Friday, June 30, 2023

No Loan Forgiveness

June 30, 2023

This is VERY GOOD NEWS !!!

"Supreme Court rules against Biden student loan debt handout"

"Biden administration's student loan debt plan was estimated to cost taxpayers $400 billion"

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/supreme-court-rules-biden-student-loan-debt-handout?fbclid=IwAR1WNwTk1GBsVW0Fq9Vyumb5SmYk3kH_0DXeORZUDmYkRou1rCSeLVYim1o

What's Going On Today?

June 30, 2023

Currently, I engage in two social media outlets: my Facebook account and my YouTube channel. I have been considering joining Donald J. Trump's social media platform: Truth Social.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

What's Doin' Today?

June 29, 2023

I do like almond buttercrunch and also waffles, but I was never fond of bomb pops.

Affirmative Action Gone !!!

June 29, 2023

YEAH !!! This is such good news !!! I have been wanting this to happen for decades !!! Martin Luther King Jr. would agree with the Supreme Court's decision.

"Supreme Court rejects affirmative action in ruling on universities using race in admissions decisions"

"In 6-3 affirmative action opinion, Supreme Court decides using race as factor in college admissions violates Constitution's 14th Amendment"

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-rejects-affirmative-action-ruling-universities-using-race-admissions-decisions?fbclid=IwAR0JY5fHKqMjbyNtvXhcDdjFYTT3EDgdLCubEOTxhhbZY5sbitMy_pWcAQw

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Today Is ...

June 28, 2023

My father owned and operated an insurance agency for decades, from the 1960s into the 1990s. He specialized in automobile insurance and "property and casualty" insurance.

I studied insurance between my two university degrees (between January and September 1985).

My dad employed a guy who just did life insurance. I went to a Paul McCartney concert with him at Madison Square Garden in New York City in December 1989.

My father also owned and operated a real estate agency and a travel agency. My mother operated the latter.

JUNE 28, 2023

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY.

June 28, 2023

My wife occasionally uses parchment paper during her cooking.

June 28, 2023

I have dabbled a little regarding logistics for some of my business/financial journalism gigs.





Tuesday, June 27, 2023

What's Going On Today?

June 27, 2023

I have liked Carvel ice cream cakes since I was a kid in the 1960s. (The cakes below are NOT from Carvel.) There is a photo of Carvel's famous Cookie Puss ice cream cake in the comment section below.

June 27, 2023

Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapple concentrated in the core, not only helps to digest proteins, but also is an anti-inflammatory and an analgesic, especially effective in the sinuses and other soft tissues like the lungs. I used to chew on bromelain tablets in an effort to reduce inflammation in my sinuses. I finally had to resort to sinus surgery several years ago to remove eight polyps after oral and topical prescription steroids did nothing to alleviate my medical issue. All eight of my sinuses were also cleaned and expanded. I still use the corticosteroid nasal spray to prevent polyp recurrence.

June 27, 2023

I prefer yellow onions, sautéed.



Monday, June 26, 2023

What's Doin' Today?

June 26, 2023

One of my favorite snacks is Doritos nacho corn chips dipped in chocolate pudding. When I was in sixth grade (1972-73; age 11 or 12), I first ate it in the cafeteria of Bayview Elementary School (West Islip, Long Island, New York) in an attempt to make two girls disgusted. They didn't care all that much, and I discovered that I really like it. I have eaten it many times over the years.

June 26, 2023

I like coconut.


Sunday, June 25, 2023

"All You Need Is Love"

June 25, 2023

On this date in 1967, The Beatles performed "All You Need Is Love" representing England for the "Our World" broadcast. The TV show had a worldwide audience of 400 million people.

https://vimeo.com/252765355

Today Is ...

June 25, 2023

I officially became a Beatles fan during the summer of 1964 after my mom took me to a movie theater to see the Beatles first movie "A Hard Day's Night." I was three years old.

June 25, 2023

It's six months until Christmas Day. (Leon is Noël spelled backwards.)

June 25, 2023

My dad retired at the rank of full Commander after 22 years in the U.S. Navy. He spent some time on a ship in the North Atlantic Ocean. During the 1970s, when I was a teenager, I became a seafarer aboard dad's several boats with Dad and his friends as my teachers on the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

June 25, 2023

I have only eaten catfish once. It was frozen, breaded, packaged, and in the form of nuggets. I got so stomach sick that I never ate catfish again.

June 25, 2023

That's not my style. I really dislike strawberries, both taste and texture.





Celebratory At Physical Rehab

June 25, 2023

I love this photo of myself on this date last year. I described it as a selfie, but it is clearly not. I think the photo was taken by a nurse at the physical rehabilitation facility, where I was from June 3, 2022, to July 21, 2022, following a hospital visit that started on May 13, 2022. I was still quite celebratory from Roe v. Wade being overturned the day before. I wish I had saved that newspaper.

There are more details below, but briefly, I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two chest surgeries on May 19, 2022, and May 25, 2022.

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Roe Gone 1 Year

June 24, 2023

Happy 1st Anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade !!! 🥳🎉 ... I am celebrating.

Celebrating End Of Roe

June 24, 2023

Happy 1st Anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade !!! 🥳🎉

Many thanks go to the five Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn: from left, Brett Cavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito. Many thanks also go to President Donald J. Trump who nominated Gorsuch, Cavanaugh, and Coney Barrett, making this much-needed ruling possible.

Homemade Beef Stew

June 24, 2023

This morning, my wonderful wife made this rather large batch of beef stew.

6 months until Xmas Eve

June 24, 2023

What's Going On Today?

June 24, 2023

I have a dark blue ski jacket that I wore in the 1980s, when I was in my 20s, with various patches from the various ski areas and resorts where I have skied, including many places in Austria, plus many places in Colorado and in many states in the northeastern United States (Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts). After I stopped collecting the patches, I skied in Canada.

I do somewhat like pralines, although I am definitely NOT fond of caramel.

An allergy test several years ago determined that I am allergic to ragweed, cats, and cockroaches.

1st Anniversary of Roe Gone

June 24, 2023

Today, I am celebrating the first anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade !!! I was so very happy at this time last year, even though I was in severe physical pain, recovering from one heart surgery and two chest surgeries at a physical rehabilitation facility. I am still quite happy about the decision.

"It's the one year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade"

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/its-the-one-year-anniversary-of-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade?fbclid=IwAR1xnY4Nzs-fkFBA53x_ANqI0eLU2CV4gMYBPGgoW-qZH2F9JnWfMy0_evA

Friday, June 23, 2023

Rain In "Sunshine" State

June 23, 2023

It does rain almost every day here in the "sunshine" state from around April to around January. (Hurricane Season is June 1 to November 30.) Where I live in southeastern Florida, the quick storms typically hits between 4:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., about the time when many people are driving home from work.

What's Doin' Today?

June 23, 2023

I do like Pecan Sandies.

June 23, 2023

Today is National Pecan Sandies Day. Roger Smith likes them, as do I.

https://youtu.be/lAE7jMU-CNE

June 23, 2023

Don't forget to stay hydrated.



Thursday, June 22, 2023

Éclairs & Onion Rings

June 22, 2023

I like éclairs, but never with whipped cream. I prefer them filled with chocolate pudding, but vanilla pudding is good, too.

June 22, 2023

I prefer onion rings to french fries.


Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Remembering Georg Danzer

June 21, 2023

Remembering pop singer-guitarist-songwriter Georg Danzer on the anniversary of his passing: 7 October 1946, in Vienna – 21 June 2007, in Asperhofen, Lower Austria !!! I have two of his greatest hits CDs and four of his CDs when he was with the supergroup Austria3 with Rainhard Fendrich and Wolfgang Ambros. (Note: pictured below is Ulli Bäer, guitarist)

https://youtu.be/X_tB6cTKVTM

National Selfie Day

June 21, 2023

Today is National Selfie Day, so here is a selfie I took this afternoon.

1. Original (color)

2. Cropped (color)

3. Cropped (b/w)

4. Cropped (color/Facebook profile)




Today Is ...

June 21, 2023

I have hibernated during the summer for many decades, and since I moved from Jersey City, New Jersey, to Boca Raton, Florida, in 1998, my length of hibernation here in the Sunshine State has been protracted (much longer than usual). I continue my hibernation, officially starting today, although due to longstanding medical issues, I have already been mostly hibernating.

June 21, 2023

I prefer peach pie to peaches and cream.

I loved my paternal grandmother's peach pie when I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s. She used to boil the pits in water, remove the pits, add unflavored gelatin and a drop of red food coloring to make it pink. She then poured this mixture over the peaches in a pie shell and baked it.

WARNING: Back then, we didn't know that peach pits (and other fruit pits) contain amygdalin that can create poisonous cyanide when digested. So, do NOT boil peach pits, and do NOT put the liquid in your pie.

June 21, 2023

Smoothies were named after a brand of cigarette.





Bob Bourne At 69

June 21, 2023

Happy 69th Birthday to my favorite New York Islander: Bob Bourne !!! I am blessed to have attended hundreds of Islanders games from 1973 to 1985.

Here is Bourne's famous end-to-end goal against the New York Rangers during a playoff game on April 20, 1983.

https://youtu.be/XXSDq0sLEmo

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Toasted Almond Discontinued

June 20, 2023

Tragic News: Good Humor has discontinued production of its Toasted Almond ice cream on a stick. While I prefer the Chocolate Eclair ice cream on a stick, I have eaten more than my share of the Toasted Almond while growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, and also at Villanova University in the early 1980s. I am in mourning.

https://www.today.com/food/news/good-humor-toasted-almond-bar-discontinued-rcna89713

Favorites Of Music

June 20, 2023

These are my top six favorites of music. I don't have a playlist.

1. Rainhard Fendrich/Austria3
2. Eros Ramazzotti
3. The Beatles/solo Beatles
4. Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention
5. Pousette-Dart Band/Jon Pousette-Dart
6. Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry

What's Going On Today?

June 20, 2023

At university in the early 1980s in my early 20s, I ate/drank more than my share of my favorite ice cream soda: chocolate ice cream in orange soda.

June 20, 2023

I prefer black-and-white milkshakes (vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup).

June 20, 2023

I consider myself to be a nerd, not a geek.



Questionable Activities

June 20, 2023

Yes, I did these two questionable activities in the 1960s, when I was younger than 11 years old. This was in Babylon, Long Island, New York, where I lived from 1961 to 1972 (age 0 to age 11.) I moved with my parents to nearby West Islip during the summer of 1972.

1. "Skitching" with my friends: grabbing onto the bumper of a slow-moving car that was passing by and sliding down the snowy road on our feet, trying not to fall and definitely trying to avoid the car's exhaust pipe in our faces. We would let go and then slide several feet on our backs.

2. My friends and I used to run behind the "Fogman" in his "Fog Machine," a gray-and-pink truck he drove through our neighborhood spraying mosquito pesticide with white plumes of smoke.

Monday, June 19, 2023

Sour Cream Bundt Cake

June 19, 2023

This morning, my wonderful wife made this delicious sour cream bundt cake with mini chocolate chips and walnuts.

What's Doin' Today?

June 19, 2023

This is my normal, default speed: slow. As a journalist from 1982 to 2017, I have had thousands of frantic deadlines, when I had to work at full speed. With one of my gigs, I was writing 13 to 16 financial articles EVERY DAY for a wire service, 13 of which had strict deadlines. So, after the workdays were completed in all my gigs, I made it a point to physically and mentally overly slow myself, so I would relax my mind, and purposely and drastically slow my gait. Now, that I have been dealing with major medical issues since December 2020, I have no choice but to be slow until I completely recover.

June 19, 2023

I don't drink martinis, but if I did, I would prefer gin to vodka.

Marie Angela Santos



Sunday, June 18, 2023

Paul McCartney: 81 Today

June 18, 2023

Happy 81st Birthday to Paul McCartney !!!

Father's Day: Bob

June 18, 2023

Happy Father's Day to my father-in-law Bob (R.I.P.). He was not only down to earth but also larger than life. Here I am with Bob and my mother-in-law Lorna (R.I.P.) at our wedding reception on February 4, 2006. Bob, you are sorely missed and forever in our thoughts and our hearts.

Aileen Santos

Happy Birthday To Pete Best

November 24, 2024, at home Happy 83rd Birthday to Pete Best !!!