Anybody but Boston

Well, I think the New York Yankees 2008 season is nearing an end. After dropping the first two games to Boston, I don’t think they are going to be able to claw their way out of the hole they dug and make it to the playoffs (although stranger things have happened). Making the playoffs 13 years in a row is pretty damn good by anyone’s standards. If the Yankees can’t do it, then I am going to root for the Twins for the wildcard spot. I CAN NOT and will NEVER root for Boston EVER!! And I am going to root for the Rays for the division. And hopefully they will go to the World Series. Is that too much to ask for? You just have to wonder how much more they have. I just don’t want to see Boston advance to the playoff, let alone the World Series.

Summers almost over...

I can’t believe the summer is almost over. It ends as quick as it begins it seems. Last night in was dark out and I looked at the clock and it was only 8:10. What a bummer.

Well, one good thing is going to come out of the end of summer….deer hunting season is just around the corner. I have been shot gun hunting on and off since 1995 and have yet to get a deer. Oh, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to take shots over the years but due to the situations it was not safe to take them. One time I was on 5 or 6 does with a clear shot but behind them were houses, so I decided to pass up the shot. There have been a few times like that.

I have a better feeling about this year though. I finally got my archery license. Now I can hunt early fall, and the rut. Basically the bucks are looking for does to mate with. In the past years with the shot gun I was restricted to 1 week in December. Then, with an additional permit purchased, January. Some of February in certain zones. At least in New Jersey anyway.

I have private property to hunt on; otherwise I would not be hunting in New Jersey. There are way more hunters in this state than land to hunt on. And at the rate of the building that’s going on, there will be no land left period.

Anyway, I am looking forward to getting out there and doing some hardcore bow hunting.

No-bama

“People in this country are ready for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and … for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.” WHAT? That is a statemant thatMichelle Obama made.

Barack Obama watched his wife's speech from the living room of a family in Kansas City, Mo., and appeared by video moments afterward. "How about Michelle Obama?" he asked the crowd. "Now you know why I asked her out so many times even though she said no. You want a persistent president."
My question is, why would people want to vote for this guy when his wife, apparently, has not been proud of her country until now?? I will never understand Democrats. This is the greatest F-ING nation in the world and you should be proud of it AT ALL TIMES!! Not just when your husband is running for president.
God help this nation if Osama, oops, I mean Obama wins. If he does, I think I’ll go over the border, eh?

Coward of all cowards

A man by the name Cornelius Abson, was arrested and admitted to the mugging of an 85 year-old women in New York City. He stole her money and cane! He admitted to other muggings of elderly people. In another case he took someone’s bible! Now he is in protective custody and on suicide watch. WHY?!?!? Because his rights may be violated if he was in general population and got his ass kicked? Or his family would sue if this low-life killed himself. What about the rights of his victims? According to the New York Daily News, several of his victims now live in fear. Everyday errands, such as going to the store are now fear filled tasks for the innocent people. Instead of enjoying their “golden years”, they now live in fear. So what if Cornelius Abson gets beat up in prison. He would then get a taste of what his victims got. He said he was a different person during the attacks because of his addiction to crack. Are we supposed to feel sorry for this scumbag now?

From the Daily New--- Abson was convicted in July 1994 for purse-snatchings with the same technique: choking and mugging his elderly victims. In May 2002, he was arrested for choking two senior citizens and swiping their money orders. He pleaded guilty three years later.
So if it was due to his crack addiction, then why didn’t he get help back then? I say throw him in general population and whatever happens, happens.
He did, however, show up to a bail hearing on Friday with a knot on his head and bruised ribs. I’m glad to see some one else feels as I do. Hopefully there will be more.

Don't ask me for money

I have, and still do donate to charities. I go to fund raisers of all kinds, play in charity golf outings and give in other ways when I can. A common sight at the food store I go to these days are kids with coffee cans asking for money for all kinds of activities. Baseball, football, cheerleading, Odyssey of the Mind (what is that??) and others.
While I know they need money for the activities, I am sure there other ways for them to raise needed money other than to stand in the front of the doors waving their cans asking for money. If it isn’t bad enough doing that, their parents and/or guardians are standing there watching them and encouraging them to stop every person and ask for money. I mean, you literally have to walk around them and in some cases ask them to move over to get in. Why can’t the parents see that and tell them to move to the side?
Instead of hounding and bothering people trying to do their shopping, why don’t they do something constructive? They could have a carwash, bake sale, candy bar sale etc. I was involved with activities when I was a kid but do not remember “begging” people for money. I think this sends a wrong message to the kids. It tells them that instead of going out to earn money for something, it is easier to ask people for the money.
There is, however, one person I give money to. Every once in a while there is an older gentleman, who sits at a table well off to the side of the doors, who collects money for disabled US veterans. He does not wave a coffee can, block the doors or approach anyone. He sits at the table and waits for people to donate money.
Just once, I would like to go to the food store without a kid stopping me, waving his coffee can and asking me to donate money.

Motel of Horror

My wife, 3 year-old daughter, mother-in-law, father-in-law and I stayed at The Eden Roc in Wildwood NJ this past week end, Friday 8/15, Saturday 8/16, Sunday 8/17 and checked out Monday 8/18. My wife, daughter and I stayed in an efficiency room at $126 a night for a grand total of $378. My mother-in-law and father-in-law stayed in a regular room at $115 a night for a grand total of $345. According to the web site, Visa and Master card are accepted but when you get there they deal with cash only. Also according to the web site there is a gas grill available so we bought food to grill. Upon arrival, there was no gas grill, only a charcoal grill that was absolutely filthy and unworthy of cooking on. Again, according to the web site "most rooms have new carpeting". My room nor my in-law's room had new carpeting. When we first arrived and checked in, my in-laws room was not ready and they had to switch rooms. The new room did not have new carpet either. In fact, every room that I could see into had no new carpeting. Instead was old worn out filthy carpeting that we were afraid to walk on bare foot. Laundry Facilities were advertised but we did not see them nor were they offered to us. We had two smoke detectors in our room both of which were inoperable. I had to threaten to call the local fire inspector before I was given a new detector for my room. Who knows how many other rooms have inoperable detectors. The bathroom and kitchen area were filthy and unclean. Again, we bought food to cook in the kitchen but were afraid to cook on the stove or use any of the pots, pans or plates etc. They advertise a kitchen with a refrigerator and stove. That is mis-leading. Upon check-in we found out it is a mini-fridge and a small two burner electric stove. The tub was so disgusting that we had my daughter stand up in the tub and poured water on her to clean her because we didn't want her to sit in the tub. My in-laws room had no working GFCI outlet in the bathroom, no working light in the bedroom, and a sink that would not drain in the bathroom and a shower curtain that was covered in mold. Shuffleboard also was advertised on the website. When we went to play, we found that the surface was severely cracked and uneven with the painted surface peeling rendering it unplayable. A heated pool was advertised but it was not working and no attempt was made to fix it. The gates to the pool area were not working. I was afraid a child could wonder out of his/her room and enter the pool area. The manager was hardly outside during our stay. When she was, she was the nastiest, rudest person I ever met. The maid service was the worst I have ever seen. They ran the vacuum for two seconds in each room, sometimes not even using it. The towels were old and worn out. I had to ask for toilet paper. The first time I ever had to do such a thing. All in all we were duped into thinking we were staying at a nice clean friendly motel but the Eden Roc is anything but. Had there been any vacancies elsewhere that weekend we would not have stayed there. Needless to say we will NEVER return nor would we ever recommend The Eden Roc to anyone.

Adventure Aquarium

I haven’t blogged in a while because I was on vacation. One of the places we went to was the Adventure Aquarium in Camden NJ. It was an adventure getting there. We used GPS on the way there and home and believe it or not but it gave us two wrong turns, 1 on the way and 1 on the way home. They both happened in the same area. I must admit that I was a little concerned about the area we wound up in. It is exactly what you think of when you think Camden NJ. Luckily it was only for a few blocks. Other than that, it is actually easy to get to. I should have just followed the signs and not trusted the GPS ala Michael Scott (from the show The Office).
Anyway, the aquarium itself was more than I expected. They had a lot to see. Baileigh (my daughter) got to touch a shark and a ray, as did my wife and I. She was very excited about that. We saw penguins, seals, sharks and many more fish. I was disappointed about the “Creature Section” though. I thought we would be able to see crabs and lobsters (which Baileigh wanted to see) but they had moved them out to bring in the sharks that we got to “pet”. For lunch we ate in the cafeteria. I must admit, although not 5 star cuisine, the food was not bad and priced reasonably. All in all we had a great day. I asked Baileigh what her favorite part was and she said “all of it!” My favorite part was seeing the sharks. Especially when you go through the shark tank tunnel and you see the sharks swimming on your left, right and over your head. It was totally worth the trip and we may even go back there one day.

Golf and lightning

Yesterday I played the best round of golf in a long time. I shot a 114. Now, this may be a VERY high score to some people but keep in mind that I only play a couple of times a year. Actually, I played about 6 or 7 times this year so far. But in the past three years I only played twice. So I will gladly take the 114. Of course what the score does not show (forgive me if I brag a little here) is the 50 foot putt I made and the best drive of my life. Probably around 250 yards +/-, right in the middle of the fairway (usually I go left). When we teed off, it was sunny and in the 80’s. By the third hole, the clouds moved in. We were OK until about the 6th hole. Then the rains came with thunder off in the distance. It only lasted 2 holes. The sky never cleared though. By the 14th hole, the rains came again. Only this time, the thunder was very close. When we got to the 15th green, we saw lightning. It was not that close…yet. I guess we should have called it a day but we figured we were almost done so what the hell, let’s finish. There were 8 of us and we were the first foursome and thought for sure our other foursome behind us would not be able to finish, but on the 17th hole they caught us. On the 18th tee, we saw it. Big huge bolts of lightning right over the club house. I am not going to lie, I was scared. As was everyone else. The wind picked up and the thunder was as loud as ever and we saw a lot more lightning but yes, we finished. So did our second foursome. Actually, there were two more foursome behind them and they finished. I have never played in rain before let alone lightning. That will probably be the one and only time….unless I am in the middle of another great round.

Bad TV

There have been a lot of really bad sitcoms on TV. Here is my list of some of the worst, in my opinion..
Chicken Soup
Emeril
Hot Properties
Family Matters
That 80’s Show
Titus
Baby Bob
Joey
Crumbs
Out of Practice
Stacked
Did I miss any? Let me know if you can add any.

Cheap beer

I went to the liquor store yesterday to get beer. I am getting tired of drinking the same stuff so I was looking for something different. As I was checking out the selection, a brand that I have not seen in a long time caught my eye. Schaefer beer. I remember my father drinking Schaefer in the 70’s. Looking at the beer brought back a lot of memories. So I decided to buy it. As I was pulling out the 12 pack, I noticed the brand next to it was another I haven’t seen in a long time, Pabst Blue Ribbon. I bought that 12 pack as well. Both 12 packs were $13! A case of beer for $13, I couldn’t believe it. On the way home I figured they would both taste like something out of the sewer, but to my surprise they were good. Albeit not as good as say, Heineken or Yuengling, but good none the less. The Schaefer was a little bit better. For the price and taste, Schaefer may be my new beer. At least for a while.