End of Summer

My in-laws pool is closing on September 30^th. While this is the signal of the end of summer, it is also the beginning of my fall/winter hobbies. Bow hunting season is here and the striped bass should be running with-in the next few weeks. There is also plenty of fall trout fishing. I am going to dust off the fly rods and give it a try again.

The hunting in New Jersey is getting worse and worse each year. I am afraid to hunt on public land anymore. There are way too many people hunting in small areas. I am lucky; I have private property to hunt on (for now). It is a farm of about 59 or so acres in North West Jersey. If/when I lose that I am not sure what I’ll do. I don’t even pheasant hunt anymore. Especially on opening day. It is like a war zone.

Upstate New York is the place to hunt. I went turkey hunting up there this past April. I know a guy who has a hunting cabin and 7 acres that borders hundreds of acres of NY state land. I hunted there for two days and never saw or heard another hunter. You can only hunt for turkeys in the spring until 12:00 noon. Unfortunately, all the turkeys we saw were after 12:00 noon. As the saying goes; a bad day of hunting is better than a good day at work.

I Pod

I have wanted an I Pod for a long time and for some reason I have never gotten one. Now Apple came out with a new one. Well, two; the nano 8GB and the nano 16GB. The 8 GB is around $150 and holds 2,000 songs and the 16gb is around $200 and holds 4,000 songs (according to the specs at bestbuy.com).

I’m not sure that I need to have 4,000 songs on me so I am looking at the 8 GB. Does anybody have one of the new ones? For now I am using my Juke cell phone from Samsung, as it has a music player. Albeit only 2 GB. The one problem is the more I use it the quicker the battery drains on it. And if I use the music player for ½ an hour then make or receive a call, the phone needs to be charged. It can get quite annoying. Also, the Juke does not have external speakers, that I know of. I don't like the phone for many more reasons but that is neither here nor there. I guess it’s better than nothing until I finally get an I Pod.

More thoughts

One thing that I don’t understand is why someone would continue to read a blog that they don’t like. To me it is like watching a movie you don’t like or reading a book you don’t like over and over again. Why do it? You are the only one that is losing.

Actually, in a way, the more I read the inane, nonsensical (sorry for the big words) comments, the more obtuse (again, sorry for the big word) you sound. So keep up the good work of making me laugh.

A new me??

Last week I went to the doctor for a check up and had blood work done. I got the results back and found out that my cholesterol is a little on the high side. Needless to say I have to change my diet and, gulp, exercise.

I started off by going for a ride on my bike that I haven’t touched in over a year. I guess it’s true that you never forget how to ride a bike. Last night, my wife, daughter and I went for a walk. It wasn’t bad. I haven’t gone for a walk in a long time. We didn’t go that far though. Baby steps, right? I guess I should start playing more golf. Does that count as exercise? ;-)

I have to admit that I am kinda glad the summer is (unofficially) over. I spend a lot of time by the pool just sitting around eating and drinking and not getting any exercise, except for the occasional swim. I better really start watching what I eat because Thanksgiving and the Christmas season are just around the corner and I love to eat…which is what put me in the position I am in. Oh boy, I guess this exercise and healthier eating thing is going to be on going…..

9/11- Let's never forget

As I am sure all of you are aware, today is the 7^th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. While everyone talks about all the heroes (policemen, firefighters and EMTS), let’s not forget all the people who died doing what they do every day. The people who were at work in the towers. The people who had to go there just for the day. The people who were on the planes just going about their business. I have the utmost respect for all emergency personnel and thank them for the job they did on that dreadful day. But it seems that we sometimes forget that that a lot of people died that day in jobs that normally bring no danger or risk of losing ones life.

I knew one of the victims in the World Trade Center. I remember all she wanted to do was work in real estate in Manhattan. Who knew that when she finally got her dream job, it would ultimately lead to her death?

So, to Margaret, all the police, firemen, EMTs and all the other innocent victims, God bless you, your family and your friends. And most of all, God bless the USA. Shall we never forget 9/11.

Within 5 minutes I just found out that Jerry Reed and voice over king Don LaFontaine have died. They both died on Monday according to cnn.com.

I remember Jerry Reed from Smokey and the Bandit and also from many songs he had. She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft), When You're Hot, You're Hot, Amos Moses to just name a few. Jerry was 71.

Of course, I know Don LaFontaine from the Geico commercial and hundreds of movie trailers. He was 68.

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No where in my previous post did I mention that St. Patrick's Day is an official holiday, therefore the comment was uncalled for (and deleted). I will no longer tolerate any abusive, profane or another other negative comment made towards me or my character. This blog is my own personal thoughts and views and I welcome serious and/or funny (NOT ABUSIVE) comments. If you do not agree with my thoughts or do not like what I post, then DO NOT READ IT.

Happy Halloween??

I was at the food store the other day and they already have their Halloween candy and decorations out. I know summer is un-officially over, but they started putting the candy out 2 weeks ago. It seems every year; holiday stuff is being put out earlier and earlier. Another couple of weeks and we will start seeing Christmas items on the store shelves.

The only thing worse than that was when I was a kid and enjoying summer vacation and started to see back-to-school commercials on TV and back-to-school sales in stores….in July. Well, I guess I’d better get to the store and buy my daughter a Halloween costume before they run out of them. That reminds me of the costumes when I was a kid. Superman, spider man etc. They all had the plastic outfit that you tie in the back and the plastic mask. When you put the mask on you could hardly see. Boy was it fun crossing the street or climbing up the stairs to ring the doorbell. And living in Jersey City there were a lot of stairs to climb. If it was hot out you’d sweat from the plastic. But if it was cold out, you had to put the costume on over your jacket then it would start ripping.

If that wasn’t bad enough, when we got home my mother would start going through all the candy and throw out the ones that were not sealed in plastic. I hated that part. Before Halloween, there is another holiday; OK, so it’s not an official holiday but it should be. On September 17th, it is half way to St. Patrick’s Day…. My second favorite holiday. Of course St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite, with Thanksgiving a close 2nd. Who doesn’t like a day dedicated to food, drink and football. With that, let me just say Happy Halloween. Oops, I hope I’m not too late. 