Wednesday, June 20, 2018


Blog #67

A few weeks ago, I was trying to describe to you how hot it was.  I told you it was so hot that J-Lo had traded Marc Anthony for Ice T.  Cute, right?  Well Abby, my youngest daughter, corrected me.  J-Lo apparently divorced Marc Anthony several years ago and is now an item with A-Rod.  I’d apologize for my mistake, but I know you don’t give a rat’s posterior which alphabet soup J-Lo is dating this week.  I have so much to do and cannot waste my time on which multi-millionaire actress is dating which mega-millionaire athlete and who is cheating on whom and who is having whose baby and what they are wearing or how much they weigh.  I’m too old for that.

I don’t care whose baby they’re carryin’
No interest in whom they are marryin’
Not one bit of passion
For any Kardashian
I’m just an old septuagenarian.

And by the way, as long as I’m bitching, I might as well get it all out of my system.  Who came up with initial-names like J-Lo and A-Rod?  Do they think that’s a new thing?  Nope, those kinds of names have been around since the Romans.   In fact, Cleopatra’s nickname for Julius Caesar was Ju-C.  That was before Cleo got involved with Mark Antony.  Which was before Mark Antony changed his name to Marc Anthony and got involved with J-Lo.  It’s complicated.

Back when I was young, there were plenty of celebrities with cute nicknames.  Here are some:

Tom Selleck was T-Sell                      Lloyd Nolan was L-No
Doris Day was D-Day                        Sandra Dee was San-D
Red Buttons was Red-Butt                 Julie Christie was Ju-Christ

And Isaac Newton was referred to as I-New.  Yes, he did.

Welcome back, everyone.  Are you feeling ok?  Did you have a nice Father’s Day?  Mine was great – some cards and little gifts and warm thoughts from my three daughters and my eight grandchildren and my wife.  Lovely!  I’m glad I’m not raising kids today.  It just seems like the world has changed so much, and not all for the better, but let’s hold that topic for another day.

Everybody says that retail is dead, but I’m not so sure.  Now trending are small stores that specialize in only one or two items.  It makes life so simple.  For instance, if you need bags, go to Sacks.  If you need bagels or donuts, go to Hole Foods.  And if you need dice, go to Seven-Eleven.

I’ve had a cough for weeks, and I finally decided to go to Dr. Intern.  I’m usually reluctant to visit doctors.  There are two reasons: 1) because the doctor might find something really bad which I probably should know about but don’t want to, and 2) because Carol usually knows more than the doctor.  But this had been going on for a while and I just wanted some antibiotic to kill it.  So I went and I got the prescription, but when I picked it up, the chief pharmacist drew me aside to voice his concern that this particular antibiotic, when taken with another of my medications, can cause some serious side effects.  He had ok’d it with Dr. Intern, but still felt the need to give me a written list.

I started to read the list of possible side effects.  The first group included the ever-popular internal bleeding, stomach pains and swelling, but I thought I could take the chance.  In the second group, the word “death” caught my attention, but what the heck, nobody lives forever.  The next group included back pain, blurred vision and confusion, but I already have those.  The last group included the deal breaker – acne.  I’d rather cough. 

I was at the Zoo yesterday handing out maps and important answers to highly intricate and technical questions like Where’s the bathroom?  When I handed one tourist a Zoo map with the words ZOO MAP clearly emblazoned thereon, she asked me, “Is this a map to the Zoo?”  Dumb as a pot-sticker.  “No,” I replied calmly, “it’s a map of Venezuela in case you’re planning to visit there later.”  Jeesh!  Another tourist, upon receiving his map, handed me a $5 tip.  Wow, I must really have looked old and decrepit!  I refused and told him to buy his daughter an ice-cream instead.

If you’re depressed, go to Lows.  If you want to buy marijuana, go to Quick Trip.  And if you want to take your first wife to lunch, go to Fed Ex.

Back to the pharmacist and the Zoo.  After about fifteen minutes at the Zoo, I had an overwhelming attack of dizziness and had to be treated by the medics.  It was the pills.  See, never make fun of your pharmacist.

Last week I mentioned Carol likes those colorful, anti-slip hospital socks.  My friend Bruce was in the hospital when he read that blog, so he requisitioned a pair of socks and gave them to Carol as a present.  Sure, I slave and strain for hours every day on my blog, sweating and squeezing my superannuated brain cells for their last bits of amusing fluff just to entertain my loyal readers!  And who gets the present?  She does. I know how Rodney Dangerfield felt.

If you need cheap landscaping, go to Dollar Tree.  If you need help in doing a blog, go to Write Aid.  Or if you’re looking for a boorish, insulting and obnoxious man, go to Dicks.

I got a letter today addressed to Resident.  Here’s what it said, word for word, no joke: Dear Jesus, we pray that you will bless someone in this home spiritually, physically and financially.
         
Do they think Jesus lives here?  Who knows?  I looked everywhere.  I even looked in the bathtub.  He could be taking a walk.  I’ve heard of Dear John letters and Dear Santa and Dear Abby, but Dear Jesus?  I should be careful what I write about Jesus.  He could sneak out of wherever He’s hiding and read it.  And my luck – I’d be the first person He doesn’t forgive.

Well, you’ll forgive me, won’t you, if I apologize for anything I’ve said in the last sixty-seven weeks that has shocked, insulted, scandalized or disappointed you?  I’ve been married fifty-one years, so I’m good at apologies.  Come to think of it, I retract it all.  I am who I am and you get what you get.  I’m not apologizing to anyone.  Except Carol.  So come back next week and be shocked and scandalized some more. I know you love it.  Count your blessings, stay well and watch out for the heat.  I’ll see you next week.

Michael                          Send comments to:  mfox1746@gmail.com



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