Flying

I had to fly this week to take care of some business. I used a "no-frills" airline, Direct Air. Since you don't get your seat assignment until you check in, I was asked if I wanted a emergency aisle seat. I said no as they can have solid sides and be uncomfortable for my somewhat large ass. I also asked for an aisle seat without someone in the middle seat.

So I get my boarding pass, have a couple of beers in the bar while I'm waiting to board and proceed onto the plane. Albeit, the same person that checked me in is now taking the boarding passes at the gate. Yes, it is that small an airline. I walk down the aisle to my seat and sure enough, it's not only a emergency row seat that's solid, but there is someone in the middle seat.

Now I don't usually make too much of a fuss on a plane, but the look on my face must of said it all. A flight attendant asked me if everything was OK. I said no, this is most likely the first and last time I will be flying this airline. She told me to take a seat for now and she will try to move me as soon as they get a head count.

Sure enough, I was able to get moved towards the back of the plane to a seat like I had asked for. To add insult to injury, I look over my shoulder and there is some skinny kid in an entire row by himself.

Lucky for me, I was able to get an upgrade on my return flight to first class for $50. Worth every friggin' penny.

Next time, it's Southwest all the way baby!!

History in the Making

This past week was very exciting here in MA. We now have our first Republican Senator since 1972. That is a real feat in MA being that MA is extremely liberal. A lot of people on both sides of the fence are shocked by this election. Lots of people thought because Ted Kennedy had the seat for over 4 decades, it belonged to a democrat. Obviously, the majority saw it as the people's seat and voted accordingly. I for one am glad that the Health Care Reform will be done without shoving a unpopular bill down the throats of the American people at an extremely, absurd price to the working, taxpaying people of this country. I do hope it does not fail in it's entirety as I believe we need reform of the system. Good Luck Scott Brown and I hope you have a very thick skin. Let's see how long it takes the liberal scumbags to dig up something on him or post a pic of his daughters in an inappropriate manner.

Dadspeak...

I was chatting on line with an old friend the other day and they reminded my of some of the charming "Terms" let's call them, that my dad would use in everyday speak.

here's the ones I can remember:

Blivet: that's 300 lbs of shit shoved into a 10 lb bag. Usually used around a fat person.

Pot Belly Savage, (or just PBS): Just what it sounds like. Someone who has a pot belly.

Jeep: some that is so lucky, no matter what they bet on, they win. Not a bookie's favorite person.

Fireplug: someone that is short and stocky

Tootsie Roll: money that is rolled up and has an elastic band around it as to resemble a tootsie roll

Pea Shooter: a small handgun, (i.e. his beretta)

Degenerate Gambler: Some that will bet on anything. Example, a person that will bet on 2 ants walking on the sidewalk betting on which one will get to the crack first.

The Horn: the telephone

Getting Pinched: getting caught by the cops

"Oh, he won't be around anymore": Someone that either left town for good, was escorted out of town for good, or someone that just won't be around anymore.

Shpacone: someone that acts like their better than you or a bragger.

Mal occia: the evil eye, or wishing someone bad luck.

Rug: a hair piece that is not very good.

That's all I can remember right now. I hope you got a chuckle out of them.

WTF

so I'm talking to my brother recently and start to ask him about the sausage recipe's that may dad and his partner used decades ago. I have been told by my friends that my dad's fresh sausage was the best they ever had. (Seriously, if you like Italian sausage, his was very good). I get the idea that I get the recipe's from my brother, go to a sausage maker to make the sausage by the recipe I give them, sell it around, then when the company get's big enough, sell it to Kraft or Smithfield for a million dollars and retire.

Here's the snag. My brother doesn't really have the recipe's. He tells me that they were never written down and my father's partner just did it from memory. Is my brother full of shit? Maybe, but what am I going to do, put a gun in his mouth? He's my brother.

My dad is gone, his partner is gone. Shit...I'm gonna have to figure it out for myself.

Festival Time

With Summer winding down and Fall not far behind, it's means one thing. FESTIVAL TIME!!!! There are literally hundreds of festivals around here. There's the Big E, San Gennaro, Apple, Peach, Strawberry, Wine, Blues, Folk, and a bunch more.

It's nice to know that just about every weekend there's going to be a place we can go to eat, drink, listen to music, and hang with a bunch of people that enjoy the very same thing. There's no talk about health care reform, stimulus packages, town hall meetings or pulling the plug on grandma. Just good times.

So, if there are any festivals in your area, no matter how small or hokey, go have a good time and take a break from it all.....

Don't forget to have a cannoli for me if you end up at any Italian festivals...

"Mangia, Mangia"

Been a While......

It's been a while since posting. Work sucks, so not much to talk about there. The best part of the last few months was our cruise to the Caribbean and a trip to Florida. The Weather was nice for both trips. In Nokomis, FL, they do something called "Drums on the Beach". It's a gathering of different musicians that bring their percussion instruments of all kinds and begin a beat that continues and builds to crescendo as the sun sets. Very cool, everyone brings their favorite snacks and beverages so everyone is in a very good mood. It's become so popular, there are hundreds of people there spread across the beach. I included a couple of pics of the sunset and the people. If you find yourself in the Sarasota area, look into it. It's very popular and everyone seems to know about it.

Our cruise was very nice. Lots of good food, drink, cuban cigars, and spa visits. One thing we did in Greneda was go a "Party Cruise". This was basically about 80 people on a covered barge with a steel drum band, open bar, fresh fruit for snacks, a great beach, drinks brought to you while you lay in your chair and bobbing in the cleanest water you can ever imagine. This is our 5th Caribbean cruise and hope to do many more.

till next time....eat well, drink well, live well.....

"Stop Playing with the Chickens"

My brother and I would always find new ways to piss off my dad, or make him laugh so hard he would almost pass out from lack of oxygen. One day, I went into the walk in cooler to find a whole chicken sitting on the edge of the to shelf with it's legs crossed. What makes this funny is the chicken is headless and without feathers, just like you buy in the store. My brother found it funny to position chickens in various poses. Of course, with our very vivid and twisted imagination, it was not long before we started to put the chickens in the wonderful positions of the Kama Sutra. So once a while, my brother or myself would take it upon ourselves to decide what position the chickens were going to take part of that day. We would start out simple like missionary and work our way up to "69", doggy style and so on. Some days my dad would find them first. At the beginning, he found it amusing. After a few weeks of this, he lost his sense of humor and started to get very pissed off. It got to the point where one Saturday afternoon, my dad came out of the cooler with a chicken. He looked at my brother with his tongue rolled up in his cheek, wound up from the other side of the world and flung a chicken at him so hard you can hear the bones break against his chest. With that, my brother asked his most famous question. "What did you do that for?". My brother always asked that even when he knew exactly why it happened. My dad simply picked up his knife and went back to work. A couple of minutes later, my dad just turned to both of us and said, "Stop Playing with the Chickens". Like the smart alacks we are, we both asked, "What are you talking about?". "You know what I mean, stop playing with the chickens, you almost Mario a heart attack". Mario was my dad's partner and he thought the chickens put in "certain" poses was blasphemous.

So, that was the end of the "fun with chickens" part of my life. So the next time you want to scare the kids, put your chickens in fun poses in your fridge. Keep it clean though.