If you drink, don't drive

I am not one to do a lot of year end reflecting. I might be an amateur historian, but the past is the past.

Despite the bombast, the sarcasm and the bluster you mostly find around here, I am really truly humbled that anyone takes time from their day to read my drivel. I thank each of you for your support.

I wish you happiness, good health, and success in the coming year.

If you are heading out to celebrate this evening, I will offer you the same advice I gave my kids as they left for college. Never, ever drink the punch at a party.  Trust me on this.

Classic music

How about some music for your entertainment today?

Just skip the ad at the beginning.



Your other choice is a detailed account of my ongoing bout of diarrhea this morning.

Christmas Again

We went to my daughter's house for "Christmas" last night.  She was at her husband's family this year over the actual Holiday.  She made an unbelievable dinner for us. Braised short ribs were accompanied by roasted butternut squash, green beans and potatoes. My daughter is an excellent cook.  She made a couple of apple pies for dessert along with a red velvet trifle. After stuffing ourselves silly for the third time in a week, we opened our gifts. After dinner the boys all retired to my son-in-law's man cave where we played some pool and watched some hockey on the big screen.  The wife and daughter washed the dishes while all of the men played.

I can live with that. 

Days and Weeks

I did not make it to the cigar store yesterday.  I spent the day reading and watching movies. Such is life.

It snowed all morning and much of the afternoon, with just an inch or so of accumulation, most of it is already melted.

I spent this morning filling in my new desk calendar. I have the birthdays and holidays scheduled, so I don't miss either. I would hate to work on a day I had off! Right now I am scheduled to attend the World's Most Boring Trade Show in February over President's Day.  That is supposed to be a company holiday. I hope I do, then I can take the day later as a vacation day.

It is not you, it is me

Well, to be honest, it is just that I have some new books to read. I would rather entertain myself than entertain you.  I am selfish that way.

I am going to do my best to remain politics-free around here until after the New Year.  That could be welcome news or not, depending on just what you are looking for at this old blog.  I have no idea.

It is Tuesday and I have no plans, besides some heavy reading and maybe some movie watching.  I might call my buddy, who is also off work all week, and see if he wants to head to the cigar bar this afternoon.  We are supposed to get a little (and I mean LITTLE) snow, so we shall see.

Have a great day.  Check back later.  Who knows, I might find some inspiration that drives me back to the old laptop to create a pithy, well written post. 

Yes, I know, I am laughing too.  My side hurts...

Santa has a sore back today

Good morning Blog World, I hope old Saint Nick was one half as kind to you as he was to me.  The wife, as usual, went berserk.  It was a  gift giving frenzy on her part. I received a bunch of new stuff, some I needed some I didn't, but isn't that the point of a gift?  The kids scored like they were six years old again. The only downer was my daughter and son-in-law went to his family in Chicago for the weekend. We will have a get-together with them later this week.

After we opened presents, I whipped up a bacon and eggs breakfast. After which I started in on preparing Christmas dinner. I made all of the boy's favorites to go with the traditional fare and the end result was a carbapalooza. Along with a succulent turkey I made noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls and mac and cheese. Oh, and candied yams, I forgot about them.  I would rather eat fried dog turds than sweet potatoes of any variety, but the wife loves 'em. For dessert, we had a peach pie my mom made me and a collection of cookies and fudge and treats my daughter made and brought over before she headed north. All of this was in addition to eating enough to feed Nigeria on Christmas Eve as we attended two family gatherings!

My blood sugar meter laughed when I checked my blood this morning.  I think the reading was "maple syrup". I am going to have to walk about ten miles a day this week to get things back into shape.

Have a great day.

Merry Christmas

The Reason for the Season.

Holy Toledo, what a football game

How about them Colts?  The Houston Texans continued a decade and franchise-long losing streak in Indianapolis last night. Aided by some key penalties that actually occurred and a few that never happened, the Colts led for 19 whole seconds to gain the second victory in the Dan Orlovsky era. Who needs Peyton Manning when Dan the Man is under center?

No, I was not at the game, so I do not get credit.  BUT---my daughter and son-in-law were there, so it is more apparent than ever a member of my family needs to be the guest of honor at all future games.

Holy Toledo, who would have thought the Colts could win again? And more importantly, why do we say Holy Toledo?  Why not Holy Rochester or Holy Evansville? Holy St. Marys has a more reverent sound if we have to use towns from northwest Ohio. I have been to Toledo and there is nothing Holy about it. Maybe Holy Toledo is a euphemism for Holy Hell? In that case wouldn't Holy Detroit be more fitting? Maybe Holy Gary? Those cities are both more representative of the nether regions than of Heaven.

Oh grow up, Detroit. Who makes a list of places they want to live and writes "Detroit" at the top in crisp black Sharpie?  No one, that's who.

If you want your colloquialism to have a degree of alliteration wouldn't Holy Hoboken better fit the bill? Perhaps Holy Billings would be better.  I always thought Billings would be a nice place, in the summer. Some might argue Holy Salt Lake City would be a better saying. I have been told Hawaii is Heavenly, so Holy Hawaii conjures images of an afterlife spent on spotless beaches. Plus it is another example of the double-H thingy.  I  do not think Holy Los Vegas is appropriate, other than I wager more prayers are uttered in Vegas than the Vatican City. See that, Dear Reader, how I mixed "wager" and "Vegas" into one snappy sentence?

After about 64 seconds of reflection, I think Holy Houston is the best phrase to use -- as in Holy Houston, you choked.

Perpetual Change

I finished my shopping in almost record time. Friendly salespeople in the women's store will always recognize a lost soul with a list in hand. It is easy commission.  In any case helping a customer find a specific item beats folding the same shirt on the front table for ninth time that hour.My patent 'awe shucks' and 'please help me' attitude never fails.

My approach to my work as a salesman is a related cousin to my Christmas shopping plan. In my dealing with my customers I am just an ordinary guy trying to make a living. There is no trace of the used car/insurance salesman huckster in my approach. I am knowledgeable and friendly. I have no issue being on the shop floor. My ace is self deprecating humor. Despite what you read here, and what alternate opinion you may have formed about me, that is my true persona. I save my pent-up obnoxiousness for you.  And my family.

I had an East Coast boss who hated my approach and constantly lectured me about changing the way I interact with customers, despite my continued success and territory growth. Many of those customers left with me when I went to a new company. That was also the same asshole who actually suggested I read from a script to customers. I laughed at him -- right to his face. He had issues that I did not take notes in meetings, until I recited back the entire conversation by rote to him in the car -- complete with volumes and part numbers. Of course he got the last laugh when he used the economic downturn after 9/11 to fire me. I quote -- "This department is going to make budget this year. The only way we can do it is by cutting salary. You are second in salary behind me, and I am not going anywhere. I have to let you go". One of my previous competitors hired me a week later.

Somehow we have drifted off topic, whatever that topic was.

What the Heck?

It is the first day of winter. The temperature was FIFTY-FIVE degrees when I went to fetch the paper at 7:00 in the aye em.

What the fuck is up with that?

I am off in just a bit to finish up my Christmas shopping.  Stay away from the mall today, I do not need you in my way.  Thank you in advance for your help in this difficult matter.

Keep an eye on the place while I am mingling with the common people, OK?

Here is some entertainment for you.  I am a giving person, eh wot?:

Things I know

1. Peanut butter should always be of the smooth variety.  Preferably Jif brand.

2. Honey should come from a bear-shaped bottle.

3. Just about anything makes a good sandwich when the bread is fresh.

4. Reading while eating improves digestion.

5. Had it been invented, all three Kings would have gifted Baby Jesus Chapstick. It is that awesome.

6. Next year I will not wait until the last minute to do my Christmas shopping.

It was a Brickhouse

Today is my last day of work for the year.  I am heading into vacation -- use it or lose it mode. I am pretty much caught up with work, so I took a break and fired up a nice cigar out in the garage. I looked at it kind of like a pre-holiday celebration. The cigar was good but the temps were in the low forties. I put on a couple of sweatshirts and my body was warm enough, but my hands got cold. I refuse to smoke a stogie in gloves.  There are limits.

I enjoyed the relaxation, until I got too cold. i probably left a larger stub than I normally would.

I have grown into a huge wussy..

A touching tale of Christmas

 

A couple was Christmas shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve and the mall was packed.

Walking through the mall the surprised wife looked up and noticed her husband was no where

around and she was very upset because they had a lot to do.

She used her cell phone to call her husband because she was so upset, to ask him where he was.

The husband in a calm voice said, "honey remember the jewelry store we went into 5 years ago

where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we could not afford and I told you that I

would get it for you one day".

His wife said crying, "yes I remember that jewelry store".

He said, "well I'm in the bar next to it."

Dear Indidanapolis Colts

At this point it is clear it was my very presence in Lucas Oil Stadium that led to your first victory of the season yesterday. there can be no doubt upon this question.

I suggest you immediately provide me with a couple of tickets to all future home games in order to secure the guarantee of football victory going forward.

I do not expect expensive owners or corporate box privileges. Nor do I require 50 yard line views. Ninth row goal line seats similar to what I enjoyed yesterday will ensure your continued success and the blessings of the football gods for the remainder of this season and those to come.

Let me know if you need my mailing address to send the ducats.

Your Pal,

Joe

PS If you watched the game on TV, I was the one in the Colts jersey.

I want cupcakes

My friend's daughter is in the third grade. My friend is a good mother and volunteered to be a room mother. She planned a Christmas Holiday party for the kids.  My friend planned to bake cookies for the children and their party on the last day of class before Christmas Winter Break.

She got a call from the teacher the other day.  My friend was told she could not bring cookies and not to plan anything for the party. The school principal sent a memo to all of the teachers that he will provide the treats for the various parties and the school will show an appropriate movie to all classes. His memo stated that it is "unfair" for some classes to have "better" treats and parties than other classrooms. The teacher said the principal explained to the teachers he does not want one class to have homemade cupcakes while another classroom merely gets a bag of Chips Ahoy. He claimed that was not "right" and he could not allow it.

This, my friends, is example 1,618 why the Nation is lost. We are raising generations of Americans with the idea they are promised not equal opportunity, but equal outcome. We see it in the youth soccer "no keeping score" mentality. We see it in the socialist bent to today's OWS "you owe me" attitude.

It does not matter who wins the next election. A Conservative wave could sweep the halls of Congress, The ghosts of Goldwater, Reagan, Jefferson and Madison could combine to inhabit the body of the next Republican President. The makeup of the Supreme Court could lurch to the political right of John Birch. The youth of America are growing up believing they are entitled. There is no understanding that life, liberty and happiness are earned, not given.Any roll back from creeping socialism is temporary at best. Mao and Lennin, and Hitler, and even John Dewey were right -- win the kids and win the political argument for all time.

Today Republicans and Democrats no longer argue if the Government should poke its filthy greasy fingers into the pie, but how many fingers are acceptable. They all agree we should tax the "rich" at a higher rate, the only argument is what that higher rate should be. Somehow we no longer debate if Progressive policies are viable or wise, only the degree of progressiveness.

Too many Americans believe that fair means taking from the have's and passing it to the have not as much. There is no understanding that any act of leveling means something has to be reduced and knocked down. As long as it is the other guy we don't care.

I have not ranted much about politics around here of late. I am resolved I will never hold my nose and vote for "Not As Bad As The Other Choice" ever again.  Good people and not so good people are elected,  head to the corruption of Washington and become the problem.  There is no solution. Re-election is the only consideration. And why not? Does a pig back away from the trough when food remains? There is no political will to fix the immigration problem, the debt problem, the crush of an overwhelming bureaucracy. There will never be term-limits, it would mean the end of the power and money for too many career politicians.

Too is too much money and power at stake. We all know it. Only about 8 of every 100 Americans think our Congress does a good job. But fixing the problem means lost elections and an end to the gravy. Gotta keep gettin' the gravy.

But we do not demand better of our Nation.  We look down at our plate of Oreos and are just pissed 'cause the other guy got  homemade oatmeal scotchies.


p.s. My friend sent the cookies in the day before the party as a "treat" for the kids.  Fuck you Mr. Commie Bastard Principal.

Today's Earworm -- Holiday Edition

Weekend Funny

A priest and a rabbi were sitting next to each other on an airplane.
After a while, the priest turned to the rabbi and asked,

'Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?'

The rabbi responded,

'Yes, that is still one of our laws.'

The priest then asked,

'Have you ever eaten pork?'

To which the rabbi replied,

'Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tasted a bacon sandwich.'

The priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading.

A while later, the rabbi spoke up and asked the priest,

'Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?'

The priest replied,

'Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith.'

The rabbi then asked him,

'Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?'

The priest replied,

'Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak and broke with my faith.'

The rabbi nodded understandingly and remained silent, thinking, for about five minutes.

Finally, the rabbi said,

'Beats the shit out of a bacon sandwich, doesn't it?

--got it from Otter

Going the full circle

I was trying to decide on what brilliance I was going to share with you today. I read through my blogroll and the few other sites I visit every morning. I signed into the old Blogger dashboard to make sure I read all of my comments on various posts. I had no spam comments, a curious and unusual occurrence to be sure.

I wiggled my fingers over the keyboard. No letters or words poured forth onto the laptop screen.

I decided to put  a load of towels into the washer. Harmless, impossible-to-screw-up-type laundry is all I am allowed to do. You know from which I speak -- towels, sheets, my tightie whities, the wife's unmentionables, the boy's stinky socks.

My work phone rang. Questions were followed by answers and goodbyes. I skipped over to the work email account to send follow ups to engineering.

I sipped my coffee. It was in a red spotted earthenware mug this morning. My Cubs coffee mug and my Superbowl XLIV mug were both in the dishwasher. The dishes were clean, but we have a hard and fast rule, if you open up the clean dishwasher you put away all of the dishes.  No picking out a clean fork and leaving the dishes for someone else to put away. Don't worry, I will empty it later, probably at lunch time. The coffee was not tepid, it was cold.

I took a deep breath and began to type. "I was trying to decide what brilliance I was going to share with your today..."

Shotgun Blues

Flying has never bothered me.  Airports are a different matter. I guess when you have spent as many hours as I have in various airports you just think of them as the modern equivalent of you grandpa's bus stations.

Yesterday I trudged down the ramp at Charlotte to my gate in the C Concourse. I was a little early to the gate and passengers were just starting to board a flight to Charleston. As the gate area cleared I picked a spot to sit. The air around me stunk.  It was bad body odor and it hung in the air like fog over London. I moved to another area and the odor lingered.  It covered the entire boarding area and lingered for the hour and a half  I waited to board my flight back to the Hoosier state. I am glad I was not next to that stinky passenger on the plane.  I bet they had to fumigate the aircraft after landing. WTH, is the concept of bathing so foreign these days?

I love flying at night. From 39,000 feet  you can see whole cities and counties at a glance. The lights look like splotches of orange and yellow paint splattered on black velvet. As we started our descent into Indy last night the scene was breathtaking.  As I looked out the scratched and greasy window I wished I had the skills to describe what I saw.

The plane was flying just above a solid cloud bank. The rain filled clouds looked like a gray sea against the night sky.  The plane seemed as if it were a ship sailing above a fluffy ocean. The clouds were literally right below our belly. We were skimming just above the upper surface of the clouds. .The plane banked left and the tip of the wing sliced into the clouds and disappeared from view, but the body of the plane remained just above the opaqueness.

As we started to descend into the clouds the plane seemed to speed up. I do not know why I always get that sensation when flying into clouds, there is no reference in the sky to help me sense speed, but it always feels as if we are accelerating.

We dropped from the low clouds just above the city. The tall buildings of downtown were to the south and east, just beyond my window, crouched in a huddled group around the hidden Soldiers and Sailors Monument.They seemed fewer and smaller from my vantage point in the winter sky.

The lights of the city spread below me.  I marveled again that the city may lack in a lot of respects, but it is sure beautiful from the air. The grid of streets is bisected by the avenues running at angles from the Circle downtown.  Orange lights line the streets.

As we came closer to the waiting arms of Mother Earth I began to see the signs and lights of stores and factories and shopping centers. Though I could not see them from the air, I noted again that Indianapolis has a remarkable number of trees within the city.  In a winter night the trees are just voids in the winking lights below. Soon I could discern the cars on the roads and highways.  I could just catch the twinkle of Christmas lights on a few decorated houses.

We sunk lower over the flat terrain and I could identify the Airport Expressway, or whatever it is called now. 465 was swept below as we crossed over the old terminal and parking lots and settled to a smooth landing. The FedEx  building loomed bright and busy on the left.

The plane rolled  westward toward the "new" terminal. I was home again, my last trip of the year.

Food as Art

This is a shitty cell phone picture of the dessert I made yesterday morning for the wife to take to work for a pitch-in lunch. The pectin has not yet completely dissolved, by lunch it will be perfect.

They say life is a song

If that is so, then today I am living a Peter, Paul, and Mary tune. Or maybe really a John Denver song

Question Number Nine

Why is Eric Holder still in office?

Sadly, this is not a joke story from The Onion

And right here, Ladies and Gentleman, in the center ring, we have example 1,694 of why the American people have no faith in the Government.

The United States has proposed opening an UNMANNED border crossing with Mexico.  Mexican residents would scan an ID card before crossing.  They will be able to communicate with a customs officer via speaker.  The officer will be about 100 miles away. Here is the money quote:

"I think it's actually going to end up making security better," CBP spokesman William Brooks said.

Or perhaps it is this quote:

"We think we can do this without doing any damage to national security and possibly enhance security along the border by having better intelligence, better communication with people in Mexico." 

Some Americans wonder why the cities and towns of the nation are plagued by Illegal Immigrants, undocumented workers, fucking leaching criminals. The answer is simple.  They are aided and abetted by the Federal Government.

Only a Federal bureaucrat, or probably any Democrat, would believe no security is better security.

I think I fell through the looking glass sometime in the last four years.


h/t Doug Ross

Divining rods: science or sorcery?

Good morning Blog World.

I took the day off from the interwebz yesterday. Look at my hands -- no shakes.  I am not sick to my stomach, I did not have the creeping terrors.  I slept like a baby. I remain secure that this endeavor remains a hobby, not a habit.

We hit the mall yesterday, rather the wife hit the mall, I scored a comfy seat and watched the packages and sacks as she dropped them by.  I think we are nearly done with the gift-shopping. I know the old bank account agrees. I am certain there are scorch marks on her debit card. I have to get a couple of things for the wife yet. Now a wrapping party seems to be in order so we can get this stuff out of my office and under the tree.

Wow, I have just read my efforts so far this morning. There is not a lot of substance.  But it does cover up the last post. I have that going for me.

Friday I met a buddy at the cigar store. I bought a few smokes for my humidor and then sat in the lounge area and enjoyed a fine smoke. I had an H. Uppman Reserve Maduro (6 x 54). It was a big, long smoke.  I don't usually smoke cigars that big around, but since it is getting too cold to sit outside and enjoy fine hand made cigars, it was all good.  It was nice to sit and shoot the shit with a pal amid a whole store of aromatic burning leaves of tobacco. We failed to solve the world's problems, neither of us came up with a plan to make the Colts not suck. We discussed the realities of life on the road. Mostly we sat in the old barber chairs, and enjoyed the afternoon.

DO NOT read this post

I think I just shit a garter snake.

A sticky black one that stinks like a sulfurous mix of old cabbage and rotten eggs.

Get over it already, Baltimore

Dear Baltimore,

Get over it.

There was a football team in Baltimore called the "Colts" for 32 years.  The franchise moved to Indianapolis in 1984. The circumstances of the move left many in Baltimore angry. The owner packed up the team and shipped it in moving vans in the dark of night.

Baltimore seems to forget that the city made it clear the Colts were not welcome. fans did not come to the games.  If 50% of the supposed "die-hard" fans who "will never get over it" actually went to the games, the Colts would likely still be in Baltimore.

The city was making efforts to take the team from the owner through eminent domain. If a government entity was trying to take your business away, what would you do?

The Colts were in Baltimore for 32 years. They have now been in Indianapolis for 27. Maybe in six years the people of Baltimore will quit crying about the move.  After all, they do currently have a very successful NFL franchise. Maybe they should support it?

Friday Covers -- Thursday Edition

How about some gettin' in the mood music?



Judy Garland from "Meet me in St. Louis



Frank takes it for a spin



That is a more modern rendition from Christina Aguilera



And finally a cool new version from She and Him -- the 'she' being the hot and quirky Zoey Deschanel

A Date That Will Live in Infamy

70 years ago today the Japanese launched their sneak attack upon Pearl Harbor in the US Territory of Hawaii. This action forced the United States into WWII.

There are entire forests of trees turned to paper written about Pearl Harbor.  I have nothing to add. If you want to learn more I recommend you head to the library or your favorite bookstore and get a copy of Gordon Prange's epic history At Dawn We Slept.

I intend to watch Tora,Tora, Tora this evening.

Seventy years. For the youth of today WWII and Pearl Harbor are as remote as The Spanish American War was to my brother and I or the Civil War to our Grandparents. History stands still, time marches on.

My great-grandfather was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He died before I was born, but my Grandmother was active in the Spanish-American War Auxiliary.  She always wanted my brother and I to go with her to the National Conventions.  I met some Span-Am Veterans, including some of the last ones alive. She wanted us to read at Veteran's Day Ceremonies. For a young me it was just a bunch of old people. I was too young to understand history is not in books, but rather people.

The people of WWII are dying fast.  In a few years we will be reading stories of the last veteran passing away, just like the men of WWI or the Civil War. We are thirty-five years removed from Vietnam.

More died at Pearl Harbor than on 9/11. The national shock was just as severe, perhaps more so. The news of the day was print and radio, there were no live shots from CNNABCNBCCBS to keep the public informed. The horror arrived in pictures and newsreels.

Today will come and go, its passing just another mile marker on history's highway.  The importance of the date dimmed by time. In another generation, WWII will be just more battles, another war, fodder for movies and stories. Pearl Harbor will just be a place mentioned in a history book like Waterloo or Trafalgar.

Pearl Harbor was the defining memory for an entire generation of Americans. Over the time of history it will become just like the speed bump in the grocery store parking lot.  It will slowly shrink from memory until we barely notice it.

But for today, we will remember and honor those who gave their lives for Freedom. December 7, 1941. A date that will live in infamy.

Heavy digestion

Heavy, ponderous stuff around here today.. I can hear you mumbling "Lighten up, Francis".

And since you asked, I had a fried Spam sammich -- with a bit of yellow mustard -- and some pickled beets.  I washed it down with a Chery Coke Zero.

How about you?

Negotiating 101 -- the myth of the win-win

I wrote a post earlier today that did not go the way I planned. Many of my posts are pre-written and scheduled to appear in the future. I know...it is like discovering the Great and Powerful Oz is just some pathetic little man behind the curtain...damn you Toto...

Anyway, I wrote a post earlier today that did not go the way I planned.  I usually write free-form, letting the words flow from my fingers in a steady stream.  I edit for spelling and the damn premature space bar thing after I am done. You may or may not be surprised to learn I rarely edit for content. I have written this way for 40 years. I let my brain compose and construct in the background and it just flows out in a steady, gurgling stream of raw sewage: untreated, unfiltered, sometimes unintelligible. You will have to judge the success of this method yourself.

I digress again.  I wrote a post earlier today that did not go the way I planned.  My thoughts took a different turn from my intentions. It was my plan to pen a piece that was upbeat, but the words took on a more somber and perhaps even maudlin tone as if by their own accord. It may be best to leave the post in "draft" form.  I don't know. I am not sure I was able to convey the sense I was seeking.  I confess I am not even sure what I was driving at myself.

Clio is a temperamental Muse. You would think otherwise. Music or Art are endeavors of creativity. But the ancients knew the recording of history was also an art. It is impossible to record everything, to know what happens today may be important later. What if that unrecorded random act later becomes a key milestone in the history of man? What if some rich sponsor took a shine to the immature art of a young painter named Adolph Hitler and young Adolph spent his days painting instead of talking politics in the beer hall?

What is history? That a young man crossed a shallow but swift river in Northern Italy one morning in 33 B.C. is not important. That another man crossed the same stream at the same place some fifteen minutes later changed the course of history. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon it had a profound effect.  Europe's geo-political boundaries, language and culture today are a result. That splash in the ocean of history sent waves through time that affect every part of the globe yet today.

On the other hand, some of us stick our finger into that same ocean and leave not even a ripple behind. It is left to each of us to remember, to pass on the stories of life, of family, of our own little history to future generations.

It is said that history is written by the victor. I say it written by those who remember.

Too bad it is a year too late

Ron Santo finally elected to the baseball Hall of Fame.

Random Ramblings

It is raining. Again. Still. Whatever. Flood watches warnings are out.

I made a pot of chili last night. Midwestern chili; soupy with macaroni in it. I picked out all of the beans.  I hate beans. Except green beans, I will eat those. But not in my chili.

Artist rendering

I just put a load of towels in the washer.

My turds look just like chunks of anthracite coal this morning. I don't think that is natural, especially since it is my first dump in a week.

Too much information on a Monday?

Breaking News -- The Colts Suck.

Is it really possible there is not one single viable conservative candidate for President?

You have to get Governmental approval to drive a car or own a handgun.  I am told the local animal shelter has to approve you before you can take a dog or cat home. But we allow any two people who decide to procreate to have a kid, even if the two of them could not spell GED with a dictionary in hand.

I guess I would not want it any other way.

Those parents who refuse to have their kids vaccinated -- you are beyond stupid.  We should bring back quarantine for those families who get chicken pox or mumps or such if they refuse vaccinations. Not only does your idiotic refusal endanger your own kid, but society as a whole.  For Chrissake Oprah is just a talk show host and actors and actresses are just people good at play acting and pretending.  Being famous or infamous does not indicate intelligence. Playing a scientist in a movie does not make you a chemist.

A study of premarital sex frequency among public, private, and private-religeous educated high school students

I have completed my daily wrestling match with the coffee filters. It went the distance and after a couple of escapes. a reversal, and one near-fall, I declare my self victor. I maintain I like my coffee double-filtered so you can just shut up about it.

There was a weird vibe in the air as I took my constitutional yesterday. I have a couple of routes I walk through the subdivision and I took the shortest. It is about 3-1/2 miles. It has been several days since I was able to walk due to travel and rain and explosive diarrhea and other issues we can't discuss because of a binding non-disclosure agreement.

Anyway I had my Christmas tunes playing in my earbuds as the bright sun made the low 40's temperature seem warmer than it was. I counted three houses being roofed and one crew replacing siding. You would have thought it was early summer, not just days before Christmas. I guess folks are spending their Holiday Cash on home improvements this year. Maybe the very heavy amounts of rain and wind we have experienced over the past month have exacerbated the situation and those old roofs need to be replaced.  Much of the neighborhood is comprised of houses built in the1980s and early 1990s, so it is close to that time for roof replacements.

I guess I will sally forth into the interwebz this early Sunday morning to see what you have to say. It seems most people are posting a lot less frequently these days in this rapidly dying medium

A discussion of modern media and its effects upon an educated society

I am in the middle of the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy.  The books are very good.  I am not usually much of a science fiction-type guy, but these have been very enjoyable. I am also in the midst of re-reading In God We Trust by Jean Shepherd. The iconic Holiday movie A Christmas Story (you know -- Ralphie) was based on a chapter in this collection of stories about growing up in Da Region (NW Indiana) in the Depression.

The Wife and I went to the dollar theater last night (it really costs $2.25) and saw The Help. I give it a hearty two thumbs up, even though it lacked all of the elements that make for a good movie -- no cars, no horses, no guns. There was not even any nekkid women breasties. In any case it was well worth the price of admission.  Plus the popcorn was fresh!

Proof Positive

There are letters and words right there on the computer screen.  You can see them. I can see them. The letters and words have now turned into sentences and perhaps even a paragraph.

That makes this a post.

Of course he was from Ohio

Dear jerk-off in the white Buick,

It is bad enough you were cruising in the left lane as trucks lined the right lane at the ridiculous lower speed limit.  You drove on oblivious to the line of cars stretching behind you like a freight train. But it is not necessary to slam on your brakes because a policeman had a car pulled over on the OTHER side of I-65.

It is highly unlikely the policeman, who was standing next to the car he was ticketing, would catch you in the corner of his eye, determine you were going 1/8 of a mph over the speed limit, jump in his car, drive to the nearest crossover (there are barrier fences in this section) chase you down at a very high rate of speed -- remember you are going away from him at 70 and 1/8 mph - and cite you for speeding. Moreover, it was not necessary to brake to a hard FORTY-FIVE mph until the cop was out of sight. Since we were in North Central Indiana that means about three or four miles.

Moron.