"This disease is beyond my practice." (Macbeth)

.....I've plumb lost things to write about, so this post will be about nothing. During the two days of Rosh Hashanah Rh+ and I went out to dinner on both nights. On night number one we went with a group of 13 to TooJays. I had the London Broil with a potato pancake. The highlight of the night was seeing Gov. Crist who came over to our table to say hello. He's running for Senator in November against the Republican, Scott and the Democrat, Cink. Crist is running as an Independent and is leading in all the polls. The second night we went to dinner at Snappers, a sea food emporium with two other couples. We had a round table and thus easy to converse with everyone. The place was half empty. So that's out of the way and I can continue to write about nothing.

.....Yesterday in the Sun-Sentinel we found an article about my niece, Shayne, who has written, directed, and is starring in a movie called "The Incubus"--another horror film. It is playing in ten theaters here in South Florida and I don't know how many more around the country. Shayne is my sister's granddaughter who has red hair and also writing and acting talent. It seems, then, that she has a gene or two of mine--or is it from my father? Talent appears to run in the family, which is not a bad thing. We don't know if we are going to see that movie because we are not too fond of horror movies. Well, let's tell the truth; we hate them. We may have to be happy just watching the previews on the UTube.

.....Continuing with the theme of nothing on this blog involves our trip to our doctor yesterday. RH+ is a little RH- these days. She has a lingering cough left over from a bout with bronchitis and her energy and appetite are non-existent. We are both depressed. Her appointment was for 2:30pm. At 3:00pm she was called in by a nurse who took her weight and blood pressure. I joined her in a room and was told that the doctor would be in "shortly". At 3:30 we were still waiting for him to show up. If it were I, I would have been long gone, but Rho did need to see the doctor badly. To make a long story short, the doctor told her to use the nebulizer twice a day, and he gave her a puffer that she needed to use twice a day also. We are hoping that this treatment will help her to get well.

"If I lose my honor, I lose myself." (Antony and Cleopatra)

.....Yesterday, Dwyer, a high school football team from Florida rated in the top ten in the country ventured to Ohio to play Glenville, another highly ranked team. It was the season opener for both of them. It was also televised nationally on ESPN. A very big day for every boy.

.....It was a hotly contested game worthy of both of these fine teams, and the final score was Glenville 26, Dwyer 22. But that doesn't tell the story. With a minute and a half left in the game a Dwyer receiver caught a ball in the end zone which would have won the game for Dwyer. However, the referee declared that the ball was caught out-of-bounds while everybody in Ohio could see that the kid caught the ball legally, and ESPN's replay confirmed it. But then Dwyer was down on the one yard line with about 10 seconds to play and the quarterback ran it in for the winning touchdown--a second time. However, the referee declared that the boy did not get into the end zone! ESPN's replay showed clearly that he succeeded in crossing the goal line, which would make the final score 28-26 in Dwyer's favor. Apparently, the refs did not cotton to having a high school team from South Florida winning a game from a high school in Ohio.

.....Now, Dwyer, by all accounts won this game twice--except for awful calls by the official. If I were the coach of Glenville, I would be embarrassed at having to be declared the winner of a game like that. I would absolutely have forfeited the game to make Dwyer the rightful winner. I don't want to hear (but probably will) that the "rules are rules". I didn't coach American "football"; I coached every other country's "football"; called soccer here. If an opposing team scored a legitimate goal that would have won the game for them, but was disallowed by a referee, (which never happened to me), I would definitely forfeit the game.

.....Honor to me is of greater importance than winning a game. We didn't win the game; it was handed to us as a gift. I wouldn't want to accept a gift like that. The boys on my team might not be happy about my decision, but I would try to make them understand what fair play in sports was all about. Recently, in a golf tournament, a player who would have been tied for the lead with a chance to win declared a two stroke penalty on himself for grounding his club in a sand trap which is against the rules of the game. This caused him to lose his opportunity to win a bagful of money. My dictionary defines honor thusly: "honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions." What is clearer than that?

.....These events prompted me to remember the lines spoken by the King in "Henry V"; "If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive."

I'm grateful that I never had to forfeit a game because it was the honorable thing to do. For someone who loves winning as much as I do, it would have been gut wrenching! So goes the glory of this world. "Sic transit gloria mundi".

At Least my Pencil Never Crashes....

.....Well, it never ceases to amaze me how much the computer can contribute to our lives. I, for one, am grateful for having lived long enough to take advantage of this wonderful "machine". I don't know what else to call it--"instrument"?? Whatever. For example, my daughter Robin sent me photos of my grandfather's WWI registration! Now, how can you beat that for something to put on the family tree--or album? I have no idea how Robin could have found such a document that ought to have been lost ages ago. I learned that my grandfather, Jake, was born on June 15, 1874 and he registered for the Army on Sept. 12, 1918 which would make him 44. I have no idea why the Army would want anyone that age.

.....The registration form requires that you check off whether you are white, Negro, or Indian. Indian?? Apparently, he was not a U.S. citizen because he checked off the Alien column as a Russian immigrant. It's kind of a weird co-incidence that I was married to my ex-wife, Thelma, on the same date that Jake was born--June 15--only 73 years later. There is no doubt that this was Robin's great grandfather, because the address, 60 Madison Ave. was where I lived until my father's death. All this information came about because of the computer. Oh, I suppose there must be another way to get a copy of Jake's WWI registration, but I'm sure there would be a lot of red tape involved. But home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog. And I wish life had an undo function--like the computer.

.....Another result of having a computer is the fact that I have been able to publish my memoirs, two books of poetry, and so far, seven books of this blog dating from August 2007. And now I am working on the eighth book! I think these writings provide interesting reading, particularly for any stranger to the family who happens to buy any of the volumes by mistake. I don't think anyone has thus far. The original purposes for writing this journal of my life in retirement was two-fold: 1) As a record of my life for my grandchildren--and great grandchildren, and beyond--after my demise, and 2) As an outlet to write--because I'm a writer, and I can vent my joy and my anger and anything in between. (And I suppose I can consider myself an "author" now. I like the sound of that). Insofar as great grandchildren are concerned, I don't think that will happen in my lifetime. All four of my grandchildren are approaching 30, and none of them is married as yet. I don't believe any of them is even dating at this point. What's the problem with this generation???? Whatever happened to love? "Where both deliberate, the love is slight; whoever loved who loved not at first sight?"

.....Another wonder of the computer is that you can get almost any information you desire. It's a window on the world for news, politics, economics, sports, entertainment, games and a host of other uses. Now, I haven't tried iPods, Blackberries, or Kindles as yet, and I don't think I will at this point in my life. Those devices would simply complicate everything while I'm trying to simplify. I'm not fond of Facebook and I avoid twitting. In God we trust, all others we virus scan. What other wonders am I facing in the future? Perhaps space travel? Imagine what can happen to your luggage. If it's lost, it could go into orbit!