Reno 97805-1280

In February 2014, legendary New York sportswriter Marty Noble wrote about the passing of legendary New York Mets announcer and Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner: "The radio and television programming was characterized by those speaking as 'a celebration,' and it was. I understand the concept; celebrate rather than mourn. But how difficult it was to see his passing as anything other than miserably sad...He had a good, long life. But I wanted it to be longer by 30 years, or at least by two months, so I could see him one more time and absorb one more anecdote..." And in February 2019, we can say the same for Flora DeBonis Pikul: sister, mother, godmother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, great-aunt, great-great-aunt, cousin, friend and so on. Now Marty Noble was talking about a sports figure, a celebrity. And you could argue that Grandma was a celebrity. She had a star quality. She had her 15 minutes of fame: a grand-prize winner on the "Concentration...

My apologies in advance for what is in reality a post of yet another "How much money can you spare for our cause", especially if you're dealing with countless other pitches from countless other family, friends, etc. But hey, it's for my boy and we're taking a Web 2.0 approach to the standard door-to-door or boiler room telemarketing route so it should get thumbs up on the interactivity and originality alone. Or just scroll down to "7. Outtakes" and have a good laugh. If, after reading below and taking your chosen path based on Nic's inherent charm and persuasiveness and you remain interested, you can follow-up with me via my gmail address or just call me so we can set up an order. (Deadline for orders is next Friday, Oct. 19; we can work payment arrangements between then and Thursday, Nov. 15.) Spioler alert: we're pushing popcorn and popcorn treats. And we're talking a minimum $10 buy-in. So, without further ado, I present to you the Bl...

A brief glimpse into our tax dollars trying to work: Me: "So how have your first few days of school been going?" Nic: "I hate it! They're always saying 'No' to me. I just want to sit in the front of the class and tell jokes." Wifie: "Well, now. There aren't many places that aren't going to say 'No' to that." Nic: "Well, then I say they're all fired!"

I'm loving Burns RV Park. Or I had way too much caffeine on today's road trip that things are firing on extra cylinders (two posts in one day). OK, both. Anyhoo, something caught my eye. When Reno-based Washoe Health System spent lord knows how much time, energy and money on re-branding itself a few years back, "Renown" rose to the top. I don't know who pitched it, but maybe it was somehow, somewhere etched in his memory. (Why "his"? Read on.) OK, national brand, but different industry. We can get around that legally and still leverage a national name. And an adjective in the dictionary. It's a win-win, right? Oh... My... I'm torn between two parting thoughts, so here's both: I can now see why "Renown" was the "#1" recommendation Perhaps the focus groups just didn't include enough men to answer that "What's the first thing that crosses your mind when I say..." question

Saw a sign in the men's bath at Burns (Ore.) RV Park. Since I heard that The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks has quite the backlog for approving/posting submissions, I'll put it here with my 2c: So...you (sign scribe) are going on record for directing us (readers) to refrain from touching the switch but are actually paraphrasing someone because if it were you, you would turn out the light? Regardless, if you are just being emphatic about the importance of not touching the switch, that red box does the trick all by itself.

Let me get this straight. Your friends refer to your business as "Anibel's Dessert House and Cafe", but the rest of the world knows you as "Mr. Cheesecake". No wonder you haven't yet committed to a bona-fide, overhead marquee for your biz. ... ... ... No, wait. Did you mean your company name was form-ER-ly known as "Mr. Cheesecake"? Oh, well now that clears things up. Honestly, I think it's the fault of the sign company that continues to hire people who cannot proofread...

Dateline: Last Friday Nic: "Tee-hee!" Me: "What's so funny?" Nic: "I just peed in the pool." Me: "Whoa! Not cool." Wifie: "Nic, we told you that it's OK to pee only when you're in something like Lake Tahoe." Nic: "But...we are in Lake Tahoe." Technically, we were vacationing in the Greater Lake Tahoe area at the time...

My apologies in advance to all who did the grin-and-bear-it thing with Hoover -- and all he brought with him -- any time between 1993-2008. I came across this ad a week ago. (Shown; those "crazy eyes", although a different color, bear a strikingly eerie resemblance dontcha think?) Makes me wonder how the course of history would have been altered had Da Hoov taken on a regimen of herbal remedies. Would I still be living in that 1 BD apartment off Eastlake Ave.? Would there be fewer postal carriers on the defensive or a glut of ladies undergarments? Hard to say. But given his extraordinary will, I think history wouldn't have changed one lick. And Da Hoov would have taken the meds, as we would an after dinner mint, and muttered in a language as clear as day to any dog whisperer: "Is that all you got?!"

So true (esp. the part about extra screws): IKEA's Four Letter Words

It helps to see the original SNL performance [ click here ] for perspective; your call. But you gotta see below, featuring the Roots and the Strokes' front-man. I Wish It Was Christmas Today from denisemallabo on Vimeo . Or  click here . ...And Julian Casablancas' studio version:

I live in one of those neighborhoods whose homes were built in the 1950s. Homes in this established neighborhood eventually show their age and/or are in need of repair/restoration and perhaps an update. Add to the mix that the neighborhood has that Middle Class American Suburbia, keep up with the Joneses culture. Depending on the resident's budget (time, energy, disposable income), upkeep and improvement vary from lawn/yard service to full-blown renovation/remodels. The demographics can -- and have been over and over -- pretty much be drawn from there. And in the spirit of "If you [built] it [years ago], they will come," commercial enterprises both large and small are dialed into the area. Now, I'm not talking realtors, pollsters and such, but contractors, handymen, specialists. And they come like ambulance chasers. And remnants of their visits (flyers, brochures, pamphlets, business cards) adorn residents' front door, garage door, mailbox, etc., reminding us that...

Today marks wifie and my fifth wedding anniversary. And seeings how we're both "retreads" (i.e., been married in a past life), getting married wasn't the hard part. But methinks we've got a handle on the whole staying married thing. Wedding/honeymoon was at Sandals Resort in the Bahamas. It was a very good week. Which prompts the following questions: - How have they been (the Bahamian Islands)? - Have you seen them recently? - If so, did they ask about us? (I was the one singing Dean Martin's "That's Amore" at the piano bar.)

OK, I never thought I'd be the dad to take something so (perceptively) mundane and make something of it...but here goes. Regular night (Presidents' Day Holiday, in case anyone's keeping score), Nic and I hanging in the "John Room". Nic asks whether he can have a cartoon. I say "No," in favor of ESPN-2's "Top 20 Single Season Individual Performances" and try desperately to make it fun for him. So we start with Nic's tub of blocks (from the "HEROS" company/brand) that I inherited from my brother's first-born. The tub has lots of long foreign words on the label, but way down below for those of us who like to read: "Made in Germany" (and we all know the good stuff the Germans make: like Westfalias and Sham-WOW!). And for years it pretty much just stood in one of those "visiting kids" bundles we all have for when our buddies visit us and subsequently, our/their kids need something to do. Anyhoozle, it ge...

Figured this was good enough to do a reverse data port, as the 97805-1280 Faithful deserve some crumbs from the Facebook party I'm in: 1 - I always wanted to be a professional baseball player, and if drafted, would have refused to play for any team but the Mets (I thought I was that good). 2 - I am a registered non-partisan, because I am a fiscal conservative and social liberal -- and I fear the liberal media as much as the vast, right-wing conspiracy. 3 - I miss every city I've ever lived in -- dearly -- and I miss living by the sea. 4 - I often wonder whether I have a "home". 5 - I am a charter member of the Hypernostalgia Society www.hypernostalgiaclub.com (member number 56). 6 - I could have tried a little harder in my first marriage; but I'm pretty sure it still would have ended in divorce. 7 - I occasionally miss my (former) stepdaughter (from a previous marriage) and hope she is doing well. 8 - I often dwell on the shoulda/coulda/woulda in just about every...

OK, so I can't belt out the line as Whitney Houston did, but the feeling is all there. After a seven-year hiatus since my last visit, and three years of preparation and regular visits to forgotten-ny.com , Queens Crap and most notably the Street View feature on Google Maps , I picked up where I left off November 15-24. The trip itself was delayed three times since it was originally slated for September '07. Before that, additional family matters (good and bad) challenged my ability to make the trip, but too many things were tugging at us on the home front. Little did I know, it was a blessing in disguise. The major motive for this trip, besides that seven years is too long a gap between visits to your hometown, was to introduce/re-introduce Lisa and Nic to the family and for me to reconnect with as many relatives who don't live in the immediate vicinity of Grandma's house. (In past visits, I only took public transit; this time we had a car for the duration.) I had ...

Mostly because my messages rot in my Facebook-ing friends and relatives' email Inbox. So, between house projects (hey, a new roof, new electrical panel and circuits, and coming soon complete house rewiring), pro-bono Web/board design and administration, and a day job, look forward to even fewer posts in '09...

In a recent message from the wife: "On the way to school, Nic told me he wanted to show Avalyn his undies. After explaining why that isn't such a good idea I had to ask why did he want to show them to her. His response, 'They are cartoons and Avalyn doesn't have a TV.'"

The day I got him, I was buying cat food for Pip, the (then) family cat, in the Burien (WA) days. In one of the pet store bins was a splitting image of the puppy version of the Thorndike-Barnhart Junior Dictionary entry illustration -- that I recalled from second grade -- for "Spaniel". I then remembered that I always wanted a Spaniel. He had no papers, but his markings were good enough to argue that he was far from the Heinz 57 variety (a point groomers over the years had galvanized). So I was curious as to the behind-the-scenes story. The shop owner said that little guy had been the pick of the litter to carry on the legacy for the previous owner, who initially chose to keep him along with the mother. But when the previous owner's new landlord allowed only one dog, s/he had to make a concession. The puppy drew the short straw. So with the benefit of a dog with no papers and good markings, and knowing what a pedigreed dog can fetch, I figured I wouldn't pay a cen...

[Left, i.e., disregarded, neglected] Seems, as with the incomparable Tony Bennett, my eternal fling with San Francisco remains strong. This time, it was ringing in the New Year with Cake at The Warfield Theater with my bro (the wife declined due to scheduling conflicts), BFAM and his wife. Again, one for the books. Now, many have either seen/heard first- or second-hand my past SF experiences dating back to 1988, each filled with some level of joy and/or wonder. It was looking pretty iffy at this concert experience in that it didn't echo that of Sia concert at Bimbo's in April '06 when Sia herself gave me (and only me) a big hug outside her tour bus after the show, or the Les Claypool concert at The Fillmore where my date scored backstage passes in December '00. First off this time, Cake lead singer John McCrea lives in Oakland, so he probably took the BART, given his dervish tendencies. Secondly, he was nowhere to be seen; just the bassist with whom BFAM and wife...

Correction to prior post : "3300", per the reference manual in the "Winner Paid" display, is a tilt message that says the hopper -- the thing that holds the coins -- is empty. (Geez; you'd think Winner Paid" meant "Winner Paid.") Since the machine had only 5 coins in it, no suprise there. Hmph. So, Nic's jackpot was more like 50 coins (150, had he bet max). Still, an upper-tier pay combination is not bad for a second-ever pull (958 pulls per hit on that pay combo; not too shabby). I'll continue encouraging him to "invest" his lunch money in pursuit of the elusive 10,000-coin top award.