I spent part of the weekend raking leaves.  With woods behind my house and a small narrow strip of woods to the south (a “paper street” or street that only exists on maps and surveys) I get numerous leaves blown into the front and back yard.  And this is before the leaves on my own property start to fall! 

Raking aside, this morning I went with the Islip fire brigade to the county hands on training facility in Yaphank.  We were going to practice procedures on putting out fires in a 2 story structure.  Since I am now an exterior firefighter, I was detailed to the hydrant to hook up the hoses from the engine to the hydrant and then open the fireplug up.  Once that is done it’s taking care of the ladders: putting them up, taking them down, and moving them.  While I do not go indoors with the interior guys, I get busy outside moving the hose along and straightening out the kinks.  A 1¾ inch “charged” line (with water running through it) is quite heavy and difficult to move, as I learned the hard way a few times.  After the practices were over, we packed the hoses into the hose beds and went back to the Islip firehouse.
With softball over until 2007, I will spend the rest of Sunday watching NFL games.  So far the New York Giants are losing to the Houston Texans, 10-7.  The Jets cannot lose today, since they have an open date.

Monday was another day off for me: use it or lose it!  I ended up taking my 1996 Dodge Stratus to the dealer for servicing and overhauling.  Several hours and $1,600 later it was as good as new.  While I like the car and it’s been good to me, I think that it’s time for a new one.  However, due to the fact that we just got  our new computer,  and had the house renovated, we will wait until 2007.  I saw a few cars that I am interested in: the new Dodge Caliber and perhaps the new Dodge Nitro.  The Caliber is a crossover wagon, similar to the Toyota matrix.  The Nitro is a small SUV, on a par with the Toyota RAV 4.  However, 2007 is the first model year for both Dodge models, and I was told 40 years ago to never buy a car in the first year. 

The rest of the time off yesterday was spent on fire calls, even if they were all automatic alarms, and on the computer.  All of my web-pages on homestead have been edited so that the text and pictures are in line with each other, both vertically and horizontally.  Spelling was also checked since I often transpose letters, being slightly dyslexic.
 

Now that softball is over until the spring I was interested in playing another sport.  One that captured my fancy was rugby.  My high school fielded a team, and I was slightly interested then.  There is a team in Suffolk County that plays at University of Stony Brook.  However, my wife does not want me to sign up for any rugby team.  She reminded me that I am not 25 any more (more like 50+) and I should stick to softball.
 

Today is election day.  We have a special election for Islip Town Supervisor (the equivalent of mayor) as well as congress and the Governor of New York State.  When I get home I will head over to the Wing School and cast my votes.  As they used to say, vote early and vote often.

It is good to see that we are remembering November 11 for what it is: a day to honor those who served, both living and deceased.  It is not just a day off, or a day for storewide sales.   To insult the veterans even more, from 1968 to 1975 it was moved to the 4^th Monday in October, just to give 3 day weekends.  Luckily it was moved back to November 11. 

We may have seen bumper stickers that read “If you can read this in English, thank a soldier”.  True, but even better: “thank a veteran”.

The 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month.  Lest we forget.

Around 7 am my pager went off announcing a medical call in the Chicago Park section of town (named after Chicago Avenue).  It was an echo level call, the most critical.  I did not make the ambulance, so I drove straight to the scene.  It was a cardiac arrest, and soon CPR was in progress.  Since there were also 4 paramedics from another ambulance corps taking care of the patient, I was not needed to help in CPR.  They transported the patient to the nearby hospital, but sadly he did not make it.

It started to rain this morning and will keep it up until this coming Friday.   

When I came home from church my wife, my daughter, and I drove to my mom & dad’s house for our regular fortnightly visit.  Since the weather was so crummy, my wife and I stayed inside and I ended up watching some of the NFL games.  I managed to watch most of the Cowboys/Cardinals game and it was great to see the sun shining in Phoenix.  The Arizona Cardinals have a great state of the art stadium.  War hero Pat Tillman also played for them.  Now all they have to do now is figure out how to win.  They were 1-8 going into this game, and now after losing 27-10 to Dallas, they are now 1-9.  If only some of that magic from those other Cardinals would migrate to Phoenix, they would have a decent team.

When we got home I watched the Giants-Bears game and the Monsters of the Midway made mincemeat of the Giants, 38-20.  Even my fantasy football team is losing.  Hopefully better luck next week.

The workweek has been a bit hectic since the last post, mainly because the electronic billing process is a bit messed up.  Also, two co-workers are leaving.  One is going to my old firm.  On Friday evening after work I went to a nearby pub to say good bye to the two who will be departing, and also to say hello again to 3 former co-workers who had earlier.  I departed after two rounds and took the 7:30 train home.

For Saturday morning it was a trip to the gym at my firehouse for a workout on the treadmill and with the barbells.  I’ll repeat the series of exercises later this morning, and spend a little bit more time on the treadmill.  The rest of Saturday was spent doing errands, and helping my wife with getting the house ready for Thanksgiving.  We will be hosting it again, and this year we will have 17 people at the house, counting the 3 of us.

Saturday evening was also our monthly bowling night with the St. Mary’s Bowling League.  This time I only averaged a 76.  I could never get those strikes or spares when I needed them.  It was fun, though.    

Around 2300 last night I was on an ambulance call in the north side of town.  The nature of the call was a victim of violence, and this time a delta level (one level lower than echo).  The patient was beaten with a hammer and was bleeding profusely.  We stabilized him and took him to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.  The attack might have been the result of a drug deal gone sour, but I will let the Suffolk County Police Department determine that for sure.

Talk about overkill!!  They are already playing Christmas songs on the radio and showing Christmas themed commercials on television.  It is not even Thanksgiving yet!!!  For me, the Christmas season does not start until the 1^st Sunday of Advent.  This year it falls on December 3.

On a different note: to parents of kids with autism - while you may like or dislike New York Knicks’ coach Isaiah Thomas, if you watch Knicks’ games you will notice that on his suit jacket lapel he is sporting the blue piece of the puzzle pin that is the Autism Awareness symbol.  I am not certain if Coach Thomas has family members who suffer from autism (can anybody fill me in on this?) it seems certain that he is a supporter of autism research.
 

It’s a small world, unfortunately: a couple of days ago I read in Newsday and then on www.rotten.com about a priest stationed at a parish in Nassau County who was arrested for having child porn on his computer at the rectory.  When I saw the name I thought that I recognized it as a former curate who served at St. Mary’s.  After reading on, it confirmed my worst fears; it was a former curate from my parish who was there in the early 1990’s.        

People generally considered me inscrutable and never really got ot know me.  I often did the "in your face" method to get them to know a few facts.  However, with the Internet, that is not necessary.  Here are 101 facts.  Please read them carefully as there will be a quiz:

1. I am 50+ years old
2. I am of Italian ancestry
3. My parents are still alive  (2006)
4. I was never close to them growing up
5. All 4 of my grandparents were alive until my 20’s
6. I don’t have any siblings
7. I have numerous first cousins (too many?)
8. I attended Catholic School
9. I have attended three colleges
10. Most of my working life has been spent in the banking and accounting fields
11. Except for the year I worked on a college campus as a graduate research assistant
12. I am a member of the Knights of Columbus since 1969
13. I am a member of the Islip Fire Department since 1985
14. I have been trained in CPR and have used it a few times
15. I was an Emergency Medical Technician for 3 years
16. I am 5 feet 7 inches tall
17. I got married in 1979
18. My first and only child was born in 1990
19. I have black hair and brown eyes
20. I love to read
21. I am famous for rereading my favorite books
22. My favorite authors include JK Rowling, Roddy Doyle, Barbara Vine, Bernard Cornwell, and Leonard Wibberley
23. I generally only use my cell phone in emergencies
24. I should probably wash my car more often
25. but strangely I am kind of a neat freak
26. I’d love to visit London again
27. I can be a procrastinator
28. I generally favor foreign cars over American cars
29. Sleeping late for me is 7:30am
30. I have never bungee jumped
31. nor do I intend to
32. I have never skied
33. but would love to try it
34. I love coffee
35. with half & half
36. I dress in business casual or dirt-bag casual
37. I do own some really nice suits though
38. My favorite colors are royal blue, gold, and forest green
39. I am not a jewelry person (except for my wedding ring)
40. I have visited several states
41. I have visited Europe twice
42. I was stationed in the South Pacific while in the military
43. I love baseball
44. but am not very good at it
45. I do not want to go on a cruise
46. I like animals
47. but never owned a dog or a cat
48. My grandparents spoke Italian
49. but I cannot speak or understand it
50. I don't like crowded places
51. I am a Republican
52. but will break from the party line if necessary
53. I am usually the person taking the pictures in any group
54. I prefer small intimate settings
55. I love to eat but I am not a good cook
56.  I have a touch of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
57.  I have almost total recall, even of things that happened years before
58.  I have a good sense of direction
59. I can be illogical when it comes to logical reasoning line
60. I tend to get very creative and can't stop until I finish the project
61. I love Long Island wines
62. and good imported or microbewed beers
63. I hate driving
64. I love subway trains
65. I have played softball for my employer and also in a local league
66. I worked part time in a funeral parlor for over 10 years
67. I dislike egomaniacs
68. I am a native New Yorker
69. but generally dislike Manhattanites
70. I have a very historical mind
71. I served in the US Air Force during the Vietnam Era
72. but still feel that I could have done more
73. I am friendly and out going
74.  but don’t have a large circle of friends
75. I generally hated school for most of my life
76. My favorite recording artists are from the 1960’s British Invasion: the Beatles, the Pretty Things, the Animals, the Yardbirds, and the Rolling Stones 
77. I hate intolerance
78. and judge the individual  
79. I love military history and uniforms
80. but was not happy while in the Air Force
81. I am not very good at forgiving and forgetting
82. despite being somewhat religious and a church goer
83. I have never been arrested
84. nor incarcerated
85. I am an Internet addict
86. and have created numerous personal web pages
87. I also like jazz music and some classical
88. and dislike country music (except Johnny Cash)
89. I own a house
90. but am not handy with my hands
91. despite building model cars until high school
92. Growing up I was not good with the opposite sex
93. yet have been with the same woman since 1978
94 I am slightly dyslexic
95 My only child has autism
96 The 3 of us go bowling together once a month
97  I like Irish music like the Chieftains
98.  but am only Irish by marriage
99.  I prefer odd numbers over even numbers
100. I am somewhat afraid of water  

101.  I don't like motorcycles

I'm not playing a role. I'm being myself, whatever the hell that is. ~Bea Arthur

Thanks to Cathy on Yahoo 360 for giving me this idea.