Yesterday the Mrs. and I attended a “Celebration of Life” gathering in memory if my dearly departed Uncle Jack.
My Uncle Jack was a really special guy, the life of the party and a friend to everyone he met. He married my father’s sister when I was but a small kid and I’d say of all the extended family I’ve got, we spent the more time with them than with any other relations, on both sides of the family. I always, ALWAYS looked forward to a visit with Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary.
Yesterday my Aunt asked folks to share stories and such of Jack, but I found myself a little too emotional to speak. Although he passed some time ago, I suppose yesterday was the first time it felt real and I really started to process his loss. Anyhow, I thought I’d share one particular memory of him here, for posterity. And maybe eventually, I’ll let people in my family know about this blog and share it with them.
This is a story- one of many I’m sure- that captures just what a special guy Uncle Jack was…
So, many decades ago, I must’ve been maybe 10 or 11 at the most, Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack invited me to go on a camping trip with them and some other family friends. I was so young, I don’t remember any of the details insofar as what lake we were at and exactly how long we were there, but what I can remember – clear as day, as though it happened last week and not 45ish years ago – was Uncle Jack taking me out to learn how to water-ski. Now, I was NOT an athletic kid by any stretch of the imagination, I was NOT a good swimmer and I’d never been on a boat, much less been dragged behind one attempting to stand up on a pair of skis. As you might imagine, things did not go well for me. But Uncle Jack was beyond patient, and kept encouraging me to keep trying. Well, I did. For a while. But I simply couldn’t get the hang of it and the excersize ended in frustration and embarrassment for me. I felt humiliation, though I didn’t even know that word back then. They hauled me back into the boat after I gave up, exhausted, bruised and beaten. All I wanted to do at that point was go home.
Now, this being the 1970’s, the usual adult response to this would have been to mock the kid for being a “pussy” or make fun of their failure to “toughen the kid up”. Not Jack.
Instead of making fun and letting me wallow in misery, he threw me in the driver’s seat and taught me how to drive the freakin’ boat! The next thing you know, I’d forgotten all about my humiliation and I’m having the time of my life pulling other folks around on skis, feeling like king of the world driving around this hot-rodded, kick ass ski boat.
The rest of the trip went without another skiing attempt for me, but I drove that boat every day and had the time of my life on that trip.
That’s how it was with Uncle Jack. He loved life and wanted everyone around to love it too. He was a very special man and I’ll never forget him.
Godspeed Uncle Jack. I’ll see you on the other side, and we’ll take another long overdue boat ride!
Today I started a 10-day “cleanse” as recommended by my Accupuncturist/Nutritionist. Probably long overdue.
Some time ago (sometime between 1-2 years), the Mrs. and I did a 21-day cleanse and it turned out to be one if the most miserable experiences of my life. BUT! Despite the misery, it did help me kick some bad habits (like too much coffee, carbs and sugars), I shed maybe 9-10 pounds, and when all was said and done I DID actually feel better.
But old habits die hard, as they say… The coffee intake kept creeping up, pizzas and pastas and potatoes and breads and all the foods that make life worth living became more of the norm instead of a treat. Sodas started showing their ugly heads again. And don’t get me started on the Holiday Season – basically all self-control went out the window from about a week before Halloween until a week after New Year ’23.
But it’s catching up with me, and then some. My gym routine is non-existent at the moment and my “diet” has been whatever sounds good at the time. Not a big deal when you’re 17 and on the swim team, in the marching band and riding a skateboard a few miles per day. Now? At 55? Spending most of my day at a desk and commuting 2hrs. per day in a car? Not so much. Turns out, too much of a “good” thing is NOT so great for us geezers-in-training.
Not feeling like I’ve hit “rock bottom” or anything, but haven’t been feeling, or doing great this year. And the mediocre health is bleeding over into everything else in my life, which is a big red flag signaling that a change in in order.
No time like the present I suppose. Things are in a bit of a lull. No upcoming shows this month, no auditions, no extraordinary projects and no road trips until the end of July. So now is as good a time as any to lean into the misery.
So wish me luck. I’m kinda dreading the next 10 days, but also hoping this is just the kick in the pants I need to get me back on the right track. There are still waves that need to be surfed, trails to be hiked and drums to be played… I need to get back in “fighting” shape if I’m to enjoy any of that!
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is being published about a week late… I guess in the thrill of it all, I forgot to hit the Publish button… I’m going to go ahead and post, as this blog has become my “backup hard drive”, and helps me remember what I did last week. Without further delay:
Loaded up the wagon with the board, wetsuits, assorted delicious things for eating and drinking and the Mrs. and headed 3.25 hours south for a few days in Pismo Beach!
Easy drive, perfect weather, not terribly crowded…so far so good! Pray for good surf!
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is being published about a week late… I guess in the thrill of it all, I forgot to hit the Publish button… I’m going to go ahead and post, as this blog has become my “backup hard drive”, and helps me remember what I did last week. Without further delay:
Here it is, the LAST day of June ’23 and I FINALLY got back in the water and took the surfboard for a spin!
The conditions are not great, and truthfully they usually aren’t at this time of year in this locale, but it felt GREAT to just get out there and be IN the ocean after such a long pause.
I love the beach, always have, and can hang out on the beach all day, but it pales in comparison to being in the water. There is just something magical about it.
Feeling very fortunate at the moment, and grateful for the pause in “real life”.
Might do another session tonight, and have one planned for tomorrow morning with one of my oldest and dearest friends, so more to come.
Well it’s been a while and I’ve been lagging here, so I figured I should at least do a little catch up.
The last couple weeks have off the charts ridiculous at work. Longer hours, bigger work load and fewer guys to distribute the load to. And oddly instead of commute-time traffic getting better after schools letting out for Summer, it’s been exponentially worse the last few weeks. Not that I’m not accustomed to bad traffic, its just that extra hour – hour and a half a day eats into my non-work life…
I did get a day out fishing last weekend with my brother-in-law Kaptain Karel. Unfortunately after a couple hours at sea, seasickness whipped me pretty good as the swells got a little gnarly. Nonetheless, it was still a good day overall and I’ve got a bunch of nice fish in the freezer.
Catch of the day…
On the music front, things have been slower than I’d like, but I’m still getting out and playing here and there, even posted up a few new clips in my YouTube channel.
Random beats. I record ’em so I don’t forget ’em
I’ve also got a new potential band in the works with some folks I found on BandMix.com. We’ve not yet met in person so it may be nothing, but they’ve given me a few tunes to learn over the next couple weeks while the guitarist is out of town. So who knows? Come mid-July I might finally be back in an actual band for a change. I don’t like to get my hopes up, as I’ve been down this road many, many times over the last 4 decades. Nonetheless, I’m excited about it and looking forward to jamming with some new folks.
The best news of all however is that I’m officially on vacation for the next week! And it’s shaping up to be a good one. We’ve got a concert to go to, its the Mrs.’ Birthday, and we’re heading back down to Pismo Beach for a few days. That should also allow for me getting back in the water for the FIRST SURF OF THE YEAR! Geez, how sad is that? The year is half over and I haven’t surfed a single time. Something has gone sideways if that’s the case… it HAS been a weird one, that’s for sure.
Anyhow, that’s about the size of it for now. June has been a blur thus far, but a much needed respite is in the wings. More to come…
Sonia’s Kitchen is one of my favorite places of all time. I’ve been a huge fan ever since my first foray into the place, which was somewhere about late 1987.
Now, I will say in spite of being a regular there for 35ish years, I’ve never, and I mean NEVER had anything besides the cheesesteak sandwich. Why? Because it is THAT good! Seriously. That being said, I cannot attest to anything other than their cheesesteak sandwiches.
Now, I LOVE cheesesteak sandwiches and I have eaten them at many an establishment over the years, but Sonia’s are the one by which all others are measured. And they have yet to be bested. What is amazing is that they have remained consistent, as in exactly the same today as they were in the mid-80’s. That is saying something!
Now, I have my gripes with them too… Primarily the hours of operation: Monday- Friday, 11am – 4pm. Back in the day they were open later, and you could grab a sandwich after work, but as the employees aged (and passed away, sadly), there are only two of them left, and I guess that’s all the business they can handle themselves. The situation being what it is, anytime I have a day off during the week, we make it a point to make the trek. And I never regret it. When I first started going there, I worked maybe a mile from the place. A year or so later, I moved downtown and I only had to go about 6 blocks, an easy bike ride. Now it takes a 15-20 minute drive to get there from home, and it is worth every mile!
Nowadays I really try to relish each visit, knowing each time could be my last. The proprietor is at an age, she could’ve retired 15 years ago easily, and the cook has been there every single time I’ve been there, at the same grill. He’s no spring chicken either, but he still whips up a mean sandwich! They started with 4, now it’s just the two of them and I’ve NEVER seen an “outsider” working the shop, not a single time. She works the counter, he works the kitchen, and that’s it. So, yesterday’s sandwich may have been my last. I certainly hope not, but I know such a thing of beauty cannot last forever.
So if ever find yourself in San Jose, and you’re a fan of cheesesteak sandwiches, you owe it to yourself to stop in at Sonia’s Kitchen. They are on William St., between 9th and 10th streets. As my pops likes to say, “you better get, while the getting is good!”. The best kept secret in San Jose. Don’t let the look of the place fool you, it’s a diamond in the rough!
Hit another milestone today, the 55th year of my existence begins. Ugh. Hard to believe.
It’s been a good day tho. Took some time off work. The Mrs. treated me to donuts (a blueberry fritter, no less!) and I spent a slow morning doing odds and ends before heading to my studio for some drum time. Even took the time to replace my severely worn out snare drum head.
Early afternoon I picked up the Mrs. from work and she accompanied me to a local legendary record shop, Streetlight Records in San Jose. I’ve been going there since maybe 1982 (the old location that was in a converted house!), but the last time I was there was ’19, before “the Plague”. I had a nice time flipping through the racks, and was happy to see they are really leaning in to the vinyl Resurgence! I found a vinyl copy of an instrumental Beastie Boys album, and left “feelin’ like a kid again”. The icing on the cake was stopping off for a Slurpee on the way home! Good Times!!
In the evening our Girl came over for pizza – my favorite – and some classic comedy movies. A quiet but delightful night!
On top of it all were well wishes from family, friends and even a couple co-workers.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!
There are so many things seemingly going wrong at this point in history, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all. We are bombarded daily with the latest scandal, the latest crime, the latest business failure, the latest forecast of bleakness in any number of areas…and yet NOTHING ever seems to change for the better.
So that got me to thinking, maybe that is WHY we’re being bombarded. To keep us distracted like a shifty 3-card Monty scammer working a rube.
For example, when was the last time you heard anything about Sam Bankman-Fried? Major, massive scandal. Lost (stole) BILLIONS of dollars – much of which went to political donations. Corruption and deceit the likes of which we might see once in a generation. Wall to Wall news and punditry coverage at first, until the political and academic connections came to light and then…crickets.
How about the Twitter Files? Even if all the information that was released WAS “cherry picked”, it still exposed our government as highly unethical and deceiving, if not outright criminal and operating clearly outside their bounds. At taxpayer expense, no less. A couple congressional hearings later and again, crickets.
Just off the top of my head in the last year we’ve got the border situation, the whole (extremely gross and pathetic) Biden family saga (son’s laptop, daughter’s diary, brother’s shady “business”, and ol’ puddin’ head Joe ON CAMERA AND BRAGGING about using his influence as VP to call off the dogs that were investigating his son’s “employer” amongst other things). We’ve got citizens still locked up TWO YEARS LATER without trial over a protest of the the shadiest election ever held in our country, and the ONE GUY seen repeatedly and often encouraging and enticing other protesters to break laws is walking around free and they are trying really hard to make him out to be a victim.
We’ve seen the beginning dominoes fall in what is sure to be another banking meltdown. All followed by calls of “All is Well!”, while our “leaders” are caught red-handed selling off stocks – just in time, I might add – to avoid personal losses. Then to add insult to injury, the mega banks buy up the good stuff for pennies on the dollar and leave the toxic stuff for the taxpayers to swallow. And then the Fed bumps up interest rates again.
We’ve got near daily reports of racially motivated violence, enough homeless people to fill a mid-sized city, massive amounts of drugged out zombies wandering the cities causing filth and danger to skyrocket. Store after store after store are closing up shop due to unfettered theft and violence toward their staff.
Then of course there is history’s biggest money laundering scheme happening over in Ukraine, where US taxpayers watch their money evaporate into the ether while the Ukrainian elite run around in Bentleys and live an insanely lavish life, while everything around them goes to hell. Not to mention pulling us ever closer to World War III.
Then we have the ever increasing culture wars brewing here at home. Americans by and large (obviously not all, duh) are respectful and tolerant of others, UNTIL you start making demands of them. That’s where we are now, the fringe elements are demanding EVERYBODY bend to their will and support their ways, while simultaneously espousing hate and intolerance for anyone that doesn’t. Quite ironic in my humble opinion.
All this yammering about the “climate crisis” (I’m not sure if that is the correct term this week, it’s changed so many times since the 1980s I’ve lost count) and yet we’re allowing MILLIONS of people to come here with no way to house, feed or employ them all as they help further deplete what natural resources we have. Pushing all electric EVERYTHING when we don’t have nearly the electric grid capacity for anywhere near the growth of use they are demanding.
I could go on and on and on, I’m afraid. All these have just been stream-of-consciousness, off the top of my head. My point being, OF COURSE we can’t solve all this right now. It’s simply too much and too divergent.
To solve problems, you have to have FOCUS. You need time to think. Even when you have a “solution”, those take time, energy, resources to implement. And you have to have the WILL to stick to the program and see things through. You have to be willing to change things up when a plan isn’t working the way you thought it would. You have to work around unseen obstacles and deal with unintended consequences. You must commit to solving the problem.
Even IF we had honest, commited local, state and federal governments (which we absolutely do NOT!), even IF they got together and prioritized all this mess, and decided “OK. We’re going to start with this ONE thing, and everything else can wait” there are so many interwoven issues, it would take a lifetime to unravel it all.
And so NOTHING happens, except more and more crap heaped upon We the People.
The Progressives hate the Moderates, the MAGAs hate the neocons, the liberals hate the conservatives… And vice-versa. But overall the battle between the extremes on BOTH sides are driving lots of people into “Independent” because they don’t want anything to do with either side of these whackadoos. But when most of the government’s “work” is directed towards the two extreme ends of the divide, the important stuff that MOST of us actually care about gets put on the back burner, tossed aside for later or just completely ignored. Which in turn makes people angrier, more distressed, LESS compassionate, and more unwilling to compromise. Wash, rinse and repeat.
The way I see it, either our “leaders” are so inept and worthless, that they are simply incapable of fixing things OR they are so corrupt and self centered, that they are driving the populace to madness in order to tear up the rule book and turn us into something other than what our country was founded to be. Either way, we peons lose.
Identity politics are for a people that have nothing else to worry about. That ain’t us. There are mounting problems – major, life changing problems – that will effect ALL OF US. Whether you are a gung-ho warhawk that thinks the USA should be overthrowing regimes, a bearded lady, a kale-munching, whale hugging neo-hippie, a staunch constitutional adherent, an An-Cap, a trad wife or a professional leftist agitator… we ALL gotta eat. We’d all like to have a roof over our heads. We don’t want to feel like our lives are in danger when we step foot into a city, or a church or a movie theater. We’d like to feel like our representatives actually represent US rather than corporations and special interests… But instead of focusing on the basics, we’re fighting over pronouns and “hate” speech and a bunch of other crap that means nothing in the big scheme of things.
Our country, and many others honestly, are in for a world of hurt. It’s beyond past time to out aside these idiotic, petty differences and focus on the basics. Real, honest food. Clean, potable water. A robust infrastructure, free from crumbling bridges and pothole ridden streets. Reasonable, basic education- reading, writing, arithmetic AND civics. Public safety. A medical system that cares for patients more than pharmaceutical companies. Everything else is gravy. And it can wait.
We have people making laws and passing regulations on things that they have NO working knowledge of. And a complicit media machine cheering them on.
For instance, my idiotic state passed regulations on fluorescent bulbs, essentially outlawing them as of next year. Did the jackasses making this regulation take into account just how many fluorescent light fixtures there are in California? They couldn’t possibly know. In my facility, which is only about a millions square feet, we have over 4,000 fluorescent fixtures still, after doing multiple LED conversion projects over the last 5 years. That is ONE facility, in one city. Basically, they set up a regulation that CANNOT be met in their time-line. Even if it could be done logistically, think of the MILLIONS of dollars required to implement it – many small businesses and smaller landlords simply can’t afford it – imagine the sheer amount of waste product generated by doing this, some of it toxic. So we’ll have tens of millions of new light fixtures required, the vast majority of which will come from China AND thousands of tons of waste going into the landfill sites, all on the name of being “sustainable”. Will all those fluorescent replacements then allow the capacity for charging tens of thousands of new electric cars, now that gasoline powered vehicles will also be banned from sale in a couple short years? Not bloody likely, especially considering how much high density housing the state is forcing every municipality to shove into every nook and cranny. The whole thing is a slow motion disaster unfolding before our very eyes, and there doesn’t seem to be a damn thing we can do about it. The blind leading the stupid in the race to the bottom.
I may be old fashioned, in that I still believe in American ideals. I’m not naive enough to believe that America hasn’t done some bad, really bad things in the past, but I don’t believe that defines us as a nation either. A nation is defined by it’s people, not it’s government. We are far from perfect, no question, but our FOUNDATION allows us to be the greatest, most freedom oriented nation the world has ever seen. We’ve sadly lost sight of that. Our “leaders” sold all that promise out from under us and we let it happen.
As I’ve mentioned before, at my core I’m an optimist. I don’t believe we’ve come to the end of the American experiment. But I DO believe we are fast approaching sink or swim time. Do we want our grandchildren to inherit a bastion of freedom and opportunity or another failed state like South Africa or Venezuela?
We need to come together as countrymen, put aside the petty squabbles and hold the feet of our “leaders” to the fire. We the People are THEIR employers, and it’s high time we start reminding them of this fact.
The time for going along to get along has passed. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place. Right is right and wrong is wrong and we need to stop pretending otherwise. Likewise, your bad decisions are not everyone’s problem. If you screw up, own it, change it and move on with your life in a more positive way. We MUST stop relying on the government goons to take care of us. They clearly are not up to the task anyhow.
We’re Americans, we have a proud and fierce History. Our ancestors changed the world against all odds. It is time to remember their faces and pick up where they left off.
My apologies for the rant. This wasn’t what I had in mind when I started writing, it just kinda took on a life of its own. I’ve been in a horrible funk for the last couple months and I guess it just came to a head. Nonetheless, I stand by it. Nobody is “coming to save us”, and it could be argued that they are actively trying to take us down. It is up to us – you, me, everyone that considers themselves an American, to turn the tide and return to civility, order and common sense.
The Boring Old Man 