Category Archives: Snippetz

…I reluctantly joined Covina Sunrise Rotary in 1984 just a year and a half after its charter date and remain an active member.  You may ask why.  Well…when I think about it, I too question the sanity of my decision.  Let’s see…

• I wake up at 5:30 AM every Tuesday morning…not easy!
• I pay for a breakfast I never eat-$
• I am humiliated along with three others who sing each week in front of the club.  We receive incoming projectiles from our audience…really!
• I get fined for my birthday-$
• I get fined for my wedding anniversary-$
• I get fined for welcoming a granddaughter into the world-$
• I get fined when I miss a meeting if traveling-$
• I must present the Fine Master with a gift from my sojourn-$
• I must present the Club President with a gift as well-$
• I contribute to the Paul Harris Foundation-$
• I contribute to the Tex Everson Humanitarian Endowment-$
• I pay monthly dues-$
• I have spent countless hours in my earlier years with setup and breakdown of all CSR events
• I have spent countless hours participating in and supporting any and all CSR events

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…I’m probably one of many who live in ‘political purgatory.’ I’m not a republican although my politics do lean to the right; I’m not a Democrat although I support some moderately left issues; I’m not a Libertarian although I really want government out of my life (mostly). So, the question is… who in the body politic speaks for me? Continue reading →

Upon returning from our recent expedition to four African countries, our National Geographic tour leader, Dr. Bill Branch, prepared a recap of our experience.  I asked for and received permission from Bill to publish his “Farewell Letter” to us on Alfieland.com.  He was gracious in granting such. There were seven in our party…a family of four adults from Denver including a physician and a retired geologist along with Nancy, Kaitlin and yours truly.  We traveled by small private aircraft from South Africa to Namibia then on to Botswana.  Nat Geo then handed us off to another operator to enter Zimbabwe since they do not conduct business in that country for a variety of reasons.

 

Enjoy the narrative and photos Bill so kindly passed on to us.  Kaitlin took some great pix as well, and I’ll eventually post a few once she has concluded her editing. This expedition was nothing short of ‘amazing,’ and I do not use that word lightly.  I came away with a dramatic sense of ‘oneness.’  That is to say how all matter is connected relative to flora, fauna, topography, culture, etc.  It all seems to fit in some sort of unexplainable grand order where all is dependent upon all…if that makes sense.  And…I’m finally okay with not knowing how all ‘this’ comes about.

 

Please enjoy Dr. Branch’s remarks.

—Alfie

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…Arnie and I were kids together in Philadelphia where he was my big brother Jimmy’s friend. I was probably 11 or 12 years old and Arnie 14 or 15 when he spoke his first words directly to me, “check out, roach.” While I, along with my friends, knew who Arnie was, we dared not speak to him or any of the ‘ big guys’ for fear of being berated, humiliated or even worse …in a fight we couldn’t win.

The Back Story

Pennell School yard was the center of the universe for basketball players from all over the surrounding neighborhoods and it was ground zero for me and my buds. Early Saturday mornings in the winter, we went to Pennell with shovels to remove the snow from two half courts. This process usually took about half an hour. We were then ready to play, but. .. au contraire. The ‘ balagulas’ (Yiddish for tough guys) came along and usually kicked us off the courts. Continue reading →

Sister Francine

…don’t even try to say ‘no’ to Sister Francine.  It’s futile.  Not because your knuckles might feel the old time wrath of a ruler…it’s ‘cause you just can’t disappoint her.  What a skill!   This is just who she is…kind, warm, smart, fun, committed, empathetic, thoughtful and inspiring.

We connected upon our very first encounter when Nancy and I attended a Connelly open house with our granddaughter, Katie (the artist formerly known as Kaitlin) who was considering a high school to attend while in the eight grade.   As soon as Sister spoke, I leaned over to Nancy and whispered, “that woman is from Philadelphia.”  Us Philadelphians do not have radar but rather ‘Phillydar’ and we hear it instantly. Continue reading →

Joan Johnson

…eyes can tell you a lot about a person.  They are deemed to be the windows into the soul…but I defer to Reverend Byron on such matters.  What first struck me about Joan upon meeting her in 1972, were her bright blue eyes.  They were warm, direct and welcoming.  I was the ‘new kid’ in the Department of Physical Education and Athletics at Cal State LA and at age 29, I was hired to teach kinesiology and coach Men’s Gymnastics when Gordon Maddux went on hiatus to work for ABC’s Wide World of Sports.  This was the start of our long and wonderful friendship. Continue reading →

The NCAA

With Napier of UConn ‘going to bed hungry,’ the Northwestern football team attempting to unionize and the O’Bannon case preparing for trail, the NCAA’s hair is on fire. In a meager attempt to thwart the audacity of these complainers, the bully of collegiate athletics is now considering unlimited meal allowance. BFD! Like most other SROs (Self Regulatory Organizations), the NCAA has overreached its purview and has morphed into a financial/political machine that wields a very heavy hand. Their attitude is, “comply or we’ll exact a heavy toll” and members tremble at the thought of an investigation. Athletic administrators work diligently to insure compliance in all aspects of their programs, but the issue of financial aid (legal and illegal) is of primary concern in football and men’s basketball where the opportunities to play professionally after college loom very large. With the money so seductive, it draws unsavory characters to the dance and they are more than willing to engage in nefarious activity negatively impacting athletes and their respective institutions. That wise So. Philly street philosopher, Dominick Marino, once said, “ya’ know Albie, money makes good people betta and bad people woiser.” Continue reading →

Fire Trucks and Firefighters Rant

…the late Andy Rooney would ask, “ever wonder why a fire truck shows up when a 911 call is made for a medical emergency? I do.” And, I too have done so for more than thirty years without ever hearing a reasonable explanation…that is until fairly recently. Each time I pose the question to those who might know or should know, the answer I get is…“paramedics are assigned to a truck and can’t be separated” or “all firefighters are paramedics and the truck is their vehicle” or “they may be dispatched to a fire while on a medical call.” Oh, I get it. The firefighter/paramedic is going to let the victim bleed out because he/she has just been called to another incident. Really? The only answer that ever made sense to me came from a firefighter who said, “every agency gets paid on every responsive call and the more assets dispatched to that call, the more we may justify our brutally inflated budget(s).” Ah ha! Continue reading →

…going to college wasn’t easy for me, and for a variety of reasons not the least of which was the lack of money. There was never a question in my own mind as to whether or not I would attend. I valued higher education from an early age but wasn’t sure about where, when and exactly how I would pay for it since our parents were not flush with cash.

The Back Story

I applied for admission to Temple University for the fall of ’60 and was accepted as a ‘non-matriculating’ student. That meant, part time as an evening division student. The reasoning behind the University’s conditional offer was…“we think you are smart enough to succeed as evidenced by your SAT scores and the fact that you are a Central High School grad, BUT, your grades are not convincing, so show us.” This was really a gift in disguise due to my lack of financial capability. Temple University was a private institution in those days and received little state funding resulting in relatively high costs. The notion of financial aid was still several years away. Continue reading →

…with a very Jewish mother and an Italian Catholic father, one might think life would be confusing for a kid, but not so for me. I knew from early childhood, that our family was ‘different’ and at some point this mixed nationality, religious and cultural issue was going to loom large in shaping my identity. I was right and resolved that question very early in life. I came home from elementary school and asked my dad, “Am I Jewish or Italian?” Not knowing there is a difference between religion and nationality, it all seemed like one and the same to me as an eight year old. In his own style, Pop said, “ya know what youse are” referring to my brother Jimmy and me? You’re half your mother and half me.” I looked at him, paused for a moment, and said, “ok, what’s for dinner.” Question answered; conflict resolved; end of story!

I am…Jewish! That should be no surprise in that Jewish law says ‘when your mother is Jewish, you’re Jewish.’ Remember, we always know your mother. However, I am not the kind of ‘Jewish’ that most people think of when considering what it means to live as a Jew. I am a secular, cultural, ‘lox and bagels’ Jew who does not attend shul unless there is a wedding or Bar/Bat Mitzvah even though I had my Bar Mitzvah at age 20. I do not subscribe to the theology or dogma of any religion, political party or label. That said, I’ll be the first to take offense at even a hint of an anti-Semitic remark or act. Continue reading →

 – Or – Being Officious Never Pays

…our postage machine at DSI, West Covina was of the Pitney Bowes variety and our contract was soon to expire. I asked our office manager to form an ad-hoc committee to conduct some cursory research to determine if we were getting the best deal possible with our provider when compared with competitors. My intent was to keep the Pitney Bowes folks on point and to determine if we really had a good contract. After several weeks of collecting and analyzing data from others, I met with the committee of four women to receive their recommendation. Continue reading →

…I have always viewed age group, high school and college athletics as a proxy for real life experiences where the lessons taught and learned may be applied to our daily lives. Of those, the most useful one for me was and is the ability to manage time efficiently. This skill was born as a result of my early coaching years.

The story:

As a rookie high school gymnastics coach, I taught and trained in a very small gym which we shared with a host of other sports: boy’s basketball (Varsity, JVs, Bs and Freshmen), girls’ basketball (Varsity, Freshmen), wrestling, volleyball and ‘out of season’ conditioning for all other athletes. And, this was prior Title IX (gender equity in sport) becoming law (1972). Needless to say, the gym was severely overcrowded, and gym time was at a premium. Our team was assigned to a limited space on one side of the facility and we were allocated two hours daily when ‘in season’ and zero hours out of season. We trained at our local community college, Mt. SAC, in the evenings during that time. Continue reading →

In the “Odd Couple”, Oscar Madison said to Felix Unger, “I thought it just comes” referring to gravy. For most of us, the gravy in our lives comes only when we make it. There are however, a few rare exceptions. One of those occurs when we enter ‘geezerville’ and create ‘coronary collateral circulation’ without much effort. At the risk of sounding too clinical, I do know that we develop this physiological advantage just by getting older when our arteries no longer function as efficiently as they once did. Because arteries lose some elasticity (arteriosclerosis) and fat deposits cling to their walls in greater abundance (atherosclerosis), our ability to supply cardiac muscle with blood is diminished, hence, the automatic generation of new smaller arteries and veins (arterioles and venules). This process is the result of what is known as ‘wisdom of the body.’ Continue reading →