In my unending quest to bring life affirming stories to the forefront, here's the latest found in the stalwart NY Times (by Corey Kilgannon): Even by the dizzying standards of New York City philanthropy, a recent $6.24 million donation to the Henry St Settlement on the Lower East Side was a whopper — the largest single gift from an individual to …
It’s allergy season. Runny eyes, sneezing. You know the drill. I suppose on the other side of this season, we know that spring is here and that’s good. But until then, I just look forward to that daily dose of Zyrtec. Anyone have any allergy secrets to share?
Do you ever wish you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self? In court last week, a judge asked me a question. I began my response with, “Honestly Judge. . .” Before I could get the rest of my response out the judge stopped me, laughed and said, “If I could get some honesty in my courtroom that would be so refreshing.” We …
One of the nice thing with more temperate weather involves hanging outside. I enjoy an outdoor office in these times including as a place to compose this blog. Of course setting up the office requires more than just a RE-opening: no comparison (exists) to returning to a summer (or winter) vacation home. Making it ready requires power washing a d …
Imagine being able to build a rocket and launch into space in less than 60 days. Imagine no more...a start up called Relativity Space is building rockets that are almost entirely 3-D printed. It usually takes about 12-18months to build a rocket, however, they can do it under 60 days. They can achieve this because they created the largest metal 3-D …
Last week our telephone dial tone disappeared. My first reaction was to call the phone company (Verizon) and ask for a repair man. However, I could not find the telephone repair number on the telephone bill or in the Yellow Pages for Verizon. There was nothing else to do but resort to Google and I did so and I found a link for Verizon repair. I cl …
I noticed the credit card on the ground as I walked away from my parked car. I picked it up and asked myself “What now?” Leaving it for someone else to find didn’t seem right. After a moment’s thought, I called the number of the back of the card. The bank was very nice, appreciated my call, canceled the card, and said they would contact the cardho …
Have we come a long way, baby? From Huff Post: “The art of conversation consists as much in listening politely as in talking agreeably; therefore never interrupt anyone who may be speaking to you, and at the same time do not let your eyes wander to other objects, but keep them on the speaker.” —Manners of Modern Society by Eliza Cheadle, 1875 Th …
They were married fifty-eight years and his wife recently passed away. But, the workers at the local diner weren’t going to let this gentleman eat alone. Take it one step further – they weren’t going to let him be alone. As he talked to one of the servers, she was asking questions about his wife and their life together. They had been very m …
I read an article this morning which said that Princess Kate and Prince William are celebrating their first anniversary as a family of five. In reading that article my first thought went to the fact that, after the birth of Prince Louis this week they now have an older child, middle child and youngest child. I grew up in a family of five. I …
This afternoon, Gotham hosts its annual Battle of the Bands®. In contrast to discussions about politics that tend towards controversy and division, music tends to bring people of different persuasions together. Some of my social media posts (I purposely avoid giving P.R. to either platform in this blog) invite “interesting” comments. Even ar …
Wife carrying has a dedicated following in the UK and some parts of northern Europe, however I don't think this will make it to the Olympics :-) Although it does have a UK Champion final... If you're wondering, the sport is open to any adult couple, married or not, with the “wife” - of any gender - required to weigh at least 50 kg (110 pounds). …
Last Friday the Batmen lost our season opening game 8 to 6. What's worse is that I walked someone with the bases-loaded and two outs to cost us the game. I have carried that loss and that misstep with me all week and it haunts me, yet motivates me to do better in tonight's game. I try to console myself with the thought that I should be appreciati …
I’ve always thought it was nice that you go through U.S. Customs in certain Caribbean islands before leaving the island. Convenient. And I wondered whether customs agents enjoyed their tours of duty on a Caribbean island. Several years ago, after we had recently secured our Global Entry status, we were leaving Aruba. We tried the express clearanc …
For the first time in history, thanks to the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, Princess Charlotte, age 3, is now 4th in line to the Crown. She is still preceded by her father, her uncle and her older brother. Prior to the passing of the Act, her new born brother would have preceded her in the hierarchy. It simply states that the gender of a roya …
