Focused at Fifty

Pic from Hotpockets.com   After reading this you may say, somethings are better left forgotten. Well, I disagree because this 10 second memory always makes me laugh and shake my head in silliness. The other day I was on the couch flipping through channels and a commercial came on for Hot Pockets microwave sandwiches. You know the ones, the end with the ever so catchy jingle "Hot Pocket!" I laughed as I immediately thought back to a Hot Pocket memory of my own. It was back in 2005 or so when I had just began working at Montgomery County Domestic Relations as an enforcement officer. I had an addiction to eating Hot Pockets for lunch, couldn't get enough of them! I think I would buy 10 boxes at a time of the different varieties and make a box each day for lunch. One Friday at work, I decided on a whim to have lunch with some coworkers and went out to dine instead of eating my usual Hot Pockets. As I was leaving work that day, I remembered the Hot Pockets were in th...

http://www.riversideodds.com/ I decided this year to make an effort to do things outside of my comfort zone. There are things which give me a certain amount of angst. I have never done them before or just not in a long while. Certain things I will not do, including bungee jump or sky jumping. No thanks. :)  Others ... maybe with just a little bit of a push I will. My buddy Darren Walbridge, as I've stated in previous blogs, is the drummer of the Philly punk rock band, the Riverside Odds. It is a speed punk band with (off of their website) RW Griswold on lead vocals, Matty Terror on guitar/backing vocals, Tim Griswold on bass guitar/backing vocals, Dan Neswick on lead guitar, Darren on drums, and the classic beer PBR for inspiration(!). How awesome is that?! My punk experiences were in the 80s and early 90s listening to bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Smiths, the Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Violent Femmes, the Cure, the Ramones, Fishbone, and Meat...

I have experience with medicine cabinets. I had a lovingly neurotic mother who had each medicine cabinet in our childhood home stuffed to the gills with various medicines and toiletries. We could've opened a CVS Pharmacy out of our home. Mom wasn't a hypochondriac. She just liked to be prepared for ANYTHING. When I catered in Philly for upscale families way back in the early 90s, I used to go through my their medicine cabinets in their powder rooms just out of curiosity to see what they had. I know, I know, it was completely rude and an invasion of privacy. Move on. I got it. I'd mostly find outdated various pills, scented soaps, old high end makeup and perfume. Pretty boring stuff. Every now and then I'd find something pretty interesting like the odd embarrassing cream or Rogaine which clearly wasn't working on the man of the house. I once found someone keeping their toenail clippings in a baby food jar. Now THAT was pretty gross. Cool Wise Old Dude I n...

This past Fall, I was with my sister Sheryl at a harvest festival in Sinking Spring, PA. We were watching various families mill about at this carnival type atmosphere and a screaming crying child bolted past me. I turned and begun chuckling.  I wasn't chuckling at the child but actually because it reminded me of an emotional outburst I had waaay back in 1976 while on vacation at Walt Disney World.  I was 6 years old and discovering the power of deception. The day was spent touring the park. Highlights included me flirting with an older gal at a fountain whom I thought would be my future wife. She was seven. We all loved the "Small World After All" ride (and singing it to my parent's annoyance the rest of the trip). Adam and I thought the monorail going through the hotel was soo cool. Who could forget Mom screaming during the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride, "OMG THERE'S A WATERFALL! BOB! HOLD ONTO THE KIDS!" freaking ...

This morning I was fumbling around in the dark for my shoes. I was sleepy and groggy from the dry heat in the bedroom. I usually turn it down right before bed but forgot the previous night, thus waking up to stifling heat and a foggy mind. I grabbed a shoe, put it on, and absent-mindedly tied it. I grabbed the other one and did the same. Both shoes were successfully tied. I thought back for a split second to when my Mom and Dad taught me how to tie my shoe laces. I must've been like 5 years old. I remember getting so frustrated because I couldn't grasp it.  But I got it, and here was I, at age 45, tying my shoes blindly in the dark. It's one of those skills which we were taught and take for granted now that we are adults. It was then I looked down and realized I had two different shoes on! I laughed out loud thinking "Well one out of two ain't bad!" Driving to work, I began to think of other tasks and skills I learned that my parents have taught me. The...

Image Link Throughout my 45 years, I've learned a couple of things along the way. There are things in your life in which you absolutely should invest in. They can extrinsic in nature such as better, higher quality objects including clothing, tools, household items, and your car just to name a few. They can also be intrinsic investments. These are related to your inner self, your morals and values. These type of investments tend to foster not only your physical health but your mental health as well. A lot of them have long term benefits. Now there are certain things in your life that you can cut corners on. For instance, while shopping at a Rite - Aid or CVS, chances are that their products are just as good as the name brand ones. Vitamins or over-the-counter medicine for instance, look at the ingredients label and you will see that the drug store brands contain the same ingredients in usually the same order. Then there are other things which you cannot cut corner...

This was my first introduction to David Bowie as a musician. I fell in love with the song "Blue Jeans" in 1984. He was SO COOL. On January 10th, 2016, David Bowie passed away. The world has lost an incredible musician and artist. According to Wikipedia, David Bowie "sold an estimated 140 million albums. In the United Kingdom, he was awarded 9 Platinum, 11 Gold and 8 Silver albums, and in the United States, 5 Platinum and 7 Gold."   He was the consummate artist, experimenting and crossing genres during his 47 year plus incredible career. My experience with the Thin White Duke was a brief meeting in October of 1997 when I worked at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia as a concierge. He was staying with us during his Earthling Tour supporting the album of the same name. I was finishing up some paperwork at the concierge desk with my head down in paperwork as usual. Sometimes I'd be hiding down below behind the huge massive dark oak and marble desk to avoid ta...