Hi

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue...

I know. I owe you better than this. Some of you (Mick, Jon, a few others) have been remarkably loyal to this blog since day one. Finding the time - the strength - to sit down and write isn't easy these days. No excuse. Just the facts.

I'm at the back end of a week that I don't want to forget, simply because of how incredibly bad it was. Yes, I'm still gainfully employed, still have the car (Will the Three, so deemed by Sean), am still breathing, etc.

But...oy. The fact is that I'm dangling a carrot here, but I really can't tell you why it was so bad. At least not yet. But ch-ch-changes are a-coming, for good and bad. I'm dealing with hurt, anger, bitterness, while also viewing opportunity.

And that was just Monday.

It wasn't just one thing. It was a lot of things. That's life.**

No point in whining any further. Stuff is going on. That's all.

** Not all of the news was bad. Great friends Mick and Gretchen welcomed a new Yankees fan (despite their split allegiances, I know Mick will treat his young charge the right ways, as will his friend "Uncle" Rob). Congrats to two people I love a lot. Your lives are officially changed, and it will be glorious. Buckle up for a great ride, and keep that youngster away from the Red Sox.

And now we leave you with a song (#Rule55)

Name To Be Determined

Photo: Sean Adams

So it happened.

A new car.

Thanks to Will and the nice people at Begnal Motors in Kingston for dealing with me fairly and appropriately.

Here are a few pics from the day. Sean had a hard time saying goodbye to Charlie, but soon discovered that this new car will be great, even if we haven't truly come to a decision on the name.

The final tally: 256,637 miles. Thanks, old friend.

It had 17 miles as I drove off the lot. Still, 18 looks good.

This one needs an explanation...

So here's the story: when Kris and I took this car for a test drive almost two weeks ago, he decided to show me some of the features that he knew of. One of them included programming favorite artists. So he thought it would be humorous to program Paula Abdul as a favorite, to either torture a future owner...or me. It was still there when Will and I were going through the process of explaining the features.

Anyway, we stopped in Poughkeepsie to say hi to Lisa and show the car to her. I was really pleased to get her support and encouragement. It means a lot, as does the support of Sean who, despite being sad over seeing Charlie go, was still more than pleased with our new friend.

One last picture on top of Charlie

And hello new friend.

Yes, the hair will get cut. Growing pains. I, too, went through my (slightly) long-haired phase.

Now I have to figure out how to pay for it and continue to survive. But the features are pretty cool.

Fouth of July, 1936

On Behind the News (on HAN Radio...dot com), Kate, John, and Josh had the chief and fire marshal from Ridgefield Fire Department on to talk about fireworks safety.

You can hear that show here.


While chatting with my colleagues after the show, I recalled the story of my father having a firecracker explode near his mouth. I remember him telling me about it, and how he never liked fireworks after that, with good reason.


Amazingly, we still have the newspaper piece from July, 1936. I think it is from the Putnam County Courier. Donald, by the way, was his middle name (he was Robert Donald), but he was known by both.

 

Keep Moving Forward...With New Wheels...

Charlie

Today might be the last day for an old friend.

To you, that's a car. Yep, just an object. A thing.

To Sean, that's Charlie, a our trusty Honda Accord that we've had since he was two. Yes, Sean and I (and his mother) have had a habit of naming our cars.

Here is Sean in the lot as we prepared to drive away with Charlie (so named because the salesman's name was...Charles).

Sean and Charlie, 2004

No need to review why it all makes me nervous. Let's just chalk it up to big ticket purchase anxiety.

That being said, given the road (get that pun?) it's a momentous step for me.

So even with the rain yesterday, Sean and I cleaned Charlie inside and out. Why? Pride, I guess. As I looked at possible vehicles, I checked out some used cars on a lot in Kingston. The condition was, er, disgusting. I guess I just didn't want to hand mine off in such a way.

We've done a lot together in that car. That's how you get to 255 thousand miles. We went to Richmond, Boston, Maine, Vermont, Cape Cod, Albany, Cooperstown, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Redding, Baltimore, Washington, Oneonta, Long Island, and a lot of other places.

Having had the car since 2004, I can tell you that this car and I went to a lot of sports events. Too many games that I called across Connecticut and New York (and it sat at JFK while I was in Florida calling Greenwich/Naples).

But it's time to say goodbye to it. The drivers side back door handle hasn't worked in almost two years. The cruise control died before that. It's starting to see a hint of rust. It needs new tires and a few touch-ups to pass inspection.


It was a hell of a ride, and I guarantee the next car won't get many miles (only because I'll be on a lease and mileage will be at a premium).

As for what I am getting, it's looking pretty solid that I will have a 2014 Dodge Dart, thanks to the efforts of the dealer to work with finances and so on.

So, yeah, moving forward.