TGIF.

Happy Groundhog Day to everyone.   The Pennsylvania groundhog saw his shadow this morning so that should mean an early spring. 

Today is the 2^nd anniversary of getting laid off form my former company after nearly 11 years with them.  They were cutting corners and I was a corner, and perhaps one that was too expensive.  If I could not do the job, it should not take 11 years to find that out.  While I did find a new job 4 weeks later, it also meant no playing softball in Central Park on their team.
 

Last night the YES Network had its weekly feature called “Yogi and a Movie”.  Yankee great Yogi Berra and YES announcer Bob Lorenz host a sports related film and discuss the  characters portrayed and the film itself.  Last night’s feature was The Jackie Robinson Story in which the Great #42 portrayed himself.  The film dates from 1950 so the really great years were ahead of him.  However, Jackie did a good job portraying himself and  the movie showed what he went through in the early years.  We baseball fans know how well he performed under that pressure and scrutiny.  I am not too certain that I could have done it.  Also, Jackie’s 88^th birthday was January 31. 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday. It’s pretty cold here right now, in the 20’s.
It’s been an interesting weekend so far. Yesterday we all went to Queens to visit my mom & dad for the first time since December. They had gotten back from their annual snowbird visit to Florida where they stay with my aunt in Broward County. As we usually do, our daughter stayed with them and watched videos and my wife and I went out. We decided to see Dreamgirls at the College Point Multiplex Theater by the Whitestone Expressway which is about a mile from my folks’ apartment building. We could have taken the bus, but I figured that with the all the traffic, we could get there faster by walking. The only downer was that it was cold, mainly due to the wind chill. As we got to the expressway, the bus we could have taken got there too. We would have beaten it by several minutes but my wife is a very slow walker. We then went inside the theater and got our tickets and our necessary supplies of popcorn, and sat inside to enjoy the movie. I will not tell you too much about it, since I’d be spoiling the surprise for those who did not see it.  However, the photography was great and the music rates four stars. Do go see it! After the show we walked to downtown Flushing to eat at one of our favorite Malaysian restaurants, Restaurant Malaysia.
 Yesterday was also the 48th anniversary of "the day the music died", according to the classic song written by Don McLean. I always wondered where the name of the song's title came from. Miss American Pie was the name of the plane that Buddy, Ritchie, and JP were riding in that fateful day.  RIP Buddy, Ritchie, and JP.
This morning I had my Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) renewal class at the Islip firehouse. All members of the rescue squad (ambulance corps) were required to get recertified in CPR. We watched videos and also practiced on manikins. I managed to pass the course so if you ever keel over in Islip, I might be part of the crew who revives you.

Later this evening I plan to watch the Super Bowl. Besides the game itself, the half time entertainment is often good and the commercials are sometimes the best part.

      

As it turns out my visit to my internist went well. He said that I am fit to play softball and to fight fires. Since the office was on East 72^nd Street , and I had to get to Union Square so that I could visit Brooklyn, I took the Lexington Avenue subway downtown. It was 10:15 AM, and the train was packed. I thought that rush hour was over.  Another passenger said that since the taxicabs could not make it through the snowy streets, the East Side yuppies had to lower themselves to taking the subway.  Too bad for them. After I got off at Bedford Avenue in the Northside section of Brooklyn, I headed over to North 6^th Street where my old high school, St. Francis Prep, stood until 1974. The building is now a college, called Boricua College. The first floor is just as I knew it, as is the basement. However, there was a fire in the 1990’s and the 2^nd and 3^rd floors were rebuilt from scratch. The friary where the brothers and priests lived is now a senior citizens center run by Catholic Charities. I then headed to North 5^th Street where the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic church and school were. In my last years there St. Francis used rooms in the school for classrooms and the auditorium for various functions. I even got to see one of the WMCA Good Guys, Dandy Dan Daniel, host a Battle of the Bands and dance there in senior year. Today the church is still there, but the school in now the Williamsburg Northside Preschool.

The stores are now upscale restaurants and boutiques. None were open since I was there at around 10:30 AM. The tenements and walkups have been renovated. Industrial buildings are now residences. The area remind me now of the East Village, which is just across the East River. When I was attending St, Francis and walked through the neighborhood 35+ years ago, I thought that Northside would never be "Manhattanized". I guess if you wait long enough, any place will change.
The weather is quite cold here, in the 20’s. When I was walking to the Long Island Railroad station in the morning the sidewalks and streets were sheets of ice. When I got home around 12:30 the ice was starting to melt.

We know that spring is not too far away. The pitchers and catchers are in the spring training camps.

It’s an eventful weekend so far for me.  Yesterday evening we went to our monthly St. Mary’s Bowling League meet at the East Islip Lanes.  The team who was to share the lanes with us never showed up so we had the two alleys to ourselves.  My daughter still managed to make friends with the bowlers on the two pairs of alleys on either side of us, and they remembered her from two months ago.  As for scores, I managed an average of 103.  So I guess I am getting better.

This morning before church I stopped in town (the High Street) for the New York Times for my wife (I don’t read that paper since it’s too liberal and Manhattan centered) and at the firehouse for coffee for me.  While there the Tactical Rescue Squad (like the police departments’ emergency services unit or FDNY’s rescue companies) was planning a drill and had bagels on the counter in the ready room for other department members.  I decided to help myself to one and started slicing one open with a serrated knife, and proceeded to slice my left index finger!!  There was a gush of blood and I immediately took papers towels and applied pressure there to stop the bleeding.  After a while it finally clotted and the bleeding stopped.  

After church I headed over to the Nassau Coliseum to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  I arrived fairly early and go t a chance to see “Globetrotter University” where members of the team invite members of the audience to try and learn the basketball tricks that the team has mastered years ago.  I got the impression that it’s not easy to do (but will try it in the garage with my basketball).  At game time the Globetrotters’ opponent (the New York Nationals) came out and was introduced, then came the mascot (Globie) and finally the Harlem Globetrotters themselves.  The show was some comedy and pranks, which often involves the audience, as well as some good basketball playing.  As usual, the Globetrotters won by a reasonable margin.  Even if they did lose (very rarely in 80 years) they are great entertainment.  After the game I got my program autographed by one of the players.  I took a few pictures, but unfortunately I banged my camera against the floor and the roll of film wound itself up prematurely.  There are some pictures of the action on the court, as well as some pictures of the retired New York Islanders jerseys and their championship banners.  However, I will still try and create a webpage in tribute to the Globetrotters soon.    

I finally closed out my Yahoo USA Geocities account under my Route 9X identity.  However, I still have my account in Yahoo UK and just opened up one in Yahoo India.  India is an interesting country, and the Yahoo pages are in English.  The home page lets me follow the Indian cricket teams.  As for small Geocities pages, I had a chance to create a couple in both the UK and India accounts:
http://in.geocities.com/route9x/Indianbill.html
http://in.geocities.com/route9x/India_personal.html
http://uk.geocities.com/route9x/ironmen.html
 

Yesterday afternoon my wife and daughter were returning from the supermarket in East Islip when a small dog ran out into the street in front of our car. Since my wife could not swerve to avoid hitting the dog, the dog got run over and killed.  The dog’s owners were not too happy but unfortunately they were at fault.  The dog was running around loose and they were responsible for keeping it under control.  The Suffolk County Police were called and after questioning all involved, my wife was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Yesterday evening the Islip Fire Department Band had its semi-regular practice, in preparation for the two St. Patrick’s Day parades next month: East Islip on the 4^th and Bay Shore on the 10^th.  I will try to make one of them, most likely the Bay Shore parade.  As before, they were drinking during and after the practice, but luckily there were no alarms.