John Gray
Albany
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Articles by John Gray
Womens' Group Class
This Ladies' class meets every Saturday from 2pm - 3pm. We will work on every aspect of the game, everything from putting to the driver. Regardless of what our focus is that day, we will always emphasize the fundamentals and getting the ball in the hole over perfect "looking" swings.
High-Performer Tax: When Efficiency Becomes Punishment
The Efficiency Paradox: Why “I’m Done” is the Scariest Phrase in the Office 🚩 The reward for a job well done is… another job. We’ve all been there. You’ve crushed your KPIs, cleared your inbox, and finished that “urgent” project two hours ahead of schedule. You feel like a productivity wizard. Then comes the moment of truth. You tell your boss: “I’m done!” Within 30 seconds, the response arrives: “Great! Since you’ve got some breathing room, can you help others finish his slide deck?
An American Story 1992 720p WEBRip-YTS
252sa: @Admin add new show Marshals (2026-) japak451: Please re-up the 480p to ClicknUp ???? twinkletoes: This is NOT S01E07 Camp Chuck It is actually S01E18 The Secret of Lake IslandSo much for the missin... twinkletoes: This is NOT S01E06 Just a Little Pipe Problem It is actually S01E17 Dead Ed's.So much for the missin... stefan43: cicknupload please stefan43: cicknupload please tsvr51: big chennel logo D3m0N81: Overall Bitrate: 2005Kbps --- Too high bit-rate for a typical RMT encode.
Shopify Ruling May Support Personal-Jurisdiction Defenses
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Shopify Ruling May Support Personal-Jurisdiction Defenses
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot. How can I help you today? For example, you can type: I forgot my password I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email How do I sign up for a newsletter? Ask a question! Get instant access to the one-stop news source for business lawyers Register Now! Start your free 7-day trial To continue reading, fill out the form below to activate a free 7-day trial of Law360.
FADE TO GRAY: This is Goodbye … Original
After more than two decades writing a weekly column for this newspaper, this will be my last one. That my friends is what we in journalism call, “Not burying the lead.” If I’m lucky enough to call you a fan of this column and you find yourself frequently searching for my name in your newspaper, this may come as a shock since I’ve been about as reliable as ants at a barbecue. Since the Troy Record asked me to start this column in the mid-90’s, I haven’t missed a single one.
FADE TO GRAY: More civil than you think Original
At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I’m beginning to think the prerequisite for having your own talk show on television is the ability to display a healthy dose of arrogance and ignorance at the same time. I’m not talking about silly shows like Rachael Ray, Kelly Clarkson or the void that Oprah used to fill; those shows are good clean fun.
FADE TO GRAY: Supreme Business Original
Well, this certainly has been a good week for Christians. First, the Supreme Court told officials in Maine that if you plan on having a school voucher program, religious schools cannot be excluded. Then Roe v Wade, which was followed up by the Coach Kennedy case and allowing a teacher to conduct a short silent prayer after a football game.
Fade to Gray: Life of a columnist Original
For those of you who have never written a weekly column, I thought I’d share what it’s like. Before we get to that though, let me remind you how I came to writing this column more than twenty years ago. Back around 1995 I was working freelance for any publication that would print my words. They didn’t even have to pay me, just seeing my name in a byline next to an article was compensation enough. The arts editor for the Troy Record back then was a kind man named Doug deLisle and he noticed my work.
FADE TO GRAY: The ugly world of politics Original
I want to start this week by telling you a secret. Several years ago, my cell phone rang and a number appeared that I did not know. I don’t pick up calls like that, so it went to voice mail. It was then I realized it was a high placed person in politics in the Capital Region. When politicians call someone in the media it’s usually because they need coverage on something or want to leak something that benefits them. Strangely, this call was about me.
FADE TO GRAY: Dear Graduate Original
It’s that time of the year again. Time for me to wax poetically about life and offer some sage advice to the young people walking across the stage to get a diploma. I’ve written these kinds of columns before having no clue if anyone under the age of twenty-five is even reading them, but what is faith if not putting things out there with the hope it will find the one person who needs it.
FADE TO GRAY: Stormy weather Original
When it comes to weather, I hate this time of the year. Not just for us in the Capital Region, but especially for the midwest, a place where so many tornados are born. It was the early 1950’s when someone coined the phrase “Tornado Alley” to describe the areas most vulnerable to a twister. For those of you curious, tornado alley includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana and Nebraska.
FADE TO GRAY: Start Somewhere Original
I’m a fan of the writer Aaron Sorkin, but have a bone to pick with him. Sorkin loves to take shots at this country. In almost every show he creates, he manages to get a few digs at America. Heck, the opening five minutes of HBO’s Newsroom was dedicated to lecturing us on why America is not the greatest country in the world. After our second mass shooting in ten days, I’m starting to wonder if old Aaron isn’t right.
FADE TO GRAY: Gun sanity Original
I used to be a big sports fan, with football being my favorite. Every once in a while, while watching a game on TV, you’d see some idiot fan jump out of the stands and start running around field. It was amusing watching the security guard run them down and tackle them. After not watching football on TV for more than a decade (excluding the Super Bowl) I turned on a Giants came in December just to see what I was missing.
FADE TO GRAY: Truth about politics Original
I try not to write about politics or Washington too many weeks in a row, for fear I’ll send you scrambling for the extra-strength Tylenol. However, before we move on to other things, I feel the need acknowledge something about politics and the way the game is played. Politicians scream from the top of a mountain about issues they claim to care about. Then when they have the opportunity to address a concern or fix a problem, they go silent. Two recent examples are immigration and abortion.
FADE TO GRAY: A Supreme mess Original
At the risk of sounding like a know-it-all when it comes to Roe vs Wade and the Supreme Court; I told you so. About a year before Donald Trump shocked the media world and defeated Hillary Clinton, I wrote a column telling you that everyone and I mean EVERYONE was looking at the wrong issue.
FADE TO GRAY: Elon’s rescue mission Original
If you follow this column with any regularity, you know I’m a big fan of free speech and hate people being silenced. Even if we think they deserve it. A while back, a seemingly crazy man named Alex Jones was taken off Twitter and all the smart people I know applauded. Whenever the smart people all agree, I raise an eyebrow and wonder if something sketchy might be afoot. I also raise my eyebrows when people who pretend to want “equity” suddenly making a case for censorship.
FADE TO GRAY: Being fair to landlords Original
I’ll tell you a secret. It has been one long, tough winter for the Gray family. Last summer we found a home we wanted to buy so we moved ahead and made an offer. Unlike so many other homebuyers of late, we didn’t get into a bidding war and the owner accepted our deal. We moved in early October and in the weeks before, cleaned up our home in North Greenbush and readied it for sale. We got a buyer before we even listed it and were on track for a smooth transaction.
FADE TO GRAY: Happy Easter Original
Let me start by saying, “Happy Easter.” For a non-Christian today is just a day to search for eggs and eat too many slices of ham. For those who believe, it’s the day that validates everything in our faith. Christmas is nice with the birth of a savior, but Easter is the Super Bowl of faith. I’d like to start this week’s column with a little Easter Sunday humor. It seems, at St. Mary’s church, the old Irish priest, Father Donnelly, decided to drop into the school’s religion class on Easter morning.
FADE TO GRAY: Remembering the Thruway bridge collapse Original
Back in 1987 if you were a reporter in the Capital Region, you learned to keep your phone turned on every Sunday morning. For reasons that cannot be explained, some of the biggest stories of the decade happened during that calendar year and always on a Sunday. Need proof? On October 4th, 1987, a freak snowstorm hits upstate New York and the heavy snow brings down tree limbs everywhere. I woke up at an apartment complex in Latham to the sound of gunshots in the woods behind me.
FADE TO GRAY: Fun at the Oscars Original
I stopped watching the Academy Awards many years ago but not for the reason you might think. It wasn’t the constant politics being brought into the ceremony (which is annoying) but the simple fact that I rarely saw the movies that were up for an Oscar. In a typical year, of the five or so films up for ‘Best Picture’ I would have seen only one of them at the most. The other four? No clue. It’s hard to root for one movie over another if you haven’t seen them.
FADE TO GRAY: Learning from Michael J. Fox Original
Five years ago, I had a dream and decided to write a short story about it. The story turned into a book and now I’ve learned the book will become a made-for-television movie. But that’s not what I want to talk about today. I’m using my recent foray into the world of Hollywood as an on-ramp to the real subject of today’s column; perseverance and pride. And who might better serve as an example of this enviable trait than the one and only actor, Michael J. Fox.
FADE TO GRAY: Money talks Original
Imagine you’re the H.R. manager at your company and the boss comes into your office, closes the door and says, “I have my eye on this great new hire that could be a game-changer for us.” There’s just one catch. The potential employee currently has nearly two dozen women making accusations of various levels of sexual misconduct against them.
FADE TO GRAY: Cuomo 2.0 Original
Twenty-seven years ago, actor Hugh Grant had, what I think even Job from the Bible would describe as, a very bad day. Grant went to see a private screening of his big box office film “Nine Months” and thought his acting was atrocious. His words, not mine. The movie hadn’t even opened yet, but Grant was convinced his lackluster performance would spell the end of his fine career.
FADE TO GRAY: Kids on apps Original
On Tuesday of this week, when Russia was bombing Ukraine, the President was delivering his State of the Union speech and you were paying nearly four bucks a gallon to fill your gas tank, a small news item happened and got zero attention. I’d dare say that everyone missed it but me. A 33-year-old named Howard Graham was arrested by police in Georgia on charges of sex trafficking, kidnapping, and rape. His victim? A 13-year-old girl from Kansas.
FADE TO GRAY: The Putin Dilemma Original
I was always a huge fan of comedian George Carlin. His mind would have been better suited in a rocket scientist or medical researcher; he was just that sharp. But, lucky for us, God stuck that magnificent brain into the head of a comedian, so for decades we got to laugh. I think I saw every one of his stand-up specials Carlin ever taped, and I always remember one line he threw out about “aliens” or life on other planets.
FADE TO GRAY: My Olympic review Original
Today is the last official day of the Olympics. Because they were held in China, a place where the government is guilty of atrocious human rights violations, I decided to sit this one out. Meaning, I didn’t watch one single second of any event. Ever. Not even once, clicking by with the remote, did I accidentally see someone on skates flying through the air. Knowing now, that I put zero effort into researching the 2022 Olympics, let me offer some observations.
FADE TO GRAY: As long as it pays
There must be something wrong with me. Perhaps I’m too old. Or perhaps I’ve done too many stories on drug addiction, alcoholism and gambling addiction and it has tainted my view of the world. Here we are, Super Bowl Sunday and I get the feeling I am the only person in New York State who is not betting on the game. I did not rush out to download the mobile sports apps, so I could sit in my pajamas and put twenty bucks on Rams at home, covering the spread.
FADE TO GRAY: As long as it pays
There must be something wrong with me. Perhaps I’m too old. Or perhaps I’ve done too many stories on drug addiction, alcoholism and gambling addiction and it has tainted my view of the world. Here we are, Super Bowl Sunday and I get the feeling I am the only person in New York State who is not betting on the game. I did not rush out to download the mobile sports apps, so I could sit in my pajamas and put twenty bucks on Rams at home, covering the spread.
FADE TO GRAY: Pothole Patrol Original
The quick thaw we saw this week, where temperatures in the mid-40s, created the perfect recipe for potholes. And I’m not talking about the little ones that cause the car to dip a couple of inches as you continue on your merry way. No, I mean the gargantuan, tire swallowing, rim bending monstrosities that leave you stranded on the side of the road waiting for AAA. A quick thaw causes snow to melt and cracks and holes fill with water.
FADE TO GRAY: Journalist, not friend Original
I got a good chuckle this week when Fox News went crazy over the president using a naughty word to describe a reporter. I feel like we live in two parallel universes sometimes, the real one where we act the way we really are and say what we really think and the fake one the rest of the world sees. And all of us have these two worlds, no matter how nice we are.
Fade to Gray: Bad Fall Original
Being one year shy of 60, I’ve really gone out of my way to avoid hurting myself. Anyone over 40 will tell you, as you age you don’t bounce back or heal as quickly, so the best remedy is avoiding the injury. This last snowstorm I was careful to clear off my driveway and back deck. And when I say “clear” I mean down to the bare wood. Shovel, rock salt, repeat.
Fade to Gray: Remembering 1982 Original
At least once a year, if not more, I look at whomever is president of this wonderful country and think, “Why in God’s name would you ever want that job?” I mean sure, there are tree lightings at Christmas and stopping when you’re on the way to a meeting in the West Wing to say hello to a group of Girl Scouts from Iowa who are on a tour, but good grief that job stinks. No matter who gets in there, you are guaranteed to work from the moment the alarm goes off at six a.m. until close to midnight.
Fade to Gray: Mail bag 2022
It has been many months since we went to my fictional mailbox and scooped out the letters you never wrote me but wish you had. What do you say we just dive right in. Sarah in Scotia writes, “Dear John, any thoughts on the D.A. dropping the case on Cuomo?” Wow, Sarah, cutting right to the bone right out of the gate today. Okay, here’s my thoughts.
Fade to Gray: Year two of COVID
If you had told me two years ago today that we would all still be in the middle of this pandemic, I would have bet you all the money in my wallet and given you ten-to-one odds that you were wrong, yet here we are. Like most of you I’m truly sick of it. I’m sick of the stinky, sweaty masks. I’m sick of the constant hand sanitizer. I’m sick of the politics that has been dragged into this from day one.
Fade to Gray: Happy birthday to me
On this exact date in 1962, a lovely woman named Jane Gray summoned her husband in their South Troy home and said, “It’s time.” A little while later the Gray family, which resided at 284 Mann Ave., welcomed their fourth and final child. Me. I usually hide from people when my birthday is because I don’t want or need any more attention. Beaming into people’s homes on the TV news five nights a week for 32 years gets one plenty of that. Kids ask me if it’s fun being “famous” and I tell them two things.
FADE TO GRAY: Happy Anniversary
Sometimes I think I’m smarter than I really am. One year ago, when we heard that a vaccine for Covid was coming, I said to myself, “The minute that vaccine is ready to go out to the public I’m going to jump online and book a vacation for December of 2021 because it will be super cheap.” I was right.
Fade to Gray: Hubris strikes again
Almost four months ago, on August 9th, Chris Cuomo must have hung up the phone with his brother Andrew and said to his wife, “It’s over, he’s done. There’s too much mud splashed on him now. He just lost his job.” The next day Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation. I have no doubt Chris loves his older brother, so he must have felt awful for him. Turns out the mud never stopped splashing and now it is TV host Chris Cuomo covered in the muck and on the way out.
Fade to Gray: Hubris strikes again
Almost four months ago, on August 9th, Chris Cuomo must have hung up the phone with his brother Andrew and said to his wife, “It’s over, he’s done. There’s too much mud splashed on him now. He just lost his job.” The next day Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation. I have no doubt Chris loves his older brother, so he must have felt awful for him. Turns out the mud never stopped splashing and now it is TV host Chris Cuomo covered in the muck and on the way out.
Fade to Gray: There goes my mailbox
I did something recently that I promised myself I would never do. I moved from my lovely town of North Greenbush with my low taxes, to another community with high taxes. I’d previously lived in this high tax town before and found many of the public officials a bit cold and distant, compared to North Greenbush where, like that bar in Cheers, everybody knows your name. So, if North Greenbush is so great, why did I go? Three reasons — space, acres, privacy.
DÚLRA: John’s zoo adventure gets us thinking with his new book
WHEN a red panda escaped from Belfast Zoo a few years back, it got John Gray thinking. The former Linenhall librarian sat up all night pondering the adventures of the wee animal in the gardens of North Belfast – maybe even in his own. And by the time dawn broke, he had his story written – ‘The Red Panda Who Escaped from the Zoo’. “I let my imagination run riot,” John told Dúlra this week.
Fade to Gray: Bad idea Original
In the film ‘The Sixth Sense’, Bruce Willis walks around not realizing he’s already dead. If you planned on renting it this weekend on pay-per-view, I apologize for spoiling the ending. I thought of the image of old Bruce wandering about, not realizing the truth about his situation while watching our former governor, his lawyer, and his former spokespeople, continue to act like they can still fix this. And by “this” I mean the mess he finds himself in.
Fade to Gray: Love your library Original
If you looked up the phrase “middle class” in 1975 you’d probably see my family. My dad made a nice living working at the Watervliet Arsenal, while my mom was home keeping us kids in line and making sure we had all the chicken noodle soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a child could dream of. We weren’t rich, but we certainly weren’t poor. One car, shared by all, a Christmas tree filled with presents underneath and church each Sunday morning at St. Joseph’s in Troy’s south end.
Fade to Gray: Election post-op Original
At around 3 p.m. on Election Day, I was clicking around between the various news channels and happened upon a very interesting soundbite. It came from a young black man, maybe early thirties, who had just voted in Virginia. The reporter asked him if he’d mind sharing who he voted for and he said something I’d never heard a voter say before. He explained that he was a democrat and had never voted for a republican before in his life, but he just made a one-time exception.
Fade to Gray: Happy Halloween!
It was a day just like this one, October 31st, 1975. Halloween fell on a Friday that year, one of my favorite days of the week and not just because school was finished and a weekend of mischief with my friends would soon commence. No, back in 1975 I was a paperboy on the streets of South Troy and Friday was my collection day, when customers paid for their home delivery, and I was rich. And by rich, I mean by twelve-year-old’s standards more than forty years ago.
Fade to Gray: The tax man cometh Original
It has been said, that you should never turn your back on the ocean or a kindergarten class. I can attest to the accuracy of that advice. I would however like to add one more to that list — Congress. While COVID continues, gas prices soar, your Christmas presents sit on ships that can’t dock; Congress has been busy coming up with a way to snoop into your bank account. Because, let’s face it, no matter how much money you make or how much you pay in taxes, it’s not enough my friend.
Fade to Gray: Money, money and more money Original
When you were a kid, one of your favorite games was no doubt Monopoly. Parents loved it because it kept the kids busy for the better part of two hours and kids enjoyed it because it let you pretend to be a grownup. For starters you got to choose the vehicle you wanted to drive around the game board. After everyone got done fighting over who got to be the dog or race car, the rest of the group settle on something less exotic, like the thimble.
Fade to Gray: No free lunch or civility
I’m in the process of selling one house and buying another, so you’ll excuse me if I haven’t paid the closest attention to latest machinations of Washington, D.C. But much like Colonel Klink running stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, I know if members of Congress are in charge, hoodwinks and nonsense will be afoot. For example, I keep hearing people who pretend to be smart, talking into TV cameras and saying you can spend a few trillion dollars and it won’t cost anything.
Fade to Gray: No free lunch or civility
I’m in the process of selling one house and buying another, so you’ll excuse me if I haven’t paid the closest attention to latest machinations of Washington, D.C. But much like Colonel Klink running stalag 13 on Hogan’s Heroes, I know if members of Congress are in charge, hoodwinks and nonsense will be afoot. For example, I keep hearing people who pretend to be smart, talking into TV cameras and saying you can spend a few trillion dollars and it won’t cost anything.
Fade to Gray: Buying a house Original
Fifteen years ago, I was looking for a house to rent in Rensselaer County. I had a budget of about thirteen-hundred bucks a month to work with. After calling around on a couple of places, I had a realtor ask why I wasn’t just buying a house? I explained that, due to life circumstances, I didn’t have a big chunk of money to put down or the thousands I’d need for closing costs. He assured me, none of that was required.
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