Ur hmble Blogger returns

Well I'm BAACK! So much to discuss, so little time. First off I conquered some technical difficulties, which kept me of the 'net for a few extra days after returning from my vacation. A new cable modem was picked up and installed and everything is in working order.

A nice 5 day cruise to Canada with my family has recharged my batteries. I don't think I knew just how much I had needed to get away from it all until I was on the ship with an umbrellaed drink in my hand. If you have never been on a cruise, by all means GO! While people on the east coast thinks that a cruise automatically means the Caribbean, St John NB and Halifax, NS are two very fine ports of call. The cruise ship is a world unto itself, so it's fair to say that the cruise is thing no matter where you go. And no matter where you go, there you are.

My,My so much happening. Of course thoughts and prayers go out to all the people in the way of hurricane Katrina. Had to stay home sick today and I watched a lot of the coverage, that storm was (and still is) a bitch.

Pat Robertson, nuff said...................................................

I may or may not get into more details, we shall see how things play out over the next few days....Busy Busy Busy................

Time out for ur hmbl blogger

And now the vaction kicks into high gear. The world will just have to run itself for a little while. Time to kick back and not worry about STUFF. Recharge the old batteries and drink a drink with a small paper umbrella in it. I'll be back with a full report followed by a quick return to my grumpy ways. (Can't you just see me writing letter after letter to the local newspaper in about 10 years?)

Peace to all

Vacation Time at LAST

Perhaps the toughest day we have had mail wise all summer. Two full coverage (1 to every customer) and some huge packets for all the kiddies going to high school next year. Plus some the well to do were returning from their vacations, so I had to bring out buckets full of the hold mail. BUT I got through it and now I'm on VACATION. YEEAH HAWWW!

RANT: Why it's tough to be a liberal #1

First in a series:
Here is the thing with us liberals. You can't be for something, if you're not against something. You can't be against something if you're not for something. This contradiction often comes back to bite us liberals in our rear end. An Example:

Free Speech vs P.C. I think that free speech is one of our most precious rights. The founding fathers gave us this right in order to among other things, be able to criticize our own government. They felt that this would keep the government honest, democratic, and in check when the government got too big for it's britches. I am very concerned that our present government has eroded this basic right. It is a right that needs to be defended. I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it.

BUT

The liberal who defends the important right of free speech runs smack into the culture of political correctness (P.C.). Now we walk the tight rope. See I believe that using racial names and stereotypes is wrong. We should judge each other on our own individuals merits and not some pre-conceived notions. But that is how I feel. So do I respect your viewpoint and let you say what you want thereby giving YOU your freedom of speech OR do I wave the magic P.C. wand and call you a racist, for example? Personally, I will let you have your say, but be prepared for me to debate your views. Yes I do understand that words can be hurtful, but sometimes it's best to bring things out in the open and use the opportunity to teach.

What's a poor mixed up liberal to do??????

The NHL on OLN

So now I have to upgrade to the optima service. Something I had avoided. However, to watch the first two games of Lord Stanley's Cup finals will require me to dig a little deeper in the old pocket. Gee thanks again, Gary Bettman.

The Outdoor Life Network. 18 hours of fishing and hunting shows followed by 3 hours of hockey. Joy.
However there are some cross over possibilities with existing OLN programs:

The Hunt for the Great San Jose Shark

The Boston Bruin Marathon

Le Tour de French Canadian

The Mighty Duck Hunters of Anaheim

Mullets Gone Wild (hosted by Barry Melrose)

A Red Wing and a Prayer

Survivor: Long Island

The March of the Pittsburgh Penguins

Panthers and Predators and Thrashers: Oh My!

enough?????

Rock Star INXS 8/16

Well the compition gets tougher now with only 8 singers left. Tonight we heard Wayne Brady...er I mean TY....do "Maggie May" Then we heard Kurt Cobain...ooops I did it again, I mean Marty, do a Britany Spears song. I loved the acoustic set and Mig did a great job with the Peter Frampton song. I also thought that Jordis did very well with 'Knocking on Heavens Door'.

any geeks out there?

Help! I can't get into aol. While some may see this as a blessing it is bad news for me. Here are the facts: I get an error message saying that aol can't connectand that it has detected a firewall. Same one and same settings I've been using all along. The firewall says it's allowing full access to aol. I have an internet connection, I can get on Internet Expolorer. One thing: The power did go off or dim several times during the storms we had in the last few days. I'm stuck any thoughts? Send to Streetgoalie1@hotmail.com

Hot and Hotter: Part 2

It was so damn hot I didn't have enough strength to blog last night. Took a shower and went to bed! Didn't even eat dinner, which is a big deal for me! Normally I carry some of my magazines and catalogs on my left arm when I deliver the mail. When it is hot my sweat would ruin them so I work all the mail out of my bag. Well yesterday it was so damn hot I soaked my mail bag with sweat and the mail got wet anyway. Now that's HOT!

Hot and Hotter

Another day of 90/90. That's 90 degree and 90% humidity. As a letter carrier I don't mind the occasional day of extreme weather. But this has been going on week after week after week. The heat takes a toll on the 45 y. o. body. I'm more tired than anything, my legs feel like I've run a marathon. My route has about 2.5 miles of walking and in New England that means you're gonna have some hills. I'm just fine with it most days but this heat is burning me out. I'm sure that if I'm still blogging in January, I'll be complaining about the cold.

Just one more thing about the heat. I do use 45 spf sun block and I wear a silly mesh pith helmet to ward off the sun. And sun glasses too. Best to stay out of the rays.

Green Day "American Idiot"

Listened to Green Day's American Idiot" on the headphones today while I was putting up the mail for my route. What a brilliant album. Three songs will I comment on:

"American Idiot" Starts us off right, with the crunching punk guitar and just great lyrics. I really don't want to be part of the redneck agenda!

"Holiday" As I've said before WE ARE AT WAR PEOPLE! This song kind of says to me that we ignore that fact. When Billie Joe goes into the president Gasman bit,I feel a kindred spirit. "Bombs away is your Pun-ish-ment" Brilliant!

"Blvd of Broken Dreams" 'I Walk Alone' Boy did that lyric hit me. When I came out against the war I was called a traitor, a terrorist sympathizer, a communist (???!!) and I was told to move to Iraq, France, or Canada. So I did walk alone, BUT now days the worm is turning. Polls are showing that more Americans are questioning the war. The worm is turning and We the People want answers!

Thank you, Green Day for a great album...............

Beware the Penguins

The Penguins played the free agent market like a fiddle and look to be a vastly improved team heading into the Oct 5 opening of the NHL season. Too early for a prediction but it looks right now like the Stanley Cup will wind up in Penn. Question is East side or West side?????

Two Nascar Questions

Number One: If Roger Penske took Rusty Wallace out of the #2 and put Kurt Bush in and he didn't tell anyone, would you be able to tell the difference?

Number Two: What if anything if the difference between Paul Tracy and Robby Gordon?

RockStar INXS 8/10

We will miss Brandon. He channeled the late great M.H. If the Black Crows ever need a new lead singer.....

I think they saved the two blondes so one of them could have a go at "Suicide Blonde" next week.

Hockey and Music Together

Wow two of my favorite topics thrust together. This is to formaly say 'CONGRATS" to the Zambonis for being named the best Rock/Pop Rock band by the readers of the Fairfield County Weekly. I am a huge fan of the Zambonis. It's simple. They play songs about.....HOCKEY. And it works. To learn more about Dave S. and the boys visit: www.thezambonis.com

WTG DAVE, JON and the rest of you puck heads!

Might As Well Jump

We were half watching the Yankee game last night. Derek Jeter is up and he bunts to move the runner on first over. All the sudden there is this kid on top of the net that keeps foul balls from hitting the people who sit behind home plate. He came from the upper deck, about 40 feet. Turns out he did on a dare and when he gets out of the hospital he faces Da Law. Kids: Don't try this at home!!!!!

RockStar INXS 8-9

First off I love INXS. I was a little dissapointed that they would try to replace M.H. on a (BLECH)reality show. But hey to each his own. And I have come to look forward to the show.

Now as for this evening. The clear winner was Brooke Burke's skirt. LOL Musically I think Marty and Ty lead the charge. Jordis, well she dropped the ball this week with Layla but she will be back. Marty did very well with Mr. Brightside and Ty blew me away with No Woman, No Cry. BTW the best cover of No Woman, No Cry is still the Muppetts..........

First Rant

Ok so the space shuttle landed today. That is great news. I feel happy for all the people involved, from the crew, to all the people at NASA and all of their families.
Growing up I was a real space case, wanted to be an astronaut, the whole nine yards. BUT.........

Now this isn't an original thought but it's one that I agree with 100%. The media gave this landing big time coverage right? After what happened last time we all had to wonder if this crew would land in one piece. God forbid, if something had happened to those poor 7 people aboard the shuttle it would have been a national tragedy. Now wait a second. Just the other day 14 Marines from Ohio were killed in Iraq. That's double the size of the shuttle crew, but I think the only reason we heard about it was that they were from the same state. More of our men and women have been killed or wounded since then. How many? Hard to say based on the mainstream media. See I'm old enough to remember seeing the body bags being off loaded from the planes during the Viet Nam war. That said to me: Hey! Look! We are at WAR! Which is something we at home may not of forgotten, but it's not at the front of the queue either.

So today's lesson is twofold. Space travel is dangerous. We Are At War.

Welcome To My Blog

So here we are. My thoughts for the world to see. I was just looking for an excuse to write more and I had an Ah Ha moment. A Blog. The perfect way to make myself write on an almost dailey basis.

So who am I? A 19 year postal employee, married to the sainted wife, a voracious reader of books and magazines, lover of many types of music. I love hockey and have a life long addiction to auto racing. (Sigh) the auto racing. Something I was raised with, but it conflicts with my political beliefs. I am you see, close the youngins eyes, a liberal. (Gasp) goes the crowd. Life is full of conflicts though, and I make no apologies for who I am. So read on gentle reader and enjoy......