All posts by James DeVol

May 22nd

Well…it was nice to take the night off last night and just take it easy here..got up somewhat refreshed and got on the bike early and have already taken a nap..okay, that’s a little early but I was up at 5 so I can justify it in my own mind. Grilled some salmon for lunch with G’s honey, hot mustard, and lemon sauce along with asparagus and portabello mushroom caps marinated in Italian dressing topped with chopped tomatos, onions, and Parmesan cheese. Yeah, I know…kind of overboard for just lunch but I was just getting so tired of burgers and chicken. It looks like pork loin chops on the grill for Sunday but have to get off my butt and get the loin sliced so I can brine them before the grill. Still cheaper than going out for dinner….although it is kind of a pain to always eat alone. On that note, thank you T for the nice lunch Friday…had lots of fun!

No plans for the weekend the way it looks..can’t watch Indy qualifying since it’s on Versus…no wonder the IRL is going down the tubes and no one watches anymore. Grubbing for money instead of taking care of the fans…typical of most of the leagues these days including the NHL who did the same thing to the fans in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

That’s enough crabbing for now since one of the things I’m trying to get better at is to stop complaining about everything..although I don’t complain about everything…just some things very strongly….

Okay, had to comment on Rand Paul….

Well…I guess this shows you where the tea-partiers are coming from once the skin is peeled away. Rand Paul, the Repub nominee for senate from Kentucky, in an interview with Rachael Maddow on her show, stated that the federal government has no place in halting workplace or public discrimination based on race. He feels that the marketplace would take care of those types of things; if someone discriminates based on race, gender etc. even in a public restaurant or any other business, that no one would patronize those businesses once the discrimination is revealed. What planet is this guy living on? What does he want next, the Klan coming back? The laws against discrimination were a response to people doing exactly what Paul says won’t happen. Then, to make his Republicanness even clearer, he comes out today criticizing Obama for leaning on BP after their negligence led to 11 people dying and the biggest environment disaster in decades; calling it “Un-American” to criticize them. He says that sometimes no one is to blame…that it was just an accident that is no one’s fault.

You remember what “Un-American” meant in the last Presidential election and what the crazy birthers are still apoplectic about.

Can you imagine an administration that completely defers to business and cuts them loose to do whatever they want with no regard for their responsibilities? Oh…we just had one of those…you remember…run by Ole GW…Geez…

May 21st

Well..I’m starting to feel better from Wednesday…although, going out for beers last night didn’t help. Today has been quite busy so far…grocery shopping, working out, lunch with Teresa, and just got back from a ride. I know, quit bitching, most people would love to have my life and I kind of like it, too. No plans for the weekend so far, except watching Indy 500 qualifying tomorrow..kind of a tradition with me and I am looking forward to it.

I promise some outrage tomorrow or later today…just have to comment on Jay Ambrose in the GR Press..who thinks that Michelle Obama wanting to do something about childhood obesity is an indoctrination of children to be socialists..geez….

May 19th

Well…busy morning so far, had to go out for coffee of course, then a haircut, washed the car, worked out, and took a long ride. Not a lot else to do until it’s out to ADA later this aft…I feel like I’m going to win at pool again this week…don’t ask me why, I just think that. Having a hard time lately working up outrage about anything but I have to be able to write without it I guess. I do have some comments on the primary elections from Tuesday but they are just musing more than anything since I didn’t see anything that looked like a trend except incumbents had a hard time in some of them. More later….

Beware of Krauthammer…

I have only one word of advice for the Obama administration, when Charles Krauthammer agrees with one of your trial balloons; specifically shrinking the use of or modifying the Miranda warnings, you’ve got it all wrong just like he does most of the time. I just marvel at these guys who are so inconsistent that they howl about government intrusion in healthcare, then want government powers increased by the gutting of Miranda. Shame on Obama and Holder for even considering changing what has worked over many decades and that has resulted in much more actionable intelligence than any person held without trial at Guantanamo.

I am going to continue pointing out this blatant pandering to the base on both sides in an effort to force some honesty on the national conversation about these important issues.

One other example that I have to point out was some repub bitching about healthcare (again), and his premise was that since he has polls showing that the majority of Americans don’t want the changes, they shouldn’t happen. Where was he when the majority wanted Al Gore to be president and the Supreme Court installed Bush? If you look at history, public opinion sometimes is not right on these issues; look at the violence that came with the repeal of the Jim Crow laws. Geez…

May 18th

Well..I was just guessing on how much the car was going to cost, remember, I said that it would be 200 bucks? It actually is only 199…yay! I hope you get the sarcasm. But since having a loud car is one thing I can’t stand, it’s a good deal to me. It was a good decision to put the bike on the carrier and ride home to wait for the car…got the chance to work out and I’ll have some lunch before I ride back to get it. Have had this weird taste for chili dogs for the last few days so that is what I’m going to have.

No other plans for today other than to clean again…did a bunch of stuff around here over the weekend that made quite a mess so I’ll have to get on it. Should make enough cash this week to get the new rear tire for the bike and buy a cable modem to get rid of this damn unreliable DSL. More later…

May 17th

Been kind of a strange day today…well..like all of my days are strange, I guess. Did get the workout in and took a long bike ride but the damn wind was ugly..oh,well. Have to take the wreck in to the muffler shop again tomorrow..it seems like at least once a year, I have to have something replaced; another 200 bucks down the drain…I need to find a job so I can buy a new car.

The LC is still closed so I don’t know where Monday out is with G is going to be today..it has to be somewhere that has Keno since that is a large part of of our night and is fun when we win sometimes. Probably Florentine’s since it is half way between our places and they have keno…hmmmm…well, that’s about it for now…I’ll get to the GRP and columnist thing later or tomorrow…

Stupid Drivers….

Well…it happened again this morning, another idiot almost ran me down making a right turn while I was crossing the street (yes, with the light). What the hell is with people these days? Doesn’t anyone pay attention to anything but themselves? But it’s not even confined to me trying to cross the street…I was coming home from one of the hockey games last week and this moron in a work truck is going 62 in the left lane of southbound 131 where the limit is 70. To compound that he was marking the car next to him so they had essentially set up a rolling roadblock with 25 to 30 cars stacked up behind him forcing the people who wanted to go faster to pass all the way to the right lane. Keep right except to pass you idiots! I can understand road rage when this crap happens. And, put the phones down and drive…geez.

Sunday funday…

Well…that was fun to be out for a change..have been here since Wed night and the boredom was becoming normal…don’t want that to happen since I’m isolated enough…hmmmm. It was nice to see K and V but it was a short one…only a couple of beers and a shot, but I am a little worn out since I’ve been up since 5:45…yep, still not sleeping but, as I’ve said, not going to bitch about that any more since everyone I know has the same problem…I’d love to just once sleep like I did when I was a teenager…where your head hit the pillow and you are out for 10 hours. Oh, well…

I DO have some outrage percolating over the Grand Rapids Press and how slanted they are to the point of being another mouthpiece for the repubs…I mean, c’mon…Michele Malkin and Jay Ambrose as their star columnists…geez…what are they, Fox news midwest?