Happy 115 Dad

Here's a repost for Dad's 115th birthday. I'm dedicating my church service this week to him. 

So short a time together; enough jokes to last a lifetime. When I see Brigid draw a Shelbert cartoon, or Matt make a good pun, or Tom impersonate a store customer, or watch my funny little grandbabies, I know it's in their souls to spread sunshine in a world that needs it more than ever.

Miss you Dad.

Brian

Monday, September 20, 2010

Happy 100th Birthday Thomas Black

Dear Dad:

Happy 100th birthday. We spent a lot of time with Mom over the weekend doing little things to help her in her new apartment. One of the last times I saw you twenty-five years ago, you said to take care of her, and I hope we're all doing a good job at that.

Any time we see anyone who emigrates to America and talks her down because she's not perfect yet, I think of the patriotic Irishman who came here when he was 12, loved his new country, and worked two jobs on two phlebitic legs and a bum ticker to support a family of six. I never heard you complain much, except maybe to "stop that roughhousing" when the boys and I were fighting on the second floor. Sorry if we ever woke you up from a well-earned sleep.

your son,

Brian 

Comments:

Brigid

Very well said.

September 20, 2010 at 4:19 PM

Optimum/Cablevision fading away; the joys of taped sports

Optimum? Nah

I'm down to one cable box and basic service because Mrs. 1OTT insists on not canceling the whole thing. We get some use out of the one box left in the living room and the music channels that you can also stream on the TV and phone. My gut and the bros from reddit made me wary when I had returned the second box in August that Optimum would screw me on the bill. They were right. If I hadn't checked the new bill and called them, I would have been paying for the second box from now til doomsday.

Cable is still good for:

• News 12 Brooklyn (which is also available in some form for free on a FAST channel on the Samsung TV).
• CBS network shows that move to channel 10 when channel 2 runs a local show (Jet football).
• CBS local shows (Jet exhibition football) that move to channel 10 when channel 2 runs a network show.
• Stingray music channels.
• Weather outages: My over-the-air digital signal glitches now and then. It's rare.
• C-SPAN.
• Local public access (kidding).
• Lazy limited channel surfing.
• Antenna TV: Ironically, channel 11 is playing with their signal with ASTC 3.0, so I can no longer view Antenna TV via an antenna on the Tablo. I can get the channel 11's subchannels thru the Samsung OTA and thru cable, but I can't tape it.

The Joys of Taped Sports

I tape the Jets OTA and can watch a game in about 2 hours. Three-hour game minus half-time (13 minutes) and commercials (50 minutes) makes that possible. But the word on the street is that the broadcasters want to add a poison pill to the signal to block taping. Eventually they may charge us for all signals, like the BBC license fee. Please don't do that. It's unAmerican.

Upwork

Upwork had a good thing going but it's going, going, gone. You met clients in a forum where they see your skills and you see their needs. With raised fees and new fees for what had been free, they must be run by the NY City Council, who loves to tax and fee things to death and can't figure why that hurts the business, resulting in lower total receipts (Uber; expensive permits that encourage noncompliance; et al.). Upwork had been the third part of my triangular business strategy of client sources. The money was not great, but the jobs were more fun than the other clients I work for. Now Upwork has dropped to number 4 of 3 on my list. I go there when I have nothing to do, which is usually by choice.