Pouring down rain last night, no bike ride for me. I got on the bus to go back to Hoboken last night and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was my friend Tiffany!

Bob’s friend, Tiffany (File photo)

It’s always nice riding on the bus with a friend. Tiffany told me all about her long weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She went to the botantical gardens, enjoyed some sailing and just had a wonderful time with her parents. I told her I was glad I ran into her because I didn’t have much to talk about. Ha ha, oh I like making people laugh on the bus.

Again, I don’t have a lot to talk about. Did you see that story yesterday about Green Bay Packers fullback Najeh Davenport? The guy was arrested and accused of breaking into a university dormitory and defecating in a woman’s closet. Isn’t that crazy? He didn’t know the woman! He must have been messed up! That guy has a lot of explaing to do. If Marv Albert were reporting on this story he would have said something like, “not what he had in mind!”

I had some free time on my vacation and I took a short stroll on the banks of the mighty Ohio River. So, I thought I’d share some photos of ducks:

Look at this guy! He doesn’t want anything to do with me. Come here, duck!

Check these guys out! It looks like they’re having a conversation. I don’t understand duck talk, so I don’t know what they said?!

Oh no, these guys are mad at somebody! OK, OKAY, I’ll move on!


I think that may be a new feature to BobBorden.com — I’m going to call it, Bob Borden: Talks to Ducks. I like it, it has a nice ring to it.

I watched On Any Sunday last night. It’s a motorcycle film and Steve McQueen is in it. That Steve McQueen was solid gold!

OK, that’s it. For those of you starting up your own websites, here’s a tip: When you run out of things to talk about, make sure you have plenty of photos of ducks. Have a great day! God Bless America.

Let’s start off today by answering a question from yesterday’s diary. Kellita from my message board wanted to know how Memphis Mike got his name. Here’s the condensed answer from Memphis Mike:

“When me & the boys in The Tremblers first started playing out, we were just billed as The Tremblers. At one point we had some legal trouble over the name. On our very first show (5/5/95 at Luciano’s along with the Lords of the Highway) we were billed as the Legendary Tremblers. Mike & The Legendary Tremblers doesn’t sound bad. Then, our boy Goo (David Gooski), the (then) owner and proprietor of Gooski’S Bar in the Polish Hill section of town, started teasing me calling me “Memphis Mike.” I got to thinking and “Memphis Mike & The Legendary Tremblers” was born! Hope that make things clearer than mud!”
Thanks, Memphis.

Memphis Mike tells us

how he got the name “Memphis”

I got off the train last night and there were fire trucks, police and people everywhere. I’m still not sure what happened. It looked like a
restaurant fire. I was going to ask somebody what happened but I didn’t want to become one of those guys. All I knew was that I was OK.

I knew when I left work that a bike ride was out of the question. I just wasn’t in the mood. I bought the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD, By The Way. Man, I really like it. I was going to review it song by song but then I thought I’d ruin it for you. With the exception of One Hot Minute, they’ve never put out a bad CD. They keep raising the bar for themselves. I hate to admit it but at one point, I joined their fan club back in the early 90’s.

HBO started airing the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm last night. Very entertaining! I missed the first season so they’re new to me. I also watched my boss, Dave, on the new show after Nightline, Up Close. A good night for TV.

Man, I like this Red Hot Chili Peppers CD. Nothing better than making a good CD purchase. OK, that’s it. Have a great day. God Bless America.

I’m back, wait, we’re back, am I right? Hello? Anyway, this latest vacation found me in my glorious hometown of Steubenville, Ohio. I loaded up my cats and enjoyed the 8 hour drive to the motherland. I only stopped once for food and fuel. On the road, I spotted a sign that read, “Buckle Up, Next Million Miles.” I can’t count the number of miles that flew by as I thought about that sign. I imagined a bunch of stuffed shirts locked in a hot conference room. “We have to put a funny spin on this buckle up message. Any ideas?” My other thought was that maybe they had a contest to see who could come up with the best slogan. The winner is probably kicking his heels up at some resort in Florida as we speak. I don’t like humor in road-signs! My first Saturday found me in a bar in Pittsburgh. I drove up to see Memphis Mike & the Legendary Tremblers at The Warsaw Tavern. My brother was sitting in on the drums for Memphis.

Memphis Mike & the Legendary Tremblers

(& my brother, George)

It was a really great show. Rockabilly type music, very enjoyable. The Warsaw Tavern never had it so good! I’m not sure how Memphis Mike got his name because he’s from Steubenville. That’d be like me calling myself “Austin Bob.” He played a mean guitar and sang a good tune. He’s got a good thing going. The link to Memphis Mike’s website will be up today, in my “links” section.On my way up to Pittsburgh, I hit the A/C button in my car — nothing. Just hot air. Damn. I need that A/C for my cats and for me, ha ha. A hose ruptured and I lost all my coolant. My car is an 89, I have the old school coolant. I had to get it retro fitted for the new style coolant and had to get a new hose. It’s always something. Next up on the car is fixing the muffler. It’s loose and I’m pretty sure there’s a hole where there shouldn’t be a hole. Again, always something.

I played with my nephews and niece more this trip than I think I ever have. We had a good time. Swimming in my friend Tim and Tonya’s pool, sleep-overs, playing Frisbee, fireworks, badminton and bingo. I love those kids! And I realized something, I need my own kid. My clock is ticking, ha ha. I’m just kidding. Four nephews and a niece is enough for me. Plus, I get to go home and get some peace and quiet, ha ha.

Let’s see, what else? I went to the track a lot with my Mom. She likes to bet on the ponies and I like to play Keno. Oh the times we had. She’s good people. I had a good 4th of July. For my 32nd straight year, we set off some fireworks and watched the city’s fireworks. I bought some Jumping Jacks and I have to say, they weren’t that great. They were much better when I was a kid. Oh the 80’s. And how about that heat wave last week, whew!

Jumping Jacks have seen better days

I think that’s enough for a Monday. I didn’t do squat yesterday. I started off with the plan of going to the
A & P and then taking my bike out. I got home after the store and turned the TV on. I got hooked on watching car shows. Then, instead of riding the bike, I was going to take a walk — never made it. I was tired, I guess. I’ll make up for it tonight. That’s it. Have a great day. God Bless America.

Whew! It’s a wet one on the East Coast this morning. I’m typing today’s diary in wetness. But with every cloud, there is a silver lining. The upside in this case is it makes for great sleeping weather. Fan off, window open, blanket on — that’s sweet living. Rain is forecast for the next 5 days, damn. I’m going to be one soggy SOB by Monday!

I took this in the subway

last night. It has nothing to do
with today’s diary.

I wish my apartment had a bathtub. I would have been able to go home last night and just had a nice long, hot bath. Ahhhhhhhhhh. But alas, no tub for me. I’m as relaxed as a tightly wound rubber band. I wish they still had Napster. I’d love to hear the Missing Persons’ song, Destination Unknown. Here’s a sample of the lyrics from that song:

(Life is so strange) destination unknown
(when you don’t know) your destination
(something could change) it’s unknown
(and then you won’t know) destination unknown

Cool. I don’t understand that lyric but that song has a mean hook. “Hook,” that’s industry talk, it means it’s very catchy.

Time for a new segment to BobBorden.com — It’s called, Phone Call I Forgot to Make Yesterday. Today’s call is to our Office Manager, Pam. Here we go: Pam, sorry, this is business. Our coffee maker seems to be on the blink. It takes forever for the “ready” light to come on. And it’s smoking now. Thanks Pam. That was: Phone Call I Forgot to Make Yesterday, thank you, thank you very much.

My message board — I didn’t have time yesterday to fully research new boards. So, we just put up the good old, EZ Board, pop-up ads and all. I’m sorry about the ads but it’s just temporary. Good things come to those who wait, let’s not lose touch of that people.

OK, I have to cut it short today. Have a great day. God Bless America

Hello Friday! I’m starting things off today with a program note: BobBorden.com is on hiatus until July 8th. I’m taking a week off to start working on a children’s book. I’m not sure what it’s going to be about but I do have a working title, “Why Doesn’t Jimmy Have Any Toys?”I know I was supposed to have another addition to my novel, The Wallet, today but I can’t get my brain around it right now. I never sat down and walked my way through it. My apologies.

So, in lieu of fresh, new material, feel free to look around my site. Have you been to my “stuff” section in a while? I’ve added some information to the car section and — just added last night, is a section called Bob meets Iggy. Highly entertaining. Have you been to the Game Room? My Bowling Game is a great time killer for those of you riding a desk all day. Do you have to buy a wedding or a birthday gift soon? Stop by the BobBorden.com Store for all your gift giving needs. Haven’t been to the site in a while? Well, that’s what the Diary Archives are for. Ahhhh, nothing like a little self-promotion.

Happy 4th of July from Bob

of BobBorden.com

OK, I’m really writing today’s diary, yesterday. That’s why I haven’t talked about what I did last night because it hasn’t happened yet. Even though , as you’re reading this, last night already happened. Wait, does that make sense? So much for my children’s book about time travel. That’s it. Have a great 4th of July! I’ll be back on the 8th. God Bless America.

It’s too hot to sleep! I usually don’t comment of the topical events of the day. Not because I’m not interested but because you didn’t log-on to hear my rants, well, rants about other things besides myself, ha ha. That’s why you watch the news. Anyway, I couldn’t believe what I was reading yesterday. Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional! What is going on!? It’s just so ignorant! I’m at a loss for words, more than a few expletives come to mind but I like to run a clean site. If my dad, God rest his soul, were alive, he would have shot out the TV. Just check out the story and if you’re not worried about it, you should be.I was walking home last night and another band was playing in Hoboken.

Bands really love to play in Hoboken!

Two nights, two different bands. You really have to ask yourself, why am I not living in Hoboken? By the time I got home, it looked liked I had just finished running a marathon. It’s so humid!! Bob plus humidity equals misery. I’m not proud of this and I told this story before but once, I walked out of a bar, out on friends that I just met, without saying I was leaving, because I was too hot. That didn’t go over too well, ha ha. I didn’t ride my bike because I didn’t want to be out in that sticky, ugly heat. So, I just watched Junkyard Wars and talked on the phone. Is that enough for a Thursday? Yes. Short and sweet. Have a great day. God Bless America.

I just spent the last half hour trying to adjust the contrast on a photo. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I couldn’t get the photo the way I wanted it and then by accident, I erased everything. What a way to start out a diary. I got on the bike last night. You know, I’m sorry I keep writing about the bike but it’s a big deal to me. I’m finally moving my body. I like riding around Hoboken spreading my message of hope and tolerance. I made it up to the 14th street pier and there was a band playing.

Bands love to play in Hoboken

I had the best seat in the house, ha ha. I think that’s pretty cool. You’re riding around on your bike and you come across a band playing. I didn’t do much when I got home. Just watched a little TV and turned in early.

Sweet Lord, I purposely wasn’t going to talk about how hot it is this week because that’s what everybody talks about. But, I took one step outside today and the sweat parade began, yuk. I get on the bus and there’s the sweet Air, ahhhhhh, relief. Somehow, I managed to sit in the only seat that the air doesn’t reach. And to top that off, the condensation from the air is dripping on my head and clothes. I felt like the Lord was messing with me. Excuse me for a second — Lord? Why Lord? Why was my commute so hard today and Lord, while I’m asking, why don’t I have a lady? Lord? Lord!!!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Internet Praying, thank you, thank you very much.

That’s it! Have a great day. God Bless America.

Damn, those shoes hurt my feet yesterday but they looked good. I call that an even trade. Eventually, my ankles will heal. I got home last night and you guessed it, took out the bike. I feel a little odd saying this but, I love that bike! I watched Monster Garage again last night. Again, interesting show but it’s trying to do too many things. There’s no suspense because they use professional people, of course the machines are going to work! And the “challenge” at the end of the show is a joke! They have this great chopper builder, Jesse James, and he’s building cars?! Why not have him and his crew build choppers!?!! That’s what I want to watch! It just drives me nuts because cool shows about cars are few and far between. They don’t come out with Knight Rider everyday!

Here’s a photo of the three things I just

talked about, Monster Garage,
sneakers and my bike

On the bus last night, the air conditioning was almost on. I felt like I was on Safari in Africa. It was very exotic. I don’t know anything new. I think that’s it for today. Have a great day. God Bless America.