Miscellaneous ramblings from the desert...

     Hey, y'all...sitting in the apartment here at 8pm in the evening.  The temperature outside is a balmy 100 degrees.  The lows this week have barely gotten into the high 70's and the highs are around 106 during the day.  The usual abundant sunshine (feels like its sitting on your shoulder) signals a pretty warm summer coming to the Valley...(let's face it, the only seasons here are hot and not so hot).  But the heat is part of the deal when you sign up to live in the desert.  Made it to 109 in parts of the Valley this past week (a little hot for May...can't wait to see what July and August bring!).  Everything here is going well and I hope it the same for all of you.

     As I write this, my favorite hockey team (NJ Devils) is still trying to beat the hated Rangers and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  The Phoenix Coyotes made a valiant effort to move on but the LA Kings are on a tremendous roll and seem virtually unbeatable.  But I'm rooting hard for Marty Brodeur to make it to the Finals one more time in his Hall of Fame career.  It would be a fitting end to a great career as the greatest hockey goalie of all time (my opinion).  And here it is the end of May and the NY Mets are still playing competitive baseball and are 3 game back of the Washington Nationals.  Numerous injuries plague them (as they do all teams), but the young team, and I have to admit I know very few of these guys, are playing pretty well.  The Celtics are still in and the Lakers are out (good riddance) but the series to watch is going to be Oklahoma City versus the San Antonio Spurs.  I don't know if the Celtics can beat the Heat in the next round, but I think the NBA champion will be coming from the Western Conference.

     Phoenix Comicon is starting tomorrow so I will be busy this weekend making sure the attendees (complete with their costumes) remain safe and secure.  The other night I had the television on the preview channel and there is a movie about Comicon in San Diego coming out and during the previews I think I heard my voice in the movie.  Back in 2010, I spent a week doing security in San Diego for Comicon and one of my duties was to greet guests with a bullhorn at the entrance.  I was filmed and recorded numerous times by local TV and others.  I think the voice in the movie preview welcoming people is mine.  So I'll have to see when it comes out and whether I'm the voice in the movie.  Pretty funny...

     My balky left knee is healing very slowly but it is getting better.  I can no longer use it as an excuse for my poor golf performance of late.  I seem to be giving shots away at an alarming rate.  My consistency has faltered and is quite annoying.  Next week will be spent working on fundamentals and if I don't improve I may break down and try a lesson or two.  I don't want to but we'll see.

     On the work front, the job for Sky Harbor (Phoenix) has been sending me daily emails that they are "reviewing applications" so the process is on-going but as slow as the healing of my knee.  I was on the web site again and a job at Lihue Airport was open so I put an application in for that too.  For those of you who don't know, Lihue Airport is on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.  The opportunity was just too sweet not to try.  I don't know what the deal is on transferring once you are hired, but let's get me hired first.  I would really like to remain here in Arizona (the job is part time to start and I could still work some gigs with my other companies) but the thought of living in Hawaii for a time was too good not to apply...

     Happy birthday to Bob J. back in New Jersey... We are coming up on a lot of June birthdays (my NY friends in particular) myself included.  Vacation plans for the summer are still up in the air.  I may be going to San Diego again in July and will head to NY in August for the US Open unless something happens with TSA, but other than that I may be doing some "stay-cations" here in Arizona to escape the heat for a couple days.  Weather up in Prescott and Flagstaff and Sedona is significantly cooler during the summer and if my midweek "weekends" (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays off) continue, I will go and stay up north for two nights and hike and explore the north country.  But you never know where I might turn up if airline rates are favorable...

Happy Mother's Day and other things....

     Wow... what started as a blog every day has turned into a once a month thing.  All my fault of course.  It is not for a lack of something to say...(you all know that).  It is negligence on my part and I will continue to remind myself to be more forthcoming with this missives.  As you know... (and if you don't I'm telling you now), I have returned to a work schedule that I originally envisioned when I embarked on this "career" here in Arizona.  The summer is coming and the heat (love it!) will be here and the work in security (which is very seasonal here) will slow.  We have a couple big events but nothing like last summer when we had two huge religious conferences and the All-Star Game.  I have been invited back to New York for the U.S. Open in August for three weeks...barring anything new in the TSA employment front.  So, days off are at a premium these days and lazybones here just isn't writing enough.  So, I am starting today with this blog and am trying to write a little every day to get the book idea I had off the ground.  The plan is to turn my balcony in my writing studio (if you would have visited me out here, you could picture it yourself).  Since you didn't... my balcony in back enjoys shade all day and is very quiet.  There is electricity (for my computer) and a nice view of the golf course next door.  I only work tomorrow (teaching a guard class) and Sunday (working a comedy festival) then I am off most of next week.  The plan is to lay out the chapters and then add notes and then finally get to it... I will keep you in the loop (hopefully more often) through the blog, which I plan to continue ad nauseum (I think that's Latin for forever...wink,wink).

     Speaking of future employment...I was checking the website for TSA and an opening just came about for Phoenix Sky Harbor airport (which you would know is my local airport if you visited).  I quickly put in my application and resume and will keep my fingers crossed.  A job at Sky Harbor would allow me to keep my security job for special events like the golf tournaments and such.  And I live very close to the airport (which you would know if you visited).  It would be a win-win situation for me.  More on that as it develops...

     Back to the main theme of this blog... Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's and future Mom's.  This Hallmark holiday is worthy of a celebration and not just one day.  Not only is the pregnancy and actual birth of a child WAY more than I could stand in terms of physical pain, it really never ends after the birth.  Mothering is a 24/7, 365 day job that lasts Mom's lifetime.  She constantly puts her child's needs ahead of herself and endures the backtalk and arguments when her decisions for her child contradict with the child's desires.  She eventually lets the child go to live their own life but the worry and concern never leave with the child.  It seems to me that a one day celebration of this ultimate sacrifice and lifelong commitment is a little shabby.  That's just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion...(especially when you are the one typing on the computer).  So, God bless all the Moms out there (especially you, Helen) for putting up with us all these years and suffering the trials and tribulations associated with the title of "MOM".