Rainey Blogs on Some Days

Anton Chekhov , the great Russian playwright, said, "Any idiot can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out." A couple of years ago, my oldest daughter took her written driving test at the Lodi Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) after a harrowing trip from our house to get there. We left home at 7:25am. Our goal was to leave at 7:15am. It was my fault because even the slightest variation to my daily routine completely throws me off, even though we were planning to leave even later than I normally do when I go to work. We were still OK leaving a little late because we needed to meet the driving instructor at 7:45am, but the trip to Lodi from Leonia should have only taken about 20 minutes on a normal day. But when we got on Route 46 West not far from our house, we immediately ran into a complete closure near the Pathmark in Fort Lee. I managed to get to the shoulder, exit into the Pathmark parking lot and hurry through sides streets in Pal Park so we cou...

I painted the basement electrical room today.  It always feels good for a Midwesterner like me to complete some sort of home repair activity successfully.  Here in North Jersey , it's not all that important to fix things yourself.  In fact, out here in the East it is more impressive to have someone else do the work for you.  But where I come from it is shameful to have to hire someone to do your home repair or mow your yard.  So for me, there is often a battle between the old Midwesterner and the new Northeasterner in me.  There are other battles between these two diverse dispositions inside of me.  The Midwesterner in me desires food in bulk, which means all-you-can-eat buffets and smorgasbords are the preferred eating establishments.  The quality is not nearly as important as the quantity.  Why not have a taco appetizer along with some fried okra from the food bar while waiting for the sirloin steak to come with the baked potato dripping w...