I had never experienced this before and hope to never experience it again. We were driving upstate before the holiday weekend and were caught in a hailstorm. Suddenly, dark clouds, a sudden ever-increasing rain and then - pings. Small at first, then larger - bangs, thuds. Nowhere to pull off the highway. No underpass. Finally a small clearing on th …
I may be a News Junkie and, if so, I'd like to consider going on a twelve-step program. I was raised listening to WCBS radio – "all news all the time" – while in the car. I now listen to NPR on both commutes to and from the office – generally when the news is on. My home feels like the periodicals room at the New York Public Library. I get news …
Earlier this week, Fred shared an entry in his diary with me. It's from June 17, 1980 and reads as follows: “drove Benj to his parents' home in New Hyde Park and his dad is a pleasant eccentric little immigrant man with an accent who said I didn't look "Klein" (small) and offered me a half finished beer. His face showed concern when Benj told hi …
There’s a detached garage at Flo’s mother’s house in Queens -- the house that Flo grew up in, my father-in-law lived in until his death five years ago, and her mother still lives in. The garage is used for storage and in all of the years that I took things in and out of that garage, the garage door was never locked -- until two weeks ago when I …
Red light cameras are showing up everywhere. The cameras that are at intersections which are coordinated with the traffic lights to photograph the license plates that go through red lights or commit other violations (like rolling through a right turn on red). Recent reports are that, after a few years since being introduced, revenues from the r …
We are privileged to have Jefferson Crowther, his wife Allison, and their family, in our Gotham family. Although there were 34 (mostly-unrelated) people around the table at yesterday’s meeting of Formica and Open House, for me it was a family meal in which one of the family members shared something special -- something very special. As Jefferso …
I won’t drink and drive, so why would I risk reaching for a smart phone to check for emails or text messages? The point was driven home last Thursday at the Gotham Long Island meeting by Mike Jakob. Mike, an insurance agent, talked about the problem and a new program that his agency is undertaking to educate the public about the hazards of smartpho …
It was in the personal section of yesterday's Wall Street Journal -- carrying two cell phones. For me, it started rather innocently. When Flo upgraded to a newer iPhone, her iPhone became available. I have always had a Blackberry (perhaps the subject of a another blog) which had increasingly become more of an office number. Our grandson had just …
I reached across the desk for the stapler, carefully positioned the papers, and squeezed. Nothing. The stapler was empty. So I reached into the drawer and took out the plastic box of staples. I was amazed that there were only five strips left. I checked the drawer. No strips had fallen out. There are 5,000 staples to a box. 210 staples to a …
I like to vacation in familiar places. We have a time share in Aruba and, at last count, have been back seven times (plus a few times before we got the time share). Our son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Alyssa have been with us seven times -- and their son, our grandson, Jackson, was with us for the first time (but certainly not last) two week …
Last week Fred blogged about "Menu Management" -- managing the food that his wife Joanne orders. If it turns out that she doesn't like what she ordered, Fred (gladly) switches plates. Flo and I have a similar arrangement at theaters. With few exceptions, Flo usually finds the tallest person in the theater to sit in front of her. And once that pe …
As I write this, I am on vacation; albeit “turning the corner” on this vacation. As much behind as lies ahead. 13.1 miles into the marathon. It occurs to me that there is always a “turning the corner”. In everything we do, there’s a point at which we’re half-way through. Midway. Something behind us and something ahead. Sometimes turning the corn …
It seemed that everyone was doing it, so we gave it a try. Netflix that is. First “Breaking Bad”, then “House of Cards.” As late comers, we're still catching up with the old seasons. I can get as addicted as the next person. I was completely in to “24” and Monday nights were off-base for anything except watching the show. We were in Seattle for …
I was so relieved when Nancy blogged last week about enough snow for this season. I figured that, with the well-respected Power of Gotham, we would be free of the white stuff for the rest of the winter. I won't lose faith in the Power of Gotham. I must accept the fact that there are forces at work with the weather that even Gotham's might can't …
Recently, I've seen an increasing number of articles about minimizing one's life. Just yesterday there was a piece online about a man who, as director of operations for a telecom company in Ohio, was asked to submit a plan to close stores and terminate 41 employees. He submitted the plan, with his name of the top of the list. He left his job and st …
