THE NEW AGE

As I have so often mentioned, writing this blog was totally to give my kids and my grandkids, an idea of what it was like growing up as an only child in an Italian family. Seemed to me as being a one-of-a-kind situation, looking back over my past.  My father came from a family of 6, my mother from a family of 9.  By the time I reached 10 years old, I had 52 cousins, just on my mothers side. My dad had a sister with 3 kids, and an older brother with 2 kids. The other brothers were not married.  My dad, was always known as big Vito and me being named after him just happened to pick up the name as................little Vito.  No problem but even after my dad passed on, that monocle stuck with me by my aunts and uncles.  Now that they are no longer here, My cousins that I talk with occasionally call me little Vito.  Oh well, so be it.

WHAT TO DO AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

It seemed that after high School one bad part about it was that it separated me from all of my friends. My parents wanted me to go to college, but I knew that it would create a burden for them regarding the expense, but I applied.  Funny enough the 3 schools that I applied for never replied...........till this day, so I guess I can scratch them off the list now.  Guess, you're wondering which schools they were.............well, if you must know it was................Harvard, Yale and Princeton. That gave me the excuse to start working at the Hewlett post office and going to school at night which started in Sept of 1955.  The New York school of interior and architectural design.  Kept my parents happy and me busy.  

It was April 1966, when my next door neighbor, who was an accountant for SAS suggested that I look into employment at their head office located at the Van Wyck expressway.  He had made the arrangement for the interview and I was accepted on the spot.  I started in the mail room which was a snap job for me, having the postal experience from the Hewlett post office. I spent 6 months in the mailroom running mail around the building to the different offices.  After this time, I was promoted to reservation agent in telephone sales. 

There was a 2 year break in my SAS service that was spent with the U.S. Army, mostly based in Berlin, Germany.  Rejoined SAS when I returned home and was transferred to the airport passenger service, that I simply loved. Met so many of my still listed friends that flew for SAS, in all capacities.   Over the so many past years, still corresponding with them.

Traveling was always a thing I wanted to do, and luckily my 40 years with SAS, Scandinavian Airlines afforded me to that lifestyle. I was able to encompass the world 6 times along with being able to visit my favorite places over and over. I was able to fly to Europe for a Christmas shopping two or three days. Travel to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and many other places just to visit friends ..........for a weekend.

VENICE................ITALIA

https://youtu.be/p073JLHOKlY

Made a few of traveling films on you tube, that can be viewed if you sign into you tube and go to............vitoonfilm.  I will try to remember to post some of them on this blog. 

WHAT ARE WE BECOMING AS A NATION

There's something happening and I truly do not know what it is.  I try to remain as optimistic as possible but my optimism deteriorates drastically as soon as I either turn the TV on or open up a newspaper.

Most of the people that I know or associate with firmly believe that it's due to the pandemic, myself, I totally believe that it was the fault of number 45. It seems nowadays that the first thing you hear on TV or read in the newspaper is the amount of mass murders that are taking place, along with the attacks on people. People of different nationalities, older people.  Just in our small town of Federal Way it seems to be becoming the capital of the state for the amount of shootings and attacks they are being held. It seems that there's just no respect given to people that believe in something different than the other person, no matter what it may be, but primarily politics is playing a big part in this decision, mostly generated by number 45.

Forty-five, in my opinion, is a chronic liar. I believe that he has found this to be very useful in the business world. He uses this type of deceit quite creatively. He first  establishes the LIE and then constantly repeats it until finally people believe this to be true. This is a fact, try it yourself, tell yourself something subconsciously, that you know is not true. Constantly repeat, repeat, repeat it and eventually you will believe that this is true.  This is exactly what he has done with the 2020 election. He has created the lie that he won and has repeated it constantly entering the subconscious of a significant few people who have passed this information on as being the truth and now he has developed a cult and that's exactly what it is, a cult that believes that this is true. I have heard people say that they feel that he is still president he still flies around the world and you in Air Force One but when it's mentioned if he still president maybe we should blame him for Afghanistan but no, they cannot see that. This is not only logically incorrect it is just plain stupid and those people are plain stupid. This is the America I no longer recognize.  People are just unable to respect other people. People just believe what they hear, not what they can prove as fact. 

I also see, a lot of homelessness, a sight I had never seen growing up.  Tents, springing up all over town. Blocking sidewalks, parks and playgrounds. People ......"shooting up".   This is not a good sight. I am unable to explain what's happening, but I do know I don't like it. I do have compassion for these type of people and understand that the cost of living has gone far above most people are able to afford. I loose this compassion with people that find a way to loose all self respect.  Where does it all end.

Come back again,

Vito

     

 

As I have so often mentioned, writing this blog was totally to give my kids and my grandkids, an idea of what it was like growing up as an only child in an Italian family. Seemed to me as being a one-of-a-kind situation, looking back over my past.  My father came from a family of 6, my mother from a family of 9.  By the time I reached 10 years old, I had 52 cousins, just on my mothers side. My dad had a sister with 3 kids, and an older brother with 2 kids. The other brothers were not married.  My dad, was always known as big Vito and me being named after him just happened to pick up the name as................little Vito.  No problem but even after my dad passed on, that monocle stuck with me by my aunts and uncles.  Now that they are no longer here, My cousins that I talk with occasionally call me little Vito.  Oh well, so be it.

WHAT TO DO AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

It seemed that after high School one bad part about it was that it separated me from all of my friends. My parents wanted me to go to college, but I knew that it would create a burden for them regarding the expense, but I applied.  Funny enough the 3 schools that I applied for never replied...........till this day, so I guess I can scratch them off the list now.  Guess, you're wondering which schools they were.............well, if you must know it was................Harvard, Yale and Princeton. That gave me the excuse to start working at the Hewlett post office and going to school at night which started in Sept of 1955.  The New York school of interior and architectural design.  Kept my parents happy and me busy.  

It was April 1966, when my next door neighbor, who was an accountant for SAS suggested that I look into employment at their head office located at the Van Wyck expressway.  He had made the arrangement for the interview and I was accepted on the spot.  I started in the mail room which was a snap job for me, having the postal experience from the Hewlett post office. I spent 6 months in the mailroom running mail around the building to the different offices.  After this time, I was promoted to reservation agent in telephone sales. 

There was a 2 year break in my SAS service that was spent with the U.S. Army, mostly based in Berlin, Germany.  Rejoined SAS when I returned home and was transferred to the airport passenger service, that I simply loved. Met so many of my still listed friends that flew for SAS, in all capacities.   Over the so many past years, still corresponding with them.

Traveling was always a thing I wanted to do, and luckily my 40 years with SAS, Scandinavian Airlines afforded me to that lifestyle. I was able to encompass the world 6 times along with being able to visit my favorite places over and over. I was able to fly to Europe for a Christmas shopping two or three days. Travel to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and many other places just to visit friends ..........for a weekend.

VENICE................ITALIA

https://youtu.be/p073JLHOKlY

Made a few of traveling films on you tube, that can be viewed if you sign into you tube and go to............vitoonfilm.  I will try to remember to post some of them on this blog. 

WHAT ARE WE BECOMING AS A NATION

There's something happening and I truly do not know what it is.  I try to remain as optimistic as possible but my optimism deteriorates drastically as soon as I either turn the TV on or open up a newspaper.

Most of the people that I know or associate with firmly believe that it's due to the pandemic, myself, I totally believe that it was the fault of number 45. It seems nowadays that the first thing you hear on TV or read in the newspaper is the amount of mass murders that are taking place, along with the attacks on people. People of different nationalities, older people.  Just in our small town of Federal Way it seems to be becoming the capital of the state for the amount of shootings and attacks they are being held. It seems that there's just no respect given to people that believe in something different than the other person, no matter what it may be, but primarily politics is playing a big part in this decision, mostly generated by number 45.

Forty-five, in my opinion, is a chronic liar. I believe that he has found this to be very useful in the business world. He uses this type of deceit quite creatively. He first  establishes the LIE and then constantly repeats it until finally people believe this to be true. This is a fact, try it yourself, tell yourself something subconsciously, that you know is not true. Constantly repeat, repeat, repeat it and eventually you will believe that this is true.  This is exactly what he has done with the 2020 election. He has created the lie that he won and has repeated it constantly entering the subconscious of a significant few people who have passed this information on as being the truth and now he has developed a cult and that's exactly what it is, a cult that believes that this is true. I have heard people say that they feel that he is still president he still flies around the world and you in Air Force One but when it's mentioned if he still president maybe we should blame him for Afghanistan but no, they cannot see that. This is not only logically incorrect it is just plain stupid and those people are plain stupid. This is the America I no longer recognize.  People are just unable to respect other people. People just believe what they hear, not what they can prove as fact. 

I also see, a lot of homelessness, a sight I had never seen growing up.  Tents, springing up all over town. Blocking sidewalks, parks and playgrounds. People ......"shooting up".   This is not a good sight. I am unable to explain what's happening, but I do know I don't like it. I do have compassion for these type of people and understand that the cost of living has gone far above most people are able to afford. I loose this compassion with people that find a way to loose all self respect.  Where does it all end.

Come back again,

Vito

     

WHEN WILL IT ALL RETURN??

 

When will it all return?   NORMALITY !!.     At my age, change is very hard to get accustom to. It's funny how the brain reacts to the slightest move in an unknown direction. The pandemic is still with us and you would think that after this amount of time, you would be used to it...................but no, still stick to the rules of mask wearing, washing hands and sterilizing when needed along with keeping my distance from people, which to say the least is the most difficult.  Being Italian, meeting and greeting includes a big hug and slap on the back, it's my heritage.  It's who I am. 

During this pandemic, I can honestly say, that I have learned so much more about............myself............then I could ever imagine.  Along with learning new things of interest, I have learned that I, as a person need companionship.  I found that I need an extraordinary amount of socializing.

CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN

Yesterday, my wife found a cockroach in the kitchen.  She immediately began to scrub down everything in sight.  Opened up and emptied out all the cabinets and draws.  Vacuumed and washed the total inside of them all, replaced everything after wiping the stuff down.  Sanitized the total counter area, moved the refrigerator and stove along with the dishwasher and totally cleaned underneath them.  Got down on her hands and knees and used cleaning vinegar and water to scrub the floors.  After six hours the kitchen was totally sanitized and sparkling...............................tomorrow I'm going to put the cockroach in the bathroom !!!!!!!!!!!!   

A BRAND NEW FEELING

I'm going to jump back a little to the memorial Day weekend. We decided to have a barbecue at our daughters house and the whole family was invited to attend. We finally get to see our 25-year-old grandkids in person rather than over zoom, this alone was worth every moment and was cherished, just to be able to see them hug them and give them a good pat on the back meant so much to me. We were able to just sit back have some good food and talk about the things that have transpired over this very hard pandemic time. The highlight of the evening was actually being able to say in June I will be 85 let's have a party at our house and the reaction was absolutely fantastic. We made all the arrangements to be held at Grandma and Grandpa's house June 20th and we will combine Grandpa's 85th birthday and Dad and Grandpa's Father's Day the plans were very explicit. That day has now happened and once again the feeling was enormously close to my heart like they would say in Italian la Familia e molto buona. 

NO LONGER A WORLD THAT I RECOGNIZE.

When I first decided to write  this blog, the main purpose was to build a log of memories, for not only my children to look back over, but more important, my grandchildren. Since then so many changes have taken place, changes not necessarily for the better but more radical. Looking back, I tried to remember when this actually started to change and this is the confusing part. The biggest recognizable changes started to happen at the start of the covid pandemic at the beginning of 2020.  Searching my mind though, I actually feel that it began slightly  earlier with the introduction of the 2016 presidential election. My intention here is not to make this political, but, in all honesty I began to see these uninvited changes occurring with the administration of that period of time.(2016-2020) People began to fight each other and ideas were not something we could discuss but were used to break us apart. Disrespect between races, people and groups happened more readily than normal. Hate started to find a way into our lives. The masses were beginning to fall and non caring for the interest of one another was beginning to take effect.  We no longer invited people to join with  us but we began to turn them away, a trait that I have never experienced. We were always an welcoming country to those less fortunate, but now we were shutting our doors to them. When the doorbell rang, we would open the door and speak to people with respect, now we look through a peep-hole to even see if we dare open the door. The government no longer seems to work to make the whole country better, but rather a select group.  

I am becoming more and more frustrated as each day passes, with those that seem to be unable to think on their own. Those that tend to know they are doing wrong, but refuse to change to benefit anyone but themselves. Those that tend to make the liars and cheaters the good and the logical and meaningful the  criminal. Those that are unable to accept truth but only hide behind THEIR so called understanding of what they believe to be fact.  Prior to the election and still after the election by 2 years we have heard of fraud and bad election results, even though none have been proven and continue to be debunked even legally. Now it's even starting about how the next election will be fixed.................unless the conservative party wins, of course.  What if they win, would the election have been fixed, should the other side cry fraud...............more WILL the other side cry fraud.  Is this how we teach not only ourselves but our children how to act???  Will the looser ALWAYS declare themselves  the winners?  Will sports be played only by winners? This my friends, is not the country I was born into. Not the country I was raised in and certainly not the country I served for. We no longer have to strive to prove our capabilities to win, we can now just lie about it.

Sorry to have to go on and on about this, just so disappointed in what we are becoming, a nation of big overgrown cry babies, trying to rely on the constitution that many do not even know what it says or how to read it, they only know how to lie about what it actually says to their benefit. I personally call them useless, worthless, know nothings.

I know one thing, I will not leave this country the same way it was when I entered it. A country I know longer recognize made-up of people that cared for one in other but rather for what they can get out of it.  People avoiding the law, people constantly trying to overthrow peacefulness.

Will we ever get back.................the original  America 

Vito

CHRISTMAS PAST AND NOW A NEW YEAR TO BEGIN::

Christmas is now pasted and a New Year is about to begin. In all honesty, I certainly hope 2021 brings a hellofa big improvement over what the world has experienced in the year of insanity, 2020. Between the virus pandemic and the insanity of a poorly run political administration, I can almost guarantee improvement. I'm not going to go into the political end of this because you all probably know how I feel. How Mr. shit for brains and his cult have turned this country into a 3rd world status is beyond any expectations..................but enough about that. 

The pandemic has rested and taken refuge in my brain, and if it wasn't for the little bit of technology that I know, I could have been forever lost. I found that ZOOM played an important part of any celebration that I might have wanted with my family. Because of our age bracket and the possibilities the virus has shown to destruct elderly people, it gave Margot and I the capability to, at least, see our grandkids. It still sits in the back of my mind and runs fear throughout the body to the extent that I have now become a hygiene freak, constantly washing my hands, while singing Happy Birthday.............to whom ever or whatever. I feel naked when not wearing my mask to go into any public place and my thermometer screams out  "take a break" every time I pick the thing up. The refrigerator door has developed squeaks from the constant opening and closing, the water spigot on the outside of the refrigerator door no longer works..............I think the off on arms has crapped out on me, from the constant use. This has also created me to brush my teeth 6 times a day instead of the usual 3, simply because I'm eating twice as much.  When not using soap and water to wash my hands, I have a bottle of sanitizer standing by in each of the bathrooms along with the kitchen. I run around the house cleaning the door knobs, counter tops, and anything that has been touched,  with disinfectant.  The only thing that still remains without disinfectant is the vacuum cleaner, since I'm the only one that goes near it.   Taking all this extra activity into consideration, I have found less time to shave, so I might go 3-4 days between shaves.........give me that "Marlboro man look", but raises hell with my blades, which causes me to use bits of toilet paper to cover up the cuts from the dulling of the blades.   Has anybody realized that Gillett razor blades now cost $20 for a pack of 10 and and each blade  only gives a close shave for about 4 times before the nicks begin?  

LOOKING FORWARD  

A new year is now beginning, time for the usual New Years resolution ...........that usually lasts 3-4 days.  Margot and I opened a nice bottle of Stella Rosa  and brought in the New Year watching TV and enjoying the celebrations and the music, from across the world, then off to bed.   My resolution for this year was to try and eat better, try to get a little more exercise and to try and think positive about  other people, even the 74 million (and you know who I mean) that are so disturbed in the nation, but watching the results on January 6th, we can forget those 74 million totally. Anyway, enough about that.  My first try at being nice to my fellow man, turned my thoughts though,   I pulled into Starbucks to get a coffee and figured it would be nice to buy the car just in back of me her coffee.  I pulled to the window to pay for my coffee, asked the cashier how much the bill was for the car behind me, thinking that she would just add it on to my total..............I almost had a heart attack, when she told me the person  ordered sandwiches , coffee, and a muffin bringing the bill to $24.18 .............................that act of being nice for my resolution quickly went down the drain.  I just got my coffee drove out of the parking lot and started to look for a little old lady to help across the street.  There is a limit to being nice to people, but I will try again.

Hopefully, this year will bring some kind of sanity back to this country, rid the earth of this pandemic and give us more hope to live our lives. 

MY DAY SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY.

I figured I would check my day schedule for the month of January.   What in the world was I thinking when I started to make my appointments.  One day alone would have me living at the local hospital.  Starting at 0940........1040.......1140 and finishing up at 1240, I see doctors, hope they are all on schedule, you know how that goes.  The very next day I am back to see my eye doctor at 1000-1200.  The lady's at the check in desk and I are already on first name basis...................hope Margot doesn't get the wrong impression on my visits.  Along with that  I had my first Covid shot in January and have now got that but have booked my second for February. Even after the shots, we are still advised to wear the mask and sanitize,  because of those strange people that think this is still a hoax. I thought people were more capable of thinking about what's right rather than other ding bat things.

Anyway, I was planning to get this out just after New Years but just couldn't make it.

Have a good day, will write again...................................soon.

Vito

TIME GOES BY..................2020, PASSING INTO THE SUNSET.........

There's much to be learned from being in a pandemic as we are in at present.  It's now been 10 month's and as each day passes, another lesson is learned.

I have found that, each time our Governor speaks about any type of closure in our state, a run on toilet paper takes place. For what reason, I just can't figure out. Toilet paper seems to have worked it's way into the life restrictions we have.  As a matter of fact, just recently a neighbor or ours a few houses away, put his house up for sale.  Don't know exactly what the problem was but they just were unable to even get a bid on it for 10 days. Perhaps potential buyers just thought the price a little steep and that the seller just wouldn't agree to a lower bid.  The realtor tried everything she could think of, to drive people to the house. Finally the day after the governor made an announcement closing in restaurant dinning and after the storm of the toilet paper isles, she decided to try one out of the super bowl playbook of home sales. She picked a dry night and (TP'd)  toilet papered the house with about 10 rolls of paper, thinking the potential buyers would think that the seller would be so disheartened that they would accept an under market bid.  Low and behold, the very next day, they received their first bid and it was for $2000 OVER the asking price, the potential buyers stipulated that the toilet paper was to be included in the sale and they could take immediate possession of the house in its present condition. (WHILE THE PAPER WAS STILL DRY) Chalk up another use for toilet paper.......................................

YEAR OF 2020

This year of 2020, has been overall, a heartbreaking year,  for the most part.  It started out as a normal year with Margot and I visiting our favorite city, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a glorious 2 weeks during spring break.  Returning home to a place just getting into the Coronavirus pandemic.  At first, it wasn't much more than a spread of the flu.  Margot wiped down the serving tray and the seats armrests on the plane which was not a startling thing, for she has that habit on every airline, with the exception of SAS, of course that's very understandable since she is a Swede. 

ANNUAL DOCTORS WELLNESS VISIT

I recently had my annual wellness examination. The fun part of the examination is when the nurse that brings you into the office ask you to draw a clock and give you a time to set on it for the past 4 years the time was 10 minutes past 11:00 the clock is simply a way of saying I can draw. The second question consists of naming 12 animals within one minute very easy thing to do I guess thirdly your ass to repeat five words that the nurse gives you at the beginning of the conversation the humorous part of this whole thing is that it's the same five words that it was last year and it's the same five words that Margot had two weeks before in her wellness exam. Naturally I aced all three of these questions and now it was time to see the doctor the doctor simply sits at the computer reads all of the blood tests that I've had from previous years compared to what they were this year and we'd sit there and discuss different options on how to do things the one big thing in the mind of the doctor was the amount of exercise that I was getting. He feels that the amount of exercise that I should be participating in per day is at least one hour of movement, I must admit that I don't get one hour of consecutive movement per day but I do live in a house with three floors and walking up and down two flights of stairs gives me the amount of exercise I feel is necessary. A very strongly suggested that I get at least one hour  per day on treadmill which I told him I would  definitely  do.

 

A FATHERS WISH;

A man spoke to each of his 3 sons when he sent them to college. "I feel it's my duty to provide you with the best possible education, and you do not owe me anything for that. However, I want you to appreciate it.  As a gesture of appreciation, please each put $1,000 into my coffin when I die. And so it happened. His sons became a doctor, a lawyer and a financial planner, each successful financially. When their father died and they saw him in the coffin they remembered his wish. First, the doctor stacked 10 crisp $ 100 bills onto the chest of the deceased.  Next the financial planner placed $1,000 there in 20 crisp $50 bills. Finally, it was the heartbroken lawyer's turn.  He slowly reached into his pocket and removed his checkbook, wrote a check for $3,000 , put it into his father's coffin and took the $2,000 cash.  The lawyer is now in Congress.  Probably in your district.

Now, in all honesty, when I first read this from a friend,  I laughed myself sick,  The second time I read it, I giggled and began to think and compare this story to any congressman I may know.   Thirdly, I began to name these congress people to myself. Guess what I found, taking into consideration, the present administration. ??????   

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME,  AND WISHES  GO FROM THE RIZZO CLAN TO ALL MY FRIENDS, AROUND THE WORLD.

A "zoom"  photo

(Lisa, Vito, Margot and Tim,    Scott and Jessica,   Traci Cormick and Bryson.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS....................................................BONAPPETIT

A MUST WATCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

https://youtu.be/lBHf9QqO-BE

See you Next week.

Vito

THE PAST IS BECOMING..................THE FUTURE!!!!

Blogging is something that I do to occupy my time and also to allow people to see what's happening in my life. I know that the posts have a long time in between them and I really have no excuse for that. 

We're now 8+ months into this new life of living with a pandemic and I must say, each day brings something new into life, although nothing that I am particularly interested in. Besides the usual things we all hear on TV and read about in our daily newspapers, I have discovered that:

1- It is possible to go a whole week wearing the same undergarments, whether or not you have taken a shower.............

2. It is possible to wear the same outer garments for a whole month regardless of how many times you have walked out of the house to   "just look around".

3. and it is possible to go to the local grocery store having completed #1 and 2 as noted above since you have to stay at least 6' away from others. 

In the past I would have never known any of these facts, simply because I would never think of them.  Now, I have all the time in the world to experiment with these new ideas.

Technically, covid 19 has brought the world closer to me. I spend more time on the phone then usual. I have renewed friendships AROUND the world that I have missed since retirement in 1994. I have found it so easy to once again speak with old, and I do mean old,  high school classmates.......but in talking with them it brings back memories of how beautiful a person each and everyone of them were then and how they have remained that way..................... I have been able to reach across the globe to friends from Scandinavian Airlines, where I spent 40 years of my life,  and reminisce about days gone by, even to the extent of seeing them eye to eye with new technics of skype, zoom and facetime .  In some ways, What a wonderful life,................in other ways, so disturbing.

COVID PANDEMIC;

This Covid pandemic has, in many ways, brought back memories of the past. Nothing else to do, really,  then to try and keep yourself busy doing things that you enjoy................and...............always keep a pure sense of humor even if it means laughing at stupid things. For myself, I have started to download about 4000 photo prints into my computer to put them on thumb drive sticks. I have been able to eliminate about 200 so far that just don't meet expectations of being............an ideal photo. Takes up a lot of time and certainly brings back a ton of memories. Just can't think of reasons, why, I would have taken "that" particular picture in the first place....I'm now in the process of trying to edit some of them, just to be able to bring some life into them, that along is hysterical. 

I have also found, that my phone bill is quite high, simply for the reason that I have the urge to talk to some very old................or to be politically correct ...............equally old friends from around the world. If for no reason, to find out if they are still alive, or mentally capable of being able to remember, things of the past.. Those are the happiest of moments for me for it has opened up a life, that  has been temporally forgotten. We can sit on the phone for hours, just thinking back at "better times." There are many times, Margot, will find me talking to friends at far away as Australia, just to say Hello. It even gives me the opportunity to regain what little Swedish I know, even though I have that same opportunity to speak it 24/7 with Margot.............but she tends to correct me like my high school teachers use to do..............and I did not really appreciate being corrected so much by them. It seems they simply had it out for me............personally.  

WHAT WILL THE NEW YEAR BRING

Hopefully, we will be able to once again do some of the things that we are so used to doing. I do suspect that wearing a mask might be around for some time,  who really knows. One main thing I have learned from all of this though, is to simply accept what must be done to protect yourself. Continue to wash your hands...................very often, and wear your mask when appropriate and keep some distance, which is very hard for me, being Italian................I'm a hugger.........at heart.

I found this little  you tube presentation and thought you might like to see what happens when different parts of your body want to be something else.  You may have to copy and paste it into your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LR2qZ0A8vic?rel=0

Stay safe my friends.

Vito 

TIME ON MY HANDS

As one gets older, more down time seems to accumulate faster.  This Covid19 is just making it accumulate at an even faster rate. Gets me to thinking just how long, my marriage or any marriage can last if, say, you live in an apartment or a house with anything less than 1500 sq feet, which by the way, is the size of an average 3 bedroom  house. Margot and I am quite lucky in this case we have a house that's just about the 3800 sq' area. I can always lose myself and go down to my approximate 1400 square foot man cave.  There are many things I'm learning about myself, during this covid 19 period.  There are two things that's needed each and every day. One is you should laugh at least three times a day but I mean belly-laughs not just a little haha.  Belly  laughs very important, the second thing is to have a really good bathroom break.  Having these two things will keep your spirits up and your stomach cramps down. Another thing people need is conversation,  not with yourself but with other people keep in touch with old friends make new friends for conversation is very very important, one must keep that brain active find a hobby do something other than just watching TV.  The one scary thing is that spending so much  with each other expands the ability of being able to complete each other's sentences to now being able to anticipate and complete each other's thoughts. That alone is mind boggling. Several  other things that I have discovered from being  housed for so long is ........   casual Friday, has become casual Sunday thru Saturday. That it is now accepted to begin the first four hours of your day, in slippers and pajamas , here again it tends to be a little scary as I don't wear slippers or pajamas, so my day begins barefooted and in boxer shorts..............of course they are designer boxers, with an extra label with my name on it.  An old thing, I picked up from my military days. Another thing I have noticed is that taking a shower every five days, is no different from taking a shower every third day or every day.  I just don't do anything to get dirty that water is needled to  wash  away. I also found that I am able to cut down on changes of clothing. Since we don't see anyone, or go anywhere, I can actually wear the same T-shirt and shorts every day, of every week of every month. IF for any reason, they have to be  washed or freshened up a little, that can be done within the four hour time in any morning that I am bare footed and in my boxers. If I do lay out on the deck, in total sunshine and begin to perspire, since we have dense trees blocking views of neighbor houses, I can simply take of my clothes  and place them in the shade.Keeps them fresh.

So, my friends, as you can see, Covid19 has brought about many changes to our lives, some good many bad, but necessary.  Life will go on, and you just have to make a few adjustments here and there. Margot and I seem to be constantly able to talk about places we've been, people we know and when we want our quiet time, she will disappear to her upstairs office and surf the web, look at her wardrobe and wonder if she will ever again be able to wear that new outfit. She has even taken up the art of ......watching people of the neighborhood doing their thing. I find refuge in my man cave and reminisce about the good old days and do a little writing.  If we need company, we have each other, to discuss what we will have for lunch...................or dinner. That is usually done over a cup of coffee, with a muffin or biscotti....................which is beginning to show, guess I need some exercise, so for now I will walk up and down the three flights of stairs in our house about ten times.

WELCOME TO MY 4TH OF JULY

My daughter and her husband, decided to have a 4th of July BBQ.  We were wondering just how they intended to pull this off , especially with the active Covid 19 and all the precautions that needed to happen. First of all, I must describe  her house. The house is large enough, so that just in case of inclimate weather, we could observe the social distancing rule. Her backyard is very well designed to accommodate the social distancing rule. We were very lucky, that this holiday weekend, was the 1st weekend in the past 7 with no rain in the forecast. She kept the invitations limited  and it only included intermediate family.( Margot and I, Lisa and Tim and Scott and Jessica )  Our grandsons (Scott's twin boys 24yrs old) both had other plans so were not able to attend, which left just 6 people.  Margot and I were the first to arrive.  We had our required masks on when we arrived at the front door.  Lisa, being a recent certified medical assistant graduate, met us at the door with her mask on,  took our temperatures and  had hand sterilizer available.  She then showed us how they set up the living area furniture for social distancing, just on case of any rain. She also, gave us instructions in the use of the bathroom, where she had sterilizing wipes for wiping down the flush knob, water knobs and door handle, and toilet seat  after using and supplied a lined trash bucket for the disposal of the wipes. In the kitchen she had the appetizers laid out, along with paper plates and plastic utensils. Only the wine was served in a glass, all other drinks in paper cups,  beer from the bottle or can. All the salads, had plastic serving spoons and throw-away plastic gloves were supplied for the handling of cracker, olives, pickles, slices of cheese etc.  Tim was the designated cook on the BBQ, which consisted of chicken breast and hamburgers, with cheddar cheese.  Each person collected their individual preference and their paper plates were loaded up by themselves, keeping the social distancing in mind.   Sitting and eating took place outside where they had either individual tables and lounge chairs or you could sit at a large garden table covered with a throw-away paper cloth. Masks were not required to be worn, outside or if you kept the 6' distance. For the next 6 hours, we sat, ate, drank, talked and laughed just like old times but with the "new habits" set in our minds. Elbow bumping was in place for exiting the party.  A great time was had by all.  It just proved that even with this pandemic, you could appreciate one in other and remain with some kind of safety in mind, even to the point of sanitizing our hands and wearing our masks when leaving.   

Thanks  Lisa and Tim.    

That's it for now, stay safe, wash your hands, wear your mask and keep busy.  Work that mind !!!!!