Could the USPS Suck More?

Leave it to the United States Postal Service to contradict itself and screw me up.

I simply tried to send my dad a Father's Day card and here's what I'm left with. An ugly mess on my nice card.



I never really experienced having a letter returned to me for insufficient postage. But that's what happened. Evidently sending an envelope that's a little out of standard shape screws things up royally.

So the super professional looking sticker the mailman puts on the envelope tells me to add postage and try again.

I added another stamp - and completely overpayed the insufficient postage amount, but there was no way I was going to the post office to get the correct amount on a stamp.

I then dropped the newly over-posted (my term) letter in the mailbox and thought it would arrive just a few days late. I could explain this away to my dad with no worries.

But no.

Today the envelope turns up in my mail - again. Theyr'e still looking for more postage. Even though I waaaay overpaid the second time.

Now I'm mad. Really mad. Almost mad enough to go to the post office and wait on the line to talk to a postal worker. OK, not that mad. Because we all know how that would go. I would walk out madder than when I got there. And risking committing a Federal crime is not really on my agenda.

So even though I tried - twice - it didn't work.

Sorry dad, but it really wasn't my fault. I'll be bringing your card to you personally. That's the service you deserve for Father's Day anyway.

The Angry Svetz Family

So our friends Rob & Monica and Anna are all about having a good time. And laughing. And carrying on. But don't spend the day with them at Parade the Circle taking pictures and not posting them on your blog.

Monica is mad, mad, mad. And she's not the type to leave it alone. She told me. And told me.

But they look so nice. And harmless. But she really packs a punch.

So Monica - here you are...



And have a great vacation. See you soon!

Coventry Street Fair

Michal and some of her counselor friends wanted to go tonight to walk up & down Coventry road - a 3-block long stretch of funky shops, restaurants, and more.

Music (good and bad), food, interesting jewelry, photos, arts of all kinds, and streetworkers (not that kind). Plenty of people watching too...

This guy was barking about "try my food...try my food..." Evidently he's been at it a while based on his arm brace and designer gloves.

It's hard to describe exactly what this guy was doing, besides underwhelming us. His act consisted of swirling glass balls in his hand and moving them in front of his body from right to left. His "act" must have been based on a night when he was wasted and found this ability, showed his stoner buddies who were amazed. While sober, he sucked.


This guy was just obnoxious. He needed to be in front of everybody to "get his shot." Everywhere I saw him he was busy elbowing his way to the front. So he could see the glass ball guy.

I don't usually like to judge people, but here's a rare exception. Cigarette mom also gave one of the kids in the stroller a nice long pull on creamy coffee looking drink. Let's hope it was a kaluha free drink.


Terrible does not begin to describe how bad this band was. A guy "jamming" on a flute - is that really necessary?


The end was neat for Sophia & Zach. You know who thought the street drawing area was pretty cool.

Camp Started and Zach Slept

And slept. And slept. And slept. His little tush is getting a royal kicking from his first week's schedule.

No more naps for him. He's playing outside mostly all day long.

- And running
- And jumping
- And swimming
- And arts and crafts - but please don't use the phrase "artsy-fartsy" with me. I really can't stand it.
- And other camp stuff.

So when is he sleeping you ask? Well, almost every minute he's not at camp.

- On the car ride home
- On the couch while waiting to sleep through dinner
- While skipping dinner for the second night this week (of three possibles)
- Through the night - except when he somehow wakes up around 1 a.m. and staggers into our room with his pillow and favorite "stuffy" animal

It will probably take him into the middle of next week before he successfully rejoins the waking world.

Meet Michal

Michal moved in on Sunday and is staying with us for three weeks as a camp counselor at the JCC. She's an Israeli cultural specialist and will teach her campers all about food, dancing, music and more.

It's great having her here and is fascinating talking with her about all kinds of things - politics, life in Israel, America's culture (the good & the bad), music, art, food and on and on.

For her first dinner with us, we took her to Little Italy. We walked around after dinnner taking it all in from her perspective.

We have lots of plans for Michal before she moves to her next host family for another three weeks. We found out the other two host families are good friends of ours, so the transition will be easy.

A word to the wise - don't make her mad - she was an artillery trainer in the IDF and can wipe you off the map with this - it's a mobile Israeli cannon.

Is It Really A Mystery Why The Indians Season Is In The Drink?

So I took Zach to his first summer soccer practice on Sunday. He was with dozens of other 4-year-olds running around in t-shirts that were waaay too big. As I was talking with the other dads I knew, we all recognized someone who really should be at work.

Everyday.

Mark Shapiro is the Indians General Manager.

I'm sure he's a good guy in his personal life and a great dad (he was there with his daughter), but we (my friends) exercised great restraint not to drive him off to the airport to join the road trip in progress or shake things up in the clubhouse. Here's a suggestion - take away the ping-pong privileges until a 3 game winning streak happens.

Shouldn't he be focused on turning the Tribe around instead of 4-year-old summer soccer?

Just kidding Mark. I just couldn't resist.

New Olympic Rules - Or 57 Reasons You Gotta Be Excited To See How These Olympics Will Go...

BEIJING (AP) -Foreigners attending the Beijing Olympics better behave - or else.

Or so says a recent AP story I'm referring to here.

It continues on...The Beijing Olympic organizing committee issued a stern, nine-page document Monday that covers 57 topics. Written in Chinese only and posted on the official Web site, the guide covers everything from a ban on sleeping outdoors to the need for government permission to stage a protest.

But my favorite part is this - Those with "mental diseases'' or contagious conditions will be barred.

Really? This rules out most of my friends. Seriously. I'll have to cancel my group trip to Beijing now.

This kind of news can only get better as we get closer to the Olympics.

I can't wait.

And on the seventh day G-d rested

But I didn't. It wasn't even close.

The running tally

It turned out to be 56 trips


In a row


Exhaustion began to take its toll and the pile didn't appear to getting any smaller.
But in the end, it did. I beat the pile and the yard looked good. And then I napped.