Focused at Fifty

"My Commuting Buddy"  I was commuting the other day on Route 78 by Lehigh Street in Allentown and passed an senior citizen driving along in his little colorful car. He looked to be in his upper 70's early 80s and was still working. How do I know? Because he was driving a colorful little auto parts store, bright green, yellow with writing in orange. My commuting buddy looked exactly like that cartoon character old man in the movie where his house was lifted up by a huge mass of balloons. EXACTLY like him. Rather comical. Anyway, I passed the old guy and smiled. He was focused so intently on driving. Good for him! The next week, perhaps Monday after work, I stopped at the Wawa on Lehigh Street for gas and who pulled up to the pump behind me was the my favorite colorful senior citizen commuter! I looked over and nodded to him. He nodded back in greeting. A couple days later, I was driving on Martin Luther King Dr, crossing Oxford Drive and my little old friend passed...

I was walking into work one recent Monday and decided to cut across the smoking area of our government parking deck. It's a small triangular shaped overhang area, no bigger than a 10x10 kitchen. No one was smoking at the time, it was just me trying to save a step or two. I wasn't running late, just moving into work at a pretty decent clip. I diagonally crossed through the area when at that very instant a large drop of water fell from the concrete parking deck and landed exactly between my glasses and into my right eyeball! I screamed to no one, "WHAT THE HELL?" I quickly took off my glasses and wiped the bong water from my right eyeball as its remainder was dripping down my face. I am sure I caused a corneal abrasion from wiping my eye with my shirt sleeve. It had rained the evening prior. This large drop had perfectly navigated air currents to drop at the exact space between my eyeglass lens and my eyeball! I was freaking out. I rushed into work blindly scr...

1988 Porsche 911  1988 Porsche 924 GT 1988 Mazda Miata  When I was younger, I used to dream of driving a Porsche 911 or a Porsche 924 GT. I ended up with a Nissan Sentra and went happily on my way. In college, I loved and wanted a Mazda Miata. I test drove one in 1989 with my fraternity brother Steve. It was like driving a bucket of bolts, felt every bump! But it was really fun to ride. I went home from college and still drove that Nissa Sentra. BUT I had those posters of the Porsches on my walls throughout college! 1987 Nissan Sentra  Mom always LOVED the Honda's. She had an Accord for years and then when that died, got herself a brand new Civic. When she passed, she left the Civic to my sister Sheryl. Love that. 💖 1987 Honda Accord  I moved into Philly and didn't have a need for a car so I didn't get one until my late 20s. I've since owned mostly economical vehicles for work: a Ford Escort, a Saturn station wagon, a small Toyota ...

( LINK Suncoast Pic ) My second shortest job lasted just shy of one week. It was at that extinct dinosaur of a video store, Suncoast Video at the old Echelon Mall in Voorhees, NJ. http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/echelon_mall.html The year was 1990, I was 20, and the Star Wars Trilogy 3 VHS tape collection was just released. I was and still AM a total Star Wars fan! I was in a word, ecstatic! Being a poor college student, I could only wander between Sam Goody and Suncoast video and dream of what movies I wanted to buy! The Star Wars Trilogy was at the top of the list. But how to get it? I had finished my sophomore year at Rutgers with just barely enough gas money to get me from New Brunswick, NJ back to my hometown of Wenonah, NJ. Back from college for the summer, I immediately plotted on how I would be able to purchase the Trilogy. Dad asked me if I was going to get a summer job and I was said, maybe, I'm not sure, perhaps, something easy with lots of money. It was...

"Benetton ad from the  80's UGH" Those who are adults have each had them. I'm talking about those JOBS where we have lasted a week or less! Maybe it was planned, maybe not. We look back and laugh at those times as adults. Maybe we were assholes and deserved to get fired. Or maybe it just wasn't the right fit of a job for us. That being said, I wasn't fired. That actually happened once at a telemarketing agency. Another blog, another time. LOL Leaving the job at Benetton was MY decision! :) The second time at Sun Coast Video was actually a calculated event which I writing about in the next blog! I took the job at Benetton while I was at Rutgers University during my freshman year at college. It was 1988 and I went to work for them at their New Brunswick NJ location right next to the official Rutgers Bookstore. I had no retail experience whatsoever and told them that upon my hiring. They said no problem, we'll train you. My first day I was put...

(NOT MY PIC) With trepidation, I have been reading about my sick friends on Facebook. Some have even done selfies in the hospital wearing masks! Now THAT's selfie dedication. LOL. But seriously, at work, some sicky thing has been going through one of the units. I have been spraying down my computer and door knobs with Lysol, using plenty of hand sanitizer, washing my hands frequently, and relegating my clients to "separate" pens for signing documents. I seriously do! Working in social services exposes you to tons of people with who knows possibly what. I can't afford to be sick! I read that the Lehigh Valley Hospital has set up flu tents. It is becoming a cause for concern. The CDC states that the flu epidemic has not yet peaked. You hear of of dozens of children across the country extremely ill from the flu or have died! According to ABCNews.com: "The CDC's latest incluenza report shows that at least 53 children have died from the flu this season, ...

An example of a 150 ft yacht! (Not my pic)  Back in the 90's, I used to cater in Center City Philly for an upper end private catering company run by my sister's friend Jane. I was very fortunate to work with a group of fun people at some of the swankiest penthouses and luxurious homes in Society Hill, Rittenhouse Square, the Art Museum neighborhood, and the Mainline in Philly. Most of the clients were extremely gracious. You had a group of plucky 20 something waiters or bartenders working our hardest for Jane because she also became a very good friend. We wanted to see her succeed. My sister got me the "in" working for Jane and I worked for her for a good 8 years off and on. Many of these catering gigs stand out. They either involved crazy parties with drunk wealthy people, Philadelphia celebrities, or over the top parties that only that type of money can buy. One stood out in particular. I was to bartend on a large yacht moored in the Delaware River ...

Not me. This guy is working! ("Hollywood Capers" 1935) HAPPY HOLIDAYS my friends! Here are just a couple friendly reminders on how to act and treat your bar staff when you are enjoying yourself out and about for the holidays. I am extremely lucky in that I rarely have issues where I bartend. I recognize that good behavior while at a bar is definitely a two way street. I will treat you with respect and I expect the same in return! Some of what is said is a lil' snarky but it's meant in good fun. This blog is also for all of my bartending friends whether they work at a local bar, a restaurant chain, catering, a swanky restaurant, a ski lodge or a hotel chain. It can be a tough job. There are some written and some unwritten rules of the bar which will make your holiday, and mine, go a lot smoother. Please don't curse. There may be kids present if the bar you are at may have a restaurant. I'll keep my mouth clean too. This seems incredibly...

November 2014, one of my fav pics of Sheryl and I A pic of my big bro Adam (So he doesn't get jealous) Many of you know my older sis Sheryl. She, along with my older bro Adam, have been the rocks in my world. I lean on them for inspiration, laughter, support, and advice. My sister had a difficult Fall emotionally with the loss of a close coworker. You will read the reason why below. Coupled with the recent terrorist attach in Paris, France, she felt compelled to write an early Thanksgiving message below addressing the uncertainty of life and how we need to not take life for granted.  Sher's message comes from the heart. I hope you take it to heart as well and apply it to your life. In the blink of an eye, it can change forever.  -Marc From Sheryl: H ello Family & Friends, So forgive this ramble but I’ve been mulling it over in my mind. Maybe with age I’ve become more sappy / nostalgic or the recent France bombings moved me, but I had a very sad experience...

A fellow old soul urged me to share something which has been on my mind as of late. His advice has always been sound and after some consideration, I decided to listen to him and write this post. By doing so, I am giving myself a bit of a kick in the ass to keep moving on with this passion of mine:  writing! I have come to a crossroads within my passion of writing. When I started this blog 5 years ago as almost an homage to my departed Mom, I wanted to document my life turning 40. I have notebooks filled with potential blog posts which I have not yet written. Some are just mere ideas or snippets of a memory. Others are fully fleshed out memories almost ready to post. They range anywhere from work, to play, to life, to relationships, to even a more private side of me that only close friends and family know. Some I may never publish, I am just not ready to get that personal with certain subjects in my life. Others are well ... LOL... just NOT...

Logo from CHP campaign I decided last week to conduct a very unscientific experiment and keep track of how many people I passed on my way to work who were either talking on their cell phones or seen obviously texting. There is room for error as some people may have been looking for someone's number on their phone. THIS, by the way, is not an acceptable excuse because you are still reading and scrolling through your phone's contacts while driving. Each day, I travel a pretty long commute from Schuylkill County to Allentown, the seat of Lehigh County, PA. It's about 40 miles, most of it on one major highway, Route 78 which is highly traveled by commuters and tractor trailers alike.  When I'm on Route 78, I travel with the speed of traffic. And by the way, I won't be divulging my rate of speed except it allows me to pass those in the slow lane.  :) I counted about 50 cars that I passed over the distance of 40 miles. Within those 50 cars, I counted...

Ingredients used. Brisket. The very word brings up memories of a tender beef roast, rich with gravy, surrounded by potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and smothered in onions. I remember it being associated with special holidays:  Rosh Hoshanah, Passover, Hanukkah, or birthdays. If our family was having a meal like London broil or brisket, it had to be a special occasion. But that was fine, it made us savor the meal that much more. I can still remember the smell just wafting through the house. The brisket of beef is also popular with Texans who love to barbecue and grill it. We Jews love our brisket braised like a pot roast. I also found out the hard way from some lovely (ahem) elderly Pennsylvania Dutch women that brisket is not sirloin, brisket is not pot roast, and brisket is not flank. It is it's own cut of beef from the lower chest of the steer. Hmm, who knew?  Apparently not this Jewish 40 something year old guy! In preparation for this, John and I went to Dietrich's ...

The other day I was walking from my office in Allentown to my newly assigned parking lot. I suffer the fate of having to park in the lot furthest away from work. I quip bitterly that I park in the next town over. The first five times I guess it was funny. Now they think I am just bitter about the whole situation. And yes, they are correct. From work, I walk down a long alley in between the county government building and a 19th century church. Glancing upwards, I spied several large icicles the size of stalactites hanging off the church roof just ready to come crashing down on whomever was treading below. Now we aren't talking about the icicles that as kids we would break off and eat. Ummm...did anyone else do that besides me? (silence ... crickets chirping) Anyway, the icicles on the church are the size of baseball bats. If one hit you, it would definitely knock you out or worse like stab you like the lightening rod did to that poor priest in the first Damien movie, you know th...