tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59873022024-03-13T19:06:46.610-04:00The Towaway ZoneThe rantings and ravings of a 40+ Toys R Us Kid!Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.comBlogger498125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-60700555313017122912010-02-07T18:52:00.002-05:002010-02-07T23:37:58.364-05:00The Superbowl is over and it was, actually, a pretty good game. Now for the commercials:My favorites:Snickers with Betty White was very funny and I loved Abe Vigoda's cameo.Tim Tebo "Choose Life"....While I don't agree with the message it is well done. I had thought this was going to be a whole series of ads during the game.Doritos - Keep Your Hands off My Momma and The Casket were the best; the Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-86427558184534054582010-02-03T22:49:00.002-05:002010-02-06T01:29:59.063-05:00Anyone who thinks Rahm Emanuel's comment was "appalling...insensitive" and akin to a racial slur IS a retard.Before you get voodoo dolls out; let me explain.First, I was raised in a house where I learned tolerance. There is no one single person on this planet who is one iota better or worse a person that you are regardless of who they are, what they look like, how they live their lives or any Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-57150428343494317802010-01-02T19:53:00.002-05:002010-01-03T19:10:53.696-05:00I guess one of the reasons I haven't blogged so much in the past few months would have to be Facebook. I had signed up on it a long time ago but didn't really start using it until this summer. I quickly got in to the habit of those simple, little updates. I could spit out an opinion in 10 seconds and get on with life; so much easier than typing a whole dissertation here. But then I started Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-69321224641664212642010-01-01T23:38:00.002-05:002010-01-02T01:38:42.680-05:00OK, almost three months of no posts is going to be too much to update. My non-posting has been a mixture on little motivation and lots on the plate. But now the holidays are over and I just spent the most amazing 20 minutes with my son.I missed attending his graduation from Navy Basic Training; which sucked, and then missed plans screwed up not being able to have a weekend with him on his first Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-56476438251629229022009-10-02T23:06:00.002-04:002009-10-08T23:52:22.755-04:00The focus of my trip to RI was a reunion of the Warwick Vets High School Chorale Tour of Yugoslavia from 1984 and this was an amazing weekend. My friend, Wayne picked me up at Greene Airport. It felt as if yesterday was the last time I had seen him and this was a feeling that went through the whole event.I had the chance to relax at my sister's house before we got into the whole wake and funeral Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-30219978592527692972009-10-01T19:00:00.003-04:002009-10-01T19:17:04.432-04:00Funerals suck. I think we can all agree on that. I had missed a number of important ones in the past few months but circumstances and borrowed money put me in the right place and time to be able to fly back to Rhode Island for Uncle Mike’s. I knew it was going to be an emotional one but I wasn’t quite expecting some of the emotions I went through. As soon as we walked into the funeral home Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-6719240995516602362009-09-30T17:28:00.000-04:002009-09-30T17:29:05.323-04:00It has been two days since I got back from my trip to Rhode Island. I have gnawed my way through the loaf of Portuguese sweet bread, one of the three cans on Narragansett Beer, a quart of coffee milk and my New York System hot weenie meat sauce is simmering on the stove. It was quite a trip.The reason I had not posted soon is due how emotionally overwhelming this trip was. This may actually take Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-80649381023329313842009-09-17T22:26:00.003-04:002009-09-17T22:42:08.260-04:00Since moving to Florida my political activism has been dormant. However, in recent months, the spark has been reignited. If my life had taken a different road I am sure I would be working in DC right now so I have to find a way to do something when I feel moved to do so. First was this email to Senator Jon Kyl (R) Arizona who made statements after the President's health care speech which were Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-83742504014958533802009-09-16T20:51:00.002-04:002009-09-16T20:58:04.609-04:00More proof of genetics; a recent text messaging session between me and my son.John: Guess what I'm watchingMe: I'm almost afraid to askJohn: RoughnecksMe: Download or DVD?John: Watching at Tate's ComicsMe: Kewl! Showoff and tell em you know MojoJohn: I already did!Me: That's my boy!To translate to the non-geeks reading this; "Roughnecks" is a CGI animated version of "Starshiptroopers" which Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-35263329560214146222009-08-29T01:17:00.003-04:002009-08-29T13:41:48.396-04:00I just came back from watching the shuttle Discovery liftoff and am just as amazed as I was the first time I saw a launch in person. This is one of the few advantages of living in Florida. I live 90 miles south of Kennedy Space Center and have only missed two launches in the 14 years I've been here. Night launches are a special experience themselves.This time I decided to head right down to the Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-7167819908363076622009-08-27T19:27:00.007-04:002009-08-27T23:30:13.539-04:00I remember the first moment I ever met Red Barrows. It was also the first time I met their family dog, Franco. I'm not sure which one scared me more.Harry Barrows was a friend of mine in high school. We both belonged to the chorus and eventually came the time for me to visit his house for the first time. We walked through the door and I immediately heard a bellowing bark of his dog Franco and theJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-48543641608427312542009-08-26T21:40:00.000-04:002009-08-26T21:41:02.909-04:00Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-78604124889053130692009-07-24T20:07:00.003-04:002009-07-28T20:11:54.549-04:00I have learned my first joke in another language. My friend, Edison, told me that in Spanish speaking countries Arnold Schwarzenegger is known as "Chocha-negger".I took Spanish I three times in high school and college almost 30 years ago and I GOT THE JOKE!For the uninitiated "chocha" is Spanish slang for vagina; less delicately put, it is the Spanish version of the word "pussy". It doesn't make Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-91760017275017284222009-07-23T23:31:00.001-04:002009-07-27T00:05:08.432-04:00Julie bonded out of jail. I'm not sure how but she called late Tuesday night after she got out. Yes! She actually had the nerve to call. My phone was turned down so I didn't hear the call come in just a voice mail message. I do want to talk to her; it won't be the most pleasant conversation of m,y life, but I do want to eventually talk to her.I had the opportunity Monday evening to take the girlsJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-59552301541975594262009-07-19T20:46:00.001-04:002009-07-24T03:14:03.932-04:00Today, my son is a man!John turned 18 today. I could go all Hallmark on what that means to me but, if you're a regular reader, you know all the "I never had this experience with my father" rants I could start. To my surprise, his mother did not have a master plan for the day or any big blow out in the works. So, I got there in time to take him out to lunch. To cement my place in his life as the Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-84020519250383311812009-07-17T22:18:00.001-04:002009-07-21T02:02:39.561-04:00I really thought I was done blogging about Julie. I really thought it was over.Then the phone rang and it was a collect call from the Martin County Jail.I almost stumbled over myself to get to my computer to look her up and sure enough; there she was in the glare of the booking flood lights resplendent in her jail jumpsuit and the vacant and dazed look of someone who had spent the past two hurs Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-47381877168373084432009-07-15T22:01:00.000-04:002009-07-20T01:18:33.817-04:00I have recently gotten a Facebook account and through all of the silly little quizzes there was one on "The 5 Things Which Scare Me The Most". Mine were; roller coasters, heights, Alzheimer's, death and dragonflies.When I was little I had a child's fear of roller coasters. At around the age of 12 my brother in law, who had taken a psychology course, and instantly thought himself Freud, decided heJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-69693213634117532442009-07-14T20:16:00.003-04:002009-07-21T02:03:27.758-04:00To continue the Julie Saga....I thought things were finally over and done. She had made her choices and I didn't wait for any phone calls; I moved on. But, just like always, just after a few weeks; just when I finally stopped thinking about her, she called me. I stared down at the caller ID on my phone and froze. Part of me longed for this call and another part of me dreaded it. But, I took it. Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-41325602711761003512009-07-13T23:45:00.002-04:002009-07-16T23:52:03.416-04:00Ok; so, Julie. What about an update on her. Well, I guess the universe was waiting for the final chapter on that one to play itself out before I got around to updating you here. And, boy, what a final chapter. I think the fact that I didn't post before now says a lot about who I felt deep down. On some level I must have known that the relationship was wrong but didn't want to admit it to myself Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-35860681243726944792009-06-30T15:21:00.000-04:002009-07-04T15:42:13.076-04:00I almost always try to post something on my birthday. This year coincided with my son's high school graduation; it made for quite the weekend.I was up early on the 30th in order to arrive early enough to play chauffeur for my step son Jimmy, his girlfriend and John's girlfriend's mother and brother. Not that I minded but it meant getting up at 5AM. This will be an important fact as the weekend Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-85502259615562591382009-06-29T22:25:00.002-04:002009-06-29T22:39:08.416-04:00Just some random thoughts. Sorry, no big updates yet.I'm really tired of Michael Jackson being lionized and almost deified. Have we forgotten what happened in 1988? A friend of mine reminded me that "He was cleaed of all charges. They never proved he did anything"My answer:"Yeah, and I've never eaten a cheesburger!"She had no answer to that.I didn't get to see Trek in IMAX. They had "TransformersJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-46472200853173041982009-06-21T23:45:00.002-04:002009-06-25T00:09:32.116-04:00That's right; I've been lapse in posting again. A lot has happened in the past two months. Julie came back into my life. I've moved. John graduated and is enlisted in the Navy. Julie dumped me. I was offline for about two weeks.What? Julie?! Last thing I had posted here she was in Michigan and our relationship was already a thing of the past. I could get heavily into that but I'll save that for Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-61207471983373462662009-04-16T23:25:00.000-04:002009-04-17T00:30:30.694-04:00Today I almost died.Seriously.Well...as with anything involving me, there was a humorous turn to the whole thing; but, yes....I almost died today.I was just taking the second bite of a leftover St. Patrick's Day corned beef sandwich when I felt a chunk of meat slide past my tongue and down my throat. Covered in mustard and fatty grease I figured it would happily slosh its way to my stomach.But itJackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-64690907420935551092009-02-15T23:41:00.004-05:002009-02-26T10:37:21.065-05:00Recently, I had to attend and was pall bearer at the funeral for the parent of a friend. We were close and was a very sad occasion. Added to that, it was a Catholic service. For those who have never had to endure one, a Catholic funeral almost makes you envy the dead person.In the funeral procession from the church to the cemetery I called my friend Bismo. We have long had a connection of Blues Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5987302.post-26243346600575820132009-02-01T18:42:00.002-05:002009-02-01T22:45:08.630-05:00I kept these quick notes during the Superbowl commercials today.The Trailer for "GI Joe" looks interesting...much better than I had thought in another "reboot" movie season.Jason Statham's Audi commercial was better than any movie he has made since the original "Transporter".Pepsi - "Forever Young" Perefect for us baby boomers. The "I'm good" was laugh out loud funny.Free Doritos had a good Jackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00184165872697907671noreply@blogger.com3