Ramblin' with Roger

“Do you make a list?”

Mona’s Eyes

travel I was recently asked about the myriad tasks I commented about: “Do you make a list? Is it a written list?”

I’m always making a list. But I don’t write it down because seeing the same items every day would lead to despair.

Let’s look at Friday, January 16. But it isn’t much different than any other day.

I decided to go to bed early on Thursday; well, 10:30 pm is early for me. As usual, I wake up a few hours later, my head filled with my to-do roster. I get up, do my Wordle (in 3), then go back to bed.

After breakfast, my wife is getting ready to depart, and she suggests I get a haircut. This is mildly disappointing because I was going to do it on my own.

ON LIST: I need to check my email. Action items, most notably bill-paying, appear. Also, a lovely message from an old friend. Done.

ON LIST: From yesterday, but undone: We’re going out to eat. I’d better make a reservation! DONE.

ON LIST, though I forgot: Has Sunday Stealing dropped yet? It HAS. That is the easiest post of the week to write because it allows for free association that doesn’t generally require a lot of fact-checking, just a couple of links. DONE.

ON LIST, though later in the day: Go get the haircut! Now I look beautiful. Then return home, eat lunch, and fast forward through the previous night’s news. DONE.

Orphan Works

NOT ON LIST: My friend Bill Anderson, whom I saw but once in 2025, calls me. (He called on his cellphone, with no display ID, so I did not pick up until he identified himself. I do that a LOT.) He’s doing a Kickstarter called Orphan Works. (It’s now funded!) We discussed our mutual mixed results participating in other people’s fundraisers. (One roils me to this day.)

ON LIST: Take a shower. Possibly TMI, but I don’t take a shower until AFTER I get a haircut. Those little hairs can end up going down my back, even with a towel around my neck. DONE.

ON LIST: My wife takes me to the CVS to get another cane. I set down my previous cane in a store the previous day, but it was never turned in. Done.

ON LIST: We go out to dinner. It doesn’t always work out, but we try to go out once a month, on or around the 15th. DONE.

NOT ON LIST: My wife had a work event the following morning, so she was going to pick up some snacks. But the forecast for Saturday morning was iffy, so she decided to visit the grocery store. Since we also needed items for the home, this became a two-cart shopping trip.

LEFT UNDONE: One of my fellow choir members couldn’t attend Thursday night’s rehearsal, so they asked me to send pictures of the music. It was high on the list, but fell off. However, I did achieve it on Saturday morning; if I waited much longer, it might not been worth doing at all.

MONEY!

LEFT UNDONE: To get reimbursed for the money I’ve spent on medical procedures and medicine, I need to complete some online forms. I finally figured out the procedure and knocked off a bunch of them on Wednesday.

I wanted to work on it on Thursday, but it was the deadline for the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library for March and April. We were one book review short, so I volunteered to read Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser for the April 14 slot. My wife had given me the book for Christmas, albeit a couple of weeks after the holiday.

LEFT UNDONE: Re: the reimbursement, I do need to call the company to resolve a complication: I was reimbursed at one rate for an insurance company I was no longer using, but I was paying more for my new coverage.

LEFT UNDONE: I didn’t call my podiatrist for a new appointment. I canceled a visit due to a scheduling conflict two weeks ago.

LEFT UNDONE: Reading a week’s worth of newspapers. Yeah, one is online, but I LIKE reading physical newspapers.

NONE of this is unusual. But it IS why I don’t make a list: it would depress the hell out of me.

Call my Congressman’s office

my mail service still sucks

After I got mail on Monday, February 2, and then not until Thursday, February 5, a continuation of the poor service I wrote about recently, I decided I needed to call my Congressman’s office. I was triggered by the fact that I saw a mail truck ON MY BLOCK last Wednesday, yet received nothing. The same happened YESTERDAY, though I’ve without mail for three days and counting.

My Congressman is Paul Tonko, a generally reliable liberal/progressive Democrat who has represented what is now NY-20 since January 2013. When the House is not in session, Tonko seems to be EVERYWHERE in the district. The penultimate time I saw him may have been at an Underground Railroad Education Center event, but I’m probably forgetting something.

Progressive, yes, but recent times have made him more of a firebrand. I remember seeing him in social pictures posing with various folks at an anti-ICE rally on Wolf Road in Colonie. Someone on Reddit asked, “Who IS that guy?”

The January emails I’ve received from him, aside from Federal Grant Opportunities, have been pointedly about a certain felon. FOTUS’s “regime of chaos and fear reaches a new low” is representative. He has referred to Minneapolis, Greenland, the DOJ overreach, and budget cuts in his weekly messages.

The last time I saw Tonko was at an anti-ICE rally at the state capitol building in January. (He really should have worn a hat; it was COLD.)

USPS

Anyway, I call Tonko’s office, hesitant to call about something that’s not specifically under his control. One of his staffers said that the office has been getting several complaints like mine, especially in my ZIP Code. And I had not yet GIVEN him my ZIP Code. He had given my info to ANOTHER staffer, who would contact me.

About 15 minutes later, I got a call from 518 465-0700, which my phone ID identified as Spam Risk, and I picked up only because I had recently called. He asked if I wanted to take the mail issue further, and I said yes.

Soon thereafter, he emailed me:

Thank you for reaching out about your issue with the Postal Service in Albany.

Per our conversation, we have contacted the Manager of Consumer Affairs for the Postal Service in Albany regarding the decline in providing our community with quality mail service.

An additional resource to file a complaint is to write your complaint to USPS’s Consumer Advocate office at:

United States Postal Service

Office of the Consumer Advocate

475 L’ Enfant Plaza SW

Washington, D.C. 20260

He had asked me to spread the word to call the office and write to USPS. But how would I do that? Wait a minute – I have a blog…

So I wrote a letter. Today, I’ll mail it. I wonder how long it will take to reach them.

“But he’d be gone!”

“arrogant,” “idiot,” “egotistical,” “ignorant”

A guy I vaguely know was complaining on Facebook that, according to reports, a number of Canadians would still not be coming to the United States, even if FOTUS left office. He complained, “But he’d be gone!”

I totally understand the Canadians’ trepidation. If you had a best friend who betrayed and belittled you repeatedly – “Governor Carney, ” “51st state,” on and off tariffs – wouldn’t you be wary?

The current political debacle may have FOTUS’s name on it. But he’s had a boatload of enablers, from a feckless Congress to a complicit Supreme Court, not to mention state officials who have drunk the Kool-Aid.

It’s not just Canada. The “marauding bands of immigration goons have made the United States so unsafe” that Germany has “issued a travel advisory to warn its citizens about coming here.” The Vances were booed at the 2026 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.

A recent Pew poll indicated that his approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall. “By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%). Only about a quarter of Americans today (27%) say they support all or most of his policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.”

Analyze this

An analysis of the poll suggests “Americans voted for Trump, but never supported Trumpism.” I SO disagree. In 2016, I could almost understand his appeal as an outsider, a “businessman!” “He starred in The Apprentice!” Oooo!

In that first term, if you recall, news reports kept saying, “Well, NOW he’s being Presidential,” more as wish fulfillment. And there were SOME breakers who kept him somewhat in check.

By the time the 2018 Helsinki summit had concluded, I was convinced that he was Putin’s puppet, which the 2025 Alaska non-event seemed to amplify.

But after January 6, 2021, insurrection, and his charitable characterization of the actors, one would think that, even if the Senate didn’t convict him after his second impeachment, a thinking American would conclude that he was not worthy of his office.

So when he was elected in 2024, those people voted for Trumpism. They voted for disinformation, if not outright lies, and vulgarity.

Nothing new

A 2017(!) poll indicated the ten most common words that respondents gave describing him were: “incompetent,” “arrogant,” “strong,” “idiot,” “egotistical,” “ignorant,” “great,” “racist,” “a——” and “narcissistic.”

When a racist video involving the Obamas recently appeared on his social media feed, and even Republicans balked, it was said that “a staffer erroneously made the post.” But later, on Air Force One, FOTUS said that he had posted it himself. When a reporter asked if he would apologize, he said, “No, I didn’t make a mistake.”

Oh, that Project 2025, which he SAID he didn’t know anything about, despite the creators being in his orbit – surprise, surprise – was implemented.

Given the fact that SCOTUS gave the Presidency nearly complete immunity in 2024, well BEFORE the election, people voted for Trumpism.

“Oh, I didn’t know he’d do THAT.” Sure. Whatever. But this is why our once closest allies don’t trust us, and the next presidential election cycle will not resolve the stain.

The man, even among his lies, showed his colors.

Sunday Stealing Gets Strict

SB LV

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s meme was stolen from Eleanor Bloom. Back in 2007, she posted it with the requirement that answers be limited to one word. She blames “The Man” for this, but he took his blog down, so if you’re compelled to express unhappiness at anyone for this restriction, direct it at Eleanor. (I’m just the messenger.)

Sunday Stealing Gets Strict: One Word Answers ONLY

One One

1. Where is your cell phone? Nearby

2. Tell us about your hair. Disheveled

3. What’s your favorite thing? Melomania

4. What room are you in? Office

5. Where did you grow up? Parlor

6. What aren’t you good at? Taxes

7. Your favorite drink? Shake

8. Where do you want to be in 10 years? Alive

9. Your mood. Variable

10. Last time you cried. Requiem

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Super Bowl

Since this is Super Bowl Sunday, I thought I’d post some related links.

The newest members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are quarterback DREW BREES, running back ROGER CRAIG, wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD, linebacker LUKE KUECHLY, and placekicker ADAM VINATIERI. Craig was among the Finalists in the combined Seniors/Coach/Contributor group; the others came through the Modern-Era Players category.

How does Pro Football Hall of Fame voting work? Explaining eligibility, rules, and more about the selection process.

Sports Illustrated: “As evidenced by the stunning snub of [Bill] Belichick and his eight Super Bowl rings (six as a head coach, two as a coordinator), the system doesn’t work. According to multiple voters…, the voting system has been a concern since it was implemented for the class of 2025. Some voters brought these concerns to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but ultimately had their worries dismissed in favor of studies conducted by the Hall, which stated the math would work out.

“Frankly, the math hasn’t worked for years. The backlog of deserving Hall of Fame players is growing increasingly and alarmingly long. With more teams and larger rosters over the past quarter-century, it’s becoming more difficult to keep up.

Solution

“Of course, as with everything, there’s a fix.

“Starting in 2027, the Hall of Fame should allow four to six players from the modern-era pool to be voted into Canton, increasing both the minimum and ceiling by one. These players would be selected from a final group of eight, with the 50 voters tasked with naming their top six choices.

“Instead of needing 80% of the vote, the threshold would be lowered to 65%. In theory, if there are three slam-dunk choices receiving unanimous support, there would be 150 votes remaining for the other five candidates, giving the voters a reasonable shot at inducting five players per class.”

Also, from Charity Watch, an entity I’ve given money to for years: Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday: Revisiting Football’s Charity Scandals

#1 pop songs of 1916

Ireland and Hawaii

Here are the #1 pop songs of 1916. It’s interesting to me that there is a war song and two patriotic songs on the list because the United States had not yet gone to war in Europe for what became World War I until April of 1917.

M-O-T-H-E-R (A Word That Means The World To Me) – Henry Burr (Victor), 6 weeks at #1. He was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007. My mother used to sing the chorus around our house; the song came out a decade before she was born, so she must have learned it from her family.

Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You (Is All That I Can Say) – Henry Burr (Victor), 6 weeks at #1

Hello, Hawaii, How Are You – Prince’s Orchestra (Columbia), 5 weeks at #1; instrumental. I could not find this recording on YouTube or the Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR), though I came across versions by other artists. This is Hello, Hawaii! – Medley Fox Trot, played by the Victor Military Band from 1916, which includes “Hello, Hawaii, How Are You”, “When You’re Down in Louisville” and “That Soothing Symphony”.

The Sunshine Of Your Smile – John McCormick (Victor), 4 weeks at #1

There’s A Long, Long Trail – James F. Harrison and James Reed (Victor), 3 weeks at #1

Turn Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday – Orpheus Quartet (Victor), 3 weeks at #1. /This song can be heard in an episode of “Boardwalk Empire.”

**Born Israel Beilin (also transliterated as Bailin)**

The Girl On The Magazine – Henry MacDonough (Victor), 3 weeks at #1. Written by Irving Berlin. From the musical comedy, “Stop! Look! Listen!”

If I Knock The ‘L’ Out Of Kelly (It Would Still Be Kelly To Me) – Marguerite Farrell (Victor), 3 weeks at #1

I Sent My Wife To The Thousand Isles – Al Jolson (Columbia), 3 weeks at #1; comedy. The song was featured in the show “Robinson Crusoe, Jr”. Words by Andrew B. Sterling & Ed Moran.

Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came From There – Charles Harrison (Victor), 3 weeks at #1

There’s A Quaker Down In Quaker Town – Henry Burr and Albert Campbell (Victor), 3 weeks at #1

Oh How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo (That’s Love In Honolulu) – Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (Victor), 2 weeks at #1; comedy

Somewhere A Voice Is Calling – John McCormack (Victor), 2weeks at #1. Recorded in 1914.

Keep The Home Fires Burning (Till The Boys Come Home) – James F. Harrison (Victor), 2 weeks at #1. Singer Frederick Wheeler also frequently recorded under the pseudonym ‘James F. Harrison.’ It was especially popular in wartime England,

The Star-Spangled Banner – Prince’s Orchestra (Columbia), 2 weeks at #1; instrumental arranged by John Philip Sousa

America (My Country ‘Tis Of Thee)- Columbia Mixed Double Quartette (Columbia), 2 weeks at #1

The Lights Of My Home Town– Peerless Quartet (Victor), 2 weeks at #1

I Love A Piano – Billy Murray (Victor), 1 week at #1. This Irving Berlin tune was introduced in the revue “Stop! Look! Listen!” Judy Garland performed it in the film “Easter Parade” (1948).

Pretty Baby – Billy Murray (Victor), 1 week at #1. A song with a complicated history. You may recall this tune from “every party has a pooper, that’s why we invited you.”