NOVEMBER HAS ARRIVED

November has started out quite uneventfully. My mother's ride came over this morning to take her to the big thing at QVC. I think Fran's friend Dolores may have been driving. Halloween appeared to have gone quite well even though there seemed to have been only relatively few kids out trick_or_treating. Unfortunately the candy's as fattening as it is enjoyable. In honor of the big night, Channel 96 showed reruns of "The Munsters" all night. Aunt Lauren is supposed to bring Benjamin over tomorrow in his costume. The only thing I didn't like about yesterday was that the doorbell rang entirely too frequently. As if I don't already despise telephones quite bitterly enough, now I have to contend with all the political calls too. At least they'll be over with after Tuesday. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday & he & my father went to their usual Friday night game at around 5:00. It must have been only a very short one because they were home by 9:00. I just noticed that the guy who played Mr. Clean died early last month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIM & EARL

Many Kudos go out to the birthday boys. I just got an e mail from Jim. I was going to give blood way over in Hanover but that's too far for something I always do at local places anyway, so why bother? Rose called yesterday. We always have to keep up with the New Yorkers. Last night I saw a couple of episodes of yet another long_lost eighties classic, "Check It Out", starring Don Adams. Tomorrow promises to be quite a very busy day for my mother & Fran at QVC. A lot of people really seem to enjoy that kind of thing. I just found out that Vanilla Fudge recorded a version of "Ramble On", the song we all know of from Led Zeppelin's early years. I like Led Zeppelin's version better though. Each one, in its own way, makes for quite an especially nice Friday dance. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. My parents went shopping for a few hours. Oddly, as cold as it is these days, there's one house in the neighborhood where some guy is always there cutting grass & doing yard work.

BLOOD DONATION TOMORROW

I made sure I called the Red Cross this morning about directions tomorrow. The number that comes onto the caller ID isn't the right one. It doesn't work so I was forced to get the right one from the phone book. It should be a fairly easy trip. They guy I spoke to gave me directions by way of South Main Street. I hope my iron count's been at least a little better lately. I've been eating some beets each day because they told me beets are very good for iron. Unfortunately I've never been all that much of a beet fan. Happy twelfth birthday to Karen's son Tony. Yesterday I watched two episodes of "Cheers" & last night I saw two episodes of "Too Close For Comfort". Those were two amazingly good shows. As far as I know Uncle Frankie never showed up yesterday. At least I didn't see him.

WEATHER BETTER

It's cold today but nowhere near as nightmarishly bad as yesterday. Unlike certain areas, we didn't get any snow. The fifty first annual St. Jude novena went well & is now over for this year. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. As usual, nothing distinctive has been going on with him lately. I played my guitar for a while. I got in touch with Vinnie & made sure I told him about it. My mother has to go visit Fran on Saturday. They're supposed to go on a tour of QVC. Last night was "The Ropers" night on Channel 96 & tomorrow they're supposed to show "Too Close For Comfort" all night. It's really nice to be able to see all those old shows again, especially since TV these days is usually nothing but a total waste of brain cells. Those late '70's/early '80's shows most certainly don't seem to get any mileage these days so all the real TV trivia fans can count on quite a feast for at least a while.

MISERABLE WEATHER

Last night it started raining a while after I got home. I woke up this morning to a particularly bitter windy, rainy day. It's even been snowing in upstate N.Y. & a few areas of Pa. Tonight is the last night of the St. Jude novena. Last night I went to confession while I was there. Yesterday I played my guitar a little & didn't read any of that Shakespeare play but I shall get back to it. The election is now exactly a week away. Halloween's only three days away. It's Jim's & Earl's birthday. They're both extremely old friends of mine from my early days. I haven't seen Earl in a long time. I think he & his family moved back to Puerto Rico. Today, in Greece, they celebrate Ochi Day, to commemorate the day, During World War II, when they joined the Allies. Surprisingly, that's something I can't remember from any of my old history classes.

TV WEEKEND

On Friday night, I watched "Dr. Strangelove" again. Peter Sellers played three roles. I've seen it a few times by now. Recently I found out about Channel 96. Last night I watched two reruns, in a row, of one of my all_time favorite shows, "Newhart". After that I watched, on the Catholic channel, "Die Grosse Stille"/"Into Great Silence", an examination of life inside the Grande Chartreuse in France. Unfortunately it lasted for pert near three hours. I didn't even get to go to bed until slightly before midnight. Mary Anne called last night. As far as I know it wasn't about anything especially distinctive. When I tried to play my guitar yesterday the strings were all plum out of tune. That's always gotten me really frustrated. Yesterday I read a review, in the Times Leader, of a book that may turn out to be really interesting. It's by a Portugese author whom I have never even heard of. The books premise revolves around the question of what would happen if death were to abandon us. People would still get into accidents, get ill & suffer all manner of misfortune. Only death would be unavailable. Financially, emotionally, socially & otherwise, it turns out to be an absolute nightmare.