So, my progeny have been on my ass about where is the RANT this year… tempts me not write one; I mean seriously what the hell… So, I decided I would give them a quick summary “rant” to hold them over while I mull over what to say this year… So here goes: my legs hurt like a bitch, hurricanes suck, been working to many damn hours, crypto is ridiculous and probably mostly cause I don’t have any of it… babies are good even if they shit their diapers… older kids are good even when they don’t know how or when to be quiet… really big kids are good except when they ramble about certain stocks like umm “GameStop”… more often than not your sports teams will disappoint you – but we cheer for them anyway… what’s up with that? The older you get the more memories you make, but now you have to worry about forgetting them… weird.

Well let’s dive right in, cause that’s about as good an intro as you’re going to get anyway.

As most of you know by now, there is no rhyme or reason to how these rants develop… sometimes it’s just a straight-out bitch session, or I wax nostalgic over days of yore, even worse I might get philosophical about who knows what honestly, and if that’s not enough there’s always a chance I might decide to pontificate on some social issue or topic… ughhh!

There are some hard and fast rant rules though, and that means we have to cover the Castagno hi-lite reel first… and we have a couple of big ones this year! First, and it’s not even close, we welcomed Renlee Elizabeth Williams to the family this past February… and no need to wonder – she is pretty fond of her PaPa. Her big sister Annie loves her to death and the rest of us are pretty taken with her too. 

Now you may have heard that we have hurricanes down here in Florida… it’s the price of living in paradise; well, what some call paradise – but till you drive down here or pay our insurance rates you might want to check that. Anyway, major event number two… hurricane Milton; normally we just hunker down and ride these storms out and this one was no different. We did all the normal prep work, gathered necessary supplies and waited to see where that asshat Cantore would set up. A cat 1 storm is no fun, but usually no more than an inconvenience and a few days with no power – following a week of more than 18 inches of rain Milton rolled through our town as a strong cat 2 much higher than forecast. It wasn’t fun, and plenty of folks suffered major flooding and wind damage – a most unwelcome follow up to Helene a week or so earlier that devastated our coast and most of western NC. 

All this to say that the family suffered major damage to Kiersta’s home when a huge, and I mean really huge, oak tree was toppled over crushing the back half of her house. This tree brushed Annie’s room, came through the roof into the living room and master bath… Kiersta’s family spent a few terrifying hours huddled in the dark wondering if the roof would hold and if they would make it out alive… we were finally able to get there and bring them out about 3 hours later… you don’t have to believe in miracles to understand just how fortunate they were to not be injured. 

Hundreds of folks have responded with an incredible amount of help and support over the last couple of months and Christopher opened his house to his sister – they are making the best of it with two families crammed together. FEMA gets a bit of a bad rap in these situations, but her insurance has yet to make a reasonable offer and has disbursed zero funds in support… criminal in my mind and part of something that needs serious reform down here in paradise. We are blessed that none of them were hurt… homes can be replaced… lives cannot. 

Damn we are on page two already! And look you don’t have to worry I am not about to go on and on about how it sucks to get old and everything hurts, or whine about not listening to some of you on Bitcoin before it broke $100K (what the hell right?) or God forbid go on and on about some crazy stock… although there is a very good chance I’m going to bitch about how the Yankees played in the World Series and I would give you good odds on the memories thing. Before we move on though… all the grands are great – no need to confirm with their parents – you can take my word for it. You know this rant started as a “real” look at life with my kids, but to be honest I’ve got some really good ones and we are way past that these days.

Now about those Yankees… it was great to get to the series no doubt about that, and my dear friend Marcellus and I had great seats for game three at the stadium. They played miserable and it was cold… but I was in Yankee Stadium watching the boys in October… did I mention it was my birthday? It was a damn good night no matter the score! No need to discuss this Soto mess either… $765M is crazy I don’t care how good you are or think you are. Pains me to say it, but the Dodgers were just a better team this year… even with Ohtani not showing up. Looking forward to spring training and making another run next year and having the Red Sox continue to suck. 

So where is the actual RANT you ask? Or at least some basic bitching… doesn’t the SBux line still infuriate you? Aren’t there still moms in minivans randomly picking donuts at Dunkin’… yes there are, but isn’t it a bit rhetorical by now? 

I think my newest irritation though is this incessant tipping bullshit we are being forced to deal with… let me explain, you can’t get through a drive thru any more without being asked to add a tip? When the hell did this start? It was bad enough when they started putting the recommended tips on your receipt… like we can’t do basic math – and the scale went from 10/15/20% to 20/25/28% must be that inflation I keep hearing about. I generally tip well, but let me do the math and decide what the amount should be… and for the love of God don’t ask me for a tip in a drive-thru!

As long as we are talking about the drive-thru; why the hell do they need my name? Chic fil A is bad about this; “can I have a name for the order?” uh no you can’t you just put a numbered placard on my window that should suffice or better yet call me “165” … and I’m not tipping either, so you can keep the blessing! One of our local coffee shops always asks too – I give them a different name every visit… we are thirty plus iterations in and I’m wondering if they will ever catch on… you can be sure they always remember to ask for the tip though. In fact, you can’t pay without answering the tip question… believe me you get the look when you hit “no”. 

I know it’s hard out there and folks need every little bit they can get… but I would rather pay fifty cents more per cup of coffee or a bit more per dozen donuts then get the “you didn’t tip” stare down from some morose teenager working the window… and Chic fil A you can’t even ask… lunch for two is already like forty bucks or something ridiculous… wish that was an exaggeration. Something isn’t right when you have to check your bank balance before sneaking out for a cheat meal. And yes I know this is a “first world” problem… but that’s why this is called a RANT… so just chill and silently shake your head at my “privilege”.

Ranting aside though, I do want to talk about this memories thing I mentioned at the beginning. Maybe it’s the holidays, or just the older you get the more acute the realization that time really is running away from us. Morbid… no not my point, but every year I sit down attempting to catalogue the events of the previous year, maybe bring some sense to things and make sure I don’t forget some important detail… I run through the memories. It is inevitable to have them blend together, triggering older memories, sometimes even things forgotten and before I know it I am strolling through my past pushing through a tangled web of feelings and oh so many memories. If you have lived at all you know that life is kaleidoscope of highs and lows and it is only the oblivious idiot that manages to come through unscathed… and truth be told that’s not living. 

Every year is an opportunity to add a layer, wander through another year’s worth of memories and if fate has favored me come away with more smiles than tears.  And what might this have to do with anything you ask? It’s my opinion that we are collectively on a shared journey and our memories are simply the filament that binds us all together… if you pause and look back you will see the tapestry we’ve woven together… even when we didn’t know we were sharing an experience… so look forward with gratitude and stay in the light… it’s where the good memories live. 

Joe