HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HENRY

Today is Henry's birthday. He's exactly ten days younger than I. He & I first met when we worked together in S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale's mail room & print shop in 1980. Then we worked together at the Melville postal service in 2004. Yesterday I tried to give blood in Plains. I showed up very early, but wasn't allowed to give them anything because my iron count was too low. Technicalities like that happen every once in a while. As soon as I got kicked out, I made sure I went over to the Little Flower novena. Of course, I was more than a little early. Fr. Bill opened the church at 2:30. I talked to him for a couple of minutes. The weather is very damp & dreary today. It's been raining since at least very early this morning. That makes for a somewhat more than slightly annoying Friday dance. Mary Anne & family will be showing up tonight if the weather's not too bad. If it really stinks, they'll be here tomorrow.

BLOOD DRIVE

Later today I have to go to the American Legion Post at 101 E. Carey St. in Plains for a blood drive. That street is on a seriously steep hill. So far the novena to the Little Flower has been working out quite well. I especially like the fact that by now, I'm used to going there so it's no trouble for me anymore. Mary Anne & family will be showing up tomorrow night for the birthday party. My back still hurts but the pain is sort of dwindling down to a minimum by now. My latest excursion into junk food has been popcorn. Recently I have been eating at least a little bit each night from out of a huge bag . Every day lately I get more & more e mail from the Ronald, Mark & Brian. It's all about the story of stuff. It's a never ending political, economic & social tirade. I, of course, occasionally like to make sure I butt in. Besides my father, today's also Mary's birthday. She lives way over in the State of Washington.

ST. THERESE NOVENA

Yesterday I went to the first day of the annual novena to St. Therese of Lisieux. It's their eighty first year. It's at St. Anthony/St. George's Maronite church on 79 Loomis St. in Wilkes_Barre. They have a novena to her every Monday too. Unfortunately, Fr. Bill, who's in charge of the novena, is being transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah. Fr. Walsh, our pastor, was invited yesterday & last night to be the guest homilist. He & Fr. Bill, who's a monsignor, have been very good friends ever since they were kids. Unlike last year, when I was still entirely unfamiliar with the area, yesterday I did quite a good job of getting there & back. I made sure I stopped at the Sunoco on River Road in Plains for ten dollars worth of gas in case the prices go up again. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday & hung around for a while. While he was here, Fran called. Mary Anne called last night too. Tomorrow is my father's birthday. We shall be partying over the weekend. I still haven't bothered to get my desperately needed haircut. It's a good way to get people crazy.

AUTUMN

Alas, fall has arrived. It's really nice up to a point. I just can't handle all the extremes when things really get rolling. It appears that this was one church fund raiser where I, unfortunately, didn't end up winning anything. Unfortunately, because I put myself through all sorts of extra strain on Sunday, I spent all day yesterday entirely wiped out with an extremely annoying headache. Lately my back hurts a little less each day. Yesterday I got a birthday card from Red Lobster(I think). It struck me as quite a surprise until I opened it & noticed that it was an invitation from Marriott Hotels, to some kind of a time share presentation. Those companies are always trying to sucker people into things like that. Lately I've been occasionally watching "Seinfeld" again. It's an extremely seriously odd show, with characters & circumstances that just aren't to be believed. That must be why I've turned out to be such a fan. I like to think I may be perhaps classified as somewhat on the eccentric side.

ST JOSEPH'S HARVEST FESTIVAL

The big day for St. Joseph's was yesterday. Their annual harvest festival started immediately after 12:30 Mass. I dressed for the miserable weather at the beginning of the day. I wore my heavy Strawberry Fields sweater. It was cold, damp & foggy. It got very nice later on though. My parents, Uncle Frankie & Fran all showed up. I ran into John, an old friend of Fran's & Fran introduced me to her old friend Linda's mother. The same couple as last year, John & Millie, were in charge of everything. The got me working at the food stand, which was quite an absolute nightmare for one & all. It was hectic & confusing & the take out orders were an absolute nightmare. They also made me sell Wii's & take charge of a children's game. I pigged out quite a whole lot. Unlike the other churches' fundraisers, I don't think I won anything at this one. Unfortunately when we were going food shopping on Saturday at Food Town, my father tripped over the curb & fell. He didn't get too badly hurt but it was very annoying.

CARMELITE MEETING

Today I went to the Carmelite meeting. There were only five people, including Sister Catherine, so Fr. Garth & Rosemary didn't bother to show up. They want to wait until we can count on as close to perfect attendance as possible. Rosemary got us a new book, "Prophets Of Fire" by Fr. Kilian Healy, O.Carm. Right before I left I made sure I got six dollars worth of contest tickets for all the baskets they were raffling off. A while ago I was on quite a streak. I always seemed to when each time I took a chance on a basket that was being raffled off by a church. My father went to the game last night. On the way he stopped to pick up Tony. My lower back still hurts quite a whole lot but I'm learning to handle it by now. Yesterday the stock market, for the few minutes that I watched the news, was absolutely going right through the roof. As I pass by a few local gas stations lately I've been noticing that gas prices have gone down a little lately, though only by a few pennies. I quite desperately need a haircut but have never been all that ambitious about getting them. Alas I reckon I shall most certainly have to pay Rose the barber lady a visit one of these days.

NATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

Ahoy, me ma'eys. Don't'cha know? Besides the fact that it also happens to be the Feast of San Gennaro, today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Everybody has to talk like a pirate all day, especially while he's doing the Friday dance. Last night I watched "Burn Notice" again. I absolutely despise the fact that it's on so insanely late at night but it's the only current show I even bother with anyway. Uncle Frankie called my father last night & explained that he can't go to tonight's big game because he has to go to New Jersey tomorrow & doesn't want to take any chances before the trip. My father is going with their friend Tony. My back still hurts like crazy, but only when I move. If I stay in one position nothing happens. Tomorrow I have to show up at what promises to be a very busy Carmelite meeting. Last week I got a notice from the local Red Cross asking me to go back to Plains, this time to the American Legion, for yet another blood drive. A few nights ago a woman called up to confirm an appointment for me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIZ KITTI

Long long ago, in a land far far away, Miz Kitti & I first met. Today is her birthday. We used to work together over in Melville & Farmingdale. I haven't gotten a chance to see her in a while but like everyone else, she's on my e mail list. Last night I saw "Across the Universe". When I first tried to put it on there were technical difficulties but after a while it all worked out. It starred Evan Rachel Wood & Bono. The Beatles have always been my very favorites & the sixties my favorite era. The movie is a lot like "Apocalypse Now" & "1969" but all the music was written by either Lennon & McCartney or George Harrison. I wish there could have been a bit more emphasis on their early songs but it was really good. Anyone who's really knowledgeable about the Fab Four & the Vietnam era could have quite an interesting time with all the familiar references. It lasted for over two hours but I managed to hang on. Last night Mary Anne & Sam called to say happy birthday. Michael called a couple of hours later. They all seem to be doing quite well lately.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Well it's my big day. They say the first forty nine years are the toughest & after that it's supposedly all just one long blast. I got my St. John the Baptist alumni bulletin yesterday. Many congratulations to Wally Lace, my twelfth grade sociology teacher, who's now their principal. Wally's celebrating forty years of affiliation with SJB. Congratulations are also due to Sister Rose Taranto, O.P. who is celebrating seventy years as a professed Religious. Unfortunately I found out about the deaths of Sister Christophine Rogers, O.P. & Sister Mercy Posthauer, O.P. Sister Christophine was one of my music teachers in the ninth grade. Sister Mercy was one of my theology teachers in the eleventh & twelfth grade. Last night I went to O.L. Sorrows because it was the parish's patronal feast day. Of course, Fr. Walsh made me help with evening prayer. There was dessert with coffee, tea, etc. after it was all over. Yesterday I also made sure I took advantage of Fran's & Lisa's gift card at Blockbuster to get DVD's of "Across the Universe" & "Bella".

BIRThdAY PARTY

Saturday, as usual, I lectored at 5:00 Mass. Laura was my sidekick. Other than that it was an uneventful day. Yesterday was my birthday party. Fran, Lisa & Uncle Frankie all showed up. There was very much food & dessert, all of which was quite fattening. On top of that, I finished the night off with a Holy Name Society party, where Jerry made hamburgers & peppers. I passed on the peppers but ate hamburgers with onions & relish. There were beer & soda too. Fr. Walsh is back in circulation as of this weekend. He showed up at the meeting. Dave came over to help this morning with setting up my new TV set. The old one is now in the garage. I don't even bother to watch TV anyway but hey, things happen. Lately gasoline prices have been going up through the roof again, so I made sure I went to the Turkey Hill station over in Forty Fort to get $21worth of gas over with in one shot so I can avoid any unnecessary trouble with the sudden jolt in price. John, an old friend from high school, has just sent me a happy birthday e mail. My guitar playing continues as always, however small my repertoire may be. On Saturday there was a big parade of firemen outside because of the Wyoming Fire Dept.'s hundredth anniversary. It was loud, annoying &, at first, a little on the scary side.