SWINE FLU

Uncle Frankie is back in circulation. My parents say he showed up for a while yesterday. He & my father made it to the game last night even though the weather was bad. The stationery next door to O.L. Mt. Carmel is opened again but when I went there this morning to get the Citizen's Voice the girl said she didn't have it. I went to Turkey Hill in Exeter & got it & a full tank of gas. Tomorrow is Frank's birthday. He's an old friend from 92 Street & St. Gabriel's. He's two years older than I. His sister Madeline & I were in the same class. The swine flue still hovers over us. Places have notices about safety precautions. I just noticed at church lately, that the Diocese of Scranton has all sorts of new directives to avoid risk. There are posters on doors in the churches. Columbus Day is coming up on Monday. I suppose we shall have to be ready for all the inevitable subversive left wing protests.

LOUSY WEATHER

My car has been working quite smoothly since I got the new battery put in yesterday. Uncle Frankie has been ill lately. That's why he hasn't shown up in quite a while. Today would have been Beatle John's sixty ninth birthday. Even though he's been dead for practically thirty years the infamous Swain of Liverpool still stirs up lots of controversy. It's been bitter cold & raining all day today. Our Friday dance won't be even the least bit enjoyable this time around. I don't know whether this week's football game is tonight or tomorrow but I don't envy anyone who has to show up tonight. It's snowing in Colorado but at least I've found out that it's very nice in California & Virginia. I'm still reading the book by Umberto Eco & the one by Bill Donohue. I shall soon get back to the Carmelite books too.

BIG CAR TROUBLES

Yesterday went quite well. It was rather an uneventful day until I tried to leave O.L. Mt. Carmel last night. Ada was the only one who wasn't available for the meeting. She went to a G.O.P. fund raiser. Fr. Jackson, Lynn, Jonathan & Neil were there. We talked about angels. Lynn gave us a copy of an old speech, by Pope John Paul II, about angels. There was a band, in the auditorium, practicing for an upcoming event. They were too loud. At around 8:30 we ended up deciding that it was time to leave. Everyone went out into the parking lot together. I was the first to try to go home. When I tried to start my car I noticed that the battery was dead. I got the other people to jump it for me with their cables. When I got up this morning my father & I went to Sears in Wilkes_Barre to get a new battery. The mechanic who was supposed to do the job wasn't available. He was about two hours late. It all ended fairly well. It was just too annoying.

BARNES & NOBLE

The weather is like March now for most of each day. It's frequently a little too windy though. It rained all night last night. Unfortunately my cough is still here. Other than that this would be a perfect time. Tonight I have to go to the meeting in Pittston. Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble over in Wilkes_Barre. As usual, it was the one by the mall. There's always trouble construction & traffic congestion all over the place these days so the trip each way was more than slightly annoying. I'm now reading Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" & Bill Donohue's "Secular Sabotage: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America". Today is my cousin Patrizia's birthday. We've never met in person but we're in touch on Facebook.

ATE CANDY

My annoying cough continues. I've been trying all sorts of things to tone it down. Tomorrow I have to go back to the next meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel in Pittston. Ada was just telling me this morning that she won't be able to make it because she has to go to a G.O.P. fund raiser. She said that we shall be getting some new people. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday when I wasn't around. He left some candy bars that he got while visiting Fran over the weekend. I made sure I ate one. It's some obscure company I've never even heard of before. Today is Gary's birthday. He & I have never met in person but we're on each other's friends lists on Facebook. He's a DJ over in Missouri on Alice 95.5 It's also Gerard's birthday. He's an old friend from St. Gabriel's, now on my Facebook friends list.

LECTORED YESTERDAY

The game was on Saturday morning but only Uncle Frankie went. My father was too tired & their friend Tony wasn't available. I'm still practicing my guitar on quite a regular basis. Because I no longer have a variety of sheet music to choose from it can get quite predictable. My persistent cough is also truly beginning to get more than a little annoying. I made sure I drank some tea with honey on Saturday. That seemed to have helped a little bit. I've always really liked tea but somehow I've not been in the habit of drinking it over the course of the past many years. The weather these days is unpredictable. Over the course of any single day it can be both bitter cold & exceptionally warm within hours. We also have frequent rainstorms & showers. Yesterday I lectored at 10:30 Mass. All went well.

COUGH CALMED DOWN

I went to 7:30 Mass at O.L. Mt. Carmel in Pittston this morning. There was a pea soup fog. It was worse when I first left. By the time I was on my way home it was much better & only very bad in certain spots. Uncle Frankie showed up for a while yesterday. I made a mistake. The big game isn't until this afternoon. It's often on Saturdays. Mary Anne called yesterday with all the latest about her family. When I got up this morning I couldn't help noticing that my throat isn't as violently out of control as it was yesterday. I made sure I got some Hall's cough drops yesterday. I have to lector tomorrow at 10:30 Mass. With any luck my throat will sound at least a bit better by then. Slowly but surely I'm finishing the candy I got from Vinnie. It includes raisins & pretzels too.

ILL LATELY

The cold weather is now truly upon us. I always seem to need a heavy sweater & coat these days. Dave says he's losing customers because of it & because of old age. Uncle Frankie came over for a while yesterday. As far as I know he & my father are going to their weekly game tonight. The annual St. Therese novena is now over for this year. Yesterday was the last day. There was a Mass with a visiting priest. I woke up yesterday with a violent headache & was afraid I might not make it to the last day but I got there. There was a party afterward but I didn't stick around. I think my annual allergy has turned into a bit of a cold. I'm extremely run down & hoarse. I don't have a headache anymore but I always cough. We have to say the first happy Friday of October & dance the first Friday dance of the month. This Sunday there will most probably be a nice Octoberfest over on Wellwood Avenue in Lindenhurst. We say happy birthday to Brian in California today. He's an old friend.

DREARY FEAST DAY

Today is the first day of October. I took out the garbage & put a bunch of leaves in front of the house this morning. Frequently the leaves smell extremely seriously gross but today they weren't quite so bad somehow. I woke up this morning to a very dreary day with lots of clouds. The cold autumn weather seems to have made its appearance. I also have a seriously annoying headache. It's the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, The famous Little Flower of the Carmelites. Later today will be the last day of the novena. Yesterday when I went to the church, I couldn't help noticing that the Unimart gas station nearby was selling gas for only $2.38.9, the lowest I've seen in quite a while. Of course I couldn't resist that price so I made sure I filled my tank. The bridge work is still going on. So far it hasn't interfered with anything I've been doing so I don't mind. Even when they're not working on the main part of the bridge, where people have to drive, they always seem to be doing something on the part that's by the river.

SWINE FLU

My hair gets progressively more annoying with each passing day. So does my persistent cough. Like Steve, I seem to get stuck with quite an attack of allergies each year at around this time. October begins tomorrow with the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. I've been showing up at her annual novena over at the Maronite church on Loomis St. in Wilkes_Barre. It ends tomorrow. I made sure I got something really nice each day of the bake sale. Lately there's been quite a panic going on over here about the upcoming swine flu epidemic we've been expecting. Eventually we shall all have to get shots. The weather recently alternates among cold, warm, & rainy each day. As usual these days the bridge on Eighth Street is still under construction & traffic is an absolute nightmare because of it.