SPIN CITY

SPIN CITY

 

The Governor of my great state of New Jersey is a fat man.  He is a very fat man.  He just turned 50.  He has been despised by many because as Governor he has had the audacity to tell people that they cannot have stuff that they cannot pay for. 

He has reduced taxes and cut spending.  Many say he has done that to make the rich richer and because he hates teachers and poor people.  It is so easy to marginalize people by name calling and so Chris Christie has been called a bully, a blowhard and especially he has been called FAT.

I don’t know if Governor Christie’s policies have been correct or fair, but I do know these are not policies designed to win elections and so I do not question his motives. 

The Governor is a straight talker and so people do not like him for that.  Everyone complains about politicians and their double talk, but when someone comes along and says what he means, acts on what he says and defends both actions and speech unashamedly he is a bully.  He is a FAT bully.

Some people think our Governor wants to be President.  They think this because he has done a good job as Governor and people seem to like him despite the fact that he is a BIG FAT bully and doesn’t believe in double talk.  He also has not denied he wants to be President.  When asked, he claims he hasn’t thought about it, he has a job and it is number one on his mind.  In political talk that means yes.  In Christie talk it also might mean yes, but I suspect it means “maybe.”

Recently our big FAT Governor underwent a lap band surgery operation in order to lose weight.  He entered the hospital in secret to have this surgery.  The media seems to think this is evil,

“Governor goes for SECRET surgery!”

It kinda isn’t really a secret when he announces it a week later.  It is not as if he was hiding it, he just was postponing the feeding frenzy we call the media until after he recovered from the procedure.

The next major headline has been,

“Did Governor Christie have surgery to enhance his bid for the Presidency?”

Well, I’m pretty sure they are right on that one.  I understand that Governor Christie met with his advisors about his future, and was told, “Well Governor in our experience almost no one gets elected to any office if they ARE DEAD!”

And thus Chris Christie’s operation was obviously just a cheap trick to live and become the next President of the United States.

What a BIG FAT bully!

HAVING STUFF - A Cranky re-run

HAVING STUFF

 

A re-run from May 2011

Having stuff does not make you happy. Not having stuff that other people have makes you unhappy. The more people that have stuff that you do not have, the unhappier you will be.

When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot of stuff. We didn’t have a color TV; we had no air conditioning, and we didn’t have a computer, laptop or otherwise. We didn’t have an i-pad, an i-pod, or Netflix. We did not have a CD player; we did not have a DVD player; hell, we didn’t even have a VCR, and yet we were happy. Why? Because no one else had any of this stuff either.

Our car (not plural) had roll-up windows and no air conditioning. It had brakes that had to be stomped on to stop and steering which took a two-hundred pound man to parallel park (note to Microsoft Word- parallel is not the name of a park and does not need to be capitalized). The clock was analog and did not work. The radio was AM only. Still, we were happy. Why? Because no one had a car with power windows or air conditioning; clocks were all analog and never worked in a car, no one had FM radio in the car, and power brakes and steering were still not invented.

We had one telephone. It was all black, it had a rotary dial, there was no call waiting, no caller ID and calls outside of your area code (wait, there was no area code either) calls outside your county were long distance and cost more. Cell phones were a Dick Tracy wrist radio pipe dream. GPS was Dad with a map. Even so we were happy. Why? Because one phone was enough, call waiting is annoying, you could hang up when you lost the nerve to ask a girl out and she would not know it was you, and we didn’t know anyone outside the county. Cell phones tie you down. Dad with a map was as good as any GPS and he never had to recalculate.

One July, in the mid-fifties, the Newmans, our neighbors to the left, got a window unit air conditioner for their den (family room today for you young people), and we were unhappy. Then my Dad got central air for our entire house, and the Newmans were unhappy. The Tullys, our neighbors to our right, got a blue princess touchtone phone for their kitchen. We were unhappy. Dad got a new princess phone, and a color TV. The Tullys were unhappy.

The Tullys countered with a power lawn mower, the Newmans got a car with power windows, brakes and steering. Dad got a new stereo and the neighbors' “high fidelity” systems were to be pitied.

Thus the battle of stuff goes on. No one is any happier for all the new stuff; everyone is actually less happy until they catch up in the battle of the stuff.

If there is any value at all in becoming a cranky old man, it is stuff becomes less and less important. You have some new stuff that I don’t? Cool, look at me I’m still above ground! You can watch any movie on a portable device at the touch of a button? What will they think of next? Hey, look at me; I’m fucking breathing! You can download any song in seconds and store thousands of them in a cigarette sized box. Wonderful. I can whistle any song I want for free! Your car has a sun roof, backup camera, i-pod deck, hands free cell speaker system, satellite radio and a drop down TV in the back for the kids? That’s fantastic, watch this: I can still get out of bed in the morning!

I don’t really need any more stuff. I am very happy with the stuff I have. The stuff I have is way more than any stuff I grew up with, and as far as I know, the Newmans or the Tullys don’t have any of this stuff.

T R A D I T I O N…TRADITION!

T  R  A  D  I  T  I  O  N…TRADITION!

 

My family always had a traditional Birthday Cake…ANGEL FOOD CAKE with STRAWBERRY ICING.  Growing up I never knew another birthday cake.  We didn’t even call it angel food cake with strawberry icing; we just called it birthday cake.  Apparently some people find this combination to be strange for any occasion.  I’ve never met anyone outside of my family who eats cake prepared this way.

The tradition goes back to Grandma Hagy and possibly further. Research has told me the angel food cake was first popular in this country in the late 1800’s so it is possible our tradition started one generation beyond my Grandmother.

I’m not sure if this birthday cake tradition will survive.  I think my sons have given it up.  Matt’s wife does chocolate, Mike doesn’t bake and Spencer’s mom always fought the tradition.

My mom learned the cake from my father’s mom.  She passed the cake preparation down to all her daughters-in-law.  The cake part apparently is easy, especially with modern cake mixes.  It is the icing that is difficult.  The technique must be taught and practiced to master.    

My both my SIL’s still do the “cake” and so do most of their children so perhaps the tradition will survive.  I know my daughter still makes the traditional family birthday cake because she taught Mrs. Cranky how to make the strawberry icing.  That is what initiated this post.  Mrs. Cranky on her forth try has mastered the traditional cake.

She only makes it for me, but she respects the tradition, and I appreciate it.  On her first try the icing was liquid.  The next year the icing was still too loose.  Last year the cake was ok and the icing was almost right, but it was not strawberry enough.  This year she nailed it! 

The traditional Hagy Birthday Cake, Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Icing was made to perfection!

 

Somewhere in heaven a bunch of Hagys are smiling!