Thanksgiving

For the first time in more than thirty-five years, Laurie and I did not host Thanksgiving dinner, which also meant it was the first time in decades that I was not up in the middle of the night dealing with the cooking of a giant turkey.

Some months ago, Rebecca's parents, Jim and Debbie, asked if we would be willing to transplant the event to their home in Fairfax, Virginia, because their son and daughter-in-law were able to join the festivities. They graciously invited our other Turkey Day regulars, my brother Richie's family and the Greenbergers, so that we could all still be together.

In the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning, Laurie and I headed off. We stopped in Jersey City to pick up Chuck and Rebecca and then headed south. Shortly after noon, we rendezvoused with Sammi at the motel we'd be staying in; she had made the trek from her home in southeastern Virginia. After checking in, we drove to Jim and Debbie's house.

As always, there were large quantities of food (and many pies) and everyone ate heartily.

Alas, one Thanksgiving tradition that did not translate to the new location was the visit of Sammi's friend Karl to join us for dessert. His arrival is always greeted with a "Cheers"-like shout of "Karl!"

**

Our Friday plans were for sightseeing in nearby Washington DC. Laurie, Sammi and I took a tour of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. We've all been in printing plants plants before and I'm happy to report that printing money is not all that different from printing comic books.



Rozaki in Washington DC

Chuck and Sammi recreate a pose from a visit to DC twenty-five years ago. In the original, they are much shorter and you can see the Capitol behind them.

We then met up with most of the clan -- eleven of us in all -- and quickly realized that everyone had different things we wanted to do. Laurie, Chuck, Sammi, Bob, Debbie and I went to lunch. Chuck and Sammi split off to visit the Aquarium and tour the monuments. Bob and Deb and Laurie and I hiked across town to the Library of Congress and Supreme Court, then split up as there was only time to visit one and each couple had a different choice. After our tour of the LoC, Laurie and I then walked back to where we'd parked to meet up with Chuck and Sammi.

Following dinner at a Tex/Mex restaurant, we reconvened with the clan for a family karaoke that Chuck has coordinated. Among the highlights was Jim and me reprising our rendition of "Sunrise, Sunset" that we first sang at Chuck and Rebecca's wedding.

On Saturday we headed home, but, unlike the drive down that had been virtually traffic-free, we crawled on a long stretch of the Jersey Turnpike. Overall, it was a nice change of pace for us, but I look forward to a return to tradition next year. If nothing else, I miss having all the leftovers...

Cyber Monday Mystery Box Sale

My pal Tony Isabella has been clearing out his Vast Accumulation of Stuff with weekly sales. (Check it out by clicking http://tonyisabella.blogspot.com/2012/11/vast-accumulation-of-stuff-sale-1126.html.) One of the items he's been offering is the Mystery Box, filled with a wide assortment of comics and other "stuff." He's inspired me to put together some Mystery Boxes of my own, which are available right now as part of Cyber Monday.

Boxes A, B, C, D, and E each contain more than 100 comic books, plus magazines, trading cards, old promotional stuff, and at least one autographed item, all from my Cabinet of Goofy Stuff. -- Boxes A, B and C -- SOLD.
Box F has dozens of DC 100-Page Super-Spectaculars instead of the comics. -- SOLD
Box G has an assortment of trade paperbacks. -- SOLD
Box H is the widest array of stuff of all, including comics, magazines, DVDs and more. -- SOLD
Boxes F, G and H also have the "plus-items" of the other boxes.

$30 each, first-come, first-served. Contact me at BobRo32@aol.com if you are interested.

Post-Sandy Post 4

The Verizon truck parked in front of our next-door neighbor's house yesterday signalled that our block is finally "fully-connected" again. They were the last to have electric power restored -- on Saturday evening -- and we were only a day ahead of them as far as phone service; our phone was finally back in service late Sunday afternoon.

We got our cable and internet connection restrung last Thursday. The work was done by a man who said that he didn't mind the cold and the snow on the ground because he was from Wisconsin. He worked on our house as well as those of two of our neighbors, refusing our offers of coffee and water. (He did accept some fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies Laurie had just baked.)

Still to be done are the removal of the tree stump and sidewalk repair, replacement of the fence, and repair of the solar panels on the roof.

**

Having been in the dark for six days, I can certainly understand the anger being expressed by my fellow Long Islanders who waited (and waited) for their power to be turned on. There is no gratification knowing that 95% of us have been reconnected if you are in the remaining 5%.

What I don't understand is the disparagement of LIPA repairmen by people who had the work done by crews from Tennessee, Florida, Quebec and many other areas around the U.S. and Canada. All of these men and women -- including those who work for LIPA -- appeared to be working exhausting schedules to replace snapped utility poles and restring downed wires. Last Wednesday afternoon, with heavy wet snow coming down, I saw a sizable crew that appeared to be both LIPA and out-of-state workers replacing two downed poles and stringing new wires.

If there is something to direct anger at, it is the management and coordination of all these crews to get the maximum work done in the shortest period of time. I have no idea what amount of staff is necessary to collect and assess all the information coming in and then coordinate the crews in the field. It may be determined that LIPA management was under-prepared for this and was then overwhelmed, but for those who have been doing it these past two weeks, it has to be a thankless job.

Go Vote!

A few years ago, when she was a U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton gave the commencement address at SUNY Farmingdale. As Laurie is a professor there, I got to attend and hear the speech.

One of the points Senator Clinton focused on in her speech was voting. When people came to her to complain about something that the government was doing or something that it wasn't doing, she would ask them if they had voted in the last election. Not "Did you vote for me?" Just "Did you vote?" If they responded that they hadn't, she would point out that they really had no justification to complain about the government, as they had not exercised their right to elect it.

That said, be sure to vote tomorrow. Your candidates may or may not be elected, but the next time you to complain about something the government did or didn't do, you will be able to answer Hillary Clinton's question in the affirmative.

Post-Sandy Post 3

There was a flurry of activity yesterday. In the early afternoon, a Town of Oyster Bay work crew came and removed the trunk and branches of the fallen tree that had been pushed to the sides of the road.
Then, at about 4:00, three LIPA trucks arrived. The crews examined the utility pole that was on a 60-degree angle, discussed options, and went into action. First, they secured the pole by tying it to the other, still-standing tree in front of our house. Then they repaired the cross-beam at the top of the pole, hoisted up the two parts of the heavy-duty line that had been split and spliced them together. Meantime, another worker spliced new wiring to the line from our house to the pole, which was then attached to the line.
Within about ninety minutes, some six days after the lights went out, the power was back on. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing in our house.

**

There are still about a quarter-million homes and businesses in Nassau and Suffolk waiting to be reconnected. In six-plus days, LIPA has restored power to upwards of 700,000 customers. While that is of little solace to those still in the dark, it can be taken as a sign that they are doing the best they can. Based on what I saw in front of my house, the crews are working quickly and efficiently and should be applauded for their efforts.
Certainly what they do not need is posturing by the Governor, first saying that he will replace the higher-ups if they are not "responsive to their customers" and later saying that there will be an investigation into whether LIPA was adequately prepared for Hurricane Sandy.
Of the latter I can only ask, how could anyone have been "adequately prepared" for the disaster that occurred? And even if there were a plan in place that might be deemed "adequate," who was supposed to pay for it? Should we start paying now so that LIPA can have a plan in place for all of its customers lose power, rather than just 90% of them?

**

Speaking of paying, we're still waiting for an announcement of a "government investigation" into the price-gouging that is going on at those gas stations that are able to pump fuel. Sparked by media reports that the power outages would limit the availability of fuel, many people took to the streets to fill their tanks. Not surprisingly, news reports of closed stations sparked even more people to join the hunt.
This resulted in blocks-long lines at gas stations and waits of hours to fill tanks, many of which were not really in need of filling. (Come on, how many people normally fill their gas tanks when they have 3/4 of a tank?) Yes, there are certainly people who did not heed warnings and fill up before the storm, and now they need gas to get to work, etc. But how much fuel is wasted by people driving all over looking for an open station and by those sitting in their cars for hours with the motor running?
Meantime, stations that were selling gas for about $3.75 a gallon eight days ago are now charging $4.30 a gallon. Where's the justification for this increase other than, "Hey, here's our chance to rake in a nice pile of extra cash because we have power to pump the fuel and the guy down the road doesn't"?
Where's the governor's sabre-rattling on this one?