BUCKET LIST OR F*CK IT LIST

Warning: There will be several references to the two items in the title of this post. If you are easily offended by descriptive words, better stop reading now. But honestly, this concept is really enlightening, especially if you are entering the fourth quarter in life.

Way back when, seventeen years ago to be exact, a movie called “The Bucket List” was released. It starred Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men who set off on a journey to fulfill as many of the life wish list items they wanted to experience before they “kick the bucket”. It started a huge movement of everyone having a “bucket list”.

Personally, I’ve never embraced the idea of a bucket list. It always seemed a little morbid to think that if I accomplished everything on my list, then it was time to die. Or if my list was so huge that I could never finish it, that would be really sad since I would die with so much still to be done.

Of course, there are lots of things I’ve wanted to do & places I’ve wanted to see in my life but I never thought of them as “must do” items to make my life complete. I’m pretty sure when I’m on my death bed, I won’t be thinking, “Damn, I never did…whatever.”

Many times, I have used the phrase, “I don’t have a bucket list per se, but if I did it would include…whatever.” On that “per se bucket list” were things like visiting the Acropolis in Greece, seeing Tina Turner & Cher perform live, traveling to all 50 states, extensively traveling the world, living in a beautiful home with my loving partner, attending the NCAA Basketball Tournament, riding the world’s tallest roller coaster (at the time), going to a Super Bowl, seeing Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (separately) in concerts & many more that don’t come to mind right now. I’ve been fortunate enough to have done all those!

A few items still left on that ever-changing “per se bucket list” are seeing Dolly Parton perform live, attending the Olympic Games, traveling to Bali & Tahiti, attending a World Series game & seeing even more of the world.

Many years ago, on a hike with Darrin, he mentioned a concept that his girlfriend, Patricia, had shared with him – that of a “Fuck It List”. Everyone has the “Bucket List” of must dos before exiting this life. But another just as meaningful concept is the “Fuck It List”, things that you can easily go to your grave never having done or accomplished & being perfectly fine with that.

Even though I skydived in my teens I am terrified of heights. Therefore, jumping off of anything high can certainly go on my “Fuck It List”. I’m not overly adventurous with food, so eating things like tripe, lamb brains or bull testicles (saw that in Hungary) – on the “Fuck It List”. Climbing Half Dome or Mt. Whitney, back in the day, maybe, but that ship has sailed & I can easily relegate it to the “Fuck It List”. I am discovering in my 70s that the “Fuck It List” is an extremely liberating concept. Thank you, Darrin & Patricia.

What brought all this to mind is that I recently read that the NBA All Star Game will be held in San Francisco in 2025. Since it was first created back in 1986 when Larry Bird won the first three years, I’ve loved the “Three Point Shootout” at the All-Star Saturday event. That would definitely be on my pseudo bucket list to attend in person someday. Wouldn’t tickets to the All-Star Saturday be a fantastic 75^th birthday gift? If you’re reading this Lou – hint, hint – wink, wink.

HE COULD.....GO.....ALL.....THE.....WAY!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sports fanatic! As long as I can remember sports have been a big part of my life. My dad was a huge sports fan and I’m sure I inherited it from him. Being his first born of two daughters I was “the boy”. We played catch outside most afternoons and couldn’t get enough of TV sports – baseball, football, basketball, etc. I’ve taken pride my entire life that I can hold my own with any man in a discussion regarding sports. 

A few weeks ago, Lou & I were in the car when “Werewolves of London”, the Warren Zevon song from the 1970s, came on the radio. It reminded me of sportscaster Chris “Boomer” Berman. Let me explain. Berman worked for ESPN since its inception in 1979 starting as an anchor of Sportscenter, a staple of the network. Along with hosting Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL Primetime and covering numerous sporting events over 40+ years, Berman is well known for his various catchphrases (hence the title of this post), quirky demeanor & nicknames for sports stars. His “BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK” homerun calls during the MLB Home Run Derby are legendary.

But I digress, there is a line in “Werewolves of London” that says – “I saw a werewolf drinkin' a piña colada at Trader Vic's, his hair was perfect”. One of my favorite nicknames that Berman was famous for creating during his broadcasting career was of an NFL defensive back, Steve “Werewolves of” London. Berman added in his fast-paced commentary – “his hair was perfect!”

I’m hoping that some of you will recall these nicknames & remember how clever Chris Berman was to knock these out week after week as he reported the highlights of the games. If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, just shake your head & consider me a wacky sports nut. Hopefully you’ll get a kick out of them anyway.

Here are a few of my favorites. These are all sports stars of varying fame. Some of them require a little bit of thought & maybe saying them out loud.

Bert “Be Home” Blyleven

Andre “Bad Moon” Rison

John “I Am Not A” Kruk 

Eddie “Eat Drink and Be” Murray

Sammy “Say it Ain’t” Sosa

Mike “Enough” Aldrete

Jim “Bela” Fregosi

Mike “Pepperoni” Piazza 

Jim “Washer and” Dwyer 

Todd “Which Hand Does He” Frohwith – (love this one!)

Mike “You’re in Good Hands With” Alstott 

Todd “Highway To” Helton 

Scott “Supercalifragilisticexpiali” Brocious – (this was #1 in fan voting) 

I’ve been debating whether to write this post for a couple weeks now since it may be a little obscure for general audiences but decided to go for it. Chris Berman really is a legend in the sports announcing world. A six-time honoree of the National Sports Media Association’s National Sportscaster of the Year award, Berman helped establish ESPN’s lasting popularity during its formative years.

NEVER HAVE I EVER - A RENTAL CAR FIASCO!

Okay, as promised here’s our crazy rental car story. I have had the good fortune to travel the world visiting 66 countries and all 50 states. Never have I ever experienced a fiasco like the one we encountered at Atlanta-Hartsfield airport’s Dollar Rental Car. Yes, we’ve had some problems in the past but this one was new to both of us. I had found a decent deal, far from cheap, but do-able with Dollar and booked it many weeks ago for our 8 day trip to Georgia and Alabama. Photos and trip report are on Travels Near & Far.

We arrived into Atlanta on time and took two trams/trains to get our luggage and find the Rental Car Center. It was 7:30 PM and the plan was to pick up the car, eat dinner on the way to the hotel then be well rested for the next day. We entered the line of about 6-8 people waiting for Dollar. A minute later, an agent yells out, “Just so you know, we have no cars available and the wait could be up to 6 hours.” WTF????  It didn’t matter that all these people (and many already waiting nearby) had reservations just like us. If you know me, you know that my French was spewing fluently from my mouth.

My son had shared some great advice from one of his teachers 25+ years ago. Spend 20% of your time on the problem (and bitching about it) and 80% of your time on the solution. We went into solution mode. They were still processing reservations in the hopes that cars would come filtering in. Lou waited in line to do that with the assurance that we could get a refund at any time if we were able to find an alternative. I walked around to all 10-12 car rental counters and politely asked if they had any cars available without a reservation. Not one of them did – except Avis. And they had about 20 people in line.

Lou went to wait in that line while I waited at Dollar. They had announced to the 30+ people waiting, not necessarily patiently, but waiting, that if you weren’t there when your name was called, your car would be given to the next customer. Lou returned about half an hour later saying that when he was 4-5 people from the counter they announced there were no more cars. Shit.

Back to waiting as the time clicked away. It was probably 9 PM by then. I called the hotel to explain the situation and tell them we would be late. We checked Uber prices and then Ubering back in the morning in the hopes of getting a car. That would have added well over $150 and wasted a lot of time. I talked with the Dollar agent (really nicely in hopes of getting a special “deal”, no luck) but I did learn that whether you make a reservation with the rental company, a third party or anywhere, on the phone or online, that does not guarantee a car. If there are no cars, there are no cars. According to the agent, this happens more often than he would like to say.

Just for something to do Lou went off to ask at the other rental car counters again. I struck up a conversation with a man next to me who had been waiting since 2 PM for a van for six people that he reserved months ago. He, his wife, kids and a couple friends had flown in from Italy! He was frustrated and I felt so bad for him. I empathized and told him I wanted to apologize for our country. We are usually more welcoming and don’t put tourists through all of this. In the middle of our conversation, they called his name! He jumped up and yelled! I clapped and cheered wishing him luck.

When Lou returned, I told him the story of the Italian visitors. We decided to wait until 11 PM and then re-evaluate the situation. It was beginning to look like sleeping on the floor of the Rental Car Center (for which I am way too old) might be our only option. This was probably around 10 PM by now. The people kept thinning out as they called a few names and others might have found a place to stay or friends came or something. We hadn’t eaten anything since lunch and neither of us were really hungry.

Low and behold, at 10:30 PM, the woman yelled out, “Padgug”! We grabbed the paperwork and headed out to the car – about 3 hours later than it should have been. Our little Kia Rio (we didn’t care what they gave us at this point, it was a car) had only half a tank of gas and still had soap suds on it from the semi-wash they gave it. We arrived at out hotel about 11:15 PM. Lou didn’t want anything but I had wine and half a bag of chips for dinner in our room. We always say, "It's all part of the adventure."

CONCERTS THEN AND NOW

Last week we went to the California State Fair in Sacramento. When we attend, we try to choose a night with a performer we both want to see – often old rockers. This time it was George Thorogood and the Destroyers. He did not disappoint. We had both seen him before at least 25-30 years ago.

George Thorogood is about a month older than me. He never complained about his age or made concessions for his 73 years like many of the old rockers do. It seemed to me that he still saw himself as a 40 year old sexy, bad boy. Actually, he was quite full of himself but it came off as kinda cute, not obnoxious. We both had a great time and he played all of his old songs – “I Drink Alone”, “Bad to the Bone”, “Who Do You Love” and “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer”.

It got me thinking about my first concert and how different rock and roll performers were way back then. The very first group I saw live on stage was “Paul Revere and the Raiders”. Yep, I was madly in love with lead singer, Mark Lindsay. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had all four of my walls covered with photos of him from the teen magazines of that era. I was working on the ceiling when I finally got over that obsession.

Anyway, I was probably 15 (back in 1965) because I didn’t drive yet. A few of us got tickets for the show. We had a friend who was 17 who thought she was hot stuff because she drove us to the Oakland Auditorium (long gone now but near the site of the current Oakland Museum). I didn’t care how I got there but I was thrilled to see Paul Revere and the Raiders” or more specifically, Mark Lindsay. He had long, thick dark hair in a pony tail, long, lanky legs and was sexy as hell.

Back in the day, bands never started on time. They were a minimum half an hour late or longer taking the stage. There were no metal detectors or bag checks to enter. We had floor seats and everyone was allowed to walk up to the stage to take photos. Remember this was long before cell phones were even conceived so you had your little Brownie camera with the flash cube on top.

Once the concert started the entire audience stood up. Being 5’4” tall, I couldn’t see over anyone. I stood on my chair but soon everyone stood on their chairs. Same problem, couldn’t see anything. There was a cute guy in the row in front of me. Being emboldened to get glimpses of Mark Lindsay in person, I asked if I could stand on top of the back of his chair and hold onto him. He agreed. I was much more agile back then and watched most of the performance standing on the back of a chair holding onto a cute stranger.

All of these memories had me comparing the differences of concerts then and now. George Thorogood started right on time, not a minute late. People would stand up and dance at times but usually sat back down soon. Remember the average age of an old rocker concert is probably above 60 but occasionally you see younger people which warms my heart. Their parents raised them right.

There was one man in the audience who must have thought he was special or invisible because he stood up most of the show. The only person to be constantly standing and, of course, he blocked my view of the stage. Halfway through, I had to really bite my tongue to keep from yelling, “Sit the fuck down!”

They did an encore but the band members came back on the stage less than a minute later. In the old days, it would take forever of screaming, yelling and clapping for the band to grace you with their presence once again.

With all of my teenage years being in the 1960s, I have been and always will be rock and roll when it comes to music. I was 14 when the Beatles arrived in the U.S. Any girl of my era had a favorite Beatle, mine was Paul. I did go through what I refer to as “my country phase” in the early 70s for a few years but then all the 80s rock and roll grabbed me again. Thanks to my granddaughter and late night TV, I do know some current music. Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are great and I do enjoy some Post Malone (Sunflower) and Imagine Dragons (Believer).

Maybe it is because I’m getting old – but much of today’s music all sounds the same. I just don’t believe that today’s kids will be getting out of their seats at the fair in 50 years and rockin’ out to “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo.

I totally agree with Bob Seger.

“Call me a relic, call me what you will.
Say I'm old-fashioned, say I'm over the hill.
Today's music ain't got the same soul.
I like that old time rock and roll.”

THE QUEEN OF RIDICULOUS INJURIES - RECAP

For the first time in a little over a year, I am relatively injury free! I figured I’d better write this quickly before something else happens. The old saying “getting old ain’t for sissies” is most definitely true. I seem to have recently become "the queen of ridiculous injuries".

Let me recap for you. In June of 2022, Lou and I went on a Caribbean cruise with Darrin (my son) and Charley (my granddaughter). On the way we sat down at a restaurant in the airport and I pushed a really heavy chair back to put my bag on it. Something in my right upper arm ripped, tore or popped and there was a searing pain for a few minutes.

Once the initial pain had lessened, it didn’t hurt but a 3-4” bright purple bruise formed just above my elbow over the next few days. I saw my doctor upon on my return but with ultrasounds and MRIs and referrals it was August when I finally had surgery to repair three tendons in my shoulder. Two were partially torn and the other completely ripped away from my rotator cuff. When I do things, I do them right!

I had a great orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shoulders and he did it arthroscopically with six small incisions. The rehab was a bitch. I slept in a recliner for over four weeks and had to do everything left-handed or with Lou’s help. I was in a sling for four months which included our move to Roseville. My sister and brother-in-law were a big help and somehow, we managed. After months of physical therapy, I was using my arm and shoulder pretty well.

Just about that time, I woke up one morning and my right foot hurt like hell. I have severe neuropathy but this was different and far worse. I could barely walk, and no way could I drive. Lou drove me to urgent care the next day. An x-ray showed that I had a fractured second metatarsal bone and I came home with a rigid boot up to my knee. The only explanation I could come up with was that I must have broken it getting out of my bathtub since I was still favoring my right arm and couldn’t push up with it??? I told you – the queen of ridiculous injuries.

My foot took its sweet time healing and suddenly the pain got way worse again. An x-ray showed the third metatarsal was now broken, also. I had just transitioned to the post op shoe but it was back to the boot. I am still at a complete loss as to how that bone broke. FYI: I had a bone scan that showed only minimal bone density loss.

After another three months in the boot or post op shoe, I finally saw the latest x-ray showing that both bones are healed! After almost eight months, I am now able to start walking in regular shoes but must “be careful”. I’m still digging through my closet looking for all my right shoes since I only wore the left ones since last December.

About a month and a half ago my right thumb started hurting – a lot. It was hard to do anything. I bought a thumb brace which helped some but it was really hampering me. I called my doctor (when the hell did my life start revolving around doctors?). She was pretty sure it was arthritis and recommended a cortisone shot. Oh, fun!

Cortisone wasn’t effective at all before my hip replacement five years ago so I wasn’t optimistic but decided I had to try something. The shot hurt like hell. She said it could take up to a week to see improvement which I thought was a little odd. After five days nothing was different and I was getting discouraged. On day six it felt a little better. Day seven and eight showed more improvement. It isn’t great but it is better for sure and I can do most daily activities with minimal pain. I’m calling that a victory for now.

So that is how, I am writing this the end of July with no pain in my close to 100% shoulder, two healed broken bones in my foot and a useable, basically pain-free right hand. Maybe, just maybe, I can make it through a few more years without any more torn or broken body parts. Here’s hoping the reign of the queen of ridiculous injuries is over! 

80 FOR BRADY

If you are looking for a way to spend a fun, carefree afternoon and walk around with a smile on your face, I highly recommend treating yourself to watching the new movie “80 for Brady”. It was delightfully entertaining and had the entire audience laughing at some of the craziness. It was Senior Discount Day and the theater was teeming with old people, but I do think that 40 or 50 year olds might get a kick out of it, too.

I have wanted to see the film since I first learned about it. How can you go wrong with four legendary actresses with loads of talent? Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are two of my favorites. Their portrayal of “Grace and Frankie” on Netflix is priceless. Add Rita Moreno, the original Anita in West Side Story, and everyone’s favorite Gidget, Sally Field, to round out the “80 for Brady” stars.

To be honest, I was expecting a lot of silly and cheesy. And, yes, parts of it were silly and cheesy but these four remarkably talented icons of stage and screen pulled it off with flying colors. Throw in some great football players and a fun storyline to round out the box office success it has had. The film opened last Friday and was the second highest grossing movie of the weekend earning 14 million dollars! You go, girls!

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot so everyone can enjoy it. But “80 for Brady” follows four 80-something women friends who journeyed to Texas for Super Bowl LI because they loved quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots. The movie is loosely based on a true story. The real life “Over 80 for Brady Club” was five widows named Elaine, Betty, Anita, Pat and Claire - best friends for years united in their love for the Patriots. The screenplay altered the number of friends and gave each of them different backstories to develop throughout the movie.

Somewhat surprisingly, the characters all came to life on the screen and did a great job of uplifting the audience making us all feel like we were traveling along with them through the twists and turns of the story line. Literally everyone left the theater smiling and feeling pretty good about aging after joining these stars of Hollywood in their adventures.

I watched a couple of talk shows with all four of these legends promoting their film together. Sally Field kept pointing out that she was only 76, not 80-something. And Rita Moreno coyly stated, “That’s true. We are not all in our 80s.” She is 91. Lily Tomlin is 83 and Jane Fonda is 85. On one of the talk shows they started discussing all their previous surgeries and Jane Fonda spoke up saying, “I have only one joint of my own left.” As everyone laughed, Sally Field announced, “And she’s going to smoke it tonight!”

This is one of the best feel good "chick flicks" I've seen in quite awhile. If anyone local wants to see it, I'll happily go with you, again. "80 for Brady" makes it cool to be an old lady and embraces the fact that life doesn't end at 70 or 80. Often times, the later years are the best years of our lives. Do yourselves a favor and head to the theater to watch this delightful movie!

THE JOYS OF HOLIDAY AIR TRAVEL

With much of the U.S. in the midst of an unprecedented storm, California is basically sunny but getting here from elsewhere has been quite the "adventure". We celebrated early Christmas in Albuquerque with Darrin and Charley. Lou returned on time, uneventfully last Sunday. From there it's been a downhill battle to get anywhere in the air.

I left on Wednesday, December 21, at the beginning of the nationwide storm and was met with an hour delay on my first flight out of Albuquerque. The connecting flight in Burbank was still on time. There is no way to fly from Albuquerque to Sacramento nonstop. Every route requires a connection and anywhere from 4 to 6 hours of time on a good day.

For those of you who don't know, I somehow broke my foot about 3 weeks ago and am in a walking boot. That qualified me for pre boarding and a wheelchair. Lou thanked me for breaking my foot since it got us on first and seats in the bulkhead.   - a nice thing for a 6'3" guy. 

I kept tracking my return flights and knew I'd only have about 10 minutes at best to get to my flight in Burbank. I decided to risk it even though it was the last flight of the day. Southwest is really good about holding late flights. I've waited on many fully boarded planes for 15 minutes or more for connecting passengers and luggage. I crossed my fingers I'd make it okay.

Sure enough, we landed with about 7 minutes to spare BUT there was no gate available. After about 15 minutes we pulled up to the gate. I was in row 2 with my pre board and I hightailed it (as fast as I could go in my boot) to the plane to Sacramento. Figuring I'd be in a middle seat in the back, I was surprised to see they saved me a seat in the first row since they knew I was a pre board. Hectic and stressful but I made it home only about 20 minutes late. However, it took half an hour to get my bag and took Lou another 20 minutes to maneuver through the airport traffic. I'm surprised there aren't 10 wrecks a day at busy airports during peak travel time.

Unfortunately, that was just a preview of what my son went through yesterday flying from Albuquerque to Oakland for Christmas with his girlfriend. He called me after taking his daughter to her mother's and heading to the airport where he found out his first flight was delayed an hour. The connection in Las Vegas was also delayed so he wasn't sweating it and commented, "I'll take delayed as long as it isn't cancelled." As the afternoon wore on the delays and cancellations increased. Weather in the southwest was fine but the storm was wreaking havoc with previous flights. The airports were packed full of people trying to rebook and get somewhere for the holidays.

Darrin made it to Las Vegas late in the evening and had another lengthy delay during which we chatted a few times. I stay up late anyway and he texted that he was boarding the aircraft at 12:30 am! I went to bed only to get a call an hour later. Turns out they boarded the entire plane only to find out there were no pilots available. WTF? The flight was cancelled and the travelers were stranded until the next day (Christmas eve). Every ticket counter had at least 40 tired and stressed passengers in line. Darrin was discussing options with me and decided to call the special Southwest frequent flyer number while waiting in line. About 2 am he texted that they got him on a flight at 7:30 am this morning. 

After a couple hours of sleep in Las Vegas International Airport and a Starbucks breakfast, he was finally on yet another delayed flight after two gate changes and ultimately landed in Oakland at 10:30 am! He was still laughing about the ordeal and doing his best to take it all in stride. We were thankful he wasn't flying from somewhere back east with Charley. He related families spending the night on the airport floor with babies and small children in tow. 

We are all where we plan to be for Christmas - finally! I can remember the good old, glamour days of air travel when it seemed so civilized. Now, it is a crowded, crazy-ass madhouse. I keep reminding myself that it's all part of the adventure.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good-night!