When I was a boy, my parents would have a cup of coffee in the living room.

Sometimes they would have a second cup and usually would only drink half of it.

That's when I would be asked to take those half finished cups into the kitchen and put them in the sink.

I would sneak a sip - at first to gauge the taste.

Dad put cream in his cup. I didn't like it.

Mom put a little sugar in, no cream. That I liked.

After awhile, it got to where I would finish mom's second cup and pour dad's down the drain.

When I started high school, I also started smoking cigarettes.

To pay for them (and other things I wanted, like records) I learned I could live on coffee and save the rest of my lunch money.

I also liked the caffeine buzz that kept me awake in some of the more boring classes I had.

After high school I started drinking tea.

Partly because I liked the taste better than coffee,

but mainly because there were so many different types to try.

After I got my first computer, over 20 years ago, I switched back to coffee.

It fit into my morning routine better to me.

Coffee, paper, computer.

I still drink a cup of green tea on Sundays,

but I have come full circle on coffee.

God help us coffee addicts if something ever wipes out our supply.

~

I absolutely love the speed up measures implemented in MLB this season.

No more of those 4 hour marathon 9 inning games because

batters had to step out and scratch their balls

or

pitchers had to wander around the mound to get psyched up to throw a pitch.

It's nice to watch a game that,

even with a lot of runs scored,

is usually over in 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.

More like the games I watched growing up.

The extra bullshit is gone and I'm delighted with the results.

In 1959, at the wee age of 7, I was crushed by the headlines that Superman was dead of suicide.

I knew that Superman was not real. I knew it was the actor who played him on t.v. at the time.

But it hurt me and millions of other kids that a hero was gone.

I've lost a lot of heroes over the years, but this was my first and it cut me deeply.

When I became an adult, I often wondered why a man adored by so many would take his own life.

Thanks to the internet, I was able to delve into the mystery,

and find out that maybe he didn't kill himself,

that it was possibly murder.

This movie, based loosely on events that transpired at that time,

only serves to make me think that it was murder.

See for yourself:



~

Always make sure to use capitals when describing things.

Otherwise,

Helping Uncle Jack off a horse

becomes

Helping uncle jack off a horse.

Two days ago it was 80 degrees and sunshine here.

Today it's 46 degrees, with blowing rain.

I get to try out my new raincoat in about an hour.

Wish me luck!

~

The last few days I've had trouble with technology.

Paying bills and even trying to answer email has been a challenge.

So until it hopefully passes, this is what I'm doing:


~

My boss wanted me to sign up for a 401K.

I told him there's no way I'm running that far.

~

Beautiful day for a walk -

The sun is shining, it's 80 degrees with low humidity.

Trees are in colorful bloom.

I even saw a couple of ladies sunning in their yards.

I barely broke a sweat -

mainly from wearing a cap so my bald head wouldn't burn.

Too bad the rain will come Saturday and drop the temperature back into the 50s by Sunday.

Ya just gotta enjoy it while ya got it.

~

At the old job I recently retired from, I worked mostly alone in a huge building.

Occasionally my boss would come looking for me -

or as I put it, tried to scare the crap outta me.

Usually I could hear someone enter the building because of the quiet atmosphere.

But when I was working on something that made noise as I did it,

that's when the boss loved to walk up behind and yell my name,

so that he could laugh when I jumped.

After a while, I plotted my revenge.

The first time I crept up behind him and lightly touched the nape of his neck.

He yelled and was not happy.

I laughed.

The second time, some weeks before I retired, I got right up behind him and whispered his name in his ear.

He screamed like a little girl and it took him several minutes to get his breath back.

I laughed until tears came from my eyes.

He never tried to scare me again -

in fact, he thereafter loudly announced his presence when I was busy.

Don't mess with someone who has seen as many horror movies as I have.

I got out of bed at 5:40am and went into my bathroom,

where I heard loud music coming from downstairs somewhere.

I then woke up and realized I had to pee.

~