Random Thoughts for a Sunday (in Milwaukee in the Rain*)

Posted on April 28, 2024 by AverageAndy

Here are some things that I have seen and heard the past few days, and some of my thoughts on them

Very sad to see the the passing of Sonja Christopher, the fists person ever voted out of Survivor A former music therapist, she competed on the reality competition’s first season, Survivor: Borneo, at 63 years old in 2000. Really nice to see all the posts and tributes for Sonja, showing the impact Survivor has had on people over the past 24 years.

Rest in #PEACE Sonja, you will be missed.

As a Trading Card collector, I always wished that a company would have put out a set of Survivor Cards (other than the one below put out by Upper Deck in 2001)

I while back I even tried to create a set of Cards for Season 1 (Survivor Borneo) with the thought of possibly getting them autographed.

Speaking of Survivor, just saw @JeffProbst announce that #Season50 will consist of returning players. While I always liked it when they brought back players from previous seasons, I always felt a bit jealous as they got to play the game I love for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th time, while I am dreaming of just getting a call back from casting and chance to show the producers that I would be a great contestant. At 57 years old, I still feel I would bring a lot to the show and prove to myself and others that I have what it takes to compete with younger and more athletic players in a game to Outwit, Outlast and Outplay them all.

I’m here and waiting, so give me a call, text, email or even a letter letting me know where and when you want to meet and get to know me, and I promise you will not be disappointed

Switching gears, I have been following the New York Radio Message Board for a long time. As a life long New Jersey resident, I grew up with New York Radio as the background of my youth. WNEW (102.7) with its classic DJs, WAPP (100.3) with its commercial free Summers, WPLJ (95.5) with its classic morning show, and WXRK (92.3) have all had a large influence on me over the years. Reading industry insiders, and radio experts views and opinions has given me great insights. But I also shows that as people get older, they get stuck in their ways, and really dislike change. There are still people on the message board complaining that CBSFM switch away for oldies over 10 years ago. They complain how radio executives are out of touch with listeners and how come radio stations don’t play more of the songs they like, and lest of the songs they don’t. This brings me to Howard Stern

While I was not a huge fan of Howard Stern, I always gave him credit for being true to himself. Once he left terrestrial radio and moved to SiriusXM, people though he would get even more nasty and controversial , since he could now saw whatever he wanted with no censoring. But over the years the opposite happened. He became more entertaining and a great interviewer, able to book top level celebrities, musicians, and recently the President of the United States, Joe Biden. My wife listens to Howard all the time, and I will listen along when we are driving. Yesterday while running errands, we listed to a replay of the interview with Joe Biden. Taking any kind of politics out of it, I really enjoyed it and how Howard was able to make it feel like two people sitting down for a honest conversation. But because of the world we now live in, some posters on the NYRMB complained on how much of a powderpuff interview it was, and why Howard didn’t focus more on things going on in the world like wars and trials. This made me think that the people complaining have not listened to Howard in years, and are just going on there feeling from years and years ago. Go back and listen to his past interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Hilary Clinton. They are very insightful. Howard does his research, and gets his guests to open up and have some very personal discussions.

For those who think that todays Howard Stern is the same as 30 year old Howard Stern should take some time to listen to him now before just throwing out old grudges. Its just lazy

For the record, there are plenty of times when listening to Howard in the car with my wife, where she will turn him off and stay she hates that particular bit. I acknowledge his antics and humor are not for everybody, but you do need to give him credit where credit is due.

The New York Mets look a little fatigued in dropping the 1st two games to the St. Luis Cardinals. Looking for a bounce back game today. Baseball is a long and grinding season, the the good teams are the ones that can avoid long stretches of bad baseball. The Mets have enough talent and should be fine, but just need to play with a bit more urgency.

Really enjoying “These Silent Woods” by Kimi Cunningham Grant. Switching things up a bit and trying to read books that are different than what I usually read. I will get to the new books by Clive Cussler / John Grisham and Dean Koontz soon, but just need a change of pace for a bit

Watch “Dune” last night and really enjoyed it. Thought is was very well done and it was refreshing to watch a big budget Sci-Fi movie that didn’t over do it with way to much CGI. Was able to follow the story without being bombarded with extra characters and scenes just to showcase what they can do with special effects. Heard good things about ‘DUNE Part 2’ and looking forward to watching it soon. I am also interested in the new Planet of the Apes film “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” coming out soon. A huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes films of the 70s, I was a bit disappointed in some of the remakes, although I did like” War for the Planet of the Apes”. Will definably be checking out the new one in the theater, and will let you know my take

Sitting in Starbucks and writing this was very therapeutic and relaxing. Hope to continue writing more

#PEACE

#Survivor #Survivor50 @JeffProbst @MarkBurnett @DaltonRoss @JesseTannenbaum

#NeverToOldForSurvivor #GiveMeAChance

AverageAndy

*Sugar Mice by Marillion

I was flicking through the channels on the TV
On a Sunday in Milwaukee in the rain
Trying to piece together conversations
Trying to find out where to lay the blame
But when it comes right down to it there’s no use trying to pretend
For when it gets right down to it there’s no one here that’s left to blame
Blame it on me, you can blame it on me
We’re just sugar mice in the rain

Posted in Baseball, Books, Bruce Springsteen, Card Collecting, Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt, Dean Koontz, Dune, Fun and Games, Howard Stern, John Grisham, Kimi Cunningham Grant - These Silent Woods, Music, Non-Sports Cards, NY Mets, Planet of the Apes, Radio, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mets / Giants / Survivor and the RRHOF

Posted on April 26, 2024 by AverageAndy

After a rough start, the NY Mets have turned things around and have been playing some solid baseball. I will take a 3 – 3 west coast road trip vs the Dodgers and SF Giants. Now back home for the next seven games against the Cardinals and Cubs — Hoping they can go 5 – 2.

With the 6th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the NY Giants selected Wide Receiver Malik Nabers from Louisiana State University. Glad the drama of the draft is over after weeks of worthless discussions on what the Giants should do. They need to move on from Daniel Jones and draft a QB; They need to draft an OL; They need to draft a WR; They should trade up; They should trade down. Yawnnnnnn. In the end, the teams make their decision and selection and we as fans, now get ready for the 2024 Season.

On to Survivor. Need to write down some of my thoughts on this season, and the new era of Survivor. Also what is the deal with people going home with an immunity idol in their possession.

I can’t really figure out anybody’s strategy in Survivor 46. One minute they want to vote off somebody that they are not aligned with, and then the next minute they try and switch the vote to somebody they are really tight with. Everybody seems to want to make a big move, for no real reason, than they think they can’t win without having a big move on their resume. This is very short sighted, as most of the moves have put people in worse position. You have Liz in tears because Q overshadowed her so called big move to get Tevin off. And you have multiple players like Tervin and Venus trying to take credit for getting Soda voted off. Just play the game to get to the final 3. Then you can tell the Jury about the big moves you made to get there.

Speaking of making it to the final 3, how can people be voted off in the final 10 with an hidden immunity idol in there pocket. Hunter threw away a guaranteed 1 in 8 shot at the $1,000,000.00 for a 1 in 7 chance (with the possibility of getting voted out with no chance). Especially since he had some inklings that he may be the target. Play the Idol, see how tribal plays out, and live for another day. You never know – The next day you could win individual immunity, Jeff could be some sort of twist, or maybe people need you as a number to get rid of someone else. Also once an idol is played, another one if usually put back into the game. Maybe you find the new one. The thing is, there are lots of better options than holding on to your idol.

I know there are plenty of contestants who have went home with idols in there pocket (including James from Survivor China) who went home with 2 idols. Would be interesting to see player get more creative with an idol. Though the rules were a bit different, when Yul Kwon found an Idol on Survivor Cook Islands, he let people know he had it, and used it to his advantage. Others have also used the idol as a kind of bargaining chip to get further into the game. It is a bit strange, that with all these advantages (idols, extra votes, steal a vote, …) that there are very few times that the advantages have made a difference. When Im a contestant, the others better watch out, because there is no way I would just hold onto my idol with hopes to squeak by until the final 5. I will be wheeling and dealing and making people guess what I am going to do.

And finally congratulations to all the acts that got elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last week. While I think the nomination and election process is biased towards the RRHOF Committee Members (They have an agenda, and continue pushing it regardless of what anybody outside of their small circle thinks – The MC5 missed getting voted in six times, so the committee just added them this year), the acts that got voted in all deserve to be acknowledged. With Journey a few years back, and Foreigner getting in this year, maybe the doors get opened for other so called “corporate rock” rock acts like Styx, Boston, Kansas, and Bad Company will eventually get the recognition they deserve.

That’s it for today. More to come

#PEACE

Average Andy

Posted in Baseball, Boston, Christian Hubicki, Christine Hofbeck, Dalton Ross, Football, Foreigner, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Cochran, Journey, Kansas, Mark Burnett, Mike Gabler, NY Giants, NY Mets, Parvati Shallow, Reality Shows, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sports, Styx, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Finally Made it

Posted on April 21, 2024 by AverageAndy

Found some time and made it to one of my local Starbucks. I was able to access the internet and my WordPress blog from my laptop and will now try and get some of my recent thoughts out here for all to see.

I had to get a new iPhone a few weeks back. Besides having a cracked screen (my first cracked screen ever, after having an iPhone for over 10 years), the voice quality was terrible, and people were often unable to hear me on a call. It was a pretty painless transition, and I give Apple a lot of credit. Simply backed up my old phone to the cloud, placed it next to my new phone and let it transfer everything. Once it finished transferring everything, I was up and running on a new iPhone 15 Pro.

There were a few things that I had to do manually — I needed to re-enter/reset some of my passwords for some apps and I needed to set things up to use my original phone number (As part of the upgrade, I got a 2nd number add to my phone as part of a way to get more value for my trade-in)

I forgot that the new iPhone 15 Pro now has a USB-C connection instead of the old Firewire connection. This meant I needed new charger cables and new USB-C headphones (I am a bit old school and still prefer wired headphones over Bluetooth when going for runs/walks. I lost one of my ear pods (low-cost JBLs) when it dropped out of my ear, hit my phone, which was in my hand, and flew into the woods never to be found. I do like the new magnetic chargers that snap onto the back of the phone.

With that out of the way, here are a few things that bothered me this week

I stopped by QuickChek on my way home from work and saw that they had some new ChargePoint EV Chargers installed. I have a Prius Prime Plug-In Hybrid and wanted to see what they were charging (ChargePoint Chargers costs are set by the individual providers). It stated that the first 30 minutes were free, and after that, the cost was $60.00 / hour. And in small print, it stated a $2.50 access fee. So even if you plugged in for 30 minutes, you still would pay $2.50. In contrast, at work, we have ChargePoint chargers, and the cost is $0.75 for the first 2 hours and then $1.50 per hour after that

I am OK with the cost at work; my hybrid plug-in takes about 2 hours to charge at the station and gets around 30 miles on a full charge before the gas motor kicks in. This comes out to around $0.05 / per mile. On the flip side, A two-hour charge at QuickChek would run me $2.50 plus $90.00 (at $1.00 / min) or $3.08 / mile. Even if I just charge for the 30 free minutes, it still comes to $0.33 / mile (after the $2.50 service charge). Needless to say, I will not be using the ChargePoint Stations at QuickChek

Quickly want to mention that it is getting harder and harder to take either political party’s side and views seriously. I consider myself a Democrat, and I think most of the Republicans and their views are just whacked. But that doesn’t mean that all Republicans are awful people. The Democrats must be careful about how far they push their narrative without crossing the lines of truth. Let the Republicans bury themselves with their own actions, and don’t keep trying to find a gotchya moment. I have faith that most people are good at heart, and if you let things play out, the old-time and crazy Republicans will do enough on their own to cause them to lose future elections.

I actually found it refreshing to sit and write at Starbucks, and I plan on doing it more. But I do have things I need to get done today, so will be signing off for now.

Starbucks

#PEACE

Average Andy

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Still having trouble coming up with things

Posted on April 19, 2024 by AverageAndy

Didn’t get a chance last weekend to get out and write some things here.

Had a live in person Fantasy Baseball Draft on Saturday. Every year the same sat of guys get together in person (going on our 30th year) for a Roto Style Draft. — I have been the league commissioner for most of the time, going back to when I had to manually gather the stats from box scores in the Sporting News and score things by hand. Things got easier when I was able to upload a weekly statistic bundle (Using dial-up access through AOL). Eventually sites like http://www.yahoo.com and http://www.cbssports.com started offering Fantasy Baseball Online with live updating of the stats. Now you can run multiple leagues all online, including having your draft on-line. While this makes things super convenient, we still like to get together once a year for a live in person draft (I is a chore to get 10 people together in person, but we have been able to do it year after year

Rotisserie League Baseball (1994 Edition)

On Sunday, went out and got a bagel and then got an iced coffee and spent some time reading at Starbucks. Find it very relaxing and I am able to read for a bit without falling asleep if I were home. I should have brought my laptop and spent some time writing here on the blog, but told myself I had a bunch of things to do around the house, and I also wanted to sit back and relax and watch the Masters (Congratulations to Scotty Scheffler for winning his 2nd green jacket). I am planning on bringing my laptop this Sunday, so come back and see if I can get past any mental blocks and get some of my thoughts down on the blog

The New York Mets have tuned things around and are playing some solid baseball. The have now won 4 series’s in a row and climbed back over .500 at 10 – 8 after a rough 1 – 5 start. Good to see them playing as a team and everybody contributing. They now have a 6 game west coast trip against the Dodgers and Giants. Hopefully Lindor, McNeill, and Nimo can use this time away from home to get things going; If they do, this team can be really good.

Been a really interesting season of Survivor. Crazy how things have changed over the years, to the point of the game being played completely different than in the past. There seems to less long term planning, and much more of a kumbaya feeling with everybody rooting and trying to get along with each other. In the past, people seems to be playing much more of an individual game, with the emphasis on winning more than havening an island adventure. It is fascinating to see how things have evolved, based on the changes (Length of the game, different advantages and idols) that the producers have made. It’s also interesting seeing things we probably would not have seen in the past with 60 minute episodes.

I am enjoying my new routine of watching on Wednesdays, listening to the On Fire PodCast before going to bed, and then getting up and reading #DaltonRoss Survivor recap on X. Wish that they would bring back the Poderosa videos of the jury members. Always liked the insight and perspective from the eliminated players.

Crazy that I have been watching Survivor for 24 years and still look forward to every episode. Hopefully one day I will be able to experience it as a player and have some big time Survivor Fan watch me as I Outwit – Outplay – Outlast a group of players and add my name to the list of winners

#PEACE

Average Andy

Posted in Adam Klein, Baseball, Books, Dalton Ross, Friends, Jeff Probst, Mark Burnett, NY Mets, Podcasts, Ponderosa, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Need to write more

Posted on April 12, 2024 by AverageAndy

I am having trouble writing things here. I have lots of thoughts and ideas but when I sit down to write my minds starts to wander, and nothing seems to flow. Thinking I need to change the surroundings of where I am writing from to allow me to better focus. This was something I had read about on speaker Jia Jiang (pronounced Jah Jahng)s Rejection Therapy blog

I have been following Jia since he posted his attempt at Rejection Therapy on You Tube. This led to his popular Ted Talk, and a best selling book. I always come back to him when I need some motivation and hopefully this will get my creative juices flowing

Have my Roto Baseball draft on Saturday. Same group of people for over 20 years. Due to scheduling conflicts we needed to move it back. Going to be very strange since the MLB season is almost 3 weeks old. Do you try to steal some early season stats by drafting somebody who is off to a great start, knowing they they will most likely cool down. Or do you go on the assumption that players will end up where they are projected even if they are off to a slow start.

Take some time to listen to music this weekend. There is a lot of good stuff (both old and new) that can get you into a good mood and brighten up your day

As far as Survivor, things should now start to get interesting, as the players need to start deciding between tribal or personal alliances. Tough to tell which is the best way to move forward. Depending on how much you really get along and trust the members of your original tribe. If you do think everybody will stay loyal, you have built in numbers. But if you feel that the tribe never really gelled to that extent, then better to move on now. And I still wonder how I would play things if I had a hidden immunity idol. Think the worst thing ever would be getting voted off / blind sided while having an idol. I think I would make people aware I had it, and force them to try and vote me off.

Have been listening to the “On Fire with Jeff Probst” podcast, and really like all the insight from Jeff,

This season, Probst is joined by former castaway and Survivor 45 winner Dee Valladares, and producer Jay Wolff who share insights from the player and fan perspectives on each episode.

#PEACE

AverageAndy

Posted in Baseball, Dalton Ross, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, Jia Jang - Rejection Therapy, Mark Burnett, Music, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Earthquake / Seton Hall are NIT Champions

Posted on April 5, 2024 by AverageAndy

We had a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake this morning centered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. That’s about 7 miles from where I live. I actually felt it at work (about 30 miles away). Luckily there was no damage outside or inside of my house. I do have a shelf of collectables including a set of Burger King Star Wars Glasses that were given away as a promotion when the Star Wars Movies premiered.

I am glad to say that they are safe and did not get damaged during the earthquake.

Switching Gears — The Seton Hall Pirates played some inspired basketball after being left out of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and won the NIT Tournament by beating Indiana State 79-77 (They scored the last 9 points and held their breath as a last chance 3 pointer was just short). Was a big win for the team and its fans and for coach Shaheen Holloway He gave the team the option of playing in the NIT and they collectively decided to play and show that they should have been invited to the NCAA. Was fun to watch the early round games which were played on campus (Walsh Gym) instead of at the Prudential Center where they play most of their Big East Home Games. Winning the NIT will not replace the heartbreaking overtime loss to Michigan in the 1989 NCAA Title Game, but it still was great to see them win.

The Mets got a big HR by Pete Alonso and rallied for a 2 – 1 win over the Detroit Tigers for their 1st win of 2024. Hopefully this will provide a spark and help to get Lindor, Nimo and McNeil going after a horrendous homestand (they combined to go 3 for 60 — .050 average) to start the season. Things can only get better

#PEACE

AverageAndy

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Another week gone by

Posted on March 29, 2024 by AverageAndy

Its officially spring, as Major League Baseball (and my New York Mets) are playing real games. It will take a few days (due to rain outs as well as the early season scheduling) to get into the flow of things, but then is Mets baseball most days for the next 6 months. Going into this season with a positive outlook. The lineups should be able to score some runs, and with Edwin Diaz back, the bullpen should be able to close out games. Hopefully will be able to get to a few home games this year.

Here is the 2024 Mets Opening Day Lineup vs. Milwaukee (03/29/2024)

  • B. Nimmo LF
  • F. Lindor SS
  • P. Alonso 1B
  • J. McNeil 2B
  • S. Marte RF
  • D. Stewart DH
  • F. Alvarez C
  • B. Baty 3B
  • H. Bader CF

While listening to the WFAN morning show on my way to work, the mentioned a reference to the 1979 classic move “The Warriors” While I was remembering the classic scene of Luther (David Patrick Kelly) saying “Warriors, come out and Play”, the host of the show said they had heard the line before, but had never seen the movie and had no reference of the scene. I thought to myself, how can people not know the movie and the scene. I know the movie is 45 years old, but to me, it’s a major part of pop culture. Like if somebody has never heard of, or watched”Star Wars”. I then thought, “Am I just old?”, and “How do people know know these things?” After a little more time, I simply realized that not everybody can know everything and it is what it is.

And just to add some more to this, here is the cover of Twisted Sisters album “Come out and Play A solid album with some great songs. Actually saw them on tour (with Dokken) for this album at the old Specrum in Philadelphia

Switching gears, was glad to see a different tribe have to go to tribal council on Wednesdays Survivor. Yanu has already been to Tribal 3 times and lost 1/2 their tribe. It was time for other players to have to vote out one of their own. I always wonder if I would allow myself to get voted off if I had a idol or other advantage that would save me. It fascinates me that people can be so sure that they are not the target, and then get blindsided. I think if I had an idol, I might go the opposite way, and let everybody know I have it, and almost dare them to vote for me. At least it would mean Im safe another day. Especially before the merge. You never know how things will change when everybody gets together.

Hope everybody has the chance to be with family and / or friends and have a Happy Easter Sunday

More later

PEACE

AverageAndy

Posted in Adam Klein, Baseball, Christian Hubicki, Christine Hofbeck, Dalton Ross, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Cochran, Mark Burnett, Mike Gabler, NY Mets, Parvati Shallow, Reality Shows, Sports, Survivor, The Warriors, Twisted Sister | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back to Business

Posted on March 22, 2024 by AverageAndy

After a tough stretch, it’s time to get back to writing about thing that interest and excite me

It was a fun run for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, making it to the finals of the Patriot League before coming up short against Colgate. It was an up and down season with some key injuries a lot of close games. Hopefully everything comes together in 2025

I am in a few NCAA Basketball Pools and hopefully I finally do well and maybe even pick the winner

Here is a rundown of some of the TV Shows I have been watching

  • CSI Vegas (CBS) — Still a good show and enjoying this season
  • Constellation (Apple TV) — Interesting but a bit to weird
  • Not Dead Yet (ABC) — A much needed comedy show that makes me laugh
  • The Ones That Lived (AMC) — The next chapter in the Walking Dead universe. Been watching from the beginning, and still enjoy most of the stories
  • Survivor / The Amazing Race (See below)

Here are some recent movies I have watched

  • Wonka (MAX) – Actually enjoyed it. Lots of subtle references to the original
  • American Fiction – Was very interesting and I enjoyed the story
  • Holdovers – Great job in capturing the essence of the time
  • What Happens Next — Just David Duchovny and Meg Ryan — Very good

Here are some of the books I have read lately

  • The Exchange (John Grisham’s sequel to “The Firm”. He did a really good job of continuing Mitch McDeers story
  • A Good Year (Peter Mayle) — Took it chile cleaning out my In-Laws house based on the cover and really enjoyed it
  • The Bad Weather Friend (Dean Koontz) — A bit different (not as scary) but a fun story to read
  • Holly (Stephen King) — Always enjoy reading his books.

As for Survivor 46, it’s been an interesting start to the season. There has been a little too much time spent on several contestants and their ineptness in the game. It appears that part of the New Era is to get away from casting people to fill stereotypical rolls and just cast a bunch of average people. This has its pros and cons. It’s great to try and get back to the roots of the game when the contestants were interested in the concept and adventure and not how to use Survivor as a springboard to other media opportunities. But with no protagonists or alph players, things become a bit stale and boring. While I think it’s great that somebody like Bhanu makes it on to the show, to spend almost 1/2 of each of the 1st four episodes watching him mumble and bumble around just got repetitive. Would much rather see players on the 2 other tribes scheming and strategizing about what they need to do do stay in the game. Seems like the show is now ready to really start after getting rid of playes (Jelinsky, Jess and Bhanu) who didn’t seem to realize they had no chance of winning and didn’t do anything to change that (Unlike Emily from last season, who realized she needed to change her attitude and strategy if she wanted to continue to play, and adjusted her game accordingly) We also lost Randen who was medically evacuated and quickly forgotten about.

I did see some people complaining to the point that they now want nothing to do with Survivor. To them I say calm down. Survivor is a hard game and it’s tough to really know how people will react once they are stranded on an island with a bunch of strangers. While this season has had its issues, the show is still fascinating to watch, and watching Bhanu break down makes me want to experience the show even more. How would a 57 year old man handle things. Would I be able to use everything I have learned and done in my life to my advantage, or would it just be to much of a challenge or change of lifestyle that I would break down.

#Jeff Probst / #Jesse Tannenbaum — Think about giving me a chance to play Survivor and see how I would do. I believe people would like and relate to me, and appreciate my journey from watching Season 1 Episode 1 to making it as a contestant

That’s it for now. It felt good writing this an I hope to continue writhing more often

#PEACE

Average Andy

Posted in Dalton Ross, Dean Koontz, Dean Koontz - The Bad Weather Friend, Jeff Probst, Jesse Tannenbaum, John Grisham, Lehigh, Lehigh University, Mark Burnett, Movies, Reality Shows, Sports, Stephen King, Survivor, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sad times

Posted on March 15, 2024 by AverageAndy

Got the sad news that my friend Kelly O’Connor passed away last Saturday after a few weeks in hospice. She was married to a longtime friend and they made a great team. Together they did lots of traveling and activities (biking, rock climbing, kayaking). Kelly also played Beach Volleyball. Kelly traveled for work, ending up in places like Panama and Denver, CO.

Diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, Kelly never complained and remained positive and upbeat through treatments until the end. Her husband Rob was a rock, caring for Kelly as things progressed. They loved each other and it is going to be terribly sad going forward.

Every year I try to get all my close friends together on the day before Thanksgiving to catch up on the year gone by. The crowd has gotten smaller the past few years, but Kelly and Rob were always there and it is very sad thinking of getting together this year without Kelly. We will definitely raise a glass and have a toast to Kelly and her life. She will be missed

RIP Kelly O’Connor

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Happy / Sad / Excited

Posted on March 1, 2024 by AverageAndy

Been a whirlwind of a week. Was invited to a long time friends wedding in St. Petes Beach, FLA. Was able to work things out, and my wife and I flew from NJ to FLA last Saturday. Another long time friend was also able to make it as well and it was great to see him and his wife. Rented a nice Air B&B and was able to spend some time on the beach (rented a cabana and beach chairs and was able to sit back and relax). The wedding was on Sunday. A super casual affair on the beach with the reception at a clubhouse overlooking the water. It was a run time, and both the Bride and Groom looked like they had a great time celebrating with friends and family.

But with every high, there is a low. We have other friends who live in St. Petersburg FLA. Unfortunately my friend was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, and it has progressed to the point where she is now home and on hospice. Was very glad we got to see her and her husband and spend some quality time with them. It’s got to be really tough, but my friends husband is doing a incredible job of making sure his wife is comfortable and has everything she needs.

While we were visiting, it was nice to see family and friends stop by and give love and words of encouragement to both of them. Wishing them both the best as they go through the terrible time that cancer can bring.

Flew back to NJ on Tuesday, and was able to relax and have a quiet night. We did make a quick stop at the Roman Gourmet in Maplewood for pizza on the way home. Still family owned and operated, they have been making some of the best pizza for over 50 years. I grew up just a short walk away and try to stop by if I’m in the area. Never disappoints

Wednesday gave us the Series Premiere of Survivor 46. A fan since the beginning, I have never missed a season or an episode. It’s always interesting to see who sticks out to me as a charismatic and likeable player and who comes across as cold and unlikeable. I can usually get a read on a few of the contestants from their first couple of days on the Island. The 2 people who stood out to me were Jelinski and Jess. Jelinski was just clueless in how he though people viewed him. Jess just seemed like a fish out of water. That both were on the same tribe that lost every challenge was not surprising.

I was again able to avoid most social media coverage of the contestants until the Series Premier. After watching the premier, I then listened to On Fire with Jeff Prosts, the official Survivor PodCast, and then on Thursday morning, read Dalton Ross’s EW Survivor Recap

Interesting to see who starts to stand out as the season progresses. I also need to start work on my next addition video. When I told my wife I was going to work on another video, here replay was “I can’t wait to see you on The Golden Survivor”. I laughed and said “I know Im old, bud I don’t feel that old” There are still plenty of seasons for me to get cast on before reaching my golden years. One of these times, #JeffProbst, #JesseeTananbalum or others involved in casting will connect with my latest application video and give me a shot at becoming a contestant. Until then, I will continue to dream about being cast, and continue writing about Survivor on this blog

Remember, life is a gift, and is precious. Never take anything for granted and remember to find time to talk to family and friends. Also continue to dream

#PEACE

Average_Andy

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