MORE THOUGHTS FROM THE RECLINER

CONGRATS to JET BLUE airlines on their new policy. EVERY PERSON on board must wear a face mask.

I’m amazed that food stores like Jewel and Aldi’s and Costco don’t require face masks to all shoppers. 

AS A MATTER OF FACT…….LET’S JUST REQUIRE EVERYONE TO WEAR A MASK WHEN THEY LEAVE THEIR HOUSE. Simple solution.

Did you see VP MIKE PENCE visiting patients as the only guy NOT wearing a mask at the MAYO CLINIC, where masks are mandatory? What the hell was he thinking? And why didn’t someone hand him a mask?  DUH.

Despite their poor drafting position, I think the Bears did ok with the first two selections. The jury is out on the other 4 or 5.

I know that Trump supporters get mad at me because they think I pick on him but the guy holding the sign that said “FAKE CRISIS” and wearing a red trump hat says it all. How fake are 57,000 dead people? What an idiot.

The BASEBALL HALL OF FAME was scheduled to induct HAWK HARRELSON, DEREK JETER and three other luminaries of the game on July 26^th but it was postponed until the summer of 2021.

What do you open on a limited basis? IMO, restaurants, bars, night clubs, bowling alleys and places which draw large crowds are places that should stay shut but what about fishing? hunting? golf courses?

I don’t do any of the first two and hardly the third but two to a boat works for me and you certainly don’t hunt shoulder to shoulder but golf presents another problem with carts unless everyone wants to pay extra for their own cart or god forbid, walk the golf course.

Have you watched any of those virtual concerts given by musical stars? I watched one recently off my DVR (where I record everything known to man to avoid boredom) and a group of  country stars performed from their homes. One thing I noticed: talent is talent, whether they’re playing in front of 20,000 people or performing in their basements. It was very enjoyable.

Happy Birthday to JERRY SEINFELD, 66, one of my favorites.

In April, 2009, we had our first death from swine flu.

In 1992 this week, L.A. broke out in riots following the acquittal of four police officers in the RODNEY KING beating. Two of those four officers were later found guilty in federal court and served prison time..

And finally, one of my favorite gangsters of all time….. in April of 1932, AL CAPONE was sent to Atlanta federal penitentiary to serve an 11 year term for tax evasion. His entry medical exam revealed gonorrhea, syphilis and cocaine addiction but at the time, there was no cure as the use of penicillin didn’t start until 1942. Capone was transferred to Alcatraz in 1934 and worked in the shoe repair shop until his release in 1939.

Capone lived out his days at his estate in Palm Island, Florida, and the disease addled his brain to where he had the mental capacity of a 12 year old. Capone died in early 1947 and his estate was valued at ……...........ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, which in today’s dollars is about 1.47 BILLION.

Who said crime doesn’t pay?

Back to the recliner and the tv and 
all the news shows and my beloved VCR.  STAY SAFE!

THOUGHTS & OBSERVATIONS WHILE STUCK AT HOME

THOUGHTS & OBSERVATIONS WHILE STUCK AT HOME

as these thoughts hit me, i just jotted them done so there in no specific order.  enjoy.

The bad guy is NEVER home when the police kick in the door with a search warrant.

The last commercial during ABC world news at 5:30 is a full five minutes long. You watch it because “someone you should know” is the last segment on the show.

BIG BANG THEORY is/was a pretty good show.

DONNA THE BARTENDER is all done with her cancer treatments and good for her!

Other than watching the alligator show, I  never watch reality tv but………..

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND is a big scam. The guys have dug up half of the island over a five year period and found two dimes and a hammer. I would love to see their profit/loss statement.

And I think the same applies to “the lost gold of WW II” but they get the benefit of the doubt after just one year. At least they found a tunnel on the last show of the season.

My buddy BOB is a pretty good friend.

ASPCA has the world’s longest commercials. One undernourished, dirty dog after another and only 19 cents a day to join.

The sloth playing Pictionary is a funny commercial.

All Republicans have to put their hands over their faces any time donald trump attempts to converse with educated people on the daily corona briefing. And they slump deeper into their chairs and couches when he tries to debate DR. FAUCI and the other medical experts.

SCIENCE, MEDICINE & COMMON SENSE are what we need to fight the virus, not some uneducated egomaniac telling people to swallow or inject household products.

FYI—following trump’s suggestion, five cases of emergency room activity, including one guy who rinsed his sinus cavities with warm water and bleach. for real.

I love it when ESPN runs all of MUHAMMAD ALI'S fights for 24 hours. A true test of my DVR capacities.

NEPHEW FRANK retires next month. good for him!

Why is it when we get a warm spring day, the wind blows 40 mph?

Tulips are cool but not when they're covered by snow.

Watching baseball playoff games from ten years ago does nothing for me. Watching HIGHLIGHTS is a totally different story.

U TUBE can be amusing but there are a lot of weird people in this world….as if I didn’t know that already.

EXACTLY how much better can their frying pan be than mine? My eggs flip just fine and nothing sticks.

I don't think they will play baseball until July. or maybe not at all.

END OF AN ERA.....I just gave up my season tickets for the CHICAGO BEARS. just thinking about the world's health problems and then sitting with 60,000 unknowns with them coughing and and sneezing.........after 33 years, it was the perfect time to say good-bye and reserve a spot on my couch.

And I REALLY LIKE the guy with the spray can of miracle adhesive who makes a boat with the spray and then runs the commercial from the boat on the water. no leaks!

for real, I’m going to miss CRIMINAL MINDS & HAWAII FIVE-0.

I have no idea why I keep paying for the daily newspaper. It has about 4 pages of news and the rest about the virus and I get that information on tv.

I still flip back & forth between CNN, FOX and CNBC which is why I’m so confused but i really like CHRIS CUOMO & CHRIS WALLACE.

 Saw a ½ hour infomercial last night on the ‘world’s greatest knife’. HAH! My niece gave me a Ginsu knife and IT is the world’s greatest knife.

If you didn’t see ANDERSON COOPER’S interview with LAS VEGAS MAYOR CAROLYN GOODMAN on CNN, hunt it down but be prepared to hold your jaw so it doesn’t slam onto the floor below. Her ideas of opening the town back up with no checks and balances was stunning and cooper’s reaction will go down in television history. Find it somewhere and listen to the entire interview. I just read it’s available for viewing on CNN.COM

We're just about done.......Stay safe and following all of the safety protocols and COVER YOUR FACE AND NOSE when you leave the house.  It doesn't have to be a medical mask but covering your mouth and nose protects others.

 P.S. if you google it, you can find non-medical masks for all of your favorite college and sports teams. they sell for about fifteen bucks and you might as well have some fun with all this.

cute, right?

adios for now.

a bunch of different thoughts

Hello from deep in the bunker at breezy acres where all is well and the supplies are holding out and i hope you are also doing well. Thought i'd share some random thoughts with you.

I had to pick up an allergy prescription the other day and when i left the pharmacy, i cruised thru the two strip malls just to the east to see what was happening. closed, closed, closed.......i had resigned myself that nothing was shaking (couldn't believe that tanning beds were ruled non-essential) when i saw an "open" sign at the Subway store and i couldn't resist. i pulled into a parking spot (plenty available) and entered. 

ONE woman was running the store and she explained she was a part time employee but was working full time hours since the lock down because her husband was unemployed. i ordered a sandwich and when i was paying, she reminded me that i had to leave immediately because the dining room was closed. i wished her good health and i walked out and looked around. nobody. no cars in the lot besides mine. no people. spooky.

Congratulations to all the upcoming graduates at every level and yes, it sucks that you can't have the ceremony or a big party but be proud of the work you produced to get to this point.

My friends in Mexico are suffering the trickle down effect from the virus. The hotels and beaches and restaurants are closed so there's no work for anyone.......and they don't have a single recorded case of the virus.

funny story. When you get the sunday edition of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, you can normally spend a few hours even after chucking a few sections into the bird cage, like the car section, the funnies and the want ads. the birds love those sections and go thru them page by page but not me.

HOWEVER, today's trib had no sales flyers (my mom called them the 'shinys'), no parade magazine and the sports section was like 6 pages when normally thirty, so i decided to read everything to kill some time and i did exactly that.  fine dining, business, real estate, neighborhoods....everything. i got up to bring the birds their increased bounty when i noticed the comics, which i hadn't read since high school.

 shock to my system! baby blues, pickles, zits (?) wumo and frazz were the front page comic strips.  WHO? I continues with brewster rockit, half full, the tinkersons, dogs of c kennel and fox trot. ????????????? WTF is going on? my heart finally slowed when i got to the last page and found doonesbury, dick tracy and hagar the horrible. then i went back to bed.

Remember this famous line? "Houston, we have a problem." APOLLO 13 happened 50 years ago this week.

59 years ago, YURI GAGARIN became the first man in space.

also happening in this week was the start of the CIVIL WAR and oddly enough, it's also the same week that ABRAHAM LINCOLN was assassinated after ending that war. 

finally, stay safe by staying inside. i know you're going crazy and so am i but we just have to wait it out. and remember all of this come November.  adios

Cleaning out the closets...........

Just got back from Mexico and i'm being a good boy with my two week quarantine and other than two previously scheduled doctor visits on my first day back, i've been at home and like most of you, bored to death but i thought i would share my home adventure with you.

Cleaning out the kitchen cabinets seemed like a good idea and when i found a forgotten can of peaches based in a very sweet syrup, i was convinced that more treasures lay in the dark recesses.  wrong. very, very wrong. 

Two cans of sardines?????? i hate sardines. where did they come from? it was then time to start a bag for food pantry donations and weigh the bag down with the two tins of dead fish. throw in a box of brownie mix (i don't bake) and a couple cans of spam. SPAM. the only person i ever saw eat that was my step-dad, who went to the big roundup in the sky over 40 years ago.

Four various sized bottles of cooking oil are discovered and three go into the bag. oops, time to switch to a box to handle everything. then reaching elbow deep to the back wall, i come out with one red light bulb. now i could understand a white or yellow bulb but red? i'm sure there's a joke here about the sex industry but i have more exploring to do.

GOOD STUFF wayyyyyy in the back!!! a large can of pork and beans, which goes great with chopped up hot dogs. the perfect cowboy food for watching monday night football. someday. 

then four boxes of butterscotch pudding were found and made it's way back to it's rightful place in the front of the cabinet. my smile grew bigger when my hands found a large box of KETTLE CORN, which i had purchased at xmas 2018 to help the girl scouts or little league or someone else with a pricey con who set up a table outside the local jewel food store. i'm surprised i don't remember the sellers because i just paid off the bank loan i took out to pay for the 18-pack of popcorn. But that was it for buried treasure.

Other discoveries included: two large cloves of garlic, a small travel pack of kleenex, a large pack of tortillas....the kind that crumble when you squeeze the package.............red beans, green chiles, a single cashew (not a can but a single nut), five q-tips, a half price coupon for the local pizza joint (expired 2015), a broken in half pencil and my favorite coming out of the food cabinet..........one small jar of red touch-up paint for my dodge daytona, which i sold in 2004, and haven't owned a red car since then. 

As most of you know, i don't bend very well so the contents of the bottom cabinets will remain a mystery but i am thinking very hard about the three closets.............maybe a later column.

Hope you smiled at least once. Have a great day and remember all of this come November.   adios

As we wait two weeks for the SAN FRANCISCO 49ers to derail the CHIEFS express, let's take a moment to reflect on what we saw the past few weeks.

The one race that no athlete can win is the one against father time and that fact was experienced this season by TOM BRADY, DREW BREES, PHILLIP RIVERS and ELI MANNING. It's sad when the greatest of all time can't throw more than forty yards and really sad when all of them don't produce in the last two minutes of the game.

Now don't get me wrong, they don't suck (well, maybe rivers does) but they have all fallen off the top shelf and can no longer be considered elite. I've had a five level rating system for years: excellent, above average, average, below average and the final was.....you just suck. MITCH TRUBISKY would fall into the last category but these four would be average/above average.

BRADY & BREES have just gotten old, MANNING was never more than above average but he was a winner and RIVERS was explosive for ten years but time & attitude have done him in. (weird dude with 9 freaking kids...who does that anymore??) MANNING saw the light and retired this week, RIVERS moved lock, stock and barrel to florida and may also be retired, BRADY is a free agent and BREES has been approached to do tv work as he looks at his 41st birthday. he does have a year left on his contract if he feels like it.

So it looks like it's time to say goodbye to four guys (or maybe just 2 or 3) who won nine super bowls and provided football fans with a lot of fun for almost EIGHTY collective years at quarterback.

a little bragging for me from last sunday.  if you're a gambler, you'll appreciate this:

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS -7  10 UNITS    +10

OVER 52                   3 UNITS            +3

PARLAY THE TWO ABOVE     3 UNITS      +7.8

SAN FRANCISCO -7       7 UNITS          +7

PARLAY KC, SF AND OVER 52     2 UNITS       +12

winner winner chicken dinner!                          +39.8

and that my friends, is what's known as a YAKAPOOLA!!!

As i get ready to head south, the chicago sports scene is a mixed bag of optimism and head scratching. 

THE BULLS are absolutely terrible and EVERYONE'S job is on the line. After many years, i just gave up my first row tickets and i'll find something else to do with ten grand.

The CUBS are using the KRIS BRYANT arbitrator situation as an excuse to do nothing in the off season and that's an insult to even the dumbest of cub fans. They have absolutely no bullpen and for whatever reason, refuse to ship out WILLSON CONTRERAS & KYLE SCHWARBER. you have to "give to get" but the cubs do zip. And don't buy that crap about the luxury tax....the cubs are worth THREE BILLION DOLLARS. the YANKEES pay that tax every year and make frequent appearances in the post season and once you get to the dance, anything can happen. BUT DON'T WORRY BECAUSE NEW MANAGER DAVID ROSS SAYS THIS IS A WORLD SERIES TEAM! maybe in williamsport........... 

THE BLACKHAWKS are growing with their youth movement and putting on a push for the last playoff spot. baby steps in hockey but the final spot is better than not going at all. isn't that right, north siders?

The BEARS are still a mess and have very little wiggle room with the salary cap so watch for them to start dumping salary with saying goodbye to the likes of PRINCE AMUKAMARA and save 9 million, TAYLOR GABRIEL saves you 7.5 and the retirement of KYLE LONG puts 9.6 back in the till. Add that to the departing CHASE DANIEL'S 6 MILLION and you suddenly have 32 million available to plug some holes.  

we'll see how RYAN PACE screws this up.  

ALL THE EXCITEMENT IS MOVING 8 miles south to guaranteed rate field where THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX are prepared for a return to respectability. Numerous additions have brought power and defensive stability to the south side and every sox fan has his fingers crossed that the clubhouse dynamic will be positive and not detract from the product on the field. Vegas predicts them to win 84 games and i'll take that in a heart beat! I don't think they can make the playoffs this year but 84 wins would set the table for 2021.

and in the WNBA, the chicago sky announced.................HA HA HA, just kidding again! who cares?

Stay warm and remember that baseball and I return at the same time. ADIOS!

ALL SORTS OF THOUGHTS

I'm very curious. why don't the republicans want more witnesses to testify? what are they afraid of? if little donnie is so innocent, it won't matter who testifies but we all know they're holding their breath because if witnesses are allowed, the American public will see the real little donnie. Btw, as i understand it, the dems need 4 senators to jump ranks and two already have raised eyebrows. Without allowing more testimony, he walks.
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I heard people bitching this week about the winter. we've had only a third of our normal snow and temps have been seasonally mild for the last two months. people, it's the middle of freaking january, you live in Illinois and it's supposed to be cold. just shut up.
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Blind leading the blind? DAVID ROSS is the new cubs manager and he says the team is going to the world series. the same team that failed to make the playoffs and have done NOTHING in the off season to improve the team. I can't wait for the season to start.
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Speaking of the cubs, they start their own tv channel in february but have not come to an agreement with COMCAST, which is the leading provider in northern illinois.
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Special shout out to my long time friend DONNA THE BARTENDER who is battling breast cancer. she just finished chemo and starts radiation next month. keep smiling kid!
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Becky & I visited HUATULCO, MEXICO in early december and it's drop dead beautiful. check out the price.....8 days and 7 nights of all-inclusive hotel plus round trip air and shuttles to & from the airport. stayed at the gorgeous BARCELO HOTEL which has two swimming pools and they aggressively restrict kids to 'their pool' and even fence them in!! great management to keep the little bastards away from me while i sample every drink on the menu.  oh, you want the price? LOL $1000.00 per person non-stop from o'hare. 😮😀
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1917 is a great film. see it on the big screen. the cinematography will pick up gold on oscar night along with JOAQUIM PHOENIX as best actor
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MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT wants to pour millions into the englewood neighboorhood to help upgrade the standard of living.  mayor, you're a smart cookie but it's the highest crime/murder rate in chicago.  to quote an African-American store owner after another senseless murder last week, "This is just niggers shooting niggers and then shooting again and again. You can't teach niggers nuttin."  

mayor, you would be better off moving the good families to better neighborhoods and letting the gangs rot. don't waste your dollars in englewood because it's a wasteland with 40% boarded up buildings and houses and you think you can make people WANT to move there? niggers being niggers are a waste of time & money. 
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Megan won't be called 'your highness' anymore. do you think she cares after escaping that hellhole known as England?
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If you want to go 'whaaaaaaaat?!?!, just find the recent article revealing how much it costs taxpayers for trump's weekend golf trips?  ok, i'll tell you.  just for starters, 15 million to the local police force and then another ....get ready.......102 million dollars for secret service, etc.

and here's the best part. trump only goes to his own clubs/hotels and that's where the all of the security staff eat & sleep and guess who makes the profit from that? In case you're wondering, Obama spent 13 million total in 8 years for his golf trips. and doesn't own any hotels.
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Australia can't catch a break. wildfires continue on the west coast and now the east coast got 11 inches of rain in one day and that area is totally flooded. add that to one billion rotting animal carcasses and that makes it real ugly.
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and finally, the last of my useless information.....🐀🐀🐀🐀this coming saturday is HAPPY NEW YEAR in china where it's the year of the rat.
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Maybe a KANSAS CITY/SAN FRANCISCO super bowl?
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I'm heading to Mexico soon so hang tough for another couple of months and spring will be here.  I promise. 
ADIOS AMIGOS!!!🌞🍤🍓🍍🍍👙👣

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY 2019/20

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I thought i'd take a stroll through life in general and put my thoughts in the brackets listed above.

THE GOOD-- Christmas lights on houses

THE BAD-- Millennials have forsaken the holiday season

THE UGLY--Illinois in winter with no snow on the ground

G--Becky's oatmeal raisin cookie recipe

B--The Chicago Bears coaches,administrators and owners

U--women wearing clothes two sizes small (any walmart)

G--Barb's cheese cake recipe

B--forgetting to drain the outside water lines before winter

U--Trump's attitude towards women

G--Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot

B--almost every Bears game this season

U--Donna the bartender's garage in Salem

G--Christmas eve services

B--25 minute Christmas eve sermons-i know why i'm there

U-- almost any Mitch Trubisky performance

G--peanut butter girl scout cookies

B--Becky's attempt at fancy french toast (ask her!)

U--litter

G--my long time friends (you know who you are)

B--people not taking care of their property

U--summers in Florida

G--Bad movie night at Barb & Tony's

B--Bad movie night at Barb & Tony's

U--black friday

G--Donna the bartender is getting better

B--Sandy has to have a knee replacement

U--any scars (except on guys....macho)

G--electric cars

B--the price tag on electric cars

U--rush hour traffic no matter what car you drive

G--the White Sox rebuild

B--the Bulls, Blackhawks and the Bears

U--wrigley field. what a dump

G--the economy

B--not many houses available for sale

U--the political commercials over the next 10 months

ok, that's it. stay safe & warm & we'll talk later!