NY HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW 2

FROM THE NEW YORK HOLIDAY TRAIN SHOW (p)

BLOG ENTRY #6 I MAY HAVE BEEN WRONG

 OK, I may have been wrong.  I said yesterday that I didn't see former governor Andrew Cuomo joining the race for mayor of New York City.  According to polls, he has the best chance of winning.  However, I don't see Cuomo having to answer to a position he already had.  According to news reports, he is meeting with his daughters to see if they are on board with a mayoral race.

BLOG ENTRY #5 NYC MAYOR 2025

 

I found this interesting article online regarding the upcoming mayoral elections.  Surprisingly, Andrew Cuomo is not listed, though he has yet to officially drop his name in as a candidate.  I personally don't see Andrew Cuomo running for mayor.  That would put him under the control of the governor.    At the same time, Eric Adam's current problems may prevent him from winning a second term.  I am concerned about that because, even though he could have been tougher on crime....and the homeless situation, I see him as being the only candidate (besides Cuomo) able to hold police officers accountable.  Any "tough on crime" mayor will let the police storm certain neighborhoods and adding mayhem. 

https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/02/heres-whos-running-new-york-city-mayor-2025/401994/

Most of the other candidates though, seem soft.  I see them wishing away crime.

I haven't decided on who I would vote for yet.

All I know is that it won't be Curtis Sliwa.

BLOG ENTRY#4 OK, I'M AN ASSHOLE

 

Possibly the biggest event in the news has to be Trump (with Elon Musk) making good on Trump's pre-election promise to cut back on the federal workforce.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-workers-urge-congressional-lawmakers-to-reverse-job-cuts/

Days after Trump officially took office, a letter was circulated offering federal employees a buyout,    https://www.opm.gov/fork/original-email-to-employees/   essentially allowing them to keep their job benefits through September if they took the buyout now.  Weeks afterwards, the Administration went on a mission terminating thousands of employees from various federal agencies.

What got me was, after doing some research, the terminations may affect people who actually voted for Trump. 

https://youtu.be/TA-lI8rTZlw?si=wkttQQt6EvxdEiF2

I read a few articles where Trump voters were shocked that they lost their jobs.

As bad as the act is, I still couldn't help but snicker.  A part of Trump's campaign was vowing to cut federal jobs.  And these people apparently were ok with that, until the lost jobs were theirs.  Nonetheless, I hope they get their jobs back, either through the appeals process, or through their congress person.  Unfortunately, according to news reports, most of the people who lost their jobs were on probation.  I learned years ago that generally, Management doesn't need a reason to terminate you when you are on probation.  Good luck in proving there was a prohibited act like a potential EEO complaint.

BLOG ENTRY #3 GETTING ACCLIMINATED part 1

 I have been retired for nearly a month and it still feels weird.

I swore I was not going to be one of those retirees who wakes up at noon, and does nothing all day except watch television .

So far, I haven't done much besides wake up at 9:00, get something to eat, take a nap, then get into the day after 1:00 or 2:00.

Truth be told, I told people I was giving myself three or four months to get used to being retired.  I wanted to decompress.  I have been going to a job for close to 30 years, so I wanted to officially power-down.  So in all truth I told people three or four months.  I actually was giving myself six,   Now, I think I will give myself until the end of the year to officially do something after retirement.

I already have five AMTRAK trips scheduled for April, with a second round coming in August.   This was only because AMTRAK offered the RAILPASS mid-January for $200 off, so I wanted to take it.  Otherwise my initial plans were to clean my apartment, meaning purge the place of all the paper and and trash.  The meat and potatoes (photography, writing, travel and genealogy) happen after the clean up.

I just hate the idea of sitting home and doing nothing.

CANADIAN FALLS 2022

 As soon as I figure out how, I will add the link to the old blog to my favorites.  In the meantime, I am reposting some favorites..  More of Niagara Falls 2022

FROM SUMMER 2022 NIAGARA FALLS

 

NIAGARA FALLS SUMMER, 2022

BLOG ENTRY#2 I RETIRED

 After close to 30 years, I called it a career.   January 31, 2025 I officially retired from the Department of Homeland Security.

BLOG ENTRY #1 ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

It's time for a change.  Again.  Years ago, I thought I would create a blog designed to find resources for the hungry and the homeless.  I failed miserably.   There was more work to it than I originally expected.  I thought it would be easy to gather information on soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other resources, and I was wrong.   Additionally, I thought that I could just list places and people would be able to follow up on them.  Most importantly, I never fully thought out the dynamics of being homeless in the first place.  

I have never been homeless.  I know people who were.  I still know folks who are.  Years ago, I didn't  understand that a part of the problem is mental illness and a part of the problem is that the powers that be don't want a change.  Ultimately, someone needs to make money for homelessness to be eradicated.   Individual donations and groups will help like taking an aspirin for a headache. It will help with the symptoms.  It won't come close to being a cure.  Realistically, the way you start eradicating homelessness is to combine private and public help.    Maybe start with government owned buildings to house people, mixed with one set of programs designed to assist people who just need to get on their feet.  Another set of programs would assist people with drug and/or mental health issues.  That is just the tip of the iceberg.    You can't make a profit off that though, which is probably why it hasn't been done.  In any case, placing the locations of shelters and soup kitchens and pantries were cute ideas with no practical way of helping.'

From now on, I am just going to write and post my photos.  That's the other thing...why have two blogs when I can post everything on one?  From now on, everything goes on one blog.  And I will post anything I feel.  And no essays.  Just whatever I am feeling.