Hanging with Rich

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...