Writers Block or I lost my password???

Yeah, it's been quite some time since I wrote in my blog. I would like to blame it on what professional writers call "Writers Block", which prevents the most creative artists out there of expressing their inner thoughts.. But truth be told....I forgot my password...Arrgghhh!!

It's been a long time and I'm sure I have a lot to say.....  ummmmm...  okay...ahhhh....  maybe I do have Writers block....

Orlando will never be the same....

If you're a follower of my blogs, you'll remember February 2009 when I drove my nephew to Florida, (Both of you should remember it...).. Blake was enrolling in "Harley" school, actually MMI of Orlando a well renown Motorcycle Mechanic school in Florida. As the good Uncle, I drove with Blake, his dad Wayne down to Florida. It was a memorable trip. I've been the brunt of the family jokes ever since due to my feet NOT smelling like the roses they have in their shoes.

But I had promised to help them both with the return trip when he graduated... So this past Thursday, my sister Wendy, my brother in law Wayne and his parents flew down from Hartford. As the norm for these trips I had no say in the time of the flight. The night before my brother in law told me we were leaving the house "NO Later than 5:30am". That night trying to sleep reminded me of my youth... On Christmas Eve when you try to go to sleep early so you can get up for what Santa brought.. You toss and turn and it takes forever...prolonging the time. I'm sure the 8 pieces of red licorice and the 6 oreo cookies didn't help sleep either...

I think the last time I looked at the clock it was 1:15am..I was dreaming in vivid color when my alarm went off.. I can't tell you what I was dreaming about...but lets just say...it was a good dream... Yeah you know the one...the one YOU don't want to wake up and miss. I stumble to turn off the alarm, roll my aching body to the edge of the bed and limp towards the bathroom to shave and shower.. By 5:25, I'm ready to go....  I load our bags into my sisters car and wait....  and wait.... by 5:45 my brother in law says, "Everybody ready?"...  10 minutes later we drive off...  I'm in the front seat, and I am now mumbling about how I could have had an extra 20 minutes of sleep...

We head up the road to pick up Wayne's parents who are making the trip. Mr. and Mrs. Luciani are ready to go, we load up the wheelchair for Mr. Luciani as he had surgery a few months back and has trouble walking long distances. The ride up to Hartford is uneventful, although I think we pass 17 Dunkin Donuts that could have satisfied my craving for coffee.. We get to the airport and I am in charge of pushing the wheelchair. Now the fun begins, we have to go thru security.. You all know the drill by now, shoes off, pockets emptied, belt off, etc etc. and the very friendly TSA agents directing our way thru the metal detectors. I make it thru, my sister makes it thru, and Mrs Luciani makes it thru okay... However, Mr. Luciani at 85 gets searched.. and not the regular wand waving search, no...he's getting felt up by two guards, inch by inch... this takes a good 15 minutes... by this time there's a backlog at the end of the conveyor belt, I grab my bag and throw it by my feet, to allow everyone elses bags to run free..  It's at this point, Mrs. Luciani trips over my bag on the ground and falls into the metal wall barrier. She's a trouper, she claims she's alright, and of course I feel like shit. Besides the bruise on her arm and the dislocated pinky toes she limps past me and says she's alright..  Now if it was my mom, it would be a good 3 years before I hear the end of it. Pop finally is cleared back into the wheel chair and I start to push him off to the side. It is then I smile at an attractive woman that I know I recognize...  She looks at me and turns away...  That's normal for me so I think nothing of it.. As she walks away I rack my brain for how I know her... it is then as she is a good 50 yards away I see her big muscular black husband walk up to her and I say, "Frank"...  Yeah that's it, that's her husband Frank, but how do I know them?? 

We all start towards our gate, my sister, Wayne, Mrs. Luciani limping and wincing with every step, and me pushing Pop in the wheelchair. As we get close to the gate I see it... the airport has a Dunkin Donuts... I'm ecstatic...  now I know it's gonna be a good trip. It's about this time that Mrs. Luciani stops to ask her husband if he wants something to eat...  As my head is turned at the Dunkin Donut spot, I run over her foot with the wheelchair..  The fleeting moment of coffee happiness is swallowed up by the "Feeling Like Shit" feeling again..  Oops...  my bad...  We get to the gate I offer to help Mrs. Luciani and she said, "NO that's ok, I'll crawl to the seat myself thanks"... I leave the rest of the group in the dust and dart back to the DD counter.. Get my coffee and a multigrain bagel with chive spread. as I crinkle up the bag a plastic knife pops out and rips the bag and scraps some flesh off my fingers, I mumble something rude and grab the knife and throw it in the garbage as I head back to the gate. I now pass Frank and his wife and I stop to introduce myself and say that I know them... They look at me like I just ran over their toes with a wheelchair.... no wait that was a few minutes ago... I find out she worked at AEtna with me in Middletown CT back in the mid 80's.. She doesn't remember me, but remembers my friend Mel.  Everyone remembers Mel, so I spend a few minutes updating them on HIS life...  As I head back to the gate, I find out that we get to board the plane first. My sister and the limping Mrs. Luciani head down the gateway, and I help Pop in the chair. We board and get settled in the row that is NOT and exit row... So once again I'm on a plane that lets my knees touch my chin... Great...in only 2 1/2 hours from now I can unpretzel and get off this plane. Fortunately I have my Ipod and start listening to my Blues collection. I grab my coffee, and then proceed to open up my DD bag with my bagel..  It is then I realize why they gave me the plastic knife...  The bagel is toasted just the way I like it, and there's a little plastic pouch of chives spread that needs to be put on my bagel.. The knife is a long way away, and why wouldn't they just put it on the bagel like the other 4,578 DD's across the country do...

NO... they make you do it with a weapon that the TSA agents wouldn't have let me bring with me had I decided to go thru security with... 

So I peel open the round pouch and use the foil lid to spread my chive cream cheese.  At this point I realize that the it doesn't spread evenly like the plastic knife could do.. and half of it is now stuck on my fingers and thumb and my right knee that is inches from my chin.. I check the bag,... and of course there's no napkins...  aarrrgggghhhh!!!

I chow down, then proceed to stare out the window until take off..  It's the best part of the trip, I like the rush of being pushed back in my seat from the thrusters of the jet...  However my knees are pushing my chin back too, I'm sure to add another chin to my double chin by the time we climb the sky... We make it up in the wild blue yonder and I now know we are on our way... I dose off and miss the bag of peanuts that couldn't feed more than a gerbil, but I'm disappointed anyways.. But we are now in the Sunshine State...  So it can't be all bad.  We wheel Pop out to the ground area a good 3 miles away, now it's hot, and I'm sweating like a fat guy eating at a picnic... Welcome to Florida...

My sister and brother in law are members of the Disney Vacation Club.. so part of the service is a free ride on the Mickey Magical tour bus. So the 5 of us pile in the bus with the other 13 families and their children... and lucky for me, the video welcoming us in the land of Disney is playing Mickey Mouse cartoons... Thank goodness it was only a 20 minute drive.. We get to Saratoga Springs resort in Disney.. and I must admit it's gorgeous.. My sister goes in to check in and I stay outside and it is then that I know what it feels like to be 15 feet from the sun.  Sweat is pouring off me like Niagara Falls.. My sister comes out of the airconditioned registration office to tell the the good news, we should be able to get to the rooms in less than an hour. Ten minutes later my nephew Blake shows up and laughes at my soaking wet shirt and says "Welcome to Florida"..

My sister gives me a tour around the pool area where I'm envious of all of the people wading in the pool.. We get to our rooms and my sister asks Blake to drive her and Mrs. Luciani to the Outlet stores so she can buy a new pair of shoes.. Apparently while dislocating her toe she broke her shoe, either that or when I rolled over it with the wheelchair I may have torn the strap. It is in the outdoor outlet stores where I realize there are only a few people that speak english. There's Frenchmen, Italians, Chinese and Russians...  Yeah this is shaping up to be a great vacation..

Since I forgot my sunglasses back in CT, I venture over to the really nice SunGlass Hut outlet, and the really nice former cuban refugee Maria Elena is very friendly, no...she's not into chubby & sweating 50 year old men...she just wants to sell me eyewear... I might have bought a pair there, if the price tags weren't so high... I'm not cheap..just broke...  Grandma Gloria gets her shoes, my nephew Blake suggested Steel toed boots, but I promised to stay clear of her feet for the duration of the trip...

So off to the grocery store for just a wee bit of supplies...afterall we are only here for a few more days....  Yeah right...My sister drops over $200 in the store, snacks upon snacks, paper goods.. all the while my nephew keeps saying..."Ma..stop already, noi one is gonna eat all this stuff, and daddy won't let you throw it out"..Little does he know, his brother, and 2 uncles are gonna surprise him tomorrow.  His brother is nicknamed Stick...so he's not eating that much, but Uncle Fatty, and Uncle Enormous are joining Uncle Chubby (me), so we may have to go back to the store for more food later in the trip...

By this time it's almost time for dinner, because of the heat, I've dropped 13lbs of water weight... Nothing like a full meal to put those pounds back on... Well since the cabinets are filled with all the goodies from the store....I wonder what we'll have for dinner....Of course we go out for dinner..  we head to The Rain Forest Cafe...  Great place, I have been to the one in CT just once...actually, I was there during a school vacation week and the waiting line was 2 hrs, so I never made it in to eat..  But, it sounded like fun, we all get situated in our seats and it is then that I realize I can't read the menu...  Yeah, my eyes are starting to fail on me, only when reading in dark light..  My nephew busts my chops and asks me if I brought my glasses from home?  I reply YES... His next comment is something like, "Well maybe you should bring them with you if you want to read anything.. Thx pal..got it!!  I'll just borrow my sisters when she is done with hers..  Two minutes later there I am wearing these 50's styled multi colored pokadot reading glasses, and in between my nephews supressed laughter he asks me... "pass the bread Laverne"..  and I thought he was too young to know that reference...

Dinner was great, besides the large Elphant that spews water every 13 minutes or the big Gorilla that snorts like I snore every 11 minutes.. But it was good food.. And Grandma Gloria's feet started to heal..

We drop off everyone back at Saratoga Springs, and Blake and I head back to his apartmnent for junk food and cigars.. The best thing about Blake is he's an electronic junkie too.. He's got Tivo, Cable, On Demand...  I'm good, it's almost better than being home, and besides I get to sleep on the Cadillac of Blow Up Beds.. By 1100pm I'm two cigars in, four packages of cheese crackers and a diet Dr. Pepper in, as I settle down to watch HBO's "Hard Knocks", because he's got the On Demand feature I watch two episodes in a row...  Ahhhh, Florida seems like Heaven, just a bit warmer...

We wake up early and head back to Disney, Blake wants to know why his father wants us there so early since his graduation isn't until 10am, little does he know, two fat uncles and a stick are waiting there for him. We stop at Dunkin Donuts, because he knows I can't function without my coffee.. I order a dozen donuts, he snaps that at me and states I shouldn't buy any because no one is gonna eat them..  I can't tell him about his surprise guests so I buy three instead.. 

We arrive at the gates of Disney and for the 143th time the guard says "Welcome Home", yeah it's a nice touch, but after a few days it's starting to get annoying...  As we get to the suite, Blake goes in first and lo and behold Uncle Warren, Uncle Jimmy & Garett jump out and yell surprise... Blake stumbles back in shock and steps on his grandmothers damaged toes... She winces, and  instead of apologizing, he looks at me and says, "If you didn't ruin them, it wouldn't have hurt her".. Great, now I'm gonna feel bad for another few hours.. 

We all pile in the two cars and head over to Blake's school for the ceremony. This is not your typical graduation..  There's not a lot of nerdy types with pencil pouches and glasses, the place is filled with tattooed families... There's more ink in the room than at the Bic headquarters back in Milford, CT. We are the only inkless family there... there's grandmothers with harley tank tops on, and tramp stamps from here to Daytona.. And I swear the members of ZZ Top were there too..  or at least some of their relatives.. 

The Dean of the school, encourages families to come up front and take pictures of the grads.. They call each one up and wait while the pictures are taken, then move on top the next grad. The one girl in the class is more of a man than I'll ever be, gets a rousing applause, and one of her girlfriends, who I swear plays as a defensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Bucs starts hooting and hollering like she recovered a fumble for a touchdown.. 

There's another girl that looks like a combination of a linebacker and a stripper...  She's got black fizzy hair. white puffy button down blouse, with a black mini skirt with black suspenders pushing her boobs out and up... Seven of her tattoos are showing, I didn't ask to see the other nine... Not in front of my sister anyways... She smelt like candy too... not sure if I mentioned that...

It was time for Blake to be introduced, I quickly skipped to the front to take some pictures... It seemed like everyone stared at me like I was freak...  I don't have any tattoo's... yet.... 

After the ceremony we gathered in back to take more pictures, Blake with his parents, Blake with his Uncles... Blake with his school buddies, as I stepped back to get a wider view.. I stepped on Grandma Gloria's bad toe...  Instead of wincing like she has done before, now she's in defense mode, shoving me with two hands in the middle of my back... I'm sure to have a mild case of whiplash before the trip is thru...

Blake takes his brother and Uncle's to the vending machines, the coolest vending machines on the earth, or at least in hot Florida..  there they were, 3 choices of Ice Cream Bars.. wow...you don't see that back up north!

While we're waiting for the ice cream boys to come back, all the other families are hanging out in the halls, I'm standing next to Grandma Gloria, (A good 2 feet away as not to ruffle her toes), and our little Stripper Heidi Girl comes waltzing over and proceeds to bend over in front of us, Grandma Gloria leans over to me and says, "Glenn...get a picture of this girls outfit...I haven't seen anything like that"...  I cringe, because I'm sure she heard that, but I shake my head and try to take 1 shot....  Fifteen snaps of the camera later she whips her head back and gives me the look like I just gave her $5 for a $20 lapdance..errr... ummmmm....I mean...if I ever was in a strip club.......I'm just saying...ummm....

So we head out to lunch with the whole crew, Blake's two buddies from school and their whole families...  Thirty two people for lunch... A server's dream...  As we sit down, I reach for my reading glasses that my nephew Blake goaded me into bringing... and I find them broken in half...  Great, now I can't see the menu and I need new glasses...  Turning out to be an expensive trip..  I'm already down $40 to the stripper at Blake's school!!!

I've worked in restaurants, it's not that tough to feed 32 at once...  4 1/2 hours later we finished our lunch, it's now 5:30pm, no one wants to go to the "all you can eat" place Blake has picked out for us...  So we head back to Downtown Disney for some window shopping and maybe a little Ice Cream... 

Let me rephrase that... most of us are going for a little Ice Cream... Uncle Warren has been talking about the Frisbee of Ice Cream... I really wasn't sure what he was talking about. But we head over to Ghiradelli for some dessert, it takes a good 20 minutes for them to bring ours to the table... WHY??  Well Uncle Warren has a frisbee filled with 8 different scoops of Ice Cream, lathered with whipped cream, and jar of cherries and of course syrup to choke a horse...  As he devours the manhole of cream, I notice small children staring at amazement of Warren's snack...  Now it starts raining, not just cats and dogs, but Mice, ducks and dwarfs... Damn...now I know I'm in Disney!! Warren finishes his feast and amazingly, never spilled a drop on his legs or shirt..  I myself have a small cone with two scoops and a little chocolate syrup... and I have three stains of chocolate on my shorts..  and one small ice cream drip on my shirt, and my fingers are sticky... Great.!!!

WE head back to Disney, "Welcome Home", enough already with the Home crap...    Blake, Uncle Jimmy and I head back to Blake's, Jimmy is leaving early in the morning so he's gonna sleep on the couch then head to the airport by 5am.  I turn the TV on set the volume on low and listen to Jimmy tell us that he has trouble sleeping and may not get a full night rest, 5 minutes later he's snoring like Rip Van Winkle...

I get up at 5am, and Jimmy is already showered, dressed and out the door...  Blake gets up a few hours later and we head home, err I mean back at Disney... I go and sit by the pool, I figure I'll try and darken up my hotel sheet white body in the Florida sun. Sitting at a lounge chair, this tan blonde woman who seems to be European, as evidenced by her husbands tiny black speedo walks up and sits in the row directly in front of me..  She's already tan from Monaco, I would imagine, anyways she proceeds to bend over and stretch for a good 3 minutes, I haven't seen boobs that big since I saw the Three Stooges in the Capital Theatre in Milford. I try and concentrate on my morning newspaper and my coffee.... for some reason I keep craving more milk... go figure....

Garett (a/k/a Stick), joins me and we both concentrate on our reading material...  My sister Wendy shows up and now it seems like the whole family is gonna hang at the pool today...  After a few more minutes, Blake and Uncle Warren come down and announce to Garett and I that we are going to Blizzard Beach... Uuuggghh, I gotta watch Uncle Warren eat more Ice Cream I sigh... "NO".. Blake states, it's a water park... I immediately think about my natural bleach stained body and declare that maybe I won't go, but Garett, Blake and Uncle Warren convince me to go... Warren assures me that I won't have the worst body there....  Sadly, or fortunately he's right. We get to the Water Park, and we get in and rent a locker...  Apparently it's customary to strip down to nothing but a swimsuit.

Now I must digress...  it's been a family joke for years that my feet smell... not too bad, but the legend grows with every year...  While I do admit the trip down to Florida back in Feb '09, there were some truth to it, (evidenced by my past blog, check it out it's pretty funny), anyways, because I'm thoughtful, I put my shoes in first, with the open side facing the inside of the locker that has vent holes in it.. My thinking is if my shoes really smell, even just a bit, the smell will emanate out the back. Then Blake sticks his shoes in, Garett's nap sack, then all of our shirts and sunglasses..  They squeeze the locker shut, and off we go...

As I look around I see a few buff guys and some cute inshape women, but they were right, I see more flesh than I can stand, and most of these people seem not to care... As I turn to Warren, with his man boobs pointing out at me thru an ocean of gray and black hair, he smiles and says, "told you that you wouldn't be the worst one here"...  I mumble that I'm not even the worst one in our crew... But I'm close...  we walk around a bit and head up these giant stairs with our double tubes for floating down the slide... Now, I'm not to big of heights, but I gut thru it, and refuse to let them know I'm sweating for the climb, not the heat... We get to the top and Garett and Blake hop in one tube and off they go... Warren yells out that he's going in back... I say... "whatever"...  We jump in the tube and of course hit bottom. the nice attendant gives us a hardy shove to get to the lip of the slide, we move and inch and a half... He nods to the other attendant, and between the both of them they shove us over the lip and down the slide....  As soon as we start the steep trail down the watery slide, I can feel Warren trying to tip the float... Great, I'm gonna flip out of the tube and go crashing over the edge and be the first 50 year old to die at a fun water park...      Somehow we make it to the bottom, and amazingly, it was a blast!!  We trudge back up the stairs for round two...  This time Warren says that I can sit in back this time...  What a nice gesture, or so I thought.....  We fly down the slide again, and I'm much more comfortable this time as I know what to expect, but as you hit the bottom and the float hits the pool, you drift a little under the water, partly to slow you down... Well, Warren has a plan, as we hit the pool area, he lunges deep down in the water with the tube, and I am now ejected out of the tube through the air over his hairy body and inches from the steps...  He's hysterically laughing, now I know why he offered me the back this time... 

They decide that we are going to the top of the mountain to race down the next slide, but first let's take the lazy river to spot around the park. We get tubes and I go to jump in ass first, and I flip over with the hard plastic handles hitting me in the mouth, the other three are laughing, and I'm dripping blood from my bloody lip....  We make it around and climb another set of stairs to the top for the race of a lifetime... The attendant asks us how many in our group we say 4..  Garett calls him over and pleads his case, "look at me I weigh half of each one of them, can I get a head's start??", The guy laughs and walks away.... He instructs us to keep one foot on the back and one on the bottom next to the foam sled with handles that we will use.. Blake and Warren are both boasting that each one is gonna win, Garett is still pleading to anyone that will listen, and I am convinced that I can win this, so I put both feet on the back and my plan is to lunge down the first half of the slide and get a jump start....  The starter yells, GO... and I push off with all my might, I fly out over the slide, like a Fat Michael Phelps in the olympics, and as I hity the slide safely, I'm in the lead, as we make are way to the first hump, I'm leading and smiling, concentrating and doing a damn good job, by the time I hit the second hump, I'm hootin' and hollering, I am gonna win this thing...  Coming up to the third and final hump, there's no one in front of me and I'm loving life...  Just after the crest of the last hump I have less than 40 yards for certain victory....  Then ...out of nowhere, like a drag racer in Fast & Furious that kicks in the Nitros in his engine Uncle Warren goes shooting by me... water is spraying me and my winning smile turns to a frown.... How the F...? I don't get it, I was in the lead......  Now I'm almost to the end and I'm moving fast I start to drag my feet, I know of no other way to stop...   Once I get out of the slide water, Warren is laughing and pointing at me and telling me about the look on my face....   by this time we are all laughing and three of my toes are bleeding profusely..  I gotta be the only one that goes to a Disney themed Water Park and comes out injured... At least I still have all my toes.....  (all 9 of them anyways)...

Oh yeah, while we are line for the rides, there's this young good looking couple from europe, (Again you can tell by the suits they wear), the girl has the most beautiful body in the park, and she's wearing a bathing bottom that has less material than a spool of thread, a small spool....  Her boyfriend who has rich dark hair on his head and not a stitch of hair anywhere else is obviously aroused staring at his girls bottom, while she stands in front of him.... It's disturbing..  I look away... I'm here to have fun, not get depressed or grossed out by an aroused man....  We decide to break for lunch and three fats guy and Garett make are way to the snack bar, but not before stopping for a classic photo by the startled Disney photographer... who can't believe we actually want him to take our picture...  Ohhh it's a classic, but definitely not for the internet, (Write me with a check for $49.99 and we'll send you and 8x10 autographed by all of us....no personalizations though)...  We pig out and then out for more... all in all it was fun, my cocaine white body is now red like Rudolphs nose...  As we get back to our locker, which has been sweltering in the heat and when we open up the locker Warren sniffs his shirt and proceeds to drop it in the trash can, yelling that my feet ate away at his shirt.....  Blake and Garett are laughing and I'm smelling my shirt and trying to reason that maybe his shirt already smelt bad... no chance, the legend of my feet live on.....  My shirt is fine, Blake's shirt is fine and even Garett's shirt is fine... but Warren stumbles over to the Disney store to buy a new shirt, He picks out the most colorful and certainly ugliest shirt there, and holds it up to us on the other side of the store and says "It's either this one ....or the other one"... Like on cue, The three of us yell at the same time... "Get the other one!!!"...  More laughing and we are exhausted, we head back to the hotel...

Blake drives me back to his apartment and he back to the family...I'm gonna hook up with him and Garett later at this bar he's been singing the praise of...

When I first moved to New Jersey back in 1987, I used to bank at National Community Bank, and the only teller who was under 50, was this beautiful brunette with an infectious smile... Lisa Salvatore...  We became friendly, as I knew no one but my dad's friend Spencer, his wife and his three young boys... Lisa was the first woman in NJ that acknowledged I was alive.. We hit it off, and hung out for a while... It was fun hanging with Lisa, she was pretty and laughed at my jokes, and besides, she knew her way around Jersey..  WE had fun, partied a little and I even think I got to feel her boobs once.... We fast forward to the present, we are now Facebook friends, ( I know her co-workers are laughing right now)... and she lives in Tampa. She's recently divorced and promises to come to Orlando, I promise to take her out for dinner and get her drunk...  She's a bit sarcastic, but I love that, so she makes to Blake's apartment, we sit for a few minutes, and catch up on our past...  Then we head out to dinner... Blake had suggested Longhorns.. A great choice, we get shrimp and buffalo chicken as apps, salad for each of us, and steak...  I actually have a beer...  She's dropping her Rum margaritas like water, it's then I remember she can drink with the best of them...  If I'm getting her drunk, I'm gonna have to knock off a bank....  We laugh some more and more, then completely stuffed we head back to my nephews, yeah I guess it's been along time, but I was hoping to get my hands on her boobs again...  And I might add, they are bigger than before.. (Sorry Lisa...you can punch me for that in the future)... but I was a gentleman, and she was still sober, so we waited for Blake and Garett to take us to the bar he was talking about...

We head over to Jesse Black's... it's a country bar, that charges you $10 after 10pm and lets you drink all the bottled beer you want... WOW... great deal...  Blake pays for us, (Thx Bomber!!) and we head in, apparently they only charge woman $5, they lost money on Lisa...  But we laughed some more, and watched 200 people line dancing...  Now As I get older, I know I'm not in the best shape of my life, and Lisa, she's had two kids, one of which was throwing a party back in Tampa while she was with me...  But some of these women should really check out the mirror before they head out on the prowl... Unless of course she's looking for a Brahma Bull... It's always the big girls wearing an outfit 4 sizes too small that dances provocatively near me...  She asks Lisa and I if she can dance on the 5foot x 5 foot speaker near us, both of us without missing a beat chime... "Sure"...  but she couldn't lift her hoof...errr leg up to get up there so she did the Elaine dance from Seinfeld in front of us... Once again we laughed and had a great time...  The four of us headed back to Blake's and by this time Lisa had caught a small buzz...  Blake and Garett headed back to the hotel, and I hugged Lisa for the first time since the 80's and wished her luck and thanked her for her visit...  What a trooper...  she drove back to Tampa to see what type of damage (other than her favorite wine glass that was a casualty early in the night)... that was caused...  Thanks Lisa!!! It was like old times, you haven't changed and you're still beautiful!!  I'm hoping when I'm 70, and I see Lisa again, her boobs will be even BIGGER!!!  Hahahaha ... sorry couldn't resist...

Sunday was the day I dreaded, the packing of the truck....  Maybe I'm overreacting... Is it really that bad to make 125 trips up two flights of stairs with heavy stuff in the Florida heat?  Naw...I didn't think so either...but it was ... Blake had began packing a few weeks in advance, smart kid...  So I put my mule hat on and went to work...  It took all day... I'm dripping with sweat, and guzzling Purple Gatorade like it's my last drink of the century... But somehow, the truck is loaded, and the only thing that Blake is concerned about, is his 50inch TV...  He tells us that everything else doesn't matter, just don't break his TV...  Great, so the pressure of driving 18 straight hours isn't enough, now I gotta watch for potholes too... 

Blake graduated, but he was going to stay for an additional 3 weeks to complete a BMW course, so he can certified with them as well..  We left him in his barren apartment with nothing but a blowup bed, computer and his other 50inch TV...  Tough, when you have to "rough" it like that...

7:00am we hit the road, like to renegades...  My brother-in-law Wayne and me...  Wayne drives first, and we encounter our first traffic jam of the trip before we even left the Orlando city limits...  Yes, Virginia...they do have rush hours in Florida...  (sorry...and old reference that maybe two of you will get)...  Now we are are cruising...each of us take a 3 hour stint behind the wheel..  Perfect timing for me to pee and get more coffee...  I take the next three hour shift....  back and forth we go, switching every three hours... We head north and make the trip uneventful...  I drive the last 7 or so hours as my brother in law gets tired at night... We arrive back in Woodbridge at about 3 am...  We are Locked out of the house..GREAT....  My other nephew Troy who didn't make the trip locked the house up for safe keeping...  All I wanna do is sleep.. My ankles are swollen and I now know what they will look like if I make 70... 

It was a great trip...  and one I surely won't make again...  But besides destroying Grandma Gloria's feet, getting bloody in Blizzard Beach and never getting my hands on Lisa's boobs... it was a great trip...  and for sure...Orlando will never be the same....

I Found the Fountain of Youth... it's in Delray Beach Florida

Sometime during the 1500's Ponce de Leon searched for The Fountain of Youth, and discovered Florida. Right there under his nose WAS the Fountain of Youth, I found it in Delray Beach... My mom and I took a trip to Florida to visit my Aunt and Uncle who moved there for good last year from Hamden. My Uncle Al has Parkinsons, and my Aunt has had a few operations for cancer. So it was important to bring my mom there to see them.

I turned 50 last year, and while I'm not in the best shape of my life, I look better than most 50 year olds, in fact, in my mind I still feel 20, I'm as "hip" as a 40 year old but I actually look 60.... But the truth is, I never felt so alive and young , (at least since I can remember) as I did this past week.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon, after flying on Jet Blue, my mom was a neurotic mess, worrying about the flight being canceled. We made it and my mom and I were able to wedge our ways into the plush baby car seat sized airplane seats, (I brought a large shoe horn to squeeze are asses into the seat)...

So just after takeoff, a large woman felt it necessary to jump in the vacant seat in front of me. My knees still have the imprint of the emergency evacuation directions on them. Once the lady buckled up, she whipped her seat back as far as it could go... so my knees are jammed in the seat, my nose inches from the headrest, and my nostrils flaired from the overpowering perfume she bathed in. GREAT, only another 2 or so hours from now I'll be in Florida. The only saving grace was the fact that JetBlue serves Dunkin Donuts on the plane. On takeoff, my mother grabbed my hand, (the last time I held hands with my mom, I was 9 years old and crossing a city street), Thanks mom, for the cockblocking, any available woman that may or may not think I was a nice guy, assumed I was with a rich old woman. If they only knew...

We landed in West Palm, and headed over to the Hertz counter to rent the car... once in the courtesy bus, I chose to stand, and real annoying..er I mean nice guy driving us to Hertz, told me I had to sit down... fresh off a grasshopper position on the plane I needed to stretch my legs, I proceeded to sarcastically ask the driver why the bus was equipped with hand rails from the ceiling, wasn't that for people who stand.. My mom was politely telling me to act like a duck and let the water roll off my back... and to sit down... Oh yeah, we were off to a great start...

Once we got the car, we drove 15 miles south to Delray.. We stopped at the local Publix (grocery store) to buy flowers for my Aunt. I dropped my mom at the front door and told her I'd be right in once I parked the car... It took 20 minutes, I had to wait until the folks crossed in front of me to get to the store from the parking lot. Unfortunately, the people that were crossing in front of my car weren't moving that quickly, in fact once I got into the parking lot, my mom was heading out of the store, "I thought you were coming inside?" Yeah well, I thought so too... It reminded me of the Michael Jackson Thriller video, it was the land of Zombies, except the only difference was they moved slower than zombies, and they didn't have the strength to have their arms outstretched. But most if not all of them...looked dead already..

We were staying at Lee's condo, he was married to my Uncles sister Marian who passed away a few years back, formerly of Hamden too, he was going to stay at his new girlfriends condo around the corner... My mom got the master bedroom suite and I got what I'm sadly used to, the pullout couch... The place was nice, but it was built for shriveling old people... The bathroom sink I was using came up to my thighs, and if I tried to drown my self in the sink, my head wouldn't have fit in it. While shaving, my left shoulder was pressed against the wall, my right shoulder pressed against the glass shower door.. The shower was another obstacle... Once in the shower my head towering over the nozzle head, when I bent down a bit to wash my hair, my knees hit the wall and my fat ass pressed against the glass shower doors... one time I tried to bend over and soap up my shins and feet...I almost knocked myself out, hitting my head on the soap bar holder...

So Wednesday nite we head out to Lucille's, a great barbeque joint in Boynton Beach. You all know how much I like knawing on meat on a bone,.... I had the BBQ shrimp... I had the hostess laughing, asking for a box of crayons and a kids seat and menu... Ordering food was a treat, Lee is hard of hearing, my Uncles speech isn't great, my mom and Aunt can't see and I'm sweating wedged between my moms left boob and Lee's hairy right arm.... Yeah dinner was great...

We drop my Aunt and Uncle back at their place and head back to Lee's condo to retire for the night... I make my pull out bed, and my mom jumps into my bed and wants to talk... "Isn't this fun?" she asked... Yeah, like that root canal I had when I was 22... I convinced her to get a good nite sleep, she went down the hall to her palatial surroundings and I got under the two paper blankets left for me and turned on the state of the art 12 inch TV... I awoke sometime in the middle of the night, freezing, only to hear my mom's TV on a little bit too loud. I showed her how to work the sleep timer the next night.

Thursday my mom went with my Aunt to her chemo, my Uncle went to F.A.U. for art classes, it was my only day to myself. I drove around and found a D.D. for coffee, and acclimated myself with the neighborhood. I stopped into a restaurant for breakfast, and besides the help, I was the youngest there, I got a lot of stares, apparently they aren't used to seeing unaccompanied Kid's there. After breakfast I realized I could make a ton of money dyeing hair, I saw more bold colors than a paint store.. There's gotta be a big market for hair coloring..

That nite we stayed in and had chinese food with my Aunt Cele and Uncle Al... My mother and Aunt bickered back and forth like they were 8 and 12. My uncle told my aunt what he wanted and she corrected him to what he was going to get. We sat at a 1960's fold up card table with a big lazy susan. The ordering process took a while and it was then i realized I was never going to get a "quick" meal here...

Friday morning we went to breakfast... Helped Uncle Al into and out of the car and helped guide him and his walker. Aunt Cele and my mom snipped at each other over what we were getting... good times!!

Friday my mom wanted to see the beach, so I drove her the beach and helped her to a lounge chair... She was cockblocking again... calling me honey and lovey...
That afternoon I piled them in the car and took them to Deerfield Beach for my Aunts after chemo shot, my aunt was backseat driving and my mother was telling her sister what a good driver I was... My uncle mumbled to me from the passenger seat, "you think it's easy..huh?"

Once at the medical center, getting my Uncle situated in the waiting room, surrounded by 100 year cancer patients waiting to see the Doctors, my mom came out and joined us, apparently my Aunt told her to leave her... Some old guy comes in and asked the receptionist if he could use a phone for a ride, she directed him across the room and he called, while on the phone, with the bustle of a busy office, TV on for the waiting room and the phones ringing, this guy lets out one of the loudest farts I've ever heard in my life, and it lasted a good 30 seconds... I glanced at my uncle and he was shaking his head left to right, the receptionist put her head down and covered her nose with her shirt, I glanced at my mom to my right and she had the look on her face like I came home with 4 D's on my report card... I held my breath, closed my eyes and tried not to burst out laughing... I made contact with the receptionist and we both smirked and I looked away, I was about to lose it...

At night we waited for Lee and Alma to arrive from there volunteer work at the Tennis Match and they decided to go to The Ale House... We had to take 2 cars since there was 6 of us, my Uncle wasn't feeling that strong so we took the wheelchair and the walker. The drive there should have taken 10 minutes, it seemed like 10 hours, Lee being very cautious, didn't want to lose me, so he drove slow... So slow that that idle on my rent a car would have smashed into his back bumper, so i drove the whole way there riding the breaks, I fit right in with the rest of the drivers in Florida. Once I got my uncle out of the car and into the restaurant I parked the car. Once again, I got wedged in a booth with my mom to my left and to my right was Alma, who lathered herself with perfume for her new beau Lee... By the time the food came, I was stressing out, sweating and had to turn my shoulders just to use a fork.. 10 minutes into the meal Alma took my fork and instead of trying to get the very busy servers attention I ate my meal with my fingers. Not quite finished with my meal, I asked if I could get up, 3 minutes later when Alma moved I was FREE... I went over to the bar, and told our server that if they needed me that that's where I'd be.

I drove them back home took my mom back to Lee's and made up a story that I was going out for snacks... I drove back to the beach and I finally saw young peers.. By the beach in Delray, there were a bunch of clubs with youngsters spilling out into the streets, I sat on the side of the road smoking a cigar with the handicap pass hanging from the mirror... No one even noticed me... When i got back to the condo I had to wake my drooling mom up and told her to go into her own bed... I also set the sleep timer for her and proceeded to try and sleep... All in all, I got maybe 6 hours of sleep the whole trip, and when I woke up the first thing I saw was my mom standing over me, asking me if I was awake, by the time I uttered my sleepy reply she was carrying on about the flight (that was scheduled 6 hours later) and she was worried about it being canceled. she was telling me that we had to clean the place, had to laundry and was demanding me to call JetBlue and to contact my sister to see WHO was picking us up at the airport. Since I've been waking upo alone for a long time now, I wasn't receptive to this muich instruction so early in the morning.. My mother started bitching to me, (obviously taking out her frustration at not winning arguments with my Aunt on me), and we snapped at each other, ahhh just like old times... I took off to get coffee and bought my mom a jelly donut for a peace offering... it worked, after she gave me a passive aggressive apology...

We took my Aunt and Uncle out for a last breakfast, that took a good 3 hours, once back at their condo, I hung a bunch of paintings that my Uncle painted, every picture I hung took 20 minutes, my Uncle wanted this one here, my Aunt wanted that one there... They argued about selection and placement on every one...and then we headed to the airport for the flight home.

Five times on the plane she asked me why I didn't have a jacket, I explained that I would be okay and that Wayne and Wendy were picking us up and I wasn't walking home in the cold from White Plains...

Once back in Woodbridge I was greeted by open arms from the only one that really missed me... Actually is was open paws, as Bear was wagging his tail for HIS favorite Uncle...

As torturous as it was, I was glad I got to see them both of them... I was able to get some good stories from my Uncle about his time in the service as a seaman on the Aircraft Altamaha. We did a family tree of my maternal heritage, with conflicting facts by my mom and Aunt.. All in all it was a good trip...

Ponce de Leon was right the Fountain of Youth IS in Florida, because I never felt so young as I did that week...

"Katz's Deli Back In The Championship Game"

Katz's Deli & Restaurant softball team was back in the championship game. Last years loss was tough to deal with. This years squad was determined not to let it happen again. We stumbled early in the season, losing to TBS for the first time in JCC league history.. But it just gave us more incentive to win it all in 2009.

If you remember last year, we got to the final game, and we were poised to win. But, rain drowned out our scheduled game, you can check back in the archives for what really happened.. (August 2008).

So this year I was determined to be better. I joined the gym, and was gonna get to the batting cages on a regular basis to improve my skills. As I am approaching 50 years old, I know I wasn't gonna get THAT much better, but if I could slow the decline that all ballplayers go thru, I would be alright.

In January, there was some talk of bringing in some new, young blood. Of course, they had plans to upgrade different positions. I was the first baseman, but Scott Boras (who is Jamie's agent), was floating a young slugger who played first. I was determined not to lose my position. Apparently team Captain, Mark Albert liked the looks of the new kid. Yeah the kid, was faster than me, in better shape, and the kid told me SHE wanted to send me to the bench. Oh... did I mention she was a girl??

Fortunately, she messed up her toe in a farming accident and I got to keep first base.

Our season started a little slow, but we righted the ship and set sail for our goal. Early in the season, we were beating a team pretty good. Mark Albert asked us not to "show up" the other team, so when we got on base, be conservative and take it base to base, instead of trying to round the bases at will. Good sportsmanship by the captain, (he's always the first one to praise the umpires for good calls too). I'm at the plate and I hit a shot, over the left centerfielders head and I'm flying around the bases. Okay maybe not flying, but for me I'm moving like I'm being chased by a hungry pitbull. As I round second base, Mark is our third base coach and is telling me to hold up. I am determined to score, I haven't hit a homerun since the early '70's at Robert Handford's house in a whiffle ball game. I'm going for it... I'm digging with the cleats, snorting air, and getting tears in my my eyes from the speed, (okay, it was windy and maybe the tears was from that). But I scored!! We won the game and I made as few plays in the field, but I miss one foul ball behind me. The grass was wet from the night before's rain. I almost had it but I slipped on the turf, outstretched and just barely missed making the play. Being a little cocky I contacted THAT ringer first baseman that almost took my job and pointed out that I had hit a homerun, and because I'm a little humble, I told her about the play at first too.. Her response... "I wouldn't have fallen"...

It was a good year, we beat the Big Boys in the playoffs and we're ready to play for the Championship. They told me the game was at 10:30am, or so I thought... Sometime on Saturday nite I got a text from Mark stating batting practice was gonna be at 8am. I was working at a restaurant as a celebrity bartender that night, they hire star athletes on occasion but I looked at the message and said, I am not getting up that early for BP. I would get to the game an hour in advance, more than enough time to stretch, and loosen up for the game. As I pull into the field parking lot, I see both teams playing, and I check my watch. It's 9:30am, I get my cleats, glove and DD coffee, head to the bench. Apparently the game was scheduled for 9:00am. Oops, my bad... So I was regulated to cheering. It was the third inning and we were down by three runs. By the looks of my teammates the looked demoralized, (the same look the Red Sox had this weekend), I come to find out, they are depressed I showed up, now they have to let me bat... I just thought they were down because we were losing. Lo and behold, we clawed back and were poised to win, tied at the bottom of the 8th, Matt leading off, rips a liner to center for a solid base hit. Shannon got him to third with a shot to the outfield. Up comes Jamie, they walk him. Mike "Bear" is up with the bases loaded, and a little miffed they walked Jamie to get to him. All we need is a sac fly to win the game.... ,"Bear" is ready to go... his pitch comes in, and his eyes widen, like Yogi & Booboo after they spot an unattended pic-ca-nic basket... He drills it out to left center. Matt tags from third, and as he crosses the plate... we WIN!!!! How did I do?? Oh.. I hit a scorcher to short, that Jeter would have had a tough time handling, but I was thrown out by a step.... a step of a circus elephant, but a step nonetheless... My second at bat to lead off the final inning, I hit a towering fly ball, that may have hit the astrodome roof if we were in houston, but the pitcher took three steps in and caught it..

Celebration followed, we were all happy except for our mercurial owner Steve Katz. We all piled into Katz's deli, it was 30 minutes before they opened, so Steve tried to get us to go somewhere else... We gathered behind the plate for a team photo, Mike, Jamie and I discussed the Championship jackets we want to Steve, as he flicks a cigarette at me and storms off to his Navigator..

It was another great year, and I'm looking forward to playing again next year. But already there is a lefty swinging goat that covers the bag at first pretty good in the Bethany Animal Softball League, just another challenge for me... By the way... don't believe what the sheep say in that league they LIE!!...

The End of the Run...... The Fan has closed :(

Get your tissues out... you may tear up a little... God knows I have in the past few days....

It's a simple story, sad, happy, and all in between...

Back in June of 2005, The Fan Restaurant & Sports Bar opened for business... Warren, Steve & Sal opened up Woodbridge CT's only sports bar. They asked me to be the GM, with ownership in regard to profit sharing after the first year. It was a great place, fun to see it develop from ideas to construction to opening and to being very busy. We had some hiccups in the early stages, there were town political issues about whether we should open or not... A lot of drama in the beginning, ahhh who am I kidding, drama was the Fan's Middle name...

We had some memorable days, memorable nights, great fun, jokes, laughs, and of course tears...

The hiring process was an adventure. We overstaffed in the beginning hoping to find diamonds in the rough.. We found some granite, marble and the occasional slate, but yes we did find a few diamonds, some flawed, but diamonds nonetheless.

I remember that first week so vividly, I lost 20 lbs, along with my voice, (rundown from lack of sleep and food).

The original crew was great! We formed a bond early, as everything was new, we grew together as a team and we had fun. We fun, after one of our first Employee meetings, Vinny (the chef) and I spoke, telling everyone the correct ways for things to be done, then we let the floor open from comments from the owners... It was as this point that Warren said.. "When I come in here I wanted to be treated like royalty...you know like the President of the United States". Well kids we had a field day with that one, Elissa, a/k/a Red, brought in an old wall phone of her moms that was red, so we had it by the corner of the bar, Steve, Warren's partner, would call us on his cell, driving by the front of the restaurant screaming, "Perimeter Clear", needless to say that joke lasted a few months.. Then there was the time win Jen came into work and was heading to the restroom to freshen up, the door was unlocked, and as she walked in, there was a guy hovering over the toilet in mid-wipe... Aarrggghhh, (sorry for that vision), but Vinny, Jen and I were crying in laughter in the back of the restaurant, for a good 30 minutes. My sides hurt for a few days. But the best part was the guy walked back to the bar and continued eating and drinking. If that had happened to me, (which it would never, because I lock the bathroom door even if I'm alone), I would have jumped into my car and never have gone back there...

We hired all 3 Connolly kids, Nora first, then Luke as a busboy, the Sophie after she finished college. A great family, thx Tom & Lucia for rasing good kids... Nora was pushed on me by my neice Briana, who swore she was a hard worker and a great addition to the team, the first time I met Nora, she looked a deer in the headlights, wide eyed and very attentive, once I got to know her she was as crazy (in a good way) as anyone. This one time, Lucia, (the mom) had brought her mom in for lunch, Nora was the server, Luke our busboy. This particular day Lucia's mom, Constance Green, was enjoying a nice day in the restaurant and wanted to treat her grandchildren like most grandparents do, by offering money to them.

"Nora...honey, here..take some money"... while she was holding a 20 dollar bill..

"No, No grams.. I can't take your money" as she cleared some plates and headed back to the kitchen, it was at this point that Luke wandered intobefore... wiping the chairs down, straightening the tables, when Constance noticed her grandson working so diligently, reached into her purse, pulled out a 5 spot and waved it towards Luke and said,

"Here honey... " like a lion pouncing on it's prey, Luke swiped the $5 out of his grandmothers hands and said.

"Thanks Gram.." and proceeded to do nothing the rest of the day but try and get Andrea (one of our servers) to go out with him...

We had fun here... and there's a million more stories, but this blog spot could go on forever...

All in all we had a great staff, Billy Cal was hired to run the bar, he and the Grifftone were our Friday night barkeeps. Leigh-Loo, who went to school at SCSU but lived in Buffalo, her parents would make the 6 1/2 hour trip to see her every few months, (Good People). Courtney & Carly, Lindsay, Kaitlin, Molly Alana, Jen Q40, Andrea, Laura and many more, too many to mention. We had the the best looking and most talented hostesses this side of the Connecticut River, Kelly, Celia, Kristy, etc... and some of the worst busboys ever... Freddy, Jesse, Dan, Mike, LOL... they all got good right before they left...

Our bartenders were works of art, Nicole, Chrissy, Erica, Ashcan, and of course Danielle. Each one more special than the other...
In their own way of course...





In the end, it was Augustine, our faithful dishwasher, who worked hard every day... Mario our Head Chef, and first hire back in 2005, Oswaldo, Freddy, Paulo, all good workers.

And of course our servers at the end, who witnessed and had to endure the end. Taryn, who never did punch a customer, but threatened to too many a time. And who would entertain me by labeling each customers check name with a perfect descriptions of that table, (some names I can not disclose, as some of them may be reading this blog). Briana, who stayed only because her mom made her, (and since she's afriad of her mom/my sister as I am she had to stay until the end), Cassandra who was everyone's taxi service, and would show up limping and on medication for a party of 30, because she promised to work the party, (we sent her home that day...LOL). Michelle who no matter if it was busy or slow moved at the same pace. Kasey, who started as a busboy during here break from college, and now when I'm in a jam
would drive home from school to work, and let me tell you as a server...she's one heck of a swimmer...LOL. Of course our bartenders; Danielle, one of my better hires, who just recently left us after some of our payroll cuts, Erica who alwys turned Taryn's IPOD up too loud and Ashley who consistently spent the first 45 minutes of her shift on her cellphone. A great crew that I will never forget.... EVER!!! I love you all... some more than others..

So anyhoo... the last day was a sad one indeed, but a great way to go out.... (Take that pee break now.... )...

Saturday, April 18th was our last day... I woke up at my sisters a little after 8am, too early, but I had a tough time sleeping. I got my DD coffee and opened the door at 10am, so the crew could prep the place for business.

I have to admit, I'm a sentimental guy, very careing, etc... but I'm not known as a cryer... Sure I well up at funerals... but who doesn't... besides, I 've been to too many, so I have numbed myself of that emotion... But I have to admit... by 11:26am, I had cried 6 times... Jeezz.. I'm a wuss...

Alot of emotions running thru me, in as I thought back on the past 4 years, I realized that while all else crumbled around me I could numb my senses by diving into work, (of course that means I should have been a better manager).... A major IRS issue, some deaths, my marriage, etc, I would block it all out and immerse myself in my job... Like the time I was driving to work in NJ to CT, in the rain when I got cutoff by a silver minivan, hit the brakes and then did my best Nascar hydroplane into the concrete Jersey Barriers on the Tappan Zee Bridge.. Thru 6 lanes of traffic, amazingly not hitting another car... I rented a car and made it to work 2 hours late... I remember the rental car clerk shaking his head, "No one smashes a car and rents a car and hour later..." Well.... I do...and did...

I got a few text messages in the morning wishing me good luck and some positive reinforcements...

I get my first call from Warren... speaking somber in a low voice that there isn't enough "Density in Woodbridge" to keep it going at this location..

I was then visited by Mark Bollard, a/k/a "Bully"... Then Mike Morris a/k/a "Bigs" stopped in... Then Steve, a/k/a "Large", it was at this point as I'm grabbing the rest of the dwindling liquor stock to the bar, when I picked up the case of Da Vinci's Chianti, the bottom of the box opens up, 8 bottles smash to the ground, but not before one breaks my big toe on my left toe, (but not to gross out Taryn, there will not be a photo of that). As tough and strong a woman as she is, and much like Superman with the Kyrptonite, feet is not something she can handle...

Doug DiLorenzo and his daughter Jenna stop in to give me a Bethwood Softball golf shirt as a present, (Thx to them eating with us for all four years) at the time when the red wine is seeping thru the liquor closet wall.. That's when Steve starts talking about Moses and the Nile of blood... (You had to be there)... He was just happy I had less to get rid of after we closed...LOL...

Bailey, Warren's daughter, stopped in to say hi to Taryn, and was dissappointed that she wasn't arriving until 1:30pm. She then sat in the dinning room and told me if the restaurant was her house she would put the living room here, kitchen here.. my office would be a closet for her clothes, and she would add an indoor swimming pool. Not what I wanted to hear on this morning... but if you know Bailey, she's the nicest kid in the world... You know there was no ill will meant...

Warren's wife Alicia came in to get Bailey, looking tired, drained and ripped.... She's competing next week for a bodybuilding Figure Competition and this is the last week of her diet and training, (handclapping please), she's gonna do great!!

It's now 1pm, the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals are playing game two in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So our first guests of the day are John & Ray wearing their Yankee shirts proudly, and their friend Tony wearing the ugliest Red Sox you can imagine... Actually, any Red Sox shirt is ugly...but that's just my opinion.

We have no kitchen staff, so I tell them popcorns free... (It's been free from day one)...

Taryn shows up in ripped jeans and a homemade shirt she made that says, "I Love the Fan" with her name on the back and a matching shirt for her adorable son Wyatt with "Rookie" blazed on the back of his... Yeah she asked if she could wear jeans on the last day.... and before I could say yes, she says, "What... are you gonna fire me??" Needless to say that's not an option... It's the last day the heck with it. (she made me a shirt too, XXL in Black of course with a captains "C" on it) Thx :)

She has no babysitter until 3 ish or so, so that's why Wyatt was with her, he loved coming to the Fan he always got his coloring book and crayons, cup of Sprite, (Excellent for blowing bubbles thru the straw), and Popcorn. Usually he's happy to be here, and for a moment I thought he was sad too. But one look at his shaved head..... I realized he still hadn't forgave his mom for the buzzcut... I just hope 20 years from now he remembers how much fun it was to visit the restaurant.

So since I don't have a kitchen staff until Mario wakes up and comes in (He worked the night before until 10pm, then slept a little and went to his other job from 2am to 10am) Ray, John & Tony, (but who care what Tony thinks, he's a Red Sox fan) are starving. So I offer to buy lunch at 5 Guys Hamburgers if John goes and gets it... Sixty eight dollars later, with greasy fries and cheeseburgers and hotdogs we chow down our last meal at the Fan, (made down the street though...)

Dave Camacho & Pigpen, err I mean Steve come in, I think Steve has a drinking problem, I'm not sure, but in 4 years I never saw him sober... but today he's outside smoking a cigarette, with NO baseball hat on, and for a fleeting moment, I swear it's Jack Nicholson. Dave and I laugh about that one, that on the Fan's Last day we finally got a celebrity to stop in...

The Rangers win to go 2 games up on the Caps, and we start getting busy... Oh it's gonna be crazy I can feel it. Kasey comes in after helping Uncle Wayne at The UNH Spring Football game cookout, complaining of BBQ smoked eyes. and exhausted from class the day before at Rutgers in NJ and the FAST drive to CT to do a double on Friday night.

The night gets heated up, and it's wall to wall people, if every night was like that we'd be millionaires by now... Steve & I joke that we should have spread the rumor of us closing every other week for the past 4 years... That would have been tremendous marketing!!

BudLight Mike & Diane, (whom met at the FAN, and are getting married this year) Paul Hennessy & Rick came in to say their goodbyes. BudLight Mike got his name from Molly one of our old crew, because he drinks Vodka..... I'm kidding, he's a Budlight fanatic... It was a wild scene The UNH football coaches were there, all in all a lot of good friends.. People I was reacquantied with from my past, new friends, old ones, almost all of them I love... well...who am I kidding, I don't even like half of them... But last nite was a special one, the end of an era.... Ok so I've cried 5 more times today... Time to move on with my life... If you care.... tune in again and I'll write about.....

Thank you all!!!!! It was a great run..... But another chapter is over.... Geez I haven't teared up this much since I watched "Brian's Song in 1973... I gotta go, I've spent the entire day alone in the Fan and I'm drained. Oh one more thing, some moron called and asked if I could make him a pizza or are you really closed... AAARRRGGGHHHH...

Who are these people anyways..... and where were they for the past 4 years......

I want to thank every single customer that came in, some of you are or became good friends... Doug, Donna & Lisa our Friday night regulars, Jim & Colleen who took Billy Cal and me their wings. Chuck & Robin, who a nicest people around. Doug & Robin and the girls Jenna & Brittney. Tony, Dominque, Angie & Peter. The Jew Crew... Peric, Allison, Dave, Shelly, Iyla, Ronnie, etc.. Lee, Mark, Lisa & Ed. Kim & Billy, Jess & Bird. Kenny G, The Packer Girls Kate, Kim, Megan, & Corey.. Don, Jeff & the Turncoat Vince... Harold, Harold & Rod... Geri, Jess, Joanne, Wynn, Steve, Jenn, Shelly, Rick.... There's too many to list... Jeff the Flyer man... Bruce T, JP & Art, Jen, Laura & Drew. Artie, Onzio, Todd Carroll and his wife. Frannie & Anthony. I'm forgetting them all but Thank you !!!

(click on any picture for a clearer and larger view....)

The light is dimming....... See ya soon....