The Tao Of Paul

The Trip:
The trip to Arizona was a true learning experience. First, the airport is crowded on Saturday morning, 6 am. We had to sprint to the very last gate to catch our flight. Second, Continental counter personnel do not give a rat’s ass if you are late or not. They would rather stand back there bitching about a coworker than acknowledge your existence. The flights to Phoenix were uneventful, baggage claim and car rental were fine. The next lesson was in street numbering. the numbered street area in the southern end had lots of razor wire on top of the business fences, the numbered avenues where our hotel was did not have razor wire at all. A shitload of yard sales though. They also have an incredible number of churches, more than the diocese has on the East Side. We probably would have gotten to the hotel sooner if we had listened to our son in the back seat. but instead we tried to find it on the fly, fraying nerves in the process.
The School is amazing. A few mil in BMW, Audi, god knows what else. Even more in test equipment. The car manufacturers provide updated cars/equipment every 8 months or so.
Son and his friend went out found an apartment, and got lines on jobs as well. He amazes me.
Then back to Buffalo. After a delay in Phoenix due to a punctured main tire, and crappy weather in Chicago, which also delayed the Buffalo flight, we got home 2:30am Wednesday morning.
What I learned from my kids:
When I was 18, I joined the Air Force. Summer of 72, Vietnam still going on, but starting to wind down. It may have seemed like I was making a big step into the unknown world, but it is a tad deceptive. I was going into a situation where someone else besides my parents was going to feed, clothe, and provide me shelter. No chance, other than being busted out of the service, of me having to truly fend for myself or end up living on the streets.
My son is doing something that is giving me mild anxiety attacks. Moving away from any type of close support. Taking out loans. Just stepping out into the outside without any kind of safety net. He has always managed to survive, make enough to pay the bills. I used to call him “Anything for a Dollar Dan”. And he does this seemingly without any reservation. Makes me pretty proud. I don’t know if I could have done that at that stage in my life.
My daughter and her spouse watched the house, dog, and cats while we were away. I still think of her as my little girl. Dads are like that. We found out that she can act rational in somewhat stressful situations. Our dog is a Pomeranian. Dub in Law is 6′8, 325,335 or so. Dog was underfoot, Dub in law did not notice, and sort of stepped on my 14 year old, partially blind, pretty much deaf, arthritic dog. No problem. Calls us to say James squished the dog, but the vet says it looks like all it did was aggravate the arthritis.
We also learned that she has become a pretty good cook. we came home to two pans of lasagna, one veggie for the wife, one dead animal flesh laced for me.
Life is good.

I got nothing, man. Yardwork. Groceries since I was away last weekend we have zip in the house.
Please tell me that there is something exciting out there that I can do this weekend…

You gotta love it when they give you a chance for a title like that…
I know you have to hustle for votes, and standing in line with striking workers makes for great copy. But bailing when an agreement is announced looks pretty bad.

Edwards issued a statement on Tuesday indicating his “strong support for the striking auto workers in Buffalo and across the country.”

That’s the old statement.

The new statement screams to me:
“What? You came to an agreement? Screw it. Now you guys are just another bunch of working stiffs. I don’t need this crap. I’m outta here”

Would have been nice to stick around, show a bit of support, congratulate them on a quick agreement that keeps them off strike pay. Instead, in my opinion he comes off like an ambulance chaser.

Am I being too harsh?

The Good - I’m going to Phoenix with the wife & son for a few days.

The Bad - I’m going to Phoenix with the wife & son for a few days.
Dan has decided to take his life on the road. Planning to go to school for master mechanics in Arizona, then find a new place to experience life.
So no more free automotive work, stopping by for a beer, meeting up at a BOHW happy hour, all those good things. He is not leaving due to poor job conditions, economy, distaste for the city, anything like that. He’s just decided to move on, so there he goes.
On the upside, my food bills will go down. Even though he hasn’t lived at the homestead for a while, every time he comes to visit he heads for the fridge.

The Bad - We are both unhappy that we will be missing the Oktoberfest at the Terminal this year.

The Good - Lildub will still be around. She doesn’t visit as much as the boy, probably because she is tending her gardens, being a flower child, or playing Wii. When she does visit, she always brings fun stuff to do, and Dub in law is a Buffalo sports fan like me. She will be watching the homestead whilst we are gone.
So, Have fun at the Oktoberfest, and I’ll see you guys back on Wednesday.

I couldn’t agree with Donn more. I am not registered with either party. But the Democratic Primary was an insult. I feel embarrassed for those who are registered Democrats. Both Clark and Keane seemed to have the same strategy - mumble a couple of ideas, sling a bunch of shit. If Keane sticks to the same thing until November, Collins will have a cakewalk.
Granted, there’s not a magic wand that comes with the CE position that will bring forth jobs and lower taxes. But I would like to see some sort of game plan that will get us back on the road to fiscal recovery. I want to see someone willing to work with the legislature and the Control Board so we can move forward.
Think either one of these two can do it?
Or will it be more of the same?

This just in from the fine folks that brought you Buffalo Old Home Week :

We are happy to announce that our Happy To Be Here Hours will resume this month at WJ Morrisseys (30 Mississippi, between Perry & South Park, behind HSBC Arena) in the Cobblestone District, on Monday, September 17 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. These events are where those of us who are fortunate enough to already be in Beautiful Buffalo come to celebrate all that is great about this town and come up with creative ways to address things that could be better. We’re a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-the-job done group, and working together to make Buffalo even better is a great goal.

Our HTBH speaker this month is Dr. Mark Donnelly, the genius behind CulturalNiagara.com, Surfbuffalo.com, Where2When2.com, and countless other valuable Buffalo Niagara initiatives. He will shout over the din for 10 or 15 minutes to extol the virtues of Buffalo Niagara’s culturals and the opportunity that exists in this community – were we all to pull together. We should all be inspired by him to be personally responsible for making something terrific happen here! The $3.00 HTBH Special on Guinness, Jameson and Murphy’s, plus some tasty Irish Toasties, compliments of our host Dennis Brinkworth, ought to add to the convivial spirit! Please plan to join us.

I can’t make it, but I hope all of you will, and come back to tell me what a great time you had!!!

When he writes drivel, I will bitch. When he hits on point like this, I can say job well done.
From the initial report, something did not seem quite right. The evidence seemed lacking. Turns out, it was pretty much non-existent. You had to wonder what the hell was going on.

Some of Avery’s colleagues believe that the prosecution was prompted by a personal vendetta.
The vendetta presumably began with Avery’s 2003 drunken-driving arrest of a relative of John Cleary, an investigator in the DA’s office. Despite the apparent conflict of interest, Cleary was allowed to work on the Avery case.

Does that sound like the unbiased attitude you expect from the DA’s office?

The oddities did not end there. Prosecutors did not tell the grand jury that indicted Avery that there was no DNA evidence of an assault.

That is definitely a smoke and mirrors attempt. If that information was presented to the Grand Jury, there would have been no indictment. Period.

Finally, this disturbing statement:

“[Cleary] had nothing to do . . .with any judgments about how this case was pursued,” Clark said. “The determination to put the case before a grand jury was mine alone.”

It seems to me that Mr. Clark is enjoying the limelight a bit too much. This weak case gets lit up on the front page, he decides to put forth evidence in a very selective manner. He makes comments to the press about how the mayor should run his shop. He seems to love those interviews.
At the same time, a hit and run accident involving a member of the Mayor’s staff and a motorcycle gets buried in the blink of an eye.

I believe a District Attorney should not be voicing personal opinions to the media as often as Clark does. Perhaps if he spent more time really looking at the facts instead of playing media darling, cases like these would not go this far.

5:45 am. Waiting for the dryer to finish up so I won’t have to wear soggy boxers to work. Don’t you just hate that feeling?
Anyhow, this Saturday is Gallagher Beach Cleanup with the Western New York Coalition for Progress. 9 - Noon, on Fuhrmannn Boulevard. You might want to bring something in case it rains. I will.
Da Bills on Sunday. I am still looking for a good place to watch the game. Based on the rousing response I received last week, I will probably end up watching the game downstairs with the cat.
And Fedup is working. I wonder if she’ll be watching NASCAR?

You’re amazing Donn. Glad to see you are still chiming in with your expertise. How long are you going to keep this up? Is this the only subject that you are paid for?
Perhaps now that this will be simmering down a bit, how about you write about something Really important.
Like the schools.
Or if you want to stick to retail, How about Main street, and the incredible Lack of retail.
Just write something new Donn
All Donn
All Dull
All the Time.

One brother in law just left to go back to Florida. My sister is up from the sunshine state for the weekend, and is stopping by this afternoon. My nephew’s wife is having a birthday party today for their son. Tonight, all my wife’s Irish Aunts and Uncles are in town for a little partying.
With last week’s family picnic at my brother’s, I think I will have see about every relation possible.
Nothing better than these little get togethers to appreciate what you have.