This is the story behind the song from the Charlie Brown Christmas special.
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He’s being held prisoner
The Health Care system in our country is the worst – but that’s no secret.
Last Saturday, we brought my father to the hospital. He had hurt his leg. About three weeks before he fell and ignored the wound and after awhile, it got infected. So we, or I should say, one of my brothers drove him over to the hospital. And he is still there! They are keeping him captive, it’s like he is in prison.
When they arrived, they waited 12 hours for a bed, there’s a bed shortage in hospitals all over the US and today, over a week later, he is still taking up a much-needed bed, because of incompetence at the hospital and the insurance company.
I won’t name the hospital or insurance company, but the people there are idiots and the insurance company would rather pay for his over-a-week stay at a hospital than pay for a wound vac, which is what he is waiting for. He should have gone to a better hospital, one our family has used for years, but he said he wanted to go to somewhere closer to home. But this is maybe 10 minutes closer and he wasn’t in an ambulance, it wasn’t an emergency, he didn’t need to go to the closest place.
I went yesterday and tried to speak with his case worker at the hospital, who was in hiding and refused to come out of her office. All the nurses on that floor lied to me, to my face – telling me she was busy, she was on the phone, she was in a meeting – she wasn’t – she was just avoiding me and the situation. At one point I heard someone say, “Get security,” meaning, throw me out of the hospital!
I can get loud, but I wasn’t loud, I was just insistent and demanding. I had many legitimate questions.
Finally the case worker came and said the wound vac would arrive yesterday afternoon and he would go home, but that was the story for the past week. Nothing came, he is still there today. I don’t believe the case worker is working on the case or pushing to have him receive the wound vac and have him released. I know hospital workers are overworked these days, so maybe that’s her attitude – pure exhaustion.
It’s so frustrating thinking that he is perfectly healthy and could be at home while his leg heals. But he’s stuck in a bed. Every time I go visit, the bed next to him is taken by a different person – those people are in and out, but he lingers.
Bed are scarce during this time of pandemic, is it any wonder when they are giving beds to people who don’t need it?
He is in prison. It is literally as if he is jailed. He isn’t hooked up to any machinery, he is just there – in bed, taking up space. Waiting.
I won’t go there today, I get too upset, more than he apparently is; my brothers and other family members will visit. But it’s such a foolish thing – he is just captive. What really bothers me is that this it the hospital where my mother and brother died. I want Dad out – released today.
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Where are the newspapers?
I was in Boston and New York for a few weeks in November and I only saw one newspaper the whole time. It was on Thanksgiving morning at one of my cousins’ houses. She had the NY Times on her dining room table. The rest of the time I did not see any newspapers. No Boston Globe or Boston Herald. No NY Times, NY Post, Newsday or Daily News. Nothing.
Until a few years ago, I would see some at the newsstands. Some – not a lot. These days the “newsstands” sell candy and drinks. That’s it. Maybe an iPhone accessory or two, but gone are the days of actual newspapers.
I noticed at Hudson News in Grand Central, there are no newspapers and if there are – they are few and far between. They seemed to have cleaned the place out – the once cluttered store is now basically empty. Same with Hudson News in the airports. I was in three Hudson News locations in JFK Airport in November, and I tried to find some newspapers. Not one in any of the Hudson News locations.
I subscribe to the Miami Herald at home and am lucky when the paper arrives. I complained once and in return I received a nasty hand written note from the delivery girl, telling me I am lucky that I get a newspaper at all! No joke. Oddly enough, the day I was heading to Boston, I was waiting out front about 6:30 am for Uber. The news delivery girl drove up in her car – onto the lawn, did not get out – handed me the newspaper, backed off, and was on her way.
I remember when I delivered the Long Island Press as a boy. That’s a long story I won’t go into, but we didn’t do anything like that. We actually serviced the customers. I remember when it snowed, I walked around the block with the papers piled up on a sled.
Anyway, I was born in the wrong time period because if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I worship newspapers – printed newspapers, but over the years, I have read them less and less. They seem to be phasing out and that’s a sad thing. I wonder what it was like in the days of cities like NY having 14 daily newspapers – morning and evening editions.
I remember in the 1980s when the NY Post and the NY Daily News competed fiercely. There were maybe eight editions a day. It seemed that every time you walked by a newsstand in one day, the front page headlines were different with the different editions. I miss those days. Well, hell, I miss everything about the 1980s.
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Having second thoughts
I bought a bunch of soda machines for Christmas gifts this year, you know, the Soda Stream, it’s called. I always liked them and wanted one myself, so I got them for people as gifts with all the works – extra CO2 cylinders and flavors and bottles and stuff.
I also like air fryers and thought they would be a cool thing to have, so last year I bought a bunch of those for people.
Funny thing is, I don’t have either for myself even thought I would like them.
But the other day I was watching tv and someone said that the soda maker is the stupidest gift. They said, why not just go out and buy a bottle of soda if you want one? What’s the point of going through all the trouble of making a glass of soda. And now the whole idea doesn’t seem so great.
On top of that, they are big and heavy and last year the air fryers were big and heavy and both a pain to transport around to give to people. For many years I would deliberately buy small things, you know, nice gifts, but small gifts, that I could easily carry around and hand out. I’m not sure why I got the air fryers last year and the soda machines this year, but they are freaking heavy. And hard to wrap.
But after hearing that they are a stupid gift, I can’t get that out of my head. I’m thinking of returning them. I probably won’t, but I can’t get the idea out of my head that you can easily go and buy a bottle or six pack or liter or whatever, of soda any time you want it, you don’t need to make it.
Point taken. But they did love the air fryers last year, so let’s see how this goes with the Soda Stream.
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Christmas commercials
This commercial reminds me of my father and my uncle, who both lost their wives this year. Really sad.
And this, Publix commercial, of course, is my all-time favorite Publix commercial.
The “Last Train Home” commercial was shown for many years in the 1980s and ’90s.
The music in Last Train Home is from Still Life (Talking) an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1987. This Publix commercial ran from 1987 to 1996.
To this day, when Pat Metheny is performing, he’ll refer to the song as, “The Publix song.”
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The Christmas card
This year has not been kind to our family. We lost three family members – my mother, my aunt and a cousin. My father lost a wife, a sister and a first cousin (none from covid).
When my aunt passed this past Spring, I asked my cousins for something personal of hers. I wanted something with her energy attached – a coffee mug, an earring, etc. They gave me this little painting she made. It was in her dining room for many years – this little snowman image.
I took it home in July, after I spent time in New York and it sits on a table in my living room.
I would look at it daily. I thought, “It looks like a Christmas card – the snowman, the snow and birdhouse evoke Christmas. And it’s the size of a Christmas card.” And from there, I got the idea of making an actual card out of it. So in late July, that is what I did.
I held onto the card all summer and fall until this week when I mailed it. I didn’t tell anyone about the card, I wanted it to be a surprise. I only had 20 made and I sent it to my immediate family and my cousins and uncle. It went over well, everyone was touched and surprised at the image when they opened the envelope.
Let’s hope for a happier and healthier 2022.
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Travel plans for the new year
Got most of my Christmas shopping done. Did it online. Now I just sit back and wait for the deliveries. I also made some donations to various causes, including Wikipedia! I had never donated to them before; an ad popped up on Facebook for them so I donated. I use them almost daily, so why not? I kept ignoring that thing at the top of their page this time of year, but some reason, the Facebook ad worked on me.
I know I should shop local, and I do. But I gave up mall shopping years ago, although the last time I was in a mall wasn’t that long ago. For my mother’s funeral in October, I needed a new pair of pants to go with my black suit. I put on a few pounds during the pandemic and the pants didn’t fit. So I want to the mall with a friend, got a new pair of black pants and we had lunch. So we shopped local.
Glad to say since I have been back to working out, I don’t need those over-sized pants. But I’ll save them just the same.
Speaking of suits, I was making airline plans for a wedding I have to got to in September. The reason suits reminded me of that is because I seem to only wear suits at weddings and funerals. The issue with the wedding date that it is going to screw up my NY Comic Con for 2022. The wedding is about three weeks before Comic Con, so I can either stay in NY for those three weeks or come home after the wedding and then go back again a few weeks later, which I don’t think I’ll do.
I was talking with a friend the other day and was telling her that after my long trips, I come home and totally forget them. Not on purpose, but I tend to forget the fact that I left town and I’m just right back into my routine here at home. I was just in New York and Boston and basically have no memory of Boston. Well, I do, but I have to actually sit down and think about it, it’s not like it just comes to mind as a recent memory.
My friend said the trick is to travel for short periods – like maybe three days – and go to many different places. I may just try that. I’ve been doing the opposite – going for long periods of times, but what is the point if I return home and feel as if I never left the house?
First world problems.
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Union Square
It’s not Christmas without a visit to the Union Square Green Market. Seeing people carrying Christmas trees through Manhattan really sets the season. I love the Green Market on Saturday mornings. It’s a ritual when I’m in town.
We went to The Hamptons for the Holiday parade on Saturday, but I stopped by the Green Market first.
There’s a holiday bazaar every years – booths set up at one end of the park. The same thing is set up in Bryant Park behind the library and in a space inside Grand Central Terminal.
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The Southampton Annual Tree Lighting and Parade of Lights
We made it back to the Southampton Christmas parade this year. We had gone a couple of years ago and last year it was canceled due to the pandemic. I love it for so many reasons, the parade is fun and the tree lighting at the end of the block is even more fun, but the idea that all of the small villages at the east end of Long Island get together and celebrate with a parade is so quaint. Southampton along with East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Shelter Island and all the others taker part.
My cousins and I hang out for the day, we eat – on Saturday, before the parade, we at at the old standby – the Southampton Publick House.
I wasn’t sure if we would go this year. My cousins had planned to go to the lighthouse lighting event in Montauk, which is just as great, but so much longer to get there. But I put a little bug in one of my cousin’s ears at Thanksgiving and left it at that. By Saturday, we were on our way. Was there ever any question?
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Out and about NY
Been doing a lot in NY. Too busy to blog.
Went to the Macy’s parade on Thursday, then did our usual family thing for Thanksgiving.
It’s been a cold week, but I’m managing. Did my usual – Union Square, The MET, been out eating and drinking with everyone. Saw Wicked again! 5th time!
I have my favorite view of the Empire State Building again, which is a different color every night this time of year.
Did the Southampton Christmas parade and tree lighting again. I’ll post another thing about that in a day or so.
I’ve taken up drinking again. I stopped for no reason other than I didn’t like the taste after so many years, but I’m back. It’s weird because my friend Michael, who never drinks unless he is with me sort of got me into it, he was the influence. But the weird part is that I never drink, so not sure how I am an influence on him, but we are now influences on each other.
Not a lot – a drink or two when out. So it’s not a mess like when I was younger. We both control it, we aren’t sloppy drunks and have a drink or two when out. That’s it.
I’m trying to bring 7&7’s back. I started in the summer at Oakland’s in The Hamptons and have taken it around the city. So far, not many people know what it is. I have to substitute things like Royal Crown or Sprite, but people are learning. I’m bringing back this classic one drink at a time.
Yesterday at Sunday’s a bar/restaurant in The Hamptons, the bartender knew it! I think he made a comment about not serving it since 1978, but he got it right!
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