THE DAY BEFORE THOISDAY
One more thought on Mom...
Back on the 15th of October, precisely one month before my mom left us, I jotted (typed) a few thoughts down at work:
15 October, 2004
Yesterday, the eve of my trip to California to visit my mother, gave me the impression that change was imminent. The temperature was a relatively cool 55 degrees, and the low, gray and white clouds had that telltale look of fall and the inevitable coming of winter. The breeze blew lightly and the air was crisp and dry.
These first signs of the change of seasons affected me deeply as I strode down the sidewalk to work. It was a little after six in the morning. The coming seasonal change brought with it an uneasy feeling that my life would soon be changing. For the first time in my life I was really afraid; not afraid like a child is afraid of the dark, but afraid like an adult when something undeniably dark was looming on the horizon.
Yesterday, the 15th of November 2005, that same “telltale look of fall and the inevitable coming of winter” enveloped the city. A cold front was pushing through. The wind picked up, leaves blew, the temperature dropped, and I thought of my childhood...and Mom.
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Okay. Enough of that.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.
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I like this guy’s solution to airline hijacking. Delicate viewers beware: He uses the “F” word about 26 times in this short video. He calls himself The Kid From Brooklyn. Enjoy!
He reminds me of a guy I used to work for part time in New Jersey doing air conditioning work. His name was Lou (Big Lou). He was in his 60s and from the Bronx. Same accent as the character in the video.
One day in 1987 or 1988, Big Lou, Lou Jr. and I were working in the dead of winter on the beach in a condo that was framed and partially walled. It was windy and probably around 15 degrees. I had a monster drill with a 2” hole saw on it that I was using to drill holes through plates. At one point, I was drilling through a plate on the ground floor. I had to go through a 2x4, the flooring, and something else before reaching the crawl space. For the life of me, I couldn’t get the fucking hole drilled. The bit kept catching on something, causing the drill (and my frozen knuckles) to slam into the 2x4 stud. The power of the drill and the cold made this a very painful experience, even while wearing insulated work gloves.
Finally I reached the last fiber of my patience (after three or for failures and knuckle-bangers). I dropped the drill and spewed some choice expletives. Big Lou was right there: “What the fuck’s wrong with you.” I whined something about how fucked up the drill was, the wood was, and the weather was. Big Lou said (complete with heavy Bronx accent, and slowly and deliberately spoken), “So you’re telling me that you can’t fuckin’ drill through that little piece of fuckin’ wood? That it’s bey-fucking-ond your ability to handle? Come heah dickhead.” I walked over to Big Lou, who was standing menacingly over the stubborn plate. “I’ll bet you a goddam C-Note that you could drill through that goddam plate if there was some goddam pussy waiting for you on the other side of it.” Silence as we looked at one another. Lou walked off. I drilled through the plate, realizing I was being a pansy. Lou had a special way of putting things in perspective at work.
Lou was a righteous old dude. He could cuss you out like a sailor, and you couldn’t possibly be offended. He was so genuine and well-meaning. He took the time to teach (patiently), he was father-like to me, and he gave me a VERY flexible part time job to supplement my crappy E-4/E-5 pay in the early days of my career in the Coast Guard.
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The idiots of Major League Baseball kinda/sorta got their feces together with regard to steroids:
First offense – 50 game suspension
Second offense – 100 game suspension
Third offense – Lifetime ban (though you can apply for reinstatement after 3 years)
I might do it a little differently. A first offense would bring a 100 game suspension while serving penance doing the team laundry at 1/10000th pay. A second suspension would bring a lifetime ban with no chance of reinstatement.
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Dubya Quote of the Day:
"I think younger workers—first of all, younger workers have been promised benefits the government—promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it is."
—Washington, D.C., May 4, 2005
6 comments:
I'm laughing at the quotes from Big Lou. He sounds like a hoot. And I've re-read dubya's quote like three times and I'm still shaking my head and saying, "Huh?" Gotta love that politicianese.
My husband learned a lot from a "Big Lou" type guy named Mr. McKay. When Mr. McKay died, hubby took my daughter down to Houston for the funeral. My daughter still to this day says that's the only time she remembers seeing dad cry.
That was a funny a video and I think he has a great idea.
The day before I left for Mexico this past summer CNN had looped all day that you could no longer bring your Lacrosse stick or golf clubs on board but they didn't mention baseball bats and said tennis racquets were okay. I was really annoyed since we were planning on a good game of Lacrosse while in flight to break up the boredom. But you know what it took James and I almost the whole flight just to fill out the paperwork correctly to get back in the country. We were bumped up to first class and more than likely wouldn’t have played since drinks were free and seats were comfy so it was all good.
“Lou was a righteous old dude. He could cuss you out like a sailor, and you couldn’t possibly be offended.” That is a real talent to pull that off.
Love ya dear!!!
I think I would have liked Lou and the constructive criticism, I am all about that! I must have been so new to your blog that I missed the part about your mother.
The world would be a lot better place if there were more Lou's in it, that's for sure.
How is the house coming along?
We put in a new kitchen at Sandpoint last Dec. We had contractors in and out, letting cold air in, getting the floors muddy, hammering, banging, sawing, and making the dogs bark. It was tough to say the least. Glad to hear you have competent help, can't find it in this area.
Big Lou really was a character. I think about him often, and hope he’s still around and doing well. I sometimes kick myself because I haven’t looked him up and called him out of the blue just to say hi.
Jules: I’ve re-read it a few times too. It’s kinda scary that the Prez of our big ol’ country has so much difficulty forming simple sentences.
Ivy: Big Lou might well be cussing up a storm with Mr. McKay right now wherever they are. Makes me kinda sad to think that I might have missed my opportunity to talk to Big Lou again. He wasn’t in the best health back in ’87. :-(
Nay: No to Lacrosse sticks and yes to tennis rackets? Hmm...I bet I could “influence” someone just as well with a tennis racket as I could with a Lacrosse stick!
Whistler: You didn’t miss anything. I only started this blog thing in August and have written about Mom twice, maybe three times.
Y: House is coming along well; slowly, but well. We scaled back what we’re going to get done. So...we’re doing the bathrooms and the kitchen for now. The master bathroom will be done before Thanksgiving (except for the counter top and sinks which will have to wait a couple of weeks until the granite counter is received and installed). The front bathroom will be started the Friday after Thanksgiving and should take about a week. The kitchen will be started on the 6th of January and will take 2+ weeks to complete. We’re still trying to decide how much we want to invest in this project since we’re thinking about buying another house and keep this one as a rental investment. Maybe you can give me a little advice sometime on that subject.
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