Well…a pretty good day yesterday but I stayed up late to watch the Wings so I’m running late and slow this morning…and no, it’s not that I’m just getting old…I am but that’s not it…did go out to have a couple with G and that was too early to start when the game didn’t start until 10:30…oh, I didn’t tell you that the Wings won in a sweep…I’ll give you the details in the Wings update later today…I am so sore today and I can’t figure it out…haven’t been on the bike in a few days and haven’t done anything different…oh, well…not much to do today….it’s going to be a recovery day and I need to get back on the normal schedule so I’ll just lay low today….hope it gets warm enough to get out and get a ride in…I think that may have something to do with my fuzzy brain and I’ll try anything to get some clarity…more later…
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Let’s Go Red Wings! 3-0
Well…if you read this morning’s post, you’ll remember that I promised to do a Wings update today and this is it…I forgot to do the one I promised after the third game but it probably wouldn’t have been that good anyway the way my brain has been working lately…so, I’ll give it a try now and see what happens. The boys are up 3-0 with the last game being one of the best I’ve seen them play this year…and Phoenix is becoming pretty desperate with being so far behind, hitting Nick a couple of times that looked a lot like cheap shots…it’s one thing that Phoenix doesn’t understand, though, when you start messing with Nick or Pavel, the rest of the team just steps up even more and it showed with two goals in the first three minutes in the last game. I am a little disappointed that Hank has been out for the whole series but the rest of the guys have stepped it up; especially Pavel who I would pay to see practice…just one of the best forwards in the game today and I’d take him over Ovechkin or Crosby any day…..I do have mixed feeling about today’s game, though, since G has tickets for Friday’s game if there is one, and I predicted they would win in five; that would leave me with no hockey to watch this weekend….that said….sweep, sweep, sweep, let’s get the brooms out boys!
Did you vote for this?
Well…if there was any confusion over whose side the newly elected repubs are on here in Michigan, you only have to look at what a new bill is doing to the foreclosure process here….where the current law provides a 6 month window for people trying to save their houses, the new bill, written and paid for by the banking industry, will cut that time in half and allow the banks to make the homeowners jump through more and more paperwork hoops while they will have absolutely no requirements for timeliness for their end of the process…basically allowing them to drag the process out to “run out the clock” on the homeowners and ensuring that less and less people will be able to save their homes. I will point this at those of you who voted for these thieves: “Did you vote for this?” Did you vote to have your friends and neighbors houses stolen when they run into financial trouble? If you did, then shame on you…geez…
April 20th
Well….I can’t wait for this damn weather to break and I can go back to shorts…it’s just so depressing getting up and hearing the furnace running in the last part of April….got whipped at pool yesterday and I’ll blame it on not playing on our normal table….not that I was shooting crappy or anything like that…nope, it was the table….and I was pretty good when I got home so I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday but that’s not saying much….not much to do today…there is a Wings game on late so it’s back to a nap this aft since it’s a 10:30 game and it could be the last one in the first round…it would be cool to sweep Phoenix and get to resting for the second round…damn….need to put this stuff in a Wings update for later……might have a few with G later but I probably should take the day off and let the liver rest for a while…I will be back for another one later…there has to be something going on in the world that deserves a comment…might just have to look a little harder….more later…
The brain still isn’t working…
Well….it’s gotten to almost noon and I don’t feel too much better either physically or mentally so there won’t be any politics today I don’t think. Have not done much yet…did go out for coffee and read the papers but there are no topics that have grabbed me…there was one about ethanol and the new rules that are going to allow 15% ethanol in gasoline but then it goes on to say that any car older than 2002 won’t be able to use it without damage….so, anyone who is poor like me can’t drive anymore? Or, are they going to put normal gas in one pump and then jack the price up because it’s “special” gas? I can see why people are concerned about government interference in their lives….and I haven’t even touched on the effect that the diversion of all that corn has had on food prices or the subsidy that the ethanol producers get to make the stuff. Okay, repubs, why aren’t you bitching about this…oh, that’s right it helps business and it’s okay if government helps business; but it’s wrong to help citizens. See…I can’t even work up the minimum of outrage that would power my writing so I’m going to quit here….
April 19th
Well…I over-cocktailed last night and I feel really crappy this morning physically…but the reason for the stupidity was that the Wings were going three up on Phoenix….but I’ll save that for the Wings update for later….I had a nice day with a surprise lunch with T and then a nap in the aft to get ready for staying up late for the game…I think I must have sent or gotten 50 texts during the game so that was fun….other than the game…it was another boring day…don’t know if I’m going out for coffee this morning….stayed up until almost one and that is way too late for an old guy….I need water and the couch so I’m going to end here…more later…
What’s wrong with the rich?
Well….as I sit here and think about the news over the past few weeks a question comes to mind: “What’s wrong with the rich?” When did they become so greedy and self-centered that they lost any pretense of caring about anyone but themselves? This post was kind of spurred on by the recent report that the super rich in this country have an average tax rate that is below 17%. Let’s put that in perspective using my own situation as an example….I took 15 k out of my IRA last year just to pay my rent and keep food on the table and my tax rate was over 25%…yep, someone that is barely making ends meet is paying more percentage in taxes than billionaires, and this is on money that I earned and saved over my working career. But, you won’t hear me bitch about paying taxes; they are necessary to maintain our social contract and make this a better society for everyone…not just the rich. I find it so funny that these people will spend millions and millions of dollars buying repubs to write them favorable laws but will balk at paying for the infrastructure and military that allow them to make those outrageous sums of money. Why are they so un-American? But, it’s not just the rich that are at fault here…it’s our fault for voting for people that are nothing more than shills for business and that lie like they breathe….who don’t believe that there should be a shared responsibility for the welfare of our country…should we be surprised? Nope, most of the legislators we now have are millionaires that are there for one thing and one thing only…to line their pockets and tell us that a greater America is no longer possible; that the poor and middle class are leeches that will be better off if the safety nets that have kept millions of seniors and unemployed out of poverty are gone. Is that the vision that you or I share? I sure hope not…geez…
April 18th
Well…that was a really terrible surprise when I got up this morning to find a blanket of snow on everything…I know, it’s Michigan and we can expect at least one snowfall in April but it’s one thing to know it intellectually and another to actually have to start the car to warm it up and melt the snow. This just puts a damper on the day and starts it out all wrong….it was an okay weekend, didn’t do much but watch the Wings and races….I didn’t get anything political out over the weekend but I have an excuse….nothing really grabbed me and got the brain working in overdrive like I need it to….I’ll try harder today…not much to do today…as I said before, I am gong back to jeans for the next few days, I really hate being cold and that even trumps my ego….but I won’t wear socks…how’s that for a compromise? More later….
One last thing I need to add….I did watch “Winter’s Bone” yesterday and it was a pretty good movie…one of the “small movies” the I like a lot that replaces explosions and bombast with character studies….I did feel that it unfolded a little too slowly and some of the characters’ motivations were unclear even until the end…but still a good movie that shone a light on a part of the country that not many of us get to see….
April 17th
Well…I know I’m late but as you know, this is getting to be my pattern for Sundays, I usually do need coffee before I can think at all and with last night being a cocktail night, I really needed it this morning. I have gotten my coffee and read the Press so now I’m ready to get going for at least a few minutes and try to write something lucid. It was an okay day yesterday but I didn’t do much but watch the Wings and the races…it was way too windy to get the bike out but I’m hoping to go for a short one later this morning if it warms up…I did go back to jeans today…it was just too cold this morning for shorts so I’ll have to reset the clock on that…I did have a talk on the phone with M about his parents house and I feel better about it…lots of friends and family coming together to help and that reminds me that even in these fractured times, people can surprise us with their generosity and caring. Not much to do today…of course the race from Talladega and I am going to get the bathroom cleaned and a couple more posts out…okay, you’ve heard that promise many times on Sunday and I haven’t been very good at keeping it…you’ll just have to come back to see…..
Red Wings update 2-0
Well…this one should not have been as close as it was…the Wings won 4-3 but when they were up 4-1, they just about quit playing and went into cruise mode…just like they’ve done all year but today they were fortunate that they upped their level of play just enough to win at the end. I think the refs were trying to help Phoenix get back into in with the bogus calls for two penalties on us that gave them two scores. We almost lost Frantzen again and he ended up with 23 stitches in his face from getting slammed into the boards…I don’t understand why Kronwall didn’t make Doan pay for it later in the game but I guess it’s okay…don’t want to lose any more players after losing Hank. Pavel put on a show for us again today with a shot that no one else but he could make…and the rebound was hammered home by Helm….good to see him get another playoff goal. Now we move on to Phoenix for Monday’s game and it is going to be a chore since they don’t start until 10:30….looks like nap time Monday aft…Go Wings!