HAPPY FRIDAY

The Memorial Day weekend beckons. My father & Gino went over to the Italian graveyard this morning to visit the kinfolk at around 9:30. There will be all sorts of parades & festivities this weekend because of the emphasis people put on paying homage to deceased veterans. Around here they like to take advantage by honoring the deceased in general. Last night my parents went out because my mother needed a haircut. Of course, typically for them, that turned into a shopping trip that lasted until at least around 9:30. They left at 6:00. I heard from the blood drive people. Sandy called me on the phone to make sure I'd be willing to show up on Wednesday to give blood again, preferably a double red cell donation. I hope my iron count will be good enough for them this time around. It wasn't quite right last time. They already sent me a card in the mail last week but apparently they must not have trusted me so they called just in case. Michelle's husband Doug recently won an award that's given to policemen.

NICE DAY

The weather was bitter, dreary & raining this morning. It's been getting awfully confusing lately. Part of the day is lousy & part is nice. Once again I went to St. Anthony's 7:00 Mass this morning. The usual faces were there. Fr. Walsh will be out of sight at least until the weekend. After Mass I went to Turkey Hill in Exeter for gas & the paper. Gas prices literally go up each day. My morning routine these days is not necessarily all that interesting but at least it's quite easy to memorize. Happy birthday to Steve, who's three years younger than I. Roads around hear are an absolute nightmare. The potholes & other signs of wear & tear on the side streets. Every day I have to be more & more careful to avoid going the least bit too fast lest I incure any unnecessary risk of damage to my car. This morning my father went to the V.A. hospital for a check up. My mother wants to make sure she gets yet another haircut pretty soon too. I read more of Cardinal Newman's book yesterday & I also watched "I Love Lucy" & "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire". As always I couldn't answer any of the current pop culture questions on the game show.

QUIET DAY

Yesterday Uncle Frankie called & came over for a while. Not so much of anything has happened lately. I suppose Fran must be doing fairly well lately. I didn't notice any major comment about her circumstances. There was something in Sunday's paper about how St. Joseph's Church, in Port Griffith is now a part of the past. Their last Mass was that day. They've closed down completely. I got a letter from the blood drive people yesterday. Their having yet another blood drive on May 28. It's going to be at the Plains Ambulance Depot over on Maffett Street. That's exactly the very same place as the last one a few months ago. The weather stunk that day but all worked out well. I'll most probably end up cutting some grass later on today. That's not exactly a barrel of laughs but it's most certainly not exactly fun city around here in general anyway. Lately I've really been plowing through that book by Cardinal Newman. Yesterday I watched "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" & "I Love Lucy" again. Alas, there's still virtually nothing else on these days. Father Walsh, for whatever reason, is not available for the rest of the week, other than Monday, for Mass. Because of that I end up going to Mass at St. Anthony's in Exeter at 7:00 every morning. That's one advantage to being a total insomniac. Getting up early for me is quite an easy deal.

QUIET THESE DAYS

Lately nothing much of note has been happening. The weather has been cool but nice except for some rain yesterday. Mary Anne called last night. This morning, I read something extremely seriously weird in the "Citizen's Voice". A guy said he hoped they'd get rid of Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon. He accused the strip of being mean spirited, arrogant, hypocritical(wow! There's an original complaint!-not!) & never funny. He must be some kind of a left_wing radical who resents traditional family life & western culture in general, I suppose. Eventually I shall have to get a haircut. I just got one in February but by everybody else's standards, except mine, that was a very long time ago. Yesterday I ended up having to go to West Pittston's library because there was entirely too much of a crowd over here. Today it's been nice & quiet so far. I went for gas this morning at Turkey Hill in Exeter. I want to make sure I get as much into my tank as possible before even the regular gas price goes up through the roof. One of the things I'm still quite sick & tired of is all the political hoo.hah over the election. No matter who wins, we're in big trouble anyway.

CONFUSING WEATHER

Saturday was nice but it started pouring after a while. My father & Uncle Frankie went to the big game though. Yesterday was pouring until early in the afternoon. The weather got nice at around 2:30. It just started raining again now. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday. So did Billy from Hilldale for a while. My mother & Aunt Lauren went food shopping. It was recently Aunt Lauren's birthday. I wasn't officially on the schedule to lector on Saturday but I ended up doing it anyway because the people who were supposed to never showed up. It was the fiftieth anniversary for one of the couples who are regulars in the parish. I didn't know who they were at first because I only kind of know the wife but had no idea what her last name was. Everybody's been talking about the big upcoming election in November. Gas prices around here are now over $4.00 per gallon. We need change. That's why people will get suckered into voting for somebody as off.the.wall as Obama. Desperation makes even the very worst of possible change seem like something that should be welcomed. On Saturday I broke one of my very favorite rules again & ate a couple of McDonald's hamburgers & French fries. Those things are absolute poison. Yesterday when I was on my way over to Pittston, there must have been an accident on Main Street by St. Joseph's Church in Port Griffith. The police were there & traffic was stopped. I was forced to take a detour & had no idea of where I was going to end up . All worked out quite well though. I made it through many long & winding roads without much trouble.