My NYC friend Barbara recently commented on how much more “outdoor smoking” she was seeing (and not enjoying) in Manhattan and now I’m noticing the same thing on UAlbany campus too. People smoking as they walk and sidewalks littered with butts. It used to be just gum gobs.

An oddly fascinating question posed by my athletic son: Can you name one heterosexual man over the age of 40 who has six-pack abs, excluding atheletes?

My frugal 88-year-old neighbor went to DMV this week to renew his driver’s license and was incensed to get charged for a document that will be good for the next decade. “I won’t be alive that long,” he protested in demanding a shorter-term license at a discounted cost, “and I’m not even gonna get a refund for the unused part!”