PUERTO VALLARTA .................my kind of town AND NOW CORONAVIRUS

WHEW !!!!
Puerto Vallarta

Well, the annual "get out of the rain" festival just ended, and as usual it was just what this old bag of bones needed.  Sun, warmth, clear weather and young people around to rejuvenate an old man..........of course, the tequila helps somewhat.
It was just 55 years ago, that on our honeymoon, we visited Acapulco. The honeymoon was OK but the time spent in Mexico, was a disaster.  I met this guy named Montezuma at the bar and for the next week suffered. Probably from the little dark spots in the ice cubes. Not the best of times.  Five years after that, Margot talked me into going to Mazatlan . Met the same guy at the bar and again the trip was a disaster.  Mexico was placed on my worst places in the world list but again I was punished for going to Las Carbos , that a totally different reason but we LITERALLY walked out of the city from a rain storm that washed away two bridges that we had to cross over to get to the airport. That was so bad, that a Northwest Captain trying to get out called the embassy in Mexico City to ask if the Navy could come and get us out. Funny part is that the embassy offered no help but to pay for taxis that could not get across the water rushing under the down bridges. Anyway, during the planning of my 80th birthday, we had a family meeting on where we could celebrate it.  The kids and grandkids were giving their input that ranged from, Tuscany to the Caribbean but the end result was Puerto Vallarta.  Notably, I was reluctant, but agreed and we all flew off the PV. This trip was absolutely the greatest ever taken. Perhaps it was the company, NO it was definitely the company.  Anyway, this was the 5th consecutive year back to PV and it has never lost its charm.

AND NOW

Just as we were having a nice cool Corona Extra we learned that it was a virus people were talking about. A few days before leaving Margot went out and bought some Clorox wipes so that we could wipe down our airplane seat, tray-table and seat-back. Half way through the trip I noticed that my pants had this white spot on the front right pocket. I discovered that that was the pocket I carried the wet Clorox wipe in when taking it to the rest room to make sure everything there was wiped down. Since that moment, I have become a cleaning maniac wiping down everything in sight, to the point that washing my hands every twenty minutes with hot water and a soapy suds liquid hand soap, while singing happy birthday ///// twice has now not only effected my tan, but has started to take some skin off my palms only to discover some cheat test notes that I wrote in my palm while  in high school. The thing that's really driving me up a wall is, the fact that conversation between Margot and I are becoming very repetitive, let along far less. Seems I used up most of my words learned over 83 years and I am beginning to use them more then once...............in the same sentence.  Never, in a million years did I ever think I would run out of words. Not only that, but I find I am becoming a hypochondriac. I have spent so much time listening to TV and the only subject they talk about, even from those that KNOW NOTHING of what they say...............and I think you all know who that is, that I am self diagnosing after every throat clearing cough,the length of the cough, time it occurred, length of the cough, whether I had a drippy nose at the same time where I was located ( so that I could wipe down that area) and speed dialing my doctor on my hospital portal to see if I should come in.  What a mess, this has created to my life.  The worst part is .....that I know I have to go out to buy food, I like to go in to pick out my banana's pick out my apples, pick out my fresh baked goods. I just can't get it set in my head that I could have another person do this for me and bring it to my car or have it delivered. In order to conquer the fact that other people are shopping at the same time, and not abiding about the 6' rule, I find myself standing at the head of an aisle, yelling out to everyone in the aisle that I'm coming down and then faking a cough. I noticed how people all move out of my way until I'm out of that aisle and off to the next aisle. it also has cut down the actual time I spend in the store.

CREATIVITY IN MY NEW LIFE.

With all of this caution that must be adhered to, one must now be creative so that we totally break away from everything NEEDED especially to older folks. Even though we may hear from our kids or our grandsons by phone each day.................to check to see if we are still alive (guess, that something to do with the will) it's not the same to see them and sitting down over a drink and talking with them. So, to me , la familiar is suffering. Grand kids, even though now 24 years old are meant to be hugged, but those days seem to have passed. Coffee with my buddy every Tues. morning, where we could sit and chew the fat, settle the world problems have now reached a new life in itself via face-time. Me in my kitchen an him in his. Lunch with Margot twice a week at our favorite little places are no more. Dinner with friends are no more and for one that needs this intermingling it plays very hard on any mental stability. I have always been an extrovert and now find myself .................all alone, even though Margot is here with me.  My adjustment to this was fairly simple...........more skype and face time time which created more personal interaction. Now, I call, old classmates, SAS crew members and ground staff around the world, relatives, both in the States and out of the States and spend a lot of time talking about the "good old days" 
There is a new change in my life each and everyday.  Some for the better, most for the worst.  I want to show this little link about a man in Italy wanting to go out for coffee. His wife insist that he does not. Watch where he goes

https://twitter.com/GrowingUpItalia/status/1241354307259305985

You have to copy and paste into your browser to see this.  Sorry
Makes perfect sense to me.

Yesterday, we completed our first ever online food order...................simply to stay away from all the inconsiderate shoppers inside the stores now-a-days,  IT WAS GREAT   showed up at our designated time called the telephone number listed on the sign. The young lady asked my full name and what space I was parked in. Less than 3 minutes later there was a person at my car to explain to me about several items that I had ordered were not in stock, and two items were substituted.  No problem, He than loaded the 3 bags into my trunk, left the receipt in one of the bags and off I went, never got out of the car .  and no contact with the person, if you have trouble hearing what they are saying, you can pop your window JUST A BIT and can speak at the same distance as in the store itself.
Almost like a days outing in less than 10 minutes.  I'm getting my second order ready now. Change for the better.

MASK OR NO MASK

Don't know what your personal preference is, I prefer no mask simply for the reason that , this is me, absorb the pleasure,  I wore a mask, I'm taking that pleasure away from you, however having said that I can relate that meeting up with some of the more irresponsible people in the world, I guess I will wear a mask.

This, my friends, I made

 
A little engineering, but worth it. Items needed
1. paper towel
2. 2 rubber bands
3. scotch tape.

Double protection?   two paper towels........ lay flat on a table, pinch the ends, so they are tight, slip through the rubber band and fold over. Finish by scotch taping the ends with the inner part you slipped through the rubber band.

You also could use cloth, preferably cotton and do the same but iso scotch tape use staples to secure.  The rubber bands simply go around the ears......OR..................you can do the following.

http://blog.japanesecreations.com/no-sew-face-mask-with-handkerchief-and-hair-tie

A very good friend of mine, that I worked with at SAS, Kennedy now lives down under in Australia We still have contact with each other thru email and I usually hear from her at least once a week, if not more. She recently sent this on to me and I thought it would be worth sharing with the rest of you that might be  social  distancing, here's something to think about.


 Day  1 -  Purchased more wine;

Day 2 – Opening my 8th bottle of Wine. I fear wine supplies might not last!

Day 3 – Strawberries: Some have 210 seeds, some have 235 seeds. Who Knew??

Day 4 – 8:00pm. Removed my Day Pajamas and put on my Night Pajamas.

Day 5 – Today, I tried to make Hand Sanitizer. It came out as Jello Shots!!

Day 6 – I get to take the Garbage out. I’m So excited, I can’t decide what to wear.

Day 7 – Laughing way too much at my own jokes!!

Day 8 – Went to a new restaurant called “The Kitchen”.  You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have No clue how this place is still in business.

Day 9 – I put liquor bottles in every room. Tonight, I’m getting all dressed up and going Bar hopping.

Day 10 – Struck up a conversation with a Spider today. Seems nice. He’s a Web Designer.

Day 11 – Isolation is hard. I swear my fridge just said, “What the hell do you want now?”

Day 12 – I realized why dogs get so excited about something moving outside, going for walks or car rides. I think I just barked at a squirrel.

Day 13 – If you keep a glass of wine in each hand, you can’t accidently touch your face.

Day 14 – Watched the birds fight over a worm. The Cardinals lead the Blue Jays 3–1.

Day 15 – Anybody else feel like they’ve cooked dinner about 395 times this month?  IS THIS YOU, yet?

Stay safe my friends, wash your hands often, keep 6' from everyone and keep in touch.

Vito

IS IT JUST ME?????

The wonder years !!

The wonderful time of one's life. The time you begin to question yourself about, where have I been, where am I now and where am I going. You begin to question everything that's happening and if you heard what you thought you heard. I look back in time through many pictures, and thoughts and begin to realize that time is rapidly changing.

I recently discovered a photo of myself at Eighty years old, just before taking my family to Puerto Vallarta to help in my celebration of reaching that bar of,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,80.

This is what I found. 

A man just entering into a time machine of the 80 year olds.

A man that is about to cross the line into the afterness of  a wholesome life doing things that meant .....life is being, not life has been.

The day I stepped into the aircraft, I could feel the youth beginning to show up, seeing my whole family together.  Beginning with the second day in PV I discovered something that was quite interesting and possibly the changing point, I needed. I felt that it was necessary to start off each day with a nourishing breakfast with orange juice, eggs and light toast.  I looked around at the table at what my children were eating and made a discovery that started to change my life. Yes, they had the protein of eggs and light whole wheat toast.............but instead of the sunshine producing orange juice vitamin D, the had green juice. I just had to ask what it was they were drinking.  Much to my surprise it was lots of dark green spinach, kale, broccoli, peas, stringbeans mixed with apple. orange, tomato and kiwi juice, green tea  and a lot of other stuff all blended together with some kind of yogurt to make a thick tasty treat. My son and daughter told me it was marijuana juice. I was hesitant to try it but very curious ssoooo    down it went. Much to my surprise it was very tasty. Now, after drinking this stuff for the past three years, I has begun to make a change.

The change was totally to the good side.

GREEN JUICE...............or as we call it Marijuana juice  seems to be working.  As you can see, it has even started to fill out the shirt to the better.

Just goes to prove that you can make changes ..............for the better.................later in life.

That brings a totally different subject to light.

I have always tried to view myself as being a well adjusted, informed individual. One that can read, write and understand reality. I read for knowledge of the present, which just happens to become the past once you have read it. I understand what I have read and just for those few times things might be a little wrangled, I am able to locate all that's needed to make a pro or con recap of what I am reading. English to some may seem quite difficult, i.e. take the word READ.  Present tense it is pronounced  READ (reed)  Past tense it is spelt READ but pronounced (red).  Does this, to some people, simple mean what you read is what you see or does it mean what you see is what you hear?  Regardless of what you see, or hear you have to make an adjustment to your own brain.  Once again, in simple terms you have to decide if what you see and what you hear is the same or are they different. Now,  you're probably sitting there scratching your head and thinking to yourself...............what the hell is he talking about!!!!!!!.  Well, let me be perfectly clear about this..........we see and hear this every day of our life, over and over again.  It's call political talk.  Politicians  are  very special people. They have to keep the masses of people on their side so in order to do that, they have devised a special way of talking. I love fact-checking and have found that, when one is asking a question the reply is usually a one word response.  YES or NO, but this has the tendency to turn off 50% of the people they are talking to.  The third choice of Perhaps or Maybe, puts the questioner off balance as this reflects indecision which is not where a politician wants to be.  Ssssoooooo now since they do not want to turn off 50% of the people they are talking to, they use the "add ons" method.  They do not say YES , but rather use the injection of the" add-on" to possibly   reflect a  YES reply,  then they continue to use the " add on"
 to give the impression of a NO reply.  What they now have done is to cater to both sides and leave the results up to your interpretation.  The bottom line is now  50% of the people with an unspoken yes and 50% of the people with an unspoken no creating total confusion and shoving a wall in between the two sides.  Perhaps this is why we have the Mason-Dixon line an indivisible  but notable line.
Presently our country is divided, unrecognized but definitely divided. One side represents those that can read and understand by checking out what they heard or read and the other side that simply takes what they heard or read without verification.  Which is correct ?  I guess you can say both ways are depending on  just how much information you want to feed your thought system.  I consider fact-checking  the way to weed out the dandelions from the healthy growth of grass. Everything begins to come in clearer.   Try it!

CONFUCIUS OR CONFUSION.

I remember, briefly, growing up using Confucius stories.  One of the more notable ones I remember goes like this " Confucius say girl who flies upside down fly with tits up"  This may be correct in Confucius mind but I see it just the opposite  " girl who flies upside down fly with tits down"  Which is correct??????   Stupid but  VERY CONFUSING.

For those of you that did not read my humorous last blog about how to select a candidate I enclosed a video that I thought you would like.   I may have made an error in choosing a political sounding title for my last posting and perhaps that is the reason the usual 250 people did not read it. I promise I will not , ever, ever write a serious posting regarding politics. I do have a lot of friends of the opposition party which ever that may be.

Here's that video  Make sure you're speakers are on and click on the full screen marker

 

Vito

A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO SELECTING A CANDIDATE

I confess that I do not have enough political awareness to make  a prediction on the upcoming election but I want to offer a solution to the .........shall we say, reducing the amount of candidates one party has to a more realistic amount.  You would have thought, the Democrats  would have learned something after the Republicans produced 20 candidates in 2016 and became the butt of so many jokes.  Now, the Democrats are in the exact position to do just what the Republicans did in 2016, select some boob, just because we are looking for someone ..........different.

Now, I'm not about to make this a harsh political posting and I hope you will read it all the way through before you pass judgement on me.  I promise I will reward all of those people that hear me out with a special something. The one thing I will proclaim before I begin, is that yes, I am presently , a Democrat simply because in comparing past and present platforms, the Democrats offer one that I am more compassionate about. One that offers the values that I feel more comfortable with.

Now, let's get down to the meat.

Whether you actually believe it or not, the past 2+ years that we have had our present Pres. has been nothing more than  lies, lies, exaggerations and cheating, make no doubt about that. If you still believe in what he has preached during his campaigns. you should go immediately to church and ask forgiveness. If you don't want to go near a church, visit a psychiatrist  for help. The man has a disorder mainly Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Look it up! The worst part is that while on the campaign, he basically told us what we were all about to get.....................still...................some people selected to go with that. The biggest question I heard at that particular time was......" How bad could it be, how bad could it get, ???  The sad part is that it didn't really take long to answer either of those questions........the worst part is ..................there are still some people that believe his stupidity and agree with him.  Can't really say to much about them.

Now, my suggestion to the Democratic party is simply to treat this like American Idol elimination.
1. Pick two days in the week.
2. Select one half of the group of contenders
3. Give them each 30 minutes to tell us a little about who they are, what they have done to bring them to this point and what and how they will do.... if they were elected President.
After we have listened to all of this, open the lines for phone call,  tweeting, and messaging, etc for the one you feel you like the best. 

The next night we will be given the names of the people that received the most favorable response from THE AMERICAN VOTER.  Only the top three will go forward.

The next week, we will do the exact same thing for the balance of the group.

The third week will begin the debates among the top 6 as voted by America.

America will now spend the balance of the time listening to debates from the 6 finalist. Of course this whole process will be monitored by one member of the DNC along with one each analyze from each media. Now for those that still have questions about the process, make no doubts, it has it's faults. People have the possibility to vote OFTEN AND ILLEGALY but like Trump insists people have voted twice and illegally in the 2016 election and he felt  they were all Democrats, but he still won. So to prevent this in happening in this election what I suggest is this.  We will wittle the final 6 down to 4 by eliminating one each week from the debates. Then calculating that the Republicans have been calling in and tweeting EXTRA  votes for the person they think Trump will be able to beat, we simply use reverse phycology and pick the looser of the 6.  DON'T LAUGH, it might work.

Now, I did promise to give you something a little special for hearing me out so here goes. Just click on the below and enjoy a nice trip.

https://youtu.be/p073JLHOKlY


I'm thinking about a little change to my blog.  I'm thinking about more travel news being involved with it, so each time I write another post I will try to enclose either another video in it or perhaps an information section with what I believe to be the best part of a trip. Does this have any interest?  It's just that I seem to be repeating myself about growing up as an only child to an Italian family. Anyway, just a thought....................but make no doubt about it..................this blog will continue,
the book is also coming.

Vito
 

TIME GOES BY.....................

When you get this posting and open it, you will find that it apparently was written some time before this posting. Having said that, I believe things happen to older minds, then to younger ones. I have noticed that time moves on so much faster the older one gets.  I've always wondered why but have never been able to find the reason.

The reason? Our brain encodes new experiences, but not familiar ones, into memory, and our retrospective judgment of time is based on how many new memories we create over a certain period. In other words, the more new memories we build on a weekend getaway, the longer that trip will seem in hindsight.
This phenomenon, which Hammond has dubbed the holiday paradox, seems to present one of the best clues as to why, in retrospect, time seems to pass more quickly the older we get. From childhood to early adulthood, we have many fresh experiences and learn countless new skills. As adults, though, our lives become more routine, and we experience fewer unfamiliar moments. As a result, our early years tend to be relatively overrepresented in our autobiographical memory and, on reflection, seem to have lasted longer. Of course, this means we can also slow time down later in life. We can alter our perceptions by keeping our brain active, continually learning skills and ideas, and exploring new places.
 Now, that I have explained the subject of time moving slowly as we grow older , has been clarified,  we can move on.

ORIGINAL INTENT OF THIS BLOG

Originally, this blog was a way for me to make a statement, or secure the attention of many as to how it was growing up....................in olden days. Something my grand kids seem to show some interest in, up to the time they turned 8 years old.  They could not believe that it was any different then from the way they were growing up. I tried to tell them they had many more benefits to life then I really had. I, did not grow up in a computerized world, did not travel at the amazing rate they were doing so and did not have the luxuries they were experiencing.  Now, I wanted to show them how it was in my day, but I wanted it to be in a fun way instead of with an adult way of tending to speak down to them. I found that speaking down to someone tends to have them pay less attention then is required for complete understanding. That, sadly, is still practiced today in many different modes of life.
Now, they are 23years old, graduated from college and out in the wage earning time of their life. Now, they will be able to someday, tell their kids and grand kids, how it was growing up in a disheveled world .       

HOLIDAY EATING is over................but it just leads to RESOLUTION TIME:

Finally, the last of the..............once every year "eat all you can eat days"  are at an end, namely Thanksgiving and Christmas, I can once again, begin to eat more responsibly and try to get into the speedo bathing suit by Feb. After all, it's spring break time in Puerto Vallarta and don't want to give away my age. Just to clarify that little wish, it has to do with New Years Resolutions.  Seems, everyone I know still makes these difficult so called promises each year just to have them pass in one ear and immediately out the other.  Most of the time it's about things we know we can't do, or just plainly will not do and we end it at that. Mine, this year is to fit into a speedo............. why?, just because, I had to think of something and that for some unknown reason just touched the thought train. Besides, I'm just to old to make up stuff that I know will never become fact.  Sound like someone we all know????????Like El Presidanta?? Speaking of which, for a person that's proclaimed how smart he is........he just can't seem to remember what he says from one minute to another..............OH, DEAR LORD, forgive me for bringing up such a BOOB into this conversation. On the other hand, perhaps it's time to discuss things of this nature...........................never mind, you're right, leave it alone and let those that want to, live his kind of life, live it.

This year, the one thing I intend to do, is to become more creative.  You do know Gemini's are basically very creative people.  Here's something I put together some time ago but it's always worth another look.   Take a peek.

https://youtu.be/0odF8FMdYEI


Whaddy ya tink a dat????


FAKE MEDIA TIME;

I understand that some of my FB friends are Republicans and some Democrats.  I have no problem with that ......................as long as ALL my FB friends respect each other and that you believe everyone has different thoughts and are entitled to those thoughts, having said that, each of you are responsible to at least understand what you are talking about and know what is fact and what is fiction. Be ready to read, listen and interpret to the best of your ability all sides of the conversation and certainly not to just ONE SIDE.(the side you think is right, without being understandable to the other side, the side you think is wrong) otherwise you're just being a damn fool.

Facebook is one media source that really gets me laughing, especially with the political scene as it is. It really knows how to get my blood pressure going. Now,  I know there is a great difference in the way that republican conservatives see things in a different light than democratic liberals.............but..........having said that it just doesn't make sense to me with words in the same language.  I recently read the following, apparently on the sight that favored republicans.  They were talking about Trump and the comment about building the wall and having Mexico pay for it that he repeated over 212 times during his pre-president times and over 810 times after he became president.  "AND WHO WILL PAY FOR IT"...................AND the crowd roared  "MEXICO WILL".   Now, he is claiming that he really DIDN'T mean that Mexico will literally pay for it by giving us a check. He really meant that they would pay for it through the new USA/MEX/CA agreement, which has yet been approved by congress...............so NAFTA is still the law.  Many comments all from Republicans to this remarked on how only LIBBY'S interpreted it that way (my guess it that they call Liberals  ......libby's since they don't know how to spell Liberals, and that conservatives .........surely understood it to be that Mexico would not directly pay for the wall.   My only answer to this comment is..........liberals believe that words DO MATTER.  I can only relate to this by the saying the following.    " Sweetheart, I love you forever"      meaning...............NOT FOREVER, FOREVER ...................maybe perhaps for the next hour or so......................

SOMETHINGS WILL NOT JUST CHANGE

At 83 years old (almost) I grew up using a dictionary to find out the meaning of words. Problem with that was you were compelled to know how the world was spelled. I grew up using an encyclopedia to find out information on many subjects, here again one had to know how to read and understand. Now, I simply have to speak into a phone or a computer and google will give me the answer back, both in written and voice mode. I recently found that I can live and survive without google, how you may ask, simply because I have a wife that knows everything and the so little amount of things she does not know or for second opinions, I simply ask ALEXA. She completes my life. She wakes me in the morning with a happy song or a funny joke, whichever I prefer. She bids me good night with a song or a "SLEEP TIGHT", which ever I want, She plays music of my choice anytime of the day and whenever I need help in spelling or grammar, she is there for me, however, presently she cannot do windows, dishes, bathrooms and man needs..................but someday.....................who knows. I'm sure most people, now-a-days has an ALEXA or a SIRI but what kind of world is this leading us to.

To end this posting, I want to just pass on to you my thought of the day.
TREAT OTHERS WITH THE SAME RESPECT THAT YOU WANT. BE KIND TO YOUR FELLOW MAN.