A Boomer's View

 

What does it mean to be a “boomer”?  It is generally accepted that the “Baby Boom” generation lasted from 1946 to 1964. The peak time was the early ‘50s, from 1950 to 1956.

 By that time, Rock and Roll began to overtake the music, TVs were popping up in many homes, FM radio was in its infancy, and WWII's great general, Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower was elected twice as President.

 America’s economy was enjoying a long-term resurgence after the war, the housing market boom was unprecedented, Ike began the longest peacetime era after withdrawing from Korea. And boomers were watching Captain Kangaroo and Howdy Doody, while their moms watched Dave Garroway, J Fred Muggs and Senator Joe McCarthy.

 But there was the Cold War, too. The USSR developed the bomb and threatened to use it, until Stalin died and cooler heads prevailed. Then, the policy of “peace through strength” was foisted on the world as both the USSR and the USA engaged in a massive arms race. And boomers spent many school day afternoons under their desks or in the halls hiding from the bombs which never came.

 There was more: the Space Race, the young vibrant President who followed the Old General, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall. The Beatles, Vietnam, the civil rights movement, assassinations, protest marches, Nixon.

 All of these events influenced an entire generation, though those born after 1956 were less influenced by these events than their older sisters and brothers who were as old as ten when the younger group was born.

 Our parents were from the greatest generation: WWI and WWII, the Great Depression and a front row view of Fascism, Nazism and Communism. They influenced us with their experiences, their world view. Until they didn't.

 We have elected four presidents born since 1946 from our generation, two Democrats and two Republicans.  The current occupant was born in 1942, before the Boomer Generation officially began. He was also influenced by many of the events which influenced us. And is probably the last person from his generation to be elected President, or any other position as a first-timer.

As for being a boomer, I always thought the term Baby Boomer was demeaning, because the society at the time felt we were too immature to make any decisions, any headway to improve the lot of society as a whole. My opinion.

 But I came to terms long ago with that moniker, understanding the significance which defined us. Not as babies, but as achievers. We made all the other generations, both before us and since, pale by comparison. Gen-X? Millenials? One group did nothing comparatively of note to us and the other didn't make it to its namesake, millenium, when the I-Gen generation was being born. I-Gen you ask? Yes, those born since the I-Pod, the I-Pad, and the spread of Apples and PCs, developed by those from the boomer generation.

 Writing this has made me consider so much from my own life that similarly affected many others: Graduating high school in 1969, going to college to study in one field and ending up working in another, totally unrelated to my original field, getting married, having kids, retiring and still doing something to stay viable and alert, in yet a third field, unlike our parents who retired and mostly sat in front of the TV.

 We are now doing a slow walk to 80, still young at heart and looking younger than our years. Even those of us with silver or white hair look great compared to generations past. Even our music from the 50s, 60s and 70s are popular with those generations which came after us. And many musicians we idolized in our teens are still performing to this day.

 So what is a boomer? We are many things to many people. But we are the generation that saw it all happen in real time, on TV, without edits, unlike our parents who watched it unfold on a weekly showing of film in a movie theater or our children who watch it happen on videotape, on their laptops and phones. Which we invented.

 Best music? Check. Longer life span?  You betcha! But most of all, the broadest, most honest view of life. All because of our childhood and total life experiences.

 And I am proud to say I am a boomer.

 

Storming? Let the Sunshine In!

 

I’m not telling you anything new that you probably already knew. But having recently moved from New York to Central Florida, I never really appreciated the daily thunderstorms that pop up almost every mid-afternoon or early evening, until now.

 It is amazing how quickly the temperature drops from 95* to 83* in mere minutes. It becomes cooler, even though it isn’t. Not really. In New York, we complained about how hot 83* was every day. Trust me, after living here for just over two weeks, 95* doesn’t bother me in the least.

 It is amazing how quickly I became used to the differences in the heat index. I actually have to walk out of my constant 72* air-conditioned home to feel comfortable. It is all relative, I know. The heat, the cool, the change, and even the humidity. Even what used to be oppressive heat with an 88* temperature and 70% humidity on Long Island is just another day of summer in Central Florida.

 I have been asked by my New York and Long Island friends how I like being here. I can honestly say I don’t like it here. Nope. Not Like it. Instead, I LOVE it here. It was a change of life, a better change for living. A long time coming.

Long ago, in 1986, I took my family to Florida in October, while scheduling several job interviews, thinking that the weather would be warm but not oppressive. But as luck would have it, we spent ten of the hottest October days with temperatures in the 90s that late in the year. And of course, we didn’t move.

 And the biggest benefit? I don’t have to be concerned with the wind chill factor or the 7* “real feel” in January and February. I am looking forward to early Springs, late Falls, and one day of Winter. With months of Summer.

So. Let those thunderstorms come every day. For fifteen minutes. And let the sunshine in all the rest of the time.

 I look forward to them.

 

A "Rock" Story

I acquired the rock on a Saturday night in April, 1970 in Garden City, New York as I, along with four friends, were coming back from Burger King. We had picked up a couple of Whoppers for a couple of guys who couldn’t fit in my 1966 Mustang.

 As I drove down Nassau Boulevard and under the trestle, I though I saw a  bag and figured I would make it if I ran over it. Of course I thought I could. I had drank a half quart of Jack and a six pack of Colt 45s. The sobering effect of a Whopper and fries did nothing to allay my judgement.

 Bam! I was suddenly alert and aware of what I had just done. My buddies, my friends laughed so hard as we got out of the car to assess the situation.  I said I should take the rock because my Dad would never believe it.

 We pushed the car from Nassau Boulevard to Floral Park, about five miles. We were stopped by two separate cops who found it amusing. As we passed Sewanhaka High School, we took the two Whoppers and tried to push the car over them. Hahahaha. The Whoppers were like boulders.

 We finally got the car home and my cousin's husband put a 1968 305 Cougar engine for $750.

 Over the years, the rock has been with me everywhere I lived: Floral Park, Flushing, Selden, Manorville, Holbrook, East Norwich, Brentwood.  Now, I have brought the rock, and the fond memories associated with it to Florida with me.

 For now, it sits in front of my home, yearning for someone to ask me how it got where it rests for now. But you know the story and some of you have asked me about it before. It awaits that proverbial question.

 How did the rock get here?

A Change For a Difference and A Change For the Better

 

I have lived on Long Island for all my life, short four months, as I was born in Fort Benning, Georgia in 1951 just before my Dad was shipped off to Korea, the Forgotten War. I was born in May and my Dad was deployed in September.

When I came back to Long Island, my Mom settled near her parents in Ozone Park, Queens, a thriving Italian-American community, which if you look at a map, is actually on Long Island. From there, after my Dad returned, we moved to Howard Beach, a deep-rooted Irish and German community, also in Queens and also on Long Island. In 1955, we once again moved, this time to Corona. You guessed it – Queens, Long Island.

 Finally, in the summer of 1957, we moved to suburban Floral Park, located in Nassau County, which most Americans, and most New Yorkers, consider one of the two counties which make up Long island, the other being Suffolk. But once again, that pesky thing, called a map, will show you that Long Island actually comprises four counties: Kings (or Brooklyn), Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. And maybe, someday, Peconic will be created on the twin forks beginning with Riverhead. And, someday, Long Island, with a population of over eight million people, more than thirty-eight other states, may someday become the fifty-something state, too.

 

Long Island is comprised of four interstates, three cities plus part of New York City, several major, highly trafficked highways and parkways, three commercial airports, three private airports, countless bagel and bakery shops, various ethnic foods, of which you will find hundreds of pizza, Chinese and Latin takeouts in just about every strip mall from Coney Island to Montauk Point. We have the largest commuter railroad in the country to take us to work every day to that little town to our west.

 Plus we have two minor league baseball teams, a major league team and both a professional hockey team and basketball team. And countless theatres for off-Broadway shows, concerts and other means of entertainment.

 Finally, we are surrounded by water, with some of the greatest and most famous beaches in the world, including the Rockaways, Jones Beach, The Hamptons and the exclusive north shore.

 But, as usual, I digress. I share all of this with you because after seventy-one years of calling this Island home, I am finally starting a new chapter in my life, leaving all of this behind to take on the easy living in the Free State of Florida. I have wanted to go for many years and finally I have made my decision that the time is now. I am tired of being told I must do this or I must do that by people who have forgotten that this is The Land of the Free because of The Brave.  And who are proving that they are dumber than a box of rocks. Plus I get to live in warm weather, sunshine, longer days and true peaceful contentment for my weary soul.

 And through the magic of television, the internet and so many other modern conveniences and technology, I can still watch my Mets and Jets, or grill a burger, or drive to a strip mall for some pizza or Chinese or Latin food. Or go to a beach, in December. On Christmas. Which is something I can’t do now unless I want to freeze my buns off.

 And, I can go to a Spring Training game in February and March, and not be cold in the stands like I was in April, sitting in Citifield. In the sun. With the wind blowing right through me.

 So, in all fairness, I will tell you that I will always be a New Yorker at heart, a Long Islander in my soul, and of course, a free spirit doing what I want. And what I want now is to enjoy my remaining years living the dream. In warm, sunny climes, maybe sipping on a frosty alcohol-free pina colada, on my lanai, in my lounge chair.

 And knowing that the life I left behind on Long Island is filled with fond memories that I can recall with a smile and a song, about all the wonderful people who crossed through my life. And made a difference.

Cya, Long Island! Hello, Florida!!

 

Corruption Lives In New York State

 

Apparently it is time to clean house with all the corrupt Democrat rats crawling through Albany, beginning with Elliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul and Brian Benjamin .

 There are no checks and balances when only one party controls all facets and areas of state government.

 Hochul did a poor job vetting this guy for Lt Governor, if she vetted him at all, and got the Democrat controlled Legislature to rubber stamp his appointment.

And in addition, Hochul's husband's company, DelawareNorth  was awarded the $850MM contract  to build the Buffalo Bills new stadium with STATE FUNDS APPROVED IN THE LATEST STATE BUDGET.

 It is a total, allegedly, of $250MM from Erie County and $600MM directly from NYS.

 Corruption Lives in New York State!

Happy Birthday In Heaven, Godson

 

Happy 30^th Birthday, Steven!

Sadly, you are not here to celebrate this momentous milestone day with us, but know that your Mom and Dad, Roseann and Gary Wessel, have already begun marking this day by remembering you on Facebook. I am sure, knowing my sister, many tears flowed down her cheeks as she began to write that remembrance.

Aa I recall, you were a boy, and then a man, who marched to his own drum.  It was, at once, both frustrating and amusing. But, now it is missed.

I am sure you are aware, but you are going to be an uncle again. Your brother, sister-in-law and niece will be welcoming a boy this summer. And soon enough, your sister will be getting married.

Perhaps, he would inherit some of your fine characteristics which showed love and kindness, humor and wittiness, and even talent when you sang and acted that all who knew you, appreciated when you came into contact with them. See what you could do to make that happen. Okay?

While you are at it, please give a big hug and kiss to Nana, Gramps, Uncle Tim and a tutta la nostra famiglia that you have the privilege to see every day wherever you are, and tell them all that they are missed by so many. But I am sure they, and you, already know that.

Godson, I vaguely remember my 30^th birthday, even though it was so long ago. I still have all the Beatles albums your Godmother, Aunt Anne Marie, gave me that day. And I still enjoy listening to them even today.

So Steven. Enjoy this milestone birthday and make the most of it, as I'm sure you will. And remember this. Although you are not physically with us anymore, you are always in our hearts.

Blow out your candles and make a wish. Happy Birthday Steven! 🎂🍰🍺🥂

 

Eric Adams, the ELITE Mayor of New York City

 

So today, Eric Adams, Mayor of NYC, righted part of the stupidity that Dedumbo bequeathed to NYC as he was leaving in December.

HOWEVER, by cancelling the vaccine mandate for ballplayers, stage actors and other entertainers, he ignored his own common sense he applied for the elite for the same mandate and kept it in place for the city workers who were fired, or about to be fired, including Police, Fire, Healthcare Workers, and other union and non-union workers who spend hard earned money to support Broadway and Sports people.

 Essentially, if you are RICH, PRIVILEGED and part of the ELITE Class, Eric Adams has decided you have separate rules than the rest of us, who are being penalized for our non-compliance to the same dumb rule.

 He wants people to come into the city to spend their hard-earned money to help bring the city back to the pre-pandemic economy. So, as the elitist he perceives himself to be, he wants your money but demands that you must comply with his now-dumb, asinine rule because he looks down on the unvaccinated middle class as if we are dirt and slime, while our money isn't.

 Hey Eric, it will be a cold day in hell before I spend my money in your dirty, crime-ridden, $#!+hole of a dump city again. And wait until you see the theaters, arenas and stadiums remain less than half-full going forward.

 You need to look into the mirror and know that the man looking back at you is now a bigger DUMB@$$ than the one you replaced. 

Good luck with that!