, right? Um, no)

Just a few more comments before I go off to bed.  Caught the Democratic Convention tonight. Isn't it a shame that Bill Clinton can't run again? He gave SUCH a phenominal speech .  I mean I'm voting for Kerry... gotta do that..  But it was an amazing speech. So, good on ya Bill!  When I went to bed, it was pitch black, and I was trying to fall asleep (I have been having problems sleeping lately) when our black cat, Emma (as featured previously on this blog) decided to walk onto my chest and lay down.

Now, this would have been fine if she were an ordinary tabby, or brightly colored feline.. However she is proverbially black as space/night/what have you. So for a brief startling moment, I was almost insane.

Then I thought, nah, it's just Emma, my loveable black cat. So there you go.  A 33 yr old married man (unemployed mind you) sitting here in his boxer shorts, typing to an audience of me, talking about my cat Emma.

Christ.

 

Delicious Iced Coffee

Is what I'm enjoying  right now.  At certain periods in my life, I was more of a shall we say, "A coffee traditionalist".  That is, one who always drinks his/her coffee hot (even on the hottest of summer days) .  Also, a coffee traditionalist, NEVER drinks flavored coffee, always good ol' java original!

Whether I'm caving in to pressure, or whatever the reason is; I now enjoy iced coffee, in particular from Dunkin' Donuts. I've never considered a life of crime (well I have really, but only if I could be  a well dressed "nice" Jewish gangster from the 1930's, who did not end up shot, or being sent to the electric chair), but if someone  offered me a life time  supply of Dunkin' Donuts iced cafe latte's w/ skim milk... I'd rob any bank in the world for that payoff..

Gotta find a job soon,  glad I'm keeping busy today though. All this waiting to hear about jobs sucks.  And now I have heard the bad news that my dad is back in the hospital w/ chest pains.  He seemed fine, because I heard his voice yell to the nurse to tell me he was ok, when I rang the emergency room. Urgh.

 

The blog person himself, caught in a moment of reflection 

"It's too late to put on pants"

Said my lovely wife Vicki to me right now.   I jokingly said she should go out and get triple A batteries for the remote control for our bedroom tv.  That was the smart and sassy assed comeback that she sent my way.  Sigh.  What can you do? Women, can't live w/ them, can't dismember them ! LOL ROTF LMAO!!!!!

Not alot went on today. We vegged, and totally enjoyed doing that.  Ah it's an exciting Monday tomorrow.   Jesus, I gotta find a job soon.  Even if it's a job I hate (which I probably will hate it) at least I wont be home by myself at 2pm singing Def Leppard songs to the dogs/cats in the house.  There really is not alot of things to do during the week during the day. It's seems ALL tv is geared towards unemployed ill educated  folk--- but that's a story for another time. 

I'm not saying I'm depressed--I'm just saying that something better happen SOON!

 

Cooking Burgers for the Democratic Party

Well, it was a very successful cookout/bbq type thing.  In the end, we had about 18 people at the event, most of them strangers.  They were all fairly cool  people, although this middle aged woman who was there positively REEKED of cigarette smoke like it was proverbially going out of style. (note to self, did I smell like that when I was a smoker??)

Burgers, hotdogs, and various side dishes were had by all.  Everyone tried to talk about politics  while Kirk and I made w/ the jokes in the corner of the backyard, and drank plenty o'Heineken Keg cans. 

We raised over $500 for John Kerry/John Edwards campaign which is very good, thank u very much.

Well time to leave.  Arturo Gatti won by 2nd round KO over Leonard Dorin, btw.  Great body punch.. it's like money in the bank!