Hanging with Rich

Let's Get Ridiculous With Christmas Songs..... We live in such crazy times. There is very little these days that shocks me when I listen to the news. But yesterday I heard a news item that really caught my attention. There is a local radio station that plays all Christmas music, all day and all night. They start around Thanksgiving. However, the station made an announcement yesterday that they were banning the song, "Baby It's Cold Outside" from their playlist . . Now that, caught my attention. Apparently this is in support of the #metoo movement. They say the song is about a guy that won't take no for an answer. The radio station is not alone in this. The Urban Dictionary calls it the "Christmas Date Rape Song". For those of you not familiar with the tune, it's a beautiful holiday duet sung by a man and a women. The guy wants his girl to stay, while the girl comes up with reasons to go. But nobody is forced to do anything. The word "

I Have To Shop for a New Phone..... (Editor's Note: I have a new job where I work on Sunday mornings. That's when I used to write this blog. I heard from some people who told me they read it, and missed it. That makes me feel good. So when I have something to say - I'll post it here.) Phones have become a close personal item. Other than, maybe your underwear, I don't know of any item you keep with you all the time. It's like having the Library of Congress next to your ass. I can find out most anything in seconds. I can communicate with my friends and family. It's got all the features I could ever want or need. And you can take pictures - anytime and anywhere. One of the first pics I took with my present phone. My phone takes great pictures. In fact. I'm pretty sure my phone takes better pictures than your phone. You can make fun all you want about my phone not being one of the "name brands", but it takes some great pics. But unfortunatel

The Difference Between History and a News Item..... What makes the difference between a major historical event and just a news item? What turns a news item into a major historical event? Maybe it's just luck. Fate. Who knows. That sounds like a question for Forrest Gump to ponder. Bomb for Joe Biden We have had a heck of a week in the news. Republican terrorist Cesar Sayoc was arrested for mailing 13 letter bombs to opponents of President Trump. The list included 2 former Presidents, a former Secretary of State, members of Congress, and a millionaire trying to lead an effort to impeach the President. First, imagine the time and effort it takes to make 13 bombs. He acquired all the material needed. He found the addresses to mail them to, applied postage and sent them off. But he just wasn't a very good bomb maker. They didn't work. They had all the right components. They just weren't assembled correctly. But what if he did? The bombs might have gone off anyw

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes..... There are big changes coming in my life. And therefore there are changes coming for this blog too. I've got a new job. My last day at my old job was yesterday. When I started this job I had a bad attitude, and was sort of a bitterman. My previous career was as an account manager. I enjoyed it. It was a challenge because I got to use my creativity and make a plan for my accounts. There was definitely pressure because of sales quotas. But I was sorta good at it. Even winning prizes and awards. Last shift But the economy went south, and I got older at the same time. My accounts, like Pontiac dealers had turned into parking lots. Nobody wanted to take a chance on some oldish sales guy. Not when there were  plenty of younger ones available. I even applied to work at Verizon because you can make decent money in that industry. I had maybe the greatest interview of my life with them. The manager seemed sad when he told me the job had gone to somebody else.

The Death of the CD..... In  1877 Thomas Edison invented the recording industry, and the phonograph. He recited "Mary had a little lamb", and recorded it to a cylinder. It was an instant hit. Ever since then, there has been an effort to improve recording. Over the years, sometimes slowly, and sometimes quickly, the changes have been made to the way we listen to recordings, and particularly our favorite music. Edison invents the recording industry. Originally vinyl records were the king of the hill. Only the speed at which they revolved changed. In the early to mid 20th century 78 rpm recordings were popular. But the fidelity was poor, and they spun around so fast, the recordings weren't very long. In the 50's 45 rpm records became popular. The records were smaller, but had only one song per side. The "hit single" record was born. Eventually the standard became the 33 rpm recording. The sound was good, and you could get plenty of songs on each side.

Stupid Supreme Court Decisions..... Recently, the news has been all about the United States Supreme Court. But not about a court case or a decision. It has been about nominating and approving a new Justice to the Court. The process involves the President nominating a Justice, and  then being voted on and approved by the Senate. The US Supreme court building. The new Justice had a controversial process. He had a detractor that knew him from his college days. She said he sexually attacked her. He said he didn't. He was approved and today he is the newest Justice tot the United States Supreme Court. On election days, I hate voting for judges myself. Since I am neither a criminal, nor a lawyer, I have no idea who these people are. It's crazy. Look, these's an Irish name. Hey, there's an Italian! A Supreme Court Justice is a very unique job. Once approved, you serve for the rest of your life. There are no re-elections or term limits. You are beholden to no one.

Happy Birthday,,,,, Yesterday was my birthday.Not just any birthday. It was the birthday where you officially become a senior. I'm not too happy about that. But there's no fighting it. I'm reminded of my age almost every time I get the mail. I get junk mail from cemeteries and other age-related "benefits". No moustache. Only hopes and dreams. Most of my birthdays are nothing special. This year I got a couple of surprises. First, my daughter surprised me by driving in from Buffalo for a visit. Secondly, my wife planned a surprise party by inviting my buddy Mike and his family. Very nice. If you haven't guessed, I struggle with my age. Not just recently. I remember I struggled turning 40. "OMG I'm 40!" I thought. "I guess that makes me officially middle-aged." Maybe I struggle with age because I remember how much fun it was to be young. Most young people don't have to worry about bills. They have an opportunity for plenty o

A Tale of Two Islands: Similar - But Way Different..... During my recent cruise I got to visit some foreign countries. That's good, because it's always good to expand your horizons. I only got to visit them for a few hours in a tourist port, so it's not like I'm an expert in their culture or politics. But it was long enough to draw some conclusions. Sometimes the differences are striking. Welcome to Jamaica Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are both tropical islands in the Caribbean. They are only 272 miles apart. They are both in a beautiful part of the world. But after visiting, I'm left wondering how things got so different. Jamaica is a large, lush, extremely beautiful place. There are the Green Mountains for growing highly regarded coffee. Tropical forests and plants are all over. Waterfalls and water features just seem to spring up everywhere. Streams are so clean you could drink out of them. The hummingbird, that I got to see for the first time in my

Cruisin' - Part 1: The Boat..... I just got back from my Caribbean cruise yesterday. So I've got to tell you about it. But too much to say in one blog. So I'll break it up. But how was it? Great , beyond my expectations. How am I? Whipped. Parts of my body are badly sunburned. Also, the stereotype about getting sick on a boat?  That's true. I'm coughing and hacking frequently. But let me start telling you about the trip. As regular readers will remember, my wife and I planned a cruise last year for our 40th anniversary. But Hurricane Irma came, and the trip was cancelled. So we decided on trying it again this year. After shopping for a cruise line we decided on a new comer to the American cruising market, MSC Cruise lines. MSC is based in Italy. They are one of the largest cargo shippers in the world. A while back they entered the cruising market, and only a few years ago decided to enter the American market with Caribbean cruises. Their calling cards are ele

My Annual Cleveland Browns Prediction..... It's that time of year again. Labor Day Weekend. It marks the end of what passed for summer this year. In the sports world, Baseball will be heading for the playoffs in about a month. The Friday night lights of high school have already begun. Now it will be time for our local heroes, the Cleveland Browns to begin as well. Every year I use this blog to make a prediction on the Browns season. It has always been wrong. I have been overly optimistic. Maybe I'm just an optimistic person. How can a group of people whose job it is to make personnel decisions on the Browns be so wrong every year. What kind of job is that? You get up in the morning and read, watch, and talk football all day. You should get good at that just by accident. John Dorsey wore a sweatshirt all summer. But no. Last season the Browns were historically bad. Zero wins. Z-E-R-O. Actually it's hard to be that bad. Changes had to be made, and they were. They

The Camping Life..... I guess you could call me a city guy. Or at least a suburban guy. Born and raised. I've spent most of my life in city environments. I live relatively close to my work. Stores and shopping are close to my neighborhood. If I needed a gallon of milk I probably have a choice of a dozen places within minutes of my house. My idea of roughing it away from home is a Holiday Inn. But there is a whole different lifestyle out there. Out in the country. Country living. Yesterday, our lifelong friends Mike and Anne invited us out to their campsite. It's about an hour south of our home. It's not just a trip on the freeway. You take  two-lane secondary roads for miles to reach the campsite. Traffic lights were just a memory. At least the GPS takes the stress out of finding the place. This is all foreign to me. Welcome to the country. When we got to their campgrounds it was like being invited to their own private, gated community. We registered at the offic

Travel - and the Case of the Rather Curious Persimmon Tree..... In a couple of weeks the wife and I will be going on vacation out of the country. It will be a Caribbean cruise, and I'm getting pretty excited. I haven't been able to travel much lately, and rarely out of the country. But to be honest, I'm also getting just a touch of anxiety. Peace Bridge in Buffalo, NY. Leaving the country, and even leaving my region, can make me uncomfortable for some reason. I like Canada. Outside of the metric system, it's pretty similar to America. But I always feel more relaxed when I'm on that bridge, back to America. It's not just out of the U.S. either. Sometimes it's strange just traveling in the Southern states. Maybe it's the accent. Sometimes I need time to get my ear accustomed to their lingo. One time I was in a diner in Memphis , Tennessee. I had to ask a young waitress to repeat her question to me three times. Apparently she just wanted to know

Baker Mayfield Has "It"..... The Cleveland Browns are one of the NFL's most historical teams. Back in the 1950's, they were historically good. Since the 21st century, they have been historically bad. One of the reasons for the recent ineptitude has been the inability to develop a competent quarterback. It hasn't been for lack of trying. Baker Mayfield The Browns have drafted quarterbacks like Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel, amd Deshon Kaiser. Weeden had a good arm, but no football smarts. Manziel was a party animal that threw away his career. Kaiser had good size, a good arm (if not accurate), but was thrown into the fire too soon with no support. That brings us to "Baker - Baker - The Touchdown Maker." The Browns had the number 1 choice in the NFL draft and decided on Mayfield. Why? There were bigger quarterbacks available. One had a better arm. But Mayfield has "it". I'll say it right now. Baker Mayfield will be a very good NFL

What  Makes A Good Wedding?.... We were at a wedding this weekend, and it was a blast. But actually, I knew it was going to be great before we even got there. This was the wedding of the daughter of our great friends. Everything was first class. Everything was special. It was unusual in the fact that the bride and groom were able to throw it together in only a few months. I remember it took my wife and I over a year to plan ours. Of course, that was before the internet. Your wedding expert. Cheers! At the end of the day, a wedding is just supposed to be a big party. Yes, it's expensive. But it's just a party to mark the beginning of a marriage of two people in love. How hard can it be to plan a fun time for all? I have been to tons of weddings over the years. Most were fun. But not all. Some I couldn't wait to get out of. It got me thinking. What really makes a good wedding? What are the biggest factors in whether the guests have an enjoyable time or not. I'

The 2018 Pizza Awards..... I think I get pizza to eat about once per week. I love it. Most everybody does. Maybe because it's like eating fresh baked bread. Maybe it's the melted cheese. The sauce, the toppings. Who knows? Some people say pizza became popular in America starting in the 1890's with the influx of Italian immigrants to America. Others say that after World War II the G.I's brought the tasty treat back with them from Europe. Either way, pizza is now more popular in America than it is in Italy. People even like to make it at home. My son even makes a good pizza, including the dough. But it's a big project. Most people get carry out for the convenience. But what changed the pizza landscape in America forever was the opening of several pizza chains across America. Pizza Hut started with their brand in 1958, (too greasy). Little Caesars in 1959, (cardboard crust). Domino's in 1960, (fast), and Papa John's in 1989 (foul mouthed owner).

My 5 Favorite Baseball Hall of Famers..... The Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, New York. It is part museum, part church of baseball, and part fantasyland. It is a small town in upstate New York that is so picture perfect that you think you're in a baseball movie. It's not just the museum. The whole village is dedicated to baseball.  Any baseball fan would be thrilled to visit. Cooperstown , NY. As pretty as a picture. In a couple of weeks it will be induction weekend. That's the highlight of the year in Cooperstown. Former Cleveland Indian Jim Thome will be part of the induction class. I am hoping to go to that. But it's a busy time of the year so we'll see if that works out. The Baseball Hal of Fame is, in my opinion, far and away the best major sports Hall of Fame. Part of the reason is because Baseball is such an old sport. Abe Lincoln knew what baseball was. Statistics have been kept since those days. While the game has changed somewhat, fans

It's On! We're Cruising - Take 2..... How hard can it be to take a cruise? Maybe harder than you think. Regular readers may remember that last year, for our 40th Anniversary, my wife and I had planned to go on our first cruise. We haven't done much international travel, and had never been on a cruise ship. So we decided to try it. MSC Seaside We researched the cruise lines, and locations and decided  on a Caribbean cruise with the MSC line. MSC is an Italian cruise line that in recent years has made it to the new world. While European in style, the ships appear to be most elegant. Everything was set. Airline tickets to Miami - check. New suitcase - check. Hurricane Irma - check. That's right. One of the most powerful and destructive storms in history was tearing it's way across the Atlantic and headed for Miami. We followed The Weather Channel like it was a soap opera. We were hoping for the best, but we knew what would happen. The cruise line cancelled o

Concentration Detention Camps for Kids - Here in America..... Way back in the day, I would take my kids for rides to see fun or unusual places. One time we came upon a very unusual sight near the outskirts of the airport. There was a building that looked like a small school. It even had a playground on the outside. But it had a high fence along the perimeter with razor wire on top. WTH? Was this to keep people out, or to keep what was on the inside in? These were the days when the X-Files were popular on tv. So I told my kids it was a school for "alien-human hybrids". But now it could be used to incarcerate kids of illegal immigrants. Kids in cages in Texas. I wish this was fake. In recent weeks, the government has rounded up groups of illegal immigrants. These are people that don't have the paperwork to be in this country. But contrary to some people's opinion, these people don't come here to rape and plunder the Americans. They come here to work. They g