Today Is ...

From husband Bill, February 18, 2026, at home

My favorite wines are: Italian reds, especially chiantis, and Austrian (NOT Australian) whites. (I don't really drink alcoholic beverages anymore due to medical issues, not that I ever did much.)

From husband Bill, February 18, 2026, at home

I remember eating this a few times throughout my life.

From husband Bill, February 18, 2026, at home

"A" and "B" batteries are no longer available in the United States, but are available in limited quantities in certain parts of the world. "B" batteries are still being used in Europe, but they may be discontinued soon. I remember using "A" and "B" batteries for my toys when I was a young kid in the 1960s.

Banana Bread

February 18, 2026, at home

This early morning, my wonderful wife made banana bread with chocolate chips and topped with walnuts.

Fastnacht

From and posted by husband Bill, at home

Today (February 17, 2026) is Fastnacht (Shrove Tuesday; Mardi Gras), the last day of the Fasching (Karneval) season. On February 23, 1982, when I was a three days away from my 21st birthday, I celebrated this holiday at a gathering of more than 100 people while on a vacation of skiing in the Austrian Alps and visiting many of my Austrian cousins in the westernmost province of Vorarlberg, Austria.

That's me in the yellow, pink, and white clown suit. The woman to my right, wearing the red hat, is my dear friend Cathy from upstate New York, who was visiting along with me. The man in the red-and-white striped shirt and short pants on the left is my Austrian cousin Guntram. The woman dressed in black next to him is his wife, Lisa. The woman in the white wig on the right is Guntram's sister Ulrike. The other people are friends of the family that I met for the first time that night.

Incidentally, that night, I danced the polka for the first time.

Today Is ...

From husband Bill, February 17, 2026, at home

I do like my wife's sautéed cabbage, either red/purple or green. I also like the pickled red/purple cabbage in the jar. Of course, coleslaw is a favorite of mine.

From husband Bill, February 17, 2026, at home

One of the many reasons why I have been a lifelong Republican, and more recently a MAGA Republican, is because of the compassionate nature of Republicans and the Republican Party.

Regulations Cut 👍

From husband Bill, February 16, 2026, at home

"Trump Axes Start-Stop, Obama-Era EPA Rules in Massive Deregulation Effort"

Finally and luckily, it happened. I have been hoping and waiting patiently for Trump to institute major environmental deregulation(s). No worries. So-called "Climate Change" is a natural phenomenon unaffected by the actions of humans.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a70332543/trump-administration-ends-obama-era-epa-rules/

Today Is ...

From husband Bill, February 16, 2026, at home

OK, where is my favor?

From husband Bill, February 16, 2026, at home

One of my favorite candies is chocolate-covered marzipan (sugared almond paste). I use almond milk for health shakes.

From husband Bill, February 16, 2026, at home

My favorite presidents are Trump, then Reagan, then Nixon. Actually, one could make the argument that 9th president William Henry Harrison is the best president, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841.

When my age was in single digits, I dreamed that it was my job to shake hands with four "people": Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States. I liked Adams because he was bald. These four were on a rotating platform standing inside upright, open coffins. (I must have watched a horror movie slightly before that dream.)

In the 1970s, when I was a teenager, I attended a Republican rally. The speakers were Gerald Ford (president) and Joe Garagiola (baseball player; TV personality).

Stuffed Peppers

February 15, 2026, at home

Many thanks go to my wonderful wife for making for me bell peppers stuffed with, well, stuffing, you know, like, the stuff in a Thanksgiving turkey, as per my request. My maternal grandmother sometimes made it when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. She made it with one block of bread stuffing within each pepper. I don't know how she did it. I just know that I loved it. I still do. My wife typically makes stuffed peppers with sautéed ground beef and Israeli couscous.

Spirituality With AI

February 15, 2026, at home

I created and uploaded this short, spiritual video, including two AI (Artificial Intelligence) videos, one of myself, onto my YouTube channel: "Bill Santos: Piano & More. (total length: 53 seconds)

Spirituality With AI (Feb. 15, 2026)

https://youtube.com/shorts/B9tRcoGz1JU?si=rPfu_pd7tAglIpec

Today Is ...

Today (February 15, 2026) is Singles Awareness Day. National Singles Day is in September and is listed as celebrated on the 22nd, the 24th, or the 26th.

I was without female companionship from age 20 to age 40 (February 1982 to November 2000) and not by choice, so I have been quite intimate with the (good and bad) aspects of single life. (Please, no pity.)

During my lifetime, I was rejected hundreds and hundreds of times by women. This includes 414 rejections by women in a period of 18 months with a video dating service in northern New Jersey in the mid-1990s, when I was in my mid-30s. Almost all of these women said "unattractive" was the reason for not wanting to meet with me for a date. I was able to go on a few dates, but when around 400 women described me as "unattractive," I will admit that I started to believe it. 🙂

Several years after I stopped doing the video dating, I read in a newspaper that a man was suing that dating service to get his money back because there weren't enough Jewish women from which to choose. LOL 😁

When I moved to Florida in 1998, I constructed a personal ad on America Online (AOL). It attracted my future wife. After dating her for about five years, I was finally able to get married for the first and only time on February 4, 2006, which was 22 days before my 45th birthday.

My wife and I recently celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. On November 10, 2025, we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of our first date. I dated my wife for so long because I was waiting for her to dump me. Obviously, she never did.

I must say that it certainly was worth the long, difficult, heartaching, heartbreaking wait during my 20-year-long  romantic "dry spell." My wife is absolutely wonderful, and I am definitely blessed and fortunate to have had her in my life for so many years. I think that being alone for such a long time has made me appreciate her even more.

From husband Bill, February 15, 2026, at home

When I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, I liked those spiced gumdrops, somewhat. I didn't eat many of them.

From husband Bill, February 15, 2026, at home

My wife is from Toronto.

R.I.P. Dad, 29th

Today (February 14, 2026), I pay homage to my father, who passed away at the age of 62 on this date in 1997. His birthday is August 30, 1934.

This is a photo of my dad and me in December 1974 at the house of my Great-Aunt Rose in East Orange, New Jersey. I was 13 years old.

It is difficult to comprehend that he has been gone for 29 years. I still sorely and immensely miss him. He died on his mother's birthday - she passed away on May 22, 1977, at the age of 78 - and the day after the birthday of his sister, who turned 90 years old yesterday.

My dad was cremated. Half of his ashes were interred at Breslau Cemetery in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York. (The original name of Lindenhurst was Breslau, named after the city in Germany.)

The other half of his ashes was scattered into the North Atlantic Ocean from a U.S. Navy ship. Dad served 22 years in the Navy and retired at the rank of Commander. He was a few months short of Captain. He served on a ship in the 1950s, transporting DPs (displaced persons or, as he called them, delayed pilgrims) after World War II from Bremerhaven, Germany, to New York City.

My father had a twin brother named Wilbur who died in 1935 at the age of 9 months due to spinal meningitis.

Also, today marks 39 years since the passing of my wife's grandfather.

Happy Birthday Nana

February 14, 2026, at home

Happy Birthday to my paternal grandmother (February 14, 1899 - May 22, 1977). You are sorely missed.

MAGA Grocery Store

February 14, 2026, at home

I really need to plan a pilgrimage here. I would absolutely LOVE to visit this conservative, MAGA, Trump-supporting grocery store (75,000 square feet; live music; six restaurants). It's almost like the opposite of Whole Foods. It's located in Naples, Florida, only 131 miles from where I live. (I especially like the special feature in the men's room.)

https://youtu.be/-asWlyx_8RI?si=_OvN57JLG2LXK5b7

No Friends Of Mine

February 14, 2026, at home

"Until the time that I can do my dancing with a partner, those happy couples ain't no friends of mine"

Here is the song "Happy Loving Couples" from Joe Jackson's 1979 "Look Sharp!" album. (The lyrics are on the screen.) I dedicate it to all of the men for whatever reason who are spending Valentine's Day alone.

As I have mentioned many times before, I was without female companionship from age 20 to age 40, and not by choice, including 414 rejections by women in 18 months with a video dating service, when I was in my mid-30s. ... (please, no pity) ... I have spent way too many Valentine's Days alone. So, guys, I know all too well how it feels.

Listening to Jackson's anti-love "Look Sharp" album over and over sustained me through my 20-year romantic "dry spell." This song captures the mood better than any other song on the album, maybe except for his songs "Is She Really Going Out With Him," which is the hit from this album, "Fools In Love," and, of course, "One More Time."

I attended one of his concerts in the mid-1990s at Radio City Music Hall in New York City with my friend Tom. That was when I was at the peak of my undesirability (age: mid-30s), so that concert was not only a spiritual pilgrimage but also an overwhelming catharsis.

https://youtu.be/wUTdIRPfRRw?si=HSgxo3dfdSlSpx8-

Today Is ...

February 14, 2026, at home

Today is National Ferris Wheel Day.

PHOTO: "Wiener Riesenrad" (online photo)

I have two memories of Ferris Wheels:

1. I remember the time when I was a young kid attending the St. Rocco's Feast in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, in the early 1970s, when I was around ten years old. That was the church of many of my maternal family members. I went on the Ferris Wheel with my cousin Phil and his wife Jacqueline. I was seated between them. The wheel stopped when we were at the top. Phil started rocking the seat back and forth, and laughing. Jacqueline screamed, "Phil, stop it." I was a little scared, but I was laughing, too. That is a fond memory from my childhood.

2. I remember the time when my wife and I took a ride on the giant Ferris Wheel called the "Wiener Riesenrad" at the Prater amusement park in Vienna, Austria. (I had already been on the wheel on previous vacations to Austria.)

You can see all of Vienna and beyond from the top. It had compartments that could hold many people, but I think they only allowed about twenty people in each for safety. It's 64.75 meters (212 feet) tall and has half as many compartments as it did when it was constructed in 1897. The removal of half of the compartments was also for safety. It was the world's tallest extant Ferris Wheel from 1920 until 1985.

February 14, 2026, at home

Chocolate-covered marzipan is one of my favorite candies. It's not technically a cream filling, but it is somewhat close. As for cream fillings, I like orange, raspberry, maple, and chocolate.

DEI Dead

This is good news and quite comforting. It will definitely save lives. I am quite happy to see the death of DEI hiring. It was an absolutely horrific mistake of the past. 

"US airlines must certify use of merit-based hiring for pilots, FAA says" 

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/us-airlines-must-certify-use-merit-based-hiring-pilots-faa-says-2026-02-13/

February 13, 2026, at home

Happy Birthday To Aunt Doris

February 13, 2026, at home

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Doris (my father's sister) who turned 90 years old today. Here we are at her house in Brightwaters, Long Island, New York, on June 30, 2007.