March 17th

Well…it was a long day yesterday but getting back on the bike helped…I am sore everywhere today, though, but I can’t wait to go back out today…should be just a t shirt and shorts since it is already almost 50 at 7:45. The Wings won last night and they looked good….maybe we’ll get out of the first round this year…..not much to do today..it is St. Patrick’s day and I may be having a couple with K later but that is about it….this just isn’t working right now so I’ll come back in a while to continue…

Okay…I’m back and feeling better but still not 100% and can’t figure out why….maybe it’s the corned beef and cabbage….or the depression about not getting any responses to the resume…or that I’m getting old….or any number of other things that I’m not going to bore you with right now…but I will bore you with them later since I’m having trouble coming up with topics…but if you’ve been here before, you know that happens sometimes but it never gets easier and there is no consistent way to break out of it….other than writing but if I do that, you’ll get crappy stuff from me and I do still have my pride if nothing else. So, what to do? Who knows? I’ll be back later to try again…there is basketball on after all…Butler is making another run…

Didn’t think about this one til now….

Well…I’ve had this idea rattling around in my head for a while but it didn’t take shape until today when in a flash of insight (I do have those, you know) put it all together. I know I was understandably upset and concerned about the Citizens United decision that gave corporations the same rights as individuals and allowed them to spend unlimited money on political campaigns without having to disclose where the money came from, and I have railed against the absurdity of the twisted logic that led to the decision. But, this new idea is the scariest one yet….what happens when a foreign government buys some small American company and then uses it to funnel money to candidates that will vote in direct opposition to the interests of the US? Without the disclosure law that the repubs killed, this has already happened and will continue to be one of the greatest threats to our democracy we have ever seen…much more so than the threat of radical Islam that rep King is so concerned about. The repubs have already sold off most of the country to business…are foreign governments next? Geez….

Man…I think I’m dyin’

Well…first day out on the bike and everything hurts…I feel like I’m dying…the legs are okay but the lungs and wrists are killing me and I am sweating like crazy….only went 10 miles and I feel like I’ve done a hundred….but it is the best damn feeling I’ve had since I got off it January 1st. The trails looked good but were flooded and muddy in places and I think I brought back a couple of pounds with me…the shower is still filled with sand that is going to take a couple of days to rinse out….but it’s all good….more later…

Manny’s wrong again….or is that still?

Well…I know, I promised to not counterpunch much and I’m not sure if this is one, but it kind of seems like it since I have to comment on the misguided rantings of Manny Lopez again…but I think it’s not Manny per se, but the idea of Manny and his repub ilk and their continued reliance on failed policies as a cover for their naked thievery. I know, I said that I was going to be a little more composed here, and I fully understand that Michigan is in bad shape and things need to change to restore it’s solvency. What I disagree with is the way the new gov is going about it along with the assertions from the right that this is what the people voted for. The problem with believing that is not once on the campaign trail, did Snyder or any of the repubs that were elected to the house and senate give any detail of their budget plan that included huge tax breaks for business while raising taxes on you and me. If they would have, the “nerd” would never have been elected, but that is how the repubs operate….lie or conceal until the people are duped, and then ram through their radical right wing agenda while tarring the opposition as “socialists’ or special interests whose only concern is lining their own pockets. I’d rather have the pockets of a working person or retiree lined than give more to the corporate thieves that bought this last election…geez….

March 16th

Well…took the day off from pool yesterday since neither Tom or I was too keen to go or had the cash to do it…so I sat home last night and had a couple of cocktails and watched more of the British series “A Touch of Frost” that I have really gotten into. Other than that, it was kind of a veg day just getting resumes out and waiting for the weather to warm up enough to take the bike out…that should be today and I need to get the instructions out so I can reset the computer on the bike….three weeks earlier than the first day out last year so I can easily beat the 2400 miles from last summer….not much to do today…going to make my corned beef and cabbage a day early since I’m out of leftovers and it’s the only thing I have left to cook…and I will get a couple out today since I think the tangle in my head is starting to unravel….

Here’s the reason…

Well…there has been idea gestating in my head over the past couple of days that is a response to the columnists here in Michigan who are decrying the pushback to gov Snyders budget proposals as just more of the same special interest excesses that have put us in this dire budget crises. But, in this case, I think most of the pundits have it wrong….where workers have done their part over the past twenty years to help make the economy viable by giving back on wages and benefits with the promise of those givebacks being temporary, they have now awoken to the true fact that their sacrifice was just a part of a larger con game being run on them by business and repubs. I also feel that it is past time for them to see that the ‘shared sacrifice” that is espoused by Snyder is a one-sided bargain where business gets everything they want in tax breaks and the restriction of workers rights and the rest of us pay for it. Why should the workers and retirees of this state believe anything these guys say when they have been lied to for the last 20 years?

I contend that this pushback is a logical response to the lies and rigging of the economy that the repubs have foisted on us; and is not equivalent to the naked greed that drives business and their partner cons…the repubs…geez…

March 15th

Well…trying to restore the normal routine but I still feel kind of strange today and don’t know what effect it will have on the rest of the day. But, I’m trying so here goes….had an okay day yesterday with lunch with T and then out with G for a couple and she picked up the tab so that helped. Not sure about going out today..probably should try to conserve the cash and have a no cocktail day but my life is already boring enough without making it worse…going to try to get the bike out today since the trails are clear but if that doesn’t happen I’m sure I’ll be out wed and thurs…can’t wait to get the aerobic exercise going again since it does make me feel much better….and I need to drop the 10 pounds I’ve gained over the winter. I will have at least one more topic for the day….have been isolated for the past couple of days without the news so there could even be two….more later….

A rough patch…

Well…I’ve been going through a rough patch over the last couple of weeks and it has been hard to clear my head enough to be lucid here….a nice lunch today with T has helped me to see that there might be sunshine out there….I have not read any papers today so I don’t have any insights to share as yet….I am going to get a glass of ice water, read the online papers and then come back if something strikes me..please bear with me for a couple of days until I get back in the groove here…

Is it groovy yet? It has been a weird couple of weeks but does that give me the excuse to slack off on these? Yep, it does…one of the great things about writing these posts…I get to do them when I actually have an idea that might be pertinent, or when I want to indulge myself by working it our on this page…..so, do I have anything to say? Not really…skipping the papers today was a double whammy with no news or caffeine…and then I had a couple of beers at lunch which disposed me to taking it easy….I did come back to do some writing so that should earn me some brownie points…I will have more tomorrow since I really don’t think I can get much lower….

March 14th

Well…the time change has me all screwed up and I am running late…but there’s more than that…have been so down lately that I can’t get motivated to do much of anything…even going to skip coffee and papers this morning since I really don’t want to talk to anyone until I have lunch with T later….that normally lifts my spirits some but it’s not working today….I will have a few for later today if I can drag out of this funk…but, I can’t promise anything….

March 13th

Well…running really late this morning with the time change and having to find all of the instruction booklets for the equipment that I have so I can reset the clocks….still have a couple to do but that will be later…went out to see the Wings game last night and it was a waste of time and money….I don’t know if it’s me or not but another political argument came up and I can’t believe how smug people are that still have a job….isn’t there something wrong with people that are in their 30′s that have been sucked into the Fox news alternate universe? I was called a communist by one of my friends last night because I believe that government needs to be a referee between the people and unfettered capitalism. Oh, well…maybe it’s a good thing that I don’t see these folks much anymore…I do have to remember that there are few people in West Michigan that feel how I do and just stop talking about both politics and religion….which gets me to another argument….nope, not going to go there right now…not much to do today…somehow I have two dvds from Netflix to watch today and I think that will be the plan after the news….I may get a couple more out today…but I am still seething about last night so I should just chill…more later….

Just had a thought…maybe I should use last night as a starting point for reflection, and trying to be a better person than the seriously flawed one that I am….