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 Someone had to explain to me what the hell has happened to food in this country! We went from the food groups of my childhood to the food nazis of today who want to ban everything that we were told was good for us when I was a kid. NO STARCH! NO SUGAR! NO SALT! NO RED MEAT! NO DAIRY!. it just get's crazier by the day.   OK, so I decide that I am going to eat more vegetables and much less red meat. I start eating a lot of broccoli. The next thing I know, I'm reading that broccoli is not good for me. It hinders the breakdown of uric acid, which causes people who already have a problem to get gout and kidney stones! Uh-oh... gotta stop eating broccoli. Next is spinach, which I love. I read that the iron in spinach can be harmful to many people. Should I stop eating this, also? Then, I read corn is no good for you... as a matter of fact, corn is a grain, and no grains are good for you, so just strike them right out of your diet! What about whole grains? Well, they are better, but

This Jarhead's Viewpoint: When I'm 64! : "So the big day has come and gone. I turned 64 on Wednesday, October 13 2010. This age has been looming large on my date horizon for a couple..."

So the big day has come and gone. I turned 64 on Wednesday, October 13 2010. This age has been looming large on my date horizon for a couple of years now. It all really started back in 1967, when I first heard When I'm 64  off of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. An amusing little throw-away ditty by Paul McCartney that was catchy and fun. The tune stuck in my head for a while, then it was filed away with all the rest of my musical memories, to be taken out, dusted  off, and played every so often. I always Loved Sgt . Pepper's, but this was not one of the stand alone songs from that particular album. With A Little Help From My Friends, A Day In The Life, Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds, all more memorable.. or so I thought.   In 1968, I shipped off to Vietnam for a tour.  Came back in '69, a little worse for wear, a little more mature, though not enough. I met my first wife, we married in '70. Throughout these years, Sgt. Pepper's would be taken ou

  The day of the reunion finally arrived, and I woke up feeling like hell. My eyes were swollen, I was congested and just did not feel well. Sher said that she would go and get my jacket and pants so that I could rest up and try to feel a bit better.  I spent most of the morning drinking coffee and hoping that this 45th reunion would be at least a little better than the disastrous 37th.  I told Sher that we would have to be ready to leave by 6 PM in order to get there by the 7PM starting time. Of course, Sher is always fashionably late, so I should have said 5:30. At 6, she was just starting to dry her hair. Not that she was the only one late, I was still charging my cell phone and camera battery, so there was no way we would leave by 6, even if she had been ready.   At 6:30, we were on our way. I84 traffic was horrendous. I don't know where the hell everyone was going, but it was like a weekday rush hour. I 684 was much better, and by the time we passed the exit for the Saw Mill

So we continue on our quest for the reunion. Before I continue, I have to post my wife, Sheryl's, response to my last post. "That is not true!! I appreciate the complements but I have never felt that way about you!! You are a sweet and caring husband and I love you--"  Sheryl  I appreciate that fact, hon, but this is my blog and my perception of things, with a little bit of humor thrown in, so you got your say, and I got my thoughts in. I love you too, now go get my leash and lets go for a walk.  Yesterday was not without its drama. Sher was going to meet her old friend at the Bronx Zoo, then the two of them were heading for City Island for a late lunch before heading home. I was invited to come along, but since they are childhood friends and I am just the husband of one of them, I did not want to intrude on their afternoon trip down memory lane. Sher left around 11:00, I put in the Blu Ray of Ironman 2 and promptly fell asleep. I woke up just as the credits were r

  As I said, Sheryl and Paulette went off to see if they could find her something to wear. While I was sitting here writing the first part of part 2, Sher was out looking . She called me from road to tell me she was going to one more place to see what she could find. An hour later, she came home looking satisfied with what she had purchased.  Danielle and Johnny came over a short time later and Sher asked if we wanted to see what she had bought.  Someone needs to tell me, why, after that long, drawn out process that we went through in the morning, getting my jacket, and pants, and shirt and shoes, how this woman, whom I love dearly, can simply go into a store and find a simple dress that makes her look stunning? This has been the story throughout our relationship of 32 years. We both get dressed up, I think that I am looking sharp. Yet, somehow, she manages to look so good that, when we are out, it looks like she is out walking her pet Bridge Troll! No matter what  I do, it's the

  This morning, after my Mac computer class at the Apple store, I met my better half at the Mall so that she could pick out something for me to wear to the class reunion. Sher picks out most of my clothes because it's our firm belief that the only thing that I should be allowed to dress is a salad or a turkey. There are some that might say that I AM a turkey,  but that's besides the point. So, off to the Men's Wearhouse we went. I told Sher to run interference, because I do so little shopping for myself that these salespeople could sell me a sackcloth for $300.00, tell me I look great, and send me on my merry way.   Now, I must tell you that I really have an aversion to spending money on myself. After all of those years working outside, I really am, after all, a jeans and teeshirt guy, and I don't believe in buying a lot of things for me. I so  conditioned myself to buying for kids, and they making Sher look good, that anything over $25.00 for me seems way too much.  

Do you have these weekends when you just don't feel like getting dressed? This usually happens to me in the early Autumn, on a weekend that's clear and sunny, but cool. This is the way that it's been for me this week. I got up at my usual time on Saturday, 05:30, had my first cup of coffee and looked out of the sliding glass doors into the early morning sky. Beautiful! I could see all the stars for the first time in days! I slid the door open and stepped outside... DAMN! It was cold! When I went to bed the night before, it was 72 degrees and humid. Just a scant few hours later, it was 40 and crisp. What to do? Well, I had to go food shopping, no two ways about it but, after that? Well, not  much, if I had anything to say about it.   So, off I went to the A&P and did my bi-weekly shopping. When I got back, Sheryl was there to help me unload. We finished unloading, she went off to work, and I was off to my day of do nothing. First, check facebook to see what's going

 Saturday, October 9 2010  is the NRHS class of '65s 45th   Reunion. 45 years, is it really possible that so much time has passed since I was getting hauled into Miss Coons office for cutting class? She was the principal when I first got there in '62. She was the principal when my father and my aunts went there. Not one to suffer clowns like me well.   I had a very checkered history at NRHS, to say the least. I was a terrible student, and an incorrigible truant. I just could not focus on anything else but the opposite sex and cars. Even at this late date, I have to marvel at some of my classmates that just seemed to breeze through without giving anything else a second thought. It must be some kind of brain block. To say that I was never in school is a serious understatement. I spent more time drinking coffee at the College Diner than I did in any classroom. When I was in class, all I could do was daydream about the good looking girl six seats ahead of me, or what I was going t

I joined the Marine Corps in 1966 and served on active duty honorably until 1970. I served in Vietnam from early 1968 to early 1969.  I had many experiences during those years. From time to time I will relate a story or two on my blog, most of them are amusing.  Here is one such experience. I hope that you enjoy it. Raisin Wine The Raisin wine story. We usually had a Marine or three on mess duty at any given time, so we were able to get the needed supplies from the mess hall. First, we needed to get something to put the wine in. We had these big, five gallon boxes that held a plastic bladder inside, filled with milk. We got a few of the empties and cleaned them out really well. Then, we procured several very large boxes of raisins from the mess hall, along with packages of yeast. We put the raisins in the bladder and filled it with water. We let the yeast 'cure' in some warm sugar water, and added it to the mixture, along with a pound or two of sugar. I can't remember th