F1 2024 Begins

February 29, 2024, at home

It's that time of year again: Formula 1 racing season started today. F1 is the only sport that I actively follow. I watch all of the races (on television).

I have been a fan for decades. I watched my first F1 race long ago on television at the home of one of my many Austrian cousins while on vacation in Austria. 

Below is a diagram of the 24 races this season with the configurations of each circuit (track). Before each race, there are two days of practice and qualifying. The races are usually held on Sundays from March into December. However, the first two races this season (in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia) will be held on Saturdays due to the Islamic observance of Ramadan, which technically starts on March 10, 2024, but includes the month of March.

That means the 2024 F1 season officially begins today with two practices, followed by a third practice and qualifying tomorrow, and the official race the next day.

The following races will be held in Australia, Japan, China, Miami, Italy, Monaco, Canada, Spain, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy (again), Azerbaijan, Singapore, Austin, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. The Las Vegas race is also on Saturday.

In Formula 1 racing, there are 20 (male) drivers, with one driver from the United States. There are 10 teams (with two drivers on each team). This season, as last season, there are three races in the United States. In fairly recent years, there were no drivers from the United States and no races in the United States.

10

February 29, 2024, at home

10, but in 1971, when I was 10

Sadie Hawkins Day

February 29, 2024, at home

PICTURE: Sadie Hawkins chases Li'l Abner Yokum.

Here we are on that day that comes once every four years: Sadie Hawkins Day !!! It is sometimes celebrated on November 13 or the first Saturday in November. The day is a bit antiquated, but it is still in use.

On this day, women are permitted to propose marriage to men. Also, all over the United States, there are Sadie Hawkins Day dances, when women ask men for dates.

It is named after a fictional character named Sadie Hawkins, whom cartoonist Al Capp created in his famous comic strip “Li’l Abner" (1934-1977).

The origins of Sadie Hawkins Day can be traced back to the comic strip storyline published in 1937. In the story, Sadie Hawkins is a young woman who lives in the fictional town of Dogpatch. She was portrayed as very shy and introverted, making it difficult to find a romantic partner.

In an effort to help Sadie find a husband, her father, Hekzebiah Hawkins, organized a foot race. The race was open to all the eligible bachelors in town, and Sadie would chase after them. If Sadie caught a bachelor, he would be obligated to marry her.

Today is also Bachelor's Day, sometimes known as Ladies' Privilege. It is an Irish tradition by which women are allowed to propose to men on Leap Day (February 29) based on a legend of Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick. It once had legal basis in Scotland and England.

Today Is ...

February 29, 2024, at home

Rare Disease Day is the last day in February, so today being a leap day, it's today, and not yesterday, as I had thought.

(This includes a funny memory from West Islip High School in the 1970s.)

Yes, I did have a rare, potentially fatal disease in May 1977, when I was 16 years old: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I most probably caught it in the backyard of my house in West Islip, Long Island, New York, from either a tick bite or ingesting the feces of an infected tick or even by rubbing my eyes or in my nose. That year, there were 400 cases and 30 deaths just on Long Island.

I was in the isolation ward in nearby Southside Hospital in Bay Shore for 10 days because the doctors didn't know what I had. Fortunately, my pediatrician, who was still my doctor at that time, knew what it was and saved my life. I remained in the hospital for several weeks after that. Now that I think about it, with hundreds of cases just on Long Island, how could a hospital full of doctors not know what it was.

My symptoms were high blood pressure; weakness; nausea; dizziness; a fever fluctuating around 104.3 degrees for 10 days; and thick purple scales completely covering both of my legs, plus many of them on my abdomen and chest, and a few on my face. It took more than a year for the scales to flake off. To this day, I still have small scales on my right leg.

I found it strange that my paternal grandmother, who was in Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, passed away at the same time my fever broke and then returned to normal. I often wonder if there was a spiritual connection. Maybe she gave her strength to me.

The day that I went into the hospital, I went to school that morning. I was feeling quite nauseated and dizzy, but my father thought I was faking. In our driveway, he was talking to a neighbor. I told him that I was ill, and he said, "Get your ass to school," so I walked to school.

As I was walking into my biology classroom, I remembered my biology teacher Mr. Wallace jokingly saying that if you are ever feeling nauseated from the smell of the formaldehyde, just take a big sniff. So, I took a big sniff as I entered the classroom and immediately threw up on my books and on the floor with possible collateral damage to a girl who was in front of me during the explosion. I went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. When I got back to the classroom, Mr. Wallace told me that he moved my desk and books to the back of the room.

(I thought that was funny at the time, and I still think it's funny.)

February 29, 2024, at home

National Toast Day is the last Thursday in February.

What do you put in a toaster? Did you say toast? Wrong. You put bread in a toaster. I'm not all that fond of toast, even when making sandwiches.

A New Midline For Me

February 28, 2024, at home

PHOTO: My new midline with dressing was installed today.

I just arrived home from the Emergency Room at Delray Medical Center after being driven to and from there by my wonderful wife. I went to the hospital due to a perceived leakage in my PICC line, which ultimately turned out to be a shorter midline.

I am in the midst of a six-week-long daily regimen of intravenous antibiotics infusions three times per day that started at the hospital on February 9, 2024, and continuing when I arrived at home eight days later. I entered the hospital on the February 9 with shortness of breath, and osteomyelitis (a bone infection) in my right, fractured ankle and cellulitis (infection under the skin) in the surrounding area. At that time, doctors discovered that I have a six-inch-long, hair-thin wire embedded in a blood vessel between my heart and one of my lungs, but that's a different story. It is either a broken part of a previous PICC line or guide wire for a PICC line.

Anyway, because my midline was unable to receive blood extractions, the doctor thought it best to have it replaced in the same location (my upper right arm) during an hour-long, sporadically painful procedure.

The mystery was solved. My midline wasn't actually leaking. Because my midline is within a very small vein in my chest, and my antibiotic infusions were being administered too quickly, the liquid antibiotics backed up and came back out of my arm. The obvious cure is to administer my antibiotics slowly.

Anyway, I'm good to go with two antibiotics infusions every morning with my home nurse and one infusion every evening with my wife.

Today Is ...

February 28, 2024, Emergency Room, Delray Medical Center

Not often, but I have enjoyed chocolate soufflé. 

St. Louis-Style Pizza

February 27, 2024, at home

Does anyone else like St. Louis-style pizza? It has a thin cracker crust with Provel cheese (a mix of Cheddar, Swiss, and Provolone). It's cut in squares.

Geburtstag: Raini (69)

February 27, 2024, at home

Happy Birthday to my all-time favorite pop singer-songwriter Rainhard Fendrich, who was born in Vienna, Austria, on February 27, 1955. He also plays guitar and piano.

I became a fan of Fendrich in 1983 while visiting many of my Austrian cousins in the western Austrian province of Vorarlberg. (Fendrich released his first album in 1980, so I have been a fan since close to the start of his career.) He is still releasing albums and performing concerts.

I have 49(yes, forty-nine) of his CDs: 48 music CDs and one interview CD. This includes duplicates of two of those CDs. I am missing one of his from several years ago, and he has a new CD being released in a few months.

Fendrich sings all of his songs in the German language, with his earliest albums from the early to mid-1980s sung in the Viennese dialect of German. As he became popular, he wrote his songs using "high" German, which is the "textbook" version of the language.

I also have vinyl record albums from the 1980s, which I purchased on multiple trips to Austria, including at the record store at the airport in Zürich, Switzerland, which is the closest airport to my cousins in western Austria. I have several of his DVDs and videotapes; and two of his autographs, even though I have never met him. I also have a hardcover biography written in German and a 1987 photo calendar.

At one time, I was the only non-European member of his official fan club. I lost that title when a man from Japan joined the club.

I attended a Fendrich concert at the Stadthalle (arena) in Vienna, Austria, on October 30, 1997, with one of my many Austrian cousins, her husband, and more than 16,000 other fans. It was terrific.

Here is a link to a live performance of one of the songs from that 1997 concert tour. It's one of my favorite Fendrich songs: "Über meinen Horizont."

https://youtu.be/zNOLTImfadc?si=AAGdkyrXBsII_oFQ

Birthday Thanks

February 27, 2024, at home

I had a terrific 63rd birthday celebration yesterday at home with my wife and my mom. Thank you so much for the many well-wishes.

Today Is ...

February 27, 2024, at home

I am perpetually retro.

February 27, 2024, at home

I somewhat like Kahlúa.

February 27, 2024, at home

The polar bear population is thriving, so: no worries about them.

February 27, 2024, at home

One word: YUCK !!! I dislike strawberries: the taste, the texture, the everything.

My 63rd Birthday

February 26, 2024, at home

My wife, my mother, and I enjoyed Carvel's "Fudgie the Whale," as per my request for my 63rd birthday today. Fudgie first appeared in Carvel ice cream stores in 1977. I don't think I have eaten one before today.

In 2023, my cake was a domestic Sachertorte. In 2022, my cake was Carvel's "Cookie Puss."

 

Donations to "Movember"

February 26, 2024, at home

I would like to take this opportunity on my 63rd birthday (February 26, 2024) to request that you "Save The Males" with a donation to the Movember Foundation.

https://us.movember.com/

"Movember" is an annual, month-long event when men around the world grow moustaches throughout the month of November to raise awareness of and to raise funds to combat cancers that only afflict men (prostate; testicular; penile); men's suicide prevention; and men's overall physical and mental health.

Please donate below. Many heartfelt thanks go to my dear friends Keith Krebs and Toby Thompson for their donations in recent years.

9:08 a.m., Feb. 26, 1961

February 26, 2024, at home

YEAH !!! I am officially 63 years old !!! I was born at 9:08 a.m. at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, Long Island, New York, on February 26, 1961. In the 1960s and 1970s (and later), the windows of the hospital were much lighter.

When I was a kid at school in the 1960s and 1970s, I would say "YEAH !!!" at exactly 9:08 a.m. on my birthday in whatever classroom I was in, invariably interrupting my teachers.

I share my birthday with my cousin Jackie, Victor Hugo, Tony Randall, William Frawley, Jackie Gleason, Johnny Cash, and Antoine "Fats" Domino. I am quite happy that my birthday is sandwiched between the birthdays of my dear friend Bryan, whom I have known for 63 years, and George Harrison, both on February 25, and my favorite pop singer Rainhard Fendrich (from Austria) on February 27.

(On a serious note, my father passed away at age 62.)

Pistachio Day

February 26, 2024, at home

A Call To Bryan

February 25, 2024, at home

As per personal tradition, I (living in Delray Beach, Florida) just called on the phone my dear friend Bryan (living in Las Vegas, Nevada) to wish each other happy birthdays. He turned 64 years old today (February 25, 2024); I turn 63 years old tomorrow.

We have literally known each other for 63 years. We were neighbors in Babylon, Long Island, New York, from the moment of my birth on February 26, 1961, until the summer of 1972, when my family moved several miles away to West Islip. Although we lived on different streets in Babylon, only a hedge separated our backyards. 

On March 24, 2016, while I was on a business trip in Las Vegas, I had the fortune to visit with Bryan for several hours. We had a great time cruising the Vegas Strip in his truck, and walking up and down Fremont Street, watching all of the crazies doing their crazy stuff. At that time, we hadn't been together in about 19 years, when we embarked on a road trip together from Long Island to visit our childhood friend Maureen near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

In Vegas that evening, after returning to my hotel around midnight, we played the slot machines there for about an hour. Bryan then grabbed a cup of coffee (to go) and drove home, and I returned to my room to rest my aching feet. While we only spent about five hours together that evening (8 p.m. to 1 a.m.), this was one of the most memorable and wonderful experiences of my life. 

Here are two photos of Bryan (right) and me grabbing bites to eat at Mickey Finnz restaurant on Fremont Street.

Bryan Viola

Harrison Quote

February 25, 2024, at home

Happy Birthday to George Harrison (February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2002) !!! (Lyric from the Harrison-Beatles song "It's All Too Much")

Happy Birthday, George

February 25, 2024, at home

Happy Birthday to George Harrison (February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2002) !!!

I have been an official Beatles fan since the summer of 1964, when I attended a theater showing of their first movie "A Hard Day's Night" with my mother and one of the two teenaged girls who lived in the house next to us. I was 3 years old. I really became a fan before that because my mom and the two teenaged girls next door were big fans.

George Harrison was always my favorite Beatle and still is. I like his songs best, plus he was a major influence regarding my conversion from Roman Catholicism to Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Hare Krishna).

"Love Comes To Everyone" (link below) is my favorite song by Harrison. It appears on his 1979 self-titled album, which is my favorite Harrison album. Eric Clapton plays guitar during the introduction of this song. Steve Winwood plays keyboards on this song.

I also like Harrison's song "This Is Love," which I requested that the DJ play at our wedding reception on February 4, 2006.

As a devotee of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, as was Harrison, I also like his songs "My Sweet Lord," "Beware of Darkness," and "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long." I also like his songs "Run of The Mill" and "Pure Smokey," the latter a tribute to singer Smokey Robinson.

My favorite Harrison song with The Beatles is "Savoy Truffle." This song warns Eric Clapton about eating too much candy. TRIVIA: Clapton married Harrison's ex-wife Pattie Boyd.

https://youtu.be/peTMq9lVBoA

Happy Birthday, Bryan

February 25, 2024, at home

Happy 64th birthday (February 25, 2024) to my dear friend Bryan, who has always been a year and a day older than me. It is difficult to believe that we have known each other for very close to 63 years.

Here I am sitting between Bryan and his sister Suzanne behind my house in Babylon, Long Island, New York, in June 1962, when I was 16 months old. Bryan was 28 months old. I just say that we were ages 1 and 2, respectively.

Although we lived on different streets, only a hedge separated our backyards. I lived in that house in Babylon with my parents from the time of my birth on February 26, 1961, until we moved to a house several miles away in West Islip during the summer of 1972.

The last time I was with Bryan was for several hours when I was on a business trip in Las Vegas in March 2016. He lives in Vegas; I live in southeastern Florida. At the time of that business trip, we hadn't been together in about 19 years.

We continue to keep in touch via phone and Facebook.

Bryan Viola Suzanne Viola

Today Is ...

February 25, 2024, at home

I am not a fan of either New England or Manhattan, but I prefer the latter.

Asian Chicken Salad

February 24, 2024, at home

This morning, my wonderful wife made this rather large bowl of Asian Chicken Salad:

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 cup carrots sticks, cut

2 cups purple cabbage, shredded

1 box thin pasta, cooked

2 chicken breast, cooked

slivered almonds, toasted

garlic to taste

Ken's Asian dressing

Tortilla Chip Day

February 24, 2024, at home

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 during our lunch break 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 liked it. I have eaten it many times over the years, and I still do occasionally.

New Dressing On PICC

February 23, 2024, at home

This morning, my nurse changed the dressing on my PICC line. I am in the midst of yet another six-week-long regimen of daily intravenous antibiotic infusions. He arrives every day around 9 a.m. to administer two bags of two types of intravenous antibiotics for osteomyelitis (a bone infection) in my fractured right ankle and cellulitis (an infection below the top layer of skin of my right ankle and foot.

My right ankle is still swollen and causing me pain, but it seems to be getting slightly better. I still can't stand on it without severe pain.

Around 8 p.m. every day, my wonderful wife infuses a third bag of intravenous antibiotics into me. This bag is the same as one of the other antibiotics that I receive each morning.

I started this regimen on February 6, 2024, at Delray Medical Center after I was admitted with shortness of breath and a swollen, painful right ankle. So, my last day of infusions is probably on March 19, 2024. I was released from the hospital after eight days on February 13, 2024, after extensive testing of my right ankle (X-rays, MRI) and my chest/lungs (X-ray, two CT scans).

After an X-ray and a CT scan of my chest, it was determined that I have a six-inch-long "wire" about the width of a hair embedded in a blood vessel between my heart and my lung. Another CT scan (this time with contrast) and then another test which involved the insertion of a camera into the right side of my groin to look at the blood vessel between my heart and my lung determined that the best course of action was and is for doctors to leave it there rather than to cut me open to remove it. It does NOT seem to be the cause of my recurring infections because my body has since coated it. The wire is either a broken part of one of my many PICC lines over recent years or a guide wire that was broken when installing one of my many PICC lines.

I have had five surgeries in the last two years, so NOT cutting me back open is the prudent decision:

March 2022: quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery

May 2022: chest surgery

May 2022: chest surgery

September 2023: minor spine surgery

October 2023: major spine surgery

Banana Bread Day

February 23, 2024, at home

My wonderful wife makes delicious banana bread. I also like her mango bread.

Chicken Piccata

February 22, 2024, at home

This evening, my wonderful wife made one of my favorite Italian dishes: Chicken Piccata.

Today Is ...

February 22, 2024, at home

Sticky Buns & No Grains

February 21, 2024, at home

I enjoy the occasional sticky bun.

February 21, 2024, at home

For one day every two weeks, my religion (Gaudiya Vaishnavism) forbids me from eating beans and grains. It's called Ekadashi. I am not orthodox in my religious practice, so I do NOT engage in this ritual.

However, every day, my religion also forbids me from eating meat, fish, eggs, onions, garlic, mushrooms, red lentils, and chocolate, as well as drink coffee, tea, beer, wine, and liquor.

The Four Regulative Principles of my religion are:

1. No meat eating
2. No intoxication
3. No gambling
4. No illicit sex

Again, I do NOT follow these principles absolutely: I follow number 3 and number 4 completely. I follow number 2 almost completely. I follow number 1 somewhat.

The Italians

February 20, 2024, at home

ATTENTION: MY ITALIAN COUSINS

My cousin Albert sent me this old photo, possibly from 1960, a year before I was born, before he was born, too. While my mother and I determined who almost everyone is, I hereby ask my Italian cousins to fill in the blanks. Thank you. It seems like the photo is from an anniversary party for great-aunt and great-uncle. (Sorry, but I was not able to flip this photo.)

Back Row: my dad Bill, my mom Angela, my maternal grandfather Joe holding my cousin Phil (son of Sara and Sal, and brother of Albert, Robert, and Maria), my great-Aunt Sara, and great-uncle Sal

Middle Row: cousin Marie, my maternal grandmother Camille, my great-aunt Lena, my great-uncle Attilio, and unknown

Front Row: possibly my mother's brother Phil, possibly my cousin Conchetta (Chetta), and unknown.

UPDATE: I once again spelled my grandmother's name incorrectly. It's Camilla, not Camille. I corrected it in the main post.

Contrary

February 20, 2024, at home

I quickly became the opposite of what I thought I would be.

My Now German Keyboard

February 20, 2024, at home

PHOTO: my now German keyboard

For an unknown reason, my cell phone switched my keyboard from American English to German. All of the letters are the same, except now the "Y" and the "Z" are switched. Germans use more Zs than Ys, so now the Z is in the middle of the second row of my keyboard for easier access, and the Y is tucked in the lower left section of my keyboard. I tried to switch it back, but the American English setting produces the German keyboard. I was a journalist from 1982 to 2017, so I have used the American English keyboard for decades, even going back to high school typing class in the 1970s. I am partially of Austrian decent, so I could just leave it on the German setting because that's what they use in Austria, but, technically, it goes against my journalistic experience and can be unnerving. Did you know that the American English keyboard and the German keyboard were different in this way?

Cherry Pie & Muffins

February 20, 2024, at home

I love a big piece of cherry pie with a large scoop of chocolate ice cream nestled next to it.

February 20, 2024, at home

I really don't like muffins. I like English muffins, but that's a different category. (I also like crumpets fried in butter.)

Chocolate Mint Day

February 19, 2024, at home

My favorite flavor of ice cream when I was a young kid in the 1960s was Howard Johnson's mint chocolate chip. I still love the combination, especially York Peppermint Patties.