Working in America at almost 58

I called up my account online, and it was in there. I grabbed the stack of bills from the folder in my dresser, and, old school guy that I am, wrote out checks one by one to send out in the mail. No transfers were made from savings. That felt good. The first two-week paycheck…

Are you ready to become resolute for 2016?

If there’s one thing my freelance work for Central New York Magazine — The Good Life has taught me, it’s that it’s never too early to look ahead. I’ve already researched and written my story for the January edition. Hover over any gallery photo for a description. Click on the bottom right photo in any…

Gettin’ huge at Good Golly

Our cruise group leaders JoAnn and Brenda got the gang together again last weekend for breakfast. Put us in one room in a diner in Brewerton, N.Y., and it sure seems like an endless number. Sort of reminds me of a clown car when the bodies keep exiting … Really, though, and not everybody made…

My how you’ve grown

I’m in town, the direct message on Facebook said. Would you have time to meet for lunch? You betcha, Brandt Ranj. I sent back a suggestion of Applebee’s, across Erie Boulevard from where we used to meet twice a week in that Le Moyne College classroom the fall semester of 2010, when I taught eager…

Old school brick, modern shiny glass, loans and returns

I took a trip to the public library in my Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood this week. The rustic fall feel of the Payne Branch makes me feel so much at home. It’s not too big and certainly not slick. It looks and feels well-lived-in. Inside, I know where I’ll find the new stuff, and…

I settle up my World Series wager at Mama Mick’s place

I put my life on the line with my New York Mets. My good friend Michelle went with her Kansas City Royals. Smart woman, she of the wildly entertaining Lipstick and Laundry blog. So as you probably know by now, her Royals squashed my Mets by the count of four games to one. My penance…

A splash of pink brightens downtown Syracuse

Leaving the Syracuse Crunch hockey game in downtown Syracuse last Friday night, a bright building stood out among the usual skyline as my dear wife Karen and I walked from the Onondaga County War Memorial to our car parked in our favorite little lot a block away. It loomed, in fact, I’d say. I grabbed…

Catching the Crunch with friends

Brenda and JoAnn offered tickets to Friday nights Syracuse Crunch game to my dear wife Karen and I, and we thought, Let the Season Begin. Our good friends handed me an envelope stuffed with six, coming to my bowling league play the night prior to the game to make sure I had them. So I…

Do it

My polling place in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood is inside a Catholic Church on busy James Street. The best place — heck, the only place — to park is out back, where location to cast our ballot doesn’t look like much. Old school, red bricks, simple and to the point, this place is.…

Foiled by the impervious, imperial, ignorant dog owner again

As long as they continue to ignore the leash law in the simple little green square two blocks over from the Little Bitty in Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, I’ll continue to rant about it. I’m pretty sure you turned your head and looked over at me yesterday afternoon just as I was pulling Ellie…