Tennis and Cycling

    I have always enjoyed participating in sports activities like many people.  Over the years I have played all of the team sports (soccer, baseball, basketball, etc.) plus individual sports like racketball, golf, tennis and cycling.

     Playing sports relieves tension, keeps you physically fit and builds relationships with others.  Team sports are fun but I have always found individual sports more enjoyable.  Even though you may have an opponent you competing with yourself as much as your opponent.  You are challenging yourself to be a better player and to improve your game.

     As I got older I found I still enjoy sports specifically tennis or cycling and even though I don't have superior tennis skills, I look forward to playing as much as possible.  I enjoy the camaraderie as well as the physical challenge and I am uplifted by the game despite winning or losing.  Even if I am disappointed with my play I don't get stressed out because there are always shots I made that makes me feel good and gives me hope for a better match next time.

     Cycling can provide me camaraderie and physical challenge if I'm riding with a friend.  However when I ride alone in addition to the physical aspects, I find cycling relaxing and rejuvenating for my mind.  I like to take in the sights and sounds of nature or even the city noises, which can be annoying during normal daily activities.  If you don't have second agenda on your mind or a schedule to meet casually cycling on you favorite trail can be liberating.

     I'm sure others will have different sports, which give them the same satisfaction as I get from tennis and cycling.  To that I say enjoy the sport of your choice.  Relieve the stress and open your mind with your sport of choice.  “Just Saying….”

1 Day in New York

     It was in the summer of 1970 while stationed at Fort Belvoir, VA that three Army buddies and I decided to spend a weekend in New York.  Dane Carrico was the member of the group that lived in New York and was supposedly from a well to do background.  He invited us to stay with him at his apartment.  Larry McGeehan, Rich White and myself went along knowing that it would be a fun weekend.

     The 3 of us were from other parts of the country and knew little about the Big Apple so we expected to just follow Dane's lead.  We took a train in to New York arriving early on a Saturday morning and as soon as we arrived, Dane our host and tourist guide so to speak left to go to the men's room, which is not uncommon after a long trip.  The thing is he never returned, leaving the 3 of us puzzled about what we should do.  We waited and waited until we finally realized he wasn't coming back so we started looking for him but we didn't find him or anyone that could help.

     Dane had kind of an aire about him; he was not your typical Army recruit.  One thing in particular will explain what I mean.  All of us had short cropped hair just coming from basic training, but this didn't seem to bother any of us except Dane, whenever he was off duty he would wear a wig even on base.  This struck me as odd but I thought he's a New Yorker (Manhattan specifically) and the rest of us were from the Midwest (country bumpkins) so we would not be familiar with progressive trends of New Yorkers.  Still it was odd, almost embarrassing.

     After a respectable time we decided we would head out on our own, the blind leading the blind.  We headed toward the subway but we all voted against taking it since we didn't know where we would go and subway travel seemed to foreign for us at the time.  We were in Manhattan, so we used our God given means of transportation, we walked all over.  Truthfully it was more like running, see I was the shortest 5'7", at least that's what I claimed but I was really closer to 5'6" and when I say close I mean 5'5". Rich was 6'3" no exaggeration and Larry was somewhere in between. People in New York seem to always be in a hurry so I found myself running to stay up with the crowds but not really noticing it.

     We were in the Army so we didn't have a lot of money so Broadway shows were not on our agenda.  Plus Larry was engaged, saving his money, Rich just graduated from college in Bloomington Il with an Art Degree and I was attending college back home.

     The things I noticed that there was a lot of garbage bags and trash cans in the streets due to the garbage strike.  The traffic was heavy but it was mainly taxicabs and Mercedes.  I guess the subways carried most of the working class.  We also saw a lot of beggars but some were interesting specifically the Viking beggar dressed completely in animal skins and wearing a horned shining helmet as you might expect any Viking to wear and this was a hot summer day.  Dedication to his craft.

     We roamed around the city and I took many pictures with the disposable camera I purchased.  Despite loosing our tour guide we enjoyed the day, looking at the tall buildings and visiting any place with free admission and I had captured some excellent photos of Manhattan.

     After all the walking we needed something to eat so we stopped in a deli, which was very crowded but that's always supposed to be a good sign.  I don't remember any kind of line it just seemed like you wrestled your way to the front to place your order.  Once I placed my order I set my cheap disposable camera on the deli counter to pay then got my sandwich and turned around to head to the table quickly realizing that I left my camera on the counter.  I hadn't even taken a step when I turned back around to get my camera (maximum 3 seconds) and the camera with all my wonderful pictures was gone.  I said "My camera is gone, did anyone see my camera? It was right there a second ago." Amazing no one had seen anything even though we were shoulder to shoulder standing at the counter.  Feeling frustrated I finally said, "Keep the camera I only want the film" but no response, not that I expected any.

     That evening we decided to take the train back to the Army base since we had nowhere to stay and couldn't afford a hotel in Manhattan.  When Dane showed up back at base we ask him where he went and he told us he was mugged and then taken to the police station to make a report.  We wanted to believe him but he didn't look like he had been through any rough treatment so we felt like we had been duped.  Visiting New York was an interesting life experience leaving me with only the photos in my mind but I wouldn't change a thing.

Venice & Lido Italy - Day 6 thru 8

     We were all smiles now that we had received our bags and had ample clothes to proceed with the trip.  So the morning we left Siena we caught the train to Venice, which stopped in Florence where we would have to change trains.  Unfortunately, the train in Florence was a 2 hour wait but at least we wouldn't be late, well that's what we thought.

     Upon arriving in Florence we immediately bought out tickets to Venice to avoid any problems.  Well about 10 minutes before we were to board the train, the girls decided they needed to go to the bathroom, Really!  So as expected the train started boarding and the girls were not back yet, Great!  I would expect that they have facilities on the train so why did they need to potty at the station?  I got nothing.  I saw Mimi running back but without Cindy, John was yelling "Where's Cindy?" Mimi said "She's coming".  To make a long story short they both arrived in time so that we could board the train.  

     Once we boarded, the stress eased and we started looking for our seats, which John and I had scoped out earlier based on our vast knowledge of Italian that we had learned listening to language tapes for the last 3 months.  The thing is, we weren't as proficient as we thought because we confidently sat down in the first class seats and even directed others to their seats but minutes later we found out from the seat owners that we were in their seats.  We gathered up our luggage and trudged back 6 cars to the coach section with out tails between our legs. Verifying the phrase Stupid Americans!  

     We arrived in Venice and immediately boarded a water bus to our hotel on the island of Lido.  That was a pain with all the luggage.  After a short ride to Lido we walked several blocks to the hotel only to find out they booked us in another hotel because they said the bathrooms were broken, sounded suspicious, but whatever.  We then walked a few blocks to our new hotel which had no A/C but it seemed decent, really, what choice did we have.  We spent the rest of the day in Lido walking around he island and down to the beach, beautiful place.

     Early the next morning we took the water bus to Venice and strolled around the city.  We saw a lot of street performers and got our picture taken with Atlas.   We were really hungry and for some reason, don't ask me why we stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch and ate pasta.  That's just crazy; it's like going to a vegetarian restaurant and asking for a hamburger.  Stupid Americans!  We then visited St. Marks Square near the canal and saw many yachts including one that had an airplane, hovercraft, pontoon boat and 2 wave runners on board.  It was wan odd scene seeing this luxurious yacht docked next to house where they had laundry strung up on lines to dry.  

     We took a tour of the canals on a water taxi which was fun and relaxing.  They served us Bellini cocktails on the tour, now who feels like the rich and famous.  After a full day we took the water bus back to Lido, rested a bit before we went to dinner.  Lido was a beautiful island and easy to walk around with very little traffic. There were no cars in Venice but you could have a car on Lido if you had to have it shipped there so it really wasn't worth the trouble.  It was quiet most of the evenings in Lido except for the night some drunks were singing on the way home from the bar about 2 am.  Oh Well! They were happy drunks.

     We next day we left early thinking the water bus wouldn't be crowded but we were wrong.  We were taking the train to Rome but we missed the 10:20am so we had to take the one at 11:20am. Boarded the train and sat in the wrong seats again, what can I say but Stupid Americans!  Venice and Lido were fun and the people were friendly but we should have planned to stay at least 2 more days to take in a few more sites.  Vacations are fun, I'm never disappointed but sometimes surprised.

   

People make me Smile

     Some people like the solitude of nature and I do as well but not all the time.  Being alone with your thoughts is refreshing but I need others to enrich my life.  There are some people that are happiest when they have little or no contact with others.   This is just what they prefer.

     I on the other hand look forward to interactions with others.  I also enjoy quite time with my thoughts but I very much look forward to being with others.  People make me smile especially little kids.  I like to hear others talk about their daily events, struggles/accomplishments or funny stories about their life.  Small kids are most interesting because they are curious about everyone and everything and they rarely prejudge.  It's like you can almost see their minds processing all the new and interesting people and things that come into their view.  Little kids always make me smile.

     To me it's amazing how much you can learn from others just in casual conversations.  Sometimes what you learn is trivial but talking with others, even strangers, makes connections that can be invaluable.  I have found that most people are very open to talking with others if they see that you are open as well.  It's an interesting discovery when talking with strangers to find out how funny and friendly they are with people they don't know.  That's why I say people make me smile, I know I've said that you can chose to be happy but it makes the choice a lot easier when someone makes you smile.

     I enjoy reading a book in solitude but when I've had enough solitude I go out to search for smiles and I'm never disappointed.  If a quiet walk in the forest or fishing alone on the riverbank brings a smile to your face, that is perfect for you, for me it’s people's smiles.  All I can say is "Live your life in a way that makes you smile".

Robbery at the Gas Station

     I was working part time at an Amoco station while attending college.  The station was on the corner of West Florissant and Goodfellow in the Walnut park neighborhood.  This was many years ago when service station attendants actually provided service by pumping your gas, checking your oil, washing your windshield and sometimes checking the air in your tires.

     These gas stations were called full service stations and most disappeared in the late 70's.  It was not uncommon for the attendant to spend 10 minutes or longer servicing the driver’s car when they pulled in for gas.  It was a service that sometimes brought in additional revenue if the car needed a quart of oil and that's when gas cost 35 cents a gallon sometimes less if there was a gas war.  Our lives are too busy in current times and with the Internet we value speed over personal service.

     My duties included doing oil changes, pumping gas, servicing the customer’s car and ringing up the sales on the cash register.  At that time it seemed most sales were cash transactions.  My boss Joe was the owner/mechanic and he worked days and some nights.  After I had been there awhile Joe trusted me to work nights by myself, which included locking up the station at closing.

     The cash register had 4 drawers each containing a small amount of cash (about $50).  When I worked alone at night I would use only the main cash drawer.  The cash register had a lock but a paper clip would easily fit in the slot to open it.

     The station had 4 gas pumps, two in the front and two on the side and you would frequently have cars at both locations needing service so it could get hectic on some nights.  After working one what seemed to be a normal Friday night I closed the station and went home.  The next morning I got a call from my boss asking me to come in to see him, he wanted to discuss something.  I said "Sure, no problem" and went in to see him.  When I arrived Joe called me into the small office and told me I was robbed last night.  "What, how could that be, I was here all night", he then began to explain how the robbery occurred.

     Joe had the tape from the cash register and could tell that only one time that evening the 3 drawers I wasn't using were opened at a specific time.  The tape showed a time as well. I never checked the other drawers when I left because I hadn't been using them.  Joe ask me if anyone had come to the side pumps last night and I told him yes and about what time?  He concluded from the time logged on the tape that someone was stealing the cash from the 3 drawers while I was servicing the car at the side pumps leaving the main drawer untouched so they would not be caught. Someone had obviously been to the station before and knew my routine prior to stealing the money.  Wow!

     I was thankful that I had Joe's trust so he was not suspicious of me and I was also thankful the robbers didn't decide to rob me at gunpoint.  

Feeling Bad? Take a Poop

     I started this post about 2 weeks ago, thinking it was just about some odd advice my mother-in-law (Marg) gave to her kids but just the other day I saw a Facebook post from little kid to the teacher that was sick.  The advice given the teacher was "Take a Poop".  It was then I realized that, many parents must give this advice.

     This was Marg's advice to her young kids when they complained about an ailment.  Now this is sage medical advice for some intestinal problems but not be the be all end all to medical cures for all ailments.  I know being regular is important to your overall health butt this has never been my problem.

     Kids will complain about many things so I'm sure this solved many lame complaints from her kids.  I can almost here her now as one of her children complain about feeling bad.  Marg would say

"Take a Poop and get dressed for school, the bus will be here in 10 minutes."  I'm sure this medical advice squelched many made up illnesses from her 4 young children but it was not a remedy for all medical problems.

     Recently I injured me knee, which makes other parts of your body compensate for a limp, which in turn causes other muscles and joints to hurt.  It's a domino effect.  Now, I know that Marg's advice does not sound like logical advice to solve a knee problem but I always look for simplest solution and "Take a Poop" would be a simple solution.  So when I went to my orthopedic specialists and he told me I had arthritis in my knee.  I secretly hoped his medical advice to cure my problem would be "Jim just Take a Poop and it will be all better" but sadly it was not.

     So this advice does not work in all cases which I'm sure Marg realized when one of her kids came in with their leg or arm bent 180 degrees off, that her normal medical advice would not apply.  In thinking about this advice it came to me that this may have bigger impact on the world than one might think.   In today's world we hear stories daily about terrorist attacks throughout the world so I'm thinking these guys/gals have issues and maybe, just maybe they are all bound up, which might explain their irritable nature.  So my advice to these terrorist is you'll feel better if you "Take a Poop".  “Just Saying….”

Greece (Day 11 -13) Volos and our Bus Trip to the Athens Airport

     We went from the palatial hotel we stayed in for 1 night to dorm room style of living for 2 nights.  Pat was an Architect student from Drury University spending a semester studying in Volos Greece and these apartments were owned/leased by the school.  The apartment was substandard with bad plumbing, decorated and maintained by possibly NO ONE.  We had an interesting few days at Pat’s apartment and I the use the term interesting in reference to the sleeping conditions.

     I feel compelled to talk a little about Pat's apartment, the plumbing was the worst even by Old World standards.  I know coming from the US, our expectations are high and we should not expect the same.  These buildings are old and it is difficult to retrofit plumbing into old buildings with efficiency.  The bathroom floor was always wet, well not just wet but with a pool of water, 1" or so deep. So when you went into the bathroom you were standing in water as you were peeing, "That's just not right, I don't care where you're from".   Apparently this was the way it was and Pat and his roommate just dealt with it.    

     Sleeping on the beds was like laying on a covered ball pit (you know the ones the kids jump in), very lumpy.  The bed was small a single or double and sloped to the middle so no matter where you started out you ended up pinned to your partner which made sleeping difficult.  Our daughters bed was in an extremely small room and she woke up with a bunch of tiny little bug bits, she was not happy.  The kitchen was small but we didn't care because we were not going to eat there.  My son and his buddy did cook there frequently but I'm sure there were no award winning meals.  They did occasionally cook pasta; I know that for sure because I found some stuck to the wall, guess they were checking to see if it was done.  Pat told me they were going to put a frame around it as an art piece.  "Great idea, I'm sure the landlord will be thrilled."

     The days were enjoyable as we strolled around Volos, visiting local places with Pat as our guide.   All the locals knew the Americans because they were the only foreigners in town. Everyone treated us well, in a way we felt special to be the only visitors in town.  The meals in Volos were much better than you get on a tour because we chose the restaurant and the food.  Your menu is limited on tours, which I'm sure this is true with most tours in any country.  The weather was cool, in the 60's, which didn't seem bad to me, dressed in my shorts but the Greeks were concerned that we were cold because after all "It is Winter".

     We were taking the bus directly to the Athens airport.  We booked an early bus so we would not be late for our flight.  As we headed out of Volos the bus had a minor accident.  The bus driver got out of the bus and had a discussion with the driver of the car, money exchanged hands then the bus left.  I guess that's how it works in Greece, seemed pretty efficient, no need dealing with insurance companies.  It was a 2-hour ride to the airport but we now knew how the rest stops worked so there should be no issues. It started to rain hard about 1/2 hour into the trip, but it's all good we were dry and warm in the bus.  Then the bus started to bog down and it eventually stopped pulling over to the side of the road.  "Awesome, another adventure!"  All the passengers are sitting in the bus and the driver is explaining the problem, in Greek, (remember we only speak English) but I already know the problem, "The bus is not moving".

     Even with our great planning by leaving early we are now thinking we could miss our flight home. About that time another bus arrives.  We are told to get off the bus, pick up our luggage and transfer it to the new bus, well at least that's what we saw everyone else doing so we figured we should too.  Oh Yea! The rain is still pouring down, even harder than before.  So I grab our bags and move them to the new bus and we all get on the replacement bus. We still have over an hour before we get to the airport but now the 50 + passengers are soaking wet, we all smell like wet dogs after a long day but despite our soggy spirits we arrived at the airport on time and had no other adventures before boarding the plane. Greece was fun and the people were friendly, but we had some challenges.  Vacations are fun but a travel adventure is exciting and memorable.

   
   
     

Colorado Skiing and "The Shining"

     Back in the 80's I setup a ski trip to Colorado staying in a rented a condo in Breckenridge that had accommodations for 10 (Jim and Mimi, Bud and Rose, Tom and Ann, John and Debbie, Bill and Brenda).  The owner of the condo stayed in a small log cabin behind the condo.  We planned to ski both Breckenridge and Arapahoe (A-Basin) which was near by.

     On our trip out we used CB radios to caravan to the ski resort, which worked well and helped pass the time until we ran into a blizzard coming out of Eisenhower tunnel.   It was very difficult to see so all we could do was follow the tail lights of the car in front of us.  Risky but as long as he didn't drive off the mountain we were safe.  The CB radios turned dead silent at this time and everyone was on the edge of their seats but we made it without any mishaps.

     One day we were skiing A-Basin which is the highest elevation for a skiing in Colorado.  By the time you arrive at the top of the mountain you are above the tree line.  I convinced Mimi, Ann, Tom, Bud and Rose to make one last run from the top. so we took the lift to the top but we ran into a white out on top of Arapahoe (A-Basin) mountain.  Sorry I didn't know.  We couldn't see 3 feet in front of us so I said go slow and point your skis downhill, gravity would do the rest.  Lot of cursing and trash talk going on.  Once we made it to the tree line visibility got better and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

     Each night we were pretty exhausted from skiing all day so we decided to relax by watching the Steven King movie "The Shinning" with Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duvall and Scatman Crothers in the the chalet we rented.  Not at all relaxing.  What the hell were we thinking?  If that wasn't bad enough the next night we watched the Steven King movie "Christine" about the possessed car.  Scared the crap out of us, two nights in a row.  After the end of the Christine movie my sister Rose left the room and we decided it would be fun to shine flashlights at her when she returned to mimic the movie to freak her out which it did. Sweet!

     Bill was a first time skier but he didn't have any fear which I guess we can attribute to him being a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and getting shot down 3 times.  So skiing seemed pretty mild to Bill and it was no surprise when Bill followed Tom and I skiing through the trees.  Bill came out with a bloody nose and big smile.  For first time skier Bill was a daredevil, I remember a few of us were on the slope about half way down when we saw Bill riding the lift up yelling to us "Wait up,  I'll be right there".  We laughed a bit because it seemed highly unlikely that Bill would catch up to us before we reached the bottom.  Boy it wasn't long before I found out I was wrong, I heard someone yelling "Watch out for the crazy guy" but we soon found out the crazy guy was Bill and he did catch up.

     John was also another new skier in the group and he was a big muscular guy but when he saw the expert ski runs on A-Basin from the bottom, he refused to go even though we explained that we were going to come down the beginner/intermediate slope on the left.

     Late one night we were all sleeping soundly when the smoke alarm went off for no reason.  The alarm gave off a piercing sound and we found it was located at the highest part of the ceiling (20 foot).  We had no ladder and the owner was in his log cabin behind unable to help, so Bud threw a boot at it and miraculously knocked it down.  Amazingly accurate (lucky) shot.

     All in all it was a great ski trip that provided us with some interesting  stories and fun memories now.