MEN’S CLUB NEWS
Zooming in to Men’s Club
Meetings
In April, Men’s Club president
Steve Auerbach introduced us
to a new feature of the cyber
age called Zoom. For those of you
who are not familiar with Zoom,
it is program which enables you to
communicate with others via both
video and audio on your phone
iPad or laptop.
Our sessions usually last about
an hour but longer periods are
available. About fifteen members
have joined us so far but more will
certainly be welcomed.
We meet every Monday and
Thursday in your living room at
11 am. You will get to talk to and
see some faces that you might still
remember. Call Steve Auerbach at
917-434-4822 or Howard Arkin
at 718-640-5776 for information
about getting on to Zoom.
IMAGINE
Men’s Club immediate past
president Arnie Rabinowitz shares
this message written two years
ago for the club’s dinner gala. It
is especially timely now.
When they sing John Len-non’s
song “Imagine,” I
thought of my role as
president and our members:
Imagine: If we did not have the
camaraderie
Imagine: If we did not have
wonderful North Shore Towers
community to have our meetings,
breakfasts, programs, card games
and social interactions.
Imagine: If we did not have the
opportunity to make new friends
and appreciate old friends.
Imagine: How grateful and
thankful we need to be, and to
continue being for having the
ability to gather in an atmosphere
of camaraderie and caring. we
are truly grateful and blessed.
May we continue to grow as
a group, continue to have fun
Arnie Rabinowitz
meetings, informative meetings,
and enlightening meetings.
Most of all wishing you good
health and the ability not to sweat
the small stuff, don’t get annoyed
at trivia, hum the Beatles’ song
“Let it be, let it be.”
Not everything is perfect, but
it is by far better to enjoy than
complain.
I began writing this back in
April, which seems like an eon
ago. No one knew what was
going to happen next and we still
don’t, but there was one guarantee
even then—you weren’t going to
be going to the Mets/Brewers or
Yankee/Cincinnati Reds games that
were scheduled for the following
weekend.
Yes, it’s been quite a lifestyle change
for most everybody and quite an
adjustment for me to be occupied
without leaving my apartment. Far
from being a cyber-genius, I was
proud to be able to install the Zoom
app on my computer, thus enabling
me to join the Men’s Club bi-weekly
current events discussion (see side-bar
below). That was a first for me
as well as the North Shore Towers
Men’s Club. I also passed the time by
watching a short film on the North
Shore Towers Channel (channel 995)
celebrating the 40th anniversary of
the completion of the three buildings
in 1974. I am sure that if you get a
chance to see it you will find it as
interesting as I did.
As long as I can remember, it has
been in my makeup to get up every
day and go somewhere--anywhere.
Well so much for that! I can’t remem-ber
the last time I filled my gas tank.
I’m told that gas prices are unbe-lievably
low. I have ventured out to
ShopRite a few times and have found
the lines both outside the store and at
the checkouts to be reasonably short
and fast. The shelves were pretty well
stocked as well.
I guess that is the case with me,
television watching takes up a great
deal of your time. I have become
addicted to the TCM film channel,
especially those films made in the
1930s and 1940s. I saw a couple of
Thin Man pictures last week and it
seemed that everyone in them had
Brooklyn accents except for William
Powell, Myrna Loy and Asta. It’s
no wonder I like Thin Man films
so much.
A few days ago I figured out that
remaining in bed a few hours longer
might reduce the normal time of my
waking hours, but unfortunately I
was up and ready to go (nowhere)
at 7:00 a.m. A few minutes later I
was at the TV clicking away between
MSNBC and FOX News. Being
politically correct, I won’t divulge
which of the two networks gets
about 75% of my viewing time. Of
course, Governor Cuomo at 11:00
a.m. and President Trump at 6:00
p.m. is “must watch” T.V., though
at this point they are both becoming
a bit repetitious. That goes for Dr.
Fauci and Dr. Birx as well.
A n o t h e r
diversion from my new boring
existence is my trusty laptop which
until now had only been used to
send and receive emails. The oth-er
day I discovered “Next Door
Neighbor” and “Building Link”
online and I must say there are
some very strong opinions about
various community topics on these
two sites. I also find myself watch-ing
channel 998 (the lobby) and
am pleased to see most people are
adhering to the guidelines set forth
and are wearing masks.
I’ve tried to make light of this
horrible situation and the subse-quent
tragedies that we are now
dealing with as part of our everyday
life. It has sadly become our new
normal. North Shore Towers has
been hit hard, and we will prob-ably
be hit hard again. To quote
an expression that we have heard
all too often, “This too shall pass.”
And it shall.
Let’s Zoom!
BY HOWARD ARKIN
22 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ June 2020