Hanging with Rich

Cuba - Si o No?..... I have always been fascinated by Cuba. I don't really know why. I don't have Cuban heritage. I barely can speak a few words of Spanish I remember from high school. I don't even know anybody whose been there. But there are a few reasons Cuba gets my interest. Cuba today is a time capsule. In the early to mid 20th century Cuba was a popular playground destination for the rich and famous, and mobsters. That made the government ripe for corruption. It's hardly inconceivable that under those conditions people would revolt. Unfortunately it was led by Communists. Anyone who remembers those scenes from Godfather II can get a brief history lesson. Fredo Corleone could have been Director of Cuban Tourism. There has been a U.S. trade embargo with Cuba since 1958. As a result, Cuba, from a hard goods standpoint has been in a time capsule since then. American cars from the 1950's are the norm. They don't rust in the tropical climate. The Cuba

Buying A New Car..... Any way you look at it, getting a new car is a major purchase, and a major undertaking. I don't find the process a pleasant one. Whenever that much money is on the table, sales people do all kinds of things to complete the sale. In addition to spending your money, you will be burning your time. Plenty of it. Goodbye to the Mazda MoneyPit. Actually, this is my wife's new car. My car is doing fine. My wife had been driving a 2007 Mazda CX-7. When it was new, it was great, and even fun to drive. It was as stylish as an SUV could get. All wheel drive, navigation, leather seats, the works. Over the years we used it plenty driving back and forth to various college campuses. Moving kids in and out and road trips. But as time  went by the car became extremely unreliable.  I have never spent more money on repairs on any other car in my life. It became a nightmare! Now you could ask why I didn't get rid of it sooner. But it would need repairs frequent

Sometimes Money is Just Money..... Most of the time money just dominates people's lives. We work all day for it. We want more. We try to spend as little as we can. But recently, getting more money just gave me a very empty feeling. I sold my Cavaliers tickets to the NBA Finals. It was hard for me even to type that sentence. This year I had tickets to only one Finals game; game 4. Attending the Finals in Cleveland is a cross between a workout and a wedding. It's a giant party with over 20,000 of your friends. The energy in the city is electric. East 4th Street is jammed. National television shows are produced locally. The media is everywhere. The celebrities flock into town. Before the games there is a party in the plaza outside Quicken Loans Arena. It's a major event. This is the third straight year the Cavaliers have made it to The Finals against the Golden State Warriors. I attended the previous two. They were the greatest sporting events I have ever been at. T

My 5 Most Memorable Cleveland Cavaliers..... It's June in Cleveland. That must mean it's Finals time. This will be the third straight year the NBA Finals are being held in Cleveland. That means the town goes wild with t-shirts, parties, and enthusiasm. East 4th Street will soon be packed with fans and media. National television shows will be produced locally. But it didn't used to be this way. I've been a fan of the Cavaliers since the beginning in 1970. Most of that time, they have been a miserable team. When the team is poor, sometimes you can focus on an individual player. The Cavs have had some all-stars along the years. But I remember some guys that weren't necessarily all-stars. Just fun to watch. Here is a list of 5 guys that made the Cavs fun to watch, both back in the day, and today. 5. Rick Roberson: He would fit right in with today's NBA. He was a 6'9" center. The problem was back in the early 70's, the average NBA center was se