Christmas Eve

Well here we have the day before Christmas, 2013. Where has this year gone?Sandy and I just got back from New York City two days ago and man what a trip! On Sunday we were down in Central Park and then to Rockefeller Center. The sky was overcast, but by lunch the temperature had soared to the upper 60s, and people were wearing tank tops and shorts. It was hot. Early in the morning we left the hotel and it was sprinkling rain so since we were heading uptown to the Park we decided to get off the subway at 59th street and go into Bloomingdales for a cheap rain jacket. Wrong! The jacket that would have been suitable cost $450, but it was on sale for 40% off. This was for a jacket that costs $39 back home. But in all fairness back home doesn't have a subway stop in its basement either. Come to think of it back home doesn't have a basement at all. We didn't buy the jacket and the rain had stopped anyway. We usually buy our clothes, and pay money that goes straight to Arkansas instead of Bloomingdales. We then walked through the park watching runners and dog walkers, on our way up to 75th street to visit the Whitney Museum. We are big museum fans and had not taken advantage of the Whitney. It was generally a total waste of time and $40 admission charge for 2. The fifth floor was their permanent exhibition and I loved some Edward Hoppers and a couple Georgia O'Keefes. There were a couple of nice Calder mobiles in a stairway, and lower down was a whole floor dedicated to Robert Indiana , which was a lot of stenciled letters and numbers in black, white , yellow, and red. The remaining floors were dedicated to crude doodlings and arranged garbage. I think it was a case of the Emperor's Clothes. The day before we were eating lunch in Grand Central Station, and as usual there was a multitude of people, but it was the last weekend before Christmas. I had to go to the restroom and saw immediately that the line to the ladies room next door stretched out of sight, but that the mens' room was without a line. I went in and walked up to a vacant urinal and was doing what I came to do when I heard feminine voices very , very close to me! I looked over my shoulder and women were coming and going out of the mens' stalls, an arms length from those using the urinals. It was somewhat of a shock to be using restrooms with the girls but no one seemed to mind, so why should I? When you gotta go,you gotta go! As I was leaving the restroom I had to sidestep an attractive blond heading  in. I said,"Excuse Me" and she just nodded, on her way to relief. I shouldn't have been shocked as I have shared bathrooms for 40 years with a woman. The only difference is that I know this woman. We went to see "Beautiful", the musical about Carol King and it was fantastic with all her music and the songs she had written. I think the highlight for me was when actors portraying The Righteous Brothers sang "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". They were fantastic. Saturday evening we saw "Motown " and it was almost as good. The Marvin Gay actor was almost Marvin Gay. The Temptations sang "My Girl" and all was right with the world.

Downton What???

As 2013 rapidly winds down I am once again reminded of the fundamental differences between men and women. I fully understand that after 40 years of marriage to the same woman that I should be acclimated to the eccentric ways that both sexes exhibit , especially as they grow older. Now Sandy has become more and more sophisticated in her likes and dislikes while I seem to have gravitated to the baser and lower forms of interests. Her fashion tastes mirror simpler and classy clothing, whereas I find jeans and a long sleeved sweater suit me well. Her colors are always matching and she chooses under lighted conditions, often selecting her attire the night before work. I, on the other hands grope in my meager unlit closet for pants and some shirt 10 minutes before leaving for work. Sandy has a keen eye for differentiating between navy blue and black, even with socks, which I think is a no foul offense. One day I was out on a job and noticed that I had two totally unmatched brown loafers on .At least they were on the right feet. The irony of the shoe faux pas was nobody noticed or cared but me. Sandy would opine that no one noticed because they both were so scuffed and unpolished , but that is an entirely different argument. I guess my rationale is that no one notices what older men wear or look like. It is somewhat refreshing that you get a fashion pass , especially when you are your own boss. Women , on the other hand, take this fashion and looks issue dead seriously . Manicures and nail polish ranks up there with national security. Women miss nothing when it comes to attire on themselves and anyone else within eyesight. I have always said that women dress for other women and strive to keep trim figures for other women. The reason is dangerously simple because a group of girls on a night out will slice and dice the looks of any female they happen to lay eyes upon . They miss nothing. If women were as tuned in to oil and water levels in their cars as they are to fashion half the mechanics in the country would be unemployed. I used to buy clothes for Sandy but now I am old enough to see how naïve that habit was. I mix navy and black socks, so how could I even think of fashion? Guys just don't have a clue. In an earlier life about 30 years ago my boss and I were in Louisville and he decided to buy his wife a dress since he reasoned this could bring about a night of foreplay and fulfillment. He chose a dress that was more suitable for a 1970s stripper to start with on the stage. It had a zipper from top to bottom and was of clingy gold material. The sales girl asked him what size she wore and he drug out his thick old billfold and produced a decrepit card that had sizes on it. He then proudly proclaimed that she wore a size 36 dress! The sales girl evidentally had seen this situation before and asked him if his wife was similar in size to her, and after scrutinizing her from all angles he proclaimed his wife was a little bigger in the chest. It went smoothly from there and he overpaid for a stripper dress for his wife, the devout organ player at the Methodist Church. He then stopped at a music store and bought "The Pina Colada" vinyl album, along with Rum and Pina Colada Mix at the next liquor store. All to no avail. Even the best laid plans can go awry. I have often wondered what became of that zipper dress. It would have opened eyes with the right personality wearing it. Sandy has become fond, like many others of watching weird tv series like this Downton Abbey. It seems to be a high class British story about royalty and servants , something I know nothing about. She and her friends discuss episodes and are eagerly awaiting the start of the new season.  I myself once started a brawl in Café Johnny Canoes restaurant in Nassau over one length hair, something I thought I knew about, but obviously didn't.I'm trying to get Sandy to try black nail polish, but with limited results so far.I need to change my attitude and clothing style. When I look in the mirror each morning Nick Nolte's mugshot is staring back at me.It even scares me sometime. Maybe I need to pay some consultant to give me some fashion pointers. Maybe I should start Tivoing Dr. Phil instead of Springer. Maybe I should buy some cologne, but I spray myself every time I walk through the Macy's Cosmetic area. That damn stuff is expensive. I liked the smell of Mont Blanc but that fofo was $79 a bottle. That is a total fillup of gasoline in the Yukon.Smelling good doesn't go with mismatched, scuffed shoes anyway.I prefer slathering on hemp coconut butter lotion from WalMart. Reminds me of college girls 45 years ago. I just know there are significant differences between Sandy and I regarding tastes and attitudes.Maybe I had better place an ad for  consultants. At this stage what have I got to lose?

Whats the Name of The Winter Storm?

Today is Monday December 9th ,2013and on the tail end of Winter Storm Dion. Who decided that we have to name winter storms? The geniuses at The Weather Channel obviously have spare time on their hands since the record number of bad hurricanes never appeared this fall. The gloom and doom meteorologists said last spring that weather patterns indicated a rough season for the Eastern United States coast. Guess what? We had one little hurricane that did little more than create rainfall. So my theory is that they jumped into the winter storms. So far we have had record cold in Kentucky the past two months and it isn't even winter yet. So much again for global warming.The University of Kentucky Football Wildcats have also lived up to last year's standards by ending the season 2-10. Bobby Petrino, the resident Western Kentucky thug had his way with the boys in Blue and the Louisville Cardinals rolled over them. I guess the Air Attack needs a little work. They(Mitch Barnhart) are going to spend over $100 million to downsize Commonwealth Stadium from 68000 to 61000 , but are adding luxury skyboxes. Now I know little about managing college athletics, but this plan certainly goes along with the past handling of football at UK. They are also going to redo ticket allocation for football fans. I don't think I would do that Mitch. Joker seems to be doing well at Florida and Florida State seems to have survived without Stoops. I believe John Clay could have done as well as Stoops, at least John Clay seems to think he could. Speaking of The Lexington Leader it's weird that the political cartoonist Joel Pett is the voice of that creepy little pig on the insurance commercial, you know the one that rides the cute blonde around on the waverunner. That is some seriously sick advertising. What are they saying? Does the cute blond have the hots for a little pig? And isn't everyone about sick of Flo and her insurance? It was cute at the start, but enough is enough. The lowest of the low in commercials to me has to be those two sleazy nerds in the Sonic Commercials. What is it with these two guys? They have to be the single most cause for irritable bowel syndrome in the country. Everyone knows guys like them from high school. Their big exception is that they became famous in their irritable quotient. Similar nerds like them go on to coach football.I'm going to NYC in a couple of weeks but will miss Santa Con by one week, which is a shame but I'll get over it. We're trying to figure which play to see but haven't arrived at a definite pick. It seems Kinky Boots with Cindy Lauper has our most attention. The best play this season was The Million Dollar Quartet. The worst play was Flash Dance with Memphis coming in second. I guess while I'm on the subject of quality plays ,Cats has to be the low point of any theatrical event I have paid to see. That is two hours of my life I will never recover.Cats rates up there with the Great Ice Storm of 2009. We were in Charleston this fall and have discovered a good restaurant down by the waterfront called the Fleet Landing.It is located adjacent to the pier where the huge cruise ships dock.Like most other restaurants in Charleston it's really great dining with a million dollar view. The other trip in October was to Siesta Key in Florida where we had some great seafood. A less than memorable lunch was at a Cuban restaurant near Long Boat Key. White table cloths , over-priced cuisine and a room full of octogenarians. What a recipe for disaster. Reminded me of Cats. Too soon we boarded the packed Allegiant jet for a two hour flight back to Lexington and Obama Care news. Seriously does anyone in this country besides the Sonic Nerds really care about this idiotic pack of golddiggers we have that is guiding our country? They virtually shut our country down. This Tea Party is the worse concept they have come up with lately. Congress is at an all time low in ratings,as is the President. The NSA is spying on everyone and the IRS is auditing select groups, and everyone thinks lying is alright.The Democratic candidate against McConnell is being wined and dined and financed by Hollywood actors and tycoons in the entertainment industry. I won't vote for her, but McConnell is eaten up with special interests as well.What a Choice! So far the Shawnees have left Ft. Logan alone but the fort fans are going to spend another quarter mill putting up more rotting logs. Some things never change.