Walking home last night I felt like I was in a movie. Smoke was in the air, helicopters were flying overhead and streets were blocked off. First I thought it could have been a terrorist strike, you never know these days. It turns out it was a three-alarm fire. Later, I saw a few ambulances race down my street. I hope no one was seriously injured.

The bus ride home was another surreal experience. First, the driver is 100% nuts. This guy likes to get on the mic and talk to the people. His rap goes something like this: “Welcome, this is the bus to Hoboken, the time is 9:33 and the temperature is currently 18 degrees on planet earth. The first available stop is 19th Street” and so on – he does not like to be off the mic for long. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a friendly driver but when you factor in that the guy is driving like a maniac, it’s a little too much.

The second odd thing — this small, older foreign man is on the left of the bus and a nice looking group of ladies are on the right. The man starts talking to the ladies in his native tongue. The ladies play along and then ignore the man because they can’t understand him. Then, and I like this move; the man offers the ladies candy. To their credit, they didn’t take the candy. The bus stops, the guy is walking off the bus, he stops in front of one of the women and pats her on the head! I couldn’t believe it! And neither could they! The lady said she was going to go home and take a bath, smart move. Damn small foreign guys – they can get away with anything.

After I got off the bus and before I noticed the smoke, I bought some scratch-off lotto tickets. I won $6 on Thursday and wanted to let that ride. I’m happy to report that I won!

This time I won $8! That’s sweet money! I’m going to let it ride again. I’ll let you know what happens on Monday.

So this is Valentine’s Day?! Big deal.

That’s it! I want to wish my friend Tiffany a very Happy Birthday on Saturday!

God Bless America.