I’ll be filling in my thoughts tomorrow…this is kind of a placeholder until then….tune in later…
HI…I’m back, I was reading the newspaper a couple of days ago and there was a story about the increase in violence that has been occurring in many of the road rage incidents that happen across Michigan. There have been shootings, stabbings, and beatings along with the mayhem of using a two ton weapon to what? Protect your manhood? Or womanhood, since these incidents are not exclusively a male phenomenon. But, the road rage incidents are not really the topic today; it is just a symptom of what I see as a lack of reasonableness that is polluting society today. It is one of the things that the great author Robert Heinlein saw as a signpost in the decline of any civilization; the lack of manners and common courtesy that the citizens show each other on a daily basis.
I know I was going somewhere with this…..well…I guess I just want to say that most times, you can choose how you react to the things that happen in life…I know I was taught that it was a value to think and to react to life and politics in a thoughtful, measured way, and the shouters were idiots that did not deserve attention. What happened??
Well…nothing really earth-shattering today, it has been a good day so far…worked out for the 5th day in a row and took a long bike ride this morning. The bike is working so well I was grinning like an idiot all through the ride and put in about 15 miles; the weather was so nice even at 10:30 that it was hard to come home. Will probably go out again for a leisure ride with no sprints to just look around and take some of the paths that are less traveled.
I know I promised that the onion will start to be peeled but it’s still rattling around in my head and I can’t make sense of how I want to present it. I probably should just make it free form and write about what pops into my head. Might be making it more work than it has to be. So, again, I promise more tomorrow.
Well…if we could wipe out the 2 minutes that the Sharks scored three goals, it would have been a good game. I think it was still a good game since we were not outplayed. Howard just looked shaky but that has been his pattern throughout he first round so that’s not really a surprise. We still need to take one in their building so Sunday should be fun…still have to go out to see it but with it being at 8, I can get some other people to go out that are real fans. The people in the bar last night were quite annoying and loud; at least the place had gone non-smoking a few days early so I didn’t have to breathe in all that smoke. Still kind of ambivalent about the new law here in Michigan but I don’t smoke so I don’t really care.
More tomorrow but it is such a nice day today that I’m just not that motivated.
Go Wings!
Here we go again…I kind of like this short 2 day rest between series; I like even better that the Sharks have been off since last Saturday and I hope they are just a little rusty. The one thing I hate is the fact that the first two games are on Versus that I would have to pay for another 250 channels on the dish to get. What the heck is wrong with the NHL. I know they make money from Versus, but to take a lower bid and have them on ESPN would give them a much larger audience. In my opinion that is, I’m just a little irritated that I have to go out to see the game since Thursday is supposed to be a rest night.
Well… I stand by my pick of the Wings in 6 and have a lot of company from the sports writers at the Free Press…and I made my prediction yesterday or the day before, I can’t remember. So I’m first….yay!
Go Wings!!
Click on sports and look down..it was yesterday…;-)
Well…Another night out that was fun but lost at pool again…felt like crap when I got up this morning but was okay by lunch and the bike ride. I was going to start the process of “peeling back the onion” today but I’m just not in the mood and there is nothing striking that is popping into my head. I think it will be somewhat like the next novel that I’m thinking of writing that has a working title of “Sledding on the Refrigerator Door and Other Stories of Life” that is going to chronicle life growing up in the poor, odd family that is mine. Don’t really know yet but the neat thing is, I get to choose.
Hmmm…it was a nice night last night with the Wings winning and I got my bike back from the shop…thank you Village bike for re-cabling it and only charging 15 bucks…took the first 10 mile run this morning and it may need just a little more adjustment but I was grinning. The Steely Dan was perfect for a cool, crisp, and extremely bright morning. Oh, you are going to hear a lot about the Dan over time…it’s my favorite group and Donald and Walter (Fagen and Becker) speak to me like no other band. Their stories of losers, love, loss, and old guys and young women (think Babylon Sisters or Hey Nineteen) resonate with me as one who considers himself at the fringes of society living a life that not many 56 year olds live. More on the old guy, young women thing later…but I have to thank G for her jumping in with both feet a few times that have caused the people around us to stare.
Well…I have to warn you that this is the space that I will be peeling back the layers of what it is to be an old guy with a young one trapped inside, and I am still not sure of how much to share but maybe I’ll just think if it would embarrass my kids, I probably won’t share it.
On that note, the plans for tonight are the same as any Wednesday…out to Ada to play pool with Tom and try to not drink too much.
Well….that was just a great game by our Wings last night…100 percent effort for the whole game for a change but I do have to say that I am concerned that they have leaned the bad habit of thinking they can just turn it on when they need it. Kudos to the Coyotes for a tough, hard fought series, and the classiness of their fans at the end of the game reminded me that, of any sport, hockey brings out the best of sportsmanship in both the players and fans. Good luck to them next year!
Don’t know how I feel about going up against the Sharks but I like the idea of a short layoff and then right back into action. Also don’t know if I believe in the notion of momentum but I think the last game did say one thing: That the Wings still have the ability to bring it for at least one game at a time…I just hope it’s not just one game at a time. Can’t wait ’til Thursday!!
Let’s go Red Wings!
Oh, forgot to put in my prediction for the next series…I will admit that I was wrong about the last one; I picked the wings in six and it went seven…going to say the same thing for this one: Wings in six!
Well…here it is going into a game seven to try to get to the second round. I really don’t know how I feel about it knowing that the Wings have not won a game 7 on the road since 1964, and the game is on Versus that I don’t get on the dish. Don’t really want to go out two nights in a row since Tuesday is supposed to be a recovery night. I don’t know what to think of that performance on Sunday or what team is going to show up tonight. I still have faith in the guys, though, and will find some place to watch.
Still feeling a little crappy so this one reflects the fog that is still in my brain…it’s not letting me be very lucid so I apologize. Come back tomorrow and it should be better; especially if we get a win!
Feel like crap today, as you know, it was Monday night out with G last night and we went overboard as usual. Just wanted to let you know since I’m going to stop here and go work out for an hour to get the toxins out…more later.
Okay…I’m back…it’s a few hours later and I feel much better…got the bike back and it only cost 15 bucks so I am pretty happy. Took it for a short test drive and it shifts great! So, tomorrow I get back on the fitness program…I miss the exercise.
Do have to go out to see the Wings game since the crappy dish doesn’t have Versus…go to hell NHL.
Well….reading all of the furor over the new immigration law that was just signed in Arizona, and the predictable stances from the left and right, I think of one question that is not being asked: Why are the illegals there? I think it’s pretty well settled that they are there for jobs. Then, that drives you to a second question: who gives them the jobs they are there to fill? I think that question is a little more complex and the explanations have run the gamut but center on the assumption that they are there to do jobs that Americans won’t do.
I can’t fault the people of Arizona for being frustrated that 6-7 percent of their population are illegals, but I think their anger is misguided; Why aren’t they mad that employers in their state are creating the problem by hiring illegals? Why aren’t these employers being held up as unpatriotic because all they can see is the increased profits that come with a workforce that is an unethical company’s dream: non-union, non-voting people who can be abused at will. But, by using the illegals, they are just passing on the costs that would come from an American workforce (higher wages and healthcare, pensions, etc.) on to Arizona’s and the U.S. society as a whole since it has been argued repeatedly by the right that illegals send their children to our schools and use our emergency rooms for their health needs. This means higher profits for the company and bigger bonuses for the managers.
I’ve always thought that business needs to be socially responsible and pay it’s employees enough for them to have the chance to do what our founding father’s codified in the founding documents; “the pursuit of happiness”.
You and I pay our fair share as members of our society. Why shouldn’t business? Geez….