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Archive for January, 2016

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Thanks Tom – I liked it, how about the rest of you….?

Friday, January 29th, 2016

Recently Tom Brady and the New England Patriots lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game. Most of us would have thought he would have been healing his wounds – not Tom. He took a few minutes and posted on Facebook and shared a handwritten letter that thanks Patriots Nation for their support this season.

Let me know what you think?

Thank you to all of our fans for the incredible support you gave us this season. I’m proud to call New England my home and to have the privilege of playing for your team.

Our team fought hard all year, right down to the final play. I’m proud of the effort we all put in to prepare each game as if it were our last. We never quit nor lost sight of what we were playing for. It’s rare to have the honor of being on a team like that.

It takes a lot of hard work and commitment to get as far as we did. Our goal every season is to win the last game, but as I’ve learned, the road to the next one is paved by seasons like this one.

Thanks again,

Yours truly, Tom

I realize many, if not all, readers are not fans of Tom.

  • But what do you think of the letter?
  • Do you believe it was genuine?
  • Did your opinion change of Tom?
  • Do you like when athletes do this or take out full page ads when they leave town?

    • I look forward to reading your comments.

    Posted in Sports | Post Comments (2) »

The older my parents get, the more important this is….

Wednesday, January 27th, 2016

As my parents approach and surpass 80, one thing is for sure! They will need my sisters and I more and more. Unfortunately, my dad has dementia – a disease that he has been dealing with for a few years.

My mom is amazing for so many reasons. Her spirit, energy, and passion for life is something to be proud of as is her desire to want to take care of my ailing father.

Over the past few weeks both of my parents have fallen and unfortunately broken a few bones. Clearly this has added some stress to not only my mom, but also my sisters (L.B., S.C.) and cousins (A.L., J.L.- a big thank you).

But, we have one thing to be very thankful for, all of us get along great! We are all on the same page! We never fight! Ok, we used to when we were young but that ended 40 years ago. All of our conversations are about what is best for our parents. We have a schedule where every month one of us flies to Florida to be with our parents and make sure everything is going well.

To my sisters, I want to say thank you! With all of us hundreds or thousands of miles away from them it makes it easier to know that we are always on the same team. We all know people who aren’t currently talking to their siblings. What I would say is somehow, someway, please work it out. Find a way to forget whatever the differences are. This will be so important as your parents get up there in age, get sick, and you need to make decisions together.

As your parents get older have you noticed the same thing I have? Do you have a rotating schedule where you visit your parents a certain amount of times during the year?

I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. I hope this post has a positive effect on at least one person!

Posted in Life | Post Comments (3) »

Unfortunately way too many aging actors, actresses, and musicians are passing away……

Monday, January 25th, 2016

I saw something really cool on Facebook recently and I thought I would share it. It seems like everyday of 2016 a actor, actress, or musician is passing away way too soon. Here are two lists of aging people and I wanted to take a moment and shine the spotlight back on them since many of them may have been forgotten about..

  • Please review the lists and let me know your favorite?
  • Or a cute story about one of them?
  • Or perhaps do they remind you of a different stage of your life?
  • Who will you miss the most?














I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. Some of my favorites on this list include: Don Rickles, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson, and Neil Diamond.

Posted in Entertainment | Post Comments (6) »

Do you pay attention to the steps you take?

Friday, January 22nd, 2016

At the end of 2015 I joined the Fitbit craze. It seemed everyone around me had one, kept track of how many steps they did a day, a week, and even a month. Well I must admit I really like it. I wear it all the time, except in the shower, and do monitor my steps and progress from the week. In fact, last week I noticed I had 87,140 steps – which I thought was good until I found out my baby sister (S.C) had 87,182 steps or 42 more than I did. When I asked her about it her response was – I am motivated! Which I thought was awesome.

Being goal oriented, I really like it. I have only had two days under 10,000 steps and have a current streak of 23 days over 10,000. My highest day is 17,985 and I will admit I did walk around the house once to get 150 more steps to exceed 10,000 for the day.

  • Do you have a Fitbit?
  • How long have you had it?
  • Do you like it?
  • Does it motivate you?
  • Do you monitor your friends/family steps as well?
  • How closely do you monitor your steps during the day?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Life, Technology | Post Comments (2) »

I am sure you know where you were and now are you going to watch the mini-series?

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

June 17, 1994, was a Friday night. Without question I remember it like it was yesterday. After playing softball, I was out with some friends (R.Z. & K.A.) at a local bar with the Red Sox game in the background. All of a sudden the game was interrupted. The next thing we all knew we were watching (intently) a chase scene that involved O.J. Simpson, a Ford Bronco, and hundreds of police in California. Our bar was a little somber and most everyone couldn’t believe what they were witnessing. I am sure most of the readers recall the night. Well 20+ years later we get to relive it a little bit.

Starting February 4 and continuing for 9 more weeks on FX will be The People v. O.J. Simpson. In my opinion, this show will be very interesting and I am really looking forward to it. I am excited to DVR it every week and then watch the 42 minute show!

The cast is very impressive and includes:

  • Cuba Gooding, Jr. as O. J. Simpson
  • Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark
  • John Travolta as Robert Shapiro
  • David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian
  • Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran
  • Nathan Lane as F. Lee Bailey
  • Jordana Brewster as Denise Brown
  • Selma Blair as Kris Kardashian

I asked 10 people if they were planning on watching it and all but one said yes! I realize is a very small sample but I have a feeling this show will have unbelievable ratings.

  • What do you remember about June 17, 1994?
  • Are you planning on watching the show?
  • Do you think it will give you some additional insight on what happened that night?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Entertainment, General Comments | Post Comments (3) »

Time to take a quick quiz about the NFL

Monday, January 18th, 2016

I hope everyone is enjoying the start to the year. With the NFL playoffs going on I thought it would be fun to prepare a quick 6 question quiz to see what your thoughts are?

I look forward to your comments!

Click Here to Take The Quiz.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (23) »

Attention Everyone – Is now the time to travel or at least…

Friday, January 15th, 2016

In the past three weeks I have noticed a trend that I really like. As most of you know I travel, and tend to travel a fair amount. Last week I booked a quick trip to Chicago and then did the same thing for New York and have a ticket on hold for Los Angeles. From my standpoint there is one great thing in common. Yes, they are all located in the United States, all major cities but that’s not it. All of the plane tickets were not only less than $200 each they were closer to $150! Shocking – I don’t ever remember flights being that reasonable… Oops – I mean inexpensive. To take it one step further, Marriott Hotel rooms in those cities are usually over $375.00 each and the same thing has happened. The rooms are also around $150.

So I say to you – time to book some flights and save some money!!

  • Have you noticed the same thing?
  • Am I crazy or are the flights/rooms this January a lot lower than prior years?
  • Do you think this trend continues the entire year?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Travel | Post Comments (3) »

Attention Sports Fans…Who are the “Elite” coaches in professional sports today?

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with my buddy R.H. and we were discussing which NFL coaches we thought were going to lose their job. After 5 minutes we had a pretty substantial list and most we were right about.

We then started to discuss a number of coaches and we came to the realization they had something major in common – they were all average or below average coaches. To us, coaches like Rex Ryan and Jason Garrett are just barely average and certainly not above that.

The real question was who are the “ELITE” coaches of today?

Yes Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, Greg Popovich, Doc Rivers and Mike Babcock make the list or at least our list. But what about Rick Carlisle? Watching him first hand for many years – I say yes.

Joe Girardi? Bruce Bochy? Terry Francona?

Ok your turn:

  • What do you think of the list we put together?
  • If you are starting a team, and money was no object, what current coach would you want for your team and sport?
  • Who do you think are the “ELITE” coaches of today?
  • Are you automatically an elite coach if you win a championship?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (2) »

Congratulations you won….now what?

Monday, January 11th, 2016

By the time you read this post I am sure someone will have won the $700 million Powerball jackpot. Congratulations – what if I said it was you! Yes You! You won and now have a ton (probably literally) of money!

What do you do first? Are you quitting your job? Are you buying a new house? A fancy car? New clothes? A trip?

Ok here is what I would do.

First of all, I need to really pretend because I don’t buy lottery tickets but If I somehow had the winning ticket I would:

  • Go on two vacations – one with my family and one with my friends. Everything would be on me and it would be extremely lavish! This would be my way of saying thank you to everyone who has meant so much to me over the years.
  • I would keep working for at least six months and then donate my time to a number of meaningful charities.
  • Set up education trust funds for my grandchildren and great grandchildren
  • Give each of my sisters a million dollars to make their life a little easier and for putting up with me for so long.

Ok your turn.

  • You won – now what do you do with the money?

I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. I truly hope one of the blog readers does win!

Posted in Life | Post Comments (4) »

My mom gave me this and…

Friday, January 8th, 2016

A few months ago I was visiting my parents in Florida and my Mom handed me an envelope and said I thought you might want this. As I was opening it up she was telling me it was my dad’s last pay stub before he retired. It was dated 5/2/1986 and had his name, employee number, department number, state and federal taxes, and the message Good Luck!! At first I was like mom why did you save this and what am I going to do with this, but after thinking about it for a little while I think it is really cool.

For those of you who are close to me know that my dad is my mentor, confidant and hero! As he gets up there in age and his memory continues to fail him memories and keepsakes like this mean the world to me.

I will probably frame the check and hand it down to my kids down the road.

  • What keepsakes do you have from your parents?
  • Which is your favorite?
  • Are you storing things away to give your kids?

I look forward to reading your comments.

P.S. Thanks Mom! I really appreciate you keeping this for 30 years!

Posted in Life | Post Comments (2) »

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