My Life

November 16th

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Well….I thought I was going to be home last night but G called and we ended up hitting Logan’s for a while…well..more than a while…didn’t get home until almost midnight but it was fun…needless to say, I feel a little crappy today but I think I’ll survive it. It was kind of a busy day for me yesterday and that was good…I did find a Kubrick movie that I’ve never seen on Netflix and watched most of it…have about 10 mins left and will get to that after coffee…man, didn’t even get out of bed until about 5 minutes ago so that’s why I’m running late today….not much to do today…no cooking or anything until Ada later..I’m not thinking yet so I’ll stop here..more later…

Okay, I’m back and I’m not going to add a new one…that may be cheating since this is really just part of what I should have added first thing this morning…I did go out and get a haircut a few minutes ago..it was getting quite shaggy looking and I don’t really need anything helping me look older..I already look old enough…I’ve had an infestation of those little flying black bugs lately and they are a pain in the butt…I have taken the environmentally conscious tack against them by leaving the little spiders in the corners of my bathroom…they seem to kill about 20 of them each daily and it gives me something to look at…I just want to know where they come from…it’s getting warm enough to go out for a ride so I’m going to end here…I hope to have a topic for later today, if one strikes me while I’m on the bike…

Misc

A little civil disobedience can be a good thing…

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Well…it’s about time that we Americans started to say “enough” to the actions of government as embodied in the TSA and their new passenger screening techniques that are being rolled out at US airports. First, it was the pilots that started to rebel at being fondled or blasted with radiation so they could do their jobs, now, ordinary people have started to do the same, to say “enough” to the gradual chipping way of our freedoms to the overreaching god of security. But, as you could easily predict, the masses…that great group of the easily led who have bought into the lie that there is danger under every bush, who have bought into the lie that by giving up the basic freedom to be let alone, they can be safe, have vilified these individuals. How has safety come to trump freedom and those who stand up for it?

I want to encourage this kind of behavior that says “enough”, that says just wait a minute, that says no one asked me if I wanted to be afraid….that no one asked any of us whether the American people are such wusses that we can’t take a little danger in exchange for freedom. All of the generations before us made the right decision, that freedom from government interference is a core value that we will not give up because some danger befalls us…we have always stood up as a nation and said we are tougher, we are greater than that…there is no power on earth that could make us give up our freedom because we are afraid and these times are no different.

I have to pass on one of the quotes from Benjamin Franklin that I always believe goes to the core of the balance we need to remember in America…and points out the danger we are in succinctly….”those who give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither”. Thanks, Ben…

Sports

I’ll be back…see, I told you…

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Well…have been busier than crap all morning and now I’m going out to ride the bike before it rains…I’ll be back later with a topic but it might be sports, I’m not sure yet…

Yep, I’ve decided to do a sports update today…but I’m not typing too well since my hands are still a little numb from the bike ride….there was a little tidbit that I’d like to pass along that made me smile…when I stopped and parked the bike, the odometer read 666…yep, bet that made you laugh, too…never really thought of myself as the devil but who knows? Just joking…you know I don’t believe in that stuff. First lets get to the Lions…if you’ve been here in the past, you’ve seen that I had almost let myself surrender to the optimism that plagues all of us Lions fans at some time in the season…but I have been inoculated by their play over the last two weeks so I can let them go until next year….the disease didn’t hurt anywhere near as much this year and I may be gaining long-term immunity…I hope so.

Then, we have our Red Wings….how can one team be so good when the football team in the same city has been so terrible for so long? Can the Ilitches buy the Lions, too? Back to the Wings….another good start to the season and it’s great to see them playing upwards toward their potential…but I think they can get even better once the first line gets going and Hank and Pavel start dominating like we all know they can. I would like to tip my hat to the play of Danny Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi….it’s is a joy to watch them at full strength again with the nagging injuries healed….we need those points right now and let’s just hope they keep going when the rest of the team kicks it in gear…it’s going to be fun! Go Wings!

My Life

November 15th

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Well…yeah, I know, I didn’t come back yesterday to build on the number 500…but I have an excuse…we did have a short SF with K and V and when I got back I just didn’t feel like writing anything else….and after re-reading, I really didn’t have anything to add. So, I just came back here and watched the rest of the Napcar race and took it easy. I did get a lot of stuff done yesterday, though, and have to keep going on that today…along with getting started on the t-day cleaning in case the boys decide to come over for dinner. I did skip riding yesterday; it was just too cold and windy to want to go out but today looks better so I’ll be out after lunch. Not much else to do today…no Monday with G since she has a charity function for the org she works with but I’m broke anyway so that’s kind of a good thing. I do have to go out for supplies today to finish up the work I started yesterday and I think it will be good for the car….my longest trip in the last two weeks was out to Ada but most of them are about a mile and it is not good for the old wreck to never get up to operating temp….so, I’ll run over to the other side of town this morning while I’m waiting for the temp to come up far enough to ride in shorts. Yep, still in shorts and it is starting to get stares…only another week to go, though, so I’ll have to get the jeans out and see how they fit…more later…

My Life

Number 500

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Well…here’s number 500….that’s a milestone of some sort I think…yep, a milestone…500 of these things…I knew I’d get here but it still amazes me that I’ve had that much to say. Over that time, you’ve gotten to know me a little…but you have to remember that I won’t put anything in this post that I wouldn’t want my kids to read…so, while I have revealed quite a bit of what it is like to be an unemployed old guy and even some of what makes me me, there is still lots of onion skin to be peeled back and shared…but, hey, if I share too much too soon you won’t come back. Or maybe you won’t come back if I do share…who knows?

I have thought a little about if I should do a summary of how we got here, or if I should just keep plowing on with new stuff and haven’t made that decision yet…so you’ll have to come back today to see…there is one thing I have to say and that is thanks…I know some of you come back here every day and I have tried to be lucid and thought provoking with some success at times…and less other times…but, I’m going to keep trying to be topical and have that voice of reasonableness that I advocate…but there will be train wrecks in the future…and you probably like those better anyway. More later…

My Life

November 14th

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Well…another night at home but I feel good this morning and didn’t spend any cash so that’s a good thing…shared the Michigan game with T yesterday by text and that was a hoot…made her pot roast recipe and just pigged out; I’m still on the eating more thing to try to get my metabolism running again and I think it may be working some…I have gained some weight but that’s okay since I’m not as tired as I was…waiting for the F1 race to start and have the coffee brewing along with the newspaper waiting…it’s kind of strange at this time of the day…with the possibilities of the day still making me smile and the energy tank filled even though my sleep was kind of crappy…up at 4:30 and back down again…not much to do today…no SF planned so I think those are about over…more changes but I am kind of numb to them now…especially since there’s not much more to change….

Oh, this is number 499…I will have the 500th post later today but I don’t know what it will be like…you’ll have to come back to see…more later…

Misc

We’re tougher than this…

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Well…after the release of the new TSA screening processes, I feel heartened that there is a growing group of us that are saying enough. We do not need to be molested in the name of safety by a government agency that has become as much a terrorist organization as al-Queda. Well…that is a bit of hyperbole but these folks use fear to change peoples behavior just like the terrorists; the TSA continues to inflate the threat of attack to raise their budgets and consolidate power over the people. But, as I said earlier, the people are starting to revolt, they are starting to actually think and realize how much of their freedom they have given up…completely disproportionate to the chances of any danger to any traveler from the terrorists. I think this is the pendulum starting to swing back to the American values of toughness…and people are seeing that fear is no way to live their lives and want to challenge these cave-dwelling idiots that want to do us harm. I, for one, am completely willing to take increased risk to protect the values that made this country great..after all, life is a risk…you are 100 times more likely to die in a car accident than from a terrorist attack. Are you going to stop driving?

With the lessons of 9/11 still clear in our minds, I wouldn’t want to be a terrorist going up against a planeload of pissed off Americans…please government…let us take care of ourselves…geez…

My Life

November 13th

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Well… running a little late this morning since I’ve picked up the newspaper habit on Saturdays, too…and I’ve been getting a chuck roast going in the slow cooker using T’s wonderful recipe…tried one the last time with a bunch of shortcuts and it was not the same…so, I’ve just used the oven recipe line for line…we’ll see how it comes out later. It was a kind of weird looking morning when I went out to get the papers with a kind of hazy, foggy look to it…had to stand and just take it in for a minute which I’m sure just cemented my rep as the weird, crazy old guy…one that I don’t really mind because I am that guy. Stayed in last night to try to save some cash but I might go out for a while to watch some of the Wings game later…but I probably should just stay in since I have about 60 bucks left in my pocket with no prospects of making any for a while. Not much to do today..going to watch the Michigan game later and then just continue the cleanup here since it feels good to accomplish something…and I will have some topics for later…

Oh, and F1 qualifying is on right now so I’m gong to go back to the couch and watch…

Uncategorized

It’s pretty predictable…

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Well….as you know, the “bipartisan” group on the deficit leaked some of it’s initial recommendations the other day and I had to laugh with the predictability of them…these idiots feel that all of the financial problems that this country faces now and in the future are the fault of people like you and me…the people that worked all their lives and expect that the commitments made to you and that you paid for through taxes be kept. They go on to state that all of the social safety nets that make this a civilized country (and that have already been shredded by the repubs) need to be reduced or eliminated or we will never reduce the deficits. They also propose that the retirement age be raised to 69 since people are living longer…but they neglect to quote the statistics that clearly show that the only increase in life expectancy is in the group of upper income people…those of us in the rest of the classes have seen life expectancy stay flat or even reduce over the past decade.

You can look at this any way you want, but I see this as just another repub tactic to give cover to their plan to continue the redistribution of wealth upwards…since there was no mention of raising taxes on the rich or corporations but cutting their taxes more..even though their tax burden is the lowest its been in more than 50 years. If you listened to any of the rhetoric coming from the right during the election (before they were silenced by their handlers) their true plans were clear…they want all of the safety nets gone..they feel they are “socialism” and trick people into not taking care of themselves.

When are we going to fight back against this nonsense? A society is not a winner-take-all proposition where the rich and powerful get all of the rewards that the economy has to offer…it is supposed to be an entity where we take care of each other and revel in the success of the least advantaged….geez…

My Life

November 12th

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Well…this is going to be short one…out with G last night and feel like crap…so I’m going back to the couch for a while to heal the wounds a little…more later…

Okay, I’m back after coffee and feel almost human again….spent a boatload of cash last night and now it looks like I’ll have to take the next week off from spending anything…but that’s okay since I have to continue to clean this place up and I bought enough food yesterday to get me through until late next week…but no more out until something breaks and I get some cash coming in. I may even see how long I can go without spending anything…except for my papers and coffee in the morning…can’t give up everything. And, that means you may get more of these since I’ll be here with not a lot to do.

Oh, I do want to say Happy Birthday to Neil Young who turns 65 today….keep it up Neil…your last album was great and I can’t wait for the next one! More later…

What you never want to be….