Cough, Sneeze, Drip Drip==>DAMN!!

DAMN!! Had to leave FOLLIES last night at intermission due to sneezing, coughing and a runny nose.

The nasty stuff started just before I left PHC for the theater. I had stocked up on nose spray and cough drops just to be safe. My seat was in the very rear orchestra, row X, in the middle.

Once the show started my nose started running (actually draining is probably a better word) and I was fighting back the urge to both cough and sneeze. DAMN!! I didn’t want to be the old guy who keeps everyone around him from enjoying the show with all of his extraneous noise/sounds.

DAMN!! I found myself concentrating more on not coughing and/or sneezing than what was happening on stage. DAMN!!

At intermission Billi Pod faced up to it, returned his hearing device and headed back to PHC, coughing and sneezing the whole way. It wasn’t pleasant.

The show runs until January 22, 2012 and I am confident I will be able to score a TDF ticket before the run ends.

Went to bed much earlier than usual, 1:00am, feeling kinda sorry for myself.

When I woke up at 9:30am (1.5 hours later than usual) I felt blah, out of sorts and not in a good mood. Basically, right now I feel like shit.

Of course I have been taking my usual cold remedies: Echinacea & Goldseal and extra Vitamin C.

The good news, as you loyal and faithful readers know, Billi Pod usually has a quick recovery rate, meaning, a cold usually lasts only 3 days, rather than 5-7 for the rest of you out there in the vast hinterlands.

And further good news==>this will get my annual Winter cold out of the way before heading down to Columbia, SC, for Christmas with the family.

Oh ... yesterday afternoon’s staged reading of ==>BURLY-Q! A Gay Burlesque, was funny, profane and a lot of fun. It is what it is ... a work in progress. Glad I saw it.

Yes ... Billi Pod has an entertainment event scheduled for tonight, of course ...

8:00==>THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER - “Celebrated critic and radio personality Sheridan Whiteside slips on an icy doorstep while lecturing in Mesalia, Ohio. While recovering in the home of a utterly conventional family, he proceeds to turn the family's life inside out with his incessant demands, long-distance phone calls and parade of eccentric celebrity guests.” (Off Broadway - $9.00 TDF ticket)

This revival stars Jim Brochu who has outstanding as Zero Mostel in the critically acclaimed “Zero Hour.”

We will see how Billi Pod feels as show time arrives. It is playing at a theater just one block away and since he actually paid for the ticket ($9.00) he won’t get into any trouble if he skips the show.

Let me close this shorter posting with a link to a rather interesting article in today’s New York Post about Timmy Tebow --

"Serby’s exclusive Q&A with...Tim Tebow"

Click on the following link to read the story, it is worth it ...

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/serby_exclusive_with_tim_tebow_umO1GNRjsz53WWbzbQTZMN

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”

ALEX-113

MO GETS SAVE #602==>AWESOME!!

As most of you now know, yesterday afternoon Mariano Rivera got his record setting 602nd career save as the Yankees won 6-4 over The Twins.

The win was accomplished despite another bizarre outing from AJ Burnett aka Loser Boi who couldn’t get through the 5th inning because he was about to blow a 5 run lead. He gave up 4 runs. He seemed to be pissed when he was taken out of the game because he later told the press that he hadn’t finished the 5th inning because he “wasn’t given the opportunity to finish it.”

You weren’t given the “opportunity” asshole because you imploded once again.

Note to Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman==>this loser cannot ... repeat ... cannot be trusted in the post season.

More about the game ... this was a makeup for a game rained out in April. My ticket was free because I had used a voucher given as a part of my season ticket package. As reported yesterday, my seat was in the upper tier, in the sun. Long story short, because it was a Monday afternoon makeup game, there were lots and lots of empty seats in my usual area. After the first inning I was able to move down to my usual seat because the “gatekeeper” recognizes me as a season ticket holder. That was nice.

It was very exciting being in the stadium for this historic event. As you may remember, Billi Pod was also present when Derek Jeter got his 3,000th hit, earlier in the season. Yes, these two events really were important to a baseball nut like moi.

Getting to the game, though, was nightmarish at best. What am I talking about you are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well, let’s start off with ...

When I got to the subway station in The Port Authority Terminal I discovered that an upper westside water main break had taken the A, B & D lines out of service.

Damn ... but I still had an alternative. I walked over to the Broadway/42nd Street station and took the shuttle train to Grand Central Station where I got on the 4 train, an express train that goes directly to Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. The train was packed.

When we stopped at the 86th Street station, the doors remained open and we began to wonder what the f**k was going on. After about 10 minutes, as the jam-packed crowd was getting really antsy, there came an announcement that the delay was because a passenger needed “medical help.” WTF?

We were told to exit the train, which we did. The station was packed. The doors to the train were closed. Then came an announcement that the train had been taken out of service, and the empty train slowly started moving out of the station. WTF?

In about 5 minutes a 5 train arrived. It doesn’t go to the stadium. I would guess that about 1/3 of the crowd got on it even though people, like me, were saying ... no no, don’t do it, don’t do it ... Most of them disregarded our warnings and away the 5 train went. Bad mistake.

5 minutes later a jammed 4 train arrived and the rest of us shoved our way into the already stuffed cars. It wasn’t pleasant and that is putting it mildly.

We arrived at the stadium 5 minutes before game time, meaning a trip that should have taken about 30 minutes took about an hour and 15 minutes. Oh well ... at least I was there for the game, which turned out to be historic.

Yeah ... yeah ... I know ... much too long and who cares ... but Billi Pod just needed to get it out of his system. He is still wondering why they took the train out of service rather than taking the person out of the subway at 86th Street??? Oh well ... they did ... so ...

Last night I stayed in. I alternated watching the Giants/Rams game and the second of the FuckSox/Orioles game.

In the name of fair and unbiased reporting Billi Pod has to admit that he also watched the season opener of “TWO AND A-HALF MEN.” This was the first time I had ever, and I mean ever, watched it, so some of the in-jokes went over my head.

This posting is being written at around 3:00pm, a bit later than usual because this morning Billi Pod had a routine appointment with his eye doctor, whose office is on East 49th Street, between lst and 2nd Avenues, about 4 blocks from The United Nations Building.

The appointment, and outcome, was routine, but getting there wasn’t routine because that part of Manhattan was in a virtual lock-down because of The President’s presence at the UN, along with other heads-of-state.

I won't bore you any more with the details except to say that the police presence was very very heavy and they were obviously not very happy about things.

Oh, and it was lightly raining too.

My doctor is Dina B. Weintraub, an ophthalmologist, and I have been seeing her for about 8 years. My last appointment was 6 months ago, so I was surprised to learn today that she is expecting twins, a boy and a girl, in about 6 weeks. She expects to be able to continue with her practice.

She reads this blog, so==>CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO YOU DR. W. SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTNER.

Billi Pod’s entertainment event is, of course ...

7:05==>YANKEES/TAMPA BAY @ Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed And Ego Built.

Rookie Ivan Nova will be on the mound for The Bronx Bombers. Billi Pod will be in his usual seat for this game.

Oh, and, of course, the weather is going to be iffy. Trust me ... they will play this game in all conditions short of a category 5 hurricane.

Wow!! What a boring posting ... sorry ...

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!!

Billi Pod

“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”

ALEX-27

The Big Apple Is Icing Over

It was super-nasty this morning and it got progressively worse as the day wore on. And it continues. F**K!!

Because of the light snow and rain and freezing temperatures I decided to leave a bit early for my 12:45pm appointment for my annual exam/physical/sit-down with my Cardiologist, Dr. Fred Feuerbach, who is also a FaceBook friend.

When I left my building the wind was whirling and it was obvious that the sidewalk was beginning to ice over. Now my loyal and faithful readers I have to report that in the 1/2 block to the corner I witnessed 3 people slip and fall and I also almost did so myself once. Luckily no one appeared to be injured.

This is insane that I. My Dr.’s office is located on the far Eastside, about 3 1/2 long East/West blocks from the subway station and I had another block to walk to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, so ... gasp ... Billi Pod hailed a cab, something most of you know he hardly ever ever does. It cost $11.00, including tip.

I was a bit early but that was no problem. I was taken back and the session began with the EKG and the resulting ripping off hair from my chest. The nurses and Fred thought the cartoon was funny.

OK, now the results. When we were through I asked Fred to write down his evaluation in terms I could understand and handwriting that I could read. This is what he wrote, verbatim --

“Doing well. Stable from cardiovascular standpoint. Chronic A-fib - no symptoms. Slightly bradycardic - lowered Digoxin dose. Overall - great!”

OK, calm down ... bradycardic means a slower than normal heart rate ... and Fred is confident that lowering one of my meds will take care of it.

Bottom line - this almost 77 year old guy is doing fine heart-wise.

When I left his office I was elated and I was faced with the decision of cab vs. subway and ... it was a no-brainer ... Billi Pod was now enrobed in a cloak of invincibility, so, of course, it was ... tada ... subway.

Made it back to PHC without any broken bones, but I have to admit that it was a lot scarier than I thought it would be and if I had it to do over it would probably be cab.

It is about 4:30 and it is still nasty out and 27º.

My entertainment event for tonight is --

8:00==>COMPULSION-“Tells the story of an American Jew who is obsessed with bringing ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ to the stage. He becomes embroiled in a bitter battle over the right(s) to adapt the diary for the stage.” (Off-Broadway - discounted TDF ticket).

This is playing at The Public Theatre downtown, so I will have a couple of blocks to walk to and from the subway stations.

Let me close this out with ...

Musings from THE MIND OF BILLI POD (a memoir in progress):

“The Grim-Reaper really has no sense of humor so don’t expect him to laugh at your jokes.”

GO GATORS AND GO YANKEES!!

Billi Pod

“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.”